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NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw visited Silicon Valley last month to meet immigrant entrepreneurs. At Microsoft’s Mountain View campus, he met with a dozen of them. More than half said that they might be forced to return to their home countries. That’s because they have the same visa issues that Kunal Bahl had. Unable to get a visa that would allow him to start a company after he graduated from Wharton in 2007, Kunal returned home to India. In February 2010, he started SnapDeal—India’s Groupon. Instead of creating hundreds of jobs in the U.S., Kunal ended up creating them in New Delhi.
At a time when our economy is stagnating, some American political leaders are working to keep the world’s best and brightest out. They mistakenly believe that skilled immigrants take American jobs away. The opposite is true: skilled immigrants start the majority of Silicon Valley startups; they create jobs.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurship is booming in countries that compete with us. And more than half a million doctors, scientists, researchers, and engineers in the U.S. are stuck in “immigration limbo”. They are on temporary work visas and are waiting for permanent-resident visas, which are in extremely short supply. These workers can’t start companies, justify buying houses, or grow deep roots in their communities. Once they get in line for a visa, they can’t even accept a promotion or change jobs. They could be required to leave the U.S. immediately—without notice—if their employer lays them off. Rather than live in constant fear and stagnate in their careers, many are returning home.
American immigration officials are also clueless. They do everything they can to make life miserable for immigrants who want to make the U.S. more competitive and create U.S. jobs. As I noted in this piece about the Startup Visa, they interpret rules and regulations as restrictively as possible.
Rapportive co-founder, Martin Kleppmann, who came to the U.S. from Germany, told Brokaw “In our case — we got a beautiful letter from the immigration service asking to prove that we had enough warehouse space to store our software inventory. We don’t even have boxes of software, it’s all on the Internet.”
Sakina Arsiwala, from Mumbai, India, struggled for years to get a visa so that she could work with her husband Naveen Koorakula on their social-networking startup, Campfire Labs. “Why deal with all this, you know, old school immigration systems, just go where you’re wanted”, said Arsiwala, who formerly headed YouTube’s international operations.
Michelle Zatlyn, a Canadian who founded Cloudflare (a TechCrunch Disrupt runner-up), said that American visa policies are very outdated and do not “promote entrepreneurship in this country at all”. She told Brokaw that her startup was trying to create jobs and hire engineers, but that the country had almost made her leave before she had an opportunity to build a company.
Aihui Ong, founder of Love With Food, spoke about America’s being under “technology attack”. Everyone wants America’s techies. Countries such as her home country, Singapore, are working hard to bring people like her back home as well as to attract skilled workers from other countries. Singapore is giving startups four dollars for every dollar they raise, she said. Sakina Arsiwala added that living conditions in some other countries are “really really attractive”. And the founder of Backtype, Mike Montano, spoke of his home country, Canada, offering startups major subsidies. They all wonder why the U.S. makes it so hard for them though other countries roll out the welcome mat.
These entrepreneurs tell their stories much better than I can. I encourage you to watch the videos yourself. The first video below is the segment that was broadcast on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams on March 3. In this, I discuss the big picture and tell my own story—how I came to the U.S. to study, and later started two companies. My first company created over 1000 jobs; and the second, over 200. (The majority of these were American jobs—for American citizens.) The second video is a more in-depth discussion with the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.
Unlike a lot of problems facing our country, this one is easy to fix. We just need to increase the numbers of permanent-resident visas available for those trapped in “immigration limbo”. And we should create a Startup Visa that is more inclusive than the VC/Super Angel bill that is being proposed. This may give the economy a significant boost at no cost to taxpayers.
Article taken from the techcrunch.com | <urn:uuid:7e0d3c68-9c63-43be-9bb1-ebdc4390c291> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nexonsoft.eu/2011/03/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966619 | 1,019 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Die! Die to the ego, die to your past, and you will be resurrected. That resurrection will make you go beyond death, beyond time, beyond misery, beyond the world – what Buddha calls “beyond this shore.”
The second question:
Why does Jesus tell his disciples: be as cunning as the serpents and as innocent as the doves?
The serpent is the symbol of wisdom. In all the ancient cultures of the world – Hebrew, Hindu, Chinese – the serpent is the only symbol which is common.
By “cunning” Jesus does not really mean cunning as you understand it. In the ancient Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke, there is only one word for both wisdom and cunning, hence the wrong translation.
But why have Christians chosen to translate it as cunning and not as wisdom? – because of the biblical story that it is the serpent who seduced, corrupted the mind of Eve, persuaded her to go against God’s commandment and to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Because of this biblical story the serpent has become the original source of sin. It is the serpent who persuaded Eve, then Eve persuaded Adam and humanity fell from the grace of God. Adam and Eve were turned out of the Garden of Eden; hence the serpent became a condemned phenomenon.
But in reality the parable has a totally different meaning. Christians will not concede to that meaning. What meaning do I give to that immensely significant parable? It has many meanings. That is the beauty of ancient parables: they have many-dimensional richness. They are not one-dimensional, they are multidimensional. They can be interpreted in a thousand and one ways; that is their richness. They have many facets; they are like a diamond – and the more facets a diamond has, the more valuable it is.
When the Kohinoor was found for the first time it was a very big stone, the biggest diamond the world has ever known. Now it is only one third of its original weight, because down the ages the jewelers have been polishing, cutting, and polishing and cutting; they have been giving new facets to the diamond. Now it is one third of its weight but millions of times more valuable. So are ancient parables: they are kohinoors. But the problem with the so-called religions is that they become addicted to one meaning. Then they become afraid of other meanings, other possibilities. | <urn:uuid:7b726f17-1f9f-4376-b647-7b72bb92d62c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-cunning-serpent-biblical-b2a77e29-e73.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973546 | 508 | 2.40625 | 2 |
|December 03, 2012||Is Fracking Contaminating U.S. Livestock?||no comments|
Like canaries sent into coal mines to warn of breathing hazards, livestock in areas where hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is occurring are getting sick and dropping dead in alarming numbers, according to the only peer-reviewed scientific study of the impact of fracking on animals. And if cattle are getting sick because of fracking, what about the health of people who later drink their milk or eat their flesh?
The study, authored by Prof. Robert Oswald of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and practicing veterinarian Michele Bamberger, compiles case studies of 24 farmers in 6 states whose livestock experienced neurological, reproductive and acute gastrointestinal problems after exposure to fracking chemicals in the water or air.
The case studies include 17 Louisiana cows that died of respiratory failure after an hour’s exposure to spilled fracking fluid; 70 Pennsylvania cows that died after 140 of them were exposed to fracking wastewater from an impoundment breach; and a Pennsylvania herd whose pregnant cows had a 50% rate of stillborn calves after grazing in a pasture contaminated by fracking chemicals from an overflowing waste pit.
Fracking a single well requires up to 7 million gallons of water, as well as an additional 400,000 gallons of additives. A 2011 study compiled a list of 632 chemicals used in natural-gas production and determined that 75% could affect the skin, eyes, other sensory organs, and the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems; 40-50% could affect the brain/nervous system, immune and cardiovascular systems, and the kidneys; 37% could affect the endocrine system; and 25% could cause cancer and mutations.
Cattle that die on the farm aren’t supposed to get into the nation’s food system, but herd mates that look healthy, despite being exposed to the same toxins, do. “They’re making their way into the food system, and it’s very worrisome to us,” Bamberger explains. “They live in areas that have tested positive for air, water and soil contamination. Some of these chemicals could appear in milk and meat products made from these animals.”
Although there have been few cattle deaths so far, some institutions that specialize in risk management have begun to see the pattern and take action. For example, Nationwide Mutual Insurance, which sells agricultural insurance, has announced that it will not cover damages related to fracking, and Rabobank, the world’s largest agricultural bank, is said to no longer sell mortgages to farmers with gas leases. Some farmers whose land sits atop the Marcellus shale are migrating to land outside that fracking zone, causing shifts in land prices.
If insurance companies won’t insure losses from fracking, and farmers and ranchers don’t want to raise food in fracking zones, should consumers beware of eating it? | <urn:uuid:6a0c0051-3873-43bd-b3b2-2a1bd745e53d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mysoutex.com/pages/full_story_landing/push?article-Is+Fracking+Contaminating+U-S-+Livestock-%20&id=21006985 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949129 | 600 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Landmark Coal Mine Safety Enforcement Case Settled
The Labor Department's first-ever use of its toughest enforcement tool has resulted in a court-supervised settlement with coal mine giant Massey Energy.
The agreement involves Massey's Freedom Mine #1 in Pike County, Ky., which is described in court documents as a mine so dangerous it requires court supervision. Freedom was singled out for an unprecedented federal court injunction owing to a persistent "pattern of violations" of mine safety law, which "constitutes a continuing hazard to the health or safety of miners."
Massey Energy denies "the existence of any pattern of violations" but agrees that a U.S. District Court has jurisdiction over Freedom and can apply sanctions, including contempt of court citations, if the company fails to follow a prescribed safety plan.
Massey Energy tells NPR the company "is pleased to have resolved the matter."
"We felt the best course of action was to cooperate with MSHA and jointly develop a plan for our coal miners to safely close the Freedom Energy mine," says Shane Harvey, Massey's vice president and general counsel. "We appreciate MSHA's input and cooperation on the plan" that is outlined in the settlement.
"I think that the settlement agreement is everything that the government could have hoped to achieve through the court action," says Ed Clair, a retired lawyer for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration who reviewed the settlement for NPR. "It gives them incredible enforcement powers that they didn't have prior to this agreement."
Under the agreement, the mine's most senior managers must be directly involved in safety procedures and are personally responsible for violations. Miners continue to have paychecks and jobs if all or parts of the mine are shut down while safety problems are fixed. And shutdowns and fixes are immediate when unsafe conditions are spotted.
"Almost all of the provisions in this order impose requirements upon Massey that are above and beyond the normal requirements of the law," says Patricia Smith, the solicitor of the Labor Department. "We got really serious requirements that we wouldn't have had under an administrative proceeding and really nothing less than we would have asked the court for."
The settlement prevents a three-day hearing that was scheduled to begin today. The hearing was expected to include internal Massey documents and former Massey mineworkers and officials. The documents and testimony would have focused on production pressure at the company as the mine amassed hundreds of safety violations, citations and fines.
Massey has been under intense public and regulatory scrutiny since an explosion at its Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia last April. Twenty-nine miners died in the blast, which is still the subject of criminal and civil investigations.
The Labor Department dusted off the never-used, 33-year-old "injunctive relief" section of federal mining law as part of the Obama administration's promised "get-tough" response to the Upper Big Branch disaster. Freedom was selected as a first test case.
When the agency filed the case in November, Massey announced it would close the mine anyway, citing ongoing challenges in operating a mine as large and old as Freedom. Federal Judge Amul Thapar refused to dismiss the case, ruling that about 60 mineworkers could still be exposed to dangerous conditions underground during the several months it would take to dismantle and remove equipment from the mine.
The settlement details safety precautions Massey must take to protect those workers. The mine is susceptible to dangerous rockfalls and explosive concentrations of methane gas. If new safety violations force closure of all or part of the mine the company must continue to pay workers, or find them other jobs within 60 miles, until the mine is considered safe.
Labor Department officials have repeatedly promised to seek federal court injunctions against other coal mines, but the agency has yet to file another case. Smith said today that several potential cases were resolved in other ways but court action is still being considered for mines she declined to name.
Mine safety advocate Wes Addington of the Appalachian Citizens Law Center says the Labor Department should continue to go to federal court. The Freedom case has "shown now that they're entitled to go into federal court and seek immediate relief for miners that are in immediate danger," Addington says. "They should use it going forward to protect miners in a more immediate way."
At the National Mining Association, spokeswoman Carol Raulston called the agreement "uncharted territory" for the mining industry. But she noted that "the court does stipulate this agreement applies only to this operation."
Still, mining companies are on notice that the Labor Department is prepared to go to court and can get into court, adds Ellen Smith, publisher of Mine Safety and Health News. "It's the big stick that MSHA is holding over mine operators, and mine operators are taking this threat extremely seriously," Smith says. "They have said that to me. They are worried about it."
That's exactly what federal mine safety officials want. Assistant Labor Secretary Joe Main says the Freedom case and settlement "surely points out our willingness to use this standard to protect miners."
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Michele Norris.
There's a settlement in a landmark legal case involving the Labor Department and the coal mine giant Massey Energy. The case�involves Massey's Freedom Mine number one in Pike County, Kentucky. The Labor Department considers the mine too dangerous to operate without federal court supervision and it sought a federal court injunction against the mine. But today, Massey Energy agreed to unprecedented oversight.
And our correspondent, Howard Berkes, has been following the case as part of an ongoing NPR News investigation.
HOWARD BERKES: The Freedom mine amassed hundreds of safety violations, citations and fines for dangerous rock falls, for too much explosive coal dust, for failure to conduct safety inspections. It's a long list. Massey Energy continued to claim it put safety first at Freedom and its other mines, even after an April explosion killed 29 Massey miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.
That disaster prompted the Labor Department to do something it had never done before - drag a coal mine company into federal court to force attention to safety. Freedom was the test case.
Mr. ED CLAIR (Retired Lawyer, Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration): I think that the settlement agreement is everything that the government could have hoped to achieve through the court action.
BERKES: Ed Clair is a retired lawyer for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and he finds the settlement remarkable.
Mr. CLAIR: It gives them incredible enforcement powers that they didn't have prior to this agreement.
BERKES: That includes federal court jurisdiction over the mine with contempt citations possible if Massey Energy fails to make the mines safe. The mine's most senior managers must be directly involved in safety procedures and are personally responsible for violations. Miners continue to have paychecks and jobs if all or parts of the mine are shut down while safety problems are fixed. And shutdowns and fixes are immediate when unsafe conditions are spotted.
Patricia Smith is the solicitor of the Labor Department.
Ms. PATRICIA SMITH (Solicitor, Labor Department): Almost all of the provisions in this order impose requirements upon Massey that are above and beyond the normal requirements of the law. We got really serious requirements that we wouldn't have had under an administrative proceeding and really nothing less than we would've asked the court for.
BERKES: Massey Energy may have agreed to all that because it is already in the process of closing the mine for good. The settlement is supposed to protect the 60 or so mine workers who will spend the next several months dismantling and removing equipment.
Massey officials did not agree to be interviewed, but said in a written statement that they're pleased to have the matter resolved and felt the best course of action was to cooperate with the government. Mine safety advocates say the settlement shows that going to court works.
Wes Addington directs the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
Mr. WES ADDINGTON (Director, Appalachian Citizens' Law Center): It's shown now that they're entitled to go into federal court and seek immediate relief for miners that are in immediate danger, and they should use this. They should use it going forward to protect miners in a more immediate way.
BERKES: Labor Department solicitor Smith said today more cases are possible. The settlement came just as the Freedom mine trial was set to begin. Court documents indicate Massey's production practices would've been on trial and compared with the company's persistent claims about safety. But mine safety advocates say that day is coming, given the ongoing investigations into the Upper Big Branch disaster and problematic safety records at some of Massey's other mines.
Howard Berkes, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:20b443d7-ac29-433d-a8c5-9142a1f4f654> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbur.org/npr/132675452/landmark-coal-mine-safety-enforcement-case-settled | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965119 | 1,823 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Summer is quickly approaching, but it’s not too late to find a summer camp for your kids. But it seems like there are so many camps out there, how do you choose the right one?
Camp counselors say finding a camp your child enjoys is important, but you might want to first start by finding an accredited camp that is up to the standards of the American Camp Association.
As far as getting the kids ready, it's important to make sure they feel comfortable.
Some camps have a program where parents can stay with their kids at camp the first time to get them accustomed to it.
Finally, make sure the camp you choose has a good line of communication between the parents, kids and counselors. | <urn:uuid:3340fc87-3df7-4be7-bd20-c07c53c7a1b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.momseveryday.com/shenandoahvalley/familyfun/misc/Choosing_the_Right_Summer_Camp_for_Your_Kids_122520099.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976715 | 146 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Eyes are known to be the windows to our soul. Lips, then, are the servants of our consciousness. Our lips respond to happy thoughts by smiling, they express our innermost emotions with words of love and hope, and are able to convey what no words ever can, by kissing.
If you were to refer to a dictionary (in this case, the Chambers 20th Century Edition), it would describe kissing as "to caress or salute with the lips". Dictionaries know nothing about kissing!
It would be far better to look to the great poets and romantics of our time. Shakespeare calls it a "seal of our love" while the witty Coleridge describes kissing as "nectar breathing".
Kissing is the first physical expression of serious attraction between two people. They may hold each other closely, they may stare into each otherís eyes deeply, but their relationship cannot go any further until they kiss.
I am not referring to those quick pecks on the cheek or even those cheeky under-the-mistletoe affairs, but the kind where you hold her in your arms, where breathing becomes a chore, where your blood pulses through your veins and you do not ever want to let her go...
How To Use This Site
Unlike the other sections which have
clearly defined "Guy" and "Gal" articles, this
section on kissing is 100% unisex. The information applies both to
guys and gals alike. As such, you won't find the usual "Guy"
or "Gal" viewpoints.
Should you have any questions, you can use the Romance Forums to
post your queries and give advice. If you found the information here
helpful, could you return the favor by referring
us to a friend? It's the least you can do.
If you would like to contribute an
article, you can fill up an article
Want More?: Get | <urn:uuid:c9ca64eb-62f8-422e-88bf-3d16fa915c59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.thinkquest.org/C004916/kissing-explained/index.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943059 | 399 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Quantifying the repression in Cuba is an impossible task, if only because of the information blockade imposed by the Castro dictatorship and because the regime feels absolutely no need to account for the arrests and other actions it takes against its opponents.
Which is why two human rights groups that monitor conditions on the island can arrive at different statistics.
The CIHPRESS news agency on Wednesday reported 340 politically motivated arrests in April.
And on Thursday, the Cuban National Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation put the count at 402. That brings the total for the first four months of the year to 2,795, compared to 1,166 in the first four months of 2011.
The numbers were different, but CIHPRESS identified a similar trend.
So no matter how you count it, and no matter the protestations of the Castro dictatorship's apologists, nothing has changed in Cuba. | <urn:uuid:625831c9-a669-4d2c-b0b0-dfe7eaaccc1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/2012/05/cuba-human-rights-group-reports-402-arrests-in-april.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930389 | 179 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The main focus of this study is the help students learn to love God and deepen their relationship and fellowship with Him. Progressing through this study, we show how God and Christ have EXACTLY the same attributes in their character and LOVE for us as people. This essential study helps students strengthen and repair their spiritual foundationsn before they try to discover who they are in Christ." This exciting new 7th, 8th, or 9th grade Bible Curriculum deliberately focuses on some of the less familiar stories and events in the Bible to give students a new appreciation of our loving God. Artwork, line drawings, different ways of answering questions, and suggested activities intermingled with inductive Bible study will keep students refreshed, interested and motivated! The Teacher's Guide is essential to help parents present fresh new ideas, and the Student Workbook includes reflection or journal pages to help students organize and record their new appreciation of our amazing creator and our God. Each lesson begins with beautiful artist's rendition of the face of someone in an Unreached People Group. Also included is a brief description of their life, location maps, and prayer opportunities that introduce and broaden the understanding of each teacher and student to needs of people groups who don't yet know about Christ.
- Type: Paperback (Teacher's Guide)
- Category: > Home Schooling
- ISBN / UPC: 9781930547360/1930547366
- Publish Date: 12/1/2001
- Item No: 145144
- Vendor: Deeper Roots Publications | <urn:uuid:07376f75-aeb4-4b49-88c7-8faaf42c6752> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.c28.com/products/books-home-schooling-discovering-our-amazing-god-145144/?iadid=sn-booksbible-homeschool-subject-biblecurriculum | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945797 | 314 | 2.6875 | 3 |
From: Wolf Blitzer/CNN White House Correspondent
Subject: Preview of President Clinton's speech on race relations
President Bill Clinton is planning to announce a year-long dialogue with the American people on race relations, sources tell CNN.
Clinton will use the occasion of his commencement address Saturday at the University of California at San Diego to begin that dialogue.
For weeks, his aides have said he hopes that improving race relations in the United States will prove to be one of his legacies. As a son of the once-segregated South, the president sees himself as well-positioned to lead this effort.
Before leaving Washington Friday night for San Diego, the president is planning to announce a seven-member advisory board that will help him formulate his proposals. Sources tell CNN that Duke University professor John Hope Franklin will be one of those advisers. The panel, the sources say, will include three whites, two blacks, one Hispanic, and one Asian.
In recent months, the president has often spoken of the changing demographics of the U.S. He's pointed out that large numbers of recent immigrants have come from more than 100 countries.
In addition, he's planning to participate over the course of the coming year in four town meetings on race in different parts of the country.
White House officials insist the president is not organizing another Kerner Commission on race in America. In 1968, the Kerner Commission concluded there were two societies in the United States, "one black, one white, separate and unequal."
Says one senior White House official: "This is not Kerner II. This is Clinton I."
Copyright © 1997 AllPolitics All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this information is provided to you. | <urn:uuid:1fc6f14a-effa-49a8-9d5e-3462d4225e06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/06/11/email/race/index.html?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962483 | 353 | 2 | 2 |
By Erme Catino
STOWE, Vt. — “It’s like kicking the pope out of the f’ing Vatican,” says Chuck Waskuch, a photographer and local resident, of the big news here: The Shed Restaurant & Brewery, a renowned ski bum watering hole of the past 46 years, was recently forced out of their property. Naturally, they went out with a bang.
Founded as The Shed Restaurant and Brewery, in 1965, the physical location and property preceded the establishment in local legend. In the 1800s, the building housed Fosters Cider Mill, a place where farmers would bring their apples on their way to church, and picked up their “hard” or fresh cider the following week. The cider house transformed into Camp Idletyme—a variety store, gas station, and hostel where, in the late 30s, a young Sepp Ruschp ran a tennis camp. Sepp, who was also responsible for establishing the Stowe Ski School and the nation’s first ski patrol, would later become president of the Mt. Mansfield Company.
Enter two ski instructors, Ken Strong and Ted Ross, in ’65. They transformed the then-neglected building and opened The Shed Pub. Strong bought out Ross in 1967, and The Shed took off. “Around that time there were really no other places for skiers to après, only the Hob Knob,” says Howie Faircloth of Green Mountain Distillers. “Kenny just may be responsible for the après ski culture in Stowe.”
A devastating fire, in 1994, briefly halted The Shed. But they re-opened with new vigor, featuring their now renowned handcrafted ales, and re-constructed the pub with the original post and beam design.
The Shed appeared to flourish, but behind the scenes owners Ken and Kathy Strong were burdened with financial woes, and five years ago were forced to sell the building to alleviate debt. The couple sold to a private investor, Bill Davis, who also donated a substantial amount of money to help rebuild the pub following the fire. Davis may have helped The Shed then, but it seems that he has different visions for the building now. It all came down to business in the end, and while for some The Shed may be a bottom line investment, for many Stowe ski locals it was home away from home.
The Strongs are currently negotiating for a new restaurant and pub—they still own The Shed name and their tasty brews—but nothing is confirmed yet. What is certain is that the original location will be greatly missed. However, as Kathy notes, “The Shed is all about the people, it was the culture that made this place. Everyone at one point had a job there.” Even Chuck Waskuch washed dishes years ago prior to the fire and was hoping to retire and finish right where he started, back in the kitchen. “It really is a travesty,” says Kim Brown, another Stowe local. “The Shed was the soul and spirit of the ski community here.”
With The Shed having to close their doors, they certainly did so in style. Much like the fiery event that shut them down in ’94, on Monday, Oct. 17, bands took over the dining room and Mountain Ales poured out of the taps until they went dry. Multiple generations of the greater Stowe ski community were in attendance.
I can’t recall a powder day where I didn’t visit The Shed and salute to the snow gods… and many cold, packed granular days for that matter. It is where I met the older crowd, the guys who showed me the ropes around the mountain. I’m not sure what a powder day is going to feel like when I can’t head down the road at the end of the day, talk with Chris Strong behind the bar, and listen to roots reggae while my mind wanders through the ski stickers on the roof reminiscing of the day’s bounty. I wish the Strongs the very best, and I think I speak for all skiers and riders who’ve visited them there, and hope they find a new location very soon.
Add a comment | <urn:uuid:56056f8c-1c19-4c56-82e9-27890a42c1cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.powdermag.com/photos/a-tribute-to-the-shed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975363 | 895 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Back in March, crowds of people gathered outside the Supreme Court building to proclaim their support for or opposition to the Affordable Care Act.
Stakeholders on one side of the political spectrum touted the law's current and future benefits, while stakeholders on the other side called for a complete repeal of the legislation.
But despite the heated rhetoric, experts note that one component of the health reform law has had a steady stream of support from across the political spectrum: health IT.
Health IT in Health Care Reform
About a year before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, President Obama took one of his first steps toward reforming the U.S. health care system by signing the 2009 federal economic stimulus package. The package's HITECH Act authorizes Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments for health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems.
Janet Marchibroda, chair of the Health IT Initiative for the Bipartisan Policy Center's Health Project, said that the HITECH Act -- and particularly the EHR incentive programs -- "really laid the foundation for a number of the delivery system and payment reforms that are addressed in the health reform law." She added that the HITECH Act and the health reform law "share common goals around improving quality, improving cost effectiveness and even improving access to care."
To achieve these goals, the Affordable Care Act relies on several initiatives that have a strong health IT component. For example, health IT plays a role in provisions of the reform law related to the creation of state health insurance exchanges and accountable care organizations.
States Building IT Infrastructure for Health Insurance Exchanges
To build the statewide health insurance exchanges mandated by the reform law, states will need to invest in IT infrastructure. According to an interactive map from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 15 states as of mid-April had established a health insurance exchange and three additional states had plans to do so.
A January report from the National Conference of State Legislatures found that state officials are prioritizing efforts to establish insurance exchanges to meet the January 2013 deadline for having some infrastructure in place.
Laura Tobler, program director of NCSL's Health Program, said in an email, "States will need upgrades to their existing Medicaid eligibility systems as well as new information technology systems to support exchange functions. Some states are looking at or may have already solicited subcontractors to upgrade or build the necessary IT system[s]."
Tobler added that establishing the exchanges will require overcoming certain IT-related challenges, such as outdated existing state IT systems, the cost of developing new IT infrastructure and the timeline for completing work on the exchanges.
New York state Sen. Kemp Hannon (R) -- chair of the state Senate Standing Committee on Health -- said that health insurance exchanges will need to have a strong digital infrastructure to allow state computer systems to communicate with federal and county systems about Medicaid eligibility and other issues. "There's an immense amount of software development that's needed," Hannon said.
How Supreme Court Ruling Could Affect Insurance Exchanges
According to Hannon, the Supreme Court's consideration of the health reform law hasn't stopped New York from moving forward with its health insurance exchange. He said, "People in New York, we're tending to proceed, without worrying about the details of the Supreme Court decision."
Although a ruling against the reform law might affect federal funding for state health insurance exchanges, Hannon said, "We won't know until we see the decision." He added, "This is all part of the great mystery of the Supreme Court."
Tobler said that if the high court struck down the reform law, states likely would face a range of options for how to maintain -- or unwind -- their progress on health insurance exchanges. "Continuing to work a state-based exchange or beginning that work would be options for states to consider," she said.
ACOs To Leverage Health IT for Care Coordination
The health reform law's ACO program offers incentives for groups of medical professionals who provide every aspect of a patient's care. If ACOs are able to reduce costs, CMS will reward the providers with a portion of the savings.
According to Marchibroda, effective ACOs should make it possible for all members of a patient's care team to access information about a patient. She added that patients also should be able to participate in their care through online patient portals, personal health records or other tools.
"In order to achieve the outcomes in quality and cost effectiveness, accountable care organizations need to be very well-connected with the patient, not just during the visit, but between visits," Marchibroda said.
Jennifer Covich Bordenick, CEO of the eHealth Initiative, said, "Accountable care organizations are all about looking at data to improve care. And you can't look at data unless you have data. And you can't have data unless you have an infrastructure that collects it and analyzes it. And that's really what health information technology does, it gives you a platform to look at the information about patients, and it gives doctors the mechanism to look at data about their patients and figure out how to use it and improve care."
How Supreme Court Ruling Could Affect ACOs
Marchibroda said that a Supreme Court ruling against the health reform law would not put the brakes on the health care industry's movement toward accountable care. She noted that several major health insurers -- as well as smaller, local health plans -- are funding their own accountable care initiatives that are similar to the health reform law's ACO program. Marchibroda said she thinks those initiatives will continue, regardless of how the high court rules.
"I believe there is consensus across folks both in the private sector and the public sector, across the payer community and the provider community ... that the current trajectory on health care is unsustainable, in terms of cost," she said.
Covich Bordenick noted that many successful health care organizations -- such as Geisinger Health System -- already have ACO-like qualities.
She said, "This is the way that we've been moving before health care reform and it's going to be the way that we continue to move, because it's really going to be the only way to control costs."
Carla Smith -- executive vice president of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society -- said that no matter how the high court rules, health care organizations will continue to "harness the power of information technology to realize improvement in care."
Reform Law Ruling Could Create Confusion Around Meaningful Use Program
According to Smith, the Supreme Court ruling will not affect the meaningful use program because the 2009 HITECH Act is an entirely separate piece of legislation from the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Marchibroda noted that the HITECH Act recently celebrated its three-year anniversary and that implementation already is well under way. She added that numerous health care providers already are participating in the meaningful use program and that should continue.
However, if the Supreme Court rules against the health reform law, Marchibroda said, "I think our biggest issue is going to be confusion." Some health care providers might not fully understand that a ruling against the health reform law would not dismantle the meaningful use program, she noted. "So it requires education and communication about the program," she said.
Covich Bordenick said there is a lot of nervousness and anxiety in the health care industry, noting that people are waiting to see whether the Supreme Court will strike down the health reform law. However, she added, "I think that what we're going to find is that even if it is struck down, these people are still going to make decisions and still buy EHRs."
Implications for Health IT Bipartisanship
Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the health reform law, experts predict that health IT will continue to be a bipartisan issue.
According to Covich Bordenick, health IT has a long history of support from both sides of the aisle. She said, "President [George W.] Bush was pivotal in the national drive for health IT with the establishment of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, and President Obama has continued to build on this potential and development with the HITECH legislation."
She added that there is bipartisan support for a transition to a health care payment system that rewards efficiency and quality. She said, "Health IT is fundamental to this mission, and both Republicans and Democrats recognize that."
Even with all of the heated debate over the Affordable Care Act, Smith says that she doesn't think the long-standing bipartisanship of health IT is in jeopardy. "The support for health IT on both sides of the aisle continues to be strong," she said, adding that such support "has been unaffected by the discussions and the debates around the health reform law."
Smith said, "Members of both parties get it. They absolutely understand that health care needs to be transformed in this nation. They may have very different ideas about how to achieve that transformation, but everybody agrees that the system as it currently works needs to change." | <urn:uuid:8f85cd7e-7d2e-4465-94bb-26786c7a2726> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ihealthbeat.org/features/2012/high-court-ruling-not-expected-to-impair-health-it.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965697 | 1,855 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol. Wipe the wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking and squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence and clarity.
Ice-proof your windows with vinegar.
Frost on its way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water and spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they'll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water, preventing the water from freezing.
Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray! Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors and rub it in with a paper towel. The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber.
Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield and wipe if off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.
De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key and the lock and the problems solved.
Source: Sent to me by a friend who lives in Michigan
By Bobbie G from Rockwall, TX
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Shelter working hard to limit euthanasia
Published: Friday, January 25, 2013 at 4:20 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, January 25, 2013 at 4:20 p.m.
A light-brown pit bull named Winny was featured along with the euthanasia list that Alachua County Animal Services emailed out to rescue groups on Jan. 19. Winny's photo was accompanied by a short explanation of her history and what she's like.
Every day, Animal Services sends an email to organizations like Gainesville Pet Rescue about the animals scheduled for euthanization at the county shelter in hopes the organizations are able to take them in and find a permanent home for them, said Vernon Sawyer, the county's Animal Services director. Winny was set to receive a lethal injection soon — until the Alachua County Humane Society took her in a few days later.
But the rescue groups don't always have the space for another homeless pet, and some of the animals pictured in those emails aren't as lucky as Winny.
For 10 years, the county shelter and area organizations like Gainesville Pet Rescue have collaborated in their efforts to end needless animal euthanasia in Alachua County.
They've successfully reduced the shelter's euthanasia rate over the past decade but still haven't reached their zero percent goal.
The shelter euthanizes animals that are terminally ill or too aggressive to be adopted.
But when they have more animals than space or resources, the shelter must sometimes euthanize homeless pets that would otherwise be adoptable.
Animal Services has to accept any animals brought through its doors, while local no-kill rescue groups can refrain from taking in more animals if they don't have room. The euthanization of these surplus animals are what these groups are working together to stop.
"We all have the same mission. We just approach it differently," Sawyer said. "This is all of us coming together — working together — to save animals' lives."
In 2000, 8,063 dogs and cats were euthanized because of a lack of homes for them, according to a report on pet overpopulation in Alachua County that Sawyer provided to The Sun. By the end of June 2012, the number of deaths had been reduced by 79 percent.
There were fewer than 1,150 euthanasias in 2012, and Alachua County now has the highest live release rate in the South for animals, Sawyer said.
Euthanasias were reduced by close to 50 percent in the last year, Sawyer said. The local success has attracted interest from grant programs, and Animal Services is applying for a couple of grants that could help it and other community organizations better manage issues such as feral cat populations.
This year, the shelter is striving to overcome a challenge that hinders its ability to save more homeless pets from euthanasia: direct adoptions.
While rescue groups take in many of its animals and care for them until they find their "forever homes," the county has a difficult time getting people to adopt pets directly from the shelter.
Sawyer emphasized the need to educate people to adopt — not shop for — a new feline or canine companion, especially since shelter animals can carry a stigma among pet-seekers.
"Just because you get them from a shelter doesn't mean that there's something wrong with them," Sawyer said.
Sawyer has adopted a few pets housed there, including a German shepherd named Maggie who turned out to be what he calls the best dog he's ever had.
To attract more adopters to the shelter, Sawyer has asked the Alachua County Commission to give Animal Services more flexibility in its fee schedule. Adoption fees usually range from $75 for cats to $85 for dogs, although pets that have been there for extended periods of time can be adopted at a reduced rate of $33 and $45, respectively.
If given more flexibility, the department could more easily organize adoption events with reduced fees to encourage people to bring home a furry friend. This would be useful when the shelter is close to capacity and needs to move animals out quickly to make more room and avoid euthanizing otherwise adoptable pets.
Healthy animals are less likely to be euthanized now, but the animals that have difficult, non-terminal illnesses are harder to manage, said Amanda Burks, executive director of the Alachua County Humane Society. Sick animals must be cared for long enough to complete their medical treatment before they can be adopted — an expensive undertaking that rescue groups and the shelter can't always handle.
About 95 percent of the animals the Humane Society cares for come from the shelter, Burks said. People thinking about adopting an animal should consider the financial responsibility and time constraints that come with an adorable new pet, since those are the two main reasons people return animals to the Humane Society.
"We joke a lot here that it's like having a baby," she said. But it's true, and people should be prepared to make that commitment and seek out local resources like low-cost veterinary clinics for help, she said.
Sawyer suggested the county shelter could host a Black Cat Friday event or a $14-fee Valentine's Day special to increase adoptions. It also could offer free or reduced fees for older pets, which are harder to get adopted than kittens or puppies.
In July of last year, the shelter participated in a local adoption event where people could adopt pets for a $5 fee. That day, 183 shelter animals found new homes.
"To walk in the kennels and not see dogs was beautiful," Sawyer said. "We're not far off from that reality."
More flexible rates can help. Research shows that adopting a pet with a lower fee doesn't mean it will go to an owner who provides worse care than one adopted by a family that paid a higher price, said Dr. Julie Levy, a veterinarian and director of the Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida.
Lower adoption fees make people who've been open to the idea of getting a pet decide to do it that day, she said.
"It just is a call to action, and it really works," Levy said. "And that's what we need. We need to get these pets out of the shelter and into a home as quickly as possible."
Other groups have tried different marketing tactics to improve shelter adoptions that have become tried-and-true tactics in other communities, and fee flexibility would allow the shelter to implement some of them locally.
"Our shelter director just needs to be empowered to make those decisions quickly," Levy said.
Getting pets adopted straight from the county shelter is more cost-effective and better for the animals, which don't have to spend more weeks or months in a rescue facility instead of a permanent home, she said.
The county shelter used to adopt out twice as many animals as it does now, partly because working with rescue groups allowed more animals to be shifted to their facilities and foster homes rather than directly to permanent families.
Although it may lose money in the short term by charging lower fees, in the long term the shelter will save money because it won't have to continue paying for those animals' care, Levy said.
For each animal to come into the shelter, be cared for, and either be adopted or euthanized, it costs at least $150, she said. Every extra day an animal stays there saps further funding and resources.
Increasing adoptions at the shelter will be a primary focus this coming year, Levy said. Not all of the adoption strategies the shelter and other groups try will work. Levy expects some ideas to fail.
"But if we're not creative, we're not going to be saving more lives," she said.
Contact Morgan Watkins at 338-3103 or email@example.com.
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Oberleutnant (later Major)
1000+ Combat Sorties
ASSIGNED COMBAT AIRCRAFT:
Heinz Bär learned to fly gliders as a teenager. After the Hitler and the National Socialists came to power, Bär entered the German's clandestine pilot training program that would soon provide pilots for the airline Lufthansa and the air arm Luftwaffe. Bär enlisted in the Luftwaffe and following advanced training was accepted as an Non-Commissioned Officer Pilot.
As World War II began in Europe, Heinz Bär held the rank of Unteroffizer (or Corporal) with the 1. Staffel, I Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 which flew the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighters. Feldwebel (or Technical Sergeant) Bär downed his first enemy aircraft, an American-made French Armee de L' Air Curtiss Hawk 75A fighter over Weissenberg, Germany on September 25, 1939. During the Battle of Britain, he was the Luftwaffe's top scoring NCO pilot with a total of 17 kills during that period. He had acquired 27 aerial victories by July 2, 1941 and was commissioned a Leutnant (or 2nd Lieutenant) plus awarded the Ritterkreuz (or Knight's Cross).
Leutnant Bär became the Gruppenkommandeur of IV/JG 51 as the unit transferred to the East on July 27, 1941 attached to JG 53 "Pik As", to join the invasion of the Soviet Union. Lt. Bär flew the Bf 109F during this period.
Oberleutant (1st Lieutenant) Bär was awarded the Eichenlaub (or Oak Leaves) to his Ritterkreuz following his 56th victory on August 14, 1941. On November 24, 1941, after the death of Kommodore Werner Mölders, JG 51 became the "Mölders" Geschwader. On February 16, 1942, Bär was awarded the Schwertern (or Swords) to his Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub plus he was promoted to Hauptmann (or Captain) after his 90th aerial victory.
Hauptmann Bär transferred to the Mediterranean Front to become the Gruppenkommandeur of I/JG 77 "Herzas" on May 1, 1942. He flew the Bf 109F and later the Bf 109G models. The strain of constant battle and knowledge of inevitable defeat of Axis forces in the Mediterranean later caused the stressed-out Bär to be relieved from command back to Germany in disgrace.
Following his recuperation, Hauptmann Bär was soon assigned to Reich's Defense duties with II/JG 1 "Oesau" to fly the heavily armed Focke-Wulf Fw 190A fighter as the Allied bombing campaign gathered momentum. He was eventually promoted to the rank of Major and the position of Gruppenkommandeur of II/JG 1. Bär gained his 200th aerial victory on April 22, 1944. On the sortie in which he downed his 200th aerial victory, Major Bär did not fly one of his own assigned Fw 190As but flew the now famous Fw 190A-7 "Red 23". Bär would be credited with 21 heavy bombers to his Defense of the Reich tally by the end of the war.
In June 1944, Bär was promoted to Oberstleutnant (or Lieutenant Colonel) and transferred again to assume the position of Geschwaderkommodore of JG 3 "Udet".
In January 1945, Bär became the Kommandeur of Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 2, an advanced training unit for the Messerschmitt Me 262A jet pilots at Lechfeld, Germany. III/EJG 2 was soon transformed into an operational fighter unit. Bär downed 13 enemy bombers and fighters while he served with III/EJG 2. On April 23, 1945, Bär joined Generalleutnant (or Major General) Adolf Galland's Jagdverband 44, the so-called "Squadron of Aces" or "Squadron of Outcasts", for the last days of the war in Europe. When Galland was wounded, Bär took over command of the unit on April 26, 1945. With JV 44, he flew the prototype Me 262A-1a/U1 extra heavily armed with six cannon including two 20mm MG 151s, two 30mm MK 103s and two 30mm MK 108s. He downed his last three victories, all Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, with JV 44. Bär ended the war with the rank of Oberst (or full Colonel).
Postwar, Heinz Bär would eventually become an aviation consultant. In 1957, while performing aerobatics in a light plane on the anniversary date of his 200th aerial victory, Heinz Bär was killed instantly when he suddenly spun in from a low altitude.
REMARKS: Heinz Bär is the 8th ranking air "Ace" of all time. He fought on every German front throughout the entire duration of World War II in Europe and Africa. His 16 aerial victories acquired while he flew the Me 262A place him as the 2nd ranking jet ace of WWII - Oberleutnant Kurt Welter downed 20+ enemy aircraft while he flew the Arado Ar 234B-2n, Me 262A-1a and Me 262B-1a nightfighters with "Kommando Welter" and 10./Nachtjagdgeschwader 11. While fighting on every front and flying just about every type of German fighter, Heinz Bär was shot down 18 times and wounded on many occasions.
NOTE: Almost all of Heinz Bär's assigned combat aircraft were numbered "Lucky 13", as his own preference regardless of his position within a respective unit.
Compiled by Rocky Gooch
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Issued in partnership with Valhalla Wilderness Watch
If you did not like the negotiations that signed away two-thirds of British Columbia's (BC) Great Bear Rainforest for first time industrial logging of priceless ancient temperate rainforests, you will want to know that something even worse is happening
in BC, Canada's Inland Temperate Rainforest, home of the world's only mountain caribou.
These special caribou are totally dependent upon large areas of intact
old-growth forest for their survival. But they are critically endangered and
declining rapidly, with only about 1,800 animals left. The reason is that there
has been too much logging and road building in their habitat.
The caribou spend most of the year at high elevations, but twice each year they
must descend to the valley bottoms to find shelter and food in the lush inland
temperate rainforest. It is critical to their survival. This forest type
contains ancient cedar trees commonly over 500 years old, and a spectacular
array of rare and endangered lichens and plants. The cedar trees are storing
huge amounts of carbon. They are needed to help protect the planet from
worsening global warming.
Under Canada's "Species at Risk Act", the Province of British Columbia is
required to create a plan to save the mountain caribou. After a four year
planning process, the province is late filing the plan with the federal
government. Over 50 scientists have signed a petition saying that the previous
draft plan would not save the mountain caribou, because it protected too little
old-growth forest and relied heavily upon killing predators. The scientists said
the first priority in the plan should be legislated, full protection of all
old-growth caribou forest habitat. Motorized recreation and recreational development in
mountain caribou habitat must be aggressively cut back.
Environmental groups have been waiting for the release of the final draft plan,
expecting to have an opportunity to make final comments on it. Instead, they
have learned that the agency in charge of the planning, the Species at Risk
Coordination Office (SARCO), released the plan a month ago only to selected
"stakeholders" who had to sign a confidentiality agreement. The agency is now
conducting backroom negotiations between the timber industry, winter
recreationists and businesses, and environmental groups ForestEthics and
Wildsight. Although ForestEthics and Wildsight are supposed to be representing the whole environmental sector, and are networking with some environmental groups, many
other environmental groups in BC know nothing about it.
If the past is any guide, the likely outcome will be unrepresentative,
foundation based environmental organizations compromising away vast areas of
intact ancient temperate rainforest for vague promises that industrial logging
will be "ecosystem based" or some other such nonsense. Prompt global citizen response is needed to continue advocating to end ancient forest logging.
I do not wish to receive occasional
short notifications of new action alerts (~3 a month)
In addition to new action alerts,
inform me of major forest and climate policy developments (~2/month), and provide
original environmental analysis (~2/month)
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Mountain caribou need unlogged old-growth temperate rainforest habitat
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(Image from Google Earth)
As a jaded observer of the livestock industry, I just sighed when I learned the scale of the current salmonella-tainted egg recall: 380 million eggs, distributed under 10 different brands in 17 different states, all from a single producer — Iowa-based Wright County Farms. Another day, another industrial-ag gaffe imperiling the health of millions.
USA Today reports that as many as 1,300 people have already been sickened by the tainted eggs. According to a recent GAO report, companies recover only about 36 percent of targeted products in a typical recall. That means that literally millions of people stand just an undercooked egg or an unwashed hand away from a nasty case of salmonella.
But then William Neuman’s New York Times piece hipped me to the name of the owner of Wright County Farms: one Austin “Jack” DeCoster. That’s when my sigh became a gasp.
(Lewiston, Maine Sun-Journal)Jack DeCoster is one of the most reviled names in industrial agriculture. I first heard of him back in 2007, when I visited Hardin County, Iowa, for a story on the ravages of industrial hog production. One day, as a group of disgruntled farmers gave me a tour of their CAFO-scarred county, they muttered darkly about DeCoster. They said he had been run out of Maine for the egregious practices of his vast egg factories, and that he had set up shop in Iowa with massive, highly polluting hog factories. He was cited as the owner of several operations as we passed foul-smelling concentrations of hog buildings, sometimes as many as eight plunked down together in a cluster, each containing thousands of hogs and each draining mass quantities of waste into a single fetid “lagoon.”
Looks like he still is. A Google Earth search by Grist of Wright County Egg Productions’ address turned up the satellite image above, of four complexes with a dozen massive, 200-meter-long sheds and a manure lagoons.
DeCoster has been making headlines for more than a decade. In 1996, the New York Times described him like this:
For more than three decades, Jack DeCoster has been an emblem of hard work and ambition in this little farming town, a self-made multimillionaire who started out with 125 hens and created an agricultural empire: Five million hens producing 23 million brown and white eggs a week.
But that’s not what landed him in the paper of record. Get this:
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration last month fined Mr. DeCoster $3.6 million for violations in the workplace and at workers’ housing. Federal investigators said they found workers, many of whom are immigrants from Latin America, handling manure and dead chickens with their bare hands, and living amid rats and cockroaches in the company’s trailer park.
Robert B. Reich, the then-Labor Secretary, denounced DeCoster Egg Farms as “an agricultural sweatshop,” where “the workers are treated like animals,” the Times reported.
DeCoster’s reputation hasn’t improved since. By the mid-’90s, Decoster had already set up shop in Iowa. He opened Wright County Eggs in 1996, and also jumped into the state’s then fast-growing hog-production market. His vast hog factories in Iowa quickly ran afoul of authorities. In 1999, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled against DeCoster Farms in its appeal of a $59,000 fine for “variety of water pollution and animal waste control violations at six separate hog facilities in Wright, Hamilton, and Hardin counties in north central Iowa.” The complaint had originated in 1996, and DeCoster had dragged out the process with a series of appeals.
By 2000, he was back in trouble again. The Iowa Attorney General declared him the state’s very first “habitual offender” of water-quality laws, slapping him with a $150,000 fine.
In 2002, DeCoster’s Wright County egg operation made news in a particularly unconscionable way. Reported the Times:
Five illegal Mexican immigrants who say they were raped while working at an Iowa egg producer have agreed to pursue criminal charges, their lawyer said. The women are working with the Wright County prosecutor. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit in August against the women’s employer, DeCoster Farms, saying three former supervisors attacked them and threatened to have them fired or killed if they did not submit.
The company later settled the suit for a cool $1.5 million. The payment of fines, it seems, is a mere cost of doing business for DeCoster — and an ongoing one. In January, reports the Sun-Journal, his Maine Contract Farming operations were fined $36,000 for 10 counts of animal abuse.
The outrage here is not that Wright County Eggs has released nearly half a billion tainted eggs into the market, exposing untold numbers of people to sickness. DeCoster’s record of abuse — of people and the environment — has taught anyone who’s paying attention to expect such things from his operations.
The outrage is that regulatory authorities at both the state and national levels have allowed him to continue hiring workers and producing food as violations piled up. | <urn:uuid:7f24d257-7d06-458b-af91-1d285e4d9e95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://grist.org/article/food-a-habitual-offender-unleashes-nearly-half-a-billion-salmonella-t/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96718 | 1,130 | 1.851563 | 2 |
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To learn more about how to help stressed students,
click to go to online training.
Staff members of CWC are available to consult with students, faculty, administrators, and colleagues in the university community on issues related to the emotional and psychological well-being of individual students or other members of the university community. Staff members also are available to campus departments, agencies, organizations, task forces, and committees to address overall issues affecting the climate of life on campus.
Please call 352-392-1575 if you would like to consult with a CWC staff member.
Crisis and Emergency Resource Center (CERC)
Description of Services: The Crisis and Emergency Resource Center is located in Peabody Hall [adjacent to Criser Hall]. The CERC is a service of the Counseling and Wellness Center and provides emergency walk-in crisis stabilization and a range of consultation and training services for UF faculty and staff. Faculty and Staff may contact the CERC by calling 352-392-1575 and asking for the CERC receptionist.
- Emergency walk-in consultation and counseling for students accompanied by faculty or staff
- Phone consultation for faculty and staff related to students exhibiting troubled, disturbing or disruptive behaviors
Click here for video presentation
Scheduling for departmental or group trainings including:
- QPR Suicide Prevention Training
- Working with the Troubled or Disruptive Student
- Small group workshops on the Faculty 911 Guide
- Developing a Departmental or Group Intervention Plan
- Workshops on Effective Listening and Helping Skills for Faculty and Staff
- Guest classroom lectures on topics related to Mental Health and the College Student and Crisis Intervention in Higher Education
- For further information call the CERC at 352-392-1575 [ask for the CERC receptionist] or come by Peabody Hall.
Following self-help information regarding faculty and staff resources is available at our self-help library:Faculty and Staff Resources | <urn:uuid:90369f60-f59d-47ce-afa4-a9c27d496fce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/outreach-faculty-and-staff-consult--.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911584 | 408 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The image of alchemists as defrocked wizards and full-time frauds is not quite accurate. Most of them were, in fact, highly spiritual men whose quest to transmute one substance into another was closer to mysticism than modern chemistry.
For thousands of generations, from the earliest days of the cave dweller to Star Wars technology, a belief in magick has served the human race. And its practitioners maintain that it will be as powerful and as meaningful in the New Age.
Merlin, the magus who served as a tutor to young Arthur Pendragon before he became king, has become almost universally known as the mentor to all those youth seeking wisdom, spiritual values, and material prosperity. Although scholars tell those fascinated by the legend of Camelot that Merlin, Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, are fictional creations, there are still those who seek out their graves.
Among certain Hispanic and Native American cultures of the Southwest, the practice of Burjeria is feared as a manifestation of evil. Those who use rituals, spells, incantations, potions, and powders to work ill against others are known as brujas (witches), who are primarily female in number (the male witch is known as a brujo).
Everyone who knows the traditional story of Christmas has heard of the three magi who followed the star in the East and who traveled afar to worship at the manger wherein lay the baby Jesus (c. 6 B.C.E.–c.
According to the U.S. Census, the number of individuals professing to be Wiccans rose from the 8,000 reported in 1990 to 134,000 self-proclaimed witches in 2001.
Those who follow the Wiccan path are a diverse group of individualists who pride themselves on being members of a religious philosophy that is flexible and adaptive to the needs of contemporary society. Athough there is the sometimes fiery debate as to the true historical roots of the faith, most Wiccans believe that none of them can dictate to any other just exactly what it is that they must believe.
At the time of his death on March 10, 1985, Dr. Francis Israel Regardie was considered by many occultists to be the last living adept of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a magical tradition that had numbered among its members William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), and Dion Fortune.
The curandero works among the Hispanic people of California, Texas, Mexico, and many areas of South America as a master of the many skills involved in folk healing. Whether male or female, they acquire their abilities through two basic methods: By serving as an apprentice under the guidance of an experienced curandero or by receiving a spiritual vision that gives the knowledge upon them.
Since the Middle Ages, witchcraft, the "Old Religion," or Wicca, the "ancient craft of the wise," all of which are different names for the same nature-based religion, has been unjustly, and for the most part purposely, interwoven with Satanism until, in popular thought, the two comprise a tapestry of confusion and misidentification. Wicca, in its contemporary expression, has evolved into what its followers term "neo-paganism," a concept reviewed in another section.
Followers of the order of Italian witchcraft known as Stregeria claim that their tradition has maintained an unbroken lineage that goes back before the days of the Roman Empire.
Before gathering in the forest for a Sabbat, many witches applied "flying ointment" on their bodies. According to ancient lore, this ointment enables the witch to fly through the air, often accompanying the goddess Diana through the night sky.
In the period from about 1450 to 1750, somewhere around 40,000 to 60,000 individuals were tried as witches and condemned to death in central Europe. Of that number, as high as three-quarters of the victims were women.
In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII (1432–1492) so deplored the spread of witchcraft in Germany that he issued the papal bull Summis Desiderantes Affectibus and authorized two trusted Dominican inquistors, Henrich Institoris (Kramer) (c. 1430–1505) and Jacob Sprenger (c. | <urn:uuid:375b9ad7-2cc7-45f9-b299-0b76a9ad85d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unexplainedstuff.com/Magic-and-Sorcery/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969289 | 898 | 2.015625 | 2 |
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An article from New Journal of Physics on antibubbles.
An interesting site discussing traffic fluid dynamics!
A company collaborating in university research projects, mainly looking at the effect of blast shockwaves on structures. Offers modeling software and video clips.
Explanation of Bernoulli's equation, which describes steady, non-turbulent fluid flow.
A short introduction to laminar flow, a fluid dynamics term.
Horst L. Stormer (1949 - ) received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1998 along with Robert B. Laughlin and Daniel C. Tsui for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged ...
Daniel C. Tsui (1939 - ) received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1998 along with Robert B. Laughlin and Horst L. Stormer for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged ...
Researchers are looking at how sound bounces of bubbles in beer. This can tell them how the fluid is moving around the bubbles and has consequences for studying volcanic eruptions or monitoring food ...
George Gabriel Stokes (1819 - 1903) is best known for his work in mathematics in particular vector analysis which has a theorem named after him (Stokes Theorem). He is also noted for his work on the ...
Essay on one aspect of quantum mechanics
Showing 31 - 40 of 94 | <urn:uuid:1b3354e4-4c38-4f73-857b-92bd1f1de44b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.physics.org/explore-results-all.asp?currentpage=4&age=0&knowledge=0&q=fluid%20mechanics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939541 | 379 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Demand response is a resource that allows end-use electric customers to reduce their electricity usage in a given time period, or shift that usage to another time period, in response to a price signal, a financial incentive, an environmental condition or a reliability signal. Demand response saves ratepayers money by lowering peak time energy usage, which are high-priced. This lowers the price of wholesale energy, and in turn, retail rates. Demand response may also prevent rolling blackouts by offsetting the need for more electricity generation and can mitigate generator market power.
Currently, demand response programs are administered by California’s three regulated investor-owned utilities: PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E. Most of the utility demand response programs target large commercial and industrial customers that are equipped with meters that are capable of measuring and reporting energy usage in one hour intervals or less.
Customers without an interval meter (essentially residential and small commercial customers) will eventually be able to participate in demand response programs as utilities’ proposals for Advanced Metering make their way through the regulatory approval and implementation processes. | <urn:uuid:6ab2abd2-09c7-4098-be23-22c1de996351> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/Templates/Default.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID=%7BD649755B-EFBE-46E1-8FC4-98E7EEB7C078%7D&NRORIGINALURL=%2FPUC%2Fenergy%2FDemand%2BResponse%2F&NRCACHEHINT=Guest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938225 | 222 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Bozeman police tell us law enforcement agencies statewide are cracking down on marijuana. Montana sits between two states that recently legalized marijuana for recreational use.
We wanted to know if local officers are concerned that relaxed regulations in Washington and Colorado could lead to an increase in marijuana moving through Montana.
Non-medical marijuana does find it's way through Montana says Deputy Police Chief Rich Mclane.
"We suspect there maybe movement of Marijuana through the state would not necessarily be legal here but maybe legal in other states."
Interstate 90 flows from Washington through Idaho and into Montana and connects with I-25 in Wyoming which is a major route for folks headed north out of Colorado.
In the November election voters in Colorado and Washington passed new laws legalizing recreational marijuana use for people over 21. In Montana any possession of marijuana with out a medical prescription is illegal said McLane.
"If you've got it and you're not supposed to have it, we remove it from you , and you get charged with a misdemeanor or felony depending just how much you have on you."
Mclane said Bozeman does regularly see illegal marijuana use, but it's not a major problem.
"Is it a huge epidemic, no, is it illegal and a problem at times absolutely."
Deputy Chief McLane said he doesn't think legalization in other states in region will change the way police enforce marijuana laws here.
"Other states around us not really impacted by law enforcements approach in this particular city."
Deputy Chief McLane said folks driving through will need to remember they'll be held to the same state law as residents. | <urn:uuid:7e86a8fc-1436-45b9-add6-bd63390b61bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/Law-enforcement-cracks-down-on-marijuana-offenders/-/14594602/17991242/-/p35vom/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967959 | 330 | 1.65625 | 2 |
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varieties of grease
...parts used to make white grease. Brown grease contains beef and mutton fats as well as hog fats. Fleshing grease is the fatty material trimmed from hides and pelts. Bone grease, hide grease, and garbage grease are named according to their origin. In some factories, food offal is used along with animal carcasses, butcher-shop scraps, and garbage from restaurants for recovery of fats.
What made you want to look up "garbage grease"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:dd07fea4-fa55-43dc-98f6-25a210a1cce7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/225596/garbage-grease | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931231 | 143 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Earlier this month, Virginia’s House of Delegates voted 62-34 to rescind its first-in-the-nation Gardasil mandate.
The 2007 state law requires pre-adolescent girls to be vaccinated before entering the sixth grade against the Human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. The law’s repeal is now before the state Senate.
Parents currently receive an “opt-in” letter explaining the benefits of the vaccine, and their daughters are not barred from attending school if they refuse.
However, the most important information parents need to make an informed decision has been missing up to now. A just-published medical risk/benefit analysis by two Canadian researchers shows why the law should never have passed in the first place.
A year after Gardasil was fast-tracked by the Food and Drug Administration, the District of Columbia and Texas followed Virginia’s lead and Gardasil became a hot-button political issue.
In the Sept. 12, 2011, Republican presidential debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann called it a “potentially dangerous drug” and said it could lead to “mental retardation.” Bachmann’s first claim was true, the second was not.
Although mental retardation is not one of the possible side-effects listed by Lucija Tomljenovic and Christopher Shaw of the University of British Columbia’s Neural Dynamics Research Group, “death, convulsions, paraesthesia, paralysis, Guillain–Barre syndrome, transverse myelitis, facial palsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, anaphylaxis, autoimmune disorders, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolisms and cervical cancers” are.
Gov. Rick Perry, whose executive order mandating Gardasil injections was later overturned by the Texas legislature, was attacked by social conservatives, who objected to what they viewed as government usurpation of their parental rights.
All true, but Tomljenovic and Shaw make a compelling medical argument that suggests Gardasil mandates are a very bad idea. For young girls and women in developed countries like the U.S., the still unknown risks of a life-threatening adverse reaction to the vaccine far outweighs the known risks of contracting the disease.
“In the Western world, cervical cancer is a rare disease with mortality rates that are several times lower than the rate of reported serious adverse reactions (including deaths) from HPV vaccination,” they write.
Last year, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch, FDA reported 26 new deaths and many more severe reactions — including seizures, blindness and paralysis — in patients receiving Gardasil injections between Sept. 2010 and Sept. 2011.
Since there are no government mandates requiring informed consent for vaccinations, it’s likely that most, if not all, of the victims were unaware that 88 percent of all cervical cancer deaths occur in Third World countries.
Tomljenovic and Shaw conclude that there’s not even enough scientific evidence that HPV vaccines prevent cervical cancer:
“At present there are no significant data showing that either Gardasil (Merck) or Cervarix (GlaxoSmithKline) can prevent any type of cervical cancer since the testing period employed was too short to evaluate long-term benefits of HPV vaccination,” they write.
Also pointing to the lack of testing, Dr. Diane Harper, a leading HPV researcher funded by Merck, has called the use of Gardasil on females under age 16 “a great big public health experiment.”
If they knew there was scant scientific evidence that HPV vaccines reduce the odds of getting cervical cancer beneath those achieved by regular Pap smears, few parents would fork over $360 for a three-shot Gardasil regimen and risk rare but possibly severe reactions.
The vaccine may make sense for some families with a history of cervical cancer, but this private decision should be made by parents in consultation with their doctors.
Certainly not by state legislators who spend $1 million annually to turn Virginia’s 11-year-olds into guinea pigs.
Barbara F. Hollingsworth is The Examiner’s local opinion editor. | <urn:uuid:2c4623fc-cf10-4753-9788-9224006167de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/299536 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954302 | 876 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Home » Pest Control Articles » How to eradicate silverfish with Avon pest control
How to eradicate silverfish with Avon pest control
You may be often offended to see your precious books and documents being conceived lavishly by silverfishes. How to get rid of silverfishes is a question raised by people around the globe. You may have tried many of the DIY methods for silverfish extermination. The insects usually cause a lot of trouble as they destroy almost all household materials. Basically the silverfishes are wingless, silvery-colored insects that are relatively small as they grow to a length of one-half inch to one inch long. They primarily dwell on damp areas like kitchen cupboards, bathroom sinks, and tubs as well as books and they can be found in other places as well. The silverfishes would feed on materials like wallpaper paste, books, papers, natural textiles and various forms of molds and fungi.
By silverfish pest control it means killing the insects, eliminating their habitats and destroying their food sources so that they won't come back. There are two options available in front of you if you want to get rid of silverfishes. You can either manage silverfish extermination using products that are available at hardware stores or you can approach a pest control company and take the help from professional silverfish exterminators. At Avon pest control, the professionals would initially make an inspection at your home before the process. They are trained in identifying the insect affected areas which is important since if you miss any area while applying the repellents, there are chances that the problem would return. Here the silverfish exterminator can give you relevant advice on how to get rid of the problem.
The basic strategy involved in exterminating silverfish is getting rid of their habitats and food sources. Fix all the leaky pipes and eliminate any stagnant water in the home and premises. It is better to ventilate closed up rooms and attics. Try to eliminate food sources like wallpaper waste and any mold or fungi in the maximum possible way. These are the silverfish pest control methods. The next step is silverfish extermination. This involves spraying insecticide around the perimeter of your home. The silverfish exterminator would spray it properly since they are trained to handle such potential hazardous chemicals.
For getting better results, hire a licensed pest control company like Avon pest control since they are experienced in handling residential, commercial, industrial and institutional pest control extermination. The pest control company would know what would bring in the desired effect and how. They would also be equipped all kind of extermination methods. | <urn:uuid:1e7e92c8-463f-413f-a4a4-41d9645067cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.avonpestcontrol.ca/eradicate-silverfish-with-avon-pest-control.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95857 | 528 | 1.6875 | 2 |
I think it was hard not to notice the creeping, and sometimes blatant change that Google is undergoing. Driven by the changes in the online ecosystem and Wall Street pressure for more growth, in an already insanely profitable and growing business, Google had to adjust its business model. No question about it.
As Google is still the prime driver for traffic with no change in sight
these profound changes are important for most of us.
Less search more services
Have you noticed the new black header? Right where previously all the different search options were located? Of course you have.
Have you noticed that prompt to sign up to Google Plus when you log out from Gmail and all other places? Of course you have.
Did you know that Google spent $213 MILLLION in 2011 to advertise its own products like Chrome and Docs. That’s quite a lot for a company that not too long ago did not believe in TV and print.
It seems like search alone is not sexy enough anymore.
Google is clearly aiming at a gaining a deeper level of search.
They have started with broad overall indexing of pages – this changed with the acquisition of ITA Software. It is clear that Google has an incentive to serve listing directly on its side, instead of giving vertical search engines affiliate revenues. It does not only keep more people directly on Google, but is also more lucrative.
After flight search it is not improbable that job search will also be served by Google in the future, too. Just give the regulators a bit of time to forget about that competition threatening ITA acquisition.
Less results more answers
If there is something the http://schema.org/ push told us, it is that Google aims to directly integrate data from third party sites. Why not save the user the click to your site when the result can already be displayed on Google, if you format your data in such a nicely structured way?
Just look at the Champions League results as an example. It won’t stop there.
Obviously, in order to serve answers Google needs much (much) more personal data, which brings us to…
Less outside more inside
Google is now an integrated company. It is integrated through many verticals leveraging its powerful AI machine. For the AI machine to learn meaningful interactions, though, it needs to be fed with gallons of data.
Important answer drivers are among others the “social spine” (Google Plus, YouTube) and location (Android, Google Maps). This is one reason these services are supported and why other services will be born to support this data collection.
These three big Google trends are important to understand in order to position your business online in such a way that you won’t be crushed between these three interests. Things you can do to increase your chances are:
- Build a brand
- Invest in user retention
- Build a platform
- Be the producer (of a great product) and not the middleman
Not only will these things improve your long term business odds overall, but they will also help your rankings.
I am asking Alexander to write another guest post for us explaining the benefits of the Rankpanel SEO insights search engine. In the meantime, you can follow Rankpanel on Twitter and read the Rankpanel Blog.
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- Small Business Internet Marketing: Where to Start | <urn:uuid:c8f98228-3a36-4108-ae30-2a0a3f5bf939> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://growmap.com/google-trends/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921142 | 908 | 1.5625 | 2 |
IPCC admits Himalayan glacier goof-upJanuary 20th, 2010 - 8:29 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Wednesday admitted it had slipped up by referring to “poorly substantiated estimates of rate of recession and date for the disappearance of Himalayan glaciers”, while the man accused of saying these glaciers would disappear by 2035 blamed the expert who had included the estimate.
Three days after the revelation that the IPCC, chaired by Rajendra Pachauri, had included unsubstantiated information in its benchmark 2007 report, the global organisation said a paragraph in it “refers to poorly substantiated estimates of rate of recession and date for the disappearance of Himalayan glaciers. In drafting the paragraph in question, the clear and well-established standards of evidence, required by the IPCC procedures, were not applied properly.”
In a statement from its chair and vice chairs and co-chairs of its working groups, the global body of over 2,500 climate scientists “regretted the poor application of well-established IPCC procedures in this instance. This episode demonstrates that the quality of the assessment depends on absolute adherence to the IPCC standards, including thorough review of ‘the quality and validity of each source before incorporating results from the source into an IPCC Report’. We reaffirm our strong commitment to ensuring this level of performance.”
Syed Iqbal Hasnain, the scientist whose 1999 statement gave rise to the goof-up, meanwhile said here Wednesday: “I have not given any date or year on the likely disappearance of Himalayan glaciers.
“The statement I gave (in 1999) — on the basis of the results being found till then — was: ‘All the glaciers in the middle Himalayas are retreating ’ — and a scientific postulation was made that all the glaciers in the central and eastern Himalayas could disappear in the next 40-50 years at their present rate of decline.”
Hasnain told IANS: “The lead author of the chapter in the IPCC 2007 report should have got this information peer reviewed before including it. If that had been done, subsequent findings would have ensured that this information was not included, because it was outdated.”
The chapter’s author, M.B. Lal, has in turn blamed Hasnain.
The 2007 report brought world attention to IPCC and that year’s Nobel Peace Prize in conjunction with former US vice president Al Gore.
Now it is facing a grave threat to its credibility.
Hasnain’s 1999 statement had made it to the British magazine New Scientist, from there to a 2005 report of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and from there to the IPCC report.
Hasnain, who has taught in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and been vice chancellor of Kozhikode University in Kerala before joining The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) as a distinguished scientist, complained: “Vested interests have targeted my research with the overall objective to malign the science of climate change.”
Saying “I have not given any date or year on the likely disappearance of Himalayan glaciers — neither in any interview nor in any of my publications in various journals”, he added: “Whatever got published in New Scientist was a journalistic assumption interpolated by the interviewer, over which I had no control. During the interview I presented the outcome of the findings on the basis of 20 years of my research till 1999.”
“I must stress that a journalistic substitution of the year 2035 was made - without my knowledge and approval - that was markedly contrary to my research supported finding of the likelihood of the central and eastern Himalaya glaciers disappearing in ‘40-50 years’,” he said.
Despite Hasnain’s clarification, the use of the alarmist assertion in the IPCC report has given a fillip to climate sceptics, who are also pointing out that Hasnain works in the same TERI that is headed by Pachauri.
For long known as India’s top glaciologist, a defensive Hasnain said Wednesday: “Can there be any doubt on the pathetic state of the Himalayan glaciers? This has been affirmed by the findings of research works, published in peer-reviewed journals after 1990s, as well as the present research work being carried out by me and my team.”
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had last October released a study on Himalayan glaciers that contradicted Hasnain. Since the revelation about the IPCC report, Ramesh has said he had also found Hasnain’s prognostication “overly alarmist, though there is no doubt that Himalayan glaciers are overall on the retreat” due to global warming.
Hasnain signed off by saying: “The detractors should note that my research speaks for itself. To buttress this, very soon I will be presenting a report on the status of Himalayan glaciers, based on research works by Indian and international scientists on Himalayan glaciers published in different peer-reviewed journals across the world.”
- Glacier goof-up scientist blames IPCC author - Jan 20, 2010
- Scientists slam IPCC blunder, chief goes mum (Roundup) - Jan 21, 2010
- Pachauri calls Indian govt. report on melting Himalayan glaciers as "voodoo science" - Jan 09, 2010
- IPCC chief goes mum on Himalayan glacier blunder - Jan 21, 2010
- Pachauri won't quit over glacier blunder (Lead) - Jan 23, 2010
- Pachauri accepts Himalayan mistake, but won't resign (Third Lead) - Jan 23, 2010
- Pachauri accepts mistake, rejects resignation (Second Lead) - Jan 23, 2010
- Pachauri concedes mistake, but in no mood to resign - Jan 23, 2010
- 'Warning on melting Himalayan glaciers wildly inaccurate' - Jan 21, 2010
- Possibility of more errors in IPCC report minimal: Pachauri - Jan 22, 2010
- Put on notice, India's Pachauri tasked with carrying out IPCC reform - Oct 20, 2010
- Pachauri too doubts if glaciers would vanish by 2035 (Lead) - Jan 18, 2010
- India will fight attempts to unseat Pachauri: Jairam Ramesh - Mar 15, 2010
- Rajendra Pachauri must quit, says Britain's ex-minister - Sep 24, 2010
- UN climate body admits goof up on Himalayan glaciers - Jan 20, 2010
Tags: adherence, climate scientists, co chairs, disappearance, eastern himalayas, global body, global organisation, goof, himalayan glaciers, intergovernmental panel on climate change, intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc, ipcc 2007 report, iqbal, New Delhi, postulation, recession, strong commitment, substantiated, vice chairs, working groups | <urn:uuid:3ab5b063-dd80-40d1-990e-90dc1055bcbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/ipcc-admits-himalayan-glacier-goof-up_100306966.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952329 | 1,469 | 1.65625 | 2 |
posted by dpm on 03/19/2011
Rising from the flatlands of southern Idaho is a bizarre granite outcrop known as City of Rocks. Though relatively off-the-radar, the region has a long history of route climbing including some very hard routes put up by Tony Yaniro in the late 1980’s. Bouldering there was slow to develop but gained momentum when the Access Fund and the Conservation Fund teamed up to purchase the nearby Castle Rocks, which became a state park in 1999. The two areas combined offer enormous potential for the bouldering that is still being developed.
Castle Rocks, Idaho offers a wealth of excellent bouldering. Photo: visitidaho.org
In 2007, James Litz made frequent trips to Castle Rocks and when the dust had settled he walked away with one of the hardest problems in the country, Warpath. Though James never offered a definitive grade on the line, V15 was speculated for many years. As time passed and Warpath remained unrepeated, its reputation for difficulty grew.
Recently, Daniel Woods, James Webb, Dave Graham and others headed to Idaho with the specific goal of repeating Warpath. Woods came away with the second ascent after two days of effort. The problem climbs out a steep Esperanza-like cave. It is over twenty moves long and reportedly links a V11 into three consecutive sections of V10. Daniel let the grade settle in at V14 and commented on his 8a scorecard: "pure resistance climbing."
Look for footage of the ascent to be released on a feature-length DPM DVD. | <urn:uuid:74e09861-4246-492c-baa8-7e3f807f96af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/daniel-woods-sends-warpath-v14 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967 | 327 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The Department of Energy has developed an extensive telecommunications infrastructure to support its diverse mission responsibilities. Currently, the Department spends more than $26 million annually to support the telecommunications component of its information technology infrastructure. Approximately $15 million is used to maintain and operate Departmentwide mission- and business-related networks, including classified and emergency communications. The Department also spends over $11 million annually on long distance telephone, Internet, and video teleconferencing services. The Department's Chief Information Officer is responsible for developing policy governing the telecommunications infrastructure. | <urn:uuid:8400dc8f-12e7-4c1f-9c9f-34603954be60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ig/downloads/telecommunicationsinfrastructure-ig-0537 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949685 | 105 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Overcoming perceived GIS resource limitations
This module (Teaching with GIS) is designed to highlight GIS concepts that may be added to many geoscience topics and exercises. In particular, we focus on using GIS at the level of introductory geoscience; however, many of the exercises and concepts may be applied in upper level courses as well. We will attempt to answer the following questions:
Do I need to be a GIS wizard to introduce GIS concepts in my courses?
Answer: No! There are numerous web-based mapping utilities, some of which are specifically designed for geoscience applications. In addition, consumer-grade GPS devices and mapping software are both cheaper and easier to learn than the professional GIS/GPS tools.
Many students new to geoscience are unfamiliar with mapping concepts that we take for granted as professional scientists. Even simple geographic and cartographic concepts can help them understand more complex GIS tasks at a later stage. The introduction of hands-on map creation/interpretation exercises and the associated terminology can greatly enhance the learning experience of the students.
Aren't the hardware and software requirements of GIS prohibitive at the introductory level?
Answer: No! There are many options that may be pursued despite resource limitations or student difficulties with computer tasks. Below are some ideas on what can be accomplished with different levels of resource availability or student background. Keep in mind that this site is focused on how we can introduce GIS within existing introductory geoscience courses:
Hardware-limited options—There is little or no access to computers/internet or GPS receivers by students and/or instructor within the classroom. The students often have access to computers and the internet in public labs or have personal computers. Faculty usually have access to the internet on their computers and may have access to some GIS software.
- Instructor generates maps for exercises/labs utilizing online resources
- Utilize traditional paper maps (e.g. geologic maps) to introduce concepts of data-driven maps
- Assign homework exercises that access online resources from student-owned or campus computer labs
Software-limited options—Some access to computers/internet and GPS receivers, but little or no GIS software for student/instructor use in or out of the classroom.
- Instructor generates maps for exercises/labs from online sources or GIS software. Note that there is GIS shareware available (e.g. GRASS (more info) ).
- GPS use in lab exercises, particulary field labs
- Shareware utilities to download GPS data to computer
- MS Excel or other software used to analyze and plot data in x-y coordinates (convert from lat/lon in GPS software)
- Manual digitization of data locations
- Paper maps or using graphics editing software
No hardware/software limitations—easy access to computers/internet, GPS receivers, and GIS software in and out of the classroom.
- All of the more limited options listed above are possible
- Student use of GIS hardware/software/data in classroom or lab
- Possibilities limited only by time for GIS within the syllabus | <urn:uuid:ede441d0-6d33-41d1-965c-15c9d72a5544> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nagt.org/sp/library/gis/GIS_Barriers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9092 | 647 | 3.296875 | 3 |
The difference between voice scramblers and voice encipherment is the scrambler works with the analog signal to transform that signal in some
way so it is unintelligible to the eavesdropper. Voice encipherment means converting the analog voice signal to digital, then applying a
cipher algorithm to that digital signal.
The earliest voice scramblers were invented before WW2 and used synchronized recordings
to add noise to a voice signal, then the decoder would subtract that same noise. Another option was to invert the frequency, changing that
frequency inversion over time. These methods of voice scrambling were not very secure and it was an inexact science. With practice an expert
listener learned to decipher much of the conversation without the aid of any mechanical devices. Also, the signal was studied and manipulated
to reverse the frequency inversion and time splicing.
The most advanced voice scramblers available in WW2 were used for conversations between Winston Churchill and
Franklin D. Roosevelt, which the Germans were able to quickly decipher. This advanced voice scrambler was a room-size device developed
by AT&T using synchronized recordings on long-playing records to add noise to the message. The receiving location would have to have
their recording precisely timed to subtract that same noise. Unfortunately, a German engineer worked on this at AT&T before the war and
then went to Germany and used his knowledge of this scrambler to help the Nazis decode the messages.
Use of radios and trench phones were notoriously unsecure for voice messages, so they were often used for enciphered communications using morse
code. A notable exception is the US using Navajo Indians in WW2, who spoke in their native language and were never deciphered by
the Japanese. By the early 1960's voice encipherment used digital technology, providing a high level of encryption.
US KY-57 Voice Encoder
US KY-28 Aircraft Voice Encoder
UK MSC-2001 Voice Encoder
See the Entire Collection of Cipher Machines
See detailed pictures of the voice scramblers.
Here are three examples of voice scramblers: the KY-57 for ground forces and the KY-28 for aircraft and the MSC-2001 voice encoders. | <urn:uuid:e2571569-f7c4-409e-a023-1739a95e49e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ciphermachines.com/voice | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958718 | 459 | 3.5 | 4 |
Research Programs and Funding
Research is at the heart of the American Cancer Society’s mission. For more than 60 years, the Society has been finding answers that save lives – from changes in lifestyle to new approaches in therapies to improving cancer patients’ quality-of-life. No single nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization in the US has invested more to find the causes and cures of cancer than the American Cancer Society. We relentlessly pursue the answers that help us understand how to prevent, detect, and treat all cancer types. We combine the world’s best and brightest researchers with the world’s largest, oldest, and most effective community-based anti-cancer organization to put answers into action.
The Society's comprehensive research program consists of extramural grants, as well as intramural research programs.
The Extramural Grants department reviews and administers both Research Grants and Health Professional Training Grants (HPTGs). HPTGs include both grants and scholarships awarded to nurses, physicians, and oncology social work professionals. As the nation's largest private, not-for-profit source of funds for scientists studying cancer, the American Cancer Society (ACS) focuses its funding on investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed proposals.
The Extramural Grant department is headed by David Ringer, PhD, MPH, National Vice President, Extramural Grants.
Intramural Research department is comprised of six programs: Epidemiology, Surveillance Research, Health Services Research, International Tobacco Control Research, the Behavioral Research Center (BRC), and the Statistics and Evaluation Center (SEC). All intramural department staff conduct applied cancer research in-house. Click the links below to learn more about each of the six programs.
The Intramural Research department is headed by Elizabeth Ward, PhD, National Vice President, Intramural Research. | <urn:uuid:e2a61602-d033-4e70-bbdc-c11934b248ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hopeontheslopes.net/acs_research | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927726 | 383 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Barely half of all adults in the United States—a record low—are currently married, and the median age at first marriage has never been higher for brides (26.5 years) and grooms (28.7), according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census data.
In 1960, 72% of all adults ages 18 and older were married; today just 51% are. If current trends continue, the share of adults who are currently married will drop to below half within a few years. Other adult living arrangements—including cohabitation, single-person households and single parenthood—have all grown more prevalent in recent decades.
The Pew Research analysis also finds that the number of new marriages in the U.S. declined by 5% between 2009 and 2010, a sharp one-year drop that may or may not be related to the sour economy.
Read the full report, Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married – A Record Low, on the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Web site. | <urn:uuid:c66ab0be-154c-40e2-b0bf-93c0e957a284> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_report_detail.aspx?id=85899367592&category=304 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946352 | 219 | 2.5 | 2 |
Bookmarks has not yet published a review of this book. We may do so in the future; in the meantime, please see the other review sources to the right and browse the information from Amazon.com below.
<DIV>Hatcher McCord is an evening news presenter who has found himself in Hell and is struggling to explain his bad fortune. He’s not the only one to suffer this fatein fact, he’s surrounded by an outrageous cast of characters, including Humphrey Bogart, William Shakespeare, and almost all of the popes and most of the U.S. presidents. The question may be not who is in Hell but who isn’t. McCord is living with Anne Boleyn in the afterlife but their happiness is, of course, constantly derailed by her obsession with Henry VIII (and the removal of her head at rather inopportune moments). One day McCord meets Dante’s Beatrice, who believes there is a way out of Hell, and the next morning, during an exclusive on-camera interview with Satan, McCord realizes that Satan’s omniscience, which he has always credited for the perfection of Hell’s torments, may be a mirageand Butler is off on a madcap romp about good, evil, free will, and the possibility of escape. Butler’s depiction of Hell is original, intelligent, and fiercely comic, a book Dante might have celebrated.</DIV> | <urn:uuid:866b4d51-f800-4881-ab38-47b3de6a95ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookmarksmagazine.com/book-review/hell/robert-olen-butler | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941315 | 302 | 1.601563 | 2 |
India and Brazil agree to push for UN Security Council reform
India and Brazil on Friday decided to step up efforts to push the UN reforms, particularly the Security Council and signed half a dozen agreements in areas ranging from science and biotechnology to cultural exchanges.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff on Friday began an official state visit to India holding wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh following the conclusion of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in New Delhi.
During their 90-minute talks, PM Singh and President Rousseff also set a trade target of 15 billion dollars by 2015 and noted that bilateral trade and investment had grown by leaps and bounds. The two sides also signed six documents to enhance cooperation in the fields of science and technology, education and culture.
Noting that India and Brazil had emerged as “new growth poles” of the evolving global economy, PM Singh said the two countries had agreed to enhance consultations on reform of global governance system, particularly in the context of U.N. reforms and in the G-20 process.
“We have agreed to step up our efforts, particularly towards the reform of the United Nations Security Council as G-4 partners,” the Prime Minister said. India, Brazil, Japan and Germany are part of the G-4 grouping that's pitching for a permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council.
The two leaders also undertook a comprehensive review of bilateral relations, including the work of the inter-governmental Joint Commission Meeting which met last December in New Delhi.
“We directed our officials to take specific steps to exploit the full potential in areas such as trade, education, science and technology, environment, defense, space and nuclear energy” said the Indian Prime Minister.
Noting that bilateral trade and investment flows have grown by leaps and bounds, PM Singh said he and Ms. Rousseff were in “full agreement that these can be enhanced even further.”
“We agreed to take measures to promote greater business interaction,” he said.
The two countries also decided to reconstitute the India-Brazil CEOs Forum. Bilateral trade reached an unprecedented figure of 9.2 billion dollars in 2011.
India gave full support to President Rousseff’s initiative ‘Science without Borders’, which is aimed at upgrading scientific and technological talent. “We look forward to receive Brazilian students in our institutes of science and engineering,” sadi PM Singh.
Underlining a high degree of convergence between India and Brazil on global issues, PM Singh said the two countries shared common perspectives on environmental issues and wished Brazil success in hosting Rio+20 Conference on sustainable development in June this year. | <urn:uuid:0f7371d0-ce8d-4f70-baaf-a61c705ec424> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.mercopress.com/2012/04/01/india-and-brazil-agree-to-push-for-un-security-council-reform | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963243 | 558 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Titicut Follies is a 1967 American documentary film directed by Frederick Wiseman, about the treatment of inmates/patients at Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane, a Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The title is taken from a talent show put on by the hospital's inmates.
The documentary portrays some of the occupants catatonic, holed up in unlit cells, and only periodically washed. It also depicts inmates/patients required to strip naked publicly, force feeding, and indifference and bullying on the part of many of the institution's staff.
In 1968, Massachusetts Superior Court judge Harry Kalus ordered the film yanked from distribution and called for all copies to be destroyed, citing the state's concerns about violations of the patients' privacy and dignity. Wiseman has pointed out that he received permission from all of the people portrayed in the film or else their legal guardian, in this case the superintendent of Bridgewater. He believes that the government of Massachusetts, concerned that the film portrayed a state institution in a bad light, intervened to protect its own reputation. The state intervened after a social worker in Minnesota wrote to Governor John Volpe expressing shock at a scene involving a naked man being taunted by a guard.
The dispute marked the first known instance in the history of the American film industry that a film was banned from general distribution for reasons other than obscenity, immorality or national security. It was also the first time that Massachusetts recognized a right to privacy at the state level. Wiseman stated that, "The obvious point that I was making was that the restriction of the court was a greater infringement of civil liberties than the film was an infringement on the liberties of the inmates."
Little changed until 1987, when the families of seven inmates who died at the hospital sued the hospital and state. Steven Schwartz represented one of the inmates. Schwartz's client who was "restrained for 2 ½ months and given six psychiatric drugs at vastly unsafe levels - - choked to death because he could not swallow his food." Schwartz claims that, "There is a direct connection between the decision not to show that film publicly and my client dying 20 years later, and a whole host of other people dying in between." In fact, "In the years since Mr. Wiseman made 'Titicut Follies', most of the nation's big mental institutions have been closed or cut back by court orders." In addition, "the film may have also influenced the closing of the institution featured in the film." | <urn:uuid:ee0f1eea-6d90-4da9-80a1-3b22feb80a54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dazenews.com/articles/life/titicut+follies+banned+frederick+wiseman+documentary+journey+into+an+insane+asylum/2897 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968778 | 508 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Moms Supporting Moms ... in Business
Baby Dipper Bowl
The Baby Dipper bowl enables parents to feed a baby using only one hand and helps toddlers learn to feed themselves. Read More
Who says a bowl has to be round? The patented triangular-shaped Baby Dipper® bowl allows one-handed feeding of infants and makes self-feeding easy for toddlers. The non-slip base, contoured interior, spoon-shaped lower corner, and colorful transparent sides combine to make mealtime a fun and clean experience for all. Parents can use their free hand to clean or entertain baby, or to keep baby's hands out of the bowl. Toddlers can concentrate on getting their food onto their spoons and into their mouths, and avoid the frustrations of chasing the food around the bowl and the bowl around the table. The Baby Dipper bowl has proven helpful to older children with special needs or developmental delays.
About The Mom
Barbara Schantz, mom of twin girls, Greta and Cora, born in 2004, and also the mother of twin boys, Franklin and Carlton, born in 2008, is the inventor of the patented Baby Dipper bowl. As a stay-at-home mom of twin babies, she faced the daunting task of feeding them. Frustrated with the bowls she had already purchased, she investigated and bought other bowls, but still remained disappointed. The vision for the Baby Dipper® bowl came to her when Cora and Greta were about 6 months old, not long after they started eating baby cereal and other pureed foods. She needed a bowl that required only one hand to successfully feed a baby, but wasn't able to find one on the market that satisfied this need, so she designed one that solved the problem. | <urn:uuid:91273ea1-f076-4bf0-b973-78b9af13a92a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mompact.com/product/155 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94703 | 358 | 1.984375 | 2 |
The half-life of iodine-123 is about 13 hours. You begin with 50 grams of iodine-123.
Write an equation that gives the amount of iodine-123 remaining after t-hours.
It says that the equation ends up being I(t) = 50(.948)^t. In the middle of finding the final equation there is a part that goes like this: when t = 0 I(t) = 25 so 25 = 50B^13 then it goes into the final equation I(t) = 50(.948)^t.
My question is how do you get .948 from B? | <urn:uuid:a6ce296e-7d60-4e91-a48c-ec0b6ad96fa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mathhelpforum.com/algebra/135484-basic-logorithmic-equation-print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921986 | 133 | 3.125 | 3 |
I found the switch easy enough as a user, but it's more interesting to read a developer who did so. Anteru writes about making the switch to Linux from a developer's view.
A few weeks ago, I switched my development environment from Windows to Linux, on a project which was developed so far on Windows only. In this post, I want to describe the issues that brought me to this switch, a short overview how I did the actual port, and some observations on Linux for developers. This is the first post in a series of at least two, the second post will describe the tools I use on Linux right now.
Actually, the switch is so simple that Microsoft should get concerned. For instance, I have been developing mainly on Windows since several years, and I occasionally tried Linux, but I never did a complete switch due to various smaller and bigger problems. However, since 1-2 years, the Linux desktop, together with the tools, is good enough to provide some real benefit, especially if you cannot access the latest Microsoft products. Microsoft used to have the best developer tools by far, and quite stable APIs, which were in my opinions the corner stones of their success. However, they’re changing APIs now rather quickly (WinForms? WPF? WinAPI?), they provide new platforms which require rewriting your application....
In a followup post, Antero lays out his tools:
That’s probably the tools which account for 99% of my work time. I hope you find this list useful if you come also try to get started with Linux development, at least I would have saved some time if I knew it beforehand What’s very nice about nearly all of this tools is that installing them is very easy, as they are free and directly available from the package manager – something which I miss on Windows.
The responders' comments are also informative. | <urn:uuid:440feded-1a82-4286-a1d2-b4a8dececfe1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20096.msg183550 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97471 | 387 | 1.53125 | 2 |
I know if you’re reading this, your first thought upon reading the title was, “Oh, no! There is simply no way I could ever, ever, ever…” and that’s fine. It’s still important to know that this is an option that is available to you to help you to discover the early warning signs of potential prostate cancer. Our goal is to help to educate you and share all of the other resources that are available. We want to encourage you to be more aware. We want you to help make others aware of the prevalence of prostate cancer in men. We would love for everyone to know about all of the help available to minimize the impact of prostate cancer if it comes. The prostate self-exam is just another one of those options.
Detection and confirmation of the existence of prostate cancer comes through several different examinations, blood tests, and ultimately – a biopsy of the prostate gland. The digital rectal exam is a surprisingly accurate 1st-step in defending against and ultimately treating prostate cancer if confirmed through subsequent tests. This is true even though the digital rectal exam doesn’t allow a physician (or you) to check the entire surface of the prostate gland.
In terms of the frequency with which you should have a prostate exam, most recommendations are annually at the age of 40 and beyond. This is easily accommodated at your annual physical. However, even at younger ages – your 20s and 30s – consideration should be given to having your prostate gland checked with some regularity. Every two or three years should do and more frequently if you have certain other risk factors for prostate cancer.
There are several types of cancers that both men and women can check for through self-examination. Testicular cancer and breast cancer come to mind. Despite your reservations about the process by which a prostate self-examination is done, you must be aware that this option is also available to men. It can be a prostate self-exam that is done by you or a trusted partner. If you educate yourself on the methodology and what you’re looking for, you become an ever earlier line of defense against prostate cancer – yes, even before your own physician.
One caveat: A prostate self-exam is not intended to be a replacement for your annual prostate examination by a qualified physician. You’re not the expert, but you are going to be knowledgeable enough about the process and what to look for so you can make an appointment right away if you detect any unusual pain or other anomalies.
Now to the part that will likely make most readers groan… How do I do a prostate self-exam?
Step 1: While probably easier said than done, it is very important that you relax as much as possible before performing a prostate self-exam. In reaching your prostate, it’s necessary to insert your finger past the sphincter muscles in the anus. The more relaxed you can be when you do this, the easier it will be to accomplish. You can lay down on your bed or even do it in the shower.
Step 2: While optional, you can use a latex or latex-free glove. Apply a small amount lubricant to both your finger and your anus. The lubricant will make it decidedly easier to insert your finger and reduce any discomfort you may experience. Please use a personal lubricant and not baby oil or petroleum oil.
Step 3: Gently insert your lubricated finger into your anus, moving slowly and doing your level best to relax your sphincter muscles. Inserting your finger slowly but deliberately will also help to reduce any discomfort.
Step 4: Your prostate gland is about the size of a walnut. It is unmistakable when you feel it. It’s in “the front” as if you were trying to touch the front of your body towards your penis or navel. Gently move your finger along the surface of the prostate with your fingertip. Relax your mind and focus just on the feeling on your fingertip. The surface of your anal wall is a thin membrane between your fingertip and the prostate gland, but you will feel it.
Step 5: Focus on any unusual changes in the texture, if there are any lumps, if it feels noticeably larger than a walnut, and any other feeling that isn’t quite right. (No, that does not include the fact that you have your finger in your anus.)
Step 6: Slowly withdraw your finger from the anus. Dispose of your glove appropriately, wash your hands, and wash the area of your anus. You might want to just go ahead and take a full shower to wash away any dirty feeling you might have after the experience, assuming you’re a first-timer!
Done correctly, the entire process should last for a minute or so, if even that long. Despite our attempts to add a little levity to the experience, please understand that we take this matter seriously. You are responsible for your own personal health and with the alarming prevalence of prostate cancer cases, this is just another option available to you for early detection. Early detection means early treatment. Early treatment means greater success and living a long, healthy life.
Some additional points to consider:
If you do a self-exam half-way between your annual physical examination with your physician and do detect something out of the ordinary, you’ve given yourself several months extra to seek confirmation and treatment.
The texture and firmness of the prostate gland should be similar to that of the flesh between your thumb and the rest of the hand when you make a fist. If you feel anything that is as firm as the knuckle, then that needs to be brought to a physician’s attention. (Source: http://www.healthcentral.com)
The further you are able to insert your finger into your anus, the more surface area of the prostate gland you will able to check. Again, the sensation a man gets when the prostate gland is touched is unmistakable, whether doing the self-exam alone or with a trusted partner.
As with a breast cancer self-exam or testicular cancer self-exam, it is important that you or your partner feel as much of the surface of the prostate gland when performing a prostate self-exam. With regard to each of these cancer types, self-exams are often encouraged by medical professionals. The trust, concern, and care you show your partner will only strengthen your relationship, too!
See also: How Often Should I Get a Prostate Exam? | <urn:uuid:e6638409-85ad-4768-8713-30d12fc86249> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blueforlove.com/prostate-self-exam/ | 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 | 0.957446 | 1,358 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Have you seen pictures of great musicians, physicists, mathematicians, philosophers with awesome faces dived deep into the realm of contemplation? How do you feel about them. For example, how do you feel about Albert Einstein? I feel greatness, smartness, and many more attributes.
Smartness is a positive attribute. We may even say that it's an absolute good attribute, that is, no matter who you are, and what you do, people always feel that smarter you is better.
At the other hand, we have the concept of psychological association.When people see a good guy, they also trust his/her work. Here, goodness (or maybe smartness) is associated to the better work.
Thus, I believe that smartness is important for a developer. But hey! wait a minute. How can you behave smart, when you're not?
I think the main question is here. Many types of intelligence exist and apparently some people are much more better in many of them than others. In other words, when you're not intelligent, then you're not intelligent (sorry about tautology, just for emphasis). Thus, don't try to show something that you're not. If you're intelligent, then you'll behave intelligently. But if you're not, stop trying to mimic one.
However, I think more important than being intelligent, is to be diligent in programming. | <urn:uuid:03772f42-0e8b-4c2d-b87c-8b725823a572> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/99893/how-important-is-it-for-programmers-to-look-and-behave-smart/99900 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97103 | 286 | 2.140625 | 2 |
As CNET’s Lance Whitney is reporting, the latest browser market-share numbers from Net Applications show that Internet Explorer’s once-overwhelming lead is slipping. Except–well, the report still shows that Microsoft’s browser has more users than everything else combined.
In June, the company says, IE had 54.02 percent of the desktop browser market, followed by Firefox with 20.06 percent. Chrome had 19.06 percent, Safari had 4.73 percent and Opera was the least major of the major browsers with 1.6 percent.
Those numbers are tough to reconcile with a comment made by Sundar Pichai, Google’s Chrome honcho, at the Google I/O conference last week. He showed a chart announcing that Chrome now has 310 million users, and said:
There’s a lot of conversation about share, etc–by our internal metrics and everything we see out there, Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, globally.
As the proprietor of many of the world’s most popular websites, Google is in a good position to collect data on which browsers people are using, so I take Pichai’s statement seriously even though the data is self-serving.
Can Net Applications and Google both be right? No, but they’re presumably going about their work in different ways, based on different criteria. Net Applications discloses its methodology, but Pichai didn’t provide any detail or disclaimers when he made his claim. It’s possible that his boast includes mobile users, but since the only mobile device to come with Chrome as the standard browser is the Nexus 7 tablet–which isn’t even available to the general public yet–it’s hard to imagine that doing so would impact the browser’s market share much.
Net Applications’ figures are weighted by country, and disagree wildly with those of rival StatCounter, which showed Chrome edging out IE last month. As I wrote at the time, other firms draw still different conclusions. Until all the experts more or less agree, or one of them proves that its methodology and analysis are airtight, any reference to either IE or Chrome being the most widely-used browser needs to have a giant asterisk appended to it. | <urn:uuid:1941373f-7832-4026-96ed-77f3f6840c60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techland.time.com/2012/07/02/the-worlds-favorite-browser-is-internet-explorer-or-chrome-take-your-pick/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953715 | 476 | 1.640625 | 2 |
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Home > Wildlife > Species Information > Maine Endangered Species Program > Essential Wildlife Habitat > Introduction
Introduction to Essential Wildlife Habitat
In 1988, the Maine Legislature amended the Maine Endangered Species Act by adding habitat protection provisions in recognition of two issues: 1) the effect habitat loss has on endangered and threatened species in Maine, and 2) the confusion and sometimes costly problems that can arise in the absence of consistent, predictable land use decision-making processes for endangered and threatened species. As a result, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) may designate areas as "Essential Habitat" for species listed as endangered or threatened, and develop protection guidelines for these Essential Habitats.
Essential Habitats are defined as areas currently or historically providing physical or biological features essential to the conservation of an endangered or threatened species in Maine, and which may require special management considerations. Examples of areas that could qualify for designation are nest sites or important feeding areas. For some species, protection of these kinds of habitats is vital to preventing further decline or achieving recovery goals.
Before an area can become designated as Essential Habitat, it must be identified and mapped by MDIFW and adopted through public rulemaking procedures, following Maine's Administrative Procedures Act. Essential Habitats were first taken through rulemaking by MDIFW in 1989, when designation criteria and protection guidelines were developed for bald eagle nest sites. Since then, Essential Habitat has also been implemented for three more listed species: the roseate tern, least tern, and piping plover. Additions of newly qualified areas, as well as deletions of sites no longer eligible, are ongoing for these four species. In the future, additional listed species may receive attention under the Essential Habitat rule.
Once an area becomes designated as Essential Habitat, the Maine Endangered Species Act requires that no state agency or municipal government shall permit, license, fund or carry out projects that would significantly alter the habitat or violate protection guidelines adopted for the habitat. If a project occurs partly or wholly within an Essential Habitat, it must be evaluated by MDIFW before state and/or municipal permits can be approved or project activities can take place. No additional permits or fees are required. Designation of Essential Habitat simply establishes a standardized review process within existing state and municipal permitting processes. Activities of private landowners are not affected by Essential Habitat designation, unless they require a state or municipal permit, or are funded or carried out by a state agency or municipality.
This regulatory habitat protection tool is used only when habitat loss has been identified as a major factor limiting species recovery. Criteria for designating sites as Essential Habitat, protection guidelines listing the types of projects which must be reviewed, factors considered during project evaluations, and maps showing areas currently designated as Essential Habitat are all adopted in Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Rules. Before any Essential Habitat rulemaking is ever initiated, MDIFW contacts affected landowners and municipalities to inform them of the proposal and invite their input and participation. After a proposal is adopted, MDIFW provides copies of official maps and supporting documentation, as well as a guide to the Essential Habitat review process, to state and municipal permitting officials. Essential Habitat maps and information are also available from all MDIFW offices, and a digital coverage may be ordered from the Maine Office of GIS at http://megis.maine.gov.
Designating Essential Habitats and making the information readily available have greatly benefited both the resources and people of Maine by successfully reducing potential conflicts between endangered species' habitat and land use concerns. Landowners, developers, land use planners, state agencies and municipal governments now know where these regulated habitats are and have standardized, predictable and reasonable guidelines to work within. By becoming involved early in the planning and permitting process, MDIFW is also able to work with agencies and project applicants to identify incompatible projects up front and resolve avoidable conflicts before problems arise.
After more than a decade of implementation, Essential Habitat has not only helped to ensure continued availability of quality habitat for Maine's endangered and threatened species, but has also become an important tool in building cooperative and productive relationships between MDIFW and other state agencies, municipalities, landowners, and project planners. MDIFW encourages anyone who wishes to manage their lands to enhance habitat for wildlife to contact one of the Department’s Regional Wildlife Biologists for assistance.
For more information about Essential Wildlife Habitat, choose from the links below:
|Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.| | <urn:uuid:a38019f6-2b3d-4c58-a4f0-4ee6df18ef6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.state.me.us/ifw/wildlife/species/endangered_species/essential_habitat/introduction.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919275 | 950 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Casey Dutton, diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in December 2011, is participating in the Walk to Stop Diabetes on Saturday, Oct. 13.
Playing water polo since she was 9, she was afraid when she was diagnosed that she would no longer be able to play, but she proved those fears wrong as a member of Riverside Water Polo’s 14 under girls team which placed 13 out of 48 teams at the Junior Olympics held in August in San Jose.
Casey’s teammates and her coach have rallied around her, as has her friend James Stufkosky, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2007. They will be participating in the walk together, as well as their families and the water polo team.
For information or to donate go to: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?team_id=556767&fr_id=8427&pg=team | <urn:uuid:68289aea-b7f2-4e03-827b-7d46dd50ed68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/riverside/riverside-headlines-index/20121011-riverside-diabetic-water-polo-player-walks-for-cure.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984607 | 190 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The idea of Lamborghini, known for extreme performance cars, making an SUV may seem off the wall. But don't be too shocked. This actually isn't Lamborghini's first SUV. The LM002, a much chunkier vehicle that looked as if it had been built out of shoeboxes, was available from 1985 to 1992. Only about 300 of those were ever built.
Lamborghini decided it's time to try again. For now, the new, sleeker-looking Urus SUV is just a concept vehicle. But it's clear that Lamborghini fully intends to produce this vehicle or something very much like it. In fact, it could produce as many as 3,000 per year, which would make it the largest-selling Lamborghini model by far.
The Urus, just unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show, is a 600 horsepower "crossover" with huge 24-inch wheels and a 600 horsepower engine. Like most of Lamborghini's cars, the Urus has full-time all-wheel-drive with a focus on on-road performance.
This car is much more fun than the tiny sum of its parts.
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|Bernanke's advice for college grads| | <urn:uuid:01bb1f79-7ff5-436d-992e-3e3cbf40e8f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/autos/1204/gallery.lamborghini-urus-suv/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971374 | 310 | 1.875 | 2 |
Cuomo Praises Economy Efforts Despite Elevated Unemployment Numbers
Governor Andrew Cuomo praised his administration's efforts to aid the New York State economy at a Wednesday ceremony where regional state grants were announced, but the latest unemployment figures put the state's unemployment rate a full point ahead of the national rate. NY1's Zack Fink filed the following report.
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You've probably seen the commercials, including one voiced by actor Robert De Niro with a Jay-Z track underneath.
Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration has been running the ads to encourage private-sector investment in New York State, and according to the administration, they have been very successful in getting out the message that New York is open for business.
"This is working, my friends," Cuomo said. "It's working. It's only been two years, and you can't expect the entire economy to turn around in two years, and you are not going to see a dramatic increase in numbers quickly."
But the truth is, New York's unemployment rate is the 10th-highest in the nation, something the governor appeared to blame on the national economy.
"Because we haven't had the national economy at our back yet," he said. "We have been doing all of this with the national economy basically positive but more stagnant."
The numbers tell a different story. According to the latest unemployment figures, New York State's unemployment rate is 8.7 percent, a full point higher the the national rate of 7.7 percent. New York City's rate is 9.3 percent.
The governor presided over a ceremony at the Capitol Wednesday, where regional state grants were announced.
New York City received a total of $51 million for 50 projects, including redeveloping the hospital at the Brooklyn Navy Yard into a new media center, and wetlands mitigation to facilitate development along the waterfront.
A total of $738 million in economic development funds were distributed through the state's Regional Economic Development Councils created by the governor.
"The days of depending on a single mega manufacturer to provide all of the region's job needs has faded away," said State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "That one-size-fits all approach to economic development is ineffective."
New York City's regional council received the second-lowest total of grants. The Finger Lakes region received the highest. | <urn:uuid:3cbaae95-00ab-4fac-8b6f-18b49ff43c75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ny1.com/content/politics/political_news/174276/cuomo-praises-economy-efforts-despite-elevated-unemployment-numbers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961639 | 505 | 1.554688 | 2 |
ST. LOUIS - Stan Musial, the St. Louis Cardinals star with the corkscrew stance and too many batting records to fit on his Hall of Fame plaque, died Saturday. He was 92.
Stan the Man was so revered in St. Louis that he has two statues outside Busch Stadium - one just wouldn't do him justice. He was one of baseball's greatest hitters, shining in the mold of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio even without the bright lights of the big city.
Musial won seven National League batting titles, was a three-time MVP and helped the Cardinals capture three World Series championships in the 1940s.
The Cardinals announced Musial's death in a news release. They said he died Saturday evening at his home in Ladue surrounded by family. The team said Musial's son-in-law, Dave Edmonds, informed the club of Musial's death.
"We have lost the most beloved member of the Cardinals family,'' team chairman William DeWitt Jr. said. "Stan Musial was the greatest player in Cardinals history and one of the best players in the history of baseball.''
Musial was the second baseball Hall of Famer who died Saturday. Longtime Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver also passed away, at age 82.
Musial spent his entire 22-year career with the Cardinals and made the All-Star team 24 times - baseball held two All-Star games each summer for a few seasons.
A pitcher in the low minors until he injured his arm, Musial turned to playing the outfield and first base. It was a stroke of luck for him, as he went on to hit .331 with 475 home runs before retiring in 1963. | <urn:uuid:5a465ba9-60f5-4f45-a46c-6127a627a3fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wvgazette.com/Sports/201301190099 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987867 | 352 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The 1993 Great Midwest Flood: Voices 10 Years Later is a collection of success stories taken largely from existing sources. These success stories document what effective mitigation can do to prevent future flood disasters. This publication also includes narratives from several "veterans" of the Great Midwest Flood of 1993 who had National Flood Insurance Program coverage and subsequently urged other property owners to buy it too.
The "Great Midwest Flood of 1993" was a landmark event that spanned more than 4 months. Remembering its devastation 10 years later may help other property owners and communities at risk from flooding become more aware of the harm that floods can do to lives, property, and infrastructure. This 10th-anniversary anthology will also be, we hope, a source of inspiration and encouragement for those communities and property owners at risk from flooding that there are measures they can take--today--to reduce their physical and financial risk from flood hazards. | <urn:uuid:945b0d75-cf38-4757-875e-5ef961e667db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program/1993-great-midwest-flood-voices-10-years-later | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962827 | 182 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Where is the Beef?
This is the question that was answered by a study commissioned by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME): The Relationship between Commercial Support and Bias in Continuing Medical Education Activities: A Review of the Literature to determine if there is bias in commercially supported CME and what does that mean for patient care.
The study was conducted by:
Researchers in the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy at The University of Georgia.
The answer was a resounding We have no evidence here to support the claims that that industry support of CME produces bias and that patients are in any way harmed.
We searched Medline, LexisNexis, and Business Source Complete databases with very general terms of “education” and “industry or commercial” and “influence or support”. Our literature search identified more than 2,000 article titles. We then narrowed down the search to “continuing medical education” to reduce to 165 articles. These articles then were sorted into evidence-based studies and commentaries or conceptual articles on the topic. We ended with 10 evidence-based articles that addressed the relationship between commercial support and CME, which are listed in Table 1 and annotated in the Appendix.
We found no studies that directly addressed the question of whether commercial support produces bias in accredited CME activities. The 10 studies were then grouped into three categories: 1) four studies that examined the impact of commercially supported CME on prescribing practices, 2) four studies that examined physician opinions about bias in commercially supported CME, and 3) two studies about instruments to measure bias in commercially supported CME.
They recommended additional research:
It is necessary at this time to initiate rigorous scientific studies to address important questions about the relationship between commercial support and bias in CME. The research could focus on several questions:
• Does commercial support produce bias in CME activities?
• What are the mechanisms by which bias is produced?
• Are accreditation guidelines or other strategies effective in preventing bias?
• In what ways does commercial support of CME contribute to physicians’ adoption of the sponsor’s product in the context of the other influences on their clinical decision-making?
• As a result of commercially-supported CME, does physicians’ adoption of the sponsor’s product lead to better patient care?
Doing more research will answer these questions in time.
Groups like the AMA CEJA, Institute of Medicine and others should take a step back and consider what would be the benefit of changing a system of education without evidence that the change will benefit patients. | <urn:uuid:7f54b245-170d-4112-9483-0508156912cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.policymed.com/2008/06/accme-support-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951241 | 542 | 1.921875 | 2 |
You may have thought we were years away from people accepting electric cars, much less driverless ones like the Prius fleet Google has been testing on Nevada’s roads. But China has now stepped into the driverless car race with its Hongqi HQ3 driverless car from the National University of Defense Technology, indicating that the global automotive industry may move more quickly than anyone anticipated toward self-driving cars. The Hongqi HQ3 demonstrated last month that not only could it stay on the road (at least during the day and in fair weather), but it could also easily navigate highway traffic at an average speed of 54 miles per hour, passing other cars on the road from Changsha to Wuhan cities, about a three-and-a-half-hour drive.
The Hongqi HQ3 overtook 67 other cars while on its test run, while the team monitoring the car’s test run sat back and enjoyed themselves. “We only set a maximum speed and then left everything to the car itself,” said professor Dai Bin to China Daily of the trip. The HQ3 didn’t navigate dense city traffic on this expedition, but it is still a significant step toward driverless cars hitting the market, and an indication that Google has competition in the race toward automatic cars. For city driving, Google is on the case with its Prius fleet in San Francisco. Check out the TEDTalk video above with Google’s Sebastian Thrun to see the Google Prius fleet working its way through San Fran’s trickiest traffic obstacles. | <urn:uuid:cea92c71-c82b-4536-98aa-c319f7170669> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inhabitat.com/chinas-hongqi-hq3-takes-on-googles-driverless-cars-with-177-mile-road-trip/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9598 | 318 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Lyndon Johnson, Thurgood Marshall
White House Telephone
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In this call, President Johnson asks Judge Thurgood Marshall to be Solicitor General to replace Archibald Cox, who was planning to resign his post and return to his position at Harvard University's Law School. In 1961, President Kennedy had appointed, Marshall, at the time Chief Counsel for the NAACP, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Johnson said he had been considering the offer for weeks and laid out a number of reasons for it, among them that "I want to do this job that [Abraham] Lincoln started and I want to do it the right way" and that "I want to be the first president that really goes all the way." While also carefully clarifying that he was not making any promises about future positions, Johnson also made it clear that he wanted to groom Marshall for "something better," almost certainly a reference to the likelihood of a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Two years later, Johnson would indeed nominate Marshall to the Supreme Court to replacing the outgoing Associate Justice Tom C. Clark.
Johnson's persuasion worked. Marshall accepted the position on the spot and in August 1965 became the first African American Solicitor General of the United States.
In his 1969 oral history interview for the LBJ Library, Marshall recalled this conversation:
He called one day, around this time [July] I think, and I was up in the judges' dining room at the courthouse. My bailiff came up and tapped me on the shoulder. I said, "Fred, what in the world is wrong?" I mean, he's not supposed to bother us at lunch. He was as red as a beet. I said, "What's wrong, Fred?" He said, "The President wants to speak to you. He's on the phone!" I said, "The President of what?" "The President of the United States!" So he had held an elevator, and I went down. Sure enough he was on there. We chatted for about two or three minutes, and he said, "I want you to be my Solicitor General." I said, "Sir?" We chatted about it, and I said, "Well, Mr. President, I'll have to think this over." He said, "Well, go ahead, but don't tell a living soul." I said, "I assume that means nobody but my wife?" He said, "Yes, that's what I mean by nobody." He said, "Take all the time you want." I said, "Very well, sir." He hung up, and I hung up.
I went home and talked to my wife and we discussed the problems, because one was a lifetime job to trade in for a job at the beckoning of one person. Secondly, it was a $4500 cut in salary. Third, the living expenses in Washington would be twice what I was paying in New York. So she said okay. We kept thinking about it, and the next day the phone rang. He was on the phone again. I said, "Well, Mr. President, you said I had all Thurgood Marshall the time I needed." He said, "You had it." I said, "Okay." I went down the next morning, and I started telling him these things. He said, "You don't have to tell me. I can tell you everything including what you've got in your bank account. I'm still asking you to make the sacrifice." We talked for quite a while, and I said, "Okay with me."
B: Did he explain to you why he wanted you as opposed to just somebody else?
M: He said he wanted, number one, he wanted me in his Administration. Number two, he wanted me in that spot for two reasons. One, he thought I could handle it. Secondly, he wanted people--young people--of both races to come into the Supreme Court Room, as they all do by the hundreds and thousands, and somebody to say, "Who is that man up there with that swallow tail coat on arguing," and somebody to say, "He's the Solicitor General of the United States." Somebody will say, "But he's a Negro!" He wanted that image, number one.
Number two, he thought that he would like to have me as his representative before the Court. The other thing which goes through every conversation we had from then on--he would say at least three or four times, "You know this has nothing to do with any Supreme Court appointment. I want that distinctly understood. There's no quid pro here at all. You do your job. If you don't do it, you go out. If you do it, you stay here. And that's all there is to it."
B: He made it clear this did not mean that you would eventually get a Supreme Court appointment?
M: Over and over again. He made the announcement in the East Room, and it was very funny when I went in. The press knew nothing about any of this. When I went in he first said that I would come behind Mrs. Johnson, and then he said, "You come and go in right side-by-side with me at the door." We went in together. A murmur went around the press boys, and I found out afterwards that the question they were asking was, "Who has resigned from the Supreme Court?" He made the announcement and then we had the swearing in, and that was that.
Editorial note: Thurgood Marshall's side of the conversation is difficult to hear.
President Johnson: Yes?
White House Operator: Judge Thurgood Marshall in New York on 9-0.
President Johnson: All right, [unclear]. OK, take this, will you?
White House Operator: Yes, sir.
President Johnson: Hello?
Thurgood Marshall: Yes, sir?
President Johnson: Judge, how are you?
Marshall: Fine, sir.
President Johnson: I have a rather big problem that I wanted to talk to you about.
President Johnson: I want you to give it some real thought because it's something that I have thought about for weeks and I think that we can't think of how it affects us personally. We've got to think about the world--
President Johnson: --and our country.
Marshall: Yes, sir.
President Johnson: And our government. And then ourselves way down at the bottom of the list. I want you to be my Solicitor General.
President Johnson: Now, you lose a lot. You lose security and you lose the freedom that you like. And you lose the philosophizing that you can do. And I'm familiar with all those things.
Marshall: The number one [unclear].
President Johnson: Well, you won't lose any. And I want you to do it for two or three reasons. One, I want the top lawyer in the United States representing me before the Supreme Court--
President Johnson: --to be a negro.
President Johnson: And be a damn good lawyer that's done it before. That's--so, you have those peculiar qualifiations.
President Johnson: Number two, I think it will do a lot for our image, abroad and at home, too, that this is the man that the whole government has to look to to decide whether it prosecutes a case or whether it goes up with a case, or whether it doesn't, and so on and so forth.
President Johnson: Number three, I want you to have the experience and be in the picture. I'm not discussing anything else--
President Johnson: --and I don't want to make any other commitments--
Marshall: Yes, sir.
President Johnson: --and I don't want to imply or bribe or mislead you.
President Johnson: But I want you to have the training and the experience of being there day after day for the next few weeks anyway.
President Johnson: Maybe the next few months if you could do it. Now, I've talked to Ramsey Clark∇, whose father is on the Supreme Court.
Marshall: Yeah [unclear].
President Johnson: And both of them have a high regard for you. I've talked to the Attorney General, Nick Katzenbach∇.
President Johnson: I've talked to you. Now, I haven't talked to anybody else. I don't want to talk to anybody else.
Marshall: Right, sir.
President Johnson: Nobody will ever know I talked to you. If you decide that you can do it, I think you ought to do it for the people of the world. I just think it will be--you've got a great job, you've got lots of security, but I don't think you'll lose any by this. And after you do it awhile, if there's not something better, which I would hope there would be, that you would be more amenable to, there'll be security for you because I'm going to be here for quite awhile.
Marshall: That's right. That's right.
President Johnson: But I want to do this job that [Abraham] Lincoln started and I want to do it the right way.
Marshall: Well, could I have a day or so?
President Johnson: Yes, yes. You can have all the time you want. And you think it over, and you evaluate it, and--
President Johnson: This is a non-political job. It just determines what goes before that court and then you present it, at least all you want to and then have other people--Archie Cox will be going back to Harvard; he could stay. I could ask him to stay. But I want this man to . . . I think you could see what I'm looking at.
President Johnson: And I want to be the first president that really goes all the way.
Marshall: I think that's wonderful.
President Johnson: But I don't want anybody to be able to clip me from behind. I want to do it on merit.
President Johnson: I want to do it without regard to politics. I want to do it without any regard to votes, because I never--I don't want any votes. I'm not looking for votes. I've had the votes. I had all the votes when I needed them.
Marshall: That's right.
President Johnson: I had 15 million. And all I want to do is serve my term and do it well. But I also want to do something else. I want to leave my mark and I want to see that justice is done. And you can be a symbol there, that you can't ever be where you are.
Marshall: The answer's "yes."
President Johnson: Well, it's got to be.
Marshall: [Unclear] yes.
President Johnson: It's got to be.
Marshall: I appreciate it, Mr. President, I really do.
President Johnson: Any day or two you can come down, why, you just get on a plane and come down here and let my people know. Just call Jack Valenti here at the White House and we'll make the appropriate arrangement.
Marshall: All right, sir. I could . . . the only time I'm stuck--I'm stuck [unclear] on Friday, but I could--if either one of those would be better for you, or Monday.
President Johnson: Well, I expect to be better Monday or Tuesday. I'm going to be home on Friday. I'm going home Friday afternoon.
President Johnson: I'll be here this Wednesday. I'll be here Thursday and Friday, but I'll leave after lunch. Then I'll be there until probably Monday afternoon. I'll be back here Tuesday. What about Tuesday?
Marshall: Tuesday would be fine.
President Johnson: We'll just--now, you just forget this.
Marshall: All right.
President Johnson: And let me talk to you about it in detail and we'll work it out and . . . you don't know, I've thought about it for weeks.
Marshall: [Unclear] I'm so appreciative to be able to help.
President Johnson: Well, you can because you live such a life and they've gone over you with a fine-toothed comb and they could never use anything about you to thwart us. And we're on our way now.
President Johnson: And we're going to move.
Marshall: Right. Well, Tuesday would be fine if it's all right with you.
President Johnson: All right, that'll be fine. You have any idea what time you'd like to meet?
Marshall: Any time, sir.
President Johnson: Well, what about 11:00 in the morning?
Marshall: Eleven o'clock would be fine.
President Johnson: Thank you. Bye.
Marshall: Thank you, sir. Right.
LBJ Offers Thurgood Marshall the job as Solicitor General of the United States | <urn:uuid:cbf9cdf7-ba99-4b56-afa6-af9f60a611b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whitehousetapes.net/print/book/export/html/2583 | 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 | 0.976502 | 2,755 | 2.828125 | 3 |
United Illuminating believes they can restore electricity to 35,000-40,000 customers by the end of today, cutting the amount of current outages approximately in half.
As of 10:30 a.m., 73,000 — and 22 percent — of UI customers were without electricity due to widespread damage by Hurricane Sandy. During the peak of the hurricane’s damage, 200,000 UI customers in the Bridgeport and New Haven areas were without electricity.
James Torgeson, CEO of United Illuminating Holdings, said the company exceeded its goal of restoring electricity to 20,000-25,000 customers on Thursday when the lights were turned on for 27,000 customers.
The projection of restoring power to 95 percent of customers by 11:59 p.m. on Monday is still the goal.
“We still believe that will be the case,” Torgeson said at a 10 a.m. press conference at UI’s headquarters in Orange. “Hopefully we’ll do better than that.”
Torgeson said that the company’s employees worked until midnight on Thursday and started at 6 a.m. on Friday. “We’re working as hard as we can.”
UI issued these safety reminders in a press release:
- Assume downed, damaged or dangling power lines are live and dangerous.
- Avoid anything in which these power lines might be in contact, such as trees or fences.
- Keep children and pets indoors and away from danger.
- Be mindful of the smell of natural gas. | <urn:uuid:b1c60983-fcf7-4f34-b51b-5eafea69af3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://northhaven.patch.com/groups/editors-picks/p/ui-hopes-to-restore-power-to-half-by-end-of-day-7dd050a1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96472 | 328 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Grace has to work a great many miracles in us before we get far enough along to heartily sanction the words of St. James, to "count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations." But there is a place of such victory and union with Christ that the soul can really find a source of joy from every trial and temptation through which it has gone. It is almost impossible for us to see any benefits of being tempted while we are passing through them; the sensibilities are so pierced by fiery darts, the mind is so distracted by evil suggestions, the will is so beset with opposite motives, the rattle of spiritual musketry and smoke of battles obscures the vision from seeing any blessing likely to come out of it. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are properly exercised thereby. Among the benefits of being tried by temptation, we may mention.
1. Resisting any given evil to which the soul is tempted will induce an increased hatred for that sin. The very habit of fighting any particular sin will form a habit of loathing for that sin. It is watched as an old and bitter foe. In long and bitter feuds between families there is not only hatred for the principal agents, but hatred for the children, their relatives, their property. So the persistent fight against some old ruling passion, some old besetting sin, arouses in the soul a universal revenge, not only against the old sin itself, but against all its family relatives, and a jealous hatred to all the insidious steps that lead to that sin. The holiest saints in all ages have been those who were the most sorely tempted. Surely it is a great blessing to loathe sin, and a still greater blessing to loathe that particular sin that has done us the most damage. It is God's design that we shall have the most perfect victory on the very points where we have been the weakest. This requires a limitless crucifixion of self and a complete possession by the Holy Ghost. But it can be done, and has been done, in thousands of cases. And such victory has been brought about by awful temptations to some sin which developed a boundless, unrelenting hatred for that sin.
2. Temptation drives us to a deep, serious study of ourselves; it makes us take ourselves all to pieces, to analyze our affections, our wills, our motives, our propensities; it makes us search the quality of our actions, thoughts, words; it makes us scrutinize our real chances for heaven or hell; it makes us dig in solitude to the very secret foundation of our character. Temptation compels us to study the awful nature of sin; it makes us trace the danger of wrong affections, of evil thoughts, of improper words; it opens our eyes to see the hell-fire that stealthily sleeps in so-called little sins. To be thoroughly tempted is the pathway to a thorough knowledge of ourselves and of the malignity of sin.
3. Temptation makes us see our true nothingness and weakness. It withers our cleverness, cauterizes our smartness, teaches us true humiliation and self-abasement. It clips the rattling talkativeness from our tongues, gives us a real, healthy hatred of ourselves, and shows us our demerit in a strong light. It leads us to patient endurance. When we are first tempted, we chafe and fret; when it comes back still stronger, we whimper and whine; the next time, we try to fight the devil with our fist, we bluster with our will-power against being so assaulted; at the next time, we break down and cry like a child whose Sunday clothes have been bespattered by a bad boy; then we wonder what we shall do; then we half despair of getting complete victory; at last we quiver long-sufferingly in the hand of God, and patiently look to Jesus as an afflicted child looks to its mother's face while its wound is being dressed. But for the severe temptations, the soul would go skipping along, gloating over its own pretty piety, full of self-admiration. As a severe case of smallpox will prevent a pretty face from standing before a mirror, so terrible temptations prevent holy souls from admiring their own graces.
4. Temptation leads us into real heart-felt sympathy and compassion for others. It takes deep trials to soften and widen the sympathies. Every tree has its special parasites to attack it, and it does seem that severity is the special parasite that fastens itself onto religion in a human soul. If a cold, condemnatory saint is put through an unexplainable conflict of soul that makes him roll on the floor in agony for hours at a time, while his body is wet with perspiration, when he comes out of that sulphur bath, if he comes out on the Christ-side, there will be a tenderness in his judgment and a broadness in his compassion which no camp-meeting hallelujahs could ever impart.[Amen! Editor] Blessed are they that endure temptation till not only sinful self is purged out, but till the last form of righteous self is gone, and the soul is taken out of its furnaces into a supernatural embrace of the Holy Spirit. | <urn:uuid:93bdafd4-b91a-4ea2-a674-7f2562d9848e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.peacemakers.net/resources/fgb/fgbsp1-97.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954404 | 1,097 | 1.84375 | 2 |
North Cascades Ecoregion and Birding Sites
Click to see a detailed map with birding sites.
The North Cascades Ecoregion includes the Cascade Mountains west from the Cascade crest and north from the South Fork Snoqualmie River drainage (I-90 corridor). Its lower limit is approximately the 1,000-foot contour, a few miles east of the Puget Trough communities of Sumas, Sedro-Woolley, Arlington, Granite Falls, Sultan, and North Bend. It extends northwest into British Columbia.
The North Cascades of Washington compose a highly dissected mountain terrain created by volcanic activity continuing into recent times. The two tallest volcanoes, Mount Baker and Glacier Peak, last erupted as recently as 10,000 - 12,000 years ago. Mountain peaks over 10,000 feet plunge quickly into valleys as low as 500 feet above sea level, cut out by ancestors of the vast glaciers that still sprawl in the northern part of the region. Glacially carved U-shaped valleys and cirques are therefore prominent features. Some of these have been dammed to form large reservoirs, notably Ross and Baker Lakes, and there are also many smaller, natural lakes. The major river systems of the region - Snoqualmie, Skykomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, and Nooksack - flow toward Puget Sound.
High precipitation typifies this ecoregion. Huge masses of water-logged clouds come out of the ocean and slam into the mountain range most of the year. Valley bottoms, near the western edge of the region, are typically dry, more Sierra-like in climate and receiving less than 50 inches of rain a year, while higher elevations receive over 100 inches, mostly in the form of snow from October through April. At higher elevations, 20 feet of snow on the ground is standard during the winter. Temperatures are mild in the valleys all year, but the higher mountains are cool in summer and very cold in winter, with permanent snow and ice at high elevations.
The vegetation in this ecoregion is stratified by both elevation and amount of precipitation. At low elevations, the predominant trees are western hemlock, Douglas-fir, and western red cedar, with a dense understory of ferns and shrubs such as salal and huckleberries, exactly as the Puget Trough Ecoregion. Forests at middle elevations are composed mainly of Pacific silver fir and western hemlock, with lodgepole pine, larches, Engelmann spruce, and Douglas-fir locally abundant and many of the same shrubs that dominate the lowlands. At higher elevations, forests of mountain hemlock and subalpine fir alternate with open parklands. Above the treeline, alpine heaths, meadows, and fell fields are interspersed with barren rock, ice, and snow. The region also contains forested and open wetlands, riparian areas with broadleaf trees, and avalanche chutes dominated by Sitka alder, vine maple, and blueberries.
More than 96 percent uninhabited and uncultivated, the North Cascades show the lowest human impact of any of the state's terrestrial ecoregions. Large areas are protected in North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and several wilderness areas, but logging has occurred widely at lower elevations. Recreation associated with natural environments (hunting, fishing, hiking, snowmobiling) may have minor effects on bird populations. | <urn:uuid:15c868c2-d70d-4568-947a-4aa9faf7367a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/ecoregion/north_cascades | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943986 | 736 | 3.34375 | 3 |
This past weekend was incredibly exciting for Siyavula and South African education! With a group of 23 volunteer educators and post-grad students, we produced the first draft of a free and open Grade 10 life sciences textbook, aligned to CAPS for 2012! This first draft is a 300+ page document, which although will need revision before it can be made public, is an amazing achievement overall.
In the lead up to the life sciences weekend, much planning and preparation was undertaken by the Siyavula team, namely Mark Horner, Neels van der Westhuizen, Carine Grobbelaar, Bridget Nash, Natalia Kavalenia, Carl Scheffler, Heather Williams, Megan Beckett and Helene Smit our facilitator. Megan, who is a Masters student at UCT in molecular and cellular biology, joined our team and has played a huge role in preparing for the life sciences textbook undertaking. Megan gave a lot of time to preparing the curriculum framework from the latest life sciences CAPS document, where she pulled in rich-media to align the proposed textbook with Siyavula’s current maths and physical science WebBooks. She also produced a style-guideline which laid out how each chapter could be constructed and what should be considered as necessary content.
In addition to meetings with Helene who facilitated the weekend, we had numerous team discussions and planning meetings. This was to ensure that all bases were covered and as much preparation for the weekend was done beforehand, in order to make the weekend as successful and stress free and possible. We hosted three evening events at our office in Cape Town, which served as information sessions for interested people to attend, and find out more about Siyavula and how we were planning to produce a textbook in one weekend. We also produced a Q and A blog about the collaboration process, as well as a process diagram which we hoped would really reflect how the textbook would be produced, and answer any questions that people may have had about the weekend.
We also produced paper prototypes of the book. What this means is that we produced a paper version of the outline of the book, a framework if you will, of what each unit of each chapter would look like. Following the curriculum statement, our book would end up with four chapters made up of ten units in total. These units made up the basis of the book, and each of these units needed to be paper prototyped. We assigned one large piece of cardboard to each unit, and then following the curriculum we mapped out the sub-headings and the kind of content that was either compulsory for inclusion, was optional, and then what could be included (the range of options included pictures, diagrams, indigenous knowledge systems, worksheets, exercises, class discussions, rich-media and so on). These would be used once we had the whole group together, and the educators that were present would be able to indicate what content they had that could be used where.
Numerous emails about the life sciences weekend were sent out to the life sciences educators in our database from across the country, to draw as many educators as possible into the project. We made announcements on our social networking pages such as Facebook and Twitter, and encouraged everyone to spread the word on our behalf. We made a life sciences Dropbox account, and encouraged everyone that had content that they wanted to contribute to add it in so that we could sort it in advance, in order to have content available to be used for the weekend (this was also a way for those that couldn’t attend the weekend to still be involved in the project). We also made a Google Doc available for people to sign up to a particular unit in advance, so that if they wanted to come more prepared they could. However, we could not guaranteed each person their unit to work on, as we wanted to see how the group dynamics would play out before assigning people to their smaller groups.
We felt it was very important to have educators from outside of Cape Town present and involved in the textbook collaboration, and so we invited educators from across the country to join us in Cape Town for the weekend. After consultation with Mindset Learn who we are in collaboration with, they made funds available to sponsor the flights and accommodation of one Johannesburg life sciences educator. In addition to this, Mark was able to secure funding to sponsor two more educators to join us – one more from Johannesburg, and one from Durban. This was excellent for our collaboration, as it meant that the project was not restricted to involvement by those in the Western Cape, and which we hope will mean that educators from across the country will more readily accept this as a resource in their own classrooms, knowing that it was an effort of South African educators, and not just those from Cape Town.
Helene invited two guests to join us for the weekend – Dominique le Roux, a publisher who could provide layout guidance as well as knowledge on copyright; and Thapelo Mahlangu who is a management development consultant who helped with indigenous knowledge.
After much anticipation and planning, Friday afternoon finally arrived! Carine had a busy morning fetching our educators from the airport, and having them check in at their BnB. The rest of us were busy at the office involved in the final preparations – Helene, Mark and Megan had a final check in for the process for the afternoon, while the rest of the team moved furniture around, finished off name tags, set up the kitchen for tea and so on. Before we knew it the office door bell was ringing, and our volunteers were arriving!
We kicked off the afternoon with an introduction by Helene, where everyone was given a chance to introduce themselves to the group and why they volunteered to be involved in this project. Helene then went on to clarify the weekend activities and what would take place in order to produce the book. She briefly laid out how we would work together, how we would identify gaps in the content, how content would be found and collated; and how everything would be uploaded, reviewed and feedback given. It was also important to make everyone aware of what still needed to be decided on, such as use of language and general styling.
Helene then went on to discuss the psychology behind group work. This was very important and why we felt it necessary to have a facilitator on board: with a group of 23 people from different backgrounds with different levels and areas of expertise, there is bound to be conflict on some level during the weekend. It is necessary to address possible issues upfront, and make everyone aware and respectful of what each member of the group is bringing to the table, as well as issues of rank. By making the group aware of how they address each other – the tone that is used, not to be condescending towards each other as each person is an expert in their own right; that everyone has an “edge” – their own personal limit, the end of their comfort zone – one hopes that everyone will be more tolerant and patient towards each other, and be mindful of these points.
Following a tea break, where everyone had their first taste of our amazing caterer’s food, the style guidelines were discussed and agreed upon. Megan’s document was used here, with added suggestions from the group. These were points such as the importance of using simple language but using technical terminology where necessary; avoiding idiomatic expressions; writing in the second person; to points on structure – each chapter should have a brief introduction and summary; use point form and numbered lists for sequences; put keywords in bold; to points on content – include the learning objectives; find simple alternatives for experiments so that they relate to everyday things; caption pictures at the bottom, while graphs and tables are captioned at the top.
We then stuck our paper prototypes of the book on the wall, which gave a really great overview of the proposed book in its entirety. Everyone was asked to give input and ideas for content that could be included, as well as volunteer content of their own to the relevant sections. Everyone was then assigned to a unit, and each group found a space in the office to begin the task of defining the roles in their group and sourcing materials for their section.
After a very busy afternoon it was finally time for dinner. With some wine on offer, we all gathered together to serve dinner and relax around the table and enjoy the meal. There was much chatting amongst everyone – a sure sign of a successful first day!
Breakfast was served at 09h00 at the OIS, followed by a regrouping by Helene. Mark then took to the floor to give an overview of copyright licences, and the kind of content that could be included in the book. Siyavula operates under a Creative Commons By Attribution licence (CC-BY), which is the most open of all the licences. But, despite this fact, it can still be challenging to find content that can we can pull directly into our books. This was one of the biggest challenges for our volunteers: knowing which content they legally could and could not use in their work. We directed them to websites where they would be able to find openly licensed content (either under CC-BY or a variation thereof), such as Connexions, OER Commons, and CK12 Flexbooks, but as is the case with so much content on the internet, it is made for the American curriculum so needs reworking before it can be applied to the South African context.
The day was spent sourcing material for each unit, sifting through rich-media, and creating new content for various sections. Some groups were lucky in that educators had shared material for a particular section, which meant they already had a head start on content for their unit, while others had very little if nothing at all for their section, and had to source material from scratch. The whole process is time and energy consuming, but with the team always on hand and Dominique and Thapelo providing invaluable assistance, the day went relatively smoothly.
It was agreed that at 18h00 everyone would stop what they were doing and upload their content to Connexions. This caused anxiety for some, as they felt their work was not ready to be seen by anyone else, never mind put online! We assured everyone that their work would remain private to the group for now, but it that it was necessary to get it onto Connexions in order for us to pull it together into a collection, and show it as the first draft of the book. We stress-tested Carl’s new tool for importing Word documents into Connexions, which worked really well! We did run into a few issues with Connexions however, where the website fell over and nothing further could be imported! It was at this stage that we called it a day, and brought everyone together for a final check-in before dinner.
Overall, Saturday was very productive, with most teams either having completed their unit or being very close to completion. Despite many people feeling tired after a long and busy day of creating content (we worked out that each person in the room was effectively creating 6 hours of teaching content to cover the entire syllabus for the year!), the atmosphere at dinner time was jovial, with much laughter and conversation filling the room.
Breakfast was served again at 09h00, with a brief opening by Helene. Everyone was given time to finish up their content and upload it to Connexions. Unfortunately we had technical issues with Connexions again, so everyone’s documents were sent to Megan, who compiled everything into one large document – the first draft of the book.
Following this we had a debriefing session with Helene, where we looked at the next steps in the process to finishing the book. Below is the process that was agreed upon:
Thursday 20 October
- Everyone can work on their documents, but then all documents must be added to Dropbox on or before Thursday noon
Monday 24 October
- We will compile everyone’s documents to form the most up to date version of the book
- This will be put on Annotate for our life sciences group to review and comment on
- It will stay up for two weeks
Monday 7 November
- The book will close for comments, but you will still be able to consult the comments and proposed changes
- There will be an opportunity for everyone that is willing to make the necessary changes to do so, and produce a new version of the book
Monday 21 November
- The new version of the book will go onto Annotate again and will be available to a wider pool of experts to comment on and review
In our debriefing we discussed suggestions for how to improve the process for next time. The following points were raised:
- The second day was too long – some felt it would have been better to end at 17h00 on Saturday, and go on later than 12h00 on Sunday.
- The unit assignments should have been finalised before the weekend, in order for people to come better prepared (this was made possible but was not enforced).
- We need to prepare documentation about copyright, so that everyone can consult a handbook on what is and is not allowed when taking content from the internet.
- The paper prototyping exercise where suggestions of additional content were given, should rather come later, in order for everyone to get to work sooner, and have more solid content before adding in the extras.
- The tagging issues (using red tags for Connexions uploading) need to be clarified / resolved.
- The formatting of documents needed to be explained at the beginning.
- Role defining needed to take place as soon as the groups were established. It was suggested that one person search online for photos, one search for rich-media / content, and one put it all together. What was happening was that each person worked on a section of a unit, and so covered all 3 roles, instead of each person having one role and going from there.
- Having a volunteer present in each group who has technical knowledge (Connexions knowledge, understands copyright etc) would be very helpful.
- It would be helpful to establish all the technology resources upfront – i.e. which browser is best to use, where to search for content.
- Try and source more content from educators before the weekend, so that we have a wide base of resources to draw from for each chapter.
The way forward
- There will always be an annotateable version of the book available online, and we will endeavour to have the book properly maintained and updated. On the 1 December we will start neatening up the book, and depending on the scope, size and detail of the comments, in the first week of January it should be ready to be made widely available!
- We will sort out the authors’ list depending on everyone’s discussed specifications.
- We will be sourcing the requested pictures, and will include these in the book.
- We will create a mailing list to keep everyone in the loop.
The Siyavula team would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that was involved in any way in making this weekend a possibility! To everyone that gave up their weekend, to those that contributed content, to Helene for her expertise and patience – thank you! | <urn:uuid:727c177f-ab87-436a-9318-a8781a322453> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://projects.siyavula.com/blog/2011/10/21/the-life-sciences-textbook-weekend/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978204 | 3,135 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Who We Are
The San Carlos Education Foundation is 501(c)(3) non-profit staffed by a group of parents and community members who volunteer their time to raise money for San Carlos Public Schools. We are bound together by our sense of pragmatism, fun and outrage at the state of education funding in San Carlos Public Schools.
We are roll-up-our-sleeves-and-get-it-done types. Some of us have extensive non-profit experience. Once of us even has a degree in Non-Profit Management. (She’s a rockstar.) We believe our efforts have made — and will continue to make — a significant impact on the educational opportunities available to our children.
SCEF was created in 1982 using proceeds from San Carlos’ beloved Chickens’ Ball to ensure that there was a continuing source of funding for arts and music in our schools. At that time, our educational system received far more funding than it does today and we raised less than $30,000 a year.
The level of education funding in the state of California has changed significantly since SCEF was founded. Just in the last five years, the revenue our district receives from federal, state and local sources decreased by more than $2,300 per student. Assuming a 24-child classroom, that’s a reduction of $56,000 per classroom or close to one million dollars per school. (Sometimes, I feel like Dr. Evil when I say that, except it’s not nearly as funny.)
To add insult to injury, not all school districts are funded equally. In fact, compared to the eight other elementary districts that feed into the Sequoia Union High School District, San Carlos is second-to-last behind Redwood City.
I guess this should be cause for rejoicing. YAY! We’re no longer last. But, look at that gap between our kids and Woodside kids! OK, I’m depressed again. And, for those parents who say “Yeah, whatever, my kid’s going to Carlmont.” Carlmont is part of Sequoia Union HSD; so, you should be depressed right there with us.
|Public School Districts||Per Pupil Funding|
SCEF works hard to bridge this gap so that San Carlos children receive a well-rounded education that rivals that of private schools and is equivalent to nearby districts, despite the incredible funding disparity that exists.
Today, SCEF raises more than $2 million to pay for critical staff and programs at all seven San Carlos public schools. Schools receive equitable grants from SCEF based on the number of children at the school site and the grades the site supports.
We raise money primarily through our Annual Giving Campaign. Our annual gala, Spring Fling, raises approximately $500,000 each year — or 25% of our total revenue.
Donate money, come party with us and buy cool stuff at our gala, or volunteer. Whatever you’re able to do is super-cool. But, we think you ought to be involved, impassioned and incensed — just like we are. It’s like my mom always said, “There’s nothing crazy likes more than company.” I guess that goes for non-profits, too.
SCEF is a registered 501(c)3 charity. Our Tax ID is 94-2842712. | <urn:uuid:99fe277b-76f4-44e0-815a-1aef3030363b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scefkids.org/who-we-are-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9484 | 721 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Press photos from Svenska Dagbladet 1914-1959
Showing until January 31st, 2010
Allow me to raise a matter that, it is my hope, will prove to be of some interest to your institution. For at least 40 years, Svenska Dagbladet has archived all the negatives produced by our photographers. /…/ Many of these are almost certainly of no value but, on the other hand, there must surely be motifs that are worth preserving.
These are the opening lines of a letter from the editor of Svenska Dagbladet to the Stockholm City Museum dated 31st March 1971. Svenska Dagbladet was no longer able itself to preserve negatives that were more than about ten years old and more than 100 000 negatives of press photos from the period 1928-1959 were transferred to the City Museum’s ownership.
The museum already had a collection of about 3 500 older glass negatives. The majority of these photos were taken by Karl Ransell and Herman Ronninger who were employed by Svenska Dagbladet at the time. At the beginning of 1990 the museum received a private donation of 200 of Karl Ransell’s glass negatives that had been found in an attic.
With these three collections as a base, the museum can now present a unique insight into the development of press photography during the period 1914-1959. The newspaper photographs portray events large and small. Everyday happenings in Stockholm are mixed with pictures of elections, international sporting events, royal weddings and funerals. We can follow the changes in the surface appearance of Stockholm, demolitions and new buildings, new roads and formal openings of bridges and suchlike. | <urn:uuid:79188bf3-31b7-48c9-8f9b-4fbcbd7c325f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stadsmuseum.stockholm.se/museet.php?artikel=133&sprak=english | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966192 | 346 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The Reserve Bank has cut the official cash rate by 0.25% today in response to weak retail spending, creeping unemployment and further contractions in business spending and manufacturing.
Monday's poor company profits and job ad figures were just further proof of the slowing economy.
And with inflation comfortably within the RBA’s target band of 2% to 3%, there really was no reason not to provide some relief, bringing the cash rate back to its lowest level since the depths of the financial crisis three years ago.
So that’s the why. But what does it mean for you and how much of the cut can borrowers and depositors expect to see?
Unfortunately for borrowers it’s likely to be a similar story to what we’ve seen over the course of 2012, where lenders have held back about a third of all rate cuts.
While this is far from ideal for borrowers, banks have reason to be holding back a bit of the relief as wholesale borrowing costs remain inflated.
You see, over the course of the year international lenders have been pulling their money out of offshore money markets to steady balance sheets at home, thereby raising borrowing costs.
Unfortunately they still haven’t come back to the market in any meaningful way and as such banks remain very careful.
So while today’s rate cut is great news for borrowers and businesses, don’t get too excited until the banks move as it’s probably not going to be passed on in full.
That said, the competition amongst smaller lenders continues to hot up with the recent tie up of Yellow Brick Road and Macquarie Bank only increasing the number of options available.
In such a competitive lending market there's no way you should be paying the advertised variable rate, so if you are then ask for a discount today.
But don’t necessarily splash out any savings you make from today’s cut or any loan switch you might make. If you’re in a position to maintain repayments on borrowings, whether a mortgage or a personal loan, I can’t advise strongly enough to do so.
Resist the temptation to pocket the windfall and knock off a bit more debt instead, ideally through an offset account so the money is still there should anything financially untoward crop up.
While banks haven't passed on the full rate cut to borrowers in the past, they haven't cut savings rates by as much either. In fact savers have been the winners with banks more generous to them than borrowers.
Still, any reduction in deposit rates is tough on retirees and investors relying on interest payments to get by and wanting to avoid the volatile equity and debt markets.
But if you look around financial institutions still want your cash and to secure new customers are offering some enticing introductory rates, even while existing customer rates are wound back.
So if you’re in the depositors boat, depending on how hard banks move on savings accounts this time around, it’s worth looking out for a better deal. Smaller lenders, which rely more heavily on retail deposits, are especially worth asking.
The other implication of deposit rates falling further today is a likely shift of investors from cash to yield, or dividend paying, investments.
It’s been widely touted that the next rate cut could be the last straw for a lot of investors holding cash, so if this proves true and a swell of money seeks a better return elsewhere we can expect good yielding stocks and fixed income investments to be in hot demand.
If you’re in this boat, whether investing retirement savings or a personal portfolio, don’t get swayed by the herd.
A careful and considered reallocation of investments is a safer move than a complete change in strategy. And, as always, seek proper financial advice.
As I’ve said before, if your financial institution isn’t giving you the best deal, look around and ask them why. This isn’t just advice for mortgagees but savers too.
And with the RBA not meeting again until February now (yes they have summer holidays too) it’s an especially good time to review your interest rate bearing borrowings and investments to take advantage over the extended period of local banking calm.But events abroad, as always, could seriously rock the boat and we'll be watching the US fiscal cliff very closely over the New Year so stay tuned. | <urn:uuid:8061ac4a-9897-44f8-ab3a-c647dc96277b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://au.pfinance.yahoo.com/our-experts/david-koch/article/-/15549502/what-the-rate-cut-means-for-you | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942179 | 908 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Writers on writing
By Morgan on October 15th, 2012
Last week, Scholastic hosted a webcast with J.K. Rowling (which, by the way, you can watch here.). Megan and I were watching the event — just like the thousands of classrooms around the world that were watching, too — and live-tweeting as fast as we could. (We needed two of us to send the tweets from @Scholastic, since Jo was saying so many incredible things)
There were some great questions from kids, and the whole webcast was truly remarkable — as a huge Harry Potter fan, even though I’ve worked here for five years now, I still get inspired (and, yes, a little teary) hearing authors tell their stories and talk about their processes. And one of my favorite parts of the webcast was when Jo talked about her own process, and how writing the series did or did not change her, and what she learned from the characters she created.
As we mentioned earlier today, this Saturday is the National Day on Writing. Obviously, we at Scholastic appreciate almost nothing more than a piece of writing that moves us, makes us question things, makes us lose our breath. Writers have the ability to tap into our hearts or, on the other side, our deepest hidden fears. And either way, writers can make us feel less alone, because writing connects us.
Last week, Jo said much about writing that I found noteworthy, like:
- “I literally cannot remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer.”
- “An author is in every single character they write. Harry, Ron, Hermione — I’m in all three of them.”
- “I have to say, I’m a writer who can write pretty much anywhere.”
- “I was able to write in cafes [in Edinburgh] for a long time even when Harry Potter was known. I’m grateful for that.”
There are so many spot-on thoughts about the act of writing and the importance of writing from other authors, too. Like:
- There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. — Ernest Hemingway
- Don’t tell me the sun is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. — Anton Chekhov
- Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else. — Gloria Steinem
- If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it. — Anais Nin
- Everything I’ve ever done, in the writing world, has been to expand articulation, rather than to close it. — Toni Morrison
What are your favorite quotes from writers about the act of writing? I’d love to see them in the comments. | <urn:uuid:98fd02fa-f697-42d4-8ec0-9db78277125e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oomscholasticblog.com/2012/10/writers-on-writing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974676 | 638 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Posted April 24th from weeklystandard.com
Former Palestinian intelligence official Muhammad Abu Shahala has reportedly been sentenced to death by the Palestinian Authority for selling a Hebron home to Jews. In response, Jewish officials from the community in Hebron are calling for international officials now to get involved—in order to save Abu Shahala’s life.
“According to various news agencies, Mr. Muhammad Abu Shahala, a former intelligence agent for the Palestinian Authority, has been sentenced to death, following a hurried trial. His crime: selling property to Jews in Hebron,” David Wilder and Noam Arnon, of the Jewish community in Hebron, write in a letter addressed to Ban Ki-moon, Hillary Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other high ranking officials.
Mr. Abu Shahala reportedly confessed following torture sessions at the hands of his captors. The death sentence can be executed only following concurrence by Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, president of the PA. After he signs the death warrant, Abu Shahala may be killed.
It is appalling to think that property sales should be defined as a ‘capital crime’ punishable by death. The very fact that such a ‘law’ exists within the framework of the PA legal system points to a barbaric and perverse type of justice, reminiscent of practices implemented during the dark ages.
It is incumbent upon the entire international community, which views Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Authority as a viable Middle East peace partner, to publicly reject such acts of legal murder, when the ‘crime’ is nothing more than property sales. What would be the reaction to a law in the United States, England, France, or Switzerland, forbidding property sales to Jews?
The letter goes on to note the similarity between this law and Nazi-era Nuremberg laws. The authors ask, “Is the Palestinians Authority a reincarnation of the Third Reich?”
According to columnist Caroline Glick, this law has long been a part of the Palestinian Authority: “The PA was established in May 1994. The first law it adopted defined selling land to Jews as a capital offense. Shortly thereafter scores of Arab land sellers began turning up dead in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria in both judicial and extrajudicial killings.”
Finally, the Hebron Jews urge action. “We appeal to all international leaders to demand the annulment of the death warrant and pending execution of Muhammad Abu Shahala, to be followed by his immediate release from imprisonment, for he has committed no crime.” | <urn:uuid:9c1a221e-2b7b-40ce-a748-b993e176e3b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wordoftruthradio.org/2012/04/palestinian-sentenced-to-death-for-selling-home-to-jews/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940056 | 527 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Wecome to the Dean Field Community Primary School website!
We hope you will find this website both interesting, useful and fun. It cannot tell you everything about our school but it will give you an insight of what you and your child/ren can expect.
You can have confidence that we have created a caring, stimulating and well-disciplined learning environment in which teachers can teach and learners can learn.
We want our pupils to be safe and healthy. We want them to enjoy their education and be successful.
Please contact us if you require further information, happy surfing!
Mr. Andrew Midgley | <urn:uuid:8ed44e01-f639-4d9f-b466-5d508d7b31ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deanfield.calderdale.sch.uk/homedir/welcome.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950607 | 126 | 1.515625 | 2 |
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exhibition in 1963. 30 years before DJ culture Paik made the vinyl record into a musical instrument. More evidence of the avant-garde anticipating mainstream: the record player as a pragmatic machine for reproducing music correctly is used for another purpose and becomes an aesthetic machine and a creative instrument, and it is for this reason alone that vinyl records are still made on the principle of Edison's «phonograph.»
The title of this 1963 exhibition says a great deal: «Exposition of Music—Electronic Television» stands for Paik's transition from Paik the composer who came to Germany to study music to Paik the father of video art. For it was here that he mist presented his experiments with television sets, in which he transferred his experience with electronic music to the electronic image. Preparing for this was a long and laborious process (as for Cage's audio tape montage): Paik tinkered with the old TVs he had bought second-hand for a year to make the passive consumer equipment into creative «Participation TV.»There was still no video equipment at this time, so Paik could also work by manipulating the current, broadcast TV program.
And even that was very scarce: Germany had only one television channel in 1963, and it only broadcast for two hours each evening, from half past seven to half past nine.
Each of the twelve televisions in the exhibition is modified in a different way. Two of them played with image-sound links: when you make noises into a microphone, these are translated into rapidly oscillating patterns (see the tv with microphone). Or a tape recorder is attached to the monitor so that the patterns created by the music can be seen on the screen, without hearing them («Kuba-TV»). Here the millennia-old dream of synaesthesia is realized by a simple technical short-circuit. But despite all the irony, Paik's true aim is to transfer Cage's musical work with random factors to the pictorial arts. To justify this, he goes back to the physical qualities of the electron: «INDETERMINISM and VARIABILITY is the very UNDERDEVELOPED parameter in optical art, although this has been the central problem in music for the last ten years.» Paik is thus expressly demanding that music's compositional principles should be applied to the pictorial arts. This corresponds with an | <urn:uuid:a4e0e1eb-6fe4-451b-be95-c7c3daaf0008> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/themes/image-sound_relations/sound_vision/12/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951194 | 547 | 2.5625 | 3 |
|Atticus Puts An End To Scout's Fighting
Author: jtx PM
This story elaborates more on Scout's temper and her fighting at school and how Atticus finally has to deal with it. It demonstrates Atticus' parenting style and the respect between father and daughter.Rated: Fiction K - English - Words: 2,547 - Reviews: 5 - Favs: 2 - Follows: 1 - Published: 09-16-12 - Status: Complete - id: 8531718
|A+ A- Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten|
To Kill A Mockingbird:
Atticus Has To Punish Me
Atticus was a gentle but firm father. He taught Jem and me by example. He could never be accused of being one of those 'do as I say rather than what I do' kind of fathers. Atticus had never whipped Jem and me. He had survived on mere threats up until now. He realized that I minded him as well as I could, and he knew I did my best. However, one spring afternoon, when I was 8 years old, my inability to control my temper made me cross the line.
I. My Promise
Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more. I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be. I soon forgot... Cecil Jacobs *made* me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch's daddy defended niggers. I did not really understand what Cecil meant, but I denied it anyway. And then I asked Atticus about it that night.
"Atticus, do you defend niggers?" I asked. "Don't say nigger, Scout", Atticus demanded. I said, "It 's what everybody at school says." Atticus said, "From now on it'll be everybody less one." I promised not to say nigger again, but I still wanted to know if Atticus defended niggers. Cecil Jacobs made it sound like Atticus was running a still. Atticus sighed, "I'm simply defending a Negro-his name's Tom Robinson. Scout, you aren't old enough to understand some things yet, but there's been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn't do much about defending this man."
Then I asked him why he was defending him if folks says he shouldn't. Atticus continued, "The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again. I could never ask you to mind me again. Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one's mine, I guess. You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don't you let 'em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change . . . it's a good one, even if it does resist learning."
I forced myself to make the promise to Atticus. I promised him I wouldn't fight anymore. That would be tough to do. Now everybody at school would call me a coward. Everyone would know that Scout Finch doesn't fight anymore because her daddy won't let her. I had never backed down from a fight yet.
II. My Broken Promise
Things had really heated up around town with the upcoming trial. Every other day someone at school would holler that Atticus defended niggers or that he was a nigger-lover. Jem was good at ignoring that kind of talk. But he had the advantage of being older, and Jem had always had the ability to keep his temper in check better than I did. I went to school everyday and tried to keep my head held high and my fists down. But, I loved my daddy. I didn't want anyone talking about him, even if he didn't care. I cared enough for all of us. My blood was starting to boil over. It wouldn't be long before I exploded on somebody.
Jem was usually around in the schoolyard. He would tell me to ignore the remarks and go on playing. I hated school anyway. School was so silly. Atticus taught me everything I needed to know. Miss Caroline was an awful teacher, and she and I hadn't gotten along since my first day of first grade. She didn't want Atticus teaching me to read because she said it was her job. Heck, Atticus could teach me better than her any day of the week.
Atticus and I made a compromise. I would continue to go to school, and we would continue to read every night just as we'd always done since I was a baby. That compromise was getting about as hard to keep as my promise not to get into fights. I tried everything to get Atticus to see that I didn't need to go to school. I took up cussing and explained that I learned to talk that way at school in hopes of being kept home. Nothing I did worked. Atticus insisted on my going to school. Man, was I miserable!
That Cecil Jacobs had been a thorn in my side all year long. Every since that day that I wouldn't fight him, he had called me a coward. All the kids had. I had a reputation for being tough and gritty. Now they knew my daddy wouldn't let me fight. So, they commenced to calling him a coward too. It was way into spring, and school was almost out. Tom Robinson's trial would start that summer. I knew I only had a few more weeks to go. If I could hold back that long, I'd be out of school for the summer.
Jem told me everyday to try and make it a little longer. Jem knew of the promise I had made Atticus, and Jem didn't want to see me get in trouble. Jem and I had our fights, but we were very close. Jem always looked out for me. Sometimes he did it a little too good and got real bossy. I hated that, but Atticus told me I didn't have to mind Jem unless Jem could make me. And Jem couldn't make me do anything. That hadn't changed and never would.
Three weeks before school was to be let out for the summer I finally had enough of this Scout Finch is a coward business. I had decided that getting back at Cecil Jacobs and proving myself was worth a licking. A licking would hurt, but it wouldn't last. I waited until we came in from the playground. That way Jem couldn't stop me. I had it all planned out. Cecil Jacobs would be sorry.
Before Miss Caroline came in, I went up to Cecil and said, "Cecil, I want you to say one more time that my daddy defends niggers!". Cecil obliged, "Your daddy sure does defend niggers, ugly greasy niggers. And he's no better than them. He's a nigger-lover. And he won't let poor little Scout fight. Your daddy's a coward, and so are you Scout!". I took my pencil and jabbed it as hard as I could into Cecil's arm. The lead broke off into his skin, and he began to cry.
"Who's the coward now crybaby?", I shouted. I then knocked Cecil to the ground and started pulling his hair. He screamed in agony, and I was loving myself. I pressed my knees into his stomach and pounded on him. I yelled, "If anybody else thinks Scout Finch is a coward, this will show 'em!". I bloodied Cecil's lip and blackened one of his eyes. About that time Miss Caroline walked in, and I was in big trouble. Somehow though, at that moment, I couldn't have cared less.
Miss Caroline was furious. "Who started this?", she asked. "Scout did", all the children said, "She attacked Cecil as soon as we came inside". "Is that true, Scout?", Miss Caroline asked. I triumphantly said, "It sure as hell is! Cecil had it coming. It's high time he stopped saying my daddy defended niggers!". Miss Caroline took me to the principal. There it was decided that I would be sent home for the day.
The principal summoned Atticus to the school. The principal and Miss Caroline told him what I had done. Atticus turned and looked at me with disappointment. "Is this true, Scout?", he asked. "Yes sir", I answered softly. Atticus told them he wanted to take me home immediately. He asked them to get word to Jem that he would be walking home alone this afternoon. "Come on, Scout. I'm taking you home. You and I have a lot to talk about", he said sternly.
III. I Learn My Lesson
Atticus and I walked home that spring afternoon. He kept his hand on my shoulder. It was silent until I asked, "Atticus, are you mad at me?". "I am indeed, and very disappointed. I thought we had an agreement. You made me a promise, Scout, that you weren't going to start anymore fights," he said. I said, "I know Atticus, but that Cecil Jacobs kept egging me on. It's his fault. I couldn't let him think I was a coward. I couldn't let him beat me". Atticus stopped and looked down at me. "A person only beats you when they make you lose your temper. Once you lose your temper, the other party has won", he said. I put my head down, and we resumed walking.
I couldn't help but wonder what Atticus was going to do to me when we got home. He had promised to wear me out. In my whole 8 years he had never laid a hand on me, although he seemed to threaten it every other day. Whenever Jem and I had to get a licking, Calpurnia did it. This time was different though. I could see it in his eyes. Atticus would do it this time. He *was* my daddy, and I suppose it was his place above anyone's to do the job.
As we neared the house and were about to go inside I stopped, looked up at him, and asked, "Atticus, are you going to give me a licking?". I was teary-eyed already. Atticus looked like he had been punched in the stomach. He stayed silent a few seconds and had a grim face. He stared at me and finally said, "Yes". That's all he said and then put his hand on my shoulder and continued up the porch.
I didn't want to cry. I wanted to be tough. Atticus stopped right before we got to the door. "Scout, you knew what to expect. I told you I'd wear you out if you started another fight. And this fight was worse than ever", Atticus explained. It was almost as if he was apologizing for having to whip me.
We went inside, and Atticus told me to go upstairs and wait in my room. I was really scared. We had never done this before, and it was new.
Atticus came in and sat on my bed. "Scout, before I do this I want to make sure you understand why I have to do it. I told you not to start anymore fights no matter what Cecil Jacobs or any other kid said to you. And you made me a promise that you wouldn't. Now I know things have been hard on you and Jem these last few weeks because of my defending Tom Robinson, but that's no excuse for behaving like you did today. I can't have that and won't have it anymore. Scout, I have no problem with you defending yourself against a schoolyard bully. You have to stand up for yourself, but starting a fight is altogether different. I told you to ignore Cecil Jacobs. I told you that you'd be better off fighting with your head. But, you chose not to do that, and that's why I've got to punish you" he said.
All I could say was "Yes Sir", and I kept my head down. Atticus lifted my head up and said, "We have to do this, Scout. I don't want to, but it's my responsibility to make sure you learn the right ways in life". There was a few seconds pause. Then Atticus said, "Bend over my knee, and let's get this over with". He guided me over his knee. I was crying by this time. Atticus was also on the verge of tears. He'd rather have cut off his right hand than use it to lick me. I was over his knee and gazing at the floor. After all these years, I was finally going to get a licking from Atticus. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. Atticus took out his hankerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Then Atticus proceeded to try to whip me. And I mean *try*. He gave me probably 5 or 6 licks, but they barely stung. I cried because it hurt my feelings, but my behind had been spared. I knew he had lost his nerve and had decided to go easy on me. It was over in less than a minute.
"Stand up, Scout", he said. I stood up in front of him. "Now Scout, I don't want to ever hear of you starting a fight again. You are too big and too mature for such behavior. You have a good head, Scout. I want you to start using it. You can accomplish a great deal more if you fight with your mind. Am I getting through to you, Scout?", he said. I looked at him with tears in my eyes and could see the tears in his. "Yes Sir", I said, still crying. "That's good to hear. I hope we'll never have to do this again. You behave yourself, Scout, and we never will", he said.
Atticus then left my room to give me time to compose myself and to give him time to compose himself. The deed he had just performed was harder on him than it was on me. Later Atticus came back, and we discussed the matter further. Everything was fine again. I sure did like it better when we were friends.
Atticus had said once that I minded him as well as I could. I knew that he had punished me as well as *he* could. That was the only time Atticus ever whipped me. In fact, he never even threatened it again. Still, nobody ever forgot it. This time I was able to keep my promise to Atticus about not fighting. It was primarily out of respect for him. I had to trust that he knew what he was talking about. After all, Atticus was the smartest person I knew, and disappointing him was really the worst punishment I could get. And I also figured that if Atticus ever had to whip me for fighting again that he'd probably do it a lot harder next time! Having that thought in the back of my mind sure did help me to keep those fists down. | <urn:uuid:317d6e84-9c8e-4e81-b4ee-5f1d044ab2f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8531718/1/Atticus-Puts-An-End-To-Scout-s-Fighting | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994335 | 3,203 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Breaking the Diffraction Barrier
Scientists used to view the diffraction barrier as a hefty obstacle to seeing further inside cells. However, in the past few years, a flurry of technical advancements have improved the resolving power of fluorescence microscopy by quantum leaps. Collectively known as “super-resolution” imaging, these methods are poised to provide biologists with unprecedented images of fine cellular structures and their dynamics inside the cell.
Two general strategies for breaking the diffraction barrier have developed independently. The first, called STED microscopy, works by the modulation of fluorophores - chemicals that can re-emit light upon excitation - by patterns of light inside a diffraction-limited region. In the second technique, applied in both PALM (short for Photo-Activated Localisation Microscopy) and STORM (3D Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy) microscopy, single-molecule imaging techniques are used to measure the position of individual molecules within a diffraction-limited region. Both methods take advantage of the ability to switch fluorophores between “on” states (in which light is emitted) and a “off” states (or dark states) by illuminating them with light at particular wavelengths.
In the image above, rat primary hippocampal neurons are visualised using STORM microscopy. The neurons are stained in two distinct colors - green-yellow and purple-pink. The shade of colour encodes the position on the z-axis, or height of the molecule - effectively allowing us to visualise neurons in three-dimensional space! | <urn:uuid:e8b5ba07-669e-47d0-aab6-3e63f49fea6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://avequemigra.tumblr.com/post/21273305601/fuckyeahmolecularbiology-breaking-the | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92571 | 325 | 3.15625 | 3 |
In the early half of the 14th century a quarrel over the succession to the French throne escalated into what history would define as the Hundred Years’ War. In 2007, KOEI’s upcoming video game, BLADESTORM: THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR will bring to life the intensity and drama of a war-torn Medieval Europe featuring a rich tapestry of legendary characters including Joan of Arc and Prince Edward- later to be named the Black Prince.
Utilizing a new game engine attainable only through the power of next-generation hardware, the game’s armies will collide on the battlefield at an unprecedented scale. Countless numbers of men consumed with ferocious intensity will converge on screen, where tactics and cunning will combine with valor and might to determine who is left standing at the end of the day.
BLADESTORM: THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR puts gamers in the role of a rogue commander and gives them direct control of mercenary units in fierce clashes with English and French forces.
The game’s unique style of action thrusts players into dynamic and ever-changing conflicts. Players must adjust their strategies as skirmishes evolve, and then deploy the unit best-suited to handle the challenge. At a player’s command is a broad array of troops including infantry, archers, and cavalry, as well as a variety of specialized units such as elephant units, cannoniers, and castle siege specialists. While each unit is comprised of autonomous soldiers, each warrior will contribute to the assigned objective.
BLADESTORM: THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR utilizes a “Free Mission” system that allows players to align their forces with either the French or English on a battle-by-battle basis. This unparalleled freedom allows players to take on different assignments, or simply experience a given battle from an opposing side.
Game progression is wholly dependent on a player’s decisions and accomplishments on the battlefield. Players must establish a reputation as a dependable and capable leader by successfully completing each mission. The reputable commander will attract more desirable troops to his employ, and will be asked to take on weightier challenges that reflect his status as a fighter and leader of men. The troops themselves will also become more lethal as they gain combat experience. Through a point system, players can augment their units’ combat capabilities. | <urn:uuid:e0ef404f-b453-4d99-89cc-917d2c8a13fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gamerevolution.com/screen/bladestorm-hundred-years-war/12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939501 | 491 | 1.820313 | 2 |
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Yet Edwardian readers saw nothing askew in The Little White Bird, just as they were not alarmed by Robert Baden-Powell's delight in young men's bodies and desire to set up a scouting movement. Baden-Powell was obsessed by Barrie's stage play of Peter Pan, which premiered in 1904, and saw it many times. As did many adults, who made up the bulk of the play's original audience. In her excellent book Inventing Wonderland, the critic Jackie Wullschlager writes of grown men cheering as Peter Pan declares: "I want always to be a little boy and always have fun."
In a sense, the play groomed an entire generation to go willingly to the slaughter in World War I. "We hope our sons will die like English gentlemen," says Wendy, as the Lost Boys seem certain to be made to walk the plank. Ten years after the premiere, they did indeed start dying like English gentlemen on the fields of Flanders. George Llewellyn Davies was among the dead. Unlike Captain Hook, he would now never have time snapping at his heels.
But while it is easy to explain the appeal of Peter Pan to the Edwardians and post-World War I generation, who could see in the play an elegiac spectacle of endless summer days spent playing pirates and Indians, it is harder to explain its appeal to our own era, one fraught with stranger danger and anxiety about paedophiles. This is something Jonathan Church recognises. He is directing a production of Peter Pan at Birmingham Rep in England, and says some rehearsal time was spent questioning the Darling parents' decision to go out to a party and leave the children protected only by the dog Nana, who is tied up in the kennel. "We decided they probably are careless, but no more than most," says Church.
Perhaps, though, Peter Pan endures because of the central figure of Peter himself, the boy who refuses to grow up. In an age where youth is prized, adolescence lasts until the age of 35, and regular botox injections can leave you with a face as smooth as a baby's, the notion of eternal youth now appeals to both sexes. Yet that is an appalling idea. At best, a child who never grows up is - like David Barrie or the fourth Llewellyn Davies child, Michael, who drowned aged 21 in what was believed to be a suicide pact with his best friend - a dead child. At worst, he or she is frozen, unable to lose either their sexual or emotional virginity. "No one must ever touch me," declares Peter, surely one of the most tragic statements in the whole of English drama. Adults often respond to Peter Pan as being about their own loss of innocence, when in fact it is about its deliberate retention. That is infinitely more twisted and sad.
Tony Graham, artistic director of London's Unicorn Theatre for Children, argues that Peter is seriously disturbed, showing all the signs of a child who has not been nurtured and starved of love. "Pan is not just unhappy, he is deeply miserable," he says. "Flying is the external manifestation of what he cannot achieve: mature sexuality.
"I find it interesting that adults are so nostalgic about a story that is about how wretched and miserable a lot of growing up is. That nostalgia is based on an entirely false notion of what the nursery is."
If we are ever really going to grow up, it seems crucial that we should confront the play's dark core, and deal with its disturbing psychological suggestiveness in a truly adult manner. We should stop wrapping it in a hazy gauze of nostalgia and acknowledge that Peter Pan is not just a work of genius, but a work of genuine horror.
A stage production of Peter Pan will open at Marian Street Theatre, Killara, on January 13. Bookings: 9645 1611.
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|text | handheld (how to)||
Copyright © 2003. The Sydney Morning Herald.
|advertise | contact us| | <urn:uuid:89bc54b9-2893-4a94-ba59-0a62804ac2f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/23/1040511003612.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956802 | 919 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Neil Young said Tuesday that he is picking up where Steve Jobs left off, working on a device that can offer digital music without sacrificing quality as iTunes, Amazon and others have done.
“Steve Jobs was a pioneer of digital music, but when he went home he listened to vinyl,” Young told Peter Kafka and Walt Mossberg at AllThingsD’s Dive Into Media Conference. “I have to believe if he lived long enough he would have tried to do what I’m trying to do.”
The legendary rocker is working on a separate device that downloads each song at the highest possible resolution, but that also takes 30 minutes to complete a single download.
Young said he is trying to make legal music as convenient as possible, but some worried that the long download times would be inconvenient.
“While you’re sleeping, your device is working for you,” he said.
Young did not invoke Jobs’ name at random. He said that he had been talking with Jobs about the project, but that since the Apple co-founder died in October there is “not much going on now.”
In order for it to hit the market the “rich people out here” --meaning the conference audience-- need to help.
Yet just because Young resents digital music and technology companies for reducing the quality of most audio content, that doesn’t mean he takes a backwards approach to illegal music or the Internet.
“I look at Internet as the new radio and radio as gone,” Young said. “Piracy is the new radio; it’s how music gets around."
What does that mean for record companies?
Young hopes they hang around.
“I like Warner Bros. I like my record company,” he told Kafka and Mossberg, the latter of whom asked what record companies can really do for someone of his stature.
“It’s not what’s for me but for other musicians,” Young said. “What I like about record companies is they nurture an artist, they keep encouraging artists to grow. That doesn’t exist on iTunes. That doesn’t exist on Amazon.”
But Young also acknowledged that the record companies make bad business decisions because they are music people who live “in another world form Silicon Valley.”
Acknowledging those that proclaim record companies are obsolete, all Young could say was ”maybe they are.” | <urn:uuid:7b782a7c-f6ab-4b65-9618-b2e328975b69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/neil-young-steve-jobs-listened-vinyl-piracy-new-radio-34948 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972929 | 520 | 1.585938 | 2 |
In my past life I was an unruly student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. It was there where I began forging my future as a wordsmith. Beyond the tens of thousands of dollars paid to fund Starbucks-addicted, liberal journalism professors, I also spent a big chunk of change learning from conservative educators about natural resources.
I once even learned how to safely fell a tree with a chainsaw; now's your chance.
In the February/March 2013 issue of North American Hunter, you'll read a great piece about managing timber for whitetails from the one-and-only Scott Bestul. With that, Scott was kind enough to spend some time with a professional logger and shoot this short instructional video to share with NAHC members.
Editor's note: If you're unable to view the video, click here.
There's also a timber-cutting method known as "hinge cutting." If you insist on employing this dangerous technique (emphasis on "dangerous"), click here to watch a video and learn the safest way to do it. | <urn:uuid:7ee95ced-1899-4597-a354-8d215cbdeadd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huntingclub.com/blogs/articletype/articleview/articleid/14666/categoryid/4046/video-tip-how-to-fell-cut-down-a-tree | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958416 | 217 | 1.796875 | 2 |
White House panel calls for universal exchange language for health care information
Washington—It is time to move from conventional electronic health records “to a more medically useful and secure system in which individual bits of health care data are tagged with privacy and security specifications,” says a White House panel of scientists.
“The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has undertaken this report to examine the critical issues for the next phase, which has just begun, and to make specific recommendations to the Administration to ensure that the full promise of health IT is realized,” said their report to the president, executive branch IT agencies and, by extension, the nation’s health professionals and patients.
Nor is getting there from here any great technological leap, the panel said. It’s more a matter of universal language and “Realizing the Full Potential of Health Information Technology to Improve Healthcare for Americans.”
Implementation of PCAST’s recommendation to designate a universal language for health information would not require health professionals to replace their existing electronic health records systems, most of which could be made compatible through “apps” and other “middleware,” the panel said.
The report recommends that the Department of Health and Human Services develop guidelines to spur adoption of an exchange language for use by health information technology systems. That would facilitate a transition from traditional electronic health records, whose usefulness is largely limited to a single physician’s office, to the “more medically useful and secure system” advocated by the science and technology panel.
“Despite this great promise, the impact of IT on health care over the past decade has so far been modest,” the executive summary says. “Currently, almost 80 percent of physicians—the majority in small, independent practices—lack even rudimentary digital records.
“Where electronic records do exist, they are typically limited in functionality and poor in interoperability. As a result, the ability to integrate electronic health information about a patient and exchange it among clinical providers remains the exception rather than the rule. Compared to other industrialized nations, the United States lags far behind in the use of electronic health records.”
A fully functional electronic health care information system would enable doctors to contact patients directly, solicit patient feedback related to specific conditions and compile actionable feedback to the practice, the report said.
“Electronic health information also can improve coordination of care by ensuring that every specialist, in every setting, has the same accurate and up-to-date information about a patient. This is especially important with patients who are seeing multiple specialists, with patients making transitions between care settings and especially in emergency settings.” | <urn:uuid:38fc29cc-e316-434d-a42e-294cefa62b52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ada.org/news/5125.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935272 | 553 | 2.125 | 2 |
Northern & Central Midwest
National News - From NGA Editors
Gardening Made Easy with Seed Collections
It's always lots of fun to browse through seed catalogs and peruse the racks of seeds at the garden store, marveling at the diversity and beauty of all the varied plants you can grow. But...
Please Don't Share the Daisies
We all know how important it is to wash out hands frequently to avoid sharing germs and spreading illnesses. But who would have guessed that bees might be at risk from germ sharing as they fly...
The Cat's Meow of Catmints
Catmints are longtime perennial favorites in the flower garden. Members of the genus Nepeta , they are dependable, long-blooming, and trouble-free, come in a range of sizes and colors, have...
A Rainbow of Color in the Vegetable Garden
With the increasing interest in edible landscaping and the "food, not lawns" approach to cultivation, gardeners want their food gardens not only to be a bountiful source of fresh produce but to...
In the Garden
Now that seed catalogs are arriving on our doorsteps (or in our email in-boxes), it's time to start lusting after the spring garden. My catalogs already have pages turned down so I can go back in a week or so and start placing seed orders.
Read more »
Shows & Events
Chicago Flower and Garden Show The tradition continues at Navy Pier, March 5-13, 10 am to 8 pm (6 pm Sunday, March 13). Visitors...
Urban Farm Urban Farm is a friendly site that provides plenty of information on buying and maintaining...
Read more »
- Check for Tent Caterpillars
- Force Blooming Branches
- Keep Poinsettias Healthy
- Salt Walks with Birdseed
- Give Houseplants Humidity | <urn:uuid:1ed672b8-cfc9-4bf4-a2ae-a4f963721cc8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.garden.org/regional/report/arch/3680 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903208 | 384 | 1.890625 | 2 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana’s NewsCenter) – The Olympics means a boost in business for local gymnastics facilities. The popular sport gains even more traction when kids watch some of the World's best compete.
A gold medal—it's something every young kid dreams of. After seeing Team USA win it all in London, more kids in Fort Wayne are enrolling in gymnastics.
"I look up to them as role models because they teach me to work harder,” said Sophie Vorndan, a young gymnast at More Than Gymnastics
More Than Gymnastics in Fort Wayne always sees a rise in class sizes during an Olympic year. Being an Olympian may be a tough goal to reach, but these coaches see so many of their kids go on to compete at the high school and the college levels.
"You know, even if you don't get to the Olympics, to go as far as you can, it's still very gratifying,” said Mike Comeau, Co-Owner, More Than Gymnastics.
To be good it takes a lot of dedication. That means being in the gym 4 hours a day, 5 days a week.
"We put almost our entire life into this certain sport so that we can just become strong gymnasts,” said Vorndan.
To help kids realize they can achieve their goals, the coaches took them to watch the World’s best in action.
“The girls behind me went out to the US Classic to watch Gabby Douglas compete, to watch Aly Raisman compete, to watch Jordyn Wieber compete. They all had a chance to watch the girls that are competing in London now,” said Comeau.
This sport is about dreams, but it's also about just having fun.
“One of the reasons why I come to gymnastics is to be with my friends,” said Hannah Zimmerman, another young gymnast.
“Comeau says they started seeing an increase when the Olympics began and they are continuing to see a rise in enrollment. “The Olympics is no better push for us,” he said.
To enroll your child in gymnastics classes, click on “More Than Gymnastics” under News Links on our homepage.
What are your thoughts CLICK HERE to leave us a "Your2Cents” comment.
© Copyright 2013 A Granite Broadcasting Station. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:6b6c094b-4280-4b15-86fb-0e2fb8a1d58e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/video/Fort-Wayne-Catches-Gymnastics-Fever-165520936.html?vid=a | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960148 | 525 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Baking at High Altitude
Have you ever spent hours preparing what you thought was going to be the best dessert ever? Only to have it be flat, crusty and sad?
If you bake at altitude, the answer is probably yes. One of the many challenges of living this high on life is that baking is an absolute roll of the dice.
But don’t worry, even professionals have struggled, and they have these tips for you to help you bake your best at altitude.
Tips from Danielle Riesz, Little Nell Pastry Chef
I’ve been baking at altitude since 2003, when I began working at a property in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I remember those first few weeks in Jackson as a tough time! I had to re-formulate all my recipes and figure out how to make things again. At altitude, things can dry out quickly, and baking temperatures are different from at sea level.
If I took a regular cookie recipe and used it in Aspen, they would be thinner than a pancake, and the sugar would be crusty!
Here are a few things I like to try:
- Decrease the leavening by half
- Always add extra liquid (egg or milk) to keep this moist
- Decrease the fat and sugar
- Add a little extra flour (because the air pressure is different at altitude, it presses down more on cakes and baked goods, causing them to deflate – the extra flour helps keep this from happening)
It’s really trial and error to get it right, and just to make things even more interesting, some recipes work perfectly at altitude without changing a thing! My cupcakes (pictured above) were one of those recipes. You just can’t go by the book sometimes…
- Place a baking sheet in the bottom of the oven – it will help even out the temperature. “Most home ovens are crap and are about 40-50 degrees off from what they tell you on the dial.”
- Decrease the leavening agent by about 40%
- Cook on a lower heat than the recipe calls for
- Reduce the sugar
- Don’t do all of these tips at once… you need to experiment.
Good luck! Have any baking questions? Leave them here for Danielle. | <urn:uuid:610b92f6-c0c2-4da4-9766-563c1e5de5c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thelittlenell.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/baking-at-high-altitude/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959069 | 480 | 1.75 | 2 |
The Truth About Butterball Turkeys
By Martha Rosenberg
"People love turkey. We love turkey, too," says the corporate website for Butterball, the nation's largest vertically integrated turkey producer.
Butterball is certified by the British Retail Consortium, says the site, on "300 elements related to food safety and quality, as well as worker safety, environmental impact and management commitment." The turkey processor practices "good citizenship" based on "self-governance," "social responsibility," and "sustainability."
But search for the words "welfare," "Mercy For Animals" or "Shannon, North Carolina" (where a grisly Christmas-time expose took place) and you will get no results. Maybe you didn't spell the words correctly.
Between November and December of 2011, while people were making their holiday plans, an undercover employee at a Butterball turkey semen collection facility in Shannon documented turkeys with open sores, infected eyes and broken bones, covered in flies and living in their own waste. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
"In the video, workers can be seen kicking and stomping on turkeys, as well as dragging them by their wings and necks," reported ABC news. "The video also shows injured birds with open wounds and exposed flesh."
Birds at the Butterball facility were left to slowly die from their injuries, some unable to even reach food or water, says the undercover employee. The "pain and the suffering that they're experiencing," is clearly visible she told NBS news.
Like scores of other gigantic food producers who have been exposed on undercover videos as harboring sadistic employees and sick and dying animals, Butterball pleads ignorance. It has a "zero tolerance policy for any mistreatment of our birds," and has fired the proverbial "bad apple" employees it did not know about. Who knew?
Butterball is also "taking steps to help ensure that all new and existing associates have a clear understanding of our animal well-being policies," said Rod Brenneman, president and CEO of Butterball. Maybe employees don't know they aren't supposed to stomp and kick birds, drag them by their wings and necks, not to mention bash them in the heads with metal bars, as the employee reports. Let's tell them!
But, it wasn't only Butterball management that enabled the agricultural hell for turkeys in the interests of cheap "holiday" food. Dr. Sarah Mason, head of animal health programs in the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, tipped off Butterball about a December 28 raid and managed to sabotaged it. Even as the Hoke County Sheriff's Department sought to raid Butterball on the basis of videotaped evidence, Mason contacted "a friend and fellow veterinarian" who works for Butterball, which assured that the raid "never had a chance," reports the Fayetteville Observer.
Hey, from one vet to another, we better hide the animal abuse we're permitting!
Given that the state agency is in charge of regulating Butterball yet undermined the raid, was there a quid pro quo involved? "That's a criminal matter, to be decided by the district attorney's office," opines the Observer.
The sordid collegiality between government and industry which makes a mockery of democracy, consumer rights and animal welfare, brings to mind the saga of egg don Austin "Jack" DeCoster, the salmonella king.
Despite the recall of half a billion salmonella-contaminated eggs from DeCoster-affiliated farms in 2010, his conviction on animal cruelty the same year and nine deaths and 500 illnesses traced to his eggs in 1987, Iowa state agencies thought he was a pretty cool dude.
"One of the things I've always said about DeCoster is that when there's a problem at his facilities, he acts fast," enthused Kevin Buskins, a spokesman for Iowa's Department of Natural Resources which shares oversight of egg operations with the state agriculture department.
Will Butterball get a pass like DeCoster did? So far no charges have been filed against the turkey processor and its state regulator "friend" still has her job. And there is even more good news for the turkey processor. The company and its communications agency, Howard, Merrell & Partners, received four public relations awards from the Virginia Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association, Carolinas, this month at an industry banquet.
Receiving honors were a celebration for the "millionth fresh bird produced during the 2010 holiday season," a press release announcing 330,000 pounds of turkey products donated to the needy and a campaign in partnership with the Weekly Reader that demonstrates "how responsible agricultural practices lead to healthy animals and safe, high-quality food for consumers."
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- Before your senators vote... | <urn:uuid:ab2c7703-7d3a-4b13-a492-8c7cb86eed2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Opinion/Comments/the_truth_about_butterball_turkeys_0130120139.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969294 | 1,049 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Refugee, humanitarian and assisted movements—passage and associated costs
Assist the movement of applicants approved for entry to Australia under the refugee component of the offshore Humanitarian Program and a proportion of offshore entrants under the secondary movement provisions.
In November 2007 the department entered into a new deed of reimbursement with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the assisted passage of applicants approved for entry to Australia under the refugee component of the offshore Humanitarian Program. This deed replaced the previous contract which had been in place since 2004.
The assistance provided under this deed covers the full cost of medical examination and airfares for eligible entrants. These included the following visa subclasses:
- Refugee (subclass 200)
- In-country Special Humanitarian (subclass 201)
- Emergency Rescue (subclass 203)
- Woman at Risk (subclass 204)
- a proportion of Secondary Movement Offshore Entry (Temporary) (subclass 447) and Secondary Movement Relocation (Temporary) (subclass 451).
The IOM arranges medical screening services for applicants when requested by the department's overseas posts. The IOM is responsible for ticketing, pre-embarkation and coordination arrangements associated with the movement of assisted refugees. The IOM is reimbursed for all transportation and service costs incurred in the movement of these funded refugees to Australia.
In 2007–08, $11.03 million was allocated under this program. There were 5786 refugee and humanitarian entrants assisted with travel and the overall expenditure on travel and associated services was $12.97 million. The variation was due to changes in costs associated with the new deed and an additional $2.333 million was spent in 2007–08 to cover the travel and medical costs associated with the resettlement of locally engaged staff of the Australian Defence Force in Iraq. There were approximately 12 800 medical examinations performed in 2007–08, including pre-departure medical checks for an estimated cost of $2.52 million.Table 65: Refugee, humanitarian and assisted movements—passage and associated costs—performance information
|6 000 refugees moved to Australia||5 786|
|12 000 refugee applicants medically screened for entry to Australia||12 8001|
|Payments for travel and medical processing are made in line with contractual obligations and scheme eligibility criteria||Yes|
- This is an indicative figure. The department expects that when consolidated reports become available at the end of October 2008, the final number of screenings reported will be approximately 12 800. | <urn:uuid:60a2101c-a82c-4d74-aae6-fc8345bdf236> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.immi.gov.au/about/reports/annual/2007-08/html/outcome1/administered1-9.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944747 | 512 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A heat pump is the central element of all geothermal. It is the tool that extracts heat from the earth.
Generally characterized pumps itself by using electricity to produce heat more efficiently than if you just spent a radiator. This makes the heat pump by collecting a quantity of energy from eg. geothermal, and store it to a level where it can be used as home heating.
When geothermal fluid circulates in the ground around the house and absorb the energy stored in it by the sun. Other pumps, such as. air-air heat pumps take cool air from outside and makes it hotter, while a Genvex plant uses exhaust air from the house and recycles it to heat.
In the menu you can read more about GeoHeat and our products. | <urn:uuid:02fd0587-8ef2-4071-bbb3-391f968ad332> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geothermalheatpump.org.uk/heat-pumps-and-geothermal-heat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931902 | 155 | 3.109375 | 3 |
College football was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States. Getting a ticket for college football game remains extremely popular today amongst students, alumni, and other fans of college football sport. On this page you can find more information about the history of this popular sport.
History of college football
The first game played between teams representing different colleges or universities was played on November 6, 1869 between Rutgers University and Princeton University, at College Field (now the site of the College Avenue Gymnasium), New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers won, by a score of 6 to 4. As the score would seemingly indicate, the game bore little resemblance to the game of today. The rules of that game were the 1863 rules of the English Football Association, the basis of the modern form of soccer.
The development of the American college football game can be traced to a meeting between the Harvard University and McGill University college football teams in 1874. The two college football teams were used to playing different brands of college football – the McGill team played a rugby-style game, while Harvard played a soccer-style game. The teams agreed to play under compromise rules, and from this meeting the game of football began to evolve in both the United States and Canada.
The college football game increased in popularity through the remainder of the 19th century. It also became increasingly violent. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened, in 1906, to ban the college football sport following a series of player deaths from injuries suffered during college football games. The response to this was the formation of what became the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which set rules governing the college football sport. One of the college football rules changes to emerge from this attempt at alleviating the violence of the college football sport was the introduction of the forward pass.
Prior to the founding of the National Football League, and for a few decades thereafter, college football was the predominant venue for American football. Innovations in college football strategy and college football style of play originated in college football and spread to the pro game gradually.
The season schedule
Division 1A college football begins two to three weeks earlier than the NFL, towards the end of August. Until 2003, the regular season was officially ushered in by the Kickoff Classic, held in recent years in New Jersey (although other pre-season games such as the Eddie Robinson Classic and the Pigskin Classic have also been played), but recent NCAA policy changes have eliminated some of these games, and so the season now largely starts out with regular games. The regular season then continues through early December (generally ending with the annual Army-Navy Game).
The college post-season is ushered in by the annual presentation of the Heisman Trophy Award, considered the most prestigious award in all of college football, given to the top player of the year as determined by a panel consisting of media voters and former winners of the award. This is then followed by a series of bowl games that showcase (usually) the top college team in a particular conference, as well as the consensus “national champion”, which is determined not by a true playoff, but by a controversial confederation of voters, broadcast networks, bowls and conferences known as the Bowl Championship Series. A series of all-star bowl games round out the season for the balance of January, including the East-West Shrine Game, the Senior Bowl (for many decades the official final game of the season), the Hula Bowl, and the Gridiron Classic (in recent years, the Hula and Gridiron have alternated as the final game of the season).
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Parents have a huge influence to their children. They have the power to manipulate them in a sense that their [...]
Higher education is not merely about academics; in this educational level, career is as well widely tackled. Students are often [...]
Plenty of things are offered in bulk resources by the Internet. Using it has become basic for people across the [...] | <urn:uuid:78d5b88c-5b9a-4b60-a797-45b9e4e6bb7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.students.net/fun/college-football/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979534 | 823 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Our trip to the…
Marine Discovery Centre
This guest post is written by Molly (2KJ) and Jordi (2KM).
Today we went to the Marine Discovery Centre! The Marine Discovery Centre is in Queenscliff, which is about 15 minutes from our school. It is a great place to visit to learn about marine life and how to care for the sea creatures. We had great fun and learnt lots of interesting facts!
We got on the bus at 10.00am. We spent an hour and a half at the MDC and got back at school at 12.30pm. We went to the Marine Discovery Centre because we are learning about the sea this term.
Some of the things we did were:
- Met the leaders, Anne and Jess.
- Held the creatures in the “feel and touch” pool.
- Watched Alan, who works at the Marine Discovery Centre, feed the animals.
- Watched the huge lobster in the tank.
- Made a rock pool.
- Explored the different fish and marine animals in the many tanks.
- Saw flathead fish come out and dig them selves up again.
- Saw one of our favourite fish, the pufferfish.
We hope you enjoy the slideshow we made…
We had great fun at the Marine Discover Centre! A big thank you to Anne and Jess, who taught us so many new things!
What do you like about this guest post?
Have you ever been the Marine Discovery Centre? What did you enjoy?
What is your favourite marine animal? Why? | <urn:uuid:9dc0847e-2329-40db-b350-79f6e56558af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://2kmand2kj.global2.vic.edu.au/2011/12/09/guest-post-the-marine-discovery-centre/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93657 | 331 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Latest update: October 9th, 2012
If the recent Sukkot overdose of Shabbat, followed by two days of Yom Tov, and another Shabbat followed by two more days of Yom Tov, isn’t enough to get Diaspora Jews to move to Israel, with its force-feeding of gefilta fish day-after-day, until gefilta fish jelly drips out of people’s noses and horseradish pours out of their ears, I don’t know what it’s going to take until Diaspora Jews are fed up with practicing Judaism in a jar.
With an average of two balls of gefilta fish per meal for the 3 Shabbat meals, and two balls at each of the 2 seudot on Yom Tov times 2 – that makes for 28 gefilta fish balls over the holiday for each and every Jew. For New York’s 1 million Jews, that means that 28,000,000 gefilta fish balls were consumed during Sukkot, not counting the 14,000,000 balls eaten during the two days of Rosh HaShanah and the preceding Shabbat.
It’s a big boom for gefilta fish companies, but a big belly ache for Diaspora Jews, many of whom end up rushing at the end of the holiday to hospitals where emergency rooms are crammed with gefilta-fish-overdosed Jews suffering from Diaspora Poisoning.
[Incidentally, the booming gefilta fish market may get an additional boost from a very unexpected source - U.S. President Obama who, in a bid to attract more Jewish voters, is planning to announce that if he is re-elected, the traditional White-House Thanksgiving Dinner will feature gefilta fish instead of turkey.]
As we’ve written on many occasions, the Torah isn’t meant to be observed in the Diaspora. Judaism isn’t meant to be kept in a jar, but on the mountains and Biblical valleys of Israel. The Torah was given to be performed in Eretz Yisrael. We described how the holiday of Sukkot is natural to the Land of Israel, with sukkah booths all over the country, on terraces, rooftops, street corners, shopping centers, and army bases – not only in back yards in isolated Jewish ghettos. And here in Israel, Sukkot is an official national holiday, with a long 10-day vacation from school, so kids here grow up being proud Jews, and not some minority with a chip on their shoulder for being different than Peter, Paul, and Mary.
Another example is the prayer for rain which we began saying yesterday in the Amidah prayer. As we said it, rain started to fall outside the synagogue window, marking the start of the rainy season in Israel, and a ushering in a united feeling of joy. In America, where it rains all the time, the prayer is meaningless. The same things happens come Hanukah time, when in Israel we say, “A great miracle happened here,” while Diaspora Jews say, “A great miracle happened THERE.” Judaism is happening in Israel.
As long as the curse of the exile was upon us, we had no choice and had to observe whatever individual commandments we could in the Diaspora, but now that everyone can come home to a national Jewish life in Israel, where Jerusalem is once again the center of world Jewry, the practice of Judaism-in-a-bottle, in the ghettos of foreign, gentile lands is no longer necessary.
So, as we all proclaimed at the conclusion of our Yom Kippur prayers: “Next Year in Jerusalem!” See you here soon!
About the Author: Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Creativity and Jewish Culture for his novel "Tevye in the Promised Land." For the past several years, he has written a popular and controversial blog at Arutz 7. A wide selection of his books are available at Amazon. The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of The Jewish Press
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By VOA -- (February 21, 2013)
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said it is “unacceptable” not to do something about gun violence in America.
Biden spoke at a conference on gun violence just a few kilometers from the scene of the December shooting in Newtown, Connecticut – where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults in an elementary school.
Biden praised officials working to tackle gun crime. But he added America will be “judged as a society” if no action is taken to keep citizens safe from gun attacks. He said, “The American people are with us. You should know. You all should know there is a moral price to be paid for inaction.”
Experts in the fields of mental health, law enforcement and education participated in the conference in Danbury, Connecticut. The parents of seven-year-old Newtown victim Grace McDonnell took part in one of the panels.
The event was organized by members of the state’s congressional delegation.
President Barack Obama is pushing for universal background checks for gun owners, a ban on military-style assault weapons and limits to the size of ammunition magazines.
Gun advocates say additional laws will not keep weapons away from people with violent intent, and the government should instead focus on enforcing exisiting laws. | <urn:uuid:d51da82d-5c2a-4417-ac5f-1a84f4fd0184> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.albanytribune.com/21022013-biden-unacceptable-to-not-take-action-on-gun-violence/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961667 | 270 | 2.078125 | 2 |
To ensure a safe and secure learning environment at Niles School, we focus on safety, health, and well-being as a schoolwide priority. Our Safety Committee works collaboratively with staff and parents to regularly assess our campus for potential hazards and revise and update emergency procedures, if necessary. The Comprehensive Safety Plan is adhered to throughout the year and annually reviewed and modified as necessary. Monthly fire drills and quarterly disaster drills are one component of the emergency disaster procedures routinely practiced at Niles.
Each classroom contains an emergency backpack with necessary supplies and parent release information. The schools Emergency Plan includes procedures for earthquakes, fire, threatening individuals, bomb threats, and shelter-in-place emergencies. There is a disaster supply shed located on-site which contains emergency medical supplies, equipment, food, and water. The school has an evacuation bell system and a smoke detector system to protect the facility. The School Safety Plan was last reviewed, updated, and discussed with the school faculty at the beginning of the school year. | <urn:uuid:3a0450fa-0a9c-44a7-88b9-da09128362b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/domain/1360 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963696 | 202 | 2.140625 | 2 |
I object strenously to Thomas F. Schaller's column in which he called Social Security "largest welfare program in history of planet" ("Older, wealthier get plenty of 'free stuff,'" Nov. 14). This is just wrong. We octogenarians have paid through payroll deductions into FICA (Social Security) since its inception during our working life — mostly mandtory deductions.
I worked in private industry for a few years and then became a civil servant. As a civil servant, I was required to pay into the Medicare pot. And now in retirement years, Mr. Schaller calls these entitlements welfare.
We paid tor these benefits! I do call them entitlements because having paid into the funds, we are entitled to the payments. Further, Medicare is not free — we pay a monthly premium in addition to our contribution during our working years. Yet the benefit does not adequately cover medical costs. We pay a lot out of pocket for health care.
It is my opinion that as a teacher of political science Mr. Schaller needs to go back into history and study the beginning of Social Security, its purpose and evolution before he can be the judge of what we senior citizens receive free. | <urn:uuid:04d62a0d-59bc-4a3b-8606-aece154e061f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kwch.com/bs-ed-social-security-letter-20121119,0,1600396.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971852 | 247 | 1.734375 | 2 |
A successful chore chart and system that really works.
Having a chore chart that our whole family can utilize is imperative to any family, especially a large homeschool family. We all must work diligently together and be responsible for our own specific daily and weekly tasks in order to maintain a house suitable for adequate living.
The Everyday Family Chore System helped me revise our family chore chart and cleaning system. We all got extremely lazy over the summer.
I have to admit I was impressed with the fact that this 88 paged ebook was created by a busy mom of eight and foster mom of over fifty!
This ebook is divided in three parts. The first two parts include many practical and helpful tips on training your children to complete a task thoroughly. I do believe this is crucial for the large family. A child needs to know what is to be expected of them and trained properly. However, this does take time, but it is worth it in the long run from my experience, as well.
The third part of this ebook entails the Actual Parts: How-To-Do-It Cards and Job Labels. Also, blank labels and cards are provided in the back to personalize to meet your family’s own need.
How it Worked for Us
I used several of the recommended tip suggestions and created a family chore chart with only the daily/weekly chores on a dry erase board designed specifically for a chore chart.
My little ones pick up all the toys that are out of place and put them in their shopping cart or lego wagon three times a day.
My favorite part of the book and probably the most useful for our family of 8 are the How – To -Do- It cards. These cards are designed with detailed instructions on completing a specific task ,such as, set table, dust living room, empty dishwasher and even clean the toaster. There are numerous more printable cards that we printed on heavy card stock and have stored them all in a index card box. These cards can be used with any cleaning system, not just the ones that are recommended in The Everyday Family Chore System. That was a plus for me.
I have gleaned and printed the suggested zone cleaning lists that are recommended in the ebook. We do our zone cleaning on Fridays.
I only have positive things to say about The Everyday Family Chore System. Even if you have the perfect chore chart, the How-To-Do-It cards alone are worth the price.
See a sample of The Everyday Family Chore System.
You can purchase The Everyday Family Chore System for 19.99. It is well worth in and it will bless your family if you are lacking a clean, organized home environment. Visit Everyday Homemaking for other wonderful homemaking tips.
See what the TOS Crew thinks about The Everyday Homemaker.
To read my other honest thoughts of products that our large homeschool family has experienced!
I have received an ebook, The Everyday Family Chore System, in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.
Sharing with: WFMW, WLW, Encouraging One Another,RaisingHomemakers,Hearts4Home,SixSistersStuff,Saturday Show & Tell, Weekend Bloggy Reading,The Better Mom, Monday Musings, Mama Moments Monday,Domestically Divine Tuesday, Time – Warp Wife,Frugal Days,What Works,, Flash Blog, Thursday, Show Me Extraordinary, Mommy Teaches, , Inspire Me Monday, Big Family Linkup,Friday Favorites | <urn:uuid:1a5023a3-de8b-4f17-a9ef-870550220667> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blessedbeyondadoubt.com/chore-chart/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95173 | 732 | 1.5 | 2 |
Archive for the ‘Science’ Category
Posted by dorian on April 22, 2010
Sounds Make Memories Stick During Sleep
Hearing certain sounds during slumber can spur learning, according to research detailed at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society’s annual meeting in Montreal
By Ingrid Wickelgren
MONTREAL—A good night’s sleep, or even just a nap, can be an aid to memory. Psychologists have known for years that sleep solidifies what we’ve learned during the day, transforming tenuous associations into stable ones. Learning while you snooze seems supremely efficient, and so people have long dreamed of co-opting this process so that their dozing brain shores up what matters to them—say, material they’ve studied for a test or a talk, or verbiage in a foreign language they want to master. But until now there has been little support for the notion that studying in your sleep is useful. Psychology graduate student John Rudoy at Northwestern University in Illinois reported findings here on Monday at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society 2010 annual meeting that hint at a way to do that. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Health, Nerdus Momentus, Science | 4 Comments »
Posted by princessxxx on February 11, 2010
e-e, wedding anniversay 2/13/10. congratulations.
i don’t recall either dorian or the “BRAIN“‘s birthdays, but they are both aquarian airheads. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 177, about music and musicians, Ancient Origins, And All That Jazz, Announcements, Anything Goes in this Post, Art and Artists, Business, Comedy, conspiracy theories, Crime, Cut and Paste from SNL site, Debate, dorian's ditties, e.t, Educational, Entertainment, Famous Adventurers, Food, Good News, hall of shame, Health, Huh??, international news, Just A Caveman, Just for Fun, Military, More at 11, Nature, Nerdus Momentus, News, notorious, Opinion, Pioneers, Poems, Politics, Religion, Science, Sex, Soapbox Rantings, sports, Symbolic History, Technology, The Storybook, The World, Uncategorized, Urban Legends, wtf | 12 Comments »
Posted by 1minionsopinion on February 4, 2010
I don’t know what to make of this new evolutionary theory. There was a study recently done of chimps and bonobos (our closest relatives) to see which species could learn quicker.
The two types of ape are very close to each other, genetically, but the clear differences are believed to be down to simple evolution, said lead researcher Victoria Wobber.
Her team put both chimps and bonobos through a variety of skill tests with rewards for those who completed various tasks the quickest.
They included a sharing exercise and a begging exercise in which they had to work out which of their keepers was most generous. In all cases the chimps learnt the tasks fastest and to their better advantage.
She believes that the ability to “restrain” their sociability was one of the reasons they were more intelligent and more civilised.
She said: “Bonobos took longer to develop the same skill level shown even among the youngest of the chimpanzees that were tested.
To paraphrase, chimps get ornery as they get older with more aggression and less desire to share their stuff. And their research suggests this could be a good thing.
Pity the poor bonobo who’s too laid back and easy going? Not quite yet. Instead of getting that aggressive, they just have lots of sex. And this is worth quoting:
Just imagine that we had never heard of chimpanzees or baboons and had known bonobos first. We would at present most likely believe that early hominids lived in female- centered societies, in which sex served important social functions and in which warfare was rare or absent. In the end, perhaps the most successful reconstruction of our past will be based not on chimpanzees or even on bonobos but on a three-way comparison of chimpanzees, bonobos and humans.
Maybe it looks like the chimps have an edge, but there are benefits to both types of lifestyle exhibited by our kin. No doubt more research will go into their findings to expand on or disprove what they discovered.
(this has been a cross post)
Posted in Nature, Science | 1 Comment »
Posted by princessxxx on December 23, 2009
OK, THIS IS OVER AN HOUR LONG, BUT WORTH IT.
I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE SCIENCE, BUT I LOVE A GOOD DRAG SHOW.
Posted in Ancient Origins, Anything Goes in this Post, Debate, Educational, Opinion, Pioneers, Religion, Science, Sex | 134 Comments »
Posted by dorian on December 12, 2009
Monkey alarm calls provide clues to origins of human language
Monkeys form very primitive sentences, scientists have discovered, in research that brings us closer to understanding the origins of language.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Photo: National Geographic Animal Gallery
Published: 2:15PM GMT 11 Dec 2009
A team found the Campbell’s monkey can add a simple sound to its alarm calls to create new ones and then combine them to convey even more information.
Human language is incredibly complex, but one defining feature is the process of adding a prefix or suffix to a word to change its meaning.
For example, adding “hood” to the word “brother” to form “brotherhood”.
Researchers looking at Campbell’s monkeys (Cercopithecus campbelli campbelli) in the Ivory Coast’s Tai National Park found that these primates do a similar thing. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nature, Nerdus Momentus, Science | 7 Comments »
Posted by 1minionsopinion on November 25, 2009
Olivia Judson has an interesting take on an Evolve-By Date that’s worth commenting on. I offer my own thoughts between paragraphs.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nature, Opinion, Science | Leave a Comment »
Posted by 1minionsopinion on November 21, 2009
Now that I’ve joined a Freethinkers group, I’m meeting a lot of new people. Some I doubt I’ll have much in common with outside the group’s raison d’etre, but others I could see hanging out with fairly often. Today, as it happens, I had lunch with one of the gals. She’s a married mother of two with both kids under 7 and hasn’t gotten either of them vaccinated for flu, H1N1, or anything else.
I’m appalled by this growing trend, frankly. The whole point of vaccination is to keep childhood death at a minimum, is it not? They’d never take their kids in a car these days without protection from fender benders (special chairs, harnesses, seat belts, etc) but they won’t protect their immune systems from preventable diseases? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Opinion, Science | 18 Comments »
Posted by Enkill_Eridos on November 14, 2009
Today there was a different Google Icon. Each Google Icon has a news worthy story so I clicked on it and this is what I found.
Splash! NASA moon crash struck lots of water
By ALICIA CHANG (AP) – 1 hour ago
LOS ANGELES — The lunar dud for space enthusiasts has become a watershed event for NASA.
Spacecraft that crashed into the moon last month kicked up a relatively small plume. But scientists have confirmed the debris contained water — 25 gallons of it — making lunar exploration exciting again.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nerdus Momentus, Science | 4 Comments » | <urn:uuid:a8a6227d-7c5c-4a72-a860-bad45ad49a80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tothewire.wordpress.com/category/science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939197 | 1,678 | 1.78125 | 2 |
New maps complicate flood victims' rebuilding plans
Michael and Beth Meehan had scarcely moved back into their Moonachie home, half-rebuilt two months after superstorm Sandy, when another disaster appeared on the horizon: a rising tide of flood insurance.
Governor Christie’s decision last month to adopt the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new flood advisory maps could have costly implications for thousands of New Jersey residents now painted into danger zones. Christie’s move alarmed the Meehans, whose low-slung brick house, built in the early 1900s, now sits in a zone where FEMA says floodwaters could reach 8 feet.
“Do we have to rebuild our home? Or spend $100,000 to raise it? Or spend $30,000 more on flood insurance? Common sense tells me that doesn’t make sense,” Michael Meehan said. “Where am I going to get that money?”
The new maps, if made official, will add more properties to flood zones and shape how homes, businesses and neighborhoods are rebuilt. That’s on top of changes already taking effect under the Biggert-Waters Act, a 2012 federal law designed to bolster the national flood insurance program by ending subsidies and increasing premiums.
“Everything is happening at the same time,” said John Miller of the New Jersey Association for Floodplain Management. “When you run the numbers, that makes a huge difference for people every year.”
The 2012 act, still being fleshed out by federal officials, means that a home built in Zone A — a high-risk flood area — with minimum flood insurance on structure and contents could see annual rates rise from $472 to $979 by 2017. According to FEMA numbers, the same house with a maximum $250,000 policy, with $100,000 in content coverage, would see rates rise from $3,289 to $6,820.
For many, these increases would be compounded by the proposed flood maps set to be finalized by 2014. The maps would bring houses like the Meehans’ out of compliance with flood elevation standards, potentially sending insurance costs soaring.
“Once they come out preliminarily, they’re not going to affect flood insurance,” Joseph Ruggeri, a supervising engineer at the state Department of Environmental Protection, said of FEMA’s maps. “But within 18 months and two years, they will at that point affect people’s flood insurance rates.”
To stave off these insurance spikes, and protect against the damage of future floods, residents may have to raise their houses by several feet, which can cost from $50,000 to more than $100,000.
Residents of Moonachie and other hard-hit areas are uncertain about whether, or when, they will have to elevate their homes, or how they will manage the premium increases. Christie’s rule — which requires the first floor of rebuilt structures to sit 1 foot above the new flood elevations — technically applies only to houses that sustained “substantial damage,” losses exceeding 50 percent of the structure’s value. But that threshold is of little comfort to those with a house that could soon cost much more to insure.
“I don’t have to elevate, because I don’t have structural damage,” said Ed Monti, a Moonachie resident whose finished basement took in more than 6 feet of water. “But I am in that gray area, because if I don’t follow the new guidelines, my flood insurance is going up anyway. Am I eligible to apply for a grant to help with elevation, even though I didn’t have any structural damage? I don’t know.”
Monti, who carries flood insurance in Moonachie and on a Belmar home that also was badly flooded, said he and his wife have spent $25,000 on repairs so far, with no help from FEMA or their insurance company.
After paying insurance on time for years, Monti now fears his losses will not be covered.
“I just want to be where I was, that’s all I want, no more no less. I’m not looking to build a mansion. That’s what I paid insurance for, to get back to where I was.”
But the status quo is unsustainable, officials and experts say. New Jersey seems poised to follow New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seeking buyouts of houses in flood plains. Christie has said some federal mitigation money would go toward the state Blue Acres program, which would buy properties in areas of repeated flooding. “We need to buy entire neighborhoods that have chronically flooded, and that’s what we’re going to be looking to do,” Christie said.
Christie has said he was “dubious” about reports of homeowners’ flood insurance rates tripling, but urged residents to call the Department of Banking and Insurance. “I signed an executive order saying any complaints related to Sandy have to be addressed in five days,” Christie said.
“Let me also say that there are going to be increases in insurance rates,” Christie said. “If you live close to the water and we had the worst flood we’ve seen in the state’s history and you want to continue to live near the water, it’s going to cost you more because all the claims [insurance companies are] paying, they need to get that money back. And the only place they get it back from is the people who are paying them premiums. The fact is, there will be increases in insurance rates, I’m sure.”
Insurance rates and building codes should reflect the risks to life and property of building in a flood plain, said Miller of the New Jersey Association for Floodplain Management. “We really think that people need to know the risk of purchasing and occupying homes.”
Rebuilding to new codes will be safer and reduce premiums.
“We need to base our rebuilding on something,” Miller said. “If we didn’t use these maps, people would build lower, and then they would see huge increases in flood insurance premiums.”
Christie’s emergency rule on advisory maps will not immediately change insurance rates or requirements — they are an “interim step,” Miller said.
“The new mapping will not affect people’s insurance this fall,” he said, though Congress’ changes will. “There is going to be a lot of backlash on how quickly and how much these rates go up.”
“Congress made all these decisions last summer, and I believe that Congress did not understand the ramifications of their votes,” Miller said. “There is a lot of uncertainty.”
The cost and scope of rebuilding will depend on municipalities, officials say. Towns with stringent rebuilding codes and comprehensive 100-year flood plans could qualify for low risk premiums under the Biggert-Waters Act.
Municipalities could take part in FEMA’s Community Rating System — which would make residents eligible for lower premiums — or apply to FEMA for mitigation funding, collectively, on behalf of residents.
“The local municipalities and those officials know their townspeople and local geographic areas more than anybody else,” said Joseph Crifasi, director of the Bergen County Department of Public Works. “It wouldn’t be fair for the state and county governments to tell the towns how to use the money.”
In Moonachie, the rising price of insurance — required of all mortgage holders — could force some residents out of their homes, Michael Meehan said. “Moonachie is a blue-collar town. They can’t just come in here and tell us that everybody is going to have to raise their house or you’ll get flood insurance premiums over $31,000,” he said. “That’s just not practical.”
Miller fears many residents will drop their flood insurance. “Rates are going up so much and so quickly in four years that there will be a lot of people dropping flood insurance coverage, which we don’t want,” he said. His group is working with U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s office on a possible voucher program to keep residents insured.
One thing is clear: The landscape has changed, and residents must adapt, or quite literally, pay the price.
“There is no doubt that New Jersey is extremely flood-prone,” Miller said. “Not only are we experiencing large events, but we have very developed communities, and as a society we have built into the flood plains.” | <urn:uuid:80485f46-3038-4355-a38a-7f9aefb4e196> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northjersey.com/moonachie/New_maps_complicate_flood_victims_rebuilding_plans.html?page=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964128 | 1,861 | 2.03125 | 2 |
The View from The Shard: first details revealed
EMBARGOED UNTIL 1200HRS, FRIDAY 26 OCTOBER 2012
- Margaret Thatcher and Karl Marx on a tandem - famous Londoners, past and present in playful juxtapositions welcome visitors in the ground floor galleries
- London Symphony Orchestra perform the attraction’s soundtrack
- State of the art interactive telescopes – used for the first time in Europe - take people further into the story of London in ten languages
- New CGI film footage of attraction launched, revealing glimpses of the visitor experience
- New national competition announced, providing members of the public with an opportunity to win tickets to The View from The Shard’s opening day: http://bit.ly/TVFTStwitter
The View from The Shard, the new premium visitor experience at the pinnacle of The Shard, London’s newest landmark and Western Europe’s tallest building, has today [26 October 2012] revealed a glimpse of some of the attraction’s features and content that are currently being created ahead of its opening on 1 February 2013.
The View from The Shard takes people on a journey to 244m (800ft) above London, almost twice as high as any other viewing point in the city. The attraction provides a unique encounter with The Shard and the most spectacular 64km (40 mile), 360-degree views over the capital and beyond – it is the only place you can see all of London, all at once, making it the perfect first stop for visitors to the city.
The elements of the attraction revealed illustrate the different stages of the visitor journey through The View from The Shard, and provide a glimpse of the entire visitor experience – full details of which are yet to be revealed:
- A series of colourful tongue-in-cheek illustrations of famous Londoners in playful juxtapositions will greet visitors at the entrance to The View from The Shard. Here Margaret Thatcher and Karl Max are pictured out for a ride together on a tandem bicycle; Vidal Sassoon and Vivienne Westwood are giving King Charles I a makeover; Alfred Hitchcock flees the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, George Orwell is installing CCTV cameras whilst Benjamin Franklin is shown at a cash machine. The ground floor draws guests into the rich tapestry of London, its diverse communities and colourful characters. Along the walls, video screens and display panels also show digital maps of London and film footage of city life – preparing guests for the breathtaking views that await them.
- Guests depart the ground floor in two high-speed lifts that take just 30 seconds each to reach the viewing platforms. On their journey skywards they will be accompanied by a soaring anthem from the London Symphony Orchestra, building anticipation of seeing London like never before. The specially composed music is part of the wider musical score that will accompany guests through The View from The Shard, also featuring acclaimed London-based chamber choir, the Joyful Company of Singers. [See the LSO in recording: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheViewFromTheShard]
- In the viewing galleries, 244m (800ft) above London, the remarkable 360 degree, 64km (40mile) view over the city is revealed. Guests are able to explore the view through 12 digital ‘Tell:scopes’ that are being made available in Europe for the first time. The Tell:scopes - digital telescopes with large touchscreens - enable guests to explore the city around them in real-time, as well as offering alternative (pre-recorded) day and night-time views. Fully interactive, they are able to identify famous landmarks and places of significant interest in the user’s sight line and provide information about them in 10 languages. Guests are drawn deeper into the story of London as bitesize elements of history, and images, appear on screen. In total, 200 landmarks and places of interest across London will be highlighted on the Tell:scopes. [Images here: www.bit.ly/LuoPvl]
In addition, The View from The Shard has also announced:
- The release of new computer generated footage providing a glimpse of the visitor experience – from street level to the viewing galleries. The video, featuring music from the specially composed score performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, can be viewed on The View from The Shard’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/theviewfromtheshard
- A new national competition calling on members of the public to nominate their favourite parts of London to be included on attraction’s Tell:scopes. The competition, judged by TV historian Dan Snow, invites Londoners and the public to nominate parts of the capital that aren’t necessarily well-known tourist attractions or landmarks, but have a particular historical significance or charm that can add to the visitor’s experience of the city.
- The competition will be available at: http://www.facebook.com/theviewfromtheshard. Nominations should be made on twitter under the hash tag #SecretShardView Ten entries will be chosen and the ten winners will each receive a pair of complimentary tickets to The View from The Shard on its opening day 1 February 2013. [Read the full release here: http://bit.ly/TVFTStwitter]
- Put The Shard in a stocking this Christmas. New gift certificates for The View from The Shard are now available, enabling tickets to the attraction to be given as gifts. The attraction is a queue and crowd free experience, with guests choosing the time and date that suits them best for their visit. The new gift certificates enable tickets to be given as a present but allow the recipient to choose when they would like to visit.
- New temporary box office in operation – tickets can be bought from a pop up ticket office opposite The Shard and London Bridge station.
Anders Nyberg, Chief Executive, The View from The Shard, said: The View from The Shard is the only place you can experience all of London all at once and the attraction will draw people into the story of London, its history, people and places like never before. The unrivalled panoramic views of London will be brought to life through cutting edge technology to provide a truly unique experience of one of the world’s greatest cities. We look forward to revealing more details about the attraction before we open on 1 February 2013.”
Tickets now on sale: Be the first to visit
Tickets and Gift Certificates can be purchased from the dedicated website www.theviewfromtheshard.com, via the temporary box office opposite The Shard at London Bridge or via the box office hotline: +44 (0)844 499 7111 (a handling fee applies for telephone bookings only). Tickets and gift certificates cost £24.95 for adults and £18.95 for children.
- END -
Images of The Shard and The View from The Shard: www.bit.ly/LuoPvl
William Kallaway: +44 (0)20 7221 7883 /
Nazneen Nawaz: +44 (0)20 7221 7883 /
Susannah Glynn: +44 (0)20 7221 7883 /
The View from The Shard
Ruth Howlett, Head of PR: +44 (0)20 3102 3973 /
Follow the progress of The View from The Shard
The View from The Shard – The Visitor Experience
The View from The Shard will take guests on a multi-sensory journey from street level up to 244m (800ft) and will provide a remarkable experience of one of the greatest cities on earth.
From arrival, guests will be drawn into the diverse tapestry of London and get a glimpse of what it will be like to have the city laid out before them. Anticipation is further heightened as they travel in two high-speed lifts that take just 30 seconds each to reach Level 68 where they will encounter the cloudscape and the feeling they are on a different plane rising above the world.
From Level 68 they make their way to the triple-height, light-filled, Level 69 where the view is revealed. Here, in the sky above London, guests will have the most astonishing 360 degree, 64km (40mile) view over the city and beyond. The past, present and future of London is unfurled beneath them and also brought to life in multimedia displays and installations. Examples include high tech digital telescopes that take the viewer deeper into the story of London.
Guests can choose to go even higher to the full 244m: Level 72, the highest public level of The Shard. Here, guests have the most profound experience exposed to the elements and sounds of the city beneath, as well as the chance to look up to the shards of glass that form the top of this sculptural building as they disappear upwards further into the sky.
The View from The Shard is the highest vantage point from any building in Western Europe and almost twice as high as any other viewing point in London.
Further public booking information
The View from The Shard will be open from 0900 – 2200hrs daily (except 25 December). The entrance will be located on Joiner Street, London, SE1. The nearest tube/rail station is London Bridge. The attraction is located on bus routes 43, 48, 141, 149, 521. Public information email: .
About The Shard
The Shard (www.the-shard.com) is a landmark building on the London skyline, designed by Master Architect Renzo Piano and is the UK’s first vertical city. At a height of 1,016 ft (310 m) the building redefines London’s skyline and will be a dynamic symbol of the Capital, recognisable throughout the world. Located in the historic London Bridge Quarter in the heart of London, The Shard sits centrally between the West End, Westminster, the South Bank, the City and Canary Wharf.
The name ‘Shard’ comes from its sculpted design, which consists of glass facets that incline inwards but do not meet at the top, but instead open to the sky to allow the building to breathe naturally. London church spires and masts of ships which once anchored on the River Thames inspired the elegant building. The Shard is a vertical city with high-quality offices, international restaurants, the 5-star Shangri-La hotel, exclusive residences and The View from The Shard.
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- Briefing Room
- Consumer Engagement
- Commerce 3.0
Over the past decade, mobile phones have emerged as one of the most ubiquitous technologies in human history. Today, billions of people in virtually every corner of the world have mobile phones. These devices shape their interaction with their communities, countries and economies.
At the same time, the consumer financial services industry has spread the benefits of electronic payments across the planet. By linking financial institutions, cardholders and millions of merchants around the world, global payment networks are facilitating commerce in ways and in places previously unimagined.
Given the parallel spread of these technologies, it has long been assumed that convergence would inevitably occur. Indeed, much evidence has pointed in this direction. Yet, as this new frontier of personal empowerment and commercial facilitation takes hold, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about how these mobile payment systems will operate. The most important question is how they will be made secure.
In order to understand where mobile payments are headed and the security challenges that should be addressed, we must first define what we mean by "mobile payment." At the most basic level, we can separate mobile payments into 1) Mobile as Payment Devices to initiate payments by a consumer; and 2) Mobile as Acceptance Devices to accept payments by a merchant.
Mobile as Payment Devices
The use of a mobile phone to initiate payment mirrors what we are familiar with today. The fundamental difference is that instead of payment with a card, mobile payments use a mobile phone. Mobile payments at the physical point-of-sale (POS) and in the eCommerce environment are defined by the industry as "proximity payments" and "remote payments," respectively.
Proximity payments are remarkably intuitive and similar to today's payment methods. Instead of using a card to make a payment, the consumer uses their mobile phone. There are many different technologies that can be proposed for proximity payments. Yet contactless technology, referred to as NFC (Near Field Communication), is emerging as the de facto technology standard. The great benefit to NFC is that it is backwards compatible with existing payment and transit card contactless standards, and much of the infrastructure is already deployed around the world. A short-range radio signal is transmitted between the phone and terminal, initiating the payment and allowing it to be processed through the traditional card processing networks and systems.
Unlike proximity payments, remote payments do not require the consumer to be in the store or even in the same country as the merchant. Instead, remote payments bring the convenience of online shopping to a person's mobile device.
Some of the most common types of remote payments include:
- Message-based: when a consumer sends a text message or code and a premium is charged to the consumer's phone bill;
- Browser-based: similar to a computer-based eCommerce experience - the consumer completes a Web form; and
- App-based: when the consumer uses a vendor-sponsored application to find and purchase good or services.
Mobile as Acceptance Device
In addition to replacing cards for payments, mobile phones are also beginning to be used as portable POS devices. In the world of smartphone applications, software is emerging to allow small merchants or individuals to subscribe to payment services where they accept card payments via key-entered card data on their mobile phone. Mobile phone accessories are also emerging that add a magnetic stripe or chip reader to a mobile phone, so that card data can be entered electronically as with a traditional POS device. Mobile acceptance opens the way to a future where acceptance is "everywhere you want acceptance to be."
Today, we are seeing mobile acceptance expanding everywhere, from gardeners to pizza delivery parlors, bringing the mobility and convenience of electronic payments to merchant segments that were traditionally reliant on cash and checks.
At the same time, the use of mobile phones as payment and acceptance devices will also open up new opportunities and channels, such as person-to-person (P2P) money transfer, where a mobile phone can be used to initiate or accept transfers between individuals.
Mobile payment synthesizes the technology of mobile phones with the demands of consumers and marketing needs of merchants. Understanding the basics of mobile payments, we can now turn our attention to why mobile payments matter: the enormous benefits this technology holds for consumers and merchants, alike.
The convergence of mobile technology and electronic payments holds the promise of an enhanced shopping experience followed by unprecedented convenience and control of payment options.
The mobile phone, with its connectivity to the Internet, allows the consumer to research purchases and compare prices. Furthermore, consumers can share favorite products with friends via social media. Merchants also can deliver promotional opportunities, including digital coupons.
Once ready to purchase, the consumer has the option of conducting a transaction at the physical store with proximity contactless or at an online merchant via remote payments. Newer phones have been announced that will include contactless NFC technology, which can mean less hassle in the checkout line, greater control of financial information and the convenience of having payment card and mobile phone consolidated into a single tool.
If the consumer decides to purchase the goods with an online retailer instead, the mobile device can also be used to facilitate that transaction in a variety of ways. One example is online wallets, which are frequent in eCommerce and emerging in mobile. Consumers store their payment card information in an easily accessible online location, which is then used for simple, one-click style payments. In addition, shoppers can conduct transactions wherever they take their mobile devices, rather than firing up a computer at home to experience the convenience of online shopping.
The mobile device can further facilitate post transaction convenience of having the receipts stored securely on the mobile device for tracking and customer service purposes, making paper slips tucked in a wallet obsolete.
Opportunities for Merchants
Merchants are also poised to unlock enormous value, as these tools become more secure and ever-present. Mobile payments allow merchants to reach their customers through multiple touch points simultaneously. For example, an electronic coupon delivered to a phone can be shared via social networking and used instantly or integrated directly into the digital wallet to be used in the next purchase. The ability to determine the location of a consumer through geo-location functions adds another dimension to integrated marketing. Done securely and with the right privacy protections in place, this can make marketing much more efficient and targeted, reaching consumers where they are most likely to be receptive.
The overall value is also tremendous. In 2005, the British marketing research firm Juniper Research predicted that total transactions via mobile devices would be $155 million that year and top $10 billion by the end of the decade. Not only did mobile payments exceed that forecast tenfold, reaching $100 billion in 2010, but the total for digital and physical goods are expected to reach $630 billion by 2014.
The future of mobile payments is robust. Consumers are poised to realize enormous benefits, and merchants to gain unrivalled opportunity. But in order for any of this promise to be fulfilled, the fundamental issue of security will need to be vigilantly addressed.
Whenever a new payment technology is introduced, new challenges are sure to emerge as well. Fortunately, most of the security concerns associated with mobile payments are either identical or very similar to ones already faced and addressed by the payment industry. As has been the case in the past, addressing those threats must be the shared responsibility of all stakeholders.
The most apparent safety concern is protecting personal data that either is stored in or flows through a mobile device - payment account numbers, PINs, security codes, passwords, etc. Exposure of personal information over a wireless network can leave the consumer feeling vulnerable to theft. As a result, mobile payments have a higher hill to climb to assuage consumer concerns about security and privacy.
Some of these challenges to mobile payments are highlighted below:
Proximity payments are based on the EMV standard and therefore face the fewest security challenges. Use of an EMV-approved chip ensures that a mobile proximity payment delivers the same end-to-end security offered by a smartcard-enabled payment. Maintaining the same security between the card and mobile worlds for this type of transaction delivers tremendous benefits to the entire payments ecosystem. Other types of proximity payments that rely on barcodes or other new means of payment security and authentication represent entirely new security and risk models that will face a significant challenge in delivering a secure, efficient and cost-effective solution.
The main challenge for proximity contactless payment is standardization and integration. Today, hundreds of new mobile devices hit the market every year, each offering innovative options and ways to communicate and access payment information stored on the chip. Lack of technology standards in the industry can lead to attacks, particularly if manufacturers of the mobile device, mobile networks that sell and enable these mobile phones and issuers that issue the payment chip used on these devices do not work together. Actors across the industry must implement defensive measures to secure the entire value chain and ensure the proper implementation of the mobile proximity payment ecosystem.
Like our personal computers, remote payments typically rely on software-based security that is susceptible to many threats due to the openness of the mobile platforms. The mobile phone today has the ability to execute all types of applications, ranging from instant messaging and social media to games and even online banking and trading.
That ability to execute applications, unfortunately, extends to viruses and malware as well. While we do not see as many viruses and malware targeting mobile platforms today, we expect that to change once there is increased adoption and penetration of mobile payments by consumers.
In fact, there are already companies developing and selling antivirus software for smartphones today. A recent article published by Dow Jones Newswires noted that "[a]nti-virus companies with strong sales in the PC universe, like AVG or rival Trend Micro., are moving to fill that potentially lucrative niche, with a focus on protecting sensitive financial data - the No.1 target for developers of malicious software."
In reality, there are few differences when you compare a PC and a mobile phone-based eCommerce transaction. The key differences and challenges are:
- Software: The world of PC-based eCommerce is based almost entirely on standardized Web software on Microsoft Windows, MacOS or Linux operating systems. The same cannot be said about mobile, since the platforms are still evolving rapidly with frequent changes to the operating systems and a wide variety of underlying hardware architectures.
- Internet connection: Where the risk in the PC world is limited to the amount of time the computer is switched on and connected to the Internet, withsmartphones, that window of exposure is now greatly increased, as the phone is a device we typically keep switched on even while we sleep.
- Scams: Comparable to the e-mail phishing attacks that trick victims into divulging personal information via a computer, scammers can easily extended these tactics to the mobile channel. In fact, since the mobile device can also communicate via voice, text or data, fraudsters suddenly find they have even more avenues to conduct attacks. We are starting to see such PC-style attacks make their way into smishing (SMS text phishing) and vishing (voice phishing).
Without a doubt, there are major issues that must be addressed to ensure the safety of mobile payments. Leaders in the industry, who understand the potential value for merchants and customers, have already taken several steps to remedy these concerns. The good news is that we are not starting from zero:
- The payments industry requires all entities that process, transmit or store payment information adhere to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). Furthermore, the Payment Application Data Security Standards (PA-DSS) applies to software applications used to accept payment data. The fundamental principles behind these standards would be equally applicable to the mobile space. In fact, there might even be opportunities to further enhance these standards to incorporate new capabilities brought about by the mobility and connectivity of mobile devices. This is something that Visa is actively working on today.
- As we have defined earlier in the article, mobile payments might be a new channel, but the risk and risk management activities associated with the channel is very similar to that of contactless transactions (proximity payments) and eCommerce transactions (remote payments). Almost all existing fraud mitigation processes and tools we have to keep fraud at an all-time low (less than 6 cents for every $100) will apply to the mobile channel as well. In fact, with new information offered by the mobile devices (e.g., location information), there is an opportunity to further enhance some of these risk tools to incorporate these new information streams. For example, if the mobile transaction was conducted in Los Angeles while the mobile network tells us that the phone is located in Boston, it creates an immediate red flag.
- Proximity payments are based on the same protocol and technology used in contactless cards today. These contactless transactions introduce a dynamic authentication element for each transaction. As a result, even if the transaction data were compromised, it cannot be reused to successfully conduct a fraudulent transaction at the point of sale without detection. In fact, the use of a mobile device further strengthens the security of this transaction type. The consumer has full control over when to enable the NFC interface for the transaction, leaving it largely disabled when the user is not using it for payments.
Across the industry, from consumers and financial institutions to mobile network operators and payment brands, significant yet achievable steps are necessary to ensure mobile payments are safe. Additionally, while the industry constantly updates security measures, it is important that merchants and service providers keep their consumers up to date. Staying ahead of possible attacks will be critical in safeguarding personal information.
Fortunately, from a risk management perspective, the industry is well-positioned to bring mobile payments to market safely.
Consumer education and awareness will be a critical element to secure mobile payments. With new payment capability, mobile phones will carry more value than the cost of the phone itself and will need to be treated with extra caution. Put simply, consumers will need to start treating their mobile phone with the same zealous protection as they do their wallets. Examples of consumer tips include:
- Use some form of password or passcode to access the payment application on the phone.
- Never share confidential or private information, especially if you did not initiate the communication. If you are in doubt, call your issuer.
- Ensure that any text messages you receive from your financial institution originated from the correct phone number or short code.
- Only download mobile applications from trusted sources.
- Report to the financial institution immediately if your phone containing your financial information is lost or stolen.
The payment brands play a critical role in the development of this emerging channel by understanding the underlying risk structure of payments, and in fact, already having the processes and countermeasures in place to address a large number of potential threats. At the same time, the brands should continue to promote the adoption and development of mobile payment by ensuring that risk management practices are extended to the channel. Specifically, they should:
- Ensure that payment-related security standards are reviewed and revised so that they stay relevant and applicable to the mobile channel.
- Continue to build partnerships and bridge the relationship between the financial institutions and the mobile network operators in introducing secure payment solutions to the industry.
- Continue to update and track the certification of third-party applications and devices.
Mobile Network Operators
Mobile network operators also have an important role to play. Today, the first point of interaction for consumers in this new channel is typically the mobile service provider. Hence, that provides a perfect opportunity for operators to:
- Include mobile security software (e.g., mobile antivirus) as part of the default suite of applications loaded onto new mobile devices.
- Ensure that mobile phones used in proximity payments are certified and meet the requirements of the payment brands.
- Provide general consumer education on mobile security.
Financial institutions will be instrumental in the security process, particularly in terms of fraud detection and prevention. To ensure the safety of their customers, financial institutions will need to:
- Adapt existing security methods, fraud prevention alerts and the tracking of spending trends to react to potential mobile-based fraud.
- Review existing back-office processes in support of the emerging mobile channel.
- Ensure that software applications are certified and meet the requirements of the payment brands.
Vendors in the Mobile Payment Space
Vendors represent the frontline in defending against potential threats to consumers. To both ensure they are authorized by the industry and trusted by potential consumers, vendors will need to:
- Ensure that all relevant requirements in PCI DSS and the PCI PA-DSS are met, including the installation of EMV-compliant POS systems.
- Encrypt sensitive data without relying on mobile protocols, such as GSM and CDMA. Instead, the mobile application should provide end-to-end encryption as part of the product functionality.
- Control and limit the distribution channel to trusted sources where consumers can easily differentiate its authenticity.
Taken together, these coordinated actions that bring together phone manufacturers, mobile network operators, mobile application developers, payments networks, issuers, acquirers and merchants are making considerable progress. Working cooperatively and sharing responsibility for the ultimate security of the system is opening the door to a vastly expanded future for mobile payments.
Good article and right to focus on protecting card-holder data. However there needs to be more awareness also of transaction fraud. A friend of mine showed me a scary video of a European mobile payments company which has tons of security holes: http://youtu.be/IDHhgZ3h708 | <urn:uuid:c2e0d6dc-6bca-4a14-b2b2-46eb743d4b26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pymnts.com/journal-bak/201/managing-the-risks-and-security-threats-of-mobile-payments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937536 | 3,590 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Textus Receptus (Latin: "Received Text") is the name given to the first Greek text of the New Testament to be printed with movable type. It was compiled by Desiderius Erasmus for his translation of the Bible into Latin, and later used as the basis for the translation of the New Testament in the King James Version of the Bible, for the original Luther Bible , and for most other Reformation era translations throughout Western and Central Europe. This is the text that was in use by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Erasmus' time (ca. 1500). The Textus Receptus is classified by scholars as a late Byzantine text.
Erasmus' original 1519 edition of the Greek New Testament was prepared in haste, and typographical errors abounded in the text as published. Additionally, the selection of manuscripts available to Erasmus was quite limited, being confined to a few late medieval texts most modern scholars consider to be of dubious veracity. Erasmus was often forced to make his own interpretations—back-translating from the Vulgate at best and fully fabricating material at worst.
The first edition was not used for any subsequent works, except as the basis for the second edition. With the third edition (1522) the Comma Johanneum saw inclusion, in response to Trinitarian pressures from the contemporary Church—a circumstance now subject to great debate. This was the edition used for the KJV translations.
Popular demand for "complete" Greek versions of the Bible led to a flurry of authorized and unauthorized editions in the early 16th century; the name "Textus Receptus" can refer to any of these, or any Greek edition printed from 1519 to ca. 1650. The name itself derives from the publisher's preface to a 1633 edition, containing the phrase "textum ergo habes, nunc ab omnibus receptum", roughly translated as "thus you have the text now received by all".
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:88ef9c3d-8523-4dac-8ff7-36550ab6c890> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Textus_Receptus | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94757 | 443 | 3.484375 | 3 |
These days, “big data” is all in the news. Generally speaking, the phrase “big data” is a marketing and hype placeholder for stores and streams of data that are unstructured (or minimally so: media, location, text, graphic, logs, et al.), of large volume (from within corporations as well as from mobile, tracking, and other devices), and constantly being generated (“real-time data,” flows of transactions, user uploads, newly created stats and analytics, etc.). The idea of big data represents The Internet + The Internet of Us + The Internet of Things–everything we can know, measure and analyze about what’s going on in the world.
Note that I included The Internet of Us. Many people don’t know the degree to which we’re being captured by our statements, posts and tweets, our (ongoing) location, our habits, the purchases and transactions we make, our friends who unwittingly help triangulate us, the timing and patterns of our lives, and much, much more. We have not yet realized how many breadcrumbs we’re creating just by living in our world. The thing is, we aren’t confronted by this fact, and we don’t generally have occasion to realize on our own, until something happens.
That’s where Google comes in. Google has a lot of services, from gmail to G+, from Google Docs and Google Groups (mailing lists) to Google sign-in for other services, and don’t forget the whole Android universe (tied into Google via the android operating system, the market, calendar, maps, etc.). Google is the 8 ton gorilla with a lot of admirers, and as such is in the news for everything they might be doing wrong. Two things they’ve been in the news for lately: first for their rather clumsy, clueless policy handling of users’ “real names” in their new Google Plus (G+) service (the controversy is also commonly referred to as “nymwars” by many commentators including here, here and here, and is not unique to Google, e.g., Facebook’s run-in with a famous author). More recently Google has been in the news for the significant changes to their many privacy policies (bundling all of their prior separate policies into one meta-policy, reasonably discussed here). What it’s all really about is tracking: they want to know who they’re tracking, which profiles go to which people, and who their products are. Google just wants to know what we’re up to so they can be more “helpful” to us. Kind of like being “really good listeners” like in Comedia’s old G-Male video.
This is where Target comes in too. Target has been in the news over the last few days for having outed a pregnant teen. Yes, companies know full well that sometimes we don’t want to share our secrets. What they’re doing isn’t strictly against the law, so it must be ok, right?
A Damned Lack of Transparency
One of the big problems with analyzing the ongoing data flow is a lack of transparency. These companies don’t seem to want us to know what they’re doing, what they’re up to. They want to know things about us that (one could reasonably argue) are not supportive of our own best interests, and compromise our self-determination. In short, these companies want what’s best for themselves, but not necessarily what’s best for us. There, I said it.
If WE knew what companies could know–if we could see the connections in our activities and transactions that lead to generalizations, assumptions, categorizations, and manipulation (through “friendly advice,” coupons & discounts, additional loyalty programs, etc.), then this shared knowledge would be grounds for a very different societal conversation. Instead we have companies doing this TO us, in opaque ways, using presumptions that are good for the company but often oblivious to the societal impact/message, cultural understanding and acceptance, or really any constructive discussion or forward momentum about the changes yet to come. It’s that “big data” thing coming to bite us. A very real data-Godzilla.
Target may not be any more to blame than other companies doing the same thing. The unintended consequences (Dad waves evidence publicly at Target management, Google being hauled before some committee for changing privacy policies, etc.) is as much a matter of 1) expression of selfish intent by corporate marketing departments (arguably their job) and 2) an uneven distribution of understanding (what’s going on) than legal or regulatory problems.
There’s also an uneven understanding/acceptance about people–individuals–AKA “consumers” being subject to tracking, which leads to the consequences of 3rd party disclosure. The fact that ANY company is all up in your personal business to that extent is a surprise to most. Vulnerable populations or situations are not exception-able.
What happens when we really find out what’s going on? Is any company writing “viral backlash” into their business plan? Or will these companies just send more coupons and hope that everything will be quietly forgotten? | <urn:uuid:8024f98f-9a38-40f0-861e-999a9fcdde6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://consumerchoice.org/category/consumer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953524 | 1,129 | 2.09375 | 2 |
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald
Fall color followers can get an eyeful in the high country this weekend as aspen and scrub oak turn from green to yellow to orange to brown to rust to red.
“It looks like the best viewing will be between Durango and Ouray,” said Mark Winkworth, the visitor information guru at the San Juan Public Lands Center and the keeper of the U.S. Forest Service’s Fall Color Report website.
Winkworth updates the website – www.fs.usda.gov/sanjuan, click on quick link to fall color report 2012 – as often as possible.
“Between Molas and Coal Bank passes and the north side of Red Mountain Pass should be great,” Winkworth said. “Silverton may be a little past its prime, the same as the mountains above Lake City.”
A little further into next week, Purgatory, Telluride and the Dallas Divide will be coming on, Winkworth said.
Telluride and the Dallas Divide were 40 to 50 percent in color this week. Purgatory is lagging at 30 percent, but should be looking good soon, he said.
The last weekend of the month should see beautiful colors around Purgatory and Pagosa Springs and Wolf Creek Pass to the east.
Change of color is only one facet of leaf study this fall for students in two classes taught by Professor Heidi Steltzer in the biology department at Fort Lewis College.
Two or three times a week, they check foliage on campus to note color change and the date leaves have fallen.
“They’re contributing the data to a citizen science project on the national level,” Steltzer said. “The project, which started some years ago, involves long-term monitoring of 300 species across the country by backyard observers.”
Leaves appear green in spring and summer because they absorb the red and blue light of the spectrum but reflect the green, Steltzer said. In the fall, when the chlorophyll breaks down and the molecule that reflects green is no longer there, the eye sees the other pigments, Steltzer said.
She said it’s possible that drought conditions have robbed foliage of some of its vivid colors this year.
Winkworth does reconnaissance as well as gather tree-color reports from Forest Service employees around the region.
Aspen dominate the landscape in the high country, but in Durango and the Dolores/Rico area, it’s scrub oak that is most attention-grabbing.
The Alpine Loop around Lake City is usually the first to change color, Winkworth said.
Circling the San Juan Skyway – Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Telluride, Dolores and back – is a long drive but is bound to be rewarding, Winkworth said.
“You should see some nice color there for sure,” he said.
Anyone who misses the high country show can visit lower-lying river valleys to see what cottonwoods have to offer, Winkworth said.
“There’ll be color around Navajo Lake, along the state line toward Arboles and then into Pagosa Springs from the south,” Winkworth said.
The change of season as recorded by the kaleidoscope of arboreal color could last beyond next weekend, although long-range forecasting involves a lot of guesswork, Winkworth said.
firstname.lastname@example.org STANLEY/Durango Herald
U.S. Highway 550 between Durango and Silverton will be a popular route once again this fall for people wishing to see trees changing in the San Juan National Forest. Today is the autumnal equinox – the official start of fall. | <urn:uuid:808ca0e5-4b76-4438-9a1d-0eaad8afc6cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20120921/NEWS01/120929875/0/News04/Don%E2%80%99t-get-leafed-behind | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916351 | 800 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Timing restriction and variability in tree-ring formation of European and North American conifers.
Deslauriers, Annie*,1, Rossi, Sergio1, Anfodillo, Tommaso1, Morin, Hubert2, 1 Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy2 Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
ABSTRACT- The timing and variability of tree-ring development was studied between 1996 and 2004 in the main European and North American conifers. Intra-annual dynamics of tree-ring formation was studied in Canada and Italy by means of repeated xylem cell analyses (XCA) and automatic dendrometer measurements (ADM), assessing cell production and stem radial growth. All the annual patterns of tree-ring development were modeled with a Gompertz function defining parameters A (upper asymptote), (x-axis placement or onset) and (changing rate of the curve). Timing of wood formation was assessed by comparing the behavior of parameters and and evaluating their common features. A linear relationship was found between growth onset and rate for both XCA (R2=0.96) and ADM (R2=0.93). We mathematically demonstrated that the regression slopes (164.5 for XCA and 170.8 for ADM) correspond to the time when the maximum growth rate culminates and that all inflection points converge at the same moment of the year, showing a clear development timing among all species, sites and years. Two fundamental aspects of annual wood formation were therefore identified. First, the culmination of maximum growth rate during the growing season is constrained by a definite time limit, corresponding to the photoperiod maximum. Because of high temperature variation or unusual temperatures during the growing season, the photoperiod represents a more constant signal. Synchronizing the maximum growth rate with temperature culmination (end of July) as proposed before, represents a risk for the plant as the last tracheids formed remain in differentiation until late autumn. The second important aspect concerns a wide variability observed in onset time, rate and duration, optimizing the wood production timing with temperature and photoperiod each year in all environments. Growing season timing and variability are fundamental aspects for the understanding of global change because they represent a time window where environmental factors directly affect wood formation. Any temperature changes would have an effect on the growing season timing only on the variable parts of the growth curves (timing of positive and negative exponential part), leaving the timing of maximum growth rate culmination unchanged.
Key words: Growing season, Annual timing, Photoperiod, Temperature
All materials copyright The Ecological Society of America (ESA), and may not be used without written permission. | <urn:uuid:5bf3c799-03fe-465f-948c-b6276523f723> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abstracts.co.allenpress.com/pweb/esa2005/document/48233 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913931 | 567 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Thanks to the actions of one Chinese American, Wong Kim Ark, the U.S. Supreme Court declared in 1898 that all people born in America, regardless of lineage, were American citizens.
Years before civil rights icon Rosa Parks refused to be moved from her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus, baseball legend Jackie Robinson was court-martialed, while in the U.S. Army, after refusing to give us his seat on a bus to a white man. He later went on to break Major League Baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The stories and related documents of these individuals, as well as many others who struggled to obtain equal rights, will be on display at the National Archives at Atlanta in Morrow for only three more weeks, prior to traveling to 13 other regional archive facilities across the country.
"Documented Rights," an exhibition on the struggle for equal rights in America, will remain on display at the National Archives at Atlanta until Tuesday, Feb. 23. On Saturday, Feb. 20, from 10 a.m., to 3 p.m., the National Archives will ceremonially close the exhibit during its "Finding Your Ancestors' Voices" Family History Symposium, a workshop in celebration of Black History Month. During the event, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a leader in family genealogy research will provide visitors with tools for researching their family's history.
According to National Archives at Atlanta Public Programs Specialist Mary Evelyn Tomlin, Martin Luther King, III, the son of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr., will accept a community service award from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the Feb. 20 program.
Since June of last year, "Documented Rights" has been on display at the National Archives at Atlanta, according to Tomlin. The exhibit, which was constructed in Morrow, will eventually make stops at other National Archives locations in 13 other cities, she said. "The whole exhibit relates to the struggle for civil rights among many different groups of people ... people who were traditionally discriminated against," Tomlin said. "The next place it is going is Kansas City, and it will be there from September to February ."
"It has been well received," she continued. "We've had an uptick in the number of people coming to see it, and we've had a number of people more interested in coming to the archives. They [the documents in the exhibit] are original documents that tell what has happened in American history."
The exhibit which is now also online at www.archives.gov under Online Exhibits' features photographs, legal filings, and personal accounts of people whose struggles for freedom changed the course of American history. Documents range from: The landmark "Amistad Case," in which a group of African slaves took control of their captors' ship and eventually were granted their freedom; to the internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s; to the landmark "Brown v. Board of Education" decision.
Those who attend the Feb. 20 symposium are encouraged to, first, register online at www.blackfamilyhistoryday.com, or by calling (404) 252-4864, as seating is limited. For more details, call (770) 968-2100. | <urn:uuid:a60bce91-bd4a-4fa3-a355-2789bc02d920> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news-daily.com/news/2010/feb/04/039documented-rights039-exhibit-to-begin-national/?features | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971071 | 670 | 3 | 3 |
Apologies, but no results were found.
The famed British philosopher Bertrand Russell was known for being an outspoken atheist and social critic, in addition to his many contributions to the fields of mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. (You may have heard one of his most famous quotes: “No one can sit at the bedside of a dying child and still believe in God.”)
As the story goes, at Russell’s 90th birthday party, a female acquaintance approached him and, noting that he was one of the world’s most famous AND oldest atheists, asked him a pointed question: “What will you do if it turns out you were wrong? What if, when the time comes, you should meet Him? What will you say?”
Russell pointed a bony finger toward the sky and said, “Why, I should say, ‘God, you gave us insufficient evidence’” (from Bertrand Russell on God and Religion).
Though I am not an atheist, as a believer I find Russell’s answer to be compelling. I have a lot of doubts, but so many of them could be answered if the evidence was just a little bit clearer. If God wants us to know him and have a relationship with him — as Christianity teaches — then why has he made his presence in the world ambiguous, at best?
(Note to all of you who might say, “But just look at the glory of a sunrise! That’s proof of God right there!”: I realize that a lot of people look at nature and see God’s presence in it. But just as many others look at nature and see only…the natural world. If you start talking about the glory of such-and-such as proof of God’s presence and design, then they will counter with something like the guinea worm: What kind of loving designer would design such a horrible parasite? Thus: the evidence for God is ambiguous.)
So here’s the question I want you to answer today:
For believers: You have the opportunity to ask God for a deeper explanation about something that doesn’t quite seem clear enough. What would be your question?
For non-believers: In the same vein, what question should believers be asking God (or about God)?
Post your question in the comments below… | <urn:uuid:b0f57726-8d05-4902-b5d7-e563598f8aef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.beliefnet.com/omeoflittlefaith/2010/06/one-question-for-god.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976811 | 493 | 2.0625 | 2 |
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Sports Archives The Altamont Enterprise, March 17, 2011
ImPACT at Guilderland
By Jordan J. Michael
GUILDERLAND Not many years ago, concussions in contact sports went undetected and athletes would often return to the field of play. Concussions in recent years have received national attention, most frequently for professional or college-level athletes.
The Guilderland School District Athletic Department took a huge step forward in concussion awareness when it introduced ImPACT (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) last spring. Guilderland is currently one of four Section II school districts using the program; Queensbury, Shenendehowa, and Mohonasen are the others.
ImPACT, created by doctors Mark Lovell and Joseph Maroon of the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1990s, is a software program that tests cognitive functioning in athletes. Guilderland’s assistant director for athletics, Regan Johnson, said that the program costs the district $425 per year.
“It’s well worth the cost,” Johnson said. “It’s an unlimited web-based test that is confidential.”
Kate Gawrys, Guilderland’s athletic trainer, said that close to 500 athletes from grades seven to 12 have taken the ImPACT test. Gawrys administers the tests at the high school and Johnson takes care of the kids at the middle school.
“We’re trying to get everyone that is on a team tested,” said Gawrys. “We’re responsible for everyone.”
Every athlete who plays a contact sport for the Dutchmen is required to take the test at least once, so that a baseline can be set for each person. If an athlete is diagnosed with a potential head injury, he or she retakes ImPACT however many times until passing. At that point, the athlete can return to play, unless a doctor says otherwise.
“We won’t put a kid back into play unless he or she is ready,” Johnson said. “ImPACT is there to hold a baseline. Say you get a concussion; take the test again and compare. If you are cleared, OK, you’re free to go back out there if you’re ready.”
Gawrys told The Enterprise that “five or six” athletes have had potential head injuries over the winter season, and “about 20 more” were diagnosed during the fall sports season.
“Bruise on your brain”
Senior Jordan Weeden got a concussion in November when he was struck with an elbow during varsity basketball practice.
“I got hit and dropped. I was all dizzy and stuff,” said Weeden, who took his initial ImPACT test for varsity soccer in the fall. “The lights really bothered me, so I kept my head down. I had headaches all the time and had trouble focusing. I figured that I had a concussion.”
The ImPACT test has six different modules attention span, working memory, sustained and selective attention time, response variability, non-verbal problem solving, and reaction time and takes about 30 minutes to complete.
Weeden had to take the assessment three different times after Nov. 15 before passing. He was out of basketball for two weeks, but missed only practices because the team hadn’t started games yet.
“The pressure wasn’t too bad because I had time to recover,” Weeden said. “I thought I could pass the test the second time, but I failed again. It was a little frustrating to have to keep taking it over and over.”
Johnson, who took the ImPACT test himself, said that the test, which is administered on a computer, asks personal questions about age, height, and weight. Then, it moves on to things like reaction time, memory, and word discrimination. Finally, the test goes back to the beginning and cycles through everything again.
“It’ll give you a fork or a knife and you have to click on the word,” said Johnson, who has suffered concussions himself. “It could be difficult if you have a concussion because it makes your brain think quickly. It’s supposed to be difficult if you’re concussed. You can tell the difference.”
“It was hard to focus and my reaction time was a lot slower,” Weeden said of taking ImPACT after getting hit in the head. “There are significant memory sections that flash words across the screen and you have to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ You’ll see a shape once, then you’ll have to remember it again.”
Gawrys, who used ImPACT at Springfield College, sees the software program as a memorization test that is designed to figure out how significant a head injury might be. Athletes should be taking the test no more than 42 hours after an injury occurred.
“The numbers and words are scary sometimes because they come to life,” Gawrys said. “The parent and the athlete can see the effects.”
Dustin Weeden, Jordan’s father, said that he didn’t notice anything wrong with his son after he was hit. “Teenagers change all of the time,” he said. “Sometimes, you don’t know what’s going on with your kid, so I didn’t really notice.”
Concussions were something Mr. Weeden dealt with back in the 1970s when he played football for Hoosick Falls. Jordan Weeden told The Enterprise that his father didn’t want him to play football because of the risks of brain damage.
“I think I had two concussions in one game before,” Mr. Weeden said. “It definitely affected my life. I had a lot of headaches. Still do.”
Sustaining a concussion didn’t change Weeden’s mind about playing sports, but he did say that he felt vulnerable after the injury. “It takes time to heal,” he said. “It’s like having a bruise on your brain.”
Johnson said that a female student last spring had to miss some school due to complications from a concussion. “We’ve had a few former students get sent home from college because they couldn’t focus after a head injury,” he said.
“Some kids will talk about their injuries and some won’t,” Gawrys said. “I’ve seen a few cases of students’ grades going down, but it depends on the student and how they handled the injury.”
“Contact sports versus collision sports”
Gail Hayes of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the annual estimate for concussions in children ages 5 to 18 is 135,000. The data is collected from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, which takes sub-samples from hospitals across the country.
The CDC has said many concussions go unreported. “You can’t see a concussion,” said Hayes. “Symptoms might go unreported.” She went on, “Everyone should work together to help people who are hurt.”
Hayes also said, “Children and teens are more likely to get injured because they’re still growing.”
A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI), Hayes said, and the injury can be diagnosed as anything from a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) to severe concussions like brain bleeds.
The CDC joined with the National Football League last fall for a prevention campaign, said Hayes. As the season unfolded, the NFL cracked down on concussions, fining any players who made dangerous hits to the head.
“Everyone looks at football as the big concussion sport, but it’s happening everywhere,” said Johnson, pointing out that half of the concussion cases at Guilderland in the fall were from football. “It’s contact sports versus collision sports.”
Regardless of the sport, or the level, concussions have been put in the spotlight in attempt to make coaches and trainers aware of the slightest symptoms.
“It’s better to miss one game than the entire season,” Hayes said. “If an athlete looks stunned, dazed, confused, or something changes in any way then help should be sought.”
According to Johnson, the New York State motto for concussions is, “When in doubt, sit them out.” A series of numbers, colors, and words allow coaches or trainers to test athletes right on the sidelines during a game.
“We’ve been right on most counts,” Johnson said. “It takes the pressure off because the kids want to play. We save them from themselves. It’s our job to educate and keep them safe. This is not a question of toughness.”
On March 2, Berne-Knox-Westerlo senior Nena Ruiz, 17, sustained her fifth concussion, and second in six months, after falling to the floor during a Class C semi-final basketball game.
The first concussion Ruiz suffered came during a modified basketball game when she was clotheslined by an opposing player. A fall off a bike brought her a second head injury, this one quite serious with a brain bleed. Last year, in a basketball game at Canajoharie, Ruiz was elbowed by a teammate, sustaining her third concussion. In December, she was concussed after both she and an opposing player dove for the ball.
“I don’t really remember what happened,” Ruiz said last week about her latest head injury. “My teammate had to tell me what happened. I have the worst luck. The doctor warned me not to get another one. I’m in trouble this time.”
Ruiz was sidelined for a week after her concussion in December, but the time out is much longer after her latest injury. “I can’t play contact sports for an entire year,” she said.
She took the ImPACT test after her concussion last December upon seeing a concussion specialist. However, Ruiz didn’t have much, if any, of a cognitive baseline because it was her fourth concussion. There was nothing to compare. BKW does not run the test on its athletes.
“The test was really hard,” Ruiz said. “You have to remember everything exactly. Maybe it would have been easier if I hadn’t had four concussions.”
The Friday after her latest head injury, Ruiz went to school, but came home early. “I didn’t remember being at school,” she said. “My memory is not too good. I’ll lose items or not remember where they go.”
Ruiz took another ImPACT test recently, but, after five concussions, she’s scared about her future. “I don’t want to be a 35-year-old woman with dementia,” she said. “If I get hit again, then that tingling in my arms and legs might not go away.”
Ruiz wanted to play basketball in college, or join the Army, but all her head injuries may have put those plans on hold.
“I already filled some paperwork out for the Army,” Ruix said. “But, my brain is busted, so I don’t know if they’ll want me.” | <urn:uuid:9595aa16-7405-417d-9b24-c7cfc0272493> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.altamontenterprise.com/Weekly%20Archives/2011/03-17-11/sportsImPACT.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974762 | 2,562 | 2 | 2 |
Dance theory has become nowadays a wide subject. It is a young academic discipline that was born during the beginning of the XX century.
Also known as dance research, it could include the analytic and reflexive study of as many aspects related to dance as our language allows us to imagine…
But, concerning what it is currently being done in some universities and humanities departments around the world, we could say there are three or four main branches:
1. Philosophers dance theory.
The work of philosophers concerning arts is usually called aesthetics. In our case, they produce written descriptions of dance, reviews and philosophical deliberations about the components and values of our art.
Sometimes they elaborate interpretations of particular dance pieces, considering the symbolic dimension of its elements. This practice is called semiotics or hermeneutics. They also care about the construction of dance history or dance’s relation to other aesthetic languages like music, visual arts, architecture and others.
As philosophers work with language, another one of their tasks is to question, list or even invent the meaning of words (or concepts) that are used by the dance community… (...? ... yes!)
As any autonomous practical discipline, dance has of course its own vocabulary or terminology invented by dancers, choreographers or teachers. According to philosophers, some words are more important than others because they determine reality… and they work over those…
Before giving you an example of that, remember that you can visit our DANCE TERMS page, in case you are looking for a definition.
So, for example, a very important concept in the dance universe is carried by the word ‘body’. This word has been of such importance for dance theory, that there’s actually an entire research branch called ‘theories of body’. The word has been studied from various scientific perspectives till the point of being denied as an appropriate concept (that is ONE theory…)!
If you’d like to go deeper into this subject, I’d recommend you the following starting readings:
Bernard, Michel. Le corps. Editions du Seuil, 1995. or
Bernard, Michel. De la création chorégraphique. CND, 2001.
There’s another common question that relates to our specific dance modality and that concerns the dancers community, as well as the general audience…: WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY DANCE?
Believe me… I’ve heard this question… and not just a few times!
Well, it’s the dance theory constructors who help us with these situations.
There’s a book I’d recommend you to expand on that specific topic:
Louppe, Laurence. Poétique de la danse contemporaine. Contredanse, 2000.
As I said above, this is a really wide subject. Those are just some popular examples that should help you understand what dance theory is about.
If you’re interested in the philosophers branch and want more information, just contact me. I can help you find authors, share documents and so on…
2. Choreologists dance theory.
The word choreology is commonly used to talk about two different (but complementary) disciplines: movement analysis and dance notation.
Movement analysts study movement itself, frequently considering its shape, dynamics, or functionality. One of the most spread tendencies (but not the only one) is the one that uses Rudolph Laban’s movement theory as theoretical framework.
The LIMS (Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies) describes it like this:
“Laban Movement Analysis provides a comprehensive vocabulary and analytic framework for the description of human movement. Using LMA, one can systematically look at a unit or phrase of movement in terms of the four major movement components of Body, Effort, Shape and Space. These basic components can be identified and examined alone and in relationship to each other.”
As I said above, choreology refers to dance notation too.
According to historians, humanity has evidence of more than 80 invented systems or languages that have been designed to record dance or human movement. Nowadays, only a very few among those are in use. The most known are labanotation (or kinetography Laban) and Benesh notation.
Benesh notation was invented by Rudolf Benesh around the middle of the XX century. His system is mainly applied to dance (mostly ballet) and is commonly used by companies who maintain their repertory thanks to the help of dance writers.
Like Western music, Benesh notation uses a five line stave that is read from left to right with bar lines to mark the passage of time. The five lines coincide with the head, shoulders, waist, knees and floor (from top to bottom) and additional signs are used to notate the dimension and quality of the movement.
The knowledge of Benesh notation doesn’t only have this practical application. Benesh choreologists affirm that it develops a great sense of the study of movement. That’s why it is considered as a theoretical discipline too.
On the other hand, there’s Labanotation or Kinetography Laban.
This system was invented by Rudolph Laban at the beginning of the XX century and it might be the most effective language to describe not only dance but human movement in general.
Laban direction’s signs are placed over a vertical staff which is read from the bottom to the top. The form and texture of a sign indicates the movement’s direction and its length. The place in which the sign is written over the staff tells the part of the body that moves and the moment of execution. Successive movements are written vertically, simultaneous movements horizontally, all over the same staff.
The most important centers for the study of this dance notation system in Europe are the Laban Centre (Great Britain), the University of Surrey (Great Britain), The Folkwang Hochschule (Germany), the Musicology Institute (Hungary) and the CNSMD (Paris).
There are two other important institutions that support kinetography Laban. The Dance Notation Bureau, which was founded in 1940 and is a main center for resources and studies, and The ICKL (International council of kinetography Laban), which was created in 1959 and stands as an information referral and exchanges place for specialists. It publishes dance scores and organizes congress every two years.
Click here to read a great labanotation article that expands on this topic.
3. Social sciences dance theory.
Another branch in dance theory is the one produced by anthropologists and sociologists.
Closer related to philosophers, they explore dance ethnic features, considering aspects of dance as a medium of cultural and social interaction. Features of different dance genres and styles are analyzed according to their social settings and cultures.
The cultural studies trend could be classified among these dance theory lines. Researchers concentrate on how dance features relate to matters of ideology, social class, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and others.
One example of this is the work accomplished by the anthropologist Andrée Grau (Roehampton University).
Coming from a research line founded by John Blacking (1928 -1990) (ethnomusicologist and anthropologist himself), she started her dance theory production with an encounter with the Tiwi community in Australia. One of her discoveries was that dancer’s space distribution was determined by kinship relations. (…see the difference with what would determine space distribution in dance as a contemporary art in western culture?)
Yes, it is such a simple example. Dance theory, ethno choreology, dance anthropology and so on, are so extensive… I know. I’m just providing some introductory elements…
4. Medical field’s researches in dance therapy.
I mention this last branch here, because it makes use of part of the theoretical tools and knowledge from the other dance theory branches, to work on its own goals. But, as its final intention is to ‘cure’ people by the means of dance, it would rather be considered differently as a dance theory discipline.
I hope this summary helps you to make yourself an idea of what the discipline is about. Dance theory is really a large topic (mostly if you deepen in its literature). So, if you’d like to go on and need any help, just let me know…!
Forum for dance questions about theory and history
Good dance literature
How to analyze a choreographic piece ?
What is the purpose of contemporary dance ?
What is contemporary dance ?
The function of contemporary dance
There are many other interesting threads there. Just visit our forum for dance questions about theory and history and browse!
Ask a question
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By Myra Lee Adams Goff
From Union St., turn onto Common and drive straight to the Guadalupe River. At the bridge and on the east side of the river, as far as you can see, look left and right. You are looking at Hortontown. Down river to the right of Hortontown was Neighborsville. These two areas are referred to by these names only historically. Beginning in 1846, when sickness was rampant on the coast and in New Braunfels, and emigrants were still arriving, Hortontown was settled to avoid going into the sickness- infested town. Neighborsville followed a few years later. Both areas were originally in Guadalupe County but were added to Comal County and also to the City of New Braunfels.
From the bridge, you will notice a gradual incline up to Loop 337. Turn right on the loop, and right before the railroad overpass, turn left on Church Hill Drive. Across the road from Conservation Plaza, a church was built in 1852. It was the St. Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and next to it, in 1870, a school was built. The Church Hill School served the children of both Hortontown and Neighborsville.
Hortontown was named after Albert C. Horton who came to Texas from Alabama in 1835. He became an active supporter of the Texas Revolution. From 1836-38 he served as senator in the 1st and 2nd congress of the Republic of Texas. He became the first Lt. Gov. of the new state of Texas. Leopold Iwonski became the agent for Horton’s land grant.
The settlement of Neighborsville was laid out by Jacob de Cordoba who designated a lot for the establishment of the church and parochial school. In 1870 the church congregation decided to build a separate building for their school. And that school became the Church Hill School.
The Church Hill School was built of 18” thick hand- cut limestone blocks brought by wagon from a hill country quarry. The doors and floor are also original. The appointments are from other rural Comal County one-room schools.
Martha Rehler, Exec. Director of the Conservation Society, took me on a tour. There is nothing as empty as an empty classroom. Going into the abandoned school, that strange feeling returned. A classroom needs children.
There were wooden desks of all sizes with a hole in the top for an ink bottle. They still had those when I was in elementary school. Our fountain pens had a little bladder that had to be filled with ink. What a mess! In this old classroom the teacher sat in the back of the room by the door. I’m surprised she didn’t notice the initials carved in the older students’ desk, probably by a pocket knife which I’m told, was every boy’s toy. Slate boards were on each desk taking the place of paper. The large chalkboard (black, later green) had the lesson for the day in German script (Fraktur).
Other relics are a long table from the Ursaline Academy in San Antonio displaying photographs of groups of school children. Water was drawn out of a well or a cistern and put in a portable water fountain. There are two large bells. The smaller of the two at one time stood in front of the Guadalupe Hotel (Plaza) which was a stagecoach stop. The bell was used to welcome arrivals. The larger was a school bell to call students.
Rehler gave me a “Texas Public School’s Report Card from 1925 that parents had to fill out about their own child. It was for a 7th grade girl going into the 8th grade. I put myself in my mother’s shoes, evaluating her only chick on a scale of 1 to 100. Knowing that I was a “city girl” in New Braunfels, I would have failed miserably. I would have a “0” in canning, care of stock, care of poultry, cooking, gardening, general farm work, milking, providing fuel, sewing, and sweeping,. I would have done fairly well in dusting, washing dishes, obedience, neatness, reliability and special work. In my case, special work would have been socializing.
The St. Martin’s Church, originally adjoined to the old Church Hill School, was moved in 1968 next to the Hortontown Cemetery on Loop 337. The school remained and was eventually donated to the Conservation Society in 1975 to be used as a museum. | <urn:uuid:1e0d8b3a-1e5a-4c7d-9fcd-bd98bbfacde2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sophienburg.com/blog/?tag=guadalupe-county | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985013 | 952 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Chapter XVIII. 13–27.
1. After that His persecutors had, through the treason of Judas, taken and bound the Lord, who loved us, and gave Himself for us, 1813 and whom the Father spared not, but gave Him up for us all: 1814 that we may understand that there was no praise due to Judas for the usefulness of his treachery, but damnation for the willfulness of his wickedness: “They led Him,” as John the evangelist tells us, “to Annas first.” Nor does he withhold the reason for so doing: “For he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was the high priest that same year. Now Caiaphas was he,” he says, “who gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.” And properly enough Matthew, when wishing to say the same in fewer words, tells us that He was led to Caiaphas; 1815 for He was also taken in the first place to Annas, simply because he was his father-in-law; and where we have only to understand that such was the very thing that Caiaphas wished to be done.
2. “But Jesus was followed,” he says, “by Simon Peter, and another disciple.” Who that other disciple is, we cannot affirm with confidence, because it is left unnoticed here. But it is in this way that John usually refers to himself, with the addition, “whom Jesus loved.” 1816 Perhaps, therefore, it is he also in the present case; but whoever it is, let us look at what follows. “And that disciple,” he says, “was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest; but Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, who was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art thou also one of this mans disciples? He saith, I am not.” Lo, the pillar of greatest strength has at a single breath of air trembled to its foundations. Where is now all that boldness of the promiser, and his overweening confidence in himself beforehand? What now of those words, when he said, “Why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life for Thy sake.” 1817 Is this the way to follow the Master, to deny his own discipleship? is it thus that ones life is laid down for the Lord, when one is frightened at a maid-servants voice, lest it should compel us to the sacrifice? But what wonder, if God foretold what was true, and man presumptuously imagined what was false? Assuredly in this denial of the Apostle Peter, which had now entered on its first stage, we ought to take notice that not only is Christ denied by one who says that He is not Christ, but by him also who, while really a Christian, himself denies that he is so. For the Lord said not to Peter, Thou shalt deny that thou art my disciple; but, “Thou shalt deny me.” 1818 Him, therefore, he denied, when he denied that he was His disciple. And what else did such a form of denial imply, but that of his own Christianity? For although the disciples of Christ were not yet called by such a name,—because it was after His ascension, in Antioch, first that the disciples began to be called Christians, 1819 —yet the thing itself, that afterwards assumed such a name, already existed, those who were afterwards called Christians were already disciples; and this common name, like the common faith, they transmitted to their posterity. He, therefore, who denied that he was Christs disciple, denied the reality of the thing, of which the being called a Christian was only the name. How many afterwards, not to speak of old men and women, whose satiated feelings as regards the present life might more easily enable them to brave death for the confession of Christ; and not merely the youth of p. 419 both sexes, when of an age at which the exercise of fortitude seems to be fairly required; but even boys and girls could do—even as an innumerable company of holy martyrs with brave hearts and by a violent death entered the kingdom of heaven—what at that moment he was unable to do, who received the keys of that kingdom. 1820 It is here we see why it was said, “Let these go their way,” when He, who hath redeemed us by His own blood, gave Himself for us; that the saying which He spake might be fulfilled, “Of those whom Thou hast given me I have lost none.” For assuredly, had Peter gone hence after denying the Christ, what else would have awaited him but destruction?
3. “And the servants and officers stood beside the fire of burning coals, for it was cold, and warmed themselves.” Though it was not winter, it was cold: which is sometimes wont to be the case even at the vernal equinox. “And Peter was standing with them, and warming himself. The high priest then asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His doctrine. Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither all the Jews resort, and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? ask those who heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.” A question occurs that ought not to be passed over, how it is that the Lord Jesus said, “I spake openly to the world;” and in particular that which He afterwards added, “In secret have I said nothing.” Did He not, even in that latest discourse which He delivered to the disciples after supper, say to them, “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs; but the hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of my Father?” 1821 If, then, He spake not openly even to the more intimate company of His disciples, but gave the promise of a time when He would speak openly, how was it that He spake openly to the world? And still further, as is also testified on the authority of the other evangelists, to those who were truly His own, in comparison with others who were not His disciples, He certainly spake with much greater plainness when He was alone with them at a distance from the multitudes; for then He unfolded to them the parables, which He had uttered in obscure terms to others. What then is the meaning of the words, “In secret have I said nothing”? It is in this way we are to understand His saying, “I spake openly to the world;” as if He had said, There were many that heard me. And that word “openly” was in a certain sense openly and in another sense not openly. It was openly, because many heard Him; and again it was not openly, because they did not understand Him. And even what He spake to His disciples apart, He certainly spake not in secret. For who speaketh in secret, that speaketh before so many persons; as it is written, “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established:” 1822 especially if that be spoken to a few which he wisheth to become known to many through them; as the Lord Himself said to the few whom He had as yet, “What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops”? 1823 And accordingly the very thing that seemed to be spoken by Himself in secret, was in a certain sense not spoken in secret; for it was not so spoken to remain unuttered by those to whom it was spoken; but rather so in order to be preached in every possible direction. A thing therefore may be uttered at once openly, and not openly; or at the same time in secret, and yet not in secret, as it is said, “That seeing, they may see, and not see.” 1824 For how “may they see,” save only because it is openly, and not in secret; and again, how is it that the same parties “may not see,” save that it is not openly, but in secret? Howbeit the very things which they had heard without understanding, were such as could not with justice or truth be turned into a criminal charge against Him: and as often as they tried by their questions to find something whereof to accuse Him, He gave them such replies as utterly discomfited all their plots, and left no ground for the calumnies they devised. Therefore He said, “Why askest thou me? ask those who heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.”
4. “And when He had thus spoken, one of the officers who stood by gave Jesus a blow with his open hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?” What could be truer, meeker, juster, than such an answer? For it is His [reply], from whom the prophetic voice had issued before, “Make for thy goal (literally, take aim), and advance prosperously and reign, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness.” 1825 If we con p. 420 sider who it was that received the blow, might we not well feel the wish that he who struck it were either consumed by fire from heaven, or swallowed up by the gaping earth, or seized and carried off by devils, or visited with some other or still heavier punishment of this kind? For what one of all these could not He, who made the world, have commanded by His power, had He not wished rather to teach us the patience that overcometh the world? Some one will say here, Why did He not do what He Himself commanded? 1826 for to one that smote Him, He ought not to have answered thus, but to have turned to him the other cheek. Nay, more than this, did He not answer truthfully, and meekly, and righteously, and at the same time not only prepare His other cheek to him who was yet again to smite it, but His whole body to be nailed to the tree? And hereby He rather showed, what needed to be shown, namely, that those great precepts of His are to be fulfilled not by bodily ostentation, but by the preparation of the heart. For it is possible that even an angry man may visibly hold out his other cheek. How much better, then, is it for one who is inwardly pacified to make a truthful answer, and with tranquil mind hold himself ready for the endurance of heavier sufferings to come? Happy is he who, in all that he suffers unjustly for righteousness sake, can say with truth, “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready;” for this it is that gives cause for that which follows: “I will sing and I give praise;” 1827 which Paul and Barnabas 1828 could do even in the cruellest of bonds.
5. But let us return to what follows in the Gospel narrative. “And Annas sent Him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.” To him, according to Matthews account, He was led at the outset, because he was the high priest that year. For both the pontiffs are to be understood as in the habit of acting year by year alternately, that is, as chief priests; and these were at that time Annas and Caiaphas, as recorded by the evangelist Luke, when telling of the time when John, the Lords forerunner, began to preach the kingdom of heaven and to gather disciples. For he speaks thus: “Under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came upon John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness,” 1829 etc. Accordingly these two pontiffs fulfilled their years in turn: and it was the year of Caiaphas when Christ suffered. And so, according to Matthew, when He was apprehended, He was taken to him; but first, according to John, they came with Him to Annas; not because he was his colleague, but his father-in-law. And we must suppose that it was by Caiaphas wish that it was so done; or that their houses were so situated, that Annas could not properly be overlooked by them as they passed on their way.
6. But the evangelist, after saying that Annas sent Him bound unto Caiaphas, returns to the place of his narrative, where he had left Peter, in order to explain what had taken place in Annas house in regard to his threefold denial. “But Peter was standing,” he says, “and warming himself.” He thus repeats what he had already stated before; and then adds what follows. “They said therefore unto him, Art thou also one of his disciples? He denied, and said, I am not.” He had already denied once; this is the second time. And then, that the third denial might also be fulfilled, “one of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did I not see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock crew.” Behold, the prediction of the Physician is fulfilled, the presumption of the sick man is brought to the light. For there is no performance of what the latter had asserted, “I will lay down my life for Thy sake;” but a performance of what the former had predicted, “Thou shalt thrice deny me.” 1830 But with the completion of Peters threefold denial, let the present discourse be also now completed, that hereafter we may make a fresh start with the consideration of what was done respecting the Lord before Pontius Pilate the governor.
Eph. v. 2.418:1814
Rom. viii. 32.418:1815
Matt. xxvi. 57.418:1816
John 13:23, John 19:26.418:1817
Matt. xxvi. 34.418:1819
Acts xi. 26.419:1820
Matt. xvi. 19.419:1821
Deut. xix. 15.419:1823
Matt. x. 27.419:1824
Mark. iv. 12.419:1825
Psalm 45.3-5. In the Hebrew text, at the close of verse 4 and beginning of verse 5 (Eng. Ver. verses 3 and 4), there is a repetition of the word והדרך, which in both cases is rendered in our English Version, “and [in] Thy majesty.” By the Septuagint, however, and the Vulgate, and here by Augustin, the latter of the two has been differently read as a verb, as if pointed וְהַדְרֵךְ, in the sense of “Bend thy bow,” “Take aim,” with the acc. omitted. Our English Version combines the next two verbs צְלַח רְכַב, “ride prosperously” while in the above the distinction is preserved, “advance prosperously, ride (as a king, reign).”—Tr.420:1826
Matt. v. 39.420:1827
Ps. lvii. 7.420:1828
Here probably we should read Silas, according to Acts xvi. 25.—Migne.420:1829
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WASHINGTON — He walks the streets of his neighborhood like a prophet, a healer and a friend. Juan Romagoza is a touchstone of compassion in Washington's impoverished Latino community.
"I work for the poor because I am poor," he says. "My family is poor."
He is also a survivor of the civil war in his native El Salvador in the early 1980s.
He was an aspiring surgeon when the military kidnapped and tortured him for treating poor farm workers. His wife, a medical student, was murdered.
"They hung me, and they shot my left arm and they cut my finger in the right hand, too," says Romagoza.
They maimed him to ensure that Romagoza could never operate again. He found refuge in Washington, where Dr. Peter Shields hired him to run a free clinic one night a week.
"He is clearly compassionate," says Shields, who works at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. "He's clearly someone who is there first to help, and the first to find people to help."
Twenty years later, Romagoza can still be found at La Clínica Del Pueblo, now a full-service operation in a new building, making sure patients like breast cancer survivor Paula Vasquez get good, free medical care.
"First, it helped me by opening the door to relieve my pain," she says.
"He really understands what being a wounded healer is," says Sharon Baskerville with the D.C. Primary Care Association. "That drives him. He feels the pain acutely, so he'll never stop."
He is most comfortable among the powerless, working to make access to health care a basic human right.
"It is not a luxury," says Romagoza. "[It] is not depending on how much you have in your bag. It's part of your dignity, human dignity."
Help for those who cannot help themselves, from one who's suffered so much.
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Or says my all time favorite cynic, Chuck Palahniuk. I'm sure he means this in the grimly dissatisfying sense that everything dies. Nothing lasts forever. Impermanence prevails over the abiding. That anything which is here and alive will eventually be dead and gone - certainly a comforting thought which awakens the feeling of hope and will to live in us all.. or not.
However, I am not wholly convinced that this idea has to be a negative one. Don't roll your eyes at me. For I am far from the silver lining girl - in fact, sometimes it feels like at best - my glass is half empty and at worst - shattered on the ground in pieces. But hear me out, let me exercise my positive thinking for a moment..
Its as if we have a propensity for negative thinking hard wired in our brains: its why time feels like its flying by when we have fun and interminably long and arduous when we are bored or depressed - because we feel as though happiness is fleeting and unhappiness is lasting. As if when we are up we are waiting for the inevitable decline. In essence, this feels realistic and true but in actuality, it is false and maybe even crazy. Sociologically, entropy is a metaphor for chaos - as internal randomness applied to human interaction both personally and communally.
Rudolph Clausius, the entropic pioneer, explains that all processes in a closed system have increasing entropy. As systems become more complex, a level of intricacy will be reached thrusting the system to work within the paradigm of unpredictability - chaos. When we view entropy as a measure of chaos, we can say that the probability of accessible states for any complex system is a measure of that system’s uncertainty.
Humans are probably the most complex web of systems, processes, and states in existence. Setting aside our multi functioning, highly convoluted physical bodies - our sense of emotion, free will, ability for abstract thought, and memory. The psyche is open in the sense that information and energy can flow within and without it, yet closed to matter - the psyche cannot be affected by rain, etc.. Much to Christopher Nolan's disappointment, information cannot be extracted from the mind and matter cannot be physically implanted into the psyche.
Therefore, for the purposes of this blog post, we can ascertain that the human psyche is a closed system. Remember that Clausius taught us that closed systems have increasing entropy (chaos) and as systems increase in intricacy they increasingly react with chaos - so that, when left unchecked, the psyche can become engulfed in unpredictability - leading us to wholeheartedly and sometimes debilitatingly believe that happiness is temporary and only a cruel catalyst for unhappiness.
But if you can decrease the complexity, then the entropic chaos will decrease as well. Simplification and minimalism - within the mind, heart, work, home, relationships - promotes a decline in entropic energy leading to normal healthy functioning. Living systems maintain avaricious structure by dissipating entropy before it has a chance to build up.
Carl Jung wrote that the psyche is governed by entropy and equivalence. Meaning that energy disappearing from one faction of the psyche must reappear somewhere else (like matter being unable to be destroyed or created). I take this to mean that a mental simplification (and decline in entropy energy) must be channeled into something else - energy has to be used, even metaphorical energy: running, doing, acting, reading, conversation, laughing - these are ways to release the mental energy before it builds into chaos.
I have just one other faction to my Chuck P. quote, which I don't feel like reducing because I am hungry and bored of writing now but, I'm going to lay it out there and you can do with it as you choose:
If on a long enough timeline the survival rate of everything drops to zero, how long before the past, memories, forgotten yardsticks, etc.. cease to be a cognitive faction of the everyday. How long does it take personal history to be rendered obsolete? How long before precedence is dead? Before hindsight goes blind? | <urn:uuid:f7991617-d15c-4164-b50c-80a3cb79d18d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cultureonastick.com/2011_01_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940008 | 846 | 2.03125 | 2 |
BGE's plan to install smart meters meets concerns from customers
Utility to upgrade meter technology; Customer claims electromaganetic sensitivity
Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. is about to replace all residential gas and electric meters with smart meters, saying the meters manage consumers' energy usage better, and in time, save money.
Some customers are questioning whether the new technology would be bad for your health.
Smart meters basically reads itself then sends the energy usage reading wirelessly to BGE. The utility company has touted the benefits to customers, eventually saving customers money.
"You are going to be able to actually go onto your computer, you are going to be able to see in near real time -- 24 hours, roughly -- your energy usage," BGE spokesman Rob Gould said.
But not everyone is looking forward to smart meter technology, including Junghie Elky, who said she suffers from something called electromaganetic sensitivity, and believes radio frequencies make her sick.
"I'm a little bit nervous about that, a bit worried about the health effects," Elky said. "At my worst, I was so sensitive, I could not touch things with electricity without feeling pain. I couldn't watch TV because the radiation from the screen would make me dizzy."
Elky said she would experience headaches, fatigue and ear aches that forced her to take a leave of absence from work.
Magda Havas, an associate professor of environmental and resource studies at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, has studied electromagnetic sensitivity for decades. She said 3 to 5 percent of the population suffer severe symptoms, and up to a third of the population have mild to moderate symptoms.
"There are so many sources of radiation, so smart meters are just one additional source," Havas said. "We have a lot of it in our home. We live near cell phone antennas and they all emit radio frequency. What seems to happen is once the smart meters go in, people seem to be fine, and then a few of them become quite ill."
Havas said she is so concerned that she even questions wireless Internet in schools. She said she feels not enough studies have been done on the effects of radio frequency radiation.
"This just disturbs me greatly because we are exposed to so much radiation. The levels are just going up higher and higher," Havas said. "It's almost as though the government has its head in the sand, (it) just doesn't want to know what the outcome is likely to be."
Others point to published studies. Peter Valberg, a public health expert and physicist at the Harvard School of Public Health, has worked closely with the Edison Electric Institute, a utility company association.
"It's really not correct to say that there haven't been many studies. There have been an avalanche of studies," Valberg said. "Scientists who have done those studies concluded that there may be a psychological component, that if somebody knows there's a radio wave signal there that they feel symptoms and so forth that may be very real to them, but those studies have shown that that kind of phenomenon really isn't based on actual presence or absence of radio waves."
Valberg said it's all about where the radiation falls on the electromagnetic spectrum. On the high end, (you have) X-rays and gamma rays, the type of radiation that can break apart molecules. On the low end (are) TVs, smart meters and cell phones.
"They really are not damaging to biological molecules," Valberg said.
The World Health Organization has labeled smart meters group 2B, a possible carcinogen, which sounds very ominous. The 11 News I-Team discovered many chemicals comprise the group 2B list, but also some very commonplace items -- like coffee, talcum powder and even pickled vegetables.
The concern over the possible health effects of smart meters has made its way to Annapolis, where Delegate Glen Glass, R-District 43A, introduced House Bill 878 that would give BGE customers the ability to opt out if they don't want a smart meter. Aside from health issues, Glass said he's concerned about privacy.
His bill never made it out of committee.
On March 21, the House Economic Matters Committee gave Glass' bill an unfavorable report. It is now up to the Maryland Public Service Commission to decide if "opt out" should be an option.
When asked whether customers should be able to opt out if they so desire, BGE's Gould said, "We really don't have an opinion on that."
Gould said the state of California allows its power customers to opt out -- at a cost. (More from The San Francisco Chronicle: SmartMeter opt-out deadline is May 1) California residents have to pay a one-time $75 fee and an additional $12 a month to opt out. BGE would look to do something similar.
Elky said she would like the opportunity to opt out, saying she now has her oversensitivity under control. She's seeing an alternative health practitioner and said she is feeling much better. She does not welcome the idea of more radio waves in her home.
According to BGE's website about smart meters, the utility plans to start installation of smart meters in the Baltimore area in the spring. The digital electric meters and upgraded gas meters are slated to be installed at every home and small business in BGE's service area, a process the utility indicates will take about three years.
Find out when smart meter installation is scheduled to take place in your neighborhood. BGE offers a map and schedule on its website.
This is a copy of the color-coded map BGE is offering to customers to designate when communities in its service area will receive smart meters. To see the schedule key by color, visit BGE.com
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- The rear propeller with smaller diameter works inside the flow contraction created by the front prop.
- Each propeller is perfectly in balance, by weight and size.
- All propellers are made of superstrength material crafted for propeller duty with a certain flexibility built in.
- Perfect curving from thousands of computer calculations in a uniquely developed program.
- Specifically adapted shock-absorbing bushings handle rotational and pulling forces.
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Deadlock at talks to curb Iran's nuclear progress
Iran and six world powers blamed each other for a deadlock at talks on Tehran's nuclear programme yesterday, as negotiators struggled to reduce the risk of a new Middle East war.
Late on the second and final day of talks in Moscow, diplomats said negotiators were still far from agreement on Iranian work which the US, China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain fear may be aimed at building nuclear arms.
The six powers want Tehran to stop enriching uranium to levels that bring it close to acquiring weapons-grade material, but Iran has demanded relief from economic sanctions and an acknowledgement that it has the right to enrich uranium.
If talks collapse, anxiety could grow over the danger of higher oil prices and conflict in the Middle East because Israel has threatened to attack Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to stop Tehran getting the bomb.
"We came to Moscow for a resolution. But we believe the opposite side is not ready to reach a resolution," an Iranian diplomat said. Iran says its programme has only non-military purposes but the so-called P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – say Tehran must do more to prove this and permit United Nations inspections of its work.
"Our key requirements are: stop, shut and ship," said a Western diplomat who was present at the talks. He was referring to demands for Iran to stop producing higher-grade uranium, ship any stockpile out of the country and close down its Fordow underground enrichment facility.
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Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
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