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Joliet Junior College has been awarded a $525,000 federal grant to revitalize its manufacturing program and initiate a new robotics program.
The grant was one of 21 awarded to Illinois community colleges through the U.S. Department of Labor, which is attempting to foster innovative job training and manufacturing programs, according to a JJC news release.
The goal, JJC officials say, is to expand programs that prepare people for high-growth advanced manufacturing occupations, institute strategies to increase student success and implement strategies that ensure student completion.
“This is a statewide initiative, and JJC is excited to be one of the 21 participating colleges,” said Dan Kreidler, JJC dean of Community and Economic Development, in the news release.
“We will focus our efforts to work with those individuals that have lost their jobs due to them being moved overseas, veterans to reintegrate into the civilian workforce, and others individuals who are unemployed or underemployed who meet WIA eligibility requirements.”
The grants are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, initiated in 2009. The Trade Act of 1974 was amended to include Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant program, which awards the grants on behalf of the labor department.
The goal is to provide community colleges and other eligible higher education institutions with funds to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs that can be completed in two years or less, are suited for workers who are eligible for training under the TAA for Workers program, and prepare program participants for employment in high-wage, high-skill occupations.
For more information, call JJC Workforce Development Director Paige Vanderhyden at 815-280-1313.
For more information about the federal grant program, see the Department of Labor's press release. | <urn:uuid:62d81db8-ea34-4235-8107-c7457ace949d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://romeoville.patch.com/articles/jjc-lands-525-000-federal-job-training-grant | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958254 | 376 | 1.523438 | 2 |
I gave the following speech at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008 in Budapest today:
NGO’s and on-the ground activists: Defending the Voices
How can NGOs seeking to advance freedom of expression most effectively work with on-the-ground free speech activists to combat censorship?
As a journalist, author and blogger living in Sydney, Australia, the opportunity to be involved in this Global Voices event is a privilege. I thank the organisers for the opportunity.
My country may be a democracy of sorts, but internet censorship is a creeping problem in every country of the globe, including my own. Late last year, with new Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd just elected after more than a decade of conservative rule under John Howard, the government announced measures to supposedly offer greater protection to children from online pornography and violent websites. Similar ideas have been implemented in France and proposed in Scandinavia.
Australia’s Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy said in December: “Labor makes no apologies to those that argue that any regulation of the internet is like going down the Chinese road. If people equate freedom of speech with watching child pornography, then the Rudd-Labor Government is going to disagree.”
Conroy said that anybody wanting to opt of the system, to be implemented by ISPs, would have to notify authorities.
The system has not yet been imposed, but NGOs, web companies and free speech advocates have been loudly campaigning against the moves, arguing that the plan would cripple the already slow speed of broadband in Australia.
The high-profile NGO, Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA), issued a blistering press release in response to the proposal and motivated the local blogosphere to quickly mobilise its resources, namely online noise, writing letters to government ministers and the media. The statement read, in part:
“Australia is supposed to be a liberal democracy where adults have the freedom to say and read what they want, not just what the Government decides is ‘appropriate’ for them. These announcements smack of the condescending paternalism which contributed to the downfall of the Howard government. The proposals threaten the free speech rights of every Australian, and our concerns will not be silenced by Government sound bites equating free speech with access to child pornography.”
It continued: “EFA has previously raised concerns about Australia joining North Korea, China and Burma in the club of nations who censor their citizens’ access to the internet. While the Minister makes no apologies for this alarming development, he has given us little reason to put our faith in his bureaucrats to administer such a system competently, transparently and fairly. Who decides what is ‘appropriate’ for adult Australians to read on the internet, and according to what standards? What will happen if the Government decides that information about abortion or gay marriage is ‘inappropriate’ at the behest of [Christian conservative] Family First Senator Steve Fielding?”
Stephen Dalby, chief regulatory officer with Australian ISP company iiNet, said in mid-June: “This whole notion of taking a technological solution to what is otherwise a social issue really has some problems…Our only concern is that the government may push this through, raise their hands and say ‘right, we’ve done something about it.’ Let’s hope there’s some sincerity in looking at fixing the community problems associated with this more intently.”
That may be wishful thinking. Equally concerning is the lack of transparency about which websites will be blocked. I’m less concerned about filtering child pornography than websites that allegedly celebrate violence or terrorism. Does this mean, for example, that the website for the Palestinian group Hamas may be censored because the US and many Western countries regard them as terrorists? Likewise with Hizbollah or even al-Qaeda? Do we not have the right to view information that some people may find offensive but a free society should both tolerate and protect? Sadly, censorship is no longer just a problem in non-Western nations.
The “war on terror” has emboldened those in Western societies who cloak their censorship under the guise of “protecting” citizens from supposedly harmful online material. As we’ve seen during the Bush administration years, intrusive governments are increasingly willing to legislate what they deem we can and cannot see and watch. Free societies are never truly free and eternal vigilance is essential. A disturbing future is already being imagined for us.
The Former US House speaker, Newt Gingrich, said in 2006 that free speech may have to be curtailed in the fight against terrorism. “Either before we lose a city or, if we are truly stupid, after we lose a city”, he said, “we will adopt rules of engagement that use every technology we can find to break up their capacity to use the internet…” The authoritarian impulse is alive and well in the West.
Australia’s proposals are likely to be realised before the end of the year, but I suspect some ISPs, though unlikely to ignore the directives, may balk at rules and regulations that are likely to constantly change according to the whims of the day.
We often presume that people who live in a repressive regimes do not want Big Brother deciding their online habits, but a recent study by Pew Internet & American Life Project found that the vast majority of Chinese web-users supported their government controlling and managing the internet. “Our” values are clearly up for discussion and should never be imposed on others. It almost beggars belief that Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently told The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta that he never anticipated repressive regimes would begin imposing internet censorship at the router level. Perhaps he temporarily forgot his own company’s complicity in China’s extensive web filtering. Just who is imposing whose values on whom?
During my travels to various non-democratic countries over the last years, including Cuba, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and Sri Lanka, I’ve met countless bloggers, dissidents and NGOs determined to circumvent government censorship, imprisonment or filtering. Most of them are under-funded, often scared of being caught and looking for international solidarity. Just being heard is half the battle. I was highly conscious in nations such as Iran, China and Cuba that talking to a Western journalist could endanger a blogger or activist.
My forthcoming book, The Blogging Revolution, gives voice to a world still largely ignored in the Western media. For me as a journalist, one of the key things we can do, with the assistance of like-minded NGOs, is allow bloggers to speak for themselves and not automatically classify them as suspect, non-English speakers. For example, in Australia, more than five years after the start of the Iraq war, Iraqi voices are still virtually ignored. It is as if only Westerners, usually middle-age men, have the right to speak for the occupied people.
NGOs should work with news organizations and reporters to educate a Western media that remains highly suspicious of bloggers and the apparent inability to check their credentials. I regularly encounter editors in Australia and overseas who question my use of blogger quotes but don’t look twice if a government official is cited. This is gradually changing but remains mired in conservative, so-called objective reporting rules. NGOs can help in this transition to a more responsive and worldly kind of networked journalism.
I’m currently working with Amnesty International Australia on its China campaign in this Olympic year. Its Uncensor website aims to highlight the extensive use of internet repression in China and hook into growing concerns in Australia and elsewhere over the country’s human rights abuses. Amnesty has hosted many “Tear Down the Great Firewall of China” events across the country, giving citizens the opportunity to learn the ways in which Western multinationals are assisting web repression.
The Uncensor website highlights the cases of well-known imprisoned Chinese activists and displays real-time examples of what internet searches, such as Tiananmen Square and 1989 Democratic Movement, look like inside China. The campaign has generated solid media coverage. Chinese activists in Australia, with many contacts back home, also write regularly about the mood on the streets in Beijing, Shanghai and beyond.
After Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd admirably told students in Mandarin at Peking University in April that, “we…believe it is necessary to recognise there are significant human rights problem in Tibet”, public opinion firmly swung behind strong pressure being placed on Beijing and Olympic sponsors. A majority of Australians polled in April favoured the country’s Games’ sponsors speaking out strongly against China’s abuses with four out of ten saying they would be more likely to purchase a product from an outspoken sponsor. Sympathy for the Tibetan cause was paramount and NGOs such as Amnesty are central to keeping the stories of human rights infractions in the media.
One of the central myths that NGOs should counter is the idea that citizens in non-democratic nations are craving American-style democracy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of the press are central to any modern, democratic state, but embracing unregulated capitalism is not largely welcomed. As John Lee, a fellow at an Australian think-tank, recently wrote about China:
“The rise of an alternative to the Western liberal model of development – the so-called Beijing consensus – has been the unexpected consequence of China’s rise and is proving a difficult ideational challenge for the West. Where once we placed our hopes on the me generation to push for political change, we must now confront the fact that China’s young elites believe working within a one-party state is the better bet for their and the country’s future.”
These realities are arguably more attractive for Western multinationals to enter China and navigate the relatively open regulatory system. A recent report in Business Week magazine highlighted the role of Chinese firms assisting some of these foreign multinationals with the confusing Chinese blogosphere and netizens criticising firms for alleged slights against Chinese culture. The founder of one of these companies, CIC’s Sam Flemming, explained it well: “If it touches on nationalism, or if the client clearly made a mistake and disrespected a customer, that’s dangerous.”
The role of Western NGOs is essential in providing a bridge between on-the-ground activists and a sceptical media back home. Convincing the masses that censorship in, say, Iran, is relevant to the outer suburbs of Sydney, can only be achieved through the internet. The ease with which a web user anywhere in the world can campaign for campaigners in repressive regimes creates both a sense of community and protection, however slight. Online campaigning has exploded around the globe.
I’ve long believed that activism must be mainstreamed to be truly effective, rather than just the concern of a minority. Our job as journalists, activists, NGOs, bloggers or concerned citizens is to bring the stories of the world to a media that welcomes localism and shuns complexity. These rules of the game are ripe for change. | <urn:uuid:bbf39d0c-0539-40ca-9e6d-72eef1535d44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://antonyloewenstein.com/2008/06/28/towards-a-total-human-rights-outlook/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949885 | 2,280 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Low altitude flying with coarse maps – determining the time of SMART-1 impact
What exactly determines the time of the SMART-1 impact? What causes the uncertainty in the impact time?
The SMART-1 spacecraft is currently expected to impact the Moon's surface on 3 September 2006, at 07:41 CEST (05:41 UT). However, it is also possible that the small satellite hits the Moon on the previous orbit at 02:37 CEST (00:37 UT). Why?
The time of impact has been determined by orbit predictions following the major thruster manoeuvres performed from 23 June to 2 July 2006 (plus a few trajectory correction manoeuvres performed on 27 and 28 July 2006) – aimed at changing the impact site from the lunar far-side to the lunar near-side, taking into account the Sun-Earth-Moon gravity perturbations. These make the SMART-1 orbit perilune (point of closest approach to the lunar surface) naturally drift down about one kilometre per orbit.
In determining the impact orbit, ESA's spacecraft control experts are also taking into account the tiny perturbations to the trajectory induced by the small hydrazine thrusters to offload the spacecraft reaction wheels, and some slight additional gravity perturbations. An additional slot is also available for a corrective manoeuvre on 1 and 2 September 2006 if needed, to maintain the impact time as planned and allow ground based observations.
There remains, however, an uncertainty on the time of impact, because the lunar topography is still not completely known. The best lunar topographic maps currently available are based on data from the US Clementine mission in 1994. The laser altimeter experiment (LIDAR) on board provided the spacecraft altitude over a grid of roughly every kilometre. The values in between have been interpolated by the SMART-1 experts, assuming that there are no unknown peaks in those areas.
However, there is still a chance that an unknown peak is just in SMART-1's way as the spacecraft spirals down to the surface. This means that, if encountering terrain about one kilometre high, SMART-1 may hit ground at 02:37 CEST (00:37 UT), at which time the spacecraft will be flying at about 800 metres altitude. This would result in an impact one orbit earlier than the estimated 07:41 CEST (05:41 UT) impact on 3 September. For the same reason, there is even a possibility that impact could happen on 2 September, at 21:33 CEST (19:33 UT).
So, for SMART-1, the last lunar approach orbits will be rather like low-altitude flying with incomplete terrain maps. Results from SMART-1 and the next fleet of lunar orbiters may help to improve maps for future lunar exploration.
Impact visibility for ground observers
"Dependent on the impact times, different parts of the world will have the best seats for the final impact show , some seats in sunlight and others at night", says Bernard Foing, ESA SMART-1 Project Scientist.
If the impact occurs nominally on 3 September 2006 at 07:41 CEST (05:41 UT), observers from North and South America and the East Pacific will be able to see the impact or 'listen' to it through radio telescopes during night time, with best views from America's East coasts as well as from Hawaii and the East Pacific.
If the probe impacts on 3 September at 02:36 CEST (00:36 UT), the impact will be easily visible from South America, Canary Islands (Spain) and the US East coast, and from radio observatories from the US in daylight.
Should the impact occur on 2 September 2006 at 21:33 CEST (19:33 UT), two orbits before the nominal one, then Africa and South Europe would have a clear view just after sunset. Radio observatories from South America can listen to SMART-1's final signal in daylight.
For more information on the ground observations follow this link to find more information about SMART-1 impact site observations.
For more information
Bernard Foing, ESA SMART-1 Project Scientist
Email: bernard.foing @ esa.int | <urn:uuid:3d4f967e-13db-494a-824e-ab4ddda994fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Low_altitude_flying_with_coarse_maps_determining_the_time_of_SMART-1_impact/(print) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920395 | 872 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Lehi counsels and blesses his posterity—He dies and is buried—Nephi glories in the goodness of God—Nephi puts his trust in the Lord forever. About 588–570 B.C.
1 And now, I, Nephi, speak concerning the prophecies of which my father hath spoken, concerning aJoseph, who was carried into Egypt.
2 For behold, he truly prophesied concerning all his seed. And the aprophecies which he wrote, there are not many greater. And he prophesied concerning us, and our future generations; and they are written upon the bplates of brass.
3 Wherefore, after my father had made an end of speaking concerning the prophecies of Joseph, he called the children of Laman, his sons, and his daughters, and said unto them: Behold, my sons, and my daughters, who are the sons and the daughters of my afirstborn, I would that ye should give ear unto my words.
4 For the Lord God hath said that: aInasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.
5 But behold, my sons and my daughters, I cannot go down to my grave save I should leave a ablessing upon you; for behold, I know that if ye are bbrought up in the cway ye should go ye will not depart from it.
9 And he spake unto them, saying: Behold, my sons and my daughters, who are the sons and the daughters of my second son; behold I leave unto you the same blessing which I left unto the sons and daughters of Laman; wherefore, thou shalt not utterly be destroyed; but in the end thy seed shall be blessed.
10 And it came to pass that when my father had made an end of speaking unto them, behold, he spake unto the sons of aIshmael, yea, and even all his household.
11 And after he had made an end of speaking unto them, he spake unto Sam, saying: Blessed art thou, and thy aseed; for thou shalt inherit the land like unto thy brother Nephi. And thy seed shall be numbered with his seed; and thou shalt be even like unto thy brother, and thy seed like unto his seed; and thou shalt be blessed in all thy days.
12 And it came to pass after my father, Lehi, had aspoken unto all his household, according to the feelings of his heart and the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, he waxed bold. And it came to pass that he died, and was buried.
13 And it came to pass that not many days after his death, Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael were aangry with me because of the admonitions of the Lord.
14 For I, Nephi, was constrained to speak unto them, according to his word; for I had spoken many things unto them, and also my father, before his death; many of which sayings are written upon mine aother plates; for a more history part are written upon mine other plates.
15 And upon athese I bwrite the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul cdelighteth in the scriptures, and my heart dpondereth them, and writeth them for the elearning and the profit of my children.
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great agoodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O bwretched man that I am! Yea, my heart csorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily abeset me.
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have atrusted.
22 He hath confounded mine aenemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty aprayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been acarried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.
26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath avisited men in so much bmercy, cwhy should my dheart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?
27 And why should I ayield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to btemptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my cpeace and afflict my soul? Why am I dangry because of mine enemy?
29 Do not aanger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.
32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my aheart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may bwalk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!
33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy arighteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine benemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.
34 O Lord, I have atrusted in thee, and I will btrust in thee forever. I will not put my ctrust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his dtrust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
35 Yea, I know that God will give aliberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I bask cnot amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the drock of my erighteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen. | <urn:uuid:68416020-3ab9-48b2-b893-edc640206d74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/4.32-33?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955054 | 1,445 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Earlier in the week we released an out-of-band security update to address a vulnerability in the Windows Shell which could allow a remote code execution. More details are below and if you haven’t already applied this update make sure you do as soon as you can.
New Security Bulletin Overview
Maximum Severity Rating
Details This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Windows Shell. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if the icon of a specially crafted shortcut is displayed. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
This security update is rated Critical for all supported editions of Microsoft Windows. The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting validation of shortcut icon references.
This security update addresses the vulnerability first described in Microsoft Security Advisory 2286198. | <urn:uuid:a72f49fa-8211-4a77-b3ff-d9555e476d3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.technet.com/b/jeffa36/archive/2010/08/06/security-bulletin-release-out-of-band-release.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922687 | 187 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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March 21, 2013
Earth Hour 2013
Earth Hour 2013 will be held on March 23, 2013 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. during participants' local time.
March 22, 2013
World Water Day 2013
World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater.
March 1, 2013
Path to cleaner air
Chinese government is urged to take effective measures to curb prolonged smog pollution.
January 31, 2013
China's smog by the numbers
China.org.cn recaps China's hazardous smog event by looking at some key numbers.
January 14, 2013
Dense smog hits east, central China
China has made progress in combating environmental pollution, but apparently it still has a lot to do to improve its overall air quality.
December 25, 2012
Brutal cold strikes China
Provinces in some parts of China continue to suffer from a brutal cold spell which some say could bring the region’s most frigid temperatures in a decade.
November 25, 2012
2012 UN Doha Climate Summit
The 2012 UN Climate Change Conference will take place from Monday, Nov. 26 to Friday, Dec. 7 in Doha, Qatar.
October 31, 2012
The huge storm Sandy killed 63 people across the U.S. eastern coast.
June 18, 2012
World Day to Combat Desertification
June 17, 2012 is the 18th World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
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Get more from China.org.cn | <urn:uuid:b9e16c8d-3b61-49da-a13d-ae35c05a7a8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.china.org.cn/environment/node_7076107.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905123 | 379 | 2.484375 | 2 |
January Is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month
As the month of January brings cervical cancer into focus, it’s time to increase public understanding of the disease, including its prevalence, approaches to screening and prevention, treatment options, and resources that offer updated cervical cancer information throughout the year.
Cervical cancer affects the cervix, the part of the body that connects the uterus (or womb) to the vagina (or birth canal). Each year in the United States, more than 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and approximately 4,000 die of the disease. Certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), most commonly HPV 16 and HPV 18, are linked to cervical cancer, and several other high-risk types of HPV also contribute to cancer. Vaccines such as Gardasil® and Cervarix™ that are designed to prevent infection with high-risk types of HPV have the potential to greatly reduce the occurrence of cervical cancer.
Staying informed with the latest news on prevention and screening is an important step in reducing your risk of developing cervical cancer, while access to current, in-depth treatment information can help you choose optimal care and achieve the best possible outcome from treatment.
Learning More About Cervical Cancer
- Find informative tips on managing cervical cancer at Cervical Cancer Tips.
- Watch our video about the National Cervical Cancer Coalition.
- To find expanded information on the prevention, screening, and treatment of cervical cancer, stay updated with the lasted news on the disease, and join a community of others impacted by the disease, visit the Cervical Cancer Information Center.
- Women&Cancer magazine covers a broad range of women’s health topics including cervical cancer. This quarterly women’s health and lifestyle magazine is dedicated to topics related to the prevention and management of cancer while emphasizing wellness, fostering community, and inspiring hope. Free one-year subscriptions are available at http://womenandcancermag.com/Subscribe2.aspx.
- Sign up to receive Cancer Consultants’ free online cervical cancer newsletter, which provides disease-specific features, current news, tips, and nutrition and wellness information. Subscribe at http://www.cancerconsultants.com/about-cancerconsultants/subscription.
- Visit the Cancer Care Store on Cancerconsultants.com for book titles with topics ranging from personal cancer memoirs to expert nutritional guides about fueling your body to prevent and fight cancer.
- For even more late-breaking cervical cancer news and discussion, follow Cancer Consultants on Facebook and Twitter.
American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures 2009. Available at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/stt_0.asp. (Accessed January 2010).
More news and in-depth Cervical Cancer information. | <urn:uuid:1f9a6040-61d6-48c7-b132-0500bb0de498> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cancerconnect.com/january-national-cervical-cancer-awareness-month/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905555 | 593 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Closing arguments made in Rwandan native's trial
Woman accused of lying on citizenship forms about role in genocide
Did Beatrice Munyenyezi have "a front row seat" on the 1994 Rwanda genocide, as prosecutors say, or was she the scared, pregnant young mother who left her native country for the U.S. as her lawyers portrayed her to be?
For the second time in a year a federal jury must decide the answer and her fate, after jurors last March deadlocked on who she was and what she did during the 100-day massacre of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus by the extremist Hutu militia.
The jury heard closing arguments Wednesday and is to begin deliberations Thursday. Munyenyezi has not taken the stand in her defense at either trial.
The Manchester woman is charged with two counts of falsely obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2003. Prosecutors say she lied when she denied membership or association with any political party, denied persecuting Tutsis and for aiding and abetting killers during the genocide.
Munyenyezi's husband, Arsene Shalom Ntahobali and his mother were convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda and sentenced to life in 2011 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Ntahobali was a leader of the Hutu youth militia that played a large role in the slaughter of Tutsis.
Some government witnesses testified they saw Munyenyezi checking identification cards at a roadblock outside the Butare hotel owned by her husband's family, weeding out Tutsis for slaughter. Others say they saw her wearing the colorful garb of the Hutu MRND party leaders.
"If I'm checking IDs at roadblocks, knowing that person is going to be clubbed to death, I'm as responsible as if I wielded the machete myself," Assistant U.S. Attorney John Capin told jurors Wednesday.
Capin mocked her testimony at the ICTR, when she testified that life was "boring" at the hotel in Butare and that she saw no dead bodies.
"She had a front row seat to the genocide, to the most vicious roadblock in town," Capin said.
Munyenyezi's lawyers assailed the credibility of Rwandan witnesses who waited 19 years to implicate her in genocide.
Defense attorney Mark Howard reminded jurors that when Rwandans are asked about the genocide, they say what those in authority want to hear. He said every one of the government's Rwandan witnesses were not interviewed until last June - two years after Munyenyezi was indicted.
"It couldn't be more well known in Butare that Beatrice is being investigated or charged in the U.S.," Howard said.
He said the Rwandan witnesses knew investigators wanted to talk to them about Munyenyezi.
For this second trial, prosecutors changed their line-up of Rwanda witnesses, abandoning among others those who were serving life sentences for killing Tutsis during the genocide. They have declined to comment on their trial strategy.
Howard also said she told immigration officials during an interview in Kenya in 1995, in connection with her application for citizenship status, that her mother-in-law was a cabinet minister in the Hutu government and her father-in-law held the political appointment of president of the university in Butare.
"She had told everything and they didn't do anything about it," he said of immigration officials.
Munyenyezi is on trial in the same federal courthouse where she obtained her citizenship a decade ago.
"Ten years ago, she came to this courthouse and walked out an American citizen," Howard said. "Today she's going to walk out an innocent American citizen."
To convict Munyenyezi, jurors must find she intentionally made false statements on documents and to immigration officials about significant facts about her background and character.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:99086dfe-dbb9-4435-915f-c2be54091c2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/Closing-arguments-made-in-Rwandan-native-s-trial/-/9857858/19000634/-/format/rsss_2.0/view/print/-/x26dxhz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978231 | 837 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Commercial loans are alternatives to federal loans. They are credit-based, may have variable interest rates and are not eligible for the benefits associated with federal student loans. Students may apply for assistance through one or more commercial loan provider. The amount borrowed from any of these programs when combined with other forms of approved financial aid cannot exceed the student expense budget.
Students who may potentially seek a career in public interest or government work are strongly advised NOT to choose commercial loans over Grad PLUS loans if a supplement to Stafford loans is necessary, as commercial loans are not eligible for various related federal programs and will NOT be covered by Georgetown Law's Loan Repayment Assistance Program for students who entered Georgetown Law in the 2009-2010 academic year or later.
Like federal loans, most commercial loans still require students to be enrolled at least half-time in a degree programs (6 credits for J.D. students and 4 credits for LL.M. students). In addition, the borrower must typically be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident or have a U.S. citizen or permanent resident co-signer.
A student may borrow a commercial loan amount equal to the total student budget minus any other financial aid. Additionally, most commercial loan programs also have aggregate education debt limits (typically up to $180,000). If your total education debt exceeds these limits you will not be able to borrow from certain programs.
Most lenders use a borrower's credit score to evaluate eligibility and interest rates. An applicant with a score of 680 or higher is likely to be approved.
Depending on your lender selection, commercial loan funds may arrive via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or via paper check format. Funds that arrive via EFT are posted to the student's account. Paper checks can be claimed at the Student Accounts Office. If account balance is paid in full, paper loan checks made payable to the student may be released directly to the student. If the student owes money to Georgetown Law, funds will be applied first to the outstanding account balance and the excess will be refunded though the Student Accounts Office. | <urn:uuid:42c857d0-9e00-4cc0-86db-fffd10bc56f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.georgetown.edu/admissions-financial-aid/office-of-financial-aid/Types/Commercial-Loans.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943751 | 420 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s bigotted statement that there are no homosexuals in Iran derived from his rightwing religious commitments. What he said is very serious. He erased gays right out of existence. The ultimate in denying people their rights is to deny they even exist (the nonexistent obviously have no rights.) There could be a debate over whether the gay lifestyle exists in Muslim countries, as a matter of identity politics, of course, but Ahmadinejad is not that sophisticated. He was saying that all Iranians are straight. Of course, gays are punished very severely in Iran, in reality.
It would be nice for the US Right to have us forget that they pull the Ahmadinejad act with regard to gays every day. Denying gays the right to marry is a way of erasing them from civil society. It is a way of denying that they really love one another, as straights do. It is a way of asserting that they do not exist.
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the US military (so unlike the one followed by many NATO allies) is also a way of erasing gays. They don’t exist unless they themselves press the case that they exist. In order to remain in their jobs, they are forced to erase themselves by their silence. The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy is a way of pretending that there are no gays in the US military. For if it could be proven that anyone is gay, he is immediately expelled. It is just as silly as what Ahmadinejad said, and just as pernicious. That policy is supported by the entire American Right, which is no better than Ahmadinejad in this regard.
Here are a couple of Christian statements resembling the vile ones spewed by Ahmadinejad, just for comparison.
Catholic Ahmadinejads from Hannity and Colmes:
‘ COLMES: group that is where I am. Let me just show you another quote, and you’ll be surprised at who’s saying this.
“Based on the facts that are known to us, we continue to find it difficult to justify the resort to war against Iraq, lacking clear and adequate evidence of an imminent attack of a grave nature.”
The Conference of Catholic Bishops saying that, Congressman, Dornan.
DORNAN: Did you watch the — did you watch the debate? I watched six hours of debate, and I had a face-to-face fight with Cardinal McCarrick, who told me to my face there are no homosexuals in our seminaries. This is a discredited bunch of once holy men.
—-FOX: HANNITY & COLMES, November 15, 2002 ‘
Evangelical Ahmadinejads. Bishop John Shelby Spong observes:
[Conservative] ‘commentators have not mentioned the blatant homophobia in both Africa and Southeast Asia. Christian leaders in Africa still maintain that there are no homosexuals in their countries, or if homosexuality is admitted, that it was “caught” from white Europeans. Christians throughout the Third World still assert that homosexuals are either evil people who can be changed if they are converted, or that they are mentally sick people who can be healed if properly treated. Such theories are dismissed as nonsense in Western medical circles today. Homosexual people in Africa have told me that they risk murder if they come out of their closets. They believe that if they were killed, the act would be endorsed by many Christian leaders of that continent, who quote scripture to justify it.’
So if some American Republicans, Catholics and evangelicals want to have the standing to laugh at Ahmadinejad for his prejudice, they have some work to do at home first.
PS: to get a sense of what Iran is really like these days, see this slide show. | <urn:uuid:7b0c05a0-0229-4b05-986e-be76b4ade5de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.juancole.com/2007/09/there-are-no-homosexuals-in-more-common.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975561 | 803 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Health reform doesn't require a public plan
- Rep. Phil Gingrey says government should not be managing patients' health care. John Shinkle
Supporters of H.R. 3200 have argued that it will help reduce health care costs. However, I raised a question about the costs and savings of this bill with the Congressional Budget Office’s director, Douglas Elmendorf, during a closed-door session with the Energy and Commerce Committee. His response to me, which he later confirmed in a hearing of the Senate Budget Committee, was that this plan would actually raise health care costs, not lower them. Conclusion: H.R. 3200 will give the American people fewer health care choices than they currently have and charge them more for those choices.
It is imperative that we defeat a government-run plan — but that does not mean health care reform should die with it. In recent weeks, the Blue Dogs and even the House Democratic freshmen have signaled serious concerns with H.R. 3200 and have expressed a desire for a more bipartisan plan. House Republicans have petitioned Obama for a more active role in crafting meaningful health care reform. All totaled, these groups create a coalition of at least 240 members — around 55 percent of the House. We have all seen the failures of government control. We must not make the same mistake with our health care system.
If the president and the Democratic leadership are serious about enacting bipartisan health care reform, there are areas of agreement that can be reached to address the underlying factors driving up the costs of health care and putting it out of reach for some. Individuals who purchase their own insurance should be able to receive the same discounted health care as those who get health care from their employers. Comprehensive medical liability reform would dramatically lower health care costs created by frivolous lawsuits and defensive medicine. To promote prevention and wellness, we can provide employers and insurers with greater flexibility to give patients incentives to seek a healthful lifestyle. The creation of state-sponsored high-risk pools and premium assistance would ensure that every American, regardless of illness or disease, could secure the quality health care of his or her choice.
No one should doubt the existence of common ground on which Democrats and Republicans can agree to make health care more affordable and accessible without another wholesale government takeover. The Democratic majority owes more to the American people than a one-sided conversation about a plan that just will not work.
Rep. Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R-Ga.), is a member of the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee and co-chairs the GOP Doctors Caucus. | <urn:uuid:d0508026-caeb-4406-b86c-01396276741f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25452_Page2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969358 | 524 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Ku Klux Klan: During the 1920s and 1930s
These sites are about the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)during their resurgence in the 1920s and 1930s. Also, there is information about the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. In addition, there are resources dealing with the Leopold and Loeb Trial. Included are links to eThemes Resources: Decade: 1920-1929 and Decade: 1930-1939.
The Ku Klux Klan
This site gives an introduction about the Ku Klux Klan and has links to the first Ku Klux Klan and the Klan after WW II. NOTE: This site includes ads.
Curriculum Guide: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana in the 1920s
This 12-page PDF curriculum guide teaches about the Ku Klux Klan during the late 1920s.
Ku Klux Klan Pamphlet, Early 1930s
This site tells of the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and shows a pamphlet from the time.
PBS: Reflections on the Ku Klux Klan Video
A woman speaks of her experiences with the Ku Klux Klan as a teen. (Total Running Time: 1:27)
Famous American Trials: Leopold & Loeb
This site takes you through the trial of Illinois v. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb.
Leopold and Loeb
This site chronicles the trial of Leopold and Loeb. Includes their history, the story of the
crime, the trial, and more. NOTE: The site has links to a guestbook and message board. NOTE: This site includes ads.
NOTE: This site includes a guestbook.
NOTE: This site includes a discussion board (message board, forum, etc.)
Leopold & Loeb
Read this story about Leopold and Loeb including chapters on the story of Bobby Franks, the
investigation, Loeb's story, what really happened, and much more. Includes a bibliography.
Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb Documentary
This video shares the story of the "Crime of the Century" committed by Leopold and Loeb. (Total Running Time: 9:54) NOTE: This site includes a discussion board (message board, forum, etc.).
PBS: General Article: The Great Depression
Learn about The Great Depression and the challenges faced by the country during the 1930s. NOTE: This site includes ads.
1930s: The Great Depression and Racial Segregation
Learn about the atmosphere of the 1930s, the Great Depression and racial segregation in the south. (Total Running Time: 7:24) NOTE: This site includes a discussion board (message board, forum, etc.).
eThemes Resource: Decade: 1920-1929
Read about American life during the Roaring Twenties. Listen to jazz music, learn how to dance the Charleston and view pictures of the fashions during this era. Topics include Prohibition, gangsters, flappers, the Teapot Dome scandal, women’s suffrage, the 19th Amendment, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Red Scare. Find out what common products were invented during this era and read biographies on famous people, including Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Louis Armstrong, Babe Ruth, and more. Includes interactive timelines and a link to an eThemes Resource on “The Great Gatsby.”
eThemes Resource: Decade: 1930-1939
These sites are about the history and events of the 1930s. Learn more about the causes and
effects of the Great Depression. There are many primary documents, including oral histories, photographs, newspaper articles, and audio files. Also includes maps and timelines. There are
links to eThemes Resources on books set in the 1930s, Amelia Earhart, and Franklin Delano | <urn:uuid:0f91b3eb-0102-4800-8247-b86368dbaeef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/2009?locale=zh | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907534 | 796 | 3.640625 | 4 |
On a typically beautiful Sunday in San Francisco, at the annual Pride parade of June 24, I joined SF Pride at Work for the second of two protests. We had one focus: to demand that Kaiser Permanente, a healthcare insurer that has been certified LGBT-friendly by the Human Rights Campaign, remove certain exclusions from its healthcare plan.
It is very hard to say what effect a protest has, but this should be only part of a conversation healthcare companies need to have about their care of transgender patients. SF Pride at Work chose to target Kaiser because we have reason to hope that they may change their plans. The Human Rights Campaign endorsed Kaiser Permanente for LGBT patients, in 2010, but an endorsement from the HRC is not one trans people can trust. Kaiser does make efforts to support LGBT patients, and there are people within Kaiser who would like to remove the exclusions against transgender people (which fall particularly on transsexual people). Indeed, there were people on the float and among the Kaiser marchers who were glad of this protest, and who were having conversations about it as they walked. Kaiser needs to cover the sex reassignment surgery and “related” care that many transsexual people undergo; if it does not, then it is not truly an LGBT-friendly healthcare provider. One point that new trans allies should be made aware of, and that Kaiser is aware of, is that SRS is just one of the medical components of transition, and does not “determine” a person’s biological sex. But if medical experts cannot recognize the needs of many transsexual people for SRS, and the mental health benefits it engenders, then they are not listening to the trans community. More than that, by these specific exclusions, Kaiser is discriminating against trans people when no other group is singled out.
So we gathered with signs that said “Trans people don’t thrive when Kaiser discriminates” and “Trans Healthcare Now”, fliers about the issue, stickers, and shirts of various sorts (mine read “Legalize Trans*“, and I’d be happy to tell you several things that can mean). I was excited: I’d never been in a protest except for one ROTC protest on campus last year. And I was nervous–the protest was a mixture of transgender people and cis allies, and I was worried we allies would seem pretentious and give offense. (It’s a common ally’s fear, to worry more about being misperceived than about how to make use of criticism; I try to get over this.)
Off we went in front of Kaiser, which promptly…stopped and waited for us to march forward! It was ridiculous, I thought. Here were perhaps 30 protestors, hoping for the chance to be glimpsed briefly right ahead of perhaps 200 people and a gigantic float. Instead, we had a large unexpected gap in the parade to slowly march forward, hand out fliers, engage with people, and make sure everyone clearly read our signs. Except for one point when the float advanced and drowned us out with their music, that was how the whole protest went. The gap in the parade was so obvious that everyone knew “we” were holding it up by 20 minutes.
One of the organizers of the protest asked me if I was trans myself. She then asked me if I was okay having my picture taken, explaining that many cis allies weren’t. Some bystanders asked me the first question: my favorite such conversation had to be with one presumed-cis man on the edge of the crowd. When I responded, “No, I’m an ally”, he shot back “Well I’m gay!” As if “ally” meant “straight”, and as if being one kind of queer made him a spokesperson for others without having to learn anything about our differences and our privileges.
Overall, it was interesting to see the different receptions our protest got. Many people cheered; most people stared in silence; some people were clearly annoyed that the parade was being slowed down; and a few people asked questions. I was truly heartened by this reception. I know that many don’t see beyond San Francisco’s reputation as a great place for LGBT people to live; in fact relatively privileged queer people don’t have much understanding of the political needs of everyone else. But it seems that when it comes to taking better care of trans people, many at the parade were willing to listen and learn.
Doubling back to find acquaintances after the protest, I talked to some people who were disappointed that our protest had slowed down the parade, and for a second I felt guilty. Then I explained the political reasons for our protest, the hopes we have that real change will result, and a few things became clear to me. Pride parades have two purposes: a celebration of queer people’s lives, and a political declaration that queer people deserve respect. We saw combinations of both at Friday’s Trans March and Saturday’s Dyke March, but Sunday just looked like a party until there were protests. In these follow-up conversations I realized this: that when we have a party to celebrate queerness, there should always be room for politics. There must always be time to listen to those who are not yet SAFE, those who need help, those who can tell us what we can do to help. The least we can do, if we’re not involved with the issue at hand, is to listen and think about helping.
As a new friend pointed out this weekend, when those of us who are queer are marginalized, we have an opportunity to empathize with other people who aren’t treated fairly, to see more oppressions in our society along many axes. My friend explained that she was white (as I am) and that her experiences opened her eyes enough that she has become anti-racist as well. For me, it was the other way around. I had learned a lot about racism myself through a one-year community service program, from many colleagues’ stories and by seeing the effects of racism on the schoolchildren we worked with. But it was once I came out to myself and others, and opened my eyes to sexism as well, that I realized that I needed to learn a lot about oppression as it affects me and others. As I learn, I become more capable of struggling against these forces–struggling quietly or loudly, independently or within communities, against unfairness in myself and in others.
Unfortunately, not everyone takes the opportunities that being marginalized gives them. Some gay, bisexual or pansexual people, particularly those who are privileged to be white and cis, would jump at the chance to be “just like everyone else”, to fit into society, to have legally recognized marriages and be done with it. When people make those choices, they are deliberately refusing to see the ills of our society such as racism that appears both as unconscious thoughts everyone has, and as a self-perpetuating unfair system. They don’t “remember the complexity”, as Krys Freeman (BlaKtivist) reminded us in a stirring speech at the Dyke March.
Some LGBT people and allies may not see that the goals white gay men advocate for, like gender-neutral marriage, won’t stop police from terrorizing transgender people and any queer people of color, won’t do much against poverty, won’t do more than a little to solve the problems for all of us. Specifically when people wonder why we have an alliance of “LGBT” people instead of just “LGB” people, they may not recognize that homophobia is a form of gender discrimination; that gay, bisexual and pansexual people are targeted most when we appear to be “deviant” in our gender presentation; that, in short, homophobia won’t end until transphobia ends with it. We in the queer community also need to recognize the many valuable contributions from transgender people in our struggle for rights. You don’t have to take my word for it; read up on some of the work of the Transgender Law Center, or better yet, here’s a concise but broad history lesson.
During that day, I turned over in my mind the first protest of the parade, the “Occupride” protest in front of Wells Fargo. I had wondered what that protest was for, as people held a variety of signs from “Free Cece McDonald” and “Fuck Corporate Pride”, and chanted “We’re here! We’re queer! And we’re not going shopping!” Now I found myself thinking: these companies are advertising to a market of queer people. How do we know that they actually support queer rights in more than name only? How do we know what their policies are towards LGBT employees, and whether they treat their queer customers with respect?
I know that some companies actively support their LGBT employees, and lead the way for other companies. Google, for all its flaws, has an active contingent of queer employees who work to improve its policies. I know that from “Gayglers” I’ve met, and I took the large group of happy people in Google shirts at the parade as evidence that there are results. What about all the other large corporations there, though–should we really see their nominal encouragement of LGBT people as an incentive to buy their product? The Occupride protest and the Kaiser protest were both an answer to this question: we don’t want false advertising at Pride. We shouldn’t have companies claiming to be more LGBT-friendly than they actually are. We need real support, not lip service, and we queer people certainly don’t need our feelings of happiness and encouragement to be exploited to make us buy more products.
So I did some digging into the details: the truth behind Kaiser’s LGBT-friendly advertising. Kaiser’s healthcare plans are different, and it’s somewhat hard to get copies of all of them; I encourage you to call them up (1-800-464-4000), or write if that’s easier, and ask if they include services related to sex reassignment surgery. But in a 2012-2013 copy I obtained, in the “Exclusions” section when other headings are followd by explanations, there is only one heading without elaboration: “Transgender Surgery”. Another plan is quoted by SF Pride at Work, excluding “treatment leading to or in connection with transsexualism, or sex changes or modifications, including but not limited to surgery.” One protest may not be enough, and we may need more. But we hope that more people will talk about the issue and put pressure on Kaiser to change. We hope that if these plans change, other healthcare providers may follow Kaiser’s example.
Of course I have doubts. I cannot be sure what impact this protest will have on Kaiser, whether the follow-up will be effective, or what this will do for trans healthcare in the long-term. Perhaps this investment in a “ripple effect” is too optimistic. Perhaps I should be overwhelmed by how much our society needs to do for human rights, or despair at the regressions and backlashes and how so many people falsely believe that progress is inevitable. I am frustrated that I need to learn so much to do so little as one person, or perhaps to do a lot and never be sure how much I helped. Protests are especially hard to measure in terms of results, which is one reason I haven’t often participated. But that’s the kind of thinking that has held me back from choosing any effective actions for the last few years. Increasingly I have come to realize that the entire system we run on, laws and medical practice and all, are fundamentally cultural, meaning that they rely on the mutable ideas of human beings. In particular, if more people understand what it means to respect transgender people and know of their needs, doctors and healthcare providers and lawmakers will make different decisions. So, when we have the energy and ability, it makes sense to push for cultural change as part of a larger movement.
I had a paragraph on why I used the words I used in this article, but it’s already too long. Instead, I’ve made a long note about my use of words.
Read more about the campaign for healthcare for transgender people by SF Pride at Work. That page also links to an article on the protest.
A light-hearted blog post about being marketed to as gay.
A fascinating historical article on why the Human Rights Campaign does not have a good track record for transgender people. The Human Rights Campaign actually tracks which companies are “LGBT”-friendly, but many queer people have criticized these companies for being friendly only to “LGB”, i.e., cis queer people. In addition, some companies are funding Israel so it is better able to continue military operations, and many queer people object to this practice. There is a whole phenomenon of “pinkwashing” that I am only beginning to learn about: people promote Israel’s LGBT-rights record in order to draw attention away from its abuse of Palestinians. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict has been a large source of rarely-discussed tension in my life to date, but now it seems that queer rights activists have been drawn into the issue and are taking sides. Here is an article about pinkwashing as a more general phenomenon of distraction.
Here is an article about some of the variables that go into the experiences of different transgender people, which also partially addressed my own questions about who needs SRS and who doesn’t. If you visit this page, I highly recommend the links provided on the right under “Essential Reeding”.
I already linked to the history lesson, but I want to encourage you to visit that link because it is quite readable and addresses many common confusions and misconceptions. (In fact it is written by Susan Stryker, who authored a book “Transgender History”.) The idea that transgender people didn’t exist before the twentieth century is one of the worst of these misconceptions. We haven’t always had the kind of culture that gives the label “transgender” any meaning, but people who would be labeled as such have always existed, and for centuries Europeans (among others) have done violence against them.
Elizabeth is in the middle of seeking a PhD in mathematics. She is also interested in queer rights and social justice, music, Irish dancing, climbing trees and any number of things. In this article she’d like to thank Leanna for her input, and Emily for her help with editing. | <urn:uuid:22bbfa99-dded-466f-bf65-7da4cfd26bb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nonviolentrage.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/why-i-protested-at-the-san-francisco-pride-parade/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976418 | 3,080 | 1.546875 | 2 |
DALLAS (AP) — Nearly 1,200 uninsured people received free health care at a Dallas event this weekend.
The Communities Are Responding Everyday Clinic was held at the Dallas Convention Center on Saturday.
The Dallas Morning News reports (http://dallasne.ws/Vg0IqC) the center was converted into 60 temporary doctor's offices as patients received care including electrocardiograms and kidney disease screenings. Children were able to receive vision screenings and immunizations.
Texas has the nation's highest rate of uninsured people with about 26 percent, according to recent U.S. census figures.
Clyde Burwell, of Carrollton, says he has worked as a temporary employee without insurance since he was laid off more than a year ago. At the event, the 59-year-old was able to get free medical care and get doctor approval for prescription refills. | <urn:uuid:c04247ed-386a-43c8-80d3-bee94b8f669f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2012-09-30/dallas-event-offers-uninsured-free-health-care | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981511 | 183 | 1.742188 | 2 |
“Mother, please tell me—it’s Christmas again—
Why did the star shine in heaven back then?”
“Heavenly Father was happy and He
Wanted the Nephites and Wise Men to see
Jesus was born, and the star was the sign
Telling the world that the Babe was divine.”
“Why was He born in a stable with hay?
Kings lived in palaces back in that day.”
“Jesus Christ’s kingdom is heaven, you know.
Money and palaces stay here below.
He came to earth just to show us the way
We can be with Him in heaven one day.”
“Presents and toys, then, are things of this earth.
Why do we give them to honor His birth?”
“That’s a good question. My child, you are wise,
Looking at Christmas through Jesus Christ’s eyes.
Love is the answer. Love is the way
To properly celebrate Jesus Christ’s day.”
“God loved the world, so He gave us His Son.
Love for each other brings real Christmas fun.”
“Gifts giv’n when thinking of only their worth,
Just like fine palaces, stay on this earth.
Thinking of others and showing your love
Brings happiness here and great joy up above.” | <urn:uuid:238e3b20-2a86-4ebf-8dfd-41a2f1334207> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/friend/1997/12/looking-at-christmas?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946539 | 308 | 1.804688 | 2 |
By Chris Lawrence
The disciplining of U.S. Navy SEALs who aided a video game maker was conducted in a more public fashion than typically done in order to send a message to the SEALs community about keeping classified information secret, CNN has learned.
Seven U.S. Navy SEALs have been reprimanded for giving up classified information connected to their work so a video game could seem more realistic, according to a Navy official.
The seven were charged with the unauthorized showing of their official combat gear and dereliction of duty for disclosing classified material, according to the official, who is familiar with the investigation. The letters of reprimand will be "considered" when the SEALs go up for promotion, essentially ending any chance of advancement in the Navy.
At least one of the SEALs disciplined was part of the team that raided Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, a defense official said Friday.
The reprimand was not conducted privately, as is usually the case. The decision was made "at the command level" to conduct the disciplinary proceedings, with most members of the command present, "to send a message to other SEALs" that revealing classified information and publicly speaking about their missions is "unacceptable."
CNN has also learned that the public chastising of the SEALs is part of a broader concern about the increasingly public image of the special operations force. The Naval Special Warfare Development Group, popularly known as SEAL Team Six, was the subject of a recent TV movie about the bin Laden raid and will feature in another upcoming film about the rescue of a ship's captain kidnapped by Somali pirates.
The Pentagon says another member of SEAL Team Six on the bin Laden raid recently wrote a book, "No Easy Day," without clearing its release through government officials. The Defense Department official says all of these incidents factored into the command's decision to reprimand the seven SEALs in front of their entire command.
"Naval Special Warfare (NSW) takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and conducts investigations to determine the facts. We likewise take seriously the Non-Disclosure Agreements signed by Sailors and adherence to the articles of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice," Rear Adm. Garry Bonelli, deputy commander of the Naval Special Warfare Center, said in a statement to Security Clearance on Thursday night.
"We do not tolerate deviations from the policies that govern who we are and what we do as sailors in the United States Navy. The non-judicial punishment decisions made today send a clear message throughout our Force that we are and will be held to a high standard of accountability." | <urn:uuid:96710fc8-7936-49ed-a648-8d4068609d1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/09/navy-seals-reprimand-meant-to-send-message-to-other-seals/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967147 | 529 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Mozilla intends to extend Firefox's phishing protection to include a list of sites that try to install malware. "Similar to how Firefox 2 blocks Web sites that are potentially going to try to steal your personal information, Firefox 3 will block Web sites that we believe are going to try to install malicious programs on your computer. Mozilla is coordinating with Google on this feature," says Alex Faaborg.
ComputerWorld quotes Gervase Markham, a developer for Bugzilla, who says: "What we are actually doing here is giving Google veto power over any Web page." The list of potentially harmful sites is managed by StopBadware, an organization that fights against spyware, malware, and deceptive adware. StopBadware is sponsored by Google, Lenovo and Sun.
Google already shows alerts if you try to visit a search result that may install malicious software on your computer. The feature is also included in Google Desktop, which automatically updates a list of suspicious or malicious sites from Google's servers. Firefox will probably work the same.
Other new features that will be included in Firefox 3: a unified way of storing bookmarks, history, and information about Web pages, microformat detection, private browsing, support for offline web applications. Firefox 3 should be launched at the end of the year, but you can still try the Alpha 5 version at your own risk. | <urn:uuid:e804b37c-5859-474e-aef1-5cfd50809421> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/06/firefox-3-will-include-malware.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916625 | 276 | 2.328125 | 2 |
by Chris Devers
Frowning and crossing your arms is the equivalent of throwing Kryptonite at the Superman you’re hawkin’ on, but what about barely noticeable body language?
If you’re skeptical about how the subtlest body language affects your love life, play a game with me.
Straighten your arm as if you were doing a “Heil Hitler” salute. What’s the feeling? Dominant, aggressive, hateful, right? It isn’t your arm that’s creating those feelings, by the way. It’s your palm.
Keep your arm in the air, but now turn the palm up. What’s the feeling now? Open, inviting, fun. Turn the palm down and you feel like Hitler. Turn it up and you feel like…
Now, if a simple palm movement has that kind of emotional impact on you, imagine the effect it has on other people.
Clearly we don’t go around saluting like SS guards, but you’d be surprised at how every day palm gestures can have nearly the same negative effects. Quick example: I have a good friend who’s fairly disliked by a good many people. Although I think he’s kind and generous, some folks have taken me aside and said, “There’s something about him that rubs me the wrong way.”
That “something” is the way he uses his palms. In the Hitler example, you saw the raw emotional power of a simple palm position, but again, that’s not realistic. Here’s how your palms can make somebody dislike you (like my friend) in a real conversation.
Stand in front of a mirror so you can see the full effect. Let’s say you met a guy who’s so good looking he makes your teeth ache. Pretend you’re telling him a funny story about the time you asked a co-worker to move a pile of folders from one side of the room to the other. With your palm facing down, point your hand to the imaginary pile, then to where you want it to go. Now, try it again, this time by pointing with your index finger.
Either of those palm positions will make Toothache think you’re a prick. And he won’t even be able to tell you why. But I can. Research shows both of those hand positions communicate a contemptuous, overbearing personality. Especially, the finger pointing. It’s subconsciously perceived as a symbolic club that you beat the listener with, a kind of over-the-arm blow primates use to attack.
In fact, the research is so clear and so consistent it rises to the level of law: Do not EVER talk to anyone by pointing your finger or turning your palm down. If you’re a habitual finger pointer, stop. Yes, some guys are turned on by macho, command-and-control authority figures, but come on. When was the last time anybody said to themselves, “Tonight I want to meet an arrogant prick who thinks I’m an idiot.”
Author, columnist and TV personality Mike Alvear writes a sex advice column syndicated to the gay press. Meet and attract better looking men with his new gay body language eBook. His instantly downloadable eBook on gay body language, ATTRACT HOTTER GUYS, is available at http://www.mikealvear.com/ebook. | <urn:uuid:dd2caa7c-5afd-4177-aab6-fe285a3fd553> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mandatingman.com/gay-dating-how-the-subtlest-body-language-in-gay-bars-affects-your-love-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938053 | 735 | 1.578125 | 2 |
VENEZUELA: Caracas Residents Affected by Cement Plants
Residents of Chuao, a neighborhood in southeast Caracas, are protesting against a cement plant installed near their homes which releases large amounts of harmful particulates into the air they breathe.
CARACAS, May 14 (Tierramérica).- The protest has highlighted the air pollution problems being caused by another five cement plants in strategic locations for the circulation of winds over the Venezuelan capital.
“We can’t open our apartment windows or cook in peace because the cement dust comes in and makes us sick,” neighborhood activist Irais Gruber told Tierramérica. Gruber is a member of a group that has staged protests at intersections in Chuao, wearing surgical masks and holding up signs with slogans like “No Cement Plants” and “The Dust is Killing Us”.
The plants were installed by the government to speed up low-cost housing construction, but doctors and environmentalists warn that they are increasing the lead, silica, calcium, iron and manganese content of the air in the capital.
Neighborhood activists from the areas affected are meeting to step up their demands for these plants to be moved to locations far away from homes, schools and hospitals. | <urn:uuid:63d1d9a9-0b0b-4c03-b640-967a27f2c014> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tierramerica.info/print.php?lang=eng&idnews=3969&olt=577 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955721 | 264 | 2.0625 | 2 |
During his thirty years as adjunct curator of photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Michael Hoffman expanded the collection of photographs to include some 15,000 works, many of which were acquired by gift and purchase from the special exhibitions he organized. In celebration of his life and legacy, the Museum presents Michael Hoffman: A Tribute in Pictures, on view in the Julien Levy Gallery from April 27 through August 11, 2002.
Michael E. Hoffman (1942-2001) was the founding curator of the Museum’s Alfred Stieglitz Center devoted to the collecting and exhibiting of photographs. He was appointed in 1968 when the Center was established through the gift by Dorothy Norman of more than 800 photographs and photogravures. During his thirty-year tenure (1968- 1998), Hoffman organized a succession of groundbreaking exhibitions for the Museum that traveled internationally, each accompanied by catalogues published by Aperture, the distinguished photography publication of which Hoffman was publisher and executive director from 1965 until his death in November 2001.
Hoffman’s practice of collecting and exhibiting large bodies of work to represent every phase of a photographer’s evolution gave the Museum’s photography collection a unique character. By developing direct, personal collaborations with living photographers, Hoffman espoused an abiding vision to follow the spirit of Alfred Stieglitz. The exhibition brings together more than fifty images by prominent artists who participated in such collaborations and whose bodies of work were acquired by gift and purchase for the Museum’s collection. They include Paul Strand, Minor White, Frederick H. Evans, Robert Adams, Robert Frank, Clarence John Laughlin, Ray K. Metzker, Sebastião Salgado, W. Eugene Smith and Josef Sudek.
Among the works by Strand, a longtime friend for whom Hoffman would later serve as executor, is Wall Street (1915), the famous image that distinguished Strand as a major force in 20th century photography, as well as Man in a Derby, New York (1916) and The Family, Luzzara Italy (1953). Also highlighted in the exhibition are works by White, the founder of Aperture and Professor of Photography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with whom Hoffman began to study in 1962, and who exerted a major influence on him.
The exhibition is presented in the Julien Levy Gallery on the ground floor of the Museum. It is organized by Katherine Ware, Curator of Photographs, the Alfred Stieglitz Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Housing some 140,000 works of art, the Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is nationally recognized for the breadth and depth of its collections as well as the flair and scholarship of its exhibitions. The Department presents rotating installations of its vast holdings in the Berman and Stieglitz Galleries on the Museum’s ground floor, the Eglin Gallery on the first floor, and in the newly dedicated Julien Levy Gallery. Individual works are also on view elsewhere in the Museum’s permanent collection galleries. | <urn:uuid:0b64b7be-30cc-4177-bfc2-0c833128877f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.philamuseum.org/press/releases/2002/296.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966745 | 626 | 1.867188 | 2 |
You can understand grounding by overcoming common reasons for confusion.
When people are tripped up by the requirements for grounding, it's often because they don't realize Art. 250 covers both grounding and bonding. An unfamiliarity with the fundamental differences between the terms bonded, grounded, and effectively grounded makes the situation even worse. Not knowing these definitions makes proper application impossible.
How do grounding and bonding differ? When you bond something, you're permanently joining metallic parts to form an electrically conductive path that can safely conduct any fault current likely to be imposed. Proper bonding creates an effective, low-impedance, ground-fault current path for the purpose of removing dangerous voltage from a ground fault by quickly opening the related overcurrent protection device (OCPD).
When you ground metal parts of electrical equipment you're intentionally connecting the equipment to earth. Failure to properly do so could result in high voltage on metal parts if lightning enters the structure. Lightning doesn't necessarily strike only grounded items when seeking a path to the earth. If the metal parts aren't effectively grounded, much of the high energy from the lightning strike will dissipate into the structure, which can result in electric shock or fires inside the premises.
Sometimes metal parts should be grounded to earth to help prevent the build-up of high-voltage static charges where the discharge (arcing) could cause failure of electronic equipment or a fire and explosion in a hazardous classified area.
System grounding is the intentional connection of one terminal of the power supply to earth for the purpose of stabilizing the system line-to-ground voltage during normal operations. According to IEEE-142 (Green Book), “arcing, restriking, or vibrating ground faults on ungrounded systems can (under certain conditions) produce surge voltages as high as six times normal.”
To effectively ground something, you must intentionally connect it to earth through a ground connection or connections of sufficiently low impedance and of sufficient current-carrying capacity to prevent the buildup of voltages that may result in undue hazards to connected equipment or to persons.
Art. 100 is clear about what grounding and bonding mean, but in some cases these definitions get lost along the way. For example 404.9(B) requires snap switches to be effectively grounded. This doesn't mean you must intentionally connect the switches' metal yoke to the earth via a ground rod. Instead, it requires you to bond the metal switch yoke to a low-impedance effective ground-fault current path so dangerous voltage from a ground fault can be removed by opening the circuit protection device.
Perhaps the NEC says it best. Bonding is the “permanent joining of metallic parts to form an electrically conductive path that ensures electrical continuity and the capacity to conduct safely any current likely to be imposed.” On the other hand, a ground is a “conducting connection, whether intentional or accidental, between an electrical circuit or equipment and the earth or to some conducting body that serves in place of the earth.”
Any time you encounter confusion about grounding and bonding, just refer to Art. 100 and carefully read the definitions. Then any action you take will be solidly grounded in the proper understanding of these important concepts. | <urn:uuid:2dc4aa60-c7c0-49ed-a220-cf2542243a1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ecmweb.com/content/basics-grounding | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930389 | 661 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Seedlings planting looks to curb erosion
The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) has planted 130,000 seedlings to rehabilitate land near Lake Grace in Western Australia's great southern.
More than 30 species of plant, including mallee eucalyptus and melaleuca species, have been planted around the catchment of Lake Bryde to curb the erosion from increased surface water caused by land clearing.
Twelve-thousand seedlings were planted on private farmland.
DEC conservation officer Dale Fitzgerald says farmers have embraced the project with enthusiasm.
"We plant on private property through a cost sharing arrangement. We pay some of the cost of the seedlings and the planting process," he said.
"We do have a number of very interested farmers within the area that get involved in a lot of our projects and also undertake some of their own projects." | <urn:uuid:7cd19a5d-81f2-48c8-b199-e21f6e14285e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-02/seedlings-planting-looks-to-curb-erosion/2320214 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961443 | 177 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Twitter Tech Support: How Effective Is Tweeting a Tech Problem?
As the Web becomes increasingly social, more and more companies turn to Twitter to address problems that customers have with their products or services. After all, the last thing a company wants is for a Twitterer's minor problem to go viral across the Internet, just because the company didn't deal with the issue effectively when it had the chance.
According to a study of social media customer service released in March by Sitel and TNS, people are increasingly turning to social media to get their questions answered.
"Social media is dramatically altering the customer service landscape," writes Lawrence Fenley, Sitel's managing director for the U.K. and Ireland, in a statement. "With easy access to real-time information, a new generation of 'always-on' consumers is more empowered and demanding than ever."
The study, which surveyed more than 1000 consumers in the U.K., shows a changing--but not completely revolutionized--landscape. Among respondents between the ages of 16 and 24, the study reports, 7 percent said that the first thing they do when they run into a problem with a product is to complain about it on social media.
This might not sound like a huge number, but take into account that other answer choices on the survey included searching for a solution online and contacting the company directly--both of which involve actively seeking an answer, not just letting virtual friends and followers know that you hate a product or are having trouble with it.
When asked what companies could do to improve customer service, 17 percent of respondents in the 16- to 34-year-old bracket said "respond quickly when I ask a question on Twitter."
Twitter may not have replaced traditional hotlines yet, but it's getting bigger every day. After all, it's convenient, concise, and fast--three things that matter a lot to consumers in today's mobile world. Let's look at how companies use Twitter as a customer service vehicle, and how you can use tweeting to get your voice heard.
Go Forth and Tweet
If you have a problem, question, or compliment for a company, you shouldn't hesitate to tweet it. Companies are doing their best to respond to people who have legitimate criticisms, and to acknowledge people who are excited about their products.
Remember, though, that Twitter is only one method of communication. As John Bernier, partner engagement manager at
Best Buy, says, "Twitter represents a small (but growing and important) channel for us. It's useful in many ways, but it's never easy to answer in 140 characters."
If you're going to address a company on Twitter, here are a few tips:
- Address the company directly, either via @reply or hashtag.
- Find the company's customer support Twitter account, if it has one.
- Ask a question that can be answered quickly and succinctly, or ask for an email address/phone number.
- Make sure that your question is relevant.
Twitter is great if you have a question, complaint, or passing comment that the company can address quickly (for example, asking Gogo Inflight Internet (@Gogo) for a free flight code, as I once did). But if you have a customer support issue that will necessitate some talking through, you're probably better off picking up the phone.
[Related: "How to Get Free or Cheap Tech Support"]
Does Your Twitter Clout Matter?
So you're ready to take Twitter by storm and start broadcasting your company queries and critiques over the microblogging platform. But what if you're just getting started? You have no followers, you've never typed a tweet in your life, and you're not a "big deal" on social networks. Will companies even listen to what you have to say?
We analyzed customer service-related Tweets from the Twitter accounts of ten large companies--AT&T (@ATTCustomerCare), Best Buy (@twelpforce), Comcast (@comcastcares), Dell (@DellCares), Groupon (@Groupon), RIM BlackBerry (@BlackBerryHelp), Sony (@Sony), Verizon Wireless (@VZWSupport), Xbox Support (@XboxSupport), and Zappos (@Zappos_Service)--to determine whether they paid attention to users' follower counts. In our study, we found that companies answered Tweets from customers with anywhere from 0 to 100,000 followers.
In fact, some companies, such as Zappos, are so eager to answer customer's questions that they even answered Tweets from spam accounts:
So the short answer is yes--if you complain via Twitter, your tweet will likely be heard and addressed, since companies generally do not discriminate against people with fewer followers.
That doesn't mean, however, that companies completely ignore Twitter followings. Companies are more likely to go out of their way to please especially popular Twitter users.
"If I--with 7500 followers--complain about a meal, and then someone else--with 75 followers--complains about a meal, I think it's only common sense that my bad message is reaching 100 times more people," explains social media journalist Jeff Cutler (@jeffcutler).
Cutler says that the person with 75 followers won't necessarily be ignored; but the person with 7500 followers may get better treatment the next time they go to the restaurant, while the person with 75 followers may have to make do with a Twitter apology.
For an example of above-and-beyond Twitter customer service, look no further than Peter Shankman's Morton's Steakhouse story. Last August, Shankman (@petershankman), founder of Help A Reporter Out (HARO), jokingly Tweeted to Morton's Steakhouse:
Two and a half hours later, an employee of Morton's Hackensack met Shankman at the airport with a 24-ounce Porterhouse steak, an order of Colossal Shrimp, a side of potatoes, bread, two napkins, and silverware.
Now, Shankman is apparently a Morton's regular, so perhaps they were just helping out a loyal customer. But it's likely that Shankman's 131,210 followers had at least something to do with the restaurant's reaction.
Next: How Do Companies Use Twitter?
How Do Companies Use Twitter?
Companies don't use Twitter the same way regular people do--that is, they don't sit around Tweeting inane things all day, such as what they're eating for lunch or how boring their commute is.
Instead, companies use Twitter as a way to interact with customers, answer questions, address complaints, and monitor the social Web for trends related to their brand.
Let's take a closer look at a few specific uses of Twitter by businesses.
Responding to Questions
Companies using Twitter for customer support spend most of their time writing responses ("@replies") to questions from customers who have included the company's Twitter handle in their original public tweets (such express references are termed "mentions" in Twitter parlance).
"We respond to every tweet where people need our help," says Christine Morrison, social media manager at TurboTax (@turbotax). "That said, we don't respond to every mention, as some people are mentioning us in passing and aren't expecting a response."
Your questions need not be about a customer service issue. They can bring up anything related to the company's general sphere of knowledge. For example, you can address questions about technology to Best Buy, or questions about shoes to Zappos.
"We attempt to answer any reasonable questions related to technology, but cannot answer questions such as 'Where do I hide a dead body,' which someone asked us once," says Bernier of Best Buy. "If someone Tweets to the @bestbuy account and needs help, we have a team of people there willing to jump in and engage. We try to help as much as possible."
Chatting With Customers
A big part of customer service involves trying to make people feel appreciated and welcome. That's why companies don't limit themselves to fielding questions and addressing complaints: They want to interact with customers more casually and under more upbeat circumstances as well.
"We try to engage with everyone, even if it's just to welcome them to the Seamless world after their first order or to agree on a particularly yummy food choice," says the Twitter team at Seamless (@Seamless), an online food-ordering website that pairs customers up with local restaurants that provide door-to-door delivery.
Companies that provide services also like to congratulate and celebrate with their customers.
"Each day we respond to a handful of complimentary Tweets and say 'thanks' and celebrate alongside our customers, who are excited about being done with their taxes," says TurboTax's Morrison.
Monitoring--but Not Necessarily Responding to--Twitter
It shouldn't come as a surprise, but if you mention a company's name on Twitter, the company probably knows about it. That's because companies monitor Twitter for mentions of their brand name, mentions of their competitors, and general trends that affect them.
Of course, just because you mention a company doesn't mean that it will respond or acknowledge your Tweet.
"Using tools such as Sysomos and HootSuite, we can see just about any public Tweet that mentions our name, tagged or not," says Julie Jarratt, sponsorship PR manager at Esurance (@esurance).
"If we're not tagged, it could be seen as intrusive if we respond to the user. But at the end of the day, [how we react] depends on the context of the Tweet. If it seems like they're having an issue that needs our attention but we haven't been tagged, we'll respond," Jarratt says.
Companies also use Twitter to stay on top of trends affecting their customers.
"From a data standpoint, we're able to get an instant pulse on what consumers are trying to accomplish at any given moment," Best Buy's Bernier says. "And we can identify pain points in that process."
Directing Users From Twitter to a More Responsive Place
Twitter may be fast and convenient, but it's not always the best place for dealing with customers' issues.
Recognizing this, many companies use Twitter as a jumping-off point, and shoot email addresses, phone numbers, and requests for private messages to customers who seem to need more than 140 characters of help.
"If it seems another channel may be appropriate for a customer, we will direct them to that channel," says Bernier. "For example, if we need to look up an order by number, or exchange sensitive customer data that we wouldn't want shared such as name, address, or phone number, we will encourage customers to call or email us." | <urn:uuid:acb7b819-9afd-4420-9c25-e4a21f2ff7b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcworld.com/article/253785/twitter_tech_support_how_effective_is_tweeting_a_tech_problem_.html?page=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956646 | 2,237 | 1.90625 | 2 |
“Survival of the fittest”. This 1864 adage was coined by Herbert Spencer who was associating with the term “Natural Selection”, as written by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species.
How does one survive? How does one ensure, at least increase, their chances of survival? There is no one answer to this question as there is an individual solution for every conceivable condition. However, there are three fundamental components to always keep in mind so that your chances of survival are greatly improved:
Preparedness, Patience and most importantly a POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE!
I will start with Positive Mental Attitude. PMA provides the individual with the mental kick-start and endurance necessary to get through a tough spot or real-life survival scenario. Like the little engine who could, thinking you can will help you in actually doing it…whether that’s waiting for help to arrive or, if the situation dictates, getting on the move and finding your way to safety. PMA is your ‘never give up, never say die’ attitude. It is thinking that leads to knowing and knowing that leads to surviving.
Patience is another key component to assist you in survival. You can’t drop a line in a creek and expect a fish to just hop right on your hook. Likewise, it will take many attempts in setting traps to actually catch a meal of substance. The first time you use a fire-bow to start a nest of kindling ablaze will likely end in failure. You need to take the time, in your backyard or somewhere close to home to safely practice your bushcraft skills. Take what you know. Read, learn, practice… then read, learn and practice some more. You won’t become an accomplished woodsman overnight but, in time, with patience, you will learn to survive.
A positive mental attitude and patience are crucial to survival. However, it all starts with preparedness. It might be helpful to take a course in camping/wilderness survival training. Parks and Recreation groups and local colleges may offer these sorts of classes. Maybe start with short afternoon hikes, then day trips and go from there. Start slow and work on your skills and physical aptitude until you are confident.
Also, defer to the experts in the bushcraft/survival field. Les Stroud, Ray Mears and the late Ron Hood…these guys know their stuff. Read their articles and watch their videos. Study and practice. There are also innumerable other sources of info; from television specials to podcasts to YouTube videos and blogs. Take it all in and learn what is right for you.
Prepare before you go out. Set up an EDC (Every Day Carry) kit; one that is easy to get to and just as easy to carry in a backpack, purse or pocket. Think about not only what you will need, but also what you may need. Water, food, fire starting, first aid, shelter; these are all things to consider. Maybe bring a tarp. It could be used as a ground cover, shelter, blanket, emergency litter to carry an injured person, even as a makeshift hammock if you include some sort of cordage. Multi-use items such as a tarp cut down on the weight you will carry and will provide you with options if you are stuck out in the wilderness. Also, not every trip will require the same supplies. Consider the potential environment and terrain when selecting items for your kit. Preparing before hand will indeed increase your chances of survival.
Where should one go to prepare for a trip? Where is the best place to buy supplies and gear? There is no “all-in-one” shop that will have the perfect gear at the best prices. You can try the traditional Army-Navy surplus stores, local sporting goods and camping stores or, as many folks do now, search the near unlimited online vendors for what you may need.
One such vendor that I have found is Rob, owner of http://www.canteenshop.com
. I will admit, at my request, Rob sent me a box of gear to review. I asked him to send me a surprise box that would cover the basics of survival; food, shelter, fire and water. In no way is this review tainted or influenced by the free gear. I told Rob I would give him an honest and unbiased review and that is exactly what I plan to do.
This is what Rob sent me: a reusable all-weather space blanket, a Light My Fire fire steel and striker, a Condor Bushlore knife (the older model with the choil) and sturdy leather sheath, a complete canteen kit (grey Nalgene canteen, stainless steel canteen cup, a grill top stove stand and a camouflage cover to nest everything together), a roll of nylon bank line, a CRKT Eat’N Tool, a CS logo sticker and a CS logo patch.
The space blanket is great. It’s not the typical cheap mylar version; it’s tough, reinforced and has tie-down eyelets. There is a silver lining to the underside that reflects back most of your body heat if you wrap yourself in it. It could easily be used as a signaling device (with the reflective side out), over-head tarp or ground cover.
The LMF fire steel is well made and throws out an INTENSE shower of ultra-hot sparks when you run the included striker over the ferrocerium rod. Perfect for every day fire lighting and it’s something no outdoorsman or survivalist should be without.
If possible, you should always try to carry some sort of cordage when venturing out into the wild. Paracord is the usual choice but bank line is also very useful. The stuff Rob sells has a slight tarring that helps to keep it together but you can also separate the strands for making sewing thread, sutures and the like. It is strong enough for traps, fishing and rigging up your tarp. You could always make cordage out of natural materials and plant fibers gathered in the wild but why would you want to? Grab a spool of this bank line and save yourself the aggravation.
Spoon? Check. Fork? Check. Bottle opener, screwdriver/pry tip and three different sized metric wrenches? Check. The CRKT Eat’N Tool covers all these needs. Small and easy to fit in any kit, this handy tool is really useful when packing light. I for one would probably opt for the traditional ‘spork’ over the Eat’N Tool but I can see how this little device could come in handy for someone on a mountain bike trip or snowshoe adventure if no other tool was available.
If going out for a day hike or an extended stay in the wild, a quality knife is something one should ALWAYS carry with them. The Condor Bushlore knife is inexpensive but not cheap. It was not as sharp out of the box as it would need to be if taken out in the field but half the fun of a new knife is sharpening it yourself to suit your needs. The one Rob sent me was the older model with the choil which reduces the overall cutting length of the blade by about an inch. This may bother some but for me, it’s not a deal breaker. This knife is still a solid, useful tool that has held up very well to the batoning tests I’ve put it through (where you take a hefty, club-like stick and hammer the knife through a log, branch or similar hunk of wood). Even though the knife’s edge was not razor sharp out of the box, it was good enough to do what I needed and stayed usably sharp throughout my tests. The blade is full–tang and made from high carbon steel. The smooth hardwood handle has a great fit and feel without being too chunky. With a little care and tweaking, the Condor Bushlore knife would be a formidable addition to any knife collection and an invaluable tool at your side.
One of the most important items in your kit should be something to boil water in to make it safe for drinking. Bacteria, parasites and a host of other nasty cooties await to wreck havoc on your body if you drink unsafe water. Cramps, vomiting, diarrhea and in some cases even death can result. Even over food, safe clean water is of immediate concern when, by chance or choice, you find yourself out in the wild. Search YouTube and you’ll find hundreds of examples of folks designing unique and sometimes elaborate ways to make cook sets and “billy cans”. I find these videos amusing and a good source of inspiration for designing my own gear but when it comes down to it, using an old soup can or coffee tin just won’t cut it in the long run.
Rob offers a stainless steel (my material of choice over aluminum) canteen cup and grill top stove stand that are tough enough to last through the apocalypse. The cup has folding handles and is kidney shaped to accept the one-quart military style Nalgene canteen. The canteen I got is BPA free and impact resistant. It is also a see-through grey color that allows for the monitoring of water levels without opening the cap and lets you see if your water has any junk in it or if the bottle needs cleaning. The unique grill top stove stand can be used with a variety of fuels (sticks, esbit cubes, the smaller Trangia spirit burner, sterno, etc.) and can also be utilized as a strainer, small shovel and a cooking grill. I weigh 230 pounds and stood on the stove to test how strong it is. It did not bend or buckle and is still in prime working condition. Not only is this kit good for boiling water but it also excels as a one man cook set for meals. Canteen, cup and grill top stove stand all fit snugly in the available cover for a really nice compact unit.
Overall, for less that $150.00, I got a complete set of real world gear that would be useful in any hiking or camping set-up and would definitely, in my opinion, help to keep you alive should you find yourself stuck in the wild.
Rob continually adds new items to his site and he regularly updates his Facebook/Twitter followers on the happenings at http://www.cantenshop.com
Like I said earlier, there is no perfect “all-in-one” shop but Rob’s place comes pretty damn close.
You can follow http://www.canteenshop.com
on:http://www.youtube.com/canteencornerhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/CanteenSh ... 9356413328http://twitter.com/#!/TheCanteenShop | <urn:uuid:e4063778-164f-47f9-9ec4-6fcaf935b41b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thefedorachronicles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=8120 | 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 | 0.946786 | 2,265 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Understanding Morsi’s Egypt: Who, What and Why
Last Thursday, Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi published a decree containing seven articles. The second stated that Morsi’s laws and decrees “are final and binding and cannot be appealed by any way or to any entity.” In layman’s terms, Morsi has made himself the absolute law of Egypt.
After the eruption of mass protests over the weekend, which is Friday and Saturday in the Middle East, the President issued a statement assuring the people who the decree was only temporary until a constitution had been drafted and a parliament appointed.
Political pundits are acutely aware that Morsi acted very quickly after he received so much praise from the international community for his role in negotiating the Isreal-Hamas ceasefire. Morsi’s actions certainly lead one to believe that this sweeping move, is characterized by Morsi’s desperation, and he struggles to achieve legitimacy from within Egypt’s own
A senior advisor to the Muslim Brotherhood, Jihad Addad, explained Morsi’s problem to ABC News as being an exceptional circumstance since he is a President with no constitution, no defined powers and no parliament.
Morsi, a 60 year old US-trained engineer, continues to wrangle with legitimacy issues after having narrowly defeated Ahmed Shafiq, a retired airforce general, by a minimal 800,000 votes. This translated into 51.7 percent of the vote versus 48.3 with only 51 percent of eligible voters turning out to the polls.
Revolutionaries, such as youth leader Ahmed Maher, who led the April 6 movement in 2011 backed Islamist Morsi rather than Shafiq, whom he feared was a Hosni Mubarak loyalist. Subsequently he became a member of the 100-person Constituent Assembly responsible for the drafting of a new constitution. However, as a result of bullying by Islamist allies of Morsi, he — along with more than 20 other panel members — staged a walkout. Maher explains that the decree issued by Morsi serves only to shield him and the now wounded Constituent Assembly from the Judiciary so that they can force through an Islamic Constitution.
Mohamed El Baradi, a former Presidential candidate, has joined forces with rival liberals and secularists to form the National Salvation Front unveiled shortly after Morsi’s edict. The goal is simply to prevent the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood from “hijacking the country,” a party member told the Wall Street Journal last week.
After decades of terrorism, the organization disavowed violence in the early 1970s. It has since built an impressive grassroots base over the years with its populist message — advocating for the worker within the confines of Sharia Law, underscored by Sunni Islamic puritanism.
Protesters who spoke with various media outlets over the last several days highlight deep concerns for the rights of women and minorities, such as Coptic Christians. Coptic Christians comprise 10 percent of the population, and according to Morsi, should either convert or pay tribute to the government, or leave their homes. Others have expressed concerns over continued peace with Israel. Most, however, are deeply dissatisfied with the devastated economy.
Meanwhile, threats of confrontation, which mimic the defiant and fiery speech delivered by Morsi last Friday, have been clearly elucidated by Morsi’s camp. The Muslim Brotherhood went as far as calling for protests on Tuesday but cancelled the event on Monday night. In spite of this, many arrived in Alexandria to express support. Activists have been no less silent, and 100,000 protesters descended on Tahrir Square to call for Morsi’s resignation on Tuesday. Simultaneously, in a mosque next to Tahrir Square, mourners held a funeral for slain, 18 year old activist, Jabber Salah.
The grim reality is that while the revolution’s protests have been a remarkable institution buster, the protagonists are not organized and therefore are struggling to achieve their goals of sustained secularism and democracy. Morsi’s supporters recognize this inherent strength with his advisors lamenting the now almost-failed attempts by Morsi to “reform the country’s institutions.”
The exceptional grassroots organization of the Muslim Brotherhood is a sharp contrast, which has been meticulously developed since 1928. One flicker of hope is the Judiciary’s insistence that the edicts be withdrawn, even though Morsi feigned an attempt at compromise. Morsi’s backers have loudly accused the judiciary of being partial Hosni Mubarak appointees.
The USA continues to remain characteristically silent on the issue.
Sources have told the Wall Street journal that while Obama has not contacted Morsi, Hilary Clinton is working with her counterpart. The quoted source hinted that the US may withhold aid if President Morsi does not back down.
If Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda are overthrown, the effects are expected to ripple through the Middle East and particularly impact those countries such as Libya, which remain in a state of flux. The question for now is whether activists can remain energized and avoid the trap of ‘protest fatigue,’ especially now when the stakes are higher than ever before.
The situation in Egypt continues to escalate with ABC news quoting at least three deaths and 500 injuries since last Thursday.
- Who Is Coming Out To Protest Against Morsi In Tahrir Square? (ifaynsh.wordpress.com)
- Morsi speech on Egypt Constitution crisis (upi.com)
- Egypt: protesters descend on Tahrir Square (guardian.co.uk)
- Pressure piles on Morsi to revoke his decree (thehimalayantimes.com)
- Egypt speeds up reforms amid protests, anger (edition.cnn.com) | <urn:uuid:673cbc40-ca9e-4d9f-a527-e09d79738f3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebrennerbrief.com/2012/11/29/understanding-morsis-egypt-who-what-and-why/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95935 | 1,162 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Unemployment in Missouri continued to edge up in November, however employment seems to be stabilizing. Missouri's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased in November to 4.7 percent from October's rate of 4.5 percent.
Looking at state changes between October and November, employment (seasonally adjusted) dipped by only 400 jobs, to 2,724,000. This figure may be slightly misleading, since a motor vehicle plant in the St. Louis area came back on line following a brief layoff for inventory adjustment. Net job losses in Missouri since the January peak are now 46,200, or 1.7 percent.
The national unemployment rate increased to 5.7 percent in November. Five of Missouri's neighboring states had lower unemployment rates during the past month. These include Nebraska (3.2 percent), Iowa (3.4 percent), Oklahoma (4.0 percent), Kansas (4.1 percent), and Tennessee (4.6 percent).
Unemployment levels are not distributed evenly across Missouri, with pockets of high unemployment persisting in several areas (county-level rates are not seasonally adjusted). Counties with high unemployment levels are particularly pervasive in southeast, west central and north central Missouri. Thirty-two counties and St. Louis City had unemployment rates that were 6.0 percent or higher.
The highest unemployment rates were found in Douglas (11.2 percent), Reynolds (11.9 percent), Linn (10.7 percent), Wayne (10.3 percent), Pemiscot (9.4 percent), Bollinger (9.1 percent), Benton (8.9 percent), Wright (8.9 percent), Ripley (8.6 percent), and Mississippi (8.5 percent) counties.
Areas of low unemployment are spread throughout the state with the greatest concentration of low unemployment in November in northwestern Missouri counties. Nine counties had unemployment rates below 3 percent.
The lowest unemployment rates were found in Nodaway (1.2 percent), Boone (1.7 percent) and Atchison (1.9 percent) counties.
Chart 1. Unemployment Rates, Seasonally
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor | <urn:uuid:b78ffa16-5cea-48bf-abd8-9987e859278e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/unemp/unemp-nov2001.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955043 | 445 | 2.171875 | 2 |
When disaster strikes and you need to evacuate your home or office immediately, there’s only one thing you need to reach for before you leave—your “grab and go” emergency binder. Your binder should contain all your important information, valuable documents, and anything else you might need in the event you aren’t able to return home right away. Check out these tips on how you can be prepared.
Decide what you need
Start by gathering all the essentials you’ll want inside your emergency binder. Not sure what to include? Here are some key things to consider:
- Cash—Place a stockpile of cash inside an Avery Secure Top Sheet Protector or secure plastic pouch to cover any necessities you may need to purchase. Cash always comes in handy when credit cards aren’t accepted, or if ATMs aren’t working or are depleted of cash.
- Documents—Birth certificates, marriage certificates, Social Security cards, car titles and other important documents should again, be sealed up safe inside an Avery Secure Top Sheet Protector.
- Medication—Keep a list of existing medication, prescriptions and an emergency supply of other health needs for you and the whole family in a waterproof storage bag and attach it to your binder.
- Photos—Keep duplicates of old and treasured photos of your ancestors and other precious family photos in Avery Photo Pages, in case you don’t have time to grab your photo albums.
- Computer files—Save a backup of important documents or personal digital memories from your computer onto a CD or DVD for safekeeping. Use Avery CD Pages to hold your CDs and DVDs.
- Contacts—Make sure you have your important contacts safe and secure in an Avery Business Card Pages.
Put together your binder
After you’ve collected your “must have” items, your next step is to find the binder that best fits everything you’ll want to take with you. Consider choosing a binder that’s brightly colored, so it’s easy to spot when you need to grab it quickly. It also needs to be portable, so keep the size of your binder in mind. And of course, you’ll want a binder that’s durable so your information is kept safe and protected. You’ll find plenty of choices in Avery Heavy-Duty Binders, available in a wide range of holding capacities and colors.
The more organized your emergency binder, the easier it is to find what you need. With Avery Durable Ready Index Dividers, you’ll have no problem accessing your key documents in a flash—whether it’s your insurance policy, your medical provider or even your emergency contacts. Plus, the dividers are reinforced in three ways so they’re stronger and designed to last longer. Customize your table of contents with free Avery Templates. Just enter your titles and print right from your own desktop.
Keep it updated
Once you’ve put together your family’s emergency binder, periodically review the contents and make sure the information inside is current. You might also want to make a spare copy duplicating as many items as you can, and keeping it in a separate location such as in your car or with a trusted relative or friend who lives outside your area. And as a final precaution, keep your binder sealed inside a water-tight, Ziploc® plastic bag to protect it from the elements. You never know when you’ll need it, but having an emergency binder is one way you can be ready to handle tough situations, should they come your way.
Save Our Pets
You want to keep your pets safe, and out of harm’s way. So when you’re away from home, how can you protect them in the event of an emergency? For peace of mind, place a “Save Our Pets” decal on your window. It lets your local fire department know how many pets you have inside the home so they can be rescued. | <urn:uuid:9ac23a27-c5fb-464f-be28-f16a50ea1366> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.avery.com/avery/en_US/Projects-%26-Ideas/Ideas-for-Home/Home-%26-Kids/Articles/Dont-Leave-Home-without-Your-Emergency-Binder.htm?Ns= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906221 | 840 | 1.5625 | 2 |
is a 1983
film of Willy Russell
's play of the same name
. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert
and stars Julie Walters
, Michael Caine
, and Maureen Lipman
with a screenplay
by Russell. The original play is for two actors and is set entirely in Frank's office at the Liverpool university; the filmed version includes a number of minor characters who are only talked about in the stage play and takes place in a number of mainly Liverpool locations.
An English working-class girl wants to better herself by studying literature. Her assigned Open University professor, however, has long since openly taken to the bottle, and soon develops misgivings about her acculturation to academia.
... Dr. Frank Bryant
... Rita, aka Susan
... Rita's Father
Starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters, who reprises her role from the stage production. It was also Walters' feature film debut.
Although the setting of the film is Liverpool, the film was shot in Dublin. Trinity College, Dublin is used as the setting for the university, and the more modern Arts Building is used for Rita's summer school. The rooms used by Bryant as his office and tutorial room were those of the College Historical Society and the University Philosophical Society respectively, and while the building was considerably refurnished, the production chose to leave portraits of Douglas Hyde and Isaac Butt and committee photographs in the former and a bust of John Pentland Mahaffy in the latter. Houses in Ringsend and Dún Laoghaire were used for Rita's in the film, and one in Rathgar for Bryant's. The scene in France is in filmed in Maynooth, outside Dublin, and Connolly Station and Dublin Airport were also used. The scene in the pub was shot in The Stags Head pub on Dame Court in Dublin. However the pub which Rita enters is Lloyd's pub on Amiens Street.
The film won the 1983 BAFTA Award for Best Film. Caine and Walters each received an Oscar-nomination, but neither won.
stated on a 2008 episode of The One Show
that she was not the first woman to be considered for the role of Rita, despite the fact that she had done the role on stage. Walters specifically mentioned that she had been put into second place due to the fact that she was not yet a star, and that more high profile names were being considered, amongst which were legendary country singer and part-time actress Dolly Parton
. However, she was eventually awarded the part due to the fact that with Michael Caine
secured as Dr. Bryant, the film was no longer in need of a well-known face. | <urn:uuid:0cb4b705-27cb-4c45-aee1-f14e8855c313> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reference.com/browse/Educating+Rita+(film) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974679 | 549 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Auto-Calibration for Ultrasonic Positioning SystemsPaul Duff, Auto-Calibration for Ultrasonic Positioning Systems. PhD thesis. University of Bristol. July 2008. PDF, 3079 Kbytes.
Indoor positioning systems have become increasingly popular as a way to provide contextual location information for mobile computing applications. Systems using ultrasound and RF signals are lightweight and low-cost, but many existing systems have to be calibrated manually by providing the positions of fixed reference beacons. Where systems are to be deployed over a large number of rooms in a building, and in rooms where the beacons are out of easy reach, manual calibration is particularly time consuming.
In this thesis we present two core algorithms for auto-calibrating a positioning system where distance measurements are obtained using a single mobile node carried by the user. This eases the calibration stage and eliminates the possibility of manual measurement errors. The algorithms are tuned for ultrasound distance measurement data, but the methods used are applicable to a wider class of positioning systems. One algorithm requires only sparse distance measurements which are relatively low in noise, while the other algorithm requires more data but is also more robust to noise.
In the interest of practical application, general methods for filtering and smoothing noise in ultrasound distance measurement data are presented. A range of different timing architectures are also considered so that auto-calibration can be applied to a variety of passive, active, direct measurement and pseudoranging systems. These adaptations are tested using both simulated data and real data from three different systems under a range of noise profiles. We show that an auto-calibrated system can produce accurate positioning results.
- Auto-Calibration for Ultrasonic Positioning Systems - PhD Thesis 2008.pdf Auto-Calibration for Ultrasonic Positioning Systems | <urn:uuid:6f416fb4-1fb2-4017-88f4-df782edaa8fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/Publications/pub_master.jsp?id=2000988&top=Wearables | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909892 | 362 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Beautiful eyes can get you loads of compliments. The most attractive feature of a woman is her eyes. So, how will you make them look prettier? Well, eyelashes play an important role here. Natural, long eyelashes make your eyes look beautiful. There are many ways to make eyelashes grow longer. Read on to know more.
1. Apply natural oils
Application of natural oils on your eyelashes can help them grow longer. Natural oils such as castor and almond oil can be applied on lashes. For best results, apply almond oil on your lashes at night. The result will be seen in a month’s time. Application of vitamin E oil on your eyelashes can also help them grow longer.
2. Have a good diet
Include protein in your daily diet. A protein rich diet helps to make your eyelashes grow longer. Include foods that are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B5 in your diet. Also have natural biotin supplements once in a week. This will help to make your eyelashes grow longer. Have foods that are rich in vitamin A and E.
3. Apply natural Vaseline on your lashes
Application of Vaseline on your eyelashes has the same effect as natural oils. Dab some Vaseline on your eyelashes before sleeping. You also have an option of applying Vaseline for ten to fifteen minutes. It all depends on your suitability. Regular application of Vaseline can give great results.
4. Use a mascara
Using mascara is the best way to make your eyelashes look longer and thicker. However, this is a temporary method. Many women also use eyelash curlers on eyelashes to make eyelashes look longer.
5. Use fake eyelashes
If you wish for getting perfect eyelashes, then the best option is to use fake eyelashes. Apply fake eyelashes with the help of glue on your natural lashes. Get those perfect looking eyes immediately. However, application of fake eyelashes is not recommended for long-term use. So be careful regarding this.
Most women crave for perfect eyelashes. So, go ahead and make your eyelashes look mesmerizing. | <urn:uuid:241c8514-026d-4cfd-ada0-b1b7388c8280> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stylelife.org/5-ways-to-make-eyelashes-longer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932448 | 443 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Do we already know what the four solder pads/holes on the left next to the ICSP (right below the 16u2) are connected to?
Stimmer is right about what that are connected to. Why
they are connected is a mystery as those pins don't really have any special functions. When I design a board I often have a couple of spare pins broken out like that to allow pulse debugging with a logic analyser, maybe that's why they have done it.
Would it be possible to export to SVG?
Should be, I'll try that next update. @Nantonos, I won't try to tell you about graphics formats then
EDIT: Just created an SVG, it had two issues but I uploaded anyway. It looks like crap in a browser, can you guys try in a graphics program.
- port A.9 is also high current
- mark the little grey square close to ICSP with "mega16U2"
- would it make sense to add as well the erase button?
- the contour of the DUE board is good visible on the screen, but not really when you print.Can you make the contour darker or with more contract?
- add "TX0" on the board for port A.9 and "RX0" for A.8
- on the actual DUE itself, there are marks with long lines across the pins, like
same for PWM and ANALOG IN
Do you think it makes sense to add those as well?
I did think of that but felt that things are getting a bit crowded to add them. I'll try it out though and see how it looks.
Looks OK I think, we'll leave it there for the time being. See what people think. | <urn:uuid:d2fbb43f-9c4a-4e1a-abac-721302c7f322> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=132130.msg997297 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97089 | 367 | 2.03125 | 2 |
A great variety of
pickles may be made from vegetables and to a less degree from fruits.
These include such things as cucumber pickles, dill pickles, sauerkraut,
ripe olives, and sweet fruit and vegetable pickles.
The preservation of
vegetables by salting and fermentation involves principles similar to
those of pickling, and, therefore, this method of preservation is
considered with pickling.
96. Preservation of
Vegetables by Salt. Many vegetables may be preserved in salt or
strong brine without causing any marked changes in flavor or composition
of the vegetables. The salt acts as an antiseptic and prevents spoiling.
There are three ways in which the salt is used. The vegetables may be
mixed with dry salt in sufficient quantity to completely prevent the
growth of all microorganisms, or only a small amount of dry salt is
added and fermentation is allowed to take place, the products of
fermentation, together with the salt, preserving the vegetables; or a
very strong brine may be made up and the vegetables stored in this
(a) Dry Salting. In this
method the vegetables are prepared fresh as for cooking for the table.
Carrots, beets, and turnips are peeled and sliced; string beans are
broken into short pieces and corn is cut from the cob. Onions and peas
do not respond well to salting. Corn and string beans are excellent when
One pound of salt is
weighed out and mixed with each three to four pounds of vegetables in a
stoneware jar or in an open barrel. The salt and vegetables are built up
in alternate layers and a wooden cover to fit inside the container and
heavily weighted, is placed on the vegetables. The salt and pressure
draw the juice from the vegetables. This forms a concentrated brine in
which the vegetables will keep indefinitely. They should be sealed with
paraffin after about two weeks to check evaporation of the liquid. The
vegetables must be freshened in water by soaking in cold water or by
parboiling before use for cooking. They will keep indefinitely in this
(b) Salt and
Fermentation. In this method a small amount of salt (one-half pound to
each ten pounds of vegetables) is used. This permits the growth of
yeasts and lactic acid bacteria, but prevents the growth of putrefactive
bacteria. It does not prevent the growth of mold; molding must be
checked by exclusion of air. The lactic acid formed in the fermentation
is the main factor in the preservation of the vegetables. Cabbage,
string beans, sliced beets, greens, sliced root vegetables, all lend
themselves very well to this process. In Belgium and Holland, it is said
that this is the most common way of preserving all kinds of vegetables.
Vegetables preserved by
this method possess a "sauerkraut" flavor which varies with the kind of
The jar or barrel must be
kept sealed after fermentation is over. Jars are sealed by pouring a
thick layer of paraffin over the fermented vegetables. This is added ten
days to two weeks after mixing the salt and vegetables. When vegetables
are taken out for use the paraffin coating must be replaced in order
that molding will not take place.
Barrels may be fitted
with a six-inch bung in one head. The vegetables and salt are packed in
with the head removed and is so left until fermentation is over. The
barrel is then headed up and brine of the same strength as that on the
vegetables (one pound of salt per gallon of water) is added to fill the
barrel completely and the barrel is sealed with the hung. As the
vegetables are taken out they are replaced with brine.
(c) Strong Brine. A few
vegetables cannot be preserved satisfactorily by methods "a" and "b."
Some of these may be stored in a very strong brine made of three and
one- half to four pounds of salt per gallon of water. No fermentation
can take place in this high concentration of salt. Large peppers,
cauliflower, artichokes, and asparagus, are examples of vegetables that
can be successfully preserved in this way.
The vegetables will float
because of the buoyant action of the brine. Wooden floats must be used
to keep the vegetables submerged to prevent molding.
The vegetables must be
freshened before use. A convenient way of doing this is to suspend them
in a coarse bag or colander in the top of a large pot of water. The salt
rapidly dissolves out and is carried away by the large volume of water
beneath the vegetables. This method is much more rapid than that of
placing the vegetables in the bottom of a pot of water.
See Recipes 99, 100, and
101, Part III.
97. Dill Pickles.
Dill pickles are made by the fermentation of cucumbers in a brine in the
presence of dill weed and spices and with the exclusion of air. Lactic
acid is formed and gives the characteristic sauerkraut flavor to this
style of pickle. The brine used is about one- half pound of salt per
gallon of water. A small amount of vinegar added to the brine will
prevent softening by injurious bacterial growth. The amount of vinegar
needed is three-quarters of a quart per ten quarts of brine.
Dill pickles may be made
in stoneware crocks but better results are obtained in barrels.
Exclusion of air is essential.
from five days to a month, depending on the temperature. The finished
pickles should be canned and sterilized to prevent deterioration. (See
Recipe 104 for specific directions.)
Vegetables in Vinegar. Cucumbers, green tomatoes, onions, small
peppers, beets, and cauliflower are the vegetables most commonly
preserved in vinegar. The processes of pickling consist of a preliminary
treatment to prepare them for the vinegar and secondly, of the storage
in plain or sweetened vinegar. The vinegar is the preserving agent,
sterilization being unnecessary.
(a) Storage in Brine.
Most vegetables for pickling should be stored in brine a few weeks to
remove disagreeable flavors before placing them in vinegar. Cucumbers
are stored for about two weeks in a brine consisting of one and
three-fourths pounds of salt to the gallon of water; this is then
increased to two and one- half pounds per gallon and the cucumbers held
in this until needed for final pickling in vinegar. Fermentation takes
place during storage, the green color fades to an olive green, the acrid
flavor disappears, lactic acid is formed from the sugar, and the texture
and flavor improved. The cucumbers must be kept submerged in the brine.
This can be done with a wooden float. Should softening set in more salt
must be added. Softening is the result of harmful bacterial or mold
growth. This is checked by increasing the salt content. Onions,
cauliflower, and green tomatoes are stored in a brine of three and
one-half pounds of salt per gallon for two weeks or longer before
pickling. Peppers are stored in wooden barrels, filled with a brine of
the same strength as directed for use on cucumbers. After fermentation,
the barrel is closed and stored until peppers are used in vinegar. Beets
are not stored in salt.
(b) Removal of Salt. The
salt must be removed from the vegetables by soaking in cold water, or by
heating in several changes of water to about 120º to 150º F. A
teaspoonful of alum per gallon of hot water used will make cucumbers
more crisp. Several hours' heating are usually necessary to remove the
(c) Addition of Vinegar.
Good cider vinegar should be used. If the salt has been removed from the
vegetables by soaking in cold water the vinegar is added to the pickles
boiling hot; if it has been removed by heating in water to 120° to 150°
F. The vinegar is added cold. The vinegar may be spiced or sweetened by
methods given in Recipe 107. The pickles will be ready for use after two
or three weeks' storage in vinegar.
99. Pickling Fruits in
Vinegar. Fruits, especially figs and peaches, are often made into
sweet pickles by the addition of a spiced and sweetened vinegar to the
cooked fruit or by cooking the fruit in this sweetened liquor. (See
100. Olives. The
olive pickling industry is one of the most important of California's
fruit industries. Arizona is the only other state growing olives
Olives are pickled both
green and ripe, although green pickled olives are no longer produced
commercially in the United States.
Olives before pickling
are extremely bitter in flavor. The pickling process is largely one of
removing this bitterness.
(a) Pickled Ripe Olives.
The olives should be of good pickling varieties such as Mission,
Manzanillo, Sevillano, or Ascolano, and should be ripe. They are ripe
when cherry red to black in color. They should not be overripe and soft
or badly injured by frost.
Wooden or stoneware
vessels must be used for olive pickling. Never use metal.
The first step in the
treatment is the addition of a lye solution of approximately three
ounces (three tablespoonfuls) of soda lye to the gallon of water. This
solution is allowed to penetrate through the skins of the olives and a
little way into the flesh. The action of the lye is evidenced by a
change in color of the skins of the olives and is also shown by
darkening of the flesh of the fruit. If an olive is cut occasionally
during the lye treatment, the action of the lye will be seen on the cut
surface. The first lye is used to act upon the color in the skins so
that it will turn dark on exposing the olives to the air. If it goes too
deeply into the flesh the coloring during air exposure will not be
satisfactory. It will usually take from three to eight hours for the lye
to penetrate sufficiently. The lye is then removed and placed in another
vessel. The olives are left exposed to the air in the vessel in which
lye treatment took place. They are stirred three or four times daily.
Two to four days' exposure will usually be sufficient to darken the
olives. Exposure is necessary because the lye treatixient bleaches the
natural color of the olive more or less. Exposure to air injures the
flavor and texture slightly and if a dark color is not desired the
exposure part of the process may be omitted.
When the olives have
acquired the desired color the lye is returned to them to remove the
bitter principle. The lye must be left on the olives the second time
until it reaches the olive pits. This will be in about twenty- four
hours. It dissolves and destroys the bitter compounds.
The lye is then removed
and discarded The olives are then covered with water which is changed
twice daily until no taste of lye is perceptible. This will require
about a week's time.
The olives are then
sterilized in jars or cans in a brine of five ounces (five
tablespoonfuls) of salt per gallon of water. They must be sterilized in
boiling water one hour. Any of the sterilizers described under canning
of fruits and vegetables may be used.
(b) Green Olives. Olives
for green olive pickles should be of full size, but still green in
color. They are placed in a lye solution of three ounces per gallon and
left until the lye reaches the pits. This destroys the bitterness. The
lye is washed out with repeated changes of water. This must be done
without exposing the olives to the air in order that darkening of the
olives shall not take place. Green olive pickles should be light
yellowish green when pickled and should not be brown in color. The
olives are then placed in barrels or jars and covered with a brine of
nine ounces (nine tablespoonfuls) of salt per gallon. The barrels or
jars should be completely filled with brine and sealed with a bung or
well fitting top. Fruit jars may be used for small quantities. Air must
be excluded in order that lactic acid fermentation but not molding may
take place. The reason for placing the olives in the brine is to permit
lactic acid fermentation to take place. This produces the characteristic
green olive flavor and texture. If the brine is too weak they will
soften. If it is too concentrated they will not undergo fermentation.
Barrels are the most satisfactory containers. They should be full and
The barrels or jars are
left in a warm place until the olives have reached the desired flavor.
They are then removed, placed in olive or fruit jars, the brine is
filtered, and poured on the olives boiling hot and the jars are sealed.
No further sterilization is necessary.
(c) "Greek" Olives.
Olives may be cured without the lye treatment by mixing one pound of
salt to each three pounds of olives used. The salt and olives are built
up in alternate layers in a crock or tank or barrel and left until the
proper flavor has developed. The olives are covered with a thick layer
of salt. The salt destroys the bitterness and draws out some of the
moisture from the olives to such an extent that when they are removed
from the salt no sterilization is necessary to keep them. The salt is
brushed off the olives after the bitterness has disappeared. This will
be in four to six weeks. They are stored in jars or boxes. This style of
olive is used very extensively by the Italian and Greek population in
America. Such olives contain most of the food value of the olive and
possess more of the fresh olive flavor than do olives pickled in the
101. Tomato Ketchup.
This product is made in enormous quantities and is used on practically
every table. Most of it is made in factories, especially equipped for
this purpose. It can, however, be made on a small scale.
The material used should
be of best quality and free from moldy or soured tomatoes. Firm
varieties, such as the Stone are preferable to the watery, less pulpy
varieties because the pulp will require less boiling down and will be of
better color. The various steps in tomato ketchup manufacture are (a)
preparation of the pulp, (b) seasoning the pulp, (c) concentrating, and
(a) Pulping. The tomatoes
in commercial factories are broken up finely in a "cyclone" machine and
the pulp forced through fine openings which hold the skins and seeds. In
the kitchen, pulping is accompanied by boiling the crushed tomatoes a
short time followed by forcing the juice and pulp through a fine screen
to remove skins and seeds. These must be removed if an attractive
product is to be made.
(b) Addition of Flavoring
Materials. Sugar, vinegar, pepper, salt, onions (usually), cayenne
pepper, and various other spices are added to the pulp. Paprika is often
added in large quantities to impart a deep red color. The onions are
added before cooking. The other spices are usually added after the
ketchup has been partly boiled down so that the flavor will not be lost
There are several ways of
adding the spices. One of the best methods is to suspend the whole or
coarsely ground spices in a bag in the ketchup during boiling. The
flavor is extracted from the spices in this way. If ground spices are
added directly to the pulp there is danger of darkening the product too
much; for home ketchup making this, however, is not a serious defect and
is more economical of spices. Acetic acid or oil solutions of spices are
(c) Boiling. The pulp is
boiled down to about two- thirds or one-half the original volume. Half
of this boiling is carried out before the spices are added. Boiling
should be rapid and burning avoided by stirring. Long boiling gives a
dark color. There is no simple way of determining when the ketchup is
done, except by taste and appearance. When it has reached the desired
consistency it is ready for bottling.
(d) Sterilizing. The hot
ketchup is poured into scalded bottles or jars. Bottles are sealed with
scalded corks. Bottles should be sterilized in boiling water forty-five
to sixty minutes to kill mold spores. Jars may be sterilized one hour in
a washboiler sterilizer as previously directed for fruits. Ketchup may
also be put up in cans.
(a) Tomato Paste. Tomato
paste is tomato pulp flavored or unflavored, as desired, which has been
concentrated to about one-tenth to one-twelfth the original weight of
pulp taken. It is used as a flavoring and as a base for soups, in
combination with rice, spaghetti, etc. It need not be sterilized and can
be stored in jelly glasses, jars, etc., sealed with paraffin. In making
the paste the skins and seeds are removed from the tomato pulp by
screening. The pulp is then boiled down slowly and finally concentrated
to a thick paste on the back of the stove or in the sun in shallow pans.
It is used extensively by the Italian population under the name of
(b) Puree. Tomato pur6e
is fresh pulp freed from skins and seeds. It is sterilized in cans,
bottles, or jars. It is usually not concentrated before sterilizing,
although container space is saved by boiling the puree down before
(c) Chili Sauce,
Piccalilli, and Relishes. These are various forms of chopped tomato
relishes, flavored in various ways and consisting of various
combinations of other vegetables with tomatoes. Some of these are made
from green and others from ripe tomatoes. Recipes for the above products
will be found under Part III. | <urn:uuid:58b96073-998e-41e0-9e70-ca6bb5146de0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electricscotland.com/food/preservation/chapter16.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922451 | 4,009 | 3.46875 | 3 |
May 21, 2013
Teen vote law comes into force
The teen vote law, given the nod yesterday by Lower House lawmakers and President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, was made official today and signed into the Official Gazette by way of decree 2106/2012.
The Lower House passed the law on Wednesday, which enables teenagers between the age of 16 and 18 the chance to vote in future national elections.
Cabinet Chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina and Interior and Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo also signed the decree published today. | <urn:uuid:6ea35d18-ea24-4718-9356-0db868860c84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buenosairesherald.com/articles/noticia.aspx?ix=115827 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950066 | 114 | 1.640625 | 2 |
What did you do last year?
I don't mean what beach you went to on vacation or how many football games you attended. What I'm asking is what did you do to ensure you gave more than you received?
It's a question a lot of folks are asking lately. Most of the talks come from the realm of politics -- who gets how much of somebody else's money?
But what about the outdoors world? It's just as important that each of us strives to pull our share of the load. If not, we have no right to complain when things go wrong.
There are all sorts of ways to ensure our sports are better for our children than they were for us. The key ingredient -- the one there's no substitute for -- is to get involved. You can make that idea as complicated or as simple as you want.
Some folks dive into the issues headfirst. They spearhead campaigns. They volunteer to go to meetings or organize fundraisers. But to make a difference, you don't have to go all in. Simply get involved. Join a local sportsmen's club. Attend meetings. And volunteer for projects you believe in.
There are groups and clubs for folks with all sorts of interests -- hiking, hunting, fishing and even trapping. Find one that promotes interests that you believe in and get involved.
But giving back to the outdoors community doesn't always require a large time investment. Take 10 minutes a few times each month to send your elected leaders a note. The recent fiscal-cliff debate was a great opportunity to be heard. But I'm guessing very few folks bothered to write their congressman about the atrocity of keeping sportsmen-generated tax dollars as a political hostage.
Another simple way to get involved doesn't require you to even leave your couch. Read a book. Easy. There's no better way to get informed about what's happening in the world of the outdoors than reading. You will learn the issues, the potential solutions and the obstacles that stand in the way.
It's easy to form an opinion after reading a couple of blog postings or maybe a few rants on an Internet forum. But to learn the unbiased facts and the broader spectrum of the story, you need books -- preferably a few of them.
One author I try to read every year has very little knowledge about modern outdoors issues. He's been dead for half a century. But Ernest Hemingway's writings on hunting and fishing will always do one of two things -- his work will either make you yearn to get outdoors or it will stir anger as you learn how ruthlessly many species were targeted during the first half of the 20th century.
It's an easy and unique way to create an outdoor-focused mindset without having to dedicate countless hours to the effort. The words you read could be the spark that leads you to make a difference.
We just started a fresh year. Before we get too far into it, ask yourself what you did last year.
I bet you won't like the answer.
Andy Snyder writes about the outdoors for The York Dispatch. He can be reached at sheiser@york dispatch.com. | <urn:uuid:dbef0e66-98fa-4411-ab54-376e68f1120e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yorkdispatch.com/sports/ci_22304779/websubscribe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975286 | 644 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Patrick Dougherty '01
School of Health Sciences and Human Performance | Exercise Science
“My job is pretty cool, especially on those days when I get to fly in an F-18.” For Pat Dougherty, those flights are the culmination of years of study that started at Ithaca College.
The exercise science graduate had always played sports, but his professors turned him on to running studies, which he immediately found himself drawn to. “I was curious about how the body worked and exercise physiology is a lot about running at its core. If I was going to study it, I might as well do a lot of it. So that’s when I started running marathons and since then I’ve switched to triathlons.”
Pat’s passion for exercise science led him to pursue his master’s degree and later his doctorate, but that’s where things took a turn. “I realized an academic career wasn’t for me. I wanted something a little more exciting, so I applied and was eventually commissioned as a lieutenant in the Naval aerospace physiology program in 2009.”
Now Pat spends his days providing training for anyone in the service who might be involved in flying. The physiological threats a member of a flight crew can be exposed to include hypoxia, which is a special disorientation that occurs when there isn’t enough blood flow to the brain. This happens sometimes in flights that reach multiple g-forces, and it can have catastrophic results. One of the tools Pat has at his disposal is the only “high-G” human centrifuge in the U.S. Navy, which spins its subjects under multiple g-forces to mimic the sensations hypoxia may bring.
“It’s like a wicked carnival ride. There’s a big motor in the center, and we spin them around in this room, which exposes them to increased accelerations like they would feel in the air. I’ve gone through it a few times, so I can safely say that it’s pretty intense.”
Come February, Pat will move to Corpus Christi, where he will become an air medical safety officer. It’s another challenge he feels completely ready for. “I haven’t taken the most linear path since I left Ithaca, but everything I learned on South Hill has helped push me to the next level of my career.”
>> More on this story: Watch a video of pilot training in the human centrifuge | <urn:uuid:ffe7643f-f5ff-4e36-ae4a-e1d0a2ded4e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ithaca.edu/ready/patrickd/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980066 | 534 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Ten reasons to vote this year ... or not
Published: October 31, 2012
8. Por La Raza. Two fresh reports this month from the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center revealed that the population of Latinos eligible to vote next month has surged to 26 percent of the Texas electorate, and that those voters represent a potential Democratic goldmine: They prefer Obama over Romney by 69 percent to 21 percent and some 61 percent favor the Democratic Party, up from 45 percent in 2011. But according to the U.S. Census, only 38 percent of eligible Latino voters cast a ballot in Texas in 2008, down from 42 percent in 2004. By comparison, 57 percent of California's eligible Latino voters went to the polls in 2008, up from 47 percent in 2004. "Latinos will go out and vote if they are mobilized and they understand that there is a stake in their participation." says Arturo Vega, associate professor and director of the St. Mary's University Public Administration Graduate Program. "Voting is a question of opportunity cost, and because they're not being mobilized [by campaigns targeting consistent voters], the opportunity cost for Latinos is much higher than for their counterparts."
9. It's Easy. Even easier than helping Master Chief survive on Halo 4's Requiem planet. "A lot of my friends can't be bothered to either change addresses [to maintain valid voter registration] or do the paperwork to register for the first time," says Boerne resident Josh Bradshaw of England. "It kind of pisses me off, you know, because it's a big deal. If I were an American I'd vote for sure, so it surprises me that so many people are turned off and apathetic. It's really easy, just go online." (See our sidebar for more information on how.)
10. It's Your Duty. "We're blessed to live in the most democratic country in the world, and people not only have the right, but in my profession I think I can say they have the duty to come to the polls," says Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Callanen. "When we see what the military is going through to protect democracies, my personal thought is that it really is a duty. It's really hard for us to be sending ballots out to Afghanistan and worldwide and then to have someone who is sitting a block away from a polling site not get up and go vote, that's really a huge dichotomy. We get [absentee ballot] requests from our military worldwide, and you get an email back that says, 'Thank you, ma'am, it's really important to me.' How do we match that kind of service with some of our citizens here that don't take the time to go vote?"
• The new state voter ID law failed to pass muster at either the U.S. Justice Department or in federal courts, so no matter what you've heard, you do not need any special photo card to vote. A drivers license or even a current utility bill or bank statement is enough (see votetexas.gov/register-to-vote/need-id for a list of optional forms of ID). | <urn:uuid:b7eb5141-9b89-439b-942b-221c11befeb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sacurrent.com/news/ten-reasons-to-vote-this-year-or-not-1.1395800?pgno=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959395 | 644 | 1.539063 | 2 |
By Bev Hahler on This Dish is Veg
Daniel Azarian's 'Save Lolita the Orca' PSA to screen at film festival
This month is a sad anniversary for Lolita, a killer whale housed at the Miami Seaquarium. Forty years ago she was violently separated from her family in Puget Sound, Washington, and transferred to a tank only 20 foot deep.
At only four times her size at its widest point, the tank appears to be illegally small under Department of Agriculture regulations.
Many are calling for Lolita to be retired to a coastal sanctuary, and Underdog Entertainment (a New York based production company), has announced that "Save Lolita" will be screened at the opening night reception of the Hamptons Conservation and Wildlife Film Festival, September 24-26, 2010.
The public service announcement (PSA) hopes to raise awareness of Lolita's plight, and its director Daniel Azarian will will speak at the reception along with third generation ocean explorer and film maker Fabien Cousteau.
"Research clearly shows that orcas are sentient, emotional and highly intelligent beings, who are aware of their surroundings. To see such a beautiful 22-foot creature in a tiny 35-foot-wide tank seems inhumane. I felt compelled to do something," explains Azarian.
The Hamptons Conservation and Wildlife Film Festival features some of the finest international conservation, natural history and wildlife films. This world wide traveling event (showcasing 50 films from 20 countries) runs from September 24 - 26 at the Bay street Theater in Sag Harbor, and the Lolita PSA will be shown during the Friday evening reception. | <urn:uuid:cb8f14fc-b744-450b-8170-23580debfc7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-40th.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944025 | 338 | 1.765625 | 2 |
U.S. Department of Agriculture:
Recommendations and Options Available to the New Administration and Congress to Address Long-Standing Civil Rights Issues
GAO-09-650T, Apr 29, 2009
For decades, there have been allegations of discrimination in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs and workforce. Reports and congressional testimony by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a former Secretary of Agriculture, USDA's Office of Inspector General, GAO, and others have described weaknesses in USDA's programs--in particular, in resolving complaints of discrimination and in providing minorities access to programs. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 authorized the creation of the position of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR), giving USDA an executive that could provide leadership for resolving these long-standing problems. This testimony focuses on USDA's efforts to (1) resolve discrimination complaints, (2) report on minority participation in USDA programs, and (3) strategically plan its efforts. This testimony is based on new and prior work, including analysis of ASCR's strategic plan; discrimination complaint management; and about 120 interviews with officials of USDA and other federal agencies, as well as 20 USDA stakeholder groups. USDA officials reviewed the facts upon which this statement is based, and we incorporated their additions and clarifications as appropriate. GAO plans a future report with recommendations.
ASCR's difficulties in resolving discrimination complaints persist--ASCR has not achieved its goal of preventing future backlogs of complaints. At a basic level, the credibility of USDA's efforts has been and continues to be undermined by ASCR's faulty reporting of data on discrimination complaints and disparities in ASCR's data. Even such basic information as the number of complaints is subject to wide variation in ASCR's reports to the public and the Congress. Moreover, ASCR's public claim in July 2007 that it had successfully reduced a backlog of about 690 discrimination complaints in fiscal year 2004 and held its caseload to manageable levels, drew a questionable portrait of progress. By July 2007, ASCR officials were well aware they had not succeeded in preventing future backlogs--they had another backlog on hand, and this time the backlog had surged to an even higher level of 885 complaints. In fact, ASCR officials were in the midst of planning to hire additional attorneys to address that backlog of complaints including some ASCR was holding dating from the early 2000s that it had not resolved. In addition, some steps ASCR had taken may have actually been counter-productive and affected the quality of its work. For example, an ASCR official stated that some employees' complaints had been addressed without resolving basic questions of fact, raising concerns about the integrity of the practice. Importantly, ASCR does not have a plan to correct these many problems. USDA has published three annual reports--for fiscal years 2003, 2004, and 2005--on the participation of minority farmers and ranchers in USDA programs, as required by law. USDA's reports are intended to reveal the gains or losses that these farmers have experienced in their participation in USDA programs. However, USDA considers the data it has reported to be unreliable because they are based on USDA employees' visual observations about participant's race and ethnicity, which may or may not be correct, especially for ethnicity. USDA needs the approval of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to collect more reliable data. ASCR started to seek OMB's approval in 2004, but as of May 2008 had not followed through to obtain approval. ASCR staff will meet again on this matter in May 2008. GAO found that ASCR's strategic planning is limited and does not address key steps needed to achieve the Office's mission of ensuring USDA provides fair and equitable services to all customers and upholds the civil rights of its employees. For example, a key step in strategic planning is to discuss the perspectives of stakeholders. ASCR's strategic planning does not address the diversity of USDA's field staff even though ASCR's stakeholders told GAO that such diversity would facilitate interaction with minority and underserved farmers. Also, ASCR could better measure performance to gauge its progress in achieving its mission. For example, it counts the number of participants in training workshops as part of its outreach efforts rather than access to farm program benefits and services. Finally, ASCR's strategic planning does not link levels of funding with anticipated results or discuss the potential for using performance information for identifying USDA's performance gaps. | <urn:uuid:f20cdb07-3ef5-4012-b450-18623cd0a1c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-650T | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968498 | 910 | 2.15625 | 2 |
ESMERALDA (not her real name) discovered that her husband had HIV only after his death, a few days after he had entered the hospital for the first time. The couple had been living in a small Mexican town. At first, his family didn't tell her what was wrong.
She soon discovered that she too had HIV. She was breastfeeding her baby daughter at the time and, to protect her daughter from getting HIV, she was told to stop breastfeeding. She remembers being "really, really scared" for her baby. Fortunately, her daughter was HIV negative. But Esmeralda discovered that she was pregnant again.
Four days after her husband's death, Esmeralda was encouraged to move out. With little money, one baby, and another on the way, she had nowhere to go. So, she bravely crossed the border into California to live with her sister-in-law. While she was pregnant with her second baby, a boy, she took medicine to prevent the transmission of HIV and didn't breastfeed him. He is HIV negative.
Esmeralda's life soon took a turn for the better. A social worker, a nurse and a peer advocate helped Esmeralda with services. Through them, Esmeralda met women with HIV who became her good friends. They gave her rides to appointments and supported her.
These days, Esmeralda is happily married to an HIV-negative man. She's doing well medically and she even works full time cleaning houses. On evenings and Saturdays, she takes English lessons. She also volunteers at a women's HIV organization and an HIV clinic.
This article was provided by TheBody.com. It is a part of the publication HIV and Me. | <urn:uuid:accf5165-7beb-4c2a-9510-2c013cb6ca54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/content/art49566.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994736 | 357 | 1.71875 | 2 |
You say Tomato, I say TomAHto
This is a guest blog post from Autism Speaks Science Board member John Elder Robison, author of Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s and Be Different: Adventured of a Free-Range Aspergian.
Yesterday I listened to a very interesting talk from Catherine Lord, Ph.D., one of the creators of the ADOS test. ADOS is the “gold standard” in the world of autism diagnosis, and she’s a leading figure in the world of autism testing and evaluation, so I jumped at the chance to hear her thoughts on where we’re headed in that regard.
People who receive an autism diagnosis are told they have one of three conditions: Autism, Asperger’s, or PDD-NOS. The big question is: who should be diagnosed with what? Is there a coherent sense of classification, or is it merely arbitrary or random? She reviewed the diagnostic data for several thousand spectrumites in an effort to determine what caused a person to end up in one of those three categories.
To her surprise, after analyzing the data, she found the principal predictive factor had nothing to do with the individual. Looking at records from a number of good university hospitals, she found places who called almost everyone Asperger, and other places where everyone was PDD-NOS. There was no discernible pattern of variation between individuals; they seemed to simply get different diagnoses in different places.
Was there more to the story?
To answer that, she looked at other factors, like IQ. For example, many people call Asperger’s “autism lite” or “high IQ autism.” Her review of Asperger diagnoses at one Ivy League school bore that out, with their Asperger kids having average IQ of 123. However, other doctors must see Asperger’s differently, because a Midwest clinic in the study has an average Asperger IQ of 85.
She looked at quality of language in older kids and found similar ambiguity. In the final analysis she did not find any consistent measures of the individuals themselves that led to one label or the other being applied.
In my opinion, those findings support the argument that there is no consistent standard that sets the three descriptive terms for autisms apart. A difference at one point becomes invisible at another. For example, you could say four-year-old Mike does not talk so he’s autistic and Jimmy talks up a storm so he’s Aspergers. But what happens when both kids are 10 and they look and sound the same? Were the differences justified? What purpose might they serve by their difference?
Her findings made one more strong argument for combining all autism diagnoses under the heading of autism spectrum disorder, with a described range of disability or affect.
That’s the way things seem to be headed for the next DSM.
At the same time, Dr. Lord expressed concern that many people have a strong personal investment in one diagnostic name or the other, and they should be able to keep using the different terms.
Stay tuned for more tomorrow from IMFAR 2011. | <urn:uuid:588647e2-f006-4962-8830-ae6a6ba1fa83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.autismspeaks.org/2011/05/13/you-say-tomato-i-say-tomahto/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=9233933e84 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953393 | 662 | 2.625 | 3 |
People don’t like being told how and what to eat and rebel. The latest from New York and Mayor Bloomberg’s health experiment:
Over at the Atlantic, two economics professors who focus their research on food economics introduce a bit of reality into the equation:
In similar lab settings, this kind of approach has inspired various forms of rebellion among study participants. For example, openly serving someone lowfat or reduced-calorie meals tends to lead to increased fat or calorie consumption over the whole day. People reason that because they were forced to be good for one meal, they can splurge on snacks and desserts at later meals.
Referring to the 2008 law that mandated the posting of calorie counts in the city’s chain restaurants. When researchers studied the law’s effect, they “found that people had, in fact, ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer had before the labeling law went into effect.”
So just keep forcing free people to do what they do not want to do. Soon you have rebellion or no free people. | <urn:uuid:dc7c4efb-5868-44cb-bb34-85b4c5585d6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freedomok.net/2012/06/firenze-sage-health-police-wrong-people-rebel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966526 | 219 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Last year ONE members successfully campaigned for proposals on the EU budget to include an increase in international aid. But this life saving aid-budget is now under threat. Right now European leaders are considering these proposals – with about 5% of the overall EU budget earmarked for international aid. It’s affordable and it will save countless lives while helping European countries keep their promises to the world’s poorest.
As European countries fight over far larger chunks of money for things like the Common Agricultural Policy, the aid budget is getting caught in the crossfire. Latest reports suggest the proposed amount could be cut by 30%, which would be a terrible setback in the fight against poverty. We urgently need your help to prevent this.
As the chair of the EU’s rotating presidency, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt is responsible for getting agreement from leaders on the priorities for the EU budget this spring, with a key meeting taking place in Copenhagen next week. Denmark has a proud record in the fight against extreme poverty around the world. Our petition calls on Prime Minister Thorning- Schmidt to ensure Europe protects its promise to the poorest.
EU aid has made a huge difference. Between 2004 and 2009, more than 9 million children were enrolled in primary education, more than 5 million were vaccinated against measles, and more than 31 million people were connected to clean water thanks to EU aid.
With your help we can help to ensure the next EU aid budget is as strong as possible and continues to save lives and lift millions out of poverty.
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE. | <urn:uuid:dafd05f8-0b60-4d0d-986a-1d0607fdad4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.one.org/international/blog/call-for-a-strong-eu-aid-budget/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96233 | 401 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Humans are storytelling machines. We don’t passively perceive the world – we tell stories about it, translating the helter-skelter of events into tidy narratives. This is often a helpful habit, helping us make sense of mistakes, consider counterfactuals and extract a sense of meaning from the randomness of life.
But our love of stories comes with a serious side-effect: like all good narrators, we tend to forsake the facts when they interfere with the plot. We’re so addicted to the anecdote that we let the truth slip away until, eventually, those stories we tell again and again become exercises in pure fiction. Just the other day I learned that one of my cherished childhood tales – the time my older brother put hot peppers in my Chinese food while I was in the bathroom, thus scorching my young tongue – actually happened to my little sister. I’d stolen her trauma. | <urn:uuid:b38fa1ad-7697-45f1-a1d1-28306e53ee3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scoop.it/t/story-and-narrative/p/899996968/how-friends-ruin-memory-the-social-conformity-effect | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921526 | 190 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Emergency and Express Care is a 40-bed full-care trauma and emergency medical service. With state-of-the-art equipment, the Emergency Department houses a trauma resuscitation area in addition to rooms designated for:
- treatment and examination
- dental services
- ear, nose and throat treatment
- decontamination shelter
The Emergency Department is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by the emergency medicine faculty, all of whom are board certified or residency trained in emergency medicine, and by emergency medicine residents. In the past year, the Emergency Department cared for more than 76,000 patients. Express Care Services provide rapid treatment for minor injuries and sicknesses. The department is supported by air and ground transport. LifeNet provides unparalleled EMS helicopter service.
The Trauma specializes in the treatment of traumatic, critical care injuries 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Georgia Regents Medical Center has the region’s only Level I Trauma Center (highest level), with an emergency helicopter transport team and Emergency Communications Center. The physicians and nurses in the trauma center serve a 13-county region including Augusta. With the helicopter transport, the center also treats trauma patients beyond the 13 counties. The trauma center coordinates care for more than 1,500 trauma victims each year by following them through their hospital stays and coordinating their care after leaving Georgia Regents Medical Center. The center includes a 12-bed shock/trauma intensive care unit and a specialized trauma resuscitation area within the Emergency Department.
Pediatric Emergency Department
The Pediatric Emergency Department of the Children’s Hospital of Georgia is adjacent to the main Emergency Department. The Children’s Hospital of Georgia is the region’s only pediatric tertiary care referral hospital and our physicians include subspecialists in all areas of pediatrics. The department has 13 beds, with two trauma beds. The Pediatric Emergency Department is staffed by pediatric emergency medicine physicians 16 hours per day and has equipment and furniture sized just for children.
The Children’s Hospital of Georgia houses a Level I (highest level) Pediatric Trauma Center, with air and ground transport. The specialized team includes a trauma nurse coordinator, trauma clinical nurse specialist, trauma registrar and one of the most highly trained physician teams in the Southeast. The interdisciplinary team also includes many other health care professionals from pastoral care to pharmacy services. The goal is to provide comprehensive care to ensure the best possible outcomes for trauma victims and their families.
Pediatric Transport Team
The Pediatric Transport Team is comprised of specially trained nurses and respiratory therapists. The team provides transport service all throughout the state, as well as neighboring states, and travels by ground, fixed wing or rotorcraft. When an emergency call is received, the team is mobilized bringing critical care directly to the patient. The patient is stabilized in the outlying location and then brought back to Georgia Regents Medical Center for definitive care. This service is provided for patients from birth to 21 years.
More info on Non-traumatic Emergencies | <urn:uuid:c4b3e962-1718-4a01-8676-11a6f9f45122> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grhealth.org/health-encyclopedia/GhsuContentPage.aspx?nd=459 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938257 | 614 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Idaho Falls, city (1990 pop. 43,929), seat of Bonneville co., SE Idaho, traversed by the Snake River; inc. 1900. The chief city of the extensively irrigated upper Snake valley, Idaho Falls is the prosperous commercial and processing center of a cattle, dairy, and farm region that produces potatoes, wheat, sugar beets, and alfalfa. Building materials, food products, leather goods, and electronic equipment are manufactured, and tourism is important (the city lies near several national parks and major recreational areas). Nearby Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, a national reactor testing station, is also a principal source of employment. Idaho Falls was originally a miner's fording point over the Snake River, first settled by Mormons. The impressive Idaho Falls Mormon Temple (opened 1945) is a prominent landmark. Several annual rodeos are held in Idaho Falls.
More on Idaho Falls from Infoplease:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. Political Geography | <urn:uuid:b28e0c60-1ba6-4c44-9962-20eb773f5199> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/us/idaho-falls.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92485 | 205 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Human Health Sciences
ENVIRON provides clients unparalleled expertise in assessing the potential human health effects that may be associated with exposures to chemicals in the environment, in food and consumer products, and in the workplace. Our staff of experienced health scientists―including toxicologists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, industrial hygienists, molecular biologists and pharmacologists― works closely with ENVIRON experts in chemical fate and transport, and exposure assessment to provide the objective, scientific analysis needed to help guide efforts to protect human health. Human health risk assessment methodologies pioneered by ENVIRON assist our clients in addressing some of their most challenging issues, including those related to regulatory compliance, new product registration, product stewardship, worker health and safety, site remediation and response to litigation.
Related: Physiologically Based-Pharmacokinetic Modeling | <urn:uuid:728c30ad-2a6d-48b6-96bd-5dbb685e5bbb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://environcorp.com/health/product-safety---regulatory-support/human-health-sciences.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929591 | 175 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Choice and Security: Professor John Cochrane’s advice to President Obama
Last week, at a White House forum on reforming health care, President Obama issued a challenge to advocates of less government control of the medical marketplace.
“If there is a way of getting this done [i.e., reforming health care] where we’re driving down costs and people are getting health insurance at an affordable rate and have choice of doctor, have flexibility in terms of their plans, and we could do that entirely through the market, I’d be happy to do it that way.”
More to the point, Obama added that he’d be just as happy to pursue an approach that involved more government control as well, and that seems to be the tack he’s taking…
Congressional Republicans have criticized Obama’s approach, and they’ve been particularly hostile to the idea of a new public insurance plan. They argue that Obama’s reforms will eventually lead to a nationalized health care system. But as of yet they’ve failed to offer an alternative that meets Obama’s criteria for a successful health care reform.
Enter John Cochrane, an economist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Professor Cochrane has long advocated a proposal he calls “health-status insurance,” an approach that could guarantee long-term health security while also freeing medical insurers to compete for customers. To most health care reformers, this sounds like a contradiction in terms.
Cochrane’s paper is, “Health-Status Insurance: How Markets Can Provide Health Security.” | <urn:uuid:e17d3699-583f-4e78-bec9-2122a42fd04c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cato.org/blog/tags/health-insurance/page/10?page=36 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962236 | 338 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Holman Christian Standard Bible®
Ecclesiaste 2, Eclesiastés 2, Eclesiastes 2, Prediger 2, Predikaren 2, Prediker 2, Книга Екклезіяста 2, Книга Екклесиаста 2, سفر الجامعة 2, 伝道の書 2, 传道书 2, 傳道書 2, 전도서 2, Ecclésiaste 2
1I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile. 2I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?” 3I explored with my mind how to let my body enjoy life[J]2:3 Lit to pull my body with wine and how to grasp folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven[K]2:3 Two Hb mss, LXX, Syr read the sun during the few days of their lives.The Emptiness of Possessions4I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5I made gardens and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them. 6I constructed reservoirs of water for myself from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees. 7I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned many herds of cattle and flocks, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. 8I also amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered male and female singers for myself, and many concubines, the delights of men.[L]2:8 LXX, Theod, Syr read and male cupbearers and female cupbearers; Aq, Tg, Vg read a cup and cups; Hb obscure[M]2:8 Or many treasures that people delight in9So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me. 10All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles. 11When I considered all that I had accomplished[N]2:11 Lit all my works that my hands had done and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.The Relative Value of Wisdom12Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the man be like who comes after the king? He[O]2:12 Some Hb mss read They will do what has already been done. 13And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.14The wise man has eyes in his head,but the fool walks in darkness.Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both. 15So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” And I said to myself that this is also futile. 16For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise man dies just like the fool? 17Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.The Emptiness of Work18I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. 20So I began to give myself over[P]2:20 Lit And I turned to cause my heart to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun. 21When there is a man whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. 22For what does a man get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? 23For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.24There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and enjoy[Q]2:24 Syr, Tg; MT reads There is no good in man who eats and drinks and enjoys[R]2:24 Lit and his soul sees good his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, 25because who can eat and who can enjoy life[S]2:25 LXX, Theod, Syr read can drink apart from Him?[T]2:25 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr read me26For to the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. | <urn:uuid:3e621d5e-bbca-4050-a5b5-9e490f46c95d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.just1word.com/bible/verse/ecclesiastes_2?version=hcsb | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979468 | 1,205 | 2.078125 | 2 |
|Leaders of EU's member states will be meeting in Brussels to discuss the crisis in Libya in the coming days [EPA]
Libyan envoys are in talks with European Union officials in Brussels, the Belgian capital, while the Libyan deputy defence minister has arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, reports say.
The delegation in Brussels is also expected to meet NATO officials in the coming days.
The European Union's 27 foreign ministers will be meeting in Brussels on Thursday in advance of a crisis summit on Libya.
Separately, defence ministers from the 28-member NATO alliance will also gather in Brussels to weigh options on Libya following calls for a no-fly zone to be enforced over the north African country.
"Certainly Colonel Gaddafi would want to try and stop that if at all possible and that's why we're seeing perhaps these diplomatic efforts," Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Brussels, said.
"We're hearing suggestions that Libyans may have been invited to Brussels for these talks by the White House. That still yet to be confirmed."
Earlier on Wednesday, at least three private jets belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took off from a military airstrip outside the capital, Tripoli.
One of the planes carried a delegation of Libyan officials who met senior officials in Malta before continuing to Portugal.
A Libyan envoy met Portugal's foreign minister on Wednesday to explain Tripoli's view of the conflict in the country, the Portuguese foreign ministry said.
Portugal will chair the United Nations Security Council's committee on sanctions for Libya starting this week.
"Foreign Minister Luis Amado had an informal meeting in a Lisbon hotel with a Libyan emissary, on the request of the
latter, in order to receive information on the situation in Libya," a foreign ministry statement said.
The ministry did not name the envoy and did not provide further details of the meeting.
There were reports that Abdelrahman al-Zawi, the Libyan deputy defence minister on his way to Cairo, was carrying a message from Gaddafi and was to meet Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League.
The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said al-Zawi was to meet the military council which is ruling Egypt.
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, said the private jet landed on a military airstrip around 1pm local time, carrying al-Zawi and another official.
"As soon as the plane landed, those on board ... were immediately whisked away by private cars," he said.
He said Essam Sharaf, the Egyptian prime minister, cut a cabinet meeting short to go to a meeting with the Egyptian military council.
The Arab League is due to meet on Saturday to discuss the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. Libyan delegates have been barred from attending the League's meetings addressing the situation in the country. | <urn:uuid:3e305d2c-8392-4ed0-aad1-8e16bff833f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/03/20113911921436551.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965306 | 591 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Winter rains create beautiful landscape around us with Green hills, Blooming Flowers, Trees with new leaves. With this come lots of pollens. Some of us react to pollens in form of spring time allergies and asthma.
Seasonal Allergy symptoms cause stuffy nose, sneezing, congestion, itching in eyes and nose. In some people may trigger asthma and wheezing. Natural way to reduce symptoms is to wash face and eyes with water, Rinse nose and sinuses with saline spray or wash. If symptoms are more, please seek medical advise. Dr. Suresh Sachdeva
Facts About Insurance
As a medical practice, we strongly believe our patients deserve the best possible medical care we can provide. In an effort to maintain a high quality of care, we would like to share some facts about medical insurance with you.
Fact #1: Your medical insurance is based upon a contract between you and your insurance company. Sometimes this also involves contracts with an employer and you or family member. Should questions arise about your medical insurance benefits, it is best for you to contact your insurance company directly or your employer.
Fact #2: Medical insurance benefits differ greatly from company to company. Your premiums, co-payments, co-insurance or deductibles may change or increase without notification to you. Your allowed benefits may be different from one visit to the next. We will do our best to collect the correct amount on the date of service. However, we may not know the full amount owed until your insurance pays the claim.
Fact #3: You may receive notification from your insurance company, stating that the medical fees that we billed are higher than usual and customary. An insurance company surveys a geographic area, calculates an average fee, takes a percentage of that fee and considers it customary. The fee for service doctor in private practice will have fees that insurance companies define as higher than usual and customary. There may be contractual discounts applied in most cases. The patient is not responsible for the contractual adjustment, only co-payments, co-insurance, deductibles and services not covered by your insurance plan.
Fact #4: Many plans tell their participants that they will be covered up to a certain amount but do not clearly specify plan fee schedule allowances, annual maximums, limitations or covered benefits. Again, the final amount owed by the patient comes along with the insurance company payment and is called an “explanation of benefits” or an “EOB”. Once the EOB is received we will then know the final amount owed for each date of service and in some cases for each injection. Depending on how prompt your insurance company processes your claim, this can take up to a couple of months.
Fact #5: Routine or well child services are covered by most of the insurance companies. Immunizations are billed and sometime paid separately. Although an insurance company may pay for the well check, immunizations may not be covered. Please varify your benefits from your Health Plan. My staff will be able to help you undestand the benefits.
Financial arrangement must be made directly with us, regardless of insurance coverage. Please do not hesitate to ask us. Thanks,
Suresh Sachdeva, MD
Kids are back to school and time to catch up with vaccinations including Flu vaccine.
Flu Vaccine Information & Finder
Flu (Influenza) is very contagious air borne illness. Flu can be spread from one person to another.
Vaccination is the best protection we have against the Flu.
Flu vaccine will reduce your and your family’s risk of illness and the complications.
For Flu Vaccination, please call your doctor’s office.
For more information, please visit:
Suresh K Sachdeva, MD | <urn:uuid:832067d1-ac30-4ddb-b351-ffbcb3f35f87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://doctorsachdeva.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946161 | 778 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Since more than 200 million years, sharks foam the oceans of the whole world. This fish without bones is an excellent predator very important for the marine chain food. With more than 400 species, they are all different by their size, their shape, their color and their life habits.
Nature creates a "perfect creature" through the shark : fast, effective, well adapted to its environnement and master hunter. Many parts of its anatomy inspire high technology creations (like the boat hull)
The shark is a very old animal. Its forefather swam 400 millions years ago in the oceans. The modern forms of sharks appeared 200 millions years ago and didn’t change a lot until today. It means that sharks are older than dinosaurs!
Each fin has a define role which permit the shark to swim easily in different environments:
- pectoral fins : are like a rudder to change direction
- back fins : balance the shark’s body
- pelvic fins : are next to the sexual organs
- and finally it has a small anal fin
The shark is an excellent predator with a strong jawbone. It can eat some crustaceans or hunt turtles and seals. With its teeth, it can catch, cut, dig out or hold its preys.
Shark’s mouth structure is very interesting. The shark has about one hundred teeth in different levels. Each species has a special teeth shape adapted to their preys. They aren’t fixed to the bones of the skull like humans. The jaw seems to a movable carpet: when the shark loses a tooth it’s replaced by another one in the precedent level inside the mouth.
Do you know the five senses? Touch, smell, taste, hear and sight. They are very important to discover the world around us by different ways. We know how understanding a lot of tiny details from our environment.
Sharks have these 5 senses and 2 others:
Ampullae of Lorenzini : it is an electrosense. The shark can feel the other animals by some small organs in its nose. It can identify the earth movements and the different currents.
The lateral line: is very important for all the fish. They can feel the oceans’ movements, vibrations and pressures.
The shark’s skin is very rough, like the rays’ skin. Made by a lot of little teeth called “dentils”, they pierce the epidermis. These dentils are different for each species and gender. They restrict the rubbing of the water and allow the shark to swim quicker.
To identify a male from a female it is quite easy. Between the two pelvic fins, the male has two appendices called “claspers”. They have the same role as a penis and the shark uses only one of the two during the impregnation. The clasper is a transformed pelvic fin and can contain a bone (like a spine). Testicles are internal. The female has a genital orifice called cloaca.
Sharks have three kind of reproduction:
Oviparous: some sharks lay eggs. Each egg contains one embryo. These eggs are made in keratin (like nails and hairs). During its development the purse’s yolk nourishes the baby by the umbilical cord.
Viviparous: some sharks have babies like mammals. Embryos develop themselves into the female’s uterus. They are nourished by a placenta. When they were born, they look like small adults and are totally independent.
Ovoviviparous: the most common for sharks. The gestation time is the longest with 2 years maximum. Each embryo develops itself into a purse in the mother’s uterus. They are fed by an independent yolk.
In any case shark is a fish and not a mammal. It doesn’t feed babies and doesn’t look after them. Young sharks look like adults and are totally independent from their parents.
Reproduction at SEA LIFE Paris
The Nursehood (Scyliorhinus stellaris) is a small shark that lives next to Atlantic Ocean coasts. Easy to recognize with its brown blotchy skin, it eats crustaceans and mollusks on the ground. Our Nursehounds lay eggs inside the tanks. If most of them are empty, some contain a precious shark embryo. It will develop during about 8 months. You will admire baby nursehound during your visit in the central area to the centre.
1 of 3
- There are more than 300 species of sharks in the world but only 5 potentially dangerous for humans
- They have 7 powerful senses to recognize preys from predators: view, sight, smell, touch, taste, electrosense (organs in their nose permit to feel the electric field from other creatures) and lateral line (to identify currents and water pressures)
- Some of sharks have to swim to breathe because the muscles of their gills are too weak to pump water by themselves
- The nursehound (Dina’s species) is a small friendly shark found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean
- It is oviparous and lays the famous “Mermaid Purses”, some keratin thick-walled egg cases, two at a time, from March to October.
- The nursehound is nocturnal and spend day time inside small holes in rocks and swim into deeper water at night to hunt.
Would you like to learn more about sharks? : Read the program of animations | <urn:uuid:8bc89516-d9ad-46ce-bb4a-bf79d886c8bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.visitsealife.com/Paris/en/explore-our-creatures/sharks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946238 | 1,150 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Radio Wave 96.5 is an English FM radio station broadcasting to the Blackpool and Fylde coast area. The station's output is broadcast from a specially-constructed transmitter aerial which is situated atop Blackpool Tower. The station was originally called Radio Wave and has also been known as The Wave 96.5.
The quarterly istening figures for the station for the period ending June 2008 from RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Limited) give a 17% market share in it's surbey area of a total of 240,000 adults (aged 15 and over). The station is listened to by 75,000 (31%) people each week with each listener tuning in an average of eleven hours every week.
In it's first year of broadcasting the station won a Sony Radio Academy Awards Gold Award and was commended in the Local Station of the Year category.
In August 1996 Radio Wave was conirmed by RAJAR as the most listend to radio station in the area, ahead of fourteen other stations which were available including BBC Radio 1, which had half the amount of listeners locally. In 2000 Barnett received an M.B.E. for servies to radio broadcasting. He is now the Chairman of the station.
The station broadcasts a mixture of music and covers local sport and news.
Former BBC 6 Music presenter Vic McGlynn was at Radio Wave from 1992 to 1996. The impressionist and comedian Jon Culshaw presented the Breakast Show. Others who have worked at the station include Wes Butters formerly of BBC Radio 1. The stations News Editor, Andy Mitchell has been with the station since it opened in 1992.
Patent Issued for Time Information Receiver, Radio Wave Timepiece and Storage Medium Having Program Stored Therein
Jul 25, 2012; By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Journal of Engineering -- A patent by the inventors Nomura, Keiichi (Uenohara, JP); Abe,... | <urn:uuid:ee7d0fbb-3c98-4181-90b3-ef30c3d035d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reference.com/browse/radio+wave | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972221 | 397 | 1.59375 | 2 |
There are four combination vaccines used to prevent diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis: DTaP, Tdap, DT, and Td. Two of these (DTaP and DT) are given to children younger than 7 years of age, and two (Tdap and Td) are given to older children and adults. Several other combination vaccines contain DTaP along with other childhood vaccines.
Children should get 5 doses of DTaP, one dose at each of the following ages: 2, 4, 6, and 15-18 months and 4-6 years. DT does not contain pertussis, and is used as a substitute for DTaP for children who cannot tolerate pertussis vaccine.
Td is a tetanus-diphtheria vaccine given to adolescents and adults as a booster shot every 10 years, or after an exposure to tetanus under some circumstances. Tdap is similar to Td but also containing protection against pertussis. A single dose of Tdap is recommended for adolescents 11 or 12 years of age, or in place of one Td booster in older adolescents and adults age 19 through 64.[Upper-case letters in these abbreviations denote full-strength doses of diphtheria (D) and tetanus (T) toxoids and pertussis (P) vaccine. Lower-case “d” and “p” denote reduced doses of diphtheria and pertussis used in the adolescent/adult-formulations. The “a” in DTaP and Tdap stands for “acellular,” meaning that the pertussis component contains only a part of the pertussis organism.] | <urn:uuid:8554f5d6-f278-4755-a0ba-d8ea9c8667c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Tetanus-Diphtheria-and-Pertussis-Vaccines.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906468 | 358 | 3.703125 | 4 |
With brutal hurricanes on the rise, scientists turn to far-out technologies to fight them off
Back in the 1960s and '70s, legions of scientists explored technologies to zap strength from hurricanes. Those efforts were scrapped both because experiments were inconclusive and because the cost of deploying a full-scale system to regularly battle the cyclones would have been staggering. In light of
Katrina and Rita's $200-billion-plus swath of destruction-and a forecast of even more violent and catastrophic hurricanes to come-that steep price tag now seems like a bargain, and
scientists are once again entertaining schemes to mitigate monster storms. | <urn:uuid:36b3360f-80ad-478f-bafe-61b703bf204b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/monster-storms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963297 | 129 | 2.609375 | 3 |
21st Century Library ServicesPosted: October 25, 2011
Take a close look. Have you seen this librarian?
The answer is probably not. But, if you have, you may not see that type of librarian for much longer. The reason is because the role of librarians and libraries will increasingly change over the next few years as a result of technological innovation. Many of the services historically connected with libraries, including the stereotypical image of the librarian sitting behind a desk, will look dramatically different (and in some cases may not even exist). While, this will present challenges it will also open new doors for librarians to provide discovery-based and specialized services for faculty and student learning. The same is true here at UofL where many librarians are already transitioning toward a 21st century service model.
Here are just a few things our librarians do:
1. Library instruction. Professor’s can bring their students over to the library to get comfortable using the library to complete research assignments. In many cases, librarians encourage active student participation through group work and acknowledging the student voice instead of continuous lecture.
2. EndNote and EndNote Web workshops. Learn more about an alternative way to create and organize your bibliographies on the Beginning EndNote guide.
3. Digital Collections. Whereas before, conducting research on primary sources required you to always go to a Special Collections department, now several of these works are available online. Since 2006, UofL librarians, curators, and technical experts, have digitized images, yearbooks, baseball trade cards, and other historical documents. Click here to see for yourself—it’s very cool!
4. Virtual Reference Services. So, we may not see you in person, but we can still answer your questions through such things as,
- Ask-A-Librarian. Chat your questions about the library Monday-Friday, between 10am-5pm.
- Email. Submit a reference question or citation completion request and receive a reply by email
- Text us at (502) 509-3178
- Instant Message us at email@example.com
The list can go on. We have not even scratched the surface of how different the UofL Libraries services will look like 10 years from now. But, just know that some things will be different.
For more information about any of the UofL Libraries services call (502) 852-6747 or visit us online. | <urn:uuid:19477a5d-82f2-4cb2-83a4-869fac967b02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uofllibraries.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/21st-century-library-services-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927077 | 517 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Fred Fearnot's Revenge, or Defeating a Congressman
THE FATAL BITE.
By Horace Appleton.
It was a sad sight that I looked upon in that little mountain
cabin, on that June morning, in the year '74; it was a sight that set
my young blood aflame, and I shut my teeth to keep down my emotions. A
bearded young miner lay dead on the cabin floor. He was still rolled in
his blanket; the embers of a late fir were seen near; a bench, wash-
basin and a cracked mirro composed the principal furniture of the room.
It was the usual miner's cabin to be met with throughout the gold
regions of California.
A score of men had gathered in and about the cabin, all intent on
viewing the horror-the mangled corpse of Paul Landon-as jovial a young
miner as the mountains of the Golden State could boast.
"Who hez did this thing?"
It was a gruff voice at my side that put the question.
"We haven't discovered the villain," I answered, proceeding to
make an examination of the corpse.
A man stood near with folded arms, pallid face and dry eyes,
gazing at the face of the dead as though fascinated. When I asked who he
was, Captain Turner, a mine boss said:
"That's Seth Shott, the dead man's pard." Then he continued in a
whisper: "'Twixt you and me, he's the man who's guilty of this. I know
it, and I'm going to speak to the boys."
I was somewhat astonished at this announcement. Captain
Turner was a trusted man, one in the eniploy of the Mountain Lode
Company, and it was in the interest of this company that I was visiting
the mines. Peculation was suspected, and I was sent up to look into the
affairs of the company in general. It was to have all the time I needed
and work in my own way. I hadn't been here a week when Paul Landon was
found murdered in his cabin.
I was somewhat new in the detective business, but here was
something that promised "pay dirt," and I resolved to follow the lead.
I turned and regarded Seth Shott fixedly, after the captain's
whispered suspicions. Other eyes were fixed upon him, too, as he stood
there with folded arms gazing, down into the face of his murdered
Was it possible, though, that this rather handsome looking young
man would lend himself to such a crime
His countenance did not betray his evil nature, if the captain's
suspicions were true.
Dark scowls began to gather on many faces, and a murmur soon
filled the room.
"Lynch the murderer!"
A voice uttered the cry and then several hands were laid on Seth
Shott, and he was dragged from the mountain cabin into the June
"Boys, what does this mean?" Seth Shott expostulated, but all to
no purpose. He was dragged to the roots of a tree, a rope was produced,
and an effort made to place it over the young miner's head.
The scene was a shocking one to me. I turned to Captain Turner,
who looked coolly upon it all.
"Captain, in heaven's name! Why don't you stop this?" I cried in
a horrified wonder.
"It's justice. Let 'em proceed."
"I will not; this is worse murder than the other," I cried,
drawing my revolver, and pushing my way to the side of Seth Shott.
"Back, men, every one of you! Seth Shott is innocent! You shall
not murder an innocent man?"
The muzzle of my cocked weapon had its effect, and the brawny
miners shrank back, while Shott straigihtened to his full height and
"The gentleman from 'Frisco tells you the truth, pards. I would
sooner have cut out my own heart than harmed a hair on the head of Paul
Landon. Heavens! how could I hurt Paul. He and I have been chums since
we left New York three years ago. We were schoolboys together, and loved
one another like brothers. Would I harm him now? Impossible. We had some
nuggets laid by. It was for these the murder was committed I expect, but
the assassins failed to get them.
"I was not in the cabin last night. I did not come in from
'Frisco until this morning. I can easily prove an alibi if you give me a
I again addressed the crowd, and soon the miners began to act
like reasonable beings once more. At this point Captain Turner stepped
in and urged the necessity of punishing the vile assassin at once. I
could see that the captain was anxious to see Seth Shott hang.
Why this enmity?
I managed to get Shott aside. I was not sure of his innocence,
but deemed it but fair to give the man a show for his life. After
escaping from the crowd, Seth Shott grasped my band and blessed me for
the interference that had saved his life.
"Before heaven, I am innocent!" he said, solemnly. "I cannot
remain here, however, for Captain Turner would set his hounds upon me.
If you do not object; I will leave the mountains and seek a place of
safety for the present. In the end I mean to see poor Paul's murderer'
I believed the young fellow uttered the truth, and made no
attempt to detain him. In fact, I knew that, whether innocent or guilty,
he would surely hang if he remained in the mines, and so believed it
best for him to go.
"I can procure a good horse not far away. Tell the boy's I will
see them again some time."
Seth Shott pressed my hand and was gone. I was glad to see him
go, for I believed he was an innocent man. The murder mystery must be
solved, and the task of solving it was mine.
Captain Turner was very angry when I saw him again, and be
threatened reporting me to the company.
"You can do as you like, Captain Turner," I said shortly. "I have
only done my duty, while you have attempted murder."
"I'll get even with you for this," he grated, turning away white
I paid no heed to the threat, but went back to the tragic cabin,
arid once more bent beside the corpse of Paul Landon. I was anxious now
to find a clew that would lead me to the trail of the real assassin.
Something about the bearded lips of the dead attracted
my notice. The mouth had fallen open and clinging to the lower
teeth was a bit of human flesh. I thrust in my finger and drew it forth.
The flesh had been bitten clean, and was nearly the whole upper part of
a human ear.
I started to my feet with a low, amazed cry. Here was a clew
indeed. to find the man with the mangled ear would be to find the
assassin of Paul Landon. I secured the bit of gristle, and at once
rushed from the cabin. From one of the miners I procured a small bottle
of whisky, and into this dropped my trophy.
On the following day, when I went to visit Captain Turner, he was
not in the mines.
"Gone to 'Frisco," was the answer to my inquiry.
I did not follow immediately, however. I was first anxious to
examine all the ears among the miners in the vicinity. Most of them were
long-haired customers, and it required close investivation to discover
the condition of their auricles. It was accomplished at last, however,
and no man with a missing ear discovered.
The case was more important than the minor one that had brought
me to the gold range, and I would not now give it up, so one morning
about three weeks after setting foot in the mountain mining camp, I
turned my face once more toward the coast.
I reached San Francisco in good time and with no mishap, reported
to the Mountain Lode Company, and then set out on my own account to
built down the mountain assassin.
Short1y after reaching, the city I ran into Captain Turner. I was
glad to meet him. He received me with a smile and extended hand.
"It was all owing to your youth, and inexperience; I forgive you,
young man; but you might have seen the murderer of Paul Landon swing if
you had held you peace. No, I'm not going back to the mines at present.
I think I shall do a little detective work myself. The murderer is in
'Frisco, and I shall secure him."
We separated to go our respective ways. I had no confidence in
him, and did not offer to make a confidant of him. I suspected his
feelings for me were similar.
I remained in 'Frisco a fortnight before aught occurred to stir
my blood and give me an appetite for food.
A bar-room row, in which one man was slain, caused some
commotion, since the murderer successfully eluded the police and had not
been caught during the following day. It was really not a matter for me
to investigate, yet I went to the saloon, and picked up what news was
going regarding the racket.
"One-eared Jake be 'spected," said the bar-keeper. "He's keepin'
hisself pretty close, anyhow, for the cops hain't run 'im in yet."
I started instantly at the name.
"A most singular handle for a man," I remarked. "Do you know why
he is so called?"
"Coz he got his ear chawed off in er row once afore."
Here was subject for reflection surely.
This was my man, and if the police did not make this murder
stick, I at least had one against him that would.
I went from the saloon with a full description of the man called
One-eared Jake on my brain.
That evening I sauntered into a cafe on --- street, and met face to
face Seth Shott. He knew me at once, and we shook cordially. He was well
dressed and seemed considerably changed.
I invited him in to a glass of wine and social chat. I had many
questions to ask, as he might know some of the enemies of Paul Landon if
he had any. I meant to make a confidant of Seth, for I liked him
exceedingly on short acquaintance.
He accepted my offer, and we were soon comfortably seated at a
table with a bottle of wine between us.
"Paul hadn't an enemy, unless 'twas Captain Turner, who was the
meanest coyote in the mines," asserted Seth, as he became warm with the
At length our conversation turned upon the late saloon row, or at
any rate I led the conversation in that direction, and was astonished to
see that Seth Shott became suddenly excited and nervous as well.
"They say that One-eared Jake killed the man--"
"Who says so?" cried Seib Shott, hoarsely.
"Do you say so?"
I paid no bhed to the inebriate's volley of angry words, but only
glared sharply through my glasses at the right side of his head.
What was it I saw?
That which thrilled me as never before. For the first time the
hair had become disarranged, and I made the discovery that the upper
part of Seth Shott's ear was gone.
On the instant of my making this astounding discovery a new-comer
appeared upon the scene in the person of Captain Turner. He stood
directly behind Seth Shott while he was pulling off his coat.
Of a sudden he laid his arm on his shoulder.
"Seth Shott, you are wanted!"
The miner turned, glared into Captain Turner's face with a scowl
"You are my prisoner, sir!"
"For the murder of Luke Jones, in Snyder's place last night."
"It's a lie."
The miner attempted to draw a weapon, and a desperate struggle
ensued. I was on my feet in a moment and went to the assistance of the
"You helpin' this villain! I thought you was my friend," cried
Seth Shott, glaring rebukingly at me.
The man had the bracelets on now, and was harmless. The captain
turned to me with a word of thanks.
"Never mind, captain," I said. "I should have arrested him if you
"I thought you were willing to swear to the man's innocence a few
months ago. What evidence have you now? I knew then he was guilty."
"This is my evidence."
I produced the bottle containing the bit of gristlepart of a
human ear- that was soon shown to fit exactly the mutilated right
auricle of Seth Shott.
In the trial that followed, Shott was not convicted, but he was
at once rearrested for the murder of his late partner, Paul Landon. On
the day of trial, he made a full confession of the crime. He had killed
his friend for his share of the gold. Knowing that bit of ear would
convict him, he "caved." Afterward he paid the penalty on the scaffold. | <urn:uuid:9d559dae-82e2-4499-b1f9-6c8218428106> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/dp/pennies/texts/147.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98346 | 2,938 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Policy & Politics
- Agricultural Labor Reform to be Considered by Senate
- Prepare for pipeline development increases across Ohio
- Ohio Livestock Coalition accepting nominations for 'Neighbor of the Year' awards
- Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame Inductees announced
- Ohio Congressional delegation involved in Farm Bill progress
Mother Nature Wreaks Havoc on Ag in 2009, Giving Food Market a Jolt
Mother Nature wreaked havoc on producers of agricultural commodities in 2009 and gave the food market a jolt, sending prices for staples like corn and soybeans on a wild ride only to end the year close to where they started, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Last year was characterized by extremes and overall greater attention to weather, reported the WSJ.
“There is much more sensitivity to weather extremes or abnormalities than I have seen in past years,” said Richard Feltes, head of commodities research at MF Global, a Chicago-based brokerage company.
At the end of the year, corn prices were up 2 percent to $4.145 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade, wheat was down 11 percent to $5.415 a bushel, and soybeans gained 7 percent to $10.3975 a bushel. Rough rice lost 5 percent.
For 2010, corn is likely to be the price leader due mainly to higher ethanol mandates in the U.S. that could use up to one-third of the total U.S. corn supply.
The outlook for soybeans hinges on the production outlook in the U.S., said Anne Frick, a soybeans analyst at Prudential Bache Commodities. Currently, South America looks to have a record-high crop year in 2010. Absent an unexpected bout of poor weather in the U.S., the increase in world supply will exceed demand. | <urn:uuid:624bfd21-08f1-4648-8a82-6a0c79647e8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ofbf.org/policy-and-politics/article/353/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935346 | 378 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Mexico; Texas; Spanish America; Indians of North America; Native peoples of North America; Native peoples of the Americas;
Britton Hispanic Texana Collection, 1546-1877
ARRILLAGA, FRANCISCO DE. Broadside, Mexico, October 7, 1823. The Decreto recites the deplorable condition to which the Province of Texas had been reduced by Indian... | <urn:uuid:cd90ca81-f936-45b7-8690-355595b8d933> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digital.sfasu.edu/cdm/search/collection/Newton/searchterm/deplorable | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904406 | 83 | 2.40625 | 2 |
<<Back to 2008 News Releases
Date: May 27, 2008
Contact: Marilyn Krause (406) 533-7617
Deep Creek Pine Beetle Treatment Area Sold
The Bureau of Land Management, Butte Field Office sold about 15,000 tons of sawlogs and other biomass material in an effort to slow the spread of mountain pine beetle infestation in the Deep Creek area south of Anaconda. The treatment area is located between the old Deep Creek Ski Area and the Lower Seymour Lake Road, about 19 miles south of Anaconda and 13 miles northwest of Wise River in Deer Lodge County.
Lorengo Logging of Anaconda will pay more than $190,000 for the infested trees in the 300 acre project area. The purchaser intends to start as soon as conditions allow and complete the project in 2009. BLM will install repellant pheromones to keep healthy trees from being infested.
“Mountain pine beetles are currently at epidemic levels in the area,” stated BLM forester Mike Small. “Our intent is to remove dead and dying lodgepole pine to reduce the insect populations in these stands and the amount of hazardous trees.” | <urn:uuid:600d9ba2-3aa1-4614-b838-a11c421df995> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/info/newsroom/2008/may/deepcreeksale.print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925767 | 245 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Food hypersensitivity, Oral allergy syndrome, Allergic proctocolitis
Introduction to food allergies:
Many parents of infants and toddlers are told that food allergies don’t happen that young, or that they are very rare. We’ve learned that food allergies certainly do happen and that they are common – affecting about 1 in 18 children before the 3rd birthday.
What are food allergies?
Food allergy is the name given to a variety of situations in which specific foods provoke some type of over-zealous immune response, which produces symptoms.
Because the developing immune system is quite complex and has mechanisms to protect us from what we swallow, food allergies are also complex, and can result from a variety of different mechanisms and cause a variety of symptoms.
Celiac disease is an immune response to gluten – proteins found in wheat and other grains.
Lactose intolerance is not a food allergy. A missing enzyme makes milk difficult to digest, creating gas and loose stools. And the flushed cheeks that some children get when eating citrus or tomatoes are not usually an allergy.
Who gets food allergies?
Food allergies are common, especially in the first 3 years of life. They are more common in those with a family history of food allergies, or in those with a broader allergic family history (allergy, eczema, or asthma).
Food allergies are also more common in babies who are exposed to allergic foods at an early age. About 90 percent of food allergies in babies and children are to one of 5 foods: cow’s milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, or wheat.
Most children with food allergies have an allergy to only one food, although multiple allergies are possible. A sizeable minority of those allergic to cow’s milk are also allergic to soy.
What are the symptoms of food allergies?
Food allergy can be so severe that the most trivial contact with the food causes immediate itching, tingling, and/or swelling of the lips, tongue, and throat.
A food allergy can trigger full-blown anaphylactic shock. Most life-threatening food allergies are to peanuts, nuts, shellfish, or fish.
Usually the symptoms of food allergy are much more mild. Still, babies with food allergies may well be fussier than their peers. Colic can be caused by food allergies (either to the formula or to a food in the mother’s diet).
Gastrointestinal symptoms are often the easiest to recognize. A food allergy might cause loose stools, excess gas, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Infants will sometimes have streaks of blood or mucus in the stools, especially with allergies to cow’s milk. Sometimes the amount of blood is too small to see, but still enough to cause anemia. Sometimes food allergies cause constipation.
Symptoms elsewhere in the body are also common. These include hives, ear infections, stuffy noses, runny noses, watery or red eyes, wheezing, asthma flare-ups, and eczema. Sometimes eczema (or fussiness) is the only sign of a food allergy, and the eczema (or fussiness) will disappear if the offending food is eliminated.
Is food allergies contagious?
Food allergies are not traditionally contagious.
How long does food allergies last?
Most young children outgrow their food allergies. Outgrowing milk and soy allergies is common by the 1st birthday. The great majority have outgrown them by the time they are 3. Even those who still have food allergies at 3 will often outgrow them, especially if they are not exposed to the offending foods for a year or two.
Some food allergies, however, are lifelong. Allergies to peanuts, nuts, shellfish, and fish are classic examples.
How is food allergies diagnosed?
Food allergies might be diagnosed when eliminating a food improves symptoms and reintroducing the food causes the symptoms to recur.
Allergy testing can also be helpful. Skin testing and RAST testing can both be used to detect food allergies. In babies, a positive result is usually a sign of a real allergy, but a negative result doesn’t give much information either way.
In preschool kids, the opposite is true. A negative result is a good indication that a child is not allergic to the food. A positive result, however, may or may not represent an allergy.
Also, many people think that having been allergy tested once tells the whole story. Allergy testing is a snapshot in time. Allergies themselves are a moving picture. Repeat allergy testing is very helpful.
How is food allergies treated?
Eliminating the offending food is the core of treatment. This can be difficult because some foods occur as hidden ingredients in many other foods. Usually symptoms will improve greatly within 3 days of eliminating the food that causes them.
Breastfeeding is wonderful for babies with food allergies. Sometimes, however, offending foods are best removed from the mother’s diet. When a baby with a cow’s milk protein allergy is fed formula, it often needs to be a protein hydrolysate formula. Lactose-free formulas and partial hydrolysate formulas do not help with real milk allergies.
If food allergies cause wheezing or other respiratory symptoms, an allergist should be involved in the care. If necessary, parents should have access to emergency medications.
How can food allergies be prevented?
Breastfeeding can prevent many food allergies. This is especially true if the mother forgoes some of the most allergic foods (especially peanuts and perhaps milk or eggs). On a positive note, mothers who eat beneficial bacteria, as in yogurt, while pregnant and nursing may help prevent food allergies.
Delaying the introduction of solid foods until the latter part of the acceptable window may prevent some allergies. Delaying particularly allergic foods even longer can further reduce the risk of allergies.
Related A-to-Z Information:
Allergies (Allergic Rhinitis), Anemia (Low hemoglobin), Asthma, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Blocked Tear Duct, Celiac Disease, Colic, Common Cold, Conjunctivitis (Pink eye), Constipation, Cough, Croup, Diaper Rash, Diarrhea, Ear Infection, Enuresis, Food Poisoning, Galactosemia, Gastroenteritis, Gastroesophageal Reflux, Giardia Lamblia, Head Banging, Headache, Hives, Otitis Media with Effusion (OME), Peanut Allergy, Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac, Pyloric Stenosis, Reye Syndrome, Rotavirus, Sinusitis, Vomiting, Wheezing
Last reviewed: January 12, 2009 | <urn:uuid:caeda051-91ab-496a-bd38-b551b3032561> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drgreene.com/articles/food-allergies/?pagination=show | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936485 | 1,403 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Recent studies have added to the body of research detailing the unhealthy properties and unwanted effects of diet sodas.
New studies have added more evidence to the previously stated fact that diet sodas are not only unhealthy, but do the exact opposite of what they logically would do and lead to weight gain. Various sources, such as the popular diet book Skinny Bitch, have previously published about the uglier side of diet sodas. One study that followed nearly 500 subjects over the period of about two decades found that subjects that consumed diet sodas had waist increases 70 percent greater than that of non-users. Additionally, another study that followed over 2,500 New Yorkers over a similar period of time discovered that people drinking diet soda everyday were 61 percent more at risk for vascular events. The researchers of this study are not yet prepared to tell consumers to cut diet soda out of their diets completely, but ask that they watch out as more research is conducted on the subject.
The Daily Byte is a regular column dedicated to covering interesting food news and trends across the country. Click here for previous columns. | <urn:uuid:ee8a3a0d-27e5-4cfa-8ef0-af707facf933> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thedailymeal.com/not-so-diet-sodas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961465 | 220 | 2.15625 | 2 |
November 22, 2012
FROM THE ARCHIVES: PURITAN NATION:
Thanksgiving and American Exceptionalism (Mark Tooley, 11.24.10, American Spectator)
The left-of-center Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Brookings Institution have released a post-election survey showing nearly 60 percent of Americans believe God has assigned America a "special role" in human history. Over 80 percent of white evangelicals believe in this special role for America, as do two thirds of minority Christians. Majorities of white Mainline Protestants and Catholics also agree. Two thirds of the religiously unaffiliated disbelieve in any special role for America.
Probably the surveyors were discomfited by the results, especially that the devotees of American exceptionalism were not confined to white evangelicals but were nearly as numerous among minority Christians, which presumably mostly means blacks and Hispanics. American exceptionalism essentially originated with the ancestors of Mainline Protestantism, who were America's earliest European settlers and America's primary religious pillars for most of our history. A half century of leftward drift by Mainline church elites unsurprisingly has dampened their confidence in exceptionalism, but most still adhere. Likewise for most Catholics. The survey frustratingly does not provide a detailed break-down, but almost certainly most religiously active Mainline Protestants and Catholics are more prone to American exceptionalism than the nominally affiliated.
Much and perhaps most of American exceptionalism originated with the Calvinist English religious dissenters who settled New England, the first wave of whom landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. With Thanksgiving, America celebrates those dissenters' founding holiday. Later waves of Puritan immigrants conceived of their American adventure as an "errand in the wilderness." And some metaphorically likened their new civilization to the Chosen People of the Old Testament, with special blessings but also special obligations, always under both God's gracious care and sometimes severe judgment. Subsequent immigrants were not always as religiously devout. But the Puritan conception of America on a special mission from God that would benefit not just Americans but all peoples was reinforced by the heroic and spiritually animated struggle for American independence. Later immigrants, though far removed from the British Protestant tradition, still often comfortably embraced the notion of America as a sort of Promised Land, especially when compared to the travails of the old country. The Calvinist conception of American exceptionalism expanded to include other Protestants, Catholics and Jews.
[originally posted: 11/24/10]Posted by oj at November 22, 2012 12:38 AM | <urn:uuid:5a6c37a7-13dd-4488-8a6b-9d09cc0b0c3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brothersjuddblog.com/archives/2012/11/puritan_nation_8.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960174 | 518 | 2.875 | 3 |
Wormholes, Warp Speed and other Weird Things
The appearance of black holes in all forms of science fiction has been frequent, especially since the possibility of wormholes was suggested. In 1978, Disney released a film entitled The Black Hole about a ship of assorted human beings and robots threatened by a nearby black hole. Supposedly, the ship is in orbit around the black hole, but the audience is never told exactly how close. In the film, the black hole appears as it does in many illustrations, a great blue swirling whirlpool of matter. It is quite possible that a black hole actually looks like this. However, the system in which the black hole is located does not appear to be binary, which leads one to question where all of this blue matter is coming from. This problem is only the tip of the iceberg of scientific inaccuracies in The Black Hole, however. At no time during the film do the bodies of the characters stretch, break apart, or otherwise behave in the way scientists believe matter does near a black hole. At one point during the film, one of the characters (who are inexplicably clinging to the outside of the ship with no space suits or helmets of any kind, completely exposed to the vacuum of space) is almost sucked into the black hole but is miraculously saved by the crew's loyal robot. How, one might ask, is this robot's propulsion system stronger than the gravitational pull of the black hole? But by far the most horrendous aspect of the film is the climatic end sequence, in which the main characters, safe within the cockpit of their ship, are sucked into the black hole, where they spin around and around as if in a toilet bowl and then emerge in a tranquil region of the universe near a beautiful moon. Presumably, the crew enters a wormhole; however, wormholes are merely theoretical, there being no concrete evidence that such objects exist. Even if wormholes did exist, only very tiny particles would be transported, for larger collections of matter would be torn apart before being able to enter the wormhole. The creators of this film, however, ignored this aspect of black holes. For their part, the film's eccentric-but-lovable scientist and his villainous robot fall into the black hole independently of the ship, again ignoring the fact that space is a vacuum, and go their separate ways: the robot emerges in the fiery pit of hell and the scientist floats up to heaven. No joke. It is the opinion of the authors that The Black Hole is not only a poor excuse for science fiction, but also contains almost no scientific plausibility whatsoever. It is obvious that Disney's scientific consultants were on vacation during the making of this film.
|The famous Star Trek franchise includes numerous references to time travel, warp speed, and wormholes. Ships frequently travel to other parts of the universe or even back in time via wormholes. In one episode of the television series Star Trek: Voyager, the Voyager crew crosses the event horizon of a black hole and becomes trapped inside. Supposedly, the ship was initially attracted to the singularity because of a signal from a Voyager from another time, although how this actually occurs is unclear. The ship makes several attempts to jump to warp speed (i.e. at a speed greater than that of light, which, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, is impossible) and appears to exit the black hole, but in reality fails to. The ship and its crew somehow manage to remain whole while within the event horizon with some sort of futuristic technology, without which they would be torn to bits. Eventually, the ship manages to escape, again with a form of so-called "Treknology," which would be impossible otherwise. As Stephen Hawking has theorized, light rays are sometimes able to escape a black hole, but the vast majority of matter cannot resist its gravitational pull.|
In the film Contact, the protagonist, played by Jodie Foster, is ricocheted into space by a machine designed by extraterrestrials and transported to a distant star called Vega. The pod in which she is seated approaches a swirling blue whirlpool that looks very much like the contemporary conception of a black hole. She is whisked through the center of the whirlpool into a series of colorful tunnels, which she later identifies as a wormhole. From this information, the audience is led to believe that Foster has entered a black hole or something similar and has been transported to another part of the universe by one of Hawking's wormholes. Theoretically, a wormhole, if there is indeed such a thing, could transport matter to another part of the universe in a very short period of time. However, it is doubtful that a human would be able to survive the singularity's gravitational forces. Even if a person managed to get close enough to a singularity without being completely destroyed, the tunnels that some scientists believe are inside a black hole would crush a human body. Without some sort of advanced technology to balance this effect, it is impossible for one to travel through a black hole.
The opening of Kevin J. Anderson's Star Wars novel Jedi Search features a cluster of black holes called the Maw. As he and Chewie whiz by these phenomena in the Millenium Falcon, Han Solo reminisces about a run-in with the black holes that he had on his famed Kessel Run. The shortest distance to Kessel is past the Maw, sometimes dangerously close to it. Apparently some hull plating was almost ripped off the Falcon as they hurtled past it on that record-breaking flight, and they only managed to escape because of their speed. This feat is only believeable in the context of faster than light speed, which, while present in the Star Wars universe in the form of the hyperdrive, is quite unbelieveable on its own. | <urn:uuid:f2d3dae6-85cd-4917-b5d7-02449b9c32ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110369/Scifi.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971322 | 1,186 | 3.296875 | 3 |
2 Long 6 Short
Apr 05, 2011
Can you guess what I'm talking about? If you are familiar with morse code, then you will be able to figure it out.
Working by myself on the ranch leads to a lot of random thinking time, hence the title "Ranch Ruminations". Last week while I was feeding cows I got to wondering how to call the cows in morse code with the horn...
Before you think I'm really, really crazy... Everyone has their own way of calling the cows.
- My dad has always been a fan of calling 'em with "Jingle Bells" on the horn. Especially in the middle of the July heat.
- We hollar at our cows with a "Woooo (similar to a Razorback Hog Call), Come on Girls" (or "Come on Boys" respective for the bulls)
- Amy Kirk (Twitter) says "We use a long and two short honks; my husband's family's old partyline!"
- Jillian (Twitter) calls her cows with a "honk randomly & holler "Coy!" Why coy? No clue..."
- Jeff Fowle (Twitter) just uses the "canine interpreter" when the horn doesn't work.
How do you call the cows? or pigs? or chickens? or maybe just the kids around the house...
By the way, I was trying to figure out how to say "moo" in morse code. 2 Long and 6 short dashes. The cows come to the call, but of course, they come runnin at the sight of a feed wagon any time of day. | <urn:uuid:a28fbffd-a74d-4939-9e4d-dacbbf090151> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agweb.com/blog/ranch_ruminations/2_long_6_short/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959377 | 342 | 2.0625 | 2 |
For centuries, Spinels have been used to replace high quality gemstones; in particular, spinels were substituted for rubies and sapphires that were seen as too valuable to put at risk. And even now, Ruby Red and Deep Blue Spinels tend to hold the highest value.
Zircons have suffered much the same fate, but not for the same reason! The similarity in the name "Zircon" and that of the man-made diamond substitute, Zirconia (actually Cubic Zirconia, or CZ), made Zircons undesirable. And that was a very sad waste!
Both Spinels and Zircons are finally being recognized for the gorgeous, unique gemstones that they are!
Spinels can range in color from the softest pink to blood red, from pale blues and purples to midnight shades and black, and even golden tones can be found! They are a SINGLE refractive gemstone - a minority in the gemstone world - and have an RI range (single number), 1.71 - 1.80, with very specific stops along the way. These would be the identifying RI of the exact variety of Spinel; 1.80 - is the Gahnite, a blue-blue/green color; 1.76 would be a blue spinel (no green tone) known as Gahnospinel; and 1.718 should be the reading for all other spinels; a synthetic spinel will register as 1.73. Interestingly, the two gemstones that Spinels have stood in for over the years - Rubies and Sapphires - are Corundums, and their refractive index, although a double, is very similar - 1.76-1.77. And, while Corundums rank a 9 on the Moh's scale, Spinels are relatively sturdy gems, as well, ranking an 8, the same as Topaz!
Zircons have been treated in a similar manner, and have often been confused with the diamond simulants. In reality, Zircons are a species in and of themselves, and actually have varying groups within. Unlike natural diamonds, Zircons are DOUBLE refractive, and can be broken into 3 groups using their RI - low (1.810-1.815), medium (1.875-1.905) and high (1.925-1.984). Unlike the record-setting 10 on the Moh's scale that a Diamond possesses, Zircons rank only about 7.5 in hardness.
But Zircons, like Spinels, are found in a wide range of colors, naturally - from red to yellow to brown, and blue to clear or white! Like many gemstones, the color of the Zircon is often enhanced by heat-treating the stone. Heating a stone provides permanent, consistent color change throughout the stone (as opposed to topical treatments - aka - vapor deposition; see additional guide related to gemstone treatments.)
While the world has been busy using Spinels and Zircons as substitutes for other gemstones, they have missed out on the beauty these stones have to offer! They are both finally being appreciated for their own strengths and attributes, and the prices of these stones reflect that new appreciation! | <urn:uuid:57aeb22c-c867-485c-9eb1-7236c29873f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebay.com/gds/spinels-and-zircons-not-just-quot-look-alike-quot-substitutes/10000000008379367/g.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95369 | 675 | 2.53125 | 3 |
SPARKS, Nev. -- It's hard to fit in when you feel like you are different from everyone else. The Nevada Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities (NGCDD) is teaming up with Sparks Middle School to host a Disability and Resource Fair. Their goal is to help people with disabilities break those barriers.
Most of the time, it's the lack of resources that limit people with disabilities not their handicap.
"With the shrinking resources in the state of Nevada, it's important that everyone pull their resources, bring everyone together as much as possible and collaborate on many, many partnerships that are going on right now," Billie Kale, NGCDD project manager said.
The fair will bring different agencies, workshops and new tools to help educate and bring awareness to the community. This is an opportunity for them to connect with local organizations committed to helping and supporting disabled people.
Guest speakers from Silver State Housing Council, Family Ties of Nevada, and the University of Nevada, Reno will be sharing information on a variety of topics.
With everyone in one place, it's easier to navigate any questions or concerns.
"One of our young ladies is a nonverbal student and she was able to get her hands on at the last resource fair a touch device that could speak for her, so she could touch the picture of what it is she'd like and it will speak for her," said Vicki Hardy, Sparks Middle School Special Education teacher.
Hardy believes bringing awareness to the community will lead to acceptance.
"I wanted to make Sparks Middle School a place where students felt accepted and where they could be a part of any group they wanted to be a part of," Hardy said. "Even if they couldn't participate because of physical limitations, I wanted them to feel like they can participate in other ways."
Things like sliding down a slide, or swinging for the first time. The Inspiration Station is the area's first universally accessible playground.
It sits on the west side of Dick Taylor Memorial Park, near the Evelyn Mount Northeast Community Center on Valley Road.
"We are trying to let them know that there are resources out there and just to bring awareness out to them," Kale said.
The Disability and Resource fair will be held tonight from 5 to 7:30 p.m. inside Sparks Middle School. The event is free and open to the public. | <urn:uuid:b0d3fb64-479d-4634-8ea8-9526aceff641> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/Resources-Available-for-People-with-Disabilites-184121401.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969607 | 491 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Winning the, "How are we going to pay it back?" argument
If you're an adherent of MMT like me, then you've probably gotten into arguments about debt and deficits with members of your family or maybe your friends or colleagues from work and I'm sure at some point in those discussions you've been asked the question, "How are we going to pay it back?" when it comes to government debt.
I have come up with a way to answer this question, which will at the very least, make the person you are arguing with sit up and think.
Here's a hypothetical conversation that you are having with a typical debt monger:
Debt monger: How are we going to pay it back?
You: The government exchanges dollars for those Treasuries. Holders of the debt give back their Treasuries to the gov't in exchange for dollars and Voila! no more debt.
Debt monger: You mean "print money" to pay off the debt?
You: That's precisely what I mean!
Debt monger: Are you serious?? That will create hyperinflation!
You: No it won't.
Debt monger: What?? Are you crazy??
You: Not at all. You are taking away one form of money--the Treasury--and simply replacing it with another form--US dollars.
Debt monger: But Treasuries are not money!
You: Oh really? If I had $10 million in cash and you had $10 million in Treasuries, would you consider yourself poorer than me?
Debt monger: (Confused look, but you can tell he's thinking.)
You: I rest my case.
Try it next time you're at a party. | <urn:uuid:14327eb4-d3d1-491e-8b30-0e8c34de16d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.com/2011/03/winning-how-are-we-going-to-pay-it-back.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966943 | 385 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Tension in an elevator cable
An elevator has a mass of 1400kg. What is the tension in the supporting cable when the elevator traveling down at 10 m/s is brought to rest in a distance of 40 m. Assume a constant acceleration.
m =1400 kg mass of elevator,
v = 10m/s initial speed of the elevator,
D = 40 m distance required to stop the elevator.
g = 9.81 m/s2 gravitational acceleration, as usual is assumed to be known.
T = ? magnitude of tension in the cable while bringing the elevator to rest.
To find T we must calculate:
a = ? acceleration while stopping the elevator,
t = ? time required to stop elevator.
It is convenient to draw a free-body diagram, as in Figure below.
is the tension in the cable of the elevator, is the gravity force. The resultant force is the force producing acceleration (deceleration in this case) of our elevator.
This can be written in the form of the equation
if we chose the upward direction as positive. Solving for tension gives
For further calculations we can drop the vector notation as all the forces are acting along one line. To calculate the magnitude of the tension T, we must find the magnitude a of the acceleration. It can be found from kinematics equations
a = v/t (2)
D = vt (1/2)a t2 (3)
Equation (2) is based on the fact that elevator final speed is zero. Equation (3) is a standard formula for distance traveled in motion with constant acceleration (negative in this case as directed opposite to the initial speed).
Solving the equations (2) and (3) with respect to acceleration a, we find
Magnitude of tension T can be found from formula (1) taken without the vector notation (magnitude only!!)
Substituting numbers given in the problem we get
T = 15484 N. | <urn:uuid:6b2889d5-84a7-43fe-b0fa-6f22440dbaa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.physics-tutorial.net/M3-P5-elevator-cable-tension.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90025 | 417 | 3.09375 | 3 |
September 6, 2012, 3:36 am by LMF_ Rokushin Gattai GodMars (1982)
A.D. 1982, the planet alignment brought the human beings ordeal we should overcome, and it caused a convulsion on the Earth. During the conflict, a light fell on to the Myojinsho reef, and five lights scattered around the Earth as if they followed it.
17 years had passed since then. A.D. 1999, human beings had developed all of the solar system, and began to embark for outer space. The Earth Defense Army organized an elite squad, Crasher, to provide for various happening in space. Myojin Takeru was the member of the team. He was found in the light fell on to the Myojinsho reef. Actually he was Mars who was born on the planet Gishin. When he grew up, he heard unearthly voice,
“Mars, stop the Earthians’ advancement to the space. Explode the Earth.”
He was a living triggering device that had been sent by Emperor Zure, who plotted to conquer the universe. However, Mars, who had been raised as an Earthian, rejected the order, and made up his mind to face the severe fate. | <urn:uuid:f162dd8b-2394-4a97-a60a-64fff68ba4d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.anime-sensei.net/anime/rokushin-gattai-godmars-1982 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982007 | 262 | 1.789063 | 2 |
As the clock ticks down to the ‘fiscal cliff,’ it’s been interesting to see the response from the banking community. For example, it was reported that at the urging of CEO James Gorman, more than 15,000 Morgan Stanley employees, nearly a third of the company’s workforce, had just sent letters to Congress asking for a “balanced” approach to the eventual deal (if there is one).
Of course, when it comes to the government, the industry has more on its mind than just a looming rise in tax rates and drop in spending. The separate-but-perhaps-related issues were on full display just a day earlier when the same CEO spoke at an industry conference—as comments will surely be of great interest to those same lawmakers currently huddled in negotiations.
“The economies of regional banks don’t add up,” Gorman noted. “There will be more consolidation.” While many bemoan the ‘too big to fail’ shape of the industry as it now exists, the U.S. banking industry actually needs larger financial services institutions with more assets and greater reach. Some recent deals prove his point. In November alone, Jeffries Group was acquired by its largest shareholder, Leucadia National Corp (LUK.N), specifically to assure investors of its staying power, and Stifel Financial acquired boutique investment bank KBW.
Despite its own impressive asset base, Morgan Stanley itself is far from immune to these pressures. The investment bank’s credit rating was downgraded earlier this year, in part because of concerns that it can’t compete with the likes of JPMorgan Chase in specific businesses. And at the same conference, Gorman acknowledged that Morgan Stanley is getting out of some markets, though he maintains that the company is not looking for a buyer.
This premise clearly runs counter to conventional wisdom, which holds that too many banks are already too big to fail. This was at the root of numerous debates during the recent election cycle, with continuing controversy over the massive bank bailouts initiated during the Bush administration. The promise, of course, was ‘never again.’ But when some institutions inevitably hit hard times and by dint of size alone threaten to jeopardize the entire financial system with an imminent collapse, what then?
It’s tempting to look overseas for pointers. Canada serves as prime example—it has a high degree of consolidation, yet was largely unaffected by the financial meltdown. By contrast, France remains a source of worry. A few banks there, also very consolidated, carry a huge amount of debt, and that may prove to be a problem both short- and long-term. The U.K. banking system has related concerns: The Bank of England just sent out a warning British banks need greater capitalization to defend against a euro zone fallout. In other words, they need to be bigger.
Of course, we’re not going to get the answers from any single source, especially one that’s overseas. The U.S. system is simply much larger than, and more competitive than, any other to make a direct comparison. It’s also subject to both regulatory compliance and free-market pressures that are essentially unique and always evolving.
The current angst over the fiscal cliff will eventually fade. Either a deal will get done with neither side being too happy about it, or a deal won’t get done and the spending cuts and automatic tax hikes will kick in, and Congress will be forced to develop new mandates. They may even find a way to kick the can down the road and put in temporary measures that don’t solve anything.
Whatever happens, there’s no question that we need a long-term outlook—the current agonizing over the Bush tax cuts and Obama stimulus packages serve to shine a spotlight on the state of the economy as a whole, and the banking industry’s role in it. Those writing in to Congress to ask for a ‘balanced’ approach are surely right. However, what that approach might mean for us—how big and how regulated we should be—remains a question in search of an answer. | <urn:uuid:75634349-3114-44f4-9df3-92766bd46e58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.banking2020.com/2012/12/05/u-s-banks-too-small-to-succeed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965242 | 865 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Calendar of Book & Literary events around town.
Last year, when Leonard Lawrence learned that the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles (JCCGLA) had to cancel its annual book fair as a result of restructuring within the organization, he vowed to not let it happen again.
"We saw it as a challenge that Mount Sinai could rise up to," said Lawrence, general manager of Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries.
This year, Lawrence's call to duty has placed the book festival back on the map with a bit of a twist. Unlike the traditional book fairs of previous years, this year's book festival, co-sponsored by Mount Sinai and JCCGLA, will cater to children.
On the first Saturday of each month, while weekly, traditional Shabbat morning services are taking place at Adat Shalom synagogue, another service transpires behind the main sanctuary that is anything but traditional.
Silversmith David Friedman has the unique ability to trace the origin of almost every antique that comes across his desk.
When Ross Neihaus exited his chemistry class three days after the start of UCLA's fall quarter, he saw the words "Anti-Zionist and Proud" scrawled in chalk on the wall of an adjacent building. Such a statement coming so early in the quarter was a surprise to the fourth-year biology major, but not a shock.
"I expect this to be my toughest year in college," said Neihaus, the president of Bruins for Israel, UCLA's pro-Israel group. "We are concerned that what will be said this year will be nastier, more radical and essentially more anti-Semitic."
Those who might have the greatest need to repent this High Holiday season may not be able to.
A severe shortage in Jewish chaplains has led to a situation where the spiritual needs of some prisoners in California's state and federal correctional institutions are not being met.
"When it comes to holidays and services, there's a very real concern that we're not doing a very effective and adequate job at serving in institutionalized settings," said Rabbi Mark Diamond, executive vice president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California (BOR). "There are many institutionalized Jews that do not have the benefits of a rabbi."
Community Brief, news from around California, los angeles,United States.
As she enters her 23rd year in prison, Doris Roldan realizes that she has two choices: she can wallow in self-pity or she can continue to have hope.
On Tuesday evening, Sept. 30, while standing in front of her fellow inmates at the California Institution for Women (CIW), Roldan made her choice: "My body is incarcerated but I will not allow my mind, heart or soul to be in prison," Roldan said.
Roldan is one of 26 members of the Shalom Sisterhood, a group of inmates that meets twice a month for Jewish study at the Chino maximum-security prison, who participated in a joint Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur service.
Laura Bush on Howard Stern; J. Lo waking up with a pimple on her nose; Homer Simpson running for governor of California. No, it's not a slow day on "Live on E!" It's a game of "Scenes from a Hat" -- one of 40 interactive games that improv comedy troupe, The Los Hombres, has in its repertoire. The game, in which audience members write down funny scenes that they would like to see acted out, is just one way the eight-member cast connects with the audience.
Today, just steps away from USC's fraternity row -- which has historically been a symbol of the university's typically all-white culture -- lies the new site of the campus Chabad House. The 6,500-square-foot Victorian home, which Chabad is in the process of renovating, will be the third site that the organization will occupy since outgrowing its first two locations in the past three years.
Located on 3,000 acres in the Santa Susana Mountains -- the largest piece of land owned by a Jewish institution outside of Israel -- BBI, the pluralistic Jewish retreat center, has established a dedicated following since it acquired its first piece of property in 1947.
From films on the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge regime of Cambodia and civil war in Sudan to mental illness and homelessness in America, the series will allow viewers to take a second look from a Jewish perspective.
The state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has instructed Boeing to determine if high levels of a contaminant used in rocket fuel and found on property owned by the Brandeis-Bardin Institute (BBI) came from the company's Rocketdyne testing site located nearly a mile away.
Lori Moss waited three hours to meet her heroine, environmental activist Erin Brockovich, at a book signing last year, even though Moss was weak from her chemotherapy treatment.
The meeting turned out to be exactly what Moss had hoped -- Brockovich was intelligent and personable.
But Moss was surprised at how much interest Brockovich took in Moss' own story.
hen the editors of Ha'Am, UCLA's Jewish student newsmagazine, scrawled the words, "Ha'Am Is Back," across the back of Kerchoff Hall, they didn't realize the staying power of the statement that they were about to make. What the editors thought was sidewalk chalk, commonly used by students at UCLA as a means of political expression, turned out to be permanent.
"We're still waiting for it to come off," said Miriam Segura, Ha'Am's editor-in-chief.
Bat Yam's efforts follow a trend of volunteer organizations trying to entice younger members to replace an aging membership. In doing so, groups like Hadassah must change their image to counter old stereotypes. Historically viewed as an organization for older, married women, Hadassah now has a wide variety of options for women who don't fit the mold.
In his new book, pop songwriter Seth Swirsky pays tribute to the sport that has played such an important part in his life.
A Palestinian boy, about 8 years old, dressed in a red T-shirt and missing his two front teeth, is yelling in Arabic: "I foresee my death and I run toward it.
Has a question or statement about Israel ever caught you so off guard and tongue-tied that you wished you could just reach into your back pocket to pull out an answer?
Renamed Big Sunday to represent the eclecticism of its volunteers, the fifth annual day of community service will take place this year on Sunday, May 4.
When 14-year-olds Kobi Mandel and Yosef Ishran were found brutally stoned to death by Palestinian terrorists on May 9, 2001, Jews around the world mourned.
When rabbi and author Jan Goldstein was suddenly faced with the news that his 12-year marriage was ending -- leaving him with primary custody of his three children -- he felt his life was ruined, until he learned to make sense of his pain.
It's 6:30 p.m. on a Thursday, and the modest storefront at 3531a N. La Brea Ave. is teeming with people. The shelves that were stocked with bottles of Rokeach grape juice, jars of Tzali's gefilte fish and cans of California chunk light tuna only a half hour ago, are now nearly empty.
While leafing through their college newspapers Monday morning, students at several major Southern California universities came across a full-page advertisement featuring Barad Zemer, a 23-year-old Israeli film student. Beneath Zemer's photograph it read:
Legend has it that when Jews first came to America, they
couldn't afford quality grapes. To make wine palatable they would add tons of
sugar. Thus came the red, syrupy wines that have long been associated with the
kosher winemaking industry.
Rhonda Van Hassalt's concerned father offered her $1,000 not to go to Israel. Although the money would have been enough to send both Van Hassalt's and her boyfriend to Europe for winter break, it wasn't Europe that was tugging at her heart -- it was Israel.
When Jonathan Schulman went on a mission to Israel 1995, he said his life was forever changed, because he started getting involved. "I got engaged because there were opportunities for me to build on that experience," said Schulman, director of the recently established Young Leadership Program of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
Schulman, who is in his mid-30s, hoped that the other 61 Los Angeles young Jewish leaders would be similarly inspired at the United Jewish Community's (UJC) Young Leadership Regional Conference, which took place March 7-9 at San Francisco's Westin St. Francis Hotel.
For much of his life, Lawrence Mudgett didn't need Judaism. He had football. But when the 6-foot-6, 250-pound sophomore was declared ineligible for the NCAA at the beginning of the school year, he began searching for another niche.
As a participant on Birthright Israel's 2002-2003 winter programs, Mudgett found what he was looking for.
"Going to Israel changed me. It's opened up so many doors," said the UCSB sophomore. "Just being part of the Jewish community and being involved in Hillel helps fill the void of not being on a team and not having that camaraderie."
When Susan Samueli met her future husband, Henry, at a dance at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles in 1979, she never could have anticipated how different her life would be today.
That was 24 years and three children ago, before Samueli became a household name in much of Southern California, as Henry co-founded Broadcom, the leading provider in broadband high-speed communications technology. It was way before Broadcom went public, and the Samuelis, with Henry serving as chief technical officer, became multimillionaires nearly overnight.
When most people think of a spiritual awakening, they don't necessarily think of such a thing taking place at the GAP. But then again, artist Orit Arfa isn't really into conventionality.
While walking down the streets of Manhattan seven years ago, dressed in her ankle-length skirt and modest Orthodox clothing, Arfa caught a reflection of herself in a revolving door.
"I felt I looked really shleppy, and it didn't really reflect who I was inside and what I was feeling," she said.
Arfa immediately marched straight to the GAP and into a new pair of jeans. "I was jumping up and down! There was this freedom. This spiritual freedom. It seemed like the whole world opened up for me."
For Arfa, the experience was not only religiously liberating, it was creatively liberating.
"I knew that part of my challenge was to break the stereotypes of the ideal Jewish woman, both for myself, and I wanted to paint the foremothers as sexual, sensual, beautiful, vibrant women," Arfa said.
It's not unusual to see 60 students cramming into an nonairconditioned duplex on fraternity row on a Saturday night at UCLA -- unless
those students happen to be surrounding a havdalah candle singing Hebrew songs.
When Justin Levy returned to UCLA for his senior year in September 2002, he was expecting a continuation of the previous school year's belligerent anti-Zionist rallies and aggressive anti-Israel fervor.
What he found was exactly the opposite. The divestment campaigns and public demonstrations that made last year's headlines were nowhere to be found.
While the calm should have put Levy at ease, the drastic atmosphere change instead made him apprehensive.
But ask San Franciscan Elliot Brandt about Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Jewish community, and you won't be able to put a stop to his praise.
Since the 34-year-old moved here in April to become the Western States director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel lobby, Brandt expressed nothing but admiration. "To see the potential that is represented by the size of this Jewish community, the dynamism and the passion of this community ... it's amazing," Brandt said.
Maybe you've noticed that many of the bagel chains today are named after some of the most influential Jewish figures in history -- Einstein, Noah. But have you ever stopped to think that maybe it's the bagels that spurred all of this insight?
Well, the creators of TheBagel.org, a new Web site connecting and inspiring college students in Southern California, seem to think so.
The event, which was staged by Cafe Europa, a Jewish Family Service program that serves as a social outlet and offers financial assistance and emotional support to Holocaust survivors, allowed those who shared a common experience to also share the joy of Chanukah with one another.
Second Generation Los Angeles is one of hundreds of organizations that supports children of survivors, but the only one of its kind in Los Angeles.
When the Jewish actor-comedian wanted to do something to help brighten the lives of Israeli children wounded in suicide bombings, he contacted his friend Stephen Berman, president and COO of JAKKS Pacific toy company.
The collaborative effort resulted in a donation and shipment of more than 500 toys to hospitals in Tel Aviv, each with a personal note from Sandler included. However, while the celebrity's name was probably the most recognizable to the children, it was the lesser-acclaimed Berman whose massive donation made the whole thing possible.
If your kids are out of the house and you're experiencing empty-nest syndrome, how about considering adoption?
When Sarah Tolkoff returned to UC Irvine to begin a new school year, she found that the Muslim student newspaper Al Kalima's cover featured a picture of Sharon and Hitler's faces digitally merged together. The headline read: "History repeats."
History was also repeating itself for Tolkoff, who had hoped that by this semester the anti-Israel propaganda would have been toned down.
Ever since she was a young girl, Rebecca Solo looked forward to when she would be old enough to visit Israel through a program, following the path that many teenagers at her synagogue take during high school.
A bombed-out building transformed into a discothèque; the central section of an apartment building that is bizarrely absent -- these are just some of the visual images that preserve the memory of Berlin's complex and turbulent past.
When Adam Bergman researched colleges toward the end of his senior year at Milken High School, he looked very closely at the quality of their soccer teams and not so closely at the size of their Jewish populations.
Petroleum jelly-covered watermelon relays, gunk-filled balloon popping and prom dress-clad swimming pool races -- not your typical day at Camp Hess Kramer in Malibu.
Pro-Israel faculty at UCLA have launched a petition drive opposing a campaign to get the University of California system to divest itself of investments in corporations doing business in the Jewish state.
On the wall of philanthropist and humanitarian Richard Gunther's office hangs a photo of a man triumphantly standing atop a Western Nepal mountain peak.
World leaders can't seem to arrive at a solution to violence in the Middle East, but just maybe because they didn't use a larger-than-life-sized corn on the cob. Kernel Corn, mascot for the vegetarian organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), has set off on his Middle East tour, marking the launch of PETA's campaign, "Give Peas a Chance."
"Free Zaidi," read signs held by pro-Palestinian students at UC Riverside during an on-campus rally May 22 organized in support of fellow student, Nauman Zaidi, who was imprisoned by Israeli authorities May 10 for entering the Church of the Nativity during the recent standoff in Bethlehem.
Zaidi, who entered the church in an effort to bring food and water to Palestinian militants, was accompanied by UC Berkeley student Robert O'Neil. Both students were freed and returned to the United States May 26.
Shopinisrael.com is one of several sites -- including shop4israel.com and israelshop1.com, among others -- that allows people to purchase Israeli products with the click of a button.
Ever since she received her acceptance from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's (HUC-JIR) rabbinical seminary, Stanton's life has become a whirlwind of television appearances and telephone interviews -- everything from the CBS "Early Show" to Black Entertainment Television have taken an interest in her story.
"Israel Independence Day, 2002 and Counting..." read the sea of royal blue T-shirts adorning members of the UCLA Jewish Student Union (JSU) -- a positive statement at a time when Jewish students are receiving a great deal of negative publicity on college campuses across the country.
More than 120 Jewish students, including JSU members, gathered at UCLA's Meyerhoff Park on April 11 to oppose an anti-Zionist rally organized by the Peace and Justice Coalition. The coalition, a new group on the UCLA campus, is an alliance of student organizations, including the Muslim Student Association, the African Student Union, Samahang Filipino, the Asian Pacific Coalition, the Vietnamese Student Union, Concerned Asian Pacific-Islander Students for Action, the United Arab Society, the Iranian Student Group and the Pakistani Student Association.
Cars slow and heads turn as curious UCLA students drive past 574 Hilgard Ave. The construction site will be the new home of the UCLA Hillel building, scheduled to open this fall.
Action Israel offered intensive strategy and communications training in order to equip students with the tools necessary to counteract anti-Israeli sentiment.
Although Salt Lake City hosted several Jewish Olympians this year, including figure skater Sasha Cohen, the Olympic games haven't always been so welcoming to Jewish athletes.
Birthright is an umbrella organization which is the result of a partnership between the Israeli people and government, local Jewish communities, and leading Jewish philanthropists. It provides funding for the trip and sets up the basic guidelines, such as standards and security policies. | <urn:uuid:2cda0602-bd3e-42d4-936e-e6b8531714df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/about/author/650 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971435 | 3,795 | 1.507813 | 2 |
[author: Melissa A. Silver, XpertHR Legal Editor]
On September 28, 2012, President Obama signed into law S. 3245, which extends the authorization of the E-Verify program, along with three other immigration programs, to September 30, 2015. The E-Verify program was due to expire at the end of September 2012.
E-Verify allows employers to electronically verify the information provided by new employees on the Form I-9. It is a voluntary program except where required by state law or by the federal contractor rule. It is a fast and effective method for employers to determine whether a new hire is authorized to work in the US. By signing S. 3245 into law, participating employers can continue to use E-Verify to ensure that they have a legal workforce.
Recruiting and Hiring > New Hire Paperwork > Compliance Programs
Recruiting and Hiring > Preemployment Screening and Testing > Using E-Verify to Check Immigration Status | <urn:uuid:5a68febc-10ad-41f7-bb2c-81c46a61b55a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/e-verify-extended-to-september-30-2015-82896/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931439 | 205 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Male Body Language
What Is Body Language?
everybody's talking about it!
Elena Solomon, a keen student of human nature and the way people interact, is the author of popular relationship book 12 Simple Rules. Here she gives us a fresh new perspective on the four most important things you need to know about body language.
These days everybody talks about body language – performance experts, life coaches, gossip columnists and dating gurus. But do you know what body language is? The dictionary gives this definition to 'body language':
"The gestures, postures, and facial expressions by which a person manifests various physical, mental, or emotional states and communicates nonverbally with others."
I have been interested in body language for years, and after reading a few dozens of books, I've found that all you need to know can be summarized in 4 simple points:
1. Body Language Is A Form Of Communication
Whether you realize it or not, your body sends unmistakable signals to people around you. You DO communicate VOLUMES of information about yourself with your posture, face expression and position of your arms and legs. You do it ALL THE TIME.
In other words, before you even open your mouth, the people around you have already made a certain opinion about you – and as you know, first impressions last.
Body language accounts for 55% of your communication with the people you actually talk to (and nearly 100% of your communication with the people you don't know yet). The other 45% of your interactive communication is the VOICE TONE and ACTUAL WORDS. The words themselves account for only 7% of your communication.
All in all, your body language and the tone of your voice make up a whopping 93% of your communication with other people! This means that HOW you say it is 13 times MORE important than WHAT you say.
Most people are spending all their time thinking of WHAT to say. While they could have learned only once HOW to say it – and say nearly anything with amazing success.
Want to know how? Read on.
2. There is OPEN Body Language and CLOSED Body Language
The definitions are transparent:
- 'open' body language makes you look like an open, accepting and friendly person,
- and 'closed' body language makes you look reserved, distant and unwelcoming.
When you want people to be attracted to you, use open body language. When you want people to go away, use closed body language.
It's THAT simple.
Female Body Language
3. OPEN Body Language Means NO Crossing, Covering or Hiding
Open body language is easy to master:
- look them in the eyes
- don't cross your arms or legs
- don't cover your body
- and don't hide your palms and eyes.
That's it! This is not too complicated, is it? Let me break it down into pieces for you:
LOOK THEM IN THE EYES: maintain eye contact at all times during your conversation.
Looking people in the eyes is the most important part of the open body language. It has been scientifically proven that long gazes evoke the release of the same hormones that
are produced when we are in love - they will feel attracted to you and won't even know why.
KEEP YOUR PALMS OPEN: Keep your hands on the sides of your body; don't hide your hands in your pockets and don't sit on them.
Don't fold your arms or clench your fists. Don't cover your body with your arms. Don't grab a drink or handbag with both hands. Don't
touch your face, ears or neck – this shows insecurity and anxiety.
If you need to hold something in your hands, hold it with ONE hand only and keep it to the side, so your arm doesn't cover your body. If the conversation is going to be longer than a couple of replicas, put down anything you hold. Get a shoulder bag to keep your hands free at
KEEP YOUR LEGS UNCROSSED: Don't cross your legs on any level. Keep them apart.
TURN YOUR BODY TOWARDS THEM: Turn your whole body to face them. Point your feet towards them; turn your torso face-to-face, so the angle between you and them is minimal.
STAND TALL: You appear more confident and assured when you do.
REMOVE BARRIERS BETWEEN YOU AND THEM: Don't put chairs, or glasses, or anything else between you and the person you are talking to. Keep it open.
SMILE EASILY: There is a world of difference between smiling easily and smiling all the time.
Smiling all the time means you are feeling tense and trying to cover it up. Smiling easily means you feel comfortable and can open up into smile any time you want.
If you tend to smile all the time when meeting strangers, try to deliberately DON'T smile. Look them in the eyes, and keep a friendly, tall, and open posture – but DON'T SMILE. When you master that, start smiling after a minute or two in your conversation.
Start practising open body language with shop assistants and bank tellers: they are PAID to be nice to you. Notice what a difference it has on your communication.
4. CLOSED Body Language Means Crossing, Covering or Hiding
Sometimes you don't want to attract certain people; this is what you need to do in such cases:
- Don't look them in the eyes;
- Fold your arms or hide your hands in the pockets;
- Turn your body away from them;
- Cross your legs and point your feet away from them;
- Put barriers between you and them;
- Frown, or smile all the time a strained smile.
This will make them feel uncomfortable and they will try to avoid you.
You see, body language is not complicated at all.
In any social situation, you can see how the people around you feel. Most of them will display 'closed' body language – and you know what does it mean, they feel uncomfortable and apprehensive.
Which means that if you display the 'open' body language, you will be irresistibly attractive. They won't know why, but feel drawn to you. People usually describe it as: "You have something special about you", or "a presence".
If you start to consciously 'open' yourself to other people, you will notice the change in your communication almost immediately. Open body language makes you appear more approachable and trustworthy. It will also make you feel more comfortable and relaxed in any situation.
Remember, your body language tells MORE about you than your words.
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Whatever critics and bloggers might say, judging by Marlborough High Street this morning most people simply love the spontaneous theatre of the Olympics. On a road known mostly for arguments about parking and stray Waitrose shopping trolleys, there was nothing but smiles. Can’t be all bad.
I’m stuck in the study, so if anyone is out there with more hands-on knowledge than me perhaps they’ll add to this. The first I saw of the Soane model in Stonehenge: Monumental Journey was when it appeared in the case; that is the one exhibit in the show that I had nothing to do with. But in response to a suggestion that the Soane model might be one of Henry Browne’s, I don’t think it’s likely.
Browne first arrived in Amesbury in 1822, and appointed himself the monument’s first custodian and guidebook writer. He was obsessed with the stones, and made several models. But the Soane model must have been made before 1797, which would be too early for Browne.
Compare them. There are photos of two of Browne’s “as is” models online. This is the Ashmolean Museum’s (“as is” on left”, “as was” on right):
And this is Haslemere Museum’s (courtesy megalithic.co.uk):
Devizes Museum has one too, in John Britton’s cabinet.
If you compare Haslemere’s with the Soane model, you can see clearly how in the former the trilithon 57/58 (left of the large, leaning stone 56) is fallen, while in the latter it is still upright: it fell in 1797.
Browne’s modelling work is best originally described in what William Long, quoting in his Stonehenge & its Barrows (Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society Magazine 16, 1876) called “an account… printed in a Wiltshire newspaper”. Below is the text, corrected from an online scan here; a lesser part of this was printed in The Religious Tract Society’s The Visitor, or Monthly Instructor (1851), with no source noted at all (scanned here).
“Mr. Browne, the author of a work on Stonehenge, was a man of limited means, but of respectable mental attainments, who had been early struck with the magnificence of the remains on Salisbury Plain, and had imbibed a passion for the temple at Stonehenge as absorbing and as powerful as that felt by the young Parisienne for the Belvidere Apollo, or as any one of the Pygmalion-like instances of which so many are recorded. To this, and to its illustrative remains in this neighbourhood, all his thoughts were devoted. He lived under its shadow, he dreamed of it, he endeavoured to trace out the hidden mystery of its existence, he lectured upon its many wonders, and he published a book about it. When engaged on his lectures to the members of the literary institutions that existed some years since in Salisbury, he used to bring his drawings and make his arrangements in the morning, return to Amesbury to dinner, come back with more materials in the afternoon, read his lecture in the evening, and then again walk on his solitary road to Amesbury at night after the conclusion of the meeting, having already walked five-and-twenty miles. But this persevering energy of his character was more particularly exemplified during the construction of his model of Stonehenge. Every stone was modelled on the spot, and the most minute variations in the original carefully noted in his copy. Day after day, and week after week, was he to be found among those memorials of old time – planning, measuring, modelling, painting, in the prosecution of his self-prescribed task and interrupted only by the necessity of sometimes visiting Salisbury for materials, which he bore home himself, and on foot. The difficulty of making such a copy would not perhaps be great with proper assistance, but this man worked wholly by himself, and we can imagine his self-gratulation on the completion of his labours, when he could exclaim, like the victor of Corioli, “Alone I did it ! I!” From this model he made others on different scales, and the moulds being preserved, these were afterwards sold by his son, together with some of his own drawings equally accurate, to occasional visitors.
“Mr. Browne, though he had completed his work, had not yet found for it a resting-place, and he determined to present it to the British Museum. It was accepted by the trustees, with thanks, and the author chose to have the pleasure of placing it with his own hands in this great repository of the antiquities of the world. Unwilling to trust the model from his sight, and equally unwilling or unable to bear the expenses of the usual modes of travelling, he resolved to walk with it to London; and mounting his model on a wheel-barrow or hand-track he set off across the plain with his charge. After a toilsome and almost continuous march of two days and nights (for he only slept for a short time in the day), he arrived on the morning of the third day at the British Museum, showed the letter of the trustees to the porter, wheeled his load into the court-yard, and saw his model safely deposited in the house. He left without staying to be questioned, and was soon on his way home again; but was detained some days on the road by illness brought on by his exertions.”
He died [adds Long] at Winchester, April 17th, 1839, aged 70 years, while journeying on foot to deliver a course of lectures at Chichester. He wrote, in 1809, a pamphlet entitled “The real State of England;” in 1810, “A brief arrangement of the Apocalypse;” and in 1830, “The critical state of England at the present time.” He styles himself “Lecturer on History.”
Chris Evans has written about the context of Soane’s archaeological models in two similar papers, “Megalithic follies: Soane’s ‘Druidic Remains’ & the display of monuments” (Journal of Material Culture, Nov 2000, 347–66) and “Modelling monuments & excavations” (in eds S de Chadarevian & N Hopwood, 2004, Models: The Third Dimension of Science, 109–37). He tells us that Soane probably bought his Stonehenge model in 1832 from another collection in London. But no one, as far as I am aware, has examined the model for what it may tell us about Stonehenge.
To help make sense of it, I’ve labelled a few stones and included part of John Wood’s plan that was surveyed in 1740. Stone 14 fell soon after 1800, though it’s not immediately clear if the model shows that upright or stone 16, which still stands. It does, however, have the trilithon stones 57/58 and lintel 158 prominently upright. These fell in 1797, so the model must predate that year. The stubby sarsen 11 is missing from the model, but was there, and is perhaps in a drawer somewhere in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
What’s interesting, and I hadn’t expected, is to see that the ground has been modelled as well as the stones. It’s not just a flat board, but a gently rolling, crumpled surface. And what jumps out is what can only be the hollow left by an excavation, apparently by someone in search of buried stones, near the feet of the leaning trilithon stone 56. Did anyone know about that before? And if we didn’t, how many other furtive old hollows might have disturbed what we think of as ancient, pristine ground?
So here it is, the gem of an exhibition inside the extraordinary, massive arch that groans under the weight of the Quadriga bronze at Hyde Park Corner. It opened on Wednesday and continues until June 24. I’ll be talking about it at an English Heritage members event on Monday May 14 (“suitable for adults”, apparently), and I’m giving a public lecture on June 7. You can read about the exhibition here, and more about the arch here.
We’ve told a story about visitors, about how people have approached the stones over the centuries, and what they have come away with. It’s not a story you often hear about, unless it’s to do with the exceptional – Druids, Travellers or archaeologists. We’re interested in the more everyday, the millions of visitors who have made Stonehenge what it is, a story about all of us. And there are some fascinating things in the show.
I discussed it with Tom Holland on Radio 4’s Making History, which you’ll be able to listen to for a few more days here (or download a podcast).
The magazine cover, incidentally (photographed just after we had excavated along that very verge), has a wonderful caption. “Some of the smaller ‘Blue Stones’… were transported from as far as Wales by some unknown form of ancient transport – doubtless very much slower that the ultramodern, 110 bhp Pearl Metallic Scirocco GLi!”. They don’t write em like they used to.
Here are a few photos I took in 2002. I was an archaeological consultant for the English Heritage Stonehenge project, which was then at its most grandiose – the proposed visitor centre north of Amesbury, linked to the tunnelling of the A303 and other major road changes. The sandwich board was for a little exhibition in a tent about the proposed changes.
And it’s not every day we get an archaeologist in the Google doodle…
I was at the real Stonehenge yesterday, in warm sunshine that came from nowhere to talk to Tom Holland for the Radio 4 Making History programme (listen out on May 8). Work will start on the new centre before long, and already I’m getting little niggles of nostalgia for all the tarmac, signs and mess. The sun helps.
And here’s a nice little sketch from somebody else’s notebook, of the real thing. It’s in Abbott & Holder’s May list, where it’s described as a sketchbook page 5×14 inches, dated “Sept.3, 1826”, anon, £275. | <urn:uuid:1113354d-7dbb-4ecb-8922-89c8b8c9890f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mikepitts.wordpress.com/2012/05/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975223 | 2,292 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Lobbying for an Accidental Death?
Follow @GretchenMargAugust 30, 2011, 2:00 pm ET
The manner of a person’s death is statistically less likely to be deemed suicide in California counties that rely on elected sheriff-coroners, according to a new study conducted by Temple University sociologists.
California Watch reporter Ryan Gabrielson explains why that may be significant:
In California, 48 of its 58 counties rely on elected sheriffs to determine the manner of someone’s death. This is different than cause of death, Gabrielson points out:
Some other startling standards:
+ In Nebraska coroners are often also the county attorney.
+ Indiana and Wyoming require completion of a basic coroner-training course and some additional annual training. An 18-year-old made headlines when she was elected deputy coroner in Jay County, Ind. while still in high school.
+ North Dakota requires that coroners be licensed physicians, but only in counties of more than 8,000 people.
A 2009 report from the National Academy of Sciences recommended abolishing coroners in favor of new offices, run by medical examiners, establishing new offices, run by medical examiners, with national standards for accreditation.
Many states are moving towards a medical examiner system, but the process has been slowed by the reality that coroners are usually written into a state constitution, are often backed by a local constituency and generally don’t have large enough populations or budgets to support the conversion.
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Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
The Victorian Era of Great Britain is considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. It is often defined as the years from 1837 to 1901, when Queen Victoria reigned, though many historians consider the passage of the Reform Act 1832 to mark the true inception of a new cultural era. The Victorian era was preceded by the Georgian era and came before the Edwardian period.
The period is ostensibly characterized as a long period of peace and economic, colonial, and industrial consolidation, temporarily disrupted by the Crimean War. Towards the end of the century, the policies of New Imperialism led to increasing colonial conflicts and eventually the Boer War. Domestically, the agenda was increasingly liberal with a number of shifts in the direction of gradual political reform and the widening of the franchise.
In the early part of the era the House of Commons was dominated by the two parties, the Whigs and the Conservatives. From the late 1850s onwards the Whigs became the Liberals. Many prominent statesmen led one or other of the parties, including Lord Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston, William Ewart Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Salisbury. The unsolved problems relating to Ireland played a great part in politics in the later Victorian era, particularly in view of Gladstone's determination to achieve a political settlement.
In January 1858, the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, responded to the Orsini plot against French emperor Napoleon III, the bombs for which were purchased in Birmingham, by attempting to make such acts a felony, but the resulting uproar forced him to resign.
In July 1866, an angry crowd in London, protesting Russell's resignation as prime minister, was barred from Hyde Park by the police; it tore down iron railings and trampled the flower beds. Disturbances like this convinced Derby and Disraeli of the need for further parliamentary reform.
In 1884 the Fabian Society was founded in London by a group of middle-class intellectuals, including Quaker Edward Pease, 17, Havelock Ellis, 25, and Edith Nesbit, 26, to promote socialism. George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells would be among many famous names to later join this society.
On Sunday, November 13, 1887, tens of thousands of people, many of them socialists or unemployed, gathered in Trafalgar Square to demonstrate against the government. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren ordered armed soldiers and 2,000 police constables to respond. Rioting broke out, hundreds were injured and two people died. This event was referred to as Bloody Sunday.
In 1888, the serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper" murdered and mutilated prostitutes on the streets of London, leading to world-wide press coverage and hysteria. Newspapers used the deaths to bring greater focus on the plight of the unemployed and to attack police and political leaders. Although the killer was never caught, the affair led to Sir Charles Warren's resignation.
Science, technology and engineering
The impetus of the industrial revolution had already occurred, but it was during this period that the full effects of industrialisation made themselves felt, leading to the mass society of the 20th century. The revolution led to the rise of railways across the country and massive leaps forward in engineering, most famously by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
During the Victorian era, science grew into the discipline it is today. In addition to the increasing professionalism of university science, many Victorian gentlemen devoted their time to the study of natural history.
In 1882, incandescent electric lights were introduced to London streets, although it took many long years before they were installed everywhere.
Notable cultural elements of the Victorian era include:
- The novels of George Eliot, Thomas Love Peacock, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Anne Brontė, Wilkie Collins, Oscar Wilde, Charlotte Brontė, Emily Brontė, Walter Scott, William Makepeace Thackeray, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Hardy.
- The poetry of Alfred Tennyson, William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Matthew Arnold, Christina Rossetti, Emily Brontė, Lionel Johnson, Ernest Dowson, the young W.B. Yeats, Thomas Hardy, Gerard Manley Hopkins, A.E. Housman and Robert Browning
- The essays of Thomas Carlyle, John Henry Newman, John Stuart Mill, and Walter Pater.
Of particular interest is the decade of the 1890s, which saw the first attempts by English writers to adopt the methods and ideals of the French symbolists.
- Stage adaptions of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and of the new genre of vampire novels. In 1849 The Frankenstein and Vampire stories are finally combined in Frankenstein; or The Vampire's Victim. In 1887, The Model Man, a stage play in which the Frankenstein monster and a vampire were tracked to the Arctic, appeared in London.
- The wit and drama of Oscar Wilde.
- Controversy over the plays of Henrik Ibsen on the London stage, with men such as James Joyce and George Bernard Shaw supporting the new dramatic style of the frosty Norwegian.
- The operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan
In the visual arts:
- The Gothic revival movement in architecture
- John Ruskin, the first major English art critic.
- The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in art (partly inspired by Ruskin).
- The Clique
- William Morris' Arts and Crafts movement.
- The influence of the aesthetic ideal of American painter James McNeill Whistler.
- The reign of Queen Victoria of Great Britain, from 1837 to 1901, was Britain's Golden Age, and it was also the Golden Age of British Art. There was peace at home, and prosperity increased, leading to conditions in which painting flourished. The era produced Constable, Turner, Landseer, Rossetti, Millais, Burne-Jones, Leighton, Watts and Whistler, all living in the reign of Queen Victoria (except for Constable who died in the year of Victoria's accession). There were some 11,000 recognized artists, many mediocre, but a great number with high talents and artistic accomplishment.
The period saw a huge amount of artistic production, and the public flocked to exhibitions, with the wealthy accumulating large picture collections. Queen Victoria patronized living British artists, and many artists occupied a place of honor mixing on equal terms with the aristocracy and high society. As a result Victorian Britain experienced a flowering of creativity, which compares favorably with any of the previous great ages of art.
The Victorian Age, for many, has connotations of sentimentality, prudery, and ornamental excess. However, the Victorian painters successfully illustrated the fruits of the unprecedented achievements of the industrial revolution and its profound social and moral challenges. The novels of Dickens and George Eliot, the plays of Oscar Wilde, and the poems of Tennyson and Browning, had their counterparts in Victorian paintings. The period saw the beginning of the split between establishment and progressive taste, which created the modern idea of an avant-garde. Artist's groups proliferated, with the best known being the Pre-Raphaelites, the Clique, the St.John's Wood clique, the Cranbrook Colony, and the Newlyn School. The Pre-Raphaelites believed that the particular and the truth was all important in both life and art. People and things in a painting should not be idealized but should reflect the reality of life, warts and all. Some artists simply preferred to be independent, and avoided joining any colony or group. In English art it is diversity and individualism that makes it fascinating.
Victorian painters chose to create art that could be understood by a population of widely contrasting social and educational backgrounds, so that they were offering entertainment as well as cultural improvement. Victorian art was popular art, and paintings were more widely discussed in society than they are even today when technology offers so many rival attractions. The extraordinary richness, variety and complexity of Victorian art reflect an equally rich and complex society. The paintings should be seen in the context of the ideas, social structure, and aspirations of Britain's heyday of wealth and power; a period that became known as the Victorian Age.The Industrial Revolution had a powerful impact on the arts. Romanticism and Realism are both seen as reactions to the powerful changes that took place during the era.
- The Oxford/Tractarian movement in the early part of Victoria's reign.
- In 1865 William Booth began the Salvation Army in London.
- The rise of theosophism and other occult interests in the 1890s.
The Victorian period is now often regarded as one of many contradictions. It is easy for many to see a clash between the widespread cultivation of an outward appearance of dignity and restraint, and the widespread presence of many arguably deplorable phenomena. These include prostitution, child labour, and having an economy based largely on what many would now see as the exploitation of colonies through imperialism and of the working classes. The expression Victorian values thus may be two-edged.
Sources and further reading
- Altick, Richard Daniel. Victorian People and Ideas: A Companion for the Modern Reader of Victorian Literature. W.W. Norton & Company: 1974. ISBN 039309376X.
- Burton, Antoinette (editor). Politics and Empire in Victorian Britain: A Reader. Palgrave Macmillan: 2001. ISBN 0312293356.
- Flanders, Judith. Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England. W.W. Norton & Company: 2004. ISBN 0393052095.
- Mitchell, Sally. Daily Life in Victorian England. Greenwood Press: 1996. ISBN 0313294674.
- Wilson, A. N. The Victorians. Arrow Books: 2002. ISBN 0099451867
External links and references
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:dee4e6ba-98cc-4fe4-819c-288135a81019> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Victorian_era | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940059 | 2,097 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Presidency mourns passing of struggle icon Fatima Meer
12 March 2010It is with deep sadness that the Presidency has learnt of the passing of anti-apartheid struggle icon Professor Fatima Meer. After suffering from a stroke for the past two weeks Fatima Meer passed away this afternoon at a Durban hospital.
“Our condolences go out to her family, especially her two daughters, friends and comrades. Our love, support and prayers are with them in this hour of need,” said President Jacob Zuma.
Professor Fatima Meer has dedicated her life to the struggle for freedom and equality among all South Africans. Her father was the publisher of Indian Views and this ensured that from an early age she was sensitized to the harsh inequalities of the apartheid system. At a time when few Black, let alone Muslim, women were educated she completed her Masters degree in Sociology at the then University of Natal.
Her political activism started at the age of 16 when she helped raise funds for famine relief. This path of grassroots activism has characterized her entire life. In 1946 she joined the Passive Resistance Campaign, establishing the Student Passive Resistance Committee. Following the riots of 1949 she worked tirelessly to improve relations between Indians and Africans in Durban. Together with Bertha Mkhize she formed the Durban and District Women’s League, the first organization to unite Indian and African women under the same banner.
Together with her husband Ismail Meer, she played an important role in cementing race relations during the heady days of the Defiance Campaign. Their friendship with the Mandela family has endured over the years. She was detained with Winnie Mandela for over six months.
In 1956 she became the first black woman to be appointed to lecture at a white university when she started lecturing Sociology at Natal University. This did not diminish her role in the struggle and she organized mass vigils for political prisoners outside the Durban prison. She was detained on numerous occasions and in 1976 survived an assassination attempt by apartheid agents.
In 1979 she founded the Tembalishe Tutorial College to teach African students secretarial skills. She was also instrumental in organizing for African students to obtain scholarships to study medicine and political science in India. She founded the Phambili High School in 1986, which played a prominent role in educating activists from the Mass Democratic Movement when they were expelled from township schools. Her house was a home away from home for many activists.
She declined a seat in Parliament in 1994 in favour of working with non-governmental organizations. However, she still played a role in government in a number of capacities. She was advisor to the Minister of Arts and Culture and served on the National Symbols Commission and the National Anthem Commission. She was also a member of the Advisory Panel to the President and was on the Film and Publication Board, and on the Board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
In addition to her other accomplishments she has published more than forty books and was involved in the production of the movie “The Making of a Mahatma,” on the life of Mahatma Gandhi
In recent years despite losing her husband, Ismail and son Rashid, she nevertheless remained a champion of the poor. She was an activist until the end.
Cell: 072 715 0024 | <urn:uuid:48b0d7b7-8483-468d-bcde-ee5c9db80c95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=1125 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979015 | 676 | 2.171875 | 2 |
“Power” section also has one new parameter – “EuP Ready”. According to existing standards, systems in standby mode consume less power. With this function enabled, LEDs will only light up when the board is working and will turn off when it goes into standby.
As for us, the most interesting part of the “Power” section is “Hardware Monitor”. In my opinion, it is not very convenient that the parameters inside this sub-section are split into multiple pages.
There are current voltages on one page:
Temperatures on another page:
You can find fan rotation speeds and rotation speed adjustment modes also on individual pages:
Now let’s go over to “Tools” section, where we find a couple of innovations as well.
“Speeding HDD Configuration” sub-section turned out to be a renamed “Drive Xpert Configuration”. It allows configuring the drives connected to red SATA ports for work in RAID modes without scaring off an inexperienced user by the term “RAID”.
We have already discussed the functionality of the “O.C. Profile” sub-section. Here I would only like to remind you that there is also a built-in utility with the same name that will help save profiles on external storage devices and then load the necessary profiles from them.
This utility looks very similar to “EZ Flash 2” program, which allows you to quickly and easily update the BIOS version. However, the first thing we see is the new “Go Button File” sub-section. On Asus Maximus III Formula “Go Button” button is located a little below the 24-pin power connector. It serves two different purposes. If you press it before passing the startup POST procedure, it will enable “MemOK!” function that should eliminate startup memory problems. If you press this button after the system has booted, the board will load overclocking settings from the “Go Button File” sub-section.
To find out the mainboards potential, we usually overclock processors by raising their Vcore. To check out “Go Button” feature we decided to resort to a mild overclocking technique without raising the CPU Vcore. Intel Core i7-860 CPU we use for our overclocking experiments can work at up to 152-154 MHz base clock without any core voltage increase. Just to play safe we set the base clock to 150 MHz.
True, right after the OS has booted, we pressed the “Go Button” and the board initially working in nominal mode increased its base clock to 150 MHz. Of course, all frequencies connected with the base clock, such as memory frequency, for instance, also increased. That is why we increased the memory voltage in advance. Yes, everything seemed to be working and this mode will remain enabled even if you reboot the system: you have to press “Go Button” one more time in order to go back to the initial settings. Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to overclocking without CPU Vcore increase, so this “overclocking by necessity” could be very handy if the button were somewhat easier to reach. It would be great to have a remote control, like “TurboV Remote” enclosed with Asus P7P55D Deluxe, for example. It is very inconvenient to open up the system case every time you need to use the “Go Button”.
“MemPerfect” is another new sub-section, which functionality will help you test the system memory. We are going to talk more about this function in the chapter of our review devoted to Asus brand name utilities and technologies.
Overall, the BIOS functionality of Asus Maximus III Formula mainboard leaves a remarkable impression. It is on an extremely high level, all the overclocking and configuring options are there together with a bunch of new features and functions. There are still a few comments we made about the convenience of use and the detailed description of the new functions could come in very handy. It will become especially obvious when we get to work with Asus Maximus III Formula mainboard. | <urn:uuid:9b36bda4-df99-4800-94b1-4ea952c263fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/asus-maximus-iii-formula_5.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92228 | 874 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Culture of Life
'God Created the Heavens and the Earth'
The Catholic Church Bridges Faith and Science
BY Marge Fenelon
March 25-April 7, 2012 Issue | Posted 3/15/12 at 4:52 PM
Being a Catholic and a professional in any field can be a challenge. It can be especially challenging in science-related fields, in which the focus is on logical thinking, information bytes and equations. Because of this, there’s a growing movement to separate God from his own creation, sending faith and reason down opposite, and sometimes conflicting, paths.
But Catholics in science know that the two are not incompatible.
“Science was not founded in opposition to religion, as many people think,” said Stephen Barr, professor of theoretical particle physics at the University of Delaware and author of Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. “Most of its great founders saw science as uncovering the laws by which God governed the universe.”
Barr uses 17th-century German mathematician Johannes Kepler as an example of the general attitude among scientists until recent times. Kepler once wrote, “I thank you, Lord God our Creator, that you have allowed me to see the beauty in your work of creation.”
Barr also noted that German astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus was a canon of the Frauenberg Cathedral, Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo attended daily Mass until his death, French physicist Blaise Pascal was a religious mystic, French philosopher Rene Descartes formulated philosophical arguments for the existence of God and the soul, English chemist Robert Boyle left a large sum of money to endow a public lecture series intended to counteract “notorious” atheists, and English physicist and alchemist Isaac Newton spent more time on theological studies than on physics.
Throughout history, the Church has been a driving force behind science, contributing both directly and indirectly to its advancement. Lawrence Principe of Johns Hopkins University has written that “it is clear from the historical record that the Catholic Church has been probably the largest single and longest-term patron of science in history.” Since medieval times, the Church has given the world a stable institutional basis in the universities founded under its auspices and with its patronage.
With the rapid pace at which science is moving ahead, it’s easy to overlook the significant number of major scientific discoveries made by Catholics, especially priests. For example, Gregor Mendel founded genetics, and Blessed Niels Stensen founded the field of modern geology. Marin Mersenne founded acoustics, Francesco Grimaldi discovered the diffraction of light, Angelo Secchi helped to found astrophysics, and Georges Lemaitre was the main architect of the big bang theory of cosmology. These disciplines are studied in universities all over the world, but with little attention to their Catholic roots.
Not only has the Church’s contribution to science been overlooked, but also it has been sadly twisted.
“The Catholic Church has, in the public eye, a reputation for being reluctant to support new innovations in science,” said University of Notre Dame theology professor Celia Deane-Drummond, who is on staff at Notre Dame’s John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values. “Its support is for the development of science in a certain direction, according to certain values; in particular, the value of the human [being], rather than opposition.
“Its global network and influence worldwide has a special relevance to complicated issues that lend themselves to scientific analysis: Environmental issues, or sustainability and development, for example, require a local and a global response that the kind of solidarity possible through religious belief is able to generate. While sometimes controversial in the public sphere, the role of the Church can be tuned to the public good that puts the needs of the most vulnerable members of the human community in a key position by giving priority to their needs.”
Maintaining the relationship between faith and reason is essential for the coming generations. While the Church supports science, science also supports the Church, so to speak.
“It provides a rationale for our faith,” said Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer, founder and president of the Magis Institute. Magis is the parent organization of a family of ministries dedicated to exploring the frontier of reason and faith. “It helps people see how intelligible God is. In science, we find tremendous evidence for the existence of God. Many working in science today, including some of the most prominent scientists, try to negate God’s existence and prove he has nothing to do with science. They’re guilty of culpable omission, and it just keeps getting worse.”
In a recent effort to repair the breach between faith and reason, the Church has created a new foundation. On Jan. 19, Pope Benedict XVI launched the Science and Faith Foundation to become the philosophical bridge between theology and science. The foundation will be headquartered at the Holy See and builds on the work of the Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest (STOQ) project, which was created by Pope John Paul II in 2003. The foundation is under the direction of Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
This effort is important because scientists like Elizabeth Sigmund are seeing firsthand what is happening now when science and faith are separated in the workplace.
“Expectations are usually set very high in high-tech workplaces, and when you don’t meet them, it can be very discouraging,” said the pregnant mother and electrical engineer who works for a medical equipment company in Waukesha, Wis. “And I had that occur, after I had worked as hard as I thought I possibly could, and it still wasn’t good enough for them. I felt like I was gaining confidence in my work, and performing well.
“Then I was told that I wasn’t exceeding expectations.”
After prayer and reflection, Sigmund realized that an important factor was missing in the equation.
“I realized that I need to not depend on my co-workers or superiors for judgment, but I need to depend on God and my own consciousness, what I feel God is calling me to do,” she said. “I need to rely on God and continue to remember that he doesn’t just look at my work life; he looks at my life as a whole.”
When science changes its view towards God, curricula and educational institutions do too, explained Father Spitzer. What’s left is an educational system at all levels that teaches the next generation that they have no reason to believe in God. That’s having an adverse effect on young people.
“This is one of the main causes for young adults leaving the Church,” he said. “From a pedagogical education point of view, this is a crisis. Young people will hemorrhage out of the Church. There’s a tremendous amount at stake.”
While it’s true that there are brief periods in the Church’s history of which she is not proud, those times are isolated and do not speak for the entire Church throughout the centuries.
“We can’t focus only on those times,” said Father Spitzer. “We can’t forget the Church’s vital role in health care, education, institutions of higher learning and social welfare, among others. Yes, those things are terrible, but we can’t leave out all the good that’s been done.”
Father Spitzer suggests a two-step plan of action to undo the harm that has been done to the relationship between faith and reason. First, priests, consecrated persons, religious orders and religious communities need to become further involved in the sciences. Second, they must teach young people the proof of God’s existence as found in the sciences in addition to theology.
“The current data being presented is misleading,” said Father Spitzer, in the sciences because it is being intentionally skewed in order to disprove God’s existence. “That’s what our kids are up against. They’re not being given the truth, and we have to present them with the truth, or we’ll lose them. We have to be vigilant, vigilant, vigilant!”
The Vatican is looking forward to engaging the culture about faith and science.
“The question for us is how to offer a coherent vision of society, culture and the human being to people who would like to understand where to put these dimensions — the spiritual and religious and the scientific,” the Science and Faith Foundation’s executive director, Father Tomasz Trafny, said when the Vatican announced the new project to focus on “the possibility of being believers at the dawn of the Third Millennium without renouncing scientific progress.”
“This is an important step,” he continued, “because we are moving from being a simple project to merge learning between the pontifical universities in Rome to being a new entity recognized by the Holy Father as a reference point for all dialogue involving science and faith.”
Marge Fenelon writes from Cudahy, Wisconsin.
John J. Reilly Center for Science,
Theology and Values, Reilly.nd.edu
Magis Institute, Magis.us
Vatican’s Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest, STOQNet.org
Search “In the Beginning: Evidence for God From Contemporary Physics” on YouTube to hear Father Spitzer’s lecture.
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We all know that the Department of Homeland Security has several sub-basements filled with all the illegitimate offspring of the members of Congress whose sole miserable task is to sit at the computer consoles they are chained to and troll Twitter and Facebook in search of bogeymen with social media accounts. But which search terms are they using to determine which citizens to ship off for a free tickle torture session besides the obvious triggers like “exploding dildo” and “how do I get a protest permit?” Well now we know what’s on the current DHS monitor list thanks to a public records request from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the bad news it that you will have to quit using fun words such as “electric” and “pirates” online in order to stay under the radar.
The POLITICO has its own whimsical list of oddball words (including “pork”) that appear, which in turn inspired us to cull this list of highly common words/names of retail chains/countries you must now avoid mentioning on the Internet forever unless you wish to be punished with a trip to hang out with Marco Rubio at Guantanamo:
Or make your own list! The DHS list of terms starts on page 20.
And here is one bonus item we spotted in the monitoring guidelines, to help analysts decide which media sources to turn to for information. It’s from a section titled “Credible Sources for Corroboration:”
First Tier – A first tier source is one that does not typically need additional corroboration prior to release. Sources that construct the first tier platform include major news networks, such as
CNN and Fox; major newspapers, such as USA Today and The Washington Post; and international news, such as the BBC and The International Herald Tribune. | <urn:uuid:118db072-1916-480d-9f58-2050f82b609b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wonkette.com/473966/here-is-your-handy-guide-to-avoiding-the-dhs-eye-of-sauron | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918474 | 373 | 1.523438 | 2 |
January 8, 2010
New Study Discovers Serious Emotional Disturbances Among Children Post Katrina
Mental health professionals have shown that there are serious emotional disturbances (SED) among children as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The Category 3 storm ravaged the Gulf Coast in August 2005. Characteristics of SED include inappropriate behavior, depression, hyperactivity, eating disorders, fears and phobias, and learning difficulties.
According to Virginia Tech News
A team made up of mental health professionals, emergency response experts, and researchers from several universities, including Virginia Tech, has published the results of a study that shows serious emotional disturbances among children who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Category 3 storm ravaged the Gulf Coast in August 2005.
The study, published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, showed the estimated prevalence of serious emotional disturbances (SED) among residents of the affected areas was 14.9 percent. Of those, 9.3 percent of youths were believed to have SED that was directly attributable to Hurricane Katrina.
"Stress exposure was associated strongly with serious emotional disturbances," said Russell Jones, professor of psychology in the College of Science at Virginia Tech and member of the research team. "More than 20 percent of the youths with high stress exposure had hurricane-related SED."
The study found that youth who experienced death of loved one during the storm had the strongest association with SED. Exposure to physical adversity was the next strongest.
"The prevalence of SED among youths exposed to Hurricane Katrina remains high 18 to 27 months after the storm," Jones said. "This suggests a substantial need for mental health treatment resources in the hurricane-affected areas."
Katrina was the costliest hurricane in United States history as well as one of the five deadliest. Four years after the storm, nearly thousands of residents of Mississippi and Louisiana are still displaced from their homes.
January 8, 2010 | Permalink
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National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases (NIAID) http://www.niaid.nih.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 1, 19965:00 p.m., Eastern Time
In a small study of HIV-infected people, researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have shown that a novel form of gene therapy can prolong, with no apparent side effects, the survival of critical immune system cells that are typically depleted during the course of HIV disease. Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, and his colleagues report their findings in the April 2, 1996 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Nabel's paper is the first published report of a gene therapy study in which doctors have treated HIV-infected patients with their own CD4+ T cells that have been modified with an antiviral gene. The approach has the advantage of not requiring cells from donors who would need to be matched immunologically with the recipient.
"This work is an example of NIAID's commitment to the development of innovative therapies for HIV-infected people," says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., NIAID director.
"This pilot study suggests that gene transfer can be used to prolong the survival of CD4+ T cells and may, ultimately, help to sustain the immune systems of HIV-infected people," says Dr. Nabel, also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "Additional studies, now under way, will help to define the optimal methods of CD4+ T cell gene transfer and determine the clinical efficacy of this approach."
In the study, the researchers drew blood from three HIV-infected people, and separated out each patient's CD4+ T cells. These cells, sometimes called "T-helper" cells, are the main targets of HIV.
Into these cells, which were treated with two antiretroviral drugs to block HIV replication, the researchers inserted one of two altered HIV rev genes. Normally, rev produces a protein, Rev, that allows transport of certain HIV genetic material within the infected cell from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, a critical step in viral replication.
Into half the cells from each patient, the researchers inserted an altered rev gene that produces a defective protein, Rev M10, which suppresses HIV replication by competing with the function of normal Rev. The altered rev gene was developed in the late 1980s in the laboratory of NIAID grantee Bryan Cullen, Ph.D., of Duke University.
Into the other cells from each patient, the scientists inserted a "dummy" gene that produces a protein that does not compete with normal Rev, and therefore has no anti-HIV activity.
The researchers treated both sets of cells with interleukin-2 to expand them to large numbers, and then re-infused each patient with their own cells. The patients were monitored closely, and the researchers tracked the survival of both Rev M10-producing cells and the cells with the "dummy" rev gene. As had previously been shown in test tube experiments, the CD4+ T cells expressing Rev M10 persisted longer than the cells with the "dummy" gene.
"Our data suggest that genetically modified cells can be detected, and the cells expressing Rev M10 demonstrated a 4- to 5- fold selective survival advantage," the authors write.
None of the patients in the pilot trial experienced any adverse effects from the treatment. "These results indicate that this form of genetic treatment could be used safely in a larger number of HIV-infected patients," says Dr. Nabel.
Dr. Nabel is the principal investigator of a research team sponsored by the Strategic Programs for Innovative Research on AIDS Treatment (SPIRAT), an initiative of NIAID's Division of AIDS.
"This elegantly designed study circumvented the usual problem of person-to-person variation in clinical trials by essentially using each individual as both a positive and negative control," says Nava Sarver, Ph.D., chief of the Targeted Interventions Branch of NIAID's Division of AIDS, and the program officer for SPIRAT. "This approach already has been emulated by other gene therapy researchers beginning clinical trials."
"Dr. Nabel's work provides critical information as to the feasibility of gene transfer therapy for HIV infection, providing preliminary answers to several important questions," she adds. "For example, we now have evidence that this procedure is safe; that we can insert genes into cells from HIV-infected individuals without inducing HIV replication in cell culture; that we can trace these cells once we put them back into the body; and that delivery of anti-HIV genes using non-viral delivery vehicles (vectors) is feasible."
SPIRAT, launched in 1994, supports studies at the interface of basic and clinical research, leading to the implementation of pilot clinical studies to test novel therapeutic strategies to combat HIV disease. Examples include strategies to restore and maintain a functional immune system via immune cell or tissue restoration, and direct suppression of HIV replication through molecular or cellular mechanisms.
Woffendin C, et al. Expression of a protective gene prolongs survival of T cells in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1996;93:2889-94.
Bridges SH, Sarver N. Gene therapy and immune restoration for HIV disease. Lancet 1995;345:427-32
NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of
infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News
releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at www.niaid.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research,
and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health ®
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Last Updated April 01, 1996 | <urn:uuid:f50805e3-a046-4298-93d1-bfa9d4168ffd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/1996/Pages/nabel.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936353 | 1,348 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Mar. 22 -- Some Destin homeowners say building a control tower at Destin Airport will make them safer, but other residents believe the tower won't solve problems the airport causes.
"I have very mixed emotions," Betty Kenyon of the Destin Airport Committee said in an interview. "I recognize it's needed for the safety factor (but) the expansion of everything at the airport is pushing citizens out of the city."
Kenyon is one of several residents who've protested to Okaloosa County, which owns the airport, about jet fumes, pilots revving their engines at night and planes flying low over homes.
Okaloosa County Airport Director Jerry Sealy announced recently that the county and Eglin Air Force Base were working together to convince the Federal Aviation Administration to approve a tower, an option the FAA has rejected in the past.
Airport Committee member Robert Fairweather, a pilot himself, said a tower would be an excellent first step to improving life around the airport.
"I think from the safety standpoint, it's a major, major step," Fairweather said. "Some people fly in and kind of barge through the traffic. When you put a tower on the field, it forces everyone to follow certain patterns ... which usually helps keep traffic from endangering the community."
Fairweather said by directing pilots to specific airspaces, the tower could also cut down on the noise that reaches homeowners.
Another benefit, Kenyon said, is that if homeowners want to report a plane that flow low over their house, the staff in a tower would be able to identify the plane. Homeowners have complained repeatedly that airport employees say they don't track planes closely enough to identify problem pilots.
However, Kenyon said, the tower can't solve the underlying incompatibility of an airport in a residential area that grows busier every year: "If you keep flying more and more aircraft in ... they're bringing it on themselves to have an accident happen."
Kenyon added that the benefits of the airport went to "millionaires and billionaires" rather than to regular Destin residents.
While airport supporters have argued the Destin economy benefits from the monied visitors who arrive by plane, homeowner Mark Nacol said residents would see more benefits if the county turned the airport property over to residential developers.
"Shut it down and put homes there, so we can have more property taxes for Destin," Nacol said.
The county first proposed a tower to the FAA in 2000, but the FAA said Destin Airport wasn't busy enough to win FAA funding. Sealy has said the county's airport funding, which is separate from the rest of the county budget, can't pay $1.2 million for a tower without federal support.
Airport Operations Manager Terry Curry said the county's latest proposal hinges not on traffic volume but on the safety issues caused by having a small but busy airport next to Eglin's airspace.
It will be at least nine months before the county completes the application process, Curry said, because it will take that long to meet a new federal rule requiring the county select three possible tower sites at the airport.
To see more of The Destin Log or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.destin.com/. Copyright (c) 2006, The Destin Log, Fla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail email@example.com.
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The role of the atmospheric circulation in the record minimum extent of open water in the Ross Sea in the 2003 austral summer
Harangozo, S.A.; Connolley, W.M.. 2006 The role of the atmospheric circulation in the record minimum extent of open water in the Ross Sea in the 2003 austral summer. Atmosphere-Ocean, 44 (1). 83-97. 10.3137/ao.440106Full text not available from this repository.
The contribution of the atmospheric circulation to a record minimum extent of open water in the polar Ross Sea (RS) region in the 2003 austral summer is examined. Two major findings are reached in this study. The first is that the origins of this anomaly are more complex than previously thought, with an anomalous atmospheric circulation contributing at least as much to the lack of open water as damming of sea ice by a large iceberg known as C-19. Only in the western RS, where C-19 lay, is damming found to restrict open water in the spring of 2002 (October-December), but even here the coldest spring in the last 15 years extended the sea-ice formation season. Elsewhere in the RS the divergent northward ice drift that normally occurs widely reversed to southward in early spring and was then followed by negligible ice motion. The most anomalous springtime ice drift occurred in the central and eastern RS rather than near C-19 and was mirrored in the weakest southerly winds on record in central areas. The unusual southward ice drift in early spring 2002 caused widespread convergence and compaction of the normally thin and undeformed first-year ice along and north of the central and eastern Ross Ice Shelf (RIS). Compacted ice with few leads would have been slow to melt in the warmest summer (January-February) months. Direct observations also indicate that sea surface temperatures (SSTs) rapidly fell to freezing in the central and western RS in February 2003 supporting new ice formation. All the available data indicate these were due to the cold spring and the extensive, compact ice cover in the late spring of 2002 and in January 2003 preventing most of the incoming solar radiation from reaching the ocean. The second finding is that sea ice in the summer of 2003 would have been very extensive even if C-19 had not occurred. This is based on comparisons with other years of extensive summer ice, notably one when no large iceberg occurred. Ice motion and atmospheric circulation patterns in this case resembled those in the spring of 2002 and the summer of 2003. Evidence that the anomalous atmospheric circulation in the RS in the spring of 2002 was typical of El Niño events is also discussed.
|Programmes:||BAS Programmes > Global Science in the Antarctic Context (2005-2009) > Antarctic Climate and the Earth System|
|Additional Information:||Full text not available from this repository|
|Additional Keywords:||Sea ice, Extent|
|NORA Subject Terms:||Marine Sciences
|Date made live:||06 Sep 2007 15:36|
Actions (login required) | <urn:uuid:7b8d7071-fe6e-473a-91c0-c3f1f1225068> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/938/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92866 | 630 | 3.125 | 3 |
552 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 50 illus., notes, bibl., index
Consumption and Citizenship, 1890-1945
At the turn of the twentieth century, an emerging consumer culture in the United States promoted constant spending to meet material needs and develop social identity and self-cultivation. In Sold American, Charles F. McGovern examines the key players active in shaping this cultural evolution: advertisers and consumer advocates. McGovern argues that even though these two professional groups invented radically different models for proper spending, both groups propagated mass consumption as a specifically American social practice and an important element of nationality and citizenship.
Advertisers, McGovern shows, used nationalist ideals, icons, and political language to define consumption as the foundation of the pursuit of happiness. Consumer advocates, on the other hand, viewed the market with a republican-inspired skepticism and fought commercial incursions on consumer independence. The result, says McGovern, was a redefinition of the citizen as consumer. The articulation of an "American Way of Life" in the Depression and World War II ratified consumer abundance as the basis of a distinct American culture and history.
"Masterful. . . . Powerfully argued and deeply researched."
--Journal of Contemporary History
"Thoroughly researched, deeply grounded in archival collections, iconography, and secondary literature, and wonderfully illustrated with telling advertising imagery."
--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
"Particularly valuable in that McGovern argues persuasively."
"The latest addition to the important new literature on the political economy of consumer capitalism. . . . Represents a sturdy contribution to our thinking about what is arguably the most important question in contemporary American history."
--Indiana Magazine of History
"McGovern's long awaited book rewards our patience as scholars with its exemplary study of how we lost our patience as a polity of consumers."
--American Historical Review
"A finely wrought, lavishly illustrated volume. . . . Highly recommended."
© 2012 The University of North Carolina Press
116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808
How to Order | Make a Gift | Privacy | <urn:uuid:0dbb2af1-2b96-4d38-9292-03b93052ab89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/book_detail?title_id=775 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910081 | 440 | 2.140625 | 2 |
The most environmentally ethical way to deal with the waste of Thanksgiving feasts is to go to somebody else's house or a restaurant, so you can "let others worry about it." But millions of us who hosted the holiday dinner are now left with the additional work/guilt of doing something with all the rotting containers of increasingly gross five-day-old leftovers in the fridge.
The EPA says that "food waste" is now the "largest component of municipal solid waste being sent to landfills," at more than 33 million tons per year. That's good, because it means that recyclables like cardboard and aluminum and plastic are no longer the bulk of stuff going to garbage dumps. But it's also bad, because most of that food waste can be composted for use on gardens and farmland. And yet it's also impossible, because unless you live in a magical liberal city like San Francisco, which provides compost bins and weekly pickup for all residents, you're supposed to figure this out for yourself, and also work for a living, etc.
We will not report you to Michelle Obama (this time) if you just dump all this stinking filth into, say, your neighbor's trash bin. But if you are driven by guilt, smugness or pure good intentions, we will help you clean your refrigerator, sustainably!
First, designate something as a "compost bin," if you don't have one already. You do not need to spend $200 on a fancy piece of plastic. A regular little garbage can works fine, as does any container from the dollar store or even a thick cardboard box. Make some holes in the side with an awl or a handgun or whatever's around, and dump your gross scraps inside. Roll it around now and then (with the lid on, right?!), alternate the food goop with delivery menus and newspapers and maybe some dry leaves you sweep off the steps, and in the spring you'll have free plant food for your little garden, or you can give it to your neighbor who actually knows how to grow things, and then maybe she'll give you tomatoes all summer.
Is this the time to talk about "cold weather composting"? No, not today. Just know you can continue to keep your compost outside until the below-freezing weather really sets in. Then you either need to put it in the basement or under the kitchen sink or become one of those people who builds a Winter Composting System—and if you're that kind of person, you certainly don't need to be reading this particular page of the Internet.
For specific guidance on the Thanksgiving leftovers, we turn to the Environmental Industry Associations, which is what the trade group for the garbage industry now calls itself, to sound more "green" as they're all forced to comply with strict new waste and recycling laws in America's cities and counties. Here is what you can do:
- Soggy vegetables, cranberry sauce, all green-ish stuff: Compost it! Add some dry newspaper and leaves so the stuff doesn't turn into a living mold monster before the magic organisms start to "cook" and actually get warm.
- Stale bread: Saw it up into croutons, so easy! Nothing makes a salad "taste like real food" more than a pile of toasted bread cubes covered in olive oil and salt and seasoning.
- Disgusting cardboard pie boxes: Compost. Get it out of the fridge; that one slice of congealed fructose and liquified crust is not something you want to find a few days from now, when you're high.
- Corpses of animals: Did you fry a turkey or something? Well, congratulations on that toddler-sized carcass in your tiny fridge. If you've got composting pickup, hooray. If not, those bones are going to be in your little compost bucket for probably two years? Might as well throw the carcass in a pot of boiling water and "make stock," and then toss the skeleton. Nobody even likes turkey, have you noticed that? Next year, skip the turkey.
- Do not put plastic wrap or aluminum foil or even those "compostable" plastic forks in your kitchen compost; those utensils do break down, eventually, but I have found them mostly intact at the bottom of a five-year-old compost pile, fossilized.
Photo by Robbie Sproule.
Ken Layne once wrote a novel that included composting as a major plot element. | <urn:uuid:ed6fdc74-5e76-4ee1-a112-dca3aaff8ad6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theawl.com/2012/11/compost-thanksgiving | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959915 | 928 | 2.328125 | 2 |
(CNN) -- An American human rights group documenting widespread sexual violence against Darfuri women in Sudan and Chad has called for "vigorous prosecution of rape as a war crime."
Sudanese women in a refugee camp in southern Chad in March.
Physicians for Human Rights, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, issued a report Sunday "documenting the scope and long-term impact of rape and other sexual violence" experienced by women who fled the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur and now live as refugees in neighboring Chad.
The report -- titled "Nowhere To Turn: Failure To Protect, Support and Assure Justice for Darfuri Women" -- is based on interviews with 88 female refugees living in Chad's Farchana refugee camp. The study was done with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
"Many Darfuri women refugees live in a nightmare of memories of past trauma compounded by the constant threat of sexual violence around the camps now," said Susannah Sirkin, the physician group's deputy director.
"Women who report being raped are stigmatized, and remain trapped in places of perpetual insecurity. There's no one to stop the rapes, no one to turn to for justice for past or ongoing crimes, and little psycho-social support to address their prolonged and unimaginable traumas."
Dr. Sondra Crosby, a Physicians for Human Rights consultant and expert in refugee trauma, said "the atmosphere of intimidation was palpable as we listened to women describing their profound suffering and fear, and their yearning to return safely and with dignity to their former lives."
Of those refugees interviewed, "32 reported instances of confirmed or highly probable rape" -- 17 in Darfur and 15 in Chad, the group said.
"Among the instances of rape reported in Chad, the vast majority (10 of 11 confirmed reports) occurred when women left the camps to gather firewood." And just over half of the 88 women interviewed -- 46 of them -- live in fear of sexual assaults around the refugee camp.
The group supports the issuing of International Criminal Court warrants against the Sudanese perpetrators.
The group also called for "legal reforms in Chad to end impunity for sexual violence," and for "effective psychosocial support to survivors." And it said increased protections are needed by police and peacekeepers, including "effective firewood patrols."
The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 after rebels in the western region of Sudan began attacking government positions. Sudan's government responded with a fierce military campaign that has led to some 200,000 deaths and forced 2 million people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
|Most Viewed||Most Emailed| | <urn:uuid:249f8620-bb10-4858-8f91-0db5c9b576d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/05/31/darfur.rape.study/index.html?iref=nextin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952912 | 543 | 2 | 2 |
Tapping The Energy Efficiency And Solar Markets Within Federal Building Lease Renewals
This article is the second in a series about the potential for private renewable energy companies to access the large (and growing) market for clean energy within the federal government.
The U.S. Market for Energy Efficiency
As I wrote about earlier, the market for solar power and energy efficiency within the federal government is huge and largely untapped. Pursuant to Presidential Executive Order 13423, federal agencies are required to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the agency, through a substantial reduction in energy usage (up to 30%). Following up on this initial directive, President Obama signed Presidential Executive Order 13514 which stated beginning in 2020 and thereafter, all new federal buildings that enter the planning process will be designed to achieve zero net energy by 2030 and urges federal agencies to manage existing building systems to reduce the consumption of energy, water, and materials, and identify alternatives to renovation that lower a buildings operational cost. Finally, this order requires that all federal agencies establish and implement energy efficient practices for at least 15% of each agency’s building inventory by fiscal year 2015.
In addition to these executive moves, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency responsible for the management and procurement of most federal office buildings, has pushed itself to the forefront of the green building revolution. GSA has a fiscal year 2011 capital investment program of $1.4 billion to support green building, including $676 million for new construction and $703 million for renovation and alteration.
The GSA Leasing Process
In a typical build-to-suit for the federal government, private developers submit bids to GSA in response to another federal agencies’ request for office space. The winning bidder then signs a 10-20 year lease with the federal government for that office space. Critically, the federal government renews existing leases on procured office space approximately 90% of the time, providing landlords a reliable source of cash flow over an extended period of time.
Importantly, a large portion of the federal government’s office space was built and leased to the government well prior to the energy efficiency requirements of Presidential Executive Orders 13423 and 13514 with a large number of existing leases expiring over the next few years. In fiscal year 2011 (commencing on October 1, 2010), 128 leases expire for 6.1 million square feet; in fiscal year 2012, 107 leases expire for 6.4 million square feet; and in fiscal year 2013, 123 leases expire for 7.2 million square feet.
As stated above, the new government procurements will require energy efficient measures be incorporated into the design of the building requirement from the beginning. But what about the renewal of existing leases? As stated above, President Obama has required that all federal agencies have at least 15% of its inventory incorporate energy efficiency guidelines by fiscal year 2015. How will this impact lease renewals and will the federal government continue to renew existing leases with private landlords if those buildings do not comply with Presidential Executive Orders 13423 and 13514?
Energy Efficient Retrofits and GSA Lease Renewal
GSA has not put out definitive guidance on the matter but within the industry, it looks as if GSA might be using the leverage of lease renewal to force private landlords into energy efficient retrofits to meet federal requirements.
To start, GSA is already beginning to measure its inventory in advance of the 2015 deadline. By December 2010, GSA is scheduled to assess at least 5% of its owned buildings greater than 5,000 gross square feet and at least 5% of its leases greater than 5,000 gross square feet for compliance with federal energy efficiency requirements for the purpose of tracking leased assets that already meet such requirements. GSA has also required additional information on green building and energy efficient measures for all applications for improvements and lease renewals for federal buildings. Finally, GSA has created “Build Green Coordinators” in each of its 11 building regions for the purpose of providing private developers with technical assistance concerning green lease solicitation build-out requirements and LEED certifications.
Undoubtedly, this will have an impact on whether GSA will renew an existing lease with a private landlord. If an existing office building can be retrofitted to be energy efficient, this would be a much simpler and less costly way for GSA and other federal agencies to meet the energy efficient inventory standards. GSA could always elect to re-procure a project but that is costly and more importantly, time consuming. It has been my professional experience that a lease renewal in an existing leased building, even with major modifications such as requiring the building to be LEED certified and incorporating renewable energy systems, can be done by GSA, the agency occupant and the landlord, in just a few months. Whereas, a re-procuring of new space to meet the “sustainability” requirements will take GSA and the agency, several years to develop the new specifications, bid the new specifications, award the lease contract and then actually have the project built and occupied.
Not only does the existing landlord benefit by retaining a AAA lessee at renewal, even with large capital investments in the “green building” mandates, many of the sustainable improvements reduce the operating expenses the landlord is responsible for paying under the gross lease contract.
How to Find Landlords of Expiring GSA Leases
Finding landlords with expiring leases with the U.S. government is not easy but can be found with publicly available resources. First, download GSA’s list of lease building inventory. You will notice that every lease in all 11 of GSA’s regions are listed including information on rentable square feet, annual rent amount, landlord name and lease expiration date. Filter out all of those leases that are not for buildings of 5,000 square feet or more and have lease expirations greater than 5 years. The landlord name should be attached which you can cross reference with the U.S. Small Business Administration to retrieve publicly available contact information which can be a starting point for your lead generation process. Move the middle of the page and enter the landlord’s name under the “Searching for a Specific Profile” to retrieve the available information.
Note of caution: sometimes the name of the landlord as listed on the lease inventory is not complete, so when it’s entered into search box, the landlord’s contact information can not be found. The landlord and other lease information on the GSA lease inventory is entered by GSA personnel.
Finally, as an experienced developer of U.S. government buildings, I would recommend that solar and energy efficiency professionals be prepared to discuss the following with the landlord:
- Is the landlord is aware of the federal requirements for energy efficiency and how GSA is going to enact them on the property owners they lease from? Solar and energy professional must be able to discuss the details of the GSA enforcement program.
- Has GSA has contacted the landlord regarding a renewal or extension of the lease for the their premises? If so, has GSA discussed any new green technology improvements specifically for meeting any new “sustainability” requirements or bringing the building to a certain LEED level certification?
- Be prepared to discuss how solar power and energy efficient improvements can help the landlord comply with the “sustainability” requirements and how the cost of a solar power system or other energy efficient improvements can be incorporated into the tenant improvement package (such costs may vey well be paid for by GSA as a reimbursable tenant improvement expense but there isn’t a clear cut policy on this issue at the moment).
- Be prepared to discuss a range of financing options and how they might impact the owner’s on-going operating expenses.
- When requesting a site visit or face-to-face meeting, be familiar with the layout of the landlord’s property and be prepared to make recommendations at that meeting.
One final note of caution, some of the landlords are going to be experienced developers and construction guys and may know a lot about the federal “sustainability” requirements — even solar power systems. However, there a lot of mom/pop owners out there, particularly with the smaller buildings — between 5000 to 20,000 square feet, who purchased their property via a 1031 exchange that are not knowledgeable about these matters nor can they afford to lose the federal government as a tenant. So it is critically important that you understand the structure of a typical federal government lease and be able to offer solutions that will bring increased value, as opposed to cost, to these building owners.
John Keller Norris is the founder of Del Sol Capital Partners, LLC and is located in La Jolla, CA. Mr. Norris has been actively involved in the bidding, procurement, development and management of office space for the U.S. Government in the western U.S. Included in that process is the research, design and implementation of cost effective energy management systems in U.S. government leasehold facilities. Mr. Norris graduated from the Ohio State University with a B.S. degree in Finance and Accounting and received an MBA from San Diego State University. You may contact Mr. Norris at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:30c872ed-abb4-4687-b603-c4a148371246> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenoptions.com/a/tapping-the-energy-efficiency-and-solar-markets-within-federal-building-lease-renewals | 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 | 0.943488 | 1,904 | 1.6875 | 2 |
In the sudden current rush of coming-of-age movies, there is nothing especially inventive or original about The Art of Getting By, but thanks to talented first-time writer-director Gavin Wiesen, it has more charm and wit than most of its J.D. Salinger-inspired cousins in the same genre, and is undeniably engaging.
At life’s crucial turning point of age 17, brilliant but cynical George (played by Freddie Highmore, who made a splash at 11 opposite Johnny Depp as J.M. Barrie’s adolescent muse who inspired Peter Pan in Finding Neverland) is a high-school senior who doesn’t believe in homework. In fact, George hasn’t cracked a book all year. Like most kids today who don’t know anything unless they read it on their laptops, George says, “6.8 billion people on the planet, and none of them will survive. Why should I spend my life figuring how the square root of a hypotenuse will alter my fate?” George has gotten through 12 years of school just by showing up, a loner with no friends who calls himself a “Teflon slacker.” If he doesn’t get into a decent college, how is he ever going to land a job or earn a living? George doesn’t care. A talented artist, he withdraws into his art books, listens to Leonard Cohen, reads Camus and dotes on Truffaut movies, avoiding confrontations with anything that sounds like real life.
Until, that is, he meets “The Girl”—a popular, defiant misfit named Sally Howe (Emma Roberts, who starred in the disastrous Nancy Drew)—when he takes the rap after she’s caught smoking on the school roof. Sally introduces him to parties, kissing and breaking all the rules, even going so far as to aggressively offer to help him lose his virginity. In Sally, he finds a soulmate. These are affluent New York kids in private schools, filled with anxieties and prescription antidepressants like their parents, no strangers to Ritalin, Lexipro and Valium, living in fabulous apartments and brownstones and fraught with the daily rituals of domestic crisis. Sally has a twice-divorced mom prowling the singles dating-hell scene with a vengeance who treats her more like a roommate than a daughter. George’s security blanket suddenly lands in the rag bin when his perfect stepfather (the excellent Sam Robards) goes bankrupt and files for divorce, leaving his estranged mother, Vivian (Rita Wilson), a brittle businesswoman, with her credit cards maxed out and their apartment on the market. Meanwhile, George’s principal (Blair Underwood) offers him an ultimatum: either make up every test and homework assignment for the entire year or face expulsion before graduation. And he’s got only three weeks to do it. With all of his resourcefulness, and Sally’s help, George realizes at last that the art of getting by is no longer an option.
Mr. Highmore, who has surrendered his cute-kid status, does a very nice job of portraying a modern-day Holden Caulfield. Unfocused, he has a lot of sensitivity and intelligence, but not much talent for applying for a position in the world at large. He’s not sure where he’s going, or where he’s been, but he’s very certain he can stay grounded as long as he stands still long enough to make sense out of wherever he is. Mr. Wiesen’s screenplay makes him a likeable character of contradictions—sweet but obnoxious, a good enough student that his teachers want him to succeed despite his resistance, an isolated brat still compassionate about his parents and desperate for affection. The divide between the kids and the adults is very realistically drawn. Unlike most recent coming-of-age movies, this one gets by on more than capricious eccentricity and sentimentality. It has something called heart.
THE ART OF GETTING BY
Running time 84 minutes
Written and directed by Gavin Wiesen
Starring Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano | <urn:uuid:80767f5c-f147-46a0-8a7c-c94a0be1e1a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://observer.com/2011/06/the-art-of-getting-by-gets-the-coming-of-age-flick-right/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958794 | 879 | 1.507813 | 2 |
People's Park, Berkeley CA 1969
Men planting at People's Park, Berkeley in 1969. There are other photos on this site of the protests that surrounded People's Park.
People's Park was a piece of land on Telegraph Ave, a few blocks from the University of California. The University owned the land but had never developed it. Since there were many street people in Berkeley, especially during the 1960's, the land was a place to grow food and hang out. The University decided to put a parking lot there (probably the Board of Regents, headed by Gov Reagan - later President Reagan) in order to stop the land from being used in that fashion. That's when the protests began.
A parking lot was never built. Today, it's a park. ... show more | <urn:uuid:974354a0-803e-42a5-ab74-73a4ce3afeeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ancientfaces.com/photo/peoples-park-berkeley-ca-1969/416239 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986851 | 159 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Newspapers Canada released its seventh annual National Freedom of Information (FOI) Audit on September 24 at the Sunshine Summit in Calgary. The launch of the 2012 report coincides with the beginning of Canadian Right to Know Week.
The annual FOI audit reviews the performance of Canadian governments with respect to their access to information regimes.The audit provides the public with an opportunity to see the degree to which our governments are in compliance with their own FOI legislation and facilitates comparisons among jurisdictions.
“The annual FOI audit represents an important tool for protecting the public’s right to access government information,” said John Hinds, CEO of Newspapers Canada.
“Municipalities continue to perform fastest in the audit, easily outpacing the senior levels of government,” noted Professor Fred Vallance-Jones, the National FOI audit’s lead researcher. “Thirty years after the Access to Information Act was passed, the federal government seems stuck in a rut of delays and can’t get out of the 50 to 60 percent range when it comes to completing requests on time.”
The FOI audit compares the performance of government and various public institutions across Canada. To obtain the data for the audit, a team of researchers requested the same information from the federal and provincial government, as well as a selection of municipalities.
The FOI audit was done in collaboration with Fred Vallance-Jones, associate professor of journalism at the University of King's College, and his team.
The 2012 Newspapers Canada FOI Audit is now available at www.newspaperscanada.ca/public-affairs/FOI2012 | <urn:uuid:3954ee42-b082-42b5-b5e3-3b7203fd48d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newspaperscanada.ca/?q=news/public-affairs/seventh-annual-national-freedom-information-audit-out-now | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949534 | 338 | 1.671875 | 2 |
7 Tips for Saving Money on Medicine
Thank goodness for medication: It speeds up recovery, cures common illnesses, and keeps chronic diseases under control. But for all the benefits of modern medicine, it does come with a major downside: the cost. Luckily there are prescription savings to be found. Next time you visit your doctor, keep these cost-cutting techniques in mind:
Photo by flickr.com/75536060@N07
1. Opt for generics.Generic prescription drugs cost an average of 80 to 85 percent less than their brand-name counterparts, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. That adds up to serious prescription savings. The FDA assures consumers there is no need to worry about safety or quality: Generic medications are just as effective and include the same active ingredients as brand-name products.
2. Compare prices.DestinationRx lets consumers shop around for the cheapest forms of prescription medications. You must register with the site and enter the name, dose, and quantity of your medication to see a list of less expensive alternatives. Warehouse clubs such as Costco tend to offer substantial prescription savings. Costco displays price information on its website and offers even better deals to customers who lack insurance coverage for prescription drugs.
3. Look for discount programs.Walmart, Target, and some major chain pharmacies charge only $4 for a 30-day supply of many commonly prescribed generic medications. These programs don't come with extra fees or membership costs. Check to see if any grocery chains near you offer similar prescription savings through discount programs. At ShopRite, for instance, a 90-day supply of certain medications costs only $10. AARP also offers a discount program that covers all FDA-approved prescription drugs and provides delivery by mail.
4. Buy in bulk.For drugs you take month after month, mail order promises prescription savings. Ask your physician if you can order a 90-day supply instead of a 30-day supply. By buying in a larger quantity, you can wind up paying less per dose, and with insurance, you will be charged only one co-pay instead of three.
Photo by flickr.com/65819195@N00
5. Ask about splitting pills.In many cases, pills cost about the same no matter how much medication they contain. For example, a supply of 100 mg pills likely costs little more than a bottle of 50 mg pills but delivers twice as much of a particular drug. Ask your physician or pharmacist if your prescription is safe for pill splitting. If the answer is yes, request that your doctor order twice the required dosage and explain how to safely split the pills.
6. Try samples before you buy.If your doctor wants to put you on a new drug, ask if he or she can provide samples so you can try a few doses for free before you pay to have a prescription filled. Some doctors may be even more generous, depending on their stock of samples.
7. Use coupons.Coupons aren't just for toiletries and groceries; they also offer prescription savings. Search sites such as Internet Drug Coupons to find manufacturer coupons and free trials from pharmaceutical companies. You can also check to see who manufactures your prescriptions and go directly to the drug company's website. Many offer free 30-day trials or coupons.
No matter which strategy you use, safety should always be your first priority. Never feel awkward telling your doctor that a prescription is too expensive and you're seeking a more affordable alternative. Have an open discussion about all the available options. | <urn:uuid:80ce5722-164a-42dd-9a2f-9d24307168c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cheapism.com/blog/2212/prescription_savings | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933208 | 722 | 1.898438 | 2 |
A video detailing something I've never heard of that made my jaw drop. The Atlantic Monthly headlined their short piece on it, "How 4,000 Men Hand-Deliver 175,000 Lunches Around Mumbai in One Day:"
“Dabbawalla” comes from the term "tiffin dabba," referring to a tiered lunch box and “walla,” a carrier or vendor. As Saritha Rai explains in The New York Times, India’s dabbawalla network originated during the British colonial occupation after cities were flooded with new, regional workers as a way to bridge the distance [both literally and figuratively] between their work sites and their homes. Each morning, after the recipient has gone to work, family members who remain at home (mothers, wives, grandmothers, and sisters) prepare a freshly-cooked meal to be picked up by a dabbawalla, sorted and distributed at railway stations, and hand-delivered to their loved one at the office.
Today, Mumbai is home to approximately 4,000 dabbawallas who deliver tens of thousands of lunches via an intricate, 125-year-old coding system without fail.
The NYT article is here. | <urn:uuid:f8df2eac-ea3f-4667-a568-ab2be53a2809> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arlinghaus.typepad.com/blog/engineering/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965041 | 253 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Landfill Methane Outreach Program
Sioux Falls Landfill and POET Ethanol Direct-Use Project
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- End User(s):
- Ethanol Production
- Sioux Falls Regional Sanitary Landfill
- Landfill Size:
- 10.2 million tons waste-in-place (2008)
- Project Type:
- Boiler (steam for ethanol production)
- Project Size:
- 1,250 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm)
- Environmental Benefits:
- Carbon sequestered annually by 31,500 acres of pine or fir forests, annual greenhouse gas emissions from 28,300 passenger vehicles, or carbon dioxide emissions from 344,100 barrels of oil consumed. Annual energy savings equate to heating 4,200 homes. Estimated emissions reductions of 0.0404 million metric tons of carbon equivalents.
- LMOP Partners Involved:
- Mickelson & Company, LLC, POET, TerraPass, Inc., Sioux Falls Regional Sanitary Landfill, Unison Solutions Inc.
- Last Updated:
With continually increasing flows of landfill gas (LFG) from the city landfill, Sioux Falls investigated how to utilize the gas for energy rather than flaring it. A 2006 feasibility study investigated whether the increasing LFG flow should be used for energy production at a nearby ethanol production plant or whether it should be used to generate electricity.
Based on study results, the city chose to capture, clean, and pipe the LFG for energy utilization at the ethanol plant. In 2009, the ethanol plant began utilizing the LFG in a wood waste-fuel boiler to generate additional energy. LFG displaces about 10 percent of the plant's natural gas consumption, which is expected to increase to 30 percent by 2025. The project earned recognition as a 2009 LMOP Project of the Year.
The city doubled the amount of LFG collected by expanding and improving the gas collection system, its associated controls, and a leachate system. Dual-phase collection wells collect LFG and pump leachate out of the active collection area. A new data acquisition and control system optimizes LFG recovery and processing and allows the city to monitor and adjust LFG in real time. LFG collection efficiency is about 90 percent.
Because of the pending South Dakota winter, the compressor building was built before (instead of after) installation of the system that filters, dries, and compresses the gas. Thus, the treatment skid had to be placed inside the already-constructed building. In addition, the city's pipeline contractor utilized a Fast Fusion welder to help install 11 miles of pipeline in just two months, before snow covered the ground.
The city decided to install and maintain ownership of the pipeline because the feasibility study showed that city ownership was the most viable of the ownership options. Funds for the pipeline came from tipping fees. With revenue from LFG sales and carbon credits, the project is expected to pay for itself in four years. Following that, the city expects to fund improvements and additional programs at the landfill.
This is truly a win-win for the City of Sioux Falls, POET, our community and customers of the landfill. The City feels fortunate to be able to make a significant impact on the environment and improve revenue at the landfill at the same time. —Dave Munson, former Mayor, Sioux Falls | <urn:uuid:eae51e5e-4def-4a9d-9392-7c16fa865d45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://epa.gov/lmop/projects-candidates/profiles/siouxfallslandfillandpoet.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908526 | 688 | 2.234375 | 2 |
My half-baked idea was a little too ambitious. I'm including it below for reference, but the distance condition I specified is not actually sufficient to guarantee large girth.
There are arbitrarily large highly symmetric surface maps with large girth, but published existence proofs are largely based on group theory rather than topology or geometry per se.
Specifically, for any integers $g$, $d$, and $r$ such that $1/g + 1/d < 1/2$, there is a regular surface map in which every face has $g$ edges, every vertex has degree $d$, and every non-contractible cycle on the surface crosses at least $r$ edges. Here "regular" means both that every vertex has the same degree and that for any pair of directed edges, there is an automorphism of the embedding that sends directed edge to the other. Setting $r$ large enough in this construction guarantees that the girth of the graph is $g$. See, for example:
Once you have one such surface map, larger maps with the same girth and degree can be generated by constructing covering spaces.
Here is one (half-baked) way to generate such graphs. Let $G$ be a plane graph with the following properties:
Every bounded face of $G$ has exactly $g$ edges.
The outer face of $G$ has an even number of edges; call these the boundary edges of $G$. (This condition holds automatically when $g$ is even; if $g$ is odd, $G$ must have an even number of bounded faces.)
It is possible to pair the boundary edges of $G$,
so that the distance in $G$ from any boundary edge to its partner is at least $g$. This condition is not actually enough; the exact condition needed here is unclear.
Arbitrarily large plane graphs with these properties can be constructed by taking a sufficiently large finite portion of a regular tiling of the hyperbolic plane by $g$-gons.
Finally, to obtain a surface graph $G'$ where every face has length $g$, identify pairs of boundary edges in $G$ according to the pairing described above. The bounded faces of $G$ become the faces of a cellular embedding of $G'$ on some closed surface without boundary. The distance condition on the pairing guarantees that the girth of $G'$ is $g$.
By choosing both $G$ and the pairing more carefully, once can construct arbitrarily large $d$-regular graphs satisfying your girth condition, for any integers $d$ and $g$ such that $1/d + 1/g < 1/2$. Even within these constraints, the construction has lots of degrees of freedom. | <urn:uuid:168c2d2d-e3dc-4e4f-acda-ee00c158fb2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/11717/generating-graphs-of-girth-g-such-that-the-minimum-cycles-form-a-double-edge-c | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956855 | 574 | 1.8125 | 2 |
I think this is an OS problem but we'll see what the consensus is. It's a little hard to describe accurately. I reformatted my HDD recently and first noticed this anomaly when I engaged the "STARFIELD" screen saver in XP. If you've seen it you know that the point of origin of the "STARS" is suppose to be in the center of the screen. On my screen the point of origin is almost off the screen to the right. Also, the cursor is suppose to stop at the edges of the screen. On mine it does on 3 edges but not on the right side. I have done some experiments and it appears that I can move the cursor approximately one full screen width past the right edge. Everything else seems normal. Wallpaper and programs fit normally. I probably wouldn't care except it's very annoying to constantly lose the cursor off the right side of the screen and have to relocate it. I've already exhausted all the driver variables and also tried every adjustment on the monitor itself. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.
There was a setting which allowed you to have a much larger desktop than your monitor was capable of displaying... the desktop generally scrolls when it is set larger than the resolution. I do not remember where this setting is located, and I can not find it in Vista, but I know it exists... as I've played around with it before. It may not be called "desktop size"... and I certainly don't recall what it is called, because it's been so long since I've seen it.
It also wouldn't hurt to check if "Extend my desktop onto this monitor" isn't checked for the 2nd display.
I have two monitors. My left side desktop was larger than the monitor, and whenever I moved the pointer to the edge, the entire desktop image would scroll.
After reading the comments on this thread, I decided to look at it as a flaw in XP. Then I reviewed the settings for the desktop and noticed that my two sides were set for two different graphics cards. So I tried picking the alternate graphics card for the left side, and the problem went away. | <urn:uuid:8dfee0da-9f01-48ca-b6d9-e2ba1743ba9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/238654-45-oversize-desktop | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98244 | 437 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Baseline surveys of the subtidal reef biota of the Batemans Bay Marine Park 2005-2007
Barrett, NS and Stuart-Smith, RD and Zagal, CJ and Polacheck, AS and Lynch, T and Edgar, GJ and Clements, F (2008) Baseline surveys of the subtidal reef biota of the Batemans Bay Marine Park 2005-2007. Technical Report. University of Tasmania, Hobart.
Official URL: http://www.tafi.org.au/index.php/site/publications/
Surveys of fish, invertebrates and algae were conducted on subtidal rocky reefs within the Batemans Marine Park (BMP) in December 2005 (11 sites), 2006 (25 sites) and 2007 (22 sites). At the time of the 2005 and 2006 surveys, the BMP had been created but legislation to implement the zoning scheme and hence enforce fishing restrictions was not in place. Data obtained in 2005 and 2006 thus represent baseline conditions. The zoning came into effect in June, 2007.
The BMP surveys form part of a broader study into the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Australian temperate waters. Surveys were undertaken with identical methodology to studies in the nearby Jervis Bay Marine Park (Barrett et al., 2006) as well as in Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. Surveys assessed the diversity and abundance of fish and macro-invertebrates and percentage cover estimates of algae and sessile invertebrates.
One hundred and nine species of fish, fifty five species of macro-invertebrates and seventy three species of algae were counted throughout the surveys. Schooling fish species such as Chromis hypsilepis (One-spot puller), Atypichthys strigatus (Mado sweep) and Trachinops taeniatus (Eastern hulafish) were the most abundant at most sites. The most abundant resident reef fish were Parma microlepis (white-ear), Crinodus lophodon (Rock cale) and Notolabrus gymnogenis (Crimson-banded wrasse). The most abundant invertebrates were Centrostephanus rodgersii (Long spine urchin), Astralium spp. (Turban shells), Heliocidaris spp. (common urchins) and Turbo spp. (Turbo). In many locations C. rodgersii were very abundant and formed extensive barrens. This most probably impacted on algal assemblages, with many sites devoid of canopy forming algae in the depth ranges (5 and 10 m) surveyed. Algae covering most substrata sampled were crustose coralline algae, species of Peyssonnelia (red algae) and Ecklonia radiata (brown kelp).
The survey methodology was designed to detect changes at all levels of species interaction and the response of sanctuary zones to protection. Ideally surveys should be repeated each year, producing a time-series of data documenting changes in the abundance and distribution of species of interest. This would also provide an indication of MPA performance as observed changes between management zones could be differentiated from chance divergence. It would also provide a reference for assessing the extent of fishing related influence on the regions subtidal reef ecosystems. Surveys of fish and mobile invertebrates should be repeated on an annual basis and surveys of algal assemblages be conducted on at least a biannual basis, until biotic changes associated with MPA protection stabilise.
Because the sites surveyed in 2005 & 2006 were deliberately different (utilising available resources to maximise sampling coverage of the BMP and sanctuary zones), the large number of sites surveyed overall meant not all could be re-surveyed in the time available in 2007. The 2007 sites therefore represent a random sample of those covered by previous surveys, and as many as could be sampled within the time and logistical constraints imposed. If there are to be ongoing annual surveys in BMP, a subset of the existing sites need to be chosen, such that they can all be reliably repeated on an annual basis within the time frame that budgets will allow. The work to date provides a comprehensive baseline from which an ongoing program may be developed and refined within those budgetary constraints.
|Item Type:||Report (Technical Report)|
|Additional Information:||Ó The Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania 2008.
Copyright protects this publication. Except for purposes permitted by the Copyright
Act, reproduction by whatever means is prohibited without the prior written
permission of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute.|
|Deposited By:||Dr CJ Zagal|
|Deposited On:||08 Nov 2010 16:32|
|Last Modified:||08 Nov 2010 16:32|
|ePrint Statistics:||View statistics for this ePrint|
Repository Staff Only: item control page | <urn:uuid:94ff3f46-a811-4ad3-87af-9335bf30c71b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eprints.utas.edu.au/10308/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914448 | 1,026 | 2.34375 | 2 |
We all have been there: you wake up in the morning feeling rested and then glance down at your phone to see how late to work you are going to be. Embarrassing, and it can lead to losing your job.
With push notifications, phone calls and any other types of alerts, it seems that an iPhone is constantly signaling the user. Even with all of these reminders, though, it is still important to have alarms set for key events. Or even for waking up in the morning.
Luckily Apple has included a decent clock app on every iPhone. With a few easy-to-follow steps the clock app can be setup so that one will not forget important events throughout their day.
How to setup iPhone alarms
To set up iPhone alarms, tap the app Clocks on the home screen.
Once the app opens it should look like this:
Tap on Alarm on the bottom of the screen, as shown in the picture above.
If there are already alarms setup, most likely they will be turned Off. If they are, the user probably wants them to be enabled.
To add a new alarm Tap the add (+) button in the top right.
The time the user wants the alarm to sound can be set at the bottom of the screen. If the alarm is to be a recurring event, such as a wakeup time or class schedule reminders, tap Repeat.
Select which days the alarm will be repeated on in this window:
It is also good to note that the sound of the alarm can be changed from the default Marimba by tapping Sound.
These are some of the default sounds to choose from. You can also select any ringtones that are on the iPhone.
Lastly, if the alarm is for a certain event it is helpful to change the name from the default “Alarm.” This can be done by tapping on Label.
Overall setting up iPhone alarms is a pretty straightforward process. And with it properly configured, hopefully that morning meeting or important business call won’t be missed again. | <urn:uuid:0d3e0ad7-0d67-4030-beca-89b6a2168054> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gottabemobile.com/2013/01/28/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-the-iphones-alarm/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946175 | 420 | 1.75 | 2 |
Every family, even famous ones, have secrets. The Hemingways are no different.
"We were, sort of, the other American family that had this horrible curse," says Mariel Hemingway. She compared her family to the Kennedys -- but the Hemingway curse, she said, is mental illness.
Hemingway, granddaughter of acclaimed author Ernest Hemingway, explores the troubled history of her family in "Running from Crazy," a documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday. Barbara Kopple is the director; Oprah Winfrey is the executive producer.
"Knowing that there's so much suicide and so much mental illness in my family, I've always kind of been 'running from crazy,' worried that one day I'd wake up and be in the same position," Mariel Hemingway, 51, said at a support group for families of suicide, as shown in the film.
Hemingway told CNN last week she wanted this documentary to be an unveiling of her family history, and to give people permission to express their own "stuff," to realize they're "not alone in the world of dysfunction."
The documentary guides the viewer through the turmoil of her parents' marriage and the troubled relationships between her and her siblings. It includes archival footage from when her sister Margaux Hemingway, who took her own life in 1996, had been making a personal family documentary.
"Suicide has no rhyme or reason," Hemingway said. "Some people think about it for years and plan it. Some people, it's 20 dark minutes of their life that they decide to take their life that comes out of the blue. It's very random, it's very frightening."
Whether Hemingway is jumping on a trampoline or submerging herself in a cold stream, with her pointed nose and bouncy blonde hair, her message in the film is one of achieving mental well-being and overcoming one's own problems. These scenes contrast with newspaper clippings, still photos and melancholy video clips from her family's past.
Seven members of Hemingway's family have died by taking their own lives, including Ernest and Mariel Hemingway's older sister Margaux, she said. Mariel Hemingway had denied her sister's death was a suicide until an event hosted by the American Association for the Prevention of Suicide in 2003.
Ernest Hemingway, who won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, struggled with depression and killed himself in 1961, just months before Mariel Hemingway was born. But suicide wasn't something that was talked about when she was growing up. | <urn:uuid:c3c20bb5-8693-489d-854f-8d225a914720> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcra.com/news/health/Hemingway-family-mental-illness-in-new-film/-/11797232/18214412/-/item/0/-/2v2ieqz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983379 | 543 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Early Settlers of
Their Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Lunches and Shared Knowledge
(or Life in a Country School -- part 1)
Choestoe School in Union County, Georgia, 1936 through 1943 has a special place in my memory, in things I love, and in who I became in life. It also figures in my first year of a thirty-year teaching career, for it was there, where I started school, that I returned to teach my very first year as a young, inexperienced, fresh-out-of-junior-college state provisionally certified teacher.
Choestoe schoolhouse has been moved from its former location and now stands on land that was once my Daddy’s, then my brother’s, my own, my son’s, and now the county’s. The old Choestoe school house is being restored and will eventually be used as a voting precinct building and perhaps a community clubhouse.
But what took place there in the building’s heyday as a schoolhouse? Come with me to learn about “Lard Pail Lunches and Shared Knowledge.”
I received my early education in a two-teacher country school from 1936 through 1943. I never felt deprived educationally from this inauspicious start. In high school, college and graduate school, I regarded my elementary school education as excellent and special indeed.
Not only did I begin my education in a two-teacher country school, but my first year of teaching was in that same school in 1949-1950. “You can’t go home again,” as proposed by author Thomas Wolfe in his novel, Look Homeward, Angel, did not apply to me. I returned home to teach with anticipation and joy, and gratitude that the Union County School Board would consider a product of that school to be worthy to teach there.
By 1949, due to declining pupil population, Choestoe had become a one-teacher school. Having attended that school myself the very first year the “new” two-room building opened, and then returning thirteen years later to teach my first year there at the same school, were both rich and rewarding experiences for me.
Let us look at life in Choestoe School from 1936 through 1943, the years I was a student in its hallowed halls. From Primer through Seventh Grade I was educated at that school. Choestoe had been an early school, although the building in which I attended was brand new in 1936. Previous schools had preceded the one I knew so well. Early settlers began the school, some of my ancestors with surnames like Dyer, Souther, Collins, Hunter, Nix, Self and England, to name a few. Many of these forebears were in the county when it was founded in 1832. And straightaway they began a school at various locations, not necessarily on the same spot as the new building of 1936. Earlier, a log building used for both school and church had been replaced by a two-room, two-story frame school building. On the upper floor of the old building, the Choestoe Masonic Lodge met. I can vaguely remember attending events in that building when my older brother Eugene and my sister Louise went to school there. Even as a young child, the steps to the second floor fascinated me and I wondered what lay beyond the confines of what I could see.
The brand new building in which I began my educational adventures in 1936 had two rooms, both on the ground level. A covered open vestibule-type entrance was at the front. Two front doors led in from the vestibule to the classrooms. The “lower grades” (primer through third) classroom was on the left and the “upper grades” (fourth through seventh) was on the right. Each classroom had a cloak/storage room across the front where we had pegs to hang our coats and shelves to set our “lard bucket” lunch pails. If we wore galoshes over our shoes in rainy or snowy weather, we removed them and left them in the cloak room while we were in class. Also in that room were bookcase shelves in one end of the room on which the extra textbooks were aligned, grade-wise.
The classrooms were separated by a removable partition, ceiled with wood on both sides. I can remember my father and other men in the community taking down those partitions to provide a large space. A raised stage was put in place and the classrooms could then accommodate our school programs.
Each classroom was heated by a wood heater, an iron stove (not the usual “pot” bellied) a low, oblong heater with a door on the front into which to feed the wood. Parents (or patrons of the school) were required to haul their fair share of the wood consumed throughout the months heat was needed. Long tin stovepipes connected the heater to the common chimney that was outside the building about where the middle partition was located that separated the classrooms.
That first nervous day—in July, 1936—we students waited outside, anticipating what school might be like until “the principal,”—the upper-grades teacher, rang the school bell—our signal that “books” (or classes) were to begin. Miss Opal Sullivan was the upper grades teacher, a trim, beautiful young lady who seemed to me then all-too-young to be a teacher. She stood in the school entrance on the right side, awaiting her fourth through seventh grade pupils to line up in an orderly row. Mrs. Mert Shuler Collins was the primary grades teacher. She stood at the school entrance on the left side. She patiently showed the new pupils like me how to line up. When everyone was quiet and in order, we were given the signal to proceed.
Once we were inside that primary side of the magnificent new school building, it was not hard for us to tell which desks were for the primer and first grade students. The very smallest individual wooden desks were in a row nearest the line of tall, glowing windows. I quickly found one in a location I liked, and soon it seemed to me that I had found a new home. And, indeed, I had, because from that first day of school in 1936 until the present, I have found my home-away-from home in classrooms, wherever they have opened welcoming doors to me.[To be continued: Part 2 of “Lard Pail Lunches and Shared Knowledge”. Note: This story, in modified form, written by Ethelene Dyer Jones, appeared first in Moonshine and Blind Mules edited by Bob Lasley and Sallie Holt. Hickory, NC: Hometown Memories Publishing Co., 2006, pp. 88-91. Used by permission.]
Jones; published October 27, 2011 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
[Ethelene Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at e-mail email@example.com; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411.] | <urn:uuid:7cf7280d-2651-4850-baca-4fbe92cf81a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaunion/mm102711.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983837 | 1,537 | 2.078125 | 2 |