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Will Litigation over Playground Injuries Create a Generation of Neurotics?
Posted Nov 20, 2012 9:56 AM CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The argument goes this way: Litigation and strict safety standards are making playground equipment so safe that kids never learn to take healthy risks, making them more susceptible to anxiety, phobias and neuroticism.
The Wall Street Journal makes the connection in an article chronicling research on outdoor play and featuring new playground equipment designed to look risky, even if it isn’t. The story quotes Ellen Sandseter, an associate professor at Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education in Norway, who believes eliminating risky play could increase neuroticism and phobias.
"It's important that play environments are as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible," Sandseter says. She added that broken arms and legs shouldn’t be considered serious injuries.
Among the studies supporting risky play:
• A study in Norway found that children who never climb trees are more likely to develop a fear of heights.
• A study in the journal Pediatrics found that strict safety standards in day-care centers discouraged kids from playing.
• Disadvantaged youths given more free play time had fewer work suspensions and arrests in their 20s than kids allowed little free play.
Some playgrounds are adding new equipment that increases the perception of risk, including: playground zip lines that are just a few feet off the ground, a 30-foot high pyramid of climbing nets that limits falls to six feet, and a cradle nest swing that holds several kids at once.
Hat tip to Pat’s Papers. | <urn:uuid:96ab84a1-7682-458a-87e0-e19345053bb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/will_litigation_over_playground_injuries_create_a_generation_of_neurotics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948981 | 338 | 2.625 | 3 |
The Department of Transport received a rude awakening last year when in August the Competition Commission released its Emerging Thinking report as part of its market reference inquiry into BAA. This inquiry, due to be completed in the next few weeks, has, as its focus, whether the ownership by BAA of two airport clusters, one around London and the other in central Scotland, has an adverse effect on competition. The Commission’s initial conclusion, since reinforced in its preliminary report, was that there was such an effect and that the economy would be better served by a more competitive structure requiring BAA to divest itself of 3 of its 7 airports. But, another, less expected, conclusion was that the Department itself had muddied the waters of competition.
It had done so by trying to pick winners in its 2003 White Paper, The Future of Air Transport. The purpose of the White Paper was to provide a policy framework for planning airport expansion projects and to guide decisions on future planning applications. It still remains the point of reference for UK airport policy. But what the government failed to come to terms with at the time was that the airport industry is for the most part privately owned and operated, competitive, successful and driven by commercial imperatives.
We now know from “restricted” papers, released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, that work leading up to the White Paper planned privately-owned airports in astonishing detail and sought to second guess commercial decisions. For each major UK airport, bureaucrats considered design issues even down to the best way to provide additional stands for parking aircraft. Understandably, the Competition Commission found it difficult to reconcile government policy that supported specific developments and, in some cases, a preference for their timing, with the responsibilities of the commercial airport operators. It also noted that there must be a risk that the Department’s proclivities “…may not reflect market developments and customer requirements” (236).
The biggest winner from the 2003 White Paper’s endorsement process was Stansted Airport in Essex, which for decades has been favoured by governments. Chosen as a site for London’s “third” airport in 1985, with the Department’s encouragement Stansted was expanded too rapidly and wasted capacity was filled only by the advent of the low-cost airline business model. Airlines like Ryanair and easyJet were encouraged by very low charges, effectively underwritten by Heathrow, to use Stansted. But once the airport regulator, the CAA, had in the same year as the publication of the White Paper pulled the plug on BAA’s ability to cross-subsidise, the difficulties of producing an adequate return on Stansted’s capital emerged. The Department, seemingly blind to commerce, was not to be deterred. The White Paper’s most significant announcement was that the government supported the development of a second runway at Stansted: it added: “[w]e expect it could be completed by around 2011 or 2012″.
The White Paper’s treatment of London Luton Airport, Stansted’s nearest competitor, stands in marked contrast to that of Stansted and provides an example of what the Competition Commission may have had in mind when it referred to the White Paper’s distorting effect on competition. The Paper was at best lukewarm about Luton’s prospects; the airport operator had included in its consultation response to the White Paper a proposal for a second runway but the White Paper categorically stated that it did not support this proposal. The reason for this lack of support was that, in contrast to its upbeat view of Stansted’s prospects, it doubted that prospective market growth would be strong enough at Luton to support such investment in the near future adding, parenthetically, that extensive transport infrastructure investment might be needed. How times have changed.
The last two years have seen a major slump in Stansted’s air traffic; passenger numbers have now fallen for 15 consecutive months and January figures are down by nearly a fifth on what they were in the same month two years ago. A decline is, of course, to be expected in the current economic circumstances but the reversal of passenger numbers at Stansted started well before the UK economy went into recession. Meanwhile, at Luton passenger numbers have boomed; so much so that during the first 11 months of last year (the period for which final figures are currently available) Luton saw the largest absolute increase in passenger numbers of any UK airport. In fact, if we project forward recent trends, Luton would have more passengers than would Stansted by the time of the expected opening date for the latter’s second runway (now pushed back to 2017).
Luton Airport’s excellent performance may reflect in part its equally excellent road and rail connections. It is linked to the newly widened M1 motorway, it has direct rail connections from Luton Airport Parkway station to St Pancras (with the fastest trains taking only 20 minutes, half the time taken to reach Stansted from its London terminus) and it has direct services (using Thameslink) to Surrey and Sussex. Later this year connections to Kent will be transformed with the start of high-speed domestic rail services that will make use of the Channel Tunnel rail link to access St Pancras.
Perhaps the time has now come for the government to align its airport policy with both market forces and the specific employment needs of Luton’s economy, partly dependent still on a motor industry facing structural decline (IBC Vehicles the van maker is a major employer). The government could do this by stating that it would also support market-led expansion at Luton Airport including, if the operator considered it necessary, a runway realignment to increase capacity or even a second runway, and that it stands ready and willing to facilitate the removal of what is probably the major impediment to further investment, the short outstanding term left on the operator’s lease. Doing these things would then place Luton on an equal footing with Stansted and would probably go far to ease concerns that the government, by favouring certain airports, is undermining a competitive market.
David Starkie is the author of Aviation Markets: Studies in Competition and Regulatory Reform. | <urn:uuid:d8bcb092-03a6-4a6b-b971-31759e532d06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iea.org.uk/blog/airports-policy-backing-the-wrong-horse | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973365 | 1,270 | 1.554688 | 2 |
While your doctor should determine the most appropriate care for your conditions, it is important to manage oral biofilm (oral bacterial communities) daily because bacteria are constantly introduced into the mouth. The goal of the Perio Protect Method™ is to promote lasting oral health without requiring repetitive invasive procedures.
Brushing and flossing continue to be important, but even with standard homecare, 80% of Americans have some form of gum disease and need more help. Gum disease has been linked to serious systemic illnesses. Treatment is important.
Schedule an appointment with a dentist today so that a treatment plan can be developed just for you. | <urn:uuid:cd27d67a-12e4-48d8-939c-c96e32f98397> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.perioprotect.com/isItRight.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950296 | 126 | 1.734375 | 2 |
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An educational workshop at the Cleveland County Animal Shelter on April 17 will help shelters address North Carolina’s recent widespread distemper virus outbreak.
“The Humane Society of the United States is pleased to be able to provide free training to help these shelters get through the distemper outbreak and properly manage disease control in the future,” said Kim Alboum, North Carolina state director for The Humane Society of United States, which is co-hosting the event with the North Carolina Animal Federation. “Many of our shelters struggle due to budget cuts, pet overpopulation, limited resources, and aging facilities. This training will help address some of their most pressing issues.”
Several North Carolina counties reported distemper virus outbreaks this year. The disease is easily preventable through vaccination.
“The timing of this training is critical as several counties in North Carolina have recently experienced outbreaks of distemper in their shelters,” said Shelly Moore, NCAF officer and president and CEO of the Humane Society of Charlotte. “Animals are coming in unvaccinated from the community and the shelters are left with managing the disease the best that they can. NCAF wants to reach out and provide some useful tools to these groups to assist them in better dealing with this crisis.”
Learn more about distemper and be sure your dog's vaccinations are current! | <urn:uuid:eb740036-de2b-489f-8824-fb3d67853ac7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.therainforestsite.com/clickToGive/ars/article/HSUS-offers-free-training-for-shelters-in-North-Carolina895 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958491 | 293 | 2.359375 | 2 |
From In Defense of
Last week we told you about our lawsuit in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the National Park Service (NPS) from killing over 100 white-tailed deer in Rock Creek Park in Washington D.C. Rock Creek Park is a refuge of natural beauty nestled in the nation's bustling capital.
As a result of IDA's lawsuit, filed with several D.C. residents, the NPS agreed to drop its plans to use sharpshooters to bait and kill deer in Rock Creek Park. Instead, the NPS agreed to not kill any deer pending the Court's resolution of our claims, and asked the Court to rule on the matter by March 15, 2013.
The NPS plan called for luring hungry deer with food and then shooting them with high-powered rifles. In areas close to homes, the deer would be killed with crossbows and arrows, which can result in a slow and painful death. Since the plan is dependent upon winter weather for scarce food supply and easy visibility when the leaves are off the trees, a postponement to March 15 will likely delay any plans to kill deer for at least a year.
Our suit alleges that by choosing to kill native wildlife for the first time since the park was established in 1890, NPS is violating the law that created the park, which requires NPS to preserve wildlife in their "natural condition, as nearly as possible." We expect that the NPS' decision to kill half of Rock Creek Park's 313 deer will be declared unlawful and stopped permanently. In the meantime, none of the 157 deer slated for death by gunfire or arrows will be killed. | <urn:uuid:5947ff4c-c3dd-4662-bd4f-25360c632402> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://all-creatures.org/articles/ar-ida-lawsuit-stalls.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965364 | 338 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Where Are the Black Gay Men?
Even on Black AIDS Awareness Day, Black Gay Men Remain on the Margins
February 19, 2009
Two weeks ago individuals and organizations across the nation marked National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Judging by many of the articles, press releases and events commemorating the day, however, you might never guess that the highest percentage of new HIV infections in 2006 was among black gay men.
Why, even on a day dedicated to black AIDS awareness, do black gay men remain a footnote?
"It's symptomatic of the problem we face of ridding our community of HIV in order to break the back of the epidemic," said Ernest Hopkins, policy director of the Black Gay Advocacy Coalition. "The most heavily impacted population by percentages is black gay men. If you want to talk about this epidemic you have to start there, and then move very quickly to black women, or you're not doing your job."
Two events that got advocates talking were the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA)'s forums in New York and in Washington, D.C. (the latter included black ministers from the D.C. area).
The New York forum extensively covered women, incarceration and drug use, while gay men and homosexuality were mentioned in passing and only as they related to women being infected by men who have sex with men. The theme of the BLCA event was "HIV/AIDS and Black Women," but the question remains why, on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, one of the highest profile African-American groups failed to address the most-affected black demographic.
"A lot of us left the session angry and we weren't sure why," said Kristin Goodwin, Housing Works Director of New York Policy and Organzing. "There was nothing wrong on the surface, but it was distressing the way the event made women seem like victims and didn't even account for gay men who don't have sex with women."
NBLCA President C. Virginia Fields told the Update that her speech at the event was intended to be broad-based. "I was focused on the community. I think when you talk about the disease, you talk about all people," she said, adding that there was particular focus on women and children because "that's the population I find often does not get mentioned." Fields also said that "it's crucial that black gay men be part of the conversation not just around AIDS, but making homophobia unacceptable."
Another Black AIDS Day dust-up involved Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), which solicited its board member, ER star Gloria Reuben, to write an op-ed for Huffington post about AIDS in the black community and the need for comprehensive sex education.
People were upset because Reuben didn't mention gay men, or men period, in her piece.
"HIV/AIDS in this country is a man's disease -- about ¾ of the epidemic -- most of which is among gay men of all races, and particularly among gay black men and gay Latino men. Not mentioning this fact in one sentence, or even a phrase, is absolutely unacceptable," Jim Pickett of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago wrote in a message to the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership (FAPP) listserv.
SIECUS Vice President of Policy Bill Smith responded to the feedback that Reuben couldn't be expected to speak for everyone, particularly in one 800 word op-ed. "She does mention homophobia specifically as a major issue. As per usual, we cannot and should not rely on a single voice to carry every angle of every message so we hope others can add their voices as well to these very important matters," Smith wrote in a message on the FAPP listserv.
By the Numbers
Black gay men and black heterosexual women are at greatest risk for getting HIV. According to statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of the 27,107 reported HIV infections among African-Americans in 2006, 42 percent were among men who have sex with men and 26 percent were among women who have sex with men. (The remaining third was intravenous drug users and men who have sex with women).
Things were worse for black gay men than for gay men of other races, too. In 2006, black men between the ages of 13 and 29 accounted for more new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men than any other race or age group (young gay and bisexual men is the only category where new infections continue to rise).
"Given the news of 2008, HIV among black gay men is all we should have heard about on Black AIDS Awareness Day," said Kai Wright, publications editor for the Black AIDS Institute. The Institute released a report on Black AIDS Awareness Day with a section dedicated to black gay men called "Black Gays in Urgent Need."
All these stats are not to suggest that the epidemic among black women does not deserve urgent attention. While it is crucial to talk about black women being infected, many say that this is done at the expense of talking about gay men who are not having sex with women.
Charles Long, an advocate with the New York City AIDS Housing Network, said that on Black AIDS Awareness Day -- and every day -- when talking about AIDS in the black community, he often sees "homophobia addressed very generally." He says this general approach to homophobia happens in many black churches and homes but is particularly distressing when organizations that purport to address the issue won't explicitly talk about helping black gay men.
"Even this community that claims to be doing something is still not talking about black gay men," Long said. "We're willing to mention them but we always want to swing the conversation back to women. We need black men to confront institutions that need to analyze how they confront program efforts and treatment efforts."
Kenyon Farrow, national public education director at Queers for Economic Justice and policy fellow at the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, agreed.
He said, as an example, that when the Black AIDS Institute was presenting its report on AIDS in Black America at the International AIDS Conference in August, journalist after journalist prefaced questions in regard to men who have sex with men with the phrase, "I'm not talking about gay and bisexual men."
"There is sort of an inability and a resistance to talk specifically about black gay men and trans women," Farrow said.
This inability only compounds the problems of homophobia affecting black gay men that lead to HIV and other problems. "People gloss over gay men period. That's one of the driving factors in this epidemic. Anything considered gay is considered white. The underlining factors really are social factors. Someone who feels they don't exist will do things that people do when they feel invisible," said Toku Osubu, executive director of Gay Men of African Descent.
What's Being Done
There are numerous efforts nationwide to stop HIV in the black gay community. Gay Men of African Descent has a campaign to address stigma and discrimination, and are working with service providers to confront homophobia among black gay men.
Hopkins said that his group, founded in 2006 by longtime gay black advocates, has been working with public officials at the CDC, Substance and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health to promote research into what fuels the AIDS epidemic among black gay men.
The Black AIDS Institute's next major report is going to be about black gay men. One of the problems is that research takes a while to spurn action. "A lot of the work that needs to be done to get on the ground now would have been had to be done by the NIH ten years ago," Hopkins said.
Long and other younger advocates are working to try to build leadership opportunities for young black gay men, so they have more opportunities to have voices in this discussion. "There's no real transition of power to young men of color," Long said.
Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness and Information Day, February 7, 2009
This article was provided by Housing Works. It is a part of the publication Housing Works AIDS Issues Update. Visit Housing Works' website to find out more about their activities, publications and services.
Add Your Comment:
(Please note: Your name and comment will be public, and may even show up in
Internet search results. Be careful when providing personal information! Before
adding your comment, please read TheBody.com's Comment Policy.) | <urn:uuid:0178208c-3864-4c8a-a691-6c3e8a95806c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/content/art50605.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969902 | 1,734 | 2.15625 | 2 |
The median price paid for a home in San Diego County in July rose to four-year high. That number? According to the latest numbers from DataQuick, the median price was $342,000.
Here are the Top 20 Hottest Zip Codes in SD, as ranked by highest percentage increase in median home price.
Why do experts say median prices increased in theses areas?
The main factors attributed to the growth are…
- Foreclosed properties, which tend to sell at a steep discount, comprised a smaller part of the overall sales mix, lifting the median price.
- Home foreclosure activity in California has fallen to five-year lows, easing concerns there might be a flood of distressed sales to slow or even reverse the housing market’s recovery.
- DataQuick said homes that were foreclosed upon in the previous year accounted for 21 percent of existing-home sales in Southern California last month, down from 32.6 percent a year earlier.
- Tightening supplies also drove prices higher, San Diego-based DataQuick said.
- Sales were most robust in the price range between $300,000 and $800,000, gaining 22 percent, while sales of homes above $800,000 rose 7.2 percent
- Less expensive inland areas also saw sales grow, but the increases were more modest. Riverside County sales grew 7.8 percent from last year, while San Bernardino County sales climbed 2.4 percent.
Take a look at this graph showing the July 2012 Real Estate Trends for San Diego County. Traditional home sales have increased since the beginning of the year, while REOs have declined.
With home prices looking stronger and inventory at a low, many real estate agents report that they are experiencing and increase of multiple-offer scenarios. To best serve their clients, agents look for buyers who have a cash offer or have been pre-approved for a home loan.
If you or one of your clients would like a Samuel Scott Financial Group Mortgage Advisor to review your buying power, let us know. We can help you with a pre-approval letter that lets sellers know you are qualified to purchase their home. | <urn:uuid:aa518855-0c4b-4e32-b1f4-b4c18cceb368> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.samuelscottfg.com/the-20-hottest-san-diego-zip-codes-for-july-2012-by-home-prices | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963484 | 436 | 1.546875 | 2 |
history of The Krays has fascinated collectors for decades. RARE AND SIGNED
neither condone nor have opinion on the history of The Krays. Items available
for sale by The Krays are offered as pieces of ephemera for their historical value.
original KRAYS owned or hand written items are seldom seen nowadays, let alone
those coming direct from them personally. Here at RARE AND SIGNED we have a collection
of almost 100 individually hand written and signed original letters with
accompanying envelopes and
correspondence between the Krays along with other personal affects from The
CLICK HERE for a small
selection of the rarer pieces we have on offer from both Ronnie & Reggie
email info@rareandsigned for information on the full collection available for
sale including handwritten letters from just £30 each.
"Reggie" Kray (24 October 1933 - 1 October 2000) and his twin brother
Ronald "Ronnie" Kray (24 October 1933 - 17 March 1995) were the
foremost perpetrators of organised crime in London's East End during the 1950s
and 1960s. Ronald, commonly referred to as Ron or Ronnie, most likely suffered
from paranoid schizophrenia.
The Krays were involved in armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, violent
assaults including torture and the murders of Jack "The Hat" McVitie
and George Cornell. As West End nightclub owners, they mixed with prominent
entertainers including Diana Dors, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and politicians.
The Krays were highly feared within their social environment, and in the 1960s
they became celebrities in their own right, being photographed by David Bailey
and interviewed on television.
They were arrested on 9 May 1968 and convicted in 1969 by the efforts of a
squad of detectives led by Detective Superintendent Leonard "Nipper"
Read, and were both sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ronnie remained in Broadmoor Hospital until his death on 17 March 1995, but
Reggie was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2000, eight
weeks before his death in October from cancer.
The Kray twins became famous locally for their gang and the mayhem they caused.
They narrowly avoided prison several times and in early 1952 they were called
up for National Service with the Royal Fusiliers. They deserted several times,
each time being recaptured. When Inspector Leonard "Nipper" Read of
Scotland Yard was promoted to the Murder Squad, his first assignment was to
bring down the Kray twins. It was not his first involvement with Reg and Ron;
during the first half of 1964 Read had been investigating their activities, but
publicity and official denials surrounding allegations of Ron's relationship
with Boothby had made the evidence he collected useless. Read tackled the
problem of convicting the twins with renewed activity in 1967, but frequently
came up against the East End "wall of silence", which discouraged
anyone from providing information to the police. Nevertheless, by the end of
1967 Read had built up evidence against the Krays. There were witness
statements incriminating them, as well as other evidence, but none added up to
a convincing case on any one charge.
1968 the twins used a man named Alan Bruce Cooper who hired and sent Paul Elvey
to Glasgow to buy explosives for rigging a car bomb. Elvey was the radio
engineer who put Radio Sutch, later renamed Radio City on the air in 1964.
Police detained him in Scotland and he confessed he had been involved in three botched
murder attempts. However, this evidence was weakened by Cooper, who claimed to
be an agent for the United States Treasury Department investigating links
between the American mafia and the Kray gang. The botched murders were his
work, in an attempt to pin something on the Krays. Read tried using Cooper, who
was also being employed as a source by one of Read's superior officers, as a
trap for Ron and Reg, but they stayed away from him.
a Scotland Yard conference decided to arrest the Krays on the evidence already
collected, in the hope that other witnesses would be forthcoming once the Krays
were in custody. On 8 May 1968, the Krays and 15 other members of their
"firm" were arrested. Many witnesses came forward now that the Krays'
reign of intimidation was over, and it was relatively easy to gain a
conviction. The Krays and 14 others were convicted, with one member of the firm
being acquitted. One of the firm members that provided a lot of the information
to the police was arrested yet only for a short period. Out of the 17 official
firm members, 16 were arrested and convicted. The twins' defence, under their
counsel John Platts-Mills, QC, consisted of flat denials of all charges and the
discrediting of witnesses by pointing out their criminal past. The judge, Mr
Justice Melford Stevenson said: "In my view, society has earned a rest
from your activities." Both were sentenced to life imprisonment, with a
non-parole period of 30 years for the murders of Cornell and McVitie, the longest
sentences ever passed at the Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court, London) for
murder. Their brother Charlie was jailed for 10 years for his part in the
August 1982, under tight security, Ronnie and Reggie Kray were allowed to
attend the funeral of their mother Violet, who had died of cancer the week
before, but they were not allowed to attend the graveside service at Chingford
Mount cemetery in East London where their mother was interred in the Kray
family plot. The service was attended by celebrities including Diana Dors and
underworld figures known to the Krays.The twins did not ask to attend their
father's funeral when he died seven months later in March 1983: this was to
avoid the publicity that had surrounded their mother's funeral.
was eventually once more certified insane and lived the remainder of his life
in Broadmoor Hospital, Crowthorne, dying on 17 March 1995 of a massive heart
attack, aged 61. His funeral on 29 March 1995 was an enormous event with people
lining the streets.
was a Category A prisoner, denied almost all liberties and not allowed to mix
with other prisoners. However, in his later years, he was downgraded to
Category C and transferred to Norfolk's Wayland Prison.
officials at Broadmoor Hospital discovered a business card of Ron's, which
prompted an investigation that revealed the twins – incarcerated at separate
institutions – along with their older brother, Charlie, and another accomplice
who was not in prison, were operating a "lucrative bodyguard and
'protection' business for Hollywood stars". Documents released under
Freedom of Information laws revealed that officials were concerned about this
operation, called Krayleigh Enterprises, but believed there was no legal basis
to shut it down. Documentation of the investigation reveals Frank Sinatra hired
18 bodyguards from Krayleigh Enterprises in 1985
incarceration, Reggie became a born again Christian. After serving more than
the recommended 30 years he was sentenced to in March 1969, he was finally
freed from Wayland on 26 August 2000, at almost 67-years-old. He was released
on compassionate grounds as a result of having inoperable bladder cancer. The
final weeks of his life were spent with his wife Roberta, whom he had married
while in Maidstone prison in July 1997, in a suite at the Townhouse Hotel at
Norwich, having left Norwich hospital on 22 September 2000. On 1 October 2000,
Reggie Kray died in his sleep. Ten days later, he was buried alongside his
brother Ronnie, in Chingford cemetery.
brother Charlie Kray was released in 1975 after serving seven years, but
returned to prison in 1997 for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine worth £69m in an
undercover drugs sting. He died of natural causes in prison on 4 April 2000,
six months before Reggie's death.
then had a turf war with Islington's then infamous criminal twins, Brendan and
1960s, they were widely seen as prosperous and charming celebrity nightclub
owners and were part of the Swinging London scene. A large part of their fame
was due to their non-criminal activities as popular figures on the celebrity
circuit, being photographed by David Bailey on more than one occasion; and
socialised with lords, MPs, socialites and show business characters such as the
actors George Raft, Judy Garland, Diana Dors, Barbara Windsor and singer Frank | <urn:uuid:207b1cb7-8cc4-4cfb-8457-246e89ef1333> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rareandsigned.com/?page=shop/disp&pid=page_Krays&CLSN_789=133006604478950b6ce674d02e949b8a | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981473 | 1,815 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The Spenceville Copper Mine
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Originally posted in the forums
Spenceville, Nevada County, California
By Daniel E Russell
Glen Cove, New York
The Spenceville Copper Mine, located in Spenceville, Nevada Co., California, operated between 1863 and 1918. In its day, it was considered one of the most long-lived copper mines in the state, although it exploited a relatively low-grade ore consisting of massive chalcopyrite with bornite and pyrite occurring in "wide irregular fissures near the contact of two large areas of country rock (diorite and granodiorite), the fissures being filled with sulphide ores carrying copper, gold, and silver." (Aubury, 1902)
The mine was originally known as the Well Lode Copper mine, because "it was first discovered, long before any value was attached to it, in the sinking of a well for family purposes, on Purtyman's Ranch, at what is now Spenceville." (Roberts, 1867). The initial mining efforts were apparently short-lived, spanning from 1863 to 1865. Roberts decribed the ore body as "enormous", but added it was "too low grade to justify working at the present cost of labor and materials; the time may come when it will prove a fortune to the owners. The ore is said to range from five to twelve per cent of copper."
After several years of inactivity, the Well Lode claim and the adjoining Grass Valley Copper Mine (both on the same ore body) was purchased by the San Francisco Mining Co. in 1872; the company expended $15,000 on improvements to the site. Significant effort was devoted to finding an economically viable method of recovering copper from the ore.
In 1875, reports stated that:
Work is being prosecuted on the copper-mine at Spenceville, in this county, under the superintendency of Mr. G. P. Deetkin, with every prospect of success. The shaft is down 100 feet, and the ledge at that depth is 70 feet in width. The rock is richly impregnated with native copper. The ore is taken out and roasted in a large furnace, after which it is turned into three large vats, upon which a stream of cold water is turned, and the copper, in a state of solution, is then conducted from the vats into a large cylinder of about 12 feet in diameter. In this is placed old or refuse iron, for which the copper has an affinity. The cylinder is made to revolve rapidly by steam, by which means the copper is collected on the iron. The superintendent thinks the process of separating copper from the ore in which it is contained is no longer a matter of experiment. There are many other ledges in the vicinity equally as rich, and are awaiting the success of working this one. (Raymond, 1875)
Operations at the site were appreciably expanded in 1877, when the adjacent Grass Valley Copper Mine (which exploited the same ore body) was purchased. An additional $100,000 worth of site improvements were implemented, not only to the mine but to the mill as well. The new combined operation became known as the San Francisco Copper Mine and Reduction Works.
In 1880, a minor disaster occurred when a mine collapse caused the head frame over the vertical shaft to collapse into the mine. Miraculously, no one was killed. The cost of removing the twisted metal was high, however, and in 1880 the mining company began concentrating on open-cut mining instead.
The ore was processed by heap roasting to break down the copper and iron sulfides followed by heap leaching - an inexpensive and technological unsophisticated process, but also one which was only modestly successful at recovering the copper contained in the ore - in which water was percolated through the roasted ore to dissolve out any copper and iron sulfates formed by roasting. The copper-containing solution derived from the leaching phase was then run through piles of scrap iron to cause the copper to precipitate out. The copper precipitate would be scrubbed off the scrap iron regularly, yielding what was known in the industry as "cement". Irelan (1892) estimated that the recovery was only about 46% of the copper contained (and this figure may be generous).
A more detailed description of the process appeared in the Scientific American Supplement for 1882:
The Spenceville Copper Mining Company have 43 acres of copper-bearing ground and 100 acres of adjoining land, which was bought for the timber. There are a hoisting works, mill, roasting sheds, and leaching vats on the ground, and they cover several acres.
On going around with Mr. Ellis, the first place we came to was the mine proper, which is simply an immense opening in the ground covering about one half of an acre, and about 80 feet deep. It has an incline running down into it, by which the ore is hoisted to the surface. Standing on the brink of this opening and looking down, we could see the men at work, some drilling, others filling and running the cars to the incline to be hoisted to the surface.
The ore is found in a sort of chloritic slate and iron pyrites which follow the ledge all around. The ore itself is a fine-grained pyrite, with a grayish color, and it is well suited by its sulphur and low copper contents, as well as by its properties for heap roasting. In heap roasting, the ore is hand-broken by Chinamen into small lumps before being hoisted to the surface. From the landing on the surface it is run out on long tracks under sheds, dumped around a loose brick flue and on a few sticks of wood formed in the shape of a V, which runs to the flues to give a draught. Layers of brush are put on at intervals through the pile. The smaller lumps are placed in the core of the heap, the larger lumps thrown upon them, and 40 tons of tank residues thrown over all to exclude excess of air; 500 lb. of salt is then distributed through the pile, and it is then set afire. After well alight the draught-holes are closed up, and the pile is left to burn, which it does for six months. At the expiration of that time the pile is broken into and sorted, the imperfectly roasted ore is returned to a fresh roast-heap, and the rest trammed to the LEACH-VATS.
These are 50 in number, 10 having been recently added. The first 40 are four feet by six feet and four feet deep, the remaining 10 twice as large. About two tons of burnt ore is put in the small vats (twice as much in the larger ones), half the vats being filled at one time, and then enough cold water is turned in to cover the ore. Steam is then injected beneath the ore, thus boiling the water. After boiling for some time, the steam is turned off and the water allowed to go cold. The water, which after the boiling process turns to a dark red color, is then drawn off. This water carries the copper in a state of solution. The ore is then boiled a second time, after which the tank residues are thrown out and water kept sprinkling over them. This water collects the copper still left in the residues, and is then run into a reservoir, and from the reservoirs still further on into settling tanks, previous to PRECIPITATION, and is then conducted through a system of boxes filled with scrap iron, thus precipitating the copper.
The richer copper liquors which have been drawn from the tanks fire not allowed to run in with that which comes from the dump heaps. This liquor is also run into settling tanks, and from them pumped into four large barrels, mounted horizontally on friction rollers, to which a very slow motion is given. These barrels are 18 feet long and six feet six inches deep outside measure. They are built very strongly, and are water-tight. Ten tons of scrap iron are always kept in each of these barrels, which are refilled six times daily, complete precipitation being effected in less than four hours. Each barrel is provided with two safety valves, inserted in the heads, which open automatically to allow the escape of gas and steam. The precipitation of the copper in the barrels forms copper cement. This cement is discharged from the barrels on to screens which hold any lumps of scrap iron which may be discharged with the cement. It is then dried by steam, after which it is conveyed into another tank, left to cool, and then placed in bags ready for shipment, as copper cement. The building in which the liquor is treated is the mill part of the property, from which they send out 42 tons monthly of an average of 85 per cent, of copper cement, this being the average yield of the mine.
There are 23 white men and 40 Chinamen employed at the mine and the mill. There are also several wood choppers, etc., on the company's pay-roll. Eight months' supply of ore is always kept on hand, there now being 12,000 tons roasting. The mine is now paying regular monthly dividends, and everything argues well for the continuance of the same. (Anon. 1882) | <urn:uuid:bbf16f09-a61d-484e-bdec-491e9fd429bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westernmininghistory.com/articles/5577/page1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975778 | 1,953 | 3.1875 | 3 |
|Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative
Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building, designed by Pereira and Luckman and Associates, Welton Becket and Associates, and Paul R. Williams, 1961, Los Angeles. Designed by a partnership of three of the city's major architectural firms as the centerpiece of Los Angeles International Airport, the space-age Theme Building symbolized the city's optimistic view of the future. Rust damage to its stucco-clad steel parabolic arches caused a one thousand pound chunk of stucco to fall from one of its upper arches in 2007, leading to a complete rehabilitation and seismic retrofitting. The structure is seen here in 2005, prior to that rehabilitation. Photo: 2005, Gail Ostergren, GCI. | <urn:uuid:5629d750-7e31-46a3-84f9-31d0e62b724b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/field_projects/cmai/cmai_photo7.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907129 | 153 | 2.234375 | 2 |
|Home > After Saddam > Article||Thursday April 17, 2003|
But US optimism did not paper over the differences in open view. In a country riven by religious, ideological and ethnic divisions, yesterday's gathering of 70 Iraqi notables underscored the tensions between Iraqis who stayed and suffered and those who lived in exile, many of whom are being promoted by the US as possible leaders.
The main organisation representing Iraq's majority Shiite population, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, boycotted the meeting because of opposition to the US interim government.
Another who did not show was Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the exiled Iraqi National Congress and a darling of the Pentagon, which last week flew him to Nasiriyah.
Chalabi sent a delegate, Entifad Qanbar, the group's representative in Washington.
"This meeting is not to select leadership spots, and I don't see any leadership spots on offer," said a Chalabi adviser, Zaab Sethna, downplaying his leader's absence.
"The key is to have some sort of structure in place and ready to go. The meeting is only the first in a series."
US officials issued invitations to the groups which attended, but each organisation picked its own representatives. Iraqis who did not have invitations were not allowed to attend.
Not far away, in the city of Nasiriyah on the Euphrates River, thousands of Shiite Iraqis, gave expression to their new-found freedom. As they chanted "No, No Saddam, No, No United States" and "Iraq for the Iraqis", they marched to show their displeasure with the heavily US flavour of the planned interim government.
Zalmay Khalilzad, President Bush's envoy to the meeting, said the US had no intention of ruling Iraq. "We want you to establish your own democratic system based on Iraqi traditions and values," he claimed.
Sheik Ayad Jamal al Din, a Shiite religious leader from Nasiriyah, urged separation of the mosque and the state.
But Nassar Hussein Musawi, a secondary school teacher who said he was persecuted under the Saddam regime, said: "Those who would like to separate religion from the state are simply dreaming."
Los Angeles Times, The New York Times
The 13-point statement issued by US Central Command war headquarters after the first meeting of Iraqi opposition groups, including political and religious leaders.
1. Iraq must be democratic.
2. The future government should not be based on communal identity.
3. A future government should be organised as a democratic federal system, but on the basis of countrywide consultation.
4. The rule of law must be paramount.
5. Iraq must be built on respect for diversity, including respect for the role of women.
6. The meeting discussed the role of religion.
7. The meeting discussed the principle that Iraqis must choose their leaders - not have them imposed from outside.
8. Political violence must be rejected, and Iraqis must immediately organise themselves for the task of reconstruction at local and national levels.
9. Iraqis and the coalition must work together to tackle the immediate issues of restoring security and basic services.
10. The Ba'ath party must be dissolved and its effects on society eliminated.
11. There should be an open dialogue with all national political groups to bring them into the process.
12. The meeting condemns the looting and the destruction of documents.
13.The Iraqi participation in the Nasiriyah meeting voted that there should be another meeting in 10 days at a venue to be determined, with additional Iraqi participants, to discuss procedures for developing an Iraqi interim authority.
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War On Iraq
No haven for Achille Lauro terrorist
Democracy stirs in Abraham's shadow
Dictator casts a dark cloud before vanishing like a wraith
Six more fall in city's bloody streets
Only regret is war, says Opera House protester
Rescuers had free run in saving Lynch, say hospital staff
Ruddock: cleric misleading
MP admits coalition unprepared for chaos
Italian police uncover al-Qaeda link in Syria
No way to recoup savings amid ruin of looted banks
Impartial weapons search vital: UK
Tribesmen run 'liberated' town
Hopes pinned on life under Saddam statue
|text | handheld (how to)||
Copyright © 2003. The Sydney Morning Herald.
|advertise | contact us| | <urn:uuid:1797dd94-f8e6-4f70-b3b3-d26a02f51e2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/16/1050172654717.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940332 | 916 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Carrying babies – general information
Why carry babies?
It's really quite simple – carrying is good for everyone and it keeps you mobile!
It's quite natural to continue carrying babies after birth: the body heat from the person carrying the baby helps make the child feel calm and secure – you're with me and I will protect you!
But carrying is also a wonderful and unique experience for parents: trust, bonding and intensive familiarization, feeling what the baby needs and rediscovering the world together at "eye level". And, of course, "baby-wearing" provides great benefits in everyday life: when at home, shopping, travelling by bus or rail, in crowds, with brothers and sisters – the baby's with you, but you've got your hands free!
But carrying is also beneficial in difficult situations: problems with restlessness, frequent crying, wind, teething pains and confusing environmental stimuli usually get much better more quickly with frequent baby carrying.
The correct method of carrying where the legs are spread slightly apart and the baby is brought into a kind of squatting position also constitutes an important prerequisite for perfect hip development and healthy back muscles while helping children develop their senses.
Quality and fair trade
It has been our priority to provide baby carriers of high quality at favourable prices since 1984. We were awarded the top "Recommendable" commendation for our outstanding quality by the ÖKO-Test magazine in its special baby issue in 2000. A later test in the ÖKO-Test 2/2007 magazine found the Girasol baby carrier (rainbow stripes) to be "very good".
And there's one thing you can depend on:
Only pure untreated cotton that has neither been pre-bleached or chemically finished is used. We do not use formaldehyde, halogen-organic compounds, aromatic amines or brighteners. And our fabrics are not treated subsequently with chemicals or finishes.
Our select weavers are masters of a very difficult and ancient skill: diagonal weaving. A high-quality baby carrier produced with this method of weaving will always adapt elastically and never stretch out of shape. The hems have been doubled to prevent the edges from causing any unpleasant pressure.
Our carriers are all made from fabric that may be washed in the machine at 60°C . Baby carriers and slings shrink a little after the first wash – the lengths stated refer to the lengths after washing.
The Girasol baby carrier
Hardly any other carrying method is as versatile as baby carriers are: the different styles of tying them allow them to be used from newborn babies to toddlers; they can almost always be perfectly adapted to the changing needs of both carriers and the carried.
Admittedly, it does need a bit of practice to perfectly and quickly tie a baby carrier, but you'll be rewarded with a unique and comfortable sensation if you persevere. In front of the stomach, on the hip, on the back, with different centres of gravity, shifting weights and additional functions, for example, as blankets, mats, baby hammocks and swings – baby carriers are comfortable, practical and fun.
One tip that is still not widely known: taking advice or participating in baby-carrying seminars is one way to quickly learn how to use baby carriers properly; staff with special training from baby-carrying schools are able to provide advice and support concerning the correct use of carriers so that carrying your baby always remains a pleasure. Please go to our LINK LIST for more information in this regard.
Our baby carriers are woven in two bindings: transposed twill and diamond twill. Due to their diagonal elasticity, both types of weave possess wonderful baby-carrying properties. The centre of the baby carrier is identified by a little sewn-in label, the ends are tapered and the hems doubled for comfort.
All Girasol baby carriers may be washed at 60°C, may be ironed and occasionally – if haste is required – even dried in tumble-driers.
We have compiled a small overview for orientation showing you which baby carrier lengths are required for the methods of tying we recommend. We have decided to make recommendations based on US American clothes sizes – experience has shown that these are approximate values that work well for most parents.
But if you are uncertain, please ask us!
+ From newborn to toddler
+ Versatile carrier – may be worn in front of the stomach, on the hip, on the back
+ May also be used as a hammock, swing, blanket
+ Correctly tied, the baby carrier adapts perfectly and individually to both carrier and child
The Different Sizes Of Slings
We offer our slings in 4 different length : 2,60m 4,20m 4,60m and 5,20m.
If you need a special size, there is the possibility to have it custum made.
The suitable size depends on your size and the carrying positions.
The longer the sling, the more possibilities you have to carry your baby.
For the cradle and the hipseat you need 2,60m, for the back pack and the different cross- carries you need 4,20m until 5,20m slings.
With the length of 4,60 or 5,20m you can bind all different positions.
Girasol ring slings
Ring slings are a wonderful alternative or addition to other baby carriers – they're surprisingly versatile and may be used from birth.
The simple but amazing mechanical application of two rings means that ring slings are quick and safe to use. The correct slightly squatting position with the legs spread apart for encouraging optimum hip growth may be very easily achieved with ring slings. Ring slings may be used from birth and are often the perfect start for all who want an uncomplicated introduction to baby carriers.
They're great everywhere babies need to be quickly "popped in and out": shopping, housework, short distances with tired toddlers, easy stair climbing, breast feeding, rocking babies to sleep ... and thanks to its small folded size, it will practically fit in any handbag.
Longer distances may also be covered with very small babies, but one-sided carrying will over time become a little more tiring with heavier children. But they can still be a great help even with toddlers: "I want to be carried!" – a situation that's much easier to handle with ring slings.
Girasol's ring slings are available in two lengths and made, gathered and sewn from the Girasol baby carriers that are woven with the tried-and-tested transposed or diamond twill binding and quality aluminium rings specially manufactured by slingrings.com.
And they may be washed like our other baby carriers at 60°C, but we do recommend that the rings be tied together and secured in a little washing net or bag during washing to protect the machine.
+ May be used from newborn to toddler
+ The ideal carrier for quick and easy use in-between
+ Quick and easy to put on
+ Great for in the home and for shopping
Length 1 – 1.70 m (measured to the short side)
Fits clothes sizes XS – L
Length 2 – 2.00 m (measured to the short side)
Fits clothes sizes XL +
For orders outside the EU:
For dispatch outside the EU we reduct 19 % VAT from our indicated
Downloading carrying instructions as Pdf
Our cotton quality, colour, AOX quality sweat and saliva resistance of colour -
Pesticide Residual as pdf you can download from the quality section. | <urn:uuid:6ad64542-5ca0-4897-9ce2-a2a6b67400d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.girasol.de/content.php?page=tragetuecher&lang=english&gs=2srd3ols0afnb7562os76isqm6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940843 | 1,566 | 1.632813 | 2 |
You've finally decided: private school is a better option that a public education for your son or daughter. But how on earth do you choose the best match to your family's circumstances?
Denise Yearian, former editor of two parenting magazines, has developed some helpful criteria shared in Washington Family Magazine.
How to Organize Your Search
Although you might already have a lot of information, developing a checklist will save you time in the long run and make it much easier to narrow the field to just a few private schools. Here's what you need to do:
Be realistic. No school offers 100 percent satisfaction for every student and parent. Search for one that looks like it could be the best fit for your son or daughter.
Make a list. On it, write exactly what your family wants in a private school. Describing your wants in very specific terms is helpful. So is assigning a priority to everything on the list.
Note your child's needs. What is his or her learning style—auditory, visual? Is a structured environment necessary? Also consider strengths, weaknesses, talents and interests.
Consider family values. Only consider schools whose values match yours.
Reconsider expensive schools. Even though a school seemed beyond your budget, take a second look if it otherwise meets your family's needs. Make an effort to contact the school about any available financial aid.
Visit your short list. Once you've checked out websites and any information mailed to you, make an appointment to visit the private schools that appear to best meet your needs.
Meet the staff. Talk to the principal or administrator honestly about what you want for your child and discuss any strengths and weaknesses. For younger children, it's important to sit in on a class and talk with the individual who would be his or her teacher. In the case of older students, ask to observe two classes in subject areas he or she would take the next term. Look for an environment in which educators strive to build relationships with their students and their families.
Keep written records. Keep track of what you see and hear. Include observations on how you think any staff members would interact with your child.
Talk to other parents. Due to privacy laws, you will probably need to locate families whose children currently attend the school on your own. Ask what the parents and kids like and dislike about it.
Let your child visit. Once you've conducted your visits, bring your child to the school of your choice for a reality check. If possible to do so, make sure he or she meets other students and teachers and gets a chance to sit in on a class. Then ask for feedback.
What to Ask a Prospective School
There are hundreds of questions you might think to ask a prospective private school. Here are some of the most helpful:
What's the philosophy on teaching reading?
Which types of books does the school expect students to read and who selects them?
How and when does the school teach writing and composition and is there time for creative writing?
Is there a set curriculum or does it derives from students' interests?
How frequently do the kids use textbooks, workbooks, worksheets and computers?
At which grade level do students start receiving homework and how much is there per grade level?
How does the private school grade or otherwise assess students?
Which extracurricular activities are available and for which children?
How much time does the staff devote to music, art and physical education?
Are there opportunities for any cooperative learning?
What is the policy on discipline for improper behavior?
What are the qualifications of the teachers?
Who makes final decisions about the school?
To what extent does the school allow parental participation?
Since no two schools are alike, you'll be looking for the best fit, not a 100-percent match. Using these tools should make the job of finding the right private school more focused and end in a confident decision. | <urn:uuid:888e544e-a56f-4270-a998-0145e1184e7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shine.yahoo.com/choose-best-private-school-child-182733730.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961935 | 803 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Posted: June 4, 2012, 1:50 p.m. EDT
HOTLINE HELPER: Animal poison control center Pet Poison Helpline of Minneapolis launched an iPhone app called “Pet Poison Help” to assist pet owners or veterinarians in identifying potential poisons, recognizing symptoms of a potential poisoning and directly dialing the hotline. The $0.99 app includes a searchable database of more than 250 poisonous plants, foods, medications and household items.
A dairy cow in California tested positive for mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, marking the first case in the U.S. since 2006. The animal’s carcass was held at a plant that renders dead cows for “high-protein ingredients for poultry feed and pet food,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES: Flea and tick preventive brand PetArmor plans to distribute up to 20,000 flea and tick treatments for shelter pets through a partnership with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The FidoPharm Inc. brand will also match public donations up to $50,000 for the ASPCA Adoption and Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital and Clinics in New York and disaster relief efforts.<HOME>
Industry Professional Site: Comments from non-industry professionals will be removed. | <urn:uuid:76cb8ba1-86f6-40c9-bd1f-a1b0b22edd41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.petproductnews.com/pet-health-news/pet-health-news-briefs-2012-june.aspx | 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 | 0.909414 | 283 | 1.78125 | 2 |
A good parasite-control program can provide some of the highest economic returns of any management practice available to beef producers, but timing and product selection are critical, and most producers do not consult their veterinarians in their decisions. During the Cattle Industry Convention in Tampa, we visited with Merial technical-services veterinarian Joe Dedrickson, and while the discussion centered around the company’s new “Longrange” extended-release product, much of the focus was on the value of involving a veterinarian in planning your parasite-control program.
Iowa State University research has shown that parasite control can return as much as $201 per head due to better health, improved weight gains and reproductive efficiency. Dedrickson says a good deworming program typically can improve calf weaning weights by 25 pounds – worth close to $50 in today’s market – for a treatment cost of about a penny per pound or $5 for a 500-pound calf.
Longrange (eprinomectrin )is a broad-spectrum injectable dewormer that provides 100 to 150 days of control with a single dose, depending on the parasite species. It also is a prescription product, meaning producers interested in using it will need to involve their veterinarians. Regardless of which products a producer ends up using, that relationship should help ensure proper timing and targeted treatment, resulting in better parasite control, better cattle performance and less risk of parasites developing resistance to dewormers.
Resistance among worm species affecting cattle has not become a widespread problem, but veterinarians and parasitologists have become concerned as some resistant populations have turned up, particularly in the case of Cooperia species of intestinal worms. Resistance to dewormers can occur when a small number of worms survive the treatment and go on to reproduce, passing their genetic ability to resist the product on to their offspring. Over time, a population of resistant worms could develop. Insufficient dosage of a product, resulting in lower efficacy and survival of more worms, could contribute to the development of resistance.
Dedrickson says the Longrange product provides an initial peak of activity at treatment, with some of the dewormer reserved in a gel matrix for later release into the animal’s bloodstream. Levels of the product in the animal’s bloodstream decline somewhat over 100 days following treatment, but remain well above the minimum level for efficacy. A second peak occurs at about 100 days as the gel matrix dissolves and releases more of the active ingredient into the bloodstream. At the end of the treatment period, levels of the product in the animals drops to near zero quickly, within two to eight days, meaning just a short period when dosage levels are below that needed to kill the majority of worms. | <urn:uuid:9c2500a7-7ded-4a2a-ab9b-617fc3389364> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cattlenetwork.com/editorial/john-maday/Involve-your-vet-in-parasite-control-191106221.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946536 | 555 | 2.109375 | 2 |
World's Top Walking Cities
Pedestrian-friendly walkways, parks, landmarks and views make these urban centers the best for exploring on foot.
As any traveler worth their Nikes knows, to walk around a city is to experience its true essence—its soul, if you will. “Your brain functions quite differently when you walk,” says Scott Bricker, director of America Walks, a national nonprofit dedicated to promoting the health benefits of putting one foot in front of the other. “It’s good for your health, both physical and mental, and good for your fellow man, because you engage with the community you’re walking among.”
Pretty much any city can be experienced on foot, as the hordes of multilingual tour groups thronging the European capitals will attest. But what is it exactly that makes a city perfect for strolling? Is it a certain sort of pedestrian-friendly urban design? The streetscapes themselves, with their distinctive architecture and attractions? The climate? The warmth and vibrancy of the residents? Or is it perhaps something more ephemeral?
Of course, there are obvious peripatetic pleasures that most good walking cities have in common. A sense of history, gorgeous buildings and must-see landmarks (or views) all make for an experience better savored on foot. There’s also a specific kind of commerce that helps make a cityscape charming to explore by walking—like the ubiquitous sidewalk cafés without which cities like Paris, Vienna and Venice would be lesser versions of themselves.
Sometimes, though, it’s the less tangible things that make walking through the world’s urban centers uniquely fascinating. Like the smells of baking pan quotidien that emanate from countless boulangeries in early morning Paris, or the way the light glitters and reflects off of Tokyo’s glass skyscrapers. Or simply the childlike joy many of us feel when set loose in a strange, labyrinthine streetscape that promises adventure and the chance to get wonderfully lost. (Buon giorno, Venice!)
More and more cities these days seem to be inviting pedestrian exploration. Metropolises that have traditionally seemed daunting to walkers are reinventing themselves as strolling cities par excellence—for example, Cape Town (now luring visitors with new waterfront walking routes) and Hong Kong (with its leafy urban walking trails). Even Los Angeles and Atlanta—“two cities renowned for car culture,” as Bricker notes—are revitalizing their downtown areas to encourage walking.
From the High Line to Harajuku, we’ve found the world’s best urban environments in which to lose yourself for a few hours (or days), complete with iconic routes to explore. Grab your boots: These cities are made for walking. | <urn:uuid:ef08e794-d190-4b21-a3ab-c12f2ccf7ebf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.departures.com/luxury-vacations/worlds-top-walking-cities?cnn=yes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927554 | 584 | 1.90625 | 2 |
CCTA - Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography
Coronary CT angiography is a CT scan that focuses on the heart, its vessel walls, and surrounding structures. One main advantage of Coronary CT angiography is the fact it is noninvasive compared with all other means of coronary artery visualization. Clinical studies have shown coronary CTA is reliable for assessing stenosis, patency of grafts, and assessing calcified and non-calcified plaque.
What type of scanner is used?
Our 64 slice MDCT scanner provides the highest quality images with the lowest possible dose. Our state-of–the-art scanner minimizes patient radiation exposure. The CT scanner gives your doctor the superior image quality required for the most accurate diagnosis.The scanner accomodates patients weighing up to 450 pounds. The CT table lowers to only 12 inches from the floor for easy patient access.The scanner acquires the images in just a few seconds while you are comfortably lying on the patient table. The exam is completed within a single breath hold. The CT scanners are accredited by the American College of Radiology. ACR-accredited facilities
How should I prepare?
- You should wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing without metal parts, like zippers and snaps, for your exam. If not, you may be asked to change into a gown for the procedure. Remove any jewelry that would interfere with the scan.
- 48 hours before the exam time, please avoid:
Any erectile dysfunction medications
- 12 hours before the exam time, please avoid:
Caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, soft drinks)
- No food 3 hours before the exam.
- Take all prescribed medications on time, as usual, with water only.
- You may be prescribed a medication (beta-blocker) to take the night before and on the day of the exam--this is to lower your heart rate.
- Please bring a list of all your current medications with you to the hospital.
- Be sure to let your physician know of any known allergy to iodine. If allergic to iodine, you will be given medication to take the night before and the day of the scan to counteract any allergic reaction you may have to the iodinated contrast during the procedure.
- You must register at the Admitting/Registration office on the main (second) floor across from the gift shop one hour before your exam time. After registering for the exam, you will be directed to the Radiology department.
What should I expect?
- After obtaining your history, a consent form for the procedure will be signed.
- An IV will be placed in your arm near the elbow joint. During the procedure, your heart rate and blood pressure will be monitored by a cardiology nurse.
- If your heart is beating too fast, the pictures can be blurry, just like a photograph of a moving object. The blurring can interfere with the ability to see the vessels in the heart so we try to get the heart rate to beat at a certain rate before we begin the study.
- To slow your heart rate, it may be necessary to administer an IV dose of beta-blockers through the IV that is inserted in your arm.
- You will be given instructions on how to hold your breath for the scans. It is very important that you do not breathe during the exposure.
- Pre-contrast imaging will then begin. This set of images will determine how much calcium is present in the heart’s blood vessels. This is known as a “coronary artery calcium score” exam.
- Immediately prior to the iodinated contrast injection, a nitroglycerine tablet will be placed under your tongue. This medicine dilates the vessels around your heart to allow better visualization of those vessels.
- The iodinated contrast will then be injected and the final imaging performed. This contrast injection often causes a transient warm sensation lasting less than one minute. The scan is performed in a single breath hold.
- You will be monitored for 30 minutes after the completion of the exam if you received medication (beta blocker) through your IV.
- The entire procedure is usually completed within 60 minutes.
- After the procedure, you should drink a lot of water for the next 24 hours to help flush the contrast out of your system.
Who interprets the results and how do I get them?
A cardiologist and a radiologist will analyze the images and send a signed report to your primary care physician and the physician who referred you for the exam. Your doctor will discuss the results with you.
What are the benefits of CCTA?
- Coronary CTA is noninvasive.
- CT scanning provides detailed images.
- No radiation remains in your body after a CT examination.
- A CT can be performed if you have an implanted medical device of any kind, unlike MRI.
- For your safety, the CT scanners at theWashington Health System Washington Hospital provide high quality imaging, while keeping the amount of radiation exposure to a minimum.
If you have any questions/concerns about your CT exam, please call us at (724) 225-7000 and ask for the CT department.
If you should have to cancel your appointment, please contact us at (724) 250-4300 as soon as possible.
Our goal is to provide you with a Very Good experience. You may receive a survey in the mail. This is your opportunity to tell us about your experience. Your feedback is very important to us. | <urn:uuid:1864a6c2-f500-4840-8fc4-a5c88ed26531> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonhospital.org/services/radiology/ccta.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921259 | 1,145 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Is it ethical to burden future generations with the environmental mess this generation created?
From a Jewish perspective, the answer is “No.” We’re constantly reminded about passing this world from generation to generation (dor l’dor). It’s almost inconceivable that we’d dump our mess on our children to pay for and clean up.
Torah and Talmud are packed with admonitions and commandments to take responsibility for our present actions, that we may guarantee clean relationships and a healthy world for future generations.
But recent Pew Research polling indicates that majorities of older “Boomers” and “Silents” resist acknowledging climate change, and taking actions to manage it.
Majorities of Millennials, Gen Xers and younger Boomers, on the other hand, are not only aware of the challenges, they want to handle them (Millennials are 18 to 30; GenXers are 31 to 46; Baby Boomers are 47 to 65; and Silents are 66+).
We set up an intergenerational conflict that’s impeding our progress toward solutions. As global population reached seven billion Oct. 31, 2011, global birth rates were actually declining. As fewer babies were born, more grown-ups were not dying, thanks to centuries of advances in nutrition, sanitation and medicine. Overall, the earth’s human population is getting older, facing three serious challenges:
1. Exponentially growing population is creating worldwide environmental crises;
2. Intergenerational friction is blocking movement toward solutions; and
3. Current theories and institutions are not designed to meet these challenges. | <urn:uuid:e3454fe8-17cf-423d-a1f5-6674d3eb8904> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ijn.com/columns/jewish-on-earth/2808-the-promise-we-billions-dont-have-to-keep | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934606 | 338 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Find your nearest food standards enforcer
Do you want to report an issue such as poor hygiene in a food outlet or a trading standards issue such as mislabelling?
Environmental Health Officers handle complaints about food quality, hygiene and safety issues.
Complaints about food labelling, ingredients, and weights and measures, are dealt with by Trading Standards Officers.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, Environmental Health Officers deal with all food law enforcement matters.
To find out who to contact, enter your street, town or postcode below, or click on the map. If the issue relates to an area away from your home, please enter the postcode relating to that area.
Please note that the results are given in order of distance from the location entered. Due to local authority boundaries, the first result may sometimes not be the authority that has jusrisdiction. | <urn:uuid:577a0021-584d-49bb-ab51-d98ae5e3a5f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tna.europarchive.org/20110912091909/http:/www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/enforceessential/yourarea/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938658 | 176 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Nineteenth century British author Elizabeth Gaskell (1820-1865) picks up where the tradition of Jane Austen left off, and moves forward posthaste, not simply chronologically but ideologically as well. Gaskell’s subject matter ranges from the gossip and gallantry of small town English life to the harsh industrial life of urban workers, and includes some of the more feminist ideas of the age, when women and the lower classes start to not only possess, but seize with both hands, a voice in society.
Gaskell examines some normally unaired details of the class structure of Victorian England, taking her audience into the slums of an industrial northern city, and into the struggle between mill workers’ unions and their privileged masters. She brings the railroad into a small community and meaningfully examines what the residents fear about the possibility of strangers flooding their close-knit society.
Finally, she puts the ugly issue of xenophobia squarely between an otherwise amiable widower and his eldest son, who has chosen a bride his father cannot accept. Though her name is not a household one such as Dickens or Brontë, Gaskell’s willingness to take on some of the important social issues of the era make her an author deserving of wider exposure. This BBC collection should ensure just that.
Cranford combines three of Gaskell’s novels, all taking place in a scenic English town brimming with widows and spinsters, and few men to be found. The ladies take a great interest in every last detail of their neighbors’ lives, as the pace of everyday life is rather slow. When a young doctor (Simon Woods) comes to town and presents certain medical advancements, like a willingness to set a carpenter’s broken arm rather than amputate immediately, many residents are resistant to such progress, though they are glad to continue having the services of the tradesman. The doctor’s affable demeanor and capable manner quickly win over some of his detractors, but his unfamiliarity with Cranford custom is swiftly mistaken for romantic attachment to any number of the ladies, and his real affection for a particular young lady degenerates into a comedy of errors.
Romance is not the primary focus of this five part mini series, however. Class prejudice figures largely, with the matronly owner of the local estate, Lady Ludlow (Francesca Annis) both obsessed with maintaining her estate for her absent heir, and keeping those in the servant class in their place. There is much resistance to educating the young son of a poacher tenant with more children than he can feed: Harry Gregson (Alex Etel), whose potential is recognized and encouraged by Lady Ludlow’s estate manager. Lady Ludlow must make way before progress in its myriad forms, however, as she is forced to sell part of her estate to the railroad company in order to continue to finance her son’s lavish lifestyle. She starts to perceive that such change is inevitable.
North and South
In North and South, industry takes center stage, whereas in Cranford it merely encroaches upon the scene. Without the presence of the cotton mills in the northern English town of Milton, the clash between ‘master’ and ‘worker’ wouldn’t lend dramatic impact and depth to what might otherwise be a flimsy love story.
Margaret Hale’s father is a country preacher who bravely admits his doubts about his life’s work in judgmental Victorian England, and is swiftly ostracized by his southern colleagues, forcing him to leave his parish and relocate with his wife and their grown daughter to a northern manufacturing town in order to get a fresh start. The family quickly comes into contact with the most notorious mill owner in town, John Thornton (Richard Armitage). As charismatic as he is unyielding, Thornton has built his family’s fortune from the ground up, raising his mother and sister out of poverty. His unusually stern mother, constantly singing her sons praises, is a perfect foil for his silly and ungrateful sister, who provides a few of the sparse humorous moments in the film.
The film’s portrayal of the gritty, dismal city of Milton is an excellent reprieve from sometimes superficial adaptations of period literature, and serves as a refreshing break from the over-filmed south of England. The setting, which takes place almost entirely within that grim locale, comes complete with a harsh northern accent that may have non-Brits reaching for the subtitle menu option. Margaret is more content to make friends among the working classes and to try to ease their suffering, than to consort with young women of society, as she finds her own status to be somewhere in between. She is a determined, honest and kind, and it is no wonder she finds her share of admirers through the story. Though the ending has more than just a little to do with synchronicity, is does seem fitting at last that a form of industry brings her together with her match in purposefulness and strength.
Initially I was put off by the third series in the collection, Wives & Daughters. Perhaps because the presence of industry and social progress that had such a large role in the first two works seemed absent. In their place, Gaskell directs her discerning eye to a more microscopic view of the interaction of individuals at various levels of society. To one used to Austen and Brontë adaptations to the screen, Gaskell offers something new, opening the story with a bizarre sequence where the young heroine, Molly Gibson, stumbles around a garden party in a fever, blinded by the sunlight, and with no one to look after her. She is an awkward child, and she grows into a serious, and still slightly awkward, teenager, yet it doesn’t take long before most viewers will be in love with her.
Self-dependant and wise beyond her years, Molly deserved to be the star of the show. No wonder I resented the sudden intrusion of a step-mother who could be described as evil but perhaps more accurately as selfish and small minded and therefore easy to perceive as malignant. Likewise, Molly’s new step-sister, Cynthia, is everything that Molly is not: untrustworthy, egocentric, and in fact, sexy.
Actor Keeley Hawes, who plays Cynthia, calls her the Marilyn Monroe of the era (during the extra disc’s commentary), flouncing into town from her fancy French boarding school and turning all the men’s heads. That might not be so awful if only Cynthia didn’t distract several of Molly’s lovers away—only to treat them all equally shabbily. And yet Molly is determined to love her step-sister as well as the sister she never had! She is too good to be true and yet the viewer can identify with her rather than resent her unlikely good nature.
Wives and Daughters
There are some uncomfortable themes in Wives and Daughters: xenophobia, class prejudice, and the frustration of seeing every man in sight fall for the flighty Cynthia when Molly is so much more deserving and constant. As Anthony Howell (Roger Hamley) remarks in the commentary footage: “Mrs. Gaskell understands very well in Wives and Daughters, the difference between love at first sight, that kind of all consuming fascination, and a warmer, growing love that will endure.”
The only extra material in this DVD set deals with Wives and Daughters, with commentary by the cast, and then a rather unremarkable sequence where the Gaskell Society tours around England, Wales and Italy, visiting spots that were important to the author or where she spent time writing, and musing about her inspiration for various parts of any and all of Gaskell’s novels, not just the three stories the viewer has now become familiar with. Interspersed with the journey of the Society are short pertinent readings from a number of Gaskell’s novels by actor Miriam Margolyes, who renders this disc slightly more interesting.
Though the final disc is not the most captivating, for anyone interested in the social issues of the Victorian era, and industrial development and its impact on society at the time, these three serial films provide plenty to ponder. And of course it doesn’t hurt the story to have a little romance thrown in. I think it’s quite likely viewers will have access to more adaptations of Gaskell’s novels on film in the future, and for those who cannot wait for more of her keen observations of Victorian society, fortunately she was one of the more prolific writers of the age. | <urn:uuid:7783713d-85b2-4e59-8fa4-f229e4aab4f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/the-elizabeth-gaskell-collection/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963991 | 1,777 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Drew Barrymore talks about her work with WFP on "The Oprah Winfrey Show". Drew focuses part of her work with us on our school feeding programmes - where hungry children are encouraged to go to school with the promise of a daily meal.
Drew Barrymore talks about her work with the World Food Programme on "The Oprah Winfrey Show". Drew focuses part of her work with us on our school feeding programmes - where hungry children are encouraged to go to school with the promise of a daily meal.
How can I help to “Fill the Cup”?
The World Food Programme (WFP) has a dream: to feed 10 million more hungry schoolchildren in Africa by Thanksgiving Day. If every viewer of the “Oprah Winfrey Show” gives $50 to help fill a child’s cup for a year, we will reach that target.
Even a small donation will go a long way. Porridge, rice or beans -- it takes just 25 cents to fill one of the Red Cups that WFP uses to give hungry kids regular school meals. This food will not only feed bodies but also minds and transform children’s lives. To help us, click here.
2) What does WFP do?
As soon as a disaster strikes, WFP is on the scene, bringing food assistance to people who have suffered in earthquakes, floods or droughts.
WFP also provides food through projects such as school feeding – to help people struggling with poverty – especially women and children.
Each year, WFP delivers food to more than 70 million people in around 80 countries – providing emergency assistance as well as support to those recovering from war or disaster.
3) Why does Drew Barrymore help WFP?
An enthusiastic supporter of WFP since 2005, Drew Barrymore became an “Ambassador Against Hunger” in May 2007 and committed herself to focusing world attention on the damage hunger inflicts on people’s lives.
Drew has twice visited Kenya to see WFP projects for herself; she has raised funds to provide meals for schoolchildren through a celebrity auction of her own photos and highlighted WFP’s work on television shows and in magazine interviews.
4) Why is it important to provide children with meals in school?
Food is crucial to physical and mental development. The provision of a meal in school encourages poor families to send their children to class.
If a child gets a nutritious meal each day in school, they are better able to learn, are more likely to be healthy and is offered a more promising future.
One of Drew’s fellow Ambassadors Against Hunger, Paul Tergat, had to walk the 3 miles to school as a hungry child in Kenya.
Once he started to receive WFP school meals, he had the energy not only to get to school but also to concentrate on his lessons. The long-term pay-off is that he became a world famous athlete – and world marathon record holder. | <urn:uuid:5df16bbd-7709-458e-aaf9-b725c10afee7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfp.org/stories/frequently-asked-questions-drew-barrymore-and-wfp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967931 | 613 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Alternate name: Rufous-sided Towhee
Family: Emberizidae, New World Sparrows view all from this family
Description ADULT MALE Has blackish hood, upperparts, and tail, with variable amounts of white on wings and back according to subspecies: interior birds have white spots on back, two white wing bars, and white on tertials and scapulars; Pacific Northwest birds have reduced white markings, with almost uniformly dark back; Southwest birds are intermediate. All birds have beady red eyes, reddish orange flanks, buff undertail coverts, and otherwise white underparts. ADULT FEMALE Recalls respective regional male, but black elements of plumage are brown. JUVENILE Brown and heavily streaked with two buff wing bars.
Dimensions Length: 7-8 1/2" (17-22 cm)
Habitat Favors dense chaparral and brush. Found year-round in much of range, but northern and interior birds are migratory; winter range extends south and east.
Observation Tips Listen for rustle of feeding birds scratching through leaf litter. Singing males are often conspicuous.
Range Plains, Southwest, Western Canada, Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Texas, California
Voice Song is usually a buzzing trill preceded (or not) by variable number of sweet, whistling tuup notes.
Similar Species Eastern Towhee P. erythropthalmus (L 7.5 in) has mainly unmarked blackish upperparts, apart from white at base of primaries. An eastern species, whose range barely overlaps that of Spotted.
Discussion Colorful bird. Scratches ground with both feet together, to expose seeds and insects. Sexes are separable, but note subtle regional plumage variation. | <urn:uuid:c679add8-2663-4bfb-a7b4-dfe63db186bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?sortBy=has+audio&curFamilyID=208&curGroupID=1&lgfromWhere=&viewType=&curPageNum=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901328 | 369 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Here's another discussion note from my rare lunch the other day.
This note had some words from Richard Rohr.
He wrote one of my favorite books of 2011, called Falling Upward.
It's about a concept he calls the two halves of life, which may or may not be a literal thing.
Sooner or later Rohr says we all end up moving from the first to second half of life and, when we do, we have big choices in terms of how best to live.
To get a feel for how Richard Rohr can make people think and feel about their lives, here are the discussion notes with his words handed to me during A Rare Lunch with my friend the other day,
1. Life is difficult.
2. I am not in control.
3. I am not that important.
4. My life is not about me.
5. I am going to die.
That last line's a bugger.
Kind of like a frank invitation that lay open on my kitchen table all week asking if I'm up for living right now.
a book idea: Love, Your Mother | <urn:uuid:3c0a6e78-2d3f-4ccc-806f-ae19b3ef8e5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tjmorin.blogspot.com/2012/01/rare-lunch-2nd-helping.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952438 | 233 | 1.570313 | 2 |
I know a good thing when I see it, and FarmAid was a good thing. It raised awareness about the plight of family farmers and ranchers, provided some desperately needed financial relief to the small-scale agriculture sector and helped connect average Americans to their food sources. I supported it without reservation.
Today, another group of independent family-owned enterprises needs help – salmon fishermen. As anyone who follows the news knows, our salmon fisheries are collapsing. Habitat destruction and water diversions have played particularly prominent roles in this disaster, and it is the fishermen who have paid the greatest price. They need help. They’re not asking for a hand-out -just a hand, some support in their efforts to get more water down our rivers to sustain spawning salmon. They know that if they take care of the salmon, the salmon will take care of them.
So fisheries advocates are taking a page from the family farmer media playbook and launching SalmonAid: a month-long initiative to raise awareness of the problems facing wild Pacific salmon and promote actions that will aid in their recovery. Through September, a variety of activities will be held at San Francisco’s Aquarium of the Bay, including a “Meet the Fishermen” colloquium sponsored by the Institute for Fisheries Resources, a film festival, a kids’ activities weekend and a music festival. For more information, go to http://www.salmonaid.org/.
These are family-oriented events that will be great fun as well as highly educational. Naturally, we also hope they will infuse participants with some activist fervor. To save our salmon and salmon fishermen, we need passionate advocates. The forces arrayed against them are strong, well-funded and utterly determined, and only a concerted front by organized citizens will turn things around.
Emotions are running particularly high right now over water and fisheries issues, and I admit that I am susceptible to the ferment. My father was a fish processor in Ft. Bragg, and I worked in his business. My friends are fishermen, fish processors and purveyors, restaurateurs who specialize in seafood, people who love fish, fishing, the sea and our wild rivers. But if we are unapologetic advocates for our wild salmon, we also understand and respect the legitimate interests of the farming community. Most farmers reciprocate our respect. The hundreds of farmers working in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, for example, support us in our efforts to guarantee greater downriver flows for wild salmon.
Our mutual adversaries are a handful of sprawling corporate “farms” in the western San Joaquin Valley, agribusinesses which have commandeered the state’s water supplies for their own parochial – if very profitable – interests. These corporations receive vast quantities of government-subsidized water at absurdly low prices. Increasingly, they do not even use the water to grow crops – they sell it for exorbitant profits to south state municipalities and developers. We cannot bring back our wild salmon, we cannot ensure the prosperity of the family farmers of the Delta, until we stop this giveaway of the state’s most precious natural resource.
Both fishermen and family farmers produce food and support their local communities. Check out the small towns of the North and Central Coast and the Delta. Yes, they’ve suffered in these hard times, but they are vibrant communities populated by working people tied to the sea and the land.
Then investigate the towns of the western San Joaquin Valley – towns like Firebaugh or Five Points. They are destitute and shabby, with few permanent residents. The vast corporate farms that surround them prosper, but they remain mired in poverty and despair. Which towns, may I ask, better represent social and environmental equity? Which are better templates for the future of California?
So please — participate in the upcoming SalmonAid events at the Aquarium of the Bay. And do what you can to support our state’s fishermen and family farmers. They provide us with delicious, wholesome food, and they do it in a sustainable fashion. We need them as much as they need us. | <urn:uuid:c0c55fab-e491-47ac-9def-4cebf659f1ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.sfgate.com/zgrader/2010/08/31/september-is-salmon-month-come-join-us/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948696 | 850 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Penelope Stowe of the Ubuntu Accessibility Team told me about Blogging Against Disablism Day. Disablism and ableism have the same meaning and are more regional than anything else. They refer to the underlying assumptions about what "everyone" can do. I live not far from Gallaudet University, the only accredited liberal arts university for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, so I actually come across people signing with some frequency.
When I first started signing, the friend who was teaching me (whom I met through the LoCo even!) would simcomm, and I learned from that. Now she usually doesn't speak at all when I'm around. She can safely assume I'll get enough context clues to learn whatever signs she uses that I didn't already know. I'm really happy about having achieved that level of fluency.
Last year, I used simcomm to give my presentation at Ohio LinuxFest. Mel Chua (Red Hat) and Bryen Yunashko (openSUSE) were both there. One is Hard of Hearing; the other is Deaf. I used a lot of ASL that weekend, not just for my own communication, but also as an interpreter for those giving directions. A few other hearing people even came up to me and started signing, since they saw me signing with Mel.
Maybe some day I'll be a certified interpreter. Right now, I can interpret in a pinch, but it's not pretty and doesn't have very good grammar. The trouble with simcomming so much is I have very little practice with using ASL-word-order. I intend to take an actual class to try to fix that.
I'm happy to see OLF has welcomed requests for assistance from disabled* attendees and speakers. I suspect I don't see many Hard of Hearing or Deaf people at conferences because they can usually safely assume there will be no accommodations, meanwhile there are no accommodations because organisers can usually safely assume there will be no HoH/Deaf people.
I don't know much about technological accessibility for those with hearing impairments. I do know Mel has complained that she has no way of knowing her system bell is on until her coworkers get upset at how loud it is. I know another friend complained that media players often now have the volume capped so that they are less likely to induce hearing loss but are unusable if you already have hearing loss. A Cowon D2 turned out to be loud enough for her to hear. I know videos without captions or podcasts without transcripts are a problem. I don't know what else though.
* Vocab note: A person has an impairment. Society's treatment of that impairment is what disables the person. | <urn:uuid:643794b4-c3fd-4e80-a497-675ca3609fe9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/blogging-against-disablism-day-asl.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978521 | 555 | 1.710938 | 2 |
BALTIMORE — Fans watching NFL games on television have grown accustomed to the imaginary yellow line that runs across the field in accord with the first-down marker.
That first-down line could one day become part of the in-game experience at all 32 NFL stadiums.
Alan Amron, with financial backing from former NFL player and broadcaster Pat Summerall, has developed the First Down Laser System. Amron said the system projects a first-down line across the field that can be seen in the stadium and on TV.
The league is intrigued, but not completely sold on the idea — not yet anyway.
“The NFL is our prime customer at this point,” Amron said, “and if we can make something that they like, maybe the NCAA and Canadian Football League will follow suit.”
Amron first met with the NFL in 2003 and again in 2009. There may soon be future meetings.
“They give me different opinions and suggestions along the way,” Amron said. “We comply with them and come back. They tell me it took them years and years to implement replay and the overhead cam. The NFL right now has made it very clear to us that they didn’t want to eliminate the chains, but augmenting them wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
League spokesman Greg Aiello said, “We have not been convinced that it would work for us, but we are open to further discussion after the season.”
The laser system would be attached to the first-down markers on both sides and project a contrasting light green line across the field. The system would work in accord with the chain gang, but is designed to provide a more accurate focal point in terms of measurements. When a player hits the turf, by theory, it would become immediately apparent whether he made a first down.
“A misplaced ball on a first-down measurement can mean the difference between winning and losing a game,” Summerall said.
For fans at home, the first-down line is a visual aid that has become as much a part of the telecast as replay and out-of-town highlights. Amron got the idea for the laser after watching a game at home, then going to the stadium and having to do without the line across the field.
“Right away I realized it would be a great thing to be able to project it onto the field,” he said. “I filed patents on it within weeks.”
In recent years, the NFL has attempted to lure fans from home by making larger replay screens, displaying in-house photos of what the replay official is watching and showing clips from games around the league. Could a first-down line be the next addition?
“It will help all teams bring more fans to the stadium to see the game in person,” Summerall said.MORE IN Sports WireBOSTON — The Boston Bruins have three rookie defensemen in the lineup for the Eastern Conference... Full StoryIRVING, Texas — Keegan Bradley again bogeyed Nos. Full Story
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- MEDIA GALLERY | <urn:uuid:ef955184-b341-48aa-bfc0-72509d1c7f90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://timesargus.com/article/20130123/SPORTS01/701239945/0/NEWS09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967195 | 660 | 1.664063 | 2 |
- Choose pieces that will grow and change with your child. Convertible pieces of furniture are a big trend in children's furnishings. A dresser with a changing pad on top that can be removed once your baby grows out of diapers is a hot item. Convertible cribs that transform into full-size beds are also big sellers.
Many parents feel they will get more out of their money if they invest in a high quality crib that can turn into a high quality bed to be used for many years to come. The styles now available for children's furnishing are similar to adult versions. Many specialty children's furniture stores offer pieces in all types of styles, such as Mission, Shaker, Federal, English Cottage, and French Provincial, crafted in woods such as solid birch, cherry, mahogany, or natural oak. These beautiful pieces should easily make the transition from a baby's nursery into a teen's room or even a guest room.
- Experiment with color and whimsy! Why stick to the basic ways of decorating a nursery? Simple borders of pink bunnies for girls and blue sailboats for boys are still popular, but many experts recommend creating a fantastic and magical haven for young children and babies. "It's all less serious than the living room," said Linda Hallam, editor of Decorating Kids' Rooms: Nurseries to Teen Retreats. "And you don't have to spend much money to make a child's room upbeat."
- Choose practical, no-fuss furnishings that are easy to keep clean. When choosing colors and fabrics, keep in mind that the nursery is going to be one of the hardest places to keep clean, especially in the toddler years. Plan ahead by choosing stain-resistant and durable fabrics, carpeting, and other accessories. One expert suggests a vinyl-coated wall paper or eggshell-finish paint so the walls can be washed clean of fingerprints, crayon markings, and other elements of daily wear.
The nursery is the one place in the house where anything goes. So go for it! Wall murals and hand-painted furniture are easy ways to create magical rooms. You might paint a fairyland castle on a wall and accent the room with flower-shaped rugs. Or turn the room into a sports fanatic's shrine complete with a crib with baseball bats nailed into the legs and baseball finials. Knobs can be replaced with basketballs or hockey pucks. Frames, lamps, and bookends are all available in football, tennis, or soccer themes. And golf clubs make cool curtain rods. At Pottery Barn Kids they even offer a race track rug with customizable tracks.
Or, instead of discouraging drawing on the walls, you can encourage it! Paint a nursery wall with special blackboard paint, creating a surface that can be written on with chalk and erased. Distressed furniture is another fashionable yet practical way to decorate the nursery. These pieces already have the broken-in look and won't show any nicks and scratches that they may acquire through the years. | <urn:uuid:0d255e0d-8300-494a-b1a7-111662caa202> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.babyzone.com/products/nursery/nursery-decor/budget-baby-nursery_65743-page-3 | 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 | 0.95385 | 625 | 1.539063 | 2 |
IDD laboratory personnel have vast experience with human and non-human tumor models that have been used to evaluate a large number of experimental drugs, including small molecules, anti-sense, antibodies, and biologicals. Established protocols to evaluate experimental drugs as single agents or in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic drugs are available. Novel formulations and drug delivery systems can also be investigated using various schedules and routes of delivery including continuous infusion with Alzet pumps. Pharmacodynamic, pharmacogenomic, and biomarker analysis of tumor, blood and tissue can be seamlessly incorporated into the study protocol.
Our strategy for evaluating new compounds in vivo is to work closely with the sponsor to develop a protocol to evaluate the anti-tumor activity of an agent under optimal conditions. Under direction from both preclinical and clinical investigators, every effort is made to translate clinical experience into preclinical efficacy evaluation. Once initiated, study data is forwarded weekly to Sponsors and our scientists and technicians are readily available for questions or comments.
An extensive database has been compiled that includes single agent and combination efficacy results with a large number of approved and experimental anticancer agents. This database provides an important perspective for comparing and interpreting results obtained with novel agents.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Steffan Nawrocki, PhD
Co-Director, Preclinical Research
CTRC Institute for Drug Development
7979 Wurzbach Road, G419
San Antonio, Texas 78229
Phone: (210) 450-3894 | <urn:uuid:12c77521-3176-4849-b7ef-b3f164da2917> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ctrc.net/ctrc2.cfm?mid=4167&pid=3105 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913792 | 305 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Python Programming, news on the Voidspace Python Projects and all things techie.
Silverlight Articles and Examples Updated
I've finally updated my IronPython & Silverlight articles and examples for the latest (and final) release of Silverlight 2. All the examples are online and available for download:
There are five articles and 6 different projects online and to download - plus a couple of C# projects that are download only.
One of the C# examples demonstrates embedding IronPython in a Silverlight application: Embedding IronPython in a C# Silverlight App.
The latest version has a new example - creating an animation from code using the StoryBoard class. This never used to work when run from inside the Web IDE; a bug that has been fixed in the final release of Silverlight 2.
PyCon 2009: Testing GUI Applications and IronPython Tutorial
The tutorial schedule is also up: Tutorial Day Schedule.
There's a fantastic selection, but of course I'm going to talk about my talks. The list only has a summary, and the detailed information you give to the talk reviewers doesn't get published. I'll be giving a talk on the Functional Testing of Desktop Applications, and on the Wednesday before the conference starts Jonathan Tartley and myself will be giving a tutorial on Application Development with IronPython.
Functional Testing of Desktop Applications
Testing GUI applications is difficult, but not only is it possible - it can be an important part of improving your development processes.
This talk will cover principles and techniques for the 'functional' testing of desktop GUI applications. This means driving the application from the outside (from the point of view of the user) and testing that the application actually works!
Unlike unit testing, which tests your code units in isolation, functional testing exercises the wiring together of your components and tests that your features work as specified.
Part of functional testing is the writing of good "user stories" (a human readable specification) for your features, and then turning this specification into executable test code. In this way, as well as testing the application your user stories together act as developer documentation and specification.
Some people think GUI testing is so hard that it isn't worth the effort. This hasn't been my experience. This talk is based on my experience of testing a spreadsheet application with Resolver Systems.
The talk will explore the processes and techniques of functionally testing a desktop application, including:
Why test functionally (including some unexpected benefits)
- Why test at all?
- What is functional testing?
- Is it even possible for GUI applications?
The processes and infrastructure around automated tests
- Test Driven Development
- User stories
- An automated build
- Continuous Integration
How to functionally test - general principles and specific examples
- Functional test as specification
- Test framework as Domain Specific Language
- Starting the application under test
- Application specific hooks
- Interacting with the application
- Performing blocking actions
Difficulties and fragilities - and how to minimize them
- Adapting to change through abstractions
- Timing related issues (wait for condition pattern rather than voodoo sleeps)
- Hard to test components / specs (printing & UI aesthetics for example)
- Alternative testing tools
The specific technologies used for the examples are IronPython and Windows Forms, but they aren't the focus of the talk. Far more important are the general techniques (which are applicable to other GUI toolkits) and how a test driven approach with iterative development means that you create a testable application (with application specific hooks to make functional testing possible).
Different approaches to functional testing are discussed (driving the application as an external process with OS hooks, or my preferred approach of driving it in process through the GUI toolkit). Some GUI frameworks (PyGTK for example) make this harder than it should be by making it difficult to invoke actions onto the event loop thread from another thread. Possible ways round this will be mentioned but not explored in depth.
Various different patterns (wait for condition, async executor) useful for functional testing and not tied to any particular platform will be discussed.
Application Development with IronPython
A tutorial on "Developing with IronPython": Python for .NET and Mono. The Common Language Runtime is very different to CPython, with a powerful JIT compiler, and different garbage collection and threading model. More importantly, .NET's huge range of libraries can now be used from Python.
Various aspects of developing with IronPython will be covered and attendees will put this into practice by extending an example application. Topics include:
- Differences between IronPython and CPython, including "Why Use IronPython?"
- Introduction to the .NET framework - a dynamic language on a statically typed framework
- GUIs with Windows Forms
- Network requests and web services
- Handling XML
Come with laptop - running Linux, Windows or Mac OS X - and ready to code!
Many thanks to Resolver Systems who are sponsoring Jonathan and I travelling to PyCon 2009, hope to see you there!
|||Of course, not everyone thinks this is a good thing.|
|||New versions of Mono have been released since the tutorial proposal was submitted. I need to update the page, but Mono 2.2 is the best version to use.|
Resolver One Spreadsheet Challenge: First Round Winner
Each month up until May the best spreadsheet application created with Resolver One will win its creator $2000. The best overall will win an additional $15000.
The first round is over, and we had some really interesting entries. The winner of the first round is Siamak Faridani:
Siamak is a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley, whose spreadsheet to estimate the electrostatic field around Micro Electro Mechanical Systems wowed the judges with its integrated use of the grid and programming, and in particular with the beautiful graphs it generates using gnuplot.
The spreadsheet itself says:
This worksheet can solve Poisson partial differential equations (PDE). In order to solve this PDE, an iterative method is used instead of a Gaussian elimination. The following problems can be easily solved and visualized using this spreadsheet:
- Electrostatic analysis of micro chips
- Seepage underneath a dam
- Thermodynamics problem and heat conduction
Here's a screenshot of his spreadsheet (click-through for a larger version of the image):
His spreadsheet has an interesting UI, with buttons for loading and saving the model data and for generating the images. Once it has created the 2D or 3D plots it pops up modal forms to display them. Nice. Siamak reckons that this kind of electrostatic analysis of a microchip would normally require software costing $20,000!
You can download his spreadsheet and have a play with it:
The functionality is implemented in Python in the user code (IronPython of course), so as well as playing with it you can see how it performs its magic.
We will make other competition entries from the first round available for download shortly. The second round is now underway...
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September 12, 2011 | War and Peace
Woman of the Week: Gen. Becky Halstead
“Character has no gender,” Halstead often reminds people.
by Anna Louie Sussman
It was 1976, the year that West Point first opened its doors to women, and at five foot one and a half, Becky Halstead wasn’t an obvious candidate for the storied military academy. A varsity athlete with nine letters under her belt, she dreamed of becoming a high-school sports coach. But as her mother read aloud from a newspaper article announcing West Point’s change in policy, Halstead realized she had many of the qualifications the university was looking for: she was well-rounded and a leader in her small-town community of Willseyville, N.Y., and she excelled in school.
Not only was Halstead accepted to West Point’s second coeducational class, she would go on to be the first female West Point graduate to be promoted to brigadier general in 2004, among other accolades.
She would also go on to lead the U.S. military during one of its most high-profile national-security missions. Halstead, 52, served in Germany, South America, and eventually, Iraq and Afghanistan, becoming the senior commanding general for logistics in Iraq. She was the first woman in U.S. history to hold a strategic-level command logistics position in combat, a job that included overseeing supply, maintenance, transportation, and distribution to more than 250,000 personnel who were serving in the Iraq theater of operations.
But for Halstead, all of the “firsts” that she racked up as she broke barrier after barrier mattered less than the troops she led. “At the end of the day, it’s the soldiers who are getting the actual mission done, and I try never to forget that,” she said.
Halstead attributes her success to her strong commitment to leading by example, regardless of rank or gender. “In 31 years of wearing a uniform, I’ve strived not to be looked at as a woman first, or an officer first,” she reflected. “I’ve always wanted to be considered a leader of character. Then all those other things don’t matter.” She often reminds people that “character has no gender.”
In 2008, she retired from the military after 27 years of service. During that time, she earned master’s degrees in Advanced Military Studies (with a thesis on “Visionary Leadership”) and Resource Strategy, and too many medals to count. She considers her greatest accomplishment leaving behind a legacy of younger leaders, women and men, of whom she can be proud, and with whom she stays in close touch. One soldier recently emailed her from Afghanistan to say he often wished he could call her for advice on how to handle tough situations. Instead, he said, he stops to ask himself, “What would M6 (her military call name) do?” Another of her command sergeant majors with whom she served in Iraq named his daughter Rebecca, a gesture that she said “brought me to my humble knees.”
Today, as the founder and principal of the consultancy Steadfast Leadership, she shares her insights on leadership with everyone from sixth-grade students to Wall Street CEOs. She stresses that leadership, especially in the military, is not about climbing to the top.
“You’ve heard the expression, ‘rank has its privileges,’” she said, noting that the expression makes her uneasy. “People want to be promoted to have privileges, but really, rank has its responsibilities. To lead America’s sons and daughters—that is a huge responsibility that should never be taken lightly.”
Ultimately, she says, “I always default to the fact that each of us is unique. Our leadership styles will probably change a little bit every day.” And, she adds, “That’s a good thing.”
Anna Louie Sussman is a writer and editor for the Women in the World Foundation website, and a frequent contributor to major U.S. magazines and newspapers. | <urn:uuid:4500b074-a71a-4341-aec9-7327aa623087> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://womenintheworld.org/stories/entry/woman-of-the-week-Gen-Becky-Halstead | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979286 | 882 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The Apple Retail Store program has created a consistent brand, product and service experience for its customers that is a more efficient and effective platform for increasing market share. The stores serve as a hub for consumers, providing a venue for sales, hands-on product displays, and in-store customer service and training that is designed with the same quality and innovation as Apple’s products. The stores have also helped re-enforce Apple’s position as a technology leader.
The stores are not mere sales venues; they have changed the relationship between the consumer and the salesperson. Staff is categorized as “concierges,” those who greet and direct customers to the appropriate solution; “specialists,” those who advise and sell; “geniuses,” those who provide service and resolve problems; and “creatives,” those who teach tutorials and provide one-on-one learning. The new design has also transformed the nature of the point-of-sale, making it mobile using iPod Touch mobile check-out systems to create a more personable, efficient experience. All product displays are hands-on and interactive.
Apple has one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the US, according to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index. The retail store program has contributed to its rating by creating a retail experience that brings more relevance to consumer needs and allows people to experience Apple’s products and life style firsthand.
By providing a high-profile, accessible retail channel, the company is better able to attract, engage and retain its customers. The stores generate 20 percent of Apple’s revenue. Store visitors have increased from an average of 56,000 per store in 2002 to an average of 553,310 per store in 2010. Brand recognition and sales revenue have also increased, from total sales of $5.4 billion in 2001 to $36.5 billion in 2009, and stock prices have soared from approximately $12 in May 2001 to $250 in August 2010.
Credit: Steve Jobs and the Apple Retail Team; Tim Kobe and Wilhelm Oehl, IDSA and team of Eight Inc.; Sylvia Bistrong of ISP Design; James O'Callaghan of Eckersley O'Callaghan and Peter Bohlin of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson for Apple Retail Stores
Contact: Ingrid Castro: firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:3e4442b5-2838-44c5-8626-24a07986584b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://idsa.org/apple-retail-stores | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945616 | 488 | 1.5625 | 2 |
- (708) 952-7914
Team 6B Science
Welcome to our website, a place where you can visit to learn all of the important information about what is going on in our classroom and at school. I hope you are able to find everything that you need, keeping you informed of the procedures, events, and learning activities for the 2012-2013 school year.
This site will change constantly throughout the year. A great way to stay up to date with weekly lessons and assignments is to use the "Weekly Assignments" link on the right side of the page. That page will consist of lesson summaries, essential questions that are the focus of our units, and daily assignments. The documents section will also be updated regularly to give students access to hand-outs distributed in class.
**Things to remember this week**
- Yearbooks can still be purchased through Mrs. Safka or Mrs. Rodriguez. At this point, we can only accept cash orders. Print the order form here!
@MrsSafka on Twitter
Welcome to OLHMS! | <urn:uuid:1ae9c117-eae5-4dd8-81f1-9e87d9124238> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.d123.org/olhms/csafka/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931351 | 221 | 1.578125 | 2 |
30 June 2012
The Illustrated London News was the world’s first illustrated weekly newspaper. Its first issue appeared in May 1842 and continued publication until 2003. Due to this, it missed covering Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. It did though manage to cover in great detail the Diamond Jubilee of another monarch - Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria rightfully earned the nickname “the grandmother of Europe” with over 42 grandchildren. Her descendants include Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Sofia of Spain. Her celebrations were no less impressive with her request to turn it into a festival of the British Empire! Through this online resource you can see in full colour the pageantry, ceremony and general gushing at Queen Victoria’s achievement.
For coverage of our current monarch’s celebrations and travels we have to look to Press Display which contains over 1200 fully scanned newspapers from around the world including many from England. We have the Daily Mail’s more sensational approach to the celebration and the more conservative approach of the Sunday Telegraph!
Newspapers continue to be our link to what is happening around the world – the format may change but our love for the printed word continues. Check out both these online resources for news of times past or present. All you need is your library card number, PIN and a visit to the Source.
29 June 2012
I have owned red socks for as long as I can remember, but it was Sir Peter Blake who made red socks lucky and fashionable.
It was 1995 and New Zealand was in the grip of America’s Cup fever. I didn’t know my aft from my grinder. Black Magic had won the Louis Vuitton Cup and the right to challenge Team Dennis Connor off the coast of San Diego.
Journalists soon noticed that every time Sir Peter Blake wore his red socks, Black Magic won a race. Soon almost every one in New Zealand was wearing red socks and Black Magic made history, winning the America’s Cup 5-0. I remember hearing Peter Montgomery shouting, ”The America’s Cup is now New Zealand’s Cup!”.
In 2000, I donned my new red socks and as summer turned to autumn, I knew the difference between a spinnaker and a gennaker and Peter Montgomery exclaimed “The America’s Cup is still New Zealand’s Cup!”
In 1997, Blake became the Cousteau Society’s head of expeditions and spent more time bringing marine conservation issues to our notice. Sadly, on 5 December 2001, pirates shot and killed Blake while he was on an environmental trip in South America.
His enthusiasm and love for the environment and his dedication to young people lives on in the Sir Peter Blake Trust and Red Socks Day. On Friday 29th June, I’ll be wearing my lucky socks; what about you?
29 June 2012
Posted by Donna under Christchurch
, Christchurch and Canterbury
, Loving winter
, New Zealand
| Tags: ccliotw
, loving winter
, Picturing Canterbury
| Leave a Comment
1957: Banks of Avon River, facing the Christchurch Hospital. Early Spring day. Lynne in her snow suit.
28 June 2012
Roddy Doyle said: I’d like to have my bio say “He divides his time between Dublin and confusion”.
- SO’F pursued a successful career in banking, and became Ireland’s first woman Chief Dealer, before deciding to become a full-time writer. She also plays competitive badminton.
- ST is a high-flying attorney who has served on a number of public bodies (!), including an Illinois commission to study the death penalty.
- MH has worked in private security and for the police. He is a 4th Dan blackbelt and coach in ju-jitsu.
- KM and her family divide their time between their home in Chichester, West Sussex and their home in Carcassonne – in the southwest of France.
- PB lives in Washington State with her husband, children and a small herd of horses.
- SG started her working life as a television script writer before becoming a best-selling novelist.
- JB is a former lawyer who lived and practiced in Hong Kong for 12 years. He now divides his time between Vietnam and France.
Whereas I have never lived in France, Hong Kong or Washington State; never owned a herd of anything (except cats); never divided anything except chocolate cake at birthday parties; don’t have a competitive bone in my body …
I do have a black belt, but I’m not sure where it is (possibly one of the cats borrowed it). My career choices before librarianship have been limited by preschoolers, owning a B.A. (we all know what that stands for), and being paralysed by my inability to write the perfect opening line of my as yet
unstarted unfinished masterwork.
Am I being unreasonable in my bitter mockery of those infuriating book cover bio summaries? Do you think they write their own? Do you think PB really owns a small herd of horses? Should I be more forgiving? Should I regard them as an encouragement to aim for greater things? Should I just lie?
And here’s your challenge for the week: pretend you are a bestselling novelist, and leave a comment below with your own bio – remember, you have to base it as much as possible on actual truth.
27 June 2012
There is nothing like music for a bit of atmosphere, so how about some music with evocative winter lyrics?
Anne Murray – Snowbird
Beneath this snowy mantle cold and clean
The unborn grass lies waiting for its coat to turn to green
The snowbird sings the song he always sings
And speaks to me of flowers that will bloom again in spring
Lindisfarne - Winter Song
When winter’s shadowy fingers
First pursue you down the street
And your boots no longer lie
About the cold around your feet
Little feat - Six Feet of Snow
Six Feet of Snow Comin’ Through My Radio
It’s Rainin’ in Stilettos From Here Clear Down to Mexico
My Hands They’re Numb From Hangin’ On That
They’re Frozen Tight, Hope the Wind
Don’t Blow Me Off the Road Tonight
Simon & Garfunkel – A Hazy Shade of Winter
Hear the Salvation Army Band down by the riverside
It’s bound to be a better ride than you’ve got planned
Carry your cup in your hand and look around
Leaves are brown now and the sky is a hazy shade of winter
Queen – A Winters Tale
There’s a kind of magic in the air
What a truly magnificent view
A breathtaking scene
You can probably date me from this list. Any updates?
26 June 2012
Posted by releccl under Events
, Loving winter
, Matariki at the marae
, New Zealand
| Tags: Christchurch
, loving winter
, Rēhua Marae
, story blankets
| Leave a Comment
Monday 25 June was the first day of our Story blanket Exhibition at Rēhua Marae, part of our programme of events this year at Christchurch City Libraries to celebrate Matariki. It was well attended with nearly 100 people from tamariki to kaumātua coming down to visit on the first day. Reactions so far have been wonderful – exclamations of wonder, up-close and personal examinations by little eyes and fingers with oohhs and ahhs, to tears of appreciation. If you haven’t seen it yet you should come down and check it out for yourself.
“What is a storyblanket?” I hear you thinking … well, our storyblankets are visual retellings of six well-known New Zealand stories depicted on a blanket. The way the storyblanket exhibition works is that you can come down to the Marae, look at the blankets which are made up on mattresses in the wharenui and read the stories that have inspired them while you’re here.
The storyblankets themselves have been several months in the making. The whakaaro behind the project was this: traditionally, Matariki was a time for wānanga (learning). With this in mind we decided to explore the idea of wānanga from a library perspective – in a sense libraries are giant storehouses of stories. We thought we could do this by looking at the idea of sharing kōrero or story across generations at Matariki, with a focus on pakiwaitara and pūrākau. The idea of the storyblankets exhibition was to express the essence of a story in a visual format.
We approached six authors with our idea, who graciously granted us permission to use their works as a source of inspiration for these taonga. The books we chose were:
Library teams from across the city then swung into action, retelling the story they had chosen on their blanket. Some teams used this as an opportunity to work alongside customers and local groups in their communities to collaborate on the artworks. Once completed they were then gathered up and brought out to Rēhua. You can see some photos on our Flickr site.
Conceptually, in Te Ao Māori (if you can think outside the square a little), the wharenui is similar in some ways to a library. The whare represents the body of an ancestor, a shelter and gathering place for their descendants and is a living repository of kōrero. The whakairo (carvings), tukutuku (woven lattice workpanels) kōwhaiwhai and their placement inside the whare record and tell the stories, history and whakapapa (genealogy) of the local hapū/people who belong to a particular marae- connecting the past and the present. For us, having the opportunity to share this exhibition with the community in partnership with Rēhua Marae is wonderfu l- in a sense we are taking the library to the library – and it’s awesome being out there in the community. Ka rawe!
The Storyblankets will be at Rēhua for the rest of this week between 10am -4pm. If you can’t make it weekdays there is a whānau fun day this Saturday, again from 10am-4pm with a lot of free fun activities planned, including weaving workshops, waiata session, storytime, readings by local authors Ben Brown and Gavin Bishop (of their books that feature in the exhibition), Random Acts of Music are coming down, and there will also be stalls and kapahaka performances.
How are you celebrating Matariki this year? We’d love to hear what others are doing. If you’re in Christchurch, think about coming down to Rēhua and celebrate Matariki 2012 by sharing some stories with us? We’d love to see you!
26 June 2012
25 June 2012
Ah, winter. Time for bowls of hearty soup, nights by the fireside, warm scarves, and zombie make-up. Also chainmail, cat-ears, Death Star command posts, pizza eating competitions, and all things nerdily glorious at this weekend’s Armageddon Expo.
Every year at the beginning of July, Christchurch is over-run by hordes of Doctor Who devotees, Star Wars Storm Troopers, anime kids, and all sorts of assorted science fiction, fantasy, comic-reading, game-playing fans. And every year we send intrepid (if slightly fearful) library reporters to cover the weekend. You can read up on previous years’ visits here, and here; we will be covering the event again this year, with blogging, pics on Flickr, and even hopefully an interview with one of this year’s star visitors, best-selling author Christopher Paolini.
Visit the Armageddon website for more information, and don’t forget that the library has a great selection of graphic novels, DVDs, and all things fan-related (including cosplay and costume books if you fancy a last-minute spot of dress-ups, for you or the kids …).
However you choose to dress, we’ll see you Saturday at the icecream-eating competition. Or the anime screening. Or maybe next to the time-machine display. Or stocking up on comics and replica swords …
25 June 2012
On a jag of thinking about who owns stories about real people’s lives, I’ve moved from fiction to biography. “Biography appeals to the base part of human nature” said Hermione Lee. I’m probably more base than most, because I love a good biography but I’ve never given much thought to how the subject might feel.
It seems while you’re alive you might think you own your story, but once you’re dead you know you don’t. You’d know it if you weren’t dead, that is.
Somerset Maugham fell into the trap of thinking he could control who knew what about his private life after his death as he had in his life, asking his friends to destroy any letters he had written to them. According to his biographer Selina Hastings, this guaranteed they sold for large amounts.
He made a huge bonfire of his personal papers and had a clause in his will embargoing those that survived, but the Royal Literary Fund rescinded the clause and gave Hastings access to his papers.
Maugham might have wanted his secret lives to stay secret, but the book called The secret lives of Somerset Maugham came out anyway.
Do your wishes count after you’re dead?
24 June 2012
Next Page » | <urn:uuid:40f2e73a-54b8-46c0-aa36-b09e12d7be83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cclblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951734 | 2,931 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Since moving to this new house painting and crafts of all kinds have been on the up, just because there is more space to be able just to do it as and when. It has got me thinking though, how much a child can learn through art?
Even when they are so small, you give then colours and paper and all of a sudden you are talking colours, counting, shapes, animals, objects and people. You will find you practice matching skills and motor skills and strengthen that hand ready for the future; it is endless.
With HB she colours in a dinosaur. She talks about the type of dinosaur, she talks about whether we know what colours they were. She tries to remember what his name means; she tries to remember a Tyrannosaurus Rex means terrible lizard king, that a Baryonyx means heavy claw and so on. She will also talk about why he might look like he does. What are those spikes for? Look at those claws! How long was he? How tall was he? What colour was he? It's endless. Or she'll draw a volcano and while she is drawing it we mental label what she is drawing and talk about how it all happens and then that may stem into rock formation and so on.
I do history with my g two girls and we colour a picture like the one of Caratacus here. Through asking questions like, what colour were his clothes? What was this metal made of what colour should I do his hair? They learn so much. Then we can talk about what happened to him while they happily draw and learning is so much more fun. They take colouring to a new level as they get older and I find they play with shading and then use this practise more and more in their own drawings.
Chiara loves learning through drawing; taking the colouring one step further and drawing what she's learning about. Naomi often draws diagrams of anything she's trying to get her head around too, like the time when she was getting her head round how the heart worked. We have a scrap book where we keep all these types of drawing a couple really.
Art is an amazing way of learning and I love fitting it into our days. Painting, drawing, colouring in, no matter what it is, art Sparks so many questions and is so fun for the child involved too. | <urn:uuid:b1ba3843-f75e-4d25-9053-2f591f735a42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anordinary-life.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-much-child-can-learn-through-art.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98513 | 476 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Sustainable Farming that Feeds Families
Over 2.5 billion of the developing world’s 5.5 billion people work in agriculture, mostly in rural areas. Rural farmers in developing countries are among the most socially vulnerable people. Many farmers, while they do provide the local and global economy with some great food, do not earn enough income for a sustainable livelihood. The farmers are not very likely to be organized into trade unions and don’t have access to effective forms of social security and protection. As a result, many of them are employed under poor health, safety and environmental conditions. Our current agriculture system is also not very kind to the environment as, for example, more than 25 million acres of tropical forests worldwide are destroyed annually. Fair Trade investments support sustainable farming – for the farmer and the environment.
Your investment can help us change these statistics. You can help rural enterprises throughout the developing world to provide meaningful employment and social services to disadvantaged groups, dramatically improve household incomes, and offer alternatives to short-term survival tactics that destroy the environment. The Fair Trade investments on MicroPlace offer loans to co-ops to help individual farmers manage their cash flow. Many farmers only get paid once they sell their product and have to float all the expenses for the entire year. A Fair Trade investment enables co-ops to loan these farmers money to manage this cash flow problem.
How do the investments work?
Root Capital is a nonprofit social investment fund that is pioneering finance for grassroots businesses in rural areas of developing countries, such as farmer and artisan associations, transforming rural communities and conserving natural resources in the world’s poorest, most environmentally threatened places. For the investments offered on MicroPlace, Root Capital works as a sub-advisor to the Calvert Foundation and conducts due diligence, site visits, and closely monitors all investments. Root Capital also invests its own capital in these cooperatives as well as several others, successfully reaching this often-forgotten “missing middle.”
Jane Khainza is a member of Gumutindo’s Peace Kawomera Cooperative, based in Mount Elgon – in the Mbale district of Uganda. Gumutindo, which means “excellent quality” in the local Lugisu language, began in 1998, and is financed by Calvert Foundation partner Root Capital. Jane tends to her family’s coffee trees while her husband serves as Gumutindo’s treasurer. They now own additional land and support 13 children with their coffee income.
© Photo courtesy of Root Capital | <urn:uuid:9062ed0f-33cf-4a46-a6ad-b0a506eea369> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.calvertfoundation.org/fair-trade | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956726 | 519 | 2.625 | 3 |
A Snapshot of SCEGGS
- A Diverse School
- A School of Excellence
- A School of Christian Values
- An Inner City School
- A Caring School
- A Supportive School
- An Accountable School
- Our Vision
A Diverse School
The SCEGGS community of students and their families come together from all over Sydney, united by a commitment to receiving the best possible education. Our school is small enough to be a safe and friendly environment where each girl feels known, valued and nurtured, yet large enough to provide depth across a range of programs.
A School of Excellence
SCEGGS has a reputation for excellence. We are renowned for our academic success in public examinations, challenging curriculum and broad range of co-curricular activities. Our greatest reward is to see a girl who is confident in her own accomplishments by the time she leaves us, regardless of her chosen endeavours.
A School of Christian Values
The Christian faith and its values underpin all that we do at SCEGGS. Religious Education is an important part of the curriculum where questioning, debate, research and inquiry are conducted in an open environment. We welcome girls of every faith and intend to foster Christian values for the benefit of all students, regardless of their religious backgrounds. Girls are given the freedom and support to explore their own spirituality, to come up with their own answers, and to discover their own spiritual self.
An Inner City School
Our position on so many transport hubs means our girls come to SCEGGS from all over Sydney. We are truly an inner-city school.
Being located in Darlinghurst allows us to take advantage of the vast cultural resources in and around the heart of the Sydney. Programs are specifically developed to utilise nearby art galleries, theatres, libraries, museums and sporting facilities. We believe that SCEGGS girls are “savvy” and certainly at ease in a city environment.
Because our students see aspects of real disadvantage within the community around us, we are able to encourage our girls to live their lives with compassion, courage and a determination to benefit society. SCEGGS girls understand something of life’s complexities and they are better people because of it.
A Caring School
Our talented and dedicated staff are the heart of everything SCEGGS has achieved. We attract and maintain the highest quality people to deliver an outstanding education to our girls. Survey results and feedback collected from parents and students continually pay tribute to their hard work, care and professionalism.
A Supportive School
The school supports staff in every possible way, allowing them to concentrate on their role as teachers. We underpin this with a rigorous staff appraisal process and valuable professional development. We provide a stimulating teaching environment and the opportunity to work with motivated students in an innovative workplace.
An Accountable School
We genuinely care about the views and feedback of the SCEGGS community and see it as vital to our success. We conduct regular surveys of parents and girls to gain their feedback and thoughts on our programs. It is so important that we review what we are doing, build on our strengths and prepare goals or improvement targets for the future.
- In a world where the individual is being constantly challenged and roles are changing SCEGGS affirms its intention to equip our students for the future through the best possible education.
- To this end, SCEGGS will be recognised as an outstanding educator of girls, a school which gives each student the opportunity to reach her academic potential.
- A SCEGGS girl will be distinctive in her love of learning. This will be lifelong, allowing her to embrace change in the complex world of the future. Her individuality will be allowed to flourish and she will be confident and at ease in a city environment.
- Her compassion and understanding of people will be based on a commitment to the service of others and in response to the school’s Christian foundation.
- A SCEGGS girl will be articulate, competent and accomplished; one whose confidence and sense of self worth allow her to make a significant contribution to the community.
For further information about SCEGGS Darlinghurst you may like to read our Prospectus or 2020 Vision document. | <urn:uuid:e720dde5-c271-4e13-86d8-e612507ec872> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sceggs.nsw.edu.au/index.php/about/a-snapshot-of-sceggs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948294 | 869 | 1.6875 | 2 |
About Take Back the Night
From the late 1970's through present day, Take Back The Night events have been held by college and university women's centers, YWCA's, rape crisis centers, community centers, high school student groups, battered women's shelters, and other organizations dedicated to helping women achieve safety and empowerment. Events have been held in England, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Caribbean Islands, U.S., and likely other corners of the globe.
Men are also lending their voices and standing as survivors at many events. Most events involve candlelight vigils, speak outs, marches and rallies in order to raise awareness about sexual violence. Some events involve only women, but as more men voice their own stories of sexual abuse, most events are coed efforts to raise awareness and promote healing. All events strive to bring awareness to the problem of sexual violence and support those who have been victimized.
Early events focused on unsafe streets, cities and campuses; and then as a protest to pornography and the degradation of women and sexuality. Today, events highlight the problem of violence against women as well as the broader issues of sexual violence: sexual assault, rape, dating violence, sexual abuse, domestic violence, stalking, sexual harassment, child abuse, internet harassment and other unhealthy relationships. Take Back The Night fights to end child prostitution and world-wide sexually related crimes. | <urn:uuid:448cc6eb-000d-4c68-bb5d-2458eea5913b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uwosh.edu/home/tbtn/about-take-back-the-night | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963607 | 275 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Testing sought of genetic solution to dengue-carrying mosquitoes
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LONDON -- British biotechnology start-up Oxitec wants to start U.S. tests of a new weapon in the war on dengue fever: genetically modifying mosquitoes that carry the disease so that their progeny self-destruct.
Dengue, endemic in more than 100 countries, has begun to appear in the continental United States, with local cases occurring in Key West, Fla., in 2009 and 2010 and in Miami last year. The virus afflicts as many as 100 million people a year globally, about 20 times the number of serious influenza cases, according to the World Health Organization, or WHO. In its worst form, dengue can cause severe flu-like symptoms and fatal bleeding.
Oxitec has released its genetically modified bugs in Malaysia, the Cayman Islands and Brazil. A proposed trial in Key West has met with resistance from communities who oppose genetic modification and with confusion over regulatory oversight. Still, with no vaccines to prevent dengue and no drugs to treat the disease so painful it's known as "break-bone fever," the approach is seen as an increasingly viable option to limit infections.
"It is a promising technology," says James Logan, a lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who studies the control of disease-carrying insects. "If you stop us being bitten, you stop the disease from being transmitted."
Oxitec's efforts are part of a broader push to rein in dengue. Novartis of Basel, Switzerland, is researching antiviral medicines and has shelved one that caused side effects in dogs. French drugmaker Sanofi has a dengue vaccine candidate in final testing that may be available as early as 2015. The company says the vaccine may generate as much as $1.3 billion in annual sales. Until a vaccine or medicine is approved, mosquito control is the only way to limit infections.
About half of the world's people are already at risk of infection, and the incidence of dengue is rising as the human population increases and climate change causes mosquitoes to disperse more widely, the Geneva-based WHO says. Mosquitoes that transmit dengue are found in at least 28 U.S. states and may extend their reach as temperatures warm, the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council said in 2009.
While dengue kills only 2.5 percent of the 500,000 people who develop its most severe form, it costs the Americas about $840 million each year in medical costs, according to a study published last year by researchers at Brandeis University in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Dengue also results in about $1.2 billion in indirect costs, mainly from lost productivity, the study found.
Oxitec's chief scientist, Luke Alphey, found a way to impair the DNA of the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito without using radiation, which he says causes widespread genetic damage to the bug. Scientists insert one copy of an altered gene into the mosquito. The modification causes the insects to produce excessive amounts of a protein that disrupts their cell machinery unless they're given the antibiotic tetracycline.
When Abingdon, England-based Oxitec releases male mosquitoes with this gene and they reproduce with wild females, their offspring inherit the trait and, without the antibiotic, die before adulthood, reducing their overall numbers.
"The lethal gene is something that will kill the offspring when it's inherited," says Mr. Alphey, a visiting professor in zoology at the University of Oxford. The closely held company was spun out from the university in 2002.
In the United States, opposition to Oxitec testing is fierce because of uncertainty about possible health risks. Mr. Alphey and Oxitec Chief Executive Officer Hadyn Parry in March participated in a meeting in Key West at which residents voiced concerns about being "guinea pigs" and called for independent validation of Oxitec's findings.
The Florida Keys spend about $1 million a year on mosquito control, including 12 full-time inspectors who visit about 8,000 properties, according to Michael Doyle, director of the Keys's Mosquito Control District. An additional 10 full-time employees were hired following the dengue outbreak, Key West's first since 1936, and it can be hard to reach all the places Aedes aegypti mosquitoes hide, Mr. Doyle said at the March meeting.
The cost of using the Oxitec approach would be about $500,000 in the first year, and less in future years, Mr. Doyle said in an email.
If successful, deploying GM bugs would allow most of the district's field staff to work on other projects and greatly reduce the use of pesticides, he said. The project is on hold until final permits are given for "full suppression efforts," or small releases of Oxitec mosquitoes to gather data for regulators, Mr. Doyle said.
"We have no concerns based on current understanding of the technology and the data presented to us," Mr. Doyle said. If serious health issues arise, the releases would be canceled, he said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture -- which has overseen tests of Oxitec's genetically altered pink bollworm, an agricultural pest -- said in November it doesn't have jurisdiction over the mosquito project. Oxitec has opened an investigational new animal drug file with the Food and Drug Administration, Mr. Alphey says.
"No genetically engineered mosquitoes will be released in the U.S. without appropriate federal regulatory oversight," the FDA said in an email.
Elsewhere in the world, the technique has shown results. In Grand Cayman, 80 percent of the Aedes aegypti population was eradicated after two or three generations, sufficient to prevent epidemic transmission, Mr. Alphey says.
"It's worthwhile trying it, but only a combination of things will get rid of this," said Paul Herrling, chairman of the Novartis Institute of Tropical Diseases in Singapore.
Releasing the modified pests must be done weekly, according to Mr. Alphey. That would cost communities in middle-income countries about $5 to $10 per person protected a year, he says. The company aims to drive the cost down to $1 per person a year in poorer countries.
Oxitec's technology is safe and the company obtains local permission, Mr. Parry said. "In dengue areas, we're always working with a government entity."
To GM critics like Helen Wallace, executive director of nonprofit GeneWatch UK, Oxitec's mosquitoes potentially threaten the balance of nature.
"We're concerned GM mosquitoes could survive and breed to produce further generations," Ms. Wallace says. "The mosquitoes would become part of a complicated ecosystem that might respond in ways that could be bad for health."
Ms. Wallace cites a case at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, in which 18 percent of offspring of Oxitec-supplied GM mosquitoes survived in the lab. The cat food the Institut Pasteur scientists fed the bugs was made from chickens given the same antibiotic that Oxitec uses as an antidote, according to the company. If other bugs accessed tetracycline in the food chain, the advocacy group says, they might survive and disrupt the ecosystem.
The odds of the 2007 episode recurring in the wild are negligible because tetracycline must be available "at the right range and in the right conditions," Oxitec's Mr. Parry says.
The challenges facing Oxitec haven't deterred investors, who have provided $23 million in equity. The company has also won 5 million pounds in grants from sources including the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the British government.
Investors include Providence, R.I.-based East Hill Management, which has a 31 percent stake and is headed by retired Eaton Vance Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Landon Clay; Oxford Capital Partners of Oxford, England; Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific Capital; and the University of Oxford. Mr. Alphey's stake is about 10 percent.
First Published May 13, 2012 12:00 am | <urn:uuid:2c114825-36cb-4ac9-baa8-1bf63f0278fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/science/testing-sought-of-genetic-solution-to-dengue-carrying-mosquitoes-635688/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951343 | 1,706 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Does urban renewal signify progress? That question has dogged city planners worldwide for decades. And nowhere is the matter more pertinent these days than in Baku, the Caspian seaside capital of Azerbaijan.
Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, will host the Eurovision 2012 song contest in just a few months. Given that the wildly popular TV event provides the Azerbaijani government a showcase for the energy-rich South Caucasus nation, efforts to spruce up the city are already in full swing. But an initiative designed to tackle Baku’s stray dog problem is sparking complaints from animal rights activists. | <urn:uuid:fa34f1a3-0c34-4dcb-80ab-5f3b053b038d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurasianet.org/taxonomy/term/3731 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917168 | 123 | 1.53125 | 2 |
A man is seen enchanting a beetle which then crawls inside a flower he is holding. A bunch of these flowers is anonymously left for Morgana. The man, whose face is heavily scarred, watches her window from the ground below. As she sleeps that night, the beetle comes out of the flower and goes into her ear.
Two days later, Morgana has become dangerously ill with an inflammation of the brain. Gaius cannot find the cause and does not know what to do for her. Merlin offers to try and help her using magic but Gaius reminds him that his previous use of a magical cure nearly led to Gwen being executed. The scarred man arrives at the castle and introduces himself to Prince Arthur. He is Edwin Muirden, a physician who claims to have "a remedy to cure all ills." Arthur turns him away but Edwin promises to be at the inn should he be needed.
Morgana is now only hours away from death. Arthur becomes so afraid for her that he tells his father about the mysterious Edwin. King Uther orders Edwin to be summoned at once. Gaius believes he and Edwin have met before but Edwin denies this. He asks for privacy while examining Morgana; Gwen enters the room unawares but he angrily confronts her and orders her to bring water. When she leaves, he uses a spell to remove the beetle.
Edwin tells the king that Morgana has in fact had a cerebral haemorrhage and indirectly accuses Gaius of incompetence in treating her. Uther is delighted at her miraculous recovery. When questioned by Gaius, Edwin again says they have never met. A suspicious Gaius asks the court genealogist, Geoffrey of Monmouth, for records of the "Great Purge" when Uther removed magic from the kingdom. However, Geoffrey is too afraid to open the records because they both know the king would forbid it.
While looking at Edwin's magical equipment, Merlin finds a box containing what appears to be dead beetles. There is a magical enchantment carved into the lid. He is able to read it and when he does so, they come to life. Edwin catches him and is impressed by his magical ability. He encourages Merlin not to be afraid to use magic to do good, and offers to be his mentor. Merlin says that Gaius will not allow him to use magic but Edwin insists magic is a wonderful gift, and by working together they could become great.
Geoffrey of Monmouth trusts Gaius enough that he produces the old records after all. While at dinner with Uther, Edwin casts doubt upon Gaius's capability as a physician. Later that evening Gaius confronts Edwin with his new found knowledge: Edwin's parents were old friends of Gaius, a witch and wizard executed on Uther's orders when he removed sorcery from Camelot. Edwin reveals that he knows about Merlin, and that his face is scarred because he tried to save his parents from being burnt at the stake. He believes they died because of Gaius, who was also a sorcerer but chose to save himself rather than his old friends. He threatens to kill Uther if Gaius tells anyone, including Merlin.
Edwin now tells Uther that Gaius has become too incompetent in his old age to continue as court physician. Gaius visits the Great Dragon, who states it is Merlin's destiny to unite Albion alongside Arthur, and "their time cannot come until (Uther's) has passed." He says it is now Gaius's choice as to whether that will happen sooner rather than later. Gaius refuses to sacrifice Uther for Merlin so the Dragon tells him to turn a blind eye as he did before.
Uther dismisses Gaius from the job of court physician, thanking him for his many years of loyal service. Gaius resolves to leave Camelot. He tells Merlin that they have been like father and son, and reminds him of his great destiny. The next day Edwin poisons Uther, replacing the potion that Gaius had given him to treat an old wound. Gwen encounters Gaius as he is leaving. She does not trust Edwin, but Gaius says there is nothing he can do. Edwin has paralysed Uther and inserts one of the magical beetles into the king's ear. It will eat into his brain and kill him within hours.
Gaius returns to the castle, swearing that Edwin will not kill Uther. He could not bring himself to help Edwin's parents because he knew they were using evil magic. Edwin encases Gaius in a ring of magical fire but Merlin walks in and Gaius tells him the truth. Merlin refuses Edwin's offer to rule the kingdom together using magic. Because of this, Edwin enchants an axe from the wall to fly towards Merlin. Merlin magically returns the axe towards Edwin and Edwin is killed. Gaius and Merlin remember the king and rush to his side. Merlin is reluctant to use magic to save Uther but Gaius tells him it is the only way. Using his own magic rather than Edwin's, Merlin removes the beetle and Uther is cured.
A recovered Uther believes it is Gaius who saved his life. He reinstates Gaius to his job and makes him a free man of Camelot, stating (in private) that Gaius is the only man he can trust in the fight against magic. | <urn:uuid:1adbb8c4-6995-490e-9bb7-330c9ed0f4ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sidereel.com/posts/96449-review-recap-merlin-season-1-episode-6-a-remedy-to-cure-all-ills | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981185 | 1,122 | 1.570313 | 2 |
School stops dancing around the issue: Hip-hop is hot
By ROBERT KING, St. Petersburg Times
BROOKSVILLE -- When Chocachatti Elementary School debuted in 1999 with an emphasis on the arts, one of its most intriguing features was the fact students would learn ballet.
But when school resumes in August, the attention to ballet, which has drawn interest from almost no boys and only a few girls, will be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated altogether.
In its place, hip-hop is taking center stage.
That is hip-hop in the MTV sense of the genre: the choreographed moves of N'Sync, Britney Spears and Janet Jackson. Or, for those of an earlier generation, think of the dancing from Michael Jackson's Beat It or Thriller videos. click for more
<small>[ 06 July 2004, 12:26 AM: Message edited by: Admin ]</small> | <urn:uuid:5b6ebb4a-edff-422f-8190-5e423d5529fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ballet-dance.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=25468&view=next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924064 | 188 | 1.796875 | 2 |
WASHINGTON -- The mortgage market may be softening, but that's not diminishing the importance of owning a home for young consumers.
According to the National Association of Realtors' 2005 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the percentage of first-time homebuyers under age 25 has been increasing in response to historically low interest rates and continued confidence in the long-term housing market. The number of homebuyers in that age group was up to 14% in 2005 from 11% in 2001.
The NAR study also showed younger buyers are more likely to use technology and the Internet in their home buying search. In 2005, NAR research showed the median age of buyers who used the Interest to search for homes was 11 years younger than those who didn't--38 years old and 49 years old, respectively.
NAR President Thomas Stevens said the next generation of homeowners is beginning to exert its influence on the housing market. Many of these young buyers have seen the wealth-building effects of homeownership in their parents and understand the value of housing as a good long-term investment.
As they begin to enter the housing market, many consumers in their 20s are more likely to buy a home at a younger age than their older brothers and sisters as well as their baby boomer parents, and they're not necessarily waiting for marriage or even a long-term relationship before becoming homeowners. | <urn:uuid:e83f0c81-edbf-4ef0-a44d-4ffde30f0aab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cutimes.com/2006/11/08/nar-younger-homebuyers-having-greater-influence-on-real-estate-markets | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980909 | 284 | 1.875 | 2 |
Area districts take different approaches to tighten school security
Districts take different approaches to school security
Washington police Officer Todd Foreman, a Washington High School resource officer, walks the hallways at Wash High Friday as part of his duties.
Jim McNutt / Observer-Reporter
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In the wake of one of the most horrific school shootings in modern history, districts nationwide are taking a hard look at their security practices and policies.
Across Washington County, some districts are hiring armed school resource officers while others are busy tweaking their security systems and polices. As local school boards, administrators and parents may offer different opinions on how best to protect children, several area education officials have stressed that school communities needs to measure their responses and work together to provide secure, caring environments, not just dystopian lockdowns.
“We certainty have been aggressive in making sure our kids are safe and that we will offer – at the end of the day – a public school where the kids feel safe and secure, but that’s not like a prison where we’ve taken away their individual rights,” said Dr. Brad Ferko, superintendent of Charleroi Area School District.
Charleroi currently has a school resource officer and the board is considering increasing the district’s certified armed presence in the future, a decision that Ferko said is not being taken lightly. For now, the district will change the location of the greeting desk and require those entering the building to show photo identification. Ferko praised the board and the community for coming together to discuss their concerns instead of hastily reacting.
Charles Baker, superintendent of Bentworth School District, shared a similar sentiment, saying that, “We do care about the safety of children, but we need to temper what we do to not be too overzealous and frighten them in their own school setting.”
While Bentworth isn’t planning on bringing in an armed guard, Baker said administrators are working with county emergency management officials to review current safety plans and develop a laundry list of activities, including a drill involving local first responders slated for March.
Nearby, Ringgold School Board authorized its administrators earlier this month to advertise for a security chief to build its police department – a move that aligns the districts like McGuffey and Peters Township, which already have police officers present in the schools. The year before, the district had replaced an armed police officer at the high school with an unarmed security director.
At the opposite end of the county, Burgettstown Area School District also plans to create its own police department and has offered full-time positions to two retired police officers that will be stationed in both buildings.
Burgettstown Superintendent Deborah Jackson said the school’s future officers will be encouraged to work with neighboring police departments, such as Smith Township, which the district already has built a good relationship with.
At Washington Area School District, which already has a well-trained school resource officer, administrators have been trying to determine how to tackle infrastructure issues – namely its schools’ many points of entry.
“The problem that’s surfaced for us in both buildings is doors, “ said Dr. Roberta DiLorenzo, superintendent at Washington.
Washington currently utilizes an electronic card system that documents when people enter and exit the building, but a door that is left propped open can scuttle such efforts. DiLorenzo said this makes it important for the school community to follow the district’s polices.
“Security is a shared responsibly and it’s not convenient,” she said.
To remedy the issue at its elementary building, which currently has three main points of entry stretched across the long structure, the district is working to create a central entrance. DiLorenzo said the work should be complete by mid-February.
The district also recently relocated its school resource officer. Washington police Patrolman Todd Foreman was moved from the elementary school to the high school after the 7th and 8th grade classes shifted buildings, leaving the board to debate whether additional personnel are needed. DiLorenzo explained that Foreman handles not only the physical aspect of security, but also is instrumental in carrying out embedded instruction and individualized training with the faculty and staff.
“If you’re going to put someone in the building, you’ve got to put somebody with in-depth knowledge of security – particularly school security,” DiLorenzo said.
To the north, Canon-McMillan School District brought in an outside agency to conduct a structural security evaluation and administrators plan to revamp their visitation polices. Guests will now be required to show a photo ID if they want to proceed beyond the central office or pick up a child if they are not recognized, said Scott Chambers, Canon-Mac’s newly appointed assistant superintendent and former Cecil Intermediate School principal, who coordinates security for the district.
“The initial barrier is all that exists from keeping someone on the outside from coming in and its important to create those additional barriers,” he said.
Following a recent meeting with three local departments, Chambers said Canonsburg Borough as well as Cecil and North Strabane townships offered to increased police presences at the schools at no cost to the district. The officers will not be stationed in the schools, but rather conduct walk-throughs during the day. Chambers said local police have been visiting in the schools for at least a decade.
Trinity Area School District is undergoing a similar assessment process as the one seen at Canon-Mac. Dr. Paul Kasunich, superintendent at Trinity, said a member of the Washington County SWAT team and a school resource officer from another district are reviewing the findings of two recently completed independent security audits.
“I think there are some common sense things we can do,” Kasunich said. “We’re always looking at ways to enhance safety without making it a prison.”
He said the district already has more than 170 cameras throughout its schools and uses a buzzer and intercom system at its entrances. Trinity previously had a school resource officer, but eliminated the position about a year and a half ago.
Kasunich said the board is waiting for the professionals’ recommendations before making any security changes. He pointed out that schools are overwhelming safe, but when events like the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary occur, it can be emotionally shattering.
While such discussions may be tense nationwide, Washington’s DiLorenzo said that districts considering arming teachers and staff need to take a moment to understand that hunting or sport shooting experience cannot be aligned as the same preparedness required for handling security issues in a school environment.
“Arming additional people in the school who don’t have that depth of knowledge or training is a significant risk to everyone,” she said.
In the Mon Valley, some board members of California Area School District see things a bit differently and are discussing what it would take to arm teachers and staff members.
California Superintendent Brian Jackson said the board will need to consider what the impact would be on the district’s insurance, what the legal ramifications are and what kind of training would be required and at what cost. He explained that while it may not be an avenue the district pursues, it is a subject worth studying.
The district currently is utilizing a California Borough policeman as a school resource officer, which Jackson said has worked well so far. He said having a trained officer allows information to be communicated quickly to other police if an incident does occur.
Dr. James Longo, chairman of the education department at Washington & Jefferson College, said adding guards and guns to school can bring a sense security, but it can never replace the safety that comes with a community that cares for all of its citizens.
“If you need security guards – OK – but let’s not let common sense be the causality,” he said.
A former member of the National Rifle Association, Longo acknowledged there is a time and a place for guns, but he doesn’t think arming educators is the answer. Conversely, a spokesman for the gun-advocacy organization called for armed guards to be placed in all schools during a press conference last month.
“We can live in a fortress society,” said Longo, who has worked in tough schools in inner city Boston and Brazil. “Is that the kind of society we want?”
Bentworth’s Baker also touched on this point, saying, “There are advocates for armed guards and metal detectors, but is that the environment you want to provide for your small, rural school setting?”
Longo explained that while research shows schools are one of the safest places children can be during their lifetime, violence has always been in the education system since the days of one-room school houses. This often comes in the form of bullying, which is not limited to students, but also happens among teachers, staff, administrators and parents.
One of many districts seeking to address this issue is Fort Cherry, which recently established a bullying committee in addition to its security committee. Dr. Bob Dinnen, superintendent at Fort Cherry, said the committee is exploring additional ways to bring more civility and positive interactions for students into the schools.
Corbett: Plant decision probably next year (6704)
IG: Pittsburgh VA didn’t abide Legionnaires’ rules (6699)
Roman Catholic bishop of Harrisburg dies suddenly (6698)
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URMC & NIH Partner to Expand, Accelerate Clinical Research in Neurological Diseases
August 14, 2008
The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke are hosting a week-long training session designed to create a new generation of researchers with the specialized skills necessary to conduct clinical trials in neurological disorders.
The session, which is titled the “Clinical Trial Methods Course in Neurology,” is part of a push on the part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to beef up the nation’s translational research capabilities by increasing the ranks of clinical researchers and focusing more resources on clinical research skills, technologies, and systems that will accelerate medical discoveries.
“Neurological disorders are a critical area of need in terms of expanding our ability to design and conduct trials that have maximum efficiency at the lowest possible cost,” said URMC neurologist Bernard Ravina, M.D.,
the director of the course. “Participants in this course consist of a select group of individuals who are committed to being clinical researchers and conducting clinical trials and will benefit from hands-on training that they really cannot get anywhere else.”
Because many neurological disorders are linked with age, the prevalence of these diseases is projected to increase precipitously in the coming years, hence the NIH’s determination to grow research capacity in this area. For example, the number of people with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. will grow by an estimated 70% by 2030 and the number Parkinson’s cases are projected to double during that same period.
The week-long course will consist of intensive training for fellows and early-stage faculty which will both introduce investigators to the fundamentals of effective clinical trial design and conduct. At the end of the week, each participant will have essentially created a protocol for a new clinical trial.
The sessions will take place August 17 to 24 in Vail, Colorado. The training and expenses of participants are being underwritten by the NIH with additional support from Teva Neuroscience, Allergen, CHDI Foundation, Knopp Neuroscience, the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, UCB, and the Parkinson’s Alliance. Sessions will be conducted by faculty and researchers from several institutions including URMC, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, University of Michigan, NIH, and pharmaceutical/biotech companies. The NIH has committed to four sessions over the next four years which, when completed, will result in 160 new, trained clinical researchers in the field.
The course taps into URMC’s experience and leadership in the field of neurological research. The Medical Center is among the top five in the nation in neurological research funding from the NIH and the Neurology Department’s Clinical Trials Coordination Center (CTCC) is the hub of some of the world's largest network for clinical trials of new treatments for neurological conditions. The CTCC consists of approximately 70 staff members and supports a full array of essential clinical trial services for industry, foundations, and government sponsors. URMC physicians have designed and headed some of the largest clinical trials ever in the treatment of several neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. The University is also home to several neurological research programs including an NIH-designated center for rare neurological disorders and a muscular dystrophy cooperative research center that is funded by both NIH and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
For more information on the course, visit www.neurologytrials.org | <urn:uuid:672df927-8878-436b-be1a-562d342a20ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=2077 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936865 | 734 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The earliest documented swimming pools include the “Great Bath” at Mohenjo-Daro, now Pakistan, pools built for military and athletic training by the ancient Greeks, and the famous Roman baths, built during the occupation of Britain by Emperor Claudius to stabilize and enclose the natural hot springs below.
Pools have been a part of human civilization since the 3rd millennium B.C. Modern swimming pools began to appear in Britain as swimming clubs became popular in the mid-19th century. The concept expanded worldwide when the Olympic Games restarted in 1896 and included swimming races.
Today, pools of every size, shape, color, and purpose are ubiquitous. Private, residential pools can be found in every corner of the globe and in every climate. Schools, health clubs, recreation centers, hotels, and now even some hospitals seem incomplete without a pool of some type.
Why Build On The Roof?
As land becomes scarce in congested urban areas, pools are becoming more common as rooftop amenities. Hotels and urban residential developments are looking at rooftop pools as a way to differentiate themselves from the competition.
A quick Internet image search will reveal pools with transparent bottoms and sides, pools with infinity edges that merge with the skyline, and pools that jut precariously beyond the roof.
Walk-in edges, chaise-lounge ledges, and pools that double as decorative fountains are some of the new and exotic elements of the traditional pool.
With new building techniques, non-chemical filtration, affordable heating equipment, automatic covers, and other advances in construction, operations, and maintenance, rooftop pools are becoming more realistic options.
Their value as an important amenity and point of differentiation can be seen in the competition among Las Vegas hotels to outdo one another with the latest fantastic pool environments. They become focal points for events and activities both day and night, in addition to their historical role as a recreation amenity.
A pool can enhance the value of a small space, adding a sense of life, color, and movement. It can reflect the sky during the day and, with an infinity edge, visually extend the smallest space out to the horizon. At night, as a shimmering light source, a pool can transform the character of a garden and turn it into a magical place.
Also, as a result of the development world continuing to embrace green technology, rooftop gardens are becoming an attractive opportunity to meet sustainability goals. They can help reduce building operational costs, enhance value for real estate, and meet increasing government demands for less environmental impact, particularly for the capture, filtering, and reuse of stormwater runoff.
Maximizing Space: Most roofs by definition are space-challenged. Getting the most benefit often depends on the population being accommodated. For residential projects for a smaller population, pools can become the focal point for a garden and a place of refuge, as much as a recreation space. In these situations, the landscape may be as important, or more so, than the pool.
Hotels must plan for times when the deck is full with guests. Space for enough seating and lounges is a critical design issue for a successful guest experience. The pools themselves need to address a wider user base–children, casual dippers, sunbathers, and swimmers. Food and beverage are often part of the mix at larger pool decks, and these facilities need to be factored into the design. Separate restroom and changing facilities quite often are necessary.
The rooftop can be a highly desirable, programmable space that enables the operator to host a variety of income-producing entertainment activities, particularly at night.
Pools at the edge of the roof can free up space for a variety of other guest and event activities. The popular infinity edge creates visual drama, and borrows space from the view beyond.
Many pools can be designed to double as fountains, adding sound, light, and movement to enliven the space.
“All pools leak:” So says Trip Knox of International Aquatic Design, a Massachusetts-based pool-design, fabrication, and installation firm. “Pipes move, concrete cracks, finishes wear out, or the pools just sweat from condensation.”
Eventually, even the most carefully constructed pool will leak. This may not always involve the primary containment vessel, but may involve piping, connections, or drains.
For in-ground installations, this is not usually a major problem. But for pools situated above occupied spaces in a hotel or residential development, it can be extremely damaging, disruptive, and costly to repair.
For hotels in particular, which tend toward larger pool installations, this is a major concern. Bigger pools, more weight, and more plumbing invite more opportunities for something to go wrong.
Providing enough space for a meaningful guest amenity typically means using the larger spans associated with a hotel’s public spaces and function areas (i.e., lobbies, meeting-room complexes, and ballroom ceilings). Shutting these down to fix a leaky pool can be disastrously expensive.
Almost all rooftop pools should provide secondary containment as a precaution, creating essentially a pool within a pool with the necessary supporting drainage systems.
A technique quickly gaining favor is fabricating the primary containment vessel in stainless steel as a single unit (or with larger pools, several large pieces that can be lifted into place and welded together), thus significantly reducing the likelihood of future leakage from the pool itself.
These pools are lighter, potentially reducing structural requirements in some cases; provide a higher level of quality control since they are built off-site; and often offset the higher initial cost with simpler and less time-consuming installation at the job site. They can be finished in the same way as with traditional concrete pools.
Wind on the water: Wind is a consideration when designing pools with infinity edges or raised zero edges. In conventional pool designs, where the final water level is recessed 8 to 12 inches below the deck surface, the effects of high winds across the water surface are usually limited to waves occasionally cresting the coping and splashing water onto the deck.
With flush-edge conditions, the increased wave action brought on by high winds can push much larger quantities of water onto the surrounding deck surface. While this typically isn’t a concern where the pool is set back from the edge of the building, it is a point to consider when infinity-edge pools are placed in close proximity to the parapet.
To counteract the sometimes negative effects of this action, it is advisable to install controls that allow the water levels within the pools to be monitored and quickly modified.
At the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Md., guests are afforded three pool experiences. The fourth-floor feature pool is a raised-edge infinity pool that doubles as a water feature when not in use. An 18-inch granite-clad wall surrounds the pool entirely, and a bull-nosed edge allows water to slip smoothly across its top and down the wall face.
To catch and return water to the pump room, a 12-inch (W) by 9-inch (D) trough was designed at the base of the pool, concealed neatly by slotted, cantilevered stone pavers carrying the required depth and “No Diving” markers.
The fifth-floor amenity space consists of a hot tub with the same raised-edge concept as at the feature pool and a wet deck–a 3-inch beach-entry reflecting pool, which allows for a more subtle interaction with the water.
This wet deck concept is gaining traction in rooftop applications, as it is a much lighter and significantly cheaper construction type. Here, 12 inches of water depth are being accommodated, as opposed to the 36-inch to 60-inch depths found in a typical pool. Interaction is limited to walking through, standing, or sitting in the water, but the sleek, contemporary appeal of the feature in many cases offsets the fact that it doesn’t fulfill the function of a standard swimming pool.
The benefit of having an amenity that doubles as both a static water feature and an interactive pool, coupled with a significantly lower price point, makes the wet deck an extremely attractive element to developers.
The supporting cast: Filtration, make-up reservoirs, and plumbing are often afterthoughts for designers, whose primary concern is creating a sexy pool and a great guest experience.
On the ground, these systems can be straightforward and easily hidden behind fencing or landscaping. On limited and precious roof space, this issue can become more challenging. Finding a workable location for this equipment, a place that can be accessed easily for maintenance and repair, often means using valuable floor area within the building, or in the difficult-to-reach leftover spaces below the pool deck and above occupied spaces.
The cost issue: Size, type, location, structural implications, access, finishes, and landscape treatments will all be factors an owner-operator must consider.
Can the space become more than a necessary loss-leader that guests have come to expect? Or can it instead be a profit center–one that can host its own unique events and can also support the hotel’s food, beverage, and meeting businesses?
To maximize the amenity, the pool designer should consider the multi-use potential of the deck at the beginning of the process. This process should include the operator, and take into account critical aspects, such as spatial flexibility, that can adapt to a variety of uses; adjustable lighting; the ability to support electrical and audio-visual capabilities; and storage for furniture changeovers (lounge chairs to four tops, for instance).
Well-designed and attractive pool environments have demonstrated their ability to help define and differentiate a property from the competition.
Bob Gorman, FASLA, is a Principal at Mahan Rykiel Associates. For more information, contact Bob for hospitality or resort projects through the marketing department at Mahan Rykiel Associates at 410-235-6001 or by email at email@example.com. For other examples of our hospitality portfolio, visit www.mahanrykiel.com.
On The Edge
The pool deck at the Puerto Rico Convention Center Sheraton
With limited space and a program for the headquarters hotel virtually filling the site, the only option for the pool location was four levels above the street and over the ballroom. At nearly 2 acres in size, the deck was more than large enough to accommodate a multi-faceted program of spaces and uses.
However, the ballroom below took up almost two-thirds of the area, leaving little space between its ceiling and the roof deck with enough depth to accommodate the pool.
Lifting the pool above the finished deck was an option, but the adjacent tower had rooms designed to have terraces at the same level as the roof deck, so this opportunity was somewhat limited. In the end, the edge away from the rooms allowed for some lifting of the pool, and added depth beyond the ballroom space below.
The stainless-steel tank was fabricated off-site and lifted into place in several sections to create the 125-foot-long main pool. Over the ballroom, where depth is limited, a lounge ledge fills this restricted space with an amenity that guests enjoy–space for sunbathing in the shallow water.
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“Time is always a player” in the lives of three adult siblings touched by tragedy
Carry the One. By Carol Anshaw. Simon & Schuster, 253 pp., $25.
By Janice Harayda
You might expect a lot of drama in a novel in which the three main characters have the names of opera figures or variations on them. But Carry the One inverts the structure of the warhorses it invokes – Carmen, Nabucco and Lucia di Lammermoor. The dead bodies in those operas don’t arrive until the third or fourth act. A 10-year-old girl dies in the first chapter of Carry the One after being struck by a car full of stoned and drunken guests who have just attended wedding of Carmen Kenney at a farm near Chicago in 1983. That event turns out to be the high point of the dramatic action in a novel that for all its eloquence, has an unsteady forward momentum.
For the next 25 years the post-wedding tragedy will recur like a dark musical motif in the lives of the bride and her adult siblings, Alice and Nick. Each of the Kenneys faces a crisis with a perhaps unintentional operatic counterpart. As her namesake spurns a soldier for a toreador, Carmen finds herself betrayed by her unexciting husband. As Lucia longs for the lord of Ravenswood Castle, Alice pines for an absent lesbian lover. And as Nabucco goes mad, Nick suffers from a mind ravaged by drugs. All of this finds its theme in an idea central to Gounod’s Faust: the power of time to lift, add to, or reshape burdens. In affairs of the heart, a character says, “Time is always a player.” And “player” has a double meaning: Time affects destiny, and it plays with us.
Carl Anshaw develops her theme with wit and intelligence. She has the literary equivalent of a gift for bel canto, an operatic form marked in part by its elegance of phrasing and purity of tone. Carry the One abounds with writing layered with meaning, beginning in its first sentence: “So Carmen was married, just.” Does the “just” mean “recently,” “barely,” or “only”? The scene can support all of those meanings.
Appealing as it is, Anshaw’s bel canto writing style makes an imperfect vehicle for a story with grand opera undertones. Her plot unfolds over so many years that she can’t dramatize all of the changes her characters undergo and at times relies on flat exposition such as, “She knew Carmen tortured herself for letting them all leave the farm that night in a car running with just fog lamps.” She also distributes weight of her story over so many major and minor characters — with frequent jump cuts from one to the next — that none acquires a poignancy befitting its tragedies. And the self-absorption of the Kenney children’s parents tends to cloud the motives of the younger generation: You’re never sure whether the heavy shadow over their lives results from their upbringing or the fatal crash in the opening pages.
But you don’t to operas for plots that make sense in conventional terms. Would all of Seville really be falling at the feet of an overconfident barber like Figaro? Shouldn’t Lucia di Lammermoor know right away that the forged letter is a trick to keep her from marrying Enrico? And why can’t a smooth operator like Carmen keep herself out of trouble?
No, you go to operas for beautiful singing. And Carry the One has a through-line of it. When Carmen becomes a single parent, she finds that “she had lost her advantage against daily life”: “Weeks, whole months passed beneath her notice, or off to the side while she was on the game show of her life. She ran from pillar to post then on to the next pillar, ringing bells, pressing lighted buttons and buzzers, making wild stabs at answers to questions she wasn’t sure she had heard correctly, walking when she should be skipping, speaking when a song was expected. That show was called Single Parenthood.” Has any single parent not had moments like that? Carry the One has such descriptions on nearly every page. And that, in operatic terms, is beautiful singing.
Best line: “Olivia’s family was an epicenter of credit card frivolity.” “Romance no longer looked like so much fun, more like a repetitive stress injury …” “Gabe idolized his uncle. He saw Nick’s addictions enhanced by rock star lighting. Nick was his private Kurt Cobain.”
Worst line: “a tricky rotator cuff.” “So many tricky steps.” “some tricky bipolar disorder.” “success was going to be a little tricky.” “Incoming calls were tricky for the Lisowskis” Waiting for an annulment “was apparently a tricky business.” “Still, she left the tricky or cumbersome supply runs to Pim.”
Reading group guide: A Totally Unauthorized Reading Group Guide with discussion questions for Carry the One appeared on One-Minute Book Reviews on May 8, 2012.
Furthermore: Anshaw is a Chicago writer and painter who wrote Aquamarine and other books. She won the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing from the National Book Critics Circle. The Metropolitan Opera site includes synopses of Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor and Nabucco.
Published: March 2012
Janice Harayda is an award-winning critic and former book editor of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland. You can follow Jan (@janiceharayda) on Twitter by clicking on the “Follow” button on this page.
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And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
¶ And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music.
¶ And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.
¶ And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.
And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law in the one of the twain.
And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. | <urn:uuid:0663991e-8ee2-4a32-a607-7d13acb8ec3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bartelby.com/108/09/18.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977325 | 411 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Yesterday, United States President Barack Obama signed into law the JOBS Act, which may be the most significant update to securities regulations since Sarbanes–Oxley was passed in 2002.
One portion of the new law, the CROWDFUND Act, has been creating a lot of buzz in Silicon Valley for months, as it will make it legal for startups the ability to raise money in small chunks from large numbers of non-accredited investors.
The CROWDFUND Act has plenty of supporters who believe crowdfunding could revolutionize startup investing. Skeptics argue that crowdfunding will have unintended consequences, from fraud to a bubble of epic proportions.
So who is right? Unfortunately, few of the articles and blog posts about the CROWDFUND Act appear to be written by individuals who have taken the time to read its text. As such, much of the discussion around the future of crowdfunding and the impact it will have is ill-informed.
So what does the CROWDFUND Act really say, and what does that mean for the startup ecosystem? Here's what you need to know.
Not surprisingly, a whole host of companies have popped up in recent months and weeks seeking to cash in on the crowdfunding craze. Many of them are positioning themselves to be Kickstarter-like intermediaries, connecting companies and investors, taking a cut of the action in the process.
The CROWDFUND Act requires that these so-called 'funding portals' register with the SEC through one of multiple means, and burdens them with certain obligations. Those include implementing procedures to reduce fraud, such as performing background checks on company directors and executives, and making sure that investors don't invest more than they're permitted to under the law.
Beyond the obligations the newly-enacted legislation explicitly spells out, the CROWDFUND Act tasks the SEC with establishing more detailed rules for funding portals -- rules that these portals will be required to comply with.
What you need to know
There are certainly going to be interesting opportunities for crowdfunding portals, but far too many are jumping the gun in an effort to get into this nascent space. It's not clear that many of the wannabe intermediaries launching websites will actually have the financial and legal resources to register as funding portals under the CROWDFUND Act.
As many of the rules and regulations around funding portals won't be known for months, entrepreneurs interested in raising money through crowdfunding and investors interested in buying shares in crowdfunded startups should probably take a wait and see approach before getting involved with any company claiming it's going to be a funding portal.
All companies seeking to raise money will need to disclose certain information, such as the legal status of the company, the names of directors and officers, a description of how the funds raised will be used, how the price of the company's stock was determined, the company's capital structure, and legal terms associated with the securities being sold.
Additional information will be required based on the amount of money a company is looking to raise:
- A company seeking $100,000 or less will have to provide an income tax return for the most recently completed year (if any) as well as financial statements which are "certified by the principal executive officer...to be true and complete in all material respects."
- A company seeking $100,001 to $500,000 must provide financial statements that have been reviewed by an independent public accountant in accordance with "professional standards and procedures" or specific procedures that the SEC establishes specifically for this purpose.
- A company seeking more than $500,000 are required to provide audited financial statements.
Every year, all companies will be required to provide to their investors "reports of the results of operations and financial statements of the issuer, as the [SEC] shall, by rule, determine appropriate" and if that's not enough, companies will need to "comply with such other requirements as the [SEC] may, by rule, prescribe, for the protection of investors and in the public interest." That, of course, leaves the door wide open for the SEC to clamp down if fraud becomes a problem.
Needless to say, companies will incur costs in complying with all of the above. An attorney will reasonably be required to put together the initial paperwork. CPA firms can charge thousands of dollars to review financial statements and audited financial statements often cost upwards of $10,000 to produce. For companies raising $100,000 or less, the financial disclosure requirements are less onerous, but it's worth considering that a chief executive with good judgment will be hesitant to certify that her financial statements are "true and complete in all material respects" without the involvement of a CPA.
What you need to know
There's no such thing as a free lunch and the CROWDFUND Act isn't going to change that. Raising money through crowdfunding and keeping up with compliance will require both time and money.
Based on the requirements spelled out in the CROWDFUND Act, companies hoping to raise money should probably be prepared to spend tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys and accountants, making them the two parties which may stand to gain the most from this law.
Crowdfunding will give entrepreneurs and owners of existing businesses a new means of raising capital, but it doesn't come without risk. Under the JOBS Act, investors can bring suit against a company they've invested in for material misstatements and omissions. Liability extends to the company's directors and principal officers, so individuals at the helm of crowdfunded companies will be taking on a significant amount of responsibility when they accept investment.
What you need to know
It didn't take the lawyers long to pounce on Groupon when it made an accounting blunder and crowdfunded startups shouldn't expect attorneys to give them a free pass either. Keeping the Is dotted and the Ts crossed is going to be a must for crowdfunded companies, and inexperienced business owners and those who skimp on competent legal and accounting counsel could easily find themselves facing financial ruin at the hands of their own investors.
The investment limits placed on individuals have been widely discussed, but individuals considering participating in crowdfunding should also be aware of the less talked about restrictions that will apply to the securities they purchase.
The most important: securities purchased through a crowdfunded offering cannot be sold or transferred for one year unless they are sold back to the issuing company, an accredited investor, a family member or as part of a registered offering. In other words, crowdfunded investments are likely to be illiquid for at least one year from the date on which they're purchased.
What you need to know
Dumping a stock that you've fallen out of love with or that's plummeting in value is generally easy when the stock is publicly traded, but investors will find little room for buyer's remorse once they put money into a crowdfunded company. In a worst case scenario, investors may have no way to exit an investment before it loses most or all of its value.
So where does all of this leave crowdfunding? There are four important takeaways interested parties should take away from the CROWDFUND Act.
Regulations are dead, long live regulations.
Regulations that once prevented companies from raising capital from non-accredited investors through public channels are going away, but that doesn't mean that the regulations the CROWDFUND Act creates are trivial. Funding portals and companies alike will still have plenty of rules to comply with. In the end, those rules may not be sufficient enough to prevent the fraud some are worried about, but they will require those wishing to participate in the crowdfunding ecosystem to jump through more than a few hoops.
It will take money to raise money with crowdfunding.
Starving entrepreneurs looking for an easy way to fund their dreams will probably be disappointed by crowdfunding. With the disclosure rules mandated by the CROWDFUND Act, it's hard to see an entrepreneur or business owner getting an offering off the ground with less than a five-figure investment.
What's more: there's no guarantee that the investment will pay off, as the CROWDFUND Act requires that an offering reach a certain threshold of investor commitments before would-be investors are obligated to put their money up. That means some companies could actually lose money when they prepare offerings that aren't successful.
There may be fewer investment opportunities than expected.
There can be little doubt that some companies will turn to crowdfunding to raise capital, but the time and money required to comply with the CROWDFUND Act may mean that far fewer opt to go the crowdfunding route than crowdfunding's supports expect.
Technology startups may have a tough time.
Much of the discussion around the crowdfunding portion of the JOBS Act centers on the law's impact on technology startups. But it's not clear that the attention is well-placed.
Technology startups with traction or an experienced management team typically don't have a problem raising funding today, particularly in Silicon Valley. On the flip side of the coin, it's questionable as to whether idea-stage startups without revenue, traction and an experienced management team will be able to muster up the money, paperwork and interest required to get a crowdfunded offering off the ground.
With this in mind, there's a strong argument to be made that the companies most likely to stand out in the crowdfunding crowd will be established small businesses with some traction and a plausible need for expansion capital. | <urn:uuid:01fde782-7080-4397-8d78-2a87bffddcce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econsultancy.com/ca/blog/9548-the-crowdfund-act-everything-you-need-to-know | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9619 | 1,931 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Transforming Lives in Cairo’s Garbage VillagesBy Glenn Smith
Overview of Cairo, Egypt
One of the oldest cities in the world, Cairo (Egypt)
Every ten months, the country’s population grows
Often considered the “Jewel of the Nile,” Cairo may
(Taken from Urbana’s Global Urban Trek.)
While he revolutionised Bible missions in Egypt, she became “Mother Theresa” to the untouchables of Garbage City outside of Cairo.
The husband and wife team of Ramez and Rebecca Atallah allow God to inspire them to help people know God better and express Jesus’ love in Cairo. Ramez was born in Egypt; he immigrated to Canada as a child in the 1960s. In 1980, the couple took their children and moved from Montréal to Egypt. Since 1990, Ramez has headed up the Bible Society of Egypt. His desire was to see scripture become relevant for Egyptian Christians, so he began finding new formats and styles in which to present God’s word. Both Ramez and Rebecca work closely with the Coptic Orthodox Church in their respective ministries.
Rebecca is a key worker at the St. Simon Coptic Orthodox Church in the Mokattam garbage village. Over the last twenty-five years she has helped with church planting and providing Christian education among the lowest of the low, Egypt’s untouchables. Her gentle, compassionate way of ministering and befriending people has helped hundreds of untouchables realise their potential and value in God.
Villagers collect garbage from city apartments and recycle it. They are not paid by the government; however, they receive small tips from the people whose garbage they collect. The rest of their income comes from recycling garbage.
Glenn Smith is senior associate for urban mission for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and is executive director of Christian Direction in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a professor of urban theology and missiology at the Institut de theologie pour la Francophonie at the Université de Montréal and at the Université chrétienne du Nord d’Haïti. He is also professor of urban missiology at Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, Washington, USA. Smith is editor of the Urban Communitees section. | <urn:uuid:33e31a4b-c63f-4a4d-822d-a6c89fd905d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/urban.php/903/02-2008 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935736 | 486 | 1.90625 | 2 |
|Social Inequalities: A Barrier to Exercising the Right to Health|
The Americas: A Region of Extremes. PAHO Director's presentation at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Health Disparities Seminar Series, where she addressed the most relevant social inequalities in the Region as a barrier to exercising the right to health and the PAHO’s role to tackle some of these health inequities making them visible, going beyond national averages, strengthening health information systems and empowering the most unfavored.
Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) was the speaker for the September 16, 2010 NIH Health Disparities Seminar Series sponsored by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) celebrating the "National Hispanic Heritage Month" with a seminar about social inequalities in the Americas.
(Photo© PAHO/WHO - Photography)
PAHO Director Presentation
Poor and deteriorating health, along with premature death, are the result of inequality in a society.
In the Americas, the poorest and most vulnerable populations get sick or die because of their lack of access to health promotion and disease prevention, as well as health services and health care that meet their needs.
In every country in the Region, studies with a breakdown by socioeconomic level, ethnicity, sex, age, and geographic location show that discrimination and exclusion are practiced at different levels and that the exercise of rights, especially the right to health, must be expanded if better outcomes, as measured by universally accepted indicators, are to be obtained.
Dr. Roses discussed strategies to improve:
a) health status of the most vulnerable populations, and
b) health information, including the importance of data in monitoring progress and guiding decision-making on interventions that would result in better health.
During her presentation, PAHO Director also highlights the need for improved access to health promotion, disease prevention, health services and health care. PAHO works to develop basic health infrastructure, improve education, and promote gender equality.
In every case, even in countries where the level of well-being is among the highest, additional comprehensive efforts are needed. While their scale and nature will vary, special emphasis must be placed on the local level and most vulnerable populations to guarantee them the highest attainable standard of health, the right to health.
As for social policy and intersectoral activities, it is imperative to emphasize those related to the development of basic infrastructure, such as sanitation and access to good-quality water; a good level of schooling for the entire population (especially women); strategies to guarantee a living wage for the poor population, especially women; and the promotion of gender equality, ethnic equity, and intercultural approaches.
Furthermore, in addition to the efforts to improve the health status of the population, specific emphasis and support are needed to improve health information. Without consistent, valid, and timely data and indicators, it is difficult to monitor regional, national, and local progress to guide decision-making on resource allocation and choose interventions that will result in better health.
One alternative is the good use of estimates, whose limitation is that they do not reflect the situation in every country. There is an urgent need in our Region to promote the critical validation of information, develop suitable methodologies, and upgrade the existing technical capacity and structures to generate information on births and deaths and also to strengthen administrative registries, which are key components of PAHO's Regional Plan of Action for Strengthening Vital and Health Statistics.
Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization | <urn:uuid:d884b333-2969-4e8d-baf2-56c335a02aca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3470&Itemid=1&lang=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928854 | 730 | 3.1875 | 3 |
US 5608915 A
A combination garment constructed of stretch material including a torso portion to snugly engage and enclose the lower torso of a wearer and at least a portion of the thighs or upper leg portions of a wearer and a pair of leg portions engaging and enclosing the remainder of the legs of a wearer. Coacting connecting structures are provided on the upper end of the leg portions and the lower ends of the portions of the torso portion that engages and encloses the thighs or upper leg portions of a wearer for attaching and detaching the leg portions in relation to the torso portion.
1. A shorts type garment constructed of fabric material enclosing the lower torso region of a wearer and including depending legs covering upper end portions of the legs of a wearer to a point adjacent the knees, a leg covering member covering each of the legs of a wearer below the legs of the garment and coacting fasteners on lower ends of the legs of the garment and upper ends of the leg covering members detachably connecting the lower ends of the legs of the garment and the upper ends of the leg covering members, said shorts type garment being constructed of stretch material snugly engaging the anatomical surfaces enclosed by the garment, said leg covering members being constructed of fabric material covering the anatomical surfaces enclosed by said leg covering members, said coacting fasteners including areas of hook and loop pile fastener material oriented peripherally of the lower end of each leg of the garment and the upper end of each leg enclosing member, the areas of fastener material on the leg enclosing member being on the interior surface thereof and the areas of fastener material on the leg of the garment being on the exterior surface thereof, the exterior surface of each of said depending legs including an inner fabric cuff and an outer fabric cuff mounted thereon, a reverse bend of fabric joining said cuffs along a top edge thereof, said areas of fastener material on the leg being secured to the external surface of the inner cuff and concealed by the outer cuff, said inner and outer cuffs having bottom edges that are unconnected to provide a downwardly facing circumferential opening to enable the upper end of the leg enclosing member to be received between the inner cuff and outer cuff for engagement of the areas of fastener material on the interior surface of the leg enclosing member with the areas of fastener material on the external surface of the inner cuff.
2. The garment as defined in claim 1 wherein said inner and outer cuffs are of flexible fabric material with the inner cuff being attached to the leg of the garment by stitching thus enabling the outer cuff to be moved to a position exposing the upper end of the leg enclosing member when it is desired to attach or detach the leg enclosing member from the leg of the garment.
3. The garment as defined in claim 2 wherein said areas of fastener material on the inner cuff is the loop pile fastener material and is in the form of circumferentially spaced vertical strips to enable vertical adjustment of the upper end of the leg enclosing member in the event the leg enclosing member bags or is too short and to provide flexibility to the cuff.
4. The garment as defined in claim 2 wherein the areas of fastener material on the inner cuff is the loop pile fastener material and is in the form of a peripherally continuous strip and the areas of fastener on the inner surface of the leg enclosing member is the hook pile fastener material and is in the form of a peripherally continuous strip.
5. The garment as defined in claim 2 wherein said leg enclosing members are knit sheer material provided with a reinforced area circumferentially at the upper end thereof, said areas of fastener material enabling the shorts type garment and leg enclosing members to be placed in position on the wearer and removed from the wearer independently of each other.
6. The garment as defined in claim 2 wherein said torso enclosing region and leg covering members are in the form of pantyhose of sheer material, said coacting fasteners enabling the torso enclosing region to be pulled into position without pulling the leg covering members into position at the same time and enabling vertical adjustment of the upper ends of the leg enclosing members in relation to the lower ends of the legs of the torso enclosing region.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to garment structures including the combination of a lower torso covering and enclosing portion, leg or other extremity covering and enclosing portions and a releasable connection between the portions of the garment to enable separation and connection between the portions. More specifically, the lower torso covering and enclosing portion is a shorts type garment constructed of stretch material to snugly engage and enclose the lower torso of a wearer and leg portions which enclose a substantial portion of the thighs or upper leg portions of a wearer. The leg covering and enclosing portion is in the form of stockings, leggings, tights, leg warmers or the like. The leg portions of the shorts type garment includes connecting structure at the lower end thereof and coacting connecting structure is provided on the upper end of the leg covering and enclosing portion for attaching and detaching the leg covering enclosing portion in relation to the shorts type garment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various garments have been developed for use by individuals engaged in various activities including exercise routines, dance regimens and athletic events. One such garment is a shorts type garment constructed of stretch material of cotton or other acceptable fabrics. The shorts type garments constructed of stretch material enclose the lower torso region of a wearer and include depending leg portions which cover the thighs of a wearer with the lower end of the legs of the shorts type garment terminating adjacent to but above the knees. This type of shorts garment has been found acceptable to individuals engaged in various exercises including walking, running, jogging, bicycle riding and the like.
Pantyhose are frequently worn by women engaged in office work, during social events where a dress or skirt is proper attire. However, pantyhose are difficult to put on, constrict body movement as they are a tights like garment which grip around the waist and crotch, tend to stretch and bag or sag, subject to "runs" occurring in the knit material, relatively cold during cold temperature conditions, relatively hot during hot temperature conditions and difficult to remove. Also, pantyhose are sometimes ill fitting because they are usually available in a "few sizes fit all" in which a few particular sizes can supposedly fit a woman who is 5'7" tall and weighs 130 lbs. as well as a woman who is 5'2" tall and weighs 140 lbs. The physical characteristics of womens bodies do not conform to two or three distinct sizes which are commercially available. Thus, the pantyhose may sag or bag because they are too big or are tight and/or short because they are too small.
There are other products available which provide a sheer covering for the legs of women wearing a skirt or dress such as knee high and thigh high stockings which incorporate an elasticized cuff at the upper end. These products provide a better fit than pantyhose as they do not attempt to stretch over the abdomen and buttocks to stay up. Rather, these products snugly surround and "grab" the upper calf of the leg or the thigh area above the knee. When the elasticized cuff weakens or fails to "grab" the leg or thigh, the stocking may fall downwardly on the leg which can cause great embarrassment. The nylon thread used in pantyhose, stockings, leggings, tights and the like can be rough and cut into the flesh, especially in the soft areas of the thighs and waistline area, which can result in skin irritation and discomfort.
An object of the present invention is to provide a combination shorts type garment constructed of stretch material, leg covering members and an effective separable connection between the lower ends of the legs of the shorts type garment and the upper end of the leg covering members which provides a more comfortable combination garment as compared to pantyhose by enabling the wearer to use a shorts type garment which is a better fit and leg covering members which are a better fit.
Another object of the invention is to provide a combination garment as defined in the preceding object which allows versatility such as when a person wears nylon hose in one environment, such as at work, and removes the nylon hose or stockings and quickly switching to socks for the commute home. This provides various alternative or choices for the wearer of the combination garment.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a combination garment as set forth in the preceding object in which the connection between the legs of the shorts type garment and the upper ends of the leg covering members is coacting hook and loop pile material available under the registered trademark "VELCRO" on the lower end of the legs of the shorts type garment and the upper ends of the leg covering members.
A further object of the invention is to provide a connection between the upper ends of leg covering members and the lower ends of legs of a shorts type garment in which the legs of the shorts type garment have a narrow peripheral cuff on the outer surface thereof with the cuff being attached to the leg of the shorts type garment with its lower edge being free of the legs of the shorts type garment and extending into overlapping relation to the upper end portion of the leg covering member in order to conceal and cover the connection between the legs of the shorts type garment and the upper ends of the leg covering members.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a combination garment as described in the preceding objects in which the "VELCRO" is in the form of strips of "VELCRO" on the upper end of the leg covering member being mounted on the inner surface of the leg covering member and is the hook type component of the "VELCRO".
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a combination garment as described in the preceding objects in which the legs of the shorts type garment are each provided with an inner cuff attached to the leg of the garment with the inner cuff having the loop type component of "VELCRO" mounted thereon in outwardly facing relation for cooperation with the inwardly facing "VELCRO" component in the upper end of the leg covering member.
This arrangement provides a combination garment that is more comfortable than the combination of a stretch type shorts garment and pantyhose and more comfortable than pantyhose when worn with a skirt or dress and more effective to retain other leg covering members such as knee high stockings, thigh high stockings, tights, leg warmers, leggings and the like which engage the outer surface of the entire length of the legs. The combination garment is easy to place in position and remove by enabling the shorts type garment to be put on after which the stockings or other leg covering members are put on and connected to the shorts type garment. Ease of removal is obtained by disconnecting the stockings or other leg covering members from the shorts type garment to enable independent removal.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lower torso and legs of a wearer illustrating the combination shorts type garment and stockings in assembled relation.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 1, with portions broken away, illustrating the cuff arrangement and the connection between the lower end of the shorts type garment leg and the upper end of the stocking.
FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale illustrating the construction of the cuff arrangement and connecting arrangement between the shorts type garment and the stocking.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the upper end of a stocking illustrating the "VELCRO" strip attached to the inner surface thereof.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the lower end of a garment leg illustrating circumferentially spaced strips of "VELCRO" attached thereto.
Referring now to the drawings, the combination garment of this invention includes a shorts type garment generally designated by reference numeral 10, leg covering and enclosing stockings 12 and a unique separable connection 14 to enable connection of the stocking 12 with the shorts type garment 10.
The shorts type garment 10 includes a body portion 16 enclosing and snugly engaging the lower torso area of a wearer 18 with the body portion 16 including depending legs 20 which enclose and snugly embrace the lower portion of the thigh designated by reference numeral 22 to a point adjacent to but spaced above the knee of a wearer or the legs 20 may extend downwardly to positions below the knee if desired. The shorts type garment is preferably constructed of stretch material and is conventional except for the unique connection 14 at the lower end of each leg 20. The shorts type garment 10 is constructed of stretch cotton or other material such as that available under the trademark "LYCRA".
The stockings are preferable knit stockings of sheer material such as nylon or the like with the upper end of the stocking 12 being designated by reference numeral 24 with the upper end thereof being reinforced and resilient to engage the leg surface of the wearer. The length of the stockings 12 is such that it extends above the knee or to the necessary height to be connected to the shorts type garment legs 20 by the connection 14.
While the shorts type garment 10 is disclosed of stretch material and the stockings 12 are disclosed of sheer material, it is pointed out that various types of shorts type garments may be used and leg covering members of materials other than sheer material may be used to form the combination garment.
The details of the connection 14 are illustrated in FIG. 3 and includes a cuff assembly generally designated by numeral 26 and which includes an outer cuff 28 and an inner cuff 30 connected at their upper ends by a reverse bend 32. The cuff assembly 26 is of one piece fabric material with the inner cuff 30 being attached to the lower end of the leg 20 by stitching 34. The lower edge of the inner cuff 30 is provided with a hem 36 at its lower edge which is oriented slightly above the hem 38 and the lower end of the leg 20. The lower end edge of the outer cuff 28 is provided with an inturned hem 40 which is positioned slightly below the hem 36 and the hem 38 thus defining a downwardly facing open area 42 between the hem 40 and the hems 36 and 38 to enable the upper end of the stocking 12 to be oriented between the outer cuff 28 and the inner cuff 30.
The external surface of the inner cuff 30 is provided with a continuous circumferentially extending strip 44 of the loop component of "VELCRO" fastening material so that the loops face outwardly. The strip of loop fasteners 44 is secured to the inner cuff 30 by stitching or other conventional fastening means. As shown in FIG. 4, the interior surface of the upper end of the stocking 12 is provided with a continuous circumferentially extending strip 46 of the hook component of "VELCRO" fastening material which is secured to the interior of the stocking by stitching or other conventional fastening means. The hook type strip 46 is inwardly facing and when the upper end of the stocking 12 is oriented in overlying concentric relation to the loop type strip 44, inward circumferential pressure exerted on the external surface of the outside of the stocking or the external surface of the cuff will assure secure attachment of the upper end of the stocking to the leg of the shorts type garment. This connection assures that the stockings are retained in a position to enable unrestricted movement of the muscles and body components but yet will not sag or become baggy during various normal body movement. Also, this arrangement provides a comfort level substantially greater than the combination of a short type garment with underlying pantyhose. Further, this arrangement enables the combination garment to be more easily assembled since the shorts type garment 10 can be placed in position independently of the stockings 12 and the stockings 12 subsequentially placed in position and the connection made between the stockings and the legs of the shorts type garment. Likewise, when removing the stockings, it is a simple matter to move the outer cuff upwardly to expose the upper end of the stocking and detach the "VELCRO" strips to easily remove the stockings and then easily remove the shorts type garment if desired. The outer cuff conceals the connection between the stockings and legs of the shorts type garment to provide a neatness in appearance with the combination of the shorts type garment and stockings of this invention being substantially more comfortable than when using pantyhose in combination with a shorts type garment of the stretch type.
As shown in FIG. 5, the cuff 28 on each leg 20' of garment 10 can be provided with vertical strips 48 of the loop component of "VELCRO" rather than a continuous strip 44 as in FIGS. 2 and 3. This arrangement enables the vertical adjustment if the stocking or legging begins to bag or is too short. The use of spaced vertical strips of "VELCRO" around the bottom end of the pants legs of the garment provides a more flexible and more comfortable garment as compared to the continuous strip which, in some instances, is too stiff and uncomfortable. Likewise, the continuous strip of "VELCRO" on the stocking 12 can be a plurality of spaced circumferentially strips to enhance the flexibility of the upper end of the stocking. The hook component and loop component of "VELCRO" may be oriented on either the cuff 30 or the leg of the garment or on the stocking 12.
This combination garment provides a comfortable, versatile, and better fitting garment. The combination garment of this invention is more comfortable and better fitting because the shorts type garment can be sized correctly independently of the stockings or hose. This combination garment of this invention is more versatile as it enables a wearer to wear stockings or hose attached to the short type garment and when desired, the stockings or hose can be detached and removed and replaced with socks or other leg coverings. For example, in cold or inclement weather conditions, a leg warmer type leg covering can be connected to the shorts type garment to protect the legs against cold temperatures or wet conditions better than sheer nylon hose. The combination sports type garment of this invention also saves money as it enables more expensive sheer nylon hose to be replaced with less expensive socks when commuting or the like thereby not exposing the sheet nylon hose to snags, runs or other hazards that may be encountered when commuting or other activities where the appearance characteristics of the hose are not essential.
This concept can also be incorporated into doll structures to facilitate the assembly of shorts type garments and stockings, constructed to the scale of a doll, on the doll and also enable easy removal of the miniature garments.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and, accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
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As we suggested in our last post, our careers, occupations and jobs may change throughout our lifetime. Our vocational calling, however, remains constant.
This can be confusing, especially as we look at the work of our church pastors, whose vocational calling is usually the same as their careers, occupations, or jobs. Yet for the rest of us that is usually not the case. It is reported that today’s typical college graduate will not have only one career but several during their lifetime. And each career will have numerous occupations and who knows how many jobs. The days of putting in 35 years for the same company and retiring with a gold watch are long gone.
As I look back over the many different jobs (and several different careers) in my own life I can see the emergence of a pattern, a common thread woven through each and every job. Although I will admit sometimes it is more visible than at other times. My vocational calling was the place in the world of productive work for which I was created, designed and destined to fill based on my God-given gifts and talents and the opportunities presented to me by God’s providence. God consistently used me to do very much the same things in many different settings.
If you are still confused about your vocational calling, the best advice is to go back and understand your call in Christ.
Professor Jennifer Scott in an article entitled “Our Callings, Our Selves,” writes that calling “…originally meant ‘a call…’” and was associated with “…the biblical calling of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Old Testament and to the New Testament calling of disciples by Christ.” Thus, from a Christian perspective, calling or vocation, was a chance for followers to “listen to God and understand who they are” before they can know what work to do. Understanding who we are in Christ individually, helps us to more clearly see our vocational calling which may be defined as the fulfillment of our divine destiny.
Out of this primary calling to become a disciple of Christ, flow secondary calls to action in certain areas of our lives, particularly the workplace. We have seen how Martin Luther and the other reformers, as author Roland Bainton says, “extended the concept of divine call, vocation, to all worthy occupations.” They saw occupation – everyday work – as a timely opportunity for service, in God’s providence, presented to believers to enable them to fulfill their vocational calling.
So, rather than equate vocational calling with a specific occupation or career, we are called to be Christians in whatever situations we find ourselves. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,” Paul urged the Corinthians, “do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
R. Paul Stevens in his book Doing God’s Business mirrors the Apostle Paul’s statement when he writes: “The New Testament treats work in the context of a larger framework: the call of God to live totally for him and his kingdom.”
As we strive to fulfill God’s call on our lives through our vocational calling, our efforts glorify God, further his Kingdom and, as we will see in the next post, serve the common good.
Question: What are ways you have fulfilled your vocational calling in different jobs or careers? Leave a comment here.
- Part 1: Why is Vocation Missing From Today’s Churches?
- Part 2: Two Ways Our Views of Vocation are Distorted
- Part 3: The Difference Between Calling and Work
- Part 4: What are Our Primary & Secondary Callings?
- Part 5: How to Understand Your Vocational Calling
- Part 6: Different Jobs and Careers, Same Calling in Christ
- Part 7: Your Work Influences Community
- Part 8: Work as a Part of Our Worldview
- Part 9: John Calvin’s Contribution to the Biblical Doctrine of Work
Sign up to get the ‘Creativity. Purpose. Freedom’ Blog delivered to your inbox daily. | <urn:uuid:413e4019-ce5f-42d9-9708-a0e7eda565bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.tifwe.org/different-jobs-same-calling-in-christ/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960044 | 857 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Over the last several weeks, investors have been served a grim reminder of the volatility that markets are capable of and are being reminded of the events of 2008. The conventional wisdom is that the markets are reacting to the debt downgrade in the U.S. or the threat of default. As the U.S. debt ceiling talks went down to the wire, the world thought it was going to serve as a catalyst to propel the global economy forward only to have Standard & Poor’s downgrade U.S. debt one notch from AAA.
But to infer that this is what is preoccupying markets would not be correct. To borrow a phrase made famous by James Carville, the chief strategist of the 1992 Clinton Presidential campaign - ”It’s the economy, stupid”. The debt downgrade has been a distraction from the real issues.
The global economy was impacted in the first quarter of this year by the Japanese earthquake, tornadoes and floods in North America and Australia– including flooding in some of the oil fields in Western Canada, and Middle East violence. All of these events combined to act as an economic brake.
Notably, in June the U.S. Federal Reserve downgraded its projections for the economy for the third time this year and stated that the economy could expand “up to” 2.9% in the second half of the year and 3.7% “or less” in 2012. Now, it seems that this would be a nearly impossible outcome of the economy. Thus, the U.S. Federal Reserve has now pledged not to raise interest rates for at least the next two years. This policy change amounts to the Fed essentially announcing that they are out of ammunition on the monetary policy front and the economy remains fragile.
It is not only the Fed that is out of ammunition. Many central banks are facing similar challenges. Therefore, better fiscal policy initiatives with respect to taxes and spending policies are going to have to pick up the slack. However, this is much easier said than done as many developed economies have governments that are running into budget constraints.
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Rising energy costs have also been a burden on the economy. In the first quarter of this year, we saw a significant uptick in oil prices which tends to act as a tax on the economy. For the U.S. economy, it is estimated that each $10/barrel increase in oil prices shaves off about 0.2 – 0.3% from GDP growth. However, in recent weeks oil prices have retreated to about $82/barrel and this should help the global economy and especially the U.S. consumer.
The economic weakness should not have come as much of a surprise and for investors who recognized that in the early part of this year stock markets were pricing in overly optimistic expectations, the current market sell off represents an opportunity to buy blue chip equities at very attractive valuations. The S&P 500 now sports a dividend yield of 2.2% and the Dow Jones yields about 2.7%. Many of the largest U.S. blue chips now trade for single digit P/E (Price to Earnings) ratios.
All this while 10 year Treasury bonds have risen in price and now only yield about 2.2% as investors seek safety in bonds. In the last thirty years, it has not been a common occurrence for blue chip corporations’ dividend yields to pay more than bonds while trading for attractive valuations. In addition, most corporations should be able to raise their dividends by about 10% on average, barring a rapid economic slowdown.
The opportunity to build a portfolio of attractively valued companies trading at this level of valuation is seldom afforded to investors. The dilemma is to balance the opportunity set created by this incredible uptick in volatility with the economic backdrop globally. In response, investors have gone from complacency and throwing money at mutual funds and stocks to cashing in their chips and heading for the hills.
Recent data from the mutual fund industry in the U.S. shows that equity and bond fund outflows are significant and money is fleeing into money market funds. Nothing like a nearly 20% drop in the markets to convince them to seek safety. This is perhaps the most repeated and costly error investors make.
Time and again, investors choose to “Buy High and Sell Low”. The time to go slow on stocks and be cautious was earlier this year as many market measures showed that the markets were relatively overbought and investor complacency was high. Most of the talk earlier this year from strategists and individual investors alike revolved around the bullish scenario. Today, it is mostly the opposite. Strategists who were bullish weeks ago are now handicapping the odds of a recession.
The market seems to have quickly priced in a measure of economic slowdown and therefore a reduction in corporate earnings. According to Barclays Capital, during recessions since WWII, corporate profits on average dropped just under 16%. At this point, market expectations have come off and are beginning to discount the recession. Analysts have reduced their target prices for just under 30% of the stocks in the S&P 500.
While stocks are cheap and especially so compared to bonds, investors will continue to watch economic data over the coming weeks with a heightened sense of interest. It is often said that bull markets climb a wall of worry. Right now it seems as if the markets are staring up at one.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. | <urn:uuid:a2ebb316-32f2-4b5e-b153-784e104e39a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekingalpha.com/article/289223-debt-distraction-masks-opportunities-in-equities | 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 | 0.974955 | 1,133 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The Polish navy is decommissioning its two Russian-built Tarantul-class fast attack craft in 2008, the commander of the service's fast patrol boat squadron has told an international naval conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The two high-speed craft, armed with aging SS-N-2C Styx anti-ship missiles, are no longer compliant with NATO standards, Capt Krzysztof Jaworksi said at the IQPC-organized OPV Conference.The ORP Rolnik is one of Tarantul-class missile craft that Poland will take out of service. Photo: Polish navy
The Polish navy covers an area of responsibility that comprises 8,648 km2 of territorial waters and 32,502 km2 of economic exclusion zone waters extending out into the Baltic.
In the east the Polish-monitored waters border directly on those of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, located between Poland and Lithuania.
The wider Baltic Sea has an area of 427,000 km2 and an average depth of 52 meters, stretching out some 600 naut.mi. north-south and some 320 naut.mi. east-west, Capt Jaworksi said.
Peacetime missions primarily involve supporting the Polish border guard and EEZ protection, while in a crisis situation, the Polish fast attack craft would be tasked with early warning as well as protection of sea lines of communication.Tarantul-class missile craft firing a Russian-built SS-N-2C Styx anti-ship missile. Photo: Polish navy
In a shooting war, the squadron will try to destroy enemy forces within the Polish naval defense area, participate in operations against enemy landing forces, and attempt to maintain sea control, Capt Jaworksi said.
In other words: a purely national territorial defense mission much in the same fashion as the Cold War anti-invasion scenarios.
However, a new capability is being added in the form of long-range (150-200 km) land attack missiles: Saab Bofors Dynamics RBS 15 Mk 3s that will be carried by the three modernized Orkan-class fast attack craft and the planned class of six Gawron-class corvettes.
The Tarantul-class, the ORP Metalowiec and Rolnik, were both commissioned at the very end of the Cold War (1988-1989) but are not sufficiently compliant with Western/NATO standards.
The 500-ton, gas-turbine-powered craft have a maximum speed of 43 kts. and a crew of 45. Their main armament is four Russian SS-N-2C Styx anti-ship missiles (range: 80 km) which are still capable of delivering a devastating strike against surface targets.
Capt. Jaworksi showed a video clip in which two Styx missiles struck a surface target, arriving from slightly different angles with less than one second spacing.
The Tarantul craft also carry a 76-mm. main gun, two 30-mm. close-in weapon systems and four SA-N-5 surface-to-air missiles, as well as anti-submarine armament.
The three upgraded Orkan craft (modernized by a Thales-led consortium) each carry eight Swedish-supplied RBS 15 Mk 3 (Mk 2 initially, the Mk 3 should arrive next year) surface-to-surface missiles. These, said Capt Jaworksi, have the capability to attack land targets as well as ships.
The 300-ton, diesel-powered Orkans have a top speed of 36 kts and carry a crew of 36.
The Gawron-class missile corvette program, based on the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems MEKO 100 design (2,035 tons of displacement), has been delayed.
A first ship is under construction and should be ready by 2010. But the remainder of the class (five more ships), will not be acquired until after 2012, Capt. Jaworksi said.
The Gawrons will also have eight RBS 15 Mk 3 missiles each as well as vertically-launched surface-to-air missile system and guns. | <urn:uuid:56f70b2e-ba5b-4ffd-b526-d6cbf626c081> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckcontroller=blog&plckscript=blogscript&plckelementid=blogdest&plckblogpage=blogviewpost&plckpostid=blog%253A27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7post%253A63c5ca53-f0b1-4836-b174-f939eee0e846 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940004 | 857 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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stainless steel is:
It’s by no accident that safety is our first concern at organicKidz™. Everything we do starts with the health and safety of children. Our stainless steel bottle line reflects that commitment. Stainless steel is an inert metal with NO POSSIBILITY of carcinogenic chemicals leaching even in extreme heat conditions.
Bisphenol A or BPA is a compound used in many polymer based plastics like Polycarbonate Plastic (Shatter-proof clear plastic). BPA both strengthens and makes plastics more flexible. Plastics without BPA can be more fragile. In the body, BPA acts as an estrogen receptor antagonist and has been linked to cancer, fertility issues, attention difficulties and cardiac problems.
Many studies have indicated that there are concerns about BPA’s effects on infant and fetal development.
PVC or Polyvinyl Chloride is used to make vinyl polymers and is used to soften plastics, and increase flexibility. It is commonly used in a variety of plastic products. It is considered to be a carcinogen and can leach Lead and Phthalates.
Phthalates are used to make plastic more flexible, durable and longer lasting. Phthalates are easily released as plastic ages. They have been linked to Asthma, Metabolic Disorders, Attention Deficit Disorder and interfere in hormone production.
Nitrosamine is a chemical that is used in the manufacture of a variety of products including latex and rubber products, cosmetics and pesticides. It has been potentially linked to liver and gastric cancers.
At organicKidz™, we don’t just rely on factory testing, we go above and beyond making a conscious choice to test all our products at an independently certified facility. With awareness of new chemicals springing up every day, we strive to be an industry leader in providing the safest products for you and your family.
It’s no secret that plastic has a propensity to leach chemicals. Today, many baby bottle brands have removed BPA, PVC and Phthalates from their manufacturing process. However, little testing has been done on the chemicals they have substituted. Early studies indicate that BPS, another member of the bisphenol family and a common substitute for BPA, may be worse for children than the chemical it replaced.
But the safety benefits of stainless steel over plastic and glass go beyond the chemical make-up and into very real and practical applications, as well. Unlike glass and plastic, stainless steel does not mask the temperature of the liquid it contains. Glass and plastic have innate insulating qualities that can make it difficult to gauge the actual temperature of the contents of the bottle. With stainless steel what you feel is what you get.
The fact that hospitals and medical facilities around the world regularly use stainless steel for internal human body implants speaks to how healthy stainless steel is. Its natural resistance to bacteria makes it the best choice for medical procedures and food preparation and also makes it the perfect material for baby products.
Both glass and plastic have a natural ability to harbor bacteria. The staining and foul smell that plastic and glass take on over time are indications of bacterial presence. Our food grade stainless steel, with regular cleaning, will remain bacteria resistant.
organicKidz™ stainless steel bottles are100% recyclable. They are also 100% reusable. The durability and versatility of stainless steel contribute to its long life as a bottle for your child. This extended life means less replacement bottles and less waste.
Our accessories also make a big environmental statement, as well. When you convert your organicKidz™ baby bottles into sippy cups and lunch box ready water bottles you’re eliminating the need to purchase separate sippys, juice boxes and other drinking containers. Less products bought, means less space taken up in the landfills. Whether your child is at a sippy cup or water bottle stage, our accessories allow you to make a greener statement.
Stainless steel is virtually indestructible. Glass is not, of course. And, even plastic can break or crack when dropped on hard surfaces like kitchen counters and hard floors. These cracks can go unnoticed and become breeding grounds for bacteria on the inside of plastic bottles. This is simply not an issue with stainless steel.
The incredible durability of stainless steel also makes it amazingly versatile. Over a relatively short period of time plastic and glass will stain and become odorous due to bacteria. These bottles often end up in landfills. The virtually infinite life span of stainless steel bottles means that they can be used again and again. Our “life bottle” program gives eco-savvy parents the perfect system for converting their baby’s bottle into a sippy cup when they are old enough and then into a fun, lunch-box friendly water bottle when they are ready to go off to school. Literally, organicKidz baby bottles can be used by your child from newborn beyond preschool. | <urn:uuid:39829e62-513c-4a1f-b02a-d06780256908> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.organickidz.ca/stainless-steel-is-safe-green-healthy-durable-versatile/?show=durable | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922265 | 1,282 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Photo: Farmer-Veteran Coalition
Here's an agricultural trend we can all get behind. Combat veterans are making the transition to civilian life by way of farming, reports Cooking Up A Story. Even better, they're not being asked to hoe that row on their own. Groups like California's Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training program; Nebraska's Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots program and the California-based Farmer Veteran Coalition are providing training, funding and support to get veterans back on the land that they fought to protect.
"This is an excellent path for veterans," says Weldon Sleight, dean of University of Nebraska's College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA). "There are huge numbers of veterans that come from rural communities -- 17 percent of the U.S. population is rural, yet 45 percent of the military come from those communities."
The problem, he says, is that there are few economic opportunities in rural America, and many veterans end up in urban cities.
"They don't know how to go home, so we teach them that," said Sleight.
NCTA works with veterans to develop a business plan and assist with low-interest loans that will get them started on a 100-beef-cow operation; a 100-acre program for farming, or a business program to help veterans establish small businesses in rural communities. The program currently supports six students, but Sleight says they're ready and hoping to attract 50 veterans by this fall.
Colin Archipley of Archi's Acres, who has partnered with MiraCosta College, told the New York Times that farming offers veterans a chance to decompress and provides a sense of purpose. "It allows them to be physically active, be part of a unit. It gives them a mission statement -- a responsibility to the consumer eating their food."
His six-week course teaches sustainable agriculture methods, including hydroponics, and has an emphasis on organics.
"Farming is one of the 10 best green jobs out there," Archipley told the North County Times. "Organic farming is still growing, even though the rest of the economy is down."
Cooking Up A Story also pointed us to a documentary in progress by Dulanie M. Ellis. Watch the trailer if you'd like to know more. | <urn:uuid:caf01272-0c3f-4a95-a4a7-74d7bdad8f3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slashfood.com/2011/02/11/veterans-come-home-to-farming/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959959 | 470 | 2.25 | 2 |
Islam and the protests
Rage, but also self-criticism
Though most Muslims felt insulted by a film trailer that disparaged the Prophet Muhammad, many were embarrassed by the excesses of protesters and preachers
AFTER the noon prayer in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on September 14th, a copiously bearded speaker delivered a rousing, finger-wagging open-air sermon. Thundering against the incendiary anti-Muslim film trailer that recently appeared on the internet, he warned his brothers to prepare for battle, urging them to take up weapons against incoming “Crusader armies”. Soon after, youths resumed a rock-throwing assault on police protecting the nearby American embassy.
As with past incidents of what many Muslims see as Western attacks against their beliefs, similar scenes unfolded across the Muslim world, producing tragic results. The anger displayed at all these events was certainly real, and widely shared among Muslims. Yet the television coverage of protests obscured an obvious fact. As in many other protests across the region, the crowd at the fiery Friday sermon in Cairo numbered in the mere hundreds, in a space where throngs a thousand times bigger have become commonplace. In the midst of a city of perhaps 20m inhabitants, the rest went about their business as usual. The number of youths who actually picked up rocks barely rose to the dozens. Their anger was aimed as much at the police as against “the West”. The street-fighting looked more like a rowdy sporting event, replete with parading to the cameras, than a clash of civilisations.
The news focus on violence and on the shrillest voices of protest shifted attention from other important responses to the offending film. In many Muslim countries the furore has boosted moves to strengthen laws against blasphemy, just when such laws had come under unfavourable scrutiny. In Pakistan, for instance, a young Christian woman was belatedly freed from custody when her accuser was found to have planted evidence used to charge her with blasphemy. In Egypt human-rights groups had protested against the imprisonment of several Coptic Christians for allegedly putting blasphemous material on the internet.
In Egypt the mainstream Muslim Brotherhood now appears to have bowed to pressure from harder-line Salafists to enshrine stern wording against blasphemy in the country’s draft constitution. This would criminalise “insults” directed not only against God and all the prophets of monotheism, from Moses to Muhammad, but also against the wives of Muhammad, the first four caliphs of Islam and the prophet’s companions. In a related move, at least six countries with big Muslim populations persuaded Google, the owner of the YouTube video service, to block access to the offending footage.
Seeking to show a more measured response than public displays of rage, some governments have proposed counter-offensives to the film. The vastly wealthy Gulf state of Qatar says it is spending $450m to sponsor a three-part epic film on the life of Muhammad. The office of Egypt’s Grand Mufti, the highest state religious official, plans to launch an international “Know Muhammad” campaign to correct misinterpretations of him.
Yet the debate has also sharpened criticism of religion’s intrusion into politics. To expose the pitfalls of Egypt’s blasphemy laws, for instance, activists have filed suits against a sheikh who angered Egyptian Christians by publicly burning a bible in response to the anti-Muslim film clip. Hassan Nasrallah, the charismatic leader of Hizbullah, Lebanon’s Shia party-cum-militia, provoked an angry backlash by staging a giant rally to protest against the film. Critics not only charged him with manipulating the incident to ingratiate himself with Sunni Muslims, among whom Mr Nasrallah’s star has waned with the region-wide rise of sectarian animosity. They called him a hypocrite for condemning America as a shielder of blasphemers while ignoring the offences to God committed by his ally, Syria’s regime. Its soldiers have destroyed mosques and, by the evidence of YouTube footage, forced prisoners to say, “There is no God but Bashar Assad”.
As the noise over the film died down, the furore also provoked deeper reflection about the issues of blasphemy, and of legal and cultural differences between Muslim countries and the West. The tenor of this more thoughtful response, in newspaper and internet commentary, has been sharply self-critical. “We Are All Khaled Said”, an Egyptian Facebook page with 2.4m followers that was instrumental in rallying last year’s revolution, posted a list of 12 truths regarding the allegedly blasphemous footage, such as the fact that before the protests erupted barely 500 people had watched it, a number that apparently rose to 30m a week later.
Writing in the London-based daily, al-Quds al-Arabi, Elias Khoury, a Lebanese novelist, was less circumspect. The “film”, he said, was in fact just a trailer. It is “us”, the Arabs, who are the spectacle. Mr Khoury ended by quoting al-Mutanabbi, a medieval poet who ridiculed religious excess with a gibe against men of his time who, in supposed imitation of the prophet, sported full beards with bare upper lips: “Is it the point of faith to shave your moustaches/ O people whose ignorance is the laughing stock of nations?” | <urn:uuid:6a7ec54e-20be-4b11-ab4b-851fddf167de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.economist.com/node/21563311?zid=304&ah=e5690753dc78ce91909083042ad12e30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966325 | 1,137 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Students at the University of Arkansas engage in research, invention and development - even the undergraduate students - and so could you. More than a fourth of our students take classes abroad during their college career, but they call the University of Arkansas home. Professors at the University of Arkansas explore life on Mars, imagine new ways of expressing art, and challenge the old methods of health care, education, commerce, and agriculture. University of Arkansas graduates are the chief executive officers of national and international companies. They nurse the current generation and teach the next. If your goals have more personal meaning you'll find professors at the University of Arkansas who are experts in those fields and can show you how. You can set any goal at the University of Arkansas and achieve it. The learning requires discipline, desire and inspiration, but that's what our professors bring to the table.
The impact of Berkeley research on the practical end of computer science has been significant. During the 1970's theoretical research led by Professors R. A. Karp and S. A. Cook established fundamental concepts and limits of computational complexity. Former student Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computer with Steve Jobs. Berkeley faculty and students, obtained source code and rights to the early Bell Labs UNIX operating system, added networking features and virtual memory support for the DEC VAX. The work on computer-aided design broke new ground with demonstrations of design synthesis from logic specifications, producing chip designs that are correct by construction. Yet there also were many new activities and achievements, such as its organization Women In Computer Science & Electrical Engineering. WICSE is an organization for all women graduate students in Computer Science at the University of California in Berkeley, which includes a big-sister program.
UC Davis is one of the nation's top public research universities. As one of 10 campuses of the world's pre-eminent public university system, the University of California, we are located in the heart of the Central Valley, close to the state capital and San Francisco Bay Area. UC Davis lays claim to being one of the few remaining college towns where we cherish our close relationships on campus and within the Davis community. UC Davis graduates can be found throughout the world, making an impact in professions that affect all aspects of our lives. Students benefit from a wide range of academic and extracurricular programs, an interdisciplinary research community involved in local and global issues, and an abundance of opportunities to lead and to make an impact on society. UC Davis offers students the experiences in which they discover what matters to them and how to succeed after graduation.
From its founding in the late 60s on a new campus with a unique vision, to its national ranking today, the Bren School has always been a trailblazer in computer science academics and research. From its early focus on providing a broad educational experience, to its current offering of four undergraduate computer science degree programs, a Bren School education is grounded in the basics but also explores the newest technologies and advancements. UC Irvine hosts a club called Women in Information & Computer Sciences. This organization heads an effort to encourage women to pursue a college degree and career in the field of Computer Science by providing them with support.
UCLA's primary purpose as a public research university is the creation, dissemination, preservation, and application of knowledge for the betterment of our global society. To fulfill this mission, UCLA is committed to academic freedom in its fullest terms: they value open access to information, free and lively debate conducted with mutual respect for individuals, and freedom from intolerance. In all of their pursuits, they strive at once for excellence and diversity, recognizing that openness and inclusion produce true quality. These values underlie their three institutional responsibilities. The Computer Science Department strives for excellence in creating, applying, and imparting knowledge in computer science and engineering through comprehensive educational programs, research in collaboration with industry and government, dissemination through scholarly publications, and service to professional societies, the community, the state, and the nation.
The goal of the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering is to be one of the leading and defining engineering schools in the world - a school known for the quality of its students, its stellar research programs, and an environment that fosters innovation and leadership. Surrounded by San Diego's diversified and thriving technology industry, the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering is in a unique position to educate students who are not only creative thinkers, but also have the ability to evaluate the potential of their discoveries. They can and will assist their students and faculty in turning their discoveries into useful and marketable products. Creativity, innovation, and teamwork are the attributes that will provide for a sustainable high-technology workforce and will form the basis for our nation's continued technological and economic leadership.
UCSB is one of only 61 institutions elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. And the Newsweek guide to America's best colleges has named UCSB one of the country's "hottest colleges" twice in the past decade. In addition to five Nobel Laureates, UCSB's faculty includes many elected members or fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (25), the National Academy of Sciences (32), the National Academy of Engineering (25), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (60). Their computer science department encompasses a dynamic environment for research, a state-of-the-art teaching program, and a first-class faculty. Their degree programs help students become outstanding professionals, prepared to impact all manner of modern society through the application of cutting edge information technology. Their graduates work in a spectrum of settings, from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, as well as in government and universities.
UCSC opened in 1965 with 650 students. Forty-five years later, the campus is home to nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 1,500 graduate students. Computer science is the study of the theoretical and practical aspects of computer technology and computer usage. The department offers courses on a wide range of topics, many of which include a mathematical component. UC Santa Cruz offers both the bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees, as well as the master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees, in computer science. Besides offering instructional courses, the Computer Science Department engages in a substantial research program in which both advanced undergraduates and graduate students participate.
You belong at a university where you're part of a community of thinkers and learners interested in making a difference. Founded in 1907, the University of Central Arkansas is one of the most affordable options for higher education in the South. UCA is located in Conway, Arkansas, a friendly city home to two other colleges, earning it the nickname: The City of Colleges." The community is accommodating of its college students and loves and supports its UCA Bears. Conway is located 30 miles north of the capital city, Little Rock, and has a population around 57,000. When looking at the six-county Metropolitan Area, there are nearly 700,000 people living around Little Rock, making Conway a small pocket in a large group of people. UCA is one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation. Lush gardens with seasonal flowers and large shade trees complement the Georgian-architectural style of campus buildings.
The University of Central Florida is one of the most dynamic universities in the country. Offering 211 degree programs, it has become an academic and research leader in numerous fields, such as optics, modeling and simulation, engineering and computer science, business administration, education, science, hospitality management and digital media. UCF promotes a diverse and inclusive environment. UCF students come from 50 states and 141 countries. Study abroad programs allow UCF students to study and conduct research in 42 programs in 21 countries. The School of EECS is ranked 57th in Electrical Engineering graduate programs according to the 2010 U.S. News & World Report America's Best Graduate Schools! Last year, EE was 65 on the list and was UCF's highest ranked graduate program. For five straight years, EE has moved up in these prestigious rankings. | <urn:uuid:8c086e67-7286-42a3-b175-809970955b93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncwit.org/alliances/members/45?page=20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959169 | 1,624 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Randall Lane, Forbes Staff
I edit Forbes Magazine, and posit on business, politics -- and food!
What does $126 billion look like? With the picture above, probably the wealthiest portrait ever taken, you now know.
This photograph, which graces the cover of the 30th anniversary issue of the Forbes 400, crowned an incredible event. On June 26, 2012, 161 billionaires and near-billionaires came together in New York at the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, a chance for the most successful people on the planet to use their resources and the mind-set that built that success to try to solve the world’s most intractable problems.
Near the end of the day, we took a dozen of the greatest living philanthropists in the world, put them in one room, and took an unprecedented photograph. There was no digital wizardry, or Photoshop sleight of hand — as the accompanying video underscores, they were all in one place at one time, and even the most jaded among them couldn’t help but look around the Trustees Room at the New York Public Library and go, “wow.”
The whole shoot took just 15 minutes, though our photo crew, notably photographer Michael Prince, had been prepping for weeks, testing cameras, the room, the lights. The cover was shot dozens of times in advance using stand-ins to ensure perfect lighting and focus when the actual subjects arrived.
When they did, it was magic. Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Pete Peterson, Leon Black, Jon Bon Jovi, Marc Benioff, David Rubenstein, Steve Case, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen and Marc Andreessen, $126 billion of personal net worth, incredible business achievement — and a desire to change the world on a massive scale. It was a moment of business and philanthropic history — and a photo for the ages. | <urn:uuid:3286e141-5668-4ffc-aa93-e79da811b483> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2012/09/18/inside-the-126-billion-forbes-cover/?commentId=comment_blogAndPostId/blog/comment/1713-402-720 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94431 | 398 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Philadelphia researchers compared outpatient surgery in a hospital and at an outside facility.
They found urological procedures cost significantly less when performed in a doctor's office or surgical center. Doctors estimate medicare could save $66 million a year if 50% of hospital surgeries are moved to ambulatory surgery centers.
Too much noise in a hospital intensive care unit could harm some patients. Yale researchers interviewed 70 ICU patients and recorded in room activities overnight. They found the sound level often exceeded recommended levels. The study says excessive noise could lead to worse outcomes because patients are sleep deprived.
And - researchers in Sweden found people exposed to mold in their homes are at increased risk of chronic inflammatory lung disease. The disease, known as sarcoidosis, can lead to permanent organ damage. | <urn:uuid:a9155f47-2f62-4956-8f86-6de7541f6422> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ktvn.com/story/19886023/saving-money-excessive-noise-mold-effects | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959699 | 156 | 1.984375 | 2 |
April 06, 2010
Gio Valiante with Camilo Villegas
What do a professional wake boarder, an information technology executive, an array of all-star golfers and a classroom full of college students have in common? Two words: Gio Valiante. An associate professor of education at Rollins College, Valiante has synthesized two passions—golf and teaching - and is an acclaimed sports psychologist and a highly regarded author. His philosophy has inspired others to overcome their challenges . . . in sports, in business and in life.
His approach was forged from his groundbreaking research into the competitive minds of professional golfers. The study, which was conducted in 2001 and funded through a grant from Rollins College and the Critchfield Foundation, revealed a strong connection between how athletes think and how they perform. In 2005, these findings became the basis of Valiante’s first book, Fearless Golf, a mental conditioning program that established him as the “new standard” in golf psychology. Quite fitting for a guy who has loved hitting the links since he was nine years old.
Serving as a mental game consultant to the Golf Channel, Golf Digest and the University of Florida, the Rollins professor has numerous media appearances to his credit including Good Morning America (March 31 and April 4), The New York Times and TIME Magazine. He has counseled high-profile golfers such as Jack Nicklaus, Camilo Villegas, Vijay Singh, Stuart Appleby, and Chris DiMarco, to name just a few. He has also worked with other athletes - including players from the Orlando Magic and a professional wake boarder -but his philosophy of being “fearless, focused and committed” doesn’t apply only to sports. Businesses, too, have hired him to motivate employees and coach them on overcoming challenges.
“Corporate athletes, academic athletes, professional athletes - you name it - the guiding principles of success still apply,” said Valiante. “In any ‘achievement domain’ where there is a desired score, grade or outcome, your mental state directly impacts how well you perform. I help clients manage what’s going on in their heads so they can perform at their best, regardless of their trade.”
Experiencing parallel success in two careers, he admits that his role at Rollins is the “most fulfilling.” As an instructor in educational and sports psychology, he teaches how ideas and beliefs are born and how the learning process works. He emphasizes research, which he believes is an essential dynamic of learning.
One secret the professor shares with his classes is to “own your mornings”—noting that you can be more productive between 5 and 8 a.m. than between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., because of distractions. “I tell people to create their own momentum,” he said. “You can’t sit back and wait for things to happen - be in the moment and focus on the elements you can control.”
Closely tied to Rollins College’s service-learning mission, he instructs his students to be mindful of their thoughts and maintain a positive outlook to stay grounded. “An ‘attitude of gratitude’ is much more than just a coaching technique; it is a lifestyle - one that is evident on the Rollins campus,” said Valiante. “Once someone accepts this philosophy, it transcends their day-to-day activities and becomes motivation to excel.” | <urn:uuid:7c3c6ffd-ec15-4a6c-9e28-8f03cf5eba23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rollins.edu/news/2010/04/Gio-Valiante.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973955 | 733 | 1.601563 | 2 |
True sustainability solutions
We live in a world with very limited solutions to our sustainability problems. I often hear the view, “If we would just get off fossil fuels, then our society would be sustainable.” Or, “If the price of oil would just go high enough, then renewables would become economic, and our economy would be sustainable.”
Unfortunately, our problems with sustainability began a long time before fossil fuels came around, and the views above represent an incomplete understanding of our predicament. When fossil fuels became available, they were a solution to other sustainability problems–rapid deforestation and difficulty feeding the population at that time. Getting rid of fossil fuels would likely lead to very rapid deforestation and many people dying of lack of water or food. If getting rid of fossil fuels is a solution to our predicament, it is one with very bad side effects.
A couple of different events this week reminded me about how deeply embedded our sustainability problems are. For one, I had the opportunity to read a draft of a soon-to-be published paper by James H. Brown and a group of others from the University of New Mexico and the Sante Fe Institute called, “The Macroecology of Sustainability.” This paper points out that sustainability science has developed largely independently from and with little reference to key ecological principles that govern life on earth. Instead, sustainability science is often more of a social science, looking at slightly greener approaches which are almost as unsustainable as the approaches they replace.
A second thing that reminded me of our long-term problems with sustainability was a pair of articles in this week’s issue of Science. There is a research article called, The Aftermath of Megafaunal Extinction: Ecosystem Transformation in Pleistocene Australia by S. Rule et al, and an accompanying perspective article called The Hunters Did It by M. McGlone. The perspective article explains that there had been a controversy as to why marked changes in habitat took place shortly after humans settled Australia. Some thought that the loss of forest and animal extinctions were the result of climate change. New research shows that the changes almost certainly came from hunting and the use of fire by humans. This is further evidence that humans did not live sustainably, even when they were still hunters and gathers. (See my earlier posts, European Debt Crisis and Sustainability and Human population overshoot–what went wrong?)
Below the fold, I will offer some ideas about truly sustainable solutions.
Truly Sustainable Solutions
Humans at this point do not fit in at all well with the natural ecology–the natural systems of plants and animals. In fact, we have disturbed these systems greatly, making natural systems “fit” into the little niches we have reserved for them. In order for humans to fit back into natural systems, it almost seems as though humans would have to evolve to become more like monkeys or gorillas. We would need to stop living in houses, wearing clothes, and cooking our food. It would be helpful to be able to live in trees, to stay away from predators. Somehow, this doesn’t sound at all appealing, or likely.
But if we think about the situation, it yields a few ideas regarding where we need to be, if we are to live in an ecologically sustainable way:
1. In terms of local foods, we need to focus on foods that truly grow wild, or with very little support, in our area. We may need to discard some foods that can be grown today, but which require soil amendments which must be hauled from a distance, sprays for insects, irrigating, or much tilling.
2. To limit our ecological impact, we should be eating plants and perhaps small animals (including birds, fish, and insects) that reproduce in large numbers. We certainly should not be eating cows and pigs grown on industrial farms. The food we eat should be minimally processed–not packaged or finely ground. If we could eat food raw, that would be ideal, from the point of not disturbing other systems. The human digestive system has evolved to work better with cooked food, however, so cooking will probably be necessary, perhaps using solar cookers.
3. Our housing should be simple. We certainly shouldn’t be building more huge houses and buildings. We shouldn’t expect buildings to be heated very much, and probably not be cooled at all.
4. Walking should be our primary means of transportation. Perhaps dug out canoes or rafts would also be suitable for fitting in with the ecosystems.
5. Medical treatment should largely disappear, because it interferes with normal evolutionary processes and because it tends to leave a large dependent elderly population. It also tends to lead to far too high a population in total.
6. We probably need to live in smallish groups (<150 people) and have an economy based on a gift economy. With such an economy, people gain status by what they give away, rather than what they accumulate. Land would probably be shared in common. No one would be wealthy.
If Truly Sustainable Solutions are Impossible
If truly sustainable solutions are virtually impossible, then what do we do? There are 7 billion humans on earth. If human populations were similar to those of monkeys or gorillas, there would probably not be more than more than 1 million (with an “m”) humans in the world, mostly living in warm places. Our basic problem now is that there are far too many of us.
Some choices that might slightly reduce our impact:
1. Reduce our incomes. The amount of resources a person uses is mostly determined by a person’s income. If a person cuts back on his income, he will use less. Trying to cut back within the same income is less effective, because the money a person doesn’t spend one place is likely to be spent somewhere else. (This is one reason that many attempts at being “green” don’ t really work out.)
2. Plant at least some food crops. This too, disturbs the natural ecology, but it is about as good as we can do. If perennial plants are planted, it is possible that others will benefit as well. Animals, birds, and insects may also get some benefit from the crops.
3. Share what petroleum is available more equitably. If I use less oil, by driving a smaller car, or by driving fewer miles, it doesn’t mean that petroleum will be left in the ground. What it does mean is that the gasoline or diesel that I didn’t buy will be available for someone else to buy. This rather strange result happens because total oil supply is pretty much “maxed out”–total world oil supply doesn’t increase by very much, even with more demand. Instead, all that happens is that price rises. If I use less, price may drop a bit, but the same amount of oil in total will be consumed. So by using less petroleum, someone else, somewhere can use more. The result is better sharing of what oil is available.
4. Have smaller families. One child, or even no-child, families are to be encouraged.
How about all of the “green” things that we hear about?
I have a hard time believing that most of the “green” solutions presented to us today are more than marginally beneficial from an ecological point of view. Even substitutes like wind turbines and solar PV have their difficulties. Most of the time wind and solar PV are used as parts of large electrical grids, and the grids themselves are not sustainable. In addition, we have to disturb natural ecological systems to make and use these systems. The intermittent electricity they produce is not a reasonable substitute for petroleum, which is the fuel we are having most difficulty with.
The problem our economy is facing now is recessionary impacts associated with high-priced oil. High priced substitutes are even worse, in my view. If low-priced substitutes for oil are available, they may make sense. For example, if natural gas could substitute for oil that would be a small step in the right direction, but even natural gas has its difficulties–it too produces CO2 when burned and it is out of synch with the natural ecology.
If there are “green” solutions that are helpful and not too ecologically disturbing, I expect that most of them will be smaller and simpler–for example, small windmills made with local materials, or small water wheels. Recycled materials may be used for some of these–perhaps parts of old autos or recycled building materials. | <urn:uuid:9ffc6da2-9144-48ad-bda4-a60aad8b26f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.resilience.org/stories/2012-04-03/true-sustainability-solutions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969961 | 1,774 | 2.875 | 3 |
Do book recommendations from peers really make that much difference in our book-buying habits? What about blog or Amazon reviews?
I was recently chatting with my hairstylist about how she decides which books to buy and read. She said she doesn't pay attention to general advertisements about books. Instead she only looks at the reviews of people who've already read the book and bases her decision solely upon what readers are saying.
Her comment got me thinking about the power of reviews. Just this week I was buying swimsuits for my kids through Land's End, and I realized how easily swayed I was by the reviews for or against certain suits. I read them carefully and took them to heart.
Reviews and recommendations are a new powerful marketing tool in the online world. Most of us trust the word of mouth from other ordinary people like us. I recently ran across this statistic: 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust advertisements.
We look at the comments of other consumers, and then we make our purchases accordingly. It's true for everything from furniture to TV's, from comforters to curtains. And, yes, it's VERY true for books too.
Over the past months since the release of my book, many readers have contacted me testifying that they bought my book as a result of positive reviews or because of recommendations from friends. In fact recently, I had my first Skype session with a book club, Read 'n Rally (pictured above), as a direct result of peer influence.
Around the release of my debut book, blogger Lynn Simpson, began to see interviews and positive reviews on my book around cyberland. Because of what others were saying, she decided to buy the book when she saw it at a local bookstore in Canada. She said, “I eagerly picked it up. I wasn't disappointed. I was so taken with the book that I recommended my book club, Read 'n Rally, to choose it as our next month’s read.”
Based on Lynn’s recommendation, the group agreed to read The Preacher’s Bride. Thus, every single person in the group purchased a copy and read it.
Lynn contacted me via email to ask if I’d be willing to talk with her group—more specifically if I’d Skype with them. I was honored and thrilled with the request. So we arranged a time and date.
When the night of the interview came, I was nervous. After all, it’s been over three years since I researched The Preacher’s Bride. And it’s been about a year since I last read the book (when I went through my Galleys). I’m currently writing another book set in a completely different time period, so I hoped I would be able to recall everything and keep the facts straight.
And it was. We spent about 45 minutes chatting. Fortunately, I was able to remember most things (it’s amazing how it all comes back!). They were incredibly kind and gracious. And I couldn’t have asked for a better first Skype. Thank you, ladies! And thank you to everyone who wrote positive reviews about my book that eventually led to the wonderful Skype experience!
3 quick lessons (among many) I learned from the experience:
1. Skype is an excellent tool for interacting with readers. I highly recommend it!
2. Influencers, interviews, and blog & Amazon reviews should play a key part in a writer's marketing strategy. Whenever a friend asks me how they can help promote my book, I always tell them they're welcome to write a blog review or a review for one of the major online bookstores. Those positive reviews can make a huge difference.
3. Because peer reviews have such a strong influence, we need to be wise with what we say. Not only that, but we should be honest. We don't want to mislead others. In fact, when we gush about books that don't deserve gushing, we might even put our own reputation and trustworthiness on the line. My policy is to use extreme tact or to remain silent about books that I can't positively recommend.
So what do you think? Have you ever been swayed into buying a book after reading a blog review or Amazon review? Which influences you more—peer recommendations or advertisements? And why? | <urn:uuid:212da484-c7a6-4d81-96de-26b0adcd007f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/2011/03/power-of-peer-recommendations-reviews.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973961 | 896 | 1.5 | 2 |
When we exercise, our heart rates increase, and when we sleep, they drop. But sometimes, when we're working during the day and minding our business, our heart skips a beat. During any 24-hour period, in fact, one-fifth of adults may experience this phenomenon and not know it. When extra beats happen in quick succession, the heart can enter a chaotic state, leading to a condition known as arrhythmia, which is treated with daily medication or, in more severe cases, electrical pulses that return the heart to normalcy.
Teresa Chay is a biophysicist who suffers from arrhythmia. She developed the condition as a child after rheumatic fever damaged two heart valves. Surgery seven years ago replaced the valves, but she still takes daily medication and occasionally needs to rush to the hospital for electrical pulse treatment.
Since her surgery, Chay has studied arrhythmia. Using supercomputers at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, she has developed a mathematical model that explains why arrhythmia begins and why it stops when electric shocks are applied. Her goal, like other researchers in this field, is providing a foundation for developing better drugs to control arrhythmia. Currently, the drugs are not always effective, and in some cases, for reasons not well understood, rather than controlling arrhythmia they can trigger it and kill you.
Researcher: Teresa Chay, University of Pittsburgh.
Hardware: CRAY C90
Software: User developed code
Keywords: arrhythmia, heart, heart rate, electrical pulse treatment, anti-arrhythmic drugs, ion channels, sudden cardiac death, atrial fibrillation, erratic beating, chaotic state, nonlinear dynamics, chaos theory, bifurcation analysis, coexistence theory, reentrant arrhythmia, self beating, quiescent state, sinus node.
Related Material on the Web:
More information about Dr. Chay and her research, from the Community of Science Web Server.
Projects in Scientific Computing, PSC's annual research report.
References, Acknowledgements & Credits | <urn:uuid:8eff25c8-cc65-4e9f-a78f-4933c86afaf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psc.edu/science/Chay/Chay.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91407 | 442 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Most Active Stories
Valley Public Radio Staff
13.7: Cosmos And Culture
Sun September 16, 2012
Commentary: Ban On Big Sodas A Big Mistake
Originally published on Sun September 16, 2012 7:52 am
The new ban on the sale of soft drinks in large containers in New York City is arbitrary and insulting.
Just because something is bad, that doesn't mean you should ban it. Bad is something that people need to decide for themselves, for the very simple reason that no one has a monopoly on knowing what bad is.
Some people think that sitting on a park bench and enjoying a pipe while you read the afternoon paper is a good thing. Others, like New York's Mayor Bloomberg, think this is such bad behavior it should be made illegal.
Some people don't like to have to make several lengthy trips to the concession stand to buy sodas during a ballgame. They think it is bad to stand in line at the ball park. They think it is good to buy one extra-large soda at a single go. This new rule will ban this type of convenience.
This restriction is insulting because it only makes sense if we think we need the government to tell us what and when and how much to drink. It is insulting because its premise is that we can't make up our minds for ourselves.
Now I am inclined to agree with the mayor that our population is vulnerable to the blandishments of marketing and advertising, particularly the poor and the poorly educated. These are problems — education and poverty — I wish he would tackle.
This particular regulation is also arbitrary. The ban only applies to some shops, not others; it targets the size of containers, not the amount of soda sold; the ban takes no account of the fact that, by volume, most of what fills up those giant beakers of soda is ice; the ban doesn't apply to milk shakes, or alcoholic drinks, or coffee drinks.
The mayor says the purpose here is not to ban soda, but to make people mindful of the dangers of obesity. As if people don't know that? As if we don't all know that thin is beautiful and positive and healthy and fat is dangerous and unsexy and negative? Thank you, Mr. Mayor!
My personal view is that there's two things going on here.
First, instead of tackling real problems, this mayor, like so many of our politicians, is just creating a diversion. He's making up problems he can solve.
Second, there's a deeper complex at work. A little knowledge is a very dangerous thing. Yes, obesity is a problem. Yes, it costs taxpayers. Yes, it would better if people were not obese. But if you think you can make a dent on something as deep and personal and important as how people eat and feel about their food by this kind of regulation, then you've got your head screwed on backwards.
We saw this same kind of simple-minded, technological approach to natural phenomena in New York City back when Hurricane Irene struck. This mayor shut down the subways, as well as the bridges and the tunnels, in advance of the storm. His actions — meant to avert disaster, or merely to divert the impression that he was inactive in the face of the incoming storm? — were immensely costly to the city and upsetting to its residents. He locked down New York.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. | <urn:uuid:c131ddea-24ee-451f-ad9d-87bbb94cccf7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kvpr.org/post/commentary-ban-big-sodas-big-mistake | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973812 | 701 | 1.882813 | 2 |
A book on mankind’s inhumanity to fellow human beings can never come often enough, as witness the genocide presently taking place in Darfur. Suppression can be as simple as letting people starve—as in the Sudan—or in accelerating their departure via the horrors of torture and execution. This is terrible enough when ordered by secular dictators, and yet in the Middle Ages, it was none other than the church that revealed to the world the exquisite forms of torment that could bring people to “confess” even if they were innocent. This was a specialty of the agency known as the Inquisition.
To this day, the very term evokes scenes of black-hooded inquisitors bending over their victims with instruments of torture under the ruddy glow of braziers, often using fire itself in the course of inducing agony. In The Grand Inquisitor’s Manual, Jonathan Kirsch lays it all out in well-researched detail, never using ugly sensationalism to win his reading audience, but letting the excruciating facts speak for themselves.
Beyond all debate, the Inquisition is the ugliest blot on the entire history of the Christian church. The once-persecuted people of God, centuries later, became persecutors themselves in a maniacal drive to save “heretics” from hell by giving them a foretaste of that destination via torture. Kirsch traces it all from the earliest beginnings of perceived heretical threats to the medieval church by the dualistic Bogomils and the Cathars or Albigensians. The powerful Pope Innocent III responded by declaring a crusade against the latter in the earliest 1200s. But how do you determine who was an Albigensian heretic? “Kill them all,” advised one bishop, “the Lord will know His own.”
From that point on, the Inquisition pursued its lurid business. Its full title was “The Holy Office of Inquisition into Heretical Depravity,” and it exists at the Vatican to this day as simply “The Holy Office.” (Its previous director was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—the present pope, Benedict XVI—who, however, does not believe in torture!)
Kirsch takes the reader through its three main phases: (1) The Medieval Inquisition (mid-thirteenth century) targeted Cathars, Waldensians, the Knights Templar, spiritual Franciscan priests, and anyone involved in sorcery and witchcraft. (2) The Roman Inquisition (sixteenth century) aimed at Protestants and Freethinkers in Italy, including Giordano Bruno and Galileo. (3) The Spanish Inquisition (1478 to 1834) was far and away the most notorious of the three. It sought out conversos, Jews who had converted (many perforce) to Christianity but were suspected of relapsing into Judaism, as well as Muslims and Freemasons.
Kirsch demonstrates, however, that the Inquisition afflicted many other areas of the world, including Portugal and the colonies the European powers established in the New World. Nor was England exempt, which saw anti-Semitic riots, nor France, as witness the tragedy of Joan of Arc, the maid of Orleans. Even in the Americas, the fanaticism of religion lay behind that horrid miscarriage of justice called the Salem witch trials.
The inhumanity of the Inquisition has had modern secular counterparts as well, as Kirsch easily demonstrates in the case of Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Russia. Torture to elicit information, then, comes as early as the ancient world—the Romans were masters at it—and extends up through today’s headlines.
Forms of Torture. Torture has been persistent for centuries, but that the medieval church should have used it remains a striking scandal to the present day. There are authors who try to diminish the horror, claiming that the number of victims in the Inquisitions has been exaggerated. They also point out that not everyone was burned at the stake: there were milder punishments such as enforced devotions, going on pilgrimages, and the like. Generally, however, it seems a failed effort, and condoning any aspect of such institutionalized terror should be enough to send the revisionist historian to a psychiatrist. There he will be in good company with the darkened souls who try to deny the Holocaust.
Various medieval manuals on torture, written by Dominican and Franciscan inquisitors, show the methods involved. The victim was brought by candlelight through spooky corridors to the gruesome torture chamber, where he was carefully shown the instruments of torment, a terror that brought some to “confess” on the spot. Men or women, as well as boys over ten or girls over nine were then stripped of their clothes and tied to a table.
Water and fire were the simplest of the tools employed. Water was poured down someone’s throat in quantities to distend the stomach while holding the nose. Fire was regularly applied to the soles of the feet and red-hot tongs to nip at the naked body. Both of these were carryovers of the old medieval ways of deciding guilt or innocence: ordeal by water or fire.
Many other creative methods were also in use, such as the strapado, a rope and pulley apparatus affixed to the ceiling. The victim’s hands were tied behind his back and he was hoisted up but then suddenly dropped, causing excruciating pain. Whips, of course, were always at the ready, as were the agonies of the wheel and the rack. The stivalleto involved hammering wedges of wood or iron between the legs of the victim and the wooden splines tightly imprisoning them. Clearly, many of the torturers were sadists, some getting a perverse sexual delight out of inflicting this horror on the gender of their choice.
The Infamous “Third Degree.” Whence comes the term, “the third degree”? From the Inquisition, of course! It was all a matter of the nature and duration of the torment. The first degree involved cutting off the victim’s clothing and showing him the instruments of torture. The second started the torture itself, to be sustained no longer than the time it took for an inquisitor to recite a single Ave Maria or Pater Noster—probably about one minute. The third degree was full torture itself, and without such time limits.
But there were more! The fourth degree called for more torture yet, such as jerking the ropes of the strapado, with its inevitably horrendous agony. And finally, in the fifth degree— reserved for the heroic holdouts—there were no limits. Limbs might be torn out of sockets, with the victims perishing on the tables of torture, even though it was not supposed to go that far.
Was There No Escape? Rarely, a victim might escape through the same ingenious methods used by any prisoners before and since. For those facing the Inquisition, survival was also possible if the victim confessed his sin or heresy, which was the chief goal of the tormentor. This did not always work, however.
The inquisitor often suspected that the “confession” was not sincere, and made only to spare one’s own life. Kirsch lists many instances of poor girls and other victims who out of sheer terror were ready to confess to anything, but they were doubted. Even if a confession was made, it had to be proven by the victim naming others who were also guilty so that they too might be arrested. Failure to do so rendered a confession suspect and it was not accepted.
The worst “sin” of all was to recant a confession. The death penalty was automatic in that instance, as witness the famous case of Joan of Arc in France, or Thomas Cranmer in England. Execution usually took place by burning at the stake, and such occasions were high theater in the Middle Ages, usually taking place in the town square in front of the cathedral and attended by huge throngs of people. Hollywood has it right in this instance.
Clergy were always attending victims on their way to the stake, however, prepared to hear a confession that could save their lives. It did, in some instances, but not all.
The Spanish Inquisition. Of all the vicious venues where terror in the name of God was perpetrated, none exceeded that of the Spanish Inquisition, presided over by the Grand Inquisitor himself, Tomas de Torquemada, whose maniacal anti-Semitism, endless pursuit of heresy, and mastery of torture remain a stench in the nostrils of the world. He detested “secret Jews,” that is, the conversos who had converted to Christianity but remained Jewish at heart. And what were their hallmarks? Washing one’s hands before prayer, calling a child by some Old Testament name like David, and eating a porkless meal. Changing one’s undergarments on Saturday, however, was a dead giveaway!
Moderation was unknown in the Spanish Inquisition. If a condemned heretic confessed at the last moment, he or she was treated “mercifully,” as Kirsch writes, graphically:
The victim would be strangled with a garrote before being burned. Sometimes a bag of gunpowder might be hung around the neck of the victim, both as a gesture of mercy—once ignited by the mounting flames, the resulting explosion would bring his ordeal to a quick end and possibly even take off his head—and as a pyrotechnic effect to please the crowd. Then, at last, the executioner put the torch to the brushwood and charcoal that had been neatly arranged around the stakes, igniting the fuel at each of the four corners to ensure that the flames burned evenly on all sides. (p. 200)
Lessons for Today? It is very difficult for contemporary Christians to believe that this sadistic saga of agony could ever have happened. So easily—and justifiably—we fault Islam for its violence and terrorism, forgetting that we also went through that phase hundreds of years ago. It has often been argued that Islam needs the equivalent of our Reformation if it is to come to terms with the freedom and progress we enjoy today in the West. There must be some truth to this, since it was the success of the Reformation that broke the spiritual stranglehold of the one branch of Western Christianity demanding absolute subservience to its doctrines to avoid horrendous consequences.
It is also, however, a warning that whenever any religion, denomination, political party, or government occupies a position of overwhelming majority, it may indeed be tempted to silence all opposition in a manner not too different from that of the medieval inquisitors. Salvation may lie in diversity.
—Paul L. Maier
Paul L. Maier, Ph.D., is professor of ancient history and former Lutheran campus pastor at Western Michigan University. He is a graduate of Harvard University and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and a Fulbright Scholar at the Universities of Heidelberg, Germany, and Basel, Switzerland. He is the author of sixteen books of nonfiction and fiction. | <urn:uuid:94ec5fa4-2a74-4495-ad6a-52fce801c16f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.equip.org/articles/torture-terror-and-theology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975519 | 2,300 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Getting to Fife is easier than you think.
Where is Fife? Nestled between Edinburgh and Dundee, choose to arrive in Fife by road, rail or air.
The transport infrastructure in Fife is excellent – and accessible – so you should find travelling through the area stress-free and simple. Fife experiences few of the commuting pressures of major cities.
Fife is connected to the main motorway network in Scotland by the M90, which travels from Perth (to the north) to Edinburgh (to the south). From east to west, the A92 connects all major towns and points of interest.
There are plenty of train stations in Fife – 19 in total – on the local and national network. You’ll be able to hop on and off throughout Fife on the Fife Circle Line, visiting towns, the countryside and the coast as you choose. Several stations link Fife with Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness to the north, Glasgow to the west and Edinburgh and London to the south.
You’re spoiled for choice with two airports either side of Fife. Edinburgh (to the south) is less than 30 minutes away and direct flights arrive from over 20 cities in the UK and Ireland, and over 100 destinations worldwide. Dundee (to the north) can be reached from cities in the UK (London, Birmingham and Belfast) and Europe.
The Port of Rosyth is Scotland’s largest freight port and is well connected to the road and rail network.
Fife has one of the UK’s most comprehensive cycle routes. There are 300 miles (500km) of cycle route along country lanes, disused railway lines and forest tracks as well as commuter routes in towns. | <urn:uuid:57231d9b-e3ea-42bb-9f38-08b86f074b01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.welcometofife.com/visit/travel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954257 | 356 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Meisner, A. and De Boer, W. and Verhoeven, K.J.F. and Boschker, H.T.S. and Van der Putten, W.H. (2011) Comparison of nutrient acquisition in exotic plant species and congeneric natives. Journal of Ecology, 99, 1308-1315. ISSN 0022-0477.
|PDF - Published Version |
Restricted to KNAW only
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01858.x
1.The ability of exotic plant species to establish and expand in new areas may be enhanced by a relatively high ability to acquire soil nutrients. To test this hypothesis, we predicted that the capacity for nutrient acquisition would be higher in seedlings of exotic species than in seedlings of native congeners. 2.We selected the five exotic species that had recently increased in abundance in a riverine habitat in the Netherlands and that had a native congener that was common in the same habitat. We grew seedlings of each of these ten species singly in pots of soil from this habitat in a glasshouse. After two months, we measured the final dry mass and N and P content of each plant and components of microbial biomass and nutrient mineralization in the soil. We also measured these soil characteristics in pots that had been left unplanted. 3.Exotic and native congeners did not differ consistently in the uptake of N or P or in effects on components of soil mineralization. Within a genus, values of these measurements were sometimes higher, sometimes lower and sometimes similar to the exotic when compared with the native species. 4.Depending upon the statistical analysis used, biomarker-based biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was generally higher in soil planted with exotic than with native species. Most measures of microbial biomass and soil mineralization were higher in pots that had been planted with plants than in pots with no plant. 5.Synthesis. Our results do not suggest that invasive, exotic plant species generally possess greater capacity for nutrient acquisition during the early establishment than native species do.
|Institutes:||Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie (NIOO)|
|Deposited On:||16 Sep 2011 02:00|
|Last Modified:||24 Apr 2012 16:40|
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This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
from the Unitarian Universalist hymn, “This Is My Song”
Last year, in response to the (incredibly idiotic and vitriolic) “DC 40″ Prayer campaign of the National Apostolic Reformation (the whack-a-doodle folks that want to make this the United Theocratic States of America), I wrote a bit about our family’s recognition of Ben Franklin a sort of Ancestor of America. One of the things I wrote in that post was that how Ben Franklin was able to see both the virtue and hypocrisy in religion and ultimately supported religious freedom. Or, as author Steven Waldeman put it in his book Founding Faith, “His true faith was religious pluralism. He wanted a society that was religiously dynamic and relentlessly accepting of differences.” Ben Franklin was remarkably good at seeing both virtue and hypocrisy in a thing and still honoring its value–even in himself. I’d like to think, were he here today, he would be able to honor the virtue of the dream that is America*, despite the frequent hypocrisy of its reality.
Like Ben, I love my country**. Because I love my country, I’m fully aware of its greatness*** AND its shortcomings (and don’t get me wrong, sometimes its a lot of work). The greatness of America is originates from the ideas from its founding documents, first and foremost a document that Ben even signed:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
The greatness of America lies in the ideal that we are all created equal, that we are all entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that our governance is based upon our consent, and (from another founding document) that the purpose of said government is to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Like most ideals, these can be hard to live up to on an individual level, much less a national one. It should come as no surprise that these ideals were not realized in the lifetime of the men that dreamed of them, and that there is still a fight to simply define what they mean, much less determine the best manner in which to actually achieve them. This is an ongoing and constant struggle–and a continual source of frustration, anger and strife.
My kids have it easy–tomorrow they will watch daddy march in a parade with his Civil War unit, enjoy some beach time, gorge themselves on popsicles, and try not to fall asleep before the fireworks. It was easier to celebrate Independence Day and to love America when I was a child and to celebrate a mythical golden age when history and people were simple and good. It was easier, but it was also fairly one dimensional. It’s a bit like the difference between an adolescent crush on a boy band superstar and the “for better, for worse” love one has for their spouse. Sometimes its a lot of work to maintain that relationship! And sometimes, its a lot of work to love one’s country (and even more work to respect the opinions of some of the people in it). But if we don’t find it within ourselves to love it, what is the point in trying to make it better?
The greatness and shortcomings of America are (and always have been) relentlessly intertwined. Because of this, loving where I live is sometimes a challenge. And so, on days like the 4th of July, I choose to celebrate the greatness of America as well as those that have chosen and continue to choose to seek to remedy her shortcomings. Tomorrow, I will both celebrate and lament the complexity and contradictions of our history; I will rejoice in the beauty of our landscapes and mourn the razing of our ecosystems; and I will revel in the diversity of this nation while I rue the fact that there are people that see it as their duty to stifle it.
I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution: For when you assemble a Number of Men to have the Advantage of their joint Wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those Men all their Prejudices, their Passions, their Errors of Opinion, their local Interests, and their selfish Views. From such an Assembly can a perfect Production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this System approaching so near to Perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our Enemies, who are waiting with Confidence to hear that our Councils are confounded, like those of the Builders of Babel, and that our States are on the Point of Separation, only to meet hereafter for the Purpose of cutting one another’s throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best.
~from the notes of James Madison, Ben Franklin’s final speech at the Constitutional Convention encouraging the adoption of the Constitution
*I apologize if any Canadians, Mexicans, Greenlanders, or citizens other Central or South American countries are offended by my (over)use of the terms “America” and “American”. I’m lazy and I felt that typing out “United States of America” would get old pretty fast.
**If you haven’t seen one of my previous posts on the topic, “Loving where you live” is a theological idea for our family.
***Being “great” is not the same as “greater than everyone else”. To be sure, I think there are things that America does better than a number of other countries and I think that there are many things that other countries do better than ours. America is not the only great country in the world (and that is okay). But its still my great country. | <urn:uuid:2c3c59d1-5ef0-4389-9795-0c9517c177e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nuannaarpoq.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/loving-where-you-live-american-edition/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969826 | 1,376 | 1.640625 | 2 |
What is it that morphs an aspiring entrepreneur into a multi-billion dollar business owner? Is it incredible educational credentials? Is it graduating from Yale in the top five-percent of the class? Is it pursuing an MBA?
Although possessing a strong educational background is great, would have to say no. The most important aspect to becoming a successful entrepreneur is not educational credentials, but rather, ambition and the desire to be great. We have conducted a list of the top entrepreneurs who did not posses a college diploma. Others didn't even finish high school.
To all aspiring entrepreneurs out there: if you need a little motivation or inspiration to get out there and start up your own company, take a look at this list.
To all struggling entrepreneurs out there: if you feel down on your luck and are struggling to keep your business afloat, take a look at this list.
To all college-, high school- and elementary school-dropouts who feel as if they have no direction in life, take a look at the list.
And finally, to anyone who has failed in their life, take a look at this list:
Henry Ford | Ford Motor Company | Dropped out at 16
Henry Ford is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the history of the United States. Ironically, Ford dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen. With his invention of the modern assembly line used in mass production as well as his development of the Model T automobile, Ford was worth $188 billion dollars (in 2009 dollars) without even completing highschool.
Bill Gates | Microsoft | Dropped out at 19
Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard at the age of nineteen. While attending school, Gates was more interested in playing around with many of the school's computers. After slacking off in school, Gates dropped out, started his own computer software company with Paul Allen, and eventually made $59 billion.
Michael Dell | Dell Computers | Dropped out at 19
Michael Dell dropped out of the University of Texas at age 19 after he founded Dell Computers from his very own dorm room. Today, Dell is among the top ten wealthiest Americans and holds a personal wealth of about $17.3 billion.
Paul Allen | Microsoft | Dropped out at 20
Paul Allen, with help from Bill Gates, became interested in computers while in college. After his second year at Washington State University, he dropped out to work as a programmer in Boston. He later convinced Gates to drop out of college as well. How much is he worth today? $16 billion.
Steve Jobs | Apple | Dropped out at 18
Steve Jobs graduated from high school and attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon. After his first year, he dropped out to begin work with Steve Wozniak. Today he is worth $5.4 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg | Facebook | Dropped out at 19
Mark Zuckerberg is known as today's most successful college dropout. A co-founder to the ever-popular social media site, Facebook, Zuckerberg launched this site from his Harvard dorm room and dropped out shortly after. His current personal wealth is about $4 billion.
David Geffen | Geffen Records | Dropped out at 21
After attending three different colleges, and dropping out of all of them, David Geffen founded his own record company, Geffen Records and is worth $6.5 billion today.
Larry Ellison | Oracle | Dropped out at 20
Lawrence Joseph "Larry" Ellison, the sixth richest person in the world, left the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in his second year. He dropped out because his adopted mother had died and he skipped all of his final exams. In the 1970s he developed Oracle, a database for the CIA, and has made $27 billion.
Sheldon Adelson | Las Vegas Sands Corp. | Dropped out at 19
Sheldon Adelson was an entrepreneur from his early years in which he sold toiletry kits and started his own charter bus system. Later in life, Adelson dropped out of City College of New York and founded the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Today his wealth is $26 billion.
Richard Branson | Virgin | Dropped out at 16
One of this list's youngest dropouts, Richard Branson suffered from dyslexia and had poor academic performance as a student. He later discovered his ability to connect with others. Without letting his disabilities get to him, Branson founded the Virgin brand (a brand of over 360 companies) and is worth $4.4 billion.
And if this list doesn't satisfy you enough, take a look at the numerous other million-dollar entrepreneurs who did not successfully complete high school:
• Anne Beiler (Auntie Ann's Pretzels)
• Walt Disney (The Walt Disney Company)
• Mary Kay Ash (Mary Kay Inc.)
• Dov Charney (American Apparel)
• Charles Culpeper (Coca Cola)
• George Eastman (Kodak)
• Joyce C. Hall (Hallmark)
• Richard Schulze (Best Buy)
• Wally Amos (Famous Amos)
• Hyman Golden (Snapple)
• Rachel Ray (Food Network Star) never even went to culinary school
• Kemmons Wilson (Holiday Inn)
• Coco Chanel (Chanel)
• Carl Lindner (United Dairy Farmers)
• Jimmy Dean (Jimmy Dean Foods)
Or take a look at Joe Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods. He dropped out of college six times.
Or what's even more impressive—our list of four successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of elementary school.
• Henry Royce (Rolls-Royce)
• Milton Hershey (Hershey's Milk Chocolate) did not finish 4th grade
• Colonel Harlan Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken) also did not finish 4th grade
• Thomas Edison (inventor of the lightbulb) stopped school at age 12
So whether you're a worried parent, a worried entrepreneur, a worried college dropout, or anyone who feels as if they will fail; never give up. All of the people mentioned above gave their products and ideas their all. Even when all odds are against you, sometimes it only takes a little ambition, desire, passion, and sweat to become a success. | <urn:uuid:fcce490e-6662-47a0-9fd3-b4af920ce7b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thinkbigpartners.com/be-an-entrepreneur/176-dropouts-some-of-the-best-entrepreneurs-in-history.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963418 | 1,306 | 2.421875 | 2 |
84 Teams to Compete in NASA Great Moonbuggy Race April 1-2
Racers from the Huntsville Center for Technology geared up for the Great Moonbuggy Race. (NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham)
View large image
Forty years after the first lunar rover rolled across the moon's surface, 84 teams of enterprising future engineers will demonstrate the same ingenuity and can-do spirit at the 18th annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race, set for April 1-2 in Huntsville, Ala.
The event challenges high school and college students to design, build and race lightweight, human-powered rovers -- "moonbuggies" -- which address many of the same engineering challenges dealt with by Apollo-era lunar rover developers in the late 1960s.
Teams include U.S. high school, college and university students from 22 states and Puerto Rico; and international challengers from six countries, including returning teams from Canada, India and Germany and -- for the first time -- racers from Ethiopia, Pakistan and Russia. For a complete list of competitors, visit:
The race is organized each year by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and hosted at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, both in Huntsville. It commemorates the NASA Lunar Roving Vehicles -- engineering marvels designed and tested at Marshall from 1969-1971.
The first rover made its inaugural excursion on the moon's surface July 31, 1971, driven by Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin. Two more rovers followed in 1972, enabling still greater scientific exploration during the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 missions.
Four decades later, student teams competing in the NASA Great Moonbuggy Race strive to uphold that engineering tradition. Their challenge is to deliver a two-driver buggy -- usually in a three- or four-wheeled configuration -- capable of posting the fastest vehicle assembly and race times, while incurring the fewest penalties on a harrowing course that simulates the harsh, rocky lunar surface.
High school students square off in one division; college and university teams compete in another. Prizes are awarded to the three teams in each division that finish fastest, with the least number of penalties. NASA and industry sponsors also present a variety of additional awards, including honors for Rookie of the Year and the Featherweight award for the lightest, fastest buggy.
Take an inside look at NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race:
Participation in the race has increased annually from just eight college teams in 1994 -- the high school division was added two years later -- to more than 70 high school and college teams in 2010.
"Hailing from four continents, the aerospace talent of tomorrow comes together for this hands-on engineering competition," said Dr. Frank Six, the university affairs officer at the Marshall Center and one of the founders of the NASA Great Moonbuggy Race. "More importantly, they'll come to meet one another, to turn school projects and shared dreams of spaceflight into lasting friendships and future partnerships.
"We are proud to continue NASA's long tradition of inspiring and engaging young people around the world to dream big, to innovate and to work together to seek a better, brighter future for us all," he added.
This year's event could inspire more young people than ever before. NASA will broadcast live race coverage via NASA TV and the online Webcasting service UStream. In 2010, more than 32,000 people around the world watched live coverage, including commentary from race organizers and chats with student racers. To watch video of the 2010 competition, visit:
You want intensity? Check out the determined expressions of the 2010 racers in the "Face of the Race" gallery:
The NASA Great Moonbuggy Race is one of numerous education projects and initiatives conducted by the agency each year to spark young people's interest in science, technology, engineering and math -- and encourage them to pursue careers as America's next scientists, engineers and explorers.
The Academic Affairs Office in the Marshall Center's Office of Human Capital manages the event. Major race sponsors include Lockheed Martin Corporation, The Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman Corporation and Jacobs Engineering ESTS Group, all with operations in Huntsville. Other sponsors include the ATK Aerospace Systems of Magna, Utah; the Huntsville operations of Science Applications International Corporation, Teledyne Brown Engineering and Davidson Technologies; and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
For images and additional information about past races, visit: | <urn:uuid:aad5027f-0de6-4dfe-848e-f827343167fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/moonbuggy2011/moonbuggy_2011_11-018.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927417 | 915 | 2.421875 | 2 |
In a "State of Immigration" speech, Chertoff will deliver "probably the most comprehensive statement he's ever made. We've done a lot more than ever, and this is a great way to highlight it," said Laura Keehner, Homeland Security spokeswoman.
The Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have come under increasing pressure to secure the border and enforce existing immigration laws, particularly in the absence of congressional legislation. Federal officials say fewer arrests signal that fewer immigrants are attempting to cross into the country illegally, meaning deterrent efforts are working along the border.
Although it appears that more illegal border crossers died this fiscal year than in 2006, the number still is below the record of 279 in 2005. Homeland Security officials refused to release annual border-enforcement data, which typically are available at the close of the fiscal year in September, so that Chertoff could unveil the statistics.
Arizona offers a significant snapshot of the entire border because the Tucson Sector is the busiest human- and marijuana-smuggling route on the entire 1,950-mile frontier.
In the 11 months ending in August, the Border Patrol reported seizing 891,000 pounds of marijuana and making 396,000 illegal-immigration arrests in Arizona. That's a 19 percent drop in arrests, after a 10 percent decline in 2006, and a 38 percent increase in pot seizures after a 30 percent increase in 2006.
"Too many drugs and too many people are crossing the border, and too many are dying in the deserts of Arizona. More needs to be done to secure the border," said C.J. Karamargin, spokesman for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Tucson.
The death toll in Arizona's deserts shot up sharply from last year, according to data compiled by Tucson-based charity Humane Borders, with 246 immigrants dead in the past 12 months. That's up from 199 deaths last year.
Chertoff may address border deaths in today's talk. Illegal immigrants aren't avoiding the border but crossing more-remote stretches of desert, said Sue Ann Goodman, executive director of Humane Borders. She has mapped the deaths and found that, each year, bodies are discovered increasingly farther from roads and water sources.
The Border Patrol said it has found more bodies in Arizona because it has more agents to find the remains of those who died long ago and because this summer had a record number of 110-degree days.
Patrol figures, based on bodies recovered with identification, show 202 undocumented immigrants died in Arizona deserts from Oct. 1, 2006, to Aug. 31, 2007.
"The reasons people migrate have not changed. We've changed the conditions at the border, and the increased effort at the border will pressure migrants to take more risks," said Nestor Rodriguez, a University of Houston sociologist.
Arizona's drop in arrests comes during an economic slowdown that some economists say has slackened the demand for cheap immigrant labor, particularly in construction. It also comes as the government has added hundreds of agents and about 70 miles of fence in Arizona.
The federal build-up along the border has "bottled up people inside the United States," said Wayne Cornelius, director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California-San Diego. "It does not mean fewer migrants are trying to enter the United States," he said. "It means they have a stronger incentive to stay put."
Chertoff will likely address delayed fence construction and challenges to workplace enforcement measures. | <urn:uuid:d1533901-6d1f-4330-8b14-5d46f9659d82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special03/articles/1106deaths.html?wired | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959572 | 712 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Claudio Abbado, Hearing the silence
Berliner Philharmoniker, Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Dedicated to the most secret conductor, Claudio Abbado, this documentary is also a lesson about life and music.
An original portrait sketched under the sign of the German poet Holderin - the actor Bruno Ganz recites on of his poems at the beginning of the film. Claudio Abbado is sparing in his words although he is generous in his emotions. That is what makes this documentary special: Abbado talks about his illness (he was operated on for cancer in 2001) and the revolution this illness caused in his life, he shares a little of his private life and talks about his work as a conductor.
We also see him at the age of 35, in 1965, in an interview he gave in Vienna just after directing the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Bruckner’s First Symphony. We also find out that he and his companion Zubin Meha sang in the choirs of Musikverein under the direction of Bruno Walter, Herbert von Karajan, Hermann Scherchen and Joseph Krips solely for the purpose of attending the rehearsals of these legendary conductors.
Many interviews of orchestra musicians, namely those from Berlin who talk about his departure in 2002, provide us with a clearer picture of his personality. As for the testimonial of is friend Bruno Ganz, it gives us a very personal insight into this exceptional being.
Movie director : Paul Smaczny
Duration : 01 h 00 min
Production date : 2003
Production : © EuroArts Music International
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In the last three elections the American people voted for change. On Tuesday, they voted to keep things the way they are.
A recap: In 2006, we had a Republican President, an unpopular war and a Republican House accused of being too cozy with K street. Voters booted them from the House. Good-bye, Tom Delay. Hello, Nancy Pelosi.
In 2008, voters moved further left, electing a Democratic president and giving Democrats a decisive majority in Congress. But just two years later, alarmed at the pace of massive spending, huge deficits, and an unpopular health care plan that was clearly a higher priority than getting people back to work, they kicked the Democrats out, leaving Republicans with their biggest House majority since the late 1940s. The revolt went beyond D.C. More Republicans were elected to state legislatures and assemblies than any time since the Coolidge administration.
This year, 2012, would finally decide which direction people wanted to go — further left with the president, or further right with the Republican House.
Now we know. They want both.
The race for president was essentially a replay of George W. Bush in 2004: The incumbent won a bare majority of the vote and bested his opponent in the Electoral College by bringing home Ohio and the major swing states. But in 2012 there was one difference: Barack Obama became the first president ever re-elected to a second term with a smaller percentage of the vote than he won four years earlier.
At the same time, the voters didn’t dent the comfortable Republican majority in the House of Representatives, the engine of conservative reform on Capitol Hill. After all the rhetoric, the billions (literally) spent on campaign commercials and exhaustive work at the grassroots level to identify and turn out voters, divided government remains in place, virtually unchanged. Democrats did make some modest gains in the U.S. Senate, but they often came courtesy of second-string GOP candidates afflicted with foot-in-mouth disease.
So is divided government all that bad?
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan had a Democratic House, presided over by old-time Boston pol Tip O’Neill and his hyperpartisan aide, Chris Matthews. Yet Reagan managed to get things done, including his historic tax cutting growth plan, domestic spending restraint, and the sweeping tax reform plan of 1986 that brought the top rate down to 28 percent in exchange for sweeping aside deductions and exemptions. When necessary, the two Irishmen talked behind closed doors and compromised: Reagan agreeing to some tax hikes, O’Neill acceding to lower tax rates on the wealthy in exchange for taking millions of low-income earners off the tax rolls.
In the 1990s, after the ’94 mid-terms produced a Republican House, Bill Clinton ended up across the table from uber-partisan Newt Gingrich. Clinton was more clever and disciplined, at least politically, than the insurgent Georgian, and he took the advice of his consultant, Dick Morris, triangulating between Gingrich and the left wing of his own party. It worked magnificiently, but also required signing off on parts of the Republican agenda, including welfare reform and a capital gains tax cut that helped fuel the high tech boom in the '90s. Coupled with spending restraint, it resulted in the first balanced budgets in a generation.
Barack Obama, more ideologically oriented and far less politically skilled than Clinton or Reagan, would never have signed off on welfare reform or cutting capital gains. But with no mandate, and no plan going forward, he cannot govern without dealing with a Republican Congress that is not going away.
Some people, particularly politicos and pundits within the D.C. beltway, roll their eyes at all the unsophisticated rubes who vote for one Party in the White House and another to represent them in Congress. But growing numbers of Americans don’t feel comfortable with either party. Having endured a big spending Republican Congress under Bush, and an even bigger spending Democratic Congress under Obama, it is clear they no longer trust either party to do it on their own.
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Chest of Drawers
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This cherry chest of drawers, with its elaborately scalloped top, was probably made in Deerfield, Massachusetts, for David Hoyt of Deerfield. Hoyt gave the chest to his daughter Persis on her marriage to John Sheldon in 1769. Similar chests have descended in the families of two sisters of Persis. Each is linked to a wedding date. Furniture with shaped tops are an expression of the rococo style. This unique furniture style appeared in the Connecticut River Valley from Wethersfield, Connecticut, to Deerfield, Massachusetts, in the middle years of the 18th century.
top of page | <urn:uuid:a95de2b8-852f-4f8d-91d5-cba8c50c5651> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/activities/postcards/make.do?itemid=5942 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929474 | 172 | 1.890625 | 2 |
March 13, 2013
Children of Divorce More Likely To Leave Religion? It's Not That Simple, Study Says
New research from Baylor says other factors have greater effect on future beliefs.
New research from professors at Baylor University suggests prior studies purporting to show a link between divorce and children's religiosity as adults may be overstated.
The link may exist, says Baylor assistant professor of sociology Jeremy Uecker, but previous research has left out or downplayed key factors that may be more relevant to an individual's faith experience than the role of divorce itself.
According to Baylor, the link between divorce and religion mainly occurs because children of divorced parents are more likely to be "separated from one of their parents, and parents are usually considered the primary source of religious training for children."
But other factors within the church itself, such as stigmatizing a single mother or the "logistical difficulty" of attending, may cause a child of divorce to resent or drift away from God.
CT previously has reported on the topic of divorce and how it impacts children when parents split. CT also noted the release of a study emphasizing the important role of ministry to non-traditional families. | <urn:uuid:177f4ea3-9441-4bfb-ae73-e26ff4ad9a9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2013/03/children-of-divorce-more-likely-to-leave-religion-baylor-study.html?_buref=1170-91826 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960227 | 240 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Pandora Charms Bracelet Is Purely Handmade
Pandora is a jewellery line which can be made with changeable parts. Pandora Charms in bracelets are designed to have beads that can be changed or charms that can be changed, removed and even added to change colour, beads and style. You can change the beads to suit your attire and style and to suit the occasion as well. Pandora bracelet charms are made in various kinds of metal, both expensive and inexpensive. They are made in metals such as gold, silver and other base metals. A Pandora bracelet has a history; it serves a particular function, it has distinct features and benefits as well.
The story of Pandora's Box is very popular in Greek mythology. It's the story of a woman being created by the Gods to punish mankind for fire. She was created and sent to earth with a beautiful box given to her by the Gods. Zeus forbade her to open the box she was given, but granted her the gift of curiosity. Eventually she couldn't resist her curiosity any longer and had to open the box. When she finally opened the box she released all that is evil, diseased, and bad upon mankind. Since then mankind has been cursed with what was released from Pandora's Box. Once all of this evil escaped the box and Pandora looked inside the box, all that was left was hope.
There are different reasons why Pandora jewellry charms are extra special for jewelry lovers out there. One of which is because there is a wide array of Pandora Charms Australia to choose from. You can wear different designs of Pandora charms for each day and you will never go out of design to choose from. The imagination of the Pandora charm makers is the only limitation regarding Pandora charm designs.
There are a number of different Pandora bracelets to choose from. The main ones are either silver or gold in colour. Generally consumers that buy silver bracelets also buy silver charms to add to the bracelets. This is because silver charms look good on silver bracelets and make the whole Pandora product very stylish. Gold charms on silver bracelets can look very good too but some people prefer the simpler look. Gold bracelets can also be bought but these tend to be higher in price and are therefore not as common as the silver bracelets. They are however, incredibly attractive and anyone seen to be wearing a gold Pandora bracelet would certainly be very proud indeed.
Pandora Online is purely handmade, and is made up of pure colored glaze and sterling silver pipe. The Pandora jewelry has fine shadow effect. It can show three - dimensional effect from different angles. The jewelry can bring you a feel of tranquility and peace, and take you to enjoy the natural beauty of the pearls which is limpid. Pandora pearls are made of colored glaze before, nowadays, owning to the needs of customers, some are made of Zircon which is also beautiful when made to necklaces, bracelets, and other strings.
Pandora has become fashionable for a number of different reasons. Firstly, there is the actual jewellery. Due to the way it has been engineered, it can be worn by several different people in one room and yet everyone can boast a different look. This is because there are so many different combinations that people are extremely unlikely to buy the same Pandora jewelery. Furthermore, people can add so many different charms to their Pandora bracelet or necklace, that even if they had one the same, their item of jewelery would still look completely different. This means that everyone can wear Pandora and look fashionable at the same time.
They come in different themes and designs like flower charms, baby themed charm, sports themed among the many various designs. They also come in a variety colour choices to suit different occasions. The colours and designs for Pandora Bracelet are endless; the choice is yours.
Jewellery products generally can be found in particular places, mainly in various shops along the high street. There are many different jewellery brands however and some shops only sell high end brands whilst other shops do not. Pandora is a very sought after brand and therefore Pandora can only be found in certain shops and in certain areas. The shops that it can be found in tend to be very respectable and trustworthy places to buy jewellery and Pandora therefore fits in well. Some of these jewellery shops can be found on the high street whilst others can be found in shopping centres. The majority of the shops are found in very busy areas so that Pandora has a great amount of exposure to as many people as possible.
If you are a Pandora collector and you are concerned about being given imitation beads as gifts, then why not set up a Pandora Club account, and create a wish list? You can do this from the official Pandora website, and it allows you to share the list of your wanted beads by Email, Facebook or Twitter. This not only encourages people to buy you official beads, but means that you are more likely to get the exact beads you want for your Pandora Australia.
2012 new Pandora jewelry
Pandora Charm Bracelet is not a distant. She works with a small pendant of Pandora bracelets or gold hanging plutonium shapes. It is the customer's own design bracelet. Whether you choose a simple heart-shaped, brilliant gem, chubby teddy bear or other signs, always get a distinctive mix of effects.
Since the launch of this popular bracelet at the beginning of this century, Pandora Jewellery has launched about 1,500 unique product, another 200 new products each year join its ranks.
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Review Price free/subscription
Netgear WGE101 Wireless Ethernet Bridge
Last year I reviewed the Netgear ME101 Wireless Ethernet Bridge and decided that it was a great little product. A wireless bridge gives you the option of connecting a device with a standard wired Ethernet port to your wireless network, and the ME101 proved to be easy to setup and simple to use. However, the problem with the ME101 was that it used the older 802.11b WiFi standard, which meant a limited bandwidth of 11Mbits/sec. However, I now have before me the Netgear WGE101 Wireless Ethernet Bridge, and this little beauty conforms to the 802.11g standard, with 54Mbits/sec bandwidth.
So, what is a wireless bridge and why do you need one? A wireless bridge acts like, well, a bridge between wired and wireless networks. And the reason that you need one, is that it’s a lot more aesthetically friendly than having CAT5 cable running all through your house.
Of course you’re only going to need a wireless bridge if you already have a wireless network set up in your house. If you don’t have a wireless network in your home, you should install one, because the flexibility that it will give you is really quite liberating. Having a wireless network will allow you to stay connected to the Internet (and your other PCs) anywhere in and around your house. Considering that the majority of notebook computers now ship with integrated WiFi adapters, you’ll be able to work out in the garden on a sunny day, or just flop in front of the TV in the living room while you’re checking your emails.
The only problem with a wireless network is that there are some devices that have network capability, but no wireless functionality. Now, obviously with any kind of computer getting around this is simple, just install a wireless adapter. But what about devices that don’t run an operating system, and just have basic Ethernet functionality? You can’t just plug a wireless adapter into your PlayStation2 or Xbox, or even into a KiSS DVD player, because you won’t be able to load the necessary drivers.
This is where a wireless bridge comes in. With a wireless bridge you can connect any Ethernet enabled device to wireless network without the need for driver support. Once configured and connected to a device, a wireless bridge will become completely transparent, so that the wireless access point you’re connecting to will see the physical MAC address of the Ethernet enabled device, rather than the bridge. This basically means that if you connect your Xbox to the WGE101, your wireless access point will only see the physical address of your Xbox, and as far as the access point is concerned, your Xbox has a wireless adapter built into it.
The WGE101 is a fair bit larger than the ME101 with dimensions of 178 x 118 x 28mm (WxDxH), but it has to be said that it’s a much better looking unit. Netgear obviously felt the need to instil some coherence into its range, and WGE101 looks like a miniature version of the Netgear wireless routers. It may have a larger footprint than the ME101, but the WGE101 is definitely flatter, making it far more unobtrusive when wall mounted. Finished in matt silver and clear plastic, the WGE101 does look good – there’s an embossed Netgear logo on the top, and a blue Netgear logo on the front fascia. Also on the front fascia are three indicator lights for power, Ethernet and wireless.
At the rear you’ll find the power socket, an Ethernet port for connecting your networked device and an antenna connector. The supplied antenna is a fully adjustable affair, and can rotate to almost any angle. The antenna needs to be adjustable, because besides laying flat, or being wall mounted, the WGE101 can also be positioned on its side, using the supplied stand. When used in conjunction with the stand, the WGE101 becomes very unobtrusive, and can quite happily sit on a shelf without spoiling your décor.
Setting the bridge up is pretty simple - you just need to connect it to a PC via Ethernet and load the supplied software. Once inside the configuration utility, you can configure the WiFi channel, IP address and pretty much everything else. It’s best to set the bridge to dynamically grab an IP address, although most of the time it will be connected to another device, so its own IP will be transparent anyway. | <urn:uuid:2aa9dc89-b9eb-4128-9729-cd2459e30014> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trustedreviews.com/Netgear-WGE101-Wireless-Ethernet-Bridge_Peripheral_review | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938051 | 944 | 1.835938 | 2 |
This one was quite a learning curve. I’ve seen a fair amount of water bottle / soda bottle bracelets and figured it couldn’t be too hard.
This is what not to do: 1) use Mod Podge, 2) try using heat to seal it, unless you’re better with an extinquisher than me; 3) use paint on any item that’s likely to spring back towards you when you let it go, unless you want paint all over you; 4) work in an area heavily contaminated with animal fur; 5) wait till after you’ve made the bracelet to think about closures.
Having put all that to one side this is what did work:
Plastic bottles are surprisingly resistant to being cut, due mostly to their ability to squirt out of your hand while trying to grip them. In the end I found the most effective methodology was to stab the little bastards with a craft knife, then get my scissors in before they knew what hit them.
You want two of these of the same size. You’re going to put one inside the other and make a kind of front and back (like a book) using tape as the spine.
Then you get a bit of duct tape: I recommend the newly available sheets rather than the rolls. The sheets come with backing paper & are much easier to control. It also means you can work slowly along the edge, pulling back the paper as you go. You want to end up with something like this:
At this stage you can open the bracelet like a book. Then you can put in the ribbon, paper, photos of your choice.
I went with ribbon because there are so many pretty ones that I just don’t get to use any other way. So, I cut two pieces and slotted them in back-to-back. Then you just do more duct tape on the other side and on the short ends:
For the yellow one I used a magnetic pop closure: you poke them through the plastic, then flatten the tabs on the back. If you do this before you duct tape them together, then the ribbon & duct tape can cover them nicely.
I also made another one with a kind of mesh ribbon and used raffia string as a closure method.
So there you have it. I like having a way to utilize all the pretty ribbon that I’ve somehow accumulated, and once you get the hang of it these are pretty easy to throw together.
Let me know how it goes for you if you try it. And keep crafting, regardless. | <urn:uuid:6c02148d-00f6-4585-8baa-27cbb1f7303c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://crapatcrafts.com/?p=2430 | 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 | 0.962308 | 536 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Arts & Entertainment
When headless corpses turn up in Victorian London, white citizens finger an Indian immigrant as the prime suspect
A malicious fiend is afoot in early Victorian London. Impoverished residents in the city’s teeming rookery, or slum — awash in desperation, prostitution and drug use — are being ambushed in the night and murdered. As if this random string of homicides was not bad enough, the hapless victims of the nocturnal killer are being decapitated. Their headless bodies are the only evidence left behind. In “The Thing about Thugs” Indian author Tabish Khair limns an engrossing, multifaceted thriller enriched by a diverse cast of colorful characters. It is his first novel to appear in the United States.
Who would want to take the heads of the dead so grimly dispatched, and for what purpose? Are they being collected as gruesome souvenirs or for use in some ungodly rite? Surely, the common wisdom goes, no civilized white Englishman could possibly be party to such barbarism. It must be the work of a dark-hued colonial, drawn to the capitol city like so many other recently arrived foreigners from some far-flung province of Britain’s sprawling empire. It would seem this mad man has brought his heinous ways and primitive pagan practices along with him. Or that’s the notion stirred up by the media, which feeds voraciously on the frightening spree of murders.
Suspicion has fallen upon Amir Ali, a young man who has been brought from India to London by an amiable gentleman named Captain William Meadows. Amir has captivated the Englishman by detailing his life as a member of the murderous Thuggee cult — from which we derive our word “thug” — whose members murdered and robbed unsuspecting travelers. In order to fully document Amir’s fascinating tale, Meadows arranges for the young man to accompany him to London. Their discussions of Thug culture are transcribed in detail by Meadows. The good captain also has an interest in phrenology, a doctrine reputing that bumps, ridges and contours of a skull can perhaps determine the personality and behavior of a human being. Amir, the supposedly reformed Thug, will provide Meadows an interesting object of phrenological study as well.
In one exchange the Captain says to Amir, “What is a Thug’s life but a preying upon those weaker than him? Crueller than the tiger, craftier than the fox, with less scruples than a hyena is the Thug.”
Amir ripostes: “Are you English not passionately fond of sporting? A lion, a wolf, an elephant rouses your passion for destruction — in its pursuit you risk body and limb. How much higher game is a Thug’s, and how much more fair, for man is pitted against man, not against a dumb, bewildered beast. And are you not fond of the battles and wars by which you win a town here and a market there? How much less bloody is the occupation of a Thug!”
Elsewhere in the vast city, John May is busily and stealthily obtaining special items for a disguised man whose real name is unknown. He is called only “M’lord” and has an arrogant and aristocratic bearing. They always meet in a private room in a pub named the Prize of War. John May is a resurrectionist, one in the business of exhuming the dead and selling the corpses. In the overcrowded cemeteries of the indigent there is no dearth of bodies. This particular customer wants only heads — more specifically skulls “clean, unstained and dry” — for which he is usually prepared to pay a decent sum. John May is an expert at treating the severed heads and producing acceptable specimens. He has “supplied thirty different types of skulls” to his anonymous buyer.
Exactly what his customer does with them is unknown to John May. All that matters is the money. But M’lord complains that too many of the skulls are common and too much alike. If May cannot provide more exotic and interesting specimens their business relationship will be terminated. After drinks with his body-snatching partner, Shields, and some boozy deliberation, John May concludes that a more audacious method of securing atypical skulls is necessary. This new tack must be undertaken before his shadowy, yet lucrative, client disappears.
The author’s story opens with a description of the home of his grandparents in Phansa, India. His late grandfather had been a doctor and a most learned man. In his rich multilingual library Khair becomes immersed in the sumptuous world of literary classics. “As the Hindi books in my grandfather’s library were few and pedantic, it was mostly English books that I read. Russian and French classics in translation and the Brontës, Austen, Collins, Dickens, Kipling and Conrad.” It is among these treasures that he comes upon “the first piece of the jigsaw I have tried to assemble in this book.” The puzzle is a compelling one that will please any reader who takes up the skein of this dark yet lively tale.
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Best Known For
Louis Farrakhan has led the Nation of Islam, an African American movement that combined elements of Islam with black nationalism since 1978.
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Louis Farrakhan was born Louis Eugene Walcott on May 11, 1933, in the Bronx, New York. He joined the Nation of Islam in 1955 and in 1978 led a breakaway group of the Nation of Islam that preserved the original teachings of Elijah Muhammad. In the 1980s, Farrakhan was criticized for making anti-Semitic remarks; he denies being anti-Semitic. In 1995, he led the Million Man March on Washington, D.C.
Born Louis Eugene Wolcott, Louis Farrakhan grew up near Boston. He was raised by his mother, who came to the United States from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. At first, Farrakhan sought to become an educator, winning a scholarship to Winston-Salem Teacher's College. But he left after two years to pursue his passion for music. He had many talents, including being a skilled violinist and a good singer.
Known as the Charmer, Farrakhan enjoyed some success in his career. He had a hit with the song "Jumbie Jamboree." But Farrakhan soon discovered a different calling after attending a Nation of Islam event while performing in Chicago. The organization had been established by Elijah Muhammad in the 1930s. In his teachings, Muhammad called for the establishment of a separate nation for African Americans, and he decried whites as their oppressors. With encouragement from Muhammad's right-hand man, Malcolm X, Farrakhan joined this Muslim movement in 1955. He took the name Louis X. Using his musical abilities, Farrakhan penned the song "A White Man's Heaven Is a Black Man's Hell" for his new religious group.
Farrakhan rose up in the organization's hierarchy. He worked as assistant minister to Malcolm X at a Boston mosque and then took over Malcolm X's place when he went to preach at the Nation of Islam mosque in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. The movement's leader, Elijah Muhammad, also bestowed a holy name upon him, calling him Farrakhan.
When Malcolm X split from the group in 1964, Farrakhan quickly filled his shoes, growing even closer to Elijah Muhammad. His relationship with Malcolm X turned bitter as Malcolm X started to speak about the group's divisive racial theology and possible abuses of power by Muhammad. Some thought that Farrakhan may have been involved in Malcolm X's assassination the following year. Three members of the Nation of Islam were later arrested for Malcolm X's murder.
When Elijah Muhammad died in 1975, the Nation of Islam eventually fragmented. Muhammad had appointed as his successor his son, Warith Deen Mohammad (or Mohammed, according to some sources), who sought to take the group toward a more traditional practice of the Muslim faith. Farrakhan was not happy with this turn of events, and he eventually broke away from the group.
In the late 1970s, Farrakhan started up a new Nation of Islam, one that adhered to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. He started a newspaper, The Final Call, to help him communicate his views to others around this time. In his new position, Farrakhan remained outspoken on social and political issues, sometimes drawing fire for his racial and religious comments.
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African-Americans have a long history of activism in America, from fighting for the right to vote to pushing for integrated public spaces. Activists like Stokely Carmichael organized freedom rides, James Meredith fought to integrate blacks and whites at the University of Mississippi, and Rosa Parks instigated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. These protests were often legal and nonviolent, and made a powerful impact on civil rights in the United States. With the help of activists like these—and many others—the country slowly worked to acknowledge the basic rights and contributions of African-Americans. Activists outisde of the U.S. include Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, who have fought against apartheid in South Africa. Learn more about the many black activists who fought against the odds in order to achieve equality.
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"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love." Stated by legendary civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., these words represent a basic human philosophy to which black history's greatest leaders have passionately subscribed. Learn more about the world's most revered civil rights activists, known for their fight against social injustices and lasting impact on the lives of black citizens, including Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Nelson Mandela, Nina Simone, Mary McLeod Bethune, Lena Horne, Marva Collins, Rosa Parks, W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
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Re: Soviet Aircraft Types in Korea
>BTW I was born in 1951 May13th.
I am a ´little bit´ younger. I was born on April 5 1971.
>The books I have read all indicate battles
>engagning several hundred Migs. Something
>on the order from 2 to 1 to 10 to 1 odds.
I guess that I had read the same figures. Those sources mentioned 200 MiGs
versus 70 F-86s in April 1951, and 540 MiG-15s against 89 Sabres in October
1951. However, such figures were at that time provided by the US
intelligence, which inflated the numbers or included all the MiGs in the
inventory of China as operating in Manchuria airbases. Taking into acount
the info provided by the Russians, in April 1951 the only Communist active
units were the 176 Guards Regiment and the 196 Regiment, with an average
mount of 36 MiG-15s per regiment. So, the actual figure was not 200, but
only 72 MiG-15s vs 70 F-86s that month. In October 1951, with five regiments
(17, 18 Guards, 176 Guards, 196 and 523) we have not 540 MiGs, but only 180
MiG-15s vs 89 Sabres at most. It was usual that the battle reports inflated
the number of MiGs involved in an aerial battle: on April 12 1951, during
the battle where the Russian MiG-15s shot down 3 B-29s and shot-up 7 more
out of 48 Superfortresses, USAF claimed that the escort of 18 F-86s and 34
F-84s was out-numbered by 75 MiGs, when actually only 35 MiG-15s engaged the
48 bombers and 52 escorting fighters. On October 23 1951 the 89 fighters (34
F-86s and 55 F-84s) escorting 21 B-29s asserted that they were engaged by
150 MiGs, but the figure provided by Georgii Lobov is quite inferior: only
44 MiG-15s engaged the 110 US aircraft.
>During the Honcho era, from the accounts on both sides,
>it appears to be a 1:1 air kill ratio.
It depends of the month; in June 1951 was 1:1 in the duel MiG-15 vs F-86
(the Sabres shot down 6 MiGs but they also loose 6 of their own), but 2:1 in
favour of the MiG pilots accounting other types of planes (they shot down 2
F-80s, 2 F-51s and 1 B-29 too). In October 1951 the duel MiG-Sabre was
slightly in favour of US F-86 pilots, with 8 MiGs downed against 6 Sabres
lost, but the overall figure was 2.5:1 in favour of the Russians, because
the MiG-15 pilots also shot down 13 B-29s, 4 F-84s and 2 RF-80s. In general
terms, during 1951 there was a 1.3:1 kill ratio in favour of the Russian
MiG-15 pilots against all the UN aircraft types, but also a 1.8:1 kill ratio
in favour the USAF pilots in the duel Sabre versus MiG.
If you want to know more about it, read 2 articles of mine:
"Red October" http://dzampini.boom.ru/Korea/red_october.htm
"The Honchos Have Come" http://dzampini.boom.ru/Korea/Honchos.htm
Of course, probably I made mistakes, but I consider them an objective
overview. My sources are mentioned at the bottom of the articles.
>What is your take on this data?
My sources are the excellent work done by Cookie about the Soviet deployment
in Korea (please, go to www.korean-war.com, look for the section devoted to
the Soviet Union, and choose ´USSR Order of Battle´), and more recently the
book ´Red Devils over the 38 Parallel´ written by Igor Seidov and Col(Ret)
Askold German (even when I am careful regarding the claims of air victories
mentioned in the book).
>Based on top speed the F84 should
>have done better.
Hmmm… I think that is more than only top speed the core of the matter.
The MiG-15 had a higher ceiling, so they could give the first hit attacking
from above, addittionally, the MiG out-climbed and out-dived the F-84, so
easily could the MiGs disengage either climbing (the strong point of the
MiG) or diving (of course, such maneuver was forbidden in a combat with a
Sabre, the F-86 dived much more better than the MiG). And at almost any
altitude the MiG-15 had a tighter turn radius than the Thunderjet.
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But exactly how to get there without breaking the national piggy bank is still very much under discussion. Congress will keep debating proposed reforms this fall.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal asked four physicians from around the region for their take on the health care debate and their prescriptions for reform.
"I don't think there's any physician or health care provider that will tell you there's no need for reform," said Tupelo gastroentrologist Dr. Barney Guyton, who also serves as the chairman of the Antone Tannehill Good Samaritan Free Clinic. "We need it to be more affordable and accessible to more people."
New Albany family physician Dr. Jason Dees, who serves on a national committee for the American Academy of Family Physicians, said he sees the need to reform the way health care is paid for every day in his clinic.
"I have patients who are cutting pills or skipping days," Dees said. "The health care system is sick, and more importantly for me, it's not working for my patients."
Ripley family physician Dr. Dwalia South, a past president of the Mississippi Medical Association, said she's worried about the massive cost of proposed reforms, but encouraged by the Obama administration's willingness to listen to the American Medical Association.
"I know that health care reform has been studied for years now, but Washington needs to have physicians and patients in the loop while this massive change occurs," South said. "They need to do this thing cautiously and get it right."
Tupelo family physician Dr. Ed Hill, who pushed health care reform with the administration of President George W. Bush when he was American Medical Association president, said he thinks the momentum for President Barack Obama's health care reform has been tempered by the delay in getting full House or Senate votes on legislation, but will continue.
"We're at the beginning of the whole process," Hill said. "It's a long way from the White House."
Northeast Mississippi physicians are hearing some encouraging signs from Washington, notably getting rid of exemptions for pre-existing conditions and working to make health care insurance truly portable between jobs.
The doctors said they support the idea that's been floated of a health care exchange, modeled on the federal employees health insurance, which offers a broad range of plans and costs, and people pick what works best for them and their family.
"The idea is that the government would set the plans and the insurance would offer them," Hill said. "It would allow insurance companies to compete on a level playing field."
However, a clear picture of what is actually being proposed hasn't emerged, and that worries Guyton.
"We've got to have a better idea of what we're getting so we know if we're opposed to it or not," he said.
Hill takes issue with the rhetoric coming from both sides of the health care debate. Talk about the worst health care system and the poorest outcomes for Americans is inaccurate, he said.
"We have the best health care available in the world," Hill said. "What they ought to say is that they don't feel U.S. citizens are getting value for the cost."
Scare tactics from the other side aimed at derailing any health care reform by painting bleak pictures of government-run systems in Canada and England also are hyperbole.
"Kids in Canada get chemotherapy," Hill said. "The majority of people in Canada are not as unhappy as we think they are."
None of the Northeast Mississippi physicians favors the idea of a single-payor system.
"I don't want a Canadian or English health care system," because there is rationing and delayed care, Guyton said. "I don't want to go backwards ... we need to use what we have."
Creating a public plan that operates like Medicare doesn't sound good to physicians, either, Dees said.
"I am concerned a public plan tied to Medicare rates," Dees said. "It's unacceptable for physicians. The current system doesn't value primary care."
Health care reform needs to support a strong primary health care system, the doctors say.
"Every patient needs to have a medical home, a personal primary care doctor who is the quarterback of that individual's health care," South said.
Both Hill and Dees cited research done by Dr. Barbara Starfield from Johns Hopkins University. She looked at developed and non-developed countries across the world. Where people had a strong primary care base, costs were lower and outcomes were better.
That means there needs to be lots more primary care providers such as pediatricians, family physicians, internal medicine doctors and others.
The doctors are also supportive of some form of mandatory health insurance, just as drivers are supposed to carry liability insurance.
"Everybody must have some basic health coverage, and they need to be fiscally and physically personally involved in their own health care," South said.
The real, long savings to health care comes through preventive care and education.
Poor lifestyle choices like smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise make up a huge portion of health care costs.
Preventable health behaviors - alcohol and substance abuse, not using seat belts, risky sexual behaviors as well as poor diet and exercise - cost the United States $1.3 trillion a year in health care costs.
"If we reduce those 10 to 20 percent in 10 years, there is more than enough money to do those things," Hill said.
Individual responsibility is a key component of improving America's health, Guyton said.
"It's very important thing to say," he said. "But it's a very tough thing to accomplish ... the answer is through the education process."
South said she would like to see county health departments better used to combat chronic health issues.
"They used to be a place where chronic illnesses could be monitored and treated, and where life-saving medicine was provided to indigent patients," South said. "Counseling was provided for hypertension, diabetes, and obesity and other critical problems in our communities at little to no cost."
Finding the right solution for American health care is a tall order, but not an impossible one.
"When we get through this, we'll have the best health care delivery system," Hill said. "But it will be painful getting there."
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Knee injuries are common, especially when taking part in sport. Injuries to soft tissues, such as ligaments and tendons, are the most common, though damage to the bones is also possible.
About knee injuries
The most common knee injuries are:
- a sprain - one or more ligaments is overstretched through twisting or pulling; the ligament may be torn or ruptured
- a strain - a tendon or muscle is overstretched
- damage to the cartilage in your knee - the cartilage is a crescent-shaped disc called a meniscus, that acts as a shock absorber in your knee
- overuse - this is most common in people who run
Knee ligament injuries
Ligaments connect one bone to another. The ligaments outside your knee joint are called the medial collateral ligament and the lateral collateral ligament. They provide your knee with stability and limit the amount it can move from side to side.
The medial collateral ligament is on the inner side of your knee and is taut when your leg is straight. It is a strong ligament but can be sprained or completely ruptured (torn) if you twist your straightened leg at the same time as being knocked sideways, for example, when being tackled in rugby.
The lateral collateral ligament is like a thin, strong cord that runs on the outer side of your knee connecting the bottom of your thigh bone to the top of your fibula (one of the bones in your lower leg). It is not usually damaged on its own, but you may need to have it repaired if you have damaged other ligaments.
Medial and lateral collateral ligament injuries may be classed as follows:
- grade 1 is a sprain with no tearing of the ligament
- grade 2 is a partial tear of the ligament
- grade 3 is a complete tear of the ligament
The ligaments inside your knee joint are called the anterior cruciate ligament and the posterior cruciate ligament. Cruciate means in the form of a cross - the anterior cruciate ligament crosses over in front of the posterior cruciate ligament. These ligaments provide stability to your knee, when it is in different positions, particularly in the forward and backward movements of the knee joint.
Other soft tissue injuries
The other soft tissues around your knee can also be injured. Soft tissue means any tissue in your body that is not bone.
If you play a sport that involves twisting your upper leg while your foot is planted on the floor, you may tear the cartilage in your knee. The cartilage becomes worn down (degenerates) as you get older, making it easier to tear even after a very minor injury.
Overuse of your knee can also result in tearing a patellar tendon. Your patellar tendon connects your kneecap (patella) to your thigh muscle.
Symptoms of knee injuries
The symptoms for most ligament injuries will be similar, no matter which one has been damaged. These may include:
- instability - you may feel like your knee is giving way or that its locking
You may feel a popping or snapping sensation at the time of the injury, or even hear a popping sound. You may also find that you cannot stand properly on the affected leg, or put your full weight on it.
You won´t feel any direct pain if you injure the cartilage in your knee, but you may have some pain or discomfort from the swelling that follows an injury. Pain may develop on either the inside or outside of your knee joint (depending on which knee you have damaged the cartilage) and you may see some swelling.
If you have any of these symptoms, visit your GP or physiotherapist for advice.
Causes of knee injuries
You may injure your knee if:
- it receives an impact or is moved beyond its usual range of movement, for example if you have a fall or land awkwardly
- you play a sport that combines running, jumping and stopping with quick changes of direction, such as football
- you have a condition such as osteoarthritis or gout, or are very overweight
- your knees hit the dashboard in a car accident - posterior cruciate ligament damage is sometimes called the dashboard injury as this is often how it occurs
Diagnosis of knee injuries
Your GP or physiotherapist will ask about your symptoms and examine you. This may include feeling for fluid in the joint by pressing gently over your kneecap, especially if your knee doesnt look severely swollen. Your GP or physiotherapist will ask you to describe how the injury happened, where your pain is and what type of pain it is.
Your GP or physiotherapist may test for injury to your knee ligaments or soft tissues by bending and flexing your knee, and moving your leg into different positions, while you lie or sit down.
Your GP or physiotherapist may also ask you to perform movements such as stepping, squatting or hopping.
Your GP/physiotherapist may refer you for other tests in a hospital or clinic. These may include an MRI or ultrasound scan or occasionally X-ray.
These tests can help to diagnose more complicated or severe injuries.
Treatment of knee injuries
The treatment you will receive will depend on what damage you have done and how bad the damage is.
You should follow the PRICE procedure to manage any type of soft tissue injury to your knee. PRICE stands for the following.
- Protection. Protect your injury from further harm.
- Rest. Rest the injury for the first two to three days, then reintroduce movement so you don´t lose too much muscle strength.
- Ice. Apply a cold compress such as ice or a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel to help reduce swelling and bruising. Do not apply ice directly to your skin as it can damage your skin.
- Compression. Compress the joint by bandaging it to support the injury and help decrease swelling.
- Elevation. Elevate your knee by resting it above the level of your heart and keep it supported.
There are certain things you should not do in the first three days after your injury to avoid doing further damage to your knee. These can be remembered as HARM.
- Heat. This includes having a hot bath or using a heat pack.
- Alcohol. Drinking alcohol can increase bleeding and swelling in the affected area.
- Running or other forms of exercise.
- Massaging the injured knee. This can cause more swelling or bleeding.
You may need to use crutches or wear a brace to make sure that you keep weight off the affected knee.
You can buy painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen to treat mild and moderate pain. Your GP may prescribe stronger painkillers if your pain is severe. As well as easing your pain, painkillers may help to any reduce inflammation and swelling. Always read the patient information that comes with your medicine and if you have questions, ask your pharmacist or doctor for advice.
If your injury is more severe or complex, your GP may refer you to a physiotherapist (a health professional who specialises in movement and mobility). You can also choose to see a physiotherapist privately. He or she will develop a programme of rehabilitation exercises to gradually strengthen your knee and stretch your muscles. These exercises will vary depending on the kind of injury you have and how severe it is. Your physiotherapist may also use various techniques to help speed up the healing of your knee.
Braces to support your knee are occasionally used during rehabilitation, usually when an injury has been severe.
In some situations, you may need to have surgery to repair the injury to your knee. This is likely to be the case if:
- you have ruptured your lateral collateral ligament
- you have damaged your anterior cruciate ligament and you do a lot of sport, or have also torn cartilage or your medial collateral ligament - you may need a reconstruction operation, which involves taking a graft of tendon (usually from your kneecap) to replace the damaged ligament
- more than one ligament or tissue in your knee has been damaged
- you have torn your patellar tendon
- your knee remains painful or locks after a meniscus injury
Prevention of knee injuries
There are some precautions you can take to try to reduce the risk of damaging your knee ligaments.
- Exercise regularly to maintain a good level of fitness. This will mean your muscles are stronger and better able to support your joints, including your knees. If you haven´t been active for a while, start gently and gradually increase the intensity.
- Spend five to 10 minutes warming up before exercise to increase blood flow to your muscles and reduce the chance of an injury. Many sports professionals advise stretching your muscles after warming up and again after cooling down; however the benefit of stretching before or after exercise is unproven.
This information was published by Bupa's health information team and is based on reputable sources of medical evidence. It has been peer reviewed by Bupa doctors. The content is intended for general information only and does not replace the need for personal advice from a qualified health professional.
1. I have sprained a ligament in my knee. How long will it take to heal?
The time your sprain will take to heal depends on which part of your knee you have injured and how badly. If it's a mild sprain, the ligament is likely to heal within three to six weeks. If your injury is more severe and depending on whether you require surgery, full recovery can take between two and 12 months.
The most important way to help your injury to heal is to follow the PRICE method immediately after the injury. PRICE means protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation. If your symptoms don't improve or any pain or swelling gets worse, talk to your doctor about physiotherapy or other treatment.
2. Which painkillers are best for a knee injury?
Talk to your pharmacist or your GP about the medicines available and which ones are best for you.
Paracetamol should give you some pain relief. If paracetamol doesn't ease your pain, your GP may suggest a stronger painkiller called codeine. You can also use antiinflammatory medicines, such as ibuprofen, in the form of a cream or gel that you can put directly onto your skin. You can also take anti-inflammatory medicines as tablets, but wait until 48 hours after the injury before you start taking them. This is because anti-inflammatory tablets can slow down healing if you take them straight after an injury.
Some people can't use ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or should only do so with caution. NSAIDs are known to cause side-effects to the digestive system and this risk is highest for elderly people. If you have asthma, you should also use NSAIDs with caution. Talk to your pharmacist or your GP about what is best for you. If your pain is severe, you may need to have a stronger anti-inflammatory medicine prescribed by your doctor, or another treatment.
3. Can I use a gel or spray painkiller directly on my skin instead of tablets? Are these effective?
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers can be used in the form of a gel, cream or spray that you can use directly on your skin. This kind of painkiller may help to ease your pain in the first week after your injury. If your pain continues after this time, you may find other kinds of painkillers more effective.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen can help relieve the pain and inflammation caused by a knee sprain or strain. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and ketoprofen are available as gels, creams and sprays that you can put directly onto your skin and gently massage in, as well as tablets or capsules that you take by mouth.
You can buy some NSAIDs in gel or spray form from your pharmacist and others are available on prescription from your doctor. These kinds of painkillers do work for sprains and strains and can help to ease your pain for up to a week after an injury. As your injury starts to heal and the pain and swelling go down, painkillers that you put on your skin become less effective.
If you're at particular risk of side-effects to your digestive system (gastrointestinal sideeffects) from NSAIDs in tablet or capsule form, creams, gels or sprays may be a good alternative, but check with your pharmacist or doctor first. If you have been told you can't take NSAIDs as tablets - for instance if you're allergic to them or have asthma - you shouldn't use creams, gels or sprays containing these medicines. Don't use these products if your skin is broken.
4. Is a knee injury more likely because I have osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis can sometimes cause muscle weakness in your knee and therefore place extra strain on the ligaments.
Osteoarthritis that affects the knee can sometimes cause damage to your ligaments and muscles. If this happens, the knee joint can sometimes 'give way'. However, by keeping active and regularly exercising your knee, you can help to prevent this kind of injury. There is some evidence that exercise can also reduce the pain you feel from osteoarthritis of the knee and help to prevent longer term disability.
You may be asked to try a combination of different types of exercise. Strengthening exercises will help improve the muscles around your joints - this will help to stabilise your joints and also help with your pain. Also try to do some aerobic activity - anything that increases your heart rate and makes you slightly out of breath. This type of exercise can help to reduce pain, and also improve your general health and well-being. Aerobic activity can also help you to lose excess weight or control your weight, which reduces your chances of your knee problems getting worse in the future.
Range-of-movement exercises and stretches are also important to keep you flexible and mobile. This type of exercise involves moving your joints through their full range of movement and trying to move a little further beyond this.
As well as generally keeping active, your physiotherapist may also advise you to do some specific exercises for your knee. These are called quadriceps or thigh muscle exercises. Your quadriceps muscles are at the front of your thighs. They become weaker when you have osteoarthritis so exercising and strengthening them is important. By doing this, you can help to reduce your pain and stay as mobile as possible. These exercises include straight leg raises, muscle stretches and muscle clenching.
It's important to get advice about which types of exercise are best for you. This will help prevent you putting strain on individual joints and muscles that can lead to injury and longer-term problems. Your GP may refer you to a physiotherapist, specialist nurse or rheumatologist (a specialist dealing with the musculoskeletal system, the joints and surrounding tissues) for specialist advice.
- Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
- Arthritis Research Campaign
- Arthritis Care
0808 800 4050
- Meniscal injury clinical presentation. eMedicine. www.emedicine.medscape.com, published 30 June 2009
- Knee sprains and meniscal injuries. The Merck Manuals. www.merckmanuals.com, published February 2010
- MacAudley D. Oxford handbook of sport and exercise medicine. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007:206-230
- Soft tissue knee injury: overview. eMedicine. www.emedicine.medscape.com, published 3 June 2011
- Sprains and strains. Clinical Knowledge Summaries. www.cks.nhs.uk, published July 2008
- Patellar tendon rupture. eMedicine. www.emedicine.medscape.com, published 25 September 2009
- Soft tissue knee injury: presentation. eMedicine. www.emedicine.medscape.com, published 15 December 2009
- Joint Formulary Committee. British National Formulary. 61st ed. London: British Medical Association and Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; 2011
- Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear - management. Map of Medicine. www.mapofmedicine.com, published 28 Jan 2010
- Meniscal tears - secondary care management. Map of Medicine. www.mapofmedicine.com, published 2 February 2011
- Lateral collateral knee ligament injury follow-up. eMedicine. www.emedicine.medscape.com, published 28 February 2010
- Starting to exercise. Bandolier. www.medicine.ox.ac.uk, published December 2001
- Yeung EW, Yeung S. Interventions for preventing lower limb soft-tissue injuries in runners. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2001, Issue 3. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001256
- Prognosis and duration of disabling effects. Department for Work and Pensions. www.dwp.gov.uk, accessed 9 June 2011
- Efficacy of homeopathic arnica. Bandolier. www.medicine.ox.ac.uk, published April 2000
- Osteoarthritis of the knee. Arthritis Research UK. www.arthritisresearchuk.org, accessed 10 June 2011
- Osteoarthritis of the knee. BMJ Clinical Evidence. www.clinicalevidence.bmj.com, published 1 September 2007
- Exercise and arthritis. Arthritis Research UK. www.arthritisresearchuk.org, published 10 June 2011
- Osteoarthritis. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), 2008. www.nice.org.uk
- Chartered Society of Physiotherapy | <urn:uuid:5f82c4e9-ef40-420c-8dae-04e81d944978> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bupa.com.hk/eng/intermediary/health-information/a-z-of-health/K/Knee-injuries.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935037 | 3,761 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Learn the rules and then break them.
To get where he is today, Jeremiah Burkhart had to spend hours leaning over his sketch pad with a pencil and eraser -- drawing and erasing and drawing again -- until he was able to reproduce what he saw as perfectly as a black and white photograph.
The exercise was frustrating, but drawing the lines as they were was all he knew.
It took a teacher named Gabrielle Adentin to get him to loosen his grip on the pencil or the paintbrush.
And once he had relaxed his hand, she taught him to relax his the way he brought the world onto his canvas. He began to blur, abstract and twist the shapes. His colors reflected what he saw less and less in an almost Cubist way.
Years later, that freedom helps Burkhart's brush moves quickly leaving behind thick Van Gogh influenced strokes of paint.
Burkhart paints from his studio in Hayden, painting when he has time off from his job as a bellman at the Christie Club.
He paints from nature -- mostly trees -- but not as plein air or traditional landscape painter.
"Something will strike me while I'm hiking and I'll go home and paint it," Burkhart said. "I'm interested in color -- vivid colors -- and the way a landscape moves."
He paints trees for their texture and curves. He breaks the bark into shapes and when he puts them back together on the canvas, they may only vaguely resemble a tree.
In Burkhart's painting, "October," his tree is bare and bending and around it the grasses gather like people. Underneath the visible layer of "October" are three or four other paintings, Burkhart did but covered. Pieces of those pictures show through the branches and make the viewer wonder what is not there.
"My goal as an artist is to be constantly changing and finding new forms and new ways of painting," he said. "I'm not worried about perfecting a certain technique anymore. You can do anything with a canvas you want.
"I used to draw with pen and pencil until it looked exactly right. I'm much happier with this."
Burkhart's pastels and oil paintings are on display for the month of April at Off the Beaten Path Bookstore and are scheduled for a show in January at Sleeping Giant Gallery. | <urn:uuid:0d22e4d5-a4b0-4602-831d-b22aa61daf47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2004/apr/13/hayden_artist_revels/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98667 | 485 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Three-Day Sputum Sample
What is a sputum sample?
Sputum is the phlegm that you cough up from your lungs. Your doctor has asked for a sputum sample on three different days to help find out what may be causing your lung symptoms. It is best if you can do these sputum samples three days in a row.
These samples will be done at home. The nurse will provide you with sample cups and forms to return with the samples.
Your doctor will discuss your test results with you. It may take a few days for the lab to complete the tests.
How do I prepare for these tests?
Drink plenty of fluids the three nights before each test. This may help to produce better samples.
How do I produce a sputum sample?
- The best sputum samples are done first thing in the morning before eating. You may take a warm shower first to help loosen up the phlegm in your lungs.
- Each morning you will need a fresh sputum sample cup and a cup of water.
- Rinse your mouth well with water. Swish and spit. You may brush your teeth before this rinse if you desire.
- Take a very deep breath and cough hard and deeply until you can feel phlegm come up into the back of your throat. Clear your throat and cough the phlegm into the cup. You may have to spit it into the cup once the phlegm has reached the front of your mouth. *Note: Do not touch the inside of the cup with your hands so that other germs do not enter the sample.
- If you do not get a sample after the first few coughs, wait a few minutes and keep trying with strong, deep coughing. A good sample will look thicker and cloudier than your saliva.
- Secure the lid on to the sample cup.
- Label the cup with the date and time of your sample.
- Place the sample into the refrigerator until you mail the sample or leave for the clinic.
What do I write on the forms?
Please write the date and time that you gave the samples on the forms. Place the form around the cups with a rubber band.
How do I transport the sample?
The nurse will instruct you to either mail or bring the three samples back to the clinic. If you have been asked to mail the samples, the clinic will provide you with mailing supplies.
If you have been asked to bring in the samples, please transport them in a cooler if you live more than 1 hour away.
If you have any questions or concerns please call UWHC Pulmonary Clinic,
Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm at (608)-263-7203.
Toll free: 1-800-323-8942, please ask for Pulmonary Clinic.
The information provided should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.
Last Updated: 02/01/2010
Copyright © 02/01/2010 University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority. All rights reserved. Produced by the Department of Nursing. HF#6407
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August 2012, Polity
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What kind of science is psychoanalysis? What kind of truth does it offer and what kind of proof does it provide? What does the concrete practice of psychoanalysis consist of? What can it tell us about creativity and the work of art? What is its place within our culture and how can it transform culture? What is the role of narrative in psychoanalysis?
Ricoeur reading Freud: this could have been the title of this volume, in which the focus is on the actual work of Freud and not on subsequent commentaries. An open reading of intellectual integrity. A critical reading which shuns definitive positions. A reading to understand Freud.
This book - the first volume of Ricoeur's writings and lectures - brings together texts which appeared between 1966 and 1988. It is published under the auspices of Le Fonds Ricoeur. | <urn:uuid:55f8bdf3-514e-4d10-91b4-3f18f4d9da67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0745661246.html?cid=RSS_WILEY2_RELIGION | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91868 | 203 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Institute of Hotel and Resturant Management
Hotels and Restaurants bolster up local businesses and help in their growth and expansion; provide for business travelers, facilitate organizing of conventions and conferences, host not only for meals but also cater to wedding functions. Hotel are decent venue to hold meetings for training, business promotions, and trade fairs. They offer personalized services that is a cut above the others.
The course in Hotel and Restaurant Management provides opportunities to individuals to learn the skills to serve the guests in a positive ambience in various capacities, vis-à-vis: Guest Service Manager, Reservation clerks, concierge, front office managing, food & beverage handlers, telephone operators, security, book-keepers, cashiers, room service helpers, and house-keepers. Some may start with laundry room, food service, or work behind the scenes, such as chefs, cooks, saucier, and bakers. There are ample opportunities to work in departments such as in Engineering, Personnel, Training, Banquets Departments, Sales and Marketing. There are a lot more opportunities for those who seek job satisfaction by working diligently, honestly and dedicatedly.
Hotel Management & Operation
Front office is not only the reception area but it also includes reservations, switchboard, valet, Concierge etc. Its most vital and important role can be expressed in one sentence “It is the first and the last experience a guest has” in any hotel.
Housekeeping department handles all customer related care applied in Housekeeping technical operations. The students will have the opportunity to learn various aspects of the function of this department in the upkeep of the Hotel.
Food and Beverage Operation
Food & Beverage department is not only related to cooking and serving but it also has everything to do with how the guests experiences the service in their rooms, restaurants, bars, banquets, pool, conventions, corporate meetings and or even a small seminars, It is where most guests interact.
This accounting section would not detail the entire department but lays down the principles of accounting, maintenance of the books, cash and or manual registers and basic computer knowledge. It also has everything to do with how the guests experience during their stay at the hotel and restaurant. How to accurately prepare the invoices, bills, checks and balances. Cash and Credit handling procedures etc.
Sales and Marketing
A hotel guest Relation Officer handles all customers, from greeting to building a rapport, from the individual or a group, checking in the out and is instrumental in customer retention & future business.
Computer and IT
Students will be exposed to the computerized system that are used in Hotel & Restaurants which would provide a hands on experience in learning, reservation, inventory controls, reporting etc.
You would be trained to the international standard with the balance on Hotel and Restaurants, food and services, maintained in our culture.
What makes IHRM-UOG different?
Personal attention and focus by the facilitators. Student-Teacher ratio 7:1
Hands on training in Front Office, Housekeeping, Food & Beverage and Accounting.
Internship at well established and reputable facilities in and around the Golden Triangle, Lahore & Islamabad.
Theoretical knowledge aided with audios and Videos.
Practical training by International credential holding facilitators.
Teaching of American and European Standards backed by the syllabus used in both U.S.A and Europe.
Emphasis on all areas of Hospitality under the same umbrella.
Job placement assistance will be available to outstanding performers.
Demonstrate with confidence the basic knowledge and skills acquired.
Identify the difference between various roles and responsibilities of all positions in Rooms Division, Food & Beverage and accounting.
Walk the talk of the business by displaying operational competence to the Hospitality Industry employers.
Demonstrate the ability to work with confidence as an effective team player in any Hotel & Restaurant in this diverse day and age.
Start your own Hotel and Restaurant Business
Advancement in Career and Education. | <urn:uuid:c4ac0550-15ee-40cc-909f-801aee6a3884> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uog.edu.pk/index.php/academic-programmes/institute-of-hotel-and-resturant-management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941429 | 827 | 2.125 | 2 |
Rene Lalique used some particular chemicals to develop and experiment with glass to achieve the superb colours, some of which are in fact opalescent, some are just tinted and some have a hint of a grayish hue. Most were achieved by him experimenting with (dangerous and forbidden now) chemicals, most are a secret but arsenic, mercury and various other toxic ones were used. He could achive for instance a beutiful opalecent milky blue and when you hold the pieceup to the light you would see a golden orange colour tinting inside the piece, as for example the Vitesse and also the Hawks head in this rare colour combination.
The colours used now days are of course not hazardous to health. As to fakes or reproductions,like everything in the art world of value they are produced mainly be Eastern European countries and maybe India as well. The definition and the quality of glass is very poor and so nothing to worry about. Lalique themselves have in recent years re-introduced some of the former car mascots as paperweights, namely the Peacocks head (beautiful in rich cobalt blue) also in a clear & frosted finish, Vitesse & Victorie and last year Longchamp the horse head. The glass used now days is of a light more sparkling colour of Crystal, rather than the more silky smooth and rich textured glass of greater purity produced during the inter-war period known as the Art Deco era.
Lalique Mascot Collectors Club
Posted in: Uncategorized | <urn:uuid:31b17739-e5cc-4f3b-8240-bd87db4fe07a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://art-antiques-design.com/2012/01/15/lalique-mascots-lalique-collectors-club-brmmbrmm-com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961568 | 322 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Japan's Responsibility for the Worsening in Japan-China Relations: Reflections on recent conflicts
By Asai Motofumi
Translation by Emanuel Pastreich
Anti-Japanese Sentiment at the Asia Cup Soccer Tournament
Chinese fans subjected the Japanese team to intense booing at the Asia Cup Games held in China in August. They also made their disgust evident when Kimigayo, the Japanese anthem, was sung. Chinese fans vandalized Japanese Embassy cars in Beijing after the final match. These events sent shockwaves through Japan and the incidents were taken up by the foreign media.
Chinese fans burn Japanese flag at Asia Cup
The impact was not limited to the attention given to the radical actions of the Chinese fans by the Japanese media. Japan’s China experts also categorized the violent behavior of the Chinese fans as a product of the nationalistic anti-Japanese education that young Chinese receive. Some like Professor Kojima Tomoyuki of Keio University harshly criticized China. “The anti-Japanese bias in their education has gone too far,” he wrote in The Asahi Shimbun of August 31, 2004. Television news and variety “Wideshow” Programs went as far as to assert that if China continues to drag politics into sports, it is not qualified to host the 2008 Olympics. An August 8 editorial of the Asahi Shimbun states, “[The actions of Chinese fans] at the final match between China and Japan gave us an opportunity to see the mindset of the Chinese who will be welcoming us at the Olympics in four years.”
Before analyzing the political circumstances, let us consider the criticism that such actions stem from excessive anti-Japanese content in Chinese education, and the suggestion that if such incidents occur, China is not qualified to host the 2008 Olympics.
The strengthening of nationalistic education in China can be traced back to the Japan's history textbook controversy of 1982. The importance of resistance to Japanese aggression in China's nationalistic education is clearly demonstrated by the construction of the Nanjing Massacre Museum in Nanjing and the Memorial Hall to the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War immediately adjacent to the Marco Polo Bridge, site of the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War. Both museums, their names written in glittering gold characters, were constructed under Deng Xiaoping’s instructions. Japan's history textbook controversy stirs Chinese memories of Japan's war of aggression against China which unfolded after the May Fourth Movement of 1919. The May Fourth movement was not only directed against Japan's Twenty-One Demands, it is the very embodiment of China's nationalist movement . The fact that Japan has shown not the slightest sincerity toward learning from the past has fostered deep Chinese suspicion.
Memorial and Museum for Nanjing Massacre
To Chinese patriotic education as simply anti-Japanese education is a serious error. I happened to read the Chugoku Shimbun when I visited Hiroshima on August 3, 2004. The paper featured an interview with Professor Wang Xiaoqiu of Peking University and Chairman of the Association for the Study of the History of China-Japan Relations. Professor Wang said, “There are two aspects of an accurate awareness of history. First, one must determine exactly what happened and observe objectively. Second, one must grasp its contemporary significance. There is no way to return to the past. We must fix our eyes on history so that we can build a bright future.”
When asked, “Will exhibitions at the War of Resistance Memorial Hall stoke anti-Japanese feelings among the youth?” Professor Wang responded, “The purpose of the hall is not to put forth anti-Japanese propaganda. We want Chinese youth to be conscious of how the Chinese nation, with its five thousand years of history, stood up and confronted the suffering and humiliation resulting from the Japanese invasion. When our youth know about that humiliation, they will be inspired to make great progress.”
Inevitably much nationalistic education is related to Japanese aggression in the 1930s and 40s as that was the greatest humiliation that modern China suffered. Nonetheless, as Professor Wang suggests, the intention of that education is not to fan the flames of anti-Japanese emotion, but rather to inspire Chinese with the feats of the past so they can move forward. Having repeatedly visited both the Nanjing Massacre Museum and War of Resistance Memorial Hall repeatedly, I find myself nodding in agreement with those words.
As for the suggestion that if such an event can occur in China then China is not qualified to host the Olympic games, it is simply indicative of the shallowness of Japanese refusal to confront the serious problem we face.
Beijing prepares for 2008 Olympics
The riotous actions of Chinese fans deserve serious criticism. But the reports in the Japanese press that give the impression that the entire stadium was filled with Chinese fans engaged in chanting anti-Japanese slogans are ludicrous. Nothing of the sort took place according to postings on the web pages of Japanese fans who saw the match, as well as the impressions conveyed by some of my former students who were present.
Suppose that the rioting was in part a byproduct of nationalistic education. The fact that Chinese fans did not take similar riotous actions at any of the other matches is crucial to understanding the meaning of that event. In short, the actions of Chinese fans should be clearly distinguished from narrow-minded xenophobia.
If China was indeed seized by xenophobic nationalism, it would be sufficient grounds to argue that China is unqualified to host the Olympic Games. But what would be the worst-case scenario if the political discord between China and Japan does not improve before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games? Judging from the extraordinary security measures taken by the Chinese during the playoffs in Beijing, instructions concerning the separation between politics and sports will be enforced.
In the worst-case scenario Chinese fans will boo Japanese athletes when they walk onto the field, and only then. Such an event will, without doubt, let the world know that there are tensions in Sino-Japanese relations. Because China-Japan relations have a profound impact not just on Asia, but on international relations in general, this will raise international awareness of the issue. The result will be consideration by people throughout the world of the causes of the extraordinary state of affairs in Sino-Japanese relations. It will become immediately obvious that the heart of the problem lies not with China, but rather overwhelmingly with Japan. Let me explain the reasons why.
The reasons and the responsibility for worsening China-Japan Relations
The first tangible progress in Sino-Japanese relations after the Second World War can be seen in the policies of reform and opening that took off in earnest under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership. Diplomatic relations were restored in 1972, but with the chaos of the Cultural Revolution it was several more years before the Chinese seriously reassessed China-Japan relations. Economic ties subsequently expanded quite smoothly . In the political realm, however, three problems have dogged Sino-Japanese relations since the reestablishment of formal diplomatic ties. They are the problem of history (the nature of the Japanese war of aggression against China in the 1930s and 40s), the problem of Taiwan (the Japanese attitude towards Taiwan’s political and economic status) and the US-Japan Alliance (an article in the U.S.- Japan Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement designating Taiwan as a possible target for deployment in the Far East). These issues are treated in detail in my book How Should China be Understood? (Chugoku wo do miruka) Kobunken, pp. 62-66).
There is also the problem of how lines are drawn around ocean areas to make exclusive territorial claims pertinent to the presence of undersea oil reserves. Recently, there has been much media attention given to the ocean prospecting activities of both Japan and China. Finally, there is the territorial issue of the Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands, an issue that was not even raised during the negotiations concerning normalization of diplomatic relations.
As previously mentioned, conflicts rooted in history have been felt in the controversy surrounding the Japanese government's 1992 selection of history textbooks . The decision of two Japanese prime ministers (Nakasone Yasuhiro in 1985 and Hashimoto Ryutaro in 1996) to pay their respects at Yasukuni Shrine—where many of the planners of Japan’s war of aggression are honored—makes patently obvious the disregard of history by Japan’s conservative politicians that prevents coming to terms with the unfortunate past. The absence of appropriate understanding of history in Japan heightens Chinese apprehensions. Notably, when Japan completely ignored the 50th anniversary of its defeat in World War Two (“the victory in the struggle against Japanese aggression” for the Chinese), large-scale demonstrations erupted throughout the China.
The movement to write a textbook that categorically sanitizes Japan’s past that was initiated by the Committee to Draft a History Textbook (Tsukurukai, founded in 1996) illustrates the extent of anti-Chinese thought in Japan. Such examples of ignoring history have infuriated the Chinese. The culmination of these actions was Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro's decision to pay his respects at the Yasukuni Shrine for four consecutive years after taking office in 2001. Koizumi stated that “the visits are a tenet of my political position, so there will be no change.” Professor Shi Yinhong of People's University has commented that “As long as Koizumi continues to make official visits to Yasukuni Shrine in the formal role of prime minister, there can be no interaction between heads of state. China has already made vehement protests." He explains “one must understand the psychology of the Chinese people with regard to the problem of history."
As for the Taiwan question, Japan's actions have irritated China off and on for more than thirty years since the normalization of diplomatic relations. Japan agreed to limit all relations with Taiwan to the non-governmental sphere at the moment of diplomatic normalization. Since that time, however, Japanese ties to Taiwan have expanded exponentially. The controversy surrounding Taiwan President Lee Tenghui’s planned visit to Japan (which fortunately never took place) arose in 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of China's victory in the war of resistance against Japan. Sino-Japanese relations, having already deteriorated, took a turn for the worse.
Developments in US-China relations cast a long shadow over the Taiwan issue. The fundamental texts governing U.S.-China relations are the Shanghai Communiqué (1972), which established a strategic relationship between the two nations, the US- China Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations (1978) and the Communiqué on Weapons Sales to Taiwan (1991). Under the Clinton and second Bush administrations, however, the US vastly expanded sales of advanced weapons to Taiwan as part of an upgrading of Taiwan’s defensive capability. Since the Clinton administration permitted President Lee Teng-hui to visit the United States, and especially during the second Bush administration, exchanges between high-level US government representatives and those of the Republic of China (Taiwan) have been conducted openly.
Two significant developments in the US-Japan military alliance have had profound implications for the Taiwan issue and increased both apprehension and interest on the part of the People’s Republic of China. The first is the move to increase the offensive capacity within the US-Japan military alliance in accordance with US preemptive strike strategy. The rear support offered to the United States by the Naval Self-Defense Forces during the War in Afghanistan, the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the military participation of Japan in the US preemptive war in Iraq have had important ramifications.
"The Legislation to Deal With Military Attacks" seeks to provide rear support in the Afghan war, to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to Iraq in the Iraq war, and to cope with counter attacks against a Japan that participates in a war that was initiated with a US preemptive attack. Japan's national protection laws, meant to concretize that law, are viewed in China with wariness as stepping stones toward an aggressive Japanese-American alliance. The Bush administration has initiated a program of reassignment of United States overseas forces. One implication of this has been strengthening the role of US bases in Japan to serve as a hub for the US military. This cannot simply be ignored by China.
Moreover, America has gone so far as to openly demand that Japan dispatch its troops abroad in earnest. The start of this shift can be traced to the so-called Armitage Report of 2000. Although the dispatch of Self Defense Forces to Iraq was strongly criticised within Japan as a violation of international law and the Japanese constitution, the inability to initiate military action independently (because of the restrictions embodied in Article Nine of the constitution) seems simply too wishy-washy from the American perspective.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has stated openly that “Article Nine of the Japanese constitution has become an obstacle in relations within the Japan-America alliance” (July 21, 2004). Secretary of State Colin Powell also stated that “If Japan intends to play a significant role in the international community and become a full member of the Security Council of the United Nations, it must take up the responsibilities incumbent to that role. A reconsideration of Article Nine of the constitution would be in order” (August 12, 2004). The move to modify the constitution has accelerated in conservative politics since the Koizumi cabinet came to power. Overt pressure from the United States has strengthened this shift in thinking. There can be no doubt that China views these actions by a Japan that will not repent for its history of aggressive war as a rush down the path to making Japan once again a “nation that wages war.”
One more noteworthy development is the acceleration of cooperation between the US and Japan in development research and deployment of missile defense. Although it is generally accepted within Japan that missile defense is a precaution against the threat of a missile attack from North Korea, that argument misses the point entirely. America has posited China as a potential threat. The possibility of a war arising between China and the United States over the issue of Taiwanese independence (China is particularly apprehensive about the influence wielded by the supporters of Taiwanese independence in the legislatures of the United States and Japan and the resulting coordination with Taiwan in both countries) is a serious concern. Considering that countering China's missiles will at that point be critical, ,Japan and the United States are devoting their energy to setting up a missile defense system to neutralize China's missiles. Such a system would assure Japan and the United a decisive advantage in a war with China.
Clearly there has been progress in cooperation on counter-terrorism between the United States and China since the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Nonetheless, the Bush administration's preemptive strikes, and the reconfiguration and strengthening of the attack capability of the U.S.-Japan military alliance, as well as directly related Japanese moves to modify Article Nine of the constitution, have unmistakably increased Chinese apprehensions about Japan. We must take this matter very seriously. One significant comment of Professor Shi is that “the core issue in China’s relationship with Japan is the Taiwan issue. Japan should not support Taiwanese independence and should not seriously regress on the history textbook issue.”
Prime Minister Koizumi's annual visit to Yasukuni Shrine already has damaged Chinese perceptions of Japan. Emotions about Japan have been further roiled by a series of events in 2003. These included injuries and deaths caused by poison gas weapons that were abandoned by Japanese forces at Chichihar in Heilongjiang province, (August 2003 and again in July 2004 when two children in Jilin province were injured), an incident involving a group purchase of sexual favors by Japanese at Zhuhai, Guangdong province (September), and the performance of a lewd skit by Japanese students studying in Xi'an (October). Cases of Japanese who have been arrested and severely punished for trying to smuggle drugs out of China have also increased dramatically.
Prime Minister Koizumi at Yasukuni
Prime Minister Koizumi would never have visited Yasukuni Shrine at the start of 2004 if he had taken seriously the precariousness of relations with China and been aware of the importance of avoiding further deterioration in China-Japan relations. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister insisted on visiting Yasukuni Shrine as if no issue existed. The Chinese perceive Japan and the Japanese people as refusing to seriously recognize their responsibility as victimizers in the invasion of China.
It should now be clear that we have been not only off the mark in our pointless irritation about the actions of Chinese fans at the Asian Soccer Cup, but also just how irresponsible and reckless our actions have been as far as Japanese relations with China and the Chinese people are concerned. The issue we should concern ourselves with is not Chinese nationalistic sentiment.
Our concern should be to sincerely respond to the three issues of historical memory, the Taiwan Straits problem, and the US-Japan Military alliance in ways that will be ameliorate increasing negative feelings and impressions about Japan in China. The essential and critical first step is for Prime Minister Koizumi to give up his visits to Yasukuni Shrine and make that decision manifest. Such a move would make possible exchanges between Japan and China at the level of heads of state and might offer a path to reopening dialog and negotiations on such divisive issues as historical memory, the Taiwan Straits problem and the U.S.-Japan Military Alliance.
The primary reasons for the deterioration in Japan-China relations can be traced to Japan. We Japanese must take responsibility for this state of affairs by taking action to eliminate the causes.
Asai Motofumi is a Professor of International Relations at Meiji Gakuin University.
This is a slightly abbreviated version of an article appeared in Gunshuku (Disarmament), November, 2004, pp. 14-19.
Translation for Japan Focus by Emanuel Pastreich, Assistant Professor, Parkland College, Champaign Illinois.
Posted at Japan Focus on February 25, 2005. | <urn:uuid:4c8b4ffc-fab2-4c5d-bbbe-e509ff1776fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.japanfocus.org/-Asai-Motofumi/2307?rand=1368928866&type=print&print=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958102 | 3,700 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Britain's ash trees have been wiped out by a fungal disease
Ash dieback, caused by the fungus Chalara fraxinea,* killed huge numbers of trees from the mid-1990s onwards, particularly in eastern and northern Europe. Up to 90% of ash trees were affected in Denmark. The fungus was first scientifically described in 2006.
It was discovered in the UK during 2012, initially only on imported nursery stock, but in October of that year it was found on trees at two sites of established woodland in the East Anglia region. This occurred despite clear warnings from ecologists and foresters that imports of seedlings from the continent should be banned in case of infection.*
Despite efforts to contain the disease, it was impossible to stop.* Within a few weeks, Chalara fraxinea was confirmed in dozens of other locations. Over the next two decades, it spread throughout the country, wiping out most of the 90 million ash trees in Britain.*
Many plant species, birds and other animals dependent upon the trees for survival were also lost,* at a time when their numbers were already in sharp decline.** With ash trees forming a significant proportion of the UK's woodland, an eerie silence is descending on many areas of countryside, with birdsongs and other wildlife becoming ever rarer.
Leatherback sea turtles are on the verge of extinction
Growing up to seven feet (two metres) long and exceeding 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms), leatherbacks are the largest turtles on Earth. They can dive to depths of nearly 4,000 feet and make trans-Pacific migrations from Indonesia to the U.S. Pacific coast and back again. These ancient reptiles are the only remaining members of a family of turtles with evolutionary roots going back 100 million years.
After mating at sea, females come ashore during the breeding season to nest. At night, they excavate a hole in the sand, depositing around 80 eggs. This is filled with sand, making detection by predators difficult, before the mother turtle returns to the sea.
Once common throughout the world, their population declined rapidly during the 20th century and into the 21st. At the Jamursba Medi Beach in Papua Barat, Indonesia – accounting for 75 percent of total sightings in the western Pacific – nest numbers plummeted from a peak of 14,455 in 1984 to a low of 1,532 in 2011.
Several major problems faced leatherback turtles: nesting beach predators, such as pigs and dogs that were introduced to the islands, eating the turtle eggs; rising sand temperatures that killed the eggs or prevented the production of male hatchlings; the danger of being caught by fisheries during migrations; and harvesting of adults and eggs for food by islanders.* Plastic debris, mistaken for their favourite food (jellyfish) was another problem. Some individuals were found to have ingested almost 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of plastic into their stomachs.
China's space station is deorbited
China's first space station has reached the end of its 10-year lifespan.* After a decade of onboard research, it is abandoned and sent into a decaying orbit. A new, larger and more advanced space station is now in the process of being constructed.
generation nuclear power
this date, 4th generation nuclear power plants are commercially available.* They utilise a system of small balls, rather than large fuel rods. They
are a major improvement over previous generations, for the following
- It is
physically impossible for them to have a runaway chain reaction, as
happened with Chernobyl. No error, human or otherwise, will ever produce
uranium fuel is only 9% enriched. This makes it impossible to be used
in terrorist nuclear weapons.
nuclear waste is much easier to dispose of.
are highly economical. Electricity can be generated more cheaply than
oil or gas power, even when the decommissioning costs of the stations
are taken into account.
reasons, nuclear power becomes a lucrative industry from the 2030s onwards.
China and India, in particular, take advantage of this enhanced power
wind power has greater long term potential, however, due to the finite
supply of uranium.
One-third of Saudi Arabia's electricity comes from solar
In 2012, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had only 0.003 gigawatts of installed solar energy capacity. More than half of its electricity was produced from burning oil. By 2032, it has 41 gigawatts of installed solar energy, accounting for a third of the nation's 121 gigawatts total energy demand.* Around 25 gigawatts is produced by solar thermal plants, which use mirrors to focus energy from the sun on heating fluids which in turn run turbines. The other 16 gigawatts is provided by massive photovoltaic farms. This has been a result of considerable foreign investment as well as the wealth produced by fossil fuels, totalling just over $100 billion. Though several other countries have more extensive solar infrastructure, this has easily been one of the most ambitious projects, especially considering Saudi Arabia's old position as the world's largest exporter of crude oil.
The enormous expanses of desert, as well as measurably more intense sunlight in the equatorial regions, gives the country a huge amount of room to expand further. Even larger projects are now planned. Construction is also underway on high voltage cables connecting Saudi Arabia to neighbouring countries and some in Southern Europe. Eventually, this will be expanded to include all of Europe and Northern Africa.* Alongside solar, another 21 gigawatts is generated by a combination of nuclear, wind, and geothermal power.* Through nuclear cooperation agreements with China, France, South Korea and Argentina, Saudi Arabia has now constructed 16 new nuclear reactors.* Longer term, the country has further ambitions to be powered entirely by renewables. Much of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia is now transitioning away from energy production to the manufacture of plastics and polymers.*
These developments, coupled with the fact that it remains one of the wealthiest countries in the region, are helping Saudi Arabia transition to a more sustainable long-term future. However, the reality of the situation has forced the government to drastically cut back oil exports.* The Middle East, as a whole, has descended further towards chaos in recent years, as both demand and supply diminish for its key export.* A strong military, ties to the West, and extensive desalination infrastructure have allowed Saudi Arabia to remain relatively stable for the time being.
SolarGIS © 2012 GeoModel Solar s.r.o.
internet speeds are commonplace
to the benefits resulting from Web 4.0 (described earlier), connection
speeds have also vastly improved. Bandwidth has been growing by roughly
50% each year. Many homes and offices in the developed world now have a terabit
connection.* Many of these connections are now appearing on people themselves,
in the form of wearable or implantable devices. | <urn:uuid:d9a37481-896c-4c0c-b07b-5c9456f0665b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://futuretimeline.net/21stcentury/2032.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960104 | 1,404 | 3.703125 | 4 |
(a) Section 3(a) of Pub. L. 90-505, approved September 21, 1968, amended the eighth paragraph of section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 347) to authorize advances thereunder to member banks “secured by such obligations as are eligible for purchase under section 14(b) of this Act.” The relevant part of such paragraph had previously referred only to “notes * * * eligible * * * for purchase”, which the Board had construed as not including obligations generally regarded as securities. (See 1962 Federal Reserve Bulletin 690, § 201.103(d).)
(b) Under section 14(b) direct obligations of, and obligations fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by, the United States are eligible for purchase by Reserve Banks. Such obligations include certificates issued by the trustees of Penn Central Transportation Co. that are fully guaranteed by the Secretary of Transportation. Under section 14(b) direct obligations of, and obligations fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by, any agency of the United States are also eligible for purchase by Reserve Banks. Following are the principal agency obligations eligible as collateral for advances:
(1) Federal Intermediate Credit Bank debentures;
(2) Federal Home Loan Bank notes and bonds;
(3) Federal Land Bank bonds;
(4) Bank for Cooperative debentures;
(5) Federal National Mortgage Association notes, debentures and guaranteed certificates of participation;
(6) Obligations of or fully guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association;
(7) Merchant Marine bonds;
(8) Export-Import Bank notes and guaranteed participation certificates;
(9) Farmers Home Administration insured notes;
(10) Notes fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by the Small Business Administration;
(11) Federal Housing Administration debentures;
(12) District of Columbia Armory Board bonds;
(13) Tennessee Valley Authority bonds and notes;
(14) Bonds and notes of local urban renewal or public housing agencies fully supported as to principal and interest by the full faith and credit of the United States pursuant to section 302 of the Housing Act of 1961 (42 U.S.C. 1421a(c), 1452(c) ).
(15) Commodity Credit Corporation certificates of interest in a price-support loan pool.
(16) Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation notes, debentures, and guaranteed certificates of participation.
(17) U.S. Postal Service obligations.
(18) Participation certificates evidencing undivided interests in purchase contracts entered into by the General Services Administration.
(19) Obligations entered into by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under the Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Medical Facilities Construction and Modernization Amendments of 1970.
(20) Obligations guaranteed by the Overseas Private Investment Corp., pursuant to the provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended.
(c) Nothing less than a full guarantee of principal and interest by a Federal agency will make an obligation eligible. For example, mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration are not eligible since the insurance contract is not equivalent to an unconditional guarantee and does not fully cover interest payable on the loan. Obligations of international institutions, such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, are also not eligible, since such institutions are not agencies of the United States.
(d) Also eligible for purchase under section 14(b) are “bills, notes, revenue bonds, and warrants with a maturity from date of purchase of not exceeding 6 months, issued in anticipation of the collection of taxes or in anticipation of the receipt of assured revenues by any State, county, district, political subdivision, or municipality in the continental United States, including irrigation, drainage and reclamation districts.” 3 In determining the eligibility of such obligations as collateral for advances, but the Reserve Bank will satisfy itself that sufficient tax or other assured revenues earmarked for payment of such obligations will be available for that purpose at maturity, or within 6 months from the date of the advance if no maturity is stated. Payments due from Federal, State or other governmental units may, in the Reserve Bank's discretion, be regarded as “other assured revenues”; but neither the proceeds of a prospective issue of securities nor future tolls, rents or similar collections for the voluntary use of government property for non-governmental purposes will normally be so regarded. Obligations with original maturities exceeding 1 year would not ordinarily be self-liquidating as contemplated by the statute, unless at the time of issue provision is made for a redemption or sinking fund that will be sufficient to pay such obligations at maturity.
Footnote(s):2 [Reserved]3 Paragraph 3 of section 1 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 221) defines the continental United States to mean “the States of the United States and the District of Columbia”, thus including Alaska and Hawaii. | <urn:uuid:ab95f08c-978a-43e0-93f9-f3a485aa1ba2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/201.108 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924703 | 1,040 | 1.601563 | 2 |
September 13, 2009
There are many conflicted views on the state of the economic recovery and the health of the banking system. Joseph Stiglitz, the former chief economist of the World Bank, has come out with some comments that indicate that the banking system is now in bigger trouble than it was the pre-Lehman Brothers collapse.
On the broader economy, government spending alone won’t solve our problems, and the bigger issue which we’ve raised here before is what will drive the recovery once the government starts removing itself? Some of Stiglitz’s views are below:
“We’re going into an extended period of weak economy, of economic malaise,” Stiglitz said. The U.S. will “grow but not enough to offset the increase in the population,” he said, adding that “if workers do not have income, it’s very hard to see how the U.S. will generate the demand that the world economy needs.”
The Federal Reserve faces a “quandary” in ending its monetary stimulus programs because doing so may drive up the cost of borrowing for the U.S. government, he said.
- Fallout From The Bailout
- East Meets West
- Government Moving Into Help Finance Construction of Science Parks
- Warren Buffett on CNBC
- Deflation Fears Emerge | <urn:uuid:693ffaa3-4f45-4b00-ac05-4791ce6e5c84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.squarefeetblog.com/commercial-real-estate-blog/2009/09/13/far-from-being-out-of-the-woods/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934059 | 292 | 2.25 | 2 |
Knowledge spillovers play a critical role in economic growth. For example, x-ray-computed tomography technology was developed and patented by EMI, which was able to exploit it initially. However, it also inspired hundreds of subsequent inventions by firms such as Pfizer, Syntex, Picker, and General Electric. A few years later these firms dominated the computed tomography scanner market, forcing EMI to drop out.
The spillovers generated by the original EMI invention were mostly external to EMI, meaning that those spillovers were not useful to EMI. While EMI was responsible for the creation of one of the most influential medical inventions of the 20th century, it lacked the capability needed follow up its invention with outside discoveries and remain at the technology frontier.
This raises an important question: do firms whose inventions result primarily in external knowledge spillovers have a lower stock market value than firms whose inventions result in more internal knowledge spillovers?
Theory and evidence point to positive and negative ramifications for spillovers. On the one hand, spillovers encourage innovation by providing the basis for future research. On the other hand, firms don’t want to spawn research that may ultimately undermine their market position or render their own research obsolete. The prospect of future research undermines the process of knowledge creation in the first place.
In a seminal paper, Aghion and Howitt (1992) argue that this effect can be so large as to create a “no-growth” trap where the incentives of early inventors to invest in R&D completely disappear. However, little work has been done to examine whether this negative effect of spillovers may be mitigated. If the inventing firm could reabsorb its spilled knowledge in a future period together with subsequent developments made by other inventors, it might be able to escape the no-growth trap and sustain its long-term returns.
If knowledge frequently 'spills' outside the boundaries of the inventing firm, it is important to understand if and how it can feed back and interact with the originating firm’s internal R&D. In a recent paper (Belenzon 2012), I develop a new construct of knowledge recombination in the context of sequential innovation, conceptualising new combinations of knowledge as the ability of a firm to combine its past inventions with follow-up external developments.
Differences in the ability of firms to creatively reuse their own knowledge with external ideas explain a large part of the cross-firm differences in the value of intangible assets. Using patent and citation data, I propose a new way of measuring the re-absorption of 'spilled' knowledge by inventing firms. I distinguish between two types of citations from outside inventors: internal and external. Internal citations are made by patents connected to the firm.
An example would be Microsoft citing a 2010 Intel patent that cites a 2008 Microsoft patent. In this example, Intel's follow-up development of the original Microsoft patent is internalised by Microsoft in its later invention. External citations, by contrast, are those that do not feed back into the original inventor's research programme in any subsequent period.
Previous research has mostly focused on how private profits from innovation can be shared contractually between early inventors and their followers. The consensus is that explicit agreements between the first and second innovator can be beneficial, because they compensate the early innovator for their losses due to shorter patent life. However, designing and enforcing contracts that would allow enough transfer of profits while mitigating incentive conflicts is a very difficult task. Coordination costs, overlapping patent claims ('thickets') and hold-up problems are some of those issues.
This difficulty emphasises the need to deepen our understanding of how private rents can be captured by rent-seeking enterprises, especially when inventions are highly dependent on one another. By combining past firm-specific knowledge with outside follow-up developments, the firm can potentially not only mitigate loss of profits by offering new products, but also to capitalise on R&D complementarities between its past research efforts and relevant outside developments.
In economics, the number of times a patent is cited provides useful information about its importance. Citations are also used to measure knowledge spillovers. Both patent quality and knowledge spillover aspects of citations can help determine the inventing firm’s profits, as well as shed light on the relationship between innovation and firm value. I use information on patent citations to learn about subsequent developments of knowledge because patent citations are a legal instrument used to determine the scope of patent protection.
The inventor identifies prior projects that are technically related to the patent application. If patent B cites patent A, that indicates that patent A contains a piece of knowledge on which patent B builds. (Clearly, this piece of knowledge is excluded from the scope of patent B.) The citations allow me to construct sequences of patents that cite each other, which are then analysed to classify patents along the sequence as internal, external, or self-citations.
Using data on about 1,200 US patenting firms between 1981 and 1997, I find a strong, positive relationship between measures of knowledge recombination and stock market value. Specifically, I find a positive relationship between market value and internal citations, and a negative relationship between market value and external citations. Increasing the share of internal citations by the sample average and assuming that the change comes from having fewer external citations is associated with an increase in $70 million in market value.
Moving from the 10th to the 90th percentile in share of internal citations is associated with an increase of about 10% of firms' average value. As one would expect, I find a stronger relationship between value and citations in more cumulative, rather than discrete, technology areas (for example, telecommunications versus drugs). Internalisation is less likely to be effective in industries where inventions are more dependent on one another. In such industries reapplying knowledge has a stronger effect on value.
My findings lend strong support to the view that re-incorporating spilled knowledge can result in higher value for firms, and call for further research to better understand strategies that firms can adopt to actively engage in such recombination.
Aghion, P and P Howitt (1992), “A model of growth through creative destruction”, Econometrica, 60(2):323-351.
Belenzon, S (2012), “Cumulative Innovation and Market Value: Evidence from Patent Citations”, Economic Journal, 122:561. | <urn:uuid:ab0bea41-273d-48fe-b128-cf3075969486> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voxeu.org/article/cumulative-innovation-and-market-value-evidence-patent-citations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944979 | 1,318 | 2.375 | 2 |
John Walkenbach’s Favorite Excel 2007 Tips & Tricks
Book category: Excel 2007
- Published: 2007
- ISBN: 0470137665
- Description: Contains more than 200 useful tips and tricks for Excel 2007
- Amazon.com link: John Walkenbach's Favorite Excel 2007 Tips & Tricks
My book-writing career pretty much happened by accident. I've been doing it since 1994 and (for the most part), it's been a fun and challenging career. Probably the best part is all the great feedback I've received from readers.
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Each English-language book listing has a link to the book's product page at Amazon.com. These links make it easy to purchase a book. Also, many of the Amazon listings contain additional information, reader reviews, and even the ability to preview some of the books. Several of the older books are out of print, but Amazon often provides links to used book sellers.
Use the link below to view the best-selling Excel books at Amazon. | <urn:uuid:2ed2b1bf-cfff-4ce2-a56b-b5d9d3a7fd3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spreadsheetpage.com/index.php/book/john_walkenbachs_favorite_excel_2007_tips_tricks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906507 | 260 | 1.507813 | 2 |
At A Glance
So what is this thing called intangible property?
Even experts have a difficult time explaining it.
Tangible property is much easier to understand, said Wade Patterson, Garfield County assessor. Tangible property is property a person can touch like a building, home, manufacturing equipment, car or furniture.
Intangible property is property whose value stems not from its physical attributes, but from what it represents. Cash, for example, is often considered intangible property because its value stems not from the value of the paper, but from the value of items that can be purchased with it.
Other examples of intangible property are stocks, bonds, promissory notes, annuities, patents, inventions, licenses, contracts, land leases, mineral interests, insurance policies, custom computer software, trademarks and brand names.
The Oklahoma Constitution specifically exempts certain types of intangible property from taxation including cash, stocks, bonds, promissory notes, gold, silver, certificates of deposit and more than a dozen other categories of property.
Numerous other categories of intangible property aren't specifically exempted from taxation by the Oklahoma Constitution and potentially could be taxed. Examples include patents, inventions, trade secrets, licenses, contracts, land leases, mineral interests, insurance policies, custom computer software, trademarks and brand names.
Randy Ellis, Staff Writer | <urn:uuid:450282e8-464e-4480-a2ee-dcbf31a5caa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsok.com/what-is-intangible-property/article/3723040 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919914 | 272 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Carcinoid Syndrome (cont.)
Dennis Lee, MD
Dennis Lee, MD
Dr. Lee was born in Shanghai, China, and received his college and medical training in the United States. He is fluent in English and three Chinese dialects. He graduated with chemistry departmental honors from Harvey Mudd College. He was appointed president of AOA society at UCLA School of Medicine. He underwent internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship training at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
In this Article
There are many options for the treatment of carcinoid tumors:
Since carcinoid tumors vary widely in their size, malignant potential, prognosis, extent of metastasis, and symptoms, treatment should be customized for each individual. Because the carcinoid syndrome and metastatic carcinoid tumors are rare and their treatments are complex, many patients should be treated by a team of doctors--gastroenterologists, oncologists, radiologists, cardiologists, and surgeons--in medical centers experienced and equipped to treat carcinoid tumors.
Some patients with unresectable carcinoid tumors may have neither local symptoms nor the carcinoid syndrome. These patients can be observed without surgery or medications because carcinoid tumors are slow growing, and the patients may not develop symptoms for a prolonged period of time.
Surgery is used for 1) curative resection, 2) relief of symptoms such as small intestinal obstruction or intestinal bleeding, and 3) reducing the size of tumors that are not completely resectable, a process called tumor debulking, to decrease the tumor burden and decrease the amount of hormone produced by the tumors.
Small rectal carcinoid tumors usually are benign and often can be completely excised for cure. Type 1 gastric carcinoid tumors also usually are benign and often can be removed for cure. Small appendiceal carcinoid tumors usually are removed and cured at the time of appendectomy.
Carcinoid tumors of the small intestine and the colon often are large and have already metastasized at the time of diagnosis. Most patients with metastases are not candidates for surgical cure because surgery cannot completely remove the entire tumor. Occasionally, a patient may have a solitary metastasis confined to a portion of the liver. Such patients can be treated with surgical resection of the primary tumor and resection of that part of the liver containing the tumor (partial hepatectomy). There are a limited number of patients with multiple metastases that are confined to the liver. Partial hepatectomy cannot be performed in these patients because of the multiple locations of the tumors. A small number of these patients have been treated successfully with liver transplantation.
Cryotherapy, radiofrequency ablation, hepatic artery embolization
Cryotherapy, radiofrequency ablation , and hepatic artery embolization all are techniques for debulking unresectable tumors (mainly liver metastasis) in order to decrease tumor burden and to treat the carcinoid syndrome. Effective debulking can improve the carcinoid syndrome and also prolong survival. Probes that freeze (cryotherapy) or deliver radiofrequency waves (RF ablation) can be inserted into the liver to debulk the liver of metastases from carcinoid tumors. Hepatic artery embolization involves blocking the arterial blood supply to carcinoid tumors (using oil-gelatin sponge particles) in the liver followed by chemotherapy to debulk the remaining the liver tumors. Alternatively, radioactive microspheres can be injected into hepatic arteries to kill the liver tumors.
Interferon and chemotherapy
Interferon is a substance that inhibits the replication of some viruses and the growth of some tumors. Interferon has been used to treat patients with chronic hepatitis B and C. Interferon also has been found to arrest the growth of carcinoid tumors in some patients. Interferon has significant side effects, however.
Chemotherapy has been used alone or in combinations with other therapies to treat carcinoid tumors with metastases. The agents used include 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), cyclophosphamide, streptozotocin, and doxorubicin. The tumors do not frequently respond to treatment (a response is seen in under 30% of tumors), and the duration of response usually is only a few months. The side effects and toxicity of chemotherapy can be high.
External radiation has been used to alleviate pain due to the presence of metastases from carcinoid tumors in the spine. It also may reduce the size of the tumor in the spine. External radiation usually is not effective in treating tumors within the liver.
Medications for the control of the carcinoid syndrome
The most important treatment modality for the carcinoid syndrome is octreotide, a synthetic hormone similar in structure to the naturally-occurring hormone, somatostatin. Somatostatin is widely distributed in the body where it can inhibit the secretion of many other hormones including growth hormone, insulin, and gastrin. It exerts its action by binding to specific receptors on the membranes of cells that produce and release hormones and chemical substances. Octreotide, like somatostatin, binds to receptors on the cells of carcinoid tumors and inhibits the manufacture and release of tumor hormones. Octreotide is very effective in controlling the symptoms of flushing and diarrhea that are part of the carcinoid syndrome. Octreotide has been found to reduce the excretion of 5-HIAA in some patients. Octreotide also has been found to slow the growth of carcinoid tumors, and, in a few patients, even reduce the size of the tumors and their metastases. Treatment with octreotide prior to surgery is important in order to prevent life-threatening carcinoid crisis in patients with carcinoid syndrome undergoing surgery. Some doctors are advocating using octreotide even in patients without carcinoid syndrome to control the growth of the carcinoid tumors.
Octreotide generally is well tolerated. Side effects include nausea, headache, dizziness, abdominal pain, diarrhea, elevated blood sugar levels, and gallstones. The major drawback of octreotide is the need to inject it under the skin three times daily. Other longer-acting synthetic hormones resembling somatostatin (for example, lanreotide) can be given intramuscularly every two weeks, but they are not yet available in the U. S.
Patients with carcinoid syndrome should take vitamin supplements, especially nicotinic acid, since carcinoid tumors can cause a deficiency of nicotinic acid. In some patients, diarrhea caused by the carcinoid syndrome may respond to Imodium, Lomotil, ondansetron (Zofran), or cyproheptadine (Periactin). Patients also should avoid alcohol, spicy foods, physical stress, and ephedrine-containing medications such as nasal decongestants in order to avoid the precipitation of carcinoid syndrome by the release of hormones and chemical substances from the tumor. Patients with chronic diarrhea should take minerals supplements as well as vitamins since any cause of chronic diarrhea can lead to deficiencies of minerals.
Stephen Goldfinger, MD "The Carcinoid Spectrum" in Advances in Gastroenterology 2005 syllabus, Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education
Thomas Anthony and Lawrence Kim, "Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Tumors and The Carcinoid Syndrome" Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 7th Edition, Chapter 112, pages 2151-2168
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2006
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Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:c17829c4-b22b-448b-9903-833793af21ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/carcinoid_syndrome/page5.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929656 | 1,565 | 2.25 | 2 |
Commercial films and videos of local interest
Many films videos were distributed nationally or regionally, the contents of which include particular local subjects. These have acquired and made available for reference in WFSA. Good examples are Winchester - Cathedral City; Journey into Spring - about Selborne; A Tale of Two Abbeys - about Romsey and Mottisfont; Round the Island - about the Isle of Wight; and A Letter from Goathorn - about Poole Harbour.
Commercial videos showing archive film and topics of regional interest have been purchased. There are a number about the Second World War, for instance, and transport in general. Others concern local towns and cities, produced by Viewpoint Productions and Bygone Films. A wide range of subjects, from the New Forest to the history of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, can also be viewed.
Various local societies and individuals have produced videos specifically about their area or field of expertise. Beneath Basingstoke, for example, was produced by Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society and concerns archaeological finds in that town and what they tell us about its development; WFSA holds all the unedited video footage as well as the finished tape. Robin Baumber (Angerton Video) has produced videos on the history of Alton, Selborne and Alresford, whilst Patrick Kempe concerns himself with subjects like New Milton, the New Forest and flying boats.
Tourist promotional films commissioned by local authorities often evoke a bygone era, and there are good examples in WFSA from Bournemouth and Weymouth. Portsmouth and Southampton have also not been slow to promote their cities. Tony Chuter is an amateur film-maker who has produced his own films, promoting Winchester and Dorset in the 1970s. James Gardiner is another example with See Southsea in 1962. | <urn:uuid:7eb7bae2-0ebd-48d7-b0ed-2023b7aeaf6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www3.hants.gov.uk/yp/wfsa/wfsa-collections/commercial-films.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954719 | 376 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The Avondale Mine Disaster was a massive fire in the Avondale Colliery in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, United States on September 6, 1869. It caused the death of 110 workers, making it one of the largest mining disasters in Pennsylvania history. It started when a wooden coal breaker built over a shaft entrance to the underground mine caught fire. This shaft was the only entrance to the mine, and so the fire trapped and suffocated the workers. Among those who died were five boys ages 12 to 17, as well as two volunteers who suffocated while they were attempting a rescue.
One of the first global relief efforts occurred after the disaster, with donations for the widows and families of victims coming in from all over the world. Another result of the fire was the passing by the Pennsylvania General Assembly of legislation establishing safety regulations in the coal mining industry, making Pennsylvania the first state to pass such legislation. These laws mandated, among other things, that there must be at least two entrances to underground mines. The disaster also caused thousands of miners to join the Workingmen's Benevolent Association, one of the first unions to represent coal miners in the United States. Continuing labor and social strife in the Pennsylvania anthracite coal fields led to an increase in the activities of the "Molly Maguires", a controversial organization that conducted violent attacks against anthracite coal mine operators. These conflicts eventually resulted in the trial and execution of twenty members of the Molly Maguires in Pottsville and Mauch Chunk. | <urn:uuid:0d427676-2cef-41ba-a467-c4014cbd2d96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://worldhistoryproject.org/1869/9/6/avondale-mine-disaster | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965495 | 306 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Sit next to the other person or at a 90 degree angle to them.
When people are sitting across from each other with a table dividing them, they tend to speak in shorter sentences, are more likely to argue, and can recall less of what was said.
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How to quickly and easily improve performance on tests | <urn:uuid:225b526c-f708-4eab-b758-4c6cd23b1992> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/04/whats-the-best-way-to-sit-during-an-important/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956516 | 79 | 2.375 | 2 |