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Habits make up 40 percent of our daily behaviors, according to studies. And yet, because habits unfold within our basal ganglia – one of the oldest parts of the brain – they often feel nearly unconscious. So how do you change a habit? By diagnosing it’s components, and reprograming the behavior. Here’s how to do just that:
1. Identify your habit’s routine
There is a basic pattern at the core of every habit, a kind of neurological loop that has three parts: A cue, a routine and a reward.
To understand your habit, you need to identify the components of your loop. The easiest place to start is with the routine: what behavior do you want to change? (For instance, I once had a bad habit of eating a cookie from the cafeteria every afternoon.)
2. Experiment with different rewards
Rewards are powerful because they satisfying cravings. But we’re often not conscious of the cravings that drive our behaviors. To figure out which cravings are driving particular habits, it’s useful to experiment with different rewards. For instance, on the first day of my experiment to figure out what was driving my cookie habit, when I felt the urge to go to the cafeteria and buy a cookie, I instead went outside, walked around the block, and then went back to my desk without eating anything. The next day, I went to the cafeteria and bought a donut, and ate it at my desk. The next day, I bought an apple and ate it while chatting with my friends. Eventually I figure out that what I was really craving wasn’t cookies, but socialization: Whenever I went to the cafeteria, I saw my friends.
3. Isolate the cue
Every habit has a cue, and experiments have shown that almost all habitual cues fit into one of five categories:
Immediately preceding action
So, if you’re trying to figure out the cue for the ‘going to the cafeteria and buying a chocolate chip cookie’ habit, you write down five things the moment the urge hits (these are my actual notes from when I was trying to diagnose my habit):
Where are you? (sitting at my desk)
What time is it? (3:36 pm)
What’s your emotional state? (bored)
Who else is around? (no one)
What action preceded the urge? (answered an email)
After just a few days, it was pretty clear which cue was triggering my cookie habit — I felt an urge to get a snack at a certain time of day. The habit, I had figured out, was triggered between 3:00 and 4:00.
4. Have a plan
Once you’ve figured out your habit loop — you’ve identified the reward driving your behavior, the cue triggering it, and the routine itself — you can begin to shift the behavior. You can change to a better routine by planning for the cue, and choosing a behavior that delivers the reward you are craving. What you need is a plan.
A habit is a formula our brain automatically follows:
When I see CUE, I will do ROUTINE in order to get a REWARD.
So, I wrote a plan of my own:
At 3:30, every day, I will walk to a friend’s desk and talk for 10 minutes.
It didn’t work immediately. But, eventually, it got be automatic. Now, at about 3:30 everyday, I absentmindedly stand up, look around for someone to talk to, spend 10 minutes gossiping, and then go back to my desk. It occurs almost without me thinking about it. It has become a habit.
5. Look for ‘keystone habits’
But where should a would-be habit master start?
Our lives are filled with habits, and time is limited. Knowing how to improve behaviors doesn’t resolve a central question: where to begin? Is it better to create an exercise habit, or reform eating patterns? Should someone focus on procrastination? Or biting their fingernails? Or both at the same time?
The answer is to focus on ‘keystone habits.’ Some habits, say researchers, are more important than others because they have the power to start a chain reaction, shifting other patterns as they move through our lives. Keystone habits influence how we work, eat, play, live, spend, and communicate. Keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything.
Identifying keystone habits, however, is tricky. To find them, you have to know where to look. To begin, ask yourself a central question: which habits are most core to my self image? Does exercise make you think about yourself in a different – and better – way? Then exercise might be your keystone habit. Or is it how you communicate with your spouse and kids? That might be your keystone habit. Or, how you get work done?
There are dozens of potential keystone habits, and my book spends significant time explaining how to identify and change them. But, at their core, they all share something in common: keystone habits shape how we think about ourselves. And all of them can be changed, once you know how to diagnose and influence the habit loop.
By Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.
Photo credit: ‘Business Clones,’ by Big Stock | <urn:uuid:38fb930f-e9b9-441a-8f4d-8302e803fad4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/5-ways-to-change-a-habit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957587 | 1,153 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (ICPGV),
Council Against Handgun Violence (ICHV), is a research-based public education
campaign to promote meaningful gun policy reform in Illinois.
ICPGV informs the public and the media on the facts about
gun violence and prevention policies
Stop Concealed, Loaded Guns in Illinois
As of April 11, 2011, a dangerous bill, HB 148, which allows individuals to carry
concealed, loaded guns in most public places, is moving through the Illinois General Assembly. This bill may be voted on any day now.
Concealed carry (CCW) permit holders have committed mass shootings and killed innocent people across the U.S.. From May 2007 to March 2011, at least 297 people were killed nationwide by concealed handgun permit holders.
Click here for the Violence Policy Centerís analysis on Concealed Carry Killers.
Click here for the ICPGV fact sheet on CCW.
65% of Illinois voters are opposed to concealed carry. Year after year, Illinois policymakers have rejected concealed carry legislation because concealed carry endangers the public and is strongly opposed by Illinois voters. In a 2011 poll of Illinois voters, two of three Illinois voters (65%) were opposed to allowing individuals to carry loaded, concealed weapons.
Recent media on concealed carry in Illinois: | <urn:uuid:0607b195-693f-4e9d-b370-3bf85e176e3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://icpgv.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934537 | 270 | 2.09375 | 2 |
to reflect together on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of unification, it seemed significant and profound intervention of Giovanni Maria Flick (President Emeritus of the Constitutional Court, former Minister of Justice in govenro warriors, etc.), which puts correlation in Unity and Constitutional Charter, retracing the steps and long-term changes and proposed lines of development for the future.
constitution and unity of Ita lia
The Charter sees the center of the system, not the State but the person
On March 17, 1861 V ittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became - by the grace of God and the will of the nation - the king of Italy, beginning the long path as the unification of Italy. They are now going there ntocinquanta years and we are preparing to celebrate the anniversary: \u200b\u200bwhat is the best way to remember an event properly so important to the history of our country?
First, I believe that the anniversary should be celebrated trying to avoid the rhetoric to usually, unfortunately, customary on such occasions, but also trying to avoid approaching or extremism that is what happened in these one hundred and fifty years is all beautiful and positive (ignoring the errors and ambiguities) or, conversely, is all wrong and reject (ignoring the successes and achievements). Reflecting on the current situation with a critical spirit, someone even asks whether it still makes sense to talk about unification of Italy, and is it still possible and useful to look at the past in order to draw some lessons for the present and the future, according to the that is written on the input of the concentration camp at Dachau: "Those who ignore the past are condemned to repeat it."
To answer these questions, it is worthwhile to take a look back at one hundred and fifty years after: a parable that has as its central point that the Constitution is now the foundation of our way of life together. It was preceded by a unification that has been articulated through four wars of independence, three had built, while the fourth (the war of 1915-1918) had established, completing the first Risorgimento. But in that same dish also fit fascism, the Second World War, the defeat, the loss of national unity, when the country returned to divide between the United South and the Social Republic in the North. Finally, in the parable of this, there is resistance, civil war, the second Risorgimento, to the choice and the Republican Constitution, which is - chronologically also - and today the central moment of our experience and our life unit. Especially with the Constitution - its origins, its writing, its implementation (certainly incomplete) - then we must look back, to celebrate these one hundred and fifty years, and I try to do it with words - so actual - of two of my predecessors authoritative .
The first of these, Enrico De Nicola, was a liberal monarch, who became interim head of state and then first president of the Constitutional Court. At the first hearing of Qu est'ultima in 1956, said: "The Constitution is not widely known even by those who talk saccenza. Must be promptly disclosed before it is too late." The second, Leopoldo Elia, also President of the Court in 2008 on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Constitution, pointed out that "it is deeply relevant, has been able to understand new phenomena, not foreseen when it was written." He was referring to issues like the environment, privacy, the market and competition, the European dimension, issues that the Constitution has certainly been able to grasp, allowing the development, implementation and protection, while not explicitly provided for them. These two statements - significant in times wondering if he struggles on the Constitution is outdated and if, therefore, should be changed - I would add a third. Today, the Constitution not only is little known, even by experts; not only is present, sixty years after its birth, but it is also the key to understanding the significance of the unification of Italy and its continuation on a new basis and present, through the continuation and evolution of patriotism, in step from first to second Risorgimento.
is a building, the one proposed by the Constitution, which sees the core of our system is no longer the state as under fascism, but the person. It stretches the definition of a series of civil relations, social, economic and political, where the Constitution develops the rights and duties which are closely linked. I believe that the values \u200b\u200bcontained in the fundamental principles which opens our Constitution, can be effectively summarized in the principle of equal social dignity and the principle of secularism.
The first is a value in the content, which is what the article 3 of the Constitution, stressing the relationship between the formal equality of all before the law and substantial equality, which must be achieved by removing existing inequalities that prevent full participation of all (not just citizens) in public and social life. The same social dignity is the key link between equality and diversity (pluralism), which is another of the fundamental values \u200b\u200bof our Constitution, through solidarity.
beside the value of dignity, of content, placing the value of secularism, a value method (the method Democratic), not mentioned explicitly in the Constitution, but the Constitutional Court has derived from it by a ruling of 1989, after the amendments to the Concordat with the Catholic Church in 1984. Secularism must be understood not only by reference to the relationship between church and state and the religious dimension, but also with regard to mutual respect - in the knowledge of their values \u200b\u200bwhile respecting the values \u200b\u200bof the other - and dialogue, in contrast to overwhelm. It is, in short, what Bobbio called "accept the other for what it is." This value comes dall'eguaglianza and religious freedom, the rejection of secularism, but also in terms of radicalism, fanaticism and intolerance, is the prospect of dialogue in mutual respect. In the first
Risorgimento the nation has made reference to the state through a series of values \u200b\u200bsuch as history, culture, language, territory, although at a later time, this sense of belonging to the nation was troubled by centralism, bureaucracy, from what has been called the "piemontesizzazione" South, by the shortcomings of the state, up to the risk of separation between nation and state. In the second Risorgimento, the theme of home was expressed by reference to common and shared values \u200b\u200band belonging to the community: a constitutional patriotism that is based on new values, more current than those on which he first played the patriotism, therefore, able to manage our coexistence in the future and tackle the problems of globalization.
values \u200b\u200bare an asset of the first Renaissance elitist - especially given to intellectuals, through culture, history, traditions, language - which was mostly extraneous or indifferent to the people, except for some isolated experience: the popular participation in the Expedition of the Thousand, for Five Days of Milan, in riots. The second Risorgimento proposes, instead, another set of values: the formal and substantive equality, solidarity, democracy, popular sovereignty, pluralism, pacifism, unity and indivisibility of Italy and at the same time autonomy.
The Constitution was created with the second Risorgimento, after the dictatorship, the defeat and the division has arisen again in 1943 in Italy between the Kingdom of the South, where the state continued to exist thanks to an ally, and the Social Republic North, what has been called the death of the country, but in fact was the reason for its rebirth.
One of the phenomena on which I think is fair to think more, to better understand the current situation, is the resistance: a global phenomenon, characterized by partisan armed struggle, by the faithfulness and witness of the military (think of those who died on Cephalonia and those who refused to swear in the concentration camps) and the participation of the civilian population. We can not certainly ignore the fighting, the violence, the reciprocal wrongs that have characterized the Resistance. Some skeptical of - if not the possibility - of having a shared memory. I believe we need to reach at least the awareness of diversity and contrast between the memories, notwithstanding the awareness of what was to be the "right" with host, in the name of freedom and against dictatorship and oppression. But we must also try to come not so much to share, but rather to the understanding of who was wrong in good faith.
After the resistance, followed by other crucial events. First, there was the choice of 2 June 1946, with the referendum and the transition from monarchy to republic, moments of tension, accusations of fraud and renewed conflict between the North and South republican monarchy, which they fear again (as De Gasperi) for the moral unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The referendum was a form of respect for the will of the people, while leaving the people to choose between the Republic and Monarchy. The referendum was followed by the Constituent Assembly, which represented the first opportunity for universal suffrage and votes for women, and came to write and agree - with a huge majority - the Constitution in force since 1? January 1948: a constitution, a compromise "high" between the liberal and elitist component, the component of the Catholic component of the social-communist.
A constitution that focuses on the person, in his individual value and its social projection, and that had a double, a very important meaning. On the one hand, represents the rejection of the past, dictatorship, fascism and its reference values \u200b\u200b(corporatism, the warmongering, self-sufficiency, racism) and on the other hand, represents the renewal through a deal for the future, where they hoped to reach a new climate that would allow co-existence of our people.
After the entry into force of the Constitution, the parties that had played a key role in connecting civil society to revive from a state, then they finished the deal with the state and institutions, both have returned the office centralism and bureaucracy, which had been one of the vices of the first unified state. The Constitution, in part has not been implemented, in part, was implemented very late, so that someone spoke of the Constitution betrayed. Those defects, those ambiguity, those vices that had marked the first Renaissance, also marked the second.
Giovanni Maria Flick
( L'Osservatore Romano, 14 to 15 March 2011) | <urn:uuid:7ebd8a54-6331-473b-8c3b-ee7f41e98d0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oeminca.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963646 | 2,223 | 2.0625 | 2 |
“The actions of an appointed U.S. attorney must be totally off-limits to questions from the White House or anyone in Congress.” from Abbe David Lowell Saturday, March 10, 2007; Page A19.
A discussion of whether Bush is trying to influence the Tom Delay, Jack Abramoff, and Libby investigations or to intimidate Assistant US Attorney Sara Bloom at the USAO Mass from reopening the Harvard investigation follows. This are in response to the article by Abbe Lowell on the US Attorney firings.
The following is all hypotheses and speculation. All statements should be restated as questions. All other
Comments at WaPo
Assistant US Attorney Sara Bloom of USAO Mass is the real target of intimidation? Because Russia used kompromat to get loans from Clinton admin and Bush knew thay by the time of Bush v. Gore? In July 1998, Putin became head of FSB and Russia got another 4.8 billion in IMF loans.
But the money was taken from the bank accounts of the Russian govt to the personal accounts of the leaders. (Note the IMF disputes this in part and had an audit done and claimed equivalent amounts of money from other Russian government controlled accounts were used.) So the Russian government defaulted on Russian govt debt in Aug 98 since the money was not in the govt bank accounts.
A discussion of some of the IMF Russia and Asia transactions that is more technical is here.
Two professors, Larry Summers and Stanley Fischer had control over the IMF loans to Russia. Putin and the oligarchs and FSB had decades of files on academic kompromat some of it linked to Fischer’s 1969 Ph.D. thesis and an NSF grant involving Paul Samuelson, Summers’ uncle.
The KGB in 1972 at an econ conference in Warsaw may have used this incident and others to try to pressure Samuelson and Arrow, also uncle of Summers to nominate Kantorovich of the USSR for the Nobel in econ.
This was all possibly hid from USAO Mass from 1997 to 2005 by Clinton admin and then Bush. Did Bush use it during Bush v. Gore to make Gore go away? Gore turned down the presidency of Harvard. Did Marc Rich know this? Libby and Wolfowitz? Jacob Wolfowitz likely knew of the 1969 and 1972 incidents.
The above is speculation.
Job Offer to Stanley Fischer from Putin in 2001:
quote Russia Restores Ties with IMF BBC News June 19, 2001 For his part, Mr Putin complimented Mr Fischer, who plans to step down from his IMF role before the end of the year. He also offered him a job. We are always glad to see you in our country, said Mr Putin. If you would like to move from the IMF to Moscow, we can look at various options. end quote.
Putin likely got in on the July 1998 4.8 billion pot of money. So he was protecting his money at this point. After Fischer was hired by Israel in Jan 2005, Putin did an arms deal with Syria and then Iran. Israel and Bush kept quiet. The SVR and FSB are professionals at intimidation. Follow the money. Follow Putins money.
search “In Honor of Edmund S. Phelps ” plagiarism
quote Thus, my much-cited 1969 paper on optimal intertemporal portfolio programming opportunistically used the Bellman-Beckman-Phelps recursive techniques to analyze what defines the best qualitative asset-portfolio mix of the Phelps 1962 aggregate saving. It was not plagiarism but it was horning in on a created public good there for the taking. end quote Paul Samuelson.
from Preface Knowledge, Information, and Expectations in Modern Macroeconomics:
In Honor of Edmund S. Phelps
Edited by Philippe Aghion, Roman Frydman, Joseph Stiglitz, and Michael Woodford. Its on line.
Note the text was removed from above link after being posted with this link.
But it can be seen with Google inside:
If you type the word plagiarism into the search, you get part of the passage quoted above. Click on page 1 and scroll down. This link brings it up:
Fischer’s thesis was part of the same 1969 events. Samuelson and Merton got NSF grants for their 1969 papers. But it was already in part in the 1966 Nils Hakansson Ph.D. thesis that MIT had a copy of in 1966. Fischer got his US citizenship from his thesis. Above is speculation.
Engle Nobel autobio shows Jacob Wolfowitz, Paul’s father was part of this small world in 1969.quote I took Kiefer’s probability and Wolfowitz’s statistics. I was extremely happy. … We married on August 10, 1969. On that day, I turned in my dissertation, received my Ph.D. and we left Cornell for good to take my first academic job at MIT. …
… Many of my students from that time have gone on to do quite well themselves: Larry Summers, …
Frank Fisher, Bob Solow, and Jerry Rothenberg encouraged me to join them on a new project to build a model of the city of Boston. …end quote.
quote Robert M. Solow – Autobiography
So, in 1949-50, I spent a fellowship year at Columbia University, in the lectures of Abraham Wald, Jacob Wolfowitz and T.W. Anderson, along with my fellow … end quote. Solow Nobel Prize autobio.
Solow was on one of the Ph.D. committees of Merton and Stanley Fischer at that time. This was one little world and Russia knew this to use it at the 1972 Warsaw econ conference to pressure Arrow and Samuelson to nominate Kantorovich of the USSR for the 1975 Nobel Prize in economics. Above is speculation.
Paul Wolfowitz was Jacob Wolfowitz’s son and signed the 1998 PNAC letter to make regime change in Iraq part of US goals. Clinton was impeached in fall of 1998 and signed the Iraq Liberation Act in October 1998. At the same time there were hearings into IMF loans for Russia, LTCM bailout, etc.
Robert C. Merton was part of LTCM which bought Russian bonds in Aug 98 betting the IMF would have to bail Russia out. But the money was put into the personal bank accounts of the leaders so it wasn’t there to pay Russia’s bonds, so it defaulted. LTCM went belly up and Congress investigated why the Fed helped arrange a bailout.
The USAO Mass had already started investigating Harvard and Russia and Clinton profs like Larry Summers in spring 1997. If Jacob Wolfowitz had revealed this at that time, Clinton might have been removed from office and this would have become part of the ongoing investigations of Clinton more closely. This could be used again during Bush v. Gore, the USAO Mass was still investigating, in fact to August 2005. The above is all speculation.
The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail
Nonprofit Group Linked to Lawmaker Was Funded Mostly by Clients of Lobbyist
quote Two former Buckham associates said that he told them years ago not only that the $1 million donation was solicited from Russian oil and gas executives, but also that the initial plan was for the donation to be made via a delivery of cash to be picked up at a Washington area airport.
One of the former associates, a Frederick, Md., pastor named Christopher Geeslin who served as the U.S. Family Network’s director or president from 1998 to 2001, said Buckham further told him in 1999 that the payment was meant to influence DeLay’s vote in 1998 on legislation that helped make it possible for the IMF to bail out the faltering Russian economy and the wealthy investors there.
“Ed told me, ‘This is the way things work in Washington,’ ” Geeslin said. “He said the Russians wanted to give the money first in cash.” Buckham, he said, orchestrated all the group’s fundraising and spending and rarely informed the board about the details. Buckham and his attorney, Laura Miller, did not reply to repeated requests for comment on this article.
The IMF funding legislation was a contentious issue in 1998. The Russian stock market fell steeply in April and May, and the government in Moscow announced on June 18 — just a week before the $1 million check was sent by the London law firm — that it needed $10 billion to $15 billion in new international loans.
House Republican leaders had expressed opposition through that spring to giving the IMF the money it could use for new bailouts, decrying what they described as previous destabilizing loans to other countries. The IMF and its Western funders, meanwhile, were pressing Moscow, as a condition of any loan, to increase taxes on major domestic oil companies such as Gazprom, which had earlier defaulted on billions of dollars in tax payments.
On Aug. 18, 1998, the Russian government devalued the ruble and defaulted on its treasury bills. But DeLay, appearing on “Fox News Sunday” on Aug. 30 of that year, criticized the IMF financing bill, calling the replenishment of its funds “unfortunate” because the IMF was wrongly insisting on a Russian tax increase. “They are trying to force Russia to raise taxes at a time when they ought to be cutting taxes in order to get a loan from the IMF. That’s just outrageous,” DeLay said. end quote
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 31, 2005; A01
If Russia was bribing Tom Delay, they weren’t using academic kompromat at the same time? This was a big time operation of the Russian goverment to get these IMF loans. They were bribing Tom Delay through Jack Abramoff and at the same time there were pressuing Larry Summers at US Treasury and Stanley Fischer at IMF based on the academic kompromat trail that stretches back to the 1920′s and includes the same methods used to help gain atomic know-how.
Putin was head of FSB in July 1998. This was partly his operation. That is why he became President of Russia, he was part of this. That’s why Berezovsky and Yeltsin trusted him.
They were pushing all buttons at once and that didn’t just include bribing Tom Delay but also pushing academic kompromat buttons. That was while USAO Mass was investigating Harvard from 1997 and questioning Summers on his relationship to Shleifer.
Paul Wolfowitz and the neocons knew the Clinton profs and Harvard were concealing this history from the USAO Mass investigation. They got the Iraq Liberation Act during the Clinton impeachment. Then used this during Bush v. Gore to influence Scalia and then make Gore go away. Scalia has had econ Ph.D./JD clerks from the schools involved from the 1990′s to now. The links are all over the place. The above is speculation.
Bush is trying to intimidate the investigation of Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff, of Marc Rich, and of other investigations that may link to this. Bush is trying to keep Assistant US Attorney Sara Bloom from reopening the Harvard investigation into whether Bush’s team knew this in 1998 and formed a conspiracy to keep this information from USAO Mass and use it to pressure Clinton admin figures for the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act and then later during Bush v. Gore. Above is speculation.
Bush was not a US government employee prior to Jan 20, 2001. Nor were the others during these incidents. If they formed an agreement as non US government employees to keep this information from the USAO Mass office, that was a conspiracy to obstruct justice and to conceal espionage by Russia against the United States. That is what this is about. That is why they put into the Patriot Act that they could appoint interim US Attorneys. They had this problem from before 9-11. The above is speculation.
The above is all hypotheses and speculation. All statements should be restated as questions. All other disclaimes apply. | <urn:uuid:926361c4-98a3-4c0c-9c94-505385711c20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oldatlanticlighthouse.wordpress.com/category/r-jeffrey-smith/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971387 | 2,521 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Fast Facts About Homes
- Older toilets use 3.7-7 gallons per flush
- Dishwashers use 8-14 gallons per cycle
- Top-loading washers use 45 gallons/load
- A dripping faucet waste 15-21 gallons per day
- US water users withdraw enough water to fill a line of Olympic-size swimming pools reaching around the world EVERY DAY (300 billion gallons)
- Although our planet is 71 percent water, humans depend on a mere .65 percent of the water for survival - much of which is polluted.
- About a quarter of the nation's largest industrial plants and water treatment facilities are in serious violation of pollution standards at any one time.
- An estimated 7 million Americans are made sick annually by contaminated tap water; in some rare cases this results in death.
Indoor Air Quality:
- US EPA ranks indoor air pollution among top five environmental risks. Unhealthy air is found in up to 30% of new and renovated buildings
- W.H.O. reports that indoor air pollution causes 14 times more deaths than outdoor air pollution (2.8 million lives)
- Of hundreds of EPA-regulated chemicals, only ozone and sulfur dioxide are more prevalent outdoor than indoors
- 20 percent of all housing in the US has too much lead dust or chippings (causes kidney and red blood cell damage, impairs mental and physical development, may increase high blood pressure)
- Although the US is home to only 4.5 percent of the global population, it is responsible for over 15 percent of the world's consumption of wood.
- In the US, pesticides poison 110,000 people each year. More than one-third of calls to animal poison control centers result from pets exposed to pesticides.
- The volatile organic compounds (including pesticides) found indoors are believe to cause 3,000 cases of cancer a year in the US.
- According to the New York State Attorney General's office, 95 percent of the pesticides used on residential lawns are considered probable carcinogens by the EPA
- 2,4-D--a component of Agent Orange--is used in about 1,500 lawn care products | <urn:uuid:6ced2941-85cd-442c-91bc-5f49855e3d5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cccc.edu/green/greenbuilding/fastfacts.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90802 | 444 | 3.109375 | 3 |
The government isn’t quite done with its scientific investigation of metal-corroding, sulfuric-smelling Chinese-made drywall, but investigators say they know enough to recommend that the troublesome drywall, along with all the home’s electrical components, smoke and carbon dioxide alarms, and gas supply lines, should be ripped out and replaced
“Taking these steps should help eliminate both the source of the problem drywall and corrosion-damaged components that might cause a safety problem in the home,” said HUD and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in an April 2 joint statement announcing the recommendations.
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways to fix the problems, investigators said. “Less extensive or costly remediation methods may ultimately prove effective, but at present the task force lacks a scientific basis to evaluate those methods.”
The “interim guidance” was offered before the scientific investigation was officially finished because many homeowners with the problem drywall are anxious to correct the situation, but have been unsure about how to fix their houses.
It’s been a little longer than a year since the problems of sulfur-emitting Chinese drywall emerged. Homeowners began complaining of metals corroding in their homes, air-conditioning coils failing prematurely, and caustic smells that many said caused health problems. Now more than 3,000 homeowners from 37 states plus the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico have reported having faulty drywall to the government. The majority of the complaints (59%) have come from Florida, followed by Louisiana (20%).
The investigating agencies have yet to make any pronouncements related to health concerns related to the Chinese drywall. In addition to noting a “rotten egg” smell inside their houses, consumers have reported irritated and itchy eyes and skin, difficulty breathing, persistent coughs, bloody noses, runny noses, recurrent headaches, sinus infections, and asthma attacks.
But the investigation has determined that the Chinese drywall imported during the housing boom and post-Katrina does emit more sulfur than drywall from North America and that the those sulfuric emissions are high enough to cause metals, including air-conditioning coils, to corrode.
Thirty samples of drywall, including some imported from China in 2005/2006 during the peak of the building boom, as well as drywall made in North America, were put in small “chambers” where their emissions could be measured. The top 10 sulfur-emitting samples were of Chinese origin, and some of the Chinese samples emitted hydrogen sulfide at a rate that was 100 times higher than the non-Chinese samples. (Hydrogen sulfide corrodes metals.)
“The patterns of reactive sulfur compounds emitted from drywall samples show a clear distinction between the Chinese drywall samples … and the North American drywall samples, except for two Chinese samples that have similarities to the North American emission profile," according to the report. Some drywall imported from China in 2009 showed markedly lower levels of sulfur emissions.
The agencies did note that its sample size was small, that it was testing unpainted drywall versus painted drywall in homes, and that its models on the impact of the drywall in homes ware based on estimates.
The studies did debunk one theory that Chinese drywall emitted more sulfur compounds because it contained bacteria that produce sulfur as a metabolic by-product. A sampling of 10 drywall samples showed no apparent difference in sulfur-reducing bacteria in either the paper or gypsum core samples between imported Chinese drywall and American drywall, according to the government.
Other parts of the home may have been corroded by the bad drywall, but don't necessarily need to be replaced, according to the government, because they don't pose safety problems. These include copper plumbing pipes and HVAC evaporator coils.
Finally, the guidance says there’s no scientific basis to believe that studs, flooring, or cabinets need to be replaced. While the government recommends that all drywall debris and dust needs to be removed from homes, it also says there’s no evidence that HEPA vacuums and ventilators need to be used during the replacement.
More test results assessing the long-term effects of problem drywall on the safe operation of electrical components, gas distribution lines, fire safety, and HVAC components is expected to be finished this summer.
While the government’s remediation guidelines are clear, the question of who is financially responsible for the cost of the fixes is not. Some home builders, such as Lennar, have voluntarily replaced the drywall in its affected homes and then are suing their suppliers. Others have reserved millions toward remediation. In the meantime, insurance companies are citing exclusion clauses in an effort to avoid paying claims, and lawsuits have begun to pile up, with several in courts now.
Teresa Burney is a senior editor for BUILDER and BIG BUILDER magazines. | <urn:uuid:840d232c-c982-47eb-a15e-0db8d64b8091> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.builderonline.com/legal-issues/feds-rip-out-problem-chinese-drywall.aspx?rssLink=Feds%3A+Rip+Out+Problem+Chinese+Drywall | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955092 | 1,033 | 2.21875 | 2 |
I can solve basic logarithms but I can't figure out how to solve this one. I tried reviewing the rules of logarithm and I thought that I should start solving from right to left but still can't get a valid answer.
The selections are a)0 b)1 c)2 d)3
Any ideas ?
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Well if you want all that equal to 0 you need the last log to be log of 1.
So log3(9)=2 so you was logz(2)=1
does that help?
Regards. Fernando Revilla Edited: Sorry hmmmm I didn't see your post.
View Tag Cloud | <urn:uuid:82e29f3f-a65e-46df-ba47-e844d7f76a50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mathhelpforum.com/algebra/165047-solving-logarithm.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945242 | 147 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Central Bolivia Travel Guide
- Places to Explore
- Travel Tips
- Fodor's Choice
- Spanish Phrases
The two major cities in central Bolivia, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, are both southeast of La Paz—but here ends all similarity. Cochabamba, the country's third-largest city, is in a fertile valley in the foothills of the Andes. Often referred to as the "Granero de Bolivia," (Granary of Bolivia) Cochabamba produces a large share of the country's fruit and vegetables, and much of its meat and dairy products. Nestled in the eastern foothills of the Andes, it is known for its mild, sunny weather. Hot and humid Santa Cruz, Bolivia's largest city, is on the edge of the Amazon basin. In addition to agriculture, its economy is fueled by lumber, gas, and oil; the booms of the last few decades have resulted in its being a real economic and political powerhouse.
Fodor's local writers visit every hotel we recommend. Look for our discerning Fodor's Choice picks or search by price and location.
Find the best Central Bolivia restaurants in every price category with our top picks.
Things To Do in Central Bolivia
Explore the best sights, entertainment, and shopping with our top choices and insider tips.
Whether as an ending to a South American tour or as a trip of solely outdoor adventures, Patagonia calls... Read more
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Now61° F Mostly Cloudy 88% Humidity May 23, 2013 at 6:00AM
Check historic weather for your trip datesArriving:
Places To Explore
Fodor's Trip Planning Ideas
- Weekend Getaways: Fodor's Recommends the Best Weekend Escapes in the US
- Great American Vacation: Find Your Next U.S. Trip with Fodor's
- 80 Degrees: Fodor's Helps You Find Your Best Beach Vacation Spots
- Go List: Fodor's Top 25 Places to Go in 2013
- Hotel Awards 2012: Fodor's 100 Top Hotels
- Best of Europe: Fodor's Picks the Best Places to Visit in Europe
This is the beginning of what will probably be a very long trip report spread over the next few months. Read more
I just returned from La Paz and made the mistake of caring about all the negative posts that are out there. Read more | <urn:uuid:9abcc9e3-f399-4f42-9230-8d0b7d1cb787> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fodors.com/world/south-america/bolivia/central-bolivia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913408 | 536 | 2.109375 | 2 |
The Wednesday, January 23 Library and Information Technology Forum features Abby Adamczyk, Amy Honisett and Christy Jarvis who will present Breaking Research News from the Library. The three presenters will talk about:
- Abby presents the NCBI tools and how to use the tools to comply with the NIH public access policy.
- Amy tells you about a funded proposal and what librarians and their health sciences partners are doing to reduce research sex and gender bias.
- Christy explains a pilot project for the rapid delivery of articles from journals the Eccles Library does not subscribe to; and its free!
Please join us in the Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Health Sciences Education Building, Room 2120 at 12:05-1:00 p.m. for this program.
Abby Adamczyk, Research Librarian, provides library services to researchers, including faculty and students, and is always looking for new ways to assist them in finding the information they need.
Amy Honisett, Education Librarian, received an MSLIS from Drexel University in 2010 and an MA from Portland State University in 2003. Contact her for help integrating library resources into your classes, or to schedule a consultation or a workshop.
Christy Jarvis, Information Resources Librarian, is responsible for providing access to the journals, databases, books, and other media needed by the health sciences community. She welcomes input and feedback from all members of the community about ways the Library can best serve their needs.
For more details, visit the LIFT Forum page at http://library.med.utah.edu/or/lift/ Program can be viewed from off-site via link from the web page; and available on demand after the program.
The LIFT Forum is co-sponsored by the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and the Media-on-Demand committee.
Questions can be directed to:
Jeanne Le Ber; 801-585-6744 or firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:f77b842d-b5d4-4a2a-876f-605fdf86e786> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2013/01/18/lift-forum-breaking-research-news-from-the-library/?wpmp_switcher=desktop | 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 | 0.912357 | 416 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The London Olympics have aimed to be at the cutting edge of sustainability. They may have even set a new standard for greening the games. Though Rio will certainly aim to do better in 2016, London has certainly raised the bar. Their ‘One Planet Olympics’ approach has tackled a broad range of sustainability challenges including water usage, waste reduction, energy efficiency, carbon, and biodiversity. See the GreenBiz.com article: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2012/08/07/green-olympics-outpaced-2016. | <urn:uuid:4efa6d98-cd31-4ae9-815e-d6fb76b1444e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/francisvorhies/2012/08/08/setting-the-gold-standard-for-greening-the-olympics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932526 | 115 | 2.5625 | 3 |
- Java Barcode
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Tumbling walls: Fortifications in .NET
Tumbling walls: Fortifications
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The medieval walls of castles and cities were far more vulnerable to cannon fire than they had been to the old stone-throwing siege engines, and they were rarely suitable for defence by artillery As we see in s 6 and 7, in the seventeenth century fortifications went underground and relied on artillery for their defence Henry VIII proved himself to be a little ahead of his time (the sixteenth century) by building a series of 19 coast defence forts from Gravesend on the Thames around the south coast to Pendennis in Cornwall These forts were revolutionary because they were designed primarily with all-round defence by artillery in mind The best examples consisted of a circular central keep with small semi-circular bastions attached, surrounding the same number of much larger, inter-connected semi-circular bastions Each of these elements provided a gun platform with the powder magazines under cover A wide ditch ringed the fort with a bare glacis (a gentle slope) beyond Many remain in an excellent state of preservation today
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Part II: The Arrival of Gunpowder
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Gustavus Adolphus rationalised Renaissance cavalry tactics (see the previous section for his development of infantrymen) He returned to the principle that one of the cavalry s most important functions was shock action (charging into the enemy mass to engage in hand-to-hand combat) His cavalry attacked in four ranks at a fast trot, later reduced to three Having fired their pistols, the two leading ranks closed at once with the sword, followed by the remainder, who reserved their fire for the subsequent melee The effect of this on the recipients, long used to the formalities of the caracole, was devastating Like the infantry, the cavalry abandoned much of its armour as superfluous A few regiments, designated cuirassiers, retained a version of full armour as late as the 1640s, but by then most cavalrymen had reduced their protection to an open, lobster-tailed helmet, and breast and back plates only
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Little action took place between British armies and continental European ones during this era The English lost Calais, their last remaining possession in mainland France, and Elizabeth I sent volunteers to fight alongside the Protestant Dutch in their struggle against Spain in the continental Wars of Religion The aims of the Tudor monarchs throughout the sixteenth century were to provide strong central government, internal security, and continuity; despite this, violent religious disturbances occurred during the Reformation and a rebellion took place in Ulster during the last years of Elizabeth I s reign With the possible exception of artillery, England s virtual withdrawal from direct continental involvement meant that the country fell steadily behind in military methods, a process that continued well into the seventeenth century Coupled with this, new weapons and tactics were not universally popular many soldiers hated the new weapons and did not understand how they could be applied to battlefield tactics
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The Battle of Flodden, 1513
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In 1513 King James IV of Scotland invaded England with a 25,000-strong army and 17 guns (remember, at this time the two countries were still very much separate) The Earl of Surrey met him with 20,000 men and 22 light guns Surrey manoeuvred the Scots out of a strong position on Flodden Edge (in northeast England) by interposing his troops between them and the Scottish border In the circumstances, James had little alternative but to mount an attack
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5: With Pike and Shot: Renaissance Warfare
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Flodden began with an artillery duel The English served their guns the better and the Scots had the worst of the exchange This was a bad beginning, but worse was to follow The Scottish left wing defeated its opposite numbers, but was cut to pieces by the English cavalry when the Scots paused to plunder the dead The Scottish centre and right wing also advanced to engage in a general melee The right wing was defeated and as a result the Scottish centre was surrounded In close-quarter fighting, the English had a distinct advantage as they had recently adopted the halberd (see the section, Upgrading the Infantry earlier in this chapter for more on this) The Scots, on the other hand, retained their traditional pikes, which were ineffective against the halberd The majority of Scots fighting stubbornly around their king were killed, as was King James himself, eight Scottish earls, and thirteen Scottish barons Almost every one of Scotland s noble families sustained the loss of one or more of its members Total Scottish casualties amounted to 10,000 soldiers and all their artillery Surrey s army had 4000 men killed The pipe lament Flowers of the Forest was composed to commemorate Scotland s national tragedy, and remains in use with some Scottish regiments to this day
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The Spanish Armada, 1588
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Philip II of Spain, angered by the piratical activities of such English sea captains as Francis Drake as well as Elizabeth s support for the Dutch protestants, assembled a huge invasion force to convey an army of Spanish veterans from the Low Countries to England The Spanish Armada (fleet) contained some 90 fighting ships and a large number of transports, against which the English could oppose approximately 50 warships Although it was a naval battle, the defeat of the Spanish Armada was significant in that the English admirals and captains had long been of the opinion that their warships should fight as floating gun platforms, whereas the Spaniards continued to regard theirs as transport for boarding parties Against this, if the Armada had managed to ferry the Duke of Parma s veterans from the Low Countries to England, it is unlikely that, with the best will in the world, the English levies hastily assembled at Tilbury would have been able to stand against them for long
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Using Barcode creation for VS .NET Control to generate, create barcode image in VS .NET applications. | <urn:uuid:4a23b761-c7d4-40ea-ad49-276002a8dd3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessrefinery.com/b/53/35/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945212 | 1,735 | 2.0625 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A 31-year-old Oklahoma woman helped make medical history and started a chain of "paying it forward" when she decided to donate her kidney to a stranger halfway around the world, a man in Athens, Greece, officials announced Friday.
Elizabeth Gay was the history-making donor, and Michalis Helmis was the recipient. His wife, Dora Papaioannou-Helmis, in return donated one of her kidneys to a patient in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
The announcement of the first intercontinental organ exchange was made at a news conference held at the Greek Embassy in Washington.
"The joint effort of 'paying it forward' confirms what a huge difference an individual can make," Greek Ambassador Vassilis Kaskarelis said during the press conference. It "confirms that we are all part of one world, that our fates are intertwined and that if we all work together, the possibilities are endless"
So far, one Greek and four American lives have been saved, and two more transplants are scheduled with a donor from Trinidad and Tobago joining the chain.
Gay was the first in the chain of kidney transplants.
"The opportunity to help change someone's life, in itself, would be an honor but to potentially change the world -- it's huge," she said, "I felt that ... a month of surgery and recovery in order to help give someone else life was completely worth it."
Before Gay could get the opportunity, though, Greek law had to be changed to allow the exchange.
Greece's transplant law -- intended to prevent black market organ harvesting -- stated that only a first or second relative could donate a kidney. Papaioannou-Helmis, whose husband was in desperate need of a kidney transplant, spearheaded the efforts to change the law.
After meeting with various officials and ministers, Helmis family attorney Vasilis Athanasiou said they "understood what could be done."
The law was changed 18 months later, and the Greek couple flew to the United States in December 2011 so the husband could start the process and receive his new kidney. Four months later, she returned to donate her kidney to a Pennsylvania man -- a chain started by a practice called "kidney pair donation."
"Kidney pair donation is when two people come together -- someone loves somebody enough that they want to give them a kidney, but they find out that they're not compatible," said Dr. Michael Rees, director of transplantation at the University of Toledo, where the Gray/Helmis kidney exchange took place. "So instead, they're willing to give a stranger a kidney so that another stranger can give their loved one a kidney."
"As a donor I feel very well and I'm very calm," Papaioannou-Helmis, who attended Friday's news conference with her husband via Skype, said through a translator. "Every day that I see Michalis well I'm very happy. And every day I think of Liz, and I think of the person that received my kidney, Mr. Charles Ripple and I wonder how he's doing, how he's feeling every day."
"It's just been fabulous. Everything is working good," Ripple responded, "I feel the best I've felt in a couple years."
Theodora, Dora Papaioannou-Helmis' full name, in Greek means "gift from God." | <urn:uuid:c6e8c52e-f1e0-4556-9ede-490e09e27bb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wibw.com/home/nationalnews/headlines/Kidney_Donors_Begin_1st_Intercontinental_Organ_Exchange__156567035.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97849 | 705 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Soren Dayton New Media Strategies :
History will see the period from 2000 to 2010 as one that included tremendous economic and social transformation. The new map indicates both migration into the U.S. (large growth in states with substantial Latino population) and migration within the U.S. (a move to the sunbelt).
In both cases, people are going where the jobs are and where the labor markets are fluid. This map from the National Right to Work Committee provides an interesting point of comparison with the census map. Two RTW states lost one seat each (LA + IA) and one non-RTW states gained a seat (WA). Louisiana is an exception with the Katrina experience, shifting people to TX in all likelihood, in addition to its unique levels of corruption. | <urn:uuid:f6d2b1b9-a9ed-418c-b4c9-49207561c6db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Soren_Dayton_8695BA78-032B-4AA8-BAED-0954FAF8BF6B.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940133 | 157 | 2.09375 | 2 |
|Posted by anonymous on December 25, 2011 at 1:10 AM||comments (0)|
Reinstallation of the Imperial Hotel entrance at the Meiji Mura Museum in Inuyana, Japan
In 1916, only two years after the Taliesin Tragedy, Frank Lloyd Wright traveled by ship to Tokyo, Japan, where he was requested by the Imperial Government to build the new Imperial Hotel. It was one of Wright's lengthiest commissions, and provided a therapeutic growth in light of the Taliesin Tragedy, while guiding him into the next phase of his career, the domestic use of concrete.
Wright was nothing but flattered when he received the commission for he so admired the Japanese way of living. He felt it was his mission to fuse the traditional Eastern way of living, with modern materials and technology from the West. One of the primary concerns Wright had when designing the Imperial Hotel, was to develop a method of making the building resistant to earthquakes. Japan had suffered five major earthquakes in the previous two hundred years, and Tokyo was becoming a much more architecturally vulnerable city. Wright developed a method involving thousands of concrete slabs piled eight feet into the swamp-like earth of Tokyo, not unlike that of Chicago.
The Imperial Hotel became more and more complex as the years began to pass. Concrete was used in construction in addition to a plethora of local materials, including terra cotta and oya- a soft, lava stone for carving detail. The 230 guest rooms were designed so that each room was different. The furniture of the hotel was designed with great care by Wright. He had to figure out how to organically persuade the Japanese away from their traditional ways of sitting on floors, to using chairs and tables in public spaces. Money was always an issue, but Wright always charmed his way into getting it from the Imperial Government. When it was finished, it immediately became a great monument of the city. The Imperial Hotel was fully realized by 1922; it became known locally as IMPEHO.
Wright was finally able to return to the United States, where his genius was requested in California. Several commissions came into Wright's office in the early 1920's for houses that became known as the concrete textile block homes, and his American profile began to diversify dramatically. These buildings were entirely different than the work Wright had done in the midwest with the Prairie Movement. They were according to their land in a new way, nestled temple-like in the Hollywood Hills, arranged in piles of hollow concrete blocks, lined against and stacked atop of one another with steel rods penetrating the hollow interiors. It was like a new kind of architectural textile. Wright had just completed Hollyhock and La Miniatura when he received news on September 1, 1923 of a devastating earthquake.
Nearly 100,000 people perished in the earthquake. It was the strongest earthquake on record until the recent 2011 earthquake in Japan, and remains the deadliest. Rumors in the United States surfaced almost immediately, and Frank Lloyd Wright was incorrectly notified by The Examiner at two in the morning that the Imperial Hotel had fallen. Wright said it was impossible, but the papers ran the story anyway, despite Wright's warnings that they would need to be retracted. Ten days later, Wright received a telegram from Tokyo:
TODAY HOTEL STANDS UNDAMAGED AS MONUMENT OF YOUR GENIUS HUNDREDS OF HOMELESS PROVIDED BY PERFECTLY MAINTAINED SERVICE CONGRATULATIONS SIGNED OKURA: IMPEHO
Wright's experimental methods of earthquake resistance with concrete and steel proved successful. The tensile strength of steel offered the rigid concrete a degree of flexibility. The Imperial Hotel was not built in the traditional post and beam construction method, but rather employed ideas from Frank Lloyd Wright's concept of Organic Architecture. There were seismic separation joints located along the building. The copper roof of the Imperial Hotel prevented traditional tiles from falling from above. The entrance pool, initially a big hurdle for Frank Lloyd Wright to overcome, became a tragic irony. The Baron Okura had initially refused to pay forty thousand yen for the pool which had no use. Frank Lloyd Wright refused to continue plans with the hotel and threatened to leave the project without approval for the pool. His objection for the pools removal was fueled by his earthquake resistance ideas. The pool, he argued, would offer a water source in case of a fire. In 1923, the pool was indeed used to put out fires related to the earthquake.
The Imperial Hotel was a highlight of Tokyo for decades, patronized by Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, among other celebrities. Frank Lloyd Wright adored his contribution to the Tokyo cityscape. But by the early 1960's, just a few years after Wright's passing, the hotel had fallen into utter disrepair. The building had settled more than three and a half inches over the previous four decades. In a Time Magazine article from 1967 entitled Architecture: Down Comes The Landmark, a visitor of the hotel was quoted saying the hotel is now "hideous, inconvenient, inadequate and a depressing eyesore." The then approaching 1970 World's Fair in Tokyo affirmed the decision to demolish the hotel for a larger replacement. The proposed demolition met with protest from fans of the building, including Olgivanna Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's widow, then in her seventies.
The protests were of no avail, and the Imperial Hotel was demolished. By 1968, construction began on the site of the former Frank Lloyd Wright designed Imperial Hotel for its 1,000 room replacement. The only portion of the hotel that was preserved was the central lobby and reflective entrance pool. They were reinstalled in the Meiji Mura Museum in Inyuama, Japan.
Preserved lantern from Imperial Hotel. Terra cotta and Oya (lava stone).
"Peacock Chair" designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Imperial Hotel, 1921-22.
Oak and synthetic leather upholstery. | <urn:uuid:6ef1ac2f-3a6c-4b01-a035-35368d4e65e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefranklloydwrighttour.com/apps/blog/categories/show/1261479-imperial-hotel | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978514 | 1,229 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Two weeks ago, the official groundbreaking ceremony was held on the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver’s Civic Center district. The $29 million museum is planned for the southeast corner of W. 13th Avenue and Bannock Street on the same block as the Denver Art Museum’s Frederick Hamilton building. The Clyfford Still Museum’s presence in Denver is not only a major coup for the city, but its location in Civic Center will further enhance that district’s cultural and architectural appeal.
The ceremony on December 14 involved not so much the breaking of ground, but more the breaking of old walls. Located on the museum site were a couple of small buildings that were ceremoniously wrecked while fireworks went off to launch the museum’s construction phase. I was unable to attend the event, but I finally had a chance to swing by the site the other day. The old buildings are totally gone and the site awaits excavation.
The buildings that were demolished are the ones closest to the corner of 13th and Bannock in the bird’s eye photo (left) of the site from Bing maps. On the right is a picture of the site I took a few days ago:
For a short video clip of the ceremony, check out this website.
The new 30,000 square foot building will be complete in 2011. Renderings of the new museum structure are available here. Finally, here’s an informative press release from the museum that discusses the building’s exterior and interior design. Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture is the designer.
Having another new museum in the Civic Center/Golden Triangle area is absolutely exciting. But our museum-packed cultural district is still surrounded by ugly surface parking lots that have defied development for several decades, despite their artsy neighbors. As I’ve explained before in a previous post, part of the problem with the ubiquitous parking lots around there is that most of the lots are actually comprised of numerous small parcels owned by different property owners, which makes land assemblage in the area virtually impossible. I’ve heard reports that there is a mid-rise apartment project being planned for around 12th and Cherokee, which is good news, but really… when are we going to do something to break the parking lot log-jam in the Golden Triangle? Something to think about while we celebrate the start of construction for yet another new museum in Downtown Denver. | <urn:uuid:19e97cf8-a3e8-47a5-9a5a-14cec632c45d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://denverinfill.com/blog/2009/12/clyfford-still-museum-groundbreaking.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966485 | 498 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Weather patterns were certainly against us in 2012. As the drought moved in, the hoses came out. On the other hand, because of the dry weather, we were more diligent about our gardens — watering on a regular basis, weeding when necessary, inspecting for insects, and deadheading to encourage new growth.
Compound these routine home garden chores with the need to grow fresh produce for the Tri-State Food Bank. Local Master Gardeners challenged themselves and the elements to grow and deliver 12,500 pounds of vegetables in 2012.
Caring for a vegetable garden takes hours of planning, committee formation, and dedicated volunteers. To improve the subsoil, Tim Ferguson tilled in ten dump truck loads of manure. To keep weeds at a minimum, members bag leaves to use to provide a weed barrier.
During the winter months, crop rotation was planned and decisions were made to determine which crops would be grown. In his year-end report, Chairman Grant Hartman refers to productivity of determinate (growth stops at maturity) and indeterminate (growth continues until frost) plants. To increase productivity, the garden planners are choosing to grow the indeterminate varieties for next year.
Unlike a flower garden that can be ignored for a few days, a vegetable garden takes constant care and attention. Water is the key ingredient to success and members rotated a weekly watering schedule.
Since tomato plants need to be pruned for better production, Master Gardeners held a pruning demonstration workshop. A ripe tomato can't wait to be picked on Thursday when it's ready on Monday; therefore, harvesters meet several days a week.
Master gardeners delivered harvested vegetables to the food bank where food pantries throughout the Tri-State were eagerly awaiting them.
The main purpose of a Master Gardener is to teach correct gardening practices. To meet this challenge, Demo Days are offered at the Master Gardener Display Garden throughout the spring and summer months. At each session, three to four speakers present a variety of programs from tomato pruning to selecting rocks for a rock garden. Demo Days this year will be announced in advance through this column and will be posted on the exterior bulletin board at the garden.
With only two days left until Christmas, there are a few items a gardener wouldn't mind receiving as a stocking stuffer. A new pair of rose chippers that can be taken apart, cleaned, and sharpened would be appreciated. For use on a patio or deck, a shorter, lightweight hose would come in handy to water container gardens. A seasonal living plant will brighten the day and last for days to come.
Visiting the Missouri Botanic Garden in St. Louis is a doable day trip. With children home from school, plan a day trip with a child or grandchild to view the magnificent holiday display. Have lunch in the on-site restaurant. If weather permits, visit the children's garden and Kemper home garden section.
With friends and relatives visiting your home in the next few days, relocate house plants to a safe location either in a little used room or clustered together in one area.
Garden dos the next two weeks:
Check houseplants for insects.
Enjoy the holiday season and think about your garden later.
Julie Mallory is past president of the Southwestern Indiana Master Gardeners Association and has been an avid gardener for many years. She can be reached at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:42553338-82fc-4f16-8a8b-7a515ab5bd56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/dec/23/gardeners-triumph-over-weather-challenges-look/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945825 | 705 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
With Texas in one of the worst droughts in its history, water officials are widely expected to announce March 1 that they won't release irrigation water for thousands of farmers in the state's rice-growing region.
The three counties likely to be affected by the Lower Colorado River Authority's decision — Wharton, Colorado and Matagorda — are among the poorest in the state, with poverty levels above the national average.
Typically, they account for 35 to 45 percent of the 160,000 to 200,000 acres normally dedicated to rice farming in Texas.
Many farmers in the region alternate between growing rice and ranching, but those with cattle sold off much of their livestock last year as the drought parched rangeland and pushed up hay prices. That leaves them with few alternatives now.
Designed by Gray Digital Media | <urn:uuid:3d7ebf79-b6d8-4371-8ad7-91cc340dd81a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kake.com/weather/headlines/Texas_Agency_Likely_To_Cut_Water_To_Rice_Farms_139822873.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972183 | 176 | 2.4375 | 2 |
- Democratic Member of Congress
- Member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
- Has called for a new trial for convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal
- Votes on the left side of legislation 95 to 100 percent of the time, according to Americans for Democratic Action.
See also: Congressional
Fattah is an African-American Democratic
Member of Congress who represents the Second District of
Pennsylvania, the state's only black-majority (61 percent) district,
which includes much of downtown Philadelphia as well as Cheltenham
Township. (His name, Chaka, a variant of the same first name as
African warrior-ruler Shaka Zulu, means “Great
King” in Swahili.)
Fattah was born
in Philadelphia in November 1956. His mother, the community
activist Sister Falaka Fattah, founded the House of Umoja
(Swahili for “Unity”) in West Philadelphia, which uses rehabilitation
on the teachings of the Marxist and black nationalist Maulana
Karenga to help black
teenage males who have suffered abuse or become involved
in gang activity.
age 21, Chaka Fattah was the House of Umoja's assistant
director. Three years later, in 1980, he took a job as
special assistant to Philadelphia's Director of Housing and Community
Development. In 1982 he became the youngest person ever elected
to the Pennsylvania state legislature, where he would serve for six years. Fattah studied at Harvard
Kennedy School of Government in 1984, and in 1986 he earned a
master’s degree in government
administration at the University
1988 Fattah was elected
to the Pennsylvania state senate. Three years later, when veteran congressman
William Gray (representing Pennsylvania's Second District) resigned to become president of the United Negro College
Fund, Fattah ran unsuccessfully for Gray's newly vacated
House seat as a Consumer Party candidate. He remained in the state
senate until 1994, at which time he again ran for the Second District seat and this time -- backed by
Philadelphia’s African-American clergy and running as a Democrat --
percent of the vote. He has been re-elected by huge margins every
two years since then, generally receiving between
86 and 98 percent
of the popular vote.
One of the leading
financial backers of Fattah's political campaigns has been the
Association for Justice, formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Fattah also has garnered strong support from
the members and political action committees of influential labor unions like the American Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, UNITE
HERE!, the National Education Association, and the Service Employees
2005 Fattah joined the Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus.
November 2006, less than a month after being reelected to Congress,
that he planned to run for mayor of Philadelphia the following year.
He lost that election, however, and remained in the House of Representatives. Fattah's
mayoral campaign was hampered, in part, by public-relations challenges stemming from his persistent calls for convicted cop-killer Mumia
Abu-Jamal to be granted a new trial.
In 2009 Fattah
President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package and co-sponsored
the Employee Free Choice Act, designed to deprive workers of the right to vote for or against unionization by means of a secret ballot.
Also in 2009, Fattah co-sponsored
H.R. 676, which was introduced by Rep. John Conyers and called for the establishment of a single-payer, government-run healthcare system for all Americans. During the early stages of the protracted healthcare debate that began that same year, Fattah vowed
to withhold his support for any bill that lacked a public option -- i.e., a government-run health insurance plan that would compete alongside private insurers and ultimately drive the latter out of business. In the end, however, Fattah supported the version of healthcare reform that became law in March 2010, even though it contained no provision for a public option.
January 27, 2010, Fattah was one of 54
Members of Congress
who signed a letter
calling on President Barack
to use diplomatic pressure to end Israel's blockade of Gaza – a
blockade which had been imposed in order to prevent the importation
of weaponry from Iran and Syria.
belongs to both the Congressional
and the Congressional Progressive
in the House of Representatives. Americans for Democratic Action
consistently rates his voting record as 95-100 percent on the left side of
legislation. For an overview of Fattah's voting record on significant issues during his career as a lawmaker, click here.
For additional information on Chaka Fattah, click here. | <urn:uuid:5ac61c8f-db01-44ea-98a2-498534c8eea8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1268 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958618 | 1,010 | 1.984375 | 2 |
RESTORING HISTORY10.12.2012 | Culture and Society, Campus and Community, Law
- Nuremberg: Its Lesson For Today (The Schulberg/Waletzky Restoration)
- 2012-2013 University of Dayton Speaker Series
The University of Dayton will offer a free showing of one of the greatest courtroom dramas of all time, "Nuremberg: Its Lessons for Today (the Schulberg/Waletzky Restoration)." The restored documentary will be presented at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 24, at the 1700 South Patterson Building on campus.
Sandra Schulberg, daughter of the documentary's writer/director Stuart Schulberg, will introduce the 80-minute, black-and-white film, which her company meticulously restored frame by frame. U.S. District Court Judge Walter Rice will moderate a panel discussion at 7 p.m. The events are co-sponsored by the University of Dayton Speaker Series and the Gutmann Lectureship in Judaic Studies with additional support by Marshall Ruchman. A shuttle bus is available for University of Dayton students. For the schedule, see go.udayton.edu/speakerseries.
No tickets are required, but reservations are appreciated because a light appetizer will be served during intermission. RSVP to firstname.lastname@example.org.
University of Dayton students who are unable to attend the Oct. 24 showing can view the film at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 23, in the Sears Recital Hall in the Jesse Philips Humanities Building on campus.
This 1948 historic film about the first Nuremberg trial, commissioned by the U.S. Department of War, was widely shown in Germany but suppressed in the United States at the time. Over the decades, the original picture negative and sound elements were lost or destroyed. In 2009, filmmakers Sandra Schulberg and Josh Waletzky created a new 35mm negative and reconstructed the soundtrack using original sound from the trial.
The restoration allows audiences to hear U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson's famous opening and closing statements to the Tribunal, and testimony from the German defendants and their defense attorneys — all in their own voices — as well as bits of the English, Russian and French prosecutors. "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated," Jackson said in his opening statement. On leave from the Supreme Court, Jackson had been appointed by President Truman to serve as chief U.S. prosecutor at Nuremberg.
In addition to the film's screening, law students and the public are invited to hear law professor Thaddeus Hoffmeister talk about the Nuremberg legacy and the law from 9 to 10:15 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 25, in the Mathias H. Heck Courtroom in Keller Hall on campus. This course has been approved by the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on Continuing Legal Education for one CLE hour of instruction.
Co-sponsors for the University of Dayton Speaker Series include the Dayton Daily News, WDAO-Radio, YWCA Dayton, the Bob Ross Auto Group Ross and Markey's Audio Visual.
For more on "Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today," see www.nurembergfilm.org. For more on the University of Dayton Speaker Series, see go.udayton.edu/speakerseries.
For information about the series, contact Sheila Hassell Hughes, director of the University of Dayton Speaker Series, at 937-229-3434 or Andrea Wade, communication and events coordinator for the office of the provost, at 937-229-1723. | <urn:uuid:3c228d12-febb-496c-b7eb-72f163b0b37d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.udayton.edu/news/articles/2012/10/Nuremberg_documentary.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940433 | 780 | 2.03125 | 2 |
As Diplomatic Mission to the UK we advocate a peaceful Palestinian state with secure and internationally recognised borders encompassing the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as the Capital of Palestine. We believe that through international support, recognition and advocacy of a self-governing and viable Palestinian state we can help to facilitate peace in the region. In order to establish the foundations of the state-building process it is necessary for Israel to end its Occupation over the Palestinian Territories, and return to the borders of 1967. The United Nations has since advocated this vision in its Security Council Resolution 242 and 383, which calls for respect and acknowledgement of the state’s integrity and sovereignty as a necessary requirement for the advancement of peace.
The Palestinian Mission in the UK now has its 5th representative in London, Ambassador Manuel Hassassian. Building on the work of his predecessors, Ambassador Hassassian continues to develop institutional and official links with the British government and the public, so that together we can facilitate the peace process and construct a viable solution that will see to the protection of, and reestablishment of the right of Palestinians to live freely once again in their homeland. The role of a Palestinian representative carries great responsibility and expectations as our struggle for statehood and independence continues. Our function as the Palestinian Mission consists of furthering political and cultural empowerment and generating awareness of the Occupation in Palestine, and to represent the interest of the Palestinians in the Diaspora. We recognise that the Mission plays an instrumental role in society and we will continue to improve and develop our bilateral relations with the government, parliament, political parties, diplomatic corps, partner organisations and the community at large.
We hope that the New Year will bring us closer to realising our vision of a Palestinian state and restore hope in the lives of Palestinians who have been suffering for too long under occupation, forced to flee from their homes and families, and the thousands of lives lost in protecting our homeland. The Occupation has lasted over 60 years: it remains our paramount duty to bring an end to the illegal Occupation and injustice inflicted upon our people, and hold Israel accountable for its policies and actions.
We welcome your support of our website as participants and members of the community; we hope you will find it to be a place where all opinions are considered and respected. Our website is constantly evolving into what we hope will be not only an important tool for all, by presenting news and vital information to the public, but also a forum in which academic research in the field of Palestine is shared and voiced. We hope that we can expand our network and engagement with the community and in doing so bring the issue of Palestine to the forefront.
Let us look to the future with determination and confidence about the work still to be done and what there is still to be achieved. | <urn:uuid:77f00945-dfa5-4809-b284-a6bf1bda657a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://palestinianmissionuk.com/the-mission/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946163 | 561 | 1.5 | 2 |
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday released a new edition of “Delhi Celebrates”, a calendar of events detailing various cultural and social happenings being organised across the city through the year starting August 2012.
Ms. Dikshit said this is the third successive year of Delhi Celebrates, which was launched at the time of the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The annual calendar marks the celebration of India’s rich culture, art and diversity of languages through dance, music, theatre, poetry, food festivals, lectures, films and children’s programme.
The events being organised across Delhi would also showcase the composite culture of the historic city and its cuisines. The other events that have been planned include a monthly film festival, bhakti sangeet, magic festival, rang rang, poets’ meets, classical music festival, dance festival, lok utsav, Ramayana, a play on Tughlaq, Sufi festival, kite festival, Qutab festival, Delhi ke utsav, youth festival, natya utsav, Gurubani and bal utsav. | <urn:uuid:e5a39dff-9632-4837-9352-4c2c4819ac72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article3784091.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935376 | 229 | 1.765625 | 2 |
WASHINGTON -- Helped by the November election and wrenching testimony from a congressman's widow and other victims, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., re-introduced legislation Thursday to remove cancer-causing asbestos from the marketplace and from thousands of common products.
Murray's quest to ban asbestos was the focus of a Senate subcommittee, and with Democrats in charge Murray said she's optimistic that the measure will finally pass.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the committee that will handle the measure. Murray also said Majority Leader Harry Reid supports the bill, which means it will have a clear path to the Senate floor.
"I've been at this for six years, this is my third bill, and I know we cannot wait another year to fix this problem," Murray said, noting that 10,000 people die each year of asbestos-related disease.
"The stakes are just too high. To anyone who says, 'We don't need this bill,' I would just pose one question: How many more Americans have to die before our government finally does the right thing and bans asbestos?"
Beyond the clinical facts, Murray is hoping to capitalize on the stories of families who have dealt with asbestos disease. She noted that two men, Fred Biekkola of Michigan and Brian Harvey of Marysville, who appeared with her in earlier events, have since died of asbestos-related diseases.
"Fred and Brian are not with us, but their words hang over this hearing," Murray said.
Another was Sue Vento, wife of former Minnesota Congressman Bruce Vento who died in 2000 from being exposed to asbestos 35 years earlier.
"Your bill will bring hope to all of us whose lives have been touched by this disease," Vento told the Senate Health Committee's employment and workplace safety subcommittee. "It will prohibit the use of asbestos and will correct the mistaken belief held by so many that asbestos was banned decades ago."
Later, Vento asked: "How could we live in a civilized country with this stuff in our home and workplace?"
Among other things, Murray's bill calls for a complete ban of asbestos in products within two years after the measure becomes law.
It also provides for more research into the causes and treatment of asbestos-related cancers and requires the federal government to conduct a more aggressive campaign to educate the public about the risks of asbestos.
As she has since she first introduced the bill in 2002, Murray pointed out that a spectrum of common products -- from brake shoes to roofing tile to fire-resistant clothing -- contains asbestos.
Often, she said, consumers have no idea a product contains a substance that has been linked to several types of cancer and whose use is banned in more than 30 countries.
Murray decided to introduce the original bill after learning about the experience in Libby, Mont., a small mining town 160 miles from Spokane that for years was buried under a cloud of asbestos.
That exposure, which was chronicled by the Seattle P-I, eventually killed 200 people and forced the Environmental Protection Agency to place the entire town under a public health emergency and to declare the town a Superfund site. | <urn:uuid:f23cc19c-d68e-46d1-a017-9eeba05b860a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Emboldened-Murray-re-introduces-asbestos-bill-1229838.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975131 | 648 | 1.585938 | 2 |
During the era of gangsters and organized crime, Texas hosted its fair share of guns, gambling, moonshine, morphine, ransom and robbery
Imagine a Texas where air conditioning is unknown, where tiny banks operate in almost every little town, where liquor comes from bootleggers, and where the likes of Clyde Barrow and Joe Newton careen in old-time cars down unpaved roads. Welcome to a Gangster Tour of Texas.
It makes sense to begin in 1918, when the Texas Legislature voted to prohibit the
Even though Prohibition ended in 1933, crime did not. Texas abounded with illegal casinos, while crime bosses and gangsters roamed … committing robberies and kidnapping the wealthy for ransom. Embezzlers secretly withdrew money from financial institutions, and some elected officials freely took bribes. In 1957, Texas Rangers closed the most famous of all the illegal Texas casinos, those in Galveston, concluding what people popularly view as the “gangster era” in Texas. - T. Lindsay Baker
Excerpted from the book Gangster Tour of Texas, text by T. Lindsay Baker. Reprinted with permission from Texas A&M University Press, © 2011 800/826-8911. T. Lindsay Baker teaches history at Tarleton State University in Stephenville and directs its W.K. Gordon Center for Industrial History at Thurber.
From the January 2013 issue. | <urn:uuid:74a13bcf-4db6-4d15-96b2-e20f1a76f0d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.texashighways.com/component/content/article/123-arts-and-culture/6617-outlaws | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93808 | 288 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Some growers were ready to harvest soon after almonds were shaken from the trees in late September, but the walnuts on the trees were still holding strong.
Many growers said they headed to the fields with shaking machines, but returned home when the nuts were "too green."
Bill Crain, a grower in the Los Molinos area, said it was the warmer weather that caused walnuts to cling. After several more weeks, the weather turned cooler and work could be done.
Most growers have now transported the harvest for processing.
Only a little rain hit the northern Sacramento Valley in October, which meant there wasn't much of a mess for harvest equipment. Sometimes a sudden rain can strand nuts on the ground, causing more work for growers who need to turn the crop to get them dry again.
If a grower is in mid-harvest when a rain is on the way, they'll hustle to get the nuts from the ground.
Crain said the market seems to be holding firm.
Although Europe is suffering from economic setbacks, markets in Japan, Korea and China are still strong.
The only bad news about the walnut season was a larger amount of walnut blight (a bacterial disease) that caused more nuts to fall from the tree during the growing season, said Joe Connell, UC farm adviser.
After 100 years of growing nuts in the northern Sacramento Valley,
Walnut acreage has increased in the county the past decade, often as almond trees were damaged in storms. Walnuts don't blow over as often, due to a different root system. Also, walnuts are self-pollinating and do not require bees.
The walnut industry has done a good job of highlighting the health aspects of the food, as has the nut industry overall.
In earlier generations, people were discouraged from eating too many nuts because of the fat content, Connell said. However, more research has revealed the difference between good fat and bad fat, he noted.
Nuts are now touted for their ability to lower cholesterol and be "heart-healthy."
Connell said research also shows nuts have the ability to alleviate hunger, meaning people are less likely to load up on additional calories.
Currently, there is a waiting list for new commercial walnut trees, with some growers waiting another two years to get trees for new plantings, he said. | <urn:uuid:0b216dc6-451c-47dd-8d03-19eb92ffaaa0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailydemocrat.com/features/ci_21992925/walnut-harvest-was-worth-wait | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981845 | 483 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Letter: What’s Good for the Gun Industry
To the Editor:
“Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a Bushmaster AR-15 under your tree some frosty Christmas morning!” reads an ad in Junior Shooters, a gun industry-supported magazine. This was the weapon of choice for Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The firearms industry is intent on putting more guns in the hands of younger children and has paid for social research by nonprofit groups, according to The New York Times, to accomplish its goals.
One such group, the National Heritage Trust, reported, “The point should be to get newcomers started shooting something, with the natural next step being a move toward actual firearms.”
For the past 17 years the National Rifle Association has successfully shut down government-sponsored research on gun violence, revealing a darker side of the group’s strategy: to stop studies that may caution parents about teaching young children how to shoot. Instead, parents are being urged to buy kids guns, especially military-style guns that they see in violent video games. It’s good for the gun industry.
The Centers for Disease Control has maintained that gun violence is a public health concern. The NRA, in contrast, considers gun violence a law enforcement and mental health problem. When the CDC in 1993 found that the presence of guns at home raised the risk of homicide and suicide, the NRA denounced the research as “political opinion masquerading as medical science.” How do we, the people, convince Congress and the president that the time has come for rational and measured gun control? We have the tools: petitions, letters to our elected officials, and appeals to responsible gun owners that they, too, need to speak up. Is there a target shooter or hunter who needs an AR-15 to practice their sport? Are there parents who need to protect their families with a military-style semi-automatic weapon?
We need to show the NRA and their lobbyists that they cannot dominate the national discussion. They cannot intimidate our elected officials with their “report cards.” And they cannot continue making record profits marketing weapons designed for war to our children. | <urn:uuid:2bc48302-bb94-4fb7-a7b2-84bbe53d5573> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vnews.com/opinion/4070501-95/gun-guns-industry-cannot | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957458 | 449 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Modification of U.K. Travel Advisory
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office of U.K. has modified the Travel Advisory to its nationals for visiting J & K which is an achievement but more needs to be done to attract upmarket foreign tourists
There has been news that U.K. has lifted the adverse travel advisory to its nationals regarding visiting J & K. However, in fact, the adverse advice has been modified and not completely lifted. The actual changed advice reads, “We advise against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir with the exception of the cities of Jammu and Srinagar, travel between these two cities on the Jammu- Srinagar highway and the region of Ladakh”. The advice further says, “In some areas terrorist incidents are frequent, especially Jammu and Kashmir (excluding Ladakh) and the north east”. This leaves most of the trekking and climbing areas of the valley and Jammu and the ski resort of Gulmarg still forbidden for U.K. nationals. The region of Ladakh was always kept open for travel by all the countries. The adverse advice was mainly against Kashmir valley and some parts of Jammu. The British as usual are very circumspect and choosy in using words. In any case, the twin cities of Jammu and Srinagar are now allowed to be visited by U.K. nationals. This is not a mean achievement. It is apparent that the persistent efforts of the Tourism Officials, Travel Industry members led by the Tourism Minister have compelled the British to review their advice. The final say has been by the staff of the British High Commission in New Delhi who had been invited by the J & K Tourism Department to visit Kashmir last year. The continuous attendance of the Tourism Officials along with contingents of travel agents in the famous World Travel Mart in London has also had its impact.
However, before we become jubilant about the renewal of western tourist traffic to Kashmir, we need to analyse the advice as well as the type of traffic we were getting. The maximum number of foreign tourists that visited Kashmir before the eruption of turmoil was 67,000 in 1988-89. The bulk of the traffic was of two categories. One was the retired American and other western folks going round the world in large groups of 100 to 150. They used to stay on luxury houseboats and went for lot of shopping for their children back home. The other was the high end trekkers in groups being handled by some international agencies. Kashmir provides the best Alpine style trekking through lush green forests, meadows, and high altitude lakes. Keeping in view the difficulties of insurance and the scary image of Kashmir painted by the media, it is doubtful if the retired category of peace loving people will return in large groups to Kashmir. However, there is a very good possibility of high end trekkers coming back. The adventure loving trekkers were not scared of the situation but were not allowed to go trekking in the Kashmir Mountains after the 1995 kidnapping. World Expeditions of the Australian travel agent Garry Weare continued in spite of tremendous difficulties. In the end he too had to give up. In fact, a large number of principal agents and their outfitters shifted their operations from Kashmir to Nepal. The modified advisory has still kept trekking in the no go zone. This needs to be changed if large foreign traffic is really envisaged.
Apart from the adverse travel advisory, the other most important factor discouraging foreign travel to Kashmir has been its inaccessibility to International Air Routes. In spite of the fact that the Srinagar Airport is called the International Airport, it has no international connection. The inauguration of the so called International Airport has been a joke played on Kashmiris by no less a person than the Madam Sonia Gandhi! The sole weekly international cattle flight to Dubai was discontinued hardly after few months. To visit Kashmir foreigners from all over the world have to pay an add-on fare from Delhi to Srinagar and back. If Srinagar had a real international air connection, the western travel advisories would be off in a matter of days as the people from all over the world could come and go easily and see for themselves the present safe travel situation. Another factor is the missing world standard infrastructure especially the five star category accommodation and transport. Unless we do something about it, the high end traveller will avoid Kashmir whether there is an adverse advice or not!
While being on the subject of travel advisories, here it may be mentioned that there are good possibilities of generating traffic from the areas and countries which have never issued any adverse travel advisories regarding Kashmir to their nationals. These include the South East Asia, Middle East and the Central Asia. In fact, the only foreign travellers that have continued to come here in the worst possible law and order situation are from the South East Asian countries. Incidentally, all the three short haul regions are very close by air from Srinagar and one could think of international flights from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, Tashkent, Almaty, and so on. There could be even two way traffic both in tourism and trade. Another point regarding high end tourism is why one should look at the foreigners only in this regard. Within India there are millions of high end tourists who spend more than the foreigners. In fact, the number of Indians now travelling abroad for pleasure holidays to Europe, America, Australia, and South East Asia is in the range of 25 million! Thus, we have to go way beyond the travel advisories if we really want to attract the high end travellers both foreign and domestic. Mere modification of the British Foreign Office advice which in any case is mostly biased will not do!
(Comments at firstname.lastname@example.org)
Lastupdate on : Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:00:00 IST
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Since 2008, Kashmir Education Initiative (KEI), a volunteer-driven philanthropic organization with a focus on education in Kashmir, has been quietly supporting education of talented and deserving Kashmiri More | <urn:uuid:59a6ff69-27b1-4bd7-93a0-fd90d72cf357> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2012/Dec/14/modification-of-u-k-travel-advisory-85.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957293 | 1,627 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Job Creator Confidence Plunges
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index plunged 3 points in June—its biggest drop in over two years. Nine out of the ten components in the index worsened last month. The only component that improved was credit conditions—no surprise given record low interest rates. But easy money doesn’t do much to stimulate the economy when businesses aren’t interested in expanding. And according to the NFIB small business survey, only 5% of businesses think now is a good time to expand—a level historically associated with recession. America’s job creators don’t want to expand because of the weak economy and hostile political climate.
Small businesses view of the political climate doesn’t bode well for next month’s survey. The June numbers don’t include the effects of the Obamacare ruling. Since the NFIB was the lead plaintiff in the case, it is safe to assume that small businesses were disappointed by the decision. Obamacare will add unknown burdens to the small business community. It includes more than 20 new taxes and mountains of regulations that haven’t even been written.
Without America’s small businesses on board, a bona fide expansion in the broader U.S. economy is likely to remain elusive. | <urn:uuid:bc2cde35-9e98-44f7-8cf0-d1f7464197a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.youngresearch.com/authors/jeremyjones/job-creator-confidence-plunges/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959763 | 261 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Monday, February 22, 2010
Frankly, I'm surprised that they even allow figure skating in the Olympics. It's not like it's actually a sport. You might be thinking, "Of course it's a sport, because the skaters are finely tuned athletes competing against each other" and if you're thinking that, you are, with all due respect, stupid. Marching bands compete against each other, too, but no one is saying that the Proviso East High School Marching Band (nickname: "The Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-West") should be in the Olympics. You also might be thinking, "Oh yeah, well, you only hate figure skating because you can't do it," but that doesn't hold water either. What, all of a sudden I'm the measuring stick? If I can't do something, that automatically makes it a sport? I can't fix a car to save my life, but I don't think we'll be seeing a team of Norwegians going for the gold in the Men's 1500-meter Downhill Transmission Flush in 2012.
Also, figure skating isn't a sport because the winner is chosen by a panel of judges, just like American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, and the Great Southwestern Texas Chili Cookoff. In real sports, the winner is immediately obvious, like the team with the most points, the sprinter that finished first, or the boxer who is not lying on the floor unconscious.
So now you're probably thinking, "Ah ha! But wait! Boxing has judges too!" And if that's what you're thinking, you have fallen right into my trap. Because that brings us to my point, which is this: Let's combine the scoring system of figure skating with that of boxing. Here's how it would look:
But let's suppose that right in the middle of a flawless triple-salchow, Pronger barrels into Plushenko from behind, depositing the figure skater in the seventh row where he curls up into a ball crying for his Babushka. This is scored a "knockout," Plushenko receives no score and spends the rest of the Olympiad wandering the streets of Vancouver looking for his spleen.
Now, what happens if all the figure skaters are knocked out, and no one receives an actual score? Simple. NBC packs up its equipment, leaves the skating venue and goes to cover a real sport, like bobsledding.
And Dick Button could go petition his local court for a legal name change. | <urn:uuid:4e575c1a-d2f2-4f86-b011-7998399eab88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.knuckleheadhumor.com/2010/02/mr-plushenko-meet-mr-pronger.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973494 | 527 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The Boeing Unmanned Little Bird H-6U successfully performed 14 autonomous takeoffs and landings from a ship during flight tests in July, a significant milestone for a medium-size vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned airborne system.
For the tests, conducted from a private ship off the coast of Florida, Boeing integrated a commercial-off-the-shelf takeoff-and-landing system with Unmanned Little Bird’s automated flight control system. Two safety pilots were aboard the optionally piloted aircraft to maintain situational awareness and to be able to take control of the aircraft, though that was not required. The aircraft accumulated 20 flight hours with 100 percent availability.
“Unmanned Little Bird performed flawlessly, proving not only its reliability as a mature platform but its adaptability for various missions and continued innovation,” said Debbie Rub, Boeing vice president and general manager of Missiles and Unmanned Airborne Systems. “By successfully demonstrating this maritime capability, we are able to provide war fighters with a critical unmanned solution to meet their missions.”
Introduced in 2004, Unmanned Little Bird is a variant of the highly successful MD-500 series helicopters, which have accumulated 14 million flight hours over five decades. Unmanned Little Bird benefits from this legacy, demonstrating numerous capabilities on a platform that is affordable to own, operate and maintain.
The aircraft’s missions include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; precision cargo resupply; weapons delivery; and manned-unmanned teaming. In addition, Unmanned Little Bird continues to be used as a technology demonstrator, rapidly prototyping new capabilities for multiple platforms. Unmanned Little Bird is one of Boeing’s many C4ISR capabilities that provide a seamless flow of information — from collection to aggregation to analysis — for customers’ enduring need for situational awareness.
Boeing is spotlighting Unmanned Little Bird and other unmanned systems through Aug. 9 at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Unmanned Systems North America 2012 conference and exhibition in Las Vegas, Nev. | <urn:uuid:3387133f-5915-4f18-a96a-b5dd30fff764> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aerotechnews.com/news/2012/08/07/boeing-demonstrates-autonomous-ship-based-capability-of-unmanned-little-bird-rotorcraft/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926879 | 431 | 2.1875 | 2 |
The Saint John's Bible provides an opportunity for people to experience the Scriptures in a new—but at the same time ancient—way. Here are illuminations that bring the words of the Bible alive for a contemporary audience. Some of the world’s top calligraphers, working in a tradition all but replaced by the printing press centuries ago, invite us into a rich and varied creation. This second volume of The Art of The Saint John's Bible: A Reader's Guide takes up two great collections of biblical literature—Wisdom Books and Prophets.
The illuminations in Wisdom Books and Prophets draw on motifs from earlier illuminations and expand the visual vocabulary to strike at what is unique and important to these books. In Wisdom Books we find a number of well-known and beloved aphorisms, or "words of wisdom." Here calligraphic text treatments take center stage. However, these books also portray the divine in the female figure of Wisdom, presented visually in several large-scale illuminations. The prophets’ messages are often dark and strange, reflecting the grief of exile but also hope. The illuminations throughout these pages reflect visions of man’s inhumanity, but they also burst with the rainbows of God's promise and glory. Lavishing equal attention on the biblical passages and the artistic vision of The Saint John's Bible, this guide is offered to enhance your experience and reflection.
Susan Sink is a poet and writer, and is communications director at Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota. She is also an oblate of Saint John's Abbey, the author of a book of poems, The Way of All the Earth, and the first book in this series. | <urn:uuid:476271a9-86ef-430f-8b1a-7414105cd184> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://litpress.org/Detail.aspx?ISBN=9780814690635 | 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 | 0.929324 | 356 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Can you believe that
a God-called evangelist was told “No” by God when he attempted to spread the
Gospel in the early days of the church? This didn’t just happen once, either!
It happened at least twice! Even more astounding is the fact that this
God-called evangelist was none other than the great apostle Paul! We have the
record of this amazing fact in the Book of Acts, chapter 16, when God’s Word
itself records, “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the
region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word
in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the
Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to
But, that is not the
end of the story! We who know the Lord, know that He is not out to stop His
Word from getting out but to spread it far and wide. Yet He knows who is ready
for it as well as who should be the evangelist, or the bringer of the good
news of His Son to a certain people. When we read on a little further, we see
that the same Holy Spirit who stopped Paul from
preaching the Gospel in these other places then led them to Macedonia to
preach there, and this became one of the greatest experiences for Paul in his
preaching of any of the places he preached!
But, there is also something
interesting and wonderful about this for you and me! Macedonia is a part of
Europe and no doubt, when the Gospel eventually
spread to Europe, it also began going toward America. Thank God, He knew America
needed the Gospel as much as anybody has ever
needed it! But the truth is we all need it!
Whether we are in China, Japan, Denmark, or wherever, everybody needs the
Gospel! Which brings us back to the question of why
did God stop Paul from preaching in Asia and Bithynia, among some other
places? Didn’t they need it too? Of course they did, and when we get over to
Peter’s first Epistle, we see him introducing himself: “Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…”(Emphasis
added). So, the Gospel did get to Asia and
Bithynia, God just knew that Peter needed to be the
one to get it to them, while Paul was the man for Macedonia! Isn’t that
exciting? There is much more exciting truth to be learned from the Book of
Acts, and the BBN BI is excited to offer a 2-part course on this great Book
taught by Dr. G. Campbell Morgan. These courses are numbers 32800 and 32900
respectively. We believe you will be blessed as you see God’s working in the
early church as we know He is the same God we serve today!
Invite a friend to log on to BBNBI. Share the wealth! | <urn:uuid:d8ca3de9-bf2a-420d-93e6-7a1af772c2d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbnradio.org/wcm4/bbnbienglish/BiblebrInstitute/Articles/tabid/2301/ArticleID/9631/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971068 | 686 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Archived News and Events
- BIO Covers Globe with Bug Traps
February 19, 2013 - It’s a bug-catching project with global buzz. Under a new malaise-trapping initiative based at the University of Guelph, school kids in Ontario and scientists across Canada and around the world are trapping insects to learn more about local and global biodiversity. Read more.
- DNA Ecosystem Health Project Nabs Attention, Support
January 21, 2013 - “Early warning systems” using DNA to track environmental health, especially in protected areas near Canadian oil sands, mining and hydroelectric projects, are the goal of a major research project led by University of Guelph scientists. Read more.
- DNA Barcoding Library Receives $650,000 from CFI
January 15, 2013 - Improving pest and disease control, regulation of international trade and markets, and ecosystem conservation are among the expected benefits of the digital DNA “library” of Canadian plants and animals to be developed at the University of Guelph with new federal funding. Read more.
- DNA Barcoding, Profs Make Headlines
December 04, 2012 - The Guelph-honed technology DNA barcoding is making national and international headlines this week. Researchers from U of G’s Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) were involved in two media projects reported on by CTV in Vancouver and in the Boston Globe newspaper. Read more.
- BioBus Tours National Parks
Fall 2012 - From May to August, the BioBus travelled to 14 national parks across Canada – from St. Lawrence Islands National Park in Ontario to Pacific Rim National Park in British Columbia – collecting insects for DNA barcoding. The specimens will be brought back to the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) at U of G, where they will be sorted, photographed and sampled for DNA analysis. Read more.
- Study: DNA Barcoding Can ID Natural Health Products
September 19, 2012 - DNA barcoding developed by University of Guelph researchers has proven up to 88 per cent effective in authenticating natural health products, according to a new U of G study. The study appears in the latest issue of Food Research International. Read more.
- Biodiversity field work turns students into researchers
Winter 2011 - The University of Guelph is well known for its breakthrough research in the life sciences. To verify that reputation, one needs look no further than the work of Prof. Paul Hebert, an integrative biologist and director of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario. Read more.
- Guelph Grads on the Go - Finding Birds of a Feather
September 7, 2011 - Kevin Kerr, a two-time U of G graduate, has become an authority in the lab in using genetics to identify avian species. During a post-doc at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History that ended this past summer, he worked with scientists in the feather identification lab. The bird strike program run there is intended to improve air safety, protecting both people and birds. Read more.
- CFI Invests in U of G Research, Innovation
September 1, 2011 - Researchers at the University of Guelph who are striving to find solutions for some of today's pressing global issues - biodiversity conservation, clean water, physical and mental health ailments - have received nearly $700,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The investment will support scientists using DNA barcoding technology to better understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and human impacts on the arctic, tropical and temperate environments. Read more.
- Genetic Studies Aimed at Protecting Natural Resources
August 4, 2011 - A forest manager uses a "lab on a chip" to ID insect pests and help head off a devastating infestation. Or fisheries officers employ genetic information to finger an invasive species that threatens native creatures and waters. Helping to restore and protect our natural areas through such scenarios is the ultimate goal of University of Guelph biologists whose DNA barcoding studies have appeared in two high-profile journals this summer. Read more.
- Arctic Field Course Turns Students Into Researchers
June 14, 2011 - Offered at least every two years, the course has seen hundreds of Guelph students visit the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC) in Manitoba. Run independently since 1976, this subarctic research and teaching facility is located at the meeting place of the northern boreal forest and the tundra, where the Churchill River empties into western Hudson Bay. Read more.
- DNA Barcoding Captures International Headlines
June 1, 2011 - Prof. Paul Hebert has been highlighted in a story in Tuesday's Globe and Mail discussing how DNA barcoding is being used to trace the origin of food and food contaminants. The article focuses on how Hebert, who is the scientific director of the International Barcode of Life (iBOL) project at U of G, has used DNA barcoding to solve all kinds of food mysteries from the mislabeling of fish sold in restaurants and supermarkets to pinpointing the source of certain contaminants found in food on the production line. Read more.
- $3-Million Grant to Prevent Habitat Loss
May 9, 2011 - Using Canada's largest national park as his laboratory, a University of Guelph professor will test cutting-edge DNA technology that could change how we monitor and protect the environment. Prof. Mehrdad Hajibabaei received a $3-million grant from Genome Canada through the Ontario Genomics Institute to conduct research in Wood Buffalo National Park, considered one of Canada's most valued ecosystems. Read more.
- Researchers Barcode Beetles in South Africa
Dec 9, 2010 - Elephants. Rhinos. The big cats. They’re the creatures most people hope to see on a South African safari. But Erin Corstorphine, a research assistant with U of G’s Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO), considered herself lucky during her trek there this fall when she spotted a flightless dung beetle trundling along, digging a burrow as dung beetles do. Read more.
- GigaPan Research Makes Headlines
Nov 4, 2010 - Integrative biology professor Alex Smith will be featured in an article in Science magazine that hits newstands Friday. The story looks at scientists who are using GigaPan, new technology that involves using a robotic camera and special software to create panoramic images with a standard digital camera. Read more.
- Faculty Make Headlines, Prof to Be on CBC Radio
Nov 2, 2010 - U of G professors conducting DNA barcoding research and the Guelph-based Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) were featured in international and national news reports this week, including on ABC News and in the Globe and Mail. , the Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, Bangladesh News and Reuters India and Reuters United Kingdom. Read more.
- Toronto Star - Barcode for Every Species on Earth
Sept 26, 2010 - Imagine walking through the woods and being able to identify any plant or bug that catches your curiosity by its DNA simply by touching it with a handheld device. On a screen would pop up the name of the species, its origin and an encyclopedic description of it. It's not just a pie-in-the-sky idea, but an actual goal that 100 international scientists gathered in Toronto Sunday are working toward developing within the next decade. Read more.
- CN Tower to Double as DNA Barcode
Sept 24, 2010 - The CN Tower will be illuminated Sept. 25 to look like the world's biggest DNA barcode as part of the official launch of the University of Guelph-based International Barcode of Life Project (iBOL). iBOL is the world’s largest biodiversity genomics initiative aimed at creating a digital identification system of all life on Earth using DNA barcoding. Read more.
- Guelph Informatics Expert Wins International Prize
May 5, 2010 - Sujeevan Ratnasingham, informatics director with U of G's Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO), has been awarded the 2010 Ebbe Nielsen Prize from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a multilateral initiative that enables free and open access to biodiversity data online. Read more.
- DNA Barcoding Makes International Headlines
April 27, 2010 - The May issue of National Geographic magazine includes a feature story on Prof. Paul Hebert and DNA barcoding. The piece includes a photo gallery and story about how DNA barcoding reduces species identification time and has led to the discovery of overlooked species around the world. Read more.
- DNA Barcoding Proposal Up for Award
April 27, 2010 - How do you get teenagers around the world to help preserve the Earth's biodiversity? Make a game of it. A University of Guelph biologist hopes he can persuade the rest of the world to help him attract $200,000 to do just that. Read more.
- International Barcode of Life Gets $8.1 Million
April 23, 2010 - The Ontario government is investing an additional $8.1 million in the University of Guelph-based International Barcode of Life (iBOL) project, the world's largest biodiversity genomics project. Read more.
- Prof, DNA Barcoding Featured on National TV
March 30, 2010 - Integrative biology professor Robert Hanner was featured on two CBC television programs this week discussing how DNA barcoding technology can detect mislabelled seafood. Read more.
- 'Worm Test' Shows DNA Leaks
February 10, 2010 - Researchers have discovered that mescal itself contains the DNA of the agave butterfly caterpillar - the famously tasty "worm" that many avoid consuming.. Read more.
- Profs Make International Headlines
December 04, 2009 - Integrative Biology Prof. Paul Hebert and the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) are featured today in the Wall Street Journal. Read more.
- U of G Teams With High Schools
November 11, 2009 - A pioneering outreach project at the University of Guelph has turned high school students from across Canada into "food sleuths." Read more.
- Scientists from U of G in Mexico to Talk Barcoding
November 09, 2009 - More than two dozen scientists from the University of Guelph are in Mexico City this week attending the third international Barcode of Life Conference. Read more.
- U of G Part of International 'Genome Zoo' Proposal
November 06, 2009 - News Release. In the most comprehensive study of vertebrate evolution ever attempted an international consortium of scientists - including some from the University of Guelph - is planning to assemble a genomic zoo. Read more.
- Darwin-Inspired Exhibit Melds Art, Science
October 05, 2009 - News Release. An art show of evolution-inspired works that provide diverse views of ideas contained in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species is coming to the University of Guelph. Read more.
- Hummingbirds Powered by 'Light' DNA, Study Finds
August 06, 2009- News Release. Hummingbirds have less DNA in their cells than other birds, allowing them to do all that energy-intensive hovering flight, according to new research by University of Guelph biologists. Read more.
- U of G Scientists Help Find Plant DNA Barcode
July 28, 2009- News Release. It will now be possible to genetically differentiate the more than 400,000 species of land plants in the world thanks to DNA barcoding, a revolutionary technique invented at the University of Guelph. Read more.
- U of G Profs, Scientist Make Headlines
July 28, 2009 - In the News. Professors and researchers from the University of Guelph are making national and international headlines this week. Read more.
- U of G Gets $12.5 Million for World-Class Research
June 19, 2009 - News Release. The University of Guelph will enhance its reputation as a world leader in DNA barcoding, nuclear physics and human and animal health, thanks to a nearly $12.5-million investment from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) announced today. Read more. | <urn:uuid:0f02578d-d810-4ac5-b349-732d895c86a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biodiversity.uoguelph.ca/archives.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910293 | 2,555 | 2.15625 | 2 |
CoSN Opens New State Chapters
11.21.2006—The Consortium for School Networking has opened three new chapters in New Mexico, Louisiana and Georgia. The consortium, also known as CoSN, is an organization for technology professionals at K-12 institutions. The latest three state chapters were each founded by local CTOs involved in education.
According to CoSN, the state chapters are designed to "meet the needs of school district education technology leaders in a more local and immediate way." CoSN provides broad resources for technology professionals, such as research and professional development services, while the state chapters provide more localized resources.
"We are thrilled to launch these three new chapters and look forward to expanding our support for CTOs at the state level around the [United States]," said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN, in a prepared statement. "Nationally CoSN is building a community for CTOs and other education technology leaders around leadership, advocacy and information-sharing networks, and these new CoSN state chapters will support all these activities."
Aside from the new chapters in New Mexico, Louisiana and Georgia, CoSN also has state chapters in Texas, Maryland and California. Membership in the organization is made up of technology and education professionals, as well as interested parties in the public and private sectors. CoSN's initiatives to date have included Accessible Technologies for All Students, Cyber Security for the Digital District, Data-Driven Decision Making, K-12 Open Technologies, Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom and others. More information and links can be found on CoSN's Web site.
:: READ MORE DAILY NEWS ::
About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at email@example.com.
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:62024ebb-3297-4ba3-b428-df98a65fe95f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thejournal.com/articles/2006/11/21/cosn-opens-new-state-chapters.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951147 | 419 | 1.664063 | 2 |
July 3, 1728 – Robert Adam, Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer, was born in Kircaldy. "Robert Adam was the son of William Adam, Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his older brother John, Robert took on the family business, which included lucrative work for the Board of Ordnance, after William's death. In 1754 he left for Rome, spending nearly five years on the continent studying architecture under Charles-Louis Clérisseau and Giovanni Battista Piranesi. On his return to Britain he established a practice in London, where he was joined by his younger brother James. Here he developed the "Adam Style", and his theory of "movement" in architecture, based on his studies of antiquity and became one of the most successful and fashionable architects in the country. Adam held the post of Architect of the Kings Works from 1761 to 1769. Robert Adam was leader of the first phase of the classical revival in England and Scotland from around 1760 until his death. He influenced the development of Western architecture, both in Europe and in North America. Adam was not content with providing houses for his clients but very ready to design the fittings and accessories as well."
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July 3, 1738 – Colonial portraitist John Singleton Copley was born. "John Singleton Copley (1738 – 1815) was an American painter, born presumably in Boston, Massachusetts and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects. His paintings were innovative in their tendency to depict artifacts relating to these individuals' lives. According to art historian Paul Staiti, Copley was the greatest and most influential painter in colonial America, producing about 350 works of art. With his startling likenesses of persons and things, he came to define a realist art tradition in America. His visual legacy extended throughout the nineteenth century in the American taste for the work of artists as diverse as Fitz Henry Lane and William Harnett. In Britain, while he continued to paint portraits for the élite, his great achievement was the development of contemporary history painting, which was a combination of reportage, idealism, and theatre. He was also one of the pioneers of the private exhibition, orchestrating shows and marketing prints of his own work to mass audiences that might otherwise attend exhibitions only at the Royal Academy, or who previously had not gone to exhibitions at all. Boston's Copley Square, Copley Square Hotel and Copley Plaza bear his name." | <urn:uuid:2d89eb04-ea60-45c4-bd21-adafc1a0ae73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://foggygates.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-3-1728-robert-adam-scottish.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984068 | 548 | 3.203125 | 3 |
The Dead Eagle
by Thomas Campbell
Written at Oran.
Fall'n as he is, this king of birds still seems
Like royalty in ruins. Though his eyes
Are shut, that look undazzled on the sun,
He was the sultan of the sky, and earth
Paid tribute to his eyry. It was perch'd
Higher than human conqueror ever built
His banner'd fort. Where Atlas' top looks o'er
Zahara's desert to the equator's line:
From thence the winged despot mark'd his prey,
Above th' encampments of the Bedouins, ere
Their watchfires were extinct, or camels knelt
To take their loads, or horsemen scour'd the plain,
And there he dried his feathers in the dawn,
Whilst yet th' unwaken'd world was dark below.
There's such a charm in natural strength and power,
That human fancy has for ever paid
Poetic homage to the bird of Jove.
Hence, 'neath his image, Rome array'd her turms
And cohorts for the conquest of the world.
And figuring his flight, the mind is fill'd
With thoughts that mock the pride of wingless man.
True the carr'd aeronaut can mount as high;
But what's the triumph of his volant art?
A rash intrusion on the realms of air.
His helmless vehicle, a silken toy,
A bubble bursting in the thunder-cloud;
His course has no volition, and he drifts
The passive plaything of the winds. Not such
Was this proud bird: he clove the adverse storm,
And cuff'd it with his wings. He stopp'd his flight
As easily as the Arab reins his steed,
And stood at pleasure 'neath Heaven's zenith, like
A lamp suspended from its azure dome,
Whilst underneath him the world's mountains lay
Like mole hills, and her streams like lucid threads.
Then downward, faster than a falling star,
He near'd the earth, until his shape distinct
Was blackly shadow'd on the sunny ground;
And deeper terror hush'd the wilderness,
To hear his nearer whoop. Then, up again
He soar'd and wheel'd. There was an air of scorn
In all his movements, whether he threw round
His crested head to look behind him; or
Lay vertical and sportively display'd
The inside whiteness of his wing declined,
In gyres and undulations full of grace,
An object beautifying Heaven itself.
He -- reckless who was victor, and above
The hearing of their guns -- saw fleets engaged
In flaming combat. It was nought to him
What carnage, Moor or Christian, strew'd their decks.
But if his intellect had match'd his wings,
Methinks he would have scorn'd man's vaunted power
To plough the deep; his pinions bore him down
To Algiers the warlike, or the coral groves,
That blush beneath the green of Bona's waves;
And traversed in an hour a wider space
Than yonder gallant ship, with all her sails
Wooing the winds, can cross from morn till eve.
His bright eyes were his compass, earth his chart,
His talons anchor'd on the stormiest cliff,
And on the very light-house rock he perch'd,
When winds churn'd white the waves.
The earthquake's self
Disturb'd not him that memorable day,
When, o'er yon table-land, where Spain had built,
Cathedrals, cannon'd forts, and palaces,
A palsy stroke of Nature shook Oran,1
Turning her city to a sepulchre,
And strewing into rubbish all her homes;
Amidst whose traceable foundations now,
Of streets and squares, the hyena hides himself.
That hour beheld him fly as careless o'er
The stifled shrieks of thousands buried quick,
As lately when he pounced the speckled snake,
Coil'd in yon mallows and wide nettle fields
That mantle o'er the dead old Spanish town.
Strange is the imagination's dread delight
In objects link'd with danger, death and pain!
Fresh from the luxuries of polish'd life,
The echo of these wilds enchanted me;
And my heart beat with joy when first I heard
A lion's roar come down the Lybian wind,
Across yon long, wide, lonely inland lake,
Where boat ne'er sails from homeless shore to shore.
And yet Numidia's landscape has its spots
Of pastoral pleasantness -- though far between,
The village planted near the Maraboot's
Round roof has aye its feathery palm trees
Pair'd, for in solitude they bear no fruits.
Here nature's hues all harmonize -- fields white
With alasum, or blue with bugloss -- banks
Of glossy fennel, blent with tulips wild,
And sunflowers, like a garment prankt with gold;
Acres and miles of opal asphodel,
Where sports and couches the black-eyed gazelle.
Here, too, the air's harmonious -- deep-toned doves
Coo to the fife-like carol of the lark;
And when they cease, the holy nightingale
Winds up his long, long shakes of ecstasy,
With notes that seem but the protracted sounds
Of glassy runnels bubbling over rocks.
Notes to the poem:
1 A palsy-stroke of Nature shook Oran, In the year 1790, Oran, the most western city in the Algerine Regency, which had been possessed by Spain for more than a hundred years, and fortified at an immense expense, was destroyed by an earthquake; six thousand of its inhabitants were buried under the ruins.
Source:The Poetical Works Of Thomas Campbell
Little, Brown, And Company, Boston | <urn:uuid:727c9ab8-e123-48ff-96c4-2bc3efebbb74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.litscape.com/author/Thomas_Campbell/The_Dead_Eagle.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953862 | 1,313 | 2.140625 | 2 |
There are many reasons to come to Sapa. The two main are: to see how local minorities live in Vietnam, and to go on a trekking on the mountains.In this trip we would like to help you learn more about the trible’s cultures in Sapa, the Black H’mong and Red Dzao people. Explore the daily like and the cultures.
Night 1: Hanoi – Lao Cai
Car will pick you up from your hotel and transfer to Hanoi train station to catch the night train soft sleeper with AC to Lao Cai station. Overnight on the train.
Day 1: Lao Cai - Sa Pa - Cat Cat Village (B, L, D)
Arrive at Lao Cai Train station at about 5.30 AM. Take a transfer to Sapa. Having breakfast and relax before explore Sapa Town. In the afternoon, take a 2km short trekking to Cat Cat Village, the home of H'mong Ethnic. Meeting & talking with locals to learn more about their daily life. Overnight in homestay.
Day 2: Sapa Village - Lao Cai (B, L, D)
Today, you can choose one of the following options to visit the local villages: Option 1: Pleasant drive to Tafin village (12km from Sapa) of Red Dzao ethnic. Touring to the village to visit Tafin handicraft shop and explore the daily life of Red Dzao. Here you have a good choices to buy woven and textile brocades, which is made by ethic people. Visit Tafin Cave and small hamlet of Black H'mong people. Return to Sapa and take a transfer to Lao Cai station for night train to Hanoi. Option 2: Take the foot path up and down and crossing a small hamlet of Matra, where inhabited by Black H'mong ethic. Continue trekking up the village and getting through paddies fields will lead you to an ancient Catholic abbey, built by French colonists. Walk 2 km more to reach Tafin handicraft shop and explore the daily life of Red Dzao. Here you have a good choices to buy woven and textile brocades, which is made by ethic people. Visit Tafin Cave and small hamlet of Black H'mong people. Return to Sapa & take a transfer to Lao Cai station for night train to Hanoi.
Day 3: Hanoi - Arrival
Getting back to Hanoi from Sapa trip so early at around 5am, taxi to hotel on your own. Tour ends
3 - 4 Pax
5 - 6 Pax
Accommodation (double or twin sharing) in places as indicated in program
Meals as mentioned in the itinerary (B - breakfast, L - lunch, D - dinner)
All transportation as indicated in program
All guided sightseeing fees as per itinerary
English speaking tour guide at places as indicated in program
Train ticket Hanoi – Lao Cai – Hanoi (4 berth cabin, A/C)
Visa fee to Vietnam
Personal expenses such as shopping, telephone, laundry and bar bills etc.
Other meals, drinks and personal expenses
Late check out & early check in for all accommodation at the places (Normaly check in: at 14:00 PM and check out at 12:00 PM)
All other services are not made on the written form | <urn:uuid:a9b05ba2-2575-4322-a26f-2d9d10102869> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vietnamstopover.com/Vietnam-Travel/Sapa-Tours-Package/Sapa-Travel-Hill-Tribe-Village-2-Days-3-Nights/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941999 | 724 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The entries on this site are organized by category and by date. You are in the Talking ATM Issues category. Content is posted within each category in chronological order, with the most recent entries first. For a complete list of categories and sub-categories on this site, visit the categories page. You may also find content by using the search feature or the site map. Consult the archives for content organized by date and title.
Talking ATM Issues
Szilvia Nyusti and Péter Takács are blind advocates in Hungary who wanted their bank (the largest bank in their country) to install Talking ATMs. After all, they paid the same fees as sighted customers, why shouldn’t they have the same access to services and technology? After a five year legal battle in Hungary, they took their claims to the United Nations. On May 16, 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued an historic ruling finding that Hungary violated the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) by failing to ensure that Hungarian banks had Talking ATMs. Congratulations to Szilvia and Peter. Congratulations to the United Nations. Congratulations to the CRPD for working as it should in protecting the rights of people with disabilities. Shame on the United States for failing to ratify the treaty.
The article posted here about NCR’s Talking ATMs in India first appeared in the Hindu Business Line. The Law Office of Lainey Feingold, and Linda Dardarian, first engaged with NCR in the mid-1990’s as the Talking ATM initiative was getting underway in the United States. This story about NCR’s Talking (and solar-powered!) ATMs demonstrates yet again that accessibility is an international issue. Accessible technology that starts in one country is bound to make its way around the world. The technology corporations are global, advocacy needs to be too. Blind advocates are not mentioned in the story below, but no doubt they played an important role in efforts to bring independent access to financial services to India.
The June 6, 2012 Google Alert for Talking ATMs included a news report, posted below, of the “first” Talking ATM in India. It was not the first time the Indian press covered accessible ATMs though. In September 2011 the Hindu Business Times reported on the experience of using a Talking ATM for the first time, but on closer read last Fall’s story may just have been describing temporary installations. Whether or not Union Bank of India has installed the first or second Talking ATM, congratulations go out to advocates in the Indian blind community and that country’s banking industry for recognizing the importance of accessible technology.
On March 15, 2012, federal regulations with detailed Talking ATM requirements will finally be mandatory. The Talking ATM standards come at the end of a long (and continuing) road of grass-roots and legal advocacy in the U.S. and around the globe. March 15, 2012 is more than twelve years after the first Talking ATM was installed in the United States. Tens of thousands of ATMs now talk, but still too many do not.
For many years the Law Office of Lainey Feingold has been keeping track of Talking ATM installations in countries all over the world. On September 10, 2011, Google’s “Talking ATM” alert brought news of installations in Mumbai India. United States ATM manufacturers NCR and Diebold are featured in the article.
Posted here is a news report from the Philippines about a legislative push for Talking ATMs in that country. Reading this news on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act is fitting.
Although the law being celebrated this month is focused on “Americans”, disability advocacy in one part of the globe often has ripple affects across the world. Today we have a global economy and multi-national corporations. We also have global advocacy and international advances in disability access. Especially when it comes to accessible technology. | <urn:uuid:9a06e98a-6420-44ad-b999-27c823dcfe8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lflegal.com/category/articles/talking-atm-tech/?iprefs=img-no | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953511 | 820 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The complete works of French cineaste Robert Bresson win an airing in a series commencing this weekend at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. A stubborn stylist of minimalist cinema, Bresson built his 13 features on the famous principle that less is more, forcing audiences to in-fer bodies from limbs, emotions from gazes, the whole from parts. But his work is also intensely physical: The late critic Richard Roud said of Bresson's Joan of Arc, "For the first time in film history, one feels that Joan was really burnt."
In the 1956 World War II-era film A Man Escaped, screening this Saturday and again on Dec. 11, François Leterrier plays a captured French officer named Fontaine who methodically plans his prison break with tools fashioned from spoons, a pencil, rope made out of torn blankets, and various other simple props. From the tiniest cracks in his door, Fontaine sees his way to a freedom both physical and spiritual.
Religious concerns loom large for Bresson, both here and in his other films, including the martyr-themed The Diary of a Country Priest (1950, also screening Saturday), and The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962, screening Sunday). Simple actions take on great significance: Beaten in an early scene in A Man Escaped, Fontaine obdurately wears the same bloody shirt for the remainder of the movie. And he must resist the dual temptations of despair and foolhardiness, as personified respectively by two other prisoners. Though we usually see only the arms, guns, or backs of the Nazi officers, Fontaine observes his captors with a watchful, sidewise stare that recalls Buster Keaton (who Leterrier rather resembles) or a mistrustful child.
Bresson's first two features (1943's Les Anges du Peche and 1945's Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne), screening Friday, are comparatively lusher, encompassing as they do the pleasures of sin as well as virtue's thinner rewards. Bresson's later films abandon the spiritual transcendence of the earlier works in favor of the bleak landscapes of Mouchette (1966) and Au Hasard Balthazar (1966), screening next weekend, in which his martyrs are a child and a donkey, respectively. His last films, which will play in December along with repeats of earlier programs, trace a spiral into the angry nihilism of The Devil Probably (1977) and L'Argent (1982) -- although in a filmed interview Bresson tells his interlocutors that they're "confusing pessimism with lucidity."
This interview is part of an interesting Dutch documentary, The Way to Bresson (1983, screening Dec. 5), which examines how Bresson's ascetic aesthetic transformed itself into movies that combine (to quote Bresson himself) "beauty and lucidity." Amusingly, a good deal of the documentary is spent watching filmmakers Jurrien Rood and Leo de Boer trying to reach their hero on the phone, or observing Bresson's almost open pride at the boos he receives onstage at the Cannes Film Festival. Bresson was not only an elegant filmaker, he wore his tailored hair shirts with truly soulful elan.
Robert Bresson's films begin screening Friday, Nov. 27, at the Pacific Film Archive, 2625 Durant (at College), Berkeley. Admission is $6, $1.50; call (510) 642-1124. See Reps Etc., Page 78, for a complete schedule.
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Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city | <urn:uuid:c09436e2-9401-43a4-b5e4-1cf740cf693b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfweekly.com/1998-11-25/film/the-ascetic-aesthetics-of-robert-bresson/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941514 | 810 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The spacecraft sector is one of the most dynamic and challenging sectors within the aerospace industry. Government and private industry are working to put men and material into space for research, defense and commercial opportunities. With so much at stake, and sometimes only one chance to achieve it, engineers are working to design vehicles and fuels that will push space exploration further, faster and more efficiently.
Courtesy Astrobotic Technology Inc.
Weight is one of the biggest challenge designers face, with the goal of allocating more weight to the payload and less to the launch vehicle. ANSYS software offers designers more capabilities to model extreme conditions. Comprehensive and coupled multiphysics capabilities enable virtual prototypes to account for fluid–structure interactions, such as satellite folded solar panels in environmentally controlled payload compartments and thermal stresses in heat shields, turbine blades and other components subjected to extreme temperature changes.
Testing for extreme conditions in space calls for simulation software that is robust and reliable. For example, determining how a space vehicle will react to a Mach-25 re-entry requires simulation software that accurately reproduces conditions at correct scales. Furthermore, the engineering team needs to know how mixtures of cryogenic fuels and oxidizers will mix and react in the combustion chamber of a rocket engine. ANSYS solutions allow engineers to predict how those fluids will react on earth and in space.
Safety is always top of mind. Manned or unmanned, flights need to lift off and return to earth safely, and testing how reliably a vehicle will survive the rigors of space requires virtual prototypes to avoid expensive physical testing. There is usually no second chance to get it right. | <urn:uuid:997390ac-11da-476e-8897-9545542f284f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ansys.com/Ansys/en_us/Industries/Aerospace+&+Defense/Space | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919608 | 326 | 3.546875 | 4 |
|Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary|
3:16-21 Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in his heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the world and its good overcomes the feelings of compassion to a perishing brother? Every instance of this selfishness must weaken the evidences of a man's conversion; when habitual and allowed, it must decide against him. If conscience condemn us in known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Let conscience therefore be well-informed, be heard, and diligently attended to.
Verses 16, 17. - The nature of love as shown by Christ, and its obligation on Christians. Love has been declared the criterion for distinguishing the children of God from the children of the devil. It remains to show what love is; and this is best seen in a concrete example. "The Eternal Word, incarnate and dying for the truth, inspires St. John to guard it with apostolic chivalry; but also this revelation of the heart of God melts him into tenderness towards the race which Jesus has loved so well. To St. John a lack of love for men seems sheer dishonour to the love of Christ" (Liddon). Verse 16. - In this (verse 10; 1 John 2:3)we have come to know (have acquired and possess the knowledge of) love (what love is), in that he laid down his life for us. This is better than "We have come to know love as consisting in this, that he laid down his life for us," which would have been ἐν τούτῳ οϋσαν. Cain is the type of hate; Christ, of love. Cain took his brother's life to benefit himself; Christ laid down his own life to benefit his enemies (see on John 10:12). This realized ideal of love we must imitate; ready to sacrifice ourselves, and even our lives, for the good of others. The effacement of another's rights and perhaps existence for one's own sake is the essence of hatred; the effacement of one's self for another's sake is the essence of love. Christ died for those who hated him; and the Christian must confront the hatred of the world with a love that is ready even to die for the haters. This shows that the "brethren" here and in verse 14, though used primarily of Christians, does not exclude unbelievers; otherwise the parallel with Christ would be spoiled (see on verse 10).
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hereby perceive we the love of God,.... The phrase "of God" is not in the Oriental versions, nor in the Greek copies, but is in the Complutensian edition, and in the Vulgate Latin version, and is favoured by the Syriac version, which reads, "by this we know his love to us"; and so the Ethiopic version, "by this we know his love". That is, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly and properly God, the great God, the mighty God, the true God, and God over all, blessed for ever. His love is manifested to his people, and perceived by them in various instances; but in nothing is it more clearly seen than in the following one:
because he laid down his life for us: of the life of Christ, and his laying it down in the room of his people; see Gill on , which shows his love, his free grace and favour; for this arose not from any merit or worth in the persons he died for; not from their love, loveliness, or duty, but from his rich mercy, and the great love wherewith he loved them; and which, though it cannot be equalled, should be imitated:
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren: not in such sense, or for such ends and purposes, as Christ laid down his life for us; for no man, as by giving his money, so by laying down his life, can redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him: but the meaning is, that saints ought to risk their lives, and expose themselves to dangers, for the sake of their brethren, when they are called to it, and the case requires it: as Priscilla and Aquila laid down their necks, or ventured their lives for the Apostle Paul, Romans 16:3; and they should also, when called unto it, freely lay down their lives in the cause of Christ, and for the sake of his Gospel, for the gaining of souls to Christ, and for the confirming of the faith of the brethren in him, as the apostles of Christ, and the martyrs of Jesus, have done; this is an argument for brotherly love, in the highest instance of it, taken from the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, than which nothing is more forcible, or can lay a greater obligation on the saints.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16. What true love to the brethren is, illustrated by the love of Christ to us.
the love of God—The words "of God" are not in the original. Translate, "We arrive at the knowledge of love"; we apprehend what true love is.
and we—on our part, if absolutely needed for the glory of God, the good of the Church, or the salvation of a brother.
lives—Christ alone laid down His one life for us all; we ought to lay down our lives severally for the lives of the brethren; if not actually, at least virtually, by giving our time, care, labors, prayers, substance: Non nobis, sed omnibus. Our life ought not to be dearer to us than God's own Son was to Him. The apostles and martyrs acted on this principle.
1 John 3:16 Parallel Commentaries
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Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible | <urn:uuid:678a3d08-e9ad-49c8-b602-11c4bf1b35bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biblehub.com/1_john/3-16.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966466 | 1,361 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Experts Debate Labeling Children Obese
CHICAGO — Is it OK for doctors and parents to tell children and teens they’re fat? That seems to be at the heart of a debate over whether to replace the fuzzy language favored by the U.S. government with the painful truth — telling kids if they’re obese or overweight. Read the Full Article Herebest payday loans
This is getting out of control… I am very particular about the words we use and the ways in which they effect our quality of life. But, the use of more "politically correct" words to soften a serious situation or spare the feelings of someone that has put himself in that bad situation, is not solving anything.
Obesity is a problem. It’s not too many years ago that activists fought to classify obesity as a disease. The good news about this disease is that it has a number of very effective treatments and cures.
Have you ever heard arguments over weather to tell kids they have cancer? "Maybe we shouldn’t call it cancer, because cancer sounds like a mean word" It’s ridiculous!
If someone is diagnosed with cancer, they are told honestly, given treatment options and then, in most cases, fight like hell to beat the disease.
Obesity should be dealt with in exactly the same way. If it’s a disease, it should be diagnosed honestly, treatment options clearly explained and then fight like hell to get better.
Here’s the big difference: If you’re diagnosed with cancer and sit around feeling sorry for yourself, you usually get painfully sick and die fairly quickly.
If you’re diagnosed with obesity and sit around feeling sorry for yourself, you can continue to live a relatively normal life until you develop other problems as a result of the obesity, which may be years down the road.
In terms of diseases, obesity is a pretty good deal. If it were approached like any other disease and fought with real commitment, it can be cured and many of it’s adverse affects can actually be reversed.
We really need to stop tip toeing around this obesity epidemic and start treating it like the problem that it is. Let’s be honest about it and fight like hell to make ourselves and our kids better.default | <urn:uuid:3d50a047-3364-4f0e-86fa-08fb3730c01b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stopworkingout.com/experts_debate_/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947125 | 473 | 2.46875 | 2 |
In the Markets: Sour Cherries and Green Almonds
There are precious few types of produce that are truly difficult to find fresh in our area. Given our long growing season and our outstanding weather, with sufficient application of water one can grow nearly anything--except sour cherries.
These cherries, which are about a third to half the size of the monster sweet cherries that have been flooding the markets recently, are called "pie cherries" for the simple reason that the only possible thing to do with them is add sweetener, which causes them to become the world's most perfect pie filling.
The problem is that California grows almost no pie cherries. Almost 100% of the cherries grown west of the Mississippi river are sweet cherries, which make fine eating but mediocre pie. Michigan is ground zero for the sour cherry.
That said, Wholesome Choice in Irvine and Anaheim Hills manages to get what few fresh sour cherries they can, but usually only for a space of about two weeks, which started Saturday. Fresh sour cherries are on sale for $5.39 a pound, with a choice of one- or two-pound punnets.
Bear in mind when cherrying that a pound of pitted pie cherries requires about half a cup of sugar to become even slightly palatable.
Also found at the Irvine Wholesome Choice were another two-week treat, green almonds. These are the 'fruit' of the almond (we generally eat the kernel, erroneously labeled a "nut"), a fuzzy, greenish fruit that, when immature, can be eaten whole (usually with olive oil and salt in Persian households, where they are most popular). The inside will be gelatinous and grassy. After the almond has started to mature slightly, the kernel inside starts to develop more and you will notice a more almond-y taste; at this point, don't eat the outer skin, which will be tough. | <urn:uuid:710c53e8-41d1-4e79-b1b8-931d1b355488> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2010/07/in_the_markets_sour_cherries_a.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960849 | 395 | 2.125 | 2 |
EPA Smart Growth Grants from 2002 RFIPs
- Project 525, Mystic Valley Development Corporation
- Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM)
- Baltimore Smart Growth, Baltimore City Department of Planning
- Des Moines Agrimergent Technology Park, City of Des Moines
- Assunpink Creek, City of Trenton, Division of Economic Development
- Linking Brownfields Revitalization to Open Space Preservation: A Metropolitan Approach, St. Louis Development Corporation
- Commercial Sites Reuse Handbook, City of Kansas City
- Brownfield Screening and Redevelopment Guidelines, City of Chicago Department of Environment
- Coalition Building and Fundraising in the North Macadam District, City of Portland
EPA's "Smart Growth: Saving Open Space, Revitalizing Brownfields" grant program is an important component of EPA's "Open Space Preservation Strategies for Promoting Smarter Growth and Environmental Preservation" initiative, announced in January 2002. This initiative recognizes the critical importance of linking open space preservation and brownfield redevelopment through a smart growth approach to achieve better environmental protection.
In its 2002 pilot year, the grant program awarded $405,000 to nine Brownfields Showcase communities across the U.S. to incorporate smart growth into their planning, revitalization, and/or redevelopment efforts. Use of smart growth principles in brownfield redevelopments can create greater benefits from the reuse of these infill sites, reduce demand for land for development on the urban fringe, and improve the air and water quality of the regions in which they are applied. Grant recipients emphasize projects that feature innovative community actions or successful responses to barriers to smart growth implementation and brownfields redevelopment that can be replicated in communities across the country. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Linda Fisher announced the awards on July 24, 2002.
Project 525, Mystic Valley Development Corporation
The Mystic Valley received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in October 2000.
Mystic Valley Development Corporation's (MVDC) TeleCom City is a regional economic development project being undertaken by the Massachusetts cities of Everett, Malden, and Medford, which are north of Boston. The project involves the redevelopment of 207 acres of former industrial property. TeleCom City is expected to become a center for the telecommunication industry with more than 1.4 million square feet of office, research and development, and manufacturing space and 60 acres of public open space.
A study conducted by Fannie Mae indicated that the project would increase demand for housing in the area by 525 units. MVDC's effort to address this demand is called "Project 525." Project 525's first initiative is the redevelopment of an 8-acre site in Everett, which will result in 200 to 250 units of housing. Ten to twenty percent of this new housing will be affordable.
The EPA grant will provide funding for a workshop to solicit public input on the design of the housing project, a traffic/transportation analysis, preparation of zoning and land use regulations for the area, and support for the developer selection process. These efforts are expected to result in a project that reflects smart growth principles, secures public and private housing investment totaling $24 million, and facilitates the reuse of a significant brownfield site into a mixed-use, economically vibrant community asset.
Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM)
The state of Rhode Island received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in March 1998.
The grant will support preparation of planning documents to identify and recommend land use, zoning, and other regulatory revisions that promote infill development of brownfield sites and vacant parcels along the Woonasquatucket River in Providence. The Woonasquatucket, which has been federally designated as an American Heritage River, was once a prosperous industrial zone. Historic mill buildings still exist in the area, although nine were recently demolished. The community would like future development to better use the historic assets of the area, as well as respond to challenges such as unemployment and neighborhood disinvestment.
RIDEM will work with the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council and neighborhood groups that have established goals for the area, including river habitat restoration, public access to the river, and appropriately scaled infill development that encourages employment opportunities for local residents. Current zoning and land use regulations are not conducive to these goals. Therefore the project will incorporate existing neighborhood planning documents and the Woonasquatucket River Greenway Master Plan into a single document to promote neighborhood revitalization, habitat restoration, and brownfields revitalization.
Baltimore Smart Growth, Baltimore City Department of Planning
The city of Baltimore received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in March 1998.
Brownfields development in Baltimore has steadily increased due to changes in state and federal laws, increased familiarity among the development and lending communities about brownfields redevelopment requirements, and financial assistance now available for these types of projects. Redevelopment of brownfields in Baltimore, however, still faces a major challenge in terms of zoning and land use.
This grant supported the efforts of the city of Baltimore to incorporate smart growth strategies in the city's new comprehensive master plan and subsequent comprehensive rezoning effort. The project was completed in 2006 and produced a proposal to incorporate smart growth strategies and regulatory changes into the comprehensive master plan and the subsequent revised zoning code, and a report outlining its actual experience including challenges and solutions to incorporating smart growth principles into these documents. In addition, detailed research was completed regarding parking policies and park zoning to inform regulatory initiatives.
Des Moines Agrimergent Technology Park, City of Des Moines
The city of Des Moines received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in October 2000.
The grant will support development of a user-friendly mathematical model that will calculate the costs, cost savings, and other benefits of implementing smart growth and environmental protection strategies. It will specifically relate to site and building design on brownfields proposed for industrial use.
The project is an opportunity to apply smart growth principles to industrial development. Smart growth and environmental indicators will be developed to measure the success of proposed projects. Indicators may include acres of developable land preserved, air quality impacts, and urban runoff. The model will be used to develop design guidelines and to identify incentives necessary for businesses to invest in industrial areas with existing infrastructure. It will also be used to make recommendations for incorporating these guidelines into city land use policies and to create incentives for developers to use these sites. The project will help make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost-effective. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration in Des Moines has committed $1 million to the early development of this project.
Assunpink Creek, City of Trenton, Division of Economic Development
The city of Trenton received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in March 1998.
The grant will support preparation of development plans for three brownfield sites along the Assunpink Creek near downtown Trenton, including two surface parking lots and a concrete culvert that buries the Assunpink Creek. Currently, these sites increase runoff to the creek and nearby Delaware River and do not effectively serve the community. This project seeks to return the sites to a more productive use that incorporates smart growth principles. The project will include a detailed site analysis and an evaluation of available environmental technologies, including sustainable urban design and engineering. The city hopes to create specifications for environmentally appropriate development of the sites that could be applied to other brownfield sites throughout the city and beyond.
Trenton has been identified as one of several growth areas by the New Jersey State Plan. The goal of this project is to maximize development potential in the area without sacrificing quality of life and environmental goals. The city is seeking a mixed-use site design that incorporates public access to the creek along a trail that will link to the Delaware River Walk and other regional trails. An ideal plan would also provide bicycle and pedestrian access to Trenton's downtown and several residential areas, increase housing options in the downtown, and reduce pollutant runoff into the creek and Delaware River.
The work will be performed in conformance with all New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) requirements. NJDEP is expected to contribute a $100,000 grant to the project to fund detailed engineering and hydrologic studies of the sites. It will also help implement the resulting development specifications.
Linking Brownfields Revitalization to Open Space Preservation: A Metropolitan Approach, St. Louis Development Corporation
The cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in October 2000.
The grant will support creation of a network of local officials and citizens throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area to better connect open space preservation and brownfields redevelopment. The network's specific tasks will include determining the brownfield/open space needs of the individual communities and the region and developing a policy paper to consider the creation of a regional "true cost" development impact fee system and a regional transfer of development rights program. Both tasks will encourage preserving open space on the urban fringe and absorbing growth in brownfields sites in the urban center.
The central cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, no longer contain undeveloped greenfield areas. However, their surrounding inner suburbs contain both brownfields and greenfields, and the region as a whole has experienced a significant amount of sprawl in the past two decades. A key element of this project's regional approach is to forge relationships to build knowledge about smart growth, especially as it relates to open space preservation and the reuse of brownfield properties.
The inner suburbs are small in population and therefore cannot individually afford to employ professional staff to confront these issues. The city of St. Louis will contract with the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council (EWGCC), a regional council of governments and planning agencies, to conduct most project activities. The project will complement a regional smart growth planning effort already underway at EWGCC called "Creating Quality Communities: A Blueprint for Regional Action." The conclusions from the brownfield and smart growth policy paper will be incorporated into the final Blueprint report.
Commercial Sites Reuse Handbook, City of Kansas City
The cities of Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in March 1998.
The grant will support outreach and production of a handbook of tools and incentives designed to facilitate the redevelopment of older commercial brownfield sites in urban and suburban locations throughout the city. Commercial brownfields sites often include contamination and can be challenging to redevelopment in suburban communities.
The first phase of the project will inventory the tools, incentives, and techniques available locally to create smart growth designs and revitalize brownfields. Research will then be performed on relevant national models and best practices in these fields. A handbook will be compiled containing information on smart growth techniques for brownfield commercial sites that can cut development costs, offer unique amenities, and respond to environmental impacts. It will also highlight relevant brownfield incentives, tools, and strategies.
A design workshop will be conducted for two local, commercial brownfield sites, one urban and one suburban. The results of the workshop will be incorporated into the handbook, which will be presented at a series of roundtable events held for developers, landowners, and others involved in the redevelopment process. The project will actively seek input from the community on methods to make commercial site reuse attractive and to determine the needs of communities near commercial brownfield sites. The results may be used to suggest improvements to city codes and policies to encourage reuse and smart growth design of brownfield sites.
Goals of this project include balancing regional growth in urban and suburban locations through marketing assistance for both of these areas, and encouraging mixed-use redevelopment to better meet community service and housing needs.
Brownfield Screening and Redevelopment Guidelines, City of Chicago Department of Environment
The city of Chicago received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in March 1998.
The grant will support development of a tool to screen brownfield sites for redevelopment potential as mixed-income residential or mixed-use communities. The project will also produce guidelines for incorporating smart growth principles into brownfield redevelopment.
To develop these resources, the city's Department of Environment (DOE) will partner with the Chicago Housing Authority, the Department of Planning and Development, and New Homes for Chicago, an affordable-homeownership initiative. These groups will review existing Chicago brownfield project histories, smart growth principles, current zoning ordinances, market data, community needs, and available city databases for inclusion in the screening tool. Input from neighborhood developers and other community-based organizations will also be incorporated. The data will be analyzed to identify factors that may be used to screen brownfield sites for potential success as housing or mixed-use redevelopment projects.
The second phase of the project will review smart growth principles to determine how they might be implemented at brownfield redevelopment sites in a cost-effective manner that protects human health and the environment. Guidelines will be produced that can be used in bid specifications for redevelopment projects or as a guidance document.
DOE hopes to use these tools to expand opportunities for affordable housing development within the city. The tools may also help determine sites that will better support the community by generating manufacturing or retail jobs and providing services to the community. The tools could be adopted by other communities to evaluate and implement smart growth redevelopment of brownfield sites.
Update: Smart Growth for Brownfields Redevelopment: A Brownfields Screening Tool (PDF) (45 pp, 872K, About PDF) was produced in 2005 and presents screening tools to evaluate and identify brownfield sites that can be economically cleaned up and redeveloped as mixed-income residential and/or mixed-use communities using smart growth principles.
Coalition Building and Fundraising in the North Macadam District, City of Portland
The city of Portland, Oregon, received designation and support from EPA as a National Brownfields Showcase Community in March 1998.
The grant will support the creation of a Brownfields Smart Growth Handbook for the North Macadam District to facilitate redevelopment incorporating smart growth principles. The project is a collaborative effort between the city's Bureau of Housing and Community Development and the Portland Development Commission. The North Macadam District is a 130-acre area of under-developed land just south of downtown Portland. The site is slated to include a mix of uses that would create housing and employment opportunities in a key location, but redevelopment has been slow in coming due to financial and regulatory obstacles faced by developers.
This project seeks to build an understanding of development issues and to provide assistance with these and other obstacles. The first steps will be to build a coalition of high level representatives of state and federal agencies and foundations and identify financial resources to support the district's infrastructure requirements. The city will then assemble a working group of public agencies, private developers, citizens, and environmental interest groups to create the handbook.
The resulting publication will educate the public as well as provide a menu of financing opportunities. Information on the zoning code and district plan will include a user-friendly discussion of requirements that clearly defines developers' responsibilities. There will also be a discussion of public-private partnerships for fulfilling code and plan expectations. The handbook will include links to financial institutions and loan/grant assistance programs that support smart growth projects, as well as information regarding innovative financing strategies. The publication will be available online. | <urn:uuid:d6d8ffb7-3c54-4124-9d22-e8cc4a3d677c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.epa.gov/dced/grants/grants2002.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926641 | 3,197 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Interview with Stagetecture.com
Some people who are selling their home want more information about how to “stage” it in order to increase its appeal to potential buyers. Others just want ideas and suggestions on how to design a home that they will be living in for a long time. Thankfully, there is a website called Stagetecture.com, which serves both of these types of homeowners.
We asked Ronique Gibson, the founder of the site, to tell us more about why it has become so popular in such a short time.
Why did you want to become a designer? What drew you to this industry?
When I was a little girl, I remember being infatuated with my environment. From how it felt being inside my house to looking at how buildings were put together, I was always drawn to design — lighting, colors, sound, architecture, furniture, you name it. Then I remember around 4th grade learning what architects did, and I realized that was what I wanted to be and do: help people enjoy their environments around them.
How does your architectural background help you as an interior designer?
Many people think that being an interior designer is just about choosing pretty colors and picking the right furniture. Interior design actually involves taking a design challenge — whether it be not enough space for a family, or a room that is too dark for a home office, etc. — and then finding solutions through architectural means, design, aesthetics, or a combination of all to help create an environment that functionally works well and is pleasing to be in. Being an Associate Architect helped me gain the training and exposure in plumbing, mechanical, structural, electrical, and civil (landscaping/outdoors) arenas to learn the total package of what helps people solve their environmental challenges, and then make it feel and look great to be in every day.
Your site is called “Stagetecture.” To what extent is your site targeted toward home “stagers” in the real estate sales market?
This is a great question, because when I started Stagetecture in 2009 it was a home staging website and service. My husband and I had sold our home in 2009 during the heart of the housing market crisis, and realtors would ask me who staged my home. Once I realized I had this talent, I turned it into a business. Unfortunately, too many people were losing money on their homes already and didn’t want to pay for home staging. So I decided to start the Stagetecture blog to help homeowners with their home challenges. And now it still has home staging topics, but covers “everything home.”
You are a LEED Accredited Professional. Explain exactly what the LEED accreditation means.
LEED accreditation stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is administered and run by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). This program helps professionals become learned in green practices in our environment, homes, workplaces, and in our everyday societies.
What types of people could benefit from visiting your website?
When I first started Stagetecture, it was only supposed to be for homeowners trying to sell their homes. After I realized that the niche of readers was too narrow, I started branching out into home topics that affected staging (organization, decluttering, choosing colors, patterns, décor) and realized that Stagetecture was more than just home staging. Today, Stagetecture is for anyone who loves their home, and wants to make it uniquely theirs. Stagetecture has a broad spectrum of readers: DIY’ers, parents, home enthusiasts, design professionals, green living enthusiasts, and many more.
Stagetecture offers not just categories in designing your home, but also home wellness, food recipes, astrology in your home, and now Blog Talk Radio and reaching out to international and entrepreneurial types to guest blog on Stagetecture. My latest joint venture with Joanne Mathis is called Mathis & Gibson Media. It will combine Radio, Blog, Video, and Digital Magazine to deliver Stagetecture content on the radio, and her guests can come on Stagetecture for guest blogs, advertising, DIY videos and more. So Stagetecture has a place for everyone!
Do you have a specific philosophy when it comes to interior design?
Yes, it’s very simple: What makes you and your family feel good? That is it. Don’t worry about what looks good to someone else. Design your interiors for you and your family and what makes your home uniquely yours. In my e-book — 111 Simple Tips for your Everyday Home — I give 111 tips for 11 rooms of your home to create a home that you love to be in.
If someone is thinking about selling their home, what types of do-it-yourself home improvement or design projects would you recommend?
I always say, “Focus on the rooms that homebuyers look at first, and hold the most in resale value.” Kitchen, master bedroom, and bathrooms are the most important rooms for ROI (return on investment). If you have the budget, get new appliances and upgrade finishes — flooring, countertops, backsplash, plumbing & lighting fixtures.
For those on a tight budget, simple tips such as decluttering and taking a more “minimalist” approach to your interiors while selling your home will help. Remove small appliances from kitchen counters, remove cosmetics from bathroom counters; and if you need to, get rid of some of your large furniture that swallows up your room. Homebuyers want to see space. I tell many homeowners to rent a small storage unit at their local storage warehouse to store excess kids’ toys, furniture, garage tools, etc. Every room — ESPECIALLY CLOSETS — needs to look like a model home, literally.
Neutralize your home. This means choosing neutral color tones that blend from one room to another. Remove personal photos, and any symbols of personalization. This includes sports memorabilia, religious decor, family photos, political preferences, musical artists, etc. Don’t give the homebuyer a reason to not like your home because of you and your family’s personal preferences. Remember — once you put your home on the market, you technically want the homebuyer to see themselves living immediately in your home.
How do you respond to people who say, “I’d like to redecorate my home, but it costs too much money?”
There is no reason why you can’t redecorate your home. Chop up your home into priority rooms and tackle them one at a time. Replace bedding and bath linen colors for a quick but effective facelift to your bed/bathrooms. Paint goes a long way; painting is the cheapest and most effective way to change your room instantly. Also, consider reupholstering old and dated furniture, installing new door and cabinet hardware, and changing out lighting fixtures. All of these can be done for much less than people think.
In the next 3 to 5 years, what will your website look like and provide?
I would love to reach out to international prospects soon to offer worldwide exposure and home information on Stagetecture. So in the next 3-5 years, I will be working on some ways to change the interface at Stagetecture — hopefully to offer more versatility on the website, but also to create a website that is dynamic and can be experienced in multi-media. As mentioned earlier, with Mathis & Gibson Media we will reach out and share content through radio, video, digital magazine, in addition to Stagetecture’s current blog. So within the next 3-5 years, all of these media outlets will be able to be experienced through the blog. It’s very exciting! When I think of how far Stagetecture has come in 3 years, I’m still amazed. But there is never a ceiling — so Stagetecture will keep growing and providing home inspiration for my worldwide audience.
Photo credits: stagetecture.com | <urn:uuid:7dbc8ac6-1d70-4464-a565-78cb7f53a77f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gutterhelmet.com/blog/interview-with-stagetecture-com | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963318 | 1,716 | 1.53125 | 2 |
We are not going to harass you by giving you Tax definitions straight out of a textbook. We’ve put together the different types of taxes that will affect you if you are an individual, or a company.
We all know what direct taxes are, don’t we? They are the ones which cause us maximum damage. Personal Income Tax, Wealth Tax and Corporate Tax are the general and common types of direct taxes that hit most of us.
Let us look at each kind of taxes in little bit of detail:
Personal Income Tax
This is the tax that is charged to common people like you and us on the income earned in India. The Finance Act has set out rates or shall we say slabs which define how much tax you will pay. You can find these slabs here. To determine your taxable income, your earnings will fall under any of the following heads.
- Income from Salary
- Income from business or profession
- Income from house or property
- Income from Capital Gain
- Income from other sources
All hope is not lost as you can also utilize many of the deductions and exemptions available to you under the Income Tax Act 1961.
Corporate Tax is another direct tax that is levied on companies in India. For domestic companies, the tax rate is 30% which by the way is at par with other countries in the world. You should also know that a 5% surcharge is applied, on the tax paid if the company has a turnover exceeding Rs. 1 crore. Top this off with a 3% education cess!
In case of a foreign company, the base corporate tax rate is 40%, 2.5% surcharge. For domestic companies, corporate tax is levied on their total (global) income whereas for foreign companies only the income which is sourced from the Indian Territory is subject to tax.
Wealth tax is levied at the rate of 1% on wealth exceeding Rs. 30 lakhs. To find out more on wealth tax, who pays it and on what assets it is charged, click here.
Indirect taxes are those which are not levied upon you directly however the commoner pays the taxes via consumption, expenditure and right on income or property. Value Added Tax (VAT), Sales Tax, Customs, Service Tax, Stamp Duty and Excise Tax are some of the common Indirect Taxes that are levied. In case of direct taxes, the rate of tax that you pay is proportional to your income levels. Indirect taxes are equal for everyone. So it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor. The minute you start spending or investing, you start paying Indirect Tax! Ouch!
We hope that you’ve got your head wrapped around the different types of taxes in India.Google+ | <urn:uuid:f9da7435-7060-4dec-823c-c119d73baf97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://trak.in/india-tax/types-of-taxes-india/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958804 | 564 | 3.125 | 3 |
Those of us who love Jane Austen’s works have long been disappointed about the lack of detail we have about her life. Her sister Cassandra destroyed many of her letters and her other siblings may have been selective about the details from her life, wanting to present her in the best possible light. Cassandra and Jane is Jill Pitkeathley’s attempt to fill in the gaps for us. She tells the story of Jane’s life from Cassandra’s perspective, creating the story of what might have been, including the sisters’ close relationship, the conflicts between Jane and her mother and a romance. A truly delightful read. | <urn:uuid:0188e64a-3b39-45ae-b92d-ed2b09d53cdb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.manhattan.lib.ks.us/littleapple/2009/08/a-new-perspective-on-austens-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969257 | 131 | 1.679688 | 2 |
|Guests:||Daniel Drezner, Steven Yeun|
Daniel Drezner, professor of international politics at Tufts University, joined Ian Punnett for a discussion on how humanity might respond to a worldwide zombie assault. Drezner makes three assumptions regarding the undead: 1) the only way to kill a zombie is by destroying its brain; 2) a zombie's only desire is to consume live human flesh; and 3) if a human is bitten by a zombie, he will eventually die and become one. Given the aforementioned threat and the likelihood it would quickly become a global problem, Drezner explained how various theories of international relations would deal with it.
The concept of anarchy (in this case, the absence of a world government) is a foundation for the school of thought known as realism, Drezner noted. For realists, national governments are supreme and must rely on their own capabilities when facing an external threat, he said. Realists are concerned about how much they can gain relative to other nations, and would be profoundly skeptical about a cooperative international war against zombies, Drezner added. He likened realists to the the characters presented in Night of the Living Dead, who, rather than working together, broke into factions and fought over scarce resources in order to expand their own spheres of influence.
Unlike realism, adherents of liberalism believe cooperation is possible, even in an anarchic world, Drezner revealed. Certain aspects of the liberal paradigm would aid in the spread of the living dead, but they would also be very active in trying to eradicate the undead, he explained. Liberals would likely form of a multi-lateral counter-zombie organization designed to regulate and combat the zombie menace, Drezner said. Neoconservatives, on the other hand, would be suspicious of such an international institution, he continued. They are apt to recognize that flesh eating ghouls represent an existential threat to humanity and would recommend an aggressive militarized response, Drezner said, adding that neoconservatives would also expand the fight to places 'friendly' with the undead, and as a result would undercut global unity.
According to Drezner, affluent democracies are better equipped to deal with an undead invasion than authoritarian states. Countries that have decentralized authority, quick local responses, lower population densities, and good healh infrastructures would be in the best position to survive a zombie apocalypse, he noted. The United States and Canada are well prepared for such a catastrophe, he said, though his personal preference is New Zealand.
Walking Dead's Steven Yeun
In the first half-hour, Steven Yeun briefly spoke about his decision to become an actor and his role as Glenn in AMC's TV series, The Walking Dead. The story chronicles the struggle of a group of people trying to survive in a world overrun by the undead. "It's not about how many zombies you can kill in a day... the real fear comes from what is the person next to you capable of that you didn't think he was before all of this happened," he said. Yeun hinted that next season the small band of survivors will find themselves on Hershel's Farm, where his character could find romance and a reason to live.
Spectacular Plasma Tentacle
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a spectacular plasma tentacle, known as a solar prominence, as it erupted into space on March 19. More info, including video of the eruption, at Space.com.
Bumper music from Saturday March 26, 2011
- Midnight Express (The Chase)
- I Love L.A.
- Eternal Spiral
- Dead Man's Party
- Life Suite
- Life Is Beautiful
- End Of The Game
- Live and Let Die
Paul McCartney & Wings
- Bring Me To Life
- All You Zombies
- Hands of Time | <urn:uuid:2f7cb2d1-5d86-4ba6-8034-8623c2204e5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2011/03/26 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949935 | 786 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Public Announcement: Worldwide Caution
August 19, 2010
The Department of State has issued this Worldwide Caution to update information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world. U.S. citizens are reminded to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness. This replaces the Worldwide Caution dated February 12, 2010, to provide updated information on security threats and terrorist activities worldwide.
The Department of State remains concerned about the continued threat of terrorist attacks, demonstrations, and other violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests overseas. U.S. citizens are reminded that demonstrations and rioting can occur with little or no warning. Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics including suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, and bombings.
Extremists may elect to use conventional or non-conventional weapons, and target both official and private interests. Examples of such targets include high-profile sporting events, residential areas, business offices, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, public areas, and locales where U.S. citizens gather in large numbers, including during holidays.
U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Extremists have targeted and attacked subway and rail systems, as well as aviation and maritime services. In the past several years, attacks have occurred in cities such as London, Madrid, Glasgow, and Moscow.
Credible information indicates terrorist groups seek to continue attacks against U.S. interests in the Middle East and North Africa. For example, Iraq remains dangerous and unpredictable. Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue. Methods of attack have included roadside improvised explosive devices, mortars, and shootings; kidnappings still occur as well. Security threat levels remain high in Yemen due to terrorist activities there. The U.S. Embassy has had to close several times in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). U.S. citizens have been the targets of numerous terrorist attacks in Lebanon in the past and the threat of anti-Western terrorist activity continues to exist there. In Algeria, terrorist attacks occur regularly, particularly in the Kabylie region of the country. In the past, terrorists have targeted oil processing facilities in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
A number of al-Qaida operatives and other extremists are believed to be operating in and around Africa. Since the July 11, 2010, terrorist bombings in Kampala, Uganda, for which the Somalia-based, U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility, there have been increased threats against public areas across East Africa. The terrorist bombing in two public venues in Kampala, which resulted in 74 deaths, highlights the vulnerabilities of large public gatherings in East Africa and around the world. Additionally, the terrorist group, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has declared its intention to attack Western targets throughout the Sahel, which includes Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, and has claimed responsibility for kidnappings, attempted kidnappings, and the murder of several Westerners.
U.S. citizens considering travel by sea near the Horn of Africa or in the southern Red Sea should exercise extreme caution, as there has been a notable increase in armed attacks, robberies and kidnappings for ransom at sea by pirates. Merchant vessels continue to be hijacked in Somali territorial waters, while others have been hijacked as far as 1,000 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, Yemen, and Kenya in international waters.
The U.S. government maritime authorities advise mariners to avoid the port of Mogadishu, and to remain at least 200 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. In addition, when transiting around the Horn of Africa or in the Red Sea, it is strongly recommended that vessels travel in convoys, and maintain good communications at all times. U.S. citizens traveling on commercial passenger vessels should consult with the shipping or cruise ship company regarding precautions that will be taken to avoid hijacking incidents. Commercial vessels should review the Department of Transportation Maritime Administration's suggested piracy countermeasures for vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden.
The U.S. government continues to receive information that terrorist groups in South and Central Asia may be planning attacks in the region, possibly against U.S. government facilities, U.S. citizens, or U.S. interests. The presence of al-Qaida, Taliban elements, Lashkar-e-Taiba, indigenous sectarian groups, and other terror organizations, many of which are on the U.S. government's list of foreign terror organizations, poses a potential danger to U.S. citizens in the region. Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans or Westerners are known to congregate or visit. Their actions may include, but are not limited to, vehicle-born explosives, improvised explosive devices, assassinations, carjacking, rocket attacks, assaults, or kidnappings.
Some examples include Pakistan where a number of extremist groups continue to target U.S. citizens and other Western interests and Pakistani officials. Suicide bombing attacks continue to occur throughout the country on a regular basis, often targeting government authorities such as police checkpoints and military installations, as well as public areas such as mosques, and shopping areas. In Afghanistan, remnants of the former Taliban regime and the al-Qaida terrorist network, as well as other groups hostile to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)/NATO military operations, remain active. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. In India there is a continuing threat of terrorism as attacks have randomly targeted public places frequented by Westerners, including luxury and other hotels, trains, train stations, markets, cinemas, mosques, and restaurants in large urban areas.
Supporters of terrorist groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al-Qaida, the Islamic Jihad Union, and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement are active in the Central Asian region. Members of these groups have expressed anti-U.S. sentiments and have attacked U.S. government interests in the past. Previous terrorist attacks conducted in Central Asia have involved improvised explosive devices, suicide bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings.
Before You Go
U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department's travel registration website so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security. U.S. citizens without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, U.S. citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.
U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance, be aware of local events, and take the appropriate steps to bolster their personal security. For additional information, please refer to "A Safe Trip Abroad."
U.S. government facilities worldwide remain at a heightened state of alert. These facilities may temporarily close or periodically suspend public services to assess their security posture. In those instances, U.S. embassies and consulates will make every effort to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens abroad are urged to monitor the local news and maintain contact with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
As the Department of State continues to develop information on any potential security threats to U.S. citizens overseas, it shares credible threat information through its Consular Information Program documents, such as Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts as well as Country Information. In addition to information on the Internet, travelers may obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or, outside the United States and Canada on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Friday, Eastern Time (except U.S. federal holidays).
U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S Embassy or Consulate through the State Department's travel registration website. U.S. Embassy Pristina is located at 30 Nazim Hikmet St. in the Arberia/Dragodan area of Pristina. The telephone number is (381) 38-5959-3000. You may also contact the consular section of Embassy Pristina via e-mail. U.S. Embassy Skopje is located at Samilova 21, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia. The Embassy can also be reached via telephone (389) (2) 310-2000, and via the consular section’s e-mail. | <urn:uuid:f51e0205-d1ae-4163-9298-eebbe764f2da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pristina.usembassy.gov/warden_19082010.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949845 | 1,875 | 2.234375 | 2 |
New England Center of Investigative Reporting
When the iTunes Store began offering apps that used cellphone light to cure acne, federal investigators knew hucksters had found a new spot in cyberspace.
"We realized this could be a medium for mischief," said James Prunty, a Federal Trade Commission attorney who helped prosecute the government's only cases against health-app developers last year, shutting down two acne apps.
Since then, the Food and Drug Administration has been mired in a debate over how to oversee these new high-tech products. Government officials have not pursued any other app developers for making medically dubious claims. Now, both the iTunes store and Google Play store for Android users are riddled with health apps that experts say do not work, and in some case could even endanger people.
These apps offer quick fixes for everything from flabby abs to alcoholism, and they promise relief from pain, stress, stuttering, and even ringing in the ears. Many of these apps do not follow established medical guidelines, and few have been tested through the sort of clinical research that is standard for less new-fangled treatments sold by other means, a probe by The New England Center for Investigative Reporting has found.
While some are free, thousands must be purchased, ranging from 69 cents to $999. Nearly 247 million mobile-phone users worldwide are expected to download health apps in 2012, according to Research2Guidance, a global
In an examination of 1,500 health apps that cost money and have been available since June 2011, the center found that more than one out of five claims to treat or cure medical problems. Of the 331 therapeutic apps, nearly 43 percent relied on cellphone sound for treatments. Another dozen used the light of the cellphone, and two others used phone vibrations. Scientists say none of these methods could possibly work for the conditions in question.
"Virtually any app that claims it will cure someone of a disease, condition or mental-health condition is bogus," said John Grohol, an online health technology expert. "Developers are just preying on people's vulnerabilities."
Satish Misra, a physician and managing editor of the app review website iMedicalApps added: "They take some therapeutic method that is real -- and in some cases experimental -- and create a grossly simplified version of that therapy using the iPhone."
To be sure, there are many outstanding health apps, particularly those intended for doctors and hospitals, that are helping to revolutionize medical care, according to physicians and others. Among the most well-regarded apps for consumers: Lose It for weight loss, Azumio to measure heart rates and iTriage to check symptoms and locate the closest hospitals with shortest emergency-room wait times.
But consumers have almost no way of distinguishing great high-tech tools from what Prunty called the "snake oil." Without government oversight or independent testing of apps, people mainly rely on developers' advertisements and anonymous online reviews, many of which are positive but some, such as this one, are not: "Shame on Apple for even allowing this piece of crap on here... It preys on people with health issues."
When contacted, Apple declined to discuss anything about its apps. The company has issued lengthy guidelines for app developers, which say it will reject apps that crash, have bugs or do not perform as advertised.
A Google spokeswoman also declined to discuss its apps or its rules for developers.
The FDA is drafting regulations that outline what types of health apps will need government approval before they can be marketed in the United States. But the regulations have been bogged down by debates, hearings and legislative back and forth.
A few private groups, meanwhile, are working to assess the quality of various apps. Misra's iMedicalApps gets health-care professionals to review software applications that mainly interest physicians. Happtique, a subsidiary of the Greater New York Hospital Association, is about to launch the nation's first app-certification service which will evaluate apps for safety and effectiveness. It will award some apps the high-tech equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.
"We truly believe people need a trusted source," said Ben Chodor, Happtique's CEO.
Cardiac stress test
Misra, an internal medicine resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said he's most concerned about apps that claim to test or treat consumers for serious diseases. These apps can sometimes give inaccurate information or can lull people into ignoring symptoms that might need medical attention.
Cardiac Stress Test, for instance, says on Google Play (where it sells for $3.07) that it can determine "if you are ready for sports or if your heart is not in a healthy condition." A person takes his heart rate after performing 30 squats in less than 60 seconds, and enters it into the app's calculator, which then reports whether the user's heart is in shape for exercise.
"It's hard not to imagine how this app could give folks a false sense of security," Misra said, noting that assessing someone's cardiac status is not just a matter of looking at heart rate.
Simon Bertrand, who developed the app for his own use, said it is designed to help healthy people monitor their heart, similar to apps that monitor weight or body mass.
"If you are in poor health condition... go to see a doctor," he said in an email.
Later, in an interview by phone from France, Bertrand said his app was being offered for sale on Google Play within minutes of submitting it to the company.
"It's just a test," he said. "It's not an application that claims to cure."
Cellphone light as therapy
Apps that rely on cellphone light, meanwhile, cannot possibly have any therapeutic value, experts said. While light treatments can be used to relieve some medical problems, cellphone light is in the wrong spectrum and far too weak to make any impact at all, said the FTC's Prunty.
"Using the light of the cellphone is automatically suspect," Prunty said, which is why the agency decided last year to file complaints against two developers who claimed cellphone light could cure acne.
The FTC argued in its complaints that the developers' claims were "false or misleading." AcneApp, which sold for $1.99 on iTunes, claimed that blue light fought bacteria and red light helped heal skin. "Rest the iPhone against your skin's acne-prone areas for two minutes daily to improve skin health without prescription drugs," it said. The app was downloaded 11,600 times, according to the FTC complaint.
A similar app for Android phones, Acne Pwner, was downloaded 3,300 times, the FTC said.
AcneApp cited a study in the British Journal of Dermatology, which suggested that light therapy was almost twice as effective as over-the-counter blemish treatments. But the FTC said in its complaint that the study "does not prove that blue and red light therapy" effectively treats acne.
The two companies settled the complaints, without admitting any violation of the law, by paying fines of $14,294 in AcneApp's case, and $1.700 in Acne Pwner's case.
Gregory Pearson, the dermatologist who helped create AcneApp "was not making any claims of efficacy," said his attorney, Sesha Kalapatapu.
Cellphone lights are being marketing to treat other conditions too, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that occurs during the winter because of lack of sunlight. But SAD experts say even the most powerful cellphone lights are far too weak to treat depression.
Even health apps that seem more conventional often have fundamental flaws. Many don't conform with clinical practice guidelines.
An app to help people that have ringing in the ears, or tinnitus, was sold in both the iTunes and Google Play stores until early August and contained multiple medical misconceptions.
"Ringing Relief Pro," which sold for $2.99, advertised itself as "an easy and inexpensive way to cure your tinnitus... Simply play the low frequency hum that sounds best to you for 90 seconds and your ears should ring no more!" It claimed that tinnitus occurs "when tiny hairs in your inner ear get stuck in the bent position and send false signals to the brain."
In fact, tinnitus is not caused by stuck ear hairs and can be a sign of many underlying medical conditions, including hearing loss, high blood pressure, allergies, and anxiety, says Rhonda Ruby, an audiologist who has treated patients for 35 years at the West Newton Hearing Center in Massachusetts.
"There is no cure for tinnitus," she said.
The New England Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit investigative reporting newsroom at Boston University. Marion Halftermeyer, Sarah Kuranda, John Wayne Ferguson, Maddie Powell, Divya Shankar and Elizabeth Peters contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:e17c9b52-45cc-4a9d-a395-38d2f8e147f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_22021582/feeling-ill-might-not-be-an-app-that | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961241 | 1,831 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Commercial pilot is an exciting career for those with an adventurous bent of mind. Apart from being highly lucrative, it is more attractive because one can travel to many places. Commercial pilots should have thorough knowledge about air navigation, meteorological reports and sophisticated electronic and mechanical controls. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) provides recognition to the institutes to conduct training to pilots.
- Aspirants aged minimum 16 years must have completed 10+2 in science stream to possess a Student Pilot License (SPL). After procuring a SPL one must register at any of the flying clubs recognized by the DGCA.
- To register, candidates must produce a security clearance certificate, medical certificate and bank guarantee. Subsequent to registration, students are questioned orally on various subjects such as Aviation Meteorology, Air Regulations, Air Navigation and Engine to gauge their knowledge. Students are given SPL on successful completion of this examination.
- The next step is obtaining the Private Pilot License (PPL). It is a 60-hour training of which 15 hours are dual flights, i.e., flying with the instructor. This is followed by 30 hour solo flying. Subsequent to this you must complete a five-hour cross country flight. On successful completion of flying candidates should take up the PPL exam. It comprises subjects such as Aviation Meteorology, Air Regulation, Air Navigation, Aircraft Engines and Seamanship. Candidates must have completed 17 years of age to appear for this exam and have a minimum educational qualification of 10+2. A medical Fitness Certificate from the Armed Forces Central Medical Establishment (AFCME) is mandatory.
- It is only after obtaining the PPL candidates are eligible for Commercial Pilot License (CPL). It required 250 hours of flight, which is inclusive of the 60-hour PPL flight. A medical fitness test, which is held at New Delhi, is mandatory. Examination papers comprise subjects such as Aviation Meteorology, Air Regulations, Air Navigation, Technical, Planning and Radio Communication and Wireless Transmission. For professional assignments a CPL is a must.
- Those possessing attributes such as physical fitness, stamina, punctuality, commitment, sense of responsibility, patience would be suitable for this profession.
Jobs and careers:
The liberalized policies of the government has paved for private players to enter into airlines business. This has opened up many opportunities for commercial pilots. Apart from this, one can also find employment in the government sector. | <urn:uuid:7333640b-812c-42d0-88f9-e30b2eb81137> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southdreamz.com/education/commercial-pilot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94736 | 497 | 2.171875 | 2 |
See below for details!
Deadline: September 5, 2012
Thirst, living on the water, dependence, in hot water, missing water, water travel, the drought, surfers, marine life, fishermen, romanticism, whale warrior, narwhale, adventure at sea, abuse of water, artesian aquifer, trash-pit, texture, shapeless, tears, bodies, bottled, baptism, boiling, transparency, poetic, polemic, narcissism, steam, clouds, holy water, swimming pool, garden sprinklers, spring break, lost at sea, changing tides, the force of water, icebergs, bi-coastal, beach, play, elemental, floating, environmental justice, climate change, excess and scarcity, Mother Nature’s rights, resource wars, ripples, the deep end, across the pond, steaming mad, raining cats & dogs, acid rain, sea glass, sea monkeys, drip drip drop, dammed up, up a river, down a well, hydroponics, potability, precipitation, waterborne, ground-water reservoir, jet streams, wave crests, cirrus clouds, dilution, reflection, running dry…
The next iteration of Capricious, the WATER issue, will see us diving into one of the most pressing conservation topics of our time. The future of water, and its inextricable link to our planet’s survival, is unquestionably in the hands of our own generation as well as our children’s generations. So how do we see humanity’s relationship with water? How does that relationship appear in the developing world, as well as in the first world? And how do we, as individuals, interact with and think about water? Surprise us. Challenge the norm. Teach us something we don’t already know.
Additionally, with this issue, we are very excited to announce a new Capricious collaboration. Kindle Project LLC and Capricious are joining forces to present The Kindle Project Photography Awards. Three photographers exploring the theme of water in distinguishing ways will be provided with an award of $1000 USD. A selection committee will choose the artists. (Committee members have not yet been announced.)
Since 2008, Kindle Project LLC has supported artists working in traditional, modern, and experimental modes that question, confront, explore, frame or reframe the following: perceptions of identity; worldviews and the collective conscious; individual and social conditioning; relationships between nature, culture, and technology; the consensus of what is beautiful and what is ugly; the institutionalization of who can experience art and how it is experienced; political frameworks and authority; and sensuality.
Kindle Project Mission:
In these times of change, our social and political structures, environmental practices, relationships, and worldviews are being challenged to evolve.
As paradigms are shifting and current ways of living prove unsustainable, Kindle Project recognizes an opportunity to contribute to emerging alternatives for personal, institutional and planetary well-being.
Through the means of grant making and collaboration, Kindle Project seeks to foster a nexus of creative ideas and cultivators to inspire and support possibilities for change.
Capricious Magazine and its related projects provide a platform for the work of emerging and underrepresented fine art photographers who push the boundaries of their medium and bring critical attention to social, political, and environmental topics. Capricious thereby offers vital support needed to help both the artists and the issues to gain greater visibility.
We want you to submit 6-12 photographs (more will not be viewed). We accept all formats and all colors. Email your submission (images should be approximately 8×10 inches @ 72 dpi) to: firstname.lastname@example.org
Not all submissions will be guaranteed a spot in the coming issue but Capricious will consider your submission for future issues. Please make sure you have model (or any other legally necessary) releases for all submitted work. Capricious has the right to use published material in promotional matters. Deadline: September 5, 2012. For further questions, email email@example.com | <urn:uuid:f45d8a5b-3062-4782-bcd1-83516607b051> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://becapricious.com/index1.php/?tag=capricious | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914617 | 843 | 1.65625 | 2 |
UCLA Study Finds Few Latino Regular Characters on Prime-Time Television
April 6, 2004
By Letisia Márquez
Network prime-time programs during the fall 2003 season included more minority regular characters than in the previous year, but the number of Latino regular characters remained constant, according to a new study by UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center.
Overall, 25 percent of all regular characters, or 172, in fall 2003 were minorities compared with 23 percent, or 151, in fall 2002, according to the study, entitled "Looking for Latino Regulars on Prime-Time Television: The Fall 2003 Season." White characters accounted for more than 75 percent of all regular character roles on prime-time television and can be found on 95 percent of all prime-time series.
The study found that although Latinos make up 13 percent of the U.S. population and represent the largest minority group, the percentage of Latino regular characters remained constant at 4.1 percent. The study counted 690 regular characters/hosts on prime-time television, and only 28 were Latinos. Furthermore, Latino regular characters appeared on only five out of 12 genres identified in the study.
"The good news has been the development of Latino-themed series at several networks since these series now account for almost one-third of Latino regular characters on prime-time television," said Chicano Studies Research Center director Chon Noriega, who co-authored the study with Alison Hoffman, a researcher at the center. "But overall, Latinos are missing from 85 percent of television series. So if one of these Latino-themed series is cancelled, you see a big drop in numbers. That happened this year with the cancellation of 'Luis' and the shelving of 'The Ortegas,'" Noriega said.
The study examined race as it is depicted onscreen through regular characters on individual programs and within genres on television's six major English-language commercial networks. It also analyzed where a series located its dramatic center racially. White-themed series were identified as those in which the major central characters are white - and around whom minority regular characters function in more of a supporting role - or in which the storyline revolved around white characters, settings or themes. Similar distinctions were used to identify black-, Latino- and multiethnic-themed series.
Researchers analyzed television series' Web sites that promote a show's regular characters with biographies and images. For a series in which a Web site provided inconclusive information, researchers viewed the series' title sequence during the first month of the fall 2003 season.
"Our goal was to rely on the networks' own marketing efforts, since it reflects their increasing sensitivity to these issues," Noriega said.
Major findings in the report show:
- · The number of all minority regular characters increased slightly from 23 percent in fall 2002 to 25 percent in fall 2003.
- Nevertheless, slightly fewer programs, or 60 percent, featured minority regular characters in fall 2003, compared with 63 percent in fall 2002.
- "Luis" and "The George Lopez Show" were the only Latino-themed programs and accounted for 30 percent of all Latino regular characters on prime time.
- Latino regular characters appeared on only five out of 12 genres: crime, situation comedy, drama, science fiction and sports. They were absent from other genres such as teen, medical, musical, and news and reality shows.
- A significant percentage of Latino regular characters - 7 percent - appeared on crime shows; on sitcoms they made up 5.5 percent. Researchers had mixed views about these statistics. While crime shows and sitcoms are the two most popular genres, researchers also viewed the phenomenon as problematic in that these two genres largely define how Latinos are portrayed on television.
- Dramas accounted for the lowest percentage of Latino regular characters, or 1.7 percent, and they also had the lowest number of minority regular characters, or 15 percent.
Researchers questioned why few or no minority regular characters appear on prime-time television series, particularly when many series are set in diverse urban areas such as "The O.C.," "Good Morning Miami" and "ER," which does not have any Latino regular characters.
"These and many other series are set in cities with large, if not majority, Latino populations and yet they do not have Latino regular characters," Noriega said.
Noriega and Hoffman praised the networks for their inclusion of multiethnic shows, which accounted for 7 percent of prime-time television series, and which were often marketed for their multiethnic casts and appeal. | <urn:uuid:30f06e74-4dc3-41f1-be9d-7d23e1f6ba46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.c3.ucla.edu/newsstand/art/ucla-study-finds-few-latino-regular-characters-on-prime-time-television/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961467 | 935 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Demonstration in solidarity with the prisoners at Pelican Bay in California. The demonstration took place on July 9 to support inmates on a hunger strike. (Photo: Judy Greenspan), a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Solitary confinement 'is driving men insane,' exonerated convict testifies
Solitary confinement is 'inhumane,' former death row inmate Anthony Graves tells a Senate panel considering reforms. The hearing follows a lawsuit over the practice in California.
By Jamie Goldberg, Washington Bureau
10:45 PM PDT, June 19, 2012
WASHINGTON — For most of his 12 years on death row, Anthony Graves lived in what he called an 8-by-12 "cage." To see outside he would stand on top of his rolled-up plastic mattress and look through a small window at the top of the concrete wall in the back of his cell. He spent 22, sometimes 24, hours a day in this room.
"Solitary confinement does one thing: It breaks a man's will to live and he ends up deteriorating. He's never the same person again," said Graves, who served over 18 years in a Texas prison before being exonerated of all crimes in 2010.
Speaking at what was described as the first congressional hearing about solitary confinement, Graves told a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee that the practice was "inhumane and by its design is driving men insane."
Psychological studies indicate that approximately a third of prisoners in solitary confinement suffer from mental illness and 50% of prison suicides occur in solitary confinement, said Craig Haney, a psychology professor at UC Santa Cruz.
This month, the Center for Constitutional Rights sued the state of California for its practice of isolating prison inmates suspected of having gang affiliations. The lawsuit focuses on 300 inmates who have been held at Pelican Bay State Prison's Security Housing Unit for more than a decade.
Charles Samuels, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, told the committee that inmates were only placed in solitary confinement to protect the safety of the prison population. The bureau attempts to limit time spent in solitary confinement, which is not supposed to be used for seriously mentally ill inmates, he said.
"Inmates who are disruptive or aggressive to others endanger the security of our institutions," Samuels said. "Removing and segregating them from the general population allows us to continue to operate institutions."
Senate Assistant Majority Leader Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee chairman, said he planned to introduce legislation that would reform solitary confinement in federal institutions.
"I worry about those that end up in isolation for extended periods of time, who are subject to mental stress like none of us can imagine, and then go home to the general population," Durbin said.
The emotional scars of solitary confinement still haunt Graves, who has trouble sleeping and often cries at night.
"We as American citizens are driving other American citizens out of their minds," Graves said. | <urn:uuid:29e3884f-2123-4fa4-bab7-3a50eed67153> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2012/06/us-solitary-confinement-driving-men.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960143 | 608 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Focused on cloud-based netbooks, Jolicloud aspires toward extreme user-friendliness so that any computer user can install it with just one click. Besides the standard .ISO image, the distribution is also provided as a Windows executable file that can resize an existing Windows partition and install Jolicloud as an alternative operating system. Jolicloud is heavily oriented towards Web applications and services.
A Multimedia Focus: Ubuntu Studio and Mythbuntu
Ubuntu Studio is a variant of Ubuntu aimed at audio, video and graphics professionals. Accordingly, it includes a collection of open source applications for multimedia creation.
Mythbuntu, on the other hand, uses the Xfce desktop and focuses on setting up a standalone MythTV-based PVR system.
For Education: Edubuntu
Edubuntu is designed to be suitable for classroom use, enabling an educator with limited technical knowledge and skill to set up and administer a computer lab or online learning environment in an hour or less without having to become a Linux expert.
A Different Desktop: Kubuntu and Netrunner
Whereas Ubuntu has always shipped with the GNOME desktop interface by default, Kubuntu and Netrunner are both variations that use the KDE desktop instead. The differences are mainly cosmetic, but you may find you prefer KDE, which uses more blues and grays than GNOME's purples.
In short, Ubuntu is a great Linux distribution for both business and home users, but part of the beauty of Linux is the wealth of choices available and the ease of trying them out. If your business has specific needs--or if there's anything you'd like to change in Ubuntu--one of these variants might be just the ticket.
Follow Katherine Noyes on Twitter: @Noyesk. | <urn:uuid:e61575e3-2359-4f89-aca5-1860a38a4b4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.itworld.com/open-source/128376/12-ubuntu-derivatives-you-should-consider?page=0,1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904898 | 359 | 1.539063 | 2 |
By Jim Schutze
By Rachel Watts
By Lauren Drewes Daniels
By Anna Merlan
By Lee Escobedo
By Eric Nicholson
"When we got to the other side, it was Christmastime, and right away we met this man that was really nice and gave us food and warm clothes. He told us to be careful, because the immigration is always looking for people, and it would be best if we left Laredo. We were going to, but we were hungry again, so we asked for money in front of a movie theater. This woman saw us, and asked if we wanted to go to her house. We were three, but she made us all lunch. The other two left, but I didn't want to go. She was so nice, so I asked her if I could stay with her, and she said yes."
Jose had been in Laredo for a month, working on losing his Honduran accent, he says, when one day, he walked out of the movie theater and they saw him.
"I looked at them, and I knew they were police or something. I was by myself, and they were asking me things in English. I didn't know what to say, because I can't speak English. I think they wanted to know why I wasn't in school, but all I could tell them was 'Honduras, Honduras.' I couldn't tell them I was staying with this woman from Laredo, so they took me to the immigration office."
Three days later, Jose was delivered to Casa Shelter, one of Dallas' oldest youth shelters. Surrounded by the trees and the grounds of Bachman Lake Park, Casa looks like a summer camp stuck in the middle of northwest Dallas. As a part of the YMCA's community-services branch, Casa offers runaways and other kids at loose ends a place to stay for a while, and it contracts with INS to provide temporary housing for undocumented minors after immigration officials detain them.
Last year, the shelter took in 80 kids for the INS; by April of this year, they had provided beds for 23. "We usually keep them for up to 30 days and try to contact their home country or village," says Ben Casey, president of the Dallas YMCA. "Most of the time, they will somehow, together, send a bus ticket or a train ticket so the kid can go back home."
Within days of their border arrest, Walter and Elmer had also been brought to Casa and housed in its safe, structured environs until the INS could figure out what to do with them. If the agency can locate relatives in the United States, and these relatives agree to take the child in, he will be allowed to stay with them until the conclusion of deportation proceedings.
Walter was placed with his aunt, who lives in a diminutive 2-bedroom apartment in East Dallas with up to nine other family members and friends who need a place to stay. Speaking above the din of the tiny television tuned to Spanish-language soap operas, he explains that he lost his first job in construction because he had no papers, but is working 12-hour days with a landscaping firm while he waits for the INS' decision.
Jose, on the other hand, is an orphan and has no relatives. He stayed for more than a month at Casa while the nonprofit agency Proyecto Adelante attempted to find him a temporary home.
Finding himself in a clean, secure place with regular meals and caring adults, Jose was content to be at Casa, though he says, with the beginnings of adolescent sarcasm, "What if I didn't like it? It's not like they asked me if I wanted to go."
His experiences have given him ample reason to be defensive, but this time he might be able to break out of his pattern of being handled and mishandled by strangers.
While at Casa Shelter, Jose met Lynda Barros, Proyecto Adelante's legal director, who also coordinates its juvenile program. When Casa Shelter receives an immigrant minor, Barros is contacted, and she explains the different legal options, navigating the child through the maze of technicalities. When kids, even the tough ones, are told they are being sent home after risking their lives to get here, they are devastated.
"All of these kids come with a dream of making a better life for themselves and proving to everyone that a young kid with no money and no family can make something of himself. Unfortunately, for most of them--I'd say for over 90 percent of them--there is nothing I can do," says Barros. "All I can do is give them moral support, walk with them into court so they're not entirely alone when they get their deportation notice. That is the part I hate about my job."
There are a handful who can stay, but they must qualify for a special immigrant juvenile status, explains Paul Zoltan, an immigration lawyer who has been taking Proyecto Adelante's cases for free since 1992.
"The process starts in the family court," he says. "First, the court has to find that family reunification is not an option, either because the child is an orphan or because the parent-child relationship was severed due to abuse, abandonment, or neglect. If the family court finds that it is not in the child's best interests to return to the home country, then it declares a new arrangement, in which an adult is named managing conservator, or it just declares the child an orphan. Then he can go to a shelter and hopefully be taken in by a foster family down the pike."
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Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city | <urn:uuid:1e9371f6-7202-4006-8178-398bd8459e9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dallasobserver.com/1999-05-27/news/children-of-the-storm/5/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982414 | 1,224 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Recovering data from an EXT3 disk
Although most sources of basic information on the EXT3 disk format states that you can't recover deleted files it's not strictly true. As they also state, you can 'grep' for text in the partition and in that way recover many types of files.
Strangely many tools for recovery of EXT2 and EXT3 disks actually run on the windows platform instead of the Linux platform which uses these formats.
Before heading for powerful tools which can take a long time to run it is worth thinking about the type(s) of information you want to recover. Information stored as plain text can be easily recovered inside a working GNU/Linux installation with a command which simply writes what it finds on the partition to a text file. In the example /dev/sda7 has the information we want and /path/to/big_text_file is where the information will be saved as one big text file. Make sure there is enough space for it and do not put it on the partition you are trying to recover from:
#strings /dev/sda7 > /path/to/big_text_file
The GNU/Linux tool TestDisk can find and recreate lost partitions, and its sister project PhotoRec can recover many types of image and video files by looking for the distinctive pattern at the start of such files.
A slightly different tool is giis which allows for recovery of files deleted after it is installed. | <urn:uuid:1d0e66c3-200a-4a01-a521-04df89ae4ce6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Data_Recovery | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930253 | 302 | 1.914063 | 2 |
On the occasion of the 21st Session of the Committe on AgricultureA Side Event on Organic Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment
FAO, Rome, 22 April 2009
from 12:00 to 14h:00 hours
Iran Room, FAO Headquarter, Rome
The event is financed by the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and organized by the Danish International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems (ICROFS) in collaboration with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and FAO.
Denmark has been named “Organic Country of the Year 2009” and will be hosting COP15 in Copenhagen in December 2009. The side event is organized in recognition of the important value Organic Agriculture may play in answering to the social and environmental challenges that our food systems are facing and the need to cope with growing food demands in times of climate change. The interdependencies and relationship between agriculture, environment and climate change will have to be taken into consideration for the choices we make to secure a sustainable production of food and fibre.
Organic agriculture and agro-ecological methods improves and depends on biodiversity, soil fertility and other ecological support functions. Research results indicates that agro-ecological methods, as used in Organic Agriculture, potentially have positive effects related to climate adaptation as well as climate mitigation which can be of high value for future sustainable development in particular smallholder farmers possibilities to improve their agricultural production while adapting to climate change.
Organic agriculture is knowledge intensive and should be adapted to local conditions and the farmers’ situation. Thus, there is need for further development in line with the principles of organic agriculture and there is a need for improved knowledge transfer systems which acknowledges traditional as well as scientific knowledge. We, the organizers, would, therefore, appreciate this opportunity to discuss with representatives from FAO member countries the possible contributions of organic agriculture to answer to the challenges for the agricultural sector in different countries.
The side event will present a range of important issues from a general perspective by representatives from FAO, IFOAM and ICROFS as well as from an African and Asian perspective by representatives from Ethiopia and Thailand. Further details are provided in the programme.
On the occasion of the 16th IFOAM World Organic Congress
FAO Workshop on Organic Agriculture and Climate Change, Modena, 18 June 2008
Climate change and the quest for sustainable energy are challenging agroecosystems’ productivity and food supply systems. The environmental claim of organic agriculture puts it at the forefront of concrete alternative pathways in this “Carbon adaptation era”. However, there is need to better understand the contribution of organic agriculture to climate change mitigation and adaptation and identify relevant Carbon-related assesment methods and standards.
This Workshop harnesses knowledge and experience of the organic community in three areas: climate change adaptation and mitigation; energy use and bioenergy; and Carbon in organic certification. The Workshop will be opened by Alexander Mueller, Assistant Director-General, Natural Resources Management and the Environment, FAO, who will inform on the outcomes of the High-Level Conference on Food Security and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy held in Rome, 3-5 June 2008.
Claude Aubert will present the outcome of the International Scientific Dialogue on Organic Agriculture Climate Change, held in Lempdes, France, 17-18 April 2008, covering the impact of food production and consumption on global warming as well as the potential of organic food systems in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change. Paul Happerly will report on the Rodale Institute 28 years-long observations of soil carbon sequestration and nitrogen levels of organic maize and soybean cropping systems. Urs Niggli will share FiBL’ experience and research questions on possible scenarios of adaptation potential of organic agriculture to climate change. Vandana Shiva will launch the Future for Food Commission Manifesto on the vulnerability of the industrial globalised agriculture to climate change and the false promises of the agrofuel surge, calling for diversified organic systems in order secure both environmental sustainability and food security.
Gudula Azeez will discuss the energy efficiency of UK agricultural sector, based on the Soil Association analysis of the results of Life Cycle Analyses of organic and non-organic products. Jean-Michel Florin will present a biodynamic mouvement’ practical tool to evaluate farm carbon balance, including biomass production above and below ground (roots, grains, stems) and farm imported carbon (feed, straw, manure) for a better appreciation of the performance of crop rotations, permanent pastures, animal feed and green manuring. Adrian Muller will explore the sustainability of biomass production for energy use and the compatibility of large-scale bioenergy supply with the organic principles of closed nutrient cycles and energy sufficiency. Bruno Borsari will argue that marginal lands can be fruitfully put to use through bioenergy crops.
J. Paull will link carbon footprint offset programmes to increasing pesticide footprint in silviculture, arguing for the adoption of organic forestry standards and certification. Johan Cejie will further presents KRAV climate certification scheme for greenhouses, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, processing and transportation, including a discussion on the different benefits of approaches (such as LCA and Production and Processing Methods) and avenues for international standardization. Volkert Engelsman will present Soil & More low emission composting technology and the process for its approval as a greenhouse gas emisssion reduction project that qualifies for generating carbon credits in several countries.
Following discussion on the above-mentioned topics, Nadia Scialabba will summarize best practices undertaken thus far by the organic community, including opportunities for expansion and improvement of organic practices useful in the transition from a fossil-fuel based agriculture to a climate-responsive agriculture. | <urn:uuid:d885208c-b098-4dfa-adfb-223c64146dfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fao.org/organicag/oa-specialfeatures/oa-climatechange/2008/ifoam-es/es/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909359 | 1,180 | 2.203125 | 2 |
December 29th, 2011
07:11 PM GMT
London (CNN) – I have always been fascinated by the international date line; The arbitrary line where one day gives way to the next. When flying across the Pacific I often try to stay awake for that moment when you gain or lose a day as you cross this artificial barrier. So Samoa’s decision to shift its dateline has enthralled me.
Samoa is slap-bang in the middle of the Pacific, just 20 miles from the U.S. side of the line. Currently, Los Angeles is two hours ahead, and Sydney, Australia - on the other side - a whopping 21 hours ahead. (Ed's note: Many thanks to everyone who pointed out our own time zone slip, which is now corrected.) According to the country, most business is done with Australia and New Zealand, so Samoans are losing out on two days of business, because of the timings of work weeks and weekends.
So on Thursday, at the stroke of midnight, Samoa will shift the line. And it will instantly be Saturday morning, just after midnight.
Friday would never have existed for those who live in Samoa. Vamooshed. (I know how it works, but I still can’t get my head around it).
There is real politics in this: Samoa used to be on the western side of the dateline. It was moved in 1892 after U.S. traders persuaded the king they would be better off aligning their time to California and the U.S. not Japan and Asia. But geographically, Samoa is 2100 miles closer to Sydney than Los Angles, so the change back makes a lot of sense.
The dateline itself is an entirely artificial construction. In 1884, at the Meridian Conference, it was decided the Universal Day would be determined from Greenwich, in the UK. The line itself wends its way through the conveniently sparsely populated ocean – twisting and turning to allow for national boundaries.
Several countries have shifted the line in one way or another for their own commercial, social or nationalistic convenience, so there are precedents for Samoa’s action.
The concept fascinates me. The myths and traditions of the dateline are many, from dunking sailors when they cross it for the first time, to the book “Around the World in 80 days” where the line plays a crucial part in the plot. The dateline has even played a role in my own business travel: I was once paid two per diems from CNN when travelling, because I had crossed the dateline and so had an extra day.
The dateline continues to be a source of bewilderment and confusion, but offers a practical solution to the philosophical idea of where the day begins. I love crossing the dateline, and I wish good luck to Samoa today. Or is it tomorrow. Or maybe it’s yesterday. Will somebody please get me an atlas…
From around the web
About Business 360
CNN International's business anchors and correspondents get to grips with the issues affecting world business, and they want your questions and feedback. | <urn:uuid:bc20ce19-0fc4-4c99-8ca1-a2ea5cc5d583> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/29/quest-samoas-smart-skip-into-a-new-date-with-saturday/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949721 | 646 | 2.15625 | 2 |
By Tom Wilemon The Tennessean
Fried pork chops. Monkey bread. Cream cheese chicken casserole.
These are the foods that flavor the pages of Alice Randall's novel about a black woman in Nashville trying to lose weight. But she's quick to point out that soul food is not the only disease vector in the city's diabetes hot zone.
It's not the dinner grandma cooked last Sunday so much as the sugary soft drinks from convenience stores and the ready-made, processed foods from drive-through restaurants.
"Those are not soul foods," Randall said. "Those are commercial, mass-marketed fast foods. There's nothing elementally soul food about them."
Soul food and processed sugars are the latest passion topics in the ongoing debate about what's wrong with the American diet. Medical experts and diet pundits try to identify whether calories, fat grams, carbohydrates or sugars are most to blame for rising rates of obesity and diabetes. Other diet experts warn there are no easy answers for ending the epidemic.
The ZIP codes in Nashville with the highest rates of diabetes are the African-American neighborhoods north and south of downtown. With the disease more prevalent among blacks than whites, soul food is under scrutiny. But so is the sugar in ready-made, processed foods.
Experts agree that obesity is fueling the diabetes epidemic. Being overweight increases the odds of developing type 2 diabetes. About 80 percent of people diagnosed with the condition are overweight.
In Randall's work of fiction, "Ada's Rules," she drew on her personal quest to lose weight after learning she was pre-diabetic, which is having a blood glucose level above the normal threshold of 100 but still under the diabetes mark of 125.
Randall is a novelist, not a medical expert. But a physician and author of books on the American diet and its consequences has a similar viewpoint. Dr. Robert H. Lustig contends that sugar-infused fast foods and processed foods are addictive. His new book, "Fat Chance," takes a pointed look at how sugar is embedded in both grocery store items and take-out menus -- foods high in calories but low in fiber.
Soul food is actually a wiser choice over the ready-made diet, said Randall.
"The elemental black foods are the baked sweet potato and the peanut butter," she said, noting that natural peanut butter has no added sugar.
Trazana Staples, founder of Another Avenue Cultural Resource Center, which advocates for backyard gardens and healthier cooking choices, has a more expansive idea of soul food. She uses substitute ingredients.
"I've learned to prepare my greens but not to put meat in them, using herbs, such as cilantro, parsley, rosemary, basil and thyme," Staples said. "They taste if not better, just as good. With my sweet potatoes, instead of using white sugar, I use honey. For cornbread, I use almond milk or coconut milk and milled corn, not the processed enriched corn."
The American Diabetes Association has a pamphlet called "The New Soul Food Recipe Sampler for People with Diabetes." It includes a recipe for pineapple upside down cake that has 29 grams of sugar per serving. It's the kind of recipe that sugar critics would frown upon.
But if you're already diabetic, debates about what causes the disease don't matter as much as managing it, said Ann Albright, a dietitian and exercise physiologist who heads diabetes prevention for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Food is very personal," she said, calling for diets customized to people's preferences and cultural backgrounds.
"Otherwise, forget it," Albright said. "You might as well hand somebody a piece of a paper in a foreign language, because they are not going to do it. How many times do we hear about the non-compliant diabetic? We have really sunk ourselves in a hole on that whole deal. There's not a magic diet. There's not a magic bullet."
Nashville novelist Randall is a bit weary of the focus on soul food. "It's not food alone, and I'm not sure it's food predominantly," she said.
There are other factors for American-American women, she said, such as being sleep-deprived from working two or three part-time jobs with erratic hours while caring for children. Another issue is not having the time or space to exercise.
"Food traditions connect us back to Africa, to our identity and the sense of our families as powerful, creative beings who are able to provide for us in just the simplest sense," Randall said.
And she's an advocate for drinking water -- at least eight glasses a day. Lynn Stuart, director of teen services for United Neighborhood Health Services, which operates clinics in the city's diabetes hot zone, said too many young people don't.
"I noticed this past summer, just making home visits in different neighborhoods, on any given day, young people would be just walking down the street with a 64-ounce soft drink in their hand, chugging it down all day," he said.
Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity, has already surpassed type 1 diabetes, once called juvenile diabetes, as the leading cause of new cases of the disease among Native American children. Federal health officials worry that the tipping point is near for black and Hispanic children.
Dinners based around vegetables could reverse that trend. Said Randall: "Soil food is soul food." | <urn:uuid:25697cb2-fb65-4b8a-a916-a242d93a20b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wltx.com/news/article/217679/291/Soul-Foods-At-Root-Of-Diabetes-Debate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962672 | 1,122 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Barack Obama: The Story
by David Maraniss
Simon and Schuster, 641 pp., $32.50
David Maraniss in his proudly sprawling Barack Obama: The Story presents a biography of the president that he is determined goes deeper than anything else out there. He is clearly pleased to have reached previously untapped sources. Barack Obama: The Story is well over five hundred pages and at its end the future president is just twenty-seven years old, on his way to Harvard Law School. Many share his subject, but Maraniss is the large beast come to the watering hole. | <urn:uuid:8db53512-540b-4190-a0c0-972961215fe0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/aug/16/young-barry-wins/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95883 | 123 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Keeping the Honeymoon Alive
Having a child shouldn't mean the end of intimacy.
March 7, 2000 (Santa Fe, N.M.) -- It's probably always been a struggle to maintain emotional intimacy with one's partner while taking care of young children, but according to new findings at the University of California at Berkeley, putting the two together is becoming more and more difficult.
Carolyn Pape Cowan and Philip Cowan, University of California at Berkeley psychologists, have been studying young parents -- two-job families -- since 1979. In the latest edition of their book, When Partners Become Parents: The Big Life Change for Couples (January 2000), results of recent research following 100 families who had 4-year-old children show that the risk of marital strain for such couples has increased in the last 10 years, while the level of support has fallen.
"Parents are more stressed now than were parents in the mid-90s, and as a society we don't take very good care of the parents in our communities," says Carolyn Cowan. "Then we wonder why there are problem children and why so many couples split up." She cites increasing work pressures and fewer provisions for health care among the stresses felt by the families she studied. Since these families have two incomes, says Cowan, the assumption might be made that they have no problems. "But such couples often have little time together."
"They are tired, and isolated," Cowan says. "The danger is that stress seeps into their relationship as couples; then the children feel it and tend to have more behavior problems or worry about things being their fault, or get depressed, even aggressive. And that adds to the spiral of family tension." In these circumstances, an event such as a child's starting a new school or a parent's job change can trigger a family meltdown.
The Pressure-Cooked Family
Consider one young pair of hard-working attorneys, married five years, with a 3-year-old daughter who had been attending a fine day care center with extended hours where she was blissfully happy. But when the day care owner abruptly decided to close, the parents soon found themselves arguing late at night, and their daughter would wake up crying. They hadn't realized how tired they were, or how vulnerable, says Cowan. Also cited in the study was a new father who found himself receiving a cigar in the boss's office on a Friday just after the baby's birth. "But just don't forget," the boss reminded the happy dad, "I still want that report on my desk by Monday. "
Overwhelmed parents constitute a national crisis, says veteran family therapist Braulio Montalvo, co-author with Marla Isaacs and David Abelsohn of The Therapy of Difficult Divorce. "There is so much talk of recent prosperity, but it doesn't drip down to where the support is needed," says Montalvo. "The family in this country is besieged, and it is an inter-institutional problem. We need quality day care for workers with young children and enlightened corporate policy supported by the federal government. People think we are at the top of the world, but we have a lot to learn."
Cowan, too, says the working world makes few concessions to families these days. "These couples need parental leave, flex time, time off when children are ill." But despite the booming economy, parents don't feel they can bargain with employers. And, says Cowan, most parents feel alone in their problems. Single mothers suffer too, of course. "They are tired, often not emotionally available to their children after a long day at work, and many of them worry about leaving their children in substandard day care."
Sarah Davis, who teaches a course in stress management at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico, knows about women with young children working on a survival level. "It describes most of my class. Several of them even have two jobs, and all of them worry about the kind of day care their children are getting." Davis has seen a healthy camaraderie build as people in her class share and discuss problems. Although it might not remove the obstacles, just being heard eases some of the stress.
The Road to Survival
The Cowans make a case for professionally guided support groups and counseling -- where they say even a little help can make a difference. In the original study, a group of new parents picked at random met with psychologists over a six-month period to discuss issues from raising children to relationships with their own parents. After three years no divorces had occurred in this group, while the families without such support had a 15% divorce rate.
Carolyn Cowan says it's important for stressed parents to know they are not alone. "Most people don't know that. The tendency is to blame their partner: 'You're not here enough, and I'm doing more.' " She urges parents to keep in touch with each other as best they can despite the obstacles. "Our results make it clear that mothers and fathers in satisfying adult relationships are more effective with their children. Don't let the marriage go onto the back burner, make time for it, time to connect with your partner. Don't get so distant that you're living in separate worlds, not appreciating the stress in each other's lives."
Some couples find it helpful to find 10 minutes a day for an uninterrupted conversation just to check in. This may mean setting the alarm 10 minutes early or stepping out onto the porch to talk, or grabbing a few minutes after a toddler drops off to sleep at night. If time permits, an evening out together can be a wonderful way to reconnect. And if you need professional help, by all means get it. "Do it for your children," says Cowan. "You will reap the rewards."
Jeanie Puleston Fleming writes frequently for The New York Times and other publications.
©1996-2005 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:b507f9fe-9e28-480d-adf2-1199d6f109df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51552 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97592 | 1,239 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Written by PETA
If heavy metal music doesn't conjure up visions of playful puppies and fluffy bunnies, maybe it should. These metalheads are proving that nothing rocks like being kind to animals:
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Here's a toxic tidbit from the "Gross Meat Facts" files: Chickens who are raised for their flesh are routinely given feed laced with Roxarsone, an additive that contains—are you ready for this—arsenic. May we suggest a new slogan for the nugget bucket? "Potent poison in every piece!"
The fact is, roughly 70 percent of the chickens who are raised for their flesh in the U.S. are fed arsenic-laced feed. (Like antibiotics, arsenic is believed to speed growth and produce more meat to sell, quicker.) The chicken industry insists that most of the arsenic is eliminated in the chickens' waste (tough luck for fish in nearby waterways), but a recent study conducted by the Utah Department of Health revealed that it is also excreted in chickens' eggs. This was discovered after two children who ate eggs daily from the family's hens (who had been given feed containing Roxarsone) were found to have arsenic levels in their bloodstream that were at least twice the level deemed toxic.
It's also in chickens' flesh, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), an organization that is petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban arsenic feed additives. The IATP found that all the fast-food chicken and more than half of the store-bought chicken tested contained elevated levels of arsenic. High arsenic levels have been linked to certain cancers as well as immune system, endocrine, and neurological problems.
I guess now we know why the Colonel is so anxious to keep his recipe a secret.
Written by Alisa Mullins
You've seen what it's like on Chinese fur farms, but what about Norwegian ones?
Yep, the fur industry is heinous wherever you go.
Need more proof? Check out the rest of the images from Network for Animal Freedom of Norway's 2009 investigations.
Written by Shawna Flavell
People often hear about PETA's "big" victories for animals—such as how Donna Karan dropped fur from her collections—but that's just the tip of the iceberg. For instance, as a result of pressure from PETA, government officials in Ohio agreed to cancel plans to poison the pigeons who had made their homes near the county courthouse. The original plan was to serve up feeders full of poisoned birdseed to the unsuspecting pigeons. Messed up, right? Good thing we stepped in, because—thanks to our efforts—they'll be researching more humane methods.
The poison would have sent birds into convulsions, made them disoriented, and caused them to suffer for hours before dying. Poison is indiscriminate—any bird could ingest it. And the dead birds' bodies would also have posed a hazard to other animals, including cats, dogs, and birds of prey, who might consume them.
Not only is poisoning pigeons cruel, it doesn't even accomplish the long-term goal of getting rid of the population. Pigeons naturally maintain their numbers depending on the amount of food and space available. If 100 pigeons were poisoned, the surviving pigeons would breed more quickly to replace the dead members of their flock, which means that the population would actually increase over time. Case in point: These same officials had tried poisoning the flock in the past, only to find themselves with even more feathered friends in the long run.
Nonlethal methods of resolving conflicts with pigeons, such as Bird Barrier, are not only kinder but also more effective. Everybody wins!
Written by Lianne Turner
you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to
an animal, please click
here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the
animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local
police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA
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Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights? Read more. | <urn:uuid:acc93008-d74f-43c1-8f82-2b1bc5ae0990> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/tags/poison/default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971752 | 951 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Dec. 6, 2012 How well are the most important climate models able to predict the weather conditions for the coming year or even the next decade? Potsdam scientists Dr. Dörthe Handorf and Prof. Dr. Klaus Dethloff from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association (AWI) have evaluated 23 climate models and published their results in the current issue of the international scientific journal Tellus A. Their conclusion: there is still a long way to go before reliable regional predictions can be made on seasonal to decadal time scales. None of the models evaluated is able today to forecast the weather-determining patterns of high and low pressure areas such that the probability of a cold winter or a dry summer can be reliably predicted.
The most important questions currently being asked in climate research concern the impact of global climate change regionally and in the medium term. These are the subjects of national and international research programmes and will play a large role in the next world climate report because societies having to adjust to climatic changes should know which specific changes they must expect. For the energy or agricultural sector, for example, it would be enormously important to know if the weather conditions prevailing in a region in the medium term could be reliably predicted. Against this background, the prediction quality of current climate models for the period of seasons to a decade is of great importance.
Earth's weather is significantly determined by large-scale circulation patterns of the atmosphere. One example of this is the North Atlantic oscillation which influences the strength and location of the westerly winds over the North Atlantic and therefore determines the tracks of the low pressure systems over North and Central Europe. Circulation patterns of this nature, also referred to as "teleconnection," are distributed over the entire globe and determine the spatial and temporal distribution of areas of high and low pressure over large distances. Scientists speak here of the formation of "meteorological centres of action" which determine the weather of an entire region. In the case of the North Atlantic oscillation, these are the known weather centres of the "Icelandic Low" and the "Azores High."
"Short-term weather forecasts are now very reliable. The problems for seasonal and decadal, that is medium-term, predictions refer to the enormous variability and the broad range of feedback effects to which atmospheric circulation is subjected," explains AWI meteorologist Dörthe Handorf with respect to the special challenge presented to model makers. To test the forecast quality of the 23 most important climate models, the AWI scientists investigated how well these models were able to reproduce atmospheric teleconnection patterns over the past 50 years. A total of 9 known circulation patterns were investigated retrospectively, four of which in special detail. The result was that the spatial distribution of atmospheric teleconnection patterns is already described very well by some models. However, none of the models were able to reliably reproduce how strong or weak the Icelandic Low, Azores High and other meteorological centres of action were at a particular time over the last 50 years, i.e. the temporal distribution patterns.
"Climate researchers throughout the world are currently working on increasing the resolution of their models and the performance of their climate computers," says AWI researcher Dörthe Handorf in describing an obvious and important possibility of further improving the medium-term prediction quality of climate models. This enables climatic changes to be reproduced on a smaller spatial and temporal scale. "But it will not be enough to increase the pure computer power," says the Potsdam scientist who has worked on questions of climate variability since 1997. "We must continue to work on understanding the basic processes and interactions in this complicated system called "atmosphere." Even a high power computer reaches its limits if the mathematical equations of a climate model do not describe the real processes accurately enough."
The Arctic plays a key role in optimising climate models. It is one of the most important drivers of our climate and weather and is at the same time one of the regions in which the climate is currently changing the most. The "High North" is also so inhospitable that data on the Arctic is sparse. Future research work of the Potsdam scientists therefore goes in two directions. Firstly, they are developing a climate model which can resolve the small-scale, weather-determining processes in the Arctic particularly well. The TORUS project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the "MiKlip -- A Research Project on Decadal Climate Prediction" research programme and coordinated by Dörthe Handorf. However, since model improvements are only possible if comprehensive data records in high quality are available, a large international field campaign is planned in the Arctic for the period 2018-2019. It will demand a lot from the participating scientists because part of the field campaign is to be an international Arctic drift station in which a team of researchers will drift through the Arctic Ocean with the sea ice in the Arctic winter for several months.
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- Dörthe Handorf, Klaus Dethloff. How well do state-of-the-art atmosphere-ocean general circulation models reproduce atmospheric teleconnection patterns? Tellus A, 2012; 64 (0) DOI: 10.3402/tellusa.v64i0.19777
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:b5ee5cb1-bcd6-49a0-86c5-96b21bf76ad5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121206122334.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943948 | 1,103 | 3.484375 | 3 |
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April 09, 2006
Suicide Prevention for Mental Healthcare Service Users
After learning about Schizophrenia Ireland's "Discover the Road Ahead" document, we discovered that they have a good publication on suicide prevention in people who use mental healthcare services - with a specific focus on schizophrenia. The 36 page handbook (available for free download at the link at the bottom of this page) is titled: Supporting Life: Suicide Prevention for Mental Healthcare Service Users
While the information includes a some information that may not be directly relevant to other countries (i.e. suicide statistics in Ireland, etc.) - much of the informati.on would be very valuable reading for any family member or carer or healthcare worker involved with a person who has schizophrenia.
As part of their report, Schizophrenia Ireland focus on three main areas relating to schizophrenia and suicide risk: society, the person and mental health services.
With regard to Society, the organisation state, 'We need to strive for equality driven mental health legislation and mental health services that focus on valuing the person and not simply treating some symptoms.
With regard to The Person, Schizophrenia Ireland note that 'To ensure a clear and effective recovery pathway requires that a person can remain integrated fully in their local community with access to basic life resources such as an education, a job, an income, a home, friends and hobbies.
Mental Health Services 'need to be re-orientated towards partnership and recovery' say the organisation, and 'recovery should be the objection.
The 'Supporting Life' report also discusses the historical context of suicide prevention in Ireland, mental health services and national mental health policy, suicide and schizophrenia, dealing with suicidal thoughts and the personal story of a person with schizophrenia who attempted suicide.
You can download the booklet for free from the link below (its a large 900kb .pdf file so it may take a minute or two to download):
"Suicide Prevention for Mental Healthcare Service Users" handbook
Index - for Suicide Prevention for Mental Healthcare Users
Posted by szadmin at April 9, 2006 12:25 PM
More Information on Schizophrenia Coping | <urn:uuid:195e3a9f-ac40-4ef1-9708-24c7ca3b3550> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/003265.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905658 | 463 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights, and the holiday lives up to its name. For eight nights, Jewish families light candles in a menorah to celebrate an ancient miracle, when a day’s worth of oil managed to keep the menorah in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem lit for a full eight days. Now Hanukkah traditions include giving gifts, frying latkes (potato pancakes), and playing dreidel (a spinning top with Hebrew letters on it) at family gatherings. Here are some easy ideas for trying out a few new Hanukkah crafts, games, and activities perfect for preschoolers and toddlers.
Offer a simple Hanukkah explanation. The Jewish calendar is full of holidays designed to commemorate the history and miracles of ancient Israel, such as Passover. Hanukkah is no different, but there’s no need to go deep into a history lesson with your tot. Say something like, “Jewish people always keep a light burning in the temple, but one day they realized they had enough oil to keep the lamp burning for only one more day. It would take a week to make more. But God made a miracle! Their oil lasted, and their candle stayed lit for eight days. That’s why we light the candles in the menorah every night for eight days, to remember how God helped them.”
Try a Hanukkah craft. Helping your toddler or preschooler make his own child-friendly crafts is a hands-on way to celebrate Hanukkah.
For toddlers: The Star of David, an ancient symbol of Judaism, has enough straight lines to offer an easy-to-make Hanukkah craft for the toddler set. First, help your toddler use washable blue poster paint to paint six Popsicle sticks — glitter optional. Glue the points together to form two triangles. Once they’ve dried, let your toddler dab on glue to make the triangles into a Star of David. Attach a ribbon and hang it from a window or a fireplace mantel.
For preschoolers: Since Hanukkah hinges on light and darkness, help your preschooler make Hanukkah-themed shadow puppets, snipping people or menorah shapes out of black construction paper and taping or gluing them to a Popsicle stick. Set a lamp behind you, turn out the other lights, and watch the shadows from your puppets dance on the wall as you tell the Hanukkah story.
For both: This Hanukkah craft may just be your cutie’s favorite: Dip his hands and fingers into washable white poster paint and have him press down, one hand at a time, on a piece of blue cardstock to make the nine-branched menorah. (Make sure to leave one thumb out!) Explain to him that it’s nine branches because there are eight candles for each night of Hanukkah and one spot for the “helper” candle that lights the others. Wash up, then apply orange or yellow paint to his fingertip and help him form fingerprint flames atop each candle. A fun alternative: Let him “light” one candle on the poster every night as you light the real menorah. Bonus: This fun Hanukkah project also makes a great holiday keepsake.
Have a snack. Here’s a heartier, savory version of the traditional chocolate-wrapped coins, or gelt: Using small, round cookie cutters, help your tot slice circles out of whole-wheat bread. Have him flatten the bread a bit with the heel of his hand, then sprinkle on shredded cheddar cheese. Pop them under the broiler for a few minutes, and you’ll have yummy cheese coins to nibble on for a new Hanukkah tradition.
Spin up some fun. For toddlers and preschoolers, spinning the dreidel is a blast of a Hanukkah tradition — but actually playing the game that goes along with it may prove a bit beyond them. Instead, play “I’m a Dreidel,” a Hanukkah version of musical chairs. Set a chair a few feet away from the action, then turn on some music. (Maybe “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel.”) Players spin in circles like a dreidel until the music stops, and then run to the chair. Whoever sits down first wins the round. The best part about this toddler activity: watching how hilariously wobbly the dizzy dreidel kids are when they run. | <urn:uuid:fdf9ee8f-4fa7-41e3-8978-d3cc6d7cd614> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whattoexpect.com/toddler/hanukkah-crafts-and-games.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932205 | 965 | 3.125 | 3 |
Register FF Web browser free Fix that start the default FF Web browser with the ShellExecute() issue which interrupts application programming interface (API) to execute FF (firefox browser). This article also helps how to launch ShellExecute() using FF Uniform Resource Locator (URL) autorun the call fix if this error found. See in Pic
Registry Entries that evolved in this process
Call the …
Hardware devices are not working or are definitely not detected in Windows Immediately diagnose and fix problems with hardware. (USB) Mice and keyboards usually are not detected by the machine manager or when they aren’t working.
Diagnose and fix sound recording and problems immediately Diagnose and repair good and audio problems on your desktop when your computer does not record sound, …
A really basic property of a file is it’s file type. Each file type incorporates a set of specific actions that is carried out for it or to the idea. The software that is assigned to accomplish these actions with as well as to a particular document type is considered to be “associated” with your file type. There could be …
A lot of people will opt to purchase a fresh PC with Windows 8 pre-installed, others will upgrade existing PCs towards the revamped operating system. St. Pierre reported Microsoft made a commitment with Windows 7 to be sure the OS works on a variety of PCs and “we’ve continued that motivation with Windows 8, ” the lady said. There are …
Windows 8 – 10 valuable tips and tricks
These Windows 8 tricks and tips helps anyone with the upcoming operating system from Microsoft. Many of the followings can be done solely utilizing a keyboard and a mouse and some may be performed even by contact enthusiasts. Many were tested in that Windows 8 developer preview version so they are often removed …
When you’ve got a website or a network, it really is quite wise to continue tabs on it plus fix any issues whenever they occur. The most easiest and handy method of doing it is by utilizing any server/network monitoring tool that can monitor your infrastructure for almost any problems that may occur. Several free and open origin server and …
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Test Your Anti virus 2012 Tips.
Do you have an anti-virus program.
You can test its working you can checkout yourself with how your anti-virus software behaves when it detects a virus, before it really happens. One
quick way to do this is to use the EICAR Anti-Virus Test File.
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The goal of this article is to follow top Twitter tech accounts which should be to get you started if you’re brand-new to twitter or round out your number if you’re by now on twit. The list is suitable if you are interested in using with technological know-how trends.
Computer Technical Websites / Publications Twitter Accounts to Follow
Advocates for software user protection under the law has launched a petition against technology in Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 8 operating system, saying it might turn PCs into Windows-only machines.
The technology in question, Protected Boot, was designed to prevent malware from infecting pcs during startup, before Windows and all involving its built-in security features are launched.
Secure Boot works by confirming that … | <urn:uuid:fb2f3100-8329-4df2-89b1-36c8bea0b5ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://it-souls.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907002 | 801 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Reproducibility forms one of the cornerstones of physics; independent scientists need to corroborate a finding before it's widely accepted in the scientific community.
But sometimes the window of observation only lasts for several hours twice every hundred years or so. That makes reproducibility fairly difficult.
Earlier this summer, Venus passed in front of — or transited — the sun for the last time this century. While the astronomical event amazed viewers across the world, a group of physicists were re-creating an observation from over 250 years ago: the discovery of Venus' atmosphere. At the same time, they've stoked the fire in a debate over who first made this discovery.
The entire Venus transit of 2012 in one image. Image courtesy of NASA.
In 1761, Mikhail Lomonosov, a Russian astronomer, watched as Venus completed one of its extremely rare transits of the sun. While hundreds of astronomers across the globe were anticipating this historic event, many did not expect what Lomonosov would soon observe.
As Venus transited the sun, Lomonosov noticed that the sun's light seemed to form a bulge around Venus. This observation suggested that something must have been changing the direction of the sun's light. Who was the culprit? A Venetian atmosphere, according to Lomonosov.
Lomonosov argued that molecules in a hypothetical atmosphere surrounding Venus could change the light waves' direction through refraction. When light passes through a new medium (e.g. water or an atmosphere), it will bend in a new direction. This phenomenon causes sticks to appear bent when submerged in water and leads to the distorted reflections seen in water droplets.
Lomonosov made this discovery with some bare bones equipment: a 4.5 foot long telescope made in the 18th century. But not everyone thinks Lomonosov should get the credit for this discovery. During the 2004 transit of Venus, Scientists who used slightly more sophisticated instruments than those available to Lomonosov had trouble
reproducing Lomonosov's results. Consequently, Fermilab physicist Vladimir Shiltsev and his colleagues decided to re-create this experiment
in June with the closest replicas of Lomonosov's telescope that they could find.
One of the telescopes used for the June, 2012 re-creation of Lomonosov's original observation. Image courtesy of Koukarine et al. via their arXiv article.
Shilstev and his team pored over Lomonosov's original texts to create two new telescopes that would closely match what he had in 1761. Lomonosov's original telescope was lost during a bombardment in WWII.
After finding the necessary supplies and creating their rudimentary telescopes, two team members positioned themselves in Illinois and California for the 2012 transit, respectively. Although clouds obscured their view for part of the transit, they both saw the same refraction that Lomonosov observed over 250 years ago. Apparently, Lomonosov didn't make it up! Or he at least had the right tools to make his claim.
The characteristic light "whisker" indicating that light has been refracted as observed from the Illinois telescope during the June, 2012 transit. Image courtesy of Koukarine et al. via their arXiv article.
Scientists, of course, had already verified the existence of Venus' atmosphere through other means. But now we know that Lomonosov likely could have observed Venus' atmosphere through refraction back in 1761, just as he reported.
Now there's more evidence to support Lomonosov as the original discoverer of a Venetian atmosphere. I doubt we've heard the end of this story, though. Stay tuned for the next transit in 2117 for new developments, or maybe tell your grandchildren to watch for you.
The full arXiv preprint article can be found here
For more background on Lomonosov and his original discovery, take a look at this conference talk
(PDF) by Mikhail Marov from 2004.
If you want to keep up with Hyperspace, AKA Brian, you can follow him on Twitter | <urn:uuid:dcefd9a2-7006-47d9-9d9f-5c5edaf17b40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://physicscentral.com/buzz/blog/index.cfm?postid=5951858674843577049 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95168 | 853 | 3.875 | 4 |
The German news magazine Der Spiegel published a series of articles [1, 2] around career developments. The stories suggest that career aspirations of young professionals today are somewhat different to those of previous generations in Germany.
Apparently money and people management responsibility are less desirable for new starters compared to being able to participate in interesting projects and to maintain a healthy work life balance. Hierarchies are seen as a mean to an end, and should be more flexible, depending on requirements and skills sets. Similar to how they evolve in online communities and projects.
I wonder if graduates in the developed world are just starting from a different level within the hierarchy of needs pyramid?
The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) published an insightful video on the topic of motivation, arguing that money becomes less important if your work is more of a creative nature:
Many thanks to Michael Bach for pointing out this animation.
Understanding motivation is answering the 'Why?' question. And this question gets a different meaning the further you are up on the hierarchy of needs pyramid; or in other words, the more idle time you have.
Simon Sinek gave an inspiring TED talk on that topic. He is coming from the marketing angle. Why are people buying your product? Think about it, a job is a product of a company 'bought' with the limited life time of its employees. Make sure, you are spending your life time well! | <urn:uuid:e4552671-1300-4388-aa70-89206694eff7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lamages.blogspot.com/2012/08/are-career-motivations-changing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951241 | 293 | 1.851563 | 2 |
A friend told me that my dog collars were "useless". I asked him why. He said that it did not do anything to train my dogs. He then recounted how his other friend had "great" training collars that taught the dog not to bark too much, or not to pull on a leash.
Dog training collars have cropped up everywhere. There are different kinds of collars that are generally available at pet stores. One of these is the prong collar, which looks like a medieval and primitive torture device for dogs. Basically, it is a collar with spikes. These spikes and prongs press on your dog’s neck making it stop whatever it is doing. Prong collar manufacturers swear that the pressure is applied mildly and will not hurt the dog.
However, prong collars are recommended only for bigger dogs with thick necks, and definitely not for smaller ones who constantly yank on the leash. It should not be worn regularly and is only considered as a correction tool.
To avoid injuring your dog, it should be fitted perfectly because incorrect use will do your dog more harm than good.
Another training collar is the choke chain. It is what its name says it is; it chokes your dog. Pet owners who use the choke chain have reported extensive neck and trachea injuries in their dogs.
Both are horrible and ghastly pieces of training devices for me. I will not use them on my furry friends, nor will I recommend their use to anybody.
There is however some training collars which are more acceptable and safer. One is called the Gentle Leader, which looks like a muzzle that sits behind your dog’s ears and is connected by two nylon straps. You control the dog by controlling his nose. Another one is called the halti, which basically follows the same principles. The Gentle Leader has been known to be more effective for dog training purposes.
For me pet collars are a way of controlling your dog, not train them. If you want to train your dog to behave properly, I suggest you get a lot of treats and pet them or praise them for a job well done. It might be more laborious, but it is generally much more humane. | <urn:uuid:3fa4bf57-41d0-40f9-a23e-4afd663748c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thefinestwriter.com/trueanimallover/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979051 | 453 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Feb 4 2013
If a shy rabbit and a feisty kangaroo had a lovechild, it would be the Bilby of Australia – a nocturnal marsupial that digs extensive tunnels under the land down under. Above ground, it scratches the soil for insects, seeds, fruit, fungi and small animals. The Bilby has excellent hearing, rarely needs to drink water, and looks cute without really trying.
Nobunny can top this.
Unfortunately for the Bilby, its numbers have dwindled since the moment European settlers landed in Australia. Habitat destruction and introduction of invasive animals have not helped. While European rabbits have made their best efforts trying to make Australians forget about the Bilby, a national plan is underway to save the endangered creature – captive breeding, population monitoring and promoting the Bilby as an alternative to the Easter Bunny.
The Easter Bilby. Tastes like bunny.
Photos via NPR, Bilby Appreciation Society
Feb 14 2012
If Rihanna only knew about this.
If a mop and a feather duster had a baby....
The Long-Wattled Umbrella Bird is no stranger to falling drops of water. It lives in the Choco rainforests in Ecuador and western Colombia. While the hanging feather wattle at its neck doesn’t expand upwards and shade the bird, it is inflatable and amplifies its powerful calls.
Wow. What a wattle.
Photos via Lost in Birding, Nat Geo
Aug 26 2010
Thinking about delicious crickets or contemplating suicide?
This creepy cutie is the Tarsier. Want to take one home and pet it? Too bad for you. It would rather kill itself. Tarsiers have never been successful in captivity: when caged, they often injure and even commit suicide due to stress. Head-bashing against a hard surface is the preferred method.
Other than that, these nocturnal mammals populate the islands of southeast asia and feast on insects after stunning em’ with their long middle fingers. The third finger is so long, it’s the same length and its forearm. Even creepier, their eyes are fixed in their skulls so they can only look straight ahead. Good thing they can turn their necks 180 degrees.
Eye sockets or eye pockets? Debatable.
Photo via Tribung Pinoy
Many thanks to dear reader Sarah, who brought this darling little creep to our attention.
May 7 2010
The Saga of the Saiga: creepy, but dwindling.
If animals were made of Lego-like pieces that you could wedge together, the Saiga is something an unscrupulous child would put together. Let’s see here: I’ll take the nose of an anteater, the legs of a paraplegic baby deer and let me mount these two carrots as a headpiece. Great, now let me run it over with my train set.
Sadly, this ungulate is critically endangered, all because some ancient culture’s mixed drink recipe included Saiga horns as an ingredient. As a result, these proudly-creepy creatures are running around the steppes of Mongolia with GPS units attached, hoping to attract mates while looking like cyborg-sheep-anteater-goat-vegetables. We wish them the best of luck in their reproductive endeavors.
[Photo via Spectacular Planet]
Mar 7 2010
Mnaw. Look at the cute little...uh, wait what is that?
Congratulations! It’s a new baby Tapir! This animal is neither Pig nor Rhinoceros nor Elephant – but it is most certainly creepy. Tapirs resemble pigs with four toes and a truncated elephant nose. Their prehensile proboscis serves them well – they’re able to reach foliage otherwise unattainable. These herbivores can be found in the jungles of South/Central America and Southeast Asia though you may encounter some difficulty – all 4 species are currently endangered.
They grow up so fast!
Many thanks to dear reader Ming for suggesting such a fine addition to this menagerie of creepy. | <urn:uuid:a162fc7a-a52c-40d8-b2ad-40ff817e27e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://creepyanimals.com/tag/endangered/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926587 | 854 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Self-Care for Leaders: What You Can Do to Stay Energized
Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, PhD, IBCLC
From LEAVEN, Vol 43 No. 4, October-November-December 2007, pp. 75-77
When you think about your work as a La Leche League Leader, are you energized and inspired? Or are you weary and resentful, wondering why you ever got involved? If you are feeling weary and frustrated, you may be suffering from Leader burnout. In this article, I'll address burnout: why it happens and, more importantly, what you can do about it.
Burnout is a state of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion brought on by unrelenting stress. It's when we get to the point where we seriously wonder whether what we are doing makes any difference at all. We may feel cynical, angry, resentful, and frustrated. These emotions happen to all of us from time to time. When you start to experience them on a regular basis, however, it may be burnout.
What Are the Effects?
I believe that we all have a stake in preventing burnout in ourselves and in our fellow Leaders. When we are burned out, we are less effective, and more prone to being unkind with each other. To understand the implications of Leader burnout, consider for a moment whether you would like to be treated by a burned out health care provider, or have one of your beloved children taught by a burned out teacher. Unfortunately, we have the potential to perpetuate burnout at every level of our organization, which is why it's important to address.
I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at a number of Area Conferences while in the final stages of editing the second edition of my book, The Hidden Feelings of Motherhood. At one Conference, a participant asked about the new information I had included in the second edition. I shared several things that I had updated or changed. One that really seemed to strike a chord was when I mentioned how peer pressure perpetuates our stressed out lifestyles. We had some lively discussion around that topic. It's important for us as mothers to recognize that peer pressure can cause us to pack too many responsibilities into our days, as we race to tell each other how "busy" we are.
Peer pressure can also cause burnout in Leaders. I've seen it happen. Here is how it works. Let's say, hypothetically, we know a Leader named Kathy. Kathy (usually) has too many activities on her plate. She has a hard time saying "no" to any request and setting reasonable limits on her time. Her family sometimes resents all the time she spends on her activities, so her schedule also causes occasional friction in her family. That's bad enough for her. But suppose she expects the same level of time commitment from her co-Leaders or others on her Area team. What if she directly, or indirectly via example, pressures others in her circle to also take on too many commitments? We might find that one by one, these Leaders decide to quit, demonstrating that burnout can be contagious.
What Are the Causes?
Peer pressure is only one cause of burnout. Burnout can also be caused by a combination of too much work, unrealistic expectations of yourself and others, disillusionment with the organization, and little or no support. This quartet can start a cycle of anger, resentment, and depression that spirals downward to burnout. The self-help organization, helpguide.org (2007), describes burnout as being likely in the following work situations. Jobs most likely lead to burnout were those where employees felt:
- Confused about expectations and priorities
- Given responsibilities not commensurate with pay
- Over-committed with work and home responsibilities
These could apply to our work as Leaders. Only two characteristics -- being insecure about layoffs and not getting paid -- does not apply.
Who Is Most Vulnerable?
Why do some women cross the line into too much involvement and eventual burnout? There seem to be a variety of risk factors, and many of these are what make for a good La Leche League Leader. For example, idealism can lead to discouragement and disillusion. Passion for a cause can lead to taking on too many tasks. Helping others can cross the line into codependency. Often, women with history of abuse or other type of family dysfunction don't know how to balance caring for the needs of others with caring for themselves. These women may have always been caregivers for others in their circle of relationships and can be particularly prone to burnout in relationships and in volunteer work. But none of us is immune.
What You Can Do
If you are burned out, or realize that you could become that way, there is plenty you can do to reverse that state and live a more balanced lifestyle. Being burned out doesn't mean that you have failed or are a bad person. In fact, it's often the people who care the most who are most susceptible to burnout. Fortunately, there are some positive steps you can take.
Practice Radical, Yet Responsible Self-Care
Taking care of ourselves is often very difficult for mothers. Many confuse self-care with being "selfish." Nothing could be further from the truth. In order to care effectively for others, you must make sure that you take some time to refresh and restore yourself. Otherwise, you will have nothing to pour into the lives of others.
What this means, in practical terms, is that you must have some downtime (even 20 minutes) every day. You also need to participate in activities that build you up and allow you to connect with others. Being a Leader can fulfill many of these needs. But it can also become a drain if you feel you have no control over your workload, are doing more work than you can handle, or feel that you have no support.
As important as self-care is, however, it's important that you practice self-care in a responsible way. Self-care, or "Me Time" sometimes gets a bad reputation because it's badly handled. For example, when you agree to a responsibility and do not fulfill it, that causes stress for others. The responsible way to handle too much is to tell others that you need to step back from some responsibilities and give them enough time to find someone else. By communicating clearly about what you need, you give others the chance to find a replacement or decide whether they want to continue providing the service.
One very common risk factor for burnout is disillusionment. This is particularly challenging when an organization has an idealistic purpose, and the day-to-day realities inevitably don't match its idealistic vision. For example, you expect colleagues to always be kind, and these same people treat you badly. Or when leadership in the organization makes decisions you don't agree with. Or when you just get tired of the bickering. I've been in several organizations, including a couple of churches, where discouragement and disillusionment were serious problems that caused many people to burn out and leave.
Fortunately, there is something you can do to counter disillusionment. In Stephen Covey's classic 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit 1 is "Be Proactive." I've found that this is an incredibly powerful way to prevent or reverse burnout. No matter how discouraging a situation, where you may feel blocked at every turn, you can always ask, "What can I do?"
Once you have this mind set, it opens you up to a whole range of new possibilities. This is not to say that you pretend that the negatives don't exist. In fact, I think it's helpful if we are realistic about what we can or should expect from others. We need to know that fallible human beings will sometimes let us down. Rather than just brush these problems away, being proactive means always asking what you can do to make the situation better. Solutions may include finding other ways to help mothers and babies, or distancing yourself from consistently negative people, or even seeking a leadership position at the Area, Division, Affiliate, or International level to make changes in things you don't like. Being proactive allows you to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, and is a great antidote to discouragement -- the downfall of many fine organizations.
As helpful as a proactive approach generally is, there are times when it is not enough. That's when it's time to ask others for help. Administrators at the Area or Division levels can be excellent resources for you, who would much rather help you work through a difficult situation than have you become burned out. When feelings are running high, a neutral third-party within LLL can be an important source of support. And sometimes, just taking a break from a difficult situation for a month or two can provide a different perspective.
Be Accountable to Yourself and Each Other
One more thing. I'd like to encourage you all to be accountable to yourselves and your fellow Leaders. When you see someone taking on too much, gently suggest that she reconsider. And be open to this type of feedback yourself. It's often much easier to see over-commitment in others rather than ourselves. I'm grateful that I have women in my life who will speak up when I'm overloaded -- and I try to do the same for them.
It can also be helpful if we are realistic in terms of what we can do. Sometimes, we need to take stock of our lives and consider whether we really can do everything that we have volunteered to do. And if LLL responsibilities are getting to be too much, we need to talk with our co-Leaders, District Advisor, or Area Coordinator of Leaders about that. Know that there may be times in your life when you cannot do everything. You have some latitude in terms of the types of activities you participate in, while still being an active Leader. You might decide to lead meetings, but not take phone calls. Or you could only take phone calls, but not lead meetings. Stepping away from some of your responsibilities makes sense and can be the right thing to do during certain times in your life. And it's so much better if you have an honest discussion about your need to do this with others that will be affected. That way, you can take a break on a positive note.
I've had some experience with this in another organization. Sometimes, women in the New Hampshire Breastfeeding Task Force need to step away from their work with us. It could be that their husbands or children are sick. Or they've taken a new job. Or their responsibilities on their jobs have increased. I remind them that the work will get done one way or the other, and that their families' needs come first. And they are always welcome to come back. Volunteer work is only one part of our lives. It can be a rich and rewarding part, but it needs to be seen in the perspective of our whole lives.
In summary, burnout can be a problem for both new and experienced Leaders. It's important for us to recognize it, gently encourage each other to say "no" to too much, and try to live balanced lives. When we do that, the joy we have in working with mothers and babies will be restored and our organization will flourish. | <urn:uuid:62340987-8508-4359-b381-a806e1313257> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/lv/lvoctnovdec07p75.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974032 | 2,333 | 2.171875 | 2 |
New submitter phyzz writes "The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program aimed to replace several aircraft from three major military services with a fifth-generation model capable of short-takeoff and vertical-landing while maintaining the capability of sustained supersonic flight — all while staying affordable. The project has finally gotten some test points validated, but after a decade in development and numerous cost and schedule overruns, it faces an uphill fight against budget reductions. Bloomberg has an interesting story about the program's troubled past. Quoting: 'Ten years and $66 billion later, the aircraft is still in development, five years behind schedule and 64 percent over cost estimates. The Obama administration may cancel some models and also cut the Pentagon’s orders. The plane, envisioned as the affordable stealth fighter for the U.S. and allies, has turned into a budget target. "I’d blame the program’s setbacks on the fact that we lived in a rich man’s world," said Jacques Gansler, a former Pentagon chief weapons buyer in the Clinton administration and now a professor at the University of Maryland at College Park. "There has been less emphasis on cost over the past 10 years," he said.'" | <urn:uuid:41ee5daf-b3db-413a-a2bb-e8e26c101563> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/07/1846256/the-f-35-story?sbsrc=thisday | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953214 | 249 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Scientists have discovered a molecular 'tell' in laboratory experiments that could help doctors determine the severity of a patient's prostate cancer.
Cancer of the prostate – the most common male cancer in the UK – presents in two distinct ways: a low-risk type, which may never cause any symptoms, and a high-risk form that needs treatment to prevent it spreading to other parts of the body.
Knowing which type of prostate cancer each patient has – some 40,000 British men per year – is therefore essential to ensuring they receive the correct treatment.
Lead researcher Dr Angeliki Malliri, from the University of Manchester's Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, said: "Prognosis tells, or biomarkers, give doctors an indication of how a patient will fare after treatment. In prostate cancer, biomarkers that help differentiate between the low-risk and high-risk types of cancer are crucial to decide if and what type of treatment a patient needs."
The study, funded by Cancer Research UK and published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, identified the protein β2-syntrophin as a new prognosis marker for prostate cancer. The team, part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC), discovered that the protein is involved in establishing tight connections between cells, which are crucial for holding them together to maintain tissue structure and prevent tumours from spreading.
Co-author Dr Natalie Mack said: "We showed that when β2-syntrophin is lost from these cell-to-cell connections, the cells become disorganised and this is what happens in cells from prostate cancer samples, potentially helping them to spread.
"Our findings indicate that the loss of β2-syntrophin at cell-to-cell connections in the prostate is an indicator of prostate cancer progression and patients with reduced levels of this protein at these cell-to-cell connections are more likely to have a recurrence of their cancer after treatment."
The authors say their results suggest that β2-syntrophin is a new prognosis marker in prostate cancer and that it should be further explored to distinguish between low- and high-risk level disease. Improved understanding and use of prognosis markers is essential to help guide clinical decisions and to ensure that patients get the best type of treatment for their type of cancer.
Dr Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "To treat prostate cancer more effectively, we need to understand more about how the disease develops and how to recognise more advanced types. This research provides another piece of the puzzle and further work will confirm whether this molecule could be useful in making better predictions about prostate cancer."
Notes for editors:
The paper "β2-syntrophin and Par-3 promote an apicobasal Rac activity gradient at cell-cell junctions through their differential regulation of Tiam1 activity" by Natalie A. Mack et al, is published online in the journal Nature Cell Biology. A copy of the paper is available to journalists on request. The abstract of the paper can be accessed via PubMed by title search.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system. | <urn:uuid:445030c2-80ec-43e6-bb0d-5fc73ff161b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/uom-pcp102912.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937268 | 673 | 3.28125 | 3 |
The singer will take part in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's educational program for students in Nashville, Tennessee and share his songwriting wisdom and experience in the music industry with pupils.
Ali Tonn, the museum's director of education and public programs, says, "We're thrilled to offer music and arts students from several Metro Nashville Public Schools the chance to get 'up close and personal' with one of country music's great talents, Keith Urban.
"In this special program, students will hear Keith talk about the craft of songwriting, his influences and creative inspirations, seminal moments in his career and more. They will also have the opportunity to ask him questions. This program is the first of its kind for the museum and will serve as a 'pilot' of sorts; we hope to be able to offer more All Access educational programs when our museum expansion is completed in 2014."
The event, which will be streamed online, will take place at the museum's Ford Theater on 6 September (12). | <urn:uuid:97849e05-927a-4354-a3e0-c27c6c784611> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/343006/Keith-Urban-set-for-teacher-duty/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974181 | 207 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Twenty teams of students from international universities competed to design and build solar-powered houses, which were constructed and exhibited at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Teams then competed in ten contests to gain points.
The winning design is a two-storey, cube-shaped building covered in two types of solar cells, is highly insulated and has automated lourve window shades to reduce unwanted heat-gain.
Furniture and appliances fold away or have several uses.
More details about the design on the Team Germany website.
Second place was awarded to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (see project website) and third place went to Team California: Santa Clara University, California College of the Arts (see project website).
The competition was organised by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Photographs are by Jim Tetro.
Here's some more information from the organisers:
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Sustainability Is Skin Deep
Team Germany started with a "focus on the façade," creating a house that is essentially a two-story cube. The surface is covered with solar cells: an 11.1-kW photovoltaic (PV) system made of 40 single-crystal silicon panels on the roof and about 250 thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) panels on the sides that are expected to produce an incredible 200% of the energy needed by the house. The CIGS component is slightly less efficient than the silicon but will perform better in cloudy weather. The façade's highly insulating, custom vacuum insulation panels plus phase-change material in the drywall maintain comfortable temperatures. Automated louver-covered windows block unwanted solar heat.
The team is relatively small with only 24 students, mostly architects. But team member Sardika Meyer relates how many others took part. "Even my boyfriend, all the families and friends got involved," she says. "We had so much support; it was really incredible." Team Germany finished first in Solar Decathlon 2007, and the 2009 team has relied on members of the 2007 team for guidance.
The Team Germany philosophy was to "push the envelope with as many new technologies as possible." In particular, the house was designed to maximize PV production and use of the net-metering connection to the electric utility grid on the National Mall. The result is a two-story, cube-shaped building with PV panels on the roof and sides and a single multifunctional living area on the inside. Described by the team as an aesthetic solar design, the house has a bed and other furniture and appliances that fold away or serve multiple purposes.
The extensive PV panel deployment is the most notable feature of the Team Germany house, but other technologies include:
- Custom-made vacuum insulation structural panels
- Phase-change material in both walls (paraffin) and ceiling (salt hydrate)
- Automated louver-covered windows
- A boiler integrated into the heat pump system that allows the system to provide domestic hot water as well as heating and cooling.
- A two-story cube shape that provides maximum dimensions and surface area
- A surface area that is almost totally covered with PV panels—single-crystal silicon on the roof, thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide on the sides
- An expected production of twice the electricity needed
- A single multifunctional space inside
About Solar Decathlon
For three weeks in October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy will host the Solar Decathlon—a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon is also an event to which the public is invited to observe the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design.
Exact dates of the 2009 event are:
- Oct. 8-16—Teams compete in 10 contests
- Oct. 9-13—Houses are open to the public
- Oct. 15-18—Houses are open to the public
- Oct. 19-21—Teams disassemble their houses.
The Solar Decathlon houses will be open for public tours 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Monday–Friday and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Please note that all homes will be closed Wed., Oct. 14.
The Solar Decathlon consists of three major phases:
Building: This is where most of the work—and the learning—happens. In addition to designing houses that use innovative, high-tech elements in ingenious ways, students have to raise funds, communicate team activities, collect supplies, and work with contractors. Although the Solar Decathlon competition receives the most attention, it's the hard work that students put in during the building phase that makes or breaks a team.
Moving to the Solar Village: When it's time for the Solar Decathlon, the teams transport their houses to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and rebuild them on site.
Competing: During the competition itself, the teams receive points for their performance in 10 contests and open their homes to the public.
The Solar Decathlon brings attention to one of the biggest challenges we face—an ever-increasing need for energy. As an internationally recognized event, it offers powerful solutions—using energy more efficiently and using energy from renewable sources.
The Solar Decathlon has several goals:
- To educate the student participants—the "Decathletes"—about the benefits of energy efficiency, renewable energy and green building technologies. As the next generation of engineers, architects, builders, and communicators, the Decathletes will be able to use this knowledge in their studies and their future careers.
- To raise awareness among the general public about renewable energy and energy efficiency, and how solar energy technologies can reduce energy usage.
- To help solar energy technologies enter the marketplace faster. This competition encourages the research and development of energy efficiency and energy production technologies.
- To foster collaboration among students from different academic disciplines—including engineering and architecture students, who rarely work together until they enter the workplace.
- To promote an integrated or "whole building design" approach to new construction. This approach differs from the traditional design/build process because the design team considers the interactions of all building components and systems to create a more comfortable building, save energy, and reduce environmental impact.
- To demonstrate to the public the potential of Zero Energy Homes, which produce as much energy from renewable sources, such as the sun and wind, as they consume. Even though the home might be connected to a utility grid, it has net zero energy consumption from the utility provider. | <urn:uuid:ff0ce745-aedb-48a9-9ecd-03d367d46597> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dezeen.com/2009/10/16/solar-decathlon-house-by-technische-universitat-darmstadt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953126 | 1,409 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Barcelona is a golden city for visitors seeking fine food, culture, green spaces – and even a beach.
I had beeen told that Barcelona is one of the liveliest cities in Europe these days, up there on a level with Prague, Budapest; with more than enough culture to last for a week’s stay but smaller, hipper, than London, Paris or Berlin. So I was delighted when I had the opportunity to visit for a weekend of exploring and learning about this interesting city.
With a population of around 1.7 million, Barcelona is big enough to have lots going on, but small enough that you can explore the city center on foot. Take very comfortable shoes though; by the third day even my tough hiker’s feet preferred to wear sneakers. The combination of hot temperatures (86°F plus at mid-day) and city sidewalks can be killing. Luckily, there are many tempting places to stop, sit, drink a coffee or eat an ice cream, and watch the world go by. The city council has even provided seats and benches on the sidewalk if you don’t need or want to use a cafe.
Barcelona International Airport is just a few miles from the city center. Traveling with hand luggage, it took less than 30 minutes from my plane landing to arriving by taxi at my hotel. Barcelona is Spain’s second-largest airport after Madrid, and it is easy, and not too expensive, to get there from many destinations.
If you want to make a stay in Barcelona part of a longer summer vacation, driving through France, perhaps stopping in the Burgundy area or the Pyrenean foothills en-route, is also an option. We heard many French tourists and thought that some of them had probably driven down. The drive through the Pyrenees is spectacular and it is well worth spending a couple of days on either the French or Spanish side if mountain hikes and excellent country cooking are your passions. Having a car while in Barcelona means you can get out of the hot, noisy city and explore the surrounding countryside.
The Olympics helped
My Spanish friends explained that Barcelona had been neglected for decades between the Civil War and the early 1990s. The 1992 Summer Olympic Games brought investment money to clean up the beaches and open them up to the city. Where previously the seafront had been dirty and neglected, lined by abandoned and decaying warehouses, now the excellent public transport system is full of locals and tourists heading for the beach with their surfboards. Since the Olympics, Barcelona has thrived. More and more tourists come for a unique and wonderful combination of culture – the historic center has many buildings by famous architects, some of them UNESCO World Heritage Sites – and beach vacation. Not to mention some of the best food in Europe – another well-kept secret until fairly recently when word got out that Spanish chefs were overtaking the rest of the world for creative cuisine using top-quality ingredients.
Eating out in smart restaurants and simple cafés
After I arrived on Friday evening I walked with a couple of friends to an interesting restaurant, Alkimia, C/ Indústria 79. This is one of TimeOut magazine’s “10 best restaurants in Barcelona” and its chef Jordi Vilà is a member of the new Catalan cuisine group founded several years ago by the legendary Ferran Adrià. Even before he closed it, it was almost impossible to eat at Adriá's restaurant El Bulli, thought by many to be the best in the entire world, where the kitchen was almost more of a chemist’s laboratory. But Alkimia was easy. We called a couple of days in advance and there we were, eating some of the most interesting food I had ever tasted at a cost of about EUR 100 per person including wines. The seafood in a sea of blue called “Dentro de Mar” was spectacular and the blackberry chocolate-coated ice on a stick, which was part of the desert selection, was so good that one of us asked for, and got, seconds for all of us. Dinner was booked for 9:30 p.m. Many Spanish restaurants do not even open for dinner before 9 p.m.
During the next few days I discovered that the inexpensive option for good food is the tapas bar, where two can eat a selection of 4-5 delicious tapas and drink a beer or two for around EUR 40. Barcelona is not supposed to be a great place for tapas bars, and there were fewer than, say, in Madrid, but the two we tried were very good. The Cervecería Catalana on C/Mallorca 236 is quite upmarket, meaning clean and shiny, no discarded scraps of paper napkins on the floor. Their version of deep-fried green peppers was so good that I went back on my own for more two days later. One of the tapas del dia (tapas of the day) was plantadito di carpaccio de setos de cardo gamba y calamar, which turned out to be some absolutely delicious mushrooms, a grilled shrimp, a perfect tiny squid ... and it only cost EUR 2.95. It seems you always have to wait about 10 minutes for a table at Cervecería Catalana but on my own I could hop onto a high stool and sit at the bar. It’s a great place for families, they have a room especially to store strollers and plenty of special baby seats. We also liked the tapas at the Cuines Santa Catarina in the Santa Caterina market, Avinguda de Francesc Cambó, 20. On Sunday lunchtime, only the tapas bar and restaurant were open, the market section with its many stalls was unfortunately closed so I made a note to go back during the week next time I visit Barcelona.
We ate an excellent shrimp paella at a fish restaurant called Els Pescadors, Plaça Prim 1, a bit out of the center so we took the metro to the Poublenou stop. It’s hard to find once you get out of the metro station, but worth it. We also tried another recommended fish restaurant called Set Portes, which was friendly and had excellent vegetable starters but rather disappointing paella with overcooked ingredients. Set Portes cost around EUR 40 per head; at EUR 60 per person Els Pescadors was much the better deal, with greatly superior cooking.
Culture, or: we did we just eat the entire weekend?
Well, we did get a couple of ice creams from Barcelona’s answer to Häagen-Dazs which is called Farggi, very nice ices, which tended to melt very fast in the heat but we also managed to fit in quite a bit of culture. We began by exploring the part of town called Eixample, famous for its many buildings in the Barcelona version of art nouveau called Modernisme. We started in the Passeig de Gràcia which not only has several moderniste buildings but also some very smart shops. (Carolina Herrera at No 87 had a sale on with up to 60% reductions, a shocking pink cocktail dress was to die for if I could only have figured out when and where I would wear it. Dolce & Gabbana just opposite a branch of Farggi very kindly invited me in to wash my ice-cream sticky hands). The Mansana de la Discòrdia – literally “the block of discord” because of the three very different buildings by three different architects, Gaudí, Domènech i Montaner and Puig i Cadafalch, is at Nos 35-45. Casa Battló at No 43 is a key moderniste work designed by Antoní Gaudi in 1877, which has recently been opened to the public. Entry is restricted so that the house is never overcrowded but it is well worth waiting in line for 10 minutes. Like many Gaudí buildings, it is very colorful, there’s a Disney feel about it, like a gingerbread house with dragons or lizards (Gaudí’s iconic giant porcelain lizard has become one of Barcelona's symbols).
Rambles and parks
We also loved the lively la Rambla street in the nearby Old City, with its shops, cafés, street markets and Liceu opera house. There were also several nice-looking hotels on la Rambla, which I could well choose to stay in on my next visit. We finished off our first afternoon with a trip out to the Parc de Montjuic. A cool walk under shady trees and a lot of water in a streetside café restored our enthusiasm for culture.
We visited the Fundació Miró, located within the park, which contains the finest public collection of works by the Barcelona artist Juan Miró, with 300 paintings, 150 sculptures and what they say is the complete collection of his graphic works. Miró is the artist most of us associate with Spain, many of his colorful paintings from the 1920s and 1930s look as if they were made specifically to go on a Spanish Tourist Office poster.
Since travel writers make mistakes so their readers don’t have to, I’ll explain two important mistakes we made.
• First important thing: at the Fundació Miró ticket office we were offered a season ticket called articket. This ticket, which cost EUR 40 (not the EUR 20 stated on www.articketbcn.org/en; I guess they haven’t updated their website) offered entrance to seven major Barcelona museums for a period of six months. The seven are: Fundació Joan Miró, Museu Picasso, Fundació Caixa Catalunya / La Pedrera, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) and Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC). We figured we would only manage two or at most three of the seven and thus that it would be cheaper to pay separate admission. But when we discovered the next day that Sunday lines to get into both La Pedrera and the Museu Picasso were well over an hour and that we could have gone straight into both those places had we bought the artickets we wished we had spent the money. Did we miss much by not waiting to go into the Picasso museum? Several people have told me that it’s disappointing, that all the best stuff is in Paris, at the Musée Picasso, but our guidebook mentioned many works from Picasso’s early Blue Period as well as some interesting later works and I would have liked the chance to see for myself.
• Second important thing: opening hours. Fundació Joan Miró is open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday (9 p.m. on Thursday) but only 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. We wanted to visit the chocolate museum, Museu de la Xocolata, after Sunday lunch but strolled up to find the doors closed; the Museu de la Xocolata is open until 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Saturday but closes at 3 p.m. on Sundays. If we had only checked our guidebook more closely we would have left Sunday morning’s stroll in Parc Güell for the afternoon.
Parc Güell and Gaudí
Parc Güell, a leafy park to the north of central Barcelona, was commissioned by Eusebio Güell in 1900 to be developed as a kind of upmarket housing estate / garden city for Barcelona’s increasingly prosperous upper middle classes. But Gaudí’s initial plans for the park – the entrance area with its famous giant porcelain lizard, Hansel and Gretel gingerbread houses, and broken porcelain decorations which reminded us of Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn in Bangkok, is like a mad version of Disney World – did not appeal to prospective buyers and only two houses were ever built. The park is a lovely place to spend an hour or two though, with paths leading up through shady gardens planted with oleander and bougainvillea, tables for picnicking or playing cards, and remarkably good street musicians playing excellent jazz or classical violin on the day we visited.
On Monday, there was just time for me to visit one more tourist attraction: La Pedrera, also known as Espai Gaudí, yet another Gaudí masterpiece located on Passeig de Gràcia 92. Since so many tourist sites are closed Mondays, I decided I might as well stand in line for 20 minutes to get in. Espai Gaudì is an arts center these days and I enjoyed an exhibition of Japanese prints from the Bibiothèque Nationale in Paris, including 12 of Katsushika Hokusai's “36 Views of Mount Fuji” one of my very favorite Japanese works of art, so very different from Gaudì's gaudy works. The roof terrace was my favorite part of La Pedrera, with fantastic views over the city and Arabian-nights style turrets and balustrades.
Most useful guidebook
We used TimeOut’s Barcelona guide, which we found very helpful and highly recommend. As well as the printed book, which we carried everywhere (just wish we had checked opening times in it) there is also a Website: timeout.com/barcelona. Since I wanted to write about my Barcelona impressions, I made a very deliberate decision not to read about Barcelona on the Web until I had finished my article. But now I have looked, I can see that timeout.com/barcelona is a good place to check on music, theater, dance, and also hotels.
Text © Ailsa Mattaj & inkwire.de • Photos used with the kind permission of I. Mattaj | <urn:uuid:d8c07361-42e0-4dbf-9877-7f719359f52a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inkwire.de/barcelona.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963009 | 2,929 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Wildlife Victoria - On Call To Help
Due to many forms of human intervention our iconic and precious wildlife suffer every day.
Wildlife Victoria cares for these voiceless animals and is committed to reducing that suffering and providing as many animals as possible with another chance at life.
The WV team responds to your calls through the emergency phone service 13 000 94535 when you report a sick, injured or orphaned animal. Using our comprehensive database we locate the nearest available and suitably experienced volunteer who then locates the animal and determines the most appropriate course of action. The calls we receive range from requests for advice on fledgling birds during spring to the very sad and emotional news that someone has hit a kangaroo.
Our incredible band of over 1300 volunteers responds to wildlife calls for help seven days a week with compassion, love and dedication. Maybe you would like to join us and help us succeed at attaining our growing mission? Take a look at our “Get Involved” section to see how you can make a contribution.
Our strong governance structure guarantees this organisation's longevity and effectiveness into the future securing the welfare of our wildlife.
All of us at Wildlife Victoria are here to make a difference when our wildlife needs our help.
"Hundreds of thousands of wild animals are killed, injured and orphaned throughout Australia as a direct consequence of human activities. As government resources for wildlife management dwindle, much of the work of rescuing and caring for these animals falls on the shoulders of volunteer organisations such as Wildlife Victoria."
Mr. Rob Gell, President | <urn:uuid:2afac2e1-90bd-497d-a066-0104930ecd66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937161 | 317 | 1.539063 | 2 |
In 2006 (when figures were last available) James Dyson contributed the bulk of the income tax paid by the 54 billionaires then resident in the UK. Out of £14.7m paid by all 54, he contributed £9m. That’s a whopping 61 per cent of the total tax take from billionaires. Current figures are not available, but it is widely agreed in the tax accounting community that JK Rowling and James Dyson are the only UK billionaires who pay a tax rate even remotely proportional to their income. So, on average, your grandma pays tax at a rate roughly 250 times that of the richest people in Britain.
But really, what does this mean to me? I mean, I might do it if I was minted.
It does affect you, because the more money that leeches out of the state in avoidance, the more you have to pay. Britain’s most affluent determine where most of their earnings go, while we ordinary taxpayers often pour a much larger chunk of our cash into the communal pot. Nicholas Shaxon puts it brilliantly in his book, Treasure Islands: | <urn:uuid:bc9ff6c7-308f-4a2a-a71b-f96bccd23877> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://torturedmetaphor.tumblr.com/tagged/tax | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961746 | 226 | 2.171875 | 2 |
[and] to ensure the enforcement of the recommendations made by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on Iran of 2010 that remain unimplemented, including the following:
102. Guarantee the protection of the civil and political rights of all, particularly dissidents and members of minority groups (Chile);
103. Guarantee, in compliance with its obligations under ICCPR, the effective independence of the procedures and administration of justice, restricted emergency legislation, adequate protection for human rights defenders and political opposition members, and the effective guarantee of freedom of expression and opinion and freedom of religion and belief (Chile);
104. Investigate and prosecute all those, including Government officials and paramilitary members, suspected of having mistreated, tortured or killed anyone, including demonstrators, political activists, human rights defenders and journalists (Canada);
105. Ensure that competent bodies investigate allegations of torture, enforced disappearance and secret detention, that those responsible are punished and that programmes providing reparation for victims are established (Chile);
106. Establish effective complaint mechanisms for victims of torture (Czech Republic);
107. Take measures to ensure an effective and impartial judicial system, in conformity with ICCPR is guaranteed (Netherlands);
[also] to encourage the relevant Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council to seek invitations to visit Iran"
"Arabs In April 2005... [Alahwaz] widespread protests, this time centring on a leaked secret letter allegedly written by former Vice President Mohammad Abtahi.
The letter briefly outlined a policy to radically alter the province’s demographic make up by moving Arabs (especially those with higher education) to other parts of the country, whilst moving non-Arabs into the region, the end in mind being are reduction of the province’s Arab population to a third of what it was in 2005...The letter led Arabs to mobilize and give voice to long-held grievances against the state, in much the same way Azeris would a year later. When the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing visited Iran in 2005, he reported that in Ahwaz thousands of people [were]living with open sewers, no sanitation, no regular access to water, electricity and no gas connections’, despite the fact that the province has been the cornerstone of Iran’s massive oil wealth for more than a century...That [Alahwaz] furnishes much of Iran’s wealth but receives very little of it for local development has been the single greatest source of grievance amongst Iranian Arabs. This antagonism is only further enflamed by large government development projects (like the Dehkhoda sugar cane plantation) that have uprooted and displaced upwards of 200,000 to250,000 Arabs, with compensation for confiscated land being as little as one-fortieth of market value. Perhaps more troubling is that the government does not offer jobs in these projects to local Arabs. Instead, it prefers to plan and build new cities like Shirinshahr for non-Arabs brought to the province from places including Yazd in central Iran, an initiative with obvious implications forAbtahi’s above mentioned denial. In February 2006, Amnesty International reported that government-directed migration of non-Arabs into [Alahwaz] is linked to economic policies that offer zero per cent interest loans to migrants, but not to Arabs. The province is also beset by other problems resulting from a century of deliberate neglect and underdevelopment: higher illiteracy, lower life expectancy and higher unemployment rates than the rest of country are just three examples..In regard to economic inequality [Alahwaz] is only outdone by Sistan-Baluchistan, another province where ethnic minorities constitute the bulk of the population, where unverifiable reports put 76 per cent of the population below the poverty line, in stark contrast to the national rate of 18 per cent."
The letter's following translation was published on www.ahwaz.org.uk (British Ahwazi Friendship Society):
Emblem of the Islamic Republic ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Office of the PresidentHead of the Executive Office
Attachment 5/316/20675 (hand written)
In the Name of Allah
Head of the respectful Department of planning and budget- Mr. Dr. Najafi
Pursuant to the policies set forth, and the legislation approved by the National SecurityCouncil, with regards to changing the population demography of Arabs of Khuzestan andtheir appropriate resettlement to other parts of the country, it is necessary that theattached approved instructions be directed to all relevant subsidiary organizations forexecution.
1. The Arab population of Khuzestan must be reduced to a third of the total population ofKhuzestan within 10 years, with the rest of the population to be composed of Farsi-speaking residents and migrants.
2. On the resettlement of other ethnic groups, especially the Azeri (Turks) to Khuzestan province, in addition to the facilities approved under legislations # 16-32/971/5-7, dated14/4/1376 (1998) - other arrangements have been made to facilitate this (forced resettlement) which will be announced in the future.
3. It is necessary to increase the resettlement of their (Arab) educated class to other provinces, especially to Isfahan, Tehran and Tabriz.
4. Proof of the existence of this ethnic group (Arabs) should be eradicated, including the changing of remaining (Arabic) names of cities, villages, regions and streets to Farsi names.
5. Arabic-speaking people should be used for the execution of this legislation, although the secrecy of this programme must be respected.
6. Newly approved legislation regarding the (forced) migration of (university) students,civil servants, teachers, military and security forces and farmers to other provinces, are attached.
Sayed Mohammad-Ali Abtahi
TOP SECRET 27686/62 2/5/1377
1. Ministry of Information (Security)
2. Ministry of Interior
3. Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
4. Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance | <urn:uuid:b43b687a-1b4f-4a5e-90c1-c60cb8b661c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://euahwazi.blogspot.com/2012/04/commemoration-of-ahwazi-uprising.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930974 | 1,277 | 1.984375 | 2 |
London Subway Must Be Improved Before 2012 Games, Assembly Says
London’s subway must be improved before the 2012 Olympics, after strikes and technical problems meant the five months ended January were the worst performing for the rail network in eight years, the city’s assembly said.
Labor unions and Transport for London, which operates the capital’s rail system, “need to reach agreement on future pay in the run up to the 2012 Games,” the London Assembly, a watchdog for the city, said today in a report. TfL faces “significant challenges” ensuring the Tube is more reliable while upgrading older lines and cutting costs, said the assembly, an elected body that scrutinizes the activities of the capital city’s Mayor Boris Johnson.
London’s subway, known as the Tube, was hit by industrial action over the past year. A strike in June ended just as the Wimbledon tennis championship began. Between August 2010 and January 2011 the tube suffered from “the longest sustained period of poor reliability since” upgrades were initiated in 2003, according to the report.
London First, a business lobby group, told the assembly committee that “we cannot go on like this, particularly as we approach the Olympics next year,” according to the report. “The Greater London Authority, TfL and the unions need to develop a much more constructive relationship and working culture.”
While strikes accounted for about half of the increase in delays on lines with the most delays, such as the Jubilee and Victoria, the main cause of the increase was from the failure of signals, trains and track, said Chair of the Transport Committee Caroline Pidgeon in the report.
Passenger journeys on the Tube have increased by 17 percent in the last eight years while the level of service provided rose by 2 percent, according to the report.
“After years of disruption and huge expenditure, passengers might reasonably expect to start seeing their Underground journeys becoming less overcrowded and unpleasant,” the assembly said. Yet, passengers should not expect to see “major improvements” in capacity and total journey times across most of the network for at least another five years, said the assembly.
TfL should take further steps to manage overcrowding and real-time information should be made available to passengers at stations and alternative routes to popular destinations should be advertised, according to the report.
To contact the reporter on this story: Colm Heatley in Belfast at firstname.lastname@example.org
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge at email@example.com
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions. | <urn:uuid:fdf18579-07be-42ef-88b3-0c1d6828e72f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-12/london-subway-must-be-improved-before-2012-games-assembly-says.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954283 | 589 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Sunday 7th September
A lovely sunny day here in Oklahomegrownvegland, a day to lift the spirits of the Happy Gardener and inspire him to start preparing for the coming Fall.
I already have a number of established seedlings in the growing room but I need to prepare somewhere for them to grow outside.
The chosen place to start is Plot 5 where the potatoes were.
I'd pulled the remaining spuds a couple of days ago and today I gave the plot a really good digging over and a thorough weeding. It then got a liberal sprinkling of Iron Phosphate to deter any woodlice.
Then I was off to the local lumberyard to pick up a few things for the covering.
I purchased 4 pieces of lattice, 1.75" x .25" x 7ft and some screws. I already had some clear plastic sheet left over from when I last did some decorating. It was only medium thickness but I thought I'd give it a try. The plastic sheet was 12ft x 12ft approx.
Two opposite edges of the sheet were sandwiched between the two lasts and then screwed together.........
Here's a bit closer view.
The framework is simply 18 inch long pieces of rebar driven into the edges of the plot then 7ft lengths of plastic piping (which I already had) bent over in an arch and pushed over the rebar....
.......as shown above.
The plastic sheet is then laid over the supports..........
.....like this. The lattice strips makes it easier to roll the cover up when you want to remove it for planting/weeding/watering etc. I'm going to leave this plot covered like this for a week then dig it over again before transplanting any seedlings.
While I was out there I checked out some local wildlife..............
This friendly Garden Spider refused to pose for a snap and ran for cover in the tomato plants.
But, these guys were too busy working to bother about me and my camera...............
Honey Bees, there must have been around 30 on the Basil plants, a heartening sight indeed. They were joined.............................
.......by a number of Carpenter Bees.
Next, a project I began last weekend
I've started saving seeds from the tomatoes and here is how I'm doing it...........
Take your chosen tomato and slice it in half across the middle (its "equator").
With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and their gelatinous "goo" into a clean cup or container. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to the seeds. Cover the container with a piece of plastic-wrap and then poke the plastic-wrap with a paring knife or pen point to put a few small holes in it...this is to allow for air-transpiration. (A little fresh air needs to get in and out of the cup to help foster fermentation.)
Place the container of seeds in a warm location (I use the top of the refrigerator).
Now you must wait for fermentation to start and this usually takes a few days. Each night remove the plastic-wrap, stir the seed and water mixture, and then replace the plastic-wrap.
After a few days you get a scummy film form on the top surface..............
............as shown above. This helps destroy many of the possible tomato diseases that can be harbored by seeds. Take the container of fermented seeds to the sink and with a spoon carefully remove the scummy surface. Then pour the container's contents into a fine kitchen sieve and rinse well with running water. Shake to remove as much moisture as possible. Put a coffee filter paper onto a plate and spread the seeds evenly onto it. Leave to dry thoroughly, about a week, then store in paper packets.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Sunday 7th September | <urn:uuid:0142d015-56e4-4fb3-b07b-659f1fc5915e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oklahomegrownveg.blogspot.com/2008_09_07_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948064 | 789 | 1.578125 | 2 |
6lowpan/ROLL support on 802.15.4 radios
- 6lowpan/ROLL support on 802.15.4 radios
- Jon Smirl
802.15.4 is the radio layer of Zigbee. Zigbee is being deployed in smart meters all over the world with most of the activity in California. The next generation of Zigbee is being converted to run on TCP/IP instead of the proprietary Zigbee protocol. TCP/IP over 802.15.4 is the subject of two IEFT working groups - 6lowpan and ROLL. 6lowpan and ROLL are targeted to be GPL compatible unlike the exisiting proprietary Zigbee protocol. COAP is the application layer protocol used on top of 6lowpan/ROLL.
I'd like to buy a wireless router incorporating wifi and 802.15.4 but they don't exist yet. That's probably because there is no 802.15.4 support in Linux yet. I've been playing with writing this code in my spare time but I'm not making much progress. Proposal is for 6lowpan/ROLL to be implemented in the kernel. A user space library would implement COAP.
Primary beneficiary of this work is the Linux based router manufactuers - Linksys, DLink, Netgear, Buffalo, Trendnet, Asus, Belkin, Cisco, etc... Once the code is in the kernel is becomes simple to produce a router that bridges from Ethernet to wifi to 802.15.4.
RF4CE is 802.15.4 based remote controls. Once the ground work for 802.15.4 support is laid it should be possible to support these devices. Target for this is set top boxes.
This is not a proposal to implement the existing Zigbee protocols. Zigbee licensing is GPL incompatible. The Zigbee Alliance board has been asked to fix their GPL compatibility issues in the same manner that Bluetooth fixed them, but the Zigbee board declined to make the changes.
Linux Zigbee project - http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/linux-zigbee/ 6lowpan at IETF - http://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/6lowpan/charter/ ROLL at IETF - https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/roll/charter/ COAP at IETF - https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-core-coap/ GE Nucleus - http://www.geappliances.com/home-energy-manager/power-usage-monitor.htm Redwire hacker site - http://mc1322x.devl.org
My estimate is 26 person weeks for the initial implementation and testing. Another 13 person weeks (half-time) to support CELF members who incorporate the code. Possible need for travel budget to go to IETF meetings. This is too big for a spare time project.
Redwire LLC - http://www.redwirellc.com
Just to make it clear. There is ieee 802.15.4 support in linux. One part of it is already in mainline: net/ieee802154 but the MAC layer part is still missing and only available in the linux-zigbee git repository together with several drivers based on it. I would not say the code is production quality but at least reasonable to work with. This covers only 802.15.4. In terms of Zigbee this are only the two lowest layers and everything Zigbee specific is missing due to the reasons you already listed. So the project name, zigbee-linux, is a bit misleading at best as it only covers IEEE 802.15.4 :) Stefan Schmidt
The 802.15.4 part that is already in the kernel is from the linux-zigbee project referenced in the original post. That's just enough code to get the packets out of the hardware and push them up to user space. I suspect there are private user space ZIgbee implementations using this code. They're in user space because of the GPL incompatibility of Zigbee.
The linux-zigbee project was started by Siemens as a in-kernel implementation of Zigbee. When they discovered the GPL incompatibility the switched to MAC only. Have they built a private Zigbee implementation on top of this? I suspect they have because Dmitry complained which I tried to change the interface to user space.
Maybe the Linux Foundation could convince the Zigbee board to fix their licensing. Bluetooth originally had the identical problem. The Zigbee license requires all developers to pay $3000/yr. Putting the Zigbee code into the kernel would subject all kernel developers to this $3000/yr requirement plus the GPL doesn't allow that. Bluetooth had a fee like this originally and then later dropped it. The GPL compatible way of doing this is to put the fee on use of the brand - the Zigbee name and logos. I suspect the companies selling Zigbee stacks were behind blocking this switch.
> 1) Does this proposal also cover the task of bringing the outstanding mac802154 > bits into mainline? They are needed for a lot of drivers and interaction with > the 6lowpan stack. I just made a first attempt at the proposal. If it is under serious consideration it needs to be fleshed out a lot more. Yes, it would make sense to include the MAC support. Another missing part is interoperability testing. That may require some travel (IETF plugfest) and equipment purchases. Obviously the top requirement is to get the code into the kernel. I know of five half finished projects building Linux support for 6lowpan/ROLL. None of them are close to be production ready. > 2) Would the code be based on the contiki 6lowpan implementation or would it be > a fresh start? In my effort I started from the Contiki code. It is not a straight port, the Linux networking architecture is very different than Contiki's. I got halfway into it and figured out that I had made design mistakes in the architecture. One of the network gurus needs to advise us on how to correctly hook into the existing TCP/IP stack; snitching the BSD licensed code from Contiki is the easy part. BTW, the Contiki 6lowpan/ROLL implementation is only about 80% there - a lot of the hard bits are missing. For example no one has implemented a line of link level security code.
> Especially 1 seems to be a dependency if the 6lowpan code would be targeted for > mainline. I worked on the ieee802154 linux stack and drivers and will do it > again next year. While Dmitry does a good job in keeping the linux-zigbee tree > up to date wrt mainline it is still somewhat frustrating to work against it > instead of mainline where all the other stuff lands. > > I don't want to open up a can or worms here with these questions just want to > get a better understanding what this proposal would cover. I proposed Redwire as a contractor since they are actively developing the ROLL support for Contiki. They are primarily familiar with 6lowpan/ROLL and less familiar with the kernel. One the plus side they are reasonably priced and should be available. There are several other firms than are better suited to do the work but they are selling Zigbee implementations. One mystery to me is why no one from the router manufacturers is working on this. Cisco is quite active in the 6lowpan/ROLL IETF group. Jon Smirl | <urn:uuid:9f5afcf6-8902-4d01-a5dd-cee327936dc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://elinux.org/index.php?title=6lowpan/ROLL_support_on_802.15.4_radios&oldid=29929 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929775 | 1,561 | 1.78125 | 2 |
There are literally millions of small businesses. Some are one person and some are a few hundred employees. There are so many small businesses, it almost seems that everyone is doing it. Almost everyone IS doing it. It is a smart thing to do, just for the tax benefits alone. But just because you are self employed and own a business, doesn’t make you an entrepreneur. The difference between an entrepreneur and a business owner is the mindset of how you go about building your business.
Take an example: an Interior Designer, an Architect, Lawyer, or even a Doctor. All could own their own business, large or small, but if the business depends on the talent of the business owner to be there and perform the work, then the person is just self-employed. As an entrepreneur, the mindset and therefore the daily tasks are slightly different. As an entrepreneur, your daily routine is working on designing the systems to keep the business running, and then putting those systems into action. In both cases the self-employed or entrepreneur might work 50-80 hour weeks. The self employed person works to make money, while the entrepreneur works at making money work for him.
Observe a day at your work. Are you building the business or are you running the business? If you find that you are running the business, don’t be surprised if you still are working the same “job” after 20 years and ready to retire with nothing to show for it. If you are simply running the business, your business is your “job”, with no fringe benefits paid for by someone else. However, if your mindset going into work every day is, “What system should I put in place to automate the [fill in the blank] part of the business today?”, you have a mindset of an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is an art. It takes practice and requires a lot of knowledge of disparate areas of business. It also takes a certain mind set, which unfortunately, many business owners never seem to learn. The baby boomers are now retiring, many of whom are self employed business owners with no money to retire. They ran successful businesses for 30 years or more, but sadly they never learned that running a business and owning an automated business are very different. And after 30 years they result in two very different outcomes.
Make the best use of your time today and every day. As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime”. If giving the fish is doing the daily work of the business, while teaching others to fish means the work is now repeatable on its own, then be the one teaching others to fish. Be the one focused on building the systems that can be repeatable without you. That is where real value is created. And in the end, the sum of those values determines the worth of your businesses. | <urn:uuid:219c7ab5-7e52-4c99-903f-23b5aa818c49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://automatemysmallbusiness.com/entrepreneur-vs-self-employed-business-owner/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971492 | 614 | 2.265625 | 2 |
“On Saturday, February 18, 2012, the Frederick Douglass Foundation of New York presented the first Spirit of Freedom award to Jada Williams, a 13-year old city of Rochester student. Miss Williams wrote an essay on her impressions of Frederick Douglass’ first autobiography the Narrative of the Life. This was part of an essay contest, but her essay was never entered. It offended her teachers so much that, after harassment from teachers and school administrators at School #3, Miss Williams was forced to leave the school.
We at the Frederick Douglass Foundation honored her because her essay actually demonstrates that she understood the autobiography, even though it might seem a bit esoteric to most 13-year olds. In her essay, she quotes part of the scene where Douglass’ slave master catches his wife teaching then slave Frederick to read. During a speech about how he would be useless as a slave if he were able to read, Mr. Auld, the slave master, castigated his wife.
Miss Williams quoted Douglass quoting Mr. Auld: “If you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there will be no keeping him. It will forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.”
Miss Williams personalized this to her own situation. She reflected on how the “white teachers” do not have enough control of the classroom to successfully teach the minority students in Rochester. While she herself is more literate than most, due to her own perseverance and diligence, she sees the fact that so many of the other “so-called ‘unteachable’” students aren’t learning to read as a form of modern-day slavery. Their illiteracy holds them back in society.
Her call to action was then in her summary: “A grand price was paid in order for us to be where we are today; but in my mind we should be a lot further, so again I encourage the white teachers to instruct and I encourage my people to not just be a student, but become a learner.”
This offended her English teacher so much…”
Read and reblog!!
“this offended her English teacher so much that the teacher copied the essay for other teachers and for the Principal. After that, Miss Williams’ mother and father started receiving phone calls from numerous teachers, all claiming that their daughter is “angry.” Miss Williams, mostly a straight-A student, started receiving very low grades, and she was kicked out of class for laughing and threatened with in-school suspension.
There were several meetings with teachers and administrators, but all failed to answer Miss Williams’ mother’s questions. The teachers refused to show her the tests and work that she had supposedly performed so poorly on. Instead, the teachers and administrators branded her a problem.
Unable to take anymore of the persecution, they pulled her from School #3. Wanting to try another school, they were quickly informed that that school was filled and told to try “this school.” During her first day at this new school, she witnessed four fights, and other students asked her if she was put here because she fights too much.
Long story short, they took an exceptional student, with the radical idea that kids should learn to read, and put her in a school of throwaway students who are even more unmanageable than the average student in her previous school. To protect their daughter, her parents have had to remove her from school, and her mother has had to quit her job so she can take care of Miss Williams.
To date, the administrators of School #3 have refused to release her records, even though she no longer attends the school, and they have repeatedly given her mother the run around. We at the Frederick Douglass Foundation have contacted school administrators in regards to this situation and have also been told to hit the pavement.
That’s what we intend to do. If this school will sacrifice the welfare of an above-average student whose essay, that they asked her to write, they find offensive, we intend to make everyone aware of this monstrous injustice. The school has a job, and it is not doing it. We would like as many folks as possible to call the Principal of School #3 and complain about this injustice. Her name is Miss Connie Wehner, and she can be reached at (585) 454-3525. This treatment of Jada Williams cannot stand.
wow wow wow i am just
this country. i cant anymore.
Her email is: firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:1bd9804c-133a-492e-a4e4-ca0fa84de0c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://waitwhatnonevermind.tumblr.com/archive/2012/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983983 | 970 | 2.328125 | 2 |
It sometimes seems that the Theory of Air Power is more revealed religion than science; to communicants, there can be no fact or countervailing doctrine that disproves the central tenets of the faith. And it would be easy to argue, as in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, the Kosovo campaign or the toppling of the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, that American air power is the ultimate expression of the military art. But it takes greater courage to make the case now, when we are struggling to come to terms with insurgencies, terrorists and irregular warfare more broadly.
And it is an even greater surprise to find these arguments issuing from the pen — or the computer, more probably — of Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. Charlie is a lawyer by trade, but his heart is of the wild blue yonder, if his article on America’s asymmetric advantage is any reflection. He is best known as an author for two provocative pieces written in the 1990s. In 1992, in the Army War College journal Parameters, Charlie published “The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012.” At the moment of maximum controversy during the first year of Bill Clinton’s presidency, when “gays in the military” was a hot-button issue, Dunlap sent the national discussion on civil-military relations into high gear. And in 1996, writing even more publicly in The Weekly Standard, Charlie gave us “How We Lost the High-Tech War of 2007,” written in the voice of an Islamist revolutionary and attacking the idea of the revolution in military affairs. Dunlap’s fictitious holy warrior crowed that “Americans ignored the warnings of one of their own, Maj. Ralph Peters.” It’s a pleasure to have General Dunlap in the same issue as Ralph.
Continuing the discussion of air power, Lt. Col. Brian Newberry, now serving on the Air Staff, describes the process of Air Force adaptation to military operations in urban environments: If the fight for Fallujah was indicative of things to come, he says, more change is needed. Change is what Loren Thompson also has in mind, but his focus is on the requirement for long-range strike and, in particular, a coherent Air Force plan for bomber modernization.
Returning to Ralph Peters, his hearts-and-minds column this month stands as a rebuke to much current thinking about the value of kindler, gentler approaches to war. The American adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan and the greater Middle East have yet to produce a 21st-century edition of William Tecumseh Sherman, but it might yet do. David Perry, professor of ethics and holder of the Gen. Maxwell Taylor Profession of Arms chair at Carlisle, provides an antithetical perspective: Perry argues that irregular war in particular calls for a code of chivalry and humanity. | <urn:uuid:d1730080-be1b-4708-bdff-3bc6bb50abc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://armedforcesjournal.com/2006/09/2012419/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943614 | 594 | 1.742188 | 2 |
File this one under the "really cool digital out-of-home project" tab.
Marketing, automotive and even style websites and blogs have peppered the Internet with posts about BMW's eye-catching DOOH deployment in New York City in November that saw passing vehicles transformed into BMW concept cars in real time.
Using cameras, projection tech and some serious computing, the "BMW i Window Into The Near Future" digitally transformed passing cars into the all-electric BMW i3 and plug-in hybrid BMW i8 concept vehicles. (Apparently it was like driving by a mirror, but seeing a BMW concept car reflected back at you instead of your own.)
Story continues below...
The window also calculated how much money would be saved and how many tons CO2 emissions could be reduced by annually if each transformed car were all-electric.
The "window" was deployed at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue, across from Bryant Park in New York City.
Watch the video below:
(Thanks to Paul Flanigan's Experiate blog for first bringing it to DST's attention.)
Read more about DOOH advertising. | <urn:uuid:573d5a0f-c60b-4f20-9c77-692a5289dcba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitalsignagetoday.com/article/205563/BMW-digital-signage-turns-passing-autos-into-concept-cars-in-NYC-Video?rc_id=160 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959786 | 233 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Dozens of Denver's 7News viewers called the newsroom Thursday evening to report a giant fireball seen streaking across the Colorado night sky. Many of the callers all said the fireball looked as thought it crashed into the earth somewhere on the Front Range.
"It was spectacular," said Keith Cabaniss of Longmont. "I was sitting on the porch and saw it come from the east headed west to southwest. I was at the right place at the right time."
A research scientist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science confirmed that the fireball seen by many people was a meteor, according to Julia Taylor, spokeswoman for the museum. It was not immediately known if, or where, the fireball crashed into the earth.
The meteor was seen around 6:30 p.m. as far away as Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and Wyoming, according to eyewitness accounts passed to 7News.
It appeared so large that one Ken Carl resident said that she could even see the flames from the fireball.
The Poudre Fire Authority dispatch center said that the first calls about the meteor came in at 6:35 p.m. from eyewitnesses who thought that they saw a plane crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration investigated but concluded that there were no overdue planes, according to a dispatcher. A plane crash was ruled out by the FAA.
Many viewers who called 7News claimed the fireball was one of the most spectacular sights they had ever witnessed.
The flight control tower operators at Jefferson County Airport said that they saw the fireball at 6:21 p.m. and it "lit up the entire control tower." It was then seen streaking across the Continental Divide, according to an airport manager.
KRDO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Colorado Springs, said they got calls from viewers who say the meteor looked as though it touched down near Pikes Peak.
While the sightings were far and wide, the researchers at the Museum of Nature and Science would not be able to get confirmation on the meteor until Friday morning when data could be analyzed, according to Taylor.
"It was cool," said Cabaniss, one of the eyewitnesses. "It is Thanksgiving and I am thankful that I was able to see the thing."
If you have video or still pictures of the fireball please let us know, via email, at email@example.com.
If you would like to report the meteor, the Museum of Nature and Science asks that you report your sighting at www.CloudBait.com.
Copyright Copyright 2002 by TheDenverChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:e5e417ba-08dd-4f7c-9ad1-2c4349bd9cde> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/reports-giant-fireball-streaks-over-colorado-sky | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977783 | 546 | 2.125 | 2 |
David M. Bressoud January, 2010
The highly linear structure of the traditional mathematics curriculum is one of its strengths: One knows what a student is supposed to learn when and what common mastery can be expected of students in later courses. Moreover, the nature of the subject lends itself to such linearity. No one would question that a student needs to be fluent in arithmetic before tackling algebra. Algebra, in turn, is a necessary pre-requisite to the study of calculus that must precede differential equations or analysis.
Nevertheless, we mathematicians do carry this linear progression to unnecessary extremes. There is no reason why calculus must precede linear algebra or introductory number theory. A full course of differential equations requires fluency with the rules of differentiation and integration, and if partial differential equations are to be included, there are concepts from several variable calculus that are pre-requisite, but what about the biology student who would benefit from familiarity with the language and qualitative analysis of systems of differential equations? Does such a student require three semesters of calculus in its full glory before being admitted to the mysteries of differential equations? And for the student for whom statistics is the appropriate college mathematics course, does this student need the same knowledge of algebra as the student preparing to tackle calculus?
These are not academic questions. By building long chains of courses that must be traversed before getting to what is most interesting and pertinent, we often cut students off from their intended careers. Many students successfully complete one or more courses along their college progression and then fail to enroll in the next course of the sequence. They have been lost not because they are incapable of handling the mathematics they will need, but because they tire of courses whose relevance to their goals is unclear, a perception that is compounded by the fact that many of these pre-requisite courses are taught without serious thought about how students learn and what needs to be done to facilitate this. This is the problem of persistence.
I have encountered two separate threads within the past year that bring this issue to the forefront. The first was the release of a study at Arizona State University that followed five years worth of students who had enrolled in precalculus and had declared majors in engineering, mathematics, or science, majors that required at least one semester of calculus. Students who did well in this course and then took calculus were generally well-prepared: 82% of those who earned a C or higher in precalculus and then took calculus earned a C or higher in their calculus course. The problem was that almost half of these students who earned a C or higher never took the required calculus course, choosing to switch to a major that did not require calculus instead. Even among those who earned an A in precalculus, 43% switched majors rather than taking calculus. Similar if less dramatic patterns held for continuation from first to second semester calculus and on to several variable calculus.
It is important to note that the reasons for leaving were not necessarily attached to the mathematics class, but many of them were directed at mathematics. The dominant problems revolved around the student’s sense of lack of support: issues of advising and career counseling, large classes and inadequate recitation instructors, and faculty who were less approachable than those in other disciplines. It is significant that students did not find that switching majors decreased the amount of work they needed to do. These finding are entirely consistent with the analysis of why students leave science majors in Seymour and Hewitt’s Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences .
This was a wake-up call at ASU and has resulted in greater support for and attention to the teaching of precalculus. I strongly suspect that ASU is not unique.
The second thread involves an issue that is now being tackled by AMATYC (American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges) and by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching through its Statway program. The problem they are addressing is that students who enter with mathematical skills below the level needed to start with a college-level mathematics course have a low rate of getting to and successfully completing such a college-level mathematics course.
This problem is most pronounced in our two-year colleges. Almost 60% of the students enrolled in mathematics in the fall term in two-year colleges are enrolled in courses variously labeled as pre-transfer level, pre-college level, or developmental. Many of these students require a sequence of two or more courses at this level before they are ready for a college-credit-bearing mathematics course. For these students, often returning adults, life intervenes. It is not unusual to find that among those who successfully complete one course in their sequence, 30% may fail to enroll in the subsequent course. The problem is that this compounds. For students facing a three-course sequence, two pre-college level courses and one college level course, if 70% complete each course with a C or higher and 70% of these enroll in the next class, only 0.7^5, about one in six, of those who start will complete the sequence, a fairly typical success rate.
The sequence that almost all of these students enter is one designed to prepare them for precalculus, even though many of them neither need nor want to study calculus. The college-credit-bearing course that is most appropriate for many of these students is statistics. The task that both AMATYC and Carnegie are now wrestling with is to guide and support the creation of sequences that prepare students for college statistics, decreasing the number of courses they must traverse by identifying and focusing on those mathematical skills most relevant to the study of statistics. At the same time, AMATYC and Carnegie are very cognizant that such a sequence should not preclude the possibility of building on what has been accomplished to complete the preparation for the study of calculus. Shortening the time to completion while not closing off options is a true challenge, but an important one for our community to tackle.
All of this is part of a recurrent theme in my columns: More high schools are teaching college-level mathematics to ever more students, while more colleges are teaching high school-level mathematics to ever more students. These parallel tracks serve few students well, especially when the transition from high school to college involves backing up. One of the great tasks before us to re-engineer both sides of this transition so that most students are prepared for college mathematics when they graduate from high school, and all students can find college mathematics courses that are engaging, relevant, and interesting and, at the same time, open up rather than closing off options.
Thompson, Patrick W. et al. (2007). Failing the Future: Problems of persistence and retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at Arizona State University. Tempe, AZ. Office of the Provost.
Seymour, E. & Hewitt, N.M. (2000). Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences. Westview Press. Boulder, CO.
Access pdf files of the CUPM Curriculum Guide 2004 and the Curriculum Foundations Project: Voices of the Partner Disciplines.
Purchase a hard copy of the CUPM Curriculum Guide 2004 or the Curriculum Foundations Project: Voices of the Partner Disciplines.
Find links to course-specific software resources in the CUPM Illustrative Resources.
Find other Launchings columns.
David Bressoud is DeWitt Wallace Professor of Mathematics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and President of the MAA. You can reach him at email@example.com. This column does not reflect an official position of the MAA. | <urn:uuid:c27cce2c-f996-4e58-bd00-1f381975b6df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macalester.edu/~bressoud/pub/launchings/launchings_01_10.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963547 | 1,566 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Jhansi is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a historical place well known for Jhansi ki Rani. The district of Jhansi is on the banks on the river Betwa. This place although it has a strong history is striding on the path of development. There has been a number of infrastructural and real estate development in the city.
PLACES OF TOURIST INTEREST:
Rani Mahal (Queen’s Palace)
U.P. Govt. Museum
Maha Lakshmi Temple
Leher ki Devi Temple
Sadar Bazar market and Manik Chowk market
Cathedral of St. Anthony, seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jhansi
Bodh Vihar/Lord Buddha Temple,Jhansi.
Kaimasan Mandir, Bundelkhand University.
Sakhi ke Hanuman- It is a Hanuman temple of Jhansi though temples of other God and Goddesses are also there in its Campus.
Karaundi wali Mata Mandir
Mahaveeran Wali Mata Mandir
Orcha – There are a number of places of historical importance in this place. A number of historical temples along with the river Betwa is in this place.
Mau Ranipur – This place of Mau Ranipur is famous for the silk industry.
Hotel Prakash Regency
Hotel Dream Land
Manik Chowk : In this market one can find everything ranging from clothing to jewelry to appliances. It is located in the main city area.
Sadar Bazaar – One can find almost every brand they are looking for inthis area.
Sipri Bazaar – this market have a variety of clothes and apparel.
Nagra – Thismarket is also full of branded clothes, shoes and accessories. A wide collection of other goods are also available here.
HOW TO GET THERE:
There is no civil airport in Jhansi although there are plans to construct one in the near future. there are provisions for private aircraft landing in the military airbase.
Jhansi is connected to all the major towns and cities in India. it is an important station of North Central Railways. There are regular trains to Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Chennai , Bangalore, etc.
Jhansi is well connected by roads to all the major places of India. The North- south corridor connecting Kashmir and Jhansi passes through it.
Jhansi is easily accessible through various modes of transport including buses. With the advent of travel portals that allow individuals to book an Online Bus Ticket, tourists are opting to travel using the salient services offered by various travel operators. TicketGoose.com is currently the largest web portal offering Bus Ticket Booking services for those who want to resort to Online Bus Booking to book their tickets to travel to destinations of their choice. | <urn:uuid:138ab115-b77c-419a-8541-43e691df6a6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ticketgoose.com/destinations/jhansi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929419 | 613 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Part B Results and Feedback
The standard required in the OSPHE is that which could be reasonably expected of a public health trainee with at least two years' (whole-time equivalent) of service-based training left and is normally achievable by someone in training about six to nine months after passing Part A MFPH.
The examiners will assess candidates' ability to use knowledge and skills appropriately in public health settings.
The OSPHE is a 'show how' assessment rather than a 'knowledge' or 'know how' assessment, which will already have been completed in Part A. The Exam Content describes the skills that are tested.
The five competency areas are covered at each and every station. Candidates will therefore receive six independent assessments of each of the five competency areas. At each station there will be at least two people conducting the examination. One examiner at each station will be responsible for and free to concentrate on marking.
Using marking guidance, the Part B examiners grade each competency A-E for each candidate, with A being excellent, B being good, C being adequate, D being just below adequate and E being poor. These grades are later converted into numerical scores.
The Part B Examination applies a process of combining scores from individual stations to produce a global score and average marks for the five competency areas.
If a candidate were to be awarded a C for each competency at all six stations, this would indicate a pass overall. However, the marks for each competency are averaged, so the marking structure is such that it is possible to not do well on, say, two of the stations, and yet still pass overall by getting some marks higher than a C at other stations. The other requirement for a pass is that each competency area must be marked as satisfactory or above at half or more of the stations. See the Part B marking algorithm for a summary of how results are determined. Weightings and marking thresholds for the Part B examination are not published to examiners or candidates. See Publishing Weightings and Marking Thresholds for more information.
No part/question of the OSPHE can be banked. Candidates are given feedback in the form of average scores for each competency, giving them an indication of how well they have performed in the examination and which competencies may require targeted training.
Candidates may inform FPH of serious circumstances that occurred in the three weeks up to and including the date of the examination and that have adversely affected their examination performance. For further information see here.
At the examination you will be given the provisional date of the release of results. Results will normally be posted by first class, to the address you provided to FPH, within four working days after the examination.
There are two possible outcomes of the examination: Pass or Fail. No part/question of the OSPHE can be banked.
Candidates who fail can request feedback to help them and their trainer with regard to areas they should consider in their personal development plan before applying to re-sit the examination.
If you have passed the examination, your name will be passed to the Membership Department of FPH. You will be asked to become a Member of the Faculty, which is one of the requirements for the award of a CCT for inclusion on the GMC Specialist Register or Voluntary Register.
Following each OSPHE sitting, the names of successful candidates will be published on the FPH website. The result for all candidates will be sent to Faculty Advisers and Training Programme Directors.
Candidates who wish to appeal against their examination results should consult the Appeal procedures.
Candidates who wish to make a formal appeal against their examination results must write to the Chief Executive of FPH within 1 calendar month of the date of dispatch of the result, as indicated in the procedures. Please ensure that you read this guidance carefully to ensure that your grounds for appeal are legitimate before writing.
Examination date: 19 April 2013
|Number of candidates:||19
|Number of candidates who passed:||18
|Percentage pass rate:||95%
|Average score of all candidates:||7.2 out of 10
|(Please note that candidates will receive official notification by post)
|Valerie De Souza||Rachel Mearkle
|Richard Pinder||Ben Leaman|
|Vaishnavee Sreeharan||Sinead McGuinness|
View archived Part B Results | <urn:uuid:1839e79c-271f-41b6-ada9-9e85ade5d74f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fph.org.uk/part_b_results_and_feedback | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94532 | 915 | 2.09375 | 2 |
The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace represents a shift in the way the U.S. government is approaching identity management, privacy, and the Internet.
Since 1976, when Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman first surmised the possibilities for the potential uses for digital signatures,1 there has been ongoing discussion of building an online identity management structure. As use of the Internet has become more central to daily life and our financial and physical security has become intertwined with cyber security, the calls to authenticate and identify individual users have increased. However, we still have not seen a single set of answers to these issues that offer a path to an interoperable identity management system that will achieve the goals of authenticating users at different levels of risk, keeping the Internet as an innovative and growing hub for the world's interactions, and building trust among Internet users. Therefore, it is easy to be doubtful and even cynical that we can build an identity management infrastructure that is voluntary, privacy-protective, secure, and interoperable. Over the next few years, we have a rare opportunity to build such a system, and this opportunity may be our last.
NSTIC represents only one pillar in an overall approach to resilient and effective cyber security, but it is an essential component to overall success.
Many countries have put forward online identity management strategies tied to centralized databases and national ID cards, but another path was clearly laid out in an important 2004 article entitled "The Accountable Net." The authors, John Palfrey, David Johnson, and Susan Crawford, suggest the current threats on the Internet create an unsustainable situation where we risk losing the benefits of the Internet's decentralized structure. They urge us to find ways of building an Internet governance that makes peers accountable to one another as that risk is lower than the risk of empowering either an existing government or building a centralized global authority. Instead of fearing the change that will take place as the Internet becomes more accountable, those of us that love its current structure must embrace change, but also "keep the fundamental architecture and values of the Internet in mind as we do so."2
President Obama recognized these concerns in the release of the May 2009 Cyberspace Policy Review (CPR), which outlined the steps the public and private sector should take to overcome the risks associated with online transactions. These actions included improving identity solutions, services and privacy-enhancing technologies, and enhancing protection for individuals' online information. In response to the short-term actions laid out in the CPR, the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) was created and was signed by the President earlier this year; see http://www.nist.gov/nstic for details.
As the President and his Cyber Security Coordinator have noted, NSTIC represents only one pillar in an overall approach to resilient and effective cyber security, but it is an essential component to overall success. It seeks to enhance online trust by focusing on establishing identity solutions that improve our ability to identify and authenticate the organizations, individuals, and underlying infrastructure (such as routers, servers, desktops, mobile devices, software, data) involved in online transactions. NSTIC is not only about credentials and authentication. It also seeks to limit the amount of identifying information that is collected and transmitted during the course of online transactions. This concept is clearly articulated in the NSTIC vision statement: "individuals and organizations utilize secure, efficient, easy-to-use, and interoperable identity solutions to access online services in a manner that promotes confidence, privacy, choice, and innovation."
In order to realize the vision, the strategy outlines a next generation of a trusted identity environment, the Identity Ecosystem, where individuals and organizations can operate with trust and confidence through abiding by standards and policies for identifying and authenticating their digital identities.
Four Guiding Principles establish the framework for participation in the Identity Ecosystem and form the foundation for the strategy:
In order to reach these goals, not only does the government need the help of the private sector, but also the private sector must lead its implementation. In January 2011, the U.S. Department of Commerce was named the head of a National Program Office for NSTIC. As a non-regulatory agency, Commerce's job as the lead on NSTIC is to promote voluntary private sector cooperation to facilitate the growth of this Identity Ecosystem in a peer governance model similar to that recommended in "The Accountable Net."2
To do so, the U.S. Department of Commerce will promote private-sector involvement and engagement, build consensus on legal and policy frameworks works necessary to achieve the vision, including ways to enhance privacy, free expression, and open markets; work with industry to identify where new standards or collaborative efforts may be needed; support interagency collaboration and coordinate interagency efforts associated with achieving programmatic goals; and promote important pilot programs and other implementations.
In the age of identity theft, any project regarding identity bears close watching no matter who is running it or how it is run.
There is no panacea or magic bullet to solve all cyber security issues, but leadership on an identity management infrastructure can build trust, can improve security and, if done properly, can enhance privacy, but it must be led by the same type of innovators that have made the Internet what it is today. There will be an opportunity for anyone interested to participate and, it is essential that those of us that care about the future of the Internet do so if we are to be successful.
I realize many will read this call to participate in NSTIC and think they have heard this concern before, but in this case, I urge everyone involved in related areas to think long and hard about the future of identity management, privacy, and the Internet. There are only a few possible future scenarios.
Presidential calls on IT issues, with pilot funds behind them, do not come every day.
First, we continue on our current path. In other words, we stumble along. The market may have some good ideas on authentication that address some important Internet values: they probably will be voluntary; they may or may not protect privacy; they may be open or may be completely proprietary. In the meantime, we can expect at least a few more decades of inefficiencies, lost opportunity costs, and heavy fraud losses.
Another vision would be that governments will not wait decades and will work together or separately to begin to require identity management solutions. Although these solutions are likely to be more privacy protective, they are also likely to be more prescriptive schemes that may raise costs and make it more difficult to deliver products and services consumers want to use.
Finally, there is the NSTIC, an organized attempt to address as many issues as possible before they arise taking the leadership of the private sector and teaming it with consumer protection input from the government. It also may succeed or fail. Success has clear benefits to those who would like to ensure important aspects of today's Internet and protect privacy. Failure will put us back into one of the other scenarios.
With these options, it is clear which path is better for innovation, better for privacy, and better for openness. Certainly, in the age of identity theft, any project regarding identity bears close watching no matter who is running it or how it is run and NSTIC is no different in that respect.
Presidential calls on IT issues, with pilot funds behind them, do not come every day. There may indeed be other opportunities to develop a similar means to address related security issues while maintaining the critical values of Internet openness and privacy, but that is not a wager I am willing to make. In short, we have a chance to make a difference now. I hope you will join me and work with the U.S. Commerce Department and private sector leaders to take advantage of what may just be the last best chance to get the governance for the future of online authentication right.
2. Johnson, D. R., Crawford, S. P., and Palfrey, J. G. The accountable Net: Peer production of Internet governance. Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School Virginia Journal of Law and Technology 9, 9 (2004); http://ssrn.com/abstract=529022 or DOI:10.2139/ssrn.529022.
a. See a discussion of modern Fair Information Practice Principles in the U. S. Department of Commerce Green Paper entitled "Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework" at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/2010/IPTF_Privacy_GreenPaper_12162010.pdf
The Digital Library is published by the Association for Computing Machinery. Copyright © 2011 ACM, Inc.
The news industry has much at stake here. A system for information commerce must support the sharing of atomized, disaggregated content. This requires an universal identity protocol for the web, so stateful microaccounting is possible. Please note the circulate draft white paper at http://www.papertopersona.org
-- Bill Densmore
Reynolds Journalism Institute
Missouri School of Journalism
Displaying 1 comment | <urn:uuid:7c269b03-7635-45e4-acc3-c725d0c8700a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2011/6/108645-identity-management-and-privacy/fulltext | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933034 | 1,883 | 2.21875 | 2 |
||04-14-2009 10:57 PM
Think Again: Engaging Cuba
“It’s Time for the U.S. to Reach out and Engage the Castro Regime.”
Watch out! Before embarking on any attempt at rapprochement with the Castro regime, U.S. President Barack Obama would be wise to review his predecessors' experiences.
Gerald Ford's negotiations with Fidel Castro's representatives had to be called off when 15,000 Cuban troops landed in Angola. Jimmy Carter's efforts led to the opening of interest sections in Havana and Washington, but hopes for normalization were quashed when the Castro regime deployed troops to Ethiopia and subsequently unleashed the Mariel boatlift, which brought 125,000 refugees to Florida, including more than 2,700 convicted criminals and misfits. Several foreign-policy experts called the boatlift an act of migratory aggression.
With the Cold War over, President Bill Clinton tried anew to improve U.S. relations with Cuba, fostering people-to-people contacts. These efforts were foiled by a crisis of refugee rafters in 1994 and again in 1996 when Cuban jet fighters shot down two unarmed planes flying over international waters on a humanitarian mission.
The circumstances have changed since then, but the Cuban regime (now under the dual leadership of the Castro brothers) essentially remains the same. So, at the very least, caution and a step-by-step approach are called for in any new attempt to engage with this wily regime, which has managed to exploit naivité and signs of weakness to its advantage.
“The Embargo Is a Failure.”
Depends. Some would say the embargo hasn't worked because Cuba's totalitarian regime remains in power. But it's also exhausted and weaker. The regime today faces disgruntled apparatchiks, cracks within its system, a critical economic and financial situation, and growing restlessness and dissent among the population.
The embargo is the only leverage the United States has to ensure a democratic transition, if not under the Castro brothers, then with their successors. Why give up something for nothing? The European Union did that by unilaterally lifting its diplomatic sanctions against the Cuban regime, but Europe's hopes for human rights improvements have so far been in vain. Despite striking out yet again during his trip to Havana last month, European commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, Louis Michel, said that "Cuba-EU relations may go very far." He also hailed the importance of boosting collaboration between both sides. All this while more than 300 Cuban political prisoners remain behind bars under brutal conditions.
Cuba today is virtually bankrupt, with a huge external debt it is unable to serve or repay. According to the Paris Club group of creditors, Cuba owes close to $30 billion to its trading partners -- the second-highest level of indebtedness reported by the group. Given the sharp decline in oil prices, it is unlikely that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will be able to maintain the current level of subsidies and other financial assistance granted to Cuba (to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars annually).
Under these circumstances, the Castro regime has embarked on a charm offensive with a single objective in mind: a U.S. bailout. The regime is looking to Uncle Sam for additional dollars via American tourists, plus commercial lines of credit and access to international banks and monetary funds for the renegotiation or cancellation of its external debt. That is leverage the United States could guardedly use -- not to provide life support to a battered tyranny, but to secure meaningful changes that will hasten the democratization of Cuba.
“Raúl Castro Is More Pragmatic Than His Brother.”
Wishful thinking. Remember that Raúl Castro was largely responsible for building the totalitarian-military apparatus in Cuba. He has promised reforms, but those reforms have been more cosmetic than real. Cubans can now legally go to hotels they cannot afford and buy computers without access to the Internet. Farmers have been leased state-owned land, but without the necessary capital, fertilizers, technology, and tools to make it productive.
Raúl Castro said he would encourage open debate, yet dissidents are constantly harassed and detained. Even several high-level government officials, accused by Raúl as deviationists, were recently purged and forced to repent, Stalin-style. The current Politburo has been largely militarized, with key members of the old guard loyal to Raúl. Lacking the grip and charisma of his brother, he fears the "reformists" who are starting to emerge, hence Raúl's interest in shoring up his prestige and authority with high-level negotiations with Washington and the readmission of Cuba to the Organization of American States and other international forums. He is only looking for concessions that will prop up his internal standing, not real change.
“The Embargo Allows the Regime to Blame the U.S. for Cuba’s Problems.”
Who cares? The Castros have never needed help in coming up with reasons to blame Yankee imperialism or the CIA for any criticism or discontent on the island. Dissidents are constantly being accused of serving the enemy (the United States). Even Spain -- a staunch Castro supporter -- was recently lashed by the ailing ruler for helping the "genocide empire" with its anti-Cuba policy.
But it is safe to say that most Cubans long ago realized that the main cause of their calamity is not the external U.S. embargo, but the internal government blockade. Except among the government nomenklatura, there is very little animosity toward Americans in Cuba. The dream of most Cubans today, absent a change that will unshackle them, is to reach Miami, one way or another, to renew their lives with freedom and opportunities to prosper.
“Cultural Exchanges and Tourism Can Hasten Political Change.”
If only. Cultural exchanges would be great if U.S. students, professors, intellectuals, scientists, and artists enjoyed in Cuba the same rights of mobility and expression that their Cuban counterparts are granted in the United States. As for tourism, more than 15 million tourists have gone to Cuba in the last 10 years, primarily from Canada and Europe. They have had no discernable impact on the regime, other than providing hard currency, and have had very limited interaction with the local population. Under the existing system, a kind of apartheid on the Caribbean, Cubans are barred from entering tourist enclaves (most of them are outside Havana) and penalized for engaging in discussions or accepting publications deemed counterrevolutionary. In any forthcoming negotiations, attempts should be made to remove these barriers.
“Cuba Is No Longer a Threat to the United States.”
Don't be so sure. The fact that Cuba, without Soviet backing, is no longer a direct military threat does not make the regime that rules the island a benign dictatorship. Its biotechnology capability, developed in conjunction with Iran, and its close relationship with North Korea pose serious concerns. Cuba continues to harbor terrorists from ETA, FARC, and ELN, as well as U.S.-convicted criminals and fugitives.
Cuban officials have been indicted in the past for trafficking drugs from the island to the United States, and today, according to the Miami Herald's summary of a report by the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, "Cuba is doing little to stop drug smuggling, and … its cooperation with U.S. efforts is sporadic and limited." Most ominous is the Castro regime's continued support of Chávez's authoritarian and expansionist government with some 40,000 Cubans in Venezuela, including intelligence and military officers and educational "indoctrinators." For many populists in Latin America, Castro's Cuba remains an attractive and contagious symbol of anti-U.S. defiance.
“U.S. Engagement with the Castro Regime Is the Best Hope for a Democratic Cuba.”
Not at all. The hope lies primarily with the silent majority on the island, which is no longer so silent. It includes the brave members of the dissident and human rights movements who remain at the vanguard; the political prisoners who from their cells remain undaunted; the wives of those prisoners parading and demanding the release of their loved ones; intellectuals challenging the Communist Party's rewrite of Cuban history; the priest who sent an open letter to Raúl Castro demanding drastic reforms; tourism workers objecting to stifling taxes; comedians making fun of the government; bloggers debunking the lies spread by the regime; and the Cubans who, during a recent art fair in Havana, went up to the podium, shouted "Freedom!", and were warmly applauded by the audience.
This surging dissident movement, conscious of its rights and determined to be the protagonist of Cuba’s future, needs to be encouraged and supported by the United States and others as Solidarity was in Poland: with sufficient funds and tools for civic, peaceful resistance, and with enlightening radio and TV transmissions that can overcome the regime's jamming and provide the same impetus for change that Radio Free Europe did in the 1980s.
This dissident movement, part of the larger civil society, will eventually coalesce with reformists from within the government's ranks and pave the way for a democratic transition in Cuba. Forget the Castro brothers; these are the Cubans the United States must engage with.
Should the US ease on Cuba now? | <urn:uuid:b9fd347a-454b-4496-a644-48a959e025fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.steelersfever.com/printthread.php?t=35219 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954663 | 1,953 | 1.875 | 2 |
The Fall of the Maya: 'They Did it to Themselves'
October 6, 2009: For 1200 years, the Maya dominated Central America. At their peak around 900 A.D., Maya cities teemed with more than 2,000 people per square mile -- comparable to modern Los Angeles County. Even in rural areas the Maya numbered 200 to 400 people per square mile. But suddenly, all was quiet. And the profound silence testified to one of the greatest demographic disasters in human prehistory -- the demise of the once vibrant Maya society.
"They did it to themselves," says veteran archeologist Tom Sever.
Right Mayan ruins in Guatemala. Photo copyright Tom Sever.
"The Maya are often depicted as people who lived in complete harmony with their environment,' says PhD student Robert Griffin. "But like many other cultures before and after them, they ended up deforesting and destroying their landscape in efforts to eke out a living in hard times."
A major drought occurred about the time the Maya began to disappear. And at the time of their collapse, the Maya had cut down most of the trees across large swaths of the land to clear fields for growing corn to feed their burgeoning population. They also cut trees for firewood and for making building materials.
He and his team used computer simulations to reconstruct how the deforestation could have played a role in worsening the drought. They isolated the effects of deforestation using a pair of proven computer climate models: the PSU/NCAR mesoscale atmospheric circulation model, known as MM5, and the Community Climate System Model, or CCSM.
"We modeled the worst and best case scenarios: 100 percent deforestation in the Maya area and no deforestation," says Sever. "The results were eye opening. Loss of all the trees caused a 3-5 degree rise in temperature and a 20-30 percent decrease in rainfall."
The results are telling, but more research is needed to completely explain the mechanisms of Mayan decline. Archeological records reveal that while some Maya city-states did fall during drought periods, some survived and even thrived.
Above: Deep in the Guatemalan jungle, Sever and Griffin study a crumbled "stele," a stone pyramid used by the Maya to record information or display ornately carved art. Sever and Griffin found the stele and other ruins hidden for more than 1,000 years during an expedition that relied on NASA remote-sensing technologies to pinpoint sites of ancient settlements. (NASA/T. Sever)
"We believe that drought was realized differently in different areas," explains Griffin. "We propose that increases in temperature and decreases in rainfall brought on by localized deforestation caused serious enough problems to push some but not all city-states over the edge."
The Maya deforested through the use of slash-and-burn agriculture – a method still used in their old stomping grounds today, so the researchers understand how it works.
"We know that for every 1 to 3 years you farm a piece of land, you need to let it lay fallow for 15 years to recover. In that time, trees and vegetation can grow back there while you slash and burn another area to plant in."
But what if you don't let the land lay fallow long enough to replenish itself? And what if you clear more and more fields to meet growing demands for food?
Right: A deadly cycle of drought, warming and deforestation may have doomed the Maya. [larger image]
Not only did drought make it difficult to grow enough food, it also would have been harder for the Maya to store enough water to survive the dry season.
"The cities tried to keep an 18-month supply of water in their reservoirs," says Sever. "For example, in Tikal there was a system of reservoirs that held millions of gallons of water. Without sufficient rain, the reservoirs ran dry." Thirst and famine don't do much for keeping a populace happy. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
"In some of the Maya city-states, mass graves have been found containing groups of skeletons with jade inlays in their teeth – something they reserved for Maya elites – perhaps in this case murdered aristocracy," he speculates.
No single factor brings a civilization to its knees, but the deforestation that helped bring on drought could easily have exacerbated other problems such as civil unrest, war, starvation and disease.
of these insights are a result of space-based imaging, notes
Sever. "By interpreting infrared satellite data, we've
located hundreds of old and abandoned cities not previously
known to exist. The Maya used lime plaster as foundations
to build their great cities filled with ornate temples, observatories,
and pyramids. Over hundreds of years, the lime seeped into
the soil. As a result, the vegetation around the ruins looks
distinctive in infrared to this day."
"Space technology is revolutionizing archeology," he concludes. "We're using it to learn about the plight of ancients in order to avoid a similar fate today."
Space Archeology -- by Tom Sever: "Much of human history can be traced through the impacts of human actions upon the environment. The use of remote sensing technology offers the archeologist the opportunity to detect these impacts which are often invisible to the naked eye."
Mayan Mysteries -- article by NASA's Earth Observatory about research on the Maya and modern-day efforts to protect both the people and the wildlife in the area.
to this research: Archeologist Dr. Tom Sever
of UAHuntsville in Huntsville, Alabama; archeologist
Dr. William Saturno of Boston University, who is a NASA
Intergovernmental Personnel Act Assignee; Rob Griffin,
a PhD student at Pennsylvania State University in College
Park, Pa, and current Visiting Professional at the National
Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville; Dr.
Udaysankar Nair, a research scientist in UAHuntsville's
Earth System Science Center; Daniel Irwin, SERVIR Project
Director at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center; and
paleoclimatologist Dr. Bob Oglesby of the University | <urn:uuid:430ef185-3531-40b1-9de3-97270b30365f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/06oct_maya/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945466 | 1,265 | 3.609375 | 4 |
The Jinns In The Qur’an
Previously, we explained that God gave Prophet Solomon (pbuh) great support by putting the jinns under his command. Now, we must consider what we are told in the Qur'an. For example:
And He created the jinns from a fusion of fire. (Qur'an, 55:15)
We created the jinns before out of the fire of a searing wind. (Qur'an, 15:27)
The Qur'an reveals that jinns live in their own societies, have formed communities, and that they have ancestors (Qur'an, 7:38; 18:50) Although they live in a different dimension, the jinns can see, watch, and listen to people.
A demon of the jinns told Prophet Solomon (pbuh) that he could bring the Queen of Saba's throne before he got up from his seat and said"I am strong and trustworthy enough to do it" (Qur'an, 27:39). These words may be alluding to the fact that he could move with great speed from one place to another and transport material objects. >
God tells us why the jinns were created: "I only created jinn and man to worship Me"(Qur'an, 51:56). Just like humanity, they are warned by Messengers and divinely revealed Books, are tested in this world, worship and obey God, and will receive a reward from God. The Qur'an states:
O company of jinn and humanity. Did not Messengers come to you from among yourselves relating My Signs to you and warning you of the encounter of this Day of yours? They will say: "We testify against ourselves." The life of this world deluded them, and they will testify against themselves that they were unbelievers. (Qur'an, 6:130)
As the verse says, the jinns experience much the same testing as humanity does. Some of them are deceived by the world's temporary delights and ignore or reject the warning that they should follow the true path. The jinns, who can hear the Messengers' words and the Qur'an's recitation, and who can tell their own people what they have learned, listened to the words of Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace):
And We diverted a group of jinns toward you to listen to the Qur'an. When they were in earshot of it, they said: "Be quiet and listen." When it was over, they went back to their people and warned them. They said: "Our people, we have heard a Book that was sent down after Moses, confirming what came before it, guiding to the truth and to a straight path." (Qur'an, 46:29-30)
In several verses, God speaks to the jinns and human beings at the same time, advises them, and warns them against the pains of Hell. In Qur'an 7:38, God decrees:"Enter the Fire together with the nations of jinn and humanity who have passed away before you."Those jinn and human communities who deny the Qur'an's truth will meet with the following fate:
Say: "If both humanity and the jinns banded together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could never produce anything like it, even if they backed each other up." (Qur'an, 17:88)
Here are some verses in which God addresses jinns and human beings together:
Those are people of whom the statement about the nations, both of jinn and humanity, who passed away before them, has also proved true; truly, they were the lost. (Qur'an, 46:18)
We created many of the jinns and humanity for Hell. They have hearts with which they do not understand. They have eyes with which they do not see. They have ears with which they do not hear. Such people are like cattle. No, they are even further astray! They are the unaware. (Qur'an, 7:179)
Believers and Unbelievers
The Qur'an says that some jinns believe in God and follow His way, while others are godless and rebellious. Muslim jinns listen while the Qur'an is being recited, as the verses below reveal:
Say: "It has been revealed to me that a band of jinns listened and said: 'We have heard a most amazing recitation. It leads to right guidance, so we believe in it and will not associate anyone with our Lord. He—exalted be the Majesty of our Lord!—has neither wife nor son.'" (Qur'an, 72:1-3)
"The fools among us have uttered a vile slander against God. We did not think it possible for either humanity or jinn to tell a lie against God." (Qur'an, 72:4-5)
There are different groups of jinns: sincere Muslims, pagans and polytheists, and those who tell lies about God. Believers are told that:
"Among us [jinns] there are some who are righteous and some who are other than that. We follow many different paths. We realized we would never thwart God on Earth and would never thwart Him by flight, and when we heard the guidance, we believed in it…" (Qur'an, 72:11-13)
Like humanity, jinns are responsible for obeying God's book. They will have to account for all they said and did, and will obtain a reward that is completely appropriate to their actions. Believers are told that they will receive a fine reward from God:
"Anyone who believes in his Lord need fear neither belittlement nor tyranny. Some of us are Muslims and some are deviators. Those who have become Muslim are those who sought right guidance." (Qur'an, 72:13-14)
A calligraphic inscription in the thuluth style on a wood panel by Hasan Efendi, 1325 AH/1907 CE: There is no other god but God, and Muhammad is His Prophet.
However, those who deny God's existence will meet with the following fate:
"The deviators will be firewood for Hellfire." (Qur'an, 72:15)
"I will fill up Hell with the jinn and humanity all together." (Qur'an, 11:119)
Their Communication with Human Beings
In some cases, certain people may communicate with the jinns and, if God wills, even control them. For example, God placed the jinns under Prophet Solomon's (pbuh) control, and he used them in all kinds of work.
Such communication needs to be analyzed, for today some people, especially young people, try to summon jinns. Even if some people call it calling up the heart or calling up the spirit, it is actually the jinns that are being summoned. In some situations, even if no jinn is actually summoned up, people believe that it is anyway.
Generally, the jinns who answer these summons do not believe in God. Their probable purpose is to make people waste their time in frivolous pursuits. Deceived by these jinns, individuals think that they can gain something from them and learn something about the Unseen. However, without God's permission, the jinns cannot provide any such information. For example, they did not know that Prophet Solomon (pbuh) had died: "When he [Solomon] fell down, it was made clear to the jinns that if they had truly had knowledge of the Unseen, they need not have stayed there suffering humiliating punishment"(Qur'an 34:14). Moreover, it must be remembered that "No one in the heavens and Earth knows the Unseen except God" (Qur'an, 27:65).
Those Who Associate Jinns with God
Some people believe that the jinns have a certain power of their own. However, this is quite wrong, for God created them and only He has real power. Apart from God's will, they cannot harm or benefit anyone. Despite this, some people hope for their assistance and regard them as their guardians:
Yet they make the jinns co-partners with God when He created them! And they attribute sons and daughters to Him without any knowledge. Glory be to Him! He is far above what they describe! (Qur'an, 6:100)
A calligraphic inscription in the jali-thuluth script by Omer Vasfi Efendi of Qur'an 38:50: Gardens of Eden, whose gates will be open to them.
The Qur'an says that some people have been misled after making contact with the jinns:
"Certain men from among humanity used to seek refuge with certain men from among the jinns, but they increased them in wickedness." (Qur'an, 72:6)
In another verse, the Qur'an reveals that some people actually worship the jinns:
They [the angels] will say: "Glory be to You! You are our Protector, not them. No, they were worshipping the jinns. They mostly had faith in them." (Qur'an, 34:41)
A circular medallion in which is inscribed: O Muhammad, upon him be peace and the names of the four rightly-guided caliphs, which are written at the corners. It is in the rococo style and illuminated with 22-karat gold.
A major reason why people associate the jinns with God and hope for their assistance is that they think that these beings know the Unseen. But this is a serious error, for they have no such knowledge (Qur'an, 34:14). The Qur'an says that they cannot guide human beings and may even make broad, yet empty, hints to lead people away from the true path. However, the jinns can influence people only if God wills it, for He created them and they move at His command:
In this way, We have appointed as enemies to every Prophet demons from both humanity and from the jinns, who inspire each other with delusions by means of specious words—if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it, so abandon them and all they fabricate. (Qur'an, 6:112)
Yesarizade (Mustafa Izzet) (1770-1849) 1258 AH. Calligraphy on a blue background. The border is rococo style illuminated in gold with the words: May God give abundant blessing.
Those jinns who lead people astray, as well as those people who associate the jinns with God, will be punished with the eternal pangs of Hell. Those who were deluded by the jinns' alluring words will, in the Hereafter, understand the enormity of their error. On the Day of Judgment, whatever they associated with God will be removed, and they will understand that they are totally alone in His presence. Upon learning that they will have to suffer the pangs of Hell, they will beg:
Those who do not believe say: "Our Lord, show us those jinns and men who misguided us, and we will place them beneath our feet so that they will be among the lowest of the low." (Qur'an, 41:29)
Another verse says that fire will be their endless dwelling place:
On the Day We gather them all together: "O Company of jinns, you gained many followers among humanity." And their friends among Humanity will say: "Our Lord, we benefited from one another, and now we have reached the term that You determined for us." He will say: "The Fire is your home. You will be in it timelessly, forever, except as God wills. Your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing." (Qur'an, 6:128)
The Reward of the Rebellious
The Qur'an reminds us that jinns and human beings are weak creatures that move by God's inspiration. Furthermore, it states that their godless rebellion and denial of His signs will always fail, because God is the Lord of the worlds and Ruler of heaven and Earth:
O Company of jinns and humanity, if you are able to pierce through the confines of the heavens and Earth, pierce through them. You will not pierce through, except by a clear authority. (Qur'an, 55:33)
The reward for those who undertake such an enterprise is described as follows: "He will pursue you with a piercing flame and fiery smoke, and you will not be helped"(Qur'an, 55:35). Muslim jinns are aware of this reality and acknowledge their weakness by saying:"We realized we would never thwart God on Earth and would never thwart Him by flight" (Qur'an, 72:12). In addition, the end of such rebellious is Hell:
When heaven is split apart and goes red like dregs of oil. So which of your Lord's blessings do you both then deny? That Day no person or jinn will be asked about his sin. So which of your Lord's blessings do you both then deny? The evildoers will be recognized by their mark and seized by their forelocks and their feet. So which of your Lord's blessings do you both then deny? This is Hell, which the evildoers deny. (Qur'an, 55:37-43)
Throughout this section, we have described the jinns' characteristics. and have seen that although they have the same responsibilities as people, they are a different kind of creature. Indeed, having power over these very different creatures is a blessing from God given as a reward for strong, deep faith. Prophet Solomon (pbuh) was awarded this blessing from God, Who also showed His mercy by rewarding him with a mighty kingdom. | <urn:uuid:060d3614-5810-489d-843b-d566cba7e9d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://harunyahya.com/en/books/3007/Prophet_Solomon_(pbuh)/chapter/3426 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97386 | 2,958 | 2.65625 | 3 |
The beginnings of this garden were simple, Geoffrey Armstrong and Wendy Vincent (both artists) started collecting things they loved...specifically rocks.
The collections grew and new collections were created -including plants - which friends passed along.
Slowly, over 10 years, the pair have created an amazing garden that they never really set out to build.
Along the way they became members of Operation Wildflower (OWF) which is an association of plant lovers who save plants to be destroyed when development transforms a piece of natural vegetation into a township, road, dam, mine, etc. The members collect and replant them on their own properties, rather than seeing them bulldozed and lost. South Africa is blessed with a rich botanical history and this group hopes to help it remain the pride of the nation.
Operation Wildflower brought more plants, and donated rocks from farming neighbors have, over the years, transformed the hillside - proving that not all gardens emerge only from a love of green things.
To read more about the garden and it's creators, see a full article at Visi.
Images from Visi | <urn:uuid:d27fae80-8f9b-4479-82d7-86f8471579d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/exotic-gardens-a-south-african-rock-pile-the-gardenist-167495?img_idx=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961922 | 226 | 2.234375 | 2 |
People in Colorado, Washington state and Oregon will soon vote on initiatives that would allow adults 21 and over to buy marijuana at government-regulated shops.
They focus on the evils of prohibition and the economic benefits to the states and cities of pot tax revenues. There is no pretense of wanting to make pot available solely to help people suffering from serious medical conditions.
California' medicinal marijuana law was supposed to limit pot use to people with medical conditions. Many people with serious illnesses are able to get marijuana at dispensaries without having to purchase the drug illegally from a dealer and face state prosecution. But the law also allows any adult to purchase pot at a medical marijuana dispensary. So long as he or she has a medical marijuana ID -- which doctors and osteopaths dole out like gum drops for a price. Recreational drug users all over the state have taken advantage of the law which has helped land dispensaries in hot water with the feds.
California's prosecutors have shut down more than 600 statewide since they launched an aggressive campaign in October.
In July, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag came gunning for Harborside Health Center. Harborside of course is the cash-cow pot dispensary with branches in Oakland and San Jose and more than $20 million in annual sales. It was featured on the TV reality show "Weed Wars." Haag's office filed a civil forfeiture claim to seize the property
On Wednesday, there was a new wrinkle in the Oakland marijuana wars.
City Attorney Barbara Parker announced that Oakland had filed a suit against the federal government to block the forfeiture claim. Oakland was none too pleased at the prospect of losing more than $1 million in sales tax revenues from Harborside.
According to the city's complaint, the property on Embarcadero "is vital to the safe and affordable distribution of medical cannabis to people suffering from chronic and acute pain, life threatening and severe illnesses, diseases and injuries."
Oakland officials allege that the federal government also exceeded a five-year statute of limitations. That city officials built a whole regulatory framework around medical marijuana based upon assurances from federal officials that so long as dispensaries stayed within the confines of state law, they would be allowed to operate.
Oakland became the first city I'm aware of to sue the federal government on behalf of a pot dispensary.
Marijuana advocates are over the moon. But others are incensed that Oakland officials are going to court to protect a marijuana dispensary.
Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco, one of the top law firms in the state, is taking the case pro bono.
David Levine, a professor of law at UC Hastings and expert in civil procedure, questions whether the city of Oakland even has standings to file this particular legal action. He called it "an enormous long shot."
Oakland officials have no way of knowing whether a dispensary -- Harborside or any other -- is complying with state law. How many patients have legitimate medical conditions versus all the people who just want to get high.
There is no regulation or oversight of the doctors writing prescriptions or the people getting them.
Californians could have dropped the "medicinal" facade in 2010 by passing Prop. 19, the marijuana legalization measure. But it failed.
It appears that voters were happy to let the medical marijuana law operate as de-facto legalization but were unwilling to come right out and support legalization.
"It seems that California has settled on this strange ambiguous thing where it's not legal or illegal," says Robert MacCoun, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley who has studied U.S. and international drug laws.
Yet there is nothing ambiguous about possession and sale of marijuana under federal law.
Federal prosecutors assert Harborside's sales volume suggests illegal sales which would violate state and federal laws. The operators insist they have not broken any laws.
Harborside has 100,000 people listed as patients.
Multiply that out by all the people buying marijuana from thousands of medical marijuana dispensaries across California.
That's a whole lot of sick people. Or maybe not. | <urn:uuid:4791049b-db65-4bf0-bb48-3c89b54e1adf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidebayarea.com/oakland/ci_21763674/tammerlin-drummond-oakland-sides-pot-dispensary-fight-feds | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966018 | 835 | 1.546875 | 2 |
What is pH and how is it measured?
by Dr J Floor Anthoni (2005)
The history of measuring the acidity of liquids electrically began in 1906 when Max Cremer in his studies of liquid interfaces (interactions between liquids and solids) discovered that the interface between liquids could be studied by blowing a thin bubble of glass and placing one liquid inside it and another outside. It created an electric potential that could be measured.
The Danish biochemist Soren Sorensen then invented the pH scale in 1909.
Because the resistance in the wall of the glass is very high, typically between 10 and 100 Mega-Ohm, the glass electrode voltage could not be measured accurately until electron tubes were invented. Later still, the invention of field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits (ICs) with temperature compensation, made it possible to measure the glass electrode voltage accurately. The voltage produced by one pH unit (say from pH=7.00 to 8.00) is typically about 60 mV (milli Volt). Present pH meters contain microprocessors that make the necessary corrections for temperature and calibration. Even so, modern pH meters still suffer from drift (slow changes), which makes it necessary to calibrate them frequently.
Improvements have also been made in the chemistry of the glass such that pollution by salt and halogen ions could be halted. The reference electrode, which traditionally used silver chloride (AgCl) has been superseded by the kalomel (mercurous chloride, HgCl2) electrode which uses mercuric chloride (HgCl) in a potassium chloride (KCl) solution as a gel (like gelatine). But electrodes do not have eternal life and need to be replaced when they drift unacceptably or take unusually long to settle.
Cremer M (1906): Z. Biol, 47, 562
Haber F and Z Klemensiewicz (1909): Z. Physik. Chem., 67, 385
|How a pH meter works
When one metal is brought in contact with another, a voltage difference occurs due to their differences in electron mobility. When a metal is brought in contact with a solution of salts or acids, a similar electric potential is caused, which has led to the invention of batteries. Similarly, an electric potential develops when one liquid is brought in contact with another one, but a membrane is needed to keep such liquids apart.
|The pH meter measures the electrical potential (follow the drawing clock-wise from the meter) between the mercuric chloride of the reference electrode and its potassium chloride liquid, the unknown liquid, the solution inside the glass electrode, and the potential between that solution and the silver electrode. But only the potential between the unknown liquid and the solution inside the glass electrode change from sample to sample. So all other potentials can be calibrated out of the equation.|
|Water is THE most important and miraculous substance
on Earth. Its molecules H-O-H form a boomerang shape with the O- end slightly
negative and the H2+ end slightly positively charged. These charged boomerangs
are attracted to one another, forming islands of cohesion, such that water
forms a liquid at temperatures where life thrives, whereas it should really
have been a very volatile gas like hydrogen sulphide (H2S) which has almost
twice its molecular weight. At the surface of Earth, water occurs in solid
form (ice), liquid (water) and gaseous form (steam or water vapour). In
cold areas all three phases co-exist.
Water is also unique in that it is both an acid (with H+ ions) and a lye (with OH- ions). It is thus both acidic and basic (alkaline) at the same time, causing it to be strictly neutral as the number of H+ ions equals that of the OH- ions. Because of its strong cohesion, only few water molecules dissociate (split) in their constituent ions: hydrogen ions (H+) and hydroxyl ions (OH-). Chemists would insist that H+ ions are really H3O+ ions or hydronium ions.
Knowing that one molar of water weighs 18 gram (1+1+16), which equals 18ml, and that this quantity contains a very large number of molecules , only 0.1 millionth (10-7) mol are dissociated in one litre of water (pH=7).
The potential difference between the inside of the glass
electrode and the outside is caused by the oxides of silicon in side the
Once the ionic equilibrium is established, the potential
difference between the glass wall and the solution is given by the equation:
Even though modern pH glass electrodes have seen major improvements, they still don't like some substances low in H+ ions, like alkali hydroxides (NaOH and KOH), pure distilled water, etching substances like fluoride, adsorbing substances like heavy metals and proteins.
Most modern pH meters have inbuilt temperature sensors to correct temperature deviation automatically to give values as if these were taken at a standard temperature of 25ºC. The readout is not influenced by temperature at pH=7.00 but outside this by 0.003 per ºC. Thus a pH taken at 5ºC (20º away from 25ºC), showing 4.00 must be corrected downward by 0.003 x 20 x 3.00 = 0.18. Likewise a pH value of 10.00 must be corrected upward by this amount.
Caring for a pH meter depends on the types of electrode in use. Study
the manufacturer's recommendations. When used frequently, it is better
to keep the electrode moist, since moisturising a dry electrode takes a
long time, accompanied by signal drift. However, modern pH meters do not
mind their electrodes drying out provided they have been rinsed thoroughly
in tap water or potassium chloride. When on expedition, measuring sea water,
the pH meter can be left moist with sea water. However for prolonged periods,
it is recommended to moist it with a solution of potassium chloride at
pH=4 or in the pH=4.01 acidic calibration buffer. pH meters do not like
to be left in distilled water.
Note that a pH probe kept moist in an acidic solution, can influence results when not rinsed before inserting it into the test vial. Remember that a liquid of pH=4 has 10,000 more hydrogen ions than a liquid of pH=8. Thus a single drop of pH=4 in a vial measuring 400 drops of pH=8 really upsets measurements! Remember also that the calibration solutions consist of chemical buffers that 'try' to keep pH levels constant, so contamination of your test vial with a buffer is really serious.
Avogadro's constant is 602,213,670,000,000,000,000,000
(602.214 billion trillion) or 6.02E23, named in honour of Amedeo Avogadro.
One mole of a chemical substance contains this number of molecules. Amedeo
Avogadro (1776-1856) was an Italian physicist. He proposed in
1811 his famous hypothesis, now known as Avogadro's law. The law
stated that equal volumes of all gases at the same temperature and pressure
contain the same number of molecules. Avogadro also distinguished
between an atom and a molecule, and made it possible to determine a correct
table of atomic weights.
On the Seafriends web site we frequently use the exponential notation E, such that 2.34E-4 means 2.34 x 10-4.
|The pH scale
The values for pH make more sense when compared with that of known substances. Note that the pH scale is logarithmic and that each next value contains ten times less hydrogen ions. A pH=0 contains the most, and is highly acidic.
|0||5% Sulphuric acid, H2SO4, battery acid.|
|1||0.1 N HCl, hydrochloric acid (1.1)|
|2||Lemon juice. Vinegar (2.4-3.4)|
|4||Orange juice. Apple juice (3.8). Beer. Tomatoes.|
|5||Cottage cheese. Black coffee. Rain water 5.6.|
|6||Milk. Fish (6.7-7). chicken (6.4-6.6).|
|7||Neutral: equal numbers of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions. Blood (7.1-7.4). Distilled water without CO2, after boiling.|
|8||Sea water (8.1). Egg white.|
|9||Borax. baking soda.|
|10||Milk of magnesia|
|14||Sodium lye NaOH, 1 mol/litre.| | <urn:uuid:ec925af9-4a99-4bb6-9130-442c3f13f439> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seafriends.org.nz/dda/ph.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918449 | 1,882 | 4.09375 | 4 |
- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com -
David Horowitz’s Archives: Guns don’t kill black people, other blacks do
Posted By David Horowitz On October 23, 2010 @ 6:45 am In David's Blog,NewsReal Blog | No Comments
When the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced plans recently to file an injunctive class-action suit “to force [gun manufacturers] to distribute their product responsibly,” the NAACP president, Kweisi Mfume, noted that gun violence takes a disproportionately high toll among young black males.
According to an NAACP press release, African-American males between the ages of 15 and 24 are almost five times more likely to be injured by firearms than are white males in the same age group. “Firearm homicide has been the leading cause of death among young African-American males for nearly 30 years,” it stated.
Am I alone in seeing this as an absurd act of political desperation by the civil rights establishment? What’s next? Will Irish-Americans sue whiskey distillers, or Jews the gas company?
That last analogy only works, of course, for those who think the Holocaust was a self-inflicted wound. In fact, black leaders have already accused white and Korean liquor vendors of “invading” black communities and intoxicating their inhabitants. Boycotts have followed these charges, and anti-white, anti-Korean race riots as well.
But who forces alcohol down reluctant throats? And who makes guns shoot in ways that victimize blacks more than whites?
How can the NAACP even make the comparison between gun deaths of blacks and whites, if not as a racist insinuation that whites are somehow the cause of those “disproportionate” violent deaths, just as whites are the implied cause of nearly every other social pathology that afflicts the African-American community?
In the sociology of the left, including the NAACP, there cannot be a wound the black community inflicts on itself that is not ultimately the responsibility of malicious whites. To think otherwise would be to “blame the victim.” Only mean-spirited conservatives (like me) would even think of doing that.
The fact is that while blacks make up only 12 percent of the population, they account for 46 percent of total violent crime and 90 percent of the murders of other blacks. It is they, not whites or gun manufacturers, who are responsible for the disproportionate gun deaths of young black males.
Firearms don’t kill people. Sociopaths do. It takes a human brain to pull the trigger. If young black males abuse firearms in an irresponsible and criminal fashion, why should the firearm industry be held accountable? Why not their parents? Why not themselves?
Unfortunately, as a nation we have become so trapped in the melodrama of black victimization and white oppression that we are in danger of losing all sense of proportion. If blacks are oppressed in America, why isn’t there a black exodus? Why do all those black Haitians want to come here? To be oppressed?
In the grips of a politically inspired group psychosis, we find it natural to collude with demagogic race hustlers in support of a fantasy in which African-Americans are no longer responsible for anything negative they do, even to themselves.
If blacks constitute just under half the prison population, for example, that cannot be allowed to suggest that the black community might have a problem when it comes to raising its children as law-abiding members of society. Oh no. Such a statistic can only be explained by the racism of a criminal justice system that is incarcerating too many blacks.
Nonsense like this is proposed daily by the entire spectrum of the civil rights leadership from racist bloviator Al Sharpton to urbane Urban League President Hugh Price. Against the intimidating atmosphere this consensus creates, to suggest the obvious — that too many blacks are in prison because blacks commit too many crimes — is to be identified as an apologist for racism, and perhaps even a closet racist oneself.
The NAACP’s anti-gun lawsuit comes on the heels of the crusade to defend crack dealers because 90 percent of them are African-American and their sentences are considered “too harsh.” This insipid campaign was launched by Jesse Jackson at the Washington rally of race-hater Louis Farrakhan.
That 90 percent of crack cocaine dealers are black cannot be seen, of course, as a moral stain on those crack dealers or as a massive social problem for the community that produces them. It can only be the result of a white legal system that stigmatizes crack as a more dangerous and more culpable drug than the powder cocaine it uses itself.
Forget that the heavier penalties were originally demanded by black leaders who claimed that crack was associated with street violence in the black community and the white criminal justice system did not care enough about its destructive consequences to make the penalties harsh.
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URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2010/david-horowitz/david-horowitz%e2%80%99s-archives-guns-don%e2%80%99t-kill-black-people-other-blacks-do/
Copyright © 2009 FrontPage Magazine. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:4eabff8e-ada3-4166-a36f-9f74c54ff4fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2010/david-horowitz/david-horowitz%E2%80%99s-archives-guns-don%E2%80%99t-kill-black-people-other-blacks-do/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952654 | 1,122 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The charismatic rock star and founder of Live Aid talks about music, Ireland and Africa: the G8 leaders, aid programmes and trade tariffs with Peter Florence, Director of the Hay Festival.
Segovia 2006, Friday 22 September, 12pm
Please note: The introduction to this lecture is in Spanish. However, the rest of the conversation is conducted in English.
Mexican writer and journalist Juan Villoro talks to one of the most important contemporary British writers, Booker-winner Ian McEwan, author of works such as Amsterdam, Enduring Love, Atonement and Saturday.
Segovia 2006, Friday 22 September, 5.30pm
Please note: The introduction to this lecture is in Spanish.
British writer Martin Amis discusses his life and work with the writer Carmen Posadas (Pequeñas infamias, Juego de niños). The author, amongst other works, of Experience, Money and London Fields, Martin Amis is considered one of the most original contemporary novelists.
Segovia 2006, Friday 22 September, 7pm
Please note: This conversation is conducted entirely in Spanish.
Farmer and writer Chris Stewart, author of the international bestseller Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucía, with over a million copies sold and translated into fifteen languages, will speak in Spanish to Manuel Pimentel (writer, businessman, ex-minister and head of the Almuzara publishing group) about his delightful and surprising work.
Segovia 2006, Friday 22 September, 8.30pm
Intellectuals and the Spanish Civil WarPlease note: The introduction to this lecture is in Spanish. The rest of the lecture is delivered in English.
Eric Hobsbawm, the great British historian discusses the international mobilisation of intellectuals in favour of the Republic during the Civil War. Eric Hobsbawm is Emeritus Professor of Social and Economic History at Birkbeck College in the University of London. Amongst his numerous books are The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914–1991 (1995), the series made up by The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848 (1997), The Age of Capital 1848–1875 (1998) and The Age of Empire 1875–1914 (1998), as well as his more recent The New Century (2000) and Bandits (2001).
Segovia 2006, Saturday 23 September, 1.30pm
Doris Lessing, author of The Golden Notebook, one of the world's greatest living writers, discusses her literary career with Marianne Ponsford, Director of the cultural magazine Arcadia. The author, who has been awarded numerous international literary prizes (Somerset Maugham Award from the Society of Authors, Prix Médicis, Austrian State Prize for European Literature, German Federal Republic Shakespeare Prize, Mondello Prize, Grinzane Cavour Prize, etc.), is a prolific writer and her most recent novels are The Sweetest Dream and the collection of stories The Grandmothers. She received the Príncipe de Asturias Prize in 2001.
Segovia 2006, Saturday 23 September, 8.30pm
The Irish novelist (Havoc in its Third Year, The Catastrophist), winner of several literary prizes and scriptwriter (The Hamburg Cell, Love Lives), talks about his life, his books and his personal experiences with the IRA, as well as about his latest novel set in St Petersburg in 1914, Zugzwang, published in instalments in The Observer in print and online. The academic and poet Adriana Bebiano is Assistant Professor of English and Irish Literature at the University of Coimbra.
Segovia 2006, Sunday 24 September, 12pm
Please note: The introduction to this event is in Spanish.
Colombian writer and journalist Laura Restrepo speaks to Indian writer and poet Vikram Seth about his works An Equal Music, A Suitable Boy and Two Lives.
Segovia 2006, Sunday 24 September, 1.30pm
Filter the archive
Alternatively use the menu at the top of the page to search alphabetically, by festival and by year. | <urn:uuid:39ac27fb-9ec4-42df-acf6-294c4501bc70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hayfestival.com/c-209-archive.aspx?ManufacturerFilterID=29&VectorFilterID=0&GenreFilterID=0&skinid=16 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923265 | 868 | 1.578125 | 2 |
As you probably know, this evening President Obama will deliver the State of the Union before Congress. What you might not know is that the President plans to continue the conversation after the speech has ended. And you can participate.
Beginning tonight, the White House will be taking questions from the public– submitted online– through a joint venture with YouTube here. President Obama will then hold an online forum sometime next week where he’ll take time to answer some of the submitted questions. This is a great opportunity for ONE members to ask the President directly about the issues that matter to us.
Here are some examples:
How will the administration move to drop Haiti’s debt so the Haitian people can rebuild their country?
How will the administration work to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to address global poverty in this economically difficult time?
The FY2011 budget will call for a growth in security funds, including the international affairs budget (150 account). How will the administration advocate for and defend this critical account in the congressional budget process?
Stay tuned to the ONE Blog for post-game analysis of President Obama’s State of the Union address, as well as the follow-up event next week. | <urn:uuid:26340c7f-9696-4b9a-a00f-7a3a778941c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.one.org/us/2010/01/27/state-of-the-union-2-0/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942315 | 242 | 1.5625 | 2 |