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At Datacratic, one of the product we offer our customers is our real-time bidding (RTB) optimisation that can plug directly into any RTBKit installation. We’re always hard at work to improve our optimisation capabilities so clients can identify valuable impressions for their advertisers. Every bid request is priced independently and real-time feedback is given to the machine learning models. They adjust immediately to changing conditions and learn about data they had not been exposed to during their initial training. This blog post covers a strange click pattern we started noticing as we were exploring optimized campaign data, and a simple way we can use to protect our clients from it.
Optimizing a cost-per-click campaign
Assume we are running a campaign optimized to lower the cost-per-click (CPC). The details of how we optimise such a campaign are beyond the scope of this post, but in a nutshell, we train a classifier that tries to separate bid requests based on the likelihood that they will generate a click, assuming we win the auction and show an impression. Our models are naturally multivariate, meaning they learn from many contextual features present in the bid request, as well as any 3rd party information that is available.
One simple and highly informative feature used by the model, the feature this post is about, is the site the impression would be shown on. From a modeling perspective, this roughly translates to asking...
Today is an exciting day for Datacratic and, we hope; an exciting day for the real-time advertising ecosystem. We hope it marks a significant milestone in the evolution of big data and real-time marketing. Today is the day that we have released the first iteration of RTBkit, an open source software framework which makes it easy to create a scalable real time bidder for use on advertising exchanges.
Today is a big day for Datacratic and we couldn’t be more enthusiastic. We are releasing the first open source version of RTBkit, our real time bidding platform, which represents several man-years of effort and is an expression of our vision for what we think a data-driven RTB platform should look like.
In their recent series “Define It”, AdExchanger asked the question – what is "Big Data"? For the answer, AdExchanger went to the people who work with it every day, including Datacratic’s founder and CTO, Jeremy Barnes.
Welcome to my little corner of the datacratic blog where I'll be writting about random bits of interesting code that I happen to be working on at the moment. I'll start things off by describing a fun little algorithm that I recently wrestled with, namely, a 3-way trie merge. | <urn:uuid:a3bb5478-a5e3-4bdc-9a85-ba47f1f3782c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://datacratic.com/site/blog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947618 | 573 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Guest post from Jessica Goldfinch.
Whose Turn is it to Clean the Loo? - International Women's Day
How I wish that this 'day' didn't have to exist, sadly it does and it needs to exist.
Women still earn in the regions of 17% less (full time work) and 36% (part time work), than their male counterparts for the same job descriptions. My union, 'Unison', regularly sends out reminders to get you pay level checked.
Looking at our televisions women are depicted as superfluous and fickle. Like male characters, this might be alright for mutual comic or near true-to-life depiction purposes, but when it seeps into every pore, I get angry. Women are only good for dodging chocolate muffins in the street getting confused over which damn yoghurt to eat, musing over pebble shaped air fresheners and also the most important job of all - holding "compare-your-shopping-receipts-parties" - I must do that next week!
I get angry at having to buffer my daughter at every turn: at the corner shop, supermarkets, petrol stations, newspaper stands - so-called Lads mags, Sunday Sport, pornography and fickle displays of women are everywhere. What are boys and girls supposed to make of this?
The first time my daughter exclaimed in a petrol station queue, she was 5 years old: "What are big jugs mummy?" The queue members looked at me as if I was some permissive lax parent. I found the courage to point out that it was the shop that was wrong and that my child and I should have a right to buy a pint of milk without having to have the producers of milk thrust in our faces. I now challenge and have managed to get numerous shops to consider their responsibilites and change to dust covers and appropriate displays.
Women's bodies are for consumption everyday and in every conceivable way. Increasingly, this is now becoming a problem for boys and men, but not any where near to the same extent. If we saw men depicted in the women are in local shops etc., there would be uproar.
Pornography: porneia - the lowest class of whore in ancient Greece; graphico/graphia - graphic depiction.
So, we have it: The Graphic Depiction of the lowest class of Whores, every day in every way. Think about what that means for a moment; it's truly horrible.
I am not so naive as to think that the porn industry or the depictions of women as fickle will disappear, but I do believe that each and everyone of us should consider our part in these depictions. Our daughters, our mothers, our girls, our women and increasingly boys - we should have their backs at every trun and demand a 'public' space in which we can all feel safe. | <urn:uuid:a41e7527-1a4f-4885-aa31-7e9bb8631653> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://another-green-world.blogspot.com/2011/03/whos-turn-is-it-to-clean-loo.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973027 | 597 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Corazon Aquino Dies
Corazon Aquino, the unassuming widow whose "people power" revolution toppled a dictator, restored Philippine democracy and inspired millions of people around the world, has died at the age of 76.
She served as president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992, the first woman to hold that position. She was widowed in 1983 when her husband, political opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., was assassinated upon his return from exile to lead a pro-democracy movement against authoritarian president Ferdinand E. Marcos.
In her six tumultuous years in office in the fractious, strife-torn, disaster-prone archipelago, Aquino resisted seven coup attempts or military revolts, battled a persistent communist insurgency and grappled with the effects of typhoons, floods, droughts, a major earthquake and a devastating volcanic eruption. Her tribulations earned her the nickname "Calamity Cory."
As she dealt with those challenges, she took pride in restoring democratic institutions that had been gutted under Marcos's 20-year-rule. (For more of Washington Post foreign correspondent William Branigin's obituary, click here.)
Leave your thoughts and comments about Corazon Aquino below.
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Posted by: gurang | August 1, 2009 10:38 AM | <urn:uuid:21b89665-f7e1-41dc-99c3-6d613d42329d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/07/corazon_aquino_dies.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957523 | 276 | 1.765625 | 2 |
House Democrats in the first weeks of the new Congress plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies.
That’s only one legislative hit the oil industry is expected to take next year as a Congress run by Democrats is likely to show little sympathy to the cash-rich, high-profile business.
Whether the issue is rolling back tax breaks ”” some approved by Congress only 18 months ago ”” pushing for more use of ethanol and other biofuels instead of gasoline, or investigations into shortfalls in royalty payments to the government, oil industry lobbyists will spend most of their time playing defense.
Details of a renewable fuels fund have yet to be worked out. Nonetheless, it’s one of the initiatives the House will take up during its first 100 hours in session in January, according to aides to Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi. At least some of the money ”” revenue gained by rolling back some tax breaks ”” will go to a program to support research into making ethanol from sources other than corn.
“What we’ll do is roll back the subsidies to Big Oil and use the resources to invest in a reserve for research in alternative energy,” Pelosi, a California Democrat, recently told reporters.
But the oil issue likely to be first out of the legislative gate in January concerns the ability of the federal government to recover royalties many lawmakers believe have been unfairly avoided by oil and gas companies drilling in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Interior Department has been trying to get more than 50 companies to rework 1998-99 drilling leases that allow the companies to avoid paying billions of dollars in royalties because of a government mistake in writing the leases. Five companies recently agreed to a compromise to pay royalties on future production under the leases, but not from oil and gas already taken from the federal waters.
Most of the other companies argue that the leases represent a binding contract and have not even talked to Interior officials about them.
The industry intransigence has upset many in Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, who say they want to find a way to force the companies back to negotiations on the flawed leases. One approach is legislation barring companies from bidding on future leases unless they agree to renegotiate the flawed ones.
“There will be a new cop on the beat to force every big oil company that is currently lining its pockets with taxpayer dollars to come back to the negotiating table,” Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., declared.
Pelosi calls the royalty avoidance from the 1998-99 leases the biggest oil industry subsidy issue she intends to tackle early. Congressional estimates have put the potential royalty loss at as much as $10 billion over the life of the leases.
Members of both parties also have said they want to make another stab at passing a federal law against oil company price gouging, an issue that will gain momentum should oil and gasoline prices again soar amid huge industry profits.
At the top of the hit list is a tax break that was aimed at promoting U.S. manufacturing but has provided a windfall for the oil industry as well. The provision reduces the corporate tax rate on profits from products made in the United States.
As for oil companies rolling in profits with $60-a-barrel crude, it is “a break they didn’t earn, deserve or need,” says Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. McDermott tried to eliminate the tax break in May but was unsuccessful. He estimates that oil companies are saving as much as $700 million in taxes a year because of it.
Executives of the largest oil companies have said they don’t need those tax breaks and do not oppose their repeal. Congress earlier this year already eliminated the tax incentive on exploration for the five largest companies. | <urn:uuid:bc7303ee-f894-4780-83bd-5fb5bf8b28cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miningtopnews.com/democrats-eye-big-oil-profits-as-source-of-energy-funding.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967863 | 792 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The federal judge who overturned California's same-sex marriage ban this week is a Republican who once came under fire for his membership to a powerful all-male club that only recently had allowed blacks to join.
But after Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker struck down the voter-approved ban known as Proposition 8, he became something else in the minds of some: a gay activist.
Rumors have circulated for months that Walker is gay, fueled by the blogosphere and a San Francisco Chronicle column that stated his sexual orientation was an "open secret" in legal and gay activism circles.
Walker himself hasn't addressed the speculation, and he did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press on Thursday. Lawyers in the case, including those defending the ban, say the judge's sexuality — gay or straight — was not an issue at trial and will not be a factor on appeal.
But that hasn't stopped a public debate that exploded in the wake of the 66-year-old jurist's ruling. Most of the criticism has come from opponents of same-sex marriage.
"Here we have an openly gay federal judge, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, substituting his views for those of the American people and of our Founding Fathers who, I promise you, would be shocked by courts that imagine they have the right to put gay marriage in our Constitution," said Maggie Gallagher, chairwoman of The National Organization for Marriage, a group that helped fund Proposition 8.
In response, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a political action committee for gay candidates, launched an online petition accusing Gallagher's group of "gay-baiting."
But the debate raises the question: Why is sexuality different from other personal characteristics judges possess? Can a female judge rule on abortion issues? A black judge on civil rights?
"The evidence shows that, by every available metric, opposite-sex couples are not better than their same-sex counterparts; instead, as partners, parents and citizens, opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples are equal," Walker wrote in his exacting, 136-page opinion.
Gerard Bradley, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, published a Fox News column in the hours before Walker filed his opinion faulting the media for not forcing Walker to address his sexual orientation.
And Byran Fischer, issues director for the American Family Association, urged the group's members to contact their congressional representatives about launching impeachment proceedings because Walker had not recused himself from a case in which "his own personal sexual proclivities utterly compromised his ability to make an impartial ruling."
William G. Ross, an expert on judicial ethics and law professor at Samford University in Alabama, said a judge's sexual orientation has no more relevance to the ability to rule fairly on a case involving gay marriage than it would for a deeply religious judge or a judge who had been divorced multiple times.
"Under the logic of the people challenging the judge's fitness to rule on a case involving gay rights because he or she was gay, one would have to find a eunuch to serve on the case, because one could just as easily argue that a heterosexual judge couldn't rule on it either," Ross said.
Months before Walker struck down Proposition 8 as an unconstitutional violation of gay Americans' civil rights, members of the team defending the ban in court had complained about what they perceived as judicial bias.
Over their vigorous objections, Walker pushed to have the proceedings televised live, a plan the U.S. Supreme Court quashed at the last minute. Then, he refused to excuse as a witness a Proposition 8 supporter who had compared gays to child molesters during the 2008 campaign. Lawyers for the two same-sex couples who sued to invalidate the ban had called him as a witness to try to prove the measure was fueled by anti-gay prejudice.
Nevertheless, the defense does not plan to raise the specter of the judge's sexual orientation as they appeal his ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said Jim Campbell, a lawyer with the defense team.
"The bottom line is this case, from our perspective, is and always will be about the law and not about the judge who decides it," Campbell said. "It's just something that collectively as a legal team we have decided and going up, that's what this case is. The appellate courts are going to focus on the law."
Walker has ruled in at least two other cases involving gay rights issues during his two decades as a judge. In 1999, he rejected arguments from the parents of a San Leandro boy who claimed their religious rights were violated by pro-gay comments their son's teacher had made in the classroom.
In the other case, he dismissed a free speech claim by two Oakland city employees whose managers had confiscated a bulletin board flier for a religious group that promoted "natural family, marriage and family values." The city had "significant interests in restricting discriminatory speech about homosexuals," Walker wrote in his 2005 ruling.
Until this week, though, Walker had come under more criticism for representing the U.S. Olympic Committee in a lawsuit against a gay ex-Olympian who had created the so-called Gay Olympics. Walker won, forcing the Gay Olympics to become the Gay Games. He also aggressively pursued legal fees by attaching a $97,000 lien to the home of the organization's founder while he was dying of AIDS.
Gay activists cried foul, and his appointment to a federal judgeship was delayed for two years in the waning days of Ronald Reagan's presidency.
Civil rights groups also opposed Walker's nomination because of his 15-year membership in the Olympic Club, an all-male athletic club that had admitted its first black membersonly recently. California's senior senator at the time, Democrat Alan Cranston, used the club issue to question Walker's fitness for the bench.
Observers usually describe him as a maverick who delights in keeping people guessing. They still are.
On the day of closing arguments in the gay marriage ban case, Walker said it was appropriate that the case was wrapping up in June.
"June, after all, is the month for ... " He let his deep voice trail off, and smiled at the predominantly gay courtroom.
Many froze, wondering if he would refer to the month in which San Francisco celebrates gay pride like Mardi Gras. Would that be a nod to rumors he was gay?
Walker waited a beat longer, savoring the pregnant pause.
Associated Press Writer Juliana Barbassa contributed to this story.
© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:30ba9a25-91a7-4908-95cb-13e57ce4ddb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/US-Gay-Marriage-Trial-Judge/2010/08/06/id/366764 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981247 | 1,371 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Jones Selects Model Teachers
NEW YORK – Jones Apparel Group is out to make teachers look and feel their best.
Through the Jones New York in the Classroom program, a nonprofit organization supporting teachers and children’s education, the company turned up at Macy’s at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J., on Saturday to give makeovers and a runway presentation for seven deserving teachers in the area. Jones’ nonprofit beneficiaries – New Teacher Academy, Fund for Teachers, Adopt-a-Classroom and TeachersCount – reached out to schools to offer teachers the chance to participate in the show.
The seven women chosen were Dorotea Binetti, a sixth-grade teacher at Essex Fells Public School in Essex Fells, N.J.; Josette D’Ambrosi, a physical education teacher at M.S. 447 the Upper Carroll School in Brooklyn; Theresa D’Ambrosi, a science teacher at P.S. 10 in Brooklyn; Erin Lubick, a science and technology teacher at P.S. 33 Chelsea Prep in Manhattan; Dory McMahon, a 12th-grade teacher at South Orange/Maplewood School District in Maplewood, N.J.; Karen Young, a pre-kindergarten teacher at P.S. 16 Cornelia F. Bradford School in Jersey City, N.J., and Jessica Zampetti, a teacher of gifted and talented students at Roy Bixby School in Bogota, N.J.
More than 100 shoppers stopped to check out the teachers decked out in the latest fashions from the Jones New York collection. The show kicked off Shop for Education Week, which runs through Oct. 22, when 10 percent of the selling price (up to a maximum of $500,000) of apparel sold from the Jones New York clothing lines – Collection, Signature, Dress, Suit and Outerwear – will be donated to Jones New York in the Classroom.
“Teachers are superstars in the classroom every day, and we made them supermodels to celebrate all that they give to our children,” said Stacy Lastrina, senior vice president of creative services at Jones Apparel Group.
The Jones New York in the Classroom program aims to improve the quality of education and inspires others to do the same. The organization supports efforts to celebrate teachers since the company believes they are the single most important factor in raising student achievement. Jones New York in the Classroom’s efforts have helped teachers who spend their own money to outfit their classrooms (a teacher currently spends an average of $1,200 a year of her own money), offer support for new teachers entering the field, and provide emotional and practical support for teachers and schools nationwide. | <urn:uuid:ae3ee676-31b2-4d28-bd38-c16059939453> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fundforteachers.org/news-press/index.php/jones-selects-model-teachers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9383 | 566 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Kyle and her husband moved to Brookfield in 1986. She became active in local politics and started blogging in 2004. Her focus is primarily on local issues but often includes state and national topics, too. Kyle looks at things from the taxpayers' perspective in a creative, yet down to earth way, addressing them from a practical point of view.
Thursday, May 5, 2011 marks the 60th Annual Observance of the National Day of Prayer, where people all over our country will meet at school and city flagpoles to pray for our nation.
This year's theme is A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD and the verse is from Psalm 91:2 "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust."
I will be heading to the City of Brookfield's Plaza flag area (just north of City Hall) from 12:20pm to 12:40pm to pray for our community, state, nation, schools, leaders, servicemen, churches, and more. Hopefully, I won't be alone, but will meet others who who have come to pray for our country.
The National Day of Prayer website had this brief history of prayer in America under the heading Why Pray?:
"Prayer has always been used in this country for guidance, protection and strength-even before we were a nation or a handful of colonies. The Pilgrims at Plymouth relied on prayer during their first and darkest winter. Our founding fathers also called for prayer during the Constitutional Congress. In their eyes, our recently created nation and freedoms were a direct gift from God. And being a gift from God, there was only one way to insure protection-through prayer. "
Several years ago, their website gave this account of prayer in America: “The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President Lincoln's proclamation of a day of "humiliation, fasting, and prayer" in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual, national day of prayer.”
I have attended several other N.D.of P. meetings at Brookfield's City Hall Plaza* and found them to be an encouraging experience. Hope you will venture out and join me in praying for our country.
*Note: Meeting at City Hall Plaza is NOT a City of Brookfield activity. It is just citizens exercising their right to free speech in a public place..
Though the temperatures might seem more like it is March or April, the calendar says it is the first weekend in May.
And that means it is time for the annual Garlic Mustard Pull WEED-OUT at Mary Knoll Park in Brookfield.
This week, President Obama visited El Paso, Texas, and in his typical say anything manner, proclaimed the border fence basically complete. Of course, the people of southwestern states know this is not true, for only 5% of the mandated 700 mile double fence has been constructed: 32 miles under Pres. Bush and 4.3 miles of it built under Pres. Obama. (The entire border is nearly 2,000 miles in length.)
Obama went on to quip about Republicans never being satisfied on securing the border--that if he built the fence, they would want a moat and alligators. He treated this very serious subject as if it were a joke.
This coming week, newly elected State Representative Dale Kooyenga will hold a Town Hall / Listening Session at the City of Brookfield's Safety Building Municipal Courtroom on Wednesday, May 18th, 7pm. (The Safety Building is just north of Brookfield City Hall on Calhoun Road.)
Kooyenga has been doing an excellent job keeping his 14th Assembly District constituents informed of what is going on in the Madison legislature via email alerts and also personal correspondence. I am pleased he is also doing the Town Hall meeting.
The legislators have been busy, passing the long awaited Voter ID bill just this week. It should be interesting to hear what else is on the horizon.
Talk show host Jay Weber has a Conservative Wish List posted on his web-page. Check out how many issues have been dealt with, those still pending, and the ones waiting for action. It is pretty impressive.
My wishes would be #10, "End all state mandates and subsidies for Ethanol", and #11, "Get rid of the mandatory emissions test for Wisconsin autos. (Kleefish working on it, vote not pending, though)" I heard one of the hurdles on emissions tests is the contract with the emission workers is still in effect. I would also like #13 dealt with: "Repeal the Planned Parenthood sponsored Sex Education bill."
Dale Kooyenga 14th Assembly District: Phone (608) 266-9180, Email: Rep.Kooyenga@legis.wi.gov
PLEASE NOTE COMMENT CHANGES
So far, the field of announced 2012 Republican contenders for the presidency is abysmal.
Thankfully,Huckabee decided not to run, and Trump announced the same. While I did enjoy Trump dishing it back to the press, he is no conservative. Glad he is out of the picture.
At long last, Wisconsin's Voter ID bill passed the Senate yesterday and now awaits Gov. Walker's signature. Hallelujah. No doubt it will end up in court, but Sen. Alberta Darling mentioned yesterday on Jay Weber that though she preferred passing 2 separate bills, at least the bill is severable. (The Voter ID portion, which has been upheld by the courts, can be separated from the more controversial portions of the bill.)
Voter ID will be in place for the 2012 elections. I wonder what those elections will look like with Voter ID in place and the end of mandatory Union membership for State workers. (Unions fund Democrat candidate advertising with their dues.) Though the Budget Repair Bill is stuck in the doldrums of the Madison court, the Republicans could just incorporate it into the overall Budget bill.
By the way, Voter ID does not eliminate same day registration, but that turned out to be the better avenue. If we had eliminated same day registration, we then would need to implement MotorVoter laws, which ties obtaining a drivers license with registering to vote. I don't think registering to vote should be such an autopilot arrangement. My understanding of same day registration is that it still requires an approved photo ID. If the person doesn't have this, then they cast a provisional ballot (sealed in an envelope) and are given an opportunity to bring back their photo ID for their vote to count.
Past Post: Call Wisconsin Legislature to move on Photo Voter I.D.
Rep. Dale Kooyenga Town Hall
I didn't know what to expect. Would protesters be there? Would the room be packed as Town Halls had been before the November elections? As it turned out, there were 6 of us there--8 in all if you count Dale and his assistant William Neville. The 6 citizens in attendance consisted of 3 men I didn't know and Elmbrook Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Gibson, Elmbrook Board President Tom Gehl, and little ole me.
The discussion was informal, with Kooyenga sitting with us in a circle of sorts. One man was talking about the concealed carry legislation when I cam in. Kooyenga briefly talked about the Combined Reporting changes, some which are addressed in the budget bill. Dale said rather than repeal the whole law, they would be looking at lowering the corporate tax rate.
Incidentally, did you know there is now a CPA Caucus? Kooyenga and his fellow CPAs now have their own group. He said they are working on a constitutional amendment to require a balanced state budget, applying business accounting principles to the state.
Dr. Gibson stated his support for the Governor's budget and appreciation for Kooyenga meeting with them regarding the coming budget changes. However, Gibson was looking to influence the per student dollar allocation. He mentioned working with the Fair Aid Coalition that represents property rich districts like Elmbrook (donor districts), who contribute to other school districts through their property taxes. Gibson said he was looking at increasing taxing authority as a possible solution to Elmbrook's shortfall.
It does seem like there might be some wiggle room in the state aid formula, "Some Republican legislative leaders say that they are working on a plan to lessen aid cuts for some Wisconsin schools. The legislature’s budget committee will take up the issue Thursday." I don't know if Elmbrook is included in that group, but it shows there could be some adjustments coming.
You can sign up for Rep. Dale Kooyenga's Legislative Wisconsin Capitol Update by contacting his assistant William Neville at William.Neville@legis.wisconsin.gov
Petitioning Waukesha School District subdivisions can't join Elmbrook School District
Don't know if you saw this, but those 3 subdivisions to Elmbrook's west lost again at the state level in their quest to be included in the Elmbrook School District. I blogged about this in February of 2011 in What? Families who HAVE 4K petition to join Elmbrook WITHOUT 4K?
BrookfieldNOW reported in Neighborhoods lose bid to join Elmbrook, again that "The state's School Boundary Appeals Board last week denied the request of nearly 200 property owners in the Black Forest, Summit Lawn, Emerald Ridge and Shire subdivisions to leave the Waukesha School District and join Elmbrook.
The board voted, 3-0, to deny the Shire, Summit Lawn and Black Forest petition, and the Emerald Ridge request was voted down, 2-1."
In mid May, I changed my comment policy on this blog to:
"This is not the place for gossip, sniping at other bloggers, commentors, races, or religions. All comments not respectfully discussing the blog topic are going into delete world. And those of you double or triple posting under multiple names, knock it off! Keep this in mind on future posts. I will not enter the comment forum, so if you have a question for me, contact me via email: email@example.com"
Many of you, who regularly comment on my blog, reacted to this change by insisting that my moderating comments violates their 1st amendment rights or that BrookfieldNOW would not allow it. Be assured, this is not true. BrookfieldNOW fully supports my comment policy.
In fact, if you actually read their comment policy, you will find that their guidelines are in line with mine:
" Here's the short version:
- Don't use profanities or obscenities.
- Don't post personal attacks and insults; threats; ethnic, racial, religious or sexual slurs; or otherwise engage in hateful conversation.
- Don't stray from the topic of the blog or submit pointless comments.
- DON'T SHOUT BY USING ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS.
- Don't use this space for press releases or commercial purposes.
- Don't submit knowingly false or libelous comments.
- Don't pretend to be somebody else, or maintain more than one screen name, or use a screen name that might be considered objectionable or insulting.
- Don't knowingly give out any personal information about other individuals, including participants of these blogs.
- Don't post copyrighted or trademarked content."
As for violating 1st amendment rights, my comment policy doesn't. You are still free to start your own blog. You are free to take out an ad in the paper, hold up a sign or talk to people on on any street in Brookfield, or post a sign on your own front lawn to get your message out.
My blogging history:
I have been blogging now, in some shape or form, for 7 years and joined the Community Voices on BrookfieldNOW in 2007. Outside of receiving one threatening email in 2004, by in large, the comments I received in those early years (including a few negative ones) were civil.
When I joined BrookfieldNOW in the early years of BrookfieldNOW Community Voices (bloggers), readers would often email the blogger directly with a comment. I would post some of those comments from time to time if I felt they were noteworthy. I don't recall getting any negative ones.
Then BrookfieldNOW went to the comment format. People could now comment without divulging their identity. The Blogger received the comment and then decided if it would be posted or not. As a rule, 99% of those comments (including negative ones) made it to my blog. The ones that didn't make publication were rejected because they included profanity, were attacking other people, bloggers, races/religions, etc. Often these rejected ones supported me and my point of view, they just were too divisive.
But when BrookfieldNOW went to the auto-post method of comments, that the commentor no longer needed blogger approval for publication, the tone of comments changed again for the worse.
Commentors became much more nasty toward their fellow commentors and also toward me. If these comments didn't include a racial, religious, or other slur, I did nothing. If I felt they crossed the line, I would click the report abuse button. The BrookfieldNOW staff would then look at the objectionable comment and pull it if they agreed. Trouble was, the offensive comment was out there for all the world to see in the meantime.
Then BrookfieldNOW gave comment moderation back to the blogger earlier this year. I could ether reject one that was published or override one that someone else rejected to republish.
If you remember the public forum BrookfieldNOW had during the school referendum era, you will remember how divisive that got. BrookfieldNOW had to disband that forum because people couldn't control themselves. Things got really ugly.
So the free for all comment policy has been a source of frustration to BrookfieldNOW too.
Some newspaper websites are looking at requiring a commentor to sign into Facebook first to make a comment. This of course would reveal who the commentor is and hopefully curtail nastiness.
While I would look forward to more civility, I do see a need for anonymity for those who maybe hold public office or have another reason to keep their identity on the QT. (I did offer an anonymous comment option for those wanting to comment about Elmbrook's referendum in 2007 without fear of repercussions from others at school who favored the referendum.)
Some other misconceptions:
Every week, I receive a NOW report on how many "hits" each blog I write receives on BrookfieldNOW and what percentage of website traffic my blog generates. This is very useful to me, but it does not tell me the entire story. The NOW report does not tell me how long people read or how many of those hits were from the same person, for example. So I use a tool called Statcounter. It is a free service that just counts how many times a person looks at each blog post. It does this via an IP address.
Every time someone looks at any website or comments there, they leave an electronic finger print: their IP address. IPs are just a series of numbers unique to the computer the person is using. I only see the numbers and who the carrier is, like Road Runner. It also gives the locality of the carrier. (This can be misleading because sometimes a company headquarters is the locality but the commentor is in Brookfield.) It is rather fun to see what blog topics are of interest to people living in India, for example or regular readers who read from Europe. It seems people in India are very interested in rolling oats, for example.
Statcounter also shows me via a pie chart how long people read. This is important to a blogger; it tells me if people are interested in a certain topic.
Statcounter does NOT reveal your real name or email address. I have no idea who these IPs belong to, but it does show me how many times that IP clicked on a specific blog topic or made a comment. I sometimes can match the comment timestamp to a comment left on my blog. But I only know the screen name then, not your real name. Since I don't use the higher volume service, I can only see 100 hits at a time and I have no record of your viewing history, other than the 100 hit snapshot. So unlike BrookfieldNOW, whose IT department does know what your IP address is and what your email address is (linked to your screen name), I do not!
Comments that don't show up online
Many of you have asked why some comments are counted in the total number but don't show up online. Many of you assume I am the one blocking them, but that assumption is wrong. Though I have rejected many comments lately because they violate my new comment policy (and NOWs), there are other ones that show up in my blog software as being accepted, but don't show up online. NOW has no explanation for that either--just a glitch in the system.
Bottom line: I have been told my blog is my forum and I can write what I want. So, if you don't like my point of view, which is that of a Christian and a Conservative, you are free not to read. I have also been told that no one has the right to post a comment to my blog. But if you keep your comment on topic and it is respectfully written, I will post it, regardless of if you agree with me or not. BrookfieldNOW will allow me to turn off all comments, but I think good, constructive comments--including those that don't agree with my point of view--are beneficial.
So it is up to you, folks. Stick with the guidelines and let the civil discourse begin!
One version of Conceal Carry passed the Wisconsin Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. So will these signs soon be seen in various public places in our state as they are in Arizona, a state that allows Constitutional Carry?
We recently spent a few weeks in Arizona and I admit, at first those signs were a bit of a surprise. We soon became accustomed to seeing them though, and we also adjusted to seeing someone's firearm peeking out from a jacket or even openly holstered on the hip.
One Navajo woman, at dinner with her family, had a belt on with bullets sheathed around her waist and a derringer where the buckle would be! (That was on the Navajo Nation--they have their own regulations there.)
We also visited some folks we know in Phoenix and found that the husband carried. He frequently went target shooting to keep his skills honed.
Did I feel threatened by the people carrying? Not at all. In fact, since I was a bit unnerved knowing armed illegals travel at will in the southern portion of that state, it was somewhat comforting to know that many Arizonans pack a piece.
Concealed Carry will pass in some shape or form here in Wisconsin. The question is what version--Constitutional Carry like Arizona and 3 other states or Concealed Carry with a permit as Utah does along with 43 others. Wisconsin is one of 2 states in our Union that doesn't allow Conceal Carry in any form.
I am torn as to which type of Conceal Carry law we should have. Before President Obama, I would have said sure, by permit is fine. But since our President is so eager to over-regulate firearms, including by means "under the radar" as he recently told James Brady's wife, Sarah, I don't know.
Since any responsible person would go for training before carrying a firearm, and background checks are done at the time of purchase*, I think I could be OK with Constitutional Carry. Criminals will disregard any regulations for permitting or background checks for purchase no matter what the Conceal Carry law states.
If you are thinking of carrying, you should check with your homeowner's insurance carrier to see if you need some extra liability insurance. The insurance issue was raised by one of the attendees at the Kooyenga Town Hall meeting.
In Arizona, we saw the "Firearms are prohibited in this facility" signs posted at numerous National Park Visitor Centers. National Parks recently changed their policy and now allow concealed carry of loaded firearms in the parks, using the gun regulations of the respective state.
We also encountered one of those signs at the Courthouse in Phoenix, a beautiful building I would have liked to have toured but was prohibited from entering.
Why? They wouldn't let me in because I was packing... a camera! (Cameras were not allowed inside.)
WisPolitics: Senate committee approves conceal carry bill
Wisconsin would be among easiest states to conceal carry
Obama: We're working on gun control 'under the radar'
*Firearms purchased from a gun store require background checks. Some firearms can be purchased at gun shows and privately without a background check. But as someone who knows about guns told me, this can be very dangerous to do. If that firearm was used in a crime, I was told you could become involved in that crime even though you had nothing to do with it.
Today's weather is a very pleasant surprise--often Memorial Day weather leaves something to be desired. But today the sun is shining and the temperature pleasant, considering the cold, rainy spring we have been having.
Yesterday I drove past Wisconsin Memorial Park on Capitol Drive in Brookfield (just west of 124th Street and the shopping center) and saw the American flags furled throughout the cemetery. They used to put them up just along the roadside but now have them displayed across at least the front portion of the park. These aren't just little hand waving flags but rather the huge 9' casket flags that are presented by the military to the families of Veterans. It is quite an impressive and sobering sight.
So today, as you enjoy this beautiful Memorial Day, take a moment and consider the price that was paid for your freedom. If you are a person of faith, thank God for the brave men and women who gave their lives serving their country.
Past Post: Memorial Day Traditions
Thank you, Veterans, for the final salute. | <urn:uuid:dedeccce-e145-4903-bafc-da9cf52a9a74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brookfieldnow.com/blogs/communityblogs/43479702.html?action=blog_archive&startDate=05-01-2011&endDate=05-31-2011&blogID=43473697 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969158 | 4,644 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Thousands of people quit smoking cold turkey, but just how are they so successful without having to spend money on different gums and patches? It is imperative that you enter this process with positive thoughts and a good attitude. You need to leave all the negative thoughts and feeling at the door! Learning to surround yourself with optimistic friends and family will make this journey much easier and more importantly, more successful.
Choosing a definitive quit date is the very first step to quitting cold turkey. Be sure not to set this quit date too far in advance, or else you will never begin the process. It is important that all cigarettes, ash trays, and lighters in your possession have been thrown away. If you have friends or family around you that smoke, kindly ask them to refrain from doing so in your presence.
A week before your decided quit date, start a thorough cleaning of your home, vehicle, and clothing. Shampoo your carpets, wash your drapes, comforters and blankets as well. Keeping your windows open as much as possible will help rid your home of tobacco smell and allow fresh air in. Before you know it, the tobacco odor will be gone forever. Experts have found that smokers who don’t smell tobacco in their immediate surroundings have less cigarette cravings, and have a higher chance of being successful. A really important promise that you need to make to yourself is this: never allow anyone, including yourself, to ever smoke in your home again.
Many smokers have found that keeping your hands and mouth busy can help fight the urge to light up. Try chewing sugarless gum, keeping a toothpick or straw in your mouth, or even a cinnamon stick to keep your mouth occupied. Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water each day to curb cigarette and food cravings, and to hydrate your body. Munching on too many snacks can lead to weight gain and feelings of depression. Stay away from drinks that you might associate with smoking, such as coffee and alcohol. Eating a well balanced healthy diet consisting of lean meats, fruits, and vegetables will give you energy, keep you alert and occupied.
Exercising is another great way to stay fit, thin, and to keep yourself busy. Try taking long walks, or even join your local health club. Most gyms offer 1 free personal training session, which will help you become familiar with the equipment. Keeping active is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety. After many years of smoking, it’s time to think about what your body needs in order to function at its maximum capacity.
What do you do when the cigarette craving actually hits? Take a deep breath and count to 10 slowly. Re-directing your thoughts and energy to something positive will be an extremely important tool for your to use. Instead of grabbing for that cigarette, pick up a piece of fruit or get up and go for a walk. Replace the negative action, with a much more positive one! Getting outside support from friends and family can also divert your thoughts until the urge to smoke passes. Join a local community support group, or call a smokers help line whenever you need to. There are many outside resources at your disposal, take full advantage of them. Think of how proud and strong you will feel about yourself knowing that you took control of your own life, and quit smoking cold turkey.
Are you having trouble quitting cold turkey? Try the Electronic Cigarette for free today! | <urn:uuid:9adb384e-32ca-42c3-8298-9d1a71656030> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smokeassistelectroniccigarette.com/how-to-quit-smoking-cold-turkey-today/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96214 | 701 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Will lack of funding stall US solar market takeoff?07. May 2012 | Markets & Trends, Storage & smart grids | By: Cheryl Kaften
Ever since the 1603 Treasury and Section 1705 loan guarantee programs expired last year, succumbing to what many characterized as premature deaths, renewable energy advocates have been inconsolable. And they haven’t suffered silently. They continue to find ways to remind the U.S. Congress that the solar sector is not receiving the support it needs to build jobs and independence from fossil fuels, or to compete on a global scale.
What is more, they say the federal government is not offering the same level of backing to solar generation that it did to other major U.S. power players – all of which have taken a similar path to commercialization.
Now, a study conducted by the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville, on behalf of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), shows that traditional energy sources, such as coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy, have all been backed by U.S. subsidies throughout the commercialization process.
Indeed, the study finds that the predecessors of such next-generation power sources as solar and wind generation continued to receive federal-level funding as they neared market acceptance and finally went mainstream – effectively removing market barriers, encouraging private investment, and enabling the energy technologies to reach maturity over an average period of 30 years.
With the proper incentives, the study, "Assessment of Incentives and Employment Impacts of Solar Industry Deployment," predicts that the U.S. solar industry could create 200,000 to 430,000 jobs nationwide by 2020.
"When it comes to government investment in new and emerging energy sources, solar is not unique," said Tom Kimbis, vice president of Strategy and External Affairs for SEIA. "The U.S. has a long history of incentivizing all sources of energy because access to reliable power is the lifeblood of economic development. Pursuing an all-of-the-above approach to our energy portfolio, including aggressively deploying solar energy, is the right policy choice and is critical for America's long term competitiveness."
A leap of faith
Without incentives, the path to success may not be easy to navigate. The authors find that, while "solar energy technologies are moving quickly toward widespread adoption, consistent government support will be crucial for solar to become a major source of domestic energy production."
Furthermore, the researchers point out that every American industry has reached the stage at which the solar sector finds itself – in need of a boost to take the next great leap. "One need only look to the early history of the automobile industry in the in the United States to realize that not all companies that enter the market early flourish, yet the industry itself can succeed," they state.
The report goes on to say, "There is a 'chasm' over which the industry must leap to expand to majority adoption. Depending on the type of industry, the propulsion for this leap can be demand-side factors, such as when General Motors made loans to automobile buyers in the 1920s; or supply-side factors, such as Henry Ford’s assembly lines. When benefits accrue broadly, rather than to investors alone, a federal role exists, such as the defense and energy industries’ benefits from NASA’s funding the man-on-the-moon mission."
Thus, according to the researchers, solar energy technologies are currently in the rapid growth stage between early adoption and the chasm that comes before majority adoption – where government incentives can be most critical in helping new energy technologies become significant sources of energy production.
The most effective incentives, the research finds, are those that are long-term. Programs that offer support and then stop before seeing a sector to maturity are not productive.
"The antithesis of long-term, stable instruments are the production tax credits for wind power that have existed on one- to five-year cycles and twice expired, creating uncertainty and a choppy adoption path; or the Section 1603 Treasury program that operated on only a short-term basis," the authors state.
There also must be balance among the industry segments that receive support. "From an economic development perspective, a portfolio of incentives weighted toward mature industries will tend to insulate and maintain those profitable industries and suppress new industries, while a portfolio weighted toward industries in the adoption stage will tend to advance adoption of new industries," according to the report. "Since history shows that new industries are the source of growth in an economy and mature industries tend to either maintain or lose jobs over the long term, effective incentives from an economic standpoint are those that address industries in the early adoption stage."
That is all well and good; however, other energy industry players have reached different conclusions about what technologies deserve support.
Ariana McKnire, an advisor for Houston-based Enbridge, a natural gas distribution company; as well as vice president of the Houston Chapter of the United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE), points out that shale hydrofracking is a new form of an older technology, and that it deserves federal support, no matter what part of the industry is comes from.
"The potential of solar generation pales next to the promise for shale," McKnire commented to pv magazine. "Consider that, by 2020, the shale industry will offer more than one million jobs, and compare that to the 200,000 to 400,000 positions that the report forecasts for solar employment."
McKnire asserts, "The authors of the research study gave no context for their numbers. What they need to do is put their facts in a little more perspective."
Meanwhile, the President-Elect of the group’s national chapter, based in Cleveland, Lori Smith Schell, Ph.D., who also is president of Durango, Colorado-based Empowered Energy, told pv magazine the research makes a more convincing case for subsidizing energy storage than it does for supporting photovoltaics.
"The study’s impact would have been strengthened by explicitly addressing the issues associated with the intermittency of solar generation," remarked Schell . "Instead, the study implicitly resolves intermittency issues by assuming that the ‘merit order’ effect of electric power dispatch – where generating facilities are dispatched based on their marginal cost of production – results in solar plants being dispatched first. The need for energy storage to firm up PV generation and, thereby, make PV a dispatchable resource argues as strongly for incentives for energy storage as it does for incentives for PV."
Schell notes, "As stated at the outset of the study, '[a] mixed portfolio of energy options has allowed Americans to enjoy long-term economic growth and prosperity.' Solar energy and energy storage have important roles to play in that mixed portfolio of energy options. Educating policy-makers on the benefits of any emerging energy technology is critical to ensure that stable and long-term incentives appropriate to meeting policy objectives are provided in a timely manner."
Considering the case on the merits
While there are merits to funding shale and energy storage – both of them, promising advanced technologies – that does not compromise the case for solar, according to SEIA’s Tom Kimbis.
"Just like older energy sources like coal, oil, and gas, solar energy is providing real, tangible benefits to America today," added Kimbis. "Policies designed to increase America's use of solar are incredibly successful and generating benefits across the nation. It would be a serious mistake for policymakers in Washington, D.C., and in statehouses across the country, to walk away from good public policy."
Today more than 100,000 Americans work at 5,600 solar energy companies across the nation in all 50 states. The industry more than doubled the amount of solar electricity installed in the U.S. in 2011 compared to 2010 and growth is expected to continue in 2012.
The Baker Center study was funded by a research grant from the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Choose between a digital and print subscription from pv magazine publisher Solarpraxis AG’s online shop!
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Opinion & analysis
Why do so many believe MENA is the next big solar market?, asks Yassir Gamil, managing director of Solarpraxis' new MENA office
Want to publish your press releases for free? Simply log in or register, enter the information you want to appear and we'll publish it for you! | <urn:uuid:04e09790-4ad9-4738-8605-965eb123a7d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/will-lack-of-funding-stall-us-solar-market-takeoff_100006651/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944758 | 1,770 | 1.773438 | 2 |
For the first time in Japanese cinema history, an American-made film is being remade and released in Japan with director Lee Sang-il's Japanese-language film, Yurusarezarumono, inspired by Clint Eastwood's, Unforgiven.
The Japanese film shifts the setting to Japan and stars some of Japan's most acclaimed actors, led by Ken Watanabe as Jubei Kamata, reinterpreting the role played by Clint Eastwood in the original, with Akira Emoto taking on the part played by Morgan Freeman, and Koichi Sato reprising Gene Hackman’s part.
Yurusarezarumono is set in Hokkaido around 1880, the start of the Meiji period following the collapse of the Edo shogunate, at a time when the Japanese government is attempting to open the land (then named Ezo) populated by the indigenous Ainu people.
In the shogunate’s waning days, Jubei Kamata (Watanabe), a former swordsman of the shogunate, slaughters countless rebels under orders, earning a fearsome reputation in Kyoto. Following the government’s collapse, he takes part in a succession of bloody battles culminating in the decisive battle at Goryokaku, then vanishes without a trace, eluding the determined efforts of the new government to capture him.
More than a decade later, Jubei lives on in desolate isolation as a frugal rancher with an Ainu woman as his wife and their children. However, his wife—who alone transformed a man whose only reason for existence was to kill—dies, leaving him to guard over her grave with their children in sparse austerity.
However, the man who vowed never to take sword again finds himself driven by poverty to once again join battle as a bounty hunter…
Together with a former comrade, he faces those convinced in their own justice. Another cycle of violence starts anew in another new era.
Men tossed in the wake of turbulent history stage their final battle in the immense natural environments of Hokkaido with exhilarating horseback action. The film’s scale will emulate the immensity of American westerns.
Clint Eastwood commented, “It's an honor to know that Lee Sang-il and my good friend Ken Watanabe, with whom I worked closely on Letters from Iwo Jima, will be teaming on a Japanese rendition of Unforgiven.”
Director Lee Sang-il said, “It has been 20 years since the release of Unforgiven. People wander between “good” and “evil,” no matter who you are—this is the theme, which lies within this film and it speaks deeply to us even today, still unable to end the vicious cycle of violence. It is my belief to create films that people can relate to—people who carry doubts and redemption, striving to be right, rather than people who insist he is right without any doubts. The original film is acclaimed to be the masterpiece of western films. I am thrilled, happy, and overwhelmed with pleasure to be given this opportunity, as director Clint Eastwood, whom I highly respect, is a filmmaker with an unprecedented talent. Ken Watanabe, a man with definite presence, that makes one think there is no one but him. Akira Enomoto, a man I'd like to call an old ally. Koichi Sato, a man who I had always wanted to work with for a long time. I strongly wish to create a film that will always be remembered, together with the help of the passion of above members and other wonderful cast and filmmakers.”
Ken Watanabe stated, “To me, director Clint Eastwood is like my father in the film industry and it will be challenging for me to remake one of his best known films. Together with director Lee, we'd like to build our Unforgiven in our own way in this vast land of Hokkaido.”
Filming is set to commence in mid-September on location in Hokkaido. Yurusarezarumono is targeted for nationwide release in Japan in the fall of 2013.
Image Courtesy: Flickr | <urn:uuid:a5e7c70f-f862-4411-88fd-8fa783d14438> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kalkion.com/news/1761/clint-eastwoods-unforgiven-be-remade-japan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959849 | 866 | 1.71875 | 2 |
If you follow directions, Facebook’s new search engine is pretty amazing. But veer off course, and the results reveal just how limited the tool is right now.
During an event today at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, Facebook introduced Graph Search, a drastically revamped version of the social network’s search function. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg called this feature as important to the site as the News Feed on the homepage and the Timeline profiles. It’s also the most nascent.
The promise of social search is compelling. For example, I might be more interested in movies my friends enjoy rather than whatever gets the highest ratings from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
A tiny slice of Facebook’s 1 billion users were provided with a beta version of Graph Search today. For the past few hours, I’ve been testing the tool on my profile, sifting through my groups of friends.
When first clicking on the search box, which now takes up most of the blue toolbar on the top of the website, I’m presented with a personalized tour of the new search features. It starts by showing me how I can search for people who went to the University of Maryland (my alma mater). Then it shows my unique results and a bunch of familiar faces.
From then on, the search box presents six sample queries whenever I activate it, such as “my friends,” “music my friends like” and “restaurants nearby.” I can choose any of those, click to see more suggestions or enter my own search terms. Once on the results page, a list of optional filters guides me on how to further refine my search.
The search engine currently handles four main categories: people, photos, places and interests. There are lots of options within those groups. For example, I can find friends who like Coldplay (so that I can unfriend them), or I can look up pictures taken before 1990 or at the Empire State Building. I can also find movies my friends like or search by genres such as rock music, comedy films and Italian restaurants.
The results are surprising because there was previously no good way to unlock Facebook’s trove of data about my contacts. However, the system is a little slow. First, the natural-language processing needs to figure out what framework my query fits into, and then display that beneath the search box. Then it needs to dig through all of my data. Multiply that by a billion. To be fair, those are challenging tasks. “We have years and years of work ahead of us,” Zuckerberg said at the event today.
Facebook’s search engine, as in previous versions, can pull in Web results from Microsoft’s Bing. The pages look a little different from those you might see on Bing.com, and they include additional data that Facebook sprinkles on top, said Lars Rasmussen, a former Google executive who is a director of engineering on Facebook’s search project.
But if you were hoping to use this as your one-stop search shop, look elsewhere. The method for doing a Web search on Facebook is fairly cumbersome. If I type “weather,” the system suggests I check out the Facebook pages for the Weather Channel or Weather Underground, or people whose last names have the word “weather” in them. I need to click “See more” in the auto-complete list, and then scroll down before even getting the option to do a traditional search.
For Facebook, building its own Web-crawling technology is “nowhere” on the company’s list of priorities, Rasmussen said in an interview after the presentation today. This effort is about tapping into all the information Facebook has locked away on its servers.
In addition to making the whole process snappier, Facebook plans to add more languages, open it up to applications from outside developers and bring in more types of data. Facebook’s own events and messages apps aren’t integrated yet. A search for “parties next week” returns a suggestion for “people who party.” (The people on this list aren’t as cool as you might expect, judging by their profile pictures.)
“We need to start getting data on how people use it in order to improve the product,” Zuckerberg said. But that won’t be a quick process. “We’re going to start rolling it out very slowly,” he said.
During the news conference, Facebook executives emphasized their attention to privacy. Before the search feature is rolled out widely, users will be prompted to review their settings on what content is shown publicly, they said.
Facebook’s search engine is an impressive first effort, but like other recent entrants, it has a long way to go before you can expect to rely on it. Just ask Siri. If she’ll understand you, that is. | <urn:uuid:82bfec38-393f-4c1d-b852-7bf1569cd347> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2013-01-15-first-impressions-of-facebooks-graph-search/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938152 | 1,031 | 1.679688 | 2 |
|Companion Jorune: Burdoth|
Copyright 1986, Skyrealms Publishing, Inc.
Burdoth is the largest and most powerful human state on Jorune, knit together out of a collection of human city states. This means the region consists of a number of ethnically and culturally diverse regions, with many cities, towns, and villages. The purpose of this book was to provide background and detail for the second edition, which had only cursory information on any specific regions of the world. The third edition included enough information on Burdoth to give a sholari some basic facts, but there was only one paragraph for each province, and Companion Jorune: Burdoth had more detailed information.
The supplement gave brief descriptions of all of the provinces and cities of Burdoth. It included snippets of data on history, climate, and economic production and trade for each province. The book included a two-part essay on the Energy Weapons War between Prince Khodre Allonkarb, father of the current dharsage, and all of his neighbors. The book ended with a description of the Burdothian military, including organization, weapons, tactics, and peacetime military life.
The book was illustrated with maps and duplications of art found in the boxed set.
Difficult to find, this would be a valuable item for any serious Jorune fan. | <urn:uuid:377a2fa0-08b4-4cd6-98aa-fdc00bfbc3d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rdushay.home.mindspring.com/Museum/SF/Jorune/Burdoth.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960138 | 288 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Have any of you ever been called for jury duty? Do you know what Jury Duty is? It is an obligation of a citizen to serve on a jury when called. It is a constitutional right, and one of the highest obligations of a citizen. It involves our participation in administering justice. When we are called to jury duty we have to appear in court and if we don’t we can be found in contempt of court. I received a summons in the mail about 2 weeks ago, informing me that I am being subpenaed to show up for jury duty on May 2, 2012.
I will admit I freaked out a little at first. Jury Duty… (what if I am picked and have to decide someones fate!!!). Then I read further and it
said subpenaed to ‘civil court’! Well I was still freaked a little because I have never been called for jury duty. I didn’t want to go, but hey it said ‘subpenaed’ so I had not choice. I know it is our constitution right and I didn’t feel I have the right to judge anyone. I have no desire to get arrested and spend time locked up just because I was a little nervous that I might actually get picked to be a juror! There were 6 jurors chosen and I was one of them.
When I got to the court house there were about 30 people there that were summoned to show up for jury duty. After waiting about 15 minutes a bailiff came out and collect the papers we had to fill out. After about 20 more minutes we were called into the court room and given a number. Then the judge came out and took his seat. He explained what was going to happen, and then asked us a series of questions. Depending on your answers was one of the determining factors if you stay or were sent home.
A few of the questions were:
- Do you have any religious views that would interfere with you judging another person? No (one raised there hand)
- Do you have any racist views against any certain race? (still no raised hands)
- Does anyone have any small children or disabled person at home that need your care? (There was only one raised hand)
Those are just a few questions the judge asked. Then it was the attorneys from each side got to ask each juror questions.
Some of those questions were:
- Have you ever worked for an insurance company? (a few had)
- Have you ever worked for an auto repair shop? (no one raised their hands)
- Have you ever worked for a company that constructs the body of vehicles? (2 people answered yes)
- If you purchased a product and it broke on the first day, would you return it to the company for repair?
- If you returned said product to have it repaired by the company, and they sent it back to you claiming it had been repaired. Then you tried to use the product and found out it wasn’t repaired would you still have faith in that company to send it for repair a 2nd time. (About 15 people answered no to this question. Stating that the company was not dependable and to be trusted. I was one of the 15)
There were several other questions, but I am not sure I remember what they were. Then the lawyers and the judge got together and picked who would be the jurors. I was nervous! They picked 6 jurors and one of the six was me, as I said above. The judge dismissed the people that were not chosen. The remaining 6 were asked to be seated in the juror box, and the judge announced there would be a 2 hour recess. Oh, my goodness 2 hours! By this time we had already been in the court room for about 1 1/2 hours.
I want bore you with the details of lunch and the waiting in the hall, not for 1 hour after the 2 hour break, but for 2 more hours! After about 2 hours we were called back into the court room, and seated in the juror box. The trial began finally! The judge had us swear under oath to judge each party by the facts and not personal opinions. So both attorneys then stated there opening arguments, then each side continued to voice their cases for their clients. Then their closing arguments for their clients.
We were told we could speak about the trial once it was over. The trial involved the defendant, she ran through a red light at an intersection, and was hit by a car coming through the light to the left. Her (defendant, let’s call her Mary) car spun around and was hit by another car coming through the intersection. The plaintiffs car was damaged and the insurance company of the defendant paid for the repairs. In the state of Texas everyone has the right to choose a body shop to repair their vehicle that was in an
The plaintiff (let’s call him Jerry) had his car repaired and had to take it back because the front end was pulling to the left really bad. Jerry took the car back to the body repair shop and once again they repaired the car and said it was ready. Jerry and his wife were driving the car home and it was still pulling really bad to the right. His wife became really upset and wanted to sale the car. She wanted a safe vehicle for her daughter that is 6 years old. So instead of calling the insurance company Jerry sold the car for $12,000. The car was only 6 months old at the time of the accident and was in perfect condition. The market value for the car was $18,000.
So to make a long story longer Jerry wanted Mary’s insurance company to pay him $6,000 he lost by selling his car at a cheaper price to buy a new one. We had to decide if Mary’s insurance should pay him for the loss of selling his car. After listening to both sides all 6 of us jurors were taken to a room to decide the verdict.
It took us only about 20 minutes to come up with a verdict that we could all agree on. Two jurors thought Jerry shouldn’t get anything because he didn’t call the insurance company and let them know his car still wasn’t repaired. They felt he should have taken the car back to the body shop and letting them know the car still wasn’t repaired. The other 4 of us felt they should pay something but not the full amount. We decided Jerry should get $2,500 and no attorney fees. Jerry’s lawyer was not a very good one.
I have to add that the judge in the court room was not like any other judge I have seen before. He joked during the whole trial. He told the lawyers to get on with it and quit repeating themselves. He even went out into the hall way to talk to the people that were waiting to see if they would be jurors on the next trial. He joked with them too. It was the funniest thing, and thanks to him I didn’t fall asleep!
So what have I learned from that experience?
- The I am glad there are lawyers to defend us in a court of law, because without them we would probably get really screwed (some do still).
- Court trials are basically like I have seen on television.
- That I never again want to have to sit in a court room and judge someone else.
- That you can take anyone to court for anything these days.
- Don’t EVERrun through an intersection!
(Photos are taken from Foter.com) | <urn:uuid:f2300349-628f-489b-bc29-b197bfdf1fbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thoughtsnsuch.com/2012/05/10/my-day-spent-as-judge-jury/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992241 | 1,568 | 1.671875 | 2 |
This Christmas Eve, I find myself struggling with how much to feed the story of Santa.
I mean, we've told our 4-year-old that Santa is bring him a gift, and he visited with him and got his picture taken. He remembers last year that we put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and asked to do that again.
NORAD is tracking Santa in real time -- with videos! Google has a Santa tracker, too! You can create a personalized video from Santa with apps like Portable North Pole!
Don’t even get me started on the extra mythology of the Elf on the Shelf. I don’t have the energy to create that magic.
I think part of my issue is that Isaac can be quite a logician, and I do not have a good poker face. So if he starts poking holes in the story -- "That Santa doesn't look like the one I visited!" "How could he possibly get around that fast?" -- I might not come up with satisfactory answers fast enough.
The lack of a poker face runs in my family. In second grade, I was at a new school, and one of the kids in my class told me about Santa on a Friday afternoon. After school, my dad picked me up for the weekend, and I asked him point blank, and my dad didn't have a good answer.
He rallied, though. That Christmas, I don't remember all the details, but we had gone to my grandparents' house for the evening, and all the family was over there. Somehow, still, when we got back to my dad's house, Santa had come! With that, I was back in for at least another year or two. (I eventually busted the Easter Bunny on handwriting alone.)
But I remember buying back into the magic, and how fun it all was, and I surely don't want to rob my little guys of that, either. So I remain conflicted. For now, I think I’ll keep it vague, and I'll bring out the technological evidence if needed.
How do you manage the story of Santa? | <urn:uuid:a6bef4d1-b233-476b-a668-c20f971a2581> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailypress.com/entertainment/bal-norad-santa-tracker-elf-on-a-shelf-build-the-santa-story-20121224,0,6510095.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977555 | 439 | 1.59375 | 2 |
If you have never been involved in the Michigan criminal system, you may not be aware of the plethora of conditions that may be imposed if you are placed on probation. First of all, you may be placed on probation immediately after sentencing or upon release from jail. Your Judge will advise you at the time of sentencing as to whether you will be placed on probation. A person convicted of a crime in Michigan, including Macomb County Courts, can be placed on probation for a maximum of 2 years for a misdemeanor and 5 years for a felony conviction. Your rights will be limited while you are in the system during a term of probation. You may not be allowed to do things that would otherwise be legal if you were not on probation. If you violate a condition of probation, even if the condition is an otherwise legal act (like drinking or traveling out of state), you are subject to re-sentencing and face the balance of any jail which has not been served with respect to the underlying case.
Here is a list of possible conditions that may be ordered and imposed with respect to probation:
- Do not leave the state of Michigan without approval from the court.
- You may not drink alcohol or go to places where alcohol is served.
- You may not be in the company of others who have a felony record or that are co-defendants in your case.
- You may not be allowed to use or have a computer in your residence (for sex crimes, identity theft or cyber predators).
- A curfew may be imposed.
- You may be placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring.
- You may be ordered to wear a sobriety/drug monitor.
- You may be ordered to be registered and monitored by Global Positioning Satellites.
- You may be ordered to pay restitution to any victims of your crime.
- You may be ordered to stay away from any victims.
- You may be ordered to attend counseling, parenting classes, AA, anger management or be placed in-patient.
- You may have non-reporting probation or have supervised probation and be required to report weekly or monthly, in the discretion of the court.
- You may be required to provide random alcohol or drug samples at such frequency as directed by the court or probation agent.
- You will not be allowed to possess a firearm if you are convicted of a felony during your probation or thereafter. Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is a felony!
A criminal defense attorney should be proactive at the time of sentencing and attempt to minimize terms of probation where compliance is difficult or not appropriate. For example, a recent client needed to travel out of state for his employment. Our office made a request for out of state travel at the time of sentence. The Judge granted the request based upon our argument that the person needed minimal supervision and was not a flight or community risk. | <urn:uuid:cdaf49f0-596d-452f-84e2-b9c19012da7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.michigancriminallawyer-blog.com/2010/11/ | 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 | 0.938077 | 587 | 1.609375 | 2 |
There is nothing on earth that compares to how time and distance relate in space. We are seeing stars shining bright in the sky tonight that blew up a few million years ago. As we currently understand things, it would be impossible to travel from one planet to another in another galaxy.
Would you want to meet a being from another planet? Its not going to be like ET. I tend to agree with Hawking. We cannot assume aliens would be benign. They would come here to take what they need and move on...like ID4, but without a wisecracking pilot and an eco-nerd who is also a hacker saving the planet. | <urn:uuid:6b9d2eba-31e1-4c13-baac-bbd978c8be06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showpost.php?p=2833777&postcount=25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97143 | 131 | 1.5 | 2 |
Some would go on to recount events they had shared with Luther, even stories of war battles and triumphs. "I have known him to shoulder a rifle and stand guard for some poor fellow who was tired or sick when he was off duty."
But it was this letter in particular that brought tears to my eyes:
"From my own experience I know every letter no matter how kind and sympathetic just opens up the wounds afresh. I know how you feel even as I write this my eyes are full of tears as you read this I know yours will fill with tears. Our thoughts will mingle together.
It continues, "This to you is not a cheerful letter. I am writing you as I feel and the tears are filling my eyes and dropping all the while I write for a heart broken mother is writing to a heart broken mother."
I began to know of a man and a family that lived almost a hundred years ago, in a small town in Oklahoma and I felt just a hint of the grief and the sorrow they felt.
I'm glad I read through so many of the letters before offering them up for sale. As of now, my genealogist husband is contacting the family researcher for this particular family (found on ancestry.com) to hand these letters over to someone who cold benefit from the information therein.
I wonder how a family could simply offer something like this up at an estate sale in a plastic bag? | <urn:uuid:e4e1eb63-0977-4b01-aafe-3b28f51ca688> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fleamarketstylemag.blogspot.com/2012/06/bag-of-letters-tell-personal-story.html?showComment=1340069220281 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978178 | 292 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Leland D. Crawford
|Leland D. Crawford|
9th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (1979-1983)
February 16, 1930|
Sharon, West Virginia
|Died||February 16, 1993(aged 63)|
|Allegiance||United States of America|
|Service/branch||United States Marine Corps|
|Years of service||1951-1983|
|Commands held||Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps|
|Awards||Distinguished Service Medal
Bronze Star (2)
Sergeant Major Leland D. Crawford (February 16, 1930 – February 16, 1993) was the ninth Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, serving as the senior enlisted Marine from 1979 to 1983.
Early life and training
Leland Crawford was born in Sharon, West Virginia on 16 February 1930. He attended East Bank (West Virginia) High School and later graduated from high school on Okinawa, Japan. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 26 September 1951 and underwent recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina.
Early assignments
Following recruit training, he was assigned to Infantry Training School, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Upon completion of his training, he was assigned to the 1st Marine Division in Korea, where he served as a rifleman and artillery man until July 1953. He then reported to the 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
In June 1956, Crawford was assigned to his first tour of duty as a drill instructor at Parris Island where he remained until October 1958. He was then assigned to the 1st Marine Brigade in Hawaii, remaining there until October 1961. He returned to drill instructor duty, this time at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, until February 1964. After this tour, he was transferred to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, as a gunnery sergeant with 4th Battalion 11th Marines.
First Sergeant
He joined the 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa in February 1965, and the following month sailed for Vietnam. In March 1966, he returned to Twentynine Palms, where he was promoted to first sergeant. He served as First Sergeant for Headquarters Company, Force Troops until 1967. Returning to Vietnam, he served as a Company First Sergeant, 1st Battalion 4th Marines. During this tour he earned the Bronze Star with Combat "V" and gold star in lieu of second award; and later a Purple Heart for wounds received on 11 June 1968.
Crawford was then transferred to Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., as Company First Sergeant, Ceremonial Guard Company from October 1968 to December 1970. He again returned to Vietnam to serve as First Sergeant, Company D, 1st Battalion 1st Marines.
Sergeant Major
In May 1971, he returned to Camp Pendleton where he was promoted to Sergeant Major. He was then assigned as Sergeant Major of 2nd Battalion 1st Marines until April 1974. He again returned to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego to serve as Sergeant Major of the 1st Recruit Training Battalion until January 1976. The following year he served as the Group Sergeant Major of Marine Air Control Group 18 on Okinawa. He reported back to the 1st Marine Division in February 1977 and became Sergeant Major of the 11th Marine Regiment.
In May 1979, Sergeant Major Crawford became the Sergeant Major of the 1st Marine Division and remained in that billet until his selection as the 9th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. He served in that post from 15 August 1979 until his retirement on 30 June 1983. Crawford died on February 16, 1993, on his birthday, in San Diego.
Awards and honors
Sergeant Major Crawford's personal decorations include:
|1st Row||Navy Distinguished Service Medal||Bronze Star w/ valor device & 1 award star||Purple Heart||Combat Action Ribbon|
|2nd Row||Navy Presidential Unit Citation w/ 2 service stars||Navy Unit Commendation w/ 1 award star||Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation w/ 2 service stars||Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal w/ 8 service stars|
|3rd Row||Navy Occupation Service Medal||National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 service star||Korean Service Medal w/ 3 service stars||Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal|
|4th Row||Vietnam Service Medal w/ 8 service stars||Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/ silver & bronze stars||Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal||Korean Presidential Unit Citation|
|5th Row||Vietnam Gallantry Cross unit citation||Vietnam Civil Actions unit citation||United Nations Korea Medal||Vietnam Campaign Medal|
See also
- This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.
- "Sergeant Major Leland D. Crawford, USMC". Who's Who in Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- "Biography — Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Leland D. Crawford". United States Marines Corps. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
John R. Massaro
|Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Robert E. Cleary | <urn:uuid:6118e091-cb9e-4866-abac-e8fd5dc7ef37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_D._Crawford | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956956 | 1,113 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A century ago in the area of Whitestone Rock, grapevines were planted by one of the early settlers of the region. They grew so abundantly that during the next thirty-five years, the vineyard became one of the largest grape producers in Eastern Washington.
When Lake Roosevelt was created in 1941 by Grand Coulee Dam, a portion of the Columbia River became Washington State's largest lake. The vineyard, like many other things, ended up underwater - hidden and forgotten as time faded away.
An aerial view of Whitestone Rock and the vineyard along the shores of Lake Roosevelt
That is, until Washington State University viticulturists declared the area to be an ideal place to grow French Bordeaux grape varietals, including Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Lake Roosevelt Shores Vineyard was planted by Whitestone on the shore of the mighty lake next to the same Whitestone Rock that watched over a successful grape growing operation a hundred years past. Whitestone nurtures its Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and other varieties in this very special place that has the perfect climate and soil conditions for growing high quality grapes.
Whitestone Winery was founded by Walter and Judy Haig in 1992. With the help of Washington State University, the vineyard site was prepped and made ready for planting. In the spring of 1994, the vineyard was planted, officially re-introducing grape vines to the area.
1996 witnessed the first harvest at the vineyard, with the grapes making the long journey down to Walla Walla where they were purchased by some of the fine wineries located there.
In 2001, Walter and Judy decided to start making wine themselves with their grapes. Keeping a small amount of their Merlot grapes, the family made its first batch of wine. The following year the winery produced wine from all three of their grape varietals.
The Fall of 2005 brought with it two big events. The first being the grand opening of the winery and tasting room to the public, showcasing the 2001 Merlot vintage. The second big event was a non-event. For the first time, Whitestone grapes were not exported from the region. 100% of that years crop went entirely into Whitestone wine, as it has ever since.
The vineyard and the winery are a true family run business, with Michael Haig, Walter and Judy's son, running the vineyard and making the wine. Family members assist in the running of the tasting room, bottling, events, and blending parties.
All of the grapes used to make our fine wines come exclusively from Lake Roosevelt Shores Vineyard. The result is a superior tasting wine with extraordinary flavor. | <urn:uuid:40953b57-bc6d-42a3-9949-ea1dd8284ea0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whitestonewinery.com/Story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970861 | 556 | 1.546875 | 2 |
- Better Roads - http://www.betterroads.com -
PennDOT: Motorists’ survey feedback will help prioritize safety efforts
Posted By Tina Grady Barbaccia On July 13, 2011 @ 1:29 am In eRoadPro Newsletter,News & Analysis,Traffic Safety and Management News | No Comments
Effective as of July 11, Pennsylvania motorists can help PennDOT prioritize its highway safety efforts by sharing their opinions on traffic safety enforcement and driving behaviors through an online survey available through July 30 at www.DriveSafePA.org.
The survey consists of 19 questions focused on highway safety, including seat belts, impaired driving, speeding, motorcycles and distracted driving. All answers to the questions are anonymous. In addition, there are general demographic questions such as gender, age and ZIP code.
More than 3,800 people responded to last year’s survey. Among the notable results, the survey showed that nearly 80 percent of motorists reported that within the past 60 days they did not drive within two hours after drinking alcohol. Ninety-one percent of drivers also indicated they used a seat belt all or most of the time.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires states to conduct this survey annually.
Follow PennDOT on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PennDOTNews.
Article printed from Better Roads: http://www.betterroads.com
URL to article: http://www.betterroads.com/penndot-motorists-survey-feedback-will-help-prioritize-safety-efforts/
Copyright © 2009 Better Roads. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:eb2f6248-fecd-4358-a547-12d2701e649f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.betterroads.com/penndot-motorists-survey-feedback-will-help-prioritize-safety-efforts/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934573 | 341 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Scientists say that understanding how the cocktail party effect works could help people who have trouble deciphering sounds in a noisy environment. Guests make it look easy at a Dolce and Gabbana Lounge party in London in 2010.
Scientists are beginning to understand how people tune in to a single voice in a crowded, noisy room.
This ability, known as the "cocktail party effect," appears to rely on areas of the brain that have completely filtered out unwanted sounds, researchers report in the journal Neuron. So when a person decides to focus on a particular speaker, other speakers "have no representation in those [brain] areas," says Elana Zion Golumbic of Columbia University.
CLAUDIO SANCHEZ, BYLINE: This is Claudio Sanchez in Washington, D.C. By mid-afternoon, some parts of west and northern Virginia had gotten a foot of snow. Washington, D.C. was expecting at least half that, so area airports cancelled more than a thousand flights. Schools closed. So did federal and local government offices. Things look bad.
CHRIS VACCARO: This is certainly a significant storm and a dangerous storm.
SANCHEZ: That's Chris Vaccaro with the National Weather Service.
More than three decades ago, Soviet soldier Bakhretdin Khakimov went missing in Afghanistan after he was wounded in battle with Afghan mujahedeen forces.
His whereabouts remained unknown until two weeks ago, when he was tracked down by a team from the Warriors-Internationalists Affairs Committee, a Moscow-based nonprofit that looks for Soviet MIAs in Afghanistan.
I've been listening to two very good new albums led by drummers. After learning that both men are in their early 70s, I can't help but wonder how I process that fact in what I hear.
"Killer" Ray Appleton (b. 1941) and Barry Altschul (b. 1943) practice different styles. But they both came of musical age in the hard-bop era, spent many years living in Europe and eventually returned to New York. In other words, they've each got a lot of experience.
The death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is an especially tough blow for Cuba, whose feeble state-run economy has been propped up for more than a decade with Venezuelan oil shipments and other subsidies.
The Castro government has declared three days of mourning, calling Chavez "a son" of Cuba, but privately Cubans are quietly fretting about the potential loss of billions in trade and the threat of a new economic crisis.
An elderly woman at a California retirement home died in February after a staff person refused to perform CPR, despite the pleas of a 911 dispatcher. The nurse says she was following company policy. This incident raised many questions about the role of dispatchers in medical emergencies.
In his profile of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in this week's issue of The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin writes: "Ginsburg has suggested that she would like to serve as long as Louis Brandeis, her judicial hero, who retired at eighty-two." Ginsburg turns 80 this month and is marking her 20th year on the court. She has had cancer — colon and pancreatic — and her tiny, frail-looking stature leads many people to wonder if she'll be retiring soon.
Every year, the South By Southwest music, film and interactive festival gets larger, and navigating the blur of panels, parties and shows gets more daunting. The girth of it all is enough to keep many SXSW old-timers away from Austin this year. | <urn:uuid:25247285-8ddd-4b6b-a482-42c8d1beda55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kgou.org/?page=98&news-management=&action=view_news&news_id=4503&a=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972174 | 743 | 1.695313 | 2 |
|Interrogating the Project of Military History|
March 9, 2004 - Today's discussion of the Nhongo-Simbanegavi chapters went well, despite the fact that it's the last week of the quarter and we're all getting a little burned out. We benefited a lot from having Norma Kriger with us (see Entry 16). I won't rehearse the details. The chapters reinforce much of what I've already discussed in earlier entries dealing with the Tanya Lyons essay and Ingrid Sinclair's Flame. (Incidentally, Norma's take on the film was almost exactly the same as mine.)
At one point, while the rest of the group was doing something else, Norma turned to me and asked what I thought military historians would make of the body of literature on the Chimurenga. I said I guessed that they would endorse the idea of somebody else building on it but wouldn't take much interest in it themselves. I forgot that I had already gotten a much better response to this question from historian (and blog aficienado!) Jeffrey Grey of the Australian Defence Force Academy. I include it here as a sort of guest commentary:
23:] Your comment on the Chimurenga prompted some further thoughts
that I'll share (briefly) with you. There certainly are military
historians working in southern Africa, and their work is often worth
reading. The problems though (the case is specific, but I could apply it
to other contexts) are as follows:
We (meaning you) don't often encounter these people because their currency sucks (even worse than the Pacific peso aka the Australian dollar) and they often can't afford to travel to northern hemisphere conferences. If you don't know them, or know about them, you are less likely to look out for their stuff. Actually, at SMH [Society for Military History] gatherings over the last 3-4 years a couple of my South African mates have attended, prompted by myself and others as part of a process of reaching out to the wider academic community in the field. It's a small start, but at least it's a start.
During the era of the bans on apartheid South Africa, a whole generation of contacts withered and (sometimes literally) died. This was certainly true of inter-Commonwealth relationships, and would be even more true of those with the US since there weren't as many to begin with. English South Africa was in any case focused on the UK and the Commonwealth, and Afrikaner South Africa has long had a continental western Europe focus. Neither, at least in the field of history, had strong links with north America.
The BIG issue, though, is access to publications, and this is not just a South African issue. Simple fact is, stuff gets published but you never hear about it, and can't get copies even when you do unless you have benevolent contacts locally who will purchase stuff for you. It's hard to get Canadian books in the US, which is ridiculous. It's hard to get Australian books in either the US or UK. It's hard to get Canadian books in Australia. It's virtually impossible to get South African books outside southern Africa. Books published in the US and UK are much more nearly a universal currency in distribution terms. This reflects the international copyright legislative regimes and other agreements concerning distribution rights for publishers. This a long and complex issue, but it has actively worked against the free flow and interchange of books, in particular, across the English-speaking world for a long time. Being part of a great big successful (internal) market, you guys probably haven't even noticed.
My office is being moved at the minute (i.e., I have just become the most highly paid storeman/packer in the country for about a week), but when I get settled I'll send you some citations for books on the Chimurenga that you might like to try to chase down (though, given the foregoing, good luck).
[Note: This book turns out to be
neither at Ohio State (which actually has pretty good holdings on the
Chimurenga) nor any library in Ohio. In fact, according to WorldCat,
only twenty-one libraries in the world own a copy. Five are in the
United States, one is in Canada, three are in Europe, and the rest are
in--you guessed it--Zimbabwe. Which bears out Jeffrey's earlier
By the way [I asked in the original version of this entry], would you elaborate on the "obvious but quite different reasons" military historians have overlooked the Zimbabwean and South African struggles?
To which Jeffrey replied:
|What are the usual but
quite different reasons why military historians, especially in the US,
have largely ignored the Chimurenga and the liberation struggle in South
Africa? Several things come to mind. The difficulty in procuring the work
of many southern African historians has been discussed already. Archival
access is an issue, at least in Zimbabwe, as is personal safety. The
archives in South Africa, in my experience, are very accommodating and
rich in their holdings, but they suffer from lack of resources and
facilities, and to work in the military archive in Pretoria you need
permission from the SANDF [South African National Defence Forces, I would
guess]- not difficult to get in practice, at least to date.
Another reason I suspect is that there hasn't been much interest in LIC [low intensity conflict], counter-insurgency and revolutionary war in universities or in the US military since Vietnam, although that may change shortly with the situation in Iraq. The struggle in South Africa was a symbolic and rhetorical exercise for many in the West, who never really engaged with it beyond that level. (That's not true of everybody). The outcome in Zimbabwe is deeply disappointing, though broadly predictable, and I would second everything that Professor Kriger was quoted by you as saying with regard to coercion of the civilian population during the transition to power - everything I have heard from Australians and Brits involved in the ceasefire monitoring force there at the time confirms it. Much easier just to move on.
And let's face it, outside Africa, who
really pays deep, concerted sustained attention to Africa itself? I don't
think that's true only of military historians. I think that many of those
who profess an interest in Africa are enthralled by the idea of
Africa, not by the often grubby reality, at least in academic circles.
Continue to next entry.
Return to the main page. | <urn:uuid:b4fdfc28-808b-43f2-a64f-95b34776230c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/grimsley1/dialogue/postcolonialism/resistance_19.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972019 | 1,363 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday.
U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
Although he did not directly address the whereabouts of blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, President Obama said when the United States talks to China, it always brings up "the issue of human rights."
"We think China will be stronger if it opens up and liberalizes its own system," the president said.
Obama made the comments during a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
As Mark reported earlier, Chen escaped from house arrest earlier this month and unconfirmed reports put him at the U.S. embassy in Beijing.
Obama said he was aware of the reports but that he would not comment.
The press conference is ongoing. We'll update this post with more.
Update at 2:45 p.m. ET. On Bin Laden's Killing:
President Obama was asked about a statement made by Mitt Romney today. Close to the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, Romney said that "even Jimmy Carter" would have ordered the raid on the Pakistani compound where bin Laden was staying.
President Obama did not address Romney by name but did say that people "should take a look at people's previous statements" and "let them explain it."
Obama was referring to 2007 debate in which Romney is asked directly if he would order a raid in Pakistan to capture bin Laden. Romney gives a nuanced answer in which he says it's wrong for the United States to say they will going into a foreign country unilaterally. Romney seems to imply that saying that is not OK, but that the U.S. could still have that option.
Update at 2:59 p.m. ET. Japan, U.S. Relations:
On the relationship between the United States and Japan, Obama and Prime Minister Noda outlined "a new joint vision" for the two countries.
Obama said the countries had a "renewed agreement" to move American Marines out of Okinawa as well as deepen trade ties between the two countries.
Obama said the two countries were also committed to being "global partners" on issues like the war in Afghanistan and the tense relationship with North Korea.
Noda, who kept his answers very short, said the "Japan/U.S. alliance had reached new heights." | <urn:uuid:41b641d0-10f3-4b36-af8f-30fd1e34e6a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/30/151701501/obama-u-s-always-brings-up-human-rights-with-chinese | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978913 | 567 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Posted on Mon, Feb. 01, 2010
last updated: February 01, 2010 01:20:47 PM
A few years ago, hospitals were offering nurses $10,000 signing bonuses, loan payoffs, even cars as incentives to battle a nursing shortage in Texas.
Today, some nursing school graduates say they're fortunate to find a job.
"It took me a year to find something, and it wasnt easy," said Ann Karl, who graduated in 2008 and recently went to work for Huguley Memorial Medical Center in Burleson. "I think I must have hit the curve right when the hospitals were starting to slow down on hiring."
Karl is hardly alone.
Three years ago there were three job offers for every graduate, said Dr. Pamela Frable, director of nursing at Texas Christian Universitys Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences. But at graduation last summer, there were more students without a job than ever before.
A surge of applicants from nursing schools and from other states, as well as more older nurses coming back into the work force, has increased competition for jobs, especially at the areas large hospitals.
Read the complete story at star-telegram.com | <urn:uuid:1d199a68-17b5-4a13-ba1e-21c83f3bfe56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/02/01/v-print/83440/nursing-graduates-discover-medicine.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986324 | 245 | 1.703125 | 2 |
This shining example of collaboration is one of many used to stimulate discussion and reflection for members of TC’s Summer Principal’s Academy (SPA).
SPA is an advanced degree program for aspiring principals in
The schedule, which is designed for full-time employees, involves two intensive six-week courses over the summer and support during the academic year. Due to high demand, this year SPA has doubled its intake to 100 places.
In addition to the program, SPA has recently launched a series of monthly breakfast conferences for past and present members. The artistic director of Orpheus, Ronnie Bauch, and philosopher Maxine Greene have been among the distinguished guest speakers.
SPA’s associate director, Jon Drescher, says: “The purpose of the meetings is to bring together current and former students, staff, coaches and interns to think around a particular theme and share their professional expertise.”
To apply, or for more details, call: (212) 678-3727, or email: email@example.com.
Other Resources for Schools and Teachers stories that may be of interest to you: | <urn:uuid:167f799c-5673-4ab0-a081-4808cd1a0450> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tc.columbia.edu/oscp/detail.asp?id=Resources%20for%20Schools%20and%20Teachers&Info=Summer+Principal's+Academy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956731 | 234 | 1.507813 | 2 |
How do they do it? The tribute poster wizards at the Mondo Gallery seem to have a special gift for condensing the strangeness, beauty and excitement of iconic movies into graphics that capture their essence — and become works of art in their own right.
Poster geeks looking for answers can glimpse a behind-the-scenes peek at the creative process at Mondo in the new aptly titled exhibition In Progress, which opened last weekend and tuns through February 23 at the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas.
The show features mind-melting sketches, concepts and line art prepped by design auteurs including Martin Ansin, Ken Taylor, Kevin Tong, Jay Shaw and Tom Whalen en route to final products celebrating Creature From the Black Lagoon, Planet of the Apes, Pan’s Labyrinth, Iron Giant and other cult classics.
Read more from the Wired article HERE.
Artist Kevin Tong talks about his inspiration for his Invisible Man Print:
“When I first started working on The Invisible Man, I knew I would have to find a way to show his body, communicate the he was invisible, and also, that he was going insane,” says Tong. “The bandage unraveling seemed like a good metaphor for his sanity unraveling and showing him fully dressed without a head made it very surreal.”
The Process: Tong says, “My first step is to do a loose sketch in blue pencil. This sketch has more value than my usual posters, so I did a greyscale value study before taking it to final, resulting in the three pieces I have in the show for that poster. Since the film was in black and white, it seemed strange to make the poster full color. I didn’t use color in the poster which sets this one apart from most of my other work, which usually uses super bright colors in some capacity.”
Invisible Man sketch by Kevin Tong
Final Variant Invisible Man poster by Kevin Tong | <urn:uuid:c22ca25b-96ab-4e39-ad51-5c843c2e2755> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firewireblog.com/2013/02/02/amazing-movie-posters-from-mondos-new-in-progress-gallery-show/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960035 | 408 | 1.648438 | 2 |
ATLANTA -- More than 400 people have already answered the call to help Valaria Fenderson. The 11-year-old is battling sickle cell anemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.
On Friday, 11Alive's Help Desk held a bone marrow drive at Spelman College to fina Valaria a match. It will be several weeks before she has an answer.
In the meantime, Valaria and her mother are encouraging even more people to register as bone marrow donors, not just for her but for others like her.
According to the National Marrow Donor Program, each year 10,000 people need a marrow transplant, but don't have a match within their family.
To find out how register as a bone marrow donor, visit BeTheMatch.org.
On October 20, the Be The Match registry will hold a Be The One Run at Atlantic Station. Proceeds from the 5K, 1K Fun Run and Tot Trot will go toward helping marrow patients with uninsured treatment costs, researching marrow transplants, and adding volunteer donors to the national marrow registry. For details, visit BeTheOneRun.org. | <urn:uuid:1a69379a-941c-4430-9ca5-87147c8b28f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.11alive.com/rss/article/256019/40/Valaria-hoping-for-bone-marrow-match | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937122 | 235 | 1.84375 | 2 |
State agents raided a “lobster farm” near this rural northern Nevada town, destroying thousands of Australian redclaw crawfish officials said posed a danger to wildlife in the area.
“It looked like the Army moved in here,” Bob Eddy said Thursday as law enforcement officers destroyed the crawfish on his farm about 165 miles south of Reno. “They got a court order.”
Officials with the state Department of Wildlife said the crawfish, which Eddy was selling as freshwater lobsters, could endanger native species if they escaped into the wild.
“It’s our job to make sure these kind of species don’t end up causing even larger problems,” said Chris Healy, department spokesman. “If we allowed this to happen, a few years down the road people would be saying, ‘Why didn’t the Department of Wildlife do its job?’ ”
After years of trying to get Eddy to apply for a permit to run the farm, wildlife officials said they approved his application with requirements he improve the habitat of springfish living around the 80-degree hot spring where he drew water, to record and report sales to the Department of Wildlife and to allow inspections of his operation.
Eddy disputed the department’s authority to regulate his business and ignored those orders, according to a court ruling. His application to renew his permit was denied, and officials said he continued to sell live crawfish.
In March, Washoe County District Judge Steven Elliot gave Eddy until April 22 to get rid of the live crawfish on his property.
On Thursday, Eddy said shutting down his business will deprive him of his income and vowed to keep fighting.
Healy said biologists estimated Eddy had between 200 and 300 pounds of crawfish on his property.
Eddy, 60, raised cattle along U.S. 95 near Mina until he abandoned ranching about eight years ago, saying he was tired of government rules and regulations.
He opened his self-described “lobster farm,” and posted signs nearby reading “Lobster Crossing” and “U812 Lobster Lane.” Business boomed, and last year, Eddy said his crustaceans were fetching $14 a pound. | <urn:uuid:d69da9e6-93f2-4670-a257-984b4443aff5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/386932.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982219 | 482 | 1.515625 | 2 |
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation's annual Pink Ribbon Day was last Friday.
The thing with breast cancer is that everyone has a story. Everyone has had a sister, daughter or mother, relative or friend, or knows of someone, who has battled the disease.
For me, it was my Aunty Wendy who we lost to breast cancer, my mum who has beaten it only very recently and a close family friend who has just been diagnosed last week.
It's scarily common but luckily, thanks to clever wee scientists, the detection and treatment of breast cancer has come a long way and in most cases early detection can mean total recovery. So as a hats off to all those organisations that fund research into breast cancer and in support of breast cancer awareness I made: Pink Ribbon Rosewater & Pistachio Shortbread.
I bought my wee pink ribbon cookie cutter near the beginning of the year from little cookies and have been waiting all year to bust it out! (pardon the pun - totally unintentional!).
Pink is such a pretty colour. I wanted to make pretty pastel pink shortbread and thought that rosewater would be a perfect flavouring. The recipe called for ground nuts and I really love the combination of rosewater and pistachios but I clearly didn't think that through properly. The pistachios, being green, made the cookies a mucky pink rather than soft ballerina pink, so next time I think I might use ground almonds instead.
I really love the rosewater flavour. It comes through quite strongly so if you're not the biggest fan, decrease the amount of rosewater, say to one tablespoon and add one teaspoon of vanilla.
Also be careful with your baking time and oven temperature. I browned the first batch (12 minutes at 180oC) and under cooked the next (10 minutes 175oC)!
Pink Ribbon Rosewater & Pistachio Shortbread
recipe tweaked from A Culinary Journey by Peter Gordon
Makes around 24 - 30 cookies
125 g unsalted butter softened
100 g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp rosewater (or 1Tbsp rosewater + 1 tsp vanilla for a more subtle flavour)
70 g ground pistachio (or ground almonds)
210 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
pink food colouring (optional)
1. Cream butter and sugar briefly. I just did this by hand, coz you don't want to get too much air in there.
2. Beat in the egg yolk and then stir in ground pistachios, rosewater and a couple of drops of food colouring.
3. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix to form a dough.
4. Form into a lump, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten slightly. Refrigerate for one hour.
5. Preheat your oven to 180oC. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
6. Take the dough from the fridge and divide in two. Put the other half back into the fridge. Roll the dough out in between 2 pieces of baking paper to around 0.5 cm. Cut to shapes with a cookie cutter - a pink ribbon one in my case - and place on prepared baking trays. Sprinkle with a little extra caster sugar.
7. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes (mine took exactly 11 minutes) - be careful not to brown. Cool on a wire rack.
8. Store in an airtight container for up to one week. | <urn:uuid:917ecaa0-14fb-4312-aadf-2f256ce59104> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bakingequalslove.com/2010/10/pink-ribbon-rosewater-pistachio.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951713 | 735 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The U.S. is still a nation of immigrants: One in six U.S. workers was born somewhere else. Here's where America's immigrants come from, and what they do for work.
Of the American immigrant population, where were the workers born? In what industries are they employed? These are two straight-forward graphics with the answers to those questions. | <urn:uuid:d17636c1-2ea5-4078-84a8-6446839da7fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scoop.it/t/geography-education/p/2086569134/immigrants-working-in-america?tag=Congo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987599 | 75 | 1.757813 | 2 |
On January 1st, Portugal initiated an anti-smoking program throughout the nation. It was designed to halt smoking in public places. Antonio Nunes, who was given responsibility for enforcing the law was photographed on January 1st smoking a cigar in a casino. Instead of apologizing for his mistake, Mr. Nunes, said that he was not aware the anti-smoking law applied to casinos as well as cafes, restaurants, and bars. The Ministry of Health confirmed the ban applied to casinos. M. Nunes responded to questions with, “We will have to look into what is in the law.”
Perhaps, the next time Mr. Nunes is given responsibility to enforce a law he will take a few moments and actually read the law he is supposed to carry out. Anyway, have a good smoke. | <urn:uuid:0614b7bb-3130-4eff-8fbe-93ddcf7befef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theimpudentobserver.com/world-news/2205/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988523 | 161 | 1.5 | 2 |
Today, as I hear stories and see images of the destruction caused by the tornado just four days after I left, my heart is saddened, and my thoughts are with those who must soon start to face the journey of recovery. Tearing through 17 miles of central Oklahoma and leveling hundreds of homes on Monday, the F5 tornado spanned 1.3 miles and packed winds that topped 200 mph. As the search continues for those who are missing, I’ve found myself reflecting on the city, the loss and the challenges that are being endured. And, I am reminded of The Survivor Tree.
This 80-year-old American elm witnessed one of the worst terrorist attacks in our country. Prior to the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, this lone elm stood in the middle of a parking lot, surrounded by concrete and cars, outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. While some folks enjoyed parking under the limited shade of its limbs, others thought it was an eyesore. Not much went into caring for this tree — until it was the only thing left standing.
On April 19, 1995, a 4,000-pound bomb exploded at the federal building, killing 168 people, injuring hundreds and destroying multiple buildings. But this tree, in the midst of the explosion and fires, survived. Then, it was almost cut down to recover evidence embedded in its trunk and limbs, but the community, survivors and rescue workers all came together to protect the tree as a symbol of resilience. Today, the tree thrives, surrounded by special features that protect and highlight it.
As I watch the news and hear stories of the newest tragedy to strike Oklahoma City, I reflect on the courage and strength of this community. As we make strides to make some sense of the natural and man-made horrors that come our way, I find hope in the tenacity of our human spirit. As we seek to support the recovery of this town in its time of need, I wanted to share the story of The Survivor Tree as a symbol of the strength of Oklahomans. As the inscription around the tree reads, “The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.” | <urn:uuid:edfc4303-85d7-4e1b-b1b3-1cb4a3ba9467> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanforests.org/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963814 | 452 | 1.75 | 2 |
Publish by: GDC Construction
Couple's road to provenance paved by a Crosby (no, not that one)
by Wayne Carlson / photography by Larny J. Mack
This new pool was carved out of a canyon hillside behind a Spanish colonial home in La Jolla. Bronze lions from China flank a stacked-stone fountain. Reclaimed tiles in the portico (right) and pool house (rear) were selected to match the main house's roof.
n the stately Spanish colonial residence sitting beneath a small grove of pine trees in La Jolla, treasures are displayed around every stuccoed corner and behind every hand-carved door. Under a spiral staircase, an alabaster Thai goddess squeezes water from a long braid of hair. In the family room, a kneeling wood nun from Burma contemplates her own contradiction: Her dour expression does not match her festive amber necklaces. Sweet carved-wood figures of wedding couples from Bali and Thailand warm the adjoining living and dining rooms. At one end of this great room, a tower of African masks spices a support beam. At the other, a red painted wood shrine from Thailand stands in a light and airy corner, its lotus shaped finials gleaming on a sunbeam. The remarkable piece formerly graced the late designer Tony Duquette's Dawnridge residence in Beverly Hills.
Elsewhere, a central Mexico tapestry woven by the mythology-rich Huichol tribe of Indians hangs above a hand-carved Burmese entertainment cabinet that's tattooed with good-luck symbols. And in each perimeter room, overlooking the treasures in the courtyard, are windows reclaimed from an ancient Mexican sugar factory.
When the owners of this spectacular home decided to add a pool and open-air entertaining/dining space, they naturally decided it, too, would be designed with ideas from around the globe, with emphasis on Southeast Asia and Mexico. Since the husband loves Mexican design and the wife adores Asian, the design scheme was a given.
The home was designed 38 years ago by its original owner, author photographer Harry Crosby, a noted authority on Mexico. For guidance on the architecture, Crosby consulted some 200 images he had captured of eight Spanish Colonial residences in Patzcuaro, a town in the Mexican state of Michoacan. He also brought back from Mexico a large cache of building materials, including antique carvedwood doors, stenciled ceiling beams, two carved-stone fireplaces and saltillo tiles that pave both exterior and interior floors. The two-and-a-half-year construction project was completed in 1974.
After the present owner acquired the house from Crosby in the late '70s, he hired George Dewhurst's GDC Construction, Inc., of La Jolla, to fix some structural problems. Through the years, Dewhurst did other work, including the maintenance of columns, ironwork, stucco and the radiant heating under the tile floors.
Dewhurst's son Pancho, vice president of the company, headed up the new pool project, which was launched in 2008. The job's biggest problem, says the younger Dewhurst, was preparing the building site a steep canyon hillside that rose from the back of the lot.
"We had to build a ramp to the street to take out 300 cubic yards of dirt we excavated with a Bobcat," he says. "We had to put in a series of caissons to support the pool and the retaining walls that step up the hillside."
The new project's design was a collaborative effort among Dewhurst, architect Michael Morton and the lady of the house, who, with her husband, asked to remain anonymous for this story.
"She had a lot of great ideas," Dewhurst says. "Like she and her husband, I travel a great deal. We had been to Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, so we tried to create a Spanish-style staircase that was similar to those on the pyramids there."
To reach the pool, one takes a wide three-step flight of tile stairs to a landing, which features a reclining Buddha from China in a niche in a stucco wall. From there, f lanking symmetrical sets of stairs mirror each other as they climb to converge in front of antique Indian double doors that hang from a tile-covered portico that mimics the roof of the house.
Antique carved entry doors from Mexico, intricate stonework and saltillo tile are original to this La Jolla house, which was built in the early 1970s for photographer/historian Harry Crosby. The present homeowners found the bronze lions in northern China.
Stenciled Mexican beams and hand-painted Spanish tiles decorate the foyer's 14-foot-high ceiling. Full-height mirrors frame a pair of wrought-iron tables by noted interior designer Gerald Jerome. On the tables are Javanese metal bells. Scallop detail is gilded with gold leaf.
The doors open to reveal a blend of architecture and landscape that mixes Southeast Asian and New World details. Components include a 75-foot lap pool and spa with a state-of-the-art saltwater system and inset into the wall behind the pool a 20-foot stone fountain flanked by a pair of bronze lions that reference a larger pair that stand guard outside the home's main entrance.
On one end of the pool is a covered open-air living/dining space with handcarved wood columns from Southeast Asia not unlike those in the courtyard. Off this space is an open stone shower that was inspired by ones the homeowners had admired in Thailand.
This new construction is so seamless it appears to have been done in the same time frame as the house, which is filled not only with art objects and folk art but also architectural details that are foreshadowed in the 14-foot-high foyer. Here, above hand-carved Mexican double doors, is a scallop detail with gold leaf.
Tapestry on wall was woven by Huichol Indians in a village near Ixtlan in Mexico's Sierra Madre Mountains. Burmese cabinet was decorated with good-luck symbols that match those on an antique reliquary (below the wooden nun figure), which is a repository for sacred documents.
Figures on the mantel of the living room's original stone fireplace are Pre-Columbian; the bells are Chinese. The wooden sculpture on the wall is Asian. On the hearth are a Jade incense burner from Beijing and figures depicting a Balinese wedding couple. Ottoman is covered in faux white crocodile.
Outdoor stackedstone shower was fabricated by South Coast Tile Co. of Imperial Beach.
Traditional Thai carvedwood figures of a wedding couple sit on the dining room sideboard.
The breakfast nook's iron-and-glass walls looking out to the courtyard were reclaimed from an old sugar factory in Mexico. Presiding in the corner is a wood carving of Guanyin, a Chinese goddess.
that is echoed in an art niche in the living room. Hand-painted Spanish ceiling tiles and stenciled ceiling beams are repeated throughout the house. Other items of note here are full-height mirrors that frame iron cabinets designed by the late great mid-century San Diego interior designer Gerald Jerome. With its hand-carved columns and doors, wooden support beams with corbel ends, ceiling tiles, wrought-iron rails, stucco masonry walls, two piece reclaimed Spanish roof tiles, this house is the perfect gallery for the couple's wonderfully exotic collection. The first of the home's two handcarved stone fireplaces can be found in the living room that, with the dining room, constitutes the home's main gallery space for the fabulous art pieces, furniture and accessories the couple have collected in their travels. A major contribution that Harry Crosby made is the home's free-flowing connection to the large courtyard, which has its own collection of treasures, including a centerpiece carvedstone fountain. Crosby designed the floor plan so every main room looks out to the outdoors through the sugarfactory windows. "Our home is not like the big mansions you've seen in Rancho Santa Fe," the comely homeowner had said as she greeted visitors to her house. "It's much smaller than the houses you're probably used to seeing." That may be true, but there remains one certainty about her own residence: It is as much a San Diego treasure as any of the amazing objects and art that it shelters. | <urn:uuid:e2ad9289-02ec-43a8-ad6f-7fb9589f3c5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sandiegohomeservice.com/services/home-builders | 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 | 0.961576 | 1,754 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Tahrir Square: The Many Little Revolutions
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The Arabic sign says "Ahmed (a Muslim name) and Mina (a Christian name), hand in hand." The Arabic literally says "one hand." The name of the young woman with whom I am standing is Nariman. Much to my shame, I had never talked to a woman with a niqab (total head cover) before.
Although I have been going to Tahrir regularly, last Sunday was different. And even though Tahrir is where the Egyptian revolution is taking place, I am convinced that there are personal revolutions happening there daily. A man with a beard [signifying a Muslim] stood next to me and told me, "This is the first time I have heard Christians pray." He offered me dates to eat and sang "Bless our country" with us.
One of the Muslim Brotherhood members in Tahrir said, "I can honestly say that today is the first time that I've ever met a Christian brother. We hugged and kissed and I cried because I've never felt so close to another Egyptian who wants the same things that I do." People may disagree on how representative these [relational transformations] are, but surely we agree on how wonderful and irreversible these personal revolutions are.
My friend has spoken with one member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tahrir and the man was so apologetic of what he has always called Westernized [Christian] girls in jeans. He said that they were the first to rush to his aid when he was injured and to provide him with first aid and water. He too has had a personal revolution and promised never to misjudge these young people again. It was truly heartwarming to hear.
I am grateful for the many personal revolutions that we all experience there every day we go.
In Arabic the word "Tahrir" means liberation, but it is a present continuous verb. Tahrir -- liberation -- is the work of every day and it may never be over.
Sorry for the long email ... but I just wanted to give context to the photo.
Much love, pray for Egypt. | <urn:uuid:24d32a9b-33b0-4198-9e2d-63bd8e48dfb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sojo.net/blogs/2011/02/15/tahrir-square-many-little-revolutions | 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 | 0.976939 | 438 | 1.75 | 2 |
In the midst of all this AmazonFail controversy about Amazon.com, a report has oozed out of the Internet saying the Seattle company now accounts for about one-third of e-commerce. That’s according to RBC Capital analyst Stephen Ju, via Barron’s:
Performing a “gross-up” analysis, he concludes that “(Amazon) may be facilitating close to a third of all e-commerce in the U.S.,” and that it continues to gain share here. He also sees opportunity for further gains in international online retailing.
Actually, Ju’s data suggests the total slice of U.S. e-commerce through Amazon was about 34% in Q4, up from 27% a year earlier.
Take another look at that last little bit, which states Amazon’s share of the e-commerce market rose 7 percent — yes, 7 percent — in one year (at least for that quarter). Wait a minute — aren’t we in the middle of an economic recession, one that’s been going on since December 2007?
One possible reason: sales tax. Or, more precisely, the lack thereof. According to one of Amazon’s support pages, the only states that receive sales tax from online purchases are Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota and Washington.
For everyone else in the U.S., buying things off of Amazon can amount to significant savings. | <urn:uuid:19a9a946-7788-4127-9577-1f364132eb14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.seattlepi.com/amazon/category/amazon-retail/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94066 | 302 | 1.640625 | 2 |
1 This is the invitation I received to attend the opening of William Wegman's "Hello Nature."
2 This is William Wegman, the extremely well known photographer who features Weimaraners as his focal point.
3 In addition to being a pioneering video artist and photographer, William Wegman is also a prolific painter and draftsman. Since 1978, he has divided his time between New York City and the Rangeley Lakes Region of Maine.
4 Here I am with Kevin Salatino - Bowdoin College Museum of Art Director. At the end of this summer, Kevin is leaving Bowdoin to become the director of art collections at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA.
5 Posing with Daniel Dowd, a local Maine artist who painted all of Wegman's imagery onto the walls of the exhibit space.
6 Wegman revisits many of the materials that have shaped our cultural expectations of the outdoors, including Boy Scout Manuals, field guides, nineteenth-century Transcendentalist literature, and postcards. This wonderful red backdrop is a vinyl blowup of his work.
7 The red and black plaid is a blowup of a traditional wool hunting jacket.
8 More Wegman imagery of outdoor activities - This is Barry Mills, President of Bowdoin College speaking with Margaret Broaddus.
9 This is the dome in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art rotunda, which was designed by McKim, Mead and White, the firm that also designed the Boston Public Library, The Morgan Library & Museum in New York, and the Brooklyn Museum.
10 There are gorgeous murals below the dome in the rotunda. This one is “Venice” by Kenyon Cox, 1894.
11 This rotunda mural is “Athens” by John La Farge, 1898.
12 This is “Florence” by Aboott Thayer, 1894.
13 And this rotunda mural is called “Rome” by Elihu Vedder, 1894.
14 This horse sculpture made from barbed wire is called “Rondo” by Deborah Butterfield, 1981.
15 The Bowdoin College Museum of Art gift shop is filled with interesting books and curios. Like many museum shops, it's a great place to shop for unusual gifts.
16 This is the entrance of the Studzinski Recital Hall and this is John J. Studzinski of the Class of 1978 and a Trustee of the College.
17 John Studzinski is an international financier and philanthropist whose gift to the College made possible this recital hall, thereby enriching the cultural life of the Bowdoin community for generations to come.
18 Also designed by McKim, Mead and White, this amazing state-of-the-art 280-seat concert hall once housed a swimming pool. The hall was dedicated on May 11, 2007.
19 This is the college chapel, which was completed in 1857. The building also houses the McKeen Center for the Common Good, named for Bowdoin's first president, Joseph McKeen, who said at his inauguration in 1802 that "literary institutions are founded and endowed for the common good, and not for the private advantage of those who resort to them for education."
20 Cocktails and dinner were held in the main lounge at Moulton Union.
21 Guests mingled on the terrace with great views of the campus.
22 Time Takes all but Memories - This sundial was presented by the Class of 1951 to honor Nathaniel Cooper Kendrick - Dean of the College 1947 to 1966 - Close friend of generations of Bowdoin men.
23 This was my place setting at the gala dinner.
24 Bowdoin President, Barry Mills, welcomed all of the guests.
25 It was great catching up with William Wegman.
26 This is the Bowdoin College Wedgwood china with a view of Hubbard Hall from the Museum steps. So many colleges had special sets of dishes designed just for them.
27 Another view
28 And another
29 The first course was local Maine heirloom tomato slices with buffalo mozzarella and tender arugula.
30 There was beautifully grilled chicken.
31 And tender sauteed trout
32 The rest of the dinner course consisted of sauteed local summer squash, a grilled portobello mushroom with caramelized onions and goat cheese, and rice.
33 A nice shot of me with Willliam and Kevin
34 Ken Cardone and Chef David Crooker | <urn:uuid:9007687d-f8c2-4f39-8f2a-95c1d512f3b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themarthablog.com/2012/07/attending-a-william-wegman-exhibit-at-the-bowdoin-college-museum-of-art.html?xsc=gplus_social_2012_07_17 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956845 | 955 | 1.804688 | 2 |
|You are here: Home > Career Guides|
What's it really like?
Ben Attenborough is 25 years old and has recently qualified as a dentist. He gives us the inside story...
After I finished my GCSEs and A levels I went straight from school to dental school where I completed a degree to become a Bachelor of Dentistry. I spent 5 years at dental school (at the University of Leeds) followed by one year as a vocational dental practitioner. Nine months ago I completed my vocational training and I am now working as a full time associate dentist.
My normal day involves me getting to work for around 8.30 and seeing the general public of Mirfield (the town where I work) and the surrounding towns, doing checkups, fillings, extractions, dentures and other treatments. Being a dentist, I love the fact that I get to use my hands in my work, treating patients and making them happy and healthy. Every day is different and as I never know what’s coming next its rarely boring. On the downside, the job can be very tiring as the hours of the job are often long. I don’t always like dealing with difficult patients as there are occasions where you get verbally abused by patients or their family. It is important to have thick skin and you need to be immune to bad breath!
To be a dentist you need to have a high level of commitment to the job and the right attitude: it is easy to get offended, flustered or stressed out when you’re treating an especially difficult patient. It is also necessary to have an interest in medicine and good manual dexterity. Over the next few years I will hopefully complete my first postgraduate qualification (called an MDJF) which will allow me to specialise in a particular area of dentistry. I’m not sure what I will do yet but I am considering something called sedation dentistry. To get into dental school you need to have good A Levels and tons of dental experience. I would advise potential student dentists to spend as much time as possible shadowing your dentist and any others you can hook!
Dentists are responsible for evaluating oral health and diagnosing health problems through patient check-ups, and performing preventative work and restorative treatment on the mouth and gums.
Dentists work to promote oral health by carrying out dental work on private and NHS patients in the community or general practice. Their work involves monitoring oral health, carrying out work to prevent tooth decay or repairing damage that has occurred to the teeth and gums. Dentists usually work for a general practice but they may also work for the Community Dental Service, which focuses on the assessment and treatment of children, the elderly and patients with special needs. Alternatively they may work in a private practice or as a consultant in a dental or general hospital. Dentists who work in a practice are usually self-employed which means their work also involves making business decisions and overseeing the day-to-day running of the practice, either alone (in a small practice) or more commonly in partnership with other dental professionals.
Trainee dentists usually start on around £28,000 during their vocational training period and, once qualified, typically earn between £ 70 – 90,000 depending on experience, specialisms and professional development. Salaries are dependant upon the amount of private and NHS work dentists undertake and on the costs of running a practice. With the exception of newly qualified dentists undertaking their work based training period, most dentists are self employed which means they share responsibility for business costs with the other dentist professionals working in the practice.
Dentists' responsibilities vary depending on their patients but they typically include:
Dentists are required to undertake a Bachelor of Dentistry or a Bachelor of Dental Health degree at one of the thirteen recognised university dentist schools in the UK. The degree usually takes five years to complete for students studying full time and includes a mixture of lectures, scientific study and practical placements in the community, hospital and surgery. Getting on to a dentistry degree course is very competitive and requires candidates to have a minimum of three A Levels at grades ABB (or higher) including an A Level in chemistry (or other science) and maths. Students will also need to have good GCSEs (grade A – C) in all the sciences, maths and English. After dentists have qualified they are required to undertake a period of vocational training under the supervision of a dental practice.
Dentists are required to have an excellent knowledge of their subject, coupled with good interpersonal skills. More specifically they must have:
Dentists usually keep normal office hours working from 9 – 5.30 from Monday – Friday. Depending on patient demands, however, dentists may sometimes be required to work at the weekends or in the evenings, particularly if there have been unforeseen delays during the day.
To qualify as a dentist, student dentists must gain a certain amount of experience in a dental practice which is incorporated into their degree course. Getting on to the degree course is very competitive, however, so it is also worthwhile shadowing a qualified dentist before applying for a course to show commitment to the job. It is important that dentists have experience of a wide range of patients and dental work, as part of their degree involves completing work placements with a community practice, in a general surgery and in a hospital. This allows them to get a feel for the different aspects of dentistry and to make an informed decision about the type of work they will do once they qualify.
Most dentists work in a general practice either as a partner or a dental associate. The Hospital Dental Service accounts for 10 % of jobs and around 6 % of dentists work for the Community Dental Service. Dentists are also needed to teach and research in universities and to provide oral health care to soldiers in the army. Some large corporate companies even employ dentists to undertake the oral healthcare of their employees, although this is relatively rare outside London.
Once newly qualified dentists have completed their work-based vocational training they usually apply to become an associate of a dental practice, which means they are self-employed in a practice owned by another dentist. With further experience dentists can then progress to the position of partner in a practice which means they have a share of the business and the decisions which go with owning a business. There are always more skills dentists can gain and to stay registered with the General Dental Council dentists are required to undertake 250 hours of professional development every five years. In addition, dentists can undertake postgraduate training in a specialist area of dentistry e.g orthodontics or dental surgery | <urn:uuid:9ddad8c6-e56b-4105-bcde-8d3ea943f676> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myjobsearch.com/careers/dentist.html | 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 | 0.972533 | 1,369 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Post Cards, Journals, and Road Trip Mementos
Take only pictures, leave only footprints. How many times have you seen this reminder on a park sign? Here’s a 20+ year confession; the paper weight on my desk is a triangular-shaped rock I lifted from the Continental Divide the summer between third and fourth grade. I blame my parents, of course.
Documenting your vacation in the form of post cards and journaling (blogging counts) is great for kids for a number of reasons, including (1) it keeps them writing and reading on summer vacation, (2) it gives them the “job” of historian (keeping them occupied in the car, restaurant, hotel, or campground–yes!), (3) they are collecting material for those first “What I did on Summer Vacation” projects when school is back in session.
Thanks to advances in digital film technology, it’s easy to hand the kids a camera and let the creative liberty begin. Check out this photo from the Wisconsin Deer Park. Taken by a three-year-old, is anyone craving Milk Duds right now? Hit the post office and buy a book of post card stamps. Sharpen pencils. Pack notebooks and tape (acorns and seashells can be “contained” to paper instead of the tiny car projectiles they really are). We once took home a cactus in a Wendy’s fast food cup. Embrace your inner Eagle Scout.
To get you started, check out the book “Postcards from Mr. Pish: A Cross-Country Journal,” by K.S. Brooks. Using post cards as a trip journal, Brooks took her Jack Russell Terrier, Mr. Pish, on a drive from coast-to-coast and even into Canada. As the “author,” Mr. Pish writes about what he sees, where he goes, and what he learns. Featured in photos throughout the country, my younger kids shrieked with delight at the one where Mr. Pish was pretending to drive the car. Note: this led to a discussion about why dogs are ineligible for a drivers license. Ever. Yes, folks, these kids will be running our country some day!
Whether it’s sending post cards, looking for license plates, collecting coins, adding to charm bracelets; really there’s no right or wrong way to document your trip. The point is to include and engage your kids (heck, even get them in on the itinerary planning) and roll with the punches. Someone will probably, inevitably, sneak home a rock or two. But, twenty years later, they’ll probably have a paper weight souvenir and some stories to tell! And you can go back and have a good laugh too. | <urn:uuid:f0cf8e80-bfde-459f-963f-51d192f6e607> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.roadtripsforfamilies.com/2010/10/postcards-journals-and-road-trip-momentos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945239 | 585 | 1.570313 | 2 |
India's prime minister has called the violence a "national disgrace"
Thousands of Catholic schools are shut across India in protest against continuing anti-Christian violence in the eastern state of Orissa.
Eleven people have died after a Hindu leader was killed in the state's Kandhamal district last Saturday.
Authorities said Maoist rebels were behind the killing, but some Hindu groups have accused Christians.
Over 3000 police have been deployed but attacks on churches continue. Hundreds of Christians have fled their homes.
The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the violence as a "national disgrace".
The Pope too has condemned the violence and the Italian government has also expressed its concerns.
'More help needed'
The Catholic Bishops Conference of India - the highest body of Catholic Bishops - has announced that all Catholic schools and colleges across India would remain closed on Friday.
The organisation runs almost 25,000 schools and colleges in India.
Christian organisations also planned to hold peaceful protest rallies in various cities.
Some non-Catholic Christian schools have also closed for the day.
The Orissa state government say the situation in Kandhamal district is now under control.
Hundreds of Christians have fled their homes in Orissa
But the Archbishop of Bhubaneswar, the Orissa capital, Rapheal Cheenath, says the state government must do more to help out those affected by the violence.
"They are refugees now because they have left their homes. They are living in the forests and they should be brought back," he says.
"It is the responsibility of the government that these refugees should be brought back. And also to send for force if necessary to stop this killing, to stop this burning, to stop this looting."
The BBC's Rahul Tandon in Bhubaneswar says this is a complex issue - Hindu groups have long accused Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and low-caste Hindus to change their faith.
Christians say lower-caste Hindus convert willingly to escape the Hindu caste system.
As the authorities struggle to deal with the present situation, the divide between the two communities grows wider and wider, our correspondent says.
Trouble began on Saturday after Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati was shot along with four others in an attack in the Kandhamal district.
The attack has led to days of rioting between Hindu and Christian communities.
Hindu mobs have burnt down monasteries, churches and an orphanage run by Christians.
Among those killed was a Hindu woman who was working at the orphanage, in the village of Barakhama.
The violence was condemned by Pope Benedict XVI who said he was "profoundly saddened" and called for communities to try to restore "peaceful coexistence
"I firmly condemn any attack on human life," Pope Benedict told a crowd of pilgrims on Wednesday.
"I express spiritual closeness and solidarity to the brothers and sisters in faith who are being so harshly tested."
He labelled the death of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati as "deplorable". | <urn:uuid:dae7d6dc-91f8-4ad6-bafb-16fc6ba0df18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7587319.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975966 | 635 | 1.726563 | 2 |
There is no guarantee that your questions here will ever be answered. You can be published anonymously - just let us know!
From Clark Ashton Smith
Answered By Ben Okopnik
In issue 21 there was an article by the "The Answer Guy" which explained how to use the masquerade feature in a local sendmail configuration.
[Ben] Issue 21 is from 1997. Considering how much Linux has changed since those days, and how closely "sendmail" is tied into all those changes, relying on information that old is not going to get you good results.
On the other hand, the information that is available for setting up sendmail is generally pretty poor, and not at all intended for the casual user; it's pretty nightmarish out there.
It worked fine with Redhat 5.2 Linux, but I just tried it on Redhat 6.0 and the FEATURE(nodns) reports that it is a no-op and I should use the service.switch file to disable dns lookup. Well after 5 hours of reading sendmail faqs, newsgroups and tips I am no closer to making this work.
I have a simple network with a ppp connection to the internet. Many folks out there must have similar setups.
Could someone please show us how to get the masquerade feature working again?
[Ben] Well, you could look at my article in issue 58, called "Configuring Sendmail in RedHat 6.2"; this might be a bit more up to date, and tells you how to do masquerading. Given the situation that you're in, though, you might want to try installing "masqmail" - all the features you need in your situation, made to work well with a masquerading setup, works with multiple ISPs, and it is much less complex than "sendmail".
If you set it up and it does what you need, you owe the Oracle an article on your experience. <grin> Just kidding. Hope this helps.
[Heather] Actually, we really could use the article I've tried masqmail and it looked okay, but, its minimal documentation seems to assume that you'll be using masqdialer to drive your dialup connection. I never quite got around to spending the time to make it deal with changing, but non-dialed connections (such as laptops often encounter). A little AnswerGang message or even article about your experience setting it up properly without that assumption, would be really handy. Alternatively, now you also know about masqdial too, and it may make dialing into your ISPs easier.
|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29| | <urn:uuid:23e23f42-cd1a-4a49-92eb-137f31837291> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ftp.dei.uc.pt/LDP/LDP/LGNET/issue65/tag/11.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952652 | 574 | 1.789063 | 2 |
MP urges native vegetation laws review
The Member for Murray-Wellington, Murray Cowper, has urged the Western Australian Government to suspend all prosecutions against landowners and conduct a review of native vegetation laws.
The Queensland Government recently suspended all prosecutions against landowners while it investigates controversial laws which limit the ability of landowners to clear their properties.
Mr Cowper says Western Australia should follow Queensland's lead because the current native vegetation laws in WA are causing landowners to suffer heavy and needless losses on their investments.
He says the Department of Environment and Conservation in WA is coming down hard on farmers who are needed to provide food for the rest of the world. | <urn:uuid:26544d20-660d-450f-8229-390d8180dc72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-12/mp-urges-native-vegetation-laws-review/4066236 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956796 | 129 | 1.53125 | 2 |
|Did it pay to refinance home following election?
Two questions on every mortgage applicants’ mind: Where are mortgage rates?
Did it make sense to wait till after the presidential election to complete my purchase or refinance?
Let’s be clear about one underlining theme..
It’s the perception of the election’s results by the markets that cause mortgage rates to move.
Let’s explore further…
Now that President Barack Obama has been reelected for another term, what is poised to happen is a corporate sell off of stocks, and those funds will be moved into the fixed income market, bonds, more specifically, mortgage bonds stimulating lower mortgages rates.
Why? Because when economic news surfaces that holds the economy back from growing further, strictly based on policies, this in turn creates weaker confidence in the markets and the possibility of investment risk rises as more people feel uncertain about the future of the economy. The next best asset vehicle is the bond market because it offers a safer more conservative return for investors looking to protect their money in uncertain economic times.
Had Republican Gov. Mitt Romney been elected, it would have spelled good news, at least for the markets because Republican policy is less restrictive on regulation.
Macro-level reduced government regulation, for Wall Street investors, creates confidence the economy has the ability to grow on its own with less oversight.
A more attractive looking equities market fuels a market rally at the liquidation of bonds creating slightly higher mortgage rates.
Traditionally speaking, but not always, as the stock market improves, mortgage rates tend to worsen and vice versa; as the stock market declines, mortgage rates improve.
On some trading days, both stocks and bonds rally and on other trading days, both stocks and bonds sell off. Stocks and bonds are the yin and yang of the financial markets, moving funds from one investment at the expense of the other, makes rates move.
Now the election is over, what about mortgage rates? We would advocate paying attention to how the financial markets perceive the results of the election especially pertaining to the following areas – unemployment, growth/inflation and taxes.
If the stock market or the bond market moves sharply in either direction as explained by one of these three areas, we can expect rates to move up or down by anywhere from an .125-.5 percent in rate.
While the election’s results certainly can influence the market in one direction or another, there are three significant characteristics of the economy, keeping mortgage rates low for the foreseeable future:
1. Unemployment still remains high, just under 8 percent, putting pressure on stocks and weakening consumer confidence keeping money invested in bonds.
2. Federal Reserve’s commitment to purchase mortgage-backed securities/mortgage-backed bonds moving forward making the bond market on awfully attractive investment vehicle for investors weary of the economy.
3. Strong economic growth, the kind of job growth needed to spark inflation is virtually nonexistent.
The high unemployment rate, the Fed’s commitment to purchasing mortgage bonds and a lack of strong economic growth will keep mortgage rates low for the foreseeable future.
What this means for your next mortgage loan is if you can benefit by purchasing or refinancing now with interest rates as low as they are, take advantage.
Scott Sheldon is a local mortgage lender, with over six years of experience helping people purchase and refinance primary residences, second homes and investment properties. Visit him at www.sonomacountymortgages.com. | <urn:uuid:011a5a2c-992c-4b35-b2f8-5388a51be7d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecommunityvoice.com/article.php?id=5805 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946053 | 720 | 1.59375 | 2 |
This article was originally distributed via PRWeb. PRWeb, WorldNow and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith.
SOURCE: The Facial Paralysis Institute
Babak Azizzadeh, MD, FACS, and director of the Facial Paralysis Institute in Beverly Hills, shares his expert opinion surrounding newly developed preoperative percutaneous mapping and discusses the benefits of the strategy.
Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) March 21, 2013
In a new study published in the National Library of Medicine, a successful new approach involving pre-operative percutaneous mapping pertaining to surgery surrounding cerebral aneurysms was examined. According to Babak Azizzadeh, MD, FACS, and director of the FacialParalysis Institute in Beverly Hills, the new advance could greatly reduce the number of patientswho experience post-operative muscle palsy, also described as temporary facial paralysis.
“With the testing completed in the study, I have no doubts that this could potentially reduce the number of patients who have trouble with facial paralysis following treatment for a cerebral aneurysm. Doctors will now have a better understanding how to identify high risk patients before operating,” said world-renowned facial paralysis surgeon Babak Azizzadeh, MD, FACS.
In the study, mapping of the frontal facial nerve branch was completed in 52 pre-operative patients who eventually underwent supraorbital keyhole approaches for aneurysmal clipping. Of the 52 individuals, 11 experienced varying degrees of muscle palsy with all returning to normal function within 2-5 months. The study determined that patients with the highest risk of developing post-operative palsy indicated mapping exclusively at one centimeter from the line measured in the supraorbital margin.
At the Facial Paralysis Institute in Beverly Hills, world-renowned facial paralysis expert Dr. Azizzadeh successfully helps individuals overcome facial paralysis should they not recover from the condition on their own. In the case that a patient should seek treatment to improve muscle palsy as a result of a supraorbital keyhole approach to treat a cerebral aneurysm, Dr. Azizzadeh often finds that a procedure called the masseteric-facial nerve transfer highly effective. In this procedure, Dr. Azizzadeh is able to suture the masseter nerve to the paralyzed facial nerve to bring neural input to the facial muscles, improving function and promoting facial reanimation.
“For patients who do not recover from facial paralysis after one year, treatments including the masseteric-facial nerve transfer and cross-facial nerve graft with gracilis muscle flap have really created a significant positive impact,” said Dr. Azizzadeh. "The ability to regain smile movement is among the best I've ever seen using these two procedures."
Dr. Azizzadeh is trained in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, as well as Head & Neck Surgery, giving him a distinctive insight into facial nerve function and facial aesthetics. Dr. Azizzadeh also has extensive training in microsurgical facial reconstruction, which is often required for the treatment of people who are born with facial paralysis. With the reputation as the leading expert in his field, Dr. Azizzadeh has been recognized as a Top Doctor by the US News & World Report and completed a fellowship in facial plastic & reconstructive surgery at the prestigious Harvard Medical School.
For additional information regarding the Facial Paralysis Institute in Beverly Hills or for a schedule of support group meetings, please contact Dr. Azizzadeh by calling (310) 657-2203. Additional inquiries may be made by visiting: http://www.facialparalysisinstitute.com/.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/3/prweb10550760.htm
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1111 Bull St. | <urn:uuid:76343313-3f19-4205-82f7-e1fe29d200cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wistv.com/story/21755184/new-study-suggests-preoperative-mapping-of-facial-nerve-in-cerebral-aneurysm-patients-may-reduce-risk-of-developing-muscle-palsy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932199 | 873 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Polls have closed in Mexico's presidential election, in which voters seem set to bring the PRI, the party that ran the country for seven decades, back to power.
Nearly 80 million Mexicans were eligible to cast ballots in Sunday's vote. Election officials are expected to announce the first official results at around 04:45 GMT on Monday.
Final results are expected later in the week, with the opposition party that dominated the country for most of the past century poised for a comeback after the ruling conservatives failed to provide strong growth or halt a brutal drugs war.
Twelve years after the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost power, polls show its candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto,
heading into the vote on Sunday with a double-digit lead over his opponents, despite lingering doubts about the party.
Adam Raney reports from Ciudad Juarez
Tainted by corruption, electoral fraud and occasional bouts of brutal authoritarianism during its 71 years in power, the PRI
was voted out in 2000. But it has bounced back, helped by the economic malaise and a tide of lawlessness that have plagued Mexico under the conservative National Action Party (PAN).
After ending the PRI's rule in 2000, the PAN raised hopes of a new dawn for democracy in Mexico. But years of weak growth and the death of more than 55,000 people in drug-related killings since 2007 have eroded its popularity.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) insists that his figures show that he can pull an upset victory.
Lopez Obrador lost in 2006 by less than one per cent and claimed he was robbed of his victory. Weeks of mass protests followed, bringing Mexico City to a standstill.
Polls show Josefina Vazquez Mota from PAN in a distant third, with about 24 per cent support, while Gabriel Quadri,
a civil engineer representing a party created by the country's powerful teachers' union, has between two and four percent support.
Mexican presidents are elected by simple majority for six-year terms and are banned from running for re-election. Consecutive re-election is also banned in all other elected positions.
There is no run-off vote, meaning that a plurality of votes likely will be cast for someone other than the winner.
Mistrust in the electoral system runs high. Pre-vote surveys suggested that 40 per cent of the nearly 80 million eligible voters will not bother to show up at the polls.
A survey out Friday by the Autonomous University of Mexico showed that 71 per cent of Mexicans believe electoral fraud is possible.
Al Jazeera's correspondent Rachel Levin, reporting from Mexico City, said that this election has seen an unprecedented amount of monitors.
"There are more than 30,000 observers distributed throughout the country and all the main political parties sent their own monitors. There are also 700 observers form 60 countries to make sure this is a free and fair election," Levin said.
Also on the ballot are 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies who serve for three years; 128 members of the senate, who serve for six years; and various mayoral and gubernatorial positions.
In Ciudad Juarez, a border city in northern Mexico, election officials told Al Jazeera that at least 138,000 eligible voters have either fled the city or been killed by the city’s unprecedented levels of violence in recent years.
Despite fears of election day violence, Al Jazeera’s Chris Arsenault in Ciudad Juarez reported that, “voters at some of the larger polling stations in Juarez are waiting an hour to an hour and a half to cast their ballots but no one seems to mind.”
"The biggest issue is, unsurprisingly, security,” Arsenault said. | <urn:uuid:1a4ee5f5-f0a3-4a75-a62a-11dca903cca1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/07/20127211054848152.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963708 | 786 | 1.648438 | 2 |
A US judge in Florida denied two motions to postpone and reduce the prison sentence of Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS employee who blew the whistle on the Swiss banking behemoth’s illegal offshore banking practices. Defense attorneys had argued that prosecutors at the Justice Department misled both the judge and Birkenfeld. GAP Homeland Security Director Jesselyn Radack was quoted in the article (Law.com):
Jesselyn Radack, homeland security director for the Government Accountability Project in Washington, said Birkenfeld is a victim of a power struggle between two branches of government."What appears to be the case is that the Department of Justice got upstaged by the Senate and is punishing the whistleblower," she said.
In environmental news, the CIA is sharing information with top U.S. climate scientists (NYT) to evaluate the effects of climate change around the world. This partnership was initially shut down by the Bush administration, but has been restarted of late. Some of the information shared includes satellite images. Also, world leaders issued many directives at the Copenhagen climate summit in December; however, none of the follow up work necessary to ensure the realization of the major directives was finished by the end of the conference (ClimateWire). Many are unsure when and how the directives will play out, including the major concern of funding to poor nations for climate change adaptability. | <urn:uuid:46262111-c7df-4c37-be0f-77a0a3bd85f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/31/194 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963792 | 277 | 1.53125 | 2 |
You’ve attached yourself to a good cause—fabulous! And potentially awkward. Chances are, you’re being asked to raise funds for the organization. Chances are even better that you’re not completely comfortable asking friends and family for money.
Jenny Powers, vice president of development for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, knows how to overcome fundraising fears. She not only collects dollars herself, she helps volunteers drum up donations. Her top tips for raising money like a pro:
|1.||Play to passions
Charities need money for a variety of programs, services and research. Tailor your “asks” to friends’ interests and you’ll feel like a matchmaker instead of a mooch. Do they love to read? Tell them about the creative writing program or library. The tech-savvy might like to help provide computers.
|2.||Get specific to make it meaningful
Tell prospective donors how their cash will make a tangible difference. (“Your contribution will pay for a wheelchair for someone living with MS,” for instance.)
|3.||Direct the dollars
Work with the charity to let donors earmark contributions for programs that interest them, then send them an update so they know they made a difference. It’s easier to ask for future donations when givers feel a connection—and sense that they are valued.
|4.||Tout the efficiencies
Partner with a charity that has a low expense ratio (a measure of how much of its assets are spent on overhead rather than programs), and make sure prospective donors know about it. People want to fund good works, not administrative costs. | <urn:uuid:1b63f4e5-61e1-407c-9abe-c9be90ffec27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailyworth.com/posts/1629-friend-raising-for-charity | 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 | 0.935142 | 350 | 1.757813 | 2 |
I will probably be of no help...I know what you're talking about - I think many people have the same problems with Bach. My solution to these issues has been to understand the counterpoint, which makes it easier for me to choose fingerings, and to know how to interpret each piece, but you're probably looking for a quick fix, huh?
Many of the elements that you mentioned are a matter of personal interpretation - there are "correct" ways to play Bach, but many in our era think that if Bach is played on piano, it should be adapted to the instrument, rather than played in strict baroque performance practice style.
Once you sort out the awkward fingers...definitely hit the metronome. Bach needs much metronome luv. | <urn:uuid:007e7447-c133-46c6-9c18-ee139d81caff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pianosociety.com/new/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2383&view=next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972903 | 157 | 1.546875 | 2 |
With her grandmother Anke Bialas explored the fields and forests of Germany and climbed the foothills of the Austrian Alps where women hand down from mother to daughter the secrets of herb lore.
Now a mum of 3 boys, she continues the family tradition of educating others on the health giving benefits of herbs. Anke lives in Brisbane, Australia from where she runs her Herbology website.
“Herbal medicine has been around almost as long as people have. It was a knowledge that was passed through the family, at times it was taught as was the case with priests but it was certainly always the first port of call for people who needed to treat their everyday ills. This knowledge has slowly been lost over the years. Be it that modern medicine persuaded us that there was another, better way or just that modern life and with it the separation of the generations was just not conducive to passing family secrets on to the kids.
I was very lucky. My paternal grandmother was familiar with the old ways. When I was a young girl she would take me with her to pick wild herbs, berries and fungi on the foothills of the Alps. She would always treat us with herbal teas when we stayed with her, and my father learned from her. He was interested in the old ways too and like her had the greenest thumbs. Unfortunately my mother wasn’t so much interested but even she had learned some very basic remedies from her own family. Everyone knows you can calm the nerves and the digestive system with a cup of Chamomile tea, right? Unlike my father and his mother, I did not inherit their green thumb. Actually I think I have the blackest thumbs in the world. I dream of the perfect herbal garden, modelled on some of the medieval medicinal garden designs, but alas, it will never happen if I am the one who has to do the gardening.
As you have probably figured out by now, I am from Europe originally – Germany to be specific. Germany is one of the few western countries where herbs are readily used by the medical profession. A lot of the official and respected research into herbal medicine originates from Germany as well. I have been in Australia sine the early 80’s. Since then I have witnessed a slow, but steady increase in interest regarding herbs. The establishment of farmer’s markets which are now so popular, the increasing varieties stocked by supermarkets and the surge of upmarket cooking programs have contributed to the use of herbs in the culinary repertoire of people like you and I Australia wide.
All of the above, my heritage, my passion and the evolution of herb usage in Australia added to the fact that my family is growing and I use herbal remedies to treat my partner, myself and my children has led to the conception of Herbology in 2008 and now also Herbology At Home.“ | <urn:uuid:06e7aa46-2814-4ac7-94cb-1d018a65dc4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://herbologyathome.com/about/ | 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 | 0.984 | 579 | 1.523438 | 2 |
CHICAGO The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has decided to partially waive "Buy America" requirements for the construction of a new border crossing between the United States and Canada.
The decision, which took effect Dec. 13, came in part because Canada is assuming all financial liability and risk for construction of the project, according to a U.S. Federal Register notice dated Dec. 12.
"The basic notion of fairness weighs in favor of allowing Canadian iron and steel to be used so long as American iron and steel is allowed to compete on an equal basis," according to the notice.
The waiver, requested by the governor of Michigan, applies only to the proposed border crossing and not to other federally funded highway projects, it said.
Some supporters of the waiver wanted ratios of Canadian and American steel and iron to be established, but the FHWA said establishing such percentages would be difficult and wasnt in the public interest.
Supporters of the projectwhich is expected to connect Detroit to Windsor, Ontarioinclude Dearborn, Mich,-based Ford Motor Co. and several metals and mining firms, as well as unions and trade associations, the notice and public comments indicate.
Among them are ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc., Hamilton, Ontario; Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., Cleveland; Essar Steel Algoma Inc., Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; and Gerdau Long Steel North America, Tampa, Fla. Also expressing support for the waiver were the American Iron and Steel Institute, the United Steelworkers union and the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters trade association.
"Absent this special arrangement, there would be no assurance that this important project would go forward, and no assurance that a bridge financed with non-U.S. funds would be built with only U.S. and Canadian iron and steel," AISI president and chief executive officer Thomas Gibson said in September, when the FHWA was seeking comments on the proposed waiver.
USW president Leo Gerard largely agreed in comments he submitted. "The United Steelworkers has been a longtime and tireless advocate for strong and expanded Buy American laws. ... Yet in this one-of-a-kind circumstance, we believe the public-interest exception is appropriate under the unique circumstances at issue," he said, noting that the project could directly and indirectly create more than 10,000 U.S. jobs. | <urn:uuid:89d5d437-77b0-49da-a3d5-5ff5beaf419b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amm.com/Magazine/3132351/Canadian-steel-OKd-for-border-crossing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961488 | 493 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Heidi: Opossum with crossed eyes warmed hearts worldwide
Heidi the Opossum: Within minutes of the announcement of her death, Heidi was trending on Twitter and thousands of fans were leaving an outpouring of condolences on her Facebook page.
Facebook friends and fans across the Twittersphere are mourning the loss of Heidi — the cross-eyed German opossum whose cute but confused countenance warmed hearts around the world.Skip to next paragraph
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The Leipzig zoo said Wednesday that the marsupial had been listless and unable to move for several weeks. A decision was made to put the three-and-a-half-year-old animal to sleep following repeated attempts to treat her.
"We carried out every possible test and treatment," zoo director Joerg Junhold said in a statement. "We made the final decision ... to relieve the animal from suffering and pain."
Within minutes of the announcement, Heidi was trending on Twitter and thousands of fans were leaving an outpouring of condolences on her Facebook page.
"How sad," wrote Rene Schaaf, from Heidi's home city of Leipzig. "This lovable creature enriched our daily lives, showing us that 'imperfect' can also be interesting and even beautiful."
Heidi first attracted attention at the end of last year after she was featured on a local television report about the nocturnal enclosure where she spent her final days.
A clip of the report went viral, giving rise to a fan page on Facebook that attracted more than 332,000 admirers from across the globe.
She was also featured on a TV show in the United States alongside the Oscars awards ceremony in February. The furry forecaster was asked to predict the winners — and correctly chose both the best actress and best actor. | <urn:uuid:f65e9d95-5652-4fb6-8efb-6ee4efa0354a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0929/Heidi-Opossum-with-crossed-eyes-warmed-hearts-worldwide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975346 | 371 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Twice a year, a shred, recycle and clean up day brings hundreds to Norcross. The city's next event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 29.
NORCROSS -- Norcross will host one of its two annual clean-up and recycling events later this month.
The festivities typically bring hundreds of environmentally-minded people to the city, bringing paper to shred, electronics to recycle and tons of trash and debris.
On Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon, American Security Shredding will be at City Hall to collect up to five medium size boxes per vehicle. At about the same time, people can drop off old cellphones, computers and keyboards at the Norcross Community Center.
The event even gives people a reason to clean out their pantries, with a drive for canned or non-perishable foods to support the "CAN" Do for Hunger Campaign.
For the most part, the event is free, but a small fee is charged to drop off certain recyclable items.
For event site addresses, lists of what can be dropped off and any associated costs, visit www.norcrossga.net and look under "Code Enforcement."
Also that day, members of the community can use the city Dumpsters to dispose large and unrecyclable items. The Dumpsters, located at the Norcross Public Works facility at 345 Lively St., will be accessible from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Community clean-up events have been a big part of Norcross's environmental mission over the past several years. The city, which earned a gold level award as a "green community" from the Atlanta Regional Commission last year, has compiled more than 10,000 pounds of shredded paper, around 9,000 pounds of recyclable electronics and almost 13 tons of trash in its largest event thus far. | <urn:uuid:eb524fef-b196-41ef-99e8-3cf0b621787a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2012/sep/23/community-recycling-day-coming-up-in-norcross/?community | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95417 | 380 | 1.632813 | 2 |
PBP: The Lightning’s Makers
Born of Gaia, brothers of Hekatonkheires,
bearing a single eye in their forehead,
strength and might are their works.
These are the lightning’s makers
First born Brontes, he who thunders loudly,
followed quickly by Steropes, he who bolts,
and lastly, the vivid bright Arges.
Three Kyklopes, children of earth and sky.
Despised by their bronzed father and
forced into dark, dreary underworld
the very day of their first breath
never seeing the light of day.
Angered, Gaia made within herself a stone,
which was then knapped by the three,
into the shape of a sickle, a genital’s downfall,
gifted to their Titan sibling along with hope.
Finally allowed to see the light of day,
only to be forcibly returned in chains
by the new king and thankless brother,
repeating the errs of the sky father.
Darkly the brothers worked and waited,
soothed only by their mother’s promises,
another would break them out,
another would set them free.
When that time came, the three had gifts
useful gifts, gifts of thanksgiving, gifts of war
and an altar, an altar for the mother
who never gave up on their freedom.
Set free, as Gaia promised, by a child of the king,
the youngest offspring, the rebel, the hidden one,
there to set right the wrongs of the fathers,
there to set all his uncles free from the depths.
The altar heavy with offerings was set in the sky,
gifts given with heart-felt thanksgiving,
the greatest of which fit only for a savior king,
for the Kyklopes are the lightning’s makers. | <urn:uuid:bb4d61f6-35ec-4700-b1ff-0c426c727dda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://4ofwands.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/pbp-the-lightnings-makers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96309 | 399 | 1.726563 | 2 |
April 9, 2012
Out of Left Field
How to Stop a Baseball Game in its Tracks
Baseball’s norms are 150 years old. Because of the reverence that comes with age, we don’t challenge them. But by violating certain norms, a player could, in theory, put the game into an indefinite holding pattern. The pitcher could throw to first base forever. There is no rule to prevent it. With a runner on base, a pitcher could walk in circles around the mound, pick at his spikes, fix his hat, step on the rubber, and then repeat the whole thing all without throwing a pitch. A catcher could refuse to put down the sign his pitcher is waiting for, cycling endlessly through a series of pinkies, index and perhaps middle fingers. These things don’t happen, because there is inherent understanding that the game must go on. The players have an obligation to that effect.
However, there are some situations where that social obligation doesn’t yet exist, because nothing has happened to ever create it in the first place. Take, for example, Pat Venditte.
Venditte was drafted by the Yankees in both 2007 and 2008, but never higher than the 20th round. Before that, he attended Creighton University, and in the three seasons since, Venditte has graduated to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Most fans—even fans serious enough about baseball (and smart and handsome and/or pretty) that they subscribe to Baseball Prospectus—don’t know much about 27-year-old minor-league relievers with underwhelming stuff. In his Triple-A debut Friday, Venditte gave up four runs in two innings. So, yeah. Pat Venditte. So what?
Here are two pictures of him pitching. Here is Pat Venditte:
And this is also Pat Venditte:
The astute reader will note that the first picture features a left-handed pitcher while the second features a right-handed pitcher and yet I have labeled both as Pat Venditte.
There’s only one reason you should know Pat Venditte. Pat Venditte is an ambidextrous pitcher. But I’m not sure even that word does justice to what Pat Venditte can do. Ambidextrous means you can use both hands with equal ease. If you are ambidextrous you can eat yogurt using a spoon with both your right and left hands without spilling it down your front. You can cut paper with scissors with both hands without chopping fingers off. Skills like those are fine and good and I can’t do any of them. But what Pat Venditte can do is different, better, than that. What Pat Venditte can do is get professional hitters out by throwing a baseball using either arm. That’s called impressive. Also, weird.
He has a specially made glove that he can transfer from one hand to the next. When he comes out to warm up he throws half his warm-up pitches from the right side and half from the left. If a left-handed batter is coming up, he puts the glove on the right hand steps on the rubber with his left foot and throws lefty. If a right-hander is coming up, he simply switches the glove, turns his body 180 degrees, and regains the platoon advantage. Freakish dexterity is the new market inefficiency.
I came across Pat Venditte the way most people who aren’t Yankee prospect hounds do: this YouTube video. The video is eight minutes and 15 seconds long, so I’ll summarize: it was shot in 2008 during Pat Venditte’s first professional appearance. It shows Venditte pitching to two batters with two outs in the ninth inning of a 7-2 game. The first batter takes 40 seconds of that time, leaving the remaining seven and a half minutes for the next batter. Why seven and a half minutes? Because the next batter, Ralph Henriquez, is, of course, a switch-hitter.
This is a 15-second portion of what happens next:
In just those 15 seconds, Venditte and his adversary change sides three times, though the beauty of the GIF is that they’ll keep changing sides forever. Back and forth, back and forth, with every third switch being accompanied by Venditte leaning backwards as if to say, “Oh, come on!” as Henriquez switches sides again. Ah, delicious eternity.
In real life, the only thing that lasts forever is that smell you get deep in your nose after you snarf milk. It quickly became clear that further attempts at out-foxing each other weren’t going to work. The only way the switch-hitter and the ambidextrous pitcher can decide this for themselves is if one of them gets his cleat caught in the dirt in the act of switching sides and pulls a muscle. Short of that, the authorities will have to be notified.
The home plate umpire, both managers, players from both teams, other coaches, and eventually the other umpires all hold a six-minute conference which features more than the USDA-recommended weekly allowance of finger pointing, head shaking, and eye rolling. All this is going on with two outs in the ninth inning of a 7-2 game.
The upshot was that there was no rule covering the situation because, to everyone’s knowledge, it had never happened before. Resolution eventually took place, though it’s hard to say exactly why. Either the umpires ruled for the pitcher or Henriquez got fed up. Either way Venditte got the platoon advantage and struck Henriquez out on four pitches.
While the virtual world marveled at the oddity of a switch-pitcher, the baseball world remained nonplussed. Venditte isn’t that great a pitcher from either side, a fact he freely acknowledges. "I know I wouldn't be this far without it. I don't have dominating stuff from one side or the other. I need both," he says. Our own supreme prospect guru Kevin Goldstein agrees. Venditte’s stuff isn’t overwhelming and neither is his velocity from either side. Pitchers who can’t break 90 mph need all the help they can get, and having the platoon advantage against just about every hitter is a huge factor in his success.
Whether Venditte has a future as a major leaguer is uncertain. Opinions vary on that, thought nobody seems to give Venditte much of a shot for more than a minor role as a big-leaguer. That is a shame, because if Venditte did make the majors he would become the first modern-day ambidextrous pitcher.
Did you say “modern day,” Matt?
Yes I did, italicized voice. A pitcher named Tony Mullane, who won 284 games for such teams as the Cleveland Spiders, the Detroit Wolverines, and the Toledo Blue Stockings, threw with both hands. As you can tell from those team names, this was the 1880s. Ambidextrous pitching was easier, in a sense, because Mullane played before baseball gloves. Some sources say he would stand on the mound and hold the ball with both hands so that the batter wouldn’t know which arm he was about to throw with. It’s unclear to what extent Mullane threw with both arms. Some sites list the ability first among his deeds, making it seem it was a frequent part of his arsenal, but Baseball-Reference says that Mullane “threw left-handed a handful of times.”
Mullane retired after the 1884 season. Between then and the present time there has been one inning where a pitcher has thrown the ball with both arms in a major-league game. That inning was the ninth inning of a Reds/Expos game on Sept. 28, 1995. The pitcher was Greg A. Harris, not to be confused with Greg W. Harris, whose career confusingly coincided. Pitching for the Expos, Harris faced Reggie Sanders right handed, then Hal Morris and Eddie Taubensee as a lefty, then switched back to his right for Bret Boone. That was it. The Expos lost, and a game later Harris would be done as a big-league pitcher.
The encyclopedia of ambidextrous major-league pitchers is a short one. Pat Venditte may or may not add his name to the list, but he has already made a small mark on professional baseball. By facing Ralph Henriquez for eight minutes, he single-handedly (I’m sorry) created the need for this rule, appropriately called the Pat Venditte Rule. It puts the onus on the pitcher to choose sides first. Created by the Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation, the ruling body of minor-league umpires, the rule provides guidance in the event an ambidextrous pitcher takes the mound in a professional game.
In other words, if it weren’t for Pat Venditte, this might go on forever: | <urn:uuid:f3d71ebd-d049-4783-ad0d-f73f8a191369> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=16406 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972486 | 1,884 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Do Something Bold
Delve deeper into your areas of interest through research. Even in your first or second year at USD, you can join research teams, earn mini-grants, present at national conferences or conduct your research at sites around the world. Whatever your major, you'll find research opportunities ranging from Latin American saxophone music to nanotechnology and from the use of lighting in theatre to the use of Facebook by potential employers.
The Council for Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship (CURCS) is a group of faculty and staff whose goal is to advance research and creative activity among undergraduate students at USD. CURCS administers a number of the undergraduate research programs listed below.
Here are a just a few of the research opportunities available to you at USD:
- U.Discover Summer Scholar Program - This program is an opportunity to engage in summer research with a faculty mentor and participate in activities with an interdisciplinary team of students.
- IdeaFest - This annual event is a celebration of student research, creative activity and academic engagement. Students present their work in oral and poster presentations, live performances, readings, exhibits and displays. Nationally recognized scholars are invited to speak.
- Posters on the Hill - This event is an undergraduate poster session on Capitol Hill that helps members of Congress understand the importance of undergraduate research by talking directly with the students whom these programs impact.
- Mini-grant Program - Student researchers can apply for mini-grants to support their research locally or presentations at national conferences to showcase their work. All mini-grant information can be found in the myU portal.
- Student Research Poster Session at the Capitol - This annual event gives student researchers the opportunity to showcase their efforts for the South Dakota legislators in Pierre. A select number of students are chosen to represent USD at this important event.
- Other Summer Research Programs at USD - Students have the opportunity of participating in several programs during the summer, such as National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites, Biomedical Research Informatics Network (BRIN) program, and South Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR). | <urn:uuid:f7256401-e356-4394-a61e-664b044637a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usd.edu/academics/center-for-academic-engagement/undergraduate-research/index.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938618 | 444 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Son donates kidney to dad with hereditary condition
Possibility remains son could contract illness
A tri-state man donated one of his kidneys so that his father could live.
Stephen Holland, 20, donated a kidney to his father, Steve. Steve was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, a hereditary disorder.
Stephen attends Sinclair College on a baseball scholarship.
“The doctors said that I will probably be out of baseball (for) about a month but as long as I keep a healthy diet I should be able to come back just as strong as I was," Stephen said.
Doctors said the long-term benefits of receiving a kidney from a living donor greatly benefit Steve.
“Living donor kidneys last longer, in general they last twice as long - about 20 years. If you can get a very well-matched donor, those can last on average around 30 years," Dr. Steve Woodle said.
Father and son were recovering at UC Medical Center Tuesday. Steve said he was already feeling much better. “When I woke up yesterday I felt a big difference," he said.
Doctors said Steve’s condition is hereditary and there is a 50 percent chance that Stephen could develop the same condition that afflicts his father. Still he said: “It was worth it.”
He also took a risk with his baseball career. Stephen said he was being scouted by recruiters from four-year schools and he hoped his decision to donate his kidney does not impact his baseball prospects.
Copyright 2013 by WLWT.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:2277bb44-dc88-4d59-8451-2ae5d2af69dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wxii12.com/news/Son-donates-kidney-to-dad-with-hereditary-condition/-/9678112/18434058/-/view/print/-/bfjo88/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991626 | 336 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Hennessy Transportation's Livery and Coach Chauffeurs
What Makes A Chauffeur, A Chauffeur?
The job of a Chauffeur is demanding. It's a job that requires knowledge while having the ability to multi-task, respond to a customers needs, monitor traffic patterns, an understanding of the vehicle they are operating and being safe. A chauffeur is often thought of being a driver. At Hennessy Transportation, our drivers are chauffeurs. We have a screening process, a training program and a continuous process that enables them to be the best in the industry.
The True Difference
When hiring a driver, their priority is to get you to where you need to be, and off to the next trip. A chauffeur, whether it be for a transfer or hourly arrangement, is focused on their passengers comfort and safety. A chauffeur is a position that communicates with their passenger as an assistant. Furthermore, they're focused on your comfort. For example, a chauffeur is anticipating the experience of how you feel when approaching that upcoming left turn. Or how you feel when approaching and negotiating the speed bump. Perhaps when entering a clean vehicle and being offered a chilled water is what makes you feel good. Or maybe it's the attention to detail your chauffeur observes while driving. A chauffeur driving a vehicle for you is truly an all-inclusive riding experience. At Hennessy, we work hard in making sure your experiences are flawless.
Hennessy Chauffeur Standards
- State Approved Driving History
- Criminal Background Check, FBI Fingerprinted
- 25 Years Of Age Or Older
- Clean Image, Well Spoken
- Maintains Integrity Within The Industry
- Holds Pride In What They Do
Every day our chauffeurs, and entire staff, is reminded of the Hennessy Mission Statement. To provide our clients with exceptional people, uncompromising service and exciting ambiance through our expertise. Our dispatch team, chauffeurs and logistics operators are ready to serve you, worldwide! Thank you for your interest in Hennessy Transportation. | <urn:uuid:aab0b846-4793-4c4e-bc87-201113fab5fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hennessytransportation.com/chauffeur-vs-driver.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931863 | 434 | 1.570313 | 2 |
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A South African neurologist and brain specialist said the Iranian women’s Hijab has been no obstacle to their progress in various fields.
Sally Carter said she was amazed at seeing how active Iranian women are in society and in scientific arenas.
“This is my first trip to Iran. Before coming here, I had heard a lot of propaganda against Iran and was not sure whether to make the trip. But after arriving here I learned that all the propaganda was baseless,” she underlined.
She has come to Iran to attend a scientific congress on neuro trauma.
She said the congress was held at a high scientific level and great experts took part in it. | <urn:uuid:b2e52f48-5e53-4155-b6c5-9234349d3068> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=280895 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98833 | 149 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Who says no one makes house calls these days? Tutor Doctor professionals deliver in-home assistance to students for supplemental education in West St. Louis County. At this point into the new school year, many students are beginning to realize what their biggest academic challenges will be.
Tutor Doctor's core work revolves around individual tutoring for math, science, language arts, SAT/ACT performance and summer learning.
Elizabeth Freeman bought into the Tutor Doctor franchise during the fall of 2009. From her home-based business, she services Wildwood, Eureka, Chesterfield, Fenton and Valley Park families. Tutor Doctor is an international company started in Canada. She said there now are Tutor Doctor professionals in England, Ireland, Scotland and even Trinidad.
"Reading is the basis for everything," said Freeman.
"Our tutors go back and pick up the pieces, often working on fundamentals, so they can build a block system to apply toward current studies."
Freeman was drawn to this line of work, given her bachelor's degree in business and marketing, and master's degree in social work. She said she was ready for a career change after 20 years in social work.
She said she knows firsthand what it's like to be a parent who wants the best outcome for your son or daughter. Her own son was in a St. Charles County school until third grade. "It was a total waste of a grade; he couldn't read. He was verbally reading, but didn't have the ability to sound out words. He couldn't remember a word, but would figure them out from context," she said.
"My son was fooling everybody, and I had to fight to get him tested. He was only one point above the designation for where they have the No Child Left Behind standards."
Freeman said she enrolled her son into Sylvan Learning Center about seven years ago, but that did not provide him with one-on-one help. "That's a prescribed program and it improved him by two grade points, but school was still a struggle for him."
So, Freeman moved her family into the Rockwood School District to try something new, and asked that her son be retested. She said she saw he had improved once in a Rockwood elementary school, but was far below where he should have been. She eventually began to see overall academic improvement once certain challenges were addressed.
"He did great, and eventually was even tested for the (Center for Creative Learning) CCL gifted program. Like other students, he was an incredibly bright kid, had a little problem with anxiety. It's important to remember that different people learn differently. Even Albert Einstein didn't read until later in third grade," Freeman said.
Now a high schooler, her son and she realize how to apply the one-on-one assistance that helps pinpoint areas for improvement.
Freeman said she really is inspired by helping students now. "If you don't have a passion, there's nothing keeping you going."
How Tutor Doctor Works
Freeman said she employs tutors after conducting thorough background checks, including a coast-to-coast federal check. "I don't want to put anyone in anyone's home who I wouldn't have in my own home."
She also cross-checks sex offender and terrorist lists. She sometimes moves into fingerprinting for supplemental state law.
Her biggest challenge is keeping up with all technology and tools available, she said. Parents deal with her for initial setup and invoices; all her tutors have to do is focus on teaching and helping the students.
"I'm also looking for whether tutors care about kids, and deciding whether they are in this for the short- or long-term," she said.
Freeman does an initial assessment of each student herself, followed by reports so parents can see how the assistance is progressing.
"Someone purely from education may not be as good as someone with my background about seeing the whole student's situation; they could be overlooking other cues," she said.
"I'm actually doing more social work, and helping more people than before."
Editor's Note: Return to Eureka-Wildwood Patch on Wednesday for part 2 of this topic, during which the next article specifically outlines the experiences of two local families with Tutor Doctor. | <urn:uuid:d7afa7f8-48e3-4cf8-9ff6-cbd400a68eb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eureka-wildwood.patch.com/articles/tutor-doctor-house-calls-to-help-students | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984621 | 888 | 1.625 | 2 |
Photo by Corinne Nicholson
Eighty percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by Jan 20.
I’ve got a great track record for keeping my resolutions. In fact, I’ve lost 10 pounds about 15 times.
The problem is it’s the same 10 pounds. I get motivated to take it off, but like many, I struggle to keep it off.
No, this isn’t going to be an article about weight loss. It’s about how you can actually stick with your goals.
Oscar Wilde once wrote, “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”
The reason so many of us struggle to keep our resolutions is because of the way we think about them.
A resolution is, by definition, something you resolve to do, or in most cases, something you resolve not to do. (Eat, drink, spend, scream, etc.)
But if you resolve to quit smoking or get out of debt (two resolutions consistently on the top 10 list), you don’t allow yourself much room for error. If you succumb to the siren call of nicotine, or a half-off sale, you feel like you failed. Next thing you know you’ve puffed your way through a carton of Marlboros and put three Fendi bags on your VISA.
You’ll have more success in reaching your goals if, instead of making hard and fast resolutions, you take a page from the business playbook and establish some best practices.
Resolutions are rules, and they’re usually about what you don’t want. Like, I’m not going to scream at my kids.
Best practices, on the other hand, are the behaviors and habits you want to cultivate, and you don’t always have to hit 100 percent to be effective. For example, I’m going to be an attentive, calm parent who looks her kids in the eyes and listens when they speak.
If you can do that even 70 percent of the time, it will have a major impact on your life.
Going back to the cigs and the credit cards, if you’re a heavy user of either, the thought of going cold turkey for the rest of your life might give you the cold shakes.
However, if you establish a best practice like, “I’m going chew gum when I want to smoke,” or, “When I start thumbing through catalogs, I’m going to take a bath or call my best friend,” you’ll increase your odds of success.
Short-term slip-ups are just that, slip-ups. You haven’t broken a rule or resolution; you’ve simply forgotten to follow your own best practice. You can get back on the no smoking, no spending, no yelling, eat healthy wagon tomorrow.
There’s a reason Alcoholics Anonymous suggests that members take it one day at a time. It’s easier to think about not drinking today than it is not drinking forever.
When you think about your goals as a best practices, you don’t have to aim for perfection; just do the best you can every day.
For the record, last year instead of resolving to lose 10 pounds, I established a best practice of exercising five times a week.
Did I do it every week? No, but I hit about 80 percent. By the time summer rolled around, it wasn’t a goal anymore; it was a habit.
There’s no point in making resolutions you’re going to abandon.
Establish some smart best practices for yourself and you can get your life moving in the direction you want it to go.
Snellville resident Lisa Earle McLeod is a keynote speaker, consultant, and the best-selling author of “The Triangle of Truth.” Sign up for her newsletter at www.TriangleofTruth.com. | <urn:uuid:4d352511-b106-437a-b648-79254a7c4358> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2010/dec/31/mcleod-why-resolutions-fail-and-how-you-can-make/ | 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 | 0.932169 | 847 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Field Hockey Overpowers MIT, 4-1
Match Statistics | Download Senior Day Insert | "Play Pink" Story
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Oct. 25, 2008) - Senior Anne Doton, racked up two goals and one assist to power the Mount Holyoke College women's field hockey team to a convincing 4-1 triumph over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this afternoon in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at the Mount Holyoke Turf Field. It was the Lyons third straight win and fourth over a league foe this season. The Engineers remained winless in NEWMAC play.
Prior to the contest, a dedication ceremony took place for Mount Holyoke's new track and turf field. Featured speakers at the event included President Joanne V. Creighton, Director of Physical Education and Athletics Laurie Priest, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Chair Lisa Nash, Leslie Anne Miller '73 and Katie Kraschel '06. The pre-game festivities also included a Senior Day celebration, in which Doton and classmate Allie Walsh were honored for their contributions to the program.
Over the course of the day, donations were accepted, with all proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation for breast cancer awareness. Fans were encouraged to wear pink and contribute to research initiatives, as the Mount Holyoke field hockey team partnered with the Play 4 the Cure Foundation to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer through the "Play Pink" initiative. "Play Pink" is a nationwide, unified effort by field hockey teams to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the field, across campuses, in communities and beyond. Members of the Mount Holyoke team were sporting pink t-shirts during their pre-game warm-ups.
Playing in front of their largest crowd of the season, the Lyons jumped out to a 1-0 advantage 14:25 into the match. Using an assist from Mary Kate Switchenko, Peggy Wefald found the cage for what proved to be the winner. The junior forward positioned herself right in front of the cage and redirected a shot by Switchenko.
Eight minutes later, Doton scored her first of two goals to put Mount Holyoke in front 2-0. After dribbling unguarded into the circle, she ripped a shot past MIT sophomore goalkeeper Keri Dixon.
The Lyons expanded their cushion to 3-0 in the 27th minute, when first year Jess Fajardo received a short pass from Doton in the circle and scored from close range.
Mount Holyoke added to its 3-0 halftime advantage in the 44th minute, when Doton took advantage of a penalty corner opportunity to record her eight goal of the season. First year Shara Robertson started the play with a pass from the corner. Doton collected the feed outside the circle, took a couple steps toward the cage and snapped a shot past Dixon.
MIT finally got on the board in the 60th minute, when junior midfielder Nirupama Yechoor posted her fourth goal of the fall off an assist from classmate Ekavali Mishra. The Engineers scored their lone goal off of a penalty corner set. After collecting the ball in the right corner, Mishra slipped a pass to the middle of the circle to Yechoor, who placed a shot past Walsh.
The Lyons finished with advantages in both shots (19-9) and penalty corner chances (10-6). Walsh made six saves en route to her seventh win of the season. At the other end, Dixon turned away eight shots for the guests.
Mount Holyoke (9-6, 4-4 NEWMAC) has clinched a spot in the NEWMAC Tournament. The Lyons will take the field for a Quarterfinal Round contest next Saturday against a yet to be determined opponent. Time and location of the match will be announced at a later date. MIT (5-12, 0-7 NEWMAC) will return to action on Tuesday, when it hosts Clark University for a league tilt beginning at 6:00 p.m.
For more information about the "Play Pink" initiative, as well as the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, please visit Play 4 the Cure on the web at www.play4thecure.com. | <urn:uuid:4322067a-ddba-4377-b564-e4e1ec1d5671> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://athletics.mtholyoke.edu/sports/fh/2008-09/releases/5661971.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950431 | 876 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Write an entry Entries about this place
To meet Santa, of course.
Actually, while working as a librarian for Special Collections (at a major university whose name you would know if I chose to reveal it) I ran across some journals and letters from the late 1800s. Everything was in (sloppy handwritten) Norwegian, but after hours of translation I had a decent translation.
They confirm the existence of Santa’s Workshop, complete with elves, reindeer, and toys. It also confirms that major world governments (mainly the British Empire) shield/protect Father Christmas’ existence.
More to follow.over 5 years ago
I would love to travel to the Poles so that I could hop around the International Dateline saying, “Now it’s Tuesday! Now it’s Wednesday! Now it’s Tuesday! Now it’s Wednesday!”
But, then again, if I went to the much colder South Pole, I could see penguins.
What a dilemma!
Oh, well, I’ll go to Australia and see penguins.over 6 years ago
Ask a question Travel questionsNobody has asked a question yet. Be the first!
People who have been here
See all 18 people | <urn:uuid:bc8dc8bb-f1fb-4a06-887a-94dc670863d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.43places.com/places/view/203918/north-pole | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936385 | 264 | 1.617188 | 2 |
DUI Effects and Repercussions
DUI laws are purposely meant to negatively affect the life of a drunk driver. The point being that the drunk driver feels the impact and consequences of his or her actions. These punishments, however harsh, are meant to only affect the life of a convicted drunk driver in the short-term, making it possible to turn life around. Some of the repercussions include losing the license to drive, suspension of license, community service, fines, alcohol education classes, and assessments of improved life after completing the punishments. Other traffic ticket matters can be help by using the Ticket Void DUI Attorneys.
The effect of a DUI can last for years. It’s a very good idea to hire a DUI attorney. A convicted drunk driver will have to miss a substantial amount of work because of a DUI. If the DUI were to cause a job loss, having a driver’s license suspended due to a DUI or DWI will make it difficult to land a job. Some people have the opinion that while a license is suspended for DUI or DWI they will able to get a “waiver” and be able to drive to important places such as doctors’ appointments, hospital emergency rooms, stores and work. This is just not true. A person convicted of a DUI or DWI and having the license suspended will not be able to drive at all during the suspension. Once convicted of a DUI the convicted drivers must disclose on any job application that they have been convicted of a DUI. Soldiers in the military could face a dishonorable discharge, if convicted of driving under the influence. A DUI can be the end of a military career and affect the soldier’s family and well-being.
States continue to lower the amount of alcohol ingested to be considered “impaired” and receive a DUI or DWI charge. States are also raising the penalties associated with DUI and DWI. For example, a DUI in Colorado, results in a fine for the ticket received , court costs, plus, for a
first offense, an additional three thousand dollar fine. For a second offense (a second charge any time within the next 10 years) the drunk driver loses the driver’s license, not for 3 months, but for two years. Court costs and fines may exceed ten thousand dollars. These fees and fines cannot be discharged through bankruptcy and many people pay them over time based on a payment plan. However, if at any time, the drunk driver does not keep up with the payments, driving privileges can be suspended again. For many reasons, it never pays to drive under the influence of alcohol. One's life could be affected for years in order to have a little fun by overindulging for one night. Do yourself a favor, complete the DUI form at the top of the page and get in touch with a Ticket Void DUI attorney, most of these law firms can help with other moving violations as well as speeding tickets.
I've been charged with drunk driving. Should I get a lawyer?
Defending against a charge of drunk driving is a difficult business. The defense attorney you choose must understand scientific and medical concepts, and must be able to question tough witnesses, including scientists and police officers. If you want to fight your drunken driving charge, you're well advised to hire an attorney who specializes in these types of cases.
Do I have to take a blood, breath or urine test if asked to do so by the police?
You have the right to refuse a chemical test (blood, breath or urine), but almost every state has an "implied consent" law, under such laws; a refusal may result in a suspension of your driver's license for three to 12 months. (The loss of your license can be upheld even if you're eventually found not guilty of the current drunk driving charge.) In addition, if your case goes to trial, the prosecutor can bring to light the fact that you refused to take the test, which may lead some jury members to conclude that you refused because you were, in fact, intoxicated.
What does BAC stand for?
Blood Alcohol Content
Blood alcohol content (BAC) or blood alcohol concentration is the concentration of alcohol in blood. This measurement can be taken directly, by drawing a sample of your blood, or it can be calculated by applying a mathematical formula to the amount of alcohol in your breath or urine. If you test at or above the level of intoxication for your state, you are presumed to be driving under the influence unless you can convince a judge or jury that your judgment was not impaired and you were not driving hazardously.
What is an Administrative License Hearing?
An Administrative License Hearing is a proceeding regarding the suspension or revocation of your driving privilege only. The administrative hearing is separate and distinct from a criminal hearing. The only penalty to be issued at this hearing is loss of your privilege to drive; no criminal penalties can be imposed in the administrative license suspension proceeding.
An Administrative Hearing will focus on the following:
- If you took a blood, breath or urine tests;
- Did the officer have reasonable cause to believe you were driving a motor vehicle in violation of the law;
- Were you arrested legally or lawfully?
- Were you driving a motor vehicle when you had a higher percentage of alcohol in your blood than allowed by state law?
If you refused or failed to complete a blood, breath or urine tests:
- Did the officer have reasonable cause to believe you were driving a motor vehicle in violation of the law?
- Were you arrested legally or lawfully?
- Did you refuse to submit to or failed to complete a blood, breath or urine tests after being requested to do so by officer?
What is an SR-22?
SR-22 is an insurance policy named after the SR-22 DMV form; the insurance policy was created to insure DUI, DWI and high risk drivers. The majority of states require DUI convicts to obtain an SR-22 from their automobile insurer. Once a driver request an SR-22 the insurance company is placed upon notice of the DUI conviction. An SR-22 requires your insurance company to notify the DMV if your insurance policy is cancelled.
Unfortunately, the SR-22 is not standard with every insurance carrier. If your current insurance provider cannot provide you with an SR-22 they may be forced to cancel your policy. Failure to maintain your high risk SR-22 insurance will result in the DMV suspending your license. | <urn:uuid:f73f9cb0-bf42-4d95-a1d9-52e1daffbd0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ticketvoid.com/FAQs-on-DUI-Protection | 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 | 0.965569 | 1,320 | 1.796875 | 2 |
In the heat of this political season, Keali'i Reichel offered a valuable lesson last Thursday in how to insult somebody really, really well.
True, the insults were in Hawaiian, but precious little was lost in translation. His presentation titled "Hakukole" in McCoy Studio Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center was subtitled, "Sayings and Chants of Ridicule."
Reichel is a revered, if self-effacing, authority in Hawaii's hula world, as well as our most popular recording artist. On Thursday he unveiled yet another prodigious talent as he debuted a new genre in the performing arts: Hawaiian language stand-up comedy.
Deftly balancing his role as kumu hula - teacher - with the comic timing of a Chris Rock, Keali'i held the full theater enthralled for an hour and a half with something that in anyone else's hands would be little more than a PowerPoint presentation.
Using supertitles, first in Hawaiian then in English translation, hilariously illustrated with photos and graphics, he catalogued one insult after another. The most frequent response was a shared murmur from the crowd, a group aha moment, a muffled but audible sign that we got it.
That response is what teachers live for - lots of lightbulbs turning on over people's heads.
But considering that the subject matter concerned the most base of body organs and functions, embarrassing behavior and physical flaws, not to mention obnoxious weaknesses of character - all skewered with rapier-sharp wit - our "education" was accompanied with a naughty sense of glee.
"We don't have to use the F-word," professor Reichel told the eager class. "We've got our own."
Reichel had warned the audience what was coming at the beginning of the evening. When I later told a friend about the unique performance, he asked if I had learned any new 12-letter words.
Which camouflages just how knowledgeable, articulate and smaht our teacher was. Like the Kalaupapa photo show continuing at the MACC through the end of the month, Reichel illuminated a tiny facet of Hawaiian culture that's like a prism, holding glimpses of the bigger picture.
He also demonstrated just how articulate and poetic fluent Hawaiian language speakers often are in English even when addressing subject matter that's, uh, really crude.
The evening reminded me of a desk calendar of insults written by William Shakespeare, one a day. The humor of the barbs comes with the knowledge that they were created by the all-time, undefeated heavyweight champion in the English language division.
Keali'i Reichel had some of that going for him Thursday night - bilingually, in Hawaiian as well as English. Some of the phrases were just plain ribald; others were exquisitely nuanced with subtle geographical and cultural shadings.
They all revealed a zest for life that's uniquely Hawaiian: wise in the ways of nature and human nature as it balances animal instincts with poetic wit and humor that could match the Bard's only the scenery's a lot better here in the islands.
Reichel's artistry with language stood in sharp, infuriating contrast to the dangerously toxic way words are being cast about as we count the days down to the Nov. 6 election.
He may have demonstrated the fine art of insult to someone's face, but our TVs are heating up with knife-in-the-back political ads intended to use words - and numbers - not to clarify but to deceive, obfuscate and further confuse an overwhelmed and apathetic population.
Seemingly inspired by circus showman P.T. Barnum's adage, "There's a sucker born every minute," this year's political campaigns are doling out tens of millions of dollars - which might be better spent feeding starving children or attending to a myriad of other calamities - to create enough, uh, misleading impressions in people's minds to get their candidate elected. The slick political operatives and well-paid agencies "spinning" this stuff are indifferent to the collateral damage of widespread cynicism, depression and cognitive dissonance they create in the society at large.
Political elections have bordered on blood sport throughout American history, the verbal equivalent of a pair of bull moose or elephant seals vying to be the alpha male in their little band of beasts.
Keali'i Reichel hilariously demonstrated how to turn ridicule into a form of art; politics aims a lot lower, turning words not into blades but clubs to beat the sense out of anyone who hears them.
In other words, they ridicule us. In other words, ridiculous.
* Contact Rick Chatenever at firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:a61f9008-e4d5-4f11-a0f2-5f6aac696ff1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/564945/Words--Handle-with-care.html?nav=5035 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960787 | 987 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Catherine Ashcraft's research and teaching has focused on a number of issues related to gender, race, and class in a variety of educational and organizational contexts. As a research scientist for NCWIT, she conducts research into effective practices for increasing women's participation in information technology careers. She also consults with the Workforce Alliance, identifying and disseminating effective practices and developing evaluation tools to support implementation of these practices.
Before coming to NCWIT, Catherine served as a professor of multicultural education at Western Washington University. In this capacity, she researched, taught, and spoke about the ways in which schools and workplaces reproduce inequalities in terms of race, class, and gender. Her most recent publications have appeared in Teachers College Record, Anthropology & Education, and Youth & Society.
She has also worked as a middle/secondary public school teacher and as the Community Education Director for a battered women's shelter where she identified best practices and implemented programs to address a variety of gender inequities, including workplace and dating violence.
Catherine obtained her M.A. in Communication and her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Colorado.
Research Area: Education, Communication, Diversity and Technology, Culturally Relevant and Critical Pedagogy
Catherine Ashcraft CV (PDF) | <urn:uuid:459ec7c8-ccf0-4d79-8f88-0fbe84f0030a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncwit.org/node/10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956003 | 259 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Camdeboo National Park, which surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape, will open its long-awaited Nqweba Campsite on 1 March 2012.
Although there were a number of delays after South African National Parks (SANParks) first announced its intention to construct a tented camp and campsite in 2010, construction is finally drawing to a close.
“The Campsite and Tented Camp will provide visitors with a rustic overnight nature experience within the Park’s Game Viewing Area,” said Park Manager, Peter Burdett.
Traditionally Camdeboo National Park – which surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet - has not offered visitors accommodation facilities due to the large variety of accommodation on offer in the town.
However, in response to tourism demands and trends, SANParks decided to develop the campsite and tented camp which would complement but not compete with the established business interests in the town.
The Park’s Lakeview Tented Camp is set to open on 1 April and will offer four furnished safari-type tents situated within an area originally used as a lapa for group functions.
The campsite, which is located on the floodplains of the Nqweba Dam, offers fifteen sites for caravans or tents with a maximum of six people allowed on each site. Each site has a power supply and braai unit, while the centrally located communal kitchen conveniently provides a deep freeze, microwave and stove plates for campers and caravanners. The campsite’s communal ablutions provide shower and toilet facilities and are universally accessible.
While the sites do have some shade from Acacia trees, SANParks has an ongoing web-based donation campaign aimed at purchasing established karee (Rhus lancea) trees to ensure that the shade cover on the gravelled sites improves in the future.
Bookings for the campsite and tented camp are already open on the SANParks website www.sanparks.org and via SANParks central reservation offices.
Those who wish to donate shade trees for the campsite can access the SANParks donation portal via the GivenGain website.
Camdeboo National Park’s major tourism draw card is the scenic Valley of Desolation, a national monument, while its game-viewing area is home to buffalo and antelope such as eland, gemsbok, red hartebeest, springbok and blesbok. | <urn:uuid:587ab8e2-a292-48b3-bd1e-b013756af400> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://travel.iafrica.com/accommodation/779658.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944347 | 519 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Students Need Better Teaching
Wednesday - August 15, 2007
Hawaii employers need 28,000 new workers every year.
“Two-thirds of those to replace retiring workers or workers who are moving out of the state,” says Mike Rota of the University of Hawaii’s Community College System’s office. “One-third are new jobs.”
But Hawaii’s public and private high schools only graduate 14,000 students each year- 10,000 from public schools, 4,000 from private - only half of the number needed.
And that’s only half of the problem. Hawaii ranks among the top states in the nation in its high school graduation rate. In terms of their competence, however, Hawaii’s high school graduates don’t do well.
According to the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 18 percent of Hawaii’s students are “at or above proficiency” in math, 18 percent in reading, 15 percent in science and 18 percent in writing.
Those numbers constitute slight improvements in two of the four areas over the last 14 years. But they lag dramatically behind the top Mainland states, where 38-41 percent of students score “at or above proficiency” in math, reading, science and writing.
It’s worse in Hawaii’s poverty areas. There only 7 percent achieve proficiency in math, compared to 22 percent in poverty areas in the highest scoring Mainland states.
“Those numbers are consistent with our community college placement exams,” says Rota. “Eighty percent of our entering students are not reading for Math 100, our freshman level course.”
Hawaii has always depended on imported labor, as Rota explains: “We don’t have a large enough population base to fill all our jobs,” he says.
The first wave of imported workers arrived in 1852, a boatload of Chinese to work in Hawaii’s sugar fields. And, of course, boatload after boatload after boatload of immigrant Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Portuguese, Koreans and others would follow to feed the labor maw of plantation Hawaii.
In more recent decades, Hawaii’s Department of Education has sent recruiters across the country seeking teachers for island schools. Rota was one of them, arriving in 1967 to teach drafting at Hilo High School.
Rota paid $25 a month to live in a teacher’s cottage in Hakalau on Hawaii Island. The plantations, of course, provided housing and healthcare to its workers.
“There’s nothing wrong with importing your labor force,” says Rota, “but it’s only sustainable if you can provide your workers with low-cost housing and healthcare.”
Hawaii isn’t doing that today. Ask the public school principal who hires two or three new teachers every year from the Mainland. Together with other young teachers, they rent a house for a couple of years and live and teach in the islands of sunshine and gentle beaches. Then they take a long look at Hawaii’s housing costs - $590,000 for a middling home on Oahu - and they buy a one-way ticket home.
Regarding the low scores of Hawaii’s students in math, reading, science and writing, Rota points to high school curricula. “We have standards in our high schools, but we have no established curricula to meet them.
Essentially we have 12,000 teachers in their classrooms trying to achieve those standards in 12,000 different ways.”
A teacher can only do that which she knows how to do. Some teachers do better than others - 20 to 25 percent of them produce satisfactory outcomes.
In trying to improve our schools, we tend to focus on the wrong issues: school community based management or local school boards. What we need to focus on is what teachers do on a daily basis.
“We have to change the knowledge base of teachers; it all revolves around the teacher, the curricula and the students. We have to educate and continually re-educate 12,000 teachers in what devices work best in teaching science, math, writing and reading.”
Rota points to proven high school math and science curricula produced at the Center for Occupational Research and Development in Waco, Texas, as part of the answer: “We’re not currently investing enough in curricula that works. We have to.”
Footnote: I first talked to Rota about work-force development two weeks ago on PBSHawaii’s Island Insights. The discussion was the fifth of six programs in which Island Insights focused on education issues in Hawaii.
PBS-Hawaii’s new president, veteran island journalist Leslie Wilcox, has expanded Island Insights to an hour, given it a new slot at 7:30 pm on Thursdays, hired another veteran journalist, Colette Fox, to produce it, and allowed for viewers to call in with comments and questions.
Wilcox insists on keeping a shaky moderator in place, i.e., me, but I’ve learned a lot these past few weeks, and I think we’re doing something of value for the community. I invite my 11 regular readers to give it a look (and any others who pass by this way) - and let me know what you think.
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Most Recent Comment(s): | <urn:uuid:79b799e5-4a74-4b92-abfa-81b8850f7b2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archives.midweek.com/content/columns/mostlypolitics_article/students_need_better_teaching/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945208 | 1,166 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Sydney, 27 September 2012 – AIMIA today released the independent findings of the 2012 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI). Each year the survey provides valuable independent information and identifies trends regarding the preferences of Australian mobile phone users. This year’s report also looks at the impact of tablets on mobile phone use.
Dr Marisa Maio Mackay, Director of Complete the Picture Consulting, the official research partner for the 2012 AMPLI report, said, "Given the emerging use of tablets, the full story on the relationship between mobile phone and tablet use is still evolving. We’re seeing phenomenal growth in tablets, but of course smartphone usage is still on a steady incline.”
“What’s most interesting from this year’s report is that we’re seeing potential for the mobile phone and the tablet to be complementary devices. This is exciting news for developers and brands with cross platform ideas. When we asked people to predict how they expected to use their phones in future, there was not a huge difference between tablet owners and non-tablet owners,” said Dr Maio Mackay.
Impact of Tablets on Mobile Phone Use
Each year the AMPLI report includes a special topic in addition to its core set of questions. This year’s topic was the ‘Impact of Tablets on Mobile Phone Use’.
Apple iPads were clearly the most popular brand of tablets with just over 75 per cent of tablet owners owning an iPad. Just under half of the respondents had both WiFi and 3G enabled tablets, while 50 per cent of the respondents had WiFi only enabled tablets.
The most frequent uses of the tablet were:
The introduction of the tablet has had some impact on mobile phone use. Approximately one third of respondents who owned a tablet reported their use of the mobile phone for getting information, for entertainment and for visiting websites and/or browsing or searching the Internet has decreased as a consequence of buying a tablet. However, other respondents (approximately 12-13 per cent) reported an increase in the use of their mobile phone for the same purposes since acquiring their tablets.
The popularity of tablet apps has not impacted the level of website visits on tablets. Websites are still being visited by almost all respondents on the Tablet.
Smartphone ownership increases
Not surprisingly, this year’s report sees another increase in the percentage of respondents who own a smartphone. Seventy six per cent of all respondents own a smartphone, up from 67 per cent in 2011.
Of those respondents who do not own a smartphone, 40 per cent plan to purchase one in the next 12 months. Based on the survey results, 80 per cent of respondents would own a smartphone by end of 2012 and 84 per cent would own a smartphone by mid-2013.
The results show a clear and steady increase in the popularity of Apple handsets over the last four years. Samsung and HTC phones have experienced much slower growth, while many of the other brands have been losing market share.
Banking and shopping online growing in popularity
With the continual steady increase in smartphone use across the Australian population, a new wave of users is discovering the potential to use their phones for online banking and shopping.
Dr Maio Mackay said, “By looking specifically at the habits of frequent users when analysing results, we can start to pinpoint emerging trends. The results this year indicate a growing group of people using banking almost as though it’s an embedded function of their phone. Almost 40 per cent of respondents are using their phones for banking at least once a week, an increase of about 15 per cent since last year”
Carrier Satisfaction Remains Low
Last year’s AMPLI survey saw satisfaction levels for almost every service type decrease considerably when compared to previous years. The 2012 results have remained at a fairly similar level to last year, with minimal evidence of recovery. However, this year’s results show substantial variation in satisfaction across the carriers when it came to specific services.
Application Use Continues to Increase
Seventy seven per cent of all respondents indicate they access websites and/or applications on their mobile phone. As a percentage of these respondents, 86 per cent use a combination of both websites and applications.
Sixty nine per cent stated they had downloaded and installed an application on their mobile phone. This represents a substantial increase from 55 per cent in 2011 and 41 per cent in 2010.
For the first time this year respondents were asked to report the average number of applications used per week. Results found that approximately half of the respondents were using between two and five applications on average per week, while just over a third of respondents were using more than six applications.
Fewer than 12 per cent of respondents were using one application or less per week, which indicates those that are downloading and installing applications are engaging quite frequently with a range of applications. The most popular types of applications used by respondents were:
Of those respondents who had downloaded and installed applications to their mobile phones, 59 per cent stated they had paid to do so. This is consistent with last year’s results (60 per cent), but represents an increase from 2010 (52 per cent).
Popularity of Information Services and Social Networking
Approximately 60 per cent of respondents reported that they used some form of social networking sites or applications on their mobile phones. Facebook was found to be the most popular social networking site or application (59 per cent), with Twitter being a distant second (26 per cent).
Mobile Phones play a role in Purchasing Decisions
For the first time, this year’s survey looked at how Australians are using their mobile phones to make purchase decisions. The results show approximately 40 per cent of respondents use their mobile phone to compare prices online and to look at product or service reviews before making a purchase decision.
Acceptance of advertising on the rise
Compared to last year there has been an increase in the overall proportion of respondents who had opted in to receive SMS or MMS messages from businesses; from 47 per cent last year to 57 per cent this year.
The overall average level of engagement was 54 per cent. This means that if the respondents saw an advertisement, there was just over 50 per cent chance that they would engage. Conversely there is just less than 50 per cent (i.e., 46 per cent) chance that they would not engage.
The AMPLI report is a collaborative industry research project carried out by the Mobile Industry Group (MIG), a special interest group of AIMIA. The report is authored by official research partner Complete the Picture Consulting. The official sponsors of the AMPLI report are Nokia, BigPond, Zeus Unwired and the Mnet Group. | <urn:uuid:da6006dd-cd3c-401a-9e8a-754c77365cd9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aimia.com.au/home/news/member-news/aimia-releases-eighth-annual-australian-mobile-phone-lifestyle-index | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951461 | 1,383 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Simple foods often have wonderful associations. For example, the April issue of Saveur focuses on authentic ragu and its place on the Bolognese table. But the editorial of that same issue is on Ragu brand spaghetti sauce and how it provided a good sauce base for transplanted Italians—who added lots of special ingredients, then stashed the empty jar so no one would know.
For me it’s Tang, specifically HOT Tang, in the office of my college adviser and English professor. Dr. Wheeler always had an aged coffee pot on hand, filled with hot water and ready to offer students a cup of hot cocoa or hot Tang. With books and papers stacked dizzyingly high, that office was always a warm, welcoming place. Dr. Wheeler had an easy and infectious laugh, and her office provided a cozy haven as I sat in my coat with the snow melting and dripping on the floor, sipping hot Tang and discussing literature, progress on the yearbook or perhaps nothing in particular, with a wise and wonderful woman who understood the importance of a pot of hot water and a humble jar of powdered orange juice.
Who cares if this is a shade of orange not often found in nature?! Some of our most cherished food memories, particularly for those of us living in the United States, involve foods whose colors are a bit suspect.
To Dr. Wheeler, I raise my mug of hot Tang and offer a hearty “Cheers!” | <urn:uuid:a34fb697-0716-4e82-8d25-9c0d42141e20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hungrypassport.com/2008/05/getting-a-bang-out-of-tang/ | 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 | 0.94765 | 297 | 1.570313 | 2 |
June 27, 2012
| by Steve Crowe
OLED has been “the future” of television technology for several years now. The issue is that OLED TVs are expensive to produce.
Sony and Panasonic are looking to change that as the two have announced a partnership to mass produce OLED panels for large displays and televisions, aiming to establish mass production technology during 2013.
Sony and Panasonic will jointly develop OLED panels with help from their respective technologies, resulting in a reduction of production costs that could potentially make OLEDs more affordable to vendors. Samsung and LG have displayed 55-inch OLED prototypes, with the sets expected to go on sale in 2012 at a rumored price tag of as much as $10,000.
According to IHS Inc., shipments of OLED TVs may reach 2.1 million sets in 2015 from just 34,000 in 2012. And according to Reuters, an executive at LG Display cited an internal study that indicated consumers would start buying OLED TVs once the price falls to 1.3 to 1.4 times that of an LCD set.
Both companies have experienced financial hardship of late. Sony reported a loss of $5.7 billion for its fiscal year 2012 ended on March 31, the worst year in the 66-year history of Sony. Panasonic earlier in 2012 detailed plans to reorganize and could lay off half of its 7,000 employees at its headquarters in Osaka, Japan, according to the Wall Street Journal. | <urn:uuid:03b60d00-5f7d-4551-813a-3753812792f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electronichouse.com/article/sony_panasonic_to_mass_produce_oled_panels_by_2013/OLED/P7/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974624 | 292 | 1.726563 | 2 |
It can be hard to measure something that keeps growing.
Just over two weeks ago, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism reported that there are roughly 150 dailies in the United States that now have some form of digital subscription service. “Dozens more papers are likely to follow in 2012,” the study’s authors wrote.
Fast forward to Wednesday, and here’s the headline attached to an AP story in the Washington Post: “Nearly 300 US newspapers now charging for access on websites, smartphones and tablets.”
It depends on who you ask and how you count.
Most of the papers AP is counting are clients of Press+, which announced in a press release that 323 publications now use its services to “launch paid models.” But those aren’t all newspapers, or in the United States.
“Press+ also does college publications, magazines, trade pubs, things like that,” said Chuck Moozakis, editor-in-chief at News & Tech, which produced the numbers Pew cited. Press+ also works with non-daily newspapers.
Press+ spokeswoman Cindy Rosenthal says that, if you take out the weeklies, magazines, international newspapers, and others, the right number for their platform is around 250 — that’s U.S. dailies who use the company’s platform for digital subscriptions. She couldn’t give an exact figure, and Press+ keeps confidential its list of clients, which makes comparing their count to others’ difficult. But she noted the number continues to grow.
By Moozakis’ count — he updated it just a few days ago — the number of U.S. dailies with digital subscription services is hovering around 160. And the Newspaper Association of America‘s most recent data (from mid-February) finds about 110 daily newspapers in the U.S. have paywalls.
One thing seems clear: The number of newspapers that are putting up paywalls is on the rise. Between newspapers owned by Lee Enterprises Inc., and Gannett, Moozakis estimates about 110 new paywalls in the nearish future.
“Other publishers like McClatchy, which at this point only has one paper with a paywall, you gotta figure they’re going to be jumping on this,” he said. Tribune is the “wild card.” Even the company’s home page has dueling perspectives under the subheads “Old Media is Dead” and “Long Live Old Media.”
Turns out the lesson here is one we keep learning again and again: The news business is changing, and it’s changing fast. | <urn:uuid:c2721e54-4b14-46f3-82d5-a7a5b6d06d66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/04/wait-so-how-many-newspapers-have-paywalls/ | 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 | 0.953842 | 573 | 1.671875 | 2 |
I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine: Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup
From the introduction—“[this book] tells the stories of the men and women—inmate, uniformed staff, and civilian—who moved
in and out of the county lockup during my 10 years there. Some were there for only weeks, some for months, others for years. Yet each of their stories helped me erode and finally cross the line in the sand I resolutely drew between ‘us’ and ‘them’ that first day in the visitors’ lobby.
“Ultimately, each of their stories has the power to help all of us realize
that there really is no line to erode, no line to cross, that all the divisions we are quick to define, all the barriers we are quick to put up—of the haves and have-nots; of the keepers and the kept; of the right and wrong, the good and
bad—are no more substantial than the sand itself we Americans are so ready to draw a line through.”
Since the early 1990s, thanks to inflamed rhetoric in the media about “superpredators” and a wave of get-tough-on-crime laws, the number of juveniles in prison has risen by 35%, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and their placement in adult prison has increased by 208%, according to a 2007 survey by the Campaign for Youth. Since 1992, every state except Nebraska has passed laws making it easier to prosecute youth under 18 as adults, and most states have legalized harsher sentences for juveniles.
David Chura taught high school in a New York county penitentiary for 10 years and saw these young people—and the effects of our laws on them—up close. Here he introduces us to the real kids behind the hysteria: vibrant, animated kids full of humor and passion; kids who were born into families broken up and beaten down by drugs, gang violence, AIDS, poverty, and abuse. He also introduces us to wardens, correctional officers, family members, and doctors, and shows how everyone in this world is a child of disappointment.
We meet Wade, who carries a stack of photos of his HIV-positive mother in his pocket to take out and share with pride. Khalil has spent all 15 years of his life in foster care, group homes, juvenile detention, and mental hospitals, yet has channeled his inner demons into poetry. There’s Anna, a hard-nosed, one-time teenage drug baroness who serves as a tutor to students and older women alike; Dominic, a father of two who only reads in jail, and only the Harry Potter books; and Eddyberto, a bright student and self-taught artist whose wildly creative drawings are confiscated and used to accuse him of being a potential terrorist and threat to national security.
Then there’s O’Shay, a big, burly, snarling Bronx, Irish classroom officer with a surprising protective side for the underdog, and Ms. Wharton, a hallway officer with a spiky demeanor but a soft spot for animals.
In often gritty language, David Chura breaks down the divisions he says we so easily erect between us and them, the keepers and the kept—and argues how, ultimately, we as individuals and as a society have failed these young people. | <urn:uuid:35930470-566d-4cd1-8c47-09135c58c06d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eddigest.com/sub.php?page=book_reviews&review_id=171 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968497 | 707 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Office of Inspector General
About the Office
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is an independent division of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The OIG was created in 2005 and operates under the authorities vested in it by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (IG Act). The mission of the OIG is to enhance the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of EAC’s operations by:
Conducting audits, reviews, evaluations and assessments of EAC programs and operations;
Detecting and preventing fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement of EAC programs;
Promoting better EAC management;
Preserving and protecting EAC employee and program integrity; and
Communicating with the Commission and Congress to keep them fully informed of the status of EAC administration and operations and the need for and progress of corrective actions.
For a complete look at the OIG goals and objectives, read the OIG FY 2010 Strategic Plan.
For an overview of the OIG’s responsibilities and activities, read the Office of Inspector General Brochure.
According to its authority under the IG Act, the OIG must conduct Audits of the EAC and its programs. These include annual audits of the EAC’s financial statements as well as periodic audits of recipients of Federal funds distributed by the EAC. In addition, the OIG reports annually on the top management challenges facing EAC. The OIG also conducts reviews and evaluations of EAC programs. Through these tools, the OIG provides feedback and suggestions to assist the EAC with running more effective, efficient programs. For a preview of audit and evaluations activities planned for the FY 2011, read the OIG Audit Work Plan.
The OIG receives and investigates complaints of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in EAC programs or by EAC grant recipients. In order to facilitate filing complaints, the OIG maintains an on-line complaint submission form. Complaints are taken from EAC employees, EAC funding recipients and any member of the public. Persons making complaints can do so confidentially. Their names will not be released by the OIG without their consent unless the Inspector General determines that it is necessary to do so in the course of the investigation or audit. If you believe that you have information regarding fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement of EAC programs or of funding distributed by EAC, you can file a complaint by clicking on the "File a Complaint" button, below.
The OIG is also responsible to report to Congress. Twice each year, the OIG issues a report to Congress detailing its audits, inspections, evaluations, and investigations. These Semi-Annual Reports list the OIG recommendations that have not been implemented by the EAC. These reports also contain statistical information concerning the amount of questioned costs, the number of referrals made for prosecution, and the number of reports made to the agency head of the agency’s failure to cooperate or assist with an audit.
All audits issued by the OIG comply with the standards established by the Comptroller General of the United States: the Government Auditing Standards (GAS). Likewise, evaluations conducted by the OIG comply with the standards adopted by the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) for evaluations and inspections. Audits and evaluations are conducted by the OIG staff or by contracted auditors on behalf of the OIG.
Filing a Complaint
Complaints may be made via mail, telephone, fax, or online. File a compliant via the online Fraud, Waste and Abuse Form. | <urn:uuid:3f2869a2-01de-4cc0-a560-bd94e077e3b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eac.gov/inspector_general/ | 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 | 0.937568 | 748 | 1.796875 | 2 |
|Oyster Cracker holds a seed in her beak.|
March certainly has come in just as always, like a lion. The first few days of March have brought us colder temperatures, freezing rain and little sunshine. Last night it dipped down to 19 degrees F. I could not seem to warm up. This morning, the air is still cold, in the twenties, yet the sunshine is brilliant. I heard the girls calling early this morning. I think they could not wait to get up and play in the sun. They love to sit perched on a roost, a top a log or in a dust bowl where they close their eyes and absorb the sun. They remind me of cats that find a sunny spot and curl into a ball to take a nap. Sometimes, they are alone and sometimes they snuggle together in their sunny spots. However, first eggs needed to be laid and their morning scavenger hunt for a bit of scratch, dried meal worms and sunflower seeds had commenced.
Each morning, as the chickens scratch in the run for treats, I take a daily assessment of each girl. Are their combs bright and red and free from frostbite? Is everyone out of the coop? Do they all seem perky? Are they acting normal? Does anyone have a droopy tail or anything else out of the ordinary? Are they making normal poop? Thankfully, most days the answers are yes, business as usual continues.
Dolly's feathers are almost completely grown in and you would never know that she had been wounded in the first place. She has resumed laying eggs again. This is how I know that she has made a full recovery. She is her happy peppy self and I imagine she should return to being broody in about a week's time. For Dolly, being broody is a year round never ending cycle.
|Dolly decides on a box to lay her egg.|
Photo Credits: Tilly's Nest | <urn:uuid:44a765a1-993f-4724-88e4-754337e1ec01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/03/in-like-lion.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981775 | 400 | 1.671875 | 2 |
|Barked: Sat Nov 24, '12 11:45am PST |
|It really depends on what the integrity of the "no" is. If it is "do as I say or I will punish you!" then you are probably better off not having it, as some people can't deal with "no" unemotionally or without some type of personal offense...which is something you need to really avoid in proper dog training...and many types of dogs do not handle the concept well generally.
Then again, "no" properly introduced as a "must know" command can play on a whole different field. Generally I have found it gets backed up in one of two ways. Certainly the primary one is a reinforcer. Here, the dog equates "no" with "that's not what I want" and will get the dog to do something different. He, in other word, equates no with a reinforcer being on offer and the way he is responding means he won't get it. I know with my Cockers, this one usually does the trick. Balls are Chester world, food is Daniel's, and to them "no" means their favorite thing is on offer, so they will quit.
Now with some other dogs, certainly Giant Schnauzers, you do hit a point where if I hauled a side of beef out or had their special tug....the favorite one they only selectively get a crack at and go bonkers to see....it would not matter. The above approach works, but their drive-i-ness at some point will overwhelm it and they don't care about that silly old side of beef for what they are doing is FAR more interesting. I also find with this breed, which notoriously can crack any training device or approach because they are wicked smart....I mean WICKED smart....it's not like they don't know they will get a treat eventually. Even if it's not until tomorrow, this thing, THIS right here and right now, is of the moment and freaking fantastic! So they will blow it off, because of that intelligence. So with something like this, where the dog can proritize their respective bounties and opt to ignore, my best approach is to condition them via a longline (which they wear when young) that "no" ignored is followed with them being pulled out of a situation. So if they are ignoring my "no" as they trek too far, let's say, just pick up the long line and walk away from the situation with them. Put them in the car, or lead them back home and ignore them...downer ....or if it's in the home, put them in the kitchen, which I always try to have half-doored, to they can put their paws on top of it and see all the activity going on (which in their heads is the Cockers having fun and they are not, lol). So for them, "no" = stop that or the party is over.
So to pair "no" with either R+ or p- is the way to go. No reason to have a cow about it, the whole "NO!, you are offending me!" sort of deal. No either is conditioned quite simply to their being a reward *or* whatever it is they are doing they will get removed from if they don't cease and desist. It's whatever works.
It all links to my credo that training is not for the moments you do expect, but those you do NOT. And to me, you need those safety commands, when something really, really bad is about to go down if that dog doesn't halt what he is doing right this second. When they are a little older, my advanced "no" becomes "DROP!" Heavy, heavy reinforcement for speed. So for the rewards approach, that will be some unfathomably fantastic reinforcer, and for the P- dogs, it's high state drive, where the faster they drop, the faster they get to whatever the stimulus is.
|my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals|| [notify]| | <urn:uuid:c4d8c63f-1523-42b2-8af1-e8010492b48a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dogster.com/forums/Behavior_and_Training/thread/760512 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978884 | 853 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A brief report into the death of British tourist Tom Donaldson has just been made in the Northern Advocate.
According to the paper the coroner said that
“Visitors wanting to experience New Zealand’s adventure tourism should be warned that they are taking a risk.The inquest found that Mr Donaldson had ignored the warnings of a far north tour operator and chose to sand board down a dune known locally as “suicide hill”, despite being warned to only slide between the flags.
That message, from Northland’s coroner, comes as the region prepares to accommodate thousands of tourists for next year’s Rugby World Cup.”
The paper reported that coroner, Brandt Shortland
“said adventure tourism businesses should warn those keen to experience the thrills about the dangers via their websites.We blogged about Mr Donaldson’s death in February 2009, saying that there was no mention of the word ‘dangerous’ in any of the advertising material for sand boarding at the Omapere/Opononi dunes. See Another tourist dies in New Zealand.
It was timely to do so as about 16,000 people were expected in Northland for next year’s Rugby World Cup.
“What must be said is that Mr Donaldson chose not to follow instructions in that he engaged a sand dune that ultimately cost him his life,” Mr Shortland said.
“People have to remember when engaging in adventure tourism they have to follow the rules for their own safety.” read the full report here
A review of adventure tourism in New Zealand was recently carried out following the deaths of a number of international and local holidaymakers, including children and an instructor on an outdoor adventure camp.
The review was only instigated after a high profile campaign was launched by the father of Emily Jordan, who died riverboarding. Her father Chris wrote to John Key calling safety regulation in New Zealand “third world.“
Almost 3 years on and an inquest is yet to be held into Emily’s death, read Still no inquest for Emily Jordan, 13 November
Safety Gaps in NZ Adventure Tourism
The review found safety gaps that risk more accidents and damage in New Zealand’s $3 billion adventure tourism industry, gaps that allowed some to operate with less than acceptable safety standards.
The two major outcomes were recommendations that adventure tourism Operators be registered (which stops short of a licensing system) and that “most” be audited in order to remain on the register. Read Safety gaps found in adventure tourism review, 24 August 2010
For more about New Zealand’s appalling record for adventure tourism deaths, click here.
Our deepest condolences again go out to the family and friends of Mr Donaldson at this very difficult time.
Today's posts - click here | <urn:uuid:bfdd15d5-07da-402e-9a89-ff69334bc41a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://emigratetonewzealand.blogspot.jp/2010/11/tom-donaldson-inquest-coroner-says-warn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960854 | 586 | 1.625 | 2 |
For the better part of a decade Perl was stuck at release 5.8. Finally, in late 2007, Perl 5.10 was released, adding more useful new features to the language than any other release since Perl 5.0.0. Each year since then annual point releases of Perl have continued to provide improvements and new features.
However, many people are using a recent version of Perl without taking advantage of any of these new features. Unlike Perl, they’re still stuck at 5.8.
This tutorial provides a overview of the most important new features of Perl 5.10 through 5.16, along with practical examples of how they can improve the performance, robustness, and maintainability of your code.
Damian Conway is an internationally renowned speaker, author, and trainer, and a prominent contributor to the Perl community. Currently he runs Thoughtstream, an international IT training company that provides programmer training from beginner to masterclass level throughout Europe, North America, and Australasia. Most of his spare time over the past decade has been spent working with Larry Wall on the design and explication of the Perl 6 programming language. He has a PhD in Computer Science and was until recently an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, Australia.
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For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at the conference, contact Sharon Cordesse at (707) 827-7065 or email@example.com.
Download the OSCON Sponsor/Exhibitor Prospectus.
View a complete list of OSCON contacts | <urn:uuid:881124ca-8d78-4b68-b2d6-7a84e6285248> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oscon.com/oscon2012/public/schedule/detail/23275 | 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 | 0.939753 | 329 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Three Cheers for HRH, sticking his neck out on what the world needs to do for rainforests and why. He is using his convening power and passion to good effect. The "Prince's Rainforest Project" is an 18 month attempt to jump start a connection between finance and forests, aiming to " find ingenious, innovative ways of paying the appropriate price for the ecosystem services provided by the world’s remaining great forests.” Since the launch in November 2007, the project personnel have been going around talking to programmes, politicians, business people and policy wonks. They are not actually doing anything concrete but are trying to help those who are to get the right funds to the right place before it is too late. More power to their elbows (or, as they say in parts of west Africa, more grease to their arms).
And while we are on conservation leadership, three more cheers for rainforest champions. Arjay's awards for:
Excellent communication of the issues to another Charles... Charles Clover.
Innovative action to Fauna & Flora International.
Courageous activists who tackle the political challenges in their own rainforest nations - such as Brasil's Marina Silva.
Worthies indeed, but what chance is there that all these efforts can succeed? HRH is suggesting 30 billion would halt forest loss. Maybe, but the devil is, as always, in the detail. The finance is already lining up, sniffing the next increasingly valued and diminishing commodity. The questions are also lining up... how much, when will it be paid, who to, how will accountability and incentive be linked....essentially who will benefit and when?
My greatest concern is that short-termism will prevail and that people will be marginalised by both markets and the tortuous multi-lateral processes governing them. Those making the political decisions now will sell out for front-loaded funds and people will not be able to benefit from the increased value of ecosystem services that will emerge. The complexity of finance flows within communities that depend on natural resources, and effective environmental governance at all levels could so easily be underestimated.
Pilot projects please - and well-funded pilots at that, so we can start working out the glitches. | <urn:uuid:ec740c7b-f375-43f0-93d9-576c96e8ef41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://protectingourplanet.blogspot.com/2008/05/hrh-his-rainforest-highness-prince.html | 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 | 0.956136 | 456 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Why are so many feral chickens crossing the road in Maui? To get a rental car, of course.
Why are so many feral chickens crossing the road in Maui? To get a rental car, of course. Stephanie Federico/NPR
A roaming chicken's close inspection of a transformer caused a power outage and brief delays at Maui's Kahului Airport this week. The incident occurred Tuesday afternoon, when the bird wandered into a transformer at the airport's rental car area, leaving parts of the facility without power for more than an hour.
The airport's tower and air traffic control operations were not affected, reports The Maui News. Here's a look at the after-effects of the bird's tussle with a transformer:
- Security screenings were performed manually.
- At least four planes used mobile stairs to unload passengers, as jet bridges weren't operational.
- Electronically controlled doors were hand-operated.
- Rental car companies lost power.
- The Courtyard Maui Kahului Airport hotel lost power, as did a Kmart and other nearby businesses.
Some of those conditions lasted 30 minutes; others lingered for a bit more than an hour. The situation was complicated by a short in the electrical system that would normally convey generator power to the airport, officials told Maui News. No major flight delays were reported, and it's unclear whether the chicken survived its encounter.
Maui has reportedly seen a rise in its feral chicken population in recent years. Common theories hold that the birds escaped from chicken farms, either on their own or in the disarray brought by large storms.
And the wild chickens' impact on daily life can be wide-ranging. Consider this comment on a 2008 story on the Go Visit Hawaii website:
"The main problem I face is when I get a call from an important client and then all of sudden you hear a rooster making all kinds of noise in the background. The clients may have originally thought I worked in some big air-conditioned skyscraper cubicle only to hear roosters blow my cover."
The Hawaiian islands apparently lack enough traditional predators to keep the chicken population in check. And as Maui News reported in 2011, the birds are considered "awful-tasting." | <urn:uuid:72a41366-7ad9-4b6a-8af0-b106a1a417ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/28/173163398/in-maui-wild-chicken-spurs-power-outage-at-airport-surrounding-area?ft=1&f= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959494 | 467 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Marriage in the Clouds
It cannot be denied; the rush for a once deemed market failure, Web TV, is back with a vengeance and companies are clamoring to connect consumers and Cloud applications with what continues to be the mightiest medium for entertainment, the TV. Cord-Cutting trends cannot be dismissed as irrelevant, or non-starters, but the continuum of television as a primary medium is conclusive; it just needs to get smarter, becoming part of an ecosystem of device, cloud and consumer to produce something more significant than just one entity by itself.
Thanks to TV manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Panasonic and others web connected, or Smart TV’s, will become the norm in a very short time-span. They will be part of a gateway which connects consumers with a device, iPad, or Smart-Phone, the Cloud where information and content reside, to the TV where all connect together bringing an intelligent experience, one which can be individually unique to each consumer. See (Connected TV Is Bigger Than The Web)
Ecosystem of Devices
There will be no need for a Desk-Top PC as we know it today, and that will probably include the Laptop as well. Since the iPad, Smart Phones and now Smart TV’s will be connected to the Cloud, there will just be no demand for these legacy devices based on location preferences. Information and content will flow through an eco-system of connected devices and will give unique and distinct experiences for each specific viewer. That is, Mom and Dad, brother and sister, or whoever may have their specific preferences of applications riding on each device which all connected together. The only variance will become an individual’s location. See (The Increasingly Connected Consumer: Connected Devices)
Connected service providers will have the unique challenge of branding the eco-system. These (connectors) will compete with other brands to gather consumers with these devices, applications, and the Cloud to become a (consumer gatekeeper). Through each service provider customers will reach out to connected partners within that branded network to interact with a wide array of experiences within the cloud eco-system. So, branding and partnerships will become critical for gatekeepers to monitor and offer user experiences that are uniquely targeted to specific needs and affiliations. See (Cloud Illusions, Brand Recall? HP Eyes Cloud Innovation)
Applications as a Market Driver
Marketers’ will need a device Application. This will become a critical component to the eco-system of experiences consumers will use to connect with what is important. Without the App, companies will become extinct. These applications will be very consumer centric based on perceived impressions of habits, wants, needs each individual has indicated in their cloud footprints. Yes, targeting will become increasing prevalent and critical to branding success. Consumers will no longer want to consume broad-based advertising, but will confine their viewing to targeted and specific ads related to individual consumptions. The choice will become the consumers not the brands. See (IC Market Drivers)
Intelligence that’s Eco-centric
The key for companies are to realize the direction of intelligent based devices, cloud, and consumer demands will be their willingness to accept the inevitable change taking place in telecommunications today. Forecasting where markets will be in five to ten years is not something to take lightly or complacently. Studies are continuing to reveal the importance of new technologies and how those impact the consumer in various ways. It is not a time for timidity, or reliance historical branding, it is time to think ahead and contemplate where my company will be in relation to the eco-system, as it continues to evolve. | <urn:uuid:bcfd7bf3-d25a-4497-9185-5f93c384761d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.broadbandconvergent.com/cloud/future-ecosystem-cloud-consumer-device/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942747 | 741 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Two journalists find themselves without liberty, in two very different situations.
First, via Mash at the Dr Strangelove Blog, we hear that prominent journalist Tasneem Khalil arrested by military police in Bangladesh. Khalil is only 26, and works for the Dhaka-based Daily Star newspaper. He also campaigns for Human Rights Watch, who have issued a statement regarding his detention.
There are rumours that this detention will be shortlived, and that he might be released by the weekend. Regardless, the Internet is already being used to co-ordinate a campaign for his release: There is a possibility of a protest outside the Bangladeshi embassy in London, and campaigners will be raising awareness within the Bangladeshi community in the UK, at the Brick Lane Mela this weekend. Pickled Politics has more information.
Meanwhile, BBC reporter Alan Johnston has been missing for 60 days. In his case, his captors are a local militia group in Gaza.
An online petitions has been created for Alan Johnston, with another planned for Tasneem Khalil. However, I wonder whether this is as important as simply spreading awareness on a word-of-mouth (or word-of-blog) basis throughout the relevant communities. In neither case are the captors (The Bangladeshi ‘caretaker government’; and the Jaish al-Islam group in Gaza) directly accountable to the populations they pretend to serve. But one hopes that a rising wave of discontent coming from within those populations will eventually persuade those who make the decisions, that releasing their prisoners is the best course of action. By contrast, disapproval from outside these ‘constituencies’ – say, from the BBC or the British Government – might not be as persuasive.
Good luck Alan and Tasneem. | <urn:uuid:56861727-7d8e-43a4-9379-8279a69b3c58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2007/05/11/journalists-in-trouble/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959065 | 365 | 1.671875 | 2 |
CARBONDALE —The drought this summer depleted hay crops so severely that many Roaring Fork Valley ranchers have been forced to shell out big bucks to ensure they have enough food for their herds this winter.
"Yields are down almost 50 percent. Hay costs are exorbitantly high," said Tai Jacober, whose family operates Carbondale-based Crystal River Meats.
The Jacobers harvested nearly 2,000 tons of hay that they grew on their land and on leased fields in summer 2011. This year they only put up 1,200 tons.
In some fields with a plentiful water supply, the hay crop was nearly normal, Jacober said. But in other fields dependent almost entirely on spring runoff and less on irrigation, there was no yield.
The cattle industry across the country has been hit hard, with the drought so widespread. As a result, many cattle outfits are selling parts or all of their herds.
Jacober said that isn't an option for Crystal River Meats.
Read more about the drought. | <urn:uuid:46d9e35a-5de1-4855-84bc-0fd6cf54989e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21725097/drought-hits-ranchers-colorados-roaring-fork-valley-hard | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967726 | 213 | 1.828125 | 2 |
H. Beatty Chadwick
||This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2010)|
H. Beatty Chadwick (b. ~1938) is the American record holder for the longest time being held in civil contempt of court. In 1995, a judge ruled that Chadwick hid millions of U.S. dollars in overseas bank accounts so that he would not have to pay the sums to his ex-wife during their divorce. He was incarcerated until such time as he could present $2.5 million to the Delaware County Court. Chadwick maintains that the money was lost in a business transaction and therefore he cannot surrender money he does not possess.
On July 10, 2009, Chadwick was ordered released from prison by Delaware County Judge Joseph Cronin, who determined his continued incarceration had lost its coercive effect and would not result in him surrendering the money.
Although never charged with a crime, H. Beatty Chadwick spent fourteen years of his life in jail.
- Shepherd, Chuck (2009-01-11). "News of the Weird: Week of January 11, 2009".
- Morlock, Jackie (2008-12-22). "Should He Stay or Should He Go? To free or not to free, that is the question??". NBC Philadelphia.
- "Lawyer Is Released After Serving Over 14 Years on Civil Contempt Charge". Associated Press. July 11, 2009. | <urn:uuid:bae81b8d-70a7-4c7d-b235-04229c021e69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Beatty_Chadwick | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976607 | 292 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Fri October 5, 2012
Dubai To Build Replica Of Taj Mahal
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. The emirate of Dubai has created many wonders - a snowy ski hill in the desert, the world's tallest building. Its latest mega-project could be called a labor of love. The luxury hotel Taj Arabia will be a replica of the Taj Mahal, only four times the size. The 17th original in India was built by an emperor as a shrine to his beloved late wife. Dubai is pitching its faux Taj Mahal as a destination for weddings. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:580cea87-0aff-4017-8ca6-5ffa81a7e6ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krvs.org/post/dubai-build-replica-taj-mahal | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950776 | 147 | 1.53125 | 2 |
VTL IT-85 integrated amplifier Measurements
As might be expected, the VTL IT-85 runs hot, but not too hot to touch, even after the one-hour preconditioning. A clone of the input signal was available from the processor outputs, this unaffected by the volume-control setting, and the amplifier didn't invert signal polarity from these outputs, the preamp outputs, or the main speaker outputs. The VTL's input impedance was a moderate 19k ohms, and maximum voltage gain into 8 ohms was a high 40.2dB.
As CS tried biamping his speakers using the IT-85 and a sample of VTL's ST-85 power amplifier, I checked the gain structure of this arrangement. The IT-85's preamp section has a moderate maximum gain of 9.8dB, its power amp a gain (into 8 ohms) of 30.4dB. By contrast, the ST-85 has an 8 ohm gain of 30.65dB, meaning that vertical biamping (one stereo amplifier for each speaker) would result in an 0.25dB imbalance between the channels. Best, therefore, to do what Chip did and horizontally biamp: ie, use the ST-85 for both woofers and the IT-85 for both tweeters.
The IT-85's output impedance was moderately high, at 0.85 ohms across the audioband. (The ST-85's source impedance was slightly lower at 0.75 ohms, which probably explains the slight difference in gain.) As a result, there will be a mild, ±0.6dB interaction between this impedance and the manner in which the partnering loudspeaker's impedance changes with frequency, which can be seen in fig.1 (top trace at 2kHz). The response into resistive loads is basically flat down to well below 10Hz, with only a mild (-0.4dB) rolloff at 20kHz. (Note the excellent volume-control channel match in this graph, by the way.) The exact rolloff was somewhat dependent on the volume-control setting; the traces in fig.1 were taken with volume set to 1:00. At the maximum setting, the rolloff decreased to -0.2dB in the left channel, -0.05dB in the right. Though the 1kHz squarewave (not shown) was basically perfect, the 10kHz squarewave response (fig.2) reveals a damped ultrasonic resonance.
Fig.1 VTL IT-85, frequency response at (from top to bottom at 2kHz): 2.83V into dummy loudspeaker load, 1W into 8 ohms, 2W into 4 ohms, and 4W into 2 ohms (0.5dB/vertical div., right channel dashed).
Fig.2 VTL IT-85, small-signal 10kHz squarewave into 8 ohms.
The unweighted, wideband S/N ratio (ref. 1W into 8 ohms) was okay at 66.7dB, improving to 77.7dB when A-weighted. Channel separation (fig.3) was excellent in the L-R direction, but merely good in the other direction.
Fig.3 VTL IT-85, channel separation (10dB/vertical div., R-L dashed). | <urn:uuid:ae27fe78-f85f-4fbd-a463-87a6800a6ce9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stereophile.com/content/vtl-it-85-integrated-amplifier-measurements | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944022 | 693 | 1.757813 | 2 |
By KEITH J. O'CONNOR
WEST SPRINGFIELD - There's plenty for kids to do at Saturday's 58th annual Hampden County 4-H Fair and Horse Show at the Big E, where they can see farm animals and pets up close, participate in arts and crafts activities, and have fun winning ribbons in all kinds of events, including a pet show and talent competition.
And kids don't have to be a 4-H member to get into all the action.
"Our aim is to have more of the public attend and participate in our fair this year," said Alice Boyd of the Hampden County 4-H Fair Association.
"It's good for our kids to see people who are not part of 4-H coming out to support them and to learn more about 4-H and possibly start their on group," she added.
An array of livestock raised by 4-H youngsters will be shown in competition during the day, including prized dairy and beef cattle, rabbits, poultry, goats and sheep. Young equestrians will also have their horses walking, trotting and jumping in an outside arena near the Avenue of States beginning as early as 8:30 a.m.
The fair's exhibit hall at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield will be filled with the handiwork of youngsters, including baked goods such as a new chocolate chip dropped cookies class, artwork, photography, vegetables, woodworking, quilting, knitting, handicrafts from decoupage to candle making and more.
Among the many 4-H youngsters showcasing their talents and creativity at this year's fair will be 13-year-old twin sisters Alida and Danica Brown from Southwick.
"I think I'm more competitive than my sister," said Alida, who along with Danica will show their prize-winning goats in competition.
The sisters, whose college-age brother was also active in 4-H, spend hours tending to their goats, often getting up as early as 5 a.m. during school days to milk and feed their animals.
"I've always been a social child and I really wanted to meet new people and have fun," said Alida about joining 4-H nearly eight years ago.
"It is fun, something to do and you do meet a lot of interesting people," added Danica, who will also be entering her handiwork in crafts, art and fashion.
"I have a watercolor seascape that I painted, and I'm making a tank top to model," she added.
Young visitors who are not 4-H members are invited to participate in the Rick Sullivan Memorial Fun Run set for 9 a.m., which will include races of varying lengths based on age.
There will also be a pedal tractor pull at 11 a.m. which is open to any youngster, age 3-8, attending the fair, followed by a veggie race at noon.
"It's really a riot to watch these kids pedal little John Deere tractors. They really work hard pedaling their machines which are hooked up to a tension apparatus," Boyd said.
At 11:30 a.m., all kids are invited to participate in a pet show.
"Youngsters can bring in their favorite pets like a bird, hamster, chicken, cat, dog, lizard or whatever, as long as they keep them under control. We give ribbons for categories like biggest, smallest, silliest, and best-dressed," Boyd said.
Those bringing their pets to participate in the show must have them on a leash or in a cage, and have their shot records for review.
Also, all youngsters visiting the fair on Saturday will be invited to take part in several craft activities including egg painting, tin punching, and face painting. And, there is an open talent show at 1 p.m. where youngsters can sing, play piano, do a little magic, dance, or tell jokes in a performance which must be under five minutes.
Additional 4-H events will include a bottle rocket launch at 2 p.m., fashion revue at 3 p.m., lead line and wool competition at 3:30 p.m., followed at 4 p.m. by an awards presentation recognizing the prize-winning efforts of those 4-H youth and others participating in the fair. | <urn:uuid:ff834289-dfdf-482e-a9e8-fce327909d28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2009/07/children_can_see_farm_animals.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97995 | 898 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Encyclopedants Progress Report 1
This entry is in progress.
The Encyclopedants is a term applied to the small group of individuals who decided a collection of Ghyll intellect, in written and distributed form, was necessary for the bettering of society, as well as the benefit of future historians. The group now presides over the encyclopedia's integrity and "cohesion of vision". To remain an objective judge, the Encyclopedants attempt to focus only on "the facts as we're told them", asking questions, poking holes, and suggesting "standards" to further quality assurance. These Progress Reports are considered official communication between the Encyclopedants and their Scholars, and they encourage others to write their own thoughts and comments into the margins.
And Thus It Begins!
First, we would like to thank those who have started adding terms... already we've seen some strong entries but, as feared, a definitive lack of "group think". This is our own fault: in the hopes of canvasing as much of our beloved Ghyll as possible, we sent missives far and wide, requesting entries from scholars of all walks of life, society, and culture. Naturally, the world looks remarkably different through multicolored glasses, and cohesion (what we have sworn to uphold) has yet to develop. Although the blame is ours, we'll address steps to bring things back into focus.
The State of the Art of Ghyll
The entries as they stand are highly disparate, chiefly caused by a "culture-centric" approach to scholarly writing. It is important to recognize the world, and other encyclopedic entries, around you, otherwise you stand to make an embarrassingly "everything revolves around me" mistake in your work. We have gone through the core aspects of the existing entries in hopes of solidifying what we know.
We discern from Alezan and Andelphracian Lights that part of Ghyll is forested; from Alezan and Avazian Box there are wastelands, but apart from the city in Altox bulb, the gardens of Agony uncle, and the mires and quayres of Andelphracian Lights, landscape is not yet a chief factor in your entries. It probably should not be. With the Encyclopedia a massive undertaking already, there's plenty of time for mapmaking later. Your focus as scholars should be much smaller: life, culture, and inspiration not location, distance and direction.
History and Dates
Due to our lack of guidance, entries have been dreadful when it comes to history, date, times, and respect for other cultural histories. There is no time like the present to realize time does not revolve around you. We appreciate that your location has developed its own unique way to measure time and tell its history - we don't dare suggest you or your elders change it! We do require, however, that your encyclopedia entries "standardize" any timeframes to what we have dubbed the "Encyclopedant Calendar", or EC. This standardized time will be measured in centuries, decades, years, months, weeks, and days. Events that occurred previous to EC time will follow the same measurements, such that 50 years before EC is written as "-50 EC." The current time is 0 EC; we estimate a complete Round of encyclopedia entries (A through Z) will be completed every six months (half a year). Example: the seventh day of the fifth month of -20 EC would be written as -20/5/7.
As such, the following changes will be retroactively applied to your entries:
- Alarius has had "Fifteenth century" removed. No possible conversion to EC dates is known.
- Removed mention of "epochs" from Avazian Box. Lack of civilization means lack of conversion to EC.
- The "epochs" of Aquentravalkeration have been revised to EC time.
Scholars should consider writing entries more recent than -100 EC. Due to inaccurate record keeping (which the Ghyll Encyclopedia hopes to correct for future generations), solid information from before -200 EC is very hard to come by and rarely complete. In fact, much of known "history" prior to -100 EC is passed down through fairy tales, myths, legends, and inconsistent reinvention. We recommend focusing on -150 EC and later.
For more information, including a timeline, see Encyclopedant Calendar.
People and Politics
We have some interesting people being recorded permanently for posterity. Windsor and Bavarian Creame, Daniel Mboya, Madam Calvian, Alarius, Phennella, Professor Altoxian, Bunny Hutch, Siam Sinch, Andelphracia, Margaret Widderson, Quezlar 6, Bysted Timperton, Supetupheraraphes, Rancticirchiretic, Oblibestircus, Morphous Ibb, Tim Timperton, Violetta, and a handful of other supporting characters have been mentioned just in these very early entries. We anticipate seeing them explored further as more encyclopedia entries are received.
Politics have been sparsely mentioned, but some inferences are possible. In Agony uncle, the arrest of Windsor Creame suggests a police force in the region of the Folktown Records' office. Andelphracia was a mayoress, so towns have people running them. There is a general order to Ghyll, and one which will grow more apparent with further entries. There appears to be no overarching control: the rural areas tend to be cooperative within themselves, and museums and organized cities with councils indicate order; the fact that quite a few of the entries are historical and that the Ghyll Encyclopedia itself is being written by a team of scholars (you) indicates the same kind of locally-regularised control (us).
Technology and Education
Technology, or lack there of, has been inconsistent and is again attributible to our exhuberance in selecting a variety of scholars from locations all around Ghyll. Certainly, different areas have developed in their own special way... some for the better, some for the worst. The rural technologies of the lights (Andelphracian Lights and Altox bulb) contrast with huge past towers (Alezan) and magnetic propulsion technologies (Avazian Box) contrast with frescos (Alarius) and newspaper offices (Agony uncle). It seems telling that the most amazing technologies (of magnetism and architectural immensity) are from ages long past or civilizations long dead. Suffice it to say, further cohesion and extensive historical research will need to be addressed in your upcoming submissions.
Naturally, the people of Ghyll are quite well educated: we invent, we write, and we produce publications. It's been a surprise, but we have already created a staggering amount of written documentation: the Folktown Records, the Encyclopaedia of Lost Lore, Cranee Historical Society records (inferred), Quester and Phorrus, The Fylesgate Annals, the ancient documents of the Nitenmangrey, and of course the Ghyll Encyclopedia itself! We have more than one research council, and even a historical society and museum. If this trend continues, Ghyll is going to have to have its educational system explained rather well. It may just be that, since we're scholars, we tend to have a scholarly bias--of course--and that most inhabitants are of a more mundane nature. We have even seen a trickling of the arts, with allusions to past theatre productions.
The Facts As We're Told Them
The first batch of entries consists of the following twelve entries: Agony uncle (Language), Alarius (Person), Alezan (Land), Alezanians (People), Altox bulb (Invention), Aminfarances Institute of Science and Technomancy (Organization), Amphitheatre aristocracy (Organization), Andelphracian Lights (Invention), Aquentravalkeration (Other), Arariax (Person), Avazian Box (Invention), and Quezlarian numerals (Other).
Agony uncle (Language)
- The Folktown Records is weekly newspaper.
- There are over 600 editions of the Folktown Records (-13 EC).
- Windsor Creame has worked at the Folktown Records for 12 years (-13 EC).
- Windsor Creame is 57 years old (birth: -58 EC).
- Windsor Creame's wife of seven years (-8 EC) is Bavarian Creame.
- Windsor Creame has a (young) nephew called Daniel Mboya; hence he must have a brother or sister.
- The Folktown Records offices are surrounded by gardens and, presumably, employ a gardener.
- Madam Calvian is a neighbour to a Folktown Records employee (who happens to be the transcriber).
- Daniel Mboya was severely beaten, and eventually died due to blood collecting in his lungs.
- Windsor Creame was "detained and brought in for questioning"; hence there must be a police force.
There are a series of nuances not yet dependable as facts: why did the transcriber take down the conversation? How, if any, does it relate to Mboya turning up at Madam Calvian's (the transcriber's next door neighbor)? And, assuming Windsor's murder charge is true, why would a man who has answered children's questions for so many years suddenly turn violent?
- Alarius was a renaissance thinker.
- Alarius held a conspirational view of history.
- The Bureau of Forgotten Knowledge published the Encyclopaedia of Lost Lore.
- Alarius painted a fresco at the Palace of Lost Souls.
- The fresco was altered by Alarius shortly after its completion.
Did Alarius fancy himself a god, as depicted by his fresco and the perspective of looking down upon all of existence? Or did he feel everyone creates and visualizes their own reality? And just who was the woman in his fresco, and why did Alarius feel the need to modify her appearance?
- Alezan is a forested land to the west of the Evesque Valley.
- Alezan was inhabited by an old race who built a large twin tower structure.
- Alezan is either sparsely or non-populated, and visited only rarely (mainly by children).
- The Cranee Historical Society have investigated Alezan's past.
- Phennella is a member of the Cranee Historical Society.
- A vorpcara is a relic which may be embedded in the ground.
- Alezan (possibly Cranee?) has a nearby museum which houses a vorpcara.
- Bobby Shwarmph lives close to the land of Alezan.
- The Alezanians are a conspiracy-theory style putatively extant group.
- Bobby Shwarmph runs the Aliens Everywhere magazine.
Altox bulb (Invention)
- The Altox, or Altoxian, bulb was invented by Professor Altoxian.
- Professor Altoxian is a resident of the city of Iganefta.
- Professor Altoxian is well acquainted with the lower class.
- Altox bulbs are created from a jelly mined from deep under Iganefta.
- The Azura Mines have a stream of the jelly, it is rumoured.
- The Adrizian are another name for the upper class of Iganefta.
This entry seems to have similarities with Andelphracian Lights, but the last sentence has confounded Encyclopedants, sending some to blows. Are the entrances in the Adrizian sections to mines of jelly reserves underneath the city? If not, what are the entrances to, and what does it mean that the entrances are 'rarely used on account of not needing the jelly'?
Aminfarances Institute of Science and Technomancy (Organization)
- The Aminfarances Institute of Science and Technomancy is a loose collective.
- The Institute is possibly ancient, and recruits bright young individuals.
- The organizational structure is arranged in a series of nested circles.
- The Institute engages in projects of scientific and technomantic research.
- Aminfarances, of unknown gender, founded the Institute.
Amphitheatre aristocracy (Organization)
- The Amphitheatre aristocracy are a group based in Folktown.
- The Houvers are a lower-class dissident group opposed to decadence.
- The Amphitheatre aristocracy meet weekly at the Folktown Amphitheatre.
- Theatre used to be popular in Ghyll, but is much less so now.
- Trained burnfly swarms can be sculpted.
- Bunny Hutch is a famed performance artist, skilled in sculpting Burnfly swarms.
- Siam Sinch, daughter of Bavarian Creame from a previous marriage, does glitterthought.
- Statues were made recently of the, possibly mythical, Alezan pantheon.
- The Amphitheatre Aristocracy provides scholarships.
- Folktown has its own city council.
Andelphracian Lights (Invention)
- Andelphracian Lights, or Andelights, were invented by Andelphracia.
- Andelphracian Lights are used to set a return path across difficult terrain at night.
- Margaret Widderson is an Andelight craftswoman.
- The Evesque Valley has quayres which contain materials used to make Andelights.
- Andelphracia was the mayoress of the now lost Fylesgate.
- Fylesgate was likely in the Evesque Valley.
- The Fefferberry is used as an ingredient in making Andelphracian Lights.
- Quezlar 6 may have used the lights in crossing the Elminster Mire.
- Bysted Timperton may write about the lights in Quester and Phorrus.
- The Fylesgate Annals allude to the invention of Andelphracian Lights.
- The term "Andelphracian Lights" can't be antedated back more than a hundred and fifty years.
- Aquentravalkeration was practiced by the now extinct Nitenmangrey culture.
- The Nitenmangrey culture flourished prior to -900 EC.
- Documents from that time are currently undeciphered, and comprised of hieroglyphs.
- The term "Aquentravalkeration" was coined by Supetupheraraphes.
- The Nitenmangrey had shamans and Paramount Queens.
- Rancticirchiretic is another scholar documenting the Nitenmangrey.
- Oblibestircus is another, less creditable, scholar investigating the Nitenmangrey.
- Arariax was one of Ghyll's most influential poets.
- Arariax the poet was born in -280 EC in the Evesque Valley.
- Arariax had a peculiar habit of releasing 64 poems at a time.
- Arariax wrote "The Deathbug" (poem) and "Why the Free Bird loves Tallow" (book/pamphlet).
- Arariax was in exile for an unknown reason.
Avazian Box (Invention)
- The Avazians were metalworkers.
- The Avazians engineered many magnetic propulsion weapons.
- There were at least three Avazian (presumably civil) Wars.
- There were many protests against the Third Avazian War, to little effect.
- Avazians have very few males in the population, possibly due to the wars.
- The Blackguard Avazians are a team of primarily female Avazian scientists.
- A nanit appears to be a unit of measurement, but may be of magnetic flux.
- Avazian Boxes are also known as Avazian War Boxes or simply Their Boxes.
- Avazian Boxes dissipate magnetic devices (including weapons) over a large radius.
- Avazian Boxes and their effects completely stopped the Third Avazian War.
- They also caused the reversal of technological development due to their effectiveness.
- An Avazian Box, discovered in the Avazian ruins, has been accidentally activated.
Quezlarian numerals (Other)
- Morphous Ibb wrote to the Folktown Records, and was published in #578.
- Tim Timperton is on staff at the Folktown Records.
- Ghyll's core script has aesthetic problems.
- Quezlar 6 invented Quezlarian Numerals; it is popularly believed he didn't.
- Quezlar 6 was married to Violetta, and her nickname was VI.
- Tim Timperton used to be a high ranking member of the Council for Quezlarian Research.
- The Council for Quezlarian Research deny this encyclopedia entry.
Is Tim Temperton related to Bysted Templeton, currently a member of the Council for Quezlarian Research? Also note that, for historical reasons, this entry was written nearly nine months before the Ghyll Encyclopedia officially got under way (it served well as an adequate measure for our fact checking, quality assurance, and publication methods.) | <urn:uuid:f0466197-2523-483a-ae97-a51263c493ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gamegrene.com/w/index.php?title=Encyclopedants_Progress_Report_1&oldid=418 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944094 | 3,606 | 1.523438 | 2 |
|ARTIST:||Frances Mary Hodgkins|
|DATES:||New Zealand 1869 - 1947|
|TITLE:||The Sitting Room c. 1930|
|MEDIUM:||Black chalk on paper|
|SIZE:||30 x 30 cm|
The Sitting Room c. 1930 - 1931
Black chalk on paper, 30 x 30 cm
Signed Frances Hodgkins lower centre
London: The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street, January 1968.
Private Collection, Canterbury, U.K.
Sube Hotel, St Tropez, Var. 25th June 1931
‘But this last batch of a dozen drawings is good I think. Definitely it is summer weather now and one is at ones best.’
Frances Hodgkins spent the year of 1930 preparing for her October exhibition at St George’s Gallery, London. She was, however, exhausted and in very low spirits. Hodgkins’s close friend, Lett Haines, arranged for her to go first to a cottage in St Osyth near Clacton-on-Sea and then later to a friend’s farm, Wise Follies, near the village of Wilmington in Sussex. It is here that Hodgkins again took up her drawing practice, focussing on the local villages and other still life subjects.
Hodgkins’s preoccupation with conveying movement through line in her drawings originated in the early stages of her career. Her fixation with the still life genre continued on into the 1930’s where she was able to combine a series of separate still life objects as well as their surroundings in an effortless and graceful manner. Hodgkins’s later works proclaim her confidence and the apparent ease with which she was able to wield her pencil - charging
it with the same interest that had fuelled her earlier explorations into colour.
The curving lines that sweep across Hodgkins’s drawings invoke a sense of space and freedom, while also appearing to capture fleeting moments in time. In some instances, Hodgkins brought heterogeneous objects together, weaving a composition from items taken from her immediate environment instead of seeing them in abstract terms as she came to do in her later paintings.
This idea is especially prevalent in the present charcoal drawing, The Sitting Room from 1930 - 1931. The work shares several similar key compositional elements with Pleasure Garden painted in 1932, which is held in the permanent collection of the Christchurch Art Gallery. As such, it is likely that The Sitting Room served as a preliminary drawing to Pleasure Garden. Similarities are seen in the design of the table and the curved armrest of the chair, in the right hand corner of The Sitting Room, which are then echoed in the Pleasure Garden. A similarity can also be drawn between the empty bottle and two glasses in The Sitting Room, and the undulating shapes of the wine bottle and glasses in the foreground of the painting in the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Featuring an extremely complex composition, The Siting Room presents the viewer with numerous pieces of furniture, decorative objects, functional items and patterned fabrics that are all set within a small domestic space. Testament to Hodgkins’s proficiency as a draughtsman and her understanding of pictorial space, The Sitting Room is at once both frenetically busy and quietly calm. The absence of any human presence lends the work a calmative effect, which successfully offsets the busyness of the piece. In doing so, Hodgkins avoids the potential of overwhelming busyness due to the wealth of visual interest. While there is little attempt to show real distance in the work, each object is still given depth and solidity through careful shadowing, which imparts the scene with an empathic domesticity.
|Jonathan Grant Galleries Ltd
280 Parnell Rd, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand.
Telephone +64-9-308 9125 Email firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:1ff11465-e626-4d3e-90d4-c9abd957b1b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jgg.biz/iframe1.asp?ds=1&id=1848&name= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942391 | 819 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Flawless skin is every woman’s desire. Women around the world would do anything, spend any amount of money go get a flawless glowing skin. This is the reason there are millions of products available in the market, specifically made to target skin care problems. Companies sell their skincare and cosmetic products by putting attractive advertisements in magazines, newspapers and other mode of electronic media.
Buying skincare products is one of the most confusing thing in the world for most of the women. Many women find it difficult to choose the best product among available options, each claiming to give best of the results. However, the most important thing to keep in mind while choosing any product for your skin is to know your skin type. In this article, we will talk about some basic facts about your skin.
Factors To Keep In Mind Before Buying Any Product
Skin type: Before you buy any product it is important to know what kind of skin do you possess. Every product is not made for your skin. You must have read advertisements stating, best suited for oily skin or dry skin.
Instructions to know your skin type:
If you are not sure of your skin type, then do a simple patch test.
● Wash your face with mild face wash before sleeping at night.
● Do not apply anything on your skin.
● In the morning take a tissue paper, and press it against the skin of your face.
● If you see any stains on the tissue, then that part of your face is oily.
● If you feel any kind of stretch on your face, then you have a dry skin, or
● If you do not feel anything unusual , you have normal skin.
Some people also have a combination skin. Your t-zone skin may not be same as your cheeks or w-zone. Keep all these things in mind and then buy your product. Do not forget to read the instructions on the carton of the product.
Complexion of the Skin: Complexion of the face and the sensitivity is determined by the amount of melanin present in your skin. If you have a fair skin, that gets easily affected by the environmental elements like pollution, sun exposure etc., it is always advisable to stick more to natural and organic products. If you have a skin that is not too dark, not too fair and does not get easily affected by any other exterior elements, then you may try some chemical based products that may not harm your skin. Dark complexion people have high melanin counts, that make their skin resistant to any kind of chemical or harmful substances.
Skin concerns: Factors such as premature aging, persistent acne, age spots, rosacea large pores, sun damage, facial wrinkles or fine lines are some of the major concerns for all types of skin. It is necessary to know what kind of a problem you are going through before selecting skincare products. Also, your personal habits play an important role in functioning of the products. If you are a chain smoker or alcoholic then even beauty products won't be of much help.
Author’s Bio: Kushal Tomar is a fashion freak and a freelance blogger who writes on different topics such as fashion, travel, technology, business, finance, gadgets. He’s published more than 500 articles about various topics. He holds Master’s degree in computer. In spare time he loves to play Angry Birds! | <urn:uuid:b39ca5d3-7704-4e20-b90e-011b956184dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beholdthemetatron.com/2012/09/best-products-for-your-skin.html | 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 | 0.942704 | 698 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Nicki wants to get out of debt, but she can’t — she has a spending addiction. She’s hoping that other Get Rich Slowly readers can give her advice. Here’s an abridged version of her story:
I am writing for advice on managing debt. I’ve been reading your website for the past month because my boyfriend recommended it after he noticed I spend a lot of money. Here’s a summary of my debt:
- Visa: $9900 at 11%
- Mastercard: $10,000 at 11%
- Car loan: $4800 at 8.5%
- Student loans: $12,500 at 11% (I think)
I earn nearly $2800 a month after taxes, and my expenses total just over $1400, leaving me about $1300 to put towards my debt. I’m nearly 26. My goal is to be debt-free by the time I’m 30 years old. I want to start a family then, but cannot do so with so much debt. At this rate, I won’t even be able to get a mortgage.
My original plan was to pay off the Mastercard and to use the Visa only for emergencies. Unfortunately I spent money on clothes, shoes, etc. At the same time, I was moving and buying new furniture, and before I knew it I had two credit cards with $6000 debt. The closer I got to my credit limits, the higher they would be raised. Sadly, I kept spending. I truly believe I have a problem with spending and saving, similar to a drug addict.
I know what I am doing is harming my finances, but I just do not know to control myself. I lack discipline, and I do not know how to gain it. I’m not averse to working hard, and I always intend to follow my debt reduction plan — I just need help in maintaining focus and staying on track.
Do you have any advice for dealing with spending addiction? How can I attain the principles of frugality? I am desperate!
Nicki’s e-mail hit home for me. What she describes is exactly the same relationship I used to have with money. Last year, when I wrote about my own experiences with compulsive spending, I shared six tips that eventually helped me to overcome my problem. These may also be useful for her:
- Cut up your credit cards. Do it now, and don’t make excuses. If you’re a compulsive spender, getting rid of your credit cards trumps all other considerations. (Don’t cancel the accounts — just cut up the cards.)
- Only carry cash. Don’t carry a checkbook or a debit card. Your goal should be to make spending as inconvenient as possible.
- Track every penny you spend. Use Wesabe or Mint or Quicken or Microsoft Money. Use a notebook if you have to. Just write down where your money is going. You must learn to see the spending.
- Play mind games. Use the 30-day rule to control impulse shopping. Tax yourself. Develop tricks to circumvent your urge to splurge.
- Avoid temptation. Stay out of the mall. If you spend too much on knitting, keep away from the yarn store. Don’t set yourself up for failure.
- Ask for help. Seek support from your friends and family. Listen to them when they earn you about your behavior.
(For more detail on these techniques, read my six steps to curb compulsive spending.)
Overcoming addiction is not easy, but I believe Nicki can do it. Admitting she has a problem and asking for help are great first steps. As she gets her spending under control, I think Nicki will find it easier to get out of debt. In fact, she may be surprised at how addicting saving money can be.
Do you have any advice for Nicki? How can she cope with her spending addiction? What’s the best way for her to tackle her debts? How can she learn to be frugal?
GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.
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Jeronimo Maradiaga at the Posse graduation ceremony prior to commencement. Maradiaga and other Posse Scholars were introduced during the event, which packed Lunder House with family, friends, faculty, and staff.
Aleman flew from Florida to New York in early April. Maradiaga was looking for a stable place for her to live. “We’re essentially homeless again,” he said at the time.
Mother and son stayed with Howard, a middle-school teacher, and Travis in Brooklyn. Maradiaga’s departure—he was planning to travel first to India—was looming, but first he had to take care of his family situation.
A scene fraught with tension and guilt? Not entirely. “The most illuminating thing about having his mother with me is how incredibly happy he is when she’s around,” Howard said. “They have such a strong bond with each other.”
In fact, the drive that has led Maradiaga out of the Bronx—to Colby and China, and now to a year-long mission to mine the dreams of marginalized young people—comes from the one person who, in Maradiaga’s circle of friends and family, may understand his remarkable trajectory the least.
“People get their sources of inspiration,” Oscar Maradiaga said, “and I guess my mom was his.”
It was their mother who “opened the floodgates,” Oscar said, coming to the United States alone. Their mother, who left elementary school to work in the family’s bodega, was determined that her sons would get an education and have a better life. To her, the brothers said, that was a high school diploma, but the emphasis on education was there.
Said Howard, “They always saw her as someone who was working very hard to make their lives better.”
And now Jeronimo Maradiaga is a source of inspiration himself.
After eight years working in a restaurant, Oscar Maradiaga, described by his younger brother as “one of the smartest people I know,” said he has decided to go back to school. He said he’d like to become a teacher, to pass on the gift of education to others. “I’m coming to realize how important it is,” he said, “and Jeronimo knows the importance of it. It opens doors. You’re enlightened by your experiences.”
The next stage of Maradiaga’s journey was to begin this summer (a stipulation of the fellowship is that he leaves before August 1). His mother had moved into an apartment in Queens with Oscar and his wife, Julia. Things were stabilized on the homefront. “A real big part of me feels like, am I being selfish?” he said. “A lot of those same feelings, I’m reliving them now.”
But the plan is unfolding. Maradiaga said he still intends to become a doctor, to work in a New York emergency room. Though his Watson project isn’t related to medicine, it is all about adapting to different cultures and places and listening to people with empathy and respect.
And the project began with this story, Maradiaga’s. He deliberated for days before agreeing to tell it. Ultimately he decided that he couldn’t ask other people to speak of their lives, hardships, and dreams if he wasn’t willing to reveal his own.
“A part of me doesn’t want my business to be out there,” he said. “But another part of me is like, no. I want people to know this. I want people to know that I had all these things against me and I still graduated from college. I want people to realize that you can do that.”
PostscriptLeaving New York City at midnight, Jeronimo Maradiaga’s mother and his brother, Oscar, rode for 11 hours to Waterville to attend commencement, Sunday, May 24. They toured the campus and met many of Jeronimo Maradiaga’s friends, including students, staff, faculty, and administrators. Sitting on a bench outside Lunder House before the Posse graduation ceremony the Saturday before commencement, Rosa Alicia Aleman said everywhere she went on campus, people greeted her and said what a special person her son is.
The issues of the past were just that.
“Muy orgullosa.” [I’m very proud,] she said. “No hay palabras.” [There are no words.] | <urn:uuid:395d5976-e2f0-44b2-8fbe-67fbc7d8bfcd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.colby.edu/colby.mag/issues/50/article/970/page/7/jeronimo-maradiagas-journey/ | 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 | 0.983013 | 986 | 1.78125 | 2 |
“Why do companies all over the world spend millions of dollars telling salespeople what to say, but they invest almost nothing when it comes to teaching them what to ask?” - T. Freese
I still can’t figure out why most of the sales training that’s being offered today is geared toward teaching people to sound the same as “everyone else.” Back when I was a salesperson, I wanted to do everything in my power to differentiate myself from the competition, as opposed to commoditizing my company’s value proposition with industry buzzwords.
Ironically, the effectiveness of the individual salesperson has become increasingly more important than the products they sell or the company they represent. All you have to do is glance around your industry and you will quickly notice that some salespeople are more effective than others, selling the same types of products to the same target audience.
The real challenge sellers face on a daily basis is less about defining the sales process, and instead, has more to do with figuring out “HOW” to execute more effectively. Things like: How can you pique the prospect’s interest to penetrate more new opportunities? How do you earn enough credibility to compete for mindshare from key decision makers within important target accounts? How can you create the sense of urgency needed to move deals forward? Or better still, How can you cause skeptical customers to "want to" share information with a salesperson they don’t yet know or trust? Also, How can you increase your Return On Invested Sales Effort, enough to secure an ‘unfair’ advantage over the competition? Ultimately, the goal in terms of more effective execution is understanding How to close more deals, at higher margins, in reduced time and with less effort. Ultimately, it’s about winning in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
“If you want to ‘challenge’ the customer’s thinking in today’s increasingly competitive business environment, then you might want to take some steps in order to challenge your own.” -T. Freese
Honestly, you don’t need me to come in and tell your salespeople that Step 1 in the sales process is to Identify New Opportunities, Step 2 is to Uncover Needs, Step 3 is to Qualify, and so on. They already know this, and so do your competitors. What sellers really want to know is How to execute more effectively.
Especially in this economy, it’s exciting (even FUN) to discover that a few small adjustments in strategy can produce a significant upside in results. That’s where Question Based Selling comes in. Strategic questions are the key to becoming more effective in today’s marketplace. Trust me, I wrote the book on it!
“Question Based Selling is a proven sales methodology and Tom Freese is a sales phenomenon. He will show you how to differentiate yourself and your product and he will increase your sales results.” -Steve Huey, V.P. of Marketing Communications, HP
Wouldn’t now be a good time to have a conversation about replacing some of the ‘old school’ tactics that no longer work with a more current and proven sales methodology? If so, a host of QBS programs are available and we are definitely ready when you are! Let us know how we can help.
This QBS LIVE clip features Tom explaining the differences between Question Based Selling and traditional sales training, including some of the more well known programs like Solution Selling, Strategic Selling, Power Based Selling, SPIN Selling, and Target Account Selling.
Having a defined internal sales process is fine. But just having a process in place no longer gives you a competitive edge. I bet your competitors have a sales process in place too, and it’s probably strikingly similar to yours.
“If you look around any sales organization you will quickly notices that some salespeople are significantly more effective than others, using the exact same process. This enables us to conclude that just following the steps of the sales process isn’t want defines success in sales. Rather, it’s HOW you execute each of the phases of the sales process that will ultimately determine whether you are chosen as the selected vendor, or you are consistently coming in second place.” - T. Freese | <urn:uuid:7f87353e-72e9-4e78-b8a8-ac0244c31bd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.qbsresearch.com/tag/speaking/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951499 | 898 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Judge Upholds Ban On Plastic Bags
Judge James Chalfant Validates Plastic Bag Ban Ordinance
Posted Mar. 25, 2012, 2:21 am
A Superior Court judge on Friday denied a legal challenge to Los Angeles County’s progressive single-use bag ordinance.
Under the measure passed in 2010, plastic carryout bags are no longer available in supermarkets, large retail pharmacies, liquor stores and food marts in unincorporated areas of the county, which encompasses 1 million residents. Shoppers have the option of purchasing paper bags at checkout for 10 cents each.
Hilex Poly, a large plastic bag manufacturer based in South Carolina, had filed a writ claiming the county’s 10-cent charge constituted an illegal tax measure. Citing Proposition 26, Hilex Poly argued that the ordinance was unconstitutional because it turned retail stores into de facto tax collectors for the county.
But in a decision issued Friday, Judge James Chalfant rejected that claim, thereby validating the ordinance, which has served as a model for many municipalities in the nation working to curb the environmental and fiscal waste created by single-use bags.
The court ruled that the levy on paper bags is not a tax because retailers keep all of the money collected, as set forth in the ordinance. Retailers use the money to offset the costs of supplying paper bags to customers and complying with the ordinance, as well as providing consumer education materials.
Since the measure took effect in July, retailers have seen a 94% reduction in the distribution of single-use bags in unincorporated areas, according to preliminary analysis by the county’s Department of Public Works.
Environmental group Heal the Bay has led the legislative fight to enact bag bans throughout L.A. County and at the state level as part of its ongoing efforts to tackle plastic pollution in California seas and neighborhoods.
“Today’s ruling sends a strong message to plastic polluters that last-ditch legal attempts to thwart environmental progress won’t work,” said Kirsten James, Heal the Bay’s director of water quality. “The plastics industry knows the writing is on the wall.”
The decision will provide breathing room for the dozens of cities statewide considering similar ordinances, many of which have been threatened with legal action by bag manufacturers. In the next few weeks, the city of Los Angeles will consider a bag ban, which may include provisions similar to the county’s ordinance.
“An appeal is expected, but this is a great first test case for Prop 26,” said Jennie Romer, a lawyer and founder of plasticbaglaws.org. “It’s encouraging for California cities moving forward with second generation plastic bag ordinances.”
California municipalities spend nearly $25 million each year just to collect and dispose of plastic bag waste. Less than 5 percent of plastic grocery bags are recycled each year statewide, so the remainder clogs precious landfill, litters public spaces, and harms animal life when the bags infiltrate waterways.
Nearly four dozen municipalities statewide have enacted single-use shopping bag ordinances, including San Jose, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and Palo Alto.
Heal the Bay is sponsoring statewide legislation with Assemblymember Julia Brownley that would ban plastic bags throughout the state of California. The measure is expected to be considered by the state legislature this summer.
Mark Daniels, Vice President Sustainability and Environmental Policy for Hilex Poly released the following statement:
“This case is far from resolved. Typically an issue that sets an important tax precedent moves forward in the courts, and we expected this case to be heard in the appellate court. We welcome an open debate about bag bans and taxes, but in this case, the county overreached by imposing a charge that is illegal and a hidden tax, exactly what Proposition 26 intended to stop. Proposition 26 was implemented to counter situations where taxes are labeled by the local government as ‘fees’ in order to circumvent the electoral process. By imposing a bag tax on its residents without a public vote, LA County violated the constitution, and we are confident in our case as it moves to the appellate courts.” | <urn:uuid:593ea984-e56b-4f16-99c9-25038913cbbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smmirror.com/articles/News/Judge-Upholds-Ban-On-Plastic-Bags/34337 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949195 | 859 | 1.609375 | 2 |
After three wild days outside, my normally indoor cat returned home pregnant and with fleas. I didn’t realize either for a little while but soon, her belly began to bulge out on the sides and there was black dirt on the table where she loves to sit. I’m pretty new to cats, so when I asked my friend about this, she said, “It sounds like flea dust.” And it was.
I’ve never had to deal with a flea infestation before, so I called the vet. She recommended the typical pesticides but I was wary about using these chemicals since she was pregnant. I asked around. Turned out almost everyone I knew had had a flea experience and advice to give. My neighbor recommended diatamaceous earth, a fine powder that kills fleas and is safe for people and animals. I sprinkled it liberally around my house and covered the cats in it. And I started vacuuming. The vacuum cleaner and I had never spent so much time together.
After about a week and a half of this, I looked upward and bemoaned my fate. Why the fleas? I began to look for meaning. Are there parasites in my life? I checked Google and looked up “flea animal guide” and found that when fleas come into your life, it may mean that there is a form of vampirism, or codependency, going on. Hmm…
I kept sprinkling the earth, vacuuming, cleaning and mopping. After another week of this, the situation seemed to be under control. Looking around my house, I realized it had never been cleaner. This led me to the true lesson of fleas, and messes in general. They make you clean up your act. Whether it’s a difficult relationship or a challenging encounter or fleas spawning in the fibers of one’s carpet, these things offer you an opportunity to dig deeply into the dirt, find your inner vacuum cleaner, and clean up what isn’t working so you can have a cleaner home and life afterwards. Thank you fleas! | <urn:uuid:fbcc7ddf-1ed9-4cc8-9a0a-1cfaef60e086> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://intentblog.com/what-i-learned-from-a-flea/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975105 | 442 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Could more stimulus be on the way?
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke certainly left the option on the table Wednesday, making perfectly clear that he stands ready to do more should the U.S. economy take a turn for the worse.
"In case things get worse, we are prepared to protect the U.S. economy and financial system," Bernanke told reporters at a press conference.
It was a point he reiterated several times and a sign that many outsiders took to mean the Fed has left the door open on a third round of asset purchases known as quantitative easing, or QE.
"Mr. Bernanke's press conference surely left few doubts that the Fed will take more aggressive action and renew QE if the economy fails to perform as they expect," Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, said in a note to clients.
Meanwhile, University of Pennsylvania Economist Justin Wolfers tweeted: "I read the Fed as saying: One more bad jobs report, and we'll do more."
Indeed, the job market remains one of Bernanke's top concerns. The unemployment rate is still uncomfortably high at 8.2%, and the government's latest jobs report showed employers added only 69,000 jobs in May-- the weakest hiring in a year.
Bernanke also warned of Europe's financial crisis and uncertainty surrounding the "fiscal cliff" putting a dent in U.S. growth.
Amid those concerns, the Fed extended its existing policy known as Operation Twist, and lowered its expectations for the job market and the broader U.S. economy this year.
The central bank predicts the unemployment rate will end the year between 8% and 8.2%. Just two months ago, it was more optimistic, predicting the jobless rate could fall as low as 7.8%.
"Growth in employment has slowed in recent months, and the unemployment rate remains elevated," the Fed said in an official statement.
The Fed also sees broader weakness ahead, predicting the economy will grow between 1.9% and 2.4% this year. When the Fed met back in April, it had forecasted that the economy would grow as much as 2.9%.
That weaker outlook prompted the Fed to extend Operation Twist by $267 billion.
The program swaps short-term bonds for ones with longer durations, thereby pushing interest rates lower on mortgages and business loans. The hope is that cheaper credit will reach consumers and business, who will then boost the economy by spending more.
The effect on Main Street has been questionable though. Mortgage rates are at record lows, but even so, new home sales have been choppy and banks are still unwilling to lend to anyone with less-than-perfect credit. Small business owners are also struggling to get loans. | <urn:uuid:faa8f7ce-4852-47b0-9cad-b331ae9bf210> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news4jax.com/news/money/Bernanke-prepared-to-do-more/-/475848/15175628/-/objjdiz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965809 | 570 | 1.75 | 2 |
-by Ernie Diaz
The Chinese government has taken an involved interest in helping Chinese animation reach the popularity of Japan and America’s. This will work about as well as grandpa taking an involved interest in junior’s keg party. Government meddling works for Olympic medaling (to a point), and nothing else, definitely not for pop culture. Can anyone imagine how reduced Hollywood would be today, had Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles been forced to cooperate with film ministry flacks?
Regardless, a remake of Uproar in Heaven, a Chinese animated film more than fifty years old, is being touted as a taste of what Chinese anime is capable of, given enough high-level support. No one in the press dares reach into the memory hole to recall and report that China’s animated film nadir corresponded to the highest degree of government interference, when apparatchiks determined not only a Chinese illustrator’s content, but the maximum salary he could earn from his work.
So here’s a rundown of some of mainland China’s most well-known animated “classics”. Chinese youngsters worship the Japanese anime pantheon first and foremost. But as long as animators can hold off the higher wisdom of unelected bureaucrats, and make artistic excellence a higher priority than national pride, the genre may well be ready to make great strides in China.
The Magic Brush – 1955
Western Analogue: Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
A great example of what wonders result from slipping past the government censors. The Magic Brush won at Warsaw’s 1957 International Film Festival, and the Polish eye for film is like the French for oil painting. The story borrows from an old folktale of Ma Liang, a poor village boy who pursues his love of painting with an empty belly. One day, he acquires a magic brush with which whatever he paints becomes reality.
In China, bolts of lightning follow strokes of luck, and Ma Liang soon finds himself in prison, his brush commandeered by a corrupt official, who has no success turning paint to riches. He commands Ma Liang to paint a gold mountain, which Ma Liang does, only with an ocean around it. A wave of the brush, and the official sinks into the sea with his fleet. Good thing China’s government had far more pressing issues to deal with than subtly subversive cartoons.
Inspector Black Cat – 1984
Western Analogue: Tom & Jerry
Uproar in Heaven came out in 1961, a feature-length clip of the endless adventures of the Monkey King, perhaps the most unsympathetic hero in the Chinese canon. By the mid-60s, even admitting a fondness for cartoons could get you labeled as less than 100% revolutionary, and therefore a sitting duck, unless of course you were referring to politically correct lianhuahua . It would be the early 80s before animated films could begin to recover from all the well-intended big government influence.
It came clawing back with Inspector Black Cat. This series, running from 1984-1987, was for kids, and kids crave violence. Inspector Black Cat delivered with buckets of blood, pushing the slapstick gore of Tom & Jerry a step further with gunplay and gushing wounds. The good inspector, in SS-ready gear, tore around on a motorcycle apprehending bad guys, and always got his mouse. Not that Mr. Black was a stone-cold murderer. Sometimes he’d settle for slicing off a rat’s ear.
The Calabash Brothers – 1987
Western Analogue: Power Rangers
A masterpiece, in terms of combining modern cartoon paradigms (superpowers, cutesy youth) with distinctly Chinese aesthetics. In order to combat a scorpion demon and snake demon, escaped from their mountain prison and ravishing the countryside, an old farmer grows seven gourds which ripen into seven brothers, each a different color, each possessed of a different superpower.
Unlike the Power Rangers, Teletubbies, and other multicolor heroes, the Calabash brothers have weaknesses to balance their strengths. Yellow Brother, for example, is an impulsive little bugger, having fallen from the vine before he was full ripe. Also exquisitely Chinese is the fact that, after defeating the demons, the brothers seal themselves into a mountain, gone with the evil, rather than sticking around and upsetting the Confucian order of things. All the more promising, then, that the Calabash Brothers series has been translated into seven different languages for worldwide distribution.
3000 Whys of Blue Cat – 1999
Western Analogue: Gumby
Never mind the Tom & Jerry resemblance, Blue Cat travels every corner of the world, at different times in its history…to learn about science. That’s why Blue Cat is blue, by the way, because as all Chinese know, blue is the color of dreams. Confusion in a cartoon is no crime, though – lack of imagination is. Despite its obviously cribbed character style, the makers of Blue Cat must be doing something right: besides still being in production, the series has spawned a tie-in empire stretching across Asia from Taiwan to South Korea: hundreds of books and CDs, clothing lines, snacks, video games. Blue Cat even won the honor of an English pilot, before flopping royally. Must have been Shia LaBeouf voicing the main character.
Thru the Moebius Strip – 2005
Western Analogue: Thru the Moebius Strip
The weathervane for where the winds are blowing China’s animated film industry. True, it was made in mainland China, but produced by American studios, with Hong Kong money. It was dubbed into English first and despite the money and time invested in the name of “catching up”, managed to truly impress no one. The animation is competent, not stellar. The story is high-concept sci-fi: an adolescent traveling light years to a realm of giant yet chivalrous aliens to find his father, yet uninspired in the telling. The Chinese elements are added as if in afterthought. Let us remember that too much money involved can be almost as detrimental to art as too many officials. | <urn:uuid:b0383ded-ff9c-48f1-b81e-5ad399167442> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chinaexpat.com/2012/07/05/chinese-anime-its-official.html/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950997 | 1,293 | 1.710938 | 2 |
“The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and local NGO partners have started preparing, but things are going slowly amid worries about the lack of shelter and heating for the current 110,000 Syrian refugees (registered or waiting for registration) [in Lebanon], according UNHCR estimates.”
Villagers, who had been trapped by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah for weeks, flee during a lull in hostilities, in Aitaroun, Lebanon, August 2006. This image is part of Frontlines, an exhibition of photographs by award-winning photographer, Sean Smith.
This Week in War. A Friday round-up of what happened and what’s been written in the world of war and military/security affairs this week. It’s a mix of news reports, policy briefs, blog posts and longform journalism.
- Prominent Palestinian writer Salameh Kaileh spent three weeks in detention in various Syrian prisons over suspicion that he was handing out leaflets calling for Assad’s downfall. Kaileh described the prisons as a “human slaughterhouses” and “hell on earth.”
- UN Sec’y General Ban Ki-Moon told Christiane Amanpour that there is “no Plan B” for Syria at this moment.
- The violence in Syria spilled further over the border into Lebanon, igniting clashes throughout the week.
- Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah have agreed to a deal that will lead to elections and a unity government in the West Bank and Gaza.
- A huge suicide bombing in Sana’a, Yemen, on Monday, killed more than 100 and was claimed by militants connected with Al Qaeda.
- The Lockerbie bomber died in Libya on Sunday.
- Pakistani Dr. Shakil Afridi, who assisted the CIA in ascertaining bin Laden’s whereabouts, has been sentenced in Pakistan to 33 years for treason.
- It’s been another very bloody week in Karachi.
- On Tuesday, the Senate appropriations subcommittee on foreign aid voted to cut aid to Pakistan by 58% and threatened further cuts if Pakistan doesn’t reopen supply lines.
- At the Chicago summit, NATO leaders decided on a permanent timetable in which Afghan forces will take over combat command in mid-2013 and NATO combat forces will leave by 2014.
- US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, will be leaving his post this summer.
- Five kidnapped aid workers are apparently being held for ransom in Shahr-e Bozorg, Afghanistan. Negotiations are ongoing.
- The State Dept. spent $1800 per student per day in 2010 for its Anti-Terrorism Training program in North Africa, the Middle East and South and Central Asia. The total money spent on programs like this since 9/11 is $1.4b. The State Dept’s Inspector General released a report on these programs for public consumption this week.
- Talks over the Iranian nuclear program resumed in Baghdad this week, hitting a snag on negotiations over sanctions.
- The military junta in Guinea-Bissau has handed over power to a civilian government.
- Dioncounda Traoré, the interim president of Mali, was beset by protesters on Monday, who stormed the presidential palace and beat him unconscious.
- A yearlong probe identified 1800 cases of fake parts in US military equipment. A suspected million such fake parts are out there, and 70% of these parts can be traced back to China.
- CNAS released a policy report outlining suggestions for reforming the structure and operation of the military.
- A 2011 Army memo obtained by Danger Room shows that the Army has had extensive concerns about the long-term health risks associated with the combat burn pit operated at Bagram Airfield. Service-members have been coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with puzzling health problems, most likely associated with exposure to these burn pits. A recent animal study also came to light showing that burn pits not only adversely affects lungs in the short term, but has serious long-term impacts on the immune system.
- Two female Army reservists have filed suit in district court to remove the restriction on combat service in the military based “solely on sex,” saying the restriction violates their 5th amendment right to due process.
- A new GAO report says that wounded service-members are now waiting an average of a year for their official disability evaluation. This is a big increase, and the wait time has been on the up for the last three years.
- Congressional investigators want an explanation within 10 days from the Defense Logistics Agency as to why the military was double-billed and excessively charged to the tune of $750m for food supplies.
- One of the owners of a firm involved in propaganda operations for the Pentagon has publicly admitted to creating a series of websites in a misinformation campaign attacking two USA Today journalists who had reported on the contracting company.
- The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the ACLU’s challenge to the 2008 FISA Amendments, the warrantless wiretapping legislation which grants the NSA the power to tap the international phone calls and emails made by US citizens. Just this Tuesday, a Senate panel voted to extend these provisions, which the White House hopes to extend beyond its year-end expiration date.Photo: Logar province, eastern Afghanistan. During a helicopter transport, US Army medic with the C Company 3/82 Dustoff medevac attends to an Afghan National Army soldier wounded by gunshot. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters.
Picture of the Day. Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese civil defense members and Red Cross workers search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building in the Ashrafleh neighborhood.
Photo Credit: Wael Hamzeh/EPA. Via.
This year, as protesters from Morocco to Saudi Arabia, Jordan to Kuwait were taking to the streets in the name of democracy, the security forces of those regimes struck back by threatening, jailing or attacking them. The Pentagon was there too — offering training in counterinsurgency, intelligence gathering and small unit tactics to those militaries and others around the Greater Middle East.
In “Making Repression Our Business, The Pentagon’s Secret Training Missions in the Middle East” at the Nation Institute’s TomDispatch.com, I pull back the curtain of Pentagon secrecy to reveal what Washington is really up to in the region and how it stands at odds with President Obama’s rhetoric.
Photo: Soldiers from the U.S. 1/118th Infantry Regiment clear a building with an “insurgent” hiding in it as part of “Friendship Two,” a joint training exercise between U.S. soldiers and Royal Saudi Land Forces in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. Credit: DoD
“As a women, I am not equal to my brother, husband or male friend,” Rita Chemaly, a researcher and women’s activist in Lebanon’s capital Beirut recently told the U.N. news agency, IRIN. “My state doesn’t guarantee my rights. The constitution says that all Lebanese are equal, yet the laws do not [guarantee this].” | <urn:uuid:9ff50418-a97f-40a4-8ace-e30f2fde1f58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nickturse.tumblr.com/tagged/lebanon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950077 | 1,482 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Editor’s Note: Barb Fraze, CNS international editor, and Nancy Wiechec, CNS visual media manager, are visiting Kenya with 10 members of U.S. diocesan mission offices. Their trip is being funded by the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States.
Michele Meiers of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sings with Kenyan sisters during Mass following the meeting between Kenyan and U.S. mission directors at Resurrection Garden retreat center in Nairobi. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)
NAIROBI, Kenya — When Americans think of missions, many think of what they can provide to others in developing countries. What they don’t often realize is that they can learn much from Catholics in those countries.
Diocesan directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States and Kenya met yesterday at the Archdiocese of Nairobi’s Resurrection Gardens to share problems, exchange ideas and get to know each other.
The Americans discovered that their Kenyan counterparts are really using the societies as a means of evangelization.
Michele Meiers of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said the way Kenya’s Pontifical Missionary Childhood — or Holy Childhood Association in the U.S. – is organized is almost like a parish religious education program. The national director gives weekly lessons that tie a Bible reading to a mission theme. Those themes are given to diocesan coordinators to distribute to parish animators, or coordinators.
Dominican Sister Suzanne Brauer of New Orleans and Elizabeth Howayeck of Milwaukee join Kenyan church workers following the meeting between Kenyan and U.S. mission directors at Resurrection Garden retreat center in Nairobi. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)
Father Donald LaPointe of Springfield, Mass., called the day “pretty awesome. I was impressed.” He said he asked one Kenyan national staffer if he could take her back to the United States — and if he could use her materials.
Sister Ursula Fotovich, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet from Wichita, Kan., called it an excellent exchange.
“We found out we share a lot of the same issues even though we are from different countries,” she said.
The Kenyans, too, were happy.
“You’ve really touched us,” said Father Peter Muvea of the Kitui Diocese. “It was an experience that we have really become a family. We are really tied by Jesus. That’s the common denominator — Jesus.”
Sister Lucy Mwangi, a member of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate from the Diocese of Muranga, said she had just been working with children in parishes, and she was encouraged to try working with children in schools.
She said she also received encouragement to keep going when she gets discouraged. “Christ also had sufferings,” she said.
Filed under: Africa, CNS | Leave a Comment » | <urn:uuid:ee3a8486-e0f4-4839-9f86-c2e4209c634e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/ | 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 | 0.966043 | 643 | 1.75 | 2 |
What is Compassion Fatigue?
Studies confirm that caregivers play host to a high level of compassion fatigue. Day in, day out, workers struggle to function in care giving environments that constantly present heart wrenching, emotional challenges. Affecting positive change in society, a mission so vital to those passionate about caring for others, is perceived as elusive, if not impossible. This painful reality, coupled with first-hand knowledge of society's flagrant disregard for the safety and well being of the feeble and frail, takes its toll on everyone from full time employees to part time volunteers. Eventually, negative attitudes
Compassion Fatigue symptoms are normal displays of chronic stress resulting from the care giving work we choose to do. Leading traumatologist Eric Gentry suggests that people who are attracted to care giving often enter the field already compassion fatigued. A strong identification with helpless, suffering, or traumatized people or animals is possibly the motive. It is common for such people to hail from a tradition of what Gentry labels: other-directed care giving. Simply put, these are people who were taught at an early age to care for the needs of others before caring for their own needs. Authentic, ongoing self-care practices are absent from their lives.
If you sense that you are suffering from compassion fatigue, chances are excellent that you are. Your path to wellness begins with one small step: awareness. A heightened awareness can lead to insights regarding past traumas and painful situations that are being relived over and over within the confines of your symptoms and behaviors. With the appropriate information and support, you can embark on a journey of discovery, healing past traumas and pain that currently serve as obstacles to a healthy, happier lifestyle.
Many resources are available to help you recognize the causes and symptoms of compassion fatigue. Healing begins by employing such simple practices as regular exercise, healthy eating habits, enjoyable social activities, journaling, and restful sleep. Hopefully, the information on this website will be of use to you and help you jump-start your process.
Accepting the presence of compassion fatigue in your life only serves to validate the fact that you are a deeply caring individual. Somewhere along your healing path, the truth will present itself: You don't have to make a choice. It is possible to practice healthy, ongoing self-care while successfully continuing to care for others.
The CFAP Newsroom features articles and interviews written by Founder Patricia Smith or reference CFAP's ongoing mission to raise awareness and promote authentic, sustainable self care...
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With more than 20 years of training experience, CFAP Founder Patricia Smith writes, speaks and facilitates workshops in service of those who care for others.
If you're interested in having Patricia address your organization or group, click here!
For every $1,000 we receive in donations, we are donating 50 sets of Patricia Smith's books to organizations across the nation that are in need of this vital first step toward authentic, sustainable self-care.
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CFAP Founder Patricia Smith's newest book guides readers through 50 steps to Compassion Satisfaction.
Pick up a copy here! | <urn:uuid:e1b8b57b-8097-43f5-a2e1-f7f50c49286c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.compassionfatigue.org/pages/compassionfatigue.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949282 | 670 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Dividing the Smart Kids
RAY: We'll do a little math here. If I were to ask you factor the number eight, you would say one and eight, and two and four. If I asked you to factor 529, which happens to be half of 1058 (the number of students that were allowed to take advanced calculus), the factors are clearly 529 and one, and 23 and 23.
So 529 is almost a prime number, I have to call it a subprime number, and for that reason I didn't have to give out any more information. There were 23 sections, and each section had 23 people in it.
So who's our winner?
TOM: The winner is Naomi Koshel, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and for having her answer selected at random from among the of correct answers that we got, Naomi's going to get a 26-dollar gift certificate to the Shameless Commerce Division at Car Talk.com, with which she can get a couple of our Still Not Canceled mugs.
[ Car Talk Puzzler ] | <urn:uuid:cd77df8e-bfb2-46d5-bedc-4ca9758510f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cartalk.com/content/dividing-smart-kids?answer | 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 | 0.980729 | 219 | 1.710938 | 2 |
I used this tutorial located here: http://www.howtoforge.com/virtual-ho...ql-ubuntu-9.10
The instructions were great and it works almost flawlessly. After completing the tutorial, I tried uploading using the username and password I created. The error message was:
The uploaded file could not be moved to /location/of/dir/
The permissions on the directory when created are:
drwx--x--x 4 ftpuser ftpgroup
This is a WordPress site with the default file structure. I have read the page here
but I was wondering if this is a natural occurrence from a misconfiguration of my hosting box or if it is a WordPress issue.
Is this an upload error or file permissions? I have a great feeling this is file permissions on the WP side, but what are good permissions on customer FTP directories and how would I have those perms applied as default when the user is created through MySQL? | <urn:uuid:99aec815-eb9d-4ebc-ad23-8f4b186d8fbb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.howtoforge.com/forums/showthread.php?p=227765&mode=threaded | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93859 | 199 | 1.765625 | 2 |
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