text stringlengths 213 24.6k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 1 value | url stringlengths 14 499 | file_path stringlengths 138 138 | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.9 1 | token_count int64 51 4.1k | score float64 1.5 5.06 | int_score int64 2 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
seen the ads: "Weight loss made simple," "Lose 10 lbs. in
10 days," "Eat what you want and still lose weight," and unfortunately
the majority of Americans have found there is nothing easy
about losing weight. In fact, according to the U.S. Center
for Disease Control 3 out of 4 people who lose weight using
the traditional approaches to weight loss regain 90% of it
within one year and almost all of the weight within 5 years.
problem people face isn't taking the weight off: it's keeping
to see why obesity related headlines are appearing in the
news more frequently: 'Obesity Has Become A Global Epidemic',
'Today's Teens Are Severely Overweight' and 'Type II Diabetes
In Children Is Soaring', are but a few. Ever since the Surgeon
General announced that the rate of obesity in America is climbing
the media has revolved around the 65% of the population struggling
with their weight. But what about the population who aren't
struggling. What's their secret to staying in shape?
you could ask is Al Smith Jr., who not only won his battle
with being over weight but has successfully managed to keep
it off for over 9 years.
With the knowledge
he gained from his experience Al is now helping others tackle
their own weight problems. Using an aggressive approach to
fitness Al's primary goal is to prevent relapse in his clients.
He ingrains into them that living healthy is more than just
about shedding pounds, it's about learning how to make a healthy
PLAY to see why
we provide the best atmosphere to train in San Diego! | <urn:uuid:b8d4afc9-d156-4432-8f5f-32f64d9e09c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefitnessspecialist.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974735 | 349 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Born at his father's farm, The Leap, near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Ireland, 5 Aug., 1774; died at Utica, New York, on 11 Dec., 1848. He came from a patriotic and pious family, and was a son of Thomas Devereux and Catherine Corish. His brother Walter was in several battles in the Rebellion of '98, and a price was set on his head; while his brother James was killed in the battle of Vinegar Hill. His sister Catherine became Superioress of the Presentation Convent, Enniscorthy. John C. Devereux landed at New York about 1797, gave dancing lessons in Connecticut, and in 1802 opened a store in Utica, New York. He was successful and became wealthy; was public spirited and enterprising. He was elected the first mayor of Utica in 1840. He and his brother Nicholas founded the Utica Savings Bank. Dr. Bagg in "The Pioneers of Utica" says, "a settler of 1802 and a very prince among his fellows was John C. Devereux whose honourable career and many deeds of charity left behind him a memory as verdant as that of the green isle whence he came". He loved his Church and its institutions, and in 1813 was a trustee of St. Mary's, Albany. Visiting missionary priests always stayed at Devereux's home, where local Catholics heard Mass on Sundays. He and his brother Nicholas brought the Sisters of Charity to Utica to open an orphanage and each gave $5,000 towards the object. He was twice married but had no children; he was buried in the grounds of the Sisters of Charity.
APA citation. (1914). John C. Devereux. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: The Encyclopedia Press. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16033a.htm
MLA citation. "John C. Devereux." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 16 (Index). New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1914. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16033a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Herman F. Holbrook. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1914. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads. | <urn:uuid:cda93617-31b5-4d6c-8e37-b47b86fe134d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newadvent.org/cathen/16033a.htm | 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 | 0.96895 | 610 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Ferry service has been a part of the Texas transportation system since the 19th century when the skiff, The Tarpon, began operating from Galveston Island. Later, two barges plied between Port Bolivar and Galveston. These early operations were commercial ventures and only made the trip when they had paying customers. There were no published or regularly scheduled operations.
In 1929 the first regularly scheduled ferry service between Port Bolivar and Galveston Island was established by a privately owned company. At the end of 1929 the company sold its two ferries to Galveston County and the county operated the ferry service for about 6 months. Galveston County petitioned the state to operate the ferries and then sold the two vessels to the State of Texas in April 1930.
The first ferry operated by the State of Texas left Port Bolivar on July 1, 1934. Texas operated the ferry service toll-free for approximately six months, but the service was so popular that Galveston County officials asked the state to impose a 25 cent charge to reduce traffic congestion. The 25 cent toll continued, except for a brief experimental period in 1934, until 1949. Since then, the ferry operation has been operated as a toll-free service.
In 1967 a second operation began providing ferry service across the Corpus Christi Ship Channel between Port Aransas and Harbor Island. Prior to becoming part of the state service, the ferry was operated on a fee basis by Nueces County.
The ferry port facilities, staging areas and visitor facilities were reconstructed in 1977 and upgraded again in 1994.
The peak months for ferry use are June, July and August. Throughout the year, more than 8 million people use the TxDOT ferry system. The greatest number of passengers carried on a single day was July 3, 1994 when 43,472 people boarded Galveston Island to Port Bolivar ferries. The most vehicles transported on a single day occurred a year earlier on July 4, 1993 when 12,733 vehicles were carried.
Galveston Island to Port Bolivar
The Galveston-Port Bolivar ferry is the bridge between two segments of State Highway 87. South of IH-10, State Highway 87 is the only highway around Galveston Bay. The free ferry service provided by TxDOT is the only way motorists can cross the waterway between Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island.
The ferry service is critical to the residents of Bolivar Peninsula when a hurricane threatens. The ferries are the primary means of evacuation through Galveston to the causeway and the mainland. Ferries continue crossing the channel until high winds and tides make their mission unsafe. The boats are then secured in their moorings at the Galveston landing facility.
The 2.7 mile trip takes approximately 18 minutes to cross one of the busiest waterways in the world. Through the Bolivar Roads Channel flows the commerce of the Port of Houston, the nations largest inland port, as well as other Galveston and Trinity Bay communities. Approximately 7,000 ships visit the Port of Houston each year.
The ferry operation consists of five boats, each of which can carry approximately 70 vehicles, 500 passengers and six crewmembers. Each ferry is capable of carrying eight 18-wheel trucks weighing 80,000 pounds each. All of the boats are double-ended with a pilothouse on each end, and the Captain changes from one pilothouse to the other to go in the opposite direction.
The Gibb Gilchrist is a traditionally powered and steered vessel. The R.C. Lanier, D.C. Greer, Ray Stoker, Jr. and R.H. Dedman, the four newest ferries, employ a "cycloidal propulsion" system. Instead of conventional propellers and rudders, power is obtained from two vertical cycloidal propulsors, one at each end of the boat. This technology allows the ferry to make 360 degree turns or to move sideways with no forward or backward movement. It also allows the Captain to make quicker stops or slow the vessel much more rapidly than conventionally propelled boats.
All of the boats are named after former Texas Transportation Commission members except the Gibb Gilchrist. Mr. Gilchrist was the State Highway Engineer twice during his career with the department.
Between 1994 and 1996, additional maintenance and mooring facilities were built and the public rest areas were completely rehabilitated. Secure, lighted parking facilities were also provided on both sides for passengers who wish to walk aboard.
Hours of Operation
The Ferry runs 24 hours. This is a free service. | <urn:uuid:547c7b4a-99db-488b-8652-108ec549bd56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.galveston.com/galvestonferry/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966315 | 950 | 3.3125 | 3 |
An art show that draws inspiration from The Catcher in the Rye and social media -- occurring at the dawn of another goddamn school year -- is best left in the hands of adolescents. At "Teen Age: You Just Don't Understand," curators Ken Goldberg and Catharine Clark have done just that, picking more than 10 works from a pool of 60 international submissions, with an eye toward Holden, high tech, and parental guidance -- all the artists are duly chaperoned. Allison Reilly, accompanied by Miguel Farias, gives us a teenager lying in bed at night, illuminated by her open MacBook, her face featureless in the blinding glare. Words from 100 Colma and Richmond teens show up in Metapuentes, which features doors inscribed with text-club dialogue. Maize Buchholz (11) and his grandmother (age withheld) prescribe Pills for Parents, a Facebook project featuring a dangling mobile hung with packages of pills for "overzealous parents." (Take a moment to think about this one -- where's Mom? -- and keep an eye out for the young Buchholz.) The show purposefully coincides with the tech-art blowout down south, ZER01's 01SJ Biennial: "Build Your Own World," which, depending how deeply you've drunk from the Boing Boing well, is full of hotshot visionaries or lousy with phonies. Either way, it's a swell name. It really is. | <urn:uuid:92f292a0-0ddf-4816-b47b-5ffbe67abb8a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfweekly.com/2010-09-01/calendar/not-all-that-david-copperfield-kind-of-crap/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917324 | 296 | 1.648438 | 2 |
|Word Square 9 is a 5x5 grid into which the letters in the word WORD
have been written so that each letter occurs once and only once in each row
and column of the square. The letters may or may not be scrambled in a row
or column, and a space appears somewhere in each row and column to fill the
grid. An example of a Word Square with the word HELP is
|1 ||H || ||L ||P ||E |
|2 ||P ||H ||E || ||L |
|3 ||L ||E ||P ||H || |
|4 || ||L ||H ||E ||P |
|5 ||E ||P || ||L ||H |
Given the clues about letter and space locations that follow, you should be able
to reconstruct Word Square 9. (Note: letter locations are given without
regard to the spaces; for example, the 3rd letter in column 1 would mean the
letter in either the 3rd or 4th row, depending on where the space is in the
- In row 4, R is to the immediate right of W.
- The R and O in column 1 are not in adjacent rows.
- O is the 3rd letter in column 5.
- D is the 4th letter in column 1; the W in column 1 is not adjacent to
- In column 2, the W in one row is followed by R in the row below.
- D is the 3rd letter in row 3.
- R is the 4th letter in row 5.
- In column 1, the O in one row is followed by the space in the row below.
- The D in column 5 isn't in row 1. | <urn:uuid:5a1b6647-530c-49af-9f5a-4532fd9fae5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.allstarpuzzles.com/logic/00224_print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91908 | 361 | 3.78125 | 4 |
The Halloween parties this weekend are over, but that doesn’t mean there’s not time for a few more to finish a build before children start knocking on doors tonight. [formori] at Lakehead University wanted to do something spectacular for a pumpkin carving contest, so he and a few other EE students came up with a tiki-o’-lantern with music.
The guys at Lakehead figured a color organ flashing LEDs in the eyes and mouth of the tiki would be a very good and easy project. The circuit they used is a simple Op-amp setup like one we’ve seen earlier. The entire pumpkin is powered by a 9 V battery and the music is played with an iPod. There are two colors of LEDs – high frequencies flash a blue LED in the eyes and low frequencies flash a red LED in the mouth.
Aside from the added A/V stuff, [formori]‘s pumpkin is one of the best we’ve seen on Hack a Day this year. Check out the Youtube of 1st place winner of the Lakehead pumpkin carving contest after the break. | <urn:uuid:3217013e-8c81-44a7-9cf2-2c4df4c7ef3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hackaday.com/2011/10/31/color-organ-tiki-o-lantern/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941562 | 231 | 1.828125 | 2 |
On February 27, 2009, at the ripe old age of 149+, the Rocky Mountain News was assassinated by its parent company, E.W. Scripps. Accomplices in this satanic ritual sacrifice were the Internet, the economy and The Denver Post, the Mile High City’s remaining daily newspaper. In the accompanying carnage over 200 full-time jobs were wiped out, and quite a few freelance photographers, columnists and reviewers found themselves awash in limbo.
Starting in 1977 I was a book critic for the News, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and my “Unreal Worlds” column appeared in one form or another from 1988 until that fateful black Friday. Like the phoenix rising from its ashes, this inaugural blog post is the birth of a new and different look at those unreal worlds.
Normally I avoid series books—too much of a commitment when there are so many new and different authors to read. But every now and then, I make the accident of reading just one installment, and I get hooked. Here are two cases in point.
I made the mistake of reading Allen Steele’s Coyote in 2002 and hooked myself into a world I couldn’t abandon, on that first extraterrestrial planet colonized by humanity. I can’t wait for each new book. Steele continues the saga in as the third generation of settlers begins to expand its presence in the new world
In Coyote Horizon, the first half of a two-part story arc and the fifth book in the series, Hawk Thompson, the nephew of the former president, meets his first hjadd. The alien gives him an electronic book that reveals the spiritual philosophy most of the other races in the universe live by—not a religion, but a philosophy that has ended war and strife on distant planets, while Earth is on the brink of total collapse.
Hawk becomes a kind of messiah with the message that God is truly a part of each individual (similar to Valentine Smith’s message in Heinlein’s Stranger in an Strange Land). A religious missionary on Coyote, who sees his flock dwindling, knows Hawk must be stopped.
Meanwhile, Walking Star, one of the last Native Americans, finds a new drug that allows the ultimate spirit quest, and Morgan Goldstein, Coyote’s richest man, finances a mission to explore the rest of the planet.
Although it is early, for my money, this is the best science fiction series of the 21st century.
I have to confess to another of my series vices in the drákon series from Shana Abé. The Treasure Keeper, the fourth installment in Abé’s series of fantasy novels about a race of dragons who masquerade as human beings, but who can shift to smoke or dragon forms, is the best one so far.
In the 18th century the drákon in Darkfrith, an isolated village in England, originally thought themselves safe, but they have discovered that human hunters in an organization called the sanf inimicus are out to destroy them.
In The Treasure Keeper, Zoe Lane, a drákon seamstress discovers that, though she is unable to turn to a dragon, she has the unique power of invisibility. Zoe travels to Paris to save her fiancé and the man she truly loves from these dark forces.
In this fantasy/romance Abé again proves that she is better at the fantasy and the romance—and the adventure—than most of the other authors in the genre. | <urn:uuid:81d504e2-9eb9-4ab6-aff3-511fbdf24347> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/03/newspaper-phoenix-steele-a-abe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945516 | 730 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The mission of our program is to help children with physical disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy or Spina Bifida, gain physical independence. We do this by developing their motor functions in a manner that creates positive self–esteem and self–direction. All of our children are taught that they are valued; that each child is important and can give back to society regardless of his/her disability.
We are committed to improving the lives of disadvantaged, underserved children with physical disabilities with the ultimate intention of securing a better life that includes employment and independent living skills.
The Center for Independence through Conductive Education is a 501 (c) 3 registered not for profit organization.
All donations to The Center for Independence are tax deductible and will be used to support our intensive motor training programs for children with physical disabilities.
The Center for Independence… Helping children on their journey to independence. | <urn:uuid:0c2819fd-0ca2-4871-a09c-b3936ff4943a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.center-for-independence.org/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944731 | 181 | 2.140625 | 2 |
SCSU seeks to teach toleranceby Tim Post, Minnesota Public Radio
Officials at St. Cloud State University are trying to determine the best way to respond to a string of racially biased graffiti that's appeared on campus in recent months. The school has hosted public rallies against racism and required students to attend campus wide discussions on race. But some say the best way to deal with racism is with a classroom.
St. Cloud, Minn. — At 9:00 a.m. on a Monday morning 30 students file into a classroom and settle into their seats.
The class is Introduction to Ethnic Studies, taught by Kyoko Kishimoto. Kishimoto launches into a wide range of heady issues right from the top. The history of racism, racial identity in modern society, race in popular culture and slavery.
Honest talk in this class is expected of students. While many suffer from a case of bleary, Monday-morning eyes, they still take part in the discussion.
There are a lot of people who say SCSU is in need of this kind of talk on campus. Since late last year, nearly 20 swastikas have been found scrawled in public spots at the school. This comes after years accusations by faculty of institutional racism and anti-Semitism and several discrimination-based lawsuits.
After the 50-minute class ends, sophomore business student Mitch Ryan of Cloquet says the classroom is a good place to discuss race. He says the continuing news of swastikas on campus has been a topic in class.
"I defiantly think that opening up discussions about recent events here on campus, that we can better understand each other and better understand where where people are coming from and why certain events such as the recent drawings on the walls can be so hurtful to people," Ryan says.
The classroom discussions challenge some students beliefs on race, according to Kyoko Kishomoto. She says for some, it's a first.
"Many of them have never really talked about these issues in their lives. So this is the first time that we talk about the real stuff," she says.
Kyoko Kishomoto she says sometimes the discussions are tense in her class, because the course is challenging some students long held beliefs on race.
"I think my job is planting the seed of these issues. Maybe they'll make the connection tomorrow, or it might take them two months, it might take them five years, but I'm hoping they remember what we discussed in class sometime in their life,"
The issue of race is part of the curriculum on other Minnesota college campuses as well.
Inver Hills Community College is a MNSCU technical college based in Inver Grove heights. College President Cheryl Frank says they offer students several classes that deal with either race or global politics. The school offers courses such as Films of the Holocaust and Genocide in Global Society.
"I counted ours up and we have 54 courses that reflect global perspectives in one way or another," she says.
At the University of Minnesota - Morris, vice chancellor for student affairs Sandy Olson-Loy says the issue of race is taken up in a seminar for freshman.
"Students pick from a wide range of topics that they might enjoy participating in with a faculty member. (It is a) small group discussion on a more seminar-based format so it could be anything from storytelling to music as the language of diversity," Olson-Loy says.
But according to Jean Lacourt, who teaches American Indian studies at SCSU, they're the only college in Minnesota that requires that all students take a three-credit racial issues course in order to graduate. "It is a unique requirement to St. Cloud Statend I'm glad for it, I think it is helping our students," she says.
Lacourt works with faculty in a number of departments who teach a total of 13 racial issues courses on campus. She says every student, regardless of their major, needs to take at least one class on discrimination.
"In order to successfully send our students out into the working world, we have to have them aware of some of the issues that people of color face in this country," Lacourt says.
The courses became mandatory nearly nine years ago, in response to racial tension on campus that included graffiti containing swastikas.
The incidents were similar to what's happened on campus recently, prompting some to ask if the courses are doing their job.
Lacourt says they are, and the latest round of racist graffiti just shows how important it is to keep talking about race.
"Just because we talk about race doesn't mean it's going to go away. It means that the dialogue needs to continue, the dialogue needs to get deeper," she says.
Even so, Lacourt says there will always be racial tension on college campuses. But she's proud that her school is talking, and teaching about it.
- Morning Edition, 02/20/2008, 7:23 a.m. | <urn:uuid:c228da41-0d6f-4604-858e-16ed78fe0d0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/02/19/scsuclasses | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975936 | 1,018 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Scotland to slash carbon emissions from power sector
Scotland set a goal to cut emissions from the power industry by 2030 as First Minister Alex Salmond criticised the UK government for neglecting such a target.
Scotland plans to reduce emissions from electricity output by more than four-fifths to 50 grams of carbon dioxide a kilowatt-hour, Salmond said today at a conference in Aberdeen. Power producers in Scotland generated about 347 grams of CO2 a kilowatt-hour in 2010.
The move follows a decision by the UK government to withhold a so-called decarbonisation goal from energy legislation until 2016, citing carbon-reduction budgets already in place. Clean-power developers including Vestas Wind Systems A/S said the lack of a target would increase the risk of committing to long-term UK investments.
“UK coalition ministers' mixed messages on energy policy and continuing uncertainty around electricity market reform, including the lack of a decarbonisation target until at least 2016, is undermining confidence,” Salmond said. He urged Britain to follow his lead to boost security for investors.
Prime Minister David Cameron's government brushed aside the rebuke from Salmond, whose Scottish National Party is fighting for independence from Britain. Cameron wishes to maintain the union.
“The UK government is fully committed to decarbonising the economy,” UK Secretary of State Ed Davey said today in an e-mailed statement. “While energy policy is not a devolved matter and most energy investment is determined at a UK level, I am pleased that the Scottish government is playing an active role in supporting this agenda.”
Scotland's target was recommended by the UK Committee on Climate Change, which also advised the British government. The goal is underpinned by plans to install 10 gigawatts of offshore wind turbines over the next decade, according to Salmond.
The first minister outlined accords between the Highland and Islands Enterprise development agency and four Scottish ports to expand offshore wind and attract 100 million pounds ($150 million) of investment. The industry has brought in 165 million pounds from six developers to date, member organisation Scottish Renewables said yesterday.
Scotland is seeking to get all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, compared with about 27 per cent in 2011, according to government data. The UK has a target to get 30 per cent of its power from renewables, up from almost 12 per cent now. | <urn:uuid:479a89a1-d3d3-471d-88f7-c9ba6facdfbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/carbon-economy/scotland-to-slash-carbon-emissions-from-power-sector-20130130-2djl7.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951544 | 489 | 2.53125 | 3 |
I am regularly struck by the discontinuity between a nation which brags about its ongoing quest for peace and our worship of the acts of war. Based on which gets more public attention, I would have to conclude that what notice peace gets is trivial in comparison to war. We play war, we are entertained and amused by war, and we love war - as long as we don't have to be the ones fighting it. We try to leave that role for others to play. We as a nation are always actively promoting war over talking about peace. This weekend, Memorial Day, is a notable example of the discontinuity.
Memorial Day began as a Southern remembrance of those who died defending the right to generate immense wealth through involuntary non-wage labor. As the defeated party, the South couldn't be allowed to bestow honor upon the vanquished while the victors were treated to scorn and disdain! In response, the North adopted the practice of honoring the fallen, in part to attenuate the anger of impoverished no-wage Northern veterans over the lack of a service bonus. "Look how much we care about you - now go away empty-handed!"
It isn't much different today. Despite the bold assertion of Gen. John J. Pershing, while serving as first chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission, that "Time will not dim the glory of their deeds", one has to wonder just how much glory the public is willing to bestow upon the casualties of war when the cemeteries are full. At a time of economic collapse, are you willing to reduce the support of the living to purchase more space the bury the bodies? Why should you be? You aren't too keen on supporting the wounded veterans who can't live without assistance! Neither do you care, in the comfort of your living room while watching Dancing With the Stars, that 1 in 4 homeless people are military veterans. Who cares about the dead?
Considering how much public money has been spent honoring the over 1.3 million American war casualties with battlefield parks and marble monuments, one would think that most Americans would be reaching for their wallets every time someone waves a flag in their faces and then passes the service hat. But maybe there is a reason why this isn't happening. Despite the ongoing news that our active-duty personnel in the field have yet to be adequately supplied and trained to conduct operations, billions of dollars are continually wasted on pugilistic pork intended only to keep the already wealthy corporations richer than Croesus. It's good for the national defense! | <urn:uuid:7d889bb6-42bf-4326-9ccd-0eba65a54b37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogcritics.org/politics/article/who-remembers-the-casualties-of-the/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96925 | 515 | 1.859375 | 2 |
“I love my job, and I loved the people I worked with,” said the preadmissions nurse.
Just as expected, Brock was let go when she told her superiors that she would not put on a surgical mask. It’s the kind the hospital requires for employees — like Brock — who are not vaccinated against the flu.
A board-certified holistic nurse, Brock said, “I have spiritual and religious reasons to not have those toxins in my body.”
Brock is speaking out because she believes the hospital’s new requirement to wear the mask amounts to a scarlet letter; CoxHealth says it is simply putting the patient first.
Mandated flu shots are already part of a national debate that pits employee rights against what some say is patient safety. Most recently, in December, an Indiana hospital fired eight employees who refused to get flu shots, according to ABC News.
Brock’s situation adds another layer to the debate. This is the first year that CoxHealth employees are required to either get the vaccination or to produce paperwork showing an exemption, according to Stacy Fender, media relations coordinator for CoxHealth. In the past, flu shots were only strongly recommended.
In early September, Brock sought and was granted a religious exemption, although she admits she’s more “spiritual” than “religious.” | <urn:uuid:5abc5549-0fa2-443f-ad40-0ccb4f42fae1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/1/13/nurse-not-vaccinated-against-flu-refuses-to-wear-surgical-mask?category=Religion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973919 | 286 | 1.796875 | 2 |
14 January 2008 00:00 [Source: ICB]
India-Russia JV to start TiO2 in 2009
The Indo-Russian titanium dioxide (TiO2) joint venture (JV) between India's Saraf Agencies, Russia's state-run Vnesheconombank and Russian chemical trader Technochim Holding, plans to commission its 40,000 tonne/year plant at Gopalpur, India, during the fourth quarter of 2009. The JV will source ilmenite feedstock from Indian Rare Earths.
Eastman offers upside guidance
Eastman Chemical's underlying fourth-quarter 2007 earnings per share are expected to be above the high end of the current range of analyst estimates of $1.06 (€0.72). Results will include the positive impact of selling prices offsetting higher raw material and energy costs, earnings from licensing acetyl technology, and lower operating costs.
Bayer, ADM, Daimler to develop biofuels
Bayer CropScience, Archer Daniels Midland and automaker Daimler have signed an agreement to develop the production and quality standards of jatropha-based biodiesel. Jatropha, a tropical crop that can be grown on marginal land, is seen by the three companies as a promising alternative energy feedstock for sustainable fuel as it does not compete with land used for food production.
EC contemplates carbon tax on imports
The European Commission will consider imposing import duties on goods produced in countries that fail to agree to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. "We do not foresee the need to go down that route at the moment," said Commission spokeswoman Barbara Helferrich. "But it is an option that we may consider if European Union businesses are being disadvantaged."
China to ban free bags
China has banned shops from giving out free plastic bags, along with the production of ultrathin bags, starting June 1, 2008, to prevent pollution and encourage recycling. The country will not produce, sell or use plastic bags thinner than 0.025mm, China's top legislative body said in a statement on the government's website. These bags tear easily and are usually thrown away, causing pollution, the State Council said.
IPIC plans Kazakhstan petrochemical plant
Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC) and Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGas have signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a petrochemical complex in western Kazakhstan. A feasibility study on the project is under way.
DuPont forecasts 11% jump in 2007 profits
DuPont expects full-year 2007 earnings growth of over 11% on better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. It has also raised its outlook for 2008. The company said full-year 2007 earnings per share (EPS) will be at the upper end of the previously announced $3.15-3.20 (€2.15-2.18) range. For 2008, DuPont raised its EPS outlook to $3.35-3.55, up from its previous estimate of $3.31-$3.52.
Austria's Energy Bio to buy Romania's Carom
Austrian company Energy Bio Chemicals will sign a contract to acquire a majority stake in Romanian synthetic rubber manufacturer Carom Onesti, said a source close to the deal. Romanian privatization agency AVAS currently holds a majority stake in Carom and tried three times last year to sell its assets. AVAS is targeting at least €25m ($36.8m) from the sale of Carom.
Lenzing closes the purchase of Dolan
Lenzing Plastics has finalized the purchase of specialty fiber producer Dolan. Dolan, which had been a subsidiary of Kelheim Fibres, is now a full subsidiary of Lenzing Plastics. Dolan produces a range of acrylic fibers for outdoor products and had sales of €25m ($37m) in 2007.
INEOS Phenol may be down until February
INEOS Phenol will wait until its entire phenol/acetone Antwerp, Belgium, production is back on stream and operating normally before lifting force majeure. The first line at INEOS Phenol's Antwerp plant, which has a phenol capacity of around 220,000 tonnes/year, is in the process of restarting, but on-spec material has not yet been produced. The other line, with phenol capacity of around 460,000 tonnes/year, is scheduled to restart toward the end of January or early February.
DSM invests €15m in new resins plant
DSM will construct a €15m ($22m) wet polyesters and specialty resins production plant in Meppen, Germany, to meet growing demand for the product. The plant will be completed in the first half of 2009 and will allow for further expansions in the future, according to DSM.
ChemChina to spend $96m to curb emissions
China National Chemical (ChemChina) plans to spend yuan (CNY) 700m ($96.3m) in 2008 on a pilot project to curb emissions at more than 10 of its chlor-alkali plants and refineries. The project is part of ChemChina's target to achieve zero emissions, and the company will tap into the expertise of its two wastewater treatment firms to improve the plants.
AMVAC to buy valent's insecticide unit
Valent USA is to sell its Orthene insecticide product line to AMVAC Chemical for an undisclosed amount. The companies have reached a definitive agreement on the sale, which was expected to close by mid-January. The sale will allow Valent to focus on its crop protection products portfolio and new materials.
Sika to acquire waterproofing firm Tricosal
Switzerland-based Sika has agreed to buy the German waterproofing company Tricosal, for an undisclosed sum, to expand its product range and know-how for structural sealing. "With Tricosal's area-wide sales and marketing network, which comprises four subsidiaries, and with its construction site services, Sika [will be able to] strengthen the project business in the German market," Sika said.
Cambrex to acquire Estonia's ProSyntest
US-based Cambrex has agreed to acquire Tallinn, Estonia-based ProSyntest, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) research and development company. "ProSyntest, located in Eastern Europe, will enable Cambrex to compete more effectively in the high-growth, early-clinical-stage pharmaceutical custom development market and provide us with a strong pool of talented chemists to advance numerous proprietary strategic initiatives," said Cambrex chief operating officer Steven Klosk.
PolyOne revamps polymer systems
US-based PolyOne is splitting up its polymer coating systems (PCS) business into two units. PolyOne's Wilflex inks and specialty colorants business will be combined with its BayOne equity investment - a joint venture with Bayer MaterialScience - to form an operating unit named Specialty Inks and Polymer Systems. The remaining PCS business, comprising plastisols and coated fabrics, will be integrated with PolyOne's vinyl business and combined with the specialty resins business to form a unit named Specialty Resins and Coatings.
Mosaic profits soar on record prices
US-based Mosaic's operating profits for its fiscal second quarter (ending November) rose by 484% year-over-year to $529.6m (€361.6m), driven by higher selling prices for phosphates and potash, and favorable fertilizer market conditions. Sales jumped by 44% to $2.2bn.
RPM's Q2 operating profits rise BY 22%
RPM International's fiscal second-quarter operating earnings rose by 22% year-over-year to $93m (€63m), on the back of new products and diversification, and despite negative impacts on its consumer business from the weak US housing market. Sales also rose by 12% to $905.7m.
Lanzhou, GPRO to build Aromatics plant
Lanzhou Petrochemical, a PetroChina subsidiary, plans to build a C4-processing unit and a butyl rubber plant with Jiangsu GPRO Group. The companies signed an agreement to build a 200,000 tonne/year C4 procesing unit in Lanzhou, Gansu province, to produce benzene, toluene, mixed xylenes (BTX) and C9 products. A 60,000 tonne/year butyl rubber plant will also be built.
Huntsman begins Texas ethylene turnaround
Huntsman has shut down its 425m lb/year (193,000 tonne/year) Port Neches, Texas, US, A3 ethylene unit for a 55-day turnaround. The company said it will also perform repair activities at the unit during the turnaround.
UPM eyes China biorefinery
Finnish paper and forestry group UPM is exploring a possible biorefinery project in China that would produce papermaking fiber and biochemicals from agricultural residues and other nonwood feedstocks. Nonwood feedstocks are abundant in many highly populated countries that have a shortage of papermaking fibers, UPM said.
Maersk line to cut 3,000 jobs
Denmark-based Maersk Line will shed up to 3,000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce, to improve margins. The company operates a fleet of container vessels aggregating more than 1m 20-foot-equivalent units, much of which transports chemicals in dry boxes and tank containers. Maersk will focus on filling its ships with profitable cargoes and providing a more responsive service that allows the carrier to be closer to its customers.
Reliance and HPCL lease sugar mills
India's Bihar state awarded 60-year contracts to Reliance Industries Ltd.and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. to revive four of its ailing sugar mills in a bid to make the region an ethanol hub in the country, Bihar's sugarcane minister Nitish Mishra told ICIS. The ethanol processing capacity of each of these facilities would be at the discretion of the companies that run them, he said, adding that each unit has a sugarcane crushing capacity of about 1,000-1,200 tonnes/day.
Taiwan's CPC plans BTX turnarounds
Taiwanese aromatics major Chinese Petroleum Corp. will commence maintenance turnarounds at four of its units producing benzene, toluene and mixed xylene (BTX) from the third quarter of 2008, said a company source. The company plans to shut down its No. 6 BTX unit from mid-August to mid-September, he said. The Linyuan-based plant produces 50,000 tonnes/year of benzene, 130,000 tonnes/year of toluene and 170,000 tonnes/year of mixed xylenes.
OMNOVA buys out Chinese, Thai JVs
OMNOVA Solutions has acquired the remaining 49.9% stake in its Thai and Chinese joint-venture manufacturing businesses from former partner CPPC Public Company, an affiliate of Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group. "It allows us to more aggressively participate in the tremendous expansion under way in the region with innovative technology and products," said Kevin McMullen, OMNOVA Solutions chairman and CEO.
Cabot buys assets of AP Materials
US-based Cabot has acquired the assets and technology of AP Materials, which produces metallic and ceramic powders. "The flame synthesis technology developed by AP Materials provides an exciting new platform for the manufacture of high surface-area metal and metal alloy powders," said Eduardo Cordeiro, general manager of Cabot Supermetals.
TDG Chemicals plans further acquisitions
UK logistics company TDG Chemicals plans further acquisitions over the next 18 months, said managing director Graeme Rooney in an interview with ICIS. "We will be seeking to strengthen our European position further, not just by winning major contracts, but particularly by further collaboration and acquisition," he said. TDG acquired Belgian logistics firm Mond & Cie in March 2006, and Spain's Doman in March 2007.
Heaven Petroleum to start biodiesel
Peru's Heaven Petroleum expects to begin operation at its biodiesel plant by the end of the month, and sales of the fuel are slated to start in February. The company's plant, which is south of Lima, will have a biodiesel capacity of 50,000 gals (189,250 liters)/day. The Ministry of Energy and Mines awarded Heaven Petroleum the first license to distribute biofuels on the local market.
US EIA raises 2008 oil forecast to $87/bbl
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that 2008 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices will average $87/bbl, up from $85/bbl in a previous forecast, but added prices will ease in 2009 as both global production and capacity grow. The January edition of the EIA's monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook said oil prices were expected to average about $82/bbl in 2009, compared with $72/bbl in 2007.
Rohm and Haas opens china emulsions plant
Rohm and Haas has started up operations at a new 20,000 tonne/year binders and emulsions plant in Sanshui, in China's Guangdong province, as part of its commitment to the growing coatings market in South China. The company invested $10m (€6.8m) and aims to expand the facility in line with demand growth in the coatings market in South China, a region that comprises 40% of China's total coatings industry.
Azelis buys Turkish distributor Tara Kimya
Azelis has agreed to acquire Turkish specialty chemical distributor Tara Kimya, for an undisclosed sum. With sales of €10m ($15m) in 2007, Tara operates two warehouses in Istanbul, supplying the Turkish paint, varnish, ink, adhesive and construction sectors.
IMCD acquires Solvadis Austria
Sales and distribution company IMCD Austria has acquired specialty chemical distributor Solvadis Austria, strengthening its position in food, feed and pharmaceuticals and expanding its presence in industrial chemicals. Solvadis Austria will be merged into IMCD Austria and will shortly operate from IMCD's office in Vienna.
Perstorp purchases China polyols business
Sweden-based Perstorp has bought China's second-largest manufacturer of neopentyl glycol from China's Zibo Linzi Yongliu Chemical Industry Stock Co. Through its joint venture, Shandong Fufeng Perstorp Chemical Co. Ltd., Perstorp signed the agreement to buy the Shangdong-based manufacturing business, which also includes a 20,000 tonne/year manufacturing plant in Zibo city.
For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.
Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.
Sample issue >>
My Account/Renew >>
Register for online access >>
|ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies|
|Download the listing here >>| | <urn:uuid:1a555ae0-a425-447f-8216-4bd4b450be08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icis.com/Articles/2008/01/14/9092005/this-weeks-world-news.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936743 | 3,176 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Mediation, Meditation, Medication? Just what is Mediation?
Mediation is a consensual process in which an impartial third person, the mediator, assists two or more parties to reach a voluntary agreement. The process can be used to resolve a dispute or provide options for the future. The mediator helps the parties identify their individual needs and interests, clarify their differences, generate options and find common ground. A few points to keep in mind:
• The parties are the decision makers; the mediator has no authority to render a decision.
• The parties determine the issues that need to be addressed; the mediator guides the process and maintains a safe environment.
• The mediator models and facilitates active listening skills.
• The mediator does not give advice to the parties, legal or otherwise. However, the mediator may help the parties generate options for the parties to evaluate, possibly with the advice and assistance of another professional.
• The process is usually confidential, with any exceptions disclosed and discussed prior to beginning a mediation.
• The success of mediation rests largely on the willingness of the parties to work at understanding each other and to seek solutions that meet each other's needs.
What Mediation Is Not:
• Mediation is not litigation. Litigation is the formal legal process in which parties use the court process to resolve their disputes. The judge or jury determine the outcome of this process, unless a negotiated settlement is reached first.
• Mediation is not arbitration. Arbitration is a form of private adjudication, where parties present evidence and argument to an impartial third person (the arbitrator). The arbitrator then reviews the evidence and renders a decision which may be imposed on the parties. The arbitrator determines the outcome, much as a judge determines the outcome of a trial.
• Mediation is not counseling or therapy. The primary goal of mediation is to reach an agreement, not to resolve the feelings associated with the dispute. That being said, counseling or therapy used in conjunction with mediation can be a helpful approach.
Why choose Mediation?
Mediation approaches disputes from a fresh perspective. Instead of looking backward to decide who is at fault, it looks forward to what agreements the parties can reach to resolve their disputes or govern their future interactions. The mediator uses his or her skills to help parties understand each other's needs and interests to find common ground. From these, the parties begin to generate options. The options are not based on "giving in" or compromise of any principle. Instead, they are based on a search for creative ways to resolve differences and meet identified needs.
Agreements are reached only when the parties all agree. Because mediated agreements are voluntary, they are more likely to be followed by all parties. With mediation, you are in control of the outcome. | <urn:uuid:f3ebc9fc-2fa5-4894-b928-9eb714efa31a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gorgelaw.com/practice_area.cfm?PracticeAreaID=13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946101 | 571 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Jan. 29, 2013 While the wooly musk ox may like it cold, fruit flies definitely do not. They like it hot, or at least warm. In fact, their preferred optimum temperature is very similar to that of humans -- 76 degrees F.
Scientists have known that a type of brain cell circuit helps regulate a variety of innate and learned behavior in animals, including their temperature preferences. What has been a mystery is whether or not this behavior stems from a specific set of neurons (brain cells) or overlapping sets.
Now, a new study from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) shows that a complex set of overlapping neuronal circuits work in concert to drive temperature preferences in the fruit fly Drosophila by affecting a single target, a heavy bundle of neurons within the fly brain known as the mushroom body. These nerve bundles, which get their name from their bulbous shape, play critical roles in learning and memory.
The study, published in the January 30, 2013 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience, shows that dopaminergic circuits -- brain cells that synthesize dopamine, a common neurotransmitter -- within the mushroom body do not encode a single signal, but rather perform a more complex computation of environmental conditions.
"We found that dopamine neurons process multiple inputs to generate multiple outputs -- the same set of nerves process sensory information and reward-avoidance learning," said TSRI Assistant Professor Seth Tomchik. "This discovery helps lay the groundwork to better understand how information is processed in the brain. A similar set of neurons is involved in behavior preferences in humans -- from basic rewards to more complex learning and memory."
Using imaging techniques that allow scientists to visualize neuron activity in real time, the study illuminated the response of dopaminergic neurons to changes in temperature. The behavioral roles were then examined by silencing various subsets of these neurons. Flies were tested using a temperature gradient plate; the flies moved from one place to another to express their temperature preferences.
As it turns out, genetic silencing of dopaminergic neurons innervating the mushroom body substantially reduces cold avoidance behavior. "If you give the fly a choice, it will pick San Diego weather every time," Tomchik said, "but if you shut down those nerves, they suddenly don't mind being in Minnesota."
The study also showed dopaminergic neurons respond to cooling with sudden a burst of activity at the onset of a drop in temperature, before settling down to a lower steady-state level. This initial burst of dopamine could function to increase neuronal plasticity -- the ability to adapt -- during periods of environmental change when the organism needs to acquire new associative memories or update previous associations with temperature changes.
The study, "Dopaminergic Neurons Encode a Distributed, Asymmetric Representation of Temperature in Drosophila," was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health (grant number K99 MH092294).
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:7e89137e-a736-4ab8-8154-da7c9876b3b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130129190251.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmind_brain%2Fpsychology+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Mind+%26+Brain+News+--+Psychology%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927816 | 627 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Malgorzata GorskaTrzcianne, Poland
Małgorzata Górska's leadership in the fight to stop a controversial highway project led to a significant legal precedent for the environment that resulted in the protection of Poland's Rospuda Valley, one of Europe's last true wildernesses.
Poland's Rospuda Valley
While development and population growth have compromised the majority of Europe's undisturbed wilderness, in Poland's north eastern countryside, some last vestiges of the unspoiled natural environment remain. Here, the Rospuda River winds through vast tracts of pristine primeval forest, ancient intact peat bogs and wetlands that serve as flora and fauna reservoirs for the rest of Europe. The Rospuda Valley, with its unique ecosystems teeming with biodiversity, is one of Europe's last great wildernesses. Home to endangered eagles and other bird species, orchids, lynxes, wolves, elk, wild boars, otters and beavers, the valley is recognized widely for its beauty and environmental significance.
Yet, as Poland's newly-formed democracy began to grow economically in the 1990s, the Rospuda Valley came under threat. In 1996, developers began plans to route one of Europe's most ambitious highway projects, the Via Baltica Expressway, directly through the Rospuda Valley, linking Helsinki to Warsaw. From the beginning, scientists and conservationists believed the highway would irreparably damage the valley. They called on developers to explore an alternate route avoiding the unique wetland ecosystems, though they faced significant opposition from the government that prioritized economic expansion over environmental protection.
|Knyszyn Primeval Forest / Credit: Tomasz Tumiel|
When Poland joined the EU in 2004, it designated some of its best wildlife sites as protected areas, as required under the EU's Europe-wide Natura 2000 network. The EU program seeks to permanently protect the most important natural areas among member states. If a development project threatens a Natura 2000 site, alternate plans must be explored and used when viable. The Rospuda Valley was listed as one of these sites. The proposed Via Baltica Expressway route would also cut through three other major Natura 2000 sites south of the Rospuda Valley: the Augustów Primeval Forest, the Biebrza Marshes and the Knyszyn Primeval Forest.
Citizen and Legal Action to Protect Rospuda
Małgorzata Górska, a conservationist with the Polish Society for Protection of Birds, played an integral role in the movement to protect the Rospuda Valley. She joined in the public outcry around the Via Baltica Expressway in 2002 and galvanized a coalition of activists and organizations, including WWF, the Polish Green Network and the Polish Society for Protection of Birds. Focusing first on activism within Poland, Górska and her colleagues met with lawyers developing a case against the Polish government, providing and writing opinions, appeals and data relevant to legal statutes. She co-led a national campaign urging thousands of people to wear green ribbons to show their support for saving the Rospuda Valley. Górska also coordinated the findings of the many Polish NGO partners researching the Via Baltica construction and the environmental harm it would bring to the area. She analyzed government data and reports supporting the expressway project and provided lawyers with findings to refute those reports. Górska also gave media interviews, participated in public debates, prepared a series of articles, and issued press releases and information about the project to journalists. All of those actions resulted in country-wide public support for protecting the Rospuda Valley from the environmental consequences of the road construction.
Government supported major new motorway
When it became clear that the Polish government was adamantly in support of the Via Baltica route, Górska and her coalition initiated a series of meetings with the European Commission about taking steps to block the construction on the grounds that Poland would violate Natura 2000 network regulations. She then played a leading role in preparing a complaint to the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament about the planned expressway and arranged a trip for members of the Parliament, other NGOs and scientists to visit the Rospuda Valley. As a result, the Petitions Committee prepared a report that was adopted by the European Parliament and presented to the EU that called for changing the Via Baltica route. The case was then presented to the European Court of Justice, which called for an immediate halt to part of the expressway project that threatened the protected site.
Violated National Law
While the European Court of Justice considered the legality of the Rospuda route under European law, the Polish courts found that the project violated national laws and thus should not continue as planned. The pressure from both civil society and the EU garnered by Górska's advocacy finally paid off. In March 2009, the Polish government announced it would not build the Via Baltica Expressway through the Rospuda Valley.
Route changed to avoid sensitive areas
Following this monumental achievement, Górska continued the campaign to halt construction of the expressway through other protected sites: the Knyszyn Primeval Forest, the Biebrza Marshes and the Augustów Primeval Forest. Developers initially ignored strategic assessments that recommended viable, less damaging alternatives for the Via Baltica Expressway. However, on October 20, 2009, the Polish government agreed to reroute the whole controversial section of the expressway, effectively sparing these critical natural areas from destruction. | <urn:uuid:2bb6a4b0-024b-4b34-84f3-f67c9bebc35c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/pages/Malgorzata-Gorska.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937714 | 1,136 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Dept of Biomedical Services, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK and School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, UK
Bioculture (Mauritius) Ltd, Riviere des Anguilles, Mauritius
Although the use of wild-born primates in research is banned in some countries, in others it is commonplace. It has been demonstrated that not only do wild-born primates react more strongly to some stressors than those that are captive-born, but they also use inanimate enrichment less. Given our understanding of the consequences of elevated stress for animal welfare, as well as the quality of science, more consideration should be given to the enrichment, and even the use, of wild-born macaques in biomedical research.
It is well-established that environmental enrichment programmes should be well structured, goal defined and targeted at the specific characteristics of the animals for whom improvement in captive conditions, and hence welfare, are desired (Bloomsmith et al. 1991; Young 2003; Honess & Marin 2006b). Important characteristics include the species identity, the age-sex class, and aspects of individual temperament. A characteristic that is not often considered as part of this is the origin or birth context of the animals; specifically whether they were wild- or captive-born.
In Europe, under existing or incoming regulation (e.g. Home Office 1986; EU 2010), the use of wild-born, and even first generation captive-bred, primates is prohibited (except where there is specific justification). Ostensibly, these measures are to protect wild populations through the creation of self-sustaining breeding colonies, and counter the disproportionate stress that captive conditions may impose on naïve animals. However, there are regulatory environments (including the USA) where the housing and scientific use of wild-born animals is permitted. It is therefore important for responsible managers to consider this characteristic as one which may require specific enrichment provision; either in the quantity or quality of the enrichment, or both.
Birth origin and stress
The first question to ask is:
Do wild-born primates react differently to captive environments and routines than captive-born animals? There is evidence from the literature that indeed they do, but not always in the predicted way (Honess & Marin 2006a). For example, a study by Carolyn Crockett and colleagues (2000) found that wild-born female pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) exhibited more appetite suppression after being moved between rooms than captive-born equivalents. The authors interpret this type of appetite suppression, particularly where it is associated with raised cortisol, to indicate stress. Perhaps more dramatically, other studies have shown that wild-born pigtails also suffer higher mortality associated with translocation (Ha et al. 2000). On the other hand, in rhesus macaques (M. mulatta), wild-born animals have been shown to exhibit less stress-indicative behaviour (self-directed aggression, stereotypies) than captive-born individuals when housed in historically small cages (0.288m3) (Paulk et al. 1977). Of course, lower levels of abnormal behaviour do not in themselves indicate the absence or magnitude of a stress response.
Birth origin and enrichment
So, given that there is evidence that wild-born macaques can react more strongly to some captive management routines, the next question is: Do they react differently to environmental enrichment provided to reduce their stress response?
It has been reported that among older rhesus macaques, those that were wild-born made less use than captive-born of enrichment (wooden sticks, Kong toys, plastic balls) made available to both (Line et al. 1991). Also, in a study comparing enrichment use (Kong toys) between single housed pigtail and long-tailed, or cynomolgus (M. fascicularis) macaques, the fact that the pigtails used the toys more was, at least in part, accounted for by more of them being captive-born, and therefore more familiar with such toys (Crockett et al. 1989).
Birth origin and housing context
Therefore, while there is some evidence both of a heightened stress response and lower use of enrichment in wild-born macaques, it is relatively limited. Nevertheless, what evidence there is might be in line with hypotheses that suggest that animals of such origins might experience significant challenges in adapting to captivity. Having said this, it is likely that the context in which the animal is housed may well be critical in determining the extent of these challenges and their manifestation in the magnitude of the stress response.
Most of the studies cited above involve study subjects that were housed in a socially- and spatially-restricted laboratory environment. Responses may be very different in a breeding facility where animals are housed in species-appropriate, socially-complex groups in expansive caging under ambient tropical conditions. These are the conditions at Bioculture in Mauritius where long-tailed macaques are bred. There is a mixture of wild- and captive-bred animals in this now closed (since 2009) colony and anecdotally there is no meaningful difference in the use of environmental enrichment between them. The extensive range of enrichment (perches, swinging devices, manipulanda and visual barriers, positive reinforcement training and familiarisation to humans) may well mean that there is something provided that appeals to all animals, irrespective of their origin. In the breeding groups with up to forty adults, there is significant social complexity. The housing of primates with compatible conspecifics is perhaps the single most important contribution to their welfare and its beneficial effect is likely to swamp that from inanimate enrichment (Schapiro et al. 1996).
The need for high welfare standards and reduced stress in laboratory animals is well-rehearsed and includes meeting public expectations, addressing the harm:benefit balance and securing the quality of the research model. Where animals have a sustained or significant stress response to captive conditions or research procedures, it not only constitutes a risk to their health but is a source of unwanted variation and confounding variables in research programmes (Poole 1997; Garner 2005), except where these are examining stress itself. Evidence suggests that not only are wild-born macaques likely to react more strongly to stressors but also that they may be more resistant to attempts to ameliorate that response with environmental enrichment, particularly inanimate options. Therefore, for model quality and study design reasons, as well as animal welfare, it makes sense for researchers and procurement staff to obtain captive-born animals for their studies. Such preference will encourage breeding facilities to become self-sustaining with benefits derived from reducing the pressure on threatened native (non-introduced) populations. One of the macaque species most commonly used in research is the long-tailed macaque. This species, that was previously abundant across its natural range in SE Asia, is now reported to be threatened due, in no small part, to uncontrolled removal of animals from the wild for biomedical research (Eudey 2008). Therefore confining primate use to those individuals that are captive-born may have appreciable benefits for animal welfare, the quality of science, and conservation.
Bloomsmith, M., Brent, L. and Schapiro, S. J. (1991). Guidelines for developing and managing an environmental enrichment program for nonhuman primates. Laboratory Animal Science 41(4): 372-377.
Crockett, C. M., Bielitzki, J., Carey, A. and Velez, A. (1989). Kong toys as enrichment devices for singly-caged macaques. Laboratory Primate Newsletter 28(2): 21-22.
Crockett, C. M., Shimoji, M. and Bowden, D. M. (2000). Behavior, appetite, and urinary cortisol responses by adult female pigtailed macaques to cage size, cage level, room change, and ketamine sedation. American Journal of Primatology 52(2): 63-80.
EU (2010). Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Official Journal of the European Union L276: 33-79.
Eudey, A. A. (2008). The crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis): Widespread and rapidly declining. Primate Conservation 23: 129-132.
Garner, J. P. (2005). Stereotypies and other abnormal repetitive behaviors: Potential impact on validity, reliability, and replicability of scientific outcomes. ILAR Journal 46(2): 106-117.
Ha, J. C., Robinette, R. L. and Davis, A. (2000). Survival and reproduction in the first two years following a large-scale primate colony move and social reorganization. American Journal of Primatology 50(2): 131-138.
Home Office (1986). The Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act. UK.
Honess, P. E. and Marin, C. M. (2006a). Behavioural and physiological aspects of stress and aggression in nonhuman primates. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 30(3): 390-412.
Honess, P. E. and Marin, C. M. (2006b). Enrichment and aggression in primates. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 30(3): 413-436.
Line, S. W., Morgan, K. N. and Markowitz, H. (1991). Simple toys do not alter the behaviour of aged rhesus monkeys. Zoo Biology 10: 473–484.
Paulk, H. H., Dienske, H. and Ribbens, L. G. (1977). Abnormal behaviour in relation to cage size in rhesus monkeys. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 86: 87-92.
Poole, T. B. (1997). Happy animals make good science. Laboratory Animals 31: 116-124.
Schapiro, S. J., Bloomsmith, M. A., Suarez, S. A. and Porter, L. M. (1996). Effects of social and inanimate enrichment on the behavior of yearling rhesus monkeys. American Journal of Primatology 40: 247-260.
Young, R. J. (2003). Environmental Enrichment For Captive Animals Oxford, UK, Blackwell Science Ltd. | <urn:uuid:8702e68a-5d3d-47e4-ade3-5ae46648a794> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enrichmentrecord.com/2011/10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911034 | 2,142 | 2.71875 | 3 |
The FCC Forum
The FCC Forum is a free online resource that gives FCC users a chance to review and comment on proposed changes to the compendium. Changes and additions to the FCC generally are first proposed in the FCC Forum to invite public comment.
The FCC Forum ensures open and public participation when new content and revisions are added to the FCC. The comments and feedback from FCC subscribers and other interested parties in industry, academia, and elsewhere are critical to the transparent and scientifically rigorous process that culminates in the final approval by a group of independent, established scientific experts: the Food Ingredients Expert Committee.
The forum is a twice-a-year event, going live June 30 and December 31. Both FCC Forums have 90-day comment periods. The FCC Forum is free and open to everyone.
Access the FCC Forum Now. (Please note: the FCC Forum requires a free, one-time registration. Click on "Sign up for free access here" once you click through.) | <urn:uuid:0fe1af7b-c7df-4dc5-a650-062c41fa0bf0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usp.org/food-ingredients/fcc-forum | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90636 | 197 | 1.53125 | 2 |
dazzdax wrote:A turntable is a mechanical device and a motor unit is mechanically decoupled from the rest of the plinth and should in principle not alter audio signal itself, which is an electrical phenomenon. I hope it does not sound to ignorant to you.
No, not ignorant at all, but I think the answer is right there. In theory
the motor is mechanically decoupled from the plinth and in top notch tts in practice it is. If a clean sine wave results in less motor noise and any motor noise finds its way back into the plinth directly or into the platter via its belt (or idler wheel I guess) as a result of a dirty sine wave, then that's definitely going to impact background noise.
I'm currently using a Heed Orbit on a NAS Spacedeck ... and the impact on the sound quality is either negligable or non existent ie. I can't really hear it (I use it purely for the convenience of push button speed change).
But the NAS has superb speed stability to start with due to a high mass platter and has an exceptionally quiet motor, as its a very low torque design which doesn't need stepping down when up to speed as it won't get to speed without manually pushing it. Its also completely separate from the plinth. So there's very little background noise to start with.
On a deck with a much lighter platter and the usual motor on the plinth design running the same voltage at speed as used to get it there, a bigger difference will theoretically be more apparent. I've experimented with this on a Rega P2 (with the Heed) and a Pro-Ject Debut (with their budget speedbox) and it would seem to be the case in practice too. BUT its a question of where the money is best spent. | <urn:uuid:afd6e102-dc6b-41f9-acc2-5e9e95203182> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?t=5630 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962749 | 384 | 1.632813 | 2 |
How We Present
Ottawa announces partnership to commercialize clean tech
by Shawn McCarthy
The Globe and Mail Translate This Article
8 October 2012
On 8 October 2012 The Globe and Mail reported:
Canada's clean tech sector is getting some new help from the federal government as Ottawa looks to grab a fatter share of the booming global market for renewable energy and energy efficiency. The government's lead agencies on export assistance and sustainable technology are teaming up to identify and support companies that are moving from development to full commercial effort and are eager to penetrate international markets.
Global Good News service views this news as a sign of rising positivity in the field of government, documenting the growth of life-supporting, evolutionary trends.
To read the entire article click here
Every day Global Good News documents the rise of a better quality of life dawning in the world and highlights the need for introducing Natural Law based—Total
Knowledge based—programmes to bring the support of Nature to every individual, raise the quality of life of every society, and create a lasting state of world peace.
Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:
Send Good News to Global Good News. | <urn:uuid:55df6af0-fa92-42bb-96fb-f5422b0c5c19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://globalgoodnews.com/government-news-a.html?art=13499248523842392 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907148 | 253 | 1.609375 | 2 |
As a child grows and matures, his or her thinking skills and social skills develop in a corresponding manner. ATOD prevention programs are most effective when they are tailored to specific age groups or grade levels and thereby address key issues that are relevant to the developing child.
The following sources offer detailed information linking ATOD prevention efforts with specific grade levels:
Copyright © North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer and copyright information. | <urn:uuid:bd386e13-7654-4aa8-bc57-7fa47ab41eb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa3cog.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930207 | 89 | 2.515625 | 3 |
"The impact and importance of vaccines cannot be overstated they provide safe, cost-effective and efficient means of preventing illness, disability and death from infectious diseases," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "Each year, immunization programs save millions of lives worldwide, and more widespread administration of currently available vaccines could save millions more. Developing new vaccines with a particular focus on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and potential agents of bioterrorism is a critical priority of the NIAID."
Besides describing the state of the science, this edition of The Jordan Report reviews the last two decades and highlights important achievements in the field of vaccinology. These achievements include new vaccines for hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b as well as an improved vaccine against whooping cough.
The report also includes expert perspectives on a variety of vaccine research-related topics such as vaccine regulations, safety evaluations, economic considerations and vaccine risk communication. Other key topics in the report include the following:
Vaccines against drug-resistant, emerging and re-emerging diseases
In 2001, approximately six million deaths worldwide were attributed to three diseases HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria for which no effective vaccines exist. In many cases, the pathogens that cause these diseases h
Contact: Jeff Minerd
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | <urn:uuid:dad24166-fb54-434e-b31d-a525a7cf762e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-2/NIAID-releases-20th-anniversary-edition-of-Jordan-Report-on-vaccine-research-6592-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930995 | 284 | 3.375 | 3 |
Chapter 1: A Worldview, I Suppose
Few of my earliest remembrances can be traced to any remaining synapses preserved from my earliest experience. Childhood, the dream sequence that it becomes, can only be remembered though the cynical poetic eye of discernment which ones formidable years bestow upon even the most gleeful child. In recollection, even the happiest of times are overcome by the ominous shadow of worldly knowledge. The accrued prejudices of unique experiences scar any reminiscence, distorting the best intentions. The actions of others, throughout the tract of one human experience, splatter on the blank canvas forming shapes and patterns not discernable to the childlike eye, and hardly understood by even the most astute psychoanalyst. If the life of an individual is a work of art, (assuming the Christian premise of God’s most benevolent creation) then each of our paintings have become marred by the careless brushstrokes of our earliest overlords.
There is no doubt that my back harbors the scars of youth. We are all raised as slaves or masters. The passive, such as I, in our goodwill give in to the barbarians in fear and in charity. Yes, I fought the master for my sovereignty and the dignity of my comrades. In a meek voice, I stood up, one foot firmly on the ground, clawing at my chains, but I was not heard. We weren’t given more. We paid for our cries with yelps. We paid for our slaps with punches. We paid for our souls with our bodies.
Whether the scars on my back are worse than those of another, I cannot know. I know only my afflictions. I dine with them, sleep with them, when I’m in the mood I brush their teeth. My empathy, in all its enormity, extends not far beyond the reaches of the house I share with her. I’m quite sure my own good fortune has not cast lot upon those naughty children who shared my earliest afflictions. Of this I am sad. It is unfortunate I suppose. If you sense indifference to their plight on my part, your instincts are absolutely correct. In depths of my soul, I harbor the greatest empathy for the companions of my youth, but I am jaded. To scrawl out my true feelings would require a skill of which I wasn’t given.
Of course, God himself may have given me this gift, but surely enough it was snatched up, but not in one whole gulp. No, God’s gifts cannot be taken in complete form. The gifts of God are beaten, sliced. They are destroyed from within. They disappear like a fortune, stolen away each day by dishonest accountants in dingy back rooms, their white dress shirts wrinkled and stained.
I would like to believe God’s gifts could never really be taken. Perhaps a little morsel of empathy still rests in my cold, cold heart.
I was born to the kindest people you’ll ever meet. My father jumped from job to job to take care of my mother and I. My father was one of the most capable human beings I’ve ever encountered. If I was to staff a hotel I would be quite pleased with one hundred of him to complete all of those tasks that must be done, but no one knows how to do. My father most certainly could figure it out. Why my father lacked confidence in himself, I’ll never know.
The truth is, my parents were alone in the world, with a tiny child dependent on them for every need. Only now can I begin to understand the weight of such a burden, but I’m quite sure it must have been terrifying. They had to make decisions I can’t imagine. I won’t try and make sense of it. My parents, in their humility allowed themselves to be manipulated and controlled by forces I have come to know and detest. I don’t believe there can be sense made of evil for the sake of evil, so as I said before, I won’t try. I can’t know the hearts of these men; I can only know their actions. Of their associations with my parents and myself I’m not impressed or pleased.
I must clarify up front, of any inconvenience or negative experience I endured, I place no blame on my mother and father. They provided me with a foundation of love and faith of which few possess. Without this I don’t believe I could have withstood the challenges and trials that have befallen us and still held on to that morsel of empathy I hope to God I still possess. | <urn:uuid:4b75c0d4-2f44-4d5f-99fb-6f0aad61f001> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freedomflash.tumblr.com/tagged/fiction | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967996 | 971 | 1.609375 | 2 |
401k vs Roth IRA
There is no age consideration when you are planning to take a retirement plan. Planning should be done at the early stages of the carrier but if you have overlooked it then it can be done at any stage of your carrier. A person who is planning for the retirement should be well aware of all the plans available to him. Among the best plans in the U.S. 401 K and Roth IRA top the list. These plans are very retirement friendly as they provide good tax benefit. Both the plans are designed to give maximum benefit on retirement, but are slightly different from each other.
401k is a defined contribution plan initiated by the employer, where the employees can elect to contribute a portion of their salary towards the 401k plan. What employer does is he holds back some part of the salary of the employee and uses it as a contribution towards a fund which the employee gets after retirement. In some instances, the employer matches the contributions by the employee with some money on his own every year.
The deduction made from the salary towards this fund is not taxed till the withdrawal during the retirement (tax deferred), which is a benefit for anyone who opts for this plan. The interest earned on the amount is also tax free. Upon retirement you can elect to receive the distribution as a lump sum or distributed as monthly payments upon retirement.
Since 401k plans are very effective retirement plans that are capable of providing you the best shield in terms of financial security after retirement, the government and the employer would not encourage you to go for an interim withdrawal. That is why heavy tax penalties are inflicted on the person that wishes to go for early withdrawal in the 401k plan. You are eligible for withdrawal only if you are at least 59 ½ years old and if the fund is at least 5 years old. It means that the plan is not liquid and the employer cannot have money as he wishes. There is a 10% penalty imposed by the IRS if you withdraw the money before the age of 59 1/2.
You can still avoid the situation of paying harsh tax penalties in the event of early withdrawals from your 401k account provided you stick to certain strict withdrawal rules as far as a 401k account is concerned. Some of the cases where this penalty is exempted are qualifying disability, distribution to the beneficiary on or after the death of the participant, medical care (only up to an certain allowable amount), or on certain disasters for which IRS relief has been granted.
Some 401k plans allow borrowing of loan against the vested account balance. The loan is not taxable if it meets certain criteria. You can borrow a loan up to 50% of the vested account balance. The maximum amount of loan should not exceed $50,000. The loan has to be of course repaid within a period of 5 years, unless the loan is used to buy your main home.
It is also possible to transfer your old 401k plan if you switch jobs, and if your new employer has 401k plan. There are several types of 401k plans and one can choose according to his needs.
There are several types of 401k plans available to employers – traditional 401k, safe harbor 401k and SIMPLE 401k.
What is attractive in 401 k is the tax deferment option and the elective deferrals are always 100% vested. Assuming a person needs fewer amounts for a comfortable living than his younger days, paying taxes after retirement from the fund is not so painful.
It is a retirement plan that resembles a permanent savings account. It has become very popular because it makes available tax free earnings for an employee. There are two conditions that need to be met. The employee’s age must be at least 59 ½ and his fund must be at least 5 years old before he can withdraw money from it. Most of the benefits are similar to 401k, except for the difference in tax benefits. In Roth IRA An employee pays taxes now and faces no tax cuts later. Even the interest earned on fund is tax free, which is why more people are opting for Roth IRA. Normally, a person can contribute up to $4000 per annum into his fund, but if he is above 50, this contribution can go up to $5000.
In Roth IRA all qualified distributions are penalty free and tax free, but like any other retirement plans, non-qualified distributions from a Roth IRA may be subject to a penalty upon withdrawal. Also contributions can be made to your Roth IRA after you reach age 70½ and you can leave amounts in your Roth IRA as long as you live.
More information on Roth IRA
Difference between 401k and Roth IRA
The differences between 401k and Roth IRA are subtle, and often people have trouble deciding between the two. The major difference between the two lies in the manner the earnings are taxed. This is not significant if you have got a 401k plan where the employer makes a matching contribution. In Roth IRA, it is your money alone that goes into the fund, and is attractive as you get tax free earnings after retirement. Basically it boils down to whether a person wants to pay taxes now, or when he retires.
The other major difference between 401k and Roth IRA is the way they are managed. When you opt for 401k, you have no say in how the funds are controlled, and it is the sole prerogative of the employer to invest the funds. In Roth IRA, you are in better control of the funds. | <urn:uuid:c99b9478-b287-41c4-87f2-20c2d4c96c5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-401k-and-roth-ira/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971396 | 1,110 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The home of Nokia, Habbo and Max Payne in focus
To the casual visitor passing through, Scandinavia’s Russian neighbour certainly feels like a quiet and peaceful country.
With only 5.3 million people calling Finland home, the huge expanse of northern Europe is the continent’s second least densely populated country – something apparent as you stroll Helsinki’s hushed, spacious streets.
KooPee Hiltunen, director of Finland’s Neogames organisation, which promotes the nation’s games industry, jokes that the population of his homeland thrive in the silence that other Europeans find so uncomfortable. Despite his jovial tone, there’s certainly a modesty to Finnish culture, and a happily tranquil work ethic that veils a feverishly productive creative sector.
The country is of course the home to mobile phone giant Nokia, and the phenomenally popular game-based social network Habbo Hotel, but its tech industry output doesn’t stop with a duo of high-profile examples.
Finland has a long established tradition of game making, in part thanks to a healthy hobbyist scene. Making rolling demos to showcase technical skill on platforms new and old continues to prove exceedingly popular in Scandinavia, and the festivals and events that celebrate Finland’s ‘demoscene’ output provide a fertile and talented pool of young developers for studios looking to recruit as they expand.
“The games industry has developed fast here in the past ten years,” enthuses Hiltunen. “In 1999 there were only a dozen game companies in Finalnd, or perhaps less than that. Now we have more than 50 companies. This week alone I am meeting with two new start ups, and I have had discussions with seven or eight start-ups already this year, so there’s quite a fast pace here.”
As impressive as that growth may be, Hiltunen’s statistical description is perhaps another example of Finnish modesty and understatement. In fact, the country’s game development industry is now delivering one of the nation’s biggest cultural exports, according to Neogame’s weighty report on the region’s industry in 2008.
With the industry centred in Helsinki, the sales of Finnish-made games are dominated by the export business, which has recently delivered as much as 87 per cent of the sector’s total turnover.
“Our industry is indeed mainly exports, and the reason for that is of course because Finland has quite a small domestic market,” says Hiltunen, who later reveals that in 2007 the Finnish games industry exports reached around €69 million, and €75 million in 2008. “When we talk about our cultural exports, we can say that games are the most significant in Finland, money-wise.”
After an early boom in mobile content, most of Finland’s studios now produce console and PC games, which usually find their way to the US and European markets. While games like Max Payne are among the Scandinavian territory’s most famous exports, Bugbear’s Flatout 2 offers a more typical example of the distribution of the country’s games across the globe. While as few as 14,000 copies of the destructive racer sold domestically, global sales totalled almost one million units, meaning 98.6 per cent of sales took place overseas.
With a healthy export business, and as a home to companies like Helsinki-based Habbo Hotel developer Sulake – valued at $1.25 billion and listed as the ninth most successful digital start-up in the world – it’s clear that Finland is enjoying a boom in game development.
It’s a little less obvious why, but looking a little closer at the culture and industry of the country that bought the world Formula One champions, Moomins and orange-handled scissors, the benefits studios enjoy there is clear. The fact that studio space in Finland costs a quarter of what it does in parts of the US, and that the country is something of a geographical gateway between Asia and Europe, is just the beginning.
“I think the industry here is in fairly good shape,” says CEO and co-founder of Helsinki’s Recoil Games Samuli Syvähuoko. “There are a couple of companies that have had problems, but there’s a closeness here. It’s a small industry, and everybody knows everybody, and we have this monthly meeting where pretty much all the industry in Helsinki goes to a bar and talks everything over.”
However, as the industry in Finland continues to grow, the intimacy Syvähuoko speaks of so warmly will soon be lost, and it will take more than a few drinks at a local bar to fuel the ongoing progress. Thankfully for Recoil and its contemporaries, there’s a steady influx of talent to promote the expansion in the former Russian Grand Duchy, as Syvähuoko explains.
“There’s a very high standard of living around here, and that’s something that has attracted quite a few great employees to join us over the years. I think that it helps that it’s a beautiful country as well, and of course we have great government support too.”
Open streets, friendly inter-studio relations and a high standard of living are all well and good, but Syvähuoko has touched on what many consider the real reason for Finland’s success as an emerging development stronghold. While government tax-breaks of the kind famously enjoyed by Canadian
studios are non-existent, thanks to the work of an organisation known as Tekes, Finnish developers are eligible for various funding benefits paid for by the authorities.
The country’s traditional manufacturing trades, such as paper production and forestry, have long been on the wane, prompting the government to look to newer industries to bolster a relatively healthy economy. As a result of that thinking, an organisation by the name of Tekes was established by the authorities.
“Tekes is the Finnish funding agency for technology and innovation, and we are essentially Government organisation for research and development in Finland,” says Mari Isbom, Tekes’ senior technology advisor for its software and digital media division. “We work with a number of different companies, and game companies are a big part of that.”
Tekes specialises in promoting the Finnish technology sector’s more forward thinking projects, meaning it can offer selective project funding to many of the nation’s game studios.
”We encourage innovative and risk intensive projects, and we really are very selective,” reveals Isbom. “We don’t take anything either – just the most innovative and newest ideas. Our funds come from a budget at the Ministry of Employment and Economy from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.”
Despite providing low-interest loans and grants for a number of industries distinct from game making, a substantial amount is still available to developers. Tekes boasts a budget in 2009 of almost €600 million, much of which it can put towards assisting the relatively low number of companies designing and creating games in Finland. Tekes is a non-profit organisation, and as such take no equity or IP ownership, and has no sway over decisions that are part of the creative process.
“Innovation is very important to us,” affirms Isbom. “So we look at research and development quite broadly, meaning we can finance game development, and the likes of feasibility studies and market studies. Additionally, we also finance industrial projects as well as research projects at universities, meaning we have a great deal to offer.”
In 2008, Tekes supported almost 2000 projects with a €516 million budget, meaning game companies faced strong competition from other risk intensive technology sectors out to secure financial aid. However, as studios like Housemarque, Digital Chocolate and Secret Exit continue to showcase the capability of Finnish developers and meet with commercial success and critical acclaim, the government is offering increased benefits to an industry deemed to be extremely important to progress in the country.
“Tekes has identified games as a strategically important research and development area and thus one of the key focus areas. Around €10 million were targeted for game companies in 2008 via the Verso programme,” says Isbom.
Verso, towards which Tekes is providing €56 million of a €120 million budget, is a market-orientated initiative specifically designed to boost the success of the country’s software industry by networking both businesses and research internationally. Its description may sound much like the hyperbole of an excited organisational body, but the reality is already proving a number of game companies with support, including Bugbear, which worked on its Bugbear Game Framework development platform within Verso.
In 2007 alone Tekes subsidies covered almost 30 per cent of the research and development investment of game studios in Finland, and 24 of the 45 companies surveyed in 2008 by Neogames indicated that they had received Tekes funding for R&D, exports or both in the two years the study covered.
Along with the Avek digital demo funding programme, support from the Nordic Game organisation, and EU Media Programming financing assistance, Finnish developers enjoy benefits some of their equivalents in other territories could only dream of.
It’s tempting to paint a picture of Finland as a Mecca for developers, untarnished by the problems all too familiar to other countries, but even in this land of promise there are problem areas.
While 40 per cent of Finnish game companies are owned in part by investors, Hiltunen confesses that securing cash in the country isn’t without the problems faced elsewhere: “In Finland it has been very difficult to get the investors for games because it’s still a hit industry, and because we don’t have all the right industry tools.”
“Research and development for games is sometimes hard to explain to the Finnish Government,” adds Isbom. While the brain drain of the 1990s that saw talent leave the country is now a thing of the past, there’s still another problem far more surprising in a country famed for the quality of its forward-thinking education system.
According to Hiltunen, at present in the entire country there are only 100 students studying games. While the impact of games degrees and courses continues to divide industry commentators globally, in Finland the relationship between education and development in something currently in the sights of organisations like Tekes and Neogames, as they sketch out a plan for the future of the industry.
“We should concentrate on games education at the same time as investment in funding,” sates Hiltunen. “Looking at the Quebec model, we can see that it takes many years before investment and funding has a positive effect, but it is something we continue to try for.
“We are trying to develop our environment for game studios so that those companies like where they are and want to stay.”
Put like that, it sounds so simple.
Financial Aid At-A-Glance
Finland’s Neogames has gathered a wealth of information on the financial support available to developers in various countries. Using that information, Develop has taken a look at the benefits of working in a range of locations.
• Government body Tekes offers grants and loans for game development, R&D and export
• Finnvera offers non-specific loan guarantees
• The Promotion Centre for Audivisial Culture has a small demo fund for games
• The Verso program helps finance tech companies and supports international networking
• Generic R&D tax credits, which Neogames claims typically return four to five percent of development expenditure
• Modest generic export assistance for new exporters
• The government provides around £1.1 million for game R&D and pilot projects
• Generic R&D tax credits with a return rate 20 to 35 per cent.
• Some smaller grants from the likes of IRAP support R&D
• Famously, Montreal subsidises as much as 35.7 per cent of games companies salaries for five years, while offering loan guarantees, tax credits and income tax holidays
• CIJV National games production tax credit can cover 20 per cent of most production costs on qualified games.
• National Video Game Fund funds up to 35% of game prototypes
• R&D tax credits rebate up to five per cent of R&D expenditure
• Smaller grants, loan guarantees and export grants
(The above information was gathered and provided by Neogames) | <urn:uuid:910b72d1-1046-44f8-aa0b-acc4fbff1975> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.develop-online.net/features/520/The-Finnishing-Touch | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956043 | 2,631 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The North Korean authorities have reportedly handed out medals and awards to the parents, teachers and heads of local youth organizations of a student who supposedly lost her life trying to save portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il from floodwaters.
Rodong Shinmun revealed the story on the 26th, saying that on June 11th a 14-year old girl, Han Hyun Kyung, had to escape her home in a gorge in Shinheung County, South Hamkyung Province after it was flooded during heavy rains. Despite the danger, the piece claimed that she managed to rescue portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and pass them to her mother before passing away.
The piece then noted, “A total of seven people have been rewarded upon the orders of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly; the student’s teacher, mother and school principal, father and school vice principle, local Youth League leader and middle school Chosun Children’s Union leader.” It also gave the types and levels of the medals and awards conferred on the recipients.
The story comes after recent celebrations in Pyongyang for the 66th anniversary of the Chosun Children’s Union, events reportedly attended by a record number of students from across North Korea. In reports covering the event, the emphasis was placed heavily on inspiring generational loyalty to the regime, something which the conferring of the latest awards is intended to underscore.
This is not the first time that such a story has been reported. A story about a fallen soldier who died saving a soccer ball given by Kim Jong Il from river rapids is another popular example. However, in that case a posthumous title was given to the deceased soldier only, not to his commanding officers or family. | <urn:uuid:a2dcc0a3-cc4f-4fad-b0ab-562581c5c491> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01700&num=9422 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970932 | 361 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Housing complexes, religious groups and the occasional crank are constantly competing to see their names in lights – or at least on the Delhi Metro map.
Serious crimes do take place in New Delhi, but it’s far from India’s most crime-ridden city, says Tripti Lahiri.
Luxury home developers around Delhi are offering Audi cars and gold to prospective buyers. India Real Time suggests other ways to attract customers.
Although the Indian capital doesn’t have very many seasons, a sudden fever at any time of the year is attributed by doctors and laymen alike to a “change in weather.”
From dug-up ditches to graffiti-painting hooligans, Delhi’s hyperlocal monthly, Community Samvada, provides an outlet for neighborhood woes.
Even in Delhi, possibly one of most hipster-unfriendly cities on the planet – for starters, they can only wear their skinny jeans for about three months of the year, the rest of time it’s a recipe for a yeast infection – there are now hotspots where hipsters can feel quite at home.
Discussion on a forum for expats in India’s capital recently revolved around whether foreigners are paying their maids and drivers too much.
If the WagonR were a dog it would be a Jack Russell. It considers itself a big car despite its small size. It is afraid of nothing.
Banana pancakes, Bob Marley merchandise, smoking paraphernalia and “harem” pants patterned with the Om sign. Welcome to Paharganj, New Delhi’s backpacker district.
In his book on what makes cities so great, Harvard economist Edward Glaeser sings the praises of Bangalore and Mumbai, with the former mentioned no less than seven times in the introduction alone. The sole mention of Delhi in the entire book comes in a chapter on Bangalore that notes the southern city’s “relatively benign climate – drier than Mumbai and much less oppressive than Delhi.”
At other times of the year, Delhi residents might vociferously argue against such short shrift being given to a city rich in history and culture. But right about now, after a brutal June, the word “oppressive” seems exactly right. Of the major Indian cities, Delhi has the worst summer.
Here’s how to deal with it.
India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at email@example.com.
Check out the main contributors to the blog and their bios here.
Managing consultant Harshdeep Rapal shares some tips for entrepreneurs looking to raise investment for startups.
Today’s rollercoaster economic environment presents a challenge to entrepreneurs. But it’s still possible to successfully launch and develop a business, particularly if you stick to a few key principles, says Avi Basu, founder of Connectiva Systems.
Leadership training programs tend to focus too much on soft skills like psychological attitudes and not enough on boosting a firm’s financial performance, writes Ariff Kachra.
Not by flooding them with newsletters and calling them three times a day. Here are a few tips from Milind Mody, CEO of eBrandz.
Pravin Lal, director at Sapient Global Markets, says the proposed Dodd Frank Act presents an opportunity for Indian IT companies. | <urn:uuid:bc897fbe-e0b8-4afb-b3c3-9c282ca1e1de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/tag/Delhi-Journal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940012 | 801 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Diplomas Now identifies effective interventions for each of four risk factors and weaves these interventions into the School Improvement Plan. Each risk factor requires a coordinated weave of interventions at three tiers:
- School-wide interventions are part of the daily whole-school and classroom programs. When planned and implemented effectively, whole-school interventions keep 70–80% of students on track. The remaining 20–30% of students require additional supports, either targeted or intensive.
- Targeted interventions, serving 10-20% of students, are defined as having a 1:15 to 1:20 adult-student ratio, with moderate levels concentrated help from the teacher or program provider.
- Intensive interventions, serving up to 10% of students, are defined as having a maximum 1:5 adult-student ratio with high levels of concentrated help from the teacher or program provider. | <urn:uuid:45be5eb6-6cbc-4436-a4d8-314182e05722> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://philaedfund.org/programs/advancing-education/diplomas-now/prevention | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939489 | 175 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Created by Elizabeth Ball, an Australian gift-giving expert who writes the daily gift news blog, Gifts By The Stars, the calendar includes links to more than 40 of her most popular gift-giving blog posts, which she has been writing since March 2009.
"If you tend to leave Christmas shopping til the last minute, the Christmas Countdown Calendar will help you see why that adds hundreds of unnecessary dollars to your holiday budget," Elizabeth Ball said.
"If you want to reduce your holiday budget but still give great Christmas gifts, you'll find ideas how you do this," she said.
"If you never know what to give to that hard-to-buy for person, or if you want to know those little tips and tricks to make gift-giving a lot easier, you'll love the fresh ideas in the online Christmas Countdown Calendar."
Each month, from September through December, features a range of gift-giving tips, from 10 clues to get your gift right, to the earliest deadline for ordering personalized gifts in time for delivery before Christmas.
The Christmas Countdown Calendar also features dates you should circle in your own diaries to save money on shopping and deadlines you should know about to avoid gift-giving disappointment.
"I love gift-giving and the thrill of finding the perfect gift for a loved one, but understand that many people find Christmas gift shopping just plain hard work!" Elizabeth Ball said.
"You'll find some really good information in the Christmas Countdown Calendar which will help you save money but also help you find gift ideas which your friends and family will love," she said.
In addition to writing the daily gift news blog, Elizabeth is the founder of the world's leading luxury astrology report company, It's In The Stars, which she has been running since 2005, helping couples and parents to better understand each other and their children through astrology. | <urn:uuid:6944daeb-02f4-4ecf-89bd-5349dd227da4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prlog.org/11964960-save-money-time-energy-shopping-for-christmas-gifts-with-handy-free-christmas-countdown-calendar.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952788 | 378 | 1.5625 | 2 |
INTERNET RESOURCES ON WOMEN:
Using Electronic Media in Curriculum Transformation
by Joan Korenman
For eight years, this site served to update my 1997 book, Internet Resources on Women. It has become increasingly outdated, however, and I have now taken it down. Many of the resources it contained, and many more, can be found in the following:
Women's Studies / Women's Issues Resource Sites
A frequently-updated, annotated, selective set of more than 700 links to sites offering resources and information about
women's studies and/or women's issues. Includes 16 topical subsections, such as Activism; Arts and Humanities (including History); Business/Work; Cyberculture and Internet Information; Girls and Young Women; Health; Science and Technology; Sexuality and Sexual Orientation; Women of Color; and more.
Women- and Gender-Related E-mail Lists
An occasionally listing and description of more than 600 e-mail lists
that focus on women- or gender-related issues. Includes 16 topical subsections, such as Activism; Arts and Humanities; Business; Health; Motherhood; Religion and Spirituality; Science and Technology; Sports and Recreation; Sexuality and Sexual Orientation; Women of Color; and more.
- WMST-L File Collection
- WMST-L is a large, international e-mail forum for discussion of Women's Studies teaching, research, and program administration. The File Collection contains more than 300 files relating to these topics. They are arranged alphabetically and also in eighteen subject sections: Academia; Books and Films; Feminism(s); Feminist Theory/Theories; Girls and Young Women; Grad School/Job Market; Health/Biology; History; Intro to Women's Studies; Language; Men; Miscellaneous; Pedagogical Issues and Strategies; Race/Ethnicity; Sexuality/Sexual Orientation; Societal Issues in the Classroom; and WMST-L.
WMST-L: Academic Women's Studies List
Information primarily about WMST-L, an academic e-mail list for discussion
of Women's Studies teaching, research, and program administration. This
- Software I Use and Recommend
- I'm a software nut. Here are some programs I like a lot.
Copyright 1997-2012 by Joan Korenman.
Please report errors to Joan Korenman | <urn:uuid:1fed5a94-f2a8-43d5-86b5-38b59fa52f98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/updates.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903199 | 491 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Book on stuttering in children is now available at local libraries
In the past, experts said they believed that paying attention to a child’s stuttering would exacerbate the condition. They thought that offering the child therapy “would arouse the child’s awareness and cause more stuttering,” said Ehud Yairi, speech-language pathologist and researcher at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and Tel-Aviv University.
Research by Yairi, published in the ”Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research,” revealed that children may be aware of the differences between fluent speech and stuttering as early as age 3 and that many of them have displayed a social preference for fluent-speaking children by the time they are 4 years old.
“These findings should provide support to the important idea that we should shift from a hands-off approach to more direct therapy techniques and even more so, with school-age children,” said Barry Guitar, Ph.D., of the University of Vermont.
“Any time parents are concerned about a child’s fluency,” said Jane Fraser, president of the 65-year-old Stuttering Foundation, “They should educate themselves about the disorder and the many ways they can work to prevent stuttering from becoming a chronic problem.”
The book, which is also available in Spanish, includes answers to some of the questions parents and teachers may have about stuttering. It also describes the difference between normal disfluencies and stuttering and provides ways for parents to help their children, immediately.
Some of those ways are as follows:
- Speak with the child in an unhurried way, pausing frequently.
- Reduce the number of questions asked of the child.
- Use facial expressions and other body language to convey listening to the content of the child’s message, rather than how she or he is speaking.
- Set aside a few minutes at a regular time each day to give the child undivided attention.
- Help all members of the child’s family and friends learn to take turns talking and listening.
- Observe interactions with the child.
- Convey that the child is accepted as she or he is.
Books and DVDs produced by the Stuttering Foundation are available to any public library at no charge. In order to receive a copy, library employees can contact the foundation at 1-800-992-9392, email email@example.com or visit www.stutteringhelp.org or www.tartarmudez.org.
The book is available at the Blount Library in Franklinville, Gowanda Free Library, Memorial Library of Little Valley and the Olean Public Library. | <urn:uuid:2c441b18-f563-4a7c-99e5-de29b3185db8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metrowny.com/features/388-Book_on_stuttering_in_children_is_now_available_at_local_libraries.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952487 | 572 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Increased bout has manufactured it bedrock for students to hold up a amazing part education. The useful approved of rules has evolved and progressed higher than a protracted phase of episode. brand new and fresh lecturing instruction are somebody proposed to leaving behind authentic aspect instructing to students. There are many teaching strategies, which are constantly followed in the US. These comprises the lecture meeting, case intuitive feeling, conversation give birth to, athletic detecting, cooperative ascertaining out, integrating technology and distance selecting up.
The lecture case bureau is the more most of the time primitive blueprint in classrooms all as regards to the planet. The lecture come offers a apparatus to jabber a gargantuan number of concentration to a bulk of students at the parallel age. It maximizes the lecturer’s sway and is more often than not non-threatening to students. The case diary is an instructional policy that engages students in provocative dialogue about facet and troubles inherent in commendable relevance. In the conversation such as, the instructor starts the tutorial and a finish mishmash talk to refresh students’ memoirs about the imputed understanding. learning is more erudite when students grow to be actively involved in the sensing system, as such finalize of subsistence finding out proves to be an allowed concept for sermonizing. many studies have shown that learning is advanced when students turn into actively enthusiastic in the evaluating procedure.
Cooperative locating is an configured academic reach that encourages cramped groups of students to essay united for the execution of a precious goal. robot literacy at this time sets a primary section of a student’s maneuvers. Integrating technology into a syllabus when best has screened to be top-notch for improving and bobbing up the spotting materializing of the faculty and students. Distance selecting up refers to any ship on of teaching and deciding on up in which the counselor and student are not in the analogous location at the similar epoch. progressed mind technology has played an at any rate got wind role in facilitating the algorithm of distance preferring up.
The concept of sermonizing has more spotted a vast ocean of change. on summit of the subsistence, fresh and grew instructions have been introduced to station salubrious feature exercises to students. | <urn:uuid:f338f069-e4b8-4e84-be90-f268afeec311> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clbooks.com/2010/08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94399 | 442 | 2.796875 | 3 |
As you have likely heard by now, the Supreme Court this morning issued a landmark decision that will allow implementation of the new health-care law to move forward.
Swedish aligned with the Washington State Hospital Association in support of the passage of the Affordable Care Act because it provides for better access to care for more individuals throughout the country. We recognize there are many supporting and opposing voices around this topic, and while not a perfect piece of legislation, the law will provide coverage for 30 million people who otherwise have no access to insurance by 2014.
While the Court’s decision brings additional clarity to national health reform, our commitment to improving health care regionally remains the same. For the past six years, Swedish has worked diligently to improve quality, reduce costs and increase access to health care, and we are fully committed to continuing down this path. We also remain committed to serving all those in need. Last year alone, Swedish provided $146 million in community-benefit activities.
Here is a summary of the ruling on the Affordable Care Act:
The Supreme Court ruled this morning on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PL 111-148). The Court ruled 5-4 that the Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. While the Court did not find that the law was constitutional under the Commerce Clause, as argued by lawyers representing the federal government, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if they refuse to buy insurance is a tax and that Congress has the authority to impose such a tax.
According to the SCOTUS Blog: “Because the individual mandate survived, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn't comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.”
The court’s ruling gave President Obama a victory of sorts on a law whose most controversial provision — the individual mandate — is not set to take effect until 2014. Some popular provisions, such as family coverage for children up to age 26, have already taken effect. Congress gave the bill final approval in March 2010 on the strength of a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate; Republicans gained control of the House in November 2010 in part by capitalizing on opposition to the mandate and vowing to try to repeal the law in its entirety.
Below is a synopsis of some of the key provisions that remain law after today’s court decision.
Key Provisions that Remain Law
What did the Supreme Court decide about the individual mandate?
The individual mandate was found to be constitutional, relying upon the broad taxing authority of the federal government, and Congress’ specific ability to impose a tax on those who choose not to buy health insurance.
(What this means for patients: Taxpayers will be responsible to maintain coverage for all dependents or pay an applicable penalty on each dependent. An applicable individual is defined as a documented American citizen 18 years or older. Exemptions will be granted for financial hardship, religious objections, Native Americans, and if the lowest cost plan option exceeds a certain percentage as related to an individual’s income. )
What did the Supreme Court decide about the Medicaid expansion provision?
The Medicaid expansion mandate for states was ruled as unconstitutional, but the impact of this was mitigated by the court through the elimination of a provision that would have imposed a financial penalty for non-compliance. This means Medicaid will be expanded to include all non-Medicare eligible individuals under the age of 65 with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level (regardless of other factors) and will guarantee a benchmark benefit package. To finance the coverage of newly eligible individuals, the federal treasury will finance new Medicaid costs and slowly reduce involvement. These changes come into effect January 1, 2014.
How will the Medicaid decision impact our state or community?
We don't know yet, but states are now able to opt-in to the Medicaid expansion – if they choose to expand eligibility, they have access to additional federal funds. If they don't, they face no financial penalty.
Each state government will have to resolve whether they voluntary expand Medicaid and access the additional federal funding to underwrite the work. This will impact coverage levels and charity care reduction, by market, depending on how states respond to this new flexibility. (For the State of Washington, it is estimated that the Medicaid expansion will add 411,000 to the rolls and provide $3.9 billion in Federal funding to cover the cost.) | <urn:uuid:3af76900-4b0b-406b-a383-c6cc0a3fda4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.swedish.org/About/Blog/June-2012/Swedish-s-Perspective-on-the-SCOTUS-Ruling-of-the-A | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959923 | 973 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, refused to be drawn on rumours that the company had assigned a team of specialist engineers to pull apart Bing’s underlying technology, but admitted Google had examined the service.
“Bing is a competitor,” he said. “We have absolutely looked at Bing; we have actually studied what they do as Microsoft studied what Google does.”
However, a source close to Google told the New York Post that Microsoft’s new search project was vexing Google’s founders.
“New search engines have come and gone in the past ten years, but Bing seems to be of particular interest to Sergey,” said the anonymous source.
Bing, which launched earlier this month, has been backed by a huge advertising campaign, with Microsoft said to be spending $100 million on marketing the search engine. Microsoft’s hopes are modest in the short term, hoping simply to cement a place as the second most-popular search engine ahead of Yahoo! and behind Google.
Reports suggest that awareness of the Bing brand is growing steadily in the United States. According to a YouGov Polimetrix survey, familiarity with the search engine has increased 20 per cent in the last few weeks,
Google refused to say whether a specialist team had been assigned to tackle Bing, instead saying that Google “always has a team working on improving search.” | <urn:uuid:3c35b87c-7162-43a2-88e8-76be049d8c91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/5685161/Google-assembling-team-of-engineers-to-battle-Bing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975201 | 291 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Golden Era of Artisans
When I was a red-headed youngster with a full head of hair growing up in Southern
California in the 1950s, there was no such thing as artisan foods. My mother
bought our food at a local market and most of it was either frozen or canned.
There was not much variety to choose from, so our meals were simple in preparation.
Macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, and spaghetti were staples. The terms
organic, sustainable, and artisan had not been introduced into the everyday vernacular.
Entering the first part of the 21st century, we are blessed with an endless variety of
artisan foods. The trend began in the 1980s, but it has fully blossomed in the past
several years. The term, artisan, is generally defined as a skilled manual worker
or craftsman. With reference to food, artisan refers to small, or boutique, producers
of specialized eatables of the highest quality, sourced and produced by
passionate people who have committed themselves to foods intended for the most
Examples of artisan foods abound: cheese, chocolate, specialty meats, bread, ice
cream, coffee, beer and wine. Take cheese for instance. According to the New
York Times, before 1981 there were no goat cheese producers in the United States
- now there are more than 200. Specialty cheese stores are now commonplace in
big cities. Jeff Roberts, writing in the Atlas of American Artisan Cheese, notes that
at least 35 producers now have caves and cellars in the United States where
exposure to local microflora promulgates a better and natural aging of cheeses.
Artisan beers have exploded on the scene, especially in Canada, Australia, and
New Zealand, and the United States has not been far behind. In 2007, there were
1,406 regional craft breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs in the United
States. The recent Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival was attended by 750 pinotphiles,
but the Anderson Valley Beer Festival (BoontBeerFest 2008), which preceded
it, drew over 5,000 brewski lovers. The annual Beer Festival in Portland,
Oregon, has over 50,000 attendees. Artisan bean-to-bar chocolate makers have
sprouted up all over the United States, crafting chocolate with high cocoa content,
less sugar, and exotic ingredients resulting in unique flavors with the cocoa origin
proudly displayed on the product. These are often micro-batch producers, making
only 50-1,000 pounds at a time and only a few people making the chocolate. In
a recent feature in the Los Angeles Times, it was estimated that we will see double
the number of chocolate makers in the United States over the next three years.
Artisanal producers of Pinot Noir are also part of this trend. Not a week goes by that I don’t hear about
a new producer in California crafting small lots of Pinot Noir. Just a few weeks ago I received a notice
from Bruliam Wines announcing their launch with the release of two single barrel Pinot Noirs, one from
Anderson Valley and the other from the Santa Lucia Highlands. Proprietors Keith and Brian Overstreet
ask the question, “Can two winemaking novices create world-class Pinot Noir, or will we be begging
our foodie friends to buy “premium vinegar?” Everyone wants in on the fun.
This issue of the PinotFile is dedicated to the artisan vintners who enrich our daily lives. The typical
Pinot Noir may be simply 80 percent water, but it is the most superb antidote I can think of to the anxiety
of life’s stresses. In the following pages, you will read about some of the most enjoyable group of
artisan Pinot Noirs I have ever reviewed and published in the PinotFile (and that is saying something
after more than 315 issues). Please temper this bold comment with the realization that these tasting
notes are only a guide and all of these wines deserve your attention. At the end of the day, it really
doesn’t matter whether you taste allspice, Bing cherries, or rotting leaves, or which wine is packaged
in the heaviest bottle with the fanciest label, just yield to the experience, and make the Pinot Noir in
your glass your own. | <urn:uuid:61202064-27aa-4d34-ab7d-8f7c4e580137> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://princeofpinot.com/article/471/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947477 | 921 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Titular see in Caesarea mauretania, Africa.
Gratianoplis, a titular see in Caesarea mauretania, Africa. This city does not figure in a list of the bishoprics of the province preserved in a document of the sixth and seventh centuries, unless it be disguised under the native name (see "Byzantinische Zeitschrift", 1892, II, 26, 31). Its history, location, and present condition are unknown. Three of its bishops are known: Publicius (Catholic), Deuterius (Donatist), both at the Conference of Carthage in 411; and Thalassius, present at the Conference of 486. | <urn:uuid:15f9e16e-3f3f-4e64-b0b0-4a4470f90556> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Gratianoplis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912165 | 147 | 1.570313 | 2 |
By Katrina Gay, NAMI Director of Communications
Much attention is being focused these days on politics and policy. From the GOP primary leading up to this fall’s presidential election to redistricting, the U.S. Supreme Court deliberation on the Affordable Care Act and the opening of many state legislative sessions across the country, 2012 promises to be a pivotal year for mental health care in America.
Amid all this activity, it is clear that we will have plenty of opportunities to share stories and messages, raise issues in the public discussion and influence the future direction of mental health care. As the new year begins, we at NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, encourage you to do your part to enhance candidates’ and policy makers’ understanding of mental illness. Here are a few ways you can help:
- Connect with Candidates. The combination of redistricting and elections challenge us to cultivate relationships with candidates and new policy makers. This is an important time for us to reach out, to illustrate how policies affect our lives and to let policy makers know about the issues that are important to us. To support this effort, NAMI offers mental illness fact sheets, issues fact sheets, state fact sheets and talking points—these are available and will be updated with the latest information to help you explain the need for mental health services and funding.
- Learn More. In 2011, NAMI released a series of reports on the state budget crisis that shows these cuts continue to threaten our already fragile mental health care system. The NAMI Grading the States report is another tool that continues to drive the debate. Use these to learn more about what is happening to funding of mental health services and our system of care for people living with mental illness in your state and across the country. Then, talk with candidates and policy makers about the need for services and supports that support real recovery for millions of Americans.
- Take Action. News unfolds quickly and information travel fast in 2012. Following NAMI on Twitter to help stay abreast of the daily mental health news and happenings and subscribing to receive our advocacy updates and alerts are ways that you can easily stay connected—from your computer or your smart phones. Daily and weekly postings and alerts will feature news related to the ever-changing political and policy climate, ensuring that you are well informed.
- Stay Tuned. NAMI will be launching a new Mental Health Care Gets My Vote website section and social media campaign dedicated to the elections. Liking NAMI on Facebook, following us on Twitter and bookmarking our website are good places to start to stay apprised of the campaign as it unfolds. Through these channels, voters and citizens will have access to the latest tools, information, discussions, community conversations and resources aimed to empower them to both enhance these relationships and encourage their voting process.
If advocacy is the process by which we aim to influence public policy and leadership decisions within our local, state and national community, we as NAMI and mental health advocates step confidently into 2012. Through our individual and combined efforts, we recognize this as a year full of opportunity for success and partnership as we strive to help ourselves and others and ensure that our country, from Main Street to the Capitol, is the best she can be for children, youth and adults living with mental illness and their families. | <urn:uuid:9c46942b-55aa-4fd2-b10d-83dbc4aacf86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.nami.org/2012/01/election-mental-health-advocacy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94489 | 674 | 1.828125 | 2 |
How Long Will It Take to Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt? — Dollars and Sense
Making minimum payments on your credit cards could cost you — big. And a new tool will show you just how much.
The website ReadyForZero created a calculator that assumes an annual interest rate of 15 percent, and then it totals up the final cost of your debt and how long it’ll take you to pay it off. The results can be not only eye-opening, but frightening.
Example: if you make minimum payments on a debt of $3,000, it’ll take you 17 years, four months and one day to zero it out. And along the way, you’ll pay $3,174 in interest — meaning you’re essentially paying more than twice what you originally owed.
Experts say making payments even slightly above the minimum due can dramatically reduce the payment duration and the final amount you end up shelling out in interest. Or, best of all, don’t charge anything you can’t pay off at the end of the month. | <urn:uuid:5508a28e-8225-47c9-ae29-a0c95fc3ffa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://xlcountry.com/credit-card-debt-dollars-and-sense/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9274 | 222 | 1.835938 | 2 |
THE SCRUBBING OF AMERICA: How Professor Lawrence Solum Disgraced Himself To Protect Obama’s Eligibility.
In September of 2008, the Michigan Law Review published an article by Lawrence Solum, the John E. Cribbet Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, entitled, “Originalism and the Natural Born Citizen Clause”. The article focused upon the issue of whether John McCain was eligible to be President despite his birth in Panama. The article did not even mention Barack Obama. The direct citation is Michigan Law Review: First Impressions Vol. 107:22 2008.
The opening paragraph of Solum’s article states:
“What was the original public meaning of the phrase that establishes the eligibility for the office of President of the United States? There is general agreement on the core of its meaning. Anyone born on American soil whose parents are citizens of the United States is a ‘natural born citizen.’” (Emphasis added.)
According to this reference, there is general agreement that the core meaning of the natural born citizen clause = born in the US to parents who are citizens. According to Solum back in September 08, anyone who doesn’t fit that description, like McCain, falls into a “twilight zone” of eligibility. This interesting choice of words mimics the US Supreme Court’s “doubts” expressed in Minor v. Happersett:
“At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their parents. As to this class there have been doubts, but never as to the first.” (Emphasis added.)
Solum’s definition of the core meaning of natural born citizen seems to be taken directly from the SCOTUS in Minor. Solum then goes on to analyze McCain’s eligibility and concludes that there is no clear answer as to whether McCain was eligible to be President.
CUT TO… OCTOBER 27th 2008.
Solum published the original article in September 2008. But then something happened.
The issue of whether a dual citizen at birth may be considered a natural born citizen had been ignored in the run up to the election – prior to October 27, 2008 – when I brought my law suit, Donofrio v. Wells, against the New Jersey Secretary of State. Up until then, the issue of Obama’s dual citizenship was not on the radar of voters, pundits, or journalists.
By 2010, the dual citizen issue had become common knowledge. Today, four states - Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee and Arizona – have drafted bills requiring Presidential candidates to prove they have never been dual citizens, or that both of their parents were citizens of the United States when the candidate was born. If any of those states actually pass such a law, Obama will not be eligible for inclusion on their ballots.
On April 18, 2010, Solum republished the article under the same exact title but with a vastly different second paragraph. The revised article was released online via the Social Science Research Network. The citation for the scrubbed article is Illinois Public Law Research Paper No. 09-17. The second paragraph now reads:
“What is the legal significance of what we can call “the natural born citizen clause”? There is general agreement on the core of settled meaning.2 As a matter of inclusion, it is beyond dispute that anyone born on American soil with an American parent is a ‘natural born citizen.’3″ (Emphasis added.)
Scrubadub dub dub…
When you go to footnote 3, it continues to scrub as follows:
“3 In an earlier version of this article, I used the phrase “whose parents are citizens of the United States.” Some readers have misread the original as implying that someone born of only one American parent on American soil is not a “natural born citizen.” That reading ignores the context of the original sentence, which was meant to provide a case where “natural born citizen” status was indisputable… Based on my reading of the historical sources, there is no credible case that a person born on American soil with one American parent was clearly not a “natural born citizen…” (Emphasis added.)
That’s some serious scrubbing.
He starts with – “In an earlier version of this article” – but he doesn’t cite to the Michigan Law Review article anywhere in the scrubbed article. These so called “legal scholars” would list a citation to tissue paper if they sneezed in it while writing a report. But good old Solum here, he’s suddenly struck with a case of amnesia citosis.
THE MICHIGAN LAW REVIEW’S RESPONSE
The Michigan Law Review has not published Solum’s revisions. To their credit, the article remains unscrubbed at their web site. I spoke with Amy Murphy, Editor In Chief of the Michigan Law Review this morning. She informed me that they have a general policy of not publishing revisions of articles they have previously published.
I also informed her in detail about the scrubbing by Solum. I explained my background, the case I brought to the Supreme Court, and the timeline of events as they pertained to Solum’s articles. She agreed to listen as I read the original Michigan Law Review version and the recently scrubbed version of the second paragraph to her. When I finished reading, she informed me that the Michigan Law Review has “no comment”.
In another telling paragraph (in both versions), Solum states:
“How would an originalist approach the question whether the original meaning of the natural born citizen clause would permit McCain (and others not born of American parents on American soil) to become President?” (Emphasis added.)
This is a second reference to “parents”. This was not revised.
But there’s more. Solum also states (in both articles):
“If the American conception of ‘natural born citizen’ were equivalent to the English notion of a ‘natural born subject,’ then it could be argued that only persons born on American soil to American parents would have qualified…”
Parents – plural – again.
And one more time:
“This could result in the interpretation suggested above—which would limit “natural born citizens” to persons born of American parents on American soil.” (Emphasis added.)
Solum needs to scrub this thing down a bit more to make it fit the needs of Obama eligibility. Perhaps that is why the scrubbed version is only listed as a “draft” when you download it. But it’s not listed as a draft at the Social Science Research Network site’s abstract download page for the scrubbed version.
If Solum felt that the original article had been misinterpreted, he should have written a follow up report with a new title explaining the issue.
Solum chose to use “parents” – plural – throughout the original article, no footnote necessary. So when people took him at his word, he scrubbed his word. That’s not what an ethical professor does. He doesn’t publish research in an esteemed journal and then republish the same article with the very same title after scrubbing a controversial paragraph.
That’s intellectual cowardice and it’s also a professional disgrace. Shame on you, Larry. You know it and so do your colleagues. You are, after all, the “John E. Cribbett Professor of Law”.
(Hat tip to reader “Steve T” for pointing this scrubbing out in comments.)
Leo Donofrio, Esq. | <urn:uuid:d1949a28-ba56-459e-8f26-2906393859ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/the-scrubbing-of-america-how-professor-lawrence-solum-disgraced-himself-to-protect-obamas-eligibility/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968107 | 1,700 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Historical Society Inc.
WWII produced many heroes but none more worthy of the title than Adrian Marks. 14 minutes after midnight, July 30, 1945, in the South Pacific. The Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. With in twelve minutes, the ship sank. Men went overboard most without life rafts.
No distress massage got out due to
an error, and the Navy did not know the Indianapolis was missing. With a crew
of 1196 men about 800 went over the side. Of the
800 only 316 men survived.
August 2, 1945 a Ventura land based patrol plane piloted by William Gwinn sighted
some of the survivors, It could not land and its radio antenna was tangled
. The message it sent was garbled and not fully received. The
message indicated that they had spotted a life raft. Lt. Commander Adrian
Marks took off in an amphibious Cataline type patrol plane to investigate
the sighting. Marks violated standing orders never to land an amphibious
PBY in open sea. He picked up 56 survivors. He
called a ship from the western pacific to complete the rescue of 316 men
who survived a four and a half days in the water.
Send mail to email@example.com, questions or
comments about this web site. | <urn:uuid:de26eb5f-ce90-4e03-bc09-566ac808e48a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geetel.net/~cchsm/lt__cmdr__adrian_marks.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949594 | 273 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Many turtles involved in traumatic accidents like a hit by car, chewed by dog, or mowed by lawn mower present to Turtle Rescue Team with broken bones. Because every case is a little different, we assess each individual patient to determine the best course of treatment. Every turtle with a broken leg will get a radiograph (X-Ray). This allows us to better assess the fracture. A cleanly fractured bone (i.e. a bone that broke into only two pieces) is preferred over a bone that fractured into a lot of smaller pieces because it is easier to fix.
In the case of a clean fracture, we will insert a metal rod or pin through the broken bones to realign the segments. Then, the broken leg will be placed in a cast to give extra stability while the bones heal.
If the bone can not be fixed, the leg might be amputated. Turtles with only three legs can still move around quite easily and are releasable animals. | <urn:uuid:0c430038-4023-46c4-88f8-46a578d86478> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.turtlerescueteam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28&Itemid=25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925277 | 199 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Photos (4) Add Images
Places mentioned on this page
Connected Pages Add Page
Links Add Link
Share Clarke's Memorial page on Facebook
About this page
Anyone can contribute to this page. Please sign in or sign up—it's free.
Clark Craycroft, abstract from History of Jasper County Missouri
1883 | Joplin, Missouri
"Graduating from the University of Missouri in 1871, Mr. Craycroft was desirous of getting into business or adopting a profession. He was asked to accompany a friend of his from Cooper County who had inherited a farm in Jasper County, near the present sight of Carl Junction, who was going to visit the place. Five days were spent in the trip from Cooper County, and they arrived at the farm in August. At that time Mr. Craycroft had never heard of Joplin.
"He walked along Center creek prairie where he came to the old Manlove ford and, taking off his shoes and stockings, waded across the creek and came out in the woods south of the stream, walking south half a mile or so. Reaching the prairie between Center and Turkey creeks, partly from curiosity and partly because he thought he could scare up a turkey, he crossed it and came to Turkey creek. He crossed it and then made his way up the valley, now Sunshine Hollow, and there discovered Joplin, which at that time was in the Joplin creek valley.
"He walked up through the mines and met John B. Sergeant at the old shaft where he and Mr. Moffet had first struck lead. He little dreamed that he would be the son-in-law of the mining king.
"Desirous of finding a place to get his dinner, he inquires of Mr. Sergeant who told him that Mr. "Money-maker" was building a restaurant and bakery up the hill. When he arrived at this place he found that the building had not yet been completed, or the furniture in place (two carpenters were then working on the building, one shingling the roof and the other making a table), and was informed that if he would wait awhile he could be served, as one of the tables was almost completed. When the table was finished, Mr. Craycroft drew up a chair, sat down and ate the first meal to be served in the eating-house, which for twenty years after occupied a prominent place in Joplin history.
"The mining camp made such an impression on Mr. Craycroft that, after having read law and been admitted to the bar, he returned, arriving here a second time in April, 1875.
"On his second visit Mr. Craycroft came to Joplin with $4.65 in his pockets. His library consisted of two books, and he possessed, in addition, a silk hat and a long-tailed coat. He lost the hat in Shoal creek while saving a friend from drowning."
Clark Craycroft, abstract of obituary
1928 | Joplin, Missouri
In 1868, he entered Missouri State University in Columbia. He graduated in June, 1871. In May, 1873, he was appointed clerk of the Linn County Court of Common Pleas. He served for one year and commenced the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1874, and began practicing in St. Louis.
He came to Joplin in July, 1875, at the age of 28. He married Alma Sergeant on May 1, 1882 in Joplin. On Nov. 24, 1882, Clark was commissioned captain of the Joplin Rifles, the first military company organized in Joplin under the state laws. In 1883, he was made Major of the Fifth regiment, Missouri National Guard. He was commonly known as "Major Craycroft".
He was Joplin's first fire chief, appointed in 1882, U.S. Circuit Court Judge, and secretary of the Sergeant Milling Company. He was a Master Mason and a Knight Templar. At the time of his death he had been the oldest living past master of Fellowship Lodge, No. 345, and was an honorary member of the Blue Lodge by virtue of fifty years' continuous membership. He was also the past eminent commander of Ascension commandery, No. 39.
For fifty years, Clark lived at 224 Wall Street. It was a large apartment building, which he owned. Clark's wife died in 1899. He died at 81 years of age on July 14, 1928 at St. John's Hospital and is buried in Fairview Cemetery. Clark never had children of his own, but did adopt a son, Rola Craycroft, last known to live in Kansas City, Missouri. In his will, Clark left his adopted son one dollar. Everything else was left to his sister, Nellie. | <urn:uuid:f9fa30b3-2ea5-4840-bcab-20c872cedf39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fold3.com/page/110663656_clarke_craycroft/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986878 | 1,016 | 1.773438 | 2 |
In its 19th year, "March is Frozen Food Month" is as strong as ever, with Web pages playing an increasingly sophisticated role in spiking frozen food sales. A $10,000 national sweepstakes and local giveaways of items like home freezers also aim to inspire consumers to pick up frozen products.
"We've got radio remotes and penguins all over the place," said Jay Prisco, administrator of the Northern California Frozen Food Council, San Ramon, one of those with an established Web site, www.peterpenguin.com.
Although the monthlong promotions are spearheaded by the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association, Harrisburg, Pa., with its penguin mascot, all the action takes place on the local level. Retailers and brokers decorate stores, involve the community and even, in St. George, Utah, have one of the torches from the recently concluded Olympic Winter Games as a store enhancement. Manufacturers cooperate by dropping prices, and the race is on.
As it does every year, Harris-Teeter, Matthews, N.C., made some elaborate decorations, and invited brokers and manufacturers to one of its stores on March 1 to see all the displays and activity, reported Tom Conners of Advantage Sales and Marketing, and president of the Frozen & Dairy Food Council of North Carolina, in Charlotte. Harris Teeter and Ingles Markets have been exceptionally involved in promoting this month's emphasis to the community, Conners added, by carrying a nutritional message about frozen foods to local schools.
"They spend a lot of time sharing information with the schoolchildren and parents, that the nutritional value of frozen food compares favorably with fresh," Conners said. "The past four years have seen record changes in terms of the quality and variety in the cases, and consumers are responding."
Comparing 2001 to 2000, the majority of retailers grew their March dollar sales in frozen food, according to Information Resources, Inc. Last year, nine markets, led by Albany, N.Y., with a 19.5% increase, had dollar sales growth rates of 14% or greater, reported Carl Henninger, vice president, retailer services, for IRI, Chicago.
The Produce for Better Health Foundation, Wilmington, Del., of "5 a Day" fame, has joined in, putting "March is Frozen Food Month" on its Web site, www.5aday.com, to promote frozen fruits and vegetables.
At one of the Harmon City stores in Utah, "We get the Special Olympics involved in it, bring in some of the athletes and sell root beer floats, get a lot of the vendors involved donating stuff -- everybody helps out a lot," said Brandon Brown, grocery manager of the St. George unit. In fact, Harmon City interacts with elementary school students year-round, teaching the nutritional value of frozen foods and vegetables.
Harmon City has an adopt-a-school program, and Brown said he's had different elementary classes making decorations and igloos, to help decorate. "We try to get the community involved in it."
At Luekens Village Foods, Bemidji, Minn., store manager Steve Rauvola does a great deal of decorating, about 40 hours' worth. Sometimes the displays go right to the store's 12-foot ceiling, he told SN. There will be lots of penguins and giveaways, like a DVD player, a microwave oven, and a couple of freezers, plus the traditional couple of hundred-dollar bills given away at the end of March.
Most of all, Frozen Food Month calls upon the planning abilities of brokers and retailers. Mark Byington, vice president of the Minnesota Frozen Food & Dairy Association, Minneapolis, and business manager for Acosta Minneapolis, said, "I think in our market, we continue to struggle to get ahead of manufacturers' planning. Manufacturers are planning further and further out, and we ourselves have to do this, too." He initiated a strategy session to review the plans and how best to drive the category sales.
"We've seen double-digit increases in past Frozen Food Months, and we get great support from our retailers," said Conners. A full-page ad with 12 manufacturers ran March 3, in seven newspapers with a total circulation of 1 million. Display contests are also run on the local level. Radio, a mail-in sweepstakes and a charity component -- a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation -- are included, and consumers can get a refund or discount price on admission to the Minnesota Zoo. This effort is typical of the coordination going on among numerous frozen food councils throughout the United States, and they say the level of support from manufacturers is no less this year, despite the economy.
Food retailers serving on the board of directors of the Minnesota council couple their activity with the council's, and these include Lunds, Byerly's, Supervalu, Cashwise-Coborn's, Rainbow Foods, Cub Foods and Nash Finch affiliates in Minnesota and throughout the Upper Midwest. The Minnesota group is one that has recently renamed itself to include dairy promotions, and now has a brochure that includes the March and October frozen events, along with events in June, Dairy Month.
"We're excited about what it's going to do for the category," said Byington. "It's a key focus, not only from us but from the retailers." Retailers even want to reprint the council's ad on their grocery bags as a vehicle that people see every day.
This year, it seems that more attention is being paid to drawing consumers to Web sites. The Frozen & Dairy Food Council of North Carolina is a veteran with its www.carolinacoolfoods.com site, but its leaders realize they have to keep widening their audience by, perhaps, doing an ad with a dot-com theme, incorporating Web addresses of the retailers and manufacturers.
The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association's site, www.easyhomemeals.com, has recipes, storage and handling tips, and links to frozen food manufacturers, where coupons can be printed.
Under the theme "Ingles Just Chillin' Giveaway," Ingles Markets, Black Mountain, N.C., is giving away a fishing/ski boat chainwide, and a freezer in every store, "because the freezer is your modern-day pantry, and people need more room," Nate Fisher, vice president for frozens, told SN. Specials include a thermal bag from KeepCoolUSA, coupled with a $15 purchase of frozen food; an entertainment center as second prize; and a spa package as third, on the "chillin"' theme.
"We are looking for increased sales and profit; we've had a considerable increase every year in distribution and sales, across all frozen categories," he said. | <urn:uuid:14e83bd2-d272-479d-968a-1104b23b7529> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://supermarketnews.com/print/archive/flip-out-frozens | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956181 | 1,406 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Alpacas have relatively simple needs, shelter being of utmost importance.
Although simplicity is the rule when starting out, many alpaca owners expand shelters to encompass multiple care needs such as vet rooms, shearing stations and breeding pens. Don't forget hay and feed storage, it's especially important to keep these items close to the alpacas for your convenience, though protected so as they can't get into them.
A basic 3 sided structure with it's back to the prevailing wind, siding that comes completely to the ground, and a non-leaking roof is required. A 12 x 12 structure will suffice for 3-4 alpacas.
Either wood or metal siding works fine. A metal or composition roof that'll keep the rain out and hold up to the snow loads is also important. Be sure to check for and eliminate any sharp or protruding surfaces that can harm your alpacas.
Provide a rubber or non porous surface to cover the flooring to ensure your alpacas have a dry area to bed down.
When deciding on a location for your shelter, keep in mind the direction of water runoff during the rainy months to avoid having a wet floor during the winter. It's nice to provide straw bedding especially during the cold months, but not necessary.
Alpacas enjoy being together at all times. Even though at times its necessary to keep them apart such as during quarantine, illness, postpartum, you'll find that life is simpler if everything is under one roof, including the alpacas. Granted, you will have to employ the assistance of panels or fencing to keep them physically apart for various reasons, but if they can see each other, they are happy and content. | <urn:uuid:ff322b9b-570d-42f9-b424-9471e25ce8f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.openherd.com/pages/1506/mountain-jewel-farm-alpaca-shelter- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960368 | 353 | 2.015625 | 2 |
GLENN: Well, Ed Gillespie decided to write NBC. I have a copy of the letter but I would rather just have Ed just explain the meaning of the letter, why you wrote the letter, what your concerns were. Hi, Ed, how are you?
GILLESPIE: I’m fine, Glenn, thanks for giving me a chance to have your listeners hear about this.
GLENN: Sure. NBC, first of all — well, let’s start at the beginning. Tell me about the letter. What was your problem at the White House?
GILLESPIE: Well, what NBC did was we granted them an interview over in Egypt to talk about, you know, the peace process and Iran and other subjects and they raised this bogus notion that the President, in asserting U.S. policy in his speech to the Knesset which he said that our policy is to stand by Israel as a friend in the Middle East, our policy is to not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, our policy that we don’t negotiate with terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda and the Obama campaign said that was an attack on Barack Obama, which it was absolutely not. It was a statement of U.S. policy. Those are the President’s policies. They have been for a long time. And so when Angle asked the question, Angle, the reporter for NBC, asked the President that question, the President said, well, no, you got that — you know, you got that wrong; read the speech. And he said, you know — he started by saying, my policies haven’t changed, maybe the political calendar has, but read the speech; you got that wrong. And then went on to talk about Iran.
Well, NBC news cut, selectively edited out the part where he said, "Read the speech," you didn’t get that exactly right is actually how the President put it. And in the edit they cut to a shot of Angle himself and then back to the President with the, you know, with the line about the, you know, what I actually said was about Iran, talking to Iran. And they made it look like he was affirming the premise of the question when, in fact, he had rejected explicitly the premise of the question and they masked the edit.
GLENN: Okay. Let me read exact — word for word, Jim Angle said, you said negotiating with Iran is pointless and then do we have the audio? Give me the edited, please. Here’s the edited first.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VOICE: Negotiating with Iran is pointless. And then you went further. You said that it was appeasement. Were you referring to Senator Barack Obama?
PRESIDENT BUSH: You know, my policies haven’t changed but evidently the political calendar has. And when, you know, a leader of Iran says that they want to destroy Israel, you’ve got to take those words seriously.
VOICE: A lot of Iran’s empowerment –
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GLENN: Okay. Now, listen to what he actually said.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VOICE: You said that negotiating with Iran is pointless and then you went further. You said that it was appeasement. Were you referring to Senator Barack Obama? He certainly thought you were.
PRESIDENT BUSH: You know, my policies haven’t changed but evidently the political calendar has. People need to read the peach. You didn’t get it exactly right, either. What I said was, is that we need to take the words of people seriously and when, you know, a leader of Iran says that they want to destroy Israel, you’ve got to take those words seriously.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GLENN: Why would they do this?
GILLESPIE: Why would they do? I think it’s because they want to affirm the notion that anytime the President states a policy — and they will start with this one, that, you know, it’s our policy, like I said, to stand by Israel and not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, don’t negotiate with terrorists, that’s a policy apparently that someone disagrees with. The media will treat it and the Obama campaign will treat its an attack on an individual when it is absolutely not. When the President says raising taxes will harm the American economy, that’s not an attack on anyone, it’s not an attack on Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid or others who disagree with that point of view. When the President says that we should be able to drill in an environmentally sensitive way in ANWR in the northern slope of Alaska to meet the demands for oil in this country domestically rather than relying on foreign sources of oil, those who disagree with that, that’s not an attack on them. And the notion that you can say, you know, that the, any campaign or the media can say that the President asserting his policies of this administration somehow translate into an attack on someone is a premise we’re just not going to accept.
GLENN: So he said it was fitting that I talked about not taking the words of Adolf Hitler seriously with you also talk about the need to defend Israel, et cetera, et cetera, and not to negotiate with the likes of Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. When Barack Obama responded to this, he said it was an outrage that the only person’s policies that had made the world more dangerous was George Bush. So wasn’t Barack Obama, in fact, without taking him out of context, doing exactly what he was blaming on the President and saying the President shouldn’t do?
GILLESPIE: Well, and, of course, it’s been awfully hard for Senator Clinton to get much attention in the midst of all this. But look, they are free to campaign to do what they need to do to get the nomination, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. And that’s fine, but the fact is the President of the United States is the President of the United States through January 20 of 2009 and he is going to make the case for U.S. policy. And we’re going to do that. And people are free to disagree with it, but it’s not an attack and it shouldn’t be portrayed as such.
GLENN: You also went in with something else on NBC and you asked them about their coverage of calling Iraq a civil war. Can you explain this part?
CALLER: Well, you may remember back in November of 2006, there was this very public hand wringing and, "Oh, we’ve looked at this very carefully and, you know, we know that the U.S. Government and the Iraqi government disagree with this, but we are declaring today that Iraq is in a sectarian civil war and that our troops are in the midst of a civil war there. Well, Glenn, as you well know, the unity government there in Iraq is a government of moderate Shia and moderate Sunni. They have been routing out extremist Sunni and extremist Shia in that country, ethnosectarian violence is down. In November of 2006, NBC made this very public announcement that this was their determination. And then in around September of 2007 after the effect of the surge had kicked in and the Iraqi government started making progress and passing laws, they quietly dropped it. And my question to them was a simple one: Have you declared an end to the civil war and you just haven’t said so? Is the civil war over in Iraq in your view? We never thought there was one? Or were you wrong in declaring it in the first place? Just a little clarity, please. Can you publicly tell us about your deliberations and where that decision stands.
And then secondly — or thirdly, I should say, when the last quarter GDP numbers came out and showed that we had growth of 6/10ths of a percent in the first quarter, they said if you believe the government numbers, you know, we’re just — you know, they came out and, you know, officially declared that we’re just short of a recession. Well, that’s not what the Department of Commerce said. And are there other numbers that we should believe? Is there a reason we shouldn’t believe the Government numbers? I would like them to clarify that. There a reason that the government numbers shouldn’t be believed. So look, you know, I’ve had a concern with NBC news for some time. I’ve expressed it privately to them. My concern is that, you know, the likes of commentators and quotes when really they’re advocates.
GLENN: No, they’re journalists. They’re not commentators. They’re journalists.
GILLESPIE: On MSNBC. Like Christopher Matthews and Keith Olbermann who are, you know, left wing attack, you know, part of a left wing view of the world, which is fine. You know, they’re labeled as commentators in that arena. But I worry that the commingling that you see and the blurring of the lines between NBC broadcast division and the NBC commentary division is constantly blurred and you now see the news anchors and others sitting down with Olbermann and Matthews on election nights talking to them like, you know, they are Edward R. Murrow.
GLENN: Yeah. You know, it’s very interesting because I do not call myself a journalist. Keith Olbermann will. I don’t call myself a journalist. I’m not a journalist, even though the San Francisco Chronicle called me one and we had an argument about it. But I’m not a journalist, nor would I anchor the coverage on CNN for the election and do it in a serious sort of way.
GLENN: Wouldn’t do it. I’ll give you commentary about the election.
GILLESPIE: Sure, absolutely.
GLENN: But I’ll let you know it’s commentary. They have intentionally blurred the lines over there.
GILLESPIE: They have and I don’t think it’s in their interest. I don’t think it’s in the public’s interest and I don’t think it’s in their interest.
GLENN: Here’s the thing. I don’t know if you’ve been following what Bill O’Reilly has been saying about how GE is profiting by selling things over to Iran. You also have GE, the largest, with the largest lobbying group on Capitol Hill being green week. They are burying agendas like crazy. It is not a possible if you come out and say, look, GE makes a ton of money and, in fact, we have the biggest lobbying group down in Capitol Hill and we believe in green energy; by the way, we own NBC and so we’re pulling these together. That’s fine, but nobody’s ever disclosing this stuff. And it’s really dangerous.
GILLESPIE: Well, like I say, Glenn, I think the concern of this blurring of the lines between the commentary side and the news side is a legitimate one. I don’t think it’s in their interest and I hope they will respond by the way, their response to the concern about the mass editing that your listeners just heard and if you see it, you see they mask the edit. They hide it so you would think that the President didn’t have those three sentences in between. The fact is they say the response was, well, if people want to see that, they can go on the MSNBC.com website and download it.
GLENN: You know what, we edit for time on television, we edit but you put a white flash between the edit so you know there’s an edit there.
GILLESPIE: Yeah. And you don’t entirely alter the meaning of the response. They edited it in a way to make it seem like he was saying, yeah, good point.
GLENN: Let me ask you this question because it bothered me with Barack Obama, it bothered me with Hillary Clinton that the extreme left has taken on Fox News and they won’t even play ball with Fox News. They are trying to blackball Fox News and put them out of business by choking off any information from the left side of the aisle. Thus cutting themselves off from half of the population. I mean, there are Democrats and Republicans that watch Fox News just like there is on CNN. The demographics may be skewed and the psychology of the people may be skewed a little bit differently or the political landscape is different, but there’s still a great number of people that go over there and I believe that Fox tries to be somewhat fair and balanced. While their journalists clearly or their commentators are clearly conservative, nobody in Washington is trying to — or the Democrats are trying to blackball Fox by not going on any debates, et cetera, et cetera. You don’t see Republicans doing that to NBC, do you?
GILLESPIE: No, and sometimes I question why. It is beyond me frankly. As you know I’m a former chairman of the Republican national committee and this is my own view. I don’t know in they would hold debates sponsored by Chris Matthews, but they do. So they have not taken that step in the way of the –
GLENN: I mean, if you can’t — you’re saying, I want to be able to sit down with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but I can’t sit down with Chris Matthews, you shouldn’t be the President of the United States. You know what I mean?
GILLESPIE: Glenn, I don’t want to be pulled into the, you know, into the campaign debate.
GLENN: No, no.
GILLESPIE: We have our plate pretty full dealing with congress and working through policies and happily not in the political arena right now but I think your point is a fair one.
GLENN: Yeah. I don’t want to — I’m not trying to get you to comment on that. What I’m saying is please don’t let the Republicans go down the same road that apparently the Democrats are doing and that is you don’t — you just don’t say I’m not talking to this group of people over here.
GILLESPIE: Well, look. I think that’s a fair point. Your point is that, you know, the news side of Fox, which I do think is — let me tell you, you know, I’ve been — have had my fair share of interviews from the Fox News people and they are tough as nails.
GILLESPIE: I mean, you prepare with an interview for Fox News in the same way you prepare for one with CNN or NBC or any of the others.
GILLESPIE: Because they are out to make news and they are out to ask the hard questions. Now, in terms of their commentators, you know, like you said, they are clearly identified as commentators and that’s fair game. But, you know, to me I don’t — I believe that Christopher Matthews and Keith Olbermann are commentators. Actually they are advocates and I don’t think you can kind of take your advocate hat off and say, okay, for the next hour I’m going to be a newsman and I’m going to be an objective journalist. And then when that’s over, you know, go and put your advocate hat Bock on and launch all this vitriol against the President and other Republicans.
GLENN: You say you prepare for interviews with Fox. You didn’t prepare to this one, did you?
GILLESPIE: I did, by the way.
GLENN: We’re out of time. Ed, thanks a lot.
GILLESPIE: Thanks, Glenn. | <urn:uuid:580051f3-609b-4eaa-93af-9ea7da5f3918> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/10223/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969432 | 3,448 | 1.539063 | 2 |
We came across this startling headline in Haaretz:”Most Right-Wing Voters Support Establishment of Palestinian State and Division of Jerusalem.” But Haaretz, as dovish and radical as it is, surely wouldn’t lie straight out, would they? So how did they come up with such a headline?
The answer is a combination of what Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA (Independent Media Review Analysis) calls “if pigs could fly” surveys, and the concept that more people only read the first two paragraphs of an article than actually read all the way down. (Readers of this column are clearly an exception.)
In fact, it almost seems as if this particular Haaretz article was specifically designed to have readers stop reading before they would actually get to the meat of the matter. The first paragraph states categorically that most Likud and Jewish Home supporters would support a Palestinian state, demilitarized, based on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem divided and the settlement blocs under Israeli control. The second and third paragraphs, however, give no further information on this startling finding, but rather provide some background on S. Daniel Abraham, who commissioned the surveys, and former congressman Robert Wexler, who runs Abraham’s research institute.
By this time, readers who might have been interested in finding out more about the surveys themselves has likely lost interest. They thus leave with the impression given by the headline and story leader – namely, that, contrary to all they have ever read or believed, even nationalist Israelis want a two-state solution and the division of Jerusalem. Coincidentally, this is also the position of both Haaretz and S. Daniel Abraham.
But those who continued reading learned much to offset their original impression. They read how the poll question was actually formulated, as follows:
“If the Government of Israel were to present for referendum a peace agreement that would:
1. put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,2. be implemented only after the Palestinians fulfill all their obligations, especially combating terrorism, and
3. be confirmed by the United States, would you support or oppose?”
Before answering, the respondents were also informed of some details of the proposed agreement:
4. Two states would be established, one for the Jewish Nation and one for the Palestinian nation,5. Arab refugees would be able to return only to the new Arab state,
6-7. the Arab state would be demilitarized and “based on” the 1967 borders,
8. the large Israeli settlement blocs would remain under Israeli sovereignty,
9. the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem would be under Palestinian sovereignty,
10. the Old City would be run jointly by the U.S., Israel and the Palestinians.
Over 57 percent of Likud Beiteinu voters said they would support such an agreement, while nearly 30 percent said they would oppose. Among respondents who said they’ll be voting for the Jewish Home party headed by Naftali Bennett, the margin was narrower: half said they would support it, and 44% said they would oppose.
It can be imagined that the following thoughts went quickly through the minds of many respondents: “End to the conflict; total peace; no risk because the Palestinians must first fulfill their obligations; no Arab refugees in Israel; settlement blocs under total Israeli control. Sounds fantastic!” Many of them – though not much more than half, actually – even went so far as to say they would indeed support such a plan.
Let’s review some of the conditions outlined in the poll question and see how they fulfill Dr. Lerner’s “if pigs could fly” definition.
1. “The agreement would ‘put an end’ to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Who could ever make such a guarantee? Whenever one Arab leader gets up to say he might consider recognizing Israel under such-and-such circumstances, others rise up to vow that they never will! In fact, almost every time “peace talks” get underway, the immediate result is a rash of terrorist attacks by Arabs who are not quite interested in an “end to the conflict.”
2. “It would be implemented only after the Palestinians fulfill all their obligations, especially combating terrorism.” Past experience, especially with the Wye Plantation Agreement, has shown that this type of clause is simply not enforced. In fact, Israel was deemed to have been in violation of Wye because it insisted on PA fulfillment before carrying out its side.
About the Author: Chaim Silberstein is president of Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech and the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund. He was formerly a senior adviser to Israel's minister of tourism. Hillel Fendel, past senior editor at Israel National News/Arutz-7, is a veteran writer on Jerusalem affairs. Both have lived in Jerusalem and now live in Beit El.
You might also be interested in:
You must log in to post a comment. | <urn:uuid:fd840104-4e2a-42f3-ac24-e6ee81dcde48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/columns/keeping-jerusalem/haaretz-claims-right-wing-voters-support-division-of-jerusalem/2013/01/03/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967865 | 1,044 | 1.6875 | 2 |
More than 500 water samples were taken from the floodwaters, the pumping system and Lake Pontchartrain in the days and weeks following the flood, says Chris Piehler of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Most of those samples were tested for 200 factors, including chemicals like arsenic and lead, and bacteria like E. coli and fecal coliform. DEQ staffers are still combing through the data generated, looking for "hotspots" where the level of a certain chemical was unacceptably high. While that work continues, Piehler says the team has analyzed enough samples to make a few generalizations.
"Thankfully, except for bacteria counts, we haven't found any levels to warrant concern or any special considerations," he says in reference to floodwater that has been pumped back into Lake Pontchartrain. In fact, tests show that the lake is well within the water-quality standard set for swimming.
Original alarmist reports that the floodwaters were a blend of toxins largely were due to ignorance of the city's layout, says Piehler. "Yes, we have a lot of petrochemical facilities in Louisiana, but not in the parts of New Orleans that were flooded." In the city, the most frequent chemicals found in the floodwaters were gasoline from flooded vehicles and some household chemicals like pesticides and cleaning products, but Piehler says neither were present at dangerous levels.
The DEQ, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also has taken more than 400 samples of the sediment that was left on sidewalks and streets when the waters drained away. In New Orleans, the sediment is mostly mud from the lake, in some areas oil and diesel components also were found. Because long-term skin contact with these chemicals can cause rashes, Piehler recommends taking common-sense precautions. Residents should avoid unnecessary trips to the most damaged neighborhoods that have the most sediment. If they do drive through them, they should roll up their windows, and they should avoid direct skin contact with the sediment.
St. Bernard Parish is a somewhat different story. The Murphy Oil Refinery spilled more than 1 million gallons of oil into its Chalmette neighborhood, and large amounts of the oil components and chemicals are still present on structures and in the sediment. "There will be some places where the sediment has enough oil that it will have to be removed," says Piehler. The state's debris-management plan includes removal of the sediment, but the project is so enormous that Piehler estimates it will take a couple of years to complete.
In the meantime, however, Piehler says the scope of the devastation in St. Bernard Parish means that residents have more pressing concerns. "There are plenty of things to be concerned about in the parish, but environmental concerns are not very high on the list." Many neighborhoods have no drinking water, power or working sewerage systems, rendering them largely uninhabitable. Because residents can't return to live in those areas, they won't be exposed to the potential health threats.
Some locals say the DEQ needs to do a better job of informing citizens of its work in the most damaged areas like St. Bernard Parish. "If you talk to the average person on the sidewalk in Chalmette, they have never heard word one about any sampling that the DEQ or EPA are doing," says Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group that has worked in Chalmette for several years. The parish needs to do a full-scale environmental assessment and disseminate the findings widely so residents aren't tempted to move back into an unsafe environment, she says.
The DEQ encourages residents to peruse the "enviromapper" found on the EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/katrina/. The interactive map shows sites throughout Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes where water or sediment samples have been taken and also shows the chemical and biological results of the tests.
In New Orleans, the biggest source of floodwater contamination by far was sewer lines that run under the city streets, says Piehler. "We found a high bacteria count just about anywhere we looked because of the commingling of floodwater with sewage," he says. The good news is that the bacteria needs warmth and moisture to survive, and bacteria left in sediment died off when floodwaters were pumped out of the city.
The DEQ's tests of the water in Lake Pontchartrain have found low levels of bacteria there as well. Piehler attributes this to the brackish, salty nature of the lake water, in which most bacteria can't survive. Bacteria levels were low enough that on Sept. 29 the DEQ announced that it was safe to eat seafood from the lake, because thoroughly cooking fish, crabs or shrimp will kill any remaining bacteria. Raw oysters, however, are still off the menu.
Another myth repeated on newscasts following Katrina was that the storm surge would be followed by a wave of disease, with contagious illnesses like cholera and typhoid spreading through the city. Clearly, nothing of the sort occurred. Kristen Meyer, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, says it was never even a threat.
"Cholera is a particular kind of bacteria not found in New Orleans," she says. "Since it wasn't found there before the hurricane, there's no scientific basis to believe it would occur after a hurricane. The hurricane didn't bring in foreign bacteria."
The department set up triage stations around New Orleans and has been tracking incidents of illness through those centers; so far, the statistics are promising. "In terms of illnesses, we fared much better than some expected," Meyer says, but there have been numerous injuries sustained from vehicle mishaps and accidents that have occurred as homeowners climbed ladders, scaled roofs and revved up chainsaws to repair their properties. In fact, 26 percent of the people who went to a triage center sought treatment for an injury, she says.
The 1,678 people who sought treatment for respiratory infections made up 7.5 percent of patient visits. Meyer says some suffered allergies or chronic respiratory problems that were aggravated by the mold and dust, but others had just picked up a seasonal cold or cough. About 2 percent of patients, or 433 people, sought treatment for diarrhea illnesses that were probably related to high bacteria levels in floodwaters. The best safeguard against the respiratory and diarrhea ailments is good hygiene, says Meyer. "It may sound simple, but it's the most effective way to prevent illnesses. Respiratory illnesses and diarrhea illnesses, those are the kinds of things that spread real easy from person to person."
Several weeks ago, the Department of Health and Hospitals announced that tap water was safe to consume in all areas of New Orleans west of the Industrial Canal. "I think people should feel fairly confident," says Karen Irion, department administrator for the safe drinking-water program. "They're taking over 100 bacterial tests a day, and they treat the hell out of the water in the plant." In New Orleans, the Sewerage and Water Board has increased chlorine levels in the water and raised the pressure in the water mains so that if there are small breaks and holes in the pipes, the water will go out and contamination won't come in.
Finding all the breaks is an ongoing process, and the public can help. "If people lose water pressure in the house, or if they see water or sewage bubbling up in the streets, they should call [the Sewerage and Water Board] right away," Irion says. "It's a big city, and finding all the line breaks is like finding a needle in a haystack."
The so-called boil advisory, which indicates that drinking water is not safe, has not yet been lifted for the areas east of the Industrial Canal, and Irion says she has no idea when it will be. The large water mains that cross the industrial canal still need repairs, and the power and sewerage systems that work in tandem with the water supply system aren't yet functional. "The eastern part of the city is going to be a longer-term endeavor," says Irion. "I know people are impatient to get back in their neighborhoods, but we think about safety first. We don't really care how much people yell at us, we care about public health." | <urn:uuid:d8d353d1-3ddc-47b9-891b-0fbfcb05dfa2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/shifting-perceptions/Content?oid=1244807 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976529 | 1,721 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Thursday Notes contains Web site addresses and publications created and maintained by private organizations. This information is provided for the reader's convenience. The U.S. Department of Education is not responsible for controlling or guaranteeing the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. Further, the inclusion of a publication, other commercially available products or a Web site address does not reflect the importance of the organization, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed, or products or services offered. Thursday Notes is a public document. Feel free to share, clip and use Thursday Notes.
Secretaries Duncan, Solis Testify Before House Committee
Secretary Duncan testified March 3 before the House Education and Labor Committee on how innovative education reforms can help rebuild the U.S. economy and restore the country’s competitiveness. He discussed President Obama’s education agenda, including his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2011, which calls for Congress to enact the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act approved by the House in September. On Feb. 3, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis testified before the House Education and Labor Committee on the Obama administration’s plans to strengthen the economy and improve the lives of American workers.
Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Workforce Investment
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a workforce hearing on Feb. 24. Chairman Tom Harkin (Idaho) said “… challenges facing us have changed dramatically since the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was created over a decade ago.” Witnesses outlined ideas on how to build a stronger workforce investment system. Testifying were: Joseph Carbone, president and CEO of TheWorkPlace, Inc., representing Southwestern Connecticut's Workforce Development Board, Bridgeport, Conn.; Anthony Carnevale, director, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, Washington, D.C.; Cheryl Feldman, director, District 1199C Training & Upgrading Fund, Philadelphia, Pa.; Paul Stalknecht , president and CEO, Air Conditioning Contractors of America, Arlington, Va.; and Robert Templin , president, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, Va.
Dann-Messier Promotes Links Among Workforce And Education Partners
OVAE Assistant Secretary Dann-Messier addressed the National Association of State Workforce Agencies’ (NASWA) Winter Policy Forum on Feb. 18. She discussed how the workforce system can work more effectively with postsecondary, vocational, and adult education, as well as federal student aid. NASWA is an organization of state administrators of unemployment insurance laws, employment services, training programs, employment statistics and labor market information and other services through the publicly funded state workforce system.
West Virginia's Free GED Increases State's GED Pass Rate
West Virginia’s legislature recently appropriated $260,000 of state funding to support the second year of free GED tests for adults who both attend West Virginia’s learning centers and meet the minimum scores on the GED practice tests there. State officials say that the free GED program has increased West Virginia’s GED pass rate over all by about 6 percent. Students also can re-take the GED test at no cost. The free GED program was initially created with funds from Verizon.
If you have a request for an earlier copy of Thursday Notes that is not available in the archive, please contact Sarah Newcomb. | <urn:uuid:6df9db3d-d52d-43f5-b636-0ee4e2c0102a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.ed.gov/news/newsletters/thursdaynotes/2010/03042010.html?exp=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910432 | 704 | 1.539063 | 2 |
In focus-group interviews that I conducted, candidates enrolled at the most-selective education schools reported having been told, "You are too smart to become a teacher" and feeling as if "I would probably end up living in my parents' basement with my wife and children." On another occasion, even a foundation executive who worked in urban-school reform told of having to bite his tongue when his son, who attended a top college, announced with pride that he was going to become a teacher. The executive was about to say, "Is that all you are going to do after all the money we spent on your education?"I remember a print ad from quite a while ago, which must have been placed by the NEA. It showed an empty classroom and the line: "The sale is over." The "sale" was the cheap price society paid to hire teachers, back in the days when when other lines of work were closed or hostile to women and when women expected to receive lower pay. We've never really adjusted to the end of the sale on teachers, have we?
But beyond economics, I think it used to be much more ingrained in women that we should be unselfish and unmaterialistic. It was common to the point of mind-numbing triteness for girls, asked about careers, to answer, "I want to help people" or "I want to work with children" and, of course, "I don't care about money." Girls that didn't feel that way would disguise that fact, for fear of being thought not a good person. That's the way I remember it. | <urn:uuid:aae35e0e-88a0-4ce5-8e04-75f758e4f52d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-do-parents-say-to-kids-who.html?showComment=1143343080000 | 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 | 0.993276 | 329 | 1.9375 | 2 |
As one of South Australia's foremost community campaign organisations, Friends of the Earth Adelaide works to address social and environmental justice issues through community action. In addition to campaigners working with on earth jurisprudence, climate justice and urban issues, Friends of the Earth Adelaide has two primary campaign collectives - Clean Futures and Reclaim the Food Chain - that welcome your involvement!
Bridgetown - Greenbushes Friends of the Forest (BGFF) was founded in 1987 and is located in the heart of the WA forest region. The objectives of BGFF include the promotion of ecologically sound management of WA's native forest and the encouragement of realistic and environmentally responsible alternatives for the production of timber and wood based products.
FoE Brisbane is based in West End. Its main campaigns are anti-nuclear and climate justice. Since it formed in 1997, Friends of the Earth Brisbane has initiated three 'sustainable' businesses - Reverse Garbage, the Bicycle Revolution and Eco-Geek, which have been established as independent, non-profit, worker-run cooperatives. These projects are part of FoE's long term funding strategy as well as our efforts to promote alternatives to an increasingly alienating and environmentally destructive economy. They are also based in the same building.
FoE Kuranda works regionally for sustainable local planning, social justice for local Indigenous people, improved water quality in our rivers and drinking water, better waste management and campaigns for the preservation of the unique wildlife and rich endemic plant biodiversity of Far North Queensland.
Friends of the Earth Melbourne believes that social and environmental issues cannot be separated from each other. As a result, FoE is a social and environmental justice organisation. We run campaigns on nuclear issues, climate justice, the Barmah-Millewa forests on the Murray River, forests, plantations, chemicals and support a range of local initiatives. There is a food co-operative, cafe and bookstore located in our building in Collingwood.
Friends of the Earth Southwest WA (FoESWA) defends the environment and champions a healthy and just world. Based in the Bunbury region FoESWA is part of Friends of the Earth Australia and FoE International, FoESWA's programmes are local, Climate Change / Sustainablity, Clean Food, Nuclear, Biodiversity, Youth with a Voice, Education and Events.
Friends of the Earth Sydney meets on tuesday nights from 6pm at Black Rose Books, 22 Enmore Road, Newtown (near Newtown train station). Get in touch and come along!
Friends of the Earth Australia includes activists and members living and working for a just and sustainable future across the entire Australian continent, from the south west of WA to Far North Queensland. We are a membership-based organisation, composed of a federation of local groups.
We meet collectively twice a year to develop policy and campaign plans. Our campaigns and projects have local, national and international relevance. Campaigns are based in one or more local groups ensuring that our political work remains relevant to local contexts and accountable to those activists working on the ground.
Local groups operate relatively autonomously, yet groups are bound together by FoE's guiding principles and our shared vision of a socially just and ecologically sustainable world. | <urn:uuid:6f1ed8f7-5d1a-4679-956b-b51b96fda4f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foe.org.au/local-groups | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93725 | 657 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Preparing for your appointmentBy Mayo Clinic staff
If you have a pattern of difficult relationships or personality traits that seem common to borderline personality disorder, call your doctor. After an initial appointment, your doctor may refer you to a mental health provider, such as a psychiatrist.
Use the information below to prepare for your appointment and learn what to expect from your doctor.
What you can do
- Write down any symptoms you or people close to you have noticed, and for how long.
- Write down key personal information, including traumatic events in your past and any current, major stressors.
- Make a list of your medical information, including other physical or mental health conditions and the names and amounts of medications or supplements you take.
- Take a family member or friend along, if possible. Someone who has known you for a long time may be able to share important information with the doctor or mental health professional, with your permission.
- Write down the questions you want to ask your doctor so that you can make the most of your appointment.
For symptoms common to borderline personality disorder, basic questions to ask your doctor or a mental health provider include:
- What is likely causing my symptoms or condition?
- Are there any other possible causes for my symptoms or condition?
- What treatments are most likely to be effective for me?
- How much can I expect my symptoms to improve with treatment?
- How frequently will I need therapy sessions and for how long?
- Are there medications that can help?
- What are the possible side effects of the medication you may prescribe?
- Do I need to take any precautions or follow any restrictions?
- I have these other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
- How can my family members help me in my treatment?
- Do you have any printed material that I can take home? What websites do you recommend?
Don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment if you don't understand something.
What to expect from your doctor
A doctor or mental health provider is likely to ask you a number of questions to aid in diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Possible questions include:
- What are your symptoms?
- When did you first notice these symptoms?
- How are these symptoms affecting your life, including your personal relationships and work?
- How often during the course of a normal day do you experience a mood swing?
- How often have you felt betrayed, victimized or abandoned? Why do you think that happened?
- How well do you manage anger?
- How well do you manage being alone?
- Do you get bored easily?
- How would you describe your sense of self-worth?
- Have you ever felt you were bad, or even evil?
- Have you had any problems with self-destructive or risky behavior?
- Have you ever thought of or tried to harm yourself or attempted suicide?
- Do you use alcohol or illegal drugs or abuse prescription drugs? How often?
- How would you describe your childhood, including your relationship with your parents?
- Were you physically abused or neglected as a child?
- Have any of your close relatives been diagnosed with a mental health problem, including a personality disorder?
- Have you been treated for any other mental health problems? If yes, what diagnoses were made, and what treatments were most effective?
- Are you currently being treated for any other medical conditions?
In the meantime, if you have suicidal thoughts
If you have fantasies about hurting yourself or have other suicidal thoughts, get help right away by taking one of these actions:
- Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately.
- Call a suicide hotline number — in the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255) to reach a trained counselor. Use that same number and press 1 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.
- Call your mental health specialist, doctor or other health care provider.
- Reach out to a loved one, close friend, trusted peer or co-worker.
- Contact someone from your faith community.
- Borderline personality disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder/complete-index.shtml. Accessed July 16, 2012.
- Personality disorders. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed July 17, 2012.
- Hales RE, et al. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry. 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2008. http://www.psychiatryonline.com/resourceToc.aspx?resourceID=5. Accessed July 17, 2012.
- Silk KR. Borderline personality disorder: Epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, and differential diagnosis. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed July 17, 2012.
- Silk KR. Borderline personality disorder: Treatment and prognosis. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed July 17, 2012.
- Gunderson JG. Borderline personality disorder. New England Journal of Medicine. 2011;364:2037.
- Leichsenring F, et al. Borderline personality disorder. The Lancet. 2011;377:74.
- Alarcon RD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 31, 2012. | <urn:uuid:373550df-b7a7-464f-98e1-20c8e833efbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/borderline-personality-disorder/DS00442/DSECTION=preparing-for-your-appointment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922638 | 1,164 | 2.015625 | 2 |
3D: How to make it work
3D : How to make it work - 3D gaming
It’s a similar story in the gaming world. The PS3 is the only one of the big three consoles to offer 3D gaming at present.
Including games in development, there are 108 3D titles, many of which are PSN downloads, for the console. These include heavy hitters such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, Gran Turismo 5 and Virtua Tennis 4.
However, rumours that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was to introduce 3D firmware at E3 in June proved unfounded, and to date 3D is about the only gimmick Nintendo hasn’t attempted to add to the Wii. It’s also not going to be part of the forthcoming Wii U. That decision may have been affected by the poor early performance of the Nintendo 3DS, which took almost 13 weeks to pass a million sales in Japan – the original DS did it in four – and this month saw its price slashed by a third in all territories.
However, video-site behemoth YouTube now has a dedicated 3D section, and the massive success of such sites has always been driven by user-generated content. Could the same happen with 3D? A Currys/PC World Group spokesperson tells us that although it’s increased its range of 3D camcorders and cameras, customers don’t appear to be biting.
“In imaging, 3D has had a much slower start than TVs,” she says. “It feels like it will track a year or two behind TVs as price points remain at a premium – it’s similar to what happened with hi-def. Recent market info suggests that at the moment, 3D as a feature doesn’t feel like a trigger to buy imaging products.”
The spokesperson adds that brands are not yet investing heavily in advertising their 3D tech. “There has been and will be few, if any, abovethe- line campaigns to promote the technology outside of the specialist press,” she says.
Another area likely to remain niche is mobile phones. So far, only LG and HTC have released 3D handsets. Samsung’s UK head of project management Jim Powell says: “We are world leaders in 3D, but we haven’t seen a need for 3D on mobiles as yet for UK customers.” Motorola, RIM, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Apple also have no plans to invest in 3D phones, so mobile-wielding citizen journalists won’t be filming – or watching – breaking news in three dimensions for the foreseeable future.
All this goes some way towards explaining why 3D content remains so sparse on YouTube. The site’s 3D channel has had only 1,614,806 views and boasts just 55,000 subscribers. There are fewer than 6,000 3D videos available in total. | <urn:uuid:34652c2b-e183-4c7a-aea8-0eab5781628f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.t3.com/features/3d-how-to-make-it-work/The-future-of-3D-gaming | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958071 | 613 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Maritime Security Cutter, Large (WMSL)
National Security Cutter (NSC)
The funding request sent to Congress in February 2012 included $658 million for the sixth Legend-class NSC, but the Coast Guard program would end after that ship is delivered. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the proposed "pause" in the NSC program was due to budget constraints as well as examining how it fits with the Navy’s plans. “We will look at [NSC’s] seven and eight in light of what the Navy is doing,” Napolitano told the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee during a hearing to examine her department’s budget request. “So we need to look at what the DoD is doing with respect to their own force lay down to see what we need to be putting in the acquisition pipeline.”
The the Maritime Security Cutter, Large (WMSL, formerly known as the National Security Cutter), the successor of the 378' High Endurance Hamilton class cutters that have been in service since the 1960s. The WMSL is the largest of three new cutter classes -- and the first under construction -- within the Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System (IDS) acquisition program.
As of early 2011 the Service has taken delivery of two National Security Cutters. Both vessels represent tremendous improvements over the 45 year old vessels they are replacing. But by that time the program was two years behind schedule and 38 percent over the revised 2007 budget. In addition, both vessels will require substantial retrofits to meet expected service lives.
The NSC project, which is part of the $24 billion Deepwater modernization and recapitalization program, is building the future flagships of the Coast Guard's fleet. The NSCs, which are under construction by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, at Pascagoula, Miss., will be the largest and most technically advanced ships in Coast Guard history. The new ships' complexity is reflected in the contractual agreement between the Coast Guard and Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS), which is an industry joint venture between Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The Coast Guard and ICGS have struggled with the NSC's original contract vehicle and an integrated product team structure that did not adapt very well to change, even as dramatic changes were occurring throughout the Deepwater program.
The Coast Guard's Deepwater Program is the largest recapitalization effort in the 214-year history of the Coast Guard. The IDS, is a vital multi-year program to modernize and replace aging ships and aircraft that will be linked with state-of-the-art Command, Control, Communications and Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems supported by an integrated logistics regime. This mix of ships, airplanes, helicopters, and unmanned air vehicles ensures full interoperability while meeting the full range of Coast Guard missions, including homeland security.
The Deepwater Program will improve the Coast Guard's counter terrorism, maritime homeland security, and overall mission performance capabilities. The Deepwater Program is vital to transforming the Coast Guard and ensuring the delivery of required capabilities needed for the performance of homeland security and other missions. The system of systems approach is the most prudent, cost effective and efficient manner to transform the Coast Guard.
The NSC was designed to be the flagship of the fleet - capable of meeting all maritime security mission needs, and supportive of the joint Coast Guard/Navy commitment to Joint Service Combatant Commanders. The NSC contributes to Intelligence Collection/Information Sharing through a sophisticated S/SCIF, SEI sensors and increased data exchange bandwidth. The NSC's Deepwater and DoD interoperability capabilities are enhanced with DHS- and local responder interoperable radio communications. The NSC flight deck will grow to accommodate all variants of DHS and DoD HH-60 helicopters to provide enhanced interoperability with interagency and inter-service counter-terrorism teams. The NSC will now be fully integrated with the National Distress Response Modernization Program, known as RESCUE 21, which will provide the port commanders with real-time tracking of the NSC and seamless Common Operational Picture/MDA data sharing, including the Automated Identification System (AIS).
The NSC Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection suite will include underwater sonar that will allow the cutter to scan ports, approaches, facilities and high-value assets for underwater, minelike devices and detect swimmers. The cutter's small arms mounts will be remote operated and fully integrated with the cutter's radar and infrared sensors such that the cutter and high-value assets under its protection can be protected from a USS COLE-like incident. The Maritime Security Capabilities allow cutter's weapons and command and control suite to be upgraded and hardened to better survive potential terrorist incidents and process increased data flow. This will include SRBOC/NULKA missile defense system with CIWS, SLQ-32, and a medium caliber deck gun (57MM) that will provide the ability to stop rogue merchant vessels far from shore. An integrated CBRNE Detection and Defense capability allows the NSC to remain on scene and operate in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) scenarios.
The WMSL, manufactured by Northrop Grumman Corporation's Ships Systems sector in Pascagoula, Miss., is a 421-foot vessel with a draft of 21 feet and a 4,112-ton displacement at full load when delivered. The twin-screw cutter will be powered by a combined diesel and gas propulsion plant designed for maximum cutter speeds of 28 knots [or 29 knots]. The cutter's design incorporates a stern ramp for underway launch and recovery of two rigid hull inflatable boats, a flight deck and dual helicopter hangar to accommodate a range of rotary wing manned and unmanned aircraft, and state of the art electronics for command and control.
It is designed to have dual stern ramps for deployment and recovery of 2 RHIBs, a maximum range of 12,000 nautical miles, and a helo pad and hanger. The National Security Cutter is designed to have a fitness center, 3 lounges, a learning lab, and 4 person staterooms. It will have an adaptable mission module and 100 percent common C4ISR with OPC.
The WMSL is equipped with 57mm gun as well as .50 caliber guns.
Although originally conceived with "deepwater" missions in mind, including forward-deployed expeditionary operations with Navy component commanders, mobile multimission platforms like the Maritime Security Cutter are ideally suited for the wide range of homeland security operations encountered in ports, waterways, and coastal areas. The design of the WMSL will provide better sea keeping and higher sustained transit speeds, greater endurance and range, and the ability for launch and recovery, in higher sea states, of improved small boats, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles--all key attributes in enabling the Coast Guard to implement increased security responsibilities. Such duties include exerting more effective jurisdiction over foreign-flagged ships transiting U.S. waters.
Deepwater's more capable maritime security cutters, for example, will enable the Coast Guard to screen and target vessels faster, more safely, and reliably before they arrive in U.S. waters-to include conducting onboard verification through boardings and, if necessary, taking enforcement-control actions.
The national security cutter is a crucial element of the Coast Guard's recapitalization and is urgently needed to meet growing mission needs. The largest cutters in the Coast Guard's current fleet, the 378-foot high endurance cutters, are 35 years old and are approaching the end of their service lives. The new cutters will offer the Coast Guard's operating force a safer and more effective platform from which to carry out its missions. The 418-foot national security cutter is uniquely suited for conducting the full range of maritime safety, security and natural resource stewardship missions in the world's toughest environments for extended periods of time. The NSC is intended to be the Coast Guard's most technologically advanced class of cutter and will typically deploy with multi-mission cutter helicopters and vertical unmanned aerial vehicles.
|Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list| | <urn:uuid:bec83f85-e7c6-4818-a7b3-ffcb4985dcee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/nsc.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938684 | 1,676 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The guests walk in little groups down to the beach, but Robert lingers behind with the lovers. Edna wonders why he is not coming; she misses him when he is not around her. The sea is quiet and the moon is bright.
Edna had been trying all summer to learn to swim, but tonight she finally is able to swim. She is so happy she shouts for joy and swims out by herself as far as she can go. While out there, she feels a momentary twinge of panic, but manages to swim safely back in. After that she changes into dry clothes and leaves, despite protestations...
(The entire page is 453 words.)
Want to read the whole thing?
Subscribe now to read the rest of this article. Plus, get access to:
- 30,000+ literature study guides
- Critical essays on more than 30,000 works of literature from Salem on Literature (exclusive to eNotes)
- An unparalleled literary criticism section. 40,000 full-length or excerpted essays.
- Content from leading academic publishers, all easily citable with our "Cite this page" button.
- 100% satisfaction guarantee READ MORE | <urn:uuid:5acd324f-fcf9-428a-9beb-2373943987d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enotes.com/awakening/chapter-10-summary-analysis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966006 | 244 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Copyright 2009 Syd Entel Galleries Susan Benjamin Glass, All rights Reserved.
Born in Colorado Springs in 1969, Sanford Wakeman moved to Greenville,
South Carolina before the end of his first year. A close family and the
youthful experience of a small town helped nurture Sanford through his
teens. Although a small city, Greenville was large enough to offer him the
opportunity to study printmaking and drawing at the Greenville Fine Arts
Center, where Sanford also developed an early interest in photography.
Scenes of graffiti and buildings in disrepair were the subjects of many of his
early works. The conjunction of form and color in these urban images would
have a significant influence over his later creative expressions as well.
Sanford’s unique, boldly abstract portfolio gained him entrance into the Fine
Arts program at the University of Georgia. He continued drawing and added
painting and sculpture to his repertoire as well. During this time, Sanford had
the opportunity to return to Colorado and live in the Rockies. This solitary
immersion in nature, as well as the difficult death of his grandfather, greatly
shifted his life-perspective, and caused him to choose art as his full-time
Upon graduating, Sanford worked the night shift at a packaging plant. Amidst
all the functioning machinery, he tapped into a surreal sense of vitality – a life
and spirituality within the non-living. In his artwork, Sanford began to simulate
that mechanistic organism living within the inanimate world. When Sanford
earned entrance to the Savannah College of Art and Design, he concentrated
on color theory and drawing. His education at this prestigious institution lent
maturity and individuality to his artwork. Equally important to his artistic
growth were his impressions of and interactions with the city’s culture. Just
as the production plant had contained myriad mechanisms working both with
and against one another, Savannah was full of cultural and aesthetic
contrasts. As a result, Sanford’s compositions became saturated with
Following graduation, Sanford moved to the urban center of Atlanta. In the
regenerated structures of the city’s warehouse loft neighborhood, he found
the ghosts of so much hidden history. An acute sensitivity to the crumbled
past became a recurrent theme in his art. On a recent trip to Spain, Sanford
discovered similar creative fuel. Exposed to that country’s artistic traditions
as well as its contemporary expressions, he was once again inspired by
contrasting art forms vying for space within the same culture.
Sanford has exhibited his work for several years across the United States.
Click on the images to the right to see the enlarged version of Sanford
Wakeman's art work. | <urn:uuid:8d6904b8-0444-4a14-b5ec-0a421dab0270> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sydentelgalleries.com/wakeman.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97028 | 570 | 1.625 | 2 |
"'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May it be to me as you have said.' Then the angel left her." – Luke 1: 38
"The earth has grown old with its burden of care
But at Christmas it always is young,
The heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair
And its soul full of music breaks the air,
When the song of angels is sung."
– Phillips Brooks
"When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." – Matthew 1:24
"Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame
Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart." – Hannah Senesh
"When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness." – Bob Hope
"Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart." – Washington Irving
"The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas." – W. C. Jones
"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." – Luke 2: 19-20
"To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle." – Walt Whitman
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'" – Mathew 2:1-2
"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." – Oren Arnold
"Christmas renews our youth by stirring our wonder. The capacity for wonder has been called our most pregnant human faculty, for in it are born our art, our science, our religion." – Ralph Sockman
"Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart...filled it, too, with melody that would last forever." – Bess Streeter Aldrich
"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'" – Luke 2:8-12
"'Maybe Christmas,' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more.'" – Dr. Seuss from 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'
"Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world." – Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), Presidential message offered on December 25, 1927
Christmas Eve Prayer
"Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure.
Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness.
Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts.
And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace."
– Frank Borman, Apollo 8 space mission, 1968
"Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given – when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes." – Joan Winmill Brown
"Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance - each beautiful, unique and too soon gone." – Deborah Whipp
"When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.' So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." – Luke 2: 15-18
"Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. – Edith Lovejoy Pierce
"Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebud, a child at play, a Divine mystery, or a waterfall." - Fulton J. Sheen | <urn:uuid:85c00f77-796b-456a-9796-e9296b7d9bf7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/December.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956809 | 1,245 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Global recession hits growth in Israel
Follow The JC on Twitter
The Israeli government has announced a range of rescue measures as new data show the country's economy is beginning to feel the effects of the global recession.
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer also sprang a surprise by cutting interest rates an additional 0.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent - the lowest level in Israel's history. Mr Fischer has now lowered interest rates by 1.75 per cent since the start of October.
On Tuesday, Minister of Finance Ronnie Bar-On unveiled plans to inject NIS 11 billion (£1.82m) in capital and guarantees into Tel Aviv's financial market, mainly designed to assist Israel's largest corporations, which are struggling to raise credit due to a sharp drop in the corporate bond market.
Earlier this week, Mr Bar-On announced limited measures to assist Israelis about to reach pensionable age, who have seen their pension funds eroded by about 16 per cent in recent months due to the fall in the country's bond market. The Ministry of Finance also presented a plan to boost employment by extra allocations to infrastructure projects.
All these plans are subject to Knesset approval and Mr Bar-On said: "It is vitally urgent for these measures to be approved, otherwise the economy will be frozen."
With elections in February, Attorney-General Meni Mazuz ruled that the plan was not "election economics".
Proof that the credit crunch had finally reached Israel came when the Central Bureau of Statistics published figures to show that third quarter growth in 2008 slowed to 2.3 per cent, compared to 4.1 per cent and 5.2 per cent in the second and first quarters respectively.
This is still impressive compared to the contracting economies in North America, Europe and Japan, but reflects the period before the full force of the global financial collapse in late September. The Bank of Israel also lowered its growth forecast for 2009 from 2.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent.
Unemployment remains at 5.9 per cent, the lowest level for a decade, but with a fall in export orders, Israel Association of Electronics Industries chairman Yehuda Zisapel said earlier this week: "We expect there to be 7,000 layoffs within the Israeli high-tech sector and a further 28,000 in areas that provide services to that industry."
Meanwhile, Israeli chief rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger declared yesterday (Thursday) to be a special day of prayer in response to the global crisis.
Calling for people to fast, attend synagogue one hour early, and make special donations to charity, they said in a statement: "We ask our brethren to gather at synagogues and places of Torah study on Thursday to say a prayer and ask for mercy following the financial crisis that has swept the world.
"Many a good people have already been affected, and the Torah and education institutes are barely coping, with some facing the risk of closing down." | <urn:uuid:a7dd9f19-f002-4d06-960b-e03156c96a42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/global-recession-hits-growth-israel | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952689 | 607 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Consumers Aren't Dumb
Return Path recently surveyed more than 2,000 consumers to get information on e-mail habits. One finding was that 37 percent report using the "This is spam" button to unsubscribe from e-mails they previously asked for.
Many marketers wonder why. Are consumers stupid? No. The truth is that consumers don't always trust the unsubscribe link. We asked respondents whether they trusted this link, and if not, why not. Nearly 31 percent don't trust unsubscribe links. This mistrust can wreak havoc on deliverability.
The written responses to this question shed light on what consumers think about e-mail. Many people indicated that they used unsubscribe links conditionally. If they trust the sender, they trust the unsubscribe link. Other respondents explained the use of the "This is spam" button on e-mails they know they asked for: They don't believe the unsubscribe link will work, or that it won't work quickly enough. The spam button is more efficient.
So it's good news that Microsoft soon will include a trusted unsubscribe button for senders who maintain a good reputation. However, plenty of ISPs and receivers won't implement unsubscribe buttons. And it's too early to tell how consumers will react to them. We suggest these best practices to avoid complaints from understandably mistrustful consumers:
• Tricks are for kids: By making your opt in clear and obvious, you increase trust in the unsubscribe link.
• To your brand be true: Ensure that every e-mail is immediately obvious as coming from a trusted, reputable company. Lack of recognition leads to confusion and mistrust.
• No means no: Sending e-mails after your consumers unsubscribe leads them to assume your unsubscribe link doesn't work. The spam button works every time.
• Offer an easy escape route: One-click unsubscribes are best. Don't make subscribers log in or give other information to get off the list.
• Offer multiple escape routes: Let subscribers opt out on your Web site. Many consumers fear clicking on e-mail links because of phishing.
Most marketers are beginning to understand the importance of reputation as it pertains to ISPs and other e-mail receivers. But your reputation with consumers is equally important. Establish trustworthy relationships and your program will reap the benefits. | <urn:uuid:5bf0feb9-0c48-46b6-b639-964b0ab111c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmnews.com/consumers-arent-dumb/article/92679/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948749 | 477 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2006 March 25
Explanation: Astronomical spring came to planet Earth's northern hemisphere this week (and autumn to the south) with the equinox on March 20th. But on Mars, northern spring began on January 22nd. Still in northern springtime, the Red Planet currently has a similar appearance to this composite of images from previous years taken by the long-lasting Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The sprawling dark region near picture center is Syrtis Major, with the whitish Hellas impact basin just below, in the southern hemisphere. The four seasons on Earth each last about 90 earth days, while Mars' larger and more eccentric elliptical orbit results in seasons that are longer and vary more widely in length - from about 140 to 190 martian sols.
Authors & editors:
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: EUD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U. | <urn:uuid:52acf182-ef99-48bf-a157-a09a87d25c79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060325.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914826 | 236 | 3.734375 | 4 |
The Climate Challenge Begins at Home
By Eileen Claussen and Elliot Diringer
The Washington Post
August 19, 2001
Now that the rest of the world has resolved to move ahead with the Kyoto global warming treaty, pressure is mounting on the Bush administration to get back in the game.
The administration, surprised that other nations struck agreement last month in Bonn despite U.S. rejection of the treaty, does not yet know how it intends to approach the next round of talks this fall in Marrakech. The advice from Capitol Hill, however, has been clear and remarkably bipartisan. Voting 19-0, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has urged the administration to return to the negotiating table and to bring with it a new proposal for a retooled Kyoto accord or some other "binding" climate treaty.
In the long run, certainly, no strategy against climate change can succeed unless it secures binding commitments from all countries that are major emitters of greenhouse gases -- a roster, as we all know, led by the United States. But pushing the administration to offer up its vision of a Kyoto alternative is probably not the way to get there. While that may have made sense before the July meeting in Bonn, it is too late now to devise a quick diplomatic fix. Instead, the administration should focus its efforts on the more immediate challenge: launching a national strategy to rein in America's soaring greenhouse gas emissions.
Right now it is more critical that we take concrete steps at home to curb emissions than figure out how to reengage the United States in the broader international effort. The sooner we succeed at the former, in fact, the easier it will be to achieve the latter.
As it happens, prospects are suddenly better than ever for getting legislation through Congress to at least begin laying the foundation for genuine emissions reduction. Bush's rejection of the Kyoto pact not only galvanized international support for the treaty; it sparked a new dynamic on the Hill, where both parties now seem eager to show they're serious about global warming.
Democrat Robert Byrd, of coal-producing West Virginia, and Republican Ted Stevens, of oil-producing Alaska, won quick committee passage for a bill that boosts funding for technology research and gives the administration one year to develop a strategy to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. That, incidentally, is the far-reaching goal of the 1992 Rio climate treaty signed by the first President Bush and ratified by the Senate.
Meanwhile, Dianne Feinstein and Olympia Snowe are leading a bipartisan drive in the Senate to improve the fuel efficiency of SUVs; and Jim Jeffords is using his new perch as chairman of the Senate environment committee to move legislation that would cut carbon emissions from power plants.
Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman have just teamed up behind an even more ambitious proposal, called "cap-and-trade." Their idea is to set a nationwide cap on emissions and, by letting companies buy and sell emissions credits, allow the market to find the most cost-effective ways to meet it.
"Cap-and-trade" may well be the best way to go. It meets two key tests of an effective, affordable strategy: It sets a binding target, or series of targets, that signals markets to invest in cleaner, more efficient technologies; and it gives companies the flexibility and incentive to cut emissions at the lowest possible cost.
Constructing a workable economy-wide system cannot be done overnight, which is why it is important to start now. McCain and Lieberman say they will meet soon with industry leaders to hear their views on what can be achieved and when, an important first step in designing a system that works for both the environment and the economy.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of immediate steps we can take. For starters, we should require all major emitters to accurately track and disclose their annual greenhouse gas releases. We should create tax credits for new technology development and diffusion, and negotiate arrangements with industry to reduce emissions before mandatory targets are set. And we must ensure that future regulation does not penalize companies that take the lead by acting now.
Achieving the long-term emission cuts needed to avert climate disaster is a monumental undertaking. Our challenge, ultimately, is to wean the global economy from fossil fuels through a second industrial revolution that delivers cleaner alternatives. Fostering better technology is the key, and, given the right signals, the marketplace will do just that. It is government's job to send the right signals.
That has yet to happen here in the United States. American leadership on climate change has been continually undermined by our failure to get our own house in order. Having now abandoned the Kyoto treaty, the United States can return credibly to the negotiating table only when it has shown it is serious about cutting emissions.
We must chart a path that in time will make the United States a full partner in the international effort against climate change. That path begins at home.
Eileen Claussen is president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Elliot Diringer is the center's director of international strategies.
© 2001 The Washington Post Company | <urn:uuid:e9922ab3-fbbc-4d26-a5e3-2ff430312770> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.c2es.org/newsroom/opeds/climate-challenge-begins-home | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94232 | 1,037 | 2.609375 | 3 |
26 April 2005
The Royal Canadian Legion
The Royal Canadian Legion is a self-funded, apolitical, non-partisan organization of 400,000 members from coast to coast in Canada that has two major priorities, the care of our veterans and the perpetuation of Remembrance.
The latest movement by the government of the day to introduce legislation to the benefit of those who have served in the military forces of this nation is in danger of being lost because of the political uncertainty that surrounds us all. And it is a shame.
The Legion also regrets that calls have been made by some veterans and disgruntled citizens for veterans on parade at the upcoming 11 November Remembrance Ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa to turn their backs on the Governor General when she takes the dais for the Royal Salute on her arrival and when she lays her wreath. Such action would be a disgrace and an offence to Her Majesty as well as to the memory of our fallen veterans.
It means our veterans will suffer, as has been the case for years in this country as many can tell you. But let me first clarify the point of what constitutes a veteran in our eyes. And I do not mean war veteran as defined by those who took part in World War I, World War II or the Korean War.
As far as we in the Legion are concerned today it means anyone who has volunteered for military service and has been sworn in as a service person. It simply means one who is willing to go where the government decides he or she is most needed.
Make all the arguments you wish about training, postings or whatever, but don’t try to tell a mother or a father these days about who is entitled to what designation if their son or daughter has been to the Gulf, Pakistan, the Middle East, numerous African nations and places around the world of which many of our citizens have not heard. They have all earned the title they so richly deserve. But what do they get in return ?
In the past few years successive governments of Canada have tried to keep up with the changing requirements brought on by military service under the current legislation. The result has been a lack of availability of certain services because the rules in place are not in line with what is happening or what is required.
They do not take into account the differences that have come into being since the last war veteran served in Korea. But there are numerous differences as we have brought forward to the government’s attention many times over the past years.
We, along with other veterans organizations, responsible government agencies and many other Canadians have worked long and hard to bring change to bear on this situation. And now that we are within arm’s reach of having legislation put in place to protect those who protect us politics rears its ugly head again and threatens to kill all of the work and sacrifice made to ensure our greatest Canadians get what they deserve.
If there is one ounce of decency in the combination of parties and people we call Parliament they all owe it to our veterans, old and new, to make every effort to pass the legislation now in play as proposed by Veterans Affairs Canada. To do less would be to indicate to every Canadian veteran that their sacrifices for this nation were a waste of time and personal energy.
Regardless of what has happened and what may happen in the government of the day, one major issue stands out. Our veterans are not being treated with the respect and honour they deserve, especially from the political parties of this nation that would see them once again denied benefits for the sake of the few who would rather access a position of power than pay appropriate tribute to those who ensure their right to so do.
The proper tribute - the placement of the New Veterans Charter into the laws of this land now. Those in power and those who can wield the balance of power have the opportunity to do just that. And they must, or prove that they have already forgotten our men and women who give so much for so little other than the title “Canadian veteran”
For further information please contact Bruce Poulin at Dominion Command, The Royal Canadian Legion, at (613) 591-3335 ext. 241 or by cell at (613) 292-8760.
BACK TO INDEX OF HEADLINES | <urn:uuid:1099cb13-a50d-4e8a-801e-40b650b3bcdd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legion.ca/News/05_Apr26_e.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971663 | 868 | 2.25 | 2 |
Health Day - ONLINE EDITION
Steps You Can Take to Protect Yourself From the Flu
As the outbreak worsens, health experts urge flu shots, frequent hand-washing and other measures
THURSDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- With the United States in the throes of one of the worst flu outbreaks in years, health-care experts say there are ways you can fight back and protect yourself from the virus.
And the best protection is a flu shot -- even now.
"People should ideally get the flu shot at the beginning of the flu season which really starts in October," said Dr. Robert Graham, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "So the sooner the better. But at the same time, whenever you can get the shot I strongly recommend it. It's the least painful way of combating the flu."
The good news is that this year's vaccine is an excellent match for the strains of influenza now circulating.
The not-so-great news is that the vaccine takes about two weeks to become fully effective in your body. And even people who have been vaccinated can contract the flu virus, though this is uncommon.
The predominant strain so far this year is H3N2, and doctors note that when H3N2 dominates, they tend to see more severe illness among children and the elderly.
For those who haven't yet had a flu shot -- and even for those who have -- there are other simple precautions people can and should take to minimize the chances of contracting what's turning out to be an especially infectious and unpleasant illness.
First and foremost is to wash your hands, said nurse Kristen Lawton, director of the emergency department at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y.
"If you can't use soap and water, use the hand soap in a pump or the alcohol-based preparation," she said.
Lawton said her emergency room has been seeing about 15 more patients a day with flu-related illness since Christmas, compared to before the holidays.
The next best advice is to avoid touching your face with your hands. "I tell my kids to keep their hands away from the holes in their head," she said. "Don't be touching your eyes, nose or mouth because there are germs on your hands."
Seemingly safe surfaces like kitchen counters, desks, refrigerator door handles and computer keyboards may also harbor the flu virus for hours -- sometimes as long as 48 hours, according to the Mayo Clinic. Make sure these are kept clean, Lawton counseled.
If you have to cough or sneeze, do so into a tissue or into the crook of your elbow -- not into the air where droplets can easily infect people near you.
Droplets from a vigorous cough can travel at 60 mph, Graham said.
If you do start to feel sick, stay home. An adult is contagious one day before symptoms and between five and seven days after becoming sick, Lawton said. Children may pass the virus for longer than seven days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The drug Tamiflu can shorten the course of the illness, Lawton said. And it may prevent it in some people, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Other than that, your best bet is to rest, drink lots of fluids and take an over-the-counter pain reliever, Lawton added.
People at particular risk for the flu and its complications are pregnant women, those 65 and older and anyone with a chronic illness. The CDC urges these people to get a flu shot, which is available as an injection or nasal spray and in a stronger dose for seniors.
Forty-one states are reporting widespread flu activity. There have been 18 flu-related deaths of children so far and about 2,300 people have been hospitalized since Oct. 1, according to the CDC.
The epidemic is so bad in Boston, where four flu-related deaths have been reported, that Mayor Thomas Menino declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. The city has already recorded 700 confirmed cases of flu, compared with 70 cases for all of last year, according to Boston.com.
To learn more about the flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More Your Health
More Your Health
(1 of 23 articles for today)5:00 PM 0 | <urn:uuid:bf44df68-00ad-4405-bfb9-52d9b9da54c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/steps-you-can-take-to-protect-yourself-from-the-flu-186328961.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963676 | 912 | 2.859375 | 3 |
BeeHive Homes - ColoradoEnews WEEKLY -
Evans Area Chamber of Commerce - GrayCara West
Watch More ColoradoTown Stories on Video
Please EMAIL US with questions or comments about this Evans Colorado video.
Evans, Co. was named in honor of Colorado's second territorial governor, John Evans. John Evans was a physician, real estate investor, founder of universities, railroad builder, and politician. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln offered him the territorial governorship of Colorado; by 1865, the legislature chose him as a senator.
Before his death on July 3, 1897, Dr. Evans left a lasting mark on the State of Colorado when he found that Denver was not going to be a part of the Transcontinental Railroad. He was very instrumental in obtaining a land grant and starting construction of the Denver Pacific Railroad linking Denver with the Transcontinental Railroad in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
On November 22, 1869, our settlement midway between Denver and Cheyenne was the first town to be platted and filed with the clerk of Weld County. Evans also marks the site of the completion of the railroad.
Town Know For: In 2004, Evans received the Gold Medal for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management, the highest honor of this type and one that is considered the Oscar of parks and recreation. The supporting cast? City Park features a playground, pavilion, horseshoe pits, softball arena and lots of shade for picnics; Riverside Park contains a seven-acre fishing lake with over two miles of scenic trails, ball fields and open lands; and Village Park offers tennis and basketball. Prairie View Park boasts soccer fields and a skateboard park.
Region: Northern Front Range Regional Information
Proximity to other towns: Located 2.6 miles from Greeley, 10.8 miles from Milliken, 13.8 miles from Platteville
Elevation: 4650 feet
WE WELCOME YOUR INPUT...if you have additional information or photos about this town you would like to share PLEASE LET US KNOW
Evans Activities | Evans Art | Evans Associations | Evans Businesses | Evans Churches | Evans Classifieds | Evans Coupons | Evans Events | Evans Hotels | Evans Movies | Evans Museums | Evans Music | Evans News | Evans Real Estate | Evans Restaurants | Evans Schools | Evans Seniors | Evans Shopping | Evans Theater | Evans Weddings | <urn:uuid:986da53d-4838-4a02-8e98-e215d695d8ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coloradotown.com/main_page.cfm?cityid=113 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928971 | 493 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Obey God, and have no reason to fear
After the Lord told Joshua what to do as he began to lead Israel, the Lord said,
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
When the Lord commands, we have reason:
1. To be strong
2. To be of good courage
3. Not to fear
4. Not to be dismayed
When the Lord commands, He is with the one He commands and the job shall be successful. | <urn:uuid:8bdec504-0216-4509-a31b-5621ad88d712> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forthright.net/2012/03/21/obey-god-and-have-no-reason-to-fear/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942334 | 133 | 2.078125 | 2 |
The question concerned the exemptions granted the oil and gas
industry courtesy of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which exempts oil and
gas companies from Safe Drinking Water Act requirements when they
inject fluids—including some carcinogens—into the earth at high
pressure, a process known as hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing
is specifically exempted, yet Palmerton denied it and when pressed, put
on a show of frustration that the question was unreasonable and I was
This guy is as comfortable misrepresenting facts in person to
auditoriums full of students as he is in writing those
Fractured Fairy Tales
In his July 7 letter, David Palmerton, of the Palmerton Group
Environmental Consulting Services, a champion of natural gas drilling,
would have us believe that drilling for natural gas is nothing new and
very safe. He accuses Josh Fox of misrepresenting the facts in his
volatile documentary film Gasland. Yet Mr. Palmerton himself only presents the facts halfway.
“Hydraulic fracturing is nothing new,” he says. “It’s been safely
used on more than 1 million wells over the past 60 years.” Sounds good,
but it’s just not so.
Hydraulic fracturing, as practiced in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, West
Virginia and Texas, has never been done in New York state. The more
technical term for the new practice of hydraulic fracturing is High
Volume Slickwater Horizontal Hydrofracturing (HVHF). HVHF involves
using millions of gallons of water per well. Six to 12 wells are
grouped together on a single well pad. Modest estimates of truck trips
to build the pad for the rigs, build the roads for the trucks, haul the
water and chemicals to the site, and carry the flowback fluid to
wherever it’s going to be disposed of is around 1,200 truck trips per
well. These are big trucks: tankers, flatbeds and containers. That’s a
lot of noise and diesel fumes and wear on our roads. That’s a lot of
toxic chemicals stockpiled and handled in our fields. That’s a whole
lot of water. That’s all new.
At this scale, hydraulic fracturing is something completely new to
New York state. There have been major problems with the process
elsewhere. Pennsylvania has 19 new pages of regulations in response to
accidents. The Environmental Protection Agency has been ordered to do a
study to look into the safety of drilling for gas and drinking water.
There are moratoriums being put in place all over the East. All that
action is not in response to this new practice being safe, Mr.
He states, “Fluid made up of 99.5 percent water and sand is pumped
into the hole to create small fractures in carefully targeted sections
of shale rock. When the fluid is removed, this releases the natural gas
and allows it to rise to the earth’s surface via the self-contained
system.” It sounds good, but it’s half the story.
You fail to mention the vast quantities of water needed to fracture
each well. You fail to mention the hazardous chemicals you add to the
water. Most importantly, you fail to acknowledge the fluid that becomes
toxic waste once the rock is fractured. Each well will use between 3
million to 8 million gallons of water. Twenty tons of chemicals will be
added to each million gallons of water (.05-percent by weight).
By the very function of the process, injecting the fluid under great
pressure, fracturing the shale to release the methane, the fluid also
releases and takes up heavy metals, salts, volatile organic compounds
and radioactivity. When it “rises back up to the surface,” as you so
poetically describe, it is something other than 99.5 percent water.
Dangerous stuff, perfectly safe hibernating in the shale below us, is
now in the solution. The “frack fluid,” or flowback fluid, becomes
twice as salty as seawater, radioactive and full of known carcinogens.
Tens of millions of gallons of what used to be our groundwater, our
lakes and our rivers becomes toxic waste.
A “self-contained system” sounds tidy, but there isn’t one. The
toxic, briny flowback fluid is pumped into open pits lined with plastic
or into holding tanks. There is no acceptable way to dispose of it. In
Texas, flowback fluid was injected deep underground, under pressure,
causing seismic activity registering 3.3 on the Richter scale. In
Pennsylvania, flowback fluid has killed trees, fish, cattle, and it has
corroded equipment at municipal treatment facilities. There is nowhere
in New York, nor anywhere else, able to treat millions of gallons of
toxic flowback fluid.
Also, a variable percentage of that toxic waste does not rise back
up at all. It remains deep underground, subject to the explosive forces
of fracking nearby wells, seismic activity and natural fractures in the
shale. This subterranean toxic waste is subject to the integrity of the
cement and steel casings that protect the aquifers—our drinking water.
Salt corrodes always. Capped wells repressurize sometimes. How long are
those steel and cement casings going to hold up, Mr. Palmerton? Shall
we look to BP and the Gulf of Mexico for that answer? Shall we look to
our highways and bridges? You and I and the Palmerton Group may be long
gone when those casings fail and our groundwater is contaminated. Our
grandchildren will have to figure that one out, I guess.
“Here’s hoping when it comes to decisions about our future in the
real world, we rely on the facts. It is important that we proceed in a
manner that is safe and responsible…” That sounds straight up good, Mr.
Palmerton. But what sounds even better is energy that is sustainable,
and does not rely on a frantic dead-end chase for fossil fuels, which
is proving to be devastating to our earth, air and water. Solar, wind,
biomass, geothermal energies—these are for the long run. If we are to
be safe and responsible, we must develop renewable and sustainable
energy right now. That is the legacy we could leave our grandchildren. | <urn:uuid:cff04830-51a5-4e80-9422-8b562a79d6dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/newyork/article-4318-letters-7_21.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925417 | 1,374 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Students aren't the only ones engaged in the learning process. At Ohio Northern University, teachers learn from one another during a summer chemistry workshop.
Chosen from around the country and the world, 16 teachers are at ONU for a week-long chemistry workshop.
John Anderson was one of the teachers selected and for good reason. He's taught AP chemistry and biology in many countries, including Turkey, Burma and Pakistan. He says the workshop teaches him about new technologies that he can bring to his students overseas.
"I think it's very good for my students to be exposed to the technologies that are being used in other countries like the United States and Europe," said Anderson.
ONU Associate Professor of Chemistry Brian Myers says the university makes it easy for teachers like Anderson to come to the workshop.
"They're really very minimal costs for them. They have a few meals that they have to buy, maybe some travel costs, but for the most part we're covering most of the expenses," said Myers.
Teachers are excited about the low cost, friendships and demonstrations they take away from the workshop. Professor Myers says the experiments are especially helpful.
"The workshop is to try and bring teachers here so they can interact with each other and work on their laboratory skills. One of the most challenging things that teachers find is to incooperate good experiments to get their students excited about doing hands-on chemistry," said Myers.
At the end of the workshop, teachers are given science instruments they can use in their own classroom. | <urn:uuid:296c480a-cae7-4ea9-a2fd-601c3c7ff6ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hometownstations.com/story/18839567/onu-teachers-workshop | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983496 | 311 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Hundreds come out to community resource fair sponsored by DPSCS Central Region Community Supervision
(November 8, 2012) --- Hundreds of ex-offenders and other folks facing hard times lined up at St. Frances Academy in East Baltimore on Thursday, not for a free meal or a handout, but to learn how to get their lives back together, and it was all thanks to the efforts of DPSCS Central Region Community Supervision agents.
Every year, Central Region Agent Supervisor Blanche Chenault organizes several community resource fairs, which are designed to bring together dozens of support services, non-profits, ministries, and potential job providers. This week, more than 40 vendors came out to help hundreds of ex-offenders, many of whom are still under community supervision. The St. Frances gym was so full, the lines stretched outside almost to Eager St.
“I just hope this gives people trying to turn their lives around some help to do that,” said Ms. Chenault, a onetime federal employee who joined the former Division of Parole and Probation in hopes of making a difference in the lives of ex-offenders.
Ms. Chenault says the fairs would not be possible without the help from volunteers, including many of her Community Supervision colleagues. She’s already planning for the next resource fair---another opportunity to help ex-offenders not come back into the system after creating more victims.
DPSCS is proud of the efforts of all its Community Supervision personnel---more than 800 men and women who work in offices in all 23 counties and Baltimore City, supervising more than 60,000 offenders and ex-offenders. | <urn:uuid:ed3a94e4-b14e-45db-ba74-b884e18f9026> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dpscs.md.gov/publicinfo/features/Comm_Resource_Fair/feature.shtml | 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 | 0.958902 | 344 | 1.507813 | 2 |
This realistic New York police radio drama was
broadcast by CBS from 1953 to 1956 as a sustained show. This program is right up there with Dragnet, and it presented true cases from the 21st Precinct in New York. The opening of the series sets the theme, "21st Precinct, just lines on a map of the city of New York. Most of the 173,000
people wedged into the 9 tenths of a square mile between 5th avenue and the East River wouldn't
know if you aske ...
Blackie is a New York
private detective, who was an "Enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have
no friend." The series was broadcast on NBC, Mutual and CBS from 1944 to 1950. Chester Morris
(who also played the role in the movie series) played Blackie from 6/23/1944 to 9/15/1944, Richard Kolmar took over the role until it ended in 1950.
This series starred Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell (1949-1953); Lloyd Burrell (1953-1954). This drama features international troubleshooter Mitchell. investigating criminal activity in locales such as Baghdad, Martinique and Singapore. It was broadcast on NBC and CBS from 1949 to 1954.
This series was dedicated to dealings with the unknown with stories on horror, science fiction and murder. It originated from WKY-Oklahoma City, and was broadcast on the NBC network from 1941 to 1942. Writer for the series was Scott Bishop, and Keith Paynton was the announcer.
This series was broadcast on the New England NBC radio stations in 1934, then it became a full
NBC Radio Network series from February 4, 1935 to July 11, 1935. From September 30, 1935 to 1937
it was broadcast on CBS. From January 3, 1938 to June 3, 1938, it was broadcast on Mutual, then
NBC from September 26, 1938 to July 29, 1939. From September 13, 1943 to July 16, 1948 it was
broadcast on ABC. The New England 1934 series starred Bob Burlen ...
Michael Arlen created The Falcon in his 1940 story, Gay Falcon. This crime drama about Michael
Waring (The Falcon), takes place in New York. The series was broadcast by NBC and Mutual from
1943 to 1954.
Fibber McGee and Molly is one of the first radio situation comedy series. It starred the real life married couple, Marian and Jim Jordan. This
series was broadcast by NBC from 1935 to 1956. From 1935 to 1950, Johnson Wax paid the bills, then Pet Milk from 1950 to 1952, and Reynolds from 1952 to 1953. Following the long run of this series, the McGees were host of NBC Monitor segments from 1957 to 1959.
This situation comedy spun off of Fibber McGee and Molly. Harold Peary played Gildy on Fibber McGee, and in The Great Gildersleeve from 1941 to 1950, then Willard Waterman took over the role from 1950 to 1958 when it
ended. It was always broadcast by NBC, and it was sponsored by Kraft from 1941 to 1954.
This horror anthology series was broadcast by NBC, ABC and CBS from 1941 to 1952. Listen to the opening, as the organ plays, a door squeeeeekkkkks open. At the end of the program, as the organ plays, the door squeekks as it closes, then slams shut. Our favorite host of this series because of his terrible puns, was Raymond Edward Johnson 1941 to 1945. The sponsors for the series was Carters, Colgate and Lipton Tea.
Benny was a popular radio comedian from 1932 until 1955. During his forty odd years on radio, many of the performers he hired went on to be stars themselves, such as Mel Blanc, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Rochester, and Don Wilson. | <urn:uuid:4c236c05-8db5-4e78-ad03-ed61fa323a5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rosebudradio.com/community/groups?categoryid=1&sort=alphabetical | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978395 | 798 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Coast Guard Heroes: Margaret Norvell
Posted by LT Connie Braesch, Monday, November 1, 2010
This Compass series chronicles the first 14 heroes the Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters have been named for. These men and women, who stood the watch before us, lived extraordinary lives as they lit the way for sailors in times past, braved gunfire in times of war and rescued those in peril at sea. As Coast Guard heroes, their stories are a constant reminder of our service’s legacy. As the namesake of the Coast Guard’s newest patrol boats, they will inspire the next generation of Coast Guard heroes.
With contributions from LTJG Ryan White
For decades, Margaret “Madge” Norvell kept a watchful eye on the treacherous entrance of the Mississippi river and her numerous rescues included enduring howling winds and stinging rains to shelter schooners caught in storms and pulling in shipwrecked sailors.
As a member of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, she first served at the Head of Passes Light as an assistant keeper from 1891 to 1896. Her leadership did not go unnoticed and after Head of Passes she was appointed keeper of both the Port Pontchartrain Light from 1896 to 1924 and the West End Light where she served from 1924 to 1932.
In 1926 Norvell received word that a naval airplane had gone down in Lake Pontchartrain and as keeper of West End Light, she did not hesitate in getting her rowboat underway. She battled a merciless squall for two hours on the lake as she rowed to the survivor of the crash, rescued him and then rowed the naval aviator back to safety.
Norvell’s role as a humanitarian and community leader were most evident during a storm in 1903 that swept away every building in the small community she lived in. Her lighthouse’s sturdy structure remained the only building that could provide shelter, and she cared for over 200 people who had been left homeless by the storm’s unforgiving winds and rain. Norvell served admirably for 41 years with the U.S. Lighthouse Service and her devotion to duty as she vigilantly stood the watch ashore saved the lives of countless sailors.
A special place in the Coast Guard’s history
Being a lighthouse keeper was one of the first non-clerical U.S. government jobs that were open to women. While the appointment as keeper was usually given to the male spouse, such as the case with Norvell, women assumed the professional duty of keeper to assist their spouse or to take over when their husbands became ill or passed away.
Mary Louise and J. Candace Clifford have chronicled the lives of these groundbreaking women in their illustrated history Women Who Kept the Lights.
“The exploits of these women have not been recorded in places where the public can become familiar with them,” wrote Mary Louise Clifford. “Because writers of the time did not feel that the activities of working women were exemplary, very few noted their accomplishments.”
Despite their lack of written records, women keepers stood the watch in their own right and served their country with distinction for years. These women were true trailblazers of their time and their heritage as humanitarians and lifesavers lives on with every man and woman serving in the Coast Guard today. | <urn:uuid:43e29332-07ca-4b9b-8b26-e414f4c33634> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2010/11/coast-guard-heroes-margaret-norvell/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979976 | 689 | 2.875 | 3 |
Now we come to the third and most difficult part of an idea’s journey to becoming a first draft story, and that is the brain. That’s right. The very thing responsible for making us capable of placing words next to each other to form epic sagas that last generations is also the very thing that prevents more masterpieces being written than we’ll ever know…or would want to know.
In Steven Pressfield’s magical, indispensable, I’m-never-going-to-stop-pimping-it book, “The War of Art,” he identifies the negative, repelling, impersonal force that prevents us from doing our work as Resistance.
Pressfield writes: “Resistance seems to come from outside ourselves. We locate it in spouses, jobs, bosses, kids. ‘Peripheral opponents,’ as Pat Riley used to say when he coached the Los Angeles Lakers. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. Resistance is the enemy within.“
Are you all looking down at your bellies right now, thinking about the frightening alien that always emerges from your gut to rest its judgmental chin on your keyboard and criticize your writing voice every time you sit down? No? Oh, okay. Never mind. I guess it’s different for everyone. <cough>
Incubating parasitic aliens aside, we truly are our own worst enemies. If you have ever worried what anyone thinks about your writing — or art — be it your spouse, your best friend, your parents, your kids, your co-workers, imagined readers, then you’ve met this particular variety of Resistance. And I think it’s easily boiled down to its molecular level, which is good old-fashioned Fear.
We are ultimately all afraid of being judged unloved or unlovable.
You don’t believe me? Then what is that gut-twisting feeling you always get after you share your work with someone? Right.
When we speak of this concept of “art,” I think most of us imagine art as some sort of receptacle in which we place a small piece of ourselves, that we must somehow suffer by taking away from ourselves. That may be true in some respects — like blood, sweat, and tears — but that little piece of ourselves that we have put into an effort of art does not define us as a whole. That means when we receive judgment on a piece, it’s simply a judgment of the piece and not of us.
In other words, that novel you’ve been working on and loving on and hugging on for the past five years may seem like all-your-eggs-in-a-basket, you’re-gonna-die-a-painful-death-of-grief-if-you-don’t-sell-it, once-in-a-lifetime type of project, but it’s not. You are not one book. You are not one story. You are not one poem, one painting, one song, one recipe, whatever it is you uniquely make. Please do not make the mistake of attaching your identity to one project. It’s not necessary, and it only causes pain.
King is right. You can’t afford to risk your ego and your psyche with this kind of thinking. Nobody can. Life is about people. You have people depending on you. Do what you have to do to be happy as an artist, but remember always, you are just a mere mortal and your art is but a result of focused concentration and effort by you, a mere mortal. This way of thinking will save you when your brain starts coughing up lies to trick you away from your work.
What does this have to do with getting faster at writing first drafts? Everything. I think the biggest problem with Fear is that it’s strongest before we begin. If we never begin, there is no first draft at all…just a lot of standing around and feeling bad about it.
You have to turn Fear on its head, slap a harness on it, and ride it into worlds outrageous. This is key. Fear is not a negative force. It’s simply how we tend to perceive it. But Fear is behind every innovative, genre-busting, widely-lauded project. Fear can drive us to take amazing risks if you use it right.
Let me ask you this: What’s more scary? Finishing your novel, putting the best of your time, love, and energy into it, and sending it out into the world where it most likely will receive rejection before it receives success, if ever? Or is it more frightening the very notion that you might never write the story you were meant to write because you were too scared to start? This is like dying from an ailment that was easily cured because you were too afraid to see the doctor. Very sad stuff.
This is not headline breaking news any of these things I’m telling you. You all have heard this stuff a thousand times before. So why haven’t you been listening? Don’t read this stuff and then go on carrying on like you have been, squirreling ideas away for some distant future, talking more about the writing than actually doing the writing. At some point, you’ve got to really play the role of the artist and ply your trade. Otherwise, you’re just a conversation piece with a label. Those guys never get to live forever. You don’t want to be one of those guys, do you?
So how do we get around all of this Fear? (In case you’re wondering, I capitalize it because it deserves that kind of respect.) How do we capture its positive qualities and use Fear as fuel that will burn hot enough to allow us to escape the gravitational pull of everyday thinking?
Would that it were so easy that you could just remove your brain and set it aside, yes? Even the most stalwart writing professional has these niggling little worries that if they let them, will work their fingers into the cracks and blow up full force into paralyzing, work-stopping Fear. What we need is some kind of strategy, some kind of coping measure that will allow us to deal with our worries in an effective, efficient matter. What we need is a magic feather.
And I haz one. Wanna hear it? Great! Here it is:
Whenever you sit down to work and your brain starts cranking out some Fear-based notions to trip you up, say these magic words: “Fuck ‘em.”
To all the ego-blasting comments made by your mother-in-law, your spouse, fellow writers and artists, fuck ‘em. To the seeming threat of a life toiled in obscurity, fuck it. To the fears that your words are meaningless, stupid, humorless, lacking in any sort of intelligence, fuck ‘em. This is an effective way of getting your brain to shut the hell up and let you get your work done. Whatever creeps up to whisper in your ear, if it’s not, “You go, girl!” (or “boy!” as the case may be), then it needs to be squashed with those two very simple, very strong words: “Fuck ‘em.”
If this sounds unnecessarily profane, it’s not meant to be. I’m a firm believer that the word “fuck” has its place in our language, and there’s no stronger word that I can think of that has the strength enough to squelch bad feelings before they grow into something insidious. Next time you worry whether or not you should even be writing at all, try saying, “Ah, fudge it.” Not the same. I’m just saying.
By the by, this is not to suggest that you go to your husband or judgmental sister and tell them to fuck off. That’s a totally different use of the word, and you’re on your own if you do that.
By the way — and I know this is getting tremendously long, and I do apologize for that, but this is such an important topic for writers and artists — there’s always a lot of talk about humility. I agree that the artist should be humble about his or her gifts and their work.
But I also believe that there’s just no place for humility when writing the first draft. This is the critical, primordial stage of your creation where you need to get arrogant, strut your stuff, build yourself up. Look yourself in the mirror and say, “Hello, beautiful! Won’t you look nice on the back cover flap of your debut, hardback, bestselling, take-the-nation-by-storm book with a highly anticipated famous-director-attached summer movie to come? Would love to chat and admire, but I’ve got a story that needs handling. Ciao, baby!”
Do this. Really. Stand in front of the mirror and say something grand and incredibble and thrilling to yourself. This is your future, and if you don’t imagine it as being epic, it never will be. And no matter what protestations your brain tries to throw up, just say, “Fuck ‘em,” and give yourself a big kiss…and then get to work, gorgeous!
Big, huge, grateful thanks to my brother, Jon McConnell, for creating this amazing painting for us…and in less than a day. Go check out his website! He is a true artist in every sense of the word. I love you, bro. | <urn:uuid:4e58886a-50b8-4172-b0c5-f072e3788ef2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://angelamcconnell.com/art-2/brains-cant-live-without-them/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960525 | 2,056 | 1.859375 | 2 |
The Color Purple
Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in the small rural town of Eatonton, Georgia. She was the eighth and last child of Willie Lee Walker and Minnie Tallulah Grant, two sharecroppers. Walker’s parents’ experiences with the oppressive sharecropping system and the racism of the American South deeply influenced Walker’s writing and life’s work. When Walker was eight, one of her brothers accidentally shot her, permanently blinding her in one eye. Ashamed of her facial disfigurement, Walker isolated herself from other children, reading and writing to pass the time.
In 1961, on a scholarship for disabled students, Walker enrolled in Spelman College in Atlanta, where she became active in the A-frican-American civil rights movement. Two years later, Walker transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in New York and eventually traveled to Uganda as an exchange student. When she returned for her senior year, Walker was shocked to learn that she was pregnant, and, afraid of her parents’ reaction, she considered suicide. However, a classmate helped Walker obtain a safe abortion, and she graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1965. At this time, Walker composed two early landmark pieces: “To Hell with Dying,” her first published short story, and Once: Poems, her first volume of poetry.
Walker continued her involvement with the civil rights movement after graduation, working as a volunteer on black voter registration drives in Georgia and Mississippi in 1965 and 1966. In 1967, Walker married Melvyn Leventhal, a Jewish civil rights lawyer, with whom she had one daughter before the two divorced in the mid-1970s. Walker’s second novel, Meridian, explored the controversial issue of sexism in the civil rights movement.
In 1982, Walker published her most famous novel, The Color Purple. For the novel, which chronicles the struggle of several black women in rural Georgia in the first half of the twentieth century, Walker won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award. In 1985, a Steven Spielberg film based on the novel was released to wide audiences and significant acclaim.
Upon its publication, The Color Purple unleashed a storm of controversy. It instigated heated debates about black cultural representation, as a number of male African-American critics complained that the novel reaffirmed old racist stereotypes about pathology in black communities and of black men in particular. Critics also charged Walker with focusing heavily on sexism at the expense of addressing notions of racism in America. Nonetheless, The Color Purple also had its ardent supporters, especially among black women and others who praised the novel as a feminist fable. The heated disputes surrounding The Color Purple are a testimony to the resounding effects the work has had on cultural and racial discourse in the United States.
Walker’s 1992 novel, Possessing the Secret of Joy, concerns the marriage of Adam and Tashi—two characters who make their first appearance in The Color Purple—and the consequences of Tashi’s decision to undergo the traditional African ritual of female circumcision. Walker has continued to explore the unique problems that face black women in both in the United States and Africa. Her novels, poetry, essays, and criticism have become an important part in a burgeoning tradition of talented black women writers.
Readers' Notes allow users to add their own analysis and insights to our SparkNotes—and to discuss those ideas with one another. Have a novel take or think we left something out? Add a Readers' Note! | <urn:uuid:eadcfd81-24e9-4640-95d1-56de69ad9909> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/purple/context.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967164 | 713 | 3.546875 | 4 |
A collection of news and information related to Alternative Energy published by this site and its partners.
Displaying items 1-12 of 1709 » View aberdeennews.com items only1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-143 Next >
FAIRMONT, Minn. - Farmer Dwayne Ehlert remembers the moment last August when he delivered a truckload of corn to an ethanol plant here and sold it for a record $8.16 a bushel. "I knew it was good for me, and I knew it wasn't good for anyone else,"...
Farmers considering energy beet production in the future should assess what herbicides they use during this growing season due to potential residue impact. “Many growers across North Dakota are looking hard at a new industrial crop called energy beets,...
The latest news on the Keystone XL pipeline isn't news at all, but more of the same old, same old. The pipeline is delayed yet again. TransCanada Corp. announced last week that the pipeline, which runs from Alberta to the Gulf Coast, will be...
Colorado company Agrebon Inc. and North Dakota partners are in discussions with North Dakota's two largest ethanol plants in Casselton and Hankinson to build small-scale nitrogen fertilizer factories on their campuses. The fertilizer plants will be...
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a series of changes to make it easier for agricultural producers and rural small businesses to apply for renewable energy and energy efficiency funding. USDA remains focused on carrying out...
Renewable energy showed fantastic growth in 2012, accounting for 55% of new electricity generating capacity built last year. The energy produced is keeping pace with the price of fossil fuels, and shows potential to become even cheaper in the future....
The need for producing environmentally friendly fuel alternatives to displace the use of petroleum in the U.S. has scientists at many research universities studying the feasibility of potential biofuel feedstocks. At North Dakota State University, the...
FAIR OAKS, Ind. (AP) - A natural gas station fueled by cow manure has opened in northwestern Indiana, completing the first transportation corridor intended to power delivery trucks for one of the nation's largest dairy cooperatives. Investors in the AMP...
Jerry Taylor becomes really excited when he talks about energy. Taylor will be teaching a new class this fall at Hub Area Technical School that centers on alternative energy. The alternate energy systems class was developed after the area job...
Almost 300 shiny new wind turbines, part of the Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm, are now generating clean, renewable energy on a 66,000-acre site across four counties in southern Kansas. Each turbine has capacity to generate 1.6 megawatts (MW) of electricity or...
I am urging support for the coming bill sponsored by Sen. Jason Frerichs and Dakota Rural Action to bring net metering to South Dakota. Net metering is a policy whereby individuals who produce “green energy” (wind or solar power) would be...
Nothing puts a spoonful of dread in your morning coffee like this news: 90 jobs lost at the Molded Fiber Glass. Jobs lost from the local economy usually means people lost, which means more jobs lost as the customer base shrinks. Type "vicious circle"...
May 24, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
May 17, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
May 1, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Apr 26, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Apr 19, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Mar 29, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Mar 29, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Mar 15, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Mar 1, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Jan 25, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Jan 19, 2013 |Story| Aberdeen News
Oct 3, 2012 |Story| Aberdeen News
Original site for Alternative Energy topic gallery. | <urn:uuid:fa237ec6-b4ca-4d18-b2b0-bba5c7431f6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aberdeennews.com/topic/economy-business-finance/energy-resource-industries/alternative-energy/04005001.topic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919408 | 805 | 1.773438 | 2 |
"Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their
own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
"Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
"And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." Romans 1:24-27
1. Unclean--Vs. 24--Lazarus was laid at the rich man's gate full of sores. He was probably looked upon as unclean by many in his day. God did not call him unclean. God's angels carried him into Abraham's bosom when he died. Lazarus was clean in his heart.
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. ." Matthew 5:8
The unclean go into hell when they die!
"For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Ephesians 5:5
Sodomites are unclean!
2. Vile--Vs. 26-27--The Devil's leading religion in America, secular hutmanism, described by God in verse 26, states its position concerning Sodomy in their "Humanist Manifesto II"-- ". . .we believe that intolerant attitudes often cultivated by orthodox religions and puritanical cultures, unduly repress sexual conduct. The right to birth control, abortion, and divorce should be recognized ... the many varieties of sexual exploration should not in themselves be considered evil."
The humanist attempts to camouflage the corruption of the Sodomites, but God's inspired, infallible, inerrant, preserved Word reveals their filthy sins as vile!
"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Leviticus 18:22
The Sodomites are an abomination to God!
Webster's definition of an abomination--"Extreme disgust and hatred; abhorrence; detestation; loathing. That which is abominable; anything hateful or shamefully vile."
A man must not wear a woman's garment. A woman must not wear that which
pertaineth to a man.
"The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God." Deuteronomy 22:5
The sins of Sodomy are also suggested or declared by all who abominably attire themselves!
Sad to say, the biblical title of Sodomites, which was given to these debased sinners by God, is seldom used by those who cry out against this terrible wickedness. They usually use the term--
1. Homosexual--This is like calling a drunkard an alcoholic; or calling a thief a cleptomaniac. The sharp words of God are ". . . quick, and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword. "
When preachers, and others who oppose this vile sin, use the term "homosexual" they are only giving a partial definition of what a Sodomite is!
2. Gays- This is their choice title of this day. This, like the other, only gives a partial definition of what a Sodomite is, and the sharp edge of the Word of God is gone.
According to Webster, "gay" means: "loose; licentious." The Sodomites far surpass that in their vileness.
Our text does not say there were homosexuals in the land or gays in the land. It says there were Sodomites in the land!
A Sodomite woman is not a lesbian nor is a Sodomite man a gay. They are Sodomites! Call them what they are by using the title of infainy given them by the Lord. Don't let the Sodomites choose their title. God has already named them!
Call them Sodomites whether they like it or not.
They will never be convicted of their vile sins without the Word of God.
"The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves." Isaiah 3:9
1. Marches-They no longer sneak around in hiding like roaches and rats. They now march down the main streets of cities and towns carrying signs, declaring their sin as Sodom!
This does not reveal advances made by the Humanist Sodomite liberation movements. It simply reveals how low-down the morals in this nation have plunged.
When Sodomites start marching down main street it is like a house infested with roaches, where no effort is made to control or eliminate them!
Here is the disgraceful report of some Sodomite marches June 26, 1983:
New York City, NY 40,000 San Francisco, Cal 200,000 Los Angeles, Cal 90,000 Chicago, Ill. 30,000 Columbus, Ohio 600 Houston, Texas 50,000
2. Newspapers-It is becoming increasingly more obvious that the news
media in general is pro-Sodomite!
3. Politics-A few years ago a Sodomite would not dare to run for any office, and no political party would endorse sodomy for votes. The Democratic party has. "Walter F. Mondale cites party commitinent to eliminate all laws, rules and regulations which discrminate againsts individuals on the basis of sexual orientation."
4. Pageants-Charlotte, NC fostered a Miss Sodomite America pageant 9/25/82
5. Churches-The Metropolitan Community Church is a Sodomite denomination!
"The Metropolitan Community Church, a nationwide denomination formed in 1968 by an ex-Pentecostal Holiness minister named Troy Perry ... MCC now boasts 30,000 members in 170 churches." (Greenville News)
The Metropolitan Community Church openly denies that sodomy is a sin!
The boldness of the Sodomites in Judah was a result of and a testimony to the prevailing evil condition of the people in general.
This is the same sequence that we are now witnessing in America.
6. Television-This has been one of the key instruments that Satan has used io brainwash this wicked world into accepting Sodomites into its culture.
"And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly." II Peter 2:6
Look at the example and learn the lesson well America!
"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Leviticus 20:13
You will find in the Bible that the Sodomites flourished under the reign
of the wicked kings and they were removed by the good kings--
1. Asa-"And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father.
"And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made." I Kings 14:11-12
2. Jehoshaphat--"And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not asidefrom it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. . . "
"And the remnant of the Sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land." I Kings 22:43a,46
3. Josiah--"And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangingsfor the grove. " II Kings 23:7
The first mention principle of Bible interpretation is a very profitable study.
In Genesis chapters 13, 18, 19 we find God's attitude toward and His judgment against Sodomites:
"But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." Genesis 13:13
"And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous." Genesis 18:20 "
"Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." Genesis 19:24-25
God did not find ten righteous people in Sodom. That place was so given over to its vile corruptions that no hope remained. God's wrath was poured out upon them because of their sins.
Where Sodom once stood there is now the Dead Sea. Nothing grows there. Do not harbor the hope that God will overlook this heinous wickedness that is being accepted and legalized in America. We could fall as suddenly as Sodom did!
". . Sodom, that was over thrown as in a moment. ." Lamentations 4:6b
You will search in vain for any trace of God's excusing the Sodomites in
their debased state.
"...God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. . . " Isaiah 13:19b
1. The sins of the Sodomites are of the vilest nature. God's hatred of their
abominations is revealed in their incurable disease that strikes with near
2. Sodomy is not an alternate life style. It is a sin. It is a style of death!
3. There is no such thing as Sodomite rights found in God's Word.
4. There is one hope for America--Do as Asa, Jehoshaphat and Josiah.
5. There is one hope for the Sodomite--The Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; "Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." I Timothy 2:5-6
"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. " Titus 2:14
"I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. " Luke 13:3
by Raymond Blanton
Return to the Home Page | <urn:uuid:799bd051-644f-4aba-93ef-b2bcdfd5d5de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biblebelievers.com/Sodomites.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957527 | 2,299 | 1.5 | 2 |
For those of you not in the know, Black Sabbath is, as Masciandaro points out, arguably the original metal band, and their 1970 song 'Black Sabbath' ("what is this that stands before me? / figure in black that looks at me / turn around quick and start to run / find out I'm the chosen one"), being the first song on their first, eponymous album (i.e., 'Black Sabbath' by Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath: it's not easy to come by such triplings) is the first metal song. The very beginning. Given that the most characteristic elements of metal derived from horror movies and the occult and the darker side of the 1960s "Frodo Lives" schmaltz (see this or pages 368-69 in A. S. Byatt's A Whistling Woman), which themselves derived from Gothic literature and fairy tales, which themselves derived from "The Wanderer" (why not?), there's always necessarily been a strong element of medievalism in metal. You've no doubt seen this parodied in Spinal Tap's Stonehenge number, but if you want your parody done sincerely, you just have to turn to Black Sabbath's "The Wizard" ("Misty morning, clouds in the sky / Without warning, the wizard walks by / Casting his shadow, weaving his spell / Funny clothes, tinkling bell") or, ages later, "Metal Church" ("Many, many years ago on a distant shore / Men did gather secretly beyond a hidden door / They travelled long and travelled far / Dark into the night / Yes, this is the place they've chosen / To build the Metal site" (NB: "Metal Church" by Metal Church on Metal Church) or, perhaps most astonishingly, brilliantly ridiculous, any of the work by Manowar, e.g., "The Triumph of Steel:
Lord of battle I pray on bended knee conquest by the rising sun.
I'll wait for thy command with flame and blood at hand
glory and a broken sword.
I'm the master of the world I have no fear of man or beast
Born inside the soul of the world
Riding hard breaking bone with steel and stone
Eternal might I was born to wield.
Let us drink to the battles we've lived and we've fought
Celebrate the pain and havoc we have wrought
Great heroes charge into the fight
From the north to the south in the black of night
The clash of honor calls to stand when others fall
Gods of war feel the power of my sword
No more preliminaries. Masciandaro has given the Middle Ages back to metal with his gloss (no, I don't know what I mean by that: I just like the way it sounds). I've spent a few moments trying to determine what kind of gloss it is. It certainly doesn't feel like the Historia Scholastica. I suppose if I were pushed I'd say, reluctantly, inaccurately, the Glossa Ordinaria, with its sinuous, continual movement from verse to verse, punctuated only by auctoritates from other metal (generally Slayer, Metallica, and Bolt Thrower), from Augustine and Jean de Meun, from Meher Baba, and Agamben and Gadamer. I can't do it justice except by quoting. Here he is on the opening bells and the song's first three notes:
Thunder calls forth bells, nature art, answering the storm’s question by repeating it, setting off a reverberation through AC/DC, Metallica, and beyond. Medieval church bells drove off storms and the demons who stirred them. “And this is the cause why the bells be rung when it thundereth, and when great tempests and outrages of weather happen, to the end that the fiends and the evil spirits should be abashed and flee, and cease of the moving of tempests” (Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda Aurea, LXX). Heavy Metal bells stir men to dance with summoned demons, to sacrifice the sacred and perfect the profane, to feast on the corpses of dead values and drink the dawning of the real. “Come Centaur / Those who prance to the Hymns of Truth / Come join us” (Morbid Angel, “Invocation of the Continual One,” Formulas Fatal to the Flesh). The peal of the origin touches the end of time. Ouroboros. The judgement of apocalypse invites the jubilation of apocatastasis! THREE NOTES: low, high, and the tertium quid. Verba, res, and significatio (“there am I in the midst of them” Matt 18:20). Earth, heaven, and what joins them. Lightning. Yggdrasil. Axis Mundi. Skambha. The Epic Monolith. You know it when you hear it.
On the moment when Ozzy's voice breaks with fear:
This conjunction of terrified apophatic speaking and psychic infant sacrifice produces, through a kind of logospasmic birth-pang, the real presence of the true I, the present-tense being that resolves and transcends the distinction between God and me. The horrible, the unimaginable, the impossible happens, keeps on happening, and I am there to see it, to speak it. Watching what cannot happen, what ends all happening, happen, awakens the one who sleeps on the other side of happening. “At the point you perceive the irreparability of the world, at that point it is transcendent” (Agamben, The Coming Community, 104). THE FINAL REPETITION of the tripartite riff consolidates the transcendence of this encounter. On the one hand it means that nothing has happened. We are burned alive and everything is as it was before. On the other hand, it means that everything has happened, that we have stepped into the reality of what has always already happened. What is this reality? Nothing!
One more, on the lines "Is this the end my friend / Satan's coming round the bend":
The “secret power” of Heavy Metal is that it transforms the inevitable, the essence of necessity (you must run or you will die), into an aesthetic necessity and so enacts power over it, in short, over death. A Metal band that does not deliver the inevitable, and consequently creates no panic, is impotent. The rhetorical equivalent of Heavy Metal acceleration is the historical present, the shift to present tense discourse, classically, within battle scenes in epic poetry. Acceleration is Metal’s musical tense, a sonic intensification that produces the presence of the present. Like the historical present, it not merely a matter of lending vividness or verisimilitude to a represented event. It is about reentering the presentness, the presence of happening, slaying the distinction between representation and represented so that it dies in the reality of the actual and only present, the now. This is a fulfillment of art’s promise of being, that “the work of art does not simply refer to something, because what it refers to is actually there” (Gadamer, The Relevance of the Beautiful, 35).
Extraordinary stuff. Can't wait to see the whole book.
Caveat: Now, if you know your metal from Kiss or Mötley Crüe or Judas Priest or glam whatever, know this: they're basically rock bands. We all know, at least by title, Hugh Magennis's " No Sex Please, We're Anglo-Saxons"? Attitudes to Sexuality in Old English Prose and Poetry': well, the same's true for metal. By and large, metal is the work of very serious men who will brook no sex unless it's sex with goats. To be fair, the aforementioned bands did produce some metal work (e.g., respectively, God of Thunder, Shout at the Devil, and Green Manalishi). But if the song you're hearing is primarily about the singer's sexual prowess or his inability to drive slowly rather than, say, the robotic uncanny or not sexy but scary vampires or loitering outside Jesus's tomb to kill him (again) when he resurrects (nb: "Deicide" by Deicide on Deicide) or the robotic uncanny in the era of transnational capitalism, then you're listening to hard rock, not metal. Now, this isn't to say that rock music isn't worth glossing: Adam Roberts really did a number on AC/DC. | <urn:uuid:daa734db-59b3-461b-b37d-8074370e091d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inthemedievalmiddle.com/2007/03/satan-laughing-spreads-his-wings.html?showComment=1243895881399 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932102 | 1,791 | 1.742188 | 2 |
2004 - 2005 Texas Influenza Surveillance Information
The weekly flu activity level for CDC week 6 ending 2/5/05 remains widespread.
Reports were received for all 11 regions.
Seven of the eleven regions report increased flu activity this week, with the regions representing East Texas (HSR 4/5N) and the Dallas/Fort Worth area (HSR 3) reporting about the same (high) level of activity as last week. The region representing South Texas (HSR 11) was unable to discern a trend from the data available at the time.
(A map of Health Service Regions)
Data from the Sentinel Provider Surveillance Network (SPSN) indicate an increase in the level of Influenza-like illness (ILI) activity over last week, with levels almost six times the baseline level.
Schools around the state have continued to report increased absences due to ILI, and a few schools in North and East Texas have chosen to close their schools for a day or two during peak absence levels.
Culture confirmed flu has been identified in all regions of the state, with high specimen levels again this week.
Counties with culture confirmed flu include Dallas, Tarrant, Harris, Bexar, Wichita, Bell, Travis, El Paso, Potter, Wichita, and Lubbock.
The majority of culture confirmed flu remains A. Flu B activity seems to be centered in central Texas near the I-35 corridor between Waco and San Antonio.
A new strain of flu has been identified in California (dubbed A/California). This strain, while still H3N2, is different enough that the vaccine may not provide protection against it. However, there have been no reports of this strain in our state.
There remains a good match between circulating flu strains and vaccine strains in Texas. | <urn:uuid:a63e05ff-1c41-4855-aebf-416239a8301e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/disease/influenza/surveillance/2005/week_6/ | 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 | 0.9513 | 374 | 1.679688 | 2 |
War and other forms of international violence are used as leverage to try to improve
the terms of settlement of conflicts.
Many theories have been offered as general explanations about when such forms of
leverage come into playthe causes of war. Contradictory theories have been proposed
at each level of analysis and, with two exceptions, none has strong empirical
support. Thus, political scientists cannot reliably predict the outbreak of war. The two
exceptions are: (1) that there are virtually no societies in which war and intergroup violence
as means of leverage are unknown, and (2) that democratic states almost never
fight wars against other democracies.
States come into conflict with each other and with nonstate actors for a variety of reasons.
Conflicts will always exist among international actors.
Territorial disputes are among the most serious international conflicts because states
place great value on territorial integrity. With a few exceptions, however, almost all
the worlds borders are now firmly fixed and internationally recognized.
Conflicts over the control of entire states (through control of governments) are also
serious and are relatively likely to lead to the use of force.
Economic conflicts lead to violence much less often, because positive gains from economic
activities are more important inducements than negative threats of violence.
Some particular kinds of economic conflict, however, have special implications for national
Drug trafficking creates several kinds of conflict that draw in state and nonstate actors
Ethnic conflicts, especially when linked with territorial disputes, are very difficult to
resolve because of psychological biases. It is hard to explain why peoples loyalties are
sometimes to their ethnic group, sometimes to a multiethnic nation.
Fundamentalist religious movements pose a broad challenge to the rules of the international
system in general and state sovereignty in particular.
Ideologies do not matter very much in international relations, with the possible exception
of democracy as an ideology. State leaders can use ideologies to justify whatever
actions are in their interests.
When violent means are used as leverage in international conflicts, a variety of types
of war result. These vary greatly in size and character, from guerrilla wars and raids to
hegemonic war for leadership of the international system. Along this spectrum of
uses of violence, the exact definition of war is uncertain.
Like other violent means of leverage, terrorism is used to gain advantage in international
bargaining situations. Terrorism is effective if it damages morale in a population
and gains media exposure for the cause.
The September 2001 attacks differed from earlier terrorism both in their scale of destruction
and in the long reach of the global al Qaeda terrorist network. The attacks
forced dramatic changes in U.S. and worldwide security arrangements, and sparked
U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime and destroy
the al Qaeda bases there. | <urn:uuid:4e7fa9d8-a9e1-487c-af9d-a343922df667> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wps.ablongman.com/long_goldstein_ir_7/35/8972/2297019.cw/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935573 | 586 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Whatever comes of the reform efforts in Washington, D.C., the focus of the U.S. health care system has already shifted toward a patient-controlled (not just patient-centered) delivery system. WebMD, DestinationRx, and other online resources are creating informed, intelligent, and empowered consumers who are focused on prevention more so than treatment, and who want their providers' practices to reflect that shift.
Of course, people of different generations have vastly different needs, expectations, preferences, and influencers. Members of the Greatest Generation for instance, are focused on compliance, and they expect their health care system to be directive — "What do I need to do, which meds should I take, to get well?" By contrast, members of Generation X want education and would rather take health matters into their own hands — "Give me an otoscope, show me how to use it, and I'll monitor my child's ear infection."
It's not news that consumers are assuming greater control over their own health. But what may be novel to health care companies is their need to take the service principles from consumer-focused organizations — managing customers' expectations and experiences, for instance, and conducting consumer research — and apply them to their operations.
Some consumer companies such as CVS, Procter & Gamble, Cerner, Wal-Mart, and Walgreens are already influencing the way people make their health care decisions — that is, based on the quality of the experience and the providers' efforts to engage them meaningfully. P&G, for example, will begin providing health care services for the first time when it assumes ownership of MDVIP, a concierge network of 350 physicians. Meanwhile, when IT provider Cerner acquires IMC HealthCare, expected mid-year, it will become the operator of 23 workplace clinics for 15 different corporations.
Retail clinics like CVS MinuteClinic, the company I led from 2005 to 2008, are taking over many of the traditional tasks of the private physician's practice, and new technologies (like glucose monitors and other wireless monitors) are facilitating patient mobility and comfort, enabling continuity of care, but requiring far less direct interaction with physicians.
With the complexity of the U.S. health care system, even the most seasoned consumer-focused executives can have a hard time seeing these sorts of opportunities. When I first interviewed to lead CVS MinuteClinic in 2005, I was coming directly from a career in the consumer space with assignments at P&G and PepsiCo. And so while leading MinuteClinic, I applied the critical lessons I learned from my experiences in another service-oriented organization — Arby's. As CEO there, I led a brand turnaround where we focused on improving the quality of the food and customers' in-store experiences. I applied these same principles of "continuous improvement" and "customer engagement" at MinuteClinic, which in three years grew from 19 clinics in two states to 530 clinics in 27 states; and 81 employees to nearly 3,000. We used consumer research to determine people's expectations, and we built our unique delivery platform accordingly.
It all sounds logical, right? Megatrends demand this sort of change. But it's not necessarily an easy leap for health care providers (doctors, employers, and payers) and regulators to make. They don't quite get that patients are moving toward providers that can offer them higher quality of care, better customer service, and innovative ways to receive the health services they need.
Physicians have data in hand suggesting that the quality of their bedside manner is directly correlated to patient outcomes, but still they can't always wrap their heads around the importance of service principles. Payers don't grasp it either. One BC/BS group flat out refused to do business with MinuteClinic until we took unorthodox actions — we provided health care services to BC/BS subscribers at their normal copay levels, and we collected and sent 3,200 postcards from those consumers, proving the power and benefits of this sort of consumer-focused model. Within two weeks of receiving the postcard delivery, BC/BS asked us to become a network provider accepting the mandate of their membership.
Established health care leaders must look outside the industry to understand how to adapt to this new reality. Physicians will no longer be able to act as simple compliance officers — diagnosing diseases, assigning treatments and making sure patients stick to their regimens. Instead, they must become educators, coaches and advisers who cater their services to the unique circumstances and demands of individual patients.
Regulatory reform is also vital to rid the system of reimbursement incentives that prevent providers from using their teams most efficiently. To gain the greatest benefit from health care reform, leaders must eliminate other practices that thwart the delivery of "anytime, anywhere" service, such as the insurance limitations imposed by the individual states, state medical licensure practices, and HIPAA sensitivity around information sharing.
As more and more providers adapt their methods of delivering care to better reflect consumer values and expectations, it will result in the effective, convenient and affordable health care system that we all envision and hope will one day be reality.
Michael Howe is the head of Howe Associates, a consumer-services consulting company based in Minneapolis, and the former CEO of CVS MinuteClinic. He was the former president and CEO of Arby's/Triarc Restaurant Group and also served as an executive with KFC and Procter & Gamble. | <urn:uuid:bc0826cd-d0b4-4d2c-8c57-d7fc5ed2d7cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/04/the_intersection_of_retail_and.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959579 | 1,119 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Features include interactive map, in-depth stories, and more.Download now. »
The week's top five must-sees,
delivered to your inbox.
LinkAsia | Feb 19
When hermetically-sealed North Korea ran its third nuclear test this past week, the news first broke on Asian social media. It soon became the top ...
The Olympics are underway in London, where Asian athletes are winning medals, as well as finding themselves in the middle of controversy. First, an American swimming coach implied that a 16-year-old Chinese gold medalist, Ye Shiwen, had used illegal doping to win the 400-meter individual medley. Ye was ultimately cleared of the charges. And then came a real scandal. In badminton, athletes from China, Indonesia, and South Korea were expelled for intentionally trying to lose so that they could face weaker opponents in later rounds. Here's MBC with the story.
The women's badminton pair, Kim Ha-na and Jung Kyung-eun, met the Chinese team at the final matches of group play. China's number one ranked pair suddenly turned into a different team. Ridiculous defense. Serves into the net. Players didn't even seem depressed after making mistakes.
China is suspected of deliberately trying to lose the game in order to not play against another team from their country. South Korea caught on to China's trick and started playing the same way, prompting a controversy.
The referee issued a warning to the players, and then even the head of the badminton jury asked them to play seriously, but nothing changed. Spectators booed the comical situation. South Korea beat China 2-0. However, the players left the court amid spectators jeering.
Bang Su-hyun, MBC Badminton Commentator:
It's not in the spirit of the Olympics. Even if players play their own country's team, they should do their best during the game.
Later, in the game featuring the team of Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung, neither player was doing her best. The Badminton World Federation announced that it would investigate the players involved and consider punishing them for infringing on the spirit of sports. The group stage was introduced to make more profit by increasing the number of games, but it ended up damaging the event.
Meanwhile, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung beat the Malaysian team and reached the quarterfinals with three straight victories. Lee Hyun-il put away Jan Jorgensen 2-0 in a matchup of Olympic badminton champions.
One of the disqualified Chinese badminton players announced that she has quit the sport forever. | <urn:uuid:097d054d-7a1f-4e97-a52c-275e9a98b110> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.linktv.org/videos/olympic-sized-scandal-rocks-badminton | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967736 | 557 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Film project told by African children
Tuesday, 06 December 2011 12:45
SOS Children, the world’s largest orphan charity, has created a ground-breaking, visually compelling and comprehensive learning resource that gives a unique perspective on Africa for children in the UK
The project, ‘Our Africa’, is an evolving collection of hundreds of video clips from countries spread across the Africa continent – filmed through the eyes of children living there.
Andrew Cates, Chief Executive at SOS Children, says: "Our Africa’ gives you the opportunity to experience something much deeper and closer to the reality of actually being there. For anyone who has visited Africa vivid memories will come flooding back. The child generated content gives authentic uncomplicated perspectives which even a visitor to the countries might miss. It does give a reference, it does educate and inform but somehow it captures something quite remarkable about what Africa is all about."
The website houses dozens of short videos from each country across the continent in which children of different ages from report about their own country, from main national topics to their everyday lives.
A learning resource for teachers that can be readily used in the classroom in support of the national curriculum accompanies the site to make it an innovative learning tool that students and teachers will enjoy.
Adeline Gouenon (18) from Ivory Coast took part in ‘Our Africa’.She said: “I was the chief reporter for the film of my country. I was really choked to know that people thousands of miles away are thinking about us and want to know what our country is really like. For me it was my first time using a camera and being a reporter and I really got into the role. I love my country and I want other people around the world to know about it.”
Accompanying the videos is accessible and straightforward background information on subjects such as the economics of each country, poverty and healthcare, welfare of children, history and politics, food… all of the things that pupils and teachers can use in the classroom, but also anyone wanting to visit or find out more about a country would want to know.
Lee Hunter, Deputy Head Teacher at The Tiffin Girls’ School in London says: “The beauty of ‘Our Africa’ is that it shows children in the UK the similarities between their own lives and children living in Africa. As well as showing the obstacles that many young people face living in Africa, it essentially shows young people with similar mindsets, ambitions, hopes and interests. It is a great learning tool.”
SOS Children embarked on the ‘Our Africa’ project to mark their 40th year anniversary working in Africa. Everyone can see ‘Our Africa’ for free at: www.our-africa.org and view the teacher’s resource at: www.sos-schools.org/our-africa-teaching-resources
Dame Mary Richardson, president of SOS Children and a governor of the National College of School Leadership, says: “I am thrilled to support such a venture that educates, diminishes stereotypes and gives people a view of Africa, an incredible place that has never before been portrayed through the very children who live it.” | <urn:uuid:b4015383-359a-47e6-8881-1f09ae7fab74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.africanreview.com/it/enterprise-software/film-project-told-by-african-children | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961506 | 667 | 2.359375 | 2 |
It’s 12:30 a.m. The study munchies have arrived. The creak of the refrigerator door is the only sound in the house. Its fluorescent light illuminates the kitchen. In a stupor of sleepiness, a grab is made for a carton of milk and a swig is taken — expiration date ignored.
As the first drops hit your tongue, you realize what a grave mistake you’ve made. Panicking, you spin wildly and spew the soured beverage into the sink.
We’ve all been there. Between pop quizzes and keeping up with Moodle assignments, it’s hard to remember how old the food in your fridge has gotten in the days you’ve spent camped out in the library.
Luckily, there is a way to use some of your seemingly spoiled groceries to create some economical and delicious dishes.
Use these recipes to make the most of your waste and avoid future late night run-ins with stale snacks.
Sour Milk Cakes
Your vinegar and baking soda volcano may not have won the third-grade science fair, but there’s no use crying over spoiled milk. Your elementary- school knowledge of what happens when you mix acids and leavening agents has not gone to waste. It’s exactly what you need to understand why milk that has veered into the sour zone is great in baked goods. In the case of these cakes, the acidity of the milk reacts with the baking powder, producing extra fluffy flapjacks.
1 & 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 & 1/2 cup sour milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Whip oil, eggs, milk and sugar into frothy mixture. Add flour and baking powder and salt. Using a ladle, pour a small amount (about a 1/4 cup) of batter onto a well-greased griddle. When you see lots of tiny bubbles in the cakes and the edges start to harden, flip the flapjack onto the other side. When your pancake starts to look more like a snack than a puddle, flip again. Serve in stacks with warm maple syrup and butter.
Bad Banana Muffins
Eating a whole bunch of bananas in the short time before they go bad is like taking a semester of freshman writing. At first it seems great and you really enjoy it. Toward the middle you’re forcing yourself to engage, and by the end of it, you never want to see another peer edit (or brown banana) again. Because they’ve had more time to break down, your ’nanners that have passed the point of no return are packed with extra sugars, making these muffins super sweet.
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 or 3 extremely ripe bananas
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons coconut oil or melted butter
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
Mash the bananas with a fork until they are a uniform and smooth mush. Add the milk, vanilla, eggs, oil and sugar. Add flour and baking powder to form a lumpy batter. Fold in the nuts. Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin. Place one walnut on top of every filled cup. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Make sure the muffins are done all the way through by poking one with a toothpick. It should come out clean. Go bananas for these muffins for brunch or a sweet afternoon snack.
Citrus Twist Bread Pudding
There is only so much toast you can eat before you have to throw in the towel and admit that your one dollar Roundy’s loaf is simply past its prime. Don’t cling to your boring habit. Dry bread has a really unpleasant texture. Revitalize it with some liquids and turn it into a robust dessert.
6-7 pieces stale bread
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice
Zest of one orange
1 handful raisins (optional)
1 handful sliced almonds (optional)
Cut the stale pieces of bread into about one-inch cubes. Soak them in the milk. Use the butter to grease all sides of a loaf pan. In a small mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, juice and additional seasonings. Pour the mixture over the soaked bread. If you feel like adding some texture to the dish, fold in some raisins and almonds. Transfer the entire contents of the bowl into the loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until the edges start to brown and pull away from the side of the pan. Serve warm and à la mode.
Cleaning out the kitchen doesn’t have to be an arduous duty that all the roommates participate in once a month. Skip sparking debates over what exactly that green stuff in the Tupperware is, and instead keep an eye on what is getting a little old and use your waste for creative concoctions.
Nominate an exceptional graduating senior for the upcoming Ski-U-Mah Issue!
UMN students have traveled to Florida colleges to collaborate with students on various projects.
When UMN students plan for a vacation, having trip cancellation travel insurance is a worthwhile commodity to check out.
Minneapolis Used Cars
Give back to the Minnesota community with a boat donation at boat4causes.org.
If you have been involved in a car accident call a Philadelphia Car Accident Lawyer for a free consultation. | <urn:uuid:4406223e-e51d-4bd5-8e25-66472c699837> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mndaily.com/2012/09/20/college-kitchen-bad-foods-club | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916192 | 1,172 | 2.265625 | 2 |
It’s the 21st Edition of Smile for the Camera. In honor of Women’s History Month, this edition is called “Give their Face a Place” and focuses on the unsung female heroes in our tree. May I present Tante Marie, my Great Aunt, Marie Lassalle, who served in the Signal Corp. in WWI.
Marie, mostly known as Tante Marie, was born in Ogeu les bains, France, in 1891. She came to America ca 1908.
Marie signed up for the U.S. Army Signal Corp. during World War I, when a special call went out for women who could speak French. She was sent to France and was probably one of the switchboard operators who made use of their knowledge of the French language. This photo was taken around 1918. I think she bears a slight resemblance to Margaret Hamilton, the actress who played the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz.
You can learn a little bit about the Signal Corp in the article History of a Hello Girl by Michelle Christides. | <urn:uuid:3c858155-2e37-42cc-b6c0-9c1549e4ce77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.researchjournal.yourislandroutes.com/2010/02/one-of-the-women-in-the-signal-corp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978144 | 224 | 2.40625 | 2 |
We can investigate complaints about noise from your neighbour's premises that is seriously affecting your right to enjoy your premises. In most cases you should first approach your neighbour directly about the matter. It is always better if neighbours can resolve their problems informally, and many noise (and other) problems can be resolved quickly and amicably.
If the problem continues, you should:
- Read our definition of nuisance
- Start keeping a diary of residential nuisance(pdf, 67KB). These guidance notes(pdf, 64KB) will help you.
- Contact your neighbour again about the matter, advising them of your intentions to make a formal complaint if the matter is not resolved informally. This may be best done by letter.
- Finally, if the problem continues, make a complaint to the Council, and send in your initial diary sheets.
Once you have made a formal complaint to the Council, you will be asked to complete and submit ongoing diaries of the noise while your complaint is investigated. Investigations may be carried out until the officer is satisfied that there is, or is not, a statutory noise nuisance. If appropriate, the officer may take enforcement action against the person(s) causing the noise.
Please note: If your complaint is about a Housing Association tenant, you should report the matter to their Housing Officer. It will usually be dealt with under their tenancy rules.
We run a weekend service which you should contact if noise is disturbing you on a Friday or Saturday night. Telephone 07944 038 495 (10pm - 3am)
Many noise complaints concern loud music and parties. There is no law against having a party, but it is against the law to cause a noise nuisance. Everyone has a duty to ensure that their activities do not cause a serious disturbance to their neighbours. Causing a noise nuisance can result in a fine of up to £5000, a criminal record, and possible seizure and confiscation of equipment.
Report a nuisance
Please report nuisance alarms relating to residential properties to:
Residential and Environmental Health Team
Tel: 020 8891 7737
Report all other nuisance alarms relating to vehicles, commericial and construction properties to:
Commercial Environmental Health Team
Tel: 020 8891 7117
We also operate a weekend noise service for nuisance alarm reports. You can contact us on 07944 038 495 at the following times:
- Fridays between 10pm - 3am
- Saturday between 10pm - 3am | <urn:uuid:a5f187cd-a535-4003-a038-36ac58c9d986> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.richmond.gov.uk/ar/home/policing_and_public_safety/crime_and_law_enforcement/noise_and_other_statutory_nuisance/noisy_neighbours.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916049 | 508 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By all accounts, President Obama won the fiscal cliff showdown. Why anyone would take much pride in this kind of "win" is beyond me. It's a bit like being the least filthy toddler in the mud pit.
One of the main reasons Obama won, according not only to Obama but an at times cheering press, is that he had a mandate. He ran on the need for the wealthy to "pay their fair share."
To his credit, Obama never said raising taxes on the "rich" will solve all of our problems. What he did say, however, is that he couldn't in good conscience ask seniors and college students to take a hit from budget cuts without asking the wealthy to pay their fair share. He wanted "shared sacrifice" and a "balanced approach" because we're "all in it together."
Here is what Obama said in his weekly address on July 16, 2011: "The truth is, you can't solve our deficit without cutting spending. But you also can't solve it without asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share."
"This is not class warfare," Obama said in September of 2011. "It's math."
He continued: "Either we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes, or we're going to have to ask seniors to pay more for Medicare. We can't afford to do both."
And here's what he said just days after he was re-elected: "But as I've said before, we can't just cut our way to prosperity. If we're serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue. And that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes. That's how we did in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was president."
Now, I have plenty of disagreements with all of this. The president seems to think that if he calls class warfare "math," it's suddenly not class warfare. Also, the man's version of the last two decades of economic history has always struck me as at best flawed and more properly speaking barmy. During the campaign he assiduously worked to give the impression that the 2008 financial crisis was caused by George W. Bush's tax cuts (something even the official studies of the crisis never suggested) and that the 1990s economic boom, which didn't even begin on Clinton's watch, was launched by Clinton's tax hikes.
Also, the idea that the rich hadn't been paying their fair share is at least debatable. When Obama took office in 2009, the richest 5 percent of Americans paid almost 40 percent of all federal taxes, and the richest 1 percent paid 22 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office. If you count only federal income taxes, the top 5 percent and top 1 percent paid, respectively, 59 percent and 37 percent.
Fired IRS Commissioner: I Promoted Sarah Ingram To Head Obamacare: "We Provided Horrible Customer Service" | Greg Hengler | <urn:uuid:7dbf0086-40e6-4f80-9677-6486c7afed1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2013/01/04/winning-ugly-obama-and-the-fiscal-cliff-n1478481 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986404 | 603 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Plugged in: University of Michigan installs 6 charging stations for electric cars
University of Michigan photo
The new stations, installed earlier this fall, accommodate charging equipment up to 240 volts.
They add to the growing number of electric car outlets in the city. This summer, the city introduced 18 charging stations at six public parking locations downtown.
According to an article in Concentrate Media, the charging stations cost $28,865 and were funded by a U.S. Department of Energy grant administered by the Clean Energy Coalition.
The city stations cost roughly $110,000 and also were funded by a DOE grant.
The U-M stations are located at:
- A parking lot at the corner of Hoover and Greene streets
- In the Ann Street parking structure near the medical campus
- At the Murfin Street lot on north campus | <urn:uuid:c88e5ac2-c7cd-4ac7-9311-0d69a6979465> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://annarbor.com/news/plugged-in-university-of-michigan-installs-6-charging-stations-for-electric-cars/?cmpid=mlive-@aa-river | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963724 | 172 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Consensus guidelines advise that patients with regular symptoms of asthma should take inhaled corticosteroids every day, and when they’re having poor asthma control, they should tell their doctor, who can increase the steroid dose or add other “step-up” therapies.
But asthma symptoms vary daily and can worsen at any time. And it can be hard to get in to see a doctor, or even to get her on the phone. Further, some research suggests that daily inhaled steroids may not really be necessary for all patients. So William Calhoun, Bill Ameredes, Homer Boushey, et al (for NHLBI’s Asthma Clinical Research Network) asked, what if we were to chuck the guidelines? What if we encouraged some patients to self-diagnose and treat their own asthma attacks with increased doses of inhaled corticosteroids on an as-needed basis, without a doctor visit, and with no therapy at all on days without symptoms?
What They Did
Investigators enrolled 342 patients with a clinical diagnosis of asthma who also had a 12% bronchodilator response in FEV1 and/or a positive methacholine bronchoprovocation test. Patients were entered into the trial after they demonstrated they had well- or partially-controlled asthma (after a run-in period with b.i.d. beclomethasone), and were able to comply at least 75% with the cumbersome trial protocol (requiring them to use 4 separate inhalers on days with symptoms). They were then randomized to one of three asthma treatment strategies:
- Physician-directed adjustments of b.i.d. inhaled corticosteroids, based on physician assessments during clinic visits every 6 weeks, using spirometry, history, and exam based on NHLBI guidelines;
- Physician-directed changes in inhaled b.i.d. steroid based on changes in exhaled nitric oxide concentration at clinic visits every 6 weeks;
- Symptom-directed inhaled steroid therapy, controlled by the patient. For every puff of albuterol, she also took a puff of inhaled corticosteroid, with no inhaled steroid use on days when albuterol was not used. (These patients had placebo in their “daily” inhalers, so only took inhaled corticosteroid when they also used rescue albuterol.)
All arms were placebo-controlled and blinded (in a complex, multi-dummy “shell game” approach in which each patient used 2 placebo inhalers, a third containing beclomethasone 40 μg/puff, and an albuterol MDI).
The primary outcome was time to first treatment failure, defined as an asthma exacerbation requiring an unscheduled doctor visit with an increase in therapy; a significant and sustained drop in peak flows or spirometry at home or in clinic; patient dissatisfaction with asthma control, the need to add montelukast, or new, excessive albuterol use (e.g., an extra 8 puffs a day) for 2 days in a row.
Patients were followed for 9 months, with numerous secondary outcomes (spirometry, asthma control scores, sputum eosinophils etc) also recorded.
What They Found
Self-treating patients had the the longest average time to treatment failure, the fewest exacerbations, and the fewest lost days from school or work, although these outcomes were not statistically different between groups:
- 15% of patients who self-treated, with inhaled corticosteroid use only during symptom periods, had a treatment failure in 9 months.
- 22% of patients whose asthma therapy was adjusted based on physician assessment had treatment failure within 9 months.
- 20% of patients with physician-adjusted treatment based on exhaled nitric oxide had 9-month treatment failure.
The self-treating patients also had fewer asthma exacerbations (0.12 events per person per year, vs ~0.22 for the other 2 groups), and fewer days lost from work or school (0.11 days per person per year, vs. 0.25 for physician-assessed or 0.46 for exhaled-nitric-assessed patients), although this difference was not statistically significant. There was no difference in other outcomes like spirometry and asthma symptoms on validated questionnaires.
Not only did they appear to have equivalent outcomes, but the symptom-driven self-treating patients actually used only half the inhaled corticosteroid dosage of the other two groups (832 μg monthly vs. ~1615 μg).
Physician-assessment-driven asthma therapy appeared to be a clearly inferior strategy to the other 2 arms in the fall and winter months, especially in Autumn, with a 10-11% rate of treatment failure compared to 3-5% with the other strategies. Hispanic and African-American patients had higher rates of treatment failure, and in Hispanic patients, a physican-assessment-directed treatment changes seemed to reduce this excess risk.
The trial was not powered to prove equivalence, only superiority (an 87% power to detect a 60% relative difference in treatment failure rate between groups), which it did not do.
What It Means
Daily inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy has been a pillar of asthma management for anyone with persistent asthma (daily symptoms more than twice a week at the time of diagnosis), and is canonized in the NHLBI’s 2007 Expert Panel Report 3′s “Step-Up / Step-Down” algorithm. But these guidelines are based on consensus, not on any data from prospective trials comparing asthma treatment strategies. What if daily inhaled steroids are actually not necessary, or even helpful, for most people with asthma?
It may sound controversial, but it’s not a new idea. In the IMPACT trial, 10 days of inhaled steroids triggered by symptoms (and no ICS in between) was equivalent to daily ICS therapy in controlling persistent asthma. In the BEST trial, outcomes with as-needed beclomethasone + albuterol were comparable to patients taking daily beclomethasone. And in Europe, a combination long-acting beta agonist (LABA) + ICS is commonly used as both the maintenance and rescue therapy (but in the U.S. our black-box warning on LABAs discourages this).
Given our humbling lack of deep understanding about asthma, and its amazing heterogeneous manifestations between patients, we don’t have much reason to lecture patients who forget to use their steroid inhalers during times they’re feeling well — maybe they’ve always been onto something we didn’t yet know. This study suggests that many patients might be just as good as their doctors at deciding when to “step-up” their treatment.
Calhoun WJ et al, for the ACRN Network. Comparison of Physician-, Biomarker-, and Symptom-Based Strategies for Adjustment of Inhaled Corticosteroid Therapy in Adults With Asthma. The BASALT Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA 2012; 308 (10): 987-997. | <urn:uuid:a0428edd-5717-442d-b5bc-bca54d5ab589> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pulmccm.org/2013/randomized-controlled-trials/at-treating-asthma-patients-may-be-as-good-as-their-doctors-rct-jama/?wpfpaction=add&postid=7777 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953921 | 1,496 | 2.015625 | 2 |
The best way to think of it is imagine what would happen if you started a fire using wood created from ectoplasm. It would burn for a while, maybe even completely, but once it's time is up it would vanish. The body doesn't burn fuel as rapidly as a fire, so you would feel full for an hour and then *poof* empty again. Most solid foods stay in the stomach for around an hour as they break down into something the body can process. nutrients are absorbed primarily in the intestines, not the stomach. Any nutrients absorbed would vanish at the appointed time, potentially seriously disrupting the cellular processes. | <urn:uuid:ff8c94f7-a58d-4e97-99e3-a21d055ef87d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=140815&page=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983438 | 128 | 2.421875 | 2 |
This week's featured Photo is from the Webster Family Photo Album from Lost Faces.
LOST FACES is my collection of Family Photo Albums. One of my hobbies is going to antique auctions, stores, flea markets and garage sales. Whenever I spot one of those old Photo Albums from the 1800s with family pictures, I have to buy it! I can't bear the thought that the album and photos will be lost or destroyed. Even though they aren't my ancestors, and they can be very expensive, I can't walk away without it.
Lost Faces is my way of saving these genealogy treasures and preserving historical documents. I have albums that contain funeral cards, memorial cards, obituaries, Christmas cards, and hand-written genealogies. My goal is to eventually place all these albums online for all to see
This photo is a Carte de Visite of Abigail Coleman Robbins taken in 1867. On the verso (back) is written "Abigail Robbins, 91 years old, Dec. 24, 1867"
This is a Civil War Era WEBSTER Family Album with CDVs (Cartes de Visites), circa 1860s into 1880. The Webster Family Photo Album has slots for 46 CDVs (Cartes de Visite). Some slots had names but no CDVs in them. A few had no name but 30 were identified by name.
Surnames: Edwards, Converse, Coleman, Tenney, Tenny, Webster, Smith, Dickie, Clark, Cushing, Reed, Everson, Bates, Wadley, Peterson, Shaw, Spellman
Locations: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut | <urn:uuid:29cf3e3a-258f-41ca-9a67-6050f9623519> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/05/featured-foto-from-lost-faces-webster.html?showComment=1273258936748 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949638 | 342 | 1.835938 | 2 |
A sales consultant shares how to cut a deal without cutting price
BY Monica L. Rausch, Associate Editor
What was that figure on the trip to Austin?...You charge how much for one hour in a 152?...I can get a better deal from your competitor across the fieldÉ
These sticker-shock reactions from customers can batter the confidence of almost any salesperson. But the knee-jerk response — slashing prices — could mean going out of business.
According to Larry Steinmetz, a sales and management consultant and former professor at the University of Colorado's School of Business, 16 out of 17 businesses that open in the U.S. fail, and the majority of those failures come from cutting prices, in the mistaken belief that profits can be made up in sales volumes.
"If you cut your price by 10 percent, you will have to sell twice as much products in the same period of time to break even," says Steinmetz. "It is precious difficult to cut price and make it up in volume. It is even more difficult to do it and make money."
On the other hand, he adds, if a company hikes its prices by 10 percent, the company would have to lose some 28 percent of sales before losing any money. Those salespeople who fear losing sales over high prices — and worry about getting the sticker-shock response — can follow some simple sales techniques, says Steinmetz.
Stand Behind a Price
When customers hammer a salesperson on price, it's usually because, whether a salesperson realizes it or not, that salesperson is encouraging it, says Steinmetz. Steinmetz points to car salesmen as examples. With phrases like "Let's make a deal," "We will not be undersold," and "We'll give you a bargain," he says, "Car dealers have trained you to beat them up on price."
"Our research shows clearly that if you feel your customers really hammer you on your cost, there's a pretty good chance you're inviting and encouraging that to happen," says Steinmetz. He points out two ways salespeople encourage price negotiations:
1. Wowing: A salesperson opens the door to price negotiations when he or she "wows" in front of customers, as in "Wow! Can you believe these prices?"
"Wowing is when
you communicate to the customer that you feel your prices are high,"
says Steinmetz. He notes that most salespeople do believe their prices
are too high, which causes many of them to wow. When salespeople wow,
they use phrases such as:
• "Are you sitting down?"
• "Man, can you believe these prices?"
• "Do you think $200 would be too much?"
• "These prices may look a little high."
What a salesperson avoids saying can also be a form of wowing, says Steinmetz. When salespeople evade talking about price, they are telling the customer that they are not comfortable with it or are afraid of the customer's reaction. According to his research, 94 percent of salespeople won't bring up the issue of price until the customer does, and then 46 percent will change the subject when the issue is raised.
"You have to present the price credibly, comfortably, and confidently," says Steinmetz. "If you don't come back credibly, comfortably, and confidently when talking about your price, then you just wowed big time."
In fact, the way a salesperson handles his or her price largely determines the probability of that salesperson getting that price. Adds Steinmetz, "If a customer believes that you don't believe you're going to get your price, you're not going to get your price."
2. Cracking: Salespeople "crack" when they let the customer know that they are willing to negotiate on price, says Steinmetz. Some phrases they use when cracking include:
• "Now you know I want to work with you on this."
• "Tell me where I need to be."
• "Let me talk to the boss and see what we can do for you."
• "What do I need to do to get your business?"
Building a Market Finding students, setting rates, and securing instructors are among flight school challenges BY Monica L. Rausch, Associate Editor May 1999 OSHKOSH, WI...
Find a New Box Need to be motivated? Try this ... By William Blades, CMC, CPS, William Blades, L.L.C. July 2000 Do you remember when we were younger, we used to run and jump into...
Understanding the Customers You Don’t Have Asking the right questions will reveal answers about your operation’s strengths and weaknesses By Bill de Decker May/June 2001 It’s...
Retailers explore the changing complexion of the passenger experience | <urn:uuid:9740f84c-2c95-4d88-8236-178055060584> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aviationpros.com/article/10388777/high-end-selling | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957579 | 1,010 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Official Definition of Academic Integrity at Brandeis
As described in the current Handbook of Rights and Responsibilities
, which you received at Orientation, the fundamental requirement is that "a student shall not submit work that is falsified or is not the result of the student's own effort" [Section 3.0]. This means:
- In written exams, papers, and presentations: "A student's name on any written exercise (e.g., examination, report, thesis, theme, notebook, laboratory report, computer program, etc.), or in association with an oral presentation constitutes a representation that the work is the result of that student's own thought and study. Such work shall be stated in the student's own words, and produced without the assistance of others, except as quotation marks, references, and footnotes accurately acknowledge the use of other sources (including sources found on the internet)" [Sec. 3.1]. See further discussion of "avoiding plagiarism" below.
- In exams: "Talking during an examination, or possession or use of unauthorized materials or equipment during an examination, constitutes an infringement of academic honesty [Sec 3.1]. . . . To provide, either knowingly or through negligence, one's own work to assist another student in satisfying a course requirement constitutes an infringement of academic honesty" [Sec 3.2].
The Handbook explains that collaboration among students is allowed when explicitly authorized by the instructor. Similarly, handing in work to one course that was done for another course, or at another institution is not allowed, unless authorized by the instructor. At IBS, we often encourage collaboration on projects, but this will always be stated by the instructor. When in doubt: Ask!
The Handbook also details procedures for adjudicating suspected violations [Sec. 21] and states that penalties may include "failure on the assignment, failure in the course, suspension from the University or other sanctions" [Sec. 3.0]. Finally, it states that it is the student's responsibility to understand these requirements and to ask for clarification if needed: "A student's lack of understanding is not a valid defense to a charge of academic dishonesty" [Sec. 3.0].
What this means in practice
For the most part, these standards are self-explanatory. In practice, they mean:
- Don't copy, buy, or borrow papers or presentations from others or from the Internet and hand them in as if they were your own - not whole papers and not parts of papers.
- Give credit to the work of others in your papers; this can be confusing, and is discussed further below under "Avoiding Plagiarism."
- Don't copy work of others during exams or allow yours to be copied. Both sides of this transaction are violations.
- Don't bring notes or other materials to an exam, unless the instructor allows this.
- If you are doing a major project that you think might be used to fulfill requirements in more than one course, get approval from both instructors first.
- If any of this is unclear: Ask your instructor or Student Services for clarification.
The trickiest part of these rules is the part about giving credit to the work of others. This is tricky for American students as well as for others, and sometimes even for established scholars. (Consultants and journalists, by the way, often violate these rules; some high-profile journalists have lost their jobs because of plagiarism!)
The basic idea is that if you quote, or paraphrase, or use key ideas from someone else, you must report this in your paper or presentation. This applies to words, major arguments, unique concepts, as well as (importantly) to tables, graphs, maps, and figures. For direct, word-for-word quotes, you must put the copied words between quotation marks; if you used your own words to express the idea or information in a source, then no quotes are needed, but you must still cite the source. The one exception is when the information is generally known. Neglecting to give credit when it should have been given is called "plagiary," from the Latin word for "stealing." So, if you do give credit, and use quotation marks when they are called for, then using information from another source is not plagiary and is perfectly legitimate in your paper.
Needless to say, it is sometimes hard to determine when there is plagiarism or not, when it was intentional or due to sloppy writing, and when it is major or minor. Given this uncertainty, it is better to be safe than sorry and to avoid falling into plagiarism if you can avoid it. There are also different ways to cite the work of others, depending generally on what and how much you copy. A good discussion is in Avoiding Plagiarism from Purdue University. Read it and discuss it among yourselves and, if you wish, with instructors.
How to cite the work of others
Once you decide that you need to give credit to a source that you have used in your work, there are various ways for doing so. Different journals and disciplines use different formats, and at IBS we do not mandate a particular format. The main criterion is this: You must give enough information so the reader can find the source that you cited.
For published work, this means, at a minimum, that you report the author, title, source of publication, and sometime page numbers. For Internet pages, it means reporting the complete URL (and usually the date, as URLs change!). Conventionally published papers that are also presented on the Internet are a hybrid: You can usually just report the publication information. For other sources, such as telephone interviews, company documents, and so on, you would report the source, even though it is sometimes impossible for the reader to actually find that document information without your help.
Where do you report this information? Here too there are different formats in different fields, and at IBS we are not wedded to any format. Common ways to report the source are:
- A footnote on the page: This is a numerical superscript in the text at the end of the information that is being cited. The footnote itself can give the full source information or be an abbreviation of the source; in the latter case, there must be a list of "references" at the end of the paper that includes an entry corresponding to this source.
- An endnote: This is again a numerical superscript in the text at the end of the information that is being cited, but now with the source information in a list at the end. This method is less easy to read and is less advisable now that software programs easily reformat pages to fit in footnotes.
- A parenthetical note: This is a short reference in parentheses that, again, corresponds to an item in the "references" section at the end. The reference would usually give the author and date, and sometimes a page number; based on this minimal information, the reader must be able to find the source back in the references.
Beyond these basic rules, there are lots of typographical conventions about the formalities of citing books, articles, articles in books, articles in newspapers, and so on. Unless you are writing a PhD thesis or an article for publication, you probably don't need to bother too much with these fine distinctions. Even so, a common and useful approach is the Turabian style, based on the well-known University of Chicago style (from Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Terms Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, University of Chicago, various editions). See a synopsis of this style.
If you need further information on this, see Guide to Citing Printed and Electronic Sources on the Brandeis Library website. | <urn:uuid:d0c6b02e-5452-4e85-9b7a-971a899f0d07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brandeis.edu/global/current/academic_information/academic_integrity.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942448 | 1,600 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Night Owls: This past fall, research associate Glenn Proudfoot and seven student assistants got a taste of Vassar’s wild nightlife. Under the glow of the moon and their own blue headlights, the team devoted 20 nights to catching and tagging Saw-whet owls stopping through Vassar Farm as part of their migration. This is just one of at least four species of owls found at the farm. Seeking to understand the owl’s migration, the team first lured the bird in with its own call. After catching the birds in a thin net, they moved into the light of the college’s field station for a closer look. The researchers carefully recorded the tiny bird’s measurements—an average weight of just a quarter of a pound and a body of less than eight inches. Next, they swabbed a DNA sample from its mouth, tagged it, and then plucked three feathers before releasing the owl back into the dark night.
Bringing the Funk: No, Vassar isn’t the next Area 51. These checkerboard aliens aren’t here to spread evil— they’ve come in the pursuit of funk. Hailing from Florida, Yip Yip features the electronic progressive rock of Brian Esser and Jason Temple (we can’t tell them apart either). Yip Yip is just one of over a hundred entertainers sponsored yearly by Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE), an organization run almost entirely by students. It’s okay if you haven’t heard of Yip Yip, but chances are good that previous performers like Wyclef Jean, Rufus Wainwright, the Roots, Sleater-Kinney, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are on your radar. And if that’s not enough, ViCE also sponsors comedians, lecturers, and performance artists.
Build Your Own Paradise: No man is an island entire to himself, but as one Vassar student recently proved, one man can make an island entirely by himself. Hugh Laughlin ’06 turned an assignment for his sculpture class into a floating oasis on Vassar’s Sunset Lake. After mulling over the assignment to create a sculpture relating to time, Laughlin came up with the idea after an afternoon spent on a lakeside bench. Using materials found around campus, he attached four barrels to pallets to create a giant raft. A live palm tree donated by the greenhouse and an actual person basking in the sun provided the finishing touches for Laughlin’s paradise.
Finding Tadro: Faced with the problem of trying to study the evolution of an extinct fish, John Long, professor of biology, and his team of student researchers decided the best means of study was to re-create the fossil fish. Enter Tadro, short for tadpole robot, complete with parts designed to mimic the brains and bodies of the fish. Designed to travel toward light (which represents food), the Tadros use a single mechanical eye and a flapping tail to find and encircle the light without any help from their creators. Sound confusing? This is only the beginning. To study the function and evolution of the fish’s backbone, they decided to continue tinkering with their Franken-fish by using computer algorithms to mate them for 10 generations. Observing each generation’s tail stiffness and ability to seek food, the team concluded that stiffer tails resulted in better swimmers, and the backbone’s stiffness also brought about other behavioral changes. Their findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. | <urn:uuid:a785df9a-728d-4e6b-9c8c-523400842b6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://admissions.vassar.edu/newsletters/vol23no2/multi-articles.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943139 | 741 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The one word that defines vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan is the one that has eluded his presidential running mate, Mitt Romney: consistency.
The seven-term representative from Wisconsin has been the epitome of the Republican ideal of fiscal conservatism throughout his political life — and even before. Where Mr. Romney has flipped and flopped, Mr. Ryan has been an ideological straight arrow. His influence on the party’s “small government” philosophy is now considered greater than almost any other Republican today.
In a prescient New Yorker profile published before Mr. Romney unveiled his vice-presidential pick, political analyst Ryan Lizza summed up that influence neatly.
“To envisage what Republicans would do if they win in November, the person to understand is not necessarily Romney, who has been a policy cipher all his public life,” he wrote. “The person to understand is Paul Ryan.”
Adds Jeremy Mayer, professor of public policy at George Mason University in Washington, Mr. Ryan’s main attraction is that he will have to be taken seriously by the Obama campaign.
“By traditional standards, Paul Ryan is someone who can serve as president. The Democrats are not going to succeed if they attack his competence and fitness for national leadership,” Prof. Mayer said.
Mr. Ryan has tackled every single liberal sacred cow, including plans to privatize Social Security and hand over Medicare to private insurance companies.
At just 42 years old, he holds the top Republican spot on the powerful congressional budget committee.
He is also adored by the Tea Party, but does not project the divisive anger that has marked the movement.
“He has a very positive personal image,” said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll in Mr. Ryan’s home state.
“There are a lot of politicians in both parties, but especially in the GOP, that embody an angry confrontational style. That has never been Ryan’s way. Even at the height of the Tea Party movement that Ryan was benefitting from, he was calling for civility. He’s as conservative as anyone in the Congress but his personal style is attractive. He’s an articulate advocate for his positions.”
Mr. Ryan has held the same views since he was elected to the House of Representatives in the First Congressional District in Wisconsin when he was 28, but their genesis can be traced back to his teenage years.
His father died when he was 16, giving him a crash course in the importance of hard work and independence.
“Paul went to work at McDonald’s and began to pull his own weight, and [became] class president the same year,” his older brother, Tobin, told The New York Times.
“It is remarkable that he chose a path of individual responsibility and maturity, rather than letting grief take a different course. Some of his political views did begin to coalesce around the time of my father’s passing.”
As an undergraduate at Miami University of Ohio, the younger Ryan was already considered a policy wonk’s policy wonk, immersed in the esoteric world of deep economic theory.
“He was a normal college student, except when it came to economic policy,” a former classmate told the Times.
“He was a PhD student in freshman’s clothes. I recall him referring to [Nobel Prize-winning economist Friedrich] Hayek. I was an economics major myself; I don’t think I was as enthusiastic.”
Mr. Ryan’s consistency also permeates his personal life. He still lives in Janesville, where he served as an altar boy in the local Roman Catholic church. The family’s construction business goes back three generations, though his father and grandfather chose law over business.
“I grew up on the block I now live on,” Mr. Ryan told The New Yorker.
“My aunt and uncle live across the street from me. My cousin is next door, my brother is a block away.”
Mr. Romney may have won the nomination, but the Republican base, the hard-core ideologues, still remain suspicious of his conservative credentials and frequent policy changes — on everything from gay rights to health care.
While there was no chance disgruntled Republicans would vote for Barack Obama, there was a real chance they would not help get out the vote or, worse, not bother to vote — a potential disaster in a tight election.
He mobilizes the Republican base. What Mr. Ryan does is boost Mr. Romney’s credibility in his own party
“He mobilizes the Republican base,” said Larry Sabatto, head of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
“What Mr. Ryan does is boost Mr. Romney’s credibility in his own party.”
That is something Mr. Romney desperately needs, added Chris Galdieri, assistant professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire.
“Romney dug himself into this strange hole,” he said. “He has distanced himself from most of his adult life — from his time as governor of Massachusetts to his stint at Bain Capital. The only thing he seems to own is the Salt Lake City Olympics, but that’s a thin thing to frame a campaign around.”
Mr. Ryan’s ideological miscues have been rare, and some have been downright esoteric. He has been a devotee of novelist Ayn Rand, who elevated unfettered capitalism to the noblest ideal. He has even said she is the main reason he entered politics.
But when Catholic leaders criticized her atheism and Christian views of charity, he suddenly cited the 13th-century Catholic philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas as his favourite author.
Some Republican concerns about Mr. Ryan are more down to earth: He voted for the bailout of big banks as well as the auto industry.
More importantly, said Prof. Galdieri, his stand on Medicare could cut the Republican vote in key states Mr. Romney will need to win the White House.
“If you look at states with large numbers of aging citizens, those are Ohio and Florida. I think Mr. Ryan is a big risk, that there’s a danger his budget proposals,” Prof. Galdieri said.
Initial national polls have shown a lukewarm reception.
Mr. Romney’s standing barely changed after the Ryan announcement, Gallup found — his approval rating inched up to 47% from 46%.
The polling firm also said while 39% of respondents found Mr. Ryan an “excellent or pretty good candidate,” 42% rated him as “only fair or poor.”
“This even division is among the least positive reactions to a vice-presidential choice Gallup has recorded in recent elections.”
Perhaps the best place to measure Mr. Ryan’s influence is in Wisconsin, considered a battleground state in 2012.
Mr. Obama carried the state by a comfortable 13-percentage-point margin in 2008, but it has become far more polarized over the past four years, said Prof. Franklin.
“If you mobilized both party bases right now, the election would split almost right down the line.”
But among the 7% of undecided voters, Mr. Ryan is even more popular than Mr. Romney, which could lift the Republican ticket come November.
“The 7% demonstrates that it’s at least possible to find a group that can be moved by either side,” said Prof. Franklin.
“And that’s what the election will come down to.”
Rather than doing away with innovative projects when time gets tough, growing businesses should take a page out of the "lean innovation" strategies pioneered by successful Silicon Valley startups.
Powered by WordPress.com VIP | <urn:uuid:73221991-a0b2-4443-a64f-46c338cbb96b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/17/paul-ryan-gives-mitt-romney-a-credibility-boost-in-u-s-election/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975727 | 1,656 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Uranus Auroras Glimpsed from Earth
For the first time, scientists have captured images of auroras above the gas giant Uranus. Unlike auroras on Earth, which can turn the sky greens and purples for hours, the newly detected auroras on Uranus are fainter and appeared to only last a couple minutes, detected twice on the dayside of Uranus.
The unfamiliar appearance of the auroras is due to Uranus’ rotational weirdness and peculiar traits of its magnetic axis, which is both offset from the center of the planet and lists at an angle of 60 degrees from the rotational axis. The magnetic field is thought to be generated by a salty ocean within the planet, resulting in the off-center magnetic axis.
Capturing the new images of Uranus’s auroras resulted from a combination of good luck and careful planning. In 2011, Earth, Jupiter and Uranus were lined up so that the solar wind could flow from the Sun, past Earth and Jupiter, and then toward Uranus. When the Sun produced several large bursts of charged particles in mid-September 2011, the researchers used Earth-orbiting satellites to monitor the solar wind’s local arrival two to three days later.
Two weeks after that, the solar wind sped past Jupiter at 500 kilometers per second (310 miles per second). Calculating that the charged particles would reach Uranus in mid-November, the team scrambled to scheduled time on the Hubble Space Telescope. | <urn:uuid:befa076b-c7a7-48af-a1ee-51544886089e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unknownskywalker.tumblr.com/post/21033301030/uranus-auroras-glimpsed-from-earth-for-the-first | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90747 | 305 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Predicting who’s going to win the presidency is difficult at best, but putting your money on the candidate who’s taller seems to be about as good an approach as any. Over the past half-century, the taller candidate has won the presidency ten out of 13 times, and most of our presidents have been taller than average.
For 2004, we have
Does a candidate’s height really influence whether he’s likely to become president? There have been too few presidential elections to say for sure, but researchers do find that, on average, taller people earn more money at their jobs.
The height effect is substantial. Among white, non-Hispanic males, those whose height is below the 50th percentile earn on average 10% less than those whose height is above the 50th percentile, report University of Pennsylvania economists Nicola Persico and Andrew Postlewaite and the University of Michigan’s Dan Silverman in a new study.
For white males in the U.S., each additional inch of height is associated with a 2.5% gain in annual income; in Britain, each extra inch brings a gain of 2.7%.
What’s really striking, though, is that what matters for income isn’t how tall a man is as an adult but how tall he was as a teenager. Tall teens earn more as adults than do short teens, the economists found. That some short teens later grow to be tall adults doesn’t seem to be of any benefit to them.
Just why it’s so valuable to be tall as a teen isn’t entirely clear. Taller teens don’t appear to have higher self-esteem, for example, and they also don’t seem to gravitate toward different or higher-paying occupations. The researchers did discover, though, that shorter boys are less likely than taller ones to take part in high school social activities and sports, and that participation in sports and other high school activities is significantly linked to future income.
Indeed the economic benefits of height are so substantial, the economists say, that many boys who are short might benefit from human growth hormone replacement therapy, such as Humatrope from
While they focus mostly on the height effect for white males, the economists also report that what limited data are available suggest a similar size effect for black males. No statistics are available for black women; for white women, however, the height effect is “economically substantial” but different. It’s not teen height that matters, it turns out, but a woman’s actual adult height. Just why the effect is different with women as opposed to men is not yet clear.
Nor is it clear why taller candidates tend to win presidential elections. But if you want to handicap this year’s contest, it might be a good idea to pore over Bush’s and Kerry’s old high school yearbooks to see which man stood taller as a teenager. | <urn:uuid:f7cc0256-b02b-4ad4-8614-f09830bdf937> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/2004/05/19/cz_ic_0519beltway.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958467 | 617 | 2.40625 | 2 |
The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
Preserving Public Trust: Accreditation and Human Research Participant Protection Programs
(4) how oversight mechanisms can ensure participants' safety in ongoing research;11 (5) the steps that research institutions and their leadership can take to cultivate a culture that puts the safety and interests of research participants foremost;12 and (6) mechanisms by which research institutions and, where applicable, research sponsors can be held accountable for ensuring sufficient funding, structural support, and professional rewards for HRPPPs. 13
The NCQA standards, if improved as recommended, could also be used —by NCQA, the Association for the Accreditation for Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP), or other accreditation organizations —as the basis for the development of accreditation standards for non-VA research organizations.
Accreditation will not be successful until it is widely accepted as a mark of excellence. To accomplish this, it should serve as an educational tool to raise the median overall performance of an accredited organization. To do this, accreditation standards and the processes in which they will be used must incorporate consistent feedback from the parties involved in the various aspects of an HRPPP. As discussed above, the local aspects of this issue (i.e., aspects that apply to individual applicant institutions) should be enhanced in the NCQA standards. The committee is encouraged that both NCQA and AAHRPP include stakeholder representatives in their programmatic leaderships (see Recommendation 2). Those who encounter problems in the research protection system, irrespective of the perspective that they represent in that system, need simple, con-
Chapter 3 describes some options for research monitoring and feedback. When organizations applying for accreditation conduct research that is monitored by DSMBs, for example, details of how those boards interact with investigators, IRBs, and research administrators would need to be evaluated for all or a representative sample of DSMBs. Reporting mechanisms for severe or unanticipated adverse events would similarly be necessary to evaluate all protocols or a representative sample of protocols. Ombudsman programs and reporting mechanisms for concerns, complaints, and other feedback mechanisms would be included. Pilot testing will likely reveal a wide variety of monitoring and feedback methods that will have to be accommodated in the accreditation process.
PRIM&R's Standard 1.16 calls for assessment of quality improvement programs, and NCQA's standards presented in Table C-3(B) do so with even more specificity. The committee believes that procedures for evaluating the informed-consent process in particular deserve special attention and will be both the foundation of effective protections and the best hope of shifting from documentation to performance measures.
Budget and staffing for IRB operations, monitoring and ombudsman programs, and other HRPPP components are not sufficient to evaluate quality and effectiveness. Insufficient budgets and staffing, however, would be clear indications of deficiencies. The committee sought information about budgets and staffing, but found few data. (The 1998 report by Bell and colleagues contains some data on IRBs and investigators at 491 institutions; it does not, however, include data on IRBs regulated only by the FDA, monitoring bodies, or administrative costs.) Extant data were insufficient for the committee to develop benchmarks for different kinds of organizations seeking accreditation. Such benchmarks will thus have to be established in light of experience from pilot testing. | <urn:uuid:f0cfe5c0-927d-4757-baa0-15cf20ba3adc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10085&page=86 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931149 | 710 | 2 | 2 |
Wed June 6, 2012
Latest Olympic Letter From London
Originally published on Thu June 14, 2012 11:07 am
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
London is having a lot of fun this summer. This past few days, it brought parades, concerts and a 1,000-boat flotilla down the Thames, celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Next month, the Olympic Games begin.
From time to time, NPR's Philip Reeves sends us a letter about the preparations for the games. This is his latest.
PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: When you consider all the money and work that goes into them, it's strange to think the Olympics only last 17 days. Their legacy will last far longer. The British have already made sure of that. London has done what all great swashbuckling cities do when they're determined to make history. It's built an enormous monument right next to the Olympic Stadium. It's made from blood red steel.
You'd think London has enough towers already - what with Big Ben and Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. But those are in glamorous Central London. The Olympics are based in East London, in what used to be city's malodorous backyard.
The mayor, Boris Johnson, hopes its tower will become a globally-known icon forever, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Officially, it's named the ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower. Most of the money came from Britain's richest man, the steel magnate, Lakshmi Mittal. It's 377 feet high, making it Britain's largest public work of art. That's a fair bit taller than the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben and completely dwarfs poor old Admiral Nelson.
(SOUNDBITE OF A VEHICLE)
REEVES: But its size doesn't matter nearly as much as its looks.
(SOUNDBITE OF A VEHICLE)
REEVES: I am in a black cab driven by Andy Tibbott. And we've come to have a look at this tower that's been built as a lasting monument to the Olympics, which is being held right here. And the tower, and we can now see the tower beneath a grey sky rising up, a great swirl of metal; enormous steel knot.
Tibbott, the driver, has worked these streets for years.
ANDY TIBBOTT: It looks like a winding snake coming out of the ground, with a sort of helter-skelter like structure and the viewing tower. It's something completely different that I think nobody has ever seen in the world before.
REEVES: Britain's architecture critics are divided. Some are very impressed. A generous drunken party animal of a building, said one. Beautifully fractious, said another.
But listen to Oliver Wainright, of Building Design Magazine, speaking to the BBC after the tower was officially unveiled last month.
OLIVER WAINRIGHT: You know, in this case, it's a whole contorted mass of entrails, as though the intestines of some strange steel monster have been ripped out and, you know, stretched and knotted into oblivion. The way it towers over the stadium is particularly objectionable because the venues in the Olympic Park are kind of models of lean, stripped-back examples of engineering.
REEVES: The creators of the tower don't seem greatly bothered by criticism. Towers need time says co-designer Anish Kapoor.
ANISH KAPOOR: Eiffel Tower was hated by everybody for a good many years - 50 years or something like that. And now, of course, it's a mainstay of what - it's how we understand Paris. I'm sure - well, we can't tell. You know, we'll see what happens here. But discomfort is OK.
REEVES: East London is not Paris, alas. All the same, let's have a round of applause for London and its towering optimism.
Philip Reeves, NPR News, London. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:a44a28b7-04a5-4ad7-a26c-fb844182a2d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wknofm.org/post/latest-olympic-letter-london | 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 | 0.959559 | 854 | 1.625 | 2 |
MANTOLOKING, N.J. (AP) — On the surface, things look calm and placid. Just beneath the waterline, however, it’s a different story.
Cars and sunken boats. Patio furniture. Pieces of docks. Entire houses. A grandfather clock, deposited in a marsh a mile from solid land. Hot tubs. Tons of sand. All displaced by Superstorm Sandy.
“We did a cleanup three weeks ago. Then when we went back the other day, you could still see junk coming up in the wash,” said Paul Harris, president of the New Jersey Beach Buggy Association, which helps take care of beaches on which the group goes surf fishing. “They go and clean it again, and two days later, you have the same thing again. There’s nothing you can do about it; you can’t vacuum the ocean.”
Coastal areas of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut are racing to remove untold tons of debris from waters hardest hit by the Oct. 29 storm before the summer swimming and boating seasons begin — two of the main reasons people flock there each year and the underpinning of the region’s multibillion-dollar tourist industry.
The sunken debris presents an urgent safety issue. Swimmers could cut themselves on submerged junk, step on one of thousands of boardwalk nails ripped loose, or suffer neck or spinal injuries diving into solid objects. Boats could hit debris, pitching their occupants overboard, or in severe cases, sinking.
The cleanup won’t be easy, fast or cheap.
“The amount of debris that needs to be removed is mind-boggling,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said, ticking off the statistics in his state: 1,400 vessels sunk, broken loose or destroyed during the storm. In just one shore town alone, Mantoloking, 58 buildings were washed into Barnegat Bay, along with eight vehicles, and a staggering amount of sand carried from the ocean beaches into the bay.
“Everything you can imagine is sitting in our waterways,” he said.
Barnegat Bay is likely to have some no-go zones in place for at least part of the spring and summer as cleanup work progresses. “Big Al” Wutkowski, a locally famous striped-bass fisherman who volunteers as the Barnegat Bay Guardian for the American Littoral Society environmental group, is worried about what still lurks beneath the waves.
“When people start putting their boats back in the water in April, I know they’re going to start hitting stuff,” he said. “It’s impossible not to hit stuff. It’s also a lot shallower in places now. A lot of the lagoons are filled in with sand. People can’t get their boats in or out.” Continued...
Florida-based contractor AshBritt Environmental removed 42 boats from New Jersey waterways in recent weeks. Others were corralled by the State Police, or by private salvage companies acting on behalf of owners.
Property owners are not being held financially responsible for debris that washed or blew off their property into waterways unless they hire a private company to retrieve a boat they plan to repair and keep, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The state, which issue contracts last week for the water cleanup work, plans to seek full reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of $60 billion in Sandy relief approved by Congress.
Much of the work will involve cranes atop barges that pluck the largest debris from the bottom. Divers could be used for smaller pieces. Once that’s done, many waterways will need to be dredged, with the sand placed back on beaches.
The private owners of an amusement pier that collapsed in Seaside Heights, N.J., pitching the Jet Star roller coaster into the ocean, are working with insurers to devise a plan to dismantle the ride and get it out of the ocean.
Seaside Heights also plans to send teams of divers to scour the ocean bottom in popular swimming areas before letting people back into the water, fearing parts of the wooden pier, metal pieces from boardwalk rides and other debris still linger in the ocean. Cars from the pier’s amusement rides were found on beaches as far as 8 miles away in the days after the storm.
The Polar Bear Plunge, in which swimmers briefly dash into and out of the frigid surf to raise money for charity, was moved this year from Seaside Heights to Long Branch, a beach 24 miles to the north where hidden debris wasn’t a concern.
New York and Connecticut face similar problems.
“We have everything from floating oil barrels, gasoline tanks, household hazardous waste products, buckets, tires, bathtubs, you name it,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment on Long Island.
“We’re concerned not only about pollution, but boater safety,” she said. “Come the spring, this stuff is going to be submerged partially or totally, but the boats are going to have some very serious issues.” Continued...
Rob Weltner, president of Operation Splash, said the Freeport, N.Y., volunteer group has spent the past 20 years collecting 1 million pounds of debris, mostly from waterways on the south shore of Long Island.
“Twenty years is out the window,” he said. “Gone, gone. Sandy hit us right at the time when we would normally be putting the finishing touches on our cleanups. Every place I look I go, ‘Oh, my God, not again, man. We just had that place looking beautiful and it’s going to take us another 10 or 15 years to get it back looking decent again.”
Among the items found by the group since Sandy are hot tubs, floating docks, damaged boats, barbecue grills, patio furniture, umbrellas, hundreds of trash cans and the grandfather clock.
Crews in Hempstead, N.Y., have removed 379 tons of debris from waterways since Sandy hit. Neighboring Babylon has retrieved 50 tons, including two tool sheds fully intact, with tools still inside, and 24 destroyed boats.
Fairfield, Conn., needs to remove debris left in marshlands by the storm, including bicycles, picnic tables and backyard furniture, said First Selectman Michael Tetreau. The town is waiting to use special equipment from the state to remove the debris without harming the marshes.
Fairfield also saw significant beach erosion and needs to dredge its harbor and marina because sand was pushed into the waterways. Tetreau doubts the work will be done before Memorial Day, and said there may be limits on boat traffic.
In Brick, N.J., the lagoon on which Mayor Stephan Acropolis lives is filled with junk, including the front door and part of a wall from one of three houses that burned during the storm. Also in the lagoon are a kids’ picnic table, a 50-gallon plastic barrel holding who-knows-what, and two docks from homes two blocks away.
Acropolis is counting on the state to quickly remove the marine debris to prevent even deeper economic losses from the storm.
“Someone goes out crabbing; they buy gas for the boat, maybe they have to rent the boat in the first place. They buy bait, they buy lunch,” Acropolis said. “It’s a big economic impact. People live here because they want to be on the water, out on a boat. If we don’t get this cleaned up, we’re going to have a problem.”
See wrong or incorrect information in a story. Tell us here
Location, ST | website.com
National News Videos
- Fire destroys home, damages business in Waterford (210)
- Berkley woman abandoned in Pontiac after vehicle carjacked in Commerce Township with her inside (136)
- Waterford Township resident warning neighbors to look out for fires at Drayton Plains Nature Center (134)
- Fumes suspected in Harrison Township boat explosion (129)
- PAT CAPUTO: Detroit Red Wings showing crest on sweater means everything WITH VIDEO (119)
- AMBER ALERT: 3-year-old girl reportedly taken (98)
- Royal Oak club off the hook after customer falls, hits bar (83)
- New backcourt leads Lathrup over Dragons (9)
- Fall Out Boy wants to "Save Rock and Roll" with new CD (4)
- Fire destroys home, damages business in Waterford (3)
- Bloomfield Hills mother graduates college with daughter, stepson (2)
- Despite Angelina Jolie, breast cancer treatment has a long way to go - COLUMN (2)
- PITTS: Woman ran to Key West, where else? (2)
Recent Activity on Facebook
Join Jonathan Schechter as he shares thoughts on our natural world in Oakland County and beyond. | <urn:uuid:b6084b72-1445-47b1-9c31-7e4cb0c1a3a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/02/17/news/nation_and_world/doc5121489d8d55f457422487.txt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942227 | 1,909 | 1.875 | 2 |
Yesterday, this was one of the top stories at BBC:
Senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan on Monday, US officials say.
US officials said Libi was the target of an attack which hit a volatile tribal area of Pakistan’s north-west, killing 15 suspected militants.
Yet this morning, a new story was up:
Nato planes have carried out an air strike in the Afghan province of Logar, south of the capital Kabul, with several people reported dead.
Nato said “multiple insurgents” were killed, and the air strike had been called after Afghan and foreign troops came under fire from militants.
Afghan officials said 18 civilians died, including women and children.
They highlight the ongoing debate between Pakistani and Afghan leaders and the United States over the use of Drone attacks. They are extremely effective at killing, but have often killed civilians, further fueling anti-US sentiments. I tend to side with the latter side, but drone attacks are an alternative to the heavy presence the U.S. would need to maintain throughout the region to conduct this “war.” If using drones is cheaper, more effective, and saves American lives, is it worth it? Would so many civilians still be killed if U.S. forces were conducting more direct combat with militants? | <urn:uuid:3e7954e5-8c9e-4a66-b2b8-a07d83080bf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://workonprogress.tumblr.com/post/24533889069/two-sides-of-drone-attacks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97976 | 280 | 1.648438 | 2 |
In this Article
Generalized seizures are a result of abnormal neuronal activity on both sides of the brain. These seizures may cause loss of consciousness, falls, or massive muscle spasms.
There are many kinds of generalized seizures. In absence seizures, the person may appear to be staring into space and/or have jerking or twitching muscles. These seizures are sometimes referred to as petit mal seizures, which is an older term. Tonic seizures cause stiffening of muscles of the body, generally those in the back, legs, and arms. Clonic seizures cause repeated jerking movements of muscles on both sides of the body. Myoclonic seizures cause jerks or twitches of the upper body, arms, or legs. Atonic seizures cause a loss of normal muscle tone. The affected person will fall down or may drop his or her head involuntarily. Tonic-clonic seizures cause a mixture of symptoms, including stiffening of the body and repeated jerks of the arms and/or legs as well as loss of consciousness. Tonic-clonic seizures are sometimes referred to by an older term: grand mal seizures.
Not all seizures can be easily defined as either focal or generalized. Some people have seizures that begin as focal seizures but then spread to the entire brain. Other people may have both types of seizures but with no clear pattern.
Society's lack of understanding about the many different types of seizures is one of the biggest problems for people with epilepsy. People who witness a non-convulsive seizure often find it difficult to understand that behavior which looks deliberate is not under the person's control. In some cases, this has led to the affected person being arrested or admitted to a psychiatric hospital. To combat these problems, people everywhere need to understand the many different types of seizures and how they may appear.
Viewers share their comments
Seizure (Epilepsy) - Share Your Experience Question: Please share your experience with epilepsy (seizure disorder).
Seizure (Epilepsy) - Lifestyle Question: In what ways has epilepsy affected your lifestyle? Discuss the challenges.
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:51937d9a-254f-4ea4-bba3-63b5f9de902a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/seizure/page4.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93114 | 446 | 3.078125 | 3 |
The 4-year-old is distracted for now by her Nintendo DS. She's too young to remember the first two surgeries to rebuild her hip, the body casts and having to learn to walk again. "We try hard to insulate her, to make sure she doesn't feel different from other kids," said her mother, Sarah McCoy.
But the well-wishers and balloons will soon give way to months of rehabilitation and piles of medical bills.
Prior to Kiarah's diagnosis with hip dysplasia, McCoy had no debt. Now, despite having better-than-average health insurance, mounting medical bills and related expenses have pushed the 28-year-old working Utah mom to the brink of bankruptcy.
Medical debt is a common burden in America, shouldered not just by the poor and uninsured, but scores of fully insured, middle-class families. It's a leading cause of bankruptcy and well-documented drag on the economy, which industry experts say is getting worse.
And it's uncertain whether federal health reform will bring relief.
"It's a problem that affects everyone but the extremely wealthy, a problem of the 99 percent. And it's a matter of bad luck for the people who incur it," said Mark Rukavina, a former consumer advocate and founder of the hospital advisory group, Community Health Advisors in Massachusetts.
The first hint of Kiarah's hip dysplasia was the click a nurse heard while examining the
Tapping patients' pockets
The Affordable Care Act aims to reduce medical debt by insuring more people, thereby easing the charity-care burden on hospitals, which will have fewer losses to pass onto paying customers.
The law puts limits on what nonprofit hospitals can do to collect debts and puts new restrictions on insurers, which can no longer deny coverage to the sick or charge them more. Insurers can't impose lifetime caps on coverage, and they have to spend more of the premiums they collect on actual medical care.
"Health reform will probably succeed at reducing many of the large bills," said Rukavina. "But there will still be out-of-pocket costs that eat into people's budgets."
Indeed, the pioneering reform law in Massachusetts upon which federal reform was built may have kept debt in check, but it hasn't solved it. Two surveys have shown no significant change in the percentage of residents struggling with medical debt.
Authors of both surveys blamed the high cost of U.S. medical care, which is rising faster than wages and inflation. Feeling squeezed, insurers are passing more of those costs onto consumers in the form of higher premiums, deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance - practices that neither President Obama's health care law nor Mitt Romney's health plan will limit.
Romney's proposal to repeal the insurance mandate and turn Medicaid into a block grant could raise people's out-of-pocket costs because, the Commonwealth Foundation predicts, it will increase the number of people who are uninsured. Romney also would provide smaller insurance subsidies to fewer people and steer more people to cheaper health plans that cover less.
"The trend has absolutely been toward increasing patient responsibility. It's the least likely group to put up a fuss," said Mark Rieger, a vice president at Gateway EDI, a St. Louis-based company that sells software to help doctors better manage their bills.
It used to be that no more than 9 to 10 percent of a physician's income came directly from patients, he said. Now in some parts of the country it's close to 20 to 30 percent.
'It's hard to climb out'
Still, health care providers "are only about 50 to 60 percent successful on collecting on patient responsibility," Rieger said. As a result, clinics and hospitals have become less tolerant of past-due balances.
McCoy is grateful that Primary Children's Medical Center allowed her to set up a payment plan for the costs her insurance didn't cover for Kiarah's latest surgery. But with every payment plan comes interest, and with each surgery, more bills and time off work.
"I've had my wages garnished to pay past premiums on my insurance for when I took unpaid leave. I've maxed out my credit cards to pay the rent and make car payments. My credit is shot, so I can't take out a loan to consolidate my debt," she said. "Once you're in a hole, it's hard to climb out."
Creditors are now hounding her for more than $100,000.
McCoy has hired a lawyer to sue the pediatrician who missed Kiarah's dysplasia. But the case could take years to litigate. Her attorney has recommended that she file bankruptcy.
Conservatives say the only way to bring down costs is to make people more responsible for their health and providers more accountable for their outcomes and prices. They argue for tort reform to eliminate the cost of defensive medicine, such as doctors ordering unnecessary tests and treatments for fear of being sued.
But McCoy said if it weren't for her debt, she wouldn't consider suing. Doctors predict Kiarah will regain normal use of he leg, and it need not prevent her from realizing her dreams, said McCoy. The disabling legacy of debt is another matter.
"Every day I lose more ground. It's just frustrating. There are people who don't have insurance and who are on state assistance who don't have the problems I'm having," said McCoy. "Do I worry about [Kiarah's and her sister Tiyah's] future? Every single day." | <urn:uuid:9663597e-214a-4777-9778-0316f890d5c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.twincities.com/health/ci_21829793 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975731 | 1,143 | 1.890625 | 2 |
–With his student, Andre Petermann, he invented 1951 the renormalization group, which is now essential to the construction of grand unified theories, and for which Kenneth Wilson later won a physics Nobel Prize.
–He predicted the first of the hundreds of subatomic particles discovered shortly before and after the war (World War II – the pion), but did not publish the idea after Pauli told him it was ridiculous. Later, the Japanese physicist Hideki Yukawa received a Nobel Prize for this idea.
–He pointed out in 1941 that pair production could be described classically by considering positrons as electrons running backwards in time.
–He illustrated these concepts with graphs of space-time trajectories similar to the diagrams Feynman began drawing in the summer of 1947.
Y finalmente, para redondear la desgracia (pero ¿qué se podía esperar después de lo anterior?):
When he became older, Stueckelberg was increasingly mentally disordered. He had a dog which attended his lectures, and when Stueckelberg ran into difficulties performing his calculations on the blackboard, he began to discuss the subject with his dog. He was treated later with electroshocks, which was a very popular method in psychiatry at that time. It was a very sad story. | <urn:uuid:9c250e14-7aff-40f2-aed7-3c11f1b140ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pseudopodo.wordpress.com/2006/10/03/la-increible-y-triste-historia-de-ecg-stueckelberg/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976451 | 276 | 3.515625 | 4 |