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Could a major reason for Singapore’s appallingly low Total Fertility Rate(TFR) be the appallingly high GINI Coefficient? I’m not referring to the struggles of the lower income in trying to raise children, though that must definitely be another major factor. I’m referring to something else altogether: People tend to marry amongst their own social class, and when the GINI coefficient is so high, the number of people within the social class you can access, becomes much smaller. So it’s harder to find partners, more challenging to marry, and so there is less opportunity to have babies.
Anecdotally, many of my friends in Singapore are very unwilling to marry and start families with another person whose income is way below theirs. Most people don’t mind if it’s maybe, 10% different, but if you earn 5x more than your date, and your date’s prospects aren’t likely to change, chances are you’re not going consider that date as a potential spouse.
On the other hand, I’ve heard from friends in European countries, that there are very little raised eyebrows or even personal consideration, when a university lecturer marries a bus driver.
Maybe it boils down to this:
Cleaner S$800 Bus driver S$1,800
Cleaner S$5,502 Bus driver S$6,193
Cleaner S$2,085 Bus driver S$3,910
Cleaner S$5,470 Bus driver S$6,260
Cleaner S$3,667 Bus driver S$4,480
(Source: https://sghardtruth.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/what-singapore-can-learn-from-europe-by-tommy-koh/ By Tommy Koh, For The Straits Times, May 19, 2012)
I was invited to a recent Fireside chat with Yam Ah Mee, the PA chief. One of the comments he made that really got me thinking was this: In Singapore, it’s not that married people are having too few children. It’s that too few people are getting married!
I went to SingStats to check up the statistics (Ref: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/people/popinbrief2011.pdf ), and found that he was right. Amongst 40-49 year old women who have ever been married, the average number of children they had was a fairly healthy 2.08 (2.1 is the ideal replacement rate). Meaning that a good proportion of married couples are have 1 -3 children by the time the wife hits menopause. Only a mere 8.6% of 40-49yr old married women are childless. On the other hand, when you include all women in the average, the TFR is only 1.2. Marriage rates have fallen over the last 10 years, from about 46-48 per 1000, to 35-38 per 1000. 1 in 5 females are single in their late 30s. 1 in 4 males are single in their late 30s.
So why aren’t Singaporeans getting married?!
True, cultural norms are shifting, and people want to marry later. But I’m sure many of us also know friends and relatives who are/have been actively trying to find a partner, but finding great difficulty. So many dating agencies have been popping up. So what’s going on?
One clue we have is this :
2x more university females 35-39yrs are single, compared to their below-secondary school counterparts. In contrast, 1.5x more below-secondary school males 35-39yrs are single. (The difference in magnitude, I believe, is due to Vietnamese & Chinese matchmaking agencies available for the men). That it is socially more acceptable for women to marry up, is not a new observation. What’s worth pondering about, is the effect that the GINI has on this phenomenon.
In Singapore, social class is not just about your education level, though that is a very close proxy indicator because of our education and job hiring practices. Income and assets, I speculate, is arguably, an equally important factor in determining your social class. A college dropout who works in the support office is viewed very differently from the college dropout who starts up a billion-dollar company. When the income between the different social strata of society gets wider – as implied by a rising GINI, the number of people who earn +/- 10% of your income tend to be smaller. And we all know dating is a numbers game.
Before we start slamming Singaporeans for being class conscious and materialistic, I think it’s worth pausing for a moment and asking ourselves (& friends) why it matters at all. On a very practical level, Singapore’s high standard of living means that the higher your family’s (ie both spouses’) income, the more comfortable (note: I didn’t say luxurious) your family’s life will be. It means you are more likely to afford tuition for your children (and we all know that your ability to provide private tuition for your kids is what’s going to determine their future). With childcare prices hitting over $1000, and milk powder more expensive than wine, any university grad’s ex-classmate will be a lot more attractive than a bus driver. It really doesn’t matter whether you are looking for a wife or husband — the fact is, if your income is $5000 (rough estimate of a degree holder’s income after a few years, based on the tables here http://www.gemini.com.hk/assets/doc/survey_singapore.pdf ), and you marry your office cleaner rather than your office accountant, your HDB mortgage period is going to double. It may mean you need to work till 70yrs instead of 60yrs, just to pay off your mortgage.
Now assuming you aren’t too concerned about staying in a decent sized flat — you’re fine with a shoebox, the social pressures are immense too, for both wife-hunters and husband-hunters. When a fast-rising young man chooses a retail-sales girl over a fellow fast-rising banker, the poor girl is often stereotyped as a gold-digger. I’m sure we’ve all heard stories where daughter-in-laws are treated differently because of their education or income.
In a low-GINI country where income differences aren’t as stark, where your spouse’s income isn’t going to impact on the quality of your parent’s medical care, there would be more people willing to let love conquer social class differences. With the income criteria more easily met by anyone, it’s easier to find someone because the number of available partners increases tremendously. A bigger pool means you’ve more chances of finding someone you’ve got great chemistry with, someone with the same hobbies are you, someone who finds your bad habits cute. And that may mean more people joining the band-wagon of smug marrieds with their 2.08 kids.
Contributor: Tommy Koh’s article (https://sghardtruth.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/what-singapore-can-learn-from-europe-by-tommy-koh/) provided inspiration for my idea that GINI affects TFR, simply because he had put the income differences across the different countries and the TFR together in that same article. Something clicked. I’ve not really come across this idea yet — probably because of my lack of reading than anything else — so I’ll love to hear comments/other related articles. I don’t think GINI is the only factor impacting TFR, I think it’s simply one of the major factors. Certainly the other factors that Tommy Koh has pointed out (which has been often brought up by others too), are very valid and I’m in perfect agreement. | <urn:uuid:1714148b-3340-486d-94ff-991df4d289b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mathialee.wordpress.com/tag/tfr/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950079 | 1,713 | 1.679688 | 2 |
In the past 10 years, I've realized that our culture is rife with ideas that actually inhibit joy. Here are some of the things I'm most grateful to have unlearned:
1. Problems are bad. You spent your school years solving arbitrary problems imposed by boring authority figures. You learned that problems—comment se dit?—suck. But people without real problems go mad and invent things like base jumping and wedding planning. Real problems are wonderful, each carrying the seeds of its own solution. Job burnout? It's steering you toward your perfect career. An awful relationship? It's teaching you what love means. Confusing tax forms? They're suggesting you hire an accountant, so you can focus on more interesting tasks, such as flossing. Finding the solution to each problem is what gives life its gusto.
2. It's important to stay happy. Solving a knotty problem can help us be happy, but we don't have to be happy to feel good. If that sounds crazy, try this: Focus on something that makes you miserable. Then think, "I must stay happy!" Stressful, isn't it? Now say, "It's okay to be as sad as I need to be." This kind of permission to feel as we feel—not continuous happiness—is the foundation of well-being.
3. I'm irreparably damaged by my past. Painful events leave scars, true, but it turns out they're largely erasable. Jill Bolte Taylor, the neuroanatomist who had a stroke that obliterated her memory, described the event as losing "37 years of emotional baggage." Taylor rebuilt her own brain, minus the drama. Now it appears we can all effect a similar shift, without having to endure a brain hemorrhage. The very thing you're doing at this moment—questioning habitual thoughts—is enough to begin off-loading old patterns. For example, take an issue that's been worrying you ("I've got to work harder!") and think of three reasons that belief may be wrong. Your brain will begin to let it go. Taylor found this thought-loss euphoric. You will, too.
4. Working hard leads to success. Baby mammals, including humans, learn by playing, which is why "the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." Boys who'd spent years strategizing for fun gained instinctive skills to handle real-world situations. So play as you did in childhood, with all-out absorption. Watch for ways your childhood playing skills can solve a problem (see #1). Play, not work, is the key to success. While we're on the subject...
5. Success is the opposite of failure. Fact: From quitting smoking to skiing, we succeed to the degree we try, fail, and learn. Studies show that people who worry about mistakes shut down, but those who are relaxed about doing badly soon learn to do well. Success is built on failure.
"If all my wishes came true, right now, life would be perfect"
We Hear You! | <urn:uuid:845fc60a-fb05-45cf-93c7-fff2cf998f54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oprah.com/spirit/10-Life-Lessons-You-Should-Unlearn-Martha-Beck-Life-Coach-Advice_1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967123 | 636 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Are you getting a little more attention than you would like? Once your belly becomes very obvious, you may begin to feel that it and you are public property. Fascinated by your ever-increasing abdomen, some friends and family, or even strangers, may want to see your belly, touch it, or even kiss it. This can feel very strange because, as a rule, people tend not to go around touching each other's abdomens!
If you're uncomfortable about being touched, then you could politely ask people not to touch the belly, or simply move away. There are, however, some advantages to having people notice that you are pregnant: your belly acts as a warning for people not to jostle you in crowds and people tend to give you a seat on public transportation. Another unwanted intrusion might be that people feel entitled to ask you intimate questions regarding your medical history and about the baby. This may make you uncomfortable, especially if you tend to be a private person. People you have never met before might comment on your figure, and discuss whether you're having a girl or a boy.
Some pregnant women enjoy the attention, while others feel that people are intruding on a personal experience. If you feel uncomfortable, answer questions vaguely or try to change the subject; ask the person about themself instead. Another way of avoiding the unwanted attention is to wear loose clothing that makes your belly look less prominent and attractive to touch.
If you have significant itching, see your doctor to determine whether you have obstetric cholestasis, a serious but rare condition that affects the liver and occurs in about 1 percent of pregnancies.
It's not forbidden to eat salt while you're pregnant.
It was once thought that salt increased swelling and the risk of high blood pressure. But your body needs salt to expand your volume of blood and body fluids. Use sea salt (it contains less sodium) and don't have in excess of 0.25 oz (6 g) a day.
Excerpted from Pregnancy Day by Day.
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley Limited.
Buy this book now!
© 2000-2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:815e5810-f97e-41ab-87f5-6f6b60ac4709> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pregnancy.familyeducation.com/second-trimester/17-weeks-5-days.html?for_printing=1 | 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 | 0.959381 | 446 | 1.609375 | 2 |
When a photographer harnesses movement, emotional intensity, irregularity in composition and wild variety of form, you know that the exhibition is worth more than a thousand things. Raghu Rai's ideation of divinity opened at Stainless Steel in Delhi last night. And in many ways this black and white culling is more about the matured impulse of instinct rather than an intuitive rigour. In an interview to The Times of India 10 years ago he said: Intuition is short lived, we cannot build on it, what we can build on is an inner insight that matures as we understand what it is to sift and sieve through the panorama of a lived reality'.
Divinity in the hands of this legend is more about territories-those that are to be secured by armies, complicated political structures to be established, populations to be subjugated, elaborate trade routes to be forged, cosmologies to be altered and much more. Raghu's historic Hooghly image actually speaks about ways of thinking that need to be conceived, developed, inculcated and embodied — especially about personal, cultural and social identity. The widow who stands and looks and is both within and without, the durga that is part of the relic and the ritual, the waters of the Hooghly that flow. This image is the piece de resistance of the show.
`History shows that photography can play a central role in embodying those new ways of thinking. Sometimes it shoots off in unexpected directions,' says Raghu. But a closer look at the wide range of images states clearly that sometimes it takes the mundane but no less intricate form of the decorative accouterments of daily life: textiles, vessels, furniture, religious artifacts and of course the people. Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia can belong to the ambient and create the ambient with his fluid dulcet notes of Raaga Kaafi/Pilooo.
Dressed in the fine raiment and striped blue and white of an iconic legend is Mother Teresa-and then the elegiac elegance of Indira Gandhi in the hills-the silhouette stands the resonance of time. From his first shot of a donkey to the last image this show is about the celebratory spirit that sports powerful wings nearly as detailed as an autumnal sunset .
Then there is this mood of a meandering mendicant in Raghu himself –he could be youthful and serene perhaps at another time, but his third eye offers succour for rumination because it is far from sleek and regal. The space he occupies is virtually abstract expressionist —a blend between a riverfront, the fleecy clouds and a chestnut-colored field, where the man's body casts an elusive contour of characteristic charisma.
There is nothing quite like this marvelous, magical image in all of Raghu's images as in the singular image of Subhalaxmi singing an aalaap. The shot faces history and reality in a time warp where you think of an indigenous mellifluous raaga dedicated to celestial and spiritual phenomena. Spellbinding is the image of conquering the heady meld of the onlooker and the shutterbug who captures that iota of a split second .
Over the years Raghu can be credited for having produced an abundance of richly imaginative artistic observations in photo journalism as well as images on the road less traveled. This show at Stainless Steel is a mixed bag ,the nudes somehow don’t speak of the same terrain, they in fact interfere with Raghu's signature of divinity, but it gives us moments of reverie and moments that long for a sense of discovery. Maybe this show should have been edited a wee bit by a hand that had knowledge of Raghu's fascinating oeuvre over years. One of the first issues Susan Sontag tackled in her seminal treatise On Photography is 'the presumption of veracity that gives all photographs authority, interest, seductiveness.'
Perhaps in a timely state of reflection Raghu said to me once: 'People say that a good picture is worth a thousand words; I feel at times, a thousand words are a lot of noise, how about capturing some silence?’ This show reflects just that in many silent ripples. | <urn:uuid:1e2eff76-63b1-404b-a1ea-6765b3f8605e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/plumage/entry/raghu-rai-ways-of-seeing | 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 | 0.951669 | 875 | 1.765625 | 2 |
PLAINVIEW – Dr. Peter Bowen, professor of psychology at Wayland Baptist University, has been approved for a micro-sabbatical this summer in order to study child psychology in Kenya, Africa.
Dr. Bowen will be teaching a general psychology course as part of Wayland’s course offerings at the Kenya Baptist Theological College in July. While there, Bowen will spend some extra time in order to conduct research that will aid in the development of materials for ministry to Kenya children.
It has been nearly five years since Bowen taught a class in Kenya, but it was that experience that sparked an interest.
“One student wrote his term paper looking at child development,” Bowen said. “The introduction of the paper basically said he didn’t know of anything in Kenya where anybody has ever thought about child development in regard to church work. He went through his paper talking about some of the major developmental characteristics of children. That has always kind of stuck with me.”
As Bowen started preparing for his return trip, he began thinking more about the situation. The prospect of learning more about child development in a country with a large orphan population intrigued him.
Bowen has held off on making specific plans concerning his research until he can do more reading in order to better determine what specific areas to target and what questions to ask. While there he will make several day trips to Nairobi which is near the KTBC campus at Brackenhurst. He will also have time for one extended trip at which time he plans to visit a more remote part of the country.
His specific point of interest surrounds orphans and how they adapt and deal with experiences. Bowen said nearly 10 percent of the population of children under the age of 18 in Kenya is orphans.
Economic, health and cultural conditions are all different for Kenya children as opposed to children form the United States. Therefore, Bowen suggests that simply exporting children’s ministry plans to Kenya may not be an effective way to reach the children.
“How are we going to be able to minister to these kids?” Bowen asks. “What kind of emotional and social questions will these kids have? How does that relate to the types of Bible stories that are chosen and the types of applications that you bring out?”
Bowen, who teaches a kindergarten Sunday School class at First Baptist Church in Plainview, said it will be interesting to not only research the situations in regard to Kenyan children, but to take a long look at our own culture and how it relates.
“What does that say about the types of lessons we derive for our own children?” Bowen said.
Bowen, his wife Lynette and two sons, Ryan, age 10, and Jeremy, 7, will leave for Kenya on July 3 and return July 30. | <urn:uuid:7dc1ce25-3417-4f14-8b7a-c8230c6e403b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbu.edu/news_and_events/2006/bowenstory.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973714 | 579 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Improve Your Moves With Style
While it is a team game, basketball offers tremendous scope to show individual skills as well. For some, their best is brought out when playing this game. The individual moves that set up scoring opportunities are extremely valuable during a game.
Some unique moves with proper timing will improve your game and gain major advantages over your opponents. These have to be so good and executed with perfect timing that it will show off your unique style and way of playing. Some moves are listed below for you to learn and use to exploit your opponents' weaknesses.
The Dribbling: Changing the direction of the dribble by bouncing the ball from one side to the other is called the crossover dribble and has style and finesse to it. This maneuver is sure to confuse the defender and exploit the confusion to change his rhythm and momentum.
The Pass: Passing the ball while your feet are in the air, when done right, is sure to confuse your opponent by causing a fake shot which enables your own team to try for a scoring shot. This shot in your repertoire is sure to improve your game.
The Assists: Another form of passing play is called the back door pass. This is executed by forcing your opponent to concentrate on you while a teammate positions himself behind the player with the ball. This leaves the opposing team vulnerable and offers the waiting player an opportunity to score a point.
The Finger Rolls: A stylish and effective way to improve your game is to perfect the finger roll shot. This is executed by holding the ball up during lay-ups and spinning the ball before dropping it into the basket. This shows finesse and grace and the ball gently rolls along the rim of the basket and stylishly scores a point.
The Jab Step: Another move to add to your game and to your style and advantage is the Jab-Step. A less frequently used ploy, this is used to assess the defender's weakness and anticipate his next move. This is done by holding the ball and moving the foot not used for pivoting, forward and backward.
Keeping your unique moves secret is a great advantage. Eventually, a good move is always observed and most probably adopted by your opponents but as long as it isn't, it works out in your favor if the move is good.
These are just a few of the moves you can make in basketball which can be utilized to keep your opposing team off guard. In addition to being a good shooter, being able to fake out your opponent will go along way towards making you a star player on the team. | <urn:uuid:e5549d58-4621-4239-b42e-ccff6bdbe424> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.samoajoe.com/basketball/basketball-leagues.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972282 | 518 | 1.65625 | 2 |
“In the Caitanya Caritamrita, Lord Caitanya expressed that He wanted to see everyone receive the mercy of the Holy Name and also the fruit of love of Godhead. But He was concerned that alone He would not be able to reach everyone; thus he ordered everyone to assist Him. “I am the only gardener, ” He said. ” How many places can I go? How many fruits can I pick and distribute?” (CC Adi 9.34)
Srila Prabhupada established a trademark for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness: “ISKCON”. He stated that ISKCON is a branch of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s tree. When devotees use the trademark ISKCON it is synonymous with “Gauranga” as mentioned by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
The instruction is that preachers should work under the shelter of Lord Caitanya and His bona fide representative. All devotees should understand that we are members Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement and are simply acting on His behalf.
If one does not strictly follow the orders of the previous acaryas, his potency to preach will diminish and ultimately be lost. “Counterfeit goods” signifies the quality of preaching that ultimately produces mixed, or impure bhakti, whereas “Genuine goods” indicates pure devotional service.”HH Jayapataka Swami From the book: Godruma Kalpatavi
Tags: bhakti, bhaktivinoda, branch, Caitanya, caritamrita, congregation, counterfeit, devotees, devotional, fruits, garden, garderner, gauranga, goods, ISKCON, lord, mahaprabhu, mixed, pure, thakura, trademark, tree
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 16:45 and is filed under Guru Vakya. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. | <urn:uuid:0c1fd15c-28e7-4d6b-a8e5-0421c60a9364> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://guruvakya.com/lord-caitanyas-tree | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932723 | 447 | 1.65625 | 2 |
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In this paper, measurements and analysis of the small-signal net modal gain of single-layer InAs/InP(100) quantum-dot (QD) optical amplifiers are presented. The amplifiers use only a single layer of InAs QDs on top of a thin InAs quantum well. The devices have been fabricated using a layer stack that is compatible with active-passive integration scheme, which makes further integration possible. The measurement results show sufficient optical gain in the amplifiers and can thus be used in applications such as lasers for long-wavelength optical coherence tomography and gas detection. The temperature dependence of the modal gain is also characterized. An existing rate-equation model was adapted and has been applied to analyze the measured gain spectra. The current injection efficiency has been introduced in the model to obtain a good fit with the measurement. It is found that only a small portion ( ~ 1.7%) of the injected carriers is actually captured by the QDs. The temperature dependence of several parameters describing the QDs is also discovered. The mechanisms causing the blue shift of peak gain as the current density increases and the temperature changes are analyzed and discussed in detail.
Date of Publication: Dec. 2012 | <urn:uuid:b1144779-9946-488f-9428-3a5d75d15a6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=6365730&contentType=Journals+%26+Magazines | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9322 | 256 | 1.515625 | 2 |
As pharma looks for better ways to build its drug pipelines, researchers are improving upon existing technologies and broadening their usage. At CHI’s recent “High Content Analysis” conference, presenters discussed new and revamped tools, and showed how these advances are helping pharma companies keep their drug pipelines active and productive.
According to Louis Stancato, Ph.D., senior research advisor, cancer growth and translational genetics at Eli Lilly & Co., phenotypic drug discovery (PDD) was previously laborious, inefficient, and often led to dead ends. “But the advent of higher volume informatics technologies, together with the high content imaging (HCI) piece, really makes PDD possible in a way that wasn’t tenable until now.”
His presentation examined how HCI subpopulation analysis tools enable a high-resolution look into cancer cell function. “This discipline is ideally suited to HCI applications. By incorporating custom in-house informatics tools, we can advance molecules with novel mechanisms of action through the lead-generation process, in particular, chemical series previously discarded owing to perceived failure in conventional targeted approaches.”
Dr. Stancato says that informatics experts help his team design custom algorithms, custom analyses, and data viewers that help find phenotypic fingerprints of interest. “Iteratively, we run our SAR looking at this phenotypic fingerprint in much the same way a chemist would look at an IC50 against an enzyme.
“We might look at upwards of 10 different data points from the same cell, synthesized to give us a number that we can then use to assess our structure activity relationships. This past summer, we launched an externally focused phenotypic drug discovery effort, called PD2 which is an open, global collaboration with academic and biotech institutions to help discover molecules.”
Dr. Stancato also examined case studies of molecules that could not have been identified any other way. They were essentially thrown away because they did not work in the targeted setting the way they were originally intended. “And if it weren’t for the imaging approach, we never would have known.”
Dr. Stancato’s group has helped many researchers with their imaging and informatics approaches by phenotypically showing molecules that were thought to behave similarly, actually behaved differently when looked at using his group’s informatics tools. “Everything we do results in a phenotypic change regardless of where it is, and that response will define whether or not the molecules we identify will help patients.”
Single-Cell Data Leveraging
Technology has indeed caught up to the ability to track phenotypic changes in cells, noted Oliver Leven, Ph.D., head of screening services, Europe, Genedata. “High-content screening experiments produce rich information on phenotypic changes of individual cells when subjected to treatment with compounds, siRNAs, or other inducers.”
“Managing resulting microscope images is a concern, but upcoming challenges to the researcher are the biologically meaningful interpretation and quantification of the high-content screening outcomes, especially with higher throughput as HCS is applied more broadly and more often.
“For example, will you be able to distinguish cell subpopulations of differential response, statistically aggregating them across cells, wells, and replicates, normalizing signals and eliminating errors, separating and quantifying phenotypes and effects for thousands of compounds?”
These challenges become exponentially significant when researchers attempt to scale up for large throughput. Dr. Leven’s presentation addressed the issue of high-content screening analysis within a high-throughput screening infrastructure, an approach that is being adopted more frequently by large pharma companies.
Dr. Leven noted that leveraging HCS data from the complex single-cell datasets—with millions of data points per plate—requires a scalable framework with automated data processing and intelligent management functions, including scientists’ review at any stage of the process.
“One point we made in the presentation is that, when using Genedata Screener for high-content screening analysis, users can reliably and efficiently create a hit list for a complex high-content screen,” said Dr. Leven. “It’s not easy to do, since there are many different features to be evaluated simultaneously, and currently, this is manually done on an ad-hoc basis without proper support. Today, however, technology is available that enables you to create a hit list with an initial rule set, run your quality control, and at any point you can go back to adapt the rules, and your changes will be reflected in the hit list—all your hit list criteria and decisions will be documented.” | <urn:uuid:e8be7be8-f37a-4c9a-b34d-758e3c46f39d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/refined-tools-aid-in-pathway-analysis/3185/?kwrd=Pathway%20Analysis&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946776 | 982 | 1.5625 | 2 |
I am on doctor's orders to eat yogurt every day. Well actually, she told me to eat yogurt three times a day, but I just can't consume that much yogurt. She recommended that I try to make my own yogurt because it's easier, cheaper, and tastes better than store bought. I bought some freeze dried yogurt starters, and I finally got around to trying it out.
My first attempt was a total failure. What I ended up with was essentially stinky milk. Why didn't it congeal? You are supposed to heat up the milk to the boiling point and let it cool to 108 degrees. Then you add the packet of bacteria and let it incubate for four hours.
I think this is where I failed, "incubate". Am I supposed to have some sort of yogurt machine that keeps the milk warm while it is incubating? Great, one more appliance to clutter up my cupboard.
What do you all think? Have you tried this before? What am I missing? Your advice is much appreciated. | <urn:uuid:ecbf73e7-130f-4073-9658-d9fb248ae231> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://makehotcookies.blogspot.com/2011/04/making-yogourt-part-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983749 | 213 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Thank you to our readers, subscribers, Twitter followers and Facebook fans. As of today, the blog has been viewed 5,000 times in the month of October. Do keep reading, and if you have any suggestions for future posts, feel free to leave them in the comments, message us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/humanrightsblog) or post to our Facebook Fan Page.
The fantastic UK Supreme Court Blog has been following R(E) v JFS closely. I blogged about it here earlier in the week. The UKSC blog provides some of the case documents here and here and the Jewish Chronicle sketches the arguments made during the hearing. Pictured is the Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, Sir Jonathan Sacks. Media coverage of the case outlines some of its key implications for British education policy as it relates to religious membership:
- The Guardian notes tensions between Jewish bodies which champion the idea of ‘open religious schools’ and those who wish to limit admission to JFS to children with a specific ethnically-grounded religious heritage. Sholto Byrnes has an interesting article on the ‘soft’ issues at stake in the New Statesman.
- The Times highlights the crux of the case for the purposes of the Race Relations Act; the ambivalent position of religious groups which ‘test’ religious identity on the basis of descent as well as practice. The BBC observes that, on this basis, the decision in JFS will have implications, not only for the country’s 33 Jewish schools, but for its 7 Sikh schools.
- The Guardian runs articles – 1 and 2 - which highlight the dilemmas which arise from state funding of religious schools. The main positions articulated are of two kinds: either, as the NSS argues, the state ceases to fund religious schools at all, or the state in furtherance of certain visions of equality, directly prohibits certain admissions criteria for state-funded religious schools. In the aftermath of the Court of Appeal decision in JFS, many Jewish schools adopted ‘points based criteria’ for admission, as reported in the Guardian.
In a follow-up to my earlier post regarding the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate’s Change proposed Heads for a new Climate Change Bill it has emerged that the EU has agreed a joint negotiating position ahead of the Copenhagen Conference this December. The EU has sought to take the lead at the Conference and in settling on a joint platform it is hoped that the EU will be able to push others into agreement.
One of the main stumbling blocks has been on the question of how much financial support as well as the degree of technology transfer that should be given to countries of the Global South. While some of these countries, such as China and India, are emerging as major polluters, others have little or no impact upon rates of climate change. However it is the countries of the Global South who will suffer most from droughts and floods should Climate Change keep going unabated. The UN estimates that yields from rain-fed agriculture could fall by up to 50% in some African countries and that up to 200 million people could be displaced by the effects of climate change by 2050. Obviously the Global North is better placed to deal with these changes than the Global South both financially and with regard to technology. There has been extensive research into this sponsored by both the UN and NGOs.
The EU at today’s summit agreed a joint position on climate finance, though an actual formula for establishing a country’s ability to pay was not settled upon. They also agreed to cut emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020. Eastern European countries have been particularly concerned that any cuts in emissions will disproportionately affect their abilities to expand and develop their own economies, but with the intervention of Ban-ki Moon were convinced to agree a deal. While the agreed platform by the EU is more likely to lead to success at Copenhagen as Lavanya Rajamani has pointed out one of the greatest impediments to an agreement is the lack of trust in the Global North to fulfill its promises, the lack of success of the Kyoto Protocol is a prime example of this. It will be interesting to watch the various interests formulate their positions over the next month. What is clear is that comprehensive action must be taken soon.
The Irish Times also reports that the High Court will give its final ruling next week on exactly how much may be published of the report of the investigation into the handling by Catholic Church and State authorities of child sex abuse allegations against clerics in the Dublin archdiocese. Padraig has blogged about the case here. Labour Senator and Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin, Ivana Bacik has released a statement in which she calls for an an urgent debate on the operation of section 38 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. Senator Bacik writes:
“The Minister has sought directions from the High Court under section 38 of the Act. The High Court has already ordered the deletion of one chapter of the report, and further directions are now being sought from the Court. I am very concerned about the lack of fairness in the procedures under section 38. The hearing is in private, with no media present. The only persons represented are the State authorities – in this case, themselves under investigation – and any defendants in relevant criminal proceedings, ie alleged abusers… Section 38 does not give any right to be heard, for example, to the survivors or victims of abuse, or the Commission itself. Yet the effect of the section could be to compromise the reports of commissions of investigation, by ensuring that they are neutered before they are published. There is a clear public interest in reviewing the operation of section 38, to ensure greater rights to representation and greater transparency in the process.”
The Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUIG and the Irish Family Planning Association will host a conference on abortion and human rights on Thursday, November 5. Details are here.
The Irish Times reports that Martin Mansergh (left), the Minister of State for the Office of Public Works has suggested that a resolution can be found to the problem of funding Protestant schools as part of next year’s budget. We have discussed the debacle here. Minister Mansergh did not promise that the ancillary grant would be restored to all Protestant schools. Rather he outlined that the government wished to tailor its funding arrangements to those schools most in need; it ”was willing to consider any proposals that would more effectively focus funding to meet the objectives of improving access and sustaining Protestant schools, particularly those in rural areas.” The Minister said:
“I was a member of the board of a Protestant secondary school in Dublin city for almost 20 years. Shortly before departing last year, I inquired about the number of block grant pupils [those who benefit from special funding from the State] among the school population of 630 and was told it was in single figures… However, in other areas… the proportion may be 30 per cent or 40 per cent and, in one or two instances, even higher. The case can be made that the cutbacks announced last October bear more heavily on such schools than on those with no substantial disadvantaged intake.”
Via Maman Poulet comes news that concerted lobbying is now commencing around the Civil Partnership Bill 2009, which the renewed Programme for Government commits to introducing and is due to be debated before Christmas. The Civil Partnership Bill 2009 will, when passed, introduce civil partnerships available to same-sex couples only and provide some (primarily property-based) protections for unmarried and un-civilly-partnered couples on the breakdown of their relationship. In addition, s. 5 of the Bill provides that the Minister for Justice may, by order, recognise a relationship from another jurisdiction as a civil partnership in Ireland is he is satisfied that the extra-jurisdictional relationship form has equivalent characteristics to a civil partnership. Foreign marriages between same-sex couples, where they exist, will therefore not be recognised as marriages which, to me at least, means that the Bill does not address the net point in the Zappone & Gilligan v Revenue Commissioners case (for recognition of a Canadian same-sex marriage).
Civil partnerships will not be the same as marriage and marriage will in fact remain the exclusive domain of opposite-sex couples. That said, there are a variety of situations in which the Bill when enacted will provide significant protections to civil partners in areas around taxation, ‘shared’ home, pensions and so on. What is notably absent from the Bill, however, is any provision relating to children. Civil partners will not be permitted to adopt as a couple. Neither will the non-biological parent of a child being parented by both civil partners be able to carry out a second-parent adoption or to have recognised legal connections to the child. Children do become relevant on the dissolution of a civil partnership as their needs can be taken into account in relation to, for example, property adjustment orders and so on.
A number of points needs to be made here from a human rights perspective:
- Civil partnerships are unlikely to answer equality concerns from the LGBT community as they are not equal in status (constitutional, legal and social) to marriage
- Civil partners will not have the same range of protections as married couples in all circumstances, although there will be in most circumstances
- The rights of children to meaningful, legally-recognised and protected relationships to the people who parent them are not promoted by this Bill
- The exclusion of opposite-sex couples from civil partnership discriminates against couples who want legal protections but who do not want to marry for ideological or other reasons
There are whispers that the Bill will be debated on November 2nd, but it does not appear on the Order Paper. However, the debates ought to commence relatively soon and we will follow and reflect on them here on HRinI. While there are plenty of difficulties with civil partnerships as proposed in terms of scope, substance and basic equality principles we must recognise that civil partnerships themselves do represent an important advancement for LGBT rights in Ireland and should be welcomed as a step in the right direction but certainly not the final destination.
On October 19th I spoke about civil partnerships in the UCC Philosoph in a debate co-sponsored by the UCC LGBT Soc. You can hear my speech here, although as the motion was worded (by the Society) as ‘This House would Reject Civil Partnerships in Favour of Civil Marriage’ my support for partnerships as a protective paradigm that can be used by vulnerable couples now does not perhaps come through as clearly as it would have done if the motion were differently worded.
What to think of this story from today’s Irish Examiner, headlined ‘Judge: Roma raising kids to steal’? Colin has already blogged on the situation of Roma in the North. This story from the Republic turns on statements by two judges of the District Court; Judge Aingeal Ní Chonduin and Judge William Early about the case of a 16-year-old Roma girl. The girl had admitted theft of €320 worth of children’s shoes at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, in Dublin, on June 11 last, possessing stolen underwear, taken from a shop in Dublin city centre, on a date last July and failing to attend her court case on another date. Her solicitor told the court that the girl had been brought to Ireland at the age of 13 by her partner, now aged 21, and his family. At age 15, she gave birth to their first child. The Health Service Executive had conducted a welfare assessment but had not deemed any action to be necessary.
Now to the judges’ statements. Yesterday, Judge Aingeal Ní Chonduin, passing sentence said: “That seems to be the culture, the family owns her that is the way the families function, unfortunately, to go about to steal…,” she said. “It is a different culture, it does not go with our ways and our shops are being robbed blind, I feel sorry for these children.” At an earlier stage in the case, Judge William Early had expressed concern about the age gap between the girl and her partner. He had said: “It seems we have a 15-year-old child who appears to be living with a 20-year-old gentleman…This is statutory rape if that man is responsible for the conception of the child.” The DPP had not recommended prosecution. In response, Judge Early remarked “Either there are two different laws for people in this country or there are not. If people are to be treated equally before the law they should be treated equally and there should be similar expectations of people…“I understand that some cultures are impenetrable to a certain extent but they should be treated equally before the law.”
This morning Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism and an advocate for Roma rights, asked for Judge Ní Chonduin’s resignation. I want to wait for further media and government reaction (if it comes) for a full post. But for now, two observations will do.
- Both judges suggest that crime – theft and statutory rape – characterise the Roma by reason of ‘culture’. This is what Etienne Balibar would call ‘neo-racism’, a racism which does not identify itself as such but which distinguishes between in and out groups on the basis of notionally ‘impenetrable’ culture rather than ethnic origin. It depends for its effect on the sort of denial inherent in Judge Ni Chonduin’s rhetoric – in setting up a ‘billiard ball’ model of culture; untouched by other social forces.
- The gendered aspect of this racism is evident in the interrogation of the girl’s sexuality, relationships and motherhood. This move recalls the Citizenship Referendum of 2004, which focused on the supposedly deviant motherhood of migrant women and their consequent unfitness to ‘belong’ in Ireland. Siobhan Mullally, Ronit Lentin and – outside the Irish context – Nira Yuval Davis have written about this. The portrayal of Roma as inadequate parents, raising their children for crime, illicitly taking from a vulnerable Irish public, echoes the ‘Roundabout Roma’ controversy of 2007.
The case of DPP v Cash is listed for hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday November 16th 2009. This case may have major implications for the criminal justice process, policing in Ireland and the protection of suspect rights. The case is likely to allow for an exploration of the Irish exclusionary rule in relation to improperly obtained evidence. This rule, first established in People (AG) v O’Brien I.R. 142 and later modified in People (DPP) v Kenny 2 I.R. 110; I.L.R.M. 569, has come in for much criticism in recent times and many see the Cash case as the perfect opportunity for the Supreme Court to address the strict manner in which the rule operates in the context of unconstitutionally obtained evidence.
In O’Brien, a dichotomy was established between evidence obtained in breach of legal rights only and evidence obtained in breach of constitutional rights. In relation to the former, a trial judge holds a discretion to admit or exclude the evidence based on an assessment of the totality of the circumstances, including the nature and extent of the illegality, whether it was based on an ad hoc decision or settled policy, whether it was intentional or unintentional and whether the public interest would be best served by the admission or the exclusion of the relevant evidence.
However, the trial judge has no discretion in relation to the exclusion of unconstitutionally obtained evidence. Once it is shown that there has been a breach of constitutional rights, and there is a causal link between such breach and the impugned evidence, the evidence becomes automatically inadmissible. The only circumstances in which unconstitutionally obtained evidence might be admitted is where there are so-called “extraordinary excusing circumstances” in place which justify its admission, such as the need to rescue a victim in peril or to prevent the imminent destruction of vital evidence. Read more…
I watched a very interesting docu-drama on BBC Alba last night on Ian Brady and the right to die (entitled, predictably enough, Ian Brady – The Right to Die), which has created a minor furore in Scotland about an issue which has largely been forgotten.
The Moors murders carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around the Greater Manchester area have, perhaps more than any other murders, passed into the popular consciousness of Britain and Ireland. The victims were five children aged between 10 and 17, at least four of whom were sexually assaulted. The murders are so named because two of the victims were discovered in graves dug on Saddleworth Moor; a third grave was discovered on the moor in 1987, over 20 years after Brady and Hindley’s trial in 1966. Read more… | <urn:uuid:1e6d2de9-04d3-46b2-84c0-9b278f24147a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://humanrightsinireland.wordpress.com/2009/10/ | 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 | 0.968952 | 3,522 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Don't shoot the messenger
Monday, December 7, marks the opening of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. At that meeting, the leaders of the world will gather to negotiate an agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The new agreement will be the world's road map for dealing with climate change, and the stakes are huge. It is fitting that the conference begins on the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, for the Copenhagen conference is sure to be an epic political battle. Indeed, the battle has already been underway for several weeks, with most of the action centering on a PR assault launched by the anti-CO2 regulation forces that sensationalized the contents of the hacked emails from the University of East Anglia. The Wall Street Journal has long been at the forefront of the battle to discredit the science of climate change and the scientists involved, and last week they launched a major offensive, publishing multiple opinion pieces. I'll critique one of these, a December 1 editorial by Bret Stephens which accuses climate scientists of having a vested interest in promoting alarmist views of the climate in order to get research funding. "All of them have been on the receiving end of climate change-related funding, so all of them must believe in the reality (and catastrophic imminence) of global warming just as a priest must believe in the existence of God", Stephens wrote.
It's always wise to follow the money when analyzing the motivations of people. However, Ph.D. atmospheric scientists are less motivated by money than, say, the typical reader of the Wall Street Journal. I am an example of that. Nobody owns more shares of Wunderground.com than I do, yet here I am criticizing the Wall Street Journal and some of the richest and most powerful corporations on the planet--hardly the sort of action that will generate more revenue for my company. Our top climate scientists are some of the most brilliant people on the planet. They could have easily made fortunes on Wall Street devising intricate schemes to hawk sub-prime mortgages or leverage obscure derivatives. Yet these people chose climate science as a career, out of a genuine curiosity about how the world works and desire to help find the truth of whether human-caused climate change poses a significant threat to humanity. The charges that these scientists are exaggerating the danger of human-caused global warming to get more funding is a personal attack on their integrity--a typical politician's ploy to avoid talking about the issues, when one has no valid arguments to bolster one's position. In my 29 years in the weather business, I've had the honor of working with many of the world's top weather and climate scientists. I can personally vouch for their integrity and commitment to pursue the scientific truth, no matter what that truth turns out to be. These are honest, incredibly hard-working public servants who are enduring a punishing assault on their integrity because they are the bearers of bad news. The Earth has plenty of pressing problems requiring the services of brilliant scientists; these public servants will always have a job, and have no need to exaggerate dangers or invent new threats in order to get more research funding. If one reads through the entire set of 3,000 emails hacked from the University of East Anglia--not just the choice few lines excerpted from chosen emails, and then spun by the anti-CO2 regulation lobby to make the scientists look bad--you will see that these scientists are the good guys. Never once is there a mention of fabricating data or fudging results to try to get more research funding. There is no conspiring to perpetate the massive "hoax" of human-caused global warming they have been accused of. Rather, we see a picture of some very smart, hardworking, and very human and imperfect scientists that are doing their best to learn the truth, and pass that information on to the rest of us. You don't get ahead in scince by fudging the data. It's publish or perish. While the peer-review system of publication is not perfect, it generally does an excellent job of rewarding those scientists who seek to publish the truth, and rejects those who do not. Published papers that turn out to be false will, in time, crumble under the weight of subsequent studies that do uncover the truth. Smart scientists tend to have big egos and hate being wrong, so there is additional motivation to publish truthful studies that will withstand the test of time and be validated by subsequent research.
Mr. Stephens uses the words "alarm" or "alarmist" four times in the editorial, and he is clearly trying to provoke an emotional reaction against those Chicken Littles guilty of raising the alarm. Speaking as an atmospheric scientist, I can tell you from long experience that we are not the wild-eyed, alarmist lot that the Wall Street Journal makes us out to be. This makes for some very dull parties (if you're not excited about discussing quasi-geostrophic theory), when we get together for a big bash. Very little alarming behavior takes place. (In fact, after I dragged my wife to three straight devastatingly dull departmental Christmas parties while I was in graduate school, she forbade me from ever requiring her to go to another.) Atmospheric scientists are not an alarmist lot--put us in quiet room with a window and give us a computer and pile of data to analyze, and we'll be as happy as a clam at high tide. The portrayal of climate scientists as alarmist, money-grubbing, dishonest hucksters out to destroy the economy to further their own selfish desires for money or fame is a common theme in climate change denial attacks, and is a very narrow-minded and ignorant one. It's more convenient to shoot the messenger than to acknowledge the truth of the bad news they're bringing.
Toleration of false alarms
It is possible that the alarms climate scientists are raising over climate change will turn out to be false. Environmental scientists have in the past issued false alarms over environmental problems that did not materialize as expected. However, we should expect and tolerate some degree of false alarms, given the uncertainty in forecasting these events. If our scientists never issue a false alarm, then the tolerance for issuing alarms is not correct. Would you criticize the National Weather Service for issuing a tornado warning when a possible tornado signature is spotted on Doppler radar, since less than half of these signatures result in in an actual tornado touchdown? Or the National Hurricane Center for issuing a hurricane warning, since only 25% of the warned coast receives hurricane-force winds, on average? No, some degree of false alarms must be tolerated. Our weather forecasters are dedicated public servants, doing their job of warning the public when their best scientific judgment indicates that there might be a significant threat. It is no different with our climate scientists. They are predicting that there is a greater than 90% chance that most of the observed global warming is due to human causes. Climate scientists are extremely concerned about what their scientific results are saying, and are doing their utmost to warn a public resistant to acknowledging the danger. This resistance runs very deep among conservatives. A 2008 Pew Center poll found that 75% of Democrats with a college education believed that humans were responsible for global warming, while only 19% of college educated Republicans believed that. Conservatives' core belief that a capitalist, free market economy with limited regulation is the best economic system in the world is challenged by acknowledging that human-caused global warming is real and a threat. I greatly respect conservatives who can objectively evaluate the validity of global warming science while holding that core belief, for it is difficult to accept that the best economic system in the world could spawn such a self-destructive force. But as I detailed in a post last week, corporations, by law, exist to make a profit. If scientific research shows that a corporation's products may be harmful to the public health, it the obligation of the company to its shareholders to employ whatever legal means possible to cast doubt on this science, in order to protect profits. The profits of the richest and most powerful industry the planet has ever seen--the fossil fuel industry--are currently so threatened. Thus, we are being subject to history's greatest campaign to deny science, and it is keeping us from much-needed action to curb the danger. These voices are telling us what we want to hear--the danger is not real, the scientists are corrupt and are falsifying their data, the uncertainties are great, and that we cannot afford to change. But the laws of physics don't care about ideology or free market economies or election cycles. The overwhelming majority of our top climate scientists are saying that the laws of physics dictate that massive amounts of greenhouse gases, when added to the atmosphere, will cause warming that will be very damaging to civilization. If we are to limit that damage, we must act soon, for the approaching storm will grow ever stronger the longer we wait. Don't shoot the messengers-- they are on your side.
Other posts in this series
Embattled UK climate scientist steps down
The Manufactured Doubt industry and the hacked email controversy
Is more CO2 beneficial for Earth's ecosystems?
My timing of my next post will depend upon the weather.
Our Climate Change expert, Dr. Ricky Rood, is in Copenhagen for this week's crucial COP15 climate change treaty negotiations. Be sure to tune into his blog for updates on the talks. Wunderground has provided financial support for several University of Michigan students to attend the talks, and I may be featuring portions of their blogs over the coming weeks. | <urn:uuid:d4845064-2026-4471-848f-c2ebeaa50462> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://french.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1394&page=7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951381 | 1,951 | 1.59375 | 2 |
HEGUMENOS, ORDINATION OF A. The service of promoting a priest to the hegumenate is similar to that of ordination to the priesthood, except that in the prayers said by the bishop and the archdeacon, the word "priesthood" is replaced by "hegumenate" and the bishop recites the following prayer of Epiclesis, that is, the descent of the Holy Spirit, inaudibly:
Master, Lord God almighty, Father of our Lord and our God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who knowest all things before they exist: Thou hast chosen Thy servant [Name] to be a father and hegumenos to Thy servants his fellow-presbyters, working together in full accord for Thy name's sake. We therefore ask Thee, O Lover of mankind, to protect him, bless him and purify him by the descent of Thy Holy Spirit on him. Do Thou support him in every good work, granting him wisdom and power through Thy Holy Spirit, to serve Thee day and night without blame. Bestow the spirit of good leadership upon him, together with humility, love, forbearance, and righteousness, that he may please Thee through his good works, providing the right example to those under him, and teaching them the commandments of Thy law, looking after them in purity and love, that they may become blameless and worthy to be offered as a living, pure and acceptable sacrifice to Jesus Christ the heavenly bridegroom, fulfilling Thy words: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Through the grace and compassion of Thy only-begotten Son, our God and Savior Jesus Christ, with whom and with the Holy Spirit Thou art blessed now and forever. Amen.
The third modification comes in the catechesis speech read by the bishop, where great emphasis is laid on the importance of the hegumenos' role as teacher to his people for whom he is held responsible before God. "Watch over them, direct them to good deeds. Admonish the sinners with kindness and compassion in accordance with the apostolic law. Strive to draw them towards repentance, knowing that they are part of thee, and that you have become their guide. Beware lest the wolf come near the flock. Fulfill the words of the Scripture: "We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves' [Rom. 15:1], so that you, too, may be told: "Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter into the joy of thy lord' [Mt. 25:23]."
The bishop then continues the celebration of the liturgy, without insufflating the hegumenos, as he already received the breath of the Holy Spirit when he was ordained priest.
[See also: Ordination, Clerical.]
Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections. | <urn:uuid:bec6eb29-335d-465c-ab0f-f2d92f9b4903> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cce/id/953/rec/1 | 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 | 0.96059 | 641 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta
Walking the fine line between experimentation and exhaustion
The third in a series of titles in Pig Esperanto, meaning essentially nothing, though always a topic for lively discussion on Internet message boards. (One thing is for sure: it is the source of the name of the beloved near-perfect race horse Zenyatta, owned by A&M Records' co-founder Jerry Moss.) As an album, it's a mixed bag: some great fast reggae ("Don't Stand So Close to Me"), the energetic pop of "Canary in a Coalmine," and the lush "When the World is Running Down" are among some of the band's best songs. But experimentation gives way to exhaustion on other tracks: Sting's "Man in a Suitcase" appears to be both about and a symptom of their back-breaking touring schedule. "Voices Inside My Head" is a workmanlike sketch using African-sounding guitar and vocals mixed way back to resemble a chant; Middle Eastern motifs emerge in Summers' solo in "Bombs Away," a song by Copeland that's prescient in its assessment of "unpaid bills in Afghanistan hills." The Middle Eastern musical theme is also evident in "Behind My Camel," a Summers-composed instrumental evoking the North African desert, but its relevance is just a mirage. The coup de grace (to use a phrase in Sting's frequently-favored French) is the band's first top 10 U.S. hit: "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da." No relation to the German band Trio's 1982 new wave hit, "Da Da Da," though the point should be made. Did radio programmers appeal to the lowest common denominator of their audience's intelligence? Weren't they right? In the 30 years since, the deepest thinkers at the Academy for the Study of Rock Lyrics have deconstructed, reconstructed and post-modernized these lyrics, and have come to conclude that "De Do Do Do" means "De Do Do Do." And so forth. | <urn:uuid:9a4f8f33-b185-4d15-b30c-8fd493bc85bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emusic.com/music-news/review/album/the-police-zenyatta-mondatta/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950182 | 423 | 1.570313 | 2 |
In 2006, the stage of the Old Globe Theatre was named the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, in honor of a $20 million capital and endowment campaign commitment from the Shileys, who have been friends and supporters of The Old Globe for more than three decades.
Modeled after Shakespeare’s Old Globe in London, the Old Globe Theatre was built in 1935 to present abridged versions of Shakespeare’s plays as part of the California Pacific International Exposition. At the conclusion of the exposition in 1937, a non-profit production corporation, the San Diego Community Theatre, leased the theatre and adjacent building from the City of San Diego (an arrangement that continues today) and renovated the theatre for ongoing use.
On December 2, 1937, the remodeled Old Globe Theatre opened with a production of John Van Druten’s The Distaff Side. In the cast was a young actor named Craig Noel, whose presence as an actor, director, and artistic leader would guide the theatre’s growth through more than five decades of continuous productions, and whose role as Artistic Director continues to this day.
On March 8, 1978, an arson fire destroyed the landmark theatre. Fortunately, the administrative offices, rehearsal hall, dressing rooms, scenery and costume shops, and the Cassius Carter Centre Stage were spared from the flames. In 1982, the new 580 seat in The Old Globe opened with a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
Today, the Old Globe Theatre is the flagship venue for the organization, where several world premieres, such as Into the Woods, Play On!, The Full Monty and Imaginary Friends have been staged, and have then gone on to enjoy successful runs on Broadway.
The Old Globe's Artistic Director Emeritus Jack O’Brien says of the Old Globe Theatre, "I love the generosity of this theatre space, its fluid design, its perfect sight-lines, its great acoustics. If theatre in San Diego has a cradle, The Old Globe is it."
Click here to view seating charts with price zones.
View from the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage
Click on the camera icons in the seating chart on the left to get a view from those seats.
Please download Adobe Flash Player to view highlighted productions, www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer | <urn:uuid:d5fd795d-bc75-40e9-833f-c79938ad3074> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oldglobe.org/theatres/old-globe.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944251 | 483 | 1.539063 | 2 |
in Scotland includes opportunities for salmon,
brown trout and sea trout angling , but coarse
fishing is increasingly popular. Angling is the
most important participation sport in the country.
It makes the ideal place for a holiday or vacation
and there are a weath of tackle shops, guides
and ghillies who can help you.
On the west coast you will find
hundreds of small spate rivers, streams and lochs,
while in the east you find the classic salmon
rivers of the Tay, Tweed, Dee and Spey. Further
north is Caithness and Sutherland which is a patchwork
quilt of lochs streams and rivers. Even on the
islands quite exceptional fishing can be found.
the central belt around Glasgow and Edinburgh
you will find some good put and take fisheries
as well as lochs and even the local rivers like
the Clyde offer good sport these days and are
within minutes of the conurbations.
To the south closer to the border
with England are some exceptional fisheries, including
the Tweed on the east coast known for its salmon.
To the west you will find the Solway rivers which
are famous for their sea trout as well as big
late running salmon. | <urn:uuid:a305a202-9c7c-4fc3-b7df-7a35714c97ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fishing-scotland.net/ | 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 | 0.937701 | 264 | 1.796875 | 2 |
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia. -- Louis J. Gambaccini has learned to preach strong but vividly contrasting sermons in his effort to save, for the public and the future, America's fourth-largest mass-transit system.
On the one hand Gambaccini plays Mr. Gloom, Doom and Warning. During the budget battles of spring '91 he pointedly raised the specter of halting, for lack of money, the entire Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority he heads -- a subway-rail-trolley-bus system that covers a five-county area the size of Delaware and carries 1.2 million riders a day.
Even with the nation's highest base transit fare ($1.50) and 55 percent of its operating revenues paid by riders, SEPTA has had barely enough cash to maintain operations -- not to mention attacking its massive backlog of rusted tracks, water leak-plagued subways and decayed bridges. At least one bridge dates back to the presidency of Andrew Jackson.
''We're not crying wolf -- a real shutdown is a possibility,'' Mr. Gambaccini warned in April, citing reluctance of the deficit-ridden federal, Pennsylvania and city governments to provide critically needed assistance.
Yet even in the midst of its trauma, SEPTA in May issued an ambitious ''Vision of the Future'' done jointly with the planning staffs of Philadelphia and surrounding Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.
''Vision'' speaks boldly of serving suburbs as well as cities, starting new cross-county rail lines and transportation centers, making SEPTA integral to reducing alarmingly high levels of air pollution and boosting the region's mobility and economy.
Struggling for your agency's very existence even while you contemplate exciting 21st century possibilities is the odd lot of a professional government manager in the numbing '90s.
One moment Mr. Gambaccini is reading the riot act about SEPTA's capital needs -- $4.5 billion in the '90s, to get the system back in decent operating shape. And in the next he tries to sell to whomever will listen the glowing potentials -- by one economist's study, a prospective return of $9 to the Philadelphia-area economy for every dollar invested in new or replaced SEPTA facilities.
You have to wonder who'd let himself in for such a perplexing job -- complete with the peril of being the last SEPTA general manager.
For one thing, Mr. Gambaccini didn't need this $191,700-a-year job to prove his mettle. Silver-haired, recently turned 60, he'd held high positions with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, headed New Jersey Transit and served as that state's commissioner of transportation. He helped found and chaired the Washington-based Center for Excellence in Government.
Mr. Gambaccini is the kind of public figure we in the media too rarely tell people about -- not the young man on the make, but the accomplished professional who relishes a tough public job, pulls it off with humor and aplomb and likely believes that if he can't accomplish the mission, no one could.
Even so, Mr. Gambaccini told me ''I didn't expect this job to be so tough. I thought the force of logic -- the need to reinvest in a great transit system -- would carry more weight. It's maddeningly hard to get results.''
The Pennsylvania General Assembly, heavy with rural and suburban politicians prone to making hay from Philadelphia-bashing, was particularly hard to convince.
So Mr. Gambaccini carried his blunt, urgent message to the media, running newspaper ''advertorials'' to underscore SEPTA's role in restraining air pollution, reducing the need for new roads and enriching the state economy including jobs for supply firms hundreds of miles from the big city.
Close down SEPTA, he argued, and central Philadelphia's 285,000-person work force, 70 percent of which now commutes by public transit, would be forced into autos that would require 45 new (but nonexistent) freeway lanes and transform the entire downtown into one mega-parking lot.
Then Mr. Gambaccini distributed an independent Urban Institute survey which found a SEPTA shutdown would cost the Philadelphia region, by the year 2020, 170,000 jobs, $9.6 billion in yearly personal income and $15 billion in yearly business sales.
Mr. Gambaccini and his allies went a step beyond rhetoric: They organized politically. They set up the Southeastern Pennsylvania Area Coalition for Transportation, a combination of some 350 business, labor, rider, senior citizen and environmental groups, to lobby both in Harrisburg and Washington.
This spring SEPTA took the lead in setting up a coalition with the 37 other mass transit agencies in Pennsylvania. And then it created an unprecedented alliance with the state's highway lobby -- each to pressure for funding for the other's urgent agendas.
Early in August the Pennsylvania legislature finally created the first dedicated fund for mass transit in the state's history -- a $200 million-a-year fund from which SEPTA will receive $140 million. SEPTA's getting another $90 million in regular state capital grants.
The state action, in the midst of a dire fiscal crisis, doesn't solve all of SEPTA's cash problems but does mean SEPTA can accelerate its repair and rehabilitation plans.
But the Pennsylvania victory came only after excruciating effort. Mass transit faces parallel battles from New York to Miami to Chicago to Seattle. State as well as federal aid is becoming indispensable.
Nor will solid transit-agency management, alone, turn the trick. The extraordinary public-relations skills Mr. Gambaccini has used save SEPTA will be increasingly critical to save the day for transit, and the cities' future.
Neal Peirce is a syndicated columnist. | <urn:uuid:4d35c4ca-f7d8-4f4f-864e-0de80b5d9487> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-08-19/news/1991231043_1_septa-gambaccini-crying-wolf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944362 | 1,213 | 1.695313 | 2 |
There’s plenty of room in the fast-moving world of extreme sports for science. Ben Gulak proved it. As a teenager, the now-23-year-old had a big ambition: Winning the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. His senior project, the Uno, was a part Segway, part motorcycle vehicle that he developed as an environmentally friendly transportation option for consumers in Asia. Although regulatory issues thwarted that vision, the chairman of Intel at the time, Craig Barrett noticed Ben’s project, which won the “most marketable” award.
From there, Ben launched his won engineering design company, called BPG Werks, to develop a similar, even cheaper-to-produce concept — the DTV Shredder. Geared toward extreme-sports fans, he tough-looking all-terrain vehicle borrows elements from the Segway, motorcycle, and skateboard. “I really like the idea of bringing something new into the world, to an industry that’s been stagnant for a long time,” Ben said. With about 4,000 pre-sold to date, Ben anticipates that he’ll ship in November and will have 10,000 sold by the December holidays.
See on www.businessweek.com | <urn:uuid:29615a70-4d98-44a1-94aa-bd20e8a5f308> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://massscifair.com/blog/?p=1712 | 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 | 0.961118 | 265 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Picture credit to Milo Gasagrande.
Growing up, my dad was a gadget fan – he used to want to have all the latest computer chips and software, he wanted the latest video cards, and he wanted to be a part of this thing called the “world wide web”. My brother and I were one of the first kids in our elementary school to know how to “log on” to the Internet, how to send an email, and how to add RAM to a computer tower. In the late 80’s and early 90s, the quality of electronic devices didn’t stand the test of time – or the test of two children. Things would break and would need to be replaced – personally, I admit to helping keep VCR’s off the shelf. When a VCR would break, my dad, instead of throwing it away, would announce the electronics killer had struck again, and then let me have it.
What did I do with it? I tore it apart – every screw, every chip, every piece of metal. I broke apart the machine and I examined the parts that made it. What made the tape in the VCR turn? How did it project from the thin film through a wire, and onto my TV. Was there a tiny Ariel and Sebastian hiding in front of a teeny tiny lens and acting out The Little Mermaid five and six times a week? No, there wasn’t, but I liked pulling things apart and looking at them.
As an adult, I have the same inclinations – when I see something I don’t understand, or something that is new, I want to learn everything I can about how it works, what makes it tick, how to pull it apart and put it back together. I’ve performed very careful surgeries on laptops that have saved me a lot of money and fixed wires and sound systems, helped remove viruses from computers on the other side of the United States, and saved myself lots of money on tech assistance because I can do a lot of things on my own.
I stumbled upon an old study from the University of Buffalo that found that curiosity is very good for people. The study found that people who are curious tend to experience more positive interpersonal outcomes than the less curious. Basically, those who are curious want to learn more about people, ask more questions, and are personally satisfied when they find out new or surprising information.
Did you ever think that your curiosity as a child could start setting up your interests and strengths as an adult? We used to get scolded when we were children about getting into things that we weren’t supposed to get into, but we were just reacting to our natural curiosities. We weren’t supposed to put our fingers into light sockets, but there was a hole in the wall and wanted to see where it went.
Curiosity opens the door for people to learn more information and things about others and the way that things work. There is nothing that seems to work better than trying to learn how something works, instead of just accepting that it works. When you tear apart something, break it down to its pieces, maybe you’ll get a hint on how you can do it better, or what you can change to make it more efficient.
This weekend, I recommend everyone find an old VCR, or a DVD player – something that’s broken and has been sitting in your spare room or your attic for months, and tear it apart. Rediscover the natural curiosity you had as a child and think about what you can do the next time you’re in a position where you can learn more about someone with a couple of simple, curious questions. | <urn:uuid:22f83cad-6ad5-4651-9d35-65c2fabb37e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accuconference.com/blog/Curiosity-Can-Be-a-Good-Thing.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974262 | 762 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Bana in the Modern World
There were more than a few things that confused me as I was beginning my understanding of Sikhism just last year. I was born in the U.S. and have attended several Gurdwaras among Sikhs from different backgrounds. I have been largely muddling along on my own, trying to figure things out. Coming to Sikhi from knowing it to be the truth of me instead of from an understanding of the lifestyle or teachings has been a very interesting evolution that has brought about the following consternation.
When Sikhs go to Gurdwara to celebrate amongst each other, many wear bana, the traditional clothes of Punjab or the outer appearance given by our Guru Gobind Singh. Yet on the street, I cannot tell a Sikh from any other American unless they happen to wear a turban.
Some have told me that bana is outdated; that it was a sign for the times of Guru Gobind Singh and that it has no meaning in modern society. I have also heard that it's impractical, too expensive and just not worn all the time.
So then, why wear it at all? I do wear bana most of the time. It started as an acceptance of my vision of me, not as a true understanding of it. Everything about practicing Sikhi has been a process of surrender for me and often a difficult path to which to submit my ego. What I found as a woman wearing a turban was that people were confused by or afraid of me. Instead of being asked about my faith, people asked about the fashion of it, or if I had cancer or a head injury. I am sure part of that is because I don't look the least bit exotic, but part of it was because at that time I felt like half a Sikh, so it was actually the Guru was talking to me. I started looking in my closet and realized that none of the clothes there went with this turban or this projection of me. Without Guru Gobind Singh's given form, my image as his daughter was simply not complete.
Some say that wearing bana to the Gurdwara is a sign of respect. Does that mean the Guru is only present in that particular building? I want to take that presence with me wherever I go. By wearing bana everywhere I am constantly reminded of who I am. I want to represent the Great Love to everyone I see, and so allow the Guru to come through me. Can I do that in jeans? Absolutely. It just makes it a lot harder to be seen. My bana is my projection. People remember kindness shown to them by a turbaned soul dressed in white. While people might forget how to say my name, they never forget they met a Sikh.
Opportunities to connect with like-minded people come about because they feel comfortable discussing spirituality or sharing their faith with me and the most wonderful friendships develop with people who would have otherwise remained strangers. People tell me their deepest fears and ask the big questions because, seeing me in bana, they know they are safe.
Did not Guru Gobind Singh ask us to stand out for this reason? In a time when Sikhs are concerned about educating the public about the faith, I cannot think of a better way than expressing it fully in myself. I am no spiritual teacher or wise woman. I am stumbling along just like you. Being in the Guru's form helps me stop, take a breath and let the Guru come through. People are always watching, which helps me be the best I can be. Guru Gobind Singh Ji did not give us this bana unknowingly.
Wearing bana does not mean I have become a perfect Sikh. It does not mean I have memorized all the banis or that I get up at 3 a.m. unfailingly.
I was compelled to finally write this today specifically because I could not drag myself out of bed at that time this morning. The commitments of Amrit are made to the Guru for ourselves. Each tool, each discipline, is a teacher. Each one gives a way to separate ourselves from Maya, control our bodies and minds and strengthen our connection to Waheguru. If every time I leave the house I have to put myself together in bana, I also have to remember to put my mind in the hands of the Guru. I have to exhibit excellence to represent all of us which helps me be conscious in all I do.
Despite the great love I have for the Guru, this morning I could not master my tired body, fully knowing that if I had, a cold shower would have instantly revitalized my energy. I will still perform all those tasks I have sworn to do and love to do, and ask for the hukam of my Guru.
Now it's just a bit later. So who have I really upset by deviating from the discipline? Only myself. The practice of Sikhi is a gift to myself. There is ultimately only this one relationship between me and God and that is why bana is so important to me. When I outwardly wear my faith in trust, it eventually brings radiance internally. Wear it yourself every day for awhile and see. Until I did, I did not know what courage was. Wearing bana made me understand my faith, know my mind and how I rationalize and lie to myself. It also showed me my challenges, my strength and my deep connection to my Guru.
Bana, to me, says "I give up myself for you." That seems to me to be the essence of what it means to be a Sikh of the Guru.
About the author: I am a second-year physician assistant student out of Pacific University in Hillsboro, Oregon currently on rotation for the summer in wonderful Rapid City, South Dakota. Since I will be traveling around for the next 14 months, I think the Guru dressed me in bana to spread awareness of Sikhi, besides what it does for me.
Photos by Ravitej Singh Khalsa, Eugene OR
Related Video: "Bana and the Sikh Identity" by Guruka Singh. | <urn:uuid:b7514575-9d8a-459b-9536-26b384446034> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sikhnet.com/news/bana-modern-world | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983312 | 1,254 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Review of Texas Arson Cases May Soon Yield Results 10/7/12
October 7, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A review of old Texas arson cases that advocacy groups hope will help overturn wrongful convictions may produce it first results in January.
The Austin American Statesman reported Saturday that the review, led by the Innocence Project of Texas, has identified one suspect case and is scrutinizing about 26 others.
The group is reviewing cases for signs investigators relied on now-discredited "myths," instead of science, to determine if fires were intentionally set.
A panel of fire experts assembled by new Texas Fire Marshal Chris Connealy is scheduled to hear details of the first batch of suspect cases in January.
The review was spurred by a 2011 science commission report acknowledging that unreliable science helped lead to Cameron Todd Willingham's conviction for murder by arson.
Willingham was executed in 2004. | <urn:uuid:8e734872-6559-4891-a9ce-ddb85b0798e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=37917 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959894 | 190 | 1.5 | 2 |
The Invisible Saviour
Once, a little boy named James saw that many mangoes had fallen from the mango trees in the public garden near his home. There had been a huge storm the previous night. With his mother's permission he went to gather some mangoes. No sooner had he begun, a big storm struck again. Rain came pouring down. Lightning split the sky and thunder rumbled overhead.
James was terrified. He remembered his mother's advice and started chanting (repeating God's name). He ran under a mango tree to find shelter. Soon though, he felt that someone was calling out to him from nearby. He tried to listen over the sound of the pouring rain and again there it was, "James! James!" He looked around but saw no one. The whole garden was deserted. He was surprised that he could not see the person who was calling out to him although the person seemed to be very near. He heard the voice again, and chanting the Lord's name he ran out from his "shelter" into the rain, to look for the person who had called him.
He had not gone fifty-sixty feet from the tree, when a streak of lightning flashed down, followed by a loud crash. It struck the mango tree under which he had taken shelter. The tree was completely burnt.
The storm finally subsided and James began to walk back home. After covering a little distance, he saw a lady and a little toddler playing in the garden with a small dog. He asked her, "Did you call me earlier?" The lady smiled and answered, "No, I did not. I did call my son, James, who is playing with his dog." Once again, she called her son and told him not to go too far.
Now James realised that God had saved his life. He thanked God and returned home, wet, shaken and repeating God's name in a tone of gratitude. He noticed that his faith had increased. He hugged his mother and narrated the incident to her. His mother led him to the altar and they knelt and said a prayer of gratitude unto Lord Jesus.
Moral: This story shows that since God alone knows all, only He can protect us in situations, where we do not even know of any danger. To get this protection and love from God, our invisible Saviour, we all can learn to chant and pray like James did. To start, we can chant God's Name as per our religion and 'Om Gan Ganapataye namaha' daily for 15 minutes each. We can also pray and chant before getting out of bed each morning, going to bed each night, while waiting for the school bus, walking, eating and so on.
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written permission of the editor of the Forum for Hindu Awakening. | <urn:uuid:b5b25de5-af36-4f7d-aeb6-c00318c3a49c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forumforhinduawakening.org/understanding/stories/the-invisible-savior | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985352 | 610 | 1.820313 | 2 |
At the recent carburetor tech session at Brookland's by Matt Graham, Matt suggested that leaving the charcoal canisters in the car is not a bad thing as they don't take away from the engine's horsepower and help with venting and environmental concerns. Keeping this in mind, I obtained permission from Gerry Masterson to reprint the following article that he wrote once upon a time about replacing the charcoal found in the canisters.
Our MGB's use a charcoal canister to trap gas fumes from the gas tank and the carburetor float bowls. The trapped fumes are then sucked through the valve cover, through the crankcase and out the vent on the tappet cover on the side of the engine by carb vacuum. This system uses absolutely no energy to operate so it should be left functional when you remove the air pump and other emission equipment. Over time, the filters and charcoal degrades to the point of being sucked into the crankcase. One thing you do not want in your crankcase is bits of charcoal.
Repairing the charcoal canister is not all that hard. The first thing you have to do is to open it up and clean out all the old contents. The bottom unscrews to expose the retainer. The retainer is the piece that looks like a ring divided into thirds.
Notice the ring has six tabs in it that fit in matching slots in the bottom of the canister.
These have to be carefully depressed so the retainer will be released. After the retainer is removed, you will find a filter made of plastic gauze. Pull this out and examine it. If it is in decent condition set it aside for reuse.
Under it you will find the old charcoal. It looks like black pellets. Dump these in the trash. They are not re-useable. Under the charcoal you will find another filter like the first one and a steel mesh screen. If the screen is intact, save it for reuse or replace it.
Next you will find a special washer and a spring. These should be cleaned up for reuse also.
Okay, now you have it all out and in front of you. If the two filters are not re-useable, you can make replacements from filter paper. I had access to some filter paper so I cut several 3-1/2" circles. Lacking this, you can use plain old coffee filters. Look around for some large enough to cut the discs from without leaving any holes. After you make your new filters, you are ready to go back together with everything.
For charcoal, I used plain old aquarium filter charcoal that's available from any store that sells aquarium supplies. You'll need about 8-ounces of charcoal. You can wash it first, and dry it in your kitchen oven.
When you are ready to reassemble your canister, start by placing the spring and special washer in place in the bottom of the canister. Next, install the steel mesh with either your old filter or your new, homemade filter on top. My original filter was re-useable so I used both the old and the new one.
Next comes the charcoal. Put about 8-ounces in. It should fill the canister up to the point where the other filter and retaining ring will just fit in place. It you overfill by a bit, it will not matter, as the spring will compress enough to keep pressure on everything. You want the whole packed bed of charcoal held in place by the spring.
On top of the charcoal goes your second filter and then the retainer. Be sure the retainer locks in place with its six tabs in their matching slots. Now all that is left is to screw the bottom back in place, reinstall the canister back in your car, and hook the hoses back up. Not so hard after all, was it?
(This article was originally posted on Tony Barnhill's website "The Autoist") | <urn:uuid:ea980aef-bf95-4da5-8e5f-1f959b53fb1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mgexp.com/article/rebuilding-charcoal-canister.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945745 | 815 | 1.6875 | 2 |
By Nathan Jones
In this series of articles called Timing Gog-Magog we are looking to the Bible to discover when the great battle the prophet Ezekiel described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is going to take place.
To recap, the Gog-Magog Battle involves a coalition of nations led by a ruler from the ancient lands once covered by the former Soviet Union and modern-day Turkey which consist of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and possibly Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Algeria and Tunisia. They are united in their fervor to loot and destroy Israel. The invading coalition comes to the mountains of Israel to discover not an easy victory, but a setup by God who utterly destroys them with violent weather. The supernatural defeat of the invading hordes reveales to the world that God is real and indeed protects the nation of Israel. Israel spends the next seven months burying the dead invaders and seven years expending the leftover fuel and weapons.
We have already addressed the possibility that the Gog-Magog Battle never will happen and dismissed that view for its blatant spiritualization of the Scriptures. We've also dismissed the view that the battle already happened some other time in Israel's past history because no such battle has yet happened that fits the Ezekiel 38-39 description of nations.
For our study of the remaining views of when the Gog-Magog Battle could take place, we're going to utilize what I believe is the best written book on the subject — Northern Storm Rising by Dr. Ron Rhodes. Dr. Rhodes is the president of Reasoning From the Scriptures Ministries, author of over 40 books, and was the Bible Answer Man before Hank Hanegraaff. Personally, Dr. Rhodes is an overall great guy who I had the pleasure of co-interviewing for the upcoming April "Christ in Prophecy" television shows on answering tough questions. Dr. Rhodes is an expert on the Gog-Magog Battle, and his book excellently lays out each timing view's pros and cons.
General Timing Clues
While there is debate on the specific timing of the Gog-Magog Battle, the student of Bible prophecy can be positive about the general timing. General timing is clearly spelled out in Ezekiel's account as events that must happen to set the stage for the battle.
1) The first general timing clue is Ezekiel's use of the terms "latter years" (Ezek 38:8) and "last days" (Ezek. 38:16). The Gog-Magog Battle must happen in the prophetic scheme of the end times as it relates to the nation of Israel. The key verse to understanding what these terms mean is Deuteronomy 4:30 which reads, "When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him." "Distress" is also translated as "Tribulation." It is the Tribulation of Daniel's 70th week that brings the Jewish people as a nation back into the belief in God, and later to accept Yeshua as their Messiah. The Tribulation leading up to the Millennial reign of Christ is what the Old Testament prophets consistently and repeatedly taught about. And so, we can know from these key phrases that the Gog-Magog Battle happens in relation to the Tribulation and Millennial Kingdom.
2) The second general timing clue was discussed in the rejection of the claim that the battle already happened in history. Never in the history of the Middle East have the nations described in the coalition been united in an attack against Israel. In no time has such a specific group of nations been destroyed by inclimate weather. And, in no time in history has Israel named a valley Hamon Gog (Ezek. 39:11), nor the adjoining town called Hamonah existed where the Jews buried the invaders. History just does not show such a battle has ever happened, which only leaves a future timing for it to occur.
3) The third general timing clue is given in Ezekiel 36 and 37 — the regathering of the Jewish people back into their homeland "from all the countries" (Ezek. 36:24) of the world. Like the dry bones reanimated into a living person that Ezekiel envisioned, Israel did indeed become a nation once again on May 14, 1948, after nearly 1900 years since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D and scattered the Jewish people across the globe. After all these centuries, this prophecy has been fulfilled in our modern generation. Because this prophecy has been fulfilled and Israel is a nation once more, that piece of the set-up is in place for the prophecy concerning the Gog-Magog Battle to begin.
4) The fourth general timing clue involves the developments nationally that have to occur to make the nations of the coalition unite in an invasion of Isreal. Two factors have made this coalition possible today. The first is the religion of Islam uniting these nations in satanic hatred of the Jewish people. The second is the economic bounty that Israel now has with its revitalized land and newly discovered gas deposits. Today, the nations of the coalition are united in the single purpose of destroying Israel and plundering its wealth. The daily news is resplendent with stories in support that this general timing clue has been fulfilled in just the last few years.
5) The fifth and only unfulfilled general timing clue is given in Ezekiel 38:11 which reads, "You will say, 'I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people — all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.'" Israel must be living without walls, peacefully and unsuspecting of an attack. Israel today lives in constant fear of attack and is always prepared for an invasion by the 60-plus million hostile Muslims surrounding their borders. Because of this most unpeaceful climate, this part of the prophecy cannot have yet been fulfilled. Perhaps a Psalm 83 scenario where Israel has subjugated their surrounding neighbors previous to the Gog-Magog invasion so that they are finally in the peaceful situation Ezekiel describes is the most likely possibility.
With general timing pointing to the fulfillment of the Gog-Magog Battle in relation to the Tribulation and Millennial Kingdom, we will try to pin down a more specific timing in the next installment of this series called Before the Tribulation. | <urn:uuid:1ad0f396-4893-4975-b927-57bb3883e0fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lamblion.us/2009/03/timing-gog-magog-general.html?showComment=1238083440000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954987 | 1,325 | 1.78125 | 2 |
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Holiday season is usually the time for shoppers to make some of the biggest purchases of the year. However, the flagging economy has somewhat dented consumer confidence, leaving the possibility that this holiday season might end on a soft note.
Meanwhile, politicans have yet to find a solution to the impending "Fiscal Cliff". Analysts are predicting another recession if Republicans and Democrats fail to agree on ways to avert the automatic austerity measures and tax hikes before the start of next year.
Huge discounts, promotional activities and other buyer-friendly moves by retailers failed to boost confidence. Consumers are worried about issues related to personal disposable income, the business climate and the economic woes. A report by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan reveals that consumer sentiment has been hit hard due to the ongoing economic impasse, falling to 72.9 in December from 82.7 in November.
ShopperTrak stated that both foot traffic and retail sales dropped 4.4% and 4.3%, respectively, for the week ending December 15 from the prior-year period. The Chicago-based retail analysis firm also trimmed its sales growth forecast for the holiday season, blaming the huge discounts and the adverse impact of Hurricane Sandy.
ShopperTrak now projects holiday sales for November and December to rise only 2.5%, down from 3.3% increase previously forecasted in September 2012. The current estimate also fares unfavorably with 3.7% growth achieved in the prior-year holiday season.
Data compiled by International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) hinted of comparable-store sales growth of 3% during November and December, against a 3.3% increase in the prior-year period. For December, ICSC is projecting retail sales to rise between 4% and 4.5%.
The National Retail Federation reiterated its holiday sales forecast for a 4.1% jump in November and December to $586.1 billion, which is short of the 5.6% growth registered last year. A study done by the nation's largest retail trade group and Macroeconomic Advisors hinted that if the “Fiscal Cliff” is averted, retail sales may increase 2% to 2.5% in 2013. However, failure to avoid the "Fiscal Cliff" may lead to flat sales or a contraction in the first half of next year.
Sensing these challenges, retailers such as Target Corporation ( TGT - Analyst Report ) , Macy’s Inc. ( M - Analyst Report ) , Kohl’s Corporation ( KSS - Analyst Report ) , Nordstrom Inc. ( JWN - Analyst Report ) , Costco Wholesale Corporation ( COST - Analyst Report ) , Limited Brands Inc. ( LTD - Analyst Report ) and others have been actively making efforts to win the hearts of bargain hunters. We'll have to wait and see if their moves are successful.
Please login to Zacks.com or register to post a comment. | <urn:uuid:4b080bb9-aad6-417d-a1ff-8ecd08214138> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/89143/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950917 | 650 | 1.648438 | 2 |
So called “back on their feet” legislation is aiding the tornado recovery in Kentucky’s hardest hit town. The March 2 tornado outbreak brought Kentucky’s 11th natural disaster declaration since 2008.
Friday, on an empty lot in West Liberty, Governor Steve Beshear ceremoniously signed three bills passed by lawmakers following the storms.
The location was symbolic because that is where Clark’s Station used to be, a small store and gas station. Owner John Clark is making a million dollar investment to build back on his lot and two he purchased on which homes were destroyed.
"We love West Liberty,” Clark, an oil company owner from Ashland, said of the project. He also lost a bulk plant in Morgan County to the tornado and a similar convenience store in Salyersville, another hard hit town.
He says the new store will be more than three times larger and employ more people. He will take advantage of one of the new laws.
A sales tax rebate on building supplies is being offered to storm victims who rebuild or do repair work. Clark estimates the tax break will be a 60 to $70,000 savings. | <urn:uuid:44232387-bbf4-4c20-959f-952c6187a4ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtvq.com/content/localnews/story/West-Liberty-bounce-back/iqERJBgDykWbklixInt3uA.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973302 | 239 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Church allows families to live a night the way Jesus lived it
Some say only cold temperatures put them in the Christmas spirit, but for those who visited “A Night in Bethlehem” and its live nativity at the First Presbyterian Church in Morris Sunday evening, the mild temperatures might actually have given them a more realistic experience of what the first Christmas was like.
“We had unbelievable weather,” said Cheryl Roth, one of the organizers of the event. “That has really been a big positive to us. We’re used to the snow and the cold this time of year. This is a gift to us.”
Roth said it did occur to her that the weather might have been very similar, although not as damp, as the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
This is the third time the church has put on the event. It was last done in 2009.
The event was described as a “hands-on Holy Land experience.” There was a live outdoor nativity with Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus, shepherds, a donkey, a pony, a sheep and two small lambs.
About 60 children and 50 adults had pre-registered, Roth said, but more came to watch and participate.
“It takes you back in time to the night of Jesus’ birth,” Roth said. “It’s our gift to the community.”
“We wanted to share the message and remind people of the true meaning of Christmas,” church member and event volunteer Robyn Mitchell said.
Inside, the basement of the church had been transformed into the town of Bethlehem. There was a basket maker, a woman who made beaded jewelry, a riverside in which to catch fish, a typical Jewish home, and more.
Alicia Castillo, 7, and her sister, Adriana, 5, from Morris, walked through the downstairs town, learning how to make jewelry and participating in the other tents’ activities.
“It’s fun,” Alicia said. “The donkeys were really soft.”
Josie Bennett-Roth, 6, of Seneca, said she was having a good time catching paper fish in one of the exhibits. She even cast the line like a pro. Earlier that evening, she had volunteered as a shepherd, taking care of the dogs in the nativity scene.
The animals were brought in by Tobi Staudacher from her family’s business Staudacher Farms in Yorkville.
“We started about five years ago,” she said. “We’re doing six this year, and we did four last year.”
Staudacher said they began setting up live nativity scenes when her church, Cross Lutheran, wanted to do one for its daycare. The family had the donkeys already and got together some more animals to add to the scene. Churches can also allow visitors to pet the animals, and children are allowed inside the bales-of-hay walls to sit with them and pet the lambs and other animals.
“Everybody really likes it,” she said. “A lot of people don’t see something like this very often. . . It’s nice being able to bring the real part of Christmas to people, and it’s kind of magical seeing it this way, at night. It’s better than just seeing it in a picture.”
Staudacher said she was happy to have the baby lambs to bring. She doesn’t have them every year at the holidays. Lambs are usually born at a different time in the year.
White Oak Elementary student Simone Stevens was one of the volunteers in the masonry shop in the mock Bethlehem. She had fashioned a rectangular brick made of clay and dirt and grass and explained to visitors how the town’s residents built their homes.
“Some of the bricks were made out of manure,” she added.
Kids also enjoyed building their own small home out of boxes in the masonry shop.
Church member and volunteer Sue Morse made baskets in the room that was set up to resemble a typical Jewish home during that era. There was a fireplace with bread baking above it, a mezuzah nailed to the door, and a table set with a variety of Middle Eastern treats, such as fresh dates.
“The Jewish home would have been open to everybody,” Morse said. “It was important to them to make people feel welcome so they would stay and talk over things. . . I think it’s important for kids to see how people lived back then.” | <urn:uuid:ad6bb343-0f9f-4cf9-bf85-1b2588f9412d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://morrisdailyherald.com/2012/12/05/experiencing-jesus/atpv685/?__xsl=/print.xsl | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982986 | 984 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Master gardener volunteers have scheduled an educational gardening workshop for Thursday at the Bladen County Public Library in Elizabethtown.
The public is invited.
Extension master gardener volunteers are taught a variety of gardening skills. In exchange for this training, the volunteers are expected to share what they have learned with people in the community.
On Thursday, demonstrations and discussions will center on grapevine pruning and rooting, and plant propagation by such means as air-layering, rooting and plant division.
The two-hour program will start at 6 p.m. at the library, 111 N. Cypress St.
For more information, call George Council at 910-866-4866.
The student body at Angier Elementary School was selected in January to become part of a pilot program to provide each student with access to either a laptop computer, iPad or MacBook.
Funding for the program is provided by the federal Rural Low Income Schools program.
Angier Elementary is the second school in Harnett County to be accepted in the program. Dunn Middle School was chosen last year.
Volunteers are being sought to serve on the Healthy Hoke Task Force.
The task force serves as an advisory council for the county's Health Department.
The Health Department uses the task force's recommendations to provide programs and events in neighborhoods, schools, work sites, churches and homes.
To volunteer or for more information, call Health Director Helene Edwards at 910-875-3717 ext. 2111 or go to the Health Department at 683 E. Palmer Road, Raeford.
The United Way of Lee County has launched VolunteerLee.com, a website to connect volunteers with organizations that need help. Anyone who wants to volunteer in the community can register on the site.
Local businesses have raised $1,000 for a contest to promote the site and get the community connected.
The school parent-teacher organization and one other nonprofit organization that encourage the most people to register on VolunteerLee.com will each receive a $500 prize.
People registering at VolunteerLee.com can indicate what school or nonprofit inspired them to register by entering the school or organization's name in the "company" box on their profile.
Winning organizations must have a completed profile at VolunteerLee.com. That includes having their logo posted, the "who we are" and "what we do" sections of their profile completed and at least one need for volunteers posted.
The contest runs through March 30.
The Southern Pines Police Department is sponsoring an anti-bullying poster and slogan contest with the two winners to be designated "Chief for a Day."
Children ages 7 to 10 are eligible for the contest The winning boy and girl will be announced in April.
Each child should draw a poster on 8 1/2-by-11 paper with a slogan that sends an anti-bullying message to their peers.
The back of the entry should include the artist's name, address, age, gender and telephone number.
The entries should be mailed to Southern Pines Police Department, 450 W. Pennsylvania Ave., P.O. Box 330, Southern Pines, NC 28388, Attn: Kelly Stevens.
They also can be dropped off at the police station.
The deadline is March 15.
Robeson County will launch a new website this month, Computer Operations Director Terry Buchanan said.
Buchanan showed the county Board of Commissioners a sample of the new website during its annual retreat Wednesday.
Buchanan said the site could go live in the next 30 days at the same address, co.robeson.nc.us.
The new site will be easier for county residents to navigate, Buchanan said.
It features a new streamlined layout and homepage with scroll down menus for departmental information.
It allows resident to pay taxes online and offers translation services for non-English speakers.
Sampson Community College began offering online courses for its Continuing Education program this month.
Registration for new six-week courses, which cost $65, will open on the third Wednesday of every month.
For more information and a list of course offerings, visit go to ed2go.com/sampsoncc.
St. Andrews University's 2013 Charles Bascombe Shaw Memorial Scottish Heritage Symposium, presented by the Scottish Heritage Center, will take place April 5-7 on the university's campus.
Lord Rector of the University of St. Andrews Scotland will start the symposium. Glasgow, Scotland native June Skinner Sawyers and Dr. David Caldwell, who retired last year after 38 years with the National Museums of Scotland, will each give two presentations during the weekend. Dr. Gerard Carruthers, who holds a chairmanship in Scottish literature at the University of Glasgow, will make his first appearance at the symposium.
The awards banquet April 5 will include the presentation of the Scottish Heritage Center Service Award to Dr. John Sprague.
Festivities include a free concert by the St. Andrews University Pipe Band and Concert Choir, "A Musical Celebration of National Tartan Day," in Avinger Auditorium on April 6.
The final event of the weekend is the annual Kirkin' of the Tartans Worship Service at Laurinburg Presbyterian Church on April 7.
For a full schedule of events and registration information, go to sapc.edu/shc/scottishheritage symposium.php or call the Scottish Heritage Center at 910-277-5236. Email reservations also are taken at email@example.com.
The deadline to register is March 29. | <urn:uuid:68471188-991c-4ec7-ae06-1783390664f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/02/03/1232930?sac=fo.community/bladen | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938566 | 1,157 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Police Service Board decision on ‘carding’ stuns activists
Explore This Story
Monitor the controversial police practice of stopping citizens on the street, particularly minority youth, and “carding” them. Make officers give a copy of the gathered information to those they stop. Open police data for review by the city’s auditor general.
That’s what the Toronto Police Services Board is ordering, stunning even the activists who fought for more oversight of carding, which sees hundreds of thousands of people stopped, questioned and documented each year.
The Toronto board’s decision, made earlier this month, is “pretty amazing,” says former mayor John Sewell, a member of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, a group of concerned citizens who led the drumbeat for change.
Toronto police defend the practice as good police work in high crime areas. But a Star investigation found that police stop and document minorities at much higher rates across the city. And only a small percentage of the people in their massive electronic database have been arrested or charged in Toronto in the past decade.
The practice is also a front-page debate in New York and London.
Police stops have been under scrutiny in all three cities. But the type of oversight that may limit the practice can only be found here, thanks to the ruling.
The motions that passed included a request that police chief Bill Blair report carding statistics every three months, as well as monitor and address discriminatory practices.
In addition, officers will be required to give copies of the document card — stating the reason for the stop — to each individual.
The board also unanimously approved chair Alok Mukherjee’s call for the city’s auditor general to conduct an independent review of the race-based statistics kept by police, who record skin colour — black, brown, white or “other” — each time they stop and document a resident. The review would create a benchmark to judge the effectiveness of carding.
The service, and the police board that oversees it, haven’t always been as receptive to the suggestion that some police practices may target minorities.
In 2003, Toronto Police Association launched an unsuccessful $2.7-billion class-action libel suit against the Star after it published data that suggested a pattern of racial profiling.
The data showed blacks were more likely than whites to be detained and held for a bail hearing on a charge of simple drug possession. And that more were ticketed for offences that would only come to light following a traffic stop. Civil libertarians and criminologists said it was a pattern of racial profiling, whether conscious or not.
In the Star’s latest analysis, blacks were more likely than whites to be stopped and documented in each of the city’s 72 patrol zones. The ratios for black youth were even higher.
So, as Sewell sat in the darkened police board room earlier this month along with a chorus of groups — the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Urban Alliance on Race Relations and the Black Action Defence Committee — all calling for an investigation into carding, he still couldn’t believe much was going to happen.
The board vice-chair, Councillor Michael Thompson, said afterward that many people in the room felt the same way, telling him later, “Oh my God. You guys actually did something. We didn’t think anything was going to happen.”
But the councillor said it was time to draw a line in the sand. “I read the (Star) series years ago. And I read the series again,” he said, referring to “Known to police”, which ran in March. “I know 10 years ago how controversial it was.”
“At the end of the day the police board is there to act on behalf of the citizens. And to implement measures to help make sure policing is safe for everyone,” said Thompson. Simply “referring the matter back to the auditor general with a report wasn’t sufficient.”
Many of the groups at the board meeting didn’t need the Star series to alert them to a frustrating imbalance between minority youth and police. They included front-line youth workers who had heard the stories before.
“Sadly, the results described in the Toronto Star series come as no surprise,” said Noa Mendelsohn Aviv of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which is facilitating a project on youth rights and policing.
Sewell’s recommendations were also supported by the provincial advocate Irwin Elman, who wrote in an email that young people have “highlighted the need for better relationships with community members, including Toronto police” since he took office in 2008.
Chief Blair has never defended racial profiling, calling it “abhorrent.” But he has supported carding, stressing that police target violent-crime areas of the city and that it has worked to reduce crime.
New York police commissioner Raymond W. Kelly has also called his force’s “stop and frisk” practice an “important policing tool intended to reduce the violence that has victimized blacks and Hispanics,” according to a New York Times article in March. Statistics show 96 per cent of the city’s shooting victims and 90 per cent of murder victims in 2011 were minorities.
Police continue to “stop and search” there in record numbers, despite legislative changes made two years ago, when anger against the practice boiled over.
“People were pretty outraged that hundreds of thousands of innocent people were all of sudden in a police department database,” says Darius Charney, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has monitored the police data for nine years.
Police are now prohibited from maintaining an electronic file of names unless the stop ends in an arrest. But Charney says police interpreted the legislation as a limit only to maintaining electronic files and police still fill out the forms and keep paper copies. “Somewhere in the police department are a huge stack of handwritten forms,” he says.
Despite the legislation, statistics show police stopped nearly 700,000 people in 2011, 85 per cent of whom were black or Hispanic. Only 1 per cent of the stops led to recovery of a weapon and only one in 10 to an arrest or summons.
Charney’s non-profit organization is part of a class-action lawsuit against the police department, alleging the stop and frisk practice violates the U.S. Constitution’s fourth amendment, which prohibits search and seizure.
New York senators and city councillors, who say they’ve been stereotyped by police, are also trying to bring in legislation that would limit the practice.
In England, police “stop and search” powers used to uncover weapons or crime are also “hugely disproportionate. And yet also hugely ineffective,” says Rebekah Delsol, a member of the Open Society Justice Initiative, which studies ethnic profiling worldwide.
A leaked Scotland Yard memo made news when it revealed that police thought a federal “stop and search” power that disproportionately targets blacks could be toppled by a court challenge.
Section 60, as it’s called, allows police to intensively search areas in response to knife crimes.
But “nationally, black people are more than 30 times likely to be stopped under Section 60 powers and Asian people are seven times more likely to be stopped,” says Delsol. “Only 2 per cent of those stops actually lead to an arrest. And it’s something like 0.5 of those for possession of a weapon, which is the ostensible reason for the power in the first place.”
Activists are calling for the kind of oversight that was introduced in Toronto.
“There needs to be much tighter internal management that actually takes action on officer practice and does something about the culture of institutional racism,” says Delsol, whose organization is part of a court challenge to the Section 60 powers.
“And on the other side, I think there’s a lot of work to be done on using the statistics in a very clever way and working with communities so that they can really monitor the police and hold them to account.”
To view the entire series and past related series go to the www.star.com/knowntopolice
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- Brampton suffers identity crisis as newcomers swell city’s population | <urn:uuid:9f2113e3-be4e-48e0-8eae-8798e9d47312> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/04/14/police_service_board_decision_on_carding_stuns_activists.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963012 | 1,870 | 1.84375 | 2 |
|Benefits of homeowners' insurance
For most people, homeowners' insurance isn't an option, but a condition of their home loans. Since the purchase of a house is the single biggest investment of most people's lives, it makes sense to protect the investment and its contents.
|Coverage for house and property
The most complete property coverage for your house is a form of replacement coverage. This coverage is usually equal to the cost of completely rebuilding your home in the event of a total loss, which should not be confused with the market value of your home.
|Determining coverage for contents
The rule of thumb is to insure your possessions for half the value of your home. A safer course is to make a complete analysis of everything you own.
|Homeowners' personal injury coverage
You've probably heard horror stories about homeowners who've been sued for millions of dollars because somebody slipped on their sidewalk. If your dog were to bite someone or if one of your neighbors tripped and fell down your stairs, you could be held responsible for the damages and any or all medical expenses incurred.
There are several different types of additional home coverage that you may wish to investigate in addition to what standard policies offer. First, there is umbrella liability insurance.
|Renters and condo owners
Homeowners aren't the only people who need insurance. If a pipe bursts and floods your apartment, the landlord may replace the carpet, but the damage to your clothes, furniture, or other items is your responsibility. | <urn:uuid:3ca1ef62-6621-4056-a808-8674b8a53490> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbs47.tv/guides/home/household/heading.aspx?heading=Homeowners'+Insurance | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970696 | 307 | 1.507813 | 2 |
POSTED: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 3:47pm
UPDATED: Thursday, October 18, 2012 - 8:36am
MCALLEN - It wasn't a normal day at McAllen High School. It's PSAT time for sophomores and juniors. So instead of other grades just waiting in home room all day, McAllen ISD runs a Leap to College Program where seniors can take time to apply for colleges.
In just one period, Senior Bryan Canchola applied to three schools.
"I have applied to the University of Houston, STC and Pan-Am, but that is just like for my back-up," said Canchola.
Every chair is full and the sound of typing fills the room.
It's an opportunity not to be wasted, because not every student has a parent that is able to help them at home. So the time in the lab is very important for students that do have questions about the process.
Canchola said his parents weren't quite sure how to help him when it came to applying, so he came in today with questions.
"It is really new for them, so I am doing most of it on my own. And that makes them proud because they didn't go to college," said Canchola.
He is one of many first generation college students in the room, but being this first often can be challenging.
"There is a lot of support from the parents, but they may be don't have the computer at home, they don't have the access, so having access here at school for them and doing programs like this really helps. And as you can see, we have pretty good attendance," said Cynthia Olivarez, College Admission and Scholarship Specialist.
Over 1,400 Seniors are doing this today between three McAllen high schools. Many of the seniors said the process is stress relieving.
"I was really worried about my scholarships and what websites to go to and they actually gave us a packet that had hundreds of different scholarships," said Canchola. | <urn:uuid:c1629ecc-2611-407c-8b20-496d38e5973a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kveo.com/print/node/25588 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988271 | 425 | 1.5 | 2 |
BULL! by Bob Kessel
Bob Kessel has created a new print titled, “BULL!” based on the works of Pablo Picasso. The picture is available as limited edition fine art print, signed and numbered by the artist. Contact Bob Kessel for prices and availability.
Pablo Picasso created ‘Bull’ in 1945. ‘Bull’ is a suite of lithographs that have become a master class in how to develop an artwork from the academic to the abstract. In this series of images, Picasso starts with a classical rendering of a bull. Then in a series of progressive steps, reduces it to pure abstraction.
Bob Kessel takes a slightly different tack, placing the different levels of abstraction in the same picture. A Picasso linoleum block print style bull looks at his Mondrianesque abstracted image in an oval mirror.
BULL by Picasso
Roy Lichtenstein tried his hand at this exercise
in this six step series. | <urn:uuid:900b0d1b-761a-46d5-85c4-a6d688c324cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bobkessel.com/tag/bull/ | 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 | 0.940429 | 205 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Friday, October 5
1 John 3:1-9: John takes up again the teaching of chapter two, elaborating it from a different perspective. For instance, John had earlier declared, “I write to you, so that you may not sin” (2:1), and now he explains, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (verse 9).
John knows that he is writing to children of God, and he knows, as well, that this is the reason why the world treats them with enmity (verse 1). The world, as we have seen (2:15-16), has nothing in common with the Father of these children so it is to be expected will hate the children also (John 14:22-24; 17:25).
Although believers are already the children of God, the full meaning of their filiation has not yet been revealed (verse 2). Even with respect to their present ontological state there is more to be revealed (cf. Romans 8:19), and this revelation will come when “we shall see Him as He is.” Because the believer is sustained by this hope, he strives continually to be holy and pure (verse 3).
Striving thus for holiness and purity, the believer flees from sin, which is rebellion, anomia (verse4). Since God’s Son came to take away sin (verse 5; John 1:29), the man who continues to commit sin (ho poion, present participle for sustained action) can have no communion with God (verses 4,8). Continuance in sin (ho hamartanon, again the present participle) means that the sinner does not really know God.
John does not mean, of course, that the Christian never sins. Indeed, if “we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1:8). Rather, John indicates the incompatibility between being a child of God and willfully continuing to sin. These two things are as incompatible as God and the world. Consequently, the man that willfully continues in sin is lying to himself about knowing God (cf. 2:4), and those that say otherwise are deceivers (verse 7). The deception of such a man is that of the Devil (verse 8), who holds the world in bondage. The man who has been reborn in God is not capable of continuing in sin; willful rebellion is incompatible with being a child of God.
The Christian life, in short, is not just a state of mind. It involves also righteousness of conduct (cf. 2:5,6,29), and to some degree that conduct (including thought) is open to observation. If we want to know if we are in God, says John, the best indicator is our moral conduct. Mere profession of the faith is an inadequate indicator or our rebirth (verse 9).
Saturday, October 6
1 John 3:10-15: John continues his practical approach to Christian salvation, especially addressing the believer’s duties toward his “brother.” These duties are summarized in the verb “love.”
Our brotherhood in Christ is contrasted with history’s first brotherhood, that of Cain and Abel (verse 12). In that ancient case Cain violated the most elementary duty of brotherhood by murdering Abel, and he murdered him, John gives us to believe, because he hated him. From this, John concludes that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer (verse 15). This is the reason why, from the beginning, Christians have been instructed to love one another (verse 11; cf. 2:7-8).
The negative example of Cain, a man lacking in both faith (Hebrews 11:4) and love (verse 12), was taken over in Christian moral instruction (Jude 11; First Clement 14), and John clearly expects his readers to be familiar with both the biblical text and the theme.
Augustine of Hippo pursued this motif in a particularly Johannine way by comparing the biblical story of Cain and Abel to the classical account of Romulus and Remus. The two murderers, Cain and Romulus, both fratricides, were also founders of cities. These two cities, Rome and Enoch (cf. Genesis 4:17), symbolize what St. John called “the world,” understood as humanity’s attempt to live its own life in defiance of God. John’s world corresponds to what Augustine calls “the city of man,” which he contrasts with the City of God (cf. The City of God 15:5-8).
Cain’s story, because it is a tale of hatred, exemplifies the world’s murderous attitude toward Christians (verses 13-15; John 15:18). In this respect John provides a further elaboration of the incompatibility between God and the world. To be a child of God is to be the beneficiary of an immense love, a love radically incompatible with hatred toward anyone. A person certainly cannot be a child of God and still hate other children of God. Nowhere does the spirit of the world more seriously endanger Christians than by tempting them to hate one another.
Sunday, October 7
1 John 3:16-24: God’s love for us was proved by the life that was laid down on the
Cross on our behalf, giving us the supreme example of how we ourselves are to love one another (verse 16). Fidelity to that example requires, at the very least, that we share with our needy brothers and sisters the means to preserve their lives (verse 17). This is the practical test to determine whether or not we love one another (verse 18). Most of us are never called on to die for someone else, so in some sense this is not normally a realistic test. Taking care of one another’s needs, however, is something we can actually observe and measure.
John’s exhortation that we should “not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” merits a closer grammatical inspection. In the combination “word and tongue” we recognize what grammarians call a hendiadys, which means that a single idea is expressed by two words. That is to say, in John’s expression there is no real difference between word and tongue; they are both metaphors for speech. John means simply, “Let not our love be just a lot of talk.”
This much is clear enough, but our parsing should be carried over to John’s second pair of words, “deed and truth.” It is important to see that this second combination is also a hendiadys. In context, both words, deed and truth, mean the same thing; for John there is no real distinction between them. True love for one another is not just a lot of talk. It is composed, rather, of what we do. This is how “we shall know that we are of the truth” (verse 19).
In the verses that follow, John seems to have in mind those Christians of sensitive conscience, whose hearts may be smitten by a strong sense of their sins. No matter how hard they struggle, they find that their hearts condemn them, and they become subject to misgivings regarding their spiritual state (verse 20),
John strengthens such Christians by directing their attention to two elementary facts. First, they are to consult their actual behavior, especially active charity toward others, as a more reliable indicator of their true spiritual state. Second, they are to recall that thee all-knowing Father reads their consciences more accurately than they do, and in His benevolent gaze they are to place their trust, putting their hearts at rest (pesomen ten kardian). In the context, John especially has in mind the efficacious prayer whereby “whatever we ask we receive from Him” (cf. also John 14:12-13; 16:23).
Such reflections on our spiritual state are not to be exercises of an isolated conscience. They are to take place under the eyes of God, “before Him” (emprosthen Avtou—verse 19), “in His sight” (enopion Avtou—verse 22). Proper Christian conscience is not simply the heart reflecting on itself; it is exercise, rather, in the conscious awareness of thee Father who sees in secret (Matthew 6:4,6,8,18).
God’s double commandment is both doctrinal and moral, orthodox faith in Christ and the love of one another (verse 23). These two things manifest that we are of the truth and that God’s Holy Spirit dwells within us (verse 24).
Monday, October 8
Luke 10:25-37: There are a million things to be said about this story of the Samaritan. Let us limit ourselves to three things.
First, there is the story of the Fall, concerning which we are told, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” This man started in Jerusalem, we observe. He began his history in the garden place of God’s presence. But he did not stay there. He made a deliberate decision to go on a journey. No one told him to go. He made the decision on his own, as an assertion of his independence from God.
Though the man did not know it at first, this was more than just a journey. It was a Fall; it was a descent. He went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers. This is a story, then, of man’s Fall. “Man in honor, did not abide,” says the Psalmist; “He became like the beasts that perish” (Psalms 49 :12).
These robbers did not kill him completely. They left him, says the Sacred Text, half dead. This fallen man did not suffer total depravity, as it were. There was still some hope for him, though he had no way of saving himself from his terrible predicament. By this man’s disobedience, sin entered the world, and by sin death. Indeed, death reigned already in his mortal flesh. How shall we describe this poor man’s plight except that he was "alien from the commonwealth of Israel and a stranger from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world”? (Ephesians 2:12). He had been left half dead, Holy Scripture says, and there was no help for him in this world.
Along came a priest and then a Levite, men representing the Mosaic Law, but they had to pass by the fallen wayfarer, because by the works of the Law is no man justified. The priest and the Levite were hastening, you see, to the Temple, in order to offer repeatedly the same sacrifices that could never take away sins. Indeed, matters were made even worse, because “in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”
Second, a Samaritan, the Bible tells us, “as he journeyed, came to where the man was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.” In the fullness of time, that is to say, God sent His Son to be a good neighbor to him who fell among the thieves. This Son, being in the form of God, did not think equality with God a thing to be seized, but He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant. Indeed, this Son became an utter outcast—in short, a Samaritan, a person without respect or social standing. Although He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty we might become rich.
What was the first thing this Samaritan did for the man that fell among the thieves? He saw him, says the Bible. He looked upon the man in his misery. When Nathaniel was still under the fig tree, our Samaritan saw him. A certain paralytic lay beside the pool of Bethesda with an infirmity thirty-eight years, and our Samaritan saw him lying there. Showing Himself to be a good neighbor, this Samaritan, passing by, saw the man who was blind from birth. Blessed is he that falls under the gaze of our Samaritan. Such a one may say, “Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also have been known.”
What did the Samaritan do for the man that fell among thieves? He washed him in the waters of Baptism, cleansing his wounds, and into those wounds he poured His grace in the form of anointing oil, the holy Chrism, and the Eucharistic wine to prevent infection.
Our Samaritan did not leave beside the road this half-dead victim of the fall among thieves. On the contrary, “He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him.” And then he went away. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. This Samaritan is also the great high priest that entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. But even as He went away, He said to the inn keeper, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.” And this promise brings us to our third point.
Three, our Samaritan says to the inn keeper, “when I come again.” He does not say,if I come again, but when I come again. There is no “if” about the return of this Samaritan. This same Samaritan, which is taken up from us into heaven, shall so come in like manner as we have seen him go into heaven. We solemnly confess, then, that He will come again in glory to judge the living the dead, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, apart from sin unto salvation.
All of history is given significance by the two visits of the Samaritan. Only those who abide in the inn, waiting the return of the Samaritan, really know the meaning of history. The inn is the house of history, the Church where inn keeper cares for the Samaritan’s friends.
This parable does not describe that return of the Samaritan. It says simply “when I return.” The parable leaves that return in the future. The story ends in the inn itself. It goes no further. The parable terminates in the place where the Samaritan would have us stay—at the inn. It is imperative for our souls’ health that we remain within this inn, to which our Samaritan has sworn to return. In this inn, which has received the solemn promise of the Samaritan, let us pass all our days, as in eagerness we await His sworn return. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Tuesday, October 9
1 John 4:12-21: 1 John 4:10-16: John continues to explore the connection between faith in Jesus Christ and love for one another. This is a very important consideration for our own times as well, because in the modern world it is taken as almost axiomatic that the two things are readily separable. That is to say, it is not obvious why human beings need faith in Jesus Christ in order to love one another. Many men profess a desire for universal love in the human race, but they see no reason why such love must have anything to do with the identity and claims of Jesus of Nazareth.
The Christian answer to this question is that modern secular men are not talking about the same thing. When they speak of loving one another, they mean something very different from what the word agape signifies to Christians. Agape is just as particular and singular, just as specific, as Jesus Himself. Christians profess that faith in Jesus is essential to such love, because the true God alone is the source of that love, and Jesus is mankind’s only access to God.
From the consideration that God first loved us before we could love Him, and inasmuch as He gave His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, John concludes that we must (opheilomen) love one another. That is to say, love begets love. If God loves all of us, we must love one another. We must not exclude from our own love anyone who is included in God’s love (verses 10-11).
It is not a matter of simply modeling our love on God’s love. It is not as though God sets a standard that we, by using great moral effort, must emulate. God’s love in our lives is more than an ethical norm. Our love does not simply copy God’s love; it participates in God’s love.
This, says John, is how we come to know God—by loving as God loves, by becoming God-like in our love (verse 12). The unknown God, the unseen God, is truly known in the love with which we love one another. All other knowledge of God is illusory. To refuse to love is to cut oneself off from the knowledge of the true God.
If we are able to love in this way, says John, it is proof that the Holy Spirit abides in us. Love of this nature—agape—is beyond human. Its presence in any human heart is a demonstration of the Holy Spirit in that heart (verse 13).
And this, says John, is how we recognize God’s gift to us in His Son. Only in the Holy Spirit do “we see and testify” to the identity of Jesus Christ as God’s Son and the Savior of the world (verse 14). The Apostle Paul expressed this same truth when he testified that only in the Holy Spirit do we know that Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3) and God is Father (Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:15).
Our mutual indwelling in God, which is the basis of our love for one another, comes from this Spirit-given recognition of the Son and His Father. This recognition, says John, is expressed in a confession, which he designates by the verb homologein, the New Testament’s normal expression for the Church’s creedal confession (verse 15)
Because God is love, those who love in this way abide in God and God in them (verse 16). The statement that God is love is one that is most appealing to modern men, for the simple reason that they misunderstand it. They take it to signify that God is a bland, pleasant, non-judgmental, and even chummy sort of being, chiefly concerned with affirming whatever it is that human beings want to do to amuse themselves.
Agape, however, refers to something very explicit and strictly defined. The statement that God is love refers to the gift of God’s Son to be our Redeemer and the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Hence, the confession of Jesus as God’s Son, sacrificed on the Cross, is the only context in which to understand the affirmation that “God is love.” Therefore, the establishment of a community of love in this world is inseparable from the Church’s Christological confession and answer to the questions, “Who do you say that I am? And “What do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is He?”
Two points are chiefly made in verses 17-21.
First, God’s love in us gives us confidence in the day of judgment. It is in this sense that perfect love casts out fear.
It is important to observe that the fear cast out by perfect love is fear of the day of judgment. Many commentators over the centuries have remarked that perfect does not cast out all fear, Perfect love does not cast out, for instance, the fear that is intrinsic to love itself, such as the fear of offending the One we love. In this sense, “The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring forever” (Psalms 19 :9).
Perfect love does cast out, however, fear that the One we love will reject us. This is essentially the argument that Paul makes in Romans *:31-39.
This Johannine text should not disappoint those who find themselves fearful of the day of judgment. John does not say that fear of the day of judgment is incompatible with being a Christian. He says, rather, that perfect love casts out this fear. If one is still fearful of the day of judgment, this does not mean that he is not yet a Christian. It simply means that he has not yet attained to perfect love. There is no disgrace in that. God is not dishonored by such a fear. The presence of such fear means only that one is not yet perfected in love.
This will be disappointing news, to be sure, to those who believe that everything in the Christian life is to be instant. Still, it is true that perfection in love is not the work of a day. Contrary to modern popular belief in instant salvation (and instant everything!), growth in love is the work of years. In this respect, the love of God resembles marriage itself, in which it is normal to spend one’s entire adult life striving for mature love.
Second, hardly anything is more open to illusion or more easily imitated by an imposture than love for God. If we inquire of a person, “Do you love God?” he may consult his state of mind or even the state of his emotions and answer with a ready “yes.” Yet, it may be the case that such a person is lying, or more correctly, that he is deceiving himself. It may be the case that there is not a scintilla of love for God in this person’s heart.
John says that there is only one way to begin addressing this question, and it is by asking another question: “Do you love the brother whom you see?”
John does not concern himself with love for humanity, because there is a sense in which humanity is just as invisible as God. No, it is the brother whom we see that serves as the only reliable gauge of our love for God.
How much, then, do I love God? I love God as much as I love the least of those brothers whom I see, not one whit more. Have I seen anyone lately whom I do not love? That is how much I love God. Any other gauge is an illusion.
When we say, then, that perfect love casts out fear, most of us know that we are far from perfect love. Indeed, when we start to consider how little love we have for one another, we have every reason to be afraid. In the pursuit of the love of God, we must begin by applying ourselves very rigorously to loving the brother whom we see.
Wednesday, Ocober 10
1 John 5:1-13: As we have seen all through the epistle, John is interested in evidence and proof. Arguably more than any other New Testament author, John wants to know how we know certain things. He fears nothing more than self-deception and walking in the dark: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1:8). And again, “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (2:4). Furthermore, “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is still in darkness” (2:9). Moreover, “But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (2:11). In addition, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar” (4:20).
If we are to avoid darkness, mendacity, and self-deception, then, just how do we know? Or, by what means do we know? John answers this question repeatedly: “Now by this we know [en touto ginoskomen] that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (2:3). Again, “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know [en touto ginoskomen] that we are in Him” (2:5). And again, “even now many antichrists have come, by which we know [hothen ginoskomen] that it is the last hour” (2:18). Furthermore, “by this we know [en touto gnosometha] that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him” (3:19). Moreover, “And by this we know [en touto ginoskomen] that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (3:24). Further yet, “By this you know [en touto ginoskete] the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God” (4:2). Indeed, “He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know [ek toutou ginoskomen] the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (4:6). Furthermore, “By this we know [en touto ginoskomen] that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (4:13).
This preoccupation continues into the present text: “By this we know [en touto ginoskomen] that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments” (verse 2). True agape, says John, is impossible without the full Christian faith and life, including the observance of the commandments.
We say that we love one another, says John, but how do we really know that we do? This question would not even occur to a modern person, who would answer the question simply with reference to his impressions. To this kind of person, I love someone if I feel a certain way about that person. John knows nothing of reasoning like this, because John is not the sort of person who would take subjective feelings so seriously, much less base his whole life on them.
How can I be sure that I truly God’s children? John asks. Well, he answers with another question, Are we observing God’s commandments?
The modern man can hardly follow such a line of thought. What, after all, do the commandments of God have in common with loving someone? The modern person sees no relationship between them, certainly nothing that would permit us to prove the one by reference to the other. For John, however, no part of the Christian life can be separated from its other components. We can divorce agape from faith no more than we can put faith asunder from agape. Likewise, neither is the love of God’s children separable from the observation of the commandments.
This kind of argument makes no sense to those who imagine that the Christian life is some sort of cafeteria, in which I can decide what I will have and what I will not have. John’s presumption is that everything is coherent. Every component of the life in Christ presupposes and reaffirms every other part.
Thus, for John, the validating sign of agape is faithfulness to the commandments: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (verse 3). This teaching is consonant with that in John’s Gospel: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). And “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me” (14:21).
These commandments of God are not difficult, John insists, because by faith in Christ we have overcome the world (verses 4-5).
We receive the testimony of men (verse 9) if it is supported by multiple witnesses, as the Torah requires (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15). How much more should we receive the testimony that God gives of His Son? The three “witnesses” in this case are the elements that flowed forth from the body of Jesus as He hung in sacrifice on the Cross: “the Spirit, the water, and the blood” (verse 8). This triadic list corresponds to John’s description of the death of Jesus.
First, there was the Spirit. In his description of the Lord’s death, John’s very suggestive wording is unique among the Four Evangelists: paredoken to pnevma (John 19:30). Generally, alas, that uniqueness is obscured in the standard English translations. They usually run something like this: "And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit" (NKJV).
Leaving aside the tender detail about the bowing of the Lord’s head in death, nonetheless, such a translation is seriously inadequate. Paredoken to pnevma, wrote John. To translate this as "he gave up His spirit" deprives the sentence of more than half of its meaning. Taken literally (which is surely the proper way to take him), John affirms that Jesus "handed over the Spirit."
That is to say, the very breath, pnevma, with which the Lord expired on the Cross becomes for John the symbol and transmission of the Holy Spirit that the Lord confers on His Church gathered beneath. Support for this interpretation is found in the risen Lord’s action and words to the apostles in the upper room in John 20:22, "He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit (labete pnevma hagion).’"
Consequently, John’s description of the death of Jesus—"He handed over the Spirit"—portrays the Holy Spirit as being transmitted from the body of the Lord hanging in sacrifice on the altar of the Cross. It is John’s way of affirming that the mission of the Holy Spirit is intimately and inseparably connected with the event the Cross.
This interpretation, besides being faithful to the verb’s literal sense, is consonant with John’s theology as a whole. It was the Cross and Resurrection of the Lord-what John calls His glorification-that permitted the Holy Spirit to be poured out on the Church. John told us earlier that "the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (7:39).
Second, John records another detail of the scene not mentioned by the other Evangelists: "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out" (19:34 NKJV).
Taken together, then, John records three things as issuing forth from the immolated body of Jesus: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. These have to do with the gathering of the Church at the foot of the Cross, because this is the place where the Lord’s identity is known: "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM" (8:28 my translation).
These components appear here in 1 John as the "three witnesses" of the Christian mystery: "And there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three are one" (verse 8 my translation). These three are also symbols of the initiatory rites by which believers are joined to Jesus in the Church: the water (Baptism), the Spirit (the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Spirit), and the blood (the Holy Communion). These three rites have been, from the earliest times, the standard way of making new Christians, “those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit” (Hebrews 6:4).
To receive this threefold “witness” in faith is to have God’s testimony in ourselves (verse 10). And it is eternal life in Christ (verses 11-12), an eternal life that is not merely a promise of something in the future, but a sharing in a present reality. (We observe the present tense of the verbs all through this reading.)
1 John 5:13-21: John now ends this epistle in much the same way he ended his gospel — namely, but returning to themes with which he began. For example, John began this epistle by speaking of eternal life as connected with God’s Son: “the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us” (1:2). And now, here at the end John writes, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (verse 20).
Similarly in his gospel John had begun by asserting, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” and “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:4,18). And then, at the end of that gospel John wrote, “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (20:31). This idea is identical to what we find here at the end of the epistle: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (5:13).
John had earlier written of our confidence in God: “when[ He appears, we may have confidence [schomen parresian] and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (2:28), and “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness [parresian echomen] in the day of judgment” (4:17). John thinks of this boldness, or confidence once again in the context of eternal life: “that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Now this is the confidence that we have in Him [parresia hen echomen]” (verses 13-14).
Thursday, October 11
1 John 5:14-21: In the context of this epistle, our confidence especially pertains to prayer: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (verse 14). This theme, too, he had touched on earlier: “we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him” (3:21-22).
John says, however, that this prayer must be in accord with God’s will. Prayer must not be just another exercise in selfishness.
An example of prayer “according to God’s will” is a petition made on behalf of an erring brother: “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life” (verse 16).
John exempts from such prayer, however, a sin which is “unto death” (verse 17). By “sin unto death” John apparently means the sort of sin betokening such obduracy of heart that forgiveness is not expected. The problem here is not an unwillingness on God’s part to forgive sins, something that God loves to do and longs to do. The problem is on the part of the sinner, who has deliberately put himself into darkness beyond the light. One recalls, in this connection, the silence with which Jesus met the thief that blasphemed Him on the Cross. Perhaps John intends here the sins of the antichrists (2:18-19).
John’s teaching on the “irretrievability” of certain sins pertains to moral exhortation, not dogmatic refinement. It is of a piece with other New Testament texts, such as Mark 3:29 and Hebrews 6:4-8; 10:26-31.
We behold Christians sinning everyday, but this vision must not obscure to our minds the truth that sin has no proper place in the Christian life. It is something essentially incompatible with rebirth in Christ. Committing sin is not part of the “mix” of being a Christian. It has no legitimate place, so the man begotten of God keeps himself from sin: “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” (verse 18).
Three times in these closing verses John says, “We know”: “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin . . . We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come” (verses 18-20). John thus gives voice to Christian dogma, which essentially pronounces on the relationship of God and His Son. It is only in this relationship that we can be said to know. And in this knowledge there is eternal life (John17:3).
Friday, October 12
The Second Epistle of John: This and the next short book of the New Testament are one-page letters. Each would each fit on a piece of papyrus measuring about 9 by 5 inches, which was the average size of papyrus sheets in antiquity.
It is a common feature on letters, whenever written, that they normally contain the names of the writer and the recipient. This is as true our own correspondence today as it was of the epistles of St. Paul. In this present work, however, the author identifies neither himself nor his readers. We should say something about both of these points.
The writer self-identification here is simply “the old man” (ho presbyteros. Apparently the Apostles were sometimes referred to by the generic “elder,” or in Greek presbyteros. This would explain why the Apostle Peter calls himself by this term (1 Peter 5:1). In the case of the present epistle, however, something more seems to be intended. The author does not call himself an elder, but the elder, or perhaps even “the Elder,” indicating that this is what he was called; it was the normal way in which folks referred to him, knowing exactly who was meant.
Abundant anecdotal evidence testifies that there have been many Christian pastors, over the centuries, who have been similarly referenced, such as the Pastor. The present writer knows of a cathedral where the expression the Dean referred to a clergyman who had been dead for years. None of his less impressive successors, all of them deans, were ever so called!
Anyway, Papias of Hieraopolis, an early second century Christian writing in Asia Minor, refers to someone called ho presbyeros Ioannes, “John the Elder.” Although Eusebius of Caesarea, who records this witness, doubts that the reference is to St. John the Apostle (Ecclesiastical History 3.39.5-6), the present writer does not trust him on the point. Since the earliest collectors of the writings contained in the New Testament were guided by the canon of “apostolicity,” it is difficult to understand how they would have included the present epistle, unless they had been persuaded that John the Apostle wrote it.
Moreover, this small work has definite affinities with the First Epistle of John, the Johannine authorship of which Eusebius had no doubts (3.24.17). The present comments, therefore, presume that the author of this epistle is St. John the Apostle.
The "elect lady" that John addresses is evidently a local church, over which he has some supervision. This supervision he exercises from his own church, presumably Ephesus, which he calls the “elect sister” (verse 13). John writes to this other church, not only in his own name, but on behalf of “all those who have known the truth” (verse1). This is the truth of the Gospel that unites all Christians to one another.
In John’s greeting, the “grace, mercy, and peace” are wished to be “with us” (notwithstanding the Vulgate, the KJV, and other translations). These three nouns are common terms of greeting in the epistles of the New Testament, as benefits that all believers would wish for one another. Indeed, since the word “mercy” (eleos) is found only here in the Johannine writings, we may surmise that its appearance in this text comes from its being such a commonplace in Christian greetings (cf. Galatians 6:16; Jude 2; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; cf. Ignatius of Antioch, Philadelphians Prol.).
When John remarks that “some of your children” (ek ton teknon) are “walking in truth,” we are perhaps justified in suspecting that he intends a subtlety. It could be that he means, “not all of them are doing so (verse 4). John is writing to this church, after all, in order to warn them about deceivers (verse 7), urge them to circumspection (verse 8), and put them on their guard with respect to bad teaching (verse 10). John certainly sees some potential problem on the horizon of this congregation, and it is clear that this is why he is writing to them at all.
By way of exhortation the Elder sends his readers back to the basics of what they have received “from the beginning,” an expression that he uses twice here (verses 5-6). This exhortation to the commandments and love for one another reminds us of several in 1 John: “I plead with you . . . not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.”
For all his subtleties and gentleness, John is also stern. False teachers are not to be greeted nor received into one’s home (verses 10-11). From this exhortation, it is clear that he is not directly blaming anyone in the congregation itself; it is outsiders that he has in mind, though it is difficult to explain why he wrote this epistle unless he had in mind some specific dangers to his readers.
These false teachers are easy to detect, because they have wrong answers for the questions, “What do you say of the Christ? Whose Son is He? Who do you say that I am?” That is to say, they deny that Jesus is God’s eternal Son become incarnate (verse 9). This thesis is the “doctrine” (i>didache—verses 9,10) that sustains the Christian life and communion. It is the foundation of everything else. Those who deny it, therefore, merit the name “antichrists” (a term that appears only here and in 1 John). We don’t “all worship the same God.” The only God we worship is the Father of Jesus Christ, His Son, who is our only access to the Father. There are no short cuts to God, bypassing Jesus. In particular, there are no ecumenical short cuts. | <urn:uuid:4ef96b17-2a02-4edc-a381-9507f0ffc721> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://touchstonemag.com/daily_reflections/2007/10/04/october-5-oct/ | 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 | 0.968561 | 9,516 | 1.835938 | 2 |
With festive season on, fruit prices rise
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While the ongoing festival season has brought various discount schemes into the markets, the prices of fruits have gone up due to increased consumption.
Banana, papaya, sweet lemon, grapes, pomegranate and apples are some of the fruits that are being sold in the mandis presently. Those imported from other states have registered a sudden increase of around 20 per cent in prices.
"Amongst seasonal fruits, the arrival of banana is highest during this time from Gujarat and its prices have shot up from Rs 25 per dozen to Rs 50 per dozen in the past week. Papaya imported from Uttar Pradesh, though in demand at present, has seen a bad crop this season and the daily arrival is yet to pick up with most of it being picked up in the morning itself," says Digvijay Kapoor, former president of Sabzi Mandi Arthiya Association.
Pomegrenate, imported from Maharashtra, is selling at Rs 100 per kg at retail outlets and sweet lemon from Hyderabad is selling at Rs 60 per kg. The first lot of grapes, imported from Australia, has also arrived here. However, traders predict that the price rise is only temporary and will come down to normal in the coming week.
"Compared to last week, the sale of fruits has picked up here because they are being offered in the temples and those who are fasting for the Navratri also purchase them more for personal consumption," says an auction recorder at the Grain Market 26, Amit, who feels that religiously significant periods are marked by a general increase in fruit prices.
Closer home, the prices of apples, though, have remained largely unaffected due to the good produce this year in Himachal Pradesh. "The vendors know that the demand is more in the nine days of fasting and seem to knowingly ask for more money. Though they eventually strike a bargain, they are also aware that there is no substitute for the fruits," says Surbhi Bhardwaj, a resident of Sector 23.
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- Former Ranji player among 3 more held | <urn:uuid:9ca91787-ed20-4f54-94a0-ae776d0f3ff5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indianexpress.com/news/with-festive-season-on-fruit-prices-rise/1020267/ | 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 | 0.964419 | 608 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Encouraging press to cover an event in New York City is no easy feat, said TEDxYouth@MSC organizer Manuela Zamora, so she and her team took the duties within: to the attendees. On a sunny Friday at Manhattan School for Children PS333, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders buzzed around their school’s auditorium, searching out opportunities to report on the unfolding action of the day at TEDxYouth@MSC.
Their mission? To chronicle the inaugural TEDx event at their school in Manhattan, New York, an event dedicated to exploring sustainable sciences, taking place mostly indoors, but also brought to the school’s rooftop greenhouse, where they and their fellow classmates conduct research and grow hydroponic crops.
Before the event, organizers met with the school’s Student Council, a group of middle schoolers who take on leadership roles at the school, and asked them if they would be willing to report on the event for outsiders and their fellow students.
“Only the students who wanted to participate took the ‘job,’” said Manuela. “I think most of them, if not all, where thrilled with the opportunity.” Students were “on call” before, during, and after the event, she said, set up in teams with different responsibilities. “We prepared an agenda together,” she said, “and we invited a reporter to talk to the press team about her job as a journalist [at] a local newspaper.”
On the day of the event, “the press team,” as they were called, were each given a uniform, credentials, and an invitation to an official headquarters: TEDxYouth@MSC t-shirts, special press passes, and a section of the event closed off just for them. Youth were provided with reporting equipment, and “we also had two college interns supporting them tweeting,” said Manuela. “They knew they had the conference breaks only [to work], so they were very focused and efficient,” she said. “I think they were great and they had a good time!”
Youth reporters contributed “blog entries in preparation to the conference; recorded/filmed interviews [with] TEDxYouth@MSC speakers as well as [with] the audience; tweets; and a lot of excitement about been part of an important event that was viewed [live] in other schools, cities and even other countries,” said Manuela. A professional reporter from Japan even visited the event, and turned the tables on the “press team” by interviewing them on their experiences as reporters at a serious event.
The job gave the students a sense of ownership of the event, helping them to realize that a TEDxYouth event is not just directed at them, but is for them, about them, and, importantly, by them.
“Having fun at school!” tweeted a MSC student, Audrey, obviously excited about the event. “I’m part of the press at a TEDx youth event! #feelingimportant #TEDxYouth.”
On November 17th and 18th, young people all over the world will be reporting on TEDxYouth events happening during TEDxYouthDay. These TEDxYouthDay Reporters will blog, tweet and Facebook their way through a weekend of nearly 100 TEDx events. Learn more about TEDxYouthDay. | <urn:uuid:ec7c04e1-80b4-427a-8e19-b90147d4425e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.tedx.com/post/35271882748/encouraging-press-to-cover-an-event-in-new-york | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981145 | 733 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Click on any phrase to play the video at that point.Close
♫ When I wake up ♫ ♫ in the morning ♫ ♫ I pour the coffee ♫ ♫ I read the paper ♫ ♫ And then I slowly ♫ ♫ and so softly ♫ ♫ do the dishes ♫ ♫ So feed the fishes ♫ ♫ You sing me happy birthday ♫ ♫ Like it's gonna be ♫ ♫ your last day ♫ ♫ here on Earth ♫
All right. So, I wanted to do something special today. I want to debut a new song that I've been working on in the last five or six months. And there's few things more thrilling than playing a song for the first time in front of an audience, especially when it's half-finished. (Laughter) I'm kind of hoping some conversations here might help me finish it. Because it gets into all sorts of crazy realms. And so this is basically a song about loops, but not the kind of loops that I make up here. They're feedback loops. And in the audio world that's when the microphone gets too close to its sound source, and then it gets in this self-destructive loop that creates a very unpleasant sound. And I'm going to demonstrate for you. (Laughter) I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry.
♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫ ♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫ ♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫ ♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫ ♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫ ♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫ ♫ This is a -- (Feedback)
And I've been thinking about how that applies across a whole spectrum of realms, from, say, the ecological, okay. There seems to be a rule in nature that if you get too close to where you came from, it gets ugly. So like, you can't feed cows their own brains or you get mad cow disease, and inbreeding and incest and, let's see, what's the other one? Biological -- there's autoimmune diseases, where the body attacks itself a little too overzealously and destroys the host, or the person. And then -- okay, this is where we get to the song -- kind of bridges the gap to the emotional.
Because although I've used scientific terms in songs, it's very difficult sometimes to make them lyrical. And there's some things you just don't need to have in songs. So I'm trying to bridge this gap between this idea and this melody. And so, I don't know if you've ever had this, but when I close my eyes sometimes and try to sleep, I can't stop thinking about my own eyes. And it's like your eyes start straining to see themselves. That's what it feels like to me. It's not pleasant. I'm sorry if I put that idea in your head. (Laughter) It's impossible, of course, for your eyes to see themselves, but they seem to be trying. So that's getting a little more closer to a personal experience. Or ears being able to hear themselves -- it's just impossible. That's the thing. So, I've been working on this song that mentions these things and then also imagines a person who's been so successful at defending themselves from heartbreak that they're left to do the deed themselves, if that's possible. And that's what the song is asking. All right. It doesn't have a name yet.
♫ Go ahead and congratulate yourself ♫ ♫ Give yourself a hand, the hand is your hand ♫ ♫ And the eye that eyes itself is your eye ♫ ♫ And the ear that hears itself is near ♫ ♫ 'Cause it's your ear, oh oh ♫ ♫ You've done the impossible now ♫ ♫ Took yourself apart ♫ ♫ You made yourself invulnerable ♫ ♫ No one can break your heart ♫ ♫ So you wear it out ♫ ♫ And you wring it out ♫ ♫ And you wear it out ♫ ♫ And you break it yourself ♫ ♫ Breaking your own, break it yourself ♫ ♫ Breaking your own, break it yourself ♫ ♫ Breaking your own ♫ (Applause)
Thanks. (Applause) All right. It's kind of cool. Songwriters can sort of get away with murder. You can throw out crazy theories and not have to back it up with data or graphs or research. But, you know, I think reckless curiosity would be what the world needs now, just a little bit. (Applause) I'm going to finish up with a song of mine called "Weather Systems."
♫ Quiet ♫ ♫ Quiet down, she said ♫ ♫ Speak into the back of his head ♫ ♫ On the edge of the bed, I can see your blood flow ♫ ♫ I can see your ♫ ♫ cells grow ♫ ♫ Hold still awhile ♫ ♫ Don't spill the wine ♫ ♫ I can see it all from here ♫ ♫ I can see ♫ ♫ oh, I ♫ ♫ I can see ♫ ♫ weather systems ♫ ♫ of the world ♫ ♫ Weather systems ♫ ♫ of the world ♫ ♫ Some things you say ♫ ♫ are not for sale ♫ ♫ I would hold it where ♫ ♫ our free agents of some substance are ♫ ♫ scared ♫ ♫ Hold still a while ♫ ♫ Don't spill the wine ♫ ♫ I can see it all from here ♫ ♫ I can see ♫ ♫ oh, I ♫ ♫ I can see ♫ ♫ weather systems of the world ♫ ♫ Weather systems ♫ ♫ of the world ♫
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Musical innovator Andrew Bird winds together his trademark violin technique with xylophone, vocals and sophisticated electronic looping. Add in his uncanny ability to whistle anything, and he becomes a riveting one-man orchestra.
Andrew Bird is a virtual one-man band -- he’s a singer and songwriter and plays the violin, guitar, glockenspiel. Full bio » | <urn:uuid:d76e1b1d-9dec-4042-baba-7b4b2321a9c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_bird_s_one_man_orchestra_of_the_imagination.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959701 | 1,384 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Menopause doesn't have to be a dreaded curse of aging during which we can look forward only to hot flashes and whacked-out hormonal mood swings. According to Christiane Northrup, M.D. (Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom
), menopause often marks the beginning of a woman's most sexually passionate, creatively inspired, and professionally productive phase of life.
While this may sound like wishful thinking, Northrup backs up her good news with solid medical expertise. As an obstetrician and gynecologist, Northrup has specialized in using a mind-body approach to women's health for decades, which means she doesn't just write about hormones, but also examines how a woman's lifestyle, emotions, and beliefs are affected by menopause. With the right diet, attitude, and perhaps some supplements along the way, women can actually look forward to a resurgence of energy and a revolutionary opportunity for personal growth--one that rivals the hormonally driven period of adolescence in its scope and urgency, she claims. And yes, at just under 500 pages, The Wisdom of Menopause does explain how to have a positive and healthy menopause in concise detail. Northrup has indeed "written the book" on menopause.
It helps that Northrup has been through menopause herself (she vowed she wouldn't write a book on it until she was on the other side). Readers have the sense that they are gleaning advice from a knowledgeable holistic doctor as well as a sage aunt whose life was radically altered by the "change of life" (Northrup divorced at the onset of menopause). After she shares her personal story of "the change," Northrup delves into a significant discussion on how self-sacrifice catches up with women in midlife. Suddenly, hormones are directing women out of the caregiver role and into an inwardly focused assessment of life and its meaning, she explains. Resentments (not hormones) are what spur the notorious surges of anger, as women reexamine the agreements surrounding their relationships with colleagues, friends, and family members.
From here, Northrup guides readers into a thorough section on menopausal hormone changes--a discussion that is scientifically informative, yet entirely accessible. While acknowledging the need for hormone-replacement therapy and the tremendous relief it can provide (helping to alleviate insomnia, hot flashes, and depression), Northrup encourages women to avoid synthetic hormones and instead consider "bioidentical" hormones (such as estradiol, estrone, and estriol). She also devotes an entire chapter to foods and supplements that support hormonal balance. By the way, she says to skip the wild Mexican yam creams: "they certainly don't provide the documented benefits of progesterone." Be warned: some readers may find the advice in Wisdom of Menopause too alternative for their liking. For example, in her discussion on insomnia, one of Northrup's recommendations is to cover the mirror at night, following the ancient Asian design principles of feng shui. (Skeptics will find Northrup's medical assertions carefully cited and footnoted in the rear of her book.)
Northrup gives a solid and practical diet plan that supports hormonal balance while countering the weight gain that so frequently plagues menopausal women ("focus on portion size, not calories," "eat protein at every meal," and cut down on refined and high-carbohydrate foods). Readers can also expect a thorough mind-body discussion in subsequent chapters that cover breast health, bone loss, and cultivating midlife beauty, along with chapters titled "Sex and Menopause: Myths and Reality" and "Creating Pelvic Health and Power."
She concludes with a list of mail-order and online resources, such as retailers for bioidentical hormones, progesterone cream, Chinese herbs, soy products, weight-loss audiocassettes, lubricants, and Kegel weights. Northrup takes a truly comprehensive approach to all the effective treatments of menopausal symptoms so that women can make their own highly informed and wise choices. --Gail Hudson
--This text refers to the
From Publishers Weekly
Northrup (Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom), cofounder of the Women to Women health-care center in Maine, offers a celebratory, "psychospiritual" approach in her comprehensive guide to menopausal health and well-being. Beginning with the premise that, though difficult, the "hormone-driven changes that affect the brain... give a woman a sharper eye for inequity... and a voice that insists on speaking up," Northrup details hormonal imbalances, mood swings, serious illnesses, treatment options and all the other symptoms, side effects and decisions women face in midlife. Middle-aged herself, Northrup writes from experience and, more important, from her professional expertise as a physician who has treated many women and researched menopause. While much of the health-care material here is available in other sources, Northrup's approach a description of symptoms, followed by both traditional and alternative treatment options along with some anecdotes is particularly useful. Occasionally she veers off into New Age jargon, but she is a firm believer in the relevance of tangential influences on physical health, including emotional and financial well-being. The specific medical advice on sleep, diet, breast health and the empowerment motif will bring insight, comfort and confidence to women embarked on "the change." Agent, Ned Leavitt. (Apr. 3) Forecast: Northrup is a bestselling author widely held in the same esteem as Gary Null and Deepak Chopra. Among the competitive field of books on menopause, hers stands out for its whole-woman approach, which will make it attractive not only to her core readership but also as a hand-selling favorite among booksellers.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the | <urn:uuid:96c59e9a-72e6-425b-8248-924158bd8197> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.ca/The-Wisdom-Menopause-Creating-Emotional/dp/0553384090 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947398 | 1,212 | 1.5 | 2 |
However, there are some notable patterns that emerge based on the four-year US election cycle that very much tie elections, economics, and market together.
"As always, past performance is only an incomplete indication of future performance," wrote Goldman Sachs' Jose Ursua in a note to clients. "But certain patterns, especially those that pass a reasonable number of statistical tests, can be useful guides to surfing the electoral wave ahead."
Ursua listed three reasons why investors should take these cycles seriously:
Elections are important market events, for at least three reasons. First, the political stakes in presidential, parliamentary or legislative elections often translate into changes in policies which can reshape the economic environment. Second, the regularity with which elections take place in most countries may give place to cyclical patterns in government and investment behaviour. Third, elections can markedly increase political and social uncertainty. These three factors have the potential to affect all asset classes, especially equities, given their strong sensitivity to changes in the economic outlook.
Here's a quick summary of his findings:
Our results suggest that, in the US, the first two years of the election cycle tend to coincide with lower equity returns than the last two, with the second year particularly volatile. In the run-up to elections, returns tend to move sideways as a reflection of unresolved uncertainty. As uncertainty fades, returns tend to bounce back gradually. We also find that global equity markets tend to reflect the US election cycle, with lower returns in the second year of the cycle and declining volatility thereafter. In particular, the election cycle in the US helps to explain a sizeable fraction of non-US equity returns, both in other developed markets and in emerging markets.
Much of this is well-known.
However, the bit about U.S. elections explaining non-U.S. equity returns is quite interesting. Ursua provides this chart of R-square results derived from his equity returns regression analysis. For U.S., developed markets, and emerging markets, equity market returns seem to be much better explained when considering U.S. election-related variables.
GS Global ECS Research | <urn:uuid:4a3ad388-b4f9-4aff-808b-33ded8d3564b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-3-reasons-investors-us-election-cycle-2012-2?comments=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960281 | 436 | 1.84375 | 2 |
A recent survey from the Barna Group found roughly one-third of Americans—about 70 million—say they are not living to their fullest potential and/or feel “held back or defined by something in their past.” Thirty percent of adults also acknowledge unresolved emotional pain or conflict in their life.
The most common exception to this unhappy majority were practicing Christians. More often than not, being part of a faith community exhibited positive results in the lives of participants.
Unlock the rest of this story for free! Just register below to get instant access to five premium articles. | <urn:uuid:bfddd258-e871-4b25-a29f-09223437a1bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/whole-life/why-are-americans-unhappy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960637 | 118 | 1.578125 | 2 |
This is a great episode of NOW on PBS. It talks about the economic advantages that have helped Charolette when they built their LRT line.
Pat McCrory is the seven-term mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. He's a Republican... one of the most prominent conservative politicians in a very conservative state. He's pro-life and a proud fiscal hawk. But two years ago, he put his entire political career on the line to build this light rail line in Charlotte. It was the one of the most expensive public works projects in North Carolina's history, costing almost a half-a-billion dollars. And it almost cost McCrory his job.
But much to everyone's surprise, voters backed the transit tax overwhelmingly, the mayor was re-elected and the light rail, now a year old, has turned out to be hugely popular. Thousands more people are riding the line every week than were expected, and big cities like Orlando are sending delegations to see what all the fuss is about. In the heart of the south, where people love their cars, McCrory's light rail line is winning hearts and minds. | <urn:uuid:0fe85cb7-a22a-4d0f-a489-a5a13780545f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hubandspokes.blogspot.com/2009/03/lrt-in-north-carolina.html | 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 | 0.978976 | 232 | 1.765625 | 2 |
RICHMOND, Va.—A controversial plan to redraw district lines in the State Senate will face a test on Wednesday in the House of Delegates. And Democrats are trying to hold Republicans' feet to the fire.
The surprise plan came out of the Senate on the day of President Obama's inauguration.
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When Democrat Henry Marsh travelled to Washington for the ceremony, Republicans took advantage of his absence to pass the redistricting plan.
Tuesday morning, Democratic Senator Ralph Northam delivered petitions with 14-thousand names, encouraging Governor McDonnell to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
"This redistricting plan brought back the contention and the divisiveness that we all experienced last year," Northam told reporters, "so hopefully we can get this out of the way and move forward in a positive direction."
Republicans say a major benefit of the plan is a new district in southern Virginia that will have a majority of minority voters. Democrats say the plan was really designed to strengthen the political prospects of Republicans in many other districts across the state. | <urn:uuid:5fba2b95-08a5-4fc0-8399-157145242d30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcall.com/news/wdbj7-senate-democrats-take-redistricting-complaints-to-the-governor-20130205,0,1461642.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945958 | 238 | 1.59375 | 2 |
According to exit polls, “low income groups” went big for President Obama: 63 percent of voters with family income under $30,000 voted for Mr. Obama, as did 57 percent of those with income between $30,000 and $49,999.
These low income voters are not just another vital minority, akin to and overlapping with the African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, young people and union members who supported Mr. Obama in large numbers.
Rather, low income voters constitute a huge bloc, even a majority by some measures. According to the Tax Policy Center, roughly 60 percent of families have incomes under $50,000, with some 40 percent making under $30,000 and 20 percent making between $30,000 and $50,000.
In a brazen example of putting ideology ahead of reality, Senate Republicans seem to have pressured the Congressional Research Service to withdraw a report debunking conservative economic orthodoxy. Cutting tax rates at the top appears “to have little or no relation to the size of the economic pie,” the report said. “However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution.” So charging the rich lower tax rates doesn’t promote economic growth; it merely increases economic inequality.
The CRS is a highly respected, independent agency that prepares reports for members of Congress and routinely issues findings that disappoint or even irritate their clients, who usually just grin and bear it, or at least bear it. But Congressional Republicans seem to think that the CRS should function like Pravda.
In Tuesday night’s debate, Mr. Romney again refused to say which deductions he would limit to pay for his tax plan (including his pledge to cut tax rates by 20 percent and eliminate the AMT) which would cost some $5 trillion over ten years. Instead, he said one way to curb deductions would be to cap the total amount that taxpayers can claim against their deductible expenses. “I’ll pick a number,” he said, “$25,000 of deductions and credits, and you can decide which ones to use.”
When President Obama pointed out that Mr. Romney’s numbers did not add up and would not even begin to pay for a $5 trillion tax cut, Mr. Romney got huffy, “Well of course they add up. I — I was — I was someone who ran businesses for 25 years, and balanced the budget. I ran the Olympics and balanced the budget. I ran the — the state of Massachusetts as a governor, to the extent any governor does, and balanced the budget all four years.”
The Romney campaign’s increasingly desperate attempts to dismiss a new study of its tax plan are a pretty good sign that the study is devastating. That isn’t to say the campaign is trying to counter it with actual specifics.
Performed by the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, the study shows that Mitt Romney’s proposal would lead to significantly lower taxes for the rich, and a higher tax burden on middle- and lower-income taxpayers.
It’s been well known for a while that Mr. Romney’s tax plan was a mathematical impossibility. He promised to reduce marginal tax rates by 20 percent, eliminate the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax, and end the capital gains tax for middle-income taxpayers – all while not lowering the amount of revenue coming into the treasury. Mr. Romney said he would offset those losses by ending a series of loopholes, but has yet to cite a single loophole he would delete. | <urn:uuid:a9ec8acd-049a-4a6b-a442-59c9f890f2b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/tax-policy-center/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973566 | 756 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Illustration: Michael Mucci.
I'll be 21 this year and have saved $26,000. I should have $35,000 by Christmas. I've no debt. I also own my car and use a prepaid mobile. I'm in control of my money and interested in buying an investment property. This is something I'd like to continue with in the future and build a portfolio of investment properties. I don't plan on moving out of home until I'm 25. What would you suggest? Keep saving for another year to build a bigger deposit, or invest in shares?
Congratulations on what you have achieved — you are far better organised than most young people. You've given no indication of your income so it's not possible for me to work out how much you could borrow. It would pay to form an association with a lender as soon as possible to canvass your borrowing options. Once you know how much, if any, you could borrow, you could start looking at properties. At this stage, it's highly unlikely you will be able to borrow for both shares and property so you will need to decide which you favour first.
I'm about to start my own business and require initial working capital of $10,000. To fund this I'm planning to set up a line-of-credit with my existing bank. Can I claim the interest on the loan as a tax deduction? Also, if the business incurs losses in the first year can the losses be carried forward in a company structure?
The purpose of the loan is to invest in a business so there should be no problems claiming the interest as a tax deduction — don't forget you can claim any other costs of running the business as well. Companies can carry forward losses in the same way as an individual can. Just make sure you involve your accountant closely in all aspects of your business.
I'm 50 and wondering whether my maximum deductible super for the financial year 2010-11 is still $25,000 a year? Am I still allowed $450,000 in non-deductible contributions over a three-year period?
The maximum concessional or pre-tax contribution cap is $25,000 for 2010-11 for someone who is under 50 on the last day of the financial year but for people 50 or over on the last day of the financial year, the cap will be $50,000 until June 30, 2012. This will be reduced to $25,000 (indexed) in July 2012 but there are proposals that the $50,000 cap be retained for those who have super balances of less than $500,000. The cap for non-concessional contributions remains at $150,000 a year but a person under 65 could utilise the bring-forward provisions and contribute three years' contributions in a lump sum — $450,000.
What are the essential differences between a share trust and a super fund? I've received an inheritance from my mother's estate and can't decide which way to go.
A share trust is a managed fund that invests in shares whereas a super fund is a vehicle that lets you hold assets in a low-tax environment. Therefore it is entirely possible for a super fund to hold share trusts as part of its assets. As a general rule I prefer holding assets inside super to save tax but you need to understand that you cannot access your super until you reach your preservation age, which is at least 55.
Noel Whittaker is a director of Whittaker Macnaught. His advice is general in nature and readers should seek their own professional advice. Contact noel .firstname.lastname@example.org.
Questions to: Ask Noel, Money, GPO Box 2571, QLD, 4000, or see moneymanager.smh.com.au/sitewide/askanexpert. | <urn:uuid:9bb8a786-91d2-42ba-87da-48b508148bf2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.watoday.com.au/money/investing/ask-noel-20100825-13ran.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964622 | 792 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Fri, February 3, 2012
WEAR RED DAY
The American Heart Association says Nashville is one of the least heart-healthy cities for women in the country! They're hoping events like today's Go Red for Women day will make us talk about it, learn about it, and prevent it. You can get more information on Wear Red Day, the causes of heart disease, a WOMAN'S symptoms of heart attack, and how to reduce your risk at www.wearredday.org
HOMEOWNERS COMPLAIN OF CRIME IN NASHVILLE HABITAT NEIGHBORHOOD
Some north Nashville families are trying to sell their homes back to Habitat for Humanity, because they say the Timberwood neighborhood the homes are in... is filled with crime. Habitat For Humanity helps people purchase and own quality, affordable homes.. but they use the land they can afford. The company says it's working with police to improve the situation. (HabitatNashville.org.)
CONVERSE TO OPEN OPRY MILLS OUTLET
Another big name store is coming on board at Opry Mills. Converse is opening its first outlet store in Tennessee. The Opry Mills grand reopening is March 29th.
MEGABUS ADDING MORE SERVICE TO NASHVILLE
Megabus, the city-to-city express bus company, is giving you some more travel options. They're adding daily service between Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis, at the end of this month. Fares start as low as a dollar, and get higher as the travel date nears. (Megabus already provides service from Nashville to ) www.megabus.com
METRO TEACHER SUSPENDED FOR SLAPPING KINDERGARTNER
A Dupont Elementary School teacher has been suspended for allegedly slapping a five-year-old student in the face. The boy's mom says the child is developmentally delayed and believed to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Metro police are investigating.
NURSING HOMES INSPECTION REPORTS POSTED ONLINE
Soon you'll be able to see online the results of the state health department's inspections of nursing homes. That's one of the requirements of the new federal health care reform law, formally called the Affordable Care Act.
FARMER'S MARKET FOOD TRUCK MEET AND THREE TONIGHT
And there are some local things going on you may want to check out. At Nashville Farmer's Market, they have what they're calling Meet and three... it's 10 of Nashville's popular Food Trucks, and more than 20 local artists providing the music. it's tonight from 6 to 9.
THORNTON'S CONVENIENCE STORES OFFERS FREE HOT CHOCOLATE
And Thornton's stores says it'll give away free hot chocolate tomorrow from 8am to noon, to kids 12 and under.
FIRST BLACK WOMAN FIRECHIEF OF MAJOR FIRE DEPT
Oakland, California has named the first black woman to serve as chief of a major metropolitan fire department in the U.S. Teresa Deloach-Reed will take over the 580-person Oakland Fire Department next month, after serving as assistant fire chief in San Jose, California. Deloach-Reed notes that a lot of fire departments still don't have any women.
ARMY PSYCHIATRIST ACCUSED OF KILLING MORE THAN A DOZEN GETS TRIAL DELAY
The Army psychiatrist accused of killing more than a dozen people at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas will be tried this summer. The judge has approved a three-month delay in Major Nidal Hasan's trial to give defense attorneys more time to prepare. Hasan could face the death penalty if he's convicted of killing 13 soldiers and wounding 32 others in November of 2009.
COUNCIL MEMBER SAYS ARRIOLA TURNED DOWN TAX HELP
A Metro Council member offered John Arriola tax assistance to help clear his name, but he declined. That's according to a NewsChannel Five report on the updates surrounding the Davidson County Clerk accused of charging for wedding services he performed on government time. The Council is expected to vote next Tuesday on a non-binding resolution asking him to step down.
LAWMAKERS RUSH BILLS TO CHANGE TEACHER SYSTEM
The state legislature is getting a flurry of proposals to make changes to the new teacher evaluation system. Lawmakers rushed about 20 bills to make Wednesday's deadline. Some Democrats want this year to be a trial run, while some educators say the system is unfair and time consuming.
HEALTH STUDY: OLDER PARENTS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE AUTISTIC CHILD
A new study has found children born to a parent over age 35 are at greater risk of developing autism. And that the risk is the same whether just one or both parents are older.
COLORADO MONSTER STORM
People in Colorado are dealing with a monster storm. They're expectintg up to 2 feet of snow in the Denver Metro area.
LOOKING FOR A PRESIDENTIAL ALTERNATIVE?
You want a presidential alternative? Roseanne Barr has filed official documents to become the Green Party's nominee for President of the United States. Her green, however, is pot. She wants marijuana legalized and sold strictly domestically.
SUPERBOWL EFFECT ON ECONOMY
This weekend's Super Bowl is forecast to score big with the economy. The National Retail Federation expects Super Bowl 46 to add about eleven-billion dollars to the economy. The group says the average game-watcher will spend about 64-dollars on related merchandise, apparel and snacks. That's up about five-percent from last year.
JOB GROWTH SLOWS
Don't stress when you hear about the job growth figures going down this month. This is the normal drop off after Christmas and holiday hiring stops. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at eight-and-a-half-percent.
DISNEYLAND AND DISNEYWORLD ALLOWS BEARDS
Beards on employees will make their debut at Disneyland and Disney World this morning. But there are limits. Beards and goatees are being okayed for the first time ever as long as they're no more than a quarter-inch in length, and not a so-called "soul patch."
DAD PHOTOSHOPPED INTO SON'S WEDDING PICTURES
This is a sweet story. Brian Shoop was getting married, but his dad suddenly got sick and coulnd't make it the wedding. So the family Photoshopped dad into the wedding photos, but NOT in a tux. No, he was in in a blow up pool, holding a fish, wearing a sombrero. The photos turned out very sweet and funny. SEE THEM HERE.
THIEVES STEAL MILLIONS FROM CALIFORNIA COURTHOUSE
Folks at a Northern California courthouse thought it'd be neat to display part of their area's history by displaying three million dollars worth of gold nuggets behind glass. They now have surveillance video of two men smashing the glass, stealing the millions in gold and getting away.
BLAKE SHELTON COMMERCIAL TO AIR SUPERBOWL SUNDAY
Blake Shelton will be prominent on the TV on Super Bowl Sunday. In addition to performing at the game, the country star is featured in a commercial with the other coaches from "The Voice." In the spot Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, and Adam Levine are literally battling it out. Shelton tells NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" they needed some coaching before they shot the ad. Shelton will be performing as part of the Super Bowl 46 pre-game festivities, singing "America the Beautiful" with wife Miranda Lambert. He said he's very excited about the event, explaining that for a singer the Super Bowl is one of the most prestigious gigs imaginable. "The Voice" will launch its second season immediately following NBC's broadcast of the Super Bowl Sunday night. The show will then air at it's regular time, Monday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, starting next week.
Most Facebook users get more from their "friends" than they give, according to a new Pew Internet study. During the one-month survey period 40-percent of Facebook users made friend requests, while 63-percent got friend requests. The average Facebook user sent nine personal messages, and got 20.
NEARBY PLANET MAY BE ABLE TO SUPPORT LIFE
Astronomers say they've found a nearby planet that might be able to support life, even though it doesn't fit the mold. The planet is just 22 light years away and more than four-times the size of Earth. The astronomers say the planet is very close to its star and orbits it every 28 days, but the star is much weaker than our own sun. | <urn:uuid:79e50224-1545-42d6-9f6e-be2484837b3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mix929.com/news/fri-february-3-2012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939284 | 1,870 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The four men were killed in an attack this week on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
President Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton gave remarks at the transfer of remains in an airport hangar, where four hearses with rear doors open waited for the caskets. Families of the victims and dignitaries were seated facing the hearses and a lectern.
"Four Americans, four patriots, they loved their country and chose to serve it and serve it well," the president said. "They had a mission and they believed in it, and the knew the danger and they accepted it. They didn't simply embrace the American ideal, they lived it, they embodied it: the courage, the hope and, yes, the idealism.
"We will bring to justice those who took them from us," Obama said.
Clinton said the four victims' lives -- as well as all people who work in the Foreign Service -- "are at the heart of what makes America great and good.
"America must keep leading the world. We owe it to the these four men to continue the long, hard work of diplomacy," Clinton said. "We will wipe our tears and stiffen our spines and face the future undaunted."
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also was to be present, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the attack that left Stevens and the three other Americans dead, the top aide to the president of the Libyan parliament said Friday.
Those arrested were not directly tied to the attack, Monem Elyasser, the chief aide to Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur, told CNN by telephone.
Elyasser did not release the identities of the four suspects in custody, nor did he detail the allegations against them.
The announcement came as the United States is struggling to determine whether a militant group planned the attack that killed the four Americans.
The head of Libya's ruling General National Congress, Mohammed Al-Megaryef, also confirmed the four arrests but declined to say to what group the suspects are linked.
However, the government now believes the suspects are part of one of the many armed extremist groups operating especially in the eastern part of the country and Benghazi itself, he told CNN.
Authorities also believe the attack was planned and deliberately carried out to inflict maximum damage on key Western interests, particularly the United States, he said.
The government believes the attack was intended to drive a wedge between Americans and Libyans.
Asked what the Libyan government was doing to ensure security, al-Megaryef answered, "We are doing our best to avoid further attacks." But he acknowledged that authorities had little capacity to defend against the powerful extremist groups.
State Department Under Secretary Patrick Kennedy has said that the attack appeared to be planned because it was so extensive and because of the "proliferation" of small and medium weapons at the scene. He was briefing congressional staffers when he offered that theory.
But on Thursday, three U.S. officials told CNN that they had seen no evidence the attack was premeditated.
A team of FBI investigators is expected to be in Libya by Saturday, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. Agents are first conducting interviews outside the country to gather information about the attack, the source said.
Obama vowed Thursday that those responsible for the attack would be brought to justice.
"I want people around the world to hear me. To those that would do us harm -- no act of terror will go unpunished, it will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. No act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America."
Pentagon spokesman Little said U.S. authorities continue to investigate the attack and partner with other governments to determine what happened.
During an interview on CNNI's "Amanpour," Abushagur said Thursday that there had been one arrest early Thursday in Benghazi and that three or four others were being pursued.
"The evidence itself is based on mostly pictures that were taken around the compound at that time, and also through some witnesses," the prime minister said.
Conflicting theories flew in the hours after Stevens, another diplomat and two State Department security officers were killed late Tuesday in the eastern city of Benghazi.
They died amid a protest outside the U.S. Consulate over a film that ridiculed Muslims and depicted the Prophet Mohammed as a child molester, womanizer and ruthless killer.
"I think the degree to which we're able to update this information or deepen it, it's going to be in the context of beginning to interview our employees who are coming out and beginning to participate in the investigation that the Libyans are doing," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Thursday.
The demonstration was one of several protests across the region that day.
Protest as diversion
U.S. officials believe the attackers used the protest as a diversion.
Given what officials know about al Qaeda in Libya, intelligence officials believe it is very unlikely that core al Qaeda was behind the attack, a U.S. intelligence official told CNN on condition of anonymity. The official was not authorized to release the information.
Meanwhile, Shawn Turner, director of communications for U.S. National Intelligence, denied news reports that American officials had been warned of a possible attack.
"This is absolutely wrong," he said. "We are not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. post in Benghazi was planned or imminent."
The United States is deploying warships and surveillance drones in its hunt for the killers of the diplomatic staffers, and a contingent of 50 Marines has arrived to boost the security of Americans in the country.
The United States and Libya have embarked on a new relationship since rebels toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi last year.
U.S. and NATO warplanes helped the Benghazi-based rebellion against Gadhafi, who was wanted by the International Criminal Court for charges of crimes against humanity before he was killed in October.
The jihadists suspected in Tuesday night's attack "are a very small minority" who are taking advantage of a fledgling democracy, said Ali Suleiman Aujali, the Libyan ambassador to the United States.
Sources tracking militant Islamist groups in eastern Libya say a pro-al Qaeda group responsible for a previous armed assault on the Benghazi consulate is the chief suspect. A senior defense official told CNN the drones would be part of "a stepped-up, more focused search" for a particular insurgent cell that may have been behind the killings.
Rights groups have raised concerns about the Libyan legal system, which is in the early days of being rebuilt following the fall of the Gadhafi regime last year.
"Due process violations against detainees in Libya are the norm," Human Rights Watch said in a June report. "Libyan government officials told Human Rights Watch that very few detainees have been formally charged and that very few of the cases have been reviewed by a judicial authority."
At the same time, the dominance of militia groups, "which in most towns and cities are stronger than the army and police, has complicated the rebuilding of Libya's justice system," the report says.
Amnesty International has similarly warned of serious problems with Libya's legal system. Its researchers also "found that hundreds of armed militias are acting above the law."
Questions swirl around the attack
There are numerous questions about what happened at the consulate where protesters had gathered to demonstrate against the film "Innocence of Muslims," which reportedly was made in California by a filmmaker whose identity is unclear.
Chief among the questions is what happened to Stevens, who went missing during the attack.
What is known is that during the attack, a rocket-propelled grenade set the consulate on fire, and American and Libyan security personnel tried to fight the attackers and the fire.
As the fire spread, three people -- Stevens, Foreign Service information management officer Sean Smith, and a U.S. regional security officer -- were inside a safe room, said senior State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as a matter of practice during a briefing with reporters.
Smith was later found dead, apparently of smoke inhalation, officials said.
The State Department has not released details about how Stevens died, though numerous media reports have said the ambassador was taken from the consulate to the Benghazi Medical Center by locals.
He arrived at the hospital, according to the reports, unresponsive and covered in soot from the fire.
A doctor was unable to revive him and declared him dead, the reports said.
Stevens' body was turned over to consulate personnel as they were evacuated from Benghazi.
Also killed in the attack on the consulate were security personnel Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, both former Navy SEALs, the State Department said.
CNN's Arwa Damon, Jomana Karadsheh, Elise Labott, Adam Levine and Brian Walker contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:85fa4866-e8ce-45a7-8fd6-0f9ec646c198> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/wxin-remains-of-americans-killed-in-libya-bombing-arrive-in-us-20120914,0,3636009,full.column | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979318 | 1,847 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Great be-honest-with-yourself reminder from David Allen:
“But, to be exact, with those stacks, you could conceivably be ‘organized.’ It’s all relative—if you truly have decided that fifty pounds of miscellaneous paper material piled up all around your office is reflective of what it really means (these are all things that I just want to feel slightly pressured by but not actually do anything about, that I want to be able to find in a relatively short period of time, if I have to), then you’re organized.”
Heh. Yeah, I’m not so happy about “feel slightly pressured by but don’t actually do anything about” in my life.
Discardia is a holiday celebrated by getting rid of stuff and ideas we no longer need. It's letting go, abdicating from obligation and guilt, being true to the selves we are now. Discardia is the time to get rid of things that no longer add value to our lives, shed bad habits, let go of emotional baggage and generally lighten our loads. The core concept is this: if we continually discard what doesn’t help us, we’ll be left with more of what does – and our lives get better. | <urn:uuid:2fc11341-e549-42d9-9cb3-682188ae0237> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://discardia.tumblr.com/post/461767531/great-be-honest-with-yourself-reminder-from-david | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954418 | 272 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does PERSEREC conduct background investigations on the general public?
PERSEREC doesn’t do background investigations on the general public. In fact, most personnel security investigations for the Department of Defense are conducted not by the DoD, but by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its contractors. Our job is to do the research and develop the automated systems to improve personnel security for the DoD. Much of our work focuses on policy and processes to improve the efficiency and fairness of personnel security systems.
2. Is PERSEREC a defense contractor or a government agency?
PERSEREC is a government entity—a component of the Defense Human Resources Activity. However, we have a contingent of contractor employees collocated at our facility who carry out many of the research activities. We look to the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence and Security) for policy guidance and research priorities.
3. What does personnel security in the Department of Defense mean?
Personnel security is a program for ensuring, to as great an extent as reasonable, that civilian employees, military service members, and defense contractor employees have been properly assessed for trustworthiness and reliability to be in a position of trust. The department must make a determination that cleared employees are loyal to the United States, free of conditions that might impair their judgment, and not vulnerable to personal compromise as a result of serious indebtedness or past and current behaviors. The department must also ensure that trusted personnel are aware of their security responsibilities for the protection of classified and sensitive information and are alert to the risks of espionage and terrorist activities. Check the Online Security Guide on the Products page of this website.
4. Why have many of the most damaging spies held a high-level security clearance?
While there may have been no justification for denying a clearance to these individuals at the time of their initial selection for a position of trust, people change over time. Issues develop—sometimes years later—that render a person vulnerable to compromise or impel that person to engage in illegal behavior. A major challenge for personnel security programs is to identify and address potential issues and vulnerabilities of members of the current workforce before they get out of control.
5. Who actually makes decisions about security clearances?
These decisions or eligibility determinations are made by personnel security adjudicators who are located either the newly created DoD central adjudication facility or in one of the nine component adjudication facilities. An adjudicator is a government official who makes a decision about eligibility for access to classified information based on all available investigative information. Adjudicators can also revoke an existing clearance if sufficient information comes to light that shows that continued eligibility would present an unacceptable risk to national security.
6. On what grounds could the government deny me a security clearance or remove it once it has been granted?
The criteria for obtaining and keeping a security clearance are explained in the Adjudicators’ Desk Reference located on the Products page of this website. There are 13 Adjudicative Guidelines that include reasons to disqualify an applicant’s eligibility for access to classified information. For each of these guidelines there is also a list of mitigating factors that might justify the granting or retention of a clearance despite the existence of a disqualifying factor.
7. What can I do to keep my security clearance once it has been granted?
The Adjudicators’ Desk Reference on the Products page can provide helpful guidance to the cleared employee about what to do and what to avoid in his or her private and professional life. The best general advice is be smart; don’t take chances such as drinking and driving; scrupulously obey the law; and if you develop a financial, drinking, or emotional problem, seek counseling or treatment. Report suspicious solicitations from unknown persons. Remember that you have been entrusted with national security information and, because of this, you bear a special responsibility not carried by most other citizens.
8. While the current threat to national security is coming from international terrorist groups, are we still concerned about espionage?
National security continues to be threatened by espionage as well as by terrorism. According to the most recent annual report from the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive the FBI opened 55 new economic espionage cases and pursued 88 pending cases, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made 158 arrests resulting in 187 indictments and 143 convictions for export-related criminal violations, and the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security participated in more than 792 export investigations resulting in 40 criminal convictions. Espionage against the United States continues to be a standard practice that some of our friends, as well as our potential adversaries, use to pursue their national interests. For additional information, view Espionage and Other Compromises of National Security 1975-2008 on the Products page of this site.
9. Because many government and contractor jobs require a security clearance, how can I apply for a clearance?
Individuals cannot obtain a security clearance on their own. First you need to be selected or hired for a position that requires a clearance, and only then can an employer or sponsor submit your application for a clearance for the appropriate level (Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret) depending on the requirements of the job. At that time you must fill out a personnel security questionnaire to start the investigation. | <urn:uuid:b0d6953f-1172-48b8-8d3c-8ca04b892eb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dhra.mil/perserec/faqs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944636 | 1,088 | 1.65625 | 2 |
St. Mary's Basilica, also known as the Mariacki church, lies at the northeastern end of the old town square. The church has been built in Gothic style with bricks between the 13th and 15th centuries. It is characteristic for its Romanesque towers which are of different heights and have different spires. The interior of the Mariachi church is impressively decorated with beautiful elements in every possible corner. The high wooden altar of Veit Stoss is famous.
The image PL61028 ("07 High altar") has been added to your selection. Click on 'Lightbox' to view the content of the selection. | <urn:uuid:a4ea1877-c422-4a31-b77e-2b69fc23901a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.molon.de/galleries/Poland/Krakow/Mariacki/?add=PL61028 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976996 | 129 | 1.578125 | 2 |
I have pyronnes what can I do about this problem?
A: I think what you are referring to is “Peyronie’s disease.” This is a curvature of the penis that can be caused by a trauma – like being hit hard. Cases range from very mild to severe. Sometimes it develops slowly. Sometimes it appears quite suddenly. Many men with mild cases are not uncomfortable, although they may be troubled by the change in appearance. But some men experience severe pain during erection or sexual intercourse and develop erectile dysfunction. This disease is not contagious and is not caused by a sexually transmitted disease. Treatments for Peyronie’s disease include oral medicines, injections, and surgery.
I suggest you educate yourself by reading about the disease and possible treatments. Then go see your doctor to discuss what treatment option might be best for you. The goal of all treatments is to make it possible for you to enjoy sexual intercourse.
I wish you well.
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 23 Nov 2010
Hartwell-Walker, D. (2010). Peyronie’s Disease. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 24, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/ask-the-therapist/2010/11/23/peyronies-disease/ | <urn:uuid:82d51f2f-5d97-4f77-aadb-dcd8ece0b055> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychcentral.com/ask-the-therapist/2010/11/23/peyronies-disease/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935716 | 282 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The following is the official statement of Ladlad Negros, as written by Pol Escubido Cabalfin.
The two recent victims, one from Silay and the other from Victorias, suffered from more than 20 stab wounds each. On top of this, two cases were also reported for the month of May.
The successive killings of the LGBT members should be treated seriously . We are calling the attention of the local police to further investigate these untimely deaths. We also urge our local government officials to work with the local LGBT groups and associations to fight this grisly trend of murders of LGBTs.
The local governments of Bacolod, Victorias and other cities and municipalities of Negros island must enact legislations against discrimination, bullying and homophobia as these all lead to hate crimes.
The killings here in Negros are just part of the greater whole. In the entire Philippines, around 20 reported LGBT killings have been recorded by the Pink Watch this year, with most of the victims suffering from fatal stab wounds.
At the close of the Pride Month (June), still no justice was given to most of the murdered victims. We demand that justice be brought to these deaths.
We in Ladlad strongly condemn all LGBT killings here in Negros and in the whole country. Like everybody else who have rights, we demand that ours be respected and looked after.
End Discrimination. Stop Hate. Stop LGBT Killings. Forward Equality. Spread Love.
Image from www.lehman.cuny.edu | <urn:uuid:2d1c264c-cb56-4da4-b8b2-67bfed7eadc0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://filipinofreethinkers.org/tag/ladlad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95168 | 311 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Cezanne Sold To Qatar For A Record Price
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Can a country just buy its way into the elite world of art collecting and become a global mecca for art buyers? Well, the Gulf nation of Qatar is hoping the answer is yes. The oil-rich country has purchased a Paul Cezanne painting for more than $250 million. That is the highest amount ever paid for a work of art. Alexandra Peers recently wrote about the sale in Vanity Fair and she joins me by phone from New York. Alexandra, thanks for being with us.
ALEXANDRA PEERS: Thank you, Rachel.
MARTIN: Can you describe this painting for us? It's called The Card Players.
PEERS: It is a beauty. It shows two gentlemen playing cards. It was painted at the turn of the 20th century, about 1900 - a little earlier. And it's considered important because when everybody else was painting rich socialites and landscapes, Cezanne decided peasants were important.
MARTIN: And $250 million? How extraordinary is that price tag?
PEERS: Well, it's a lot of houses, isn't it, Rachel?
MARTIN: It's an awful lot of houses.
PEERS: In terms of art, the highest price ever paid publicly for an art work was a beautiful Picasso portrait for $106 million of his naked mistress. So, this is more than double the public price paid at auction.
MARTIN: Was it expected to fetch that much or did this come as a surprise to the art world?
PEERS: I think that many people had been chasing this painting for years. The fellow who owned it, a Greek shipping magnate, George Embiricos, wouldn't lend it to anyone. You couldn't really see it. It was sort of a legend for its inaccessibility. And that made it all the more in demand. So, when he finally passed away, everybody knew it was going to go for a great sum of money, but who thought it would ever go for this? Nobody.
MARTIN: Can you tell us when did the sale actually take place?
PEERS: It took place early in 2011, and details are just leaking out now.
MARTIN: So, Qatar is hoping by securing this particular painting, which you say does carry a lot of cache, the global art market will come to its doorstep expecting to see more of the same?
PEERS: Well, this is the big jewel. But they've been buying for about a dozen years and buying at the very, very top end of the market. They have a complete set of the Audubon bird prints. They have bejeweled daggers. They have a Rothko, a Mark Rothko painting that John Rockefeller owned, and that sold for $82 million. They have a big Damien Hirst. They're buying a major museum art collection, world class, and the Cezanne is kind of the cherry on the sundae.
MARTIN: Wow. So, they're giving Paris and New York a run for their money.
PEERS: Oh yes. They're outbidding a lot of grouchy Russian imperialists, yes.
MARTIN: Alexandra Peers. Her article appeared in Vanity Fair, and she joined me on the line from New York. Alexandra, thanks so much.
PEERS: Thanks so much, Rachel.
MARTIN: This is NPR News.
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:4f4c36af-417f-4aa2-8d41-16375aa161f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/2012/02/05/146424989/cezanne-sold-to-qatar-for-a-record-price?ft=3&f=2,3,5,7,10,13,35,39,46 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966069 | 789 | 1.625 | 2 |
A decision on whether to allow the restart of a shuttered reactor at the San Onofre nuclear plant could come in March, federal regulators said Monday after a visit to the plant.
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission administrator, part of a group that included NRC Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane, said he and other officials are awaiting responses from plant operator Southern California Edison to questions as they consider Edison's restart proposal.
Allison Macfarlane, chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, spoke to reporters about her recent tour of the San Onofre nuclear power plant at a meeting in San Juan Capistrano. Southern California Edison filed plans to restart Unit 2 and run the reactor at 70 percent of its full power, but will need approval from the NRC to move forward.
MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
"We're trying to render a decision in the March time-frame," said Arthur Howell, an NRC deputy regional administrator and manager of the San Onofre special project team.
Once they receive the responses, however, further work might be needed, including onsite inspections.
Both of San Onofre's reactors have been shut down for nearly a year because of problems with the steam generators. The Unit 2 reactor had been shut down for routine maintenance early last January, but on Jan. 31, a small leak of radioactive gas prompted the shutdown of Unit 3.
Edison has proposed restarting its Unit 2 reactor at 70 percent power, which is expected to eliminate vibrations that caused wear among thousands of tubes inside the plant's four steam generators.
Macfarlane and her team visited the nuclear plant and, in Orange County, held separate meetings with the press, environmental activists and community leaders.
"I just want to try to understand the issue better," said Macfarlane, who became chairwoman of the agency in July. "And I think you do that better when you actually visit a place and see the equipment and facilities firsthand."
The meetings, which included labor unions, were held in San Juan Capistrano.
"We need to hear everybody's concerns and make sure that we take account of them," she said.
Macfarlane and her team declined to comment on the push from some activists for a license amendment hearing on San Onofre.
On Wednesday, one group, the Friends of the Earth, will present its case to NRC officials in Maryland that Edison should have obtained a license amendment before installing the four steam generators in a massive, $671 million operation between 2009 and early 2011.
Separately, the same group also has requested a hearing on the proposed startup of Unit 2.
Edison officials said Monday that the next public meeting on San Onofre will take place Feb. 12 in Orange County. The location has not yet been announced.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:41239314-113c-4b12-8c50-1afd2d3fdee1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocregister.com/articles/san-383441-onofre-edison.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961313 | 601 | 1.742188 | 2 |
See how this woman may help make your life better… and you hers.
This tangled thought begins with two of the major themes at this site… “turn your passion into profit” and “embrace change”.
Yet momentum off us keeps us locked in a rut… until something like the recent economic crash breaks or ends our routine or job.
Such seeming problems can lead us to our real passions and desires.
People like this can make a new business for you fun… and you theirs.
Excerpts from a recent USA Today article “For some, hard times are a gateway to new careers” by Rick Hampson explains how (the bolds are mine): To cope with the recession, people like Sussy Deleon are coming up with creative ways to make a buck. Listen to Deleon, who was in real estate, describe her new business: selling pinatas handcrafted by artisans in Guatemala.
For millions of Americans, the recession has been a curse. For a relative few, it’s something more complicated: A catalyst for change. An opportunity to grow. A kick in the butt.
In some cases, economic necessity has been the mother of re-invention. It has forced people to pursue careers they might never have considered if they hadn’t gotten — or quit before getting — the ax. Their optimism is based on two convictions: That even in hard times, people still will spend on things like their dogs, their kids and their looks; and that things such as flexible hours, casual dress and a shorter commute are worth a few lost dollars. Above all, they agree that if they hadn’t been pushed, they never would have made the leap.
Andrea Kay, author of Life’s a Bitch and Then You Change Careers, says many people hang onto jobs they don’t like, oblivious to the fact that their unhappiness — which they mistakenly think they can hide — hurts their performance and attitude.
It’s the same in every economic downturn, says David Kyvig, a Northern Illinois University historian who wrote Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940: “When things are going well, we tend to stay with what’s working. When they don’t, we explore something new.” In a surprising number of cases, we’re happier — “if, after the shock, anger and fear, someone is willing to see there’s an opportunity to do something different,” Kay says. “Then they ask, ‘Why did I wait so long?’ “
Research indicates that workers who change jobs generally are more satisfied in their new positions than their old ones, even though they often take cuts in salary and benefits, AARP economist Sara Rix says.
A new idea
Sussy Deleon got her idea for a recession-proof business at her son’s first birthday party. The young guests couldn’t break the piñata to get at the goodies. The piñata, made in China, was cardboard, not wire-and-tissue paper like those in Deleon’s native Guatemala. When the recession dried up her real estate sales practice in Providence, she decided to import piñatas handcrafted by Guatemalan artisans in designs ranging from animals to clowns to spaceships. Deleon, 39, sells them at her new shop, the Piñata Center, for $40 to $50. “People still have some money to spend, and they’re going to spend it on their kids” — particularly on special occasions, she says. After four months in business, Deleon’s begun to make enough to cover her costs.
A passion Caroline Blake knew what she didn’t like — her job — and what she did — animals. The result was a new career in pet care. A year ago, Blake, 29, of Kenilworth, N.J, was a recruiter for an IT consulting firm that was laying people off. Fearing she was next, she quit. She bought a Fetch! Pet Care franchise for $10,000. Some friends were skeptical. “You’re leaving a good-paying job to walk dogs?” she says one asked.
Blake often works seven days a week, starting as early as 6:30 a.m., with a last walk at 11 p.m. She went three months this summer without a Sunday off. She has integrated pet care into her lifestyle — while sunbathing around the pool or watching TV. She’ll even jog with a dog.
She charges $18 for a 30-minute visit and $55 a night to keep a dog overnight at her home. She also provides overnight sitters. She says she still makes a fine living, about 75% of what she earned as a consultant. “Smartest thing I’ve ever done,” she says. “Every day, a different dog.”
Trying something different Springs, 45, was laid off in April. In her next job she wanted security, and she wanted to make things with her hands. After considering more gender-typical jobs — nursing, teaching — she settled on a six-month welding program at Central Piedmont Community College, with $4,000 in tuition and fees covered by federal stimulus money. She’s the only woman enrolled in the six-month program. Her first welding job should pay $28 to $32 an hour, about twice what she made as a driver. “When you get knocked down, you brush yourself off and get up,” Springs says. “My daughter’s watching my response. Does she see me wallow in pity or try something different?”
This is why we are providing a special three for one offer with our course Tangled Web… How to Have an Internet Business
This course can help you create your own internet business or how to market your prodcut or service over the internet.
Our emailed course “Tangled Webs We Weave – How to Have Your Own Web Based Business” is a continuing educational program. You receive the first 28 lessons when you enroll and a new lesson every week or two.
This course teaches how to create a web based business and is developed from the ongoing experiences that we have from our successful and profitable internet business.
This course is well worth the enrollment fee of $299… but currently you also receive two additional courses FREE.
The other two courses are #1: International Business Made EZ, and #2: Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher.
These two courses have sold for $398 and thousands have paid this price. We add them to your course, at no added cost, as I believe they will help you develop a better business in these crucial times.
Meet these Otavalo textiles producers at our next Ecuador export tour Oct. 21-24 Ecuador Import Export Tour
Help these wonderful people expand their businesses as you begin yours.
Or come to our January 2010 Ecuador export tour.
May I add that we have done a pretty good job helping readers start their own business already? Here are a few examples of small businesses that have been started with our help.
From Sandra, a restaurant owner:
“Dear Gary and Merri, yes I did it! Without you and your wonderful writing class I would not have been able to see my potential!! I THANK YOU BOTH! You told me to write about what I know and I did. Thank you for all the encouragement. Starting today, we are taking orders and I wanted you to be the first to know! So here goes…..I have some exciting news to share! I have just written my first book and very much appreciate your help. This book would make a great gift for any bride-to-be or even the parents of the bride (especially if they’re paying the bill)! Please check it out. I genuinely appreciate you helping me spread the word! Thank you!! Sandra”
Recently Sandra wrote again: Hi dear ones, I just wanted to share an update with you. Look what we are doing for Feed The Children and introducing our hCard Program to their schools! Remember it was at your meeting, that Marvin and I met. He is now our vice president!
Remember the book I wanted to write while attending your class in the mountains…….I did finish it and now it has been “purchased” as an online downloadable version. for a network marketing company. Learn more about Feed the children and Sandra’s book form Sandra Burnett at email@example.com.
From Jerusha, an anthropologist:
“Hello Gary and Merri. I am the first in the class to publish! I published a calendar!
“I posted the lulu site on the forum because it looks like a good place to start for people. It is a lot of fun and very easy to do. Jerusha”
From Todd, a wedding photographer:
“Thanks, Gary and Merri name recognition is beginning. Here is my new photoletter that your program helped me develop. I’m getting more clear about my own marketing now, so I may be able to better advantage of it. I am planning now to send out an email once a week showcasing new photos and creating awareness for my products and services. By mid July, I will place my first greeting card order (with a printing company Merri recommended in Cotacachi). So, I will soon have an inexpensive product to offer along with the more expensive prints that I sell. So far, I’ve got 60 opt-on subscribers to my email list, and I am telling everyone I know about it, so it’s starting to grow nicely. My first goal is to have 1000 readers. I’ll see how quickly I can accomplish it. Take care, Todd” Learn more about Todd’s business at firstname.lastname@example.org
From Mickey, a real estate broker:
“I want to say thank you for the inspiration and encouragement that I received through your publishing program. I recently published a 28 page booklet” Naples is Priceless “. This FREE booklet is being distributed through the Chamber of Commerce, banks, hotels etc. With over 25 years as a Naples Realtor I can now let potential real estate buyers gain knowledge and inside tidbits about this beautiful area. Again, thank you for helping me develop my potential. Micky”
From Michelle who was on disability: “Hi Guys, I have been working my tail off applying the stuff that I learned from both your publishing seminar. Amazing how much meat I keep pulling out of those conferences! I want you to be the first ones to know that I just finished my first e-book: “A Practical Guide to Social Security Disability Benefits”. I am very excited!
“You have no idea how much I have learned and continue to learn from both of you and how my life has changed since I met you. Having learned from you the basic premise of diversification, how to follow your passion and tap into your personal knowledge base, I seem to have one opportunity after another present itself and I am making the best of it. The really exciting thing is that this has allowed me to build a foundation which I continue to use to launch my new endeavors. The possibilities are endless!
“Here’s an Update : “I get on average 368 – 522 visits per day! And I rank in the top 2 pages of Google search for tons of keywords below are just a few: holistic living tips 1 and 2 out of 1,620,000 – definition healthy spirit 1 and 2 out of 1,840,000 – emotional healthy living 1 out of 2,060,000 – benefits of Healthy Living 6 and 7 out of 2,420,000 -holistic wealth 3 out of 1,810,000 – definition of healthy 7 out of 2,910,000 – healthy holistic living 2 and 3 out of 1,980,000 - holistic living Google 14 out of 2,300,000 – holistic health tips 10 out of 1,960,000
“ Gary you are right the internet is the Great Equalizer! See what I have published, My best to you as always, Michelle”
Since sending that note Michelle’s site has grown to over 1,000 visits a day! Learn more about Michelle’s business from her at email@example.com
We hope to help you take advantage of the great economic shifts we are experiencing now create your own business which is why I am making a special offer below.
The greatest asset of all is the ability to labor at what you love wherever you live. This brings everlasting wealth.
You can now get Tangled Web, How to Have an Internet Business and my other two business courses described above free.
I am giving everyone who enrolls in all our seminars or tours for any one month, October, November or December 2009, the online courses “Tangled Web… How to Have an Internet Business Course,” “Self Fulfilled- How to be a Self Publisher” and “International Business Made EZ” free.
Yet there is even more.
Join our Ecuador courses and tours October, November or December…. but you do not have to.
Head south. Experience Ecuador or…
Oct. 21-24 Ecuador Import Export Tour
Meet Ramiro on the export tour.
We like his style and…
many of his works ourselves.
Oct. 21-24 Ecuador Import Export Tour
Oct. 25-26 Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Nov. 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Nov. 11-14 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour
December 6-8 Beyond Logic Shamanic Tour
December 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Attend any two Ecuador seminar or tours in a calendar month…$949 for one. $1,349 for two.
Attend any three Ecuador courses or tours in a calendar month…$1,199 for one. $1,799
If you cannot attend a 2009 seminar or tour sign up for the three online courses for $299 now and I’ll give you full credit of this amount on any of our seminars or tours in January, February or March 2010. | <urn:uuid:f82d5e43-f516-496f-bbe8-1beb3b9a93eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.garyascott.com/tag/real-estate-sales | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959271 | 3,023 | 1.570313 | 2 |
“Maggie” is 14, with perky pigtails, an innate skill at fielding a soccer ball and a loathing for the bullies who taunt her because she is overweight.
She also is fictional, though the controversy surrounding her very existence is all too real to writer Paul Kramer, author of “Maggie Goes on a Diet,” a yet-to-be-released children’s book that has ignited a firestorm landing him on network television news shows, more than a couple of YouTube videos and a “People” magazine article.
“It’s been an international outcry, possibly the most controversial children’s book ever,” conceded Kramer, who lives in Hawaii and publishes his books through his Aloha Publishing company. “I don’t mind if people criticize the book as long as they have read it. Too many people have judged this book by its cover.”
The cover depicts a heavy-set Maggie, holding a pink gown and smiling into a full-length mirror, which reflects her image as decidedly slender. But it’s not just the illustration that has drawn ire, it’s that once she loses weight, the heroine becomes not only a soccer standout but more noticeable to boys.
The critics were loud enough to lead Kramer to announce recently he has made some changes. While the original book will be released in some parts of the country in late October, an additional version of “Maggie” will be released in December. In the alternate book, during the first week of eating well and working out, “Maggie” sheds “a few pounds,” instead of the seven-and-a-half pounds in the original version.
Most notably, the title has been changed to “Maggie Eats Healthier,” to appease the huge negative response to the word “diet,” Kramer said.
“For the so many who said, ‘my only problem with the book is the word “diet,” I have tried to satisfy their concern.”
In the book, which Kramer said he wrote with a 6- to 12-year-old audience in mind, Maggie loses more than 50 pounds by exercising and eating foods such as “oatmeal, yogurt and fruit” and becomes more popular. It has been lambasted on Facebook by people who say they are concerned it may lead girls to develop eating disorders.
“So Maggie loses weight, and suddenly, she’s a star,” posted an administrator of one “Boycott Maggie ...” Facebook page. “The message is clear: If you’re chubby, you’ll go nowhere, but if you’re skinny, everybody loves you.”
The topic of teenage weight issues hits close to home for Dorris Flockhart, owner of Nutrition-N-More in Kentwood. Though the past 16 years of her career have been spent helping adults and children learn about proper nutrition, there was a time in her life when broaching the subject of weight loss with a youngster was a very personal issue.
Back then, Flockhart was on 14 prescriptions for a variety of health problems; her husband, Mark, was overweight; and their teenage daughter, Angela, was battling weight issues.
“We struggled so much, and we were a typical American family,” Flockhart said. “When our daughter was 14, she was overweight, though she had been a thin child. We took her to the doctor, who recommended going to a gym to exercise. But nothing worked, and the weight stayed on.”
When Angela, like “Maggie,” began being teased at school, she finally approached her parents for more assistance. The family began eating protein, drinking water, instead of soda and taking supplements.
“We changed our diet and incorporated exercise, things that should be part of everyone’s lifestyle,” Flockhart said. “We practiced good nutrition, we began eating healthy and we exercised. I shopped the perimeter of the grocery store. We started learning how to read labels, we cut out aspartame and high fructose corn syrup.”
Through the process, her husband dropped 42 pounds, her daughter lost 50, and Flockhart was able to eliminate all of her medications.
She said she doesn’t have issues with Kramer’s book and doesn’t believe it could lead anyone to develop an eating disorder.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it, especially if it starts a conversation,” she said.
Kramer — who also has written children’s books about bed wetting, hygiene and bullying — said he has begun to see the uproar over “Maggie” as a sort of means to justify the end.
“I never meant to encourage 6-year-olds to go on a diet. I just wanted to urge children to eat healthier,” he said. “I was trying to assist children and help them to deal with issues they may have to face and tell them they could overcome their problems. I always struggled with weight as a kid, and I’m still struggling. But Maggie has encouraged me, and I’ve started to eat and enjoy really wonderful foods that are good for me. I wanted Maggie to be a role model.”
Locally, some book sellers say while they are familiar with the book, they don’t plan to put it on their shelves.
“Certainly it’s been written about extensively, but we haven’t had any questions from customers, and no one has started a conversation about it,” said Sally Bulthuis, an owner of children’s bookstore Pooh’s Corner in Grand Rapids.
Jennifer Sorensen, a book seller at Literary Life Bookstore & More, said her store would order the book if asked, but has received no requests.
“It’s an important issue, so it’s kind of a shame people are being judgmental,” she said.
E-mail the author of this story: firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:96a4722a-193c-4abd-ad1a-913b7bac3b84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/10/book_about_overweight_child_ma.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981176 | 1,318 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Keftethes (Greek meatballs)
An old favorite. I learned this from watching both my mother and grandmother make them (not sure of the spelling, but it's pronounced: kif-TEH-this). Both, of course, do it a little differently. And there are many ways to make these and many variations.
For example, you can use lamb, ground pork, ground turkey/chicken, ground beef, or any combination (though I wouldn't recommend mixing red meat with white). When I was abroad, I made this with a mix of ground beef and ground pork (sold together, interesting concept) and it came out just fine. The two kinds of meat worked well and changed the flavor. Still good, just, different.
My grandmother sometimes adds diced tomatoes (adds moisture) or orange or lemon zest (adds a surprise "kick") for variety. I've added shredded carrots (my attempt to make this a little healthier, heh) or used scallions instead of onions. Using bread crumbs instead of the bread changes the texture. All good variations.
This is the basic recipe:
ground beef (1-2lbs)
2 small or 1 lg. onion, diced (or grated)
1 TBS. oregano
Pepper (couple of good grinds, or a few dashes pre-ground)
1 Tsp. cumin (ground, and optional)
Pinch of salt
3-4 slices bread (I use white, any unseeded variety works well)
Flour, enough to coat each meatball
Oil for frying
Add some flour to small plate or bowl and set aside. Have 2 clean plates ready; one to hold the formed patties/meatballs, one to hold the flour coated ones.
In a bowl add the first five ingredients. Wet the bread under cool tap water, and squeeze out the excess (squeezing it into a tight ball works). Tear the wet bread into pieces and add this to the bowl. Using your hands, or a hand/stand mixer, blend everything together.
Form small-ish palm-sized flattend balls/patties and put them on one of your plates. If your hands get too sticky, you can rub a little oil on your palms, this helps. Try to make them all the same size. Basically, you want a flat meatball about the size of a golf ball. The bigger they are, the longer they will take to cook.
When all your meatballs are formed, dip each one in the flour and coat completely. Shake off any excess and put it on the clean plate.
Heat a frying pan on low to medium heat. When it's hot, add some oil. You want there to be at least 1/4 inch of oil or so (maybe a little less). Line your pan with some of the meatballs (leave a little room in-between each one), cover and cook. The cook times vary, so check these often and cook until the bottom of each meatball is dark brown (but not burned). Turn each one over and cook the other side the same way.
I usually cut one in half to make sure it's cooked through. I'm paranoid that way :)
Drain these on a wire rack (over a tray)
in a metal bowl/foil bowl/on a cookie sheet lined with foil and topped with paper towels.
Keep them warm in the oven or toaster oven (without the paper towels) on low while you cook the rest.
Serve with rice, or fries (or mashed potatoes), add a veggie and you have great a meal.
There's a little work involved, but not too much, and it's pretty simple.
These reheat easily (warm oven or toaster oven) and are great (cut 2-4 in half and place on bread) in a sandwich with mayo or ketchup.
There's another picture here. | <urn:uuid:3a84b7f2-afd6-46b7-8e70-ad0c1da68f85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://canyoucook.blogspot.com/2004/11/keftethes-greek-meatballs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93973 | 826 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Well, if another magazine is going to beat you to the punch, it might as well be a national publication such as Time.
The June 22 cover story of Time is dedicated entirely to the health and wellness efforts of the Cleveland Clinic. Meanwhile, the cover story of the July issue of CBC is also dedicated to the Clinic’s multi-pronged strategy to improve the health of its employees and patients.
You’ll see as much this week, when CBC’s July issue hits the streets. Both stories have a lot to offer. Time is Time, and CBC is the first medium to reveal the Clinic’s plan to open its debut retail wellness store on its main campus. The Clinic passed out the new issues of Time at Friday morning’s Hospitality Breakfast Event at the Rock Hall. Sponsored by the Fedeli Group, the function was highlighted by guest speaker Toby Cosgrove, MD, president and CEO of the Clinic.
Something Dr. Cosgrove said really grabbed my attention. Since the Clinic stopped hiring smokers in 2007, the smoking rates in Cuyahoga County have dropped from 21 percent to 18 percent. Some of that drop can be attributed to coincidence, as the rate has been falling since 2003. But the Clinic all decade has done its part to curb smoking, including its support of the 2006 statewide ban on smoking in public places and work.
Good for the Clinic. Now if it could just ban soda, I’d be set. | <urn:uuid:0cded972-ce17-4af4-9a14-5c57209fd4e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbcmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=toms-blog-june-22nd.html&Itemid= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973969 | 306 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The first Crosleys were introduced in 1939 to sell through the company's radio stores, but production was terminated by the war. The first post-war car was a 700cc saloon with a lightweight engine. The Hot Shot, after initial skepticism, was well received, having a rigid chassis and good suspension. The open Super-Sports had a 750cc engine, ohc and cast iron cylinder block. The 750cc, dual fuel engine was a success, catching the imagination of many special builders for racing. Unfortunately the out-dated bodies were not good enough for the public and sales fell. In July 1952 the company was sold to the General Tire & Rubber Co. This is a book of contemporary road tests, model introductions, technical and specification data, special equipment and race reports. Models covered include:- 700cc, Hot Shot, Super-Sports, Station Wagon, PBX, Le Biplace TorpTdo, Broadwell. | <urn:uuid:25797f4e-ff6d-4798-970f-068112d3ba7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cartechbooks.com/crosley-crosley-specials-limited-edition.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977324 | 190 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Two Way Radio Installation Information
This page is intended to provide customers of MyTwoWayRadios.com with information about installing their new radio system, or getting new radios to work with their pre-existing radios.
Two-way radio systems can be simple, or quite complex. Dependent on the amount of signal needed, whether or not you have a pre-existing radio system, the use of repeaters, appropriate programming etc. are all factors of whether or not installing a radio system is going to be easy, or challenging. First and foremost, be sure that you have programming for your radios taken care. At checkout, prior to you purchasing new or used radios from us, we have an option that is required for you to select whether or not you would like to have your radio programmed (for free). Whether or not your programming is going to require a particular file you have (you can mail us the disk and we willl program the radios for you before shipping them out) or if you can handle programming on your own using a programming cable and a PC, then you are good to go and select that option.
Programming the radios appropriately is paramount in the success of either installing a new radio system, or getting new radios working with your existing radios and system. The use of a repeater of course, is the next step in the process. Some smaller work environments do not need a repeater. Essentially, a repeater works as a boosting unit making the transmissions stronger, carry further and louder. With this process comes some red tape however.
If you plan on using a repeater, you need to make sure that you have appropriate licensing. Using a repeater boosts the signal so much that it can be picked up on by the FCC meaning hefty fines if you don't have the appropriate licenses. It's more inconvenient to pay a fine and be shut down, then it is to take care of this step prior to installation and use of a repeater.
When should you use a repeater in your system? It's simple. Your best tool in testing the output of your radios, and the distance needed to cover your workplace, is your ears and the transmit button. Does it sound good? Is it "loud and clear"? If not, then you have two options: Either purchase higher end, higher powered portable two-way radios, or attempt to install and configure a repeater to boost the signal. Purchasing the appropriate repeater within the appropriate frequency range for your radios is the first step. The next step is making sure that you have put the repeater in an optimal location. It is typically best to place the repeater in a central location, one that is likely going to pick up transmissions from all areas of your work environment, boost them, and then send them back out to the other radios. It's as simple as that!
Hiring Professional Help
When to say enough is enough, and hire a professional? For whatever it's worth, installing a complete radio system optimally isn't for everyone. It can be challenging, require patience, a lot of testing for optimal performance and an acute knowledge of technical devices. It's okay to hire someone to do the job for you. Usually after paying someone for a service, you feel as though they did something you couldn't have achieved on your own, as they are a professional in their field and have a lot of experience and trial and error behind them. Our sister company EdgeTech Wireless does offer case by case installation of radio systems.
You have the choice of hiring a local professional, or hiring a company like EdgeTech wireless who will fly anywhere in the country where you might be located, and completely install and optimize a system for you. If you are looking to purchase radios from MyTwoWayRadios.com and are in need of installation for a rather large radio system, with multiple repeaters and other performance enhancing alterations, it might be best to contact us ahead of time and talk about what options are best for you. You can simply call our Toll Free number at (888) 763-4730 to inquire before your purchase.
Even if you choose to purchase a bundle package, or individual products from us, it's important to know what you are going to do for the next step. We want all of our customers to know that there are helpful and knowledgable people on the other side of this website, we aren't simply an eCommerce site selling products and warranties. | <urn:uuid:b7121235-d4fe-4e3c-b584-fe8adb8bbd41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mytwowayradios.com/installation-information | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946816 | 909 | 1.5625 | 2 |
There is a scene in the movie City Slickers when Billy Crystal’s character, Mitch, asks Curly, played by Jack Palance about the “secret of life.” Without saying a word, Curly turns to Mitch and holds up one finger. In words, “Do one thing.”
While it may not be the total secret of life, it may very well be the key to succeeding. Consider this from Hindu spiritual leader, Vivekananda, who said, “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”
May you have a onederful day. – Sonny. | <urn:uuid:2176ee7b-091b-4276-9c86-1df08f49d8a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.mysanantonio.com/sonny-melendrez/2010/04/a-thought-for-your-day%C2%AE-the-secret-to-success/?gta=commentlistpos | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957212 | 188 | 1.6875 | 2 |
TECATE A few miles from some of the highest pump prices in the U.S., regular unleaded gasoline was selling Wednesday for $2.91 a gallon — all across Mexico.
Surging retail gas prices in Southern California and a relatively weak Mexican peso have pushed the spread between Mexico’s state mandated gas prices and the average retail price in San Diego to $1.46 a gallon.
Construction worker Cruz Zamora put about $10 worth of gas in his pickup truck at a station in Tecate before heading to work across the border near San Diego.
“I just don’t have the money to fill it up over there” in the U.S., said the Tecate resident.
Average San Diego gasoline prices leveled off last week at $4.37 and have not changed in six days, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge report. The highest prices ever for this time of year are a consequence of political tensions with Iran, growing demand from developing nations like China and refinery issues on the West Coast, analysts say.
Fluctuating gas prices and exchange rates have long been part of household economics for commuters at the world’s busiest border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego.
Rich in oil reserves, Mexico still imports about half of its gasoline supply for lack of refining facilities, heavily subsidizing retail prices in the process. Current retail prices were set in mid-February by Mexico’s treasury department.
Meanwhile, high U.S. gas prices has been accentuated by a nearly 8 percent decline in the value of the Mexican peso over the past year.
California’s seasonal gasoline blends, among the cleanest-burning in the world, are more costly to produce. And Mexican gas goes farther in other ways: California gasoline contains about 10 percent ethanol, lowering its energy content by 3 percent.
There is little evidence, however, that car drivers are making many special trips across the border to fuel up, said Kalid Gomez, general manager of a 42-pump station a mile from the Otay Mesa border crossing on the U.S. side.
“People don’t necessarily cross into Mexico to get gas for their car,” said Gomez, whose companion Valero-Truck.net fuel stations rely on oversized storage tanks and a combination of branded and off-brand fuels to stay competitive along the border.
But truckers, who might buy 300 gallons at once, are taking advantage of the price differential anytime they cross the border.
“It kills us,” said Gomez. “Just one tank full and you’re talking $300 in savings.”
Diesel prices diverged even more: $2.93 in Mexico versus a $4.50 on average for San Diego. Gomez said his station can still entice truckers with up to a 50 cent margin over Mexican prices. | <urn:uuid:34d8fbf5-021e-4617-9546-8a03f5620a88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/07/mexico-gas-entices-291-gallon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951037 | 600 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Helen Gurley Brown’s death last week was followed by a number of laudatory stories about her trail-blazing career at Cosmopolitan magazine.
Undoubtedly she was successful, measured by influence and money. But I find it hard to lionize her career or her effect on American culture. She was well-known for turning Cosmo into a source of explicit “man-pleasing” sex tips, and for the quote: “Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere.” A terribly clever saying, yes, but “going everywhere” isn’t a roadmap to a happy, fulfilling life.
The perpetration of this distorted outlook is insanity. It is not just anti-family, but also profoundly anti-feminist – despite articles on a range of subjects, such magazines’ main focus is on women as objects to be looked at, valuable mainly for their (super sexy!) appearance, no matter their other abilities or roles in life. As The New York Times wrote, “The look of women’s magazines today — a sea of voluptuous models and titillating cover lines — is due in no small part to her influence.”
Brown, the author of Sex and the Single Girl, was an icon of “women’s sexual liberation,” aka the sexual revolution, which research has shown was not exactly healthy for the American family. Although she was happily married to David Brown for decades, she suggested that women above a certain age – when the pickings were slim – have sex with their friends’ husbands. Really? Now there’s a friend you could do without. (She also said, “You can’t be sexual at 60 if you’re fat,” so apparently only thin women could prey on their friends’ husbands.)
Brown was a strong woman who had a wildly successful career in a field dominated by men. Her influence in publishing and in encouraging women to broaden their career choices undoubtedly went deeper than Cosmo‘s lurid covers. It’s a pity that her real legacy is the intensified objectification of women and girls (or, as Forbes puts it, “do-me feminism“). | <urn:uuid:bafd7ed3-8c3a-447c-9276-ee3e29a7dc4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sutherlandinstitute.org/news/2012/08/23/helen-gurley-brown-and-the-american-family/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981297 | 465 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Option to a partial modeling
|Opened on:||Saturday, June 26, 2010 - 22:10|
|Last modified:||Saturday, June 26, 2010 - 22:10|
If you plan to expand the set of tools that I have a suggestion
Would be useful to run a partial simulation of not all protein, but only a given part of it.
Ie perform calculations for only selected segments. This is not the same as that local_wiggle or freeze part of the protein and do something with the rest. Now even if you select a certain part, and set everything else to freeze when you start the simulation, all the rest too involved: although it does not move, but the impact on the variable piece. I'm talking about modeling the selected part, as if about nothing else but her - as if the selected piece is the whole protein.
This must be such as to correct some incorrectly folded structures, such as a long helix or sheet and the "break" in the middle. Attempts to fix it often hinders, what he had already tightly interacts with the neighboring parts of the protein and this interaction is stronger than the internal "tension" of structure that do not give this part to fold correctly. And so it was possible to do this in two stages: first to correct this structure alone (ignoring the impact from all other parts), and then we have the correct structure to combine it with other parts of proteins.
Also it would be useful to accelerate the speed of modeling - the smaller elements involved in the simulation, the faster the calculation go. (If the rest of the protein is not simply "frozen", but generally not included in the simulation at all) | <urn:uuid:bb5084f2-ebca-41d9-a335-9425eccf6d18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fold.it/portal/node/987922 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931279 | 350 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Extract from Horton, Donald and R. Richard Wohl (1956): 'Mass
Communication and Para-social Interaction: Observations
on Intimacy at a Distance', Psychiatry 19: 215-29
This is a classic paper which is very widely cited
but hard to locate. It introduced the notion of 'parasocial interaction'
between viewers and those whom they watch on the television screen. Although
the paper is now very old it is useful to reflect on current television
programmes to consider the relevance of Horton and Wohl's observations.
The original page numbering has been noted to facilitate citation. Please refer to
the pagination provided and the source shown above (Horton and Wohl 1956) rather than citing this online extract.
This is a classic paper which is very widely cited but hard to locate. It introduced the notion of 'parasocial interaction' between viewers and those whom they watch on the television screen. Although the paper is now very old it is useful to reflect on current television programmes to consider the relevance of Horton and Wohl's observations.
The original page numbering has been noted to facilitate citation. Please refer to the pagination provided and the source shown above (Horton and Wohl 1956) rather than citing this online extract.
In television, especially, the image which is presented makes available nuances of appearance and gesture to which ordinary social perception is attentive and to which interaction is cued. Sometimes the 'actor' - whether he is playing himself or performing in a fictional role - is seen engaged with others; but often he faces the spectator, uses the mode of direct address, talks as if he were conversing personally and privately. The audience, for its part, responds with something more than mere running observation; it is, as it were, subtly insinuated into the programme's action and internal social relationships and, by dint of this kind of staging, is ambiguously transformed into a group which observes and participates in the show by turns. The more the performer seems to adjust his performance to the supposed response of the audience, the more the audience tends to make the response anticipated. This simulacrum of conversational give and take may be called para-social interaction.
Para-social relations may be governed by little or no sense of obligation, effort, or responsibility on the part of the spectator. He is free to withdraw at any moment. If he remains involved, these para-social relations provide a framework within which much may be added by fantasy. But these are differences of degree, not of kind, from what may be termed the ortho-social. The crucial difference in experience obviously lies in the lack of effective reciprocity, and this the audience cannot normally conceal from itself. To be sure, the audience is free to choose among the relationships offered, but it cannot create new ones. The interaction, characteristically, is one-sided, nondialectical, controlled by the performer, and not susceptible of mutual development. There are, of course, ways in which the spectators can make their feelings known to the performers and the technicians who design the programmes, but these lie outside the para-social interaction itself. Whoever finds the experience unsatisfying has only the option to withdraw.
What we have said so far forcibly recalls the theatre as an ambiguous meeting ground on which real people play out the roles of fictional characters. For a brief interval, the fictional takes precedence over the actual, as the actor
[start of p. 216]...
becomes identified with the fictional role in the magic of the theatre. This glamorous confusion of identities is temporary: the worlds of fact and fiction meet only for the moment. And the actor, when he takes his bows at the end of the performance, crosses back over the threshold into the matter-of-fact world.
Radio and television, however - and in what follows we shall speak primarily of television - are hospitable to both these worlds in continuous interplay. They are alternately public platforms and theatres, extending the para-social relationship now to leading people of the world of affairs, now to fictional characters, sometimes even to puppets anthropomorphically transformed into 'personalities', and, finally, to theatrical stars who appear in their capacities as real celebrities. But of particular interest is the creation by these media of a new type of performer: quizmasters, announcers, 'interviewers' in a new 'show-business' world - in brief, a special category of 'personalities' whose existence is a function of the media themselves. These 'personalities,' usually, are not prominent in any of the social spheres beyond the media..1They exist for their audiences only in the para-social relation. Lacking an appropriate name for these performers, we shall call them personae.
The persona offers, above all, a continuing relationship. His appearance is a regular and dependable event, to be counted on, planned for, and integrated into the routines of daily life. His devotees 'live with him' and share the small episodes of his public life - and to some extent even of his private life away from the show. Indeed, their continued association with him acquires a history, and the accumulation of shared past experiences gives additional meaning to the present performance. This bond is symbolized by allusions that lack meaning for the casual observer and appear occult to the outsider. In time, the devotee - the 'fan' - comes to believe that he 'knows' the persona more intimately and profoundly than others do; that he 'understands' his character and appreciates his values and motives.2 Such an accumulation of knowledge and intensification of loyalty, however, appears to be a kind of growth without development, for the
[start of p. 217]...
one-sided nature of the connection precludes a progressive and mutual reformulation of its values and aims.3
The persona may be considered by his audience as a friend, counsellor, comforter, and model; but, unlike real associates, he has the peculiar virtue of being standardized according to the 'formula' for his character and performance which he and his managers have worked out and embodied in an appropriate 'production format'. Thus his character and pattern of action remain basically unchanged in a world of otherwise disturbing change. The persona is ordinarily predictable, and gives his adherents no unpleasant surprises. In their association with him there are no problems of understanding or empathy too great to be solved. Typically, there are no challenges to a spectator's self - to his ability to take the reciprocal part in the performance that is assigned to him - that cannot be met comfortably. This reliable sameness is only approximated, and then only in the short run, by the figures of fiction. On television, Groucho is always sharp; Godfrey is always warm-hearted.
It is an unvarying characteristic of these 'personality' programmes that the greatest pains are taken by the persona to create an illusion of intimacy. We call it an illusion because the relationship between the persona and any member of his audience is inevitably one-sided, and reciprocity between the two can only be suggested. There are several principal strategies for achieving this illusion of intimacy.
Most characteristic is the attempt of the persona to duplicate the gestures, conversational style, and milieu of an informal face-to-face gathering. This accounts, in great measure, for the casualness with which even the formalities of programme scheduling are treated. The spectator is encouraged to gain the impression that what is taking place on the programme gains a momentum of its own in the very process of being enacted. Thus, Steve Allen is always pointing out to his audience that 'we never know what is going to happen on this show.' In addition, the persona tries to maintain a flow of small talk which gives the impression that he is responding to and sustaining the contributions of an invisible interlocutor. Dave Garroway, who has mastered his style to perfection, has described how he stumbled on the device in his early days in radio.
[start of p. 218]...
this by-play to suggest this ramification of intimacy.
Furthermore, the persona may try to step out of the particular format of his show and literally blend with the audience. Most usually, the persona leaves the stage and mingles with the studio audience in a question-and-answer exchange. In some few cases, and particularly on The Steve Allen Show, this device has been carried a step further. Thus Allen has managed to blend even with the home audience by the manoeuvre of training a television camera on the street outside the studio and, in effect, suspending his own show and converting all the world outside into a stage. Allen, his supporting cast, and the audience, both at home and in the studio, watch together what transpires on the street - the persona and his spectators symbolically united as one big audience. In this way, Allen erases for the moment the line which separates persona and spectator.
In addition to the management of relationships between the persona and performers, and between him and his audience, the technical devices of the media themselves are exploited to create illusions of intimacy.
All these devices are indulged in not only to lure the attention of the audience, and to create the easy impression that there is a kind of participation open to them in the programme itself, but also to highlight the chief values stressed in such 'personality' shows. These are sociability, easy affability, friendship, and close contact - briefly, all the values associated with free access to and easy participation in pleasant social interaction in primary groups. Because the relationship between persona and audience is one-sided and cannot be developed mutually, very nearly the whole burden of creating a plausible imitation of intimacy is thrown on the persona and on the show of which he is the pivot. If he is successful in initiating an intimacy which his audience can believe in, then the audience may help him maintain it by fan mail and by the various other kinds of support which can be provided indirectly to buttress his actions.
At one extreme, the 'personality' programme is like a drama in having a cast of characters, which includes the persona, his professional supporting cast, non-professional contestants and interviewees, and the studio audience. At the other extreme, the persona addresses his entire performance to the home audience with undisturbed intimacy. In the dramatic type of programme, the participation of the spectator involves, we presume, the same taking of successive roles and deeper empathic involvements in the leading roles which occurs in any observed social interaction.6 It is possible that the spectator's 'collaborative expectancy'7 may assume the more profound form of identification with one or more of the performers. But such identification can hardly be more than intermittent. The 'personality' programme, unlike the theatrical drama, does not demand or even permit the aesthetic illusion - that loss of situational reference and self-consciousness in which the audience not only accepts the symbol as reality, but fully assimilates the symbolic role. The persona and his staff maintain the para-
[start of p. 219]...
social relationship, continually referring to and addressing the home audience as a third party to the programme; and such references remind the spectator of his own independent identity. The only illusion maintained is that of directness and immediacy of participation.
When the persona appears alone, in apparent face-to-face interaction with the home viewer, the latter is still more likely to maintain his own identity without interruption, for he is called upon to make appropriate responses which are complementary to those of the persona. This 'answering' role is, to a degree, voluntary and independent. In it, the spectator retains control over the content of his participation rather than surrendering control through identification with others, as he does when absorbed in watching a drama or movie.
This independence is relative, however, in a twofold sense: First, it is relative in the profound sense that the very act of entering into any interaction with another involves some adaptation to the other's perspectives, if communication is to be achieved at all. And, second, in the present case it is relative because the role of the persona is enacted in such a way, or is of such a character, that an appropriate answering role is specified by implication and suggestion. The persona's performance, therefore, is open-ended, calling for a rather specific answering role to give it closure.8
The general outlines of the appropriate audience role are perceived intuitively from familiarity with the common cultural patterns on which the role of the persona is constructed. These roles are chiefly derived from the primary relations of friendship and the family, characterized by intimacy, sympathy, and sociability. The audience is expected to accept the situation defined by the programme format as credible, and to concede as 'natural' the rules and conventions governing the actions performed and the values realized. It should play the role of the loved one to the persona's lover; the admiring dependent to his father-surrogate; the earnest citizen to his fearless opponent of political evils. It is expected to benefit by his wisdom, reflect on his advice, sympathize with him in his difficulties, forgive his mistakes, buy the products that he recommends, and keep his sponsor informed of the esteem in which he is held.
Other attitudes than compliance in the assigned role are, of course, possible. One may reject, take an analytical stance, perhaps even find a cynical amusement in refusing the offered gambit and playing some other role not implied in the script, or view the proceedings with detached curiosity or hostility. But such attitudes as these are, usually, for the one-time viewer. The faithful audience is one that can accept the gambit offered; and the functions of the programme for this audience are served not by the mere perception of it, but by the role-enactment that completes it.
Just how the situation should be defined by the audience, what to expect of the persona, what attitudes to take toward him, what to 'do' as a participant in the programme is not left entirely to the common experience and intuitions of the audience. Numerous devices are used in a deliberate 'coaching of attitudes,' to use Kenneth Burke's phrase.9 The typical programme format calls for a studio audience to provide a situation of face-to-face interaction for the persona, and exemplifies to the home audience an enthusiastic and 'correct' response. The more interaction occurs, the more clearly is demonstrated the kind of man the persona is, the values to be shared in association with him, and the kind of support to give him. A similar model of appropriate response may be supplied by the professional assistants who, though technically performers, act in a subordinate and deferential reciprocal relation toward the persona. The audience is schooled in
[start of p. 220]...
correct responses to the persona by a variety of other means as well. Other personae may be invited as guests, for example, who play up to the host in exemplary fashion; or persons drawn from the audience may be manoeuvred into fulfilling this function. And, in a more direct and literal fashion, reading excerpts from fan-mail may serve the purpose.
Beyond the coaching of specific attitudes towards personae, a general propa-ganda on their behalf flows from the performers themselves, their press agents, and the mass communication industry. Its major theme is that the performer should be loved and admired. Every attempt possible is made to strengthen the illusion of reciprocity and rapport in order to offset the inherent impersonality of the media themselves. The jargon of show business teems with special terms for the mysterious ingredients of such rapport: ideally, a performer should have 'heart,' should be 'sincere';10 his performance should be 'real' and 'warm.'11 The publicity campaigns built around successful performers continually emphasize the sympathetic image which, it is hoped, the audience is perceiving and developing.12
The audience, in its turn, is expected to contribute to the illusion by believing in it, and by rewarding the persona's 'sincerity' with loyalty.' The audience is entreated to assume a sense of personal obligation to the performer, to help him in his struggle for 'success' if he is 'on the way up,' or to maintain his success if he has already won it. 'Success' in show business is itself a theme which is prominently exploited in this kind of propaganda. It forms the basis of many movies; it appears often in the patter of the leading comedians and in the exhortations of MC's; it dominates the so-called amateur hours and talent shows; and it is subject to frequent comment in interviews with 'show people.'13
The acceptance by the audience of the role offered by the programme involves acceptance of the explicit and implicit terms which define the situation and the action to be carried out in the programme. Unless the spectator understands these terms, the role performances of the participants are meaningless to him; and unless he accepts them, he cannot 'enter into' the performance himself. But beyond this, the spectator must be able to play the part demanded of him; and this raises the question of the compatibility between his normal self - as a system of role-patterns and self-conceptions with their implicated norms and values - and the kind of self postulated by the programme schema and the actions of the persona. In short, one may conjecture that the probability of rejection of the proffered role will be greater the less closely the spectator 'fits' the role prescription.
To accept the gambit without the necessary personality 'qualifications' is to invite increasing dissatisfaction and
[start of p. 221]...
alienation - which the student of the media can overcome only by a deliberate, imaginative effort to take the postulated role. The persona himself takes the role of his projected audience in the interpretation of his own actions, often with the aid of cues provided by a studio audience. He builds his performance on a cumulative structure of assumptions about their response, and so postulates - more or less consciously - the complex of attitudes to which his own actions are adapted. A spectator who fails to make the anticipated responses will find himself further and further removed from the base-line of common understanding.14 One would expect the 'error' to be cumulative, and eventually to be carried, perhaps, to the point at which the spectator is forced to resign in confusion, disgust, anger, or boredom. If a significant portion of the audience fails in this way, the persona's 'error in role-taking'15 has to be corrected with the aid of audience research, 'programme doctors,' and other aids. But, obviously, the intended adjustment is to some average or typical spectator, and cannot take too much account of deviants.
The simplest example of such a failure to fulfill the role prescription would be the case of an intellectual discussion in which the audience is presumed to have certain basic knowledge and the ability to follow the development of the argument. Those who cannot meet these requirements find the discussion progressively less comprehensible. A similar progressive alienation probably occurs when children attempt to follow an adult programme or movie. One observes them absorbed in the opening scenes, but gradually losing interest as the developing action leaves them behind. Another such situation might be found in the growing confusion and restiveness of some audiences watching foreign movies or 'high-brow' drama. Such resistance is also manifested when some members of an audience are asked to take the opposite-sex role - the woman's perspective is rejected more commonly by men than vice versa - or when audiences refuse to accept empathically the roles of outcasts or those of racial or cultural minorities whom they consider inferior.16
It should be observed that merely witnessing a programme is not evidence that a spectator has played the required part. Having made the initial commitment, he may 'string along' with it at a low level of empathy but reject it retrospectively. The experience does not end with the programme itself. On the contrary, it may be only after it has ended that it is submitted to intellectual analysis and integrated into, or rejected by, the self; this occurs especially in those discussions which the spectator may undertake with other people in which favourable or unfavourable consensual interpretations and judgments are arrived at. It is important to enter a qualification at this point. The suspension of immediate judgment is probably more complete in the viewing of the dramatic programme where there is an aesthetic illusion to be accepted, than in the more self-conscious viewing of 'personality' programmes.
What para-social roles are acceptable to the spectator and what benefits their enactment has for him would seem to be related to the systems of patterned roles and social situations in which he is involved in his everyday life. The values
[start of p. 222]...
of a para-social role may be related, for example, to the demands being made upon the spectator for achievement in certain statuses. Such demands, to pursue this instance further, may be manifested in the expectations of others, or they may be self-demands, with the concomitant emergence of more or less satisfactory self-conceptions. The enactment of a para-social role may therefore constitute an exploration and development of new role possibilities, as in the experimental phases of actual, or aspired to, social mobility.17 It may offer a recapitulation of roles no longer played - roles which, perhaps, are no longer possible. The audience is diversified in terms of life-stages, as well as by other social and cultural characteristics; thus, what for youth may be the anticipatory enactment of roles to be assumed in the future may be, for older persons, a reliving and re-evaluation of the actual or imagined past.
The enacted role may be an idealized version of an everyday performance -a 'successful' para-social approximation of an ideal pattern, not often, perhaps never, achieved in real life. Here the contribution of the persona may be to hold up a magic mirror to his followers, playing his reciprocal part more skilfully and ideally than do the partners of the real world. So Liberace, for example, outdoes the ordinary husband in gentle understanding, or Nancy Berg outdoes the ordinary wife in amorous complaisance. Thus, the spectator may be enabled to play his part suavely and completely in imagination as he is unable to do in actuality.
If we have emphasized the opportunities offered for playing a vicarious or actual role, it is because we regard this as the key operation in the spectator's activity, and the chief avenue of the programme's meaning for him. This is not to overlook the fact that every social role is reciprocal to the social roles of others, and that it is as important to learn to understand, to decipher, and to anticipate their conduct as it is to manage one's own. The function of the mass media, and of the programmes we have been discussing, is also the exemplification of the patterns of conduct one needs to understand and cope with in others as well as of those patterns which one must apply to one's self. Thus the spectator is instructed variously in the behaviours of the opposite sex, of people of higher and lower status, of people in particular occupations and professions. In a quantitative sense, by reason of the sheer volume of such instruction, this may be the most important aspect of the para-social experience, if only because each person's roles are relatively few, while those of the others in his social worlds are very numerous. In this culture, it is evident that to be prepared to meet all the exigencies of a changing social situation, no matter how limited it may be, could - and often does - require a great stream of plays and stories, advice columns and social how-to-do-it books. What, after all, is soap opera but an interminable exploration of the contingencies to be met with in 'home life?'18
In addition to the possibilities we have already mentioned, the media present opportunities for the playing of roles to which the spectator has - or feels he has -a legitimate claim, but for which he finds no opportunity in his social environment. This function of the para-social then can properly be called compensatory, inasmuch as it provides the socially and psychologically isolated with a chance to enjoy the elixir of sociability. The
[start of p. 223]...
'personality' programme - in contrast to the drama - is especially designed to provide occasion for good-natured joking and teasing, praising and admiring, gossiping and telling anecdotes, in which the values of friendship and intimacy are stressed.
It is typical of the 'personality' programmes that ordinary people are shown being treated, for the moment, as persons of consequence. In the interviews of non-professional contestants, the subject may be praised for having children - whether few or many does not matter; he may be flattered on his youthful appearance; and he is likely to be honoured the more - with applause from the studio audience - the longer he has been 'successfully' married. There is even applause, and a consequent heightening of ceremony and importance for the person being interviewed, at mention of the town he lives in. In all of this, the values realized for the subject are those of a harmonious, successful participation in one's appointed place in the social order. The subject is represented as someone secure in the affections and respect of others, and he probably senses the experience as a gratifying reassurance of social solidarity and self-confidence. For the audience, in the studio and at home, it is a model of appropriate role performance - as husband, wife, mother, as 'attractive' middle age, 'remarkably youthful' old age, and the like. It is, furthermore, a demonstration of the fundamental generosity and good will of all concerned, including, of course, the commercial sponsor. 19 But unlike a similar exemplification of happy sociability in a play or a novel, the television or radio programme is real; that is to say, it is enveloped in the continuing reassurances and gratifications of objective responses. For instance there may be telephone calls to 'outside' contestants, the receipt and acknowledgement of requests from the home audience, and so on. Almost every member of the home audience is left with the comfortable feeling that he too, if he wished, could appropriately take part in this healing ceremony.
[Two final sections omitted here]
(C)1984 The William Alanson White Psychiatric Foundation, Inc.,
1711 Rhode Island Avenue, Washington, DC.
Comments on Horton and Wohl's notion of parasocial interaction can be found in:
If anyone finds any other useful comments on Horton and Wohl's paper on parasocial interaction,
please let me know and I'll add them to the list!
Comments on Horton and Wohl's notion of parasocial interaction can be found in:
If anyone finds any other useful comments on Horton and Wohl's paper on parasocial interaction, please let me know and I'll add them to the list! | <urn:uuid:70a86ef4-adc4-4c8f-a46f-456cb0f82392> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/horton_and_wohl_1956.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960032 | 5,546 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The use of drones is taking off in America.
Local governments and private businesses see them as a cheap and effective way of maintaining an eye from the sky.
But will the drones be fully under their control?
A college professor and his students say not necessarily.
A civilian drone aircraft was "hijacked" by Professor Todd Humphreys and his graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin.
They were able to hack into the drone's GPS signals.
Later, in an exercise done in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security at White Sands, N.M., they … Read more | <urn:uuid:67e15a23-df9e-4ec1-beba-7f2a1461dc51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8300-5_3-0-2.html?keyword=texas | 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 | 0.976449 | 122 | 1.601563 | 2 |
by Andrew Butter
Subtitle: Evidence Interest Swaps Drove U.S. Treasury Yields Down: Beware!!
Jim Willie alias The Jackass has a theory interest rate swaps created speculative demand for U.S. Treasuries and that drove yields down…in other words there is a bubble.
If there is a bubble it will bust eventually; The Jackass says that could be catastrophic because the notional value is so huge.
Click on graph for larger image.
Eyeballing the chart, the first thing that stands out is that in three years running-up to the Credit Crunch, the notional value doubled from $200-Trillion to $400-Trillion, then there was a reversal which coincided with the Credit Crunch, then a period of relatively slow growth in notional value, then there was another reversal which coincided with the sovereign debt crisis. Luckily, for some, there was a Happy Ending because both the Crunch and the Crisis were “solved” …sort of…by central banks printing money.
If Jackass is right, you would have thought 2005 to 2008 might have been “worse” in terms of driving down the yield, than 2009 to 2012; the evidence at first-sight seems to suggest the opposite.
What strikes me as odd is that the notional value of the swaps (worldwide) is more than three times the value of all of the debt in the world.
If you look on the Internet you get told that most interest rate swaps are Plain Vanilla, those are when “Party-A” who has a loan with a floating rate, makes an agreement with “Party-B” who has a loan with a fixed rate, so that they swap their obligations to pay interest on their respective loans.
The details of that include some consideration based on the view at the time of the likely direction of LIBOR and say the 10-Year yield. If both had a loan of $100 million, then the notional value of that swap would be $200 million.
So how come the notional value is three times the total loan book? If half the world started with a floating rate, and the other half started with a fixed rate, and they all swapped, the notional value of all those swaps added together would be $150 Trillion or so…that’s my estimate +/-20% by the way, I couldn’t find a hard-number anywhere.
So what’s happening?
Well there isn’t much information on interest rate swaps. I looked, but all I ever saw was an explanation of how they are supposed to work between two “Parties” who actually have loans to service. Go to the Bank of International Settlements and you will find their last word on the subject was written in 1993. Equally, there is absolutely no information on how many loans out of the total outstanding in the whole world got swapped, although it would surprise me if it was more than 10%.
That suggests the notional value of all the loans that got swapped is no more than $15 trillion, and that the vast majority of interest rate swaps (perhaps 95%) are synthetic.
In other words, 95% of the time, Party-A contracts with Party-B to pay a cash flow of say 3% of $100 million for ten years into the future, and Party-B agrees to pay Party-A the cash flow of LIBOR plus whatever, based on a loan of equal term of $100 million for the same period.
The notional value of that swap is $200 million, but the only obligation either party has to anyone is to their counterparty in the swap…neither actually has a loan to service.
Well Momma, this is the thing. Babies grow up to be boys, and boys will be boys, and bankers, well they just grow up to be cowboys.
The $450 Trillion synthetic “book” could just as easily be held by a casino with the obligation to pay by the gamblers dictated by the results of a football game.
Except the results of a football game are not (normally) influenced by the way the betting goes. In this case, thanks to the way bonds are valued, there is plenty of scope for the betting to influence the result, at least short-term…that’s what bubbles are all about.
To give an example of how the way the betting goes; influences the result. Remember in the not-to distant past, all the cowboys bet that house prices in U.S.A. would go up, forever and forever.
And well, because of that house prices went up for quite a long while because there was an unnaturally high amount of money available to buy houses. And the money was available because the cowboys thought that result was as close to a sure-thing as what’s going to happen when you drop a rattler into the same cage as a kangaroo rat.
Except that was a bubble, half of the cowboys doubled their money, half of them lost everything, net-net no one made any money…except the casino. Fortunately, for the cowboys who lost, the government and the central banks stepped in to help them back on their feet so they could do it all over again…Happy Ending!!
So Did Interest Rate Swaps change the result for U.S. Treasuries?
The problem with any bubble is that it’s hard to get a grip on what the price “ought” to be. During a bubble, everyone has an explanation for the “bit of froth”, of which the commonest, and the most asinine, is the idea of mark-to-market. As in markets are efficient and true-value is simply the price you can sell something for, to someone dumber than you. Which works great, until you find out you are dumbest person in the room.
In a previous set of articles I have proposed that regardless of how Larry Summers “solved” the Gibson Paradox in his youth…and later went on to loose Harvard University a bundle doing the cowboy thing with interest rate swaps, which suggests he might not have actually solved the paradox, what determines the "right" price of say the yield on the 10-Year is trailing nominal GDP in U.S.A.
You can argue why that could be right or wrong until you are blue in the face. All I can say is that logic predicted, in February 2010, that the 10-Year yield was headed down towards 3% which was correct and was pretty much a minority point of view at the time.
OK that’s just one prediction based on a theory, notwithstanding, Milton Friedman once said…
“The question whether a theory is realistic “enough” can be settled only by seeing whether it yields predictions that are good enough for the purpose in hand or that are better than predictions from alternative theories.”
Not many economists or financial cowboys agree with that idea, many are so in love with their theories they keep banging away with them regardless of how many times their predictions turn out to be wrong.
So my theory made a correct prediction once. Other theories like those of Lawrence Summers, Bill Gross, Nasim Taleb, and probably Nouriel Roubini although his predictions are so vague they could mean anything…their theories, conclusively, produced the wrong answer. That doesn’t mean my theory is right, but the chances of it being wrong are less than 10%, whereas the chances of the other theories being wrong, based on the evidence so far, is 90% to 100%.
My theory produces a base-line for what the yield on the 10-Year “ought” to be, that base-line is what International Valuation Standards calls “Other Than Market Value”, and some people call “Fair Value”.
So if my “valuation” says yields should be 3% today, but they are 1.5% then the bonds are selling at twice the price they “ought” to sell at so the “mispricing” by the market is 100% and that’s a bubble.
I plotted my estimate of the mispricing of 10-Year Treasuries, against the growth year on year of the notional value of interest rate swaps worldwide. The point is that if it looks like there is a correlation between my estimate of mispricing (and my estimate is right), then it’s possible the largely synthetic market for interest rate swaps is influencing the yield…i.e. perhaps it’s causing bubbles:
The way I read that chart:
1: A period of increased notional value of interest rate swaps (A, B, C) appears to coincide with an increase of mispricing (10-year yields go down further than they “ought” to be, so the percentage mispricing, (the blue line on the chart) goes up).
2: When the rate of increase of the notional value goes down suddenly, what happens after six months is that the bubbles appear to pop. That’s shown by the little red-arrows and the black dotted line.
If that theory is right, i.e. that interest rate swaps do drive disequilibrium in bond markets, then:
1: There is a pop in the bubble of U.S. Treasuries on the way
2: In about a year’s time the yield on the 10-Year will be knocking on the door of 4.5%.
It is legitimate to ask, “what’s the point of interest rate swaps outside of making huge amounts of money for the bankers who bet correctly, and wiping out the bankers who made the wrong bets”…who will probably end up banging on the door of the Federal Reserve saying they are too-big-to fail, and if the Fed doesn’t bail them then the synthetic market they created will blow up, the whole of the world’s financial system will blow up.
What I don’t understand is the difference between that process, and terrorism. Basically terrorist threaten to blow things up unless they get their way, or at least get given large sums of money, that’s pretty much what the cowboys do….what’s the difference?
Certainly, the economic damage that the cowboys inflicted on U.S.A, and Europe, is hugely more than anything the long-bearded outlaw, who got the tap-tap in the middle of the night, even dreamed of.
Insofar as the story about the economic value-add of “helping” borrowers who are stuck with a floating rate, “reduce their risk”, that’s just a crock of horse manure.
The reality is that if you have less than perfect credit you can’t borrow at a fixed rate…unless of course you are an unemployed drug-addict in Detroit in 2007. But otherwise, you have to borrow at LIBOR plus whatever. But, and this is the catch, the bank tell you that you have to swap a portion of the loan they give you to “fixed”….and guess what…as chance would have it they got just the thing for you…must be your lucky day!! and
That’s what typically happens when you are a utility company, a municipality, or a commercial building, your cash flows are relatively predictable, but LIBOR isn’t.
So that means for the geeks in the bank, the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) going forwards, is uncertain…so they force you to swap, to offset their risk.
That’s a bit like how the demand for “investment grade” debt was stoked up to a crescendo which was used to finance the housing bubble. Pension and insurance companies were obligated by regulators to hold a certain (high) proportion of their assets as Investment Grade, which is what drove the huge demand for “investment grade” assets from 2000 to 2007….which turned out to be toxic….remember that?
People say Greenspan caused the credit crunch. He didn’t, the money for the bubble came via securitization and the driver was regulation…too much regulation of what pension funds and insurance companies did and too little regulation of the crooks who were manufacturing toxic securitized debt to shove down their throats.
With the government and the regulators standing by-in-attendance to make sure everyone took their medicine. “Good for the economy”, you see?!!
And from there the Alice in Wonderland tale mutated to “creating” the dubious economic value-add of synthetic collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps which were sprinkled into the witch’s brew like so much LSD. And guess what? They blew up too….remember that?
Funny thing how when idiot politicians and dirty bankers get together with a Big Idea to mess with markets, things tend to blow up?
The people who made money out of the huge drop in LIBOR engineered by the Fed and the BOE were the banks who had previously swapped a fixed rate (synthetic or not), with some poor jerk who had been paying LIBOR. That’s why (a) QE didn’t cause (much) inflation (b) the banks that were heavily into interest rate swaps (like JP Morgan) made a fortune out of the fall-out from the credit crunch (c) the “easing” by the Fed did not translate into increased nominal GDP.
What remains to be seen is how JP Morgan and the other cowboys make out, when the tables turn. Could be seeing a lot of busted cowboys (and whales) walking the streets of Laredo on the near future, begging for handouts.
More by Andrew Butter
|analysis blog||opinion blog||investing blog|
About the Author
Andrew Butter started off in construction in UAE and Saudi Arabia; after the invasion of Kuwait opened Dryland Consultants in partnership with an economist doing primary and secondary research and building econometric models, clients included Bechtel, Unilever, BP, Honda, Emirates Airlines, and Dubai Government.
Split up with partner in 1995 and re-started the firm as ABMC mainly doing strategy, business plans, and valuations of businesses and commercial real estate, initially as a subcontractor for Cushman & Wakefield and later for Moore Stephens. Set up a capability to manage real estate development in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 2000, typically advised / directed from bare-land to tendering the main construction contract.
Put the unit on ice in 2007 in anticipation of the popping of the Dubai bubble,defensive investment strategies relating to the credit crunch; spent most of 2008 trying to figure out how bubbles work, writing a book called BubbleOmics. Andrew has an MA Cambridge University (Natural Science), and Diploma (Fine Art) Leeds Art College. | <urn:uuid:cde5bfc4-f2cc-4e47-a4c0-769cb7354d67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econintersect.com/b2evolution/blog3.php/2012/06/05/evidence-interest-swaps-drove-u-s-treasury-yields-down-beware | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962175 | 3,150 | 1.601563 | 2 |
School immunizations required before Sept. 4
RICHMOND, Va (WTVR) - Before sending the kids back to school this year make sure you have all the details on immunizations. Kindergarten and 6th graders will have to meet certain requirements by September 4th. 6th graders must have their Tdap booster immunization and kindergartners must have an up to date immunization record.
Parents can schedule an appointment with their child’s health care provider or visit the Capital Area Health Network, Bon Secour’s Care-A-Van or the Richmond City Health District, located at 400 East Cary Street.
Other locations for immunizations will be offered through the Richmond City Health District/Resources Center. Here is a details list:
August 20 – Fairfield Court Resource Center, 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
August 24 – Richmond City Health District, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
August 31 – Mosby Court Resource Center, 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
More details here: | <urn:uuid:be296a8e-4eaa-4d83-8575-fdc0a4876085> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wtvr.com/2012/08/20/school-immunizations-required-before-sept-4/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930466 | 231 | 1.8125 | 2 |
American Academy of Ophthalmology Web Site: www.aao.org
New Findings from Ophthalmology, AJO and Archives
July’s American Journal of Ophthalmology:
May’s Archives of Ophthalmology:
Roundup of Other Journals:
For decades, ophthalmologists have accepted the monocular drug trial as a viable way of providing an estimate of long-term IOP reduction when initiating therapy with topical IOP-lowering medication. However, a study by Tony Realini questions the usefulness of this practice.
The investigator studied 26 patients with ocular hypertension or open-angle glaucoma who each made five study visits: two on no therapy, one on monocular therapy with latanoprost and two on bilateral therapy. The monocular therapeutic drug trial did not provide clinically relevant information regarding long-term IOP reduction after starting IOP-lowering medication. Even the unadjusted IOP change in first-treated eyes—not incorporating the monocular trial adjustment—showed poor correlation with long-term IOP reduction.
The author concludes that the monocular trial was no more informative than using the unadjusted IOP in the treated eye. Consequently, there is no value in leaving one eye untreated when trying to estimate efficacy.
Previous studies have linked silent cerebral infarct (SCI) with the presence of normal-tension glaucoma (NTG). Leung et al. take these findings a step further, providing evidence that SCI may also play a role in visual field progression.
This study involved 286 eyes from 286 patients with NTG; 64 of whom had SCI and 222 who did not. They were followed every four months for 36 months for visual field progression. The researchers found that SCI was present in 29.6 percent of patients with progressive changes in visual field vs. 15.3 percent of field-stable patients. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that disc hemorrhage, systemic hypertension and central corneal thickness were associated with field progression. The most common location of SCI was at the basal ganglia. After adjusting for other risk factors, NTG patients with SCI had a 61-percent higher chance of visual field progression compared to those without SCI.
The researchers call for further studies on the relation of SCI and visual field progression.
De Smet et al. report findings from a phase 2a study on the use of recombinant microplasmin for intravitreal injection in human patients. This clinical trial involved 60 patients enrolled into six successive cohorts. Patients received a single intravitreal injection of microplasmin at one of four doses—25, 50, 75 and 125 µg in 100 µl. Doses were administered either one to two hours before planned pars plana vitrectomy for vitreomacular traction maculopathy or at 24 hours or seven days before the surgery.
Results showed that the use of microplasmin led to a progressively higher incidence of posterior vitreous detachment induction (as assessed by ultrasonography) with increasing time exposure. One retinal detachment developed shortly after microplasmin injection and two developed following surgery.
The researchers conclude that an effective dose of microplasmin combined with an appropriate exposure time may lead to a drug-induced posterior vitreous detachment and that this would simplify and perhaps obviate the anticipated surgery. However, randomized studies are necessary to determine the dose-response relationship and to confirm the efficacy and safety of the drug.
Yoon and Lee report a mixed outcome from a study assessing long-term functional and cosmetic outcomes after frontalis suspension using fascia lata autografts to treat congenital ptosis. This treatment approach resulted in high functional success rates over both the long and short term. However, while cosmetic success rates were high in the short term, they fell six months postsurgery.
The study involved 239 patients who underwent frontalis suspension using fascia lata autografts from 1998 to 2006. The functional success rates were 100 percent one month after surgery and 94 percent at the last follow-up period. Success of the cosmetic outcomes started out high in the early postoperative period, yet gradually decreased due to gradual elevation of lid height, medial inversion of eyelashes and poor lid creases.
The authors conclude that since cosmetic outcomes can deteriorate over time, these patients require both functional and cosmetic evaluations during both early and late postoperative periods.
American Journal of Ophthalmology
In this case series, Robison et al. evaluated the vitreomacular relations in different stages of age-related macular degeneration. The investigators compared 29 previously untreated subjects who had active exudative AMD in one eye and active nonexudative AMD in the fellow eye with 10 previously untreated subjects with end-stage geographic atrophy in one eye and an end-stage fibrotic scar in the fellow eye. All subjects were studied with ultrasonography to identify the presence of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) and with optical coherence tomography to detect vitreomacular adhesion (VMA).
The incidence of PVD in exudative AMD eyes was 21 percent, compared with 69 percent of eyes with nonexudative AMD. VMA was present in 38 percent of eyes with exudative AMD and in only 10 percent of eyes with nonexudative AMD. The incidence of PVD in eyes with geographic atrophy was 70 percent, compared with 40 percent of eyes with disciform scar. VMA was present in no eyes with geographic atrophy and in 20 percent of eyes with disciform scars.
PVD seems to protect against exudative AMD, whereas VMA may promote exudative AMD. This phenomenon is not evident in end-stage disease because of an increased incidence of PVD and a decreased incidence of VMA in eyes with disciform scars.
In this clinical study, AMD patients with neovascularization involving the central fovea and with a central retinal thickness (CRT) of at least 300 µm as measured by OCT were enrolled to receive three consecutive monthly intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (0.5 mg). During the first year, re-treatment with ranibizumab was performed at each monthly visit if any criterion was fulfilled—such as an increase in OCT CRT of at least 100 µµm or a loss of five letters or more.
Forty patients were enrolled and 37 completed the two-year study. At month 24, the mean visual acuity improved by 11.1 letters and the OCT CRT decreased by 212 µm. Visual acuity improved by 15 letters or more in 43 percent of patients. These outcomes were achieved with an average of 9.9 injections over 24 months.
In this study, 41 eyes with uveitis and 52 eyes without uveitis underwent clinical examination and OCT testing within four weeks before cataract surgery and at one- and three-month postoperative visits. Both uveitic and control eyes gained approximately three lines of vision. Incidence of CME at one month was 12 percent (five eyes) for uveitis and 4 percent (two eyes) for controls. Incidence of CME at three months was 8 percent (three eyes) for uveitis. There was no incidence of CME at three months for eyes without uveitis. Eyes with uveitis treated with perioperative oral corticosteroids had a sevenfold reduction in postoperative CME. In uveitic eyes, active inflammation within three months before surgery increased the risk of CME when compared with eyes without inflammation. CME was significantly associated with poorer vision.
The study included 42 patients (with 43 affected eyes) treated between 2000 and 2007. Diagnosis was made by microbiologic culture in 35 cases and by microbiologic and histologic analysis in two cases—whereas the remainder was diagnosed based on clinical features and response to treatment. There was a gradual increase in cases since 2005, with a sharp increase in 2007, when eight patients were treated. Of 30 patients for whom contact lens solution data were available, 18 reported using AMO’s Complete brand multipurpose solution before the infection. Among cases treated since February 2006, seven (63 percent) of 11 patients used the Complete brand solution. Suboptimal hygiene practices were found in all patients.
Fifteen patients required corneal grafting with 11 undergoing therapeutic deep lamellar keratoplasty (DLK), two undergoing optical penetrating keratoplasty (PK), one undergoing optical DLK and one undergoing therapeutic PK. The remainder was treated successfully with combination antiamebic therapy. The average duration of therapy was 116.2 days.
Of patients with radial keratoneuritis with or without epithelial disease, 83.3 percent achieved final vision of 20/40 or better, whereas this was achieved in 41.7 percent of those with ring infiltrate. Twenty-five percent of patients with ring infiltrate had final visual acuity of counting fingers or worse, whereas no patient with keratoneuritis and epithelial disease had final vision worse than counting fingers.
Archives of Ophthalmology
Baker et al. examined the relationship of age-related macular degeneration and cognitive impairment in a community-based study of more than 2,000 people aged 69 to 97 years.
Participants had retinal photographs taken that were evaluated for AMD using the Wisconsin AMD grading system. To determine levels of cognition, researchers used the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), which measures the speed at which patients are able to substitute a symbol for a random succession of numbers.
After controlling for age, sex, ethnicity and study center, patients with a low DSST score were more likely to have early AMD than patients with higher scores. This association was stronger after further controlling for education level, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, diabetes, smoking status and apolipoprotein E genotype.
The study also evaluated cognitive function over time and found that a five-point decrease in DSST scores over a five-year period were significantly associated with AMD. This finding suggests that declining cognitive function over time is also linked with AMD.
Assessing African-Americans with type 1 diabetes, Roy et al. found that single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 13 candidate genes involved in glucose metabolism, angiogenesis, inflammation, neurotransmission, hypertension and retinal development were significantly associated with severity of diabetic retinopathy. Three of these genes were also significantly associated with progression of retinopathy. Adjusting for clinical risk factors for diabetic retinopathy did not alter the results.
These findings support the role of genetic factors in accounting for severity and/or progression of diabetic retinopathy in type 1 diabetic African-Americans and identify several prime genes likely contributing to the risk of retinopathy.
Ophthalmology summaries are written by Lori Baker Schena and edited by John Kerrison, MD. American Journal of Ophthalmology summaries are edited by Thomas J. Liesegang, MD. Archives of Ophthalmology summaries are written by the lead authors.
Roundup of Other Journals
Lee et al. described the visual acuity outcomes of patients undergoing phacoemulsification and IOL implantation after pars plana vitrectomy. The investigators then compared refractive errors after phacoemulsification and IOL implantation in vitrectomized and nonvitrectomized eyes.
The researchers reviewed office records of 45 patients undergoing phacoemulsification after vitrectomy, focusing on BCVA before and two months after phacoemulsification. These 45 vitrectomized eyes (group V) were then compared to 50 nonvitrectomized eyes (group P). In group V, 41 of 45 eyes (91.1 percent) had an improved BCVA of more than one line after phacoemulsification and 28 eyes showed improvement of more than three lines (62.2 percent). While more hyperopic shift was seen in group V, no significant difference was found between the predicted refraction and postoperative refraction in both groups.
A report by Saleh et al. shows the value of RetCam telemedicine imaging in detecting suspected abusive head injury when an ophthalmologist is not onsite to evaluate the patient. In this study, 21 children with suspected abusive head trauma due to shaken baby syndrome were examined both by standard ophthalmoscopy and RetCam-120 digital retinal camera photographs. These photographs were stored and later read remotely by an ophthalmologist. The children also underwent a CT scan and/or an MRI to detect intracranial hemorrhages.
Of the children examined, 85.7 percent presented with cerebral bleeding and 14 out of the 21 showed retinal hemorrhages on ophthalmoscopy. All of these retinal abnormalities were detected by the digital camera with one false-positive case reported. The sensitivity of the digital camera detection method was 100 percent with a specificity of 85.7 percent. Ultimately, the use of the digital camera helped to diagnose abusive head injuries in 92.8 percent of patients.
The authors conclude that the RetCam represents a key telemedicine device for detecting abusive head trauma when an ophthalmologist is not present. The camera can be employed when decisions about a patient with suspected shaken baby syndrome must be made in a timely manner.
Yeung and Walton have found that goniotomy represents a safe and effective treatment for acquired juvenile open-angle glaucoma.
They reviewed the medical records of 10 patients who underwent 20 goniotomy procedures for 17 eyes. The mean age at surgery was 16.3 years with a mean follow-up period of 7.8 years. They defined complete success as an IOP less than 21 mmHg, qualified success as an IOP less than 21 mmHg with use of glaucoma medications, and failure as an IOP greater than or equal to 21 mmHg even with medical therapy. Results showed an overall surgical success rate of 77 percent (13 out of 17 eyes). Complete success was achieved in nine eyes, qualified success in four and failure in four.
The authors conclude that while goniotomy is often employed as a first line of surgery for primary congenital glaucoma, practitioners should also consider the procedure for uncontrolled juvenile open-angle glaucoma. They note that goniotomy is less traumatic, has fewer surgical complications and improves aqueous outflow through the drainage system of the eye. This is in contrast to approaches that create an artificial pathway and bypass this physiologic route.
According to Strouthidis et al., the accepted spatial pattern of neuroretinal rim loss in glaucoma was mostly established prior to the advent of semiautomated optic nerve head and retinal nerve fiber layer imaging devices. To shed new light on this subject, the investigators utilized the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph to assess the spatial pattern of rim-area decline in ocular hypertension.
For this study, 198 patients with ocular hypertension were examined with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph. Linear regression of rim area/time was performed for each sector: temporal, superotemporal, inferotemporal, nasal, superonasal and inferonasal.
Results showed that the steepest mean slopes of rim-area loss were in the inferotemporal sector, followed by superotemporal, superonasal, inferonasal, nasal and temporal. Significant negative slopes were seen most frequently in the superotemporal sector, followed by inferonasal, inferotemporal, nasal, superonasal and temporal.
While the authors observed a steeper rate of rim-area loss in the superotemporal and inferotemporal sectors, they caution that clinicians must take into account the varying proportion of non-neural vascular tissue in each rim-area sector that could result in an underestimation of rim-area loss in the nasal sectors of the disc. | <urn:uuid:324ac944-e3a4-4064-a80d-0fb7939d4158> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aao.org/publications/eyenet/200907/journal.cfm?RenderForPrint=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940083 | 3,305 | 1.757813 | 2 |
This is yet another enterprising attempt from Gidon
Kremer to bridge the gap between old and new, and in the process give
the listener a thoroughly stimulating experience. He did a similar thing
with his recording of Piazzola’s Four Seasons re-working;
in this case, he juxtaposes ‘real’ Mozart (father and son) with contemporary
pieces either inspired by, or written as a response to, the world of
To deal with the ‘authentic’ Mozart first, it is good
to report refreshing, vigorous readings of some very familiar music.
Kremer and his colleagues use modern instruments, with vibrato included,
but adopt a fresh, pointed rhythmic response to the phrasing, so that
everything emerges with clarity and vitality. He is not afraid to ‘century-hop’
in this music either, interjecting what he calls ‘polystylistic cadenzas
which suggest the influence of time-travelling jazz musicians with a
knowledge of Shostakovich and Berg’. This is most evident in the finale
of the Serenata Notturna, and points to his association with
Schnittke, whose wacky cadenza to the Beethoven Violin Concerto Kremer
recorded some years ago. In Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, everything
is played more or less straight, though Kremer enjoys inserting solo
lines and improvisatory embellishments here and there, giving the piece
a kinship with the concerto grosso form of Mozart’s predecessors.
Both works get a thorough ‘dusting down’ that is very welcome, and I
can’t imagine even purists complaining, as it’s all done with a conviction
and playfulness worthy of Mozart himself.
The band obviously have a riotous time in Mozart senior’s
Kinder-Symphonie (sometimes wrongly known as the Toy Symphony)
where the use of realistic or imitative devices was often sanctioned.
In this case, we have pagers and mobile phone interjections (I guarantee
you’ll be reaching for your pocket!) giving the piece the required contemporary
slant, whilst remaining completely authentic. ‘It is’ says Kremer, ‘as
if we’d invited Mozart and his father into the studio to fool around
with us’. All very enjoyable.
The contemporary items are no less revealing, and all
seem to inhabit a sort of dream world, where snippets of Mozart are
put through a 20th century ‘lens’. Alexander Raskatov’s 5
min. aus dem Leben von W.A.M (here receiving its first recording)
takes several characteristics of Mozart’s style (charm, innocence, naïveté),
and explores them in a new light, adding the odd soft tone-cluster,
mixing percussion with the strings, repeating a short cadential sequence
with various combinations of instrumental colour. It makes for a short
but thought-provoking musical memory of a past age.
Silvestrov’s The Messenger inhabits an even
more dream-like aural landscape, which is not surprising, as it was
written shortly after the death of the composer’s wife. This is a haunting
piece, originally for piano solo but reworked for strings, piano and
a synthesized background of ‘wind’, a desolate breeze that comes to
us from a great distance. The Mozart fragments then come and go, strange
chord progressions do not resolve, melodies appear and fade away. The
composer seems to be trying to reconcile past and present, beauty and
a deep sense of loss and regret, and he himself tells us ‘it is as if
a visitor from some other dimension of time had come to us with a message’.
Kremer sees it as ‘a miserere, of the kind Mozart might have composed
were he alive today’.
Schnittke’s typically provocative Moz-Art à
la Haydn has been recorded by Kremer before, with the Chamber Orchestra
of Europe. The piece was sparked by Schnittke’s fascination with a Mozart
fragment of 1783, which he took as a starting point before putting it
through what the booklet writer calls ‘the compositional equivalent
of a food processor’. The result is an inventive collage of sounds,
melodies, quotations, all piled on top of one another and blended together.
It was presented at the Berlin festival of 1988 as a ‘play with music’,
the piece accompanying a masked performance in the style of an Italian
carnival. It ends (or rather collapses) with the musicians leaving the
stage one by one, still playing, in the manner of Haydn’s Farewell
Symphony, while the conductor directs an invisible orchestra and only
the bass player remains.
The whole disc is an absorbing experience, a witty
and imaginative attempt to set Mozart ‘in the frame of our own time’,
as Kremer aptly puts it. The punningly titled Kremerata Baltica have
always enjoyed working with new music, and their expertise is obvious
in every item. It is good to hear them play the ‘straight’ stuff so
winningly too, and I would recommend their Eine Kleine to anyone
who feels they are bored with its familiarity. The recording is in the
demonstration bracket, and there are very illuminating notes from Bob
Gilmore. Another excellent and rewarding Nonesuch issue. | <urn:uuid:cc7542c1-f8fb-4265-835e-78144ea7999e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Jun02/After_Mozart.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938628 | 1,221 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Risk and Reward Can Be Calculated Accurately!
Risk of Buying or Holding a security can be Calculated and Quantified on a scale of (1 to 10) very accurately if you have the Tools to perform just a few computations. Reward is a bit more difficult to Quantify, but when you first mitigate the Risk and use a few more basic Tools -- this job can be accomplished too!
If this opening paragraph is of interest to you and you are a "Serious Investor" I would like to share clear support on how you can enjoy consistent and very low Risk annual profits.
I have found that very few Investors and Financial Analysts take the time to "Mitigate Risk." For me, it is one of the first things I do in my analytics of each and every security.
Explaining the 'Risk / Reward Ratio'
Simple (textbook) Explanation: Let's say an Investor purchases 100 shares of XYZ Company at $20 and places a stop-loss order at $15 to ensure that the losses will not exceed $500. Let's also assume that this Investor believes that the price of XYZ will reach $30 in the next few months. In this case, the Investor is willing to Risk $5 per share to make an expected return of $10 per share after termination the position. Since the Investor stands to make double the amount at Risk, the Risk / Reward Ration is 2:1 on that particular security. Just for the record, I seldom recommend the use of stop-loss orders.
Unfortunate it is the simple and a much too basic Explanation that will get definitely get you into trouble.
Perhaps a More Realistic Explanation (that requires time - doing your homework well): The same Investor using the same XYZ security has "Raw and Accurate Data that "Confirms" the 2:1 Risk / Reward Ratio. You may note that -- I have removed the word "Believes" (from the first Explanation) and added the words "Accurate Data that Confirms" (to this Explanation). I hope you can see the enormous difference in these two "words" makes such a difference! Assumptions and "Beliefs" must be BASED on something very solid. And I suggest that - that "SOMETHING" is Raw and Accurate Data. Obviously, if - and I mean "IF" - my "Raw and Accurate Data" presents a 2:1 or in the above example a 50% Reward, I will jump on that Investment Opportunity every time. In my first sentence of this article I use the term "Quantified scale of (1 - 10)" for both Risk and Reward Calculations.
That simple means a) that I separate my Risk and then Reward calculations. b) that if I have a Negative or Risk of (1 - 10) I would not consider investing in that security. c) that if I have a Positive or Reward of (1 - 10) I would strongly consider investing in that security. d) that if I have a (3 or higher) Reward, which I require, I can very comfortable Buy that security with much confidence. e) the opposite is true if I have a (3 or Higher) Risk, which I require, I can very comfortable Short that security with much confidence. ( One of My Rules: Bearish investing require a very Pro-Active Investor for me to make specific Bearish Recommendations ).
For me, the task "Investing Wisely" is based on "My Methodology" -- that must first be understood, as well as possible from your study of the following URL: "My Methodology:" http://www.safehaven.com/article/27312/my-methodology
There is an axiom of the stock market called the three Ts. It infers the competing with the pros is foolish and often expensive. The three Ts are: Time / Temperament / Training. The profitable "pros" have these needed characteristics. Do you Really have and spend the time, have the psychological temperament and education in finance and economics - training?
Risk / Reward Ratios can be Calculated for: AA, AAPL, BAC, C, CMCSA, CSCO, F, GE, GOOG, INTC, MSFT, T, XOM or just about any security on the planet. (To view my 20-Year Charts of the above symbols - Click on the Symbol).
I invite you to "plug into" an Email Dialog with me for more details regarding Risk / Reward and My Methodology. I can assure you and even guarantee that the "Results" of your being just a bit "Pro-Active" about your investments the will be well worth your time.
Perhaps you have already seen the (Year to Year Profits) using my formula F + C = R in my on going articles here in SafeHaven.com.
This is often my introductory paragraph for this formula:
It is Really Quite Simple - F (plus) C (equals) R
It begins with Accurate "Forecasting" and Analytic Procedures that produce consistent profits, then it requires Well Honed Fundamental, Technical and Consensus Opinion - "Confirmations," and it nearly always ends with Profitable - "Results." (F + C = R)
The Risk / Reward Ratio is calculated early-on in the work / analytics I do in my Forecasting procedure. Obviously, this is of vital importance if my "Forecasts" are indeed going to be Accurate. Just for the record, my Forecasts are well above 95% Accurate and that is producing excellent Results!
You might remember what I also share in many of my articles for these Blogs. "You can roll the Dice or learn that by doing the necessary work / analytics you can begin to enjoy consistent annual profits and sleep very well at night."
I believe that this present-day Stock Market is Controlled and Manipulated by both the U.S. Government and by Wall Street. This is all done by a continuous flow of propaganda via the cooperative media. "Liars can Figure but Figures can't Lie!" My presentations via missives such as this one and my weekly articles have nothing to do with "story telling" / "hype" / "sales pitches" or "propaganda." They are ALL based on Hard / Raw Data and Figures and that is NO LIE ! I am here to help.
This is an excellent graphic that I often share regarding the Risk / Reward Tradeoff. Perhaps you will want to ponder the "Why" this (simple Red Line) is so important to Me and perhaps will be important to You?
Clearly, the term used in the x-axis at the bottom of this graphic may cause you to scratch your head, just a bit. The words "Standard Deviation" is something most all Financial Analysts work with mathematically quite frequently. It does what I said above, if performed correctly, it gives a Ratio that is either a positive "Alert" saying: "the Reward is Excellent and the Risk is low - go ahead and Buy" - or - it gives a negative "Warning" saying: "the Risk is too High and the Reward is low to negative - do not Buy."
This is a brief explanation of how I go about making money in the stock market with an ever- present focus on both Risk and Reward Calculations.
This "Tradeoff" is presented graphically because: a) It is not understood very well by most Investors that I visit with personally and by Email. b) It clearly defines this axiom of the stock market and hopefully will get your attention as to its importance. c) It can accurately be Calculated to avoid or prevent investing in a highly probable losing security. And much, much more ...
I sincerely hope you will want to know more. If so please feel free to let me know with your questions and thoughts. My job is to make you money in the stock market with Tools like this in my direction and guidance of your future financial success.
My Email address is: email@example.com
Smile, Have fun, "Investing Wisely," | <urn:uuid:aa110f3d-df5e-4fc8-add4-77d392fad64f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.safehaven.com/article/27497/risk-and-reward-can-be-calculated-accurately | 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 | 0.95606 | 1,698 | 1.765625 | 2 |
In 2010, Chinese manufacturing surpassed the United States’ by $600 billion, raking in $1.92 trillion in domestically manufactured product sales compared to America’s $1.86 trillion. China is responsible for 19.8% of the world’s manufacturing output, while the U.S. trails close behind with 19.4%.
But just because America’s manufacturing crown has slipped to the People’s Republic, and American manufacturing jobs declined roughly 33% between 2000 and 2010, do not second guess America’s competitive edge.
While it might come as a surprise, the United States still makes stuff, and in many cases, we remain the best at making it. In America, quality trumps quantity, and we can take pride in the fact that many of the world’s best products are still made right here in the USA.
The following list is just a sampling that showcases America’s innovation leadership, and a hint that our future success lies in shifting both how we interact with competitors and how we define a product.
Nothing says “American Made” quite like Harley Davidson. Loud, sturdy, and irrefutably cool, Harley Davidson Motorcycles have been cruising US roadways since 1903. Inherently tough, Harleys are one of two motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression (Indian being the other).
In the 1960s and 1970s, the resilient bike maker survived an era of poor quality control, competition from Japanese manufacturers like Honda and Kawasaki, and controversial products like the Harley Davidson Confederate Edition, which featured a seat emblazoned with the Confederate flag.
Harley emerged from these hard times with the affectionate nickname “hog” – once a derisive insult for the bike’s trademark chugging exhaust – as well as a strong association with a style of customized bike called the chopper, popularized as an indispensable piece of Americana in Peter Fonda’s iconic film Easy Rider (1969).
Harley engines are designed and manufactured at the company’s headquarters in Milwaukee, WI, with additional parts and assembly assigned to numerous plants scattered around the US. Harley does import parts from vendors worldwide, making it roughly 60% American made.
It is, however, 100% American cool. Harley takes advantage of its image: Licensing revenue for its logo and trademark design brings in an estimated $40 million per year.
Hooray for Hollywood? Absolutely. India may be the world’s leader in the number of annual tickets sold and films produced — with 13,526 films shot across celluloid, film, and digital formats in 2011 — but the United States retains the crown for profits made per individual film.
Eighty-seven of the top 100 highest grossing films of all time — representing a combined revenue of $67.5 billion — have been produced by American companies, according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo site. The remaining 13 films were produced by Sony Picture Corporation, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo.
Topping the list are News Corp. subsidiary 20th Century Fox’s Avatar with $2.8 billion in worldwide revenue and Viacom Inc. subsidiary Paramount Pictures’ Titanic with $2.2 billion, both directed by James Cameron. Third place was recently reached by Walt Disney Company subsidiary Buena Vista’s Marvel’s The Avengers, which has so far taken in $1.3 billion worldwide.
When film revenues over the past century are adjusted for inflation, the all-out winner remains Gone with the Wind, the 1939 classic released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a company recently rehabilitated by Carl Icahn, among others. Its total adjusted revenue stands at $3.3 billion.
Now that’s an American blockbuster.
It should come as no surprise that the United States — with the world’s largest defense budget, a whopping $711 billion in 2011 — is home to the biggest defense contractors in the world. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing top a long list of companies making technology, weaponry, and vehicles that support the armed forces and national defense, a majority of which are American based. These three companies alone took in combined revenues of $27.5 billion in 2011.
This revenue does not all come from the U.S. government, since American defense companies have also sought profits abroad, inadvertently making the United States the world’s largest arms exporter, as well. American arms are considered to be the cream of the crop, and are in high demand on a global scale: U.S. exports were nearly $10 billion in 2011, more than any other country in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
It’s estimated that the U.S. aerospace and defense industry employed over one million workers in 2010, providing them with $84.2 billion in wages. Despite controversy surrounding the moral implications of weaponry revenues and the risks of supplying other countries with means of hostility, it’s hard to deny that in America, arms are big business.
When it comes to durability, Société Bic – the French, Euronex listed stationary manufacturer famous for its disposable Bic lighters — doesn’t hold a candle to America’s Zippo brand.
Zippo lighters come with a lifetime guarantee, and although thousands of different casings have been designed over the company’s 70-year history, the lighter’s inner workings have changed little since its introduction in 1933. Its sturdy structure and windproof design allow flames to spark in the harshest of condition, which made them especially popular among US soldiers during World War II.
On June 5, 2012, Zippo rolled out its 500 millionth lighter, and made sure all 620 employees at its Bradford, PA, plant were involved in the milestone. Zippo, a privately-held firm, had an additional manufacturing plant in Niagara Falls, Canada, from 1949 until 2002, when it was shutdown, making these iconic lighters a wholly American manufactured product.
Luxury Kitchen Appliances
Take a stroll through any kitchen show room across the United States, and prepare to be surprised by how many appliances are made just around the corner. Luxury appliances, to be specific, like a Greenwood, Mississippi-manufactured Viking range – a stove top that will cost anywhere between $3,000 and $14,000.
The Viking Range Corp. has received considerable fanfare for the attention it puts into product design, making it another example of how quality of craftsmanship is helping American companies survive.
After dinner, leftovers may find their way to a Sub-Zero refrigerator, another high-quality kitchen staple that’s made in America. The Sub-Zero Freezer Co. assembles its built-in refrigeration product line at its 600,000 square foot facility in Madison, WI, where the company is headquartered. (Sub-Zero has also opened newer factories in Phoenix, Arizona and Richmond, Kentucky.)
The company’s acquisition of California-based Wolf Ranges in 2000 officially put the refrigerator company in the gas cooking and grilling business, which was traditionally Viking’s camp.
Now that’s some good-ole’ homegrown competition.
According to Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s biggest public companies, seven of the top 10 highest grossing computer software and programming companies are found in America. These include Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, CA, VMware, Adobe Systems, and Intuit.
The leader of this list, Microsoft, is notable for revolutionizing personal computing with its MS DOS operating system in the 1980s and its Windows platform in the 1990s. Although Microsoft is headquartered in Washington state, most other software giants are based in California’s Silicon Valley.
In 2008, Belgian-Brazilian beer maker InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch — the maker of quintessential American brews like Budweiser, Busch, Michelob, and Natural Ice — and formed AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, producing roughly 25% of global volume. Although Anheuser-Busch’s 12 US factories remained stateside, the merger essentially robbed the country’s ownership of a classic American product: the brewskie.
But despite AB InBev-owned beers accounting for 50% of the US market, the American craft beer industry is booming. According to the Brewers Association, there were 1,940 craft breweries operating in 2011. That number is estimated to have breached 2,000 this year. There were 250 brewery openings last year, with only 37 closings, and the industry is currently growing at 15% by dollars and 12% by volume.
The number of active breweries in the United States hasn’t been this high since the 1880s, and the estimated 356 million gallons they’re bottling is getting serious attention. At the recently held World Beer Cup in San Diego, American beer brewers took in 208 of the 284 medals, competing against 53 other countries for the landslide win. The U.S. won 49 out of a possible 54 medals in British-style categories, and 22 out of a possible 33 in Belgian-style categories.
It’s safe to say America is currently in a beer-making renaissance.
Guitars and Pianos
Birthplace of jazz, the blues, and rock and roll, America is also home to the manufacturers of some of the world’s best musical instruments. Founded in Kalamazoo, MI, and currently headquartered in Nashville, TN, the Gibson Guitar Corporation has been manufacturing string instruments since 1908 when Orville Gibson began producing mandolins. Gibson was responsible for many innovations to the banjo, guitar, and mandolin design in the 1920s, and went on to produce the first commercially successful electric guitar in the 1930s.
Despite hard times in the 1970s when the move to Nashville’s humid climate compromised production, as well as the recent controversy surrounding Gibson’s use of illegal ebony (Gibson denies any wrongdoing), the company is currently doing fine, with a long-term growth trend approaching 30%, according to the company’s CEO .
Pianos are another tune-maker still produced in America. Although the domestic industry has shrunk as consumers have shifted to cheaper Asian-manufactured brands, in America, quality trumps quantity. Steinway & Sons pianos have been handmade in Queens, NY, for over 150 years, and high-end models fetch anywhere from $50,000 to $120,000.
Despite being one of the last piano manufactures in the United States, Steinway is still regarded as the best in the world , with 98% of concert pianist preferring the brand.
Does the US make the best chair money can buy? The world’s many corporate citizens who use the Aeron chair probably think so. The iconic office seat is touted by its manufacturer% | <urn:uuid:7dc45fd1-b668-4a02-832c-fad576758b22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mint.com/blog/consumer-iq/10-best-american-made-products-072012/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952571 | 2,283 | 1.671875 | 2 |
It started out with the name "Sana", and like many other small towns, was impacted by the westward-sprawling railroad tracks. The town was moved 1/4 of a mile to be nearer to the railway, and renamed "Esmond" in the early 1880s.
My connection to this area is through my great-great-grandparents. Thomas Lafayette Graves, his wife Nettie Bell (Lair), and their four children pulled up their roots from Stark County, Illinois, bid adieu to their parents, siblings, cousins, and lifelong friends, and headed northeasterly to the small hamlet in March of 1906. Tom was both a farmer and carpenter by trade, really a Jack of All Trades, working with his only son, Delbert. They lived on a farm just a stone's throw north of town.
During their years there, Tom and Delbert built many homes and barns, and most notably, a large double-wide, two story building in Esmond. This building, known as the Big Store, housed a store on the main floor level, and an opera house/dance hall on the upper level (note the "T. L. Graves, 1911" at the top of the building). We do not believe that Tom ever operated the store portion of the building, but he was responsible for many dances, and no doubt good times, in the upper level.
When I first started researching this part of the Graves family's lives, I assumed I'd be disappointed with what little information I'd find, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Several books have been written, with an extensive collection of photos published, and an annual Esmond Homecoming held during the summer.
On a trip back to South Dakota a few years ago, my mother and I made a detour through Esmond. Despite both of us having been born and raised nearby, neither of us had ever been there. Having seen the pictures of Esmond in its Glory Days, we hoped we might be able to see approximately where the Big Store might have been located. As we drove down the ice-packed dirt road to toward what was left of the town, the spirit of residents long gone seemed to give us a warm welcome, despite the brutally cold temperatures of a South Dakota winter. The gravel roads through the small town were packed with snow and ice, but, not about to be stopped after coming such a long way, we persevered, and were rewarded with signs on each lot, telling what business or home had been located there in days past. Gazing down the street a couple of blocks stood what was left of the elevators by the railroad tracks, and suddenly, my mind flashed to a postcard I had showing the same scene, with busy townspeople all going about their business. And just as suddenly, reality was back, and the elevators were delapidated, and the street empty.
Every other summer, those wonderful souls who have taken responsibilty for keeping Esmond alive, hold an Esmond Homecoming, and one of these years, I'm going to make it back there to attend. I want to go where my great grandmother went to school, where Nettie purchased her family's supplies, where Tom and Delbert laid brick after brick to construct the largest store in town. I want to see the town streets full of people, and hear the bustle of activity, and for just a moment, experience the thriving little community of Esmond, South Dakota.
"Home - Esmond, South Dakota"
"Remembering Esmond, South Dakota", 1996 | <urn:uuid:73bea359-95d3-46fd-ae27-2a2ed02f66ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ancestorsoup.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981508 | 752 | 1.820313 | 2 |
20x80 Light Weight Binoculars
Submitted: Tuesday, 4th July 2006 by Malcolm Shackleton
The binoculars arrived in my sleepy little village of Wongarbon (near Dubbo, NSW) two days after shipment. They came with a soft green case, a metal tripod adapter and instructions.
My first impression was that they were truly lightweight, I was surprised at how easy they were to handheld for a while as I gave them a quick "first light" at the scenery outside my front door during the day. The image was crisp and bright but I did notice some eyestrain due to a small interocular misalignment; this was easily fixed, however, by adjusting the left setscrew above the prism housing; only a small tweak of the adjusting screw was needed to merge both images. This was done at night using a star.
For the price I did not expect the binoculars to perform as well as they did the first night out with them. I mounted them on a camera tripod and was so absorbed with the views of so many DSO's through them that I was a little late for work (I was on night shift).
Saturn's rings were easily seen even though the planet was low in the west. The disc of Jupiter was obvious and the equatorial bands could just be discerned. However, these binoculars excel at deep sky observing. Omega Centauri was partially resolved as were other prominent globular clusters appearing very grainy. The Sorpious/Sagittarius region was stunning.
I have observed with these binoculars every night possible since i've had them. About 75% of the field of view is crisp and stars are pinpoints within the usable field. Bright objects show a little bluish?violet residual chromatic abberation but this is by no means intrusive. As with all binoculars I have looked through in the past, there is a degree of spherical undercorrection though much less than I expected and quite acceptable.
The excellent images these binoculars provide are a credit to the manufacturer?? and the price,$149, is incredibly low. These binoculars actually perform better than other, more expensive instruments I have looked through in the past. I am sure the good performance is due in part to the relatively long focal ratio, approximately f/5 as compared to the usual f/3.
Numerous galaxies can be observed through the 20x80 LW's but, surprisingly, some smallish planetary nebula are within its range: NGC 5189 in Musca for instance, which one would not usually think of as a binocular object but it stands out fairly well with averted vision. The Sombrero galaxy, though tiny, could be discerned with its sombrero shape and the Dumbell nebula (couldn't they think of a better name?) was beautiful; hourglass shaped with criss cross diagonal dark lines across it.
Is there a downside to these binocs? well, yes: the centre focussing support which holds the eyepieces is a little mobile; too much eye pressure puts either eyepiece out of focus. I have found though that when observing it is best to isolate ones bod from the binocs as much as possible, rolling the eye cups back allows you to view without touching the eyepieces thus avoiding both body shake and defocussing. This method, to me, is also more comfortable.
There is also the problem of the binoculars oscillating if they are just mounted with the bracket alone, the barrels need to be supported as well to avoid this. Once again this is easily remedied by placing a bar under the barrels on a mounting plate (see pic).
In summary, the 20x80 LW binocs are excellent value for the money and are to be recommended, (though perhaps not for a beginner who should start with something like 10x50's).
Spherical and chromatic abberration, though present, are minimal and unavoidable (due to short f/ratio and the fact that prisms introduce both to an optical system to some extent).
Mounted on a camera tripod these nocs are very convenient. Just pick the whole thing up by the tripod handle and go outside; my 8" scope is now temporarily redundant.
Much more can be seen through binoculars than some magazine articles would have you believe, it just takes patience and experience, the 20x80 LW's are exceptional in this regard; no telecope can give the same perspective to observing as these binoculars can. Learning how to observe and gaining experience are just as important as the instrument itself, perhaps more so. The 20x80 LW's, to me at least, are a main instrument in their own right. Who knows, you may find they override "aperture fever".
Cheers to you all | <urn:uuid:57e6543c-0b9f-4fb7-93e3-d72804d2c370> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iceinspace.com.au/76-308-0-0-1-0.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981358 | 1,005 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Career Related Resources for Parents
Expect Job-Hunting Help, Not PlacementSome students think their career center will get them a job; in other words, place them. The Career Education Center is not a placement agency, and our Co-op Coordinators/Career Advisors are not recruiters. More realistically, working with the CEC will help in developing the skills and contacts necessary to begin a career in your students chosen major.
Expect to Be Shown, Not Told
No one can tell a student what major or career to pursue. The Career Education Center will assist students in locating information that allows them to explore majors and careers that might be a good fit.
List of companies in the area who are hiring
Your student may request a list of, say, all the companies in the area that are hiring. How could any campus career center develop such a list? The CEC offers an on-line recruitment system (TitanCareerLink) where employers post their hiring needs. Most postings are listed for at least thirty (30) days, but employers can and do post positions that expire in as little as two(2) to three (3) days.
Expect that the Staff Has Limits
While the CEC staff makes every effort to meet with students on a walk-in basis, there are times that it may be unrealistic. Therefore students may need to make an appointment to meet with their Co-op Coordinator/Career Advisor. Unfortunately, the Career Center cannot provide personal job search services. But, if your student is willing to develop a career plan and accept the assistance offered by the Career Education Center then the transition from college to work can be a success! | <urn:uuid:ccfb99f9-1aa6-4486-8785-4bb416cd4991> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.udmercy.edu/cec/parents/index_print.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96267 | 348 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The committee discussed the possibility of funding the state’s eight public universities and 15 community colleges based on performance outcomes during a meeting Thursday at the state Capitol.
In 2011, the Legislature mandated that the universities and community colleges develop plans where they would be funded – at least in part – on performance. Polk said the community college system should have its plan completed by the end of the month. He said the university system would have its proposal finished before the Legislature convenes in January.
The study is being completed against the backdrop of both systems saying they have been impacted in recent years by near- devastating cuts in state funding. In 2000, for instance, 56 percent of the universities’ funding came from state general funds and 32 percent from tuition. Now 35 percent is state funding and 59 percent is garnered from tuition.
And the community colleges are more than $180 million below mid-point funding between what the five regional universities and K-12 public schools receive per student. State law mandates the community colleges receive the mid-point funding level.
If their funding was based on performance, the schools would get more funds for producing more bachelor’s degrees at the universities or associate degrees at the community colleges. They also would receive additional funding, for instance, for job placement and perhaps even for jobs retention – if a graduate remained at a job for a specified length of time.
Currently, universities and community colleges are funded on some type of per-student formula. University of Mississippi officials have longed complained the formula underfunds them in comparison to the other seven universities.
House Universities and Colleges Chair Nolan Mettetal, R-Sardis, asked how the new outcome funding proposal would work since the schools already are underfunded.
“I hope you are talking about new money and not taking it out of our hide,” sad Eric Clark, executive director of the state Community College Board. | <urn:uuid:0582acd1-8461-4997-983d-c708e68af6bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://djournal.com/bookmark/20546458 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970381 | 389 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Rafael García Mora, SJ, Director General of ACLO, The Hunger Project's partner in Bolivia, says "The challenge will be for Bolivian women and men to make this new constitution not just a beautiful set of statements, but a foundation for building a future of justice, harmony, and progress."
Update to the Global Board (October 2008). Despite ongoing social unrest and periods of violence, ACLO forges ahead in its programmatic achievements, including the completion of the first cycle of a three-year project to create a cadre of rural and indigenous leaders with advanced skills.
As many of you know, the Bolivian people are facing the enormous challenge of forging themselves as a multicultural democracy. These include: drafting a new constitution which will ensure rights of all citizens and establishing ways for all citizens to benefit equitably from the country's natural resources. | <urn:uuid:ed72a99b-581a-4d29-bc6b-b50423ea02b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thp.org/where_we_work/latin_america/bolivia/news?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933422 | 178 | 1.757813 | 2 |
People in Grayson, Kentucky
Cost of Living,
The 2012 Grayson, KY, population is 4,217. There are 1,488 people per square mile (population density).
Family in Grayson, KY
The median age is 32.8. The US median is 37.3. 44.71% of people in Grayson, KY, are married. 12.94% are divorced.
The average household size is 2.37 people. 26.46% of people are married, with children. 17.99% have children, but are single.
Race in Grayson, KY
93.76% of people are white, 2.75% are black, 0.36% are asian, 0.36% are native american, and 2.77% claim 'Other'.
2.37% of the people in Grayson, KY, claim hispanic ethnicity (meaning 97.63% are non-hispanic).
Grayson People SperlingViews
my school: is my school [elementary] grades headstart thru 8th grade still open in Hitchins,... (read more)Have an opinion about Grayson? Leave a commentTo See All SperlingViews for Grayson Click Here | <urn:uuid:127ff324-bce4-4b7c-8537-eebc221b7f4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bestplaces.net/people/city/kentucky/grayson | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931318 | 250 | 1.523438 | 2 |
| || Yahoo Mail || Windows Live Hotmail || AOL Mail || Gmail |
| Storage || "unlimited" || 5GB (10GB)* || "unlimited" || 2.8GB+ (8.8GB+)* |
| Maximum attachment size || 10MB (20MB)* || 10MB (20MB)* || 16MB || 20MB |
Three years ago, when Gmail was launched, it offered 250 times more storage than Yahoo Mail and 500 times more storage than Hotmail.
"Google believes people should be able to hold onto their mail forever. That's why Gmail comes with 1,000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of free storage – more than 100 times what most other free webmail services offer." (from the press release)
The competing services quickly adjusted and increased their offerings. At that time, Gmail was invite-only so it couldn't capture too many users. Gmail started to be available to everyone in February, when Yahoo Mail and Hotmail already had many of Gmail features.
While Gmail still has unique features (conversations, labels, POP3, mail fetcher, unobtrusive ads, advanced search, attachment preview), it's difficult to understand why Google intentionally lost the battle of mail storage, after starting it three years ago. Maybe 2.8 GB is enough for most people or maybe the storage space isn't a distinctive feature anymore.
In a Wall Street Journal article about Yahoo's "unlimited" storage, "one Yahoo executive conceded that a main reason for the move to no limits was to eliminate the perception that Gmail still offered more storage, even though Yahoo had long since caught up."
So all these announcements about "unlimited" storage are just some marketing schemes (there's no such thing as unlimited storage). As very few people use more than 1 GB of mail storage, any webmail provider could easily replace 1 GB or 2 GB with infinite storage. But Google decided to stop playing this game and to let others implement the "Infinity+1 storage plan" (explanation: Gmail's homepage on April 1st, 2005). | <urn:uuid:d2b3f9c3-27f0-44ca-97de-cdeddbdf9f8a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/08/gmail-top-web-mail-service-with-least.html?showComment=1187291520000 | 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 | 0.94174 | 429 | 1.703125 | 2 |
What happens when you take a mouse to story time in Windham?
WINDHAM -- KIDDIE ACADEMY students know first-hand what happens when you bring a mouse to school.
Cookie Mouse, the star in a series of books by Laura Numeroff, visited the day care center as part of Storytime LIVE! at Kiddie Academy. The annual event is open to everyone and features a guest appearance from the chosen story's lead character. It grows bigger every year, said Karin Zalzal, director of Kiddie Academy of Windham.
“Adding a live visit from a character in the story really helps to make Storytime LIVE! a memorable experience for the children,” Zalzal said. “Engaging children in a group in an exciting and enjoyable educational experience lays the groundwork for a successful transition into a school setting and a lifetime love of reading and learning.”
Children prepared for their guest by decorating cookies and painting their faces to make them look like mice. While waiting, they also had the opportunity to assembly their own paper mouse and decorate backpacks.
All attention was on the door when Cookie Mouse arrived. Some children ran up for hugs, others approached with trepidation, but everyone was smiling as they sat down for story time. Stephanie CM-Berg read two stories, “If You Take a Mouse to School,” and “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”
Reading together is an important part of the educational experience, Zalzal said.
“Reading together helps prepare children for school and for life by exposing them to new ideas, new situations and new emotions in a nurturing classroom setting,” Zalzal said.
The children just know that it's fun. Cookie Mouse stayed after the story for hugs and pictures before the children escorted him out the door.
Arts & Entertainment
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Lizzie borden took an axe ... or did she?
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Londonderry Rotary to host classic car show
Just say it: Our fight is with radical Islam
State’s stand-your-ground law intact
Casino vote stirs emotions on both sides | <urn:uuid:97fea730-84f8-4752-bb10-da106162e202> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20120806/NEWHAMPSHIRE01/708069952/-1/NEWHAMPSHIRE08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946469 | 620 | 1.703125 | 2 |
I am very new to bee keeping and have been reading everything in site. I have a question reguarding this topic. Background: so my two hives were in an orange orchard for the last month in Phoenix. They had a very strong build up over 4-5 weeks ending 1 week into the opening of the blossoms. There were several differnt speicies of citrus so the bloom lasted almost one month. I pulled them out with the last blooms and when I got them home I decided to do some maintenance and another inspection. There are two deep hives and three supers. the lower two suppers are 100% full of honey the third supper is partly full of honey but completely drawn. In the uppermost brood chamber there are 4 frames of capped honey and the rest are half honey half brood with every available cell filled with nectar. In the lower brood body I found my queen and an emergency cell cap which was empty. the cap at most has been there for 1 week. It was not there in a previous inspection. I pulled the brood frames that were honey and replaced them with empty frames. I was worried about swarming with the overflowing numbers of bees but never saw a swarm cell. I also split out 4 frames for a nuc with a russian / carniolan queen. Did this avert a swarm? everything I've read leads me to belive they have not. Will they build an emergency cell and not use it? | <urn:uuid:6de9bcba-be1a-4db9-9d1a-8f31671c4fee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?266489-Factors-contributing-to-Swarms-and-Swarm-Prevention&p=867392 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980886 | 296 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Leominster Community Portal
Past Discoveries is a Genealogical and Family History Research Company offering a friendly and efficient service to those who wish to find out more about their family history. We offer a professional and quality Genealogical Research Service to our Clients throughout the UK with localised research in Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and London.
Find out where relatives died and were buried during the two World Wars - search their Register of Commonwealth forces and civilians who died.
A categorized & cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet with a list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online. A free jumping-off point for you to use in your online research.
The Federation of Family History Societies co-ordinates and assists the work of societies or other bodies interested in family history, genealogy and heraldry. The site provides a county by county alphabetical list of family history societies in England and Wales (Scotland has its own Association).
Findmypast, in partnership with the Federation of Family History Societies, publishes local parish records online, helping genealogists to delve further back in time.
The official Scottish genealogy resource - one of the largest online sources of original genealogical information. If you are researching UK genealogy, your Scottish ancestry or building your Scottish family tree, there are almost 80 million records to look through. From Scottish census records, Scottish wills, birth certificates and death certificates, a comprehensive choice of Scottish records to bring your Scotland ancestry to life.
A community site (registration is free) aiming to help family history researchers share family tree information online. It enables users to build a family tree online and share tips and techniques through messageboard area.
You can search for census, birth, marriages, death and military records.
Volunteer-run site, index to all archived paper records still available today. Info is clear and concise. Lots of other research sites link back to Genuki.
The India Office Records are the repository of the archives of the East India Company (1600-1858), the Board of Control or Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India (1784-1858), the India Office (1858-1947), the Burma Office (1937-1948), and a number of related British agencies overseas. The India Office Records are administered by The British Library as part of the Public Records of the United Kingdom, and are open for public consultation.
Quick Links to Births, Marriages & Deaths, Census Records, Divorce, Passenger Lists and Wills. Alphabetical list of Research Guides such as Admiralty Records to Titanic Passenger lists.
Parishmouse contains historical information about towns, parishes and hamlets within the UK. Parishes have easy reference facts for genealogical research giving the dates of parish registers deposited at the relevant records office together with a listing of the IGI coverage and the coverage of Boyd's and Pallot's marriage indexes. The site also includes historical illustrations and modern day photographs.
The Scottish Association of Family History Societies promotes and encourages the study of Scottish family history, and provides a forum for the exchange of information among members.
The National Archives is the official archive of the UK Government - holding 11 million records - from Domesday Book to the most recent government papers. Whatever your interests, whether professional, academic or personal, they should have documents that can help your research.
There are some 136 Army Museums and they are as varied and individual as the regiments they represent. The Army Museums' collections provide valuable insights into the great events of our military history and also illustrate the close links that have existed and continue to flourish between regiments and their local communities. As well as listing the museums, the Trust's website has a Research Section.
Extensive military collection will help you to locate your ancestors who served in World War One and World War Two. You can also search a range of historical lists and roll calls, including records for the Battle of Waterloo, as well as army BMDs (not found in the civil indexes).
IWM is a family of five museums: IWM London; IWM North in Trafford, Greater Manchester; IWM Duxford near Cambridge; the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall, London; and the historic ship HMS Belfast, moored in the Pool of London on the River Thames.
The Museum Archive manages IWM’s own administrative records, which date back to its foundation in 1917. Researchers may consult these records in the IWM London Research Room. IWM's records are public records and are generally available for research. However, some records containing personal information may have access restrictions in line with the Data Protection Act. Other, more recent, material may be subject to exemptions outlined in the Freedom of Information Act.
Holds list of all known Second World War prisoners of war and internees of all nationalities.
The Army Museums Ogilvy Trust offers advice on how to search for Army ancestors and to research into your family history and military genealogy.
The MOD Medal Office is the sole authority for the issue of medals authorised by Her Majesty to British service personnel and veterans. Th tri-service MOD Medal Office is based at Imjin Barracks, Innsworth.
MOD Reunited is independent of the Ministry of Defence and enables people to search for past friends and colleagues in all three services with whom they may have lost contact.
The National Army Museum’s study collection reflects the rich history and traditions of the British Army. Researchers can access this collection and advice on carrying out genealogical research and curatorial assistance in identifying and interpreting military artefacts is also available.
Original documents from ther archive and books from ther extensive library can be consulted in the reading room at RAF Museum London. They can provide help and advice to enquirers by post, email and telephone, but are unable to undertake detailed research on your behalf.
The Museum's research collections comprise all of the Library and manuscript collections, including that part of the Admiralty Library that was moved to Portsmouth in 1997. Images from these collections can be supplied for use in publication or private research. The Library also operates the Museum's Information Service and will reply to enquiries using these collections. A wide range of ready-prepared information sources are available and can be accessed on-line.
The Museum does not hold any service records on individuals as these are still maintained by the Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) of each regiment. Regimental photographs are also held by the RHQs. All five RHQs are based in Wellington Barracks, London - click the link for further information.
UKMFH aims to help you find out the history of your military family by linking to web sites that have online information which will help you discover what your families did and how they lived in their military life. Muster rolls, discharge papers, pension records are all valuable sources of information which can help you complete your family tree – many are now listed under UKMFH's menus along with a whole range of other types of records.
People seek Service records for a variety of reasons, some to acquire their own Service/medical records and some in connection with the growing interest in family history. Whatever the reason, obtaining copies can be a surprisingly straightforward process. The process differs, depending on whether you are requesting your own records, if you are the next of kin of a deceased Service person or if you simply have a general interest in an individual.
Contains a wealth of news stories as reported in British newspapers which might help family history research. Also books and journals and sound recordings. | <urn:uuid:2e8cc337-b8fc-4e34-8faa-b25eafd306cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://leominster.2day.ws/leominster/section/FamilyHistory/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936792 | 1,565 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Jack Shaw is one of the most knowledgeable, experienced, and dynamic speakers around on business and technology. His expertise is grounded in his real world experience as an executive for both technology solution providers and user organizations. He has also spent many years consulting to both providers and users of business technologies.
Below you will find numerous clips taken from some of Jack's best and most current presentations on a wide variety of business technology topics. But if you don't see exactly what you are looking for here, call Jack. If your need is within his wide range of expertise and experience he'll be glad to customize a program to meet that need. And if it isn't, he'll be equally glad to refer you to another world classs expert who fits your needs well.
Jack is always happy to work with you and your clients doing additional interviews and promoting events he speaks at before, during, and afterwards. Here he is interviewed the day after his very successful keynote speech to the Micro Focus Developers Conference.
Business Technology Marketer and Futurist Jack Shaw discusses the Impact of Emerging Technologies on business. He cites the example of jet air travel rapidly eclipsing the use of ocean liners for Trans-Atlantic business travel in the 1950's as a precursor to the changes information technology has made to business during the past quarter century.
Jack Shaw discusses The Evolution of Business Technology through the first four waves of business technology. These are mainframe computing, personal computers, client server and enterprise application integration, and the Internet and World Wide Web. He discusses the conditions for emergence of new waves of technology and the exponentially greater impact of each wave of technology on business and society.
Jack Shaw briefly discusses the factors driving the adoption of Mobile Commerce including increased usage of smart phone (iPhone), tablet computers (iPad), Google Wallet, and other forms of near field communications for wireless payments.
Evolution of the Role of the CIO by Jack Shaw. Jack describes how the role of the CIO is changing as a result of Cloud Computing by way of analogy to the emergence of Supply Chain Management as a manufacturing discipline in the late 20th Century.
The Great Robot Race. In this 4-1/2 minute clip, Jack Shaw describes and shows videos from one of the most fascinating applications of cognitive systems technology, and perhaps the most remarkable automobile race ever held, the DARPA Grand Challenge; and he then discusses how this technology can be applied in your business.
IBM's Watson and The Fifth Wave – Intelligent Systems by Business Technology Marketer and Futurist Jack Shaw. Jack describes the nascent emergence of the fifth and most powerful wave of business technology to date – intelligent systems. He illustrates this with a commentary on the video replay of the last few minutes of the remarkable victory in 2011 by the IBM computer Watson over the two all time human champions on the Jeopardy Challenge.
Decision Management and Intelligent Systems. Business Technology Futurist Jack Shaw defines decision management, shows how it works, and gives examples of ways in which decision management systems are changing business. | <urn:uuid:6e3a81b8-e6d5-4795-9ad6-113aa1701a7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.e-com.com/live-speaking-clips | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943024 | 614 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The White House appears to be pulling back on its comments on Obamacare, after press secretary Jay Carney today declined to even allow a question about the impact of the president’s signature legislation on the nation’s job market.
Just days earlier, Barack Obama sparked a firestorm of arguments by suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court that is considering the program’s constitutionality would not take the “unprecedented” step – even though it’s happened before – of overturning a law that was adopted by the “democratically elected” Congress. Obamacare notably passed in the U.S. House without any support from Republicans.
Les Kinsolving, WND’s correspondent at the White House and the second-most senior reporter on the beat, behind only Connie Lawn, attended today’s daily news briefing armed with the question, “What is the White House reaction to the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s statement that ‘Companies plan to pay for the health care mandate by shedding workers.’”
Instead, Carney allowed CNN to asking eight questions and Reuters and Fox to ask seven each.
He wrote about his committee’s report, “Impact of President Obama’s Health Care Law on Jobs,” which detailed the “negative impact” that Obamacare “has already had and will continue to have on job creation.”
“The reality is that the president’s partisan health care overhaul, passed without any Republican votes, is directly contributing to the nation’s unemployment problem,” Issa wrote. “As regulators busily codify rules, employers are scrambling to figure out how to survive the plethora of mandates and taxes sprinkled throughout the nearly 3,000-page law. And its worst provisions have yet to be enacted.”
He said, “The president’s health care law makes it more expensive to hire people, so businesses will hire fewer people. This is painfully clear for businesses with about 50 workers. Many of these businesses will avoid growing their labor force or cut it under 50 workers to avoid all the new federal rules and penalties.”
“If the president is serious about job creation, he would acknowledge the failure of his health care law and advocate its replacement with market-based solutions that reduce government mandates and lower the cost of health insurance to businesses,” Issa wrote.
Kinsolving also wanted to ask, “What is the White House reaction to publisher and two-time presidential candidate Steve Forbes’ prediction that an Obama re-election will lead to a new recession?”
Forbes told Newsmax that, “If Obama happens to win, I think you’ll see a market selloff. I think we’ll be on the way to another recession. And I think the markets, if they anticipate Obama will win – markets don’t wait for a bad thing to happen, they sell off before it happens.”
But Kinsolving was not allowed to ask that question, either. | <urn:uuid:d6b347e4-00b4-44e1-b5fd-b566200077bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wnd.com/2012/04/question-about-obamacares-costs-not-allowed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96092 | 644 | 1.5 | 2 |
Cabinet nod for hike in LPG cap from 6 to 9
The Election Commission has agreed for an increase in the cap of subsidised LPG cylinders from six to nine in a year.
The Election Commission has granted no objection to the government's proposal for an increase in the cap of subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders from six to nine in a year.
The decision was taken at a full commission meeting held today under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath and was communicated to the Union Cabinet, which met to take a call on the matter.
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) raised the cap on supply of subsidised LPG cylinders to nine from six per year and allowed oil companies to hike diesel prices by a "small quantum" periodically.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M Veerappa Moily said the decision to increase the number of subsidized LPG cylinders eligible for each household would come into effect from April 2013.
The government had Wednesday written to the Commission, seeking its view on the issue of raising the cap on LPG cylinders since the Model Code of Conduct is in operation in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura which are going to polls next month.
During the last phase of elections in Gujarat in December, the Commission had taken a serious note of the government's announcement regarding a possible raise in the number of subsidised LPG cylinders each family can have in a year.
The poll body had then asked the government against making any such announcement in future without its approval when the model code is in operation. | <urn:uuid:c1ceff0d-a881-4712-a893-a38d1e370d34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mid-day.com/news/2013/jan/170113-cap-on-subsidised-lpg-cylinders-to-be-hiked-from-6-to-9.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972266 | 327 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Phoenix Energy and Construction Expands Services to Include Homes Run by Non Profit Organizations
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) February 17, 2012
Phoenix Energy and Construction has qualified as a Participating Contractor in Energy Upgrade California, collaboration between the California Department of Energy and Utilities throughout the state, to reduce energy use and create a more comfortable, healthy and safe environment in homes. Homeowners can achieve up to $ 8000 in rebates and incentives to upgrade their attic and wall insulation, home heating/cooling, windows and perform weatherization. “Our goal is to optimize efficiency of the whole house where all systems work together and complement each other and this means saving money on utility bills,” says managing co-partner Clifford Wolf.
The first step in the process is to do an energy audit of the home. Phoenix Energy and Construction uses advanced technologies to obtain data that assigns values to the home’s current consumption of energy and establishes the baseline to improve from. It combines building science with raw data that is measured to computer model energy saving opportunities. Once inspected and tested, a customized report is created that highlights problem areas, prioritizes improvements and itemizes their costs. Also included is an analysis of achievable reduction of the utility bills. Recommendations, which could include Solar or Solar-thermal for hot water consumption, often result in greater then 40% energy savings.
Lawrence and Vanessa Wood, Co-Founders/CEO of the Non Profit Organization Fan of the Feather, http://www.fanofthefeather.org, wanted to assess the home they had purchased to house Veteran woman transitioning from military to civilian life. They wanted to effectively make energy improvements to the home that is planned to house eight adult women and a state of the art learning center. The existing home, built around 1980, was assessed and modeled to require attic insulation, a new home heating/cooling system, lighting upgrades and a water heater as well as reconfiguration of the garage they planned to use as the learning center. A scope of work was developed that included insulation to R38 and weatherization, a requirement in the Energy Upgrade California program. A Hydronic furnace, a solar thermal/tankless solution to address hot water consumption for eight adults every day, photovoltaic/solar system, to address the anticipated increased electric usage and a mini-split heat/AC solution for the learning center was included.
New Haven Youth and Family Services Non Profit Organization in Vista, Ca., has a mission of building positive futures for youth, their families and communities by believing in each youth’s ability to hope and plan for a better future. Doreen Quinn is CEO at http://www.newhavenyfs.org. Phoenix Energy is working with students from North County Trade Tech High School, administered by New Haven, that focuses on career oriented technical education. Eric Miller, LEED AP is the Integrated Design Instructor who teaches their Home Performance curriculum. Lamar Parks, managing co-partner at Phoenix Energy and Construction, connected with Eric and Doreen, to support this curriculum that will equip students with knowledge and skill necessary to develop a home performance workforce for our future – to achieve Net Zero Energy buildings by 2020, as mandated in Ca. AB212. “We decided to mentor the students through the whole process of Home Performance on one of the residential homes operated by New Haven”, says Parks. This involves introducing students to advanced understanding of the technical requirements for the residential energy assessment, computer modeling, presenting the energy saving opportunities to the homeowner and working on the improvements. The existing residential facility, built in 2001 to house eight students, requires a new home heating/cooling system, radiant solar barrier, weatherization and insulation to meet standards required by Energy Upgrade California and a Whole House Fan system to facilitate air exchange.
Phoenix Energy and Construction promotes its services and unique business model for Non Profit Organizations on its Home Performance Radio Show, broadcasted throughout Southern California, on KCEO AM IOOO and KSPA AM 1510, every Friday from 3-4 PM. For more information about the Company and its services throughout Southern California
visit http://www.phxenergy.info or call 1-866-429-1285.
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Related Art Press Releases | <urn:uuid:29195ee7-ff61-47dc-ba41-84b838051fbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mindsetgallery.com/art/phoenix-energy-and-construction-expands-services-to-include-homes-run-by-non-profit-organizations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948172 | 912 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Here’s a great website where you can look up medical terminology and have the definitions presented to you in a graphical associative context. Pretty snazzy.
180-degree camera * 4 = Bird’s eye view of your vehicle. Brilliant stuff. We might start seeing these in December of this year here in the U.S. I think these should be standard on all vehicles, especially SUVs.
I think the picture above pretty much sums up what this is. Yes, the green-clothed robot is anatomically correct. | <urn:uuid:3a8c530e-7a2a-41ea-b1c7-405012474f57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://morningcupojoe.com/2007/10/17/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939919 | 114 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Outdoor Water Use Eased In Monmouth County
New Jersey American Water has eased some water use restrictions imposed after a major water main break that affected thousands of residents in Monmouth County
While strongly urging customers to continue conservation efforts, the company announced Sunday that they can now use handheld garden hoses outdoors on an odd-even day basis. But lawn sprinkler irrigation system use remains mostly banned.
“The temporary piping to bypass the bridge is complete which enables us to restore the water system to near normal capacity,” said Stephen P. Schmitt, vice president of operations for New Jersey American Water in a press release. “Conservation is still critical during the current heat wave as even during normal circumstances lawn irrigation places a heavy demand on our system. It is essential that we do not exceed system capacity as customers restart their outdoor water use,”
NJAW is looking towards the next phase of the project as well. “We are also moving forward on the permanent pipelines to minimize the chance of a similar service disruption happening again,” said Schmitt.
The odd/even OUTDOOR WATERING schedule:
source: New Jersey American Water
- Handheld garden hose outdoor water use between the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on odd-numbered days of the month if your street address is an odd number (i.e., 23 Oak St., 7 Maple Ave.)
- Handheld garden hose outdoor water use between the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on even-numbered days of the month if your street address is an even number (i.e., 6 Oak St., 354 Maple Ave.)
- Watering of new sod or seed if daily watering is required (note: it is recommended that any planting of new sod or seed that has not already taken place be delayed until the fall)
- Use of private wells for irrigation
- Commercial uses of outdoor water, such as for nurseries, farm stands, power washing, plumbing and car washes | <urn:uuid:466f3111-2f30-4ec8-b3e4-ad75f4c75153> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wobmam.com/outdoor-water-use-eased-in-monmouth-county/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948264 | 442 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports: Claims by the Central Intelligence Agency’s new director-designate that the US intelligence services received ‘no information’ about any civilians killed by US drones in the year prior to June 2011 do not appear to bear scrutiny.
John Brennan, President Obama’s nominee to take over the CIA, had claimed in a major speech in summer 2011 that there had not been ‘a single collateral death’ in a covert US strike in the past year due to the precision of drones. He later qualified his statement, saying that at the time of his comments he had ‘no information’ to the contrary.
Yet just three months beforehand, a major US drone strike had killed 42 Pakistanis, most of them civilians. As well as being widely reported by the media at the time, Islamabad’s concerns regarding those deaths were also directly conveyed to the ‘highest levels of the Administration’ by Washington’s then-ambassador to Pakistan, it has been confirmed to the Bureau.
This confirmation suggests that senior US officials were aware of dozens of civilian deaths just weeks before Brennan’s claims to the contrary.
The CIA drone strike in Pakistan on March 17, which bombed the town of Datta Khel in North Waziristan and killed an estimated 42 people, has always seemed a contradiction of Brennan’s official statement.
The attack was later justified by an anonymous US official as a so-called ‘signature strike’ where the identities of those killed was unknown. They insisted that ‘a large group of heavily armed men, some of whom were clearly connected to al Qaeda and all of whom acted in a manner consistent with AQ-linked militants, were killed.’
In fact the gathering was a jirga, or tribal meeting, called to resolve a local mining dispute. Dozens of tribal elders and local policemen died, along with a small number of Taliban. [Continue reading...]
- Israel is world’s largest exporter of drones, study finds
- Autonomous drone warfare
- Will Pakistan finally stand up against illegal U.S. drone attacks?
- Pakistani authorities say CIA drone strikes have killed 896 civilians; high court accuses U.S. of war crimes
- Future drones: Micro Air Vehicles — unobtrusive, pervasive, and lethal | <urn:uuid:440ff5aa-4562-4b3e-a815-6d3ab41c238f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://warincontext.org/2013/01/09/new-questions-over-cia-nominee-brennan%E2%80%99s-denial-of-civilian-drone-deaths/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972494 | 483 | 1.59375 | 2 |
A Typical Day at Camp
Everyone wakes up in a special way, cleans their cabins, showers (either morning or night), and moseys up to breakfast, prepared by a professional food service staff of nine people. All meals are hand prepared from scratch, whole foods, and not just thawed or warmed up or opened.
Campers choose four activities the prior evening, and after breakfast they go off to their first two choices. In the afternoon, they’ll do their other two choices for that day’s clinics. In a one-week session, campers choose 20 activities in total (out of over 140). In a two-week session, campers do more than double that amount.
After those lessons and experiences, campers join up with their cabin to do an activity that the group decided on their first day at camp. Campers are greeted with the envious question, “If you could do absolutely anything . . . anything you can imagine that isn’t a clinic activity already, what would you do?” The answer to that question is magic.
Following cabin activity time is lunch, a rest period, and then the whole camp gathers for the “Camp Augusta Playstation.” Nope, not Sony, and in fact is the opposite of it. A wide variety of non-clinic/skilled options are presented via skits, that are themselves delightful and playful. Campers listen/watch the usually very silly and enthusiastic skits and then run off to join whatever option tickled their fancy that day. Every day, the options presented change -- there are over 200 options possible, and scores more are added every summer.
A snack, usually watermelon, fruit, and popcorn comes next. A time for campers to chill with one another and play some games in the dining area if they are so inspired.
Following snack, campers begin their other two activity choices of the day.
A lovely dinner follows, some chill time, and then our evening activity, which the whole camp does together. Evening activities change every day and week, but they always include a couple of campfires, and the necessary camper-prepared S’mores. Outside of campfires, evening programs are adventures to behold!!
After a very full day, everyone retires to their cabin to get ready for bed -- brushing teeth, showers, and a little chill time. Then, the cabin does “Evening Embers,” which the counselor arranges. They may include a story, discussion, or quiet activity to close out the day. These special times are something families can do at home as well, and we hope to facilitate that with these resources.
Wait, wait! One more thing . . . cabins can exit the above daily schedule if they wish, for some or all of the day. Maybe they want to spend a long afternoon at the Yuba River, or go on an overnight backpacking trip, or do a larger CAPP (service) project, or spend some time at the lake, or whatever else they can dream up! | <urn:uuid:39a410ee-baff-4bca-866a-ae70d649c01a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.campaugusta.org/Summer/Day/day.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953778 | 635 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Greetings and welcome back! I hope that all of you had a restful break. I am really excited to begin the upcoming semester. The Department of Information Technology has been working hard to improve the infrastructure and provide technology that is ubiquitous, seamless, and transparent for the CSUDH community. Outlined below are a few projects that we have been working on in the past few months.
The Instructional Technology unit has been very busy creating 20 more smart classrooms that will be brought online during the semester. With the addition of these new rooms, CSUDH will have nearly all of our classrooms technology-enhanced! This is a great accomplishment, and to my knowledge, no other CSU is near this capacity for smart rooms.
PC Power Management
We coordinated with Southern California Edison (SCE), IBM Big Fix and the Chancellor’s Office in deploying Big Fix power management software for university-owned computers. Long term power management will provide annual savings on power costs for the CSUDH campus. Through a grant, CSU Dominguez Hills will receive the basic power management software at no cost. Additional services such as remote desktop software deployment as well as asset inventory will also be supported at no cost. The estimated SCE rebate to CSUDH for this software is $36K.
Blackboard 9.1 Upgrade
We provided overall leadership in the upgrade of the Blackboard Learning Management System. This upgrade was necessary for offering our campus an Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) compliant learning management solution. This update offers wiki and blog capabilities that faculty and students have been requesting.
Green Data Center Completion
We received $118K from SCE for reducing CSUDH’s data center electrical carbon footprint through the completion of the Green Data Center project. This project facilitates cutting edge technology in the form of thin client technology as well as virtual computing lab capacity.
Faculty Digital Media Training Lab
The new Faculty Digital Media Training Lab will be in place sometime in January or February. The Instructional Technology unit has been working with Adel Van Arsdale, Dean Sandra Parham, and Network, Telecommunications, and Help Desk Services (NTHDS) to convert LIB A213 (across from the entrance to the new North Library entrance) into a faculty training lab. This will be a dedicated space for demonstration and training on a variety of classroom and learning system technologies such as Blackboard, Camtasia, Elluminate, Interview Stream, Dragon Naturally Speaking, wikis and blogs, social networking/communities of practice, audience response ("clicker") systems, interactive white boards, interactive tablets, and prototypes of other new technologies being offered that may be able to improve pedagogy, student learning and retention.
Faculty PC Rollout
The Lab and New PC Technology Group is currently rolling out 55 Windows7 laptops to faculty members in the following departments: College of Business Administration and Public Policy, College of Professional Studies, College of Arts and Humanities, and College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences. Twenty laptops have currently been rolled out. The project is scheduled for completion in June 2011.
MyCSUDH Portal Enhancement
We’ve added a "Library" tab to the MyCSUDH portal. This enhancement offers students the capability to access library resources from within the portal, making it much simpler for them. An interesting statistic on the MyCSUDH portal is that it has been accessed by 20,205 applicants, 24,111 students, 639 instructors and 212 employees over the past six months.
As you work through the semester, if you have any questions, comments, or compliments regarding information technology on campus, please do not hesitate to contact us at (310) 243-3720. | <urn:uuid:150a73ed-8dc0-4ee2-a6a4-afa027895e28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csudh.edu/infotech/ITNews/s11/CIO.shtml | 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 | 0.931394 | 758 | 1.523438 | 2 |
WSSU's Center for Community Safety Moves Toward More Problem-Solving
Alvin Atkinson, CCS director
November 8, 2011The Center for Community Safety (CCS) of Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) has recruited three new academic professionals to support its efforts to better translate research on social justice problems into more meaningful solutions for communities in North Carolina and across the country.
“We need to provide the types of interventions that get at the root causes of problems if we are to stop the cycle of issues that continue to keep our adolescents from realizing their full potential,” said Alvin Atkinson, director of the CCS. “Too often, well-intended programs have been implemented without having any reliable proof of what contributions they can make towards the outcomes that are being sought. As resources are becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain, it is imperative that we begin to rely upon data-drive collaborate research and analysis to ensure that we have the problem-solving actions in place that address the issues we have and the outcomes we desire.
“We are fortunate to have three new professionals joining us who each have a distinguished track record for measurable transformation and reform in both urban and rural neighborhoods across the nation,” Atkinson added. “This new multicultural team of established clinical and social scientists will lead our collaborative partnership toward achieving the goals of moving from dialogue to action as outlined in our 2012-2015 strategic plan.”
The new team members are: Dr. Richard Moye, Jr., research director and faculty-in-residence whose research areas include equity and excellence in public education, urban change and social policy, patterns of residential segregation and race relations; Dr. Pedro Hernandez, research and data analytics manager whose research interests include culturally adapted interventions, solution-based child welfare practices, family systems and prisoner reentry services for mothers; and Marcellete Orange, training and engagement manager whose research interests include applied community studies, community development and violence prevention.
Since 2001, the CCS has been integral in identifying and addressing serious neighborhood concerns and has provided more than $2 million in funding to local partners. These funds were used for projects such as after school programming, crime prevention and ex-offender reentry. Even though these efforts have had a positive impact on Forsyth County and other communities being served, there was a concern that there needed to be more emphasis on prevention.
“Translating research into meaningful solutions in communities has been a major challenge across the country,” Atkinson said. “While this is a frequent topic in medical sciences, it is equally an issue in the behavioral and social sciences. To discover and eliminate the underlying causes of social problems, researchers must form relationships that allow open and honest dialogue in addition to managing data sharing and data analysis. With our new efforts, we are striving to make our vision of actionable and evidenced-based community research a reality.
“The CCS certainly could not have made this investment in our commitment to bringing in the talent necessary to expand our efforts without the support of the University and particularly Dr. Charles Ford, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,” Atkinson added. “We have also benefited from the support of our funding partners, who over these 10 years have demonstrated their confidence in the CCS by their investment in our work,” Atkinson added. We are now eager to leverage and expand our efforts through their continued support as we work together on programs and practices that seek to cure the myriad of societal ills that affect our communities.”
* * *
Nancy Young Aaron Singleton
Public Relations News and Media Relations
336-750-8764 (office) 336-750-3152 (office)
336-413-1472 (mobile) 336-414-9366 (mobile) | <urn:uuid:8138d429-3fd9-45d1-8b5e-83626665bad2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wssu.edu/about/news/2011/ccsnewhires.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955028 | 781 | 1.585938 | 2 |
While consistently invoking children as justification for absurd laws with no evidential basis, politicians don't seem to be too concerned with child welfare when it interferes with other hobby horses in their portfolio.
Here's a perfect example from the Soviet Republic of Upside Down Land.
PRIMARY school children are being terrified by lessons claiming climate change will bring "death, injury and destruction" to the world unless they take action.Well that'll be the end of that, then. If there is one thing that the public will not stand for, it's children being exposed to harm or alarm. It's completely taboo these days, so it is.
Climate change as a "Doomsday scenario" is being taught in classrooms across Australia.
Resource material produced by the Gillard government for primary school teachers and students states climate change will cause "devastating disasters".
"As well as their terrible impact on people, animals and ecosystems they cause billions of dollars worth of damage to homes and other buildings," the material says.
[Australian National University's Centre for the Public Awareness of Science director Dr Sue Stocklmayer said] "To put all of this before our children ... is one of the most appalling things we can do to (them)."
"When you repeat things over and over to young people who don't have the cognitive maturity and emotional maturity to process this stuff, you end up creating unnecessary anxiety," [Psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg] said.
Federal Schools Minister Peter Garrett said the government would not stop the teaching of climate science, despite moves in Britain for the subject to be withdrawn.Don't be so silly. Children are just a political commodity, to be moved in and out of camera shot as required. Precious they may be, but dogma is valued far higher in the corridors of power.
And lo, sayeth the religion of Gaia and public health, the church is thy anvil and children merely tools. Go forth and use them to best advantage in the name of our Lords of all progressive.
Verily shall ye not falter even as they are plagued by the heebeegeebees, whosoever gives a maggot's fart about them anyway?
See also, from today's link tank, kids may be run over but never shall Maccy D's pass their lips. | <urn:uuid:03b91096-3558-46af-832e-2af418e5fdc5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dickpuddlecote.blogspot.com/2011/07/will-somebody-please-not-think-of.html | 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 | 0.956531 | 473 | 1.734375 | 2 |
At an age when most little girls are playing with dolls or trying out their mother's
lipstick, two-year-old Savanna Jackson is having her make-up done by a professional and parading on stage at beauty pageants. Her mom, Lauren Jackson, has also admitted that she gets her toddler a spray tan as part of her pageant preparation, but says it's only to stop other contestants from getting an unfair advantage.
As reported in The Sun, Jackson said she gets her daughter a monthly spray tan at a salon, after she noticed other young contestants with spray tans and felt her daughter would miss out if she didn't do the same. The process involves being sprayed with an airbrush in a special tent and evened out with a roller. Little Savanna also has her make-up professionally applied and her eyebrows neatened before competition.
This is the kind of story that makes me glad that I have a little boy, and the only things I have to worry about are things like how much mud he is getting on him, or whether he has made a hole in the knee of another pair of trousers. Jackson said her daughter enjoys pageants and everything that goes along with it, but I always question how much these things are for the children and how much of it is for the pushy parents.
It also worries me when Savanna is quoted as saying her favorite routine is swimwear. Surely, two- and three-year olds should only be in swimming costumes when they are running round at the pool or the beach, not parading up and down a catwalk.
Jackson defended her decision, saying she consulted a doctor before getting her toddler a spray tan and was told that it was perfectly safe. (Savanna's face is not sprayed because her mother is worried about her accidentally swallowing the chemicals, so her face is matched to the rest of her skin color using make-up.) She also says she draws the line at using Botox or surgery, however, is it just me? Or is that statement not particularly comforting.
Do you think toddlers are too young get a spray tan? | <urn:uuid:acaa3ee5-9262-4e91-ba19-303307d3aa83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whattoexpect.com/wom/toddler/0607/mom-gets-her-toddler-a-spray-tan-before-pageants.aspx | 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 | 0.986599 | 430 | 1.515625 | 2 |
NWU to Celebrate the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nebraska Wesleyan University will celebrate the life and contributions of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with activities planned for the week of January 16.
Faculty, staff and students will participate in the Youth Rally and March to the State Capitol. The march — sponsored by the Malone Community Center — will begin at 9 a.m. with a program at the UNL Student Union followed by the march at 10 a.m. A program at the State Capitol begins at 10:30 a.m.
On Thursday, January 19, Nebraska Wesleyan's chapel service will incorporate the theme, "Eat, Pray, Dream." The service will include guest speaker Rev. Solo Mwania, associate pastor at Lincoln City Church. Music will be provided by NWU faculty, staff and students. The service begins at 12:15 p.m. in the Sunflower Room, located on the main level of Story Student Center. The service concludes at 2 p.m.
At 7 p.m. on Thursday, NWU will host a community panel discussion, "Tolerance vs. Acceptance: Building Community in Higher Education." Panelists will include Patty Hawk, NWU communication studies professor, Alexandra Hartman, NWU senior, Miguel Ceballos, UNL sociology professor, and Jennifer Lorenzen, NWU education professor. The panel discussion will be held in Callen Conference Center, located on the lower level of the Smith-Curtis Administration Building.
The activities are sponsored by Nebraska Wesleyan's Office of Multicultural Programs and Services, Office of the President, Office of the Provost, University Ministries, IRO, and MOSAIC.
All events are free and open to the public. | <urn:uuid:b3c9e24f-4243-4d81-8ae3-a03b0a0a9bd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nebrwesleyan.edu/press-and-media/news/36426 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937745 | 369 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Fri February 10, 2012
Wilderness On A Plate: A California Chef On His Foraged Feasts
As the trend attracts more enthusiasts, home cooks are learning local botany, and high-end chefs are turning this most traditional method of gathering food into a glamorous sport.
But few American chefs take foraging wild foods quite as seriously as Daniel Patterson, of Coi restaurant in San Francisco. On any given day, he might be cooking with clams, lichen, coastal spinach, Monterey Cypress, angelica root, and forest mushrooms — all native California foods from the beaches and forests a few dozen miles from his restaurant. (In 2010, on the Cook It Raw chef trip to Finland, he cooked beets in reindeer blood.)
"There are things that have natural harmonies, so we use them together, but in pursuit of something delicious, something meaningful, and resonant," Patterson tells The Salt. His attention to the craft of foraging has earned him two highly coveted Michelin stars from some of the world's toughest food critics.
When I saw these images of Patterson's dishes at Coi, I was reminded of the striking beauty of the coast of California, where I went to college. Patterson clearly has a knack for assembling leave and flowers in way that looks like they just fell off the tree. So I decided to ask him if his food tries to recreate those landscapes on the plate.
It turns out it's a little more nuanced than that.
"We live on the coast and that's very important, because it's a place where water and earth meet," says Patterson. "I'm inspired by this place; it's something worth capturing and fixing on the plate and serving to customers.
"But we try not to be too literal, and it's really important that a dish doesn't become a geographical study. It's more about capturing a feeling, emotion, sensibility. I think the echoes of nature that come out do so kind of organically rather than through intention."
Makes sense. After all, the forest and the beach have to stop somewhere — no one really wants dirt and grit and sand for dinner. | <urn:uuid:89ca2802-3a1c-4e33-bf81-ef178dbb3ece> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wwno.org/post/wilderness-plate-california-chef-his-foraged-feasts | 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 | 0.969174 | 446 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Few people in public life have escaped as many brushes with political oblivion as Dennis Kucinich.
But the one confronting him now will tax Kucinich's political dexterity unlike any other in more than 42 years in public life.
Kucinich's history is rife with examples of surviving by being tougher, shrewder and more determined than his political foes.
That's why, in a fair fight, Kucinich had a chance of squeezing past Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the new 9th Congressional District -- a 100-mile monstrosity drawn by the Ohio General Assembly that runs along the Lake Erie shoreline from Toledo to Cleveland.
Outwitting opponents used to be a Kucinich strength -- but only if the math made sense.
And in the new 9th, the numbers just don't add up for him.
The first set of boundaries drawn by the legislature produced a congressional map that was Kucinich's friend. But what the legislature gave Kucinich in September, it took away in December.
What is now the 9th District includes about 47 percent of the territory previously represented by Kaptur, a little less than 40 percent of that previously represented by Kucinich and about 13 percent previously represented by Rep. Betty Sutton, who is running for re-election elsewhere.
Kaptur is a tough, resourceful 14-term veteran -- the longest-serving woman member of the House and one of the most popular politicians in Toledo history. Given the demographics of the new 9th, she is also the prohibitive favorite in the March 6 Democratic primary.
So, how is it that, in the span of just three months, the legislature dragged Kucinich from the political penthouse to the outhouse?
Part of what happened is Kucinich got mugged by his own party chair. Four people with firsthand knowledge of what transpired, but who declined to be identified for fear of retribution, fingered Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern as a key proponent of changing the boundaries to benefit Kaptur.
The change makes it likely that much of Greater Cleveland, the foundation of the state's Democratic base, will be represented in Congress for the next decade by someone who resides in western Ohio.
Redfern did not return a phone call. But both he and State Rep. Matt Szollosi, the assistant House minority leader, live in Northwest Ohio and are believed to covet Kaptur's seat in Congress when she leaves it. Szollosi voted for the map that shifted votes to Northwest Ohio.
Kucinich was also hurt by his lack of influential friends in Columbus. In contrast, Kaptur benefited from effective lobbying on her behalf by former Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Jim Ruvolo.
Kaptur will raise and spend more money than Kucinich. And her record of delivering for her district is one no Democratic incumbent in the state can come close to matching.
Nevertheless, Kaptur strategists have profound respect for Kucinich's political survival skills.
• In 1971, the Cleveland City Council carved Kucinich's ward into four pieces. He moved to a new ward in the Halloran Park area off West 117th Street -- and easily won re-election.
• In August 1978, Kucinich, the city's youngest mayor ever, faced a recall election. City Council voted to hold it on a Sunday, figuring black voters would go straight from church to their polling places, where they would vote to remove the mayor from office. Instead, many went straight from church to their homes. Out of more than 120,000 votes cast, Kucinich survived by 236.
• He didn't survive November 1979, when George Voinovich beat him soundly in the race for mayor. Back then, the nearly unanimous view was that Kucinich was finished. He would never hold high office again. It took the better part of two decades, but by 1996, he was all the way back -- elected to the first of eight terms in Congress.
A ninth term now looks pretty elusive. Kucinich no longer spends enough time here. He seems more interested in saving the world than in saving Cleveland.
And, frankly, I suspect that what was once a world-class political instinct has lost its edge.
Lorain, that troubled town of 64,000 about 30 miles west of Cleveland, is the battleground in the Kaptur-Kucinich contest.
If Kaptur captures about 40 percent of the vote there, Kucinich can't beat her.
On Dec. 5, President Barack Obama hosted members of Congress at the annual White House Christmas party.
Kucinich showed up with his wife, Elizabeth.
Kaptur brought Chase Ritenauer.
He's the mayor of Lorain. | <urn:uuid:1633bc6b-e740-4141-8479-6d04ec7aa6fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/01/map_shows_the_route_to_kucinic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972241 | 1,009 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Weary, I never heard or understood this word until that definite moment when as a little boy, I had to cram every stanza of an old-time hymn; ‘I heard the voice of Jesus say’. As I recall on that very good day, I was lost in the middle of too many indescribable words and even now, the word ‘weary’ still startles me like a prickly sheet in the middle of a deep sleep.
The eaglet learns to take to flight after several falls and the fiercest lioness returns to chase again and again until a prey is caught. The ways of men are quite known and the machinations of the human heart are as pronounced as the full moon in the skies of a quiet night. A walk too long may weaken the heart and a journey too far may fill the mind with anxiety. However, a dream fulfilled and a goal actualized is like the fire in the chimney of an extremely cold room that gives warmth to the frigid soul.
I watched from afar and I observed from a distance that the true and very essence of existence has been uncovered by only a select few. Those who through use and practice have learned to constantly distinguish betwixt that which is good and the unwholesome appearances of evil. One man embraces humility and he walks the dusty roads of earth in humiliation, another embraces pride and he had a terrible fall from the plinth of fame and glamor to a new height of exaltation. However, one thing remains true and two are not going to change; man is man and man can only be man.
The frailty of humanity cannot be quantified and the worries of life cannot be characterized. No one knows precisely what awaits us at the end of the road and no clairvoyant can accurately tell that which is written on the walls of tomorrow. The tides keep to rise and fall and the fortunes and misfortunes of man constantly accumulates. No doubt, there is a strong will that rules in the affairs of men and there is a small still voice that leads every listening soul.
Man is as helpless as the dry leaves that eventually falloff the trees when the wind blows and the weather rolls. Humanity will always be as needy as the cubs of a beastly cat. Nothing is ever going to change and if at all they do, they all get back the same. But there is a fountain; an ever flowing river; a place where all anchors hold in the fiery storms of life; the Master’s bosom.
Read more articles by Mobayode Akinsolu or search for articles on the same topic or others. | <urn:uuid:783e3527-2695-44f1-9b4b-112f61084ae5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=147378 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967973 | 551 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Santo's widow backs diabetes-alert dogs 'Ron would have loved'
On the second anniversary of Ron Santo's death Monday, the Cubs legend's widow says that she couldn't be more excited about "extending his legacy" by pushing a cause "Ron would have loved."
The Ron and Vicki Santo Diabetes-Alert Dog Foundation is in the final stages of becoming a nonprofit charity with a goal of helping people with diabetes buy alert dogs that could save their lives by literally sniffing out dangerous blood-sugar levels, Vicki says. In the meantime, she's hoping someone will buy one of those specially trained dogs during the auction portion of Saturday's Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fundraising 33rd annual Chance of a Lifetime Gala at Chicago's McCormick Place.
"We would love people to get in a bidding war," says Sue Samson, a trainer at Alert Service Dogs, a service in Indiana and Colorado that trains diabetes-alert dogs and has been working with Vicki. Just as dogs with keen senses of smell can be trained to sniff out drugs and bombs or find human remains, dogs can be trained to detect the chemical changes that occur in the body of someone with diabetes, Samson says.
Ron and Vicki Santo had never heard of such dogs, but they saw evidence of that power in their own pet near the end of Santo's life, Vicki says.
"The dog we had, Joker, was the most timid dog, and Ron was such a big presence," Vicki says. The Hall of Fame baseball player could get very excitable during his color commentary on the WGN radio broadcasts of Cubs games. Ron Santo's big personality and gesticulations continued long after a game and often scared Joker, who had no special training.
"He would talk about that dog on the air," Vicki remembers. "He'd say, 'This dog hates me.'"
People told Ron that "when you bring home the game, you should just go in the closet with a glass of wine," Vicki says with a chuckle. Then one day Joker helped save Ron's life.
"I was in the basement, and Joker came and got me," Vicki says, explaining how the dog wouldn't leave her alone until she followed Joker into a bedroom where she found Ron unable to get off the bed because his blood sugar was so low. While the body odor is unnoticeable to the human nose, a trained dog can detect a change in blood sugar and alert the owner as much as 30 minutes before a glucometer medical device would warn of danger, says Vicki, who figures Joker must have had some innate abilities along those lines.
The winning bidder at the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation auction will be matched with an 8-week-old puppy that will require more than a year of training at a cost of about $20,000, says Samson.
"We don't just take any dog and see if they can do this," Samson says, adding that dogs bred for working, such as border collies and retrievers, generally make the best scent dogs.
Nash, a Labrador retriever matched to a 10-year-old boy named Cody in Alabama, recently went beyond the call by barking out the danger to a younger student recently diagnosed with diabetes, Samson says.
"The kids were at lunch, and Cody's dog was taking a rest when the dog started alerting," Samson says. "As it turns out, he was alerting on a child in the classroom across the hall."
Vicki says she loves that story.
To find out more about the foundation auction, visit jdrfillinois.org. You can find out more about the dogs by visiting alertservicedogs.com or calling (800) 518-1810.
"It gives the kids (with diabetes) a kind of power," Vicki says. "Other kids are like, 'Wow. That dog is so cool.'"
Children with diabetes sometimes are shy and hesitant to participate in sports and other activities because they worry about how their blood-sugar levels might change, Vicki says. A dog could give them confidence.
"The kids are not afraid because they know they are being watched," Vicki says.
While Ron Santo was dedicated to helping researchers find a cure, anything that helps people with diabetes avoid some of the issues Santo endured during his life would make her late husband happy, Vicki says.
"He loved dogs," Vicki say. "I think he would have been so proud to share the knowledge of what these dogs can do."
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Bush Signs Away Our Civil Liberties
It's hard to imagine anything more undemocratic than a presidential signing statment -- wherein the commander-in-chief appends language to the bill he's just signed exempting the executive branch from following various of its dictates -- but the president's latest is truly an Orwellian masterwork. Appended to the innocous sounding Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which the president signed into law before the holidays, the statement gives the Bush adminstration the authority to open your mail without first obtaining a warrant under "exigent circumstances." As the New York Daily News reports today, "that claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed."
Most of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act deals with mundane reform measures. But it also explicitly reinforced protections of first-class mail from searches without a court's approval.
Yet in his statement Bush said he will "construe" an exception, "which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection in a manner consistent ... with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances."
Bush cited as examples the need to "protect human life and safety against hazardous materials and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."
White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore denied Bush was claiming any new authority.
"In certain circumstances - such as with the proverbial 'ticking bomb' - the Constitution does not require warrants for reasonable searches," she said.
Bush, however, cited "exigent circumstances" which could refer to an imminent danger or a longstanding state of emergency. | <urn:uuid:ee70024c-11bc-4806-9bf4-3f347c745364> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2007/01/bush-signs-away-our-civil-liberties | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945195 | 326 | 1.5 | 2 |
WASHINGTON — Lower turnout despite long lines. Puerto Rico chooses statehood. A podiatrist heads to Capitol Hill. And one state will send only women to Congress.
These are some of the surprises and firsts that have emerged, along with vote tallies, after Tuesday's election.
Scenes of voters standing in long lines at polling places around the country were prominent in news coverage of Election Day. But initial counts show that voter turnout this year was actually down from 2008, and, in many states, since 2004. Overall turnout for Tuesday is pegged at about 60 percent — the same as it was in 2004. In 2008, it was 62 percent.
New Hampshire will make history by having an all-female congressional delegation, as well as a female governor to boot. The U.S. senators for the New England state will be Republican Kelly Ayotte and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. The state's two U.S. House representatives will be Democrats Carol Shea-Porter and Ann Kuster. Ruling the statehouse will be Democrat Maggie Hassan. Ayotte and Shaheen will join 18 other women U.S. senators — another record.
What ranks as one of the most overlooked developments of the election: Puerto Rico voted to become the 51st state. The decision is nonbinding and would require final approval from Congress, which may be reluctant to grant statehood. (The District of Columbia has been trying for years to win statehood, to no avail.) Puerto Ricans do have a powerful ally in their corner, though. President Barack Obama has said he would support statehood if that is what Puerto Ricans want.
Pollsters and pundits no doubt were stunned by the accurate predictions of FiveThirtyEight blogger Nate Silver, who didn't back down from his pre-Election Day assertion that the Obama-Romney race was far from a tossup or neck-and-neck, even after he was besieged by blowback from pundits and accusations of partisan reporting.
The statistics nerd crunched mounts of polling data with an algorithm to make his own prediction on The New York Times-licensed blog, saying it was about the numbers and not his politics.
Turns out Silver was dead on, and he'd have won a $2,000 bet with MSNBC "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough, who derided Silver as a joke. But turns out Scarborough didn't take Silver up on the wager, the winnings of which were to go to the Red Cross.
One Capitol Hill couple are both out of jobs. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, a California Republican best known for once being married to pop singer Sonny Bono, and Rep. Connie Mack IV, a Florida Republican best known for being the great-grandson of baseball Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack, both lost their races. The missus was defeated for re-election and the mister lost his bid for the U.S. Senate.
A notable winner: Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a Tennessee Republican and pro-life doctor, who made recent headlines for having affairs a dozen years ago with at least two patients and for pressing one of the women to get an abortion. He easily defeated his Democratic opponent by a double-digit margin.
Proposition 37 in California, which, if passed, would have required labeling of all genetically modified foods, was defeated 46.9 percent to 53.1 percent. Chemical companies and major processed-food producers outspent groups focused on sustainable food policies in the battle for public opinion.
Montana voters overwhelmingly passed an initiative stating that corporations do not have constitutional rights, in a move to repudiate the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling that opened the door to billions of dollars of campaign donations into the costliest election season of all time.
In another historical footnote, Republican Dr. Brad Wenstrup handily won a Cincinnati district to become the first podiatrist ever to serve in Congress, according to the American Podiatric Medical Association. He's an Army reservist who served as a surgeon in Iraq. | <urn:uuid:89272647-192b-43b6-8c84-d72f8d185cc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/nov/08/election-full-of-surprises-a-few-firsts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974952 | 833 | 1.570313 | 2 |
"Rutting activity begins in October and increases in intensity as hormone levels rise in the deer," he explained. "Rutting intensity increases fairly quickly and peaks around the second week of November, typically Nov. 10-15. That's when hormone levels are at their highest and breeding activity is at its peak here in West Virginia."
Foster said hunters already are seeing signs that the rut is in its early stages.
"We've been getting reports from hunters seeing scrapes made by bucks," he said. "That's a definite sign the early rut is starting."
Day length dictates when the rut begins, but Foster said weather sometimes affects its intensity.
"Nice crisp, cold nights where the temperature drops below freezing will often help increase buck activity," he said. "When you have weather with 70-degree days and mild nights, bucks are less active."
Even though trophy bucks are easier to kill during the rut, Foster believes this year's edition of that annual phenomenon "will probably be more challenging for archery hunters overall."
"Typically, when you have very good oak mast conditions, deer are more dispersed and more difficult to pattern," he explained. "This is a year when white oak and chestnut oak are pretty abundant. Hunters are reporting that they saw deer in the field in September but aren't seeing them now.
"That's because the acorn drop has occurred. Deer have moved out of the fields and are now in the woods feasting on acorns."
Foster said hunters who hope to succeed during the rut should do some careful scouting.
"First, hunters should look for an area that has good scrape activity," he said. "Scrape activity indicates that bucks are using the area. Find some good scrapes that have a good food source nearby, and you've probably found a good area to hunt."
Reach John McCoy at johnmc...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1231. | <urn:uuid:9d016da6-84ed-4b44-b02a-507e0f3a5251> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wvgazette.com/Outdoors/201210270113?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977536 | 406 | 1.828125 | 2 |
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