text stringlengths 211 577k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 1 value | url stringlengths 14 371 | file_path stringclasses 644 values | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.93 1 | token_count int64 54 121k | score float64 1.5 1.84 | int_score int64 2 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Many still need help after Burma's worst ever disaster
Relief and reconstruction work in Burma after Cyclone Nargis will cost at least $1bn (£500m), according to the UN and the regional body Asean.
The figure is in a report released at Asean's annual meeting in Singapore.
It is the first comprehensive assessment of the damage caused by the cyclone on 3-4 May, which is believed to have killed 130,000 people.
Burma's ruling generals were criticised in the wake of the cyclone for being slow to accept international aid.
Asean has already played a key part in helping to facilitate exchanges between Burma's ruling junta and international donors.
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told a news conference that the three parties involved in the report - the UN, Asean and the Burmese government - needed at least $1bn to deal with "a tragedy of immense proportions".
The estimated figure covers the most urgent needs such as food, agriculture and housing for the next three years.
"The task ahead is clearly enormous and will take a lot of time, a lot of effort," Mr Surin said.
"While significant progress has been made to date, we are still in the relief phase for this aid operation," added the UN humanitarian chief John Holmes.
The report outlines the scale of the cyclone - Burma's worst ever disaster - and estimates that it destroyed 450,000 homes, damaged 350,000 others, flooded 600,000 hectares of agricultural land and destroyed 60% of farming implements.
About 75% of hospitals and clinics in the area were destroyed or badly damaged.
Burma's military rulers are under the spotlight as delegates convene at the Asean meeting.
On Sunday, delegates issued a rare statement criticising the isolated nation, urging it to release political prisoners.
Asean is normally reluctant to criticise member states
They expressed "deep disappointment" over the junta's one-year extension of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention.
In the past, the bloc has been accused of being too reluctant to speak out about the internal affairs of its member states.
The other issue on the agenda at the Asean meeting on Monday was the escalating tension between two other member states - Thailand and Cambodia - over ownership of the area around the ancient temples of Preah Vihear.
"The situation has escalated dangerously, with troops from both sides faced off on disputed territory near the Preah Vihear temple," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told delegates in his opening speech.
He added that he had received assurances from both countries that they would exercise "utmost restraint" and abide by international laws to resolve the issue amicably. | <urn:uuid:e7187953-1615-4d69-a679-461016d698b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7517655.stm | 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 | 0.972136 | 574 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Quake puts Christchurch on the world news map
THE 7.1 earthquake that shook Christchurch residents from their beds and ripped numerous buildings apart has grabbed headlines around the world.
Many major international media led with constantly updated news of the earthquake.
For the BBC’s news website, one reporter spoke to New Zealand journalist Philip Duncan, who was on the seventh floor of a Christchurch hotel at the time of the Saturday morning quake.
“Being a New Zealander, it’s not unusual to feel an earthquake, but it gradually built up and got bigger and bigger and scarier and scarier,” Duncan said.
He called the response of the locals “laid back and calm” despite the chaos.
“It was a cold morning here but people were outside with blankets wrapped round them. Some were making jokes, a bit of the Kiwi spirit, I suppose.”
The coverage was one of the BBC’s most-viewed stories on the day of the quake.
American online newspaper The Huffington Post used tweets from New Zealanders to describe the quake. It quoted @mojomathers: “OMG! That was a freakin big earthquake. Stuff broken. Ongoin aftershocks. Hope everyone ok.”
British newspaper website The Guardian was today still showing Christchurch earthquake coverage on its top 10 of most-viewed international stories.
Australian newspapers revealed Australian insurers IAG and Suncorp were bracing themselves for insurance claims to begin piling up and had introduced schemes to cope. | <urn:uuid:a6d06607-ff18-4358-a8b3-9e58455bcf43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newswire.co.nz/2010/09/quake-puts-christchurch/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965035 | 324 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Perhaps it is nothing.
The 9/11 Commission Final Report did not mention it.
The FBI investigated it and interviewed many people, several different times. FBI officials never contested the media reports, nor did it ever release any findings of its investigation publicly.
Perhaps it was not important enough to warrant a note or comment ….. perhaps it is.
During the 10 year anniversary of the attacks, ABC brought us the first-in-a-long-time mainstream news report of the mystery:
Browsing through the 9/11 archive i found some very interesting clips. They describe incidents on 9/11 and 9/13 with regards to alleged foiled hijacking attempts. The latest report speaks of four men and a woman and five men who tried to board airplanes at JFK and LaGuardia on 9/13 with fake ID's, knives and pilot certificates who were arrested. Also there's a report about a possible 5th group of hijackers on United Flight 23 on 9/11 itself.
Why did these stories disappear, and what happened to the suspects. That's what i would like to know.
I did not have time yet to check all the streaming footage at the 9/11 archive (this is just from ABC and NBC), so there might still be more info out there: http://www.archive.org/details/sept_11_tv_archive
Visit my YouTube channel for more rare 9/11 related footage: http://www.youtube.com/11septembervideos | <urn:uuid:6d9d3dad-85e1-4c32-bd0f-131cd7ca6cfe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://911blogger.com/topics/913 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955479 | 310 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Days is an annual interactive two-day conference held on-campus that brings together more than 200 U-M researchers who rely on large-scale computational tools and methods for research. Newly reformatted, this interactive conference is an opportunity to learn more about advanced computing technologies that are helping to spur new discoveries and breakthroughs in a wide range of disciplines.
Who should attend CI Days events at U-M?
CI Days is for U-M faculty, research scientists, graduate students, post-docs, and research support staff who either use or are interested in using advanced computing technology for research. Newcomers to advanced computing are welcome, as there are sessions for all levels.
CI Days offers practical information on resources, services, and emerging technologies as well as the opportunity to ask questions and discuss issues of concern regarding the use of advanced computing in research.
The program includes keynotes by well-known experts, hands-on tutorials, and discussions, and students have an opportunity to share their research through a poster competition (with cash prizes). | <urn:uuid:8fed6f77-4fb1-4b18-92ca-cf9f8f2b4042> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arc.research.umich.edu/cidays/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947703 | 218 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Who Forgot China?
In the middle of fighting the global war on terror, America has forgotten about their "strategic competitor" to the East. The Chinese have noticed.
11:00 PM, Dec 29, 2004 • By THOMAS DONNELLY
THE POST-9/11 WORLD has been a mixed bag for the Chinese. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the deployment of forces to Central Asia renewed fears of American encirclement and upset a decade of careful diplomacy. Beijing's efforts to negotiate security and stability along its continental border--a prelude to greater activity in maritime Asia--seemed all for naught.
But then came the invasion and, more significantly, the occupation, of Iraq. The U.S. military, which had seemed entirely invincible, now seemed to be bogged down in an interminable quagmire. The Bush administration, which had campaigned for office in 2000 by casting China as a "strategic competitor," reversed course 180 degrees under the winds of the "global war on terrorism." Arms sales to Taiwan, once a priority for the White House, have been all but cancelled, while the plucky democrats of Taipei have been reviled by President Bush and his lieutenants as independence-obsessed troublemakers. From Beijing, the future looks better than it has for some time. China is a great power, not only in its own mind but increasingly in the minds of the rest of the world.
The Chinese can barely contain their self-satisfaction these days, and Beijing's recently-released white paper, China's National Defense in 2004, is a 36-page-wide smirk. Consider this passage: "The trends toward world multipolarization and economic globalization are deepening amid twists and turns. New changes are occurring in the balance of power among the major international players, with the process of their realignment and the redistribution of their interests accelerated."
Granted, this is hardly a ripping read--but within the refined art of the defense brief, this is equivalent to a middle-finger salute. The argument is essentially that the United States is a slipping superpower, leading to a "multipolar" world in which Beijing's interests will be given great weight. The paper goes on to note that "the developing countries"--meaning most importantly China--"have become important players in promoting a multipolar world and"--I guess the Chinese have little ear for irony--"democratized international relations."
To be sure, in the Chinese view, "tendencies of hegemonism and unilateralism"--that means us--"have gained new ground, as struggles for strategic points, strategic resources and strategic dominance crop up from time to time." Not satisfied merely with attempting to transform the greater Middle East, "the United States is realigning and reinforcing is military presence in [the Asia-Pacific] region by buttressing military alliances and accelerating deployment of missile defense systems."
Thus, Beijing frets, Japan is on the verge of restoring its old imperial ways at Washington's urging, "stepping up its constitutional overhaul, adjusting its military and security policies and developing the missile defense system for future deployment." But the biggest threat remains the separatists on Taiwan. Beijing is alarmed in particular by the "vicious rise" of Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian and Taiwan's yearning for freedom. The Bush administration needs a good talking to, especially regarding arms sales, for "U.S. action does not serve a stable situation across the Strait."
The "Chinese people" are resolutely opposed to all "separatist activities in whatever manifestation" and "to arms sales to Taiwan or entrance of any form with Taiwan by any country in the world." Lest the message be unclear: "We will never allow anyone to split Taiwan form China through whatever means. Should the Taiwan authorities go so far as to make a reckless attempt that constitutes a major incident of 'Taiwan independence,' the Chinese people and armed forces will resolutely and thoroughly crush it at any cost."
Them's fighting words. No doubt, the chorus of American Sinologists will argue that such rhetoric is par for the course with Beijing. But China's language is both unmistakably blunt and coursing with a self-confidence that reflects the successes of Chinese strategy over the past several years. As one very savvy and experienced U.S. East Asia expert--and one not known for particularly bellicose views--recently told me, Beijing is "kicking our asses all over the region."
And alas, it's true. If the Bush administration is serious about preserving American hegemony, it needs to devote greater attention in its second term to balancing against China's rise in Asia, rather than simply appeasing it. Witness the weak response by the State Department to Beijing's recent passage of an "anti-secession" law that provides the legal "justification" to attack Taiwan. Trading Taipei for Baghdad isn't much of a deal.
Tom Donnelly is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributing writer to The Daily Standard. | <urn:uuid:49f91f7d-0f98-4b3b-ae68-1691fc52a923> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/088finyu.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946761 | 1,039 | 1.710938 | 2 |
[Received December 16, 1997.]
Publishers may faint with surprise that I should offer them any praise, but I do think that some of them are designing Web products that will prove to be extremely valuable to library users. I heard about two such new services at an STM Seminar in London: HyperCite (IOPP) and ChemPort (ACS), and no doubt there are other similar products out there. What I find refreshing about such developments is that publishers are taking a broader view of access to scholarly information, using such services as a vehicle for scholars to see particular journals in the context of a wider range of information. At one time, I remember, publishers would not "advertise" anything except their own products. There are still inbuilt barriers and commercial restraints -- e.g., sometimes it can still be difficult to move from one publisher's full-text to another publisher's full-text -- but there does seem to be a move towards the kind of discipline-based one-stop information resource that users need. What is still worrying of course is that some publishers, while being innovative with the technology, are still adopting old-style pricing policies, such as asking that libraries pay a hefty premium for electronic versions while making it difficult for libraries to drop the print version. That will be a barrier to future developments.
The challenge for librarians is how to respond to such developments. There has been in-built conservatism in universities just as there has been in publishing houses, and many librarians are not prepared to or are not able to embrace the Web wholeheartedly. I find my view on this is changing in the direction of feeling that our switch from paper to electronic versions for many journals will be sooner rather than later. We have all seen it coming, but with varying views on the pace of change. Many users are now used to seeing electronic versions of journals and I suspect that librarians will want to drop the print versions fairly quickly. How bold librarians will be or will be allowed to be in switching to Web-based information provision is difficult to predict. Many have gone down that road to a partial extent, but there may be much to be gained from a radical approach. The ease for users in obtaining access to full-text via the Web is now such a powerful argument, even allowing for problems such as slow networks, that products like HyperCite and ChemPort seem to me to have a good future.
For the new products to succeed, however, there has to be a radical review of the payment process, both by publishers and by librarians. Publishers have got to accept that academic libraries cannot afford to pay more and they must produce new pricing packages which will enable their products to be perceived as being better value for money than they are at the moment. The Web journals are potentially much better value for money than paper journals, but only in the context of a switch away from paper. Likewise, I suspect that librarians have got to clarify what payment-structure really is best for the Web-based information world. There has been a lot of talk about pay-per-use, which may work in some situations, but which in most academic libraries would kill use dead. The subscription model is probably still the best, in that it is easy to manage and will encourage use, but librarians need to have continued access to electronic journals even after their subscription has ceased. We have got to think radically in getting away from the idea that we need to hold electronic journals in the same way as we have held paper copies on our shelves for centuries. (We are now in an access-world rather than a holdings-world.) But we do need to be sure that archive copies are there somewhere for us to continue to access material that we have paid for. All of this is without prejudice to what happens about fair use, which will still have a place.
198.2 MCB RESPONDS TO HERR KAEMPER: TWO MESSAGES
Kathryn Toledano, MCB University Press, firstname.lastname@example.org
[Received December 22, 1997.]
Dear Herr Kaemper,
International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow (HFF)
As publisher of this journal your statement on Marcia Tuttle's Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues has been brought to my attention.
First I would like to offer my sincere apologies on behalf of MCB for your not receiving a response to your enquiry in June with regard to the journal's pricing. As you know from your earlier dealings with MCB when we customised access of HFF's Web site for your institution, non-response is not MCB's usual style. This was exceptional -- we value our customers, including yourself.
You may recall that MCB acquired this journal from its previous publishers in early 1996. At that time HFF was not commercially viable -- it did not have enough subscribers. MCB is investing in the journal's development to ensure its continued publication. These investments fund new subscriber growth, electronic development and editorial support. The subscription revenue is still insufficient to cover all the journal's costs. At this stage, rather than discontinue the journal, MCB is subsidising HFF because we understand the important contribution it makes to scholarly communication.
We believe HFF now enables you to provide a significantly improved service to your library users than you were ever able to provide when the journal was delivered in print only.
To answer your question about how we justify the higher price. HFF has undergone a number of significant enhancements since its print-issues-only days with the previous publisher in 1996. These include:
- The creation of an electronic archive (abstracts only from 1994-1996 with document delivery of these articles via MCB at no extra cost, and full electronic articles from 1997). I note that your subscription to HFF started in 1996, which gives you access to the 1994 and 1995 journal content free!
- Electronic access to the current content.
- Unlimited electronic access 24 hours a day to the current and archive content of HFF throughout your institution -- that is simultaneous access for your faculty and students which is equal to an unlimited number of subscriptions to a paper-only journal.
- Liberal copying and sharing of copyright material at no extra cost.
- Access via the Internet for you and your library colleagues plus journal users to various forums and other resources
Next year HFF subscribers will have the benefit of electronic access to the broader body of knowledge within its specialised field. We will be providing subscribers with abstracts of articles and other documents published elsewhere. Should you wish to access those documents we have a fast personalised service via the British Library -- however the usual copyright fee will have to be paid. Thus researchers have campus-wide electronic access to the current and archive content of HFF and the content of other quality publications from one source.
Thus far our electronic developments are enabling wider access to the body of knowledge. In the future we hope to create some of the other value-added features you allude to in your statement to NOSPI.
We have also created customised versions of our Web site for your institution. Upon receipt of your query our technical staff enabled your library to provide HFF throughout the campus (about 70 domain names) within two weeks. This was further customised upon your suggestion and was fully operational four weeks later. You will be pleased to know that your suggestion has also been rolled out for the benefit of other subscribers -- thank you for that feedback. We did comprehensive Beta-testing of the non-customised electronic access in 1996 before it went live in 1997, with a number of prominent academic institutions in Europe and North America.
Your feedback has proved valuable. We will shortly be establishing a focus group for users of our engineering, materials science and technology journals and I would like to invite you to participate in the product and service development of these titles.
I am aware that you have published your views on the NOSPI site and possibly others. Given the extent to which MCB has co-operated in the past and continues to enhance the journal as an information resource, we would appreciate your co-operation in ensuring that the wider audience also has an opportunity to consider our response.
Dear Herr Kaemper,
Thank you for your considered response to my e-mail. I have since spoken to a number of colleagues within MCB to appraise myself more fully on some of the more detailed and technical matters to which you refer.
The functionality of our on-line publications is frequently under review, following discussions with representatives of the library community, agents, technology partners and other publishers, to assess the potential for improvement and development. You refer to the IOP and Springer sites as ones offering more functionality in their electronic journals. We wouldn't disagree with you but believe that our site compares favourably to those offered by other publishers, such as Academic Press, Blackwell Science and Elsevier.
Within the management field (which is the coverage of the majority of our journals) there are less publications on-line with which we can create inter-publishing linking. This should only be a matter of time. In the meantime, we are currently developing related virtual conferences and forums to which we can provide dynamic links with not only published material but also to facilitate discussion/debate with scholars in the field.
Our site licence is included within the journal subscription. It is a liberal e-licence which provides access to the current content, the journal's archive and networking throughout the domain. Plus, a subscriber can make 25 copies of any article for which MCB holds the copyright without asking permission and without any fee.
We are working towards a consortia licence that conforms with the fair use guidelines currently under discussion in the library community.
The site is not finished -- we are continually looking for feedback and suggestions so these can be incorporated into the site and so its usability can be improved. Whilst we can create an evolving and accommodating site, it would be nigh on impossible to produce a bespoke site designed to meet every subscribers' individual needs.
You rightly queried our access control system. Currently, we have the ability to provide access using single/multiple IP addresses, single/multiple domain names and passwords. As from mid-January it will accept Class B, which will allow in excess of 65,000 hosts to access our site -- which is what most of our customers are requesting.
It has not yet proved possible to provide continuous publishing via the Internet in terms of one article at a time. We do need to move towards a model where the Internet site is not wholly dependent on the print journal publication and where certain items are updated before the print.
Again, may I thank you for your feedback and make the point that our site is not 'finished' and we welcome informed comments as to how it should be further developed.
Statements of fact and opinion appearing in the Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues are made on the responsibility of the authors alone, and do not imply the endorsement of the editor, the editorial board, or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Readers of the Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues are encouraged to share the information in the newsletter by electronic or paper methods. We would appreciate credit if you quote from the newsletter.
The Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues (ISSN: 1046-3410) is published by the editor through Academic and Networking Technology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as news is available. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, Internet: email@example.com; Paper mail: 215 Flemington Road, Chapel Hill NC 27514-5637; Telephone: 919 929-3513. Editorial Board: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Christian Boissonnas (Cornell University), Jerry Curtis (Springer Verlag New York), Isabel Czech (Institute for Scientific Information), Janet Fisher (MIT Press), Fred Friend (University College, London), Charles Hamaker (University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Daniel Jones (University of Texas Health Science Center), Michael Markwith (Swets North America), James Mouw (University of Chicago), and Heather Steele (Blackwell's Periodicals Division). The Newsletter is available on the Internet, Blackwell's CONNECT, and Readmore's ROSS. EBSCO customers may receive the Newsletter in paper format.
To subscribe to the newsletter send a message to LISTPROC@UNC.EDU saying SUBSCRIBE PRICES [YOUR NAME]. Be sure to send that message to the listserver and not to Prices. You must include your name. To unsubscribe (no name required in message), you must send the message from the e-mail address by which you are subscribed. If you have problems, please contact the editor.
Back issues of the Newsletter are archived on 2 World Wide Web sites. At
UNC-Chapel Hill the url is: http://www.lib.unc.edu/prices/. At Grenoble the url is: http://www-mathdoc.ujf-grenoble.fr/NSPI/NSPI.html. | <urn:uuid:93877f3d-f71e-41f4-b3ee-c64381c9bcd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lib.unc.edu/prices/1998/PRIC198.HTML | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948644 | 2,714 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Welcome to Walberswick
Walberswick lies on the south bank of the River Blyth, a short ferry ride across from Southwold. It is tucked away at the end of the B1387, amidst a thousand acres of coast, heath and marshland listed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The ferry, which transports people across the Blyth in the summer months, is rowed by the fifth generation of the same family. There is also a foot and cycle path where the old railway ran across the Bailey bridge - but the only way by car to Southwold is back up to the A12 and through Blythburgh, making a trip of some seven miles.
Walberswick was a busy port trading in fish, cheese, corn, bacon and timber from as early as the 13th century right up to the First World War. Over the 15th and 16th centuries, the village has had three churches in succession. The surviving one, St Andrew's, is tucked into the old ruins of a much larger church, which demonstrates vividly how prosperous the village must once have been. Silt and the ever-changing coastline caused the decline of fishing and trading; and today's village is growing increasingly concerned about its existing sea defences.
In the 19th century the romantic ruins, the pretty village, the river, the beach, the surrounding marshes and the open skies attracted many artists - the most well known probably being Philip Wilson Steer and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. There is still a thriving artistic community whose members exhibit regularly in the village and some of the better known galleries further afield.
The village attracts summer visitors and nearly half the houses are holiday homes. There are several shops and galleries; there are tearooms and two pubs. The summer fête on the Village Green and the British Crabbing Championships in August are immensely popular and give generous support to various charities including St Andrew's Church and the Sea Defence Group. | <urn:uuid:c1236cc6-202c-4def-8e4c-fc240a4d983e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://walberswick.onesuffolk.net/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973187 | 404 | 1.742188 | 2 |
On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council agreed to rescind a medical marijuana ordinance that was passed five months ago and then repealed via a citizens' referendum.
The decision to repeal the city's medical marijuana regulations was made on a recommendation by Mayor Chuck Reed and council members Sam Liccardo, Rose Herrera and Pierluigi Oliverio, who recommended that it would be better to wait until the state establishes a regulatory system.
Until that happens, the council decided to focus enforcement efforts on collectives that are causing the most problems and generating complaints, including those that are not paying taxes and those that are too close to schools under state law. Thus far, four collectives have been closed for those reasons.
James Anthony, chairman of the Citizens Coalition for Patient Care, a group of patients, collectives, and activists that led the campaign to repeal the ordinance, was one of nearly 10 people who addressed the council this afternoon.
"Reluctantly, I find myself agreeing with the mayor's memo today that perhaps now is not the time for San Jose to craft a workable ordinance," Anthony said. "We are shifting our attention to the statewide level."
The ordinance approved by the city council in September would have limited the number of medical marijuana collectives to 10 in limited commercial and industrial areas, implemented a first come, first served registration process, and restricted marijuana cultivation to on-site only.
The council deferred action on Reed's proposal to raise the city's tax on medical marijuana collectives from 7 to 10 percent to pay for the cost of an election if the ordinance were to be placed on the ballot.
Medical marijuana facilities are not currently allowed to operate in San Jose and those that have opened in recent years are doing so illegally.
Bay City News | <urn:uuid:e17d87f3-9da1-4357-b370-335df1d127d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/SJ-Council-Rescinds-Medical-Pot-Ordinance-139340558.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971822 | 356 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Antwerp is only an hour's drive, 100 km, from our apartment here in the Netherlands. To give even me some perspective, it took us an hour to get to the airport from where I used to live in Atlanta. That's nothing! But when you think about it being in another country from where we live now, it just seems farther away. But it's not!
If you need to cover your eyes, do it now and skip this collage....
but if we can't take a joke, right!?!
This was the first corner where our cameras got busy as we walked towards city center!
Robin had already warned us about it when she was there recently.
By now you know that the market square is the center of these wonderful European cities.
The town hall and the guild houses mark the perimeter of the square.
The huge Christmas tree was up, ready to be trimmed, probably the following week.
And see that statue (bottom left above)?
Yup. That's the giant's hand being thrown into the Scheldt River.
The giant, Druon Antigoon, severed the hand of anyone who wouldn't pay his tax to cross the river.
Eventually, he was slain by a young Roman soldier named Brabo,
who cut off the giant's own hand and flung it into the river.
Thus the name of the city, Antwerpen = hand and werpen = hand throwing.
And with that history, we were ready for our koffie met appeltaart!
Energy for the Church of Our Lady, to be exact....
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, a Roman Catholic church.
One of those churches you see from almost everywhere in the city!
And then you go inside. Very Roman Catholic!
In fact, more Roman Catholic you cannot get.
Besides, the country itself is a Roman Catholic country
(compared to the Netherlands, which is Dutch Reformed).
So, Madonna niches were everywhere as we walked around.
Everywhere means everywhere!
(Does it make up for the first collage???)
Don't you love how some things really catch your attention?
Umbrella in Dutch and French is parapluie.
See how it stands in the shadows of Our Lady!
Robin had also told us about the Goossens bakery from 1884.
The site tells you to be prepared for a long line. They're not kidding.
But it was totally worth it.
And how can you resist these penguins just waiting to be captured!
By then our appetite was fully whetted.
Astrid had been dreaming of mussels for as long as we were planning the trip!
She can have them! And I enjoyed my pork medallions.
Lovely. At De Kleine Post.
We then took our time, as it started getting dark, to walk back to our car.
Lots of window shopping, getting ready for Christmas.
We got a good night's sleep at a nearby hotel and prepared for the next day. To be continued.... | <urn:uuid:536b60f6-efb0-4210-9c1e-958199037947> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ginniehart.blogspot.com/2012/12/antwerp-belgium-part-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972185 | 649 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Gadsby's Tavern Museum closed for quake damage
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - One of the historic buildings in Old Town Alexandria will remain closed through the weekend following damage from Tuesday's earthquake.
City officials in Alexandria have closed Gadsby's Tavern Museum while they assess the damage. The most significant damage occurred on the chimneys of the 1792 structure.
The Tavern Museum consists of two buildings, a tavern that dates to 1785 and a hotel that dates to 1792. The tavern was a center of social life in late 18th century Alexandria, and George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were among its more famous patrons.
City officials say they will keep the museum closed at least through Sunday.
RecommendedRecent Facebook Activity
Only On 7
Now you can get customized weather right down to your street! Plan your day and week ahead with ABC7's Interactive 7-day forecast!
TBD Blogs What you need to read
The Market Report
@TBD On Foot
Best of TBD In case you missed it
Here's a visual look at the eight most delicious, disgusting meals in the country. | <urn:uuid:8b64d611-dadd-48a6-8ea2-38b6fa637069> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/08/gadsby-s-tavern-museum-closed-for-quake-damage-65612.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95103 | 232 | 1.84375 | 2 |
I've been rendering a raster vegetation model (at 30m resolution) through TileMill with good success. Our specific vegetation model has many attributes associated with each pixel, although there are only thousands of unique pixel values across millions of mapped pixels.
I've been looking into UTFGrids as a good candidate for associating the attribute data with unique pixel values (or majority pixel values at lower zoom values) as tooltips. Because TileMill does not allow creation of tooltips with raster data, I've been messing around with Dane Springmeyer's utf-example-writers and can customize one of these scripts to create UTFGrid tiles of my raster data at zoom levels to correspond to my image tiles.
So two questions:
Is it foolhardy to approach this problem in this manner? I can't see why it wouldn't work but I may be overlooking something.
Assuming I can build a file structure of UTFGrids to represent these raster data, is there any way of incorporating these into my existing MBTiles file? I would guess I could hack it by converting the tile data into sqlite records, but could mbutil be used to integrate the UTFGrid tiles in directly? | <urn:uuid:7b65e287-3ffb-4953-a318-19531c33bc54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/46809/utfgrids-for-raster-data-and-incorporation-into-existing-mbtiles-files | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937794 | 246 | 1.679688 | 2 |
|Chronological and political information|
- "I used to believe that being a good soldier meant doing everything they told you. That's how they engineered us. But we're not droids. We're not programmed. You have to learn to make your own decisions!"
- ―Rex, to Dogma
CT-7567, nicknamed "Rex," was a clone trooper captain during the Clone Wars, the galaxy-wide conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Rex was in command of Torrent Company, a unit of the famed 501st Legion in the Grand Army of the Republic. Rex served under Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and was a freethinking, tough, and aggressive trooper. Though loyal and committed to his duty and to his fellow clones, Rex proved capable of questioning his superiors and, under extreme circumstances, outright disobeying orders if he believed them to be wrong. Rex displayed a strong working relationship and a degree of friendship with Commander Cody.
Under General Skywalker, Rex would go to many different planets throughout the galaxy. Rex assisted High General Obi-Wan Kenobi and General Skywalker during the Battle of Christophsis, when he worked with Commander Cody to root out a traitor, and later led Torrent Company during Confederacy General Whorm Loathsom's multiple counterattacks. Rex also met Skywalker's new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, after she arrived on Christophsis. Rex also participated in the Battle of Teth, where he was one of the few clone survivors before reinforcements arrived. During inspections of Republic listening posts, Rex and Cody encountered a squad of droids on the Rishi moon, and led a group of rookie clone troopers to retake the base.
Rex participated in the Battle of Bothawui, and later assisted Skywalker and Tano during a mission to destroy a Confederacy listening post—and was one of the few clone troopers, along with Sergeant Denal, to survive the mission. After rescuing Jedi General Aayla Secura from defeat by the Confederacy with Skywalker and Tano, the Jedi and clones, including Rex and Commander Bly, crash-landed on the remote world Maridun, and Rex stayed with Anakin since he was injured, while the others found help. After Confederacy General Lok Durd arrived on the planet to test a new weapon, Rex and Bly helped to defeat the Confederacy and save the inhabitants of the planet. Rex would later be an asset during a short war on Orto Plutonia, and would also help halt the release of the deadly Blue Shadow Virus. Rex also helped Skywalker and Tano during the Battle of Ryloth and retrieving a stolen Jedi holocron.
Clone trooper captain
- "The name's Rex. But you'll call me 'captain' or 'sir'."
- ―Rex to Echo, Fives, and Hevy
Rex was one of the many clones of bounty hunter Jango Fett, bred on Kamino by the Galactic Republic to fight in the Republic's clone army. The soldiers were bred to fight against the separatist planetary and sectorial governments seeking to leave the Republic, known as Confederacy of Independent Systems, in the coming war. Rex served on Geonosis alongside Denal and was promoted to the rank of captain, he was also in command of Torrent Company, a unit in the famous 501st Legion. Rex was assigned to Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and would participate in many missions alongside the Jedi Knight, including Jabiim. Rex also developed a friendship with fellow clone trooper Commander Cody.
Battle of Christophsis
- "What's our plan of attack, sir?"
- ―Rex and General Anakin Skywalker before they ambush Separatist forces on Christophsis
After the CIS invaded the planet of Christophsis, High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, General Skywalker, Commander Cody and Captain Rex arrived on the planet to assist the planet's inhabitants. However, after a failed ambush on the Confederacy, the Jedi suspected that there was a traitor in their midst, and the Jedi left to scout behind enemy lines, while Rex and Cody stayed to find and apprehend the traitor. An impending investigation revealed that Sergeant Slick himself was the traitor, and after he severely damaged their weapons depot, Rex and Cody apprehended the traitor in a brawl, taking him afterward to lock-up.
When the Confederacy commenced their first attack, the Jedi and the clone forces were able to drive them back. Believing the battle to be over and Christophsis now under Republic control, Rex rested at a makeshift forward aid station where clone Sergeant Coric was administering first-aid to an injured trooper by the name of Ged, who had taken a spray of shrapnel to his shoulder. After offering a few words of sympathetic concern, Rex checked the casualty list for the battle on his datapad and found the list to be relatively short. While discussing the dwindling number of medical supplies and the soon expected return of the cruiser Hunter with Coric, the droid army returned in full force. Rex rushed out to fight again alongside Coric and Ged, joining Cody and Generals Kenobi and Skywalker on the front line. Rex led Torrent Company with Skywalker to destroy the advancing tri-droids. After the enemy retreated again due to the Republic's heavy artillery, Skywalker's new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, arrived in place of the expected reinforcements. Rex was a little perplexed, as Skywalker had stated that he would never have a Padawan. As Rex and Tano spent some time talking together, Rex taught her that fear was natural in war—and that the clones were unique individuals, despite all having the same appearance.
While they talked, the two discovered that the Confederacy had deployed a deflector shield, which would make the Republic's long-ranged artillery useless. After some planning, Rex and his troops held the line, and as a distraction strategy, Kenobi "negotiated" with Confederacy General Whorm Loathsom for the surrender of the Republic forces. Meanwhile, Skywalker and Tano infiltrated the enemy lines to disable the shield generator. Once the shield was down, Rex ordered their cannons to quickly finish off the enemy advances. Grand Master Yoda arrived with reinforcement troops just in time, and Rex had a gunship retrieve Skywalker and Tano, congratulating both of them.
Battle of Teth
- "I don't like this place. It gives me the creeps."
- ―Rex as he enters the B'omarr Monastery
After a meeting with Yoda, Skywalker and Tano were given the mission to rescue Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's son, in order to win the crime lord's favor for access to space lanes through Hutt Space. Rex accompanied the Jedi to the planet Teth. Tracking the Huttlet to a cliff-high monastery, the Republic forces were forced to commence a vertical assault to enter the monastery. They were successful, but half of Torrent Company was lost on the way up.
Skywalker and Tano rescued the Huttlet while Rex and his men secured the monastery. The arrival of more Confederacy battle droids forced the Republic forces to barricade themselves inside the monastery. Skywalker and Tano left to find a rear exit to search for medical attention for the ill Huttlet, while Rex stayed to command the remaining clones. Once the droid army entered, a few of the troopers were killed, however Rex feigned death to spy on the commander of the droid forces, Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress. Rex attempted to shoot the Dark Jedi, but she pulled his blaster out of his hand with the Force and choked him. Ventress demanded Skywalker's location, which Rex refused to give, and she employed a mind trick to force Rex to contact the Jedi. However, Ventress underestimated Rex's mental strength—Rex contacted Skywalker, but addressed him as his first name, "Anakin," instead of his usual "General Skywalker", which warned the Jedi of something amiss. Ventress left to confront the Jedi herself, while the battle droids held the six surviving clones captive.
Rex and the other remaining troops broke free of their captors, stole their weapons, and―using a fallen AT-TE for cover―reignited the battle with the droids. Skywalker and Tano escaped the monastery, and found an aged freighter, using it to head back toward the courtyard. However, because of their mandate to safely return the Huttlet to his father, Skywalker and Tano were forced to find medical attention for the Huttlet, and were unable able to give Rex assistance, to which he understood. General Kenobi and the 212th Attack Battalion soon arrived to reinforce Rex and his men, and the Republic forces were able to beat back the Confederacy. By that time, though, only five other men from Torrent Company were still alive. Later, Rex mused to Cody that the whole operation had been handled poorly, with the lack of air support and incorrect infantry application.
Battle of Gwori
Rex accompanied Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano to Gwori during the Republic's attempt to infiltrate their planetary defenses and destroy their Separatist ship construction facilities. In order to bypass Gwori's scanners which detected all life forms and immediately vaporized them, Rex was encased in carbonite and jettisoned to the planet from space. When the group split up, he accompanied Tano and R2-D2 to find a communications outpost and contact Plo Koon and Saesee Tiin, who were waiting above-planet with bombers to receive the location of the targeted construction plants. Rex and Tano were discovered by the plant overseer Juhm and were forced to flee to a nearby cave, where they were forced to combat native wildlife. Despite their best efforts to evade detection, Rex and Tano were discovered by Juhm the next day, captured, and secured to electrocuting stakes alongside Skywalker and Kenobi, who had also been apprehended during their mission. That night Skywalker and Kenobi used their Force powers to obliterate their guards and R2-D2 freed them from their restraints. Together, the group returned to the slave quarters and convinced them to overthrow their Separatist leaders and escape Gwori, leaving the shipyards a free target for Koon and Tiin. Rex escaped off-planet with the rest of his comrades and was able to watch the destruction of the construction facilities from the security of space.
Mission to Mon Gazza
Later in the war, the Jedi Council discovered that Republic intelligence was being transferred to the Separatists via a spy in the Senate. Tasking Ki-Adi-Mundi to lead the investigation against the rogue Senator, they soon discovered that the Senator was being extorted by Asajj Ventress. Confronting Ventress himself, Ki-Adi-Mundi was able to discern that a disc containing all relevant Republic intelligence for the war had been transferred to the Senator's associate Messo. Fighting on Queel, Rex, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano were contacted by Yoda and Ki-Adi-Mundi. While Kenobi remained behind and mopped up Separatist forces, Rex, Skywalker, and Tano were instructed to follow Messo to Mon Gazza, where they were to reacquire the data disc at any cost. The trio followed Messo to a Podracing tournament, where Skywalker cornered the spy and learned that he had already passed the chip on to one of the Podracers before he fell from a balcony, dying instantly. Conjuring up a plan which placed Tano as a Podracer in the tournament, Skywalker and Rex began to investigate their prime suspect, the famed Podracer Kidd Kareen. They were caught by Kareen's crew and forced to defend themselves, and were only saved by conflict when Kareen intervened. They later discovered that Kareen's crew mate Maxus was in direct contact with Count Dooku regarding the information, and proceeded to watch Tano's Podrace from the sidelines, forced to act as only observers when Maxus and Ventress attempted to kill Tano and obtain the data disc for good. Tano was able to hold them at bay long enough for Skywalker to arrive to help, and the data disc was preserved safe from Separatist hands.
Inspection of the Pastil Post
- "All right, this is a Code Aurek alert."
- ―Rex sounds an alert in the outpost
Rex was later assigned to inspect several Republic listening posts with Commander Cody. During an inspection of a Pastil outpost, Rex commented that the station was very clean, and trooper Stripe told them that an MSE-series droid nicknamed "Rodent" was the reason, commenting on its odd behavior of being "glitchy". Seeing a serious red flag, Rex called out for a Code Aurek alert, ordering all clones to find the droid and destroy it. At first, the clones believed Rex to be paranoid; however, when Rex shot at the droid, he revealed a spy droid in their midst, as the four wheels of the destroyed body started spinning off independently in an attempt to escape. Three wheels were eliminated before Stripe stopped the fourth by throwing a thermal detonator before it could escape. Somewhat amused, Rex ordered the troops to "clean the mess up."
Battle of the Rishi moon
- Rex: "All right, listen up. There's only one target of interest in this sector: Kamino. It's the closest things we clones have to a home. Today, we fight for more than the Republic. Today, we fight for all our brothers back home. Understood?"
- Echo, Hevy and Fives: "Sir, yes, sir!"
- ―Rex to Echo, Hevy and Fives[src]
When Rex hailed the station, a trooper answered and tried to make them go away. After contacting, Rex thought something was not right there. After Rex and Cody's shuttle arrived at the outpost on Rishi moon, the two were met by a clone trooper claiming that the station did not require an inspection. Rex insisted on seeing the sergeant in command. Rex and Cody noticed a droid attack signal flare being fired, and Rex promptly fired a blaster bolt in the droids head, much to Cody's initial shock. However, after Rex removed the helmet of the "trooper", it was revealed to be a new commando droid. Their cover blown, the droids commenced an attack on the two clones and deployed several explosives. Rex and Cody were able to escape; however, with the shuttle destroyed, they had no way to contact the Republic.
Rex and Cody met the rookie clones who had manned the listening post, Echo, Fives, and Hevy, shortly before its invasion. Rex declared them "shinies"—a derogatory nickname for rookie troopers, for their clean armor that had not yet seen action—and led them to take back the outpost. Rex was able to trick the commando droids in opening the doors by pretending to be a commando droid in disguise by using a droid head, then led Cody and the rookies inside to retake the station. After doing so, an approaching Separtist fleet, under command of General Grievous, revealed that Kamino, the planet home to the Republic's cloning facilities, was at risk. In addition, the droids had hot-wired the "All Clear" signal to keep the Republic unaware of the attack. Rex devised a plan to blow up the base; the destruction of the base would stop the signal and warn the Republic of the impending attack. After Rex discovered a malfunction with the remote detonator, Hevy took over while the other clones left to take shelter. The four learned that Hevy was being attacked by the droids, and rushed back to help him. However, against Rex's wishes, Hevy sacrificed himself and manually detonated the explosives. The Republic fleet arrived in the system, under command of Generals Kenobi and Skywalker and Admiral Wullf Yularen, and was able to drive Grievous' fleet out of the system. Rex inducted the survivors, Echo and Fives, into the 501st Legion for their bravery, and acknowledged Hevy's sacrifice.
Respite aboard Leveler
- "Suddenly everyone wants us to take a day off."
- ―Rex aboard RAS Leveler
At the request of General Skywalker, Rex agreed to take Ahsoka with him for a three-day respite on a shakedown cruise aboard Captain Gilad Pellaeon's Acclamator-class assault ship, Leveler. Accompanying them, were seven other clone troopers: Sergeant Coric and six new clones by the names of Ross, Boro, Joc, Hil, Vere, and Ince. Fresh from Kamino, the six were among Torrent Company's replacements following the devastating losses at the Battle of Teth. Aboard the shuttle they were using in transit to Leveler, Rex did his best to comfort Ahsoka, laying to rest her fears that Skywalker had wanted her away because she was bothering him. He also found himself with the task of getting the six stiff rookie troopers to relax, open up, and bond with each other. Theorizing that they may have been nervous about being a part of the 501st now, Rex was concerned that if they didn't begin to show those individual signs of uniqueness that helped one clone recognize another among a sea of identical faces and armor, he would have to resort to using his tally sensor to see who each of them were, a prospect he looked upon as disrespectful. With a bit of humorous teasing, he encouraged them to loosen up and talk amongst themselves, and found with some satisfaction that Trooper Ince had a decent sense of humor.
Once the shuttle docked with Leveler, Rex could only stand back and watch in silence as Ahsoka and Captain Pellaeon argued over her revealing attire and Pellaeon's requirement that she cover up in naval fatigues. When the Padawan finally relented and retreated back into the shuttle to change, Pellaeon greeted Rex cheerfully and invited the man for a drink. Ahsoka, however, asked Rex to go show her Leveler's new armament of concussion missiles. Rex obliged and the missile bay was where Pellaeon found the two of them after making his rounds about the ship. With his helmet off, Pellaeon was surprised by Rex's blue-dyed, stripe-cut hairstyle which he had adopted in support of his favorite bolo-ball team making it to the finals. The two captains were discussing Leveler's recent upgrades when the alert sounded that enemy vessels had come out of hyperspace in the Fath system. It was at that time that Rex found his helmet's HUD was unable to patch in to the ship's operational and tactical data, another in a growing list of glitches being tallied following Leveler's refit. Ahsoka felt a disturbance in the Force, and although Pellaeon was skeptical, Rex vouched for her intuitive abilities and went to gather his men should they be needed as Leveler moved toward the Separatist fleet activity.
Rex found Ahsoka and his men in a bunk compartment, Coric laying out the schematics of the ship's targeting array for the rookie troopers. Without their helmets, Rex could see that each of them had their uniform meticulously trimmed black hair, and he felt somewhat guilty for his own novelty haircut; he shaved it off shortly after, in retrospect considering it a "dumb fad" and undignified for an officer. While in the compartment, the troopers discussed gossip of Pellaeon's private life, specifically his relationships with women. When Ahsoka spoke up about the danger of attachments, it became an open debate among the her and the men as to just what the Jedi's feelings on love, sex, and attachment were, and why. At the point when Ahsoka looked to be a bit overwhelmed, Rex tactfully stepped in and opened a window in the conversation for her to subtly excuse herself from the compartment before admonishing his men for being a bit rough on her. On the other hand, though, Rex could see that the rookie troopers were coming together and settling in well and decided he no longer needed to worry about them.
After instructing his men to prepare for action should it be required, he decided to comm General Skywalker to apprise him of Leveler's latest activity. Since Pellaeon had warned Fleet Ops, Rex suspected that Skywalker may be questioned about it later. While he didn't know that Skywalker was secretly spending time with Padmé Amidala at her Coruscant apartment, Rex knew there could be harsh consequences were he to be caught being out of the loop. Skywalker was grateful, and although Rex thought it unnecessary, decided to rendezvous with Leveler as soon as possible. Not long after, Rex was on the bridge when the freighter Wookiee Gunner, in service to Jedi Master Djinn Altis and his Jedi sect, dropped out of hyperspace and requested Leveler's aide in extracting a Republic Intelligence agent, whose distress beacon the Jedi had determined was coming from JanFathal. Pellaeon hesitated at first, wary of a fake message and a potential ambush, but upon getting confirmation from Republic Intel that they did indeed have an agent operating on JanFathal in need of an extraction, he authorized Wookiee Gunner to dock and asked Rex if he and his men were prepared to extract the Intel agent. As the only ground troops embarked aboard Leveler, Rex quickly replied that they were. Moments later upon finding out the identity of the agent, Pellaeon announced to everyone on the bridge that he had a personal interest in the mission: Agent Hallena Devis was "a very good friend".
Once Jedi Master Altis and his Jedi companions Callista Masana and Geith Eris were on board, Pellaeon assembled them along with Ahsoka, Rex, and his men in one of Leveler's meeting rooms to plan the extraction. When Pellaeon alluded to the possibility that he would personally go and participate in the rescue of his lover, Rex objected. He stated that it was his and his men's responsibility since there were no other embarked troops, and declared that this rescue would be done his way so as not to repeat the tragic loss of life on Teth. He knew that it wouldn't be a battle—there was nothing they could do in the face of overwhelming CIS forces—and there were no reinforcements on their way, save Skywalker, so all his team could do was try to rescue Agent Devis and get out. Rex came up with a plan as to how they would carry out the extraction, but until a location for Devis could be pinned down, they couldn't plan for the where. Geith suggested that the clones leave the job to the Jedi due to their abilities to locate others through the Force, but Rex insisted, stating that neither he nor his men would feel right to sit the mission out while others went in their place.
While the anonymous shuttle the rescue team would use during the mission was being prepared, Rex spoke with Pellaeon about their infiltration procedure and Ahsoka's unease around the new Jedi who possessed beliefs different than the core of the Jedi Order. When Pellaeon expressed his doubts of the young Padawan's ability, Rex was quick to defend her, saying, "she's a lot more competent than she looks." He also opted for the protection and communication capabilities of his armor rather than changing into civilian clothing, despite the considerable target the brilliant white armor and blue stripes made. He comforted the worried naval captain when it became obvious Pellaeon was thinking of Hallena. When the Jedi had finished getting a referential feel of Agent Devis' impression in the Force from a stylus of hers that Pellaeon had kept—determining that she was both alive and strong—Rex and his troops boarded the shuttle with Ahsoka, Callista, Geith, and Master Altis. Meanwhile, Leveler moved into range for shuttle launch.
Extraction on JanFathal
- "Locate, confirm she's alive, have one team ready to distract while the other extracts, and then we exfil."
- ―Rex, on how they would carry out Agent Devis' extraction from JanFathal
As the anonymous shuttle carried Rex and the rest of the extraction team from Leveler toward the surface of JanFathal―Sergeant Coric at the controls―Rex took comfort in the thought that this time would be different than Teth, and that it was "only half as insane" as trying to take a heavily armed mesa from the ground up. When it became clear that Ahsoka was still troubled by Master Altis and the other Jedi of his sect, Rex did his best to ease her mind and get her to focus on the mission at hand, asking the Jedi to set aside their theological differences for the time being. He also had to deal with the rookie troopers' unfulfilled expectations of Jedi from training on Kamino, now that they had contact with actual Jedi who didn't behave as they had been led to believe. Once in the planet's atmosphere, Altis took up the role of navigator for Coric and led them over JanFathal's capital, Athar, in search of Agent Devis' location. Rather than stay in the air longer than necessary and risk being seen, Rex ordered Coric to set the shuttle down somewhere out of sight, eventually settling near a repulsortruck factory. Troopers Boro and Joc took up defensive positions around the shuttle while the others ran for cover.
Now on foot, Ross deployed a small remote probe for reconnaissance. At Altis' request, Ross removed his helmet and handed it to him, effectively allowing the Jedi Master control of the probe. Rex was amused by the odd sight of a Jedi with what appeared to be the head of a clone trooper and savored the image. With the Force-guided probe at his disposal, it wasn't long before Altis located the building in which Agent Devis was being held. When Rex explained the plan for how they would get her out, Ahsoka offered to take the roof, however Rex thought it better that she and Callista provide cover from the street in case battle droids should show, insisting that he wasn't just saying that to keep her safe from the action. The battle droids would in fact come marching toward their position and it was up to the two of them to hold the droids there while Rex and the others carried out the rescue.
Rex ordered Joc, Ince, and Ross to cover the exit while the rest of the team accompanied him onto the roof. Altis would knock on the door, pretending to be nothing more than an old man looking for his lost daughter in the chaos of the battle. He managed to draw two of the hostage takers to the door before Rex and the troopers dropped through the skylight. Altis killed one, while blasterfire from the troopers killed the second. Inside the room, a third man held a blaster to Agent Devis' temple and attempted to bargain her life for his own as Rex stood with his own blaster to the man's head. Rex, however, simply pulled the trigger, killing the man instantly before cutting the agent's bindings. With the droid army closing, they needed to leave quickly so Geith leaped down the staircase and threw up his hands; Hil threw Agent Devis down to him and the two ran for the shuttle with Ince, Joc, and Ross. As they fled the building, Rex congratulated Altis on his performance. Outside, the battle droids had reached them, but Ahsoka and Callista had formed a makeshift barricade from downed droids. Rex gave the order for Coric to lift off when Agent Devis was aboard. Then, he, his men, and Altis, ran out to join the battle. Vere was hit by a droid's grenade and although Boro tried desperately to save him, he was already dead. Rex put aside his grief for the moment and was prepared to sacrifice himself in order to allow the others to get out alive. Master Altis and the other two Jedi used the Force to bring down large chunks of masonry from the surrounding buildings on top of the droids. As they prepared to go for the shuttle, Coric commed Rex to tell him that the shuttle was coming to them. When Rex reiterated his order to stay put, Coric replied that it was Agent Devis' idea to come back for them and that "an officer's missus always outranks him, so she's like a commodore. And she's in my face." After a fast-paced sprint down the open street, Rex and the others managed to safely get aboard the shuttle and lift off.
Once on board, Hallena Devis expressed her gratitude toward Rex for saving her life, and also offered her condolences for Vere. The remaining rookie troopers had cut off external communications, retreating to their own frequency for a moment of privacy that Rex didn't dare intrude upon. He watched as Altis, sitting next to Boro—who seemed to be hit hardest by Vere's death—quietly laid a sympathetic hand on the man's forearm and was touched by the Jedi Master's kindness. It was around that time that General Skywalker arrived in a V-19 Torrent starfighter. However, at the same time, a Separatist Light Cruiser first identified as Discord but proven shortly after to be the far deadlier destroyer Reaper, moved to attack Leveler. Rex figured that if a ship as well armed as Reaper hadn't already tried to destroy Leveler when in range, it was interested instead in disabling the ship. The shuttle was almost within docking range when Coric announced to the others that Leveler was gone. Rex refused to believe that Pellaeon had run, suggesting the possibility that he had switched off his transponder, but nevertheless had to plan for another option. He tasked Boro—who Rex believed needed a distraction from his grief—with getting an estimate for how much oxygen they had left, and whether or not they could make it to Kemla; Boro calculated enough oxygen for halfway, with more if they could limit their consumption. So, as it was, Rex saw three options: wait for Leveler to return, reduce the number of people breathing the hard way, or head back planetside where there was sustainable oxygen. Although Altis informed him of the Jedi ability to put themselves into a deep trance that reduced the amount of oxygen they consumed, it was eventually decided to return to JanFathal—specifically to Athar.
Skywalker, determined not to repeat his forced abandonment of Rex on Teth, seeing the shuttle descending toward JanFathal and was quick to figure out that Leveler had jumped to hyperspace leaving the extraction team lacking both oxygen and options, began following closely after them. Rex warned the general that there was little he could do for them in this situation, but Skywalker refused to leave. Rex's respect for the Jedi Knight was redoubled, and although there had been no transmission from Leveler before she had jumped, Rex still believed that Pellaeon had a plan. Coric set the shuttle down in the shadow of a viaduct, and Skywalker landed his fighter nearby before rushing to join them. Introductions were made and Skywalker sent Ince and Boro to locate one of the Confederacy's CR-20 troop carriers so they could commandeer it as a way off the planet. At the same time, Altis received word from other members of his Jedi sect that they had found Leveler, which was experiencing some technical problems and would be returning as soon as possible. When they found a CR-20, Altis devised a plan where he would again play an unassuming old man who, with the help of Ahsoka, was looking for aide for his wounded granddaughter from the ship's Neimoidian owners. As he went off toward them, carrying Ahsoka in his arms, Rex and his men took up support positions not far away with Callista. After several moments of theatrical wailing and subtle mind influence that fully absorbed the attention of the Neimoidians and their droids, Skywalker and the other Jedi, along with Devis, made a dash for the transport while Rex and his men opened fire. At that moment, Altis and Ahsoka shed their deception and attacked. Within moments, they had killed the Neimoidians, destroyed the sentry droids outside, and the Jedi pressed forward up into the vessel, eliminating the battle droids inside until they secured the ship. With Skywalker in the pilot's chair and Altis beside him as co-pilot, they lifted off and moved the ship to extract Rex, Callista, and the troopers who were under droid fire.
Ince was down, having been shot in the leg, and Hil tried to keep pressure on the femoral artery as Rex and Callista continued to lay down cover fire. When Skywalker landed the ship, everyone but Rex and Ross rushed Ince inside, Callista using the Force to help slow his bleeding. The two soldiers held off a Vulture droid, eventually destroying it before scrambling aboard the CR-20 and taking off. By then, Leveler had returned and the warship became the target of their escape. Rex and Ahsoka manned the troop carrier's cannons while the others tended to Ince, desperately trying to stop the bleeding from his leg and save his life. Skywalker managed to land the carrier inside Leveler's hangar and the waiting medical teams rushed Ince to the ship's medbay. While Ahsoka and Callista ran to repair the ship's concussion missile array, Rex remained at Ince's side. That was where Pellaeon would find him still when the battle had ended. He informed the naval captain of Ince's failing kidneys and massive loss of blood while he watched grimly from the side. It wasn't long after that Ince finally succumbed to his injuries, and Rex stormed out of the medbay, grimacing that there now "two troopers he had to replace" as he hid his face beneath his helmet.
When Ahsoka found the grieving captain, he was in Leveler's Chief Petty Officer's mess. At first he thought she was there to try to make him feel better, but she had actually come to him for council with her own problem—one surprisingly similar to his own: doubt. When she asked how he coped with days like that, he could only reply that he was a soldier and it was what soldiers do, but then revealed that he felt cheated by his limited place in life. Rex was surprised when Ahsoka held his hand and asked if it was true that the clones were being used, and she was guilty of using him. Thoughts like those had bothered Rex for some time but, despite it all, he chose to put it out of his mind, believing that, if he dwelt on thoughts like that, he wouldn't be able to do his job. They talked about the differences between Master Altis and the beliefs of those who followed him in comparison to those of the more orthodox Jedi—specifically on the subject of attachment—and Rex began to suspect that Ahsoka might have had feelings for someone. In the end, Rex realized that clone troopers and the Jedi were not entirely dissimilar, both "in a spot they didn't choose, and making the best of it" and that all he could do was focus on looking out for his brothers and friends, taking out the enemy before they got him.
Battle of Bothawui
Rex was later stationed with General Skywalker and Commander Tano to protect the planet Bothawui. After the Republic's defeat on the planet Falleen, General Grievous and his Confederacy fleet headed to attack Skywalker and his fleet of three Venator-class cruisers, including his flagship, the Resolute. General Kenobi contacted Skywalker, advising him to retreat; however, Skywalker intended to stay and fight.
Skywalker dispatched Rex to command a brigade of AT-TE walkers from several asteroids, aiming to outflank Grievous' fleet once the general arrived. Grievous' fleet of several Munificent-class frigates easily fell into Skywalker's trap, and the cyborg general fled aboard his fighter as his fleet was ripped apart from both in front and behind. Skywalker pursued Grievous in his own fighter, along with his astromech droid, R2-D2. Skywalker's ship was severely damaged by flying debris, and Rex managed to save him. However, when Skywalker awoke in the medbay of the Resolute, he discovered that Artoo had gone missing.
Skywalker and Tano left aboard the Twilight to search for Artoo aboard a nearby scavenging ship, but were unaware that the ship's captain, Trandoshan scavenger Gha Nachkt, had already pilfered the droid and promised him to Grievous. After they returned, Skywalker left with replacement droid R3-S6 in his fighter to scout ahead for a Confederacy listening post. However, the droid "accidentally" activated the fighter's tracking beacon, and Tano and Rex hurriedly gathered a squad of troopers and departed aboard the Twilight to assist Skywalker. Arriving out of hyperspace, they arrived in time to save Skywalker from two Munificent frigates under Grievous' command, and escaped out of the system.
Mission to Skytop Station
- "Next time, you're lugging this astromech around."
- ―Rex insists that he will not carry an astromech again
The Twilight received a message from R2-D2, and Rex and the clones were able to track the signal. On Skywalker's order, the group headed to the location of the transmission—Skytop Station, the Confederacy listening post that the Republic had been searching for. Upon entering the station, Skywalker left to search for Artoo, while Tano, Rex, Sergeant Denal and the four other clone troopers were to plant explosives around the station.
R3 attempted to open a door protected by a ray shield, but two patrols of battle droids arrived, and Tano and the clones were caught in a crossfire. Rex utilized several EMP grenades, and the droids were immobilized. However, General Grievous himself appeared, and knocked Tano aside before attacking the clones. Rex and Denal were knocked unconscious, and the other clones were killed. Grievous attempted to deal a death blow to the unconscious Rex; however, a revived Tano quickly stopped Grievous' blow with her own lightsaber. Tano engaged the cyborg general alone, allowing the clones to complete the mission. Upon revival, Rex reported their losses to Tano, and also protested to her intention of engaging Grievous alone, but complied when she gave a direct order.
Rex and Denal arrived in the hangar bay and rendezvoused with the Twilight, Skywalker and R3-S6. Skywalker had rescued Artoo, but was alarmed when he learned that Tano had engaged Grievous alone. As the group attempted to find and assist Tano, R3 revealed his true allegiances—to the Confederacy—and sealed the group inside the hangar, and also activated several Vulture droids. Super battle droids arrived, and Skywalker and the clones took cover behind several crates. Skywalker ordered Rex to trigger the explosives, and Rex complied. Tano soon arrived, and Rex noticed several fuel cells next to the crates. Skywalker hurtled one at the droids with the Force. Rex placed a well-aimed shot on the crate, and it exploded, destroying the droids. Artoo was able to open the door from a set of outer controls, as well as destroy R3-S6 in a duel, and after the Republic forces departed aboard the Twilight, Skywalker went to retrieve the droid in his fighter.
Mission to Christophsis
At some point during the Clone Wars, Rex, along with Senator Padmé Amidala, R2-D2 and protocol droid C-3PO, was sent to Christophsis to investigate crystals being stolen from the planet by the Nightsisters. Rex was injured in a fight, and the four were captured and imprisoned. A Jedi team of two, along with clone troopers led by Commander Gree, were sent to Christophsis to rescue them. The Jedi managed to find the prisoners, and the four escaped to Gree's gunship, which had a medical console on standby for Rex.
Battle of Quell
- Rex: "Hey, kid!"
- Ahsoka: "I know, I know! I'm hanging on."
- ―Rex and Ahsoka Tano, during a typical crash landing[src]
Later, Rex participated in assisting Skywalker and Tano rescue Jedi General Aayla Secura, whose forces were on the verge of defeat by Confederacy forces. Skywalker and his forces arrived in the Resolute, and used several gunships to land on Secura's cruiser, the Liberty. However, after Skywalker went on ahead, Tano and Rex's gunship was attacked by one of the Confederacy rocket droids, and they were forced to crash-land on the cruiser. Tano, Rex and their forces met up with Skywalker, Secura and Commander Bly, and proceeded to escape the cruiser via a Republic frigate. However, a raging inferno caused by increased laser fire passed through the ship, and Skywalker sacrificed himself to save the others. Tano and Secura were able to bring the unconscious and gravely wounded Jedi Knight aboard the frigate, but as they attempted to dock with the Resolute, an attack by Vulture droids engaged the frigate's hyperdrive, sending the frigate into hyperspace. The group narrowly avoided hitting a star, but crash-landed on a remote planet.
Rex stayed to guard Skywalker, while Tano, Secura and the rest of the clones left to find help. Skywalker awoke, and Rex was attacked by a mastiff phalone—a birdlike, carnivorous creature native to the planet. Rex was able to fend the creature off with blaster fire, but after morning arrived, two more of the creatures returned. Despite his injuries, Skywalker insisted on fighting, and Rex incapacitated one of the creatures with a laser shot. Rex was knocked aside, and the return of Tano, Bly and Wag Too—a healer from the Lurmen colony on the planet—saved his life. Rex and Tano helped Too tie up the last creature, and the group returned to the colony with him, taking the injured Skywalker on a stretcher.
Battle of Maridun
- Rex: "Commander Bly, we've got company."
- Bly: "Friendlies?"
- Rex: "Negative, sir. A droid ship. Coming straight our way."
- ―Rex and Bly[src]
While Skywalker's injuries were tended to by the Lurmen, Rex noticed an incoming Confederacy C-9979 landing craft. Not wanting to let the Lurmen suffer for their presence, the Republic forces decided to hide, and Rex and Bly assisted the still-injured Skywalker in their escape. A Confederacy recon droid came upon the group, and Tano, Rex and Bly chased the droid down before Secura impaled it. From a tree, the group noticed that the Confederacy forces had set up their base—and had brought a shuttle, which the Republic forces intended to steal to escape the planet. However, Skywalker noticed that the Confederacy general, Neimoidian Lok Durd and his weapons technician Pune Zignat, was testing a new weapon, and Rex and Bly ventured closer to investigate. The weapon fired a missile, which, upon landing, exploded and began to obliterate all forms of life within range. Unnoticed, Rex and Bly narrowly escaped, and the Jedi and the clones noticed that the Confederacy forces were heading back toward the Lurmen colony, the only possible reason being to test the weapon on the colony itself.
Rex, Bly, and Skywalker kept the droid guards distracted while Aayla and Ahsoka sneaked into the base and take the watchtowers and droid along the wall. After Ahsoka opened the main Rex, Bly and Anakin took out the remaining droids. Rex and Bly then found shield generators and took them in their ship back to the Lurmen village. Rex and Bly then helped their Jedi commanders to set up defenses around the village. When Gen. Durd arrived he fired his defoliator but Lucky, Rex and Bly were able to power up the shields. When Durd sent in a squad Rex, Bly and the Jedi were able to hold their ground against the first wave, but when the second wave moved, Rex and Bly fell back to protect the shield generators and the Lurmen. Fortunately, Anakin was able to destroy the defoliator and capture Durd, and the Lurmen decided to help them. Rex and Bly then guarded Durd and his weapons technician as they put them on board the shuttle when the Republic fleet found them.
Battle of Orto Plutonia
- "We've got to hold out!"
- ―Rex during the Talz's ambush on Orto Plutonia
Rex went with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to Orto Plutonia to investigate the destruction of a clone security base. After war was declared between the local Talz and the Pantoran dignitaries, specifically the arrogant Chairman Chi Cho, Rex was ordered to protect Chairman Cho at all costs. The Chairman then ordered Rex to attack the Talz when they approached them, but Rex stated that they were only there to protect him. However, he was forced to attack when the Talz attacked them, riding Narglatch, and the Chairman was severely injured. Rex carried him to safety, holding off the attacking Talz until the arrival of the Jedi and Senator Riyo Chuchi. Chairman Cho died from the injury, and Senator Chuchi established a peace treaty with the Talz.
Battle on Naboo
- Jar Jar: "Ima gonna be trained!"
- Rex: "I am not training him."
- ―Rex insists he will not train Jar Jar to use a blaster[src]
When Senator Padmé Amidala and Representative Jar Jar Binks were captured while searching for a secret Separatist lab on Naboo, it was up to Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Rex to rescue them. They succeeded, and also stopped Dr. Nuvo Vindi from releasing the deadly Blue Shadow Virus. Unfortunately, Vindi's assistant droid took one of the virus containers and put it into a bomb. The droid then detonated the bomb, which quickly spread the virus throughout the bunker. Anakin and Obi-wan were outside with the scientist when the virus was released, so to save their companions, they went in search of an antidote on Iego. The virus almost killed everyone inside, including Rex, Ahsoka, Padmé, and several other clone troopers, but fortunately the Jedi found the antidote in time, and all infected were cured. As Rex was being led away on a stretcher, he overheard Obi-Wan telling Jar Jar that Senator Amidala had recommended that they give him training to hone his skill with a blaster. Jar Jar was ecstatic, but Rex flatly said he wouldn't train him.
Battle of Ryloth
- "I wish General Skywalker had discussed this plan with us. The odds are very much against us."
- ―Captain Rex to Ahsoka
After Techno Union leader Wat Tambor gained control of Ryloth and its inhabitants, Rex was sent with Anakin, Ahsoka and Admiral Yularen to destroy the blockade and clear a way for the invasion forces to land. Unfortunately, after Ahsoka led a squadron of fighters, Separatist reinforcements arrived, and she disobeyed a direct order to retreat and aid the cruisers. The Resolute was damaged, and Admiral Yularen was severely injured, and Ahsoka finally returned, but lost half her battle group along the way. After the Republic forces had retreated, Anakin tried to console a dejected Ahsoka. Rex reported that General Mace Windu was requesting a progress report. Anakin then commented that they hadn't made any progress, but went with Rex to deliver their report.
Even with only half his forces remaining, Anakin was ordered to continue his attack. Anakin sent Rex to find Ahsoka, who found her in the medical bay, apologizing to an unconscious Admiral Yularen. Anakin then devised a plan to pilot the Defender alone and ram it into the lead control ship, leaving only out maneuverable droids in command of the blockade. Rex supported Ahsoka, who was still shaken but left in charge of retrieving Anakin in addition to destroying the rest of the blockade. While devising a plan of attack, Rex was hesitant about Anakin's plan, and tried to support Ahsoka's inexperience with command, but at the same time looked at the reality of the situation. Ahsoka, still hesitant, devised a plan to angle the hull of the Resolute toward the blockade, acting as a screen to launch the fighters, and the support of Admiral Yularen boosted her confidence when the navigation officer was doubtful of the plan's chance for success. The plan worked, and after Ahsoka led a successful attack on the remaining frigates in the blockade, the invasion forces arrived, and she dispatched Rex to send a shuttle to retrieve Anakin's escape pod.
Shortly after the planet was liberated by the Grand Army of the Republic, Rex, Torrent Company, and their Jedi commanders were charged with ridding the planet of the remaining droid presence. Rex, along with sergeant CS-2207—Boomer—went on an AT-RT night patrol around the city of Resdin. The two clones eliminated a large number of battle droids, but were ambushed and taken captive by bounty hunter Cad Bane. Bane needed the clones alive to protect the gravity weapon he had recently stolen from the CIS, from the battle droids ordered to retrieve it. While they were unconscious, Bane had fitted the clones with binders wired with explosives and promised to let them go free if they cooperated with him, but threatened to kill them if they refused or tried to double-cross him. Under the circumstances, Rex and Boomer had no choice but to agree to the bounty hunter's demands. Together, they defeated several waves of attacking droids and a Separatist Vulture fighter, until Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano—having tracked Rex's signal—arrived to help.
Bane attempted to hold the Jedi at bay, again threatening to detonate the explosives in the binders around the clones' wrists, but Skywalker masterfully cut the binders off with his lightsaber, removing Bane's only bargaining chip. Effectively captured, the Jedi ordered Rex and Boomer to disarm him. With the tables now turned, Bane was forced to cooperate, and with the hangar they had been fighting in about to collapse at any second, the Jedi and clone troopers decided to use his transport, The Sleight of Hand. Bane was forced to carry the weapon to the ship while the Jedi guarded him and Rex and Boomer went ahead to scout out an elevated position from which to provide covering fire and clear the way for them. As the two clones left the hangar, they traveled alongside a path that overlooked Ryloth's wastes. After destroying another Tri-droid roaming the wastes, the clones were assaulted by waves of battle droids coming down from a nearby hill. Leaving the hill, Rex and Boomer encountered a pair of Tri-droids emerging from within a tunnel. Using rocket launchers, the clones destroyed the massive droids and continued on. At the ship, the Jedi were ambushed by the Skakoan Kul Teska, the creator of the gravity weapon, and a fight ensued in which the Jedi were eventually trapped within an energy bubble until Rex and Boomer arrived for help. Faced with an ultimatum—save their Jedi commanders or kill Teska—the clones decided to chose to rescue the Jedi, allowing Teska to escape in Bane's transport, taking the gravity weapon, and Bane himself, with him.
- "Come on, grunts! We are leaving!"
- ―Rex to his troops
At some point after the Battle of Ryloth, the Galactic Republic launched an assault on planet Felucia but was ultimately defeated by General Grievous's forces. When the outnumbered Republic forces in Felucia asked for help, an evacuation fleet under the command of Jedi High General Plo Koon went to the system, and Rex and Clone Commander Cody evacuated their clone troopers from certain defeat. Before escaping to Coruscant, the Republic had to evacuate Commander Ahsoka Tano's forces. After that, Rex was moved to Coruscant for a while.
Rex participated in the Battle above Devaron. Rex supported Anakin Skywalker's tactic of deploying AT-TE's from space onto a Separatist ship. After landing on board Rex fought against droids and Cad Bane to try to rescue Bolla Ropal. Their efforts failed and Bolla Ropal was killed. Anakin and Ahsoka told Rex to get transport off the ship while they went after Bane. Rex made it to the hangar bay but required the Jedi's help to secure the ship. After picking up Bane in Denal's armor they escaped the exploding ship. After returning to the Resolute Rex discovered some blood that was not from a clone on the back of there transport. The blood was revealed to be Bane's, who managed to escape in stolen clone armor.
Second Battle of Geonosis
Rex was the officer for General Skywalker's force in a three-pronged attack on a Separatist shield generator on Geonosis. When all the gunships were shot down Rex, Anakin, and Ahsoka destroyed a heavily armed fortification and met with Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ki-Adi-Mundi and Clone Commanders Cody and Jet. They then destroyed the shield generator. They then needed to destroy the droid factory the shield generator was protecting. Ki-Adi-Mundi and Obi-Wan left to recover , but Luminara Unduli and her Padawan, Barriss Offee, joined the attack. The Padawans went into the factory via an underground network common in Geonosian architecture to blow the reactor. Meanwhile, Rex, Luminara, and Anakin distracted Poggle the Lesser's droid forces. A new tank design was unleashed by Poggle, but both Rex and the Padawans succeeded. After, Skywalker, Unduli and Kenobi captured Poggle, Rex went with the generals to escort Poggle to Coruscant. Rex was the first one to hear from the padawans Barriss and Ahsoka after losing contact with them .
First Battle of Saleucami
When Jedi Master Eeth Koth was captured by Grievous, Rex went with Generals Skywalker and Adi Gallia to rescue him. Rex and a squad of clone troopers went on board Grievous' command ship and protected the exit, while the Jedi rescued Master Koth. When Anakin brought Master Koth back, Rex and one of his troopers helped Koth into the ship. After Grievous escaped to the surface of Saleucami,Rex, along with Jesse, Kix and Hardcase were sent by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to try and find General Grievous in the wetlands. Along the way, Rex was wounded by a Commando Droid Snipers. Jesse told Kix to help Rex, but they couldn't do it in the open. In need of medical attention, the clones, carrying Rex on one of their speeders, went in search of shelter and eventually stopped at a small farm house where they were met by a Twi'lek woman named Suu at blaster point. Jesse said that they needed help and cover, which Suu soon granted them. While Rex was resting, he heard a noise; he grabbed his blaster, but was disarmed by Cut Lawquane. Afterward Cut invited Rex to eat dinner with him and his family. Rex and Cut argued about the war and a clone's role in it. Later when Cut's children, Jek and Shaeeah, activated an escape pod full of Commando droids, Rex helped Cut defend his family from the droids and destroyed several of them. Rex was later contacted by Kenobi and he set out to rejoin the group, saying that Cut was still a deserter, but certainly not a coward.
Defense of the Coronet
After Kenobi's investigation on Mandalore, Rex, Anakin, Cody and their troopers were assigned with Kenobi to defend Duchess Satine aboard the Coronet against the Death Watch. Kenobi and Skywalker briefed Rex, Cody and their troopers of the importance of the safety of the Duchess. Rex and Cody, along with their troopers then went on patrol in the ship's cargo hold. When Rex lost contact with 2 of his troopers, Skywalker came down to help find them. Rex, Anakin and Cody then found a open container. They then went to search for the contents. When Anakin was attacked by Assassin probe, Rex, Cody and their men destroyed it. Unfortunately one of the probes made it to the lift. After that the fallen probe released smaller probes. Rex, Cody and Anakin stayed close to each other till they destroyed the smaller probes. Rex, Cody and Anakin then went to find the droid in charge of the cargo manifest, to see who brought the assassin probes on board. After Anakin informed Kenobi that one of the senators was a traitor, Rex, Cody and Anakin then looked for the last assassin probe. When Rex and Cody found one of their troopers helmets, one of the smaller probes leaped at them. Fortunately Anakin and R2-D2 save both Rex and Cody before it killed them. When they found the last assassin probe, it tried to kill Rex with it's claws, but Rex was able to use his hands to hold it back. When Anakin cut it's legs, Rex jumped on it and shot it. After that the traitor Senator Merrik contacted Death Watch's commander, who sent three Separatist boarding crafts to help him. After they attached to the Coronet, they unloaded super battle droids. While obi-wan was trying to save Satine, Rex, Anakin, Cody, and their troopers along side Satine's bodyguards fought against the super battle droids. They were able to defeat them and Kenobi, thanks to Anakin killing Merrik, saved Satine and the ship from certain destruction.
Battle of Malastare
- "We just need to hold them back until the bomb drops."
Rex served on Malastare to battle a massive invasion force sent by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Republic tested a prototype electromagnetic pulse weapon, the electro-proton bomb, which was designed to disable all battle droid forces while leaving the Republic troops or native Dug warriors unharmed. Rex and his troops were charged with holding the line of defense long enough for a flight of bombers to deliver the weapon and disable the droid army.
The bomb was successful in disabling or destroying all of the enemy force. Despite its efficacy, the power of the bomb's explosion created a seismic reaction which opened a sink hole at the point of impact. The sinkhole claimed much of the remaining Republic units; Rex narrowly avoided this fate, making an escape to solid ground. The explosion also awakened a hibernating Zillo Beast, a species long thought to be extinct. Doge Nakha Urus, the leader of the Dug people, insisted that the Republic help them destroy the creature or he would not sign a treaty which would provide critical fuel needed to power the Republic's war machine. The Jedi were opposed to killing a unique creature and instead found a way to force it into unconsciousness for transport to a safe location off-planet. With the successful elimination of the Zillo Beast threat, Rex was present as Urus signed the Treaty of Malastare.
Zillo Beast Rampage
- "A lot of the General's plans involve falling."
After the Jedi brought the Zillo Beast to Coruscant, it escaped and rampaged across the city. Rex was among the clone troopers trying to impede the Beast. When Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, and Chancellor Palpatine were captured by the beast, Rex pointed out Anakin's plan to slice their ship in half to escape. When Obi-Wan reminded Mace Windu to catch them when they fell, Rex remarked that a lot of Anakin's plans involved falling. Rex was watching when LAAT gunships launched Malastarian oil-filled gas bombs at the Zillo Beast and incapacitated it.
Some time after their first attempt to attack the clone facilities of Kamino, Asajj Ventress and Grievous planned to attack the planet again, but the Republic intercepted communications regarding the ambush shortly before this. Rex led the 501st back to their homeworld to defend it from the Separatist forces. During the battle, Rex once again fought alongside Commander Cody, who accompanied Rex to the barracks, where they found the surviving troopers from the Rishi moon outpost, Fives and Echo, along with several cadets and the malformed clone 99. Together, the clones defended the barracks from the droids using supplies from the armory. However, when they ran out of grenades, 99 went to restock, but the battle droids killed him. After the battle, Rex and the other clones honored their fallen brother, recognizing him as a true soldier. Rex and Cody later announced to Fives and Echo that they were to be officially designated ARC troopers for their courageous actions defending their home.
Responding to the distress signal
Later in the war, Rex was dispatched to meet Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano to investigate a 2,000 year old Jedi distress signal. Believing it to be a Separatist trap, Rex was sent aboard a heavily armed destroyer where he contacted the trio from the vessel to report an anomaly on the ship's scanners. He subsequently lost connection with them and was not able to regain contact. It was later divulged that the distress signal had been from the mysterious Father to lure Anakin to his planet of Mortis so as to ascertain if he was the chosen one, and had disrupted Rex's communications. A moment later in Rex's time, the signal to the Jedi was regained. Rex was confused when Skywalker told him that they had been gone for more than a moment, but remarked that Rex would not believe it if he told him.
Rescuing Master Piell
After Jedi Master Even Piell was captured, Rex attended Master Plo Koon's briefing via hologram. Their mission was to rescue Master Piell from the impregnable prison known as the Citadel. During the briefing, Rex questioned if Master Piell would still be alive and was reassured that, since he carried valuable information about the Nexus Routes, the Separatists would not execute him.
After the briefing, Rex met up with Skywalker, Kenobi, Cody and the rest of their team in the Jedi Temple hangar. Rex was then frozen in carbonite with the rest of the team in order to avoid sensors. Their transport shuttle was able to traverse the outer defenses and land in a cavern near the Citadel. After the team was thawed out, they traveled towards the Citadel. During a hazardous traversal of a sensor mine field, team member Charger was detected, alerting the Citadel's warden, Osi Sobeck, to their presence.
On their way to Master Piell's cell, Rex, along with ARC Troopers Echo and Fives, disabled cameras and wall turrets along the way. After they freed Master Piell, Rex and the rest of the team then went to free Piell's captain. They were then ambushed by commando droids. Rex and the rest of the team were able to defeat the first wave of commando droids, but when a second wave of commando droids arrived, Sobeck activated magnets in the ceiling which attracted Rex's guns, effectively disarming him. Rex fought with his bare hands until Skywalker disabled the magnetic fields and the team was able to regain arms. After Piell's officers including their captain, Wilhuff Tarkin, had been rescued, Rex assisted in creating a diversion. Skywalker located an ancient cave mentioned in the archive data, and Rex took cover with his companions.
More super battle droids and droid commandos attacked the team from behind, and a commando droid equipped with a hand-held shield generator, opened fire on the Rex and the clones. Ahsoka Tano managed to do away with the unit and secure an escape route. The route, however, went through a pocket of blaster-inhibiting gas. At the rendezvous point for the evacuation, the group were once more set upon. However, reinforcements arrived and, using the tunnel's hatch as cover, Rex and the group managed to escape from the pursuing droids. Skywalker deployed a thermal detonator inside the tunnel, causing a massive explosion and destroying the droids present.
After realizing that the evacuation was aborted, Rex and the others proceeded to head for the landing pad where R2-D2 was supposed to pick up Kenobi and his team. Kenobi, his team, R2 and his droid squadron were already engaged in a firefight with crab droids, droid commandos and B1 battle droids. The team immediately rushed to the landing pad to aid Kenobi and his team. However, they failed to protect their ship and it was destroyed, killing Echo in the process. Rex and the remaining team then retreated to the caverns below the Citadel and waited for reinforcements, which Kenobi had called earlier. The team proceeded to a small island in which Plo Koon would rescue them. When descending a cliff, a clone trooper and a naval officer were killed, and R2-D2's battle droid squad sacrificed itself. Desperate to catch the escapees, Osi Sobeck released a pack of Anoobas to hunt down the team. In a plan to ambush the Anoobas, Master Piell was killed. Rex watched as the Jedi held a funeral to him, and then continued on. When they reached the island, Rex warned the team of Osi Sobeck coming in with a squad of STAPs. In the battle, Fives shot down Osi Sobeck, who almost killed Tarkin, but was rescued by Ahsoka. Plo Koon then arrived and rescued the group, including Rex, and the team departed Lola Sayu.
Return to Felucia
Rex, along Skywalker, Ahsoka, Gen. Plo Koon, and Commander Wolffe then returned to Felucia to neutralize an enemy outpost that had been reinforced by Grievous. While Ahsoka and Plo Koon's teams infiltrated either side of the outpost, Rex, Skywalker, Felucian scouts, and the rest of the clones held position so that Turbo Tanks and AT-TEs were able to open fire on the droids camped at the base. Rex, Skywalker and their men then ambushed the droids, assisting in Master Koon's mop-up operation. After this, Rex helped Skywalker in his search around the base for Ahsoka, who had gone missing during the fight. The expedition was then ended.
Second Battle of Mon Calamari
Battle of Umbara
Rex, along with General Skywalker and the 501st were sent to Umbara to take the Capital. Rex and Skywalker's troops would take out enemy reinforcements striking against Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi, Pong Krell and Saesee Tiin joint attack. After Rex, Skywalker and the rest of the 501st landed, they and the AT-RTs made their way to the rally point on a ridge. Rex and Skywalker rested their forces. The Umbarans then launched a surprise attack from their rear with Millicreep Assassin droids. After Skywalker called for a bombing ridge, Rex then had the 501st fallback away from the ridge as Commander Oddball bombed the Umbarans.
After that, Krell arrived and told Skywalker the Supreme Chancellor requests that Skywalker return to Coruscant and to turn command of the 501st over to Krell in the interim. Krell then told Rex to prepare the battalion for the march on the Capital. Along the way, they were attacked by a couple of Banshees. After Krell killed both of the banshees, Rex then asked Krell if his men could take a break to which Krell refused to so, knowing that time is not luxury the Republic can not afford. When Rex, Krell, and the 501st reached the outskirts of the Capital, Krell orders the troops to launch a full frontal assault instead of using preemptive surprise attacks despite Rex's disagreement with Krell's plan. Nonetheless, Rex complied with the order and then led his troopers and AT-RTs onto the main road to assault the capital.
As Rex and the 501st marched along the road, they then ran into a field of mines, killing a couple of troopers. After making their way through the mines, Rex and the 501st then got caught in an ambush led by the Umbaran Militia. Rex and the 501st held their ground but were too exposed to hold out for long. Rex then ordered the 501st to retreat in order to gain a better fighting position. Rex and his were then able to rejoin Krell and the rest of the 501st. Together they were able to repel the Umbarans. After that, Krell criticized Rex for giving up the road. Rex and Fives were able to convince the general that they did what was best for their men. After Krell gives Rex a dubious compliment, he, Fives, and the rest of the 501st continue to hold against a Umbaran counterattack.
Capturing the Airbase
Rex, Krell and the 501st continued holding their ground against the Umbaran ground and air forces, but could not break through to support Gen. Kenobi's battalion. After Krell was told by Kenobi that a Umbaran airbase was resupplying the capital, Rex, Krell and the battalion were tasked to take the airbase.
When Rex, Krell and the 501st got within distance of the airbase, Rex suggested that they try and scout for another way in. Krell, knowing the urgency of Kenobi's situation, ordered Rex to take the 501st through a gorge single file. Rex's men then started to criticize Krell's orders and tactics knowing that their casualties would be high, but Rex was able to convince them to go through with it. As Rex started the attack, he divided his men into three groups with Fives, Hardcase, and Rex in charge of each one of these groups. As Rex and the 501st make their way through the gorge, they were attacked by huge caterpillar tanks. Fortunately, their rocket launchers and Thermal detonators were able to subdue the caterpillar tanks. Rex and the 501st then resumed their advance towards the airbase, with Rex shooting a Umbaran soldier and a couple of banshees. Rex then spotted a couple of Spider cannons coming towards him and the 501st, and they are forced to retreat. Rex is then ordered by Krell to push the attack. Rex's men tried using rocket launchers on the spider cannons, but to no avail.
Rex orders Fives and Hardcase to acquire a couple of Umbaran starfighters and use them against the tanks. However, Krell ordered Rex to launch a full-scale attack, regardless of this plan. Rex and his troopers continued to hold their ground against the tanks. Just as Rex tried to use a rocket launcher on one of the Spider cannon, Fives and Hardcase then arrived in a couple of starfighters, which were able to destroy the tanks and Krell was then able to send in the rest of the battalion to successfully take the airbase. Krell then told Rex that luck smiled on him today, despite a lot of men dying to take it.
Attack on the supply ship
Rex, Krell and the 501st continued holding the airbase against the Umbarans who were trying to retake it. Rex was with Krell when General Kenobi contacted Krell to inform him that the capital was still receiving supplies, this time from a Separatist supply ship in the atmosphere. Rex suggested that they should try and destroy the supply ship. After Kenobi's transmission was lost, Rex was ordered to have the battalion ready to move on the capital in 12 hours. Though Rex wanted to try and coordinate their attack with Kenobi's battalion, Krell knew that Kenobi was busy and said no, but Rex protested, informing Krell that they would be walking into a blast zone. Krell then ordered Rex to ready his troops, commenting that although Rex had disagreed about his strategies, he is loyal enough to obey his orders.
After Rex briefed his troops, ARC Trooper Fives informed Rex that they had broken the Umbaran access codes and that they could use the captured starfighters to infiltrate the supply ship and destroy it, thus cutting off supplies to the capital. Rex forwarded the plan to Krell, but Krell refused to waste men on the plan, claiming they will need everyone to help take the capital. Rex then informed his troops that the attack on the capital will go on as planned, drawing more criticism from Fives about Krell's leadership abilities. He also insists that they continue with the sneak attack regardless of Krell's orders.
Later, after Rex left the barracks, Fives confronted him about standing up for Krell's plan. During their discussion, a conflicted Rex tried to convince Fives that they are honor bound to follow orders without question for the good of the bigger picture. A disgusted Fives told Rex that he won't follow orders he considered wrong and allow others to suffer as a result. He then stormed off, telling an unhappy and torn Rex that he was going to find some accomplices to help with his plan. After Fives and Hardcase wrecked one of the Umbaran fighters trying to figure out the controls, they decided to still continue with the plan.
Fives contacted Rex one last time, to give him one last chance to recall them; Rex implicitly gave them permission but warned them if they were caught he could not help them. Rex then watched as Fives, Jesse and Hardcase took off towards the supply ship. When Krell found out about the three ships and demanded what they were doing, Rex told him that it was merely a reconaissance mission. He also managed to turn Dogma and Tup away from Krell so they couldn't rat out the three.
After Hardcase destroyed the supply ship by sacrificing himself, Rex met up with Fives and Jesse after they landed. Rex, along with Fives and Jesse, are confronted by Appo and some other troopers and then taken to see a furious Krell. Rex tried to take the blame for the mission in order to protect Fives and Jesse, but Fives insisted that it was his idea to try and protect Rex. An unforgiving Krell informs Fives and Jesse that they will be court-martialed and executed.
- "What's the point of all this? I mean... why?"
"I don't know sir. I don't think anybody knows. But what I do know, is that someday this war's gonna end."
"Then what? We're soldiers. What happens to us then?"
- ―Rex and Fives
After the event in which Fives, Jesse, and Hardcase disobeyed Krell's orders, Rex tries to talk Krell out of court-martialing Fives and Jesse and tells him there is no need and that the troops are with Krell. The men just feel that Krell is putting their lives in danger needlessly. Krell only replies that the the court-martial is needed to show the clones who is in charge. After a short lived talk, Krell decides that the execution of Fives and Jesse will be more effective than court-martialing them. He orders Rex to prepare a squad for execution. Shocked, Rex tries again to reason with the general, only to be yelled at. Doing as he is told, Rex retrieves Fives and Jesse from their prison cells. Rex tells them that he tried to reason with Krell with no success. Rex and the other troopers set them up along the wall of the airbase. As the execution team prepares to fire, Fives stops them and says that what they are about to do is wrong and that they should not listen to Krell's order for execution. The troops begin to wonder if Fives is right. But not caring at all, Dogma orders them to fire. The troopers fire but avoid hitting Fives and Jesse. Dogma begins to question why the troopers didn't kill Fives and Jesse, only for Rex to step in and tell him that their actions in destroying the supply ship was heroic and that if all clone troopers in the 501st legion were rewarded with execution for heroic actions, then one day they would be all dead. Rex then has Fives and Jesse untied.
Krell is furious to hear that the clones didn't kill Fives and Jesse and yells at Rex for it. An incoming message then comes through and a clone trooper reports that the Umbarans have stepped up their defenses and have recently attacked a platoon and stolen their armor and weapons and have also disguised themselves as clone troopers. Krell puts the execution on hold and orders Rex and his men to prepare to march on the capital and reminds him to tell his men that the enemy has now disguised themselves as clone troopers.
Rex then leads the battalion to attack the disguised Umbarans. When Rex and the rest of his men then come under fire from the disguised Umbarans, the troops then set up their mortars and opened fire on the enemy. The firefight between both sides continued till Rex discovered that they were actually clones. Rex then orders his men to stop firing, telling them to take off their helmets to see that they were all clones. Both sides revealed themselves to be clones. Kix then found the 212th battalion platoon leader, Waxer who was mortally wounded in the firefight. Rex then asks Waxer who gave the order to attack them. Waxer tells Rex that Krell told his platoon that the Umbarans had stolen clone armor. Waxer then sheds a tear before he dies. Rex then rounded up his men and the remnants of Waxer's platoon. Rex tells them that they are going to arrest Krell for treason against the Republic. Rex then tells them that if anyone did not wish to do this, to step out of the line. All of Rex's men stepped forward to arrest Krell.
Rex, the battalion and Waxer's platoon prepare themselves to arrest Krell. Rex then frees Fives and Jesse, giving them back their armor and weapons. Rex and his men then go to the control tower to confront Krell. Rex then states that General Krell is relieved of his command. Krell's tells them that his men are committing mutiny. Krell then admits he did tell his men to kill each other. Just as the clones close in on Krell, Krell subdues them, killing some them with his double bladed lightsabers and then escapes in to the jungle. Rex then orders his platoons to go into the jungle and find him. Dogma, remaining loyal to Krell, tries to stop his brothers, calling them traitors. After Rex convinces him to stand down, Dogma is then taken to the brig. When Rex and the rest of his troops go into the jungle, Krell subdues one of the squads. Krell, using the Force, taunts Rex and his men, saying that he has been using them all along, laughing at them. Tup then has Rex lure Krell over to him. When Tup manages to lure Krell's attention from the rest of the clones, the general then runs into a Vixus. Though Krell is able to free himself from the Vixuses grasp, he is then stunned by Tup, then the troops places a pair of binders on his hands and is then taken into custody.
When Rex questions Krell about his actions, he admits that he has turned traitor and tells Rex that he foresees that the Jedi will lose the war, that a New Order will arise, and that in exchange for betraying the Republic, he will become Count Dooku's new apprentice. Rex then discovers that Krell had sabotaged the airbase's communications and that Gen. Kenobi's battalion had long since taken the capital. Unfortunately the Umbaran forces are on their way to retake the base. Rex then orders the battalion on full alert. When Fives warns Rex that if Krell is freed, he would undermine the Republic's foothold. So Rex decides to execute the fallen general. Rex and Fives then go down to the brig and let Dogma out. Rex then tells Krell to face the wall and get down on his knees. Krell taunts Rex that's he afraid to pull the trigger. Just when Krell finishes his last taunt, Dogma takes one of Fives's pistols and shoots Krell for betraying every one of his men. Rex then gets word that Kenobi's battalion have all sectors secured and that the enemy has been defeated, securing Republic victory on Umbara.
Battle of Kiros
After the Separatists occupied the Togruta colony world of Kiros, Rex, along with Generals Skywalker, Kenobi, Commander Ahsoka and Cody went to Kiros to liberate the planet. Rex rode in a BARC speeder sidecar with Gen. Kenobi along side Skywalker, Ahsoka, and the rest of BARC speeder squad. Rex, like Ahsoka, noticed that the colonists were missing. Rex found this worrisome since the Separatists were not hesitant to use civilians as living shields. After they took out the commando droids on Flitknot speeders, Rex then finished off one AATs with his rocket launcher. Rex, Cody and the rest of forces then surround the Separatist headquarters in the governor's tower. Though the Zygerrian Separatist commander, Darts D'Nar, tried to set off numerous bombs in the city, Skywalker and Ahsoka were able to disable the bombs. Though they were able to capture D'nar and his ship, the entire planet's Togruta population had been taken into slavery by the Zygerrians.
- "I'm no Jedi."
- ―Rex upon killing keeper Agruss
Following the battle of Kiros, Rex, along with with Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano, infiltrated the slaver world of Zygerria to locate the missing colonists. While Anakin and Ahsoka distracted the queen, Rex and Obi-Wan searched for any of the colonists. They found the leader of the colonists, Governor Roshti, and attempted to escape with him on a brezak. The Zygerrian guards shot at them, and knocked Obi-Wan and the governor off. Rex escaped, and later when Obi-Wan was to be executed, helped Anakin save Obi-Wan and stop the Zygerrians. Rex was incapacitated by an explosion however, and he along with Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were captured by the Zygerrians. Rex and Obi-Wan were sent to the Kadavo slave processing facility on the planet of Kadavo and forced to work in the furnace room. Later, when Dooku ordered Obi-Wan's execution, Rex was taken along with him to the base's control room. When Anakin and Master Plo Koon caused a distraction for Obi-Wan to escape his binders, Rex attacked the Zygerrian guards with him. After defeating all the guards, Obi-Wan had slave keeper Agruss at the end of his lightsaber, but the Zygerrian mocked him, saying that a Jedi would never kill an unarmed man. To this, Rex picked up a Zygerrian spear and threw it at the keeper, killing him. Rex then escaped to the Republic fleet with the remainder of the group.
Aiding the Onderon Insurgency
- "They're not what I'd call shinies, sir."
- ―Rex upon seeing the Onderon Insurgency base.
Some time after infiltrating Zygerria, Rex, once again with Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano, went to the Seperatist world of Onderon to aid the insurgency resisting the droid occupation. Helping to train the ragtag militia how to fight the droids, he later aided in infiltrating the city to take out the droids at the source. After completing the rebel's training and oversaw their infiltration of the city, Rex returned to Coruscant with Kenobi and Skywalker, leaving Commander Tano in charge of guiding the rebels and overseeing their progress.
Chasing a Jedi
- "I know Commander Tano. She would never do something like this."
- ―Rex, after Ahsoka Tano was accused of killing clone troopers
Rex fought with Anakin Skywalker in the Battle of Cato Neimoidia. During this battle, Skywalker was ordered to return to Coruscant to investigate the Bombing of the Jedi Temple Hangar. Later, after Ahsoka Tano had been imprisoned for murdering Letta Turmond and had escaped, Rex helped Skywalker try to recapture his Padawan. It was believed that Tano had killed several clones in her escape from the Republic military base, but Rex did not believe his longtime associate would have done such a thing. Rex helped Skywalker and Captain Fox chase Tano through the base, into a nearby industrial area, and eventually, into a system of pipes. Rex found Tano and Skywalker together in the pipes just in time to see her jump from the pipe into a Coruscant Underworld portal.
Later, after Tano was seen the Coruscant underworld police on Level 1312, Rex went with Skywalker in a Republic police gunship to try to find her. As they were landing at terminal 24, Skywalker saw Ahsoka talking to Asajj Ventress. Skywalker jumped off the gunship after them, but the pair escaped. Later, Rex received word of a disturbance on Level 1315. Rex and Skywalker went to investigate and found Tano stunned by Commander Wolffe in a warehouse full of nano-droids.
Armor and equipment
Rex's armor used the color design that the entire 501st Legion had in 19 BBY, though the armor itself was still Phase I armor. He also wore a kama and pauldron, and his helmet displayed Jaig eyes. He carried twin DC-17 hand blasters but also utilized the more standard blaster rifles. His helmet featured a rangefinder, which was a tool more common among Advanced Recon Commandos. When required, Rex would also wear jetpacks or other mission-specific gear, such as customized clone cold assault trooper armor.
When the Phase II armor was issued to the clone troops, Rex saw it as an inferior replacement to the original Phase I: believing it to be more prefabricated, Rex took his original Phase I helmet, cut it out and welded it together with the parts of the Phase II he felt were an improvement, such as the breathing filters and communication systems. The remaining aspects of his armor, however, were swapped out for the Phase II variants. His armor also featured tally marks and welding marks on his helmet and chest and kept the same blue color layout as his Phase I armor.
Personality and traits
- "In my book, experience outranks everything."
Rex summarized his philosophy be asserting that experience outranked everything. An independent thinker, he wasn't afraid to voice his opinion to higher ranking officers, but still obeyed orders from his superiors under all but extreme circumstances. Rex was also very tactful, adept at diffusing tense or embarrassing situations. Because of his close relationship with General Skywalker, Rex learned to never underestimate the abilities of the Jedi, nor doubt their resolve.
Trained in a variety of fighting styles and combat tactics, he was a skilled soldier, unafraid to place himself in danger if required for the line of duty. These characteristics enabled Rex to survive many engagements and lead his troops to numerous victories. Rex demonstrated sufficient mental strength to resist a mind trick from a force user of Asajij Ventress' caliber.
Rex thought very highly of General Skywalker, who also respected the captain and placed a high degree of trust in him. Both men held each other in high esteem, and though Rex would at times protest Skywalker's orders, he followed them to the letter. In turn, Skywalker placed high value on Rex's suggestions, at times giving the captain the prerogative during battle operations.
Rex was also able to deduce that Skywalker was in love with Padmé Amidala due to the clones' heightened sensitivity to minute personal details—such as overly long glances, a tendency to snap to attention at the mention of her name—developed by living among individuals who all looked the same. However, Rex believed the feelings were unreciprocated and did not suspect that the two were secretly married.
Rex was known to have a close relationship with Ahsoka Tano; the two often interacting on a first name basis or even by nicknames. Initially a bit taken aback by her enthusiasm, Rex grew fond of the eager young Jedi, initially acting as a mentor and offering her advice and support, and sticking up for her when her competency was challenged by others. As Ahsoka gained experience, Rex grew to respect her as a capable and trusted superior. Despite this, he did not think much of her early choice of clothing, and found it very amusing when Gilad Pellaeon gave her grief over it.
As with most clone troopers, he held a high amount of loyalty to the Republic and was determined to win the Clone Wars in the Republic's favor regardless of cost, believing that if they lost, the Republic's future descendents would live under an unimaginable evil. Ultimately, his efforts would prove to be for naught even after the Republic won the Clone Wars due to the Declaration of a New Order and the formation of the Galactic Empire.
Rex had a strong working relationship with Commander Cody, and appeared to be friends with the Commander, working closely with him during many of General Skywalker and General Kenobi's shared missions. While Cody was at times skeptical of Rex's originality and creative tendencies he admired Rex's quick thinking abilities, and greatly respected the lower-ranked officer.
Rex was an avid bolo-ball fan, partial to the Sullustan team, Bylluran Athletic. When first arriving aboard RAS Leveler, he had his hair dyed blue and cut into stripes in support of the team making the finals.
Rex first demonstrated his own independence by allowing Cut Lawquane's desertion to go unreported, although he turned down Lawquane's offer for a chance to also desert and live at the farm. Rex was affected by Cut's family, however, and asserted that his loyalty to the GAR was rooted in a desire to defend people like his brother's family. He recognized that people like the Lawquanes were the reason why he fought, rather than because of his conditioning.
Rex believed strongly in the humanity of himself and his fellow clones. While he would not hesitate to follow his superiors on dangerous or costly missions, he would react fiercely if he believed his men were being disrespected or treated inhumanely. Despite this, Rex still believed that it was the duty of a soldier to sacrifice his life for victory, if necessary.
After his encounters with Cut Lawquane and General Krell, Rex began to reject the belief that being a good soldier meant that he must obey his orders without question. Rex likened the notion of blind obedience to that of a droid's programming, and argued that, as individuals, he and his fellow clones needed to make their own decisions when they believed an order was wrong.
Behind the scenes
According to the film DVD's commentary, the creators at first had decided to put in Alpha-17, the ARC Trooper known from the Dark Horse Star Wars comics, as the series' prime clone character. However, Lucas objected because his inclusion would make too much of an alliteration (Anakin, Artoo, Ahsoka, and now Alpha), so a different clone character was created.
In the episode "Carnage of Krell," Rex was originally set to pull the trigger and kill Pong Krell. However, the writers decided that it was contrary to his character, and they chose Dogma to fill the role instead.
- Star Wars Miniatures: The Clone Wars advertisement
- Giant spiders are awesome
- Sith make the best pancakes
- That's no Space Station
- Every brick has a beginning
- LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2
- Path of the Jedi (Appears in hologram)
- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide
- The Clone Wars Campaign Guide
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Heroes and Villains Flip Book
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Cartoon Network.com character guide
- "Season Four Secrets"—Star Wars Insider 128
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.28
- (First identified as CC-7567)
- Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Head-to-Head
- The Essential Reader's Companion
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.45
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.46 | <urn:uuid:391e1394-efb1-4d59-8391-87213cd1b356> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rex | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978494 | 19,452 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Let me start off by saying that I have never even touched MySQL before today. I knew it existed - and I had a faint idea that it was something to do with a database - that's it.
I bought easyphpcalendar, and i'm trying to set it up. i noticed that i had to create a database? so i went to the database tab in the setup manager and saw stuff about MySQL. I said, i know i have that in my hosting cPanel. So i went in and created a database and assigned it a user and password.
the problem is, i have no idea what to call it in the setup manager - i tried every combination of the words i saw in my cPanel, but nothing worked. the database i created is called y2keefus_acalendar, but when i put that in i get this:
There was an error connecting to the mySQL database.
The error was reported as:
Unknown MySQL server host 'y2keefus_acalendar' (1)
what do i do? i searched the forum for answers, but everyone seems to be much more advanced with this, so their questions were never really this basic. I also looked through the documentation, but i'm an idiot i guess.
basically, i need to know what to put (or how to find out what to put) in the "database host" & "database name" section.
i have hostgator as a host if that means anything.
-YOU CAN ERASE THIS - I FIGURED IT OUT!!! i'm not as dumb as i thought (pretty close though)
Last edited by keithjfuller; 08-13-2010 at 06:51 PM. | <urn:uuid:c52b60e2-5247-4f75-8810-c01bed806847> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.easyphpcalendar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=37461 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978273 | 360 | 1.5 | 2 |
President Obama's Energy Security Blueprintby Trevor Houser and Shashank Mohan | April 21, 2011
In a speech at Georgetown University on March 30, President Obama announced a goal of cutting US oil imports by one third by 2025 and released a “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future” laying out the policy pathway to achieve that target. In this note we assess the President’s oil ambitions and policy proposals in terms of their aggressiveness, feasibility, and impact on US energy security. We find that:
The President’s target is achievable. Politicians have a fondness for announcing pie-in-the sky goals that play well with constituents but have little chance of being met. Trimming America’s foreign oil purchases by a third over the next 15 years, by contrast, is perfectly achievable. US net petroleum imports are already projected to decline considerably by 2025 thanks to existing policy and current economic trends. And the new initiatives the President laid out, if adopted, would add enough umph to meet his import reduction goal.
The Blueprint addresses part of the energy security equation: By improving vehicle efficiency and expanding domestic fuel supply, the President’s Blueprint would reduce the impact of high oil prices on the US economy and improve America’s terms of trade. But these benefits won’t materialize for a decade or more, and do nothing to reduce the frequency and severity of oil market disruptions.
A greater focus on international oil market stability is needed: Due to the global nature of oil markets, the US will still be vulnerable to international supply disruptions even if President Obama’s target is met. Promoting reliable, stable and transparent international oil markets, which the President’s Blueprint does not include, is the other piece of the puzzle which Washington needs to address.
Putting the President’s Target in Context
With US gasoline prices approaching $4 per gallon, instability in the Middle East threatening further price increases, and Republican leadership in the House criticizing Administration policies as contributing to the problem, the President used his Georgetown speech to address America’s growing energy anxiety. Before laying out his prescription for making the US more energy secure, President Obama castigated previous Administrations for failing to act:
We’ve known about the dangers of our oil dependence for decades. Richard Nixon talked about freeing ourselves from dependence on foreign oil. And every President since that time has talked about freeing ourselves from dependence on foreign oil. Politicians of every stripe have promised energy independence, but that promise has so far gone unmet.
Part of the reason past attempts have failed, the President noted, is because despite periodic spikes, oil prices have always returned to their historic average of $15-$25 per barrel (adjusted for inflation). But this time is different, the President warned. Demand growth in China and India will help keep prices high for years to come, making it all the more important that we now get serious about reducing oil demand.
If the President is right and today’s high prices do persist (something most energy forecasters now expect), than much of his import reduction target will be achieved through market forces. And despite the President’s harsh words for the energy security actions of past Administrations, legislation signed into law by his predecessor will do as much to reduce US oil imports as the new policies President Obama just proposed.
The President chose 2008 as the benchmark against which to measure his import-reducing ambitions. America’s net petroleum imports (imports minus exports of both crude oil and refined products) averaged 11.1 million barrels per day (bpd) that year. According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2011 (AEO 2011), net imports are slated to decline to 9.2 million bpd in 2025 thanks to both existing energy legislation and current market developments.
Below we discuss the vehicle efficiency improvements, biofuels expansion, and domestic oil and gas developments that are responsible for this projected decline in US dependence on foreign oil. Figure 1 shows the relative importance of each in reducing US net petroleum imports relative to a world in which vehicle efficiency, domestic oil and gas production and biofuels supply is frozen at 2008 levels. There are policy and market drivers behind each wedge and together they get the President three quarters of the way to his 2025 goal, even without the policy proposals he just announced.
EIA projects US liquids demand (oil or oil substitutes) will pretty much stay flat between now and 2025, despite a 50 percent increase in the size of the economy during that period. While trend reductions in the energy-intensity of US economic activity from de-industrialization (not shown in Figure 1) play an important role in keeping oil demand at current levels, its improvements in vehicle efficiency that get most of the credit. Between 2008 and 2025, EIA predicts the efficiency of US passenger vehicles on the road will increase by 23 percent, which more than offsets the 15 percent growth in the size of vehicle fleet projected during that same period. Assuming stable domestic oil production, these gains cut 2.1 million barrels per day off America’s oil import bill in 2025.
Policy plays an important role in delivering these savings, and President Obama is partly to thank. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards hadn’t been raised for 20 years before he took office, and in May of 2009, his Administration announced a 5 percent annual increase in CAFE standards for light duty vehicles between 2011 and 2016.
But President Obama can’t claim all the credit. In 2007, President Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 which mandated a similar increase in CAFE standards, but gave the auto industry until 2020 to comply.
In addition, at currently projected oil prices vehicle efficiency will improve significantly even if no federal requirements were in place. The first big increase in CAFE standards between 1977 and 1982 essentially codified a consumer trend already underway as a result of America’s first big oil price spike (Figure 2). And when oil prices shot up again between 2001 and 2008, the efficiency of new vehicles improved by 13 percent, all before the new CAFE standards were introduced. Likewise, if EIA’s prediction that crude oil prices stay in the $100-$110 range through 2025 (in real 2009 dollars) turns out to be correct, then vehicle efficiency will improve significantly even if the 2011-2016 CAFE rules never take effect.
Using the same model that EIA employs for its Annual Energy Outlook, we find that the efficiency of new cars sold in 2016 would fall by 1.6 mpg in the absence of a federal standard.1 By 2025, this gap would raise US net oil imports from 9.2 million bpd to 9.5 million bpd – meaningful, but only a fraction of the 2.1 million bpd reduction in oil imports passenger vehicle efficiency improvements are currently projected to deliver.
Domestic Oil & Gas
Increased domestic oil and natural gas production are together projected to curb US oil imports by 1.7 million bpd by 2025. Despite the six month Gulf of Mexico (GoM) drilling moratorium last year, EIA is forecasting a 270,000 bpd increase in GoM output between 2008 and 2025. While further permitting delays could significantly reduce GoM output below EIA projections between 2014 and 2018, production would likely return near trend in time for the 2025 target. Onshore oil production in the Lower 48 is projected to grow by 880,000 bpd between 2008 and 2025, and that’s without the boom in shale oil many expect will occur. A 270,000 bpd decline in Alaskan production curbs overall US oil output growth somewhat, but the country is still projected to add 830,000 bpd in domestic supply.
On the natural gas side, currently low prices and increased production, if sustained, will increase natural gas plant liquids supply significantly – 860,000 by 2025 in the AEO 2011. And there’s the prospect of increasing natural gas consumption in the vehicle fleet either through CNG or gas-to-liquids, even in the absence of new policy. While this would be bad news for US electricity consumers by helping to close the US oil-natural gas price gap, it would reduce US oil imports even further than currently projected.
After vehicle efficiency and domestic oil and gas production, the most significant decline in oil imports under “business-as-usual” comes from growth in both domestically produced and imported biofuels. Between 2008 and 2025, EIA projects a 1 million bpd increase in biofuels supply, most in the form of corn ethanol (Figure 3).
In 2005, the US Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law, a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act increased the ambition of this program considerably, putting in place a requirement that 36 billion gallons of biofuels be supplied to US motorists by 2022. Of this, 16 billion gallons must come from cellulosic ethanol and 5 billion from other advanced biofuels, while the remaining 15 billion barrels can come from corn or other starches.
EIA predicts that the US will have no problem meeting its corn ethanol target under the RFS (Figure 3). Indeed, corn ethanol production has grown more than three-fold over the past five years, surpassing 12 billion gallons in 2010. EIA also sees significant growth in non-cellulosic advanced biofuels, primarily sugarcane ethanol imported from Brazil and biodiesel produced from seed and waste oil.
The tough part is meeting the cellulosic ethanol target under the RFS. Currently EIA is expecting that only 4 billion gallons of supply will be technologically and economically feasible in 2022 and that the EPA will have to waive the RFS requirement for the rest (as it has done for cellulosic ethanol each year so far).
This also means that most of the increase in biofuels supply EIA does see happening, would take place even in the absence of the RFS. Again using the same model that EIA employs for the Annual Energy Outlook, we ran a scenario with the same oil price projections ($107 per barrel real in 2025) but without the RFS. Biofuels supply grows by 0.83 million bpd between 2008 and 2025 rather than 1.03, but still makes a significant dent in US petroleum demand.
Where that Leaves Us
If oil prices stay above $80 per barrel, permitting delays in the Gulf are relatively short-lived, and there is no backlash against biofuels, the AEO 2011 forecast that US oil imports will decline from 11.1 million bpd in 2008 to 9.2 million bpd in 2025 is reasonable if not a bit conservative. That leaves 1.8 million bpd of additional oil import savings the President will need to achieve to reach his one third reduction target.
Will the President’s Policy Proposals Achieve the Target?
The Administration’s Blueprint identifies a range of policy initiatives intended to close this gap, some more clearly defined than others. Of those that were clearly defined, we took the four with the greatest potential to reduce US oil imports and modeled them using our in-house version of EIA’s National Energy Modeling System (RHG-NEMS). All assumptions are the same as the AEO 2011, with the exception of the specific policies selected for analysis, to make the results comparable to the AEO 2011’s reference case.
What we include
Below are the four Blueprint proposals we analyzed. Given how little detail is provided in the Blueprint itself, we had to make a number of assumptions about the nature and impact of the policy. We decided to error on the optimistic side for those policies we modeled given the number of Blueprint proposals we omitted.
Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicle Efficiency: The Blueprint references forthcoming fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for medium and heavy duty vehicles for model years 2014 through 2018. We assume these standards will be in line with EPA’s Draft Regulatory Impact Analysis released last October.
Light Duty Vehicle Efficiency: The Blueprint proposes new fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for light duty vehicles for model years 2017 through 2025. We assume that these standards continue the average annual increase in fuel economy for the 2011 through 2016 model years reaching 56 mpg for cars and 36 mpg for light trucks in 2025.
Advanced Biofuels: The Blueprint sets a goal of building four commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol demonstration plants by 2014 and increasing both federal R&D and government procurement of next generation biofuels. We assume that these policies are successful in maturing advanced biofuels (cellulosic ethanol in particular) to the point where full compliance with the 2022 RFS mandate is possible by 2025.
Electric Vehicles: The Blueprint calls for a significant increase in electric vehicle R&D, government procurement of electric vehicles, and support for local electric vehicle infrastructure. We assume that together these activities reduce electric vehicle battery costs by 15 percent in 2015 relative to business-as-usual.
What we leave out
Included in the Blueprint, but not included in our analysis, either because there was not enough detail available or because we don’t believe the proposal will have much impact are:
Domestic Oil and Gas Leasing: The Blueprint describes a number of steps the Administration plans on taking to change oil and gas leasing policy to encourage domestic development. These include shorter lease times, lease extensions in exchange for rapid development and changes in fee and royalty structures. There is not enough information available about these potential changes to assess their impact.
Natural Gas Regulation: The Blueprint calls for a pragmatic approach to regulating unconventional gas development, in the interest of both protecting the environment and preventing accidents in individual projects that could slow down the growth of the industry more broadly. While such an approach can mitigate downside risks to current gas development projections, it would not result in an increase in gas production over our business-as-usual scenario (which assumes unconventional gas development continues without the type of major accidents such regulation seeks to prevent).
Reducing Oil Demand Abroad: The Blueprint outlines a number of diplomatic efforts either planned or underway by the Administration to reduce oil demand in other countries, either through efficiency or the development of oil alternatives. While such efforts can reduce oil costs for US consumers, on balance they will increase rather than decrease US oil imports (lower oil prices result in higher oil demand).
Strategic Partnerships with Oil Producers: The Blueprint describes current Administration efforts to deepen energy ties with friendly oil-producing states like Mexico and Brazil. This has no impact on net US oil imports and little impact on US energy security in all but the most extreme supply disruption scenarios (discussed in more depth later).
Public Transit and High Speed Rail: The Blueprint calls for investments in mass transit, which if large enough have the potential to meaningfully impact US oil demand over the long-run. There is not, however, enough detail in the Blueprint to include this in our analysis.
Building Efficiency: The Blueprint includes a number of proposed initiatives to improve energy efficiency in buildings. While these have the potential to significantly reduce household and corporate energy expenditures and overall US energy demand, they will have only a modest impact on US oil imports.
Clean Electricity: The Blueprint also includes a number of initiatives aimed at accelerating the deployment of clean forms of electricity generation, such as a federal Clean Energy Standard (CES). Despite the fact that little oil is used in US power generation, greater reliance on low-carbon sources of electricity can have a meaningful impact on US oil imports. For example, carbon dioxide captured from coal-fired power plants can be used for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), increasing domestic oil supplies. There is not enough detail in the Blueprint about the Administration’s clean electricity plans, however, to include them in our analysis.
The four Blueprint policy initiatives included in our analysis come very close to achieving the President’s target. Net oil imports in 2025 are 7.59 million bpd, down 32 percent (3.53 million bpd) from 2008 levels and 18 percent (1.64 million bpd) from 2025 levels under business-as-usual. Of this 1.64 million bpd reduction in 2025, 60 percent comes from improvements in light duty vehicle efficiency, including greater penetration of electric vehicles (Figure 4). Eight percent comes from improvements in medium and heavy duty vehicle efficiency. The remaining 32 percent comes from increased biofuels production.
Impact on US Energy Security
Assuming President Obama achieves his oil import reduction goal; will it make the country more secure? Energy security is a nebulous concept, often used but rarely well defined.The following policy objectives, however, show up regularly in energy security discourse and guide our evaluation of the President’s Blueprint.
Improving US Terms of Trade
The US runs a large trade deficit in oil and when oil prices rise, US terms of trade (the amount of imports you can buy with money earned from exports) decline. A decline in a country’s terms of trade is generally assumed to reduce economic welfare, which has a range of national security implications.
The increase in the price of oil between 2001 and 2008 boosted America’s oil import bill from 0.7 percent to 2.3 percent of GDP, accounting for most of the growth in the overall US trade deficit during that period (Figure 5).
In the AEO 2011 reference case, oil imports decline to 1.5% of GDP by 2025, even though oil prices continue to rise in real terms. Obama’s Blueprint accelerates this decline, shaving an additional $50 billion a year off the country’s import bill by 2025 in today’s dollars (Figure 6). That reduces the country’s oil trade deficit to 1.2% of GDP – significant but still higher than pre-2004 levels.
Reducing Vulnerability to Price Spikes
Curbing US oil imports can improve the country’s terms of trade, but it doesn’t necessarily reduce the frequency or severity of oil price spikes. Oil is a fungible globally traded commodity, so volatility in international oil prices directly impacts the price of oil produced in the US, regardless of how small a share of overall US oil demand imports compose. Figure 7 demonstrates this clearly. US dependence on foreign oil has varied from 25 percent in the early 1980s to as high as 60 percent in recent years, but domestic and imported oil prices have continued to move in tandem, regardless of changes in America’s net oil position.
The President’s Blueprint does not count on increased domestic oil production to meet his import reduction target, but it does rely heavily on an expansion in biofuels supply. And biofuels prices are just as correlated to international oil prices as domestic petroleum supply (Figure 8). Expansion of domestic biofuels production can improve US terms of trade and help ensure energy adequacy in more extreme national security scenarios (discussed below). But it does little to protect Americans at the pump unless the increase in biofuels production frees up enough international oil supply to make market disruptions less likely or less severe. The level of biofuels expansion we’d expect the President’s Blueprint to effect does not meet this test.
There is also growing concern in some circles that biofuels demand in the US is contributing to food price inflation globally. If correct (and we are waiting to weigh in on this question until some ongoing internal research on the topic is complete) biofuels support could increase oil price volatility if food price inflation sparks unrest in oil exporting, food-importing regions like the Middle East.
While the Blueprint’s increase in domestic fuel supply would do little to reduce the frequency or severity of oil price spikes, it would help take the edge of such spikes for the economy as a whole by recycling oil revenue that would have flowed abroad back into the US economy.
The vehicle efficiency portions of the Blueprint, however, provide even greater protection. The plan would reduce passenger vehicle oil demand by 590,000 barrels per day by 2025. This would lessen the cost of a $10 spike in oil prices on motorists by 7 percent or $2 billion over the course of a year.
Improving Petrostate Behavior
An oft-cited energy-related national security concern is the behavior of certain oil exporting states. US oil purchases help prop up rogue regimes, or so the argument goes, help fund terrorist activities, and limit Washington’s ability to advance other foreign policy goals like protection of human rights.
In general, we are skeptical that reducing US oil imports is an effective strategy for combating terrorism or changing Petrostate behavior. The financial needs of terrorist cells are extremely small in relation to the value of the global oil market so any plausible reduction in US petroleum consumption is unlikely to prevent states seeking to support terrorism from doing so. And America’s track record when it comes to changing state behavior through economic leverage is mixed. And even if the US was successful in starving rogue Petrostates of export revenue to the point of regime change, it’s far from certain they would be replaced with more liberal or pro-American governments will emerge.
And with developed countries account for a declining share of global oil demand, it’s getting harder for the US alone to change oil producer’s economic fates. The President’s Blueprint would reduce oil producer revenue by quite a bit in absolute terms. Assuming Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela maintain their current share of international oil production through 2025, the Blueprint would reduce their annual oil sales by $34 billion, $15 billion and $2 billion respectively (Figure 9). But that’s only a 2-7% reduction in total revenue, easily survivable by all but the most cash-strapped regimes.
Ensuring Supply Adequacy
Most potential international oil supply disruptions would take enough crude off the market to spike prices (see Libya), but not enough to create physical shortages serious enough to require rationing at a national level or military action to secure sources of supply. There are, however, exceptions. Low-probability, high-impact energy security events where supply adequacy would be an issue include another OPEC oil embargo, a major act of terrorism or widespread political instability in Saudi Arabia, or outright war between the US and China. In such situations, America’s net oil position matters and efforts to reduce oil imports, whether through vehicle efficiency or oil alternatives, help.
If implemented, the Blueprint would deliver modest oil import reductions by 2025 and lay the foundation for more ambitious cuts after that. That’s good news for America’s trade balance and the vehicle efficiency provisions in particular will help protect the economy from future price spikes. But what’s missing from the Blueprint is a game plan making such spikes less likely and less severe. This requires effective foreign policy more than domestic energy policy, and a strategy for stabilizing international oil markets rather than hoping for energy independence. This has the best chance of delivering near-term energy price relief and is a necessary compliment to the Administration’s long-term energy security plans.
EIA uses the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) to forecast US energy market changes. We use a version of this model managed by the Rhodium Group (RHG) called RHG-NEMS to assess the alternative market and policy scenarios described in this analysis.
See http://www.cfr.org/energy-security/energy-security/p22427 for a good overview of the range of views on what energy security means and how to improve it.
See Economic Sanctions Reconsidered by Gary Hufbauer, Jeffrey Schott, Kimberly Elliott and Barbara Oegg (http://bookstore.piie.com/book-store//4075.html) | <urn:uuid:8a870048-6a9d-4136-b98c-5453457a2288> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rhg.com/notes/president-obamas-energy-security-blueprint | 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 | 0.941292 | 4,892 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Richard Scarry's Learning Board Book Series
Richard Scarry's books are a hit
Older Toddlers and Young Preschoolers love these books . They are durable and fit into the book shelves very easy . Also, they are easy to get out .
The children look at the pictures and camn tell the story themselves .Which makes them feel special .
Board books are pricey elsewhere so this is the way to go .
September 19, 2012
I don't really like checking out books from the library for my little one at the moment. I've noticed that many children put the books in their mouths, so even if I wipe the borrowed books first before giving it to my daughter, it's still a hassle to do so. With these Dollar Tree books, my daughter can keep these, get them dirty with finger foods, or ever chew on them and it's really nothing to get upset over.
August 16, 2012 | <urn:uuid:30e55f4f-1e3e-436e-9c30-30fb2185a31c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dollartree.com/toys-games-activities/toys-games-activities/coloring-books/Richard-Scarry-s-Learning-Board-Book-Series/210c210c239p329924/index.pro | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964381 | 189 | 1.5 | 2 |
The application that we'll build in this article will allow you to enter a Twitter search term, and display the tweets received in Silverlight. Unfortunately, this process isn't as simple as loading a URL from Silverlight, because of something known as cross-domain access policy.
He talks some about the problem that this cross-domain access can cause for your scripts and how he used PHP to solve it. He created a simple web service that his Silverlight application could query in the same domain. This service did the call to Twitter and returned back the results to the waiting Silverlight app. | <urn:uuid:4f23c283-05ac-4909-9b4e-3efb1b093fae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phpdeveloper.org/news/14763 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966575 | 119 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Charles Krauthammer / The 50 percent solution can return the U.S. to solvency
Share with others:
The proposition that entitlement curbs are the key to maintaining national solvency is widely accepted, though not by many congressional Democrats. President Barack Obama, however, has endorsed it on various occasions. And he could make it happen.
If he wants. I remain skeptical that he does. But national solvency is important enough to test this proposition at least once more. The obstacle is Mr. Obama's current position that entitlement cuts must be "balanced" with new revenue from closing loopholes.
Republicans are adamantly opposed. No more revenues, Mr. President. You got your tax hike on Jan. 1.
Is there a solution? Yes: tax reform with a twist.
The problem begins with definitions. By tax reform, Mr. Obama means eliminating deductions, exclusions, credits of various kinds with all the money going to the Treasury.
That's radically new. The historic 1986 Reagan-O'Neill tax reform closed loopholes with no extra money going to the Treasury. The new revenue went directly back to the citizenry in the form of lower tax rates.
This is called revenue neutrality. The idea is that tax reform is a way not to fatten the Treasury but to clean the tax code. It means eliminating special-interest favors and behavior-altering deductions that create waste and inefficiency by inducing tax-preferred rather than market-oriented economic activity. And it introduces fairness by removing breaks and payoffs for which only the rich can afford to lobby.
As a final bonus, tax reform's lower rates spur economic growth. A unique win-win-win: efficiency, fairness, growth.
Mr. Obama's own Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction commission offered a variant. First, it identified an astonishing $1.1 trillion per year of these "tax expenditures." That's more than $11 trillion in a decade. In one scenario, it knocked them all out and lowered marginal tax rates to just three brackets of 8 percent, 14 percent and 23 percent.
But here's the twist. Using the full $1.1 trillion annually of newly redeemed "loophole" revenue, Simpson-Bowles could have dropped the rates a bit below 23 percent. But instead it left some of that money in the Treasury, an average of almost $100 billion a year, or about $1 trillion over a decade. It was a reasonable compromise, so reasonable that even the Senate's most fierce spending hawk, commission member Tom Coburn, signed on.
Now, Simpson-Bowles is not on the table but it could be a model. Mr. Obama's "tax reform" would send 100 percent of the revenue to the Treasury. Reagan-O'Neill sent zero percent. Simpson-Bowles fell somewhere in between. So should any grand compromise.
Before deciding exactly where to locate that compromise, however, we have to decide which deductions to cut, yielding how much revenue. The bad news is that, given all the lobbying and haggling this would occasion, it could take years to work out. The good news is the formula proposed by Harvard economist Martin Feldstein. Before even picking and choosing which deductions should remain permissible, it simply allows no one to reduce his tax bill by more than 2 percent by using any or all of the deductions and loopholes in the current tax code (except charitable contributions).
There should, of course, be separate negotiations over which of the hundreds, thousands, of loopholes/deductions should be tossed out as corrupt or counterproductive rent-seeking. But the 2 percent ceiling means that we don't have to wait until full tax reform -- because the Feldstein formula significantly and immediately reduces the impact of all the loopholes.
Mr. Feldstein calculates that his tax reform would yield $2.1 trillion in new revenue over a decade. Now we can cut the pie. Mr. Obama wants the government to keep it all. The GOP wants to give it all back to reduce tax rates. Let's be Solomonic. Divide the revenue in half -- 50 percent to the Treasury for reducing debt, 50 percent to the citizenry for reducing rates.
That's roughly $1 trillion each. Everybody gets something. Republicans unexpectedly get a rate cut, minor but symbolic after having had to swallow the fiscal-cliff rate hike. The country gets the first significant tax reform in a quarter-century. Mr. Obama gets $1 trillion worth of "balance," his price for real entitlement reform. And if he turns out to be serious about that, we get the Holy Grail -- tax and entitlement reform all at once.
Which means a deal that manages to simultaneously promote efficiency, fairness, growth, debt reduction and a return to national solvency. In other words, the best deal since the Louisiana Purchase.
First Published March 23, 2013 12:00 am | <urn:uuid:8b17a494-f7b1-4790-b559-3271f983911f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/charles-krauthammer-the-50-percent-solution-can-return-the-us-to-solvency-680466/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949316 | 1,005 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Ireland is right to ruin Brussels plans
Ireland has issued an ultimatum to the European Union over its internal laws that could force another long round of voting, national polls and explosive argument about the extension of the powers of Brussels. Good. Thank goodness for the Irish.
A quick recap: Ireland rejected the Lisbon Treaty, which reworks EU laws substantially to give more power to Brussels and away from national governments. But Ireland will hold another referendum in the autumn and will probably approve the treaty this time. To do so, it wants changes made to reflect its concerns. Brian Cowen, prime minister, wants to show his people that he has won concessions so they can all swallow hard and change their minds.
I know none of you voted in the recent European elections but this is important: Irish approval for the treaty is the last major obstacle to its enactment. Thereafter there will be a European President, a European foreign service, a European Parliament with real teeth, and other changes. Europe will affect you, whether you care to be interested or not.
Brussels had wanted to change the Lisbon Treaty for Ireland without having to ask all the member governments to ratify the changes at home again. It hoped to sneak them in with clever drafting by lawyers and bureaucrats that would not legally trigger the need for more domestic debate. But good on Cowen – he says any changes have to be legally binding otherwise no one will believe that they are real. And legally attaching them to the EU's internal laws could mean forcing governments to go home and seek consent from their people and parliaments all over again.
I don't care that this will open up a terrible Pandora's Box for the Conservative Party in the UK. The Tories are already in knots over whether to promise a referendum on Europe when (if) they get into power. A House of Commons debate on this could open up old wounds straight after they throw out Labour. But it is surely right that big changes to our lives are debated properly rather than implemented by stealth.
Thanks to Egypt, Netanyahu will shun peace process for months
February 8th, 2011 11:40
Is Israel facing an existential threat?
February 7th, 2011 10:34
Egypt's educated revolutionaries can all speak English
February 2nd, 2011 12:28
The Middle East 2011: how does it compare with Eastern Europe 1989?
February 1st, 2011 11:55
Truffles from Pakistan, anyone?
October 11th, 2010 17:13 | <urn:uuid:e6c7d07b-f40e-4cce-b1d4-a52fa89d1e68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/adrianmichaels/10097681/Ireland_is_right_to_ruin_Brussels_plans/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953288 | 506 | 1.5 | 2 |
Celebrating 100 Years Of Mustangs Sports
As SMU celebrates the centennial of its founding in 1911 and opening in 1915, the University also is marking 100 years of achievements in athletics through a recently released book, In Honor of the Mustangs: The Centennial History of SMU Athletics, 1911-2010. The first history of SMU athletics showcases exploits on the gridiron as well as achievements in swimming, basketball, volleyball, track and field, cross country, tennis, baseball and equestrian competition. In Honor of the Mustangs, published by the Lettermen’s Association and SMU’s DeGolyer Library, was written by SMU professor emeritus of communications and centennial historian Darwin Payne ’68. Gerry York ’58, curator of SMU’s Heritage Hall, selected the book’s 650 photographs. For more information, contact Pamalla Anderson, DeGolyer Library, at 214-768-0829. Copies also are sold at SMU Bookstore, 214-768-2435, and Culwell & Son, 214-522-7000.
Hall Of Fame Beckons
SMU’s Athletics Department and the Lettermen’s Association have inducted these six new members into the Athletics Hall of Fame:
Craig James ’82 is SMU’s third all-time leading rusher (3,743 yards). The three-time All-SWC selection led the Mustangs to the Southwest Conference Championship during the 1981 and 1982 seasons. He teamed with Eric Dickerson ’84 to form the “Pony Express” backfield. James was drafted by the New England Patriots and played with the team in the 1985 Super Bowl.
Gene Phillips ’71 ranks second in SMU men’s basketball history with 1,932 career points. The three-time SWC Player of the Year was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1971 NBA draft and played with the ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals.
Lisa Cole Zimmerman ’90 is SMU’s all-time leading scorer for women’s soccer with 101 goals and 44 assists. The 1990 All-American led the team in goals for four straight seasons (1987-90).
Luchi Gonzalez ’01 ranks third in the men’s soccer program history with 128 career points. The 2001 winner of the Hermann Trophy, presented to the nation’s top men’s soccer player, and NCSAA First-Team All-American helped the Mustangs win regular season conference championships in each of his years at SMU.
Tommy Bowers Sr. ’55 is the only baseball player in the program’s history to be named an All-American. He helped lead SMU to its only share of a league title by tying with Texas for the SWC title in 1953. He played professionally with the Dallas Eagles and was honored as the Texas League Pitcher of the Year in 1957.
Alfred R. “Red” Barr ’71 served as the head coach for SMU swimming from 1947 to 1971, leading his teams to 17 SWC Championships. SMU’s pool was named in honor of Barr, who coached 50 All-American swimmers and divers.
Bouncing Into The CIT
The men’s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in March, where the Mustangs lost 72-55 to Santa Clara University at Moody Coliseum. Robert Nyakundi led SMU with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Mustangs spent most of the game without leading scorer (18.3 ppg) and rebounder (9.6 rpg) Papa Dia (left), who suffered an ankle injury when he was fouled on a layup with 8:18 left in the first half. The Mustangs (20-15) finished with their first 20-win season since 1999-2000. Dia was selected the 2011 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the C-USA All-Defensive Team. The senior forward also was named All-Conference USA First-Team.
Nyakundi was selected All-Conference USA Third-Team and Collin Mangrum was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team. | <urn:uuid:b840646d-7ad2-4948-8d01-f170ff787fee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.smu.edu/smumagazine/2011/05/sports-shorts-4/ | 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 | 0.960858 | 895 | 1.609375 | 2 |
- Created on Friday, 22 June 2012 13:41
- Hits: 1436
The Sri Lanka Banks’ Association which represents the licensed banks operating in Sri Lanka has refuted the concerns expressed by the rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) about credit risk in the banking industry.
The Association says that credit growth has been significant at 23.7% and 31.3% in 2010 and 2011 respectively reflecting the banks’ role of supporting the industry, agriculture, tourism, construction, infrastructure, transport, food and beverages across different business segments from small business enterprises to large Corporates across the country.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Association says that the banking sector plays a pivotal and responsible role in channeling public deposits to investment and consumption lending that ultimately assists in improving standard of living and quality of life of the citizens of this country. It should be a source of significant comfort that despite the levels of credit growth recorded asset quality has improved significantly reflected in gross nonperforming assets level improving to 3.8% in 2011.
The Association points out that several banks were successful in raising dollar funds from international capital markets at very attractive interest rates which is a sound reflection of international investors’ perceptions. Whilst it is fair to say that majority of bank lending is backed by collateral, this in no way reflects the credit standards adopted by the banks in assessing the cash flow repayment ability of borrowers.
The Association also says that in the context of a volatile and challenging global economy we are well aware that banking industry in Sri Lanka cannot be fully insulated from risks arising from commodity prices, reduced purchasing power from Western Economies and the contagion impacts of a global downturn.
However, it says that banks in Sri Lanka have been tested for resilience in far more challenging times in the past and confident that adequate capacity has been built in the areas of risk management, capital and liquidity to continue to play a pivotal role in the economy in managing the future. There is no evidence to suggest that the public’s confidence in the health and stability of the banks in Sri Lanka needs to be shaken.
The Association concluding its statement emphasized that taken in the context of bank failures in other parts of the world, especially in the United States of America and which still appear to take place long after the financial crises, Sri Lanka’s banking system is considered quite stable and robust by the international community.(niz) | <urn:uuid:d72bc6bb-37cc-4eea-ae29-d92ef72479c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.lk/news/business/2416-banks-association-refutes-sap-assessment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95719 | 488 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Joe Biden spent 36 years in the US Senate, twice ran unsuccessfully for president and has served the last four years as Barack Obama's vice-president.
His chatty, off-the-cuff nature led to some memorable gaffes. Obama and Biden won re-election on Tuesday over Republican challengers Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.
Here are some key facts about Biden.
Biden, 69, grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware, in a middle-class family. Occasional financial hardships while he was young gave him a good ear for the concerns of blue-collar workers. A football player in high school and at the University of Delaware, he overcame a stutter in his youth by reciting long passages of poetry before a mirror.
He was only 29 when he won a US Senate seat from Delaware in 1972, ousting an incumbent Republican to become the fifth youngest elected senator in US history. His only political experience at the time was two years on a county council. - A few weeks after the election, Biden's life was shattered when his wife, Neilia, and their three children were in a car wreck while shopping for a Christmas tree. Neilia and their year-old daughter were killed and their two sons were injured. The tragedy left Biden suicidal but he chose to go ahead with plans to serve in the Senate.
Five years later he married Jill Jacobs, who he met on a blind date; they have one child. - After his first wife's death, Biden chose not to move to Washington but instead made a 2 1/2-hour daily round-trip train commute from Delaware to his Senate job so he could spend more time with his sons. Biden said he made the trip more than 7,000 times and in 2011 the Amtrak station in Wilmington was renamed after him.
While on the campaign trail in October, Biden made a reference to Americans having a chance to vote for him for president in 2016. It was unclear if he was serious and his campaign officials would not comment on the remark.
His performance in his October 2012 vice-presidential debate with Paul Ryan was notable for the way he smiled, chuckled and sometimes interrupted while the Republican nominee was speaking.
He is known for his friendly but blunt and loquacious manner, which sometimes leads to embarrassing gaffes and contrasts with President Barack Obama's cautious manner. Biden was caught using the F-word on a live microphone during a White House ceremony with Obama and upstaged the president in 2012 by endorsing same-sex marriage before Obama did so.
Biden has been troubled by two incidents involving plagiarism. In law school he was accused of plagiarising a law review article, which he said was due to a mistaken citation. While running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1987 he lifted parts of a speech by a British politician without attribution. Backlash from that incident led Biden to drop out of the presidential race the next month.
Biden ran for president in 2008 and dropped out of the race early in the year - but not before making a verbal misstep involving his future boss. His description of Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" seemed to some to be condescending, with possible racial undertones.
Biden was on the Foreign Relations Committee for his entire Senate tenure, sometimes serving as its chairman. He focused on Soviet relations, arms control, the Balkans and NATO expansion.
He voted for the invasion of Iraq during the George W. Bush administration but later said he regretted it and spoke against the war. - From being a rival in the nomination stakes, Biden has avoided the curse of vice presidential insignificance and become a close aide to Obama. He often takes the role of contrarian within the administration to ensure all views are being considered and spoke out against the US special forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 as being too risky.
Biden is the first Roman Catholic vice-president in US history and his pro-choice position differs from the Vatican's abortion stand. Because of that, he came under fire from the bishop of his Wilmington diocese. | <urn:uuid:34c94ceb-09d3-405f-97ef-15552b0b5b2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dnaindia.com/world/1761348/report-the-gaffe-prone-us-vice-president-joe-biden | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985883 | 848 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Not All Syrians Side With the Rebels
On a cold night of early 2012 in Paris, I knocked on my neighbour’s door to ask him for some salt. This is how I met Wissam, a Syrian PhD student at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. My culinary concern quickly turned into a conversation about the Syrian uprising – the civil war hadn’t yet started at this time but the Homs offensive was just about to take place. Wissam denied that he was a supporter of the Bashar al-Assad regime, but he was very reluctant to endorse the rebellious ideology spreading around his country.
As soon as I heard that VICE was working on an issue about the Syrian conflict, I gave Wissam a call and asked him to meet up again. I wanted to understand how someone could support a government that shoots at its own people and doesn’t seem to know the difference between a 10-year-old kid and an armed rebel. He invited me to meet him and some of his pro-regime friends from the Syrian Patriots Union in a café in the 15th arrondissement. I had a chat with Wafa, who works as a researcher at La Sorbonne; Dima, a L’Oreal consultant; Khaled, a company manager and activist within the Pas En Notre Nom action group and Mustapha, who is a teacher at the Centre of the Euro-Arab Studies. In order to avoid any retaliation, they asked us not to take any picture of their faces.
VICE: First off, are you pro-al Assad?
Khaled: No. But we don’t all think the same way here. Even though we're all laymen and laywomen, we have different political and religious views. Everyone should be free to either support or go up against Bashar al-Assad’s politics. That’s not the core of the problem. Basically, what we want is to claim the Syrian people’s right to decide what their future should hold.
Mustapha: We met at protests. The Syrian crisis got us all together. We didn’t know each other before that, but we all wanted to fight against two things: violence and political meddling.
Isn’t that what the rebels also claim?
Mustapha: No. You know, the rebellion is not a movement as popular as you might think. The Muslim brothers are the ones who tried to knock the regime over. If it's still in place today, it means that the Syrian people made the decision not to follow them. These radicals have got full support from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Western countries.
Khaled: Just read the names of most of the rebel groups. They’re all Islamic names, not a single one is not related to religion.
Don't you think Syrian people only wanted to follow the path of countries like Tunisia or Libya?
Mustapha: Apart from the Muslim brothers, most of the rebels are not even from Syria. I come from Aleppo, so let’s take my city as an example. The German weekly newspaper Die Welt published a note by the BND – the German secret service – estimating that 95 percent of the rebels occupying the city came from Turkish rear bases where Islam fighters from all over the world gather before going to war.
Wissam: Take a look at what’s currently happening in Antakya, where my father was born. Foreign fighters financially supported by various Arabic businessmen are invading the city. The people can't handle it anymore.
Mustapha: France is literally supporting rebels who would be treated as terrorists if they were on French territory. It’s outrageous.
Dima: It’s a masked coup. No one in the Western world seems to realise they're collaborating with dictatorships like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where freedom of speech and religion are flouted millions times more than in Syria.
Mustapha: At the end of the day, it’s nothing but a fight for petrol. Qatar and Saudi Arabia want to use Syria to build pipelines in order to dispatch petrol and gas towards Europe – and fuck up Russia, by the way.
I see. In terms of brutality, though, don’t you think the government is going way too far?
Khaled: Again, this is misinformation. Let’s look at the Houla massacre of last May, for instance. Out of 108 killed, 39 were close family members to an elected representative of the Ba’ath party, including his brother, his sister-in-law and their kids. Twenty others were trying to protect them and the remaining 50 were part of the attacking forces. The media then said that 108 people were killed by governmental forces and published terrifying pictures to emphasise the situation. It’s ridiculous.
Dima: The governmental forces hire conscripts to fight in their own cities as there aren't any available professional soldiers anymore. Why would they kill their own neighbours?
Have you lost close relatives?
Khaled: Yes. A friend of mine, who I used to study with in Toulouse. He worked as an aeronautical engineer in the army and he was killed. Instead of showing indignation, the school described him as a shabiha [pro-regime activist], when he was just a scientist doing his job. I myself was recently accused of being a shabiha on France 24 (a large French, Arabian-language news channel). It’s nonsense.
Wafa: Those “rebels” killed six members of my family and we're not allowed to be mad at them. We're not denying the fact that Syria is a dictatorship or that the regime is far from democratic, but we don’t think that the rebels will ensure a better future for Syria.
Khaled: Everyone knows that the first deaths were on the military side. Don’t you remember the colonel who was killed in Homs two weeks after the so-called patriotic movement began? He was kidnapped and tortured with two other kids, including his nephew. They made a truck run over their heads. Most Syrian people are not stupid and keep supporting the government against this stratagem.
If most people are afraid of the FSA, why aren’t there more people raising their voices here in France?
Wafa: Al-Jazeera – owned by the Qatar’s Emir, by the way – and France 24 are engaged in proper propaganda. All of us today got threatened on our personal phones and on Facebook. It’s hard to put up with that. We’ve been protesting in Paris every two weeks for the two last years, but the media doesn’t care at all. No one pays attention to the millions of Syrian people who walked the streets to show their support towards the government against radicals. I feel like every time this happens, they get described by the Western media as “victims of propaganda”.
Dima: We attended one of those demonstrations for a “free” Syria. We wanted to discuss matters with people there until we realised that among the protesters brandishing the Syrian flag and booing the regime, there was a majority of Moroccans, Tunisians, etc. The number of actual Syrian people was totally insignificant.
Yeah, but are they not allowed to show their support for similar uprisings to the ones that occured in their own country?
Khaled: Yes, they are, but as we were talking, they also admitted to getting paid to show up by Syrian people who support these organisations. That’s why their protests only last an hour or so. They give the media what they want and go back home.
Wafa: In July, as 10 of us decided to meet in a café right in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they sent us three or four CRS trucks. We told them that we were just there to discuss around a table and they said: “Yes, but you’re talking about Syria!” I was scandalised. Countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and France have the right to speak about the future of our country, but we can’t. Every time we go against the prevailing opinion, we get accused of working for the Syrian government.
Khaled: I attended a pro-rebels support meeting where they talked about the millions of euros donated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the other hand, we're self-financed and we manage to sort ourselves out with €3000. The French government is pretending to help Syrian people, but at the same time, they set up an embargo on medicines and shut down the airlines. We can still go to Syria, but it’s now – hmm – complicated.
Wafa: Syrian people are the ones who pay for these decisions. Bashar al-Assad doesn’t fly with Syrian Air and doesn’t need vaccines. We hear about freedom of speech everywhere, but the Syrian radio stations are limited to the Syrian border. We can’t even repatriate our deceased relatives. I just don’t want my country to follow the same path as Libya or Iraq.
For an overview of the issues that have fueled the conflict in Syria, we recommend reading "Road to Ruin", our condensed timeline of Syrian history, and "The VICE Guide to Syria", a crash course on the country's geopolitical, cultural and religious complexities. | <urn:uuid:f831e0c5-5c91-405a-9909-b81493e0cc3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vice.com/en_se/read/pro-assad-regime-supporters-france-v19n11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974794 | 1,966 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The FUP filed this suit on behalf of a University of Denver conductor and others, challenging Congress’s restoration of copyright to works that had entered the public domain.
In 1994, Congress passed a law that removed a vast body of foreign works from the public domain. Congress took the rights in these works from the American public and handed them over to foreign authors and their heirs in the express hope that foreign countries would reciprocate by giving U.S. copyright owners new rights in works that were in the public domains of those foreign countries. In other words, Congress decided to give away the public's property—and the important speech and expression rights that go with it—in the hope this might put more money in the pocket of U.S. copyright owners.
In 2001, representing conductor Lawrence Golan and others, we brought a constitutional challenge to this law. After years of litigation, the case came before the United States Supreme Court in 2011. Before the Court, we urged that the Constitution does not allow Congress to privatize the public domain and that, by doing so, it violated the First Amendment rights of our clients and the American public. We expect a decision from the Supreme Court early this year. | <urn:uuid:97c579af-7488-4dbd-aea4-a69da974b055> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/our-work/cases/golan-v-holder?page=0%2C0%2C5%2C6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963761 | 244 | 1.742188 | 2 |
I've heard people say that the questions in this business never change; only the answers change. I might have bought this as a point of view a few years ago because as the 21st century arrived, the healthcare world was changing slowly. Markets moved, new competitors entered, answers to age-old questions evolved, but the questions themselves remained much the same.
Questions like: What unmet needs exist and are they worth pursuing? What are the most compelling messages for physicians? How should we develop the market? How will competitors affect our share?
I just can't see how anyone in this industry can still believe that the questions aren't changing. Today's questions focus on very different business challenges.
Treatment paradigms and decision-making power in healthcare will continue to shift. Quality and success are measured not just by clinical benefits but by economic efficiency. The marketplace grows more crowded and options are available today that were mere imagination a decade ago. Traditional pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, surgical solutions and therapy often compete head to head.
We must ask new and sometimes uncomfortable questions of audiences that still feel foreign to our industry: How does the treatment decision process differ? How can studies be designed to meet FDA, prescriber and consumer needs? What must we learn about consumers to segment them properly? How can healthcare solutions be effectively compared when they may involve very dissimilar competitors?
While we don't know the scope, we're all aware that some type of healthcare reform is coming. And the questions—not just the answers—will change again.Debbie Kenworthy is senior manager, business analytics at Johnson & Johnson | <urn:uuid:8e532508-c3b9-4ba1-9dd4-5b0de001af2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mmm-online.com/vantage-point-the-changing-healthcare-world/article/156666/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967005 | 331 | 1.53125 | 2 |
18 “At that time I gave this command to the tribes that would live east of the Jordan: ‘Although the Lord your God has given you this land as your property, all your fighting men must cross the Jordan ahead of your Israelite relatives, armed and ready to assist them."
A huge battle has ensued as Israel prepares to enter the land promised to Abraham many years before. Two Amorite kings of huge fame were killed - Og and Sihon. King Og was known as the last survivor of the race of "giants" in the region. Scripture records the size of his bed (made of iron rails) as 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. Talk about "king size"! The most interesting thing is that God was making the giants of their fears a thing of the past for them!
That is how God works - he takes the giants of our past, present and future, making much show in their destruction. It is completely like God to put down what we elevate to such a position of control in our lives - simply because he wants nothing else to be in control of our lives! The ordering and arranging of our lives is his business - and it goes so much better when he is allowed to do his part!
God gave Israel favor, wisdom, his presence and his sufficiency. Four things that made every step that ensued purposeful. God's favor indicates that we will enjoy his blessings. His wisdom means that we will never be without the needed insight into our battles. The presence of God with us brings us into unknown territory with assurance and boldness. His sufficiency creates a wall of defense that we rely upon in the face of the enemy's attacks.
They had spent 40 years in the wilderness - yet in that barren place, they lacked nothing! How much more now as they are about to enter into the promises of God! All the murmurings of our wilderness experience do not dissuade God from providing for our needs in that place of barrenness. We may not have prime rib and roasted potatoes, but our needs are met!
We need to recognize the richness of all that we have in God's favor, wisdom, presence and sufficiency. They are treasures beyond what we could ever imagine. We may murmur in our dissatisfaction at the provision, but the wilderness experience will never get shorter with more murmuring! | <urn:uuid:6087e840-0af1-4c58-a37a-03714008c198> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plumbheart.com/2011/06/murmur-not.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976302 | 480 | 1.78125 | 2 |
COVER SIDEBAR- Inside story: When a tree smashes your house
It was only later that Anoop Mirpuri considered, "I could have died."
On June 24, Mirpuri was at his rental home in his upstairs office, preparing to defend his dissertation as a fellow at the Carter G. Woodson Institute. As the wind picked up, he decided to go downstairs and close the bedroom windows. That's when he heard a loud noise.
"I thought it was an earthquake," says the California-raised scholar. "I looked up, and the roof started cracking."
The microburst that snapped trees all over Charlottesville had sheared off the side of the house he rents with his girlfriend on Westwood Road. Gone was his desk, his Macbook, and nearly his life.
I ran out and saw the tree," says Mirpuri.
Four days later, a blue tarp is the only wall for the office and bedroom on that side of the house. Monopoly money, a GQ magazine, and a battered printer that were inside pre-storm now litter the yard.
Thirty-one houses in town had trees crashing down on them in the June 24 storm, exceeding the 27 homes tree-bombed by Hurricane Isabel, a multi-day event, says Fire Chief Charles Werner.
Mirpuri and Chelsea Marie, who is wrapping up her post-doctoral work at the UVA Medical Center, are trying to pack what's left of life in Charlottesville for a moving van coming in two days.
"Our neighbors have been great," says Marie. "No one else has helped us."
When she thought things couldn't get any worse, Marie says a television station, running a story about the damage, gave the address of the house, which is owned by Hook culture editor Rosalind Warfield-Brown, and they experienced a dose of post-storm looting.
"Someone came and walked off with a new propane tank," says Marie. "Sixty dollars is a lot to us now." The couple doesn't have renters insurance.
Good news came the following day when Mirpuri's MacBook was found amid the rubble. Better yet, the computer came on. His dissertation secure, he plans to continue its defense as planned.
They've been staying with friends and plan to go forward with their move in a month to Drew University in northern New Jersey.
"We've rented a basement townhouse," says Marie. "That sounds great right now." | <urn:uuid:d11a4ce6-9db2-4a0f-98c6-de37b39dde30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.readthehook.com/67225/cover-sidebar-inside-story-when-tree-smashes-your-house?quicktabs_1=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987583 | 515 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Breaking in Pads
Breaking in pads has become less painful. Today's pads are made up of micro fiber polyurethane leather, nylon of different strengths, high density foam, polyurethane foam, and polyethylene foam all arranged in layers, glued together, stitched and have predetermined break points. It is critical to know how many break points your pads have so that you avoid actually breaking the pads. We want to break in the pads. Generally the best way to break in new pads is to wear them. Please be sure to take your time and do not force your pads to do something they are not design to do when using some or all of our following suggestions. From this point on we can recommend the following methods of breaking in each of the different types of pads.
Stiff pads are classified as having no break points internally along the face of the pad except where the boot meets the shin. With pads designed like this there will be very little flexibility along the entire length. What we suggest for a pad designed to be stiff is to do as little flexing and shaping as possible. You want to maintain the characteristics a stiff pad provides. With use you will become comfortable in a stiff pad and benefit from their attributes. Please be aware that stiff pads favor goaltenders that want maximum blocking area, a far from the body and tight five hole closure, have great flexibility, or outstanding skating ability.
Medium pads are broken into two different types. There is medium high where there is an internal break point at the top of the knee and there is medium low where there is an internal break point at the bottom of the knee.
For medium high pads we have a couple recommendations. The first would be to flex the top or thigh portion of the pads from straight to completely bent making the pads look like the number one from the side view. Then ease off the pressure you have applied to the top or thigh portion of the pads and let it go back to its original position. Repeat this method as needed. Another method that works is to turn the pads upside down while holding the boot portion of the pads and press down on the pads. You will notice that the top or thigh portion of the pads will bend again producing the look of an upside down number one from a side perspective. Repeat this method as needed. Overnight or while you are not around an easy way to break in your pads is to stand them upside down leaning against a wall letting gravity and the weight above the break do the work. You will begin to notice the top or thigh portion of the pad needs less effort to bend as the materials have loosened from their original position. Please be careful how much force or pressure you put on the pads. Take your time and do not force the pads to do something they are not ready or designed for. If you put too much force or pressure on the pads you will start to crack, separate, and stress the knee and shin portion of the pads. This will decrease the life span of the pad and its effectiveness. Medium high flex pads will benefit goaltenders that want maximum blocking area, a close to the body and tight five hole closure, lower flexibility, or goaltenders looking for a pad to follow their thigh while skating in upright stances.
For medium low pads we recommend a few different techniques to break in your pads. The first would be to hold the pads just above the middle of the knee area. Then from the straight or original position bend down until the knee and thigh portion of the pads are parallel to the floor. Then ease off your pressure and allow the pads to rebound to their original position. Repeat as needed. You can also turn the pads upside down by holding the boot portion of the pads and applying pressure downward until the knee and thigh portion are flat on the ground. Then take pressure off the pads and let them return to their original position. Repeat this method as needed. Overnight or while you are not around another way to break in your pads is to find an object that is heavy and sturdy enough that will allow you to stick your pads under. Make sure not to have the thigh and knee portion of the pads bend past being parallel to the floor. If an object is not available you can accomplish a similar effect by standing the pads upside down against a wall and letting gravity and the weight above the knee and thigh portion to do the work. Please be careful how much force or pressure you put on the pads. Take your time and do not force the pads to do something they are not ready for. If you put too much force or pressure on the pads you will start to crack, separate, and stress the knee and shin portion of the pads. This will diminish the life span of the pad and its effectiveness. After a little time you will start to see your pads take on a “zed” or “zee” shape. Medium low flex pads will benefit goaltenders that want maximum frontal blocking area, a mid position to the body and tight five hole closure, average to great flexibility, or goaltenders looking for a pad to follow their thigh while skating in deep stances.
Flexible pads are classified as having internal break points at the bottom of the knee and the top of the knee in addition to the internal break point at the boot and shin. We have a few ways to break in a flexible pad and they are as follows. First would be to hold the pads at the top or thigh portion of the pads. Then from the straight or original position bend down until the knee and thigh portion of the pads bend down and back towards the shin portion of the pads. Then ease off your pressure and allow the pads to rebound to their original position. Repeat as needed. You can also turn the pads upside down by holding the boot portion of the pads and applying pressure downward until the knee and thigh portion bend up and back towards the shin portion of the pads. Then take pressure off the pads and let them return to their original position. Repeat this method as needed. Overnight or while you are not around another way to break in your pads is to find an object that is heavy and sturdy enough that will allow you to stick your pads under. If an object is not available you can accomplish a similar effect by standing the pads upside down against a wall letting gravity and the weight above the knee and thigh portion to do the work. Please be careful how much force or pressure you put on the pads. Take your time and do not force the pads to do something they are not ready for. If you put too much force or pressure on the pads you will start to crack, separate, and stress the thigh, knee and shin portion of the pads. This will diminish the life span of the pad and its effectiveness. Flexible pads will benefit goaltenders that want maximum frontal blocking area, a tight to the body and tight five hole closure, low to average flexibility, or goaltenders looking for a pad to follow their entire leg while skating.
It is very important to take care of your pads. They are usually the most expensive piece of gear that you will purchase and with that should be cared for regularly. Before going any further we highly recommend that you put together a pad care kit. This kit should include toe buckle leather straps or toe ties depending on what your pads have, a couple extra leather or nylon straps as well as buckles or quick release clips, and finally an extra set of hardware for the toe setup and strap setup on the pad. Generally most manufacturers make these replacement parts for your pads available to you. If for some reason you are unable to get the exact parts for your pads, generic pieces can work or be modified to suit your needs in times of desperation or isolation.
The most common problem with today's pads is the toe hardware. This area takes a lot of abuse through playing. Skating, movements inside the crease, constant up and down movements pound the screws and pronged t-posts into submission. Every goaltender has at one point lost a piece of toe hardware. There is however an easy solution to prevent this from happening. We recommend that you check the hardware at the toe regularly. In addition to regular checks the best way to prevent this from happening is to apply a small dab of LOCTITE THREADLOCKER BLUE to the screws and then tighten them flush to the opening on the bottom portion or area of the pronged t-post. This will prevent vibrations from knocking the screws loose, as well as prevent rusting in the thread area which is a common problem. This application is not permanent so you can still change hardware if need be. This method can also be used for the straps on pads that utilize adjustable positions.
Because pads are no longer made with leather and use synthetics it is important to know that it is not needed or recommended by us or the manufacturers to use any type of water repelling or slide enhancing substance on any part of the pads. The effects of using any type of agent to repel water or decrease friction may discolour or eat away at the synthetic materials. It will also void any warranty written or implied by the pad manufacturers.
We believe it is necessary to go above and beyond when going to or from the arena. We recommend that all pads be carried in a pad bag or in your equipment bag. Using one of these two methods will protect your pads from the elements, avoid abrasions and cuts while taking the pads to the car, out of the car, to the arena, and from the arena. This will prolong the life of your pads as well as keep them safe from avoidable damage.
Breaking in Blockers
Blockers are the easiest piece of goaltender gear to break in. All you can really do is wear it and take the time to learn how the puck comes off the blocking board. Other than that it will be a matter of adjusting the wrist strap on the blocker palm to suit your needs. It has been recommended in the past that you can use certain oil, conditioner, wax, and spray to soften, maintain, and prolong the life of the blocker palm. We do not recommend these tactics at all. Blocker palms used today are made from synthetic materials. Just like with pads we do not recommend use of any of these products and the use of these will void any warranty written or implied by the manufacturers.
Breaking in Gloves
Breaking in a glove is going to take some time, patience, and repetition. Most manufacturers are taking extra steps to provide a good off the shelf feel on gloves made today. We have a few recommendations on how to accelerate the break in process without sacrificing protection or life span of the glove. First we recommend that the glove be put in a skate oven. This should be done at the store or asked to be done when ordering a new glove. First you undo all the straps and open the glove right up. Place the glove in the preheated skate oven for about 5 minutes. Remove the glove, place it on your hand and do it up to suit your needs. From there all you do is open and close the glove and mold it to your desired shape. This will allow the glove materials to loosen from their original state. If you don't have access to a skate oven you can use a hair dryer. Please be very careful not to over heat the glove. Keep the hair dryer moving over the entire surface of the palm to ensure even heat distribution and reduce the risk of overheating the glove. This will provide a similar result as a skate oven. Another good way to break in a glove is to use both hands holding the thumb and palm of the glove. From there all you want to do is open the glove as wide as the glove will let you and then closing it as tight as the glove will let you. This will result in a wide catching surface and a tight closure through loosening the materials from their original state. When you are not around we suggest that you tie the glove up in the closed position. This will enable a tight seal with the glove when closed. There is no need to put anything in the pocket. We are catching a small disc in a pre made pocket not a baseball in a solid flat area.
Chest and Arms
Breaking in Chest and Arms
Chest and arms are one of the hardest pieces of gear to break in. Chest and arms are also the hardest piece of gear to get use to. Just like breaking in gloves a chest and arms will take some time and patience. The best way to get use to a chest and arm is to wear it when you play. This will allow you to get comfortable with the chest and arms as well as learn how the chest and arms plays. For faster break in we recommend a couple of methods. The first that we would recommend is to put your chest and arms in a sauna. This will allow the materials to loosen without reducing protection. If you don't have access to a sauna the next best thing is to put the chest and arms in the bathroom while you or anyone else is taking a shower. Please remember to keep the bathroom fan turned off so that the steam from the shower will remain in the room and soften the materials in the chest and arms. Another method that works well is to wear your chest and arms and move about. This will get you use to the chest and arm as well as loosen up the materials. The arms in a chest and arms need a little more attention. We recommend that you flex the arms at the elbow to increase the range of movement. This can be done while wearing the chest and arms or with both hands moving the arms at the elbow joint.
Breaking in Pants
Pants are also difficult to get use to. Just like breaking in gloves and chest and arms, pants will take some time and patience. The best way to get use to pants is to wear them when you play. This will allow you to get comfortable with the pants as well as learn how the pants play. We recommend a couple different methods to breaking in pants. The first that we would recommend is to put your pants in a sauna. This will allow the materials to loosen without reducing protection. If you don't have access to a sauna the next best thing is to put the pants in the bathroom while you or anyone else is taking a shower. Please remember to keep the bathroom fan turned off so that the steam from the shower will remain in the room and soften the materials in the pants. Another method that works well is to wear your pants and move about at home. This will get you use to the pants as well as loosen up the materials.
It is very important to take very good care of your mask. Masks protect the most important part of the body. With the discovery and better understanding of head trauma and concussions we have some recommendations that will prolong the life of your mask and most importantly make sure you are safely protected.
Before we start please be aware that if your mask has or you suspect it is cracked or damaged discontinue use at once! It is not worth the risk to your health or safety.
It is highly recommended that if your mask cage has a dent or rusting at the welds it is time to replace the cage. If your mask cage hardware (screws, t posts, or cage clips) are rusting this is also a good sign for replacing your hardware.
Every now and then we advise you tighten all the hardware on your mask. This means screws around the cage, and screws for dome snaps. It is also a very good idea to carry a proper screw driver in your equipment bag so you can check all the hardware anytime and anywhere.
Most masks come with a carry bag. Always put your mask in the carry bag when placing your mask into your equipment bag. They are designed to protect the finish of the mask when being transported in your equipment bag to and from your vehicle and to and from the arena or home. If your mask does not have a carry bag we strongly advise investing in one. If your equipment bag has a pocket large enough to separate your gear from your mask it is also advised to put your mask in the carry bag and then into the separate pocket of your equipment bag.
Sweat bands are standard on all masks made today. It is a great idea to carry extra sweat bands in your equipment bag because they can easily be forgotten or misplaced. Sweat bands should be replaced annually at the very least. Even when washed they lose their effectiveness and are the major cause of skin conditions from masks.
It is also a great idea to carry an extra hardware kit that contains screws, t posts, and cage clips. There will be a time where some of the hardware has worked its way loose or has been knocked loose while playing. Having this extra hardware will come in handy so you can ensure proper protection. Dome snaps are made of plastic and keep the mask strapping or harness secure to the mask itself and the back plate. Because of the nature of the position these dome snaps are prone to breakage. Having extra dome snaps will make fixing broken snaps quick, maintain proper fit and most of all protection. Chin cups should also be included in your bag of extra pieces for your mask. The chin cup should be replaced often as they are difficult to clean and collect bacteria. Please replace annually at the least to avoid skin conditions and improve fit, feel, and protection.
Breaking in Skates
Skates are a must have in order to play the great game of hockey. That is why you need to pay extra special attention to this area of your gear. Besides being properly fit for skates which is so critical for performance, comfort, and health, properly breaking in your skates will ensure that you maximize your performance, comfort, health and most of all life span. Here are some important facts to know about your feet before we continue any further. Although your feet do stop growing at a young age this does not mean you will always be in the same size skate. As we get older our feet change shape. They flatten out, become thicker and not as strong. It is important that you have your skates properly fit so that you can maximize your effectiveness on the ice. If your current skates don't feel right, it is time to be professionally fit again to match the changes in your feet.
With today's skates and the technology being used all skates can be heat fit to decrease the amount of time it takes to break in new skates. There are some things to know before this is done. First and foremost do not try to heat fit your skates at home. This is not the right oven to use and you will ruin your skates voiding any warranty from the manufacturer and having brand new skates that will not help you perform, be comfortable, keep you healthy, and most of all last. For a proper heat fit visit The Goalie Crease location to be professional fit, heat fit, and then sharpened. This is the best possible situation for you and your skates. If you are not in the local area take your skates to a Hockey Store that has access to the proper skate oven and someone to make sure the process is done properly. This is a service that you will likely be charged for but it is well worth it to make sure someone gives you the guidance needed.
The heat fit system is very simple. After you have been professionally fit for the skate that meets your requirements, the type of footwear you use and foot type you have the skates are put into a preheated skate oven. They are set in there for 5 minutes. The skates are then pulled out of the oven and will be warm. Put on the skates with the same footwear you would wear on the ice. Slide both of your feet into their respective skates so that you can trap as much heat as possible. Please make sure to tap your heel into the back of the boot or heel counter as this is the most critical area for a secure and proper overall fit. From here you want to lace up the skates snug. At the top two eyelets make sure that they are no tighter than the width of the lace line or pattern created in the lower middle portion of the boot. The reason for this is we want to make sure that the eyelets in the skate materials do not loosen and pull through. This is very important for the life of your skate as well as a properly secured fit for performance, comfort, and health of your feet. Once both skates are on, stay seated for 10 to 15 minutes. Please make sure that your legs are at a 90 degree angle with feet flat on the ground. This allows the boot to wrap around your foot decreasing any voids in the boot. After the skates have cooled enough get up and walk around. This will allow the boots to spread a little further out making room for your feet in a full weight bearing position. You don't want to get up too soon and walk around. If you do, you will ruin the foot bed construction and instep portion of the skates again decreasing the level of performance, comfort, health of your feet and most of all life span. Please note that we do not endorse heat fit usage that exceeds two separate treatments. One heat fit should be enough. Furthermore a heat fit skate does dramatically reduce the time it takes to break in a new pair of skates it also decreases the life span of the skates. Now this decrease in life span is minimal but it is there. If you desire a stiffer skate boot like many of the best goaltenders in the world please read on to find out some other ways to break in new skates.
A great way to preserve the stiff feel of a skate that so many high level goaltenders demand is simply by taking your new skates, putting them on, tapping your heel into the back portion or heel counter of the skate and tie them up as if you were headed out of the dressing room to practice or play a game all in the comfort of your own home. Please make sure that you are doing this in a carpeted area of your home and please make sure you are wearing some sort of skate blade guards to eliminate any damage to the flooring in your home. This way you will naturally soften and mold the interior of the boot without decreasing the overall rigidity and structure on the outer and supporting areas of the skates. This method does take a little longer to get the boot to mold around the unique curvature of your feet but will produce the longest life span possible maintaining the stiff, supportive, performance driven attributes high end goaltenders need.
If you do want to expedite the break in process for skates in the privacy of your own home you can use the above method but add a little heat to areas you feel are giving you “hot spots” on your feet. Some common “hot spots” are the inside and outside ankle, heel, pinky toe knuckle and big toe knuckle. Just like with breaking in a new glove you can use a typical hair dryer to soften the interior of the skate allowing more relief in areas giving you some discomfort. For this method you want to keep the heat moving over the intended area so that it will loosen slowly and not over heat which could cause damage to the lining, foams, and supportive structure of the skates. After you have heated this area proceed to put your feet into the skates, tap your heels to the back portion or heel counter of the skate, and tie them up as if you were headed out of the dressing room to practice or play a game all in the comfort of your own home. Because we have added heat to certain areas of the skate please let the skates cool before you decide to move around. Again keep your feet flat on the floor and your legs at a 90 degree angle. It will only take 5 minutes for your skates to cool down.
There is one last method that we recommend for breaking in new skates in the privacy of your own home. Similar to using a Sauna to break in chest and arms, pants and gloves you can also use them to break in skates. This will allow the materials to loosen without reducing performance, comfort or health of your feet. If you don't have access to a sauna the next best thing is to put your skates in the bathroom while you or anyone else is taking a shower. Please remember to keep the bathroom fan turned off so that the steam from the shower will remain in the room and soften the materials in the skates. These two methods will help break in your skates in a low risk way maintaining performance, comfort, and health and long life span in a way where very little can go wrong.
It is very important to take extra steps when making sure your skates are being taken care of. Because skates are one of the most critical pieces of gear you have to use they should be treated accordingly.
First and foremost we highly recommend that you make an investment in a pair of skate guards. These skate guards will help prevent blade damage while being transported in your equipment bag as well as walking around off the ice surface. Skate guards will also eliminate damage to other pieces of gear.
Laces are a very important feature to a skate. They become frayed and lose their ability to properly lock your feet in the skate at a very fast rate. Depending on the frequency you play it is important to change your laces accordingly. Some things to look for are your laces appear to be tightly stretched and thin. Along with this you will see that the fiber strands fray and look like a cylinder instead of flat across the top of the foot. This is very critical to notice. A major reason for lace bite is from the laces aging and getting a cylinder shape. Please be aware that this cylinder affect may be fixed by re-lacing the boot. Make sure the laces lay flat across the top of the foot and check for any areas that look damaged. They should be replaced if they are frayed and stretched very tightly.
The insole of a skate is a feature that you want to pay a lot of attention to. We highly recommend that you remove your insole from inside the skates to let them dry freely as well as the skate to dry faster. This will also allow you to inspect your insole for any excessive wear. Insoles should be replaced often as they are a critical feature for support.
Skate sharpening is a very personal issue you must address. There are a lot of factors that you must consider when deciding what sharpness level best suits your needs and wants. What we recommend is ask for some advice or experiment. In today's game of goaltending we have noticed a trend where the average goalie is going deeper or sharper with their hollow. This is because of the aggressive movements that are being incorporated in modern goaltending. We find that 5/8” is a good all around sharpening. The sharpest we recommend is 3/8” and the dullest is 3/4".
We highly recommend a thin Lycra moisture wicking sock. There are many advantages to these socks. They reduce weight of the skates over a long period of time. They keep feet from slipping in the boot reducing the risk of blisters. By washing the socks it will kill bacteria helping to prevent athlete's foot or any other infection. You are able to fit the skate tighter to the foot therefore giving you more of a true fit to increase performance, comfort and overall health of your feet.
Stick sizing really depends on personal preference as well as your positional attributes. The best way to find a stick that meets your specific and personal requirements is to experiment. What we strongly recommend is a stick that allows you good flex in the legs, maintains a high chest, and a straight blocker arm. This basic stance will allow you to maintain a large profile, great balance, and loaded power in your legs.
The second part of stick sizing is when you are down on the ice you want to make sure that your stick size, or paddle size allows you an upright chest, good stick angle and closes the gap under the blocker arm.
We do not recommend that you cut the shaft portion of your stick. The sticks are made in such a way so that they are balanced as is. If the stick looks too tall for you it is a good indication that the wrong paddle size has been chosen give your personal stature.
Taping your stick is very much personal preference. We recommend going from toe to heel. This allows you to maneuver the tape around the very thick heel portion with ease. We also highly recommend taping your stick often. This is very important as the tape gets saturated with water and ice which causes pooling or saturation of the blade. This weakens the blade, particularly the heel portion effectively decreasing the rigidity and life span of the stick. For blade tape you can choose whatever colour you would like.
When it comes to knobs, most goaltenders like a bigger knob on the end of their stick. This helps keep it from getting stuck in the net also making it easier to pick up your stick if you drop it or preventing it from sliding out of your hand when executing a poke check. If you are a goaltender who is proficient at playing the puck a smaller knob will benefit your comfort and abilities. We highly recommend only using white tape for the knob of your stick. Because the coloured tapes contain high amounts of dye they are more likely to eat away at your blocker palm reducing the life and adding to an equipment repair bill that could be prevented.
Drying and Cleaning Equipment
It is extremely important to take the steps necessary to properly dry your gear. Beyond the fact that your gear does cost a lot of money it is very important to dry your gear from a health perspective.
First and foremost it is very important to take all of your gear out of your equipment bag when you return home from playing hockey. Secondly, we highly recommend that your gear is stored, dried, and left outside of your equipment bag until you pack up to play again in an area of your home. The major reason for this is very simple. Your home is climate controlled. This allows optimal conditions to properly dry your gear and prevent mold, bacteria, and accelerated breakdown of your gear. Storing your gear in a shed, garage, or car can cause some serious conditions that will affect your health. Because these areas are not climate controlled they are prone to fluctuating temperatures in humid and cold climates that can result in gear that never dries, has ice formations, causes mold, major bacteria growth and decreases the life span and protective level of your gear.
It is important that you find an area in your home that is out of the way, in a low traffic area and most of all has good air flow and ventilation. This will allow your gear the best chance to dry fully before you play again. Secondly, you want to make sure your gear is suspended and off the ground. An equipment drying rack is a great way to achieve this. This allows circulation of the air in and around your gear.
Starting with your mask you want to take it right out of its protective carry bag. Also remove your sweatband. Your chest and arm should be hung in a fashion where the arms are straight out to the side to produce an open area for air circulation. The pants should have the belt and crotch unlaced to open the pant up as much as possible. Your blocker should have the wrist strap un-done, internal hand pad (if the blocker is designed this way) flipped outside the synthetic palm and hung upside down so the moisture runs down and out of the palm of the blocker. Your glove should also be opened fully, straps loosened and have the palm pad taken out or flipped outside of the internal hand of the glove. Again the glove should be hung with the pocket pointing to the ceiling to allow the moisture to run out of the glove. Your pads should also be hung upside down. This is very important as they get very wet from playing. Having them upside down the boot of the pads dries properly, moisture is not trapped in the boot area reducing the risk of rusting the toe hardware. This also increases air flow to the wettest part of the pad. Lastly your skates should have the insole taken right out of the skate to fully dry and make sure no moisture is trapped in the skate under the insole. Also you want to unlace the top 2 or 3 eyelets to make sure the skate is opened up enough. This is very important as skates usually take the longest to dry. Anything we can do to speed up the process can't hurt. You also want to have the blade of your skates pointing to the ceiling. This will aid in having the moisture run out of the boot and also to decrease the chance of rust on the blade and rivets.
We do not recommend the use of any products that are used to mask odor from your gear. These products come in the form of sprays, pastes, and absorbing type materials. This is a quick fix solution that may react with the materials in your gear and reduce the life span and protection of your gear. Beyond that they will not effectively kill mold or bacteria.
We highly recommend that twice a year you have your gear professionally cleaned. There are some great systems that are now available at your local Hockey store for gear cleaning. These systems are designed to kill bacteria and mold which will help increase the life span of your gear and most of all keep you healthy. | <urn:uuid:88b50e38-5949-4ddd-8f52-e311a317e516> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thegoaliecrease.com/tgcgearadvice.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955743 | 6,834 | 1.765625 | 2 |
President Barack Obama's inauguration as the nation's first African-American president four years ago drew a record-breaking crowd estimated at nearly two million people.
The throng was so heavy at one point that thousands -- including some VIPs and others with hard-to-get tickets to the Capitol grounds -- couldn't even get near the National Mall.
But there should be more room this time in Washington to mark the start of Obama's second act in January with a smaller crowd expected and stepped up planning in place.
"If anybody is interested in coming out to watch the inauguration, I think there will be much easier access this year," said Army Maj. Gen. Michael Linnington, commander of the Military District of Washington who is in charge of all active duty troops participating in the event.
Military officials outlined some of their preliminary plans for the Jan. 20 festivities on Wednesday.
They laid out 60- by 40-foot maps of Washington with tiny models of the Capitol, White House, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
The maps are being used to help them fine tune the delicate dance of getting a million-plus ordinary spectators, hundreds of VIPs, 10,000 parade participants and 13,500 military members in and out of the city in one day.
They promised several times that it will be easier for people to see the event compared to Obama's first inaugural.
"We have addressed that problem and we don't anticipate issues to exist with people trying to get into the inauguration itself," Col. Jesse Galvan, an Army military police official said.
Most of the 7,500 troops under Linnington's command will be ushers for the formal swearing-in or will march in the parade up Pennsylvania Avenue or be involved in other ceremonial tasks.
Each of the five U.S. armed services sends a color guard, an honor guard and units from its service academy.
The National Guard troops involved in events will work under Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, commander of the Washington, D.C., National Guard. He will oversee 6,000 forces from 15 states and territories.
They will assist with crowd management as well as help law enforcement with traffic control around the Capitol, the White House, the Mall.
One of the biggest problems four years ago was access to the inauguration site even for people with VIP tickets. Hundreds of pedestrians were stuck inside the Third Street tunnel several blocks from the Capitol as Obama made history.
That won't happen this year.
"The Third Street tunnel will be closed to all vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic for this event. The only traffic that will be going through the Third Street tunnel will be for emergency purposes only," Schwartz said.
Linnington said other plans are in the works to ease the flow of people to the swearing in, including "extended hours for public transportation, buses, Metro, opening of additional bridges and making it more accessible for people to come in." | <urn:uuid:dbfbe48a-f0ae-4cc7-936b-16f371987fc8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news4jax.com/news/13-000-troops-to-descend-on-DC-for-inauguration/-/475880/17757190/-/c8v57fz/-/index.html | 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 | 0.963351 | 598 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Questions on the Nature of memory, personality, etc.
Glen M. Sizemore
gmsizemore2 at yahoo.com
Mon May 17 06:08:58 EST 2004
GS (previous): Well..I don't know what you have in mind by "limitations."
technologies are ok, but what is really troublesome is that
which areas are transiently more active when people or animals do
things (and defining what they ARE doing is an issue) doesn't get you
anywhere, really, at least not in isolation. The problem is that we
have a good idea how physiology mediates behavioral function. If you
collected fMRI data from now 'til doomsday, you still wouldn't know.
RM: Okay. The problem about functional imaging techniques like fMRI or PET
is that they measure metabolic activity indirectly and with a huge
delay. They have a nice spatial and a poor temporal resolution. As you
cannot do electrophysiology in humans, you have to rely on these
coarse mesurements. If you are trying to correlate higher cognitive
functions like speech processing with these data, then you are
throwing around with big words and make big assumptions without solid
ground. Those studies are generally regarded to be suspicious.
We don't know how physiology mediates behaviour... If you had read
what we're researching on... well what everybody is working on : this
GS: I follow, as well as contribute to, behavioral neuroscience (and much of
what I have published may be criticized in some of the same ways I criticize
the work of others - but at least there is little or no mentalism in what I
GS (previous): Now this is really interesting stuff. Do you know of O'Regan
They're behaviorists only they don't know it.
RM: YES. I'm familiar with their works. I'm also familiar with the
successful works of Paul Bach-y-Rita. I like both. Of course tehy are
behaviourists, too. But at least their theories work and Bach-y-Ritas
devices work as well.
GS: Sorry...I don't know what you are saying here. Are you laboring under
the notion that I am against behaviorism? I am not - quite the opposite.
GS(previous): Well, I would have to agree. But it isn't "cognitive science;"
unless you can tell me what "cognitions" are.
GS(previous): And what, exactly, is human cognition?
RM: My God. I am interested in attentional mechanisms, conscious
perception, binding, exploratory motor behaviour, visual processing,
attention for action, response selection, emotions... I think whatever
definition I look up on the internet... this would be quite a good
share of "cognition". And if this does not suffice in your eyes...
GS: What is "attention?" What is "conscious?" What is "processed" and to
what end? Who (or what) "selects" responses? What are emotions, exactly?
See? You're not really out of the clutches of animism.
GS(previous): Let's see...so far you have talked about behavior, and you
about physiology..nope...I don't see any cognitions, do you?
GS(previous): Does it have anything to do with
RM: Sure thing. You can't regard the brain detached from the body.
External physiological reactions go hand in hand with certain tasks.
E.g. saccades, nystagmus, ANS activity. We act therefore we are. Of
course you have to have a look inside the black box and predict and
explain what you see.
GS: Needless to say, my point is that what you are doing - if you are doing
anything useful at all - is investigating the physiology that mediates
behavioral function. But in order to do this, one must not be waylaid by
notions like "attention" or the misguided implications of the red herring of
"binding." In order to investigate the physiology that mediates behavioral
function, you first have to know how behavior functions. You first have to
know what "attention" really "is," and why "binding" is a red herring.
GS(previous): Let me ask you this: Do we see the world, or do we see a copy
whatever sort) of the world "in our brain?" Do you talk about storage
retrieval at all?
RM: There are retinotopic mappings of various forms to be found in the
brain. However, I think that the world acts as an outside memory. I
think you know the discussions. This is my opinion. No, I don't talk
about storage and retrieval at all. These terms are very biased
towards the good old computational metaphor of mind. But it might also
be due to the fact that I'm not working on memory processes right now.
GS: Good answer for the most part. But inconsistent with some of what you
have said above and prviously. What's that? You don't see how? I know.
GS(previous): In my opinion, the cognitive "science" movement is the worst
ever happened to psychology, philosophy, AI, behavioral neurobiology,
anthropology etc. I think it might have also been responsible for
RM: Do you remember the part about "not productive". This is heading
GS: At least it is heading no place that you want it to go.
GS(previous): You're welcome. BTW, do you know the German word that
soul of the nervous system?" It starts with "R" - something like
RM: Sorry. Sounds funny... but I never heard it before and can't think of
a single word describing "the
soul of the nervous system". BTW: reumarch... sounds like a dutch word
GS: Hmmm..fortunately, the notion was short-lived and no one seriously
maintains that the "soul" has anything useful to say about biology. Now the
"mind" and "cognitions" - that's a whole other
RM: . . . . . ..
To make it short. You want to an explanation and a definition of
cognition. You want it without behavioural experiments.
RM: These are
futile because we "don't know how physiology mediates behaviour".
You want cognitions... NOW ! Well... why isn't there anybody looking
for cognitions ?
There are people looking for attentional effects, for conscious
perception, action selection, cortical plasticity, memory processes,
emotions. And then they use electrophysiology, imaging techniques and
behavioural paradigms to find out "how physiology mediates
And you ask : Where is the cognition in there ?
If terms like, attention, conscious awareness, action selection not
comensurable with your big picture of human cognition... well these
tiny little terms we try to explain are exciting enough for me.
And if contemporary methods in neuroscience contain too much
behaviourism for you... well, so be it.
GS: !?!?!?!?!?? It should be clear that "modern neuroscience" contains too
much animism for me.
RM: Here are short replies to the last posting... but I don't think we're
heading for a solution here.
I think we should discontinue this discussion. Please :)
GS: Let's hope you do science better than you read.
"Robert M?rtin" <robertmaertin at gmx.de> wrote in message
news:85d56b27.0405161400.1eac5c3a at posting.google.com...
More information about the Neur-sci | <urn:uuid:7730c63b-c2d3-4da4-a1f9-5c35d0660d4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/neur-sci/2004-May/058397.html | 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 | 0.9372 | 1,684 | 1.78125 | 2 |
1992 Dodge Truck Brake Kits
1992 Dodge Truck brake kits
are used to upgrade a vehicle’s brake system. Brakes are quite possibly the most important safety features in any vehicle, no matter whether you drive a car, truck, SUV, or other vehicle. Effective 1992 Dodge Truck brakes allow drivers to slam to a stop nearly instantaneously, and also provide drivers the ability to slow the vehicle rapidly so they can perform avoidance maneuvers around obstacles that may be blocking their paths on the road. When 1992 Dodge Truck brakes don’t work properly, a two-ton car travelling at 65mph transforms from a form of transportation into a devastating weapon.
Fortunately, ineffective brakes can be easily replaced with a 1992 Dodge Truck brake kit
. Drivers who have installed superchargers or turbos will want to install a 1992 Dodge Truck racing brake kit
, as a vehicle’s stock brakes are no longer enough to slow down a car that can now reach speeds significantly higher than it was designed to go. For other drivers, high-level 1992 Dodge Truck performance brake kits
should more than suffice, providing the traction and timely responses one should expect when pressing his or her car’s brake pedal. | <urn:uuid:8f30871c-e475-46b7-aa1c-b9e92ae47ac2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ilovebodykits.com/category/180/Dodge-_Truck-_1992/Brakes_Brake-Kits.html | 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 | 0.93394 | 244 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Carousel of Progress has undergone an interesting transformation over the years. When it premiered it was a celebration of technological progress and left you wondering what was in store for us in the years ahead. Over time, though, it became a historical artifact, something we watch to see what used to wow people. Still, there is plenty of entertainment value in this seasonal attraction. Six small theaters rotates arounder four scenes (plus the entry and exit areas) populated by an animatronic family in four different period of the 20th century. The first scenes are pre-electric around the turn of the century, then the 1920s with radio and household electricty, then 1940s with the growth of the suburban lifestyle and additional improvements. The final scene is near the end of the century and suggests technology that might be in the near future.
You can help us keep these guides current. If you see anything incorrect on this page, or if you have additional information that should be added, please fill out our form. | <urn:uuid:150f73d7-cbe6-451a-9263-48bc31730171> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mouseplanet.com/guide/539/Walt-Disney-World/Magic-Kingdom/Tomorrowland/Walt-Disneys-Carousel-of-Progress | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963729 | 204 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Constitutional reform film to debut
Published: Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 11:00 p.m.
Members of a movement to rewrite Alabama's heavily amended 1901 constitution aren't just talking about reform. They're putting the case for change into theaters around the state.
"It's a Thick Book," a new 49-minute documentary that highlights the constitution's racist origins and problems seen by its critics, premieres Sunday at 3 p.m. at Birmingham's Workplay Theatre. It will be shown Monday in Huntsville, with other free screenings scheduled next week in Florence, Montevallo, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, Anniston, Montgomery and Marion.
Financed by the nonprofit Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation, the work by aspiring filmmaker Lewis Lehe of Homewood includes interviews with people familiar with the reform debate, such as historian Wayne Flynt.
Supporters of a constitutional rewrite contend Alabama's organic law, which now has 794 amendments and is the longest of any state, retains racist language and gives too much power to the Legislature, at the expense of county officials.
Opponents say a rewrite could open the door to gambling, higher taxes and remove references to God.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
Comments are currently unavailable on this article | <urn:uuid:1add0e4a-f342-471b-a8f2-6df73c4abf67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20070301/NEWS/703010314?Title=Constitutional-reform-film-to-debut | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944196 | 306 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The transportation package passed by the General Assembly would impose the "largest tax increase in Virginia’s history."
Jamie Radtke on Sunday, March 3rd, 2013 in a website post.
Jamie Radtke says transportation bill would impose "largest tax increase in Virginia history"
Gov. Bob McDonnell stands accused of sanctioning the biggest tax hike in Virginia history.
The charge has been lodged by Jamie Radtke, a Virginia Tea Party organizer, in protest of the General Assembly’s approval last month of a transportation plan that could raise annual taxes by $1.25 billion a year. McDonnell backed the legislation and hailed its passage as "an historic day in Virginia."
The bill is sitting on McDonnell’s desk and Radtke is trying to pressure the governor not to sign it. She has started a Facebook page and a petition called "Stop Largest Tax Increase in Virginia History." She also narrated a TV ad claiming that McDonnell, who many believe has national ambition, "pushed the largest tax increase in Virginia history." The commercial was sponsored by the conservative Patriot Super PAC and aired in Iowa, site of the first presidential caucuses every four years.
All of this leads to an obvious question: Does the transportation bill call for the largest tax increase in Virginia history? We checked.
The package would generate $880 million a year in new state revenues in 2018 when it is fully phased in, according to a report by the House Appropriations Committee. About $680 million of that sum would come from tax increases.
The legislation would replace the current 17.5-cent per-gallon gas tax with a 3.5 percent tax on gasoline and 6 percent diesel tax at the wholesale level. It would raise the 5 percent sales tax to 5.3 percent and increase the 3 percent motor vehicle tax sales tax to 4.3 percent. It also counts on Congress passing legislation that would give states authority to compel online retailers to collect sales tax.
In addition, Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads would be empowered to impose a 0.7 percent local sales tax and other regional levies that could raise a total of $568 million a year for transportation by 2018.
When you combine the new tax revenues for the state with the potential new levies flowing into Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, the tax package comes to about $1.25 billion a year
We asked Radtke to back up her claim that it all adds up to Virginia’s largest tax increase. "I’m slammed and don’t have time to pull all that for you right now," she replied in a March 5 email. Radtke added that former Gov. Mark Warner "had the biggest tax increase in 2004, which was $1.4 billion over two years. This one is $1 billion every year. I will see if I can get you more data later."
Radtke never got back to us.
It’s true that Warner’s 2004 tax increase, often described as record-breaking when it passed, originally generated about $700 million a year. So in terms of raw dollars, Radtke has a point: This year’s take hike, with a potential of producing $1.25 billion annually for state and local coffers, would set a high-water mark.
But Radtke may not have chosen the most meaningful way to compare financial data from different points in time. Several analysts urged us to account for inflation.
We followed their advice and found that Warner’s tax hike, in today’s dollars, comes to about $860 million a year. That still falls below the $1.25 billion potential of the bill that awaits McDonnell’s signature.
Warner, however, is not the only governor in Virginia history who pushed through a tax increase that can be compared to the current plan.
In 1986, Gerald Baliles signed a package of tax hikes that raised $422 million for transportation. Adjusted for inflation, it comes out to $893 million in 2013 dollars. That doesn’t beat this year’s bill, either.
But we got a different result when we went back to 1966 and examined landmark legislation signed by Gov. Mills Godwin that created the state’s sales tax.
The legislation phased in a 3 percent state sales tax over about three years to aid public education, help create Virginia’s community college system and pay for some transportation and administrative expenses. In addition, the law allowed counties and cities to enact a 1 percent sales tax, and all localities did that, according to a 1970 publication by the University of Virginia.
The new levies brought in $282 million during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1970, according to a report that year by the Department of Taxation. Adjusted for inflation, that comes to $1.68 billion today and easily outpaces the tax increase that McDonnell has endorsed.
Radtke said that the transportation package approved by the General Assembly this year amounts to the largest tax increase in Virginia history. Using raw dollars, she’s correct. But that’s not the whole story.
The value of a dollar changes over time. When inflation is factored, the value of legislation approved in 1966 that created the state’s sales tax would be $1.67 billion annually today. That exceeds the $1.25 billion-a-year potential of this year’s bill.
Radtke’s statement is partially accurate but leaves out important information. That makes it Half True.
Published: Friday, March 15th, 2013 at 12:38 p.m.
Email from Jamie Radtke, March 5, 2013.
Virginia House Appropriations Committee, "HB 2313 conference report," Feb. 21, 2013.
Virginia House Appropriations Committee, "HB 2313 conference report regional transportation sources," accessed March 12, 2013.
E-mail from Virginia Slaughter, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Taxation, March 12, 2013.
Interview with Ric Brown, Virginia’s finance secretary, March 1, 2013.
Email from Joseph Henchman, vice president of legal and state projects at the Tax Foundation, March 11, 2013.
Interview with John Knapp, senior economist at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, March 11, 2013.
Emails from John Knapp, March 11, 2013.
Interview with Larry Sabato, political scientist at the University of Virginia, March 4, 2013.
Gov. Bob McDonnell, "Statement of Governor Bob McDonnell on General Assembly passage of historic transportation legislation," Feb. 23, 2013.
The University of Virginia News Letter, "Virgina Sales Tax: Its origins and administration," April 15, 1970.
The University of Virginia News Letter, "The Virginia retail sales tax," December 1981.
Study by John Knapp and Bruce Johnson of the University of Virginia, "Virginia Issues: The retail sales tax," December, 1981.
Virginia Department of Taxation, "Report of the Department of Taxation to the governor of Virginia for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970, page 19-20.
J. Harvie Wilkinson III, "Harry Byrd and the changing face of Virginia politics 1945-1966," pages 285-304, 1968.
Bearing Drift, "Guess who owns the largest tax increase in Virignia history?" Feb. 25, 2013.
Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator, accessed March 13, 2013.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Warner not gloating after victory on taxes," April 30, 2004.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Budget blockade busted," April 28, 2004.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, "A budget at last - It boosts sales tax by a half-cent, raises the cigarette tax levy and caps the phase out of the car-tax cut," May 8, 2004.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Baliles scores high with legislators," Jan. 9 1987.
Richmond Times-Dispatch "Gas tax, sales tax, other fees rise today," Jan. 1, 1987.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Baliles says he’ll make most of smaller road package," Sept. 28, 1986.
The Washington Post, "2% sales tax is proposed by Godwin," Jan. 29, 1966.
The Washington Post, "Va. Senate adopts Godwin’s plan for sales, auto taxes," March 2, 1966.
The Washington Post, "After roads deal, Virginia Gov. McDonnell faces Republican identity crisis," March 3, 2013.
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. Email the Virginia Truth-O-Meter with feedback and with claims you'd like to see checked. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise. | <urn:uuid:005b36cd-37fd-43fa-9600-c7ac0da2db60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2013/mar/15/jamie-radtke/jamie-radtke-says-transportation-bill-would-impose/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952002 | 1,832 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Adding to Combinations When Playing Rummy
When playing Rummy, you can only put down a combination during your turn. The correct timing is to pick up a card from the stock or discard pile, put down your meld, and then make your discard. The advantage of putting down a combination before you’re ready to go out completely is that you reduce your exposure if you lose the game. However, you do run a few risks by putting down a run or meld.
The disadvantage of putting your cards on the table is that any player can now add to your meld of three of a kind (by adding the fourth card) or extend your runs. Although adding to your combinations proves very beneficial to your opponents, the longer the game goes on, the more wary you should be of keeping melds in your hand.
Conversely, you can add to your opponents’ combinations — or, if you draw the right card, you can add an additional card to your own melds. If you want to add a card to an existing combination, put down any combinations you have, add to the existing set or run, and then make a discard. Your turn finishes with the discard, so make sure that you don’t mix up the order of events. If you do, you can’t put down any combinations you may have until your next turn.
If you put down an imperfect run, you simply pick up the cards and put them back in your hand. But by revealing the cards in your hand to everyone else at the table, your chances of getting anything useful from the other players decrease. Better put on your glasses and double-check before laying any cards on the table.
When you have a set of four of a kind, no card can add to the combination, if you are playing with a single deck of cards, so you’re safe to put these sets down immediately. The only reason to hold them is if you’re close to going out and you want to play for the extra score. Additionally, if you can possibly use a card in the set for a run, you may want to retain the combination in your hand until you know how you want to use the cards. For example, you may want to hold some of the cards in the following figure until you get some more information.
In this figure, you could use the 9 of Hearts both in the set and in a run with the Ten and Jack of Hearts. Holding the cards for a turn gives you a chance to pick up the Queen of Hearts or 8 of Hearts, which would improve the run. | <urn:uuid:340ce79d-8009-4230-b440-bd6eab2865ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/adding-to-combinations-when-playing-rummy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950983 | 537 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Ashley Gerner is saving North Dakota, one baby at a time. Based in Fargo, she travels the state on a regular basis, helping secure funds dedicated to help eliminate premature births. Gerner is the community director for the March of Dimes.
"We want to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature births and infant mortality," said Gerner. "It's empowering and overwhelming and it motivates me to work harder every day. It is at fundraising events that you realize how far reaching the work really is."
The rate of premature births in North Dakota has risen dramatically, increasing 30 percent in the last 10 years.
Kim Fundingsland/MDN •
Ashley Gerner, North Dakota March of Dimes community director.
"We have one of the fastest growing rates," explained Gerner. "One in nine babies are born premature in North Dakota. Unfortunately, the problem is not going away. We need to keep working towards the day when all babies are born healthy."
Another step toward that goal is coming up soon. Gerner will be in Minot Aug. 12 to help with a "Jail & Bail" fundraiser. The event is scheduled at the Paradiso Restaurant from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Temporary jailbirds will be allowed one hour to make phone calls to raise money for the March of Dimes. Bail has been set at $800.
"Hundreds of business leaders are being secured as jailbirds as we speak," laughed Gerner. "Many have been turned in by friends. They will be served the finest bread and water. I'll be there to greet them, book 'em and have their mug shots taken."
Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944 or Managing Editor Kent Olson at 857-1939. Either can be reached at 1-800-735-3229. You also can send e-mail suggestions to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Gerner, a native of Wyndmere, graduated from North Dakota State University in 2007 with a degree in marketing. She says her goal was always to work with a non-profit organization. The March of Dimes has been a perfect fit.
"It's something that always interested me and has always been something I've been passionate about," said Gerner. "Every day is different and I get to meet all sorts of families throughout the state that have been impacted by our mission."
Although she assists with coordinating fundraising events at several cities in the state, Gerner says she always looks forward to her time in Minot. Minot hosts several fundraisers each year. As an example, the annual "Bowls for Babies" is scheduled for the International Inn in November. Minot, she says, always has the best volunteers.
"They are so willing to get involved," exclaimed Gerner. "The amount of support we receive from Minot is just outstanding year after year. The support from the Minot Air Force Base is great to see too. In Minot we have hundreds of families that show up. They are incredible people and you realize how many have been touched and impacted by what we do. It's very rewarding."
"She's a wonderful co-worker, very personable and professional. That's why she's so good at her job, which is to help more healthy babies being born," said Cindy Bailey, office manager for the March of Dimes in Fargo. "She's responsible for all the fundraising for North Dakota."
A portion of the money raised at March of Dimes events is used for research. In North Dakota some of the funds are used for grants, education of health care professionals, and education and outreach to women of childbearing age.
Gerner, who has been enthusiastically on the job for three years, is quick to credit local organizations and individual volunteers for making her job a bit easier. Volunteers say that working with Gerner makes volunteering an easy choice to make. | <urn:uuid:2bd92e12-2cad-43aa-89f2-d994c29af7e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/541198/An-absolute-passion.html?nav=5013 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975269 | 844 | 1.601563 | 2 |
MADELEINE BRAND, host:
Back now with Day to Day.
Dr. BENJAMIN OLA. AKANDE (Dean, School of Business and Technology, Webster University): Dear Moyo (ph) and Jola (ph), and Rene (ph).
BRAND: On election night, Nigerian-born Benjamin Ola. Akande wrote a letter to his three daughters.
ALEX CHADWICK, host:
He is dean of the School of Business and Technology at Webster University in St. Louis.
Dr. AKANDE: We are members of the Obama generation, a broadly defined group of immigrants, first-generation African-Americans and their children, a rich mix of people who call America their home but whose common denominator is their link to the African continent. President-elect Obama is one of us. Many Americans have wondered - some with awe, some with alarm - who is Barack Obama, this man with an African name? Where did he come from?
To the African immigrant, Obama is a familiar figure. His calm demeanor and thoughtfulness, his wise perspective is a characteristic that you will find among many Africans. His fluidability (ph) to use the spoken word is a tradition that our ancestors have used for centuries to keep their dreams alive. We are a people tested, resilient, fortified with a rich cultural diversity, many of us who arrived here with well-honed skills and lots of potential, bringing with us humility, temperament, strength and resolve. Many of us came from abject poverty with a hunger to make a living and soak up the goodness of America.
Barack Obama's life story is familiar to us and not that exotic at all. We are an optimistic lot. We believe America's future can be even more successful than its past and its present. We bring different experiences and perspectives to the task of breaking that impasse that has gripped this nation in its recent past, lack of trust and a lack of will to change. Ours is a generation that eats change for breakfast. And so my dear Moyo, and Jola, and my little Rene, today a man with the name Barack Obama, whose father journeyed here from western Kenya in search of knowledge, is to be the next president of the United States of America. His victory has granted you a future of unrepresented possibilities along with new found responsibility. And now, well, it's up to you to find the balance that would bring to your life your dream, our dream. Your loving dad, Benjamin Ola. Akande.
CHADWICK: Benjamin Ola. Akande dean of the school of Business and Technology at Webster University in St. Louis with a letter to his daughters.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio. | <urn:uuid:d60e9a3f-c8f5-4628-9a11-6523531c78fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=96746435 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946141 | 618 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency throughout New Jersey Saturday because of the severe weather conditions anticipated from Hurricane Sandy.
Anticipating severe weather conditions including high winds, rain, coastal, stream and river flooding, Christie said he was taking this step to mobilize government in preparation for the storm.
Christie urged New Jerseyans to be vigilant in monitoring conditions of the storm, its effect on their communities, and in making preparations for themselves and their families.
"As we move towards what is an increasingly likelihood of seeing Sandy make landfall in New Jersey, I am urging all New Jerseyans to take every possible and reasonable precaution to ready themselves for the storm’s potential impact," he said.
That means having an emergency action plan for families and others who may require assistance, and avoiding unnecessary risks in the severe weather, including staying off of the roads, said Governor Christie.
“At the state level, we are taking immediate steps to prepare for the storm’s impact and ensure that state, local and county governments have the tools they need to manage and respond in a coordinated way," he said. "With this, government at every level can respond more effectively to conditions on the ground, activate emergency operations plans, and ensure that resources are being marshaled to assist and protect the public through this storm."
The declaration activates elements of the State Emergency Operations Plan, broadening powers of the New Jersey State Police including traffic control, limiting access and egress from impacted areas and issuing evacuation orders if needed.
As provided by the declaration, the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management will be authorized to mobilize and deploy resources beginning immediately to respond to the storm conditions, including resources of the New Jersey State Police, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, state Department of Environmental Protection and state Department of Transportation, in coordination with county and municipal emergency management officials in impacted areas throughout the state. | <urn:uuid:033f37ea-4cad-4ed0-b8c7-93b1c23b1db5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brick.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/breaking-christie-declares-state-of-emergency-for-new-jersey | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948786 | 384 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
The National Library of Scotland has had its John Murray Archive selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as one of the 2011 additions into the UK Memory of the World Register.
Martyn Wade, National Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Scotland, said: "To have been included in the register last year was thrilling. To have been included again so soon is recognition of depth and quality of our archives here in Edinburgh. It is especially pleasing that the John Murray Archive has been selected for the register following our recent acquisition of the collection and our commitment to make it accessible to the nation."Other Scottish inclusions are the Bank of Scotland Archives and The customer account ledgers of Edward Backwell, 1663-1672 at the Royal Bank of Scotland Archives. The ledgers are the earliest systematic set of banking records to survive in the United Kingdom.
Information about the other collections that have been added is availble here and include several business related collections: | <urn:uuid:b2e74bb4-8786-4703-993c-b07bd784161c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://businessarchivesscotland.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-scottish-business-archives-join.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956021 | 207 | 1.648438 | 2 |
It’s buckets and sponges at the ready on Saturday March 23rd, as firefighters at Billingshurst Fire Station take part in the annual Fire Fighters Charity car wash.
Come rain or shine, firefighters will be turning their attention to the county’s muddiest vehicles as they offer residents a car washing service at their local fire station in exchange for a donation to the Fire Fighters Charity.
The Fire Fighters Charity provides pioneering treatment and support services to the thousands of firefighters who are injured each year.
The annual car wash is the charity’s largest national fundraising event and involves fire services from all around the UK.
The car washing event is a chance not only to raise money for a charity that relies almost entirely on fundraising to be able to support those firefighters in need, but also gives local crews the opportunity to chat to residents more informally about fire and road safety whilst they are giving their cars the emergency-clean treatment.
This years’ organiser, firefighter Martin McKilligin, said: “All too often our crews see first hand how fires and road traffic collisions can devastate lives so it’s great to be able to take this more relaxed opportunity to pass on what may be life saving tips and advice, while at the same time raising money for a great charity that is very close to our hearts.”
If you think your car could do with a bit of a wash and polish then come on down to your local Fire Station this Saturday between 10am and 4pm and let the firefighters give it the full 999 treatment. | <urn:uuid:c43a7699-90ca-46e7-9615-5364c1b2d473> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/news/local/billingshurst-fire-crews-holding-charity-car-wash-1-4906267 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959461 | 322 | 1.507813 | 2 |
PEMBROKE PINES — City commissioners have updated an ordinance on landscaping codes in order to require new commercial properties and residential communities to have more plants and trees.
The law, which had been on the city's books since the 1970s, needed revisions to encourage more green space and trees, said Patti Hoot-McLeod, the consulting supervisor for the city's landscape services department.
The ordinance does not affect single-family homeowners, she said.
Under the amended codes, developers of single-family residential communities will be asked to add more native plants to swales and individual housing lots. Any trees planted in swales that are 6 to 8 feet wide must have root barriers to protect sidewalks from being damaged.
For multi-family housing complexes, builders must install an array of species including palms, flowering shrubs, ground cover and other screening materials such as bigger hedges, Hoot-McLeod said.
"For instance, in the past if you had a 20-unit building, you would have had to install 200 shrubs and 20 trees," she said. "We've more than doubled that number."
On commercial properties, the ordinance requires one tree for every three parking spaces. Before, it was one tree for every five spaces. Parking lots must have 10-foot-wide landscaped islands. The old code allowed islands as narrow as 5 feet, Hoot-McLeod said.
City officials increased the size of landscaped islands because of lessons that have been learned from Hurricane Andrew. When the storm hit south Miami-Dade County in 1992, most of the trees blew over on commercial sites because there was not enough room for their roots to grow large enough to act as anchors, Hoot-McLeod said.
"We lost a lot of our natural shade," she said.
Other major changes in the ordinance require property owners to mow and maintain their swales. City workers will no longer cut the grass, Hoot-McLeod said.
Hoot-McLeod said she thinks the revisions will have many positive effects.
"The city will look better than it already does," she said.
From an environmental standpoint, planting more trees will release more oxygen into the air and reduce global warming.
"They cool the earth and provide more habitat for wildlife," she said. | <urn:uuid:ea82d263-60db-42d7-974b-2b12084dbf47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2000-03-03/community/0003010728_1_trees-ordinance-plants | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97015 | 476 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Q and A on Referee fitness
Polar, the market leader in heart rate training, caught up with RFL Fitness Co-Ordinator Ian Mitchell to find out exactly what it takes to be a top flight referee.
1. How much has the game changed over the last decade for referees in the Super League?
Super League matches today are more physically demanding than ever before with referees expected to run around 9km-11km. Their training, whilst different to a player is no less intense and I have to ensure that they have the physical capacity to keep up with the increasing pace of the sport to ensure physical tiredness is not a cause of poor decision making.
2. How exactly do you use Polar’s training monitors as part of your fitness programme?
We use Polar RS400 heart rate monitors for all fitness within the RFL’s Performance Department. It is vital to make sure the referees are working at the right intensity for each training session and monitoring their heart rate zone allows us to achieve this. For instance, looking at Super League referee Phil Bentham we can see that he achieved the below heart rate zones from a recent physiological test;
Easy/Recovery work <152 bpm (beats per minute)
Steady/Aerobic Development 152-172 bpm
Lactic Threshold (Tempo work) 172-178bpm
Interval (VO2 max improvement) >178bpm
Max Heart rate recorded on VO2max 194bpm
So using this information we can design a personal training regime around the data, using the Polar monitor to keep track on Phil’s intensity. For example, in order to improve his speed endurance Phil needs to work just below his lactic threshold between 172-178bpm for 20 – 30 minutes.
Overall, my colleagues and I design the training programs to make the referees as efficient as we can on the pitch, providing them with an engine to get around the field with ease.
3. How often do the referees train in a normal week?
Being a Super League referee is a full time profession and so their training schedule reflects this. Looking at Phil Bentham’s typical week you can start to get an idea of the amount of training the referees are carrying out to maintain their fitness levels as some of the best referees in the world.
Monday: This is what I’d call an active recovery/endurance maintenance day consisting of a 90 minute bike ride followed by a gentle swim working in the recovery zone. We try and keep heart rate around 152bpm or less.
Tuesday: This is the hardest session of the week, it’s an interval session pushing heart rate up to the maximum level it reaches during a match (around 170-180bpm) in order to improve VO2max levels. This would be followed by technical work on the field at around 130bpm for over an hour.
Wednesday: Rest day.
Thursday: 40 minute bike ride at a heart rate of 172-180bpm followed by a swim at 140bpm. Once this has been completed, Phil would then go for a weights and cores muscles circuit.
Friday: Aerobic maintenance session for 40-50 minutes at a heart rate of 150bpm .The data from this session would be sent to me after the referees complete it at home and remotely report back to me.
Saturday: Game day, which means that Phil and the other referees will be working at an average of 154bpm and running around 9-10km.
Sunday: A 20 minute recovery bike ride at a very low intensity, followed by a 20 minute swim and stretch.
The referees send weekly downloads of all their heart rate data from training sessions and games to me and Stuart Cummings (RFL Match Officials Director). This helps us keep up to date with exactly what physical training the referees are doing, and importantly, the physiological effects of the programmes we are setting.
4. What are the benefits of using your Polar RS400 when you’re preparing for big games?
Being able to control the intensity of a session helps us make sure referees perform at a higher intensity with less effort. This means the referees can be in the right place physically and concentrate on making the right decisions on match day.
Equally, it is important for the referees to monitor heart rate in order to avoid over training, poor performance and injury.
A good test that the referees can do for this is to take resting heart rate before they get up in a morning. They follow this by getting out of bed and letting the heart rate stabilise for around 15 seconds. A pattern should develop and will stabilise around 10bpm higher than at rest. If it is any higher than this then the referee or sports person could be coming down with an illness or be suffering from fatigue. At that point we would need to adapt the session to give an easier day and encourage recovery.
To find out more about Polar and how you can use heart rate monitoring as part of your sports training, visit www.polaruk.co.uk | <urn:uuid:0ae8db9c-4a6e-4bdf-8334-b109f4b9f575> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/23968/q-and-a-on-referee | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942353 | 1,043 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Gov. Ted Strickland is continuing to push Congress for a multi-billion dollar bail-out to help states cope with huge money shortfalls. But at the same time he admits: a bailout will sink the federal government deeper into debt. He says federal aid could help block a massive run-up in unemployment, and that's more important than the threat of inflation or federal deficits.
Strickland warns that without federal aid, Ohio's next two-year state budget could be more than $7 billion in the red. He says -- if spending cuts alone are used to put the budget into balance, state government programs would have to be slashed 25%. He calls that "unthinkable." | <urn:uuid:2e6c9368-bd5c-42d5-ab27-43b8eac21e1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://statenews.org/story_page.cfm?ID=12293&year=2009&month=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950758 | 140 | 1.578125 | 2 |
| photo credit: Opo Terser
adorable jumping spider
Poor, poor spiders! People are always saying “I hate spiders,” “I’m arachnophobic,” and “I kill any spiders I see!” Hearing these things just breaks my heart! Spiders are some of the most feared and completely misunderstood creatures in the world. 50% of women and 10% of men have at least a mild case of arachnophobia, and even more claim that they do. I find that most people will tell me that they have arachnophobia, but after being coaxed to pet my 15 year old tarantula Rosie, they become absolutely fascinated by spiders!
Arachnophobia is a real, irrational fear that can cause panic attacks in people who are afflicted, but most people don’t actually have it! My uncle, for example, claimed to be so afraid of and grossed out by spiders. One day, he noticed a large St. Andrews Cross spider residing outside of his office window. At first he was repulsed, but after a little research, he found out that it was harmless, beneficial, and actually quite attractive. He then started asking me questions about it and now this self -proclaimed bug-hater is buying lady bug kits for his 5 year old daughter. I’m so proud!
Why do so many people fear spiders? Possibly because it’s learned from our parents, or because of the way they are portrayed in movies and on TV, or maybe it’s just the way they look! Whatever it is, just a little bit of knowledge can go a long way in helping you get over your fear. Probably the most feared spider in the United States is the brown recluse. This poor little spider has found itself caught in the middle of a string of urban myths which have led to the deaths of tons of innocent spiders!
How bad is a brown recluse bite? It can kill you! It will make your body parts fall off! It will scar you for life! False, false, and false! The brown recluse, as evidenced by it’s name, is a very shy and reclusive spider. They are not aggressive and certainly don’t seek out anything to bite that cannot be it’s prey. They have extremely small fangs that cannot bite through clothing. In fact, they have a heck of a time biting unless they are smushed up against your skin. This is often the case when people are actually bitten by these spiders. They roll over onto it in a bed, it gets tangled up in clothing or shoes, whatever it is, they will only bite in response to pressure that they can’t escape from. But don’t be afraid of your bedding, clothes, and shoes all of a sudden! Recluses seek shelter in undisturbed areas, so best to check or wash your guest room bedding before people stay with you, and shake out those shoes or clothes you haven’t worn in years!
Actual brown recluse bites are extremely rare and the large majority of bites heal fine with no need for medical intervention at all. Bites are misdiagnosed all of the time even by medical professionals! There are tons of other conditions that have very similar symptoms to a brown recluse bite, including, but not limited to: Staphylococcus infections, gangrene, herpes, diabetic ulcer, fungal infection, chemical burns, dermatitis, squamous cell carcinoma, vasculitis, syphilis, toxic epidermal necrolysis, sporotrichosis, and lyme disease or other insect bites. Conditions such as these are way more likely to be the culprit if you find yourself with necrosis of the skin.
Approximately 80% of bites are misdiagnosed and can prevent proper treatment of what could be a serious disease. There HAVE been cases reported of significant reactions and even deaths associated with actual brown recluse bites, but usually only with the very young, elderly, or people with a weak immune system. All in all, the chances of you getting a bite and having any severe reaction are extremely slim. The best thing to do is exercise caution when dealing with old linens, shoes, clothing, boxes, and other things that have been undisturbed for quite some time. Other insects and other arachnids such as scorpions can also make homes of these things, so better safe than sorry!
People often think that every spider they see is a brown recluse, because they fear getting close enough to properly identify them.
Here are some tips to help you figure out that the spider you’re looking at is NOT a brown recluse…
- It is in a web: recluses often line their hiding places with an irregular web, but they are active hunters that do not use a web to catch prey. If you see a web outside or even in a corner of your house, there is no brown recluse in it. House and cellar spiders are commonly seen in your home, but don’t be afraid of them. They are harmless and can actually eat brown recluses. If I have a small web in the corner of my home, I leave it be!
- It is a very large spider: the brown recluse is a medium to small spider, usually about the size of a dime or nickel at the largest. They are not very big at all!
- Brown recluses are not native to your state: They are not found all over the United States. If you live along the west coast, the east coast, or in the far north, you do not have them!
- It has colorful markings or patterns: The brown recluse is just that, brown! Their color can range from very light to darker tan, but they have very few marks. The violin shaped marking on their head can be darker than the rest of their body, or close to the same color and their abdomens have no markings.
- It has 8 eyes: the brown recluse is a sicariid spider meaning it has only 6 eyes. They are arranged in pairs in a specific pattern.
- You are seeing it!: again, they stay hidden during the day and hunt at night. Most people will never see a brown recluse in their lifetime!
| photo credit: emills1
Not a brown recluse!
There are lots of spiders that resemble the brown recluse. Several have markings similar to the violin marking. Many have a similar body shape. Others also have similar eye number and arrangement.
So what is the best way to identify a brown recluse? Practice! We always have one on display here at the Cockrell Butterfly Center, be sure to look at her closely next time you visit. There are several pictures online as well as pictures of spiders that are often mistaken for them.
If you find a suspicious spider in your home, bring it in for an identification, we’d be happy to look at it for you. If we do identify it as a brown recluse, remember not to panic, your home could be overrun with them and you will still probably never be bitten.
I hope I’ve shed some light on this shy little spider. We can all live with spiders, they shouldn’t be feared, but respected. They are largely harmless, shy, beneficial, and some are out of this world gorgeous! So until next time, happy bug watching!
|An actual Brown Recluse| | <urn:uuid:d3464e40-739a-417e-92be-789b11426aea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.hmns.org/2009/10/is-that-a-brown-recluse/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962978 | 1,563 | 1.664063 | 2 |
I just saw a news clip of a flood somewhere in the US There were two dome houses in the middle of the flood with water up to their windows. This brings up a concern with me about water-proofing. Is there a way to water-proof the windows on a dome and make them sturdy enough to withstand the pressure of raging waters. The water from a flash flood may eventually recede but the inside of your dome house might be demolished before it does.
I also have a concern with wind resistance. I've visited several web sites on building dome houses and have looked through their picture galleries. Every house, although beautiful, has gables, eves, overhangs, bay windows or glass patio doors. My concern is; What will happen to these windows and such when they are struck by 200 mph winds? The dome itself may survive but the windows and eves will be ripped off and everything inside the dome will become a projectile. Can we come up with something to cover the windows? Something permanently attached to the house that slides down and protects us from the wind. What would it be made out of, steel, concrete, other? Once it is down, how do we seal it?
Offered by Doug. | <urn:uuid:e26d41d7-ff03-4548-ab3a-aa9c8c769b9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zetatalk7.com/shelter/tshlt13u.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970571 | 250 | 1.835938 | 2 |
- This location is deemed a national U.S. Historic Landmark. The magnificent four-masted Falls of Clyde sailing ship is anchored alongside a wharf, and although it has been prohibited to visitors for safety reasons, the museum is definitely worth a trip. The permanent display will take you from the days of the early canoe-faring Polynesians to Captain Cook's "discovery" of the island chain, all the way up to the naval activities at present-day Pearl Harbor. You can peruse a sizable World War Two naval exhibit. Whaling exhibits are also featured, including a massive humpback whale skeleton. The museum is located next to the Aloha Tower Marketplace. Admission is $7.50 for adults, $4.50 for children ages 4-12, and free for children under 4.
- © wcities.com 2013 | <urn:uuid:c320670e-a184-44c2-8be4-3f1943f65616> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nileguide.com/destination/honolulu/things-to-do/hawaii-maritime-museum/930700 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947503 | 175 | 1.695313 | 2 |
→ October 2006 Contents → Column
'Inkjet' No Longer a Dirty Word
I'm told that Paul Strand printed on platinum for as long as possible, holding out against silver and even having the folks who were producing his paper double-coat it so it was more platinum than most platinum.
Meanwhile, not too far away in the space-time continuum, Edward Weston was printing on Azo, a Kodak silver contact paper that was a workhorse commercial paper. Weston didn't even use furry Gaevelux, a paper that incorporated real peach fuzz and was used by "real" artists. (Well, he did use an amidol paper developer that was as far from D-72 as you could get. It stained your fingernails ebony black. While this wasn't going to make him look like a member of "Kiss," it was a touch of the rebel artist in a man thought well of by the ladies.)
We're going through the same thing now, except that Weston's silver prints (and his few color dye transfers) are being challenged by inkjet prints.
Photojournalists aren't that aware of the mini-conflict involving prints. They've been digital for a long while and do most of their editing and image preparation looking at pictures on a computer screen. They don't deal with images printed on paper. (It's a little like the magazine photographers who were among the first to shoot color journalism. They shot transparency film, edited with a loupe on a light table and presented their selects with a projector.)
Printing doesn't come into the picture until it's time to exhibit the pictures, long after the news deadline has passed. And, yet, it is in the exhibits and filing cabinets of museums and galleries that much of the reputation and the messages of the finest photojournalists — Smith, Cartier-Bresson, Brady, Arbus, McCullin, and hundreds of others — rests. They don't rest in the negatives. They don't rest in the digital files. They rest in "archival" prints that a photographer thinks are good enough to sign.
That term "archival" is a bit rubbery. It doesn't talk about storage or exhibition conditions. And it hints at a life not unlike that of well-preserved Egyptian artifacts. I prefer Henry Wilhelm's more explicit recommendations. His Web site can be found at http://www.wilhelm-research.com/. If your primary interest is in traditional silver and color prints, try to find a copy of his and Carol Brower's book, "The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs." [ISBN 0-911515-00-3] or download the text from his Web site.
In any respect, all other things being equal, color prints don't last as long as black-and-white ones. This is true whether they are "C" prints or inkjets. Pigment inkjet prints do well. In 2004, Wilhelm, testing the Epson Stylus 1800, came up with a life of greater than 250 years for prints on Epson Watercolor Paper exhibited behind anti-UV glass. And Wilhelm is a pessimist compared to some of his predecessors.
The very best figures for earlier "chemical" papers goes to one of the Fujicolors with 105 years under similar conditions. Most of the other quality materials come in at under 60 years.
The current black-and-white pigment inks from Epson, Canon and Hewlett-Packard have not been fully tested by Wilhelm. Who can say anything outside of the fact that they should last a lot longer than color — especially now that we have acid-free, heavyweight papers for both glossy and matte inkjet prints? I have heard informed guesses of as much as 700 years, but at those times you are talking as much about how you store something as what you are storing.
Compared to black-and-white silver printing, chemical color printing was complicated. But lots of photographers did it in their own darkrooms. And if they didn't, there were lots of small labs that worked closely with the photographer.
Graham Nash and Mac Holbert were the first to see that Iris printers, essentially big, expensive inkjet machines used to make proofs before a press run, could be excellent printers for "fine-art" color photography.
But, even in an improved form, the Iris prints only got a 25-year rating from Henry Wilhelm.
And, because of the expense, complexity and size of these machines, unlike chemical processes, they didn't turn up in a lot of small darkrooms and immediately become accepted by a new generation of photographers.
In truth, a big, expensive machine used, essentially, to make proofs before a press run, turning out art, made a lot of folks uncomfortable. Jack Duganne coined the term "giclee" to distinguish a digital fine-art print from its commercial cousins. Truth is, it became a snob word for those who choked on the word "inkjet."
But time passed. (1) Pigment inks replaced dye; the images lasted longer and maintained their characteristics on a far greater variety of papers. (2) Top-flight print houses like Nash Editions ended up using the same printers as the rest of us. (They're better than us because of the experience and skill, not the cost of their printers.) (3) And, hopefully, no one chokes on the word "inkjet."
Fahey-Klein, one of the best photo galleries in Los Angeles, started exhibiting serious photography when most photo galleries in the area were still showing pictures of movie stars. They have done three shows that I have seen that featured inkjet prints. An exhibition of new work by Jim Nachtwey was printed by Jim. I don't mean that Jim stood around at a lab trading thoughts with a printer. He set up an Epson printer in his space in New York and he and his assistant printed the show.
Eric Meola currently has a show in England of his Bruce Springsteen pictures. He printed the show himself on an Epson 7800 because, after making some tests, he felt the inkjet was producing the best results.
Eric's old boss, Pete Turner, currently has a show at Eastman House. He used Epson printers and, as he says, "I don't have to outsource my printing anymore."
The biggest, most expensive inkjet printer I know of is the Epson Stylus Pro 9800. It costs less than my 4x5 Durst enlarger and a handful of lenses. And you don't need a darkroom to set up the Epson.
I understand collectors' fears that an inkjet printer attached to a computer can turn out hundreds of soulless, identical prints at the touch of a button. That's certainly one of the fears that surfaced when silver replaced platinum. And, indeed, if you ever saw one of the automated print houses that turned out actors' headshots, it seems a bad dream that could come true. What protects the collector is laziness. You make an inkjet print and in spite of all your screen matching, it looks a little light. You make a darker one. It's good, but now the shadows on the face are too dark. After awhile you've got six prints, each slightly different, and are bored to tears. You go to bed and hope you never have to print that picture again. Same as silver; laziness, that's what protects the collector. Short of that, print a small edition and promise to be a good person.
[P.S.: Eric Meola's pigment inkjet prints that are being exhibited at Snap, the fine-art gallery in Birmingham, England, that specializes in music, are essentially the same images as the ones in his book, "Born to Run: The Unseen Photos." For those of you who can't afford a plane ticket to Birmingham, the book hits shelves on October 10, close to the time that The Digital Journalist's regular viewers will be visiting this issue on the Web.]
© Bill Pierce
Back to October 2006 Contents | <urn:uuid:332715e2-02b2-4970-aa67-c7cba3bad2a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0610/pierce.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972194 | 1,682 | 1.609375 | 2 |
With bad weather approaching, here are some suggestions to stay safe: Don't touch any downed power lines. Assume them to be energized and dangerous. Call 911 and PG&E's hotline at 1-800-743-5002 if you see one. Keep kids and animals away from them. Travelers are advised to check departure times before going to the airport. No delays are expected at the area's major airports, but that could change. Heading to the snow? Check the weather. Long delays and possible "whiteouts" are expected at times. The weather service advises finding alternate routes to the Sierra passes Don't light candles if the lights go out. There's too much flammable stuff in homes during the holiday season. | <urn:uuid:d3cf0ae5-21b2-43a5-b1ca-6aec91f932a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whittierdailynews.com/business/ci_22235151/bad-weather-approaching-here-are-some-tips-keep | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953 | 151 | 1.664063 | 2 |
History-Eileen's Special Cheesecake New Yorks Best Cheesecake
Eileen's Special Cheesecake opened for business in December, 1975, and arrived in lower Manhattan on December 4, 1976. Our location at 17 Cleveland Place,
opposite Spring and Lafayette Streets at the corner of Kenmare and Centre Streets, was not even listed on most maps. Cleveland Place has only about five
buildings on the street. The Police headquarters on Centre Street had vacated, and all the area businesses closed up. It was a “ghost town” when I first
arrived, but that didn’t bother me because the rent was low and I desperately needed a place to bake for my growing wholesale business. I hadn’t
considered the retail aspects of the business until people started knocking on the door of the bakery wanting to buy cheesecake.
With that encouragement, I purchased a bakery case and began to conduct retail business. Soon after our cheesecake attracted the Press and we were
listed in “Best Bites” in New York Magazine. Radio station WOR rated us “Number One cheesecake” and we appeared on television quite often whipping
up a batter of cheesecake.
We eventually began to ship our cheesecakes overnight anywhere in the United States, which opened up a new market for us. However, Cleveland
Place continued to be a difficult location for New Yorkers to find. Although we are around the corner from the Spring Street subway stop, there
was not much to bring people to the area in those days, except for cheesecake.
The summer of 2000, we signed our first lease with the Port of Authority to put a kiosk in the outdoor area between the two towers of The World Trade Center.
Every afternoon, from May to September, we would sell our cheesecakes to people who worked in the buildings and to tourists. There was entertainment every
afternoon, and it was great being able to represent New York’s favorite dessert (cheesecake).
Unfortunately, that all ended on September 11th. Our kiosk was destroyed, but fortunately our employee was not on duty yet. Business at Cleveland Place
declined, because subway service was cut off and no one was walking around downtown.
For six months, we kept our workforce busy baking for the rescue workers. Time passed, and now Cleveland Place is in a popular area where the mix of people and restaurants and shops are so unique. Downtown is becoming the “place to be”, and we are actually on most maps now. We survived difficult times, and now “let the good times roll”!
Eileen's Special Cheesecake is open every day Monday-Friday from 9AM till 9PM; Saturday and Sunday from 10AM till 7PM.
Daily delivery is available in Manhattan; overnight delivery to anywhere in the U.S.A. Call us at 212.966.5585 or 1.800.521.CAKE.
“A treat that’s hard to beat!” and “Made With Love” | <urn:uuid:3d4501f2-04d2-46e7-bd89-dcb0f8a32079> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eileenscheesecake.com/(S(hkvlmg5z1aotje31npp1xm5v))/History.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968834 | 640 | 1.625 | 2 |
Video: What Does Opportunity Mean to You?
At the 2012 Opportunity Nation Summit in Washington, DC, SparkAction asked youth and adult ally participants what opportunity means to them and why it's important now.
What does opportunity mean to you?
The Opportunity Nation Summit focused on creating opportunities for youth all around the country -- especially those who have become disenfranchised and disengaged from pathways to employment and learning opportunities -- and how to get all youth in the U.S. back on track.
This is an issue pertinent to all of the heated debates in this country right now -- from the economy and jobs to being competitve and defensively strong among the rest of the world, the future of today's youth lies on the shoulders of policymakers, Congress, and young people themselves.
The informative and inspiring two-day event brought together young alumni of engagement programs such as Youth Build, Year Up, Public Allies, and the Corps Network, and also staff, CEO's and executive directors, and professional advocates to help understand why our youth is something we need to talk about now, and how to spread the word to those who can join this fight and help create a future that is great for youth and the United States.
What's your definition of opportunity? Share what opportunity means to you in the comment section below.
For more on opportunity youth:
SparkAction's original blog series featuring reconnected youth and adult experts. | <urn:uuid:fdc19f1e-a5ba-40d5-98cc-2e49c9252013> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sparkaction.org/content/video-what-does-opportunity-mean-you | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94695 | 288 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The 89-year-old resident of Eden Terrace, a Spartanburg assisted-living facility, got a few of her questions answered recently in a two-page handwritten letter from a man whose family owns the French apple orchard where the paratroopers, members of Company A, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, landed on June 6, 1944.
George’s niece, Doris Dickerson, who lives in Texas near where George lived years ago in Shreveport, La., and Deberry, Texas, forwarded her aunt the letter that she received from a member of a Shreveport Baptist church. Thierry Ferey, a dairy farmer in Normandy, France, had penned the letter in hopes of reaching family members of Sgt. Leonard A. Davis, George’s brother.
“On D-Day, June 6th, 1944, my family lived on (an) old manor farm not far from where I live now,” the letter reads. “During D Day’s morning, a little group of these American paratroopers arrived on this manor. …These men were lost, they were landed far from their objective, they were from ‘A’ Company. … (The paratroopers) tried to find a way to join the friendly lines, but half a yard from the manor, they fell in a German ambush, several were killed there in this little apple orchard and others …were wounded and taken prisoner of war and were driven to our church, which was a German command post.” Ferey writes that Davis was one of the “marvellous men who arrived here and who contributed a lot for the success of this big military operation.”
Ferey, who has researched D-Day events, said in the letter he was compelled to reach out to relatives of Davis, and others in the 101st, because the “young Americans gave their precious lives, gave their hearts for this Free World. Sgt. Davis never came back alive … and I and the Normandy people could imagine the big sadness and big pain that happened in his family.”
George and her brother, whom she called “Snooky,” were a little less than two years apart and extremely close. He purchased her high school ring and a treasured watch engraved with her name. She fondly remembers his outgoing, loving personality and said he was a “Momma’s boy.” Her mother, who had five children who fought in the war, never completely recovered after learning of his death, she said.
“I remember my mother crying, saying she wondered if her baby suffered,” George said. “If my mother could have received this letter, could you imagine what she would say? It would have given her peace, like it has given me – after all of these years. I still have so many questions, but this letter is God’s work.”
George, widow of a retired minister, said at the time of Davis’ disappearance, the Army notified the family that Davis was missing in action. Four years later, they learned he had been killed. During that time, Davis had been buried in the Ferey family apple orchard. His family, however, had his remains returned to a family plot in Belmont Cemetery in DeBerry, Texas, in May 1948, records show.
Davis was not married and had no children, at least in part, his sister said, because he had not found a woman whom he cared for as much as his mother.
“He always said, ‘When I find a girl as good as my mother, I’ll marry her,’ “ George said. “Everybody loved him. He just had that way about him – to reach out to people.”
George has one other living sibling, a brother who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. She said her three children and other relatives, as well as other residents and staff of Eden Terrace, have been amazed the letter reached her.
“I was just floored, and I bet I’ve read it 10 times. And each time, I pick up on something different,” George said. She plans to respond to Ferey’s letter.
“I don’t know if some members of the Davis family is still living in DeBerry but I think that (it) will be a good idea to tell them that somebody of Normandy, France, wrote this letter in memory of Sgt. Leonard Davis,” Ferey writes.
“Forever, he will stay, for us, an ‘Angel From The Sky.’ And I’m sure that if he ever came here, 68 years ago, I won’t, probably, be here today.
God bless you all. God bless America,” Ferey writes. | <urn:uuid:c1d34d6e-d5f7-4a82-98ec-969bf74a9c16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/2012-07-13/sc-woman-learns-details-brothers-d-day-death | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990409 | 1,026 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Jessica Hagy uses the line, “consider your epitaph, not your resume” as she describes how to find your calling.
It’s a reminder to make sure that what we do leaves a legacy and doesn’t just look good on a piece of paper.
To make sure that we build something that lasts, not just something that seems OK at the time.
To make sure that what we do benefits others and not just ourselves.
To make sure that we prepare ourselves for the long-term, not just the next role.
To make sure that our life matters and isn’t squandered on trivial activities or meaningless work.
To make sure that we live the life that we are called to live and not the one that well-meaning others expect us to live.
To make sure that we continue to strive to reach our dreams instead of just going through the motions.
To make sure that we choose the courageous path, not the convenient one.
And as someone who writes a lot of resumes for others, it’s a reminder to me that I don’t just want to help people to put down their past deeds on paper, but to assist them in reaching their career goals and inspire them to make a difference in the world through their work.
Previous post – Why You Need To Face Your Fears
Next post – Creating Tomorrow’s Memories Today | <urn:uuid:1fb214a1-8556-4e4c-beb8-9773ecf7db6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://betterlifecoachingblog.com/2012/07/25/consider-your-epitaph-not-your-resume/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957812 | 291 | 1.523438 | 2 |
AYERSVILLE, Ohio - If the fire that destroyed William Rohn's pig barn - a $130,000 to $150,000 loss - had hit a week earlier or two days later, it would have been "one large barbecue" of 830 hogs, Mr. Rohn said.
But as it was, the fire in southeastern Defiance County late Saturday afternoon didn't kill a single pig.
Mr. Rohn had a contract to raise pigs, which belonged to an area elevator, from the time the pigs were about two weeks old until they weighed 50 to 60 pounds.
At that point, the pigs are shipped to another farmer to raise them to market weight of about 275 pounds.
And it was during that week between sending the partially grown hogs out and getting a new shipment of baby pigs in that fire broke out.
Wind made the fire a bigger challenge for about 50 firefighters from several departments, said Matt Flory, assistant chief of Highland Township Fire Department.
Mr. Rohn was at a wrestling match when the fire broke out and, although his wife was home, she did not see the smoke until firefighters - who had been called by a neighbor - drove in, Mr. Rohn said.
"By the time anybody realized it was on fire, it was a total engulfed mess," Mr. Rohn said.
The building, which had propane heaters operating even though it was empty, had plastic floors and plastic covered walls.
Mr. Rohn bought the building used about 25 years ago and renovated it.
"This is a large aggravation, but nobody was hurt," Mr. Rohn said.
However his teenage grandson wished that if the fire had to happen, it would have come several days sooner, saving him some aggravation.
He had spent his President's Day school holiday cleaning the pig barn, Mr. Rohn said.41.23874 -84.28852 | <urn:uuid:9a8f16f8-5100-4102-94b7-c3ccb6e3d2eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.toledoblade.com/frontpage/2006/02/28/Farmer-counts-blessings.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992925 | 396 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The inspiring book of poems “Maryada” by Abha Maryada Banerjee was released with great aplomb at RahejaClassique today on the 20th of November 2012. Mahesh Bhatt, Dolly Thakore and Abha Singh attended the launch adding the extra motivational touch along with AnubhavSinha (director Raone) and AshwiniChaudhary(director Dhoop and Jodi Breakers).
Encouragingly, Mahesh Bhatt and Dolly Thakore also read excerpts from the book. Said the great film maker Mahesh Bhatt “Life is like the oyster that turns the grain of sand which has intruded inside and turns it into a pearl. Pleasenote that the oyster changes the sand into pearl simply because it does not want to suffer the anguish of having a foreign body inside it…”Maryada” is like that…it helps you take whatever life throws at you and turn it into pearl”
“Maryada”, a coffee table book, and is a beautiful collections of poems about motivation and inspirational displaying the possibilities of the human mind and intent.Abha Maryada Banerjee observes that one trait she found in most people anywhere in the world is that they are not able to speak their mind freely. She says “This book helps you to go on a self search thus aids you to build your confidence to the level that you can speak your mind...to be free from the naysayers and to be closer to God”.
On the occasion, Abha Singh said “A very thought provoking reality based book of poetry which overwhelms you.It motivates you to face advercities in life living within the limits of Maryada.”
This book of poetry written in wordsunderstood by anyone who has gone through pain,pushes its readers to go on a journey of finding your inner self using the powerful medium of words to be used in daily life. Written in both Hindi and English, “Maryada” thus reaches out to the larger audience to touch their lives in a way never felt before. As theatre personality Dolly Thakore said “the simplicity of the poetry…to write you’re your anguish, your angst, your pain in such a simple manner…is truly beautiful”
“Maryada” composed by India’s first internationally acclaimed motivational speaker, Abha Maryada Banerjee, is also known as Asian Oprah and Asian Woman Motivator. She is also one of the Top Ten Life and Success Coaches in Asia Pacific. An expert at Leadership, Peak Performance and Emotional Intelligence, she professes ‘Emotional fitness for Corporates’ for excellence in Corporate Performance and for all others, a very powerful tool for personal efficiency. Committed to personal and business excellence, and following a super powered vision of 'Celebrating Human Possibilities', Abha has coached over 2000 People, Business’ and Entrepreneurs across the World in performance enhancement.
Abha believes that “Maryada”, which also happens to be her birth name, is a very powerful word and her book also expresses through poetry how words gain significance in life and how they become anchors and filters to lead meaningful lives. | <urn:uuid:0dc26970-56e6-460c-916b-0194f6391221> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.page3bollywood.com/page-3/81-page3/1834-mahesh-bhatt-releases-abha-banerjees-maryada | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954726 | 688 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Cogan, Peter 2012-12-03, 15:27
I've been doing some performance testing with hadoop and have been experiencing highly variable results which I am trying to understand. I've been examining how long it takes to perform a particular MR job, and am finding that the time taken varies by a factor of 2 when I repeat the job. Note that the data, algorithm, cluster etc is completely the same (and I am the only person on the cluster).
The way I do the test is from a simple shell script that just runs the job again and again. I find that the job is as fast as 5 mins, but as slow as 10 mins, with everything in between.
I've examined the output of two log files, where I can see that the performance difference is coming from the map and shuffle phases. For a sample 'fast' job, the map phases take on average 2 mins 34 secs, whereas for a sample 'slow' jobs the phases take on average 4 mins 12 secs. Interestingly, if I then look at the counters for random maps (one each from the fast and slow jobs) then I find that all counters are pretty much equal – including CPU time. This suggests that the slowdown comes from bottlenecks at disk I/O or network. Since I am the only user on the network (it's a dedicated GB switch) and the only one using the disks, I don't understand what can be happening. Also, the total data is not that huge – the job analyses 21GB with replication 2 spread across 8 disks on 4 nodes. The total disk output from the reducers is about 300MB. I'm not sure how to investigate further – is there some other diagnostic within hadoop that can tell me where the code is waiting (e.g. For network or disk I/O) – or perhaps some system tool that can indicate performance hits in specific places?
Thanks for any suggestions | <urn:uuid:31caf7b0-2423-4913-a78c-631d6a3e44cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://search-hadoop.com/m/U8LRE1dKDl91&subj=understanding+performance | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958496 | 397 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Software developers and web designers from allover the country met in Oakland Friday through Sunday for 48 hours of non-stop competitive design and programming to develop applications that could solve some of the most crucial challenges in the adoption and utilization of solar energy.
Powered by pizza and energy drinks, the Cleanweb Hackathon was hosted by Oakland-based solar web startup Sungevity Solar Home Specialists. It attracted 50 developers and designers who built five applications over the course of the weekend.
“It was a great event,” said Sungevity’s brand management specialist Wyatt Roy. “We had developers come from as far as Boston to develop web and mobile applications.”
Roy said the hackathon gave awards to applications in three categories, beginning with the Best Overall Application, which won a $2,000 cash prize, and for the Best Technical Application and the Best User Experience, both of which were awarded $1,000 cash prizes.
“A lot of the teams that came were working on programs and applications that they had been working on for a long time,” Roy said. For example, he said, one of the teams called Power Hive “identified this problem in African communities where unforeseen bad weather conditions inhibit the generation of solar energy, leaving people without power, and they used the hackathon weekend as an opportunity to develop new application to respond to that problem.”
Power Hive ultimately created a predictive service that encourages users to conserve energy in the event of impending bad weather conditions that may limit solar power generation. Designed by Christ Hornor, Steve Hermes, Inga Chen, Henry Wang and Neil Basu, Roy said Power Hive’s service would be useful in some developing countries, where the adoption of solar energy has not been matched with the proliferation of other technologies allowing people to access timely weather information.
“When overcast skies or precipitation are predicted, Power Hive’s system recognizes that individual households must conserve energy and sends an SMS detailing the specific steps that must be taken so that energy stored in the battery reserves lasts through the bad weather,” he said.
The hackathon ended Sunday night, and the winning application was created by a group of four developers. Collectively known as Sunride, Mark Rosetti, Matt Solt, Zac Bowling and Tylor Tringas developed an application called Sunride Analytics, which generates a customized report showing the financial benefit of pairing a solar carport with an electrical vehicle.
Sunride’s application, which runs on iOS tablets, could be used by car dealerships to sell electric vehicles and solar carports as a single package.
“There’s great technology now available in solar and electric vehicles that’s both and environmentally and economically beneficial to everyone,” said Mark Rossetti, one of the Sunride developers. “But what’s needed is an easy way to show the average consumer just what a great deal these technologies can be for them.”
Rossetti said Sunride Analytics was built on data resources that members of the Sunride team, Tyler Tringas and Matt Solt had built through a solar start-up they co-founded, SolarList. ”There’s a ton of inexpensive data in the solar industry, but the organization and presentation of that data is a priceless service, and that’s where we bring value,” Rossetti said.
Sunride walked away with the $2,000 prize, followed by a group named Kijani Grows Solar, which clinched the Best Technical Application prize for designing a web application that allows users to control their energy consumption in real time. Kijani’s application visualizes how much energy each household appliance is using, allowing users to turn appliances off remotely.
Created by developers Eric Maundu, Windsor Schmidt, Ian Johnson and Andrew Valish, Kijani’s application also allows users to see how much energy their solar units are producing and how much their homes are using, thereby making it easier for users to only use what they produce.
Roy said the reason Sungevity hosted the hackathon was not only to get developers together, but to get more creative people thinking about solar and coming up with creative solutions. “We are a mission-based organization,” Roy said. “ Many of the applications don’t really match up with our business model, but it’s always great to get in contact with a group of people like these developers.” | <urn:uuid:c1944639-aaf3-4e28-a01d-3b3bd17f5633> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oaklandnorth.net/2012/06/12/developers-tackle-solar-energy-issues-with-code-at-oaklands-cleanweb-hackathon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953365 | 929 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Dec 5, 2008 03:27 PM | 16
The "Koobface" software worm tormenting Facebook and MySpace users is still going strong, prompting them to download bogus software that infects their computers, sends spam out to their friends and allows hackers to redirect their Web searches.
The worm is activated when a person logs into his or her Facebook or MySpace account, creating and sending spam messages to listed friends via the Facebook or MySpace sites. The messages and comments include sophisticated fare such as "Paris Hilton Tosses Dwarf On The Street" and "My friend catched [sic] you on hidden cam" as well as a purported link to a video of the advertised content, according to security software maker Kaspersky Lab, based in Woburn, Mass. Clicking on that link delivers a message telling the user to download the latest version of Flash Player.
Instead of getting the latest player, though, the user gets software that spies on their actions, scanning all HTTP traffic, "in particular looking for traffic to Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Live.com for the purpose of hijacking search results," Craig Schmugar, a security researcher for antivirus maker McAfee, Inc., wrote earlier this week on his blog. Translation: the Web traffic is diverted to other Web sties to pad their traffic results.
The outbreak has prompted a discussion thread of 194 Facebook users, since August 24, relating their experiences with Koobface. A user named Erin today posted to the thread stating that she was hit by the worm, "and I am HORRIFIED! It says something about seeing you posing naked and has some geocities link..."
User "Dale" described how the worm works. He wrote that he received a message from a Facebook friend saying, "I saw this video of you etc. It diverted me to a site that looked like youtube. It then stated my video player was out of date and to upgrade it. The moment I did and installed the file, FB began automatically sending messgaes [sic] to my contacts before my eyes."
Kaspersky in July reported having found two variants of the Koobface worm, Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface.a. and Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface.b, which attack MySpace and Facebook, respectively. The threat, Kaspersky reported, was that the worm could unleash malicious software that allowed a hacker to take remote control of your PC, turning it into a "zombie" and using it as a launching point to attack other computers.
Facebook says on its site that it is helping users deal with Koobface and phishing sites. Its advice: that users scan their computer for viruses and reset their passwords if their Facebook accounts were recently used to spit out spam.
Facebook rep Barry Schnitt told CNET that "only a very small percentage of Facebook users have been affected" and that the company is updating security to limit damage and block future breaches.
This attack comes just weeks after a federal court ordered Canadian spammer Adam Guerbuez to pay Facebook $873 million for falsely obtaining login information for Facebook users and then sending spam to those users' friends.
Deadline: Jun 29 2013
Reward: $7,000 USD
The Seeker for this Challenge desires proposals for chemical methods that could rapidly degrade a dilute aqueous solution
Deadline: Jun 30 2013
Reward: $1,000,000 USD
This is a Reduction-to-Practice Challenge that requires written documentation and&
Save 66% off the cover price and get a free gift!
Learn More >>X | <urn:uuid:312fbde3-d38f-4b11-8a46-249d3c3d5ff3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=omg-koobface-worm-gets-up-in-the-gr-2008-12-05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943291 | 750 | 1.578125 | 2 |
I'm not writing this because I’m gloating over the results of Election 2012. I'm not writing this because I think “my guy” beat “their guy.”
I'm writing this because I think the election showed us some very important things about the citizens of these United States:
Our country’s electorate chose to recognize the plurality of all its people and cast their votes in ways to protect the rights of all its citizens. Our country’s electorate chose to promote the idea of governing for the benefit of all citizens rather than the benefit of a few. And our country’s electorate chose to cast the majority of their votes for candidates who ran on a platform of inclusion and compromise against those whose party staked its campaign on religious superiority, intolerance and values from the past century.
On the whole, we learned quite a lot about our country last Tuesday, Nov. 6.
We learned that the country doesn’t take kindly to the restrictions on women and women’s health that many Republican candidates promoted during the campaigns. We saw this in the overwhelming rejection of candidates that not only made outrageous comments about rape and contraception, but also proposed legislation restricting women’s ability to make their own reproductive choices.
Candidates like Todd Akin (of “legitimate rape” fame), Joe Walsh, Scott Brown, Richard Mourdock (who suggested pregnancy after rape is a “gift from God”), Alan West, and others were defeated. An historic mark was made in the Senate—20 women senators will now hold seats in the upper chamber, including the legislative body’s first lesbian senator. Tammy Ducksworth, Clair McCaskill and others won spotlighted, news-making campaigns. Pro-choice candidates (including CT’s Chris Murphy and Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts) received resounding support across the country and women voters cast ballots overwhelmingly -- by 38 percent -- for Democratic candidates who supported women’s equality measures.
I heard one pundit on the morning after the elections make a pithy, yet incredibly insightful, analysis of what happened during Election 2012 when it came to how the Republican Party positioned itself. Matt Dowd of ABC said, “The Republicans ran a ‘Mad Men’ campaign in a ‘Modern Family’ world.” That couldn’t be more on point.
The election showed us that voters support social issues, like marriage equality and even legalization of marijuana, that are more of today than 50 years ago. When the 18-month debate and election cycle hyped the GOP’s reproductive platform that was not only anti-choice but also seemed to be anti-contraceptive, the country seemed to scratch their collective head at the end point and say, “What century do they think it is?” With states as varied as Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington supporting gay marriage referendums, it seems the country is supporting diversity more and more.
What the country doesn’t seem to support as much is the Tea Party. Five Tea Party candidates lost their runs for seats and the standard bearer -- Michele Bachman -- managed to only eke out a very tight win. This only highlights another major conclusion from the election: The GOP is highly fractured and needs to reassess its priorities, its leadership and its direction if it’s going to maintain a large enough electorate to represent.
Even in the less extreme sectors of the party, there is recognition that party unity has taken a major hit. Former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said that Mitt Romney wasn’t the “spiritual leader” of the party. Former party head Michael Steele and former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani both spoke out about how the Republicans as a whole need to reexamine how to incorporate more moderate views front and center into their party’s platform.
There were other major miscalculations the GOP made, especially when it came to money, and we saw that big money didn’t necessarily equate to big wins. Despite outspending the Democrats, the Republican candidates in key battles lost to the surprise of some party stalwarts. Karl Rove, the high priest of the party, had to come up with every rationalization in the book to explain why the big bucks and his strategy didn’t work -- not only to big money donors but to himself -- to great embarrassment on live TV while serving as a pundit on the conservative FOX network.
Speaking of overspending and waste, just look what happened to Linda McMahon. In her second failed bid for political office, the Connecticut Republican spent $50 million, this after the first $50 million she spent losing a bid for governor the year before. That’s quite a lot of money to spend on learning that what you stand for isn’t what voters want any more.
The Republicans failed to campaign in a 21st century way. The Democrats took much more advantage of social media platforms, fundraising and incorporating contemporary methods to economize what their less full war chests contained.
Overall, the Republicans miscalculated who would come out to vote and who was important in the electorate. Despite beliefs that the youth vote wouldn’t turn out for President Obama in 2012 like they did in 2008, the opposite happened: the youth vote increased and the overwhelmingly supported the President’s re-election. The enthusiasm amongst women and minority voters was at an all-time high for the Democrats once again.
Sadly, it was reflected in the faces of the Republican candidates and spokespeople out front and center of the party. Donald Trump and the Todd Akins of the world did the GOP no favors. White men who seemed to be out of touch with the electorate became equated with what the party stood for. And in the immediacy of today’s news cycle, those kinds of newsmakers hurt the Republicans in critical ways.
Here’s what did win: Truth. Tolerance. Compassion. In the days following, we’ve seen an acknowledgement of that as Republican leaders, like John Boehner, have made more conciliatory remarks about some of the president’s major programs that voters favored -- health care and immigration among them. Key to these initiatives is the intangibles of compassion and inclusion. Those are hard messages to get around and it worked in the Democrats’ favor.
We all can take away lessons from Election 2012. Compromise is something voters want. Middle ground and moderates -- especially when it comes to social issues -- is the way the majority of the country trends. And finally, the country is different now in racial makeup, in priorities and in the direction it’s heading. Politicians would be wise to heed what it is the citizens of this great country want when it comes to representing them. | <urn:uuid:10bdab1d-8282-462e-ac7d-21483a4fac27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stratford.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/the-big-winner-of-2012-true-representation-a0201cce | 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 | 0.964784 | 1,401 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Get IOL's cool new iPad app...
Zurich - Swiss supermarket chain Coop has found horsemeat in its own-brand lasagne, which has the same French supplier, Comigel, at the heart of a scandal in Britain.
Growing revelations about the use of horsemeat in products labelled beef have raised questions about the safety of the European food supply chain and prompted governments to send out a European Union-wide alert.
Switzerland's Coop had already withdrawn the suspect lasagne from its freezers earlier in the week for tests, which confirmed on Wednesday the products contained horsemeat. A Coop spokesman said customers could get their money back.
While Swiss consumers do eat horsemeat on occasion, they are extremely sensitive about the origin of their meat products with strict labelling requirements in force.
The British unit of frozen foods group Findus began recalling its beef lasagne last week on advice from Comigel, after tests showed concentrations of horsemeat ranging from 60 to 100 percent.
Swiss food group Nestle, which sold the rights to the Findus brand in most of Europe in 2000 but retained them in Switzerland, launched a campaign this week to reassure consumers that Swiss Findus products were only made from Swiss beef.
The scandal first broke on Jan. 15 when routine tests by Irish authorities discovered horsemeat in beefburgers made by firms in Ireland and Britain and sold in supermarket chains including Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer. - Reuters | <urn:uuid:6477b91c-3b2a-4314-b9c2-0ccc864e050a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/horsemeat-in-swiss-chain-s-lasagne-1.1469852 | 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 | 0.962108 | 296 | 1.6875 | 2 |
A collegue of mine is constructing geologic cross sections in Illustrator. He would like to draw line segments in feet or miles instead of inches. Is there a CAD like tool or script he could purchase or download which would give him this capability? He would click his starting point with the pen tool, move the tool until he reached the desired distance and click again to end the line.
CAD Plugin/Script for Illy
1 reply to this topic
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users | <urn:uuid:aff78664-7fca-4d4f-9ffa-12331cf29cf0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cartotalk.com/index.php?showtopic=5417 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956035 | 113 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Google scraps China leg of Nexus One event: source
BEIJING (Reuters) - Google Inc has scrapped the China leg of a regional event to show software developers its first smartphone, the Nexus One, in Beijing, its second such move following its threatened pull-out from the country.
Google will introduce the sleek touchscreen phone to software developers in Hong Kong and Taiwan next week, but will not stage a similar event in Beijing as developers were originally expecting, said a source close to the company, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the situation's sensitivity.
"If Google did not have such an issue with the Chinese government, they would have conducted a similar event in China too," said the source.
In January, Google threatened to shut its Chinese Google.cn portal and pull back from China, citing problems of censorship and a hacking attack from within the country.
Shortly after it announced the high-profile threat, Google delayed the launch of two mobile phones in China which use its Android platform.
Analysts have said a showdown between Google and the Chinese government could hurt mobile phone makers who had bet on the Android system to increase sales in the world's biggest mobile market.
In soothing words for investors, a Chinese industry official said late last month that Beijing would not seek to limit the use of Android mobile phones in China.
The standoff has also made many staff at Google's China operations worried about their jobs, the source said.
Google is currently looking to fill dozens of jobs, including sales, business development and research and development in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, according to a job post on its website (here).
It was not immediately clear if the number of job postings was higher than usual.
Google's Beijing-based spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
Google has been reportedly talking with the Chinese government over both the censorship and hacking issues in a bid to resolve the matter.
It hasn't commented publicly on those discussions, but sources told the New York Times last week the sophisticated hacking attack that set off the standoff may have originated in two Chinese schools, including one with military ties.
China has labeled Google's assertions that its computers were attacked by hackers based in China as groundless.
(Reporting by Michael Wei and Jacqueline Wong; Editing by Doug Young and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
- Tweet this
- Share this
- Digg this | <urn:uuid:564d1d15-607a-451f-b9ef-26005acd17f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/24/us-google-china-idUSTRE61N1RK20100224?type=technologyNews | 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 | 0.971602 | 487 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Andre Gingras, © Jochem Jürgens
THE PEACOCK’S ROBES
Andre Gingras (Holland/Canada), "Hypertropia"
The performance ends with a majestic view of a peacock, the king of the birds. The beautiful bird towers over the other dancers, standing at the rear of the stage against a projected background. This is the way the story ends, but what came before?
A strong point of the performance is its diversity, constantly changing scenes and new stories. It’s about violence and war, about people oppressed by others, constant fights between society and individuals. The dancers illustrate scenes of beating, torture, strangling and people not allowed to express themselves. There is a joke about Jews and Palestinians told in the meantime. It reveals our stereotypical way of thinking and our approach to the wars and problems that happen close by.
Andre Gingras’ group finds the golden mean between the seriousness of the subject and casual attitudes to it- and it is all to avoid tiring the audience. In fact, we are dragged into the dialog. The dancers let us forget, that we are only in the theatre. They change the scenery themselves, order pauses to the music. To whom are the jokes about Jews addressed to, if not to us?
There is a scene of a perfect murder played for us. It is like a scene in a soap opera, where everything is perfect and the act of murder has aesthetic values. Everybody stands in their positions and does what is necessary with the speed of a Brazilian serial.
The dancers use many modes of expression, linking modern dance with break- dance and fight scenes. The dancing arrangement is based on posing (as if for a photo). They consciously create the dance and show that our bodiesy are not always under our control. Nothing is perfect in spite of your efforts, because you can easily have obsessions or become a fanatic.
The performance’s message seems simple- we and our world are not perfect. We would just like it to be that way. We are a long, long way from the peacock’s robes. | <urn:uuid:d41f581a-26da-4f27-bf59-b9eb80c9102e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ballet-dance.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=188670 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953877 | 439 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Wounded Pakistani rights activist to receive medical treatment in England
CWN - October 15, 2012
Malala Yousafzai, the teenage Pakistani human-rights activist who was shot in the head by would-be Taliban assassins, will travel to England for medical treatment.
Yousafzai, who underwent emergency surgery to repair the gunshot wound, was originally reported to be recovering. But doctors have downgraded her condition, saying that her life remains in danger.
An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:
Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($21,578 to go):
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off! | <urn:uuid:f6df5140-d9c9-4de7-b998-08c1ac9d24fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=15920 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947033 | 217 | 1.75 | 2 |
I wrote this column about 14 years ago when the Saskatchewan film industry was lobbying for a tax credit. I went through the most recent provincial budget documents and noticed how many other industry also recieved “subsidies” — often massive ones. The industyr got its wish only a few weeks after this ran. Then, this year, the current government decided to save $6 million or so and kill the credit. Suddenly, this dusty old diatrabe was relevant again. The repeat version ran May 27 in the new Sunday Phoenix, my first contribution to the revamped “Saskatoon Sun.”
Some things change, but some things about the Saskatchewan film industry remain the same. Consider employment tax credits, a huge issue in the late 1990s when other provinces were bringing them in, leaving Saskatchewan behind. Suddenly, it’s 1998 again and the industry is forced to restate its relevance as a force that generates culture and employment. Not merely a sequel, it looks like we’re watching the same movie again.
FILM TAX CREDIT WILL BRING HOME THE BACON
I’ll be the first to agree that movies aren’t as glamorous as hogs, but the trick is to convince the public otherwise.
While Saskatchewan’s little piggies go to market, bolstered by ever-increasing trough-fulls of private money, another industry has been growing with barely a snout-full of interest from Saskatchewan investors. It’s the non-polluting, non-odiferous film industry and, yes, Saskatchewan has one. For now.
According to the Saskatchewan Motion Picture Association, 74 per cent of Saskatchewan film financing comes from private investors and 70 per cent of them are coming from outside the province.
Local producers have all but given up trying to attract interest in town. Where does one turn for leadership at a time like this? How about the provincial government? It’s time provincial cabinet ministers woke up and smelled the bacon. The chronically underfunded SaskFilm does what it can to disperse the chicken feed government provides. But it’s not enough to sustain or expand the industry and everyone knows it.
My sources have been squealing quietly in my ear the past few days about a new kind of feed called an SETC, the Saskatchewan Film and Video Employment Tax Credit for short. The film industry has been strenuously lobbying the government for a labour tax credit for several years. Why, you ask? Why do they need government handouts to do business when the rest of us have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and sink or swim on our own? I will answer that question if you stop mixing your cliches.
The tax credit is a tool for attracting new business and developing jobs for Saskatchewanians, the best kind of wanians I know. The government is no stranger when it comes to using tax credits to support industry. Remember those pigs? They need places to live and get plump. Major hog producers don’t have to pay provincial sales tax on barn construction materials. You can huff and puff, but you won’t blow their houses down.
Tax breaks, in the government’s own language, “have become fundamental elements of the tax system’’ (March, 1997 budget address). Diesel fuel used on the farm is tax-free and gasoline used for agriculture gets a tax rebate “in recognition of the importance of agriculture to Saskatchewan.” That one fuel tax break was worth $117 million last year. In contrast, SaskFilm set a record in 1996 by investing $1.7 million in film projects. Excuse me, I’ve got Spielberg on line two.
Our main competition is Manitoba, the first Western province to institute a credit. Manitoba predicts a fourfold increase in business in the next two years. Are we going to stand by while Manitoba hogs all the business?
I’ve spoken to one Saskatoon film producer who predicts dire consequences without the tax credit. Companies will be tempted to relocate to other provinces or, at least, travel there to make films. Deprived of frequent jobs, crew people will have little option but to go where the action is.
With a tax credit, local producers will have the ability to attract more and more investment. Total film production in Saskatchewan in 1997 was $22 million, according to SaskFilm. With a tax credit, SMPIA predicts a boost in activity to $64.4 million by 2000 (slightly less than the last provincial sales tax break on fertilizer, pesticide and feed.)
Saskatchewan’s film producers have done all the pitching they can. They are counting on the labour tax credit to be included in next month’s provincial budget. If it is, it’s a sign our politicians finally see the film industry as a serious, money-making, job-creating sector of the economy.
It’s time to make choice: Do we want to be the little piggy that ate roast beef or the little piggy that had none?
— First published
Feb. 7, 1998 | <urn:uuid:f77cc908-56ab-48c6-adda-3a84d0127766> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.thestarphoenix.com/2012/06/14/i-wrote-this-co/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950845 | 1,059 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Thanks for writing into us today. Many children are assigned chores in their home because as a family you guys are a team. Everyone is expected to pitch in and do their fare share of work to keep the house a "home". If you feel the duties are unfair or unreasonable, talk to your parents about it and explain why. If they disagree, perhaps talk with them about ways to make your duties less stressful on you.
Maybe you can divide some of your chores up before and after school. Maybe you can do some chores after school and one or two before bed. You're right that your number one responsibility is to be a student so it's important that you manage these responsibilities as well. As far as the chores "passing inspection", pay attention to what your father expects so that you can hopefully get his approval the first time. Having to re-do a chore only takes more time and energy which from the sound of it, is something you don't have much to spare.
Being 16, you will soon be on your own and will need these skills of organization and time management. Your current responsibilities are preparing you for this time because when you have your own place you too will need to manage house duties as well as work or student duties. True, you might not have the same expectations as your father does but it will be your home and therefore your choice how you choose to clean it.
The fact that this situation has caused you so much stress and emotional downfall is very concerning to us. Reaching out for help is a great way to deal with a situation like this, hurting yourself is not. Again, being 16 we can understand the pressure that is often put on you from home and school. Finding healthier ways to cope with the stress is something others can help you with. Your teachers, parents, and counselors all want to see you succeed so reach out to them and let them know that you are struggling right now. Chances are, things are only going to become more stressful as you get ready to graduate and continue on to college so learning how to deal with the stress now is very important before things become worse.
Stephanie, Crisis Counselor | <urn:uuid:a36e3922-8ad0-4248-bf45-aa1e9b572636> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/AskIt/Lists/Hotline%20Discusion/QuestionAnswer1.aspx?RootFolder=%2FAskIt%2FLists%2FHotline%20Discusion%2FLife%20At%20Home%20Stressful&FolderCTID=0x012002003E610C613281404680EF692A2BEF211F | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985795 | 439 | 1.71875 | 2 |
At a minimarket on the Greek island of Ikaria, I study the labels on various items, trying to decipher their meaning.
It has been three days since I left my Greek husband back in New York and dove headfirst into a local language immersion course. I’m feeling a tad out of my depth. But then an elderly lady comes to my rescue, explaining what it is that I’m looking at.
After a brief but challenging exchange in Greek, I leave with a bag of groceries — and my new friend’s recipe for fava, a split-pea purée. I’m beginning to feel at home.
Months earlier, when I’d told my Greek relatives that I was going to Ikaria for a two-week language course, it had caused quite a stir.
My brother-in-law sprang out of his chair, grabbed a map and waggled his finger over a narrow land mass in the eastern Aegean Sea. “It’s remote,” he said.
My mother-in-law threw up her hands. “The beaches aren’t the best,” she exclaimed. “And their customs are peculiar.”
My father-in-law raised his finger for the final word: “Ah, but once she’s there, she may never want to leave.”
How right he was. This wing-shaped island, named after the mythological Icarus, who famously flew too close to the sun, melted his wings of wax and crashed into the sea, has definitely gotten its hooks into me.
On the flight to Ikaria, armed with a book of basic Greek phrases, I sit next to Loles, a gregarious Spanish woman also headed for the Ikarian Centre Greek language school.
At Ikaria’s tiny airport, a man with a wide smile and unruly curls greets me. He hands me a set of keys and directs me to a well-worn Chevy. When I ask about the rental-car contract, he shrugs. “The office is closed on Sundays,” he says. “Drop by whenever you have time.”
It seems a casual way to do business, but Loles assures me that it’s the Ikarian way. My hands grip the steering wheel for an hour of hairpin turns as we cross the mountains and descend through pine-covered slopes to the northwest side of the island. The landscape is windswept and wild until we reach our destination of Arethusa, a quaint stone village on the slope of Mount Aetheras. It’s a magical spot with a mountain backdrop and a view down to the sea. The scent of wild oregano wafts through the air, and the only sound is the jangle of goat bells.
The next morning, I wake before sunrise. I still have time for a dip before class.
In the days that follow, I never pass a soul who doesn’t acknowledge me with a wave and a smile or a few kind words. It’s true that Ikaria’s beaches aren’t the best in Greece, and the sea is rough when the Meltemi, a northern summer wind, blows. But the people are among the most genuine I’ve ever met.
Ikaria turns out to be the perfect place to combine a vacation with education, because the locals are open-hearted and patient. I pop into the car rental agency in Evdilos, the island’s second port. I spend the next hour chatting with Argiro, the owner. She’s more concerned with circling the island’s sites on a tourist map than completing paperwork.
Later, I meet friends at a beachside taverna run by a woman named Anna. She brings us horta (wild greens), spinach pie, fresh bread and tzatziki and then sits down with us. We ask her about the economic situation in Greece. ‘We deal with change, but we don’t dwell on it,” she says philosophically. “We’re not rich in Ikaria, but we have time for family and friends; we share our happiness and our hardship.” I’m struck by the strong sense of community in Ikaria.
Each tourist attraction becomes a cultural experience. We visit Theoskepasti — a tiny chapel tucked beneath a gigantic granite ledge. It’s decorated with icons and oil lamps, and houses the skulls and bones of old monks. We sit at a long wooden table under the pine trees while the elderly caretaker serves us Greek coffee and freshly made loukoumades — hot dough balls sprinkled with cinnamon and drizzled with honey.
The young couple at the other end of the table shift down and strike up a conversation. They tell us that in ancient Greece, loukoumades were served to the winning athletes as “honey tokens.” They speak slowly and don’t seem to mind my limited Greek.
Ikaria may not be bursting with classical ruins, but it’s a walker’s paradise of hills, forests, gullies and gorges. Starting out on the Plateau of Raches about 1,640 feet above sea level, my classmates and I follow a dirt path toward Armenistis, a quiet fishing village west of Evdilos. Every step brings a dramatic change of scene — abandoned stone houses hidden among pine trees, followed by terraced mountainsides and then desertlike cacti and lunar landscapes.
We stop at a gushing waterfall to rest and snack on local almonds and apricots. We end up at Livadi, one of the island’s most beautiful beaches, for a dip in crystal-clear waters.
My mother-in-law turns out to be right about the island’s quirky customs — the Icarians are renowned for their odd timekeeping. I don’t need a watch here, because nobody’s in a hurry and there’s no pressure for punctuality. Everything happens in its own time.
It’s also acceptable to disappear for several hours in the afternoon for a siesta — everyone does it. This custom is taken to the extreme in the village of Christos Raches, where residents come to life after sunset and stores stay open well into the early-morning hours.
There’s nothing like Ikaria’s panygiria, religious festivals that occur almost daily between May and October in villages across the island. These are exhilarating occasions where you leave your inhibitions at home and dance all night.
With other students from the language school, I loosen up for our first panygiri, in honour of two early physicians, Saints Cosmas and Damian. A local dance teacher named Kostas has come to lead the class. His eyes are gentle and his voice is soothing. He guides us through the steps of several circular dances, including the traditional Ikariotikos — a quick, graceful dance with light steps.
At 10 p.m., we arrive in Karavostamo, a nearby village. People nod and smile as we make our way to a wooden table under the trees.
While I work my way through a communal meal of roasted goat meat, fried potatoes and salad, I notice a round-faced grandpa bouncing his granddaughter on his knee. A young couple in their 20s are smooching. The musicians are playing at a feverish pace, and people of all ages hold hands and swirl around, snaking through a second circle of dancers.
I knock back a few glasses of smoky red wine to unleash the unbridled dancer within. Soon I’m part of the dance circle, carried away by a dizzying rhythm as though under the intoxicating spell of Dionysus. I dance nonstop until 3 a.m.
Before turning in, I stop on the terrace for a lingering look at the Aegean below. I must leave this enchanted island, though I’m not ready to go. I came to learn a language and I’ve discovered a way of life. When I return home, I vow, I’ll make more time for the people who cross my path.
I look up at the starry sky above. And I make a wish. | <urn:uuid:77054616-7848-4377-a23d-1a8855496d86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thespec.com/living-story/2191856-plunging-into-life-on-an-aegean-isle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947384 | 1,755 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Waterford celebrates its cultural heritage
WATERFORD — It was a new theme for an event that has been around for the last 10 summers. This year’s Waterford Cultural Festival was a celebration of the cultures which played significant roles in the municipality’s history.
Italian, French-Canadian and Irish ancestors made Waterford what it is today, according to Brad Utter, the event’s chairperson and director of the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center.
“We’ve got lots of great activities planned throughout the day both inside and outside,” Utter said. “We’re here to celebrate Waterford and America’s culture and the melting pot that America is. We started the festival at noon, which is a little earlier than in previous years, so we’re having kind of a slow start, but expect it to pick up at 3 p.m. because that’s when we’ve started the festival in the past. It runs until 9 p.m.”
Last year’s Irish festival drew close to 3,000 people, according to Utter.
Lectures and exhibits, providing a glimpse into the three cultures’ contributions to both the village and the town, highlighted in an Web-based exhibit at www.waterfordmuseum.com, took place inside the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center, located at 1 Tugboat Alley. Outside, vendors were lined up along the promenade, which was made all the more interesting by anchored houseboats and vessels that moved through the locks. Bus tours of the Waterford Flight were offered free of charge.
One of the event’s headliners, local band Hair of the Dog was slated to take the stage at 7 p.m. At 3 p.m. The Olde Burnside Brewing Company of Hartford, Conn., would begin selling souvenir cups and pouring its award-winning craft beer. Beer-tasting cost $20 will 100 percent of proceeds benefiting the Waterford Museum.
There was no shortage of live music, dancing, food and drink, including performances by Irish Folk Musicians The Boys of Wexford, Italian music by Brian L. DiGiuseppe Music Productions, Country Hill Cloggers, An Clar Dancers and School of Irish Dancing, Franco American Musicians and Contra dancers, Bernie Ouimet and Set Americain.
For two festival-goers, the event was a surprise. Spouses Mary Jane and Bill Valachovic of Colonie were escorted to the festival by their daughter and son-in-law Peggy and John Watrous as a way to celebrate Bill’s 90th birthday.
“We discovered the flight of the locks this spring and know how much my parents love history,” Peggy said. “So we took them to lunch at Don and Paul’s in downtown Waterford and brought them to the festival.”
“They called it our mystery trip,” said Mary Jane, herself an octogenarian. “And we’re having such a lovely time. My grandparents were French-Canadian and my grandmother came from Canada to work in the mills in Cohoes.” Continued...
Valachovic saw photos of mill workers inside the Visitor Center as part of the exhibit and was thrilled to learn more about the life her grandparents had led.
“And we took a tour of the locks, which was beautiful. This is the perfect kind of birthday gift to be given,” she added.
Mary Reaban of Albany, who owns Myrrh Designs, was one of a dozen or more vendors who chose to display her wares -- handcrafted jewelry -- at the cultural festival because of the unique venue it was.
“I started making jewelry in 2000. It provides me with an artistic outlet that I really enjoy,” she said.
Reaban’s inventory included fresh water pearl and sterling silver earrings, unique necklaces and bracelets. She characterized it as a colorful mix of ‘the funky and the elegant.’
The longest lines to be found shortly after noon on such an oppressively hot and humid day were at Hawaiian Shaved Ice, where generous scoops of ice were slathered with extreme combinations of flavors, such as watermelon, root beer, blueberry, and lemon.
Six-year-old Liam Conroy and his nine-year-old brother Brendan from Halfmoon and their cousin Conor Sage from Poestenkill downed a few ices each and were taking in the scenery, courtesy of their grandparents Bill and Mary Ellen Sage, who had performed an Irish jig only moments earlier.
“I liked the when they shot the canon on the Onrust boat,” Brendan said when asked to talk about something he’d most enjoyed at the festival. “It didn’t scare me.”
Sponsors of the event which benefits the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center, located in the 1830 Hugh White Homestead on Museum Lane in Waterford, included the Town and Village of Waterford, Momentive Performance Materials, Mohawk, National Park Service, and the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.
Location, ST | website.com
National News Videos
- Capital Region fallen heroes honored with procession, flag hanging (6)
- John Ostwald: ‘It is to relive our youts’ (5)
- Roundup: UAlbany drops regular-season finale to Binghamton (1)
- VIDEO Eddy Meet: Troy's Courtney Avery jumps over rivals; Emma Willard scores (1)
- Committee to mull report on Hoosick Falls Police (1)
- Sage Colleges’ commencement celebrates graduates hard work (1)
- Girls Academy cruises into Class C final (1)
Recent Activity on Facebook
Send us your news tips and story ideas .
Editor Lisa Robert Lewis offers insight into our newsroom as well as the community and the people we cover.
You no longer have to wait until every Monday to hear the latest about what Rensselaer and Albany politicians are up to. Visit the Talespin Blog everyday, if for no other reason than to make sure you're not mentioned.
Vito Ciccarelli talks about Trojans and the things they do in their communities.
Join Rafi Topalian as he discusses the past, present and future Armenian news, stories and related issues that effect not only the Armenian Community in the Capital District but non-Armenian readers alike. | <urn:uuid:f8761f35-e6f0-4add-bb4a-88fcbbbbc0cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://troyrecord.com/articles/2012/08/05/news/doc501e0d4c07a14883744749.txt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960325 | 1,361 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The International Criminal Court's appeals chamber has ruled that a trial of a Congolese warlord should resume after a three-month suspension.
In July, judges halted Thomas Lubanga's trial on war crimes charges and ordered his release when prosecutors refused to hand information to the defence.
Friday's ruling reversed the decision, but also rebuked Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo for flouting court orders.
Mr Lubanga has denied using child soldiers in eastern DR Congo in 2002-3.
His is the first trial to start at the ICC at The Hague but the case has been plagued by legal challenges.
The 49 year old led the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), an ethnic Hema militia - one of six groups that fought for control of the gold-rich Ituri region.
The land struggle turned into an inter-ethnic war in which an estimated 50,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. | <urn:uuid:373b2998-9223-4384-b6ee-9a9ef92bedba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://luishipolito.blogspot.jp/2010_10_08_archive.html | 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 | 0.962805 | 192 | 1.648438 | 2 |
|Sponsor||Rep. Lamborn, Doug|
|Date||November 3, 2009 (111th Congress, 1st Session)|
|Staff Contact||Ja'Ron Smith|
H.Con.Res. 139 is expected to be considered on the floor of the House on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, under a motion to suspend the rules, requiring a two-thirds vote for passage. The legislation was introduced Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) June 3, 2009.
H.Con.Res. 139 would resolve that the House of Representatives:
• "Congratulates the 207 graduates (157 surviving as of April 2009) of the first United States Air Force Academy class on the 50th anniversary of their graduation;
• "Acknowledges the continued excellence of the United States Air Force Academy and its critical role in the defense of the United States; and
• "Recognizes the outstanding service to the Nation that graduates from the United States Air Force Academy have provided."
According to the resolution's findings, on April 1, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation establishing the United States Air Force Academy to prepare young men for careers as Air Force officers. | <urn:uuid:686a494b-55f4-40ad-b6fb-bc7bd295f265> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/1/hconres139 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944383 | 243 | 1.5625 | 2 |
That was just the start of the endpoint security revolution. While, spyware was initially considered more of a production and help desk issue than a security concern, the criminal world has turned the threat environment on its ear.
"From two years ago, there was a 180 in how malware and virus writers--kids working out of their basement seeking notoriety--approached the industry," said David Frazer, director of technical services at Helsinki-based AV firm F-Secure Corp. "Now we have professional virus writers, they have quality assurance, R&D, developing blended threats, targeted attacks aimed at specific users."
Host-based intrusion prevention systems (HIPS) are at the heart of the security industry response. Traditional signature-based antivirus and antispyware fail to detect zero-day exploits or targeted, custom-tailored attacks. There are several approaches; some intercept calls to the OS when programs execute and develop a baseline of normal activity; others use pre-execution protocol analysis, while still others use a sandbox approach, letting suspect programs execute in a protected environment. The common theme is detection that goes beyond signatures.
Once a nice-to-have-if-you-can-afford-it technology featuring players like Okena, Entercept, Harris and Sana Security, HIPS is rapidly becoming a staple for desktop and server security.
All the major antivirus vendors, including Symantec and McAfee (from Entercept), the 800-pound gorillas in the market, and competitors like Trend Micro, CA, Sophos and F-Secure. In addition, Cisco Systems (from Okena), eEye Digital Security and Internet Security Systems (ISS, now part of IBM), have comprehensive endpoint security solutions that include HIPS. eEye and ISS have added signature-based detection to round out their packages.
Some companies offer HIPS a la carte or as part of a more or less integrated endpoint security package, while others consider it an integral part of their solution.
Those packages are typically one-stop shopping for your endpoints. They typically include centrally managed client firewall, application usage control and content filtering--and sometimes antispam and antiphishing tools. The bottom line is one product to manage.
Consider that a metropolitan area health care organization, which includes several hospitals, is about to deploy eEye's Blink on at least 15,000 seats for desktops and servers.
"Blink adds number of additional protection measures from just antivirus, to HIPS, identity theft protection, antiphishing, identification and system firewall, application protection, executable protection," said the organization's security manager, who prefers to remain anonymous.
"A key point is local vulnerability assessment," he said. "Machines can scan themselves and report home, and reporting that assessment is very small payload compared to size over wire. It's less intrusive than network scanning."
"There's a very palpable change in what administrators are looking for in endpoint security offering," said Ron O'Brien, a senior security analyst at Sophos. "At a recent show, they were talking about having one company for antivirus, one for spyware, one for productivity filter, one for application control--managing different consoles, different agents. Using a single scan, looking from a single seems to resonate."
Brian Troudy, a senior network administrator for the Walnut Valley (California) School District, decided his desktop antivirus wasn't enough for his 4,000 desktops.
"It was more virus location software than antivirus--great at detecting but miserable to remove them," said Troudy, who is replacing his traditional antivirus with ISS Proventia Desktop on both employee and school lab desktops. "I went to see what else was there--something that offered more end-to-end desktop security and help with desktop performance."
"We chose a non-traditional path, and it's proving very helpful to us," said the health care organization security manager. "It will complement antivirus in the beginning; it adds another layer, defense in depth. But we've looking at replacement; we feel comfortable that Blink is robust enough."
The ability to feed into network security tools is another sweet spot for the new generation of endpoint products.
"The biggest thing for me was that Cisco had several systems that works together—MARS (SIEM), ASA (Network) IPS," said Carl Goodman, an information security manager for California-based Premier Valley Bank, which decided on Cisco Security Agent, along with the other Cisco security tools. "Other tools take reporting from CSA--from that standpoint alone, it makes sense. False positives are eliminated. The fact that we have it all tied together and reported at one location, with 24x7 monitoring is pretty valuable."
"We're often asked about SIM/SEM," said John Engels, Symantec group product manager. "That roll-up is important. Critical Security's host IDS can send out real-time information to SIMs."
The initial market for early HIPS products were select enterprises that tended to be on the cutting edge but that may be changing as organizations start to see the benefits of HIPS and other endpoint security applications rolled up with signature-based tools.
It's been large enterprises among the customers we've been seeing until late last year," Engels said. "Increasingly, it's been smaller and smaller customer."
"Customers are struggling to understand--it's a difficult market to understand; it's a lot more complex to parse this market than the antivirus world," said eEye CEO Ross Brown. "The tribal knowledge among security professionals and end users isn't quite there yet. But go to customers with single agent that does security at same price, and it's easy for them to wrap their heads around." | <urn:uuid:b9ba37ab-caaa-4041-8acb-0da01fa8d9f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/1253602/When-signature-based-antivirus-isnt-enough | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961234 | 1,190 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Reckitt Benckiser continues to trim carbon footprint
PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Reckitt Benckiser has narrowed its carbon footprint by 11% in 2010, the company said.
The company, which owns such brands as Clearasil, Lysol and Woolite, said the reduction is part of its Carbon20 program, which aims to reduce its products' impact on climate change by 20% by 2020.
"Focusing on climate change is right for our business, right for our industry and right for society," said Bart Becht, Reckitt Benckiser CEO. "Our Carbon20 program establishes ambitious targets for RB, and I'm pleased that we are on track to exceed them. However, much remains to be done in the realm of combating climate change, and RB will not rest in our quest to drive progress." | <urn:uuid:e31726aa-f7c5-40a2-9ba4-2990d9615739> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.drugstorenews.com/article/reckitt-benckiser-continues-trim-carbon-footprint?ad=front-end-categories&device=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970674 | 174 | 1.570313 | 2 |
NYC Manhole Shoots Out 10 Foot Flames
Smoke fills the air above a fire in a manhole at West 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, just south of Times Square, in New York, on Monday, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo)
May 04, 2010
NEW YORK — A manhole fire blamed on underground electrical cables shot flames 10 feet into the air Monday afternoon near Times Square, startling passers-by and closing a street just blocks from where a failed bomb was found over the weekend.
No injuries were reported, but acrid smoke still filled the air an hour-and-a-half later, and Fire Chief Mike Meyers said 300 people evacuated four nearby office buildings.
“I saw the manhole cover shoot up in the air and the fire shoot up out of the ground,” said Shiryelle Reese, who was walking back to her office from lunch when the manhole erupted in flames around 1:40 p.m. “The fire, it was like a volcano type of thing.”
Rachel Peters watched from the fifth floor of her office building.
“The ground kind of shook,” she said. “I heard a boom. Then we ran down the stairway.”
Con Edison spokesman Allan Drury said that smoking underground cables caused the fire. Utility crews were at the scene, but no power outages were reported. Officials closed 40th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues.
A fire official said that after the blast, firefighters checked carbon monoxide levels in the basement of a nearby building.
Though not nearly as serious, the fire recalled the rupture of a steam pipe beneath a street on the other side of Manhattan in 2007. Dozens of people were injured and a woman died of a heart attack. | <urn:uuid:5cac3a16-75c8-482f-98bf-7268eec04e5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firelink.monster.com/news/articles/12271-nyc-manhole-shoots-out-10-foot-flames | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967482 | 369 | 1.75 | 2 |
|May 18, 2012|
Graduating the Future Leaders of a Global Free-Enterprise Society
Over the course of the past two weeks, we held Commencement ceremonies on all three residential campuses of Northwood University. Commencement is what we plan for at Northwood University. In fact, our Mission Statement - "to develop the future leaders of a global free-enterprise society" - suggests exactly that. What we teach our graduates in the time they spend on our campuses or in any of our programs is meant to prepare them for their future and to be the leaders of our new global society.
The speakers we select to deliver the Commencement addresses on our residential campuses are chosen because they are champions for and represent our ideals and values. Some come from the business world and are leaders in their own very successful businesses; others are leaders of philanthropic foundations and organizations; and some are leaders in other capacities such as the military. Our speakers this year were exceptional in many ways, though they all truly believe in our focus on entrepreneurism, leadership and helping others become successful.
On Sunday May 6, the speaker on our Florida campus was Congressman Alan West. Congressman West was recently elected to serve the people of Florida in the 22nd District and is very much an advocate of free-enterprise. He also has a military background and is quoted as saying, "With a good education, any child in America can live his dream." His message to our graduates and their families and friends encouraged them to be leaders in all their endeavors, and was very well-received.
Thursday May 10 was Commencement day on our Texas campus. Samuel B. Brown, a retired military Captain who was severely injured while serving our country, gave our students the message that we should all strive to be "servant leaders." Dr. Brown spoke about the value we should place not only on the freedoms we enjoy as American citizens, but also on the many responsibilities we have as citizens of the world to ensure those freedoms are made available to all people. Dr. Brown and his family are examples of true courage in extreme circumstances and we are fortunate he is involved with our University.
Our Michigan campus held two Commencement ceremonies on Saturday May 12 and both Commencement speakers, while delivering very different messages, are models we encourage our students to emulate. Dr. Frank Beckmann, radio talk-show host and advocate of the free-enterprise system, spoke to our traditional students during the morning ceremony. Dr. Beckmann asked our students to remember where they came from and what they hope to accomplish in the future. His message to apply yourself and do what makes you happy, not just what you believe will make you successful, was one that resonated with not only our students but with their families who were in attendance. He encouraged us all to have a dream and to follow through with that dream, even in the face of adversity.
O. Temple Sloan III spoke to our Adult Degree Program and MBA students during our afternoon ceremony. Dr. Sloan is a very successful business person who is the CEO of General Parts International/CARQUEST, and has been not only a supporter of our University through his many monetary contributions but his company employs many of our graduates. His philosophy is based on three very important words - character, capacity and credit - he believes are the principles upon which everything in life rests. These three values are necessary for success not only in business but in all we do in our lives. Our students are taught these values in their classes at Northwood so Dr. Sloan's message helped reinforce what we strive to have our graduates take into the world with them.
Our goal at Northwood is to graduate people who will lead the business world in a way that will not only make it better but will also encourage the global community to work together for the common good. We feel confident we have done that with the class of 2012, all those who have come before them, and all those who will follow them. Thanks to all our faculty, staff and friends around the world, we are truly helping to "develop the future leaders of a gobal free-enterprise society."
Enjoy your weekend!
Keith A. Pretty, J.D. | <urn:uuid:26d5af19-8c7e-4256-98be-0eb5e6fa449a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northwood.edu/one/2012-05-18.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97704 | 858 | 1.59375 | 2 |
With gas prices idling north of $4.00 a gallon in Hawaii, Luke Kudray parked his Nissan and now pedals to work downtown.
"It takes me 20 minutes in a car, 10 minutes on a bike," the financial analyst said.
Bicycle sales mirror surges in gas prices across the country. At The Bike Shop on King Street in Honolulu, more people are searching for cheaper modes of transportation. Bikes that collapse for easy storage are hot sellers. So are consumer-friendly rides that start at $275 and top out at $2,000.
"You spend $2,000 on a bicycle, you're getting basically a Mercedes or BMW quality. You spend $2,000 on a car, you're getting something that's in the shop all the time," The Bike Shop manager Chris Blumenstetter said.
At Pacific Mopeds, sales of motorized two-wheelers have steadily climbed as gas prices have gone up and stayed there.
"A hundred miles a gallon. You can't go wrong," manager Nick Youngleson said. "Parking wise, it makes a lot more sense for workers downtown than paying $300 a month."
He estimates you can pay off a moped in six months with the money you pay to gas up an SUV or a mid-size car.
At The Bike Shop, sales are up 30 percent over this time last year. Bike makers are cashing in on the gas crunch.
"They're offering bicycles now that are more eco-friendly with racks on it and fenders," Blumenstetter said. "It makes the commuter a little bit more comfortable,"
Comfort in the back pocket can offset the pain at the pump.
"Our whole office started trying to bike to work," Kudray said.
Judging by the bicycle racks downtown, more and more people are peddling it.
Copyright 2012 America Now. All rights reserved
WISTV License Subsidiary, LCC
1111 Bull St. | <urn:uuid:0e62993f-60c0-4d71-882f-cd58d86f28a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wistv.com/story/16581941/gas-prices-boost-sales-of-bikes-and-mopeds | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958517 | 413 | 1.507813 | 2 |
DEPT. OF PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY & CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Students earning a bachelor degree will be qualified to serve in such areas as:
The degree also serves as excellent preparation for graduate school in a variety of disciplines.
Students will be prepared for careers with these valuable skills:
Students will be qualified to serve in entry-level jobs in such areas as: | <urn:uuid:e73299d6-079d-4342-ae9a-6d8209d4d859> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rsu.edu/academics/psych-soc-crimjus/careers.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9436 | 79 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The Serbian government called on President Boris Tadic to dissolve parliament and call elections Monday, after the ruling coalition collapsed over a rift in policy towards Kosovo and the EU.
"The government of Serbia no longer has a united and joint policy," Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's government said in a statement, proposing parliament be disbanded and a general election be called for May 11.
Tadic, who has said he will approve the request, has a three-day deadline to comply. He is expected to do so on Thursday, Tanjug news agency reported.
Over the weekend, the moderate nationalist premier announced that his Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) was unable to overcome differences with its pro-European coalition partners from Tadic's Democratic Party.
The rift came four weeks after Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia, despite fierce opposition from Serbs, who consider the territory their historic and cultural heartland.
Despite Serbia's anger, most European Union countries have recognised the new state, and Kostunica vowed to halt Serbia's further integration until the 27-member bloc rejects Kosovo's separation.
He shares this position with the ultra-nationalist opposition Serbian Radical Party (SRS), which will now be looking to campaign hard on the issue ahead of the expected May poll.
Serbia's traditional ally Russia has also furiously denounced Kosovo's breakaway and blocked efforts in the UN Security Council to offer support for its independence.
Tadic, a pro-western reformer, insists Belgrade has no alternative but to join the EU as soon as possible -- despite the dispute over Kosovo -- and has accused the DSS of using delaying tactics to foil integration.
In Brussels, the European Union expressed the hope that pro-western forces would win any poll.
"I don't think that there is any other possibility for our Serbian friends than the EU," said Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country currently holds the union's six-month rotating presidency.
"Where else should they go?" he asked.
Serbia has initialled but not signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, the first step for Balkan states wishing to join the bloc.
The Netherlands prevented Serbia from taking the next step, because of Belgrade's failure to hand over UN war crimes suspects, like former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic who has been indicted for genocide.
Analysts say the elections will be seen as a referendum on Serbia's future -- with the electorate expected to split into two main blocs.
While all Serbian leaders insist publicly that Kosovo must remain part of Serbia, Tadic's pro-European supporters argue that the issue should not be allowed to poison relations with Brussels.
The radical SRS and Kostunica's DSS take a harder line, calling for closer ties with Moscow and a halt to rapprochement with Europe if a majority of EU members recognise Kosovo as an independent state.
"We have a good opportunity for the people of Serbia to choose their way forward," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in Brussels ahead of a meeting of European foreign ministers.
The political crisis saw prices on the Belgrade's stock exchange fall 2.62 percent -- their lowest level since January 2007.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since 1999, when the NATO military alliance intervened to halt what it said was the massacre of the territory's ethnic Albanian majority by Yugoslav security forces.
The UN mission is now due to be replaced by a 2,000-strong European mission, which will work to train Kosovo's judicial and law enforcement agencies while the ethnic Albanian government builds state institutions. | <urn:uuid:a4a9d156-5765-4f03-9314-35d6eb5f1570> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.france24.com/en/20080310-serbian-government-calls-early-polls-serbia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958661 | 754 | 1.804688 | 2 |
NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Has the scabies been treated?
I was told I had scabies about 3 months ago. Have been treated with Ivermectin and Permitherin, as well as creams to help with the itching. After taking the Ivermectin the bites got so bad that a doctor prescribed Hydroxyzine. Question is---- if I still had scabies would this Hydroxzine be preventing the bites/bumps from showing on the skin ? Or is it just meant to stop the itch? I`m afraid I still have scabies and that once I finish the HYDROXZINE the symptoms will reappear. Any thouhts??
The "itch mite" that causes scabies, Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis, continues to cause your skin to itch for awhile, even after the mites have been killed by a scabecide such as permethrin or ivermectin. Hydroxyzine is a drug that stops the itching, but it has no effect on the life cycle of the mites, and would not prevent scabies from showing back up on your skin if the mites are still alive. If you still have symptoms after you finish the course of hydroxyzine, you should go back to see your doctor.
Lisa A Haglund, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati | <urn:uuid:82a5dbaf-e365-45e5-b448-4960202eb96c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netwellness.uc.edu/question.cfm/52627.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957182 | 334 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Item: 19thC John Constable R.A.Portrait Oil Painting, Man in Black Hat
Sold For: $20,100.00
Date: Jul 20, 2012
Description and Image By: wwolst12
If you are not familiar with the works of John Constable (1776-1837) a quick search on the internet will show you his very long and impressive Artistic Resume. This world-famous English Painter was well known for his landscapes, however he often painted Portraits. The very early 19th century Oil Painting in this auction measures 24“ by 20“ and depicts a distinguished gentleman, wearing a large black hat. He has a robust look of a successful businessman. The plaque below this painting reads, “John Constable R.A. 1776-1837” and this painting is guaranteed for life, to be an authentic John Constable Portrait Oil Painting. After looking at this antique Oil Painting under a black light we found that there is some very well done, profesional inpainting in the bottom left-hand corner and on the brim of his hat. There are no other problems or any repairs to this original John Constable Oil Painting and it comes in a period 35“ by 30“ carved & gilded frame. There is some wear and small chips to the gesso of this frame, but overall it is in very good original condition. … This painting has labels on the back from a prior Sotheby’s Auction. | <urn:uuid:5c0bfa1e-60d9-421f-98c5-c22c0893a7ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greatestcollectibles.com/portrait-oil-painting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957606 | 309 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Last week, The Daily Show ran a segment about media coverage of the selection of the new pope (which you can see here, it’s the one called “Ratz!”). It provides a staggeringly emblematic example of what’s wrong with the media today.
As we all know, the magic Vatican chimney would be the signal to alert the public that the papal selection had been made. Black smoke would mean “not yet”, and white smoke would mean “we’ve got one.”
The Daily Show showed a montage of the way that the 24-hour news stations covered the pivotal moment when the chimney began releasing the white smoke. To paraphrase:
Fox News: Vatican radio says it’s black smoke… a lot of confusion… it’s looking white, now.
CNN: Black smoke, yet again… we’re not absolutely positive…
MSNBC: This is a tough call… that looks darker now…
Okay, the smoke is fucking white. No debate, no “shades of grey”, it was white fucking smoke coming out of this chimney. The news anchors saw it with their own eyes, and the audience saw it with their own eyes. And yet all of these news stations seemed either reluctant to acknowledge this information, or were outright in denial.
I understand not wanting to be the first person on international television to declare that a new pope has been selected and then find out that you’re wrong. But Jesus, how hard would it be to say “the smoke appears to be white, which means that the Vatican has selected a new pope, and we are now contacting the Vatican for confirmation”? You’ve described what’s in front of your face, and you’re working on making sure that the white smoke wasn’t a blooper or anything.
This footage shows us thee glaring examples of common news incompetence:
1) Reporter sees something with his own eyes, tells audience the exact opposite.
2) Reporter sees something with her own eyes, tells audience that facts are “unclear”.
3) Reporter sees something with his own eyes, and refuses to tell the audience that he saw it until he’s received a press release telling him what he saw.
2 Comments »
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> | <urn:uuid:87054467-9197-4935-b76b-c4b191e0e75d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lyingmediabastards.com/2005/04/black-white-braindead-all-over | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934953 | 558 | 1.515625 | 2 |
by Jonathan Jenkins, London Free Press
Just say no. Cities and towns opposed to gas power plants or wind farms won’t have to put up with them under a Tory government, says Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak. “I’m going to restore local decision making on these industrial wind farms,” Hudak said, standing in front of what is now a stalled gas plant construction site in Mississauga, near Sherway Gardens.
“Communities like West Lincoln and Haldimand down in southwestern Ontario, they can decide where to put a hot dog stand. They can decide where a Tim
Hortons can be, surely they should have their say on these industrial wind farms.”
The same goes for gas plants — two of which the governing Liberals have killed in less than two years.
Both projects — one in Oakville as well as the one in Mississauga — faced bitter local opposition.
Hudak said a PC government would put natural gas fired electrical generation into old coal-fired plants in Lambton and Nanticoke but would otherwise defer to municipalities.
“That makes a lot more sense than throwing projects into unwilling communities in Mississauga and Oakville,” Hudak said. “Our plan is to work with willing host communities to say what is the best site for these projects.”
Sunday’s commitment overrides a previous Tory pledge to honour any renewable energy contracts already signed under Liberals Green Energy Act, except for the 2,500 megawatt Samsung deal.
In the case of a conflict between a signed contract and a town opposed to wind power, a Tory government would find “some other way to honour the contract,” an official said.
In defending his decision to stop the Mississauga South plant mid-way through the election campaign, Premier Dalton McGuinty said there have been significant changes in the area since the Independent Electricity System Operator first proposed building a plant on that site, including the< addition of three condo towers.
“I think they’re going to think that they have a political party that listens to the community… that we’ve responded to a pretty compelling argument put forward by the folks living in that community,” McGuinty said.
The Liberals stopped the gas-fired Oakville plant last fall after strenuous community opposition.
Asked how much it will cost to move the two projects now, McGuinty said his government is in “conversations” to discuss how they can relocate the plants but he did not provide a figure. | <urn:uuid:74d5270e-c86e-40b8-9df0-488d7d2d9542> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ontario-wind-resistance.org/2011/09/27/power-plants-a-local-decision-hudak/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960028 | 531 | 1.515625 | 2 |
From The Video Vault: 1996 Senate Hearing On CIA Drug Trafficking
You have to view this to get the big picture.
In April 1986, Associated Press reported on an FBI probe into Contra cocaine trafficking. According to the report, “Twelve American, Nicaraguan and Cuban-American rebel backers interviewed by The Associated Press said they had been questioned over the past several months [about contra cocaine trafficking] by the FBI. The interviews, some covering several days, were conducted in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and California, the Contra backers said.” Several of the backers told AP of firsthand knowledge of cocaine trafficking. | <urn:uuid:94a3cdb4-a996-418a-a364-8440f97bfe91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://earlingramjr.com/2010/08/02/from-the-video-vault-1996-senate-hearing-on-cia-drug-trafficking/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954975 | 131 | 1.765625 | 2 |
How To Fix iTouch
Do you want to learn how to fix an iTouch? There are many ways for your iTouch to end up broken or such, if you own one or were planning on owning one you will want to know how to fix the iTouch. Some of the common iTouch problems include constant resetting, randomly resetting, failing to load applications, freezing, and more. Although there are so many ways for the iTouch to break in one way or another, be glad that there are indeed a few simple way to fix most of those problems. Here are some of those most popular ways to fix your iTouch.
- Simply reset the ITouch. Many problems can be fixed by simply resetting the iTouch. You do this by holding the power button down and then flicking your finger as indicated. After turning your iTouch back on in the same manner, you can attempt to remove whatever caused the problem unless you don't know what caused it.
- Update your iTouch. An even larger amount of problems can be fixed by updating your iTouch, these updates were released to fix problems. To update the iTouch, simply connect the iTouch to your computer with the cable Apple provided, then go to iTunes, select the device, select update and then let apple do the rest.
- To fix the worst types of problems, you may need to recover you iTouch from a previous date or do a factory reset. To do either of these, simply plug your iTouch into your computer again and follow iTunes for instructions. The option to do these will be on the device profile page. The factory reset will erase all information and restoring the iTouch will remove whatever you downloaded or did with the device since the last backup. Before doing, this try cleaning up any applications and wasted memory you may have and reset to see if it fixes any problems. | <urn:uuid:69bc8d8a-9f6f-4592-828b-96d8a0c6358d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mademan.com/mm/how-fix-itouch.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937844 | 382 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Mental health care offered to war veterans, families
By ALEX BRANCHStar-Telegram Staff Writer
To help meet the growing need for better mental health services for U.S. troops, a Tarrant County organization will start offering free care next month.
Operation Healthy Reunions will pay for as many as 12 treatment visits for military personnel who were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as their families, said Linda Ragsdale, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Tarrant County.
"It's an important issue," Ragsdale said. "We want to help fill that gap in services for our soldiers who may be experiencing everything from post traumatic stress syndrome to depression."
Veterans groups have recently criticized mental health care for returning troops as inadequate. The Army has said that 121 soldiers committed suicide last year, more than double the number in 2001.
Other studies have shown that as many as 30 percent of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.
In Fort Worth, the overcrowded Veterans Affairs medical clinic stopped taking new enrollees last year until a new facility is built. New enrollees can commute to Dallas.
Operation Healthy Reunions is funded as part of a $5 million grant administered by the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment Fund of the Dallas Foundation. The Chisholm Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross is promoting the program.
"We are well known for reacting to emergencies after they have happened," said Jason Smith, chief executive officer of the Red Cross chapter. "This is an extraordinary chance to do something proactive for our military families."
The program will include an assessment by a licensed professional counselor and referrals to private clinics or other agencies, Ragsdale said. The mental health association offers group therapy.
"We've been networking with different clinics so we'll have a broad range of specialties," said Brooke Knox, the project manager.
Project managers will work with applicants' private insurers to help fund treatment but will pay anything not covered, Ragsdale said.
Relatives of military personnel are also eligible for the program, Knox said.
This report contains material from Star-Telegram archives.
OPERATION HEALTHY REUNIONS
Who is eligible?
Veterans who served in Afghanistan or Iraq; spouses, children and parents of military personnel now in Iraq or Afghanistan or who have served in those places are also eligible. The program covers Tarrant, Parker, Johnson, Wise and Hood counties. A similar program run by the Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas is already available in Dallas County.
How do I apply?
Contact project manager Brooke Knox at 817-335-5405.
When does it start?
Knox, a licensed professional counselor, will start assessments in April. Based on each applicant's problems, the mental health association will provide referrals to private clinics, counselors or other agency.
How long does treatment last?
Six to 12 visits to a clinic, counselor or therapy program. Afterward, another assessment will determine if further treatment is needed, Ragsdale said. The association expects to spend about $150,000 this year on clinical services for the program.
Where does the money come from?
The program is funded by a $15 million grant from the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment that was divided between south, north and west Texas. In North Texas, service agencies apply for money from the Dallas Foundation, which administers the grant. Operation Healthy Reunions has secured funding for two years.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Posted by Mike (Beetle) Bailey at 8:52 AM | <urn:uuid:c647a174-df6f-487b-a564-968163dc53e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vets4politics.blogspot.com/2008/03/mental-health-care-offered-to-war.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951493 | 753 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Let’s abolish the Vauxhall Cross gyratory, says Lambeth Council
The leader of Lambeth Council has called for the removal of the of the Vauxhall Cross gyratory system as the authority prepare to launch a consultation on planning policy for Vauxhall and Albert Embankment.
The council is currently preparing a supplementary planning document (SPD) for Vauxhall and the Albert Embankment that will guide development in that area for the next few years and it wants to hear people's views about what the priorities should be.
The council is putting forward a number of ideas that will make it clear what kind of development will be welcome.
This includes the creation of a new public square that would provide a focus for the area, and the potential for replacing Vauxhall bus station with bus stops along a new high street lined with shops.
"We are determined that any future development in the area brings improvements and benefits for the local community," says Cllr Steve Reed, leader of Lambeth Council.
"We want to create a proper town centre in Vauxhall and remove the physical barriers, like the gyratory, that make this difficult.
"The SPD will set out what improvements local people and the council want, making it clear to developers what will be acceptable and how they will be expected to contribute."
The council is holding open days on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 March (3pm to 8pm) at Unit 13A, St George Wharf, Vauxhall SW8 2LL. All are welcome to share their views.
The council says it wants to wants to consider ambitious plans to remove the gyratory and reintroduce two-way to get a better balance between cars, walking and cycling.
Last year the Mayor of London Boris Johnson told the London Assembly that abolishing the one-way system would cost "in excess of £20 million".
Last month Mr Johnson said: "TfL is continuing to work closely with the London Borough of Lambeth and the GLA to develop short and long term proposals to improve Vauxhall gyratory for all road users.
"There are currently a number of options that are being considered and discussions are continuing between the public bodies, landowners and other stakeholders, although no agreement on a preferred solution has been reached as yet.
"TfL hopes to be in a position to provide a further update by the middle of this year."
• The new SPD will also cover Albert Embankment which is the subject of a number of major development proposals, including a scheme at the former fire brigade headquarters and the recently announced plans by St James for a 28-storey tower. | <urn:uuid:18583913-c827-429d-a469-78e25d37b35d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/5870 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95716 | 550 | 1.5625 | 2 |
MOSCOW — Azerbaijan on Saturday accused Armenia of launching a surprise invasion of its territory with the aid of units of the former Soviet army, only two days after a call for an immediate cease-fire. Officials in Armenia and Moscow flatly denied the accusation.
President Ayaz Mutalibov and other Azerbaijani leaders, meeting in emergency session in Baku, said the "direct aggression" pushed relations between the Transcaucasian neighbors to their most dangerous point in two years.
The accusation spotlighted the uncertain future of what had been the world's largest standing military force--the 3.7-million-member Soviet army--as it speeds toward what the current commander believes will be its inevitable breakup into separate national forces.
Voicing alarm over events in the Caucasus, Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, chief of strategic forces in the Commonwealth of Independent States, said his troops must not permit themselves to be enticed into the conflict or a "large-scale war" could occur.
"That means blood, mass casualties and destruction," Shaposhnikov told the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda.
He called on Armenia and Azerbaijan not to create their own armies until their territorial dispute is solved.
Shaposhnikov spoke on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, a day that had been a hallowed Soviet holiday and that this year is expected to be the occasion for a large-scale demonstration of discontented soldiers and nostalgic and incensed Communists in Moscow.
Addressing his troops, who often must live in miserable conditions and who now face an uncertain future, Shaposhnikov said it is crucial that they display "levelheadedness, restraint, firmness and responsibility" in these difficult times. Shaposhnikov has also suggested a joint Commonwealth peacekeeping detachment in Karabakh.
According to the Azerbaijani reports, which were sketchy and conflicted to some degree, an unspecified number of fighters from a nationalist militia called the Armenian National Army punched over the two republics' common frontier at 3 a.m. in a "storm of fire."
Allegedly riding tanks and other armored vehicles and accompanied by units of the former Soviet 4th and 7th armies, the Armenian forces were "destroying villages and annihilating the peaceful population of the border zones," Azerbaijan's official press service asserted. But the unofficial Assa-Irada press agency reported that only two villagers were killed and two wounded.
The invading force's goal, Assa-Irada said, was to sweep through Kubatly and Jebrail provinces and block the only road connecting Lachin province and Shusha--the major Azerbaijani population center of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh--with the rest of Azerbaijan. The "complete seizure" of Nagorno-Karabakh would result, Assa-Irada said.
Since February, 1988, the two republics have been locked in a violent feud over the status of the territory, which although predominantly Armenian and hence Christian in population, was attached to mostly Muslim Azerbaijan by Kremlin fiat at the dawn of Soviet rule.
With the disappearance of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh now claims to be independent. But Azerbaijan has revoked the status it held as an autonomous region and now considers it a parcel of Azerbaijan territory with no special rights.
In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the Armenian Defense Ministry called the Azerbaijani accusations of an invasion sheer "disinformation" intended to "distract public attention from Azerbaijani policy of direct extermination of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh."
The Commonwealth's general staff headquarters in Moscow also rejected the Azerbaijani claims, saying it "maintains a policy of non-interference in ethnic conflicts."
The government and legislature of Nagorno-Karabakh on Saturday appealed for urgent United Nations intervention to force the Azerbaijani leadership to halt its "escalation of aggression."
Azerbaijani leaders were calling the present situation even more dangerous than that of January, 1990, when Soviet troops, blazing away with their guns, swept aside nationalist resistance to enter Baku, Assa-Irada said. Full-scale combat began at that time between Armenians and Azerbaijanis for Nagorno-Karabakh.
Over the past four years, more than 1,000 people have perished in the fighting. | <urn:uuid:b727aa68-928b-4b89-93cc-4ce9b3fb8cd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/1992-02-23/news/mn-5087_1_uncertain-future | 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 | 0.952901 | 903 | 1.757813 | 2 |
the naacp exists there will be no true progress with race relations. They are "their owns" worst enemy. How racist is a society that elected a black man to the presidency not once but TWICE. Tired and worn out cries of racism. The more they say it the more people pay less attention to the the actual cries and turn their focus more to the hate of that racist organization.
More information about formatting options | <urn:uuid:00e883e6-2677-466b-b2d4-7e4819356205> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wwaytv3.com/comment/reply/42795/194708 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937776 | 87 | 1.507813 | 2 |
It wasn’t the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that rattled Richmond just a day before we were supposed to arrive.
Instead, it was the surprise hurricane nipping at our heels as we drove north from Orlando to Virginia’s capital — slowly gaining strength as she churned toward the US mainland — that got me thinking.
Am I jinxed?
Earlier this year, while I was visiting Maui with my son, my hotel was evacuated because of tsunami kicked up by the catastrophic earthquake in Japan. For good measure, our return flight had to make an emergency landing in Honolulu after catching on fire.
Our road trip hasn’t officially begun yet, and already we’ve dealt with three natural disasters. (Is someone trying to tell us something?)
As I write this, hurricane Irene is barreling toward the East Coast, making a beeline for the most populated areas.
Not a pretty picture.
We’re in upstate New York, out of the direct path of the storm, with plans to head north to Montreal tomorrow. Thank goodness the windshield wipers on our Honda Accord work.
But while we were in Richmond, we had this unique feeling of being sandwiched between two natural disasters. At about 1 a.m., a 4.5 magnitude aftershock rumbled through the Commonwealth Park Suites, where we were staying.
We’d had a full day visiting two must-see attractions in Richmond after a 12-hour overnight drive, so the kids slept through the quake. But the adults were left with a feeling of: “What’s next?”
By the way, if you haven’t been to Richmond recently, you have to visit. The Virginia State Capitol building, with its new visitor complex, recently underwent a $74 million restoration.
The highlight of our tour was the life-size marble statue of George Washington under the interior dome of the rotunda, which is completely unique. The sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon used Washington as a model, making it the statue that most closely resembles the first president. It has been standing here almost uninterrupted since 1796.
Another can’t-miss attraction: The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar. It’s the nation’s first museum to interpret the Civil War from Union, Confederate, and African American perspectives.
Although I don’t consider myself a Civil War buff, I do appreciate a good debate. And if you want to have a spirited discussion about war, race and economics, this is the place to go. The exhibits walk you through each year of the war, explaining the conflict from three different perspectives. Then the interactive exhibits ask you to vote on the likely causes of the war.
If you go, don’t forget to check out the National Parks Service exhibit next to the center, which show off the cannons built here during the war and have several floors of artifacts and interactive exhibits that bring the Civil War battles to life.
I’ll have more on these attraction on National Geographic Traveler’s Intelligent Travel blog soon.
Our kids had a great time in Richmond, hurricanes and earthquakes notwithstanding. It’s great to see them learn about everything from the Civil War to America’s struggle for civil rights on their own. They have a sense of curiosity that travel brings out in all of us.
I’m waiting for them to ask if we can go see the hurricane. | <urn:uuid:98b332ce-8c4f-4493-8e25-be94d3e6efeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://elliott.org/blog/road-trip-update-chased-by-a-hurricane-headed-toward-an-earthquake/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958914 | 723 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Office for Civil Rights Announces Resolution of Title IX Compliance Review Involving the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation in Evansville, Ind.
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights today announced the resolution of a Title IX compliance review at the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation in Evansville, Ind.
The review examined whether the corporation discriminated against female students under Title IX by denying them an equal opportunity to participate in its high school interscholastic athletics program and by not providing to female athletes locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities that are equivalent to those provided to male athletes. Prior to OCR's making a compliance determination, the corporation requested to enter into a voluntary resolution agreement with OCR.
"Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation worked cooperatively and proactively with OCR to address inequities that disadvantage the corporation's female athletes," said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Seth Galanter. "The corporation has agreed to provide equality in its athletic opportunities and in the locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities at each of its high schools. This case reminds us how critical Title IX remains in ensuring equal opportunity in athletics for girls and women."
OCR's investigation revealed a disparity of more than 13 percentage points between the enrollment of female high school students and their participation in the corporation's athletics programs. Had the corporation provided equal participation, girls would have been offered approximately 590 additional athletic participation opportunities.
Under the terms of the agreement, the corporation will assess whether there are unmet athletics interests and abilities among female students and, if so, it will take steps by 2013-14 to increase opportunities for female, including new sports teams for girls, additional levels for existing teams or increased squad size for existing teams.
The corporation will also develop, implement and publicize a procedure for interested parties to use to request the addition of new sports or levels of sports at each high school. The agreement makes clear that OCR does not require or encourage the elimination of any team and that it is seeking action from the corporation that does not involve the elimination of athletic opportunities for either sex.
The agreement also requires the corporation to assess the locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities at each high school by comparing for males and females, the quality, availability, exclusivity, maintenance and preparation of practice and competitive facilities, and the availability and quality of locker rooms.
During the course of OCR's investigation, the corporation made significant renovations to its facilities, including the construction of a new high school. The corporation has agreed to upgrade any athletic facilities that are not comparable by the end of the current school year.
OCR will closely monitor the corporation's implementation of the agreement. A copy of the resolution letter is available at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/05115002-a.pdf and a copy of the resolution agreement is available at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/05115002-b.pdf.
OCR's mission is to ensure equal access to education and promote educational excellence throughout the nation through the vigorous enforcement of civil rights. OCR is responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination by educational institutions on the basis of disability, race, color, national origin, sex, and age, as well as the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2001.
For more information about the Office for Civil Rights, see http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html. For details on how OCR handles civil rights cases, visit http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintprocess.html. | <urn:uuid:c2a87d0e-1a72-4501-a0a3-ab4735200552> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.education.gov/news/press-releases/office-civil-rights-announces-resolution-title-ix-compliance-review-involving-ev | 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 | 0.939353 | 776 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Did anyone have the same reaction that I did this past January to President Bush’s State of the Union address?
I am not talking about what was in it — or what was omitted. I leave that to others. What struck me was the staged nature of the whole event, from the moment the president entered to the sort of thunderous applause you used to hear on the Johnny Carson show to his exit to more of the same. Even his most banal utterances elicited apparent enthusiasm from the assembled members of Congress and the invited audience.
The elected representatives of the American people, whether they were critics of this administration or not, bobbed up and down with an impressive alacrity and clapped their hands in unison as though they were all looking at the same cue card. It was a spectacle that reminded me of those bad old days of the Soviet Union when the members of the Supreme Soviet would rise as one to approve whatever was presented them by their leaders.
Of course we all know that in reality Congress does not meekly do what it is told by the administration. And that senators and representatives are a diverse bunch with their own sources of power, who do not passively submit to guidance from the executive branch. Why, then, do they lend themselves out as extras in the presidential show?
It is partly because today’s media, above all the visual ones, love the dramatic moment and the striking pose (but are not so good at picking up on nuance). Much the same thing has happened in parliaments like my own in Canada, where the daily question periods (during which members are allowed to grill government ministers) and debates on such weighty matters as the budget have degenerated into tedious events, with much shouting and posturing in search of the elusive sound bite for the evening news.
What foolhardy member of congress is going to sit in his or her seat when the president calls on the nation to unite behind some policy? Even if the policy is flawed, the danger of remaining seated once the call to patriotism has been made is too great. That clip can be played and replayed, and the message most viewers will take away is that Sen. Smith or Rep. Brown is an indifferent American. Far fewer people will read the articles explaining why Smith or Brown are registering their disapproval.
I also blame the tendency, again common in a variety of democratic governments, for elected leaders to take on the airs and graces of the monarchs they replaced — and for many of us in democracies to play along with that development. In the case of the State of the Union address, it is my impression, based on a completely unscientific sampling, that the applause is getting longer and more frequent as the content diminishes. When President Lyndon Johnson entered the House in 1964, the clapping, including one Texas yell, lasted for about a minute. In 2007 Bush’s entrance produced a longer ovation, and his speech was interrupted every few sentences by more applause.
Recent presidents — and one can understand the temptation — have done their share in turning the State of the Union address into an occasion for them to wrap themselves in the mantle of statesmanship and declaim like ancient Roman consuls. The message is pretty much always upbeat. Gerald Ford, who admitted in his 1975 address that “the state of the Union is not good,” still stands out as the exception. Even in 1968, when things were clearly turning sour in Vietnam, L.B.J. could only bring himself to say that the United States faced challenges. In 2007, President Bush talked about the success in the war on terror and the promise of victory to come in Iraq.
The State of the Union was not meant to be about boosterism and good public relations; it was a chance for the president to report to Congress on where matters stood and what he was up to. The Constitution calls for the president to “from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” From George Washington onward, presidents usually did this every year, but until the 20th century they simply sent Congress a written statement.
Woodrow Wilson, who admired the British parliamentary system, started the modern practice of delivering the address in person. In parliament, the annual Speech from the Throne gives the government a chance to outline its program for the coming year and the opposition to make reasoned comments and criticism, and for both sides to engage in substantive debates. That last part of the parliamentary tradition only reached the United States in an attenuated form. The minority party’s reply is not made in Congress but, usually these days, from a television studio.
While some of Wilson’s successors went back to the written address, most State of the Union addresses since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s have been delivered in person. In 1947 Harry Truman gave the first televised one. By today’s standards the event was stilted and subdued, but in retrospect it was a harbinger of things to come. In 1965, with the power of television clearly apparent, President Johnson moved the address to the evening in order to catch as many viewers as possible. Ronald Reagan added the crowd-pleasing touch of special guests: from visiting dignitaries to, increasingly, American heroes from all walks of life. In 2007 George Bush invited, among others, the founder of a company that made educational toys for children.
To be fair, that earlier role of the State of the Union address as a serious attempt to deal with the issues facing the country has not entirely disappeared. Even President Bush’s last address contained, amid the hollow rhetoric, some hints about what his administration intended to undertake in the coming year.
Is that enough though to keep the tradition alive, or has the time come to end the show? | <urn:uuid:40b6c279-ceac-4d3d-b5c4-cb8a5c94b729> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://campaigningforhistory.blogs.nytimes.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976047 | 1,201 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Macondo Foundation, Inc.
© Copyright 2011 Sandra Cisneros
The Macondo Foundation works with dedicated and compassionate writers who view their work and talents as part of a larger task of community-building and non-violent social change. Macondo is a community of poets, novelists, journalists, performance artists, and creative writers of all genres whose work is socially-engaged. What unites us is a commitment to serve our under-served communities through our writing.
Officially incorporated in 2006, the Macondo Foundation has its roots in the Macondo Writing Workshop (named after the sleepy town in Gabriel García Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude), which began in 1995 in the kitchen of poet and writer Sandra Cisneros. The Workshop rapidly grew from 15 to more than 120 participants in less than nine years. During that time, the Macondo Workshop expanded its community involvement through annual events with the Our Lady of the Lake University, UT-San Antonio, Trinity University, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, Jump-Start Performance Theatre, Casa de Maria y Marta and the Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center. Macondo currently makes its home at Our Lady of the Lake University.
Monetary contributions are accepted from those with better means to assist workshop participants who cannot fund their own airfare and lodging. In addition, workshop members are expected to review each other's work with rigor and vision. Time is viewed as a gift equal to that of money, so time given is as valuable as cash!
In addition to the annual Workshop, recent Macondo Foundation undertakings include the Gloria Anzaldua Milagro Award, meant to care for our community’s writers in a time of needed healing; health insurance coverage to our member writers; the Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, and the Casa Azul Residency Program.
Macondo enjoys the ongoing support and participation of many internationally recognized writers, including Denise Chavez, John Phillip Santos, Luis Rodriguez, Dorothy Allison, Joy Harjo, Carmen Tafolla, and a large body of emerging writers who are publishing books, touring in the U.S. and abroad, and working in their communities.
For details, visit www.macondofoundation.org. | <urn:uuid:45262efc-a02e-4fba-a125-da721135b114> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sandracisneros.com/macondo.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947683 | 466 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Han Bing is an artist living and working in China. Working primarily through photography, with some installation, Bing explores the characteristics of the “modernization” of China. His work is an introduction to the land, the people, and the romanticism of the country. He had previously been featured by us a month or so back in our food art series post by Ms. Makena.
I’ve always believed it is easiest to talk about artwork as if it almost doesn’t exist. The idea of a piece so fleeting, yet moving, is something romantic – and, in a sense, natural. The work of Almut Vogel taps the shoulder of this idea and smiles. In each line and scratch, the lightness and darkness sing songs about their lives, and history while trying to figure out their future.
Image maker Suzy Poling seems to believe in the unreal. Her work breaks the formalities of typical photography, by utilizing many different methods for production. Some of her work has hints of Andreas Gursky, while other parts have the the surreal air of Tim Walker. Her work feels like a documented rapture, where nothing exists where everything once did. | <urn:uuid:14ee7dd3-ac72-4a06-adb2-2d68fc07f580> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beautifuldecay.com/tag/land/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956235 | 243 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Media people who feel smug because they have a Twitter handle, an about.me page, and 500 friends on Facebook often seem to think there is something magical about their ability to navigate social media. There’s not. Social media is easy to use, the barrier to entry is almost zero, and it’s not at all impressive in the larger realm of what constitutes “new journalism,” or whatever it is we’re supposed to call journalism that involves the use of Big Data and interactive infographics.
Journalism skills, however – those antiquated intangibles that fusty old out-of-touch Columbia tries to teach – are non-trivial. Journalists have to be able to not only write, but to also process and synthesize complicated ideas in a short time, structure narratives, master the art of interviewing, take notes really fast, self edit, research in places where others don’t think to look, speak truth to power, ask ballsy questions that might otherwise get their teeth smacked in, construct arguments, dismantle other arguments, see through bullshit, and think on their feet. You can learn those things by yourself through hard work and experience, but it’ll take more than 40 seconds.
Hamish McKenzie, PandoDaily, So Columbia Journalism School’s new dean doesn’t Tweet. So what?
FJP: We’d argue that Twitter and this overall social media thing takes more than 40 seconds to learn but Hamish’s argument against Michael Wolff’s criticism of the Columbia J-School — and its appointment of Steve Coll as its dean — is well worth the read.
Bonus: Jihii Jolly’s Why I’m Paying for J-School.
Al Jazeera English to be honored with Columbia Journalism Award
May 4, 2011
Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism will bestow its highest honor, the Columbia Journalism Award, to Al Jazeera English. The award is given annually during the school’s commencement ceremony to recognize an individual or organization for “singular journalism in the public interest.”
Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism just held an interview with its Dean, Nicholas Lemann, about the school’s education philosophy and why one would choose to actually attend a professional journalism school.
Click to listen, right click to download the mp3.
Conducted by Dean of Students Sree Sreenivasan and broadcast via Blog Talk Radio, the purpose of the interview was to reach out to prospective students and answer questions they may have.
Obviously Columbia-centric but Lemann touches on a number of issues, both educational and professional, facing the industry that we thought many here would like to listen in on.
Run time: ~30 minutes.
Those interested in hearing further conversation with the admissions department can do so via the podcast archive at Blog Talk Radio.
I used to have a phrase that I deployed at the Guardian, which I stole from our chief technology strategist, which is “being of the Web, not just on the Web.” Digital journalism is about creating a living sort of news, rather than a finished article, and that’s the key difference. If you’re just putting stories on the Web—it doesn’t mean that stories aren’t good or that people won’t read them—but there’s a fundamental difference between that and actually producing digital journalism. | <urn:uuid:fc6d24e7-500d-4490-aeb1-2803c3bc2207> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tumblr.thefjp.org/tagged/columbia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945773 | 723 | 1.546875 | 2 |
This tutorial walks you through creating chatbots in C#. It requires no previous programming experience. Although this tutorial touches upon topics that would normally be taught in a few weeks in an introductory programming course, we've tried to keep the material as straightforward as possible in order to be able to program chatbots.
Here are three resources for you to learn how to build chatbots:
The frequently asked questions page: F.A.Q
A reference page for additional information and bots: References | <urn:uuid:2323653d-e64b-49f4-9fa3-6996d113129f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://webinsight.cs.washington.edu/chatbots/outline.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939738 | 99 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Anger in Israel over EU comments on school shooting
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The European Union foreign policy chief drew criticism in Israel on Tuesday over what Israeli leaders said was her comparison of the killing of four Jews at a school in France with the deaths of children in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking at a conference on Palestinian refugees on Monday in Brussels, Catherine Ashton cited the tragedy of "young people who have been killed in all sorts of terrible circumstances".
She then mentioned the Toulouse shooting earlier on Monday, along with a massacre last year in a Norway summer camp, a bus crash in Switzerland that killed 22 Belgian school children a week ago, the current violence in Syria and "what is happening in Gaza and in different parts of the world".
Israeli leaders seized on her original remarks as an attempt to compare the events in Toulouse to those in the Gaza Strip, where children have at times been among the casualties of Israeli attacks on Palestinian militants operating in civilian areas.
Ashton later denied she had drawn any such parallel.
"What gets me especially incensed is the comparison between the targeted slaughter of children and the surgical, defensive activities of the (Israel Defense Forces) that are meant to hit terrorists who use children for human shields," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the grouping of Gaza violence with the Toulouse shooting and the fighting in Syria was "infuriating and detached from reality".
Ashton's spokesperson issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the killings at the Jewish school.
"In her remarks, the High Representative referred to tragedies taking the lives of children around the world and drew no parallel whatsoever between the circumstances of the Toulouse attack and the situation in Gaza," the statement said.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Ori Lewis; Editing by Jon Boyle) | <urn:uuid:c6e33fa5-5506-46a6-9d0e-339f4f9d5570> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wtvbam.com/news/articles/2012/mar/21/olrtxt-emrg-il-ps-fr-meast-dip-pil-eu-pol/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959811 | 378 | 1.539063 | 2 |
By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 28th Nov 11
India’s purchase in 2001 of Russia’s T-90S main battle tank (MBT) was touted as a world-class upgrade of our battlefield capabilities at a rock-bottom price. For Rs 3,625 crore, India would get 310 new tanks; a full transfer of technology (ToT) from Russia; and a licence to build 1000 tanks at the Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF) in Avadi, Chennai.
A decade later, HVF has built just 150 T-90S tanks, hamstrung by Moscow’s obstruction in transferring technology and the Russia-built assemblies needed even for the India-built tanks. With India’s production line stymied, the MoD bought 347 more ready-built T-90S tanks in 2007, handing Russia another Rs 4,900 crore. Even today, India’s T-90S fleet remains seriously constrained; with war clouds looming after the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike, the army told the government that the strike formations were critically short of equipment.
From multiple interviews with officials who handled this contract, and from a visit to HVF Avadi, Business Standard has pieced together the full saga of the T-90S. It is an account of Russian duplicity in the face of Indian submissiveness. Moscow’s readiness to disregard signed contracts was recently highlighted through its additional demands for money for the Gorshkov aircraft carrier. But the T-90S arm-twisting came before that; and constitutes a blow to the heart of Indian defence.
The Embassy of Russia in New Delhi has ignored an email asking for their comments on this issue.
Here is what happened. After the T-90S contract was signed on 15th Jan 2001, the 310 made-in-Russia tanks began to flow in quickly from Uralvagonzavod, the Russian facility that builds them. But the transfer of technology (ToT) and the supply of assemblies for building the 1000 tanks in India quickly hit a Russian stonewall.
First it took one and a half years to transfer to India the ToT documents required for building the T-90S in India. The tonnes of documents that finally arrived were found to be in Russian; translating them into English took another one and a half years.
Then HVF officials discovered that Russia had withheld key T-90S technologies without valid reason. This included technology for crucial components like the tank’s main gun and a key section of the turret armour. When New Delhi demanded those technologies, Moscow blandly responded that they were secret. To this day, Russia has not transferred full technology for building the T-90S in India.
The MoD has not responded to emailed questions about this issue. But when Business Standard asked MSN Rao, General Manager of HVF Avadi, how the T-90S was being built without these technologies, he confirmed: “We developed the tank gun indigenously in Central Ordnance Depot, Kanpur, and the turret armour component in CVRDE (Combat Vehicles R&D Establishment), Avadi. This is still a sticking point between India and Russia.”
That this remains an irritant is evident even from the careful language of MoD press releases. On 5th Oct 11, Defence Minister AK Antony met his Russian counterpart, AE Serdyukov, in the apex Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC). The Indian press release noted, “Shri Antony drew the attention of the Russian side to the vexing issue of delayed export clearances for vital repair equipment for already contracted weapons systems. This has been affecting supplies of defence equipment and spares.”
By end-2007, Russia’s blockade of contracted T-90S technologies and components had stalled indigenous production for almost 7 years. Under pressure from the army for more tanks, the MoD capitulated to Moscow rewarding Uralvagonzavod with an order for 347 more made-in-Russia T-90S tanks. Only after this additional contract was signed did Russia begin supplying components for building the T-90S in HVF.
An Indian Army officer who voiced his frustration to his Russian counterparts recalls the taunting Russian response: “Starting T-72 production took you 10 years. How do you imagine that you will produce the T-90 in just 6-7 years?”
Meanwhile the army was struggling with a more immediate issue. In 2002, poised for war with Pakistan, the army found that the newly inducted T-90S fleet was not battle-worthy. The Thales-Optronika thermal imaging night sights supplied with the T-90S --- essential for firing tank weapons at night --- proved unable to function in the blistering desert summer. This remains a problem; in 2008 the MoD approached international vendors to air-condition the T-90S.
“If we manage to reduce the temperature by ten degrees, the performance of the electronics will be improved,” says Sudhakar K, Joint General Manager, HVF.
Veteran tank commanders ridicule the idea of air-conditioning a tank. “It would add weight, and consume more power from the tank’s limited supply. And what happens if the air-conditioning breaks down? Every tank system must function in the environment of the battlefield,” says Brigadier (Retired) Vijay Nair, a former armoured brigade commander.
During that crisis with Pakistan, the army also discovered that the T-90S sights were not calibrated to Indian tank ammunition, which was falling well short of the targets that it was fired at. A panicked MoD appealed to the DRDO and other research institutions to re-orient the T-90S’s fire control computer to Indian ammunition. Meanwhile, shiploads of tank rounds were ordered from Russia at great cost.
A simultaneous crisis developed around the T-90S’s Invar missile, earlier cited as a clinching reason for buying the tank. But the Invar missiles that came were unusable and they were quietly returned to Russia. On 2nd March 2006, Antony told Parliament, “The Invar missile on T-90 tank is not a failure. However, the completely knocked down kits received for assembly have been found to be defective.”
Russia’s status as India’s premier arms supplier is being eroded by the US, France, Israel and the UK; and by indigenous advances in areas like tank building that have long been Moscow’s stamping ground. The recent success of the indigenous Arjun tank; and any progress in developing the planned Future Main Battle Tank (FMBT), would ensure that the T-90S is the last tank that India buys from Russia.
(Tomorrow: Part II: T-90S production starts; only to quickly stall) | <urn:uuid:fa058911-a8a2-4831-bc25-48fe2aff1344> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ajaishukla.blogspot.com/2011/11/t-90-tank-technology-transfer-supply-of.html?showComment=1322477168082 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957602 | 1,452 | 1.804688 | 2 |
A showcase of the public interest journalism (in every sense) which saw these reporters commended by the British Journalism Awards judges as science category finalists.
Winner: Tom Feilden (BBC Today programme)
Tom Feilden scooped Science Journalist of the Year. This category was open to journalists who work anywhere across the broad spectrum of science and technology issues including the environment, health, technology and digital communication.
Feilden submitted his breaking news story Animal rights activists target transport sector which revealed that every UK airline and shipping company had withdrawn from transporting animals for research, following a campaign by animal rights activists.
Feilden was also nominated for this article: Torrent of abuse' hindering ME research, about the harassment of clinicians and researchers working on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by activists.
And the third piece in his entry was A golden age of discovery in neuro science about new developments which could pave the way for revelations about the workings of the mind and mental illness.
The judges described his work as “real stories coming out of the science world."
Judges said: "His expertise in the field means that people trust him and they talk to him. In an area were a lot of the coverage is about debates, Tom Feilden is a journalist who finds real stories.”
Fiona Harvey (Guardian News and Media)
Child six billion hopes for peace as population races on to next milestone - On the day the UN marked the birth of the seven billionth person, she had travelled to Sarajevo to interview the boy chosen 13 years ago as the six billionth person.
Europe looks to open up Greenland for natural resources extraction - in which she interviewed the EU's trade chief and exposed the EU's huge mining expansion plans in Greenland.
Wind energy companies fear government's commitment is cooling - a scoop about how offshore wind turbine manufacturers' uncertainty about investing in the UK was putting billions of pounds on investment on hold, because of concerns over the government’s commitment to wind energy.
James Murray (Business Green)
DECC officials privately dismiss UK solar potential - an article about senior officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change who dismissed solar energy panels as "a toy for rich boys".
Osborne moves to kill green economy with gas 'manifesto' - where he wrote about Chancellor George Osborne's private letter where he said he was planning to establish the UK as a "gas hub".
Suzanne Goldenberg (Guardian News and Media)
Deepwater Horizon aftermath: how much is a dolphin worth? - how two years on from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, BP and US Authorities continued to wrangle over how much should be paid in damages.
Warren Manger (Coventry Telegraph)
Manger was recognised for coverage which helped persuade the NHS to give a reader life-saving surgery:
Pallab Ghosh (BBC)
"Oil sands extraction destroying traditional native way of life" | <urn:uuid:804807ee-893c-4384-9a5c-6a642ad5502f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/british-journalism-awards-2012-showcase-science-journalist-year-finalists | 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 | 0.961427 | 603 | 1.554688 | 2 |
… got me riled up.
This is what it’s all about:
“The revelation in the news yesterday of an IMF proposal to lower the income tax rate of Irish women returning to the workforce by five percentage points, was greeted with bemusement swiftly followed by derision.
A number of angry men were quick to cry foul, branding the initiative “sexist”. One popular daytime radio presenter described it as a “tax cut for the girls” and went so far as to speculate that any additional take-home pay resulting from what he branded a “sexist law” would be spent on “shopping and hair”.”
Here goes: why does any measure that might benefit women be systematically have to also benefit everybody else in order to be seen as legitimate? Why isn’t it enough that it benefits women? How many pages have we read stating that educating girls in the periphery would is great because it benefits society as a whole? Isn’t educating girls a good in and of itself? Do we ever ask these questions for policies that mostly benefit men?
I mean, look at the article above: an inequality exists that benefits men, then a measure is proposed to correct it and it’s called “sexist”, then a columnist has then to justify it as “no, really, it’s ok, it won’t just benefit women, it will benefit everybody.” Because benefiting women is considered just not enough, not legitimate.
When Tenured Radical discussed the importance of women’s colleges, commenter flooded the comment section arguing that these womanly concerns were elitist and that class / race issues needed to be resolved FIRST, then, only then, would tackling gender issues be a legitimate concern.
Screw it, I say:
Educating girls everywhere in the world is a good thing in itself.
Reducing all kinds of gender inequalities is a good thing in itself.
Empowering women with their bodies through reproductive freedom is a good thing in itself.
These things do benefit society as a whole. But they would be no less good and legitimate if they benefited women and girls exclusively.
The flip side of this, of course, is that women-only suffering and exploitation and exclusion tend to be ignored and not dealt with as seriously.
And that’s on top of the mass rapes that these women have to endure.
Example the second:
“An Indian village has banned unmarried women from using mobile phones for fear they will arrange forbidden marriages that are often punished by death, a local official said today.
The Lank village council decided unmarried boys could use mobile phones, but only under parental supervision, said one council member, Satish Tyagi. Local women’s rights group criticised the measure as backward and unfair.
Marriages between members of the same clan are forbidden under Hindu custom in some parts of northern India, where unions are traditionally arranged by families. In conservative rural areas, families sometimes mete out extreme punishments, including “honour killings”, for those who violate marriage taboos. In some cases, village councils themselves have ordered the punishments, though police often intervene to stop them.
The Lank village council feared young men and women were secretly calling one another to arrange to elope.
Last month, 34 couples eloped in Muzaffarnagar district, where Lank is located, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, police said. Among the couples who did so, eight “honour killings” have been reported in the past month, police said.
“Three girls were beheaded by the male members of their family after they eloped,” said the police assistant director general, Brij Lal, in the state capital of Lucknow.”
So, angry dudes in Ireland: THIS (above) is sexist. Reducing gender inequalities is not. And until I hear you guys complain about all the large and small forms of sexism that women endure around the world, day in and day out, F!@# Off! | <urn:uuid:4ce24b99-44e1-4638-a538-11d42d3f682a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://globalsociology.com/category/rant/ | 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 | 0.966219 | 850 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The place for fixies and other rides without gears
I've been riding around my Raleigh Royal Tourer as a utility/commuting bicycle and I tend to find that I stick to one gear most of the time.
44t biopace chainring (does that make any difference?)
27" x 1-1/4" wheels
70.1 Gear Inches
5.2 Gain Ratio
(This is roughly the same as 42/16 on 700 x 28c wheels if that is easier to relate to)
Calculated with to Sheldon's Gear Calculator.
I do shift down and make use of larger sprockets when climbing some hills, but this is the gear I use for most riding.
I could probably go single-speed with a similar or slightly lower gear ratio if I had the resources to spare to build yet another bicycle.
I am reasonably new back to cycling (15 years) and getting fitter again except for 6 week lay off because of a broken wrist.
I ride 42/52 front with 19/18/17/16/15/14/13/12 8 speed rear.
I usually use (700c x 23) 42/15 (73.6") and go up to 42/14 (78.8") if conditions are favorable, or down to 42/16 (69.0") when they are not.
Back in my younger days I rode (narrow tubular) 46/52 front with 18/17/16/15/14 5 speed rear.
I used to ride from one side of Brisbane to the other in 46/16 (75.8") for pretty much all of the trip and only change up or down one tooth on the rear (71.4 or 80.9) in a couple of spots.
My first gear was 67.4" and I could get over any hill in that gear, including Mt Cootha faster than anybody else, and that gear set gave me 98" top gear but I nearly never used it except for big descents.
In my experience spinning a lower gear (100 cadence is my usual, sometimes down to 90, sometimes up to 110) will get you further and faster than pounding an overly big gear.
Your gearing sounds about right given that you are running heavier rims and tyres than what I ride now and rode in the past.
A 2" change (certainly 4") change in gearing can make a world of difference, so be prepared to change the front ring to get exactly the ratio that you want.
I have a Repco with Biopace rings that I have recently single handedly (joke) restored, but I have not tried it out just yet.
There are all sorts of views on Biopace rings and similar shapes, including arguments that the Biopace rings should be rotated away from the Shimano designated alignment.
I have not tried any of these rings so I am unable to comment either way.
Newer does not automatically mean betterer.
70 gear inches is a good place to start when going singlespeed or fixed. From there you can play around and adjust.
Don't forget that the bike will be slightly lighter getting rid of all those gears, so if you are comfortable with 70 gear inches on the tourer, I'd stick with that and see how you go.
That's a good way to wear out a cassette prematurely. Especially if it's of the 'newer' style with half height teeth.
My choice of gear depends upon my energy levels, terrain, wind and current speed. I have a Shimano Nexus 8 speed hub, and find that I'm tending to use gears 3 thru 8 over the length of my commute, probably spending most time in either 6th or 7th (80 or 92 inches).
on road around 72GI, offroad mostly around 58GI, though for hillier spots around 52GI, that's for the SS riding, for gearies whatever suits the place and mood.
Life is not about waiting for the rain to pass.....it's about learning to dance (or ride) in the rain.
6-speed screw-on freewheel, steel sprockets with old-school tall teeth. Shifting gears sounds like this: clikity, clickity, clickity CLUNK! I also had the fore-sight to buy two more of them as spares. I own duplicates of most wearing parts, including all the running gear.
I've currently got a 17T fixed cog on a 42T Biopace chainring. 23x700c tires at 120PSI.
90% of the time it's a good ratio for the roads I am riding. Might look into a higher gearing setup like 42x15 in the future.
52x17 80GI Singlespeed that is regularly used on 42km commute, max gradient 5%, no climb more than 400m long, good for 32-35kmh.
Was running 44/17 fixed but swapped out to 44/18 fixed as my commute and local streets are appaulling. I cross 3 train lines, 6 roundabouts and travel along a very neglected and corrugated main road.
Merida Ride Lite 93 2012
Mojo Urban fixed
1984 Christoff R.I.P
1 extra tooth on the rear cog makes all the difference?
Fair enough. I've got a 17T cog on my fixed side and a 18T cog on my freewheel side, so I'll be able to check out the difference once I actually bother to try out the SS side. Mind you I am running it on a 42T Biopace chainring so I have a bit less resistance.
I'm on 46-17 with my Ricardo SS. 73 GI roughly, pot luck really that it works out so well for my trips about Adelaide, seems like a big decision when you're new to it all (like I was) and about to part with cash for cranks and cogs, but ultimately, aiming for a conservative 70 GI, give or take, you can't go wrong.
On the flat I have never managed to ride happily on a gear much more than 83 gear inches, so I figure that you must be using some skinny tyres and be riding on flat ground to be using gears approaching 100 gear inches (My tourer has a top gear of about 94 gear inches).
Around 65-70" is good. Better to have 65" for hilly areas.
My SS has a double freewheel on one side and fixed sprocket on the other, so I have the choice of 65", 73" or 77". Mostly I use 65" and the 73" if I do a flatland ride. The new Thorn Nomad has 14 gears but the 1:1 ratio is the 11th (the gear you should use most often) and with 42-16 on a 26" wheel it makes it 67.6"- so a very similar riding gear to the SS.
Riding bikes in traffic - what seems dangerous is usually safe; what seems safe is often more dangerous.
I suppose after a while, most of us would accumulate a collection of chain rings of varying sizes plus a few rear sprockets as well. We could then change them around to suit the conditions. Now, if we could just take the spare ones with us when we go cycling and swap them over when we go up or down hills it would improve our cycling. Maybe, instead of carrying them around in our backpack, we could mount them together on the axles or cranks and devise some way of moving the chain from one to another ......
not original, and i'm sure we have all heard this many times before.....
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users | <urn:uuid:679e193f-829a-40f8-b675-726893524bb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?p=554402 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942126 | 1,608 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Many, many towns in Montana, large and small, have a museum. And so do we. It's housed in a larger showcase of north-central Montana's rich past - the Heritage Center.
This is a building well worth maintaining. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in Havre. Its interior is gorgeous. It houses our outstanding county museum and art gallery. It is the focus of much of our history and also of our cultural life.
It's also an expensive building to take care of. Unable to meet those expenses, the Clack Foundation, which took on the responsibility of operating the Heritage Center when the city bought the building from the U.S. Postal Service in 1996, has come to the city of Havre and Hill County looking for help.
The county eliminated a part-time museum curator position so it could give cash to the Heritage Center.
Now it's the city's turn to take up the question. The City Council will vote on this issue Monday night.
Here's what likely will happen and what should happen, given the city's budget constraints: The city will continue to pay insurance premiums on the building and will supply some services like snow removal and some janitorial work.
But that's it.
It's the old case of getting blood from a stone. The city cannot raise taxes to help out the Heritage Center. The city is close to the cap set by the Legislature on how much tax revenue it can raise. Barring a growth spurt in Havre, the city can collect as much tax revenue as it did last year with a very small adjustment for inflation.
That doesn't come close to covering the 35-plus percent hike in natural gas rates and the new 15 percent increase in electricity rates granted to NorthWestern Energy. And it doesn't allow for any raises for employees.
To pay for cost increases it can't tax for, the city last year took money from a special improvement district revolving fund that had more money than it needed.
That was a one-time fix.
The one-time fix this year will likely be from the city's reserve funds.
So unless the city cuts some services it already provides, it has no money to give the Heritage Center.
Heritage Center folks recognized that and instead asked the city to share $8,932 of city capital improvement money for Heritage Center projects. That number includes $4,132 to replace 30 radiator valve assemblies in the building and $4,800 to make the lighting and fixtures in the center more energy efficient.
Capital improvement money is the best way the city has to help the Heritage Center. But the center is in serious competition with other projects to get some of those dollars as well.
Once again, it means that for every dollar of CIP money the Heritage Center gets, that's less money for other city projects.
Given these realities, it may be time for the Clack Foundation board to withdraw its ultimatum of: Give us money or we're going to turn care of the building back to the city. That ultimatum seemed a curious strategy to begin with. After all, the Clack Foundation has been short of funds to operate the Heritage Center for some time. It usually responded to those budget crunches by turning to the community for support. That's what it could be doing now. The ultimatum, rather than shaking dollars loose from a bare money tree, has stirred up animosity among those who remember the Clack Foundation's promise to operate the center without the help of tax dollars.
There's hope for the Heritage Center in other venues. The Clack Foundation board is hoping that an endowment that was set up for the Clack Museum can be rolled into its own endowment. If that works out, the foundation endowment will be very near the $250,000 required for the foundation to begin tapping interest from the fund to spend on the Heritage Center, according to the Clack Foundation board. That apparently was the foundation's plan for taking care of the center when it took responsibility for it in 1996.
The Clack Foundation may be able to find a way to reduce some of its own operating expenses. Meanwhile, it could become more inventive and aggressive in attracting office space renters.
Maybe the Havre City Council will find a way to give the Heritage Center some capital improvement dollars. Monday will be the time for supporters to present a show of solidarity to the council.
But for the long term, the Clack Foundation needs to turn to its real source of strength - the entire community.
Support for the center is strong in Havre. Many people appreciate and want to preserve the icon of Havre's storied past. The Clack Foundation can successfully tap that support if it makes more of an effort to transform a lovely old building into the center of Havre's cultural and civic life. | <urn:uuid:3f4b3557-d2c4-4d79-80d4-1b87e6341814> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.havredailynews.com/cms/news/story-108648.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96448 | 992 | 1.515625 | 2 |
2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade finsihed working on their Big Big Cats last week. Here are a few of the finished products. Students outlined and added details with oil pastels when finsihed. Some students drew girraffes and zebras in the background along with the Acatia trees. We used gold and copper tempra for the grass. I am sort of obsessed with metallic tempra paint. It's different, the kids like it, and it just adds an element of surprise and interest to a painting! | <urn:uuid:9847549f-7e1b-462b-aca1-3f717a500fbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/2010/04/finished-big-big-cats.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958011 | 112 | 1.578125 | 2 |
May 27 2002
Businesses in Sri Lanka anticipate the enactment of a new Company Act.
The draft act incorporates certain aspects of modern company law that are conspicuously absent from the existing legislation. Among other things, it includes provisions allowing companies to purchase their own shares and takes into account the need to toughen penalties for offenders who flout the law.
In addition to the provisions discussed in this update the draft also incorporates provisions to clarify the positions of directors and shareholders regarding a company's articles of association. The draft includes a section defining the effect of the articles of association as that of a binding contract between the company and its shareholders.
Significant changes in the draft Companies Act include the following:
The provisions in the draft act dealing with buy-back of shares will bring local company law into line with modern developments. According to the draft's provisions a company can:
However, the buy-back of shares must be accompanied by a board resolution according to the terms laid down by the new draft, which are that the acquisition is in the company's interests and is in no way prejudicial to the rights of the existing shareholders.
The draft act allows the minister in charge to create an advisory commission to provide recommendations and reports on company law. However, the draft act does not make it mandatory to follow the recommendations of parties such as trade chambers, professional organizations and the public.
It is anticipated that the advisory commission proposed by the draft act will actually be created and not remain confined to paper, as has happened under the present act.
The draft act incorporates provisions for establishing a Company Disputes Board that will settle disputes by mediation upon reference by parties or by a court in the case of a litigated matter. Where parties reach a settlement in a case that has been referred by a court this will have the same force and effect as a court judgment.
Commercial arbitration in Sri Lanka has been criticized for having evolved into a 'parallel judicial system' that has become expensive and procedure bound. The draft attempts to establish a framework for a faster and cheaper option for those who seek alternative dispute settlement mechanisms.
If passed the draft act will impose harsher penalties than its predecessor on anyone who violates its provisions. For example, the penalty for committing fraud or making false representations (ie, to obtain goods on credit or come to any arrangement with creditors) for an officer of a company in the 12 months before winding up is a fine of SLRs1 million and/or five years' imprisonment; the current act makes no provision for a fine.
For further information on this topic please contact Simon Senaratna at Simon & Associates by telephone (+94 1 38 19 06) or by fax (+94 1 38 19 07) or by email (firstname.lastname@example.org).
ILO provides online commentaries as specialist Legal Newsletters. Written in collaboration with over 500 of the world's leading experts and covering more than 100 jurisdictions, it delivers individually requested information via email to an influential global audience of law firm partners and international corporate counsel. Please click here to register for the service.
The materials contained on this website are for general information purposes only and are subject to the disclaimer.
ILO is a premium online legal update service for major companies and law firms worldwide. In-house corporate counsel and other users of legal services, as well as law firm partners, qualify for a free subscription. Register at www.iloinfo.com. | <urn:uuid:14728953-bd62-490b-a9c0-065f955e43d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.internationallawoffice.com/Newsletters/Detail.aspx?g=68c049db-d03d-4bc2-9746-6d918f26a1c6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952285 | 696 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.