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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will pitch his proposals to stem gun violence Monday in Minnesota, a Democratic-leaning state where officials have been studying ways to reduce gun-related attacks and accidents for several years.
His visit to the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operations Center will mark the first time Obama has campaigned on his controversial proposals outside of Washington.
Ahead of the trip, the White House released a photo of the president skeet shooting at Camp David, the presidential retreat. Obama cited skeet shooting when asked in a recent interview whether he had ever shot a gun.
The president unveiled his sweeping package of proposals for curbing gun violence last month in response to the horrific mass shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school. He vowed to use the full weight of his office to fight for the proposals, many of which face tough opposition from congressional lawmakers and the nation's most powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association.
The reinstatement of the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004, is expected to be the steepest climb for Obama. Universal background checks for gun purchasers may have an easier time passing Congress, though the NRA also opposes that measure.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy has said he hopes his panel can write gun legislation this month, though it's unclear what it will contain.
Obama is expected to make more trips around the country to build support for his anti-gun violence measures. The outside group Organizing For Action, an offshoot of Obama's presidential campaign, is also promoting the proposals.
White House officials say quick action on the president's gun measures gives them the best prospects for passing legislation in Congress. They fear that as time passes lawmakers will have less incentive to back the measures as the shock of the Newtown massacre fades.
In addition to the gun control measures, Obama's anti-violence proposals also included increasing mental health resources, boosting funding for school security, and lifting restrictions that prevent the government from studying the causes of gun violence. | <urn:uuid:507f4517-07c5-4b1b-80da-8bebaa8e3b77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kvue.com/news/Lawmakers-work-on-compromise-for-gun-control--189639721.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961781 | 402 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Industrial - DICONDE
DICOM was intially designed for human medical use, and has made a successful move into the veterinary field, but now is moving on another stage, with extensions for industrial radiography. The standard which defines this is formally known as ASTM Standard Practice E 2339-08, but it is better known as DICONDE - Digital Imaging and Communication for Non-Destructive Evaluation.
Fortunately, the writers of this standard have made only the smallest of changes to the DICOM specifications, with the main modifications being those to replace "patient" details by those for "components" etc. A number of private attributes have also been added for elements not supported by existing official DICOM attributes.
This close adherence to the exsting DICOM standard means that DicomObjects fully supports DICOINDE "out of the box" with no changes being needed to the existing, established medical toolkits. This applies equally to the COM and .NET versions. Medical Connections would be pleased to provide any help and guidance to those wishing to use DicomObjects in industrial applications. | <urn:uuid:c904eefa-8814-4bee-838e-cc616bd1af5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicalconnections.co.uk/DICONDE | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949838 | 236 | 1.851563 | 2 |
A fever is a symptom that could be due to a host of infections. Fevers come when there is heat in the body. This heat is generated when the body`s natural defence mechanism fights the disease producing germs that are in the system. But a fever above 100 degrees needs medical attention and so does any temperature that lasts for more than two days.
What you should do:
- Learn to measure your baby`s temperature
- Always ask your paediatrician about fever medication according to the baby`s weight, so that you can use it in case of an emergency.
Consider yourself lucky if your child is over 2 years old and has never run into ear infections. Most children suffer from ear infections at least once, by the time they are two. Your child might wake up screaming at the top of her voice and you can suspect an ear infection, if she is crying and continues to touch her ears. If left untreated, it may lead to perforation of the eardrum, scarring and finally loss of hearing. So act quickly and have it treated. Your doctor might suggest a dose of antibiotics, painkillers and fever medication. | <urn:uuid:5e5ad864-7b00-49bb-bdbb-e34959ca0969> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sitagita.com/pregnancy-parenting/child-health/fever-ear-infections.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954669 | 235 | 3.734375 | 4 |
Ball Embedded Through the green (the whole golf course, excluding hazards), a ball that is embedded in its own pitch mark, relief may be taken at the nearest point of relief without penalty, and the ball may be cleaned when lifted.
Caddies Players are reminded that under the rules of golf it is the markers responsibility to mark the score of another player during the competition and not the caddies.
Call Holes Should not be used, unless a group of players outside the competition request to play up.
Cart Paths Through the green, either man-made or formed by constant use of vehicles, relief may be taken without penalty. The ball may be cleaned when lifted. This also includes tractor tracks.
Distance Measuring Devices Under rule 14-3 a player may obtain distance information by using a device that measures distance only. However, if, during a round a player uses a distance measuring device that is designed to gauge or measure other conditions such as gradient, temperature and wind speed, the player is breach of this rule and the penalty is disqualification regardless of whether any such additional functions were used.
Drainage Ditches and any construction forming part thereof through the green are to be treated as lateral water hazards and relief may be taken under penalty. Exception; concrete ditches not marked as a hazard or lateral water hazard, the player will receive a free drop of one club length, not nearer the hole.
Drop Zones Will not be used. Please refer to the rules of golf as to the correct procedure.
Flower Beds and Landscaped Areas A free drop may only be taken if the area is a properly maintained area for decorative purposes under 1 club length in height. All other relief should be taken under the unplayable ball rule under penalty.
Putting Green If a ball lies on an edging groove around the green, the player may, without penalty, lift his ball, clean it and place it out of the groove within 6 inches from where it lay, not nearer the hole.
Stones in Bunkers Stones in bunkers are movable obstructions.
Washed Out Areas Damage caused by excessive water drainage, including bunkers and through the green. In a bunker relief must be taken within the bunker, in other instances the ball may be dropped at the nearest point of relief no nearer the hole without penalty.
Water hazards Unmarked and insufficiently marked water hazards are all to be treated as lateral water hazards, the margin of which, is formed by the natural limits of the hazard i.e. where the ground breaks down to form the depression containing the water.
Yardage Markers All yardage markers whether man made or of natural materials are to be treated as immovable obstructions and relief may be taken, without penalty under the rules of golf 24-2, the nearest point of relief plus one club length. | <urn:uuid:aad316b8-bfcd-448d-ba17-6ff8cc3a12e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ipgc.org/ipgc_local_rules.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940817 | 585 | 2.078125 | 2 |
ARE YOU HAVING
If you have a problem or just want to talk with another person who understands, then this is the right place for you. Call us!
- Callers can discuss any problem
- Volunteers respond non-judgmentally
- Calls are completely confidential
- Callers can be anonymous
- Calls are toll free in the U.S. & Canada
- Calls do not show up on callers phone bills except cell phones
All calls are confidential, within legal and ethical standards and free. Teens can call and talk about subjects like: family life, grief and loss, suicide, abuse, drugs and alcohol, sex and other problems. We’re here to listen and help.
Our organization's name was changed to NEO Teen Helpline, Inc. in 1995.
We presently have both teen and adults answering our telephone.
Key volunteer responsibilities are:
Answer our Helpline phone and respond appropriately to our callers.
Man the Helpline phone at least four hours each month.
Respond appropriately to any email messages.
Assist in the training of new volunteers.
Other tasks as fit the volunteer's abilities and are needed to support the organization.
Teen and adult volunteers are trained to listen and respond to teen's problems - Non-judgmentally
NEO Teen Helpline was founded, in 1990, as a program of Contact Ashtabula, Inc., the local crisis telephone line. The first training class was held in February of 1990 and the first phone call was received in June 1990. NEO Teen Helpline became an independent, not for profit corporation in February 1995. | <urn:uuid:6ef00c8c-5890-4bf0-a20a-d41f6418f693> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neoteenhelp.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945618 | 339 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Information for Teachers
Thank you for your upcoming visit of the United Nations Office at Geneva. Our team looks forward to welcoming you.
Our tours last for about an hour. The information given during the tours covers the history, structure and current activities of the United Nations and the United Nations Office at Geneva, as well as related information on the Palais des Nations and its surroundings.
The historical and artistic diversity of Palais des Nations, together with the variety of United Nations activities in Geneva make this a unique place, one that we are very proud to speak about during our tours.
Our Tour Guide will adapt the information and the style of the tour to the age group of your pupils/students.
In order to make the most out of your tour, we highly recommend you prepare your pupils/students ahead of time.
Below are internet links to relevant sources of information which will help you:
A few rules to follow…
- http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/ (general information about the United Nations targeted at youths)
- http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/index.shtml (general information about the United Nations)
- http://www.un.org/geninfo/faq/ (questions and answers about the United Nations, fact sheets and briefing papers for students)
- http://www.unog.ch/80256EE600580270/(httpHomepages)/451CD0DD8D177D6780256F040066CF64?OpenDocument (general information about the United Nations Office at Geneva)
The United Nations Office at Geneva is a workplace: delegates hold their meetings in the chambers that you are going to visit. For everyone’s comfort, please kindly follow the rules mentioned below during the tour:
- Please ensure that your pupils/students remain quiet upon arrival and during the tour. Pupils and students will be able to ask questions during the tour and interact with the Tour Guide.
- Please divide up your pupils/students into groups upon arrival if required.
- Please stay together during the tour.
- Please note that there is no access to toilets during the tour. Please inform your pupils/students of the possibility to use toilets before or after the tour.
- The tour begins and finishes at door 39 of the Palais des Nations where the United Nations bookshop is located. You will be able to visit the bookshop after your tour.
Thank you and enjoy your tour!
The Visitors’ Service team | <urn:uuid:77d04a2a-99fc-4c81-9c53-820d46b4ce0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unog.ch/80256EE600581D0E/(httpPages)/846CCD548C138E6AC12577B20053CBFC?OpenDocument | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911697 | 529 | 2.171875 | 2 |
The human, social and economic costs of Rwanda's genocide have been staggering. The losses in life cannot be reversed and the psychological impact of the violence will take a long time to heal. The country has made remarkable progress over the last 10 years to get back to where it would have been without the conflict--for example, in terms of trends for basic education and health indicators such as primary enrollment and child mortality. Yet GDP per capita remains much lower than what it would have been without the genocide. The paper proposes a methodology for the estimation and correction of extreme values or outliers and estimates that per capita GDP today would probably be between 25 and 30% higher if the conflict had not taken place. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press. | <urn:uuid:718d4bd8-05e8-4eea-8efd-0367fbfd7052> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econpapers.repec.org/article/oupjafrec/v_3a14_3ay_3a2005_3ai_3a4_3ap_3a586-602.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946215 | 146 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The review of some 300,000 deportation cases in the nation's backlogged immigration courts recently led to some confusing headlines after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that about 16,500 pending cases would be temporarily put on hold, which some translated into these cases being "shelved."
But that's not exactly how it works. As the review process continues, there are no guarantees for those so far deemed eligible for relief. And even for the few spared removal to date, the future is uncertain.
Here's some of the recently released ICE data on the deportation reviews, followed by an explanation of what it means. From ICE:
• In total, ICE has reviewed 219,554 pending cases with approximately 16,544, or 7.5%, identified as amenable for prosecutorial discretion as of April 16, 2012.
What it means: The agency has identified this many cases as being eligible for prosecutorial discretion, the guidelines for which were established by federal officials last year. The "low priority" immigrants defined in the guidelines include people who have a clean record, have close ties to the United States, have lived in the U.S. since they were minors, have served in the military or are part of a military family, have or are attempting a college education, and so forth.
But these 16,544 cases have only been identified as meeting the criteria for prosecutorial discretion. While it's good news for those identified as eligible, there are still hoops for them to jump through, such as producing additional documentation and background checks. These cases could be at any stage in the process, and not all will make the cut. "These cases have not been suspended," ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzales clarified by phone.
Of the eligible cases identified, just a small fraction so far have been administratively closed.
Which takes us to the following bullet points. ICE is reviewing both "non-detained" deportation cases, i.e. those of people not being held in detention facilities, and a smaller number involving ICE detainees. From ICE, here's the breakdown of cases so far deemed eligible for prosecutorial discretion (bold type added):
• 179,518 pending non-detained cases have been reviewed with approximately 16,518, or 9%, identified as amenable for prosecutorial discretion.
• 40,036 pending detained cases have been reviewed with approximately 26, or less than 1%, identified as amenable for prosecutorial discretion.
• Of the 16,518 pending non-detained cases identified as amenable for prosecutorial discretion, 2,722 cases have been administratively closed.
What it means: Of all these eligible cases, only a little over 2,700 had been administratively closed as of mid-last month. This is more or less on par with recent immigration court numbers released by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which cited 2,609 cases shelved through the end of March.
What defines "administratively closed?" This means that a deportation case has been set aside, but it has not been terminated. The case can still be reopened in the future. Those who benefit can stay in the country, but they don't get legal status or permission to work.
According to the TRAC report, there were 218 deportation cases closed in Los Angeles through the end of March, four terminated and 214 administratively closed. ICE has said that reviews will continue on more than 50,000 cases in L.A.'s immigration courts.
The small number of cases truly shelved so far has not impressed immigrant rights advocates, who initially cheered the Obama administration's announcement of the review process last summer.
"The result is that 99% of all the cases being reviewed, most of them meritorious of some type of PD (prosecutorial discretion), are being flatly denied,” said Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, in a recent statement.
So whose cases have been administratively closed? Here is how ICE describes them:
8 individuals who are a member in good standing of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States, an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States, or the spouse or child of such a member or veteran;
175 individuals who are a child, have been in the United States for more than five years, and are either in school or has successfully completed high school (or its equivalent);
182 individuals who came to the United States under the age of sixteen, have been in the United States for more than five years, have completed high school (or its equivalent), and are now pursuing or have successfully completed higher education in the United States;
23 individuals who are over the age of sixty-five and have been in the United States for more than ten years;
60 individuals who have been the victim of domestic violence in the United States, human trafficking to the United States; or of any serious crime in the United States;
16 individuals who have been lawful permanent residents for ten years or more and have a single, minor conviction for a non-violent offense;
100 individuals who suffer from a serious mental physical condition that would require significant medical or detention resources;
2,055 who have a very long-term presence in the United States, have an immediate family member who is a United States citizen, and have established compelling ties and made compelling contributions to the United States; and
103 individuals who constitute a very low enforcement priority as defined by Director Morton’s June 17, 2011 memorandum on prosecutorial discretion.
There have also been a small number of deferred actions, in which the federal government opts not to pursue deportation, and stays of final removal orders, in which the government opts not to remove someone who is already under a deportation order. Between last Oct. 1 and March 19, both were granted in just 1,273 cases.
According to ICE, the reviews are expected to be completed by midsummer. | <urn:uuid:cc8e1572-86b7-4b52-988a-6f86c419c4b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scpr.org/blogs/multiamerican/2012/05/09/8305/ice-deportation-reviews-by-the-numbers-explained/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971457 | 1,227 | 1.859375 | 2 |
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Survivors Still Struggle to Recover Six Months after Pakistan Floods
Families need help to rebuild lives in long and invisible crisis, warn agencies
LONDON - March 5 - Hundreds of thousands of people affected by Pakistan’s 2012 floods disaster still need urgent help both to meet their immediate needs and to rebuild their homes and livelihoods in what has become a prolonged and invisible disaster, said a grouping of over 200 Pakistani and international aid agencies on Monday.
Almost five million people were affected when heavy rains flooded parts of Baluchistan, Punjab and Sindh from mid-September 2012. Persistent floodwater meant many were homeless for months, unable to resume their usual way of making a living. Over a million people who did return to their villages found their homes too badly damaged to inhabit at the end of 2012, a UN survey found.
Flood victims have been forced into high level of debt and at increased risk of exploitation, ill health and long term destitution. Women, children, elderly people and flood survivors with disabilities are most at risk, warned the aid organizations.
Financial resources for critical relief and recovery work has almost dried up, said members of the National Humanitarian Network and the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum in a joint briefing published on Monday.
A second disaster
“Many flood survivors are poor farming families who missed the winter sowing season and have gone deeper into debt,” said Dr Manzoor Awan, deputy executive director of Sungi Development Foundation and chairman of the National Humanitarian Network. “If they miss the next one too, it’ll be a second disaster for them.”
The aid organizations said that Pakistani authorities had provided vital life-saving assistance to tens of thousands of families. Additionally, although the federal government had avoided calling for international donor assistance, several donors had responded generously to requests from the UN and other aid agencies to support their floods response. However, the overall relief and recovery effort had not matched the scale, scope and duration of the disaster, the aid organizations said.
“We need sustained efforts by Pakistani authorities, international donors and aid agencies so that flood survivors can keep their families safe and healthy now, and get timely support to rebuild their livelihoods, homes and communities,” said Fayaz Ahmed, country director of Islamic Relief and chairman of the Pakistani Humanitarian Forum.
“A strong recovery and reconstruction strategy should be followed by intensified work led by the government to ensure Pakistanis are better prepared for future disasters,” said Arif Jabbar Khan, country director of Oxfam. “We need to accelerate current efforts. With climate change set to make floods and droughts more frequent and severe, the next government should make this a priority.” | <urn:uuid:6dc55602-3bf6-4bc0-a328-76b22634bc3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2013/03/05-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956383 | 610 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The Regional Workshop on Implementing IPF/IFF Proposals for Action through National Forest Programmes: Strategies, Initiatives and Tools was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and hosted by the Government of Fiji from 16 to 17 April in Nadi, Fiji. It was held in conjunction with the Twentieth session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission. The workshop was co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of State/USDA Forest Service, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) projects in Fiji and Indonesia, and the National Forest Programme Facility.
The workshop brought together 67 experts, from countries, members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) and other international, regional and sub-regional organizations, including non-governmental organizations.
Messrs. Jiko Laikini (Fiji), Romeo T. Acosta (Philippines), Livo Mele (Vanuatu) and Bashir Ahmed Wani (Pakistan) co-chaired the workshop. The work was conducted in three working groups: (i) stakeholder participation, (ii) cross-sectoral cooperation and (iii) forests and poverty reduction; chaired by Messrs. Sami Lemalu (Samoa), Peter Lawrence (Australia) and Sim Heok-Choh (IUFRO) respectively. Mr. Thang Hooi Chiew (Malaysia) gave the keynote presentation. He emphasized the importance of each country to design its own national approach to assess the proposals for action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) and subsequently integrate the relevant actions into the national forest programme process or similar country policy frameworks and approaches. This would help address forest development in an integrated, holistic and participatory manner.
The workshop was organized to strengthen country and regional action towards sustainable forest management, especially through the development and implementation of national forest programmes and implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action. This was in direct response to the Sixteenth session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO) held in March 2003, which recommended that FAO facilitate the implementation of IPF/IFF proposals for action and the flow of information between the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and countries.
Participants described increasing efforts in the implementation of IPF/IFF proposals for action in the region, despite the limited capacity in many countries. Several countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Vanuatu, shared their experiences, providing a range of approaches to categorize, assess, prioritize and implement the relevant proposals. The workshop also provided an opportunity to inform countries about developments in the international forest dialogue. This was particularly important considering the upcoming UNFF decisions in 2005, on future international arrangements for forests. Furthermore, the workshop helped clarify the cross-sectoral linkages, effective stakeholder participation in the implementation of national forest programmes, and the role of forests and forestry in poverty alleviation.
The report was endorsed by the Twentieth session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission.
2. OBSERVATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED
1. In numerous countries, many of the relevant proposals for action are already integrated in the national forest programmes as defined by the IPF, and countries are using them to measure the compatibility of national activities with international guidance and to identify gaps. A major constraint is the limited capacity to implement the proposals for action and to report on progress, partially due to overwhelming reporting requests by international processes.
2. Political will and commitment are required to implement the national forest programme, which should take into account the Millennium Development Goals and other international commitments.
3. Collection of information for a national report to UNFF is difficult. There is a lot of useful information at the local level, but untapped, due to lack of resources.
4. Categorization of the individual IPF/IFF proposals for action (undertaken, for example, by Australia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia and New Zealand) helps clarify their meaning and relevance for individual countries.
5. Existing summaries of IPF/IFF proposals for action, such as the Australia-PROFOR document, are very helpful. However, countries would benefit from their own assessment and clarification of the proposals, under their own specific conditions.
6. Collaborative initiatives, such as between Australia and Vanuatu, could help advance implementation of the proposals, facilitate effective national forest policy planning, identify progress against internationally agreed actions, raise awareness and improve understanding of sustainable forest management and international processes, increase donor interest, as well as facilitate reporting to UNFF.
7. Effective stakeholder participation is crucial at all stages of decision-making, including implementation of IPF/IFF proposals for action and national forest programmes. Building an effective participatory process takes time and requires involvement of all relevant stakeholders and long-term commitment from all involved parties.
8. There are positive steps in increasing participation in decision-making, for example in the national forest programmes and model forests. However, the forestry departments in many countries are not fully aware of all the stakeholders or lack the skills to engage with them constructively. Skills need to be strengthened and suitable tools provided to identify the relevant agencies and stakeholders and involve them in the decision-making process.
9. Effective flows of information are essential at all stages of decision-making, especially to increase awareness of policy makers, land-owners, communities and representatives outside the forestry sector.
10. In many countries, ministries and departments fall short in coordinating their activities with other sectors. Forestry departments often have difficulties in influencing the land-use decision-making because of the over-riding need for achieving economic development. This is aggravated by lack of proper valuation of forest goods and services.
11. The effects of poverty on deforestation and forest degradation differ among countries and locations within countries. Also, in many countries external factors lead to environmental impoverishment, with subsequent negative effects on livelihoods and human well-being.
12. A necessary condition for forestry to contribute to poverty reduction is that forest policies and national forest programmes address basic needs of local communities, especially poor people.
13. The importance of social capital (organizational strength and capacity of the poor) needs to be recognized, developed and strengthened so that the poor can contribute to and benefit more from forestry.
14. An important approach to addressing poverty reduction is community-based forest management and similar initiatives that devolve forest management responsibilities and authority to local levels.
15. Attitudes of forest agency staff and other related policy makers and planners need to change for effective participatory forest management to occur.
16. Payments for providing environmental services are viewed as a potential means of transferring financial resources to poor communities. It is also important to provide more opportunities for rural communities to benefit from non-wood forest products processing and marketing and ecotourism.
17. Countries that have not yet done so, should integrate implementation of IPF/IFF proposals for action into their national forest programme and other relevant policy processes. This should include:
i. assessing the IPF/IFF proposals for action against existing national forest-related frameworks in terms of their relevance to the national priorities;
ii. prioritizing the relevant action proposals;
iii. identifying measures already taken and future actions;
iv. assessing the resources needed to address the impediments to implementation; and
v. using criteria and indicators or related tools to monitor progress towards sustainable forest management.
18. Countries that have not yet done so should urgently identify a national focal point for UNFF, who should also ensure that the national report is being prepared on time.
19. Considering the numerous positive examples in the region in implementing the IPF/IFF proposals for action, countries should actively share these experiences, especially at UNFF.
20. Forestry experts should make efforts to influence their Government’s preparations for UNFF and other international meetings. Experts that participate in these processes should disseminate information after they return from meetings and engage others in the preparations.
21. The various international processes should coordinate their reporting requirements and use existing information better. In this context, participants welcomed the efforts by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to initiate an information service to streamline forest-related reporting and to reduce the reporting burden on countries.
22. Countries should develop procedures and modalities for effective stakeholder participation and create mechanisms to:
i. clarify the roles of and expectations of all stakeholders;
ii. identify ways and means to account for their inputs and contributions; and
iii. enable reflection of realities from local to national levels.
23. Countries should establish domestic working groups consisting of the representatives from the forestry department, local communities and other stakeholders, to mitigate on-going conflicts that affect livelihoods and long-term participation in decision-making.
24. In order to enhance linkages between forestry and other sectors (e.g. agriculture, fisheries, energy, tourism, health, education, culture, finance) through national forest programme processes, countries should:
i. Establish effective high-level, cross-ministerial collaboration mechanisms that facilitate political endorsement, giving rise to a shared vision for sustainable forest management, enhanced coordination and effective communication across sectors. This in turn will lead to greater support and commitment by stakeholders to share costs and benefits equitably, particularly in relation to poverty reduction and food security;
ii. Identify and involve key actors, including civil society and the private sector, as early as possible in policy formulation and planning to foster support at all levels;
iii. Identify and/or further develop tools and processes to enable a participatory and adaptive approach to planning and implementation of sustainable forest management (e.g. participatory land-use planning and national forest programmes);
iv. Experiment with different integration models at the local level and use lessons learned to upscale to higher levels.
25. Countries should consider extending devolution of forest management from degraded forest areas to production forest areas to provide more equitable opportunities to generate incomes through harvesting and marketing of timber and other forest products.
26. Countries should not focus exclusively on generating cash incomes but should consider also other goods, services and processes that contribute to human well-being.
27. Methods of valuing forest goods and services should be reviewed and high priority given to broaden application of promising approaches and systems. FAO should facilitate such a review, including methodologies to assess the value of forest goods and services to the society.
28. Countries should promote organizational strength of the poor for developing social capital so that they can more effectively contribute to and benefit from the forestry sector.
29. Countries should give increased support to research and development and consider research results in developing forest programmes and projects.
30. The Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission should provide a forum for sharing information and lessons learned on mechanisms for linking different sectors within national forest programme processes and provide information on the relationship between forestry and poverty. FAO should facilitate such activities.
31. The Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission should form a working group or other mechanism to assess the impacts of bureaucratic procedures, taxation policies, regulations and restrictions in forest management, which may cause market distortions, and in turn, constrain severely forestry’s potential to contribute to poverty reduction.
32. FAO and other CPF members should continue to facilitate the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action and assist countries in sharing experiences.
33. FAO and other CPF members should help build capacity of countries to effectively participate and negotiate in international fora and follow their progress. | <urn:uuid:4986f30d-6162-4c5e-9e64-d0d3f8f8bac0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fao.org/docrep/MEETING/008/AD821E/AD821E09.htm | 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 | 0.923776 | 2,375 | 1.84375 | 2 |
WASHINGTON: Potty humor just got prehistoric. A new study suggests that dinosaurs may have helped keep an already overheated world warmer with their flatulence and burps 200 million years ago.
The research published Monday in Current Biology suggests that large dinosaurs made a significant contribution to the greenhouse effect back then. Study author David Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University in England estimated that about 570 million tons of methane came from dinosaurs. That's similar to total atmospheric levels of methane today produced by livestock, farming and industry. Cows alone now produce nearly 100 tons a year of methane.
The study looks at the biggest — and presumably gassiest — dinosaurs, called sauropods. These were the long-necked plant eaters that munched on the top of trees. They were large animals that had food fermenting in their guts for long periods of time because of their giant size, said University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz, who wasn't part of the study.
Wilkinson said dinosaur gas was just one factor at a time when the world was quite tropical, about 18 degrees warmer than now (10 degrees Celsius). But he said some in the media and blogosphere have misinterpreted his study to say it was the main cause of ancient warming. In a phone interview, Wilkinson said it was only one of the causes, but dinosaur gas "is big enough to be a measurable effect."
What caused the ancient pre-human world to be so hot — just the way the dinosaurs needed it — was a variety of factors. Volcanoes spewed much more greenhouse gases than now, Holtz said. Swamps, water currents, shallow seas and plentiful plankton combined to raise greenhouse gas levels far higher than today, he said.
Outside climate experts say the study makes some sense, but that the warming from dinosaur gas back then is dwarfed by man-made carbon dioxide today from industry.
NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt quickly ran some calculations based on Wilkinson's figures. Dinosaur methane would have hiked temperatures about half a degree (0.3 degrees Celsius), which is a fraction of what's been caused by the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil in the 20th Century, he said.
It's also wrong to suggest the study blames dinosaur flatulence for their extinction, Holtz said. He noted that the sauropods started showing up — and getting gassy — around 200 million years ago and didn't die off until 65 million years ago.
University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver said: "Frankly, methane emissions from dinosaur burps is probably not the No. 1 thing we should be concerned about in modern society." (AP) | <urn:uuid:a7075eef-43f5-4178-b853-0e2fcbd77ca0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geo.tv/GeoDetail.aspx?ID=48058 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966855 | 542 | 3.71875 | 4 |
CARY, N.C. — Gwendolyn Matthews first bus ride to Cary High School was quiet. And then she saw the protesters.
I wasnt nervous until the school bus drove up to the campus and saw this crowd of people saying, Two, four, six, eight, we dont want to integrate, recalled Matthews, now 65.
She stepped off the bus and made her way through the mob, ready to begin her junior year as one of the first six African-American students at Cary High School in 1963.
Half a century ago, Raleigh had its own school system and had already begun to enroll some black students in white schools. But in the more-rural Wake County system, Cary High led the charge, becoming the first high school to mix races.
It all started with cigar-smoke-clouded conversations on the back porch of Henry Adams house on Academy Street.
Thats where Adams, who served on the Wake County school board, convinced Paul Cooper, Carys district principal, it was time to allow black students into the school.
They knew it wasnt going to be easy, said Adams son, Charlie Adams. People would be angry. It could split the town in two.
I think he was truly a visionary because he looked down the road and realized what was going on wasnt working, said Charlie Adams, 76, who now lives in Chapel Hill.
Henry Adams and Cooper hatched a plan: They would enroll a few African-American girls the first year in hopes of easing the transition. The girls would be bright, outgoing.
They would be strong-willed enough to take what was inevitably coming to them.
A new start
Growing up in the Method community of western Raleigh, Matthews didnt think much about black and white.
The oldest of five children, Matthews lived with her homemaker mother and her dad, who made blueprints for a home-building company.
Their home sat next to Matthews grandparents farm, where the family raised chicken and hogs and grew vegetables.
Neighbors helped each other out on the farms, no matter the color of their skin, Matthews said. She used to play with a white girl who lived across the street.
But Matthews knew things were different outside her neighborhood. She saw the colored water fountains during shopping trips to downtown Raleigh.
She thrived at the black Berry OKelly High, where she joined the cheerleading squad, acted in plays and sang in the choir.
Her father, Alton Matthews, who was active in the NAACP, came to her one day with news: She was chosen to attend the white Cary High School.
Matthews, 16 at the time, didnt want to leave her friends behind.
So when I found out, I was not a happy camper, she said. But you were not going to say, No.
Matthews cousin, Brenda Hill, was also among the original six girls. They rode together on the bus that first day.
A gradual shift
Cary High already had a rich history. Built in 1870, it began as a private boarding school for boys and girls all over North Carolina.
Then it became the states first publicly funded high school in the early 20th century.
And in 1963, the newly built school on Walnut Street became a sign of troubled times. Some white families even sued the school board in a case that made it all the way to the state Supreme Court before it was thrown out, said local historian Peggy Van Scoyoc.
Henry Adams friends turned on him, his son said. The family got nasty phone calls and letters.
Fifty years might have a way of clouding history, and Van Scoyoc said two versions have emerged about the schools desegregation.
When you talk to the white folks, they say, Oh it went so smoothly, she said.
As for the blacks? It was hell on earth not easy.
Matthews said she didnt have to fend off physical attacks that first day, or any day after. But the racial slurs hurt just as bad.
Her father had tried to warn her about the name-calling, Matthews said, but she wasnt prepared for the intensity. Her father also told her not to retaliate to just keep quiet.
Mostly, she said, white students and even some teachers ignored her and the five others.
They would not sit (near) me, so theyd move their desks, Matthews said. Id be a little island sitting there by myself.
Matthews remained an island for the last two years of her high school career. Gone were the days of cheerleading and acting in plays.
She wasnt sure if extra-curricular groups would shun her, but she didnt want to risk rejection.
And then, slowly, Matthews noticed a shift, if only a small one. A white boy offered to help with the math problems she struggled with. She befriended two white girls who later became the namesakes for Matthews younger sisters.
If they saw me in the hall theyd say hi, Matthews said.
Sharing her story
Matthews graduated from Cary High in 1965, as the school began enrolling more and more black students. She went on to become the first African-American to graduate from Meredith College in Raleigh.
Once again, she found herself among mostly white people. But it was a different experience, she said.
One young lady said, Ive never met a black person besides my maid, Matthews recalled. I said, Im not your maid. She laughed, and I laughed.
After she earned a masters degree, Matthews spent her career as an English teacher, mostly at Wake Tech Community College.
For a long time, she didnt want to talk about her experience in Cary. Some things are better left in the past, she figured.
She was bitter for a while, but not so much anymore. Now she doesnt mind sharing her experiences.
Matthews didnt return to Cary High, except for one class reunion. She didnt see any reason to go back.
Recently, though, she visited the campus where the bus dropped her off that first September day 50 years ago. Being there didnt evoke many strong emotions, she said.
I dont have anything in my that says, This brings back fear. | <urn:uuid:623f1bce-b3a8-4963-8448-d806de96b06c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/26/184194/six-students-who-changed-cary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98268 | 1,292 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Regulation of the Epstein-Barr Virus Latent Membrane Protein 1 Expression
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a probably the most effective and successful human virus, infecting more than 90% of the world?s adult population. As with the other members of the herpesvirus family, EBV establishes latent infection in its host and persists life-long. EBV infection is generally harmless in children but can cause infectious mononucleosis (IM) in young adults. EBV is associated with a number of human malignancies including Burkitt?s lymphoma (BL), Hodgkin?s lymphoma (HL), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), nasal T/NK lymphoma (NL), peripheral T cell lymphoma, gastric carcinoma, and lymphoproliferative diseases in immunocompromised patients. A compromised immune system and an aberrant EBV latent gene expression are thought to be important players in the aetiology of EBV malignancies. EBV is one of the most potent transforming agents in vitro and immortalizes B cells into lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). Latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is the main EBV oncogene, which is critically involved in immortalisation and proliferation of LCLs, and is associated with most EBV malignancies. LMP1 functions as a constitutively active tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) and upregulates anti-apoptotic and pro-survival proteins through the activation of cellular signalling pathways. Thus, inappropriate expression of LMP1 is probably a central process in EBV associated tumourigenesis. The aim of this PhD project was to delineate the regulation of LMP1 gene expression in response to cellular factors. The LMP1 protein expression is regulated differently according to the expression pattern of the other EBV latent proteins as well as the cell type in which it is expressed in. In latency III infected B cells all of the EBV latent proteins are expressed, and LMP1 expression is driven by the viral transcription factor EBNA2. The EBNA2 protein lacks DNA binding ability itself, and requires cellular factors (adaptors) to be recruited to promoters. In latency II cells that represent most EBV tumours and different cell-type hosts, a more limited set of EBV latent proteins are expressed, and LMP1 expression occurs in the absence of EBNA2. Regardless of the mode of expression and cell type, LMP1 transactivation is critically dependent on cellular proteins. In the course of this investigation, a new EBNA2 adaptor was identified that bound an AP-2 site in the LMP1 promoter and mediated the relief of promoter repression and activation of the LMP1 promoter. We also report EBNA2-independent upregulation of the LMP1 promoter in response to upregulation of the p38 kinase pathway. The p38 signalling pathway activates the ATF1-CREB heterodimer that has been previously shown as an activator of LMP1 transcription. The binding of ATF1-CREB to a CRE site is a central event in LMP1 regulation both in the presence and absence of EBNA2. Additionally, we showed the presence of a mutation in the LMP1-CRE site of the P3HR1 EBV variant. This mutation led to a reduced binding efficiency of ATF1-CREB to the CRE site and a two fold reduction of LMP1 promoter activity. This finding together with reports from other groups indicate that sequence variations in the CRE site of LMP1 are evolutionary, selected probably to modulate the expression levels of the protein. Our results also indicate that the NF-?B dimers, p50-p65 and p50-p50, bind an NF?-?B site in the LMP1 promoter and activate transcription independently of EBNA2. The EBNA2 independent activation of LMP1 transcription by NF-?B suggests that this signalling pathway may play a role in LMP1 activation in latency II infected B cells. Since the NF-?B pathway is activated by LMP1, a positive autoregulatory loop in LMP1 activation may exist. The positive autoregulation of LMP1 is supported by reports from other groups. Finally, we showed that histone acetylation and modulation of the chromatin structure of the LMP1 promoter are involved in the activation of LMP1 transcription. We hypothesise a model whereby the EBNA2 is recruited through interaction with several EBNA2 adaptors at the promoter and mediates activation. Alternatively, several transcriptional activators such as NF-?B factors and ATF1-CREB bind the promoter in the absence EBNA2 and cooperatively activate the promoter. In both cases factor-binding to the promoter leads to the recruitment of histone acetylases and chromatin remodelling enzymes to the LMP1 promoter to facilitate transcription.
Source Type:Doctoral Dissertation
Keywords:MEDICINE; Gene regulation; LMP1; Epstein-Barr virus; Herpesvirus
Date of Publication:01/01/2007 | <urn:uuid:db03132d-8e5f-49c8-bd09-a58903bff023> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.openthesis.org/documents/Regulation-Epstein-Barr-Virus-Latent-598573.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910493 | 1,066 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Shetland's geology has long shaped the lives of those who live there, and its volcanic origins and sheer cliffs have been awarded a Geopark status.
National Nature Reserves
Scotland's National Nature Reserves (NNR) stretch from Caerlaverock in Dumfries & Galloway to Hermaness on the northern tip of Shetland. There are also over 1,400 Sites of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI), which include the NNRs. Together these conservation areas and diverse habitats are ideal for spotting a range of endangered wildlife and plant life.
For more information about the SSSIs, visit the Scottish Natural Heritage website.
Explore the fascinating routes through Scotland's hills and mountains and acres of forests and woodlands to uncover an unrivalled picturesque landscape, bursting with flora and wildlife. If you choose to travel by train, why not make use of the Scottish Natural Heritage mobile phone app View from the Train?
The country is home to two National Parks, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs and the largest of its kind in Britain, Cairngorms, which provide great opportunities to experience Scotland's unspoilt wilderness throughout the year.
Scotland's wild scenery is ideal to explore by foot, whether making the most of Shetland's light summer days, known as the Simmer Dim, reaching the remote peaks of the Knoydart peninsula, which is only accessible by boat, or walking on beautiful west coast islands, such as Rum, Eigg and Muck.
By the waters' edge
With thousands of miles of coastline and beaches, Scotland is home to a fantastic marine environment, including dolphins and whales, and some of the largest collections of seabirds anywhere in Europe. This landscape is incredibly diverse, from the white sands of Kiloran Bay on the Isle of Colonsay, to the iconic Old Man of Hoy seacliff on Orkney.
The Moray Firth coastline was recently voted one of the world's top coastlines by National Geographic.
Inland, there are many rivers, lochs and waterways to explore, including the UK's largest freshwater stretch of water. | <urn:uuid:15df0e1f-ce3e-428d-a22d-c870ace6f4c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.visitscotland.com/about/nature-geography/year-of-natural-scotland/natural-landscapes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941705 | 444 | 3.046875 | 3 |
By Bo Morris
Samford University's is recognizing the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Movement throughout the month of February, with activities coordinated by Samford's Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing. The movement seeks to promote awareness about the effects of heart disease, especially among women, and raise funds for research and treatment of heart disease.
"Heart disease is the number one cause of death among women," said Nena F. Sanders, Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing dean. "One out of three women will die from some form of heart disease."
The month-long series of events kicks on Feb. 1 with National Wear Red Day. The School of Nursing has partnered with St. Vincent's Health Systems to provide free on-campus blood pressure and heart screenings during National Wear Red Day. The School of Nursing also plans to hold another blood pressure screening in the library in February, Sanders said.
Throughout the month of February, several Samford departments and organizations will recognize the Go Red movement. Samford Athletics will sponsor a "red-out" basketball game Feb. 23, and the University Library is hosting a display about heart disease and women's heart health.
"More women die from heart disease than from all cancers combined," Sanders said. "This is a month long effort to bring awareness to everyone about heart disease, especially women."
Bo Morris is a senior journalism and mass communication major and a news and feature writer in the Office of Marketing and Communication. | <urn:uuid:78aded18-3482-446d-8954-d772dd90c74c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www3.samford.edu/nursing/news.aspx?id=21474852624 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948982 | 303 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Why Cooperative Group Problem Solving
Students in introductory physics courses typically begin to solve a problem by plunging into the algebraic and numerical solution -- they search for and manipulate equations, plugging numbers into the equations until they find a combination that yields an answer (e.g. the plug-and-chug strategy). They seldom use their conceptual knowledge of physics to qualitatively analyze the problem situation, nor do they systematically plan a solution before they begin numerical and algebraic manipulations of equations. When they arrive at an answer, they are usually satisfied -- they rarely check to see if the answer makes sense.
To help students integrate the conceptual and procedural aspects of problem solving so they could become better problem solvers, we introduced a structured, five-step problem solving strategy. However, we immediately encountered the following dilemma:
To solve this dilemma, we (1) designed complex problems that discourage the use of plug-and-chug strategies, and (2) introduced cooperative group problem solving. Cooperative group problem solving has several advantages:
Of course, there are several disadvantages of cooperative-group problem solving. Initially, many students do not like working in cooperative groups. They do not like exposing their "ignorance" to other students. Moreover, they have been trained to be competitive and work individually, so they lack collaborative skills. | <urn:uuid:091bebed-bd5f-451a-8cbe-e40158b296a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/Research/CGPS/CGPSintro.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953757 | 271 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Online Exhibits - Game Faces, Introduction
Sports bring people together!
Many people cheer for the team in their own backyard because it connects them with their neighbors. Game Faces explores the reasons for the immense popularity of sports, particularly the role games have in creating community among people who often don't have much in common.
Game Faces features objects from famous Kansas sports figures, and gives the backstory on 8-man football, Kansas Olympians, rodeo competitions, and other traditions. There's something for every sports fan.
This online exhibit is divided into six sections, plus an audio tour. Click on the first link below to embark on your tour, or visit them in any order.
- Introduction - There's no "I" in "Team"
- Our Town - Cheering on the home team
- Our Team - Fan is short for fanatic
- Our World - Sports make the world a little smaller
- Our Traditions - Some games reinforce our roots
- Our Friends - Socializing can be as important as competition
Test your knowledge of small town baseball in our interactive guessing game, Play Ball!
Listen to the curators' Game Faces audio tour online or download it to your mp3 player! | <urn:uuid:387c1a23-6a25-4064-b06b-ffbc9844d86d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kshs.org/p/online-exhibits-game-faces-introduction/10627 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920717 | 249 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Long-term unemployment is, of course, a big concern. The longer someone is out of work, the lower the chance that person regains employment. And when that person does regain work, the greater the odds that he or she will take a (perhaps large) pay cut. This can limit the economic growth potential of the country, as it may mean permanently reduced incomes both for individuals and for the economy as a whole. I do not even need to mention how great the personal hardship is for these individuals.
There is research that quantifies the relationship between re-employment probabilities, as well as income changes when re-employed. First is a report from the Cleveland Fed that examines displaced workers (e.g., workers displaced due to business or economic conditions affecting an entire firm or department, rather than individual terminations). These data are from a biannual survey of individual workers. In the 2008 survey, there were 3.6 million displaced workers. By 2010, the number jumped to 6.9 million. The 2012 survey showed about 6.1 million workers were displaced from January 2009 through December 2011.
Not surprisingly, as we see in the in the 2010 survey, those who were displaced between January 2007 and December 2009 were the least likely of the three survey groups to regain employment by the following January. Only 48.8% were rehired by the following January. Fifty-six percent of displaced individuals were re-employed in the 2012 survey, an improvement from the 2010 survey, but still lower than the 67% rate prior to the recession, in the 2008 survey.
Those who were re-employed took a big pay cut. Prior to the recession, 25% of those re-employed took a 20% or more pay cut, while 20% took a smaller pay cut. By contrast, 56% increased their pay, including 21% who received a 20% or more pay raise. In the 2010 survey, though, the results are much worse, with 36% taking a 20% or more pay cut and 19% taking a lesser pay cut. Forty-five percent were able to maintain or increase their pay. The 2012 survey shows a similar story as the 2010 survey.
These workers may be glad to be working, however. In data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we see that 40.6% of the unemployed, or a bit more than 5 million people, were out of work for six months or longer. Those workers may find it difficult to regain employment, as employers discriminate against the long-term unemployed.
While we have known this to be conceptually true, the National Bureau of Economic Research (the same organization that is charged with dating the beginning and end of recessions) researched the subject to quantify the difficulty of regaining employment. In this study, researchers sent 12,000 fictitious resumes to 3,000 job openings in each of the 100 largest metropolitan areas. The difference between the resumes was the length of unemployment; all other factors were substantially equivalent for education, experience and skill level. The length of unemployment ranged from one to 36 months. The researchers measured the callbacks to each of the resumes.
The number of callbacks drops significantly as the length of unemployment on the submitted resumes increases. In fact, the resumes with eight months of unemployment received 45% fewer callbacks than the resumes for the fictitious individuals who were unemployed for only one month. The callback rate fell to 4% from 7% over this range. After eight months, the callback rate leveled off at the lower level. The researchers conclude, "As the model makes clear, these results are consistent with employers using unemployment spell length as a signal of unobserved productivity."
In other words, the researchers were able to quantify the challenges the long-term unemployed face in being rehired. We also know that those who are rehired are more likely to take a pay cut -- a marked reversal from patterns observed prior to the recession. More competition for jobs may suppress wage gains for those with jobs. The implications are that there will be a quasi-permanent problem with long-term unemployment, even as the economy improves.
Long-term unemployment and a lack of wage gains may restrain economic activity, even as those consumers who do have jobs and pay raises might now be more confident and spend more, seemingly setting aside concerns about their neighbors who may lack work. Hopefully, the problem doesn't become so invisible that potential solutions aren't explored. | <urn:uuid:b9fed13e-ec32-469f-b723-172ffb9b6f09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://realmoney.thestreet.com/articles/11/09/2012/long-reach-long-term-unemployment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979157 | 899 | 2.21875 | 2 |
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February 23rd, 2012 by Bedell Group
CHILDREN at Le Rondin School and Centre were treated to a hands-on master class on the art of no-dig gardening. As part of the Bedell and Floral Guernsey’s Little Green Fingers Schools’ Project, 21 pupils aged between seven and nine took part in the ‘Wiggly Worms’ workshop at Queux Patio Plants on Tuesday 21 February [...]
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This website relies on our community for news that champions local people and businesses that are making an effort to be more sustainable. | <urn:uuid:6386dbea-9f32-4a9d-98d0-b8297f80d212> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sustainableguernsey.info/blog/tag/wiggly-worms-workshop/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953157 | 139 | 1.640625 | 2 |
ALBION, Ind. (AP) -- Thousands of exotic animals from Ohio might need new homes this year and Indiana is taking some of them in.
The Journal Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/XOcvu1 ) Black Pine Animal Sanctuary in Albion recently accepted six exotic animals from Ohio. Four tigers were moved to Black Pine late last year, and this week a female black bear and an African wildcat have found a home at the northeastern Indiana sanctuary.
Laws passed in Ohio last fall place greater restrictions and financial burdens on exotic animal owners. The laws were passed after a suicidal Zanesville man released dozens of exotic animals, including lions, tigers and bears, in Zanesville in October 2011.
Black Pine Executive Director Lori Gagen said without additional funding, the sanctuary will be unable to house additional animals.
Information from: The Journal Gazette, http://www.journalgazette.net | <urn:uuid:925a73f3-60b2-42c3-962a-414ccfe750d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hudsonhubtimes.com/ap%20state/2013/02/21/ind-sanctuary-taking-exotic-animals-from-ohio | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934767 | 188 | 2.0625 | 2 |
After 216 years, Toshusai Sharaku is still a mystery. Theories abound as to his identity. What is not disputed, however, is his artistic genius. He left behind more than 140 highly innovative and experimental woodblock prints, a body of work which still resonates within contemporary Japanese art and design.
Some believe that he was an actor who was trying his hand at print making; others believe that Sharaku was the nom de plume of an established artist who did not want to sully his name while making highly experimental works. Another theory asserts that Sharaku was not one person, but a group of artists working together under that name. No one knows his birth date, when he died, or his real name.
The only record of Sharaku is the body of work he produced between May 1794 and February 1795.
Sharaku was a master of "ukiyo-e," prints made with carved wooden blocks. Ukiyo-e was popular during Japan's Edo period, an era spanning from 1603 to 1868. During the Edo period, Japan was ruled by shogun (military leaders) centered in the city of Edo, for which the period derives its name.
Ukiyo-e artists of this time depicted courtesans, warriors, sumo wrestlers, and Noh and Kabuki theater actors. Sharaku focused his work on portraits of actors in the Kabuki theater tradition. Kabuki is a highly stylized form of musical theater in which heavily made-up actors portray historical events, moral dilemmas, and melodramatic love affairs. Kabuki originated during the Edo period and was wildly popular with the common people. The older, more formal Noh style theater with its masked actors was preferred by the aristocracy. One theory explaining Sharaku's short-lived career is that his wealthy patron favored the Noh style to the Kabuki style and refused to support Sharaku's work when he produced portraits of Kabuki actors.
It is a fact that Sharaku was not appreciated in his time. Like most creative individuals who go against the grain, he was largely misunderstood. Unlike his contemporaries, Sharaku rendered his subjects with remarkable specificity. All of the works from this period were highly abstracted and stylized, as was Sharaku's. While his prints were no more realistic than those of other artists of the time, he presented his subjects as recognizable caricatures. Sharaku's genius lay in his ability to reveal each actor's humanity while staying true to the abstract style as well as the expressive likeness of the character each actor portrayed.
Since Sharaku was not appreciated in his time, he was largely forgotten. However, his popularity began to wax after his work was re-discovered in 1910 by a German scholar named Julius Kurth. The Japanese public took notice and began to re-evaluate his work as well.
With the advent of the 20th century, Sharaku's vision and innovation finally found an appreciative audience. As a testament to his importance, on his bicentennial in 1994, Japan's top graphic designers were asked to create posters celebrating the genius printmaker and his cultural importance.
The Japan Foundation organized an exhibition of these posters with original artworks by some of Japan's most important contemporary artists. As part of this exhibition, entitled "Sharaku Interpreted by Japan's Contemporary Artists," the Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints in Tokyo faithfully reproduced a number of Sharaku's Kabuki portraits from the original woodblocks, using inks and colors that would have been part of his original works. Sharaku's original prints are exceedingly rare and most are badly faded. These reproductions bring to life the master's original vision and color sensibilities.
Many of the works by the contemporary artists in the exhibition were created especially for this show. These works include those by some of Japan's most prominent artists including Takashi Murakami and Yasumasa Morimura.
Paintings by Murakami, which feature his anime/Mickey Mouse inspired characters, present a caricature of popular culture similar to Sharaku's Kabuki portraits. Murakami, whose work has recently appeared in the halls of Versailles as well as in the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, mixes high and low culture often with controversial effects.
Morimura, who is known for his photographic self-portraits dressed as historical and artistic figures ranging from the Mona Lisa to Marilyn Monroe, casts himself as various actors from Sharaku's prints. Like Sharaku's portraits, Morimura plays with the give and take of identity between actors and the characters they portray.
One might wonder whether Sharaku would have made works like these if he were alive today. As a consummate experimentalist, a connoisseur of popular culture, and a notorious chameleon, my guess is that he would.
"Sharaku Interpreted ..." will be on display at the Albany Museum of Art from Friday until March 28. The AMA is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Arts & Artists columnist Nick Nelson is executive director of the Albany Museum of Art, 311 Meadowlark Drive. His column is a regular feature in SouthView. | <urn:uuid:0914238c-6e98-46a5-a8d1-77193d4dfabd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2011/jan/29/sharaku-a-mystery-two-centuries-later/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987432 | 1,072 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Wiith great effort we try to ensure the readability of the tapes in the long-term archive that have not been used for a longer time.
We have installed a monitoring that is continously reading the firmware diagnostic information of the tape drives. With this information we can evaluate the quality of the tape material and detect arising defects before they become a real problem.
For a detailed description of this feature you have to follow the link Data Storage at ZIB.
An increasingly important role belongs to long-term storage of irreplaceable data, such as results of measurements of physical experiments, digitized views of archaeological artifacts and documents. In addition to high own requirements for storage capacity, there is a use by external scientific institutes in the form of cooperations. For this purpose we give them virtual machines on powerful servers which have access to the data storage. Our work is an exact and securely reproducibility of the data as a stream of bits without examining the contents of the data. A continuous improvement of the underlying technology sometimes requires a migration of data. This is also done by us.
Beyond that we are working accordingly to the scientific tasks defined in the goals of the cooperation agreements. | <urn:uuid:9c6d8732-05b7-42bf-b562-80b8880c51e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zib.de/en/its/it-service/coop/archiving.html?fsize=1&cHash=55c178849249b0b088035c36ee3d2ed3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940712 | 240 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Success Story: Eric – Gas & Bloating
Do you suffer from excessive belching or gas? These symptoms can not only be a nuisance, but embarrassing too. Clearly, problems of bloating and gas stem from eating the WRONG type of foods for your diet type.
The type of food that you eat affects every part of your body and your bodily functions. Some peopleÔÇÖs bodies are just not designed to digest and process certain foods (see Improving Digestion). ThatÔÇÖs what one of our patients, Eric, discovered when he went through Diet Typing.
Eric is a busy physician and works long hours at the hospital. As a result he eatsbars, cafeteria food, or often skips meals altogether.
Eric was hoping to lose some weight and balance his the Otter diet based on his Diet Typing results. We also encouraged Eric to eat fresh foods and discussed some options he could bring with him during his long work days.levels ÔÇô two of the most common goals we see among patients. He also mentioned that he had a lot of belching and indigestion ÔÇô something we figured would be associated with . Since his would take a few weeks to come back, we started him on
One month later Eric came to see us to review his food allergies. Not only had he lost 5 pounds and an inch in his waist, he had also noticed a huge difference in his belching and indigestion ÔÇô he was very happy with these results. He still had a few changes to make regarding his food allergies and he was happy to make them to see what other improvements he could see.
Eric started eating right for his diet type and started eating real, fresh foods, his body started functioning better. The right diet is essential for reaching all of your health goals. Diet Typing is the first place to start. Food allergies are a good complement to the Diet Typing ÔÇô that way you can know exactly what foods may be causing inflammation and allergic reactions inside your body. Some people may need digestive enzymes or probiotics added to their supplement regime. And of course, you need fresh food. Processed, convenience, and fast food will not help you with your health goals.
If you are ready to get to the root cause of your embarrassing symptoms, we are here to get you started and on your way. Give us a call today to set up your Diet Typing. | <urn:uuid:d9fd1695-c5d7-491a-961b-408d77a9dc9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hauserdiet.com/index.php/hauser-diet-success-stories/success-story-eric-gas-bloating/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987069 | 514 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The Effects of Regulation and Competition on the Price of AT&T Intrastate Telephone Service.
ABSTRACT Using data on AT&T intrastate toll prices, this study examines the effect of changing regulatory practices and increased competition on AT&T pricing behavior in the intrastate long-distance telecommunications industry. The results suggest that, with some qualification, the price of AT&T telephone service is lower in states which have the longest history of departure from rate-of-return regulation. Moreover, the regulatory climate has a far more significant effect on AT&T prices than does competition. The paper outlines several possible explanations for these results. Copyright 1990 by Kluwer Academic Publishers | <urn:uuid:70b7baa2-61ea-4f02-9062-05e004153fbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.researchgate.net/publication/5156052_The_Effects_of_Regulation_and_Competition_on_the_Price_of_ATT_Intrastate_Telephone_Service | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937268 | 137 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Rite Aid Corporationis a retail drugstore chain in the United States. As of March 3, 2012, the Company operated drugstores in 31 states across the country and in the District of Columbia. As of March 3, 2012, it operated 4,667 stores. In the Company�s stores, it sells prescription drugs and a range of other merchandise, which it calls front end products. During the fiscal year ended March 3, 2012 (fiscal 2012), prescription drug sales accounted for 68.1% of its total sales. The Company carries a range of front end products, which accounted for 31.9% of its total sales in fiscal 2012. Front end products include over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, personal care items, cosmetics, household items, beverages, convenience foods, greeting cards, seasonal merchandise and other everyday and convenience products, as well as photo processing. | <urn:uuid:b3018d23-ad07-419c-ba81-02e9fa53a481> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:RAD&ei=jOfZUJCzCajkiALwvwE | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940853 | 180 | 1.5 | 2 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Carrageenan, is a family of linear sulphated polysaccharides typically obtained by alkali extraction from red seaweeds. It is named after Irish moss (Chondrus crispus, also known as Carrageen moss), which is called carraigín in Irish. It was originally isolated from this alga in 1844.
These chemicals are large, highly flexible molecules which curl around each other forming double-helical structures. This gives them the ability to form a variety of different gels at room temperature. They are widely used in the food and other industries as thickening and stabilising agents. A particular advantage is that they are thixotropic—they thin under shear stress and recover their viscosity once the stress is removed. This means that they are easy to pump but stiffen again afterwards.
For example, they can be used in:
- Desserts, ice cream, milk shakes, sauces - gel to increase viscosity
- Pates and processed meat - Substitute fat to increase water retention and increase volume
- Toothpaste - stabilizer to prevent constituents separating
- Fire fighting foam - thickener to cause foam to become sticky
- Shampoo and cosmetic creams - thickener
- Air freshener gels
- Shoe polish - gel to increase viscosity
There are three classifications of carrageenan:
- Kappa - strong, rigid gels. Produced from Kappaphycus cottonii
- Iota - soft gels. Produced from Eucheuma spinosum
- Lambda - form gels when mixed with proteins rather than water, used to thicken dairy products. The most common source is Gigartina from Southern Europe.
It is interesting to note, however, that a lot of red algal species produce different types of carrageenans during their developmental history. For instance, the genera Gigartina produces mainly Kappa carrageenans during its gametophytic stage, and Lambda carrageenans during its sporophytic stage.
- See also: Alternation of generations
All are soluble in hot water, but in cold water only the Lambda form (and the sodium salts of the other two) are soluble.
When used in food products, carrageenan has the EU additive E-number E407. Although introduced on an industrial scale in the 1930s, the first use was in China around 600 BC (where Gigartina was used) and in Ireland around 400 AD. There is evidence from animal studies which indicates that degraded carrageenan might cause ulcerations in the gastro-intestinal tract and gastro-intestinal cancer. Chemical studies indicate that degraded carrageenan can easily be produced from undegraded carrageenan.
The largest producer is the Philippines, where cultivated seaweed produces about 80% of the World supply. The most commonly used are Cottonii (Eucheuma cottonii) and Spinosum (Eucheuma spinosum), which together provide about three quarters of the World production. These grow at sea level down to about 2 metres. The seaweed is normally grown on nylon lines strung between bamboo floats and harvested after three months or so when each plant weighs around 1 kg.
Interestingly, it should be noted that the Cottonii variety has been reclassified as Kappaphycus cottonii by Maxwell Doty (1988), thereby introducing the genus Kappaphycus, on the basis of the phycocolloids produced (namely kappa carrageenan).
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:cc55d1c0-8dbe-468d-8249-36a09f5e4777> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Carrageenan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92711 | 776 | 3.28125 | 3 |
I Silas Burbanks of lawful age testify and say, that in the spring of the Year 1766, a few days before the riot at Mr. Richard Kings dwelling house, I was at the house of Mr. John Stewart, and he was talking to me about said King; he asked me if he was not a bad man, and had not done as much hurt to the people here, as Bute had done to the people at home; and afterwards, the day before the riot at Mr. Kings house, I was again at said Stewart's house, when he talked with me about King, and told me he was a bad man; had done a great deal of hurt, had treated him very unrighteously; and that he had killed his Mare; that they were going to give him a rally; and the Mischief Mr. Stewart proposed should be done to Mr. King was, either to destroy him, or destroy his papers, or whip him, but I am not certain which of them, but am certain it was one of them: Stewart said it was a good thing, and would do King good, and make him a better man; he also encouraged me to go, told me I had better, and used arguments to persuade me to go. I then asked him if he was a going, but am not certain, whether he said he should go or not, but I very well remember he said, if he did not go, his sons should—He said it was the best thing that could be done, and urged me by all means to go; he also told me that King was a favourer of the Stamp Act. I have seen Stewart several times since the Riot, and when we were conversing about it, he always desired me to keep it a secret, and once told me, he would spend his life and fortune before anybody should be hurt by it.
I further testify and say, that the day before the Riot at Mr. King's house, I was talking with Amos Andrews
near his house, when An•
drews asked me, if I had heard what they were going to do
. I asked him what? He answered we are going to pay King a visit and take him down; don't you intend to go? You have a dispute with him, and you see how he
trys to cheat you, and may judge by that, how he uses every body and dont you intend to show some resentment? He is a bad man, and will ruin us all, if he goes on at this rate; if something or other is not done with him, if he is not humbled
, it is not worth while for any of us to live here; and he is hard hearted to the widow and orphan. I asked him who was going? He answered he was going, and all their people up their road; that every body almost was going
; and that Stewart's family was going. I asked him if he should certainly go; he said he should certainly go, and gave me his word and promise over and over again, that he would go, for he said it must be done
. I asked him what he proposed to do to King if he went. He answered, we propose to take him out and cut his ears off
. I told him, that would not do, for it was monstrous; he then said we will take him out and whip him
; He also talked with me about the Stamp Act, and said that King was a favourer of it, and had the Stamp papers in his house; and that it was probable if that Act took place, he would be Stamp Master for Scarborough. This argument, with a vast many others, he used to persuade me to join them, and be one of them, for says he, we have already agreed upon it
. He also urged me very much to go with them; said it was the best thing that could be done and it was no Sin
. After the riot, he told me he was very sorry he was not there
, for he was prevented by a bad belly ach, but was a well wisher to it, and would be as faithful as if he had been there
; and always since the Riot, he has been very urgent with me to keep the affair secret
. I further say, the Evening Mr. King's farm house was cut down which was some time after the riot at Kings dwelling house when some persons were hanging up a dead colt before it, it was proposed to cut the house down, whilst Andrews was present, when somebody asked him if he would lend his axes; he said his axes were dull, but they might have them
, and they lay on the hill before his door. I was also at Andrews's a day or two after the farm house was cut down, and asked him if he heard them, he said yes; I asked him if he was up, no replied he, I and my wife went to bed, and I will tell you something comical; we had a Molatto, who was a bed upstairs, and when they were cutting the house down, the Noise waked him, and he called to me to know what the noise was. What noise says I. A great noise, answers he, don't you hear it. O says I, a parcel of people are cutting down Brother Elijah Sellea's house
. What, says he, that poor lame
man's house, I will get up and help him. No don't stir for your life says I
, they will come and cut down our house, I expect, so don't stir for your life, for you will be killed
I further testify and say, that the evening before said riot at Mr. Kings house, I was at Jonathan Andrews's shop. He asked me if I had heard what they were going to do with King. I asked him what? He said they were going to have a frolic with him, that it was a very good thing for King was a bad man, and he mentioned several bad things, that he said King had done; that it was absolutely necessary something should be done with him, he was grown so arbitrary and bad. He objected against hurting Mr. King's Interest, but proposed their taking him out and whipping him; and he encouraged the thing very much. I asked him if he was going: he said he did not know, but he believed his son would. Since the riot, he has been very urgent with me to keep the affair secret. I further testify and say, that Joseph Stewart, Timothy Stewart, Samuel Stewart, and Jonathan Andrews junr. were present aiding and assisting at the riot at Mr. Kings dwelling house.
[signed] Silas Burbanks
The Deponent adds, It was in the night when I saw the person whom I supposed to be Amos Andrews, but I cannot say it was he otherwise then as I judged it to be him from the voice and appearance of the person and his Dress.
Att. Sam Winthrop Cler.
Sullivan expressly allows that the Witnesses swear that Amos Andrews encouraged them to mob
King, which includes every supposable species of Trespass.3 | <urn:uuid:de1a346a-57d6-4b4f-88d5-91b6983d7c3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.masshist.org/publications/apde/portia.php?mode=p&id=LJA01p121 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.996934 | 1,482 | 1.804688 | 2 |
As any hike through the mountains will confirm, different geographies govern wild and urban areas. In the wild, peaks, ridges, and watercourses help us navigate, and as we move through the landscape it's difficult to miss how geologic uplift and erosion have shaped the land. But in the city, a different set of features makes a landscape navigable. The freeways, light rail lines, and the boundaries between neighborhoods tell us where we are. Natural processes are at work in the city as they are in the wild, but the built environment renders them invisible. We see mountains on the horizon, but we risk forgetting entire hills that once rose in the center of the city.
In recent years, Los Angeles has worked to rediscover elements of its lost, wild geography. Activists have transformed the long-neglected Los Angeles River -- once dismissed as a storm channel -- into a 50-mile-long symbol of the promises and frustrations of Southern California environmentalism. In western Los Angeles, scientists, geographers, and other researchers have mapped in precise detail the locations of vernal pools, marshes, meadows, and other wetlands that once dotted the Ballona Creek watershed.
Archives have played a key role in rediscovering another forgotten feature of L.A.'s wild geography: the extensive system of creeks, arroyos, and other watercourses that once flowed through present-day Los Angeles. Fed by springs issuing from vast underground aquifers, storm runoff, or some combination of the two, these streams once crisscrossed the entire city. Today, many of them have suffered a similar fate as the Los Angeles River: paved over, buried and converted into storm drains, or eliminated altogether. Most Angelenos walk or drive over them every day without realizing it.
Not Jessica Hall. Since 2008, the landscape architect has traced the former routes of L.A.'s waterways on the L.A. Creek Freak blog, which she founded with artist and L.A. River activist Joe Linton. By studying the maps, photographs, and other documents preserved in the region's archives, Hall has reconstructed a surprisingly wet L.A. landscape, braided with dozens of streams that now lie buried beneath streets and parking lots.
East of the Los Angeles River, the Arroyo de las Pasas once originated in the hills of Montecito Heights and flowed southwesterly toward its confluence with the Los Angeles River. Today, much of the arroyo is a series of culverts underneath Lincoln Park and the USC Health Sciences Campus.
West of downtown Los Angeles, the Arroyo de Sacatela flowed south through present-day Los Feliz and Koreatown on its way to the inland cienega of the Ballona Creek watershed. In 2008, the Militant Angeleno discovered remnants of the arroyo while retracing the watercourse's path.
Even the concrete-and-glass landscape of downtown L.A. was once home to a willow-lined creek; the Arroyo de los Reyes originated north of present-day Echo Park, flowed through a ravine, and emerged just south of Bunker Hill near what is today Pershing Square. Upstream, a private water company dammed the arroyo's canyon in 1868 to create a reservoir, which we know today as Echo Park Lake.
Maps have proven to be some of Hall's best historical evidence. Old irrigation maps and USGS topographical surveys often show intermittent streams flowing through what are today parking lots and real estate developments. In Sacramento, Hall perused Henry Hancock's landmark 1858 survey of Los Angeles in the California State Archives and rediscovered the names of three lost streams.
Even where streams are unmarked on topographical maps, soil maps -- produced initially for agricultural purposes -- provide clues in their records of soil composition as to where watercourses may have flowed.
Hall has also used photographs to locate streams. Riparian ecosystems often stand out in aerial photographs at such institutions as the Pasadena Public Library, UCLA Department of Geography, and Whittier College. Even photos taken at ground level may hint at a stream's existence; images of flooded streets after a heavy rain may indicate that a road follows the former path of an arroyo.
In some cases, the built environment itself preserves evidence of the city's lost streams. In 1906, the city built a bridge to carry Macy Street (now Cesar Chavez Avenue) over Arroyo de las Pasas. Today, the bridge remains, but the arroyo has been filled in, replaced with train tracks and the concrete lanes of the San Bernardino (I-10) Freeway.
Los Feliz's Shakespeare Bridge, likewise, carries Franklin Avenue over the now-defunct Arroyo de la Sacatela, as the Militant Angeleno documented. Downstream, another bridge transports Sunset Boulevard over the former path of the arroyo, now occupied by Myra Avenue.
After years of digging through the archives and then confirming her findings with field visits, Hall is now an experienced stream detective.
"I know how to read the topography," she explained. "I can look at a landform and guess what I'm seeing."
A 2006 L.A. Weekly profile followed Hall as she scaled chain-link fences and waded through stagnant waters in search of hidden streams. But archival evidence is still an essential part of her research.
"Guessing is one thing, but actually having the document that demonstrates where something was is much more convincing and powerful."
And Hall has had a lot of convincing to do. When she began looking for signs of abundant water in L.A.'s historical ecology -- not just in streams but also in in springs and wetlands -- she ran into the persistent misconception that the city's natural state is desert.
"There were people who laughed at me behind my back," she said.
Scholarly investigations into historical wetlands and the extensive educational efforts centered on the L.A. River have softened such misunderstanding of the landscape, but the city's lost streams are a particularly salient example of L.A.'s wild geography. Often the streams flow directly through neighborhoods and through backyards, reinforcing the idea that we live not just in cities and blue-sign districts but also watersheds.
By reminding Angelenos of the city's natural features, the dead or buried streams evoke an image of an urban ecosystem where issues like environmental justice, ocean water quality, and flood hazards are interconnected.
Hall hopes that, by promoting greater understanding of such concerns, the rediscovered streams will drive residents to action.
"I would hope they would start advocating with their local governments to restore these small streams," Hall said.
Storm drains through schoolyards and city parks provide a place where communities might muster the necessary political will and practical means to "daylight" (to use Hall's term) the buried waterways.
"Because they are small streams, we have an opportunity to understand on a technical level how they function without creating a hazard to life and property."
Correction, Sept. 7: In an earlier version of this post, a photo caption incorrectly stated that Second Street Park later became Echo Park. In fact, as reader Scott Fajack notes, Second Street Park was located downstream along the Arroyo de los Reyes from Echo Park, near the present-day intersection of Glendale Boulevard and First Street.
Many of the archives who contributed the above images are members of L.A. as Subject, an association of more than 230 libraries, museums, official archives, personal collections, and other institutions. Hosted by the USC Libraries, L.A. as Subject is dedicated to preserving and telling the sometimes-hidden stories and histories of the Los Angeles region. Our posts here provide a view into the archives of individuals and cultural institutions whose collections inform the great narrativein all its complex facetsof Southern California.
TrackBack URL: http://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/15301 | <urn:uuid:06763be4-411b-46b9-a9ff-22764f036cc0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/uncovering-las-lost-streams.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947201 | 1,657 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Bible: Jer. 30:1-17
Introduction to the Book of Consolation
Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered after a Time of Deep Distress
30:4 So here is what the
30:5 Yes, 9 here is what he says:
“You hear cries of panic and of terror;
there is no peace in sight. 10
30:6 Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: 11
Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?
Why then do I see all these strong men
grabbing their stomachs in pain like 12 a woman giving birth?
And why do their faces
turn so deathly pale?
30:7 Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! 13
There has never been any like it.
It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,
but some of them will be rescued out of it. 14
30:8 When the time for them to be rescued comes,” 15
“I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. 17
I will deliver you from captivity. 18
Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.
30:9 But they will be subject 19 to the
and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them. 20
30:10 So I, the
you descendants of Jacob, my servants. 21
Do not be terrified, people of Israel.
For I will rescue you and your descendants
from a faraway land where you are captives. 22
The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.
They will be secure and no one will terrify them. 23
30:11 For I, the
I will be with you and will rescue you.
I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you.
But I will not completely destroy you.
I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure.
I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” 25
The Lord Will Heal the Wounds of Judah
“Your injuries are incurable;
your wounds are severe. 28
30:13 There is no one to plead your cause.
There are no remedies for your wounds. 29
There is no healing for you.
30:14 All your allies have abandoned you. 30
They no longer have any concern for you.
For I have attacked you like an enemy would.
I have chastened you cruelly.
For your wickedness is so great
and your sin is so much. 31
30:15 Why do you complain about your injuries,
that your pain is incurable?
I have done all this to you
because your wickedness is so great
and your sin is so much.
30:16 But 32 all who destroyed you will be destroyed.
All your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plundered you will be plundered.
I will cause those who pillaged you to be pillaged. 33
30:17 Yes, 34 I will restore you to health.
I will heal your wounds.
For you have been called an outcast,
Zion, whom no one cares for.” | <urn:uuid:23ed8ee2-06a6-4380-8753-8efa4852e0c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://net.bible.org/?_escaped_fragment_=bible/Jer.%252030:1-17 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932154 | 673 | 1.742188 | 2 |
By Gamini Jayasinghe
Vesak full moon poya day is of special significance to Buddhists due to three main incidents taken place on this day. The last birth of the Bodhisattva took place on a Vesak full moon poya day.
He attained Buddha hood also on a Vesak full moon poya day. The Exalted One’s Parinibbana also took place on a day like this.
On the Vesak full moon poya day two thousand six hundred and one years ago the last birth of Bodhisattva took place at Lumbini Royal park.
His mother was Queen Maha Maya and King Suddhodhana of the kingdom of Kapilawasthu was his father. The queen was on her way to her parental place at Devdaha with a mass of followers to deliver her first child as was customary and when she was resting at the Royal Park, Lumbini holding a branch of a fully blossomed Sal tree Bodhisattva was born.
It is said that the new born child had walked on seven Lotus flowers which emerged suddenly before him. King Suddhodhana’s teacher, saint Asitha of Kaladewala who visited the palace on the same day asserted that the blessed prince was to be the saviour of the universe and the teacher of every one in all the three worlds.
First Salutation by the Father
The saint who had developed his meditation skills envisaged that he was due to die before the Enlightenment of the Bodhisattva, worshipped the new born prince. The king who watched the behaviour of his teacher realised that his son was superior to the saint and himself worshipped the Bodhisattva.
The prince was brought up in the royal palace in the lap of luxury leaving no room for him to realise the vanity of the worldly life. The king was anxious to see his son becoming the Universal King as envisaged by the learned Brahmin at the naming ceremony. The king’s endeavour was to prevent the Bodhisattva from leaving the worldly life to attain Buddha hood in keeping with the words of saint Kondanna who raised one finger and said that the prince was sure to attain the Buddha hood.
In spite of all precautionary measures taken by the king the prince came into direct contact with the stark realities of life, “Sathara Pera Nimithi” – a sick man, a decrepit old man, a corpse and a monk and he was determined to become an ascetic. At the age of twenty nine years he renounced the worldly life leaving the royal family including his wife, princess Yasodhara and the new born son, Rahula. He strived for seven years and made a firm determination to attain his goal, Buddha hood.
In ancient India great importance was attached to rites, ceremonies, penances and sacrifices. It was then a popular belief that no salvation could be gained unless one led a life of strict asceticism. Hence for six long years he made a super human struggle practising all forms of severe austerity with the result that his delicate body was reduced almost to a skeleton. The more he tormented his body the farther his goal receded from him.
Majjima Pati Pada – Middle Path
However, ultimately he realised the futility of self- mortification and adopted an independent course –Majjima Patipada – the Middle Path. He decided to take some food. The five ascetics who attended on him, being disappointed at this unexpected change of method, deserted him and went to Isipatana, saying that “the ascetic Gothama had become indulgent, had ceased from straving and returned to a life of comfort.
However, Bodhisattva was not discouraged. After taking some food offered to him by a generous lady named Sujatha he made a firm resolve not to rise from his seat under the sacred Bo tree until he attained Buddha hood.
One happy Vesak night, as he was seated under the famous Pippala tree at Buddha Gaya, with mind tranquilized and purified, in the first watch he developed that supernormal knowledge which enabled him to remember his past lives – Pubbenivasanussati Gnana Reminiscence of Past births. In the middle watch he developed the clairvoyant supernormal vision dealing with the death and rebirth of beings Cutupapata Gnana- perception of the disappearing and reappearing of Beings.
In the last watch of the night he developed the supernormal knowledge with regard to the destruction of passions- Asavakkhaya Gnana, and comprehending things as they truly are, attained Perfect Enlightenment- Samma Sambodhi
Saviour of every one in the universe
He devoted the remainder of that precious life to serve humanity both by example and precept, dominated by no personal motive. Buddha was a human being. As a man he was born, as man he lived and as a man His life came to an end. However, He was an extraordinary man. He had no deitification. He taught His disciples to depend on themselves for their salvation. “You yourselves should make the exertion. The Thathagathas are only teachers” He said. The Enlightened One has pointed out the path and it is left for us to follow that path to save ourselves.
At the age of eighty years, three months before the Vesak Full Moon day Gautama Buddha determined the term of life.
On one occasion He summoned His disciples and addressed them. In His address he said that all component things are transient and advised them to strive on with diligence. “After the lapse of three months from now the Accomplished One will attain Parinibbana. Be mindful and virtuous. With thoughts collected, guard your mind. He who lives strenuously in this Dispensation will escape the cycle of rebirth and put an end to suffering”
Gauthama Buddha had His last meal offered to Him by a generous lady named Sujatha. He rested on the couch placed between two Sala trees in the Upavattana Sala grove and attained Parinibbana on a Vesak Full moon poya day.
Niyatha Vivaranaya- Positive Explanation of assurance of becoming Buddha
“Niyatha Vivaranaya” -Positive explanation of assurance of becoming Buddha was given to Gauthama Bodhisattva for the first time by Deepankara Buddha on a Vesak Full moon poya day. Bodhisattva was born as ascetic Sumedha in that life.
The road was being repaired for the Buddha to pass that place. Ascetic Sumedha was among those who were preparing and decorating the road. He was expected to clean the road in a muddy area. Buddha came before ascetic Sumedha could clear the road. Ascetic Sumedha did not want the Buddha to walk on the muddy road and he lay down on the muddy road desiring the Buddha to walk on him. His decision was so deep and sincere that Deepankara Buddha gave the positive assurance of attaining Buddha hood.
Buddha’s third visit to Sri Lanka
Buddha’s third visit to Sri Lanka was also taken place on a Vesak Full Moon poya day. Buddha visited Kelaniya at the invitation of Naga King Maniakkhika of Kelaniya. This invitation was made when Buddha visited Sri Lanka for the second occasion to quell a dispute between two Naga kings, Chulodara and Mahodara at Nagadeepa. This took place on a Vesak full moon day.
Invitation by God Sumana Saman to visit Sri Pada
God Sumana Saman who brought the Kiripalu tree from Seveth Nuwara Devram vehera to provide shelter to the Buddha during His second visit to Sri Lanka had accompanied Him to Lanka during His third visit also. On his invitation Buddha proceeded to Samanthakuta where He placed His foot print which remains in full sanctity and is being worshipped by us with faith and devotion.
In Salalihini Sandesaya a mention is made about the place in Kelani Ganga where the ablution functions of the Enlightened One had taken place. Naga King Maniakkhika had offered a gem seat to the Buddha and it is believed that gem seat is treasured in the Dagaba at Kelaniya. Kelani Dagaba, Bo tree and various places in Anuradhapura remind us of he Buddha’s third visit to Sri Lanka.
Origin of the Sinhala Community
Further more it was on a Vesak full moon poya day that Prince Vijaya came to Sri Lanka with his followers. Hence, this day is regarded as the day of the origin of the Sinhala community. According to the chronicles the eldest son of King Sinha Bahu, the then ruler of Latarata in India and Sinhaseewalee had come to Lanka on a Vesak Full Moon Poya day.
Prince Vijaya and his followers, seven hundred in number had disembarked at Thammanna. A coincidence is that Vijaya had set foot on Lanka, land of Yakkha clan who was presumably the ruler of that part of the country had fallen in love with Vijaya and had offered him the throne with the hope of occupying the position of the queen. Vijaya was thus enthroned as the first king of Lanka.
Sinhabahu and Sinhaseewalee had thirty two children, all twins and that Vijaya was the eldest of them. Vijaya had been deported as he was disobedient to his parents. This disobedient son together with seven hundred followers disembarked at Thambapanni where they met Kuveni.
An International Religious day
At the instigation of the late Foreign minister, Laksman Kadirgarmar Vesak Full Moon Poya day has been declared as an international religious day. This was done because it is the most important day for Buddhists throughout the world.
To mark the religious, social and cultural importance of this day, people world or engage in both Amisa Puja and Prathiptti puja. | <urn:uuid:5ec75910-f3ea-4fc9-a851-89de6c30016e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://transcurrents.com/news-views/archives/11977 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978793 | 2,119 | 2.25 | 2 |
Why I lost My Voice (A King Day Story)
Try this experiment. Gather a group of the cutest, sweetest, silliest, most rambunctious toddlers and little kids you know, even add a couple of bad-asses, into a room, maybe a living room. Make them feel safe. Give them rules but let them play. Give them snacks. Give them dinner. Television to watch. Books to read. Now try to predict how many of your young subjects will ever forget the day someone from the lab drops a can of teargas into the room then busts off a few rounds of ammo above their heads. If you click on a 2008 story from USA Today about the April 1968 riots in America following Dr. King's assassination, you find a photo of journalist Opal Blankenship, much more than an old lady in a red jacket if you look her story up, in front of Holy Name Church at 23rd and Benton in Kansas City Missouri. Her outstretched arm points up Benton toward 24th. If you followed the trajectory of her finger you'd cross an intersection, pass a gas station, then a stuccoed brick duplex, top over bottom, where we rented from the Barnes family. At the other end of the block was a pink and blue house set up high on the corner where my grandparents lived. The day Opal's recalling, April 9, 1968, there'd been something else at the 24th street end of the block too: mad dogs, riot police and the National Guard armed to the teeth. High school kids had flooded out of Lincoln, Manual and Central high schools, the designated Negro schools under Kansas City's segregated system, because the board had refused to close schools to honor Dr. King's funeral. According to a video report by the Kansas City Star and testimony by Episcopal Priest Rev. David K. Fly riot police had harassed and finally attacked them in front of city hall where they had gathered to hear speeches and meet with the Mayor. A radio personality had offered to host a dance party at the church to help the kids cool down, get attention and recover in a safe atmosphere. That's what I've learned from researching the web. Here's what I remember as a kid. A lot of big kids and teenagers were gathering over at the church, kind of milling around and talking. I didn't know if they were negroes or black people (I'll explain in a minute). Suddenly a white man in an unmarked white car came barreling down Benton Boulevard from the direction in which my Grandma and Grandaddy lived, roaring right past in front of our house. Maybe that's what Opal's describing to reporters in the picture. I don't know. Anyway, the car swirls around the intersection scattering kids everywhere and screeches to a halt. The white man jumps out and starts yelling "Nigger! Nigger! Nigger! Go Home!" He pulls a gun and starts firing shots in the air! Then a bunch of teenagers in the crowd started rocking the mans car and flipped it. The ferocious crunch of metal and glass must have been like a starter gun to the National Guard, because right then, all hell broke loose from down on 24th. Guns and rifles started shooting and teargas started flying at every house, window, car, front porch, seemed like whatever they could see, all the way down the block. I was only nearing four but I will never forget my mother Jackie pushing me and my two big brothers, Kofi,7, and Nana,8, hard down on the floor just as a couple cans of tear gas came clamoring up on our porch followed by several rounds of bullets that broke our front window. Looking back, they shot at us like we were snipers. They didn't see a terrified mother without a gun, a man, or a man with a gun to protect her children. They simply saw niggers. The power went out and the fire came up. Now, I don't remember this, but I've since learned that police surrounded Holy Name where the DJ was hosting the dance party, blocked all the exists and started chucking teargas cans through the basement windows. The title of this post is Why I Lost My Voice. You see, the Holy Week Riots that happened in America following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., took place just a few months after my brothers and I arrived in America with my mom after she left my dad back in Ghana. My mom was an adventurous spirit and always wanted to be out there in the world, but in her twenties and with three small boys to raise, she made the decision to move back to Kansas City where she'd grown up. Segregated and hostile as it was, she knew KC also provided the support of her parents and a strong, stable, connected black community. In fact, while she was getting up on her feet, if she weren't sending me to my Grandma's house to get watched, she'd drop me off at the Black Panther free breakfast program. She knew the Panthers because they were young people she and my aunt Jerry had gone to high school with. She knew she could trust them with her baby - me! When I got to the Panther place, I loved it, but I never talked to anybody. I just did a lot of listening. Back then, fresh off the Pan-Am flight, I didn't talk to anybody except my mother, my brothers Kofi and Nana and sometimes my Grandaddy. Of course I knew to answer my Grandma fast. But outside of that, I didn't talk to anybody, not the kids upstairs, not my Auntie Jerry, not my playmates and certainly not the Panthers. Everything seemed so new and terrifying, it rendered me mute, at least to outsiders. I did listen however. My brothers and I were completely disoriented coming to Kansas City from our home in Ghana. Back there my father did some kind of important work outside the home and wore suits (a professor), and my mom taught preschool. We had friends up and down the road, most with dark beautiful skin and big smiles. Some had white skin and light curly bouncy hair. The air outside always felt good. But when we moved to the United States, that blanket of continuity in which we were wrapped, was yanked the-hell away. Everything was new. The cold. The snow. The way the kids were loud. The way the grown ups were loud. I don't know if we had a TV back in Ghana but I know we didn't watch it like we watched it here. Here we watched it like food. And the news was all helicopters and funny-sounding names and loud adults. The news was new words too, one of which was this new word 'negro.' Negro is not a word we'd ever heard back in Ghana, and based on what we ate up from the loud news announcers, Kofi, Nana and I came to the conclusion that negro meant 'criminal.' Interestingly enough, I noted that inThe Black Power Mix Tape Stokely Carmichael's mother implies she'd never heard the word negro either until she moved to New York from Trinidad. Kofi went to the local segregated grammar school. Nana went to Delano the school for crippled children as I remember people calling it. I went to my Grandma's who had said she was colored. The only other place I went was to the Panther breakfast place and they, my mother's friends, said they were black. In fact, they said that my friends and I were black, and proud to go with that. So logically we concluded that these negroes had to be somebody else. And as a proud black man ('I am not a boy. I am a man.' saying that got you an extra milk from the Panthers), heck, as a good American, I sensed that you had to keep one good eye out for those negroes. Who knew what they might do. So the day of the riot, while stuff was still brewing over by the church and despite my mother's warning, Kofi, Nana and I crawled on the floor over to the front window to see what we could learn about this crazy place. Who was Dr. King? Maybe this happened in America all the time. Maybe there were negroes out there. In the few minutes we had to observe, I saw a bunch of people, including some black kids I recognized from the neighborhood, including this boy we used to call banana shoes, because he seemed to only have one pair of big raggitty dress shoes to wear sunshine or snow, church time or playtime, no matter how much we teased him. I saw a few grown ups we recognized too, colored people like my grandparents, talking quietly in little groups. But I couldn't spot definitively, for sure, for certain, a single solitary negro. But we did see this crazy white man come roaring down the street to start some unholy mess. Post Script: Watching Kerry Washington in Tanya Hamilton's Night Catches Uson Netflix the other night brought this memory roaring back out of the silence just in time for Black History Month 2013 and Dr.King's Birthday.
I blog at soutsidecotton.blogspot.com | <urn:uuid:72490bb1-ddfd-4fb3-a5be-a900799e0c1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.snapjudgment.org/why-i-lost-my-voice-king-day-story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980975 | 1,889 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Photojournalist Daniel Morel shot an iconic image of a shocked woman looking out from the rubble moments after last January’s earthquake in Port au Prince, Haiti. Within an hour, Morel jumped on Twitter to share 13 high resolution images he had uploaded on Twitpic. By the next day, the photo of the woman was picked up by Agence France Presse (AFP) and Getty Images, was run on the cover of several publications and websites.
But Morel said he never authorized the news wires to distribute his images. In fact, several of his images were credited to another person, Lisandro Suero of the Dominican Republic, who reportedly has no photographic background. However, Suero tweeted Morel’s images without the photographer’s permission, and claimed copyright as his own:
And so began a legal storm.
Now Morel is being sued by AFP after he sent them cease and desist letters that the agency calls an “antagonistic assertion of rights.”
According to court documents, AFP claims that they did not infringe on Morel’s copyright and is suing Morel for “commercial disparagement,” as well as “demanding exorbitant payment.” AFP says that Twitter’s Terms of Service allowed for them to use, copy and distribute the image, and that Morel did not specify limits on how the photo should be credited.
Morel responded, saying that he was not familiar with Twitter’s TOS, and maintains that the images were stolen from his account without his permission, distributed and sold by the agency, which then “induced” other publications to violate Morel’s copyright. In a counterclaim to the agency’s complaint, Morel’s lawyer, Barbara Hoffman wrote:
To the extent that under the circumstances a specific intent in posting the images on Twitter can be attributed to Mr. Morel given the circumstances, … he posted his images online and advertised them on Twitter in the hopes that his images would span the globe to inform the world of the disaster, and that he would also receive compensation and credit as a professional photographer for breaking news of the earthquake before the news and wire services.
Some publications, including The Wall Street Journal, NBC, and the Associated Press contacted Morel to exchange compensation for his permission to publish. Others did not.
In order to enforce his copyright, Morel sent several cease and desist notices to several publications.
It seems that the case really boils down to the semantics of the Twitter TOS.
What might be worth noting is that the court documents from AFP frequently cite Twitter’s TOS, which mostly regards the text in Tweets, and does not extend to content linked to (otherwise, entire sites’ content might be considered royalty-free). Morel uploaded on TwitPic, which has a separate Terms, and is an entirely separate entity from Twitter.
Whatever the verdict, this suit may change the manner in which photographers and journalists transmit their data via social media, even in difficult emergency situations like post-quake Haiti.
Do you have legal insight, experience with copyright infringement, or any thoughts about social media and the TOS? | <urn:uuid:9b120d0b-c9b7-4786-a0d9-8d42fa05f329> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://petapixel.com/tag/portauprince/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96721 | 666 | 1.59375 | 2 |
I blame my unhealthy college eating choices on the fact that there we were located on top of a hill with miles to the nearest store and the only thing providing sustenance between the hours of 9pm and 6am was a nearby vending machine. I cannot tell you how many papers were finished with a diet coke in one hand and a bag of chips in the other. Imagine how healthy I could have been if there had been, oh say, a vending machine that dispensed healthy treats instead.
YoNaturals is a rapidly expanding network of healthy vending machines called: Yo!Zone and YoThirsty? (which are snacks & drinks). With their distribution circle growing wider by the day, the machines are currently found in some offices, schools, hospitals, hotels, etc. They offer more than 100 types of natural snacks/beverages including: Clif Bars, Vitamin Water, Horizon Organic Milk, Bumble Bars and Stacy's Pita Chips.
After all my vending binges in college, I sort of made a pact to myself to avoid them whenever possible. However, if we had one of these in our office, I know I'd hit it up more often than not. | <urn:uuid:274972cf-a363-42dd-b2ab-00003c4fa93a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yumsugar.com/Healthy-Food-From-Vending-Machine-257482 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982745 | 242 | 1.695313 | 2 |
West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, the municipality is northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Bay and the southeast shore of Howe Sound, and is adjoined by the District of North Vancouver to its east. Together with the District of North Vancouver and City of North Vancouver, it is part of a local regional grouping referred to as the North Shore municipalities, or simply "the North Shore".
West Vancouver has a population of 42,694 (2011 census). Cypress Provincial Park, mostly located within the municipal boundaries, was one of the venues for the 2010 Winter Olympics. West Vancouver was also named a Cultural Capital of Canada for 2006. West Vancouver is also home of Canada's first shopping mall, Park Royal Shopping Centre, and also of the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, one of the main connecting points between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island.
Cypress Provincial Park is a Provincial Park on the North Shore of Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. The park has two sections: a 21 km² southern section which is accessible by road, and a 9 km² northern section which is only accessible by hiking trails. Most of the park is in West Vancouver.
The southern section of Cypress Provincial Park contains a ski area (Cypress Mountain) that is operated under a Park Use Permit by a private company called Cypress Bowl Recreations Ltd, a subsidiary of Boyne USA. Boyne USA recently sold the ski operation to CNL Income Properties of Florida, USA, but Boyne will continue to run the ski operation for several years under a lease-back agreement. | <urn:uuid:3a879311-b604-4fa7-8d2f-cefa407a96fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fotopedia.com/wiki/West_Vancouver | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948461 | 348 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The Ogdensburg City Council on Tuesday took a stand on the states newly-enacted Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act.
Get rid of it.
The citys lawmakers voted 6-0 to urge state legislators to overturn the controversial state law.
Mayor William D. Nelson, Deputy Mayor and sponsor Michael D. Morley and councilors Daniel E. Skamperle, William D. Hosmer, Wayne L. Ashley and R. Storm Cilley all voted in favor of overturning. Councilor Jennifer Stevenson was absent.
The summary statement in Mr. Morleys resolution said it all.
A resolution protesting the passage and enforcement of the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (SAFE ACT) because it is an infringement on the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the States.
The Second Amendment guarantees the constitutional right arms.
They werent thinking, Mr. Morley said, referring to state lawmakers quick passage of the law in January.
Mr. Morley does agree, however, with the laws requirement of mental health background checks.
Mr. Nelson said SAFE ACTs quick approval represented government at its worst.
Its a bill with a lot of bad law, the mayor added.
Mr. Ashley, a retired Ogdensburg city policeman, said the state was far from being fast and loose where firearms control was concerned.
New York States got the toughest gun laws in the United States, he said, adding that SAFE ACT was craziness.
It does nothing to stop violent crime, he said.
Enacted into law last month, SAFE ACT has been criticized by its opponents as too hastily-conceived, restrictive and confusing in its language regarding surrounding ammunition sales and the requirement of pistol permit recertification every five years.
On Sunday, more than 100 SAFE ACT opponents met at Wallace E. Rock Amvets Post No. 19, Ogdensburg, for a fundraising Freedom Fighter Breakfast to garner support for a rally in Albany on Feb. 28. Copies of the resolution will be sent to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and local representatives of the state Senate and Assembly, including Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Town of Oswegatchie, and Assemblywoman Addie Jenne Russell, D-Theresa. | <urn:uuid:bbd4775a-5956-48a9-8ac0-d9aac2abe182> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20130213/OGD01/702139790/1200 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934687 | 470 | 1.515625 | 2 |
THE NSW government is demanding the Commonwealth redirect compensation from Victorian brown coal generators to its state-owned black coal power stations after new modelling showed the Victorian companies could be between $400 million and $1 billion better off under the carbon tax.
"It was always perverse to be paying lump sums to the Victorian power stations' foreign owners but not to assets owned by the NSW taxpayers," the Energy Minister, Chris Hartcher, said.
But the Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet, said the modelling, by Frontier Economics, was inaccurate, and that he stuck by calculations done by Treasury for the carbon tax and the $5.5 billion compensation offered to the brown coal companies.
The Greens, who always argued the compensation was unnecessary, called for an immediate Productivity Commission inquiry to adjudicate on whether the companies have been promised too much.
''I have always been certain this is a huge waste of money,'' the Greens leader, Christine Milne, said.
But Mr Combet said there would be no inquiry. ''The Greens signed this package and they should live by it,'' he said. The electricity industry also rejected the idea that it was being given too much money.
''The reality is that all coal generators are facing big challenges and the carbon price makes their life harder not easier,'' the chief executive of the Energy Supply Association of Australia, Matthew Warren, said.
But the Coalition said the compensation was always a crazy idea.
''We don't think they should have paid the generators anything,'' the Coalition climate change spokesman, Greg Hunt, said.
''We certainly don't think they should have set up two funds, one to pay them billions of dollars to stay open and one to pay them billions of dollars to close down … it was always destined to fail.''
Energy industry experts said the failure of negotiations for the government to pay for the early closure of brown coal generators would retard the shift in Australia's energy mix away from coal and towards cleaner power.
Keith Orchison, a former head of the Energy Supply Association, said that the announcement would be a disappointment for would-be gas generators.
''Nothing that is being done is going to make investors feel any more certain. They thought they had a government plan but in the last week that has been turned on its head,'' he said.
''It's not the sort of stuff that has directors sitting in boardrooms looking at each other saying, 'Let's invest in electricity'.''
Clean energy advocates say the failure will push clean energy investment back towards the end of the decade.
Will McGoldrick, of the World Wildlife Fund, said that on top of the scrapping of the floor price, the end of the buyout talks put the energy transition in doubt.
''Where is our energy sector heading? [The buyout] was a signal to the industry on the horizon that they were shifting away from dirty coal. That is not locked in any more.''
Macquarie Generation, NSW's largest generator, slashed the value of its assets by one-third earlier this year. | <urn:uuid:47a1bd78-93d8-4dfd-879f-f653fa55546c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.standard.net.au/story/309071/nsw-argues-black-coal-plants-deserve-slice-of-compensation/?cs=73 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971737 | 623 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Lots of today's popular diets take advantage of our desire to drop weight quickly. Unfortunately, though, "quick-fix" diets don't work.
Here are 5 clues that a diet may be more about empty promises than real results:
The diet is based on drastically cutting back calories. Starvation-type diets that require the body to fast often promise quick results. But our bodies simply aren't designed to drop pounds quickly. In fact, doctors say it's nearly impossible for a healthy, normally active person to lose more than 2 to 3 pounds per week of actual fat, even on a starvation diet.
Here's the trick that very low-calorie diets rely on: The body's natural reaction to near-starvation is to dump water. So most, if not all, of the weight lost on quick-weight-loss diets is not fat — it's just water. And the body sucks this lost water back up like a sponge once a person starts eating normally again.
The diet is based on taking special pills, powders, or herbs. These are usually just gimmicks — and the only thing they slim down is your wallet.
Many diet pills contain laxatives or diuretics that force a person's body to eliminate more water. Just like restricted-calorie diets, the weight lost with these supplements is mostly water, not fat.
Other supplements claim that their ingredients speed up metabolism; suppress appetite; or block the absorption of fat, sugars, or carbohydrates. For most diet supplements, there's no reliable scientific research to back up their claims. And doctors consider diet supplements risky for teens because not much is known about how the ingredients affect the growing body.
The diet tells you to eat only specific foods or foods in certain combinations. There's no reliable scientific proof that combining certain foods works. And limiting the foods you eat means you might not get all the nutrition you need.
The diet makes you completely cut out fat, sugar, or carbs. Depriving our bodies of needed food groups is a bad idea (especially when they're still growing). It's better to eat smaller portions in well-rounded meals (meals that contain servings of protein, grains, fruits, and veggies). When your body gets the right balance of nutrition, it's less likely to send you willpower-busting cravings! Eating smaller portions also helps you set good eating habits that will help you keep the weight off.
The diet requires you to skip meals or replace meals withspecial drinks or food bars. As with diets that ban certain food groups, skipping or substituting meals can mean you don't get the nutrition needed to support healthy development. Plus, you miss out on the enjoyment of sharing a satisfying meal with friends or family. | <urn:uuid:51bd38de-4892-4918-85ab-6ddbc6273ed5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=Virtua&lic=55&cat_id=20967&article_set=58410&ps=204 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940344 | 558 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Entrepreneurs at the Table09.08.2005 | Business, Students, Culture and SocietyAnyone in business knows that networking is essential. For entrepreneurs, it can mean the difference between success and failure.
The University of Dayton, named one of the country's most entrepreneurial campuses by The Princeton Review and Forbes.com, is starting The UD E.A.T. Luncheons (Entrepreneurs at the Table), which will bring local entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship students together to build relationships, test classroom knowledge against practical applications and help spur growth of the entrepreneurial spirit in the Dayton area.
The program is the result of a new, $50,000 Jim and Esther Eiting Entrepreneurship Endowment to the University of Dayton School of Business Administration. Jim Eiting, chairman of Midmark Corp. and a UD alumnus, created the endowment to encourage entrepreneurship students and local entrepreneurs to have discussions of mutual interest during periodic luncheons. UD will hold four luncheons during the academic year with the first one scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 5, at noon in the Kennedy Union ballroom on campus.
"Our national rankings and rapid growth have created an excitement for learning," said Robert Chelle, director of UD's Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and its entrepreneur-in-residence. "The gift from Jim & Esther Eiting is an acknowledgment of what we're doing right and will allow us to do more of the right things."
The entrepreneurship program is one of the hottest majors on campus. The program started in 1999 with just 10 students, and this fall enrolled a record 118 majors.
This year's class is one of the most academically prepared compared to previous years with a grade point average of 3.4.
And, it seems the desire to be an entrepreneur is instilled early on. Fifty-two percent of the students in this year's class come from families with their own businesses. In the past, only 25 to 33 percent of students entered the program with that kind of background.
The UD E.A.T Luncheons will give future entrepreneurs the opportunity to hear from business owners about family and legacy issues, conflict resolution tactics and a host of other topics that may not be discussed in the classroom, according to Eiting.
"Classroom instruction is one thing, but students need to be exposed to people who've gone through the trials, tribulations and joys of owning a business," Eiting said. "It means so more to talk about the real world stuff - it's where the rubber hits the road."
The UD E.A.T Luncheons also will give area business owners an opportunity to learn about the values and aspirations of the latest generation of prospective business graduates, as well as a chance to test and measure the business skills of entrepreneurship majors to see if corporate needs are being by what students are learning in class.
For more information, contact Robert Chelle at (937) 229-2022. | <urn:uuid:0d6671ff-3773-465a-9740-5a111dd17eec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.udayton.edu/news/articles/2005/09/Entrepreneurs_at_the_Table.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945543 | 608 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Members of the community and local elementary school students had opportunities to learn more about Japanese culture and language thanks to two events spearheaded by University of Iowa International Programs, under the leadership of Buffy Quintero, International Program Outreach Coordinator.
The Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe performed at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 18 at the Riverside Festival Stage in Lower City Park in Iowa City. The performance, which was free and open to the public, was held in conjunction with the Japanese Bunraku Summer Camp offered by UI International Programs July 13-17 at Shimek Elementary School. The puppeteers performed three pieces: Kotobuki Shiki Sanbaso, Yaoya Oshichi and the Lion Dance.
The camp and performance were funded by a $5,000 grant from the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnerships, and the performance was sponsored by UI International Programs and the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department.
The Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe offers performances of pieces from the traditional Bunraku repertoire as well as puppetry demonstrations and workshops. The troupe has performed in Japan as well as many locations in the United States including the Smithsonian, the Kennedy Center, the University of Chicago and the Japan Society in New York.
Banraku Bay Puppet Troupe is the only troupe in the United States that performs the traditional Japanese puppetry known as “ningyo joruri” or “Banraku.” The “bay” of the troupe’s name derives from the bay state of Massachusetts, where the troupe was first organized, and from the “bei” (pronounced bay) of the Japanese word “Beikok,” which means “American,” illuminating the troupe’s slogan, “Traditional Japanese Puppetry in America.”
The main performance was of Yoaya Oshichi. Oshichi, daughter of the greengrocer, must relay information and a lost sword to her lover by dawn or he will die. But on this snowy evening with the gates of the city already secured for the night, she cannot reach him. Passing near a fire tower, Oshichi realizes that all the gates will be opened if a fire alarm is sounded. But the penalty for sounding a false alarm is death. Oshichi chooses to climb the icy tower to ring the bell, a testament of her devotion to her love.
“It’s an opportunity to expand your horizons to other art forms that are available out there,” said UI graduate student Nicholas O’Brien. “It’s an ancient art form, and this is a great community for this kind of performance. It can be fun, entertaining and educational all at the same time.” O’Brien taught Japanese language at the camp. He spent the past six years living and teaching in Japan.
Bento boxes from Oyama restaurant were available for purchase, and Japanese arts and cultural activities were offered for families, prior to the performance, also at the Riverside Festival Stage.
The one-week summer camp course provided incoming fourth through sixth grade students a unique introduction to Japanese language and culture that is not available in the Iowa City School District. Students learned about artistic traditions of Bunraku puppetry through instruction and hands-on learning conducted by a professional puppeteer.
“The kids actually get to do something while learning language and culture. So often learning about a culture means reading a book, going to a museum or watching something,” said Martin Holman, director of the Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe. Holman is also a faculty member at the University of Missouri who will teach Japanese language and puppetry throughout the week. “I want people to be doing something. If they are actually doing something with someone that actually internalizes the culture, rather than just being a viewer, they are a participant.”
UI International Programs hopes to continue to play a leading role in advocating for language and culture education for K-12 students and strives to provide opportunities for language and culture instruction, Quintero said.
“I think the camp is great because I think it really gives kids a look at something they really don’t get a chance to see ever. Japanese puppetry is a very, very old and very interesting art form, but it’s also really fun. It’s something very unique to Japanese culture,” O’Brien said. | <urn:uuid:5387ccf4-2dbd-495b-97ca-b72c42229638> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://international.uiowa.edu/print/314 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963081 | 922 | 1.625 | 2 |
European Union Widens Google Antitrust Investigation
The European Commission has tacked on two German cases to its antitrust investigation into whether or not Google is unfairly promoting its own Web services in its search results on Google.com.
The New York Times said the Commission has taken up complaints from a conglomerate of 450 newspaper and magazine publishers, known as the B.D.Z.V. and V.D.Z., and Euro-Cities, an online mapping specialist.
Presumably, this will add more evidential wood to the commission's broader case, which crystallized late last month based on complaints from vertical search engines Foundem, Microsoft's Ciao and eJustice.
These companies alleged in February that Google surfaces links for Google Product Search and other Web services over links to their own comparison shopping engines on Google.com.
The European Commission said Nov. 30:
"The Commission will investigate whether Google has abused a dominant market position in online search by allegedly lowering the ranking of unpaid search results of competing services which are specialized in providing users with specific online content such as price comparisons and by according preferential placement to the results of its own vertical search services in order to shut out competing services."
The Role of Standards in Cloud Security
Security is often cited as a primary cause for concern...Watch Now
Ensuring Resources for Mission Critical Workloads
Application workloads can thrive in cloud environments,...Watch Now
Improving Security in the Public Cloud
One of the main concerns about moving data to a public...Watch Now | <urn:uuid:0426d7b7-2dd3-4e00-9853-18c402d343ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cioinsight.com/it-services/outsourcing/european-union-widens-google-antitrust-investigation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931605 | 310 | 1.828125 | 2 |
- Australian researchers studying the risk
factors linked to sporadic CJD have found that the greatest is surgery
for conditions like hysterectomies and heart surgery.
- They think their findings could have
implications for "new variant CJD" caused by eating beef infected
with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
- CJD - a degenerative, fatal brain disorder
that leads to progressive dementia and other conditions - comes in several
forms. The most common is sporadic CJD that mainly affects elderly people
and accounts for between 85 and 95% of cases worldwide.
- Risk factors
- Scientists do not know what causes it,
but researchers from the Australian National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Registry sought to isolate some risk factors.
- They studied 241 definite and probable
cases of CJD and compared them with 784 healthy volunteers.
- The information on the CJD cases came
from the registry's records of cases between 1970 and 1993.
- The greatest risk factor was for people
who had had three or more operations, including hysterectomies, heart surgery,
haemorrhoid removal, cataracts, varicose veins and carpel tunnel syndrome.
- But people who had organ transplants,
blood transfusions and major dental work were at no increased risk.
- Other risk factors included living or
working on a farm or in a market garden for more than 10 years.
- However, people who worked in butchers
shops or abattoirs were not at any greater risk.
- Hospital infection
- The researchers say their findings suggest
that CJD could be linked to infections transmitted during operations.
- Writing in the Lancet, they say they
shoud "reinforce the heightened vigilance about infection control
at all levels of care in hospital settings".
- Last year, there were some 39 cases of
sporadic CJD in the UK and 12 cases of new variant CJD.
- Recent UK research has suggested a link
between new variant CJD and surgical instruments.
- Some doctors have called for the introduction
of disposable instruments to prevent infection being spread. | <urn:uuid:1bd607b8-7c47-4c60-a5bb-b4b23cbb3a78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rense.com/health/routine.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949209 | 460 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Underwater Mortgage: CNBC Explains
CNBC Real Estate Reporter
An underwater mortgage may sound like you're dealing with beach front property gone bad, but it's actually a term of art in the world of real estate. You probably heard this term in the aftermath of the Financial Crisis of 2008 and its accompanying real estate bubble. So what is an underwater mortgage? CNBC explains.
What is an underwater mortgage?
A mortgage is considered 'underwater' when the amount of the mortgage is greater than the current value of the home. Another term for this is "negative equity."
For example, a person decides to buy a home for $200,000. They put 20 percent down, or $40,000, and then get a mortgage for the remaining $160,000. Usually home prices rise, but let's say prices begin to fall and the home is now valued at $150,000.
The mortgage is 'underwater' by $10,000.
Why use the term underwater?
Because the value of the home, which the mortgage funds, is below or under the mortgage amount, which could be considered the water line.
It is just a metaphor that likely grew out of another metaphor: "drowning in debt."
Why is the term underwater so popular in housing today?
During the housing boom home prices rose dramatically. Much of that was because mortgage lenders held borrowers to very low standards, offering them mortgages for no money down.
Anyone could buy a home, and so many people -- who really couldn't afford what they were buying -- did. That pushed prices higher and higher. Many of these mortgages, however, had adjustable rates, which meant that a borrower's monthly payment could suddenly spike after a certain amount of time, usually three to five years.
That is just what happened, causing many people to default on their loans; in other words, they missed payments and couldn't keep up. As more and more people were unable to pay their mortgages, and banks began foreclosing on them, home prices crashed.
Since so many borrowers in this period had put no money down when they applied for a mortgage, any drop in home prices caused them to be underwater on their mortgages.
Why is the "underwater" mortgage issue such a drag on the housing recovery?
If a borrower can still make the monthly payment, being underwater doesn't really matter, other than making you feel like you are renting the house (since you don't have any equity in the house).
But for many people it makes moving impossible, because if a person owes more on their mortgage than their home is worth, then in order to move or sell, they would have to pay the bank back the difference.
They would have to pay in to their mortgage to get out of their home. Being underwater has also prompted many homeowners to walk away from or abandon their homes because they don't think the home will ever be worth more than the mortgage. They consider the home a bad investment and let it go to foreclosure. | <urn:uuid:f1878352-0f6a-408c-8e7d-31a8423b5f07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnbc.com/id/100543831 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981039 | 618 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata)
Black-and-white Ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata)
The ruffed lemur is the largest of the lemur family, and is divided into two very distinctive species; the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) and the red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra). The two species are similar in shape, size, life history and behaviour but are different in colouration and habitat. The black-and-white ruffed lemur has, as its name suggests, a black and white pelage with white tufted ears, a long tail and bright, beady yellow eyes. The red ruffed lemur is a striking chestnut red colour, with a much more dense and luxuriant pelage, and a black coloured face, limbs and tail. Originally considered to be conspecific, recent genetic studies strongly suggested that these two forms merit distinction as separate species. | <urn:uuid:a27aa18f-dcfc-40f3-9510-aa697b4a7b78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://animal.memozee.com/view.php?tid=3&did=18174&lang=kr | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925243 | 214 | 3.421875 | 3 |
A Growing Living Streets Community Emerges in Redding, California
Redding, California, with a population of 90,000, is probably best known for its sunshine, breathtaking landscapes and conservative politics. Located 200 miles north of Sacramento in Shasta County, the lush region surrounded by the Trinity and Cascade mountains offers an abundance of recreation, including a growing number of paved multi-use trails that draw large crowds of bicyclists and pedestrians.
The seven-year-old Sundial Bridge, a 700-foot long steel marvel on the Sacramento River designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, has become Redding’s living room.
“It is where everyone hangs out in town, especially when the weather is nice. In a normal community, whatever normal is, you would see that sort of energy in a downtown square, or park, or even a downtown third place, but it happens to be out at the Sundial Bridge,” said Paul Shigley, the senior editor of the California Planning and Development Report (CP&DR), who lives six miles west of Redding near Whiskeytown Lake.
Downtown Redding does not draw a similar convergence of people enjoying public space because like many California cities it was designed for the automobile, and is not a particularly welcoming place for pedestrians and bicyclists. The city ranks 40th among 103 cities in California “for the number of pedestrian collisions by population,” according to a recent report [pdf]. Just last week, a 16-year-old boy was struck and killed by a driver while walking across a bridge that lacked a sidewalk.
“The town is set up to conduct motorists fast and to allow them to drive up to 50, 60 miles an hour right through the middle of town,” said Scott Mobley, a reporter for the Record Searchlight, the city’s daily newspaper.
“It’s dangerous,” said Anne Wallach Thomas, a former San Francisco resident and bicyclist who helped found the Shasta Cascade Bicycle Coalition. “Some people are lucky and they can go around some little side streets, and if you’re not lucky like me, I can’t ride my bicycle to my sister’s house, I can’t ride to the grocery store.”
In the late 1970s, the city made a poor planning decision to build a mall in the center of town and designed a network of one-way arterial streets. The mall failed not long after it opened, becoming what CP&DR described as “a glum collection of offices, struggling shops and vacant space.”
“Downtown has been pretty much a dead zone for decades. There are areas that have signs of life but the big problem is very few people live downtown,” said Shigley, who a few years ago in CP&DR named Redding one of California’s most disappointing mid-sized cities. But “check back in 10 years,” the report added.
Judging from the crowds of bicyclists and walkers who show up to enjoy the region’s vast network of scenic trails, there is an increasing demand for bicycle facilities and better conditions for pedestrians. Like the Sundial Bridge, Shigley said weekend crowds pack the one-mile Dana to Downtown bikeway and walking path recently constructed by Caltrans as part of a Highway 44 bridge improvement and widening project.
“It goes from the Dana Drive big box area over to the convention center area, and it’s proven wildly popular that you can get to those two parts of town on foot and on bike,” said Shigley.
“The reason people live up here primarily is because it’s really beautiful. We have access to amazing recreation opportunities. So lots of people have multiple $1500 bikes in their garages. They put them on the car and drive some miles to get on a trail,” said Wallach Thomas.
Driving to one of the region’s popular riverfront trails might be an easy venture, but try walking and bicycling there and the conditions can be treacherous. The region’s bike network lacks good connectivity to major destinations. That doesn’t mean, however, that bicyclists are staying off the streets. Bicycle traffic counts taken last September by Redding’s Bicycle Advisory Committee and Healthy Shasta showed a dramatic 80 percent increase in riders at major intersections.
“I have no trouble being a cyclist here. I’ve been doing it for 10 years,” said Mobley, the newspaper reporter, who is an everyday bicyclist. He thinks many drivers are beginning to adjust to having more bicyclists on the streets.
“It’s been years since someone’s called me an idiot or flipped me off or gunned their engine as they go by just to intimate me. I mean, that’s happened to me but not in a long time,” said Mobley.
Although he finds it easier to bike, Mobley pointed out that a friend, who is also a regular cyclist, got run off the road last year by a driver who “literally came right up behind him and made damn sure he was in a ditch. He hurt himself. Ripped open his knee and was quite debilitated after that.”
Many cyclists are forced onto the shoulders of roads, if there are any, or the sidewalk, where it is legal to ride in Redding.
“On many days while attending Shasta High School I rode my bike several miles a day to and from school. Redding has always offered so many ways to enjoy the outdoors and now has great bike facilities along the river and so much potential for more,” said Jim Brown of the California Bicycle Coalition.
Changing Hearts and Minds
Advocates say the popularity of Redding’s biking and walking trails, along with a desire to get healthy are indeed causing more people to second guess their traditional mode of transportation. According to the Shasta Coalition for Activity and Nutrition, 66 percent of adults in Shasta County are overweight, along with 27 percent of teens.
“You start off maybe riding your bike for entertainment on the river trail and then you think, ‘wow, maybe I could ride my bike to work,’ ‘maybe I could ride to the store, ‘maybe I could ride my kids to school everyday,’” said Francie Sullivan, a member of the Redding City Council who is a recreational cyclist.
The five-member council recently began working on a Complete Streets policy and decided to make completing it “our number one priority,” said Sullivan, adding that Redding, like other California cities, is grappling with budget woes and 17 percent unemployment. “But the good news about the economy is that more people are walking and riding bikes out of necessity.”
Sullivan, a Democrat who has served in public office for more than 20 years, said Shasta County is a “conservative community” but the issue transcends party lines.
“If you go to the river trail I would venture a guess that a majority of the people who cross you on roller blades and their bikes and who are walking and running are conservative Republicans. Everybody wants to be fit and everybody gets the same mood elevation from being outside,” said Sullivan.
For the first time, Redding has hired a full-time bicycle and pedestrian coordinator who is working on improving the city’s bikeway plan, which until recently had not been updated since 1998. Realizing the increasing demand for bicycle facilities, the Bikeway Action Plan [pdf] envisions increasing the current bikeway network from 124 miles to 162 miles to “improve the connections for cyclists to prime destinations.”
Changing the culture of old-school traffic engineers who are primarily concerned with moving automobile traffic and adhering to Level of Service (LOS) standards remains a difficult challenge in Redding, like a lot of California cities. Road and highway widenings are popular, while road diets are practically unheard of.
“You feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle every time,” said Zachary Bonnin, the city’s new bike/ped coordinator. “It’s a challenge to implement bike stuff.”
Bonnin, who grew up in Phoenix and got an environmental science degree at Northwestern Arizona University, also manages the city’s transportation system, the Redding Area Bus Authority (RABA), which sees anywhere from 2,000 to 2,400 daily passengers.
“They put me on board to challenge the engineers and to look at every project and to say ‘why are we doing it this way’ or ‘why can’t we do it this way’ or ‘what about bike and ped’ access and ‘where’s our bike lane’ and ‘why can’t we add a sidewalk here?’” he said.
The drafting of the city’s Complete Streets policy is also making some of Bonnin’s old-school transportation colleagues rethink the way they’ve designed the streets. The National Association of City Transportation Officials’ recent update of its bikeway design standards is also helping.
“They see these things and say ‘well, it would cost us more money not to do that now, then to have to deal with it later,’” said Bonnin.
The city is also hoping to incorporate improvements to the pedestrian realm in its Complete Streets policy, including strengthening its Safe Routes to Schools program, developing a pedestrian safety program and Pedestrian Master Plan to implement capital and maintenance projects. A pedestrian safety assessment prepared by transportation consultants Fehr & Peers and Oakland-based Dowling Associates recommends road diets on some downtown streets, along with bulbouts and median refuge islands.
The city’s efforts are also being bolstered by a burgeoning group of living streets advocates with ties to San Francisco’s bicycle and transit advocacy community who are working to help transform Redding into a more bikeable, walkable community.
Wallach Thomas and some longtime members of the Norcal Bicycle Partnership, Shasta Wheelmen, the Redding Mountain Biking club and some other bicyclists recently formed the Shasta Cascade Bicycle Coalition to lobby for better conditions and help educate city planners and the public. The group meets once a month.
“The safe and inviting part is important,” Wallach Thomas told the Record Searchlight. “We have world-class facilities for mountain bikes and incredible park trails. What we can’t do is leave the house and safely get anywhere.”
Shasta Living Streets
Last weekend, after months of planning, discussion and wading through city bureaucracy, Redding held its first ciclovía-style event, Shasta Living Streets, converting a two-mile stretch of Park Marina Drive near the Sacramento River into car-free space for people. It was the first open streets event in Northern California outside of the Bay Area.
“It was a success,” said Wallach Thomas, who was the main organizer. While some city bureaucrats had doubts that anyone would show up, Wallach said well over 500 people turned out on a rainy day. It helped that the event was timed with the popular Whole Earth Festival.
“I think it’s really going to make a big difference up here changing hearts and minds,” said Wallach Thomas. “It has implications and leverage far beyond the five hours of the actual event.”
Wallach Thomas got advice from her friend Cheryl Brinkman, a member of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors who has been involved with San Francisco’s Sunday Streets since its inception. Brinkman and her husband Rich Coffin took a trip to Redding to speak to a group of advocates interested in launching Shasta Living Streets.
“Gil Peñalosa, the father of ciclovías, always said that it’s not a competition among cities or towns. Every city or town which starts a car-free streets program helps the next city or town start their program. I’m thrilled that Redding had its first car-free event,” said Brinkman.
The organizers of the event actually received an email from Peñalosa offering his congratulations, and encouraging them to carry on their work.
“I hope this event will be a means to many great initiatives,” Peñalosa wrote. “Living Streets will show residents that streets can be used for more than just moving cars; streets are our largest and most valuable assets, the space the belongs to all, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, social or economic background.”
“As other programs inspired you, now you are inspiring others.” | <urn:uuid:3ae4b1f9-1c2c-4aac-bce0-56ffbb15ca35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sf.streetsblog.org/2011/04/29/a-growing-living-streets-community-emerges-in-redding-california/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961055 | 2,687 | 1.835938 | 2 |
This phase of the campaign should be used to help pupils get ‘Ready’ and motivated to make healthy lifestyle changes, get more active and eat more healthily.
The ‘Ready’ phase of the campaign begins as soon as your school registers online, and is designed to motivate and engage your whole school including parents, pupils and staff. It is all about raising awareness of the importance of the overall campaign and encouraging non-sedentary behaviour and active play.
This phase has three lesson plans attached to it:
- ‘School Blogspot’ for Literacy and English
- ‘Training Plans’ for Mathematics and Numeracy
- ‘Get Interested in Sport’ that covers a range of subject areas including History and Arts | <urn:uuid:8e27cdd8-21d8-489c-b986-61205b0686f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greatschoolrun.org/Ready/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955433 | 156 | 2.625 | 3 |
Subhuti was Buddha's disciple. He was able to understand the potency of emptiness, that nothing exists except in its relationship of subjectivity and objectivity. One day, in a mood of sublime emptiness, Subhuti was resting underneath a tree...
The perfect traveller leaves no trail to be followed;
The perfect speaker leaves no question to be answered;
The perfect accountant leaves no working to be completed;
The perfect container leaves no lock to be closed;
The perfect knot leaves no end to be ravelled.
So the sage nurtures all men
And abandons no one.
He accepts everything
And rejects nothing.
He attends to the smallest details.
So the strong must guide the weak,
For the weak are raw material to the strong.
If the guide is not respected,
Or the material is not cared for,
Confusion will result, no matter how clever one is. | <urn:uuid:018c23bd-8364-491a-9d83-5af34aff502d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zenguide.com/zenmedia/books/content.cfm?t=tao_te_ching&chapter=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926475 | 190 | 2.015625 | 2 |
LESLIE: Well, rain gutters aren’t a very exciting or even attractive part of a home and you hardly notice them until something goes wrong.
TOM: Ah, yes. But then it’s the wrong kind of excitement. You know, if your gutters become damaged, you need to make repairs quickly to avoid further and long-lasting damage deep inside the house. Here to tell us exactly how to do that is This Old House general contractor, Tom Silva.
TOM SILVA: Well, thank you. It’s nice to be here.
TOM: It’s great to see you again.
I think most people think that gutters are just there to keep water from running off the roof and onto your head. But they actually have a pretty important structural role, as well, don’t they?
TOM SILVA: They have a very important structural role, not only to the sidewall of the house but to the foundation or the basement of the house, letting water go into the basement. And then you’ve got to think about splash-back off of a roof that would need a gutter. The splashing on the ground, the water coming up, it’s going to rot the seal in the first couple of courses of your siding. So gutters are very, very important.
TOM: There’s a lot of things that could go wrong if you don’t have a functioning gutter system.
LESLIE: Now, what’s the first step to make sure that your gutter system is effective?
TOM SILVA: Well, I would say the first step is to make sure that the gutters are pitched right, make sure that the water goes into the downspout and the downspout leads away from your house so it doesn’t settle the water right there at the foundation.
TOM: And that’s a great point because I tell you, time and time again, I’ve seen builders and even gutter contractors install those downspouts so they drop a grand total of about 6 inches to a foot away from the house. And that dumps a lot of water.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. Oh and here’s your splash guard. Good, done.
TOM SILVA: Exactly, exactly.
TOM: Yeah. And that dumps all that water right there were it can go right down to the basement or at least wash out the soil right in the [backfield zone] (ph).
TOM SILVA: It can wash out the soil, it can create a trough and collect there, run down. And you can actually get water in the basement through a crack in the foundation.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. I mean we’ve had that happen in my own home. A downspout was clogged and it caused a major leak in the basement, completely on the opposite side of the house from that clogged downspout. But that was the culprit that caused a huge mess.
TOM SILVA: Absolutely.
TOM: But the thing is they’re pretty easy to fix. So any tricks of the trade for taking care of those sags, for example?
TOM SILVA: Well, yeah. Let’s say you have an aluminum gutter that’s sagged in the middle and now that gutter may be put up with spikes and ferrules. Now, a spike is a long spike that goes through the gutter and into the substrate, like a …
TOM: It’s like a super-long nail, right?
TOM SILVA: Exactly.
TOM SILVA: And in the middle of that, in between the gutter, the spike goes through the face of the gutter through a ferrule. And then that ferrule keeps the gutter from pushing in if you ever leaned a ladder against it. So it’s …
TOM: So a ferrule is essentially like a thin, aluminum pipe.
TOM SILVA: It’s a big spacer, exactly.
TOM: Got it, got it.
TOM SILVA: Yep, yep.
TOM: OK. So the spikes pull out. What do we replace them with? More spikes?
TOM SILVA: No. Because the spike is pulled out; it’s done its time. They have – basically have a long screw – a gutter screw – that will screw into that rafter tail and it won’t pull up.
LESLIE: Now, what about if you’re dealing with a gutter system that maybe has holes or the joinery where the two pieces meet, there’s a leak there? How do you fix that?
TOM SILVA: Well, they have actually sealants that you can put in there. But before you put the sealant in there, you’ve got to make sure the gutter is really clean and dry. When you put the sealant in there, you want to put a good amount in there and you want to feather it out, especially around the outlet. You don’t want to create a dam; you want the water to fall right into that hole.
TOM: Good point. Now, Tommy, we shouldn’t really talk about fixing damaged gutters without talking about our favorite season of the year: fall. And they call it “fall” for a very good reason. What’s your favorite gutter guard or gutter cover to keep those leaves out?
TOM SILVA: Oh, boy. There’s a lot of them out there. There’s a mesh that you can put right in the gutter now and leaves fall on it and they blow away. There’s a type of gutter product that you can slide up underneath the second course of shingles and it’ll act like a lip that the rain will collect to that, surface tension will pull the water in but the debris won’t go in. And they actually have one-piece gutters that basically have a helmet on the top. Water surface tension brings it in but there’s just a little slit across the front.
TOM: All built into one.
TOM SILVA: All built into one.
TOM: Now, that makes a lot of sense because let’s face it, there’s no need to buy two separate products here. We have the technology; we should be able to extrude a gutter that has the gutter protector right built into it.
TOM SILVA: All in one, yeah.
TOM: Great advice. Tom Silva from TV’s This Old House, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
TOM SILVA: It’s a pleasure being here.
TOM: For more tips just like that, you can visit ThisOldHouse.com.
LESLIE: And you can learn a lot more by watching Tommy and the entire This Old House team on This Old House and Ask This Old House on your local PBS station.
TOM: And Ask This Old House is brought to you by the National Association of Realtors. | <urn:uuid:dc27fbb1-5654-48d2-9a9e-1e5fc17b91be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moneypit.com/content/how-repair-damaged-gutters | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949416 | 1,549 | 1.804688 | 2 |
ATLANTA -- Addressing the U.S. bishops Wednesday morning, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, papal nuncio to the United States, endorsed their Fortnight for Freedom and said he plans to participate in observances locally in the Archdiocese of Washington.
The U.S. Catholic church is facing a significant challenge on "the whole question of freedom of religion and conscience," he said.
The fact that the current conflict is taking place "in the context of an election year" makes "interventions even more delicate," he added.
The Fortnight for Freedom is "praiseworthy" and "has my full support," he said.
"May I say unequivocally that the church must speak with one voice," he said. "We all know that the fundamental tactic of the enemy is to show a church divided."
Viganò suggested that the challenges facing the church might serve "providentially, as an invitation to the entire church in the United States, especially among her consecrated religious and in her educational institutions, to take on an attitude of deep communion with the local bishop."
Citing recent papal addresses to groups of U.S. bishops, Viganò said among challenges facing the U.S. church are "growing secularism; religious freedom, the relationship between religion and culture; the contemporary crisis of marriage and the family and of the Christian vision of human sexuality; religious education and faith formation of the next generation; the pastoral response to immigration; and the fostering of Catholic unity."
[Jerry Filteau, NCR's Washington correspondent, is in Atlanta for the U.S. bishops' national meeting this week.] | <urn:uuid:7b851793-3e96-45a1-9021-e0cf45b8a843> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ncronline.org/print/news/vatican/nuncio-endorses-fortnight-freedom-plans-participate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963652 | 345 | 1.5 | 2 |
Credit Courtesy of Washington Universtiy in St. Louis
Clark Porter was 17 when he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for robbing a downtown post office at gunpoint. He spent 15 years in prison and today helps some of the toughest ex-offenders turn their lives around.
Credit Courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis
Porter was hired by Chief U.S. Probation Officer Douglas Burris, who was initially taken aback by the idea of an ex-felon working for the probation office.
Every weekday, Clark Porter, a tall man with a sturdy build, walks into the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis to work with tough ex-offenders. On the outside, he wears a suit and tie. But on the inside, he has more in common with the former felons than most.
Back in 1986, a skinny 17-year-old Porter went on trial there as an adult for robbing a post office at gunpoint. His sentence: 35 years.
In The Generals, Thomas Ricks argues that the failures in America's recent wars can be directly traced to failures of those in command.
Ricks examines U.S. military leadership from World War Two to the present day, and concludes that the mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan can be traced to the Army's inability to come to terms with all the lessons of Vietnam.
This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
CONAN: That was the scene this morning outside the Michigan statehouse in Lansing as activists protested the legislature's work on two bills to rewrite the state's labor laws and make Michigan the 24th state in the country to become a right to work state. Rick Pluta, the managing editor and statehouse bureau chief for Michigan Public Radio Network, joins us now by phone from the statehouse. Nice to have you on the program today. | <urn:uuid:b14c1373-57f0-49d5-80ad-594f5745a94b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kccu.org/npr-news?page=2310 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959253 | 405 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Guidelines for Email Use
Recommendations and guidelines for composing and sending email
We assume any message you compose was important to you; you took the time to write it. Be sure to compose your message so that each recipient can determine, as quickly as possible, how interesting, important, and/or urgent, it is, for them, to read
Remember that the people receiving your email are busy. Plan the recipients accordingly.
Be cautious about mixing internal
recipients (our core team) and external
recipients (clients, partners, other teams) in the same email. Does the message need to be phrased differently fr "external" distribution.
If you send mail to a distribution list, the people who receive it will have different levels of interest and "need to know". Be sure to choose the most appropriate list for your message. Don't just send mail to very list yu can think of!
By convention, the addresses in the To: line are considered to be the "primary" (need-to-know) recipients. The names in the Cc: line are often considered to be "reading-optional" or FYI.
If you need
a response from certain people, put their
addresses in the To:
When you compose a reply, check the headers before clicking send. Do you need to reply to "all"? Avoid sending duplicate messages, i.e. one to the sender's individual address and another copy through a distribution list.
Many distribution lists are configured to send replies to the sender. Others send to the entire list. Who needs to see the reply?
Tips for better Subjects:
- Concise: Keep it short; many email clients truncate. (<= 50 characters is a good rule of thumb.)
- Specific: Provide enough detail that a quick scan will provide some information, before opening the message. For example, is this for a particular project? Say so!
When possible, include a short, descriptive prefix to provide additional clues to the type of content, e.g.
- MEETING NOTES
- AS REQUESTED
- ACTION ITEM
If a message is particularly important or urgent, say so. Preface the Subject with IMPORTANT
and raise the priority
. However, use discretion. If you abuse these keywords, people won't believe you when you really mean it.
Go easy on exclamation points and capital letters; they may trigger a spam filter.
Examples (Good and Bad)
Here's an eye-catching, specific subject for an obviously Urgent message
Subject: ***IMPORTANT*** All-Hands Staff Meeting At 3m today
The following examples were all pulled from the archives of an actual dsitribution list for February 2007. These are the complete subjects from actual email.
Here are three excellent examples; the property (and, therefore, the intended audience) is obvious
Subject: EPT: Taking epsearch1.scd out of rotation
Subject: weather and tech has been failed out
Subject: FYI - YKids - p1.ykids.re4 upgrade
These are not as good; the property (and audience) can be guessed... but less easily
Subject: sql201.games.mud & sql202.games.mud have been down for days
Subject: pulling fe1.oscars.movies.sp1 out of rotation temporarily
These examples are really bad. Don't do this!
Most email applications allow you to set a message's priority, with "Normal" being the default. If you really want people to read your message, set the priority higher. If it doesn't matter when (or if) anyone reads the message, lower the priority.
Urgency / Due Dates
Whenever possible, please provide clues to the level of urgency in the subject and/or the first few lines of the body. Do you need replies by Friday? Is this mail just FYI? Are there some people you absolutely must hear from asap?
If there is a date by which you need responses, make that clear in the message.
Reiterate the Subject
The body of a message should be able to stand alone or still make sense if the subject is changed.
Unless the Subject would do equally well as a general label on a file folder, repeat the important parts of the subject in the body of the message
. Copy and paste if necessary.
Subject: Tuesday meeting moved to 3pm
Our Tuesday meeting has been rescheduled to 3pm in room A1.
Not so good
Subject: Tuesday meeting moved to 3pm
It's in A1. See you then.
Some people like to send short messages wiith all content in the Subject and no body (other people really hate receiving these. :-)
If you're someone who likes this type of email, be sure to mark the subject in some way (e.g. [that's all] or [eot]), lest your recipients wonder if you clicked Send too soon.
Better yet, copy the Subject and paste it in the body. It may seem redundant, but really, it does help.
If there are action items
in the body of the message:
- call attention to them early
- don't bury them in the middle of the text
Oh, By the Way...
Try to avoid adding unrelated topics as postscripts at the end of your message. If they're important, send them separately.
Avoid including action items or private notes to one recipient as apparent afterthoughts.
Prune (Carefully) When Replying or Forwarding
Think about how much of a previous message is necessary to retain context. Always prune unnecessary headers, footers, and signature lines.
Opinions vary over whether it's best to add your comments above, below, or "in line" with previous, "quoted" text. Opinions also vary regarding how much of the original thread you should preserve in your replies.
As a rule of thumb:
- Retain sufficient information to provide context for a newcomer to the conversation. Imagine that your message will be forwarded to someone who has not read the original thread.
- If you inline your responses, be sure to include adequate white space so that recipients can find your responses!
For a compromise solution endorsed by several people:
- include the original unaltered text at the end of your message.
- copy small, standalone snippets to the top and respond to those snips
This provides inlining as well as multiple choices for understanding context.
Follow these Do's and Dont's
- DO choose the most specific distribution list that covers your topic.
- DO some research before asking other people to do it for you.
- DON'T CROSS-POST to multiple lists.
- Pick the best one. Spamming as many lists as you can find is rude.
- When replying
to a cross-posted message, don't compound the problem by cross-posting the reply.
- DON'T report production problems to devel-random or any other discussion list.
- DON'T discuss patents or other legal matters on e-mail.
- Legal matters should be discussed with your (corporate) attorneys.
More Tips and Tricks
Writing Sensible Email Messages
If you want to be a good email citizen and ensure the kind of results you’re looking for, you’ll need to craft messages that are concise and easy to deal with. Read the article and comments at 43Folders.com
-- Main.VickiBrown - 09 Jan 2008 | <urn:uuid:247429c8-b014-4cc1-b4f2-1befe8cfef33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cfcl.com/twiki5/bin/view/Learn/EmailGuidelines | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91555 | 1,582 | 2.046875 | 2 |
The same happens inside: you are the vast blueness of the sky, and thoughts are just like clouds hovering around you, filling you. But the gaps exist; the sky exists. To have a glimpse of the sky is satori, and to become the sky is samadhi. From satori to samadhi, the whole process is a deep insight into the mind, nothing else.
Mind doesn’t exist as an entity – the first thing. Only thoughts exist.
The second thing: the thoughts exist separate from you, they are not one with your nature; they come and go. You remain; you persist. You are like the sky: never comes, never goes, it is always there. Clouds come and go, they are momentary phenomena; they are not eternal. Even if you try to cling to a thought, you cannot retain it for long; it has to go, it has its own birth and death. Thoughts are not yours; they don’t belong to you. They come as visitors, guests, but they are not the host.
Watch deeply, then you will become the host and thoughts will be the guests. And as guests they are beautiful, but if you forget completely that you are the host, and they become the hosts, then you are in a mess. This is what hell is. You are the master of the house, the house belongs to you, and guests have become the masters. Receive them, take care of them, but don’t get identified with them; otherwise, they will become the masters.
The mind becomes the problem because you have taken thoughts so deeply inside you that you have forgotten completely the distance, that they are visitors, they come and go. Always remember that which abides: that is your nature, your tao. Always be attentive to that which never comes and never goes, just like the sky. Change the gestalt, don’t be focused on the visitors, remain rooted in the host; the visitors will come and go.
Of course, there are bad visitors and good visitors, but you need not be worried about them. A good host treats all the guests in the same way, without making any distinctions. A good host is just a good host: a bad thought comes and he treats the bad thought also in the same way as he treats a good thought. It is not his concern that the thought is good or bad, because once you make the distinction that this thought is good and that thought is bad, what are you doing? You are bringing the good thought nearer to yourself and pushing the bad thought further away. Sooner or later you will get identified with the good thought; the good thought will become the host. And any thought creates misery when it becomes the host, because it is not the truth. The thought is a pretender and you get identified with it. Identification is the disease.
Gurdjieff used to say that only one thing is needed: not to be identified with that which comes and goes. The morning comes, the noon comes, the evening comes, and they go; the night comes and again the morning. You abide: not as you, because that too is a thought – as pure consciousness; not your name, because that too is a thought; not your form, because that too is a thought, not your body, because one day you will realize that too is a thought. Just pure consciousness, with no name, no form, just the purity, just the formlessness and namelessness, just the very phenomenon of being aware – only that abides. | <urn:uuid:df3cd608-3eb8-4900-a24f-864a0c1c1bcb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-host-clouds-thought-3df1f309-2e8.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976286 | 741 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Chavis Carter's Death Ruled a Suicide
Updated Tuesday, Aug. 21, 10:25 a.m. EDT: According to a report from the Arkansas state crime lab, Chavis Carter tested positive for methamphetamine, anti-anxiety medication and other drugs, the Associated Press reports. On Monday, officials released a report ruling his death a suicide. The report does not address the question of how, if he was left-handed, he could have shot himself in the right temple.
An Arkansas medical examiner has ruled that 21-year-old Chavis Carter, who died of a gunshot to the head while handcuffed in the rear of a police car, committed suicide. The unedited seven-page report, which was headed up by Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Stephen A. Erickson of the Arkansas State Crime Lab, was released by ABC affiliate KAIT8.
CBS News reports:
According to the report by Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Stephen A. Erickson of the Arkansas State Crime Lab, the bullet that killed Carter entered his skull near his right temple, four inches from the top of his head.
"At the time of discharge, the muzzle of the gun was placed against the right temporal scalp," wrote Erickson.
He went on to state that, "The manner of death is based on both autopsy findings and the investigative conclusions of the Jonesboro Police Department."
Last week, Jonesboro police released video of a police officer approximately the same size as Carter reenacting what may have happened the back of the police car on the night of July 28, when Carter and two other men were pulled over in a traffic stop. Police searched Carter twice but have said they did not find a gun.
The reenactment video shows the officer being cuffed, then sitting in the back seat, retrieving a fake gun from his pants, and bringing the barrel to his right temple. The video also shows still photographs of other officers handcuffed in the backseat of a car, with the fake gun pressed to their temple.
Read more at CBS News. | <urn:uuid:fcef6ace-cd37-47f7-8695-f75c9cbabe5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theroot.com/buzz/chavis-carters-death-ruled-suicide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980974 | 419 | 1.578125 | 2 |
DARLINGTON, Pa. (AP) -- Chesapeake gas drilling company is refusing to obey a cease-and-desist order issued by a western Pennsylvania township in a dispute over local zoning laws and drilling rights.
Darlington Township Solicitor Garen Fedeles said Wednesday that Chesapeake Energy is ignoring the stop-work order issued Friday by a zoning officer.
Darlington maintains Chesapeake is violating a zoning regulation by proceeding with the work without final township approval. Chesapeake argues that it has the right to drill now.
Fedeles said if the dispute goes to court and the township is successful, Chesapeake could be fined $500 per day.
Chesapeake spokesperson Jacque Bland said in a statement that the Oklahoma City-based company has offered to discuss the issue further with the township, but believes Chesapeake has a valid lease on the land and is entitled to drill.
"We would not be preparing and drilling this well were that not the case," Bland said.
At the heart of the issue is an area where the company is already embroiled in a dispute with several property owners. The owners maintain the original 2005 drilling leases were improperly executed and the company should make no changes to the properties, pending resolution of the disagreements.
But Chesapeake sued in March, saying the company needed to cut down some trees before a protected bat species emerged from hibernation. A judge sided with Chesapeake.
Attorney Jordan Yeager, who has represented several families and municipalities in disputes with gas drilling companies, said he's heard of one similar case in northeastern Pennsylvania. Yeager said Chesapeake's challenge may be part of a broader legal battle over how in interpret Pennsylvania's new gas drilling law.
The law was supposed to take effect April 15, but a judge ordered a temporary halt to the provision that puts limits on the power of municipalities to regulate the natural gas exploration industry.
The order came as a victory for seven municipalities that had sued. But the judge also suggested that the towns' wider challenge to the constitutionality of the new law is questionable. | <urn:uuid:d348e8e8-c33a-4df9-9ddd-f1427107f281> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the-daily-record.com/ap%20state/2012/04/18/gas-co-disregards-pa-township-order-to-stop-work | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968538 | 421 | 1.625 | 2 |
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Haiti has seen enough "muscular paternalism" to last it a lifetime.
The former jewel of the French Empire, devastated by 12 years of warfare against brutal slave masters and successive Spanish, British, and French invasions, was rewarded for its victory in 1803 with an international blockade in which the United States participated. France finally recognized Haitian independence in exchange for massive "compensation" for its lost "property," a crippling debt that lasted 100 years. The United States refused to recognize the country until 1862. Eventually the United States occupied Haiti for 19 years starting in 1915 to protect American "interests," looting about 40 percent of Haiti's GNP until 1947. During the Cold War the US-backed father-son Duvalier dictatorship ruled over Haiti from 1956-1986, slaughtering tens of thousands of opponents of the regime while brazenly stealing from the treasury.
Finally a democratic election was held in 1990, overwhelmingly won by Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, quickly overthrown by US-supplied remnants of the old regime, which proceeded to terrorize the population under the leadership of CIA asset Emmanuel Constant, founder of the death squad FRAPH.
Aristide was permitted to return in 1994 with the help of a US invasion, under the condition that Haiti implement a Clinton-brokered agreement adopting the same devastating economic "reforms" he campaigned against, pushing Haitian peasants out of the countryside and into dangerously cramped shanties in the cities.
Aristide ran for President again in 2000, winning overwhelmingly, only to be kidnapped by American soldiers in 2004 and whisked away to permanent exile in Africa, where he remains to this day. The international peacekeeping operation that occupies the country, Minustah, is currently propping up the Preval government which has banned over a dozen political parties and continues regular disappearances of community organizers and human rights activists.
The unfolding US occupation of Haiti now underway has already annexed Port-au-Prince's only airport, diverting planeloads of aid to the Dominican Republic. Independent reporters on the ground, such as Ansel Herz, have consistently refuted mainstream media accounts of a climate of violence in Haiti in the aftermath of the recent earthquake. Nevertheless, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has claimed that airdrops of aid would "lead to riots" and that spending days constructing a fortified compound was necessary for distribution. After four days, airdrops of badly needed aid were allowed to begin.
To suggest that Haiti is poor largely thanks to "a sequence of hurricanes, natural disasters and deforestation" as the editorial above states, is to willingly ignore the historical context of the most avoidably devastated nation in the hemisphere. One marvels at the mental gymnastics necessary to suggest that some form of modern colonization might be necessary for Haiti while politely omitting any mention of Franco-American responsibility for the development of its tragic history. The Haitian people are perfectly capable of self-governance, if only the "muscular paternalism" of "the world's more fortunate nations" would give them enough room in which to breathe. | <urn:uuid:86de8b49-a395-4a98-abed-8f3c363b6f50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/JohnnyFreedom/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956759 | 642 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Recipe Lab Draft #1: Mexican Sweet Tamales Recipe
This is draft one for the CHOW Recipe Lab. Try it! Post your comments to this thread.
While many Americans are familiar with savory tamales, the sweet ones are less commonly served in restaurants. They’re more of a special-occasion family recipe. As with many homemade recipes, there are as many variations as there are cooks, and they can contain anything from cinnamon to red food coloring. This particular tamale recipe doesn’t come from any particular region in Mexico although it’s got flavors that you’ll find in many sweet tamales: nuts, fruit, and spice.
What to buy: Maseca is an instant slaked corn meal that is useful in making tamales. It’s widely available (in Latin markets and the ethnic aisle of many grocery stores) and yields consistent results so we used it here (Do you prefer non-instant? Tell us about it on the Recipe Lab thread. ). You can also purchase freshly made masa dough at many Latin markets.
Corn husks for making tamales can be found in Latin markets.
Game plan: The dough can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can form the tamales up to 1 day ahead of time and keep them covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- 35 corn husks
- 1 1/2 cups golden raisins
- 4 1/2 cups Maseca (Instant Corn Masa Flour)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons aniseseeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 3/4 cups water, at room temperature
- 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup toasted pine nuts
- Place corn husks in a large bowl or baking dish, cover completely with hot water, and weigh down with a plate or bowl to fully submerge. Soak until husks are very pliable, at least 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. Drain, squeeze and wipe dry.
- Place raisins in a small bowl, cover with hot water, and soak until plumped, at least 15 minutes. Drain off water and set aside.
- Combine masa, salt, baking powder, anise seeds, and cinnamon in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Pour in water and stir or mix with hands until dough is wet throughout.
- Place butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high until lighter in color and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. With mixer running, add masa mixture in handfuls, letting it mix in before adding more, about 2 minutes. Continue to beat dough until well combined and a smooth soft dough has formed, about 1 minute more. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in raisins and nuts. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
To make the tamales:
- Lay a corn husk on a clean work surface with the wide edge toward you (this is the bottom). Measure 1/3 cup dough and shape into a cylinder about 3 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. Lay dough lengthwise in the center of the husk, leaving about 1/2-inch border at the bottom (the wide edge of the husk).
- Tightly close the right and left sides of the husk over the filling as if rolling a cigar. Fold the top of the husk (the empty tapered edge) back over the filled husk to close. (If your husks are particularly small or they don’t want to stay closed, use a bit of kitchen twine to tie it closed.) Repeat to make about 35 tamales. Meanwhile, place a steamer basket in a large pot and fill the pot with enough water to reach the bottom of the steamer. Bring the water to a simmer over low heat.
- Arrange tamales upright in the steamer, with the open end facing up. Cover and steam until filling is set, no longer raw tasting, and tamales pull away easily from husks when unwrapped, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Turn heat off and let rest for 15 minutes before serving. | <urn:uuid:51ecd20b-2392-4e78-8ab8-f86a7c0a75b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chow.com/recipes/18744-recipe-lab-draft-1-mexican-sweet-tamales | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917743 | 925 | 1.726563 | 2 |
ARCHIVE OF COMMENTS AND DISCUSSIONS
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Our subjects cover: religion (Christian, Jewish and others); diet and lifestyle (vegan and vegetarian); and other miscellaneous subjects.
In Reference to: 19 May 1991 - THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
Thank you for your comments, and interesting questions.
We're not sure that we can quantify our time allocations in the way that you pose your question. Jesus tells us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, and yet He also ministered and witnessed to sinners. It probably has more to do with our spiritual state of being than anything else. If we absolutely know that we are being loving and compassionate in everything we are doing, and that it's in the will of God, then we don't have to worry about talking to being a witness to those who aren't, just as Jesus did.
The other side of the issue has to do with the nature of our relationships. With family members it is usually best to be a silent loving witness, unless and until they begin to ask questions about our lifestyle. With non-family relationships, we are probable best to leave those who are against everything we stand for remain as acquaintances, but not as close friends. Our close friends should be of a like mind with us.
In the Love of the Lord,
Frank and Mary
Go on to: Comments by Alexandra - 13 May 2008
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Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org. | <urn:uuid:4ec75866-98c2-4c65-be83-01b6e5a0d697> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-creatures.org/discuss/sermon-20080512-fmh.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95019 | 400 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Team of Health Professionals
Kids love a visit from Marv the Milkman!
For almost 100 years, we've been treating only children.
As part of the care team for your child, your insight about your child and input about your child's care are important. Our staff is trained in specific areas of healthcare and in how to care for children.
Seattle Children's is a teaching hospital. Your child will receive care from a team that may include several doctors and staff members.
Don't hesitate to ask any of them, including doctors and nurses, to identify themselves and to explain their role in your child's care.
An attending doctor is your child's main doctor during a clinic visit or hospital stay. The attending doctor leads the team in developing your child's treatment plan.
Residents and Fellows
Residents and fellows are licensed doctors who are in training in pediatrics. These doctors will have the most contact with your child. They give daily orders for care and update the attending doctor(s) about your child's progress.
Primary Care Provider
This is the medical professional who referred your child to Children's.
Registered nurses (RNs)
RNs care for children staying in the hospital. The RN is your main contact with other members of your child's healthcare team.
Your nurse will provide much of your child’s day-to-day care. The nurse will also teach you and your child about your child's care.
If you have questions about your child's care, you can ask the RN, the attending doctor or the fellow.
Sometimes RNs work with nursing assistants, medical assistants, or other care providers to plan and coordinate each patient's care.
Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) and nurse practitioners (ARNPs)
CNSs and ARNPs are registered nurses with advanced education and training. They oversee clinical practice and make discharge plans.
They often coordinate care for complex medical conditions, consult with other nurses and teach family members about the child's care needs.
Nurse managers and charge nurses
Nurse managers run the patient care unit 24 hours a day. Charge nurses manage each shift and coordinate care during that shift.
Together they make sure that each child and family receives the care they need.
If you have questions or concerns that your nurse cannot resolve, you can direct them to the charge nurse or nurse manager.
Other Healthcare Providers
Your child's health team may include other consulting doctors; physical, occupational, speech and respiratory therapists; child life specialists; a care coordinator; nursing and medical students; and other healthcare providers.
Chaplains are available 24 hours a day at Children’s Hospital to provide confidential care to patients and families from diverse cultures and faiths. They can also help you find clergy of your faith or denomination.
Learn more about Pastoral and Spiritual Care services.
Child life specialists
Child life specialists focus on your child’s emotional and developmental needs. They help reduce the stress of a hospital stay. They assist patients and families to cope with the hospital experience.
They also provide information about play, child development and adjustment to illness.
Learn more about Child Life services.
Dietitians help ensure that patients get the nutrition they need for growth and development while in the hospital and after discharge.
Family service representatives (FSRs) and family service coordinators (FSCs)
FSRs and FSCs provide help to both staff and families in the Emergency Department and clinic areas. Unit coordinators (UCs) are at the front desk of all inpatient units. They provide assistance to both staff and families.
They help make appointments or coordinate procedures, request tests, route phone calls and help families with access to resources and staff.
Medical students are studying at University of Washington to become doctors. They receive instruction in pediatric specialty care at Children's. Attending doctors supervise medical students.
Medical students may be at your child's clinic visit or take part in rounds with residents or the attending doctor when your child stays in the hospital.
Occupational therapists (OTs)
OTs evaluate and treat oral motor, fine motor and visual motor dysfunction. They provide functional training in self-care, home living skills and community reintegration.
They also provide custom and commercial splints and positioning devices as well as consultation for infants and children with feeding problems.
Pain medicine team members
Pain medicine team members work with your child’s main healthcare team to help control any pain your child may have. They use many types of pain control — both drug-based and non-drug options.
If you think your child needs help with pain, tell your child’s doctor or nurse.
Learn more about our Pain Medicine Program.
Pediatric Advanced Care Team
The Pediatric Advanced Care Team (Palliative Care) offers consultation about the care of children with potentially life-limiting conditions. Our team includes a doctor, nurse and social worker who consult with the child's care team and parents.
The Pediatric Advanced Care Team addresses the physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of children and their families.
Learn more about our Pediatric Advanced Care Team.
Pharmacists prepare medicine prescribed by doctors. They can also tell you about a medicine's purpose, effectiveness and side effects.
Children's Pharmacy fills prescriptions for its clinics, emergency room and patient discharges.
Learn more about the hospital pharmacy.
Physical therapists (PTs)
PTs provide therapy for difficulty with gross motor skills, balance, coordination, mobility and developmental motor skills.
Respiratory therapists (RTs)
RTs evaluate, treat and care for patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders. They also educate parents about pulmonary medications and equipment, and prepare and support home respiratory support therapies.
Social workers are skilled counselors who work with families to provide emotional support and get the resources they need. This includes help paying for food, getting transportation and getting housing. They can help you plan for and find the things you will need before and after a hospital stay.
Learn more about social work at Children’s.
Our Education Department has certified teachers and assistants who can assess your child’s learning needs and provide instruction.
These services are offered at no charge to children who are staying in the hospital and are likely to miss at least one week of school, as well as to patients staying at Ronald McDonald House. They make it easier for your child to return to school after leaving the hospital.
Our volunteers work in more than 70 departments at Children’s. You can tell who they are by their blue smocks. You'll see them at the Family Resource Center, at information desks, in infant units holding babies, in the Playroom and throughout the hospital bringing books and toys to patients.
Learn more about how to become a volunteer at Children’s. | <urn:uuid:c4594115-d30d-45fa-b99e-ae04ee91db89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seattlechildrens.org/patients-families/partnering-with-us/health-team/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951206 | 1,416 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Training for cyclocross at night takes some special equipment. © Cyclocross Magazine
by Dr. Clifford Lee
Days are shorter and our lives are busy. How does training time fit in to a day with already too few hours? Even Michael Birner’s three-hour training plan featured in Cyclocross Magazine’s Issue 7 is constrained by limited sunlight. You can train indoors on a trainer, or train in the dark of night. Most of us know the tedium of trainers. Night riding can be a great alternative to staring at basement walls, but the idea of being on the road in the dark is intimidating to the uninitiated. Thankfully, new headlight and clothing technology make the night train safer and more comfortable than ever.
Considering your personal safety is paramount. Visibility, of the route and to motorists, is a priority. Course choice should consider obstacles not only on the trail, but in the surrounding area as well: crime rate, homeless encampments, etc. Be sure you reconnoiter the course and area in the daylight hours. Train with a partner and always be aware of your surroundings.
If you have long stretches of unimpeded road nearby, power intervals are a good night workout. If there is a grade, hill repeats, or over/under steady state intervals are possible. Nearby features such as these can give you the freedom of the road, without the risk of being miles form home in the dark if things don’t go according to plan.
If you have a cyclocross course available, race-pace laps over varied terrain are invaluable, and in the dark your skills are enhanced by the mere fact that you will learn to look beyond the texture of the track and flow better over the course.
Use tough tires: changing a flat in the dark is no fun, and in urban areas you can be vulnerable. Consider tubeless with sealant or sealant filled tubes and pay attention to tire pressure to avoid a pinch flat.
Reflective clothing has seen technological advances in recent years. Photo Courtesy Illuminite.
Reflective clothing is good to have for safety, and commute specific tights and jackets are available and can be good for training in the relative cold of the night. Illuminite clothing is also effective. At the very least, wear a light colored jersey, white or yellow. Additionally, reflective bands can be worn on your ankles and wrists. If you have ever followed a cyclist in your car at night, you know that pedal reflectors and reflective ankle bands are amongst the most effective piece of equipment and could be a lifesaver in traffic.
Eyewear is one of my areas of expertise. Many riders prefer to use a yellow or amber tinted lens. While this gives the perception of greater contrast or even of brightness, any tint is a reduction of light transmission. At night the need for brightness outweighs the perceived contrast improvement, and perceived it is. I can discuss the theoretical benefit of yellow filters in daylight conditions, but at night under mesopic or scotopic (optometrist speak for semi-dark or really dark) conditions, those benefits do not exist and the reduction of transmission is a liability. Get eyewear with clear lenses, and anti-reflection multi-coating is no doubt beneficial.
See the Light
Helmet mounted lights will ensure a clear field of vision. Photo Courtesy Dinotte Lighting.
What lights to consider? For years, my wife and I trained on the road at night with a converted Cateye Halogen. Now, 24-hour mountain biking has spurned the development of brighter and more efficient lighting systems. Modern LED systems are very bright with low heat output and low energy consumption, and are relatively affordable and durable compared to HID systems.
Do not rely on those commuter LED lights – you’ll need 200 lumens minimum to see at training speed. Brighter is better, though beam pattern matters almost as much, and now systems with claimed 900 lumens are available. Consider two headlights, one helmet mounted and the other bar mounted. The helmet mounted light allows you to see into corners and spot check your surroundings, just don’t look your training partners in the eyes. The helmet mounted light also comes in handy to read your HRM or power meter, and to change a flat if you become unfortunate. The bar mounted light affords texture information on the ground due to shadows that the helmet mounted light won’t reveal. If only one light, I prefer bar mounted, but others may differ.
Bright tailights are required by law in many areas. Photo Courtesy Planet Bike.
The SSC P7 LED emitter is available in small self contained flashlights powered by lithium ion batteries for as little as $35 USD plus charger and batteries, for a total of $75 including shipping. Add the needed flashlight mount, such as the Two Fish mount, and you have a very bright light with one to three hour runtimes, depending on brightness setting, for less than $100! Of course, many bicycle specific multi-beam headlights exist, and new systems become available each season. I like self contained units, but more runtime is typical of systems with separate battery packs due to size requirements of energy storage.
A bright LED taillight (“blinkie”) is a necessity for the ride to and from the off-road venue, or if your night training is on the road. Brighter is better for the rear light since you will be dependent upon others seeing and avoiding you rather than the other way around. Get the brightest one you can find despite the size. The batter power consumption of these is minimal, with a set of batteries likely lasting weeks. Be wary of the fact that brightness declines as the battery power does. I’ve seen many bright lights in a dim state since the owner pays no attention to battery replacement until it ceases to flash. For safety, it is better to replace earlier than later. If you are training with a friend on the dirt and you are the leader, turn off the red flasher, as it can be annoying to the following rider. Just be sure to turn it back on when on the road!
Equipment I use presently:
- MTE SSC P7 Li Ion LED flashlight $35, dealextreme.com (look under SSC flashlights) or also easily found on eBay, combined with a handle bar-mounted using a Two Fish lockblock flashlight holder. $7
- DiNotte 200 AA-S as a helmet light $199.
- Either a Planet Bike Superflash 0.5 watt LED rear flasher, Blackburn Flea rear light, or a Cateye LD 400 5 LED flasher.
- Reflective Ankle bands
- White gloves (much easier to find now that white is the new black!)
Your LBS should have most of the above options, with the exception of the SSC LED Flashlight and perhaps my Michael Jackson gloves. If not, you can browse on eBay, Amazon’s marketplaceor other online retailers for all these accessories.
Be safe, see well and be seen. Happy riding. | <urn:uuid:aabe1989-b840-404c-b8f5-2850ed1337c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cxmagazine.com/night-training-riding-technique | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939199 | 1,472 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Malostranská - Prague Metro (Czech Republic)
N 50° 05.449 E 014° 24.566
33U E 457755 N 5548895
Quick Description: Thanks to incorporation into the Baroque complex of the Wallenstein's riding-hall is Malostranská station on line A of Prague Metro example not only functional, but also "good-looking" transportation architecture...
Location: Hlavni mesto Praha, Czech Republic
Date Posted: 2/28/2010 1:14:17 PM
Waymark Code: WM8ADP
Metro stations in Prague have not only pure "transportation" function but also some of them serves to higher urbanistic idea. The Malostranská ("Lesser Town") station on line A, opened for public in 1978, is one of examples of that type of station. Situated directly under Prague Castle is one of the best waypoints for tourists planning visit of the Castle hill. Above-ground part of the station is incorporated into Baroque space of Wallenstein's riding-hall and creates a small garden where Riding-hall is its south side and station is its east side. Garden is surrounded by original wall with two Baroque gates. | <urn:uuid:8676edd0-e98f-4eef-8638-a389ef327640> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8ADP_Malostransk_Prague_Metro_Czech_Republic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900618 | 259 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Honouring Malala Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: As Malala Yousafzai, struggles between life and death, members of civil society, NGOs and intelligentsia vowed to continue her struggle to make education accessible to girls throughout the country.
Addressing a gathering on the ‘International Day of the Girl’ here Thursday, speakers highlighted that girls of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were not the only ones facing hurdles in attaining an education but in all the other far-flung areas where transportation, safety and lack of essential facilities at schools was creating a difficult situation for girls.
At the seminar an NGO — Plan Pakistan — announced the launching of a campaign ‘Because I am a Girl,’ (BIAAG) which would work towards eradication and reduction of social barriers and hurdles faced by girls in attaining a decent education.
It was highlighted that imparting education to girls is considered a taboo in many communities in the present era in Pakistan,
and many extremists were against social workers working in fields of health and education.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Education Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Madad Sher, informed that girls belonging to Astore and Diamir districts also faced problems in the field of education.
“That is because they are not allowed to go to schools as their parents who themselves are illiterates consider schools as places of bad influence on their daughters,” Mr Sher said, adding, “Though going to school is not an issue for girls in the whole of Gilgit-Balitstan but extremists in a few areas were advocating against education for girls.”
However, to counter this move, the GB minister said that they have initiated a programme of schools at homes, and each such home is paid Rs10,000 monthly so that more inhabitants in rural areas are encouraged to join the scheme.
It was also highlighted that there are more girls enrolled in public sector schools in Sindh than the number of boys enrolled from class I to X and the number continues to increase.
“The enrolment in public schools has increased by 4.17 per cent during 2006 -10, whereas the girls enrolment increased by 6.19 per cent compared to the increase of 2.34 per cent for boys,” said Ms Aftab Inayat, consultant for Education Department, Sindh.
She also highlighted that her province had named one school in Saddar, Karachi in the name of ‘Malala’ when she visited Sindh a few months earlier.
The gathering in honour of Malala Yousufzai, stood and expressed the resolve to support girls education.
While, the Education Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Hussain Babak lauded the efforts of people like ‘Malala’ who have continued to attain education despite continued threats in their areas.
“Schools – especially girls’ schools are being destroyed, female students attacked, threatening messages are a regular feature in my province – but still I am proud to say that 98 per cent of position holders in school examinations are girls.” Sardar Hussain | <urn:uuid:39051695-3a4d-48c6-8a41-c1442bec019a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dawn.com/2012/10/12/honouring-malala-yousafzai/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975032 | 650 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The primary objective of the NASA Declassification Program is to review all historically valuable classified information to assess what needs to remain classified and what can be released to the public while protecting the national security interests of the United States Government. The NASA Declassification Program establishes the roles and responsibilities of the Mission Directorates, NASA Records Managers, FOIA Officers, Center Program Offices, Declassification Authorities (DCAs) and Center Protective Services Offices for completing declassification actions Agency wide. This program establishes procedures within the NASA Procedural Requirements (NPRs) that will ensure that mandatory declassification reviews, systematic reviews, and overall classification management requirements are completed in accordance with the mandates set out in pertinent Executive Orders.
On April 17, 1995, President Clinton signed an Executive Order (EO 12958) that provided a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information. This EO required that all classified information more than 25 years old deemed of historical value shall be automatically declassified within five years whether or not the records have been reviewed. On November 19, 1999, President Clinton signed a new Executive Order (EO 13142) that provided an extension of three years to satisfy the requirements of EO 12958. On March 25, 2003, President Bush signed his own Executive Order (EO 13292) as an amendment to EO 12958 to extend the deadline for declassification review until December 31, 2006.
Although NASA had numerous challenges to meet this deadline, we succeeded by reviewing more than eight million documents and declassifying more than five million. The 25 Year Automatic Declassification Review is a sliding requirement that takes place every year.
President Obama has clarified and updated requirements of Agency declassification programs through a new EO 13526 as part of his push for openness in government.
In order for us to meet the requirements of the Executive Order, the Agency must remain engaged and involved in the declassification effort. The trained and officially appointed DCA is responsible for reviewing the records for continued classification or declassification. The NASA Security Management Division will continue to provide training and certification for all NASA DCAs to ensure maximum transparency. We will also perform random quality control checks on records to ensure compliance with EOs.
Declassification is the first step toward making previously classified information available to the public. The process we have in place requires inter-NASA collaboration to determine what is considered classified and when something can be declassified. Declassification of government information that no longer needs protection, in accordance with established procedures, is essential to the free flow of information | <urn:uuid:a2ac3a1f-2cfd-4f0a-8c30-2a2c6a99c3b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nasa.gov/open/plan/declassification.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926361 | 519 | 2.734375 | 3 |
These Principles recognize that learning in all disciplines is complex and individualized. Educators must know the core concepts of their discipline if they are to help students grasp new ideas, solve problems, collaborate, and use their imaginations to pursue challenging questions. Therefore understanding core knowledge in a discipline—how to apply these concepts within and outside of a discipline, and how to teach these concepts effectively—is integral to the Principles outlined here.
- Being literate is at the heart of learning in every subject area.
- Learning is a social act.
- Learning about learning establishes a habit of inquiry important in life-long learning.
- Assessing progress is part of learning.
- Learning includes turning information into knowledge using multiple media.
- Learning occurs in a global context.
Learn more and explore each Principle in depth. | <urn:uuid:12be4158-420b-4aef-bee8-033e9c75bd05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://connectedlearningcoalition.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906055 | 167 | 4.6875 | 5 |
Murphy, J., and Gouldson, A. (2000) Environmental policy and industrial innovation: integrating environment and economy through ecological modernisation. Geoforum, 31 (1). pp. 33-44. ISSN 0016-7185 (doi:10.1016/S0016-7185(99)00042-1)
Full text not currently available from Enlighten.
Ecological modernisation theory has been offered as a possible solution to the environmental problems currently facing advanced industrial countries. It suggests that regulation can help to solve environmental problems whilst at the same time making industry more competitive. In theory this can be achieved if regulation encourages the development and application of innovative technologies and production techniques. This paper examines the contribution that an understanding of innovation theory can make to this debate. An understanding of how innovation takes place suggests that to some extent regulation can achieve what is suggested by ecological modernisation theory. This is particularly the case if it helps companies to overcome the considerable barriers to innovation which prevent them from moving beyond control technologies to consider clean technologies, from complementing technological change with organisational change and from exploring the strategic as well as the operational opportunities for improvement. This argument is assessed empirically through an examination of the implementation and impact of integrated pollution control (IPC), as introduced in England and Wales as part of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Here it is shown that there are examples of combined economic and environmental improvement in industry as a result of the implementation of IPC, particularly where pollution inspectors have helped to develop the capacity of regulated firms to respond to the regulation. However, it is also shown that IPC fails to fully establish the imperative for action on environmental issues. Thus, whilst encouraging technological and organisational changes, it fails to establish the environment as a strategic concern in industry and as a result it is unlikely to promote the radical innovations that are associated with ecological modernisation in the longer-term.
|Glasgow Author(s):||Murphy, Prof Joseph|
|Authors:||Murphy, J., and Gouldson, A.|
|College/School:||College of Social Sciences > School of Interdisciplinary Studies| | <urn:uuid:dbe8e73a-01e9-44ae-aa84-8810578aa17e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/71078/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905543 | 438 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Peter Nixon (1956–)
Born in Lytham St.Annes Lancashire in 1956, Peter Nixon's direction in a career art was first realized as early as the age of four. At nine years old Peter visited his first museum, the Royal Academy of Art, London England. Here he would see Di Vinci's "Virgin and Child" which would have a profound effect on young Peters Artistic development.
At seventeen Peter was accepted into Blackpool's fine art academy where he was schooled in the study of the human form and the discipline of drawing that is the foundation of many of his creations today. Peter finished out his artistic education at bath Academy of Art where he extended his skill in graphical art.
The main themes of Nixon's paintings are primarily idealized and stylized figures in states of joy, exhilaration and ecstasy. They share moments of tranquil elation, feeling lighter than air, reveling in being just pure spirits - in love, dancing, listening to music in celebration of their most vivid collective memories. That time that we are truly alive, ecstatic, positive and living in the moment.
His work is extremely well received by collectors the world over in all of its forms, whether figurative, still life, or a combination of representational and abstract elements combined.
Today he is widely exhibited in cities in the United States, Europe and throughout the world.
Essays by Peter Nixon
Written Exclusively for Park West Gallery | <urn:uuid:88248a15-16dd-4f22-ae79-d46ceee06fb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.parkwestgallery.com/artists/Peter-Nixon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973007 | 298 | 1.75 | 2 |
Could cannabis-derived medicine help type 2 diabetes sufferers?
In an article published in today’s issue of the Society of Biology’s magazine, The Biologist, GW Pharmaceuticals’ Director of Botanical Research and Cultivation, Dr David Potter, discusses how cannabis could be bred to provide raw starting material for a medicine to treat metabolic disorders.
Researchers at the UK’s only legal cannabis production facility are researching ways to use highly-standardised extracts from the plant to tackle metabolic syndrome, and are studying how such products could potentially treat conditions as diverse as cancer pain, epilepsy, ulcerative colitis, psychosis and brain injury. GW Pharmaceuticals’ first licensed medicine, Sativex, is already used to treat muscle spasticity in MS patients and primarily contains two principal cannabinoids: THC and CBD. But the medical potential of the remaining, minor cannabinoids is also huge.
Dr Potter says: “Metabolic syndrome is a disruption of the way the body metabolises food to produce energy or to store as fat. It is most common in obese people and can lead to major health problems such as Type II diabetes.”
Obesity, with all its effects on human health, is widespread. The GW Pharmaceuticals team is exploring how they can use cannabis-derived medicines to tackle one aspect of the problem. Phase IIa clinical studies are evaluating specific cannabinoids as potential treatments for metabolic syndrome and Type II diabetes. This builds upon pre-clinical data demonstrating the desirable effects of a number of cannabinoids on insulin resistance, cholesterol and liver fat, all features of metabolic disease.
Dr Potter’s team has successfully bred cannabis plants which produce high levels of a cannabinoid called THCV (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabivarin). THCV is normally only present in minor quantities; its structure is similar to THC but it exhibits very different pharmacology. It has shown promise as a potential treatment for Type II diabetes by virtue of controlling and modulating a range of factors involved in lipid deposition, cellular energy expenditure and insulin resistance - the key pathophysiological features of metabolic syndrome.
Dr Mark Downs, Chief Executive of the Society of Biology, says:
“Metabolic syndrome, and the health problems it leads to, is a huge strain on the NHS, and can massively reduce the quality of life of those affected. It is always exciting to see new avenues being explored to tackle the issue.”
There are many potential therapies for metabolic syndrome and the other conditions highlighted, and the therapeutic use of compounds found in the cannabis plant is one of the various promising routes for new treatments.
GW’s licensed medicine, Sativex, primarily contains the two most common cannabinoids, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). It is currently prescribed to MS sufferers and is currently undergoing Phase III trials for the treatment of pain in the advanced stages of cancer.
Although THC and CBD are the most well-known cannabinoids and appear at the highest concentrations, there are nearly 60 less common cannabinoids (such as THCV) and GW has studied approximately 20 of these.
One of the technical challenges of studying these minor cannabinoids is to breed cannabis plants with high concentrations of the cannabinoid of interest.
Dr Potter says: “My team’s task is to run a selective breeding programme for minor cannabinoids which have been identified as having clinical potential. Thankfully cannabis has a fast growing cycle, with several crops per year. This means we can often produce suitable plants within a few years or even less.”
Epilepsy and brain injury
Compounds developed by GW have shown promise in the treatment of epilepsy, and the company has recently discovered that cannabinoids are able to reduce the expression of certain epilepsy-related genes. This opens up an exciting possibility of using cannabinoids as personalised epilepsy medicines; patients most likely to respond can be identified by the presence of a specific gene.
Dr Potter points out that modern ‘skunk’ cannabis has been bred by recreational users to increase the concentration of THC while decreasing the concentration of CBD. Whereas THC has been linked to psychosis, CBD has anti-psychotic properties, so may provide some protection from the effects of THC. The lack of CBD in skunk potentially makes this form of cannabis more likely to induce harmful psychoses, especially in young teenagers whose brains are not yet fully developed.
GW Pharmaceuticals is also testing the use of medicines based on CBD for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Encouraging in vivo studies suggest that, because of its anti-inflammatory properties, CBD could also be useful in treating brain injury, both in accident victims and newborns starved of oxygen at birth.
Dr Potter says: “As rigorous modern research with cannabinoids comes to fruition, a new era of treatment options may have arrived.”
Provided by Society of Biology
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The release of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.org has raised questions about what legal course might be pursued against WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. The State Department will likely push for Assange to be prosecuted under all available statutes--including those in the 1917 Espionage Act--for releasing information "damaging to our foreign relations and also potentially to sources of information to the State Department," says John B. Bellinger III, a former legal adviser to the State Department and the National Security Council. He notes the threat of invoking the Espionage Act was implicit in a letter to Assange and his lawyers sent by State's legal adviser before the WikiLeaks dump. Bellinger sees the potential harm to sources mentioned in the cable as more problematic than any damage to foreign relations and predicts considerable legal wrangling if the United States tries to extradite Assange from Britain, where he is jailed on Swedish charges of sexual assault.
If you were still working as the legal adviser at the State Department and the attorney general called for a meeting to discuss what the United States should do about WikiLeaks, what would be your advice?
The first thing the legal adviser would say--and the current adviser, Harold Hongju Koh, has already said this--is that the disclosure of this information is extremely damaging to the United States. Just prior to the release of the initial cables by WikiLeaks, Koh wrote a very strongly worded letter (Reuters) to Julian Assange and his lawyers describing in detail the damage that would be caused if the information was disclosed and asking for Assange to give the information back.
There was clearly a legal purpose for that very strongly worded letter beyond simply asking for the return of the documents. It was to put Assange on notice that the U.S. government believed the release of the information would cause "harm to the national security." That is an element of offense in the Espionage Act for willful disclosure of information relating to the national defense that the releaser knows would cause damage to the national defense. Having sent that letter, I would anticipate that the State Department is strongly urging that Assange be prosecuted under all available statutes for release of this information that is extremely damaging to our foreign relations and also potentially to sources of information to the State Department.
Assange is in detention in London on a warrant from the Swedish government on sexual charges brought by two women. Does that Swedish warrant have precedence over anything the United States might do? How does that work legally?
What is even more damaging than the damage to our foreign relations is the potential--and highly likely--harm to individual sources named in the cables.
The Swedish warrant doesn't necessarily have precedence. The U.S. government must be considering that if it brings charges against Assange--and I expect that they will do so, if they have not, in fact, already secured sealed indictments--it should ask for Assange's extradition from the UK or wait for him to be extradited to Sweden and then request his extradition from Sweden. And they are certainly looking at the technical aspects of the two extradition agreements between the UK and Sweden and then considering the political and legal atmosphere in both places.
With respect to the UK, we have a new and well-functioning extradition treaty that was negotiated just a few years ago between the United States and the UK, and a very good extradition relationship government to government. In general, I might expect that the U.S. government would try to have him extradited from the UK rather than from Sweden, and the UK does have some discretion to extradite him to the United States rather than to Sweden. On the other hand, certainly Assange's lawyers would mount a very vigorous opposition in either case, in London in particular. Past U.S. extradition requests for criminals from the UK have faced vigorous opposition, and a number of people have successfully resisted that through appeals through the House of Lords and ultimately all the way up to the European Court of Human Rights. We can anticipate lengthy litigation.
So far, what's been available in the public domain, while embarrassing, doesn't seem to be revealing deep secrets. Yet the Espionage Act is reminiscent of things like giving away atomic secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1940s. What could the Espionage Act address?
I suspect the Justice Department is considering possible charges under the Espionage Act and under the Government Property Act. Under the Espionage Act, part of the statute makes it a crime for an individual with unauthorized possession of information relating to the national defense to communicate that information to others or to retain it and refuse to give it back to the United States if the individual knows that it could cause damage to the United States. And the information relating to national defense does not have a threshold. State Department cables that would cause damage to our foreign relations would fall into that category.
The difference from maybe past cases is that given the sheer volume of these 250,000 cables, there are plenty of cables in there that have caused serious damage to our relations with foreign countries in the Middle East, in Asia, and elsewhere--that goes far beyond statements that are just embarrassing. Their release will cause strains in relationships with other countries. Beyond that, though, what is even more damaging than the damage to our foreign relations that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is working very hard to tamp down in numerous conversations throughout the world, is the potential--and highly likely--harm to individual sources named in the cables.
One of the things that's changed in the nature of diplomacy over the last ten years, and increasingly so, is that our foreign service focuses less and less on official conversations with high- or middle-ranking government officials and increasingly on getting important information from human rights activists, from dissidents, or even from dissidents inside a government that might disagree with government policy. This is not really intelligence collection, it's information that's important to our foreign relations so we can understand what's going on in other countries. But many of these cables report what Chinese dissidents or dissidents in regimes in the Middle East are saying about their governments, and it contains their names in the cables. Generally the cable will then add a parenthetical that's added by the author, that will say "please protect," which means do not pass the information around. Now that this is all out, and more will be coming out, authoritarian regimes like China and countries in the Middle East that don't have a respect for humans rights can reasonably be expected to round up some of these individuals and make their lives very difficult.
It would seem to be utterly unnecessary for so many cables on diplomatic information unrelated to terrorism or military operations to have been shared with this individual, and I'm sure the government must be investigating that.
Can we compare this issue with the 1971 release of the Pentagon Papers, which detailed U.S. involvements in the Vietnam War, by a Defense Department employee? Was that a more serious episode than the WikiLeaks disclosures?
The Assange incident is much more serious, in the following ways. One, it includes extremely sensitive cables about foreign leaders or statements made by foreign leaders in more than a hundred countries around the world--not only political but also economic and trade information--that is far beyond just the limited amount of information in the Pentagon Papers about a single war or a smaller set of players. And second, the cables include information from individual sources who are at risk. That's one reason why many of the main human rights groups who might otherwise be big supporters of transparency in government are gravely concerned about the release of this information. They use some of the same sources themselves, and they had written to Assange pleading that this information not be put out.
In Europe, there were various press reports criticizing the United States government for overreacting to the release of these documents, although publicly the White House hasn't said all that much, has it?
The administration is in a difficult position in that on the one hand it does not want to overplay this and contribute to the press stir that already exists, but on the other hand, it wants to emphasize the damage to deter others from doing this again. Secretary Clinton has to address the concerns around the world. I've seen stories citing some in Europe as thinking the United States is overreacting. I think that's not what you hear from most government officials in most of these countries. Sure, there may be a few parliamentarians or pro-transparency activists who think that, once again, the United States is overreacting and acting like a bull in a china shop, but if you talk to government officials or diplomats all across Europe, you will find that they are irritated about the amount of information that the United States is putting in their cables. They also realize that this sets a terrible precedent for their own diplomatic cables--that this could happen to anybody.
It's not the U.S. government's fault that it puts sensitive information into cables. And the U.S. government certainly didn't intend for the information to come out. Certainly, French diplomats or German diplomats or British diplomats are thinking, "There but for the grace of God go we." They have to stand up for the secrecy of diplomatic communications because if there's any suggestion [that] Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and others [think] that somehow this contributes to transparency, then soon nobody's diplomatic cables will be sacrosanct.
This all apparently came out through the workings of a twenty-three-year-old Army private, Bradley Manning, who had access to this secret material. Why should a military analyst have access to so many diplomatic cables having nothing to do with national security?
I must say I'm surprised that some private had access to all of these cables. After 9/11 and the huge criticism of the government by the 9/11 Commission and others that the government failed to connected dots from the FBI and CIA, a huge push was made to make sure all relevant counterterrorism information was shared with all other relevant people. But I don't see why 250,000 diplomatic cables reporting on the views of senior foreign leaders or human rights activists or dissidents--and information that has nothing to do with terrorism--should have been pushed out to some private in the military. I don't know whether the fault lies with the State Department for allowing that to happen, or whether it was shared with the military not knowing that the military--which does tend to share information very broadly across its branches and services and commands--disseminated it farther and deeper than anybody at the State Department was aware. It would seem to be utterly unnecessary for so many cables on diplomatic information unrelated to terrorism or military operations to have been shared with this individual, and I'm sure the government must be investigating that. | <urn:uuid:6b714fae-e568-4a09-bee5-44bb8c165c43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cfr.org/media-and-foreign-policy/legal-case-against-wikileaks/p23618?cid=emc-bellinger_press_note-bellinger_interview-12_13_10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971343 | 2,163 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Chemical biology news from across RSC Publishing.
Tackling rogue tumour cells
13 January 2010
Scientists in the US have developed a way to track down and destroy tumour cells in blood. Cells which detach from primary tumours can circulate in the bloodstream and finally settle in another area of the body. This spreads the disease causing metastatic cancer, which is a major cause of death amongst cancer patients who appear to have been successfully treated. Now Chang Lu from Purdue University, West Lafayette, US, have used a technique called electroporation to selectively purge these circulating tumour cells from the blood.
In electroporation, an external electric field is applied to a cell, creating numerous nanoscale holes in the cell membrane. These holes, or pores, allow foreign objects, such as drugs, to enter the cell and can eventually lead to cell death. Lu's team passed cells through a microfluidic channel and found that tumour cells were substantially more susceptible to damage by electoporation than healthy red or white blood cells.
A flow-through electroporation technique studies different responses of blood cells and tumor cells to an electric field
Lu says that the simplicity and speed for treating cells makes it a very attractive method. 'We envision that our technique can be applied to destroy residual tumour cells in the blood after the removal of primary tumours. This practice will potentially decrease metastasis-related deaths,' he adds.
Tilak Jain, an expert in electroporation at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, US, finds the work innovative and exciting, saying 'combined with existing chemotherapeutics it could lead to a powerful dual attack force against circulating cells.'
Lu and colleagues are now turning their attention to proving the clinical value of their technique, in particular preserving the viability of white blood cells during the process.
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Link to journal article
Microfluidic electroporation of tumor and blood cells: observation of nucleus expansion and implications on selective analysis and purging of circulating tumor cells
Ning Bao, Thuc T. Le, Ji-Xin Cheng and Chang Lu, Integr. Biol., 2010, 2, 113
Also of interest
Computational studies of virus behaviour in tumours could lead to more effective cancer treatments
Unexpected results challenge established beliefs about metastasis
Bone-like materials can be used both as bone fillers and drug delivery vehicles for targeting bone cancers | <urn:uuid:03208468-8989-4419-a2a1-d75923c87a9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/cb/Volume/2010/02/rogue_tumour.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911451 | 526 | 3.0625 | 3 |
The Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey is an interdisciplinary regional survey of the Isthmian territory of Corinth, Greece, carried out between 1997 and 2003, with study seasons from 2004 to the present. The intensive survey focused on the Corinthian Isthmus between Corinth, the Pan-hellenic Sanctuary at Isthmia, and ancient Kenchreai, but survey work was also carried out in parts of the southeastern territory as well. The project was an outgrowth of previous investigations in the eastern territory and led to subsequent archaeological investigations of sites and microregions of the eastern territory, such as the Saronic Harbors Archaeological Research Project, the documentation of the towers at Ano Vayia (pdf), and the investigation of the modern settlement at Lakka Skoutara.
The EKAS material has been published in the journals Antiquity (2005), Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology (2006), International Journal of Historical Archaeology (2010), and Hesperia (2006, 2007, 2010). A general introduction to the project, including its scope, objectives, and methods, can be found in Tartaron et al. “The Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey: Integrated Methods for a Dynamic Landscape (PDF)” See the publications link for an annotated guide to papers and publications. See also the Eastern Korinthia Survey blog category for the most recent activities including conference papers and study seasons.
Current research plans include: 1) the publication of the abandoned early modern settlement of Lakka Skoutara in the southeast Corinthia, 2) the continued study of the site called Kromna, and 3) digitization of the archaeological records from the survey. | <urn:uuid:4ff4777c-a5c6-4198-a867-ee9e55dbcb56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://corinthianmatters.com/archprojects/ekas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925261 | 342 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Weed Seedling Identification
O. E. Strand and G. R. Miller
2002 Regents of the University of
Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Most weed identification manuals feature mature weeds and use flower and
fruit characteristics as an aid in identification. However, the grower of
crops must control weeds when they are small, before they flower, to
prevent them from seriously competing with crops for nutrients and soil
moisture. Also, accurate identification of these seedling weeds often is
necessary to select the best herbicide or other method of weed control.
New weed growth may originate either from seeds or from vegetative
reproductive structures (rhizomes, rootstocks, stolons or runners, tubers,
corms, or bulbs) of a perennial plant. True seedlings are those young
plants that grow from seed and may include the annuals, which live for only
one year, producing flowers and fruits that year; the biennials, which
produce flowers and fruits the second year and then die; and the
perennials, which usually produce flowers and fruits each year but continue
to live for several years.
Weed seedlings also may be divided into grasses or grass-like plants and
Any or all of these vegetative characteristics may be useful to help
identify a young grass weed:
- The grass weeds usually have long, narrow, alternate leaves with parallel
venation (distribution or arrangement of veins), with an expanded leaf
blade portion and a leaf sheath portion toward the base that encircles the
stem (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Vegetative grass parts
- The juncture of the leaf blade with the leaf sheath is called the collar
- Most grasses have a projection at the base of the leaf blade called a
ligule, which may be either a membrane or a fringe of hairs or a
combination of both.
- Some grasses also have claw-like or hook-like projections at the leaf
collar called auricles that may partially encircle the stem.
- As grass leaves emerge from the bud shoot, they may be rolled (round) and
overlapping or they may be flat and folded (V-like).
- Grasses have definite nodes (swollen ridges that encircle the stem) and
internodes (portions of the stem area between nodes).
- Grass stems (culms) may be round or flattened, and leaf sheaths may be open
and overlapping or they may be closed.
- Grasses may be smooth (glabrous) or hairy.
- Grasses are monocots, with one cotyledon or seed-leaf that remains in the
soil after seed germination.
- Grasses are either annual, with a simple, fibrous root system, or
perennial, producing rhizomes, rootstocks, or stolons.
- The seed of grasses often remains attached to the primary root after
germination. If the grass seedling is carefully removed from the soil, the
seed may help identify the plant.
All of these characteristics help in identification of broadleaf weed
- Broadleaf weed seedlings, in contrast to the grasses, usually have wider
leaves with net-like venation.
- Broadleaves are dicots and have two cotyledons or seed-leaves, which
usually emerge above the soil and expand to become the first visible
"leaves." The true leaves then develop above the cotyledons
(Figure 2). However, in some broadleaf species, the cotyledon (seed)
remains in the soil and the plumule (growing point and cluster of
undeveloped true leaves) emerges above the soil line.
Figure 2. Vegetative broadleaf plant parts
- The shape and size of the cotyledons and first true leaves vary
considerably among species (figure 3).
. Cotyledon and leaf shapes
- The stem below the cotyledons is called the hypocotyl and the stem above
the cotyledon is the epicotyl.
- Leaves may be alternate or opposite in arrangement on the stem. In some
cases the second leaf may appear so closely behind the first leaf that they
appear to be opposite but later prove to be alternate.
- The true leaves of broadleaf weeds usually have a petiole (leaf stalk), but
in some species the true leaves may be sessile (without a leaf petiole).
- Cotyledons are usually hairless but may be rough, while true leaves and
plant stems may be hairy or smooth.
- Leaf petioles in the Buckwheat (Polygonaceae) plant family are
encircled by a membranous sheath, called an ochrea.
- Broadleaf weed seedlings may have an erect stem, be viny or twining in
growth habit, or may be prostrate (growing flat on the ground).
Some common grass weed seedlings with their identifying vegetative characteristics.
Some common broadleaf weed seedlings with their identifying vegetative characteristics.
O. E. Strand, former Extension agronomist
G. R. Miller, Extension agronomist
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this material is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact your University of Minnesota Extension office or the Extension Store at (800) 876-8636. | <urn:uuid:96fcef83-7ae4-484b-8a62-092e9bb4d4ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC0776.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905086 | 1,168 | 3.859375 | 4 |
DISTRICT LINE — I love the way that the mainstream of public discourse can so easily reject different approaches as silly. I didn’t see the show on John Lewis last Wednesday — Inside John Lewis. A friend of mine did though. And he says they were painted as a bunch of numpties. And a bunch of numpties who don’t know how they’ve got so lucky. Which is ridiculous, obviously.
It is, right!?
You’re not so sure?
One of the great charms of Great Britain is the complexity of its history and the variety of narratives that can emerge. In this century, so far, we are all committed to the Dickens narrative:
• We used to work in coal mines, our bosses were mean and nasty, but the world was worse,
• Then the benevolence of man created commercial enterprise — overseen by faceless gods in expensive shoes — who made everything right.
It’s a capitalist fairy tale that insists that the Corporation is what built Britain (and therefore the world).
But the truth is far less clean and consistent. Companies like JLP and Cadbury and The Co-op did it very differently. Their approach to business was closer to socialist than to our capitalist democracy. And they succeeded.
We read in Fast Company and other coffee-table management magazines that ABC Co offers free dog washing to employees who show up on a Sunday, or all you can drink from the booze cart on a Friday afternoon. But when compared to the approach of a John Lewis Partnership or a Co-op that is as parsimonious and fatuous as could be.
Maybe John Lewis are not numpties. Maybe they’ll still be here when the rest of us have folded up our tents. Maybe we can learn something from them. | <urn:uuid:717f6417-0f85-49d0-a0e1-2e92924d1173> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ableandhow.com/john-lewis-co-op-are-not-numpties/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964138 | 375 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A new iPhone app lets you know exactly when the next bus is arriving.
A new iPhone app lets you know exactly when the next bus is arriving. Palladius/via flickr
Few pieces of technology have actually revolutionized my life. But lightening struck when I least expected it.
A few weeks ago I downloaded an iPhone app called NextBus DC. In essence, it predicts when the next bus will hit my local bus stop. Anyone who's taken public transportation knows the pain of waiting listlessly for a bus that was scheduled to arrive 20 minutes ago. The NextBus app uses GPS positioning, the bus schedule and traffic conditions to estimate arrival times.
Having used it for more than a month, I haven't waited for a bus more than three minutes.
It has literally changed my life. It means an extra 10 minutes playing with my baby in the morning. It means finishing off my cup of coffee, when in the past I'd drop it off in the sink completely full. It means that I don't have to curse under my breath when a bus — 30 minutes delayed — finally arrives with three others right behind it. It means I don't have to agonize about whether I just missed a bus by a minute so I'm stuck.
And I know this sounds trivial. But it also got me thinking, what other piece of technology changed an essential part of my life? The Internet and computers were around by the time I needed them, so I couldn't immediately think of something that has changed my everyday life.
I can only imagine the first time a car came onto the scene. Or the first time you could flip a switch and BAM, there's some light. Or for that matter, when microwave ovens made it possible to ditch the gas stove to reheat leftovers. Those are things that change your daily routine.
In some ways, it surprised me that something as simple as a $1.99 iPhone app with more than few bugs could be such a game changer.
Just the other day, I ran to the bus stop a minute before the bus pulled up. My neighbor had been waiting for 10 minutes.
"Now I know the bus is coming, 'cause I see you running up here," she said looking at my iPhone. "I gotta get myself one of those. I could have had myself a bagel or something."
Most technology now is about coolness; it's about ways to entertain your eyes and ears and hardly ever about the simple, practical things in life. But what something like NextBus taught me is that practical tech is the sexiest tech. | <urn:uuid:6f528e0e-cefa-4080-98b2-7df7a3f820ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2009/09/practical_technology_can_be_se.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973358 | 534 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Documentation:Data Mash-up Meetings
Research can be a lonely business, but it doesn’t have to be! Why not help organize an open day or class session for students can bring their data and skills and mash them together? Just imagine what the War of 1812 could look like if plotted on Google Maps. Or if political science students were taught some cool infographic tools for representing political expenditures. You could use a digital projector to show these data mash-ups happening live and even have prizes for the best mash-up. | <urn:uuid:309c3d4c-77ed-4083-ba6f-89a843d9cee7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wiki.ubc.ca/Documentation:Data_Mash-up_Meetings | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930807 | 109 | 2.015625 | 2 |
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It's All Politics
Tue October 2, 2012
In North Carolina, Latino Voters Could Be Crucial To Winning The State
Originally published on Tue October 2, 2012 10:24 am
In this year's presidential campaign, $11 million has been spent so far on ads targeting Hispanics, according to ad-tracking firm Kantar Media/CMAG.
That's eight times the amount spent four years ago on Spanish-language ads, and it's focused in just a handful of battleground states: Florida, Nevada, Colorado and, perhaps most surprisingly, North Carolina.
Over the past decade, the number of Hispanics in North Carolina has more than doubled to nearly a million, according to a recent report prepared by Democracy North Carolina.
In the capital Raleigh, Latinos now make up about 10 percent of the population. In the Brentwood neighborhood, many shop at Hispanic grocery stores like International Foods; many are immigrants from Mexico and Central America — former migrant or seasonal workers who brought their families here and settled down.
There are also a lot of Puerto Ricans — people like Angel Delgado.
"I'm going to vote," Delgado said. "I'm voting for Obama. He's the only one that been doing something for, you know, people ... that need help, you know what I'm saying? Republicans, they ain't going to do nothing for anybody. I know that."
Four years ago, more than two-thirds of Hispanic voters supported Barack Obama, and in North Carolina, it made a difference.
Latinos make up just about 3 percent of the electorate in the state. In 2008, Obama ended up winning North Carolina by just 14,000 votes. Since then, the number of Hispanics registered to vote has doubled in the state.
The Obama campaign is counting on them once again. It has worked for months to organize the Latino vote through phone banking, canvassing and registering new voters in Hispanic neighborhoods.
North Carolina is also crucial for a Romney victory, so the Republican's campaign has been working to win over Latinos, too.
One of several Spanish-language ads the Romney campaign has been running in Raleigh features Mitt Romney's son Craig, a fluent Spanish speaker, talking about his father, who is the son of an immigrant from Mexico. Mitt Romney's father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, was born there to American parents and came to the U.S. as a child.
The Obama campaign isn't running Spanish-language ads on broadcast TV in Raleigh, instead counting on its ground game to get out the Hispanic vote.
The Romney campaign is also working on mobilizing Hispanics. At Republican headquarters in Raleigh, Peter Agiovlassitis has been volunteering with the Romney campaign, making phone calls to fellow Hispanics. Agiovlassitis is a marketing and advertising executive, half-Greek and half-Cuban. He says Latinos who listen should respond to Romney's economic message.
"If the Hispanics see what the real story is out there — unemployment right now is 8.1 percent, but in the Hispanic community it's 10.2 percent," Agiovlassitis says. "So, I think if you get that message out that people aren't working, and more Hispanics aren't working, so where are we going to get the jobs?"
Polls show that the economy is the No. 1 issue for Hispanic voters, as it is for voters generally. But immigration also remains an important issue for Hispanics.
"The Romney campaign has the disadvantage that much of the anti-immigrant legislation in the South has been sponsored by Republicans," says Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at the University of North Carolina.
Romney himself took a hard line against illegal immigration during the primaries. Now, in the Spanish-language ads running in North Carolina, the Romney campaign touts its candidate's biography, his economic plans and his promise to repeal Obamacare but says little about immigration.
Arlene Nugent, a Latina formerly in the military, says she was drawn to Romney out of concern about the growing U.S. debt. She does phone banking with the campaign and talks to friends and relatives. She's concerned, though, that many Latinos she encounters already seem wedded to the Democratic Party.
"I do believe that some people are in their political party either by family, history, family tradition, racial pride, and because of that, they just vote by habit as opposed to being informed," Nugent says.
That could be a problem for Republicans in North Carolina this year and in future elections. The median age in North Carolina's fast-growing Hispanic population is 23, according to a report by the Governor's Office of Hispanic/Latino Affairs. Most of the state's population growth is now fueled not by immigration but by births.
Because of the language barrier, attachment to their home countries and the fact that many are here illegally, Latinos have been slow to engage politically in North Carolina.
But Gabriela Zabala, a Democratic activist who moved to Raleigh from Ecuador more than 30 years ago, says that's changing. With the last election and now this one, she says, Hispanics are getting involved.
"We're just growing up, and it will be [a] time when we become very mature, and things will change," Zabala said.
She's predicting a big turnout among Hispanics come November — one that she thinks may help determine the outcome of the election. | <urn:uuid:4a1ac566-9939-45d0-b2ca-ff79a8061e05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kvpr.org/post/north-carolina-latino-voters-could-be-crucial-winning-state | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972207 | 1,203 | 1.671875 | 2 |
London, November 5: A discovery of a skeleton, dating from 550-700AD, with metal spikes through its shoulders, heart and ankles has revealed details of one of the few ‘vampire’ burials in Britain.
The skeleton was found buried in the ancient minster town of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, the Daily Mail reported.
It is believed to be a ‘deviant burial’, where people considered the ‘dangerous dead’, such as vampires, were interred to prevent them rising from their graves to plague the living.
Only a handful of such burials have been unearthed in the UK.
Matthew Beresford, of Southwell Archaeology, details the discovery in a new report.
The skeleton was found by archaeologist Charles Daniels during the original investigation of the site in Church Street in the town 1959, which revealed Roman remains.
Beresford said when Daniels found the skeleton he jokingly checked for fangs.
“The classic portrayal of the dangerous dead (more commonly known today as a vampire) is an undead corpse arising from the grave and all the accounts from this period reflect this,” the paper quoted Beresford as saying in his report.
“Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period the punishment of being buried in water-logged ground, face down, decapitated, staked or otherwise was reserved for thieves, murderers or traitors or later for those deviants who did not conform to societies rules: adulterers, disrupters of the peace, the unpious or oath breaker.
“Which of these the Southwell deviant was we will never know,” he stated.
Beresford believes the remains may still be buried on the site where they originally lay because Daniels was unable to remove the body from the ground.
John Lock, chairman of Southwell Archaeology, said the body was one of a handful of such burials to be found in the UK.
“A lot of people are interested in it but quite where it takes us I don’t know because this was found in the 1950s and now we don’t know where the remains are,” he said.
Lock said no one could be sure why the body was staked in the way it was.
He said: “People would have a very strong view that this was somebody who, for whatever reason, they had a reason to fear and needed to ensure that this person did not come back.” (ANI) | <urn:uuid:7694693b-da6e-4fc1-ad1e-589afc27b99a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indiatalkies.com/2012/11/vampire-skeleton-spikes-shoulders-heart-ankles-discovered-britain.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971954 | 520 | 2.5 | 2 |
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PI new data notification Emails
Gemini PIs are used to receiving an email from the Gemini Science Archive when a PI data package has been created. Additionally, We now have the capability to send automatic emails in the morning following observing to notify PIs and/or Co-Is that new data were taken for their program.
In the future, this functionality will be assumed by the Gemini Science Archive, but in the interim we are providing this facility via our internal data handling systems. This means that the system is not connected to the "Notify PI" check-box in the OT, and email notifications must be configured by a Gemini science staff member.
If you would like nightly email notification of new data for your program, please contact your Contact Scientist to request this. You may supply additional email addresses that you would like on the notification list for your program. In addition, you may choose to get notifications only when science data is taken, or when any data for your program are taken (i.e. this will include day-time calibrations, etc).
Email notifications for data taken during the night go out at 8:00am in the morning following the observing night. The email contains a summary table of all the relevant data files.
These Emails are triggered purely on the presence of data files from night time observing. These data will not generally have been Quality Assessed, or their metadata validated, at the time the Email notifications go out. Data Quality and FITS header information in these files will be updated as QA proceeds. Data should be retrieved from the Gemini Science Archive in the normal manner, and PI package emails will continue to be sent by the GSA in the usual way. | <urn:uuid:a081ed04-6e67-460b-b10b-6385348da1c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/?q=node/11745 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917861 | 389 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Researchers strive to increase awareness of forgotten essential nutrientAugust 8th, 2011 in Health
A group of researchers at the University of Alberta hopes to draw attention to what has become a forgotten essential nutrient.
Choline, a nutrient found in foods such as egg yolks, liver and soybeans, does not appear to be high on anyones list of eating priorities, say Jonathan Curtis, Catherine Field and René Jacobs, and this is something they want to change.
Its gone off the radar, said Field, a researcher in nutrition and metabolism in the Department of Agricultural Food and Nutritional Science. Its not being taught in schools as being an important nutrient, so our dietitians and health professionals dont think about it.
Part of the reason choline has been overlooked, says Field, is because it is produced naturally in the liver. But people cant produce enough to reap the positive benefits the nutrient offers.
Though choline is not as heavily studied as other nutrients, the limited human and animal research published suggests adequate choline intake is important for fetal development, memory function and prevention of liver and muscle damage.
Choline has many different biological functions related to healthy development and it plays a role in preventing various diseases, said Jacobs, a biochemist who has studied choline metabolism for the past decade.
Despite its apparent health benefits, few Albertans seem to be getting enough choline in their diets, the researchers have found.
Our preliminary dietary studies clearly show an insufficient choline intake compared to the recommended levels, said Curtis, an analytical chemist and project leader for ongoing choline research at the university.
According to the Institute of Medicine, women should consume 425 milligrams of choline per daythe equivalent of almost four whole eggs. This value is higher for men and pregnant women.
In an ongoing study looking at the nutrition of pregnant women in Edmonton and Calgary, few study participants are meeting the adequate intake for choline and only one of the first 600 women surveyed reported taking a supplement that contained the nutrient.
This statistic is surprising, says Field, given that 97 per cent of women reported consuming at least one supplement.
Nobodys taking it, Field said. If there was information out there on choline, wed see a lot more of it in this group we had.
But even if people are aware of cholines health benefits, they will have a hard time finding a supplement to help them meet the recommended adequate intakes.
Field says when she went searching for a supplement containing the type of choline found in eggs for study purposes, she couldnt find one in any Canadian health food store or even on the Internet. She eventually had to ask Curtis and his lab group to make one.
And making choline supplements could be next on the agenda if research like that which is happening at the U of A continues to point to the importance of choline for health.
In a continuing animal study, Field and her team are looking at the effects of choline during lactationa nutiritionally critical period, but one not well studied.
Its the most nutritionally stressful period for a woman, Field said. Her nutritional needs are far greater than during pregnancy because she has to produce milk, an important source of choline, for this growing infant.
New mother rats were fed diets with varying amounts of choline. The amount they consumed appeared to influence the health of their pups.
The pups that were fed from the moms who didnt have the choline in the diet survived didnt grow as well, Field said. If theres a decrease in growth, or not a normal rate of growth, that has large implications for later health.
And those implications are now under the microscope as researchers examine the grown pups, looking at immune-system health and brain development.
Current funding for choline research projects will end in the spring of 2012. The research crew is applying for more grants this summer so they can establish appropriate choline intake levels and work towards making a choline supplement.
Provided by University of Alberta
"Researchers strive to increase awareness of forgotten essential nutrient." August 8th, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-awareness-forgotten-essential-nutrient.html | <urn:uuid:abd3b943-06a0-440c-b945-aec0943b646d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicalxpress.com/print231997375.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959004 | 869 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Windows Phone and SQL Lite: What’s the Current Situation?
Last week I spoke at an Italian conference called Windows Phone Developer Day about sharing code between Windows Phone and Windows 8. One of the topics was data access and how to share code to interact with a database between Windows Phone and Windows 8.
People were a bit confused and I got many questions because I told them that SQL Lite is supported by Windows Phone 8 but can’t be used at the moment. What does it mean?
Let’s make a step back: Windows Phone 7.5 has introduced support to relational databases thanks to SQL CE (as database engine) and LINQ to SQL (as manipulation library, to interact with the database using objects and classes instead of making queries). In Windows Phone 8 Microsoft has decided to go another way, in order to use a solution easier to port to Windows 8 and to other platforms: SQL Lite. In fact, this technology is cross platform and it’s available for Android, iOS, web application, client applications and much more. Probably you’ll have to rewrite the data access layer (due to the differences between technologies and languages), but you’ll be able to reuse the database.
Microsoft has worked with the team to provide an easy way to add SQL Lite to your Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 project: the result is that, in the Visual Studio Gallery, you’ll find two extensions (one per platform) that can be used to add the SQL Lite engine to your project. The engine is written in native code: this means that you’ll need native code to interact with it and perform operations with the database.
And here comes the confusion I talked about in the beginning of the post: this extension allows you just to add the SQL Lite engine to your application, but doesn’t include a library to work with it using a high level language like C# or VB.NET. The problem is that, for the moment, this library doesn’t exist for Windows Phone 8: the result is that, even if you can add it, you don’t have a way to perform operations with a SQL Lite database, unless you write by yourself a wrapper to the native libraries.
Microsoft is committed into delivering a library as soon as possible, but at the moment we don’t have a release date yet.
On Windows 8 the situation is a bit different, because such libraries already exist: one of the most popular is sqlite-net, on which I talked about in a previous post. Unlucky, this library doesn’t work on Windows Phone 8, because it uses some features of the Windows Runtime that aren’t available in the Windows Phone subset.
In case you’re developing a Windows Phone application and you need to use a database, which are the possible solutions?
The first one is to keep using SQL CE, that works just fine in Windows Phone 8: it’s a very good solution in case you don’t need to port your application to Windows 8 or to another platform.
The second one is to use csharp-sqlite, that is a library published on Google Code that allows to use the SQL Lite engine in a C# application. The library is supported by Windows Phone 8, so you can use it to reuse your SQL Lite database in a Windows Phone application. The downside? The C# library is based on code that is part of the .NET framework and that is not available in the Windows Runtime. This means that you’ll be able to reuse the database, but not the data access layer of your application.
And the third solution? Simply just wait that a native library for Windows Phone 8 will be available
(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.) | <urn:uuid:0b6d90d3-4916-437f-8f84-d5a600c501f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://architects.dzone.com/articles/windows-phone-and-sql-lite | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939688 | 802 | 1.585938 | 2 |
From December 27, 2008 (the beginning of Israel’s military operation in Gaza) to January 11, 2009, more than 35 NGOs claiming to promote human rights and humanitarian agendas have issued more than 175 statements on the fighting, and the number increases continuously.
NGO Monitor is tracking these statements to provide continual updates on the NGO campaigns -- this second edition analyzes Human Rights Watch. (See also the January 8, 2009 report on Oxfam).
Human Rights Watch (HRW): Israel “in violation of international law”
- In the buildup before the renewal of the conflict, HRW focused disproportionately on Gaza. 18 out of 27 HRW statements in 2008 dealing with Israel addressed Gaza, accusing Israel of “collective punishment,” "continued occupation" and contributing to a “humanitarian crisis.”
- Between December 27 and January 11, HRW released eleven statements, primarily critical of Israel, including many using the rhetoric of international law for political objectives. Since December 30, HRW’s internet site has featured emotive images of Palestinian victimization, and Sarah Leah Whitson carried HRW’s campaign to the UN (see quotes below). This mirrors HRW’s campaigning during the 2006 Lebanon War, when the NGO issued hundreds of pages of biased condemnations of Israel, many of which relied on unverifiable “eyewitnesses”, are factually inaccurate, or based on distortion of international legal terminology.
- HRW statements on Gaza repeat the slogans of previous publications, continuing to ignore the massive Hamas’ use of human shields, and claim a level of military expertise and targeting information that HRW does not possess. (See HRW on the 2006 Gaza beach incident and 2004 report “Razing Rafah.”)
- HRW's January 10 statements condemning Israel's use of white phosphorus (WP) are not supported by credible evidence and are reminders of false statements made during the 2006 Lebanon war. Media reports cite HRW's Marc Garlasco, who makes claims about "the technique evidenced in media photographs of air-bursting WP projectiles at relatively low levels, seemingly to maximise its incendiary effect" while admitting that HRW "had no evidence that Israel was using incendiaries as weapons." [Garlasco's credibility is low following his "investigation" into the Gaza beach incident, authorship of HRW's 2004 report "Razing Rafah, and 2008 report "Flooding South Lebanon"].
- HRW statements on this issue include a short mention that the IDF has denied using WP, yet repeat the claim that "photographs by the media" depicted WP munitions, without acknowledging the IDF response that "[the M825A1 shell that was photographed] is what we call a quiet shell - it is empty, it has no explosives and no white phosphorus. There is nothing inside it." In contrast, HRW relies on unnamed "researchers," a fluid definition that elsewhere in HRW's Gaza coverage includes Fares Akram (also "The Independent's reporter in Gaza"); and "media reports," which quote Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor with a radical ideology and, as shown by NGO Monitor, little credibility.
- HRW issued demands for numerous investigations of Israeli actions, and calls for prosecution for “laws-of-war violations in Gaza”, knowing that such procedures are always framed to indict Israel and erase the context of terror. HRW issued no demand to investigate the use of human shields by Hamas, or the sources of its weapons and training -- Syria and Iran.
For further information:
“On Proportionality,” Michael Walzer, The New Republic, January 8, 2009
"Did Israel Use "Disproportionate Force" in Gaza?" Dore Gold, Jerusalem Viewpoints, Vol. 8, No. 16, 28 December 2008
"International Law and the fighting in Gaza ," Justice Reid Weiner and Avi Bell, MESI, December 29, 2008
"EU and NIF-funded NGOs Lead Condemnations in Gaza Conflict ," NGO Monitor, (Updated daily)
Excerpts of unsupported or biased HRW statements on Gaza:
"Israel: Stop Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza," January 10, 2009 "Israel should stop using white phosphorus in military operations in densely populated areas of Gaza… The IDF told both Human Rights Watch and news reporters that it is not using white phosphorus in Gaza.” (No substantive evidence to support this HRW allegation was provided.)
"Q & A on Israel’s Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza," January 10, 2009
HRW condemns White Phosphorus (WP) as it did "cluster bombs" in the Second Lebanon War, as a strategy to delegitimize Israel's actions by proving the methods morally and legally unacceptable. But unlike the Lebanon War, there is no credible evidence that the IDF used WP in Gaza.
"WP burns anything it touches. When air-burst as an obscurant, it can fall over an area about the size of a football field, about the same area affected by a cluster bomb. Those below may receive horrific skin burns, and it can set structures, fields, and other objects on fire. Using WP against military targets in densely populated areas would also raise concerns where the weapon could not be directed at a specific military target and thus would be indiscriminate in its impact, in violation of the laws of war."
"Israel: Investigate Former Judge’s Killing in Gaza," January 9, 2009
"In a letter to Brig.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, IDF Military Advocate General, Human Rights Watch urged the military to investigate the attack, make the results of the investigation public, and prosecute any persons it finds to have acted in serious violation of international humanitarian law"
"HRW calls for Israeli investigation into death of Akram al-Ghoul, father of the organization's research consultant in Gaza," January 9 ,2009
"A thorough, impartial and timely investigation is essential for holding members of an armed force accountable to enforce discipline, maintain responsible command, and ensure compliance with IHL. It is especially important to carry out such an investigation in situations like this where there is no apparent justification for the attack, in order to minimize preventable or unjustifiable civilian casualties in the future."
Sarah Leah Whitson at the UN Press conference by humanitarian, human rights organizations on Gaza," January 7, 2009
"… the closure of Gaza represented collective punishment, which was unlawful under international humanitarian law…
… Regarding yesterday’s attack on a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) school, she said that it was an example of civilians being exposed to great harm. Of course, the Israelis had said that there had been artillery fire from the vicinity of the school, but Human Rights Watch had spoken to witnesses on the ground, as well as UNRWA representatives, who had said that was not the case…
…she said that Human Rights Watch was calling for respect for international humanitarian law. With regard to Hamas, that meant containing rocket attacks that were indiscriminate or targeted civilians. With regard to Israel, it meant cessation of indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas."
“Gaza: Israeli Attack on School Needs Full UN Investigation,” January 7, 2009
" The United Nations Security Council, …should establish a commission of inquiry to investigate alleged laws-of-war violations in Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today.." [HRW's call for an international enquiry ignores the strongly biased mandates and staff involved in such investigations.]
“Israel: Allow Media and Rights Monitors Access to Gaza,” January 5, 2009
Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies researcher for Human Rights Watch: "Israel's excessive restrictions on access to Gaza only end up impeding this deterrent effect and placing civilians at greater risk."
"Commentary by Fares Akram, research consultant for HRW in Gaza, on the death of his father" January 5, 2009 [Fares Akram is also “the Independent's (UK) reporter in Gaza"]
"I am finding it hard to distinguish between what the Israelis call terrorists and the Israeli pilots and tank crews who are invading Gaza…"
“Israel: Gaza Ground Offensive Raises Laws of War Concerns,” January 3, 2009
To the IDF:
"Issue clear rules of engagement that adhere strictly to the laws of war prohibition against attacks that target or indiscriminately harm civilians and the requirement to distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants.”
“Israel/Hamas: Civilians Must Not Be Targets,” December 30, 2008
“Israel and Hamas both must respect the prohibition under the laws of war against deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians . . . Israel's severe limitations on the movement of non-military goods and people into and out of Gaza, including fuel and medical supplies, constitutes collective punishment, also in violation of the laws of war.” | <urn:uuid:56273d73-f284-48c2-8740-18af62732011> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article.php?id=2224 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948915 | 1,867 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Iqaluit is the only Canadian capital that isn't connected to other settlements by a highway so you won't be able to take your RV there. Located on an island remote from the Canadian highway system, Iqaluit is generally only accessible by aircraft and, subject to ice conditions, by boat. But it's still a very worthwhile detour from your motorhome road trip!
Iqaluit is the territorial capital and the largest community of Nunavut. Located on the south coast of Baffin Island at the head of Frobisher Bay, it has about 7000 people. it has the lowest population of any capital city in Canada - but is the fastest-growing. The Inuktitut translation of Nunavut’s capital, Iqaluit, is "the place of many fish."
Iqaluit has no public transportation, although there is city-wide taxi service. There are few cars - snowmobiles are the preferred form of personal transportation.
Iqaluit has a typically Arctic climate, although it is well outside the Arctic Circle, with very cold winters and short summers that are too cool to permit the growth of trees.
Spring is a great time to visit for dogsledding, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. Visit in April to get a taste for local culture with Toonik Tyme, Nunavut’s biggest spring festival celebrating the return of spring. In the summer you can take wildlife viewing boat tours and historical tours. | <urn:uuid:00d3fad6-9b9a-4d59-8a4b-9980221f2c23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motorhomeroadtrip.com/canada/nunavut/iqaluit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962043 | 310 | 1.75 | 2 |
“Geopolymers” are artifical stone materials that are somewhat like cements, and have interesting applications in many of the same areas. There are, however, some important differences, both practical and theoretical, between a geopolymer, and, say, a mortar or concrete based on Portland cement. Practically speaking, geopolymers show impressive performance, in some tests, above and beyond those of run-of-the-mill cement and concrete mixes. On the theory side, geopolymers are critically different from cements because they don’t depend on the hydration of lime (CaO) to set up. Lime is made by strongly heating limestone to drive off carbon dioxide, a process which, given the huge amounts of lime required by the huge amounts of cement our world consumes, is a major contributor to atmospheric CO2 emissions. Hence, a lot of the excitement about geopolymers, apart from their potential high-performance applications, has to do with reducing our collective carbon footprint.
Anyway, big-picture takeaway: A chunk of cast geopolymer is a very different thing than a chunk of cast cement. If you’re a hands-on type, like me, your first question on hearing about this, or any kind of fancy material, is likely to be how do I get my hands on some? Data, theory, and popular science all have their uses, but ultimately that’s always the best way for me to understand something: Hold it in my hands, maybe poke it with a stick. Best of all, of course, is if can make it myself.
So I started digging for the practical protocols the lab folks were using to make little blocks of geopolymeric stone to run compression tests on. This kind of thing is always frustrating because a lot of the hands-on info is locked away behind academic publishing paywalls, and I have no intention of shelling out $39.95 to download one six page paper from ten years ago, thank you very much Mr. Elsevier. Anyway, perseverance paid, and I eventually found a 2008 Journal of Materials Science paper by Australian researchers J. Davis, et. al., posted (probably illegally) to scribd.
Table 2 is particularly instructive. It includes four formulae for geopolymer compositions, one of which (“SGP”) is both highest-performing, in terms of compressive strength, and simplest to make. Pound for pound, it’s also probably the most expensive, which would be a problem if I wanted to build a viaduct out of it. But all I want to do is cast a couple small pieces. So we’re good.
What follows are my notes on adapting the “SGP” protocol from this paper for garage prep. It is a straightforward formula, and most of the leg-work, as is so often the case in this kind of thing, is in sourcing materials in a way that does not require going through one of the big, expensive chemical supply houses that really doesn’t want to deal with citizen scientists. It’s important to note that I haven’t actually done this, yet, so I can’t vouch for its efficacy or safety. But I wanted to publish the reference and my thoughts about a DIY version before concrete month gets away from me. If you’re interested, read on, and please do comment if you spot anything fishy; if not, stay tuned for a follow-up about how it works out.
Sodium hydroxide – AKA lye. Available at many hardware stores as drain cleaner, e.g. “Red Devil.” This is strong base and you need to understand how to handle it safely.
Metakaolin – This is a form of kaolin, a common clay, that has been chemically changed by heating at about 750° C for several hours. It is commonly prepared this way in the literature, but most people don’t have a temperature-controlled furnace in the garage for performing this operation. Fortunately, so-called “highly reactive metakaolin” is available commercially, online (in the US, anyway) for use in cement countertops. A 25-lb bag will be well more than we need. If this process works, I may divide up my leftovers for sale in small, cheap portions for those who want to play along at home. The MSDS suggests that it is not particularly hazardous, but as with all fine powders, a dust mask is probably a good idea.
Sodium silicate solution – It is probably possible to prepare a homemade solution of sodium silicate that will work in the geopolymer process by using a procedure like this one from NurdRage, in which finely-crushed silica gel desiccant is dissolved in strong lye solution. In the literature, however, geopolymer samples are seemingly always prepared from a ready-made commercial sodium silicate solution in water. Unfortunately, the “grade O” commercial sodium silicate solution specified is only available from specialty suppliers; however, I think I can fudge it by adjusting the composition of the common “grade N” solution used, e.g. to repair mufflers, by adding lye flakes. So we’ll need some “grade N” sodium silicate, to start. “Grade N” is also called “Grade 40″ and “water glass,” and Googling turns up several online sources.
Step 1: Prepare sodium silicate solution
The easiest way to measure ingredients for this process is by weight. You’ll need a scale with a capacity of at least 1000g. Put a 250 mL beaker on the scale, record its weight, and, taking appropriate precautions for handling strong base, add 4.4 grams of lye flakes. Now add an additional 62 grams “grade N” sodium silicate solution. Remove from scale and stir to dissolve lye. Once this solution is well mixed, cover it and let it stand, at room temperature, for 24 hours before use. Note that this solution is now slightly more dilute than commercial “grade O” sodium silicate, but the Davis SGP recipe actually calls for diluting the commercial solution just a bit, anyway, and the math works out pretty closely.
Step 2: Add metakaolin
Remove the cover, put the beaker back on the scale, and bring the the total weight of the solution up to 100g by adding dry metakaolin powder. You may want to add it in batches, with stirring in between. The metakaolin will not dissolve; you should end up with a paste or slurry. The polymerization reaction will begin as soon as you start adding the metakaolin, but you should have at least an hour’s pot life. If it’s working, the mixture should begin to give off heat.
Step 3: Casting
Transfer the mixture to a small metal mold. I will probably use a steel muffin tin—they’re cheap, about the right size, and if I want to I’ll be able to cast and cure multiple samples in a single pan. Seal it well with aluminum foil. The idea is to keep water from getting out during the curing.
Step 4: Curing
The “SGP” mixture should polymerize at room temperature, but geopolymer samples are generally cured with mild heat, and if you want to experiment with other aluminosilicates besides and/or in addition to metakaolin (e.g. fly ash), the curing step seems to be necessary. Generally, the protocols call for heating to 60° C for 24 hours. That’s 140° F, and I’m comfortable doing that in my kitchen oven, as long as I’m not going to be leaving the house during that time.
Demolding the cast samples may be a problem that eventually calls for some kind of mold release. But it’s not reported in the literature protocols I’ve seen, so I’m going to start without it. I’ll probably want to experiment with adding aggregates, and sand is convenient and conventional. The Davis paper describes mixtures with 40 wt% and 60 wt% sand additions to the “SGP” formula. | <urn:uuid:a42fb59d-cf8f-46a7-b264-366cca191927> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.makezine.com/2012/04/23/notes-on-a-garage-geopolymer-prep/?parent=EarthScience | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945443 | 1,745 | 3.03125 | 3 |
A large-scale, multi-agency search and rescue exercise will be in Juneau’s backyard this weekend as Dan Moller Bowl on Douglas Island will be the site of a mock helicopter crash and resulting avalanche.
The Alaska State Troopers and the United States Coast Guard, the main two groups responsible for search and rescue missions in Alaska, will be jointly responsible for coordinating their own personnel as well as supporting agencies which include the Civil Air Patrol, SEADOGS, Juneau Mountain Rescue, Douglas Mountain Rescue, Juneau Snow Mobile Club, Temsco, U.S. Forest Service, Juneau Police Department and the Bartlett Regional Hospital ambulance and staff.
“Although we both have the capability and authority to handle either, their expertise is on the water and ours on land,” Trooper Jeff Landvatter said. “To accomplish that, we both rely on different entities to lend support or implement actions. All of the supporting groups are professional groups on their own and do their own monthly training but very seldom do they get together in the whole and train together. That was the idea behind this exercise.”
The agencies involved met last weekend for classroom SAR training. The field training will move outdoors on Saturday, which allows the SAR personnel to practice new skills they’ve acquired and hone their existing skills.
The mock event will occur on Sunday.
The scenario is meant to train for and simulate a large-scale response to a controlled crash-landing by a helicopter. The crash triggers subsequent avalanches in the Dan Moller cabin and surrounding trail area and buries the downed helicopter and a group of Nordic skiers.
A base command center will be set up at the Dan Moller Trail Head parking lot and an incident command center will be donated by the Alaska Brewing Company through their rental of the Dan Moller cabin.
The majority of the outdoor training will occur in daylight hours, however some night operations will be carried out.
“Northern southeast is really fortunate to have some very professional volunteers that are capable of doing a variety of search and rescue,” Landvatter said. “We are really lucky to have such a high level of active volunteers in the area which increases the odds of someone being rescued if they do get into trouble.”
The Dan Moller Trail is still open to the public this weekend. Juneau and Douglas residents should be aware there will be a lot more activity than usual in that area.
“If somebody is looking for a nice quiet hike up to the Dan Moller Cabin, this weekend may not be the weekend to do that,” Landvatter said. “And we want the local residents to know what the activity is so people do not think there is an actual SAR emergency going on.”
It is estimated that more than 50 volunteers could be moving in and out of the training area each day. This is the largest SAR exercise and scope of incidence in Alaska to date.
“Just to get everybody involved we threw a bunch of things into the scenario,” CBJ emergency planning coordinator and avalanche forecaster Tom Mattice said. “To get everybody to play together and see whose radios contact whom.”
The coast guard helicopter will drop an IPIRB to initiate the exercise. The signal will be transmitted through the state coordination center starting the USCG’s agency involvement.
A Nordic skier will call 911 to alert troopers who then dispatch their half of the operation.
As per protocol, if Temsco loses contact with a chopper they will send one up to search, as will civil air patrols. Temsco will fly to Eaglecrest and pick up a strike team of avalanche responders and then sling load two snowmobiles and riders into the event zone.
Juneau Mountain Rescue, recognized internationally as a search team (as is Sitka Mountain Rescue), a ranking that requires a very high standard of testing to achieve, will be deployed.
Interactions with ground and air personnel will be crucial training.
“It is very complex,” Mattice said. “It has grown into a monster. We just hope to get everyone to play right. And if we leave mentioning anybody please don’t be offended. We have people who are in more than one group. That is the nature of Juneau, when people care they care in multiple directions. Everyone wears multiple hats.”
The Capital City Fire and Rescue rope team will train with the groups but not participate in the exercise. They will evaluate the operations.
The Juneau Snowmobile Club is involved for the first time as a major facilitator and responder.
The volunteer fire department will do ambulatory patient transfers and the hospital will use that transfer to train their staff.
The USCG will be imbedding personnel with the Incident Command to assist with communications and control for units and the exercise.
Landvatter and Matice do not encourage people to make special trips to the area for observing the exercise, as “there will be enough staged chaos already.”
Any concerns should be addressed by calling Trp. Landvatter or Sgt. Birk at the AST, 465-4000.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at 523-2263 or at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Juneau Empire ©2013. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:6182dd9f-71f7-42e1-b6ee-82fd99f9cb54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://juneauempire.com/stories/032411/loc_804527943.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942644 | 1,113 | 1.523438 | 2 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Washington, D.C., office of DMJM Design, a nationally recognized architecture and engineering firm, has transformed a key facility at Harvard University's Center for Hellenic Studies, founded in 1961 as an educational center to promote the study of Hellenic civilization. The firm's redesign of what was formerly a residential structure at the Hellenic Center in Washington, D.C., included architectural planning, architectural design, and structural, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical
engineering. The transformed building, through form and functionality, creates the classroom of the 21st
century and a communication research space.
DMJM Design lead designer Werner Mueller, AIA, project manager Edward Weaver, AIA, LEED AP, and designer Ed Murphy collaborated with Harvard professors and Convergeo partners Jeffrey Huang and Muriel Waldvogel to create this convergence of physical and virtual space. The central space is a highly flexible, fabric-wrapped environment allowing various modes of local and distance communication paradigms. DMJM reconfigured the facility by removing the second floor, renovating the adjacent space for an informal library/breakout space, adding accessible bathrooms and a new glass entry lobby.
The main space is approximately 24 feet wide, 35 feet long, and 22 feet high, and the translucent fabric glows and emits light to fill the room from all directions. Ideally, Homeric scholars from around the world will have the ability to gather from their home offices to confer together in this room. Remote participants will have a screen set up where their chairs would be if they were in the room, and they will interact with the other scholars as freely as two people sitting across a table. A professor can teach a class at the Hellenic Center campus while classrooms in Greece and China appear on the surrounding fabric walls, as if all three classes are in the room together, while concurrently displaying images of the objects being studied.
In addition to allowing for remote dissertation, the Harvard Hellenic Center hopes to use new technology to create the most opportune scholarly ambiance. The overall atmosphere of the seminar room can be fine-tuned for different events by changing the intensity values and nuances produced by the planned LED lights hidden and dispersed behind the textile membrane. Each small fixture will be programmed to be red, green, or blue or a subtle mixture of all the colors. Louvers can be lowered on the windows to block all daylight in the room. Conversations will be recorded as a sound file, and using the built-in voice-to-text software, the sound file will be automatically translated into a text file and stored on a server. By incorporating principles of convergent architecture, the center will extend the reach of its resources and research by uniting physical and virtual communication technologies. | <urn:uuid:62f83bbf-8d46-4f5d-8a0a-56ce9ece057a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/6272/title/going%20to%20greece.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926732 | 562 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Washington, D.C. — Having witnessed first hand the cost of gun violence in emergency rooms, trauma centers, and their medical practices, a group of Oklahoma physicians from Doctors for America are urging Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to enact common-sense measures to stem gun violence in America—starting with universal background checks for all gun purchases.
Oklahoma has the eighth-highest homicide rate for children younger than age 19 and ranks 14th in the nation for firearm deaths per capita in the past decade. In the wake of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the physicians are urging Sen. Coburn to pass stronger gun legislation immediately to address this national health crisis and keep children and communities safe.
“While there is no single provision that will stop these tragedies from occurring, we must approach this issue from all angles—just as we have successfully approached other threats to public health, like motor vehicle accident, fire, and drowning deaths,” wrote the physicians in a letter mailed to Sen. Coburn today.
In their letter, the physicians recommended that Congress require a criminal background check for every gun purchase and ensure that the federal gun check databases are up to date. Under America’s current system:
- Federal law only requires background checks from licensed dealers.
- A dangerous person need only find a “private seller” online or at a gun show to buy firearms without undergoing a background check.
- Each year it is estimated that more than 6.6 million guns—40 percent of all gun sales—are sold by unlicensed private sellers who do not perform a background check.
The letter concluded with the doctors noting that, “As health-care professionals who experience the human cost of gun violence every day, we are firm in our belief that sensible measures to reduce gun violence—like universal background checks—must be taken immediately. We strongly urge you and your fellow members of Congress to support legislation to reduce gun-related injuries and deaths.”
This is the second letter Sen. Coburn has received from Oklahoma physicians and health care professionals in Doctors for America. The first letter laid out Doctors for America’s full proposal to reduce gun violence and included a petition signed by more than 4,000 health care professionals.
Download Doctors for America’s gun-violence prevention petition and proposal here.
To speak with an expert on this topic, contact Alissa Manzoeillo at 202.741.6293.
Doctors for America is a nonpartisan national movement made up of more than 16,000 doctors and medical students from all 50 states fighting for a healthier America and to ensure all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. To find out more: www.drsforamerica.org. You can also | <urn:uuid:92ee8a1c-01bc-4231-b37b-3d81664e88c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drsforamerica.org/press-releases/release-oklahoma-doctors-call-on-sen-coburn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941215 | 568 | 1.726563 | 2 |
According to history.com, the history of Valentine's Day—and the story of its patron saint—is shrouded in mystery. February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. (Source: www.history.com)
The show is live on Sunday, February 12 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time on Blog Talk Radio, and The Happy Hour Gals website. Callers are encouraged to call (714) 242-5233 to listen or ask questions. To listen to any previous shows on-demand, go to www.thehappyhourgals.com.
About The Happy Hour Show
The Happy Hour Show with hosts Anxiety Gal and Holly is an Internet talk-radio show. The show is an entertaining and funny look at how real people manage everyday life. With a line-up of noteworthy guests— including television personality and humanitarian Joan Steffend, Olympic Gold Medalist Julie Foudy, Wall Street Journal columnist Elizabeth Bernstein and the woman who ran seven marathons on seven continents, Cami Ostman—and hilarious banter, The Happy Hour Show is a relaxing and fun escape. It’s the laugh you need and the talk you want. For more information, visit www.thehappyhourgals.com. | <urn:uuid:fae6b7bc-31fa-4b7e-9c63-f5bdcafc8d18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prlog.org/11792933-love-versus-valentines-day-on-the-happy-hour-show.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933064 | 325 | 2.375 | 2 |
Franklin’s first visit to England was in 1725 where he expanded his knowledge of the printing trade. The area where he took up residence, Little Britain, was a great centre for printers and booksellers, and a lively hub of political and religious debate – founder of the Methodist church John Wesley regularly preached nearby.
He returned to America in 1726, where he set up his own printing business, publishing one of America’s first high-circulation newspapers, the Pennsylvania Gazette, as well as Poor Richard's Almanack, a series of homespun wisdom, still widely quoted today, which he published in 1733 through 1758.
Craven Street 1747
In the thirty years that transpired after his first visit to England, Franklin built a reputation as a civic leader, establishing the colonies’ first postal service, volunteer fire service, public library and one of the earliest medical facilities, the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. He founded Philadelphia’s American Philosophical Society in 1743, still a vibrant centre for research today, and in 1749 he set up an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania.
One year earlier, in 1748, he took on a partner for his successful printing business in order to concentrate on politics and scientific research. He was elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1751 and made his pioneering discovery of lightning as electricity (the famed kite and key experiment) in 1752.
In 1757 he was sent to London as diplomat for the Pennsylvania Assembly, taking his son William (then aged 26) with him. There he took comfortable lodgings with the widowed Margaret Stevenson in her house at 36 Craven Street. Both Mrs. Stevenson and her daughter Polly were to become life-long friends of Franklin. Leaving his wife, Deborah (who was afraid of crossing the ocean) and daughter behind in Philadelphia, Franklin found a surrogate family. As Pulitzer Prize winning biographer Carl Van Doren noted, he became less a lodger than the head of a household living in serene comfort and affection!
When it seemed the Penns – founding family of Pennsylvania - finally conceded to Franklin’s demands in 1762 to provide financial assistance for events happening on the homefront like the French and Indian War (1754-1763), he left England for what proved to be a brief period. Although he had often been frustrated by Britain’s government, he had come to esteem the nation’s scientific, social and administrative life – it was (and continues to be) one of the world’s most exciting cities. In it, he thought, a model might be found for better international relations, particularly between the Crown and her colonies.
In 1764, Franklin was again sent to England to petition the King to make Pennsylvania a Royal colony rather than a proprietary province. Despite the defeat of France in the French and Indian War, the colony was racked by the strains of defending its frontier. Franklin arrived in London in December 1764 and returned to his home with the Stevensons in Craven Street.
Franklin's final stay in England was to last much longer than his first two visits. However his mission was obscured by commotion surrounding the Stamp Act, a fact that aroused great antipathy in America.
Having been asked by the colonists to defend the frontier, Britain gave them the choice of raising their own forces or paying for 10,000 British soldiers. The colonists did not like either choice. Parliament in 1765 imposed a stamp duty on among other things, colonial legal documents, newspapers, deeds, contract, and ship's manifests to pay for a defence operation.
Franklin, who opposed taxation without representation, argued against the tax. He used the press and social occasions to influence government leaders and also warned British merchants about colonial boycotts of British goods. In 1766, Franklin was called as a witness before the House of Commons where he gave a masterly performance answering over 170 questions. While the direct impact of Franklin's testimony can not be measured with certainty, the Act was indeed repealed a month later.
In 1767, relations between Britain and the colonies worsened as duties were levied on glass, paper and tea. Franklin received overtures from the French, desirous of exploiting the differences between Britain and the colonies.
Despite the tensions, Franklin worked tirelessly toward reconciliation, in the process, attracting criticism from both sides. As Franklin said in a letter from the House in 1768, “being born and bred in one of the countries, and having lived long and made many agreeable connections of friendship in the other, I wish all prosperity to both sides; but I have talked and written so much and so long on the subject, that my acquaintance are weary of hearing, and the public of reading any more of it...as I do not find that I have gained any point in either country except that of rendering myself suspected for my impartiality; in England, of being too much an American, and in America of being too much an Englishman.”
Although times were turbulent in this period, he maintained constant contact with friends, scientific and otherwise. He spent time in his Craven Street laboratory investigating topics as diverse as lead poisoning, the common cold and magnetism. He also took an active part in the everyday affairs of his beloved adopted Craven Street family. However, with his wife's death, his failure to limit escalation of misunderstanding on both sides (though he tried to the last, with the great British statesman William Pitt coming to Craven Street to explore last minute proposals for reconciliation), he could not avert a war of independence. Thus his third and final stay in London came to a close. By the time he stepped ashore in Philadelphia on 5 May 1775, the American Revolution had already begun.
Franklin had through his negotiations and writings aimed to reduce misconception and hostility between America and Britain. In this sense, he can be considered the founder of the so-called ‘special relationship’ between the two countries, a relationship that remains a bedrock in international relations. To the end of his days he revered the best in British and American life and traditions.
In 1778 Franklin was sent to France to gain French support for American Independence, and eventually negotiated peace with England. He was eventually joined at his home in Passy, just outside Paris, by the widowed Polly Hewson (nee Stevenson), who eventually moved to Philadelphia with her young family. When he died in 1790, Polly and his daughter Sally were at his side. | <urn:uuid:bc3ef393-e8c8-4a77-bb2d-95b36a594d2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/about_franklin/london_years.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982711 | 1,327 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Home Production, Market Production and the Gender Wage Gap: Incentives and Expectations
The purpose of this paper is to study the joint determination of gender differentials in labor market outcomes and in the household division of labor. Specifically, we explore the hypothesis that incentive problems in the labor market amplify differences in earnings due to gender differentials in home hours. In turn, earnings differentials reinforce the division of labor within the household, leading to a potentially self-fulfilling feedback mechanism. The workings of the labor market are key in our story. The main assumptions are that the utility cost of work effort is increasing in home hours, and that higher effort should correspond to higher incentive pay. Household decisions are Pareto efficient, leading to a negative correlation between relative home hours and earnings across spouses. We use the Census and the PSID to study these predictions and find that they are supported by the data.
This paper was revised on January 29, 2007 | <urn:uuid:39a27c6e-2576-4026-8e12-614c9adf75a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nber.org/papers/w12212 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960322 | 192 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Recently, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced a bill that would end federal funding for abstinence-only sex education programs. If passed, the bill would mean more funding for the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), which funds sex education programs that teach about abstinence, contraception, and STDs. Human Rights Campaign has more information about the bill here, as does a press release available at Sen. Lautenberg's website.
I wish this bill success. Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are not only less effective in preventing early intercourse and teen pregnancy than comprehensive sex education programs, but they promote views about sexuality that are unrealistic, stereotypical, and unhealthy. The American Academy of Pediatrics has denounced abstinence-only programs as ineffective and potentially misinformative, advocating instead for comprehensive sex education programs that include information on abstinence AND medically sound information on STDs and pregnancy prevention.
To boot, abstinence-only programs ignore the existence of the LGBT population and contribute to heteronormative worldviews, with heartbreaking consequences. In its 2007 National School Climate Survey, GLSEN found that LGBT students in schools with abstinence-only sex education programs reported higher levels of harassment and assault and fewer supportive educators than students in schools without abstinence-only curricula.
The elephant in the room, of course, is fundamentalist Christianity. Many so-called "pro-family" Christian groups encourage abstinence-only sex education, since it reflects the rigid sexual attitudes and gender stereotypes central to the fundamentalist Christian worldview. If progressives are concerned about the Religious Right, they need to be concerned about sex education in U.S. schools.
For progressives and educators seeking information on the weaknesses of abstinence-only programs, there is a wealth of research available. SIECUS explores the limitations of abstinence-only sex education in its 2009 report, Sex Education in the Sunshine State: How Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Are Keeping Florida's Youth in the Dark. According to the report, abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula used in many Florida school districts were found to promote heterosexual marriage, foster gender stereotypes, provide outdated information on HIV and STDs, and encourage feelings of fear and shame regarding sexuality.To boot, SIECUS also found that Manatee County School District's sex education curricula included a presentation by a local crisis pregnancy center. So-called "crisis pregnancy centers" have been criticized for promoting anti-abortion propaganda and misinformation about reproductive care.
Another 2010 report from SIECUS, Raising Expectations in the Rockies: Colorado's Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Industry and the Imperative for Real Sex Education, found similar problems in abstinence-only programs in Colorado schools. Colorado abstinence-only programs were found to promote misinformation about pregnancy options, rigid gender stereotypes, and heterosexual marriage as the norm to which teens should aspire.
Texas Freedom Network also conducted an in-depth study of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Texas, entitled Just Say Don't Know: Sexuality Education in Texas Public Schools. The report contained several disturbing findings about sex education in Texas schools. For example, most Texas students receive no human sexuality instruction apart from the promotion of abstinence. Texas Freedom Network also found that abstinence-only sex education curricula in Texas contained lies and misinformation about STDs and contraceptives, promoted insulting gender stereotypes, relied on shame and fear-based instruction, and sometimes mixed religious instruction and Bible study into sex education programs.
For the sake of our young people, this country needs to end abstinence-only sex education in favor of comprehensive sex education. Sex education needs to discuss not only STDs and contraception, but also LGBT issues, healthy relationships, and the importance of mutuality and consent in sexual encounters. Instead of fundamentalist messages about sexual shame, gender stereotypes, and heterosexual marriage as the only model for relationships, teenagers deserve non-biased instruction about sex, gender, and healthy intimacy. Instead of misinformation and propaganda, young people deserve medically accurate information.
The U.S. clearly needs to maximize delivery of comprehensive sex education, preferably before students reach high school. A CDC study released this September, Educating Teenagers about Sex in the United States, showed good percentages of students learning about HIV and STDs. However, it also indicated that 47% of female respondents and 38% of males first received instruction about birth control methods in high school. To boot, the report showed that a larger percentage of teenage respondents received education on saying no to sex than on birth control. Clearly, sex education delivery can be improved. The first important step, however, is to bring comprehensive sex education to the forefront and eliminate funding for abstinence-only programs.
Let's keep an eye on the Lautenberg and Lee bill. Better yet, let your lawmakers know why the bill is so important.
Below are links to more articles on abstinence-only sex education:
Abstinence-Only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy
The Failure of Abstinence-Only Education: Minors Have the Right to Honest Talk about Sex
Abstinence and abstinence-only education: A review of U.S. policies and programs
Abstinence-Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education: What Are the Arguments? What is the Evidence?
RH Reality Check offers commentary on why the tide may be changing for sex education:
RH Reality Check: Is the Tide Changing on Comprehensive Sex Ed?
Finally, From Mormon to Atheist posted commentary on an abstinence message she received as a young woman.
From Mormon to Atheist: Guilt Sandwiches | <urn:uuid:5fb016b6-4a56-4a42-a6ae-b6bc9f6f6452> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://republic-of-gilead.blogspot.com/2010/10/abstinence-only-sex-education-and-new.html | 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 | 0.904078 | 1,153 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Putting the Country Back on Gold
In The Theory of Money and Credit, Mises integrated (what we now call) microeconomics and macroeconomics. He used subjective marginal utility theory to explain the purchasing power of money — a task that earlier pioneers in even Austrian economics hadn't accomplished. Furthermore, Mises drew on insights from Böhm-Bawerk, Wicksell, and the English Currency School to develop his circulation-credit theory of the trade cycle.
In the present article I'll focus on Mises's intriguing proposal for returning a country to a gold-backed currency. (This proposal is in the last section of the book, consisting of material written after World War II.)
Returning to Gold: The Problems
Before quoting Mises's proposal, let me set up the problem. The classical-liberal goal of "sound money" tied currencies to the precious metals. Just as a constitution was intended to restrain the arbitrary exercise of government power, the gold standard (or some other commodity standard) strictly limited the ability of a government to engage in inflation. The advocates of sound money had seen all too well the destructive consequences of the runaway printing press.
Now, purists can rightfully argue that no government scheme involving money will end well. It is certainly true that the optimal arrangement returns money and banking completely to the private sector, where there isn't even such a thing as a national currency, just as we don't have "national" computers or novels.
But there is such a qualitative difference between the classical gold standard of the late 19th century and the fiat-currency regimes of the late 20th century that many modern Austrian economists and libertarians urge the return to gold as a temporary solution. Given that the government is currently meddling with money and banking, returning to a gold standard is a very sensible move according to many Austrians.
Unfortunately, even though the proponents of sound money can all agree that FDR's actions in 1933 and Richard Nixon's actions in 1971 were despicable, they can't all agree on the best way to reverse those catastrophes. For example, suppose the government does indeed link the US dollar back to gold. What price should it use? The current market price? The Bretton Woods-era price of $35 per ounce? The pre-Roosevelt price of $20.67 an ounce?
To illustrate some of the problems, consider my own proposal from earlier this year. I suggested that Bernanke (and other Fed policymakers) could "go back on gold" immediately by switching from targeting the federal-funds rate to targeting the price of gold. I recommended that as the Fed's holdings of Treasury debt and other assets matured, it should replace them with physical gold. (This would reassure investors that the Fed would be able to maintain the peg.)
When it came to the crucial question of what price to set as the target, I decided quite arbitrarily on $2,000 per ounce. My reasoning went like this: When the Fed begins buying massive amounts of gold, the market value of gold relative to other goods and services will rise because there is a huge new buyer in the market for gold. Consequently, if the Fed locked in the current market price (which was around $1,400 when I first wrote the article), it would require price deflation for most other goods and services.
Not wanting to repeat the mistake of the British government when it went back to gold in 1925 at the pre–World War I parity — and thereby caused wrenching adjustment problems in British labor markets — I thought it wise for Bernanke to set the gold target price well above the market price on the day of the announcement. That way, the brunt of the adjustment (when the value of gold relative to everything else had to rise) would occur with just the price of gold rising (up to $2,000 per ounce).
Needless to say, there are a few problems with my idea. The most obvious one is that I just picked $2,000 out of the air. Another problem was that there was no definite proportion of gold backing the outstanding quantity of dollars; I was simply recommending that Bernanke & Co. buy or sell assets in order to maintain the target price of gold.
As we'll see, Mises's own proposal — written more than a half a century ago — is far superior to mine.
Mises's Proposal to Link a Fiat Currency Back to Gold
In chapter 23, "The Return to Sound Money," Mises lays out his plan to return a fictitious country (Ruritania), with its currency (the rur), to the gold standard. The reader must remember that when Mises wrote this, the US dollar was still redeemable for gold at the rate of $35 per ounce. In the interest of accuracy, I have retained his original wording below, but in our times we can drop the references to the dollar and just focus on tying the rur back to gold:
From the point of view of monetary technique the stabilization of a national currency's exchange ratio as against foreign, less-inflated currencies or against gold is a simple matter. The preliminary step is to abstain from any further increase in the quantity of domestic currency. This will at the outset stop the further rise in foreign-exchange rates and the price of gold. After some oscillations a somewhat stable exchange rate will appear, the height of which depends on the purchasing-power parity. At this rate it no longer makes any difference whether one buys or sells against currency A or currency B.
But this stability cannot last indefinitely. While an increase in the production of gold or an increase in the issuance of dollars continues abroad, Ruritania now has a currency the quantity of which is rigidly limited. Under these conditions there can no longer prevail full correspondence between the movements of commodity prices on the Ruritanian markets and those on foreign markets. If prices in terms of gold or dollars are rising, those in terms of rurs will lag behind them or even drop. This means that the purchasing-power parity is changing. A tendency will emerge toward an enhancement of the price of the rur as expressed in gold or dollars. When this trend becomes manifest, the propitious moment for the completion of the monetary reform has arrived. The exchange rate that prevails on the market at this juncture is to be promulgated as the new legal parity between the rur and either gold or the dollar. Unconditional convertibility at this legal rate of every paper rur against gold or dollars and vice versa is henceforward to be the fundamental principle.
The reform thus consists of two measures. The first is to end inflation by setting an insurmountable barrier to any further increase in the supply of domestic money. The second is to prevent the relative deflation that the first measure will, after a certain time, bring about in terms of other currencies the supply of which is not rigidly limited in the same way. As soon as the second step has been taken, any amount of rurs can be converted into gold or dollars without any delay and any amount of gold or dollars into rurs. The agency, whatever its appellation may be, that the reform law entrusts with the performance of these exchange operations needs for technical reasons a certain small reserve of gold or dollars. But its main concern is, at least in the initial stage of its functioning, how to provide the rurs necessary for the exchange of gold or foreign currency against rurs. To enable the agency to perform this task, it has to be entitled to issue additional rurs against a full — 100 percent — coverage by gold or foreign exchange bought from the public.
In this brief passage Mises offers a proposal that avoids the problems we discussed in the previous section. There is no arbitrary selection of a gold price; Mises lets the market do that.
Recall that I had initially thought that pegging the existing market price of gold might lead to trouble because the extra demand to acquire gold by the central bank (or the government's treasury) would cause the relative price of gold to rise. However, under Mises's proposal the government isn't entering the market to bid gold away from others. Rather, the government initially makes no effort to bulk up on its gold holdings. Instead, it passively accepts gold deposits from outsiders who wish to obtain newly issued currency (in exchange for gold) at the official peg.
But what about the gold backing of the currency? The reason I had thought the central bank needed to change the composition of its assets from bonds into gold was to reassure investors that the new peg would indeed be maintained. Here too Mises has an elegant answer: from the moment the new policy goes into effect, any new issue of currency must be backed 100 percent by gold held by the monetary authority.
It is true that the total quantity of money will not be backed 100 percent by gold in the government's vaults, but nonetheless investors would know that from the date of the reform, all additions were fully backed. This is a very nonarbitrary and sensible approach, yielding two desirable outcomes. First, the government wouldn't need to absorb a large fraction of the stock of gold from the private sector early on. Second, as the quantity of domestic currency expanded over time, a larger and larger fraction of the currency would be backed by gold.
When it comes to "second-best" policy recommendations in a world of government intervention, we can never find perfection (by definition). But if we are going to have the government providing a monopoly of domestic currency, Ludwig von Mises's proposal for a return to a gold standard is theoretically elegant and eminently practical. | <urn:uuid:1367c5bd-7b2b-438f-ad12-bbc7fb70e942> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mises.org/daily/5492/Putting-the-Country-Back-on-Gold | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959904 | 1,969 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Even the Spineless Feel Pain
Can invertebrates feel pain?
"No" is the scientific consensus thus far on all but octopuses — but that may just reflect an ingrained human bias against "simple" animals.
Last spring, Robert W. Elwood of Queen's University Belfast and graduate student Mirjam Appel caused ripples when they reported that hermit crabs — those little crustaceans that live in salvaged seashells — appear to experience pain. The two biologists subjected each crab to a slight electric shock delivered by wire through a hole in its shell. The shockee hastily exited its shell and rubbed its abdomen where it had been zapped—much as we and other vertebrates respond to painful stimuli.
Now Elwood and Appel have gone further, showing that hermit crabs not only seem to feel pain, but can remember it, too. The team's shocked subjects usually reenter their mobile homes, but during the twenty-four hours following the bad experience they are more likely than unshocked crabs to inspect an empty shell nearby. In fact, a half hour after the shock, they’re also more likely to abandon their old shell altogether and trade it in for the new one.
Scientists usually invoke reflex, as opposed to pain sensation, in explaining invertebrates' responses to noxious stimuli. One key criterion they use to identify pain objectively in vertebrates is the creation of memories that affect such decisions as the hermits’ shell swap. By that measure, Elwood and Appel argue, hermit crabs—and perhaps other crustaceans—probably do feel pain.
This research was published in the journal Animal Behaviour.
This article was provided to LiveScience by Natural History Magazine.
MORE FROM LiveScience.com | <urn:uuid:09c6f232-cc8f-4919-9494-0e2d011d3a36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.livescience.com/6137-spineless-feel-pain.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943534 | 363 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Bring On Your Wrecking Ball: The Politics Of Bruce Springsteen
On a cold, wet day towards the end of June, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band followed their eight pantechnicons into Manchester. They were there for the 39th leg of their North American and European tour, promoting Springsteen’s latest album Wrecking Ball. After monsoon conditions all day, the rain stopped as the band took the stage of the Etihad stadium. This was the beginning of the great Bruce Springsteen show, part concert, part revivalist meeting, filled with theatricality and a fair amount of humour and pathos. The E Street big band sound provided a powerful backing to the lyrics of the 30 songs that filled the next three and a half hours.
At the start of the European tour, Springsteen explained how his deepest motivation ‘comes out of the house that I grew up in and the circumstances that were set up there, which is mirrored around the United States with the level of unemployment we have right now’. In that house in Freehold New Jersey, Springsteen’s father worked intermittently at the Karagheusian Rug Mill (which left him partially deaf), the local bus garage and for a while at the county jail. Unemployment was frequent, however, and it destroyed his confidence and sense of worth, leaving his wife as the organiser of the family home. This tension between bad work and no work has been a perennial theme in Springsteen’s writing, alongside a search for freedom and self-discovery. It also left him with a strong attachment to places and the memories stored up in them.
When the Giants’ stadium in New Jersey was up for demolition, he sang the first version of ‘Wrecking Ball’ at a farewell concert, developing the physical process of destruction into a brilliant metaphor of class violence and the ‘flat destruction of some American ideals and values’. He sings of how ‘all our little victories and glories/ Have turned into parking lots’. And he repeats the invocation: ‘Hold tight to your anger, and don’t fall to your fears.’
In ‘Death of My Home Town’, he sings of the place where he grew up:
Springsteen is firmly rooted in the tradition of America’s great popular singer-songwriters. He writes of love, death and loss, loneliness, growing up and work, but also of resistance and rebellion, much of it couched in religious metaphor about the search for the promised land within the American Dream. Narrative songs such as ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘The River’ stand comparison with the very best of popular songs but also cast a nod in the direction of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and John Steinbeck.
He has pursued this lineage as a conscious choice. He has read widely, sung with Pete Seeger, and recorded gospel music and labour and civil rights movement songs. The various themes are deliberately brought together in his new album to ‘contextualise historically that this has happened before’.
This is most notable in ‘We Are Alive’ with its implicit reference to ‘The Ballad of Joe Hill’. Here the spirits of the strikers killed in the 1877 transport strike in Maryland join with civil rights protesters killed in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, and Mexican migrants currently dying in the southern desert:
Springsteen sings from the world of the US manual working class. A world with union cards and union meeting halls; a world that has been taken apart over the past 30 years as industries have closed and many have been economic conscripts into imperial wars. In giving voice to this, he calls upon elements of post-revolutionary, post-civil war America with a vision of a genuinely democratic working class republic – something that has been stolen by the marauders, the robber barons and bankers, but which is somehow still lived out in the resilience of its working people.
This patriotism is a central part of his being. He describes it as an ‘angry sort of patriotism’, something that he doesn’t want to cede to ‘the Right side of the street’. This has often led to misunderstanding, as was the case with ‘Born in the USA’. Deeply critical and acerbic about the America that came out of the Vietnam war, it was nevertheless – with its anthemic chorus – admired by Ronald Reagan. Springsteen has become philosophical over such misinterpretations, recognising that no artist has the ‘fascist power’ to control the meaning of their words. It has led him to talk repeatedly of a dialogue with his audience. It is likely that a song on the current record, ‘We Take Care of Our Own’, will spark such a conversation. Again it is rhetorical, holding the American ideal up to the mirror and suggesting that ‘the road of good intentions has gone dry as a bone’.
In the US, where the flag is ever-present and the oath of allegiance spoken daily by children at school, it is easy to see why a fight over what it means to be ‘American’ is a necessary plank of left politics. However, the tensions between the US as revolutionary republic and imperial power are obvious.
If patriotism causes some problems, the class roots of his writings clearly provides him with a universal appeal. In 2010 at Hyde Park he opened with ‘London Calling’, a tribute to Joe Strummer and the Clash, and he has recalled the 1970s and his affinity with punk and how easy it is to ‘forget that class was only tangentially touched upon in popular music… at the time’. It was noticeable that in the first European date of the tour in Seville, he spoke at length and in Spanish about how the workers were being made to pay for the crisis and saluting the indignados. The next day, the Andalucian UGT, the Spanish union federation, had a video of the speech on its website.
Springsteen and the band have amassed a huge songbook, and while there is a range of musical styles and themes, the dark side of American life is never far from the surface. He celebrates the freedom of the streets (‘We walk the way we want to walk/We talk the way we want to talk’) but the power of the police and the patrol car is never far away. After New York City police shot dead an unarmed West African immigrant in 1999 he wrote the song ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’ and in defiance of the NYPD played it at Madison Square Garden. In response they refused the normal courtesy escort for the band, called for a boycott of his shows and organised vociferous anti-Springsteen protests.
With the recession, and the death of his close friend Clarence Clemons, this darker side has taken the foreground. Enraged by the destruction of the material world of the working class, whereby ‘the banker man grows fatter, the working man grows thin’, he goads them to
Because we will survive, and like the ‘Jack of all Trades’,
The contradiction involved in Springsteen, now a multi-millionaire, singing with the voice of the poor and oppressed is obvious. He is not alone here but his resolution of the problem has been unique. His solution was to tour, to play to large stadium audiences, tell the stories and keep the flame alive. He talks about singing with the band as his ‘job of work’, and of the ‘hardcore work thing’ shared by all the band members. On stage he will talk of the ‘foolishness of rock and roll’. In a master class with young musicians he stressed the need to understand their art as being both intrinsically trivial and ‘more important than death itself’.
While cynics would say that he does all this for the money, and he would agree that the money is important, there is more to it than that. This was made clear when Michael Sandel selected a Springsteen concert as one example of What Money Can’t Buy in his new book on the moral limits of markets. Criticising economists in the US, who have argued that the band could net an additional £4 million for every concert with the ‘correct’ pricing policy, Sandel points out that pricing out the people who understand and want to listen to and sing with the songs would change the nature of the concert, making it worthless.
Given his celebrity status, it is difficult to see how Springsteen can keep in touch with life on the streets and retain the voice to sing in the way he does. When asked, he talks of remaining ‘interested and awake’. He is wary of formal politics and though he had clear hopes for the Obama administration – he played at the inauguration (see below) – his disappointment is palpable. He has been energised by the Occupy Wall Street movement and has hopes that this can change the ‘national conversation’, focusing it on inequality for the first time for 30 years. Wrecking Ball is his contribution to this conversation.
Playing for the president
Bruce Springsteen long avoided commenting on White House politics after Ronald Reagan famously misappropriated ‘Born in the USA’ during his re-election campaign. The president ignored the song’s searing critique to claim it contained ‘a message of hope’ that he would make reality if re-elected. At the time Springsteen described it as a ‘manipulation’.
George W Bush and the Iraq War caused him to re-think. In 2004 he backed the Democrat candidate, John Kerry, playing 33 concerts as part of the ‘Vote for Change’ tour. He wrote that ‘for the last 25 years I have always stayed one step away from partisan politics. This year, however, for many of us the stakes have risen too high to sit this election out.’
After Bush’s re-election Springsteen became an increasingly outspoken critic. In response to Hurricane Katrina he adapted Blind Alfred Reed’s protest song about the Great Depression, ‘How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?’, transposing the original character of the song’s charlatan doctor onto Bush. He dedicated it to ‘President Bystander’.
Springsteen publicly backed Obama when the future president was still battling Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. He enthused: ‘After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project.’ Springsteen played at several election rallies – and the president’s inauguration concert.
To coincide with the inauguration he released the upbeat album Working on a Dream. The title track echoed that of Obama’s autobiography Dreams from My Father. But the album itself lacked direction. The new cheery Bruce had lost his distinctive voice.
Wrecking Ball has seen Springsteen reclaim old territory. As he acknowledged at a press conference in Paris, ‘You can never go wrong with pissed off and rock ’n’ roll,’ and these songs are angrier than anything he’s penned before. Some of that anger is clearly directed at Obama.
Springsteen was only cautiously critical of the president in Paris: ‘He kept General Motors alive, he got through healthcare – though not the public system I would have wanted . . . But big business still has too much say in government and there have not been as many middle or working class voices in the administration as I expected. I thought Guantanamo would have been closed by now.’ His music, however, offers a far more damning assessment. The single ‘We Take Care of Our Own’ tackles not only Obama’s America but also Springsteen’s involvement in party politics:
Springsteen has said he’ll be staying on the sidelines during the 2012 election, commenting that ‘the artist is supposed to be the canary in the cage’. That hasn’t stopped the Obama campaign putting ‘We Take Care of Our Own’ on the official ‘campaign soundtrack’. It seems that Obama, like Reagan, recognises the power of Springsteen’s critical patriotism, even if he fails to recognise its critique. | <urn:uuid:fd14b928-4571-409f-a3cc-531dc15358bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/bring-on-your-wrecking-ball-the-politics-of-bruce-springsteen-by-huw-beynon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969571 | 2,587 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Apple transfers Thunderbolt trademark to Intel
Intel is credited as being the brains behind the new Thunderbolt I/O technology, but Apple is the one who holds the original trademark for the name. According to recent reports, this may change as Apple is reportedly transferring ownership of this trademark to Intel.
Intel originally created the I/O technology using optical cabling and marketed it under the name Light Peak. Apple approached Intel about Light Peak and the two companies began collaborating on the project. Over the course of a few years, Apple pushed Intel to drop the optical connection and replace it with copper which permits the transmission of electricity as well as data. They also changed the name.
The technology was unveiled earlier this year and made its market debut in Apple's current line of MacBook Pro notebooks and iMac all-in-one computers. Apple may be an early adopter and has unrestricted usage of Thunderbolt but this technology is open to any third-party company that wants to license it and use this I/O port in its devices. | <urn:uuid:9c1752e6-7707-430b-bf12-e20bcc0d863a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ihackmyi.com/topic/103867-apple-transfers-thunderbolt-trademark-to-intel/page__p__1041331 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961828 | 205 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait
Idea Gallery is a recurring editorial series on NewPublicHealth in which guest authors provide their perspective on issues affecting public health. Today, Jennifer L. Howse, PhD, president of the March of Dimes, comments on efforts to give more babies a healthier start in life. This week, a regional Infant Mortality Summit will kick off a collaborative, multi-State initiative to improve infant health outcomes. NewPublicHealth will feature some of the innovative programs and initiatives to support healthy babies.
A baby born in the United States today faces a one out of eight chance of being born too soon. Prematurity is a common, costly, serious and a largely silent health epidemic. The good news is that national, state and local health officials are addressing this problem with historic public health initiatives to give more babies a healthy start in life.
On Nov. 1, the United States received a grade of “C” on the March of Dimes 2011 Premature Birth Report Card. Preterm birth is the leading cause of newborn death. Babies who survive an early birth face an increased risk of serious life-long health challenges, such as breathing problems, cerebral palsy, or learning disabilities. Even babies born just a few weeks early have higher rates of hospitalization and illness than “full-term” infants (39-40 weeks of pregnancy). We’ve developed an educational campaign and a hospital-based toolkit to help parents and professionals better understand the critical importance of those last weeks of pregnancy to a baby’s health.
Although the U.S. preterm birth rate has improved slightly in recent years, nearly half a million infants still are born too soon. Each early birth places a terrible emotional toll on families and a financial burden on the health system. In fact, the first year health and medical costs of one preterm birth are nearly ten times more than a full term birth.
But, the problem hasn’t gone unheeded.
Concerned health officials, including Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO) President David Lakey, MD, are working with the March of Dimes and other partners to implement new strategies and programs to improve maternal access to health care, lower maternal smoking rates, and improve the timing of elective deliveries—three modifiable risk factors that contribute significantly to preterm birth.
Dr. Lakey, Texas’s commissioner of Health Services, has set a goal to reduce premature birth in Texas by 8 percent by 2014, and he has challenged other members of ASTHO to do the same. In Texas alone, meeting the goal would mean more than 4,000 fewer babies born preterm every year, saving the state and employers an estimated $170 million in health care costs.
To help meet these goals, the March of Dimes created the “Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait,” initiative, which bundles together proven consumer and professional health education strategies with early prenatal care and hospital-based quality improvement programs, such as preventing unnecessary early deliveries. It was successfully piloted for three years in Kentucky as a partnership between the March of Dimes, Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute, and the Kentucky Department for Public Health and will soon be launched in two other states.
There is no single answer to the problem of premature birth. But health officials in many states have taken the initiative to implement proven strategies to address preterm. We applaud these important steps toward giving more babies a healthy start in life. | <urn:uuid:4df701e0-abbc-485d-bafc-127cca8d3443> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs/new-public-health/2012/01/healthy-babies-are-worth-the-wait.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956334 | 722 | 2.640625 | 3 |
/ Personal Development
/ Time Management
Adjusting Your Schedule on the Fly
If you have scheduled your day perfectly and are certain you have allowed yourself just enough time to get everything done, something is certain to happen. You will encounter an emergency of some sort. Or an old friend to whom you have not spoken in years. If you are at home, the dishwasher will suddenly overflow. It is the Murphy’s Law variation for time management. If something can mess up your schedule, it will.
These situations can be incredibly frustrating. You have gone through the time and effort to devise a good organizational system and have coupled that awesome plan with real dedication. You have gone beyond learning a system and have actually implemented it. This should your moment of glory--your opportunity to reach new heights of productivity. Instead, you find yourself sitting in a veterinarian’s office with your sick cat or shuffling through stacks of CD-ROMs after a mysterious software crash.
The temptation at that moment is to chuck the plan completely and to just go back to being Mr. or Ms. Disorganized. At least when you did not have a plan, nothing could ruin your plan. It is easy to start thinking of your strategies as nothing but wasted effort when events seem to conspire against you.
There are decisive moments in any endeavor, and the moment of truth for those involved with time management is when they realize some external force has taken their carefully planned activity list, wadded it up and tossed it aside. This is the point at which one either surrenders or learns to adjust his or her schedule on the fly.
Making quick adjustments can be challenging but it is possible. The first step is to conduct damage control. If unforeseen circumstances will push you off your schedule, your first thought must be directed toward those who will be adversely impacted by delay. Handle them first. Explain the situation and keep them in the loop.
That may not apply in all cases. If no one else is relying upon you to maintain your schedule, you may immediately begin the second step in the process. This involves dumping non-essential tasks down your list and even into subsequent days, if necessary. If this frees up enough time, you can stop there.
If things are still far too tight, you will have to start looking at your top priorities and decide which ones are truly the most important. These will receive the quickest treatment. Secondary tasks will be relegated to an “optional” status and will be reset for the subsequent day.
In the end, unforeseen challenges will mess up your schedule. That is unavoidable. When your perfect ten-hour day is cut down to five hours, you will need either to work twice as fast or compromise your schedule. It can certainly be a challenge, but it is a challenge you can meet. Adjusting your schedule on the fly is probably the last thing you wanted to do when you sat down to start your day, but life’s unpredictability forces even the most strict time managers to develop a high level of flexibility.
Article Source: http://www.redsofts.com/articles/
Jeff Casmer is an internet marketing consultant with career sales over $25,000,000. His "Top Ranked" Earn Money at Home Directory gives you all the information you need to start and prosper with your own Internet Home Based Business.
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Adjusting Your Schedule on the Fly | <urn:uuid:251a6bc4-3ea8-4bf7-afa6-73ae3b6b91fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://redsofts.com/articles/read/4/55937/Adjusting_Your_Schedule_on_the_Fly.html | 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 | 0.926932 | 836 | 1.875 | 2 |
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Family physicians dramatically under-diagnose bulimia among their patients, a new study suggests.
Researchers here surveyed nearly 600 Ohio family physicians about the number of bulimic patients they had treated in their careers. They found that almost one-third of family physicians had never diagnosed bulimia in a patient and that 60 percent said they had no bulimic patients at the time of the survey.
"Recent studies show that the lifetime prevalence of eating disorders among women is about 5 percent. Thus, one might expect that virtually all family physicians would have patients who are bulimic," said Lawrence L. Gabel, professor of family medicine and allied medical professions at Ohio State University and a co-author of the study. "The results of this survey suggest that family physicians aren't giving as much attention as they should to a problem that is actually fairly prevalent."
Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of
time -- binging -- followed by purging. Purging can take the form of vomiting, diuretic or laxative abuse, stringent dieting or extreme exercise.
Gabel conducted this research with Marian Stager Bursten, an Ohio State medical student at the time of the study; John A. Brose, professor of family medicine and assistant dean of clinical research at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine; and John S. Monk, associate director for instructional research at Ohio State. The group's work was published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Practitioners.
For their study, Gabel and his colleagues surveyed a random sample of Ohio M.D.s and osteopathic physicians who identified themselves as family or general physicians. The survey asked physicians to indicate the total number of bulimic patients they'd treated in their careers and how many they were treating currently. In addition, the survey asked physicians whether they'd referred their bulimic patients to other physicians and whether they'd ever had out-of-office contact with a person who was bulimic or anorexic. Respondents to the survey also indicated their sex, age, type of training, years of medical practice and number of patients seen per week.
These results clearly call for improved detection and treatment of bulimia by family physicians, Gabel said. However, he said, like many things, that's easier said than done.
"Bulimia can be almost invisible," Gabel said. "Unlike anorexics, bulimics keep their weight stable, so it's hard to notice any physical change. Plus, very few patients reveal this disorder to their family physicians. In most cases, if a physician asks a patient about it directly, she denies it." In fact, Gabel said, in one study of 277 female patients, researchers found that although 45 women had a history of vomiting and laxative abuse, only one had mentioned it to her family physician.
There is, however, a way around this problem. A simple, two- question screening test that does not ask directly about bulimic behaviors has been found to be effective in identifying patients with bulimia, Gabel said. The two questions are: Are you pleased with your eating behavior? Do you ever eat in secret?
Gabel believes this screening test should be part of the medical care of all people at risk for bulimia. Those at particular risk include girls and women age 14 to 49, especially dancers, athletes and those predisposed to depression.
"Because screening is quick, inexpensive and straightforward, all at-risk patients should be screened for bulimia," Gabel said. "Beyond preventing the human suffering associated with the disease, screening can also help control medical costs. Expensive and complicated workups of the reproductive and gastrointestinal system may be better focused when the diagnosis of bulimia explains a patient's complaints."
Contact: Lawrence L. Gabel, (614) 292-1400; Gabel.firstname.lastname@example.org
Written by Kelly McConaghy Kershner, (614) 292-8308; Kershner.email@example.com
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Go to the Reasearch, Newsfeature, and Cancer Report Archive | <urn:uuid:8a911fbf-1940-4908-9011-09a9b8f10407> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/bulimia.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971386 | 888 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Facebook, Email More Irresistible Than Sex
by ABC Digital
(NEW YORK) -- You may want to ask your date to turn off his or her phone. A new study suggests Facebook and email trump sex in terms of sheer irresistibility.
The German study used smartphone-based surveys to probe the daily desires of 205 men and women, most of whom were college age. For one week the phones, provided by the researchers, buzzed seven times daily, alerting study subjects to take a quick survey on the type, strength and timing of their desires, as well as their ability to resist them.
While the desire for sex was stronger, the study subjects were more likely to cave into the desire to use media, including email and social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter, according to the study.
“Media desires, such as social networking, checking emails, surfing the Web or watching television might be hard to resist in light of the constant availability, huge appeal, and apparent low costs of these activities,” said study author Wilhelm Hofmann, an assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
The subjects were paid $28 at the start of the study and were eligible for extra incentives if they filled out more than 80 percent of the surveys. It’s no small wonder that more than 10,000 surveys were completed.
The urge to check social media was so strong that subjects gave in up to 42 percent of the time, according to the study published in the journal Psychological Science. One explanation is that it’s much more convenient to check email or Facebook than it is to have sex.
“The sex drive is much stronger but it’s also much more situational,” said Karen North, director of the Annenberg Program on Online Communities at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who was not involved with the study. “We’re training ourselves to check our messages every couple minutes.”
“People are constantly looking down to check their phones,” North added. “They can’t stop.”
One drawback of this study is that it failed to address whether the subjects had sexual partners. So while some subjects might have been single, all of them had smartphones, North said. It’s also unclear whether the findings can be generalized to the general population.
While social media can help people stay connected, Hofmann said overuse can be damaging.
“Media desires distract us from getting work done,” he said. “People underestimate how much time they consume and the distractions they produce and that can be harmful.”
The study surprised media expert Bob Larose, a professor in the department of telecommunications, information studies, and media at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
“It’s surprising that self-regulation fails so much more often for media use than for sex, alcohol or food,” said Larose, who was not involved with the study.” That speaks to the power of the instantly available, 24/7 media environment to disrupt our lives… Our failure to control media use can deplete our ability to control other aspects of our lives.”
For those who fear social media is taking over their personal or professional lives, there is hope. North offers some tips.
“If it is interfering with social/business relationships, work, or school performance, then people should try to scale back and control or limit the behavior,” she said, describing how self-imposed “rules,” like no social media at the dinner table, can help curb the constant urge to check Facebook.
“People can use a self monitoring technique, such as charting when they use social media as a means of reducing it,” North added. “Some people find it helpful to set rewards for staying within use standards that they set for themselves.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio | <urn:uuid:e4388330-d4c2-45ef-99df-1ff944152522> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastidahonews.com/2012/10/facebook-email-more-irresistible-than-sex/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960419 | 818 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Geno Auriemma: Lower the rims
UConn coach Geno Auriemma believes one of the reasons women's basketball isn't growing in popularity is a lack of offensive efficiency.
His solution? Lower the rim.
"What makes fans not want to watch women's basketball is that some of the players can't shoot and they miss layups and that forces the game to slow down," Auriemma said, according to the Hartford Courant.
"How do help improve that? Lower the rim (from 10 feet). Do you think the average fan knows that the net is lower in women's volleyball than men's volleyball? It's about seven inches shorter, so the women have the chance for the same kind of success at the net (as the men)."
What makes fans not want to watch women's basketball is that some of the players can't shoot and they miss layups and that forces the game to slow down.” -- UConn coach Geno Auriemma
Auriemma, who has coached UConn to seven national titles, said he would favor lowering the rim less than a foot.
"Let's say the average men's player is 6 foot 5 and the average woman is 5 foot 11," Auriemma told the Courant. "Let's lower the rim seven inches; let's say 7.2 inches to honor Title IX (instituted in 1972). If you lower it, the average fan likely wouldn't even notice it.
"Now there would be fewer missed layups because the players are actually at the rim (when they shoot). Shooting percentages go up. There would be more tip-ins."
Auriemma pointed out that the women's Final Four sold out the 30,000-seat Alamodome in 2002, but in 2011 struggled to fill Conseco Field House in Indianapolis, which seats just more than 18,000.
"So how much has the game possibly improved, in terms of how badly people want to see it?" he asked, according to the Courant.
Auriemma also suggested selecting cities to annually host the four women's basketball regionals and Final Four. He would also like the Final Four to take place Friday and Sunday instead on Sunday and Tuesday.
"The system is not working and when something isn't working, you should work to make changes," Auriemma told the Courant. "If the changes don't work, well at least you tried. It's a lot better than just complaining about everything all the time."
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- Cambage reverses course, will play for Shock | <urn:uuid:3408d767-a321-42f7-bfca-d93ca8b2ee46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8543879/geno-auriemma-uconn-huskies-coach-thinks-rims-lowered-women-basketball | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97263 | 587 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Find out how and why swimming advisories are issued along the Grand Strand at a public talk led by by Joseph Bennett, director of Coastal Carolina University's Environmental Quality Laboratory, on Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. at the North Myrtle Beach Recreation Center. The talk, titled "Swimming Advisories on the Grand Strand: What Causes These?,"will be repeated on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Loris Center for Health & Fitness. Both are free and open to the public.
For the past seven years, Coastal's Environmental Quality Lab has been collecting water samples from area beaches and analyzing them for bacteria. During spring through fall Bennett and his lab staff visit more than 40 beach sites between North Myrtle Beach and Garden City at least once each week to collect samples. In addition, every two weeks they visit 11 more sites between Murrells Inlet and Winyah Bay. The results of their analyses are reviewed by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), the agency that determines if bacteria levels warrant swimming advisories.
Bennett will talk about the sources and kinds of bacteria that affect area beaches, as well as the processes that govern the distribution of bacteria along the strand. The talk will include a question and answer period.
Bennett earned a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography from the University of Washington and did postdoctoral research in geochemistry at Yale University.
This public discussion is one of a series of 50 such events planned during 2004-2005 by Coastal's College of Natural and Applied Sciences to commemorate Coastal's 50th anniversary.
For more information, call 349-2202. | <urn:uuid:3a95793b-0313-4686-b233-397900243c56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coastal.edu/newsarticles/story.php?id=957 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963774 | 340 | 2.28125 | 2 |
National Guard Soldiers Train with the Big Guns
By Mark Geary, Reporter
Iowa National Guard soldiers are preparing to head to Afghanistan later this year.
Soldiers get a rush of adrenaline as they fire at enemy targets using a Howitzer.
"It's a great feeling. The boom. The smell. Every little intangible you have is right there,” said Sgt. Brandon Bumham.
Each 50 pound shell costs at least $2,500. Soldiers rarely get the chance to practice with live ammunition.
"The round goes off right by my head."
"The large net draped over the gun helps camouflage it from the outside and also helps disrupt enemy radar," said Sgt. James Johnson.
Before anyone pulls the launch lever, the entire team checks all the equipment and makes sure everything's on target.
"A couple inches down here makes a huge difference down range," said Johnson.
But, the guys with the gun don't decide when or where to fire. Not too far away, these soldiers line up the coordinates for the troops out in the field both by hand and with the help of electronics. Sometimes those numbers don't match.
"It happens on occasion. When that happens, we don't send that down, obviously," said Spc. Chancy Chipman.
Computer software can take other factors like weather into account. Too much rain or wind could send a round off course.
"It's a crazy job to have. It's a lot of work, but when you're out there rockin' and rollin', it's a really good time," said Burnham.
Anyone standing near the explosive shell can feel the power of the gun when it goes off. Trust me, I know first-hand. As the soldiers told me, it's going to be a bad day for enemies on the other end of the barrel.
What's On KCRG | <urn:uuid:1f0e4291-e909-4dad-ac41-1c0b352fb0c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcrg.com/enduringfreedom/96993254.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956794 | 390 | 1.851563 | 2 |
The protest placard he held up during Baroness Thatcher’s funeral procession made Dave Winslow a minor celebrity for a day. It showed a gravestone with the inscription ‘Rest of us in poverty’. Several newspapers featured it in their coverage of the funeral.
And why not? Unlike many of the other anti-Thatcher slogans that could be seen during the last few days, Winslow’s was both orthographically correct, and it could even claim a bit of a factual base. Presumably, he alluded to the evolution of relative poverty rates during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, about which a lot has been written recently. The Guardian reported that ‘the number of children in poverty almost doubled under Thatcher, from 1.7 million in 1979 to 3.3 million in 1990. Pensioner poverty in the same period increased too, from 3.1 million to 4.1 million.’
For fans of government largesse, the temptation of relative poverty rates must be irresistible. These rates reliably rise during periods of market-oriented reforms, and fall during periods of government expansions. They are generally high in Anglo-Saxon countries, which tend to tolerate a certain level of inequality, and low in Germanic countries, which have stronger egalitarian traditions.
Much of academic poverty research is therefore quite predictable. A typical poverty research paper starts by constructing a model which expresses the poverty rate as a function of a number of economic and social policy variables. After a lot of formula-shuffling, the paper then ‘finds’: more government spending, less poverty; less government spending, more poverty.
But while it is easy to dismiss relative measures as mere measures of inequality, most people on the free-market side of the debate have made the mistake of not proposing a credible alternative. They have abandoned the poverty field to their opponents, and then wondered why poverty research became monopolised by interventionists.
Relative poverty measures are deeply flawed, but that does make absolute measures any better. Poverty is not absolute. Perceptions of what is a ‘necessity’ and what is merely a convenience change over time. Our great-grandparents would not have considered a washing machine, central heating or an indoor bathroom to be necessities. To us, they are necessities, and this is simply because we live in societies where virtually every household has these items.
Moreover, some goods can acquire necessity-characteristics simply by virtue of being widespread. Ten years ago, internet access was merely a more convenient way to do things that could also be done in other ways. Yet as internet access expanded, many of these alternatives disappeared: think of adverts for jobs adverts or accommodation that have moved from newspapers to online platforms.
Such changes can transform former convenience goods into necessities, and people who cannot afford them are in a sense, poor – not in the sense of ‘destitute’, but in the sense of not being able to fully participate in society. There is a case for a poverty line that rises gradually over time.
But that poverty line does not have to be relative. Most of the outcomes that relative measures produce are nonsensical. For example, if Wellington and Auckland were to declare independence from New Zealand, their poverty rates would skyrocket, as their poverty lines would now be pegged to their regional median incomes. Meanwhile, poverty would drop in the remainder of the country: With the more prosperous regions gone, the nation’s median income would fall, and the relative poverty line would fall with it.
Relative poverty rates are also often countercyclical, rising during times of economic expansion and falling during times of recession. The former happened during the latter part of the Thatcher period. Median income rose by 26%, and by definition, so did the poverty line. It overtook the incomes of many households who also experienced gains, but at a slower pace, thus giving rise to the figures The Guardian quotes. At the moment, the opposite is happening. By lowering the poverty line, the recession has so far ‘lifted’ 1.2 million people out of poverty.
We should approach poverty measurement from an altogether different angle. Surveys in the UK show that people may wildly disagree on what constitutes poverty when asked in abstract terms, but when asked more specifically which goods constitute ‘necessities’ in our day and age, there is a surprisingly robust consensus. So why not build a poverty indicator around that consensus? One could assemble a consumption basket containing all the goods and services that the majority consider necessities, gather the market prices of these items, add them up, and use the total cost of the basket as a poverty line.
This would not just provide a more realistic account of how much poverty there is in developed countries. It would also encourage more sensible policy responses. The policy focus would be less on income redistribution, and more on creating the conditions for competitive product markets. A market structure which makes the basics of life (generously defined) easily affordable, right across the income distribution, can be seen as a safety net of sorts. And it is a safety net which does not trap people in dependency and inactivity.
A poverty measure based on market prices would place particular emphasis on the housing market. International evidence shows that the price escalations seen in countries such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand are usually the result of excessively tight land use regulationswhich choke off residential development. This is a typical example of market distortions which raise the cost of living for the least well-off. A cost-effective anti-poverty strategy should, foremost, consist of identifying these distortions, and removing them.
In this sense, poverty alleviation is the natural territory of free-market liberals. They should reclaim it.
This article was originally published by the New Zealand Centre for Political Research. More detailed analysis of the poverty debate is provided in Redefining the Poverty Debate – Why a War on Markets is No Substitute for a War on Poverty. | <urn:uuid:cf1cabca-c1a4-40ab-90c8-a1d02bf7d654> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iea.org.uk/blog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963301 | 1,218 | 2.609375 | 3 |
San Francisco's first public school for Chinese immigrants, known first as the Chinese School and then as the Oriental School, began operating in 1859. The school was designed to segregate (separate) Chinese children from white children in the city's public schools. In 1924, after years of protest by Chinese residents who found the name "Oriental School" offensive, it was renamed the Commodore Stockton School. The first excerpt is from an oral history interview with Thomas Chinn, who attended the school; the second is from an 1896 issue of the San Francisco magazine The Wave, which comments more generally on Chinatown's children.
Source | Ruth Teiser/Thomas W. Chinn, "A Historian's Reflections on Chinese-American Life in San Francisco,
1919-1991: Oral History transcript/Thomas Chinn" Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley, 1993, from Calisphere,
http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=hb5779n97v&query=&brand=calisphere. "Child Life in Chinatown: The
Wiles and Ways of the Youthful Celestials," The Wave v. 15, Jan. - Dec. 1896; from Library of Congress, The
Chinese in California, 1850-1925, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/cichome.html Rights | Used by permission of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Item Type | Oral History Cite This document | “A Chinese American Describes Going to School in Chinatown (with text supports),” HERB: Resources for Teachers, accessed June 19, 2013, http://herb.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1937. | <urn:uuid:e8cd4da9-7ff4-473e-92a9-acc6b268f7af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://herb.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1937 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910811 | 382 | 2.6875 | 3 |