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Apoptosis is defined as a mechanism of cell death which occurs after sufficient cellular damage. It occurs normally during development and aging and is considered a vital component of cell turnover, cell development and function of the immune system. It occurs as a defense mechanism such as in immune reactions or when cells are damaged by disease or noxious agents.
Apoptosis Product Areas
Apoptosis and Disease
Apoptosis, in general, confers advantages during an organism's life cycle. Between 50 billion and 70 billion cells die each day due to apoptosis in the average human adult. In a year, this amounts to the proliferation and subsequent destruction of a mass of cells equal to an individual's body weight. Inappropriate apoptosis is a factor in many human conditions including neurodegenerative diseases, ischemic damage, autoimmune disorders and many types of cancer. The ability to modulate the life or death of a cell is recognized for its profound therapeutic potential, and research continues to focus on the elucidation of the cell cycle machinery and signaling pathways that control cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.
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Potent, selective LRRK2 inhibitor
Tocris is the first to launch GSK2578215A, licensed from GlaxoSmithKline, for the study of Parkinson's Disease. | <urn:uuid:d59942f0-db51-4b01-a650-aadabc2dcbb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tocris.com/researchArea.php?ItemId=226684 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936564 | 269 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Pentagon press secretary George Little said details have yet to be worked out, but the intention is to have a digital repository of records on a range of valor awards and medals going back as far in history as possible.
The move is in response to a June 28 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated the Stolen Valor Act, which made it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other military decorations.
That court decision involved the conviction of Pomona's Xavier Alvarez, who lied when he claimed to have won the Medal of Honor and served in the military.
The proposed authoritative database would make it easier to check on award claims, and perhaps would deter some who would make false public claims.
The high court ruled that the 2006 Stolen Valor Act infringes upon speech protected by the First Amendment.
Juan Rodriguez, 81, a Korean War veteran from Pomona, said he was happy with the news after being upset by the Supreme Court's Stolen Valor Act decision.
"I'm glad because a lot of (military) guys are very disappointed (by court decision)," Rodriguez said. "We really feel down, you know. How am I going to feel wearing my medals for fighting in Korea? It's awful."
Veterans organizations and some in
It also argued that any government database would be incomplete because a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed millions of personnel records, including those citing medals and awards, and that even a complete database would do little to reduce the number of false award claims.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, which had expressed sharp disappointment in the Supreme Court ruling, believes that publicizing the false claims of military valor can be an effective deterrent to others.
VFW spokesman Joe Davis said Tuesday that his group welcomes the Pentagon's new approach.
"The cost is minimal compared to the verifiable proof it provides to honorable service members, veterans and all their families," Davis said.
Vietnam veteran Jim Frost, 68, a former mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, is not sure the database is needed.
"There is currently a U.S. Department of Defense document (DD214) that can be requested to check a person's military background. It seems like a significant expenditure of government resources that may not be necessary on its face value," Frost said.
Little said no final decisions have been made about the type of government database that would be created. He said the goal would have to include information not only about recipients of the Medal of Honor, which is the nation's highest military award, but also those who hold other decorations for valor, such as the Silver Star and Bronze Star.
"There are some complexities involved in looking back into history," Little said.
"We would obviously hope to be able to go as far back as possible, but we also want there to be integrity in the data. So these are factors that are being weighed, and we're in the process of exploring those options. So the door is open."
Members of Congress, meanwhile, are taking their own steps to address the problem of fraudulent claims.
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who served in Vietnam as a Marine officer, announced Tuesday that he will introduce legislation that could bring criminal penalties to any individual making a false claim to have served in the military or to have been awarded a military medal or decoration in order to "secure a tangible benefit or a personal gain."
"Profiting from the misrepresentation of military service or the award of a decoration or medal for personal gain undermines the value of service and is offensive to all who have stepped forward to serve our country in uniform," Webb said.
Staff Writer Wes Woods II and The Associated Press contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:04200d16-af03-480b-af4a-1b3a595a17fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailybulletin.com/reign/ci_21053309/pentagon-database-track-medal-awardees-following-supreme-court | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97522 | 774 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Cluster munitions have a "wide-area effect", which makes them inherently inaccurate when used. Moreover, unexploded duds lying around form a life-threatening hazard for civilians long after conflict.
The UN family of agencies, in its work on the ground, has come across many types of cluster munitions. From its experience, all types of cluster munitions used so far cause unacceptable harm to civilians.
Until recently, many Governments considered cluster munitions indispensable to their military policies, but a growing number of them have been open to the arguments that such policy and practice were not in concurrence with international obligations and could jeopardize recovery and development efforts.
In 2008, the Convention on Cluster Munitions was adopted by over 100 countries. They agreed to a complete ban of this weapon.
Under the terms of the Convention, a number of responsibilities have been entrusted to the Secretary-General of the UN, including:
- Collection and dissemination of transparency reports by and to the States parties;
- Facilitation of clarification of compliance;
- Convening of the Meetings of States Parties.
Furthermore, the Secretary-General is "requested to render the necessary assistance and to provide such services as may be necessary to fulfil the tasks entrusted to him by the Convention on Cluster Munitions". | <urn:uuid:d230297e-095b-4b52-890a-7a883c797961> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.un.org/disarmament/convarms/ClusterMunitions/ | 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 | 0.954722 | 259 | 3.0625 | 3 |
ANKARA: Thousands of Syrians living in a refugee camp in southern Turkey will hold elections this month to select camp leaders and an administrative council in an exercise Turkey said was aimed at introducing democracy to Syrian citizens.
Turkey, which is sheltering tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing violence in their homeland, is an outspoken critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is battling rebels trying to overthrow his government.
Refugees aged 18 and over at the Kilis camp housing more than 13,000 Syrians on the Turkey-Syria border will be able to vote on Jan. 17 for leaders of different sections of the camp and for an 18-member administrative council, the Turkish government said in a statement.
The elections are aimed at "introducing Syrian citizens to democracy and aim to provide the opportunity to gain experience in this field", it said.
A total of 42 candidates, who are required to be over the age of 30, will be able to launch election campaigns with bi-weekly speeches. They will be provided with flags, placards and technical support. Each of the six sections in the camp has to have at least one female candidate.
The election winners will help administer services relating to security, health, education and religion in coordination with the local governor's office.
Turkey has tried to showcase the Kilis camp, where refugees live in heated and air-conditioned containers with refrigeration facilities, as opposed to tents at other camps.
While Turkey has provided some of the best shelter and facilities for refugees among Syria's neighbours, overcrowding remains a concern and sporadic unrest has erupted at camps including Kilis. Turkish security forces have on occasion used tear gas to suppress the protests.
There are now more than 150,000 Syrians living in some 15 refugee camps in Turkey, according to the country's disaster management body (AFAD), and officials say there are tens of thousands more in towns and cities around the country.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who has likened Assad to dictators Hitler and Mussolini and accused him of creating a "terrorist state", has called on the Syrian leader to step down.
Assad has accused Erdogan of being "two-faced" by pursuing a sectarian agenda in the region and trying to persuade Damascus to introduce political reforms while ignoring the killings and democratic shortfalls in Gulf Arab states. | <urn:uuid:8980b3b1-9775-4ea8-94ce-06c46c686b6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jan-08/201343-syrian-refugees-in-turkish-camp-to-vote-in-taste-of-democracy.ashx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96401 | 468 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Soulcalibur IV Basics
|Basic Tutorial||Intermediate Tutorial||>>|
Welcome to the Basic Tutorial. This section will acquaint you with the core concepts of the Soulcalibur game system that any player should be familiar with. It will cover aspects such as moving your character around, attacking, defending as well as the overall game concepts that govern what happens when and how. Much of this information is only lightly touched on in the game manual, and some of it not presented at all. Think of this section as the manual that should have come with your game.
Soulcalibur uses a four-button layout: A, B, K and G. Along with the directional pad, these buttons or combinations of them control every action you can perform. The A button allows you to perform horizontal-based attacks while the B button executes vertical-based attacks. K performs kick-based attacks and the G button lets you guard yourself from enemy attacks. The G button also allows you to perform Guard Impacts and Throws, both of which will be covered individually later on.
|All movement in Soulcalibur is performed with the directional pad. The basic movement concepts should be somewhat familiar to anyone who has played a fighting game before. Hold to run forward and to slowly walk backward. Note that every character will always move faster when they are moving forwards rather than backwards except for Voldo.
In order to crouch, hold down + G. Jumping without attacking is performed in the same manner by holding G and then tapping , or .
There are three forces at work in Soulcalibur's system: Horizontal Attacks, Vertical Attacks and 8-Way-Run. These three forces make up the backbone of Soulcalibur's system, which is often referred to as the Triangle System. The simplest analogy is to think of a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, where Rock beats Scissors, Paper beats Rock, and Scissors beats Paper. Similarly, Horizontal Attacks beats 8-Way-Run, 8-Way-Run beats Vertical Attacks, and Vertical Attacks beat Horizontal Attacks. However, as with all fighting games, good timing is what makes the Triangle system work. A poorly timed sidestep will not always beat a vertical attack. Even so, without proper knowledge of the Triangle System, you will most likely continue to make dangerous mistakes that could have been easily avoided.
|In addition to your basic movement options, there is another movement system in the game called 8-Way-Run. While standing still, you can initiate 8-Way-Run by holding any direction on the joystick. You can also start 8-Way-Run during a dash by first dashing either forward or backward and then holding the joystick in either direction.
Once you initiate 8-Way-Run, you can move in any direction by holding the joystick in the direction of your choice. Movement during 8-Way-Run is in relation to your opponent: holding 6 or 4 will move you closer to or further away from your opponent, while holding or will cause you to walk around your opponent. 8-Way-Run ends either when you release the directional pad or press a button or you are attacked.
Using 8-Way-Run in your overall game play is useful for allowing you to set up counterattacks by dodging incoming attacks, as well as positioning yourself in order to use the environment to your advantage. The use of 8-Way-Run is also important because it gives you access to moves that are not available when your character is simply standing still. There is an additional sidestep system called Step, which will be discussed in the Intermediate Tutorial.
|Horizontal and Vertical Attacks|
|Since horizontal and vertical attacks are very similar, we'll talk about them in the same section. There are three levels of attacks: High, Mid and Low. These levels are determined by where a strike will land on your opponent's body.
Attack levels works like a miniature Triangle System. High Attacks will only hit standing opponents, while Mid and Low attacks will hit both standing and crouching opponents. Furthermore, a standing opponent cannot guard against Low attacks, a crouching opponent cannot guard against Mid attacks, High attacks will miss a crouching opponent, and Low attacks will miss a jumping opponent. There is also another level of attack named Special Mid which can be blocked by standing or crouching.
Throws are a way to complement your regular attacks when your opponent starts blocking excessively to counter the majority of your attacks. While in most cases you will not be able to throw an opponent who is in the middle of an attack, it can happen in some cases, which is why it is considered outside of the Triangle System. There are seven types of throws that are present in the game: Normal Throws, Low Throws, Air Throws, Ground Throws, Multi-throws and Attack Throws.
|Normal Throws||This is the basic type of throw, where your character will reach out with his or her arm and attempt to grab the opponent. Each throw contains different properties relating to damage and execution, and can be found in the Character Section. Normal throws contain many of the same properties as horizontal and vertical attacks, in that they will deal additional damage if your opponent is thrown into a wall and they have the potential to throw them out of the ring. Normal throws also have the property of high attacks as they will completely miss a crouching opponent.|
|Low Throws||Low Throws are identical to Normal Throws, except that they only work against a crouching opponent. If your opponent is standing, then your throw will miss. The characters that can use Low Throws are Astaroth, Cassandra, Xianghua and Rock. Nightmare also has a low throw, but it requires that your opponent does not block while crouching. It will hit them whether they are standing or crouching in this situation.|
|Air Throws||Air Throws are a great way of finishing off juggle combos, and best of all they can work whether your opponent jumps into the air themselves or you launch them into the air with an attack. The only characters to have Air Throws are Zasalamel, Astaroth, Taki and Ivy.|
|Ground Throws||Ground Throws differ from other throws in that your opponent must be prone on the ground for you to be able to use them. For most ground throws, if your opponent is not prone on the ground, then the game will not allow you to perform a Ground Throw. If you attempt one, you will perform a completely different move instead. The only exception to this rule is Astaroth's + A + B, B + K ground throw. The only characters to have Ground Throws are Cervantes, Astaroth, Voldo, Nightmare and Rock.|
|Multi-throws||Multi-throws are a series of throws that are linked together by several inputs, resulting in what appears to be a chain of successive throws. In order to successfully pull off a multithrow, you must first execute the initial throw, and then you must complete the next input immediately after the first throw is successful. In order to escape from a combo throw, you must press A or B. Xianghua, Kilik and Talim both have multi-throws.|
|Attack Throws||Attack Throws behave very differently from every other throw in the game. Unlike other throws, Attack Throws start off as regular attacks, then shift to a throw depending on certain conditions. For example, Astaroth's + A attack can shift to an Attack Throw if it is held and charged. Another example is Zasalamel's WS B, which shifts to an Attack Throw on a counterhit.|
Like throws, defensive techniques exist outside of the Triangle System and have the potential negate them completely. There are two forms of defense in Soulcalibur: blocking and guard impact.
To perform a standing block simply press G, and to perform a crouching block press , or + G. Blocking can allow you to defend against most attacks in the game, but there are three types of attacks that blocking cannot defend against; throws, Guard Crushes, and Unblockables. True to their name, Unblockables are attacks that cannot be stopped by merely blocking; you must sidestep or duck them. Every character in the game possesses at least one unblockable attack, but they are usually slow to come out and thus can be avoided if you are quick to react. Aside from throws and unblockables, players will have a hard time in blocking against a type of attack called a Guard Crush. Attacks that have a Guard Crush property attached to them will have the ability to break through a character's block and leave them open to a followup attack. However this followup is not guaranteed, and the defender can escape this situation or avoid the Guard Crush altogether with Guard Impacts.
Guard Impacts (GI) are similar in concept to blocking, but can be much more effective. By tapping + G for low or mid hits or + G for high or mid hits, Guard Impacts will allow you to deflect or repel an incoming attack to give you the tactical advantage at that moment. Note that Guard Impacts do not give you an actual advantage in terms of being able to perform a move before an enemy can react. If you are predictable with your followup attack after a Guard Impact, your opponent can simply GI you back and continue with their gameplan. Post-GI situations are one of the most important things to learn in Soulcalibur, and will be discussed in later tutorials.
New to Soulcalibur as of Soulcalibur III is the addition of Just Frame Guard Impacts (JI), which gives you a bigger advantage over your opponent and makes it harder for them to Guard Impact back. It's not that simple to perform though, as you need perfect timing in order to get it, however you'll know that you've performed it if your Guard Impact flashes red instead of the regular white.
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X360 Trials Evolution | <urn:uuid:42828112-7eda-4cd1-918a-e5b4e19e2578> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/soulcalibur-untitled-next-gen-sequel/guide/page_2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943531 | 2,253 | 1.835938 | 2 |
I’m so delighted to point you to the work of a Dutch artist, a practicing member of the OBC community in The Netherlands, who has created a wonderful contemplative space in a nursing home in Delfshaven. The site has just recently been translated into both English and German and is, in turn, the work of another Dutch woman artist in our congregation. What talent! I’ve known them both for many years, I can’t say enough good things about them. And here is a link to the home page of the site I’m referring to. Great poem from Basho on there
‘There is little place for reflection in our society, so what I had in mind was to literally and figuratively make room for quiet contemplation here, in the middle of a busy nursing home in multicultural Delfshaven Rotterdam.’ Meulendijks decided not to place a work of art in the space, but to make the space itself into a work of art. The goal was to create a place that excludes no one due to religious affiliation or physical challenges. First, she constructed a detailed model to adapt the existing space to these purposes. She altered the structure and layout and employed motifs from religious architecture to create a visually subdued, serene experience for visitors. Her choice to use circle and dome patterns, as universal spiritual symbols, places the emphasis not on our differences but on the shared human experience of an inner life. All the same, Meulendijks designed mobile furniture and liturgical objects to allow different religious groups to temporarily tailor the chapel to their specific needs. In addition to traditional craftsmanship and handwork, the artist and her team also made use of anachronistic details in the chapel – not in an attempt to resurrect the past, but rather to make all sense of time disappear.
The result is a public space that gives visitors the seclusion they need to listen to the silence.
See more of Ingeborg’s work and schedule of exhibitions on her web site. | <urn:uuid:943c211f-7345-4309-b2a1-948f8342b7cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jademountains.net/still-place-reflection/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953412 | 420 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Painting with CMY
It's your time to order uniforms for the school's football teams. There is one difficulty: the company which you will order from prefers to receive the order in terms of the three primary colors of paints which will be applied to different parts of the uniform. Experiment with the effect of different paint colors on the appearance of the various parts of the uniform. See Activity Sheet.
Tutorial information on color addition and color subtraction is available at The Physics Classroom Tutorial.
You will need the Shockwave plug-in to view the files.
Download the plug-in here. | <urn:uuid:ed0a8e05-044b-472c-a579-b66385e16c6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/paints.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937364 | 123 | 1.726563 | 2 |
As I mentioned in my previous blog, sequencing and memory activities are important for people of all ages. These skills help to keep our minds sharp and active and allow us remember old skills as well as learn new patterns and routines. A “treasure hunt” is a fun way to work on these two skills, all wrapped into one child-friendly activity!
How To Create A Treasure Hunt For Your Family!
Materials: construction paper, markers, equipment needed within treasure hunt (e.g. ball; scissors etc)
- First, talk out loud together with your child about how many steps you are going to include in your treasure hunt.
- Next, determine what these steps are going to be (e.g. dribble a tennis ball 10 times, cut out a circle, copy a block design, balance on one leg etc).
- Make sure that you include age appropriate tasks that your child needs to be working on.
- Some of these tasks should be ones that are easier and your child can be more successful with, and some should be more challenging to help work on a novel skill and/or skills your child has a harder time with.
- After you have verbally determined what will be in the treasure hunt, have your child repeat these steps back to you, first verbally, and then by copying the steps onto construction paper in a treasure map format (e.g. working towards the “X” which signifies the ‘treasure’ and the end of the treasure hunt). Lastly, help your child to implement the treasure hunt by having him tell you which step he will be completing first (e.g. first I will ______, and then I will ______).
- If your child is having a hard time recalling which step comes next, have him refer to his treasure map to visually study the steps again, and then have him state the steps out loud again to help the information stick in his mind. Feel free to do this as often as needed throughout the activity.
- Your child will show progress in his memory and sequencing skills by requiring less and less visual and/or verbal cues for the sequence of activities. Provide a small reward of your choosing for the “treasure” that your child will enjoy after he has completed the hunt!
Skills addressed in a Treasure Hunt:
- Fine motor (to draw/write out the treasure map)
- Auditory processing and memory (to listen to and repeat back the steps of the treasure hunt)
- Sequencing (to complete the treasure hunt in the correct order)
- Following directions
- Attention (staying on task throughout the activity) | <urn:uuid:0def88f1-9f2b-4f3d-8dc5-ae9c5eaa534c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nspt4kids.com/therapy/we-are-going-on-a-treasure-hunt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954981 | 542 | 3.890625 | 4 |
The top US presidents: First poll of UK experts
Franklin D Roosevelt has topped the first ever UK academic poll rating the performance of 40 US presidents since George Washington.
Barack Obama was not included in the survey, but interim assessments indicate that he would have made the top 10 of the rankings. George W Bush was in 31st place, putting him in the bottom 10.
Top and Bottom Presidents
- 1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-45)
- 2. Abraham Lincoln (1861-65)
- 3. George Washington (1789-97)
- 4. Thomas Jefferson (1801-09)
- 5. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09)
- 36. Andrew Johnson (1865-69)
- 37. John Tyler (1841-45)
- 38. Warren Harding (1921-23)
- 39. Franklin Pierce (1853-57)
- 40. James Buchanan (1857-61)
In 1960, US political scientist Richard Neustadt began his seminal book Presidential Power with the observation: "In the United States we like to 'rate' a President. We measure him as 'weak' or 'strong' and call what we are measuring his 'leadership'."
In the half century since then, systematic presidential rating has become a regular exercise for US scholars. Over the same period, study and research of US history and politics expanded dramatically in UK universities. Until now, however, there has been no UK poll of US presidents.
The new survey was conducted before the 2010 mid-term elections by the United States Presidency Centre of the Institute for the Study of the Americas (part of the University of London's School of Advanced Study).
In total, 47 British academics specialising in American history and politics took part. They were asked to rate the performance of every president from 1789 to 2009 (excluding William Henry Harrison and James Garfield, who both died shortly after taking office) in five categories:
- domestic leadership
- foreign policy leadership
- moral authority
- positive historical significance of their legacy
Participants were required to score the presidents in each equally-weighted category from one ("not effective") to 10 ("very effective"). Results were then were tabulated by averaging all the responses in a given category for each president.
- 8. Ronald Reagan (1981-89)
- 18. Jimmy Carter (1977-81)
- 19. Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
- 22. George H W Bush (1989-93)
- 23. Richard Nixon (1969-74)
- 24. Gerald Ford (1974-77)
- 31. George W Bush (2001-09)
Franklin D Roosevelt (1933-45) came first in three categories: vision/agenda-setting; domestic leadership; and foreign policy leadership. George Washington (1789-97) came first for moral authority, and Abraham Lincoln (1861-65) did so for the positive significance of his legacy.
Only one president who has held office since 1960 - Ronald Reagan (1981-89) - made the overall top 10, in eighth position.
However, George W Bush (2001-09), in 31st position, was the lowest-rated president of any who has held office since the scandal-hit Warren Harding (1921-23), 38th.
Other than Harding, the bottom-rated five presidents held office just before and just after the Civil War (1861-65).British differences
US polls habitually place Lincoln first because of his achievements as Civil War leader in restoring the Union and ending slavery. In addition, they often put Washington second because of his significance in establishing the authority of the presidency.
UK scholars, by contrast, elevated FDR in recognition of the breadth of the challenges he faced as president during the Great Depression and World War II, his confident and inspirational leadership in both of these crises, and the significance of his New Deal legacy.
It is also likely that Roosevelt's stock rose because the poll was conducted against the background of the worst economic troubles since the 1930s.
Lincoln was a close second overall. His achievement is further highlighted by the presence of very low-rated presidents before and after him (as in US polls).
Clearly, the US was fortunate to have a president with his skill, vision and humanity to fulfil the leadership potential of the office at America's moment of greatest crisis.
There are also significant differences between US and UK rankings of individual presidents outside the top three.
The most notable case is that of John F Kennedy (1961-63), ranked as high as sixth in some recent US surveys but only 15th in the UK poll. UK academics seemingly faulted JFK for the gap between his rhetoric and his substantive achievements as president.
The UK survey places some small government advocates higher than in some recent US polls”
Bill Clinton (1993-2001), who held a top 15 slot in one US poll slipped to 19th in the UK survey - mainly because of a very low rating for moral authority but also because his legacy, particularly his economic achievement, looks less robust 10 years on.
One of the criticisms often levelled against US presidential surveys is that the participants are driven by liberal bias to give high ratings to presidents who expanded the role of national government.
At first sight, the UK survey looks to have a similar leaning.
FDR, the architect of the modern state, is ranked first. The early 20th Century Progressive presidents, Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) and Woodrow Wilson (1913-21), are placed fifth and sixth, while FDR's liberal successors, Harry Truman (1945-53) and Lyndon Johnson (1963-69), come seventh and 11th respectively (the latter would have been placed much higher in recognition of his civil rights achievement but for the corrosive effect of Vietnam).
However, the UK survey also places some small government advocates higher than in some recent US polls. Thomas Jefferson (1801-09) was ranked fourth, Ronald Reagan was eighth, and Andrew Jackson (1829-37) was ninth (compared with their 2009 C-Span survey rankings of 7th, 10th, and 13th).Difficult job
No less than their US counterparts, the views of UK scholars are influenced by their own times.
The passions of the present may well have affected the low position of George W Bush, and Barack Obama's high interim score, which would have placed him eighth overall if he had been included in the poll.
Of the five presidents from 1977 to 2009, only Reagan makes the top 10”
Memories are still raw regarding Bush's Iraq war policy and his perceived expansion of the "imperial presidency", but his bottom 10 placing arguably underestimates the strength of his vision/agenda setting and his success in achieving his domestic objectives.
Obama's score reflects his substantive legislative achievements and his symbolic importance as the first African American president. Nevertheless, it is well to note with regard to his ultimate (rather than interim) rating that no president in the UK survey top 10 failed to win re-election to a second term.
An important similarity between the UK survey and US ones stands out in terms of rating recent and early presidents.
Of the five presidents from 1977 to 2009, only Reagan makes the top 10 and none of the others is in the top 15.
In contrast, of the five presidents who held office from 1789 to 1825, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were in the top five and the other three made the top 15 - John Adams (1797-1801) in 12th position, James Monroe (1817-25) 13th, and James Madison (1809-17) 14th.
It might be concluded, therefore, that the early Republic possessed superior political leaders - but the more likely explanation for the discrepancy lies elsewhere.
The massive political, organisational and policy challenges of the modern presidency make it a far more difficult job than in the past. Our expectations as to what recent presidents could achieve may well be unrealistic when set against the many obstacles that inhibit their success. | <urn:uuid:ad724c39-87a5-444c-9023-bdb598953e27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12195111 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961475 | 1,672 | 2.5 | 2 |
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
Then Tapussa the householder went to Ven. Ananda and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to Ven. Ananda:
"Venerable Ananda, sir, we are householders who indulge in sensuality, delight in sensuality, enjoy sensuality, rejoice in sensuality. For us — indulging in sensuality, delighting in sensuality, enjoying sensuality, rejoicing in sensuality — renunciation seems like a sheer drop-off. Yet I've heard that in this doctrine & discipline the hearts of the very young monks leap up at renunciation, grow confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace. So right here is where this doctrine & discipline is contrary to the great mass of people: i.e., [this issue of] renunciation."
"This calls for a talk, householder. Let's go see the Blessed One. Let's approach him and, on arrival, tell him this matter. However he explains it to us, we will bear it in mind."
"As you say, sir," Tapussa the householder responded to Ven. Ananda.
"So it is, Ananda. So it is.
Even I myself, before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, thought: 'Renunciation is good. Seclusion is good.'
But my heart didn't leap up at renunciation, didn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace.
The thought occurred to me: 'What is the cause, what is the reason, why my heart doesn't leap up at renunciation, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace?' Then the thought occurred to me: 'I haven't seen the drawback of sensual pleasures; I haven't pursued [that theme]. I haven't understood the reward of renunciation; I haven't familiarized myself with it. That's why my heart doesn't leap up at renunciation, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace.'
"Then the thought occurred to me: 'If, having seen the drawback of sensual pleasures, I were to pursue that theme; and if, having understood the reward of renunciation, I were to familiarize myself with it, there's the possibility that my heart would leap up at renunciation, grow confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace.'
"So at a later time, having seen the drawback of sensual pleasures, I pursued that theme; having understood the reward of renunciation, I familiarized myself with it. My heart leaped up at renunciation, grew confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace.
Kye ho! Listen with sympathy!
With insight into your sorry worldly predicament,
realising that nothing can last, that all is as dreamlike illusion,
meaningless illusion provoking frustration and boredom,
turn around and abandon your mundane pursuits.
4) Long-associated companions will part from each other. Wealth and possessions obtained with effort will be left behind.
Consciousness, the guest, will cast aside the guesthouse of the body.
Letting go of this life is the bodhisattvas’ practice.
9) The pleasure of the triple world, like a dewdrop on the tip of a blade of grass, is imperiled in a single moment.
Striving for the supreme state of neverchanging liberation is the bodhisattvas’ practice.
21) However much sense pleasures are enjoyed, as [when drinking] salt water, craving still increases.
Immediately abandoning whatever things give rise to clinging and attachment is the bodhisattvas’ practice.
-The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas
planning a trip to whereever sounded most exotic and untouched in hopes of learning the language, mating with the women, and bonding with their sages only to write a book about it in hopes of receiving the praise of my peers.
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Overall, the percentage of young adults who reported that they had ever voted ranged from a high of 62 percent in 1974 to a low of 51 percent in 1982. The two more recent cohorts were intermediate between the two extremes (56 percent voter participation for 1994 young adults, and 58 percent for 2006 young adults).
Within each of the four cohorts, there was a positive association between expected levels of educational attainment and reported rates of voting. In each cohort, the percentages of those who had ever voted were higher among those who expected to attain a bachelor's degree or some higher level of education than among those who only expected to graduate from high school or less. For example, in 1974, 50 percent of those who expected to attain a high school diploma or less voted, compared with 72 percent of those who expected to be college graduates and 77 percent who expected to complete a graduate or professional degree. In 2006, the comparable figures were 35 percent, 61 percent, and 66 percent, respectively.
Overall, the percentage of young adults who had served in the military was smaller in 2006 than in 1974 and 1982—3 percent for young adults in 2006, but 7 percent for young adults in 1974, and 6 percent for young adults in 1982.
Would you like to help us improve our products and website by taking a short survey? | <urn:uuid:c9c35cbe-9766-451f-af7c-17cbe16ecc5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012345/summ_5.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978758 | 264 | 2.46875 | 2 |
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© Copyright 2003, Jim Loy
One of the USA's national disgraces is the many thousands of people who die every year from hand guns. Guns do both good and harm. The chances of harm are great, unless you handle that gun responsibly.
A gun is not a toy: OK, guns are fun. They really are. But please remember that this gun is serious business.
Guns don't kill people; people kill people: This saying is true, to a large extent. It is a short way of saying a lot of things, like the many deaths are done by irresponsible people, by idiots and wackos who will kill, accidentally or on purpose, with or without a weapon. But people (even safe, responsible people) make mistakes. And death can result from a mistake. You don't make mistakes? Very likely, you will not make a mistake with that gun. But you are fooling yourself if you say that you don't make mistakes.
Guns are designed to kill: That rifle is meant to kill deer or whatever. That pistol is meant to kill human beings, maybe in defense. But I repeat, guns are serious.
Children: Children play with guns, toy guns and real guns. They play cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, war. They shoot to kill, "No I was just wounded." You own a gun; any child who comes in to your house may search out that gun. All children must know not to play with a real gun. They shoot themselves and their friends all too often. That should be stopped. That must be stopped.
Your family: If you handle guns responsibly and safely, that also means that you make sure that anyone who may come in contact with your guns will also handle them responsibly. Safe handling may mean that other people will never handle this gun, because it is locked away or because they really know that they must never touch it. Visitors (children, in particular) will not handle that gun.
The unloaded gun: Unloaded guns do kill people. That means that many people are killed by loaded guns which were thought to be unloaded. You know that your gun is unloaded? It is your job to check it again; is there a bullet in the chamber? Maybe you accidentally chambered a bullet. Maybe you weren't thinking. Maybe someone else did it. This gun has been locked up for ten years; assume it has a bullet in the chamber. Be safe. Be paranoid about that gun.
Don't point guns at people: Of course you never point your gun at people, unless they are threatening your life. But all kinds of people point a gun at a friend (or themselves) as a joke. Besides being stupid, and deadly, that is assault with a deadly weapon, a felony, which can result in a long prison term. That's a good joke.
Equalizer: The other guy is a bully. He threatens to beat the tar out of you, he makes you feel like a weak worm? A gun would make him back down? No, think again. He's going to laugh in your face, and then what are you going to do, shoot him? If you think so, then there are a whole lot of things wrong with your reasoning ability. The law says that you can't use that much force against a bully who might beat you up. Too many people think, "I'm afraid of him, so I will (threaten to) kill him." That is too much force. If there is a direct possibility that this person will kill you, then you can use a gun, but you had better be able to prove that you were about to die.
The NRA: The NRA (National Rifle Association) is mainly concerned with safe handling of guns, and protecting our Constitutional (2nd Amendment) right to own guns. But sometimes (often), they sound like the very wackos who they are afraid of. They sometimes sound like they are saying, "Don't try to take away my gun, or I will kill you." Is this what they are saying? Good image, huh?
Protection: If you own a gun for protection, the chances are that you will never need to use it. But it may be comforting to know that you have it. But the chances that that gun will end up killing an innocent person (small though those chances are) are much greater than the chances that that gun will save your life, or your family's lives.
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Go to my home page | <urn:uuid:2c1d6f7e-0cbe-4895-b11e-143eabc9e7d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jimloy.com/issues/guns.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98126 | 950 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Abs: Mountain Climber with Hands on Swiss Ball
The benefit: It's one of the simplest, yet most effective ways to tighten your tummy. In fact, you'll barely have to move a muscle.
How to do it: Assume a pushup position with your arms completely straight, but place your hands on a Swiss ball instead of the floor. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your ankles. Tighten your core and hold it that way for the duration of the exercise. Lift one foot off the floor and slowly raise your knee as close to your chest as you can without changing your lower-back posture. Then repeat with your other leg. Alternate back and forth for 30 seconds. If that's too hard, place your hands on the floor or a bench. | <urn:uuid:236e9c57-2fac-4578-8b00-e46dcf147dc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oprah.com/health/The-10-Best-New-Exercises-for-Women/2?SiteID=ys_20120926_the_10_best_new_exercises_for_women | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938052 | 162 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Those of us old enough to remember the 1980s – and I unfortunately include myself in that category – will probably recall how terrified Americans became about Japan “buying up” the U.S. The fears were sparked by Japanese purchases of American real estate, most notably famed Rockefeller Center in New York City, and other assets, such as Sony’s acquisition of Hollywood’s Columbia Pictures. Of course, the Japanese were not “buying up” America – Japan’s purchases were a miniscule fraction of U.S. assets – but nevertheless, the idea of a rising Asian power going on a shopping spree in a supposedly weakened America did not go down well with many in the U.S. Just as the U.S. seemed to be in decline, an up-and-coming economic rival swooped in, so it seemed, to gobble up the tastiest morsels.
Here we are, more than 20 years later, and the economic conditions are just right for another Asian invasion, with investors from countries like Japan and China going on a renewed spending binge in a crisis-hit United States. And if this does happen, Americans should welcome it. Greater Asian investment in the U.S. could offer a big boost to the struggling American economy. Here’s how it would all work:
The starting point can be found in the giant current account surpluses run by several of America’s most important trading partners, most notably China and Japan, which cause them to amass tremendous hoards of U.S. dollars. An estimated $2 trillion of China’s $3.2 trillion of foreign currency reserves are in greenbacks, for example. All of these dollars have to go somewhere, and they tend to flood into U.S. dollar assets like Treasury bills. China and Japan combined own more than $2 trillion of U.S. government debt.
Yet sitting on all of these dollars is putting China and Japan in an uncomfortable position. As the dollar weakens in value, their dollar holdings do as well. (The Chinese yuan is at its strongest point against the dollar since Beijing lifted a peg in 2005, while the yen is near its record high against the greenback.) Meanwhile, Chinese and Japanese investors get a tiny return on their holdings of Treasuries (since interest rates are so low), even though the outlook for U.S. debt is uncertain following a Standard & Poor’s downgrade of America’s credit rating. Yet China and Japan are, to a degree, forced to hold dollar assets anyway. It is difficult to switch all of those dollars into other currencies without undermining their value even further. (Nor is it clear which currencies would make sense to buy instead. Euros? With a debt crisis raging in Europe?) So China and Japan are stuck watching their dollars evaporate in value, unable to do very much about it.
But there is another option. One way to potentially protect the value of these mountains of dollars is to use them to buy real assets, like property or shares in companies in the United States. At the very least, such acquisitions could make their dollar holdings less vulnerable to the volatile gyrations of financial markets. And there is possible upside. Purchasing real assets like homes could allow Chinese and Japanese investors to benefit from a recovery of the U.S. housing market and overall economy (whenever than happens). Chinese and Japanese firms could capitalize on acquisitions to expand their market presence or acquire new technology or brands. Chinese banking giant ICBC did just that when purchasing control of a retail banking operation in the U.S. earlier this year.
Will Asian investors take the plunge? There are already signs of a possible Asian influx. Chinese investors are fanning out around the globe buying real estate, including American homes. Tokyo is actively encouraging Japanese companies to go shopping overseas. In an unusual effort to control the rise of the yen, the government announced last week it would form a $100 billion fund to assist Japanese investor with purchases of foreign assets. (The Japanese have been increasing their investments in the U.S., even through the financial crisis. Total Japanese foreign direct investment in the U.S. reached $257 billion in 2010, an increase of more than 15% since 2007.)
There are limitations, though. Just because China has $2 trillion in dollar reserves doesn’t mean Chinese can invest $2 trillion in American assets. Those reserves are deposits and thus there is a need to maintain a certain level of liquidity that only holding assets like Treasuries can provide. Plus, Asian investors take on a different sort of risk by buying real assets in the U.S. instead of financial assets. Many of the acquisitions Japanese investors made in the 1980s, for example, turned out to be losers.
However, Americans should welcome an Asian invasion with open wallets. Asian purchases of U.S. homes could help support the beleaguered housing market. Instead of bulldozing foreclosed houses, why not sell them to wealthy Chinese? Inflows of capital from Asia would also help keep interest rates in the U.S. low, giving more time for the American economy to repair itself and the American government to fix its finances. And it could generate jobs. The Asia Society figures that rising Chinese direct investment in the U.S. has created more than 10,000 jobs. Let’s face it, America needs the cash, whoever might offer it up. Beggars can’t be choosers. | <urn:uuid:dff78390-d49b-459e-b616-4ea8fe872173> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://business.time.com/2011/08/30/will-asia-buy-up-america/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963785 | 1,127 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The clock is winding down for citizens to take a stand on West Point Lake’s future.
Almost three months ago, buried in the technical addendum to a legal filing, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed adjusting the “rule curve” so that the annual fall and winter draw down of the lake would begin in September instead of November.s
This action, if it goes through, would drastically shorten the summer season of a lake that already sees its use severely affected by low levels. Northern sections of West Point Lake have been nothing but mudflats since last summer.
Local lake watchers have asked the corps for years to raise West Point Lake’s winter level, allowing it to be a year-round lake. A higher level allowing for year-round use could mean an economic impact to the area of up to $709 million. It would mean lakeside residents who have invested in docks, boats and other amenities would have full use of the lake and likely higher property values. It would mean local mom-and-pop bait and tackle and other lake-related businesses could thrive, instead of being forced to go out of business as many have since the last major drought in 2007.
But the requests, as well as others, have fallen on deaf ears.
It makes no sense whatsoever that the summer pool for West Point Lake should have any bearing on Lake Lanier’s use on the other side of Atlanta and local leaders are, to say the least, flummoxed by the plan.
Efforts by area representatives, most notably LaGrange Mayor Jeff Lukken and County Commissioner Ricky Wolfe have also gone unanswered. Lukken even made a video about the lake explaining how devastating the corps proposal would be to the area.
U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Grantville, also was not pleased to hear of the corps’ proposal.
“This new proposed change to the guide curve is both troubling and disappointing and will have a very negative economic impact on West Point Lake and the surrounding area,” he said Wednesday. “Congress has authorized West Point Lake for recreational use and that must be recognized. My staff and I have worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and local officials for many years on this issue and I will continue to advocate for West Point Lake.”
Sen. Mike Crane (R-Newnan) has been encouraged by the outpouring of support from constituents opposing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) decision to reduce West Point Lake’s “full pool” operating period by 40 percent. Sen. Crane recently sent a letter to the USACE detailing Senate District 28’s concerns for the negative economic and environmental impacts if the proposed change is implemented.
“Our office is seeking answers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the proposed rule change limiting the full pool operating time frame for West Point Lake,” said Sen. Crane. “This proposed rule change marks a distinct move in the wrong direction. I strongly believe there is a much better operating curve for West Point Lake, and we have the data to support it. This curve represents higher water levels for longer periods of time, while maintaining the flood control potential of the lake. I will continue to press for a satisfactory answer from the Corps, and I encourage others to join the petition pushing for optimum stewardship of West Point Lake.”
The U.S. Congress authorized West Point Lake as the first USACE project that allowed for recreational purposes like sport fishing and wildlife development. The USACE’s proposed change at West Point Lake will shorten the full recreational water level of 635 feet from June 1 – Sept. 1 instead of the previous time period from June 1 – Nov. 1.
Currently, West Point Lake brings more than 2.2 million visitors to the district each year for recreational purposes, which accounts for $112 million in local economic support. However, low water levels at West Point Lake over the past few years have harmed annual bass spawn, among other fish populations, and hurt the lake’s sport fishing destination reputation. In this way, the USACE can be seen as defaulting on their responsibilities to uphold the Lake’s recreational commitments.
If you would like to join the more than 1,800 concerned citizens in expressing their opposition to the corps’ proposed rule change, please sign this online petition: https://www.change.org/petitions/us-army-corps-of-engineers-change-operating-rule-curve-for-west-point-lake. Monday is the last day to sign the petition and one, if not the only option we have to change the corps’ direction regarding West Point Lake. It’s a matter of the region’s survival. | <urn:uuid:12ea9d59-ff9e-4b59-b660-764945edb89e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lagrangenews.com/pages/full_story_myown/push?article-The+time+for+deciding+West+Point+Lake%E2%80%99s+future+is+now%20&id=21407844 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954926 | 999 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Mother Teresa, whose original name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was born on August 26, 1910 in what is now Skopje, Macedonia. She always wrote her birthday as the 27th of August because that was the day of her baptism, which was always more important to her than her birth. For her work with the poor around the world she received the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1928 she joined a religious order and took the name Teresa. The order immediately sent her to India. A few years later, she began teaching in Calcutta, and in 1948 the Catholic Church granted her permission to leave her convent and work among the city's poor people. She became an Indian citizen that same year. In 1950, she founded a religious order in Calcutta called the Missionaries of Charity. The order provides food for the needy and operates hospitals, schools, orphanages, youth centers, and shelters for lepers and the dying poor. It now has branches in 50 Indian cities and 30 other countries.
In addition to the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa has received other awards for her work with the needy. These awards include the 1971 Pope John XXIII Peace Prize and India's Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1972. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997. She is sorely missed.
If you are aware of any Internet resources or books about Mother Teresa, or if you would like to submit comments please send us email: . | <urn:uuid:f5c3fa79-0e9c-4db1-b5f5-1e2b1792c02b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/motherteresa.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984953 | 303 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Young adults in California registered to vote in record numbers in 2012, especially online, driving a trend toward no party affiliation, according to a new University of California, Davis, study.
With the implementation of online registration a month before the November election, registration among 18- to 24-year-olds in California increased 14 percent statewide compared with the 2008 general election. Young voters now make up 11 percent of the state’s electorate.
Of the 244,049 new California youth registrants in 2012, 154,054 registered online — 63 percent. Those stating “no party preference” were the second-largest group after those identifying as Democrats. Young adults are the only group of California voters among whom fewer than 40 percent are registered as Democratic... Read More | <urn:uuid:63cee29c-bd12-44ec-816d-5b80707d5f4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davis-vacaville.news10.net/news/politics | 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 | 0.92929 | 156 | 2.1875 | 2 |
For the past few days Rand Paul has taken shots from every direction. Democrats mocked the Republican senator from Kentucky for his grandstanding and holding up the inevitable nomination of CIA director John Brennan. Members of Paul's own party, including long-time senate leaders John McCain and Lindsey Graham, basically told the newcomer to sit in the corner and be quiet.
Paul may have been grandstanding. And he certainly was ruffling feathers within his own party.
Good for him.
When he stood up and talked about for 13 hours on Wednesday he was not wrong. He stood up and asked a question that needed asking.
Agree or disagree with Paul's politics, on the issue of drones more questions remain than answers are available. Paul wants to make sure everybody knows that.
Filibusters have, in the past, been utter wastes of time. Strom Thurmond famously filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for more 24 hours. He read the voting laws of 48 states as well as the U.S. criminal code.
Paul could have done that. He could have read from the phonebook and it would have been a colossal waste of time. "I will speak until I can no longer speak," Paul said before getting started.
What he spoke about, however, were real concerns, real questions that demand real debate and real answers on the United States' policy on using drones against American citizens and on U.S. soil.
The issue of using unmanned drones and their ability to go anywhere and deliver a fatal blow to anyone those in power see fit is more than scary. It means the line government should not cross is now in the rearview mirror.
"When I asked the president, 'Can you kill an American on American soil?' it should have been an easy answer," Paul said Wednesday. "It's an easy question. It should have been a resounding and unequivocal, 'No.'"
Eventually, Sen. Paul received just that answer, but it could have come faster, easier and with full assurance.
The United States is a nation of laws; it is the backbone of our democracy. Just because someone -- whether they reside in the Oval Office or at the local police station -- has the power to deny someone due process does not mean they should. In fact, those very people should be the ones protecting it more than anyone else. | <urn:uuid:2fadb419-51ce-43d9-9add-69db07b2ee80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailyitem.com/0110_editorials/x254597648/A-filibuster-for-the-right-reasons | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981923 | 482 | 1.539063 | 2 |
CV990 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 1, posted (6 years 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 3276 times:
In my humble opinion I think Boeing saves more money adapting and converting 744's in Dreamlifters than building new ones. I'm sure that these 744's had low flying time....so they can always save money!!!
ThePalauan From Guam, joined Oct 2006, 264 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (6 years 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 3272 times:
It's probably cheaper for them to utilize existing frames rather than make a fresh one off the line just for a specific purpose. If anything, it basically gives a second life to these airframes that would otherwise be sent to the desert if no one else found a purpose for them.
You can take the boy out of the island, but not the island out of the boy!
XT6Wagon From United States of America, joined Feb 2007, 3130 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (6 years 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 3142 times:
Boeing doesn't have any "spare" 744 frames they could convert new off the line. More over the time frame in which they need the plane demands them get one new.
The "cost" of the frames to be converted is near meaningless in terms of the value of the LCF once converted, but any money off is a good thing. The LCF will be low cycle aircraft, and since most of it is unpressurised anyway... It doesn't really matter what 744 they start with so long as its in decent condition and a passenger model.
DeltaDC9 From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 2844 posts, RR: 4 Reply 9, posted (6 years 9 hours ago) and read 2540 times:
Quoting CV990 (Reply 1): In my humble opinion I think Boeing saves more money adapting and converting 744's
Think of the opprotunity cost of building a new one for themselves as oposed to gaining the profit from selling it. Also they had a limited number of 744 slots that were all grabbed up fast. The used ones were already sold at a profit to Boeing, earned lots of money via product support, and then purchased back at a reasonable price keeping all slots available to paying customers.
Smart business. I would bet they ended up just making less profit on those frames bottom line because the total profit on those frames probably exceeds the cost to buy them back when product support is included.
[Edited 2007-05-23 22:16:46]
Dont take life too seriously because you will never get out of it alive - Bugs Bunny
I would say yes -- the dedicated freighter has the nose-loading door. There are two reasons why (I think) you wouldn't want this:
1) It adds unnecessary weight.
2) There may be structural problems with the modifications to the rear of the A/C and the lack of structural continuity at the front (which would, naturally, be unique to this A/C).
Finally, you need somewhere that is suitable for the non-flying crew to rest -- the PAX versions come with this already built under the cockpit area. If you look at the LCF, the upper deck appears to be cut off shortly behind the cockpit -- in a dedicated freighter, there's a crew rest area behind the cockpit area (in the freighter I saw, it had a small galley, three or four rows of standard business class seats and two "bedrooms"). The load area in the LCF in not pressurized, so there's no way of putting a crew rest area behind the bulkhead.
I'm tired of the A vs. B sniping. Neither make planes that shed wings randomly!
CupraIbiza From Australia, joined Feb 2007, 831 posts, RR: 7 Reply 13, posted (6 years ago) and read 2025 times:
It is much more economical for Boeing to buy used 747s and convert them than to construct these planes from scratch. The LCF is not a Boeing production model and will not be sold to any customers or see any airliner operation, and will be for Boeing's exclusive use. Another reason for modifying existing planes is the minimum regulation and flight testing required by authorities such as the Federal Aviation Administration. If the 747 LCF were produced entirely within Boeing, it would face years of development and testing in the same manner as the upcoming Boeing 747-8. Rules on airworthiness allow for the faster approval of modifications to existing aircraft that are already approved than would be the case for the approval of brand new aircraft designs.
Everyday is a gift…… but why does it have to be a pair of socks?
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21483 posts, RR: 24 Reply 14, posted (5 years 12 months 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 1745 times:
Quoting Rikkus67 (Reply 7): The cockpit section of the Beluga is actually from an A320! The A320 nose was modified though due to (obvious)differences in the aerodynamics of this unique aircraft.
Note the same cockpit windows as the A320:
What is your source for that information? And the A320 cockpit windows are NOT the same as on the Beluga. If you look closely at the rear window, the angled section at the upper right hand corner is significantly longer on the Beluga, and identical to other A300 cockpit windows. The simiilar angled portion of the A320 window is noticeably shorter. | <urn:uuid:dad78692-7014-475a-a277-bdc8e8c60c2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/3418162/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94737 | 1,167 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The number of people taking their own life in Britain increased "significantly" in 2011, official figures have revealed, as the male suicide rate hit its highest level in nearly a decade.
A total of 6,045 suicides were recorded among people aged 15 and over, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, up 437 or 8% on the previous year.
The number of male suicides increased 8% to 4,552, which at a rate of 18.2 per 100,000 was the highest level since 2002. Female suicides also rose 8% to 1,493 or a rate of 5.6 per 100,000.
Last year, the Government announced a further £1.5 million in funding for research into suicide prevention among those most at risk of taking their own lives.
The pledge came as ministers unveiled a new suicide prevention strategy which aims to cut the suicide rate and provide more support to bereaved families.
The overall suicide rate in the UK increased from 11.1 to 11.8 per 100,000, the ONS said, while the highest suicide rate was among men aged 30 to 44 at 23.5 deaths per 100,000.
Among women, the highest rate of suicide was among 45 to 59-year-olds at 7.3 per 100,000. In 2011, additional guidance was given to improve the classification of narrative verdicts at inquests in England and Wales.
A narrative verdict is a long-form, factual record of how and in what circumstances a death occurred and is used as an alternative to short-form verdicts such as suicide.
There had been concerns among researchers that these classification rules forced the ONS to record probable suicides as accidents. So in 2011, the ONS identified common phrases used by coroners to terms allowed for the classification of intentional self-harm.
This additional guidance could have resulted in an increased number of narrative verdicts coded as intentional self-harm in 2011, the ONS said, which in turn could have contributed to the increase in the suicide rate. | <urn:uuid:98b30be5-3021-4e82-bf80-f345e19bd5e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uxbridgegazette.co.uk/west-london-news/world-uk-news/2013/01/22/significant-rise-in-suicide-rate-113046-32653395/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973957 | 417 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Although most of the energy grant opportunities associated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have closed, cities and villages can still take advantage of low-interest loans to implement projects on their energy wish lists. Through September 30, 2011, the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth is offering loans to cities and villages to implement energy efficiency and/or renewable energy projects on municipal property. Loan amounts may range from $100,000 to $2,500,000 and can be used to cover supplies, materials and equipment.
If your community has identified energy-saving improvements that were not funded under previous grant cycles, this may be a perfect opportunity to continue the momentum of local green initiatives, an important asset for 21st Century Communities. In addition, activities undertaken as part of this loan program will earn your community points as part of the Green Communities Challenge. Download the loan application to learn more.
Luke Forrest is Project Coordinator for the Center for 21st Century Communities. Contact him at firstname.lastname@example.org or 734-669-6323.
The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth recently announced an opportunity for communities with fewer than 35,000 residents to participate in the BetterBuildings for Michigan program. BetterBuildings is an initiative targeted at upgrading the energy efficiency of private homes. The State and its partner organizations will coordinate a team of contractors who will go door-to-door within selected neighborhoods, offering home energy audits and then presenting financing options for improvements. They are looking for up to nine additional communities to participate. Local governments selected will receive grants of $157,500 for local outreach and marketing of the program as well as for some program administration. An individual government may be awarded more than one grant to support multiple neighborhoods within its borders. Local and regional partnerships and related energy initiatives will be a key criteria for selection.
See the State RFP for more details. Applications are due November 19. League staff has been involved in the development of this program and is available to answer questions you may have as you consider applying, particularly questions related to the contractor and financing support network in your region. Contact Luke Forrest by email or by calling 734-669-6323. | <urn:uuid:f4d56a45-a5b8-4dfa-a59e-9a7d4e5b1733> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mml.org/resources/21c3/?tag=/Green+Communities+Challenge&page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956481 | 447 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Oct 11, 2012 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Excerpted from Fox News: Slim majorities of American voters say the Obama administration has mostly failed to grow the economy and create jobs. And while a majority says President Obama has mostly succeeded at making America safer, two-thirds of voters are concerned about the administration’s initial false statements on the September 11, 2012 attacks in Libya.
That’s according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday.
Fifty-two percent of likely voters think the Obama administration has mostly succeeded at making the country safer. That’s the only positive rating for the White House on the issues tested.
Fifty-three percent think the administration has mostly failed at creating new jobs, and another 53 percent feel it has failed on growing the economy.
Some 37 percent of voters approve of how Obama’s dealing with Libya, and 46 percent disapprove. Another 17 percent are unsure.
In the aftermath of the September assault on diplomatic facilities in Libya that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, Obama administration officials falsely claimed it was a spontaneous reaction to an offensive online video, even though they had intelligence reports that the attacks were connected to terrorist groups tied to al Qaeda.
Two-thirds of voters (67 percent) find it “troubling” that the White House initially made false public statements about the attacks. For 26 percent “it’s not much of a concern.”
Almost all Republicans (90 percent) and a majority of independents (70 percent) call the administration’s actions troubling. For Democrats, 43 percent say “troubling” and 45 percent say it’s “not much of a concern.”
Why did the administration give misleading info in their early statements? A 37-percent plurality of voters thinks it was to “help the president’s campaign.” Another 26 percent say it was for “diplomatic reasons,” and 23 percent think it was just a “mistake.” | <urn:uuid:35ba9d5b-02f6-4bc4-801d-0f4e3756566c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://patdollard.com/2012/10/fox-news-poll-voters-find-obama-libya-response-troubling/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956014 | 426 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Schools/universities, government departments or community groups wishing to organise a screening, please contact: email@example.com
The movie The Burning Season was shown to over 60 people in Torquay Victoria on Friday 9th July 2010, as part of the Surf Coast Energy Group (SCEG) eco film season. As well as viewing this award winning Australian documentary, the community heard from Cathy Henkel, the film’s producer, writer and director. Cathy inspired the audience by discussing what we can all do to take action locally and help rescue the rainforests and orangutans. Cathy gave a sneak insight into her current project featuring Dorjee Sun’s next mission, leading us to also think of ways our local school students can help save the world!
About SCEG: We are a diverse not-for-profit group of over 400 Victorian Surf Coast residents united by a concern for climate change. SCEG takes action at a local level to bring about achievable environmental change within our community. We use our collective voice to influence government to bring about positive environmental change at a national level. For more information, see www.sceg.org.au.
Karen Brassington, SCEG
Cathy Henkel with the SCEG team.
BE THE CHANGE is a community project and roadshow of the award-winning Australian documentary, The Burning Season. The BE THE CHANGE pilot project involes a team visiting schools and communities in regional NSW and helping young people 'be the change they want to see in the world'. To date, the team have visited Merriwa, Coffs Harbour, Mullumbimby, Bellingen, Gloucester and Camden Haven. Follow-up visits, and documentation of the action taken by the students is currently underway.
The response so far has been enthusiastic, and at times, quite moving. As one student expressed it: "it has been amazing to do something so different. Instead of learning out of textbooks and reading off the whiteboard, we became personally invested in the issues and this has helped to understand our place in the real world".
Check out our Facebook page for the latest news - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Be-The-Change/122972327720580?ref=
Cathy has been invited to Beijing for the IDOCS 2010 (an international documentary forum) in December this year. She will give a professional masterclass and seminar for Chinese filmmakers and audiences during IDOCS 2010.
The 2010 iDOCS will feature screenings, seminars and masterclass workshops. Twenty documentaries from all over the world will have premiere screenings in China during the 6 days. Nine filmmakers have been invited to the forum to give the masterclass workshops. The target attendees of the forum will be professionals from TV stations, film production companies, industry associations, independent filmmakers, film festival workers and college students.
The Burning Season is being translated into Mandarin, along with Cathy's seminal film, The Man Who Stole My Mother's Face.
More information on this event available here: http://www.idocs.cn/English/
The Burning Season will also screen as part of the annual Pacific Rim Film Festival, held in California in October. .
More information here: http://www.pacrimfilmfestival.org/
The Burning Season will be screening at 12.30pm, Saturday 5th June, as part of the first Logan Eco Action Festival. Cathy Henkel is also a guest speaker!
Find out more about your local environment, what we should do to protect it and best of all see how you can save money.
With an array of exhibitors, live music, wildlife shows, demonstrations and hands-on workshops, organic food markets, children's activities, giveaways and much more, this free community festival welcomes everyone of all ages to attend and most importantly, participate!
When: Saturday 5th June 2010 - World Environment Day
Time: 10am - 5pm. Screening at 12.30pm
Where: Griffith University Logan Campus, University Dr, Meadowbrook
Find out more here:
This letter came in from a friend in far off Margaret River in regional WA. There's no excuse any more not to see The Burning Season. For the sake of the forests, and the organutans, please check it out in your local video store - and spread the word to everyone you know.....
I finally got to see The Burning Season yesterday. I found it in Margaret River Civic Video as a new release!!
What an amazingly powerful documentary.
It boggles my mind how you got all that footage and were there at the coal face as events unfolded.
What an extraordinary guy Dorjee is and the Governor of Aceh! But just as much, just as extraordinary that you captured this time in history for the world to see, by bringing all the threads together on film. You are one of the blessed weavers of truth.
Also, I read recently of your award for the extent of the distribution that you and Trish Lake and Gil Scrine have achieved in distributing The Burning Season. If the film could make it to the shelves of our little video store at the bottom of the world, then how many more people will have had the benefit of seeing it all around Australia and the world!
It has your signature all over it - in its subject, it's narrative and mostly in its heart.
So congratulations to you all - and thank you so much for being there once again, in the right time and place - to bring the real world to our consciousness.
Writer/Community Theatre Artist
Margaret River, Western Australia
Cathy Henkel was recently awarded the inaugural Honary Award at the 2010 Byron Bay International Film Festival. This award is in recognition of her consistently outstanding achievements and her contribution to the creative industries in the Northern Rivers.
Check out the full article in Filmink here
Cathy also made the front cover of the Byron Echo - a high point in her career!
The Burning Season screened in Washington yesterday as part of the Environmental Film Festival in the Nations Capital. Cathy attended the event to introduce the film and take part in the Q & A afterwards, hosted by Geoffrey Dabelko, Director of Environmental Change at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre.
Over 200 people packed the theatre and by the time the film started, there was standing room only.
The audience was very responsive to both the film and in the discussion afterwards. The director of The Dutch Environmental Film Festival was in the audeince and she has emailed us today inviting the film to screen at their festival in June.
Here is a link to a blog post posted on Planet Forward, plus video of extracts of Cathy's Q & A.
Pre-order you BURNING SEASON DVD now and help save the Orangutans!!
Thanks to DVD distributor MADMAN, when you pre-order THE BURNING SEASON on DVD from their website, $5 from your purchase will be donated to WSPA to help the orangutan rehabilitation centre featured in the documentary.
BONUS: Your DVD will be mailed to you free of charge!
The DVD includes 55mins of extras, specials and additional orangutan footage.
See below instructions for this great offer.
DVD IS RELEASE MARCH 10th!! | <urn:uuid:7d1e4ceb-9c66-4655-b318-f7957ef32779> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theburningseasonmovie.typepad.com/the_burning_season/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940687 | 1,514 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Want to know more about the Integral Fast Reactor technology from the comfort of your lounge room chair? Then these two fascinating videos, recently transcoded and uploaded by Steve Kirsch to the “http://vimeo.com/skirsch/ifr” website, are for you. You can watch online, or download in .MP4 format (choose the format and then the download link below) for offline viewing.
First, we have: Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor Actinide Recycle System, ”Energy for the 21st Century”
It is about 8 minutes long and cost the ALMR team about $40,000 to make in 1990 (according to Chuck Boardman).
This video was also highlighted on Atom Insights blog by fellow IFRG member Rod Adams. Rod said:
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 included language directing research and development of the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR) with Actinide Recycle System. The above video is an explanatory (some might use the word “promotional”) production that explains the program and its goals from the perspective of the mid 1990s.
As many nuclear energy insiders know, the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) demonstration was part of the ALMR program. That program was cancelled by the Clinton Administration when its energy program decision makers decided to zero out all research on advanced nuclear energy systems. The reactor design that the video describes – the PRISM – is still on GE’s drawing board. It still has its advocates. Jack Fuller, Chairman of the Board, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy presented the reactor design and described its history to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Energy Future.
This video provides more evidence of an energy opportunity that America has not been pursuing. Knowing just how important an abundant, clean, reliable energy source can be to a country’s prosperity, one has to wonder why there was so much opposition to the concept during the 1990s and why that opposition still exists today.
Second, we have “The New Explorers: Atoms for Peace”
This 54 minute TV documentary is a history of nuclear energy in America, broadcast in 1996 on the national PBS network. The show focuses on Argonne’s efforts to develop the Integral Fast Reactor, an inherently safe nuclear power plant killed by Congress and the Clinton Administration. From Argonne NL website:
[Film-maker] Bill Kurtis hosts the exploration of nuclear energy from its beginnings under the Stagg Field grandstands at the University of Chicago, through the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” program and the development of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR).
“Argonne National Laboratory holds a very special place in the 50-year-long journey to turn nuclear power into unlimited energy for the world,” according to Tom Olson of the “New Explorers” Chicago Production Center.
Several Argonne researchers will be featured as “new explorers,” including Walter Zinn and Charles Till. Zinn was Argonne’s first director and leader of the project responsible for producing the world’s first nuclear electricity (from Experimental Breeder Reactor-I, in 1951). Charles Till, associate laboratory director for engineering research, will explain the concepts behind the IFR.
You can also read a review of this documentary by Walter Goodman, published in 1996 in the New York Times.
There is also a multi-part YouTube version (in 14 minute chunks) that’s been posted by BNC commenter Scott, here (thanks for the tip).
After watching these, you’ve really got to ask yourselves — how did we let the last 15 years slip by with no action on this? Still, there’s no point crying over spilt milk. It’s time to get sustainable nuclear energy firmly back on the public agenda. With that motivation in mind, environmental documentary maker Robert Stone is about to embark on a new project, called “Pandora’s Promise“. You can read more about it here, including a multi-page treatment. It’s still in the early stages of development and finalising funding. The synopsis:
PANDORA’S PROMISE will be a feature-length documentary about nuclear power and how mankind’s most feared and controversial technological discovery may ultimately hold the key to its very survival. Built around a number of in-depth interviews with several of the world’s leading environmentalists, scientists and energy experts, many of whom (like me) have undergone a metamorphosis in their thinking about nuclear power, the film will be brought to life through a wealth of incredible archival footage and original filming across the globe. Operating as history, cultural meditation and contemporary exploration, PANDORA’S PROMISE aims to inspire a serious and realistic debate over what is without question the most important issue of our time: how we continue to power modern civilization without destroying it.
I shared a car trip with Robert when travelling from Sacremento to Berkeley the other month, which gave us a good chance to chat about the movie. The previous evening, Robert had joined me, Steve Kirsch and others from SCGI (Ron Gester, Susan von Borstel etc.) for dinner at the Blees’ house, where I was staying. He’s a very nice guy, and makes excellent movies. One of his previous ones was a real love letter to the environmental movement, and includes interviews with Hunter Lovins etc., so if anyone is going to make THE definitive picture on nuclear energy for environmentalists, it’s Robert!
People, we CAN solve the climate and energy crunches of the 21st century, IF we have the will and the knowledge. These old and new video productions could go a long way towards inspiring and educating today’s generation of citizens on the great potential of fission energy as the natural, sustainable successor to fossil fuels. We just have to get people engaged and aware. BNC readers, help spread the message, push ahead with a ‘can do’ positive attitude, and things may yet change faster than you could ever imagine… | <urn:uuid:96d3e325-1186-461b-bdd0-fc7410873cb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bravenewclimate.com/2010/10/06/ifr-fad-8/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93412 | 1,295 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Separation and Isolation of Volatile Organic Compounds Using Vacuum Distillation with GC/MS Determination
Michael H. Hiatt
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory
Environmental Sciences Division. P.O. Box 93478, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193-3478
Phone: 702 798 2381. Fax: 702 798 2142.
David R. Youngman and Joseph R. Donnelly
Lockheed Environmental Systems & Technologies Co.
980 Kelly Johnson Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89119
[Note: minor content and formatting differences exist between this web
version and the published version]
Table of Contents
|Abstract||Results and Discussion|
|Vacuum Distillation Apparatus||References|
|Reagents||Tables and Figures|
|Vacuum Distillation Procedure|
Vacuum distillation of water, soil, oil and fish samples is presented as an alternative technique for determining volatile organic components (VOCs). Analyses of samples containing VOCs and non-VOCs were performed to evaluate method limitations. Analyte recoveries were found to relate closely with boiling point unless a compound's water solubility exceeded 5 g/L. Recovery, precision, and method detection limits for VOCs demonstrate this technology is appropriate for environmental samples.
Determining volatile organic compounds (VOC) concentrations in environmental matrices is one of the most important and routine analysis. VOCs are addressed as a major group of analytes for the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Resource Conversation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Clean Water Act (CWA). The widespread occurrence of VOCs in the environment and the potential of using VOCs as indicator parameters for contamination plumes from a point source make their accurate and routine measurement an important issue. These considerations make any improvements in VOC determinations worthwhile to the EPA and relevant to the analytical community.
The most widespread technologies used to determine VOCs is purge and trap, developed by the EPA to determine VOCs in water.1,2 Purge and trap is incorporated in EPA methods for water and soil.3-5 This technique is optimal for drinking water, but has difficulties when purging is hindered by elevated organic content. The trapping material also introduces difficulties that have been summarized.6
Vacuum distillation was developed as an alternative technique to determine VOCs in nonwater environmental matrices. The vacuum distillation of sediments and fish tissue provided greater VOC recoveries compared to purge and trap.7 This approach was utilized by other investigators for analyzing larger water samples8 and algae.9
A further refinement of vacuum distillation was incorporated to eliminate an adsorbent trap and directly interface the apparatus to a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) equipped with a fused silica capillary column.10 The removal of the adsorbent trapping material eliminated a major source of problems that plague volatile compound determinations.6 This new apparatus, however, was cumbersome and required continuous operator activity. The vacuum distillation apparatus described in this study provides further improvements to streamline operation. The utilization of a single condenser coil facilitated temperature control and also eliminated a series of temperature control baths. This makes vacuum distillation conducive to automation and an attractive approach to determine volatile compounds.
This work is a result of EPA's investigation of vacuum distillation using the new apparatus to develop a method for determining volatile organic compounds in environmental samples and hazardous waste. A secondary goal was a single distillation procedure addressing multiple environmental matrices. Such a procedure eliminates costs and confusion associated with specializing apparatus, and calibration by matrix. The vacuum distillation procedure used for this study is in the approval process for an EPA test method.4
Vacuum distillation apparatus
The vacuum distillation apparatus (see Figure 1) consists of a sample chamber connected to a condenser which is attached to a heated six-port sampling valve (V4). This sampling valve is connected to a condenser, vacuum pump, cryotrap, and gas chromatograph (GC). This study used a mass spectrometer, interfaced to the GC, for detection and quantitation.
The circulating system which controls the condenser coils temperature includes a cryogenic cooler with a cold reservoir (Neslab ULT80DD) and an elevated (45 °C) temperature bath. The fluid for both baths is isopropyl alcohol and the routing of isopropyl alcohol through the system is controlled by the bath fluid valve (V2). The cold isopropyl alcohol (-5 °C) is pumped through the condenser by the cryogenic cooler. The warm isopropyl alcohol is pumped through the condenser using a peristaltic pump (Cole Parmer 6-600 rpm).
The apparatus valves, transfer lines and condenser exterior are heated to 80 °C using thermal strips. This temperature is sufficient to prevent condensation of analytes onto condenser walls, valves, and connections. The temperature of the transfer line from the sampling valve to the gas chromatograph was maintained at 150 °C.
Pirani gauges (Edwards Model 1001 with gauge head Model PRH10K) were installed at the sample chamber, condenser and vacuum pump (Alcatel Model ZM2012A) for pressure monitoring.
Some key dimensions of the apparatus are: (a) cyrotrap, 8" x 1/8" stainless steel tubing; (b) condenser, 12" x 2" with ground glass ends and Buna-N O-ring seals; (c) tubing between six port valve and GC inlet, 1/16" fused silica lined stainless steel; (d) a 1/8" fittings six port Valco sampling valves with (V4) port diameter (0.040") stainless steel with Teflon internal parts; (e) 0.187" I.D. manual valves (V1, V3); Whitey SS-43XS4, stainless steel with Teflon internal parts; and (f) Valve V2 is a simplification of Multiple 3-way Whitey B-43x54 valves.
Stock standard solutions were prepared in methanol using assayed liquids or gases, and were stored with minimal headspace at -10 to -20 °C and protected from light. Fresh gas standards (chloromethane, bromomethane, vinyl chloride, and chloroethane) were prepared weekly. Stock solutions in methanol were prepared from pure standard materials or purchased as certified solutions (Supelco, Bellefonte PA). These solutions were used for calibration and spiking sample matrices.
Reagent water was generated by passing tap water through a carbon filter bed containing about 450 g of activated carbon (Calgon Corp., Filtrasorb-300), or by using a water purification system (Millipore Super-Q). Purge-and-trap grade methanol (Burdick and Jackson, Muskegon, Michigan) was utilized for the study.
Pharmaceutical grade Osco brand cod liver oil, and food-grade Starkist brand canned tuna in water were used for sample matrices.
Samples utilized in this study were spiked with 250 ng of each analyte dissolved in methanol. Water, soil, and tissue were spiked directly using a gas-tight syringe after the sample aliquot was transferred to the sample chamber.
The methanol spike solutions, however, were not miscible with the oil matrix studied and, therefore, an intermediate spiking step was required. A 200 µL solution consisting of water saturated with lecithin was added to the oil in the sample chamber. The spike was then injected into the aqueous phase and the sample swirled until there was an even emulsion. When combinations of oil and other matrices were to be investigated, the oil component was first spiked and then the additional matrix was added.
Vacuum distillation procedure
The sample chamber, containing the prepared spike sample, was attached to the apparatus (Figure 1) and sampling valve (V4) is switched to the distillation position allowing the cryotrap and condenser to be evacuated. The sample chamber valve (V1) is opened allowing sample vapors to pass over the condenser coil, (chilled to below -5 °C), resulting in the condensation of water vapor on the condenser coil. The vapors not condensed on the condenser coils were collected cryogenically in a section of 1/8 inch stainless steel tubing, chilled with liquid nitrogen (-196 °C). After ten minutes of vacuum distillation, sampling valve (V4) is switched to the desorb position, connecting the cryotrap to the gas chromatograph. The cryotrap condensate is then thermally desorbed and transferred to the gas chromatograph using helium carrier gas.
During the cryotrap desorption, a ten minute decontamination cycle is performed which requires heating the condenser coil with 45 °C isopropyl alcohol and evacuating resultant vapors through the pump valve (V3).
A fused silica capillary GC column (30 m x 0.53 mm ID, 3 µm film thickness, DB-624 from J&W Scientific, Folsom, CA) was used for this study. The GC column was temperature programmed from 10 °C (3 min) to 230 °C at 5 °C/min. The Hewlett-Packard 5970B mass spectrometer was operated in EI mode at 70 eV, scanning 35 to 350 daltons at a rate of 0.82 second per scan. A heated jet separator was employed to interface the GC column to the mass spectrometer.
Results and Discussion
An analyte's presence in the vacuum distillate was found to be related to its boiling point. Samples were spiked with VOCs and semivolatile compounds representing a wide range of boiling points (-24 to 285 °C). The recovery of analytes compared to analyte's boiling points are presented in Figure 2. Only compounds with water solubility less than 5 g/L were used to generate Figure 2. Recoveries were calculated as comparison to analyte standards transferred through the apparatus with the condenser coil at 45 °C.
Volatile compounds that are very water soluble, such as alcohols, ethers and amines are not usually considered as VOCs due to their low volatility in the presence of water. To evaluate solubility effects when using vacuum distillation, water samples spiked with analytes of varied solubility (less than 1 g/L to infinitely miscible) were analyzed. Compounds with water solubilities greater that 5g/L demonstrated lower recoveries than expected by their boiling points estimated using Figure 2. Compounds that were very soluble in water demonstrated the greatest drop in recovery and made their detection difficult. We did not attempt to minimize analyte losses due to solubility, however, sample pre-treatment, such as adding salt, would likely improve recoveries of miscible analytes.
Spiked samples, representing the range of environmental matrices, were analyzed to determine the VOCs recoveries and precision. Recovery data for the VOCs resulting from five replicate analyses of water, soil, and tissue samples are presented in Table 1.
The effect of organic content on recovery of VOCs from water and soil was also evaluated. When the organic content (emulsified cod liver oil) of water reached 20% the VOC recoveries were similar to those listed for oil in Table 1. However, when high organic water samples are analyzed using a purge and trap procedure, an uncontained froth is produced. The purge pushes the foam and contaminates the adsorption trap destroying the analysis. These samples were successfully analyzed and were easily contained within the sample chamber using the vacuum distillation method.
Oil samples proved to be the most difficult matrix from which to recover VOCs and, therefore, only 1g aliquots were analyzed. Heating and sonication of the sample and extending distillation times were evaluated as means to increase recoveries. Of these only heating the sample during the analyses improved recoveries measurably. Similar recovery improvements were also obtained by creating an emulsion of water and oil. It was reasoned that heating the sample was not a practical improvement as heating could introduce artifacts. Heating the sample could also diffuse undesirable compounds throughout the apparatus that would be difficult to remove during the decontamination cycle. The recoveries of VOCs from the oil and water emulsion are those data contained in Table 1.
Fish tissue behaved similar to cod liver oil in its impact on VOC distillation yields. As with oil, the addition of water did not substantially improve VOC recovery but there were improvements in sample handling, precision and minimization of the amount of polar compounds in the distillate that interfered with VOC GC/MS quantitation.
Method detection limits for water, soil, oil and tissue were determined in accordance to RCRA guidelines.4 These data are provided in Table 2.
It was found that VOCs that are not miscible in water were minimally impacted by matrix and losses were closely related to boiling points. Method variations to address different matrices are not necessary. Vacuum distillation is an attractive technique for determining VOCs in both low and high organic content samples.
Although the research described in this article has been funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, through Contract Number 68-CO-0049 to the Lockheed Environmental Systems and Technologies Company, it has not been subjected to Agency review. Therefore, it does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute an endorsement for use.
1. Bellar, et al.; J.American Water Works Assoc. 1974, 66,739.
2. Bellar, T.A.; Lichtenberg, J.J.; Kroner, R.C. J. Amer. Water Works Assoc. 1974, 66, 703.
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1990. Contract Laboratory Program, Statement of Work for Organic Analysis, Multi-media, Multi-concentration. Document Number OLM01.0, Including Revisions, OLM01.1 - OLM01.8, Dec. 1990-Sept. 1991. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio.
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1992. Test Methods for Determining Solid Waste, SW-846.
5. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1988, Methods for the Determination of Organic Compounds in Drinking Water.
6. Shirey, R.E. Cole, S.B. Supelco Reporter, 1993, 12,21.X3.
7. Hiatt, M.H.; Anal. Chem. 1981, 53,
8. Kozloski, R.P. J. Chromatogr. 1985, 346, 408.
9. Newman, K.A.; Gschwend, P.M. Limnol. Oceanogr. 1987, 32, 702.
10. Hiatt, M.H.; Anal. Chem. 1983, 55, 506. | <urn:uuid:765c3fe3-0199-4b1e-9ef2-98157fec45c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/chemistry/vacuum/reference/seps/sep.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938316 | 3,197 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Barton: Jesus Supports Employment Discrimination
On today's episode of "Wallbuilders Live" the topic of discussion was whether churches ought to be allowed to discriminate in their hiring practices. Not surprisingly, David Barton argued that they should and, as is his tendency, explained that there is nothing wrong with discrimination because even Jesus says the government is not supposed to be involved in this issue anyway:
Now discrimination today is always a bad word a hundred percent of the time, but it simply means making a choice between or making a difference between. And discrimination means I am going to discriminate and say I can tell a difference between a Christian and a non-Christian and therefore I only want Christians working on my church staff. I can tell the difference between someone who says they're homosexual and someone who says they're straight. A secular organization has a tough time discriminating, but a church needs to have the right to discriminate.
This is a biblical issue because Jesus has an entire parable in Matthew 20: 1-15 where he talks about a landowner who had a vineyard who went out to hire folks to work in his vineyard. And as he hired them he make a contract with them that said you'll work for this much or whatever and throughout the day he hired people and he made individual contracts with them and at the end of the day when he is paying them all off, the guy who got hired first said "wait a minute, that's not fair" and [the landowner] said "time out, we had a contract, didn't we? You agreed to work for a certain wage ... you should have gone down the street and found somebody else to work for that would have paid you different, but you agreed to work for that wage." And Jesus makes a great statement in Matthew 20: 15 where he says "don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money?"
Now that's a great statement and that's a statement Jesus teaches to show the inviolability of contracts between employers and employees. That's why the government is not supposed to get involved in this stuff anyway. Government shouldn't be involved in employment contracts period.
As we have noted several times before, Barton frequently cites this passage in the Book of Matthew to justify right-wing economic policies like the elimination of the minimum wage even though it is actually a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven in which Jesus is explaining that no matter how late in one's life one comes to Christ, the heavenly reward will be the same.
But Barton is using it to justify blatant discrimination in hiring process even among secular businesses.
As we noted when Jay Richards made this same argument in his book "Money, Greed and God," by this logic it is entirely biblical for a business owner to refuse to hire women or to pay his white males employees more than all other employees or to engage in any other sort of employment discrimination because Jesus teaches that they have a right to do what they please with their money and the government has no right to interfere with the process in any manner whatsoever.
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6/14/13 @ 4:41pm | <urn:uuid:6cc90daa-e059-4d22-a085-438d592343d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/barton-jesus-supports-employment-discrimination | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973452 | 798 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Activities and Amenities
ATTENTION: THE WOOD BURNING STOVE IN THE BUNK HOUSE IS OUT OF ORDER UNTIL FUTHER NOTICE. Please call before your stay to get current water availability information.
COLTON GUARD STATION, UT
Status: Closed through Fri May 31 2013 Season Dates
1 site(s) found
OverviewColton Guard Station is located in the Colton Hollow area, approximately 5 miles west of U.S. Highway 191. It is near Vernal, Utah, in the Ashley National Forest. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the complex in 1933 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal instituted during the Great Depression. It was a residence for rangers who patrolled the forest on horseback prior to the age of modern vehicles.
The Ashley National Forest Vernal Ranger District has chosen to rent this guard station to the public so that guests can enjoy a rustic experience similar to that of the first rangers. Colton Guard Station is open for reservations all months of the year, except November, April and May.
The cabin can be accessed by vehicle throughout warmer months and during the winter, access is by snowmobile, cross-country ski or snowshoe travel. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities.
The complex sits in Colton Hollow, at an elevation of 8,500 feet. Aspens and pines surround the site, offering nice shade. Wildlife and summer wildflowers are abundant in the area.
In summer months, numerous hiking, biking, horseback riding and off-road vehicle trails crisscross the area. In winter months, endless snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing opportunities are right out the front door.
A cabin and bunkhouse are located within the complex. The cabin can sleep four people on one twin-size bunk and one double-size futon. No linens, bedding or pillows are provided. The bunkhouse behind the cabin can sleep up to eight additional people, on several provided twin mattresses. Tent camping is allowed outside. The maximum capacity for overnight guests is 12 people.
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area is known not only for its beautiful red cliffs, but also for its world-class fishing for lake, brown and rainbow trout. Boating, water skiing, jet skiing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming and scuba diving are popular activities on the reservoir, which can be accessed within 30 miles.
Activities and Amenities
Know Before You Go
Getting There:GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude):
Follow the mileage indications below and look for signs when traveling to Colton Guard Station. Leave with plenty of time to arrive at the guard station before dark.
From Vernal, travel north on U.S. Highway 191/Vernal Avenue for approximately 20 miles. Turn left (west) on Forest Road 020. A paved parking lot with a restroom is located at the intersection. Continue northwest on the paved Forest Road 020 for approximately two miles. Turn left (southwest) at Forest Road 019 and continue for less than a mile, reaching an intersection (Forest roads 028 and 019). Turn left, continuing south on Forest Road 019. Continue approximately 1.75 miles, where the road turns sharply to the right (west). Follow the hairpin turn down into a ravine to Colton Guard Station.
Mailing Address:COLTON GUARD STATION
355 N Vernal Ave
VERNAL UT 84078
Phone Number:Information: (435)789-1181 | <urn:uuid:099d2a5b-5ebb-45b7-8aaf-02299c60a4d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/Colton_Guard_Station/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=75177&topTabIndex=CampingSpot | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926453 | 751 | 1.523438 | 2 |
NEW BIOACTIVE AND BIOBASED PRODUCTS FROM PLANT CELL WALL POLYSACCHARIDES IN SUGAR BEET PULP, CITRUS PEEL AND OTHER ... PROCESSING RESIDUES
Location: Dairy and Functional Foods
Title: Effect of chitosan molecular weight on rheological behavious of chitosan modified nanoclay at highly hydrated state
| Liang, Songmiao - |
| Chen, Liwen - |
| Yuan, Peng - |
| Huang, Qingrong - |
| Yam, Kit - |
Submitted to: Journal of the Balkan Tribological Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: November 19, 2010
Publication Date: April 30, 2011
Citation: Liu, L.S., Liang, S., Chen, L., Yuan, P., Huang, Q., Yam, K.L. 2011. Effect of chitosan molecular weight on rheological behavious of chitosan modified nanoclay at highly hydrated state. Journal of the Balkan Tribological Association. 17(2):247-261.
Interpretive Summary: Controlled release systems (CRS) are a rapidly developed technology. The technology has been used in various areas ranging from pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, to active packaging and functional biomaterials, to agrobusiness. Nanoclay can be converted to delivery vehicles for CRS by complexation with polysaccharides or synthetic hydrocolloids. However, little knowledge on the structure-function relationship of nanoclay-polysaccharide composites has been previously obtained. The present study performed fundamental research on the structure and properties of chitosan/clay nanoparticles in the attempt to facilitate industrial utilization. The study evaluated the effect of molecular weight and molecular size of chitosan on the rheological and thixotropic properties of the composites in a highly hydrated state. Results obtained from the study are useful for the design of various nanoclay/polysaccharide composites to satisfy different applications. Furthermore, the information generated from the present study is also useful for scientists and engineers, who are involved in the design of intelligent materials from plant polysaccharides and other byproducts of agricultural processing. Eventually, the development of these new materials will expand the market for the products and byproducts from agricultural processing.
Effect of chitosan molecular weight (M(cs)) on the rheological properties of chitosan modified clay (CMCs) at highly hydrated state was investigated. With special emphasis on its effect on the thixotropy of CMCs, the structure recovery at rest after underwent a pre-shearing process was further performed by the oscillatory shear measurements in the linear viscoelastic region. It was observed that both stress-strain behavior and moduli of CMCs are closely correlated to M(cs). An interesting slope transition from negative to positive in the tan delta vs log omega plot is observed at omega = 2.5 rad/s. The value of tan delta < 0.5 over the entire range of frequency suggests a strong association in CMCs and a dominant elastic response of CMCs. Small peak-like transition of the shear viscosity, which denotes the yield region of the CMCs network, shifts to high shear rate with the increase of M(cs). Remarkably, different thixotropic behavior of these considered CMCs are observed relating to M(cs). G’(After) of CMCs with high M(cs) shows a linearly monotonic increase with the increase of the testing time, which is well match the power law of G’(After) ~ t(n). G’(After) of those CMCs with low M(cs), however, is distinctly deviated from the power law and possesses an exponential increase. The deviation of G’(After) becomes more marked with the decrease of M(cs). Furthermore, the effect of the pre-shearing history on the thixotropic properties of CMCs is performed by employing a large range of the pre-shear rate. Analysis of empirical Cox-Merz rule indicates a failure of the rule in CMCs system. CMCs prepared from low M(cs) chitosan are easier to be orientated at low shear rate. | <urn:uuid:4d6f42b2-93e7-455e-9b1e-f8fe65f16a3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=257900 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915988 | 928 | 2.125 | 2 |
Sometimes people wonder if a given food is bad or good for a healthy eating plan. The key is to remember that no food is intrinsically "bad" or "good". All food is food - and you need to balance your intake based on your activity and your nutritional needs.
First, keep in mind a key concept of all weight loss, on any diet plan. For any weight loss, you need to ingest LESS energy than your body needs for the given day. You need your body to turn to your fat reserves to "make up the difference". This is the only way your body burns fat, is if it needs that energy stored in the fat cells for its daily activities.
So, on to what you choose to ingest on a given day.
Let's take for example white bread. You could say that white bread is far less nutritionally complete than wheat bread. White bread and wheat bread are both less great, nutritionally, than a whole wheat wrap. So if you were in a stage of your life where you wanted to lose weight, you were not very active, and you really wanted to eat a "sandwich type thing", you should make it with a whole wheat / high grain wrap. You should not make it with white bread. The white bread would fill you with a lot of calories / carbs unnecessarily. Your aim when losing weight is to minimize the "junk calories" you ingest so that your body is forced to burn those fat cells.
But let's say you are on maintenance now and at an ideal weight. You aren't trying to lose weight any more. This means that the number of carbs / calories you can eat every day is higher than before, because now your aim is no longer to burn your fat cells. You want to eat all the calories your body needs to burn for a given day. Since your total intake is higher, you now have spare room to make some decisions. Instead of eating that whole wheat wrap you could instead eat the whole wheat / high fiber bread if you find it more tasty. You of course shouldn't choose the "less nutritious" food just because it's there! It should be a conscious decision to please your taste buds.
We are all humans. We get enjoyment out of food. That enjoyment means more relaxation, less stress hormones, a healthier body. You literally have better health if you are happy. That include eating foods you enjoy.
So everything about eating is a balancing act. When losing weight you make "compromises" to choose foods you at least sort of like which are full of nutrition and not full of junk calories. As you reach your ideal weight you can include more foods that have SOME junk calories because the total calories / carbs are still what your body can process in a given day.
Note that you should always eat nutritious food! Your body needs nutrition to work well. I would never advocate eating high-sugar candy for example. There are always more healthy alternatives to that which your tongue will enjoy just as well. But if you absolutely crave a white bread grilled cheese sandwich, and you haven't finished weaning yourself off of white bread and onto more healthy high fiber bread, then in the grand scheme of things that is a "less healthy but still reasonable" food choice. If you're at a stage where the total intake for the day will not cause you to gain weight, then you're all set. | <urn:uuid:6b9906e1-3901-46a7-86f1-8927e7f1ba81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art60324.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969235 | 693 | 2.546875 | 3 |
In this era of fiber to the home, it’s easy to dismiss copper-based DSL, the broadband connectivity technology commonly sold by phone companies worldwide. Looks like it’s too soon to completely write off this technology, however. Alcatel-Lucent, a company whose lineage is as old as the phone itself, says its research arm, Bell Labs, has been able to achieve downstream speeds of about 300 Mbps (over a distance of 400 meters) or 100 Mbps over a distance of one kilometer.
This is possible using a technology called DSL Phantom Mode. According to the company:
At its core, DSL Phantom Mode involves the creation of a virtual or “phantom” channel that supplements the two physical wires that are the standard configuration for copper transmission lines. Bell Labs’ innovation and the source of DSL Phantom Mode’s dramatic increase in transmission capacity lies in its application of analogue phantom mode technology in combination with industry-standard techniques: vectoring that eliminates interference or “crosstalk” between copper wires, and bonding that makes it possible to take individual lines and aggregate them.
The idea behind DSL Phantom Mode is that incumbent phone companies such as AT&T, which are heavily invested into the aging copper infrastructure, can keep using those pipes for a lot longer. However, phone companies such as Qwest will need to install new gear in the central office and in consumer homes.
Alcatel-Lucent’s efforts aren’t the only attempts to extend copper’s life and make DSL go faster and faster. Stanford University professor John Cioffi is working on a gigabit DSL solution and has started a company to give DSL a lift. | <urn:uuid:14f2023d-255b-4214-92da-52c7e8bc5018> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gigaom.com/2010/04/20/dsl-speed-300-mbps/comment-page-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941153 | 350 | 2.625 | 3 |
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — It's not often that environmental organizations and the coal industry come down on the same side of a policy debate. But that's happening in West Virginia, where both groups have concerns about Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's proposal to eliminate a state tax incentive for plug-in electric cars and other alternative fuel vehicles.
The tax credit covers 35 percent of the cost of an alternative fuel vehicle, up to $7,500 for cars and $25,000 for large trucks. The credit would remain in place for vehicles that run on natural gas, propane and butane, but would be phased out in 2017, rather than in 2021 as is currently scheduled.
The legislation states that the change is being made to encourage the use of natural gas-fueled vehicles, even if it comes at the expense of other alternative fuels. The state code designating the tax credit now says, "By encouraging the use of alternatively-fueled motor vehicles, the state will be reducing its dependence on foreign oil and attempting to improve its air quality."
Under current law, alternatively-fueled motor vehicles that run on alternative fuels include plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles as well as those that run on ethanol, alcohol, hydrogen, solar power and coal-derived liquid fuels.
The proposal redefines "alternatively-fueled" to mean only vehicles that run on natural gas and liquefied petroleum. "Alternatively-fueled" is replaced with "natural gas fueled and liquefied petroleum gas fueled motor vehicles," according to the proposal
"We would like to see electric vehicles back in the mix here," said Gary Zuckett, director of West Virginia Citizen Action Group, an environmental organization. "As we move forward here with this bill we should work to get that put back into the policy because we need to have all the cards on the table to support alternatively-fueled vehicles and minimize our dependence on overseas oil."
Bill Raney, the president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said his organization had not looked at the legislation closely enough to take a firm position, but he did say that he would like to see both electric vehicles and coal-derived liquid fuel vehicles included in the bill.
The tax credit was initially passed in 2011 as part of a bill to encourage development of the Marcellus shale natural gas field. Tomblin's office said that they did not realize at the time how expensive the program would be.
"There was not a fiscal note done on this section of this bill," said Amy Shuler Goodwin, spokeswoman for the governor. "We didn't know what the financial impact would be. It will be significant, extremely substantial."
Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow estimates that the proposed legislation will save the state $10 million in the next fiscal year. Muchow said that in addition to the cost savings, they are proposing the legislation to get back to the original focus of the bill, which was promoting natural gas.
"Natural gas is something that is produced in West Virginia, that would benefit various folks in West Virginia if it were to be consumed in our state," Muchow said.
And while the coal that makes the electricity that powers plug-in cars is also produced in-state, Muchow said there are federal tax credits for electric cars, so they feel more comfortable eliminating the state credit.
The tax credit has been used to offset the higher price of plug-in cars, which tend to be more expensive than comparable models, but require little to no gas and emit almost no pollutants.
The extent to which plug-in electric cars are more environmentally friendly than traditional cars varies depending on the electricity sources where the car is charged. In West Virginia, which gets most of its electricity from coal, natural gas or wind, a plug-in electric has a carbon footprint equivalent to a traditional car that gets 42 miles per gallon, according to a 2012 study by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Also on the chopping block are tax credits for home refueling or charging stations for alternatively-fueled vehicles. Tax credits will remain in effect for the construction of natural gas and liquefied petroleum refueling stations, but the amounts would change. Those tax credits would be worth 20 percent of the construction costs of each station, with a maximum of $400,000 per station. Currently those credits are worth 50 percent of costs, with a maximum of $200,000 per station.
In explaining the rationale for keeping the credits for natural gas infrastructure, Muchow said the state had a chicken and egg problem. "On the infrastructure side, folks are waiting for folks to own vehicles before they put in infrastructure," Muchow said. "And on the vehicle side folks are waiting for the infrastructure prior to when they purchase the vehicles." | <urn:uuid:b3e7c036-f8f6-4ced-ac77-6bd61e49e832> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washingtonexaminer.com/tomblin-proposes-ending-tax-credit-on-plug-in-cars/article/feed/2072856 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969233 | 977 | 2.1875 | 2 |
You limited your search to:
- The G-20 and International Economic Cooperation: Background and Implications for Congress
- This report discusses the background of the G-20 (an international forum for discussing and coordinating economic policies) and some of the issues that it has addressed. It includes historic background on the work of the G-20, information about how the group operates, overviews of G-20 summits, major issues that the group is likely to address and the likely effectiveness of the G-20 in the near future. The members of the G-20 include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
- This report provides a background of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) financial crisis and the issues for Congress.
- The Proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Background and Key Issues
- The proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a new agreement for combating intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement. The ACTA negotiation concluded in October 2010, nearly three years after it began, and negotiating parties released a final text of the agreement in May 2011. Negotiated by the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union and its 27 member states, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and Switzerland, the ACTA is intended to build on the IPR protection and enforcement obligations set forth in the 1995 World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). | <urn:uuid:c5082dbc-b4f8-4acf-bd89-7340066bbf1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/CRSR/browse/?fq=str_location_country%3AUnited+Kingdom&display=brief&fq=str_location_country%3AJapan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921914 | 360 | 2.609375 | 3 |
A health worker (right) marks the finger of a toddler with indelible ink, indicating she has received a dose of polio vaccine, in a camp for people displaced by flooding, in the town of Bin Qasim, in Sindh Province. © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0187/Asad Zaidi
What is Health?
The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
What health issues affect young people the most?
In the early years of life, children are very vulnerable to infectious diseases. Consequently, for children under 5 years old, the leading causes of death are pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, malaria and HIV, and the risk of death is highest in the first month and first year of life. These infectious diseases are most often associated with underlying malnutrition, contaminated drinking water, and indoor air pollution. In the last decade, however, the world has seen a lot of progress in improving the health of young children through vaccinations,
treatment of infections, nutritional supplements, improved water supplies and environmental sanitation, and the prevention of HIV transmission from mothers to their children.
As children enter into adolescence and youth, they face a new set of health challenges. These challenges are more linked to behavior and the unprotected environment around them, and include, injuries from accidents, tobacco and substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, and mental health issues. Consequently, accidents and related injuries are, the leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year olds.Barriers to health
Despite the magnitude of ill health and disability among the youth, most young people are not aware of the specific health issues that affect youth, and the risk factors associated with their health. This situation calls for intensified efforts to increase awareness about their health issues. Young people, especially in developing countries, encounter barriers in accessing health services. Many health facilities and communities do not have confidential and youth-friendly services where young people feel comfortable in seeking care, and those who seek care are often confronted with negative attitudes from health-care providers. Additionally, many young people do not have the financial resources to enable them to seek care on their own, and restrictive laws and policies often require a parent or husband’s written permission to access services.
Harmful traditional practices such as child marriage also contribute to poor health among young people, including sexually transmitted infections and complications of pregnancy. When young girls become pregnant before they themselves grow up, both they and their children face an uphill battle to survive and achieve their optimum developmental potential.
Mental health is increasingly gaining recognition as a major problem globally. Recent reports from WHO indicate that mental disorders and psychosocial distress are affecting millions of children and adolescents in all parts of the world. Suicide and depression are alarmingly common among both rich and poor and in both urban and rural environments. New evidence shows that most mental health problems that continue through adulthood are manifest before the age of 14, suggesting that mental health assessment in childhood could
provide early warning and early treatment, possibly diminishing the impact in later life. It is estimated that one in five adolescents will experience a mental health problem during their lifetime, and yet they are less likely than adults to recognize the symptoms of mental disorders or seek treatment. | <urn:uuid:31d5fe87-2d08-4423-8687-49c694523ab2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://voicesofyouth.org/sections/health/pages/health-the-big-picture?page=8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963068 | 675 | 3.625 | 4 |
It has been some weeks since reviews of King Bhumibol Adulyadej: A Life’s Work hogged the limelight here on New Mandala. In the interest of continuing the important discussions about this book and its role in the presentation of the Thai monarchy I think it well worth pointing to today’s review by Grant Evans in the Bangkok Post. It is headlined “Keeping the spirit of the country”.
Evans concludes by arguing that:
This book will be dismissed outright as an apologia by anti-monarchists, who, it must be said, have grown rapidly in number in Thailand since the 2006 military coup. That many saw it as a “royalist” coup illustrates the monarchy’s precarious relationship with democracy. On the other hand the book’s attempt to deal evenly with the history of King Bhumibol’s reign will give little comfort to hardline royalists who wish to turn the clock back. It will, however, appeal to the large majority of Thais, and others, who as modern, educated citizens want a rational discussion not only about the country’s past, but its future as well. That the book will appear soon in Thai translation is a good sign.
For context, readers may want to consider this review by Paul Handley and the discussions that swirl around Andrew MacGregor Marshall’s mega-critique. For those who are interested the first three parts of MacGregor Marshall’s (five-part) critique are available here. | <urn:uuid:ef161ca5-e3a7-4307-bdaf-d9311fd6a709> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2012/02/13/another-review-of-king-bhumibols-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947112 | 322 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Welding and Information About Different Types of Welding
Go Welding.Org is all about welding! The welding information on this site is about the four most common types of welding processes and how to become a certified welder. The welding processes this site is focused on are:
These are the types of welding processes that are taught in welding schools and are used in the majority of industries from ship building to nuclear power plant construction. If you have any doubts just search any employment ads for welding jobs or visit a welding supply store!
Many of the subjects covered here are not even found in text books, online, or in welding schools. This is detailed information I wrote down and took pictures to reference too while working and becoming a certified welder again. It comes down to the small details that you learn while welding that make a big difference. I will always be adding more information as my career moves on. While writing much of the content I have been lucky enough to get advice from some of the best welders in the field. A lot of the advice on here is also what I learned from welders that have literally mastered and perfected their skills to the highest level! So far this is only the beginning of this site and one day hope to make it a place where you will be able to find anything you need related to welding.
Finally, if you like this site and have found it really helpfull tell your friends, teachers or anyone who can use by linking to it and spreading the word or just add your vote with the Google button on the left.! I am just one person and any help that I can get is more then welcome...
Learning How to Weld Online
For anyone interested in learning how to weld, your best bet is to sign up for a welding class! Everything else is just a guideline (including this site)! Welding is learned through hands-on training and practice. That being said, there are no DVD’s, videos, books, or websites that can teach you how to weld without real life practice. It’s just like driving a car! You will only learn by getting the right information and then spending a lot of time behind the wheel. Welding is a Very Highly Skilled Trade and takes 1000's of hours to learn. Anyone who can master and perfect this skill can easily make a doctor's salary or more! Even as I am writing this in a down economy and being a high school drop out; I am earning close to $40 an hour and have the option to work all of the overtime I want! Then there are others who travel overseas who are making mid six figure salaries. No other construction skill pays as much because no other skill is as difficult to learn.
If you want to learn how to weld, again I would strongly advise anyone to sign up for a welding class. Save yourself the time and money on videos and the so called “learn how to weld online courses”! When searching for a Welding School you should always ask if they also offer AWS welding certifications, or better yet, contact the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology at www.welding.org or get into a NCCER training program! If you want to find a local welding school or need to take a welding certification, go to the right source and try the AWS School Locator www.aws.org/w/sense/ . This is the best place to find local welding schools and training centers!
What is Welding?
Welding is nothing more than the art of joining metals together. By comparison, wood is joined by nails, bricks are held together with mortar; metal is joined by welding! What makes welding such a big deal is that the world’s infrastructure depends on it! Everything you touch everyday that is made of metal is most likely welded in one form or another. It is one of the most valuable technologies that played a huge part in the industrial revolution, and is the back bone to the world’s militaries. Welding today is comprised of three main ingredients wich are required to join metals together.
- An electrical power source to produce an arc.
- Some form of shielding to protect the weld from the air.
- Filler material to fill the weld joint.
The ways these three ingredients work together are:
- First, the weld area needs to be shielded from any air around it. This is important because oxygen and other gasses in the air make welds brittle and porous.
- Second, is the electricity to produce an arc. An electrical arc melts metal in fractions of a second and is hot enough to melt any known metal!
- Finally, the filler metal is added, which is how two pieces of metal become one.
That’s how welding works and that is all there is to it!
Stick Welding is a slang term commonly used for Shielded Metal Arc Welding or “SMAW”. Stick welding is the most basic and common type of welding processes used. It is also the first process learned in any welding school. Stick is the most trouble free of all of the welding processes and is the fundamental basis for all the skills needed to learn how to weld!
Stick welders have four main components.
- A ground lead or clamp.
- A welding lead or stinger.
- A constant amperage power source.
- The electrode or welding rod to weld with.
The process is simple! The ground clamp is attached to the work or metal to be welded. Then the welding lead, or stinger, gets the electrode inserted in it. Finally, the power supply is turned on and only requires the user to strike the metal to ignite it. Once that is done. the arc starts and the electrode begins to burn. This creates a shielding gas and deposits metal into the joint that is being welded. The slag from the electrode needs to be cleaned or chipped off as soon as the weld is finished.
TIG Welding is also a slang term commonly used for Gas Tungsten Arc Welding or “GTAW”. TIG welding also goes by the term HeliArc welding. TIG welding is the most difficult of the processes to learn, and is the most versatile when it comes to different metals. This process is slow but when done right it produces the highest quality weld! TIG welding is mostly used for critical weld joints, welding metals other than common steel, and where precise, small welds are needed.
TIG welders have six main components:
- A constant amperage power source (many times a Stick welding power supply).
- A ground lead or clamp.
- A welding lead or TIG Torch.
- A non-consumable Tungsten electrode to produce the arc (the Tungsten electrode does not add to the weld joint).
- Shielding gas to protect the weld area from the air (typically pure Argon gas).
- The filler wire to add to the weld joint with the other hand.
TIG welding equipment varies greatly in the sense of bells and whistles. The simplest TIG welders are a Stick welder power supply with a TIG torch attached to the welding lead, and the other hose is attaches to a bottle of Argon gas. This is how the largest defense contractors and engineering companies set-up thereTIG welders for Pipe. The way this process works is simple. First the ground clamp is attached to the metal to be welded, a Tungsten electrode is inserted into the TIG torch, the Argon gas is turned on and now the torch is feeding Argon gas through the torch, the power supply is turned on, and now all it takes is a scratch of the Tungsten to strike an arc. Once the arc strikes the Tungsten just produces an arc and starts to melt the metal, after that you simple add filler wire to the joint with the other hand.
MIG Welding is a slang term that stands for Metal Inert Gas Welding, the proper name is Gas Metal Arc Welding or “GMAW”, and it is also commonly referred to as “Wire Wheel Welding” by Unions. MIG Welding is commonly used in shops and factories. It is a high production welding process that is mostly used indoors.
MIG Welders have five main components.
- A constant voltage power supply.
- A wire feed to feed the filler wire through the welding lead to the MIG gun.
- A ground lead or clamp.
- A welding lead or MIG gun.
- Shielding gas to protect the weld area from the air.
MIG welding is not that simple when it comes to setting up the equipment but the skill required is a lot less then Stick welding. The way MIG welding works is you attach the ground clamp to the work then power source is turned on and finally the shielding gas needs to be turned on. After that you need to set the voltage, wire feed speed that is counted in IPM (inches per minute), and shielding gas flow rate that is counted in CFH (cubic feet per hour). Then simply hit the trigger and the MIG gun starts feeding shielding gas and wire to the weld joint. Once the wire hits the weld joint it begins to arc and the wire melts and starts filling the joint.
Flux Cored Arc Welding “FCAW” is nothing more than a different welding wire or electrode for a MIG welder! FCAW wire is a hollow or tubular wire that has a flux inside of it that provides a shielding from the air when it is welding. What this does is help a MIG welder to weld in windy conditions and it increases how much weld can be welded per hour. The powder flux inside also has metal mixed in that increase the weld deposit rate.
FCAW is the fastest of all of the manual welding processes. FCAW wire has two types.
- Self Shielding.
- Dual Shielding.
Shelf shielding wire is just that! It has enough flux inside that no other shielding source is needed.
Dual Shield is a wire that helps shield the weld but also needs a source of gas just like a MIG welder.
Flux cored arc welding is similar to Stick welding when it comes to slag. It also has a slag that covers the weld that needs to be cleaned after the weld is finished. | <urn:uuid:6fd58492-52b1-474e-a2ba-a8d3c413367e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gowelding.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951499 | 2,159 | 2.40625 | 2 |
BEMIDJI - We have jobs available.
That is the message the manufacturing industry is trying to get out here to the public, particularly those assessing their future career goals.
Manufacturing employers have job vacancies open now, but they have not been able to find the skilled workforce they need.
"About half the jobs in America, in terms of what we do - machining - are open," said Andy Wells, owner of Wells Technology in Eckles Township norhtwest of Bemidji. "We would hire five more employees if they came to the door and were trained. We would hire them right now, but we don't get them."
In 2011, there were 995 people in Beltrami County who were employed in manufacturing, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. That's up about 50 jobs from the previous year, but down from the 1,354 employees in the same second quarter of 2006.
But those in the industry are working to get the word out that jobs are available.
Karen White is the executive director of 360 Degrees, Manufacturing & Applied Engineering Center of Excellence at Bemidji State University. In that role, she works in support of the manufacturing industry throughout the state.
Technological advances have dramatically changed job functions within the manufacturing industry, White said. As technology has increased, composition of the workforce has transitioned from having unskilled workers to more highly skilled workers who utilize computerized equipment and program processes.
"It shifts their workforce needs from a general laborer to a much more skilled (employee)," White said.
The manufacturing industry now needs people who can program computers and operate high-tech equipment.
"The thing about automation is it may remove the repetitive mechanical-type motion jobs, but they've replaced them with the high-tech service tech (jobs), programming, operations," Wells said.
Companies are seeking those with at least a certificate from a technical college all the way up to those with master's degrees.
"We're seeing also that a lot of these programs at technical colleges at universities are not as attractive as other programs," White said.
The industry and its partners, including 360 Degrees, are working to educate prospective students about the industry itself. Gone are the dark and dingy manufacturing lines. The workplace now is clean, white and bright.
White said 360 Degrees has undertaken three key efforts to educate the public about the manufacturing industry. It sponsors summer technology camps for middle and high school students, hosts robotics competitions, and partners on a statewide Dream It, Do It recruitment initiative to show the public how important manufacturing is to the economy.
She said 360 degrees this fall hopes to again support a statewide effort to get manufacturing businesses to open their doors to public tours.
Wells himself undertook his own initiative to identify and train prospective employees as he founded the Wells Academy in 2006. More than 40 people have taken part in the Academy since it began. It recently celebrated the graduation of three individuals, all of whom have gone on to work full-time for Wells Technology.
The Academy is set up to respond to participants' skills and career goals. The basic program can last three to four months to quickly get participants into the workforce while others can opt to remain in the program for up to a year to explore advanced machine operations.
Manufacturing, White said, is all about teamwork, problem-solving and computers, but the public does not understand that.
The industry has jobs available that offer good, family-supporting wages, she noted.
"The public is not aware of the tremendous career opportunities in the high-tech manufacturing world," Wells said. | <urn:uuid:f0def661-88b8-4b4a-adbc-8308b44bb19c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/annual-report-manufacturing-firms-looking-hire-skilled-workers?qt-latest_trending_article_page=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972814 | 749 | 2 | 2 |
Almost 200 years after she died, Jane Austen's early death at the age of just 41 has been attributed to many things, from cancer to Addison's disease. Now sleuthing from a crime novelist has uncovered a new possibility: arsenic poisoning.
Author Lindsay Ashford moved to Austen's village of Chawton three years ago, and began writing her new crime novel in the library of the novelist's brother Edward's former home, Chawton House. She soon became engrossed in old volumes of Austen's letters, and one morning spotted a sentence Austen wrote just a few months before she died: "I am considerably better now and am recovering my looks a little, which have been bad enough, black and white and every wrong colour."
Having researched modern forensic techniques and poisons for her crime novels, Ashford immediately realised the symptoms could be ascribed to arsenic poisoning, which can cause "raindrop" pigmentation, where patches of skin go brown or black, and other areas go white.
Shortly afterwards she met the former president of the Jane Austen Society of North America, who told her that the lock of Austen's hair on display at a nearby museum had been tested for arsenic by the now deceased American couple who bought it an auction in 1948, coming up positive.
Ashford says that chronic arsenic poisoning gives all the symptoms Austen wrote about in her letters, unlike other possibilities which have been put forward for her death, from Addison's disease, to the cancer Hodgkin's disease and the auto-immune disease lupus. Arsenic was also widely available at the time, handed out in the form of Fowler's Solution as a treatment for everything from rheumatism – something Austen complained of in her letters – to syphilis.
"After all my research I think it's highly likely she was given a medicine containing arsenic. When you look at her list of symptoms and compare them to the list of arsenic symptoms, there is an amazing correlation," Ashford told the Guardian. "I'm quite surprised no one has thought of it before, but I don't think people realise quite how often arsenic was used as a medicine. [But] as a crime writer I've done a lot of research into arsenic, and I think it was just a bit of serendipity, that someone like me came to look at her letters with a very different eye to the eye most people cast on Jane Austen. It's just luck I have this knowledge, which most Austen academics wouldn't."
Although Ashford thinks that, based on her symptoms and on the fact arsenic was so widespread, it is "highly likely" that Austen was suffering from arsenic poisoning after being prescribed it by a doctor for another disease, she explores the possibility that the novelist was murdered with arsenic in her new novel, The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen. "I don't think murder is out of the question," she said. "Having delved into her family background, there was a lot going on that has never been revealed and there could have been a motive for murder. In the early 19th century a lot of people were getting away with murder with arsenic as a weapon, because it wasn't until the Marsh test was developed in 1836 that human remains could be analysed for the presence of arsenic."
Professor Janet Todd, editor for the Cambridge edition of Jane Austen, said that murder was implausible. "I doubt very much she would have been poisoned intentionally. I think it's very unlikely. But the possibility she had arsenic for rheumatism, say, is quite likely," she said. "It's certainly odd that she died quite so young. [But] in the absence of digging her up and finding out, which would not be appreciated, nobody knows what she died of."
Although Ashford would be keen to see Austen's bones disinterred for modern forensic analysis, she accepts this is unlikely to happen. "I can quite understand that people would be outraged by the idea," she said. | <urn:uuid:a890f7ec-a649-4002-a383-6d9b20da972d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/14/jane-austen-arsenic-poisoning?CMP=twt_fd | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98966 | 825 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Racist propaganda: “Same rules for the Internet as for other media”
The Legal Affairs Committee rapporteur, Ignasi Guardans, a Spanish MP in the Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group (LDR) in the Parliamentary Assembly, is in favour of a protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime so as to get signatory countries to introduce legal provisions for countering racism and Holocaust-denial on the Internet. He also recommends making it a crime for websites to host offensive material.
Question: Why, ten months since the cybercrime convention was opened for signature, has a protocol become necessary:
Ignasi Guardans: The cybercrime convention was negotiated among the Council of Europe member states but, unusually, with non-member states such as the United States present. That was why we decided to leave aside the issue of an Internet racism offence since the American Constitution protects total freedom of expression. We had to adopt a pragmatic approach as the alternative was to doom the convention to ineffectiveness. That allows us to be more demanding now, through the protocol, in acting on racist offences.
Question: What are the protocol’s main provisions and how will they improve action to combat xenophobia on the Internet?
Ignasi Guardans: Essentially, the protocol requires signatory states to introduce offences such as Holocaust-denial and issuing threats against any community on the ground of race, religion or language. In the report I am presenting on Friday the Legal Affairs Committee recommends also introducing the offence of unlawful hosting so as to allow prosecution of people who take advantage of one country’s more favourable legislation in order to make racist or xenophobic propaganda available in other countries with more restrictive legislation. The idea is simply that the same restrictions should apply to the Internet as apply to other media where disseminating racist ideas is concerned. Any restriction on freedom of expression must, however, remain the exception. The point of the protocol is primarily that, like the convention itself, it extends and promotes international legal co-operation to combat racism.
Question: What is your definition of racism material?
Ignasi Guardans: The protocol defines racist or xenophobic material as “any written material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence against any individual or group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as a pretext for any of these factors”.
Question: Which countries do you think will make this further commitment by signing the protocol?
Ignasi Guardans: The 34 countries which have signed the cybercrime convention, with the possible exception of the United States. If the USA refuses to sign, it must explain to the world why it refuses to co-operate on racism and why it wants to remain a haven for racist websites (editorial note: of 4,000 racist sites currently identified, 2,500 are hosted in the United States). | <urn:uuid:e7cf7827-0af3-4536-8634-1a4afb92a2db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/Files/PA-Sessions/Sept-2002/Int_Guardans.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939503 | 607 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Last modified: Thursday, October 1, 2009
Study of media at IU Bloomington reveals critical preservation needs
Media archives seriously endangered; 44 percent of holdings unique or rare
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 1, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington holds more than 560,000 audio and video recordings and film reels, many of which are historically significant, all of which are actively deteriorating. And the window of time to save these materials is closing fast; most archivists agree that such audio and video materials could be lost forever in 20 years or less.
That's the urgent conclusion of the just-released IU Bloomington Media Preservation Survey, a comprehensive study produced by a task force of archival experts drawn from around the campus.
To determine the state of audio, video, and film holdings on campus and the scope of the preservation challenge at IU Bloomington, the task force conducted the survey throughout the 2008-09 academic year. Supported by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the survey team interviewed media-holders, physically inspected holding units, and collected data on audio, video, and motion-picture film from 80 units on campus, ranging from the Department of Astronomy (23 media items) to the William and Gayle Cook Music Library (195,596 media items).
Commitment to preserve such valuable resources runs particularly deep on the IU Bloomington campus, due in large part to former IU President and University Chancellor Herman B Wells, says Ruth Stone, who led the survey initiative and is Laura Boulton Professor of folklore and ethnomusicology and associate vice provost for the arts at IU Bloomington.
"Herman Wells believed strongly in historic preservation -- from the campus's natural landscape to its intellectual holdings," says Stone. "He was very keen on IU taking a leadership role in preservation not just for this campus or the state, but in the larger world. It is by virtue of Wells' guidance that IU possesses the unique array of special collections we are striving to preserve today."
Alan Burdette, director of the Archives of Traditional Music and associate director in the Institute for Digital Arts and Humanities at IU Bloomington, coordinated the work of the survey task force. Mike Casey, associate director for recording services at the ATM, designed the study and wrote the final 115-page report. Patrick Feaster, an expert in early recordings, conducted the interviews and surveys with cooperation from media specialists and content holders at IU Bloomington.
The final report presents a detailed look at the characteristics and condition of audio, video, and film media on the campus, including numbers of holdings, general condition, and preservation risks. (This survey focused on one class of media and did not include photographs or other physical objects in special collections.) Among its major findings, the report reveals that IU Bloomington:
- Has media holdings dating back to wax cylinder recordings of Native Americans made in the early 1890s
- Holds an estimated 154,136 unique (one-of-a-kind) items
- Holds an estimated 94,993 rare items
- Holds a larger and more diverse film collection than almost any other U.S. university
- Has at least 180,000 items that are at high or very high risk for loss of content
"Large portions of IU Bloomington holdings are seriously endangered due to inadequate storage, degradation of media, and format obsolescence," says Casey in his introduction to the survey report. "Some media preservation efforts on campus exist, but none are sustainable, and none are at a scale or pace that will allow them to preserve more than a tiny fraction of their holdings before it is too late."
Carolyn Walters, interim Ruth Lilly Dean of University Libraries, noted that "specialized collections, in whatever form, distinguish IU. Because the IU Libraries steward more than half of the media collections on campus, this report is especially helpful in documenting and prioritizing critical needs. Preserving collections is as important to us as providing access to them."
In today's digital age, the historical, cultural, and research value of IU Bloomington's media collections is extraordinary, according to the survey report. Notable media held at IU Bloomington include:
- Performances by world-renowned musicians such as Janos Starker and Joshua Bell
- The Peter Bogdanovich Film Collection, from the director of The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon
- Home movies of Hoagy Carmichael
- 276 cylinders documenting Native American musical traditions recorded 1907-13
- Lectures and other events featuring figures such as Mikhail Gorbachev, the Dalai Lama, Bill Gates and Will Shortz
- One of the largest educational film collections in the country dating from the 1920s
"The special collection holdings of the Bloomington campus are a rich part of IU's history as a great research university," said Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson. "These materials document important artistic, social, and cultural moments. Their preservation is a paramount concern."
Vice Provost for Research Sarita Soni commended the efforts of the task force, saying that media preservation fits well with the campus's important research mission. "The primary mission of the Office of the Vice Provost for Research is to provide support to faculty as they pursue wide-ranging research and creative activity in all disciplines," she said. "The media holdings on this campus are essential to many of those projects, and we must find ways to preserve them for future generations of scholars."
The preservation crisis at IU Bloomington is shared by universities across the nation and the world in institutions that hold similar audio and moving image media. Growing awareness of this crisis led to the survey, which is the most thorough and extensive study of its kind conducted by a large American university to date.
Additional members of the Media Preservation Survey Task Force included Julie Bobay, associate dean at the Wells Library; Stacy Kowalczyk, associate director of the Digital Library Program at IU Bloomington; Brenda Nelson-Strauss, head of collections and technical services at the Archives of African American Music and Culture; and Barbara Truesdell, assistant director at the Center for the Study of History and Memory.
For more information on the survey, see http://research.iu.edu/resources/media_preservation/index.html. | <urn:uuid:91418c16-36dd-470b-945e-79e54ab098dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/12027.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935887 | 1,301 | 2.03125 | 2 |
It is said that those who want to lead should not be allowed to; one might also say that those who want to make documentaries should be similarly prohibited. Rob Stewart, repeatedly self-proclaimed shark enthusiast, has made himself the rather uninteresting protagonist of a film that is half conspiracy adventure, half nature documentary, but succeeds at being neither.
The film opens with a shot of Stewart walking along a beach, and one wonders about the amount of effort that was put into securing the top spot in the order of appearance credits. The voice over that accompanies this is immediately unconvincing and grating, and the realisation that it is going to continue for the rest of the film is not a happy one. Though the tanned, handsome, hip, and conscientious Stewart may be the best populist weapon for his message, it is hard to believe that any sceptical demographic is going to be won over by him.
This is a shame, because the film’s intentions are good. Sharks, Stewart explains, are not the dangerous predators that they are made out to be. Their teeth are simply not designed to tear flesh, meaning that they are incapable of eating prey larger than them, such as humans, and will not waste energy on such folly. Furthermore, at the hands of both avid shark haters and profiteering fin fisherman, they have become prey.
Shark fin soup is a status symbol in many eastern cultures, and though the fin is completely flavourless, it is enough sought after that only drug trading is more profitable than dealing in fins. A title at the end of the film points out that during the 85 minute run time over 15,000 sharks have been killed. As many as 73 million sharks are killed each year. The trade in shark fins and the corruption that surrounds it – also explored in the more narrative based second act of the film – have resulted in a 97% decline in shark population and could likely lead to their extinction.
The question then, is what Sharkwater hopes to achieve. As a documentary it is filled with far too many hyperbolic statements to convince the sceptical, and at times deteriorates to brawling testimonies from shark lovers and haters which seem equally impassioned and unsubstantiated. As an expose it covers some exciting ground, but merely scratches the surface of the issues involved. However the plight of sharks is a hitherto largely unpublicized one, and with its beautiful underwater cinematography the film likely succeeds in raising sympathy among the apathetic.
Sometimes exciting, frequently beautiful, Sharkwater is a stylish piece of propaganda for sharks. However, its limited factual cohesiveness, and its protagonist who ought to take some shirt wearing lessons from David Attenborough, keep it from truly intriguing investigation, and mean that there will be no illegal shark hunters in the audience feeling guilty over their popcorn. | <urn:uuid:08675e72-f903-480f-814d-be211d1b7e37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cinemaroll.com/documentary/sharkwater-a-review/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973533 | 577 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Woodrow Wilson in Georgia
Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth president of the United States,
The son of Joseph Ruggles Wilson and Janet E. Woodrow, Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton,
When the Wilson family moved to Augusta, they occupied the manse of First Presbyterian Church located in the present 600 block of Greene Street. Two years later, hoping a more comfortable dwelling would encourage their
Wilson's first memory was associated with the new manse in November 1860. In 1909 he recalled "standing at my father's gateway in Augusta, Georgia, when I was four years old, and hearing someone pass and say that Mr. Lincoln was elected and there was to be war. Catching the intense tones
As a boy Wilson was sheltered from much of the horror of the Civil War (1861-65). Nevertheless, some of his early memories included seeing wounded and dying soldiers in his father's church and fenced churchyard, which was commandeered by the Confederate government as a hospital and makeshift stockade for wounded prisoners brought by train to Augusta for medical care after the Battle of Chickamauga. Later, he would see Confederate president Jefferson Davis brought through the streets of Augusta under guard of Union soldiers after Davis's capture in south Georgia in 1865.
Wilson's formal education began in Augusta. He did not learn his letters until the age of nine, and could not read until he was about eleven. Modern medical historians have determined that he suffered from symptoms of developmental dyslexia, something that he would overcome as an adolescent and adult. Beginning in 1866 or 1867, he attended Professor Joseph Tyrone Derry's select school for boys, located in a cotton warehouse on Bay Street, where he was given the rudiments of a classical education. During these years he formed a friendship with his classmate and next-door neighbor Joseph Lamar Rucker, who would later serve as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
By 1870 Wilson,
In 1870 Wilson's father was called by his denomination to become professor of pastoral and evangelical theology and sacred rhetoric at the Columbia Theological Seminary, then located in Columbia, South Carolina. Although the appointment was a great honor, it was with some reluctance that he moved his family from Augusta.
After completing his formal education at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, the College of New Jersey (later, Princeton University), and attending law school at the University of Virginia, Wilson, who had dropped his first name in favor of the more distinguished Woodrow, decided to establish a law practice in Atlanta. He moved to Atlanta in May 1882 and shared an office at 48 Marietta Street, at the corner of Forsyth, with his partner, Edward Ireland Renick, another former law student at the University of Virginia. The 1883 Atlanta City Directory listed 143 lawyers in town, a serious challenge for young attorneys. Few clients materialized. By early 1883 Wilson was discouraged and complained that he had collected only one or two small fees and that most of his time was spent waiting for work to materialize and attempting to collect "numberless desperate claims." His father continued to subsidize him, and he remained in Atlanta through June 1883.
During this period Wilson spent time in Rome with his uncle, James W. Bones, in settling the estate of another uncle. There he met Ellen Louise Axson, the daughter of the Reverend Samuel Edward Axson and Margaret Jane Hoyt. After a brief courtship Wilson persuaded Ellen Axson to marry him, but not until he decided to give up the practice of law and returned to school at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he received a Ph.D. in 1886. Meanwhile, she attended the Art Students League of New York. Wilson and Axson married in Savannah on June 24, 1885, in the manse of the Independent Presbyterian Church, the home of Axson's grandfather.
Ellen Wilson, who suffered from kidney disease, died on August 6, 1914, seventeen months after her husband became president. She is buried in Rome, at Myrtle Hill Cemetery. Wilson was remarried in December 1915 to Edith Bolling Galt. He died in Washington, D.C., on February 3, 1924, and is buried in a crypt in the Washington National Cathedral.
Ray Stannard Baker, Woodrow Wilson, Life and Letters: Youth, 1856-1890 (New York: Doubleday, Page, 1927).
Eleanor Wilson McAdoo, The Priceless Gift: The Love Letters of Woodrow Wilson and Ellen Axson Wilson (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962).
Erick D. Montgomery, "Historical Considerations," in Research Study: The Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson (Augusta, Ga.: Historic Augusta, 1994).
George C. Osborn, Woodrow Wilson: The Early Years (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968).
George C. Osborn, "Woodrow Wilson as a Young Lawyer, 1882-1883," Georgia Historical Quarterly 41 (June 1957).
Thomas W. Thrash, "Apprenticeship at the Bar: The Atlanta Law Practice of Woodrow Wilson," Georgia State Bar Journal 28 (February 1992).
Erick D. Montgomery, Historic Augusta, Inc.
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The distance between the bars within a stack of laser diode bars or “pitch”, is only nominal value of the average diode laser bar spacings and by no means a constant precise value. Typically, the tolerance on bar spacing is about 50 um.
The term pitch somehow implies the parallelism of the bars, but the measurements reveal that this is not the case. Therefore, making cylindrical lens array for the fast axis collimation with constant pitch and good parallelism between the lenses might not be the best solution after all. The mismatch between the real-world laser diode bar stack and the cylindrical lens array with parallel lenses and constant pitch would lead to increased overall beam divergence.
To solve this problem, Doric Lenses Inc. has developed a procedure of making FAC lens arrays that match 3D geometry of specific laser diode bar stack. The pattern of emitters that makes up the laser diode bar stack is measured and digitalized data is used to fabricate corresponding lens holder.
Typically, we use standard doric™ gradient-index cylindrical lenses to populate the lens array holder as they are least sensitive to lateral misalignment and focusing errors, but other doric™ acylindrical lenses could be used as well. The irregularities in the geometry of the laser diode stack are replicated within the fast axis lens array, and consequently, the mismatch between the stack and lens array is significantly reduced. With this new technology, initially developed for space applications, it is possible to align each fast axis collimating lens with corresponding diode bar position in a single step.
The holder is designed to be glued on the stack, or to be bolted to the heatsink. Material of the holder is selected to match thermal expansion of the heatsink material and therefore to provide passive athermal collimation.
NOTE : A paper about our LD stack collimation technique have been presented by M. Roy McBride of Power Photonic. A copy is available on our website at : www.doriclenses.com/lire/64.html | <urn:uuid:71d973e1-0423-4de7-a641-5ac1f6002b7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.doriclenses.com/lire/37.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923107 | 425 | 2.265625 | 2 |
"A Gathering of Planets"
I am a total novice in things astronomical. Despite living under this sky for 50 years, I know very little. I tend more to small things that are up close and personal than the big things off in the distance. In recent months though, for some reason my interests have expanded. It has been my quest to look up^ a bit more deliberately. I want to put a name to the features that have just been a pretty background heretofore.
I’ve been aided considerably by several wonderful websites. From one of them, an email alert just arrived. It tells me, ahead of time! that there will be a “gathering of planets” soon. Five “naked-eye planets” (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter) will be visible sans telescopes at the same time in the last week of March, 2004. Currently, and again by April, Mercury will not be visible but the other 4 will continue to be obvious throughout this spring.
This is a fairly unusual occurrence and will not be repeated until the year 2008.
As cool as it is to see and identify these planets with a naked-eye, they also say if one does have a telescope this is a good time to break it out. “Even a small 'scope will reveal Saturn's rings, Jupiter's cloud belts and its largest moons, and the phases of Venus.” 1
I’m fairly sure I saw Venus, Jupiter and Saturn at dusk last night. Since it was the equinox I knew which way was west precisely as the sun was setting. As I faced the field in front of me, west was just slightly to my right and the wonderfully bright Venus appeared. Then directly behind me was another bright dot (Saturn) and south and to my left was, I think, Jupiter, or was it Mars? Three bright, non twinkling spots just before the darkness fell. There was no moon light, this being the new moon phase. I was out in the woods on an expedition to observe the mating ritual of the local timberdoodle…really, but that’s another node. | <urn:uuid:e837bd50-a12d-41ca-a4ab-71d43f2800e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everything2.com/title/Planet+gathering | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91573 | 448 | 2.015625 | 2 |
“Facts are stubborn things. If the senator from Kentucky wants to have a situation prevail where people who are released go back in to the fight to kill Americans, he is entitled to his opinion.”
McCain’s words were especially ironic because it was John Adams who once said “Facts are stubborn things,” while defending British soldiers during the Boston Massacre trials because of his firm belief that even as enemies to America’s best interests, these British soldiers had a right to a fair trial with due process and legal representation. Facts are stubborn things.
“…and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” -John Adams
One stubborn fact that McCain would not address despite a direct question about it from Rand Paul, is the fact that these provisions include American citizens within the purview of unchecked military policing powers in violation of the Constitution.
Read the rest at IVN.us.
Editor in Chief, THL
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View Full Version : Need help in making a countdown timer
12-13-2009, 09:54 AM
Hey guys am new to the unreal community and am having some difficulties with this countdown mechanic that i am trying to implement.
Basically what i want is, once the player has touched the trigger the countdown will start up and an image will appear on a monitor (the monitor is a static mesh actor btw which i wnna link to the countdown trigger) has some texture or something like that.
Once the countdown reaches to 0 i want the lasers which have I made to move contually move which basically traps the player.
If you could guide me in th right direction i would really happy.
Thanks some much guys
12-14-2009, 06:18 AM
First learn about materials from hourences tutorials:
Start with tutorials about material instance, then look into snippets, there is one you may find useful "Use Trigger, Console Command, and Set Bool", modufy that one to use integer as counter and pan or change your material.
12-14-2009, 06:58 AM
So basicly what you want is a trigger, it activates a timer, when it's done a trap activates and shreds the player. I think i can show you how to do that. let me play a bit with kismet =P
12-16-2009, 08:34 AM
cool thx nawrot and beastentator if u could to do then it will help me alot, cheers guys
12-17-2009, 10:00 AM
ok, made a room with a working laser in it. Use matinees for timers, not delays, because you'll get replication issues in a online game.
(got a bit sidetracked with lighting and decorating btw, feel free to use anything I made in that little map.)
12-18-2009, 12:47 AM
Do you always get replication issues with online game-play when using delay ?
If so then it would give me some answers to my past problems, but not solve them (i'd have to try to confirm that)
12-18-2009, 09:30 AM
Your kismet sequencce doesn't seem to work i get the following warning messages
StaticMeshActor_51 Actor has bAcceptLights set but only uses unlit materials
StaticMeshActor_50 Actor has bAcceptLights set but only uses unlit materials
InterpActor_0 Actor has bAcceptLights set but only uses unlit materials
When touching the trigger the laser doesn't appear after 60 seconds
12-19-2009, 02:17 AM
Select reported object's and disable its bAcceptLights in its properties.
Warning is self explanatory :) It uses material that does not need light, yet it accepting it.
post link to your map file (dont cook it, just compress to zip or rar), ill take a look at it, maybe ill find your issue
1st Make sure you using trigger volume
2nd Check volume's collision. Touch all should fix it depending on what you trying to accomplish.
Post screenshot of your Kismet Setup of that timer you having an issue with so we can take a look.
12-19-2009, 05:25 AM
those are just lighting issues, it should work regardless of that, what i made should be allong the lines of what you need to do. basicly make a mover that actives after 60 seconds when the trigger has been enabled
Tested again, it works.
12-19-2009, 05:48 PM
Sometimes thinking that its obvious and has to work because it seems logical and you 100% sure it will, IT DOESNT.
Sometimes i'd have to rebuild ALL while making changes in Kismet (Weird and extremely rare)
I guess you just had one of those "sometimes" moments lol :D
12-20-2009, 02:44 AM
Well I changed nothing, and it did work. oh, by the way, make sure the triggercount is set to 0, I may have forgotten to do that
12-20-2009, 10:47 AM
Hey guys i've just re-tested the sequence and now its working, all i did was lowered the counter time and set the MaxTrigger count to 0.
Thx you guys for the help and support :D
Peace out and have great christmas
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The Action Plan for Mali has three priorities: rehabilitate cultural heritage damaged during the conflict with the active participation of local communities; take measures to protect the ancient manuscripts kept in the region; provide training activities so as to re-establish appropriate conditions for the conservation and management of cultural heritage, including manuscripts and intangible heritage. It is estimated to cost some US$ 11 million.
Measures foreseen under the plan concern both World Heritage sites and cultural heritage properties protected under national legislation. Specific actions are foreseen for Timbuktu, the Tomb of Askia in Gao, the Old Town of Djenne and the Cliff of Bandiagara (land of Dogon) as well as museums.
Comprehensive measures for the safeguarding and digitization of manuscript collections are also planned. The training activities foreseen by the plan concern all areas of cultural heritage preservation, both monuments and manuscripts.
The day-long meeting featured the participation of African and French decision makers including the ministers of culture of Mali and France. It was opened by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, who reiterated the Organization’s commitment to work for cultural preservation in Mali:
“When a World Heritage site is destroyed, because of stupidity and violence, the whole of humanity feels it has been deprived of part of itself; that it has been injured.”
“The destroyed mausoleums and attempted destruction of manuscripts are a new manifestation of fanaticism, the old enemy of reason,” said French Culture Minister Aurélie Filippetti, “This particular fanaticism views every trace of the past as a testimony of cultural diversity that must be destroyed.” The Minister furthermore pledged France’s support for the reconstruction and enhancement of cultural heritage in northern Mali, at the request of the Malian authorities and of UNESCO.
“This crisis revealed the vulnerability of cultural heritage and the insufficient preparedness of heritage management structures to handle emergency situations,” declared Bruno Maïga, Minister of Culture of Mali. He also spoke of the illicit trade in Dogon fetishes or statues. The Minister furthermore welcomed the rallying of international support in favour of his country’s cultural heritage. | <urn:uuid:c583387d-f999-4de7-be49-936a007247cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/987/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935649 | 445 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Posted , updated Dec 08, 2008.
Letting children help with chores takes lots of adult supervision and patience, but most parents believe that youngsters benefit from the responsibility. In fact, some parents expect their children to know what to do or how to do it without any instruction. They assume the child has seen chores being completed and must know how.
This isn’t always the case. Here are some ideas to help you:
When starting a new task, children need to watch you and help you. You can work side by side, simply explaining the task. Youngsters will want you right there for direction and moral support. Soon it will shift from them helping you, to you providing a little help to them.
Next children will have the knowledge they need to complete the task, but may forget something or need a reminder that it’s their turn.
You may reach a stage when the child not only does the job, but also does it with no reminding. It’s important to remember it takes years—not days or weeks for a child to move from helping you with a task to doing it alone without any reminding.
What are your expectations?
Make it easy.
Give your child choices.
Make the job important.
Don’t do the job over.
Don’t hover – unless safety is an issue.
The “new” wears off.
Let them savor the moment!
To Nag or Not to Nag
Getting children to complete chores can easily turn into a battle of ignoring and nagging. The message underlying nagging is, “I don’t trust you to remember”. It is ineffective for encouraging cooperation.
Parents tend to get into the habit of nagging when children act as if they haven’t heard you, or when they feel a reasonable time has elapsed to complete the job that remains undone.Parents can find themselves spouting orders and feeling like a drill sergeant, or falling into other negative patterns such as blaming, threatening, lecturing, or name calling.
Finding out if your child heard you can keep you from entering the nagging cycle. Ask, “Would you tell me what I just said?” This allows you to further clarify your expectations about how and when the task is to be completed.
Faber and Mazlish* outline these skills:
Your tone or attitude can defeat your methods. Children are very sensitive to the attitude you communicate. Using various strategies can help you gain more self-control and speak to what is best in your children—their intelligence, sense of responsibility, helpfulness.
Acknowledging emotions can help a child feel understood and more cooperative. Children can feel manipulated by a strategy when their feelings are disregarded or the relationship is reduced to a formula (I say this, now you respond).
Building time to enjoy each other can keep a relationship strong. Research indicates that positive experiences with parents enable children to better handle stress and negative emotions.
These components can help us nurture an emotional atmosphere where cooperation can grow and flourish.
*Source: A. Faber, E. Mazlish. How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, 1980.
See also: Children and Chores: The Basics
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At DePaul, teaching and learning is our priority. That might seem obvious, but of the nation's 10 largest private universities, DePaul University is the only one whose faculty priority is teaching. We’re also the nation’s largest Catholic university—committed to an educational experience that weaves together mind, place, people and heart.
Academic excellence that translates beyond the classroom
DePaul has nearly 300 undergraduate
majors and graduate
programs, and is known for its high-caliber graduates. Many professors are working in Chicago as consultants, researchers, lawyers and entrepreneurs, and their teaching style incorporates real-world experience. The world is brought into the classroom, and the classroom is taken out to engage the world, where students are considered partners in research and community action.
Campuses connected to a world-class city
DePaul has one campus in the heart of Chicago's business district, another in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, and three in surrounding suburbs. Chicago itself is an ideal classroom—so we take full advantage of it, for everything from research and internships to museums and service-learning opportunities. With more than 100,000 alumni in the metropolitan area, students make connections that impact their education and provide future career opportunities.
Engaging professors that focus on students
Students describe our professors as personable and engaging, because they actually get to know them—more than 98 percent of all classes are taught by faculty members, not teaching assistants. With fewer than 40 students in the average class, our faculty know the names, concerns and goals of individuals. In other words, they care.
A global society on campus
We are the largest Catholic university in the country; we’re also widely known for welcoming students and employees from all ethnicities, religions and backgrounds. By nurturing diversity and being intentional about incorporating multiple viewpoints into academic and student life, we provide learning experiences that better reflect — and prepare students for — the world.
A history that inspires us to serve
Saint Vincent de Paul lived a life dedicated to inclusiveness and serving others, which inspires us to take meaningful action both on and off campus. We have more than 45 specialized centers and institutes focused on addressing social justice issues, and our faculty is committed to integrating service opportunities into the curriculum. This combination takes learning to a whole new level: During our students' time at DePaul, they don't just do, they also understand. | <urn:uuid:d525e414-88e6-40be-a4fa-a421744722a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.depaul.edu/about/Pages/default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961154 | 495 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Welcome to the Anthropocene
Adapted from Joel Achenbach's blog.
I've been thinking a lot about the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is the name given by imaginative geologists to a new geological epoch shaped by human beings. It's not yet officially recognized as a scientific term. And the concept is not as flattering as it may sound at first blush. Ideally, we wouldn't have so drastic an impact on the world that it shows up stratigraphically.
You can see in the rocks of the Earth the pivotal biological moments. For example, the Permian-Triassic boundary can be found in sediments that are 251 million years old, and it marks the sudden disappearance in the fossil record of 95 percent of the planet's species. (The event is known as the Great Dying.)
We're officially living in the Holocene epoch, which began 11,600 years ago with a sudden warming event and the retreat of the glaciers. The Holocene has been an epoch of climate stability. It's been pleasant around here. We like the Holocene.
Except it may be over.
One obvious change is atmospheric, with the spike in carbon dioxide and resulting global warming. There's also the sudden mixing of species and their relocation around the planet thanks to human transportation. Invasive species and habitat destruction have led to a loss in biodiversity. All this has happened extremely quickly on the geological time scale.
Last week I attended the Aspen Environment Forum, which National Geographic's Dennis Dimick opened with a slide show he titled "The Man-Made World." It was visually arresting tour of what might be described as the transition from the Holocene to the Anthropocene. Dimick's premise is that for most of human existence we survived on contemporary sunshine in some form or another. Then we discovered coal, the genie in the Earth. Now we live off ancient sunshine (coal, oil, gas), which has made possible the extraordinary expansion of our population. But all trend lines show that this isn't sustainable. We have to return to a life based on contemporary sunshine.
There are scientists actively trying to persuade their peers that the Anthropocene is a stratigraphic fact, as real as the Permian-Triassic boundary. In sediments from 1945 and later we see the radioactive elements left over from atmospheric tests of atomic bombs. Or perhaps the Anthropocene started around 1800, when the Industrial Revolution took off.
Life in the Anthropocene has many nice qualities. Air conditioning comes to mind. But if it's not sustainable, then it's just another way in which we borrow from the future. We take what isn't ours. We squander resources.
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Pat Kendall, Cooperative Extension specialist and professor of food science and human nutrition (pictured, left), has always been interested in health and food, but her research on food safety has also made her very familiar with the language of pathogens and viruses. Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, and Norwalk virus (norovirus) are all essential words in her vocabulary. Fortunately, Kendall doesn’t expect everyone to be able to pronounce these pathogens, but she does want everyone to know how to avoid an illness from them.
Food safety is a major problem in the United States. Although it’s estimated that only one in 10 food-borne illnesses is documented, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics indicate that 76 million people in the United States are adversely affected by food-borne pathogens in any year, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. These illnesses are particularly dangerous to the elderly, young children, and those with compromised immune systems.
Food-borne illnesses can be linked to contaminated beef, poultry, seafood, eggs, and produce. “Outbreaks associated with meat may get more publicity because of large recalls, but produce-related outbreaks almost match the number of illnesses linked to contaminated beef, poultry, seafood, and eggs,” Kendall says. In fact, in 2000, there were 3,981 reported illnesses associated with contaminated produce and 4,025 linked to the other foods mentioned.
Pathogens appear in surprising places, like home-dried foods. For years, it was assumed that the low moisture content in dried foods precluded the growth of microbes, but research has shown that E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella can survive basic drying methods. Kendall, along with professor of animal sciences John Sofos (pictured, right) and Ph.D. candidate Patricia DiPersio, has developed some procedures for safely drying foods. They appear in a new Extension publication entitled Drying Foods: Dehydrating Fruits, Vegetables, Leathers, and Jerkies.
“The recommendations in the publication concern how foods that are about to be dried can be pre-treated to enhance the destruction of pathogens,” Kendall says. The research team tried various pre-treatment methods including blanching, immersing in salt solutions, and immersing in acidic solutions. By examining the vegetables, fruit, and jerkies about a month after they had been dried, Kendall and other investigators came to several conclusions. For both fruits and vegetables, pre-treating them with an acidic solution enhances the destruction of potentially harmful microorganisms during dehydration. For vegetables, water blanching in a solution that contains ½ teaspoon of citric acid per quart of water is recommended to increase pathogen death and improve general quality. A vinegar dip or ascorbic acid treatment should be used on meat prior to marinating for jerky. Safely drying foods involves pre-treatment, sufficiently heating the food to draw out moisture, exposing the food to dry air to absorb moisture, and allowing for proper air circulation to carry off moisture. These processes provide multiple hurdles that together enhance microbe destruction.
Publications are only one way Kendall gets the word out on food safety. She also writes a weekly column that appears in 22 newspapers, co-edits the SafeFood News online newsletter, oversees a subscription-only listserv that sends out food alerts, and provides training for Extension agents, master food preservers, and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. She has also been instrumental in developing a Web-based, multimedia continuing education program for nurses, dietitians, and Extension agents on food safety issues for high-risk audiences.
Kendall’s message may become even more imperative. “We didn’t worry about Norwalk virus three years ago,” Kendall says, referring to a pathogen that recently sickened diners at a Fort Collins steakhouse and that has generated news stories concerning outbreaks on cruise ships and care facilities. “The symptoms of Norwalk, vomiting and diarrhea, aren’t particularly long-lasting, but an infected person can still be a carrier of the virus even three days after the symptoms disappear.” This prolonged infectious period, Kendall explains, can be particularly problematic in a restaurant situation, in which the employer wants to keep the restaurant staffed, the employee wants to earn a paycheck, and outbreaks potentially can spread to a far greater number of people than is possible in a home kitchen situation.
Norwalk virus may seem particularly dangerous because it can land on any surface, but even a microbe like E. coli, whose original source may be in the gut of an animal, can easily cross-contaminate non-meat items without proper sanitary practices. “Furthermore, there is evidence that several strains of pathogens are becoming more virulent,” Kendall warns. “Microbes like E. coli O157:H7 are learning to survive in severe environments.”
Fortunately, Kendall and Sofos are committed to researching food-related health risks. Simple practices like hand washing, washing all produce with cold water before eating, keeping things refrigerated, and cleaning cutting boards, utensils, and refrigerators can significantly help protect health.
– Leslie Patterson
Are free-range chickens safer to eat? At what temperature should a refrigerator be kept? Is there any truth in the five-second rule? Some fascinating and fun questions are asked and answered by SafeFood News (http://www.colostate.edu/Orgs/safefood/NEWSLTR/menunews.html), the online newsletter produced quarterly by Colorado State University Cooperative Extension.
SafeFood News is part of the SafeFood Rapid Response and Information Network, a Web site designed to help consumers and producers make informed decisions by providing objective, research-based information about food production and safety issues. In an entertaining, down-to-earth style, the newsletter explores topics ranging from Food and Drug Administration warnings to urban legends surrounding food.
The Fall 2004 newsletter described an investigation in which a Georgia researcher discovered that 25 percent of the 100 free-range chickens he examined tested positive for Salmonella, matching the rate of conventionally raised chickens. An article in the Winter 2004 issue on food storage said that refrigerator temperature should be between 35 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. And in Spring 2004, research was described on the five-second rule – a piece of folklore that holds that if something is dropped on the floor it is still safe to eat if it is retrieved within five seconds. In this case, a high schooler doing an apprenticeship at Hans Blaschek’s University of Illinois laboratory, examined cookies and gummy bears dropped on tiled floors. Under a high-power microscope, she discovered that food could become contaminated with only five seconds of contact with inoculated tiles. | <urn:uuid:c0b3c438-80cf-48a0-ad15-63d24603a2d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/AES/Pubs/AnnRpt/2004/Kendall.html | 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 | 0.945266 | 1,440 | 3.25 | 3 |
This information is for reference purposes only. It was current when produced and may now be outdated. Archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at: https://info.ahrq.gov. Let us know the nature of the problem, the Web address of what you want, and your contact information.
Please go to www.ahrq.gov for current information.
Press Release Date: May 4, 2005
HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the U.S. Department of Defense today released the federal government's first compendium of studies on the successes and challenges of efforts to improve patient safety and reduce medical errors. Advances in Patient Safety: From Research to Implementation is a four-volume set of 140 peer-reviewed articles that represents an overview of patient safety studies by AHRQ-funded researchers and other government-sponsored research.
The four volumes contain information on virtually every dimension of the patient safety field, including new research findings on medication safety, technology, investigative approaches to better treatment, process analyses, human factors, and practical tools for preventing medical errors and harm. The compendium features emerging lessons from clinical studies, presents cutting-edge technologies such as simulation tools for surgery training, the effects of change on dynamic systems of care, and national and regulatory issues.
"Our hope is that the information and knowledge contained in these volumes will fuel the momentum of efforts to improve patient safety," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. "This new resource should give researchers and practitioners a sense of what has been accomplished and what still needs attention."
Each of the four volumes begins with a commentary from a patient safety expert who addresses questions and topics that range from whether patients are safer today than when the Institute of Medicine highlighted the problem of medical errors in 1999, the merits and challenges of a systems approach to health care safety, the challenges associated with implementing safe practices, and the scope of the programs, tools and products needed to improve safety in a variety of settings, along with their potential barriers to success.
The research presented in Volume 1 "demonstrates solid, broad, and rapid progress" in the field, says Brent C. James, M.D., executive director of Intermountain Health Care's Institute for Health Care Delivery Research in Salt Lake City. This volume, which focuses on research findings, explores strategies central to the delivery of safe and effective care. It includes articles on state-of-the-art
detection and tracking systems, interventions that address adverse drug events, building a culture of safety within institutions, the importance of teamwork, safety in different locales, the role of technology, and the role of national- and state-level policy.
Volume 2 covers concepts and methodology and examines complex systems of care used to treat patients. Such considerations are enabling many in health care to "move beyond the old 'name, blame, and shame' approach to improving safety to a more effective focus on human factors engineering and the systems" within which health care professionals work, according to Paul Schyve, M.D., senior vice president at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Chicago. This volume presents research examining adverse event classification techniques, caregiver-device interaction issues, system and process analyses, and practice and procedural redesign.
Volume 3 covers implementation issues, identifying both barriers to diffusion of patient safety improvements in health care and approaches for producing cultural change. Despite the challenges, implementation issues are "where it's at for patient safety,"according to commentator Lucian Leape, M.D., a longtime patient safety researcher who is an adjunct professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. "Only by putting into practice what we learn in our research will we make care safer," he said. This volume examines health information technology's promises and limitations, interventions for improving patient outcomes, hospital staff consensus building, and reporting reluctance and liability concerns.
Volume 4 showcases programs and products, screening tools and process simulators, communication education initiatives, safety climate and attitude surveys, and improved training models for new providers. Authors also provide details about overcoming barriers to achieve success. The articles reflect the array of health care settings in which safety efforts are underway, from hospitals to nursing homes to outpatient surgery to other community settings. "The authors provide not just the tools, but—in many cases—the equivalent of an instruction manual for assembling, using and ultimately achieving the results the product, tool, or program is designed to achieve," says Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., an associate dean and director at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of North Dakota.
Advances in Patient Safety: From Research to Implementation is available as a searchable CD-ROM. A limited number of four-volume printed sets also are available. To order free single copies of the CD-ROM or a printed set, contact the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295, or at AHRQPubs@ahrq.hhs.gov. Individual articles that comprise the four volumes are also available at http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/advances.
For more information, please contact AHRQ Public Affairs: (301) 427-1855 or (301) 427-1865. | <urn:uuid:7570b902-2e15-4550-a228-d4a33ceb1f89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2005/advancpr.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926075 | 1,111 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Jeremy Bailenson on Virtual Reality
Posted by The Situationist Staff on January 9, 2013
A few years ago, a research psychologist at Stanford University named Jeremy Bailenson effectively proved the soundness of Anderson’s recruitment methods (pdf). A week before the 2004 presidential election, Bailenson asked a bunch of prospective voters to look at photographs of George W. Bush and John Kerry and then give their opinions of the candidates. What the voters didn’t know was that the photographs had been doctored: each voter’s own visage had been subtly morphed together with that of one of the candidates.
In this and two follow-up experiments, Bailenson found what Rudy Rucker, the novelist who wrote Software, would have predicted: voters were significantly more likely to support the candidate who had been made to look like them. What’s more, not a single voter detected that it was, in part, his or her own face staring back.
In another experiment (pdf), Bailenson outfitted college students with head-mounted virtual-reality displays and then sat them across a digital table from an artificial-intelligence agent—a computer program with a human face. The students then listened as the “agent” delivered a short persuasive speech. When the agent was programmed to mimic a student’s facial movements on a four-second delay—a tilt of the chin, a look to the left, a downward glance—the students found it more likeable and compelling. And like the prospective voters, the students showed no sign that they knew they were being mimicked. Nothing, it seems, is more persuasive than a mirror.
Read entire article here.
Summary from Google Talks:
The coming explosion of immersive digital technology, combined with recent progress in unlocking how the mind works, will soon revolutionize our lives in ways only science fiction has imagined. In Infinite Reality, Jeremy Bailenson (Stanford University) and Jim Blascovich (University of California, Santa Barbara)—two of virtual reality’s pioneering authorities whose pathbreaking research has mapped how our brain behaves in digital worlds—take us on a mind-bending journey through the virtual universe.
Infinite Reality explores what emerging computer technologies and their radical applications will mean for the future of human life and society. Along the way, Bailenson and Blascovich examine the timeless philosophical questions of the self and “reality” that arise through the digital experience; explain how virtual reality’s latest and future forms—including immersive video games and social-networking sites—will soon be seamlessly integrated into our lives; show the many surprising practical applications of virtual reality, from education and medicine to sex and warfare; and probe further-off possibilities like “total personality downloads” that would allow your great-great-grandchildren to have a conversation with “you” a century or more after your death.
Related Situationist posts:
- Virtual Bias
- Virtual Infection, Disease Dynamics, and Human Behavior
- The Situation of First-Person Shooters
- The Facial Situation of Presidential Candidates
- The Situation of Trust
- Voting for a Face
- Botoxifying Empathy
Image from Pacific Standard. | <urn:uuid:68a9cbae-2c25-4fc7-88c8-e86a8b8029a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/jeremy-bailenson-on-virtual-reality/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=18b5244a97 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93626 | 666 | 2.328125 | 2 |
London The miasma of volcanic ash hovering over Europe showed no sign of dissipating Saturday, keeping thousands of forlorn travelers stranded across the continent for a third day and worsening economic losses.
The cloud of grit from the still-erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland began creeping as far south as Italy, forcing authorities to shut down airports in the northern part of the country.
Travelers anchored to Earth continued their scramble for hotels, or for trains, ferries and even taxis to reach their desired destinations. In Copenhagen, an enterprising cab company posted fares for long hauls across the continent: about $2,000 for passengers going to Amsterdam; $6,000 all the way to Madrid.
Most of British airspace remained closed, with planes grounded until 1 p.m. today at the earliest, despite a brief window of opportunity for a few flights Saturday afternoon from airports in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. By Saturday evening, the volcanic pall covered the whole country once again.
In Germany and northern France, including Paris, authorities canceled all flights until early today. Irish, Belgian, Dutch, Austrian and Swiss airspace was restricted. Most major airports throughout Scandinavia were idled, including Arlanda, Stockholm’s largest, which warned on its website: “The forecast is now even more uncertain than before.” | <urn:uuid:d06cb376-a23a-4ae0-9ebe-e4020a8703d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/apr/18/volcanic-pall-over-europe-shows-no-signs-disappear/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957785 | 281 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Learning until you
This website is no longer maintained. For the latest Suffolk labour market information visit our new home on the Source website for young people in Suffolk.
From 2015 you will remain in learning until you are 18.
Staying in learning doesn't mean staying in school; but instead you could go to college or take an apprenticeship.
The extra time in learning is designed to make sure you have every opportunity to get the skills and qualifications to build a successful life.
In this section you can find links to careers websites and labour market information beyond Suffolk - to help you identifty what skills and qualifications you need for your choice of career. | <urn:uuid:56004e95-2981-4b79-8a17-972eaa4f8937> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.suffolkworks.co.uk/index.asp?slevel=0z429&parent_id=429 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953752 | 132 | 1.75 | 2 |
So the United States Geological Survey is making its maps of earthquake fault lines in California available for download online to the public for the first time.
The maps, officially titled the “Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone Maps,” show highlighted fault lines highlighted on a grayscale, topographical depiction of the terrain, but that doesn’t mean any new cartography was done.
We went to the site, downloaded a PDF of the map for the Richmond area and began examining. We were pleased to see the retro aspects of our selected map.
The map from our area is from 1982 and clearly shows a drive-in movie theater at the Hilltop Drive exit and no Richmond Parkway, where our beloved West County Times building has stood watch for more than 20 years.
While our particular map may not offer insight into all the newer infrastructure in the area, it does show just how close the fault lines are to all of us and just how much you need to be prepared. Training is available if you want it.
And kudos to the USGS for not commissioning a new map. | <urn:uuid:acce376e-5bd9-43eb-9195-6739c304ca73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ibabuzz.com/westcounty/2011/02/21/602/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94057 | 226 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Life on the deep ocean floor must deal with extreme conditions. It is almost always completely dark, very cold, salty, and highly pressurized. Before scientists found the first deep-sea hydrothermal vent, it was thought that life on the deep seafloor was diverse and long-lived, but that the abundance of animals was very low.
changed dramatically in the 1970's when the first hydrothermal vents were discovered in
the Pacific ocean. They were found during an ALVIN dive at
the East Pacific Rise, a mid-ocean ridge where tectonic plates spread apart and molten
rock rises from within the Earth to form new oceanic. The illustration at the left
shows ALVIN and its lights illuminating hydrothermal vents and the animals that live near
Seawater circulates within the newly formed crust, becomes superheated, and then rises back to the seafloor. This very hot water (350 degrees C or 650 F) jets upwards out of the crust into the cold water. The places where the hot water comes out are called hydrothermal vents. When the scalding hot water meets the very cold seawater beyond the vent, an assortment of dissolved metals often precipitates out forming small particles in the water. These types of vents are called black smokers, and three black smoker chimneys are shown in the picture on the right.
What was truly amazing about hydrothermal vents was that clustered around them were dense colonies of large, previously unknown animals such as tube worms, giant clams, and other strange animals. Tube worms can be 3 to 4 meters (9 to 12 feet) long, and thus when stretched out much taller than the height of an average person.
Since there is no sunlight at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, plants can not grow, and what puzzled scientists for a long time was what the animals were eating. The sea water near hydrothermal vents is full of hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and oxygen, and it was discovered that special bacteria could live off of the hydrogen sulfide, and that these bacteria form the base of the food chain. The bacteria produce organic molecules which the larger vent animals live on. The picture on the left shows the diversity of life found at these vents.
We do not know if there are active hydrothermal vents at the Puna Ridge. It depends on whether there is a source of heat in the crust (such as hot molten rock) that will raise the temperature of the seawater. Using the DSL-120 kHz side-scan sonar data and ARGO II photographs of the seafloor, we will look for evidence of hydrothermal vents in the our study area. If there are active hydrothermal vents than there will almost certainly be life.
Hydrothermal vents stop and others start. New vents may be a long way away from old vents. How do animals get to new hydrothermal vents?
Check your answer below to see if you are correct. | <urn:uuid:483fc214-f762-4117-97f1-182f0994d09a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.punaridge.org/doc/factoids/Biology/Default.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953662 | 613 | 4.125 | 4 |
R.I.P. Dallas Willard (and Was He an Open Theist?)
The evangelical Christian community has lost one of its best minds and most articulate writers—Professor Dallas Willard of the University of Southern California’s School of Philosophy (retired), associate of Richard Foster’s in the Renovaré movement, and author of numerous books in the philosophy of religion and spiritual theology. I only had the privilege of meeting him once—when we shared the platform at my final commencement ceremony at Bethel College (now Bethel University) in 1999. He was the guest speaker and I prayed for the graduates. Over the years, however, Dallas and I corresponded occasionally. Most of our exchanges had to do with so-called “open theism.”
Willard was one of those rare intellectuals who could write both for other scholars and for non-scholars. And he was a philosopher who wrote theology (especially spiritual theology) very well. That is, he wore both hats, sometimes simultaneously.
Probably Willard’s most influential Christian book was The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (1998). (I wonder how many readers noticed that he dedicated it to, among others, fundamentalist preacher John R. Rice?) If I can summarize the thesis of the book (428 pages long!): True Christianity is something more than “sin management;” it is the experience of the “Kingdom of the heavens” here and now.
Willard ranged far and wide over Christian theology in The Divine Conspiracy, touching on most doctrines even if only obliquely. What intrigued me most, however, were his reflections on God and especially divine providence (a subject I have written about here often).
In The Divine Conspiracy Willard presented what I have called a “relational” view of God’s sovereignty. On pages 244-253 Willard argued that prayer can and sometimes does change God’s mind about what he intended to do. In a section subheaded “Can We Change God?” Willard wrote “God’s ‘response’ to our prayers is not a charade. He does not pretend that he is answering our prayer when he is only doing what he was going to do anyway. Our requests really do make a difference in what God does or does not do.” (p. 244)
Also, “It was two Old Testament scenes that changed my own mind about these matters and permitted me to enter into the teachings of Jesus about prayer. For I too was raised in a theology that presents God as a great unblinking cosmic stare, who must know everything whether he wants to or not, and who never in the smallest respect changes his mind about what he is going to do.” (pp. 244-245) The two OT scenes are from Exodus 32 and 2 Kings 19. I’ll let you look them up if you’re so inclined.
Further, “God is great enough that he can conduct his affairs in this way. His nature, identity, and overarching purposes are no doubt unchanging. But his intentions with regard to many particular matters that concern individual human beings are not. This does not diminish him. Far from it. He would be a lesser God if he could not change his intentions when he thinks it is appropriate. And if he chooses to deal with humanity in such a way that he will occasionally think it appropriate, that is just fine.” (p. 246)
Willard went on to explain that none of this offends God’s dignity because this arrangement, in which our praying can affect God and even change his intentions and actions (from what they were) “is an arrangement he himself has chosen.” (p. 253) “It is not inherently ‘greater’ to be inflexible.”
On the basis of those statements, many readers, including most open theists, believed Willard to be an open theist—one who believes that God knows everything actual as actual and everything possible as possible but does not know the future exhaustively except as a realm of both settled and not-yet-settled events.
Was Willard an open theist? No. So he said.
But you will have to decide whether he agreed with open theism or not. That will require some fairly in depth knowledge of open theism (not acquired solely from its critics but especially from those who embrace it such as Greg Boyd, John Sanders, Clark Pinnock, et al.).
I wrote two e-mails to Willard asking if he was an open theist. Here are his responses:
March 27, 2000: “I do believe that God does limit himself…and that this is an essential part of what is required in order for him to have a personal relationship with free and historical beings such as ourselves. Many people do not understand that the attribute of omniscience, like that of omnipotence, as a matter of what God can do, not a matter of what he does [sic]. He doses not do everything he could do, and he does not know everything he can know.”
I took that as a “yes.”
However, later, a student challenged me about this and argued that Willard was not an open theist. So I wrote to him again, asking for clarification. I specifically asked him if he was an open theist. He responded and copied his response to several people, so I assume he did not intend it to be kept confidential. And it led to further e-mail exchanges between one of those people (John Ortberg) and Willard and me.
Here is what Willard wrote in response to my question (whether he was an open theist):
“I think I would not be called an open theist by any thoughtful person who knows what I write and say. The points which strike some people as ‘open’ might be these. I believe that God does modify his actions in response to human beings on some occasions: does what he was not going to do or does not do what he was going to do. And I do not think he has to know every detail of created reality to bring it out where he wants it. But there isn’t anything He needs or wants to know that he does not know. The picture of God as a great, unblinking, cosmic stare is a projection upon him of how some people try to deal with control from a human point of view. But he has resources for achieving his purposes that no human being has, and he doesn’t have to be mean or immediately on top of every detail of existence in order to run the universe. He does have considerable help and no need to micro-manage everything. If I leave some things to my helpers, as an administrator, that does not mean that I close off part of the future to my sight. But if I did not limit myself in terms of what I could know, and what I would do, it would soon ruin the operation. Limiting myself (‘holding back’) is not the same as ‘closing it off.’ Omniscience refers to God’s power to know absolutely everything. That I firmly accept. But I believe he does, by his choice, not know everything he could know—without it in any way defeating his purposes—and I also believe that human interaction with him modifies what he does or does not do in the details of individual and group life. Not to believe this seems to me to force one into false interpretations of the wordings of scripture and to make a farce of prayer. I think it is the main explanation of why very few people pray in any sensible and effectual manner.” (December 9, 2009)
In my opinion, this could be fairly called “open theism”—or a version of it. But subsequent e-mail exchanges with Willard made clear that he did not want to wear that label.
One question the above quote raises for me is the extent and depth of Willard’s knowledge of open theism. Did he understand what leading open theists say or was he under some false impression of open theism?
Another question it raises (for me, anyway) is whether Willard’s aversion to being labeled an open theist had to do with the politics of evangelicalism. There is without any doubt a certain stigma attached to that label such that one will not likely be rejected (by moderate evangelical gate keepers) for holding the view but will be rejected for wearing the label. (It’s the same but reverse for “inerrantist”—as I have argued here before. One can deny inerrancy in any normal meaning of the term and be welcome among conservative evangelicals so long as one convincingly applies the label “inerrancy” to his or her theology of scripture.)
I never figured out what to make of Willard’s denial of open theism in light of his statements about God’s self-limitation including of his knowledge and of God’s mind-changing responses to prayers.
At the very least Willard was an ally, wittingly or unwittingly, of what I call “relational theism” and “relational sovereignty” and even of open theism.
I suspect, in my more cynical moments, that many ardent, passionate, conservative evangelical critics of relational sovereignty and open theism loved Dallas Willard because of his profound piety and intellectual support of biblical Christianity (as a philosopher) and, so long as he did not embrace the label “open theism” were happy to overlook his section on prayer in The Divine Conspiracy. | <urn:uuid:32d28807-1659-42e0-accc-d3265e6703e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978602 | 2,037 | 1.53125 | 2 |
"Kiln fires fusion of art, commerce"
June 9, 2008 · Updated 6:45 PM
"Bainbridge ceramic artist Brian Mackin doesn't see tension between art and commerce. In fact, he says, you can't have one without the other.Once the object goes out your door, it's a business, he says. You have to reconcile falling in love with art and the landlord who wants his rent.Mackin is one of the relatively small percentage of artists whose artwork supports a family and a mortgage. His secret formula is the same as for any business - persistence and hard work.As you go along, each year, people drop out, and you have less competition with experience, he said. Stick with it long enough, and you will break free.But there is also hard work. To get ready for his current show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, Mackin has been spending 18 hours a day in his custom-built studio next to his house on Roberts Road.Mackin's large earthenware vessels are unquestionably works of art. But because they can weigh up to 1,000 pounds and be taller than a person, plenty of industrial engineering is also involved.Mackin builds his works in layers. He finishes one ring, heats it inside and out with a blowtorch to form a skin for support, then stacks the next ring on top.His custom-made kilns are also layered. When he has a large piece to fire, he slides it onto a base, then stacks as many rings of kiln on top as he needs to accommodate the piece. It's kind of like building a pyramid, he said. I use lifts and pulleys, but nothing that's been invented in this century.As the scale of his work increases, so do the problems. Drying a 1,000-pound pot takes 10 times as long as drying a 100-pound pot. He learned the pitfalls by trial and error.Everything I've learned, I've learned by screwing up, he said. Basically, the way to ruin things is to go too quickly.The bright, primary colors that characterize his work are the product of necessity as much as choice. Mackin is color-blind, and relies on wife Andrea for guidance in that area.She approves my colors, he says. And while he's broadening his color palette, he does so carefully.I mixed some colors I thought were really neat one time, he recalled, and Andy said, 'That's such an ugly brown, it looks like dog poo with glaze on it.'Mackin reverses the prototypical story of the aspiring artist who ends up being a businessman. The Seattle native majored in economics at Whitman College, then went to Japan for a year to learn the language as a foundation for an international business career.To help pass the time, he took a pottery class, and inspiration struck.For the first time in my life, I was doing something that I really loved. And I thought it would be great if I could do it for a living.His first art job was as a glass blower making Christmas balls. But he shifted to pottery, in part because that medium permitted the large-scale work he likes.Rejecting what he calls the starving artist model, Mackin worked other jobs for a dozen years to subsidize his own art. He gradually built a following in galleries, but his commercial breakthrough came when Gump's department store in San Francisco began showing his work.In a gallery, I'll show 10 pieces and sell five, he said. But at Gump's, you have 9,000 people a day seeing your work. So I show seven pieces and sell 50, by replacing pieces every week.Even with a good volume, and with Mackin's larger pieces selling for $2,000 and up, the economics of art are still daunting. Gump's and most galleries take 50 percent of the sale price. Larger pieces cost up to $300 to pack and ship. And despite all of his experience, he still loses about one third of his pieces to cracking, warping and glaze problems.Potters figure if you can clear anything more than $10 per hour, you're doing well, he said.The show at BAC is an exception to the 50-50 split between gallery and artist, because the island's non-profit co-op only takes 40 percent. That, in turn, lets Mackin drop his prices for the 60-plus pieces in the BAC show.And the 40 percent that BAC takes goes for a good cause as well. After paying the small staff, which Mackin calls hands down the easiest people I've ever worked with, BAC dedicates any leftover money to island art education.Mackin hopes BAC prices are attractive to local buyers. I'd like to see some of the pieces stay on the island, he said.Mackin said that even though San Francisco is his best sales outlet, the people who buy his work come from Chicago, New York and Florida. So, as logic would suggest, he wants to get into galleries in those areas. He is in a gallery in Chicago, and has a New York gallery representative visiting him soon. But he has no interest in going to his buyers.The way to beat the system is to live in a place like this and sell in bigger markets, he said." | <urn:uuid:fe5e0c20-8210-41e6-91c0-053e34ab1461> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bainbridgereview.com/business/19693669.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983433 | 1,114 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Published July 17, 2012
| Associated Press
DALLAS – The George W. Bush Institute is launching its first book, which features experts weighing in on ways for the U.S. to jumpstart the economy toward 4 percent gross domestic product growth.
The former president writes the foreword for "The 4 Percent Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs," which will be released Tuesday. He is set to give brief remarks at an event Tuesday evening in Dallas featuring several of those who contributed to the book.
James K. Glassman, executive director of the Bush Institute, said that the book — which includes entries by five Nobel Prize winners — is part of "The 4 Percent Growth Project" launched last year with a goal to "change the conversation in America so that it focuses on the goal of sustainable, strong growth."
"We think that the way to solve the economic problems that America faces can be summed up in 4 percent growth. Right now we're growing about at 2 percent. We've grown an average of about 3 percent since the end of World War II," said Glassman, who wrote the book's introduction.
Economic growth is one of the Bush Institute's focal points, along with education, global health and freedom. The institute and the presidential library will be housed at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which is under construction on the campus of Southern Methodist University.
There were two recessions during Bush's eight years in office, the first a mild downturn that began in March 2001, just after he took office, and lasted eight months. The second, which began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, months after he left office, became known as the Great Recession, the longest and deepest since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
"While the causes of the 2008 crisis will be debated by scholars for decades to come, we can all agree that excessive risk-taking by financial institutions, irresponsible decisions by lenders and borrowers, and market-distorting government policies all played a role," Bush said in the book's foreword. "The question now is which policies we should adopt to fix the problems, speed the recovery, and lay the foundation for another long, steady expansion."
Glassman said ideas in the book for stimulating the economy include broad tax reform that would keep taxes low — extending the Bush-era tax cuts, broadening the tax base by getting rid of special exemptions and loopholes, taxing consumption rather than income and lowering corporate taxes. He said the book also touches on immigration policy and its effect on the economy, advocating for a policy that would help "attract the smartest people from around the world."
Glassman said that the hope is that the idea of focusing on growth will become part of the conversation this election season.
"Certainly Republicans and Democrats can disagree on how to get growth," Glassman said. "Some people say, 'Well, the best way to get growth is through government spending.' We disagree with that, but that certainly is a position to take. We say cut government spending, reform taxes, change immigration policy and so on."
Since leaving office, Bush largely has avoided the political scene, instead focusing on the work of his institute, traveling to Africa to promote a partnership to fight cervical and breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, and holding events to honor the nation's troops, including joining them on bike rides across rugged Texas terrain.
George W. Bush President Center, http://www.georgewbushcenter.com | <urn:uuid:b05fd630-7b16-4c1e-b331-3363190259b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/17/bush-institute-launches-book-on-economic-growth/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973019 | 710 | 1.929688 | 2 |
When the Famine struck in Ireland relief committees were set up all over the country to try and help the destitute, hungry and dying. The names in the document below come from subscribers to the Paulstown Relief Fund, County of Kilkenny compiled by Samuel Jefferies of Gowran. Names such as Flood, Brenan, Maher, Healy, Byrne, Drennan, Harding, Wynn and Brophy are all listed.
At the end of the list of subscribers is a short note from the fund treasurer James Maher. It reads:
I acknowledge to have received from the forgoing subscribers to the Paulstown Relief Fund the several suries(?) attached to their names making a total of £171 received by me up to this date.
13 June 1846
Ancestry.com Ireland Famine Relief Papers 1844-1847 from The National Archives of Ireland Incoming Letters Numerical Series RLFC3/1/ 2010 accessed 19 May 2011 | <urn:uuid:04b1d13f-c8e5-4e2f-a9fb-e2bbb2ea9b4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oldpaulstownstories.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/irish-famine-relief-commission-papers-1844-1847-2/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=d763d6158f | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934617 | 196 | 2.78125 | 3 |
A little-known requirement is preventing some of the hardest-hit homeowners from receiving assistance for Hurricane Sandy recovery from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. NY1's Susan Jhun filed the following NY1 For You report.
The beautiful waterfront view at Sara Barbera's home in the Howard Beach section of Queens comes at a great cost.
"Everything was destroyed," says Barbera.
The Howard Beach homeowner suffered severe losses last year after Hurricane Irene flooded her basement, and then had Hurricane Sandy flood her entire first floor.
Now, as Barbera tries to rebuild again, she says the Federal Emergency Management Agency is refusing to give her assistance a second time.
Barbera says when she cashed FEMA's check from Irene, she was not aware she was required to get flood insurance. In any case, she couldn't afford it.
"I am a widow, I'm a cancer survivor, I'm a disabled woman and I also have my mom living with me," Barbera says. "So living on a fixed income, I just cannot afford the flood insurance."
NY1 contacted FEMA and a spokesman confirmed that by law, individuals who did not acquire flood insurance on previously damaged property are not eligible for federal assistance for repair, replacement or restoration.
Barbera says that affects a lot of homeowners hit hard by Hurricane Irene and Sandy.
"I know for a fact it's not only I, but a lot of my neighbors that were paid last year are under the same circumstances," she says.
For now, Barbera has no heat or hot water and has yet to pay for the electricity she had restored. As the homeowner surveys three decades' worth of personal property damage, she hopes that FEMA will reconsider as she vows to keep appealing her case.
Although FEMA officials would not speak to NY1 specifically about Barbera's case, a spokesman says the agency would look into it again. | <urn:uuid:765ebbaa-d058-49ef-8007-9a85fb793a9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ny1.com/printarticle.aspx?ArID=174333 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981481 | 390 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Coke drinking is an effective first-line treatment to dissolve ‘gastric bezoars’ or indigestible masses that form in the stomach after foreign material accumulates there, according to a new Greek study.
In general terms, a ‘bezoar’ is a ball of indigestible foreign material (anything from food boluses to plant material) that collects in the stomach and fails to pass through the intestines.
Symptoms include stomach upset or distress, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pain.
As the most common type of bezoar, phytobezoars comprise indigestible cellulose, tannin and lignin from ingested vegetables.
Diospyrobezoars, a type of phytobezoar formed from unripe persimmons or pineapples, are particularly common in Asian countries where these fruits are common, and are especially hard to treat because of their hard consistency.
Writing in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics on December 17, S.D Ladas et al., from the department of medicine at the University of Athens, said that they had conducted this systematic meta-review of publications on gastric phytobezoars to “assess the efficacy of Coca-Cola as a dissolution therapy”.
Coke, Pepsi or common cola?
Despite the obvious Coca-Cola name check – why not Pepsi Cola or generic cola? – the study authors said their peer reviewed study was uncommissioned.
Corresponding author Dr. D Kamberoglou told BeverageDaily.com: "We decided to review papers with Coca-Cola now, because this beverage has mainly been used to dissolve phytobezoars."
Coca-Cola did not fund the review, Kamberoglou said, adding, "it is of note that the company has not found any interest and has not sent any comment about this systemic review as far as now".
The scientists wrote: “We first published a report about Coca-Cola efficacy in dissolving gastric phytobezoars in 2002.
"Since then, more than 20 reports have followed the same treatment modality."
“Our aim was to review all studies evaluating Coca-Cola dissolution therapy, concerning patients’ characteristics and outcome.”
Success as standalone treatment
After a systematic literature search, the team found that 24 papers including 46 patients had been published between 2002 and June 2012, and that in 91.3% of these cases, ‘phytobezoar resolution’ with Coca-Cola was successful in achieving either partial or complete dissolution.
“Coca-Cola alone is effective in gastric phytobezoar dissolution in half of the cases, and, combined with additional endoscopic methods, is successful in more than 90% of them.”
The beverage was successful in terms of complete dissolution as a standalone treatment (50% of cases) or combined with further endoscopic techniques (41.3%).
Phytobezoars were more likely to dissolve after initial attempts with Coca-Cola (60.6%) compared with diospyrobezoars (23%).
Coca-Cola administration is a cheap, easy-to-perform and safe procedure that can be accomplished at any endoscopy unit. Moreover, lavage can be offered at bedside or patients may drink the beverage at home.”
Variations such as Zero of Light – sweetened with aspartame – was reportedly equally effective, Ladas et al. said (quoting a Ladas et al. 2002 study).
Conservative management of phytobezoars included administering proteolytic enzymes, cellulase, carbohydrate beverages – either orally or by gastric lavage – and endoscopic fragmentation, the scientists said.
But they added that: “Endoscopic fragmentation, although efficacious as an initial treatment, is more expensive and time consuming.”
And despite the reported 100% efficacy of treating phytobezoars with cellulose, Ladas et al. said that cellulose was “not available in every country and is more expensive compared with Coca-Cola”.
"We do not think that more intervention studies need to be done," Kamberoglou told this publication.
"It seems that Coca-Cola works."
Title: ‘Systematic Review: Coca-Cola can effectively dissolve gastric phytobezoars as a first-line treatment’
Authors: S.D. Ladas, D. Kamberoglou, G. Karamanolis, J. Vlachogiannakos, I. Zouboulis-Vafiadis
Source: Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Volume 37, Issue 2 (December 17, 2012), doi:10.1111/apt.12141
*Editorial note: Correction made in light of comment below (9/1/13) | <urn:uuid:1a627010-8543-4d71-91c4-cf3e7ad17710> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beveragedaily.com/Big-Brands/Coca-Cola/Not-gettin-far-with-that-gastric-bezoar-Grab-a-Coke | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933883 | 1,027 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The Olive Oil Source
Contrary to recent media attention, fraud is not the olive oil industry’s biggest problem. According to almost every professional we ask, the number one challenge is consumer education. But what is the industry doing to solve it? Not nearly as much as they are doing to go after mislabeled goods.
Ultimately, the only way to create a sea change in the business will be educating everyday users of olive oil to make purchase decisions based on quality, not misunderstood semantics. So maybe the weapons to fight this war are not the USDA certification and Federal marketing orders of the world. Maybe the tools are already in the hands of consumers, in the form of iPhones™ and iPads™ and other mobile devices used every day by an army of curious consumers.
It is not surprising that the olive oil world has been slow to take up the digital world. Olive oil has always been associated with old world romance and sensory experiences, none of which you can easily access on your home computer or mobile device – not yet anyway. So how does the one of the oldest industries in the world embrace the newest digital trends?
Digital Apps to the Rescue
The best olive oil app is not yet invented. It will solve two problems: uncovering adulteration while providing education. It will be able to scan a label’s UPC or QR code and tell the buyer if the olive oil is the real thing: where it was grown, when it was harvested and bottled, how it fared in meeting chemical quality standards and how it was handled on the trip from the mill to the store. Until then, the next best thing might be to have a vetted database of brands from an unbiased authority (UC Davis Olive Center and COOC take the hint, please) that would be available online for easy in-store access.
Until then, a handful of olive oil entrepreneurs have created the first digital forays into delivering information into the hands of novices. The current small collection of apps may not be earth-shatteringly essential, but they have begun to explore how digital and physical can co-exist in this business to further the education process for consumers.
As with any pioneers carving out a new road, it’s forgivable that they haven’t paved it. So be patient with these digital forerunners. Priced at less than a magazine at the newsstand, they provide some interesting ways for consumers to source high quality extra virgin olive oil and learn some interesting facts in the process.
The first digital app dedicated to extra virgin olive oil, Go EVOO is the brainchild of Carol Firenze, author of The Passionate Olive. Firenze is best known for providing readers of her popular book with hundreds of creative ways to use olive oil, so it is natural that the app is packed with lots of tips and ideas. The searchable GPS-enabled directory of over 200 olive oil producers, purveyors and tasting rooms in California and around the country provides travelers who are hankering for some quality olive oil an easy way to find it. The rest of the information presented is relatively lightweight for the capability of an iPad, but you can learn some interesting and little known facts about olive oil from this cost-effective app. $1.99
Olive Oil IQ
Olive Oil IQ is a nicely-focused travelogue for lovers of Italian olive oil. Written by travel writer, Sharri Whiting, it is packed with pretty pictures and fairly deep detail about different olive oil-related subjects, like ancient history, olive trees and recipes. The handsome design interface and search wheel helps organize an extensive table of contents. From a practical perspective, it is designed more as a travel guide for visitors to Italy than a purely dedicated source of information about olive oil. It includes places to visit, stay and experience Italy and could be helpful if you are planning a trip focused on food. And when in Italy, who wouldn’t be? $2.99
Olive Oil Times
Curtis Cord, publisher of Olive Oil Times, describes the app as “…essentially a constantly updated and expanding guide to the world of olive oil in a smartly designed interface.” This is a great description of an iPad™ app that serves as a door into their comprehensive website. With a simple user-interface, this app sorts subjects by matching categories found on the web. The drawback of the app is that most everything ultimately hyperlinks to online information, so it doesn’t provide much in the way of mobile advantages over going directly to the site from any browser. I understand that new interactive features are in the works that will take advantage of the mobility of iPhone™ and iPad™ apps, like on-the-go bar code scanning for olive oil products, so stay tuned to watch this app, unlike olive oil, improve over time. $3.99
Flos Olei 2012: The Best
Marco Oreggia has created a series of guides designed to provide independent olive oil sensory evaluations that are available as digital iPad™ apps. His Flos Olei: 2012 A Guide to the World’s Best Extra Virgin Olive Oils covers data from 40 olive growing countries including Spain, Italy, France and other Mediterranean countries such as Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia and Morocco, and distant countries like Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan and Brazil. No U.S. producers are included in current editions. The 2012 edition contains descriptions of 625 extra virgin olive oils from a total of 446 producers selected from among 1200-1500 farms worldwide.
The app is simple enough, opening with a graphically-driven legend of symbols that guide the user through individual oil assessments. The publisher provides an extensive amount of information about selected producers including details about farm description, location, contact information, oil tasting notes and recommendations for food and olive oil pairings.
To round out its functionality, the app also supplies a lengthy glossary of related terms, a solid description of the proper way to taste olive oil (albeit somewhat quirky in its presentation flow) and official denominations of origins (AOP, DOG, IDG – all European categories for official growing regions but they fail to explain these terms).
For the 2012 edition, fifty expert olive oil tasters, both men and women of all ages, tasted around 3000 samples. They based their analysis on the official tasting methods created by the International Olive Council (Consiglio Oleicolo Internazionale). The results of the five month study included only 179 recommended oils, with 20 receiving the honor of “best in the world”. FREE – $9.99 (based on edition) | <urn:uuid:a3b26494-5113-4620-9890-e1ded8ce139a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.carolinejbeck.com/can-digital-apps-solve-the-industrys-1-challenge/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943847 | 1,360 | 1.9375 | 2 |
For eleven hours a day, six days a week, over the course of three years Gerris mastered the Scylla Console. He knew every strength and flaw of this elite piece of technology. He knew the optimal temperature of the processor was 72.3 degrees Fahrenheit. He knew that in most of the Scylla Console’s constructed, the third memory module would short out if there was an electrical feedback over 14 milliamps. Most importantly and the easiest thing to learn about the Console, megacorporations security feared it.
Hackers across the globe dreamed of running with the Scylla. The neural interface revolutionized how hackers broke into secure servers. Gerris slid the halo control band onto his head and booted the Scylla console. For his years of training and use of the Scylla, Gerris owed The Community five million creds and had to do any job they required. Indentured hackers kept The Community powerful and rich.
The halo control beamed a heads-up display directly on Gerris’s retina. He saw the command tree and navigated through it to bring up the core connection commands. He connected to the global network. The display reset to show his connection. Using a combination of his mind and hands, he activated icons which launched preloaded programs. After a few minutes the image of Tobias Synchline Enterprises glowed in the halo’s HUD. Gerris virtually stood at the gateway to one of the most secure servers on the net. Tobias Synchline Enterprises would soon pay for what they did to him.
The Scylla Console scanned the open ports and detected security apps running on all of them. Active security posed little threat to hackers. Active security was like a large electrical fence. Dangerous but if the hacker knows how, circumvented easily enough with the right tools. A megacorp can’t be entirely locked down and still do business. It needs to communicate with the rest of the world. That is the way skilled hackers like Gerris slip in – hijacking normal transmissions.
The passive systems presented a different challenge. Without inside information, a hacker relied upon wits as the passive systems were tripped. The most common passive system would send a pulse back along the intrusion path, damaging the equipment the hacker was using.
Gerris pushed forward, tapping into a financial file transfer. The active security measures overlooked his signal but the extra bandwidth coming through the port triggered one of the passive traps. Scylla’s display flashed red and Gerris activated his Scatter countermeasure, splitting his signal over and over until any pulse sent back at him would be diminished to just a bit of static. The display slowed for several seconds while this countermeasure protected Gerris.
The signal merged again and the connection sped up. Gerris scrolled through his command tree and activated a small utility program allowing him to jump the directory structure. He used it several times and ended up in one of the hidden archives – at the threshold of the Holy Grail – root access. From there, he’d own the server and able to shut down the security protocols.
The ICE protecting the final access node was formidable. His thousands of hours of training came down to moments like this. He needed to react by instinct, not thought. Like a great athlete using muscle memory to run, spin, and jump, Gerris flicked through his programs, pushing the Scylla Console to its upper limits.
The barriers surrounding the root access fell, one after another. Bots on the server would probe his signal once in awhile but were easily misled. Signal disruptors attempted to disconnect Gerris, but Gerris just increased the connection strength and redoubled his efforts against the defensive shell around the root. No thought, no time to plan, this run was all reaction. All instinct. All his training coming to the forefront. His fingers moved rapidly over the manual controls and his eyes flicked back and forth responding to the halo’s display.
The display flashed purple. Several icons appeared in a toolbar. Sweat beaded on Gerris’s brow as he realized he was being hacked. The ultimate countermeasure, another hacker working for the megacorp traced the signal back to his console.
Gerris launched his own security measures. He had no time to activate any passive elements. His only hope was to stay alive long enough to disconnect. The corporate hacker defeated his security rapidly. Gerris launched programs almost randomly – anything to stall his pursuer.
Every chance he could, he manually keyed the disconnection sequence on his manual controls. The megacorp reinforced the signal. Gerris needed a new strategy. Fleeing wasn’t working.
He activated the Scatter once more. Everything crawled to a halt. Gerris used his training to take a mental inventory of all the tools he could use against the assailant. He settled on a simple plan. He didn’t know what else to do. When the signal merged and everything sped up again, Gerris launched a floating point calculation. The fans on the Scylla spun up, causing the entire console to vibrate.
Gerris slipped into his own OS core and turned the fans off. The internal sensors saw the temperature rise dramatically. He could feel the heat waves pour off the console. Programs started locking up. Memory errors flashed all over the HUD. The assailant was also slowed as the Scylla Console stopped responding to all commands.
The console overheated, the memory modules failed. Finally the OS crashed. Feedback blasted through the neural interface into the halo device. Gerris received a severe shock but nothing as bad as what could have happened. The console was completely fried. He had no idea how he’d pay for it, but he lived to hack another day.
About SeanSean D. Francis is a technologist, writer, and geek. He podcasts, makes video, and dabbles in all the geeky genres including horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. View all posts by Sean → This entry was posted in Fiction and tagged cyberpunk, hacker, megacorp, netrunner. Bookmark the permalink.
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Comments are closed. | <urn:uuid:e046ccba-9463-4968-a514-8f9f36d8f225> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seandfrancis.com/2013/03/no-brainer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962196 | 1,297 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Martial Trezzini, AP Photo/Keystone
GENEVA — The U.N.'s top human rights official warned Friday that mass killings in Libya, possibly of thousands, require the world to "step in vigorously" and immediately end a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters in the North African country.
As Libya faces growing diplomatic pressure from around the world, the U.N. High Commissioner spoke with the most urgency yet by a U.N. official, citing estimates that thousands may have died at the hands of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's security forces, possibly amounting to crimes against humanity.
"The crackdown in Libya of peaceful demonstrations is escalating alarmingly with reported mass killings, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture of protesters," Navi Pillay told the U.N. Human Rights Council during a daylong emergency meeting. "Tanks, helicopters and military aircraft have reportedly been used indiscriminately to attack the protesters. According to some sources, thousands may have been killed or injured."
Diplomats on the 47-nation council debated whether to call for Libya's ouster from the council, in what would be an unprecedented suspension of one of its own members. It will also decide whether to heed Pillay's call for an independent U.N.-led probe of abuses in Libya.
It was only last May that the former U.S. enemy was elected to the Geneva-based body as part of a series of attempts at political rehabilitation on the world stage.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also was to meet with the powerful U.N. Security Council later Friday in New York to consider possible sanctions against Libya.
European nations were leading the effort to condemn Gadhafi's regime that has ruled for 42 years but now appears to have lost control of large parts of the country.
"The world is watching you, the world will hold you to account," British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters Friday, referring to Gadhafi's regime. "International justice has a long reach and a long memory."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a statement on Friday that Libya must not be allowed any "further exacerbation of the situation, the destruction of the civilian population." It is the Kremlin's strongest criticism yet of Libya.
Pillay reminded the council that Gadhafi had urged his supporters to battle protesters and "attack them in their lairs."
"Any official, at any level, ordering or carrying out atrocities and attacks can be held criminally accountable," she said.
It is the first time that the Geneva-based council has held a special session to scrutinize one of its members. Libya's ambassador did not attend, but some of its allies spoke out against sudden measures to punish Gadhafi.
Nigeria and China were among those who condemned the violence but rejected the call to suspend Libya from the council.
Pakistan's ambassador, Zamir Akram, said the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference "strongly condemn the excessive use of force" in Libya.
"Muslims will no longer tolerate inequalities and injustice," he told the council. "A new dawn has come. The rules of the game have changed. Those who do not embrace it will be swept away."
Akram made no mention of supporting Libya's suspension from the council.
Also Friday, a Paris-based Libyan official said Libya's ambassadors to France and to the U.N. cultural and education organization UNESCO had quit Friday, the latest Libyan official of abandon the regime.
Gadhafi's response to the uprising in his country has been the harshest by any Arab leader in the wave of protests that has swept the Middle East recently, toppling the presidents of Libya's neighbors Egypt and Tunisia.
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Oct 21 2012
An explosion has hit the Old City of Damascus, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens of other civilians, Syrian activists said.
It came as president Bashar Assad discussed the civil war in his country with visiting UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
The blast targeted a police station in the Bab Touma neighbourhood, a Syrian official said.
Bab Touma, a popular attraction for shoppers, is inhabited mostly by members of Syria's Christian minority.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the death toll. It said it was not immediately clear if the victims were civilians or policemen but it described the blast as "strong" and said ambulances and police cars were rushing to the area.
Mr Brahimi, who represents the UN and the Arab League, met Assad in another part of the capital. Mr Brahimi has appealed for a truce between Assad's forces and rebels for the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins on October 26.
Mr Brahimi arrived in Damascus on Friday after a tour of Middle East capitals to drum up support for the ceasefire, which he hopes will pave the way for a longer-term truce.
A range of countries including Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Germany have thrown their support behind the idea, but neither the Syrian government nor the rebels have signed on.
Mr Brahimi met foreign minister Walid al-Moallem on yesterday. A Foreign Ministry statement released after the meeting did not mention the proposed truce, but said the two men discussed "objective and rational circumstances to stop the violence from any side in order to prepare for a comprehensive dialogue among the Syrians".
Syrian government forces and rebels have both agreed to, and then promptly violated, internationally brokered ceasefires in the past, and there is little indication that either is willing to stop fighting now. | <urn:uuid:c29065c5-5a23-483f-a45c-f10e56d2716a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osadvertiser.co.uk/news/west-lancashire-breaking-news/2012/10/21/fatal-blast-hits-damascus-quarter-80904-32074973/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968976 | 378 | 1.648438 | 2 |
- Thu, 08/16/2012 - 17:04
Aug 18th 2012 | KASHGAR | from the print edition
IDH KAH mosque in Kashgar, said to be the biggest in China, boasts a noticeboard recalling the care lavished on its restoration by the central government. The monument is an emblem, it claims, of “the harmony among China’s ethnic groups”. However, many of the men idling in the shade of the mosque’s leafy grounds on a Saturday in the holy month of Ramadan are in an unharmonious state of mind.
Xinjiang, the vast region in whose west lies the old Silk Road city of Kashgar, has a history of tension between the ethnic-Turkic, mostly Muslim, Uighurs who used to make up most of its population, and the authorities, dominated by ethnic-Han Chinese. During Ramadan, which comes to an end on August 19th, that tension has been exacerbated by the government’s intervention in religious practice.
It has been discouraging, and in some places even banning, Communist Party cadres, government officials, students and schoolchildren from fasting and attending mosques during working hours. “Every year it’s the same,” says one man, sporting the four-cornered embroidered green hat worn by many Uighurs. “But my children are Muslims. We just ignore it.”
Groups representing Uighur exiles say that this year the campaign has been more intense than usual. Xinjiang’s government has denied forcing people to break the fast. Hou Hanmin, a spokeswoman, was quoted by Global Times, a party-owned newspaper, saying that the government did, however, “encourage residents to eat properly for study and work purposes.”
This is resented by many Uighurs as yet another encroachment on their traditions. Kashgar is rapidly becoming a Chinese city like many others. A huge statue of Mao Zedong overlooks the central People’s Square. The old town of mud-brick houses linked by labyrinthine alleys is disappearing, eaten up by broad avenues lined by high-rise buildings. In Xinjiang as a whole, Uighurs and other minorities are now outnumbered by Han Chinese.
Many Uighurs long for independence, which the region briefly enjoyed as East Turkestan in the 1930s and again in the 1940s. The emergence of independent Central Asian republics after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and then the toppling of Arab dictators in 2011 encouraged exiles to dream. But independence is not on the cards, though anti-Chinese sentiment does at times turn violent—most dramatically in 2009 in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, when at least 150 people died in rioting and the battle to contain it.
Given this history, it seems surprising that the government should risk inflaming passions by interfering with religious observance. Exiled activists see it as fitting a pattern. “The whole idea,” says Alim Seytoff of the Uighur American Association, “is to secularise the Uighur people.”
That may be putting it too strongly. But the government itself makes a link between religion and politics. In Ms Hou’s words, “religious extremism is closely related to violence and terrorism, and cracking down on these is one of our top priorities.” To that end, presumably, the government has been coming down hard on illegal Islamic schools. One raid in June, on a school in the southern city of Khotan, led to several children being injured. Exiles blamed tear gas; the government said the school’s staff set off explosives.
The facts in a number of other recent incidents are similarly disputed. What the authorities called a “terrorist hijacking” of a flight from Khotan to Urumqi in July (using a crutch as a weapon) was blamed by exiles on a fight provoked by anti-Uighur discrimination. Twenty Uighurs, sentenced to lengthy jail terms this month for involvement in terrorism and separatism, were, according to exiles, guilty merely of reading banned material on the internet.
A dangerous neighbourhood
It is understandable that China is nervous about the spread of Islamist extremism. It has only to look at its own borders to see its consequences in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The Chinese have complained to Pakistan—a close ally—that it is not doing enough about extremist groups in its tribal areas, where China says Uighur terrorists plot mischief in Xinjiang.
In Kashgar, however, security this month does not seem too obtrusive. Even the open grumbling of many Uighurs is, in a way, a sign of relative relaxation. When tensions rise, the Chinese authorities have shown themselves well able to prevent any attempted uprising. What they seem unable to do, in spite of the investment they have poured into the region, is to tackle the inequalities and prejudice that alienate so many Uighurs. | <urn:uuid:cdeaaae6-c1d7-4387-8e26-813d587e2350> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uyghuramerican.org/article/fast-and-loose.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96027 | 1,053 | 2 | 2 |
When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Psalm 128:2
Failing at producing
You may have heard the phrase that America has turned into a “nation of consumers”. If you think that is an incorrect assessment, take a look at this graph:
This year, 2012, will likely be the 37th consecutive year that the United States of America has imported more than it has exported. In other words, we are consuming hundreds of billions of dollars more than we produce. As a whole, Americans are less productive, which means we are also less creative, than we were back in the 1960s.
For Christians, a trend like this should be unsettling, because it goes against the most basic of Christian principles. One of God’s very first commands to humans was to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Created in His image, we are designed to create, too. To be productive. To bear fruit and “eat the labor of your hands”, as Psalm 128:2 teaches. “Bearing fruit” is not just about having children, or raising corn and cattle, building houses, bearing spiritual fruits, etc. Bearing fruit is ultimately about fulfilling the Great Commission by spreading the Gospel to the ends of the Earth (Matthew 28:18-20). And God didn’t make us all clones, and give us all the same exact plan for fulfilling the Great Commission. He designed us to be creative in this task.
Unfortunately in America, we answered the trend towards excessive consumption by developing “consumer math” classes for high school and college students. Such classes usually contain basic arithmetic and very little algebra, and are designed to help students understand common-sense ideas such as not spending more money than you earn. Less obvious topics like interest rate are also covered. However, most topics are a review of what students already learned in elementary and middle-grade math courses. Also called “business math”, Wikipedia describes these courses as “subjects taught to students who are not planning a university education.” In other words, the classes are for people who are not planning to be producers, just consumers.
Training up backward-thinking consumers
Now, don’t get me wrong. I certainly believe non-university bound students can also be productive members of society! However, by taking “consumer math” instead of an advanced math or calculus class in high school, you are essentially falling in line with secular and non-Christian education standards. For example, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics claims “For those whose formal education will end with high school, the needs of citizens and consumers for increasing mathematical sophistication dictate a collection of courses based on consumer and career needs”. See, there it is again! Non-university-bound students are just consumers. And citizens. But I didn’t say that, “they” did! The average government school is training students to be consumers and citizens who are told of their supposed not-so-special origin from a monkey-man. Shouldn’t they, shouldn’t we, instead be training students to be forward-thinking producers? Of course! If you are in a government school, you should fight against this kind of demoralizing miseducation. If you homeschool or private school, don’t use the government schools as your guide! Instead make sure your child gets a good dose of Christ-centered science, and it’s language, mathematics.
You are more than a consumer
University bound or not, current Christian or not, I hope you can see the problem with consumer math. Of course, some consumer math is a good idea, but “producer math” should be the priority, especially in high school and college. Because human beings are designed by God to be creative, creativity comes naturally for us. But creativity always requires tools, and in the 21st Century, good mathematics skills are definitely one tool that will help spark creativity, and in turn, productivity. All humans are consumers, but life is about so much more than that. Being a producer as well means that you and/or the company you work for need to 1) Create something to sell and 2) have the ability to sell it AND make a profit. And it is the profit (fruit) that you can use to grow your family, grow your church, and be a wise ruler of God’s creation as you fulfill the Great Commission.
Three of the many math skills that are important for 21st Century producers, two of which you won’t see much of until Algebra 2 or later, include 1) Unit multipliers (conversion factors), 2) Analytical Geometry, and 3) Calculus. And in all three of these, an understanding of fractions is key.
Good skills with unit multipliers are helpful when you are designing a new cancer-fighting nanotechnology, and you need to convert micrograms per liter per hour to ppm per day. Or, maybe you are setting up a spreadsheet to help you determine cost per unit of an invention that you patented, and now want to sell. Analytical geometry is helpful in computer graphics and other applications, where knowledge of not only shape, but exact spatial positioning is important. And calculus is where rates of change are studied, which has applications in more areas than you will ever imagine in a lifetime.
Math for producers
John Saxon (1923-1996) wrote some of the best “producer math” books available. While newer editions are moving away from his tried and true methods, the pre-2009 Saxon textbook editions are the best I’ve seen at helping students learn producer math. Avoid the newer, blue-covered hardback Saxon texts, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and NOT written by John Saxon. In texts written and approved by John, unit multipliers are taught beginning in the elementary grades, and continue through Calculus. Consumer math topics are also included. For example, sales tax, a topic that would be taught in a high school “consumer math” course, is introduced in the elementary-level Saxon Math 5/4. Students continue building their consumer math skills from this point on through Saxon Calculus.
As I get closer to creating my own mathematics curriculum, I hope to take the best of John Saxon’s principles, and build on those. As I develop this curriculum, I am taking note of the fact that John Saxon never wrote a “consumer math” textbook. Indeed he frowned upon the very idea of placing students in these classes. Regarding consumer, or “basic” math, John Saxon said “We cannot take kids and relegate them to the trash heap in this technological society. We label them as failures when we put them in basic math”(from John Saxon’s Story, by Niki Hayes, p. 276). And Saxon wasn’t the only successful teacher opposed to these courses. The book Standing and Delivering by Henry Gradillas highlights the story of how he and teacher Jaime Escalante eliminated “dumb dumb” math classes from Garfield High School in Los Angeles, and by doing so, turned around math education, with many students passing the AP Calculus exams.
So is “producer math” harder than “consumer math”? Well, is buying a blueberry bush, planting it, watering it, nurturing it, harvesting the fruit and then taking it to market to sell, harder than consuming a bowl of blueberries? Yes! But what does Scripture say about doing hard things? Does it say to run from them? Certainly not! It says to count our trials as joy (James 1:2-3). Parents and teachers who seek to help students be producers will get more heartache, more complaints, and more trials to deal with. But 10 years later, those parents will probably get more “thank you’s” from their children than from the ones who failed to challenge.
Christians have been called to handle the hard stuff with grace and thanksgiving. Parents, you know your child best. Are they capable of doing more producer math? The majority of them are, so push them with much love, patience, and perseverance. And if they fail the first time, give them a second chance the next year. And the next. But if you are certain your child is not capable of things like calculus, then do what it takes to teach them as much producer math as you can. Being a producer is not just the American way, it’s the Christian way, and us parents need to make sure we are training our children up to be more than consumers. Much more! | <urn:uuid:8cdafce6-ca33-404d-a508-a3cf7de89201> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drshormann.com/tag/nation-of-consumers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959997 | 1,836 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Mar 27 (The Nation) In what seems like a major development, Sri Lanka has expressed its commitment to raise India’s human rights violations in the occupied Kashmir at the UN. Although the Sri Lankan government stated that this was a tit for tat because New Delhi had voted in favour of a US sponsored resolution against the country for its crackdown on Tamil insurgents, it would still help boost the Kashmiri intifada.
It is definitely through such international condemnation that New Delhi can be ultimately pressurised into giving up the occupation. That Sri Lanka has taken a stand means a lot, especially when not many countries are willing to talk about a territory that New Delhi has come to assume as its integral part. The atrocities that the Indian forces have been committing normally are ignored by the Western media. Even the recent discovery of mass graves in the valley that contained thousands of mutilated bodies of innocent Kashmiris did not get the coverage that it deserved. What is, however, shameful is that our own government has also been downplaying the conflict. Consider, for instance, the reluctance to even discuss it straightforwardly with the Indians. This has happened repeatedly during the talks and bilateral meetings with Indian government officials. Unfortunately, in various meetings the government simply kept towing the Indian line that terrorism should be regarded as the core issue. There is little doubt that this guilty silence is also meant to curry favour with the US that appears totally against respecting the will of the Kashmiris owing to its strategic partnership with New Delhi. Also these days, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir and JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been vociferously defending the rights of Kashmiris. In fact, in each one of his public addresses, he vents his spleen at the government for sitting idle. While his enthusiasm is welcome, one cannot help but wonder what he was himself doing when he was very much a part of the coalition government. It is a sad reflection on his state of commitment to the Kashmiri cause that one did not hear him speak with as much fervour back then. Now that he is out of power and needs something to derive political mileage explains why he is so eagerly whipping up pro-Kashmir sentiment.
It should, however, come as a shock for New Delhi to hear that the Sri Lankans have made up their mind to expose the atrocities in the held Valley. This is apart from their worry that China alongside has also reiterated that it considers the Valley as a disputed territory. Under circumstances of the sort, the reality that it cannot endlessly maintain its stranglehold over Kashmir should dawn on New Delhi. The peaceful way out is to let the UN hold a free and fair plebiscite. | <urn:uuid:01b4b5da-d691-449e-b5c6-68a38460dc67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lankapage.com/NewsFiles/Mar27_1332858792.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981845 | 550 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Make 2013 the year to improve middle class economic prospects
By Isabel Sawhill
President Obama campaigned on a promise to improve the economic prospects of the middle class and those aspiring to join the middle class. Delivering on that promise is a tall order. After decades of slow or no progress in middle class incomes, and with the recovery limping along at a glacial pace, and with even that progress threatened by fiscal and European troubles, the challenge is daunting.
In the short-run, the President's priority has to be to resolve the debt crisis without sending the economy back into recession, raising taxes on the middle class, or decimating spending on such growth-enhancing areas as education, infrastructure, and research. While raising taxes on the wealthy somewhat relieves pressure on these other parts of his agenda, it will not produce the kind of broadly shared prosperity that he presumably wants. Most critically, the fragile recovery must not be allowed to collapse. Without jobs, progress will be impossible.
For the longer-term, the President needs to focus on upward mobility for those trying to remain in or join the middle class. There is an emerging bipartisan and expert consensus that America has less mobility than it believes and less than some other advanced countries.
But what can a President do when faced with a divided Congress and an opposition party intent on keeping his legislative agenda tied up in knots?
First, he can rely more heavily on institutional reform, executive orders, and regulation to achieve his goals. As one example, he could establish a Commission or task force to better publicize, track, and recommend measures to improve economic mobility in the U.S. As Richard Reeves has argued, the U.K. has already established the architecture for such an effort with useful lessons for the U.S. As another example, he could convene a group of wise men and women to debate the future of affirmative action in a society where race and gender inequalities, while still important, are now arguably less serious than class or income-based inequalities. Perhaps an African American president is uniquely positioned to call for such a discussion.
Second, he can use the bully pulpit and appeals to civil society to address barriers to mobility that have their roots in cultural attitudes and behaviors. For example, he has already addressed the need for parents to turn off the TV, to read to their children, and instill in them a lifelong love of learning. He has also encouraged absent fathers to connect with their children and employers to provide more work-family balance for their employees, but he could do more in these critical opportunity-enhancing domains involving stronger families and better parenting.
Finally, he can look for areas where there is likely to be common ground with Republicans. One example that I have written about elsewhere is my proposal to provide a temporary super deduction for charitable giving. The proposal would create jobs, help nonprofits, and provide some tax relief for the very wealthy who are especially civic-minded while asking those intent on keeping their wealth to pay higher taxes, both on their incomes and on their estates.
To be sure, these are small-bore ideas, and will not solve all of the problems facing the middle class, but we should not minimize the power of the President to set an agenda and influence behavior in ways both large and small.
Isabel V. Sawhill, Co-Director, Center on Children and Families, Budgeting for National Priorities, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies
+ Top Story
Americans were born to make lemonade. If you have any doubt about the resiliency of U.S. workers, consider the many reports that indicate millions of Americans are turning life’s lemon of layoffs into an opportunity to work for themselves.
The Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, in partnership with the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy will offer up to seven New Urban Mechanics Challenge Grants, totaling $25,000, to individuals or groups who create an innovative project that incorporates...
State Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Phila., recently said education and local taxpayers no longer can take the brunt of short-sighted budget policies emanating from Harrisburg. "We used to caution that the quality of education should not depend on a student's zip code," Evans said.
More than 60 percent of poll respondents in Georgia and South Carolina favor expanding their state’s Medicaid program to cover more people, while only a third approve of the health care reform law that would make it possible, a poll released Tuesday found.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) last week revealed the results of its 2013-2014 “African American Financial Experience” study, which found that competing priorities and fewer investment products constrict African Americans’ ability to build a legacy of wealth.
UEF will provide financing and technical assistance to help small business owners create sustainable companies and vibrant communities nationwide across the markets it serves. Donald Bowen, has been appointed as President and CEO of the UEF, effective May 2.
New York’s attorney general on Monday accused Wells Fargo and Bank of America of violating the terms of last year’s national mortgage settlement by failing to process hundreds of refinancing requests promptly.
Christine Pacheco, director of career services at The Art Institute of Colorado, and Kristin Frank, director of career services at The Art Institute of Phoenix, share the top dos you should include to get noticed and get your foot in the door - and the don’ts that could get your resume tossed in the trash. | <urn:uuid:4c78a607-f360-493f-b55c-d6d897c15274> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.philasun.com/news/3753/26/Six-ways-to-use-social-media-in-your-job-search.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954255 | 1,128 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Being a health care professional, I understand the benefits of having a well-trimmed abdomen. Health wise, a fat belly is often associated with bloating, heartburn, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and dementia. For those who would like to start living a healthy lifestyle and get that perfect figure, it all starts with ways on how to reduce stomach fat.
The first step is to understand the risks of having fat deposits. The deepest layer of belly fat poses a high health risk. They produce hormones and other toxins causing harm in to organs of the abdominal cavity. To be considered healthy, men should aim for a waistline measurement of less than 40 inches and 35 inches or lower for women.
Eat regularly, dieting is not starving. Missing meals slows down your metabolism. Eating a “heavy healthy breakfast” will give your body enough energy to go through the day and reduces food cravings. Eat small frequent meals. If you can’t eat a heavy breakfast, you could divide your meal intakes into frequent small meals. This also prevents overeating.
Those searching for methods on how to reduce stomach fat should start by eating the right food. Avoid refined foods, processed foods, fast foods, and foods that are high in sodium content. Go for whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meat, fish, poultry. These foods hasten fat burning by increasing metabolism. Those who can’t avoid eating fats could eat healthier alternatives. Mono-unsaturated fats are good fats which you can get from avocados, nuts, seeds, soybeans, and chocolate.
Drink plenty of fluids. A well hydrated body enhances liver functioning making fat elimination more effective. It keeps your skin from drying and decreases sodium accumulation. Lessen alcohol intake. Alcohol damages the liver, a major organ responsible for breaking down fats.
We are what we eat and having a fat rich diet has a direct effect on the amount of stomach fats. This is why eating a healthy diet is one of the best methods available for people searching for methods on how to reduce stomach fat. | <urn:uuid:3bfcb0d0-e03d-46fe-b692-234fd89a425c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beatsliposuction.com/index.php/category/diet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942447 | 427 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Since You Asked: What Yuba-Sutter agency rescues cats at night?
Q: In the Yuba-Sutter area, does anybody rescue stranded cats at night?
A: No, there is no kitten rescue task force in the Yuba-Sutter area, at least not one that works nights.
Not in this economy.
The issue came up last Wednesday night when Olivehurst's Carol Donaldson, a concerned citizen and animal lover, notified every public-safety agency in Yuba County about a cat stuck on the roof of the U.S. Post Office annex building near her home.
"I really do think somebody should've come out. It would've been an easy fix to just go up on the roof and take it down," Donaldson said. "It seemed like such a friendly cat; it had to belong to somebody."
While many may think it a non-issue, the problem of the cat-nobody-would-save opens a small window into several significant local issues, including public safety and Postal Service funding as well as an overwhelming explosion of stray and feral cats in Yuba and Sutter counties.
In an era of service reductions, layoffs, furloughs and early retirement packages, stranded kittens just don't rate as much as pet lovers would like.
"Obviously nobody wants any animal to suffer," Yuba County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Damon Gil said. "But, honestly, if the animal is not suffering in pain, you may have to wait for Animal Control to open in the morning."
Donaldson was upset by what she felt was a lack of concern and said she's also had difficulties getting help at night even for animals that have been in pain.
"The post office could've sent someone and it would've cost just a little bit of overtime," Donaldson said.
Reasonable people can disagree over whether or not expending overtime wages to save a pet from a drizzly night is a reasonable use of tax dollars, but realistically, if public agencies started scrambling after every stray-cat call, there probably wouldn't be much time for anything else. There's just too many orphaned cats.
Recent reports indicate local animal shelters have seen abandoned cat numbers skyrocket, largely because feral cats continue breeding. Last year, veterinarian Richard Bachman said shelter populations have climbed 22 percent since 2006.
Donaldson said pet owners are the real issue.
"There's a huge population problem here because people keep dumping their pets," Donaldson said. "I wish people would spay and neuter; I think there should be a spay and neuter clinic that's low-cost."
The Yuba-Sutter SPCA offers the service cheaply, but the waiting list is lengthy and booking an appointment can only be done months in advance. Their number is 673-6390.
The kitten was eventually rescued from the rooftop by a postal employee around 4 a.m. the following morning, Postmaster Jennifer Arnold confirmed. It was in good health and was set free.
Since You Asked is published on Mondays. Send questions to reporter Rob Parsons at the Appeal-Democrat, 1530 Ellis Lake Drive, Marysville, CA 95901, email him at firstname.lastname@example.org or call 749-4785. | <urn:uuid:ce536d63-3060-45ca-a222-5ab2a2d7d68b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/donaldson-115432-yuba-night.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975076 | 684 | 2 | 2 |
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SOURCE: MindTime by KidCentered.com
MindTime™ children's meditation audios by KidCentered.com provide a safe, non-invasive, highly-effective solution to the most common parenting issues. These audios do much more than simply help your child relax or focus and are designed to solve the most common problems and challenges faced by kids and their parents, such as trouble sleeping, picking up cleaning up, overactive behavior, acting out, problems in school and much more.
Castle Rock, CO (PRWEB) March 01, 2013
Parents in search of simpler, more effective ways of raising calmer, healthier children may finally be in luck. The answer? MindTime™ meditation audios for kids. On March 1, 2013, spiritual intuitive and mother of three, Amy Scott Grant, will launch KidCentered.com, to fulfill a vision of “centering the world, one kid at a time.”
For the past decade, Grant has successfully worked with individuals and groups to facilitate positive emotional, physical and behavioral changes through intuitive work. Grant uses her own intuitive parenting style in raising her children alongside husband Andy, but says she has “grown tired of watching good parents struggle.” Hence the birth of KidCentered.com.
“I remember 10 years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child, I was really nervous,” says Grant. “I had never been a babysitter, and I was the youngest in my family, so I had zero experience with babies and kids. The best parenting advice I ever received was from my mother, who said, ‘you know more than you think you know.’ I believed her, and that’s when I really started to trust my intuition as a parent.”
Skeptics will be relieved to learn that the benefits of meditation are more tangible than intuitive parenting. Over the past two decades the NIH (National Institute of Health) has granted more than $20 million to multiple research studies involving the effects of meditation. Study results show meditation benefits include: decreased blood pressure in hypertensive subjects; decreased incidence of metabolic syndrome; measurable improvements in ADD and ADHD; lower stress levels; improved cognitive function; and enhanced creativity, to name a few.
But does a five-year-old really need to meditate? Are middle school children highly stressed and in need of enlightenment? According to the Dalai Lama, the answer is a clear and certain yes. The well-known leader was recently quoted as saying, “If every eight-year-old is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.”
Parents concerned over recent school shootings and other acts of violence by children and teens are willing to try meditation. “When I heard about the MindTime concept, I got so excited,” says Alissa Smith, a New York mother of six. “I really appreciate the fact that there’s something to benefit each member of the family. My husband and I have been looking for something like this for some time, and we are definitely getting a lifetime membership.”
“It’s been said that parenting is the toughest job in the world, and it’s getting tougher all the time.” says Grant. “But we’re not finding the answers we need in parenting books and magazines. Learning to parent in a more intuitive way, and to involve the child in their own self-growth is a very real, very viable solution. It causes less stress on the whole family, and helps to develop a more spiritually advanced and centered child. That’s exactly what we’ve created with the MindTime™ audios from KidCentered.com. They’re fun, friendly, and non-threatening, and they really work.”
MindTime™ meditation audios from KidCentered.com are reasonably priced at under ten dollars each, but Grant says she expects many parents to choose the value-priced Lifetime Membership option, which grants access to all audios (including new ones, as released) for a one-time payment of $197 (introductory price). KidCentered.com expects to have more than 100 audio topics available by the end of this year. To learn more, visit http://KidCentered.com.
Company Information About KidCentered.com
The KidCentered mission is “to center the world...one kid at a time™” by producing high-quality, highly effective MindTime™ meditation audios for children of all ages. KidCentered was created by Amy Scott Grant -- a bestselling author, intuitive spiritual healer, and mother of three. MindTime™ audios from KidCentered are more than just guided visualizations. Each audio contains encoded energy, designed to clear blocks and fears, and to break negative patterns of thought and action. We don't believe any kid needs "fixing." We simply provide solutions for families who are struggling with specific issues, and we bring resources to families who are committed to self-growth and personal development. To learn more, and to receive our free MindTime™ meditation called “Calm,” visit http://KidCentered.com today.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/3/prweb10481620.htm | <urn:uuid:4511b924-cf64-4b5d-9d6a-816f11815862> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtoc.com/story/21440149/kidcenteredcom-launches-mindtime8482-meditation-for-kids-thrilled-parents-rejoice | 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 | 0.957067 | 1,147 | 1.976563 | 2 |
And yet, I do find myself, on long summer days like this one, missing camp terribly. I miss the kids with whom I had a connection, the constant availability of canoeing, frisbee, Jewish learning, food. I miss the long shabbos afternoons, the sense of belonging, the knowing the rules of the game, and the real love that flows between people who never express it. I find myself wondering if it will ever be possible to translate into the "real world" the lowering of personal barriers, the privileging of experience over maximizing potential, and the construction of community that summer camp is really all about.
Ironically, those same values underlie my new 'camp' - the group of people with whom I will be camping at Burning Man later this month. Burning Man had a brief period of being "cool," which luckily ended three or four years ago. Now the people who go, except for a very small percentage of moronic frat boys, are really there to transform themselves and experience the kind of art that penetrates, communicates to, and has the power to change our deepest 'selves.' Burning Man is participatory - you can't be changed passively - and it's an exploration of the further boundaries of art and humanism. For some people, it means intense sensual experiences, fueled by sex or drugs or music or visuals. For others, it means a new Rainbow gathering, where people exchange gifts and share and regard each other a little less mechanistically than usual. For most, it means all of these things and a thousand others. For almost everyone, it means being part of a real community, a place where people speak to each other, tolerate, encourage, and support each other, "help each other get through this thing, whatever it is." (Kurt Vonnegut on the meaning of life.)
Is it preposterous to analogize a Jewish summer camp, with morning prayers and curfew times, to a neo-psychedelic art festival in the middle of the desert? I'm not sure. I think that when I help some kid climb up a rock face that she didn't think she could ever scale, or when the ultimate team wins their big game by sheer determination and presence of mind, or when a boy asks a girl out for the first time, that these are the same forms of self-transformation that Burning Man is about. There was a barrier, but it was confronted, and it disappeared. There was aloneness; now togetherness. There was a limit, now a possibility.
So I don't think that Burning Man is so different from summer camp. It's just older. The boundaries are farther out; the Burning Man maturing process is one which (in contrast to summer camp) many people never go through at all. We settle into roles or identities - sometimes superficial, sometimes quite deep and authentic. We make money, because we have to. And as we grow up, we become "people" with definitions, just like the girl who defined herself as someone who couldn't climb up that rock face. Burning Man is about burning those masks, but most of life is about creating them.
Building a life is like building a house. It is a constructive endeavor, and necessary for shelter, even though it necessarily requires limits and walls. It involves planning, laying foundations, building the walls, making design decisions, and setting parameters that we later mistake to be part of 'who we are' when really we are as empty and limitless as the sky. Maybe we need this structure to live. But can you remember the summer - remember when you wished you could run out of doors, lie back in the grass, and bask in the warmth of the sun?
Jay Michaelson is chief editor of Zeek.
Why is it easier to see God in nature than in the city?
Being at one with Being
New York, full of life, a cure for loneliness.
If the desert feeds the spirit, and Paris delights the senses, what does
Am I an environmentalist for the same reasons I don't like to spend money?
With stories today about space aliens and the power of prayer, what are
the limits of your enlightened skepticism?
Remembering a car accident one year later. Does anything matter?
When is it cool to like what the uncool people like?
A guy at a concert shouts "Whoo hoo!" at the wrong time. What can he tell
us about life well lived?
If crass capitalism stops us from killing each other, is it such a bad thing after all? | <urn:uuid:cd063005-29dc-4460-999c-8ef2b46ebac0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zeek.net/jay_02093.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958462 | 942 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Clap On!… Clap Off!… was super awesome when The Clapper came out in the mid-eighties. Now [Mathieu Stephan] is trying to make the concept much more functional. He put together a controller that lets you knoch on walls to control things around the house. It’s called the Toktoktok project and uses small boxes to receive user input and control items like lamps and computers.
A piezo element picks up the noises made by a user. Above [Mathieu] demonstrates how sensitive the element is, picking up scratching and knocking anywhere along this wall and displaying it as a waveform on the computer monitor. Clever processing and filtering of these noises lets the device convert them into different commands. He covers all of this in the video after the break, then demonstrates a bunch of functionality such as waking up and starting audio playback from a computer just by tapping on the coffee table.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the concept. One of our favorites is this door lock which listens for the secret knock. But [Mathieu] is trying to extend the functionality and bring it to a more general market. | <urn:uuid:b35d0b06-43ed-426a-9ae4-30dbe217b829> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hackaday.com/2012/03/08/reinventing-the-clapper-with-a-knock-based-home-automation-controller/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=019c5482d9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932169 | 240 | 1.632813 | 2 |
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(ITS Staff only)
A Java vulnerability has caused at least 600,000 Macs worldwide to become infected by the Flashback Trojan without the user's knowledge or consent. Mac users must patch their OS and take other appropriate actions as described below to secure their computers.
Please also treat this as a wakeup call that, contrary to popular belief, malware impacts Macs as well as PCs. Be very wary of offers to install software and addons from unknown sources.
Apple has made patches for OS X 10.7 (Lion) and OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) available through Apple's Software Update. To download and install the necessary patches, please follow the steps below as soon as is practicable:
If you do not have administrator access to your Mac, contact your ITC immediately to install the patch.
If you are running an older OS X operating system, please make the time to upgrade to a newer version of the OS as soon as possible. In the meantime, you can protect yourself by either disabling Java in your web browser (in Safari, it’s a Security preference), or by turning it off altogether using the Java Preferences application, which can be found in the Utilities folder in Applications. Be aware that this may impact some functionality that uses Java.
You'll find more information at Quick protection for older Macs from the Flashback trojan | <urn:uuid:97aded4b-b9c1-4f71-a5dc-98ae44ce48bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://humboldt.edu/its/security/macosx-flashback-trojan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932983 | 323 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Nominal information is vital to genealogical research. Names, as we know them in Canada, come mostly from Europe. Their present form goes back to the Middle Ages when children were given a first name when they were baptised. The father's surname was transmitted to the child. Many publications exist about the origin of family names. Search for books on names in AMICUS, using titles or subject terms such as:
In France, because similar family names were found in specific geographical areas, nicknames were added to distinguish the families. When immigrants coming from France settled in New France, this practice followed. Some immigrants, mostly soldiers, already had an alias ("dit" name). For other immigrants, the "dit" name was added after their settlement. The family name is linked to the nickname by the word "dit". (e.g. Miville dit Deschênes)
"Dit" names can evoke:
Until the second half of the 19th century, either name (family names or "dit" names) could be used in records. After that, only one name was used. Some "dit" names are associated with more than one family name. The family name Lafleur is associated with 56 different family names such as Béique, Biroleau, Soret, Sévigny etc.
Where to find lists of « dit » names
Associations grouping people bearing the same family name exist for Acadian and French-Canadian families. These associations hold family reunions, publish newsletters and bulletins and conduct genealogical research. Most of the family associations have a Web site.
Soundex is a coding system used for surnames. Many American archival records were indexed using this system.
Soundex uses a single letter (the first letter of the surname) followed by three numbers which approximate the sound of the name. A number (0 to 9) is associated with letters of the alphabet.
Vowels (A, E, I, O, U Y) and letters H and W are not considered. Also, if a the same letter occurs twice in a row in the name, it is considered only once (e.g. Lloyd becomes Loyd). If there are fewer than 3 letters, 0 is used for the last digit.
|1||B P F V|
|2||C S G J K Q X Z|
SMITH = S530
TREMBLAY/TROMBLEY/TRIMBLE/TRUMBLE = T651
Use the JOS
[www.jewishgen.org/JOS/jossound.htm] to obtain the code.
To help you identify different spellings of family names, we suggest that you use the following soundex system. It is also valid for non-Jewish names.
Consolidated Jewish Surname Index | <urn:uuid:cf0285ae-c8b0-4310-b246-eadfa03a1a65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/022-914.004-e.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932892 | 595 | 3.65625 | 4 |
KU's programs are nationally recognized for excellence as a leader in education and research in the field. The KU Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science is located on the University of Kansas Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kan. In collaboration with The University of Kansas Hospital, students benefit from the opportunity to interact with a large number of health care professionals and leading researchers in real-world environments.
KU offers the following degree programs in the fields of physical therapy and rehabilitation:
KU is regarded as one of the premier research institutions in the country and researchers in our department are at the forefront of advancing knowledge in health care. Students not only have the opportunity to learn from accomplished clinicians, but from individuals who are striving to expand our knowledge base in a variety of health and science areas. To explore current research projects, visit a laboratory group site or browse individual research by faculty name.
Mission of the KU Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science
The mission of the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science at the University of Kansas Medical Center is to further the profession of physical therapy through state-of-the-art education, research, and service at the local, state, national and international level. The department is committed to translational research that has an impact on physical therapy practitioners and on their clients. The department cultivates highly competent physical therapists, proficient faculty to meet professional workforce demands, and researchers in the field of rehabilitation to advance the science of health care. | <urn:uuid:c383549b-4438-4571-ac77-7c704c35ab50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kumc.edu/allied/programs/physical_therapy/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949065 | 299 | 1.585938 | 2 |
very workplace in Northern Indiana has individuals practicing hard-skills and soft-skills, and if you're unsure about what soft-skills are, this is exactly the workshop for you.
Let's start with an example of hard-skills: When an operator used his math abilities to program a computerized machine to precisely cut a piece of steel, he was employing the hard-skills he developed through work experience, education and training.
When this advanced-machine operator arrived for his shift 10 minutes early, he was practicing the soft-skill of being on-time, every work day.
EMPLOYERS NEED WORKERS WITH BOTH Hard- and Soft-Skills; Where Do Your Skills Stand?Employers throughout Northern Indiana need their workers to practice soft skills so that the organization can run effectively and so that each worker can be efficient and productive. A key to understanding them is to recognize that your practice of soft-skills is important for your job as well as the jobs of your co-workers.
In this class, WorkOne's trainer will help participants identify their own hard- and soft-skills; moreover, the instructor will offer concrete tactics for individuals to communicate their skills to a potential employer — a key step.
In addition to being on-time, soft-skills include workplace behaviors such as: teamwork, or working as part of a team to accomplish specific goals; showing respect and courtesy to co-workers and managers; communication; honesty; and discipline.
WorkOne's instructor will have lots of down-to-earth tips on how to use soft skills in a job. And remember: In addition to a workplace, you can and should use soft-skills in searching for a job. So if you'd like to learn more with an eye toward improving your soft-skills, this is the workshop for you. | <urn:uuid:739d998c-6bb3-442b-9143-f4f96cad46e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gotoworkone.com/home/index.asp?page=9&Calendar_type=1&recordid=11997 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959912 | 382 | 2.296875 | 2 |
The FWC received hundreds of reports about discolored water, algal
blooms, dying fish, and fish kills in the lower St. Johns River,
including Lake George.
Update as of 7/23/10:
Dead fish and cyanobacteria bloom
Based on preliminary results, including the findings from water
testing performed by scientists at the University of North Carolina
Wilmington, a primary hypothesis for the fish kill is that the
kills were caused by low level toxins in the St. Johns River. In
the few fish specimens tested so far, researchers observed
significant effects in the internal organs, with damage to the
heart, liver, pancreas, kidney, and brain. In addition, the red
blood cells in the fish appeared to be destroyed by a type of toxin
known as a hemolysin. This toxin can be produced by algae,
bacteria, or chemicals in the water, or by pathogens (e.g. bacteria
that cause disease) that infect fish.
Even though the fish kill is over, Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC) scientists are continuing to conduct
multiple tests to try to determine the source of the hemolysin.
These tests include examining some bacteria and algae that were
present in the river to see if they produce the toxin, as well as
conducting an experiment at the FWC's marine hatchery to assess
whether the toxin is passed through the marine food chain from
menhaden to red drum.
About this event:
In late May 2010, the FWC began receiving reports to the FWC's
Fish Kill Hotline of dead and dying fish in the lower St. Johns
River, including Lake George. Water observations were normal and
citizens making the reports did not observe lesions or sores on the
dead fish. Water samples obtained at the beginning of the event
indicated that high concentrations of a harmful algal bloom
cyanobacterium (blue-green alga) species, Aphanizomenon cf.
flos-aquae, generally co-occurred in the same area as the fish
kills. These blooms did not contain elevated concentrations of
In the weeks that followed, the FWC and its partners continued
to receive reports from throughout the St. Johns River and Lake
George. Through the first week of July 2010, the FWC received over
316 reports about fish kills, dying fish, discolored water, and
algal blooms. In response, the FWC worked with multiple groups and
partners to investigate the fish kills and share information. The
groups and partners involved included the St. Johns Riverkeeper,
the St. Johns River Water Management District, the City of
Jacksonville's Environmental Quality Division, the Coastal
Conservation Association, the Florida Department of Health, and the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Working with these
organizations, the FWC collected water samples for harmful algae,
toxins, and bacteria analysis, as well as dying fish for necropsy
(an examination of dead fish) and pathology (study of diseases and
their causes). The investigation focused on a stretch of the river
approximately 30 miles in length extending north from Magnolia
Point to Tallyrand (downtown Jacksonville), as well as an area
further south in Dunns Creek and Lake George.
FWC staff members from multiple office locations, including
Jacksonville, Eustis, DeLeon Springs, and St. Petersburg, were
involved in collecting samples from the affected areas. FWC staff
members in St. Petersburg received approximately 50 fish that were
suitable for running diagnostic tests. The fish received included
red drum, menhaden, longnose gar, Atlantic stingray, and white
catfish. These species were reported to be the most affected during
the event. The processing of these fish samples for disease
diagnostics can take several months to complete.
By the second week of June, Aphanizomenon cf. flos
aquae became less dominant in the lower St. Johns River, in
part because of an influx of low salinity (slightly salty) water
that restricted the growth of this alga. Water samples collected in
the first half of June from the St. Johns River, including samples
taken from Dunns Creek and Lake George, contained a variety of
cyanobacteria including Aphanizomenon cf. flos-aquae,
Microcystis, Anabaena, and Pseudanabaena.
The blooms of these various blue-green algae species continued for
a few weeks, dominating different areas of the St. Johns River, and
causing low dissolved oxygen levels in shallow or narrow areas,
such as canals. In these areas, the fish died because of poor water
quality conditions, such as low dissolved oxygen. However, low
dissolved oxygen is not believed to be the primary cause for the
large-scale die-off of fish.
Throughout this investigation, researchers observed that this
was not a typical fish kill event. This fish kill event differed
from more typical situations in that not all species of fish
appeared to be affected. Also, the kill continued for more than a
few weeks with fish dying slowly, while water quality tests
indicated generally normal conditions in the river. The symptoms
and pathology observed in the fish were different from those
commonly observed in fish from rapid kill events. This was a
progressive and slow fish kill where conditions were changing over
time, making it more challenging to determine a primary cause.
FWC researchers continue to process and analyze samples either
collected by or submitted to FWC's Fish and Wildlife Research
Institute in St. Petersburg as part of the ongoing investigation
into the cause of the St. Johns River fish kills. However,
attributing a single cause to a fish kill is not always feasible,
as the cause can potentially involve a variety of factors that
include water quality, harmful algal blooms, weather conditions,
contaminants or pesticides, and other environmental factors.
Please contact the FWC Fish Kill Hotline at 1-800-636-0511 to
report any diseased, dying, or dead fish. Continued reports from
the public help provide location information and allow researchers
to assess whether the fish kills are reoccurring. | <urn:uuid:8bbf20f7-6bc0-43ad-9b61-3aa8d56fcf2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/reported-fish-kills-abnormalities/st-johns-river/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942585 | 1,341 | 2.875 | 3 |
New York, Apr.7 (ANI): Two new polls suggest that the conservative ‘Tea Party’ movement might be going mainstream.
A Rasmussen poll released Monday found more Americans identify with the Tea Party groups than with President Obama, Fox News reports.
According to the survey, 48 percent of voters said the average Tea Party activist is more aligned with their views on major issues than the president.
Forty-four percent said Obama’s views are closer to theirs.
That came on top of a USA Today/Gallup poll that found more than a quarter of Americans affiliate themselves with the Tea Party movement.
The poll of 1,033 adults, conducted March 26-28, found 28 percent of people call themselves Tea Party supporters, while 26 percent call themselves opponents.
The survey also found that any one demographic group does not disproportionately dominate Tea Party supporters.
The characteristics of Tea Party supporters-in age, education, income and race-roughly follow the characteristics of the nation as a whole.
The Gallup poll had a margin of error of four percentage points, while the Rasmussen poll of 1,000 voters had a margin of error of three percentage points. (ANI) | <urn:uuid:6eb00371-67d2-4d00-b11e-76f57f796365> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://silverscorpio.com/tag/party-groups/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94896 | 243 | 1.609375 | 2 |
It’s still famous here: a black-and-white advertisement from 1968 — the Lascaux cave drawing of French television commercials, you might call it — featuring a young man in his pajamas sitting bolt upright in bed, shouting, “Boursin!” over and over, then madly dashing for his kitchen to devour said cheese.
Lately Parisians have been congregating in a gallery of the Musee des Arts Decoratifs to watch that bygone commercial along with a slew of others made here since the late 1960s. “Forty Years of Ads on TV” includes dozens of sexy Dim lingerie ads, whose Lalo Schifrin theme music has become embedded in the French psyche, an equivalent of the US’ “plop, plop, fizz, fizz.”
The exhibition happens to have arrived at a curious moment, when several major purveyors of television commercials have suddenly had their ads pulled from the air. Ostensibly to improve programming, French President Nicolas Sarkozy last month banned commercials from four major stations during evening hours, with two more to follow.
This still leaves France with dozens of outlets on which to see Maurice Lamy, an actor dressed as a crazed, chainsaw-wielding Orangina Rouge soda bottle, screaming “Because!” (don’t ask why, it doesn’t matter); or Bruno Aveillan’s digital extravaganza for Paco Rabanne’s XS perfume, in which a naked couple languidly copulate in midair like an X-rated version of the Flying Wallendas in slow motion.
Vive la France. French liberalism also accounts for Wilfrid Brimo’s public service announcement about AIDS, a cheery animation of graphic gay sex, unfolding to the soundtrack of Sugar Baby Love. Former US vice president Dick Cheney will ask for French citizenship before that one is broadcast in the US.
Clearly French commercials speak to French culture no less than French literature or music does. Long on sensuality, style and poetry, they are notably lean on facts and nearly allergic to the rough-and-tumble of commerce. It’s forbidden here to denigrate your competitors in a television advertisement or to instruct viewers to call a certain number now to buy a product (save for exceptional cases). Hard-sell tactics, standard in the US, just don’t wash in France.
“That’s because we have always had a very unhealthy relationship to money,” said Jacques Seguela, chief creative officer for Havas, the country’s second-biggest advertising agency.
“To us money implies corruption, and moreover, because we consider ourselves the inventors of freedom, never mind if that’s not true, we still consider advertising as a kind of manipulation,” Seguela said. “This explains why television commercials started so late here — essentially because leftist opposition saw ads as corrupting the soul.”
Which is not to say that the French dislike commercials. They actually love their TV ads. They just prefer not to admit it. | <urn:uuid:809f77e3-1a01-4707-a572-8feaca1c4f7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizfocus/archives/2009/02/22/2003436692 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949186 | 662 | 1.601563 | 2 |
In contrast, eight new U.S. airports - in addition to Miami - have been authorized to provide air service to Cuba.
This "highlights the preferential treatment given air over ocean passenger service," says Daniel Berrebi, Chairman of United Americas Shipping Services, Inc.
"There is a need and a desire for a ferry service to Cuba and it is fundamental to this country's values that people be allowed that choice and that the government does not favor one element of the transportation industry over another," he says.
Nearly a year ago Mr. Berrebi's company filed for a Treasury Department license to operate a ferry service from South Florida to Havana. No decision has been made on the application, but it is clear that the Treasury Department is authorized to issue licenses for a ferry service under the current rules that authorize both "vessels" and aircraft to provide carrier services to Cuba.
"All that is required for it to happen is a policy decision by the Obama administration in favor of ferry service," said Robert Muse, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who specializes in U.S. laws relating to Cuba.
UASS' President Joseph Hinson says there are four good reasons for the U.S. government to license ferry service to Cuba: "It is significantly cheaper, it is more comfortable and pleasurable, it is a preferable form of travel for the elderly, the infirm and family groups. Also, a ferry service is a vastly cheaper way for people to bring supplies authorized by U.S. law to relatives in Cuba."
Miami-based UASS is an ocean transport company offering a wide range of shipping services through its corporate group that includes Baja Ferries, which operates passenger ferry lines in Mexico. Its affiliate American Cruise Ferries has recently invested $65 million in reinstituting ferry service this month between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
March 23, 2011 | <urn:uuid:29bce899-9a8b-46ac-89f9-010189a21dec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=661:2011mar00233&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=195 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96157 | 394 | 1.953125 | 2 |
"I was born March 17, 1962 in a small village. When I was 12, I began to work in wood. I only made it through third grade of primary school. I didn't finish school because my parents needed...
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"I was born March 17, 1962 in a small village. When I was 12, I began to work in wood. I only made it through third grade of primary school. I didn't finish school because my parents needed help with their work. My father worked at sawing lumber and I helped him. In those days, we didn't have any power tools and everything was done by hand.
"For about ten years, I worked with my father sawing wood. We did this until there were no more trees around our village. When the trees were gone, we didn't have work anymore as there was no more lumber to cut.
"So I started looking for something to do and I bought some wood out of curiosity. I made a violin with it. I began crafting violins and sold them for the next five years, but I also enjoyed playing them.
"In 1990, I got married. Soon afterward, I began a three year course on organic farming and sustainable development that was taught in my village.
"With the course organizers, our Rabbit project was born. The name comes from a children's story where, thanks to reforestation, rabbits and other animals of the forest had a place to call home. Also, in the Maya world, the rabbit is the nahual
of abundance and prosperity.
"The idea of this project was to reforest the village and in this way, be able to give jobs to the people. Because we had cut down all the trees and hadn't planted more, and we didn't wait for new trees to grow. The project's objectives were to protect the environment and produce wood in a sustainable manner.
"Then we got the idea to look for a commercial outlet for the lumber scraps and we began to use the smaller branches and trunks to create works of art, candleholders and trays to be able to use the whole tree. There used to be a lot of waste because we only used the main trunk, so this is a different way to take advantage of the wood.
"We sent all the samples we made during the course to the capital to sell. That helped a lot because we began to sell our designs and were able to earn enough to continue supporting our families.
"In 2002, this forest project won an award from the World Bank and the Soros Foundation of Guatemala. We used the money to set up a carpenter shop with power tools, since we got electricity in our village in 2001.
"With the award money, we also extended the reforestation to two more communities and a forest consultant was hired.
"We formed an association of ten producers from the community in 1994. Today there are 273 producers from 12 communities in the region. I'm the president and I spend most of my time designing new products so the association members will have new items and we can sell more.
"I really enjoy designing new items with wood. We are fortunate that a university sometimes sends designers to work with us and I watch how they create a new design. I like this a lot and have learned to create different pieces over time. I've also learned new techniques from them. And I also get ideas from the Internet, then modify them because I don't like to copy.
"Many people, including a Dutch NGO, the embassy of Norway, the Guatemala Association of Exporters and the National Forest Institute have believed in our project. So we continue to grow, and now we also have a textile project for 225 women – they are the feminine side of the association!" | <urn:uuid:a06737b6-fff3-4e21-8a55-185ad41e6759> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.novica.com/itemdetail/index.cfm?pid=172471&rectype=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987227 | 772 | 1.59375 | 2 |
January 8, 2003
Giant Radio Jet Coming From Wrong Kind of Galaxy
Giant jets of subatomic particles moving at nearly the speed of light have been found coming from thousands of galaxies across the Universe, but always from elliptical galaxies or galaxies in the process of merging -- until now. Using the combined power of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Array (VLA) and the 8-meter Gemini-South Telescope, astronomers have discovered a huge jet coming from a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way.
"We've always thought spirals were the wrong kind of galaxy to generate these huge jets, but now we're going to have to re-think some of our ideas on what produces these jets," said William Keel, a University of Alabama astronomer who led the research team. Keel worked with Michael Ledlow of Gemini Observatory and Frazer Owen of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The scientists reported their findings at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Seattle, Washington.
"Further study of this galaxy may provide unique insights on just what needs to happen in a galaxy to produce these powerful jets of particles," Keel said.
In addition, Owen said, "The loose-knit nature of the cluster of galaxies in which this galaxy resides may play a part in allowing this particular spiral to produce jets."
Astronomers believe such jets originate at the cores of galaxies, where supermassive black holes provide the tremendous gravitational energy to accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light. Magnetic fields twisted tightly by spinning disks of material being sucked into the black hole are presumed to narrow the speeding particles into thin jets, like a nozzle on a garden hose.
Both elliptical and spiral galaxies are believed to harbor supermassive black holes at their cores.
The discovery that the jet was coming from a spiral galaxy dubbed 0313-192 required using a combination of radio, optical and infrared observations to examine the galaxy and its surroundings.
The story began more than 20 years ago, when Owen began a survey of 500 galaxy clusters using the National Science Foundation's then-new VLA to make radio images of the clusters. In the 1990s, Ledlow joined the project, making optical-telescope images of the same clusters as part of his research for a Ph.D dissertation at the University of New Mexico. An optical image from Kitt Peak National Observatory gave a hint that this galaxy, clearly seen with a jet in the VLA images, might be a spiral.
Nearly a billion light-years from Earth, 0313-192 proved an elusive target, however. Subsequent observations with the VLA and the 3.5-meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory supported the idea that the galaxy might be a spiral but still were inconclusive. In the Spring of 2002, astronauts installed the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. This new facility produced a richly-detailed image of 0313-192, showing that it is a dust-rich spiral seen almost exactly edge-on.
"The finely-detailed Hubble image resolved any doubt and proved that this galaxy is a spiral," Ledlow said. Infrared images with the Gemini-South telescope complemented the Hubble images and further confirmed the galaxy's spiral nature.
Now, the astronomers seek to understand why this one spiral galaxy, unlike all others seen so far, is producing the bright jets seen with the VLA and other radio telescopes.
Several factors may have combined, the researchers feel.
"This galaxy's disk is twisted, and that may indicate that it has been disturbed by a close passage of another galaxy or may have swallowed up a companion dwarf galaxy," Keel said. He added, "This galaxy shows signs of having a very massive black hole at its core, and the jets are taking the shortest path out of the galaxy's own gas."
Owen points out that 0313-192 resides in a cluster of galaxies called Abell 428. The scientists have discovered that Abell 428 is not a dense cluster, but rather a loose collection of small groups of galaxies.
In order to see the large jets so common to elliptical galaxies, Owen said, "you may need pressure from a cluster's intergalactic medium to keep the particles and magnetic fields from dispersing so rapidly that the jet can't stay together."
However, "A spiral won't survive in a dense cluster," Owen said. Thus, the looser collection of galaxy groups that makes up Abell 428 may be "just the right environment to allow the spiral to survive but still to provide the pressure needed to keep the jets together."
In any case, the unique example provided by this jet-producing spiral galaxy "raises questions about some of our basic assumptions regarding jet production in galaxies," Owen said.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. Gemini is an international partnership managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation..
Tuesday, 13-May-2003 02:07:39 EDT | <urn:uuid:205102e5-6f41-42b5-a2cc-5ea3cd78e555> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2003/spiraljet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923605 | 1,091 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Does Skype let police and authorities spy on users' conversations? That's the question a wide group of advocacy organizations including the Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as Reporters Without Borders, and many activists and journalists, are asking in an open letter published online.
The signatories note that Skype, with more than 600 million users, has become "one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies." And many of those users rely on it for sensitive conversations, be it activists living under authoritarian regimes, or journalists talking to sources. In other words, users rely on Skype "for the privacy of their communications and, in some cases, their lives," the letter reads.
In light of that, "it is unfortunate that these users, and those who advise them on best security practices, work in the face of persistently unclear and confusing statements about the confidentiality of Skype conversations, and in particular the access that governments and other third parties have to Skype user data and communications."
That's why the group wants Skype and its parent company Microsoft to publicly release a regularly updated transparency report, a la Google, detailing its privacy policies as well as what data Skype releases to third parties, what data the company itself collects, how many times it responds to government requests to release that data, and what criteria it uses when making that call.
What's more, the signatories want to know what responsibilities Skype thinks it has regarding laws like the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), how they respond to subpoenas, and to National Security Letters. These are special subpoenas used by authorities in national security cases that can even be accompanied by a gag order that prevents the recipient from disclosing the existence of the request.
Basically, the signatories want to know whether Skype's stance on privacy and eavesdropping has change over the years, particularly after it was acquired by Microsoft.
Microsoft refused to grant Mashable an interview with its Chief Privacy Officer, Brendon Lynch. The company answered our requests for comment with an email stating it is reviewing the letter and that "Microsoft has an ongoing commitment to collaborate with advocates, industry partners and governments worldwide to develop solutions and promote effective public policies that help protect people’s online safety and privacy."
In the past, as Slate reported, Skype has always been widely trusted thanks to its encryption and peer-to-peer based architecture that made snooping on calls virtually impossible. In 2007, Skype itself publicly stated that its practices made it impossible for them to wiretap conversations. And the German police even complained about it.
But in recent years, things might have changed. Hackers pointed to a recent redesign of Skype's architecture, a change that might have made it easier for the company and interested authorities to spy on users' calls.
"Microsoft made this change to Skype's architecture to make it more centralized," explains Eva Galperin, an activist at the EFF. "But by making it more centralized, suddenly they were capable exactly of the sort of surveillance that Skype had earlier denied that it's capable of."
At the time of the change, security and privacy expert Chris Soghoian wrote that "until it is more transparent, Skype should be assumed to be insecure, and not safe for those whose physical safety depends upon confidentiality of their calls."
Skype denied that the change had anything to do with enhancing eavesdropping capabilities, but it refused to clarify whether it allows wiretapping requests, when questioned by Slate in the summer of 2012.
The fact that, in June 2011, Microsoft entered an application for a patent for "legal intercept" that seems tailor-made for chat services like Skype didn't help putting rumors to rest.
Also, in early 2012, after the arrest of Megaupload's Kim Dotcom and his associates, the FBI said they used emails and Skype chat logs dating back to 2007 to nab the file-sharing guru. This seemingly contradicts Skype's policy of retaining chat logs for only 30 days.
Skype's strong stance on its users' privacy is no longer clear, and experts are wary.
Advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) wrote in a statement to Mashable that even though they haven't decided whether to sign the letter, they "do think that companies should be transparent with users about their privacy practices" and that "Skype should incorporate transparency into its business practices."
The EFF publishes a report titled "Who has your back?" detailing which companies are transparent about government data requests or whether they fight for users' privacy in courts or in Congress.
For Galperin, being transparent is the least a tech company can do nowadays. "If you are hanging on to users' private data and users are concerned of government requests of their data, or government takedowns, or surveillance, then one of the best of ways to alleviate that sort of concern is to be transparent.”
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:44c4ee1d-e102-42d6-bfe4-d88deaef2d61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mashable.com/2013/01/25/skype-wiretrap-calls/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957878 | 996 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Looking at the most frequently used search terms that folks used to surf here in the past several days I find:
BMW Z4 image - the most frequently used search to get to tangents for the past several weeks. I don't understand this one. I linked to a picture (I didn't post the picture), in an unconscious mutterings post in August of last year, and since then several different foreign language image search engines including Google Images in various languages, turn up my site when folks search for pics of that car. The hits for this have increased over the past couple of months.This is really weird to me. Can anyone explain?
Occam's Razor - second most frequently searched item over the past month turns up this post which included '"Ocham's Razor essentially states that all things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually correct."' and links to various spellings. Occam's and Ockham's and Occham's are the most frequently used spellings. I hadn't seen it as "Ocham's" before the post that was referenced.
Firefox 1.03 not connecting, Firefox problems, Firefox - with or without various additional terms and this one has been popping up more frequently. To make it easy I thought I would link all my posts about Firefox in one spot:
1.02 to 1.03
1.00 official version upgrade
1.00 to 1.01
1.01 to 1.02
Go to the Firefox support forum, folks. Use the search feature there. And if you still can't fix whatever problem you are having after reading and trying the solutions, then post with a list of everything you have checked, your system and the problem. There are lots of people with exceptional knowledge hanging out there and some like me who have posted with and then solved a couple of little issues in configuring a particular system. I have even answered a few posts since joining. Connection problems aren't a Firefox bug or issue- the most common problems result from configuring firewall program access settings and ISP DNS problems (which are your ISP's problems, but there are solutions found in the support forum for those, too).
Others search terms used in the last few days include Santa Ana Winds and poetry, tangents, freeway shootings, and popping up more than once over time- "Stormwind" with variables looking for secrets and tips for the game; never played, don't know a thing about it, and I was around on the net before the city in the game was, I think...
That people would check out the blog from the various searches surprises me, except maybe the Firefox one (and "stormwind"). They say something- the searches and my surprise- but I haven't figured out just what... | <urn:uuid:066f896d-ed11-4bb7-bdbf-fe05a745d540> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stormtangents.blogspot.com/2005/05/looking-at-stats-and-shaking-my-head.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965756 | 565 | 1.5 | 2 |
Please, read the general remarks about the special procedures first.
The Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance has been appointed in 1993. He refers to all UN instruments developed for the fight against racism, in particular to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965).
Link to the Convention: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/d_icerd.htm
The complaint must at least contain the following information:
Information and complaints can be submitted (specifying the pertinent special procedure) to:
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10
Fax: +41 22 917 90 06
Once the Special Rapporteur received credible information concerning racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance, he can address a communication, generally in form of a letter submitted by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the government concerned asking it to give information concerning the allegation and to take preventive measures or to initiate an investigation. The communications can deal with cases of individuals, groups or communities, the general trends and development of human rights violations in certain countries as well as draft law or law in force subjected to apprehension. The communications are generally made in form of “urgent appeals” or “letters of allegation”. When there are multiple mandates for one case, the Special Rapporteur can submit joint communications.
“Urgent appeals” are used to provide information concerning current or imminent violations. They are submitted to inform the competent authorities as quickly as possible so that these can intervene to stop the human rights violation or to prevent it.
“Letters of allegation” are used to provide information concerning violations which have already taken place and which have had irreversible consequences for the supposed victim. This type of communication is used, for example, when the Special Rapporteur receives information on violations which have already been committed.
With both types of communication, the Special Rapporteur asks the concerned government to take all appropriate measures to investigate and remedy the alleged violations and to submit the results of its intervention. According to the response, the Special Rapporteur can decide to pursue the investigation or to give recommendations. | <urn:uuid:cf5d20f8-f850-41f4-b1d2-d39c3e863471> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.claiminghumanrights.org/sr_racism.html?L=uuonjxrd561 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908047 | 490 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Heterosexual women and gay men are seemingly natural BFFs. As some evidence of this, almost any time you turn on the television, you can see this type of friendship on display, whether it is a scripted sitcom such as Will and Grace or a reality show like The Real Housewives. How do we explain this common social pairing? A new set of studies suggests that both parties find this type of friendship advantageous because it offers a free exchange of unbiased sex and relationship advice from a trustworthy source.1
The basic theory is that straight women cannot obtain great information about the “male perspective” by talking to heterosexual guys because those men often have an ulterior motive (i.e., they may be attracted to their female friends). Plus, straight men are prone to misinterpret female friendliness for sexual interest. In addition, straight women often cannot get great information from other women because there is sometimes competition and backstabbing over desirable male partners. Along these same lines, it is theorized that gay men cannot always get great relationship advice from each other because they are competing with one another for the same dudes. However, because gay men and straight women are generally selecting partners form different pools, there is no potential rivalry between them. As a result, they should find one another to be more trustworthy and reliable when it comes to receiving advice on sex and dating.
These ideas were tested in two studies. In Study 1, 88 heterosexual female college students were asked to evaluate one of three Facebook profiles. The individual described in each profile had the same name (“Jordan”) and interests. The only thing that varied was their sex and sexual orientation. Thus, the profile either depicted a straight woman, a straight man, or a gay man. Participants then rated how likely they would be to trust sex and relationship advice from that source (e.g., if you were attending a party together, would you trust what this person tells you about other men?). Results indicated that participants found the advice of gay men to be significantly more trustworthy than the advice offered by heterosexual men and women.
In Study 2, 58 gay men completed an almost identical study in which they evaluated one of three Facebook profiles (a straight woman, a lesbian, or a gay man). The lesbian condition was included to see whether gay men distinguish between the advice offered by women of different sexualities, or if they trust advice from all women. Results indicated that gay men rated the advice of straight women as being significantly more trustworthy than that provided by lesbians or other gay men.
This pattern of findings suggests that the frequently observed friendship shared between straight women and gay men may stem from an ability to obtain high quality sex and relationship advice from a knowledgeable source who does not have any ulterior motives. Moreover, the second study tells us that gay men only feel this bond with heterosexual women; lesbians are seen as less trustworthy sources of sex advice, perhaps because gay men and lesbians do not have a lot in common with respect to their sexual interests and practices.
Of course, these findings are limited in that they did not test people's perceptions of actual advice, and also because they only focused on one specific type of advice. It could be that other types of advice beyond the domain of sex and relationships are just as important. Nonetheless, this set of studies tells us that the straight woman-gay man friendship is not just the stuff of hollywood fiction and likely stems from a unique social bond.
1Russell, E. M., DelPriore, D. J., Butterfield, M. E., & Hill, S. E. (2013). Friends with benefits, but without the sex: Straight women and gay men exchange trustworthy mating advice. Evolutionary Psychology, 11, 132-147. | <urn:uuid:7da8dc89-0057-4a8f-be7f-806a2beab38e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lehmiller.com/blog/2013/2/20/why-do-straight-women-and-gay-men-get-along-so-well-they-exc.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964521 | 758 | 1.796875 | 2 |
What To Do When a Loved One Dies
A Checklist of What To Do When a Family Member Dies
By Simon J. Lebo, Esq.
A common question I hear from clients when they have lost a loved one is: What do I need to do now? This Checklist is intended to help you understand the normal steps that must be undertaken when you have lost a relative or close friend in the majority of situations. Those who have been appointed by the Decedent to see to their final affairs, or those who are the closest family members, will find this Checklist the most useful.
1. If the Funeral has not yet occurred, then you should look for any instructions left by the Decedent as to funeral and burial arrangements, including prepaid funeral contracts. If the Decedent was a Veteran, special considerations may be given as to a military funeral or burial.
2. Notify family and friends. Do not hesitate to ask other close family members and friends to assist you in contacting those close to the Decedent to save yourself some time and stress.
3. Coordinate the funeral arrangements with a funeral home. The funeral home will usually obtain the Death Certificates. Ordinarily, three to five original death certificates will be sufficient for most probates.
4. Contact the Social Security Administration and any other government agencies or benefit program that may be making payments to the Decedent. (The payment for the month of death may need to be refunded if already paid out).
5. Search for the Decedent's Wills and Trusts. If the Decedent left an original Will, it must be filed with the Probate Court within thirty days of death.
6. Review the Decedent's financial affairs and look for documents that may be of relevance, including:
- Safe Deposit Agreements and keys;
- Pre- and Ante-Nuptial Agreements;
- Life Insurance Policies;
- Trust Documents;
- Pension-retirement benefits;
- Last two years of income tax returns;
- Prior Gift Tax returns;
- Marriage, birth and death certificates;
- Divorce documentation;
- Computer records regarding books of a business or personal assets;
- Bank statements, checkbooks, similar documents;
- Loan documents;
- Titles to motor vehicles;
- Securities and list of securities;
- Any documentation of business ownership or business interest (including Buy Sell Agreements);
- Health Insurance (make sure to submit claims for the final illness and any outstanding medical bills); and
- Unpaid bills.
- Deeds for any real estate owned by the Decedent.
- Stock Certificates, and Brokerage Account statements.
In most cases, these documents will take time to gather and analyze, so do not expect to be able to pull together all of the above immediately after the passing of a loved one.
7. Assuming the Decedent left a Will, it must be submitted to the local Probate Court within 30 days of death. Typically, it must be accompanied by an original Death Certificate and the appropriate Probate document depending on the type, value and ownership of assets left behind by the Decedent.
8. Probating the Will - A Will generally names a Personal Representative (also known as Executor or Executrix). The Personal Representative will be responsible for the administration of the Estate of the Decedent. After a Hearing on the Admission of the Will, the Court will normally appoint the named Personal Representative. It usually takes about 30 days from the date of the submission of the Will to the Probate Court for a Personal Representative to be appointed.
9. If there is no Will and there are sufficient assets to probate (typically, at least $40,000 in Connecticut), then the Court will appoint an Administrator and the assets of the Decedent will be distributed according to state law (commonly called intestacy). All States have a set of laws relating to intestate succession, and the States decide who receives the Decedent's assets if someone dies without a Will. Note that an account with a joint owner or named beneficiary bypasses both the Will and Intestacy, and passes directly to the joint owner or named beneficiary.
10. If you are the Personal Representative or Trustee of a Trust, make a list of the assets owned by the Decedent or the Trust, so that these assets can be administered and distributed according to the wishes of the Decedent.
11. After a Personal Representative is appointed, an Estate Account is opened with a new taxpayer identification number (equivalent to a social security number). This bank account should be opened as soon as possible, so that all receipts and disbursements can be properly tracked and accounted for, in order to account properly for the assets of the Decedent and the expenses of administration. Oftentimes the bank accounts of the Decedent will be liquidated and used to open this Estate Account.
12. Most people view Probate as the process by which the Decedent's affairs (financial and legal) are brought to closure, including addressing outstanding liabilities and transferring assets in accordance with the Decedent's written wishes. The Personal Representative will gather (marshal) all of the assets of the Decedent and, after paying debts, expenses and taxes, distribute the assets according to the wishes of the Decedent (if a Will or Trust was left behind, otherwise in accordance with the Intestate law of the State). Typically this process includes filing an Inventory, Return of Claims, Death Tax Return and Final Accounting.
13. In some situations, it is appropriate to make a detailed listing of the household goods and personal belongings to properly account for and distribute the same, but in most situations these assets are distributed amongst the family members without issue.
14. Some assets may involve special tax considerations as it relates to their transfer, including insurance, annuities, and retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, ROTH, 403(b)). Most individuals find it beneficial to work with their trusted advisor(s) in dealing with these assets to explore the available payout options. In any case, copies of the policies and account information will be necessary and should be gathered as early as possible.
15. If there are annuities, pensions and profit sharing plans, they may provide for survivor benefits. Each of these companies will need to be contacted to secure any benefits.
16. A final income tax return for the Decedent, as well as an income tax return for the Decedent's Estate, will need to be filed. If there is a surviving spouse, a joint tax return for the year of death can be filed.
17. If there is real estate that is insured, the Personal Representative should make sure that the insurance policies on the properties of the Decedent are maintained. Likewise for any vehicles owned by the Decedent, insurance should be maintained in case of loss or claim.
18. The Personal Representative should generally wait to make distributions of assets until the Final Accounting is approved by the Probate Court, and the appeal period has passed. However, a family may file with the Probate Court a request for a Family Support Allowance prior to the approval of the Final Accounting should it be appropriate to do so in order to allow for distribution of assets.
This Checklist is intended to provide useful guidance in the case of the death of loved one where Probate is necessary, but it does not address every situation (including where the Decedent left a Living Trust to be administered). If you would like assistance with your specific case, please contact Attorney Simon J. Lebo at 860-659-0700 or email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:bb4188ab-dc8d-4098-ae45-60f75cd6b21a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bpslawyers.com/Estate-Planning-Probate/What-To-Do-When-a-Loved-One-Dies.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935979 | 1,604 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The National Emergency Management Agency, South Korea, has deployed video collaboration solutions to improve communication and collaboration among its teams throughout the country.
The achievements of Indonesia’s public sector have been highlighted ...
The State Government of Victoria in Australia is upgrading and improving radio communication for fire brigades across regional areas of the state.
The CIO Council in the United States has launched an online database of shared services to help government departments find and use existing services instead of buying new ones.
The Ministry of ICT and Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF), Thailand have announced a new collaboration and transfer of knowledge programme under a single umbrella as part of its disaster management preparation and plan.
Department of Agricultural Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, Thailand signed an MOU over the sharing of space technology and satellite data for agricultural benefits.
The Ministry of Home Affairs of India has launched a central online database of terrorist suspects to consolidate information from across the country into a single platform.
The South Australian government is the latest state to unveil a new roadmap for ICT reforms – with an “across-government” strategy that focuses on smarter spending, rather than big ticket roll-outs, to manage service delivery.
Teachers across Maldives archipelago can soon update class attendances using their smartphone or tablets linked directly to the government’s integrated school management portal called ‘eSchool System’.
Thailand Post will deliver payment services to home under the project called “Post@Home” that will use civil registration data shared from the government cloud as an authentication measure.
Truong Minh Thuan, Director of the Department of Information and Communications of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, highlighted the importance of implementing a common set of IT and interoperability standards as soon as possible to support the local and central government’s ambitious ICT plans.
The State of Tamil Nadu in India launched an initiative to connect police stations across the state, facilitate information sharing and offer online services to citizens.
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In a bid to ensure transparency in the application process for obtaining a driving licence ...
It is nine months since the Government of India announced a plan to overhaul the ...
Bangladesh is planning stringent measures to fight cyber crime amid the rapid expansion of information ... | <urn:uuid:66dfea8f-7469-4ad4-add6-8635c8b81d79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.futuregov.in/articles/category/connected-government/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918234 | 488 | 1.507813 | 2 |
PSAC and UEW call upon government to implement Cohen report, reverse cuts and planned changes to DFO Fish Habitat Management Program
After 138 days of hearings, 179 witnesses, and a review of over 3 million pages of documents, the Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River submitted its final report on October 29th 2012. The government tabled the report in the House of Commons on October 31st.
- For more on the problems with fisheries see the Our Fish Campaign website
The report contains 75 recommendations, many directed at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and clearly states that one of the Department’s primary mandates is to conserve wild fish by implementing the Wild Salmon Policy and its own Fish Habitat Management Program.
Nic Humphreys, Union of Environment Workers Regional Vice-President for BC, representing many of the workers at DFO in the province, hopes the government will move quickly to implement many of the proposals contained within the report.
“But,” he says, “the changes to the Fisheries Act contained in Bill C-38, the planned changes to the Fish Habitat Program, and years of under-funding at DFO must also be addressed if the government wants to make a positive impact on the Fraser River salmon – and by extension the health of Canada’s entire wild fish stock.”
The report recommends that DFO be given more authority over conservation, fish habitat, and fisheries management and that DFO funding in the Fraser River area be restored to pre-2010 levels or increased in some cases.
“This is the exact opposite of what the Harper government is doing at the Department,” according to Humphreys, “DFO’s budget is being cut by $80 million nationally and over 80 positions have been lost in BC this year alone. Internal documents show that DFO plans to re-vamp and re-name the Fish Habitat Management Program, resulting in a loss of 30 positions.”
“I’m concerned that the responsibility for fish habitat protection and environmental oversight will be turned entirely over to industry when these changes are scheduled take effect in January 2013.” continues Humphreys, “By loosening regulatory requirements, the environmental assessments currently performed by staff at DFO will go from over 7000 per year to a few hundred, if that.”
“The report makes it clear that this is not what Commissioner Cohen wants, and not what the public deserves. DFO must reconsider the decision to scrap the Habitat Program immediately.”
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Union of Environment Workers are calling on the Harper government to act quickly and decisively to carry out Hon. Cohen’s recommendations as well as reverse cuts and planned changes to DFO Fish Habitat Management Program.
After reviewing the report Humphreys says the government can begin to protect and enhance wild salmon stocks by implementing and institutionalizing these proposals in particular:
- That the Fisheries Minister make a commitment to wild fish by supporting and emphasizing DFO programs and policies that support the health and sustainability of wild fish stocks.
- That the government strengthens the monitoring component of DFO’s Fish Habitat Management Program and give staff the ability to require additional environmental protection measures when they deem necessary.
- That DFO create a detailed plan for implementation of the Wild Salmon Policy, and that the government provides dedicated and segregated funding sufficient to carry out the plan.
- That the government properly fund DFO enforcement activities on the FraserRiver.
That an independent body report back to Parliament and the public on the progress of properly implementing the Wild Salmon Policy as well as on the extent to which all the recommendations contained in the report are carried out.
“It’s unfortunate that it took the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run in 2009 to bring these issues to the public’s attention.” concludes Humphreys, “However, the Cohen Commission has worked hard and put a lot of thought into its report. The Hon. Cohen has given the government a clear and detailed roadmap towards the right track. For the sake of all Canadians, and our wild salmon, I hope the government follows that map.
Date Modified : 2012/11/05 | <urn:uuid:14f1e370-1c50-42f7-919a-043b03cc922a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psac.com/news/2012/issues/20121105-e.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936034 | 873 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Chullin 51 - 57
- How a fall affects the status of the animal
- Examination of a fallen animal
- Damaged ribs or stomach
- Victim of attack by a predator
- Which damages do not render an animal non-kosher
- Standing up for Torah sages and mitzvah performers
- Which damages to kidneys change status of animal
- Which damages render fowl non-kosher
- The self-sufficient nation
- The experiment of Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta
"A metropolis that has everything."
This is how Rabbi Meir described the Jewish nation based on the passage in the Torah (Devarim 32:6) which states that 'He made you and established you."
Unlike other nations who imported kings from foreign lands, Jews could proudly claim that their priests, their prophets, their ministers and their kings were all from their own ranks.
When G-d laid down the rules for appointing a king to rule over His chosen people, He stipulated that the king must be "one from among your brethren" (Devarim 17:15), and throughout history Jews refrained from importing a ruler.
This sense of self-sufficiency also found expression in the words of the Prophet Zechariah (10:4) who said that G-d would remember His people and that from them would come forth the cornerstone and foundation stake of the nation.
- Chullin 56b
What the Sages Say
"An indication that an animal is a treifah (non-kosher) is its inability to give birth."
- Gemara - Chullin57b | <urn:uuid:a721717e-dfd2-41ad-932a-1585c451d188> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ohr.edu/4853/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944171 | 341 | 2.734375 | 3 |
"Repurpose, refurbish, recycle" was the guiding principle for a metals broker in Ontario who harnessed his passion for–and knowledge of–industrial materials to create a new house from old scrap.
In the tiny Town of the Blue Mountains, 90 minutes northwest of Toronto, Ontario, the tallest point on the horizon is a brightly painted radio tower. The red-and-white column stands in contrast to the rolling, forested landscape, but it’s a good match for the house just down the hill from its base. Past a rusted metal gate—made from an old truck chassis—sits a country house with an industrial heart, built with used I-beams, polished concrete, galvanized steel, and recycled hardwood.
This is not your average house in Blue Mountains, where farmers have been supplanted by skiers and new houses tend toward French country. But it’s the dream home of metals broker S. J. Sherbanuk, and it was inspired by his work digging through closed factories in search of valuable materials.
His designer, James Campbell, says he knew from the beginning that Sher-banuk would be an unusual client. “He said, ‘I don’t want a house—I want a shed. A nice shed,’” Campbell recalls.
A wiry, intense guy who spends his leisure time skiing or cycling, Sherbanuk had very particular ideas about how his home should look. “I’ve always had this fascination with industrial buildings, and with my work, I’ve been in a lot of steel mills,” he says. “Plus, I’m a modernist, so the way to combine those things is to build an environment with stuff I’m familiar with.”
Sherbanuk’s approach to sustainability is as utilitarian as his design sense, leaning less on the recent arrival of efficiency technologies and more on the long history of material reuse and the unfailing reliability of industrial scrap to last for centuries. Outside, old galvanized-steel siding provides the skin for the house. Inside, in the living-dining area, a series of exposed steel girders supports the broad roof. Two of the girders, rescued from a demolition job, bear marks from their last lives in another building. Downstairs, Campbell designed a bar built of Douglas fir and I-beams. The steel here is new, but the wood was cut from planks found in the Toronto warehouse of a forestry company. In the living area, custom cabinets made of hot-rolled steel conceal the expensive entertainment system.
Even the art on the walls reflects the theme: A photograph by Edward Burtynsky of a mine tailings pond and an otherworldly photo by Jesse Boles of belching smokestacks are beautiful reminders of the precarious interface between industry and nature—and our power to direct it toward good or harm.
All of this—industrial chic and attention to recycled materials—comes naturally to Sherbanuk. He used to co-own a large scrapyard, and he’s seen many tons of steel, copper, and aluminum go from finished product back to raw material. “All metals are infinitely recyclable,” he says. There’s also a more personal resonance to the house: It reminds Sherbanuk of his childhood in a mining town on the north shore of Lake Huron. “I hung out in the shed because our house was really small,” he recalls. “I had three brothers, so that was the only place I could get away.”
Completed in 2007, Sherbanuk’s home is a series of irregularly shaped “sheds”: a long, low volume housing the guest suite and living-dining area; another with a workshop, laundry, and mudroom; and a three-story, metal-clad tower for the kitchen, bedroom, and workout room. It’s an odd shape, yet it fits the landscape, hugging the contours of the hillside and nestling into the shade of the forest at its peak.
This combination of rootedness and roughness is inherent to the designer. Campbell, whose family has lived in the area for generations, is determined to develop an architecture that reflects the area’s traditional building forms: “The barns and springhouses, they’re the local vernacular, and that’s a real inspiration for our work in this house.”
Campbell—who designed the house with his associate and wife, Suzanne Wesetvik—also employed basic sustainable building strategies. Its main exposure is to the southeast for optimal levels of sunlight; in winter the concrete floor gains heat during the day and releases it at night, supplemented by radiant-floor heating systems. Small windows along the west side let in prevailing winds for natural ventilation.
All of this certainly makes the house more sustainable, but Sherbanuk figures the house’s greenest quality will come out in the long term. “With most houses, when they’re torn down, everything goes into a bin,” he says. “When this house gets pulled down 60 or 80 years from now, they won’t even need a bin. It’s all gonna get reused.” | <urn:uuid:863f44ba-d34c-49c0-8550-759970ed057b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dwell.com/comment/1631 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95483 | 1,112 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Large-Area and Printed Sensor Markets: 2009-2016
The sensor market will take off rapidly in the next decade, driven by the needs for better diagnostics for an aging population, environmental monitoring, national security and military markets and -- in the not too distant future -- small scale robotics. These are diverse applications areas, but one factor that they will have in common will be the need for sensors that are distributed over large-area, flexible substrates. In many cases, these large-area sensors will be created -- in all or part -- with printing technology.More Details
We believe that while some of the most exciting opportunities in this sector lie in the future, there are already ways to tap into this emerging market that can leverage existing technologies, materials, manufacturing approaches and marketing channels into new business revenues. The objective of this report is to identify just where these opportunities are.
Beginning with an analysis of the potential from existing printed sensor products such as sensors with printed electrodes and diagnostic test strips and assays, this new report provides a roadmap and revenue forecast that will point out where and how the money will be made on the way to fully functional large-area sensor systems.
This report will also show how new developments in printed electronics, substrate materials and sensor materials will enable this new kind of sensing system. It will g on to discuss the commercial implications of current sensor trends from singlet devices such as gas sensors and pressure sensors to complex layered subsystems such as smart noses, smart skins and labs on a chip and how these new kinds of sensors represent a station on the way to true wide-area sensors.
The report will provide a guide to where and when the demand will emerge for wide area and printed sensors in the all key application sectors including military, medical and genomics/proteomics, national security, pervasive computing, robotics, transportation, smart packaging, smart buildings and environmental monitoring, and consumer electronics. Finally, the report will discuss the latest R&D developments in this field as well as the strategies of the firms that are commercializing this new technology and where they are looking for first revenues.
This report will be invaluable to sensor firms, manufacturers of smart materials and nanomaterials, printed electronics companies, applications developers, as well as electronics and medical device firms more generally.
The sensor market will take off rapidly in the next decade, driven by the needs for better diagnostics. | <urn:uuid:d7af3b2c-24ce-403a-82ed-65283e4ae310> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nano.org.uk/nanotechnology-reports/88 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933879 | 485 | 1.671875 | 2 |
A generation ago, the United States ranked first in the world in the percentage of adults with college degrees. Today, our nation ranks 12th. Without significant change in college attainment rates, the United States will face a shortage of 23 million college-educated adults in the workforce in the next 15 years--a crippling blow to U.S. economic competitiveness. The growing Hispanic population will be critical in meeting future workforce needs.
Join CHCI and its partners at NBCUniversal's Studio 8H in 30 Rockefeller Plaza to participate in a national dialogue. Education experts, advocates, and local and national elected officials will identify and discuss best practices to increase educational attainment for Latinos from K-16. Panelists will also examine the unique education challenges facing young Latinos and the barriers to higher education attainment, and make recommendations since high school and college completion are essential pieces to protecting future U.S. economic health.
We hope you'll join us for this important event. To learn more, view the event agenda. | <urn:uuid:b17faf63-6d23-4232-803d-e7a815be6087> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chci.org/enewsletter/detail/6485C2EADACF398F7D6E64B1A95C2CC437C4311780A51B39E7C3D6D6860FB2AF | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915269 | 200 | 2.046875 | 2 |
January 2010 (3)
One of the continual problems under motor cover is the loss of no claims discount when a company pays out in circumstances in which one driver considers himself/herself to be innocent. Policyholders are obliged by their policies to notify insurers of an accident. They are not obliged, however, to make a claim. It is important that insurers make it absolutely clear to policy holders that they have this option when no damage to the other party has occurred. The ombudsman declared his intentions in 1982 to ...
If we turn the clock back to the earliest forms of civilization it appears that types of insurance have been apart of the society. Money as we know it today that's become the backbone of any financial institute took on different forms. These gestures may have been goods in return for help when indeed needed and in many instances it was simply the case of offering to help a person then knowing later on that they would return the favour if required. Basically, you scratch my back and I'll scratch ...
For the majority of people the largest single investment made in their life time will be the house they buy so naturally you want this protected financially and not lost with a strike of a match. If put in this situation the cost of repair to damage would place a heavy financial burden on our shoulders and for many the price tag would certainly be too great if there was not a home insurance policy in place. Most mortgage lenders require that you have building insurance some include it ... | <urn:uuid:661ce584-cf05-41aa-b8c1-d91bab49d686> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://affinitiz.net/space/insurance/contents/2010/01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976737 | 295 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Everyone confirms which schooling is actually essential. Similarly, this offers turn out to be the a usual thing in order to state which all of us not necessarily teaching the actual place’s kids because nicely because all of us ought to. Enhancing schooling is actually a good extremely complicated job, however 1 component associated with the actual issue is actually which we are going to getting problems because the community determining exactly what the “good education” really is actually. This particular is actually the specific issue within topics which tend to be politically as well as psychologically billed. 1 associated with the actual the majority of acrimonious places associated with schooling is actually the actual 1 which is actually additionally closest in order to my own personal cardiovascular: the field of biology. Permit me personally in order to place away a few ideas upon exactly what the audio schooling within the field of biology really need in order to appear such as, as well as exactly what the actual advantages associated with this particular may become upon each the actual person as well as the actual social degree.
Very first, as well as possibly the majority of significantly, this is actually crucial which almost all sciences, such as the field of biology, tend to be trained because the procedure as well as the method associated with considering, instead compared to the arranged associated with details which tend to be “true” as well as should become commited to memory. With regard to instance, 1 associated with the actual much more startling suggestions within the field of biology is actually which a lot associated with the actual bodyweight associated with a good walnut woods offers really already been drawn away associated with slim air flow. In case somebody simply informed me personally which, as well as We experienced absolutely no concept in which the actual info arrived through, I would believe they will had been the little bit loopy in greatest or even attempting in order to market me personally the expenses associated with gods in most severe. Outfitted along with a good real knowing associated with the actual technological inquiry which gone in to this particular breakthrough, We not really just think this, however much more significantly We comprehend as well as keep in mind this because nicely. Right now, replicating actually the actual easiest associated with the actual tests researchers utilized in order to unravel the actual issue “How perform vegetation obtain bodyweight? inches might become hard within the actual typical classroom as well as most likely not really the actual greatest utilize associated with valuable period. However searching in to situation research such as this particular 1 is actually the fantastic method in order to understand regarding each technological details as well as technological considering. | <urn:uuid:908c2986-a4f4-4429-b956-56420f4bfa82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biasweb.org/2011/12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974179 | 520 | 1.945313 | 2 |
One of your videos will involve a whole class career lesson. The other will include you and one student needing academic counseling.
The first thing I want you to know is this: Do not simply make a video without paying close attention to the video analysis section of the entry directions. Take time first to read and understand exactly what the assessor will be looking for during the video. You will need to make sure you address each point within fifteen minutes on your videos. Fifteen minutes is the absolute maximum time your video should be. Anything more will not count toward your score and will not be viewed. PLEASE be sure to thoroughly read your Format Specifications. Specific directions for video recording are given and include “Video Recording DOs and DON’Ts.”
Here are a few important things for you to remember:
- Be sure to have a video release form for each student included in your videos.
- Remember to submit a copy of your driver’s license or any government issued ID. Your assessor will need this to confirm that the person in the video is really you. You’ll include a copy with each entry separately.
- Do NOT edit your video in ANY way. Doing this will affect your score.
- If you do happen to use an actual video tape, be sure to “cue” your video so it starts exactly where you would like the assessor to begin watching. Your fifteen minutes don’t have to include any special type of introduction. CD’s will also need to begin exactly where your fifteen minutes start.
- It’s okay if you have some students in your classroom video without release forms. They can still participate and even answer questions. Just be sure they are not visible in your recording. You can sit those students in a section behind the camera.
- Make sure you are visible at some point in the video.
- In your writing, it’s good to quote a student’s response that you are referring to just in case it seems inaudible on your recording.
My career lesson for Entry 2 was at least 45 minutes in length, but only 15 minutes of it could be included on my video. Before even planning my lesson, I looked at each question and noted what I would need to show evidence of during my recording. This included how I determined the students understanding of the topic of career development, how I provided constructive feedback, how I ensured fairness, equity, and access for each of the students, how I used technology, and evidence of my students’ engagement in critical thinking or problem solving. That may seem like a lot to squeeze into fifteen minutes, but it CAN be done.
I followed the same process for Entry 3 using the Video Recording Analysis questions.
Pay special attention to the questions that say to “cite specific evidence from the video segment.” While some questions are things you can simply demonstrate and point out during the video (ie. Steps taken to foster a purposeful and supportive counseling environment), others will require pulling direct quotes from your students or you. Set your lesson up to include these important interactions.
I felt this post was necessary as I have heard of candidates simply recording a lesson and attempting to use it for their writing without really paying attention to what the assessors will be looking for. If you start by planning around the questions for the video analysis, you will not find yourself recording multiple videos. I recorded once for each of my videos, but pre-planning was truly the key.
Stick around! You can follow Savvy School Counselor with free email updates! As always, I’d love to hear from you. Do you have any specific questions I haven’t addressed regarding video recording? | <urn:uuid:618d2ab5-2fac-40eb-97a7-6cb5e212d6e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://savvyschoolcounselor.com/national-boards-pointers-for-videos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955566 | 768 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Everyone knows a bit about the failed U.S. efforts in Afghanistan to win the hearts and minds of the people and to install a stable government, but in historian/journalist Doug Wissing's upcoming book, "Funding the Enemy: How U.S, Taxpayers Fund the Taliban," the stark details are laid bare. Wissing spent months in the country with U.S. soldiers and conducted hundreds of interviews. His conclusions are revelatory and scandalous.
While waste and corruption are part and parcel of most aid programs that take place in a war zone, the scale of these problems in Afghanistan is off the charts. One telling example: The Bush administration encouraged the return of opium poppy cultivation and production in order to entice allies, then (ineffectually) changed course 180 degrees and outlawed poppy production, only to lose their allies while the opium trade stayed in place.
Afghan warlords play the U.S. officials for all they are worth, using U.S. money to further their own interests, while accepting Taliban money to further the Taliban's interests. And, in a bizarre turn of events, the U.S. eventually has found itself paying protection money to the Taliban in order to protect material that is needed to sustain American troops.
While the Bush administration and U.S. officials were overseeing this fiasco, they were full of empty rhetoric about how well the war effort was going, but the troops on the ground understood the truth, which contradicted
"Funding the Enemy" illustrates how deception and hubris endangers and demoralizes American troops in Afghanistan, who understand just how great the disconnect is between official pronouncements and the facts on the ground. When Wissing raised questions about the efficacy of the U.S. involvement, it was like he entered Alice's wonderland. "What we have is a cognitive dissonance," Wissing told me. "Officers will parrot the party line, then branch off with specifics that directly contradict the party line."
The administration and the Pentagon force these officers to lie about the big picture, but those officers have enough integrity to make sure that they describe the actual facts on the ground that expose the party line for the pack of lies that it is. Wissing witnessed a regional Afghan leader known to be a Taliban leader demand U.S. aid money which was almost certainly to be used to buy fertilizer to construct bombs targeting U.S. troops. And this is not a rare exception, it is the new normal.
Doug Seymour, an intelligence officer from Las Vegas, notes the parallel between Vegas casinos and Afghan insurgents. "Afghans know just the right amount of fighting to keep us here," he said, explaining that if they killed too many Americans, we would pull out, but by just going up to that line without crossing, the insurgents keep the U.S. in the game, which means that the money will keep flowing into their hands, thus funding their war against the U.S. One soldier noted how "the military industrial complex is all making money." Wissing remembers seeing a "piece of [expletive] plywood shack that the government paid $28,000 to KBR [a Halliburton subsidiary that is making billions off of this war] to build."
Why does this still matter? George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are bad memories. Obama promised change, so why should we care? According to Wissing, "Obama put the Bush plan on steroids." The Obama administration is counting on the big lie to convince the American people that Afghanistan will soon be another notch in our victory column, and it can ill afford the truth to be known. Americans will not be pleased to know that the only reason this war continues is because so many are making money off of it. As Wissing said, "The revolving door between USAID and for profit development companies keep the funds flowing, even though 90 percent of it is wasted."
Our soldiers have long lost faith in winning the hearts and minds of Afghanistan's population. As Wissing quoted front line soldiers who told him repeatedly, "[Expletive] this, The juice ain't worth the squeeze."
Dan DeWalt writes from Newfane. | <urn:uuid:ca667171-36f0-4bd7-9982-b7d666be1fe9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reformer.com/ci_20483171/real-afghanistan?source=most_emailed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963237 | 864 | 1.8125 | 2 |