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From: John P. Looney (john at domain antefacto.com)
Date: Thu 28 Jun 2001 - 11:31:16 IST
On Thu, Jun 28, 2001 at 11:16:48AM +0100, bscanlan at domain irish-times.com mentioned:
> Don't really see how Microsoft's domination of the consumer Operation System
> market helped kept hardware cheap for the consumer all the same.
Whatever else they did, they brought computing to the masses. We would be
using 486's today, if 600 million people weren't willing to pay £2000 for
something that could run word & excel.
OK, it could be quickly pointed out that there were word processors &
spreadsheets that were popular before Microsoft...but they pushed it
beyond what was reasonable, so that people think they have to use Word for
office notices and sending emails.
-- When I say 'free', I mean 'free': free from bond, of chain or command: to go where you will, even to Mordor, Saruman, if you desire. " -- Gandalf, paraphrasing the choice between Free and Non-free software
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.6 : Thu 06 Feb 2003 - 13:10:53 GMT | <urn:uuid:516d3b70-56ad-408f-9544-adaa934682fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linux.ie/old-list/33587.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930525 | 269 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Thrill-seekers can indulge in hundreds of shipwrecks and mingle with 650 species of marine life, then celebrate the day with a civilized spot of afternoon tea.
Bermuda has long been known as a romantic haven. Its warm Gulf Stream waters, pink sand beaches, perfectly manicured landscapes, excellent shopping, first-rate cuisine and friendly Bermudians make visitors feel right at home. Accommodation possibilities are endless and include Bermuda's unique cottage colonies, intimate B&Bs and a variety of resort hotels to suit any budget. Take all of those qualities, add in several hundred known and easy-to-explore shipwrecks, and this romantic island becomes one of the most desirable dive-adventure destinations in the world.
Located in the Atlantic, 650 miles due east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., visitors can jet nonstop to Bermuda in less than two hours from several U.S. gateway cities. Less time spent travelling means more time to dive and enjoy the countless charms of this British Crown Colony. Comprised of about 180 islands, with the seven largest connected by quaint bridges and a causeway, Bermuda's location in the Gulf Stream produces a balmy subtropical climate that cools down slightly during the winter months. The best time for divers to go, with the most inviting combination of warm water and good visibility, is Spring and Fall. But if you don't mind cooler waters, the visibility during the winter months is superlative, and exceeds 100 feet on average.
A visit to any of the Island's marine-related exhibits is a wonderful way to enhance your underwater adventures. Points of interest include museums, historic forts, and an aquarium & zoo. Our museums are home to treasure salvaged from Spanish galleons, as well relics from the Sea Venture ? the ship that brought Bermuda her first settlers when the vessel ran into the reef during a 1609 hurricane. Relax on pink sand beaches, enjoy a round of golf or take a stroll through the City of Hamilton. When sampling Bermuda's culinary delights, don't forget to have a sip (or two!) of our famous local beverages such as the Bermuda Rum Swizzle or a Dark 'n Stormy. Whatever your apres-dive pleasure, Bermuda is sure to please. For more information on Bermuda visit www.bermudatourism.com or call 1-800-BERMUDA.
The warm air and moderate rainfall create lush greenery, freshly coiffed at all times. Bermuda's rocky limestone hills are dotted with picturesque homes made of local stone, painted in bright pastel hues. The buildings are topped off with whitewashed, layered slate roofs, designed to direct falling rainwater into cisterns. Cast your gaze in any direction to view postcard vistas, including the turquoise-hued sea that stretches to the horizon.
The serenity you feel when you look at the sea is quickly replaced by intrigue as you imagine what lies beneath. Bermuda was a navigational point used by mariners crossing the Atlantic to and from the New World. Since the Island's encircling reef system extends outward up to 8 miles, many vessels were caught by surprise when they encountered the shallow reef in seemingly open waters. As a result, there are literally hundreds of documented wrecks sprawled on the sea floor surrounding Bermuda.
Since the 16th Century, several hundred vessels have met their unfortunate fate on Bermuda's jagged fringing reefs. Diving in Bermuda is like stepping into a time machine and opening a window to a past life on the high seas complete with pirate tales, naval battles and fierce storms. By diving in this underwater museum without walls, you will travel an incredible timeline that carries you from the era of Spanish treasure galleons to 18th Century British warships to Civil War blockade runners, all the way to the dawn of luxury trans-Atlantic passenger liners. Bermuda's wreck collection spans more than five centuries with vessels originating from 15 different countries.
Exploring these relics can be fascinating, exhilarating and even eerie as you gaze up toward the surface. See the sun's rays penetrating through the wide variety of soft and hard corals that hang from the ribs, bulkheads and engines of the wrecks, much like cobwebs enveloping a haunted house. Since the wrecks lie in relatively shallow water (45-50 feet on average), Bermuda is one of the most accessible wreck diving locations in the world. Best of all, there's no special advanced certification required to enjoy Bermuda underwater, although this is a perfect place to obtain your PADI Wreck Specialty certification.
While the historic shipwrecks are truly the highlight of any Bermuda dive experience, the Island also boasts a diverse reef system complete with tunnels, swim-throughs, coral gardens and more than 650 species of colourful marine life. Bermuda's marine environment and shipwrecks are protected by a number of laws and ordinances, preserving the future of this underwater dive mecca. | <urn:uuid:383d8d1f-3a0f-4f83-9e2f-c116cd791d84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sportdiver.com/destinations/bermuda/proper-adventure-holiday | 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 | 0.934176 | 1,024 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly have launched what they hope will mark a new era in the battle over gun rights in America.
On the second anniversary of a mass shooting in Arizona that wounded Giffords and killed six others, the couple launched a political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions, along with a website calling for contributions to help "encourage elected officials to stand up for solutions to prevent gun violence and protect responsible gun ownership."
In an op-ed in USA Today, the two make their goal clear: to counter the influence of the gun lobby.
"Special interests purporting to represent gun owners but really advancing the interests of an ideological fringe have used big money and influence to cow Congress into submission," they write.
"Rather than working to find the balance between our rights and the regulation of a dangerous product, these groups have cast simple protections for our communities as existential threats to individual liberties. Rather than conducting a dialogue, they threaten those who divert from their orthodoxy with political extinction."
Emphasizing that they support the Second Amendment and own two guns themselves, Giffords and Kelly call for "laws to require responsible gun ownership and reduce gun violence."
"Until now, the gun lobby's political contributions, advertising and lobbying have dwarfed spending from anti-gun violence groups. No longer. With Americans for Responsible Solutions engaging millions of people about ways to reduce gun violence and funding political activity nationwide, legislators will no longer have reason to fear the gun lobby."
"America has seen an astounding 11 mass shootings since a madman used a semiautomatic pistol with an extended ammunition clip to shoot me and kill six others," Giffords writes.
"This country is known for using its determination and ingenuity to solve problems, big and small ... But when it comes to protecting our communities from gun violence, we're not even trying -- and for the worst of reasons."
Giffords and Kelly have spoken out in the wake of last month's slaughter in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 27 people murdered, 26 of them at Sandy Hook Elementary School -- including 20 children. | <urn:uuid:00317dbd-44d0-44f6-8c13-79008194a5e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wesh.com/news/national-news/Giffords-launches-PAC-to-take-on-gun-lobby/-/11788232/18046520/-/item/0/-/12hp3ug/-/index.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 | 0.949823 | 433 | 1.664063 | 2 |
My breasts are significantly uneven–by about two sizes. Will they eventually even out? Or is there something wrong and I’m stuck with them?
Many women find they have a difference between their left and right breast sizes, but the difference is usually so slight that most other people don’t notice. I can certainly understand why you might feel a bit self-conscious if there is a very large difference.
According to Dr. Karen Rosewater, who specializes in adolescent health, how much you can expect your breast size to change will depend greatly on how old you are. If you’re still going through puberty, be patient. Your body has a lot more development in store and there is a good chance that your breasts will even out. Eventually, the difference may be far less noticeable than it is now. If you think you have fully developed, you might want to talk to a doctor about your options for reduction of one size.
Though the chances of having a medical condition is pretty rare, it wouldn’t hurt to do a self exam to see if there is a lump in the area or to have a doctor examine you the next time you have an exam. Better to be safe, right? | <urn:uuid:7eada388-908c-41df-90cc-e6288e98ec08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gurl.com/2006/06/23/my-breasts-are-uneven/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974845 | 249 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The Covenant Blessings
28:1 “If you indeed 1 obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving 2 you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance 3 if you obey the Lord your God: 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. 4 28:4 Your children 5 will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:5 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 6 28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack 7 you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction 8 but flee from you in seven different directions. 28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he 9 is giving you. 28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments 10 and obey him. 11 28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, 12 and they will respect you. 28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, 13 the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he 14 promised your ancestors 15 he would give you. 28:12 The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; 16 you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his 17 commandments which I am urging 18 you today to be careful to do. 28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving 19 you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship 20 them.
Curses as Reversal of Blessings
28:15 “But if you ignore 21 the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: 22 28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 28:18 Your children 23 will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 24
Curses by Disease and Drought
28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you 25 in everything you undertake 26 until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. 27 28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases 28 until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He 29 will afflict you with weakness, 30 fever, inflammation, infection, 31 sword, 32 blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. 28:23 The 33 sky 34 above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. 28:24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
Curses by Defeat and Deportation
28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror 35 to all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26 Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. 28:27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. 28:28 The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. 36 28:29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; 37 you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. 28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape 38 her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. 39 28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. 28:34 You will go insane from seeing all this. 28:35 The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 28:36 The Lord will force you and your king 40 whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. 28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you.
The Curse of Reversed Status
28:38 “You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. 28:39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. 41 28:41 You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. 28:42 Whirring locusts 42 will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. 28:43 The foreigners 43 who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. 28:44 They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail!
28:45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given 44 you. 28:46 These curses 45 will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. 46
The Curse of Military Siege
28:47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 28:48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty 47 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They 48 will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth 49 as the eagle flies, 50 a nation whose language you will not understand, 28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 28:51 They 51 will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, 52 or lambs of your flocks 53 until they have destroyed you. 28:52 They will besiege all of your villages 54 until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 28:53 You will then eat your own offspring, 55 the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege 56 by which your enemies will constrict you. 28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 28:55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict 57 you in your villages. 28:56 Likewise, the most 58 tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, 59 will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 28:57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth 60 and her newborn children 61 (since she has nothing else), 62 because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.
The Curse of Covenant Termination
28:58 “If you refuse to obey 63 all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, 28:59 then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. 28:60 He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt 64 that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. 65 28:61 Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, 66 until you have perished. 28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, 67 because you will have disobeyed 68 the Lord your God. 28:63 This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he 69 will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. 28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. 28:66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. 70 28:67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. 28:68 Then the Lord will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
29:1 71 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. 72
The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed
29:2 Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord did 73 in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. 29:3 Your eyes have seen the great judgments, 74 those signs and mighty wonders. 29:4 But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears! 75 29:5 I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out 76 nor have your sandals 77 deteriorated. 29:6 You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer – all so that you might know that I 78 am the Lord your God! 29:7 When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them. 29:8 Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.
The Present Covenant Setting
29:9 “Therefore, keep the terms 79 of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. 29:10 You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God – the heads of your tribes, 80 your elders, your officials, every Israelite man, 29:11 your infants, your wives, and the 81 foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water – 29:12 so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today. 82 29:13 Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, 83 just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors 84 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29:14 It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, 29:15 but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today. 85
The Results of Disobedience
29:16 “(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. 29:17 You have seen their detestable things 86 and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) 87 29:18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. 88 29:19 When such a person 89 hears the words of this oath he secretly 90 blesses himself 91 and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” 92 This will destroy 93 the watered ground with the parched. 94 29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger 95 will rage 96 against that man; all the curses 97 written in this scroll will fall upon him 98 and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. 99 29:21 The Lord will single him out 100 for judgment 101 from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law. 29:22 The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see 102 the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. 103 29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger 104 all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. 105 29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses 106 written in this scroll. 29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.” 29:29 Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants 107 forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.
The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation
30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses 108 I have set before you, you will reflect upon them 109 in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. 30:2 Then if you and your descendants 110 turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being 111 just as 112 I am commanding you today, 30:3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he 113 has scattered you. 30:4 Even if your exiles are in the most distant land, 114 from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 30:5 Then he 115 will bring you to the land your ancestors 116 possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. 30:6 The Lord your God will also cleanse 117 your heart and the hearts of your descendants 118 so that you may love him 119 with all your mind and being and so that you may live. 30:7 Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you. 30:8 You will return and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving 120 you today. 30:9 The Lord your God will make the labor of your hands 121 abundantly successful and multiply your children, 122 the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the Lord your God will once more 123 rejoice over you to make you prosperous 124 just as he rejoiced over your ancestors, 30:10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this scroll of the law. But you must turn to him 125 with your whole mind and being.
Exhortation to Covenant Obedience
30:11 “This commandment I am giving 126 you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote. 30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:14 For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind 127 so that you can do it.
30:15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 30:16 What 128 I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. 129 30:17 However, if you 130 turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 30:18 I declare to you this very day that you will certainly 131 perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. 132 30:19 Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! 30:20 I also call on you 133 to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually 134 in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” | <urn:uuid:9d196295-e425-4b72-82a2-d0c6ed67ed3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://net.bible.org/?_escaped_fragment_=bible/Deut%252028-30 | 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 | 0.96636 | 4,294 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Missouri presidential primary forecast: 23 pct turnout
Thursday, February 2, 2012
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Election officials are projecting 23 percent of Missouri voters will turnout for next week’s presidential primary.
Secretary of State Robin Carnahan is encouraging people to vote in the primary — even though the results won’t count for awarding delegates to the Republican National Convention.
The state Republican Party has chosen to allot its presidential delegates based on the results of caucuses that will begin in mid-March. Under national party rules intended to prevent a crush of early primaries, Missouri Republicans could have risked losing half their presidential delegates if they had used a February primary to award delegates.
Missouri law still requires a presidential primary to be held on Feb. 7, but it does not require political parties to use its results for awarding delegates. | <urn:uuid:327ce94b-b510-4d8a-be2b-5afa81ce3533> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newstribune.com/news/2012/feb/02/missouri-presidential-primary-forecast-23-pct-turn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955067 | 175 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The stair lift drive developed by Framo Morat actually consists of a total of three drives: the main drive for the lift’s upward and downward movements, one for swiveling the seat (making it easy to get on and off), and a drive for tilt correction so that the seating position is always horizontal despite differing gradients within a stair section. Link to manufacturer
This drive is used in dental practices. At the touch of a button it automatically doses and mixes two viscous, paste-like substances in the correct proportion and in the desired quantity. The challenge posed by this application consisted in designing the drive for an upgraded model – a quieter and smaller drive but twice as powerful.
Worm gear units for motorized motion rails
Two worm gear units have been built into a shoulder motion rail: one raises and lowers the patient’s arm; the other carries out a rotational movement of the shoulder. This generates a movement corresponding to the natural pattern for the shoulder. Maximum accuracy is required for post-operative movement of the shoulder, which is moved over the top dead center. Too great a gear backlash can be painful for the patient so our gears are produced with a total play of less than 1.5°.
The “Stair Climber”
A three-stage spur gear was developed for a stair-climbing aid. The Stair Climber can easily be attached to a conventional wheelchair so that persons weighing up to 160 kg can be transported up and down stairs. Particular attention was given to the quality of the gear components because of the extremely high demands made of the drive regarding performance and quiet running. Framo Morat won the contract to supply the drives because of the high quality we were able to guarantee.
Adjustment systems for operating tables
Medical applications pose the very highest of demands regarding precision, quiet running and long service life. This is also the case for the worm gear sets made of stainless steel, with which all moving parts of an operating table can be adjusted. Link to manufacturer | <urn:uuid:68ecb85a-3b9d-4474-9d11-0781b80e286e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.framo-morat.com/engl/MedicineRehatechnic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943873 | 414 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The irony of this year's festival is that the breakout hit, Brown's Pure Confidence, has the most theatrical flair and the least radical political content. The story of jockey Simon Cato, an African American slave who attempts to buy his freedom from his exploitive though ultimately quite likable white owners, has touches of comic brilliance, thanks largely to a rough, charismatic protagonist you actually don't mind spending a little time with. One scene in particular, involving Cato's calling of an imagined horse race between freedom and slavery, charges the stage with Suzan-Lori Parkslike linguistic vigor. But the work panders to the sentimental sensibilities of the audience. By striving to show the good and bad in all his characters, Brown skirts the harshness of his real subjectthe no-win situation of blacks in pre and postCivil War America. Here's a historical tragedy that isn't gray. Drama 101 may contend otherwise, but some things really are black and white.
Sad to say, the rousing standing ovation that erupted at the end of Pure Confidence was more disturbing than the play itself. Playwrights will have to ignore such cheap rewards if we're ever to achieve the political theater we sorely need. | <urn:uuid:f2700a0f-8de8-4208-9379-b5f3338fbbc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-04-05/theater/louisville-sluggers/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9621 | 246 | 1.617188 | 2 |
To save money, time and lives, Dakota County—along with 11 cities—established the Criminal Justice Information Integration Network, which uses the latest technology to share information quickly and accurately between law enforcement officers, attorneys, judges and probation officers who work together to make our communities safer.
The Criminal Justice Information Integration Network uses web-based tools to allow law enforcement agencies to electronically enter, track, access and share data across agency boundaries in seconds. It eliminates the paper processes that slow information sharing between criminal justice agencies, increases accuracy of information, saves time and increases public and officer safety by offering:
Online crime briefings
Instead of relying on paper crime briefings that were out-of-date as soon as an officer went on patrol, officers can view, enter, track and share information on missing or wanted persons, warrants, stolen vehicles, predatory offenders or other occurrences online throughout their shift.
The information is available to others within seconds, so if a car is stolen in Eagan, officers in Burnsville will immediately know and can be on the lookout.
Previously, access to information was limited to each jurisdiction. Sharing information across agency lines required a series of phone calls, faxes and driving back and forth between various offices. With more than half a dozen databases in Dakota County that hold information at the city, county and state level, that meant a lot of waiting.
Information "hub" for all data
The online information “hub” allows law enforcement to access any of the databases from their vehicle or laptop.
Now, if an officer arrests someone for a stolen vehicle, a single online search will provide them with any warrant, arrest or probation information, driving records, orders for protection, license photos and or other criminal information they may need.
The information is at their fingertips in the field, where they need it to perform their jobs.
There are a lot of forms to fill out when making an arrest. Often these forms require the same information—name, date of birth, address. Electronic forms eliminate the need to manually fill out each form.
Officers can enter the information once and copy it onto other forms. Once complete, the forms can be electronically routed to those who need them—the jail, if an officer is bringing someone in, or other law enforcement staff to report incidents or arrests.
Electronic forms eliminate the need to print and fax forms, increasing the quality and timeliness of communication.
Each month more than 6,000 electronic forms—incident reports, tow sheets, arrest reports, vehicle theft reports— are created by communities in the Criminal Justice Information Integration Network. | <urn:uuid:8903ce19-5b6e-4e64-b5cc-cff7824658e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/LawJustice/CJIIN/Pages/default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934468 | 528 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Kobach to speak ahead of Kan. Senate remap debate
Published on -5/15/2012, 12:44 PM
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Secretary of State Kris Kobach plans to discuss legal issues surrounding redistricting before a debate in the Kansas Senate on a new plan for redrawing the chamber's 40 districts.
Kobach is the state's chief elections officer but also a former law professor. He planned a Tuesday news conference.
It was scheduled only hours before senators were to debate a new map favored by moderate Republicans. Majority Leader Jay Emler, a Lindsborg Republican, expects the plan to pass.
But passage probably wouldn't break a stalemate with GOP conservatives, who have a majority in the House and have blocked an earlier proposal for Senate redistricting.
The impasse threatens to delay the state's Aug. 7 primary election. Lawmakers must adjust political boundaries to account for changes in population over the past decade. | <urn:uuid:15bba834-7658-4a14-a971-cbf669103375> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hdnews.net/apksstory/Kobach-to-speak-ahead-of-Kan--Senate-remap-debate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944997 | 200 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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The first complete book outlying the history, structure, weapons and uniforms of one of the Twentieth century’s most formidable military organisations.
If you want to understand the workings of the IRA this is the book.
It contains many rare and unpublished photographs, including two taken inside the GPO on Easter Thursday 1916.
Posted by Andrew on 25th Nov 2012
This book is a fantastic buy. As well as being able to look and read about uniforms and weapons of the IRA, the book includes some background on the IRA from 1969 onwards. The author's knowledge of the British oppression in the north of Ireland is fantastic - well worth buying for that alone!
Posted by Unknown on 1st Sep 2012
A little smaller book than I pictured, but content is very good | <urn:uuid:55cc1e88-8390-4acf-bf68-df93f1ddb551> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sinnfeinbookshop.com/the-volunteer-uniforms-weapons-and-history-of-the-irish-republican-army-1913-1997-signed-by-the-author/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963104 | 173 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Anyone who submits their first paper to a journal soon becomes aware of the “peer review” process: probably the single greatest contributor to academic suspicion and anxiety. Of course, these “peers” fall into two categories: the “esteemed colleague” (helpful); the “witless wonder” (negative, and prone to crushing your paper). Write a book, a play or an operatic score, and your critics in the media have a name. You could even find out where they keep their pet rabbit. They are accountable. Yet, editors of journals claim to have a “duty of confidentiality” towards those referees who opt for anonymity: guess which category most often does. At one time or another, most academics asked for critiques by learned journals only to recommend rejection have succumbed to “taking the veil”. Equally, there are few researchers who have not suffered a similar fate to one they may have meted out themselves. Learning by experience is not necessarily a strong point among scientists. A typical case came to my notice recently, but the identity of one faceless and repugnant referee eventually became clear. I know him well. He too had suffered acute stress from a grossly delayed manuscript and the vicious comment of an anonymous referee some years back, yet saw fit to indulge his own spleen when offered a place in the shade: goodness only knows why, but in this case I have my suspicions.
The whole scientific community grows increasingly uneasy about anonymous peer-review, and the abuse that it sometimes makes possible. Examples are deliberate delays by unnamed referees engaged in similar research or related commercial activity, plagiarism, incompetence and the self-indulgence of gratuitously destructive and belittling comment. It is the near-universal policy of referee anonymity that allows these unwholesome practices to fester and grow. Most journals give their referees the option of coming out of the closet, or remaining smugly behind its door. Some assume anonymity, so that a referee has to ask explicitly for their name to be revealed. Anonymous referees are simply moral cowards, along with editors of the journals that give them a cloak. What do they fear? Are direct questions about their comments cause for timidity?
Referee malpractice can be removed completely by editors refusing to allow referees to skulk behind anonymity. Now, in the UK at least, it seems possible to challenge this unwholesome editorial prerogative, because of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (2002 Scotland), which came into force on 1 Jan 2005, and the Data Protection Act 1998. Resorting to the Acts ought not to be necessary as regards the activities of scholarly journals, yet editors continue to defend the more faceless of their referees. No doubt there would be a temporary shortage of referees should compulsory “outing” become the norm, but it would remove those who do engage in malpractice. The most important result would be an increase in objectively constructive comment, which softens the blow of a rejection slip by showing a way forward to authors. Peer-review should work both ways, and should be seen to be honest. | <urn:uuid:de165b6c-2ba4-4b6c-855d-40e22aae5fc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://earth-pages.co.uk/2006/08/01/anonymous-referees-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961485 | 641 | 1.75 | 2 |
The Planetary Society was not only started by Dr. Sagan, but it is also a great resource of information on him and the World’s largest Space-interest group.
Also, as it is the holiday season, why not make a donation to SETI in commemoration of Dr. Sagan in a loved one’s name? They are always desperate for funding, and it could make a nice gift to the science enthusiast in your circle.
Are you a Space enthusiast with lots of idle disk space you don’t use, and are hard up for cash to make a donation? Well here’s an alternative to a donation that’s just as good if not better: download the BOINC client program and give a portion of your disk to research sciences. There’s a few to choose from and SETI is one of them. | <urn:uuid:4bca4be3-cba3-4b1c-b8c1-06d7ba697bf3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.celebratingsagan.com/tag/donations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945131 | 176 | 1.546875 | 2 |
I had intended here to offer some Explanations and apologies But there's no time. Prepare to shed some tears And hang on tight.
Last week at Hypertext, Dame Wendy Hall Reminded us of what we might forget: The Web is large and new, it flourishes, It seems to go from strength to strength, and yet We do not know how strong it really is. We must remember that we still could wreck the web.
A cheerful Jakob Nielsen once forecast That the web's early froth would soon subside And leave us with a few large sites that would Provide the stuff that common readers want, Leaving the failed and unsuccessul sites Unfrequented, unvisited, to wither on the vine.
The long tail remains viable if its integral is large.
If the integral becomes small, larger interests and governments will eventually discard it.
The key is that the long tail remain long.
This has not happened yet, and the long tail Still seems to flourish. Blogging, to be sure Is not quite what it was, but Twitter is, And Facebook seems to make a lot for Zynga And someday might for us. Besides, we still Have lots of blogs and lots of other sites, Folkloric or caloric, scholarly or fun. They're doing fine for now, it seems, and so What should we fear?
We all know that Web traffic is very noisy, especially for low traffic sites.
Trained to be a chemist, I was taught To first look for signal and, that found, To always check the noise. For if no noise appears It's likely that your signal is unsound. Finding some noise, you ought give some thought To measuring its size from trough to spike. We all know well that server loads will veer From high to low, and back, from day to day.
Traffic fluctuates all the time.
Sometimes we think we know why.
From hour to hour, alike from week to week. We can explain it, just as the news Can always tell us what the market thinks: "Stocks moved down today on fears of fresh Inflation. Tech stocks gained on un- Employment news." But my experiences is There's always something happening, and the noise Is never really easy to explain.
We do expect some noise because you can't Have half a visit. Readers are discrete Like cars upon the road. At the high-traffic bound This doesn't matter much. But at the low Each choice turns out to matter that much more.
Poisson first studied this, and the key thing To know is the expected variance Is just the mean; so if the mean is N The variance is N as well, and so: Look at our logs. We observe -- especially In the tail -- a lot more noise than this.
Poisson assumes that no one interacts. But if we interact the noise may change. If our cars hit the brake in traffic, we First find that clumps and traffic jams Increase the noise.
The noise can go down, too, As here, where traffic is so dense That by the time they reach our sampling zone The cars have all assumed a common speed and spacing.
The same result is found for better models. Here independent browsers move through space Indifferent to what other browsers do.
But here, instead, these readers flock together, Following their whim unless they see a friend Nearby, but clinging to their closest friend If any wanders past. We may distinguish here The HERD, in which a pundit does decide Where everyone should go, from what I here Propose, a simple FLOCK, where no one is in charge Yet nonetheless these organized behaviors do emerge.
Temporal correlation boosts the noise as when A classroom full of students visits you today Because a visit to your website was assigned. They won't be back today. A year from now The next year's class may visit you again.
Some of you may know that for quite a few years I've worked as a publisher of hypertext fiction. We once were the darling of postmodern critics, And later the – something – despised by their rivals. I mention this story not just for your sympathy (Though that's always welcome) but rather because I want to distinguish the high modern fiction We publish at Eastgate from broader concerns For narrative that I've expressed in the paper.
People like stories, we all want to know What happens next. We'll tune in tomorrow To learn how things went, to hear of our friends – Even our friends whom we don't really know, Even our friends who don't really exist: Especially our friends who may not be real.
We visit tomorrow to see how things went, Perhaps we might mention the case to some friends, Or write a short note in our weblog about it. Either way, herd or flock, stories focus the web.
A simple test-tube blogosphere Will quickly illustrate The dangers our sites face when they Confront the lower bound. To start, we have some sites. Each has N outbound links To other sites they like or use For regular updates. Each day, each writer chooses A few links to pursue And Markovly they follow up To see what might be new. Sometimes, a site discovered Is added to its list. And we might sometimes take a look At sites that links to us.
When links are sparse and logs ignored, it's true That nearly all the traffic goes to some successful sites. The others publish links to what they read – just like the rest; The sites that still have traffic are in red, the rest are blue.
A site that has no links no longer can be found, And so, quite soon what once was our long tail Decays to form a grim but stable web In just the way that Nielsen once foretold.
Static, dreary, dull and dead: our tail Is now no longer long. What can we do To shake things up? Our bloggers might pursue Some inbound links discovered in their logs.
Googling one's self would also do the trick, Or keyword search, or even buying ads. The same grim logic holds: our tail again grows short. But now a site, though blue, can rise again To shine in splendid redness for a time. If links are sparse, even the lucky rich May fall from grace and hear the baying hound, That grim, unlucky reaper: the zero lower bound.
Add more links, we're better off. This observation is not new: Its why we study hypertext. Mindless link farms dont help much, And simply linking’s not enough Since if we hit the zero lower bound Our site turns blue, and our mood blues too.
The hope here is, add links enough And readers too: you still might lose The longest part of the long tail.....
The zero lower bound still looms.
...But still retain a vibrant "middle class" Of many sites too busy to endure That fatal time of loss, but which Need not consolidate – or anyway That won't collapse right now.
As you've forseen, if we provide more links And use our logs to rediscover sites About lost love, the plate that time forgot, Or synthesis of octatetraenes: Whatever floats your boat: as you expect The genre tropes that shape this talk compell Our problems are resolved – and all is well.
So: we need lots of links, and backlinks too, if we are not to wreck that fragile Web. And have we links enough? Is our familiar Web That final, happy Web that we just saw? Or have we launched downhill? How can we tell What we've already lost? My second point: those links Shape stories, expectations that – when violated as I'm doing right now – drive our readers mad. Fiction and rhetoric are not artistic toys: They are the raw material with which Web Science works. | <urn:uuid:9fd06d4a-c76f-4480-b152-75860d00da7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.markbernstein.org/websci11/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956126 | 1,623 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Adventure movies are all about the journey a character takes in the film, whether it's a physical one - travel over various lands and terrains or based entirely on the escalating plot of the film. If we really think about it, adventure movies usually end up becoming great classics as time passes. A few great classics come to mind: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Seven Samurai, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones. Seven Samurai in particular is one of those films that started a huge chain of films that reverberated the theme over and over with variations of their own of course to create an entire movie genre. The hero struggles against the villain, usually in a harsh terrain while suffering great losses of their own, resulting in eventual triumph of the body or the mind. Adventure movies leave a pleasant afterthought when we leave the theatre, replaying various scenes in our head while repeating the character's epic phrases and for that, we love them. | <urn:uuid:44c14cbb-4ab2-4c71-b59a-e546f78ce901> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://watchfreemoviesnow.org/sort/adventure/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946435 | 194 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Teri Gault and her family survived without power for five full days when the historic Northridge Earthquake hit their Los Angeles home in 1994.
Gault, a lifestyle and money saving expert who founded the online shopping aid thegrocerygame.com, said it was because she always keeps a full freezer.
"If you have a power failure, you have twice the amount of time for your food to stay frozen if it's full," Gault said. "If we had gone on to day six, we would have been fine."
Though most families don't find themselves in such extreme situations, stocking your freezer could also serve an everyday purpose in modern times - saving you money.
Gault said the recent news released by the United States Department of Agriculture of a decreased crop yield due to the extreme drought conditions could heighten the price of many grocery staples in the coming months, including meat, milk, soy and corn. That's why she urges the users of her website not to wait to buy staple items when they need them.
"That's the wrong time to trigger buying. It's not smart investing," she said. "People don't realize that if you buy what you need every week and only what you need, you will pay full price for 80 percent of what's in your cart."
How long it lasts
Freezer storage is for quality only. Frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.
Bacon and Sausage 1 to 2 months
Casseroles 2 to 3 months
Egg whites or egg substitutes 12 months
Frozen Dinners and Entrees 3 to 4 months
Gravy, meat or poultry 2 to 3 months
Ham, Hotdogs and Lunchmeats 1 to 2 months
Meat, uncooked roasts 4 to 12 months
Meat, uncooked steaks or chops 4 to 12 months
Meat, uncooked ground 3 to 4 months
Meat, cooked 2 to 3 months
Poultry, uncooked whole 12 months
Poultry, uncooked parts 9 months
Poultry, uncooked giblets 3 to 4 months
Poultry, cooked 4 months
Soups and Stews 2 to 3 months
Wild game, uncooked 8 to 12 months
By buying when things are on sale - which Gault said usually run in 12-week cycles - it's never necessary to pay full price for anything.
"I haven't paid full price for meat since probably 1980," she said. "When it's 'buy one, get one free,' I buy eight."
Though you risk things like freezer burn, Gault said the USDA deems anything in the freezer to be "indefinitely" safe to eat. She recommends only buying three months worth of a particular meat at a time.
To keep track of what she has in the freezer, Gault keeps a chart of what type of meat she has, how many pieces and the date it was frozen.
"Then, before opening my freezer, I can look at my inventory instead of spending a lot of time with the door open," she said.
Gault said it's important to check packaging for tears and to be careful when moving things around in the freezer.
"Air is the enemy of any food in the freezer," she said.
Jackie Forsht, a master food preserver through the Penn State Coop-erative extension, agreed, adding that the ice crystals that form will cause the tissues and fibers in your product to break down.
Forsht's best suggestion to combat freezer burn is a vacuum sealer, which can range in price from $10 to $300.
"You pretty much get what you pay for," she said. "But even the smaller ones are better than nothing."
Forsht said it's also important to start with a good product - expired meat or overly ripe produce won't get any better in the freezer.
"Even though freezing dramatically slows the deterioration process, it doesn't stop it completely," she said.
Freezing certain foods can also change their consistency - and ultimately their range of use. Gault said she's frozen dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese, but she's more likely to put them in sauces, smoothies or other recipes than eat or drink them plain.
She warns to remember to pour some liquid out of cartons before freezing, as it will expand. For yogurt cups, Gault is sure to throw them in a plastic bag in case they pop their seams. Also, make sure to freeze dairy products before they hit their expiration dates.
Because of her frozen stock pile, Gault said she usually only has to shop once a week to get her fresh produce. Otherwise she'll hit regular or seasonal sales - buying baking ingredients when they're on sale during the holidays or salad dressings and condiments when their prices are reduced for summer barbecues.
Above all else, Gault said shopping sales and utilizing her freezer just makes everything easier.
"I'm all about easy. I don't like spending a lot of time on stuff," she said. "Who has the time?"
For Forsht, buying things when they're cheap and freezing them for later or when they're out of season is the main reason her freezer is always full.
"Things that are frozen retain taste and vitamin content wonderfully," she said. "You can have beautiful, locally grown produce in the winter at a much better price."
Mirror Staff Writer Beth Ann Downey is at 946-7520. | <urn:uuid:950963a1-b8e6-44ea-9e7c-72c9078f940b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/562766/As-food-prices-continue-to-rise--experts-provide-benefits-and-tips-for-cool-savings.html?nav=738 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971563 | 1,127 | 1.820313 | 2 |
On Oct. 29, 2004 -- four days before the election -- Osama bin Laden released a videotape attacking President Bush. As Ron Suskind later reported in his extraordinary book The One Percent Doctrine, CIA analysts concluded that "bin Laden's message was clearly designed to assist the President's reelection." John McLaughlin, the acting director of the CIA at the time, said at a meeting to discuss the tape, "Bin Laden certainly did a nice favor today for the president."
At the time, it was universally understood that the more voters were reminded of terrorism and external threats, the more they would gravitate toward the Republican candidate, particularly one who was so skilled at standing on top of rubble and issuing lusty promises of vengeance. What wasn't remarked on much was the possibility that -- as the CIA understood -- George W. Bush's re-election was exactly what al-Qaeda wanted. Chances are that they'd like the current Republican presidential nominee to win as well. The difference is that unlike four years ago, al-Qaeda may not have the power to affect the outcome of our election.
And it doesn't take a terrorism expert to figure out why al-Qaeda would want to elect Bush. If al-Qaeda had planted their own agent in the White House, he couldn't have done much more for the terrorist organization than Bush did. He let bin Laden escape at Tora Bora. He invaded a Muslim country, bogging down the United States in a protracted war that sapped its resources, isolated America from its allies, fanned the flames of anti-Americanism, and provided not only a recruiting tool for future terrorists but a place where they could train to kill Americans. He presented to the world a caricature of the ugly American, all bluster and ignorance. He established a virtual gulag at Guantanamo and defended the use of torture, obliterating America's claim to moral superiority. And perhaps most helpful to al-Qaeda, he talked about terrorism in apocalyptic terms, elevating the terrorist organization to the status of a civilization all its own, so powerful that it could destroy the world.
So it wasn't much of a surprise when it was reported last week that a message on a jihadi Web site said that it was in al-Qaeda's interest to see John McCain elected to fill Bush's chair. The person who put up the post may or may not be an actual terrorist, but he did seem to have a handle on our political situation, at least as it has been up until now. If al-Qaeda were to attack America, the author of the post wrote, "this act will be support of McCain because it will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaida. Al-Qaida then will succeed in exhausting America till its last year in it." The McCain campaign helpfully explained that if a terrorist says something approving about Barack Obama, he's revealing his true affections, but if he says something approving about John McCain, "he's clearly trying to damage John McCain, not speaking from his heart."
What the key terrorist groups operating today would probably like most of all is a third term for George W. Bush. It isn't just al-Qaeda that has benefited from Bush's leadership; Hamas and Hezbollah have flourished over the last eight years as well. In 2006, apparently in thrall to the notion that elections are a magic elixir for whatever ails a country (call it the Cult of the Purple Finger), the Bush administration pushed for parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories. Israeli leaders (including the perhaps-soon-to-be prime minister, Tzipi Livni), protested to the administration that it was a bad idea, warning that Hamas would likely emerge the victor. They were right: When the election took place that January, Hamas won 76 of the parliament's 132 seats, stunning the Bush administration and giving Hamas an institutional legitimacy it could not claim before.
Six months later, when Israel sank into a war with Lebanon, the administration encouraged the Israelis to continue and crush Hezbollah once and for all. As Israelis hid in bomb shelters and artillery rained down on southern Lebanon, Condoleezza Rice optimistically called it "the birth pangs of a new Middle East." In the end, the Israeli public was disgusted with their own government's bumbling, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah became a hero to anti-Israeli Arabs and Muslims everywhere. Score another one for brilliant Bush administration statecraft.
John McCain hasn't said much about Hamas and Hezbollah this year, but he likes to call Islamic terrorism "the transcendent challenge of the 21st century." That's quite a statement, one that no doubt warms the cockles of Osama bin Laden's heart. It says that al-Qaeda is more important than any nation on Earth save America, the global hegemon. As far as McCain is concerned, terrorism is more important than global warming, more important than the rise of China as an economic power, and more important than any challenge the United States will face for the next 92 years.
If nothing else, McCain gives the boys down at the al-Qaeda recruiting office a great pitch: "Look, kid, I know your life seems kind of miserable -- the parents are hassling you, school is a drag, and the night life in Karachi leaves a lot to be desired. So here's what you're facing. You can get some crappy job, marry some boring girl, live a meaningless existence, and keel over from a heart attack at 50. Or you can join the transcendent struggle of the 21st century. John McCain knows that if America loses, the forces of Islam take over the world. Don't you want to be a part of that?
But as far as the conservatives are concerned, worrying about how this clash of civilizations looks to Ahmed Sixpack is for wimps. Foreign publics don't need to be courted or convinced; they need to be shown who's boss. Likewise, terrorists shouldn't be fought by depriving them of the hard and soft support they need to operate freely but by opening up a big old can of whoop-ass.
So Republicans certainly have a political interest in asserting that terrorists quiver in their dusty boots whenever the snarling visage of a Bush or McCain appears on their televisions promising to "smoke 'em out" (that'd be Bush) or "follow bin Laden to the gates of hell" (that'd be McCain). But I have no doubt that they genuinely believe it. From their perspective, the fight against terrorism is a test of will and manhood. If we show terrorists that we're strong and tough, they'll eventually realize that their fight against us is futile, and they'll give up. GOP consultant Ed Rogers recently said on MSNBC, "None of our enemies are afraid of Obama. Why would they be? On the other hand, all of our enemies are afraid of John McCain."
I'm sure Rogers can't fathom why anyone would fear Obama, or why anyone who wishes America harm wouldn't fear McCain. But what does al-Qaeda really fear? What they fear is being marginalized. They can only continue to obtain recruits, raise money, and move about as long as they maintain support in Muslim countries, both active and passive. They fear not another American invasion of a Muslim country, but an American foreign policy that makes them less relevant. They fear a decline in anti-American sentiment. They fear Muslim publics that don't hate America quite as much, and so are unwilling to tolerate extremism in their midst. They fear losing their enemy.
And the American people may just be getting the picture. The sight of Osama bin Laden could make them rush to George Bush's arms four years ago, but would it have the same effect today? Would voters react to a new bin Laden tape -- or even a terrorist attack -- by saying, "We need someone who'll get tough on terrorism"? Or might they say, "Why the hell haven't we caught this guy yet? What are we doing wrong?"
The public didn't say that four years ago, in large part because George Bush's entire campaign was based on the proposition that he was strong and John Kerry was weak -- and it worked. In a Pew poll released at the beginning of October 2004, more than twice as many people (59 percent to 29 percent) picked Bush as the "strong leader." In contrast, when Pew asked the same question at the same time this year, McCain and Obama were virtually tied, at 43 percent to 42 percent.
The difference isn't just that the Bush 2004 campaign repeated this message endlessly, while the McCain campaign has been more scattershot. Much more important is that the public just doesn't think Barack Obama is weak. Unlike previous Democratic nominees, when attacked he exudes confidence, not fear. Add to that the fact that McCain's "tough" approach to terrorism is impossibly tainted by its association with the most unpopular president in history, and you have a radically different context in which this discussion takes place.
Osama bin Laden probably does want John McCain to win this election. But he may have run out of ways to help make it happen.
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(If there's one thing we know about comment trolls, it's that they're lazy) | <urn:uuid:1c894ff7-465d-49d4-8569-72d48a86864b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://prospect.org/article/real-october-surprise | 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 | 0.973158 | 1,909 | 1.601563 | 2 |
So I'm sitting on my bed, reading the news. I have this nifty tool installed in Firefox called StumbleUpon. Basically, when I click a button I am randomly referred to a web page that the tool thinks I would like, based upon my votes on other sites. I give a lot of thumbs-up to activist pages, so I was not surprised to be referred to a rights group.
What I was surprised to find, however, was that the rights group was a men's rights group.
I was curious. What are Men's Rights Activists? Do they champion the causes of men in Africa who can't afford to feed their families? Do they push for a male birth control pill? Do they speak out about abusive parents?
They speak out about the "violence" that the feminist movement has done to men. They talk about the Femi-Nazism of the government that punishes men for being masculine. They rage against women who ask ex-husbands for child support and alimony.
Basically, they think that society is out to hurt men by making them act like humans.
Their basic tenement is that men should be free to act like men. By men, they mean homophobic, hyper-masculine, violent, abusive, irresponsible failures of humanity.
How do I know this? Why, they are opposed to feminism. Feminists hold that the default definition of masculinity alienates men from their emotions and empathy, and is ultimately damaging to the individual and society as a whole.
Men's Rights Activists, on the other hand, hold that the gun-toting, children-leavin', anti-sissy model of manhood is the only thing holding humanity back from anarchy.
They also claim that both women and men are equally oppressed, or that men are oppressed more than women. Which is evident, of course, when one considers that less than 1% of the world's wealth is owned by women.
Men are "success objects" they say, and burdened as providers. Because, you know, women that labor unpaid in the house or underpaid as a teacher or maid are lazy lie-abouts.
They say that violence against men is more pandemic and tolerated then violence against women. While more men are mugged or killed in war, MRAs fail to comprehend the obvious: the people killing men also happen to be men.
Men killing and hurting men. Men killing and hurting women. Men killing and hurting children. Men running nations and sending men to their deaths. See a trend? In general, the subject of such violent sentences is typically a man. The very notion that women, or feminists, are responsible for the actions of men is laughable.
Largely, however, MRA groups tend to concentrate on one particular area: divorce law. They maintain that men have lost the right to a fair trial in family law and custody settlements. This, of course, is the fault of women.
The majority of law-makers are men. The majority of judges are men. Hell, the majority of high-paid lawyers are men. Perhaps they are responsible?
No! Who's to blame? Well, their "bitch of an ex-wife" who wants child support and alimony.
Despite hundreds of peer-reviewed studies sporting statistics that women, more often then not, get the short end of the stick at every point of the marriage life-span, including divorce, MRAs hold that men are being systematically attacked and oppressed by a justice system that they, as a gender, have largely perpetuated and dominated since antiquity.
If, by accident, the website I was perusing stumbled upon a legitimate concern to "men's rights", they approached the discussion in such a misogynistic and hostile fashion that hilarity ensued and rational argument was absent.
Yes, but the feminist movement can be hostile and angry, right?
Of course. Notice, however, that mainstream feminists reserve their rage for social forces that oppress humanity, disgusting criminals, sexist leaders, and, in general, people and forces that are actually doing something wrong.
MRA activists direct their rage towards women, and in particular, their ex-wives. The privilege that these largely middle-class white men receive and exercise is rendered completely invisible. They deny or ignore men's domination of powerful institutions, traditional familial structures, and popular culture.
When they do discover an example of a man without power, they typically ignore the fact that these are examples of men's powerlessness in the hands of other men. The injustices that men suffer by the hands of the legal system are largely the fault of modern male lawmakers, and wholly the fault of historical male-dominated institutions.
That is not to say that their observations are unfounded. Plainly speaking, men have lost power in all areas of modern life compared to their historical counterparts. This is not because of some feminist conspiracy or culture of man-bashing, it is because as society moves to correct millennia of inequality, the privileged will perceive a loss of power as resources are distributed more equitably.
For the purpose of illustration, assume that society has one pie and a group of four people. Because of various social doctrines, Bob gets to take half of the pie as his share. Mary, Rebecca, and Peter each then take a sixth of the pie for themselves, but only after years of political struggle and pie-lessness. Mary looks at everyone's pieces and finds that Bob's piece is far bigger than hers. She can think of no real reason why he is entitled to a bigger piece. So, she gets Rebecca and Peter to join her in demanding their fair share. Bob is eventually forced to give up half of his piece, so that everyone has a fourth. Bob thinks to himself, "why, this sucks. I was always told that it was my birth-right to have half of a pie. Now, I have to content myself with a fourth of a pie. I have lost pie. This is all that bitch Mary's fault".
Bob is right: he has lost pie. However, Mary and the others were right to demand more pie. If Bob wanted to blame something or someone, he should blame the people that originally decided that pies must be divided unfairly, or the social forces that inflated his expectations of what his "share" ought to be.
Men are given a far bigger share of the "pie" of wealth, power, and prestige than they are rightfully entitled to. MRAs are not wrong to observe the loss of those privileges, but they are wrong to view women, who still have yet to achieve full equality by law and otherwise, as the enemy.
When men are born into a society that indoctrinates them into a culture of inequality, but simultaneously purports equality as a social value, men develop the notion that their unfair share of global wealth and power is rightly kept, and that such inequalities are somehow "equal". When these advantages are taken away, and made more equitable, a man feels as if he is being treated unfairly.
What MRAs advance is the notion that, as men, they are treated unfairly by increasingly equitable (but not wholly so) legal systems. In that, they are absolutely right. Given that the definition of "man" as "he who is rightly entitled to a larger share of worldly power and wealth by the chance of being born with a penis", men are being treated poorly by the justice system.
As humans, however, these men are treated more than fairly, if not outright favored, in everything from family law to criminal law.
They are favored, by men, because they are men. If they are killed, hurt, or treated unfairly, they are largely abused, also, by men.
Such self-reflection, however, is beyond the power of those who maintain that violent and robotic models of masculinity are something to be preserved instead of destroyed. | <urn:uuid:900eda38-47ed-457a-b0a7-2d28f460461d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://impersonated.blogspot.com/2008/07/men-rights-activists.html?showComment=1215284760000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980728 | 1,615 | 1.578125 | 2 |
People of Northwest Public Radio
Washington Assisted Suicide
Thu May 3, 2012
One Story Behind Washington 2011 Death With Dignity Act Statistics
Seventy. That's how many terminally people hastened their deaths in 2011 with the help of a doctor’s prescription in Washington, according to a report out Wednesday from the state Department of Health. Since 2009, a total of 255 terminally ill adults have ended their lives in this way. One of them was Meg Holmes.
The latest statistics on Washington’s Death with Dignity Act show a steady increase in the people who have legally ended their lives under the law. Seventy terminally people hastened their deaths in 2011 with the help of a doctor’s prescription. That's according to a new report out Wednesday from the state Department of Health. Since 2009, a total of 255 terminally ill adults have ended their lives in this way. Colin Fogarty has the story behind one of those statistics.
Meg Holmes of Seattle held brain cancer at bay for 16 months. Surgeries and radiation couldn't keep her down. The family's blog about the experience shows happy images of hikes, bike rides, encouraging MRIs. But her husband, Andrew Taylor says in March last year, she had an ordinary MRI.
"And with these MRI's, you always go and see the doctor immediately afterward. And typically the doctor bounces through the door. And this time he didn't," Taylor says. "And we pretty much knew what was coming."
Over the next seven months, Meg lost her ability to see and move around. And then suddenly ...
"She told me out of the blue that she had been thinking about the Death with Dignity Act and now that was something she was really interested in," Taylor says.
According to the latest numbers from the Washington Department of Health, Meg Holmes is typical of the 70 terminally people who hastened their death with a doctor's prescription. Most were white, lived west of the Cascades, had health insurance and suffered from cancer. Seventy in 2011 is up from 51 in 2010 and 36 in 2009. One of the law's advocates, Robb Miller of the group, Compassion and Choice Washington, says despite the increase, this procedure is rare.
"We're talking about a minuscule number of people," Miller says.
The Washington Death with Dignity Act requires participating physicians to report information about patients to the state Department of Health. But opponents of doctor-assisted suicide, such as Margaret Dore with the group Choice Is An Illusion, want more intensive oversight.
"What's not included is whether or not these people acted voluntarily. Did the people consent? We hope they did. Was in their choice? We hope it was. Do we know that? No. Does anybody know that?" Dore asks.
Andrew Taylor says no one who spoke to his wife in her last few days believed it was anything but her choice. He says the day after Meg received the medication, her family gathered around her bed.
"She drank down the half cup of liquid. And she was literally asleep by the time she … by the time she finished drinking the half cup of medication, she was unconscious," Taylor says.
He says ten minutes later, she was dead. In her final hours, Taylor promised his wife he would take her favorite hiking staff with him up rugged Northwest trails. He plans to take that trip this spring. Taylor says he'll take some of her ashes too.
Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network | <urn:uuid:7d8abe69-e26c-41ca-bf23-9efeb9ea811d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nwpr.org/post/one-story-behind-washington-2011-death-dignity-act-statistics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982906 | 719 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Sing Song is fun. Always a friendly competition, students look forward to the event’s outcome because they know if they don’t win, some of their friends will, and then everyone is happy.
Ideally, that would be the case.
Instead, if you didn’t know Thomas Hobbes was talking about life, you’d think he was describing Sing Song as “nasty, brutish and short.”
Forty years ago, Optimist columnist John Williams wrote that, “Student rehearsals have reached the point where they interfere with other activities.”
Earlier this month, if your Sing Song practice schedule didn’t interfere with your entire life, you weren’t practicing enough.
Sub T-16’s act wasn’t just entertaining; it was needed. It’s good to see a club enjoy its time in the spotlight and make fun of itself (and ACU) at the same time. While the men of Sub T don’t care enough to seriously compete in the 57-year-old A Capella tradition, they are necessary. The show needs that counterbalance from the other clubs who care a little too much.
“Sing Song is also a competition, and that’s what makes it fun,” say the Sing Song co-chairs each year, and that’s true. But when the amount of time spent preparing for the three judged performances becomes overwhelming, it makes winning too important.
It makes some participants trash talk others and put them down, sometimes causing a division between friends and classmates. It makes some people care more about winning, in an event that means absolutely nothing to anyone outside the ACU community, than everything else, including school. It makes club members complain that their club wasn’t in one edition of the Optimist as much as another one, which was “hurtful” to many other members.
The grad class had it right. The smallest group in the mixed category, these guys are busier than you (freshmen, if you think you’re busy now, just wait. It gets worse) and they still put in lots of hours to perfect their performance. Not for the trophy, but for the love of Sing Song. They made art funny and entertaining, which isn’t easy to do. If they had had a bigger group, the Optimist’s Hal Hoots probably would’ve predicted them to finish in the top 3 of mixed voices.
Speaking of which, if the Optimist predicts your act to win, prove it right. If it predicts you to not finish first, prove it wrong. Complaining does nothing.
Sing Song shouldn’t be about beating rivals. It shouldn’t include neglecting schoolwork. It definitely shouldn’t make life more stressful. It should be about having fun with your friends, creating enjoyable performances and memories. Rivalries will continue and some groups will win and many will lose each year. My hope is that the losers and winners both realize Sing Song is not more important than grades.
Comments are closed | <urn:uuid:f116b024-e74e-46a5-b6e3-82be656e3e7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.acuoptimist.com/2013/02/put-class-before-sing-song-acts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973739 | 653 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Special to the Daily News
In the hills of Appalachia, winding mountain roads lead to a proud people rich in heritage and culture. Weathered boards of a wraparound porch resonate with the sounds of the strumming of the guitar, plucking of the banjo, scratching of the washboard and tapping of the feet as family and friends gather together.
Colorful, vibrant quilts flapping on the clothesline mirror the women who lovingly make them. The lush greens of neatly tended gardens speak of days yet to come when tomatoes will be canned, beans dried and shucked, herbs hung from the ceiling and corn kernels plucked from ears to be used in cornpones and mash. A pile of neatly stacked wood brings warmth when needed, but when carved into “Dapper Dan” and “Walkin’ Mules,” also joy and amazement to children.
But come Sept. 21 - 23, a winding road will not be needed to discover such treasures. Rather, travelers can drive the straight and modern four-lane Hwy 25 to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park where daily chores and skills will be showcased in one venue:”Homespun Appalachia.”
Park Ranger Pam Eddy, who has been instrumental in helping to orchestrate the event, explains the event’s offerings as ones which will “rekindle the flame of true homespun Appalachia.”
“We’ve selected a wonderful array of craftsmen and artists who will demonstrate the skills,trades and even food that shaped mountain life of yesterday and today,” said Eddy.
Local crafters will include Joey Beason, a modern day “Geppetto” making his rendition of “Pinocchio.” Ranger Eddy explains that recently, when Joey was presenting his Appalachian toys at one of the park’s campfire programs, an awed adult visitor who could no longer restrain herself literally jumped up and exclaimed, “You make all this by hand!”
Manager Lynn Stanley, of Cumberland Crafts, which too is involved in choreographing the event, is ecstatic about the guild’s participation.
“There can be no better way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Cumberland Crafts,” said Stanley. “We’ve chosen some remarkable artists whose demonstrations will reveal how many daily household chores and necessities have metamorphosed into fabulous art forms.”
Lynn Oglesby, who devotes her time to fiber arts, will wow visitors. Oglesby reminisces, “Sitting at my grandmother’s treadle sewing machine, making doll clothes, is one of my earliest and fondest memories. Since those young years, I have grown into an experienced fiber artist.”
When listening to Rick Long play his hand made bowed psalteries, one will think they are surrounded by a choir of angels. Rick credits his parents for his love of this beautiful instrument.
“At my father’s side, I became familiar with walnut, cherry, cedar and other woods native to North America.I gained great love and respect for the use of these materials..My love for music came from my mother; she is very talented and can play the piano really great by ear.”
For Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) intern Deidre Donahue, who will graduate in May 2013 with a master’s degree in business, helping co-plan “Homespun Appalachia” has been a dream come true.
Donahue shares that as a child growing up in Jonesborough, Tenn., she was immersed in rich Appalachian traditions, especially being surrounded by Jonesborough’s Storytelling Festival.
“Now, here I am, deeply involved in helping to design an event to insure that the rich traditions of Appalachia are not forgotten. It’s cool being involved from the initial inception of this educational festival to connecting with incredible artists to creating the blueprint for various forms of the event’s publicity to helping formulate the budget and then finally seeing the event carried out,” said Donahue.
Donahue also credits LMU for helping her hone skills required in fashioning such a gala endeavor.
“Homespun Appalachia” participants will also be able to visit with Pat Biggerstaff of Middlesboro who is a celebrated master organic gardener and author. Pat will be available to sign copies of her “Back to Basic”cookbooks.
Always a favorite at local events, Irma Gall and Sue Meadows and of course lambs and other young animals from Lend a Hand Farm in Stinking Creek will be present. Renowned photographer and retired Lee County Extension Agent Harold Jerrell of Rose Hill, Va. will share his expertise of historic foods to also include his grafting of heirloom apple tree varieties at the historic Henlsey Settlement.
Forester Steve Roark from Claiborne County, Tenn. will excite all with his knowledge of medicinal herbs. Visitors will flock to Tamara Ponyi. Hailing from St. Charles, Mo., Ponyi will introduce all to fraktur, a folk art form practiced by Pennsylvania Germans principally from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries.
As Susan and Grady Simpson of Middlesboro churn butter, mouths will water. To curb that hunger, the Clinch Mountain Restaurant will be on site offering traditional Appalachian foods, including soup beans and barbecue.
Ranger Eddy thanks the Tri-States school teachers who are committed to insuring that history continues to live in their students. “Seven-hundred local school children are already signed up for Friday!”
Friday hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, event hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For additional information on the event, which is also being supported by the Friends of Cumberland Gap and Eastern National, park neighbors and friends can call the park visitor center at 606-248-2817, extension 1075. | <urn:uuid:f4546bf6-1e6c-461c-94c2-9da6729c0e40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.middlesborodailynews.com/pages/home/push?class=&rel=prev&x_page=176&per_page=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940949 | 1,273 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Shots - Health Blog
Tue November 29, 2011
GOP Governors Hedge Bets On Health Insurance Exchanges
Obama administration officials have announced another round of grants to states to help build the insurance marketplaces, called "exchanges," that will help individuals and small businesses buy health insurances beginning in 2014.
But the real news is who's getting the $220 million. Nine of the 13 states in this round of grants are headed by GOP governors.
Seven of those GOP governors are part of the multi-state lawsuit accepted earlier this month by the Supreme Court to test the constitutionality of a key element of President Obama's health overhaul law. The money for the grants derives from that law.
Conservatives who want the entire law invalidated have cringed at state executives who are, in their eyes, undermining their opposition by accepting money to implement the measure.
More likely, the GOP governors are simply being practical, because failing to set up an exchange won't stop it from happening. That's how Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, director of coverage policy for the Department of Health and Human Services, sees it.
"They know that if they don't establish an exchange for 2014, then (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) will establish one in their state," Brooks-LaSure told reporters.
For those of you keeping score, the seven states receiving grant money while also challenging the law in court are: Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Nebraska.
Alaska, Florida, Kansas and Oklahoma appear to be the only states that are refusing all federal funds associated with the 2010 law. | <urn:uuid:8b50589e-e367-416c-ba9b-f30d02f8c61e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wkyufm.org/post/gop-governors-hedge-bets-health-insurance-exchanges | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963526 | 335 | 1.539063 | 2 |
West Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the largest and the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010 the city had an estimated population of 99,919 and is one of the principal cities in the South Florida metropolitan area, which has a population of over 5.5 million.
NEWEUROPE™ Club plans to utilize one of top 4 or 5 star hotels in West Palm Beach such as Ritz Carlton for its weekly Social Events, Parties & Shows or other special events places. We also plan to have NEWEUROPE™ Palm Beach Band which will perform NEWEUROPE™ Dance music in English plus other past popular American and European Melodic Dance Songs including by Abba, Cher, Madonna and others. NEU will also organize Face of NEWEUROPE™ Palm Beach and Miss NEWEUROPE™ Palm Beach competitions.
If you are a woman of European
background living in Florida only for
now send us a photo of your Face!
Officially starts July 1, 2013
Link to Send Your Photo page
ANI LORAK video – For You | <urn:uuid:0f8db514-586c-4388-bdd2-ce34d00dd0b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neweuropeclub.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=70 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93364 | 248 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Federal Trade Minister Simon Crean has criticised a reported call by China for a two-month boycott of iron ore purchases from Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.
A Chinese report says the China Iron and Steel Association has urged the boycott in protest at what it claims is a price monopoly by Anglo-Australian firms Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, and Brazil’s Vale.
It follows agreement by other key Asian buyers to accept price increases for three-month deals of up to 100 per cent.
Trade Minister Simon Crean says such a call is contrary to China’s status as a market economy.
“You’ve got to let the market determine the price. You can’t be issuing directives in terms of restricting supply,” he said.
Mr Crean says he does not believe there is a monopoly, but if China is serious it should seek market-based remedies like helping to improve efficiency and iron ore supply from Australia.
“That’s the way you get the balance back between demand and supply. To simply try and do it through central edict defeats the whole purpose of functioning as a market,” he said.
Mr Crean says a boycott is unlikely because demand for iron ore in China is so high.
Agreements by the Asian steelmakers in the iron ore talks have previously served as a benchmark in global negotiations.
China’s commerce ministry told reporters last month the state would support domestic steel mills in their thorny iron ore price negotiations even after the Australian Government bluntly told Beijing to stay out of the talks.
“As the world’s largest iron ore consumer, the interests of Chinese steel mills should be reflected in the negotiations,” commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian said. | <urn:uuid:d23cfd10-10dc-4830-8dca-d09334bfb803> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://silverscorpio.com/china-call-to-boycott-australian-iron-ore/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947991 | 364 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Read and listen to IELC Divine Service.
Part of the Easter series, preached at a Divine Service service
|« FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER||None||SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER »|
98:1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
9 before the Lord, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity. (ESV)
34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. (ESV)
1 John 5:1-8
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. (ESV)
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (ESV) | <urn:uuid:c8ae55ec-540d-4a86-8032-5c81f8405047> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ielchurch.org/sermons/divine-service/?sermon_id=151 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985714 | 1,123 | 1.5 | 2 |
For the uninitiated, “My nerves are shot!” is a phrase very commonly heard by this wandering pilgrim in his days seeking to help those suffering from seemingly insurmountable anxiety and stress. It basically means, “I can’t take all this anxiety anymore!! I’m completely beaten down by all of it! Please help!!!!”
After hunting around, I managed to find some pictures that illustrate the following fact:
Even though I myself might not have the courage to trust in rickety, rusty, rotting stairs to climb to the top of tall belfries, and then to lean out over the top to look down at the tiny buildings, cars, and people below, some folks DO possess this bravery, and I tip my hat to them!
For example, these young ladies certainly had a lot of intestinal fortitude while mounting up to this belfry at the top of the Basilica in Quito, Ecuador:
But, once they reach the top, what a view they received as their reward!!
And then here is another young man who overcame, undoubtedly, tremendous fear to climb out onto the precipice of imminent disaster to capture great photos:
I’ve got to hand it to him … he’s got a ton of courage! Courage which I do not possess. And likely never will. Which, taken with the long range view in mind, is perfectly ok by me.
I do very much appreciate the photographs he has given the rest of us, though!
As we decided in our last installment (well, at least I decided!) anxiety is the degree to which our bodies are activated, in any given situation, moreso than is needed to deal with that situation. And as we also talked about, anxiety disorders are extremely common, with as many as 40% of American adults having a diagnosable anxiety disorder at some point in their lives (in many cases, for their ENTIRE lives!). That means 2 of every 5 of us will be impaired by anxiety in some way, shape, or form during our journey! This outnumbers almost any other illness we might ever face. And as such, anxiety disorders ought to be taken very seriously.
Now, we also discussed the fact that there is a very big difference between having an “anxiety disorder”, and having an “anxious” or “fearful” state of mind. This is a huge distinction, and we’ll talk more about that later on, down the road.
Currently, the most common form of treatment for anxiety disorders is medical, i.e., medication. Whether it ought to be or not is a debate for another venue and time.
There are 3 primary classes of medicine used to help people with anxiety disorders:
1) Tricyclic Antidepressants: The word “tricyclic” refers to their chemical molecular structure. The word “antidepressant” means that all of these medicines were originally marketedas antidepressants. It has very little to do with how they actually work within the nervous system. And they are used to treat far more than just depression. Anxiety, chronic pain, insomnia, migraine prevention, etc. are all within their purview these days. The class includes: Amitriptyline (Elavil), Nortriptyline (Pamelor), Desipramine, Imipramine, Clomipramine (Anafranil), Doxepin, and Trazodone, among others.
2) SSRIs (aka, Selective Serotonin-Reuptake Inhibitors): This class also is primarily considered to be “antidepressants”, but once again, we find them being used to treat other problems, most especially anxiety. The list includes: Fluoxetine (Prozac), Paroxetine (Paxil), Sertraline (Zoloft), Citalopram (Celexa), Fluvoxamine (Luvox), and Escitalopram (Lexapro). All of these medicines can lessen anxiety, though they typically take longer to achieve this dampening effect.
3) Benzodiazepines. This is by far the most effective class of medicine if you simply want to lessen anxiety in its global context. It includes: Diazepam (Valium), Alprazolam (Xanax), Clonazepam (Klonopin), Lorazepam (Ativan), Chlordiazepoxide (Librium), Clorazepate (Tranxene), etc.
The problem with “Benzos” is that they have developed a negative connotation and reputation for many people, both inside and outside of the mental health profession. ’Tis true, some people do abuse benzodiazepines. A slender few become addicted to them. Not even close to a majority, but that fact seems to matter little to many people. In my experience, VERY few people who truly do struggle with a real anxiety disorder will ever abuse their medicine. They simply want relief! NOT to get high. But, as with so many things, a few people with selfish or unhealthy intentions can often ruin things for many others, and this has been the case with these medicines. However, it is also true that many prescribers have too often written scripts for these medicines without really finding out whether and to what degree their patient actually has a crippling anxiety problem. I have been guilty of this at times. Most of the time, though, when I prescribe such a medicine for someone, I have been careful in the diagnosis, but I do often choose to trust people until such time that they might prove to be not trustworthy. The vast majority of the time my trust in them has been well-founded, and they end up very grateful for the help with this hugely disabling condition!
There are other medicines commonly used to help with anxiety, but they are usually fairly unique-type meds, not a part of a larger class. Examples include Buspirone (BuSpar), Hydroxyzine (Vistaril or Atarax), Gabapentin (Neurontin), and a couple of other more obscure medicines not used much in a number of years.
However, there are other ways beside medicine to treat anxiety disorders.
There is what is called, “Cognitive Therapy”. This is a form of treatment in which you work with your therapist to identify some of the “automatic thoughts” that go through your head in certain situations. In this case, these would be situations in which you ordinarily begin to feel symptoms of anxiety arise within your body. Then, while you are in a safe and calm place, you begin to REALLY examine these thoughts, as well as the beliefs that underlie them, and see just how true and accurate these beliefs and thoughts actually are. For any of us who do this sort of exercise, we quickly realize that there is an incredible amount of pure junk (I wanted to use a word that includes a large case ‘B’ next to a large case ‘S’ here, but as this is a “family” forum, I’ll stick with ‘junk’!) percolating around in our minds, and it has a huge impact on our lives. But, again, that’s a discussion for another day.
As you identify the falsehoods and silly thinking or logic that permeates your belief systems, you begin to try to change those automatic thoughts with other self-talk which you, yourself, script out. Some people will actually write down a few “true” statements on a 3×5 index card and carry it around with them, to pull out whenever they start to feel anxious. You could also write a few such lines on your cell phone. As you begin to practice responding with more accurate statements about yourself, the situation, the worst case scenario, and other “outside-the-box” choices you can make for yourself in that instant, and as they become more habitual for you, the less your anxiety and worry become.
Almost all forms of therapy are really exactly like this, though other forms don’t have the specific “homework” assignments that cognitive therapy does. They are all about looking at what we do (and feel and think), why we do it, and how unsound our thinking is that undergirded the reasons why we did so. Then we look deeper to find truths about ourselves and others around us, and try to build our future upon more truthful and sound foundations. Some therapies will have us delve back into our childhoods, or walk through traumatic experiences over again, or examine the relationships we had with our parents, or siblings, or various authority figures, etc. But the goals are still pretty much as I’ve laid out above, when you distill them all down.
Other forms of treatment are not exactly “therapy” in the common lingo, but they are still ‘therapy’ in the purest sense of the word! These other forms I categorize as “Mind over Matter”! Or, in this case, “Mind over Body”! These forms include such things as Biofeedback, Deep (Abdominal) Breathing Techniques, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, and Visual Imagery. In addition, while they are not specifically treatments for anxiety problems as the things listed above are, Yoga, T’ai Chi, Pilates, and other forms of exercise which emphasize breathing, flexibility, and mindfulness, are excellent tools for people to explore who deal with anxiety disorders.
In all of these endeavours, the goal is for the person practicing these things to maximize one’s control over one’s body. To slow things down to at least a manageable level. When we again think about how the body automatically begins spitting out huge amounts of adrenaline (epinephrine) and norepinephrine in response to, say, standing on the parapet of a 500-foot tall belfry, and how this leads to dramatic increases in heart rate, breathing rate, cold sweats, dizziness, churning guts, shaky hands, weak knees, and a strong feeling that we may very well die, the one thing we would most wish for is the ability to control some of this, so we could make it go away! If by deepening and slowing our breathing, or by closing our eyes and imagining ourselves in a “safe place” (for me, it’s always been sitting on the sand at Holden Beach, North Carolina, on a warm, breezy summer day, with the constant and soothing sound of the surf driving all fear from my mind!), we can actually direct our bodies to shunt some of that adrenaline away and feel quickly less tense and panicky, so much the better. The best thing about these techniques, if practiced repeatedly, is that they can be called upon at any time in any place, and no external chemical is needed!
Actually, one of the best non-specific treatments for anxiety is to simply exercise. Walking or running, or any of the numerous forms of dance-type exercises now popular … really, any kind of what is called “aerobic” exercise … will help build resistance in your cardiovascular and respiratory systems to the over-stimulating effects of adrenaline. I often tell my patients of the stories I saw a number of years ago during a summer olympics broadcast of a couple of marathon runners who first started out running, in response to their doctor’s recommendation that they start exercising as a way to prevent or lessen panic attacks. Lo, and behold! They became world-class long-distance runners, and had no more panic attacks to boot! Now, of course, one does not need to run 26.2 miles in 3 hours or so in order to overcome panic disorder … but you get the idea.
I’ve very superficially described only a few of the many treatments available for anxiety disorders. Some of these disorders, such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, require very intensive treatments that have to be tailored to that person’s specific patterns and O-C drives. Social phobia or specific phobias (such as fear of heights!) will often require a form of therapy known as exposure, or progressive desensitization, to help someone go from the panic caused by even the mere thinking about the thing they dread, to actually being able to be in that situation for several minutes, and to see that you CAN live through it and do okay.
The one thing I have hoped above all in these last two posts is to convey the truth that if you or someone you care about is dealing with some kind of anxiety disorder, there is hope. In many cases the hope is that it can be managed better, feel better, and NOT be an obstacle to living a normal and happy life, or to achieving your goals and dreams. In some other cases, there is good hope for a complete cure … learning and finding a way to live free of whatever anxiety has haunted you for so long. Either way, I urge you to seek help, as it is out there.
I wish you calmness and peace.
Craig Meek, M.D. | <urn:uuid:a8019048-7582-47a1-9461-e0f0c832a4d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cmquest.wordpress.com/tag/progressive-muscle-relaxation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95995 | 2,761 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Dr. Paul Anastas, recognized as the “Father of Green Chemistry” and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development, will deliver the fifth Borlaug Lecture at N.C. State University on October 4, 3:30 p.m., in the N.C. State Talley Student Center Ballroom. The lecture is sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Natural Resources.
In this month’s news tips from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, learn about the debut of new degrees, the strawberry dream team and the return of “In the Garden” to the airwaves.
The latest North Carolina research related to sweet potatoes will be the focus of an Oct. 14 field day at the Cunningham Research and Education Center in Kinston. Participants will hear about such topics as development of new varieties and the latest in weed control and insect management issues. And they will even have the chance to sample sweet potato beer and chips.
Hear what N.C. State University scientists have to say about some of the most promising N.C. crops for bioenergy during a field day set for Sept. 30 in Oxford.
Dr. Ronald Wimberley, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of sociology and anthropology at N.C. State University, has been named 2010 Distinguished Rural Sociologist by the Rural Sociological Society. Wimberley received the society’s highest recognition in August at its 73rd annual meeting in Atlanta.
The North Carolina 4-H Youth Development Program is teaming up with the Food Banks of North Carolina to promote awareness of hunger in North Carolina and to make an impact in local communities through a new hunger awareness initiative called Hungry to Help.
KANNAPOLIS, NC – N.C. State University agricultural researchers and Johnson & Wales University culinary professionals and students are working together in a first-of-its-kind project to breed a better strawberry for North Carolina.
Businesses need loans to expand, and new businesses need loans to start. But banks aren’t lending. Mike Walden discusses why banks aren’t lending.
More than 1,100 CALS alumni and friends celebrated the tradition on Sept. 4, as the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences held its 19th annual football tailgate event at Dorton Arena on the state fairgrounds.
Students from across the state have received 4-H scholarships from the North Carolina 4-H Foundation to attend institutions of higher learning. During the recent State 4-H Congress held in Raleigh, the foundation awarded more than $130,000 in 4-H scholarships for this academic year. | <urn:uuid:84ff034d-c2e0-4625-996a-9f70f612e6a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/news-center/2010/09/?cat=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933639 | 552 | 1.5 | 2 |
While we’re on the subject of patient studies, here’s another thing: “regular” research with real live patients is not without its faults, no sir. By that I mean to say that even though studies using real, live people may seem quite preferable to computer simulation, things are not always as forthright as they seem.
Essentially, the article notes, “the pharmacuetical industry has much to gain by the selective publication of positive studies.” Studies showing no significant impact, and/or disprove the effectiveness of particular products rarely get publicized, meaning the stuff highlighted on Google News and elsewhere for easy publication pick-up are invariably those that happen to make specific treatments look good.
The real information gaps, the article notes, “are in the core issues of health-related quality of life, diabetes complications, and mortality, which have never been investigated in in high-quality, randomized controlled trials (RCTs).” MRGGGIFF!!! (that’s my supressed scream, due to recognizing just how difficult these far-reaching issues are to study in any reasonable way).
“The industry spends over $10 billion USD per year on funding around 90% of the 40,000 to 80,000 RCTs being conducted around the world at any given time,” the DV article states. “That such a high proportion of RCTs is funded by industry is of concern. Industry has a vested interest: the trials focus on patentable and therefore profitable drugs.”
Yes, but what’s to be done? This article calls for a more broad registration and publication of ALL research results. It also hightlights the work of the Cochrane Collaboration, an independent non-profit organization that “promotes the search for evidence in clinical trials and other studies.” In other words, the Cochrane group gives you the skinny on open questions in research on their web site. Worth checking out.
The so-called “Cochrane Reviews” are “systematic assessments of evidence of the effects of healthcare interventions, intended to help people to make informed decisions about health care, their own or someone else’s.”
For example, see their synopsis of recent studies on Inhalable Insulin. Scroll down to read the “plain-language summary,” which concludes, “We need longer studies to see if there are any side-effects in the lung. More insulin has to be given by inhaled than by injection to achieve the same effect, and the cost-effectiveness remains to be assessed.” Gotcha, thanks! | <urn:uuid:057f56c9-691d-421a-ad07-2e1b8ea223f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.diabetesmine.com/2006/09/information_bia.html/comment-page-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945287 | 551 | 1.828125 | 2 |
By Diane Bartz and James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court rejected two patents on a method for monitoring a patient's blood to determine the best dosage for a drug, a decision that may affect the profitability of personalized medicine.
The justices unanimously overturned on Tuesday a ruling by an appeals court that allowed the patents for Nestle SA unit Prometheus, with the high court saying that companies could not patent observations about a natural phenomenon.
The patent challenge, brought by a unit of the Mayo Clinic, had been closely watched because it could affect the burgeoning field of personalized medicine, which can also involve determining whether a patient is genetically susceptible to a disease or which patient would respond best to which treatment.
The Supreme Court's opinion, written by Justice Stephen Breyer, concluded that Prometheus' process for monitoring a patient, and adjusting dosage as needed, could not be patented.
"We conclude that the patent claims at issue here effectively claim the underlying laws of nature themselves. The claims are consequently invalid," Breyer wrote in the 24-page opinion.
The biotech industry warned the Supreme Court's ruling could threaten hundreds or thousands of exiting patents, and deter future patent applications for personalized medicines, many of which are the product of lengthy and expensive research.
"We are surprised and disappointed in the Court's decision," said Hans Sauer, a deputy general counsel for the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
Other patent experts contacted by Reuters also said the ruling could have a chilling effect on similar patents.
In the Prometheus process, doctors are told to monitor patients taking synthetic thiopurine compounds to treat gastrointestinal disorders such as Crohn's disease and other auto-immune illnesses.
The goal is to hit certain levels to ensure the best outcome with the fewest side effects. Prometheus markets a diagnostic test that uses the technology covered by the two patents.
A unit of the Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minnesota, argued that the method used to determine dosage was akin to a natural phenomenon and thus not eligible to be patented.
The fight began in 2004, when Mayo, which had been a Prometheus customer, said it would begin using its own version of the $260 test. Prometheus sued for patent infringement, and Mayo's test has never come to market.
Mayo won the first round when a district court invalidated the patents. But the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears patent appeals, twice held that Mayo was wrong and ruled that the method Prometheus came up with was a "transformation" that could be patented.
The American Medical Association and 10 other medical groups supported Mayo, while trade groups for the drug and biotechnology industries supported Prometheus.
Courtenay Brinckerhoff, a Foley & Lardner LLP patent expert, said that there could be less funding for research because of this decision. "This is a disruption of the status quo," she said.
But Bruce Wexler, a patent litigation expert with the law firm Paul Hastings LLP, said the top court's decision should have a limited effect because the court itself sought to refrain from straying much beyond the patents in the lawsuit and precedent.
"The Supreme Court in this opinion made the decision depend specifically on the facts and its prior precedent rather than make a broad pronouncement about a technical field of science," he wrote in an email.
Breyer, for his part, argued that allowing the Prometheus patents could potentially stifle innovation.
"This court has repeatedly emphasized a concern that patent law not inhibit future discovery by improperly tying up the use of laws of nature and the like," he wrote in the decision.
"Rewarding with patents those who discover laws of nature might encourage their discovery. But because those laws and principles are 'the basic tools of scientific and technological work,' ... there is a danger that granting patents that tie up their use will inhibit future innovation," he wrote.
Experts are also watching legal battles over patents held by Myriad Genetics. Last July, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit allowed Myriad to patent two genes that account for most inherited forms of breast and ovarian cancer.
The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court, which has not said if it would take it up.
Nestle bought San Diego-based Prometheus in July 2011, making it part of Nestle Health Science.
The Supreme Court case is Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, No. 10-1150.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz and James Vicini; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Tim Dobbyn) | <urn:uuid:bb3f8b0f-83fe-47c7-8c04-72536e56656e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whbl.com/news/articles/2012/mar/20/us-top-court-rejects-two-medical-test-patents/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960577 | 923 | 1.710938 | 2 |
1998-1999: Church protest: Lincoln, NE:
Dr. Winston Crabb has been a gynecologist in Lincoln NE for 25 years. He occasionally
performed abortions. Dr Crabb claims that an Omaha pro-life group called Rescue the
Heartland has "been chasing me around" for years. In 1996-DEC, the
group found that Dr. Crabb was a deacon at Westminster Presbyterian Church in
Lincoln. They started putting pressure on the church as well.
Picketing of the church started on 1997-FEB-23. There were typically a dozen members of Rescue the Heartland in front of the church before each Sunday service and at
various other church events. They held up posters which show bloody pictures of late-term
"aborted fetuses and mangled body parts." 1 Dr.
Crabb commented: "I would not have gotten on session if I'd realized
it was going to create this hassle. But after you are (on session), you can't give in to
them." He has also been ordained as a deacon and is in his final year as a
member of the session.
Rev. Carl Horton, an associate pastor at Westminster, said:
"I think the
community of faith has seen beyond the issue of pro-life, pro-choice or beyond any one
person's position on abortion. You kind of band together as a community to make it through
the storm, and there's this sense of putting those differences aside."
Dr. Crabb and the Westminster Church are featured on an anti-Abortion internet site, The Nuremberg Files. 2 The site lists abortion doctor's names and addresses. It calls
these church members "pew-sitting butchers of God's children." On 1999-FEB-2,
a federal jury found the webmasters of the site guilty of threats to abortion providers.
Damages of at least $100 Million were assessed. The web site is no longer accessible
in its original form.
The Westminster congregation currently has about 1,500 members. They have lost about
100 members since picketing began.
Some parishioners and officials from Westminster complained that children may be harmed
by graphic pictures on the posters. Ross Thompson, a Westminster member and psychologist
specializing in child development commented:
"The kids, especially young
children. . .were very disturbed by the encounters that they and their families would have
with protesters. Younger children had difficulty comprehending the issues that were the
focus of the protests. But what they picked up pretty quickly was the hostility of the
The disturbances led to a city ordinance that restricts picketing
at all churches, from a half hour before church services to half an hour afterwards.
Picketers must stay at least 50 feet from the church or go across the street. The
ordinance was vetoed by the mayor; this was overridden by city council on 1998-SEP. The ordinance
was challenged in federal court
on the grounds that it impeded freedom of speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution. U.S. district Judge Richard Kopf
issued a temporary injunction which barred enforcement of the ordinance. This was extended
on 1998-NOV-4 by a preliminary injunction. He ruled that the bylaw bars "substantially
more speech than is necessary." City council decided on 1999-JAN-11 to
mount an appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, MO.
The protestors have published statements emphasizing that they are exercising their
constitutional rights of free speech; they have denied targeting children. Gene
a lawyer who represents four Rescue the Heartland demonstrators, said:
are dealing with an ordinance that, at least in our opinion, is clearly unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs' activities in protesting on the public sidewalks in front of this church
in a peaceful manner are protected by the Constitution."
The clinic in Omaha where Dr. Crab had performed abortions was closed. On 1999-JAN-3, Rescue
the Heartland spokespersons announced that the picketing would cease. However, Dr.
Crab continued to perform abortions in Lincoln, NE. On JAN-10 and JAN-24, another group
unaffiliated with Rescue the Heartland demonstrated at the church.
Panels are six feet tall and thirteen feet wide. They can be purchased from
Another poster is similar, but is labeled "ungentile, unwhite, unborn".
The final panel shows a decapitated head of a fetus. Still another is labeled "The S.S., The K.K.K.,
Planned Parenthood." They offer posters for sale, and appeal for tax-deductible donations.
Their first major university demonstration was on 1998-APR-3 at Penn State University,
during the Jewish holy day of Passover. The giant poster was displayed for a week. This
was accompanied by four formal presentations, one of which was in a debate
format. They have made other visits to the University of Tennessee and University of Kansas. The latter was
scheduled during Jewish holy days (1998-SEP; Jewish New Year). There was considerable
negative reaction to the display by students.
A decade later, they are still active.
They have a very graphic display online of what appears to be a series of
late-term abortions. It is not to be viewed by the weak of stomach or faint of heart. See http://www.abortionno.org/
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Evan Silverstein, "Anti-Abortion Protests at Presbyterian Church Drive
Some Away, Bring Others Together," PCUSA News, 1999-FEB-3, #99057
- "Neal Horsley," Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
- "$100M verdict in landmark 'Net case," at: http://www.wcco.com/
- The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform at: http://www.cbrinfo.org/
- "Genodice: Cambodian killing fields; American killing fields," poster
image, Center for Bio-Ethical Reform at: http://www.abortionno.org/
- "GAP Signs," Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, at: http://www.abortionno.org/ The sign described is in the upper left corner. | <urn:uuid:4b6c6403-e847-4409-90f9-7732e26a3f7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_prot.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955073 | 1,357 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Transnational crime cannot be tackled in isolation; its reach is wider than traditional law enforcement. Partnerships with other organizations and the private and public sectors are essential to tackle challenges in common areas.
A stronger voice on the international stage
At INTERPOL, we work with partners across the globe to share skills and knowledge and to establish a clear basis for joint activities and operations.
We have solidly strengthened our presence on the international stage to support our aims. We have built more partnerships and developed joint initiatives. From customs to copyright, more than 60 cooperation agreements with other international organizations are in force today.
Our collaboration with the United Nations, already formalized in 1996 by a cooperation agreement that includes observer status at respective general assemblies, was further boosted by the opening of an INTERPOL special liaison office at the UN in New York in 2004.
This facilitated the creation of the INTERPOL-United Nations Security Council Special Notice for individuals and entities subject to UN counter-terrorism sanctions, and led to a landmark ministerial meeting in 2009 on the role of police in UN peacekeeping missions.
To strengthen our relationship with the European Union, a special liaison office in Brussels was opened in 2009, and our collaboration with Europol is strengthened continually through an exchange of officers.
Generous funding from the EU has enabled us to implement many projects, such as the expansion of access to our secure global police communications system (I-24/7) at remote sites throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States.
G8 and WHO
The Group of Eight has provided important backing for our initiatives, including the development of the International Child Sexual Exploitation image database, while we have collaborated successfully with the World Health Organization, in particular in leading the enforcement arm of their International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT).
Additionally, we have forged partnerships with the private sector in areas such as currency and document security. We are working with private companies on the INTERPOL Travel Document initiative which aims to facilitate the international travel of officials on INTERPOL business by waiving visa requirements.
Cooperation agreements with other international organizations
International conventions in which INTERPOL's transmission role is mentioned
Globalization of Law Enforcement: A Study of Transnational Public-Private Partnerships Against Intellectual Property Crimes
Dr Christopher Paun, University of Bremen | <urn:uuid:1913f7fc-8d54-4c3c-ab88-c005c49d6766> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.interpol.int/About-INTERPOL/International-partners | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933343 | 468 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Everyone is curious about what will happen next. This article intends to focus on some topics in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s road map. His Tuesday speech gives us a clue that the new strategy focuses on four issues: changing the rules of engagement, extending support to opposition groups, crafting public opinion at home and abroad and, lastly, putting diplomatic pressure on Syria.
Changing the rules of engagement is the most significant component of the strategy together with the support for the opposition groups. Currently, the military conflict probability between the two armies has increased. This new decision, on one hand, will put Bashar al-Assad under psychological pressure while also engaging a significant portion of its conventional military power. As a result, the pressure on the rebels will decrease and, in the medium term, the Syrian army will be psychologically harmed. In this regard, al-Assad will have to deal with Turkey and internal threats at the same time.
Certainly, the success of Erdoğan’s new strategy depends on al-Assad’s approach to new rules and on how serious he will take Erdoğan’s words. Nevertheless, it is clear that al-Assad is in a dilemma. If Syria keeps its soldiers off the Turkish border so as not to increase the tension, then de facto buffer zones through the border will be inevitable. Moreover, a buffer zone with Turkey behind it will be a strategic problem for the al-Assad regime because it may turn out to be a safe haven for insurgents. If al-Assad decides otherwise and chooses to be active along the border, he will have to deal with the constant probability of conflict.
Related to the developments mentioned above, Turkey will increase its “political support” to insurgent groups while also changing the nature of the support. For example, Turkey, which has not provided weaponry to opposition groups so far, might change its decision. Furthermore, Turkey might provide extra aid to reinforce the military capacity of the opposition groups through things like training. In the end, while the conflict in Syria is increasing, al-Assad will have to cope with problems of a differing nature on two fronts.
Apart from this, because of the new rules of engagement, the Turkish government and its military forces have to face unprecedented problems such as transferring authority, rebuilding officers’ self-confidence, resurrecting their eagerness to take responsibility and allowing them to regain the ability to take quick and correct decisions. This is because it is necessary to grant the subordinate units the authority to make the quick decision to open fire in the event of a border violation. However, this means that the significant decisions which may produce political consequences will be transferred to tactical military leaders. What is more important here is that if you do not do this at the right time and in the right case, it will produce a fiasco. On the other hand, there are serious possible risks in the transfer of authority when we think about the traumas following the inquiries into and arrests of officers.
As a result, there will be no conventional war with Syria; Turkey will follow an indirect strategy – the success of which depends on how serious al-Assad will take Erdoğan and his Armed Forces. | <urn:uuid:e7fa55c4-231c-4025-a07b-bfbd244144cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogans-new-syria-strategy.aspx?pageID=449&nID=24228&NewsCatID=419 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945905 | 641 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The Bell County School District is currently in discussions with Union Springs about piloting a new hand sanitizer program within a school in the district. The hand sanitizer is a non-alcohol based product.
In fact, the mission of the product is “to remove all alcohol from schools.” The product is named MyClyns Pro.
Page school may be the school which pilots the program. Union Springs representatives stated they would pick up the cost for the pilot program.
The pilot process, if implemented, would take place during January and February.
Bell County Superintendent Yvonne Gilliam stated if attendance increases during those months, as well as some other criteria that will be worked out at a later date, then the district may look at implementing the program full-time.
The cost for full implementation of the product is $3,000 ($5 per student).
Representatives from Union Springs stated there is a grant for the product available for schools.
MyClyns Pro is supposed to create a 10 percent reduction in absenteeism, which would increase the number of students in school on a daily basis by about 18.
During the school board meeting, representatives from the company warned against the use of alcohol-based sanitizers in schools.
According to the representatives, the alcohol, gel-based sanitizers can easily be ingested by young children and older students.
The company claims efficacy is finished in alcohol-based sanitizers after the product dries, while MyClyns Pro can last between two to three hours.
Currently, MyClyns Pro is only being used in Florence Elementary, but the company has approached several districts in Kentucky. The product has been in production and used in the public for seven years, but it has only been used in schools since August.
During the seven years in the public, there have been no reports of allergy or skin irritation while using the product, according to Union Springs.
Anthony Cloud is a staff writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. He can be contacted via email at email@example.com or by phone at 606-248-1010, ext. 208. | <urn:uuid:ad5b46b2-3179-47f0-829a-7a14de8c868a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://middlesborodailynews.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Bell+County+schools+to+pilot+new+hand+sanitizer%20&id=21246702 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968441 | 446 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Of course, I'll be having black-eyed peas and collard greens for New Year's Day. It has become more than a tradition. It's almost downright superstition, though I hate to admit that.
When Mama was a small girl growing up in the Nimblewill Valley in the Appalachian foothills, it was the midst of the Great Depression. As she often said, "Times were hard but it's all we knew so we didn't know how poor we were."
There's a woman I'm looking for. Perhaps you know where she is. If you do, please help me find her again.
(Editor's note: This is the second installment of a three-part series. It is running over a five week period rather than three consecutive weeks.)
In those days - the ones of my cherished youth - my cousin, Ronnie, a year older than I, worked for my daddy. Ronnie had cotton-colored hair and a face that, like mine, was smattered with freckles. He had what the lucky ones on Daddy's side of the family inherit: a quick-thinking sense of humor that is succinct, clever and smart.
His name is Charles Almerin Tinker and he was the great-great-grandfather of my beloved. "Charlie Tinker," I sometimes hear my husband say as he passes the large framed photo. "You're spinning in your grave. Your picture is hanging in the home of a Confederate." The stunningly clear portrait is of four distinguished, gray-whiskered men dressed in suits with vests, ties and winged-collar white shirts gathered around a heavy, round mahogany table. Three are seated and ...
It seems to me that a lot of young people have it easy. Too many kids in high school and college are shielded from work and not taught the importance of money or of earning it. It seems to me that this is a major default in the education of life.
Nicole and I were working out together one day and for some reason, she brought up a self-help, faith-related book we had both read. The thesis, basically, is how men are born with wild hearts, which should be admired not restrained by women.
There I was, sitting at my desk, writing away, bothering no one when my phone rang. It was Hollywood calling.
It all started with a break-in, then continued to a breaking point when a crazy woman showed up at my door, ranting about aliens who had landed at her house. She needed me to write an article to warn their commander not to send them back to her house.
It's a funny thing about us Southerners. If a Yankee criticizes us, we haughtily disregard it, muttering over their ignorance.
One night while out to dinner, I noticed an elegant elderly lady at the next table over who was dining alone. I was drawn to her because sorrow clouded her eyes and she smiled sadly, the kind we all force when we do not feel happy.
Not long ago, I was in Los Angeles visiting Tink on the set of a television show he was executive producing. We sat side-by-side in director chairs, watching as the scene was set up and actors took their place. I looked across Tink to see a woman studying me carefully. I smiled.
When I was growing up - probably well into my college years - Mama's last words as I walked out the door were always the same.
One evening I was sorting through clothes in the bedroom while Tink, settled in a comfortable chair, was (as usual) fiddling with his phone. A message he read triggered a story.
When Peggy Sue went away, just fell off the face of the earth with no warning or even a holler, we all wondered where she had gone.
Recently, I was in a bookstore with a friend. We stopped at a table near the front of the store and it was loaded with different books that had such obscene titles that many of the words were expressed as "@?*#."
Mama was stubborn. "Set in her ways," is what country folks call it and boy, was she. When she made up her mind, nothing stopped her. Especially when she set her jaw and punctuated her declaration with a firm nod of her head. If she also threw that crooked forefinger in your direction, you knew it was set in stone. Destined to be.
One day over lunch, my new-to-the-South-but-thoroughly-loving-it husband commented on the choir singing at our church, which is led by my brother-in-law, Rodney.
To be downright honest, I never expected to miss him this much. And, if the deeper truth be told, perhaps it isn't just the loss of a singular man, though great and admirable he was.
Page 1 of 1 | <urn:uuid:e2134832-e5a6-4986-9dd5-09f8fe054ac1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/archives/section/223/?page=3&archive_page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986827 | 1,011 | 1.5 | 2 |
By Eurasia Group's Africa practice
Over the next couple of weeks, The Call will be detailing our political and economic expectations for regions around the world. First up: Africa.
The big story in Africa next year will be elections. In total, Africa will hold 17 presidential contests; a range of local, regional, and parliamentary votes; and a referendum on independence in southern Sudan. Not all political actors will seek legitimacy via the ballot box or play by the rules, but this high number of elections highlights the continent's momentum toward democratization.
Elections in Africa often generate uncertainty -- by intensifying power struggles among elite factions, between reformist and hard-line elements, and between incumbents and the opposition. Nigeria's election in April 2011 is likely to be the continent's most hard-fought. A bid by current President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner, to secure the ruling party's nomination for another term threatens to upset the delicate power balance between the country's north and south and to derail crucial oil and power-sector legislation.
Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. Political reforms -- including a constitutional referendum -- are stalled. The landmark power-sharing agreement between President Robert Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF, and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) expires in February 2011, but the timing of elections is still uncertain. ZANU-PF will go all out to avoid another power-sharing pact, but a disputed election is possible. If Mugabe can hold elections in early 2011, ZANU-PF has a good chance of retaking sole power, which would kill Zimbabwe's tentative rapprochement with Western nations and seriously dampen its prospects for economic recovery. A postponement (perhaps until 2012) would ensure a more credible process and give the MDC a decent chance. In the meantime, the election battle will heighten economic policy risks.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the administration of President Joseph Kabila will likely rig the voting in late 2011 to ensure his reelection. But one challenger, Vital Kamerhe, could pose a limited threat if the government allows him to run. On the economic side, management of resources is expected to improve incrementally, especially at the central bank, the finance ministry, and donor coordination bodies.
Although Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni is likely to win reelection outright in February (perhaps thanks to his newly displayed musical talents), challenger Kizza Besigye may force a runoff. Uganda's imminent oil wealth has ratcheted up the political stakes and could darken prospects for a peaceful election. But despite complaints from the opposition about election rigging, the international community will likely accept the results, and the status quo will prevail. This will reassure investors in East Africa's next oil-producing state. But the combination of a relatively competitive election, the potential for violence, and looming oil windfalls could each make Uganda harder to govern.
A different type of vote, southern Sudan's referendum on independence, is likely to generate the most media attention in early 2011. Despite logistical challenges, the referendum is almost certain to take place -- though with minor delays -- and a vote in favor of independence is a foregone conclusion. But the separation may be difficult to effect. During the six-month transition period before statehood and a final agreement on oil revenue sharing, borders and citizenship rights must be negotiated. The contested region of Abyei, which has its own referendum, could become an early flash point.
This post was written by analysts in Eurasia Group's Africa practice.
The Call, from Ian Bremmer, uses cutting-edge political science to predict the political future -- and how it will shape the global economy. | <urn:uuid:b89f6907-244e-4654-9cb3-abf10a4bcbcb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/12/14/africa_in_2011_getting_out_the_vote | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943892 | 761 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The Summit of the Americas brought a ton of Latin American coverage in the U.S. media. Finally. But, now that the Summit is over, press attention to the hemisphere is waning. That is except for the swine flu spreading from Mexico.
There were a few news nuggets that came out of the Summit, but judging from post-Summit news coverage, you’d think that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Cuba were the only stories. Of course, those are the two boilerplate favorites for covering Latin America. There have, in fact, been a number of positive developments—some of them coming out of the Summit. Unfortunately, none of them makes the U.S. news.
On Venezuela, the big story, especially for media like Fox News, was the handshake that shook the world between Presidents Hugo Chávez and Barack Obama. In one segment, Fox deferred to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for commentary on the regional implications. Huh? Newt Gingrich is now a Latin American expert?
For days after the Summit, dignified people debated the proper etiquette for greeting world leaders, and whether to accept gifts—like books, from thuggish strangers.
The press needs to stop its own simplification of Venezuela and Latin America. The U.S. media uses Chávez to differentiate between amigos and enemigos in the hemisphere—and then pigeon hole which Latin American leader belongs with Chávez’ “loco left.”
This makes it easy to digest, but it’s also a misleading template. And way too simple.
Unfortunately, improved coverage of Latin America wasn’t one of the results of the Summit.
First, Cuba. Even before President Obama left for Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba was in the U.S. news due to the administration’s move to undo some restrictions on travel and remittances to the island for Cuban-Americans.
Momentum picked up further when President Obama addressed Cuba head-on in his speech at the Summit, saying how the U.S. seeks a new beginning with Cuba.
That ball is still rolling.
Earlier this week, on April 27, U.S. State Department Acting Spokesman Robert Wood told reporters at the daily briefing that Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon and Jorge Bolaños, the chief of Cuba's Interests Section in Washington had met on April 13—and that they planned to meet at the State Department that very night.
Sure, such meetings are not unusual. But in the context of the administration’s intentions to explore a new dialogue with Cuba, they are more interesting.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is usually lumped as part of Chávez’ loony left, probably for good reason. But, shortly after the Summit, Ortega’s government on April 24 agreed to join the Merida Initiative and cooperate with the U.S. on security projects (and receive $1.5 million from the United States). Yet, I didn’t see any mainstream coverage of this.
Hats off to Bloggings by Boz for picking it up, calling it “another quiet success” out of the Summit.
Albeit small, these are important developments to emerge from the Summit. Then we’ve got great stories about the Paraguayan president’s “love children,” Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa getting re-elected by a wide margin, and another about a British spy who accidently lost top secret information about covert operations after leaving her handbag on a bus in South America. Whoops!
Yet, in the midst of this, after the flood of attention, there’s nothing in the U.S. media, except crickets chirping. Or, rather, pigs squealing. | <urn:uuid:5e0fdadf-a789-4fd0-b3fa-9c7fe58f1012> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americasquarterly.org/node/597 | 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 | 0.944398 | 796 | 1.625 | 2 |
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Brooklyn, New York, 1930 -
Established artist Bob Guccione's paintings and prints explore and re- appropriate the visual language of modernism; elements of cubism, expressionism and the surreal, dreamlike style of Chagal are visible in his work.
Guccione began his artistic career in Europe. He founded the notorious Penthouse magazine in London and what began simply as a means of financially supporting his life as painter steadily became a giant in the world of publishing and film-making.
The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio and Nassau County Museum have held exhibitions of Guccione's work. | <urn:uuid:7626d102-0f49-45a7-b9da-a828bbe1a780> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://picassomio.com/bob-guccione.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962047 | 139 | 1.78125 | 2 |
All About Yoga
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Kundalini Yoga Tantra Kriya Yoga Sampoorna Yoga
Private Yoga Needed for Success in Yoga
About Kundalini Yoga
We are now at the end of the Piscean Age. The energy of this age supports machines, hierarchies, self absorption, individuality and selfish motivation. The Aquarian Age is already upon us and some can feel the transition now. The energy of the Aquarian Age is directed toward awareness of the self while including others, information, experience and energy.
Kundalini Yoga is a technology that awakens the true nature of Divinity. It helps develop the natural awakening of elevated awareness and functioning. This type of technology is needed for the confusion and chaos of the times. Right now we have entered into the last 5 years of the shift. It feels like time is speeding up even more and people are spinning out of control and losing direction and stability. Kundalini Yoga addresses these concerns.
Kundalini Yoga teaches grace, strength, stability and
caliber. Service and compassion is the way of Kundalini Yoga. Using sound,
movement and breath, Kundalini Yoga brings self awareness, self awareness brings
subtlety, subtlety brings depth, depth brings dedication, dedication brings
humility and humility brings peace and grace while preparing the bodymindheartspirit
(BMHS) for meditation. BMHS is a term used to describe the physical, mental and
emotional components of the organized and coordinated living system of a human
About Tantra Kriya Yoga
The word Tantra is Sanskrit, the sacred
language of Hinduism. It derives from the root word tan, which translates as "to
extend, expand, spread, continue, spin out, weave; to put forth, show, or
manifest." Like the universe we inhabit, Tantra is continually expanding,
spreading, and manifesting itself like a "cosmic weave," made up of different
energies. We are part of this weave, as are our forefathers and foremothers, all
life, and every type of energy and matter. This includes thoughts, actions, and
all physical matter.
Because Tantra is a mystical subject, it is nearly impossible to define. Even eminent scholars have had a hard time explaining what Tantra actually is. The different explanations of Tantra indicate its multifaceted nature. Tantra is a spiritual science, which means it is also mystical, in its interconnectedness, the holistic wisdom link between ourselves and the universe we inhabit.
By embracing Tantra, we become more "real," more "complete." How? By recognizing and stimulating our inherent sensual spirituality, we discover parts of ourselves that have remained asleep or have been repressed. With Tantra, an energy is released that is evolutionary and "upwardly motivated." We can learn to use this energy for pleasure, for achieving our worldly goals, and for aiding our spiritual evolution.
Familiarity with Tantra can help a person to enjoy life to the fullest. It can help do away with guilt or fear, break down self imposed or limiting cultural boundaries, and guide us in our search for solutions. Tantra teaches us to become familiar with our mystical nature, and when we do so, our boundaries expand. We enter into new domains of awareness. We become empowered, more fulfilled, and more perfect.
Traditional dictionary definitions of Tantra are revealing. A Sanskrit word, Tantra is sometimes translated as "leading principle, essential part, model, system, framework, doctrine, rule, theory, scientific work," also as "order, chief part, rule, authority, science, mystic works, magical formulas, means, expedient, stratagem, medicine." Finally, a Tantra is sometimes defined as "a type of mystical teaching set out mostly in the form of dialogs between a cosmic couple. intimate insightful dialogs, between God and Goddess, Shiva and Shakti, the male and female Tantric adepts, were at times written down and became known as Tantra. Naturally, these dialogs, being intimate, included sexual secrets as well as many other fascinating topics.
Tantra has been well tested over thousands of years, not in worldly laboratories but in the laboratories of the human body, by Yogi scientists and Tibetan Lamas who were not driven by commerce but by the earnest desire for spiritual knowledge and liberation. Their observations and insights have been passed down to us.
The sacred Hindu and Buddhist scriptures known as Tantra provide detailed instructions on a wide range of topics, including spiritual knowledge, technology, and science. Their content is often paradoxical. In Tantra, science and mysticism go hand in hand, as do sensuality and asceticism. Just as advanced scientific treatises are difficult for the layperson to comprehend, so traditional Tantra require adequate preparation before they can be properly understood.
About Sampoorna Yoga
Sampoorna is known as the yoga of completeness and is a hatha yoga. It calms the body and mind to allow a greater ability to receive infinite possibilities. The practice of Sampoorna creates internal transformation resulting in Self Realization. It helps internalize spiritual values and put them into daily life. One becomes totally present with the practice of Sampoorna.
The word yoga
means "union or yoke" Yoga gives us the power to yoke or unite the
bodymindheartspirit (BMHS) so that they work together as a team. This team pulls us
toward the evolution of consciousness and eventually unites us with the
Infinite. Sampoorna Yoga removes interference in order to allow our own Divinity
to shine forth. It provides a map and sign posts that keep us elevated for
higher functioning as human beings.
About Private Yoga
Group Yoga Classes can be fun. In addition they provide a social experience sometimes absent from our modern world. Practicing with others quenches the thirst for community. However, individual personal instruction has been the way of yoga for thousands of years. Originally, a student was given to a teacher for a period of time. The teacher/student relationship and a unique personal practice allowed the teacher to give informed guidance and undivided attention. The teacher was able to observe and point out unconscious self destructive habits such as rushing, holding the breath, competitiveness and perfectionism that go unnoticed within a group practice. The individual student was prescribed a highly individualized way to learn yoga. Sadly, today’s group classes offer none of these benefits.
The missing element in contemporary yoga is “relationship”. This seems ironic considering that one of the meanings of the word yoga is “to link together or join in relationship”. The Yoga Sutras define yoga as “linking as one object (one practice, one teacher or one movement) for a sustained period of time.”
By studying privately, individuals can discuss issues with their teacher which in itself often leads to greater insight and clarity. With the Yoga Sutras as a reference and the teacher offering guidance, feedback and support, the student can explore yoga’s healing models, such as the chakras, the eight limbs, or five Mayas, relationships, philosophy, the ten bodies, lifestyle, body, nutrition, breath, mind, values and emotions, etc.-as they relate to their own personal life. One gift of this sacred yet traditional student/teacher relationship is a custom tailored personal practice designed to address the students own needs and goals. This personal practice combines carefully chosen postures and sequences with precise breath, relevant sounds, authentic meditation, etc. Practicing this way produces greater vitality, confidence, mental stability, abundant joy, improved relationships and the likelihood of achieving the student clearly desires. The teacher observes and modifies the practice on a regular basis to reflect the student’s progress.
With the right teacher and the right student combination, magic happens. Choose a teacher who is knowledgeable, likeable, trustworthy and affordable. Ideally, your teacher will have a strong link with a teacher, who has a strong link with their teacher who has a strong link with……….this is called a lineage. This insures that the teachings you are receiving are of the purest nature.
Try putting "relationship" into your yoga practice, the heart of traditional yoga. Give it some time and see what happens. | <urn:uuid:e1dd2ed1-30d7-4a40-b9ca-194f83ca5530> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.allaboutyoga.org/whatis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944102 | 1,791 | 1.789063 | 2 |
5 Medicine Ball Exercises For Couples
While many people train solely with weights, there are so many other pieces of equipment that have been proven to be beneficial. Depending on your fitness goal or sport you play, you might be training for explosive strength, agility, aesthetics, or a combination of the three. One way to get your body working hard is to try training with a medicine ball. If you have never used one before, it is the heavy basketball thing that people throw when doing sit-ups.
Surprisingly there are records of medicine balls being used for exercise about 3000 years ago. Even in ancient Greece, it has been said that the physician, Hippocrates actually had these balls made and filled with sand for his patients to use for rehabilitation. Sounds crazy that they had this idea so long ago and we still use them today. Well now that they are available at just about every gym or fitness facility; medicine balls should become part of your workout regimen.
You can get a total body workout with just medicine balls and they are actually pretty fun to use. You can bounce them, slam them, throw them, etc. and not worry about them breaking. What better way to spend time with your significant other than to work-out together. Studies support the claim that working out with a partner helps you to be motivated and it allows for you to challenge each other. Here are five medicine ball exercises you can do to help “strengthen your love and build a healthy” relationship.
Pushup Throws: This one is pretty fun. To do these both of you will be kneeling facing each other about 5 feet apart. One person will pass the ball to the opposite person and immediately drop down and do a kneeling pushup and explode back up to the starting position. At this time, the other person will throw the ball back and do their pushup. Repeat until failure.
*This works the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core muscles.
You and your partner get on the ground in a sit-up position facing each other with your knees slightly bent and your feet touching. One person will perform a sit-up while tossing the ball to the partner. As the partner catches the ball, they will do a sit-up. So you will basically do a sit-up when tossing the ball and another while your partner has the ball. Repeat this until you reach failure.
Using a decline bench, one of you will be in the sit up position holding the medicine ball while your partner will stand about 3 feet away facing you. As you tighten your abs and perform a sit-up you will throw the ball up to your partner. From the top position, your partner will pass the ball back to you as you’re lowering back down. Repeat for 15-20 reps and then switch.
*This builds smaller muscles in the abdomen and is great for core training. Also, having a strong midsection helps to prevent back pain.
You and your partner will sit facing away from each other with your shoulder blades touching and knees slightly bent. With the medicine ball, you will tighten your abs and twist only your torso to bring the ball to your partner, who will be twisting towards the direction of the ball. Do this as fast as you can while keeping control of the ball and the contraction of your abs. Do this for 1 minute then take a 1 minute break and repeat 5 more times.
*This works the oblique’s and core muscles.
Jump Squat Pass: While facing each other about 6 feet apart with your legs shoulder width apart, you will hold the ball in front of your chest and jump in the air. As you land, throw it to your partner and do a squat and return to the starting position. When your partner catches it they will jump, squat, pass and repeat this for 15 reps. Take a 1 minute break and do 4 more sets.
*This actually works the lower body, core muscles, shoulders, and triceps.
Power Slams: You and your partner will both take turns slamming the ball into the ground. You will have the ball overhead and squat down while slamming the ball hard into the ground. Do 10 reps then pass it to your partner who will do 10 reps. Your break is the time that your partner is doing their slams.
*This works the arms, legs, back, and core.
AboutDegree in Biology and Exercise Science,Research Scientist, Natural Bodybuilder, Certified Personal Trainer, Chef, and Future Orthopaedic Surgeon. I can help you meet all your goals!
Powered by Facebook Comments | <urn:uuid:68e68c73-74db-4d9a-bf22-348b2950513d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fitbodyhype.com/training-2/5-medicine-ball-exercises-for-couples/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94474 | 943 | 1.625 | 2 |
When considering saddle fit and the seasonal rider you need to keep a few things in mind to get the big picture. A horse’s seasonal weight loss and gain due to conditioning and periods of inactivity can be a major concern for some riders and not affect others. If the rider is a weekend warrior who only rides once or twice a week for an hour or two and only walks the horse the entire time, the horse is not going to show drastic changes in weight and conditioning. This is fairly predictable because even during the time of year where the horse is being ridden, he’s not being ridden hard enough to make a difference.
Contrast that rider with one who lays their horse off all winter but then is riding 20 to 100 miles a week all summer and mostly trots and canters, where seasonal weight loss and gain could be more than 100 lbs. and now we have a different story.
As a horse gets into better shape, fat disappears and leaner muscles develop. If we fit the horse when he is out of shape then as the horse becomes more fit, the saddles fit is going to be loose. If we fit the horse when he is in good shape and then lay the horse off for the winter, the saddle is going to be too tight when he is ridden again in spring. Sounds like we need two saddles – maybe yes – maybe not.
Most people can get away with having the saddle fit when the horse is a bit out of shape and bulked up with fat and then as the horse becomes leaner and more fit by adding a thicker pad to fill in space. There will come a point however where a horse’s back changes so much that you end up with a horse with a sore back. The heavier the rider and the more that is demanded of the horse, the sooner you will see trouble. | <urn:uuid:512c4b6b-1e08-4620-8698-9df7cd28872c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.synergistsaddles.com/saddle-fit-and-the-seasonal-rider/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966203 | 377 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Nuclear Horizon: An atomic economy is booming in New Mexico Santa Fe Reporter
On April 27, Greg Mello--a tall, intense man whose natural state is vague dishevelment--was in court, watching his witness annihilate (at least in Mello’s view) the US Department of Energy’s case.
Mello is the Harvard-educated co-founder and executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group, a nuclear disarmament advocacy organization based in Albuquerque, but with a concerted focus on the activities of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Last year, LASG sued to stop the construction of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) project, a new facility at LANL designed to process--and possibly produce--plutonium-based nuclear warheads.
On this particular Wednesday, Mello’s lawyer had called Frank von Hippel, a nuclear physicist and Princeton professor, to testify against the facility--essentially a costly, heavily fortified nuclear warhead processing facility situated over a geologic fault zone (see sidebar: “Price Point”).
In his prepared testimony, Von Hippel argued the need for new warheads “has vanished”; the earthquake hazard is now “much larger” than previously thought; the last full environmental assessment of the project--completed eight years ago--is insufficient for a project whose cost has swollen from $350 million to more than $3 billion.
All of this, Von Hippel says, amounts to a more fundamental question: Does New Mexico really need to be researching and building new nuclear weapons?
Mello doesn’t think so--but says the political momentum isn’t on his side.
“New Mexico is viewed as a place with a compliant government, where nuclear contractors can get federal money,” Mello explains. “There’s no private sector demand for most of this stuff, and a great deal of it could never be licensed or permitted.”
Even so, the CMRR facility--along with its budget--has expanded virtually unheeded since it was first proposed in 1999.
“It’s terrifying,” Mello says. “It’s frightening for New Mexico, both in itself and because of what it’s not: renewable energy; investment in our housing and building stock, our infrastructure, our schools. A very tiny group of people have captured an outsize amount of attention from a political elite and are setting far too much of our agenda.”
Within Santa Fe, Mello’s view is relatively common. At the LASG meetings and study sessions he hosts in the basement of a local church, attendees are routinely knowledgeable to the point of expertise. And in addition to various environmental protection and renewable energy groups, Santa Fe also hosts two other nuclear disarmament organizations, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Watch of New Mexico.
Southern New Mexico, though, is a different story. There, lawmakers and academics extol the virtues not only of nuclear research and development, but they also court uranium processing plants and waste disposal facilities with gusto--and, in some cases, financial incentives.
In fact, the morning of Von Hippel’s testimony, a collection of public officials, scientists and executives had gathered in a conference room in Hobbs, some 350 miles south of Santa Fe. They were discussing New Mexico’s future as a focal point for the new nuclear age, in which economies rely increasingly on nuclear power and entire processing industries spring up around the “uranium fuel cycle,” which begins with mining and ends with waste disposal. Every stage of that process can be monetized--and nearly every stage has commercial operations in New Mexico.
“The state currently has a stake in a lot of aspects of this cycle--the mining, the enrichment, the storage,” Mat Lueras, vice president for corporate development at Uranium Resources Inc., a mining outfit that owns 183,000 acres of uranium mineral rights in New Mexico, tells SFR. Because of that, Lueras says, URI has “seen widespread local and state support from New Mexico politicians” for its efforts to restart uranium mining.
To Daniel Fine, a research associate at New Mexico Tech and at the Center for Energy Policy in Hobbs,
such enthusiasm is simply an acknowledgment of the inevitable.
“Nuclear energy, worldwide and in the United States, has a very strong future,” Fine says. “Twenty percent of our electricity is nuclear. There’s potential planning for 50 percent more.”
In Fine’s view, New Mexico’s role in that future remains to be determined. But given what’s already here, and the gradual buildup of a nuclear fuel cycle complex in the state’s southeastern counties, a nuclear future may indeed be unavoidable. Take the beginning of the fuel cycle, for instance.
“New Mexico,” Fine says, “is the Saudi Arabia of uranium.”
New Mexico had its first exposure to the nuclear industry in 1943, with the founding of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Two years later, near Alamogordo, LANL scientists conducted the Trinity test with a prototype of the atomic bombs that, less than a month later, would raze Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sandia National Laboratories, the Albuquerque lab charged with turning LANL’s nuclear weapons concepts into deployable missiles, was founded in 1949.
While the labs were located near northern New Mexico’s population centers, less populous areas of the state became nuclear hubs in their own right. In southern New Mexico, a huge swath of desert scrubland became the White Sands Proving Groundsnow the White Sands Missile Rangefor nuclear weapons testing. In far western New Mexico, on the outskirts of the Navajo Nation, uranium mines sprang up in the 1950s.
Since the US government promised to buy all mined uranium, it was good business, and northwest New Mexico’s mining industry boomed for close to two decades with relatively little oversight. But in the 1970s, reports of elevated levels of radon, a radioactive element that can cause cancer, began to surfaceand so began what Fine calls “the sad chapter” of widespread radioactive contamination from New Mexico’s uranium mines.
“[Uranium] mining, from the 1950s to the early 1970s, was very high risk, and the methods then did expose uranium miners to radioactivity,” Fine says.
In 1979, conditions worsened considerably: A dam belonging to United Nuclear Corp. broke, spilling more than 1,000 tons of contaminated tailings into the Rio Puerco, a tributary of the Rio Grande. By 1990, the last of New Mexico’s uranium mines had closed.
Enter URI, which since 1977 had been buying up old uranium mines. With a lengthy permitting process and a court challenge behind it, Lueras says URI plans to restart mining activity in New Mexico as soon as 2013.
According to Lueras, the nation--if not the world--demands it.
Even if the US doesn’t expand its nuclear power profile--which consists of 104 operational reactors--only approximately 10 percent of US uranium needs are supplied domestically. A treaty that provides for additional enriched uranium from Russia is set to expire in 2013--meaning many companies, like URI, are banking on expanding domestic demand for both raw and enriched uranium.
“We can be a US producer, producing US uranium for use in US commercial reactors,” Lueras says. “We see a strong market out there.”
“We have the largest supply of uranium in the country,” Lueras says: more than 101 million pounds of proven uranium reserves, with potential for up to 600 million pounds in the Grants mineral belt alone.
At uranium’s current price, approximately $56 per pound, that’s $5.7 billion in potential income for URI--not to mention, Fine notes, royalties for the state.
“Very ironic that New Mexico is sitting on probably the ninth-largest deposit of uranium in the world--and the United States imports its uranium,” Fine says. “If we are dependent on foreign oil, we are even more dependent on foreign uranium.”
Still, to local residents, the market potential isn’t worth the risk.
“They talk about jobs--BS!” former uranium miner Larry King says. King serves on the board of Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, an organization dedicated to stopping URI in its tracks (see sidebar, “Miner Issue”).
After uranium is mined, it must be transported to a conversion facility, where it is transformed into a purified, liquid form. (The US has only one such facility, run by defense contractor Honeywell International in Metropolis, Ill.)
The converted uranium is then ship-ped to an enrichment facility--which is where URENCO, a multinational enrichment company, comes in.
URENCO’s new enrichment plant in southern New Mexico, which began operations in June 2010, is the first such facility to be licensed in the US in 30 years.
URENCO Communications Manager Don Johnson says the delay in certifying new enrichment plants was likely due to the partial meltdown of a nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979.
“After Three Mile Island, I think there was a sense of concern that slowed things down,” Johnson tells SFR. “A combination of things, including the cost of capital and some other issues, combined to present an environment that maybe wasn’t as conducive to nuclear power as we feel like we have gotten to in the last few years.”
Despite such risks, southeastern New Mexico is the poster child for the nuclear industry’s new acceptance--a fact URENCO learned when, in 2002, it was searching for a place to build an enrichment facility in the US.
“URENCO was trying to locate first in Louisiana, and then in Tennessee, [and] they were meeting resistance in Tennessee,” New Mexico state Sen. Carroll Leavell, R-Eddy, says. So Leavell contacted the company and suggested southeastern New Mexico--specifically, Eunice, a tiny town just 5 1/2 miles from the Texas border.
Compared to the push back the company experienced elsewhere, southern New Mexico was a breeze.
“It was amazing, the lack of resistance in New Mexico,” Leavell says. “I’ll never forget: Whenever we had the groundbreaking, URENCO had anticipated an organized protest at the scene,” he says. “They had considerable security. I was with the [president of the company] the night before, and he was very concerned about security, and I said, ‘I don’t think what you’re expecting is going to
When they arrived the next day at the site--“nothing but mesquite and sand” back then, Leavell says--they found some 200 people. Every single one of them was there to support the project.
“If there was any protesters that day,” Leavell says, “they certainly did not make themselves known.”
Johnson says URENCO makes a concerted effort to be a “good corporate citizen” by sending its employees out to volunteer in surrounding areas and by making “significant donations” in local communities.
For other companies, however, the reverse is true.
International Isotopes, a company currently building a plant near Hobbs to provide the fourth phase of the uranium fuel cycle, received incentives from southeast New Mexico governments to locate there.
“There [were] quite a few incentives put together in a financial package--tax incentives and the opportunity to participate in the local economic development act, where the state can transfer properties,” International Isotopes (INIS) CEO Steve Laflin tells SFR.
“The last thing in the world I wanted to do was build a project where we were not going to be strongly welcomed,” Laflin says.
The INIS plant, located just 20 miles from URENCO’s enrichment facility, uses the by-products of enrichment to create gases that can be used in solar cells, lubricants and pharmaceutical products.
“We are the solution,” Laflin tells SFR. “We are taking material that otherwise would be a waste and dealing with that--and we’re doing it in a way that’s safe and highly sensitive to the environment.”
Laflin says INIS submitted an application to process uranium to the NRC in 2009 and anticipates approval later this year. By 2012, Laflin says, INIS should be in the construction phase of a $125 million processing plant.
Any risks, Laflin says, lie mostly in the chemical processes INIS uses, not in the uranium.
“This is much more of a chemical manufacturing facility than anything else,” Laflin says. “There’s no question fluoride products are toxic and reactive, but there’s very well-established safety processes.”
The only phase of the uranium fuel cycle that’s missing in New Mexico is nuclear power generation--but The Babcock & Wilcox Co., another multinational corporation that builds small, modular nuclear reactors, is scoping out possibilities. (B&W is also one of the contractors in charge of running LANL.)
B&W Public Relations Manager Jud Simmons writes, in an email to SFR, that although the company has not received any offers of incentives from New Mexico public officials, it “continues to seek opportunities in the state and in other parts of the world where the reactor would be a good fit.”
Small modular reactors, Fine says, are cheaper--they cost about $500 million, rather than the $10 billion required for a conventional reactor--safer and use less water than the large, water-cooled reactors used in places like Japan.
“We had a recent phenomenally cold three-day period in New Mexico, [and] we lost gas service,” Fine says. “The whole system that failed was based on natural gas, pipelines, so forth. But the reliance on an additional, low-risk source of energy would’ve been a small nuclear modular reactor, contained underground, and it would be impervious to a temperature like that.”
The final stage of the nuclear fuel cycle is the one that perhaps generates the most resistance: storing radioactive waste.
In New Mexico, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a DOE project to store radioactive waste underground in natural geologic salt dome formations near Carlsbad, went online in 1999--but only after several years of permitting negotiations and public hearings.
Because of federal budget cuts, however, WIPP is currently shedding some of the vaunted jobs it has provided to the Carlsbad area. The City of Carlsbad, which normally receives WIPP-related infrastructure funding from DOE, voted in May to return $3.5 million with the hope of preventing further job cuts at the facility.
Donavan Mager, the manager of strategic communications for Washington TRU Solutions, which contracts with the DOE to manage operations at WIPP, says the plant is seeking to preserve jobs by expanding its mandate to accept other types of hazardous waste material. Achieving the DOE’s goal of processing 90 percent of all US transuranic waste by 2015, Mager says, will mean a need for fewer employees.
Despite a solid safety record, though, WIPP still generates questions and concerns even from observers living hundreds of miles away.
“Just because you buried it in a hole in the ground doesn’t mean it’s gone away,” Nuclear Watch of New Mexico Operations Director Scott Kovac tells SFR. “It still exists. It can’t hurt anybody for 100 years or 1,000 years--but eventually it’s going to get out.”
Not far from WIPP, a privately owned Texas waste facility has engendered sharp criticism from nearby residents. Waste Control Services’ storage site accepts low-level radioactive waste--but its location close to the New Mexico border and overlying the vital Ogallala Aquifer has environmental groups incensed. (Lately, a war of information has broken out between a public relations firm hired by WCS and Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization; read their opposing briefs at SFReporter.com.)
But activists aren’t the only ones with doubts about nuclear energy. Particularly in the face of catastrophes, such as the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor crisis in Japan, Fine says the general public can quickly grow wary of nuclear energy.
To Fine, though, such fears are based on emotion, not reason.
“The public understandably fears radioactivity--not nuclear energy,” Fine says, “not the science and technology of manufacturing energy that’s atomic-based. The fear is the radioactivity.”
Jonathan Block, a staff attorney at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center who once worked for the Union of Concerned Scientists and has spent decades litigating nuclear issues, counters that most stages of the uranium fuel cycle are plagued with complicationsnot least because the NRC is reputedly cozy with industry representatives.
In January 2010, for instance, an | <urn:uuid:7f89f208-4a03-4e0d-8da1-df66a3fbac7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.renewablesbiz.com/blog/11/09/nuclear-horizon-atomic-economy-booming-new-mexico-santa-fe-reporter?quicktabs_11=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948561 | 3,654 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Conservatives won a substantial victory Thursday. The physics of American politics — actions provoking reactions — continues to move the crucial debate, about the nature of the American regime, toward conservatism. Chief Justice John G. Roberts jr has served this cause.
The health-care legislation’s expansion of the federal government’s purview has improved our civic health by rekindling interest in what this expansion threatens — the Framers’ design for limited government. Conservatives distraught about the survival of the individual mandate are missing the considerable consolation prize they won when the Supreme Court rejected a constitutional rationale for the mandate — Congress’s rationale — that was pregnant with rampant statism.
“The power to regulate commerce presupposes the existence of commercial activity to be regulated. . . . The individual mandate, however, does not regulate existing commercial activity. It instead compels individuals to become active in commerce by purchasing a product, on the ground that their failure to do so affects interstate commerce. Construing the Commerce Clause to permit Congress to regulate individuals precisely because they are doing nothing would open a new and potentially vast domain to congressional authority. . . . Allowing Congress to justify federal regulation by pointing to the effect of inaction on commerce would bring countless decisions an individual could potentially make within the scope of federal regulation, and — under the government’s theory — empower Congress to make those decisions for him.”
By rejecting the Commerce Clause rationale, Thursday’s decision reaffirmed the Constitution’s foundational premise: Enumerated powers are necessarily limited because, as Chief Justice John Marshall said, “the enumeration presupposes something not enumerated.”
Best of both worlds maybe. More people will have access to healthcare, without stretching the commerce clause into infinity.
I also have to wonder if the administration planned it this way. No way in hell this passes if they call it a tax. It is a tax of course, and Roberts recognized it as such, but Obama managed to get it thru congress by calling it something else. Of course, I seriously doubt he knew that how Roberts would vote. So I doubt he really planned it this way (although if he did, he is the most brilliant politician since FDR). | <urn:uuid:19cd6658-7006-4152-941e-e9b715e0b4a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.carolinahuddle.com/boards/topic/73569-conservative-consolation-prize/ | 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 | 0.944866 | 455 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Preparing Thanksgiving dinner is enough of a pressure cooker, never mind having to do on-the-fly math to get it right. Here are all the numbers you need to have a safe, worry-free and delicious Turkey Day dinner.
All serving estimates are generous to allow for plenty of seconds and leftovers.
For turkeys under 16 pounds, estimate 1 pound per serving (this accounts for bone weight). For larger birds, a bit less is fine; they have a higher meat-to-bone ratio. But if your goal is plenty of leftovers, aim for 1 1/2 pounds per person whatever the turkey's size.
Ÿ For 8 people, buy a 12-pound turkey
Ÿ For 10 people, buy a 15-pound turkey
Ÿ For 12 people, buy an 18-pound turkey
Ÿ For 14 people, buy a 20-pound turkey
THE BIG THAW?
The safest way to thaw a frozen turkey is in the refrigerator. You'll need about 24 hours per 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. You also can put the turkey in a sink of cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes, and plan for about 30 minutes per pound.
Never brine a turkey for more than about 8 to 10 hours. Much longer and the meat will be too salty. Always keep the bird refrigerated during brining. If the turkey is too big, an ice-filled cooler stored outside is fine, too.
Roasting temperatures vary widely by recipe. Some go at a slow and steady 325 F. Others crank the heat to 400 F or 425 F for the first hour, then drop it down for the rest of the time.
However you roast, use an instant-read thermometer inserted at the innermost part of the thigh (without touching bone) to determine when your turkey is done. The meat needs to hit 165 F for safe eating, though some people say thigh meat tastes better at 170 F.
The following roasting time estimates are based on a stuffed turkey cooked at 325 F. Reduce cooking time by 20 to 40 minutes for turkeys that are not stuffed. And remember, a crowded oven cooks more slowly, so plan ahead if your bird needs to share the space.
Ÿ 12-pound turkey: 3 to 4 hours at 325 F
Ÿ 15-pound turkey: 4 to 4 1/2 hours at 325 F
Ÿ 18-pound turkey: 4 1/2 to 5 hours at 325 F
Ÿ 20-pound turkey: 5 to 6 hours at 325 F
The turkey should never go directly from the oven to the table. Like most meat, it needs to rest at least 20 minutes.
Ÿ Carrots: a 1-pound bag makes 4 to 5 servings
Ÿ Cranberry sauce: a 12-ounce package of fresh cranberries makes about 2 cups of sauce; a 16-ounce can has 6 servings
Ÿ Gravy: plan for cup of gravy per person
Ÿ Green beans: 1 1/2 pounds makes 6 to 8 servings
Ÿ Mashed potatoes: a 5-pound bag of potatoes makes 10 to 12 servings
Ÿ Stuffing: a 14-ounce bag of stuffing makes about 11 servings | <urn:uuid:ccfd2693-3928-4576-99d2-9542c91e16bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tnonline.com/2009/nov/23/thanksgiving-%E2%80%93-we-do-math-you-do-cooking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932118 | 663 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Mobile Technology Helping Small Businesses Boost Efficiency
Mobile technologies, such as laptops, smartphones and now tablets, are helping to increase productivity among workers, but small-business owners are frustrated about the lack of relevant applications that can help them effectively run their companies, according to a new report.
The report, conducted by Harris Interactive and Bank of the West, found nine out of 10 (88 percent) of small-business owners surveyed use mobile technology, including the applications and programs that run on mobile phones, smartphones and tablets.
Communications applications, such as calls, texting, instant messaging and email, were the main uses of mobile technology among small-business owners, cited by just over three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents, followed by calendars and scheduling (48 percent) and GPS and navigation (42 percent). The survey indicated small-businesses owners find the greatest potential for using mobile technology in marketing, in which mentions increased 94 percent; making and receiving payments, which increased by 82 percent; and customer relationship database, with an increase of 63 percent.
Two-thirds of those surveyed (65 percent) said mobile technology is important to the current success of their business and nearly three-quarters (74 percent) said they think it will be important to the future success of their businesses. Sixty-eight percent said that it has increased efficiency for their businesses, and three out of five (61 percent) said it serves functions in their businesses that cannot be completed as efficiently through other means.
However, the No. 1 barrier to taking advantage of mobile technology was a lack of business uses, cited by 33 percent of respondents, followed by cost, at 25 percent.
Security was also a barrier to mobile technology adoption; more than half (56 percent) the respondents saying concerns about information security have at least somewhat prevented them from implementing it more fully, despite the fact that most small-business owners surveyed (93 percent) said they have never experienced information or data theft as a result of using mobile technology.
When asked specifically about the time-consuming tasks that mobile technology could better address, small-business owners wished for solutions that could help them with accepting payments from customers (33 percent), monitoring financial accounts (24 percent), expense reports (19 percent) and making payments to suppliers (12 percent). Other financial tasks cited included invoicing and payroll.
While a third of small-business owners have made no investment in mobile technology, well over half who had made an investment saw a positive return. For most of those small-business owners, the return was primarily on target or exceeded their expectations. The typical investment is 5 percent of annual operating expenses, and is projected to grow by an additional 5 percent over the next two years, according to survey results, which were released Oct. 3.
“We learned, and the Harris study supports, that while small-business owners are not early adopters of mobile technology—they tend to wait until someone like them has bought it and endorses it—they do see its growing importance in the success of their business,” wrote Michelle Di Gangi, a vice president with Bank of the West who works with small and midsized businesses. “Creating relevant uses that help small businesses systemize customer relationship management, marketing and financial accounting will be critical to the growth of mobile technology in this market.” | <urn:uuid:deaa5063-cd1a-4494-9d31-cbb55d87e972> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eweek.com/print/small-business/mobile-technology-helping-small-businesses-boost-efficiency/ | 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 | 0.975436 | 681 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The Bay Area consistently ranks high on the Most Literate Cities list, which has to do with things like library resources and ratio of bookstores to residents. It doesn’t count how many people are reading on public transit, but whenever I ride BART or Caltrain, it seems that at least half the people around me have a book or newspaper open.
Which makes the Peninsula Library System's “robotic book lending machine” a natural. Named Free 2 Read and Ride and located at the Millbrae Station, it's now serving BART, Caltrain, and SamTrans bus riders. The machine’s been in the station for several weeks with a “Coming Soon” sign on it, but Thursday was the first day it was open for lending.
The device, which sits on the upper level of the station outside the fare gates, holds more than 300 books chosen by Peninsula librarians. Heavy on fiction, mystery, and biography, available books were chosen for wide appeal. The first selection to come up on the “Browse” function was Tony Blair’s autobiography; I spied a P.G. Wodehouse Jeeves novel and a Bay Area guidebook on the list as well.
Wayne Walker of the Peninsula Library System gave me a demonstration. There are two screens: On the left you browse and reserve available books; on the right you check out your selection. Walker said creating a quick process in which patrons have a couple of opportunities to opt out (in case someone has to run for a train) was a design imperative.
“If you spend any time at this station, you'll notice that when riders come through here they're on a mission," he said. "They want to get in, they want to get out”.You can return Free 2 Read books at the machine or at any Peninsula library. But you can’t return books you checked out at a brick-and-mortar library at the machine. Nor can you pay your library fines there. To take out books, you'll need a library card from one of the Peninsula libraries. You'll also have to remember your PIN – which stymied this reporter’s attempts at a self-demonstration. (Well, that and the not-being-able-to-pay-outstanding-fines thing.)
More than a million riders go through the end-of-the-line Millbrae station every year, and Wayne Walker thinks the robot library will be especially popular with people heading to San Francisco International Airport, the next stop north. I asked him whether a book-dispensing machine might not be a few years late, given how many people now carry Kindles, iPads and smartphones.
“Yes, the world is heading towards digital," he said. "But there are still plenty of people that enjoy the real thing to read."
Plus the batteries on library books never wear down. | <urn:uuid:80077e56-141b-4de8-b84d-4217981a3f88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2011/05/06/barts-new-robotic-book-lending-machine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966637 | 609 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The federal government should adopt a very simple process improvement paradigm that every employee can relate to, is easy to understand and fits on one printable page. The book, The Power of Six Sigma by Subir Chowdhury, is what motivates the idea I'm suggesting. I used the technique he describes and it helped me to improve information security and employee satisfaction regarding resource availability. I have a more detailed case study and statistical performance results to demonstrate it works.
All too often, people run around working solutions that attack the symptoms or a problem, rather than determining the root cause and then working to fix it.
A simple paradigm based on six sigma, as Chowdhury describes, would be easy for people to understand. Here is the framework that should be promoted.
- *Define* the problem from the customer perspective. The Chowdhury book uses the example of a pizza shop trying to resolve customer complaints about burnt pizzas and employee complaints about being burned by the ovens.
- *Measure* where we are now and where we'd like to be (performance goal setting) in the future.
- *Analyze* the current process for providing the product/service. Look not just at the symptoms of problems, but determine what is causing them.
- *Improve* the process for creating/providing the product/service. Following on the previous step, look to find the root causes of problems, rather than trying to throw a fix the symptoms. Using the pizza example, the answer is not to provide the cooks with more safety gear and ask them to better monitor the pizza cooking time. This only yields limited improvements and is a band-aid solution. The answer is to use a better oven that cooks evenly and is safer.
- *Control* the results. Validate that product has improved the outcomes and continue using the overall process to refine things until you achieve your performance goals. | <urn:uuid:11b56907-61c8-445c-82a4-3ed74275e79f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://governmentreform.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Process-improvement-attack-the-root-cause-not-the-symptoms/120212-13060 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948003 | 388 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Easter in Vietnam: An Extraordinary Account
The Vatican vice-minister of foreign affairs recounts his recent visit to the country, where the Catholic Church is flourishing in spite of the absence of freedom – as in the first centuries of Christianity
by Sandro Magister
ROMA, April 5, 2007 – Among the many dozens of Easter greetings that Benedict XVI will address to the world at the end of the “urbi et orbi” message for Resurrection Sunday, there will also be one in Vietnamese: “Mù'ng lé phuc sinh!”
Vietnam is one of the Asian countries where the Church is growing the most vigorously. There are more than six million Catholics there, and their numbers are expanding significantly. The level of religious practice is high (the photo shows a church in Hà Nôi). The seminaries are full, especially now that the communist regime has made it easier to enter them.
In effect, living as a Christian in a country like Vietnam requires great faith and strong courage. At the beginning of April, a Catholic priest, Nguyen Van Ly, was condemned to eight years in prison for propaganda against the communist party. Two men and two women were also condemned with him.
Fr. Van Ly, 60, has founded a movement for religious freedom and democracy: Block 8406. He previously spent twenty years in prison. He was arrested on February 19 by the police, who burst into the quarters of the bishop’s residence in Huê, where he was living.
In spite of the fact that Vietnam very recently entered the World Trade Organization, WTO, there is still underway – according to Human Rights Watch – “one of the worst repressions of peaceful dissidents in the past twenty years.” With Christians in particular under fire.
Nevertheless, there are also signs of a thaw on the part of the communist authorities. On January 25 of this year, for the first time, the prime minister of Vietnam, Nguyên Tân Dung, visited the Vatican and met with the pope and the heads of the secretariat of state. And in mid-March, a visit to Vietnam was made by an official delegation of the Holy See, headed by the undersecretary for relations with states – or vice foreign minister – Pietro Parolin.
The situation of religious freedom, the appointment of bishops, and diplomatic relations in Vietnam resembles that in China. But the difference is that the evolution underway is more promising. Religious freedom is receiving small concessions, the last of which was the authorization of the archdiocese of Hô Chi Minh City to open a center of assistance for those sick with AIDS. Preliminary negotiations have begun for the establishment of diplomatic ties with the Vatican. As for the bishops, their appointment is currently made by Rome from among a roster of three candidates, any of whom the communist authorities can veto.
But the most encouraging signs come from the Vietnamese Christian community. This much is clear in the sometimes emotional account that the head of the Vatican delegation, Pietro Parolin, wrote after his recent visit to the country. What follows is not the official report that he sent to Benedict XVI. But it traces the outlines of that report.
Parolin wrote this account for the international magazine “30 Days,” directed by Giulio Andreotti, which published it in the April issue:
"One saw in their eyes the joy of the faith..."
by Pietro Parolin
From March 5-11, 2007, a delegation from the Holy See visited Vietnam for the fourteenth time. The series of visits was inaugurated in 1989 by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray. Afterwards, the Holy See delegation has always been headed by the undersecretary for relations with states, first by Claudio M. Celli and then by Celestino Migliore. This was the second visit for me, following the one in 2004. In 2005, a Vietnamese delegation came to Rome, and in 2006, I was unable to go because of affairs that had arisen in the section for relations with states. On the latest visit, I was accompanied by Luis Mariano Montemayor, a nunciature advisor at the secretariat of state, and Barnabé Nguyên Van Phuong, from Vietnam, the office head for the congregation for the evangelization of peoples.
The agenda was very intense, subdivided between a “political” part and an “ecclesial” part, corresponding to the two aims of the visits, which is that of maintaining contacts with the Vietnamese authorities and meeting with the local Church.
In practice, the Holy See delegation undertook, for one week, the tasks that in other countries are entrusted to the papal legates, because there still is no papal representative in Vietnam.
We were met with the same cordial welcome as in 2004, with the advantage, in respect to that occasion, that we already knew many of our counterparts, and therefore sought to reinforce with them the bonds of respect, esteem, and trust that are highly prized in Vietnamese society and that facilitate dialogue, especially on thorny issues.
Our visit followed last January’s trip to the Vatican by prime minister Nguyên Tân Dung, who on that occasion met with Pope Benedict XVI and the officials of the secretariat of state. Perhaps it was that very circumstance that contributed to making the welcome toward us even more attentive and constructive. We saw this in many instances, from the way in which we were treated to the media coverage that our presence received.
The packed agenda of meetings with the Vietnamese authorities hinged upon the three working sessions with the committee for religious affairs, presided over by Nguyên The Doanh.
Then there were the courtesy visits to the prime minister of foreign affairs, Le Cong Phung, to the vice-president of the Vietnamese communist party’s commission for foreign affairs, Pham Xuan Son, and to the president of the national assembly’s committee for foreign affairs, Vu Mao.
During the visits to the provinces of Binh Dinh, Kontum, and Gia Lai, we also met with the presidents of the local popular committees, the agencies that govern the provinces into which the country is subdivided.
The working meetings dealt with questions concerning the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Vietnam – like, for example, the appointment of bishops and the construction or reconstruction of places of worship – and relations between Church and state.
It is well known that the religious policies of the Vietnamese government are contained in the statutes on religion and belief from June 18, 2004, and revolve around the two principles according to which believers – and thus also Catholics – are an integral part of the nation, and that the state should strive to respond to their legitimate demands. The delegation received information on this legislation, on the need to obtain increasingly more uniform application of this all over the country, and also on the willingness to improve this where necessary, keeping in consideration the suggestions that emerge from the experiences of the religious communities, so that religious freedom, which is a fundamental right of individuals and communities, may be ever more respected and translated into reality.
The meetings also dealt with diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Vietnam. Although no deadline has yet been set, I believe that a significant step forward has been made: the Vietnamese have communicated to us that the prime minister has instructed the competent agencies to examine the question, and have proposed that within the next few months we form a group of experts charged with studying the timing and concrete ways for beginning the process of establishing diplomatic relations.
We dedicated Thursday and Friday, March 8-9, to the last two dioceses that had not yet received a visit from the Holy See delegation: Quy Nhon and Kontum, in the center of the country, in the ecclesial province of Huê. These were intense days and, moreover, were more than a little tiring because of the schedule and the travel by car and airplane (a torrential rainstorm made us hold our breath at the moment of landing at the airport in Quy Nhon), but the ecclesial experience we had rewarded us beyond measure for the discomfort we suffered.
In Quy Nhon, we were welcomed by the vicar general and by almost all of the clergy of the diocese, together with the numerous faithful who crowded the cathedral decked with festive decorations (bishop Pierre Nguyên Soan was absent because he was recovering in the hospital). There we celebrated the Holy Mass, praying for the pope and for the Church in Vietnam.
From the city, which perches on the sea, we moved into the interior, to the parish of Goi Thi, which was the center for the spread of the Christian faith in the region and preserves the memory of the great French bishop and martyr Théodore Cuénot [1802-1861], apostolic vicar for eastern Cochinchina. We also went to venerate his shrine, the destination of continual pilgrimages, after a moment of prayer in the large and beautiful parish church, which was overflowing with people, most of them young adults, teens, and children, and after a visit to the Lovers of the Cross sisters in Quy Nhon.
It is difficult to express the emotions, the sentiments, the gratitude to the Lord, and the spiritual joy that is felt in such situations. In the public encounters, I constantly repeated that we were receiving much more than we had brought. In the relation that we would deliver to the Holy Father after the end of the voyage, I noted the difficulty of recounting these realities in writing, and partly for this reason I expressed the hope that the day will soon come when the pope can form his own impressions in person.
We had similar experiences in the diocese of Kontum, an ecclesiastical territory situated in the high central plains and inhabited mostly by ethnic minority mountain dwellers, the "Montagnards". The Eucharist, concelebrated by the delegation with bishop Michel Hoâng Dúc Oanh and many priests, saw more than five thousand faithful gathered in the square outside the cathedral, on a tepid evening that was warm with faith, devotion, love for the pope, and Christian witness.
The following morning, we celebrated the Holy Mass in the church of Pleichuet, constructed on the model of an ordinary Montagnards' home, with a very high straw roof. Most of the parishioners are neophytes. One saw in their eyes the joy of the faith and of belonging to the Catholic Church, which they expressed with their very colorful traditional customs, the sound of their instruments, and the dance movements that accompanied the various parts of the liturgy. At the end, we continued the meeting in a festive atmosphere, tasting the distinctive foods of the Montagnards and not refusing, even early in the morning, to sip the highly alcoholic beverage that they distill from rice. The rest of the morning was spent visiting various Church institutions in Pleiku – primary schools, boarding schools, centers for the handicapped, etc. – that express the attentiveness and effort of the Catholic Church toward these populations, who have faced and still face difficulties of various kinds and situations of disadvantage.
And then I cannot forget the meetings with the graduates of the major seminary and the Lovers of the Cross sisters in Hà Nôi, or the Holy Mass celebrated in the cathedral in the capital in the presence of archbishop Joseph Ngô Quang Kiêt – whom we had already met together with the president of the Vietnamese bishops’ conference, Paul Nguyên Van Hóa, bishop of Nha Trang, and with the most eminent cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Mân, archbishop of Hô Chí Minh City, who had come to Hà Nôi for the meeting. There was also the Mass in the parish of Ha Long (in the diocese of Hai Phòng, near China), before our sightseeing trip to the bay of the same name, which is one of the sites UNESCO has declared as world heritage centers for humanity.
On all these occasions, I was always profoundly struck by the way these people prayed – with comprehension, attention, and devotion, and at the same time with great involvement on the community level: children and adults, young and old, men and women singing and responding together. I was struck by their love, dedication, and faithfulness toward the bishop of Rome, sentiments that were continually demonstrated for us.
It is a courageous, dynamic Church, full of vitality, as shown in part by the numerous candidates for priesthood and the religious life.
It is a Church that works in favor of society and takes care of those in want and necessity, while it hopes to dedicate greater efforts in the areas of education and social welfare, in order to offer an increasingly more specific and effective contribution to the country and to all its inhabitants, regardless of whether they are believers or not, or whether they belong to this or that religious group.
It is a Church, finally, that is taking on awareness of the problems connected to the rapid industrialization of the country and to its tumultuous economic development (Vietnam, with a projected growth rate of 8.4 percent for 2007, has the second-fastest growing economy in the world), and that intends to prepare to respond to this new situation, in order to continue being salt and leaven, and enlightening all with the joyful proclamation of the Gospel.
The magazine for which the head of the Vatican delegation, Pietri Parolin, wrote his account:
> 30 Days
Two good sources of information on the life of the Catholic Church in Vietnam and in the rest of Asia:
> Asia News
> UCA News
English translation by Matthew Sherry
, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
For the latest articles go to the English home page of > www.chiesa
Sandro Magister’s e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:bcf0cf83-a5a8-4624-86b1-c03aba60547f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/131463?eng=y | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970537 | 2,910 | 1.796875 | 2 |
A new pro bono report literally puts the world at in-house counsel’s fingertips.
The 2012 edition of Latham & Watkins’ Survey of Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities in Select Jurisdictions, conducted in conjunction with the Pro Bono Institute (PBI), provides an overview of the legal landscape in dozens of countries around the globe, including details about local legal aid programs, unmet legal needs, the cultural perception of pro bono and rules about engaging in pro bono work. The report serves as a guide for law firms, nongovernmental organizations, legal departments and other interested parties that want to pursue international pro bono projects.
Latham & Watkins and PBI started producing the report in 2005. The first version surveyed 11 jurisdictions, most of them located in Europe.
“Until the survey, there was really no resource for people who were looking to engage in pro bono in jurisdictions outside of their core home countries,” says Wendy Atrokhov, Latham & Watkins’ public service counsel.
Assembling the 376-page 2012 report was nearly a five-month process.
“This past year, we undertook the most ambitious update yet,” Atrokhov says. “We had more than 100 attorneys and staff from across all of our 30 offices engaged. We were able to expand the survey to nearly double the previous edition so that it now covers more than 70 jurisdictions in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.”
The 2012 report underscores notable gaps in coverage in state-provided legal services within many jurisdictions. “In some jurisdictions, the services are not meeting the demand among everyone who’s eligible, or they exclude certain portions of the population from eligibility,” Atrokhov says. “Immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers may not be entitled to legal aid.”
The report also educates in-house counsel about possible barriers in pursuing international pro bono work. “In some countries, practice rules make it virtually impossible for in-house counsel to undertake pro bono work, as they are not treated as fully practicing lawyers,” says Esther Lardent, president and CEO of PBI. “In addition, in some parts of the world—the European Union, for example—in-house counsel do not have an attorney-client privilege, or that privilege is limited, so that client confidences are not protected, and building trust with pro bono clients may be impaired.”
Lardent says the report gives inside counsel “the tools to advocate for changes in rules and processes that inhibit in-house pro bono service.”
Additionally, the report helps companies grow their business opportunities. “Many companies are focused on expanding their customer base and growing revenues in developing nations,” Lardent says. “To help them do so, their legal departments must be familiar with legal practice and procedure, both written and unwritten, in those nations. Pro bono offers an important vehicle to gain that understanding, to develop contacts with key stakeholders and regulators, and to create goodwill.”
The 2012 survey was the first that contained input from in-house counsel. Latham & Watkins and PBI plan to continue working with in-house counsel to identify more pro bono-related considerations that are unique to them in jurisdictions around the world. | <urn:uuid:98174e7b-d1a4-465b-b53f-27aa4e2ff170> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidecounsel.com/2013/02/26/latham-watkins-pro-bono-institute-provide-overvie?t=litigation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953895 | 707 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Berliner Barock Solisten
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Armin Mueller-Stahl, Burghart Klaußner
The 300th Birthday of Frederick the Great on 24 January 2012 provides the occasion for an artistic summit. It includes works from the court of the music-loving monarch, interpreted by two leading early music ensembles: the Berliner Barock Solisten, which consists of members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. Moreover, the concert features readings by Burghart Klaußner and Armin Mueller-Stahl.
The two star actors, known from German and international films, will read from the four-decade-long correspondence between Frederick and Voltaire – a unique document of nonchalantly commented contemporary history, full of top-class irony, anecdotes and philosophy. The fact that the king had not only a honed wit and polished turn of phrase at his disposal, but was also an accomplished musician, is revealed in the orchestral works of the evening. At his famous court concerts at Sanssouci Palace, Frederick used to assume the flute solos himself. The English musicologist Charles Burney, who attended one such soiree was quite taken aback, writing, “In short, his performance surpassed, in many particulars, anything I had ever heard among dilettanti, or even professors.” In our concert, the flautists Christoph Huntgeburth and Jacques Zoon take on the part of the King. The programme features music by Frederick’s flute teacher and favourite composer Johann Joachim Quantz, from his chamber harpsichordist, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and not least from his own pen. An evening full of atmosphere, spirit and grace.
Highlights from the concert can be seen in our trailer. | <urn:uuid:6fbfd8a3-43b2-4b0a-8d08-9f0bccc41377> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/2849/berlin-mueller-stahl-klau%C3%9Fner | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940248 | 393 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Protesters to march on Michigan capitol over 'right-to-work' vote
* Michigan would become 24th "right-to-work" state
* Republican-controlled legislature expected to pass measures
* Up to 10,000 expected to protest
LANSING, Mich., Dec 11 (Reuters) - As many as 10,000 labor union workers from throughout Michigan and the U.S. Midwest are expected to march on the Michigan Capitol building in freezing temperatures on Tuesday to protest likely passage of a "right-to-work" law.
The Republican-controlled Michigan House of Representatives will consider two and perhaps three bills on Tuesday that would prohibit unions from compelling private sector workers and government employees to pay union dues.
The right-to-work movement has been growing in the country since Wisconsin fought a similar battle with unions over two years ago.
Michigan would become the 24th state to enact right-to-work provisions and passage of the legislation would deal a stunning blow to the power of organized labor in the United States.
Michigan is home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry, with some 700 manufacturing plants in the state. It is also the birthplace of the United Auto Workers, the richest U.S. labor union.
While the new laws are not expected to have much immediate impact because existing union contracts would be preserved, they could, over time, further weaken the UAW, which has already seen its influence wane in negotiating with the major automakers.
Right-to-work laws typically allow workers to hold a job without being forced to join a union or pay union dues.
Last Thursday, when the senate passed two bills and the House also considered right-to-work legislation, protesters converged on Lansing. Several people were arrested and officials sealed the Capitol from the public.
"We support people exercising their constitutional rights to protest," said Inspector Gene Adamczyk of the Michigan State Police. "But we need them to do it in an orderly manner."
President Barack Obama waded into the debate during a visit to the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Michigan on Monday, criticizing the Republican right-to-work effort.
"What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money," Obama said.
School teachers are among those expected to march on the Capitol on Tuesday. Several school districts will not hold classes on Tuesday due to teacher and staff absences, Detroit newspapers and television stations reported.
Labor leaders such as UAW President Bob King say they were blindsided by Republican Governor Rick Snyder, who last Thursday announced he was supporting right-to-work after nearly two years of saying the issue was too divisive.
King was unsuccessful in more than a week of talks with Snyder and his staff in staving off the right-to-work push by the Republicans, who will lose several seats when newly elected members take their seats in the state house and senate in January.
Michigan has the fifth highest percentage of unionized workers in the United States at 17.5 percent and the Detroit area is headquarters for General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler, which is majority owned by Fiat SpA . | <urn:uuid:15b256f6-9974-400f-967c-d9fb42b4c271> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnbc.com/id/100298442 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975418 | 651 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The advancement in science and technology is responsible for all these things & of course the Internet. One such recent innovation has caught up my attention recently. Yes you are right, thats Google's Chrome OS.
So here I have enlisted about 5 features that I really liked about Chrome OS, but these features are not just about Chrome OS, but any Cloud based Operating System.
Even from small things like preferences, settings, passwords and my favorite Apps everything resides in the cloud. I just DONT HAVE TO BOTHER.
And common, dont talk to me about security, recently CCAvenue was hacked, Gmail accidently deleted 150K user email accounts, Sony's blog hacked. You can take measures, try to avoid it from happening. But theres nothing that cannot be compromised.
I have been a guy who carried out experiments since childhood. I hardly used to like things the way they were, so I used to change them to fit my needs. With Chrome OS I have full FREEDOM to remove it, to change it.
Its easy to download, install and use the applications. Once I install them I dont have to bother reinstalling them for life long even if I change the computer or reinstall my Operating System. All that I have to do is just sync the applications onto the cloud. Thats it. | <urn:uuid:2f52b3a3-8a86-44f6-8625-84e2d9e645d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the4thdimension.net/2011/05/5-things-i-liked-about-chrome-os-chrome.html?showComment=1306171962868 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956081 | 270 | 1.765625 | 2 |
"Search engine submission" refers to the act of getting your web site listed with search engines. Another term for this is search engine registration or Search Engine Submission
How can I get my site listed with search engines? It sounds like a pretty simple question, but sadly, Search Engine Submission can be a complicated subject.
Have no fear. This guide will take you through the essential and relatively easy steps you can take to get listed with search engines.
Before we begin, it's important to make a distinction between search engine submission and search engine optimization. These terms, along with others, are sometimes used synonymously to discuss different efforts to promote sites on search engines. However, within this section of Search Engine Watch, they will be used to refer to some very specific activities.
Search Engine Submission: Getting Listed
"Search engine submission" refers to the act of getting your web site listed with search engines. Another term for this is search engine registration or Search Engine Submission.
Getting listed does not mean that you will necessarily rank well for particular terms, however. It simply means that the search engine knows your pages exist.
Think of it as a lottery. Search engine submission is akin to your purchasing a lottery ticket. Having a ticket doesn't mean that you will win, but you must have a ticket to have any chance at all.
"Search engine optimization" refers to the act of altering your website so that it may rank well for particular terms, especially with crawler-based search engines (later in this guide, we will explain what these are).
Returning to the lottery example, let's assume there was a way to increase the odds of winning by picking your lottery numbers carefully. Search engine optimization is akin to this. It's making sure that the numbers you select are more likely to win than purchasing a set of numbers at random.
Search Engine Placement & Positioning: Ranking Well
Terms such as "search engine placement," "search engine positioning" and "search engine ranking" refer to a site actually doing well for particular terms or for a range of terms at search engines. This is the ultimate goal for many people -- to get that "top ten" ranking for a particular keyword or search terms.
Search Engine Marketing & Optimization: The Overall Process
Terms such as "Search Engine Marketing" or "Search Engine Optimization" refer to the overall process of marketing a site on search engines. This includes submission, optimization, managing paid listings and more.
These terms also highlight the fact that doing well with search engines is not just about submitting right, optimizing well or getting a good rank for a particular term. It's about the overall job of improving how your site interacts with search engines, so that the audience you seek can find you.
To set up a Free consultation with our Professional Search Engine Submission Services & to get a customized Search Engine Submission quote contact our Search Engine Submission or mail us at – firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:8563ba79-e706-4bf4-8f1f-0c205c74d712> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.anewraag.com/searchenginesubmissionservices-india.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945222 | 605 | 1.554688 | 2 |
What do the following have in common?
- both major U.S. political parties
- street sign makers in White County, AR and New Castle County, DE
- church elders
All of these have a periodic penchant for commissioning people to do things when those particular people apparently shouldn’t be doing them. In other words, the doers don’t always have the requisite abilities.
We’ve had a few party-sanctioned presidents who haven’t had certain requisite skills (e.g., correctly pronouncing the word “nuclear” and being generally honorable people who don’t talk out of both sides of their mouths). People entrusted with producing street signs for, e.g., Llama Drive, Kiamensi Road, and Brennan Drive ought to know how to spell (erroneous spellings Lama, Kiamansi, and Brennen appear at the other ends of the roads).
And in the sphere of song leading, I can’t tell you the last time I met with, or heard about, a Church of Christ that was using its options well. Where they exist, qualified song leaders should be used. You know — people who actually have the ability to stand in front and lead singing, not hindering by technical incompetence. College Church, you especially ought to be ashamed of the poor non-use you make of your song leading resources.
It is my anecdotally informed theory that elders and deacons who have charge of those who have charge — in other words, those who select the song leaders — tend to be of a shallow mind when considering such things. All sorts of guys will lead singing in churches. Some who are nearly devoid of talent for leading music publicly, but who have “upbeat” personalities, will even find themselves having a virtual monopoly on leading. These guys may come to believe they are gifted when they really aren’t, and as a result, they don’t end up developing the modest gifts they have. They stagnate; resultantly, they contribute to the stagnation of the congregation. Those who select and schedule leaders ought to do better, choosing those who can really do the things they’re chosen to do. We wouldn’t choose an accountant to pick cotton, or a two-year-old to install a light bulb high atop a ladder, so why do we choose people who can’t keep a beat or match pitch or read rhythms to lead congregational singing?
In contrast: when my dad was in the role of choosing song leaders, he did an exemplary job of balancing things as he got men involved in public leadership. At times, it was difficult, because pressures were exerted to have people’s friends (or those who led “fun” songs or even tripe that didn’t deserve to be led at all) lead more than they should have led. Most often, there were 4 or 5 who were in the Sunday morning rotation, and 4-5 more who led on Sunday evenings or Wednesday nights. It was pretty clear to all that some were “first-string” and others were not, and I wasn’t always comfortable with the de facto hierarchy, but this generally seemed to work out well, and people were in the appropriate roles.
[Aside: we could have multiple conversations about Sunday nights … 1) whether putting the “second string” on Sunday night duty further marginalizes Sunday night activities, and yea, 2) whether having Sunday night activities at all makes any sense in this era or not, but those are discussions for another day.]
[A further aside: through the years, I’ve been part of 5 churches in which I was in this kind of first-string rotation. I both appreciated the affirmations and took them seriously. Further, I believe they were all apt affirmations. I never would have wanted to have a monopoly, even though I was technically better than anyone else around me, because I was not spiritually better or personally more appealing than the other leaders. After all, I was just one person who could lead a contingent pretty effectively. In other words, I was not the best leader for everyone. I was not to everyone’s taste. Different leadership styles can keep things from monotony, and I was glad for the variety at West Side, Ridgewood, St. Elmo, Cedars, and Lawson Road.]
Back to my dad. Not all of his opinions are infallible, and I do think he allowed taste to influence his leadership of the leaders, to an extent . . . but he did know an effective, worthy song/worship/devotional leader when he saw one. When he was a deacon and elder in charge of those in charge, Dad always did a great job of being as inclusive as possible, while serving the higher ideals of spiritual leadership for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Dad has always been a thoughtful man who saw the best possibilities in people.
Happy birthday, Dad. The anniversary of your birth is one of a kind, and so are you. | <urn:uuid:1d237138-9bb5-4637-8780-ad362eae5534> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blcasey.wordpress.com/tag/white-county-ar/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978568 | 1,054 | 1.625 | 2 |
When the client wants to leave it to the cat.Some tips to help make sure unusual bequests withstand scrutiny.
CPAs and lawyers who specialize in estate planning Estate Planning
The overall planning of a person's wealth, including the preparation of a will and the planning of taxes after the individual's death.
Contrary to popular belief, estate planning involves much more than preparing a will, and it is not only for the provide help with the most serious undertaking of life: dying. How to disperse resources that soon will be left behind is a sensitive and private decision. In planning what to do with their wealth, clients acknowledge their mortality and consider what goals they posthumously want to fulfill. They may wish to do good, give pleasure and provide for loved ones--and even ensure that companion animals will be properly cared for.
The practitioner who is asked to help has to have sensitivity to the client's feelings as well as know where to steer him or her. In educating people about the possibilities, the CPA's involvement may extend from analyzing the client's overall finances to consulting with the lawyer who prepares the will to acting as executor of the estate. The role will depend on the client's wishes and family dynamics.
To safely and legally guide someone in making an unusual bequest bequest: see legacy. , a CPA (Computer Press Association, Landing, NJ) An earlier membership organization founded in 1983 that promoted excellence in computer journalism. Its annual awards honored outstanding examples in print, broadcast and electronic media. The CPA disbanded in 2000. may need to think creatively and develop techniques to comply with a client's priorities--whether it's to leave money to a live-in companion, a nature preserve or a pet. Because estate consulting requires counseling skills counseling skills,
n the acquired verbal and nonverbal skills that enhance communication by helping a medical professional to establish a good rapport with a patient or client. and empathy as well as technical knowledge, "it takes a while to get good at it," says Robert Keebler, CPA and tax specialist at Virchow, Krause & Co., Platteville, Wisconsin Platteville is a city in Grant County, Wisconsin, which is in the southwest corner of the state. The population was 9,989 at the 2000 census.
The city is home to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. . He breaks the process down into seven steps:
1. Gather complete information about the client's finances and family.
2. Do the financial projections for different ways of leaving the estate.
3. Educate your client about the tax pros and cons pros and cons
the advantages and disadvantages of a situation [Latin pro for + con(tra) against] of each scenario.
4. Have your client define his or her goals.
5. Make proposals on how to implement those goals.
6. Lay all the information out in a comprehensive plan.
7. Implement the plan; have a lawyer prepare the documents and make them airtight.
THE WHOLE TRUTH
The starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point
terminus a quo
commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the in any estate plan is the inventory of a client's assets, retirement accounts, debts and life insurance--"as well as all his or her secrets," says David S. Rhine, CPA, a Rockland County, New York Rockland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, 12 miles north-northwest of New York City. As of the 2000 census, the population was 286,753. The county seat is New City. The name comes from "rocky land," an early description of the area given by settlers. , family wealth planner who has been doing estate work for 30 years.
Because extreme emotions are involved when people talk about death, the CPA must listen very carefully, he says. He cites as an example a client who had been subsidizing his sister and brother-in-law while keeping it from his wife. That continued assistance--and a tactful tact·ful
Possessing or exhibiting tact; considerate and discreet: a tactful person; a tactful remark.
tact way of leveling with the wife--had to be built into the estate arrangements. (The help appeared to begin with the estate plan--prior gifts were not discussed.)
Although some requests may seem frivolous, they are meaningful to the client. "If an 80-year-old with $10 million and a Dachshund dachshund (dăks`hnd, –ənd, dăsh`–), breed of small, short-legged hound developed in Germany over hundreds of years. It stands from 5 to 9 in. wanted me to draft a plan leaving his money to the dog, I'd encourage him to find uses I believe are more beneficial to society," says Jordan Berger, a CPA and lawyer who is a managing director of American Express American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses. Tax and Business Services in Chicago. "But it's the client's estate plan, not mine. It's my job to give clients their legal options."
Kenneth Brier brier or briar, name sometimes given any thorny plant, more specifically the sweetbrier, and the greenbrier. French brier, or brierroot, is a name for the root of the European white heath so widely used in the manufacture of smoking pipes. , a CPA and lawyer at Bingham Dana LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol in Boston, had such a client--an 85-year-old woman with a large estate who wanted her plan to include several pets. "We carved out a piece of the estate--about $100,000--so the income from it would take care of them. The balance went to charity," he says. "Leaving too much to pets creates a litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute.
When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. target for family members as well as a perception that the donor is mentally unbalanced," he adds.
EDUCATE YOUR CLIENTS
Once the client's assets have been inventoried, the CPA must do financial projections to establish what parts of the estate will grow--or shrink. To figure out the most efficient way to move the client's wealth--whether to children, grandchildren, a charity, an educational institution or museum, a pet or a special-needs relative--the CPA must apply the tax law to the information. Armed with the understanding of what the balance sheet looks like, how long the money is going to last and the tax liabilities of different instruments, the client can step back, take a big-picture look and use the knowledge to decide what he or she wants to accomplish.
"Typically the role of a CPA is to crunch the numbers, which puts him in a position to quarterback everything that should be done," says Rhine. Many estate professionals are CPAs who hold law degrees, and a CPA estate planner Estate Planner, a professional that creates an estate plan. This professional works with an estate owner to maximize their goals. This is a legal and tax specialty for an attorney or an accountant. who does not will need to work with a lawyer to draft the trust or will. Clients with large estates may benefit from having all the advisers involved early in the planning process. "A team approach gives a better product, especially if insurance is part of the estate," says Berger.
Instruments for bequeathing assets have varying constraints. Giving money outright precludes altering a bequest if the receiving organization changes its policy. In contrast, a foundation managed by a board that periodically reviews whether funds are being used properly can give some assurance that a client's wealth will support the causes he or she intends. In family foundations, members meet to review grant requests, so they provide some control over a charitable function as well as promote family unity (see "The Right Philanthropic Vehicle," page 22).
Donor-advised funds allow a client to contribute money to a fund run by a public charity, conferring a tax advantage as well as control. For the donor's lifetime, the income from the fund is distributed yearly according to according to
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.
2. In keeping with: according to instructions.
3. the client's wishes. At death it goes to the charity. Organizations such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (A.S.P.C.A.), chartered in 1866 in New York by Henry Bergh to shelter homeless animals, to assist farmers in caring for their livestock, and to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the prosecution of , the National Wildlife Federation, the Red Cross and the Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club , for example, have "planned giving Planned Giving is an area of fundraising that refers to several specific gift types that can be funded with cash or property. These gift vehicles are based on United States tax law. " departments that will discuss different types of bequests. If they provide documents, a lawyer should review them.
For the client making a bequest others might consider "unusual"--in other words, not immediate family--a living trust is probably the instrument of choice. Revocable rev·o·ca·ble also re·vok·a·ble
That can be revoked: a revocable order; a revocable vote.
Adj. 1. and irrevocable trusts are both "living," but the term living trust means a revocable living trust. "It's private, it's smooth--there's no court involvement--and it's quick," says Deborah Malkin, a Soquel, California-based estate lawyer. "A living trust has the advantage of making probate--the court-supervised process through which assets go from decedent An individual who has died. The term literally means "one who is dying," but it is commonly used in the law to denote one who has died, particularly someone who has recently passed away. to beneficiary--unnecessary. Although it takes effect while the client is alive, he or she can retain control of the assets. When the client dies, they are transferred to the beneficiary."
MAKING SURE THE CAT GETS TAKEN CARE OF
Legally, pets are property--and property can't own property--but the uniform probate code The Uniform Probate Code (UPC) is a comprehensive statute that unifies, clarifies, and modernizes the laws governing the affairs of decedents and their estates, certain transfers accomplished other than by a will, and trusts and their administration. has made it easier to set up funds for pets' care. The simplest arrangement is to leave money to a trustee and impress upon him or her a duty to care for the pet. It is best for the client to choose someone he or she knows rather than a professional trust organization.
James Quaglietta, a CPA and lawyer in Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, located less than 20 miles from midtown Manhattan. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township had a total population of 54,069. , has thought carefully about how to care for his dog, Freckles freckles Ephilides Brown macules, often exacerbated on sun-exposed zones of the skin surface, which disappear during the winter, and most commonly affecting the fair-skinned, especially of Celtic stock. See Macule. Cf Nevus. , if he predeceases her. Because a pet's quality of care can't be completely safeguarded--in New Jersey or any other state--he considered having a separate trustee administer funds to a trustee caretaker. Quaglietta settled on a simpler solution that many pet owners use.
"New Jersey doesn't have a statute about leaving money directly to a pet. A court may or may not uphold an honorary trust An arrangement whereby property is placed in the hands of another to be used for specific noncharitable purposes where there is no definite ascertainable beneficiary—one who profits by the act of another—and that is unenforceable in the absence of statute. , so I decided to go with a lump-sum gift of $50,000 to a guardian of the dog," he says. "The will spells out what the money will be used for. The dog's caretaker will have to fence the yard, put in a doggy door, take her to the vet for checkups, get her groomed and provide a dog walker. When the dog dies, the caretaker inherits what's left. The remainder of my estate will go to an animal charity such as the local SPCA SPCA serum prothrombin conversion accelerator (coagulation factor VII).
serum prothrombin conversion accelerator
n an acronym for serum
"Trusts for pets come up in families that don't have children. In families with children, the clients know the pets will go to one of them," says Malkin. Her regard for animals led her to draft a boilerplate A phrase or body of text used verbatim in different documents such as a signature at the end of a letter. Boilerplate is widely used in the legal profession as many paragraphs are used over and over in agreements with little modification or no modification. protection clause to be inserted in every will or trust. It states, "`Every animal the client has shall be given to good homes if possible,' and if they go to a shelter, `under no circumstances will those animals be euthanized or used for research or testing.' Clients love it. I've done about 500 of them and prepared three dozen honorary trusts dealing with the care of animals as part of a client's estate plan."
If a client uses an honorary trust, or living trust, to provide for a pet, Malkin recommends choosing someone to receive money and hold it for the benefit of the animal. At least one successor trustee should be named in the event the first one can't act. "It's `honorary' because the trustee is on his honor. The animal can't speak to enforce its `rights,' as people can," she says. Because the living trust doesn't have to be probated when the owner dies, the animal can go to its caretaker without any hiatus in a shelter or kennel.
"The trust covers basics such as vet care, but sometimes we'll specify food, kennel, bedding and toys--whatever the client wants," Malkin says. "I recommend budgeting higher rather than lower so that, if something happens to the animal, the caretaker won't hesitate to spend what's needed. The recipient will have the animal live with him and will also be in charge of some money, maybe $5,000 to $10,000, for the animal's expenses."
Malkin runs an ad in the local SPCA newsletter offering to prepare an estate plan for free if a client wants to leave money to the animal shelter "Dog Pound" redirects here. For the rap group, see Tha Dogg Pound.
An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats. . One woman who read Malkin's offer in the newsletter left her entire estate--about $500,000--to the SPCA as a result.
Another way to give a pet a safe new home is to "work something out with the local shelter," Malkin says. "Some clients have made a substantial gift in their trust in return for a guarantee to find the clients' companion animals a home. Staff can leave though and the facility may not honor the arrangement, so it's better to line up individuals you know."
Quirky bequests of any sort rightly may give an adviser qualms. A CPA asked to assist with an estate plan that doesn't feel right to him or her is not in the best position to help and should feel comfortable declining it. One CPA decided not to take an engagement for a client who wanted him to draft an estate plan that would have prevented his house from being sold until his dog died.
"Most challenges to a donor's competence occur when a bequest goes against the natural order of distributions," says Rhine. A client who chooses to leave significant assets to a pet is on shaky ground Shaky Ground was a TV sitcom which starred Matt Frewer as Bob Moody, a hapless, but supportive and caring father. Robin Riker played his wife and Jennifer Love Hewitt as his daughter. The show aired on FOX for the 1992-1993 season. at the outset. If there's a conflict with family, the client's competency almost certainly will be an issue. If the advisers think a client's values--as distinct from competency--may lead to a challenge but they are comfortable that the client is rational, they can help him or her line up support through several strategies.
Suggest that the client provide advance notification. A donor leaving money to a longtime companion--human or nonhuman--should prepare his or her family before the will is read.
Build in circuit breakers Circuit breakers
Measures instituted by exchanges to stop trading temporarily when the market has fallen by a certain percentage in a specified period. They are intended to prevent a market free fall by permitting buy and sell orders to rebalance. . To build in balance and hedge fluctuations in the value of holdings, the CPA can suggest the client leave a sum of money but not more than a certain percentage in a special bequest, instead of leaving the money outright. "Try to arrange matters so the bequest doesn't take all the cash--leaving nothing for the family," says Rhine.
Videotape the client. Confirmation of competence can be established by a videotaped interview. The client should establish context by giving rational answers to questions that indicate demeanor, general awareness of surroundings, time, state of health and other pertinent considerations. Then he or she should follow up by explicitly expressing the terms of the bequest.
Get statements from doctors, nurses and caregivers. The evaluations of caregiving professionals who have an ongoing relationship with a donor carry weight. Obtain their supporting statements thoroughly establishing the client's soundness of mind.
Getting organized can be a load off a client's mind. Rhine cites one man who planned his estate after being told he had six months to live. He has been healthy for several years now, but he reviews the plan every six months to keep it in order and make sure he knows where everyone is and what the phone numbers are. Says Rhine, with obvious pleasure, "He's made himself into a poster boy for proper planning."
About 87% of pet owners surveyed said they view their pets as family members.
Source: Delta Society Delta Society
an international, non-profit organization promoting the human-animal bond through the use of animal-assisted activities and therapies. , www.deltasociety.org.
* THE CPA WHOSE CLIENT WANTS TO ensure that companion animals will be properly cared for in an estate trust has to have sensitivity to the client's feelings as well as know where to steer him or her. Extreme emotions are involved when people talk about death--and money.
* ESTATE CONSULTING REQUIRES advanced counseling skills and empathy in addition to gathering information about assets, doing the financial projections, educating the client, having the client define his or her goals, making proposals on how to implement those goals and laying them out in a comprehensive plan.
* THE TERM LIVING TRUSTMEANS A revocable living trust. The instrument has the advantage of making probate--the court-supervised process through which assets go from decedent to beneficiary--unnecessary.
* LEGALLY, PETS ARE PROPERTY--and property can't own property--but the uniform probate code has made it easier to set up funds for pets' care.
* LEAVING MONEY TO PETS MAY create a litigation target for family members as well as a perception that the donor is mentally unbalanced. One way to avoid potential problems is to carve out to make or get by cutting, or as if by cutting; to cut out.
See also: Carve a piece of the estate so income from it goes to pet care while the balance is distributed more conventionally.
* FOR AN HONORARY PET TRUST, a client should choose someone to receive money and hold it for the benefit of the animal. At least one successor trustee should be named in the event the first one can't act.
Providing for a Pet: A Sample Clause
Kenneth Brier, CPA and lawyer with Bingham Dana LLP, Boston, says, "You would need a tailored rule-against-perpetuities [time frame] termination provision in a trust governed by the laws of a state that hasn't adopted a more lenient RAP provision for trusts for pets, such as that in the uniform probate code. It might read as follows:
"`The trust under this Article [trust for pets] shall terminate upon the earlier of (1) the death of the survivor of all of the animals identified in [cite paragraph] or (2) the expiration of twenty-one (21) years following the death of the survivor of [original individual trustees and/or animal caretakers]; whereupon my Trustees shall distribute the property of the trust [to named charity or individuals] [as provided in Article --].'
"As a practical matter, if there are a sufficient number of human individuals named under clause (2), the real limitation would be imposed under clause (1), though one would have to be especially careful for a very long-lived animal species. (The trust also undoubtedly would include somewhere a rule-against-perpetuities savings clause. Be careful that the termination provision for the trust for pets and the RAP savings clause properly mesh.)"
Just Don't Let the Client Leave the Tickets to the Pet
Robert Keebler, CPA and tax specialist at Virchow, Krause, has experienced another estate oddity. He says, "In my practice I've encountered the bequest of Green Bay Packer box tickets. They're very hard to come by, and there's a waiting list of 40,000 people. Often in an estate worth a few million dollars, the item the parents struggle with most are the four or eight Packer season tickets.
"I get the parents to gather everyone so they can come to some sort of agreement on how they are going to share them. I'm a facilitator in such a situation, not a mediator. If brothers and sisters can't agree on something like this, the problems are too deep for me to solve. Some of these people have kept tickets in the family since the 1920s or 1930s. It doesn't get any better than first-row, 50-yard-line seats. The Packers have special rules on how parents can leave the tickets to their children."
The general counsel of any large sports franchise should be able to provide advice if a similar passion has your client's family in thrall.
On the Web
The American College American College is the name of:
"Estate Planning for Nonhuman Family Members" by Gerry W. Beyer. www.professorbeyer.com/Articles/Animals
"Pet Trusts: Providing for Pets" by Gerhard Shipley. www.keln.org/bibs/shipley.html
"Tax and Estate Planning Involving Pets" by J. Alan Jensen. www.weiss-law.com/Pet_Tricks.htm
Complete Book of Wills, Estates and Trusts by Alexander A. Bove. Henry Holt; New York City New York City: see New York, city.
New York City
City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , 2000.
Plan Your Estate: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Protect Your Loved Ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos
loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers
loved ones love npl (5th ed.) by Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Clifford and Cora Jordan. Nolo Press; Berkeley, California Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington. , 2000.
MICHAEL HAYES Michael Hayes may refer to:
See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). . Official positions are determined through certain specific committee procedures, due process and deliberation. Ms. Hayes does not have any pets. | <urn:uuid:a2376302-331c-4a1e-a133-51973db0f45e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefreelibrary.com/When+the+client+wants+to+leave+it+to+the+cat.-a076728076 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956866 | 5,376 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The holiday season is here. From peppermint lattes and potato latkes, carols to dreidels, there are reminders at every twist and turn.
Seniors should also be reminded that it’s time to sign up for Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, known as Part D. From now until the end of the year, seniors can enroll in Part D or switch from their existing plan to a new one.
All those eligible should take advantage of this “open enrollment” period. Unlike most public health programs, the Medicare prescription drug benefit is administered by the private sector. The program is subsidized by taxpayer dollars, but seniors are allowed to select the drug benefit that best suits their needs.
Providers must compete for this business, which leads to more choices, better service, and lower premiums. This feature — the freedom to comparison shop between competing Medicare drug plans — is one of the reasons the program is both popular and cost-effective.
Part D has a 92 percent satisfaction rate among its beneficiaries. And the program has reduced the number of seniors without a drug plan by 17 percent. Meanwhile, the price of Part D over the next decade is expected to be nearly $120 billion less than originally estimated.
Many seniors worried that healthcare reform would put the drug benefit in danger. But now that the dust has settled, it looks like Part D has emerged as an even stronger program.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 99 percent of seniors in Part D will have access to a plan in 2011 with a premium that is the same or lower than what they are paying now. In fact, CMS estimates that the average senior will pay $30 per month for coverage in 2011, just $1 more than this year.
Also, thanks to the healthcare reform bill, the gap in coverage known as the “donut hole” is about to start closing. In the past, seniors faced a gap in coverage after spending a certain amount on drugs until they hit a “catastrophic” level. This was confusing and often an unforeseen cost for seniors. But beginning in January, America’s drug companies will start providing eligible seniors who reach the donut hole a 50 percent discount on their brand-name drug purchases.
The donut hole will be completely closed by 2020.
The open-enrollment period gives seniors a valuable opportunity to get the most out of their Medicare drug benefit. Even beneficiaries who are happy with their current Part D plan should visit www.Medicare.gov and consider their options. There are dozens of plans out there, so everyone should be able to find one that’s both affordable and well-suited to their needs.
Like holiday sales, this opportunity will be gone by the New Year. Seniors should make sure they get the most out of the season — and their Medicare drug benefit — before the end of the year.
Peter J. Pitts is president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a former FDA Associate Commissioner. | <urn:uuid:e7048bb1-4f6a-4ed4-8df2-49c5dfa8d686> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pagosasun.com/archives/2010/11November/112510/medicare.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96566 | 622 | 1.679688 | 2 |
US 4824784 A
A chromogenic solution for enzyme immunoassay. A stabilizing agent is added to chromogenic solutions containing chromogen of the hydrogen donor type. The stabilizing agent is an alkylhydroxylamine, preferably N,N-diethylhydroxylamine. The N-N diethylhydroxylamine retards degradation of the solution of the chromogen in solvent and is particularly effective in retarding discoloration of a chromogen-solvent solution placed in storage over an extended period of time. The alkylhydroxylamine preferably in the form of N,N-diethylhydroxylamine has the additional property that it does not adversely affect the activity of enzymes employed in enzyme immunoassays. It also does not interfere with binding specificity or reactivity of antibodies.
1. In an enzyme immunoassay for the colorimetric detection of an antigen comprising the steps of adsorbing a quantity of a first antibody to a solid support; forming a conjugate between an immunologic reagent and an oxidoreductase enzyme; mixing said conjugate with a sample to be tested for an antigen so that said antigen binds to said first antibody and to said conjugate to form an immunologic complex in solid phase; determining the presence of said enzyme in the adsorbed material by subjecting the adsorbed material to a chromogenic substrate comprising a chromogen which is a hydrogen donor; and monitoring the visible color characteristics of said substrate; the improvement comprising that said chromogenic substrate is provided in a chromogenic solution comprising a chromogen, a solvent and a stabilizing agent comprising an alkylhydroxylamine which is soluble in the chromogenic solution and which functions to retard discoloration of the chromogen during storage of the chromogenic substrate prior to use in said assay, said stabilizing agent being present in an amount sufficient to stabilize said chromogen and having the additional properties that it does not adversely affect either the reactivity of the enzyme or the binding specificity and avidity of the first antibody and said conjugate for said antigen.
2. An enzyme immunoassay as in claim 1 wherein the stabilizing agent is N,N-diethylhydroxylamine.
3. An enzyme immunoassay as in claim 2 wherein said N,N-diethylhydroxylamine is present in said solution at a concentration in a range between about 1 part N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to 50,000 parts solution up to about 1 part N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to 200,000 parts solution.
4. An enzyme immunoassay as in claim 1 wherein the chromogen is a tetramethylbenzidine.
5. An enzyme immunoassay as in claim 1 wherein the enzyme is a peroxidase.
6. A diagnostic kit for carrying out an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for detection of an antigen wherein said kit is suitable for home diagnostic and clinical application and is to be employed and stored under ambient room temperature conditions, said kit comprising (a) a solid support precoated with a first antibody; (b) a solution comprising a conjugate of an oxidoreduclase enzyme with a second antibody; and (c) a separately contained chromogenic solution responsive to an oxidoreduclase enzyme for said immunosorbent assay, said chromogenic solution comprising a chromogenic substrate having the properties of a hydrogen donor; wherein the improvement comprises that said chromogenic substrate is in the presence of a stabilizing agent comprising an alkylhydroxylamine functioning to retard discoloration of the chromogen during storage of the chromogenic substrate prior to use in said assay, said alkylhydroxylamine having the properties that it is soluble in the chromogenic solution, that it does not adversely affect either the reactivity of the enzyme or the binding specificity and avidity of any immunologic reagent for said antigen.
7. A diagnostic kit as in claim 6 wherein the stabilizing agent is N,N-diethylhydroxylamine.
8. A diagnostic kit as in claim 7 wherein the chromogenic substrate is provided in a chromogenic solution comprising a chromogen and solvent and the N,N-diethylhdroxylamine in said solution has a concentration in a range between about 1 part N,N-diethylhdroxylamine to 50,000 parts solution up to about 1 part N,N-diethylhdroxylamine to 200,000 parts solution.
9. A diagnostic kit as in claim 6 wherein the chromogen is a tetramethylbenzidine.
10. A diagnostic kit as in claim 6 wherein the enzyme is a peroxidase.
11. A chromogenic solution for use in an enzyme immunoassay comprising a chromogenic substrate having properties of a hydrogen donor, and a solvent, said chromogenic solution being capable of reacting with a peroxide in the presence of said enzyme in said immunoassay to produce a chromophore having visible color characteristics, wherein the improvement comprises the presence in said chromogenic solution of a stabilizing agent comprising an alkylhydroxylamine which is soluble in the chromogenic solution and which functions to retard discoloration of the chromogenic solution during storage prior to use in said immunoassay, said stabilizing agent having the additional properties that it does not adversely affect either the reactivity of the enzyme or the binding specificity and avidity of immunologic reagents in said immunoassay.
12. A chromogenic solution as in claim 11 wherein the stabilizing agent is N,N-diethylhydroxylamine.
13. A chromogenic solution as in claim 12 wherein the N,N-diethylhydroxylamine in said solution has a concentration in a range between about 1 part N-N diethylhydroxylamine to 50,000 parts solution up to about 1 part N-N diethylhydroxylamine to 200,000 parts solution.
14. A chromogenic solution as in claim 11 wherein the chromogenic substance is a tetramethylbenzidine.
15. A chromogenic solution as in claim 11 wherein the enzyme is a peroxidase.
In accordance with the invention, an enzyme immunoassay procedure and testing kit is provided utilizing antibody-enzyme complexes a chromogenic substrate responsive to the enzyme, and a chromogen stabilizing agent. The chromogen stabilizing agent serves to prevent undesirable degradation manifested by discoloration of chromogen without interfering with the reactivity of the enzyme or binding specificity and avidity of the antibodies. The stabilizing agent of the present invention is particularly applicable to colorimetric enzyme immunosassays to be provided in the form of a diagnostic testing kit. The stabilizing agent of the invention has preferred application to chromogenic solutions containing chromogens of the hydrogen donor type for example 0-phenylenediamine (OPD), O-tolidine and particularly tetramethylbenzidine. A typical application of the stabilizing agent is as an additive to a chromogenic solution to be included as a component of an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay diagnostic test kit.
Typical chromogenic substrates employed in colormetric enzyme immunoassay to which the present invention applies are chromogens of the hydrogen donor type. A particularly advantageous chromogen is tetramethylbenzidene. When TMB chromogen is employed in an enzyme immunoassay, it oxidizes in the presence of an enzyme, typically a peroxidase, and a peroxide oxidizing agent. The resulting product is a chromophore having an easily discernible blue color. This indicates the presence of test antigen being assayed, since the antigen becomes linked to an antibody-enzyme complex of the immunoassay. To prevent visible degradation, i.e. discoloration of the TMB during prolonged storage of the test kit, the invention provides for the inclusion of a stabilizing agent in the form of an alkylhydroxylamine. The alkylhydroxylamine is added to the chromogenic solution which typically contains a chromogen and solvent. The chromogenic solution with alkylhydroxylamine included therein is kept as a separate component of the test kit until time for conduct of the assay. The stabilizing agent of the invention has been determined to play an important role in colorimetric enzyme immunoassay test kits wherein storage durations have been prolonged or environmental conditions harsh, causing some visible discoloration of the chromogen prior to use.
A preferred stabilizing agent for the chromogen which has been discovered to be particularly advantageous is N,N-diethylhydroxylamine. This alkylhydroxylamine is a particularly effective stabilizing agent for tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). It has been discovered that minute addition of N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to TMB chromogenic solutions retards the rate of discoloration so significantly that yellowing of the chromogenic solution is either imperceptible to the naked eye or barely perceptible even after the chromogenic solution is left in storage over one year's time and subjected to elevated environmental temperatures during this period.
The N,N-diethylhydroxylamine has been determined to be a particularly advantageous stabilizing agent for tetramethylbenzidine, since it does not adversely affect the reactivity of an oxidoreductase enzyme, typically a peroxidase, employed in the assay. It also does not interfere with binding specificity or avidity of the antibodies employed in the assay and does not interfere with the oxidation of the chromogen to chromophore by the admixture of peroxide into the chromogenic-solvent solution at time of use. Common biochemical antioxidants for example sulfur containing antioxidants have been found to be unsuitable in the present application, since they do not retard yellowing of chromogen without also adversely affecting the reactivity of the other assay reagents.
An effective concentration range of the N,N-diethylhydroxylamine (DHA) in the chromogen solution which accomplishes the foregoing results has been determined to be in a range between about 1 part by volume DHA to 50,000 parts by volume chromogen-solvent solution up to about 1 part by volume DHA to 200,000 parts chromogen-solvent solution.
A preferred formulation for an activated tetramethylbenzidene chromogenic solution with the preferred stabilizing agent of the invention added thereto is illustrated in Example 1: The following examples incorporates subject matter from commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,143 herein incorporated by reference (U.S. No. 4,503,143 makes no mention of use of an alkylhydroxylamine additive.)
The following mixure, exclusive of the use of N,N-diethylhydroxylamine additive, appears in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4503143 herein incorporated by reference. An activated TMB chromogenic solution was prepared by mixing 4.0 parts by volume of reagent (i) with 11.0 parts by volume of reagent (ii), and then adding 0.010 part by volume of the 30 percent hydrogen peroxide solution (reagent (iii)). The mixture was stirred to form a homogeneous, activated TMB solution. The individual reagents were produced as follows:
Reagent (i) was prepared by dissolving 1.25 g (5.20 mMol) of 3,3,',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine, in 1.00 liter absolute methanol with or without heating. Diethylhydroxylamine was added to the TMB/solvent solution to a concentration of 1 part by volume N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to 100,000 parts by volume of the TMB/solvent solution. A clear colorless or faintly tan solution resulted which could be stored for at least 1 year at 4 to 25 C, in a brown bottle without affecting its usefulness in an enzyme immunoassay.
Reagent (ii) is a buffer prepared by first dissolving 144.8 grams (1.020 mol) of disodium hydrogen phosphate in 1.00 liter hot deionized water. The phosphate dissolved in the hot deionized water upon stirring. To this solution 102.95 grams (0.4902 mol) of citric acid monohydrate were added. The resulting solution was then diluted to 10.0 liters with additional deionized water, thus forming a citrate-phosphate solution, with a pH of 5
Reagent(iii) consisted of an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide, wherein the hydrogen peroxide comprised 30 percent by volume.
Applications of the improved chromogenic solution employing N,N-diethylhydroxylamine additive for use in preferred enzyme imunoassay are illustrated in the following examples.
The following protocol is not limited to specific types of antigen; however, it has been found particularly suitable as a double sandwich enzyme immunoassay for human luteinizing hormone (HLH) and human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (HCG). The procedure involved coating the support plate with a first antibody, adding the antigen sample, and then a second antibody-enzyme conjugate. The first and second antibodies in the various assays were obtained from monoclonal hybridoma antibodies prepared from inoculated mice or polyclonal antisera generated by the inoculation of rabbits with the test antigen. The antisera were purified by successive precipitations with ammonium sulfate.
Wells of a polystyrene microliter plate were coated with the first antibody: a coating antibody solution was added to each well, and this was incubated for 1-4 hours at room temperature, then decanted. Three hundred microliters of a PBS/0.5% BSA blocking solution (0.5 gm bovine serum albumin per 100 ml of phosphate buffered saline) were added to the wells and incubated for thirty minutes. The wells were then decanted and twice washed with PBS/Tween buffer. The PBS/Tween buffer was composed of 0.1 vol. percent Tween Solution and 99.9 vol. percent PBS.
A solution to be tested for antigen was added to the wells and incubated. The incubation times were thirty minutes for HCG and one hour for HLH. The wells were then decanted and washed with PBS/Tween buffer.
A solution of horseradish peroxide-conjugated second antibody, which may typically be conjugated with glutaraldehyde or avidin-biotin was added to the wells, and incubated for thirty minutes at room temperature. After decanting and washing with PBS/Tween buffer, 150 microliters of the TMB activated solution of Example 1 were added.
The activated chromogen solution was made in accordance with Example 1, by mixing 4.0 parts by volume of reagent (i) with 11.0 parts by volume of reagent (ii), and then adding 0.010 part by volume of the 30 percent hydrogen peroxide solution (reagent iii). The mixture was stirred to form a homogeneous, activated TMB solution which contained N,N-diethylhydroxylamine in the concentration specified in Example 1. The chromogen-containing solution was allowed to incubate for between 5 and 30 minutes at room temperature. Then an absorbance reading was taken at 660 nanometers (nm) using a Dynatech Microlisa MR 580 Autoreader, available from Dynatech Laboratories, Alexandria, Virginia. The protocol set forth in Example 2 was used successfully to detect HCG hormone at concentrations as low as 7.8 nanograms/ml. and HLH at concentrations as low as 7.8 nangorams/ml.
The rate of color development, as measured by change in absorbance of the activated TMB solution at wavelength of maximum absorbance, 660 nm, was at least three times greater than that achieved with the use of the chromogen o-phenylenediamine (OPD) dissolved in its optimun hydrogen peroxide concentration. The absorbance of OPD color change was also measured at its wavelength of maximum absorbance.)
The double-antibody sandwich ELISA assay of Example 2 was repeated for HCG with the following modifications: The antigen solution and enzyme-conjugated second antibody were added and incubated essentially simultaneously in the wells coated with the first antibody. Specifically the antigen solution and enzyme-conjugate were first admixed and essentially immediately thereafter the mixture was added to the wells coated with first antibody. The mixture was incubated in the antibody-coated wells for a period of thirty minutes at room temperature. This abbreviated assay provided results comparable to those of Example 2, and resulted in at least three times faster color development than would occur if OPD chromogen were used in this same assay under optimal hydrogen peroxide concentration. The protocol set forth in Example 3 was used successfully to detect HCG hormone at concentrations as low as 7.8 nanograms/ml. (urine).
The assay methods set forth in the above general description and illustrative examples may be applied in a home diagnostic assay kit. For example, a number of vials containing the various immunologic reagents required for the assay may be included in such a kit. The user need then only mix these reagents with the test sample in accordance with a given protocol and await a color change in the final solution. One method of application of the double antibody sandwich ELISA to a home diagnostic kit could be effected, illustratively, by providing the kit with one vial (vial 1), which has been precoated with a first antibody and blocking solution and a second vial (vial 2) which would contain the second antibody--enzyme conjugated preferably in lyophilized form. A third vial (vial 3) could contain a solution of the chromogen and solvent, and a vial 4 could contain the solution of buffer and hydrogen peroxide.
In the carrying out the assay, the user need only collect a sample (for example a urine specimen) suspected of containing the antigen to which the assay is directed. The user might take a sample of the urine with a dropper supplied in the kit and may add a few droplets to vial 2. The contents of vial 2 would be immediately transferred to vial 1 and the solution therein allowed to incubate for a prescribed period at room temperature. The user could thereupon discard the liquid contents of vial 1 and rinse the vial several times with cold tap water. The contents of vial 4 could then be mixed with those of vial 3 to form an activated chromogenic solution in vial 3. The user could then transfer this solution to vial 1, wait another prescribed period of time, and then observe whether the contents of vial 1 have developed color, thus determining the presence of the antigen being assayed.
These assays described herein are advantageously implemented using room temperature incubations. They have been successfully conducted at temperatures in the range 15 for all steps in the assay including the incubation of first antibody to effect adsorption of this antibody to a solid surface. The preferred temperature range for all steps in the assay is 15 C.
Although the enzyme immunoassay techniques of the invention have been illustrated in the foregoing detailed description in the context of certain specific enzyme linked immunosorbent assays, it should be appreciated that they may be extended to a variety of enzyme immunoassays. Accordingly, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments or examples set forth in the specification, but rather is defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to biological diagnostic test kits. The invention particularly relates to stabilizers for chromogenic substrates used in enzyme-linked immunosurbent assays.
2. Description of the Background Art
Biological diagnostic test kits, prepackaged assemblages of assay materials, are gaining in popularity, particularly with the advent of the "home" test kit. These kits can be applied to human, veterinary or agricultural testing to detect a wide variety of conditions, commonly by employing antigen specific antibodies, produced in quantity from clones.
Prior to the introduction of test kits, laboratories typically performed these tests using fresh reagents as they were needed. A problem attendant with test kits however, is reagent destabilization as the reagents are left in storage. The mechanism by which destabilization can gradually occur is not well understood. Although gradual environmental oxidation may be a factor, there are likely other contributing factors as yet not understood which may be promoting the destabilization process. The assembled kits may remain on wholesale or retail shelves for extended periods of time, after which they may be stored for even longer periods by the end user. Moreover, storage conditions may often be harmful, for example, under elevated temperatures. These conditions can damage the reagents, rendering test results difficult to interpret, and generally impairing the reliability of the test.
One form of reagent degradation is the discoloration of chromogenic substances to be used in connection with colorimetric enzyme immunoassays. Chromogenic substances particularly those of the hydrogen donor type have a tendency to destabilize when left in storage over long periods of time. This results in a slight color change, typically a yellowig of the chromogenic which occurs gradually over an extended period. Some chromogenic materials, e.g. tetramethylbenzidene; and have been discovered to destabilize less rapidly than others; nonetheless, even this latter chromogen can undergo some discernible yellowing when left in storage for very long periods, particularly under hot environmental conditions. Destabilization of the chromogenic material resulting in yellowing of the chromogen is undesirable, since it can affect the end color change of the chromogen as it reacts to produce a chromophore during conduct of the immunoassay.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,143 discloses an assay which functions as a test kit. The assay is an ELISA test, using tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) as a chromogenic substance. This assay functions quite well, rendering a clearly visible blue color as a positive test result. However, when the kit is stored for very long periods, for example longer than several years and under hot storage conditions, the TMB solution which is normally clear can develop some discernible yellow tinge. The yellow tinge, although slight, poses a potential disadvantage in that it can cause a green tinge to appear in the normally blue chromophore. The green tinge, if pronounced, could possibly be misinterpreted by an inexperienced user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,690 discloses the addition of minute amounts of hydroxylamine to boiler water to retard corrosion due to dissolved oxygen. The hydroxylamine is intended for use in high pressure--high temperature boiler water. The hydroxylamine functions as an oxygen scavenger under these elevated operating conditions to retard corrosion of boiler metal surfaces, generally iron and steel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,224 is directed to use of N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to stabilize color and inhibit color formation in monoalkyl phenols which frequently discolor with age. The hydroxylamine is added in amounts ranging from about 5 parts per million to about 50 parts per million of the alkyl phenol. This reference also discloses that the N,N-diethylhydroxylamine can reduce the color of monoalkyl phenols in which color development has taken place.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to retard degradation and discoloration of a chromogen during storage.
It is an object of the invention to provide a stabilizing agent for the chromogenic solutions to be used in enzyme immunoassays wherein the stabilizing agent retards discoloration of the chromogenic solution over an extended period of time in excess of one year.
It is a further object to provide a stabilizing agent to retard discoloration of chromogenic solutions of the hydrogen donor type to be used in colorimetric enzyme immunoassay kits.
In accomplishing the foregoing and related objects, the invention provides a diagnostic test kit comprising antibody-enzyme complexes, a chromogen, and a chromogen stabilizing agent, and an oxidizing agent for the chromogen responsive to the enzyme.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the chromogen is tetramethylbenzidine. This chromogen is oxidized in an enzymatically induced reaction with hydrogen peroxide to form a chromophore exhibiting a visually distinct blue color.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a chromogen stabilizing agent is added to prevent destabilization of the chromogen in solvent during extended storage periods, or when the chromogen-solvent solution is stored under elevated temperatures. An effective amount of an alkylhydroxylamine is added to the chromogen solution in the range of 1:50,000 to 1:500,000 parts by volume, preferably 1:50,000 to 1:200,000 parts by volume, which prevents chromogen degradation. N,N-diethylhydroxylamine (DHA) for example, has been found to be a particularly effective compund, which is soluble in the chromogen-solvent solution. It has also been determined that the addition of N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to the solution of chromogen and solvent will quickly reverse any yellowing discernible therein to result in a near colorless chromogenic solution.
A principle advantage discovered in the use of an alkylhydroxylamine as stabilizing agent for the chromogenic solution is that the alkylhydroxylamine does not adversely affect the reactivity of immunoassay components with which the chromogenic solution will ultimately come into contact. Specifically, the alkylhydroxylamine in above stated concentration has been found not to adversely affect the reactivity of enzymes, for example peroxidase typically employed in enzyme linked immunosorbent assays or the binding properties of antibodies and antigens employed in such assays. Additionally, the alkylhydroxylamine in the above stated concentration does not inhibit the oxidizing properties of peroxides e.g. hydrogen peroxide, which are normally added to the chromogenic solution as oxidizing agent in order to activate the chromogenic solution just prior to use in the assay.
The alkylhydroxylamine, preferably N,N-diethylhydroxylamine when added to the chromogenic solution has been discovered to stabilize the chromogen permitting the chromogen to be stored for at least one year, typically at least several year's duration without noticeable yellowing of the chromogenic solution occuring during the storage period.
This desirable result is realized when chromogens of the hydrogen donor type, particularly tetramethylbenzidine are employed. The preferred concentration of the N,N-diethylhyroxylamine in a chromogenic-solvent solution wherein the chromogen is a tetramethylbenzidine has been determined to be in a range between about 1 part by volume N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to 50,000 parts by volume chromogen-solvent solution up to about 1 part N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to 200,000 parts chromogen-solvent solution.
A more preferred concentration wherein the chromogen is a tetramethylbenzidine has been determined to be in a range between about 1 part N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to 100,000 parts chromogen-solvent solution to 1 part N,N-diethylhydroxylamine to 200,000 parts chromogen-solvent solution.
This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 721,102, filed Apr. 8, 1985, entitled CHROMOGENIC SOLUTION FOR IMMUNOASSAY, now abandoned. | <urn:uuid:730dea5b-0f51-473b-ae56-5c7eeca33671> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.google.com.au/patents/US4824784 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935272 | 5,880 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The new Minister of Commerce announced today that the Government will review areperas, the popular fast food joints where you can buy the typical staple of Venezuelans. According to this genius of commerce, Eduardo Saman, he went into an arepa place and there was a pork arepa which cost Bs. 20. Then, he argued, from a package of regulated corn flour he says he can make 20 arepas with one kilo of pork, which costs him Bs. 16.
Where should I start?
First of all, a 50 gram pork arepa (20 from a kilo) sounds really small, I am not sure which arepera Mr. Saman went to, but the arepears I go to don’t make such small sizes. Second, the arepera I go to has prices which are about 25% cheaper (including VAT, which the Minister did not mention. Finally, maybe the people can buy pork at Bs. 16 per kilo in Mercal, but commercial establishments certainly can not and there you have to pay around Bs. 36 per kilo for pork, which always including some bone. Add to that the 10% VAT that is included in the price and Mr. Saman’s math certainly needs to be looked at.
But, in the end, Mr. Saman can not accuse areperas of usury as he suggested, because ussur only applies to interest charged on loans. There are no regulations on the price of arepas, but it sounds like we will see one in the near future.
This is actually quite sad for me. I still recall when I acme back from my studies abroad some time ago, how disappointed I was to find that most areperas had turned into hamburger joints, after the Carlos Andres Perez Government (I) regulated the price. One of the few things Luis Herrera did which was a positive was to deregulate arepas and immediately areperas sprouted all over the country.
But Chavismo is clearly set in ruining the country. After all, if it was so cheap to make an arepa, how come there are not hundreds of arepa carts around the city, selling them at half the price?
Maybe a cook in my audience could take the time to figure out how many arepas (arepera size) with pork filling (also arepera size) you can make with one kilo of pork and one package of Harina Pan and we can figure out what the margins are for the arepa, without talking into account overhead and the like.
Clearly in Venezuela, what is not illegal, maybe so under Chavismo criteria…
What’s next, the arepa decree? | <urn:uuid:0f6045f4-0ef3-4d13-b686-97610bd8e7d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://devilsexcrement.com/2009/03/05/ | 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 | 0.973826 | 564 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Feb. 13: This image from television shows an aerial view of the tail section of Continental Connection Flight 3407 as it sits amidst wreckage.
Feb. 12: Flames and wreckage from Continental Connection Flight 3407 are seen near Buffalo, New York.
Feb. 13: The flight recorder is displayed from the Continental Connection flight that crashed outside of Buffalo Thursday night.
Feb. 12: A plane burns after it crashed into a house in Clarence Center, N.Y.
Feb. 12: The wreckage of Continental flight 3407 lies amid smoke at the scene after crashing into a suburban Buffalo home.
Feb. 12: Firefighters douse massive flames after Continental Connection flight 3407 slammed into a home in Clarence, N.Y.
Feb. 13: Firefighters are seen at the site of the wreckage of a Continental Connection flight, which crashed near Buffalo.
This image from Google maps gives a street view of 6038 Long Street in Clarence Center, N.Y., where the plane crash occurred.
Federal investigators said doomed Continental Flight 3407 experienced heavy ice buildup and lurched violently moments before it dove into a house near Buffalo, killing 50.
Data collected Friday from the plane's two black boxes "shows a series of severe pitch and roll excursions" shortly before the recording ended and the commuter jet crashed, said Steve Chealander, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board.
Minutes earlier, the pilots reported "significant ice buildup on the windshield and leading edge of the wings," Chealander said. They had already activated the de-icing mechanism on the aircraft just prior to their comments about the ice.
NTSB investigators retrieved both black boxes — the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder — Friday morning and sent them to Washington, D.C., for analysis.
Fourteen members of the NTSB are working on discovering what brought down Flight 3407, Chealander told reporters.
The Continental commuter plane coming in for a landing in Buffalo dropped suddenly and dove into a house in snowy, foggy weather late Thursday night, about 5 or 6 miles from the airport.
All 49 people aboard the plane and one person in the home in the suburb of Clarence, N.Y., were killed.
The black boxes, which were "determined to be of good quality," recorded two hours of conversation, Chealander said.
The crew can be heard briefing each other about the weather in the cockpit, reporting a visibility of 3 miles with snow and mist in the area.
At 16,000 feet, "they noticed it was rather hazy and they requested a descent to 12,000 feet," Chealander said.
Air traffic control gave them clearance. Shortly thereafter, they descended again to 11,000 feet.
"They discussed significant ice buildup on the windshield and leading edge of wings," Chealander said. "The flight data recorder shows the airframe de-ice was selected in the 'on' position prior to that."
One minute before the end of the recording, the landing gear was placed down. Twenty seconds later, pilots engaged the wings' flaps — a normal landing procedure.
It was then that they apparently lost control of the aircraft, as the data recorder showed the plane lurching wildly in pitches and rolls "within seconds of the flaps command," Chealander said.
The crew attempted to raise the landing gear and lower the flaps just before the tape went silent, he said.
The tail of the plane stayed largely intact, which allowed NTSB investigators to search for and find the black boxes in the smoldering wreckage.
Accident Sets Off Fiery Explosion
The crash sparked a huge explosion and fire.
"The whole sky was lit up orange," said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile from the crash site. "There was a big bang, and the house shook."
Local fire officials said Friday morning they hadn't begun to extract the victims' remains or the fuselage because the rubble was too hot for them to sift through.
It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the U.S. in 2 1/2 years. The flight originated in Newark, N.J.
Witnesses heard the twin turboprop aircraft sputtering before it went down around 10:20 p.m. Thursday. Flames silhouetted the shattered home after the plane crashed.
"It basically dove right into the top of the house from my perspective," Clarence emergency control director Dave Bissonette said. "I'm no expert on re-creation, but it landed on the house, clearly a direct hit."
Doug Wielinski, who was inside the home, was killed. His wife Karen Wielinski, 57, and their daughter Jill, 22, escaped with minor injuries. Twelve homes were evacuated near the crash site.
Houston-based Continental Airlines said the plane carried 44 passengers and a crew of four. There was also an off-duty crew member from Colgan Air, the operator of the regional jet, aboard.
Continental Airlines officials were meeting with loved ones of the passengers on Friday.
Among the passengers killed was Beverly Eckert, a woman whose husband died in the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Though the passenger list wasn't released Friday morning, Colgan Air did identify the crew who died: pilots Captain Marvin Renslow and First Officer Rebecca Shaw; flight attendants Matilda Quintero and Donna Prisco; and off-duty crew member Captain Joseph Zuffoletto.
A Facebook page had already been dedicated to the victims' loved ones Friday morning.
Terrorism Not Suspected
President Obama issued a statement Friday morning extending his sympathies to the victims' families.
"Michelle and I are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic accident outside of Buffalo last night. Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones," the president said.
"We pray for all those who have been touched by this terrible tragedy to find peace and comfort in the hard days ahead."
He also addressed the crash before his remarks to the Business Council Friday morning at the White House, making special mention of Eckert, the 9/11 widow — whom he'd met with recently, along with other Sept. 11 loved ones, to discuss ways to fight terrorism.
Eckert has played an active role in changing intelligence and counter-terror legislation since the attacks.
"Keeping with that passionate commitment, she was on her way to Buffalo to honor her husband’s birthday," Obama said. "I pray that her family finds peace and comfort in the days ahead."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security in Washington said there was no indication terrorism was involved in the Continental crash.
"All indications are that this was an air-safety event," said spokeswoman Amy Kudwa.
New York Gov. David Patterson also offered his condolences on Friday.
"This is a tragic day," Patterson said at a news conference. "(There have been) tremendous human effort and human caring we have all witnessed today."
He said his staff is working with family members to try to arrange a future visit to the crash site to see where their loved ones died.
Air Traffic Control Loses Contact With Flight 3407
The 74-seat aircraft, operated by Colgan Air, was flying from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and preparing to land at Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
The plane, a Dash 8 Q400 Bombardier, has a history of landing-gear problems.
The voice of a female pilot on Continental Flight 3407 could be heard communicating with air traffic controllers just before the plane went down, according to a recording of the Buffalo air traffic control's radio messages captured by the Web site LiveATC.net.
Neither the controller nor the pilot showed any concerns that anything was out of the ordinary as the airplane was asked to fly at 2,300 feet.
A minute later, the controller tried to contact the plane but heard no response. After a pause, he tried again.
Eventually, he told an unidentified listener to contact authorities on the ground in the Clarence area.
"You need to find if anything is on the ground," the controller said. "All I can tell you is the aircraft is over the marker (landing beacon), and we're not talking to them now.
"This aircraft was 5 miles out; all of a sudden we have no response from that aircraft."
After the crash, at least two pilots were heard saying they had been picking up ice on their wings. "We've been getting ice since 20 miles south of the airport," one says.
Witnesses Describe Odd Rumbling, Loud Blast
While residents of the neighborhood where the plane went down were used to planes rumbling overhead, witnesses said this one sounded louder than usual, sputtered and made some odd noises.
"It didn't sound normal," said David Luce. "We heard it for a few seconds, then it stopped, then a couple of seconds later was this tremendous explosion."
After hearing the crash, Dworak drove over to take a look, and "all we were seeing was 50- to 100-foot flames and a pile of rubble on the ground. It looked like the house just got destroyed the instant it got hit."
Erie County Executive Chris Collins said the plane was carrying 5,000 pounds of fuel and apparently exploded on impact.
About 30 relatives and others who arrived at the airport in the overnight hours were escorted into a private area and then taken by bus to a senior citizens center in the neighboring town of Cheektowaga, where counselors and representatives from Continental waited to help.
"At this time, the full resources of Colgan Air's accident response team are being mobilized and will be devoted to cooperating with all authorities responding to the accident and to contacting family members and providing assistance to them," the statement said.
"Continental extends its deepest sympathy to the family members and loved ones of those involved in this accident," said Larry Kellner, chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines, in a later statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the family members and loved ones of those involved in the Flight 3407 tragedy."
Manassas, Va., based Colgan Air said airline personnel and local authorities were working to confirm the number of people on board and their identities.
Chris Kausner, believing his sister was on the plane, rushed to a hastily established command center after calling his vacationing mother in Florida to break the news.
"To tell you the truth, I heard my mother make a noise on the phone that I've never heard before," he told reporters through tears. "Not good. Not good."
"The fact that the damage is limited to the one residence is really amazing," said state police spokeswoman Rebecca Gibbons.
First Fatal Commercial Jet Crash in United States Since 2006
It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the United States since Aug. 27, 2006, when 49 people were killed after a Comair jetliner took off from a Lexington, Ky., runway that was too short.
Thursday's crash came less than a month after a US Airways pilot guided his crippled plane to a landing in the Hudson River off Manhattan, saving the lives of all 155 people aboard. Birds had apparently disabled both its engines.
On Dec. 20, a Continental Airlines plane veered off a runway and slid into a snowy field at the Denver airport, injuring 38 people.
Continental's release said relatives and friends of those on Flight 3407 who wanted to give or receive information about those on board could telephone a special family assistance number, 1-800-621-3263.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:a2ab9d45-f2cd-48db-bde1-42f6a7ddbb5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,492366,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971089 | 2,414 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Crew Teams to Row Erie Canal to Raise Money for Juvenile Diabetes Research
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Crew teams from McQuaid Jesuit in Rochester and Canisius High School in Buffalo will be rowing for a good cause.
The two high school teams will be rowing the length of the Erie Canal, a total of of 320 miles, for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
The idea came from a Canisius student who was looking for a summer challenge and looking to raise money and awareness about a disease that affects one of his friends.
Thirteen students; seven from McQuaid and six from Canisius, launch from the UB Boathouse on Tonawanda Creek on June 14th, ending in Waterford, New York. The teams will need to travel about 50 and 60 miles per day.
"Well, we heard about this and at first it sounded fun. Then we learned more about it, a lot of people know people in their lives that do have diabetes. So, it's something that's one of the lesser known diseases that we need to find a cure for," said Cameron Pizzo, a junior at McQuaid Jesuit.
The teams are trying to reach a combined goal of $50,000. The McQuaid team is currently at $36,000.
If you are interested in donating, click here. All the money raised will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. | <urn:uuid:38a7aed7-3f77-43ff-8b50-de570c899a4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jamestown.ynn.com/content/all_news/in_other_news/587027/crew-teams-to-row-erie-canal-to-raise-money-for-juvenile-diabetes-research/?ap=1&MP4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951195 | 320 | 1.640625 | 2 |
SAS is the Next Data Center Certainty
While SaaS (Software as a Service) gets most of the press, SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) is finding its way into increasing numbers of corporate data centers. Parallel SCSI is a proven and reliable data transfer standard and serves the data center well, but all good things must eventually come to an end. With U320 parallel SCSI being the last stop on the SCSI roadmap, and with the advantages SAS has to offer over parallel SCSI, SAS is almost a certainty for the industry at large and your company specifically.
SAS has already gained widespread adoption in disk-based technologies. Accelerating this adoption is the move by Dell, HP and IBM to phase out servers with native parallel SCSI interfaces in favor of SAS interfaces. As the new SAS-based servers proliferate throughout the market, this will ultimately drive the need for SAS-based peripherals, such as automated tape backup and archive solutions. The long-term result is expected to be the eventual demise of SCSI-based peripherals.
That does not mean that storage vendors such as Overland Storage plan to phase out parallel SCSI or support for it anytime soon. According to Peri Grover, Overland Storage's Director of Product Management, the vast majority of the company's tape automation solutions still are based on SCSI technology. She does foresee, however, an eventual move away from SCSI which is why Overland has begun introducing tape automation solutions with SAS interfaces.
SAS's combines high-end feature from the fibre channel world and the physical interface leveraged from SATA with the performance, reliability and ease of use of parallel SCSI technology. SAS's inherent advantages over parallel SCSI include:
- A roadmap supporting speeds up to 12 Gb/sec.
- Point-to-point topology for optimized use of bandwidth
- Built-in termination
- Easier management with automatic addressing
- Ability to connect more devices
- Ability to share multiple peripherals between several servers
For the short term, many companies are likely to use new servers with SAS interfaces for applications where they will provide the most benefit - such as to support email or database applications. The servers that were previously used to host these applications generally have SCSI interfaces and, for a number of organizations, will be redeployed as the new backup servers. As a result, the demand for tape products with SAS interfaces will be slow at first, but as the SAS-based servers proliferate throughout the data center and SAS cabling becomes more standardized, SAS-connectable tape autoloaders and libraries may become the rule rather than the exception.
During this transition from SCSI to SAS, however, there are some steps that companies can take to prepare and make sure interoperability problems do not creep into their environment:
- Have a migration plan.
Whether you know it or not, SAS has probably already found its way into your data center, especially if you have recently purchased a new server. The good news is the transition to SAS is not occurring overnight nor will support for SCSI go away any time soon. This will give companies time to monitor and respond to this technology shift by navigating away from SCSI to SAS without breaking their budget or any current business or infrastructure processes over the next few years. | <urn:uuid:d9bf8809-cbec-483e-823f-3727b22dd681> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://overlandstorage.dcig.com/2008/08/sas-is-the-next-data-center-ce.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95079 | 676 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Return to Transcripts main page
Interview with President of Tunisia; Interview with Marc Grossman
Aired September 27, 2012 - 15:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour.
It's been almost two years since a young fruit vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in front of the Tunisian government office. He died from his burns, but his friends and family said that the real cause of his death was the loss of hope, that he would ever find opportunity or dignity in Tunisia.
That single act gave birth to revolution in Tunisia and then all over the Arab world, in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and beyond. But Tunisia's uprising was seen as a model. After months of protests, Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali left the country peacefully, paving the way for democratic elections.
But as with all the Arab Spring uprisings, it was not that simple. And to the extremists, the ultrareligious Salafis began attacking liquor stores, theaters and, indeed, the very idea of democracy itself.
And then this month, hundreds of demonstrators in the capital of Tunis joined the wave of anti-American protests all over the world over that Internet film that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad. They clashed with police and they set fire to the U.S. embassy. Four people died.
And yet there are strong voices of moderation in Tunisia. Among them, its president, and I'll be speaking with him in just a moment. But first, a look at the other stories we're covering tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR (voice-over): The coalition's conundrum, NATO troops can't leave Afghanistan safely until the Afghan army is trained. But how do you train an army which is trying to kill you?
And we don't have to imagine a world where free speech is under attack. In Pakistan, a beloved movie palace has paid the price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: We'll get to that in a bit, but first, the president of Tunisia, Moncef Marzouki, welcome to our program. Thank you for coming in.
MONCEF MARZOUKI, PRESIDENT OF TUNISIA: (Inaudible).
AMANPOUR: President Obama paid moving tribute to how Tunisia set the example for the uprisings across North Africa. And yet today Chancellor Merkel of Germany has announced that she will be canceling a trip to your country because of safety concerns in the wake of all these protests.
What's your response to that?
MARZOUKI: Well, I would like remember you that, in fact, the Islamists' movement is a very wide spectrum and at the far right of this very wide spectrum you have the Salafis movement. And the Salafis movement itself is a wide spectrum.
You have part of this spectrum represented by people who are just matter -- for them it is a matter of a relationship against a foe (ph). And then we have within this part of the spectrum, the tiny minority. It's a tiny minority within the tiny minority who are Salafis, jihadists.
And those people are against democracy or against women's rights or against human rights at all, are against West and so forth. And this tiny minority, no more than 3,000 people in (inaudible) Asia --
AMANPOUR: Three thousand?
MARZOUKI: Three thousand, no more, by the report of the police, just 3,000 people. You know, this Black Friday now when you have this rights against the American ambassador, they were just 300 people --
AMANPOUR: Who were they? Were they -- were they terrorists? Was this Al Qaeda or was it just these --
MARZOUKI: I think -- I wouldn't say that they're linked to Al Qaeda. Maybe some are linked to Al Qaeda. But I think that -- in fact they are the product of the Tunisia society, you know, (inaudible) poverty, illiteracy and so forth. So they are part of our society but they are, I would say, the dark side of our society.
And this is why dealing with this problem is quite difficult, because they are Tunisian but also they -- I think they are now the most important threat against Tunisia, not against the stability of the country, because this country is stable, but against the image of Tunisia. You know, just imagine, we have more than 5 million stories every year in Tunisia --
MARZOUKI: -- tourists -- and this is very important for the economy of the country. So when you have just one tourist, you know, injured by this kind of guy --
MARZOUKI: -- imagine the newspaper in Europe saying, look -- and then you have economic crisis of the country, just because of very, very few people.
AMANPOUR: Well, I want to get to how you're going to overcome that in a second. But your direct response to Angela Merkel canceling her visit?
MARZOUKI: In fact, I knew that she would not come to Tunisia, but not only for security reason, because I think (inaudible) very complicated. I'm quite sure that Angela Merkel is backing the democratic process in Tunisia since she sent us a lovely message saying, look, I am coming, but probably not now.
But she will come and I'm quite sure that Germany, Europe and the United States are backing the process in Tunisia because everybody knows that Tunisia is a lab (ph), and that if we do not succeed the transition to democracy in Tunisia, it will never work in any other part of the Arab world.
AMANPOUR: You mentioned the United States. The U.S., I hear, wants Tunisia to pay for the damage to the embassy, to the school that was attacked. Will you do that?
MARZOUKI: Look, I have had a very good meeting yesterday with Ms. Clinton, and she assured me that she's personally a friend of Tunisia, that the U.S. government is a friend of Tunisia, that they are going to help us (inaudible) our security forces, training our security forces, backing our -- giving more military equipment. So I think that the situation is quite different than you are describing --
AMANPOUR: -- haven't asked you to pay for the damage?
MARZOUKI: She didn't talk about this issue.
We talked just about how the United States would improve support the Tunisian government because our American friends know very well that of course, the Tunisian population and the Tunisian government were extremely shocked by what happened and they are extremely against it and they want really to set up a new democracy and Tunisia, once again, is very -- it's a lab (ph) of the Arab Spring.
So we have -- we have to succeed. And our friends have to support us to succeed.
AMANPOUR: Mr. President, I just want to show you some video that they'll play on that wall there. It is from last spring, months ago, but it is a group of Tunisians shouting, "Obama, Obama, we're all Osama."
AMANPOUR: So as you see this video, I want to ask you how you then get control of what you say is a very small minority, but nonetheless a minority that has made its presence felt and that is terrifying the bejesus out of everybody, particularly here in the United States. How do you fight these violent (inaudible)?
MARZOUKI: We -- you have the same problem. We don't mix up in Tunisia or in the Arab world the far right groups Europe or the white supremacists in the United Nations, or the American people or the American government. So why? Should we be mixed up with -- once again, with a very, very tiny minority. There --
AMANPOUR: How do you combat them, because here they are, you have to admit, violent, the supremacists and the neo-Nazis have a different way of behaving -- bad, but not quite like this.
MARZOUKI: I must admit that we didn't realize how (inaudible) they can be for the stability -- for the -- for the image of the country and not for the stability, but because, once again, Tunisia is (inaudible) countries. It is a stable (ph) society. We are not afraid from these guys. But they are harmful for the image of Tunisia.
And now we have to (inaudible) the issue very seriously. I must admit that it wasn't easy for us, you know, to have you crack down on this -- on this guy because we have been in prison ourselves. Many have been submitted to torture.
We do know what does it mean to be in prison, what does it mean for families and so forth. This is why we -- I admit that we -- it's very, very difficult for us to (inaudible) repression, repression, repression. But now we are -- we are dealing with this state of affairs. I'm happy to take our responsibilities and we are going to take our responsibilities.
AMANPOUR: Has this event, if you like, this film and then the protests and the violence of this month, has it been a turning point for you?
MARZOUKI: Yes, yes, because we realize that those guys, in fact, were dangerous for our image, once again, the image of Tunisia abroad. But now they're threatening our relationship to our -- to the -- to the whole -- to the whole world. And now it's a matter of national security. And we are also very upset by what's going down on the northern part of Mali.
We're afraid that our tiny minority could be linked with another -- other many tiny minorities and that they became a danger -- a majority of them became very dangerous. This is why we are sure that we are going to attack the problem with the help of our (inaudible) friends, because it's really -- it's becoming a real problem in this area of the -- in this part of the world.
AMANPOUR: And you mentioned, you know, big business for Tunisia is tourism and you know, there are fewer and fewer young ladies going to the beach in their bikinis. You know, we've seen Salafis attack liquor stores, theaters, this and that. Again, this is a law enforcement situation. Can you get that under control to protect your own economy?
MARZOUKI: What -- you talk about, you know, exhibition. We have had more than 280 exhibition last year, only six -- only six was observed by Salafis. Those give you the scale (ph), once again.
AMANPOUR: You mean art exhibitions?
MARZOUKI: Yes, yes, art exhibitions, so forth. But also the newspaper would talk about the six disturbed by the Salafis and that by the 280 who are not disturbed by the Salafis. So once again, please, the scale of the problem must be said like it is, you know. It's a minority. They are very harmful for the image of Tunisia.
But in fact, it's still a minority and (inaudible) to tackle the problem from the -- not only from the security point of view, but also social and economic onto it, because those guys are jobless, are poor, are the illiteracy and so forth. So it's easy, you know, to say just crack down by the security forces. But also we have to take -- to tackle the roots of the problem.
AMANPOUR: Well, exactly. The root of the problem is, of course, the economy. And that was Bouazizi's rallying cry when he set himself on fire. You said that you had asked, when you came into office, for sort of a social political truce. You asked for about six months, and we have your words on the wall. "If things aren't working out within six months, I will submit my resignation."
Right now, unemployment has gone from 13 percent in January of 2011 to about 18.3 percent in January of this year. Are things working or not? And does that put in play your promise? I mean, are you going to resign over this?
MARZOUKI: No, I'm not going to resign because we are, you know, we're seeing the hand of this nightmare, I'd say, because you know, we -- it's (inaudible) of government and we have to take (inaudible) same times having (inaudible) new constitution, having new laws and solving the social and economic problem.
Nobody could do this in one year. We need to be gods. And we are not gods. We are just humans.
AMANPOUR: I just wondered why you would put that statement.
MARZOUKI: No, and I think that we probably we are going to have elections in few months in the -- it has been nothing to resign now because we will submit all our policy to the public, to the opinion of the people and then (inaudible).
So and then we will -- I will be proud to go to say, look, what (inaudible) in one year, in one year, in 11/2 year. Now we have a constitution. We have a democratic state. We deal with the problem of this -- of Salafis and so forth. And you know --
AMANPOUR: Are you optimistic?
MARZOUKI: (Inaudible) invest in Tunisia if we -- if you don't have the stable government. This is the prerequisite, you know. So we are organized that the prerequisite of having a new economy and social development and so forth.
AMANPOUR: Are you optimistic and that you can get a really progressive constitution that doesn't have fundamentalist anti-women provisions --
MARZOUKI: Absolutely, absolutely. We are going to have one of the best constitutions of the world, promoting human rights, women's rights, you know, the world's about women are complimentary of the -- completely forget about it, you know.
AMANPOUR: That was terrible. It was like a helpmate to a man.
MARZOUKI: Yes, yes. But --
AMANPOUR: And that has no chance of passing?
MARZOUKI: Absolutely and sharia also --
AMANPOUR: No way sharia.
MARZOUKI: The world is not -- will not (inaudible) the constitution. We're going to have real progressive constitution with all human rights protected. The problem will be to implement this very nice constitution. This will be another problem. But yes, we are going to have secular (ph) constitution, very good constitution.
We're going to have fair elections. We're going to have a new democratic state and stable state and then I hope that the economy will recover because you cannot have an economic recovery without solving the source, the political problems.
AMANPOUR: Well, Mr. President, Tunisia is the cradle of the Arab uprising. I wish you all the best.
MARZOUKI: Thank you, thank you.
AMANPOUR: Thank you for coming in.
MARZOUKI: Thank you so much. Thank you.
AMANPOUR: And when we come back, the NATO coalition in Afghanistan has a problem. It can't leave safely until the Afghan army is trained. But how do you train an army that's turning its weapons on you?
First, take a look at these pictures though. Bikinis, as I mentioned, once were popular in Tunisia. One of the great resort destinations in the world. But with religious conservatives growing in numbers and power, some women are choosing to cover themselves up. Tourism continues to suffer. But as the president said, that is going to be tackled. We will be right back.
AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program. After a decade of war in Afghanistan, the United States is getting ready to hand off the country's security to the Afghan army. But after NATO halted joint missions with the Afghans, at least most of them, in response to insider attack, there are growing concerns that the local army isn't yet prepared to hold the country together.
And many Afghans worry that their country may indeed once again slide into civil war. With me now to discuss and assess is Marc Grossman. He's the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Thank you for joining me.
MARC GROSSMAN, SPECIAL U.S. ENVOY TO AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN: Thank you for having me.
AMANPOUR: The exit strategy? I mean, look, President Obama talked about Afghanistan in his U.N. speech. But, Mr. Grossman, one line and only to talk about rushing for the exit. The exit strategy is based on, as you know very well, getting the Afghan army up.
AMANPOUR: How can that happen if right now these joint patrols, many of them, have been highly restricted, if not completely halted? How can it happen?
GROSSMAN: Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me. Let me try to answer your question in three ways. First, I think it's very important, when you talk about rush for the exit, when I look at this, I don't see a rush for the exit at all.
And here's why I make that argument. First, we're in a -- we're working with our friends and our allies to bring that Afghan National Security Force up to about 352,000 troops. Then we'll go down over the years, but now about 352,000. And I know you follow this really closely.
But over the past few months, in Chicago at the NATO summit, we were able to get $4.1 billion from the international community for the funding of that Afghan National Security Force and Tokyo $16 billion for economic development going forward in Afghanistan.
And so I think that there's a huge effort going on here to make sure that that Afghan National Security Force works and it's not a rush for the exits.
AMANPOUR: OK. You're right. There is a huge effort and by the Pentagon and the U.S. assessment, itself, despite a decade-long $33 billion allied effort. Afghan security forces, quote, "continue to confront challenges, including attrition, leadership deficit, limited capabilities and staff planning, management, logistics and procurement. This is by the Pentagon.
GROSSMAN: Well, of course they do. I mean, you've built up an army from basically nothing to 352,000. I think the interesting statistic in all of that is think back to Lisbon in 2010, when the allies in Afghanistan decided they were going to go on a transition strategy so that more and more and more geography in Afghanistan is controlled by Afghans.
And what's that number today? 75 percent of Afghanistan is currently under the control of Afghan security forces. And it'll be 100 percent by the middle of next year.
AMANPOUR: I know that's the intention. I know that we -- that's what you're all trying for. But I also know from friends and colleagues who are on the ground that it's not as rosy as you'd like to portray it, particularly now with trying -- with having these joint patrols and these training missions stopped. I mean, surely that must be a problem.
GROSSMAN: Christiane, first of all, let me say that I --
AMANPOUR: Is there a date to lift those restrictions? Will they continue?
GROSSMAN: Well, first of all, let me say, I mean, I'm not here to say this is all rosy. I mean, I work on this every day. This is very, very difficult. So I don't want to be in a position of saying it's all fine. It's a huge amount of work to try to get this job done. But I think what we've been able to do as the Afghan National Security Forces is a creditable thing.
On the question of these insider attacks, you know, I think we should just be honest with each other. They're terrible. And both the United States and the United States, ISAF and the Afghans are trying to do all they can to make sure that they don't happen again. Will that number come to zero? I don't know.
But can we lower that number? I'm sure we can. I don't know if there's a date yet to resume these patrols, and I don't think there will be a date until we're sure that we've done something here to try to end these insider attacks.
AMANPOUR: Won't that sort of be detrimental to try and to train these forces up? I mean, that's what your exit strategy depends on. I mean, I know you're going at the end of 2014. But in order to go safely, and leave the investments, so to speak, without crumbling, you need these forces.
GROSSMAN: Well, again, I don't mean to be argumentative. But the question about we're going in 2014, now don't forget, in May, the president signed a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan. He flew all the way to Kabul to do it. And so the idea that we're going in 2014 with the implication that then there's nothing left after 2014, I don't think that's right.
And what the strategic partnership agreement says is, is that after 2014, there's going to be an American presence of some sort in Afghanistan. I don't know how big it'll be. But there's going to be an American commitment to Afghanistan. And it goes to one of your first questions, which is how do the Afghan people feel about this?
It's my observation -- again, I don't say that I have perfect information or perfect knowledge. But it strikes me that since we signed that strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan, the anxiety level in Afghanistan has gone down some.
AMANPOUR: Maybe in some places, but all the people I'm talking to say that there are people in villages north, south, are very concerned that if there isn't a strong Afghan army that the place could descend into civil war again.
And there are already people positioning themselves in case things don't go right. So if there is not a military victory to be had, part of the U.S. exit strategy and the transition is also to have some kind of political reconciliation.
That hasn't happened either. Tell me where we are and will we see the Taliban coming to any meaningful talks. Where is that?
GROSSMAN: Yes. I'd be glad to talk about that. I don't know if we'll see the Taliban coming to any meaningful talks with the United States of America. In the job I was given when I took this responsibility on a couple of years ago was to see if we couldn't create a diplomatic surge to go along with the military surge and the civilian effort.
And we tried to do that in two ways. First, we tried to create a regional structure for Afghanistan. Among the best advice I got was there's not going to be a successful, stable, prosperous Afghanistan unless it's inside of a successful, stable, prosperous region. And so we tried to do that. And you know we've created this structure now around Afghanistan.
We also were asked to see if it might be possible to find some Taliban to talk to and see if, one thing, we might be able to open the door for Afghans to talk to other Afghans about the future of Afghanistan --
AMANPOUR: And where does that stand?
GROSSMAN: Well, we talked to the Taliban for a number of months in Doha and unfortunately on the 15th of March this year, they decided they were going to suspend those negotiations with us. I think that's too bad.
AMANPOUR: Does it concern you that a lack of political reconciliation also could be very risky post-2014?
GROSSMAN: Well, sure. I mean, but two things. One is that your question to me was did I expect that there would be Taliban talks again with the United States. Maybe, maybe not. But the important --
AMANPOUR: With the United States, with the Afghan --
GROSSMAN: That's the important thing.
GROSSMAN: And I think that there's more and more evidence that some of the Taliban -- not all; I don't know what percentage it is, but some Taliban are ready to reach out and begin that conversation with the Afghans. So I'd say there's probably more chance that they'll be Afghan- Afghan conversations than perhaps an Afghan -- Taliban-American conversations.
AMANPOUR: Do you think -- do you think there will be a descent into civil war? I mean, I've heard some very top-level officials say that there might be. But we know it won't affect us, the U.S. It might be, you know, on the ground.
GROSSMAN: I think all the structure we've tried to create, the regional structure, the economic structure of part of that region, (inaudible) the historic trade routes, so somebody in Afghanistan (inaudible) a job, which is a really important thing.
And then building up the ANSF, the money for the ANSF and then this very important commitment that was made by the international community of Tokyo -- no small matter -- I think that history tells you that if the international community will stay committed to Afghanistan, and will pay some of these bills over time -- not all of them, but some of them until they have every chance of having some space to live a life that Afghans would like to lead.
AMANPOUR: You're probably aware of a new study that's come out about the drones, which is basically saying that, yes, it has, you know, killed quite a lot of (inaudible). Apparently only 2 percent of the very top leaders have been killed, but it's also causing a big backlash among civilians and a lot of civilian deaths as well. And that, of course, continues to inflame sentiments on the ground.
That's going to continue to be part of the policy, though.
GROSSMAN: Well, I know this is going to be disappointing to you --
GROSSMAN: -- we can't. I'm not in a position to --
AMANPOUR: I know you're not. But does it worry you how it's manifested on the ground?
GROSSMAN: Well, here's the thing about the ground. One of the things I think -- and we're switching out of Pakistan just for a moment -- it is that I think that Pakistanis have come increasingly to the understanding that if they're going to have a sovereign, strong country, then they need to also be dealing with counterterrorism in a way with us.
AMANPOUR: Do you think they've got to that realization?
GROSSMAN: Well, I'm not sure; but let me give you a couple of -- a couple of indicators. One is that the parliament of Pakistan, earlier this year in kind of assessing where U.S.-Pakistan relations were going, what did they say? We want a strong, sovereign Pakistan, no foreign fighters in Pakistan. No Pakistani territory should be used to attack other countries.
And so my argument to them is, look, if you want to enhance your sovereignty, let's do some of these counterterrorism operations together. And we ought to be able to find a way to do that so that it enhances your sovereignty, not diminishes your sovereignty.
AMANPOUR: And in fact, (inaudible) let's hope that it happens.
GROSSMAN: Thank you very much.
AMANPOUR: Mark Grossman, thank you very much indeed.
And we'll be right back after a break.
AMANPOUR: And finally tonight, against a backdrop of this month's anti-American protests this week, President Obama went to the United Nations to give a stirring defense of free speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression; it is more speech -- the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: But we don't have to imagine a world where free speech is under attack. It is in Pakistan amongst other places, where the Nishat Cinema in Karachi was a beloved landmark. Last Friday, as National Public Radio Steve Inskeep has reported, it was destroyed by a mob under the guise of protesting that infamous YouTube video.
The Nishat first opened in 1947, the same year that Pakistan declared its independence, often bridging the conflict with India to present the best of Bollywood. It was also a window on the world beyond, where Pakistanis could cheer Indiana Jones and other Hollywood heroes. Now one more window is closed.
That's it for tonight's program. Thanks for watching. Goodbye from New York. | <urn:uuid:340f117d-4435-4657-ab1e-c0860095e2b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1209/27/ampr.01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971665 | 6,192 | 1.578125 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators are weighing whether to make airlines reveal prices for baggage and other fees to online sellers like Orbitz and Expedia.
Travel industry officials and consumer advocates complain it's getting harder for consumers to know the true price of air fares so they can compare across airlines.
The Department of Transportation is working on a proposal to address the issue. Regulators had planned to offer the proposal next month, but a decision has been postponed till May because the department is deluged with arguments from both sides.
Airlines don't want the government to regulate fee information. But travel industry and consumer groups do.
Airlines say they don't want passengers to buy tickets based on price alone. They want to offer customized fare packages instead. | <urn:uuid:ab4e1eb9-0634-47a7-b29a-364ae8bdf68d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kolotv.com/news/nationalnews/headlines/Confusing-Airfare-Pricing-Debated-Delayed-184820021.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957273 | 155 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The environment is our landlord and what we use from it we rent, we do not buy.
The environment is a hard taskmaster but a fair one. It chills us with snow, bends us with hurricanes and bakes us with heat. The price we pay for living in it is high but not overly so if we curb our greed, for it can feed us and support our short lives albeit with bitter medicines and sweet herbs. We come and go while it remains; our tenure is short and our lease on living in it is full of terms and conditions which we break at our peril.
Ultimately the freeholder rules the leaseholder. the environment has dominion over the life it supports. This is old wisdom. We can break the terms of the lease, but not the lease itself and when we break the terms we are punished with due retribution and forced to offer indemnities which we can be powerless to perform.
The freeholder is judge jury and executioner in nature’s world. We might be able to influence it and even change it but we cannot defeat it, so we ought to observe its rules and perform our short lease on life, granted by the environment, as best we can, for the lease which we took when we entered this world might not be offered on the same terms to our descendants when it is their turn to look for a home. | <urn:uuid:977bd453-e6cb-42fa-a6d6-5202765fbe3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://robertkyriakides.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/our-lease-of-life-the-environment-is-our-landlord/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967411 | 277 | 1.820313 | 2 |
March 13, 2006
Lecture #Syllabus for all sect
Lecture notes based on the slides for Lecture #25 are available here:
Note that the pseudo-code for the general Branch and Bound (minimization) algorithm has been updated since today's class. We will briefly review that part on Wednesday.
Posted by ringger at March 13, 2006 09:57 PM
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Do you remember the days of early websites? Come on you don’t have to be that old. I wrote a paper for my Masters in 1997 that recommended that banks, for example, ought to have more transactional websites even though, at the time, there was not a huge business case for the investment. Hard to believe that was only 13 years ago.
In those days, if your organisation was lucky enough to have a website, you were starting to gain competitive advantage. Especially if you could keep it up to date more quickly than your competitors.
However, that depended on your IT dept and an army of HTML programmers, who wanted a specification, a design document, a test environment, methodology, design authority, sign off procedures etc etc.
Then someone invented Content Management Systems. The purpose of a CMS was to enable the business to make their own website changes in real time but, and this is a crucial but, within a corridor of governance enabled by the IT dept. So it was possible to change the text, but not corrupt customer data. It was possible to change pictures, but not corporate design rules. It was possible to change the database contents, but not the database itself. So business users can do a whole load of useful stuff without the risk of bringing down the site.
Of course, other governance is required. Someone still needs to take responsibility for the content that, in an instant, is representing your organisation around the globe. But without this level of flexibility how can your company compete with the speed of business today?
This type of flexibility (I prefer to think of it as agility) is now finding its way into the operational world. Giving business ops a way of doing their own process integration, orchestration and execution for example is freeing the business to react to the daily challenges of the changing world. At Blue Prism we call it Business Led Computing. It is a growing movement. People are used to being able to do their own computing at home. The next big thing in corporate computing might just be self serve. | <urn:uuid:57162d03-ccc6-4091-ae56-1e61d3d86c0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agilitysoftware.com/2010/05/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966104 | 416 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Students made a beeline for their library and wrote epic reviews on Newsbee’s December Picks. It seems the “he’s and she’s” enjoyed reading new renditions of old classics that charmed the socks off generations before them.
Too bad, so sad, no reviews on the Oldest Pick were received at the hive. Newsbee’s antennae dragged a bit about that. Pick up the slack—Page On!
“The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse,” by Helen Ward.
Reviewed by Evan Hall, Fourth Grade, Clark-Vitt Elementary School.
“The country mouse lives in the country and the town mouse lives in the city. The country mouse and the town mouse were cousins. When the town mouse went to visit the country mouse, the town mouse said, “In the city we don’t have mud and dangerous wild animals.” After the town mouse left, the country mouse wanted to see and hear new sights and sounds.”
“My favorite part is when the country mouse gets in the city because he’s excited to see all the buildings. I think others should read this book because it tells others that visiting other places can be fun.”
“The Further Tales of Peter Rabbit,” retold by Emma Thompson.
Reviewed by Madison Lewis, Second Grade, St. John the Baptist School.
“When we read the title, I thought the book would be about a bunny that got in trouble and wanted to see more sites and goes to the farmer’s garden.”
“The book was about a rabbit that went to his cousin’s. There were competitions there. Peter didn’t win any of them but he found a radish. He ate it all. He threw in the competition and won, but then he felt bad. He decided to tell the truth and then went home.”
“I liked this book because it was funny. I didn’t like the book because it was long. I’m like Peter because I get into stuff sometimes. I would recommend this book to my mom because she would laugh at the story because it’s funny.” | <urn:uuid:b8df9c79-c4b5-44d5-a3f7-5ff24b4fac8a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emissourian.com/features_people/newspapers_in_education/book_buzz_news/article_1a892052-6fdc-11e2-ba20-001a4bcf887a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979931 | 469 | 1.523438 | 2 |
How To Choose A Data Archiving Platform
No matter what your motivation for archiving data, the storage system needs to provide data integrity, scalability and power management.
last column covered different methods for moving data to that archive. This column we will take a look at storage systems that want to be your repository for storing this information. In general, no matter what your motivation for archiving data, the archive storage system needs to provide data integrity, scalability and power management -- and, of course, do so at competitive pricing.
There are several types of devices that you can archive to. The first and one that might be overlooked is a big disk array. Although these often don't have the capabilities to do continuous data verification and might not have the large scaling capabilities that other, more archive-specific systems do, they do have one big advantage: Price. These systems tend to be very cost effective if your archive requirements won't reach the limits of a single array. A few of these systems also have very mature power-saving capabilities such as spin-down drives.
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Another option outside of traditional archive storage systems is cloud storage services. Cloud has the advantage of not taking up any of your data center footprint and never running out of capacity. Some cloud providers via third-party archive solutions also can provide complete data integrity checking. They also, of course, have the advantage of a pay-as-you-go license, so the upfront investment is minimal. The downside to these systems is that they are pay-as-you-grow as well. You keep paying and paying. Storing terabytes and terabytes of information in the cloud for decades could be very expensive over time.
[ Wondering how cloud storage differs from online? Read Online Backup Vs. Cloud Storage. ]
There is the option to build your own cloud storage system in house; in other words, a private cloud. As I recently described in my article "What is Object Storage," most of these systems tend to use an object file layout. This gives them tremendous scalability and consistent performance even as the amount of archive data increases. Leveraging an object layout also provides the foundation for doing continuous data verification.
These systems also tend to scale one node at a time, providing a similar pay-as-you-grow capability. Unlike the cloud, though, you own it. This has its pros and cons. There is also the challenge that you have to store all your data on disk. That means these systems need to be powered and running in order to operate. Few scale-out object storage systems have developed the capability to "spin-down" nodes.
Finally, there is tape. Tape wins hands down for price competitiveness and for power efficiency. The above technologies all provide near-instant retrieval. Tape does not. But you have to ask yourself, if a request comes in for data that is 10 years old do you really need to recover it in seconds? Or can it wait a few minutes for the tape to be loaded into a tape drive, found and then recovered? If that is the case then tape might be for you.
Another concern about tape is data integrity. As we discussed in our webinar The Four Reasons The Data Center is Returning To Tape, tape cartridges have actually been proven to be more reliable than a disk drive but they don't have the built-in data integrity checks that some of the above methods do. However, some archiving solutions that support tape provide the ability to perform scheduled scans of tape drives so that integrity can be assured.
So, which one to pick? Most vendors mistakenly look at the archive target as a zero sum game. It all must be on their hardware. We find that most data centers are better served by a mixed approach that leverages two or more of the above solutions: Use disk for the medium-term archive of data, and tape for the long-term deep archive. In fact, in an upcoming column I'll discuss how to leverage tape with either a private or public cloud.
Storing and protecting data are critical components of any successful cloud solution. Join our webcast, Cloud Storage Drivers: Auto-provisioning, Virtualization, Encryption, to stay ahead of the curve on automated and self-service storage, enterprise class data protection and service level management. It happens Dec. 10; available on demand after that. | <urn:uuid:da45c75d-4606-404d-8eee-e30afb551b20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.informationweek.com/storage/systems/how-to-choose-a-data-archiving-platform/240145234?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Storage_systems_storage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948552 | 927 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Liège, Belgium recently unveiled a stunning new high speed rail station designed by Santiago Calatrava. With less than 200,000 occupants in Liège, the station is set to provide a new pulse for the former industrial city, acting as the first part of a planned architectural vision for a corporate center in Belgium, and the launch of Liège’s renewal.
Billed as the "epicenter of the North European High Speed Network," the Liège-Guillemins TGV Railway Station offers quick and efficient travel to Aachen, Cologne and Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris, London, and the Southern portions of Europe. Construction of the station began in 1996, and was designed to provide rail service for 36,000 people a day.
Calatrava’s vision for the station was a building without a facade that provides greater connectivity within the city. The platforms on the top levels are enclosed by glass and steel framing, and the entire station makes great use of natural daylight.
“It was my goal to create a 21st century transportation facility that would not only unite Liège with the rest of Europe, but would also serve as a symbol of the city’s renewal. The project, as a whole, creates a new gateway into Liège and re-establishes a relationship with the city”. -Santiago Calatrava.
Add a Comment | <urn:uuid:85283804-d0f7-4bd9-b8c2-95a99b76766a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/modern-architecture-belgiums | 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 | 0.963779 | 294 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Here is the latest addition to our new Macedonian range – the Royal Guard! Silver Shields, White Shields and Brazen Shields – all elite hypaspist regiments that can be represented on the tabletop.
The Macedonian phalanx was one of the world’s greatest bodies of fighting men, and the best of them were amongst the very finest soldiers ever to march upon a battlefield. Under Alexander they conquered the known world and under his Successors they fought over the spoils of Empire.
One of the Macedonian army’s most decorated units, the Silver Shields (Argyraspides) served under Alexander the Great, their name derived from the silver-plated shields they bore. Chosen men, armed with the deadly sarissa pike, they were both feared and revered due to their long service and skill at arms. Following Alexander’s death in 323 BC, the Silver Shields followed the Thracian general Eumenes, in support of Alexander’s son. They infamously delivered their general to their enemy, Antigonus, after their baggage train containing 40 years worth of loot and their families was captured during the Battle of Gabiene in 316 BC. Antigonus duly rewarded them with service in Afghanistan and suicide missions – nobody likes a traitor!
The Antigonid phalanx was divided into two separate and distinct corps – the Brazen Shields (Chalkaspides) and the White Shields (Leukaspides). The troops in these divisions were, much like Alexander’s Royal Guard, picked men. Thracians and other ‘barbarians’ were rewarded with land in return for servitude in the phalanx. Unlike Alexander’s phalanx, the Antigonid Royal Guard units formed a larger percentage of the overall army strength, with over half of the army being formed from their strength in more than one battle.
This boxed set gives you everything you need to field one of these famous units. All you need to do is to paint their shields silver, bronze or white!
You can add these elite units to your army on our webstore here. | <urn:uuid:506998d2-1c5c-4662-a38e-86c8790470b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.warlordgames.com/20661/new-macedonian-royal-guard/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960424 | 439 | 1.734375 | 2 |
February 7, 2012
Mexico’s conservative ruling party is gambling that this country known for machismo is ready for a female president and have chosen a devout Roman Catholic and popular former congresswoman who says she sympathizes with the causes of the poor.
Josefina Vazquez Mota, a 51-year-old economist, became the first female presidential candidate from any of Mexico’s major parties late Sunday when she convincingly won the National Action Party’s primary.
Her victory marks a milestone for women in Mexico, a country where they were not allowed to vote until 1953. The first female governor did not take office until 1989. Only a handful have been elected since.
National Action hopes Mexico is ready to follow in the footsteps of Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile and other Latin American countries that have elected female leaders recently.
Vazquez Mota, who is still married to her high school sweetheart, won national attention after publishing a 1999 book titled “God, Please Make Me A Widow,” which is described as a call to women to stop being afraid of developing their potential. She has said she wrote the book based on her own experience of being a woman who chose to work over staying at home to raise her three daughters, defying the role she was expected to fulfill.
Vazquez Mota told El Universal newspaper in an interview published Monday that she has experienced Mexico’s machismo first hand during her campaign. ”One of the hardest questions I have been asked is ‘How will you manage the army if you are having menstrual cramps?’” she told the newspaper. “I have also been asked if I will have the courage to face criminals. My answer is that courage is not a matter of gender.”
Born in Mexico City on Jan. 20, 1961, Vazquez Mota was educated at some of the country’s more costly private universities and graduate schools, then worked as a financial consultant and business columnist for several years. The fourth of seven siblings born to a paint store franchise owner and a housewife, she grew up in a middle class, traditional family. She is married to businessman Sergio Ocampo, who was her first boyfriend. A religious woman, she asked PAN members to go to church first Sunday and then go vote for her. But she is not a typical conservative.
Vazquez Mota told Univision in an interview last year that although she didn’t support abortion rights, she doesn’t think the practice should be criminalized. She also told the network she believed marriage was between a man and a woman but that gay couples deserve respect. She told El Universal that she is sympathetic with Liberation Theology, which advocates activism on behalf of the poor, and admires slain Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, whose fight for the poor during El Salvador’s bloody civil war made him a national hero.
Vazquez Mota formally jumped into politics when she was elected to Congress in 2000, part of a wave of political change that rolled across Mexico as Vicente Fox of her National Action Party captured the presidency and ended the 71-year hold on power of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. After only three months as a legislator, Vazquez Mota was pulled into Fox’s Cabinet to head the Social Development Department, the first woman to hold the post.
She continued to build her political skills and reputation within her party by managing Felipe Calderon’s successful 2006 presidential race, then serving as his education secretary after being elected to Congress for a second time. She supposedly had a falling out with Calderon after she was removed from Education Department.
But the affable candidate with a permanent smile faces an uphill battle against former Mexico State Gov. Enrique Pena Nieto, the PRI candidate who leads in all recent polls. Many voters have grown disillusioned with National Action after 12 years in power, and due to growing frustration with a drug war in which more than 47,000 people have died over the past five years. ”She is offering to combat corruption, but Fox first offered that and after 12 years nothing has happened,” said political analyst Jose Antonio Crespo. “Why would people believe her now?” Besides ending corruption and improving education, she has said little about what direction she would take the country.
She won the nomination even though most analysts considered rival Ernesto Cordero, the former finance secretary, as the top choice of Calderon and the party establishment. For Crespo, her victory was thanks to the support of PAN members displeased with Calderon’s administration. The fact that she is seen as an outsider in Calderon’s camp will help her, said Andrew Selee, director of the Washington-based Mexico Institute. ”One thing that benefits her is that she has a certain amount of distance from President Calderon,” Selee said. “I think she will try to project a sense of openness to new ideas … but that may not be enough to overcome people’s desire to entirely change direction.”
Vazquez Mota, who was elected to the lower house of Congress for a second time in 2009 and became speaker of the house, is known as a good negotiator. She could attract independent voters because many of them “might be reluctant on supporting the PRI because of its past authoritarian record or PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) because of his past radicalism,” the U.S.-based Eurasia Group consulting firm wrote in a research note Monday. Lopez Obrador is the candidate for the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, best remembered for narrowly losing against Calderon in 2006.
Though she has said she won’t use gender as an issue during her campaign, the married mother of three, has used her family life on the campaign trail to garner the support of Mexican mothers and young voters. ”She is playing the gender card,” said Soledad Loaeza, a political science professor in Colegio de Mexico who has studied the evolution of the PAN. “What I don’t know is if that card will help her.” ”She is a serious, hard working woman,” Loaeza added. “Her main virtue was surrounding herself with experts.” | <urn:uuid:fd91b944-3b03-48f0-802d-4223626366ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://agentsofsocialchange.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/candidacy-tests-mexicos-culture-of-machismo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982054 | 1,322 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Estes employees have a long-standing history of patriotism, from honoring the past service of our men and women in uniform to sending well-wishes to those currently serving. It’s in this spirit that Estes is proud to work with worthwhile support organizations for outreach to active-duty U.S. service members and remembrance of those who have given their lives to defend our freedoms.
In 2012, Estes worked with Give2TheTroops and NCPacks4Patriots to collect items for care packages sent to U.S. service men and women deployed in combat and disaster-relief zones around the world. We collected 10,235 pounds of goods from employees, customers and the community for delivery to regional facilities, with final distribution to the troops in time for Christmas.
Estes also supported Wreaths Across America (WAA) to help remember the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who gave their lives to preserve our nation’s freedoms. Each December, WAA coordinates the laying of thousands of fresh evergreen holiday wreaths on gravesites to honor fallen veterans at more than 750 cemeteries nationwide. Estes delivered a total of 12,376 wreaths last year to 38 sites across the United States.
These community efforts—as captured in this short video—spring from a genuine gratitude for the sacrifices made by America’s men and women in uniform. Expressing that gratitude through outreach opportunities such as these represents a small though important way we can Encourage the Living, Honor the Fallen. | <urn:uuid:75c1eefb-3836-4f10-9c71-700b251a6875> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.estes-express.com/about-us/support-the-troops.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944835 | 315 | 1.546875 | 2 |
What did your mother dab behind her ears as the final touch before a dress-up occasion?
Did it come in a bright cobalt blue bottle that transported you to a Paris nightfall? Maybe Mom simply smelled of fresh, clean Ivory soap. Whatever it was, if you caught a whiff of that fragrance today, her brief instant image will flood your memory.
The sense of smell is recognized as most likely to stick with us long after hearing has faded or eyesight has dimmed. It’s not difficult to remember how she looked or things she said. But can your memory hear her actual voice?
A hospice nurse who reads this column tells me she often hears families say they can no longer recall the sounds of long-gone voices.
Several years before I lost my mother, my sister and I sat down with her in front of her china cabinet as she told the story behind each of her treasured dishes. My cheap little tape recorder now yields Mom’s voice at the touch of a button. Today, a camcorder easily captures that elusive sound — plus face and gestures. Virtual life to view at will.
The simplest way to go about preserving an elder’s memories is to ask questions.
So, what would you most want to remember, or want your kids to know about Grandpa? You’ve probably heard many of his early-day tales, but take my word for it, you won’t remember them. I vaguely recall my grandmother’s tales of great-great-aunt Sue, a teacher who was stalked by a rejected suitor. I seem to recall something like a poisoned apple, but I was just a kid, and what kid would have bothered memorizing a story you could hear over and over in person? Great Victorian-era melodrama lost. What a shame we had no recording gadgets then. Today, we have no excuse.
If you’re my age, let your family know you’d gladly talk to their equipment. If you’re a child or grandchild, just ask.
But do it now, while Mom’s memory is intact. | <urn:uuid:dc238e89-c143-40af-9e35-d180d5f72209> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kansas.com/2012/06/15/2378870/aging-matters-record-voices-of.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970252 | 445 | 1.742188 | 2 |
The Aida Refugee Camp in Palestine are the latest group to lend their support to the ‘Free Marian Price’ campaign.
A long time Republican, Price, 58, was jailed for her involvement with the IRA bombings in London in 1973. She was arrested in May 2011 and charged with encouraging support of the IRA after a dissident Republican rally in Derry on Easter Sunday. She was later released on bail but the then Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, revoked her license (parole) and ordered her back to prison.
Members of the refugee camp at the edge of Bethlehem empathized with the plight of Price.
“We, the Palestinian people who are under the terrorist rule of Zionism, write you this letter from Aida Refugee camp in the occupied land of Palestine,” the letter states.
“We salute the heroic struggle of Marian Price and her comrades for freedom, justice and for the dignity of humanity.”
Read More: Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness appeal to Hillary Clinton for help on ‘Free Marian Price’ campaign
“To Marian’s family, we are the Palestinian families who know the feeling of losing someone in the darkness of the injustice cells. We in Aida Camp; mothers, fathers, youth and children, stand with you not only in solidarity but with complete support of Marian’s case and all the Irish political Prisoners.”
The letter concludes: “As Bobby Sands said in one of his writings,” our revenge will be the laughter of our children.” We believe that our day will come and our children will laugh and smile all their lives.” | <urn:uuid:161517cf-10c8-4ec5-a406-5826e6b6539e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.irishcentral.com/news/news_from_ireland/Palestinian-refugees-offer-letter-of-solidarity-for-Marian-Price-campaign-182520151.html?mob-ua=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949674 | 342 | 1.703125 | 2 |
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba
One of the world's most unusual commutes is coming to an end.
For more than a half century, Luis La Rosa and Harry Henry have left their homes before dawn each workday in the communist-run city of Guantanamo, where old American cars rumble past posters of the Castro brothers in a Cold War time warp, climbed into taxis and traveled to the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, where troops shop at a Wal-Mart-like store and eat at McDonald's and Subway.
The commute takes less than an hour but spans two worlds and a heavily guarded border fence.
Now it is coming to an end. La Rosa, a 79-year-old welder who works at the base's motor pool, and Henry, an 82-year-old office worker, are retiring at the end of the month. They were honored Friday at a retirement ceremony celebrating the uniqueness of their situation.
The close friends, who have a kind of celebrity status on the base, are the last of what were once hundreds of Cubans commuting daily to work at this isolated U.S. military installation.
For them, it is a bittersweet moment - a severing of one of the last real links between Cuba and the U.S. Navy base that has been an unwelcome presence on the island for generations.
"I feel a bit sad because I'm leaving, but I'm going to my country," La Rosa said on Thursday after passing through the coils of razor wire and a checkpoint guarded by U.S. Marines that separates the base from the rest of Cuba.
Both men brought their wives and other family members to the base for Friday's ceremony, the first time anyone else in their families had been able to visit the place where they worked for decades. La Rosa and Henry thanked the U.S. government and his colleagues; the older man, the only one of them who speaks English, drew laughs when he joked that "I think I can be here a few more years."
Over the years, the Cubans who worked on the base would present retirees with a wooden cane. It started as a joke and became a tradition. The base commander, Capt. John Nettleton, gave Henry and La Rosa each a wooden cane, carved with a wooden horse's head at the handle. A guest speaker, Cuban-born Navy Cmdr. Carlos Del Toro, thanked the men for their service to the base and the government.
"Both of you have made a difference," Del Toro said. "A difference in the United States, a difference in your homeland in Cuba."
Though this spot is best known for the base's prison for terrorism suspects, there is a substantial Cuban city of Guantanamo, which has a colonial downtown and a population of about 250,000. It lies to the northwest of the base, separated by mountains and marshland. A smaller city called Caimanera along the bay is the closest town to the U.S. installation.
There are about 30 other Cubans who live on the post, and the base commander has a monthly meeting with his Cuban counterpart to discuss logistics and administrative issues. But the base and Cuba have almost nothing to do with each other, and that fact is more pronounced with the two men's retirement. | <urn:uuid:74033df4-e32e-41f7-93ca-a5d9d87bc612> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/dec/14/guantanamo-says-goodbye-to-last-cuban-commuters/?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974526 | 680 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By Gina Spinelli
News Eagle Correspondent
The board meeting for Delaware Valley’s School District was held in the Administrative Offices, on Thursday February 21st at 7 p.m. The meeting started with a couple of presentations.
A presentation was given by Michael Sullivan, the director of Pike County Chamber of Commerce and Pike County Economic Development Authority. He went over the benefits that having a tax abatement program for business development in Pike County would have on the local economy.
"I can not tell you how significant, and important this tool is," Sullivan stressed.
An tax abatement program would give the businesses in the approved areas tax breaks, which in turn could have them expand, and hopefully create more jobs as well as more businesses. The abatement on new construction would cover five years, with taxes gradually phased in over that period.
The program has to be passed by the county, and township, as well as the school for the applicant to receive the abatement.
Students gave a presentation as well that showed a model of what could be done with the 120 acres of land near the new elementary school. They showed that the land could be used not only for the elementary school, but also a county park that they called The Delaware Valley Eco Adventure. In the plans for the county park it showed picnic areas, a botanical garden, as well as other "eco -funny" learning areas. The plan also showed a playground, and garden for the elementary school, solar fields, and other elements for the school.
Another presentation was by Ed Uhler, and the rest of the Engineering and Technology team. The presentation went over the courses that were given, and some of the work that past students have done. Students in some of these programs could get a chance to earn college credits, as well as work with impressive machines, and software, such as the school’s 3D printer. | <urn:uuid:0269b084-a223-4a69-9d2b-5899efdb47e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neagle.com/article/20130228/NEWS/130229815 | 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 | 0.983196 | 393 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Kofi Annan has given a wide-ranging overview of his career and core beliefs to delegates at One Young World Summit 2012.
The former UN Secretary General told the gathered young leaders: “I grew up with a sense that change is possible, even the most basic, fundamental, radical change is possible…Don’t accept when people say this is the way we do it. Ask why do you do it this way.”
He was speaking at the third annual One Young World summit, in Pittsburgh, which brought together 1,300 leaders from 182 countries to engage with pressing global issues. Seven Hills led the international media team in Pittsburgh, and arranged interviews for the former UN Secretary General with CNN International and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
Mr Annan was expansive about the difficulties of acting as an international mediator, on the back of the publication of his memoir, Interventions: A life in War and Peace.
On the necessity of negotiating with dictators, he commented: “You make peace not with your friends, [but] with your enemies, and it is men like that, who are often standing in the way of peace, that you have to deal with. And so you shake hands with the devil to save lives and make peace. And normally these are men who you wouldn’t have a drink with, but you have to deal with them.”
Speaking about his role as UN international envoy to Syria, from which he stood down in August, he said: “One of the messages I [gave] to leaders in the region is, there’s a strong transformational wind blowing through the region that cannot be resisted for long. And that they should embrace change and accept reform. And I reminded them of an African proverb, a Swahili proverb, which says, you cannot bend the wind, and so bend the sail. I urged them to embrace reform and help their people live a better life.” | <urn:uuid:7b250b5f-58b5-40af-a898-1b8ca4f6ba2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wearesevenhills.com/news/2012/10/24/kofi-annan-fundamental-radical-change/ | 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 | 0.968183 | 404 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Covington County Data
Covington County Neighbors
- Forrest County MSGHN
- Jeff Davis Co. MSGHN
- Lamar County MSGHN
- Simpson County MSGHN
- Smith County MSGHN
Welcome to Covington County!
Welcome to Covington County, Mississippi Genealogy & History Network. Our purpose is to provide free resources for genealogical and / or historical researchers.
To share your genealogy or history information, send an email to firstname.lastname@example.org - we will be pleased to include it here. If you have information for other Mississippi Counties, consider clicking on the MSGHN link in the Main Menu and visit the appropriate county. Thanks for visiting and good luck with your research!
The following is only a part of what you will find here at Covington County MSGHN.
1841 Mississippi State Census for Covington County including heads of households and number of white males and number of white females living in household.
Okahay Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From US 84 east take Hwy 37 north to Hwy 532. Turn left and go to Hot Coffee Community. Turn right on Gilmore Road. Go about a mile past Dalton Corely Drive. 314605N, 0892855W.
Calhoun Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Collins, take US 84 E to Hwy 532 west to the Hot Coffee Community. Turn right on Calhoun Church Road. 314427N, 0892635W.
Old Meshack Rogers Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From US 49 N in north Collins take Ora Street / Ora Swamp Road to right and go to Salem Church Road to left. Cemetery is right there. 314048N, 0893327W.
Williamsburg General Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Collins take US 84 west to Mike Conner Lake Road and turn left. Take the first road to the right. 313719N, 0893640W.
1820 Covington County census extraction. Lists the names of heads of households. Also includes the number of white males and female in each household by age groups.
Davis Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Seminary, take Hwy 589 south to Mae Lott Road. Turn right and go to Atwood Norris Road. Turn left and go about 1/4 mile. 313144N, 0893317W.
Miller Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Seminary take Seminary Sumrall Road west to Seminary-Mike Conner Road west to about 1 1/2 to 2 miles past McGowen Circle. 313324N, 0893724W.
Hemeter Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Collins, take US 49S to Seminary-Williamsburg Road. Turn right and go to Lyons Road. Take a left and go about 1/2 mile. 313520N, 0893419W.
Thousands of Covington County marriage records. That's a lot of marriage info. Be sure to check for your Covington County ancestors. These dates are critical to getting a certified copy of a marriage record from the Covington County Courthouse
About Covington County...
Covington County, located in the south-central portion of Mississippi was formed on January 5, 1819 and was originally called Bainbridge County. It was soon renamed in honor of General Leonard Covington, U.S. Army officer and Congressman who was killed in the War of 1812.
In 1826 all that part of Covington lying east of the center of Range 14 was taken to form part of Jones County. In 1906 a part of Covington was taken to form Jefferson Davis County.
Williamsburg, located in the western part of the county, was the original county seat and was named for Thomas H. Williams, who was one of the two first United States Senators from Mississippi. In 1899, the citizens of Williamsburg discovered that the railroad was going to be built through Covington County, but not through Williamsburg. As a result, a number of them moved to the railroad line and formed Williamsburg Depot. In 1906 the little village had grown large enough to incorporate into a town they named Collins, which was named for Fred W. Collins, the United States Marshall for the Southern District of Mississippi in 1891-1893 and 1897-1902, and from 1910 until his death in 1912. Being centrally located, Collins was chosen to become the new County Seat, with a courthouse being built at a cost of $117,000.
In spite of the fact that a tornado largely destroyed the town in 1912, Collins had been growing steadily on the back of the local timber industry. However, similar to gold rush towns of the west, for Collins when the timber ran out, the growing ran out. As a result, Collins declined during the depression era.
M.S. (Mike) Conner the forty-fourth Governor of Mississippi was elected from Covington County. He served from 1932 until 1936. NFL football star Steve "Air" McNair was from Covington County and is buried in the county. Actor Gerald McRaney, star of Simon and Simon, Promised Land, and Major Dad, is also from Covington County.
The county has a total area of 415 square miles, of which 414 square miles is land and 1 square mile (0.28%) is water. The population recorded in the 1820 Federal Census was 2,230. The 2010 census recorded 19,568 residents in the county.
Neighboring counties are Smith County (north), Jones County (east), Forrest County (southeast), Lamar County (south), Jefferson Davis County (west), and Simpson County (northwest). Communities in the county include Collins, Mount Olive, Seminary, Dry Creek, Eminence, Hopewell, Leaf River, Lone Star, Lux, Okahay, Ora, Rock Hill, , Salem, Sanford, Sunset, and Williamsburg.
Covington County Records
Covington County MSGHN has many records here on our website. Marriage Records, Cemetery listings with many tombstone photos, and more. Look at the Copiah County Records links in the menu on the left for a list of available data.
Birth Records - The Mississippi Department of Health maintains records of births after November 1, 1912 on file. This was the year Mississippi began keeping official birth records. You can obtain official copies of birth certificates by mail by using this birth record application on their website. If you just have to order by internet or phone, or use a credit card, you can use VitalCheck, a third party records company recognized by the Mississippi Dept. of Health. Since there are no official birth records before November 1, 1912 for births prior to that date you will need to determine birth information from census records, bible records, baptismal records, cemetery tombstones, etc.
Death Records - The Mississippi Department of Health maintains births recorded after November 1, 1912 on file. This was the year Mississippi began keeping official death records. You can obtain official copies of death certificates by mail by using this death record application on their website. If you just have to order by internet or phone, or use a credit card, you can use VitalCheck, a third party records company recognized by the Mississippi Dept. of Health. Since there are no official death records before November 1, 1912 for deaths prior to that date you will need to determine death information from census records, bible records, funeral home records, cemetery tombstones, etc.
Marriage Records - We have thousands of county marriage records here on our website. These dates will assist you greatly in obtaining a copy of the original marriage license. The Mississippi Department of Health can provide you with this for marriages that took place between January 1, 1926 to June 30, 1938, and for January 1, 1942 to present by mail by using this marriage record application on their website. If you just have to order by internet or phone, or use a credit card, you can use VitalCheck, a third party records company recognized by the Mississippi Dept. of Health.
All existing county marriage records for any date not listed above (and for the dates listed above for that matter) may be obtained from the county's Circuit Clerk's office.
Divorce Records - Prior to 1859, divorce proceedings were introduced as private bills in the Mississippi State Legislature. References to these can be found in the books Index of Mississippi Session Acts 1817 - 1865 and Index to the Laws of the Mississippi Territory. These books can be found at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History as well as many other genealogy repositories and libraries across the state. After 1859, county divorce proceedings were filed in the county's Chancery Clerk's office. | <urn:uuid:21ae69a5-7797-4bd8-97e7-5c576dfc5800> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://covington.msghn.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951968 | 1,828 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The Balplan was the flagship microscope made by Bausch & Lomb Inc. in the 1970's and 80's, before the merger of their microscope operations into the Leitz / Leica company. Since the Balplan is no longer supported by either company, the knowledge base for maintenance on this fine instrument has defaulted to the community of amateur and professional microscopists.
This site consists of html transcriptions of the original Bausch & Lomb manuals for the Balplan. I am scanning and typing sections and linking in accompanying photographs as time allows. Enjoy!
This (undated) manual probably shipped with each new microscope.
This document is scanned from an n-th generation photocopy of the original, and is barely legible in spots. For a cleaner copy, refer to the 1978 price list, below.
This twelve page PDF file has been expertly scanned and donated to the site by D.S. Smith in June of 2008. The 1978 price list is in Canadian currency.
"An Informal Guide for the Hammer Tinkerer and Mechanic"
LEGAL NOTICE: The documents on this web site were originally published without copyright by Bausch & Lomb Inc; my understanding is that they were made available to the public without restriction. This site is not affiliated with Bausch & Lomb or any other company past or present, and the enclosed information is provided gratis to the public as an educational and historical reference service only. Scanning and text entry errors may be present; no claims are made about the accuracy of the enclosed information.
contact: Robert Hughes
hughesr @ tcfreenet . org | <urn:uuid:77f005ee-9c38-4243-9afa-08f35a9d72cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tcfreenet.org/people/hughesr/balplan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946817 | 335 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Front Page Titles (by Subject) Chapter IX.: IRISH DISAFFECTION. - Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 3
The Online Library of Liberty
A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
Chapter IX.: IRISH DISAFFECTION. - Harriet Martineau, Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 3
Illustrations of Political Economy (3rd ed) in 9 vols. (London: Charles Fox, 1832). Vol. 3.
About Liberty Fund:
Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.
The text is in the public domain.
Fair use statement:
This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit.
The rumour of the intention of the whiteboys to break the gaol, or otherwise rescue the prisoners, was unfounded. Since the new works were begun on Mr. Tracey's estate, the numbers of the disaffected in the district had lessened considerably, and those who remained were for the most part employed on distant expeditions. Dan had been out of his own neighbourhood so long that he heard of Dora's capture only a few days before her trial, his father-in-law having failed in his attempt to give him immediate intelligence of the event. The exasperated husband vowed, as soon as he learned her sentence, to move heaven and earth to rescue her; and all that one man could do to this end he did: but he was not heartily seconded by his companions; they considering the attempt too hazardous for their present force, and not seeing that this case required their interference more than many which were presented to their observation every day. If their attempt had been agreed upon and planned ever so wisely, it would have been baffled by the fears of the magistrates, who, alarmed by the rumours afloat, determined to send the convicts round by sea to the port where the convict-ship awaited them, instead of having them traverse the island. A small vessel was secretly engaged to wait off the coast at the nearest point, to receive the convicts, before it should be known that they had left the gaol.
Father Glenny, who was aware of the scheme, and therefore prepared to make his parting visit at the right time to the unhappy outcasts from his flock, repaired to Mr. Tracey's when his painful duty was done, dispirited, and eager for some relief from the harrowing thoughts which the various interviews had left behind. Mr. Tracey invited him to inspect the works, and see what had been done thereby for the estate and for the people. They rode to the shore just as the labourers were leaving work, and at the proper time for conversing with some of them respecting their prospects, and the hopes and views with which they were about to begin life in another land. An ardent desire to emigrate was found to prevail: a desire arising out of hatred to middlemen and tithe-proctors, discontent with as much as they knew of the law, and despair of permanently improving their condition at home. They acknowledged their landlord's justice in enabling them to remove advantageously, smiled at the victory over Mr. Orme, on which they prided themselves as a grand parting achievement, and spoke with gratitude of the kindness of Mr. Rosso's family during their time of sore distress; but the only person among their superiors in whom they seemed to place implicit confidence was Father Glenny. To him they said little of the barrier which they believed to separate the rich and the poor in Ireland: on him no man among them looked with an evil eye; against him were directed no remarks that there was one sort of justice for the powerful and another for the helpless. Their affection being strong in proportion as it was concentrated, they almost adored their priest, and swore that when their wives and children should have followed them abroad, Father Glenny would be the only tie to their native district which they would be unwilling to break.
“How different an embarkation will theirs be!” he observed to his companion, when he had given his blessing and passed on along the ridge of the cliff. “How different a departure from that of their brethren who are sent away as criminals! Here, the husband goes in hope of soon welcoming his family to a home of better promise than they leave; there a wife is carried away alone, in disgrace, severed for ever from her husband and her child. It makes one thoughtful to consider that the least painful of these departures might possibly have been rendered unnecessary by a wiser social management; but, as for the the other, we ought to kneel in the dust, crying for mercy, till Heaven shall please to remove from us the scourge of crime, and the heart-withering despair which follows it. If you had seen and heard what I have seen and heard this day, you would tremble at the retribution which is sent upon the people and their rulers. Let us pray day and night to avert it!”
“And in the intervals of our prayers, father, let us exert ourselves to avert it by removing the abuses from which it springs. Instead of applying palliatives, let us go to the root of the evil.
Instead of providing a legal relief for our poor, which must in time become a greater burden than we now labour under, we must remove the weights which oppress their industry, guard against the petty tyranny under which they suffer, and all the while, persevere in educating, and still educating, till they shall be able to assist our reforms; to understand the law beneath which they live; instead of defying it, to respect the government (by that time more efficient to secure the objects at which it aims); and to act upon the belief that men of various creeds and ranks and offices may dwell together without enmity. May not all this come of education, coupled with political reforms, and sanctioned by the blessing we pray for?”
“Heaven grant it may!” exclaimed the priest, who was now attentively observing some one who was sitting on the sunny side of a fence which ran to the very verge of the rock. It was an old man, with a babe on his knee, to whom he was alternately talking and singing in a feeble, cracked voice. His song was of the sea, to which he looked perpetually, and over which the setting sun was trailing a long line of glistering gold, to the great delight of the infant as well as its guardian.
“It is Sullivan!” exclaimed the priest, “and it is poor Dora's child that he holds on his knee. True it is that God feeds the young ravens that cry. Yonder babe has thriven in this desert as if its nightly rest were on its mother's bosom. The old man, too, looks cheerily. You will not take advantage, my son, of his having ventured above ground in a still hour like this. You will not bid the law take its course on one whose gray hairs came before his crimes began?”
“Not for the world,” said Tracey. “Shall we alight and speak to him, or would it alarm him too much?”
They drew near while still unobserved by the old man, whose noisy sport hindered his hearing their footsteps. At this moment, a small vessel appeared from behind a projecting rock, her sails filled with a fresh north wind, and appearing of a snowy whiteness as they caught the sunlight. When she shot across the golden track, the babe sprang and crowed in the old man's arms.
“The saints' blessing on ye, my jewel!” cried he, in almost equal glee. “It's there you would be, dancing on the blue waves, instead of in my old arms, that will scarcely hold you in more than an unbroken colt, my pretty one! There she goes, my darling,
“Sullivan!” cried the priest, who could no longer endure this ill-timed mirth.
The old man scrambled up in a moment, and made his obeisance before the mournful gravity of his pastor.
“Sullivan!” continued Father Glenny, “Do you know that vessel? You cannot be aware what freight it bears! You——”
“I know now all about it,” replied the old man, pettishly. “How could your reverence expect my old eyes to see so far off what ship Dora was on board of? And what makes your reverence bring his honour to be a spy on an old man's disgrace, unless he comes to catch me, and send me after Dora.' Tis near the hour when foxes and justices come out after their prey. You may have me for the catching, your honour; and much good may it do you to have got me.”
He would not listen to a word Mr. Tracey had to say, but went on addressing the child, as if no one had been present, his glee being, how-ever, all turned to bitterness.
“Agh, my jewel! and you knew more nor I, while you sprung as a lamb does when the ewe bleats. Stretch your arms, my darling, for your mother is there; and fain would I bid ye begone to her, though it would leave me alone in the wide world, where there's not a thing my eyes love but you, babby dear!”
And so he went on, sitting doggedly down with his back to the gentlemen, who retreated, intending to come again the next day, when he might be in a more communicative mood. At some distance they looked once more behind them, and saw that another man had joined Sullivan, and was standing over him, pointing to the receding vessel.
“It is Dan!” cried the priest, quickly turning his horse and riding back. Before he could reach the spot, Dan had snatched a hasty kiss of his infant, and disappeared. The old man's countenance was now fallen, and his tone subdued.
“You will never see Dan more,” said he, “though you may hear much of him. The just and merciful will never see his face again, and he has forsworn his priest. Where he will show himself from this time, it will be in the dead of the night, with a crape on his face and a pike in his hand. They that have made him mad must put up with a madman's deeds.”
“Mad!” cried Tracey.
“He means exasperated,” replied the priest. “Dan hoped to the last to rescue his wife, and the failure has made him desperate.”
“I'm alone now in the world entirely,” muttered Sullivan, rocking the now wearied infant to sleep. “Barring this orphan's, I shall see little of the face of man. It was the face of a devil that bent over us just now. Long may it be before it scares us again.”
Sullivan said truly, that Dan would henceforth be heard of and not seen by any but the victims of his violence. He who was once the pride is now the scourge of the Glen of the Echoes. | <urn:uuid:6c888785-5e72-497b-ba50-f77fddde283c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1691&chapter=143209&layout=html&Itemid=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984014 | 2,407 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Criminal Law and Motoring OffencesCriminal law is where the government identifies and criminalises behaviour that is considered wrong, damaging to individuals or to society or is otherwise unacceptable. The criminal justice system is the mechanism by which action is taken to deal with those suspected of committing offences from the initial investigation of a crime through to acquittal or to conviction and sentence in the criminal courts.
When you are facing a criminal offence you need advice and representation from expert legal solicitors who understand your case in detail.
Clarkes has one of the county's leading criminal defence teams and can assist with all types of criminal offences, from minor charges such as motoring offences and criminal damage through to assault, fraud or even serious crime.
Clarkes will provide the best possible legal team and offer a proactive defence giving clients access to experts such as forensics, witness tracing, accident reports, firearms experts, fingerprint, fibre analysis and reconstruction experts. Trust the professionals... talk to Clarkes.
We can provide assistance in the following areas:
- Magistrates court
- Crown court
- Motoring offences
- Trading standards
- Copyright and Trademarks
- Corporate manslaughter
- Court martial
- Prison law
For expert legal help and advice contact a member of our experienced Criminal Law team on 01952 618787. | <urn:uuid:1ff3b1e2-bf00-4cce-8960-08b8cfc06062> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clarkeslaw.co.uk/individuals/criminal-defence | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943596 | 267 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Pattie Canova is a psychological intuitive, tarot reader, teacher, lecturer, writer, and performer. As a tarot reader, Canova works with the Mythic deck and incorporates dream work into her readings. Informed by a background in theatre, mythology, writing, metaphysics and a deep interest in spirituality, Pattie incorporates keen analyses and constructive insights into her work, following a “what you think is what you’ll see” philosophy.
Ami Ronnberg, MA, is curator of the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism and editor in chief of A Book of Images: Reflections on Symbols to be published by Taschen in 2010 as part of the ARAS publication project. She is also on the faculty of the C.G. Jung Institute in New York City.
“Sure, Dan Brown and Sarah Palin are topping the best-seller charts, but the breakout of the holiday book-buying season just may have been an elaborate, richly illustrated tome that records the dreams and spiritual questing of an author who has been dead for nearly half a century. The list price for this 9-pound, 416-page volume? $195.
While committed Jungians have been waiting decades for the book, there are only about 1,000 analysts who follow Jung’s principles in North America, according to Stephen Martin, co-founder and president emeritus of the Philemon Foundation, a Jungian nonprofit group that raised money to help prepare “The Red Book” for publication, helping to finance Mr. Shamdasani’s translation, among other things. Booksellers say that buyers have extended outside Jungian interest groups.
“The thing I find interesting is that I’m not even sure that a lot of people buying them” have shown any previous interest in Jung, said Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan. “There are a lot of $15 Jung books that they haven’t ever bought.” [NYT]
“Marina Abramovic is a New York-based Serbian performance artist. Active for over three decades, she has recently begun to describe herself as the “grandmother of performance art”. With an often pronounced mystical sensibility, Abramovic’s work questions the performer/audience relationship and explores the limits of the body. Through gesture and ritual she examines the nature of consciousness.”
“Lee Robbins, PHD-LCSWR is a Jungian analyst in private practice in New York City. She is on the faculty of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University where she teaches interdisciplinary seminars in the history, mythology and philosophy of depth psychology, Freudian and Jungian Post modern thought, Alchemy and Buddhism. She is a member of the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association and serves on the board of the International Association of Jungian Studies. She has been a student of Theravada Buddhism for sixteen years.”
“Alice Walker is known for her fierce, poetic writing and her politically charged ideas. She opened up to a Jungian analyst in front of a live audience at theRubin Museum of Art, one of our partners in the Talk to Me series.
Walker and the Jungian analyst, Harry Fogarty took part in “The Red Book Dialogues,” a series of conversations devoted to an exploration of Carl Jung’s work. Both Walker and Fogarty were serene and thoughtful, fitting for a museum filled with Buddhist art. They talked about faith and politics, as well as the solace Walker finds in nature.” [wnyc]
more photos here
“After Jung died, the book lay in a Swiss bank vault for almost 25 years. The family was loathe to publish it, only releasing a few select images for public consumption. Because of the curtain of silence, legend and curiosity around it grew and thrived. Finally, however, the family had a change of heart and agreed to go to press.”
“You could regard it in part as his spiritual autobiography, in which he tells of how he refound his soul and found meaning in his life, through enabling the rebirth of the image God within his soul.”
“We know the archetype; we cherish the myth. The hero, like the world around him, is in a state of crisis. And in seeking to restore himself and the shattered cosmos, he valiantly passes through a vale of despair, descending into darkness. He risks his life and psyche in perilous encounters with dreams or dragons and finally emerges into the light, spiritually transformed, ushering in a new age.” Full article here. | <urn:uuid:0058e0bc-3cbd-4d76-96c5-0ca92dc73d6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychelogos.org/?cat=3 | 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 | 0.956496 | 982 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A general rule of commerce is this: You cannot demand money until you have generated demand, or at the very least, the perception of demand. And a sure way to generate demand is by using a loss leader.
Your music is your business. And in business, in order to spike sales and increase the bottom line, you have to pick and put into play a loss leader. A loss leader is a part of your whole product offering that you will lose money on (or not make money on) in order to get potential customers through the door. Once they are in, their experience with your “brand” should cause them to buy other products you also offer as well as become repeat customers. This adds to your bottom line. This is what a loss leader does.
In our industry, there’s been a great deal of debate regarding the giving away of music for free. Many emerging acts have opted to give away their entire body of work for free through services like Bandcamp (with some using the pay-what-you-want or donate option). Most of us do this in hopes that it will generate more demand for our music and that, eventually, we’d get paid somehow. Whatever we decide to do, I think it’s important that we understand how a loss leader works and how to rightly choose one. We should make decisions with a clear understanding of a matter and not because it’s trending or something everyone is doing. Think for yourself. Think objectively. Because if we don’t, we wont have a sustainable career in music. Here are some thoughts for your consideration. Please eat the fish and spit out the bones.
The loss leader should only be a part of your entire offering. This is common sense. There’s an old adage: Business is common sense. If you give everything away for free or if you lose money on everything, you wont have a business. You cannot build a business nor can you sustain a business that way. You risk devaluing yourself when you give everything away. It’s a serious risk. Also consider that the only way that you can succeed these days is by standing out. People share things they’re excited about. And their perception of you is what drives that excitement. It’s not just your music. It’s an idea about you that they have to buy into. And when you give everything away, you set up for yourself two public perceptions that will hurt you:
1. You look like you’re not worth anything and desperate for attention. This is not romantic for the music lover/buyer. This doesn’t make you stand out. They want to buy into something cool, not something perceived as worthless and desperate. Giving away everything for free says on a subconscious level that no one wants you.
2. You look like you don’t have much demand at all. Hence, you’re giving everything away. This doesn’t help generate demand because it doesn’t excite people. People are excited about things they think others are excited about (or even the possibility that others are excited about it). You need to look like you have some demand while generating demand. Giving away everything for free doesn’t help that at all.
Making your entire product offering a loss leader can only lead to one thing - devaluation. And devaluation leads to demise. However, when your loss leader is only a part of your entire offering, it simply says to potential customers that you want them to give you a try without creating the perception that you are worthless, unwanted, and desperate. You can build a business on that. Remember that the point of a loss leader isn’t to lose money, but to gain money through controlled loss. Try offering a song or two in exchange for an email address. I recommend using ReverbNation, who recently added a “join with Facebook” feature to their download-for-email widget (which actually boost sign-ups and get you more useful data of those who sign up). You may not sell your other songs at first, but that’s not the point. The point is to maintain a certain positive perception while you’re working to generate demand. Be patient and keep working.
The loss leader has to be worth it to potential customers. This goes without saying. Give away something good and valuable. Don’t pull a fast one on potential customers. It may seem counter-intuitive to let go of what you think is your best song. But, it’ll challenge you to create other amazing songs they’ll want to get. Plus, in my experience, they usually find something else as their favorite that you have.
The loss leader always exists, but is never constant. In retail, there is always a special sale. There are discounts throughout the year, but under different names/campaigns. Consider this effective approach. What it does is maintain excitement, which is key to generating demand. They also rotate products as the loss leader. I used to work for a large jewelry store chain. The sales ran into each other and each one would offer a different inexpensive piece of jewelry as the center of that sales campaign. They didn’t really make money on these pieces, but they almost always sell more things to the client. If nothing, they’ll have repeat customers for their stores and deepened market share. Try having a special name for the duration of time you are offering a certain song for free download, like a campaign. Or, try offering the old album for free right before you offer the new album for sale. This is done in retail all the time and it works.
Lastly, the loss leader needs to bring potential customers into a brand experience. For stores, the point of a loss leader is to get customers through the door, where they’ll end up buying more products and come back because they enjoyed their experience. For music, the point of a loss leader is to get people to experience you personally so you can build a connection with them, after which they’ll begin to buy your music and actually pay to see you play. This is debatable. But, aside from giving a song or two for free in exchange for an email online, I think that doing free shows is the most effective loss leader for emerging artists. The reason being is that people are brought into a real world experience with you. And nothing generates demand for music better than real world engagement. Everyone’s online! So, to stand out, do something special in the real world. It seems to me that in this new music era, we’ll be forced to revert back to the old days when acts have to work hard and build a real-world following in order to have a sustainable and influential career.
It goes without saying that you need to open for other acts for free as you are starting out. Play everywhere you can, but only in a specific market (city/region). But not too much as to become common. Remember, you must maintain excitement for your music. Once you’ve built a following and generated enough demand for your music, you’ll find more people willing to pay for your music and to see you perform.
Minh is an artist, producer, and entrepreneur based in the DC area. His official site is www.reachminh.com. | <urn:uuid:59032f0b-a082-4bd7-b0da-6c8d7d16dc48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/generate-demand-for-your-music-by-rightly-using-a-loss-leade.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96824 | 1,525 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Hathi Bhata is a tourist spot located about 22 km from Tonk
. The focal point of the place is a monument of elephant carved out of a huge single stone. It was erected by Ram Nath Slat during the rule of Sawai Ram Singh in 1200 AD, the evidence of which is stated on the right ear of the elephant. The monument also bears the inscription portraying the story of Nal and Damayanti. | <urn:uuid:c40dc7aa-706b-43cf-8de2-32b998124336> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.india9.com/i9show/-Rajasthan/Hathi-Bhata-35515.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975815 | 87 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday described as "dangerous" and "regrettable" the actions of a Chinese navy ship that Tokyo says put a radar-lock on a Japanese vessel last week.
His comments come amid severely strained relations between the two Asian powers over a set of disputed islands in the East China Sea.
The tensions over the islands -- which Japan currently administers but both countries claim sovereignty over -- have resulted in maritime standoffs and the scrambling of Japanese fighter jets in recent months.
In the latest incident, Japan accused the Chinese navy ship of using radar to gather information on the location of a Japanese warship in the East China Sea. That type of radar could be used to produce data needed to fire upon the Japanese vessel.
"This is dangerous action that could have brought about an unexpected situation," Abe, who took office in December, said in parliament Wednesday.
The prime minister, seen as more hawkish than his predecessor, Yoshihiko Noda, urged Beijing to show restraint "so that the situation doesn't escalate."
The Japanese foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador for a meeting Tuesday to lodge a formal protest regarding the accusations.
Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Tuesday that Tokyo also suspects that China put a radar-lock on a Japanese navy helicopter on January 19.
China accuses Japan of provocations
China countered on Tuesday that it has been conducting regular patrols in Chinese waters and asked Japan not to interfere. | <urn:uuid:9c406828-ba69-4c16-bb78-b99adf002af8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wgal.com/news/national/Abe-accuses-Chinese-ship-of-dangerous-act/-/9360498/18427458/-/13ogu8xz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951771 | 297 | 1.6875 | 2 |
- Vanderbilt Magazine - http://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/vanderbilt-magazine -
How I Play
Posted By Vanderbilt Magazine On April 7, 2010 @ 11:54 am In SPOV, Spring 2010 | 1 Comment
One game my best friend and I used to play was this: We were castaways on an island where we were trapped with a horrible monster. We played this game every day for an entire summer. Brian lived next door to me, and every morning we would take his dad’s machete (which we weren’t supposed to touch) from their garage and hike out to our makeshift shelter in the woods behind his house and carve another notch into the fallen oak tree by the creek.
“Day 24,” Brian would say, counting the notches. “Marooned.”
“Maybe today,” I would say, looking up through the trees, “a plane will come.”
Then we would go forage for mushrooms.
We had theories about the monster: that it was something old, something shed-sized with wrinkly skin and no sense of humor, something that only cared about eating little children. It hunted us back and forth across the island—we would climb trees when we thought we heard it coming, or wade out into the creek, or disguise ourselves with dead leaves. We had homemade spears stashed around the island in case we were ever caught without the machete.
Then one day—by our records, day 51—we decided we would hunt the monster back. We were tired of hiding.
“We’ll dig a pit,” Brian said, drawing a blueprint in the dirt, “and after it falls in and breaks all its legs, we’ll roast it over a fire.” Part of our theory was that the monster probably had six legs.
We dug a pit along the edge of the forest. We picked a couple of loads of stinkweed from the creek and dumped them into the pit so that the smell would knock out the monster if the 4-foot drop didn’t. Then we covered the mouth of the pit with branches and twigs and dead leaves.
We waited awhile for the monster, but it did not come. So we went to the other side of the island to climb trees.
Later that afternoon we were poking an abandoned hornet’s nest with a stick when we heard a crashing sound. Then a roaring. We had never before heard the monster roar so loudly that we could hear it not just in our imaginations but even in real life.
We dropped the stick and grabbed our machete and a couple of our homemade spears and ran through the forest chanting and singing and doing little we-killed-the-monster dances all the way back to our pit. But then there was no more singing because we saw that Brian’s dad was sitting at the bottom of the pit covered in stinkweed and mud. I had never heard him swear before, but considering he never got much practice, he was really good at it.
That’s the first time I remember getting in trouble for playing, but after that it happened more and more often until we had to give up playing altogether. This is why I’m a writer. As a 24-year-old man, writing stories is the only way I can get away with pretending—the only way I can play. It is no longer socially acceptable for me to run around in the woods shouting at imaginary creatures. (Actually, there are adults who do that. It’s called LARP, which stands for live-action role-playing, and which is basically a bunch of adults wearing tunics and leather boots running around public parks hitting each other with plastic swords and shouting made-up spells. I’ve always been sort of secretly obsessed with it. But I like the idea of having a girlfriend more than the idea of playing LARP, and it turns out that usually you have to choose between the two.)
So instead, I make up stories. It is not as good as being outside and getting to live them, but it is a close second-best.
I am good enough at making up stories that Vanderbilt’s MFA program let me join its team. It’s kind of like getting drafted to play college basketball. In high school I made the freshman basketball team, but only because I was faster than everyone else; during the free-throw drill, I only made four out of 10. The next year I only made two out of 10, and then being fast wasn’t good enough. But my friend Justin made varsity.
I loved watching him on the court. For me basketball had been stressful because I was always so worried about dribbling off my foot or passing the ball to someone on the other team, but for Justin it was just a sort of playing. I always thought of him as our Best of the Neighborhood: The rest of us couldn’t make a layup, but he could drop a shot from anywhere on the floor, and for him it was fun.
That’s what I’ve always loved about watching college basketball. It’s all of the Best of the Neighborhood kids playing the same game together.
Actors are a Best of the Neighborhood, too, but with a different sort of playing. Whenever I watch a movie with Johnny Depp in it where he is being especially weird or funny, I get this goosebumpy feeling and think, Can you imagine if he had grown up in your neighborhood? If you had gotten to play a pirates game with him, or a we-are-monsters game? Whenever I listen to Tom Waits I think, What if he had grown up in your neighborhood? What if you had gotten to play with him, to make up songs together while hitting empty garbage cans with sticks?
In the MFA program the sort of playing we’re good at is making up stories. Sitting in on a fiction workshop is like growing up in a dream neighborhood where every single kid is a Best of the Neighborhood kid. We are obsessed with words like scrimshaw and parasol and cannikin. We fight about storytellers that most everyone has never heard of—we fight about who’s better, Borges or Hannah? Each class we workshop two stories by students in the program, which means that every week we get to explore two brand new worlds, worlds we built out of nothing, entirely with our words.
Between our two backyards, Brian and I had a national park’s worth of forest. We had two forts, three sledding hills, one abandoned shed we could climb onto and then jump off of, one baseball diamond, one three-hole golf course and a rope swing. During winter we built igloos big enough for me and him and all his brothers. During summer we made potions out of tree sap and pine needles and dead bugs and kept them in jars to poison our enemies. We would lower my basketball hoop low enough that we could dunk on it and pretend we were in Space Jam playing against aliens for the fate of planet Earth. We would play Jurassic Park games, Men in Black games, Mission Impossible.
Now Brian does not have a job where he can play; he has a job where he can stack boxes.
Brian owns (literally) more than a thousand DVDs. If you say the name of any film (literally, any film that exists), he can tell you not just who directed it but also the names of everyone who acted in it (no matter how obscure) and which part was the funniest or best. I want him to have a job where he can pretend things, a job where he can play like we used to. I want him to make movies. But he says he doesn’t want to. He’s given up on playing altogether. Now he’d just rather watch someone else do it—so many times that he’s become a sort of human IMDB.
The best part about studying in an MFA program isn’t that all the other students are Best of the Neighborhood kids—it’s that all of the faculty are, too. They’re even better at that sort of playing than we are. Lorraine López was just nominated for a PEN/Faulkner award—she’s one of only five finalists—which is sort of the literary equivalent of qualifying for the Olympics. We won’t hear which medal she’s won for another month or so, but still, she’s an Olympic athlete. Tony Earley’s stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories; so have Nancy Reisman’s. These are the people we get to learn about storytelling from.
But for many of us, these two years in the MFA program may be the last ones we’re able to make a life out of playing. The storytelling jobs are limited. It’s possible to get a job teaching younger storytellers (I know that at least two of our 2009 graduates did); it’s possible to get a job at a magazine that publishes stories (which is why we’ve founded Nashville Review); it’s possible to become an editor of stories, or a reviewer of stories, or a literary agent. And then there’s the dream gig: to write stories that are so good that you earn a living from your stories alone. But getting someone to publish your book is like getting drafted to the NBA: It’s possible for a college basketball player to get drafted, but their chances are about 1 out of 100. Odds are that they’ll end up in accounting or real estate or advertising instead, getting to play their game only at night.
Those odds are just another sort of game we’re playing. I don’t know if we’ll beat them. But it’s going to be fun to try.
Article printed from Vanderbilt Magazine: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/vanderbilt-magazine
URL to article: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/vanderbilt-magazine/2010/04/how-i-play/
Copyright © 2009 Vanderbilt Magazine. Vanderbilt University All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:aecf0dc9-fe93-47e0-9cfb-98b1d6d8fe1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/vanderbilt-magazine/2010/04/how-i-play/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974653 | 2,167 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Colombia’s central bank has finally decided to take a breather.
After cutting rates for five consecutive months – including last month’s surprise 50bps cut – the bank decided on Friday to hold its benchmark rate at 3.25 per cent. Continue reading »
After two sluggish quarters of growth, Colombia’s finance minister, Mauricio Cárdenas (pictured), is determined to reignite the economy – even if that means cornering banks to lower interest rates.
That’s understandable. After all, while the country’s central bank has been busy slashing interest rates since last July, the banks have not really been passing on the cuts. Continue reading »
Here we go again: Colombia’s central bank cut the Andean country’s benchmark rate for a fourth straight month. Policymakers trimmed a quarter point to 3.75 per cent – the lowest in Latin America.
In the longest easing cycle in over four years, starting in July last year, the very orthodox Banco de la República has chopped 150 basis points off its overnight lending rate in an attempt to reignite a slowing economy. Continue reading »
Colombia’s “locomotive”, as the government likes to call its ambitious mining and energy plans, appears to be getting a cog in the wheel.
On Thursday, labourers in the Andean country’s largest coal exporting mine, Cerrejón – a joint venture between BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Xstrata – went on strike over wages and benefits. Continue reading »
After last month’s slap in the face when Brazil released shocking GDP data at only 0.6 per cent, Colombia followed suit on Thursday announcing surprisingly weak third-quarter growth. The Andean country’s economy grew just 2.1 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year.
The drag was caused by an acute slowdown in the construction sector as well as sluggish manufacturing. The growth pace was not only much slower than the 7.5 per cent expansion in the same quarter last year, but it was also the weakest in three years.
Continue reading »
He’s been named Latin America’s central banker of the year (okay, by a trade publication) and re-appointed to be his institution’s general manager for a final four-year term in October. Analysts praise him for promoting growth while keeping inflation in check. Meet Colombia’s central bank chief, José Dario Uribe. Continue reading »
Colombia’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, resumed peace talks in Havana on Wednesday, hoping to end one of the world’s longest running conflicts that absorbs 2 per cent of the country’s GDP, according to some estimates.
But rating agencies seem confident about the Andean country, whatever the outcome. Continue reading »
For years many people thought that Colombia only produced coffee and cocaine. Now, after an impressive turnaround, people think Colombia only produces coal and oil.
However, armed with his Adrien Brody looks and a PhD in Economics from an Ivy League university, Juan Pablo Córdoba, the president of Bogota’s stock exchange, the BVC, is ready persuade you that the local financial market is the future. Continue reading »
By Hector Valle of FIDE and YPF
In a recent post, Juan Carlos Echeverry and Luis Fernando Mejía presented an exercise in which they compare the growth rates and sizes of Argentina’s and Colombia’s economies. From their analysis they conclude that Colombia has surpassed Argentina as the third largest economy in the region. However, the methodological drawbacks of their exercise are significant enough to invalidate the results. Continue reading »
What’s the fastest way to upset Argentina these days? Just mention the C word.
In a guest post on beyondbrics this week, Juan Carlos Echeverry, Colombia’s former finance minister and Luis Fernando Mejía, head of macroeconomic policies at Colombia’s finance ministry, recounted how technical staff “crunched some numbers” and came to the conclusion that Argentina’s status as the region’s third-biggest economy was under threat. Continue reading »
There is an adage in Spanish that goes: “Pain never lasts more than one hundred years.” At first sight, in any case, for the Colombian economy the pain seems to have lasted a quarter.
The recently-appointed finance minister, Mauricio Cárdenas, announced Thursday in Bogotá that Colombia’s gross domestic product grew 4.9 per cent in the second quarter, after expanding only 4.7 per cent in a rocky first quarter that was held back by weak growth of industry, oil output, and exports. Continue reading »
It was another intense week for Colombia after the initial announcement that the government of Juan Manuel Santos has been holding “exploratory” peace talks with leftwing FARC rebels.
In order for Santos to be able to do that in full, he needs to have his so-called “cabinet for peace” in place. It took a while, but he finally got there, having ratified his agriculture minister and appointed the new interior and environment members of his cabinet, on Friday.
But much of investors focus will probably be on the appointment of Federico Renjifo (pictured), as energy and mining minister. Continue reading »
Start spreading the news: the Farc guerrillas and the Colombian government agreed to begin peace talks during a meeting in communist-led Cuba, local media reported on Monday.
The Andean country has attracted record foreign direct investment in recent years as the military has been forcing the guerrillas deeper into Colombia’s jungles. Would this mean foreign investors are expected to rush in (even) more? Continue reading » | <urn:uuid:e3307c3b-560c-4145-8d22-e110dd300e3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/tag/colombia-economy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945287 | 1,240 | 1.703125 | 2 |
OKAY, I’m being overly dramatic. NASA is not actually going away, just the space program. But, that’s not clear in the way it’s being reported in the news. The news filter is clearly clogged. Important details are not making it to the final product – even I was slightly alarmed at the idea of no more NASA. But, I knew there was more to it than we were hearing as consumers. Full explanation:
NASA has four principal organizations: Aeronautics, Exploration Systems, Science and Space Operations. The organization that is essentially ending is Space Operations – for now. And because Space Operations gets the most coverage for NASA, it appears that there is nothing left for them to do. There is plenty for them to do.
Think about it like this: All those things we used to learn at the planetarium in grade school and in Astronomy 101 in college is what three-fourths of the people at NASA do. They research space, analyze atmospheric details like stars and planet alignment and constellations. They follow the Sun’s movements and patterns, research climate changes – they have plenty to do.
They also build robots and other technological apparatus to conduct research. Somebody has to build the next most powerful telescope, ‘cause, it aint me. The need for rocket scientists still exists. The question at this point is if there is still a need for Astronauts, which, is a bit disheartening. It’s like someone saying, we’re doing away with brain surgeons. Try taking your kid to a planetarium, getting them interested in Space and then telling them there used to be this position called Astronaut that is no longer available.
My thought is that in a year or so, someone will figure out that hitching a ride into space with the Russians is not the best idea. This sounds like we’ve resigned ourselves to taking a back seat in space technology. How is that at all progressive or forward thinking for the World’s foremost super-power?
Recently, the CEO of Dow Chemical did a series of interviews where he talked about how difficult it is to find top talent in the field of engineering and as much as it distressed him, he will need to go to other countries to recruit. Sad. This is why we have stagnant unemployment numbers. Jobs are available, we just haven’t been educated to be qualified for them. And putting the breaks on moving forward in technology is not going to get us qualified.
And since you brought up education, just a thought about how this pertains to future generations. It’s already a well known fact that we trail most other countries in science and math education. We’re just not producing the level or volume of quantitative thinking scholars here. So, is this us throwing in the towel and accepting that we are inferior in science and math? Decisions like this only confirm our hypocrisy about education. As a society, we preach about the importance of education, but, our actions reflect the opposite. No more Astronauts sounds like the opposite to me.
What does it sound like to you? | <urn:uuid:a1f67a72-d1aa-4a05-9582-0001d6428033> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.communicadomag.com/no-more-nasa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962064 | 647 | 1.835938 | 2 |
This Mattered to Me
"Meeting the Unique Educational Needs of Visually Impaired Pupils through Appropriate Placement, " by Sandra Adams Curry and Philip H. Hatlen, published in the December 1988 issue of Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, Volume 82, Number 10, pp. 417-424.
Print edition page number(s) 237-238
The series editor of "This Mattered to Me" is Stuart H. Wittenstein, Ed.D., superintendent of the California School for the Blind.
When Stuart Wittenstein invited me to choose an article for the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB)series "This Mattered to Me," there was no hesitation on my part. I immediately knew the article I would choose. Although I could not remember the title or year of the article, I knew the content. "Meeting the Unique Educational Needs of Visually Impaired Pupils through Appropriate Placement," by Curry and Hatlen, had a profound impact on my teaching practices when I first read it in 1988, and it still influences my teaching now.
It is somewhat ironic to me after all these years, especially after rereading the article, that I still consider Curry and Hatlen's ideas as seminal to the formation of my teaching practices as an itinerant teacher. I say this because the primary intent of the article was to promote the concept of the "most appropriate placement" instead of the "least restrictive environment" in the decision-making process for developing an appropriate educational plan to meet the educational needs of students who are blind or visually impaired. Yet, as an itinerant teacher, the article challenged me to ensure that if I was teaching students in a setting that the law defined as a "least restrictive environment," and I agreed to that placement, I had better meet all the needs of students as identified in the "dual curriculum." Dual curriculum is the concept that the educational curriculum for students with visual impairments has two major components: instruction in traditional academic areas and instruction in disability-specific skills.
I am not sure that I truly assessed and identified the instructional needs of students or addressed all areas of the dual curriculum (the forerunner of today's expanded core curriculum) before I embraced the content in this article. I felt challenged by Curry and Hatlen to take the "long view," to look at the futures of my students as adults and question my service delivery model. It was difficult to consider whether the services I provided as an itinerant teacher would result in the desired outcomes for my students in all areas of their development.
The critical question this article taught me to ask myself was, How can I provide instruction and services to meet all the goals identified for my students? At a time when I saw myself as needing to be "all things to all students," and while struggling with how I could possibly manage my teaching responsibilities, Curry and Hatlen graphically presented the dual curriculum in a manner that clearly articulated an overall direction and context for curriculum. This lead to my epiphany: I was able to comprehend how I might manage the dual curriculum as an itinerant teacher. This article not only provided the foundation for how I provided teaching and learning activities to students, but, after a few years, it became the source of my own advocacy as I began to speak out on the importance of the dual curriculum when students were educated in local schools.
This article still resonates with me today. Over the last 20 years or so, I have continually questioned my model of service delivery, which has resulted in a constant evolution of teaching and learning practices. My current collaborative teaching practice and model of service delivery has strong roots in the ideas generated by Curry and Hatlen. An additional influence may be because of the ongoing professional dialogue and activities I have engaged in with both authors about effective educational practices. At the time I first read this article in the late 1980s, I only knew of Sandy and Phil through the literature and from my colleagues' experiences with them. Now they are my own valued and trusted friends and colleagues. What an awesome field we have, that an itinerant teacher in rural Minnesota could learn, grow, and change so dramatically from a chance meeting with an article in JVIB, and sustain and nurture that learning through collegial relationships with the authors for 20 years!
On the web
The article relating to this commentary is available free to subscribers at JVIB Online: <www.afb.org/afbpress/pubjvib.asp?DocID=jvib010408>. Nonsubscribers may purchase a copy of the article from the JVIB Classics area of AFB's ePublications web site: <www.afb.org/JVIBclassics/jvib821006.asp>.
Donna McNear, M.A., teacher of students who are blind and visually impaired, Rum River Special Education Cooperative, 140 Buchanan Street North, Suite 150, Cambridge, MN 55008; e-mail: <email@example.com>.
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December, for most, clocks in as one of the most stressful months of year. With Christmas dominating everything from our to-do lists to the radio stations, it can prove difficult to manage holiday stress. But, a detailed December plan you can take the pressure off, because the simple act of doing the right thing on the right day can work wonders for your holiday stress management endeavor.
3: This is the perfect day to decorate. Itís still early in the month, so you are less likely to have something going on. Decorating day is such an enjoyable part of the Christmas experience, but if you have something else that pressing to do, which is more likely later in the month; then you donít fully enjoy the experience. By decorating early, one of the largest tasks will be done and you will have the whole month to enjoy the festive dťcor!
7: Get organized for the big day. Nail down the Christmas dinner menu, make the shopping list, order the turkey; and breathe easy knowing that yet another important task has been organized.
10: Pick out the tree. The rest of the house will be decorated, so youíll know your color scheme. And seeing as its still early, the selection of trees will still be plentiful.
11: Trim the tree and decorate it. The best time to decorate a tree is on a weekend, as it tends to be less stressful than attempting to decorate during the week with school, work, and dinner and after school activities on your pressing to do list.
15: With parties, decorating, planning and shopping, the days seem to become shorter because we become engulfed in yuletide activities. But take one day to do nothing. Take this day to enjoy what youíve accomplished so far.
17: Finish shopping.Youíll be glad you did. Having to navigate through an overcrowded mall full of last minute shoppers is a surefire way to up your stress levels and sap Christmas cheer. Leave the last minute stuff for the people who didnít plan ahead, and this year, that isnít you!
22: Thaw the turkey. Do NOT wait until the 24th to thaw the turkey; the 24th is reserved for brining the bird and getting mise en place together. Make sure the turkey is thawed and ready to go; youíll save yourself the headache of trying to prep a half frozen bird.
25: Merry Christmas! If you have any travel plans, take advantage of empty airports. Christmas day is one of the best days to travel if you want to avoid crowds. And since it such a low travel day, youíre likely to get a deal on your flight!
28: Boxing Day is now Boxing week, so avoid the hoards of people and wait until the 28th to do your post Christmas shopping. Quite often the sales get better as the week progresses!
Christmas should be a time of happiness and cheer; but in todayís fast paced world, Christmas can feel like yet another thing to do. By having a plan, you are able to de stress the season and enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed!
Bianca Osbourne is a freelance writer and natural foods chef. She writes and educates passionately about diets for skincare; with a focus on the best acne skincare treatments found in the foods we eat.
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Epilogue Part (1/2) : A Bird Without Feet
We laughed together
We cried together
We created beautiful memories to remember
Yesterday when those memories were engraved
Today when we repeat them
Tomorrow when we will smile to remember them
For me, it will be always ‘us’
Even when we get separated
I have a lot of friends. Among of them, there is someone. A special friend. My bestfriend. Lee Sungmin.
We did all fun things together, sometime fight each other too hahaha…. I’ve known him since we’re 7 years old. We had a secret place to play around without our parents or other kids knew. We often played sliding with a tiny wood cart in the morning or bumping and rolling each other on a green lawn. In a small valley near greentea field. In Boseong.
We were so happy and wanted to be peterpan forever. But it’s impossible. Because people’s growing up.
As we reached our teenagers, we started to gain so much curiosity over new things. We started to have some secrets and to respect other privacy. We learned many things. For example, we discovered that a rushing heartbeats was not only because of you felt nervous or afraid of something, but also because of strange feeling which people called ‘Love’.
Maybe everyone has a lot of versions what the love is. Maybe in a moment, you have only one definition of love. When you want to love and to be loved back. Or when you want someone to be yours and you to be her/his. That kind of love may have been felt often by everyone. For me too.
But how if you have a certain feeling that yourself aren’t even sure which word that suit enough to call it in any dictionary.
It’s not surprising if some of you wouldn’t understand, but I had that kind of feeling. Once.
I felt my life’s perfect just by seeing his smile. Even if I had somebody else beside me, I felt alive just remembering his smile. People often said if you felt like there’s butterfly in your stomach, then it would be called as love. But what’s this feeling then? The feeling that made me nearly forget how to take a breath. And I really hoped that he happened to have the same feeling as me.
There was a time when I wanted to hold your hand longer than before
There was a time when I wanted to hug you tighter than usual
There was a time when I wanted you to be mine
But this kind of love
Just like a bird without feet
riding the wind to fly through the sky
it land to the earth just once
that is when it dies
From friends turned into lovers. I and Sungmin saw it a lot. Once, I tempted to develope ours like that. But we also witnessed that lovers couldn’t be back to friends again.
If you break up with your lover whom previously your bestfriend, you may end up to be friend again but I’m sure it will never be same like before.
Friends – Lovers – Stranger. That’s what I feared about and I noticed Sungmin felt the same too.
“I thought they loved each other” I hugged his crying figure to comfort him. His mom and dad had divorced.
“Hyukjae, I don’t want us to break up” he said between his sobs. That’s when I realized that ‘Love’ was forbidden to the both of us.
And then he left. He left Boseong. I wanted to againt his decision but I knew that time, we’re unstable.
Ten years apart helped both of us back to our former feeling. Best Friend
We still contacted each other by sending letters. We became pen pal. It might a bit old fashioned but we had been doing this since we’re in elementary school (eventhough our seat was near to each other in class XD).
We could text or call each other, but it couldn’t be saved. Human memories is limited. I wanted to remember all of our moments. Sungmin letters. I kept all of them in a secret box. Just like a Time Capsule. By rereading his letters and looking forward to his next letter, made me felt like he’s still beside me. I can live with that.
We are separated
But when I close my eyes
I can feel your presence
Call me insane
Throw me to the black hole
I just can’t deny it
I can survive with that
In ten years, we lived our life just like common people. We studied in school, graduated, and fell in love. I met Donghae and he met Kyuhyun. With Donghae, I could certain that it was love. I blushed everytime he smiled at me. I could feel jealousy whenever anyone flirted at him. I felt lust whenever I kissed him. Made me want more. But with Sungmin, I’d never had those feeling. It confused me how to react well.
We sent letter not so often. We talked about many things. Sometimes, I and Kyuhyun texted each other too. He’s a good guy. Eventhough Sungmin mentioned that he often got teased by him but I found it cute anyway.
When I got news from Kyuhyun about Sungmin's accident, my life’s like turning upside down terribly. I left my dinner with Donghae’s family and got out without words. I couldn’t think logically at that time that I went to Seoul as soon as possible.
When sitting desperately in the train, Kyuhyun texted me that Sungmin had awaken from 3 hours of comma. I arrived on hospital and stopped in front of Sungmin’s room. I took a peek from a half opened door.
I watched his lying figure and saw his pale face. It’s 10 years already and you wouldn’t know how much I missed him. How much I want to hug him. But I knew that this wasn’t the situation I expected to meet him like this after being separated in a long time. In silence, I kept praying for him to get well soon.
I wanted to approach him but I saw Kyuhyun out from bathroom and sat beside him. Holding his hand. That’s when I realized and blamed myself to forget that Sungmin had Kyuhyun by his side. So I closed the door slowly and turned back without he noticed.
I got a text again ‘You can visit him next week and please bring Donghae with you’.
Yes. He’s right. Bringing Donghae was the right choice to prevent me forgetting my position again. I would ruin everything if I did. Because those weird feeling that I had managed to push away in 10 years might come again.
Seeing my other half
Wish to become one
If it’s a sin
Please chain me quickly
I went back to Boseong and planned to visit him on following week. But it’s ruined as I received a text message on the 6th day from Sungmin that he was going to Boseong by train and wanted to watch Greentea Festival.
I called Kyuhyun and asked what happened but he’s also clueless as me. He said Sungmin acted unusual lately as he kept talking about how he wanted to go back to Boseong. Alone.
Kyuhyun tried to stop him but it’s useless. So he asked me to take care of Sungmin for a while until he managed to finish his works in Seoul and then came to Boseong to pick Sungmin back.
I waited for him nervously and scanned every people who’s getting out from train to find him. Then I heard his voice calling me from behind. I turned back and smiled without even realize it as I heard that soothing voice for the first time in ten years.
“Mwoya!! You think that Minnie-Minnie Strategy thing still works at me??” I said when he pouted at me because I rejected his demand to visit many place in Boseong immediately. He should rest since he’s still look weak after that accident.
However his natural cuteness was the best weapon he could have. I’ve never win. So I promised when he’s fit enough physically, I will bring him to hang around through Boseong.
Being able to talk with him, to touch him again, hug him, and also to laugh with him together. It’s like a heaven on earth.
I would give everything to get this moment
Even for a short time
Please let me…
To be back to our old days
When I surely saw a bright colour on his face, that’s the time for me to fulfill my promise. I brought him to enjoy greentea field beautiful scenery, to eat grapes in my aunty’s greenhouse and also ate the best greentea ice cream in Boseong. One time, we visited our secret small valley. We’re shouting crazily in there. Most of it was cursing. We did this as a game. The person who couldn’t curse back in 5 seconds is lost. I must admit it. Not like his appearance, Sungmin’s really good at cursing.
To be with you
Is my eternal heaven
But there’s a time when I found Sungmin wasn’t Sungmin that I knew. His way of staring at me, his smiling, everything he showed was different from I knew before. His so captivating aura. This weird heartbeats, I was afraid and frustrating as I had to put my right mind under control. Yeah my right mind. The mind that kept telling me that crossing that line is forbidden.
‘Hyukjae, if I love you. Will you choose me?’
‘I know you loved me, Hyukjae’
Hearing those word from him, that’s when my fortress was broken. It’s felt like a lot of fireworks bursted in my chest. But I wanted to save this friendship. Just like he did 10 years ago.
I was afraid if we welcomed this strange feeling, we would never be same as before. I hardly controlled my shaking body. I tried to holdback my eyes from a merge of crying.
Because yes, if a strange feeling that I felt all this time can be included as love. Then It means I am madly in love with him all this time. The different is I can control it. We’re just fragile about this kind of love. So I choosed to be strong.
I stepped forward and both hands held Sungmin shoulder “Now, it’s my turn to save our friendship too. Just forget it Sungmin. Just comeback to Kyuhyun. That’s the real Sungmin that I know”
But he shook his head. “No. This night is the real me. And you know that I am right”. He tiptoed to kiss me but he stopped a mere centimeter from my face.
“See? You brag out about you love me but here you’re even trembling to touch my lip. You too realize neither of us want to break this line, Sungmin. Our friendship…” I wanted to hit myself to say those words to him. I didn’t know from where I felt a bit angry to him because his words was really no help. If we welcomed this feeling, we would lose everything. I wanted to protect him.
‘I... hate you’
When he said those three word. I couldn’t control my self anymore. I grabbed his wrist harshly and pulled him into a tight hug.
“Don’t said those words ever again!!!” I said with anger tones. Those words from him is the scariest thing in my life.
“It’s my mouth. Why bother?” he answered coldly.
“NO. ANDWEYO. YOU SHOULDN’T !!!” I shouted out loud made quite an echo through a quiet teafield.
Sungmin gave a low chuckled “What a selfish statement…”. I didn't care if it did true that I was selfish. I held him tight and placed my head to his shoulder. I was trembling and so was he. When the tensed of his body became relaxed. I thought he understood then we stayed on that position only God knew how long it was.
I kept holding his hand on our way to home. I didn’t know why but I really didn’t want to let it go. I wanted it last forever.
When we arrived home, I broke the silent with “Before festival started, actually Kyuhyun texted me. He really worried about you”. Yes, we must comeback to reality.
If in this world there is only you and me
I want to say this out loud
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you…
If in this world there is only you and me
It’s 4 am, I couldn’t sleep. I heard my door’s being opened slowly. I could feel his presence. He came near me. “I am sorry Hyukjae. I promise.... when sunrise comes, you won’t see Sungmin that you saw all this week. Just forget it that I’ve ever come to Boseong. He’s not the real me” he whispered.
What? No, what are you saying? I thought. I felt like he didn’t want only to end this love, but also this friendship.
He came closer. I could feel his slow breath on my face. Does he want to give me his last kiss?
I felt my body tensed. A part of me wanted that kiss badly. Then a drop of tears fell on my cheek. He’s crying. He chuckled “Even when you sleep, I can’t touch you. You’re right, Hyukjae. I am only bragging out all this time”
He continued to whisper “I am sorry. I can’t act like your bestfriend anymore. We both know, after I said those words. We’re end. You did say that we should forget it and pretend it’d never happened. But I can’t. At least for now”
Those words was hell on earth.
After he left. I kept thinking, thinking, and thinking. What was the real reason that kept me and him to save this friendship? Was it the fear of welcoming a new feeling? Was it the fear of separating? Or was it the fear of losing everything?
He came to Boseong and left everything behind. He left his future with Kyuhyun. But there I was, being a coward and rejected his real feeling toward me. Being a selfish and ended to have everything except him. Except him.
Don’t leave me, don’t leave me
I was running, running, and kept running. I wanted to stop him leaving Boseong. I hoped I had car at that time. I couldn’t find any bus to the station this early morning. I was so desperate.
“Hyukjae shi, where are you running to?” I saw Shindong, my friend who worked in ramyun shop approached me with his scooter. “Aah, I hope I can join you jogging. But I must work. Geez…” he grumbled.
“I need to catch a train to Seoul before sunrise but I can’t find any bus or taxi”
His eyes grew wide “Huh? it’s near 2 km from here. Need a ride?”
“But your work?”
He shook “Nah, nevermind. But treat me good meal next time”
Finally I arrived to station. I was wandering around to search his figure. It wasn’t hard to find him from a far. I just knew it.
I saw him rubbed his eyes. I was sure he was waping his tears. I stopped behind him. I needed sometimes to catch my breath. Then his reflection met mine on train’s window glass.
“I want my Sungmin back!!! I want Sungmin that I saw last night. Sunrise isn’t coming yet. Is he still there then??”
I felt my tears run out to my face. I begged him to not leave me like that.
Maybe with Donghae, my heart’s full of love. But with Sungmin, I feel like alive forever.
I noticed he’s trembling. He bit his lower lip.
“You will lose everything, Hyukjae”
“I don’t care” I stepped forward and pulled him into a tight hug again. This’s felt different. Because finally we can be honest toward each other.
“Hyukjae…”I didn’t let him to finish his sentence by kissing him. I brushed my lip into his. I didn’t feel any lust at all. But Need. Just like a lock and it’s key. We’re destined to be together. With him.
I attached my forehead to his and whisper to him gently “I know. I may lose everything except you. Except us”
I already knew what he would say next so I said “I love you too. Sungmin”
It's strange that we cried and also laughed together. We didn’t care that we’re not alone in that station. Because that time, we let out the tears of happiness.
If the next life really exist
I will still choose to be your bestfriend again
and fall in love with you again
*Chingguya : Friend
I am sorry I must divide the epilogue into two. I will update the final part of epilogue in two days because I've kind of busy lately TT__TT. And I am sorry for any grammatical errors since I learned English not from book but from online One Piece manga XD hahaha.......
A lot of thanks for your support by commenting and subscribing guys. You lift up my energy.
eunna_c : Thank you for reading my fic. I often reread your fic ‘Two is better than one’ ^^. I like angst but only with final ending. So I won’t make a real angst. I need more time to finish ‘My love left in Boseong’ since this story’s a bit heavy XD.
Bluecassy7 : Yes. Hyukmin is a rare pairing. Thanks for your support. I have a new hyukmin title in my mind
CinnamonSwirl : Thanks. My poems that I made in 2008 are only in chapter 1 and 2. So I don’t have any poem stocks in epilogue XD. I hope you like this chapter.
KIMparkshi : Thank you. This is the epilogue part (1/2). I am sorry to divide it into two. I’ve kind of busy lately. But I promise I will add the real final in 2 days.
kuro_usagi0730 : Thanks for reading. I like reading your hyukmin fic.
Ucant-stop-lovingme : Awww… you make me blushing. You praised me too much. I am still an amateur. Yes, I am thinking to make another hyukmin chaptered fiction. I already have one title in mind ^^. But I will focus to write ‘Please be Strong With Me’ first.
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I covered a story earlier today mentioning that a spokesman for the Swedish government confirmed that they would “guarantee that we will have car manufacturing in Sweden because it is an important part of our economy,” also saying that they would “support the carmakers” (the plural is important there).
That initial report was a short one from an Australian newspaper.
The full AFP story is now online and contains more details. Here are a few quotes:
….no matter who ends up as the owner, the government is committed to supporting the industry, well aware that Volvo and Saab and their hundreds of suppliers are “big employers” in Sweden with “lots of know-how,” Nilsson said.
“We want to keep that here and to protect it,” he said, adding that Enterprise and Energy Minister Maud Olofsson had developed “close connections and a close dialogue” with the Swedish manufacturers and their US owners, General Motors for Saab, and Ford for Volvo…..
And a little more Saab specific stuff:
Saab, fully-owned by GM since 2000, has tried to avoid lay-offs at its Trollhaettan plant in southwestern Sweden, which employs some 1,200 people, by reducing its two shifts to one.
“We have held intense negotiations with the Swedish government,” Saab spokesman Eric Geers told AFP, adding that the centre-right government planned to increase its subsidies for research and development.
According to Nilsson, these subsidies will amount to 450 million kronor (55 million dollars, 43 million euros) annually for 2009-2012, compared to 430 million this year.
The government also has other measures already in place — since 2007, it has given car buyers a 10,000 kronor rebate if they buy an environmentally-friendly car, an offer that is scheduled to expire at the end of 2009.
“It is extremely important for us to get demand going. So anything that would increase demand like (incentives to) scrap old cars” would help, Geers said, noting that Sweden “has one of the largest old car markets in Europe.”
I’ll keep digging………
I’ve left a message at Eric Geers’ office. He was in a meeting at the time of my call, but i’d love to ask him (a) about the nature of these government guarantees, and (b) about the Business Week story claiming the 9-5 has been shelve as GM look for a buyer for Saab. | <urn:uuid:9c6c0d1a-30d2-4ea4-8e54-3bacccf20952> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2008/12/more-on-the-afp-story-swedish-govt-helping-saab.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977244 | 539 | 1.71875 | 2 |
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My goals for this year will be pretty hard to accomplish. First, I want to learn more chords on guitar and at the end of the year be able to play a song. Now, my academic goals will be about Humanities, Math, and Spanish. In Humanities I want to be able to remember and relate to the history, and with the pop quizzes I want to get a 5 out of 5. Also, for Math, I want to get 100 points higher, which is harder for me because of the level of math I am in. Finally, in Spanish I want to be able to hold a conversation in Spanish on a basic level. I want to also be able to remember vocabulary and grammar rules. Although there are a lot of goals I think I will be able to achieve them.
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My name is Jazmine.I love apple so much! I have a dog. His name is Makoa. I like the color pink. I like Justin Bieber. My favorite song is Stereo Heart. | <urn:uuid:c5ebf352-35df-4cda-9e5b-215f261ea5c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blog_id=1411233&mode=comment&blogger_id=348808 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953387 | 245 | 1.5 | 2 |
3 Steps To Safeguarding Fertilizer Sales
It’s always a good policy to keep these common sense approaches in mind when it comes to fertilizer sales.
February 1, 2013
Just one look is sobering. The devastating impact of war is often featured on television and in newspapers, but may not be something that we come face-to-face within our own communities. Here at The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) however, we have become perhaps more familiar with the individuals whose lives have been forever changed in just a moment by the use of an improvised explosive device (IED) that is more often than not made with ammonium nitrate fertilizer.
The Department of Defense estimates that some 75% of IEDs that are used against U.S. and allied soldiers serving in Afghanistan are made with fertilizer smuggled from Pakistan into Afghanistan. This is a jarring reminder of the chance that our very beneficial product — one that provides nutrients that are necessary for human life — can also be used in a criminally destructive manner.
Recently, Lt. General Michael Barbero of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) approached TFI and the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) to make us aware of this matter. In our subsequent discussions with DOD, we had the opportunity to educate our military on the lessons learned during and after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing where ammonium nitrate was so tragically used.
In our discussions, we were quickly able to educate General Barbero and his staff about the necessary role of fertilizers in world food production. The appreciation they gained for the tremendous benefits of fertilizers has factored into all of our discussions since then.
Outside Of Our Control
Yet, the IED problem in Pakistan and Afghanistan are political and thus outside the fertilizer industry’s control, we were reminded of the need for continued vigilance here in the U.S. In short, the lessons of the Oklahoma City bombing, where fertilizer was used with criminal intent here in the U.S.
The simple and very common sense steps your dealership can take to secure all fertilizers are: Know your customer, protect your product and make the right call to law enforcement if you notice suspicious activity of any kind.
- Know Your Customer. An inquiry from new customer without knowledge of fertilizer and agriculture is cause for concern. Specifically, can he or she answer some basic questions about the intended use of the product? Your employees should be educated to ask all new customers about their farming operation; their location and what crops they are growing are good starters here. As some dealerships learned the hard way, local and even national media will from time-to-time test the system by sending a reporter to a retail facility to make a purchase. While the threat of embarrassment alone should not be the driving factor in vigilance, it can serve as a means of keeping your employees on their toes.
- Protecting Your Product. This is the next important step in keeping your fertilizers and other chemicals out of the wrong hands. Again, taking this step is not only easy, it’s one you are likely doing to at least some extent. Please use this note as a reminder to review your dealership’s physical security. The measures here are site-specific. Is there product that is visible to the public? If so, it should be secured. Do you have locks on your warehouses? If not, this is another easy step that can be taken.
- Make The Right Call. If you notice anything suspicious, you should immediately notify your local law enforcement officials. They are equipped to step in and help.
The bottom line is that although we are a world away from the troubles of war, it is incumbent on all of us to look at the steps that we can take in our own back yard to ensure that the products that farmers and ultimately consumers rely upon are kept out of the hands of those who might do us harm.
Mathers is the vice president of public affairs for The Fertilizer Institute, Washington, DC. | <urn:uuid:7eee853f-e800-41b2-875f-dab9045cdb98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.croplife.com/article/32656/3-steps-to-safeguarding-fertilizer-sales | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957959 | 827 | 1.757813 | 2 |
1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an a, whose name was b.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my a; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
4 ¶And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was a in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.
6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her a. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
7 ¶And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to a.
8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
9 And the a of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and b thyself under her hands.
10 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy a exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name a; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a a; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
13 And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
14 Wherefore the a was called b; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 ¶And Hagar a Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, b.
16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram. | <urn:uuid:921bd14d-8c16-4c2b-a58e-78e4702dc607> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/gen/16.4-5?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981479 | 562 | 1.539063 | 2 |
On Fri, 19 Jul 2002, Julian Elischer wrote:
> the samba people said that there is a reason they can not use any sendfile
> they explained it to me once and I think I got it. but I have since
> forgotten it. It was something to do with what happens if the session is
> aborted or broken in some way but I forget the details.
Sorry.. just noticed your .samba.org address.. DUH..
For what it's worth, Tridge and Jeremy explained to me that it was because
of what happens if you've promissed to send 100K and then while yuo aer
sending, someone truncates the file.. I guess you know teh protocol better
than I so I can't say more than that..
> On Sat, 20 Jul 2002, Richard Sharpe wrote:
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message | <urn:uuid:c0c33a93-db82-4ea5-bf11-5168e2c4d659> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mavetju.org/mail/view_message.php?list=freebsd-hackers&id=1214422 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943135 | 215 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Moving people toward compassionate living
Your letters and calls do help!
|Originally Posted: 14 Dec 2010|
Tell National Research Council that Biocontainment Labs Are Cruel and Unnecessary
Contact National Research Council (NRC) and tell them a "high-security disease research laboratory" is cruel, unnecessary, and unproductive.
INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS
In 2003, Massachusetts citizens were outraged when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded $128 million of taxpayer money to the Boston University (BU) Medical Center for the construction of a high-security disease research laboratory. This BU facility, which is completed but not yet operational, includes a biosafety level 4 lab reserved for the study of the world’s deadliest pathogens, such as the bubonic plague and Ebola virus. Boston University was in the news earlier this year regarding Ebola research they had conducted on monkeys.
On November 5, 2010, after reviewing NIH’s latest risk assessment for operating this biocontainment facility, the National Research Council (NRC) announced that “it cannot endorse [the assessment] as scientifically and technically sound”—especially since it does not adequately address the public health concerns previously raised by NRC. This is the second time NRC has rejected a risk assessment by NIH. They rejected their initial assessment in 2007.
Thank you for everything you do for animals! | <urn:uuid:5c2f3ea0-4292-4d07-8172-10d4b69d6e64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-creatures.org/alert/alert-20101214-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942598 | 286 | 1.625 | 2 |
Memorial Day is atime to honor those who serve and remember those who have died in war. Butsadly, it has also become a key opportunity for scammers to target those whoare serving or have served their nation, especially elderly veterans. BBB isurging consumers and donors to be on the lookout for deals that seem too goodto be true, and for disreputable charities.
“The uniquelifestyle of our service members makes them prime targets for scammers,” saidDavid Polino, Better Business Bureau President. “It’s imperative that weeducate our service members and ensure that the support we give to them equalsthe effort they make every day on behalf of us.” Polino said scams can include those thattarget service personnel and their families directly, butalso those that appear to be helping military members via charities.
“Donors need to watch out for questionable charities that raise funds onbehalf of military organizations,” adds Art Taylor, President and CEO of theBBB Wise Giving Alliance. “When you make a donation, always check BBB Wise Giving to see that thegroup meets BBB charity standards, especially around Memorial Day. Too manysolicitors that fail to meet BBB standards call and say they help veterans,service members or their families, and little of the money donated will servethat purpose.”
Scams to watch out for:
· Posingas the Veterans Administration and contacting veterans to say they need toupdate their credit card, bank or other financial records with the VA;
· Chargingservice members for services they could get for free or less expensivelyelsewhere, such as military records;
· Fraudulentinvestment schemes that convince veterans to transfer their assets into anirrevocable trust;
· Offering“instant approval” military loans (“no credit check,” “all ranks approved”)that can have high interest rates and hidden fees;
· Advertisinghousing online with military discounts and incentives, and then bilking servicepersonnel out of the security deposit;
· Tryingto sell things like security systems to spouses of deployed military personnelby saying the service member ordered it to protect his or her family;
· Sellingstolen vehicles at low prices by claiming to be soldiers who need to sell fastbecause they’ve been deployed;
· Posingas government contractors recruiting veterans and then asking for a copy of thejob applicants’ passport (which contains a lot of personal information);
· Posingon online dating services as a lonely service member in a remote part of Iraq or Afghanistan, and then asking formoney to be wired to a third party for some emergency.
BBB recommends the following tips to avoid these and other scams:
Do your research. Get asmuch information as you can about a business or charity before you pay. You canread BBB Business Reviews at bbb.org.
Don’t wire transfermoney to anyone you don’t know. Money sent via wire transferis practically impossible to track. Pay by credit card whenever possible, sinceyou can dispute charges easily.
Protect your computer. Don’tclick on links within unsolicited emails. Don’t enter personal information onunfamiliar websites. Make sure that you have updated anti-virus softwareinstalled and use a firewall at all times.
Find Free Resources. Military families who need assistancedon’t need to pay for help. In addition to BBBMilitary free resources, service men and women can turn to the FTC , NationalAssociation of Insurance Commissioners, and www.saveandinvest.org, a free service of the NASDInvestor Education Foundation. | <urn:uuid:87e09545-8632-4436-8e57-ebfa5bdec3e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://upstateny.bbb.org/article/bbb-warns-memorial-day-invites-scams-targeting-military-families-supporters-34221 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933844 | 771 | 1.71875 | 2 |
This personal work was created specifically for the Evermotion competition 2011. The digital artist could choose any interior space that inspired him. The main aim was for it to be photoreal.
I chose the architecture university where I've been studying for six years. For a long time I wanted to create the path that goes from the street to the end of the building complex, which is the library itself. Because of time constraints I couldn't model everything so I focused on a short part of that same path.
Inspired by Michelangelo, the original architect Siza created a difficult path that leads you up ramps, down stairs and through almost labyrinth-like routes until you reach the end of the complex: the library. It is, in my opinion, the perfect place to read, mainly because the shadow is so soft and doesn't interfere with your reading. There is great geometry, fine details and a remarkable sense of scale in this space.
The goal of my work was to respect Siza's architectural concept, simplicity, materials, light and design, and obviously make it look hyper-realistic.
This part of the article covers the modeling of the museum space. For the floor, ramp and near wall I modeled simple boxes with the desired dimensions, around 1m x 50cm (Fig.01 – 02). Although it seems like the floor is one big object it is not. It's composed of different pieces (elements) separated by 5mm. This is very important because at the end of all this modeling I wanted to give each element a different ID – using the Unique Material plugin. Once the basic model was done, I applied a checker material with 2,0 tiling in order to know how well it was distributed after using the RailClone Pro plugin. In the end, I changed the checker material to a marble, which you will see in the texturing section.
I then created two splines, one for the floor and the other for the ramp. This determines their path when using the RailClone Pro plugin (Fig.03). | <urn:uuid:10b88c21-cdca-4c0e-9f9a-1bffebc58457> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.3dtotal.com/index_tutorial_detailed.php?id=1537 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959584 | 420 | 1.625 | 2 |
A life that begins with a marriage and tendencies for happiness, a deviation from happiness at the time when first children come to life and a tragic ending that interconnects with the beginning of war 98-99 in Kosova, are the three pillars that the director and the scenarist of Gjakova 726, have leaned on to bring the sad story to life, a story that has happened during the last Kosova war of 98-99, specifically in the town of Gjakova.
It was the character Vigan Hoxha that brought to life the story of families of 726 disappeared persons that were stolen from this town of Kosova, (Gjakova) during the period of war. The film, in general, tells a story that ends in a multiple tragedy. Vigan Hoxha -who is the first child of the couple Hoxha - first, looses his father and this gives him the epithet of the head of household, whereas, later on when the war starts, he also looses the other family members. Although other Vigans family members where the ones who ended tragically, Vigan was the one who suffered everyones tragedy, being the only one left from this family with the only hope that his disappeared brother will come back one day.
The destiny of Vigans family has touched a lot of Kosovar families during the period of war 98-99, while the victims like Vigan, as well as other survived families of 726 disappeared persons from Gjakova and a lot of such families from other towns of Kosova are those who continuously are waiting for a message or are still hoping that their lost ones are alive.
This film review is part of "Film Journalism Workshop" implemented by re:Public in partnership with DokuFest | <urn:uuid:9d4d285f-4c69-4d5a-bcfd-9920ab01edcd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dokufest.com/2009/?cid=2,39,102 | 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 | 0.976462 | 366 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The evolution of the National Letter of Intent: Wednesday is National Signing Day for college football – the day transformed into a capital-letter, national holiday of sorts by media outlets hanging on every beep and buzz of athletics department fax machines nationwide.
Read the story »
Early signing concept - All talk, no action yet: Several years ago, the American Football Coaches Association opened a dialogue about creating an early signing period for Division I football players. The proposal was supported by the Big Ten Conference in 2008 and just last year attracted the favor of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East Conference.
Read the story »
Oversigning still a problem? The 2011 signing period is the first time that Division I football coaches will be subject to a rule limiting them to signing 28 recruits to National Letters of Intent or offers of aid. The rule, sponsored by the Southeastern Conference, was designed to prevent a practice that has the potential of leaving some recruits without a scholarship.
Read the story »
By Michelle Brutlag Hosick
Several years ago, the American Football Coaches Association opened a dialogue about creating an early signing period for Division I football players. Even though the proposal was supported by the Big Ten Conference in 2008 and just last year attracted the favor of the Atlantic Coast and Big East Conferences, the commissioners who govern the program aren’t rushing to any judgments.
The concept will continue to be a topic of discussion among review committees, with data and careful thought both part of the decision-making process.
Proponents of the early signing period say the opportunity to sign early would give prospects who already know where they intend to enroll the chance to make it official by signing a binding agreement. National Letter of Intent data show that the vast majority of prospects commit on the first day of the signing period, meaning they are likely quite clear on their decision.
If a window for early signings were available, coaches could then focus on recruits who haven’t committed before the regular signing period instead of “babysitting” the ones who have. The early signing period would also allow football recruits to focus on their academics for the senior year since recruiting stops when a letter of intent is signed.
Those who oppose the idea, however, cite concerns about the relatively short time between a possible December early signing period and the regular period in February. Most sports with multiple signing periods have an interval of several months.
Opponents further predict an early period in December would increase recruiting pressures during the football season.
They also worry about recruits signing before taking an official visit and about the early signing period becoming a de facto regular signing period. In addition, they question the timing, fearing that a December period would interrupt bowl-game preparations, and that anything earlier would distract from the regular season or occur before much academic work in the senior year of high school.
A change could also put more pressure on coaches to focus on recruiting instead of their teams during the season or to push the limits of recruiting restrictions like off-campus contacts in the fall.
To date, the opponents have carried the day. National Letter of Intent program director Susan Peal said both sides have valid points.
“The commissioners are still not there yet,” she said. “The CCA is not going to make changes just for the sake of change. They always look at the data each year and make decisions based on that and membership feedback. They really don’t make knee-jerk decisions.” | <urn:uuid:3d31efbf-5855-4d42-9c5e-8eff5afab395> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2011/february/early+signing+concept+all+talk+no+action+yet | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961596 | 712 | 1.765625 | 2 |
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