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By Katelyn Leader
In the final week of 2012, the U.S. State Department reissued its travel warning for Haiti, subjecting “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere” to continued isolation, objectification, and paternalism from the global community. The Haitian government has spoken out against the renewal of a travel warning, but its words will do little to refute the image that Haiti is damned to instability and suffering. However, after spending two months conducting research in Haiti’s rural Central Plateau, I came away with quite a different impression.
As Haiti rebuilds from the devastating Jan. 2010 earthquake, the media has increasingly portrayed the country as a place defined by the number of people who have not found permanent housing, the cholera epidemic that continues to ebb and flow, and the disease and violence that plague Port-au-Prince (although as the United Kingdom travel warning astutely notes, the situation in the capital is not representative of the rest of the country). Haiti has come to symbolize what the international community and its own government have or have not achieved and – at this point – the failure of efficient aid response in times of crisis.
But to classify Haiti based on all of the above is to drastically misrepresent the country and, most importantly, its people. Focusing exclusively on aggregate representations and statistics is to disregard the millions of unique individuals who make Haiti a dynamic country. Haitians themselves – not the international community – are the real agents of sustainable change. I can attest to that.
The majority of my time in Haiti was spent in what is now commonly known as the “Eco-Village,” a pilot project conceived and implemented by the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP), one of the largest grassroots organizations in Haiti. The village was developed and supported in collaboration with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), an international human rights organization based in Cambridge, Mass. UUSC is committed to an “Eye to Eye” disaster response model that supports grassroots organizations’ own ideas for rebuilding in economically and environmentally sustainable ways, such as MPP’s Eco-Village.
Each village – one is completed and four more are under construction – is comprised of 10 families who, displaced from Port-au-Prince, sought the opportunity to start anew in the Eco-Village. The community would never have been successful without the local knowledge, established presence, and continued mentorship of MPP, directed by Chavannes Jean-Baptiste. MPP sends Haitian agronomists to the Eco-Village every week to provide on-going agricultural training; it has also welcomed the families into the broader MPP community, which extends throughout Haiti.
But it is the resilience of the people that I found most striking. The men, women, and children of the village, once accustomed to the rhythms of Port-au-Prince, have embraced rural life. Of course, their new lives are not without challenges, but at least their foundation is far more than concrete blocks or ephemeral aid.
This change is built on local understanding of local problems and a commitment to solidarity and advancement among peasant farmers. I have come to learn that labels like “urban” or “rural” are inadequate; Haitians regularly adapt to and overcome similar obstacles regardless of where they were born or currently live. To them, the most important label is that of opportunity – the chance to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of their loved ones. The route to recovery cannot be imposed; it must be chosen by people who are personally invested in its success.
As one woman in the Eco-Village described, “In Port-au-Prince, when you are hungry you have no hope. But here, you can always find something.” Her favorite thing about life in the countryside is her gardens. She said “In Port-au-Prince you have lights, music, and cars but no peace. In the Eco-Village, you have peace.”
Three years after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, Haiti is far more than the warnings, stigmas, and failures so consistently presented in the mainstream news media. It is individual earthquake survivors – resilient, resourceful, and hopeful – who are redefining recovery in their own terms, and the rest of the world should listen to them.
Katelyn Leader, of Hershey, Pa., is a Master of Philosophy student in International Development at the University of Oxford. Oxford, United Kingdom. | <urn:uuid:68db94d9-4a2e-4953-a3f0-8ff71898a182> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/01/op-ed_media_fails_to_depict_haitian_resilience.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963219 | 939 | 2.1875 | 2 |
It's just a little venison -- a pound or two of burger from each deer processed -- but the donations could go a long way.
"In 2008, a lot of the homeless and hunger service agencies saw a real spike in the request for services," said Kathy Hart, executive director of the Manna Food Project in Harbor Springs. "It has gently continued to go up over the past few years, and has leveled off a bit."
Around the same time, in 2009, Andy Hayes saw a way to fill that need: through the filling of area farmers' block permits during the whitetail deer hunting season.
"An idea came up when we were talking about block permits," said Hayes, who is a member of the Petoskey Rotary Sunrise club. "We were wondering what the hunters were doing with the deer."
Block permits allow landowners to take nuisance deer if they have a history of significant deer damage documented by the Department of Natural Resources -- and often, hunters may take more deer than they might use.
Hayes approached Linda Penfold, who owns Walloon Lake General Store and Deli in Boyne Falls, along with her husband, Calvin.
"It all stemmed from hunters from this camp," said Penfold. "These hunters were tagging deer and not necessarily needing the meat themselves, but wanted the meat to go somewhere."
The Penfolds processed 150 pounds of venison for the Manna Food Project that year, said Hart.
In the program's second year, in 2010, the project received 240 pounds, and this year, the program is already up to 300 pounds. They hope to receive 1,000 pounds of meat total -- and Hayes is confident they can reach that goal.
Each year, as hunters learn about the program, the amount of donated venison has increased. Too, this year, Walloon Village General Store has added a line to the hunters' processing order forms that asks whether the hunter would like to donate a pound of venison.
"I'm excited just because in the past, we've never asked for just a pound," said Penfold. "This way, the burden is not on one person (to donate a whole deer) and the hunters are paying for the processing. In turn, Manna doesn't have cost involved in paying for the processing. It's a win-win."
And now, it's not only the store in Walloon participating in the program. Tannery Creek Market in Petoskey and Jurek's Meats & Grocery in Pellston will also be asking hunters if they would like to donate a pound of venison to Manna Food Project.
"Once the hunters know about the program, they understand," said Hayes. "They all donate because they all have a heart of gold." | <urn:uuid:9f87e527-38bf-4556-ab8b-e762be013211> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.petoskeynews.com/2011-11-25/nuisance-deer_30442957 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974087 | 571 | 1.742188 | 2 |
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The European Union will cut export subsidies for beef by 33 percent because of elevated prices and a “tight” market.
Export refunds for beef carcasses will drop to 163 euros ($213) a metric ton from 244 euros, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, wrote in an e-mailed statement today. Rates for deboned, fresh and other cuts will be reduced accordingly, it wrote.
The proposals will take effect immediately on their publication in the EU’s official journal, scheduled for tomorrow or the day after, the statement showed. The EU may export 445,000 tons of beef this year, accounting for 5 percent of world trade in the meat, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast this month, cutting its outlook by 20,000 tons from October.
“The market is relatively tight, with production relatively low and prices high,” the commission wrote. “In this context, exports are naturally reduced and imports are decreased due to a lack of supply worldwide.”
Refunds for processed pig-meat products including hams and sausages were cut to zero, according to the commission. Export subsidies for eggs were lowered because of higher EU prices due to a shortage, it said.
Export refunds for poultry were left unchanged, with the subsidy for frozen whole chicken at 325 euros a ton, according to the statement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at email@example.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:5233ca36-0126-490e-a9e5-cfbe142d12f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-19/eu-to-cut-beef-export-subsidies-by-33-percent-on-elevated-prices | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946776 | 349 | 1.632813 | 2 |
“The most valuable lesson I learned at Transylvania is that I have unlimited potential to both achieve anything I want personally and to make an impact in this world.”
Sarah Harcourt Watts: The Student-Teacher Connection
"I vividly remember standing in (education professor) Dr. (Angela) Hurley's office while she convinced me that I could go to any graduate school I wanted—that I would excel at Harvard."
Hurley was right. At Harvard Divinity School, Sarah Harcourt Watts ’08 completed a master's degree in theological studies while also taking coursework at the graduate school of education. She wanted an education that would not only enhance her teaching skills but also enhance her ability to connect with students—and she got it.
"I went to Harvard to study religion as a category of cultural diversity for students," Watts explains. "Teachers should strive to make education culturally relevant to students of various ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. My studies added depth to my understanding of the purposes of education and how education fits into larger society. Classes in both education and religion were essential for me. Aside from bringing an expertise in religious diversity to my teaching, my coursework was immensely interesting and personally fulfilling."
After Harvard, Watts didn't leave the classroom; she led her own. Today, she teaches first and second grade at Sumner Academy in Gallatin, Tenn., near Nashville, where she continues to reference her own unique path as she shapes the paths of her students.
"My students have this amazing sense of awe and curiosity about the world that keeps my days interesting and varied," Watts says. "The most rewarding aspect of my job is creating a classroom environment that acts as a little microcosm of the world—as a caring and cooperative community." That desire for community can be traced back to Watts' undergraduate days.
"I am reminded of my experiences at Transylvania every day of my teaching," claims Watts. "The emphasis on relationships in the education program influenced my teaching. I am intentional about helping my students develop positive relationships with each other."
She adds: "I love seeing the students work together to accomplish their goals."
Her own goals have been accomplished through her ongoing desire to both learn and teach with compassion. "My education professors led me to think deeply about the purpose of education and how my own purpose of education should inform every decision I make," she says.
From Transylvania to Harvard, and now sitting on the other side of the desk, Watts' purpose of education never wavered—to understand not only names, dates, and theories, but the lives of the faces looking up at her when she calls roll in the morning. | <urn:uuid:af88bf4f-a52f-4251-89b5-836665a1d1b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://transy.edu/programs/education/watts.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974486 | 553 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Primary Psychiatry. 2008;15(10):24
To the Editor:
We read with interest the article describing horticultural therapy by Fried and Wichrowski.1 Although they and others2 describe the therapeutic benefits of gardening activities with children, we have been conducting a “gardening group” each summer for the past several years at a state-operated psychiatric facility for adults. The garden itself is located in the fenced-in courtyards adjacent to the day rooms of a specialized clinical research unit jointly operated by Rockland Psychiatric Center and the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in Orangeburg, New York.3 Patients under the guidance of clinical and research staff participate in the selection of which vegetables and flowers to grow, preparing the earth, planting, irrigation, weeding, and harvesting. The edible plants get eaten (waiting until they are ripe and ready for a salad is encouraged but not always successful), and the flowers get sold in the autumn to facility staff. Over time, the gardening group has become one of the most popular voluntary groups on the research unit.
We have observed multiple benefits the gardening group provides to our patients. First and foremost, the garden increases patients’ understanding and appreciation of the natural world. Many of our patients were raised in New York City and have never had the opportunity to see their food grow or work in a garden before. Ideas that the rest of us may take for granted, such as the fact that tomatoes ripen from green to orange to red, can really engage the interest of someone who has never seen this before. The relaxed structure of the group also allows patients with an interest or desire to be more involved to take on leadership roles. For each of the past three summers one or two patients have self-selected into the role of “master gardener,” taking responsibility to watch over the garden on a daily basis and to water and weed on the weekends when the usual staff is unavailable. Harvesting the garden is not only enjoyable and tasty; it also allows staff the opportunity to teach the patients some basic cooking skills. We hope that by having the patients prepare salads, cook vegetables such as green beans and eggplant, and even bake zucchini bread, some will be able to remember and use these lessons in the future.
We highly recommend such “gardening groups” for other intermediate and long-term psychiatric units.
Rachel T. Ziwich, BS, Charlene Olang, Henry Epstein, LCSW, and Leslie Citrome, MD, MPH
Ms. Ziwich is a research coordinator at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in Orangeburg, New York. Ms. Olang is a rehabilitation assistant and Mr. Epstein is a unit chief at the Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, New York. Dr. Citrome is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine in New York City and the director of the Clinical Research and Evaluation Facility at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research.
Disclosure: The authors report no affiliation with or financial interest in any organization that may pose a conflict of interest.
1. Fried GG, Wichrowski MJ. Horticultural therapy: a psychosocial treatment option at the Stephen D. Hassenfeld Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Primary Psychiatry. 2008;15(7):73-77.
2. Levin A. Members in the news: psychiatrists sow seeds of good mental health. Psychiatr News. 2007;42(16):14.
3. Citrome L, Epstein H, Nolan KA, Tremeau F, Elin C, Roy B, Levine J. Integrating state psychiatric hospital treatment and clinical research. Psychiatr Serv. 2008;59(9):958-960.
Please send letters to the editor to Primary Psychiatry, c/o Norman Sussman, MD, 333 Hudson St., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10013; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:950f8fdf-4690-40df-a25e-73a092cf334b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.primarypsychiatry.com/aspx/article_pf.aspx?articleid=1786 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920496 | 829 | 2.203125 | 2 |
The Devon Orchid Society
The Devon Orchid Society exists for the organisation of activities related to the cultivation of orchids by its members. It holds monthly meetings and puts on an annual show. Every two or three years it also organises a larger orchid weekend.
There is a monthly newsletter providing information on the Society's activities, with reports on meetings and details of prizes awarded at shows and annually for success at monthly meeting displays. The newsletter contains cultural tips and other information of interest to orchid growers.
|Monthly meetings are held at Burnham Nurseries, Forches Cross, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 6PZ (just off the A38 between Newton Abbot and Bovey Tracey), usually on the third Sunday of each month starting at 2pm. Members enjoy the privilege of free entry to Burnham Nurseries' Orchid Paradise, a display house with many beautiful and unusual orchids always on show.|
The meetings' programme includes presentations from professional and amateur growers about orchids and their culture and related subjects. There is a display table for members to show their orchids, with points awarded by experienced judges. There are opportunities for members to discuss successes and failures and orchid culture problems, thereby obtaining the advice of experienced growers. Usually twice a year auctions of plants are held, giving members the opportunity to sell their surplus plants and buy other different or more unusual plants at reasonable prices.
The Annual Show is held in Exmouth on the first Saturday in May. Displays are mounted by five orchid societies including Devon and by two orchid nurseries who also have plants for sale. Orchid advice is available and potting demonstrations are given. Refreshments are also available. The Orchid Weekend, held every two or three years in October in Dawlish Warren, is a major event with about ten societies showing and ten orchid nurseries, some from overseas.
Updated 6th March 2013 | <urn:uuid:b06ea10d-8d5e-4100-ab14-a77685cd460b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.devon.ukos.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957331 | 397 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Debate: The Failed Role of
We live in a capitalistic society. The private market, with minimal constraints, determines the distribution of wealth in society. That process, plus the inheritance of opportunities and wealth from prior generations, invariably creates inequalities in the distribution of income, wealth, and opportunities in society. Many people see the inequalities as natural, unremarkable, even beneficial, rewards for achievements and penalties for not achieving. Further, it is widely argued that inequalities can be overcome through individual effort and that government programs are unnecessary.
Others regard the inequalities of American society as the product of family wealth and background, as fundamentally unfair, and perhaps even illegitimate in a society that professes to believe in equality of opportunity. These critics argue that one's background shapes opportunities and subsequent life chances and that society should adopt policies to increase equality of opportunity.
We also live in a political democracy. The political process is the mechanism for members of society to register their reactions to inequalities. It is through this process that ideas filter about what constitutes fairness and justice. It is also through this process that we debate what actions, if any, should be taken to try to respond to the inequalities that emerge from the private market.
Political debates about whether and how society should respond are crucial in a democracy. They are the means by which groups can argue about the legitimacy of the social order and make their case for whether change is needed. Less-affluent people and their sympathizers use the political process to make their case about the need for policies to create more equality of opportunity for the less-affluent population. Opponents to redistribution use the process to protect their interests. They argue for the
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Book title: Class and Party in American Politics. Contributors: Jeffrey M. Stonecash - Author. Publisher: Westview Press. Place of publication: Boulder, CO. Publication year: 2000. Page number: 1.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means. | <urn:uuid:199374d1-0339-40a2-8ad2-a00e5ccf1513> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.questia.com/read/82348767/class-and-party-in-american-politics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945501 | 439 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello died on Aug. 19, 2003, after a truck bomb exploded just outside his office at the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, leaving him to spend his last hours buried headfirst in a pile of rubble and bitter irony. De Mello, a high-ranking U.N. diplomat and internationally known "fixer," had not wanted to be in Baghdad. He took the job as U.N. Secretary General to Iraq at the behest of world leaders including then- President George W. Bush with an eye to overseeing a speedy end to the U.S. occupation. He did not support the war and was planning to issue a statement condemning the coalition for use of excessive force. He had already removed the tank and soldiers from the gate of the logistically vulnerable headquarters at the Canal Hotel because he felt their presence seemed to signal American control of the United Nations, something he most vociferously protested.
FOR THE RECORD:
Sergio: A review of HBO's "Sergio" in Thursday's Calendar said that author Samantha Power won a Pulitzer Prize for her book about the Brazilian diplomat on which the program was based. In fact, Power won the award for "A Problem From Hell." —
Even so, he was considered by Al Qaeda to be a personal enemy. And when the man who had devoted his life to saving thousands of the world's citizens from war and hunger, from drought and fear, needed saving himself, the only resources at hand were a medic and a soldier trying to dig him out of a three-story deep pile of concrete and debris using only their hands and a purse tied to a bit of curtain cord.
Based on Samantha Power's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Sergio," which premieres Thursday night on HBO, attempts to show how the loss of one man can irrevocably affect world events and how tragic, and perhaps avoidable, that loss was.
Director-producer Greg Barker ("Ghosts of Rwanda") uses the typical tools of the documentarian — film footage, interviews, photographs, some reenactments, expository narration — but there is so much footage of the subject himself that his natural charisma (he has been compared to a cross between Bobby Kennedy and James Bond) and his passion for the United Nations need no explanation.
Neither do we have to rely on descriptions of the bombing itself. Because a news conference was going on at the Canal Hotel, the explosion and its horrific aftermath are all caught on film. The interview subjects are likewise vivid and captivating: the words and still palpable grief of De Mello's mother Gilda, his fiancée Carolina Larriera, and his bodyguard Gaby Pichon create a portrait of a complicated and gifted man while commentary from Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Richard Holbrooke (former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.) and L. Paul Bremer (former U.S. administrator of Iraq) make clear the unique and lionized role De Mello held in diplomatic circles.
And then there is the story told by U.S. Army Reservist William von Zehle and Army medic Andre Valentine, who spent hours trying to free De Mello, and American professor Gil Loescher, who had been in a meeting with De Mello when the blast occurred.
Because the story of the rescue attempt — Loescher was finally freed after a double leg amputation — is so powerful, "Sergio" does, at times, feel like two films, one the biopic of a fascinating international force, the other a blow-by-blow recounting of a heroic rescue attempt. And though it was inevitable that a man's life cannot be done justice in a 95-minute documentary, the balance often tips in favor of the rescue attempt to the detriment of the man himself.
But the prolonged narrative of the rescue is not just dramatic, it's weighted with meaning. Had Von Zehle and Valentine been given the necessary resources, De Mello might well have been saved and, it is surmised, the course of the war in Iraq altered. Instead, De Mello became a victim of the very problem he was sent to resolve — a lack of communication, cultural understanding and resources. Though the danger to De Mello and the U.N. was clear from the get-go, there had been no preparation, and when the explosion occurred, chaos reigned for hours.
Chaos that still clearly reverberates almost seven years later.
Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site. These sites are not operated by the Los Angeles Times. The Times Editorial staff is not involved in any way with Green Links or with these third-party sites. | <urn:uuid:a59961aa-b003-48a1-94e3-41e048c421bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/06/entertainment/la-et-sergio-20100506 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965104 | 980 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Firms inflated CEO pay by as much as 10 percent by benchmarking compensation with top-paying peers
IU Kelley School research shows 2006 SEC regulation is likely keeping a lid on pay increases
July 26, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Explosive growth in CEO pay has led some critics to question whether firms are biased in how they determine executive compensation.
In fact, companies that used compensation peer groups to determine executive pay did artificially inflate such compensation -- but only by approximately 10 percent, according to research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
The study is among the earliest to analyze data resulting from a 2006 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandate that companies disclose members and benchmarks in compensation peer groups, which compensation committees create to ensure executives are paid at levels that will retain and attract top talent. The research examines each firms' first fiscal year ending after the law's compliance date.
Findings show that companies in the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 and S&P MidCap 400 justified and increased compensation by benchmarking senior executive pay levels against top-paying competitive peer groups -- usually about 20 companies similar in such things as industry, size, visibility, CEO responsibility and talent flow. This was most prevalent among firms where CEOs chaired the board of directors and had lengthy tenures as chief executives, which enabled them to directly influence their own pay.
"There are two basic schools of thought on this issue: either CEOs are unduly inflating their paychecks or they're 'super talents,' akin to athletes and celebrities, who deserve to be compensated accordingly," says Jun Yang, assistant professor of finance at the Kelley School and co-author of the study.
"Our findings fall somewhere in the middle, demonstrating that while CEOs did seek to influence their pay, the increases they were getting from such efforts are not as much as critics have suggested," she added.
According to Yang, the retroactive nature of the law -- it required firms to reveal data on compensation decisions made before the legislation passed -- offers a rare glimpse of how companies behave when they don't expect to be scrutinized.
"Some critics have expressed surprise that firms and CEOs in particular didn't inflate their pay more, considering they weren't anticipating disclosure," she said. "Today, the practice is likely more honest now that companies know the government is paying attention."
Yang co-authored the study, "Inside the Black Box: The Role and Composition of Compensation Peer Groups" with Michael Faulkender at University of Maryland. It appeared in the May issue of | <urn:uuid:92c5a3d9-849f-414d-8ed8-36f1b5f601d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kelley.iu.edu/News/List/page38118.cfm?itemurl=/cms/include/newsmedia/items/15051.html.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961749 | 520 | 1.664063 | 2 |
All so-called Main Streets are not alike. In Manhattan, main thoroughfares like Broadway, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street have gone through massive changes- yet they maintain anchor tenants that bring people back over and over. So it is with the Bowery. In the third installment of the Main Street NYC project, WNYC's Brigid Bergin takes us to a five-block stretch of this street with an infamous reputation and ongoing transformation.
Main Street NYC Pictures, audio and more
REPORTER: For most of the last century...you didn't visit the Bowery -- unless you had a very specific reason to be here.
ROMERO: I learned about the Bowery Mission because I used to be a counselor and I used to bring people here to get help. Little did I know that I would be one walking through those doors one day.
REPORTER: 39-year-old Alejandro Romero says when he arrived at 227-229 Bowery....he was a functioning addict.
He was getting high at night and working as a counselor at a homeless shelter during the day.
But last July....Romero says he was the one that needed the help.
ROMERO: It was like 2 o'clock in the morning and....... I....I....had two dollars in my pocket and I said I could take these two dollars and flip it....or I could take these two dollars and get on a train and come to these reds doors. And I prayed and the next thing I knew I was on the train.
REPORTER: Romero moved into the residential rehab program....which is housed on the upper floors of the one of the Mission's 2 buildings.
Most people don't live here but they come here to eat.
The Bowery Mission brings hundreds of people hundreds of men to the street every week.
Most men don't live here but the staff says it serves 820 hot meals a day, a five percent increase over this time last year.
The Mission is an institution that has managed to hold on to its Manhattan location, primarily because the Christian Herald, a faith based organization, has owned the buildings since 1909.
So if places like the Mission made the Bowery a destination of last resort the restaurant supply stores do just the opposite.
Think of it like this, the city has some 1500 pizza shops and here's where they shop for equipment.
CARONE: Basically everybody comes down. They price everything up and down the block....It's always coming down to the Bowery to get the best deal.
REPORTER: Nicholas Carone works here at Bari Pizzeria and Restaurant Equipment.
CARONE: One guy just came in to buy a fryer. I just matched the price and he's coming back with the money cause they like doing business with us because we're a big company been here forever so...
REPORTER: The family has owned the business since the 1930's.... And they own both sides of the street.
They're now trying to lease an empty store front. They also own the single room occupancy hotel upstairs, one of the remaining few....
CARONE: We keep hustling you know....gotta keep hustling to bring in revenue.
REPORTER: Owning real estate is certainly one way to buffer against prevailing economic trends... but it took years of prosperity in New York City for this street to finally lose its "down and out" image.... Now it's trendy...even touristy.
One major draw stands 7-stories tall.
It's a series of silver blocks emblazoned with a multicolor sign that says Hell, Yes.
Started as an idea in 1977, it was the brainchild of Marcia Tucker. Temporary galleries grew into the New Musuem which opened some 30 years later in 2007.
A week before the opening, WNYC spoke executive director Lisa Phillips about the Museum's role in gentrifying the neighborhood.
PHILLIPS: Well we expected there would be changes in the neighborhood. But we didn't expect it would happen so fast. And we thougt we'd kind of be alone for a while.
But the New Museum won't alone for long. A new crop of galleries sprang up attracting different people to the neighborhood.
Sarah Beatty's hoping those people will become her customers.
BEATTY: When we were thinking about our live stores and our flagship space...we really wanted it to be a monument to the possibilities of green.
REPORTER: Beatty is the owner and founder of Green Depot.... the Bowery's latest eco-friendly outpost.
It sells things like those compact fluorescent light bulbs. Locally-made, chemical free cleaning products. And even organic baby furniture.
Green isn't exactly a new thing here..
"Bowery" comes from the Dutch word meaning "farm". And the street itself was once the route to an actual farm owned by 17th century Manhattanite, Peter Stuyvesant.
Now with a Whole Foods just blocks away, offering that farm freshness, but at top dollar. Beatty hopes her store fits right in.
BEATTY: The Bowery, you know this is the next hot upcoming neighborhood in New York City and it's really about reinvention here and that's also why we selected this place.
REPORTER: That was the thinking behind another business farther up the block. That's having a hard time getting off the ground.
AYOUB: The project is a hotel. It's going to be the first green hotel.
REPORTER: At 250 Bowery, between Houston and Prince streets, Josef Ayoub spends most of his days sitting in a trailer next to a huge hole.
AYOUB: We finished with the 30 feet deep underpinning and the economy hit so right now we are on hold until the bank re-evaluate the budget.
REPORTER: Ayoub says the plan is to build an an 8-story, 72-room luxury green hotel.
Right now the site is fenced off with blue plywood, and there's no sign of construction going on here. He spends his days trying to shave expenses from the budget, and asking contractors to understand the complexities associated with green building.
But for now he's waiting for the another kind of green. He's watching the economy.
AYOUB: It's very hard to predict. I wanted to start today. I wanted to go back, but it's very hard for the whole entire country so, I don't know.
REPORTER: The feeling of uncertainty is not unique to the Bowery, but the sense of which direction this main street will go, returning to its rough and tumble 20th century identity or picking up where developers left off, is what we'll be watching.
For WNYC, I'm Brigid Bergin. | <urn:uuid:a7cae912-7081-4ea9-a324-b5d8d8ab8a9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2009/mar/20/main-street-nyc-the-bowery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962961 | 1,434 | 1.523438 | 2 |
"Dr. Ruth Patrick's outstanding career with The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia has spanned seven decades and her work has set the standard for how the environmental health of rivers and streams is evaluated," DRBC Chairman Kevin C. Donnelly said. Donnelly, who represents Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner on the federal-interstate commission, added, "We are thrilled to have Dr. Patrick join us today as we recognize her extensive contributions to riverine science and management."
At a ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at its headquarters in West Trenton, N.J., the commission also released a concept design plan to improve the courtyard. "This design plan, which was shaped by comments received from DRBC staff, highlights the Delaware River Basin Commission and will provide an opportunity for visitors to enjoy the space while learning about the watershed environment," DRBC Executive Director Carol R. Collier said. "Naming this planned courtyard makeover the 'Ruth Patrick River Garden' is a fitting tribute to a pioneer whose work in the Delaware River Basin dates back to 1945."
Dr. Patrick in the 1940s developed a new scientific method to assess the health of freshwater systems (lakes, streams, and rivers) involving the study of changes in abundance and diversity of plants, animals, and bacteria as a way to measure the impact of pollution and natural changes. She was one of only a handful of female ecologists at the time and her method is still used today.
Born in Kansas, she has lived and worked in the Delaware River Basin her entire professional career. Dr. Patrick has been associated with The Academy of Natural Sciences since 1933 and continues to spend time in her office there every day. In 1947,
Contact: Carolyn Belardo
The Academy of Natural Sciences | <urn:uuid:da048726-6309-46e6-80cf-0620c63b0312> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-3/Pioneering-ecologist-Ruth-Patrick-honored-by-Federal-State-Commission-8898-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961531 | 359 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Only last week, a rather large space rock entered the Earth's atmosphere and ended up crashing in Russia's Chelyabinsk region.
As reported, this led to several meteorite collectors' packing their bags and heading towards this part of the world. Needless to say, Russian scientists were quick in going public with the news that they would also be searching for bits and pieces of this space rock.
Information recently made available to the general public by police officials in Russia says that one man living in the area of the meteor crash saw fit to make some money by trying to sell so-called meteor fragments online.
Unfortunately for both this entrepreneur and his potential customers, the country's authorities were quick in learning all about his plan.
Thus, after tracking this man down, they paid him a home visit and seized the 60 grams (approximately 0.13 pounds) of supposed out-of-space material that he was trying to sell.
As was to be expected, researchers have also got involved in the attempt to sort out this issue, their goal being that of figuring out whether or not the rock fragments this man made available for purchase online did in fact come from the meteor.
reports that, according to scientists working with NASA, the space rock that shook up Russian Chelyabinsk region was big enough for some bits and pieces of it to have successfully survived the crash.
By the looks of it, some of the alleged meteor fragments that could hit the online market within the following days might be big enough to sell for a whopping $16,600 (roughly €12,435).
On the other hand, rumor has it that slightly smaller fragments would have a starting price of just $330 (about €245).
For the time being, Russian police officers and Russian scientists are asking that people refrain from purchasing such meteor fragments, seeing how they cannot be truly sure that they are in fact getting their money's worth. | <urn:uuid:e5b92c86-b55e-435d-b178-9dd781d55218> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.softpedia.com/news/Russian-Meteor-Fragments-Hit-the-Online-Market-330792.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979279 | 390 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Tips Tuesday: Encouraging Sustainable Behavior In, Away From the Workplace
How to Get a Green Team Started in Four Steps
Green Team volunteers are any employee within the company who share a vision to develop a more sustainable workplace. By soliciting volunteers from various departments, green team activities are linked to corporate sustainability objectives from a cross-functional perspective.
1. Establish top management support to facilitate decision making, perhaps by including a member of the executive staff on the green team. This provides management perspective on actionable plans and sets expectations for team direction of and potential funding.
2. Limit the team’s size, while including members from various departments, (such as sales, operations, etc.) to relay the cross functional impact and purpose, size limitation with balanced representation promotes efficiency.
3. Create an environment of creativity. An open forum fosters creativity and your volunteers’ best efforts to promote cost savings while simultaneously saving the earth’s resources.
4. Determine your company's goals given the resources at hand. Should you start with the basics, such as recycling programs or employee awareness? Can the company look further down the road and green its facilities or operations or its product/services?
Source: The City of Plano, Texas | <urn:uuid:ead70467-ae52-49bc-86a1-74bc0e17db28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eponline.com/Articles/2012/01/17/Tips-Sustainability-in-the-Workplace.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943698 | 257 | 2.28125 | 2 |
As Ray mentioned yesterday, there haven't been many air quality events in the last couple of days and the trend continues. Today California was the only state to record unhealthy levels of ozone for sensitive groups (code orange), Moderate levels were also observed in Texas. The areas of code yellow (moderate AQI) in the South and Midwest in today's AQI animation from AIRNow were due to PM2.5. Below is the animated loop of combined AQI (PM2.5 + O3) in California, and in the entire US.
OMI retrievals of tropospheric NO2 (left) over California shows higher concentration over the areas that experienced poor air quality. AOD retrievals from MODIS Aqua (right) shows sightly elevated values only over Nevada today. | <urn:uuid:57903b1c-499b-41cb-aeff-c93ef509a021> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alg.umbc.edu/usaq/archives/004316.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965873 | 161 | 1.773438 | 2 |
son of EDWARD & JUDITH
Generation No. 2
JOHN2 MARTYN/MARTIN (EDWARD1 MARTYN) was born February 22, 1634 in Ottery, St. Mary, Devonshire, England1, and died March 21, 1713 in Rehoboth, MA. He married JOANNA (EUSTANCE) ESTEN February 26, 1671 in Swansea, MA2,3,4,5, daughter of THOMAS ESTEN and ANN THOMAS.
Notes for JOANNA ESTEN:
Death date is March 23, 1733.
Notes for JOHN MARTYN/MARTIN:
John Martyn/Martin's parents were Edward Martin and Judith Upham The only information I have on them at this time (1999) is their marriage certificate in Bicton, England and an article on the Upham family . Contrary to several of the Martyn/Martin genealogies and "Daughters and Sons of the Pilgrims", , Edward was the father of John and not Richard. John himself was the emigrant. This is proven by a copy of John's baptismal certificate from Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, England. Edward and Judith Martyn did not come to America. John Martyn himself changed the spelling of his name to Martin. In some instances you will find it was spelled Marten.
It is not known exactly when and where John first came to the United States of America. According to various historical pieces including the Snow-Estes Ancestry, he was in the USA/Massachusetts as early as 1658 to appear in a court case for the Upham family. Snow-Estes Ancestry states:" A legal record states that John Martin, living in his uncle Upham's household testified in the suit of Priscilla Upham versus Paul Nixon, June 15. 1658.
We know he was here by 1670 because of the tax list and he was definitely here by 1671 as this is the marriage date for him to Joanna Esten. Our John was the John Martin of Swansea, Massachusetts and not the John Martin of Rehoboth. The John Martin of Rehoboth was indeed Richard's son. However, in later years our John of Swansea did purchase land from John of Rehoboth and moved to Rehoboth, Massachusetts. This very thing at times caused confusion in trying to track our John and is probably the reason for the discrepancy in some of the "Martin" genealogies and in the "Daughters and Sons of the Pilgrims". We have the right John Martin, his ancestors and his descendants, as I have spent much time in proving his ancestry and descendancy and in many cases obtaining documentation to prove these facts.
The three Rank System of which our John was in the 3rd rank was devised by Captain Willett in June of 1681. It placed the heads-of-family into three ranks, based on each man's influence and usefulness. People in the first rank received one acre of land. The first rank consisted of the proprietors who had bough Swansea. The second rank included those who rendered services, such as millers, coopers and carpenters. The third-rank people were young couples recently married and relatives, such as cousins and younger siblings of upper rank people.
The following excerpts are from an article sent to me by Judy Needham. The article is typewritten ,very yellowed with age and is around 70 yrs. old. Judy thinks it could be from Charles B. Martin, who also left a hand written sheet dated July 22, 1933 of the ancestry of Elizabeth Martin and her 4th cousin Mabel Martin.
"In 1662 John built a house on the Barrington River, in that part of Swansea now Barrington, a title recently found shows its date. In 1673 20 of 5th m. John bought a house and 18 acres of land adjoining it, of Nath. Paine and Israel Peck and this house he deeded in 1707 April 11 to his son Ebenezer. The house was built near the Barrington Bridge.
"In his will signed 1711 Aug. 28, pro. 1713 AP 6 , he divides his land valued at £432 between his 4 sons, his moveables valued at £102 between all his children; wife a life interest n both and appointed Ex. with son Ebenezer. Wit. John Bosworth, Jabez Bosworth, Philip Short. Inventory taken by Joseph Mason, John West. His Bible printed in 1678 left to his son Meletiah and his staff left to his son John are now in the possession of the latter's descendant, Susan Martin, the wife of Fred Allien of New York City. The "Book Grantham" left to his "nine children to read at their own homes: is a folio of about six hundred pages entitled: "Christianismus Primitivus" by Thos. Grantham London 1676. In 1869 it came into possession of Henry Martin author of the Martin Gen. Printed 1880."
Will of John Martin -submitted by Joyce O'Connell in 1999
The will was hard to read but lists wife, Joana Martin and was signed August 28, 1711. Probated April 6, 1713.
Malatiah, John and Ephraim (land which he had purchased from John Martin of Rehoboth, the other John Martin). Manasseh, Ebenezer and daughters and Jemina and Ann did not appear to be mentioned. In the will ₤5 each was to be given to Joana and Judith. The sons appeared to have all received land grants. It was very hard to read , Joyce O'Connell said and did her best to decipher it.
by Martin Irons--Taken from "Notices, Genealogical and Historical,of the Martin Family of New England....etc",
Henry J. Martin, 1880, pp 64-66:
John Martin's Will in its entirety listed in the Snow-Estes Ancestry reads: I typed it as was written
"In the name of God Amen --- this 28th August 1711, John Martin of the town of Swansey in the County of Bristol of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England weaver being in & of good sense and soundness & perfect memory praise be to the Almighty God for the same. I knowing the uncertainty of my life and desiring to settle that outward estate which the Lord hath given me.
I do here make this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say --First and Principally I do remmit my soul to God Almighty my Creator hoping to receive the full pardon of all my sins and salvation through the alone merits of Christ Jesus my Redeemer who was delivered for my offences and rose again for my justification and my body to be decently buried.
As touching that worldly estate the Lord hath given me I will that all my lawful debts be paid
And the rest it is my will to bestow it in manner & form following--I do hereby revoke & renounce & make void all other wills made & declare and appoint this to be my last will and testament.
Imps-I do give and bequeath to my beloved wife Joana Martin all that messuage farm or tenement dwelling houses meadows with all priviledges & appurtenances thereunto belonging and likewise all moveables during her natural life or remaining my widow.
I do give unto my son Melatiah Martin all that my forty acres of land that I bought of Samuel Paine & Joseph Brown as by deed doth appear which is in his possess to him his heirs forever, my long table bench & my bible.
To my son John Martin twenty acres of land which he hath in his possession and also my spit & staff I do give to my son Ephraim two and twenty acres which is in his possession which I bought of John Martin of Rehoboth as doth appear by deed to him & his heirs forever--Also my Great Gunn I give unto my son Manasseth three score acres of land that I bought of Mr. Paine of Bristol as doth by deed appear at a place commonly called Munukeg to him & his heirs forever & do give him my cross cut saw and frowes.
I do give to my son Ebeneser Martin all that messuage farms tenement housing lands salt meadow six acres of swamp land barns & all other edifices buildings belonging to me after my wives decease Joana Martin to him his heirs forever.
It is my will that Ebeneser pay to his two sisters Joana & Judith five pounds to each of them in money or equivalent to money out of my estate that I have given him, two years after my decease. I do give to my son Ebeneser of moveables my Loombs & furniture. Also one pair of plow irons the greates draft chaine, one hoe one ax the crow of iron the Grindstone & the sider mill. It is will that the rest of the moveables without doors to be divided between my other four sons Melatiah John Epharim Manaseth and my four daughters that is to say that without doors between them all but that within doors my household stuff only my four daughters to be divided between them four.
I do leave James Hill with my wife to dispose of & what undivided land there is in the town with my wife & Ebeneser.
I do give my Book Grantham equally to my children to read in when they please at their own homes.
This I do declare to be my last will and testament & no other
JOHN MARTIN (seal)
Bristol s.s. 11: April the 6th 1713
Then before me Natha' Paine Esq. Judge of Probate of Wills & c withn the sd. County appeared the witnesses of the above written will of Mr. John Martin namely John Bosworth, Jabes Bosworth, Philip Short and made oath that they were present & did see 7 hear the sd. John Martin late deceased sign seal and publish the same as his last will and testament & that to the best of their apprehension he was of a disposing mind when he so did
NATHA'PAINE JOHN CARY. Reg.
Entered April the 13th, 1713 by John Carey Register
Identification of 1675 Swansea Inhabitants per list.
Martin, John 43 John 3
Joanna Esten or Enstance 30 Jemima 3; Melatiah 2
Marriage Notes for JOHN MARTYN/MARTIN and JOANNA ESTEN:
Another source says marriage is April 26, 1671
Children of JOHN MARTYN/MARTIN and JOANNA ESTEN are:
1. JEMIMA3 MARTIN, b. May 29, 1672, Swansea, MA; d. Bef. 1785, Milton, Norfolk, MA.
2. MALATIAH MARTIN, b. August 31, 1673, Swansea, MA; d. January 30, 1761, Swansea, MA.
3. JOHN MARTIN, b. March 15, 1674, Swansea, MA; d. November 3, 1757, Swansea, MA.
4. EPHRAIM MARTIN, b. February 7, 1676, Swansea, MA; d. June 25, 1734, Rehoboth, MA.
5. ANNE MARTIN, b. November 14, 1678, Warren, RI; d. November 15, 1759, Attleborough, MA.
6. MANASSAH MARTIN, b. February 2, 1681, Swansea, MA; d. March 20, 1754, Warwick, RI.
7. JOANNA MARTIN, b. February 15, 1683, Swansea, MA; d. Barrington, RI.
8. EBINEZER MARTIN, b. February 16, 1684, Swansea, MA; d. 1727, Barrington, RI.
9. JUDETH MARTIN, b. November 13, 1686, Swansea, MA; m. JOHN LUTHER, December 24, 1713, Swansea, MA.
(I have no other information on Judeth Martin & her descendants at this time 1999).
10. HANNAH MARTIN, m. PHILIPPE SHORTE.
( I have no other information on Hannah Martin & her descendants at this time 1999).
1. Ottery St. Mary, England Parish Register, Baptisms 1630-1640. Copy obtained from the Devon Record Office in Exeter, England
2. Bicton Parish Register: marriages, 1632. Copy obtained from the Devon Record Office in Exeter, England
3. Torrey's New England Marriages prior to 1700, Page 492.
4. Early Vital Records of Massachusetts.
5. Marriage Index for Massachusetts, 1633-1850.
6. Broderbund Family Archives, CD # 231.
7. Swansea Vital Records.
8. All sources of Malatiah's children were verified by the Vital Records.., Birth, death, marriage.
9. Swansea Vital Records.
10. Rehoboth Vital Records.
11. All John's children verified thru vital records.
12. Will of John Martin.
13. Swansea Vital Records.
14. Rehoboth Vital Records.
15. Family History Library, Film #0562559.
16. Rehoboth Vital Records.
17. Swansea Massachusetts Vital Records.
18. Swansea Massachusetts Vital Records, Death Certificate # 2 242.
19. Swansea Massachusetts Vital Records.
20. Swansea Massachusetts Vital Records, Birth Record #1 108.
21. Probated Will of Seth Martin.
22. Swansea Massachusetts Vital Records, Marriage Certificate.
23. Will from Duchess County, NY, Abstracts of Wills, Vol. VIII 1771-1776.
24. Birth Record of Swansea Massachusetts, Certificate # 2 222.
25. Grafton New Hampshire, Death Certificate.
26. Razor Hill Cemetery Records in Grafton, NH.
27. Rehoboth Vital Records, Marriage License #3 342.
28. Pension papers of Seth's from the Revolutionary War.
29. NH Vital Records, Birth Certificate.
30. NH Vital Records, Death Certificate.
31. Rehoboth Vital Records.
32. All Levi's children verified thru vital records, Grafton, NH.
33. History of Grafton County, NH.
34. Razor Hill Cemetery Records in Grafton, NH.
35. Rehoboth Cemetery Records.
36. Rehoboth Vital Records.
37. Rehoboth Cemetery Records.
38. Rehoboth Vital Records.
39. New Hampshire Vital Records.
40. Seth Martin's (Sylvester's dad) Will.
41. Razor Hill Cemetery Records in Grafton, NH.
42. Seth Martin's (Mary's dad) Will.
43. Razor Hill Cemetery Records in Grafton, NH.
44. NH Vital Records, Birth Certificate.
45. 1810 census record of Grafton, NH.
46. Greene County, IL, Death Certificate.
47. Seth wrote Mary as his wife on the land title he quit claim deeded over to his brother in 1839.
48. Callaway County, MO, Marriage License.
49. NH Vital Records, Birth Certificate.
50. NH Vital Records, Marriage Certificate.
51. NH Vital Records, Death Certificate.
52. Razor Hill Cemetery Records in Grafton, NH.
53. 1870 census record of Calhoun County, IL.
54. Greene County Illinois Courthouse, Death Certificate.
55. 50th Wedding Anniversary article in the Carrollton Illinois Newspaper, Obituary.
56. License # 7065, Married by R.S. Cole MG.
57. Information on Martha from Phyllis Martin Suhre.
58. NH Vital Records, Birth Certificate.
59. NH Vital Records, Marriage Certificate.
60. Information on Mary Elizabeth's family from Phyllis Martin Suhre.
61. Information on Stephen Lee Martin's family from Phyliss Martin Suhre.
62. Information from Phyliss Suhre, his daughter.
63. Obituary from the Carrollton Newspaper.
64. 50th Wedding Anniversary article in the Carrollton Illinois Newspaper.
65. Information on Carl Martin came from son Wesley Martin.
66. His son Wesley Martin.
67. Information on Neva came from Margaret Devine and Janet Martin.
68. Article in the Carrollton Newspaper.
69. All information on Robert's family from his daughter Cathie Jo Martin.
70. Early History of Swansea and Rehoboth
71. Information on Charlene's family came from Charlene Martin | <urn:uuid:cb6d31ce-0a8c-43b3-a8c0-f567b03c7e04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.angelfire.com/home/hammartin/john_martyn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941976 | 3,591 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Hate crimes in the U.S. and Judaism
Jewish Ideas Daily linked today to a piece from January 11 in the National Review by David J. Rusin called "Hate Crime Stats Deflate 'Islamophobia' Myth". While I don't agree with conclusion of Rusin's analysis (Islamophobia is a myth) or his suggestion that Muslim rights advocates are exaggerating hate crimes to silence critics, I found the data on which the article was based very interesting.
The FBI released its Hate Crime Statistics report for 2011 last month. You can read the report here. According to the FBI, the most frequent hate crime bias (almost half of all hate crimes) is racial, with 72% of incidents of racially-biased hate crimes having an anti-black motivation. The next biggest bias at 20.8% was sexual orientation, or anti-gay. Next on the list was religious hate crimes, coming in between 18-19% of all hate crimes reported in 2011. The overwhelming majority of those hate crimes were anti-Jewish (62.2%).
Rusin is correct in pointing out that hate crimes against Muslims happen far less frequently than against other groups in the United States, however, 175 instances of hate crimes directed against Muslims is not something to dismiss as trivial.
Over 2600 hate crimes against blacks were reported to the FBI in 2011. 1572 hate crimes were reported against homosexuals and 935 hate crimes were reported against Jews.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there were 1,080 anti-Semitic incidents reported in the U.S. in 2011, a decrease of 13% from 2010. The ADL numbers are higher than those of the FBI because they include non-criminal as well as criminal instances of harassment.
Hate crimes overall are down according to the FBI, which is a good thing. But the U.S. still has a long way to go before the promise of American equality and liberty is available to all Americans. | <urn:uuid:0c063e85-38df-4b37-8719-722a7fbedc83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.patricia-osullivan.com/2013/01/hate-crimes-in-us-and-judaism.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985498 | 405 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Letter: Neither side has economic answers
I don't really know which one is more pro-poverty: the Republicans opposed to a higher minimum wage ["The minimum wage debate," Letters, June 18], or the Democrats opposed to tax breaks for corporations.
Well-paid workers become consumers, investors, active citizens and taxpayers. Poorly paid workers can't purchase much, can't afford to invest, don't have time to volunteer in their communities when they're working three jobs to pay the rent, and are likely to cost more in food stamps and other social welfare programs than they'll ever pay in taxes.
High-taxed companies don't hire, don't promote, don't reinvest, and they take their business -- and jobs -- elsewhere. Low-taxed companies create jobs, reinvest, develop new products and contribute to a growing economy. That's why Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan have done so well.
Low-taxed companies would do the same in America provided they were forbidden to replace citizens' jobs with cheap foreign labor and put those billions of dollars into research and development instead of golden parachutes and Christmas bonuses for underachieving executives.
Paul Manton, Levittown | <urn:uuid:ee1a88cf-9c0b-4deb-aa68-2eb3095ee255> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsday.com/opinion/letters/letter-neither-side-has-economic-answers-1.3792657 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975914 | 243 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The bodies of the executed hang limp as the spectators begin to leave.
“Please don’t let me fall.” So went the last words spoken by Mary Surratt. It was a desperate plea before she did indeed fall – to her death, at the end of a hangman’s noose. The demise of Surratt – and three of the other convicted conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln – marked the end of a trial and execution that remains controversial to this day, almost 150 years later.
Crowd gathering for the execution, as seen from the roof of the Old Arsenal Penitentiary, where it took place
Following the shooting of President Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, a massive manhunt was launched to find the killer and his fellow conspirators. The group had also attempted, unsuccessfully, to assassinate Secretary of State William H. Seward and Vice President Andrew Johnson. Seward was badly wounded with a knife by Lewis Powell, while the assassination of Johnson was aborted as George Atzerodt fled to Washington. Booth was discovered and shot dead at a farmhouse in northern Virginia, thus escaping the trial and execution faced by his captured accomplices.
The condemned conspirators on the scaffold with officers, while guards lined up along the wall.
It was stiflingly hot on July 7, 1865, the day the four prisoners were led out to the gallows. Earlier that morning, the condemned – Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell (or Payne), David Herold and George Atzerodt – had listened anxiously to the sounds of the gallows being tested. The noise of the traps swinging open below the nooses must have driven home that these were the final hours of their lives.
General John F. Hartranft reads the death warrant to the condemned awaiting their fate on the scaffold.
The order for the executions had come only a day before, on July 6, with the news delivered to the prisoners in sealed envelopes. We can only imagine the alarm that the four convicted conspirators must have felt upon finding out that not only were they to be executed, but that, more shockingly, it was to happen scarcely 24 hours later. Right until her death, many still hoped that Surratt, at least, would have her sentence reduced, and efforts by her daughter and others to secure clemency continued up until the last moment. Five of the nine judges involved even recommended as much to new president Andrew Johnson, but the order was never signed.
The ropes of the nooses are adjusted.
Charged with aiding and abetting as well as concealing, harboring and counseling the other defendants, Surratt would eventually be found guilty of treason, conspiracy and plotting the murder of Lincoln. The others were all also convicted for their parts in the conspiracy – Powell for his botched attempt at murdering Secretary of State Seward, Herold for assisting Powell and helping Booth escape (although Booth himself claimed Herold was innocent), and Atzerodt for planning to assassinate the Vice President.
Lawyers for Surratt pleaded that she was innocent and had not been connected to the plot in any way – a defense that many still believe today. Powell’s counsel, meanwhile, claimed that he was driven by near insanity; Herold’s put forward that he was weak-minded and trifling; and Atzerodt’s argued that he was too much of a coward to have played a major part in the conspiracy. All these arguments were rejected, however, and the accused were found guilty and sentenced to execution.
Guards look on prior to the bodies being cut down.
At precisely 1.02pm on July 7, Surratt, Powell, Herold and Atzerodt were led into the courtyard of the Old Arsenal Penitentiary, where they were being detained, and shuffled past the pine coffins and freshly dug graves that awaited them. It’s difficult to know what would have inspired more fear in the four convicted conspirators – the newly built boxes or the recently tested gallows.
The pine coffins and open graves await the bodies of the condemned.
The procession of the condemned was led by Surratt, who was to have the dubious distinction of being the first woman to be executed by the United States federal government. Weak from weeping and the severe stomach cramps she had been suffering – and doubtless crippled by fear – Surratt needed the support of soldiers and priests to make it across the courtyard.
Powell, who had attempted suicide during the trial, needed no such help. Although he, like the other two men, wore manacles, he moved along confidentially, “like a king about to be crowned,” as one journalist described him. The remaining two prisoners, Herold and Atzerodt, did not seem quite so enthusiastic about their impending deaths and shambled along anxiously.
Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the US federal government
The expressions on the faces of the assembled crowd that day would likely have ranged from satisfaction and somber determination to morbid curiosity, detached interest and even grief. Over a thousand people witnessed proceedings in the courtyard that day, including government officials, soldiers, reporters, witnesses, and friends and family of the condemned.
Among the crowd were less than 200 eager onlookers who had managed to secure passes to the execution. The hanging of the conspirators in the President’s assassination was a major event, and the demand for these tickets far outnumbered what was available.
Lewis Payne, born as Lewis Powell. The jaw on the left side of his face was disfigured by a donkey's kick when he was a child.
There would likely have been the scent of wood in the air from the hastily built scaffold as the four doomed prisoners climbed the steps to the waiting nooses. At the top they were given chairs to sit in, and their arms were bound to their bodies and legs tied together with cloth, Surratt’s bindings over her dress. The condemned woman must have made a grim figure, dressed as if for a funeral (which in a sense she was), entirely in black – dress, bonnet and veil.
Once they had been tied up securely and given time to speak with clergymen, the condemned were made to stand again while the nooses were looped around their necks. The final touches were the white hoods that were placed over their heads. From the scaffold, Powell spoke up for Surratt, proclaiming her innocence and adding, “She doesn't deserve to die with the rest of us." However, nothing could be done to stop the execution by now.
David E. Herold. In his defense it was claimed he had the mind of an 11-year-old.
It is said that, as he adjusted the noose around Powell’s neck, the hangman whispered in the prisoner’s ear, “I want you to die quick” (which is probably about the best you can wish someone who is about to be hanged). “You know best,” replied Powell. Yet a quick death was not to be his fate.
Surratt complained about the tightness of the bindings around her wrist, to which she was rather cruelly – if accurately – answered, “Well, it won’t hurt long.” The four prisoners were maneuvered onto the traps that would open beneath them, and it was then that Surratt made her wretched entreaty that she not be allowed to fall.
George Atzerodt, one of whose acquaintances would describe him at the trial as a "notorious coward"
The condemned prisoners stood there for a few moments, under the blazing sun, and the hundreds of spectators must have held their breath. Then, at 1.26 pm, the executioner clapped his hands – the signal for the soldiers to knock down the drop supports. Atzerodt called out, “May we all meet in the other world. God take me now," just before he and his co-conspirators fell several feet, before being jerked up by the rope.
Mary Surratt appeared to die the quickest, her body going rigid at the end of the rope and swinging to and fro. David Herold also shuddered briefly before his body went still. George Atzerodt and Lewis Powell, however, continued to move about wildly as they were slowly strangled by the ropes, struggling for several minutes or more. Powell may have even taken more than five minutes to die, and twice he was said to have drawn his legs up before finally succumbing to death.
President Abraham Lincoln, who was shot on April 14, 1865 and died the following morning
The bodies were checked by a doctor to ensure that they were dead, and about half an hour after the hanging were cut down. They were buried in their nearby shallow graves, with the hoods still in place. However, later modifications to the prison meant that the bodies were to be dug up from where they lay.
Surratt’s body was returned to her family and buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Washington D.C. Herold’s family interred his remains at Congressional Cemetery, also in Washington D.C., while Atzerodt was buried at St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Baltimore. Mysteriously, in 1992 Powell’s skull turned up at the Smithsonian Anthropology Department. It has since been re-buried at the Geneva Cemetery in Florida, next to his mother.
The Presidential Box at Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was assassinated
To this day, there are those who believe the trial and subsequent executions were unfair. These observers point to the questionable levels of proof, the shortage of time the defense were given to prepare, and the withholding of possible evidence, amongst other issues. Critics are particularly vocal about the hanging of Mary Surratt, who they believe could not be adequately tied to the conspiracy.
John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln’s assassin, up until then known as a famous stage actor
As with any major event of this nature, there are of course several outlandish conspiracy theories, including those that implicate the Pope and Vice President Andrew Johnson. However, so far none of these has been taken particularly seriously.
The exterior of Ford's Theater, draped with black crepe
Perhaps we will never completely know the true story behind the assassination and the exact roles of a devout Catholic widow (Surratt), a carriage repairman (Atzerodt), an assistant to an “Indian Herb” doctor (Herold), and a man who – despite the violent crime he almost certainly committed – in his youth was known for his kindness to animals (Powell). We do, however, have a record of their deaths in the photographs of Alexander Gardner, the only photographer who was permitted to attend the execution. | <urn:uuid:b513eac3-6144-497a-911e-e543d05a7522> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-hanging-conspirators-assassination-abraham-lincoln | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987829 | 2,259 | 2.75 | 3 |
Geneva, Switzerland, 31 March 2008 – Musicians from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan supported by the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia will be performing at the Louvre Auditorium on the 5, 6 and 13th of April.
With the release of "Alim and Fargana Qasimov", six volumes of a ten-part series created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution are now available. For more information, visit http://www.folkways.si.edu/ and enter "Central Asia" in the search box.Spiritual music from Azerbaijan will be performed by the world-renowned Alim and Fargana Qasimov on Saturday, 5 April 2008 at 2030, in the Louvre’s Auditorium. Music rooted in the nomadic traditions of the Tien Shan (“Celestial Mountains”) of the Kyrgyz Republic will be performed by Tengir-Too on Sunday, 6 April 2008 at 1730, in the Auditorium. Dushanbe-based Academy of Maqâm will perform traditional instrumental pieces, lyrical songs and contemplative poetry that are bound together in a vast, yet integrated artistic conception of great refinement and beauty. They will perform on Sunday, 13 April at 1700, also in the Auditorium.
Alim Qasimov is Azerbaijan’s best known and beloved singer, a virtuoso who is equally at home in the two musical domains central to Azeri musical culture: mugham, the classical art music that has flourished for centuries in the sophisticated cities of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia; and ashiq, the rural bardic tradition that is found in Turkey, Azerbaijan and the Azeri region of Iran. Qasimov has been awarded a number of prizes, including the prestigious IMC/UNESCO Music Prize, and has been hailed as “one of the greatest singers of the 20th century.” Fargana Qasimova, Alim’s daughter, is well on the way to becoming a great singer in her own right. Find out more.
Tengir-Too takes its name from the Tien Shan mountain range that towers over the high alpine passes linking Kyrgyzstan and China. Founded and directed by Nurlanbek Nyshanov, Tengir-Too provides a living laboratory for Nyshanov’s efforts to restore Kyrgyz music’s integrity and authenticity – not through an uncritical attempt to reproduce tradition, but by innovating within it. Nyshanov draws on his compositional skills to craft striking arrangements for small ensembles of repertories formerly performed by solo players. Members of Tengir-Too include Kenjegul Kubatova, whose lush alto voice is the perfect medium for Kyrgyz lyrical song and Gulbara Baigashkaeva, a master performer on the komuz – the three-stringed lute that Kyrgyz regard as their national instrument.. Tengir-Too performs with special guest Rysbek Jumabaev, a reciter of the great thousand-year-old Kyrgyz epic tale Manas. Find out more.
In Tajikistan, the leader of a movement to revive the tradition of Maqâm is Abduvali Abdurashidov. His Academy of Maqâm, supported by the Music Initiative, offers rigorous training to a highly select group of talented young performers. Maqâm are linked most strongly with Samarkand and Bukhara, which historically have been multicultural cities where performers and audiences included Tajiks, Uzbeks and Central Asian (Bukharan) Jews. With its Sufi-inspired texts, lyrical melodies, and austere instrumental accompaniment, maqâm comprises music of great refinement and profound beauty that spans the entire gamut of traditional social life, from prayer to dance. By reducing his ensemble to the essentials – a few voices, frame drum, and two or three long-necked lutes, including the rarely heard sato (bowed tanbur) – Abdurashidov achieves a remarkable clarity of texture and suppleness of form. Find out more.
All three groups are beneficiaries and long-term partners of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA), and its Supporting Tradition-Bearers and performance and Outreach programmes. AKMICA, an initiative created by His Highness the Aga Khan to help preserve Central Asia’s endangered musical heritage by ensuring its transmission to a new generation of artists and audiences, also supports a worldwide music touring programme and disseminates Central Asian music through a variety of media projects including an audio and video anthology co-produced with the Smithsonian Institution. All three groups performing at the Louvre are featured in the first six the CD/DVD series available on Smithsonian’s Folkways recordings. For more information, visit http://www.folkways.si.edu/ and enter “Central Asia” in the search box.
For more information about the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia, please see http://www.akdn.org/music.
For additional information on the performances at the Louvre, please consult the Auditorium section of www.louvre.fr.
For further information, please contact:
Aga Khan Development Network
P.O. Box 2049
1211 Geneva 2
Tel: (+41 22) 909 7277
Fax: (+41 22) 909 7292
Mobile: (+41 78) 661 8714
Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA):
Fairouz R. Nishanova
Aga Khan Trust for Culture
P.O. Box 2049
1211 Geneva 2
The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia was created in 2000 by His Highness the Aga Khan to contribute to the preservation, documentation, and further development of Central Asia’s musical heritage. The Music Initiative’s goals include revitalising important musical repertories by helping tradition-bearers pass on their knowledge and craft; building sustainable cultural institutions that can eventually be maintained by local organizations and communities; and supporting artists who are developing new approaches to the performance of Central Asian music. Worldwide, the Music Initiative strives to increase knowledge about Central Asia’s music and culture, particularly among students, and to nurture collaborations among musicians from different parts of Central Eurasia and beyond.
The Music Initiative is part of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture’s wide range of activities aimed at the preservation and promotion of the material and spiritual heritage of Muslim societies. As the cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), the Trust leverages cultural heritage as a means of supporting and catalysing development. Its programmes include the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme, which works to revitalise historic cities in the Muslim world - both culturally and socioeconomically. Over the last decade, it has rehabilitated historic areas in Cairo, Kabul, Herat, Aleppo, Delhi, Zanzibar, Mostar, the Northern Areas of Pakistan, Timbuktu and Mopti. The Trust’s other programmes include the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ArchNet.org, a major online resource on Islamic architecture, and Museums and Exhibitions, which is creating three museums in Cairo, Toronto and Zanzibar.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of private, non-denominational development agencies working to empower communities and individuals to improve living conditions and opportunities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East. The Network’s nine development agencies work in 29 countries, focusing on social, cultural and economic development for all citizens, regardless of gender, origin or religion. The AKDN’s underlying ethic is compassion for the vulnerable in society. Its annual budget for philanthropic activity is in excess of US$ 450 million.
© 2007 The Aga Khan Development Network. This is the only authorised Website of the Aga Khan Development Network. | <urn:uuid:13e82bc2-5b62-4c7e-84a8-3ed7b2f4fd2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.akdn.org/Content/396 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918655 | 1,706 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Discover the history of Jewish Paris. Tour the marias with a professional guide. 4 hour private walking tour.
Today, the Marais has become one of the trendiest districts in Paris, home to artists, writers and the urbane. While the residential community of Jews has decreased, the streets are still bustling with Jewish shops and restaurants. During your tour, you will visit:
-Rue de Rosier
The famous Rue de Rosier is the crown jewel, filled by people going to its numerous synagogues, Jewish bookshops, schools and falafel stands. Although designer clothes stores now compete for rental space with Jewish commerce, and old favorites such as Jo Goldenbergs Delicateseen have now closed, the rue du Rosier has still retained an authentic Jewish charm that has made it a hangout for the local community and a top choice on the list of Jewish heritage streets in Paris.
-Museum of Jewish Art and History
A must see for anyone with even a passing interest in Jewish Art or History. Located in a townhouse completed in 1650 for the Comte d’Avaux, Cardinal Mazarin’s superintendent of Finances, by the mid 19th century this residence had been completely transformed into a crowded tenement building and had taken on an important Jewish significance as a former place of refuge for Eastern European Jews. Today, after $40 million renovation, it is now a spectacular display case of paintings, textiles, ritual objects, historical documents and sculpture that provides the visitor with a vivid illustration of the Jewish experience in France.
Since the cornerstone of this memorial was laid in 1953, the act of paying tribute to the millions of Jewish lives lost in the Shoah has caused this building to grow in scope almost annually. This is one of the most important memorial of the Shoah in France, and includes mulitimedia presentations, a wall for 2,700 rightetous gentiles, and of course, various touching memorials for the 76,000 Jews deported from France.
Sorry, no images available for this tour. Please upload some images using the batch upload feature if you wish to use the slideshow feature.
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You need to be logged in to post a review. | <urn:uuid:46528905-16f2-47eb-b22a-223d98707c3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jlifeguides.com/en/travel/ile-de-france/paris/private-walking-tour-marais-paris-30/details.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940608 | 463 | 2.234375 | 2 |
The most important document to study will be the "hard-to-read" Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement between British Columbia and the Government of Canada signed in November 2009 (called the CITCA by tax geeks). The second most important document to read is the amendment letter to the CITCA signed in March 2010. A review of the original Memorandum of Understanding may also be helpful. There will be other relevant documents that will be made public voluntarily and through access to information requests to the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia. These documents will need to be reviewed carefully to determine the best plan to move forward.
What exactly will happen will happen in response to a "Yes" vote is yet to be determined. What we know is that many will not like the plan. The elimination of the Harmonized Sales Tax ("HST") in British Columbia will not happened immediately on August 26, 2011 if the "Yes" (anti-HST) vote is the successful side. People celebrating at bars and restaurants will see HST on their bills after the announcement.
Businesses will need time to adjust. This would be fair to the businesses who are, in reality, the tax collectors from the public. The businesses will need to know what to do and the mechanisms to collect another tax (even if it is the British Columbia social services tax) will have to be put in place. Businesses throughout Canada and not just British Columbia will need to adjust their record-keeping systems. As with HST implementation, a change will involve a lot more work than just changing a tax rate in the computer.
Businesses inside and outside British Columbia will also need to register to collect the replacement tax. The government will need to launch a new education campaign to communicate the obligations on businesses. Also with the "To Do List', the government will need its own "To Do List", which will include setting a time line, passing legislation, education of the public (and duck as the tomatoes are thrown), hire people in the Consumer Taxation Branch, train the new employees, prepare policies and bulletins, talk with the Federal Government about repayment, enforcement and other process matters, etc.
If the "Yes" vote wins, GST registrants in British Columbia will still be required to charge, collect and remit HST when they sell to an HST province. They will still be obligated under the Excise Tax Act (Canada) and regulations thereto to file a GST/HST returns in the future. The HST Place of Supply Rules will still apply to certain transactions. So, HST will not be elimniated fully under any change plan.
The rules relating to claiming refunds, rebates and credits under the HST tax system will need to be clarified for B.C. businesses. There is a possibility that there may be a deadline set for amounts a business or consumer is entitled to receive from the Government of Canada.
If the HST is going to be eliminated, businesses who are registered for GST/HST purposes and entitled to claim input tax credits will take the opportunity to purchase goods and services before the change. Those businesses that will have to pay unrecoverable provincial sales tax after the change may decide to undertake the expenditures at a time when they can recover HST by way of an input tax credit. Businesses will take prudent steps to save money while the change occurs.
Consumers, on the other hand, may delay purchases until after the change occurs when they are purchasing an exempt good, real property, intangible property or services that are not subject to provincial sales tax. This will most negatively affect the real estate market and the service sector. There will be transition rules for the change that will need to be developed and communicated.
Consumers outside the province of British Columbia may delay purchases of goods from British Columbia until after the change (or at least after the date of the announcement of the plan for the replacement tax). The place of supply rules may change and give rise to opportunities to save sales tax.
In the meantime, the Government of British Columbia will undoubtedly talk about repayment of the monies received from the Government of Canada to implement the HST. There will be talk of new taxes that were not in place in British Columbia before July 1, 2010. As sure as night follows day, if the "yes" vote is the majority, the blame game will start.
We will continue to watch and report on this developing story - if it develops into a story. Nothing much will happen if the "No" vote is the majority. | <urn:uuid:36e50f08-6fe6-4599-93ba-8dfd8d234cb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehstblog.com/articles/type-of-supply/nontaxable/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952344 | 925 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Public Health Program Mission and Vision
The mission of the Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy is to prepare leaders, who will generate new scientific information designed to better understand and solve urban health problems and develop and advocate policies that enable urban, minority and underserved populations to attain optimal health. To achieve this mission, the Program will educate and train a cadre of public health practitioners to employ community-based (participatory) research methods to both investigate and reveal the systemic inequities and failings that cause health disparities, and design and implement strategic solutions. The unique contribution of the Program is to produce leaders and practitioners who will contribute to reshaping the ethics and practice of public health by grounding research, policy and program implementation related to urban minority and underserved populations in the fundamental principles of cultural competence and social justice.
The Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy faculty, students and graduates leading the way to optimal health by empowering people and communities through research, service and practice. | <urn:uuid:65676e46-bb9a-4bd0-b146-a4aedfd474ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.morgan.edu/school_of_community_health_and_policy/public_health/about_the_program/mission_and_vision.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921315 | 197 | 1.6875 | 2 |
You are herecontent / Contrary to Wikileaks release, Iran is hugely popular among Arabs
Contrary to Wikileaks release, Iran is hugely popular among Arabs
By Abbas Edalat and Phil Wilayto
Note: A shorter version of this article was published Dec. 1 by the Guardian newspaper.
The latest batch of Wikileaks revelations give the impression that, next to Israel, it's the Arab states that are most energetically pressuring the U.S. to attack Iran. In terms of the real threat to Iran, that's definitely putting the cart before the horse.
In the first place, the Arab governments mentioned as being hostile to Iran – Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates – are all undemocratic, unpopular regimes that depend on U.S. support to stay in power. As such, they seem to have absorbed the unrelenting years of U.S. claims that Iran is the region's greatest threat to peace.
A completely different view, however, is held by these governments' own subjects, among whom Iran's independent stance actually is hugely popular. A recent Zogby International poll conducted in conjunction with the University of Maryland asked Arab people in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates to name two countries they thought were the greatest threat to the region. Eighty-eight percent said Israel, 77 percent said the U.S. and only 10 percent mentioned Iran. (1)
Meanwhile, governments in the region that don't hold a hostile view of Iran include those of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey, not all of which are hostile to the U.S.
As to where the real threat to Iran comes from, it should be remembered that, despite massive US arms sales to Saudi Arabia (2), not one Arab country has the military capability of launching a serious attack against Iran. Only one country in the region has that ability: Israel.
But Israel is dependent for its continued existence on its $3 billion in annual U.S. subsidies, plus the diplomatic firewall the U.S. maintains for it in the U.N. Security Council. There is almost no way Israel could attack Iran unless it were first fully confident that it would be backed by U.S. forces, either because it had already received a green light or because it calculated Washington would have no other choice.
Without a doubt, Iran does represent a threat to U.S. imperial interests in the Middle East. Thanks to its large oil and gas reserves, and the fact that those resources are controlled by its government, Iran has been able to emerge from a devastating Western-supported eight-year war of aggression by Iraq as an independent economic, military and political regional power. Iran takes no orders from Washington or London, its natural resources are off-limits to exploitation by Western corporations and it has no love for the wealthy, corrupt, pro-Western governments that dominate the area.
As such, Iran represents an obstacle to the hegemony the U.S. desires. But openly declaring hegemony to be its goal would win no friends among either local governments or populations, so the U.S. has resorted to fabricating the myth of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, much as it promoted support for a war against Iraq by creating a myth about weapons of mass destruction, ties to al-Qaeda and links to the attacks of 9/11. President Bush also authorized support for a number of terrorist organizations to destabilize the Islamic Republic of Iran. (3)
Although the U.S. has been charging for some eight years that Iran is using its nuclear energy program as a cover for the development of nuclear weapons, it has never provided the first shred of proof. And yet, U.S. charges of an Iranian nuclear weapons program have formed the basis for four sets of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
The latest, implemented in June 2010, has been based on “evidence” the U.S. provided of alleged Iranian plans to redesign a certain kind of missile to accommodate nuclear warheads. However, as revealed recently by investigative reporter Gareth Porter, the “evidence” refers to an outmoded missile Iran had stopped using years ago. It is simply a fabrication similar to the fabricated evidence against Iraq (4).
Despite some disagreement over how much of its nuclear-related activities Iran is legally required to disclose, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, charged with monitoring compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, reported on Nov. 23 of this year that it “continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear materials in Iran.”
And in the Arab poll referred to above, 77 percent said that Iran should have the right to its nuclear program and should not be pressured to stop its activities.
No, the principle threat to peace in the Middle East, at least as regards to Iran is concerned, remains the United States, which for years, prodded by nuclear-armed Israel, has declared that in dealing with Iran, “all options are on the table.” As such, the onus is on the U.S. to remove this threat once and for all.
On Dec. 5, Iran is scheduled to begin revived negotiations with representatives of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, plus Germany. This would be an ideal time for Washington to make the following declaration: that it will not attack Iran, will not allow an attack by Israel, will end all sanctions against Iran, will recognize Iran's right under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty to pursue peaceful nuclear power, will return Iran's nuclear file from the U.N. Security Council to the IAEA in exchange for Iran’s already stated pledge to allow the intrusive inspections of the IAEA’s Additional Protocol and will agree to discuss all outstanding differences in a spirit of mutual respect.
Abbas Edalat is Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at Imperial College London and the founder of the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII).
Phil Wilayto is a member of CASMII's Board of Directors and author of “In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S. Peace Delegation's Journey through the Islamic Republic.” | <urn:uuid:face88f8-15fa-43d5-a28c-de005f5afced> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://warisacrime.org/content/contrary-wikileaks-release-iran-hugely-popular-among-arabs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95644 | 1,292 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Research and Information Center
1613 Park Avenue
Paducah, KY 42001
Parks Services Department
1400 H.C. Mathis Drive
P.O. Box 7265
Paducah, Kentucky 42002
Feel free to call to set up appointments or tours.
Oak Grove Cemetery was established in 1847 with the purchase of 36 acres by the town's trustees for the price of $3.00 an acre. Paducah's first burial site was located where City Hall now stands. The City's early growth made it necessary to seek a new location for its cemetery. The site chosen would become Oak Grove Cemetery. Oak Grove Cemetery has an estimated 35,278 platted lots. Of those lots, 33,027 have been sold as of December 2006. Oak Grove Cemetery has additional land available that has not been platted. The cemetery is divided into four additions: Old, New, Mausoleum, and Rushing. Oak Grove Cemetery is a free Wireless Hotspot location in the City of Paducah.
Oak Grove Guidelines and Regulations >> (information about visitation, transfer of lots, monuments, headstones, and markers, and general rules and provisions)
Maps and Burial Records
Maps and burial records are presented in several formats for your use.
Oak Grove Cemetery General Map >>
Detailed Hand-Drawn Map >>
Burial Records >> (allows searching through burials sorted by last names)
GIS Mapping Database >> (view a mapping database where you can zoom in and zoom out of the cemetery and search by name) Database Instructions >>
The community fathers, hoping to create a gracious and serene sanctuary, sent to Scotland for John Porteous, a master landscaper, to design the cemetery grounds. Mr. Porteous became so enamored with the United States that he sent word back to Scotland requesting his wife and children to join him in Paducah. The town, honoring Mr. Porteous' dedication, made him the first sextant and built his family a cottage where the gatehouse stands today.
Some deaths were recorded in 1852, but the Civil War put a stop to this. There are only scattered records from 1861-1911. In 1911, Kentucky passed a law that required all deaths to be recorded. Oak Grove Cemetery has internment books dating back to 1909. Mary Haley (1795-1811) is the oldest legible headstone found in Oak Grove. She is believed to have been buried at the City Hall location and reinterred in Oak Grove.
For more cemetery history and obituaries of prominent Paducah residents, read the documents below:
Cemetery History and a Few of the Interesting People Buried There--
Robert H. Noble, 1855-1937
Charles Reed, 1842-1908
Share Your Family's Story
If you have a relative buried at Oak Grove Cemetery and would like to share your family's story for others to read, please email the information to My Family's Story.
Stories Received as of July2010 >>
Preservation Efforts and Opportunities to Help
Oak Grove Cemetery needs volunteers for the Sexton House, for clean up days in the cemetery, and to help with cemetery events. If you would like to volunteer, contact Marilee Richards or Lessa Wilson at 270-444-8508. The Oak Grove Cemetery Preservation and Restoration, Association is a 501(c)(3) organization working to preserve and restore the monuments and other aspects of Oak Grove Cemetery. Donations can be sent to
Community Foundation of West Kentucky
Attn: Oak Grove Cemetery Preservation and Restoration Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 7901
Paducah, Kentucky 42002
The Kentucky Historical Society has a large database online that contains information about thousands of cemeteries throughout the State of Kentucky. Look under Research & Genealogy and Online Resources. Click Cemetery Preservation Digital Collection for a direct link to the Kentucky Historical Society's digital database.
The mausoleum in Oak Grove Cemetery is known as the West Kentucky Mausoleum. It was built in 1914 by the Southern Mausoleum Company of Nashville, Tennessee. The mausoleum is built to house 300 with slightly more than half of the crypts sold.
The Ohio Valley Monument Company started renovating the mausoleum in November 2007. On November 12, 2008, a rededication ceremony was held inside the newly renovated mausoleum. Click News Release for more information. The roof has been repaired, marble has been replaced and repaired, electrical outlets have been added, and the ceilings and walls have been sanded and painted.
The monument at the entrance of the mausoleum was unveiled at the dedication ceremony. It reads: West Kentucky Mausoleum; Dedicated to the Memory of Those Who Rest Within; Built 1914 The Southern Mausoleum Co. Nashville, Tennessee; Renovated 2008 Ohio Valley Monument Co. Paducah, KY; City of Paducah-Mayor Bill Paxton, Commissioners-Robert Coleman, Gayle Kaler, Buz Smith, Gerald Watkins; City Manager-Jim Zumwalt; Public Works Director-Earnie Via.
The pdf documents below are listed in alphabetical order based on the last name. There are two sets of documents: burials before the year 2000 and burials starting in the year 2000 until the present. The files were last updated June 14, 2012. Click Oak Grove Cemetery Map for a general map that shows the four additions (Old Addition, New Addition, Mausoleum Addition, and Rushing Addition) and section numbers. Click Detailed Oak Grove Map for a hand-drawn map that shows details of each of the four additions. | <urn:uuid:48ea6dff-c7eb-43f2-99f9-5d715460c977> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ci.paducah.ky.us/paducah/oak-grove-cemetery | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932087 | 1,182 | 2.375 | 2 |
Creating Waves of Awareness
Homeopathic medicine for Hepatitis B
BY Dr.Sharad Shangloo, Dr.Sunit Shangloo, Dr.G.K.Shangloo
Meera Shangloo Homeopathic Research Centre
Hepatitis B is the first step to liver cancer, but the major problem is faced by our Muslim patients go to the Gulf countries for work. There is a mandatory law to get vaccinated for Hepatitis B. In some cases when their visa expires after 2 years of work, they return for the hepatitis B test and the result shows. Then they are denied visa.
With great agony and a sense of astonishment in the mind of the patient, no member in their family had ever suffered from Hepatitis B and neither he nor she had previously faced any problem like this ever before. How can it happen to him?
The patient is in a state of mental stress.
If you take the patient from the homeopathic prospective, each patient responds differently to the same condition. One patient with a test report of Hepatitis B positive may be in a state of mental shock, another may be in the state of anger. If you understand the anger deeply, you will find that maybe his anger is directed at the pathologist who has given him a positive report of hepatitis B. The other patient may be angry about the test. He will say that the test has not been done properly or the pathologist has taken the money and had not done the test properly. There must be some flaw in the machine or in the procedure of the test. He may also think that there is malicious intent from the pathologist. The other patient may go into the state of a deep shock. That how this can happen to him. Why he is the only one to be targeted? What was the envy of God with him? Now what will happen to his children and the family?
One very remarkable thing found in these cases, is the absence of any presenting symptoms. His liver function test and the ultrasound all report normal.
In the process of Homeopathic treatment of the patient it is essential that the HBsAg test should be done by the ELISA method. In this method of the test there is not only the result that the hepatitis B is positive in the patient or negative, but there is an absorbance reading. Above that reading the patient will show positive and below that reading the patient will show negative.
Before starting the treatment of the patient should be advised to get the test done with this method and the reading of the abscorbance should be noted. After one month the same test should be repeated and the change in the result should be seen.
Now comes the treatment part. There are many homeopathic liver medicines, which have a great role in hepatitis B. I will talk about two medicines.
Hepatitis B Nosode 30c
Hepatitis B Vac 30c.
As you know by the name also that one is the nosode prepared from the virus Hepatitis B and other is a tautopathic medicine Hepatiis B Vaccine Triturated according to the principles of homeopathy to 30c potency
Now , the question arises that when we have a lot of medicines for the liver and awe have above all the constitutional medicine that what is the need of looking at the nosode and tautopathy.
The reason is very obvious that in my patients all the patients developed the disease after hepatitis B Vaccinaton. So , the disease is a induced disease. It is not a disease which has which has be acquired or inherited by the patients weakness or weakness in the immune system.
In the patients who do not produce any symptoms of Hepatitis B or any derangement of the liver function test or loss of appetite or other symptoms. The first priority is to
Bring the positive result of Hepatitis B to negative and to kill the virus. So, if the patient has become hepatitis B positive after hepatitis B vaccination. So it is necessary to give the antidote of the hepatitis B vaccine. And what can be more appropriate for the injury after hepatitis B vaccine It is the triturated Hepatitis B vaccine it self.
It should be given in 30c potency in water 2 drops 3 times a day for 15 days and the aboscorbance test HBsAg by ELISA method. If the reading is reducing i.e coming towards the normal range. The cut off Abscorbance is 127
And the abscorbance of the patient should be noted before the start of the medication and after 15 days of giving Hepatitis B Vaccine 30c. If the reading is reducing the medicine should be re continued.
Now there is a second set of patients who has not been given the hepatiis B Vaccination but then too their HBsAg has turned positive. For those patient we prefer to give hepatitis B Nosode 30c. And after 15 days we again go for the test to see the change in the abscorbance.
Till now I was talking about two groups of Hepatitis B patients which were having the test of the hepatitis B positive but the patient is not producing any symptoms. Now we will talk about the patients who produce symptoms in hepatitis b and for that there are a lot of homeopathic medicine which are very effective. In those group of patients the patients the liver of the patient is enlarged and the readings of the Liver function test is also altered. I mean the SGPT , SGOT , alkaline phosphate , Serum Billirubin is altered. For those patients there is a lot of homeopathic medicines like chelidonium to Sulphur and the names are endless.
Now I will like to emphasize on one more medicine which are helpful in treating the patients of Hepatitis B is the Carcinocin Liver.
Now coming down to the cases
Case 1 Mr. X.
A patient named Mr. X came to my clinic. A stout person with a long bearded and a a round white cap on the head. He said before even sitting. Look doctor I have a problem, first tell me will able to solve it. I have no time. I told him please sit down and let me understand your case first. He said it is not the matter of Understanding the case. I am hepatitis B positive. I said ok but please sit first. He again said Look I have no other problem All my tests are normal.. I mean my liver function test and the ultrasound.
No one in my family ever had hepatitis B. I never suffered from jaundice nor have I drunk alcohol in whole of my life. I said, “If you want to give me the case, you have to give some time.” He said that first satisfy me that you will be able to treat my case in one month’s time. I said that you cannot give me time lines.
He then narrated his case. He said I had never had Hepatitis B in whole of my life. Even just 2 years before I was tested for Hepatitis B and all the other tests were done at the certified centers by the Dubai in India. None of the tests turned out to be positive. But now as I had to get my visa extended, the test for the hepatitis B virus is turning positive. I do not know what to do.
I took his full case history and could not find a single reason for his result to be positive to the test of hepatitis B. Then he said I do not know, but I think that the cause is the hepatitis B vaccination, which was a compulsory vaccination to get my visa. Because it is mandatory to get the vaccination done to get the visa. Till I do not get the vaccination done I cannot get the visa. So, I have to go for it.
At the time I did not face any problems physically. But when I had again gone for my visa renewal all my tests are coming normal except the Hepatitis B test. Even my family history and the past history are normal.
I came to the conclusion that the problem is the Hepatitis B vaccine, which is the cause of the test being positive. So I gave him Hepatitis B Vaccine 30c 2 drops three times a day for 15 days and again got the test done. The reading was reducing and the results were positive. Slowly in two months time the hepatitis B positive changed to negative.
Case 2 Name of the Patient – Mr. Y
This patient came to me with the test of HBsAg test positive. He was a male who went for the routine examination and the test showed Hepatitis B positive. All the other test of him was normal. He was a non alcoholic and the ultrasound and the liver function test were normal.
He did not use infective syringe either.
As all the tests were normal and there were no signs of jaundice in the past I gave him Hepatitis B Nosode 30c in 2 drops 3 times a day in half cup of water for 15 days. And got the HBsAg test redone. The abscorbance was reducing and finally he became negative
What does HBsAg mean?
Definition: HBsAG stands for hepatitis B surface antigen. When a healthcare provider orders blood tests to determine if someone is infected with the hepatitis B virus, one thing he is looking for is HBsAG in the blood. If it is found, along with other specific antibodies, it means the person has a hepatitis B infection. HBsAG, which is cleared within 4 to 6 months in self-limited infections (infections that resolve by themselves), can be detected in the blood during both acute infections (infections that come on suddenly) and chronic infections (infections that last for longer than 6 months). In addition to the signs and symptoms that a patient has, additional antibodies can be tested to distinguish between acute and chronic infections.
At the center of the hepatitis B virus is DNA, which contains the genes the virus uses to replicate itself. Surrounding the DNA is a protein called HBcAG (hepatitis B core antigen), which cannot be detected with blood tests. Surrounding this is HBsAG, which is actually part of the protective "envelope." This envelope surrounds the virus and protects it from attack by the body's immune system. However, this system is good at getting through this envelope in order to kill the virus. When it does, remnants of surface antigen protein are left in the blood like debris, which lab tests can detect.
What is Hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is an infectious inflammatory illness of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that affects hominoidea, including humans. Originally known as "serum hepatitis", the disease has caused epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa, and it is endemic in China.About a third of the world population has been infected at one point in their lives, including 350 million who are chronic carriers.
The virus is transmitted by exposure to infectious blood or body fluids such as semen and vaginal fluids, while viral DNA has been detected in the saliva, tears, and urine of chronic carriers. Perinatal infection is a major route of infection in endemic (mainly developing) countries. Other risk factors for developing HBV infection include working in a healthcare setting, transfusions, and dialysis, acupuncture, tattooing, extended overseas travel and residence in an institution. However, Hepatitis B viruses cannot be spread by holding hands, sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses, kissing, hugging, coughing, sneezing, or breastfeeding.
The acute illness causes liver inflammation, vomiting, jaundice and, rarely, death. Chronic hepatitis B may eventually cause cirrhosis and liver cancer—a disease with poor response to all but a few current therapies.[ The infection is preventable by vaccination.
Hepatitis B virus is an hepadnavirus—hepa from hepatotropic (attracted to the liver) and dna because it is a DNA virus—and it has a circular genome of partially double-stranded DNA. The viruses replicate through an RNA intermediate form by reverse transcription, which practice relates them to retroviruses.Although replication takes place in the liver, the virus spreads to the blood where viral proteins and antibodies against them are found in infected people. | <urn:uuid:b669b445-0c0e-41b6-b868-19b9a628e82d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://homeopathyworldcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/homeopathic-medicine-for-hepatitis-b | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957728 | 2,542 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Free studies: Firm, Fenwick urge market dredgings
A politician's press conference touting the benefits of mud and a five-year-old business proposal touting the benefits of sand have recently emerged to reinvigorate the debate over the local water supply and spark hope that the Rivanna Reservoir can be dredged for little or no money.
"There is gold in that reservoir," says Bob Fenwick, an independent candidate for Charlottesville City Council. "It's green gold."
Fenwick is an engineer-builder who spent seven years in the Army Corps of Engineers. One month ago at another lake, he showed how hydraulic dredging might expand lakes; on October 2, he showed how dredging might expand wallets.
Standing on a dock about a mile north of the Earlysville Road Bridge, Fenwick told a trio of reporters about a bag of topsoil he bought four days earlier at Lowe's home center for $8.82. Fenwick says a simple dredge–- like an Ellicott Mudcat profiled a year ago in these pages–- can easily produce 1.17 million of such bagfuls with a retail value of $9.4 million by removing just the top three feet of organic material along a one-mile strip of the seven-mile-long water body.
"This material," said Fenwick, "as any farmer can tell you, is the best material to till into land– or, for homeowners, into their garden."
Fenwick contends that as long as the fuel, labor, and equipment cost less than the revenue, dredging should be a profitable business.
But Fenwick's views aren't resonating with one of dredging's key supporters in local government, Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris. An incumbent, Norris, along with fellow Democrat Kristin Szakos, opposes Fenwick in the November election.
"I think he's trying to score some political points," says Norris, "but it's a much more complicated issue than he makes it out to be."
One dredge-willing team outside the political fray, however, is Blue Ridge Sand, a company formed after the 2002 drought for the sole purpose of putting together a market-based dredging proposal. This firm focuses primarily on the sediments that have shrunk the upper reaches of the reservoir and has built a unique contraption that sorts rocky sediments in a fraction of the space usually needed for "de-watering."
Mark Fendig, one half of the Blue Ridge Sand team and a professional dredger, went out with a Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority official in 2003 or 2004 to take six core samples. What he and business partner Mitch King found pleased them: lots of tiny rocks.
"These sediments have market value," says King in a September 29 interview, noting that he shared his findings with area concrete and asphalt companies. "They said they'd take as much of it as we could produce."
In the spring of 2004, Blue Ridge Sand offered its proposal to remove 695,000 cubic yards of material from the reservoir. Because the amount is just one-seventh of the volume a full restorative dredging might entail, their proposal has been blasted by dredge foes as mere "opportunistic dredging."
The men of Blue Ridge Sand don't wince from the moniker– especially when the lead alternative is a controversial dam-reservoir plan that rips apart a prized natural area and which many of its backers concede might cost $200 million.
"I just don't think you you should spend 200 million this year if you're not gonna need it for 30 years," says King. "If dredging can buy us 20 or 30 years, that seems like a good investment."
Norris maintains that gaining a few decades worth of water capacity isn't as important as the course on which he has embarked: a full restoration of the 43-year-old Reservoir, an effort that previous studies show could raise local capacity to 14.3 million gallons per day, about 50 percent more than the community currently uses.
Norris says he finds a year-ago concept from a firm called DDR intriguing for its willingness to dump the dredged material into an old quarry, and he stands by the idea of spending a six-figure sum on a dredging study.
While local officials try to whittle down the $700,000 level, Fenwick and Blue Ridge Sand say they've already studied the situation. For free. And one thing the officials can't deny is that by the time the mega-dam is readied for construction, the Rivanna Authority will have spent $12 million on studies before adding a single drop of capacity.
The last dredging study, conducted by a now-ousted firm called Gannett Fleming, declared that fully dredging the snake-like Reservoir might cost as much as $223 million, a sum that exceeds a recent contract to dredge the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.
"Do not complete the study," says Fenwick. "Just dredge the reservoir."
Despite all that, City Council moved forward on Monday, October 5 by appropriating $300,000 toward a pared-down dredging study.
–last updated 5:51pm Tuesday, October 6 | <urn:uuid:582b67ce-86d1-4169-83fe-1db4f0191d86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.readthehook.com/70008/free-studies-firm-fenwick-urge-market-dredgings?quicktabs_1=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962301 | 1,086 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of being the source of the biggest leak of state secrets in American history, has won a partial victory in his battle to force the government to disclose vital information that could help his defence.
The judge presiding over his trial at Fort Meade in Maryland has ordered the US government to hand over several confidential documents relating to the massive leak to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
In particular, the Obama administration must now disclose to Manning's lawyers some of the damage assessments it carried out into the impact of the leak on US interests around the world.
Should those assessments reveal that the US government found that the fallout from WikiLeaks was limited, that could be used by Manning's defence to argue his innocence against some of the charges he faces, such as aiding the enemy. If the soldier is found guilty, the information might then prove invaluable in reducing any sentence.
As a result of the ruling, Manning's defence team was handed the main findings of a state department investigation into the impact of WikiLeaks on Tuesday evening.
Though the information has not been made public, it is likely to include the assessments of embassies across the globe of the effects on their work of the publication of hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables.
In addition, Manning's defence lawyers will now also be able to see a redacted report into WikiLeaks by the defence intelligence agency. It was also revealed that the FBI carried out its own inquiry into the leak of confidential material to WikiLeaks, which the Manning's defence lawyers will also now pursue.
News of the breakthrough over the damage assessments came in the first of three days of pre-trial hearings at Fort Meade. The proceedings are being attended by Manning, who sits in full military uniform flanked by his civilian lawyer David Coombs and two military defence lawyers.
The ruling marks an important legal victory as well as a confidence boost for Manning as he approaches a full court martial in September. The army private, who was arrested two years ago outside Baghdad, faces 22 charges with a maximum sentence of life in military custody. It also vindicates Manning's faith in Coombs, who has conducted a robust defence against seemingly endless prevarication and sleight of hand on the part of the military prosecution.
Coombs on Wednesday made a spirited appeal to the court for an end to what he called the government's attempt to play "hide the ball". Coombs protested that whenever he asked the government for specific information he was told he was being too broad. He gave one example of having requested documents emerging from a review carried out by the House of Representatives oversight committee under its chairman, Darrell Issa.
"Short of telling the government that the documents are in a red file in Darrell Issa's third drawer, beneath his Bible, you can't get much more specific than my request," Coombs said. | <urn:uuid:73da4df5-ebcf-45c2-9eb3-bac0857d9875> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/06/bradley-manning-defence-wikileaks-damage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980602 | 568 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The research shows that 43 per cent of sunbed users in the country are actively using anti-ageing products, as opposed to 20 per cent of those who do not use sunbeds stating that they used anti-ageing products as part of their daily beauty routine.
The study also revealed that, while many sunbed users are ‘addicted’ to having the sun kissed look, more than two thirds of them – 68 per cent – are concerned about the ageing effect the treatments are having on their skin.
This also means that sunbed users are beginning their anti-ageing skin care regimes earlier than their counterparts who stay away from the tanning salons, with 19 percent stating that they have started to use anti-ageing treatments by 25, compared to just 5 percent of individuals in the same age group who did not use sunbeds.
Sunbeds willing to spend more on anti-ageing regime
The Cancer Research UK study also shows that sunbed users are willing to pay significantly more on their anti-aging regimes.
The organisation’s study showed that of those that use anti-ageing products, 30 per cent of sunbed users spend more than £20 (€26) per month, as opposed to only 8 percent of non sunbed users.
Ironically, despite the concession that sunbed users are spending more on anti-ageing products at an earlier age, the survey results also revealed 7 percent claimed that using a sunbed helped them feel younger.
Possible opportunities for skin care manufacturers?
Whereas the statistics underline the worrying fact that sunbed users are damaging their skin, often at an early age, it also points to opportunities for skin care manufacturers, possibly even for the creation of skin care lines specifically dedicated to sunbed users.
According to Cancer Research, its findings underline the fact that overexposure to UV rays from sunbeds causes photoageing of the skin caused by cosmetic damage to the skin’s pigmentation.
Further to this, the organization also warns that, on top of making individuals’ skin look visibly older, overuse of sunbeds has also been linked to damage DNA damage in skins, which, when built up over time, can lead to skin cancer. | <urn:uuid:807791c7-bd3d-433d-aad1-84fce9f9c7ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Market-Trends/Skin-damage-caused-by-sunbeds-ups-use-of-anti-ageing-products | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973792 | 463 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Sarawak group calls for independence
- Published: 22/01/2013 at 03:19 PM
- Online news:
KUCHING – A civil society group in Sarawak has called for the state to separate from Malaysia.
The Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) claims an ongoing debate about the use of the word "Allah" in the Malay-language Bible in Peninsular Malaysia has caused concern in Sarawak and Sabah, the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo.
The group’s leader says he can’t think of any reason for Sarawak to remain part of Malaysia, following comments by MP Ibrahim Ali, calling on Muslims to burn the Bible.
“We, Sarawakians, want no part in this heated quarrel over the Allah issue. The people of Sabah and Sarawak have no religious or racial problems and we don’t wish to be contaminated with ‘religious poison’,” Francis Paul Siah said in a statement, reported by Free Malaysia Today.
Mr Siah said Sarawakians are a different breed and “our racial and religious harmony is genuine, unique and not hypocritical”.
“On these two fronts, the people of West Malaysia could take a cue from us. But would they?” Siah asked.
Mr Ibrahim, founder and leader of the Malay rights group Perkasa, last Saturday called on Muslims to torch Malay versions of the Bible containing the word “Allah” or other religious Arabic words.
Mr Siah said Mr Ibrahim had been allowed to go “scot free”, despite his inflammatory comments.
“How can any Malaysian, let alone government leaders, with the right sense of mind continue to tolerate the likes of Ibrahim and his Perkasa group?” asked Mr Siah.
“We are very disappointed with the prime minister for doing nothing about it. At times, we wonder whether Najib [Razak] is the prime minister of the whole nation which includes Sarawak and Sabah or only of Malaya.”
Mr Siah said that Sarawak should break away from Malaysia.
“The list is too long to detail here but as it stands today, I cannot think of one good reason why Sarawak should remain in Malaysia,” he said.
Mr Ibrahim’s anti-Christian comments were also poorly received in Sabah, where the state reform party also called for a break from the Malaysian federation.
“The prime minister’s silence is good reason for Sabah to secede from the federation because past assurances for us have been reneged and violated, and that we have long felt that we are no longer defended by our own laws, by our own leaders, even by some of our kings,” Sabah STAR deputy chairman Daniel Jambun said in a statement.
Advocates for independence in oil-rich Sarawak and Sabah have long argued that both states receive a poor deal from state-oil company Petronas, arguing that they receive only a fraction of the billions generated by the industry each year. | <urn:uuid:f0ad0e2b-8bf1-46fd-9201-56d86d24499c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/332044/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960008 | 669 | 1.5 | 2 |
Date of this Version
Since 1979, the Denver Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has conducted an accelerated research program on the blackbird-sunflower problem which occurs annually in the Dakotas and Minnesota. The objective is to develop effective, cost beneficial and environmentally safe methods for reducing blackbird damage to ripening sunflower. A multidisciplinary approach involving interrelated studies of problem definition, ecology, and control methods development is being used. Preliminary results are presented from several studies involving: state- and county-wide estimates of damage; frequency distribution and timing of damage; compensatory growth in early damaged sunflower heads; breeding male blackbird censuses; mass-marking migratory red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) in spring roosts; food habits of red-wings; the chemical frightening agent, 4-aminopyridine; the avian repellent, methiocarb; decoy crops for blackbirds; frightening devices; and bird-resistant varieties of sunflower. Management strategies suggested from these studies are provided. | <urn:uuid:a24eb856-48b6-4fcb-a014-6d9ec64333cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/vpc11/17/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912459 | 226 | 3.265625 | 3 |
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Wed February 13, 2013
Maine Employment Agency Gives Convicted Felons A Second Start
Originally published on Wed February 13, 2013 7:44 pm
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
For convicted felons, it can be hard to land a job regardless of how much it pays. But there's an employment agency in Maine that's focused on putting felons into the workforce. Get an ex-con a job, the idea goes, and it might keep them from going back to prison.
Tom Porter introduces us to the founder of Maine Works.
TOM PORTER, BYLINE: For Margo Walsh, a typical day starts well before dawn.
Good morning, Margo.
MARGO WALSH: How are you?
On a recent wet and windy morning, we meet in a parking lot near downtown Portland, Maine. From here, we drive in her pickup truck to collect two of her guys, as she calls them.
WALSH: Good morning.
LARRY TURNER: Good morning.
WALSH: How are you?
WALSH: Thank you for waiting for us.
PORTER: She takes them to a nearby job site, where they'll spend the day putting up drywall. Both are convicted felons but have been out of jail more than six months. Larry Turner was hired by Maine Works a few days after he got out.
TURNER: I can't imagine what my situation would be right now if I hadn't met her.
PORTER: Thirty-nine-year-old Turner has a long criminal history. He spent 12 of the last 20 years behind bars, including 11 years in a federal prison.
TURNER: I was incarcerated the first time for armed bank robberies.
PORTER: With the stamp of convicted felon on his job application, he says finding employment was a challenge.
TURNER: I'd fill out an application with a work history and they would be impressed, but the background would come in and they were no longer impressed.
PORTER: Margo Walsh used to recruit employees for the investment banking industry. She admits there were a few raised eyebrows when she set up a private employment agency three years ago and began recruiting felons. But it wasn't long, she says, before she established a good reputation.
Walsh is careful to employ only people who are hard-working, reliable and above all, sober. It's a policy which her employees help to enforce, she says, because their livelihood depends on the good name of Maine Works.
In return, they get steady work during the construction season, earning at least $10 an hour.
WALSH: My lead line is not: Hi, I'm Margo and I've got bunch of felons for hire - not at all. It has to do with I have a fantastic product and that is extremely well-qualified, sober workers.
(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY)
PORTER: Jake Hall is a field engineer on a transportation project that employs several guys from Maine Works.
JAKE HALL: They're very capable. They're hard-working guys.
PORTER: So no matter what's gone in the past, as far as you're concerned, they're good workers.
HALL: It kind of seems like that. They're kind of due a second start and make a good impression.
PORTER: Margo Walsh says perhaps the most important thing of about Maine Works, though, is its success it is in keeping people out of prison.
WALSH: So I've had 250 guys working for me in the past three years.
PORTER: And of those 250, she says only about 20 percent have been re-incarcerated; quite a contrast to national recidivism rates, which indicate that more than half of all offenders are back behind bars within three years of their release.
STEVE DANIELS: My name is Steve Daniels. I live in Portland. Substance abuse kind of led me to where I am now. It took me down a road where I lost everything. It tore my life apart.
PORTER: Daniels, who's 37, is a former crack addict who's turned his life around. He served a five-year sentence for robbery. After more than a year with Maine Works, Daniels was taken on full-time by one of the agency's clients as a trainee mason. It's hard, physical work.
DANIELS: I feel great. Almost four years sober now.
PORTER: As for Margo Walsh, this year she hopes to take the Maine Works business model and expand it into other states.
WALSH: And I would like to see Maine Works replicated to New Hampshire Works, Wyoming Works, Florida Works.
PORTER: Walsh is motivated partly by a social conscience - a belief that everyone deserves a second chance - and partly by economics. Rather than being back in prison or on welfare programs where they cost the state money, these guys are out there working and contributing to the economy.
For NPR News, I'm Tom Porter in Portland, Maine. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:bfa2f847-162e-4709-9fd7-3efe6fd3aad0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://krwg.org/post/maine-employment-agency-gives-convicted-felons-second-start | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971318 | 1,100 | 1.570313 | 2 |
She currently is the Universitys chief freedom of information officer and has been an associate vice president for student affairs since January 1991. In addition, she chairs the Residency Appeals Committee.
Nordby, who holds a B.A. and J.D. from Stanford University, joined the U-M as a lecturer in the Law School, where she developed and taught a course on women and the law. In addition to her other posts, she currently is an adjunct professor with the Program on Higher, Adult and Continuing Education, teaching a graduate-level course on law and higher education.
She was a faculty associate of the Institute for Social Research in 197879, during which she studied the effect of the then-new Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct Act on the criminal justice system.
In 1980 she was appointed director of affirmative action, with responsibility for institutional compliance with all affirmative action/non-discrimination laws, regulations and policies affecting students, faculty, staff, sub-contractors and radio and television stations. During that time she drafted the first faculty and staff harassment policy and developed the Tell Someone program to combat harassment on campus.
In addition to these responsibilities, she also served as policy adviser to the president in 197588.
Nordby was named an associate vice president in the Office of the Vice President for Government Relations in 1988. In that post, she was responsible for developing revisions of Regents Bylaws and various codes and policies, and advised administrators and faculty on student rights and applicable laws. She also at that time was named chief freedom of information officer.
She has chaired several University committees, including the Task Force on AIDS, the Task Force to Revise the Faculty Grievance Procedures and the Council of Big Ten Presidents Committee to Evaluate the Integration of Womens Athletics into the Big Ten Conference.
In 197374, Nordby was a consultant to the Michigan Womens Task Force on Rape and was the principal drafter of the Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct Act. In 1991 she was named to the Michigan Womens Hall of Fame for her work in this area and for her work in identifying gender-based differences in state statutes.
In 1975 she received the Washtenaw County International Womens Year Award for her work in helping reform the states rape law. The following year she received the U-M International Womens Year Committee award for outstanding personal and professional contributions to the goals of equality, development and peace.
Last January, Nordby received the Sarah Goddard Power Award for work on behalf of women at the University. Other honors include the Harriet Myer Memorial Service Award of the Michigan Association of Women Deans, Administrators and Counselors, and the U-M-Dearborn Susan B. Anthony Award.
Her professional affiliations include membership in the State Bar of California, the National Association of College and University Attorneys, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the Association of Student Judicial Advisors.
The University will launch a search for a new freedom of information officer in the near future. | <urn:uuid:fa1b773a-fe04-4db3-ac62-88209ad79e6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ur.umich.edu/9293/Sep21_92/12.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9703 | 616 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Posted: Wednesday Mar 28, 2012
March 28, 2012
A group of Saint Vincent College students interested in building a stronger sense of community on campus today launched an initiative they call The One.
Working in conjunction with the offices of student affairs and multicultural and international student life, the students are inviting the entire campus to take part in a variety of activities designed to enhance the already strong sense of community. “While Saint Vincent is well known for its community life rooted in its Benedictine values, this initiative will work to rekindle the individual flames of growth, understanding, and respect,” student spokespersons Mercedes Guilford and Maria Salvatori said. “Our goal is to create awareness and to discuss issues such as sexual violence, harassment, racism, prejudice and ignorance. We plan to do this by training student leader groups as well as sports team leaders and any department that works directly with the student body.”
“Since The One strives to bring all of the Saint Vincent community together, it is essential that we include and encourage all parts of the College for support,” they continued. “We will begin marketing for this initiative today with a launch party in the Robert S. Carey Student Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. featuring talks, entertainment, displays, food and giveaways.”
The concept for the campaign was developed by Amanda Jaber and Michael Barkowski last year and was continued by Ms. Guilford, Ms. Salvatori, Deven Gross, Jocelyn Matenje, Karla Romero and Carl Jeune this year. Deanna Wicks and Bob Baum of the office of student affairs and Jeff Mallory of the office of multicultural and international student life are serving as advisors.
The Saint Vincent community has been teased with mysterious posters asking, “are you the one?” for weeks but the specific intention was kept a secret until it was unveiled today. Representatives of the Student Government Association, Activities Programming Board, clubs, cheerleaders, pep band, dance team and other organizations which are in touch with students were all involved.
A specially-designed t-shirt and bracelet were also unveiled today.
“Our plan is to keep people entertained while we are giving them information and motivation,” they explained.
Looking ahead, they are planning to hold regular monthly events they have dubbed One Day Monday to keep the discussion and effort moving forward. “Success will not come in one day,” they admitted. “But, in the long run we would like to see our student body get stronger together, stand up for one another and take care of one another. We want students to be more aware of their actions and how they treat one another.”
“This effort is about everyone in our community,” they concluded. “It’s not about leaving anyone out. It’s about every single student and caring for each student, accepting the differences and bringing them together. You can accept differences and still be friends and care about them because that is what we are made to do.”
Ms. Salvatori is a senior business administration major from the South Hills of Pittsburgh. She is also active in Women in Business, Habitat for Humanity, Delta Mu Delta business honor society, Campus Ministry, has participated in the honors program and been named to the dean’s list. A 2008 graduate of Seton LaSalle High School, she is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dominic Salvatori. After she completes her undergraduate studies, she plans to either work in human resources, higher education administration or pursue the study of law. She is a member of Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin R.C. Church in White Hall.
Ms. Guilford is a junior middle school education major with a mathematics concentration. A prefect in the Saint Benedict residence hall, she is involved in Women in Business, Colleges Against Cancer, Activities Programming Board, Multicultural Student Coalition, Alpha Phi Omega and varsity lacrosse. A 2009 graduate of Mount Olive High School in Budd Lake, New Jersey, she is also completing work on a book of poetry, Lyrics of Life, which she hopes to have published this summer, and forming a non-profit organization called Moving Forward that will provide supplemental activities for inner city youths. She is the daughter of Demetris Guilford of Newark and plans to become a school superintendent after she completes her degree at Saint Vincent. She is a member of Living Waters Ministries, a non-denomination church.
“Saint Vincent College really does include everyone and accept everyone,” they concluded. “That is what we like about this school. And that is why The One initiative is so perfect because it embodies everything that the school already is. It is not something we have to start.”
Photo: Maria Salvatori and Mercedes Guilford
Follow us on Twitter: @SVCPublicity
Like us on Facebook: Saint Vincent College Public Relations | <urn:uuid:58527e50-38bd-4cb6-9f84-2068373dd290> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stvincent.edu/newsDetail.aspx?id=2147485590 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964971 | 1,037 | 1.554688 | 2 |
NBC Basketball Camp at St. Mary High School Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
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NBC Basketball camps is excited to be in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan for our third summer. Discover what makes NBC Camps the most successful overnight basketball camp in the world.
For 40 years, NBC Camps has been training athletes for success on and off the court. Creating the best instructional basketball camps in the U.S. is our full-time job. Former Division 1 coaches and players have designed a unique summer camp program that will help you excel in every aspect of the game. From our basketball curriculum, to our tournaments and games, from our Intensity Station, to our life skills training, NBC Camps works to provide the ultimate basketball camp experience.
Complete Player Basketball Day Camps
These camps offers training in all aspects of the sport including leadership and confidence training. NBC's Complete Player basketball curriculum is all encompassing to help athletes develop and master skills to play the game of basketball with excellence.
Come discover for yourself why NBC Camps has become the most popular basketball camp in the world.
- Outstanding staff. Skilled and caring.
- Quality basketball curriculum for all levels of play
- Great facilities give kids a fantastic environment to work on their game
- Personal evaluations and camp workbook
- An atmosphere of intensity, great fun, respect, Christian values and a commitment to hard work and attain skill mastery
- Total basketball skill development
Registration Fee Includes:
- 5 days of Instruction, Basketball, Water Bottle, T-shirt, Lunch and Snacks each day,
Wednesday Evening BBQ and Water sliding at the Kinsmen Water Park
* Remember to bring completed medical release
24 Kernaghan Crescent
Prince Albert, SK
Mark was a camper for 5 years and has been coaching now for 4 years with NBC. He has also helped coach a youth basketball program in Red Deer for the past 3 years.
Alexa Sackela Geiger
Alexa has been coaching with NBC for 5 years and has coached a Senior boys basketball team in Leduc for the past 2 years. Alexa played for The Kings University College this past year. Alexa has one year left when she will obtain her Education degree. Alexa has been involved in the NBC camp in P.A. for the past 3 years.
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO PRINT CAMP PROMO FLYER.
Check-in starts at 8:30am on the first day of camp.
Camp will begin at 9am each morning
Parent Orientation will take place at 8:45 and 9:00am for you to ask questions and get informed about what will go on throughout the week.
Sample Daily Schedule
- 9:00am Welcome and Warm ups
- 9:20am Fundamental Instruction Stations and Competitions
- 12:00pm Lunch
- 12:45pm Afternoon Program (skits, games, theme of the day, discussion groups)
- 1:30pm Games and full court activities
There are a few special events and theme days throughout the week. We'll let you know specifics at the parent orientation as well as handouts sent home with your kids. | <urn:uuid:5a07e403-63b9-4cc3-936d-5f3ec4804df7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ussportscamps.com/basketball/nbc/nbc-basketball-camp-at-st-mary-high-school/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946529 | 655 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Real-time Stock quotes, portfolio, LIVE TV and more.
Mar 02, 2012, 10.54 PM IST
Where did the mysterious 12 crore shares of the ONGC auction come from? Sajeet Manghat of CNBC-TV18 has the full story. Check it out!
When the ONGC auction finally closed at 3:30pm today, the number of shares taken up were 29.2 crore as reported by both exchanges. BSE then issued a statement that they are “reconciling” the bids. Then there was news that ONGC was indeed fully subscribed at 42.9 crore shares. Where did the mysterious 12 crore shares of the ONGC auction come from?
Sajeet Manghat of CNBC-TV18 reports that there was a technical issue in the last phase of the auction. The selling brokers are the six bankers who were assigned to the job of placing the bids. One of the bids, a huge bid of Rs 3540 crore, failed to register on the BSE platform, and as a result, there was a short fall. That’s the reason why the numbers were showing as the auction being undersubscribed while some of the sources in ONGC and some of the sources in government too were saying that it was fully subscribed, explains Manghat.
It was LIC that had submitted a bid for 12 crore shares, which roughly works out to Rs 3540 crore, and that bid was submitted by a selling broker on the exchange platform.
Also check out: ONGC auction is through, says govt
Now on an exchange platform, you can either submit the bid via self funding or through custodian for funding. The guidelines of auction are very clear that the money has to be in your account to submit a bid. What happened was that the selling broker mistakenly chose the self-funding option and the moment that button was clicked, the system generated an error saying that there is insufficient fund and the bid was rejected. So the order book did not reflect that bid.
By the time the selling broker realized it and then went back to custodian funding, it was already 3:32 pm. The auction closed at 3:30 pm as per Sebi guidelines. Since then, there has been a series of negotiations that have been happening between the exchanges, the custodians, the bankers, Sebi and with the finance ministry officials. Finally, they have decided to call it a technical error and allowed this bid to go through.
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Action in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
May 25 2013, 16:36
- in Technicals
May 25 2013, 16:36
- in MARKET OUTLOOK | <urn:uuid:cee70c40-b1d2-4d71-8783-c72fcd0485fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnbc-tv18-comments/ongc-auction-uncoveringmystery12-crore-shares_675643.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976336 | 612 | 1.617188 | 2 |
After taking measurements from the air, Fukushima University scientists are hoping to get a more detailed picture of radiation levels on the ground by recruiting the help of native wild macaques. The animals are outfitted with a device that reads the level of radiation, location, and distance from the ground. Together researchers hope the data will reveal how the radiation spread, and where the highest levels can be found.
The monkey live in a highland to the west of Minamisoma city, located some 16 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which failed in March following the earthquake and resulting tsunami and leaked large amounts of radiation into the surrounding areas.
The researchers hope to track the monkeys for 5 to 10 years, and will start the project with two to three monkeys, reported The Wall Street Journal. | <urn:uuid:ed75a56d-e480-475a-b8cb-aa0500bb5848> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/31512/title/Monkeys-Track-Radiation/flagPost/62582/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952928 | 159 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Sunday March 17, 2013
India scrap Pakistan series after tensions spike
NEW DELHI: India’s national hockey team announced on Friday that they were calling off a series against arch-rivals Pakistan planned for next month amid growing tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Narinder Batra, the secretary general of Hockey India, said that the decision had been made at the instigation of the government less than three weeks before the start of the five-match home series.
“The foreign ministry did not give permission (for the series),” he told AFP.
Pakistan, who had been due to host a return series straight afterwards, deplored India’s decision, saying sports events were in the wider interest of both countries.
“Pakistan believes that in the larger interest of maintaining peace between Pakistan and India, sustained and uninterrupted implementation of confidence building process including sports events is required,” its foreign ministry said.
Asif Bajwa, secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, threatened that Pakistan could pull out of the Junior World Cup to be staged across the border in December this year.
The Cup is being held under the auspices of the International Hockey Federation, who could take action against Pakistan for not participating.
“We condemn India’s policy of mixing politics with sport and if they continue to do so it will be a big loss for hockey fans and for hockey in Asia,” Bajwa told reporters.
“We will not play the hockey series on a neutral venue and now, if they agree to play a hockey series in the future, then India will have to tour us first,” the former Olympian added.
India and Pakistan had been due to play five matches from April 5-15 but the sport has now become the latest victim of tensions between the two countries, particularly over the disputed region of Kashmir.
Five Indian paramilitary police were killed in an ambush on Wednesday in Srinagar, the main city in the Indian-administered part of the territory.
Indian officials have said the attackers – who were themselves shot dead – appeared to have come from Pakistan, despite denials from Islamabad.
The Indian government has also been angered by a resolution passed by the Pakistani Parliament on Thursday, denouncing the recent hanging in Delhi of a Kashmiri separatist convicted of plotting an attack on the national Parliament.
Last week, Pakistan was forced to put off a snooker series after India raised security concerns after a bomb attack killed 50 people in Karachi on March 3.
Several Pakistani hockey stars were also forced to pull out of the inaugural Indian Hockey League in January following a spate of killings across the de facto border in Kashmir.
The two sides last played a bilateral hockey series in 2006 although they recently faced off in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh in Malaysia.
The countries have won 11 Olympic hockey titles between them and dominated the Games arena for decades, with India winning eight and Pakistan three. — AFP | <urn:uuid:09c7a54c-66c3-4c61-87b1-2012d93e2dda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2013/3/17/sports/12849831 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971799 | 608 | 1.539063 | 2 |
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1Ah! Ariel, Ariel,*
city where David encamped!
Let year follow year,
and feast follow feast,a
2But I will bring distress upon Ariel,
and there will be mourning and moaning.
You shall be to me like Ariel:b
3I will encamp like David against you;
I will circle you with outposts
and set up siege works against you.c
4You shall speak from beneath the earth,
and from the dust below, your words shall come.
Your voice shall be that of a ghost from the earth,
and your words shall whisper from the dust.d
5The horde of your arrogant shall be like fine dust,
a horde of tyrants like flying chaff.e
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6you shall be visited by the LORD of hosts,
With thunder, earthquake, and great noise,
whirlwind, storm, and the flame of consuming fire.f
7* Then like a dream,
a vision of the night,
Shall be the horde of all the nations
who make war against Ariel:
All the outposts, the siege works against it,
all who distress it.
8As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakens with an empty stomach,
Or when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and awakens faint, his throat parched,
So shall the horde of all the nations be,
who make war against Mount Zion.
9* Stupefy yourselves and stay stupid;
blind yourselves and stay blind!
You who are drunk, but not from wine,
who stagger, but not from strong drink!g
10For the LORD has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets)
11For you the vision of all this has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed to one who can read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” 12When the scroll is handed to one who cannot read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot read.”
13The Lord said:
Since this people draws near with words only
and honors me with their lips alone,
though their hearts are far from me,
And fear of me has become
mere precept of human teaching,i
14Therefore I will again deal with this people
in surprising and wondrous fashion:
The wisdom of the wise shall perish,
the prudence of the prudent shall vanish.j
15Ah! You who would hide a plan
too deep for the LORD!
Who work in the dark, saying,
“Who sees us, who knows us?”k
16Your perversity is as though the potter
were taken to be the clay:
As though what is made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me!”
Or the vessel should say of the potter,
“He does not understand.”l
17Surely, in a very little while,
Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,
and the orchard be considered a forest!m
18On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.n
19The lowly shall again find joy in the LORD,
the poorest rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.o
20For the tyrant shall be no more,
the scoffer shall cease to be;
All who are ready for evil shall be cut off,p
21those who condemn with a mere word,
Who ensnare the defender at the gate,
and leave the just with an empty claim.q
22Therefore thus says the LORD,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:*
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.r
23For when his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall sanctify my name;
they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
be in awe of the God of Israel.s
24Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
those who find fault shall receive instruction.
* [29:1–2] Ariel: a poetic name for Jerusalem. It has been variously interpreted to mean “lion of God,” “altar hearth of God” (Ez 43:15–16), “city of God,” or “foundation of God.” In v. 2 the term refers to “altar hearth,” i.e., a place of burning for its people (cf. 30:33; 31:9). God will attack Jerusalem, as David did long ago.
* [29:7–8] Just when the attackers think their capture of Jerusalem is certain, the Lord will snatch victory from their hands and save the city. The sudden shift from the Lord’s attack on the city to its deliverance by him is surprising and unexplained; it may reflect the account related in 37:36.
* [29:9–16] Despite their show of piety, Judah’s leaders refused to accept the prophet’s words of assurance. They rejected prophetic advice (cf. 30:10–11), did not consult the prophetic oracle in forming their political plans (30:1–2; 31:1), and tried to hide their plans even from God’s prophet (v. 15), who, they thought, simply did not understand military and political reality.
* [29:10] Prophets…seers: interpretive glosses.
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I take your third option as the best because we are saved, or justified “by grace through faith,” which is how we receive Jesus Christ and his obedience on our behalf. In case we do not get it, the opposing competitor for such salvation is stressed so that it is absolutely clear.
Works is not a competitor to grace, or faith, but to justification and salvation. Salvation is “not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation is not of works, yes this is the gospel. The gospel does not try to argue that grace or faith is not of works, but always argues that salvation is not of works. Faith produces works, so it would be confusing to say that faith is not of works without further explanation.
The ‘works’ that the Apostle is ‘excluding from our salvation’ are works from Christians. That is why he naturally transitions after this to the idea that we are his workmanship. This is to say that salvation is free and the works it produces in us have nothing to do with our salvation (justification) but are his work for his own pleasure.
The apostles basic method is always to separate works from salvation not always to create the doctrine of irresistible grace, though that doctrine can be argued in various ways from other places. I think this is the most face-value interpretation of the words and delving into the Greek does not help, as the questions pertains to ‘this’ – ‘this grace’, ‘this faith’, or ‘this salvation’ as you have succinctly shown in the question.
Once again you have forced me to make up my mind about a particular that I had not decided before – thanks again for the great question.
Here is some additional analysis (the longer version) as requested by a user:
Looking at the Greek one can easily see that all the common English translations are fine without any controversy leading to one answer or another:
For [γὰρ] by grace [χάριτί] you are [ἐστε] saved [σεσωσμένοι] through [διὰ] faith [πίστεως] and [καὶ] this [τοῦτο] not [οὐκ] of [ἐξ] yourselves [ὑμῶν] God's [θεοῦ] - [τὸ] gift [δῶρον] not [οὐκ] of [ἐξ] works [ἔργων] that [ἵνα] not [μή] anyone [τις] might boast [καυχήσηται].
Either grace χάριτί is the gift, or our being saved σεσωσμένοι is the gift, or our faith πίστεως is the gift – that is ‘not of works that no anyone might boast’. Therefore that the Greek can’t help as the common English translations are already accurate without controversy and do not indicate which word is 'the gift'.
Therefore we turn to the internal logic of scripture that transcends human language.
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (NIV 1 Corinthians 2:13-14)
Obviously grace, faith and salvation are the kinds of words Paul refers to as ‘spiritual words’. We must therefore look for the maning of these words in humility and with faith and with the study of the Bible's overall arguments, especially those of the Apostle Paul.
The only question to answer then is 'Why using an understanding from Paul’s arguments, would one choose ‘salvation’ as the gift rather than ‘faith’ or ‘grace’?' Certainly all three can be seen as gifts, but not all three are constantly set up by the Apostle as being opposed to God in terms of how we are saved and in terms of how it derives a foolish kind of boasting. Paul always argues that 'salvation' or 'justification' is not of works, he does not say 'grace is not of works under the law', or 'faith is not of works under the law'.
'Works' is something in the New Testament as causing (primarily the Jews) a reason to ‘boast’ based on ‘works of the Law’. (Romans 2:17). The purpose of those works is to become ‘justified before God’ giving a man a reason ‘to boast’. (Romans 4:2). Now justification is nothing more than our salvation, so the question is, 'Are we justified/saved by 'works' or by 'faith' in Jesus Christ? Well typically Paul say’s:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. (NIV Romans 5:1-2)
So we see the idea; salvation is either a result of faith (giving us access to grace which justifies us) or by works under the law (from which we can boast). With faith our boast changes into the glory of God, and not of ourselves.
What then is 'not of our own doing'? Clearly it is our 'justification', because by works of the law the Jews tried to justify themselves and boast. Paul does not say that the Jews by works of the law sought to obtain faith. Paul does not say that the Jews by the works of the law sought to obtain grace. The Jews did not boast in grace, or faith to obtain justification but works. Clearly justification which is 'being saved' is either obtainable by 'works' or is given as a 'gift'. This the Apostle constantly puts as competing principles, either one or the other must stand or fall. The Jews were not trying to obtain grace, or faith by works. Therefore the 'gift' that is opposed to works is 'justification/salvation' and not faith or grace.
In this way we could read the original text like this:
For by grace you have been justified through faith. And this justification is not your own doing under the law; it is the gift of God by grace, not a result of works under the law, so that no one may boast in themselves. (My Paraphrase) | <urn:uuid:2e53a70e-02d1-4774-a89e-3081b144b485> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/2249/what-is-the-gift-of-god-in-eph-28?answertab=active | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965315 | 1,462 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The Michigan Paralyzed Veterans Association has taken the University of Michigan to court over the extent of accessibility at the school's football stadium in Ann Arbor.
The suit contends that the university's $226 million plans for renovating the stadium do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The University of Michigan has been engaging in ongoing renovations and an essential rebuilding of the stadium since at least 1991,” the lawsuit asserts. “This rebuilding of the stadium was intentionally staggered so as to mask the nature of the extensive renovation and attempt to avoid responsibility to comply with the ADA.”
The veterans argue that the major alterations to the 106,000-seat stadium trigger additional obligations to add accessible seating and increase the accessibility of other parts of the stadium.
The university's website for the stadium renovation says that the upgrades “will significantly increase the number and location of accessible seating. … The total number of accessible seats will increase and the choice for location of accessible seating will now include both end zones and sideline seating.” | <urn:uuid:0a7c2eb4-dad8-476e-83e0-821dccc845cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://asumag.com/Construction/athletics/university_stadium_accessibility | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942138 | 210 | 1.59375 | 2 |
COLUMBUS PHILLIPS, Needmore, Greene County, Mo., is one of the farmers and an old soldier citizen of Greene County. Joseph, the father of our subject, was a farmer of Granger County, Tenn., and married in that State, Lucy, widow of William MeElhaney, the father of the pioneer to Greene County, Robert McElhaney. She was a Miss Pollard, born in Virginia. Her children by Mr. McElhaney were: Robert, William, Warry, John, E. L. By Mr. Phillips she was the mother of Nathan (deceased, about fifty-five years of age), Louisa (deceased, at fifty-three years of age), Thomas (deceased, at fifty-one years of age), Elizabeth and Columbus. Some years prior to 1888, Mr. Phillips came to Greene County and settled near Springfield and then moved to James River and finally moved to Brooklyn, Mo., and then bought the farm now owned by our subject, consisting then, in 1848, of 230 acres. Politically an old line Whig and afterward a Republican, he was an honest, industrious, and much respected citizen. Columbus, son of Joseph, and our subject, was born June 20, 1838, received a common school education in the pioneer schools, and in 1862 enlisted in the Missouri Home Guard service and was in one skirmish. He then enlisted in the State militia, Company D, Seventy-second Regiment, and was in the battle of Springfield when Marmaduke made his raid, also in a skirmish at Black Run, Ark., and at Lone Rock. He was taken prisoner in southeast Missouri and was paroled. He served three years. When in the Home Guard he was a scout most of the time and was appointed by Gen. Sigel as one of the guides for his army. After his services as a soldier Mr. Phillips returned to farming. He had married in 1860 Nancy Davis and he had one daughter who died, after which Mrs. Phillips died and Mr. Phillips married Sarah J. England, and by her had three children who lived to be grown up: Lucy, John, and Robert. This wife died, and Mr. Phillips married Marrilla McGinnis and they have six children - Emily, Nancy E., Joel, Mary B., Katie, and Zina. Both Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are members of the Baptist Church. Politically be is a Republican. Mr. Phillips is a member of the G. A. R., Green Bridge, Mo., Capt. Mack- Post, No. 319. He has a good farm of 230 acres and 100 acres in culture. He was a faithful soldier and has always been an industrious farmer and honorable citizen. Mr. Phillips was on the battlefield of Wilson's Creek the day after the battle and saw the fearful sights. The dead lay thickest on Sharp Hill, where Gen. Sigel lost his battery. Many of the Federal soldiers had been stripped of shoes and clothing by vandals. His statement in this respect agrees with Thomas Yeakley, who was can the battlefield the same day.
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Keyword Search | Pictorial and Genealogical Home
Springfield-Greene County Library | <urn:uuid:7acd87b7-e44d-48d8-bc7e-e6462fa5c0df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/pictorial/phillips.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985019 | 710 | 2.0625 | 2 |
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Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation proposed regulations that would require banks with assets above $10 billion to conduct self-administered stress tests each year.
Under the proposal, the FDIC by mid-November each year would provide banks with three economic scenarios for the future. By Jan. 5, banks would send the FDIC a report on how the institution would cope with the scenarios. The reports would be published 90 days after that.
The rule closely tracks one proposed by the Federal Reserve last year that outlines how Fed examiners will administer stress tests to institutions with assets of more than $50 billion.
“Both the FDIC and the institutions being tested will benefit from the forward-looking results that the stress tests will provide,” acting FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg said. “The results will assist in ensuring an institution’s financial stability by helping to determine whether it has sufficient capital levels to withstand a period of economic stress.”
Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, voted for the proposal on stress tests in his first appearance on the FDIC board.
“Not only will they help protect consumer depositors but the system as a whole,” Cordray said at the meeting.
The FDIC will be taking public comments on the proposal for 60 days.
--Editor: Lawrence Roberts, Maura Reynolds
To contact the reporter on this story: Carter Dougherty in Washington at email@example.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lawrence Roberts at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:a9a0ffd4-c742-4b32-bce1-7ea0219e6a1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-18/fdic-proposes-rules-for-self-administered-bank-stress-tests.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920916 | 354 | 1.664063 | 2 |
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran said the gunman who killed Neda Agha-Soltan may have mistaken her for the sister of an Iranian "terrorist," the Islamic Republic News Agency reported Wednesday.
In death, Neda Agha-Soltan has emerged as a powerful symbol of opposition to the Iranian government.
Iran blamed the death of the woman known to the world simply as Neda squarely on "those groups who want to create division in the nation," saying they planned the woman's killing "to accuse the Islamic republic of ruthlessly dealing with the opposition," according to IRNA, Iran's state-run news agency.
The report said the investigation into her death is ongoing, "but according to the evidence so far, it could be said that she was killed by mistake. The marksmen had mistaken her for the sister of one of the Monafeghin who had been executed in the province of Mazandaran some time ago."
Monafeghin refers to the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran, or PMOI, which promotes a secular, Marxist government for Iran, and has waged a violent campaign against the fundamentalist Islamic regime, including bombings that killed politicians, judges and Cabinet members.
Also known as Mujahedin-e-Khalq, the group initially was formed to oppose the Shah of Iran but fell out of favor with the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after 1979.
The European Union removed the group from its list of terrorist organizations this year, prompting outrage from Tehran. The Iranian Foreign Ministry accused the European Union of "making friends and cooperating with terrorists" by removing the group from its list.
Neda, 26, rose to prominence within hours after a crudely shot video documenting her final moments was uploaded to the Web. Shortly after she died Saturday from a single gunshot wound to the chest, she emerged as a powerful symbol of opposition to the Iranian government. See images of Neda and the impact of her death »
"It's heartbreaking," President Obama said Tuesday, referring to the video of Neda, which means "divine calling" in Farsi.
"And I think anyone who sees it knows there's something fundamentally unjust about it."
The Iranian government has sought to minimize the impact of her death. Watch how Neda's death has attracted world attention »
IRNA reported Wednesday that the killer, or killers, may have "thought that they were targeting one of the government opposition people and that is why they immediately distributed the video of the aftermath of the killing through the official and unofficial media in order to reach their murderous objectives against the Iranian government and revolution."
|Most Viewed||Most Emailed||Top Searches| | <urn:uuid:2a656752-ca27-4ce8-b4a1-a738854e8114> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/24/iran.neda.death/index.html?iref=nextin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977222 | 562 | 1.5625 | 2 |
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A-Z of London Road reveals the "real Brighton"
“Aldi”, “graffiti”, and “unconscious” are some of the words photographer George Coles uses to describe London Road in his new A-Z book looking at the Brighton thoroughfare. But with several major building and regeneration projects proposed for the area, the much maligned London Road may be about to change forever. Neil Vowles reports.
It was the bustling heart of Brighton, a typical English high street full of family-run businesses.
But the years have not been kind to London Road and while other parts of the city have flourished, the area has been left behind.
Regular visitors to London Road shops talk of a general decline of the neighbourhood, which has become a haven for street drinkers.
Now that image could be flipped on its head with a series of major projects aimed at breathing life back into the patch.
Multi-million pound schemes underway at the Open Market and The Level are set to inject new impetus, while further proposals by the University of Sussex and City College Brighton and Hove could also reshape the road in the next five years.
Before that possible metamorphosis, photographer George Coles has captured the day-to-day realities of London Road in 2012 with a new photography exhibition and book.
Mr Coles spent an hour a day for nine months walking along London Road taking pictures and talking to people he met, from street drinkers to shoppers.
The photographer, who is a carpenter and joiner by day, said he was drawn in by the characters he sees walking the road.
He was inspired by Edwardian projects to document the street but was keen to portray the people who use London Road, something that was missing from the Edwardian studies.
He said: “One of the big problems London Road has with the Co-op closing and the Open Market gone for the moment, is a lack of footfall on the street.
“Even during the nine months I saw there were not as many people walking the street.
“The key to London Road is attracting people from Sydney Street and that area and getting them to walk through to London Road.
“It’s part of old Brighton. It is a really real place with real people and not like some of the other parts of the city.”
He says that people were generally gloomy about the area’s future, but he was more optimistic.
“I think there will be a big change in five years if I was to repeat this project.
“I can see similarities with the East End of London and the way that has changed.”
Philip Wells, chair of the London Road Local Action Team, said that in recent years there was great reason to be positive about the future.
He said that the area had been playing second fiddle to Churchill Square and Western Road for decades but was now in the throes of a rejuvenation.
He said: “I think if you put all the proposed projects together, London Road becomes a very exciting part of Brighton.
“I think the best plan is to help London Road be itself. “It’s a bit of old Brighton and it has a wide variety of people who use it.
“Statistically, reports of problems with street drinkers have declined in recent months and the street community is very much part of our community.
“There are going to be people in a place like Brighton who have issues and you cannot wish them out of existence and we have to find ways to manage them.
“There is scope for imagination to put London Road on the map in a positive way in 2012 rather than what it was like in 1998.”
Steve Percy, of the People’s Parking Protest, said that London Road should be the first thing that motorists driving into the city should see.
He said: “Previously, you came into Brighton and London Road was the gateway as you drove into the Old Steine and it was a thriving industry.
“When they restricted access from Preston Circus in the Seventies, I’m not sure what the advantage was.
“I remember as a youngster it was a |wonderful shopping experience, dropping |in for a bargain bit of bacon from the local butchers.
“Now with parking at £3.50 for one hour, that bacon is no longer a bargain.
“The proposed changes to Valley Gardens means that even traffic leaving the city will be directed away from London Road.
“London Road is a wide road and it would really benefit from having more car parking spaces where people could stop off for a few minutes and pick up what they need from the local shops.
“Unfortunately, under the current proposals for the city it’s more likely that the pavements will be widened or a cycle lane added.”
A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said: “Brighton and Hove City Council is committed to seeing London Road become an increasingly accessible and vibrant area.
“The council is actively working on a range of projects and encouraging investment to London Road.
“The wide reaching vision for the future aims to make a real difference for people living and working in the area.
“The interest and benefits are set to generate new visitors and increase appreciation of this part of the city.”
The photo exhibition will continue at the Co-op in London Road until early November. | <urn:uuid:4263e775-1d1e-4119-a598-9c407745abd9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9988034.A_Z_of_London_Road_reveals_the__real_Brighton_/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970749 | 1,171 | 1.90625 | 2 |
'In an experiment, a student was asked to measure the densities of liquid acetone and metallic chromium. He was given a pycnometer which weighed 26.880 g empty. When filled with water and stoppered, the mass was recorded as 54.992g at 28°C. The pycnometer was cleaned and filled with acetone. The mass was 49.137 g. Again, the flask was cleaned and dried. Into it were added some chunks of chromium and the total was found to weight 78.666 g. Leaving the chromium in the pycnometer, it was then filled with acetone. The flask, metal and acetone was found to weigh 95.199 g. From this data, calculate the density of acetone and the density of chromium (show all your calculations). '
The answer is meant to be in g/mL, and I have to admit I am a bit lost. These are the steps I think need to be taken: 1) find the volume of the empty pycnometer. 2) find the density of the acetone. 3) Find the volume of the chromium. 4) Find the density of the chromium. I guess the main thig I am confused with is how to use the numbers and where? | <urn:uuid:f7602d8e-0cc0-4de3-b91f-c63590164c5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mathhelpforum.com/math-topics/214464-chemistry-calculating-densities.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97721 | 262 | 3.265625 | 3 |
The identification of differentially expressed genes to investigate a specific developmental system or the genetic changes associated with a given pathology is one of the most commonly pursued tasks in molecular and cellular biology. Diverse techniques allow the study of the modulation of gene expression including differential display (DD)-PCR. DD-PCR permits the isolation of cDNA reverse transcribed from mRNA, allowing comparison of gene expression of differentially treated samples. The cDNA fragments are cloned and identified by sequencing and homology searches. The differential expression of the cDNA can then be confirmed using more stringent techniques for the evaluation of steady-state mRNA such as Northern blots and semi-quantitative PCR.
We are currently analyzing gene expression in cultured breast cancer cells in response to microenvironmental modulators such as parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP), which is known to affect cell proliferation and invasivity(1)
. Using mRNA DD-electrophoretograms and re-amplifying and purifying selected cDNA fragments(3)
, we have obtained a number of DNA preparations suitable for sequencing and subsequent identification of the parental transcript.
Here we report the successful use of LigaFast™ Rapid DNA Ligation System and pGEM®-T Easy Vector System (Cat.# A1360) for cloning PCR products. This procedure yields enough recombinant plasmid for sequence analysis.
Results and Discussion
To identify genes selectively regulated in a breast cancer cell line after treatment with a midregion fragment of PTHrP, we isolated cDNA fragments by DD-PCR(3)
. The cDNA fragments were ligated into pGEM®-T Easy Vector. When working with DD-PCR insert-containing vectors, we found that plating 300–500µl of transformed bacterial cells generated a higher number of colonies with a consequent higher percentage of white colonies. Additionally, the 6:1 insert:plasmid ratio yielded a 50% increase of colony number. On the other hand, when the control DNA fragment was used for transformation, an insert:plasmid ratio of 3:1 and 100µl of transformation culture gave optimal results, (positive control yielded more than 90% white colonies). The number of colonies grown in the background control was negligible.
Figure 1 shows the electrophoretic analysis of recombinant plasmids purified from the cell lysates; we were able to obtain 1-5µg of recombinant plasmid from 5ml cultures, an amount suitable for automated sequencing. Figure 2 shows the restriction analysis of recombinant plasmids digested with EcoR I, whose recognition site closely flanks the insertion site. We found that after enzymatic treatment, DNA fragments corresponded in size to those of the DD-PCR bands plus the remnant region of the polylinker.
We compared the colony-forming efficiency of three different bacterial strains, JM109, HB101 and XL1 Blue. JM109 cells yielded 20% more colonies, both blue and white, than the other two cell types. We have also successfully cloned DNA fragments extracted and purified from agarose gel bands.
In conclusion, we can recommend the pGEM®-T Easy Vector System, in conjunction with LigaFast™ Rapid DNA Ligation System, as a versatile tool for the quick cloning of DD-PCR products and the production of recombinant plasmids for subsequent sequencing.
Materials and Methods
Preparation of cDNA fragments: We amplified cDNA fragments (180-750bp) obtained from DD-PCR using PCR Master Mix (Cat.# M7501). Annealing temperatures and cycling profiles were empirically determined for each reaction. For the A-tailing reaction, the elongation time of the last cycle was prolonged to 20 minutes. We determined the purity and the amount of the PCR products by agarose gel electrophoresis.
Ligation and transformation reactions: The ligation reaction was set up using pGEM®-T Easy vector and LigaFast™ Rapid DNA Ligation System using a PCR product:vector molar ratio of 3:1 or 6:1. Positive and background controls were prepared in parallel as recommended by the manufacturer(4)
. The reactions were incubated overnight at 4°C, after which they were quickly centrifuged and 2µl added to 50µl of either JM109, HB101 (Cat.# L2011) or XL1 Blue (kind gift of Prof. Ida Albanese and Mario La Farina) competent cells. Transformation was performed according to manufacturer’s instructions(4)
onto LB/Ampicillin/IPTG/X-Gal plates.
Plasmid extraction: White bacterial colonies were picked and grown overnight at 37°C with agitation in 5ml Luria broth supplemented with 25µl Ampicillin (100µg/ml). Polypropylene tubes were used for colony incubation. Recombinant plasmids were purified using a commercial miniprep kit and quantitated by gel electrophoresis. Insertion of the PCR product of interest into the plasmid was verified by EcoR I digestion of 200–400ng of recombinant plasmid and analysis by agarose gel electrophoresis.
Work partially supported by Italian MURST (Cofin and ex 60%). | <urn:uuid:80f140cd-abee-4fb1-97a9-c7405646c271> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.promega.sg/resources/articles/pubhub/enotes/cloning-differential-display-pcr-products-with-pgemt-easy-vector-system/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920225 | 1,106 | 1.945313 | 2 |
North American Network Operators Group|
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RE: RFC1918 addresses to permit in for VPN?
> So the picture that emerges is that Randy is very definitely > speaking of NAT as Bi-directional or Two-Way NAT (in the terminology > of RFC 2663), where no address conservation is practiced, and > machines with private addresses are directly reachable via public > addresses, through a fixed incoming mapping applied by the NAT > device. umm, fixed is not a requirement here. you can go two way through addresses allocated out of a pool easily enough. yes, the hacker won't have control over what is in the pool that he is trying to hack into, and the externally visible addresses of systems may change, but as long as the NAT is being done and is two way, there are things which are subject to attack. the combination of RFC 1918 space and NAT is a sorry excuse for security. you need some sort of packet filtering or access control on the path, possibly in the box doing the NAT, possibly in some other box, but you _must_ have it. if a network is completely isolated from the public internet, then the RFC1918 issue is irrelevant, as the network is inaccessible regardless of what network addresses are being used. richard | <urn:uuid:297bbfd6-d88d-44ed-a4e3-e5c483d3feb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nanog.org/mailinglist/mailarchives/old_archive/2001-01/msg00029.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966728 | 275 | 1.84375 | 2 |
You can imagine an arrow in flight, toward a target. For the arrow to reach the target, the arrow must first travel half of the overall distance from the starting point to the target. Next, the arrow must travel half of the remaining distance.
For example, if the starting distance was 10m, the arrow first travels 5m, then 2.5m.
If you extend this concept further, you can imagine the resulting distances getting smaller and smaller. Will the arrow ever reach the target?
Hint: This puzzle needs some very careful thinking.
Since the arrow does indeed hit the target, it must be true that 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + ... = 1.
This is because the sum of an infinite series can be a finite number.
Three people check into a hotel. They pay £30 to the manager and go to their room. The manager suddenly remembers that the room rate is £25 and gives £5 to the bellboy to return to the people. On the way to the room the bellboy reasons that £5 would be difficult to share among three people so he pockets £2 and gives £1 to each person. Now each person paid £10 and got back £1. So they paid £9 each, totalling £27. The bellboy has £2, totalling £29. Where is the missing £1?
Hint: Be careful of what you're adding.
We have to be careful what we are adding together.
Originally, they paid £30, they each received back £1, they now have only paid £27. Of this £27, £25 went to the manager for the room and £2 went to the bellboy.
Think of words ending in -GRY. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is.
Hint: Is this a trick question?
Answer: There are only two: angry and hungry. The rec.puzzles archive offers a large collection of words that end in -GRY, but none of them could be considered even remotely common. There are many generally unsatisfying "trick" answers to the problem, which depend on a specific wording of the question or that the question be spoken instead of written. There seems to be no agreement among puzzle historians about which form is the original, or even the age of the problem. In any event, it is apparent that the frequent mutations of the puzzle statement over the years have erased whatever answer was intended by the original author. The usual trick is to play on the expression "the English Language", you are then asked for the third word - which is of course Language! QED.
There are three houses, and three utilities: gas, electricity and water. Your task is to connect each house to all three utilities. Therefore each house will have three lines and each utility will also have three lines. However, you cannot cross lines. You cannot pass lines through houses or utilities. You cannot share lines. Can you draw the 9 lines required?
Answer: This puzzle is a classic one which has no solution in 2D.
However, if you place the items on a doughnut shape in 3D you can solve it. In the picture below, E is linked to 3 by going over the top and re-entering through the hole in the middle.
Imagine a prisoner in a prison. He is sentenced to death and has been told that he will be killed on one day of the following week. He has been assured that the day will be a surprise to him, so he will not be anticipating the hangman on a particular day, so keeping his stress levels in check.
The prisoner starts to think to himself, if I am still alive on Thursday, then clearly I shall be hanged on Friday, this would mean that I then know the day of my death, therefore I cannot be hanged on Friday. Now then, if I am still alive on Wednesday, then clearly I shall be hanged on Thursday, since I have already ruled out Friday. The prisoner works back with this logic, finally concluding that he cannot after all be hanged, without already knowing which day it was.
Casually, resting on his laurels, sitting in his prison cell on Tuesday, the warden arrives to take him to be hanged, the prisoner was obviously surprised!
Hint: Be careful not to let your brain melt on this one.
Answer: This puzzle is a classic paradox. You are led through a sequence of seemingly valid arguments which lead to a conclusion, which quite clearly cannot be true.
Mr Smith has lots of pound coins, ten boxes in all. Each box contains 100 pound coins, but one box contains coins which are all counterfeit and are slightly lighter, 1/16 of an ounce lighter to be exact.
The problem lies in the fact that they all look identical, the only way to tell them apart is to weigh them.
Mr Smith knows the correct weight for a box, but how many weighings are required to determine which box contains the counterfeit ones?
Hint: The answer is a lot less than 100 weighings.
Answer: One weighing is enough.
Take one coin from the first box, two from the second and so on.
When the coins are weighed, the number of 1/16ths light will tell us which box contains the counterfeits.
For example if it was box 5, the weighing would be 5/16 too light.
You have a pile of 24 coins. Twenty-three of these coins have the same weight, and one is heavier. Your task is to determine which coin is heavier and do so in the minimum number of weighings. You are given a beam balance (scale), which will compare the weight of any two sets of coins out of the total set of 24 coins. How many weighings are required to identify the heavier coin?
Hint: Split the coins into groups of 8 for the first weighing.
Answer: It can be done in three weighings.
Weighing 1: Break the coins into three piles of eight. Weigh one group of eight against another group of eight. If the scale balances, then the group that hasn't been weighed has the heavier coin. If the scale tips, then that group contains the heavier coin.
Weighing 2: Break the group of eight that has the heavier coin into three groups (three coins, three coins, and two coins). Weigh one set of three against the other set of three. If it balances, the group of two has the heavier coin. If the scale tips, then that group has the heavier coin.
Weighing 3: If the heavier coin is in the group of two, then just weigh one coin against the other to determine the heaviest coin. If the heavier coin is in a group of three, then take two of those coins and weigh them against each other. If the scale balances, the coin that hasn't been weighed is the heavier coin. If the scale tips, then that is the heavier coin.
You are in a room with 2 doors leading out. Behind 1 door is a coffer overflowing with jewels and gold, along with an exit. Behind the other door is an enormous, hungry lion that will pounce on anyone opening the door. You do not know which door leads to the treasure and exit, and which door leads to the lion. In the room you are in are 2 individuals. The first is a knight, who always tells the truth, and a knave, who always lies. Both of these individuals know what is behind each door. You do not know which individual is the knight, or which one is the knave. You may ask one of the individuals exactly 1 question. What should you ask in order to be certain that you will open the door with the coffer behind it, instead of the hungry lion?
Hint: This will require logical thinking.
You ask one of the individuals what the other one would say if you asked him which door is holding back the hungry lion and then open this door.
U2 has a concert that starts in just 17 minutes and all of the band members must all cross a bridge to get there. The four men begin on the same side of the bridge and you must help them to get across to the other side.
Due the age of the bridge, a maximum of two people can cross at one time. To make matters worse, it is night-time and there is only one torch. The torch is always required when crossing the bridge and the torch must be walked back and forth, it cannot be thrown, etc. Each band member walks at a different speed and a pair must walk together at the rate of the slower man:
Bono takes 1 minute to cross
Edge takes 2 minutes to cross
Adam takes 5 minutes to cross
Larry takes 10 minutes to cross
For example, if Bono and Larry walk across first, it takes them 10 minutes to cross. If Bono then returns with the torch, a total of 11 minutes will have passed. There is no trick behind this, it is the simple movement of resources in the appropriate order.
Hint: Always using the quickest person doesn't necessarily help.
Bono and Edge cross - 2 minutes
Bono returns - 1 minute
Adam and Larry cross - 10 minutes
Edge returns - 2 minutes
Bono and Edge cross - 2 minutes
Total - 17 minutes | <urn:uuid:816986fa-13fb-49c9-bf1c-c1c4899b143b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brainbashers.com/showpuzzles.asp?puzzle=ZVTUZKGXZAOXZJXZZQKJZCTOZJYHZYUQZQJM | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961959 | 1,972 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The immunochemical fecal occult blood test (iFOBT) is effective for predicting lesions in the lower intestine but not in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, confirms a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
The immunochemical fecal occult blood test is a useful noninvasive tool to screen for bleeding without symptoms in the lower GI tract. If bleeding is discovered, a colonoscopy is then used to investigate the source of bleeding.
Researchers from Taiwan sought to assess the specificity of iFOBT, looking at a group of 2796 people (1654 men and 1142 women) who underwent voluntary bi-directional endoscopies and an iFOBT. The mean age was 49 years. Participants underwent an iFOBT, blood tests, colonoscopy and an upper GI tract endoscopy as well as interviews. All were asymptomatic of bleeding and of major GI disorders.
In Taiwan, colorectal cancer is increasing, and ulcers and other upper GI tract issues are common. Same-day upper GI tract endoscopies and colonoscopies are commonly used to screen for cancer.
Of the total participants in the study, 397 people (14.2%) had a positive iFOBT result, indicating bleeding. The iFOBT was specific for almost 90% of colorectal cancers, adenomas and important lower GI lesions. Lower GI lesions were more common (24.1%) compared with those in the upper GI tract (17.9%). Lesions in the lower GI tract were more frequent in iFOBT-positive screens than in negative screens (41.3% versus 21.3%), whereas the frequency of lesions in the upper GI tract was similar in both positive and negative screens.
"Among participants found to have a malignant lesion, almost all who had colon cancer had a positive fecal test result (27/28, 96.4%). In contrast, none of the three participants found to have esophageal or gastric cancer had a positive fecal test result," writes Ming-Shiang Wu, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, with coauthors.
"We found that the specificity of the immunochemical fecal occult blood test was almost 90% for predicting colorectal cancer, adenoma or any important lesion in the lower gastrointestinal tract. These findings support those of previous studies showing that the immunochemical fecal test is a specific diagnostic tool,"" write the authors. | <urn:uuid:74f020bd-9cbc-45b6-8c9c-e4b2cce20253> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-noninvasive-fecal-occult-blood-effective.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936404 | 515 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Sun February 3, 2013
Syrian Activist's Offer Of Talks With Assad Draws Mixed Response
Moaz al-Khatib sent waves through the Syrian activist community this week when he announced via Facebook that he was open to talks with representatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime on two conditions: that political prisoners, thought to number in the tens of thousands, be released; and exiled Syrians be able to renew their passports at embassies abroad.
This is the first time that one of the main Syrian opposition groups has agreed to talk to the Assad government or the regime's allies, namely Iran and Russia.
NPR's Kelly McEvers reports that "up until now, the main Syrian opposition groups ... contended the regime simply has too much blood on its hands, that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must step down before any talks can start."
Criticism from within Khatib's own ranks was swift, but so was support form Syrians both inside and out of the country.
Activists in the town of Saraqib, near Idlib, held a poster that reads "Sheikh Moaz al Khatib represents me."
Many syrians are tired. The uprising that started as a protest movement two years ago but has since turned into a civil war has killed more than 60,000 people and left millions homeless.
"Any strategy to alleviate the suffering of our people is legitimate and even a duty," Majid al-Shoufi says in a Facebook comment on Khatib's original post.
Shoufi adds: "let [Assad] go, and God and history will take care of him... let us live in peace."
But as NPR's McEvers reports, while some Syrians welcome the talks, for others "it's unthinkable to negotiate with a regime responsible for killing tens of thousands of people."
In this poster seen in Kafr Nabl, also near Idlib, a likeness of Khatib says: "Yes, Dialogue with Killers," and a young girl asks: "But what about the blood of my father?"
Shakeeb al-Jabri, a pro-democracy Syrian activist based in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, called Khatib's move "illegal." He said on Twitter:
"SOC [the Syrian Opposition Coalition] leader Moaz AlKhatib violated the SOC charter with his announcement that he is willing to engage in dialog with the regime."
The coalition's founding document, the Doha Agreement, states that all coalition members agree "not to engage in dialogue or negotiations with the existing regime."
But as Khatib said, a quote one activist later drafted on a poster: "We're not negotiating for the regime to stay, we're negotiating for its departure."
Lava Selo contributed reporting | <urn:uuid:8dd2b368-989b-441a-b6e4-00da4c09077a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kwgs.org/post/syrian-activists-offer-talks-assad-draws-mixed-response | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974334 | 567 | 1.640625 | 2 |
007 Behind-the-Scenes Facts About Skyfall
Skyfall — the 23rd entry in the James Bond franchise and the third to star Daniel Craig — hit U.S. theaters today, and critics are awarding it some of the highest marks in the series' 50-year history. But Skyfall's four-year production was nearly as convoluted and intriguing as the film that eventually resulted. Here, 007 fascinating behind-the-scenes facts about Skyfall:
001. Daniel Craig drunkenly offered Sam Mendes the chance to direct — without the producers' permission
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Skyfall first got off the ground when franchise star Daniel Craig bumped into director Sam Mendes at Hugh Jackman's 2009 birthday party in New York City. When Mendes tossed off a few casual remarks about how he would direct the next 007 film, Craig impulsively offered him the job. "I'd had a few too many drinks and I completely overstepped the line and said, 'Why don't you do it'?" said Craig. "And Sam said, 'Why not?'" Fortunately, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson agreed.
002. It almost wasn't called Skyfall
After 22 films, producers had exhausted almost all of Bond author Ian Fleming's original titles, necessitating the invention of a wholly original title for the first time in Daniel Craig's tenure as Bond. While toiling for months under the workmanlike moniker Bond 23, producers considered the titles Silver Bullet, A Killing Moon, and Once Upon a Spy, finally settling on the terse, dramatic Skyfall.
003. Sean Connery's name came up in early casting brainstorms
Albert Finney delivers a pivotal turn as a figure from 007's childhood in Skyfall's final act, but another well-respected British actor was once mentioned for the role: Sean Connery. "There was a definite discussion about that," says director Sam Mendes, who ultimately decided that having a former Bond share the screen with Craig would prove too distracting: "Connery is Bond and he's not going to come back as another character."
004. It was timed to coincide with important dates in franchise history
Mendes was determined to make a Bond entry that hearkened back to the roots of the series, which began with 1962's Dr. No starring Connery. Consequently, several cast members, including series newcomers such as Berenice Marlohe, Naomie Harris, and Javier Bardem, were confirmed at a press conference held exactly 50 years after Sean Connery was announced as the original 007. And Skyfall's official theme song, as performed by Adele, was released 50 years to the day after Dr. No's release date in England — at 00:07 London time.
005. Whenever possible, Mendes avoided CGI
In keeping with Skyfall's retro feeling, Mendes insisted on using practical effects instead of CGI when he could. As a result, the movie gets by with only 500 CGI shots — far fewer than the count for other recent action hits like The Avengers, which boasts more than 2,200 effects shots.
006. Adele's theme song brought Craig to tears
According to director Mendes, British crooner Adele accepted the offer to write the film's title single reluctantly, worrying, "I write songs about myself, how can I make a Bond song?" But the soulful tune she eventually delivered managed to bring 007 himself to tears. "I cried," Daniel Craig told Yahoo! Movies. "From the opening bars I knew immediately, then the voice kicked in and it was exactly what I'd wanted from the beginning."
007. At least two more Daniel Craig-starring Bond films are on the way
In the wake of Skyfall's enormous success with both critics and international audiences, producers have made a deal with Skyfall writer John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) to pen two more Bond films with a single plot arc, says Deadline, the first 007 storyline to be played out over multiple movies. The films would be shot back-to-back, which means it likely won't take another four years before Bond 24 and Bond 25 — whatever their final titles turn out to be — are ready for release. | <urn:uuid:50df4cb8-cb13-4b70-89fe-c7a1ee4d7bd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mentalfloss.com/article/13045/007-behind-scenes-facts-about-skyfall | 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 | 0.966344 | 873 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Containment and Imperialism: The Paradox of American Empire and Vietnam
"All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" So begins the Vietnamese declaration of independence written personally by Ho Chi Minh after fighting a long war of resistance as an American ally against both Imperial Japan and Vichy France. Against a tiny nation striving for liberty the United States fought a long and brutal war of terror and genocide all in the name of the policy of containment. What exactly was the policy of containment? "Containment" was nothing more than a policy of supporting the elites in all nations against their own people. History was to reveal that it was American aggression that the world's people needed to contain. Containment had its roots in the French support for quarantine around the Soviet Union in the 1920s resulting in military dictatorships in nearly all of Eastern Europe. But modern containment began in 1947 when President Truman decided to aid the imperialist British Empire in restoring a tyrannical monarchy against the heroic resistance that had liberated their nation from the Nazis. From the start the Truman Doctrine was based on aiding military dictators, fascists, kings and emperors against the common people of the land. While there was some truth to the communist movement in Eastern Europe being dominated by Moscow especially as the Soviet Union degenerated into social imperialism. There was no truth at all to the idea that communism in Vietnam was part of a sinister plot by either Beijing or Moscow. Containments application from even its earliest stages in South East Asia was based on imperialism, racism and the upholding of white supremacy. Containment in Vietnam was simply a modern application of the imperial ideal of “the white man’s burdenâ€.
With the conclusion of the Second World War the United States set out to take the role of the defeated Axis powers both in Europe and the Pacific-Asia region. While in continental Europe the United States took up Hitler’s crusade against the “Mongoloid Tartars†to the east, in the Pacific region the United States began to fill the vacuum left by the fall of Japan and build its own “Co-prosperity Sphereâ€. In order to legitimize its position as the new Axis Power the United States developed the policy known as the “Truman Doctrineâ€. The Truman Doctrine became a tool for the United States to back exploitive, imperialist and racist regimes around the world all under the cover of fighting communism. The United States movement into Vietnam was eerily similar to its conquest of the Philippines in 1902 only this time anticommunism replaced blatant imperialism. The Vietnam War openly revealed the fallacy of the lie that containment was a “defensive strategyâ€. The United States government was aware from the start that the Vietminh were simply Vietnamese nationalists struggling for freedom against European tyranny. However in order to manipulate the French elections the Truman administration supported French imperialism in Indochina despite its blatant contradictions with the spirit of the Atlantic Charter. Ho Chi Minh was a strictly nationalist leader and in 1946 he had appealed to President Truman to honor anti-colonial principles. In 1945 Ho went as far as to offer the United States a naval base in Vietnam. From 1946 onward the French war in Vietnam was essentially an American war fought with French blood. The United States funded 1.1 billion dollars or 74% of the French war effort. The pre1965 history of imperialism in Vietnam completely shatters the myth that containment’s goal was the defense of existing government. In both 1945 and 1954 the Vietnamese nationalist movement was in virtual control of the entire nation. Both times the Vietnamese people were subject to a foreign government militarily forced upon them. First the genocidal government of the Emperor Bảo Ãại and then the autocratic despot Ngô Ãình Diệm. The United States obtained exceedingly generous terms at the 1954 Geneva Conference considering the fact that Vietnam was already a free nation when the conference was held. Despite being in nearly complete control of all of Indochina the Vietminh agreed to allow neutralist regimes in Laos and Cambodia, and a fascist dictatorship in South Vietnam. Despite the immense concessions made in the interest of peace by North Vietnam the United States was to violate every single one of the provisions it had agreed to at the Geneva Convention revealing to the world that all that stood behind the legality of “containment†was naked aggression. President Eisenhower cold-bloodedly explained in 1963 why democracy could not be allowed to prevail in Vietnam despite the Geneva Convention agreements: “It was generally conceded that had an election been held, Ho Chi Minh would have been elected Premier.†Not only did the United States fail to honor its agreements towards elections in South Vietnam it also threatened the very neutralist regimes it had created in Laos and Cambodia. Thus from the start containment was about expanding the frontier provinces of the American Empire not protecting legitimate legal governments.
The United States’ involvement in Vietnam was fueled by a desire to contain not the rise of Communism but the rise of colored nationalism both at home and abroad. The United States, South Africa and Nazi Germany are unique in world history in their single minded focus on the idea of racial purity. The Anglo-Saxon idea of the white man’s burden was the dominant factor in containment policy. The so called idea of being the world’s policeman was in fact simply a misleading deception to America’s intentions of replacing the British Empire as the upholder of Anglo-Saxon supremacy. The rise of New China terrified the United States because of the idea of a colored nation becoming a major power was a major obstacle to white supremacy. Japan had already shattered the image of white supremacy with her victories in the Russo-Japanese War and Battle of Singapore; however Japan did not consider herself a colored nation and did everything in her power to be accepted into the western community of nations. New China on the other hand had no qualms about being a colored nation on the contrary she embraced the idea of New China being first among equals in the community of colored nations. Zhou Enlai attended the 1955 Bandung conference, where ideas of colored unity posed a major threat to the rule of the white man. The American leaders did everything in their power to quell the Bandung spirit. Recognizing New China as the bastion of colored people everywhere the United States pursued an aggressive policy of “containment†towards New China out of fear that her strength would inspire colored people around the world to revolution. In a NSC 1952 document, state documents official suggest condemning New China for the violence in Indochina and creating a coalition of the Great Britain, France and the Kuomintang to invade New China. The key to containing new China and the brown man was Vietnam. The Vietnam War was to make clear before the entire world to see that only pathological hatred of colored people inspired American foreign policy. While America supposedly pursued a more modern form of imperialism in Vietnam many of its policies reeked of the European 19th Century Imperialism. For one thing in a nation overwhelmingly Buddhist, the United States installed a Catholic autocrat who pursued his fanatical dreams of exterminating Buddhism and allowing the western religion of Roman Catholicism to prevail in Vietnam. Supposedly attempting to contain the “Godless communists†the United States openly encouraged attacks on any religion other than Christianity in Vietnam. Most of the members of the so called “South East Asia†Treaty Organization were European or white powers. The only major Pacific power to support American genocide in Vietnam was Australia-another white ruled nation. The United States’ primary aim in Vietnam was to preserve the myth that the white man’s armies were some how invincible.
Intervention in Vietnam was heavily influenced by the United States’ need to protect its capability to exploit the people and economic resources of South East Asia and create an Anglo-Saxon Co-prosperity sphere. In its desire to turn occupied Japan into a bastion of western imperialism in the Pacific, the United States progressively began to reclaim the economic interests of the Imperial Japanese Empire. In order to turn the puppet Japanese regime into a economic powerhouse, the United States launched a series of imperialist thrusts against Indochina, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, not coincidentally all areas which had been included in the Japanese Empire’s wartime occupation. In the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea the United States satisfied itself by supporting puppet governments that would aid in the exploitation of resources by western corporations. According to the Boston Globe: “After the (U.S. Army) troops seize an area that the VC have held, the landowners move right in after them and even use the troops to help collect back rents.†However nations which did not accept United States economic subjection both communist and noncommunist were to become victims of American aggression. Korea and the People’s Republic of China both had strategic areas of their nation illegally occupied by the Americans. In Indonesia the C.I.A played a decisive role in launching a military coup against a strongly noncommunist, nationalist hero Sukarno because of the threat that he would nationalize the assets of western corporations in Indonesia. The C.I.A. would also play a major role in the coup against Diem who despite being a pro-American puppet did not follow orders from Washington well enough. The neutralist regime in Cambodia, which the United States had insisted on at Geneva would also fall victim to an American military coup. The big business units of the United States considered South East Asia a major opportunity for economic exploitation of valuable resources such as rubber and oil. According to Noam Chomsky a major aim of American policy towards Vietnam was to create a regime that would complement the west’s industrial economy.
Paradoxically the United States pursued an international strategy during the Vietnam conflict of encouraging the development of social imperialism in the Soviet Union as a bulwark against New China while at the same time insisting that Red China was simply a puppet of the Russians. From the death of Stalin onward the United States primary foreign policy goal was the destruction of New China. While already fearful of the Soviet Union’s revolutionary appeal to colonial peoples of the world, the idea of a colored superpower actively aiding the brown nations was a scenario the United States could not tolerate. In 1950 the United States had attempted a direct land invasion of New China through Korea which had been smashed at the epic Battle of the Yalu. From then on the United States pursued a new strategy of encouraging social imperialism in its fellow white superpower- the Soviet Union while using indirect means to destroy New China. To isolate New China the Eisenhower administration preserved the legitimacy of its colonial client in Taiwan by suggesting ludicrously that New China was a Soviet colony. The ignorant and racist statements by Dean Rusk for example are mind blowing: "The Peiping regime may be a colonial Russian government -- a Slavic Manchukuo on a larger scale. It is not the Government of China. It does not pass the first test. It is not Chinese." Vietnam was to prove the testing grounds for both sides of this nefarious plan. The Soviet Union having fallen victim to Social Imperialism was all to willing to sacrifice the people’s liberation movements in Vietnam and around the world for the sake of Russian national interests. The United States by offering incentives for Russia to abandon her revolutionary nature was the prime force in implanting social imperialism in the Soviet Union. By 1963 when the United States first began escalating forces into Vietnam it was clear that containment was no longer directed at the white Soviet superpower but at New China alone. Nikita Khrushchev’s abandonment of revolutionary principle around the world particular Vietnam was so blatant it was to play a major role in inciting the 1964 coup against him. Mao Zedong’s Three Worlds Theory provides major insight into America’s intentions in Vietnam. Mao’s Three Worlds theory holds that there are three major international communities in the world. The first world is made up of the two white superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union while the second world is made up of the primarily white nations of Europe and Australia as well as westernized Japan. Opposed to both the first and second worlds was the third world made up exclusively of colored nations of which New China, Vietnam and most of America’s victims were members. By understanding the Three Worlds theory it becomes easy to understand why the United States would be willing to reach agreements with her fellow superpower to combat world liberation. The Soviet Union was perfectly willing to abandon Vietnam to American imperialism. In one of the greatest farces in history the United States began its invasion of Vietnam with the Tonkin gulf resolution. Later released American state documents reveal that Lyndon Johnson had planned to launch an invasion of Vietnam long before the fictional attack in the Tonkin Gulf. The United States did not come to the aid of the South Vietnamese government it launched a full blown invasion of a liberated nation. New China was the primary target of American intervention. Between 1965-1968 the USAF targeted a railroad in Vietnam that was the only line of communication between southwest China and the rest of the nation.
The defeat of the mightiest empire in the world by “peasants in black pajamas†was to be a great symbolic triumph for the oppressed colonial peoples of the world. However in terms of foreign policy, communist victory in Vietnam proved to the world the futility and waist of the nearly 30 year war in Indochina. The aftermath of the war would prove to be the greatest argument against the necessity of containment. Containment at least in the Asia Pacific region was for all intents and purposes dead. From then on the United States under Nixon and Kissinger’s more pragmatic foreign policy would be forced to act rationally toward its fellow nations and not engage in fanatic crusades against freedom. Another great myth disproved by the people’s victory was the idea that South Vietnam was being invaded by the North. Instead final victory in South Vietnam was won by the people, and for over a year an independent communist “Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam†governed the nation separate from the north under the presidency of Huynh Tan Phat. The victory of the Vietnamese people to control their own nation did not lead to Red Chinese hordes spilling across all of Southeast Asia. Instead Vietnam would fall victim to the same social imperialist virus the United States had created in the Soviet Union. The myth of a communist monolith was disproved by the inter-communist bickering that followed in the 1970s. In one of the great ironies of history the United States under the Nixon administration was forced to come to an uneasy truce with the rising New China in order to combat the social imperialist Russia that America had created. The socially imperialist Soviet Union would attempt to use the victory of the people in Vietnam to further its aims of encircling and destroying New China. New China however would smash social imperialism in her brilliant military victory against social imperialist Vietnam after her aggression against Cambodia. Despite Vietnam’s eventual betrayal of New China, the Vietnamese victory is still a great testament to the power of Mao Zedong thought to inspire even the lowest to fight for freedom.
Brandon, Henry. Anatomy of Error; the Inside Story of the Asian War on the Potomac, 1954-1969. Boston: Gambit, 1969.
Bommarito, John E. The Truth About Viet Nam. St. Louis, Alert Publications, 1966.
Chomsky, Noam, At War with Asia New York: Pantheon Books. 1976
Duiker, William J. U.S. Containment Policy and the Conflict in Vietnam 1994
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Mandate for Change, 1953-1956 ( Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co, Inc, 1963)
Ho Chi Minh, Declaration of Independence 1946 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1945vietnam.html
Progressive Labor Party, Vietnam: Defeat U.S. Imperialism, 1971,
Smith, R.B. (Ralph Bernard). An International History of the Vietnam War, Vol. 1. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.
Taylor, Jay, China and Southeast Asia: Peking's Relations with Revolutionary Movements. New York, Praeger Publishers,1976 | <urn:uuid:45dfff3b-bdd4-4164-901c-5d9d9a85ed71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.soviet-empire.com/ussr/view/mobile/viewtopic.php?f=116&t=41589 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958738 | 3,438 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Reposted from my other blog. I thought it was important enough to share in multiple places.
You know a sexual assault survivor…in fact, you probably know a whole bunch.
It doesn’t matter what gender you are, what your orientation is, how many friends you have, where you live, or even whether you have assault/harassesed/raped someone in the past, or whether you spent time working against sexual assault.
You still know people who have been assaulted. Don’t be an ostrich and pretend that you don’t. They could be friends, family, co-workers, lovers, partners, former partners, teachers, students, dog-walkers, etc. You know them.
And if you’re a good person, which I assume you are (or at least, want to be), you’ll want to support them in some way. There are so many ways to help people who are victims/survivors (I prefer survior, not all people do), so why not give it a go. Here are some ideas:
*Believe them. So often, people talk about false reports, how people make stuff up, how unless a penis went in a vagina while she struggled and shouted no that it’s not assault. All of that is bullshit. If someone shares a little or a lot of their story with you, BELIEVE THEM.
*Be there. Be there whether they decide to tell you or not, whether they tell you just one sentence or the whole story comes pouring out. Just be there.
*Ask what you can do to help. Some people need a shoulder, others need a place to crash, some just want you to hold them while others don’t want you to touch them. ALWAYS ask, whether this happened yesterday or ten years ago.
*Do NOT try to tell a survivor what they “should” or “have to” do. They want to regain strength and control. Be there to help, but let them make their own decisions, like who to tell (or n0t), what charges to file (or to not do so), etc. There is not right way to be a survivor.
*Do NOT add more violence to the situation, by saying things like “I’m going to kill that fucking asshole” or “that bitch is gonna die.” Violence is scary period. It is MUCH scarier after you’ve been intimately affected by it.
*For those who are dealing with legal or medical rammifications, help them. Whether that is driving them to a court house, helping them film out school/police reports, googling info on local laws, statutes of limitations, finding them a SANE (sexual asssault nurse examiner) to help them find evidence, etc. It doesn’t have to be an all day event; any little thing is a show of support.
*Donate money, time or both to your local or national sexual assault organizations, whether they shelter surviors, run hotlines, train college campuses on how to change the climate towards sexual assault prevention, etc.
*Help compile lists of good therapists; get recommendations from friends, online, from sexual assault survivor support sites. Make copies, or put them online. If you’re in a more niche community (queer, kink, etc), help find kink aware therapists, and queer friendly professionals.
*Make lists of local sexual assault support organizations. Have these available or hand or email to survivors.
*Speak out. On facebook, change your status to say something against sexual assault or that you support survivors. On twitter, tweet about it. Put up a blog post, or relink to posts like this on tumbler. In the real world, stand up and speak. Be part of Take Back the Night. When someone touches someone inappropriately, or says something that is harassement, speak out against it. There IS strength in numbers.
It is only if we all band together that we can make change. Don’t be part of the problem, but worse, don’t be a bystander. Bystanders are how people get killed because no one spoke up, or how sexual harassment becomes an acceptable norm, because no one spoke up. Don’t be that person. Do whatever you can, however little or however big, to support sexual assault survivors, and to work together to eliminate and eradicate sexual assault. | <urn:uuid:88375a78-24c3-4a27-800a-c6299bd769d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shannakatz.com/tag/feminism/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939432 | 939 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Located on the western shore of the sea of Galilee, this city is one of the Holiest Jewish cities for almost 2000 years.
Tiberias is one of the four Jewish Holy cities, and the capital of the Galilee. It has a long history since it was established in the early Roman period. It was a religious, administrative and culture center of the Jewish nation after the loss of Jerusalem for 500 years until the Persian and Arab conquest. Many of the most important post-bible books (Mishna, Talmud) have been composed in the city which was the home of many Jewish scholars.
This page introduces the city and links to additional web pages that detail the special ancient sites in the area of Tiberias.
The city is located at the west side of the lake of sea of Galilee. The old city is situated on its shore, at -200M (below sea level). The new city, with a population of 40,000, has spread out around the old section - to the sides and to the top of the hills around.
The city was first established on the southern side, and continuously expanded to the north over the 2 Millenniums of its history. Therefore, there are 4 major zones starting from the oldest in the south-
An aerial photo is shown below, indicating the major points of interest. You can point on the yellow points to navigate to the selected point in this page or other pages.
Tiberias at the biblical times was located first in Tel Rakkath (Raqqat), 2KM north of the Roman Tiberias. Another village was located in Hammat, the hot springs town which today is in the south of the city.
Tiberias was founded in 18 AD by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the great and Jewish ruler of the Galilee (4 BC-39 AD). He was appointed by Augustus Caesar as the ruler of Galilee and Peraea, the east bank of Jordan. He made the new city his capital, and named the city after the Roman emperor, Tiberius Caesar (see statue on the right).
Later (54AD), the emperor Claudius added his name to the city - Tiberias Claudiupolis.
Bust of Tiberias Caesar
Herod also minted coins in the city, with its name on it, thus showing its important role. He also used the coins as a means of propaganda, to encourage Jews to settle in the new city, since they refused to settle here (it was found that the city was built over an old cemetery). It took the city more than 110 years to find a religious way to overcome this problem, move the graves out and "Kosher" the city.
The first coin was minted by Herod Antipas at Tiberias in 20/21 AD. The coin, seen here on the right, shows an upright reed surrounded by Greek letters that read 'of Herod Tetrarch'. Also it bears a date equivalent to 20/21 AD. It is made of bronze and is only 16 mms in diameter. Presumably the reed on the coin was intended to indicate the location of the city, as reeds grew on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. (Thanks to Peter Lewis for this entry)
Coin of Herod Antipas
During the Jewish revolt against the Romans, Josefus Flavius fortified it. However, when the Romans finally came, the city opened its gates to Vespasian - and was thus spared destruction.
After the revolt, at the end of the 1st C AD, the center of the Jewish population moved to the Galilee. The religious and administrative leadership, the "Sanhendrin", moved to this city. It was its forth and last Galilee location (after Usha, Shefaram and Beit-Shearim), and marked the rising of the city's importance in the post temple years.
The city expanded during the good Roman and Byzantine years, and became one of the major cities in the Holy Land.
The Peutinger map (Peutingeriana tabula), based on a 4th C map of Imperial Roman roads, shows the major roads from Tiberias (shown as "Tyberias"):
to be continued...
This is a view from the hill above the city. The new city buildings are seen in the foreground, and behind them is the Sea of Galilee. In the background are the Golan heights. Along the shore are the high rising hotels (4 are seen in the right bottom corner), which is where the location of the old city.
Click on the photo to view it in higher resolution...
The photo below shows a view from along the old city walls - towards the west hills above the city. These hills are actually at sea level, while Tiberias is 200M below, due to the great depression of the Jordan river valley.
Note the round hill that towers over the old city: its name is Berniki (see below). This is the Roman Tiberias.
At the east side of the old city, on the shores of the sea, is the old Greek orthodox church. It is located at the south-east part of the Ottoman city, which was built to the north of the Roman city.
The walls are from the 18th C AD, during the Ottoman period, built by a Bedouin called Daher El-Omar at 1740 (See also Shefaram which was his first base). This site is also a beach.
Another view of the southern side of the Ottoman wall.
Near the high rising hotels there is an open museum and a tourist center that shows some of the antiquities.
The new and the old: in the foreground - the Ottoman walls; in the background - one of the high rising hotels. The hotels and tourism are the city's main income.
Tiberias is located on the shores of the sea of Galilee, where there is a lot of sportive activities. The hot and dry weather, the sweet water, and the calming atmosphere of the lake - makes it a favorite vacationland.
The hill that towers over the old city is called Berniki, 190M above the old city. The hill is named after the sister of King Agrippa II. As can be seen in the foreground of the photo below, it is in ruins and yet waiting to be excavated. On the top and slopes of this hill King Herod Antipas built his fort, palaces and government buildings. From the hill was the source of the water for the city, which was served by an aqueduct.
photo by Gal Shain
On the south-eastern foothills of Berniki hill, is the location of the southern walls and gate of the Roman and Byzantine city. The 1st C Roman gate complex and a Roman bridge were recently excavated and reconstructed, as part of the new archaeological park.
For more information on the south gate - see its separate web page.
To the north of the south gate are the ruins of the Roman Theater, seen in the photo below. Constructed in the 1st C AD, enlarged in the 2nd C, it had seating capacity of 7,000 people. It is also recently excavated and reconstructed, as part of the new archaeological park.
For more information on the Theater - see its separate web page.
The city preceding Tiberias is Rakkath (Raqqat), which is one of the cities that were within the territory of the tribe of Naphtali. Note that Hammat is the city of the hot springs of Tiberias, which is also listed here.
"The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.
And their border was... "
There are few references of Tiberias of Jesus visiting or acting in the city , which is initially surprising (the city was the capital of the area). This is due to the fact that there was a small Jewish presence in the city at its beginning.
The city is referred in the context of the "sea of Tiberias", another name for the sea of Galilee after the city gained it fame and importance.
1: After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
23: Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks.
After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at
the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.
Josephus, the commander turned historian, tells about the foundation of the city, and that Jews refused to settle there since it was previously a cemetery.
"And now Herod the tetrarch, who was in great favor with Tiberius, built a city of the same name with him, and called it Tiberias. He built it in the best part of Galilee, at the lake of Gennesareth. There are warm baths at a little distance from it, in a village named Emmaus. Strangers came and inhabited this city; a great number of the inhabitants were Galileans also; and many were necessitated by Herod to come thither out of the country belonging to him, and were by force compelled to be its inhabitants; some of them were persons of condition. He also admitted poor people, such as those that were collected from all parts, to dwell in it. Nay, some of them were not quite free-men, and these he was benefactor to, and made them free in great numbers; but obliged them not to forsake the city, by building them very good houses at his own expenses, and by giving them land also; for he was sensible, that to make this place a habitation was to transgress the Jewish ancient laws, because many sepulchers were to be here taken away, in order to make room for the city Tiberias whereas our laws pronounce that such inhabitants are unclean for seven days"
Josephus fortified Tiberias:
"Josephus ... knew the Romans would fall upon Galilee, he built walls in proper places ... and Tiberias."
The citizens opened the gates and the Romans spared the city:
"The next day Vespasian sent Trajan before with some horsemen to the citadel, to make trial of the multitude, whether they were all disposed for peace; and as soon as he knew that the people were of the same mind with the petitioner, he took his army, and went to the city; upon which the citizens opened to him their gates, and met him with acclamations of joy, and called him their savior and benefactor. But as the army was a great while in getting in at the gates, they were so narrow, Vespasian commanded the south wall to be broken down, and so made a broad passage for their entrance. However, he charged them to abstain from rapine and injustice, in order to gratify the king; and on his account spared the rest of the wall, while the king undertook for them that they should continue [faithful to the Romans] for the time to come. And thus did he restore this city to a quiet state, after it had been grievously afflicted by the sedition".
* Tiberias sites in BibleWalks:
* Other internal links: | <urn:uuid:2ea6dde0-a324-4b64-ae7f-7d4624ccd374> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/Tiberias.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98111 | 2,364 | 3.40625 | 3 |
TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) — Around each fall and winter season, a lot of counties in Mississippi experience the same problem: fires caused by dry, windy conditions.
In the past couple of weeks, local firefighters have been getting calls about fires starting from burn piles.
And they say during this time of year, the calls start coming in.
"In the fall of each year, it's usually the first time for grass fires and wood fires because all the grass is dead," said Tupelo Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Morgan. "This is caused by the cool weather. People are trying to rake leaves and burn leaves and trash. And you got the dryness because it's so dry this fall. Plus, days like today that are very windy make it very possible."
Fire officials advise people to not burn on windy days because fires in the wind are much harder to control.
"If you are going to burn and the wind is not blowing, have a water hose or something to put the fire out. And keep small types of fires instead of one giant fire. Put some smaller fires and let those burn out," said Morgan.
Officials also say that on windy and dry days, the likelihood of a structure catching fire from a burn pile is much higher. | <urn:uuid:6ea79732-46d1-426b-b080-6668a1d96ba5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Grass-fires-increase-during-dry-windy-weather/PAi4mRSXzE6aXrI0QM2F7w.cspx?rss=2377 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971495 | 267 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Video still from NASA TV via AP
Published October 10, 2012
For the second time in five months, the commercial rocket company SpaceX has successfully docked its Dragon capsule at the International Space Station (ISS)—this time on its first official cargo run under a supply contract with NASA.
"Looks like we've tamed the Dragon," station commander Sunita Williams, a U.S. Navy officer, told controllers on the ground after the ISS's robotic arm had grabbed the unmanned craft just before 7 a.m. ET, accomplished with the assistance of Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshideh. (Related: "Robot Arm to Grab Robotic Ship—A Space Station First.")
"We're happy she's on board with us."
SpaceX's Dragon—the first and only commercial spacecraft to berth at the station—made contact with the station 252 miles (406 kilometers) above Earth. The capsule is packed with nearly a thousand pounds (450 kilograms) of essential supplies and gear, as well some arguably nonessential chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream and, for a school science experiment, some Silly Putty.
Unlike any government-owned capsules supplying the ISS, the SpaceX Dragon is designed to return intact to Earth, and so can be used as a two-way ferry. The capsule brought back 1,300 pounds (590 kilograms) of science experiments and space hardware after its test berthing in May and will do the same later this month.
SpaceX Contract an Investment in the Future?
Today's first formal berthing at the International Space Station under the NASA cargo-supply contract was broadly cheered as a milestone, and perhaps a harbinger of much more to come.
"I think it would be fair to say the successful docking under the NASA contract is parallel to the early days of the commercial airline industry," said John Logsdon, space policy emeritus professor at George Washington University and longtime NASA adviser.
"The government paid airline owners to deliver the mail and gave the early industry the financial support it needed to grow," he said. "Clearly, NASA is hoping the same will happen here—that giving commercial space companies contracts to supply the space station will act as a huge boost to the early commercial space industry."
In a statement issued after the berthing, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said: "This marks the start of a new era of exploration for the United States, one where we will reduce the cost of missions to low-Earth orbit so we can focus our resources on deep-space human missions back around the moon, to an asteroid, and eventually to Mars."
While SpaceX is the only commercial rocket company to fly to the International Space Station so far, several others—including Orbital Sciences, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin—are developing systems to carry cargo and ultimately crew as well.
The push to have private companies handle some of the basic space transport to the ISS began under U.S. President George W. Bush but picked up steam under President Obama—often against strong opposition from legislators in the U.S. Congress, who were largely concerned with NASA job losses and crew safety.
Mars or Bust?
With three successful Dragon launches now and two berthings at the ISS, the viability of commercial space transport is by all accounts improving. Nonetheless, Musk, speaking before Sunday's launch, said it's too soon to consider the SpaceX launches routine.
His assessment was soon proved correct during takeoff with the failure of one of the nine Falcon 9 rockets intended to boost Dragon beyond Earth's atmosphere. But the lapse didn't affect the launch, SpaceX officials said, because the propulsion system was designed to launch without all rockets firing, as are those commissioned by NASA.
The importance of SpaceX and the other commercial space companies that will follow grew substantially after NASA retired the last of the space shuttles in 2011. Without the shuttle, the United States has had no way to ferry cargo or crew to and from the station, and has purchased rides from Russia and Japan as well as from European operators.
Illustrating that reality, the Dragon capsule is currently docked next to the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that brought commander Williams and others to the station and will bring them back to Earth. Next to the Soyuz was an automated Russian craft, a Progress cargo ship.
Originally scheduled to be opened for unloading on Thursday, the Dragon capsule's hatch was instead unlocked at 1:40 p.m. ET Wednesday. ISS crew members had raced through post-berthing procedures, NASA explained.
After several weeks, the capsule is to return to Earth with a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on October 28.
While the main focus of SpaceX has been the effort to bring cargo—and within a few years, astronauts as well—to the space station, CEO Musk's ambitions are far larger. He got into the space business, he's said, with the ultimate goal of building rockets to carry substantial numbers of people to Mars.
Author of the National Geographic e-book Mars Landing 2012, Marc Kaufman has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including the past 12 as a science and space writer, foreign correspondent, and editor for the Washington Post. He is also author of First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth, published in 2011, and has spoken extensively to crowds across the United States and abroad about astrobiology. He lives outside Washington, D.C., with his wife, Lynn Litterine.
These six scientists were snubbed for awards or robbed of credit for discoveries … because they were women.
Scientists say they've learned why penguin wings, now used for swimming, no longer get the birds off the ground.
A boulder-size meteor slammed into the moon in March, igniting an explosion so bright that anyone looking up at right moment might have spotted it. | <urn:uuid:b103cf13-1df7-48c4-978a-cd52d30a9777> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121010-spacex-international-space-station-nasa-dragon-science-hatch/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ng%2FNews%2FNews_Main+%28National+Geographic+News+-+Main%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961872 | 1,203 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Edward IV, 1442–83, king of England (1461–70, 1471–83), son of Richard, duke of York. He succeeded to the leadership of the Yorkist party (see Roses, Wars of the) after the death of his father in Wakefield in 1460. Edward defeated the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross in 1461, entered London shortly thereafter, and was proclaimed king. Later in the year he won another victory over the Lancastrians at Towton Field, after which the deposed Henry VI fled the country. Edward's secret marriage (1464) to Elizabeth Woodville and subsequent favoritism to his wife's family angered his cousin, the able and ambitious Richard Neville, earl of Warwick. At the same time severe reprisals taken by Edward's constable, John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, against the Lancastrian party alienated many nobles. Warwick made a marriage alliance between his daughter and Edward's rebellious brother, George, duke of Clarence, and openly revolted in 1469. Although Warwick defeated Edward's forces at Edgecote, the king soon regained his strength, and Warwick fled (1470) to France. There he formed an alliance with Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI. He returned to England with an army, and Edward, who lacked the forces to fight, fled to Holland. Warwick then restored Henry VI to the throne. Edward, however, gathered an army and returned in 1471 to defeat and kill Warwick at Barnet and rout the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury. In the latter battle Margaret was captured and her son, Edward, prince of Wales, killed. After the death of Henry VI in the Tower of London later in the year, Edward's position was secure. The remainder of his reign was a peaceful one. Edward invaded France in 1475 but allowed himself to be bought off without actual fighting. He reorganized the revenues of the crown lands (now greatly expanded by the addition of the Yorkist estates) and promoted trade, benefiting from the increased customs revenues. His resulting wealth allowed him to be largely independent of Parliament, and he developed many of the absolutist precedents inherited and utilized by the Tudor monarchs.
See C. L. Scofield, The Life and Reign of Edward IV (2 vol., 1923; repr. 1967); E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century (1961); C. Ross, Edward IV (1974).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
More on Edward IV from Infoplease:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: British and Irish History: Biographies | <urn:uuid:88cfd821-14b6-48c8-af8b-67acc14bfd3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/edward-iv.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959134 | 555 | 3.3125 | 3 |
People really are creatures of habit. When pushed out of our comfort zones we tend to act a little lost for about five minutes and then we create a whole new comfort zone and find a new pattern to fall into. Over and over again we find a rhythm and steadfastly stick to it until something actively forces us out of it.
It’s all the little things that are telling. While the big events change from day to the day, the small details tend to remain stuck in time.
For instance: What hand do you reach into the cutlery drawer with? Have you ever thought. Start checking when you go to the drawer. You’ll notice you almost always use the same hand, and not only that you will always grab the cutlery in pretty much the same order. For me, I tend to go knife and then fork, unless I’m carrying something and then I’ll be using my off-hand and go through the drawer from the other direction. Weird but true. I’ve also watched people actually swap the hand they were using to carry a plate in order to ensure that they are reaching into the cutlery drawer with the same hand. They don’t realise they’re doing it – it’s an unconscious action – but they can’t help themselves.
Everyday we do things in the exact same way. When you get into the car do you belt up first or start the car? Do you check the mirror before you start backing out or do you wait until you’ve finished reversing before you look up and realise someone has moved the mirror?
However the big thing that nobody every really seems to notice is that they almost always walk the same path. Regardless of whether it has been five minutes or five years, when walking through a space people tend to follow the same line they followed the first time. For some, that means stalking straight across the middle of the space, while others skirt in a slight arc so that they are not in the middle but still cutting it close. Others still are happy to give the middle as wide a gap as possibly and hug the edges. Whichever they do, they’ll repeat their steps almost every time until someone drops something directly in their path. Then they take the next path of least resistence.
What strange creatures we are. What strange creatures are characters must be if they are to really ring true.
What habits have you noticed in yourself? | <urn:uuid:d6c8420b-c7f2-4c5e-b7b1-ee93605a2ec2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cassandrajade.wordpress.com/tag/pattern/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953997 | 508 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Shasta daisies, with their white petals surrounding yellow centers, are similar to the familiar meadow daisy, but have larger and more abundant blooms.
About This Plant
Shasta daisies bloom over a long period, from early summer until fall, forming tidy clumps from 2 to 3 feet tall and up to 2 feet across. The bright flowers contrast nicely with the glossy, dark green foliage, livening up any garden bed. The flowers are also suitable for cutting.
Easy care/low maintenance
Good for cut flowers
Select a site with full sun and well-drained soil.
Plant in spring, spacing plants 1 to 2 feet apart, depending on the variety. Prepare the garden bed by using a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost. Dig a hole twice the diameter of the pot the plant is in. Carefully remove the plant from its container and place it in the hole so the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface. Carefully fill in around the root ball and firm the soil gently. Water thoroughly.
Apply a thin layer of compost each spring, followed by a 2-inch layer of mulch to retain moisture and control weeds. Water plants during the summer if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week. Stake tall varieties to keep them upright. After the first killing frost, cut stems back to an inch or two above soil line. Divide plants every 3 to 4 years as new growth begins in the spring, lifting plants and dividing them into clumps. | <urn:uuid:d3d0fa9c-2f77-4413-b800-c2d34a340618> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.garden.org/subchannels/landscaping/planning?q=show&id=2044 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904264 | 337 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Invasive Species are recognized as having extensive impacts on ecosystems and their functioning. This is a new Thematic Group that will be considering this topic as an emerging issue. The Group’s role is to respond to new and changing interactions of invasive species with ecosystems, and on their services. In order to effectively move forward on this topic input from local and indigenous communities, in combination with scientific data will serve as key focus areas for the Group. Some key activities for the Group will be:
· maintaining and enhancing biodiversity where invasive species are present,
· promoting an integrated ecosystem approach to the management of invasive species including Protected Areas,
· investigating the effects of invasive species on Human Health and Food Security and any associated benefits from their remediation,
· other matters as they arise.
We will focus on ecosystem types such as tropical, grass lands, oases, deserts, mountains, tropical and coastal regions, islands and aquatic systems from catchment to coast and the delivery of the associated waters to the marine environment. An important focus will be restoration within these environments and the benefits of restoration to the enhancement of natural biodiversity while reducing the impacts of invasive species.
Due to the cross-cutting and all-encompassing nature of invasive species we plan to work closely with other IUCN Commission Groups including the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG), Commission on World Protected Areas (WPA), and Groups within the Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) including the Red List of Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services, Ecosystem Management, Ecosystem Restoration and other Groups with whom synergies exist.
We are looking forward to collaborating with like minded individuals and Groups to identify and respond to emerging issues on Invasive Species including their impacts and interactions on Ecosystems across the world. | <urn:uuid:3ca9e9ec-5991-46b6-9e90-6e331d818502> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/cem/cem_work/ecosystems_and_invasive_species/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931635 | 363 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Same-sex couples in California may not need the U.S. Supreme Court to give them the legal right to marry -- the state's voters now overwhelmingly approve of gay nuptials, marking a dramatic shift in attitudes on the issue over the past few decades, according to a new Field Poll.
The latest poll, released on Wednesday, shows that 61 percent of California voters approve of same-sex marriage, more than double the support when the question was first posed in 1977. Only 32 percent of those polled disapprove of same-sex marriage now.
The support is up markedly from 2008, when voters approved Proposition 8 by 52 percent to 48 percent, restoring California's ban on same-sex marriage. At that time, the Field Poll showed
The most recent poll also shows a dramatic increase in support since 2004, when gay marriage burst onto the California political landscape as a result of former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's short-lived attempt to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Nine years ago, 44 percent of the state's voters approved of same-sex marriage.
While California gay marriage advocates are hoping the Supreme Court soon strikes down Proposition 8 and forbids states from banning same-sex marriages, the Field Poll indicates they may fare better at the ballot box if they lose the legal battle. The Supreme Court will
Eight states have legalized same-sex marriage, and advocates say polls suggest more will follow.
"Time is on our side on the issue," said John O'Connor, executive director of Equality California. "Every time a poll comes out we see an increase in public support."
Gay marriage opponents were not swayed by the recent poll. Andrew Pugno, legal counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, the main backer of Proposition 8, said "polls on this issue have been historically misleading."
And Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, said the definition of marriage shouldn't be based on opinion polls.
"The truth has always been, and will always remain, no matter what any law says, that if you don't have one man and one woman, you don't have real marriage," he said.
The Field Poll, however, found support for gay marriage is increasing across all demographic groups, with younger voters leading the way. Seventy-eight percent of voters between
Manuel Martinez, a 47-year-old Campbell resident who participated in the poll, not only approves of same-sex marriage, but he's also hoping the Supreme Court strikes down Proposition 8 so he can wed his partner, Russell.
The declining resistance to gay marriage shows that people are "saying give it to them, be done with it," Martinez said.
Republicans and political conservatives continue to disapprove of gay marriage, the poll shows, although Republican support has grown from 26 percent in 2010 to 39 percent now.
Robert DeSoto, a Republican from Danville, strongly opposes same-sex marriage, although he supports equal benefits for gay and lesbian couples. He hopes the Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8.
"I believe same-sex couples can have all the rights of married couples, but I believe marriage is a biblical institution that is between a man and a woman," he said.
Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236 or follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz. | <urn:uuid:edfb9797-f5d5-4ed4-9cdf-fb08b1956d54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_22687258/same-sex-marriage-field-poll-finds-california-voters | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958302 | 684 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Tonahli give us the opportunity to find and buy On line the most unique and beautifull designs in this handcrafts.
"Tonahli is a Mexican enterprise which goal is to increase interest for craftsmanship variety and wealth of the Mexican culture, to acknowledge and honor the heritage of the native arts, and to encourage and acknowledge the artists who make the crafts that now, we bring within your reach.Tonahli deals mainly with goods from the Rio Balsas region in the Mexican State of Guerrero. Until the sixties, clay figures from this region were made by hand; nowadays, they are mostly made using gypsum molds and are fired in old fashioned wood burners (with exception of the masks, which are still handmade).From there, the pieces go directly to the hands of the artists; they polish every single piece and then create wonderful patterns with very fine brushes and acrylic paints.
This translates into every piece being an original, since the artist has the freedom to choose whatever color and styles he wishes to on every piece.Both terms Blue Clay and Natural Clay refer to the background color of the work.* Blue Clay are so called because of the cobalt blue background.* While Natural Clay is worked directly onto the untreated material."Amate" is a paper made out of natural fibers with pre-Columbian techniques, and with bark of "amate" tree (amatl in nahuatl language). These are soaked, chopped and then spread out to dry, thus forming a flat surface. These paintings have a pictoric, figurative and narrative style, hence the name Stories (Storytelling Style). "
Mexican Native Arts Available On Line at Tonahli
3,290 clicks in 325 w
More Stats +/- | <urn:uuid:416374d5-213b-4b5d-b3ef-8d1754a0ef94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/tonahli-the-heritage-of-mexican-native-arts-available-on-line | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948709 | 354 | 1.625 | 2 |
Speaking in a video presented at a Brink’s Canada’s event in Toronto on September 28, GoldMoney’s James Turk outlines the reasons why “everyone should have a precious metals portfolio.”
Turk outlines the stark fiscal facts about government debt problems across the developed world, and why central banks’ determination to devalue the currencies they issue is causing a bull market in precious metals. He demonstrates why gold remains undervalued, despite the great gains seen in its price over the last 11 years, and a means of assessing whether or not the yellow metal is fairly valued or not.
James argues that we are living in “fiat currency bubble”, similar though many magnitudes greater than the recent housing bubbles seen in America, Ireland, Spain and other countries, or the “Tech bubble” in NASDAQ stocks in the late 1990s. The USA is racing towards hyperinflation, courtesy of the Federal Reserve’s monetisation of US government deficits. | <urn:uuid:980c12d8-9886-4fc7-a530-fb5f74e7e6f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://silverdoctors.com/james-turk-everyone-should-have-a-precious-metals-portfolio/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91442 | 206 | 1.664063 | 2 |
12 became Hurricane Katrina in Aug. 2005
The Weather Channel
Week continues with "Hurricane Force", an all new documentary offering
the definitive look at one of the most powerful forces of nature.
Cooks in the
kitchen follow recipes with specific ingredients and steps to achieve
culinary success. Leave out an important ingredient or miss a key step,
and the meal won't be great.
The atmosphere has a lot of variety on its menu. Cooking up a hurricane
is the result of following a particular recipe with the following
sea-surface temperatures, usually greater than 80°F
Weak vertical wind shear
(small changes in wind speed & direction with height) in the
and unstable atmosphere
distance away from the equator (so the earth's rotation can
help add some spin to the atmosphere)
Does that sound about right? Did we forget anything?
Go back into the kitchen for a moment. If you have all the right
ingredients, mix them all together in just the right amounts, and just
let them sit there, the meal won't just cook itself. You have to ignite
the burner to start the cooking.
What does this have to do with the atmosphere making hurricanes? Think
of this another way.
If you want to leave town fast, what do you do? Choose an interstate
with no traffic, make sure there's gas in the car, then drive, right?
Wait. There's an important thing in there you do, almost without
thinking about it. You have to start the car.
The atmosphere is the same way. Even with all the hurricane-making
ingredients on the list above, there will be no hurricane if the burner
isn't ignited - or if the car isn't started - to begin with.
Hurricane formation requires an initiating weather disturbance,
something with a little spin to spark the beginnings of development.
Hurricanes don't just magically appear over the fuel of warm waters
where there's no impediment from strong vertical wind shear.
So let's take a look at some of the trouble-making weather disturbances
that get the spin going, starting with the most prolific of all
Atlantic hurricane-makers: African easterly waves, or just tropical
waves for short...
NEXT > Instigator
#1: African easterly waves
share your comment, please go to end of article | <urn:uuid:a6156cf4-6b30-46da-ad9f-64353507c89d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/hurricanes-where-do-they-come-from_2011-07-22 | 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 | 0.904354 | 498 | 2.84375 | 3 |
When you want something done right, you call in the experts. When it comes to cleaning up the dirtiest, greasiest messes, those are microbes. For the last 3.5 billion years, single-cell organisms have been metabolizing everything from the sulfuric compounds in volcanic vents to the worst toxins humans have thrown at them.
Now they’re making their way into cleaning products. Bacteria, it turns out, love to eat everything we hate in our buildings: fat, oils, grease, sludge, and other messes that cling to the floors, pipes, grouting, and other surfaces. The standard approach has been to use caustic chemicals such as soda lye (e.g. Draino) and toxic solvents to clean up these messes. At best, this is a temporary reprieve. Exposure to such chemicals may also lead to "toxicity [of] the nervous system, reproductive damage, liver and kidney damage, respiratory impairment, cancer, and dermatitis," according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Technically known as bioremediation, the concept of cleaning up messes with microbes (and biological enzymes) has been around since the 1940s. Typically it has been used on massively contaminated areas like abandoned mines or Superfund sites.
But bioremediation now comes in a bottle. Harmless, naturally occurring microbes in the environment such as bacillus and pseudomonas--which munch on fats, oils, sludge, and other compounds--are collected, cultured, and packaged for specific clean-up jobs, says John Beattie, director of business development at Blue Eagle Products which manufactures the cleaning solutions. His job has gotten easier in the last 15 years as the technology to isolate, grow, and store the right microbes for the job has improved dramatically.
Living cleaning solutions are now cost-competitive and superior to their toxic chemical counterparts, says Beattie. Their only byproduct is carbon dioxide and water, while the cleaning solution keeps working as long as food, moisture, and oxygen are available for the bugs.
Beattie says Blue Eagle’s products have fixed chronic problems with the kitchen drain lines in the 100-year-old Coronado Hotel in San Diego, and eliminated smells from multi-thousand-gallon grease interceptor tanks at the University of San Diego. Biomremediation’s greatest success of late, however, is attributable to nature: The oil spilled during BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster was eaten by hydrocarbon loving bacteria in the wild.
Still, the concept hasn’t made much of a dent in the chemical cleaning solution market. Why? The poor early performance of early microbial (and enzymatic) cleaning products and "the mind set of people in the marketplace," says Beattie.
"I have been manufacturing and marketing bioactive products for several years now and have presented the products to many people whose position was, 'If it ain’t going to kill you if you misuse it, it ain’t going to work here,'" he says. "Bioactive products fall into the green category which is a good thing for the environment, but has negative connotations to an old school chemical buyer because early green efforts resulted in products that did not perform as well as their toxic and caustic counterparts. … The acceptance of bioactive products is just happening now." | <urn:uuid:b845257f-6987-4fab-8a55-303f448b718d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680782/bottling-custom-bacteria-to-eat-the-dirtiest-grime | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959875 | 707 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Credit can be a successful financial management tool. Using credit allows you flexibility in managing your budget to purchase goods and services when they are needed the most, not when you have the cash on hand to pay for them. You are offered credit because people trust you to repay them within a stated period of time.
Consumer credit takes many forms, including installment loans, credit cards, department store revolving charge accounts, home equity loans, and other kinds of time payment plans.
Wise consumers keep credit use at a safe, manageable level, but this is difficult because reading contracts can be confusing and calculating the actual cost or finance charges requires knowledge and math skills.
It is important to remember:
- Budget your spending carefully.
- Shop around for the lowest total finance charges.
- You should establish a debt limit and stick to it.
- Credit contracts should be read carefully and questions answered before you sign.
- Do not depend heavily on to pay for day-to-day living expenses.
- Pay your bills on time to insure that you can continue to use credit.
- Credit is best used for items where their value will outlast the installment payments.
- Buying on credit nearly always costs more than buying the same item with cash.
Credit management strategies can be used to:
- Avoid the overuse of credit
- Lower the total amount of debt
- Shorten the term of debt
- Reduce interest and finance charges paid for the use of credit.
Periodically, get a copy of your credit report and check it for accuracy and completeness. This is especially important before making large purchases where you plan to use credit, such as for a car loan or a mortgage. In many cases credit reports have minor inaccuracies that need to be corrected. Sometimes there are errors that might result in your being turned down for a loan (to correct an incorrect credit report, use the form provided by the credit reporting agency).
If you have recently been denied credit, employment, insurance, or rental housing based on information contained in your credit report, you are entitled to a copy free of charge from the company that issued the report on which the credit denial was based.
Credit Reporting Agencies:
Online Credit Score Reports:
- Bankruptcy Laws and Procedures
- Credit Card Fees and Traps
- Credit Card Rules for Young Adults
- Credit Repair
- Credit Reports: What You Need to Know
- Credit Scores: What You Need to Know
- Cultural Differences in Handling Credit
- Danger Signals of Excessive Debt
- Dealing With Collection Agencies
- Give Yourself Credit: 20 Tips for Smart Borrowing
- How Does a Credit Card Work?
- How Much Consumer Debt is Too Much?
- How to Get Out of Debt and Repair Your Credit
- How to Select a Credit Card
- PowerPay® Printout Primer
- Predatory Lending
- Predatory and High-Cost Sources of Credit
- Protecting Your Credit Information
- Secured Credit Cards: Pros and Cons
- Sources of Cash to Repay Debt
- The CARD Act: What You Need to Know
- The High Cost of Credit Card Minimum Payments
- What Comes First: Saving/Investing or Debt Repayment?
- Wise Credit Management Quiz | <urn:uuid:3fadc76e-232d-4b41-8c34-1d49143e3d8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.extension.org/pages/8624/financial-security:-consumer-credit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929998 | 676 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Animal Shelters receive animals from:
* owners who can no longer care for their pets
* relatives when an owner has passed away
* stray animals
* humane organizations and animal control agencies
When animals are taken in, they rarely have a medical history. If there is one available that indicates medical aid or veterinary care has been given; this information is passed on to the new owner. The Animal Shelter cannot guarantee the health or temperament of an animal adopted from the Shelter.
Please allow at least 30 minutes to visit the Shelter, view the animals and acquaint yourself with those who are available for adoption. If you do not find what you are looking for, a wish list is sometimes maintained at the front desk, so be sure to check with the receptionist.
In order to adopt from the Animal Shelter you need a Drivers License or photo ID and must be at least 18 years of age.
Want to add your shelter or rescue to our database? Click here to fill out a short form and have
your shelter or rescue added to our database!
Filter your search by | <urn:uuid:4fa96f0e-cfe2-42b2-9894-b5404ac01d56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.animalshelter.org/shelters/index.asp?rescueState=&postalCode= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928305 | 218 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Health Tip: Eating Because You're Bored?
(HealthDay News) -- People who overeat often do so because they're bored, rather than hungry.
How can you avoid the needless calories? The Weight-control Information Network says you should try to stay busy. Here are some of the network's ideas:
Go for a quick walk around the block.
Pick up a magazine or book, or turn on your favorite music.
Find an activity that occupies your hands.
Sip on an herbal tea (no sugar) or water, or grab a low-fat snack.
- Sleep Apnea in Seniors Tied to Alzheimer's in Study
May 19, 2013
- Health Tip: Eating Vegetarian
May 17, 2013
Learn More About Sharp
Sharp HealthCare is San Diego's health care leader with seven hospitals, two medical groups and a health plan. Learn more about our San Diego hospitals, choose a Sharp-affiliated San Diego doctor or browse our comprehensive medical services.
Copyright ©2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:342d44a9-14a3-4a69-8e33-7180615e59a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sharp.com/news/health/newsArticle.cfm?articleID=39146&channelID=32 | 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 | 0.902885 | 216 | 2.03125 | 2 |
DIY Botnet Kits Spawning Lean, Mean Networks
Hackers are increasingly using DIY crimeware kits to push out malicious botnets but SpyEye dominates
Cyber-criminals may be employing new tactics and technology to execute their online campaigns, but botnets remain lucrative and effective, according to a report from Damballa.
New botnets emerged in the first half of 2011 and were more active than older botnets, Damballa researchers found in its Threat Report for the first half of 2011. The criminals were also operating much smaller networks of infected machines, according to the report.
Flat Pack Botnets Predominate
Criminals are increasingly using do-it-yourself crimeware construction kits and exploit packs to power their malicious operations, Damballa found. Eight out of the top 10 botnet operators used off-the-shelf kits and modified the code or added new kits as the campaigns evolved, the report found. The “nearly indestructible” TDL/TDSS botnet and the one based on the Eleonore malware family were the only ones on the top 10 list not using DIY kits.
“Criminal operators continue to hone their craft in 2011 using crimeware that can be repurposed for multiple fraud opportunities, sold or leased to other criminals,” said Gunter Ollmann, vice president of research for Damballa.
While botnet operators “die”, new ones are always being “born”. Damballa found 67 more operators “set up shop” than went offline in the first half of 2011, meaning there were more botnets operating during that period than at the end of 2010. The ones that went offline often did so because of consolidation between various networks as an operator took over command-and-control for other botnet operators.
Of the 10 largest botnets in the first six months of 2011, only three of them were on the list in 2010, Damballa said. OneStreetTroup, a botnet based on SpyEye crimeware, barely made the list in December at No. 10. Six months later, it had shot up to the top of the list and ranked No. 1 as the largest botnet observed during the period.
RudeWarlockMob (the TDL/TDSS botnet) and FreakySpiderCartel (a botnet that pushed out fake antivirus software) both slid down one position to rank No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. All remaining botnets on the list, including the ones based on the Neosploit and Eleonore kits, Zeus Trojan, Gbot worm and Virut file infectors, either were first detected or grew dramatically during the first half of the year to appear among the top 10 for the first time.
SpyEye Will Dominate 2011
Damballa was not surprised that OneStreetTroop, the botnet based on the SpyEye toolkit became so prominent in the first half of the year. The integration of Zeus source code into SpyEye “combined the best of both crimeware development kits into a single commercial package”, making it more powerful and capable than ever, the researchers wrote. The fact that a cracked version of the SpyEye kit is now readily available means there will be “widespread adoption” of SpyEye in 2011 to launch additional campaigns designed for fraud, according to the report.
The top three botnets together accounted for about 25 percent of the infected population while the entire top 10 botnets accounted for approximately 56 percent of all botnet compromised victims, Damballa said. The top 10 list accounted for only 47 percent in 2010.
While large botnets “get all the attention and notoriety”, the majority of botnet operators are managing smaller networks, Damballa found. The number of operators managing botnets with between 100 and 1,000 infected machines was more than double the number of operators managing networks with over 1,000 victims, the report found.
The first half of 2011 “picks up where 2010 left off”, the researchers wrote. | <urn:uuid:2922669d-b2e2-48a6-b849-4ac6179d7de8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/diy-botnet-kits-spawning-lean-mean-networks-39056 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953337 | 853 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Conservation news & stories
Undersea and under siege in the Galapagos
Some of the marine biological riches of a World Heritage Site are being plundered to the verge of ...
Aleutian Canada geese take off again
In the 1950s Aleutian Canada geese were feared extinct, but a recovery programme has achieved ...
A little learning can have a big impact
In every society, education is politically sensitive. So why did communist China allow WWF to ...
Vanishing point for Nigeria's rainforest
After a century of destruction, the remaining fragments of Nigerian tropical rainforest is still ...
Sweet taste of Amazonia's bitter fruit
The camu-camu berry of the Amazon flooded forest is one of the world's richest sources of vitamin ...
Economy versus ecology: Iceland's dilemma
Politicians, church leaders and conservationists have joined forces to help protect one of the ...
Too much hot air over global warming
The European Union has placed itself on the moral high ground in the battle to combat climate ...
Opinion: Turning the tide of history
However we may celebrate the millennium, it will mean little unless our resolution for the future ...
Succour for a poisoned land
Large gas reserves were discovered in the Niger Delta on the south-eastern coast of Nigeria in ...
A unique taste of succulent nature
A new national park that will help conserve the world's richest source of succulent plants has ...
+41 22 364 9550
Emergency Contact (1800 CET onwards and weekends):
+41 79 559 6360 | <urn:uuid:db5dd25f-8255-4efe-b8bb-c426c0fcc2f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/index.cfm?uPage=395&uLangID=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91061 | 325 | 2.5 | 2 |
IT attacks on financial firms have trebled in the last year, according to a global security survey by consultancy Deloitte.
A worrying 78% of the 100 global financial firms in the survey say they have fallen foul of external IT attacks in the last year, compared to 26% last year. Half the firms had also suffered an internal breach this year.
“The types of attack, the execution and exploitation require significant resources and coordination, which implies professional hackers and organised crime have taken over a domain once ruled by ‘script kiddies’ and one-off hackers,” says Mike Maddison, director of security and privacy services at Deloitte.
Phishing and pharming accounted for more than half the external attacks, while insider fraud (28%) and leaking customer data are the most common internal threats.
Typically, those companies that experienced a security breach say the direct and indirect costs of the damage are £0.5m. | <urn:uuid:657ca710-3995-4768-b46c-3e93cd3a930a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240063046/Finance-firms-face-surge-in-security-breaches | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950845 | 195 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Here are all the definitions of "save" I could find at dictionary.reference.com:
1. to rescue from danger or possible harm, injury, or loss: to save someone from drowning.
2. to keep safe, intact, or unhurt; safeguard; preserve: God save the king.
3. to keep from being lost: to save the game.
4. to avoid the spending, consumption, or waste of: to save fuel.
5. to keep, as for reuse: to save leftovers for tomorrow's dinner.
6. to set aside, reserve, or lay by: to save money.
7. to treat carefully in order to reduce wear, fatigue, etc.: to save one's eyes by reading under proper light.
8. to prevent the occurrence, use, or necessity of; obviate: to come early in order to save waiting.
9. Theology. to deliver from the power and consequences of sin.
10. Computers. to copy (a file) from RAM onto a disk or other storage medium.
11. Sports. to stop (a ball or puck) from entering one's goal.
–verb (used without object)
12. to lay up money as the result of economy or thrift.
13. to be economical in expenditure.
14. to preserve something from harm, injury, loss, etc.
15. to admit of being kept without spoiling, as food.
16. an act or instance of saving, esp. in sports.
17. Baseball. a statistical credit given a relief pitcher for preserving a team's victory by holding its lead in a game.
Not all of these may apply directly, but they do give a good idea of what our saviour Jesus will do for us: rescue from harm, keep safe, keep from being lost, not waste, preserve from injury, not spoil, deliver from sin.
Note that not one of these definitions specify that the object being saved has any control over its salvation. Perhaps I misnamed my thread. Saving is co-operative in that there are two parties involved. However the real question is: Is the savee in control of his own salvation? | <urn:uuid:40f3a58c-a056-42f2-8fdd-63215dbbfa12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tentmaker.org/forum/arguments-against-universal-salvation/is-saving-a-co-operative-process/msg54275/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942828 | 457 | 2.625 | 3 |
Because Core Writing and Core Math are so important for the rest of your education at the University, you will be required to take English and Math courses until you complete the core requirement.
For example: if you placed (based on your ACT/SAT scores) into ENG 101, you must take ENG 101 your first semester and then ENG 102 the next semester. ENG 102 completes the core writing requirement.
Next: Social Science
The official, catalog statement on core English and math completion:
Competence in writing and mathematics is foundational to success at the university. Therefore, it is the policy of the University of Nevada, Reno that all degree-seeking students must be continuously enrolled in appropriate pre-Core or Core mathematics and English courses until the University Core Curriculum mathematics and English requirements are completed. For further information, contact your college advisement officer, the Advising Center, or the Office of Admissions and Records. | <urn:uuid:0ff2860b-dc12-4f76-be2e-064f405d4778> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unr.edu/academic-central/core-curriculum/core-requirements/continuous-core | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909238 | 188 | 1.765625 | 2 |
I was thrilled when Harper Collins contacted me to begin reviewing their new books but What Makes You Tick was a let down. The book DID make some good points and I’ll review them here.
To begin, the book’s authors, Michael Berland and Douglas Schoen, assert that there is no one way to achieve success, but that success is achieved by enhancing your innate skills. Don’t try change your personality (it never works anyway), but use your own personality to chart your own course.
The book asserts that many people confuse success with winning, and I think that’s a valid point. Though they can be sometimes intertwined, they aren’t necessarily the same. Success is more of an internal, emotional, and personal thing whereas winning is usually much more quantifiable. Winning can be part of success, but it is just functional to successful people and is simply something they do along their path to success.
The authors break down successful people into four primary categories:
- Natural Born Leaders – self confident from an early age, this personality type sees a big picture and naturally takes charge. They rarely get stuck on the details and have the innate ability to inspire others. They help other people succeed and fit well within large, complex organizations. They do things faster than the average person and are comfortable delegating. They usually put the company and its needs ahead of personal needs. Examples are Bud Selig of Major League Baseball, Brenda Barnes of Sara Lee Corporation, and Richard Parsons of Citigroup.
- Independence Seekers – wanting to constantly live life on their own terms, independence seekers do what they want when they want. They are very goal oriented and also exude self confidence much like the natural born leaders. Failure is never an option for them and they have a risk-taking, entrepreneurial spirit. They don’t take themselves too seriously and don’t have to be the best, just good enough to meet their definition of success. They thrive on high profile recognition and are more interested in personal success than in organizational success. Examples include Bobby Flay of the Food Network, Heidi Klum of Project Runway, and Sergio Zyman, formerly the Chief Marketing Officer of Coca-Cola.
- Visionaries – doing and seeing what others do not, visionaries have a strong desire for change and ask “Why not?” rather than “Why?” They look at issues from many angles and have a strong creative nature. They believe they were born for a mission and have a relentless drive, regardless of the setbacks that pop up.Less concerned with recognition than with personal fulfillment, visionaries generally prefer to do things themselves and surround themselves with true Kool-Aid drinkers true believers. Examples include Mark Burnett, executive producer of Survivor, Arte Moreno, owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Brian France, CEO of NASCAR.
- Do-Gooders – motivated by their strong moral compass, these leaders are more than comfortable with criticism since they’re working toward a high ideal. They’re naturally optimistic and serious about their work. They are willing to sacrifice, both themselves and others, for what they see as the “greater good.” They also have a strong preference for like-minded people and strongly identify with their cause. Examples include Craig Newmark of Craigslist, Roger Barnett of Shaklee Corporation, and Gwendolyn Sykes, CFO of Yale University.
All that information was in the first 14 pages, the next 257 pages are “interviews” that read more like a questionnaire answered by the different people that the authors put into one of their five categories. Wait. FIVE categories? I thought there were four! They slipped one in without any discussion of it and made the book a little confusing. The fifth category was Independents Who Follow Their Dreams and that section follows the same “interview” process.
The “interviews” begin with what feels like an introduction at a graduation ceremony, and follows with the interviewee writing about his or her ideas, history, failures, ideas, thoughts, and philosophies. In essence, the book was written by interviewees and edited by the authors.
The interviews are rambling, some are vaguely interesting, many are quite boring. Some are very short, some are far too long, and none really seemed to follow the premise of the book, namely finding out what makes someone “tick?”
Late in the book, the authors reveal their political leanings and it’s the same old, tired, Bush bashing rhetoric. Yes, they actually mention names and say that Bush was a bad, “independence seeker” who lost interest in the Iraq war and Obama is a great, natural born leader who’s election to the Senate was a natural progression in his quest for goal achievement (conveniently forgetting that the highly popular Republican he was running against was caught up in scandal late in the campaign). In reality, Obama fits the classic “do-gooder” profile, serious, idealistic, pursuing what he believes is the greater good over the interests of the organization as a whole, and a management style based on personal contact and connections. Then I read that the authors were Democratic strategists and it all began to make sense. “Natural born leader” is much more flattering. When you look at who all they “interviewed”,” it really shows through. At some point, all this political nonsense needs to end.
Buy or Don’t Buy?
Don’t buy. Period. This wasn’t a particularly inspirational or motivating book and held no information that isn’t readily available on this blog or any one of a number of others.
Hopefully, my first review of a Harper Collins book won’t preclude me from an invitation to review others,. Even though the first 14 pages and the last 6 pages were well written and somewhat informative, this book struggled to reach the level of “mediocre at best” in my opinion. | <urn:uuid:a0ec2637-5cd0-4cc4-a1f2-16307a738efa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/book-review-what-makes-you-tick/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968714 | 1,250 | 1.859375 | 2 |
On 21 and 22 April 2009 the UNECE will held its first workshop on energy efficiency in housing. Representatives from the BEEN project have been invited to present the projects' key results during this event.
The workshop will focus on indentifying challenges and opportunities, as well as to providing UNECE member states with policy guidance and suggestions on how to increase energy efficiency in housing. The Workshop will review the economic, social and environmental impacts of energy efficiency in housing, will consider current policies, solutions and barriers to effective policies, and will discuss priorities that need to be addressed by international organizations and national governments. The audience of the Workshop will include national, regional and local government representatives, business practitioners, academic experts and other professionals.
For more information please see: www.ee-housing.com
The BEENetwork Newsletter is available for downloading.
Residents will get additional support for refurbishment of multifamily buildings in Lithuania. more
New European Energy Efficiency Facility to finance sustainable energy at the local and regional level. more
On 8th March 2011, the European Commission published the new Energy Efficiency Plan (EEP). more
State grants for the renovation of apartment buildings in Estonia. more | <urn:uuid:bef7ba1f-acdd-4eae-af89-1683e66ea676> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.been-online.net/UNECE-First-Workshop-on-Energy-Efficiency-in-Housing.486.0.html?L=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943448 | 240 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Monday, June 4, 2012
Maspeth's hidden eyesore
"The pictures attached are of the staircase located between 65th Place and 64th Street (around the corner from the former O'Neill's).
Every year it seems that we need to call for help to clean up this area, it is dangerous and just a trash dump.
As you can see, there are people who spray paint on private homes and along the staircase. Ever since the construction of a private house next to the co-ops, there have been wood panels and black drape cloth on the fence which hides these people from sight and allows them to trash the area.
I have first hand witnessed this action and it is also where young people go to smoke pot and drink. This is not a safe area and the women and elderly are afraid to use this staircase which is convenient to 65th Place for shopping. We are afraid that the conditions may lead to falls, robbery and possibly worse.
We need to have proper lighting on the staircase so it's not so dangerous.
What bothers us is that the City was just in the area to FORCE us to have our concrete done over and yet they don't care for their own property. There is a private house next to the staircase which has been spray painted and the poor owner has no one to help with this; lately we have also been the victims of tire slashing.
I was born and raised in Maspeth and it saddens me that it has gone down so much.
How can we expect to raise children or not worry about our elderly with conditions like this? Please Help us."
- Maspeth Resident
I'm sure Jimmy Van Bramer and Liz Crowley will get right on this. Oh, wait, it's been a problem the entire time they've been in office and they haven't done jack shit about it. Never mind. | <urn:uuid:aa7853b1-e07a-4b61-b5e5-4785feefda2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2012/06/maspeths-hidden-eyesore.html?showComment=1338840509851 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984636 | 385 | 1.5 | 2 |
The big plant
Thousands of pupils enjoyed getting their hands dirty on Wednesday 20th of October as part of the Spring Bulbs for Schools - climate change investigation.
Many were really excited to plant their 'baby' bulbs which they will nurture until next spring. Next week, the schools will begin to gather weather records and complete challenges set by Professor Plant to work towards their Super Scientist Certificates.
This project is not only an excellent opportunity for learning outside the classroom but also a great way for Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales to share scientific knowledge and resources with schools all across Wales.
5.4% of Welsh primary schools are taking part this year, that’s 2,681 pupils from 71 schools across Wales.
60% of the schools are more than 30 miles away from National Museum Cardiff, which is hosting the investigation.
42% of the schools are based in North Wales, 33.8% in South East Wales, 16.9% in West Wales and 8.4% from Mid Wales.
38% are in communities 1st areas and 40% are Welsh speaking or bilingual.
37% are in the 1st year of the project whilst 63% have been doing the project for two years or more.
I began my role here at Amgueddfa Cymru just over two weeks ago and it's been a busy start as I've set about meeting staff across all of our sites, as well as attending the National Waterfront Museum's fifth birthday celebrations. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming, and I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to lead such a highly regarded institution.
I've joined Amgueddfa Cymru at an exciting period. Developments are underway to create a National History Museum at St Fagans and the conversion of the first floor of National Museum Cardiff to become the National Museum of Art for Wales is due to be completed in July 2011. Over the coming months, I will give my full support to these projects as well as affirming Amgueddfa Cymru as a contemporary resource for Wales. The National Museums are here to serve the people of Wales and developing cultural partnerships is a way of delivering this vision successfully. This approach is of even greater importance in light of the country's current financial situation.
Last week, we launched the document Inspiring Wales at the Senedd. Learning is at the heart of Amgueddfa Cymru and this paper is a celebration of this work and our vision to become a world-class museum of learning. The booklet shows how, as well as having an important role to play as guardians of the nation's collections, equally important is our work in interpreting and communicating the collections to the people of Wales and its visitors.
Amgueddfa Cymru is unique among national museums in the British Isles in its spread of sites and their close connection with the communities and regions of which they are a part. No national museum in London can come near it in this.
Its collections are also exceptionally diverse in their range of disciplines – from social history to art, from natural sciences to industrial history. This enables the museum to appeal to an exceptionally broad audience, with a good gender balance – again, unlike some museums in London!
The opportunity to work in one of the great Celtic museums has a particular appeal for me. Having been born in Belfast and studied Archaeology and Irish History in Scotland, I am glad now to have the chance to learn more about Welsh culture and history.
Wales for Africa: crisis
We've convened a crisis meeting of the Forum's members in order to draw up a planned response to the Government's National Development Plan - the Plan with no chapter on housing. Members also looked at the Position Statement I'd drafted the week before, which we're placing in the Times of Zambia - a government paper, so we altered the tone a little bit!
I spent the rest of the week visiting members to carry out the baseline survey. The week was sort of topped and tailed by highlights. At the beginning we visited two women's co-operatives in rural areas, teaching women skills like brick-making and land rights issues. The week ended, however, with a visit I'll never forget. If I said I enjoyed it that would be inappropriate - nobody could enjoy seeing the appalling circumstances some people live in. We visited two compounds, one in Lusaka and one 200 miles north in Kitwe, to conduct focus groups with the residents' committees. In Lusaka, about 2,000 people live in the compound in homes that range from breezeblock constructions to shacks that are collapsing around them. They draw water from shared taps located around the compound. Everywhere is dirt and dust. Some people, usually women, set up their own business, ranging from a single table with a few vegetables to brick-built grocery shops - and loads of hairdressers. I was taken to see the school, which was spotless and being repainted as I was there. A gang of schoolchildren, in their navy blue uniforms, were chatting and giggling on their way from school, just like a crowd of Cardiff schoolkids. Everywhere I went I was followed by a growing crowd of small children. At first they mutter 'muzungu' (white person) but when I wave at them I get dazzling smiles and waves back. And then when I attempt to greet them - 'muli shani' - they burst into laughter.
The residents' committees in both Lusaka and Kitwe are simply inspirational. They're politicised, aware, committed; they spoke in dialect but I continuously heard the words 'advocacy', 'sensitised' and 'empower'. They have the will, the intelligence and the inner resources to achieve what's needed to lift these communities out of abject poverty, if only the infrastructure we take for granted was put in place for them.
Some good news, after our crisis meeting my colleague secured a meeting at the Ministry of Finance the next morning, and a committment to revisit the Housing Chapter to try, with the NGO's help, to make fit for reinstatement in the National Plan. It's a start.
Fish! Conserving fluid preserved specimens for display
For October and November 2010 we have opened a small exhibition in our main hall celebrating the diversity of fish found around the UK. These fish are all from our collections, with the oldest specimens going back to 1904.
To get these specimens usable for display we have had to do some conservation work. This has been as simple as cleaning the glass jar or Perspex display tank, to working on the specimen itself and changing the preservation fluid. How the fish has been preserved can affect its overall appearance and condition, but unfortunately whatever method we use the colour will be lost.
Many of the fish have been preserved in an alcohol solution, usually ethanol, which does result in shrinkage and the fish becoming very stiff. The preserving fluid can also become a very dark amber colour. This is due to materials such as lipids in the fish tissue being extracted out by the alcohol solution. However we know ethanol based preserving solutions work as the practice has been going on since the 1600’s! In more recent years we have found that it can also preserve DNA that is usable in modern molecular studies.
Another common preservative is formaldehyde, commonly called formalin. A diluted solution, usually of around 4% formaldehyde, has been used for over a century now. Formaldehyde causes chemical cross linking reactions in the biological tissues and this is termed ‘fixation’. Unfortunately formaldehyde does have problems, being pungent and potentially toxic to work with.
Some of the fish have also been preserved in a fluid called ‘Steedmans’. This is a mixture of propylene glycol (often used in anti freeze), a phenol (an aromatic organic chemical) and formaldehyde. This can preserve fish shape very well but there are concerns over its long term preservation properties.
For the main hall display all the preserving fluids were checked. All the specimens in formaldehyde and ‘Steedmans’ were moved to a safer alternative. This uses a chemical called DMDM Hydantoin which replaces the use of formaldehyde in everyday products such as shampoos and cosmetics and is much safer to work with.
Some of the specimens themselves needed some cleaning and tidying up. After years in a jar many had a build up of old proteins and fats on their surface. Other specimens had corrosion products on them from old metal tags that had been used for labels. Many of the specimens were also moved to more suitable glass jars.
The end result is an intriguing display highlighting specimens with fishy stories from the museums collections. The aim has been to make the specimens as accessible as possible so that visitors can get a close look at the preserved fish. The exhibition also represents the ongoing work that is required to care for the museums natural history collections for both now and the future.
Opening up the Collections
Final Natural History Open day – Wednesday 27th October 2010
Members of the public will be given an intimate insight into the museum’s natural history collections next week. As part of the International Year of Biodiversity, the departments of Biodiversity and Systematic Biology along with Geology have been holding open days throughout the year to showcase the work that they do.
Museum experts in a wide range of fields, from bugs to beetles, dandelions to diatoms can all be found in the main hall along with a crazy array of critters from the national collections. Visitors can also sign up for a wide variety of behind the scenes tours where they will be able to find out more about the incredible collections that the museum holds and the research that we do.
I will be running tours of the large shell collection, showcasing some of the 2 million shell specimens that we hold as well as explaining some of the work that is carried out by our researchers. Other tours will take you round the Welsh National Herbarium, the amazing vertebrate collections with their primate skeletons and stuffed animals, the insect collections with butterfly specimens over a hundred years old, and the vast array of pickled animals in jars in our marine lab.
This is to be the final open day for this year, so don’t miss your chance! Come and meet the experts and take the opportunity for a unique trip behind the scenes. Book your tour place on the day - numbers are limited to 10-12 people on each tour. Tours are suitable for ages 8 and over, but unfortunately are unsuitable for people with limited mobility because of the stairs involved.
Wales for Africa - on the road again
Just found out that next week I'm going to be part of the team (is 3 people a team?) carrying out a baseline survey on all ten of the Civic Forum's members as requested by the Forum's funder. I'd been told to earmark 2 days to help out with this; have just come from a meeting outlining 5 days, including Saturday, travelling all around Lusaka and outlying towns and villages. Bit of a surprise to me frankly but fantastic opportunity to meet more people - especially people who don't work for NGO's!
Wales for Africa, now we're communicating
Just met a journalist, who wants to do something with our story about the Government leaving housing out of the National Development Plan (which I still think must be an oversight?!).
He's taken our press release and he loved the open letter, and he's coming back on Saturday to do interviews. Result.
Yesterday we had our second toddler session in the gallery. We will be holding the sessions once a month and each month will look at a different theme - this month the theme was Autumn, and the one before looked at farm animals. The sessions are quite informal giving the little ones a chance to play and experience our different activities and to socialise with the other children. Another important part of the session is that it is bilingual, so the staff who are working (Ffion,Iola and myself this month) can speak in Welsh or English to the children, and the songs that Ffion led at the end were also in Welsh. It's a nice way for English speaking parents to begin to learn Welsh with their children.
So, what do we do? yesterday we had an art and craft table where the children could decorate pumpkin shapes or leaves, make leaf rubbings (although I find this is often a bit difficult for the under 3's!) or do some drawing. We also had a sensory tray filled with leaves, plastic bugs, fircones and dried lemon slices; coloured and scented playdough (yellow playdough was vanilla and the orange one cinammon and spices) with different cookie cutter shapes to play with; a sandpit and fircones (the sandpit was going to be our sensory tray and we were going to change it each month, but the children seemed to enjoy playing with the sand so much we didn't have the heart to change it! What I might do though is dye the sand at some point so it will be a little bit more exciting!); soft toys to play with and a quiet area with picture books. The picture books we had yesterday were 'Cwymp y dail' by Sian Lewis which is a Sali Mali book about Autumn, 'Cawl Pwmpen' by Helen Cooper - a nice autumnal book about pumpkin soup, 'Hibernation Station' by Michelle Meadows and Kurt Cyrus - an unbelievably cute story about animals hibernating, although perhaps a little too 'american' for some tastes (not mine!), 'The Tiny Seed' by Eric Carle - i love the illustrations in this, 'I am a Bunny' by Ole Risom and Richard Scarry - an adorable simple book about the seasons, and my find of the month, 'Autumn' by Gerda Muller - this was perfect for a bilingual session as it doesn't have any words (I didn't realise this when I ordered it) and consists of illustrations of the type of things that happen in the autumn - leaves falling off the trees, rainy weather, making leaf rubbings, making jam and hibernating animals. It's a lovely book to look through with a child as it lets them make up the story themselves.
We ended the session with a song about Autumn, and sent them all off with a leaf bag and a leaf spotting sheet in case they wanted to have a walk around the museum.
Next month our theme is buildings
Wales for Africa
Finally, finally feel like I've started work. I've spent hours in the back of a very hot car driving around a gridlocked Lusaka, a crash course (nearly literally) in NGO culture. But met some amazing people along the way though.
I wrote a press release and was very excited when the comms person from the organization we share offices with told me he'd take it to the journalist he was meeting that evening. Unfortunately, i hadn't counted for the dire network connection in our offices and lack of networked printer, so I couldn't get the press release to him, by hard copy or email. Not so exciting.
Then wrote a letter to the Minister for Finance and National Planning, an open letter we're placing in The Post and a letter to housing stakeholders inlcuding the World Bank. All part of our preparation for a crisis meeting. The Zambian government has published their Sixth National Development Plan, but left out the chapter on housing - madness if they want to deliver on their other priorities like health and education.
The Post is the paper with highest circulation figures, and very much holds the government to account. Unlike UK high-circulatin 'newspapers', The Post is crammed with political items, including a substantial international section. Not a celebrity in sight. How refreshing.
I think I'll be doing a lot of responsive stuff like this, as well as working on the longer-term strategy, but it's all useful as we talk a lot about voice, audience and tools. | <urn:uuid:24d9f420-9aae-4d2a-ac01-94bff92142cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/blog/?month=2010-10&display_mode=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971748 | 3,321 | 2.1875 | 2 |
The Tale of Two Margueritas
I very rarely consider literature in terms of gender of the writers, but when I do, two names immediately come up to my mind: Marguerite Yourcenar and Marguerite Duras. To mark International Women’s Day, the Reader’s Nook celebrates the work of these two exceptional writers.
MARGUERITE YOURCENAR (1903-1987)
Marguerite Yourcenar was a French/Belgian novelist, essayist and short story writer, and the first woman elected to the Acedeme Francaise, in 1980. She became famous with her metaphysical historical novels, creating psychologically penetrating characters from the distant past. At the same time, in her novels she addressed issues such as homosexuality, and dealt with universal taboos such as incest.
Yourcenar’s first novel, Alexis, was published in 1929. At the outbreak of the WWII, her intimate companion of that time, a translator named Grace Flick, invited her to the United States, where she lectured in comparative literature.
Oriental Tales was first published in 1938 in France. From China to Greece, from the Balkans to Japan, the Tales take us from a portrait of the painter Wang Fo, “who loves the image of things and not the things themselves”, to legends of a hero betrayed and then rescued by love. “Dream and myth speak here in a language rich in images that imply other, more secret meanings, building a world of reflections upon art…”
Among Yourcenar’s best known works is certainly Memoirs of Hadrian (1951). The emperor, one of the last great Roman rulers, is portrayed on the eve of his death, absorbed in his reflections. Hadrian recounts his memories in his testament letter to his chosen successor and adoptive son Marcus Aurelius. The emperor meditates on his triumphs and failures, and on his love for Antonius, a Greek youth. Yourcenar worked on this novel for fifteen years, and Memoirs of Hadrian has become a modern classic, “a standard against fictional re-creations of antique world are measured”.
First published in Paris in 1982, each of the three stories in Two Lives and a Dream is written in a different style and takes place in the world of late Renaissance Europe. Yourcenar’s incredible gift for “bringing a historical epoch to life is here employed with unsurpassed mastery to create fables of timeless universality about the human condition”. An Obscure Man, the first and longest in this collection, contains one of the author’s most moving depictions of human nature. A Lovely Morning is a brief fantasy of a young man who joins a touring company of actors and dreams out the whole of his life to come. The final story, Anna, Sorror, an unforgettable tale of fated love, was composed by the time Yourcenar was 22. Set in the baroque Naples at the close sixteenth century, Anna, Sorror is “an intensely affecting account of illicit and overwhelming passion between a young aristocrat Miguel and his sister Anna, who live and love each other in seclusion from the surrounding world after the death of their mother."
For Marguerite Yourcenar’s books, please check our catalogue.
(Image of M. Yourcenar courtesy of flickr.com)
MARGUERITE DURAS (1914-1996)
"Very early in my life it was too late." (The Lover)
"On Marguerite Duras' tombstone at Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris", wrote Pilar Adon, "there are a small plant, a lot of white pills scattered over her sober gray stone, two flowers and two letters engraved: M. D. Two are also the images that could illustrate the unbridled process of her exsistence: the evocation of a beautiful girl full of eroticism, traveling by ferry along the Mekong River with a felt hat on, her lips in dark red color, and just, at the other end, a woman with her face and body devastated by alcohol, dressed in a straight skirt and a vest over a turtleneck jumper, who, after four detoxication cures, went into a five month coma. Marguerite Duras leapt in just a moment from the beginning to the end of her life, but in the brief time of that moment, she did what she wanted to do: écrire. To write..."
Marguerite Duras was born in French Indochina (what is today today South Vietnam), where she spent most of her childhood. "I cannot think of my childhood without thinking of water. My home town is a town of water”, whe once said. Her father's sudden death, when she was four, left the family impoverished. Many years later she would say that having money didn't change anything because she would always keep "a damned mentality of being poor".
Reading Marguerite Duras’ books implies looking into her own life. “In a real act of literary vivisection, she extracted her own pain, filtered it through her writing and offered it to the readers… Literature and life – two points hard to separate in the works of Marguerite Duras."
Probably her best known and most celebrated work is The Lover (L’ Amant), a semi-biographical novel about an illicit affair between a teenage French girl and a wealthy Chinese man in 1929 French Indochina. The book won the prix Goncourt, the most prestigious literary award in France, has been translated into 43 languages and in a short time sold 1.5 million copies.
“It is said that old loves can haunt us. The Lover creates this feeling through the atmosphere of shadows, veils, floating memories that came from – was it this boat trip or the last one? From the age of eight, twelve or thirty? In the end, it doesn’t matter, for the experience is now embedded, a distinct yet inseparable part of the personality “, wrote Erica Bauermeister in 500 Great Books by Women. Marguerite Duras digs in her own past to tell The Lover, a story of an adolescent girl who was forced to grow up to fast and was exposed to too much pain, too soon.
The Lover was made into a film in 1992, directed by Jean- Jacques Annaud, who remarked: “Destruction. A key word when it comes to Marguerite Duras, who uses her novels…to study herself in as many mirrors; she identifies herself with her work to the point that she no longer knows what is autobiographical fact and what is fiction…”
Check our catalogue for more books by Marguerite Duras. | <urn:uuid:c1473373-f67b-4fbc-9a47-e72906259704> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/readers-nook?t=Great%20Reads&pg=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961257 | 1,425 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Big, tall, and green: The Transamerica Pyramid is the Incredible Hulk of environmentally friendliness.
The tall, pointy beacon in San Francisco’s skyline is sporting a new color -- green.
The U.S. Green Building council awarded its prestigious LEED Gold Certification to the Transamerica Pyramid Friday. The council says only a handful of U.S. buildings have qualified for the high honor. And at 853 feet, few are higher.
The award is given to buildings that show a long standing commitment to energy efficiency. The building’s Dutch owners, Aegon, have undertaken programs to cut water use, energy use and convinced the majority of workers to ditch their cars.
In the last year, the building has cut water usage by 50 percent. 70 percent of its garbage is diverted from landfill. The building even has its own co-generation plant that generates 70 percent of its electricity.
“Utilities, quite frankly, is one-third of your bills running a building,” said Steven Ring of Cushman & Wakefield, which manages the building. “And if you can cut that down it makes financial sense all the way around.”
Ring said the generator saved the building owners $600,000 in utility costs last year.
Mayor Gavin Newsom was in the crowd of building owners this morning as the council presented its large green certification plaque. The award also comes with some bragging rights for San Francisco. The Transamerica Tower finished its upgrades before New York’s Empire State Building, and Chicago’s Willis Tower.
“San Francisco is a small 47 and-a-half square mile city that has more LEED certified buildings than any city in the United States,” said Newsom. “More than New York City, more than and Los Angeles -- two cities that are always out front talking about everything they’re doing in terms of green buildings. “
Ah yes, what born-and-raised San Franciscan would miss a chance to poke its big-city rivals? The Transamerica Tower is the 88th LEED certified building in the city by the Bay, and San Francisco showed up at a respectable No. 6 in a green-building ranking last year.
Newsom says the building, which shows up on postcards mailed around the world, should stand as an example to other building owners of what can be done. It’s certainly a lesson that’s hard to miss. | <urn:uuid:258ab08d-d4af-4bd3-8f96-157d1f04fc9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/green/853-Feet-of-Green-Love-79087327.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959592 | 517 | 1.804688 | 2 |
In a (not surprisingly) depressing post railing against equal marriage rights over at National Review, Maggie Gallagher, the founder of the misleadingly-named Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, quotes an anti-equality speaker who argues that “Only one creature has been known to calm men down into faithful and stable relationships since the dawn of time — a woman.” What makes that attitude so sad is the low estimation in which it holds men, an attitude reflected in the hysterically angry reaction to the idea that men can play a role in stopping sexual assault. To different degrees on the same spectrum, these views both agree that men are not particularly in control of themselves, and that if they are to be tamed into monogamy and consensual sex, women will have to do a sometimes enormous amount of work, at great expense to their own expectations and personal liberties, to bring about those outcomes.
These views are very sad, but part of what’s depressing about them is that they aren’t necessarily exceptionally marginal. The idea that it takes a woman to tame a man is at the core of an enormous amount of popular culture—particularly culture aimed at women.
One of the most prevalent arenas for the idea that men need to be tamed by good women, and one of the places where that trope has evolved most, is in romance novels. As I wrote at Slate last week, that genre’s evolved from its earlier reliance on character arcs in which the heroine would be seduced, ravished, or outright raped before winning over the heroine to one in which the rakish hero, whether he’s seducing opera singers in the Edwardian era or dating hotties in contemporary Cleveland, meets the woman who makes him realize that monogamy isn’t just socially acceptable—it will make him happier than he’s previously been tomcatting around. These men in contemporary romance novels are rarely as repulsive as their earlier counterparts, or as profligate as Gallagher and her ilk might make them out to be. But there’s still an air of condescension operating there: it seems to have never occurred to any of these otherwise smart, handsome, and professionally adept men that their own behavior might be causing their unhappiness. And often, rather than being truly responsible for their romantic and sexual choices, romance novel heroes are broken in a certain way that can only be fixed by the ministration of heroines whose value was previously overlooked: often they had cruel or absent parents, particularly fathers, who damaged their ability to connect, and rather than seeking out therapy or staring their own deficiencies straight in the face, its up to women to give them the love they were previously denied. | <urn:uuid:a673b083-5799-4089-b04c-9ddc2ffd2b3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/tag/maggie-gallagher/?mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974166 | 551 | 1.5 | 2 |
War came to Wall Street on September 11, 2001. It was a war that began just over five years earlier, with Osama bin Laden’s fatwa or edict declaring war against the United States. It is a war that is not over today, though Al Qaeda is clearly severely damaged, not least by the much-deserved bullet delivered in May via Navy Seal to its leader’s face.
Al Qaeda’s choice of targets on 9/11 reflected a perceptive grasp of the sources of national power. The hijacked jets were aimed not just at military and political nerve centers (the Pentagon and, with downed Flight 93, presumably the Capitol or White House) but also at the World Trade Center and surrounding financial district, substantive and symbolic wellsprings of American economic might.
A nation’s military power and political influence depend greatly on its economic prowess, which in turn draws on the strength of its financial sector. In attacking the geographic heart of American finance, Al Qaeda hoped to cripple markets and institutions that ultimately are crucial to the nation’s ability to harness and project power. Despite the spectacular and horrible effects of the attack, it was a gamble that would fail.
(See complete coverage of 9/11: Ten Years After on AdvisorOne.)
The 9/11 atrocities overall killed nearly 3,000 people, more than 2,750 of them in the New York attacks. The financial industry was heavily represented among the victims. Cantor Fitzgerald, located just above the impact zone at One World Trade Center, lost 658 people. Marsh & McLennan, with offices on the impacted floors, lost 355 people. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lost 67 people in the collapse of Two World Trade Center.
As the human catastrophe unfolded, there also was the danger of a massive economic and financial collapse. That collapse did not occur, however. America’s economy and markets showed considerable resilience in sustaining the damage. Fast action by financial institutions to resume operations was a key reason.
For example, Merrill Lynch, which lost three people, evacuated some 9,000 employees from the area (most were at the World Financial Center, a block from the Twin Towers) and within minutes had transferred critical management functions to a New Jersey command center. The firm had most of its displaced employees working at remote locations within a week.
Lehman Brothers, with headquarters at the World Financial Center and offices in the World Trade Center, lost one person. The firm soon had its trading operations set up in Jersey City and was using other spaces around the metropolitan area, including the entire Sheraton Manhattan Hotel in midtown.
The Federal Reserve moved quickly to expand liquidity and keep payment systems functioning, despite the disruption of activities at the New York Fed’s stone building on Liberty Street a few blocks from Ground Zero. The Fed’s discount-window lending on Sept. 12 was more than 200 times the previous month’s daily average, and the central bank’s open-market operations and implementation of expedited check clearing helped stabilize financial institutions and money markets.
Government securities trading resumed within 48 hours.
The New York Stock Exchange reopened on Mon., Sept. 17, its columns draped in a giant American flag. The Dow dropped 685 points that day from its Sept. 10 close, a 7 percent fall, and it was 14 percent down at the week’s end. Bin Laden gloated about this decline in a later-released audio tape, exulting that the market’s fall was "equivalent to the budget of Sudan, for instance, for 640 years."
That downtrend, however, proved transitory. The Dow closed above its pre-crisis level on Nov. 9, less than two months after the attacks. The Nasdaq Composite and the Standard & Poor’s 500 both were even quicker to recoup their losses, exceeding their Sept. 10 closes on Oct. 11.
Fears that the U.S. economy would tip into recession turned out to be unfounded. Gross domestic product expanded by 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2001. The attacks caused an estimated $28 billion in property damage and $40 billion in insured losses, and additional effects included disruptions of air travel. A World Bank study estimated that national income dropped by $90 billion as a result of 9/11, a fairly small impact on what was already a $10 trillion-plus economy.
Some analysts argue that, in a broader sense, Al Qaeda succeeded in imposing huge costs on the U.S. economy, by triggering costly interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq and a slew of expensive policy changes. After bin Laden’s death, a National Journal article assessed the terrorist’s total toll on the U.S. as "at least $3 trillion over the past 15 years, counting the disruptions he wrought on the domestic economy, the wars and heightened security triggered by the terrorist attacks he engineered, and the direct efforts to hunt him down."
Such analysis, however, strays too far into unknowns. We will never know what human and economic costs would have arisen if 9/11 had not prompted a U.S. attack on Al Qaeda’s base of operations in Afghanistan, or for that matter if Saddam Hussein and his sons had remained in power in Iraq. The debate over U.S. policy decisions made in 9/11’s aftermath will continue for a long time, but it should not be set against an unrealistic baseline of some peaceful, untroubled alternative.
A few weeks after the attacks, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, who suggested the atrocities might save lives by bringing a response that will prevent even worse terrorist attacks from occurring in the future. That too is possible.
From the perspective of a decade later, Al Qaeda appears to be a considerably diminished foe. It no longer operates freely in Afghanistan, its involvement in the Iraq insurgency fell short and it has failed to produce further attacks on U.S. soil. Bin Laden once described his movement as a "strong horse" that people would admire precisely for its strength. But that might-makes-right ethos turned out to be a weakness as Al Qaeda failed to live up to its pretensions of being a powerful entity.
There remains the possibility this brutal organization will pull off a new mass murder, but the current situation would have seemed an optimistic scenario in 9/11’s aftermath. And a key reason for this favorable development of events is that the U.S. financial industry targeted in the attacks responded with adeptness and resilience.
Facing Future Crises
The robustness that the financial system displayed in the wake of 9/11 cannot be taken for granted. The financial crisis of 2007-09, though not comparable to 9/11 in human impact, was of greater magnitude in terms of financial turmoil and economic damage. Financial institutions that had weathered 9/11 now failed or survived only in altered form. Lehman Brothers vanished. Merrill Lynch became part of Bank of America.
Public perceptions of the financial industry following the two crises were markedly different. After 9/11, financial firms and people received much admiration and sympathy, for being on the front lines and acquitting themselves well. After the mortgage meltdown, the financial sector reaped much public anger, both for reckless practices that helped bring on the crisis and for getting federal bailouts to stay afloat.
Such anger is understandable but has not necessarily produced policies and politics that will make for a better financial sector. It remains to be seen whether the Dodd-Frank reforms will make the financial industry more resilient — or less so, by tangling it in bureaucratic red tape. Stepped-up political antipathy to the Fed also could weaken safeguards against financial shocks. The Fed’s role in limiting 9/11’s economic fallout should give pause to efforts to constrain or abolish the central bank.
National security, as well as economic prosperity, requires that the financial industry be well-prepared for future crises, whether financial or non-financial in origin. What those crises might be is a matter of speculation. Perhaps a future cyber-warfare attack will target America’s banking system and electrical grid. Perhaps a deadly virus will spread across the country, bringing a contagion of financial panic as well.
In a world of fast-moving, interconnected markets, any future national crisis will have at least some financial element. The financial industry’s response to 9/11 is instructive as an example of facing extremely adverse conditions and doing it right.
A 9/11 Hero
Cyril Richard “Rick” Rescorla saved thousands of lives on 9/11. The 62-year-old World Trade Center-based security chief for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter had long worried about the danger of terrorism at the Twin Towers — including the possibility terrorists might crash, say, a cargo plane into the complex.
The British-born Rescorla, a decorated U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, was crucial in evacuating the Trade Center after the 1993 truck bombing there. He had pressed Morgan Stanley to move to a safer location, but the firm’s lease wasn’t up until 2006. He had raised concerns with officials of the Port Authority-owned complex, but gotten brushed off. He had held regular evacuation drills of Morgan Stanley employees, to be prepared for whatever might happen.
When a plane hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m. on 9/11, Rescorla immediately began evacuating Morgan’s offices in the south tower and nearby Five World Trade Center. Port Authority officials, thinking the event could be contained, wanted most Trade Center occupants to stay put, and called Rescorla to complain as Morgan’s evacuation began. He rejected their recommendation, using colorful language.
Rescorla was on the scene with a bullhorn as Morgan employees streamed out. He was heard singing “God Bless America” as well as a song from his native Cornwall. He told people reassuringly to “slow down, pace yourself” and said that “today is a day to be proud to be an American.”
By the time the second plane hit the south tower at 9:02 a.m., most of Morgan’s 2,700 employees there had gotten out (as had about a thousand more elsewhere in the complex). Rescorla and his deputies continued overseeing the evacuation in the now-burning building. He was seen as high up as the 72nd floor, just five stories below the crash site.
Rescorla and his team were doing sweeps to make sure nobody had been left behind when the south tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. Morgan Stanley’s death toll on 9/11 ended up being six people, including Rescorla and his deputies Wesley Mercer, Jorge Velazquez and Godwin Forde.
On September 11, 2001, the tomb of Alexander Hamilton, located in the churchyard of Trinity Church in lower Manhattan, was covered with several inches of debris. The terrorist attack at the nearby World Trade Center was, in a sense, a strike at Hamilton’s legacy, a point noted by historian Richard Brookhiser in narrating the recent documentary film Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton.
As the nation’s first Treasury secretary, and in other capacities including as founder of the Bank of New York, Hamilton played a central role in building a vibrant financial sector in the early United States. He did so, moreover, in recognition of finance’s importance as an element of national stability and power.
The tomb was cleaned up in the aftermath of the attack and is the scene of regular wreath-laying ceremonies held by the Coast Guard to commemorate Hamilton’s founding of the Revenue Cutter Service, precursor of the Coast Guard.
(See complete coverage of 9/11: Ten Years After on AdvisorOne.) | <urn:uuid:f9d2f7d3-5bf8-43b1-a911-b9dbcc1dd333> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advisorone.com/2011/09/01/wall-street-at-war | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96462 | 2,458 | 2.8125 | 3 |
12. The Hudson River Estuary
The lower Hudson is also influenced by salty seawater, which pushes upriver and mixes with freshwater from the watershed. Water bodies in which this happens are called estuaries. The leading edge of dilute seawater entering the Hudson is called the salt front. The front does not move upriver as far as the tides. Salty water often reaches Newburgh in summer, and in droughts it might go as far north as Poughkeepsie. But in spring, or after major rainstorms, fresh water runoff can push the salt front as far south as the Tappan Zee or even Manhattan. | <urn:uuid:4c32f72c-f6e5-4f23-b1b1-45dc0bf9daf5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/66638.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975964 | 132 | 3.59375 | 4 |
January 13, 2010
Race to Save the Bears: Winner Q&A
In fall 2009, HSI Canada organized a virtual "Race to Save the Bears" to support our campaign to end trophy hunting of bears in British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest. People from all over the country asked their friends to make a donation to protect these beautiful animals from trophy hunters. Prizes for top fundraisers included a two-night stay at the Great Bear Lodge, a signed copy of a photograph entitled "Great Bear Guardian" by world-renowned Canadian photographer and bear advocate Ian McAllister, a digital camera, and Protect Bears t-shirts. Here, Grand Prize trip winner Lynn Amaral shares her motivation for participating in the Race:
HSI: Tell us about yourself.
Lynn: I am a foster mom and wildlife photographer.
HSI: Were you aware of this issue (trophy hunting of bears in the Great Bear Rainforest) before learning about it from HSI Canada?
Lynn: I was aware of trophy hunting before, from articles in the paper and online. I have always felt this was a barbaric practice that is unnecessary in today's society. I think with wildlife—especially larger mammals like bears—being under threat from deforestation, urban sprawl and car hits, to kill them just for the sake of doing so is irresponsible at best.
HSI: What compelled you to get involved in the Race?
Lynn: I had actually just come back from a tour to see spirit bears when I learned about the Race. On that trip, I was able to see grizzly, black and spirit bears. I was amazed at how gentle, accepting and majestic the bears were. They were accepting both of other bears and of people... We have a lot to learn from the bears! I am also convinced that bears play a vital role in healthy forests; for example, bears sometimes break branches in the forest, creating holes in the canopy which allow light to reach the smaller plants, thereby enhancing and enabling their growth.
HSI: What was your experience trying to fundraise?
Lynn: I contacted just about everyone I knew asking for funds. Most people were willing to help, especially those already interested in conservation.
HSI: Were people interested when you told them about the cause?
Lynn: Yes. Most thought it was a good cause.
HSI: What are you looking forward to most about the trip?
Lynn: Seeing bears, of course! I'm planning to take the trip in the spring to see some cubs. I am hoping that my husband and I can go.
HSI: Have you taken any similar trips in the past? If so, what did you enjoy about them?
Lynn: I was amazed at the willingness of the bears to "just be bears" in the presence of people. They would walk around, swim, and eat—just about oblivious to the fact that we were watching them. The fact that people could go to this same area and kill the bears is disturbing. These bears do not run when they see humans. These bears would be of no hunting "challenge." It would be as easy to kill a domestic dog as it would one of these bears. They are just there, accessible and available. They should be enjoyed and appreciated, not shot and destroyed in an instant.
HSI: What can you do once you return home to help keep the focus on this issue?
Lynn: I hope my photography and stories of the gentleness of the bears will help to change the hearts and minds of people. I am also personally working to put up signs in my area to stop poaching of bears for the Asian market [for their gallbladders and other parts used in traditional Chinese medicine].
HSI: Any message you would like to relate here for others interested in this issue?
Lynn: Bears are willing to live beside humans if we let them. Many communities (Whistler, BC and Churchill, MB for example) have shown that people and bears can "share" habitat if humans are wise to the bears, being careful not to leave food and scaring the bears off when they come to close to populated areas. I think to paint the bear as a scary enemy needing to be destroyed and hunted is a lie. I think bears, unless desperate or in fear are docile creatures, just wanting a safe place to live, eat and raise young. I think we need more education on the reality of living with bears.
Lynn has promised to share stories and photos of her trip with HSI Canada upon her return. | <urn:uuid:a3025897-c7fe-49fe-b6cb-d4c7ce3f5d2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hsi.org/world/canada/news/news/2010/01/bears_race_winner_011310.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972726 | 945 | 1.710938 | 2 |
NEW DELHI: Asserting that the common man will not be ignored under his leadership, new Science & Technology Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said the government would work towards simplification of regulatory procedures, especially with respect to biotechnology and retaining scientific manpower.
"One should not forget the common man...do not bypass him," Sibal told reporters here after taking charge as the new S&T Minister, commenting on how people's verdict has been misinterpreted.
Sibal said that he was "absolutely thrilled" and looking forward to great things as the new minister. The priority of his ministry would be to take technology to the common man at cheap price and use it for the benefit of ordinary people, farmers and to fight diseases.
"Technology for the sake of technology is not good. It should be used for societal and economic growth," he said.
Sibal, who also visited the Department of Biotechnology and Ocean Development, said that one of the basic objectives would be to liberalise procedures. "There should not be rules and regulations which are impediment to growth. Especially in the area of biotechnology, we must have simple rules which are friendly to growth," he said.
At the DBT, Sibal asked officials to come out with a list mentioning problems, including legal and regulatory hurdles, that hamper growth of biotechnology in the country and act as impediment in increasing FDI, sources said. | <urn:uuid:526e824b-b839-40b7-95d6-a3017b625e5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2004-05-24/news/27412862_1_common-man-sibal-biotechnology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976053 | 290 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Name: Shongile Female (Shongile means ‘Beautiful’)
Born: March 2008
Territory: Shongile is still a young female and not yet fully in control of a territory. She still utilises the territory of her mother (Argyle Jnr), and spends time on Motswari, the eastern half of Argyle, and the eastern half of Ingwelala, and extends slightly north of Ingwelala into Buffelsbed. Shongile centres her activities between Ingwelala camp and Motswari.
(click on map for larger view)
Males: Shongile is not yet sexually mature, so has not been seen mating with a male. Although Argyle male is the dominant male in the area, he will preferably chose not to mate with his own daughter.
Cubs: No cubs yet
Mother: Argyle Jnr female
Father: Argyle male
Siblings: Vyeboom Dam male, 2:1 male
Neighbours: Shongile shares the area that she resides in with several leopards, including Argyle Jnr female, Argyle male, Vyeboom Dam male, 2:1 male and Kuhanya female; there could potentially be conflict between these two young females in the future as they look to set up territories of their own in a similar area.
Story: Shongile was born to Argyle Jnr as part of a litter of three cubs, all of whom survived to independence. Of these four leopards, Shongile proved to be the most relaxed, and has continued to grow in confidence around the vehicles as time goes by. This confidence comes through in the way that Shongile is regularly found in close proximity to the camp, even during the day. The night watchman regularly reports finding Shongile sleeping on the breakfast or lunch veranda, and many of the staff bump into her on the way back to the staff village. When Shongile was nearing independence and starting to hunt on her own, she discovered that that resident business of banded mongooses that wandered around the staff village in the afternoons were easy targets and on more than one occasions she was seen to run into the middle of the village to catch one of the mongooses, even with several of the staff sitting around a few meters away! Although a small leopard, Shongile is has been recorded catching much larger prey, including fully grown impalas. One interesting aspect of Shongile, and indeed her siblings, is the way that she still associates with her mother (even with her new cubs) or father. As she grows older, these interactions will become less tolerated and she will have to move to the periphery of her mother’s territory and look for a piece of land of her own. We hope that she makes the property around Motswari part of her future territory.
Many guides will however remember her most famously for the time she was found sleeping in a fish eagle's nest! As an opportunistic hunter, Shongile seized the moment and climber high up into a knobthorn tree and ended up eating not only the chicks, but also one of the adult fish eagles! She then spent the rest of the day sleeping in the nest - it was probably the strangest place I ever found a leopard! | <urn:uuid:c3b100b2-63f8-44ce-ac0a-81c634631ab7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motswariblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/shongile-female-leopard.html | 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 | 0.979074 | 707 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program (EP³)
Why the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program (EP³) is important...
What does Environmentally Preferable mean?
"Environmentally Preferable" means having a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products that serve the same purpose.
What is an environmentally preferable product or non-professional service?
Environmentally Preferable products or services minimize the consumption of resources, energy and water; prevent or minimize the creation of solid waste, air pollution or water pollution; minimize the use of materials or processes which compromise the environment; and/or promote the use of less or non-toxic substances, and avoid toxic materials or processes.
Why purchase environmentally preferable products and services?
Every product has a human health and environmental impact. We can choose to significantly reduce that impact by being proactive in what we buy.
Increasing the City's purchase of environmentally preferable products is not meant to be an added burden on employees, but to serve as a catalyst to help the City meet state and federal requirements, decrease hazardous waste disposal costs, and help create a healthier and safer environment for City employees and residents.
Can purchasing environmentally preferable products actually save money?
Absolutely! For example:
- Using energy efficient and water-conserving products can save money.
- Products that are reusable, refillable and repairable are more cost-effective in the long run than disposable single use products.
- Buying less-hazardous products can reduce disposal costs.
- Many environmentally preferable products are comparable in cost with their traditional counterparts.
While some environmentally preferable products (EPPs) cost more at the time of purchase, a large portion of them will save more money in the long run (especially considering the maintenance, operation, and disposal of the product). | <urn:uuid:8c23806b-a8eb-48ed-a438-405b1495eccc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sandiego.gov/environmental-services/recycling/ep3/whyep3/index.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905465 | 381 | 2.53125 | 3 |
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Quit India, Mumbai says again
December 03, 2008
Sixty six years after the clarion call went out from Bombay's Gowalia Tank asking its rulers to Quit India, the citizens of this amazing city came together in their thousands on Wednesday evening to repeat the call.
This time, their target was those who succeeded India's British rulers, and made a worse mess of what they colonialists had left behind.
It was a proud moment to be present at the Gateway of India (the choice of venue could not have been more apt; the landmark monument by Mumbai's coast was from where the last of the British troops left India in 1947), and I felt privileged to have witnessed history in the making.
Out-of-towners can ask, what, a few thousands set forth after their work hours and gather for an evening out, and you call it history?!
But then, they will never know.
It is history, because Mumbai has this reputation -- undeserved, I have always felt -- of being a cold-hearted city that just didn't give a damn. But residents know that for all their apathy, Mumbaikars are the first to help out in times of crisis.
Having said that, if anyone had told me this morning that the turnout will be what I witnessed at the Gateway of India, I would have had a good laugh.
A few hundred, I told myself till yesterday. A couple of thousands, I increased the number this morning. And when I walked out office to head to the Gateway, I said there could be around 5,000 people.
Naturally, the turnout I found myself amidst was mind-blowing.
And if I was a politician, I would be very very worried at the ground slipping away from under my feet.
Because the sentiment that ran through the crowd was vocally and unabashedly anti-politician.
For too long has Mumbai, and India, been lulled by the promises of those we elect every five years. And nothing demonstrates this betrayal than the terror attacks that ravaged the city's dearest landmarks last week. Promises made to the city and its populace in the wake of previous terror attacks -- dating back to 1993, mind -- lie in tatters, as does the Mumbaikar's trust in those he elects to safeguard his interests.
The sentiment among the people I mingled with in the rally, as Citizen Joe, was one of indignation and rage.
Why should the city contribute the country's largest chunk of income tax? What does it get in return?
Right, let's not pay taxes anymore, said one banner.
Why should we trust the politician? What have we got in return for coming out and casting our vote every election, asked another.
Right, let's not vote, said another banner.
I couldn't but think: Would the Father of the Nation have been proud that the tools of civil disobedience he launched against foreign rule, are now being resorted to by a city that has the freedom movement running through its warp and weft?
Forgive us, Father, grieving Mumbaikars will say, but we have not sinned. Today, we have been left with no choice by the chicanery exhibited by those who have inherited your legacy and trampled it underfoot, that you too would have done the same thing.
Through the evening of lump-in-the-throat moments -- watching school and college students shouting themselves hoarse with cries of Vande Mataram, Jai Hind and Bharat Mata ki Jai; young and old alike jostling for space; the rich and poor all marching resolutely for their City of Joy; all of us marching side by side, to save Mumbai from near ruin -- my mind couldn't help wondering.
It is not all that impossible to unleash a storm, not in the era of viral communication and 24x7 media, but how would this awesome citizen power be harnessed? By who? Will one set of incompetents make way for another? What next?
Non-payment of tax? Sounds attractive, not to mention lucrative, but sorry, it's not possible in the age of TDS. It is also illegal.
Not voting? Excuse me, but Mumbai is not known for its high voter turnout anyway, most of us turn up our nose at voting.
So what next?
There were enough citizen's groups at the rally handing out pamphlets and forms to fill. Among the couple I managed to bring back to office was one calling itself the Ordinary Citizen's Movement.
I could see and hear ad guru Alyque Padamsee exhorting the crowds to fill the form, let them know what they want, seeking actionable ideas. Many, I could see, were busy filling forms (I didn't, because I still don't know what I want, apart from a safe and liberal Mumbai). Many bright ideas could emerge through this sieve.
There was another outfit called Togethervr.India that was also distributing a pamphlet on Awakening India, it's now or never!
There were many more that were moving among the citizenry, eliciting views and suggestions.
What would be a grave mistake, would be treat this evening as the end. Or, as the political establishment will be wont to do, dismiss it as a show by 'lipstick and power wearing women' and such � to quote the amazing M A Naqvi. Naqvi saab is not alone in this, I am sure, he merely articulated a point of view that must be coursing through his colleagues within the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as other political parties.
And that would a tragic mistake.
December 3, 6 pm, is neither the end, nor is it something trivial.
Today was the beginning; a humble beginning if you want to call it that, but one that will rock the foundations of many hard-held beliefs, one that will show the rest of the country what committed citizens can do if they only step out of their comfort zone.
Could the British have imagined on August 9, 1942, that in three years they will have to pack their bags and exit the jewel in their crown? Why are our politicians then being so smug?
Email | Print | Get latest news on your desktop | <urn:uuid:a47d598e-ad05-4633-8340-25185dd4d45b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/dec/03mumterror-quit-india-mumbai-says-again.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978426 | 1,323 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Looking for the old, familiar Nonprofit FAQ? It has a new home at the National Center for Charitable Statistics. The center is a program of The Urban Institute in Washington, DC.
The resources listed below are a streamlined collection of information for nonprofit organizations and people who work, volunteer, and care for them. We encourage you to send us any suggestions you have for additions or improvements to this resource by using the Contact link at the top of this page.
On these resource pages you'll find an overview of key topics for consideration by people who work for, lead, or support nonprofit organizations in the United States. The subject is vast; you should be able to find books about running nonprofits at your public library, and there are lots of other websites that provide other perspectives on the topic.
Our goal is to touch on the basics and point toward some of these other resources. We see this as background for the many ways Idealist supports the work of nonprofits and the interests of the people connected to them.
These pages were prepared by Idealist staffer Putnam Barber.
He says "nonprofit." She says "not-for-profit." A professor talks about "civil society." The tax officials refer to "exempt organizations." We help you sort through the vocabulary with a list of some of labels used to describe this work and hints about what difference it makes which one you use. (Hint: Not much.) Still, nonprofits (no matter what the label) are a big deal and you might want to understand the technicalities that define the concept.
Every nonprofit has a mission (the IRS uses the phrase "exempt purposes") and it helps to write it down to communicate with the public and give volunteers and staff something to guide their work. Watching over the organization in general to stay "on mission" (or change the mission if need be) is a key duty of the board of directors; the way the board does its work is one of the things to specify in the "charter documents" that are the "constitution" of every nonprofit.
Businesses have owners and customers. Governments are structured by laws and the results of elections. Nonprofits, for the most part, stand alone, responsible only to themselves. This independence put a special burden on the board (and everyone else) to understand the concept of "stewardship" and think carefully about ethics. One part of this that boards struggle with a lot is how to avoid damage from conflicts of interest that may come up in the board room or in other parts of the organization.
Is there a difference between "nonprofitlike" and "businesslike"? Shallow generalizations aside (unfortunately, there are plenty of them), the answer is..."yes, of course"...and "no, not really." Running a nonprofit organization requires clear focus on the mission and paying attention to everyday issues like payroll, taxes, and finding a good accountant. Neither is easy. Both can be satisfying. Explore the everyday life of a nonprofit manager, get advice about strategic planning or link up with some tech-for-nonprofits advice from the web.
Nonprofits must, though, observe some special rules that apply only to them. Learn what nonprofits have to do, and can't do according to the state and federal laws and regulations that apply to them.
Most nonprofits are really small. Many are entirely volunteer projects sustained by the energy and enthusiasm of a group of supporters and have no employees at all. Some, of course, are huge, with hundreds or even thousands of employees. Larger nonprofits generally receive important revenue from the services they provide: admissions to museums, tuition at schools and colleges, insurance (and patient) payments at clinics and hospitals, and so forth. Nonprofit managers have to strike a balance between program service revenue and support that comes from other sources, such as contracting with government agencies and fundraising.
Some details: To find sponsors for an event follow this nine-step outline. To raise money for a needy family or a worthy cause can be very important — and very satisfying. But there are a lot of issues to think about before getting started. Working as a fundraiser for an organization or cause can be a good gateway to a career in nonprofits.
Rogue leaders, dishonest employees or crooked contractors can take advantage of nonprofits (as can happen in any sort of organization) and damage, or even destroy, their capacity to serve the mission. Sleaze of this sort is particularly outrageous in nonprofits, true, because the losses are not personal; they touch the people served, the volunteers, the honest employees, the donors and sometimes, by raising suspicions, they can undermine the work of completely unrelated groups. Read advice about how to deal with this kind of problem, or how to push back against abuses in fundraising.
Idealist.org offers many tools for exploring employment and volunteer opportunities with nonprofit organizations around the world. Find help with using these tools or learn more about careers with nonprofit organizations (maybe a career in fundraising), volunteering in general and in another country. | <urn:uuid:6b87f515-fc5c-475f-9b26-36737c12499a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.idealist.org/info/Nonprofits | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955024 | 1,021 | 1.929688 | 2 |
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Otterhound dogs are rarer than the panda and white rhino
4:01pm Friday 13th April 2012 in News
Britain’s rarest breed of dog may have been saved after 19 of the endangered puppies were born in Herefordshire.
There are less then 1,000 British otterhounds left in the world, with only 20 born in the UK last year, making them more scarce than the giant panda and the white rhino.
But Maria Lerego, from Ocle Pychard near Bromyard, is doing her bit to help their survival and was delighted when bitches Calista and Symphony gave birth to 19 puppies.
British otterhounds date back to the 12th Century and records state that both King John and Elizabeth I were owners.
They were originally used to hunt otters, but that became illegal in 1978.
Experts fear that they could be extinct within 10 years, but Maria hopes that she can keep the figures up.
“They will never be as popular as labradors or spaniels, but it would be nice to increase the population,” she said.
“There were only 20 puppies born and registered in Britain last year, so for 19 to be born here is quite a feat.
“I take them to game fairs to really get them among the public as not many people have heard about them, but they are British.
“They are lovely pets, very laid back and good with children, but they are quite a handful,” she said.
“My friend says that they are like looking after a five-year-old boy.” | <urn:uuid:515652cd-47bd-441f-97cf-e5bf6c117c98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/9648478.Otterhound_dogs_are_rarer_than_the_panda_and_white_rhino/r/?ref=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986028 | 372 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Ravaged worlds and junkyards such as Raxus Prime
|Chronological and political information|
Junk droid was a common designation for various self-made droids, created from leftover spare parts. Because of their mashed-together programming they were considered dangerous by most civilized people, for they could go on a rampage, confuse orders, or even start building more of their own kind when having enough junk to do so.
After the Clone Wars, many groups turned to recycling, rebuilding and re-purposing the enormous amount of broken high-tech machinery left on the ravaged battlefields and on the junk worlds such as Raxus Prime. These junk droids were built out of almost any spare droid and/or vehicle parts and were capable of performing a large variety of tasks. They could be roughly divided into three large categories: regular, brute and behemoth droids. Regular droids, fairly fragile and often equipped with shields, were approximately Human size and shape and generally used for common labor tasks. Brute droids were larger, stronger and solid rather than flexible and used as brute-force bodyguards or beasts of burden. Special-build behemoth droids served as walking power plants or armor carriers. On Raxus Prime, Jedi Kazdan Paratus used junk golems, held together only by the power of the Force. Junk droids were fairly common right after the Clone Wars, but as the supply of high-tech components decreased, so did the population of junk droids. Scrap drones were flying junk golems designed specifically to combat Darth Vader, who Kazdan knew would one day find him. Capable of creating a powerful negative feedback field, they could attack with a beam that drained force energy from its victims.
- "No Way Out" - Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Volume 9
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Mystery of a Thousand Moons"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "A Friend in Need"
- The Force Unleashed novel (First appearance)
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game | <urn:uuid:62e2373e-7e91-4018-a02e-cf86f7363afc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Junk_droid?oldid=4109472 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95826 | 424 | 2.5 | 2 |
Guelph, Ontario / 2009 Nov 19
Joy Trimble, President of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario and Don Hinchley, President of the Ontario Genealogical Society, today signed an agreement to digitize and place on line the rural histories known as the Tweedsmuir Histories.
Since 1920 the Ontario Branches of the Women’s Institute have been gathering local history and preserving it in book form. Because the WI is largely a rural organization, these are histories of small communities. There are about a thousand of them, comprising an estimated half million pages of local Ontario history. They are one-of-a-kind and only a few have been photocopied or digitized. Many are in delicate condition and so are at-risk documents.
The project will take at least three years. As they are prepared, the digitized Histories will be placed in the OGS e-Library where anyone can borrow and read them. There will be a small borrowing fee; the money will go to the maintenance of the original Histories and to the operation of the lending system. The project will identify, conserve, preserve, and digitize all available Ontario Tweedsmuir Histories.
The Women's Institute has been interested in local history since 1920. In the late 1940s, Lady Tweedsmuir (wife of a former Governor-General of Canada and an active participant in the WI) encouraged the creation of local histories by each WI Branch. Of the then 1 500 WI Branches, 989 are known to have created a local history of their area. The books include a history of the local settlers in the area, the agricultural practices and industries that formed the basis of the local economy, the social institutions such as churches, schools and community centres, and local personalities. For many tiny communities, the Tweedsmuir History is the only history created. Copyright to the Tweedsmuir Histories is owned by the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario.
The Tweedsmuirs are used by researchers. Laurentian University History Professor Dr. Linda Ambrose stated: "Tweedsmuir History Books are one of the most important resources we have for studying Ontario history at the local level."
The Tweedsmuirs have won prizes: from the American Association for State and Local History in 1949, a certificate of merit to the Women's Institute from the Canadian Historical Association in 1962, the Scadding Award of Excellence to the WI Tweedsmuir Curators from the Ontario Historical Society in 2004.
The first Women's Institute was established in Stoney Creek, Ontario in 1897 and has grown to be an international organization. The provincial body for the WI Branches is the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO), a not-for-profit charitable organization with affiliations around the world, working with and for women in rural and small-town Ontario. Through the network of Branches, they offer educational programming and community support; advocate for social, environmental and economic change; and work towards the personal growth of all women, for home and country. Originally set up to provide training and education to women and to address concerns in rural communities, the WI now offers women a mutual support structure as well as an opportunity to advocate on important issues close to its members' hearts. The WI has become a fundamental part of many women's lives throughout the world. It is committed to developing women's talents and today has links with over 8 million women in some 60 countries. The FWIO has about 6 000 Members in Ontario.
Ontario Genealogical Society
The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) is a registered charity, founded in 1961 with the mandate “To encourage, assist and bring together all those interested in the pursuit of family history”. It has slightly less than 5 000 Members, most living in Ontario although a significant number live elsewhere. The OGS has 30 Branches in all parts of Ontario and two Special Interest Groups.
The OGS operates a scanning project named “Keeping and Valuing Ontario’s Heritage” which enables it, in partnership with Ontario's heritage organizations such as archives, museums and libraries, to digitize and place on the OGS website considerable quantities of material of genealogical value. The project has been underway for six months and is still in the data-gathering stage. The Tweedsmuir Histories will be a significant component of this project. The project has received core funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Cultural Strategic Investment Fund of the Ontario Ministry of Culture, and the Jackman Foundation.
Additional funding is being sought for the conservation and preservation of the Tweedsmuir Histories and to fund the salaries of interns to help train future professionals in the conservation, preservation, and digitization of paper documents. | <urn:uuid:509ab4f7-3d5a-488d-9a16-1c6ea48aaca3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/11/ontario-rural-histories-to-be-placed-online.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946494 | 987 | 2.5 | 2 |
Tue December 13, 2011
Report: Homelessness Among Children Up 38 Percent Since 2007
More than 1.6 million American children were homeless at some point in 2010, the nonprofit National Center on Family Homelessness reports today, adding that the number is about a 38 percent increase from 2007.
The figure, which includes children under the age of 18 who are living with one or more parents or caregivers on the streets, in shared housing because of "economic hardship" and in "emergency or transitional shelters," underscores how the recession that began in late 2007 "has been a man-made disaster for vulnerable children," Ellen L. Bassuk, founder of the national center, says in a statement.
She adds that:
"There are more homeless children today than after the natural disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which caused historic levels of homelessness in 2006. The recession's economic devastation has left one in 45 children homeless in a year."
Bassuk tells NPR's Pam Fessler that the children are a "very traumatized group of kids" who face challenges such as hunger, poor health and lower educational achievement. About one-quarter of the children attend three or more schools in a year.
USA Today writes that today's report:
"Paints a bleaker picture than one by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which nonetheless reported a 28 percent increase in homeless families, from 131,000 in 2007 to 168,000 in 2010. Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor of social policy, says HUD's numbers are much smaller because they count only families living on the street or in emergency shelters." | <urn:uuid:e5f2aec2-c677-4839-ad3b-5b21583d0fac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wkyufm.org/post/report-homelessness-among-children-38-percent-2007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949508 | 329 | 2.5 | 2 |
10 ‘just because’ projects
I’ve been thinking about a few different projects I’d like to do. Which at this stage have no real revenue or business associated with them, other than I find them interesting. I thought I’d list them here to see if anyone has similar crazy ‘just because’ projects. Maybe these fun crazy things are what we should be doing and building, instead of working out what other people want. Maybe the thing that really matters is what we want. Either way here they are;
- Take a year to fly to every commercial Airport in the world – without a break. yes, including living in planes and airports for a full 12 months. Document it and what happens for some reason. Find interesting stuff and people. See what happens. Film it. Socialize it on live digital media. Find something no one has ever thought of or seen. Just because.
- Live for a year only on food that is grown at home. Vegetables and animals. Cook using only wood and home made ovens. Every bit of food that goes in my mouth I will have grown, baked, killed cooked and created. Document it all. Just because.
- Walk around the entire coastline of Australia. Beach by beach, headland by headland. 25,760 km’s of it. Learn something. Document it…. Just because.
- Make a short film. Without any false ambitions of becoming the next Tarantino. Just to create. Be part of it. Just because.
- Renovate a house. Yes, a totally dilapidated 100 year old timber home. To see what my eye and hands can really make when they collaborate. Build a house my family can live in, be safe in, grow together in. Take time out and do this. A non Grand Design for me and my people. Just because.
- Start a cult. Just to see if we can make a positive one. A cult of good. To see if I could lead people in such a way that they live for the cause, but to flip it. To make the cause about fixing broken shit in the world….Like the banking system and the 1%. Just because.
- Be a used car salesman. mainly because I think it would be really, really hard. To see how I could sell in a difficult environment. To test my skills, and see what I could learn to take into my future. To be the most untrusted person in the commercial world. To be that guy. The be that guy and see how I handle myself and what I become. Just because.
- Coach A little league team. Pass on some skills, about the game, and maybe about life. Teach some youngsters stuff that matters – have am impact on their attitude without them even knowing. See how it feels to help out the people who will inherit our world. Just because.
- Live in a tropical paradise. Mainly to remove the myth or confirm it. A place where little money is needed, the weather is always warm and technology and financial growth are irrelevant. Find out out if the picture of paradise is real or perceived. Stay forever if it is real. Just because.
- Join a street gang. A real underworld style gang. Think East L.A. Get dirty and down and be part of something bigger than me that is from the opposite side of town. Learn their rules and play by them. Deal, steal and destroy. See if the emotional roller coaster is the same, or different. See if I like it more or less. Understand the plight and political machinations of a crime organization from the inside. Draw the analogies and comparisons to the legal world – find out the truth. Just because.
Sometimes we need to embark on startup projects, that aren’t really startups…. Just because. | <urn:uuid:872104ef-0c20-402b-947c-2aff086749b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://startupblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/10-just-because-projects/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954491 | 792 | 1.5625 | 2 |
MOWAT, JOHN BOWER, Presbyterian minister and college professor; b. 8 June 1825 in Kingston, Upper Canada, son of John Mowat* and Helen Levack; m. first 24 Sept. 1855 Janet McGill in Montreal, and they had one son; m. secondly 26 June 1861 Emma McDonald, and they had two sons and two daughters; d. 15 July 1900 in Kingston.
John Bower Mowat was the third of five children whose father was a successful and respected citizen in Kingston. His eldest brother, Oliver*, with whom he maintained a close and affectionate relationship throughout his life, would later become premier of Ontario. John grew up in Kingston and spent some time attending school in Brockville. When Queen’s College (later Queen’s University) began classes on 7 March 1842, he was one of three students enrolled in the first-year program. Even before graduating with his ba in 1845, he had decided to enter the Presbyterian ministry. Therefore, while continuing his studies at Queen’s, in August 1846 he accepted a position as catechist in the Victoria District. In 1846–47 he attended the University of Edinburgh for further study and in 1847 he received his ma from Queen’s.
In the fall of 1848 Mowat was appointed catechist to John Machar*, minister of St Andrew’s Church in Kingston and principal of Queen’s. Though this post lasted only 21 months, it provided excellent training for Mowat. In the summer of 1849 he accepted a call from St Andrew’s in Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and, on completing his commitment in Kingston, was ordained at Niagara on 2 May 1850.
Mowat became a successful and well-loved pastor. He planned activities to attract young people, and records show that while he was at St Andrew’s four young men from his church entered the ministry. On Sunday afternoons he often preached to the local black congregation in their own church. Mowat family members frequently visited Niagara, sometimes to have one of their children baptized. During Mowat’s term, a church bell was bought, the congregational library was increased, and damages to the church from storms in 1854 and 1855 were repaired. In 1855 John married a daughter of the Reverend Robert McGill*. In December 1856 his young wife died a few days after the birth of their son (the father of Angus McGill Mowat* and the grandfather of author Farley McGill Mowat).
In the fall of 1857 the 32-year-old Mowat was appointed professor of oriental languages, biblical criticism, and church history at Queen’s. This appointment aroused some comment, since his father was one of the trustees and since five Scottish applicants had been passed over. Letters of recommendation from Thomas Liddell*, Peter Colin Campbell, and George Romanes (all of whom had taught Mowat) had stressed his character, diligence, and scholarly bent more than his intellectual powers.
Mowat’s years at Queen’s were characterized by his quiet unselfish enthusiasm, an insistence on accuracy, and unfailing energy. A lack of clergymen meant that he was often called on for additional ministerial and missionary work. In 1861 he married his second wife, a daughter of Gananoque businessman John McDonald*. During the illness of Principal William Leitch*, Mowat undertook extra classes in 1863–64, and he also filled in as registrar for some time before George Bell assumed the post in 1881. In 1883, the year in which he was awarded an honorary dd by the University of Glasgow, the chair he held was divided; Mowat retained Hebrew, Chaldee, and Old Testament exegesis and Donald Ross assumed a new chair in apologetics and New Testament criticism. Mowat received additional help in 1899 when Principal George Monro Grant* appointed William George Jordan* to assist Mowat with his teaching duties.
Although Mowat did not take “an active or prominent part in church courts,” the controversy in the mid 1870s surrounding Daniel James Macdonnell’s publicly expressed doubts about the Westminster Confession’s statement on eternal punishment prompted Mowat to speak out on the matter. According to the reminiscences of a former student who attended the 1876 General Assembly, Mowat’s speech there in defence of Macdonnell was “unassailable” in “its historical standpoint, its candor, and its truthfulness.”
In May 1900, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mowat’s ordination, his presbytery presented him with a complimentary address in his own class-room at Queen’s. Less than three months later, after a life devoted to his church and his university, “the venerable Dr. Mowat” passed away.
QUA, 1241, Mowat appointment, 1857; 3032 (photocopies). St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.), Reg. of baptisms, marriages, and burials; Session books, 1849–57. Aleph, “Jubilee of Rev. Dr. Mowat’s ordination,” Westminster (Toronto), [2nd] ser., 8 (January–June 1900): 511–12. Janet Carnochan, Centennial, St. Andrew’s, Niagara, 1794–1894 (Toronto, 1895), 35–36. Oliver Mowat, “‘Neither Radical Nor Tory Nor Whig’: letters by Oliver Mowat to John Mowat, 1843–1846,” ed. Peter Neary, OH, 71 (1979): 84–131. Queen’s University Journal (Kingston, Ont.), 26 Oct. 1900. C. R. W. Biggar, Sir Oliver Mowat . . . a biographical sketch (2v., Toronto, 1905). Janet Carnochan, History of Niagara . . . (Toronto, 1914; repr. Belleville, Ont., 1973), 91. History of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 1791–1975 ([Niagara-on-the-Lake, 1975]), 13–14. J. T. McNeill, The Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1875–1925 (Toronto, 1925). H. [M.] Neatby and F. W. Gibson, Queen’s University, ed. F. W. Gibson and Roger Graham (2v., Kingston and Montreal, 1978–83), 1. | <urn:uuid:efc80f4c-2875-4686-9af1-41702f42cd19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=6318 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970584 | 1,397 | 2.25 | 2 |
The Conservative government’s banning of veils during citizenship ceremonies is self-defeating and wrongheaded.
There is a lot more to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s policy prohibiting Muslim women from covering their faces during citizenship ceremonies than meets the eye. Since Dec. 12, 2011, when Kenney publicly announced the new policy, a heated debate has emerged in Canada focusing on a variety of pertinent questions: Does the policy violate the right to religious freedom enshrined in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms? Does it promote or deny women’s rights more generally? Does it further marginalize Muslims? Is the policy even necessary? And, finally, does it actually achieve what it aims to? Though all of these questions are important, several key criticisms of the veil policy deserve further attention.
For one thing, the government’s veil policy ignores the complexity of the notion of “choice” with respect to the circumstances under which immigrants and refugees migrate to Canada. Clearly, many groups of immigrants and refugees do not migrate to Canada by choice. Rather, they are forced out of their countries of origin by threats to their safety and lives. In fact, the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees states:
A refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.
While most refugees do not choose their country of resettlement, issues of gender inequality within many refugee and migrant families mean that women, in particular, often have no say on where they will migrate. It is therefore unreasonable and counterproductive for the Canadian government to suggest that women who do not feel comfortable taking their veils off should not migrate to Canada. If countering the oppression of women is what the government is after, then requiring women to remove their veils during citizenship ceremonies is self-defeating.
The veil policy also demonstrates the government’s inexcusable ignorance about the diversity of Muslims. In Canada alone, there are Muslims from many different sects and countries, and they have varying belief systems with regard to women’s dress. Some Muslim women have the right to choose their dress based on their belief systems. Others are forced to cover themselves to varying degrees by men in their families and communities. For the latter, Kenney’s policy creates a no-win situation: Men in their families/communities force them to wear the veils, but, according to Kenney’s policy, if they do, they are prevented from becoming Canadian citizens. This makes it even more difficult for them to overcome their oppression because, if they cannot become Canadian citizens, they are denied the complete set of rights, legal protections, access to services, and social support provided by such status. This marginalizes them even further, prevents them from being able to live freely in our country, and potentially threatens their safety.
This kind of discriminatory practice in Canada – sanctioned by, and, in fact, originating from, the government – has real and worrisome implications. Evidence from around the globe indicates that immigrants and refugees who experience racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination are at increased risk of developing mental-health issues and illness. My own extensive research [in collaboration with colleagues] shows that this is especially true for immigrants and refugees who experience systemic discrimination at the hands of the Canadian government. This risk is magnified for those who have already been persecuted by governments in their countries of origin, as they may be re-traumatized by the experience of discrimination in Canada – especially when they reasonably assume that they have fled danger to settle in a safe new home. It is not difficult to understand how the experience of being forced to remove a veil might impact a Muslim woman seeking citizenship in Canada. We know that Muslims face distinct risks in the context of the increasing Islamophobia around the globe since 9/11.
The framework for Canada’s first mental-health strategy, released by the Mental Health Commission of Canada in 2009, recognizes the damaging impact that racism and discrimination have on mental health, and prioritizes addressing these issues to improve mental health in Canada. One of the strategy’s main goals is to establish a “mental health system [that] responds to the diverse needs of all people in Canada,” taking into consideration things like “ethno-cultural background, experience of racism, and migration history; stage of life; language spoken; sex, gender, and sexual orientation; geographical location; different abilities; socio-economic status; and spiritual or religious beliefs.”
In the context of the growing diversity in Canada, our federal government is not only ignoring the global evidence of the (physical and mental) health risks related to the types of systemic discrimination that it is supporting, but is also disregarding the goals, based on extensive research and stakeholder consultation, of a national organization that it funds.
Kenney’s policy is both unacceptable and shameful for a country whose inclusive identity has been globally admired, envied, and aspired to for many years. Rather than acting on its own ideology at the expense of others, the Canadian government should continue to be a global leader in inclusive policy and governance, based not only on the human-rights principles at the core of our identity, but also on the global evidence that reveals the risks associated with exclusion.
Photo courtesy of Reuters. | <urn:uuid:dbed77dc-b1a3-4830-8970-7c6523e750a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themarknews.com/articles/8015-unveiling-a-discriminatory-policy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965893 | 1,132 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Did you know that by having curtains in your house you can save money? Well, you can. Curtains are fantastic for preventing cold air to enter the room from your window during the cold winter months. In addition, they are good for the environment. Let me tell you how it works.
Keeping the cold out
It is a scientific fact that warm air tends to move from warm areas to cold areas. This means that when you have the heating on the warm energy will be sucked towards the colder areas of the house, which is usually the windows, and thus it goes outside rather than warming your room up. Because of this your house can become very cold and you will pay more money and not feel the benefits of it.
How the curtains can help
By closing your curtains in the whole house as soon as it gets dark you can help keep the cold out and the warmth in. What happens is that an air pocket is created between the windows and the curtains and the curtains effectively form a barrier between cold and warm air. So if the warm air from your heating cannot come into contact with the cold air from the window you won’t lose the warmth in your house.
Environmental and financial benefits
By using the curtains as a means to get your house warmer you are being friendlier to the environment as you are not spending as much energy on warming up the house as you would with open or no curtains. In addition, your energy bills will be much lower and you can save the money that would otherwise have gone to waste.
If you already have blinds in your windows adding curtains will be a much more effective way to shut the cold air out. You can still keep your blind if you like and it’s easy to fit the curtain to the same window. If the sun is shining make sure that you open your curtains and blinds to let the heat from the sun come in to the room. As soon as dusk sets in be sure to close them again to retain that heat that you have just gained, and you might not even need to put your heating on for very long. As well has putting all this into practice, ensure your attic is properly insulated and that you have double glazed windows as this will help reduce your energy bills even more.
Andy Burrows is enthusiastic about any environmental issues and loves sharing tips on how you can improve your home while staying environmentally friendly. If you need to get some cheap curtains to help your house stay warmer Andy recommends Yorkshire Linen’s excellent quality. | <urn:uuid:73dda325-bcef-47e3-8749-f9531d5a0043> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southgatechamber.com/how-your-curtains-can-save-you-money.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969119 | 511 | 2.609375 | 3 |
David Heinemeier Hansson has created ruby on rails programming language. Ruby on Rails or ROR is an open-source web development programming language. It is written in Ruby language. It is used with an agile development methodology. Web developers use this language for the rapid development. It is one of the most lightening fast programming languages. ROR is a framework that develops a website in a simpler way.
Here are some advantages of hiring ROR developer for your web application development:
Once you hire ruby on rails developer, you will get the best web development services. That too at an affordable cost.
One of the big advantages of using this language is that is supports many databases such as SQL and ORACLE. Moreover, is very helpful in developing Database driven web applications. Thus hiring a ROR developer will help you have best database driven website.
The professionally qualified ROR developers are highly skilled and equipped to provide you the best-designed website.
Hiring ROR developer for your website development will help you save lots of your time, money and resources. In addition, the website designed with Ruby on Rails program will be the easiest and user-friendly website, which will help you collect the correct amount of audience.
Hiring Ruby on Rails developer will help you to have complete business development strategies designed according to your target market. In addition, it would be easy for you to approach your target customers and get business from them.
You can also hire Ruby on Rails developers on hourly, weekly, monthly and on project basis, and can get reports in same manner, so that you can analyze the quality of work depending upon your business needs that will lower your time and cost even by half.
One way out is, you can save money as ROR developers are available for hiring at very affordable prices.
You will not have to invest extra money for searching the experts in this field.
The best thing you can do about ROR development is you can outsource the development services or the ROR developers. There are many outsourcing companies across the world who will give you the best ROR development services. That will be more time and money saving for you than the in-house employees.
You can hire Ruby on Rails developer or programmer either on temporary or permanent basis. By doing this you will enjoy the freedom of working according to your business needs. And if required you can convert the temporary contract on a permanent basis. This will help you to hire right person for right job, and you will enjoy the benefit of getting the right kind of work done through experts.
By considering all these advantages while hiring Ruby on Rails developer or programmer for your web development, you will get the best possible web development project amongst your competitors. As well as you will be able to save lots of time, efforts, money and resources, which can be utilized in other core areas of business to get the best productivity and profitability for your business success. | <urn:uuid:1b3232d8-5442-45e9-bc34-2925b0db8c13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web-development.ezinemark.com/hire-ruby-on-rails-developer-for-ror-web-application-development-31b55bd421a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930452 | 597 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Got Raw Milk? Think Twice Before You Drink It
By Jill Richardson
Mention raw milk to some people, and you'll have to wait for them to stop yelling before you can have a conversation about it. Few foods provoke such strong reactions (for and against it) as raw milk.
Some people credit it with beneficial health effects, but others believe it's so risky it ought to be banned. The issue of raw milk -- milk that has not been pasteurized -- also raises a number of questions about our government's role in regulating foods when that is in conflict with individuals' freedom to choose foods that they consider important to their diets.
Those who drink raw milk go to great lengths to obtain it -- paying $5 to $10 per gallon for it -- sometimes even buying a share of a cow or regularly driving several hours to pick it up from a dairy.
They don't do this just because it tastes good. For some, it is a desire for natural, unprocessed foods. For others, it is part of a larger interest in sustainable agriculture and supporting farmers who use methods that help the environment............ | <urn:uuid:c379782e-ac8f-46ea-b16c-4e03023f2dae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://the-morrighan.blogspot.com/2009/10/im-vegan-so-this-doesnt-make-difference.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969184 | 228 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Zimbabwe's Rip-Off Poll
By a vote of 1.69 million for Robert Mugabe to 1.28 million for Morgan Tsvangirai, the people of Zimbabwe re-elected the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) president last weekend. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), founded in September 1999, lost by more than in the last national election, in June 2000 when Zanu gained a small majority of parliamentary seats.
We want to make seven brief points about the election and its various interpretations, meanings and implications. But to set the tone, here are the words of a young organic radical activist, Hopewell Gumbo, formerly the assistant to opposition leader Gibson Sibanda, subsequently a noted socialist activist and student anti-privatisation leader:
"What went wrong? There has been massive violence prior to the elections AND AS A RESULT THE ELECTION COULD NOT HAVE BEEN FREE AND FAIR. Mugabe survived on an anti-imperialist rhetoric and the land crisis notwithstanding the violence campaign... Mugabe's rhetoric separated the urban poor from the rural poor. This is one important reality that must be interrogated. The answer to the MDC loss lies in the explanation of that massive discrepancy. But Mugabe was not genuine in his rhetoric. He announced a retreat from the IMF while he went on to privatise education and other services but manages to get the rural vote on a land ticket that results in violent farm invasions and occupations followed by a fast track resettlement program."
1) The election
Mugabe stole this one. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network--mainly progressive human rights monitors--listed the following obvious pre-poll violations:
* disenfranchising voters through the voter registration process;
* registration of voters beyond 3 March 2002;
* "correcting" the voters' roll;
* control of voter education through the Electoral Supervisory Commission;
* drawing election supervisors and monitors from the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs and Education;
* disallowing postal voting [i.e. preventing around a million votes from Zimbabweans abroad, which would have mainly gone to the MDC];
* constituency-based voting [i.e., preventing voters from casting their ballots no matter where they happen to be, within Zimbabwe];
* simultaneous holding of municipal and Presidential elections;
* restrictions concerning the accompanying of ballot boxes;
* printing of extra ballot papers;
* very restrictive and oppressive Public Order and Security Act;
* unequal access to the state controlled media, in particular the broadcast media, with a bias towards the ruling party;
* restrictions concerning both local and international observers;
* confiscation and destruction of identity cards by youths of the ruling party [i.e., thus preventing people from voting because an ID is required at the ballot box];
* establishment of illegal road blocks by youths of the ruling party;
* political violence, including torture and murders, largely perpetrated by ruling party supporters against members and supporters of the opposition;
* selective enforcement of the law by law enforcement agents.
Then on the days of the election, March 9 and 10, urban Zimbabweans were confronted by drastic cutbacks in polling stations, requiring many hours of queuing in the hot sun. Rural voters witnessed a systematic refusal by government to allow independent monitors near the booths, and opposition party electoral agents were unable to reach nearly half the stations, in part because of pro-Zanu thuggery. Across Zimbabwe, the government refused to abide by an urgent court order to extend voting for another day, opened only the polling booths in greater Harare (and five hours late at that), and then chased those still in long queues away at the end of the day.
2) "Free and fair"?
Through such tactics, we believe, easily more than 410,000 votes were stolen. Most international election monitors--with the notable exception of ruling-party ministers from neighbouring countries, the Organisation of African Unity, and 50 official observers from South Africa--recognised this, declaring the poll unfree and unfair.
But the reports from countries of the North played into Zanu's hands. Mugabe has been quick to point to imperialist hypocrisy, the stolen election in the US, and the lack of genuine choice in most rich countries.
In contrast, the state-owned media welcomed the Southern African Development Community's ministerial task force, which claimed, "Despite reported incidents of pre-election violence and some logistical shortcomings during voting... the elections were substantially free and fair, and were a true reflection of the will of the people of Zimbabwe."
The South African observer delegation, led by businessman Sam Motsuenyane, called Mugabe's declaration of victory "legitimate." So too did the South African Federated Chamber of Commerce, leading to instant discredit and shame in Johannesburg.
And so it would seem that the elections have been stitched up through the revival of a colonial racial antagonism. Not quite, though. There were two dissenting voices from Africa, the most important being the SADC-Parliamentary Forum, a group of parliamentarians (not ministers) from the SADC region. Their conclusion was rather different: "The climate of insecurity obtaining in Zimbabwe since the 2000 parliamentary elections was such that the electoral process could not be said to adequately comply with the Norms and Standards for Elections in the SADC region." The Commonwealth observer mission said much the same.
But all eyes have subsequently turned to Thabo Mbeki, and for good reason.
3) Pretoria's pressure points
In 1976, Mugabe's immediate predecessor, Ian Smith, was summoned to meet John Vorster and Henry Kissinger in Pretoria. In an uncomfortable encounter, the Rhodesian was told by the South African premier and the US secretary of state that his dream of delaying black majority rule in Zimbabwe for "a thousand years" was over. Accommodation with the liberation movements would be necessary, both for the sake of the West's legitimacy in the struggle against the USSR and simply because Smith's position was untenable.
Smith resisted the inevitable with a mix of ineffectual concessions and heightened repression, but the power that South Africa held over imports and exports was decisive.
There now appears an analogous moment of truth. Again, millions of black Zimbabweans suffer the depredations of an undemocratic, exploitative ruling elite. Again, a militaristic state serves the class interests of a few tens of thousands of well-connected bureaucrats, military and paramilitary leaders and what are termed "briefcase businessmen," in the context of unprecedented economic crisis.
A May 2001 visit to Pretoria by US secretary of state Colin Powell was evidence of the Republican Party rulers' need to raise their own questionable international standing through at least one successful African democratisation project: Zimbabwe.
In this context of striking parallels, South African president Thabo Mbeki is taking advantage of temporary Western goodwill--aside from doubts about his genocidal HIV/AIDS policies--to offset the overall hemorrhaging of his country and continent. His New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) follows similar South African interventions in the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation and a host of other international forums.
The fly in the ointment, inevitably, is Mugabe.
4) Pretoria's calculations
Pretoria's Zimbabwe schizophrenia has several other crucial domestic features that outweigh the pro-Western logic of Nepad, though. Looking north, the ANC leadership must despair at the following:
* a liberation movement which won resounding electoral victories against a terribly weak opposition, but under circumstances of worsening abstentionism by, and depoliticisation of, the masses;
* that movement's undeniable failure to deliver a better life for most of the country's low-income people, while material inequality soared;
* rising popular alienation from, and cynicism about, nationalist politicians, as the gulf between rulers and the ruled widened inexorably and as numerous cases of corruption and malgovernance were brought to public attention;
* growing economic misery as neoliberal policies were tried and failed; and
* the sudden rise of an opposition movement based in the trade unions, quickly backed by most of civil society, the liberal petit-bourgeoisie and the independent media--potentially leading to the election of a new, post-nationalist government.
The last bullet, fired in Zambia in 1991 when Kenneth Kaunda lost by a landslide, and misfired in Zimbabwe this week thanks to Mugabe's electoral theft, is not yet loaded in South Africa. But it will be.
Pretoria bureaucrats argue that there is no alternative to constructive engagement with Mugabe. The mid-1990s Nigerian lesson--"We got our fingers burned"--was chillingly instructive. After talking tough to Sani Abacha's military regime, South African officials believed that Western countries would crack down with sanctions, especially on oil. The West didn't, leaving Pretoria exposed and ineffective.
Another lesson was more current: when Zambia and Madagascar conducted profoundly flawed elections last December, leading to active (ongoing) civil-society and party-political protests, the West and Pretoria quickly accepted prevailing power relations.
For Mbeki, it would be ideal if Mugabe changes his stripes immediately, reverting to his early-mid-1990s neoliberal mode. A successful Nepad requires Mugabe to act more politely, begin to repay US$1+ billion arrears to the Bretton Woods Institutions, and refrain from detaining and torturing journalists and opposition party members.
But none of this is likely, especially if Mugabe's downward spiral of economic degradation and political illegitimacy continues. What, then, can Mbeki do?
5) Pretoria's next gambit
As we write (15 March), South African vice president Jacob Zuma has been meeting for many hours in Harare, trying to stitch together a bandaid solution prior to next Tuesday's crucial London meeting of Commonwealth leaders. Zuma will reportedly ask Mugabe to step down soon, perhaps handing power to his ally Emmerson Mnangagwa, the parliamentary leader who is trusted only a little within Zanu and not at all in the opposition. Mugabe is probably unwilling to accept.
The other option, which is also being pushed by elites of all stripes, from Mbeki/Zuma to Tony Blair in London to Tony Leon (South Africa's white opposition leader) in Cape Town, is a Government of National Unity in Harare.
But notwithstanding the possible offer of a vice-presidential job, Tsvangirai publicly rejected a deal on Thursday: "This is not about appointing people to certain positions without first achieving stability. Mugabe cannot buy legitimacy by forming a government of national unity with the MDC."
The political cul-de-sac that Pretoria now faces, looking north, probably compels Mbeki to vaguely endorse Mugabe's theft. But a disincentive also looms: if Mbeki legitimises Mugabe, Nepad will be denounced as illegitimate.
6) Pretoria's progressive opposition
Civil society groups across Africa--e.g., the Africa Social Forum network of social movements which met in both Bamako, Mali and Porto Alegre, Brazil in January, which includes the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development--have already denounced Mbeki's neoliberal, "good governance" plan for Africa.
By endorsing Mugabe, Mbeki invites active protests against both Nepad's hypocrisy on governance, as well as its reliance upon Western markets and Washington-Consensus economic policies. Locations will include the upcoming (June) G-8 Meeting in rural Canada, the Africa Union launch in July in Pretoria, and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in August.
How much good these protests do, depends upon how advocates of social justice in Zimbabwe read the power relations, the importance they give international solidarity in the coming struggle for democracy, and the extent to which their comrades across the world can educate and mobilise.
7) Self-activity of the Zimbabwean masses
But at home, what will democratic activists in Zimbabwe do, in response? So far, aside from a threatened national strike by the trade unions (foiled by police disruption of their planning meeting), the gut reaction seems to be hunkering down to overcome the shock of what many term the "mugging." Activists are overcome with exhaustion, intimidation, the arrest of more than a thousand civil-society election monitors last weekend, and the sheer challenge of going up against the repressive arms of the state. Army and police are patrolling the Harare ghettoes and the mood of fear and loathing is palpable.
At this crucial juncture, leadership appears to be lacking. The left-of-centre NGO network group called Crisis in Zimbabwe has called upon the people "to register their concern in accordance with the Constitution," with no details. A similar group, the National Constitutional Assembly, will arrange protests "in coming weeks." Tsvangirai has withdrawn into his politburo to consult, after making a wishy-washy statement of pale defiance. Opposition lawyers convinced that, in theory, they have a watertight case to re-hold the elections, are pessimistic. Given how Mugabe has stacked the judiciary, it is likely that the high court will rule in favour of Zanu.
So the last words go to activist Hopewell Gumbo:
"The MDC--rising from anti-IMF working class movement--moved to the right at the alarm of most of its supporters. Tsvangirai showed inconsistencies in his programme. One was pronouncing mass action, and the following day talking of the courts. Zimbabwe has had a number of alternatives to the process of dealing with the entrenched dictatorship of Mugabe. This is for now the most progressive way to look at the situation. We must bury behind our backs the loss and seek to invoke those alternatives that have so far not been utilised."
(Patrick Bond coauthored the new book *Zimbabwe's Plunge: Exhausted Nationalism, Neoliberalism and the Search for Social Justice,* and Raj Patel has been associated with the Zimbabwe Indymedia website: http://zimbabwe.indymedia.org and Voice of the Turtle: http://voiceoftheturtle.org) | <urn:uuid:b07b6021-2172-4a23-b11c-c55dd46b1741> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/zimbabwes-rip-off-poll-by-patrick-bond | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950433 | 2,939 | 1.789063 | 2 |
How Small and Midsize Businesses Can Maximize ITIL Advantages
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a very powerful and effective set of practices and concepts for the IT industry. However, ITIL has not yet maximized its potential because, though large businesses have been able to devote significant resources to implementing ITIL, small and midsize businesses have often been unable to take advantage of all ITIL has to offer. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Oded Moshe explains how small and midsize businesses can maximize the advantages that ITIL provides.
The founding of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) was a landmark event for the IT industry. Based on the knowledge of thousands of CIOs, ITIL provided, for the first time, a cohesive set of IT best practices drawn from worldwide resources in both the public and private sectors. This allowed all organizations, regardless of their size, to benefit from the implementation of IT best practices.
With its detailed description of a number of the most important IT processes and its checklists, tasks and procedures, ITIL was intended to allow any organization to implement it to best fit the company's IT processing needs. Moreover, by enabling small and midsize businesses to utilize the comprehensive information resource to develop and manage their IT on par with larger players, ITIL would essentially level the global IT playing field.
But something happened on the way to industry parity: ITIL was tagged by many businesses as too comprehensive and complex, leading to a reality in which only large players were able to consider dedicating the resources needed to learn, absorb and then implement the fundamentals of ITIL.
So, while ITIL succeeded in becoming the IT industry's de facto standard for best practices, the "rich" continued to get richer. And the question evolved slightly, but importantly: How can SMBs implement and manage ITIL-based infrastructures without monopolizing the time and resources of their entire IT teams? Or, put differently, how could the industry take this powerful set of processes-originally designed to standardize IT best practices-and make it less complicated so that it would be practical for organizations of all sizes? | <urn:uuid:d8f82ede-5bd2-4c80-b633-599329b62818> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/How-Small-and-Midsize-Businesses-Can-Maximize-ITIL-Advantages/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949504 | 442 | 1.773438 | 2 |