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Doctors, Nurses & Other Professionals
The nursing staff works with the doctors and other health care team members to provide care for our loved one. At the time of admission into the ICU/CCU units, your nurse will help explain the necessary treatment. Members of the nursing staff are on duty 24 hours a day.
To eliminate germs entering the ICU/CCU units from the outside environment, all visitors must wash their hands prior to and after visiting their loved ones. Sinks are located directly outside each patient’s room.
Communication with Doctors
The doctors will be in touch with you about your loved one. They may contact you in the waiting area, in the ICC/CCU units or by telephone. Because of emergencies, surgeries and other delays, your doctors may not be able to make rounds at the same time each day.
The doctor may require assistance from other physicians specializing in various areas of expertise, such as lungs, heart, etc.
Chapel and Chaplains
The Prayer Room is located on the first floor in the Critical Care Waiting Area and is available for your use 24 hours a day. If you would like to speak with a clergy member, contact the patient representative. If you would like to access the Prayer Room, see the patient representative or security.
Social workers and other hospital staff are available to help with other concerns about hospitalization, further treatment, financial issues, care of patient after discharge, etc. Your patient representative will help you contact the right source for assistance. | <urn:uuid:ca569710-8635-4847-98b6-8617e7500181> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jarmc.org/index.php/patients-a-visitors/icc-ccu-information/56-doctors-nurses-a-other-professionals | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952 | 313 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The historic Emery Farm in Durham is taking a step back in time and letting cattle trim the grass instead of using a mower.
Two Scottish Highland cattle from Miles Smith Farm in Loudon will spend two to three weeks at Emery Farm, doing their own version of mowing.
Miles Smith Farm contracts with landowners and sends its cattle to graze. Co-owner Carole Soule said it’s much more beneficial than typical mowing.
"If you mow this and take the hay away, you are taking the nutrients away," she said. "If we bring the cattle to cut it, which they are doing so well, they will not only cut the grass but fertilize it at the same time, so you are putting nutrients back."
The cattle, named Storm and Cloud, can also better get around rocks and hillsides that machines could struggle with.
"You have complete control over it," Soule said. "You could stock it with a lot of animals, and they could eat in a week, or one animal and keep them here six weeks."
Once Storm and Cloud finish their work, they will return to Miles Smith Farm until they're needed again. | <urn:uuid:2b874ef8-d05e-4c0b-b3bf-8b44ae47c778> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/Cattle-used-to-cut-historic-farm-s-grass/-/9857858/17393134/-/2sl80bz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978717 | 245 | 1.96875 | 2 |
The power of words on a pageBy
Nineteenth-century writer Walt Whitman struggled for years to get anyone interested in his poetry. He became very discouraged. But then he received a note that read:
Dear sir, I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass. I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed. I greet you at the beginning of a great career.
It was signed by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I can’t help but wonder what might have happened to Whitman had Emerson not invested in him by writing those kind words. That note must have been like fresh air to Whitman, who breathed in its encouragement and was inspired to keep writing.
You don’t have to be a professional writer like Emerson to make a difference in someone’s life. Just taking the time to write a note of encouragement is evidence of your willingness to invest in that person.
from 25 Ways to Win with People | <urn:uuid:067fd3cf-b7bd-4525-9007-c122c3f95d9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://johnmaxwellonleadership.com/2010/07/26/the-power-of-words-on-a-page/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983349 | 203 | 2.671875 | 3 |
- Filed Under
My father, Juan Naputi Flores, was a young boy on Guam during the Japanese occupation of World War II. He personally experienced the joy and relief of Guam's liberation by the U.S. military.
Later, many of his friends joined the military and he still talks of those who died in the Korean War. At the age of 17, he joined the Navy. He served in Vietnam.
Now, at 76, my father is among the older war veterans who were honored Nov. 11 across the country. ... | <urn:uuid:c710acec-6b47-4b64-9560-6e8c0ad2ff40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guampdn.com/article/20121118/LIFESTYLE/211180314/-1/7daysarchives/Chamorro-veterans-honored-San-Diego | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986858 | 111 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Happy New Year! As we welcome in 2012, we should also be prepared to hold on tightly as this year will likely be full of change.
Later this year, we should have a historic decision about the two questions facing the Supreme Court of the United States regarding ObamaCare: 1) Can Congress require individuals to purchase of health insurance? And 2) Can the federal government force states to expand their Medicaid program?
If the Court upholds the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its provisions, it will trigger a whole series of events and policies which must be implemented pursuant to the 2,700+ page legislation. One of those state triggers which must be implemented are state health insurance exchanges. These exchanges will allow individuals and small employers to purchase health insurance coverage.
The manner in which these exchanges are established and maintained is also of importance. Several states such as Massachusetts and California have adopted a “restricted” exchange model. In other words, bureaucrats select which health insurance policies that individuals and small businesses can purchase. The dominate other model is a market-based approach which allows individuals and small business to select from all health insurance products in a particular state. A third model which is cropping up in several states is one that creates a private sector health exchange with little or no state government assistance.
If a state decides not to set up some form of health insurance exchange, the federal government will step in and set one up for the state. I am always fearful when the feds step in … so my bias would be for a health insurance exchange which offers more choices, not less; allows state flexibility, not rigid federal red tape; and offer 21st century policies which encourage health and wellness over providing more of the same 20th century coverage which just covers “sick care.”
As to the second question before the Court on expanding Medicaid eligibility, the economic downturn has put states in a budgetary tight spot. While ObamaCare will pick up some of the funds necessary to expand the Medicaid program, the states will be asked to pick up more and more of those costs over the years.
This fundamental funding shift from the feds to the states will cause state governments to make tough new cuts to education, public safety, transportation and other government services. Expanding state based Medicaid programs will simply put states in the awkward position of having to raise taxes to cover the Medicaid expansion or cut other worthy programs. You see, unlike the federal government, states’ actually have to balance their budgets. And, state governments from Georgia to Oregon have already trimmed most of the fat in state based programs. Therefore, if the Supreme Court rules that Congress can mandate that states expand their Medicaid rolls, then states will have to raise taxes in order to pay for and implement their “share” of ObamaCare.
But what happens if the Supreme Court rules that Congress and the President exceeded their constitutional boundaries in adopted federal health reform?
With or without ObamaCare, there is still a need to reform our healthcare system. At the Center for Health Transformation, we believe we should move away from the current fee-for-service model which pays for individual medical transactions. We should embrace a 21st-century model encourages patients to be engaged in their own health care and creates incentives for doctors and hospitals when individuals stay or get well.
We should also extend to individuals the same rights which companies, both large and small, have regarding the tax deductibility of health insurance premiums. Creating a dynamic, robust individual insurance marketplace where health insurance products are widely available, which provide incentives for wellness and prevention and which focus on outcomes is vitally necessary. We should advance consumer-directed healthcare plans. To empower patients with their own healthcare, we should reform the tax code to encourage more Americans to set up health savings accounts (HSAs). HSAs would allow consumers to pay for routine medical care, like regular maintenance on a car, and then, use lost cost, high-deductible insurance plans for major medical expenses. That’s directly opposite of ObamaCare implemented which taxes and restricts health savings accounts, dealing a blow to consumer-driven health care.
Lastly, we should look at ways to create a totally new system of how we decide medical malpractice claims. Under the current system, providers rarely disclose medical errors because of the fear of being sued. Therefore, process engineering aimed at correcting medical errors are more difficult to implement.
And then there’s the issue of defensive medicine. A Jackson Healthcare/Gallup poll of physicians last year found that $1 in $4 spent on healthcare is dedicated to unnecessary tests, procedures and drugs that doctors order to prevent being sued. As long as doctors are forced to play defense, healthcare costs will continue to escalate and drive up costs for all of us. Creating a new innovative health justice model to properly compensate legitimate injuries while preventing bogus lawsuits is a very important priority.
Happy New Year and hold on tight … 2012 is likely to be a wild ride. | <urn:uuid:ce29b391-1354-4b6c-b63f-228d7618a01b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ajc.com/health-flock/2012/01/07/happy-new-year-and-hold-on-tightly/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946255 | 1,000 | 1.703125 | 2 |
H1N1 Clinic Schedule
H1N1 vaccine is now readily available at regularly scheduled Immunization Clinics for individuals 5 years of age and older. Tim Soucy, Public Health Director states, “Young children, pregnant women and those with chronic medical conditions are most at risk for complications from H1N1 flu; however, severe infections and deaths have occurred in every age group, including older people. CDC and the Manchester Health Department continue to encourage all persons who want to reduce their risk of contracting H1N1 flu to get vaccinated.” Those who have questions about the H1N1 vaccine are invited to call the Manchester Health Department at 624-6466 or call 2-1-1 or visit www.nh.gov.
Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent.
If your child is in need of a second dose of H1N1 vaccine, please bring documentation of the first dose. | <urn:uuid:82a007bd-621b-4c6e-a58c-b7aa735b9239> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.manchesternh.gov/Departments/Health/Clinics/H1N1Clinic/tabid/1634/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951913 | 195 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Hammurabi’s code. Hannibal’s military tactics. Hitler’s Naziism. Studying history opens a fascinating window to the past, its people, and their stories.
History is so much more than a factual collection of names and dates. Where did you come from, and what makes you consider attending Dordt College? If you answer those questions, you’ll get a glimpse of how others’ choices and values contribute to decisions that people make every day.
History studies how people have shaped culture. So, whether cultural leaders believe in the sovereignty of God or believe in the sovereignty of humans affects the decisions they make and the way they act. Political systems, wars, laws, and textbooks reflect the values and worldviews of those who made them happen.
It can be challenging to be a Christian historian—or business person, teacher, scientist, or artist. In part that’s because our language and institutions have been shaped by a culture that assumes that individual rights are all-important and that human reason can solve the world’s problems. Our approach to studying history will give you a new and exciting way to understand history. It will also help you better understand how our world came to be what it is today and better prepare you to lead and serve others as a Christian in our culture. | <urn:uuid:050f6be6-afa8-4dbe-b02b-0718648187a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://advancement@dordt.edu/academics/programs/history/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943992 | 274 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Apple looks to be working at making sharing information from your iPhone easier thanks to a recently published patent that describes a social networking application and electronic workflow system. The patent could mean Apple is planning on adding system-level support to the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad for interacting with social network sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Along with sharing information with social networking services, Apple’s patent includes a system for quickly exchanging data with other people. For example, a user could share their contacts, calendars, task lists, photos and more from their iPhone to someone else’s iPhone, iPod touch and presumably an iPad.
The patent also includes an automated system for exchanging information between devices. As an example, an employer could transmit a task list to an employee, which in turn initiates the transfer of a work report back to the employer.
Apple is also envisioning the system finding its way into schools as a tool for submitting homework and receiving assignments.
While a patent doesn’t necessarily mean Apple is planning on adding these features to its mobile devices, it does offer some insight into ideas the company is at least considering.
[Thanks to Patently Apple for the heads up.] | <urn:uuid:3b08806c-8e96-43ee-8414-95331c8ec826> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_patents_social_network_workflow_for_iphone | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959968 | 241 | 1.984375 | 2 |
From the beginning of his career, David Lynch quickly established himself as the Renaissance man of modern American filmmaking, an acclaimed and widely recognized writer-director as well as television producer, photographer, cartoonist, composer, and graphic artist. Walking the tightrope between the mainstream and the avant-garde with remarkable balance and skill, Lynch brought to the screen a singularly dark and disturbing view of reality, a nightmare world punctuated by defining moments of extreme violence, bizarre comedy, and strange beauty. More than any other arthouse filmmaker of his era, he enjoyed considerable mass acceptance and helped to redefine commercial tastes, honing a surrealistic aesthetic so visionary and deeply personal that the phrase "Lynchian" was coined simply to describe it.
Born January 20, 1946, in Missoula, Montana, David Keith Lynch grew up the archetypal all-American boy. The son of a U.S. Department of Agriculture research scientist, he was raised throughout the Pacific Northwest, eventually becoming an Eagle Scout and even serving as an usher at John F. Kennedy's presidential inauguration. Originally intending to become a graphic artist, Lynch enrolled in the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1963, falling under the sway of expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka and briefly studying in Europe. By the early weeks of 1966, he had relocated to Philadelphia, where he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and began his first experimentation with film. | <urn:uuid:bf7f9523-980e-4642-bdd2-7c4cdef7a0ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spill.hollywood.com/Actor/ActorDetails.aspx?Name=David%20Lynch&PersonId=100454 | 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 | 0.969099 | 300 | 2.0625 | 2 |
This is the eighth of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin’s bicentennial.
In Virginia, USA, sits a facility called the American Type Culture Collection. Within its four walls lie hundreds of freezers containing a variety of frozen biological samples and among these, are 99 strains of the common cold. These 99 samples represent all the known strains of the human rhinoviruses that cause colds. And all of their genomes have just been laid bare.
Ann Palmenberg from the University of Wisconsin and David Spiro from the J. Craig Venter Institute have cracked the genomes of all 99 strains, and used them to build a family tree that shows the relationships between them. Already, it has started to plug the holes in our understanding of this most common of infections. It reveals how different strains are related and how new strains evolve. It tells us which features are shared by all strains and which are the more unique traits that making rhinoviruses such slippery targets.
This extra knowledge may go some way to remedying the slightly baffling situation we find ourselves in, where all the vaunted progress of modern medicine has failed to produce a single approved treatment for an infection that most of us get at least twice a year.
The 99 historical strains of human rhinovirus fall into two separate species – HRV-A and HRV-B. More recently, a possible third species – HRV-C – has been identified in patients hospitalised with severe, flu-like illnesses. To build their family tree, Palmenberg and Spiro analysed the complete genomes of all 99 strains from the Virginia facility, seven samples of HRV-C, and 10 fresh samples collected from patients just a few years ago. | <urn:uuid:75fb1fe5-d3c6-411b-99d6-d15dd871435b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/tag/palmenberg/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943513 | 355 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Home Arts & Culture
Glory in mind, Chinese monks restart a Buddhist musical odyssey
Xinhua News, Nov 15, 2005
Beijing, China -- To Buddhist Master Longjiang, listening to popular music is an act that infringes upon his faith. Even the great names in classic music are as strange as the world's remotest corner.
"Beethoven?" he shook his head and gazed reporter with a blank face as if reporter were from another planet. "Mozart?" he again shook his head.
"I've never heard about them before," the 80-year-old Buddhist master replied while sitting in a room surrounded by drums at the Grand Xiangguo Temple, a noted Buddhist monastery in Kaifeng, an ancient city along the mud-clogged Yellow River in central China.
When it comes to Buddhist music, however, Master Longjiang was recognized without question as one of the most skillful monks at the monastery that was once known for its band and religious melodies.
First built in 555 AD, the temple, whose current name means the Monastery of Great Assistance to State, has its prestige and influence reach the peak during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and became the intercourse arena for poets, artists, musicians, and the commons and nobles because of its close connection with the royal family and its outstanding music.
Though such devotion and tradition in the temple survived numerous wars, floods and dynasties replacement, the temple's splendor was dilapidated and fell to its bottom in 1927 when warlord Feng Yuxiang, then ruler of Henan Province, ordered his soldiers to expel the monks and turn the site into a market. It became a Buddhist monastery in 1992 again.
To revive Buddhism and reclaim the temple's glory in music, the abbot Great Master Xinguang selected 22 full-time musician monks, mostly young monks older than 15, to reorganize a Buddhist musical band in 2002.
"As part of Buddhist culture," said Master Yuanjie, the band's deputy head, "Buddhist music has its broadness and profoundness, it contains sacred chanting and instrumental music."
"Our temple has a great past in Buddhist music and we just need to pick up the lost part of it," he said, "Master Longjiang is our treasure."
Longjiang is currently the only monk in the band who knows how to play certain musical instruments and read the musical staff.
The instrument Yuanjie mentioned was called "bili", a 20-cm long flute-like tin tube with seven holes. Other instruments used by the band members include wooden fish, tambourine, flute, horn and a Yamaha electronic organ.
"You need some energy to play the 'bili'," said Longjiang, "you can't make a sound if you are not strong enough."
Longjiang once bet Yuanjie, 26, a lunch that Yuanjie couldn't blow the flute-like instrument. And he won.
"It is all a result of hard practice," said the 80-year-old master. He said he heard Buddhist music for the first time when he was 12 and decided to convert to the religion.
Generation difference is evident within the Buddhist band. For example, Longjiang can only read the staff while those young monks only know about the numbered musical scores.
The Nike sock wearing by some young monks and their interest in computer installed with Microsoft's Windows system also reflect their connection to the outside world.
"Compared with our generation, few young people now can endure the hardship during training," Longjiang said. "If you don't give things, you can't get things."
To train those young musician monks, the temple has invested 2 million yuan (about 125,000 US dollars) during the past three years to buy instruments and invited professional musicians to instruct the band.
"To keep its life, Buddhist music must keep its youth," Master Yuanjie said. | <urn:uuid:8e2e14fb-4dc5-4fe8-a102-5d99f50729d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=5,1936,0,0,1,0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97425 | 818 | 2.390625 | 2 |
U.S. stocks are opening lower after worrisome economic news out of China and a mixed report on the U.S. housing market.
Shares in Asia fell sharply early Tuesday after mining giant BHP Billiton said it expects Chinese demand for iron ore used in steelmaking to flatten. And home prices dropped in 45 Chinese cities.
The Commerce Department said U.S. builders started work on fewer homes in February, though they obtained more permits to build homes later in the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average is down 76 points, or 0.6 percent, at 13,163 in the first 10 minutes of trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 8, or 0.6 percent, at 1,401. The Nasdaq composite index is down 20, or 0.7 percent, at 3,058. | <urn:uuid:b2052e1e-c1b9-424a-9f73-b59edf4393c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crescent-news.com/ap%20financial/2012/03/20/us-stocks-fall-on-worrisome-signs-from-china | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937308 | 171 | 1.632813 | 2 |
With the Hopkins-De La Hoya fight less than two weeks away, many have compared the similarities it shares with the Hagler-Leonard Super-Fight of 1987. It's been 17 years since Sugar Ray Leonard upset Marvin Hagler, winning a split decision as a 4-1 underdog. Like Leonard, De La Hoya is an underdog going in against Hopkins. For De La Hoya to score a Leonard type upset, he'll have to fight almost as brilliantly against Hopkins. I thought this would be a good time to look back at the Hagler-Leonard fight and how Leonard defied the odds makers.
Understanding an opponent’s fighting style and identifying what he is vulnerable to provides a fighter a big advantage over his opponent. When Fighter-A can lure Fighter-B into fighting a fight that takes him away from what he does best, Fighter-A will most likely have his hands raised when the fight is over. That is exactly what happened on Monday April 6th, 1987, when undisputed Middleweight Champion Marvin Hagler defended his title against former Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight Champ Sugar Ray Leonard.
In my lifetime, with the exception of Joe Frazier in his first fight with Muhammad Ali, I can't recall another fighter being better prepared mentally and physically for his opponent than Ray Leonard was for Marvin Hagler. Leonard knew exactly what he had to do in order to make Hagler fight his fight. Leonard was so in tune with Hagler, it was as if he knew what he was thinking.
As an HBO commentator, Leonard did the color commentary for the Hagler-Duran bout in November of 1983. Leonard said it wasn't until Hagler defended his title against Roberto Duran that he saw a vulnerability in Hagler that he could exploit, but he kept it to himself. Leonard revealed after the fight that he noticed Hagler could be hit with lead rights, and that he wasn't nearly as formidable when he had to assume the role of the aggressor for the whole fight. Hagler was a counter-puncher who was at his best when his opponents moved to him. All you have to do to confirm this is look at Hagler' title defenses during his seven year reign as champion. Only two fighters went the distance with him, Roberto Duran and Ray Leonard. Ironically, they were the only two fights in which Hagler was forced to be the aggressor the whole fight.
What Leonard showed the boxing world in his fight with Hagler, was that Hagler wasn't that great at cutting off the ring. He tended to follow more than stepping in front of Leonard to block his escape route. The only time Hagler was able to corner or pin Leonard against the ropes was when he tired and started slowing down. By Leonard moving and using the ring, Hagler wasn't able to take advantage of his most significant advantage, his physical strength. Because Hagler had to constantly keep his feet moving in order to track Leonard down, he was never able to mount a sustained offense, especially in the early rounds. Leonard continually beat Hagler to the punch and was just about always a step ahead of Hagler, forcing him to reach and sometimes miss wildly.
Some have inferred that Leonard's punches were nothing but pitty-pat punches that lacked power. What amazes me about that is, Hagler had one of the best chins in history. If Leonard's punches had nothing on them, why didn't Hagler just walk through them so he could force Leonard to fight instead of Box? Another ridiculous statement made over the years is that Leonard should've fought Hagler like a man. In other words, Leonard should've nullified his own strengths and made it easy for Hagler.
Suggesting that Leonard should've fought Hagler like a man is one of the most ignorant statements I've ever heard about a fight or fighter. Maybe I'm wrong. I guess Ali should've fought Frazier and Foreman toe-to-toe like a real man. Looking back, maybe De La Hoya should have traded and slugged it out with Trinidad?
The style in which Leonard fought Hagler wasn't a surprise to any knowledgeable fight observer. It was the only style he could employ. On top of that, it was the style Leonard fought in every fight of his career, with the exception of his first fight with Duran. If Hagler was shocked by Leonard trying to keep the fight from becoming a slugfest, shame on him. Was there ever a doubt that Leonard was going to use the bigger ring that he demanded? Leonard knew the bigger ring enabled him to avoid the stationary type fight that Hagler was going to try and make him fight. In order for Leonard to score the upset, he knew that the less trading he did with the Hagler, the better his chances of winning.
As for Hagler, he knew that to win he had to make it a street fight. Cutting the ring off and not allowing Leonard to get in and out while fighting in spurts is what Hagler had to prevent. Both fighters knew what they had to do to win the fight. The deciding factor was Leonard was physically able to carry out his strategy, which prevented Hagler from executing his.
Another thing that was overlooked prior to the fight was that Leonard had a much better chin than given credit for, and Hagler wasn't the "catch and kill" knockout artist that he was perceived as being after his fight with Hearns. In order for Hagler to stop Leonard, he would have to catch him with a monstrous shot that froze Leonard to where he wasn't able to move or get away. Had Hagler hurt Leonard to that capacity, he probably could've finished him. The problem was Hagler was never able to land that bomb to incapacitate Leonard enough to finish him.
The bottom line is Sugar Ray Leonard out-fought and out-thought Marvin Hagler. He set the pace early by moving and boxing, using his greater hand and foot speed to its fullest advantage. In those first three or four rounds, Hagler couldn't get near him. Starting around the fifth round, Hagler began to get closer and scored as Leonard started to slow.
There is absolutely no doubt that Leonard was up 3-0 after three rounds. At best Hagler won 5 of the last 9 rounds. That makes it 7-5 Leonard or 115-113. On top of that, there was not a 2-point round in the fight. Although Hagler was the aggressor in the fight, he wasn't the effective aggressor. An effective aggressor is Frazier versus Ali in their first fight, or Duran versus Leonard in their first fight. Not Hagler versus Leonard.
Lastly, some have said that a reigning champ shouldn't lose his title on such a close decision. The problem was, despite not having the title, Leonard was the star and bigger personality which neutralized Hagler being the champ. However, that had no bearing on the fight. Sugar Ray Leonard was just a little sharper and more effective than Marvin Hagler the night they fought. The only negative about the way Leonard fought against Hagler is from a few scorned Hagler fans. They're mad at Leonard because he didn't cooperate and make the fight easy for Hagler.
Give Ray Leonard all due credit for dictating the tempo and terms of the fight that took place inside the ring. The last time I checked, Hagler and Leonard were paid millions as professional boxers. There was no bonus check for street fighting. As two professional fighters at the highest level, Sugar Ray Leonard out boxed Marvin Hagler and won a very close, but clear decision. | <urn:uuid:4e25633a-aeb2-4ee2-bd36-0932dfaf24df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thesweetscience.com/article-archive/2004/821-revisiting-hagler-leonard | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990125 | 1,564 | 1.515625 | 2 |
WELCOME! This website is proudly associated with Ireland Genealogy Projects, and we hope to be able to develop some aids to help you find your ancestors from County Wexford, and perhaps to better understand the lives they led here. Towards that end, we are trying to provide as many genealogy helps as possible, along with maps, discussions of history, geography, and culture. You will also find photos, as we are able to locate them with appropriate permissions for use. Much of the content is serious in nature, but we also hope to provide some light-hearted material relevant to County Wexford, and to Ireland as a whole.
County Wexford continues to be rural in nature, with less than two-fifths of the population living in towns and villages. The main occupation is farming, with most farms averaging 70-80 acres. Half the land is in pasture, and two-fifths under cereal crops, predominantly wheat. The chief economic staple is cattle. The County is 108 square miles with a population estimated in 1991 as 102,045.
The climate is moderate across most of Ireland, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, which is no farther than 70 miles from any place in the interior. Average temperatures in January and February range between 39 and 45 degrees F and between 57 and 61 degrees F in July and August.
Nine-tenths of the republic's population is Roman Catholic. There is no established church in Ireland; freedom of conscience and the free practice of religion are guaranteed by the constitution.
Genealogy Helps for County Wexford at Other Websites
General Resources for Ireland
Famous People Born or with Roots in County Wexford
Some common family names in County Wexford:
Bolger, Codd, Devereux, Esmond, Furlong, Hore, Kavanagh, Kinsella, O'Byrne, O'Day, O'Duggan, O'Leary, Sinnott, Stafford, Wadding, O'Day, O'Duggan, O'Leary
Ireland has much to offer the traveler, whether the purpose of the trip is to explore one's family's roots or simply to enjoy the scenery and culture. There are numerous fine websites to assist in planning, some covering a multitude of aspects and others devoted to very specific subjects.
Ireland Genealogy Projects Home Page
County Wexford CoordinatorSharon Workman | <urn:uuid:39ea1c25-193c-4c17-8313-6d88bced39ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlwex2/ | 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 | 0.958276 | 501 | 2.3125 | 2 |
I think we rarely ask students to think about metanarrative issues in reading most novels or short stories; sure, if they're reading Nabokov, maybe. But mostly, I think, their novels classes tend to focus on narrative as narrative, and don't think about the material of the text as such. (I'm sure there are exceptions.) So they're not in the habit of thinking about texts that way. They tend to read for the "story" rather than for the telling, if that makes sense?
Early modern plays, on the other hand, beg to be staged, if not on a real stage, then on a stage in the reader's mind. Imagining the text as a theatrical text is especially difficult for our students who tend to have little experience with live theater, and who watch television and movies perhaps less critically than one might wish.
Early modern plays often reward the theatrically thinking reader with a rich commentary on the problems of representation, or theatrical desire, and of textual desire. I was struck by that in my class the other day, especially.
We've been reading Marlowe's Edward II, a play about the "troublesome reign and lamentable death" of Edward II. The play begins shortly after the death of Edward's father (Edward I, helpfully enough), and the return of Edward's beloved companion (and lover, in some senses) Gaveston, previuosly exiled by Edward I. Edward favors Gaveston, much to the dismay of his wife Isabella, and the nobles (especially Mortimer Senior and Mortimer Junior, uncle and nephew), and they force him before long to exile Gaveston again. But Edward mopes, and the nobles let Gaveston come back long enough to off him; meanwhile, Edward has met a new favorite, Spencer, and begins focusing on him. And Isabella and Mortimer Junior are having an affair. The nobles capture Edward and kill him, with Mortimer momentarily taking charge, until the young king, Edward III, has him killed.
It's easy for most readers to follow the nobles in thinking Edward is a bit of a naughty boy: not only does he have male favorites, but he spends money on them, gives them titles (which the nobles argue is wrong because the favorites aren't "noble") and ignores his wife and monarchal duties. In short, he's a partier who isn't taking his responsibilities seriously. And the play really does support this interpretation on some levels: we hear that France is invading; Mortimer Senior is captured by the Scots while serving in Edward's force and there's no money to ransom him.
But the play also subtly undermines this reading, reminding the audience that it's in the theater enjoying all the spectacular theatricality of a play, and desiring spectacle and pleasure. So, in a way, we (the audience and readers) are complicit with Edward and Gaveston in desiring pleasures.
Near the very beginning of the play, Gaveston imagines what he needs/wants to entertain Edward when they're together again. He says,
I must have wanton poets, pleasant wits,It's a brilliantly evocative speech with lots of vibrant imagery. Try reading it aloud, and imagining what fun it would be to see played out on stage. The pages (boys whose job is to run small errands around a household or court) will be dressed (clad) as woodland spirits (female). (Let me recall that on the English professional stage at the time, all female parts were played by boys or young men. Some writers show a lot of anxiety about the ways that men's desire may be "mistakenly" inflamed and misdirected from women to boys as a result.) So, in effect, those boy pages are a lot like boy actors, dressed up evocatively.
Musicians, that with touching of a string
May draw the pliant king which way I please;
Music and poetry is his delight,
Therefore I'll have Italian masques by night,
Sweet speeches, comedies and pleasing shows,
And in the day when he shall walk abroad,
Like sylvan nymphs my pages shall be clad,
My men like satyres grazing on the lawns,
Shall with their goat feet dance an antic hay;
Sometime a lovely boy in Dian's shape,
With hair that gilds the water as it glides,
Crownets of pearl about his naked arms,
And in his sportfull hands an olive-tree,
To hide those parts which men delight to see,
Shall bathe him in a spring, and there hard by,
One like Actaeon peeping through the grove,
Shall by the angry goddess be transformed,
And running in the likeness of an hart,
By yelping hounds pulled down, and seem to die;
Such things as these best please his majesty.
And then we have satyrs, hyper sexual man/goats, grazing and then dancing around (a "hay," according to the OED, definition n4.1, is "a country dance having a winding or serpentine movement, or being of the nature of a reel.").
Finally, Gaveston imagines a show of Diana and Actaeon, the guy in Ovid's Metamorphoses who saw Diana (aka Artemis, virgin goddess of the hunt, and notorious skinny dipper) naked while he was out hunting with his hounds. Diana, being a goddess and pissed, turned him into a hart (male deer, buck, stag), and he got torn apart by his hounds. Fun times! But notice the "seem" in line 69 there. Gaveston is clear that we're going to see a theatrical production of some sort.
And seriously, when you read that, wouldn't you love to see all that on stage? nymphs, a satyr dance, and then a man turned into a stag and chased around by his hounds? It would be a theatrical extravaganza, a miracle of staging, a spectacle to draw all eyes. So we're right there with Gaveston, imagining ourselves watching this as he imagines Edward watching, taking pleasure, being drawn. And like Edward, we're drawn for the moment, pliantly, our desires for spectacle engaged at least a little.
And if the play could give us that spectacle, why we'd be pretty darned pleased, but it wouldn't be Edward II, of course. It would look a lot like some of the entertainments famously thrown for Elizabeth I, though.
What we get instead in this play is lots less spectacle. It's as if the play is resisting our desires; heck, we don't even get to see the best murders. (We get to hear Edward's, but not see it; does Edward replace Actaeon, while his nobles act as the hounds, rending him?) And if the play's resisting our desires for spectacle (because we go to the theater to see and hear plays, but Gaveston's speech is all about seeing stuff), then is it sort of punishing us for turning from our complicity with Gaveston and Edward and becoming complicit with those rather puritanical nobles?
I think it's mostly confronting us with our conflicting desires for hedonistic spectacle and tight social control, safety, and heirarchy. If we take Gaveston's speech seriously, and get into it, we have to recognize that we're at least a little on Edward's side, wanting pleasure even though others might want us to get back to work. (Early modern plays were played in the early afternoon, when weather permitted, outdoors, Mondays through Saturdays, that is, during prime working hours, and attended by apprentices and others who'd skipped work. Bosses complain about theater being a disruption to getting work done.)
And because I'm obsessive:
Marlowe, Christopher. Edward the Second. Ed. W. Moelyn Merchant. (New Mermaids) London: A. & C. Black, and New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. | <urn:uuid:17b9e0ba-4302-47a1-b4e1-183e2d5a8c84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bardiac.blogspot.com/2007/10/thinking-theatrically.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968341 | 1,690 | 2.359375 | 2 |
I was at the official launch of Welsh OpenOffice this morning. Nothing directly to do with me, though I currently work for the organisation that provided the spell-checker for it, which is why I was there.
Welsh OpenOffice has been around for a while, of course. Agored, though, is one of those rare examples of an open-source project not only having twin targets of development and dissemination, but also gathering governmental and public-sector support to do so.
Agored is also trying to put a tangible worth on 'free' software, on the basis that if you pay a small amount of money for something, you're more likely to appreciate it. On my desk now I have a copy of an original 400-page Welsh-language OpenOffice manual which includes the Agored CD. The text is all under the GNU Free Documentation License, as you'd expect, but the physical book can be bought for about £20, and it looks good. I hope it sells well.
Anyway, the press release below meant that OpenOffice gathered about two minutes' attention on the main Welsh-language news bulletin tonight, and a write-up on BBC News Online (also in Welsh). I'm putting it here in case anyone needs to Google it in future.
Prifysgol Cymru Aberystwyth: University of Wales
Datganiad i'r wasg - Press release
Embargo: Not for publication before 16 November 2006
Free Office Software launched in Cardiff Bay
Agored, a new free office software suite is being launched today (16 November 2006) by Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport. The suite, a Welsh and English dual-language version of the OpenOffice suite used worldwide, has been developed over the past two years at the Mercator Centre, University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Agored represents a major investment by the Welsh Assembly Government, S4C and the Welsh Language Board in the provision of a comprehensive office suite functional in both English and Welsh. Most significantly, Agored is free of charge! Whatever your purpose - domestic, educational, govermental, or commercial - you can download a complete and legal copy of Agored today from www.agored.com. Take Agored for a 'test drive': if you like it, keep the keys!
"Agored is going to be an extremely useful tool to many businesses right across Wales who operate bilingually," said Andrew Davies, Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks of the Welsh Assembly Government. Alun Pugh, the Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport added: "The launch of this office software is a major advance within the IT strategy developed by the Welsh Language Board as part of the Assembly Government's strategy of the language, Iaith Pawb."
"This is the largest Welsh software project to date", says Ned Thomas, Academic Director of the Mercator Centre at UWA, "and has involved a team of five at Mercator, with further translators throughout Wales working on the project. Over half a million words of help screens and interface have been translated, and a comprehensive, original handbook has been written from scratch."
Meri Huws, Chair of the Welsh Language Board said "Agored is the latest in a series of important developments in Welsh language technology. It's surprising how much is already available in Welsh in this field. This is a most welcome additional contribution."
Agored is a complete office suite, with a word-processing program (Writer), a spreadsheet program (Calc), a slideshow program (Impress), a drawing and design program (Draw), and a database program (Base). It will happily use all your existing office files in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint format. It has been specially designed with the bilingual office in mind: you can swap from English to Welsh and back again very simply without having to restart your computer or re-install different versions of the software. All the commands and help messages are available in both languages, and the Welsh-language content of the program is authoritative and standard. You can also use Welsh and English spell-check options within the same document, should you wish to do so.
Agored costs nothing to use for as long as you like, wherever you like. It is everything you need in an office software suite. So what are you waiting for? Download your copy from www.agored.com. | <urn:uuid:f32e080b-764e-4521-8105-9777619c2506> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://advogato.org/person/Rhys/diary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942563 | 912 | 1.5 | 2 |
More information regarding the project:
- Teachers get an outline for the entire program including a sample pack of supplies (card stock paper, straight pins, utility knife, glue stick, ruler). The book can be passed on each year and the teacher can replenish the supplies.
- The project duration is 10-12 classroom hours.
- Teams typically consist of 3 students working together on the project where they create their company identity, design their logo for business cards and stationery, write proposals and letters to customers, and design then build a mock up of the project they contracted to complete.
- The project is targeted for general study and technical schools as well as home school or virtual classroom settings. This also has possibilities for youth programs in general including Scouting programs and badges.
- There will be tax if sold to residents in South Carolina.
This is an opportunity for NAWIC chapters or members to sponsor the program for the workforce of tomorrow. Seriously consider supporting a local teacher or schools in making this program a reality for high school students in your community. | <urn:uuid:f2d695c7-7e8d-4e1f-bb2e-1b4971ad55b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nawiceducation.wildapricot.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1234508 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953074 | 214 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Constrained writingConstrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern.
The most common constrained forms of writing are strict restrictions in vocabulary, e.g. Basic English, E-Prime, defining vocabulary for dictionaries, and other limited vocabularies for teaching English as a Second Language or to children. This is not generally what is meant by 'constrained writing' in the literary sense, which is motivated by more aesthetic concerns. For example:
- a letter (commonly e or o) is outlawed, making a lipogram;
- palindromes, such as the word "radar", read the same both ways;
- reverse-lipograms (each word must contain a particular letter);
- aleatory (where the reader supplies a random input);
- Haiku, Japanese poem;
- Chinese poetry;
- Dui lian, Chinese couplet (對聯). | <urn:uuid:b0f535fc-b64d-416a-9cd1-2b843c8ce7eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.encyclopedia4u.com/c/constrained-writing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91766 | 207 | 3.234375 | 3 |
“Fun” to make and to watch, as well as satisfying to respond to, ABRACADABRA’s realization is a miracle of sorts. Contemporary and very digital, it also celebrates some of the thrills and spirit of early cinema, especially the excitement and bewilderment that once hovered over the possibilities of film; its acceptance of accidents and reflections on the medium; breath-taking and space-breaking phantom rides; the contradictory mirror-held-up-to-nature character of “actualities”; and of course, the magic of hand-tinted photographic moving images. —Ernie Gehr
Ernie Gehr (born 1943) is an American experimental filmmaker closely associated with the Structural film movement of the 1970s. A self-taught artist, Gehr was inspired to begin making films in the 1960s after chancing upon a screening of a Stan Brakhage film. Gehr’s film Serene Velocity (1970) has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Gehr served as faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute. His films are distributed by Canyon Cinema in San Francisco. —Wikipedia
Ernie Gehr: fully developed, partially exposed. Gehr’s digital lacings. | <urn:uuid:cc924a14-dd7a-4ec1-a6ba-c25e4a610c1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mubi.com/films/abracadabra--2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949203 | 263 | 1.585938 | 2 |
This month’s Scientific American has an interesting commentary by Scott Lilienfield entitled Fudge Factor that discusses the fine line between academic misconduct and errors caused by confirmation bias.
For a great description of confirmation bias, read the YouAreNotSoSmart.com’s post on the topic.
The Misconception: Your opinions are the result of years of rational, objective analysis.
The Truth: Your opinions are the result of years of paying attention to information which confirmed what you believed while ignoring information which challenged your preconceived notions.
The fudge factor article talks about some of the circumstances that contribute to confirmation bias in the sciences.
Two factors make combating confirmation bias an uphill battle. For one, data show that eminent scientists tend to be more arrogant and confident than other scientists. As a consequence, they may be especially vulnerable to confirmation bias and to wrong-headed conclusions, unless they are perpetually vigilant. Second, the mounting pressure on scholars to conduct single-hypothesis-driven research programs supported by huge federal grants is a recipe for trouble. Many scientists are highly motivated to disregard or selectively reinterpret negative results that could doom their careers.
Obviously this doesn’t just apply to scientists. I’m sure we all know developers who are equally prone to confirmation bias, present company excluded of course. Pretty much everybody is succeptbile. We all probably witnessed an impressive (in magnitude) display of confirmation bias in the recent elections.
However, there’s another contributing factor that the article doesn’t touch upon that I think is worth calling out, our education system. I remember when I was in high school and college, I had a lot of “lab” classes for the various sciences. We’d conduct experiments, take measurements, and plot the measurements on a graph. However, we already knew what the results were supposed to look like. So if a measurement was way off the expected graph, there was a tendency to retake the measurement.
“Whoops, I must’ve nudged the apparatus when I took that measurement, let’s try it again.”
As the article points out (emphasis mine)…
The best antidote to fooling ourselves is adhering closely to scientific methods. Indeed, history teaches us that science is not a monolithic truth-gathering method but rather a motley assortment of tools designed to safeguard us against bias.
So how can schools do a better job of teaching scientific methods? I think one interesting thing a teacher can do is have students conduct an experiment where the students think they know what the expected results should be beforehand, but where the actual results will not match up.
I think this would be interesting as an experiment in its own right. I’d be curious to see how many students turn in results which match their expectations rather than what matched their actual observations. That could provide a powerful teaching opportunity about scientific methods and confirmation bias. | <urn:uuid:9897a928-363f-4330-aa7d-49e96cac41b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://haacked.com/archive/2010/11/05/fighting-confirmation-bias.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954774 | 607 | 2.65625 | 3 |
NOAA said the United States experienced its 23rd warmest year, with an average of 53.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
That’s about 1 degree above the 20th-century average. The agency said the high global temperatures are mainly due to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, principally carbon dioxide.
That gas is emitted by human activities that include burning at coal-fired power plants and the use of internal combustion engines used in most vehicles around the world.
The year 2011 also saw record-breaking weather extremes and disasters across the United States and various other locations around the world.
The World Meteorological Organization said in late December that initial analysis showed that 2011 was the 10th warmest on record.
NOAA’s analysis was based on more extensive calculations and an alternative method of determining average global temperatures.
Graphic Data: NOAA | <urn:uuid:14ade604-bb8c-4557-b1d4-22fb067cfef6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.earthweek.com/2012/ew120127/ew120127c.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946171 | 175 | 3.71875 | 4 |
What is EMTALA?
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) was signed into federal law in 1986 under President Ronald Reagan. It is a subset of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), a large piece of legislation meant to protect people’s right to adequate healthcare. The purpose of EMTALA is to ensure that all patients requiring emergency treatment will receive it.
If you are planning to work in healthcare, or currently do so, you need to be familiar with your legal responsibilities under EMTALA. In addition to this federal law, Iowa has state-level regulations applying to dentists, clinics, and other healthcare providers. To learn more, contact Des Moines healthcare attorneys LaMarca & Landry, P.C. at 877-327-2600.
Where EMTALA Applies
EMTALA applies to all hospitals that: a) provide emergency services, and b) receive payments from Medicare and Medicaid. Because of the near-impossibility of running a hospital without Medicaid’s support, the Act effectively applies to all hospitals. The major exceptions are:
- Hospitals run by the Department of Veteran Affairs
- Shriners Hospitals for Children
- Indian Health Service hospitals
What EMTALA Requires
The Act was written to address the problem of “patient dumping,” which occurs when an uninsured or otherwise problematic patient is denied medical care. Under the law, a patient who reports to an emergency room with acute or health-threatening symptoms must be diagnosed and treated regardless of his or her ability to pay. The law specifically bans:
- Releasing a patient before he or she is responsive and able to care for himself or herself
- Denying treatment to a patient because he or she appears homeless, intoxicated, or mentally ill
- Delaying treatment until a patient’s insurance information is received
- Providing sub-standard care to uninsured patients
- Making unfounded threats of legal action against patients who do not pay their bills
While treating all patients in need is very noble in theory, it can be very difficult in practice. A Des Moines EMTALA attorney can help your clinic operate both legally and efficiently.
The Des Moines healthcare lawyers of LaMarca & Landry, P.C. are ready to put their knowledge and experience to work for you. Contact our offices at 877-327-2600. | <urn:uuid:76b2504b-b884-44c4-bf70-8849ada2453a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desmoines-businesslawyer.com/articles/what-is-emtala/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955987 | 507 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Marketing yourself based the products and services you sell might seem like the most logical approach in the world, but consumers do not make buying decisions based on logic. People hire professionals who they like and can relate to, not portfolios of products and/or services. To generate better results and greater profits from your branding, you’ve got to make that personal connection. Nothing achieves it more effectively than Personal Branding.
Instead of focusing on products or services, Personal Branding focuses on you—your experience, your personal flair, your position. It turns you into a “brand,” just like the brands you see in toothpaste, cologne or luxury cars.
Branding addresses the core issue of the modern marketplace: when the competitors are equal, the brand that sets itself apart in the perceptions of the buyer will be successful.
Personal Branding excels at shaping perceptions. In this article, let’s take a look at the core principles and techniques employed by the best personal marketers—techniques tailor-made for professionals.
1. Quality Look and Feel
When professionals create branding materials like websites, resumes, business cards and brochures, they often produce them as cheaply as possible. The thinking is usually “I’m saving money,” when it should be “I’m losing clients,” or, “I don’t have my ideal job/career.” Fact is, prospects and employers are swayed just as much by the quality of branding and marketing materials— as by what they say. Cheap paper, poor copy writing, mismatched graphics, bad printing and cheesy photos scream “bottom-feeder.”
The industry leaders produce every piece of branding literature with quality in mind. That means having materials professionally designed, investing in professional photography and design, and having resumes printed on thick, quality paper by a reputable printer. Your branding tools are the vanguard of the professional image that will attract the kind of clients and employer/recruiters you truly desire.
2. Compelling Content
Branding materials that focus on nothing but hard facts are the least effective, because people don’t make buying decisions based on facts. They make them based largely on emotion. A brochure full of numbers, sales data and cliché phrases like “sold more than the next guy” will intimidate and bore a prospect or employer. A branding truth: you can’t bore people into doing business with you or hiring you.
Personal Branding uses personal information—your background, your sense of humor, your life—to tell the story of an interesting human being who just happens to be a great advisor. Using a personal “hook” such as a love of sailing or a background as a pilot, leading personal marketers create self-images that generate an emotional response in their audience. Prospects see the advisor as a person with unique skills and perhaps a few common threads.
A tip: have your materials professionally written.
Positioning means defining yourself within your industry as a provider of something unique. Take cars as an example. Volvo’s position is as the “safe” car. BMW’s slogan ” The Ultimate Driving Machine” positions it as a performance car. The Honda Accord is positioned as “reliable,” while the Mazda Miata is “fun,” and Cadillac is “traditional American luxury.” Each successful brand stakes out territory that gives it a unique hold on a segment of the buyer’s mind.
Personal Branding demands positioning. That might mean building an image for yourself as a specialist in corporate coaching, or as the golfing instructor, or as the divorced woman’s psychologist. The point is, you must “package” yourself to allow the consumer to differentiate you from all your competitors. Once you’re different, you’re remembered.
4. Support and Consistency
This simply means that you can’t send out a single direct mailing and expect results. You can’t just put up a Web site, not support it, and expect e-mails to bring you clients. In a week, a top personal marketer might:
• Send out the latest in a six-piece series of direct mail cards
• Send personal brochures to callers from previous mailings
• Update personal information on his/her Web site and post a blog
• Make follow-up calls to industry-specific recruiters
• Give two speeches at local business events
• Write an article on emerging interest for your niche and post it to online article sites
Cross promotion and continual support of your branding efforts brings results that build on one another. Most of all, persistent, quality Personal Branding creates an indelible image in your market that brings you a constant flow of clients and prospective recruiters and employers, even when you’re not selling.
Other related articles:
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Mark Montoya has been working in personal branding for more than a decade for hundreds of online and offline companies, small businesses and individual service professionals. His focus has been toward improving the way jobseekers find employment on the Internet. He has synthesized his expertise by helping job seekers obtain their ideal choice of employment over the Internet on his sites MyOnlineCareerSpace.com and MyOnlineCareerCoach.com, and through his books 101 Tips Every Job Seeker Should Know and The Ultimate Online Job Search eBook.
“It is the responsibility of the individual to reject the prospect of mediocrity and to strive for the betterment of society as a whole” ~ Mark Montoya | <urn:uuid:3acdeb41-b74a-4555-b346-78779739ca7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.markmontoya.com/OnlinePersonalBrandingSpecialist/2010/02/the-nuts-bolts-of-online-personal-branding/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937929 | 1,238 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Tue, December 16, 2008
My Mac-using friends have another gloating opportunity. Microsoft released an advisory warning of a newly-discovered flaw in multiple versions of Internet Explorer, including IE 7. PCMag.com and BBC News technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones have posts on the problem. The flaw allows software running on hacked web sites to access the contents of your hard drive, run unwanted software, or possibly steal your passwords; as many as 10,000 sites could be infected, according to BBC News. Microsoft recommends changing IE security settings to high (look under Tools/Internet Options); other protective actions are provided at the advisory link. Alternatively, you may want to download one of the competing (free) browsers, like Firefox, and use it until Microsoft provides a fix. | <urn:uuid:4798acf7-c207-4ca4-8ae3-3c64769a1b9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ffscambridge.com/blog/post/internet_explorer_users_beware/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919016 | 160 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Setu Babakan or Small Lake Babakan (Setu or Situ means Small Lake) is located in Srengseng Sawah, Sub-district of Jagakarsa, Municipality of South Jakarta, Indonesia near Depok or around 5 kilometers southeast of Ragunan Zoo at the center of the Betawi Cultural Village, a site considered part of the cultural heritage of Jakarta, which is devoted to the preservation of the indigenous Betawi culture. The location of the Betawi Cultural Village is replacement of the previous Condet (Betawi) Cultural Village which is eroded by the time.
The Situ Babakan Lake has an area of 32 hectares (79 ac) in which the water flows in from the Ciliwung River and currently is used for fish farming by the Betawi people who live in the vicinity of the lake.
There are more than 100 floating net cages placed in the lake to breed different kinds of fish, including carp, tilapia, and several species of ornamental fish. The lake is a place for aquatic recreational activities, such as rafting, and fishing. The garden surrounding the lake is cultivated with fruit plants, such as banana, coconut, and guava.
- "Metro Madness: A Day of Betawi Culture at Setu Babakan". February 5, 2010.
- "Perkampungan Budaya Betawi Situ Babakan". Retrieved December 8, 2011.
|Wikivoyage has travel information related to: Setu_Babakan|
|This Jakarta location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:21059464-9e09-4af7-9144-01c49bddf585> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setu_Babakan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928998 | 336 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Proper Application of Dog Heartworm Prevention Medication
By Jennifer Kvamme, DVM
Keeping our dogs free of heartworms is much cheaper, easier, and safer than treating them for a full-blown disease. However, it is important that you use heartworm preventives properly — both for your safety and your dog's safety.
Consult Your Veterinarian First
It’s very important that you use only approved heartworm medications, in the correct dosage, for your dog’s particular age, weight, and health status. But before deciding to give a heartworm medication to your dog, ask your veterinarian for advice. A negative heartworm test is required to obtain a prescription for heartworm medication, so you will need to have your dog tested for heartworms first. Also, your veterinarian will only give you a prescription for a heartworm preventive if the dog is shown to have no heartworms (tested negative).
There are several kinds of heartworm preventive medications commonly used today. Many of these preventives have multiple benefits; some also control intestinal parasites as well as external parasites.
Oral Heartworm Medications
Common active ingredients used in heartworm preventives today include ivermectin and milbemycin. Ivermectin has been used for decades to prevent heartworm disease in dogs. There are rarely side effects, if given at the proper dosage, but some dogs may experience vomiting, diarrhea, or incoordination. In the case of an allergic response to the heartworm medication, a dog may experience itching, hives, swelling of the face, or even seizures or shock.
Certain breeds of dog are at risk of having a reaction to ivermectin and milbemycin. These breeds include Collies, Sheepdogs, Australian Shepherds, and Whippets. This is due to a genetic mutation that causes them to be unable to clear the heartworm medication from their brain, bringing on seizures and even death. Your veterinarian can suggest alternative heartworm preventives for your dog if it is one of the breeds at risk. If you want to be completely sure, you can ask your veterinarian to perform a DNA test to check if your dog has the genetic mutation.
Topical Heartworm Medications
Newer topical or spot-on medications are available to prevent not only heartworms, but also fleas, ticks, mites, and more. Depending on the brand you choose, your dog can be protected from many parasites (internal and external), all in one monthly application. Selamectin and moxidectin work by absorbing into the dog’s skin and collecting in the oil glands under the skin. From there, the drug dispenses slowly over time, protecting the dog.
When applying these types of heartworm medications, you want to be careful not to get it on your skin or in your eyes. The fur in the area between the shoulder blades should be separated, to find the skin below. Apply the liquid directly to the skin instead of to the fur. Wash your hands after handling these medications (or wear disposable gloves so there is no skin contact at all). Label instructions should always be followed carefully. Keep your dog indoors and watch him for about 30 minutes following application. Children and other animals should be kept apart while the heartworm medication is absorbing.
Adverse reactions to these preventives are rare, but do occur. Possible side effects may include vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, panting, and trembling. Some dogs can have an allergic reaction to these types of medications, similar to the reactions seen with ivermectin. Hair loss at the application site has also been reported.
Injectable Heartworm Preventive
Another product that was first approved for use in 2001 in dogs is an injectable moxidectin product that works for six months as a heartworm preventive. It also kills hookworms with just one injection. This product was voluntarily recalled in 2004 and then re-introduced in 2008 under a risk management program in agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Veterinarians that offer this product must be registered with the manufacturer and be trained in its use before being able to purchase the product.
Only a veterinarian is allowed to inject this product, and only after you are given information about its risks and side effects. You must sign a consent form and veterinarians are required to keep records of each product’s lot number in case any side effects are reported. Adverse effects for this product can include facial swelling, itching, vomiting, diarrhea, seizure, or shock.
Other Heartworm Medication Safety Tips
Here are just a few more basic tips to consider when giving your dog heartworm preventives:
- Check with your veterinarian for the proper dosage and type of heartworm medication to give your dog, before giving it.
- Read all labels carefully before use.
- Do not allow products to be within the reach of children or pets (e.g., keep them in a locked cabinet).
- Watch your dog for side effects and call your veterinarian to report any problems.
- Do not give your dog more than one type of heartworm preventive medication at a time.
- Ask your veterinarian if your dog requires heartworm preventive all year long. This is an especially practical approach in the warmer climates, where mosquitoes are always present.
An involuntary action in which the muscles contract; caused by a problem with the brain.
Any type of arachnid excluding ticks
To mechanically introduce a substance into a living thing
Swellings under the skin that can be caused by food allergies or anything else | <urn:uuid:bd739442-a07d-4abc-a9e4-3fbd08950608> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.petmd.com/print/13151 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927753 | 1,156 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Everything you need to understand or teach One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.
The Founding of Macondo
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells the story of the Buendia family and the fictional town of Macondo. The first part of the book's opening line, "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice," serves to catapult the reader into the future, while the second phrase pushes the reader into the past. From this point onward, however, the book moves in fairly straight forward chronological order, with only occasional forays into the past or the future.
The first chapter introduces Jose Arcadio Buendia, the founder of Macondo; his wife, Ursula; and the gypsy Melquiades, who brings inventions to Macondo. Jose Arcadio and Ursula also have two sons introduced in the opening chapter. The older, Jos6 Arcadio, is large, strong, and physically precocious. The younger child, Aureliano, is... View more of the One Hundred Years of Solitude Summary
One Hundred Years of Solitude Lesson Plans contain 108 pages of teaching material, including: | <urn:uuid:fff2b2a6-f2b7-4e43-8bad-daec8d7226a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93747 | 267 | 2.90625 | 3 |
IMPROVEMENT OF DAIRY FORAGE AND MANURE MANAGEMENT TO REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL RISK
Location: Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Research Unit
Title: Assessment of heifer grazing experience on adaptation to pasture and performance as lactating cows
Submitted to: Journal of Dairy Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: January 31, 2013
Publication Date: April 22, 2013
Citation: Lopes, F., Combs, D.K., Hoffman, P.C., Coblentz, W.K. 2013. Assessment of heifer grazing experience on adaptation to pasture and performance as lactating cows. Journal of Dairy Science. 96:3138-3152.
Interpretive Summary: Dairy research facilities have struggled for years with lingering questions about how to properly select cows for use in grazing experiments. Several theories exist among researchers, as well as stakeholders, about the most appropriate approaches for resolving this problem. One approach has been to use cows from the research herd that are typically managed in confinement, provided an acceptable adaptation period is allowed before starting the grazing trial. Others feel that a designated grazing herd is required for grazing experiments; however, this adds a significant financial burden to research facilities. Our objective was to determine how grazing experiences early in life affect behavior and milk production of first-lactation cows grazing high-quality pastures. Four groups of dairy heifers were assigned to different grazing experiences during the first and second years of their developmental life. Subsequent grazing behavior and performance as first-lactation cows was then compared. Prior grazing experience (as heifers) affected distance walked, time spent grazing, and milk production of these cows during the first week of exposure to pasture. After this time, production and grazing activities were similar for cows with and without previous grazing experience as heifers. Results from this study suggest that grazing studies utilizing cattle normally managed in confinement should allow at least one week of adaptation to the grazing environment. This should provide adequate time for inexperienced animals to adjust to the new environment and recover milk production. This study confirmed that the short period of adaptation (10 to 14 days) normally used in grazing studies with cows raised in confinement can provide valuable data for grazing-based dairy producers.
A 3-yr study evaluated the carryover effects of dairy heifer grazing experience on behavior and first lactation performance as dairy cows. Forty-one Holstein and 23 Holstein-Jersey crossbred calves born between January and April 2008 were randomly assigned to one of four treatments (PP, PC, CP and CC; n = 8 per group, 2 groups per treatment) in a completely randomized design. Treatments were combinations of managing dairy heifers in confinement (C) or on pasture (P): PP, grazed year 1(yr1) and year 2(yr2); PC, grazed yr1, but were confined in yr2; CP were, confined in yr1 and grazed in yr2; CC, confined in yr1 and yr2. After calving, all heifers on all treatments were grazed as cows in year 3 (yr3). In yr1, PP and PC heifers were grazed for 41 d on Italian ryegrass pastures, while CP and CC were housed in bedded pack pens and fed a TMR. In yr2, PP and CP grazed Italian ryegrass pasture for 65 d, while PC and CC remained in confinement. In yr2 a mid-trial assessment of heifer grazing behavior was made on PP vs. CP heifers. Grazing activities were assessed by visual observation and heifer movement measured by portable GPS units. Heifers from all treatment groups subsequently calved between January and April, in yr3. All primiparous cows were then allocated to pastures by treatment group, grazed for 61 d, (May through July) in yr3, with grazing behavior and milk production evaluated while grazing. In yr2 heifers that grazed (PP) yr1 spent more time grazing than heifers with no grazing (CP) experience (78 vs. 35 % of the time, P < 0.05) when first exposed to pasture (day 1). On d 1 to d 3, PP heifers walked a greater distance than CP heifers, however, PP and CP heifers had similar daily grazing times and walking patterns after 3 days of pasture exposure in yr2. As lactating cows (yr3), cows with no (CC) grazing experience grazed less (P < 0.05) on day 1 as compared to cows with PP, PC or CP grazing experience. Day 1 grazing time in yr3 were 62, 59, 76, and 13% of the time for cows with PP, PC, CP and CC grazing experience, respectively. In yr 3 on d 1 to d 3, cows with previous grazing experience as heifers (PP, CP and PC) walked a greater distance than cows without previous grazing experience (CC). Milk production was lowest (P < 0.05) on d 1 to d 3 for cows with no previous grazing experience (CC). However, average daily milk production during the yr3 grazing phase of the experiment was not (P > 0.05) different (30.5, 30.1, 31.5 and 29.6 kg for PP, PC, CP and CC, respectively). Results indicate that grazing experiences as a heifer can impact behavior and milk production during a cow’s first days on pasture. After a short acclimation period, dairy cows without grazing experience as heifers develop similar grazing behaviors and performance as cows with grazing experience as heifers. | <urn:uuid:d7f1ac80-af36-4a45-8bc1-9cb206b625ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=286025 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959638 | 1,182 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Zevachim 93 - 99
- Sacrificial blood which spills on to kohen's garment
- Which sort of garments must be washed from spilled blood
- Garments and vessels which left the precincts of the Sanctuary
- The cleansing of vessels in which sacrificial meat has been cooked
- Bread baked with milk and an oven rendered non-kosher
- The ban on large furnaces in Yerushalayim
- Using a vessel in which meat has been cooked for dairy cooking
- When vessels used for cooking sacrificial meat must be cleaned
- The need for a knife in slaughtering a sacrifice
- Which kohanim do not share in the division of sacrificial meat
- Which are forbidden to eat sacrificial meat
Need for a Knife
- Zevachim 97b
The source for the rule that the slaughtering of a sacrifice must be done with a knife is this passage in the Torah regarding the instrument that the Patriarch Avraham prepared for the intended slaughter of his son Yitzchak:
"Avraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son." (Bereishet 22:10)
But how does this reference to a human sacrifice serve as a source for an animal sacrifice such as an olah in the Beit Hamikdash?
The answer lies in this subsequent passage, which describes the slaughter of the ram that was the Heavenly replacement for Yitzchak:
"…Avraham went and took the ram and offered it up as an olah sacrifice instead of his son." (ibid. 22:12)
Tosefot points out that even in regard to the slaughter of a non-sacrificial animal we learn from the first of the above-mentioned passages that the instrument – not necessarily a knife – must be something that is detached. This is deduced from the term "took the knife" which indicates that it had only to be taken and not removed from its source. For a sacrifice, however, the slaughtering must be done with a knife, since the term "knife" was used in regard to the intended slaughter of Yitzchak rather than referring to it as something that could cut.
What the Sages Say
"Large furnaces were banned in Yerushalayim (because of the smoke pollution they cause)."
- Rabbi Zeira - Zevachim 96a | <urn:uuid:92cd97c0-420b-438c-9078-b2e411ab7926> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ohr.edu/explore_judaism/daf_yomi/talmudigest/4639 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970059 | 493 | 2.28125 | 2 |
The venture will operate through a partnership with the Stennis Institute at Mississippi State University and will focus on planning activities for upgrades and improvements to the facility.
County Administrator Will Hooker provided an update at Tuesday's Bolivar County Board of Supervisors meeting in Rosedale.
“The primary purpose of this project will be to develop a strategy to expand the number of events hosted at the Bolivar County Expo Center and to attract visitors to increase economic activity," said Hooker.
"More simply, this is about planning a roadmap to see what the community wants and needs for the Expo Center — and what it can support."
Hooker provided an overview of the scope of work, budget expenditures and a schedule of activities that were coordinated with Stennis.
Hooker announced to the board in January that the county had been successful in receiving a 70/30 grant to offset the expense of the study, with a total grant value of $70,000.
"The project will commence with a regional market study of Bolivar County and the adjacent counties of Washington, Coahoma and Sunflower to identify the market audience for events to be held at the center," said Hooker.
This process will include an asset inventory of existing organizations that represent potential partnering entities for events and inventory of regional product and service suppliers.
A survey of existing agriculture tourism businesses will also be fulfilled.
The regional market study will include an analysis of business infrastructure, the competitive environment and an examination of the supply and demand for center activities.
During the asset inventory phase of the regional market study, the project team will identify local rural businesses that will benefit from increased utilization of the center and identify businesses that have the potential to become suppliers of products or services.
The findings of the study will then be used to develop alternative cost/benefit uses scenarios and a market potential feasibility analysis.
Alternative use scenarios will include estimates for building improvements or modifications, surrounding land use alternatives and potential additions to existing structures based on target market needs.
Upon completion of all studies and analysis, the project team will develop a business plan for the ongoing operations at the center.
“To assure that this is an inclusive process, the Board of Supervisor has asked Stennis to actively receive input from the Expo Board Committee members, community organizations and local businesses and citizens throughout the county,” said Hooker.
Expo Board Committee President Evereth Stanton said he appreciates having an outside source lead the research.
"The Stennis Institute will provide an outside eye and will give us a fair game plan," said Stanton. "They don't have the same stake in the matter that locals do, and I think this gives them the ability to give us the best input.
"We just want to find out if there's anything we can do to change the Expo to better serve the county."
The supervisors also voted unanimously at Tuesday's meeting to have Eley|Barkley, P.A. of Cleveland perform a structural analysis on the entire arena area to be provided to the Stennis.
As for Stennis, the institute is often called on to provide technical assistance and consultation to local governments and community leaders regarding economic and community development matters.
Foundations and municipalities look to Stennis for research and study of public policy issues.
It's trained facilitators focus on topics ranging from local issues of genuine public conflict, land use planning initiatives, community capacity building, electing or appointing judges, amendments in ethics legislation and more.
To learn more about Stennis, visit www.sig.msstate.edu/index.php. | <urn:uuid:f9f10a36-70ce-4425-9adb-42aab559b969> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bolivarcom.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Expo+upgrades+studied%20&id=21800039&instance=homefirstleft | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946346 | 738 | 1.507813 | 2 |
ATLANTA (AP) — The current West Nile outbreak is one of the largest in the U.S., with four times the usual number of cases for this time of year, federal health officials said Wednesday.
It's still too early to say how bad the year will end up because most infections are reported in August and September. But never before have so many illnesses been reported this early, said Dr. Lyle Petersen, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We're in the midst of one of the largest West Nile outbreaks ever seen in the United States," said Petersen, who oversees the CDC's mosquito-borne illness programs.
So far, 1,118 illnesses have been reported, about half of them in Texas. In an average year, fewer than 300 cases are reported by mid-August. There have also been 41 deaths this year, the CDC said.
And cases seem to be accelerating: about 400 of the cases were reported in just the last week.
Experts think the mild winter, early spring and very hot summer helped stimulate mosquito breeding and the spread of the virus. Mosquitoes pick up the virus from birds they bite and then pass it on to people.
CDC officials are also looking into the possibility that the virus mutated, but so far have no information showing that happened, Petersen said.
West Nile virus was first diagnosed in Uganda in 1937, but no cases were reported in the U.S. until 1999 in New York. The virus gradually spread across the country.
It peaked in 2002 and 2003, when severe illnesses reached nearly 3,000 and deaths surpassed 260. Last year was mild, with fewer than 700 cases.
Only about 1 in 5 infected people get sick. Early symptoms can include fever, headache and body aches. Some recover in a matter of days. But 1 in 150 infected people will develop severe symptoms including neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis.
Many illnesses probably go unreported, especially milder cases. In this year's case count, more than half are severe, CDC officials said.
In recent years, cases have been scattered across the country. Hot spots are usually in southeast Louisiana, central and southern California, and areas around Dallas, Houston, Chicago and Phoenix.
Those areas seem to have a combination of factors that include the right kinds of virus-carrying mosquitoes and birds, along with large numbers of people who can be infected, health officials say.
Illnesses this year have been reported in 38 states, but the bulk of them have been in Texas, with a concentration in the Dallas area.
It's not clear why Texas is seeing so many cases, but it's alarming. Twenty-one deaths have been reported in the state so far this year, which is more than all other years combined. Four of the Texas deaths were reported on Tuesday.
Officials last week started aerial spraying for mosquitoes in Dallas County. But it's too soon to measure the effect — it takes between three and 14 days for people to develop symptoms after being infected by a mosquito.
The best way to prevent West Nile disease is to avoid mosquito bites. Insect repellents, screens on doors and windows, and wearing long sleeves and pants are some of the recommended strategies. Also, empty standing water from buckets, kiddie pools and other places to discourage breeding. | <urn:uuid:a169ad26-0f00-4ab1-81ce-602bba3ab591> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/CDC-West-Nile-outbreak-one-of-largest-in-US-167093695.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969477 | 681 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Interfaith dialogue in Israel has followed the prevailing patterns and paradigms of the dialogue in the West. To turn the words of the medieval Jewish philosopher Yehuda Halevy on end: We are in the East, but our interfaith hearts and minds are in the West. Jewish-Catholic dialogue in Israel has been conducted mainly between expatriate Catholic theologians, members of the clergy living in the Holy Land and a small group of Jewish scholars, nearly all of them of Western background. During the last decade, the dialogue has been enriched by the active participation of an increasing number of Orthodox Jews. Most recently, formal conversations have been initiated between a delegation of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and representatives of the Holy See from abroad; and in January, Israel’s Ashkenazi and Sephardic chief rabbis paid a formal visit to Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
The Jewish-Christian dialogue in Israel has produced special insights and achieved deep levels of mutual understanding. Indeed, the dialogue has been of the finest export quality and has had considerable impact abroad. Regrettably, it has not sold well in the local market. Few representatives and members of local Christian communities, including the local Latin and Eastern Catholic communities, participate in existing frameworks and forums for Jewish-Christian dialogue. The vast majority of Israeli Jews have no contact with local Christians and no awareness of the historic changes that have taken place in churches in the West.
In Galilee, where a majority of the Christians in the land live, there are contacts, both in daily life and through the many organizations that promote Arab-Jewish co-existence. There is also fruitful cooperation between the personnel of the scores of Catholic educational, medical and social welfare institutions throughout the country and Israeli Jews working in these fields. However, these contacts have been characterized by, and are indeed often premised on, a conspiracy of silence regarding anything that touches upon religious faith and identity, and thus cannot be counted as interfaith dialogue.
Why has this land remained so underdeveloped relative to the advances in Jewish-Catholic interfaith relations in other countries? Certainly the prolonged political hostilities and the absence of a shared language and culture have been major stumbling blocks to dialogue between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arab Christians. But even Israeli Jews who are aware of the unprecedented changes in the Western churches and are committed to interfaith endeavors have yet to enter into earnest dialogue with local Christians. Initiatives have been sporadic and seldom sustained. Worse yet, we Israeli Jews often blame the indigenous Christians for the dearth of interfaith dialogue, accusing them of being medieval and lacking any notion of pluralism, or faulting them for politicizing relations. When it comes to the Christian communities, even those of us with years of experience in interfaith relations seem to abandon the most elementary rule of authentic dialogue and true pluralism: The other, and particularly the other who is the weaker partner, must be allowed to define himself or herself.
Let us again recall that the key factor that produced the turnabout in Jewish-Christian relations in the West was a fundamental change of heart and attitude on the part of the majority faith community. I believe that there will be no significant breakthrough in Israel in the area of Jewish-Christian relations in general, and Jewish-Catholic relations in particular, until there is a similar rethinking and reaching out on the part of the dominant Jewish community. We Israeli Jews must undertake a number of vital steps to open the way for an honest and fruitful indigenous Jewish-Christian dialogue. The undertakings that I emphasize reflect similar steps taken by the Catholic Church over the last four decades in order to pave the way for constructive dialogue with Jews and Judaism.
First, we must study in depth the particular historic experience of the Christian communities in the Holy Land. Israeli Jews are familiar with many details of the history of Christianity in the West, but know nothing about the radically different historic experience of the local Christian communities. Since the seventh century, Christians in the Middle East have lived as dwindling minorities on the margins of the dominant Arab Muslim society, valiantly struggling for linguistic, cultural, religious and, in more recent centuries, even physical survival. The discovery of the remarkable parallels between our respective histories should suffice to make clear that the paradigms and present agenda of Jewish-Catholic dialogue in the West are inappropriate to the pursuit of better Jewish-Catholic relations in Israel.
Second, we Israeli Jews must be sensitive to that which offends or threatens local Christians. The temptation will be great to focus on our own deep pain or to enumerate the injuries caused to Christians by Muslims, rather than to confront honestly the ways in which we insult or wound Christians. We must scrutinize the subtle anti-Christian terminology and practices that have become engraved in our tradition in the course of, and in reaction to, the long centuries of Christian teaching of contempt. We need to examine carefully what is, and especially what is not, taught about Christians and Christianity in Israeli schools.
Third, we should appreciate the manifest plurality that characterizes the Christian presence in this land, including the plurality of Catholic churches. To dismiss this plurality as nothing more than the product of petty premodern squabbles does injustice to the rich diversity of Christian communities, which confronts us with a type of pluralism that might raise questions about some of our cherished Western notions and norms of pluralism. If, for example, we measure the quality of pluralism by how smoothly things are going, then indeed the interaction of the six different Christian groups in the close quarters of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher might not always receive high marks. But if we judge pluralism by how fully each unique group is able to preserve its particularities, then the situation in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher will score as high as, if not higher than, much of what passes for multiculturalism in modern, enlightened Western society.
Fourth, Israeli Jews must recognize that the local Christian communities struggle daily to discern their path in a complex maze of relationships with the Islamic world, with the Western Christian world, with Jews in the context of a sovereign Jewish state and with a biblical heritage that is often confusing for them in a setting in which the Bible is used to buttress political arguments. The different Catholic communities additionally have their relationships with one another and with the various Orthodox churches in the Holy Land. Local Christians face a mind-boggling six-dimensional chess game, in which a wise move in one dimension can spell defeat, or even disaster, in another dimension.
Fifth, we have to realize that in such circumstances Christian identity will of necessity always be complex and fluid. Israeli Jews must allow Christians to define their identity and decide which element or elements to stress. If, for example, they choose to emphasize their intimate attachment to a particular land that is for them a kind of fifth Gospel, or to emphasize a national component in their identity, we must respect this in the same way that we expect others to accept and understand similar components in our identity.
These five steps are preparatory in nature and should be viewed as a mandatory cleansing of the heart and mind before entering the sacred space of dialogue. They will, one hopes, benefit the local Christian minorities, but we Israeli Jews must undertake them principally for our own spiritual and moral well-being as an empowered majority.
Local Christians, on their part, need to recognize that a total reversal of minority-majority roles relative to Jewish-Christian relations in the West is not possible. Although there are elements of a teaching of contempt in our tradition, we Israeli Jews do not bear the burden of having persecuted Christians for centuries. Furthermore, Israeli Jews also struggle on multiple fronts. We are the majority in Israel, but on all other frontsin the region and worldwidewe, like the local Christian communities, are a tiny minority that is dependent on the understanding and good will of dominant majorities, among them the billion-strong Catholic Church.
Our dialogue with the worldwide Catholic Church takes place against the backdrop of a history of contempt and conflict, which has dictated the main themes of that dialogue: anti-Semitism and its theological roots, the legacy of the Holocaust, God’s continuing covenant with the Jewish people, the Jewish roots of Christianity and the Jewishness of Jesus, the significance of Jewish peoplehood, the centrality of Jerusalem and the land of Israel in Jewish collective memory and of the state of Israel for the Jewish people today.
The Catholic minorities in the Holy Land should note the importance of that dialogue to both Jews and the worldwide church. Keeping abreast of developments in the dialogue in the West will help them to understand us better in the context of our struggle to secure a place among the faiths, cultures and nations of the world. It will also help to explain why it has been difficult for us to reach out to the local Christian communities.
More significantly, studying the Jewish-Catholic dialogue in the West might help the Catholic churches in the Holy Land avoid the grave errors of the past that produced the tragic history of Christian demonization of Jews. That sad story had its beginnings in the early centuries of Christianity, when Christians were a persecuted minority enmeshed in a struggle for identity and survival in the midst of a then dominant Greco-Roman religious-cultural-political worldview that had little tolerance for Christians and Christianity. In the course of that struggle, early Christians slowly distanced themselves from Judaism and increasingly demonized Jews. The anti-Jewish theological tenets that were formulated in the early centuries of the church were carried over into a polity in which Christianity was the majority faith, which had dire consequences for Jews and for Christianity.
In many respects, Christians in the Middle East, and particularly in the Holy Land, find themselves today in a situation similar to that of the Christians in the first centuries of the Christian era. The Greco-Roman world has been replaced in the region by a Muslim-Arab religious-cultural-political worldview within which Christians struggle as minorities, as they have for centuries, to secure their place. Recently, a Jewish-Israeli religious-cultural-political worldview has re-established a presence on the local scene. As Palestinian Arab Christians write their theologies, they should follow closely the Western Jewish-Christian dialogue, so that, with the benefit of its findings, they may have the strength and wisdom to avoid the direction taken by early Christians in the formulation of their theological views on Jews and Judaism.
Several recent pioneering initiatives enhance hopes that a unique indigenous Jewish-Christian dialogue may finally blossom in the Holy Land. In May 2003, Archimandrite Emile Shoufani led a group of 150 Israeli Arabs and 150 Israeli Jews on a historic joint pilgrimage to Auschwitz. This widely publicized journey initiated by a prominent local Arab Greek Catholic (Melkite) priest has opened the hearts and minds of many Israeli Jews and aroused a healthy curiosity about the man and his community, which is the largest Arab Christian community in Israel today.
In November 2003, the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations was inaugurated to explore systematically the issues and substantively confront the challenges that arise from the unique encounter of Jews and Christians in the Holy Land today. The center is working with all segments of Israeli-Jewish society and the full range of indigenous Christian communities to combat ignorance and prejudice and to foster understanding and empathy between the Jewish majority and the local Christian minorities.
Finally, in December 2003, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, whose faithful include a majority of Arab Catholics and smaller numbers of Hebrew-speaking and expatriate Catholics, issued a document entitled Reflections on the Presence of the Church in the Holy Land. The section on Jews, Judaism and the State of Israel affirms that the official teaching of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church regarding Jews and Judaism is also the teaching of the patriarchate, noting that this teaching has to be applied and lived in the unique contemporary circumstances of the Holy Land in which Christians meet Jews as a dominant and empowered majority. The authors express regret for the attitudes of contempt, the conflicts and the hostility that have marked the history of Jewish-Christian relations and look forward, as I do, to the fraternal dialogue that can and must develop between Jews and Christians in the Holy Land within the specific context we share. | <urn:uuid:15a9a38a-a072-45c9-9dda-01cdb094aacd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americamagazine.org/node/146999 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949405 | 2,474 | 2.25 | 2 |
Pols tout Israel at RU student leaders’ event
Sen. Robert Menendez told the gathering that supporting Israel is in the best interests of the United States. Photo by Jacob Binstein
April 18, 2012
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ Dist. 6) made a strong case for United States-Israel ties at a student leadership dinner organized by Rutgers Hillel.
Speaking April 15 at the Cook Campus Center in New Brunswick, Menendez and Pallone spoke with affection about Israel, its strategic importance to the United States, the threats both countries face from Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the evils of anti-Semitism.
The dinner drew about 100 people, including representatives of 37 on-campus student organizations.
Gil Lainer, consul for public affairs at the Israeli consulate in New York, also took part in the event.
Menendez said that while the Palestinians have legitimate issues that can be resolved through a two-state solution, Israel stands virtually alone in seeking that peaceful solution.
“Israel voluntarily left Gaza and has already given up land for peace,” said Menendez. Israel remains a target for terrorist rockets and anti-Semitism promoted by Hamas in schoolbooks and media, he said, while Iranian leaders have threatened the country with annihilation.
The senator gave a brief overview of Israeli history, saying that Jews have had a continual presence in the land for thousands of years and have longstanding religious claims. After accepting the United Nations’ two-state solution, he reminded his audience, Israel was attacked by its Arab neighbors in 1948.
Pallone, whose legislative district includes the university’s New Brunswick-area campuses, admitted to having a romanticized view of Israel as a country “that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust.” But beyond such emotions, he said, the United States and Israel are united by shared values, including a history of serving as a haven for those persecuted in their native lands.
In addition, he said, “Israel’s security needs are very much linked to our own security needs.” Iran must be prevented from gaining nuclear capability. “This is a threat not just to Israel,” said Pallone. “If anything, Israel has done us a favor by making us aware of the threat to the U.S. and the rest of the world.”
Pallone quoted President Barack Obama in noting that soon “the last opportunity” for Iran to halt its nuclear program may be nearing; “we are running out of time,” he said.
If the United States feels it is out of options, the congressman said, “there might be a time either on behalf of Israel or in support of Israel” that America would take military action.
Menendez called the increase in worldwide anti-Semitism and attempts to delegitimize Israel “frightening.”
“Whether it’s on the Rutgers campus or in the West Bank, the demonization of Israel is counter to our values as a nation,” said Menendez. “That is why, as President Obama said, ‘We will always have Israel’s back.’”
The message resonated with student leaders. Hannah Johnson, a junior from Branchburg and president of the newly formed Christians United for Israel on campus, said she agreed with the speakers’ reasons for supporting Israel.
“Also as a Christian I feel an obligation to Israel and to stand with God’s chosen people,” she said. “As a Christian it is our holy land, too.”
Anthony Covington of Bordentown, a freshman newly elected to the Rutgers University Student Assembly, said the evening proved eye-opening.
“I’m not Jewish so I didn’t really know all that much about Israel and found the program very informative,” he said. “I didn’t know much about the alliance with America or the threat both countries are under from the Middle East. I didn’t know their existence was being so threatened.
“It made me feel great pride in my own country that we are standing with Israel and we are both working toward democracy.”
Crossing the line
U.S. SEN. ROBERT Menendez jumped into the fray over whether a satirical op-ed lampooning a campus pro-Israel activist crossed the line into anti-Semitism. The piece appeared in the April 4 edition of the Rutgers student publication The Medium.
Speaking at a student leadership dinner organized by Hillel, the senator decried the local and international growth of anti-Semitism, citing several synagogue firebombings in Bergen County. In one incident at Congregation Beth-El in Rutherford, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the bedroom window of the synagogue’s religious leader.
“An attack on a rabbi and his family is an attack on all of us,” said Menendez. “In our society we need to stand together against intolerance and that includes the Aaron Marcus incident here at Rutgers.”
The op-ed, purportedly written by Marcus, a senior political science major from West Orange, praised Adolf Hitler and the “good things” he did. A photograph of Marcus accompanied the piece.
A columnist for the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Targum, Marcus frequently writes in support of Israel. He is the main complainant in an ongoing probe alleging that the Rutgers administration has mishandled previous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incidents.
The publication of the satirical op-ed angered some Jewish organizations, including the Zionist Organization of America and the Anti-Defamation League, and prompted the university to launch a bias incident probe.
“The Marcus incident at Rutgers teaches us that words matter even when they are meant satirically,” said Menendez. “In my opinion, this article stepped over the line into anti-Semitism.”
Marcus, who was in attendance at the event, said he was surprised at being singled out. “I really had no idea I was going to be mentioned,” he said. “But it’s great. I’ve received a lot of support.”
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When it comes to workplace giving, data regarding its benefits is starting to stack up. When you consider that 46% of organisations experienced a decline in employee engagement in 2010 (Hewitt, 2010), and that, 86% of employees at organisations with high engagement agreed that they worked for an employer that was socially and environmentally responsible (2010 Hewitt Best Employers), it really does make you sit up and think.
In fact, 2010 engagement levels represented the largest decline in employee engagement research that Aon Hewitt has seen in the last 15 years. Not an encouraging outcome when you consider the wealth of research that already correlates engagement with improved profitability, innovation, and customer service.
So how do we help people become more engaged?
Although engagement is a complex beast, what we do know is that 79% of people prefer to work for a socially responsible company (Cone Millenial Cause Study), and that the second most important driver of employee engagement in North America is an organisation’s reputation in the community (Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study, 2008).
Although these findings may be surprising, a recent report from UWA showing that Western Australian businesses are well behind the rest of the country in terms of giving back also makes these results a little disturbing.
How can you get the most from your corporate giving – both for the community and your employees?
Giving money directly to charities and community groups can be noble, but often these gestures, although well meaning, can feel hollow and provide little satisfaction to your staff. The outcomes of monetary giving are often unclear to the giver, and there is certainly limited connection between the giving organisation and the benefits realised from the gift. Monetary giving has its place and its importance should in no way be underestimated, but when it comes to gaining organisational benefits, such as increased employee engagement from corporate giving, there may be better ways.
It is no surprise then that corporate volunteering is in the spotlight, and with good reason: team days based on giving back not only strengthen a constructive corporate culture, they also help with employee retention, engagement and work performance, and better embed your organisation in the community. A case in point is Atlas Iron’s recent community volunteering efforts.
The Atlas Iron 2011 Hedland Community Day
David Flanagan, Managing Director of Atlas Iron, is passionate about corporate giving and adamant that his employees and organisation benefit directly from their community engagement. Like a lot of organisations, Atlas Iron run an annual teambuilding day, but unlike a lot of organisations, Atlas’ day in 2011 focused entirely on volunteering.
In September 2011, over 200 Atlas staff and contractors descended on Port and South Hedland to contribute to a range of community projects in a one-day “blitz”. With Atlas’ presence in the Pilbara on the rise, David Flanagan wanted to give back to the people that don’t always gain directly from local mining activity.
“Ngayanhtharti” or “We Together” in the local Kariyarra language was the theme of the day, and volunteers from Atlas Iron joined with members from the local community across 5 locations and 4 primary schools to deliver some incredible outcomes.
Schools received a gift of their choice, with gifts ranging from BBQs to iPads - the latter being utilised at Cassia Primary School to assist speech impaired students to communicate more effectively. To add laughter and a little interaction, teams heading out to schools also engaged in a variety of other activities such as gardening work, assembly items and book readings – an activity that is unusually close to Atlas’ heart as employees penned a children’s book for Starlight Children’s Foundation last year.
Locations for more involved projects included the Tkalka Boorda Aboriginal Community, Lawson Street Youth Centre, Southern Cross Care, Youth Accommodation Program, and a building that the Hedland Community Living Association asked Atlas to turn into a radio studio.
Volunteers at Tkalka Boorda worked beside residents to install new play equipment, shade sails and swings at the local playground, provide a BBQ area, create basketball and netball courts, and plant trees – including fruit trees at every residence and mature trees in the newly re-developed park. Fortunately Atlas’ volunteers were not alone: as word got out about Atlas Iron’s plans Tkalka Boorda, numerous local service providers offered to be involved. There were donations of earth moving equipment and operators, trees, skip bins, concrete, scaffolding, and cherry pickers. Even the Council’s Parks and Gardens workers turned up on the day to assist by mowing lawns and pruning gardens and verges. The SES turned up to provide shade, water, and lunch-time catering, and got roped into helping install the 13x9m shade sail, while Variety took care of tea, coffee, sweet treats and the end-of day celebrations.
Other Atlas volunteers at Southern Cross Care created paved areas and wheelchair accessible garden beds, a BBQ pit, and a secret garden complete with shade sails, raised beds, water feature and 36m of lattice work.
Volunteers at the Lawson Street Youth Centre painted the centre inside and out, and delivered a new 6mx6m shed, while their colleagues at the nearby Youth Accommodation Program gave the youth housing complex a facelift with paint to all doors, ceilings and walls; a re-vamped and re-painted pergola with raised garden beds and shade blinds; and new beds, bedding, rugs and curtains.
The team at the community radio station installed furniture and audio baffling, and cleaned up a long uninhabited building to magically transform it to a radio studio, complete with offices and reception area – nothing short of a Cinderella-style transformation that left the Hedland Community Living Association crying tears of joy.
Of course, it’s impossible to talk about the day’s achievements without mentioning that Atlas Iron’s reputation in the Hedland Community is now at an all-time high, and that Atlas’ staff managed to connect with the community in a meaningful and personal way that simply can’t be replicated through monetary donations. Many volunteers had never entered an Aboriginal community, let-alone worked, laughed and played side-by-side with residents, and all volunteers bonded, planned, and worked hand-in-hand to deliver extraordinary results in a way that no traditional team-building event could match.
Corporate Volunteering – a new form of teambuilding
Atlas Iron is an ambitious business that likes to achieve what others deem impossible, and their volunteering day was no exception, but it’s important to remember that it doesn’t require 200 people to fly 1600km to reap corporate volunteering benefits. Perth abounds with social and environmental projects, and if corporates swapped traditional teambuilding days for team-based volunteering days, just imagine what could be achieved. And although the world we live in will benefit, so will your organisation’s community profile, corporate culture, employee satisfaction, and of course, employee engagement.
So, if we know that an organisation’s reputation in the community was the second most important driver of employee engagement, what was the first? Having executives that sincerely care about employee well-being. Anyone care to guess whether empathising, supporting, and sharing on a volunteering day helps managers hone those skills for better application in the workplace? Atlas Iron think it does, and we’re thinking they’re probably pretty much right. | <urn:uuid:db805e5e-8078-49dd-bf84-87efe91cb296> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.corporateteambuildingperth.com.au/_blog/News/calendar/2011/12/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954748 | 1,558 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Alcohol | Addictions | Mental Health
chemically dependent, suffering from COD (co-occurring disorders) -- i.e., a Dual-Diagnosis, needing or requiring rehabilitation for alcoholism, or are seeking treatment for mental illnesses. We provide addiction treatment recovery and multiple-therapeutic approaches to mental disorders, even extending to treatment for bipolar disorders and PTSD treatment.
Welcome to Morningside Recovery
Addiction Rehab, Treatment and Recovery
We believe every client can recover and learn how to manage both mental and emotional stability. Our approaches to the treatment of addiction, care for both mental illness and chemical dependency, are based on our years of experience -- all supported by clinical research in treating clients with chemical dependency and mood disorders. Our comprehensive modules for treatment are designed to meet an array of needs, and Morningside prides itself on being able to truly address the psychiatric needs of clients with co-occurring disorders and drug addiction. We give clients the best possible chance at long-term recovery and an improved quality of life. We do this by remaining open-minded and continually investing in the most advanced addiction treatment resources, redefining how medicine, technology, and therapy solutions best integrate.
Our dual-diagnosis treatment center offers a variety of programs and approaches for individuals and families suffering from alcoholism, drug addiction, and/or mental illness. All of our therapists adapt their skills to the specific needs of the client. Our client-centered, integrated treatment planning takes into account the client’s culture, values, and patterns of relating to others. All clients work with a primary therapist, an alliance built on evidence-based thinking, which means picking the best clinical option available for a given client in a given context based on the best current information. For instance, a client who prefers a spiritual approach can work with a 12-step therapist. It’s all about maintaining a supportive environment and providing individual, group, experiential, and adventure therapies. Some specific therapies include: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), motivational enhancement therapy, drama therapy, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT), Morningside Adventure Therapy (MAP), and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) – just to name a few. Utilizing this multi-disciplinary approach offers each client the opportunity to uncover the underlying issues related to their own addiction and/or mental health problems.
Treatment, Substance Abuse & Family Programs:
Addiction Recovery, Relationships and the Family
Morningside Recovery programs offer a continuum of care that starts with a full clinical assessment and moves each client to a place of responsibility for their recovery. Though often unrealized, the person with the addiction is the center of dysfunction. Families attend our Family Relationships workshops to learn about the familial roles in workshops and family therapy. They learn to identify who plays a particular role based on fear, guilt, and shame. By improving self-esteem, establishing a sense of purpose and formulating a sense of community, treatment at Morningside breaks the cycles of dysfunction. Clients find a new identity through work, school, and family reconnection. This solidifies a sustainable lifestyle of recovery that culminates in the family’s ability to self-manage emotional and behavioral serenity.
Dual Diagnosis & Mental Health Treatment: Co-occurring Disorders and Understanding Addiction
Unlike other treatment centers that merely post the latest key phrases on their website, Morningside truly specializes in co-occurring disorders. A co-occurring disorder refers to the presence of both a mental illness and a substance-use disorder. Research has demonstrated that 50% of all individuals diagnosed with a mental illness also have a substance abuse problem. More importantly, those suffering from co-occurring disorders are treated for all conditions simultaneously at Morningside. We offer both individual and group support, education, and family support during recovery. Helping a client go through assessment, on to early recovery, and achieve mental balance requires care, understanding, skill, and compassion. At Morningside, our clinicians incorporate all of these skills along with the latest evidence-based treatment approaches.
Our essential understanding of addiction is that it is broken or impaired choosing. An addicted brain has been altered in such a way that the drug has taken on psychological meaning at the level of survival, so that staying high or supplied with drugs is experienced as the solution to any life problem. The threat of the loss of the drug is experienced as a kind of psychic death that the individual will do nearly all to avoid. In turn, the addicted person is unable to make safe and sane choices until substance abstinence and recovery begin in earnest.
Private Rehab Facilities in Newport Beach:
Orange County, CA Drug Rehabilitation
Morningside Recovery understands the importance of privacy during the recovery process. Between the combination of our private individualized therapies and group therapies, Morningside is able to develop a clear understanding of each client’s rehabilitation needs and to serve those needs using our unique and successful treatment therapies. Morningside goes to great lengths to ensure that our clients' information is private, and that only those persons that the clients themselves permit will have access to such information.
Orange County, in Southern California, is a place of peace and serenity, which helps to offer the best temporal and scenic environment for the journey to recovery. The living environments are spacious and comfortable, offering satellite television and high-speed internet access. Morningside Recovery, nestled at the top of Newport Beach's Balboa Peninsula, CA, provides an ideal location for individuals continuing in the recovery process -- to experience an exclusive sober living environment, as well as enjoy the experiences Newport Beach has to offer.
Morningside Recovery: Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Accreditations & Memberships
Morningside Recovery's clinical facility is certified by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) -- PDF format. This certification is provided to programs which exceed minimum levels of service quality and are in susbstantial compliance with the State program standards. In addition, we are a member of NAATP (National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers). Also affiliated with AIS (Association of Interventionist Specialists) and NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), Morningside Recovery is devoted to helping our client residents in fostering a clear path to recovery and understanding drug addiction, as well as to providing hope and understanding to the families and friends of those suffering from alcoholism, co-occurring disorders, and/or drug addiction. Our memberships and affiliations with other organizations are proof and reassurance of the experience Morningside Recovery can provide our clients and their loved ones. We know sustainable recovery is possible when an internal shift occurs and a new lifestyle, a new perspective, develops. We are committed to helping families and individuals alike achieve an improved sense of emotional and mental well-being. This determined approach provides each client with an opportunity to find stability, to find recovery and to reconnect with family. Morningside provides a safe setting that promotes growth and allows a transition into a committed lifestyle of sustainable sobriety and recovery. | <urn:uuid:6bf22013-9f1d-4952-b5ea-697106cec555> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.morningsiderecovery.com/bipolar-disorder | 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 | 0.937019 | 1,466 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Do animals have the intelligence to match the wits of humans? Well, a new study may in fact support this claim. A new paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A of U.K. entitled “Do dolphins benefit from nonlinear mathematics when processing their sonar returns?”, written by Prof. Timothy G. Leighton of the University of Southampton, Paul R. White, and Gim Hwa Chua, has evidence that shows that dolphins may be using “nonlinear mathematics” to help it find and catch fish.
So what is “nonlinear mathematics?” By definition, it is a field of math that involves functions that are not directly proportional to each other. Many of us have dealt with nonlinear math in high school. Those ”polynomials” that plagued Algebra class and those ”differential equations” dreaded in Calculus class are all examples of nonlinear mathematics. It is used in fields such as chaos and wavelet theory, which analyze random values.
Now, you may be pondering, “Dolphins use calculus to find food?” This may seem a very complicated way to eat, but the answer is no. If dolphins were that smart, then the situation would be reversed and dolphins would be writing articles on genZbuzz about how humans are using math to catch fish. Instead, dolphins are using a clever ability known to many as “sonar” echolocation. They emit sound waves which bounce back to the receiver. On their way, the waves will be disrupted by objects, like fish, and dolphins can detect these disruptions to find food.
Yet, it is not that simple. While Leighton was watching the Discovery Channel’s “Blue Planet” series about oceans, he saw what looked like dolphins and other marine mammals creating bubble nets while they tried to catch fish. Why was this? Those bubbles would disrupt human sonar devices and should disrupt the dolphins’ too, right? Well, if that was right, then how could dolphins catch food? The bubbles were intentional; they blinded the prey and assisted the dolphins. | <urn:uuid:d78537e7-44d4-4bcc-be41-c164b1ee0ff2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://today.az/news/interesting/110697.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963088 | 441 | 3.6875 | 4 |
The 21st century has been a terrible century so far for US stock markets. Adjusted for inflation, all major stock market indices (Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ, Russell 3000) have been flat or down since the turn of the millennium.
Stock markets in general have been moving sideways since the 1990s. There's been lots of volatility, but not a lot of gain. That's a bit surprising, because for the past twenty years we've been living in the "shareholder value" era.
The idea that corporations should seek to maximize shareholder value - and nothing else - was born in the 1980s and rose to dominance in the 1990s.
Read More: The Public Intellectual Project
Before the 1990s, many people believed that corporations existed to produce useful goods, provide important services, generate meaningful employment and support vibrant communities. How quaint that sounds today.
After two decades of laser-beam focus on maximizing shareholder value, you'd think American corporations would be generating more value by now. They're certainly generating lots of profit. Why no value?
One answer is executive pay. While shareholder value has been sliding sideways, executive pay has gone through the roof. The AFL-CIO reckons that the ratio of chief executive pay to median worker pay rose from 42-1 in 1980 to 343-1 in 2010. The average S&P 500 CEO now makes over $10 million a year, according to a report from the Institute for Policy Studies.
Investors are unhappy. According to the Wall Street Journal, a recent survey by executive consultants Towers Watson shows that "companies that give their CEOs high pay opportunities are more likely to receive lower levels of shareholder support." You don't have to be an Occupy Wall Street protester to be angry over CEO pay.
But is CEO pay such a problem? The average S&P 500 company is thought to have made around $2 billion in profit in 2011, so $10 million for a chief executive will hardly break the bank. It's half a percent of the average company's profit.
Put another way, though, that half a percent is a staggering sum. An S&P 500 company is an enormous organization with thousands (or in a few cases, millions) of employees. The fact that one employee could rake in one two-hundredth of the firm's total profit is pretty extraordinary.
Take Walmart. Walmart made over $16 billion in profit in 2011. It paid its CEO, Michael Duke, just over $18 million. That's just over 0.1 percent, or one one-thousandth, of its profits. It doesn't sound like much, until you realize that Walmart has over two million employees.
Duke is a modest example. Take Robert Iger of Walt Disney. He made over $53 million in 2011. His company made $3.9 billion. Iger took home over 1 percent of Walt Disney's profits for the year, and that in a company of 156,000 employees.
The problem isn't the money. The problem is what these men - and 488 of the Fortune 500 CEOs are men - will do for the money. If history is any guide, they'll do anything. It's worth rolling the dice and risking bankruptcy for your company if the potential payoff is a multimillion dollar bonus.
Executives involved in many of the largest corporate collapses in American history were extraordinarily well paid. Richard Fuld (Lehman Brothers), Bernie Ebbers (Worldcom), Kerry Killinger (Washington Mutual), Kenneth Lay (Enron) and Stanley O'Neal (Merrill Lynch) all had seven-digit annual pay packages.
Moving beyond specific cases, research shows that high executive pay isn't systematically associated with better (or worse) performance. Instead, it seems to be driven by broad cultural change. Call it the premiumization of society.
Those who believe that the rich always get richer will be surprised to hear that CEO pay hardly increased at all from the 1930s through the 1970s. Research published in 2010 in the Review of Financial Studies by Carola Frydman of MIT and Raven E. Saks of the Federal Reserve shows that the average American CEO in the 1970s earned about 4 percent more than the average CEO did in the 1930s (adjusted for inflation).
Between the 1930s and the 1970s average earnings of ordinary Americans more than doubled, but CEO pay remained about the same. It actually fell from the 1930s through the 1960s. The post-war economic boom was accompanied by declining real (inflation-adjusted) CEO pay.
Frydman and Saks report that, since the 1970s, CEO pay has risen by a factor of eight. Pay for ordinary Americans, by contrast, has been stagnant. It's hard not to see a link.
Companies run by more highly paid CEOs don't do any better or worse than companies run by less highly paid CEOs, but as CEO pay has risen over time the pay of ordinary workers has fallen.
The issue isn't CEO performance; the issue is CEO greed.
In addition to their findings on trends in CEO pay, Frydman and Saks tracked the CEO "pay slice": the proportion of total executive team pay that goes to the CEO. The average CEO pay slice reached a minimum in the 1960s and has been expanding ever since.
In other words, it's not just that all executives are getting paid more. As I have reported elsewhere, between 1993 and 2006, CEOs at America's top 1,500 public companies received average annual raises of 8.8 percent per year, while their corporate seconds in command received annual raises averaging 5.4 percent, thirds in command 5.2 percent, fourths in command 5.0 percent and fifths in command 4.6 percent.
This is greed at its most glaring. And it's not just morally offensive. It's bad for companies as well.
A 2011 paper in the Journal of Financial Economics by Lucian A. Bebchuk, K.J. Martijn Cremers and Urs C. Peyer found that the CEO pay slice is associated with lower profitability, lower stock returns and a range of other negative outcomes. Greed is not good.
When chief executives are earning tens of millions of dollars a year for doing the same job as executives at other times and in other countries have done just as well for a fraction of the price, it's reasonable to ask "is CEO pay money well earned?"
Both morally and empirically, the obvious answer seems to be no. | <urn:uuid:8abfd95e-b178-4cdb-881f-7d2ca5b824a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.truth-out.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=8105&Itemid=228 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972122 | 1,341 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Find advice and help on keeping safe and healthy in the winter. This section includes practical safety advice for Christmas and New Year, to help you enjoy festive celebrations.
There is also advice on how to keep warm and well in your home. Find out about the help and support that is available for older and disabled people.
In this section...
Keep Warm Keep Well - for advice on how to protect yourself from the effects of cold weather go to the NHS website using the link from this page.
For information about winter seasonal flu and free NHS Flu Jabs for over 65s and other high risk groups, go to our Doctors, Hospitals and NHS Services section.
Our links from this page have further information on keeping well and healthy eating in winter, and winter ailments including the Winter Vomiting Virus. | <urn:uuid:b9d4a27d-ee93-4c1c-aaca-02f92ffee42b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/health/advice/winter/?vAction=swpTextOnly | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95313 | 164 | 2.03125 | 2 |
With our base being in the Costa del Sol and with access to a hire car it meant we could explore some of the region beyond just our immediate location. For one of our trips we paid a visit to the beautiful historical city of Ronda.
Ronda is one of the oldest cities in Spain dating back to prehistoric times and is stunning, as the old part of the city is situated on a rocky ledge. The current Ronda's origins date from Roman times when it was an important commercial area. Ronda also has a lot of Islamic architectural heritage thanks to the Moorish influence on much of this part of Spain.
As well as being well known for its historical beauty Ronda is particularly famous for its bullring which dates from the 18th century and for the New Bridge. The latest bridge being built in 1793, is not really that new any more, but is a remarkable piece of architecture spanning the valley below Ronda.
|Outside the Bullring|
Before heading to the old part of the city we visited the famous Bullring. I'm not a fan of bull fighting and would never want to go and see one but the ring and the history of it is very much a part of what this city is famous for and is a big tourist draw.
The Bullring was built at the end of the 18th century, with the first fight taking place in 1785. As you can see from the photo below the views over the surrounding mountains and countryside from the Bullring really were very impressive. I have to admit to appreciating the open spaces all the more for the complete contrast it provided to Singapore.
Until I visited I had no real idea (or given any thought to) how big a Bullring is but this one, at least, seemed huge and just a little intimidating as you walked out into it. As well as being able to walk in the Bullring there was also a bull fighting museum and a collection of harnesses and livery from the Royal House of Orleans. These were used on the carriages of the Duke of Montpensier, one of the sons of King Louis Phillippe of France who lived in Andalucia from 1846. The museum gives an insight into the history of bullfighting and is also home to some beautiful matador costumes, paintings, engravings and a collection of original posters announcing bullfights.
|View from the Bullring|
We also saw the antique fire-arms collection which included pieces from various Royal armouries in Europe, as well as hunting and duelling pistols. Finally our tour took us to something which, for me at least, was a bit more interesting then the armouries, the School of Equestrianism. When we visited there was sadly no riding taking place but the school teaches and trains riders in classic horse riding and if you visit at the right time you can watch the daily schooling of horse and rider.
|Tile detail from the steps inside the Bullring leading to the seating|
By the time we left the Bullring and museum I think we were all pretty exhausted as it was a blisteringly hot day and there was not a lot of shelter in the outside parts of the complex. However as I mentioned Ronda is also known for its beautiful old city and fortunately the Bullring is located just a short walk from that.
I have to say I'm glad we made the effort to visit that too and if I ever return, having now visited the Bullring, I'd like to concentrate on exploring more of the old city that we did not see. To enter the old part of the city we walked across the New Bridge which spans the deepest part of the gorge of Ronda over the River Guadalevin. There has been a bridge there since the 16th century though this one dates from 1793. The room that you can see on the bridge in the photo below (where the window is) was once used as a prison.
As I said we were tired by this point and consequently only saw a small part of the old city but what we did was full of beautiful buildings, narrow streets and quiet courtyards with peaceful cafes to dream away a hot summer's day. It's a really lovely place and somewhere I hope to return to again someday.
|The New Bridge|
|View from the New Bridge|
|View from the New Bridge| | <urn:uuid:305ef968-b847-4d6c-aef2-0de50e9372eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.expatadventuresinsingapore.com/2012/09/ronda.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981932 | 892 | 1.8125 | 2 |
From Our 2011 Archives
Michael Douglas: Throat Cancer Survivor
Latest Cancer News
Douglas 'Tumor Free,' Next 3 Years Critical
By Daniel J. DeNoon
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
"This is a very, very, very, good sign," says throat cancer expert Gady Har-El, MD, chair of head and neck surgery at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital. Har-El is not involved in Douglas's treatment.
Based on details Douglas made public in an interview with Today show host Matt Lauer, Har-El says Douglas has made the first step on the road to recovery: what doctors call a "complete response" to treatment.
"Obviously Mr. Douglas is not completely out of the woods because there is a chance of tumor recurrence," Har-El tells WebMD. "As time goes by, his odds get better. If he has no evidence of disease in the next three years, his chances of cure are extremely high."
As Douglas told Lauer, he will get physical exams every month. Every six to 12 months, the scans will be repeated.
Douglas appears to have had a large tumor -- too large to remove by surgery. His throat cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, had reached a dangerously late stage.
Unfortunately, oropharyngeal cancer is becoming more and more common. Smoking, and, to a lesser extent, drinking are risk factors for the disease. But the disease also is caused by HPV, the sexually transmitted virus that causes genital warts and cervical cancer. HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, Har-El says, tends to be more readily curable.
The bad news, Douglas says, is that his salivary glands aren't working properly. Radiation treatment for oropharyngeal cancer kills the tumor but also blasts the salivary glands.
Har-El says Douglas' salivary-gland function likely will improve over time, but that it may never fully recover. Most people, he says, don't fully appreciate how difficult it is to be unable to salivate normally.
"How does it feel to swallow without saliva? Take a bagel, put butter on it, then dip it in beach sand and try to eat it," Har-El says. "It is very rough and has effects on the teeth, on swallowing, and on speech. It does get better with time, but in most cases doesn't go back to full recovery."
SOURCES: Today show web site.Gady Har-El, MD, chairman, department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York.
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:db71d22c-fb94-41cd-b6f0-592484e293b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=124612 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961896 | 571 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Posts Tagged ‘methane’
The South Korean government has signed a MOU with oil refiner SK Energy and SK Engineering & Construction to build world’s first hydrogen station that will be able to extract hydrogen from methane emitted by landfills.
Human waste could be an important source of “green” electricity for cooking and heating if it is converted into methane. Hundreds of thousands of people could benefit from this amazing source of energy. For this reason United Utilities is planning a £4.3 million scheme to build sewage treatment plants that can generate sewage gas for [...]
Lunen, a German town north of Dortmund, will become the world’s first town powered by biogas generated from cow and horse manure. In addition, the local authorities are also planning to use organic material from local farms in the process which would generate electricity for 90,000 inhabitants.
A team of Penn State engineers have discovered how to produce methane from carbon dioxide and water. The engineers claim that this new process could convert electricity into methane, using methanogenic microorganisms commonly founded in dumps and marshes. | <urn:uuid:c94d3cb1-0d5a-4826-9d5e-312e523b4ad6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eco-trees.org/tag/methane/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94558 | 229 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Parking Facilities Management
Councils are typically responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient number of parking spaces available throughout a municipality to serve the needs of residents and visitors. This may be accomplished by:
- providing on-street parking;
- constructing off-street car parks;
- requiring that developments include enough parking spaces to serve their tennants and/or customers;
- setting and enforcing parking restrictions;
- maintaining line marking & signage associated with parking facilities.
page revision: 1, last edited: 25 Jul 2012 01:04 | <urn:uuid:97fd1488-a1d7-4f10-a325-b66980a6df0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lgam.wikidot.com/parking-facilities-management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92969 | 111 | 2.3125 | 2 |
It is amusing to listen to the dire saber rattlings coming from Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s about a threatened downgrade of the U.S. dollar by those two rating agencies. They can threaten until the cows come home and it can’t possibly compare to the what the Federal Reserve and offical Washington are doing to undermine the credibility of the dollar all by themselves.
The dollar would be slipping from its perch and rather quickly except for one thing, the rest of the world is in even worse shape than the U.S. It is just that their standard of living is so much lower than the U.S. standard, they haven’t felt it as much. China, the world’s No. 2 economy, and Japan, the world’s No. 3 economy, have their own troubles which should keep the U.S. atop the heap unless someone like Norway or Sweden figures out how to divest itself of its portion of the PIIGS’ debt. The PIIGS you might recall are the troubled Euro Union states of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain.
But the dollar is slipping and you need look no further than the rates being charged for U.S. debt in the credit default swaps (CDS) arena. CDS is a means of the bond-buyer to get some insurance that the bond will actually be paid when it matures. There seems to be some doubt the U.S. is a good bargain anymore. Just like auto insurance goes up when a bad driver or a drunken driver try to obtain it, so CDS rates go up when some country has more debt outstanding than it can possibly pay like the U.S.
For a contrast in rates, look at Norway and Greece. Greece is one of the infamous PIIGS and has defaulted several times before. Greece has a CDS rate on its bonds 1000 times higher than Norway. While Greece and Norway have the same amount of issued debt each year, by comparing the countries’ GDP to the debt, the gap becomes unspannable for insurers. Greece’s annual debt is running 14% of GDP, while Norway’s debt totals less than 14% of its GDP. Greece could default as soon as the new bailout is spent. Norway isn’t going to have much trouble paying its debt until the North Sea oil is exhausted.
CDS rates on U.S. debt is higher than what Norway is being charged because the U.S. is close to 100% of its GDP in debt. But both Norway and the U.S. have AAA ratings from the two aforementioned agencies. But to show how little regard there is for the U.S. and its clueless band of leaders, Norway, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland Finland and the Netherlands all have lower interest rates on CDS than the U.S. This despite the fact all of those countries are facing the prospect of contributing to the bailouts of the PIIGS. How clueless does that make our merry band of leaders?
Another odd fact is the U.S. bond sales ratio of demand. Supposedly the U.S. has a 2.80 rating (meaning there are 14 bidders for every five bonds). This is a puzzle until you remove those agencies (banks, corporations, etc) which have an inside line on Treasury funds from Tim Geithner). When you remove those Treasury-aided bidders the ratio drops to 9:10, meaning some would go untaken and the U.S. would be in a deep pile of dung, forcing the rating services to immediately drop the U.S. status. In summation, the U.S. would like you to think the bond sales are going well but they, as the dealer, have stacked the deck. If you don’t believe this then please forward a logical explanation of the bailout repayment by GM when said company hasn’t been able to sell much more than 43% of the vehicles it has built over the past two years.
The impending debt ceiling fiasco also weighs in on CDS rates. America is just as unlikely to resist a raising of the debt limit as other countries so the CDS rate will keep rising until this issue is resolved either by Congress actually getting a grip on spending or the public passes an amendment forbidding our leaders from taking us into more debt.
What is fiction in the debt debate in Washington is the notion not raising the debt ceiling means default. Not raising the debt ceiling merely means Congress will have to live within its means and not spend more than it takes in taxes. Since maturing debt is already on the books as debt (unless those integrity-filled officials have figured a way to hide some of the debt) the Treasury can roll over new debt to take care of the old debt as this doesn’t raise the debt ceiling. What this cannot do is pay the interest on those maturing bonds. This has to be done within the tax collections. This is turn means a drastic cut in program spending for Congress because they will have to pay for over $800B in debt service without issuing new debt.
But the political bickering will mean U.S. CDS rates will rise because all that dirty laundry will be exposed for all to see. America’s creditors will see that America, like Greece or any other PIIGS, hasn’t the stomach to tackle its enormous debt issue.
This si the heart of the CDS problem. Government debt, no matter how high the rates go, is unstoppable. Just as a drunk will continue to drink and drive, so too will governments spend more than they receive. Insuring against the inevitable wreck means the rates have to become prohibitive.
U.S. debt is far worse than anyone in Washington will admit. Much like it juggles facts to arrive at unemployment levels or inflation rates that are as friendly to the current office holders as possible, so too is is the debt figure parsed out in such minute increments as to be ludicrous. Congress finally appears to be worried that national debt is surpassing GDP, as redefined from WWII GDP. But even using the new, expanded GDP as a base, U.S. debt is running about 14% or the same rate as Greece. But while Greece is slowing its rate, even with a declining GDP, the U.S. rate is increasing.
To get a glimpse of where the U.S. is headed with this fact-altering base, look to the Far East. China gives the appearance of a free market but the Chinese government has vastly inflated its GDP by building cities that no one lives in with a supporting infrastructure no one uses, just to boost GDP and give an appearance of a booming economy. China can’t even feed its swarming hordes and very few have even reached the comfort of the U.S. poverty line.
Japan’s once racing economy has been on the skids ever since the early ’90s and a “green economy” was tried. Japan is now skidding towards default, the brakes fully on the economy but Japan lacks the capacity to restrict its entitlement programs and the skid towards default continues. The sense of desperation coming from the Japanese economy is almost palpable.
The fundamental economic cycles require massaging every so often. But in the U.S. the massage need is growing more frequent as government interferes. From a 50-year cycle to a 30, from a 30 to a 10, from a 10 to a constant effort, the cycle has to be allowed to run its course. We now spend so much effort on the massage, we have nothing left for anything else. The sheer fatigue starts with a vicious ratcheting up of interest rates.
Like insurance actuaries know all about the risks of a drunk driver, so CDS gurus figured out the economic disaster the U.S. was headed for after the first returns from LBJ’s Great Society began trickling in. It is inevitable…the mail just came in and, rats, Uncle Sam’s CDS rate just ticked up again.
(Next Up: The 4th part of this series will look at the modern gold rush and probable government response.)
I am humbled by the tremendous response received back during the first two stages of this series. Thank you for your support. | <urn:uuid:9916d8b6-7007-455b-aaa6-e8470906d186> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greeleygazette.com/press/?p=10490 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965762 | 1,726 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Did you know?
Did you know that more mature phalaenopsis orchid plants that are used to produce cut flowers?
Did you know that Germany consistently produces some of Europe's best cut garden roses?
Did you know that standing on a piece of carpet or rubber mat helps prevent sore feet?
Did you know that you should never attempt to remove pollen from clothing with your hands?
Did you know that when doing a bridal cake design you should always consider the size of the cake when creating your concept?
Did you know that gloriosa are now available in white? Ask your supplier for details!
Did you know that you should sterilise your glass test tubes after use? A simple rinse will not ensure that all bacteria have been removed and if you donít clean the tubes properly, you may be effectively killing off your new flowers.
Did you know that one of the best French tulips is called 'Maureen'?
Did you know that you can air dry the foliage of the strelitzia?
Did you know that when attaching fresh flowers using florists cold glue, you should always seal the cut stem with glue first?
Did you know that begonia flowers can be used in bridal bouquets?
Did you know that although you can find it all year round, the best quality Dutch-grown astrantia are available from April to the end of September? | <urn:uuid:f8650cc4-b925-446c-9ee4-216abea9915c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fusionflowers.com/section.php/6/1/did_you_know/5f3560e932c6ad1f9cbfb657d9aa1167 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946241 | 290 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Join our community of over 636,893 engineers and 206,196 CAD files
This is a cylinder head for a 1975 Bultaco 250cc Pursang motorcycle. This is the start of my project to model the entire motocross bike. The Bultaco Pursang was my favor motorcycle to ride & race.
Rich - In my search for information for the Bulltaco, I discovered that there are 4 long studs and 2 short ones for a total of 6 head nuts. If the model you have is incorrect, I can upload the correct version.
That's why I was asking, I look at the photo you have posted, and it has 6 head bolt holes on top, and when I open your STEP file I see 6 holes on top, but when I rotate it to look at the bottom, I see 8 holes. That's what has me confused.
I just redownloaded the STEP file. When I look at the bottom I still see 8 holes, but the two most outer holes towards the flat sides maybe just the gasket that has the holes. When I tilt it back and forth, I only see 6 holes with edges that look like they go all the way threw. I was thinking this had thsame bolt pattern as my Skidoo 670 head.
Please log in to add comments. | <urn:uuid:e3b33d3c-4764-41b2-b117-4525b074774d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://grabcad.com/library/bultaco-250-head | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961323 | 271 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Asthma is a condition in which the airways become swollen, causing reduced airflow to the lungs. When this happens it is hard to breathe. When symptoms are intense or additional symptoms appear, this is an asthma attack. There is no cure for asthma. Even when you feel fine, you still have the disease.
Care You Should Expect to Receive – High quality asthma care includes treatments and information to help control symptoms and decrease your risk for future asthma attacks.
Symptoms of asthma may include:
- Coughing that gets worse at night and in the early morning
- Chest tightness (like someone is sitting on your chest)
- Shortness of breath
- Wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe)
How Will This Help Me? When patients receive high quality care, their asthma is under control and they can live a full and active life. They are less likely to experience symptoms and asthma attacks, or go to the hospital for treatment. | <urn:uuid:f13a8857-eee5-4dd5-ae6a-871754431fb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mnhealthscores.org/?p=profile&sf=group&category=23&name_id=643 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956503 | 198 | 3.25 | 3 |
Sara Banerji was born in 1932 in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, in England. One of her ancestors is Henry Fielding, the 18th century author who wrote The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.
In 1939, when Banerji was 7, World War II began, and she was evacuated to various large and old country mansions. Her father, Basil Mostyn, fought in the war.
After the war was over, Banerji emigrated with her family to Southern Rhodesia. The family lived in a single mud rondavel with no electricity or running water.
Banerji later travelled all around Europe, visiting various places. She worked as an au pair and also attended art school in Austria. She has also worked as an artist, and has held exhibitions of her oil paintings in India. She also taught riding whilst in India, and has been a jockey. She is also a sculptress, and has previously been a waitress.
Banerji worked in a coffee bar in Oxford, where she met her future husband, Ranjit Banerji, who was an undergraduate from India. He was a customer in the coffee bar. They married and moved to India, where they lived for seventeen years. Banerji attempted to run a dairy farm, which was defeated by monsoons and heavy seasons of rain.
Tell others about this author | <urn:uuid:881d0c9a-10ef-49f0-a7f1-2b7dfdc0d9d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bloomsbury.com/author/sara-banerji | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.993385 | 284 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Western North Dakota is changing at an overwhelming pace, forcing our state's outdoorsmen to grudgingly adjust. Some might, some won't. Change is not always all good.
From buttes and breaks dotted with junipers, from sprawling sagebrush flats bordered by coveted cropland to the open and rolling hills of the National Grasslands, the "west" has been both a wonder and a shining jewel for many North Dakotans. It is our identity, our source of pride, a place to marvel about and a part of our state that has always provided a pleasant escape from computer screens and paved roads.
Today the rugged land brought to national attention by the likes of the dashing Marquis De Mores and the colorful and uniquely descriptive writings of Theodore Roosevelt, is undergoing a rapid transition that is clashing head-on with our sportsmen and our wildlife. Sportsmen who used to brag about making a trip to western North Dakota, be it among the rugged buttes or rolling plains dotted with countless potholes, invoked jealousy among those so informed.
Kim Fundingsland is a staff writer for The Minot Daily News.
Mention a trip to western North Dakota today and you are just as likely to hear the reply "you must be kidding" or "don't you know what's happening out there?" Wishing a western North Dakota hunter "good luck" now refers to staying safe on the roadways rather than to the success of outing.
For many sportsmen who have enjoyed our state's unmatched quality of hunts in the west, the age of reckoning appears to be here. The number of people that have migrated into western North Dakota is rising too rapidly to track with accuracy. Hard-to-believe population predictions aside, state sportsmen who have relished their time in the western part of our state for reasons of their own choosing, whether it be for birds or big game or just to get away, readily ascertain that words like "remote" and "pristine" no longer have the same meaning in much of western North Dakota that they had as little as a few seasons ago.
Is it a land lost? Not entirely. But it is a land changed by one of the biggest energy booms the United States has ever experienced. For those residents who have watched it happen, it is difficult to imagine it can ever return to the attraction coveted primarily because of unblemished acres that bond us to our heritage.
Teddy Roosevelt had it right a number of years ago when he recognized the importance of setting aside certain lands for the preservation of certain wildlife and habitat. Today the two units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park border the developing oil boom, reminding us that we have an obligation to our past and to our future.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. | <urn:uuid:93e0d073-0b41-4425-87fa-74510b5fc927> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/562732/COLUMN--Trends--truths-in-western-North-Dakota.html?nav=5012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95707 | 571 | 1.875 | 2 |
Deciding what to eat is no longer a simple matter of instinct and appetite. Every choice we make about the food we put on our plates is complicated. Is meat good or bad for me? Is buying local always best? Is organic worth it? WHAT TO EAT asks all these questions - and more: some are specific, going back to the nature of particular foods such as milk, meat and fish. Some are more general and challenging, examining the green and the good at a time when money is short and choices matter. The book also offers answers. This is a refreshingly practical guide to the stuff of every day living, from the ingredients up: the cereals for breakfast; the cheese and tomato in a high-street sandwich; the sausages for supper. Journeying through science, nature and the dark arts of the food industry, Hattie Ellis exposes the myths and unveils the truth about how food is produced, what gives us most value for money, what it does to us, and what we have done to it. | <urn:uuid:f3999040-8b22-490d-acfb-66c30f52fe6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westbooks.com.au/Public/TitleDetail.aspx?hISBN13=&hTitleID=4271489 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955482 | 212 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Today is Sunday, Dec. 13, the 347th day of 2009. There are 18 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Dec. 13, 1862, Union forces suffered a major defeat to the Confederates in the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg.
On this date:
In 1642, Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sighted present-day New Zealand.
In 1769, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H., received its charter.
In 1835, Phillips Brooks, the American Episcopal bishop who wrote the words to "O Little Town of Bethlehem," was born in Boston.
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first chief executive to visit Europe while in office.
In 1928, George Gershwin's musical work "An American in Paris" had its premiere, at Carnegie Hall in New York.
In 1944, during World War II, the U.S. cruiser Nashville was badly damaged in a Japanese kamikaze attack that claimed more than 130 lives.
In 1978, the Philadelphia Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, which went into circulation in July 1979.
In 1981, authorities in Poland imposed martial law in a crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement. (Martial law formally ended in 1983.)
In 1994, an American Eagle commuter plane crashed short of Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, killing 15 of the 20 people on board.
In 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces while hiding in a hole at a farmhouse in Adwar, Iraq, near his hometown of Tikrit.
Ten years ago: In a spirited presidential campaign debate, Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain fought over tax policy and farm subsidies, while McCain was pushed to defend his centerpiece campaign finance proposals. A group of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service detainees, mostly Cubans, took the warden of the St. Martin Parish Jail in Louisiana and three guards hostage, demanding freedom. (Two hostages were released as two detainees surrendered on Dec. 15; the remaining hostage-takers surrendered Dec. 18.)
Five years ago: A jury in Redwood City, Calif., recommended the death penalty for Scott Peterson for the murders of his wife and unborn child. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe resigned. A Chilean judge indicted former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet on charges of kidnapping nine political dissidents and killing one of them during his 17-year military regime. (However, Pinochet never faced trial, and died in 2006 at age 91.)
One year ago: The White House weighed its options for preventing a collapse of the troubled U.S. auto industry. Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy after guiding the highest-scoring team in major college football history to the national championship game.
Today's Birthdays: Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz is 89. Actor-comedian Dick Van Dyke is 84. Actor Christopher Plummer is 80. Country singer Buck White is 79. Music/film producer Lou Adler is 76. Movie producer Richard Zanuck is 75. Singer John Davidson is 68. Actress Kathy Garver ("Family Affair") is 64. Rock musician Ted Nugent is 61. Rock musician Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is 61. Country musician Ron Getman is 61. Actor Robert Lindsay is 60. Country singer-musician Randy Owen is 60. Actress Wendie Malick is 59. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is 59. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is 56. Country singer John Anderson is 55. Singer-songwriter Steve Forbert is 55. Singer-actor Morris Day is 53. Actor Steve Buscemiis 52. Actor Johnny Whitaker is 50. Actor-comedian Jamie Foxx is 42. Actor Bart Johnson is 39. TV personality Debbie Matenopoulos is 35. Rock singer-musician Thomas Delonge is 34. Actor James Kyson Lee is 34. Actress Chelsea Hertford is 28. Rock singer Amy Lee (Evanescence) is 28. Country singer Taylor Swift is 20.
Thought for Today: "A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few." _ Judge Learned Hand, American jurist (1872-1961).
Fox News' Roger Ailes: Administration's Excuses Won't Work, Americans Died For Press Freedom | Katie Pavlich | <urn:uuid:a0979585-1250-4980-b391-60374b700af9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://townhall.com/news/us/2011/11/03/today_in_history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947451 | 919 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Jane Jacobs left New York City in 1968 and went into self-imposed exile in Canada. Yet when she died April 25 at the age of 89 in Toronto, she was remembered as one of the greatest advocates of New York City’s urbanism. While the rest of the country thought of New York as too densely developed, overcrowded, and dangerous, Jane Jacobs wrote passionately about how its density and diversity made the city livable and exciting.
In a nation that was mostly rural in 1898 when the City of New York was created, the American Dream was small town America and the big city was its nightmare. Jane Jacobs helped retire the myths of the big city.
Jacobs didn’t just wake up one morning in 1961 and write her classic book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities – today, required reading for architects, urban planners and everyone who study cities. Her ideas arose from her lived experience on Hudson Street, in Manhattan’s West Village, and from her years of active struggle to protect her neighborhood from the city’s grandiose urban renewal plans. A nemesis of Robert Moses, the city’s development czar, she saw the city’s planners call lively human-scale neighborhoods “slums” and “blighted,” then bulldoze them. They were replaced by dull high rises set in wide-open wastelands without a street life – the modernist model of the “tower in the park.” She fought and helped kill the Lower Manhattan Expressway and an urban renewal plan for her own neighborhood. Her book, released in 1961, resonated with the thousands of activists who were fighting battles against urban renewal, highways that cut through the hearts of cities, and grandiose megaprojects. Thus, her brilliant insights are best understood in their historical context, as contributions to the struggles to save neighborhoods from orthodox urban planning.
Jacobs saw incredible richness and diversity in neighborhoods that development-hungry planners disqualified as chaotic and dysfunctional. Of course, she had no financial stake in seeing her neighborhood leveled, and perhaps because of that there was a fundamental difference in the way she perceived the city. Cities aren’t just physical forms but rich landscapes for social and economic relations among people. How do people use the streets and sidewalks? How do the people who work in industries, retail customers, tenants and homeowners interact and coexist with one another? By asking these questions she came upon principles of physical planning that were embedded in the built environment. These relations, which at one point she likened to a “symphony,” and not the abstract visions of planners and developers, were for her the starting point for planning.
Jane Jacobs’ remarkable catalog of urban treasures has inspired generations of urban professionals searching for alternatives to the modernistic bombast and monumentalism that created sterile downtowns, isolated public housing, and sprawled suburban enclaves. Her work contributed to the flourishing of the neighborhood preservation movements, and influenced many other progressive New York urbanists including City Planning commissioners from Beverly Moss Spatt in the 1960s to Ron Shiffman in the 1990s, both advocates of decentralized planning involving neighborhoods. Author Roberta Gratz (The Livable City) and William Whyte, founder of Project for Public Spaces, carried forward many of her ideas. Indeed, there aren’t too many professional planners of all stripes who don’t acknowledge in some way her important contributions.
The city’s fiscal crisis in the 1970s and the federal government’s withdrawal of funds for large urban renewal and public works projects created fertile ground for Jacobs’ alternative way of seeing the city. After Robert Moses retired, government austerity left no money for ambitious public projects or for aggressive urban planners that would reincarnate the master builder. With widespread neighborhood abandonment, professionals had to search for ways to improve communities using the resources that were already there. Organizers and activists in community-based organizations, consciously or not, followed Jacobs’ approach of strengthening the human bonds in neighborhoods and building on existing assets. The city’s housing agency created neighborhood preservation programs. The city created a Landmarks Commission in 1965 that would help protect historic buildings and districts. And the City Planning Department later initiated contextual zoning to encourage new development in context with the existing built form. While all of these initiatives have their limitations, and some of them are used mostly to protect exclusive enclaves, they are part of a toolkit of measures that can be used to protect everything valuable in neighborhoods.
One area in which Jacobs’ admonitions have been mostly ignored is in planning for streets and sidewalks. She showed how mixing pedestrians, cars and bicycles and encouraging an active street life was important to livable neighborhoods. The city’s Department of Transportation, however, is mostly dedicated to moving as many vehicles as quickly as possible through streets. For the most part, the same logic applies to sidewalks. Jacobs felt that having many “eyes on the street” contributed to a lively and safe environment. That means encouraging people to move slowly, stop, talk, and “hang out,” and slowing vehicular traffic.
As happens with many great thinkers, Jane Jacobs is cited by real estate developers and planners who interpret her work in ways she might well question. For example, Alexander Garvin, influential urban planner in New York City, was quoted in the April 27 New York Times as saying The Death and Life of Great American Cities, “changed my life.” Yet Garvin’s reputation is as a pragmatic planner who tries to find better ways to accommodate new development, not community preservation. For example, he was the author of the city’s ambitious Olympics 2012 plan that created sports venues sharply disconnected from neighborhoods. Jane Jacobs on many occasions spoke up against such megaprojects in Toronto.
The New Urbanism is a recent trend in urban planning and architecture that proposes re-creating traditional, walkable communities following the model of 19th Century small-town America. But contrary to many of her critics, Jacobs wasn’t a nostalgic looking to idealize the old. The sterile New Urbanist experiments like Seaside and Celebration in Florida are a far cry from the bustling diversity that Jacobs saw in her West Village.
Jane Jacobs was hardly a traditionalist. She was truly a rebel. She dared to look lovingly and with care at her neighborhood. She stood up to the powerful Robert Moses. She criticized racial discrimination in housing and employment (for example, in her book The Economy of Cities, she cites W.E.B. DuBois and goes on to criticize the inadequacy of programs to aid minority contractors). Her family’s opposition to the war in Vietnam drove her to self-exile in Canada. And ever since then she supported progressive planning, and good hearty urban protest, throughout North America. She most recently sent a message of solidarity to community groups in Greenpoint/Williamsburg (Brooklyn) fighting the city’s massive waterfront rezoning project. Jane Jacobs was a true New Yorker.Tom Angotti is Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College, City University of NY, editor of Progressive Planning Magazine, and a member of the Task Force on Community-based Planning. | <urn:uuid:30099350-654c-4d44-bc84-0617f3ad93a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/topics/3233-jane-jacobs-and-new-york | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964914 | 1,498 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Hull is the only UK city with its own independent telephone network company, Kingston Communications. This is why you'll see that instead of having red telephone boxes like the rest of the UK, the cities phone boxes are a distinctive cream colour.
Chip shops in Hull seem have some quirks you don't find out of Yorkshire.
Scraps- for those who can't afford to buy chips you ask for scraps which is all the left over fried bits of batter. Don't be surprised if you're asked 'D yeh wan eni scraps wie dat?' (Would you like any scraps with that?)
American Chip Shop Spice - I've not seen this marvel out of East Yorkshire. I think it's a mixture of celery salt, paprika and powdered onion, well that's what it tastes like to me. American Chip Shop Spice
Cod - not very popular, as most fishing towns know, cod is a dirty fish so we all eat Haddock instead. Cod is a bottom feeder, quite often to be found close to sewage outlets. Plus that fact that they are becoming an environmentally unstable source.
Patties - these are mashed potato with herbs and spices, dipped in bread crumbs and fried. I've asked for them in other cities and get something completely different.
Wrapped in Newspaper - there is one company that still wraps in newspaper, but I can't tell you here as it's some EU law that it's now illegal, I don't want the place fined! Most other places will just wrap in newsprint (the same paper type but blank) Also at Hull fair you can usually get it in Newspaper, it's not Hull fair if the vinegar and the steam doesn't leave you're hands black with the print.
They're always busier on a Friday, all those Catholics in Hull who don't believe in eating meat on a Friday will frequent a chippy.
Kingston upon Hull is in the unusual position of having it's own telecommunications company. Since 1914, it has been the only private operator of local telephone services apart from the giant of BT (British Telecom).
Kingston communications have also held onto may of the 'traditional' Gilbert Scott designed public telephone boxes. Many regard these things as icons of the British way of life, alongside cricket and warm beer.
In Hull, However, they are cream. As opposed to the traditional fire-engine Red.
Hull is the only city in the UK with its own phone company, Kingston Communications, hence the cream coloured phone boxes.
KC was formed in 1910 and gives its services to over 185,000 subscribers today.
"The Vikings arrived in the 9th Century and carved the county up into 'thrithings' or thirds. These 'Thirds' would later be called the North, East and West Ridings. These administrative boundaries remained intact for well over one thousand years.
Each Riding appears to have its own specific form of dialect. The West Riding dialect is considered to have a hard, almost brash sound to it. This is seen by some as a reflection of the hardships endured by those employed within the mills.
The North and East Ridings by comparison are seen as having a much softer spoken dialect, quite possibly because it was used by farmers and others from tiny rural communities.
A good example of the hard and soft sound that differentiates the West and North/East Ridings is the word 'father'. In the West Riding it's pronounced 'fatther,' which is quite hard. Whereas people from the North/East Ridings pronounce it much softer as in, 'feyther,' or 'faather'.
However, there's one peculiarity of our regional dialect that is common in all three regions. Regarded by some an absolute treasure, it's known as the 'glottal stop.' Countless outsiders fail miserably when they try to execute the glottal stop, quite simply 'flummoxed' by this most Yorkshire of things!
To better understand it, let's take the term "There was a right bang in the night." If we then 'Yorkshire' this up, we end up with 'Ther worra reyt bang in t' neyt.' Pronounced correctly (ie Tyke!), the "t'" of "t' neyt" remains silent and the throat tightens slightly, acting as an unspoken marker for the word 'the.' "
Taken from the BBC website.
Hull has quite a 'winy' accent "Al 'ave a glass of draah wahyt wahyn" (I'll have a glass of dry white wine).
The vowels sound like this
A = aeh (like 'hay' in a posh accent, without the 'h' with a longer 'a' sound)
E = ey (as in 'he')
I = aah (short a)
O = ooah (with a Hull accent, sorry it's hard to describe, maybe like the 'o' in mow)
U = like the word 'ewe'
Amgunna = I am going to
Arfa Larga = Half a glass of beer or lager
Ayer = Have you. Usage: Ayer gorra bruvva? = Have you got a male sibling?
Bains = Children. Usage: Bains out larkin' = The children are playing outside.
Bray = Hit or beat (agressive gesture) Usage: I'll bray yer eddin' = I'm going to inflict pain on you.
Burn = Bone. Usage: Burn idol = Extreme laziness.
Canaborryit? = Can I borrow it?
Chowatmi = Shout at me Usage: Mimmams gunner chowatmi = I shall be in severe trouble with my mother.
Curl = Call
Curled = Cold
Curlslur = Coleslaw or sliced cabbage
Dinntit? = Did it not?
Dernt nerr = I do not know
Diddy farndowt? = Did he find anything?
E = He
Ed Head = Usage: Doin' me eddin = Making me confused.
Ellur = Hello
Erm = Home
Err nerr = Oh no. Meaning: An expression of dismay.
Fern = Phone. Usage and meaning: Fern curls = Telecommunications
Gerreer = Come here or come over Usage: Oi! Gerreer! = Come this way.
Gerremin = Get them in Usage: Gerremin = Get the drinks in.
Gerroff = Leave me alone
Giz/gizza = Give me. Usage: Gizza pennith 'gammy fruit = Could I please have some of those bruised apricots.
Gorrit for nowt = I did not pay anything
Gunna = Going to
Larkin = Hanging or playing out
Lerds 'n lerds = Plenty. Same as: Givin' it lerds
Mafted/mafting = Hot. Usage: I'm mafted = I'm rather hot. It's mafting = It's rather hot.
Mimmam = My mother. Usage: Mama mia = I'm here Mother. Yer mammal ner = Your Mother will have the information.
Plern block in tenfoot = Playing 'Goangerided' in an alleyway
Siling down = Raining
Skeg = To look
Croggy = A crossbar of a bicycle Usage: Giz a crogga = Can you give me a lift on your bicycle?
Hullites have warped the ‘Queen’s English’ and ‘Broad Yorkshire’ into a tragically unflattering accent. To understand natives, here’s how Hullites draw-out and flatten their vowels:
A - Ayyyya
E – Eyyyya
I - Iyyyya
O - Ohhhh
U – You-we
General Hullite greeting is “I-ya, y’alriiiight?”
Should you need to score, head to St Johns Pub, Queens Road. You should see what you need.
It is also good to visit Hull during 'Hull Fair Week'. It is the largest travelling fair in Europe and is a major event in Hull. Hull fair is held in October. This year it is 5th-13th October.
In a harbourtown like Hull you should pay respect to the harbour, the sea and the fishermen. The fishermen's harbour and market give always a great view of what lifes about in such a town. Here you can also find the fish-auction and many fresh fish-restaurants.
Make sure you have a walk on the waterfront - lovely here, especially when it's sunny - Have a pint or two in the many pubs - Pop to 'The Minerva' round the corner for some proper ale | <urn:uuid:9f0e7430-e0a7-4341-a0a0-8d36ca5250b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/United_Kingdom/England/Humberside/Kingston_upon_Hull-310411/Local_Customs-Kingston_upon_Hull-TG-C-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961801 | 1,864 | 1.664063 | 2 |
(65 ILCS 5/11-12-5.1)
(from Ch. 24, par. 11-12-5.1)
School land donations.
The governing board of a school
district may submit to the corporate authorities of a municipality having
a population of less than 500,000 which is served by the school district a
written request that a meeting be held to discuss school land donations
from a developer of a subdivision or resubdivision of land included within
the area served by the school district. For the purposes of this Section,
"school land donation" means a donation of land for public school purposes
or a cash contribution in lieu thereof, or a combination of both.
(Source: P.A. 86-1023; 86-1039.) | <urn:uuid:6a86ba9d-c7d2-417c-810e-fee8611919a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/006500050K11-12-5.1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905875 | 164 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Surreal Bat Artwork
Vincent Kohler has created a series of bats that would be completely impractical for baseball, but work great in a gallery or museum. The series forces viewers to think differently about everyday objects, and imagine the various ways these items can be manipulated to serve a different purpose.
Implications - Youth consumers are captivated by designs that reinterpret classic objects. Vincent Kohler's series re-imagines the baseball bat's form and taps into this impulse. Companies should consider fusing various objects together to create new items and appeal to a broad base of consumers. | <urn:uuid:936d7ab6-4182-45e6-aa2a-650f59d5876a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/vincent-kohler | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950207 | 118 | 1.875 | 2 |
Mediations Using Pure Mental Images
Buddha Images are generally drawn and painted from a ruler and compass to express perfection. Colors, posture, implements held, body adornments and background are styled to transmit meaning and to realize through meditation. They are not meant to be an image of a being in heaven but represent how that being helps all beings return to heaven. These are inherent identifying characteristics.
In practice, the image is visualized as pure colour and form with any substantiality, thus pure. A worldly image is meant as a guide to dissolve worldly attachments and aversions that one has to one's own form. One respects the worldly image as one would any spiritual teaching for if one has contempt for the teaching spiritual progress is very difficult.
No false images before one means that all beings must reach enlightenment, There is a prayer or vow that one will not cease to exert effort until all beings reach enlightenment. This make some unconformable due to unresolved hatred or anger.
These are characteristics that one should recall as one awakens to who one really is.
A good meditation to start with is Avalokitesvara, the lord of compassion. An emanation of Avalokitesvara teaches the Heart Sutra (see below on the main page).
Avalokitesvara is relative simple and can be practice in a short period of time (an hour) depending on how many mantras are chanted. Avalokitesvara is very profound and is one of the best methods for reaching enlightenment as the development of compassion is central to all practices.
Avalokitesvara holds the wish fulfilling jewel that all enlighten beings commit to. The jewel is held by two hands level with his heart. The other two hands hold a mala (string of beads; right hand) and a lotus in his left hand. This lotus has a sense of protection and guidance until one reaches enlightenment. One sits in this lotus when one becomes enlightened. This is connected to naked insight without support mentioned in Tranquility Meditation.
The mantra is Om Mani Padme Hum Hri
See web page Get Started Guide to Practice
but substitute the image below and the mantra.
Understanding and realizing the seed syllable Hri is very important.
See web page Meaning of Christ and Jesus for a more detailed description of understanding what is discussed on this page from a Christian point of view.
When one perfects a mediation using pure mental images the beings appears such as Avalokitesvara appears before one and thus there is no impure image before one. | <urn:uuid:cecfdc84-abfe-4089-9495-46b75b6e2ab5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dautya.com/Mediations_Using_Pure_Mental_Images.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939621 | 526 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Authority, Expertise, and Power in Mexican Forests
Publication Year: 2011
Published by: The MIT Press
Title Page, Copyright
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As our understanding of environmental threats deepens and broadens, it is increasingly clear that many environmental issues cannot be simply understood, analyzed, or acted on. The multifaceted relationships among human beings, social and political institutions, and the physical environment..
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Anthropologists know that debts can be powerful and that they can establish enduring social relationships. If this is so, I am rich in the many debts that I have incurred in writing this book. Although I alone am responsible for errors and mistakes, I have been influenced by many...
Glossary of Institutions
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Around the world, the troubles of modernity seem to call for more knowledge, greater transparency, increased oversight by states, or increased inspection of states by active publics. It is often claimed that citizens should want to know more, perhaps in order to call governments...
2. Building Forestry in Mexico: Ambitious Regulations and Popular Evasions
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Over the last 200 years, governments all over the world have taken up the burden of knowing, managing, and protecting nature, accompanied by the task of developing economies and caring for citizens. Most citizens, of First or Third World countries alike, now take it for granted that the state is responsible...
3. The Sierra Juárez of Oaxaca: Mobile Landscapes, Political Economy, and the Fires of War
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Standing at the crest of the Sierra Juárez, one feels far from cities, governments, and forestry bureaucracies. Range after range of fir and pineclad mountains recede into the distance (see figure 3.1). The air is cool, the tropical sun stingingly hot. At first this might feel like a forest in Arizona or...
4. Forestry Comes to Oaxaca: Bureaucrats, Gangsters, and Indigenous Communities, 1926 – 1956
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The pine forests of Oaxaca may appear peaceful, but they are not always so. When forestry science began to travel from Mexico City to the provinces in the 1920s and 1930s, forestry bureaucrats based in the city of Oaxaca encountered a tangled web of political intrigue. Struggles to gain control of...
5. Industrial Forestry, Watershed Control, and the Rise of Community Forestry, 1956–2001
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In the end, the Mexican state lost its patience with the small logging companies. It had had enough of violent conflicts and tax evasion by wildcat loggers, enough of the disorderly habits of rural people who burned forests and degraded the environment and who lied or evaded visiting officials...
6. The Mexican Forest Service: Knowledge, Ignorance, and Power
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In November 2000, I attended a convention on community forestry in a hotel on the outskirts of the city of Oaxaca. For three days, government officials, scientists, and the occasional NGO representative occupied an elevated stage and presented their views on the state of Oaxaca’s forests before an audience...
7. The Acrobatics of Transparency and Obscurity: Forestry Regulations Travel to Oaxaca
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State mandates to control forests and protect nature do not travel smoothly through the world. On the contrary, knowledge is continually remade, a practice in translation, rather than an item that travels smoothly from a forestry laboratory or a government office. In the end, a small number...
8. Working the Indigenous Industrial
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Let us return for one last time to the community of Ixtlán to look at how indigenous people and their community institutions entangle distant pine forests with the content of national forestry statistics and the stability of federal forestry institutions. A central argument of this book is that what appear to be...
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This book has described how the science of forestry traveled to Mexico, how it came to be institutionalized by the expanding Mexican forest service, and how, ultimately, forestry was domesticated and turned against the state by particular indigenous forest communities in the state...
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Page Count: 320
Publication Year: 2011
Series Title: Politics, Science, and the Environment | <urn:uuid:8fbc6f79-0be3-4e87-991a-8b7ed15008d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780262298537 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900964 | 974 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Npower is to increase both its gas and electricity prices, the UK's fourth largest energy supplier has confirmed.
Npower is increasing both gas and electricity prices
The company, which has four million customers, said it would provide exact details on Friday.
Its move comes on the back of higher wholesale energy bills, lifted by crude oil hitting a record $100 a barrel in New York earlier this week.
Analysts predict that other UK energy providers are now likely to announce price rises.
Npower, a subsidiary of German company RWE, has already increased its online tariff for new customers, raising that by 17% towards the end of last month.
Meanwhile, British Gas parent Centrica also announced in December that it was increasing the price of its market tracker tariff, which mirrors movements in energy market prices.
British Gas went on to warn that rising wholesale prices meant the energy industry was facing a "difficult environment" in 2008.
"Price rises have been on the horizon for some time," said Tim Wolfenden, head of home services at uSwitch.com.
"Ever since British Gas and Npower announced price increases on their market trackers and Npower followed this up with a price hike on its online plan, it has been clear that prices are going to be heading north again, with the smart money on a 15% rise."
Analysts say wholesale gas prices have risen on the back of the record cost of crude, as any increase in the price of oil has a knock on effect on gas.
Wholesale gas prices in the UK are also said to have been driven higher by the growing number of energy firms on the continent turning to the more liberalised UK market for cheaper supplies.
UK household energy bills last rose strongly in 2006, with most suppliers increasing their bills on the back of higher wholesale prices.
However, prices then subsequently fell back during last year.
Independent consumer watchdog Energywatch condemned Npower's news.
"Consumers are always being softened up with talk of 'unavoidable' price rises," said Energywatch spokesman Karl Brookes.
"The wholesale price for gas has risen, it's true, but all suppliers can decide to absorb more of that themselves rather than pass all the rise on to consumers." | <urn:uuid:8f0b6e33-e86a-4db4-8b92-6d3b88713ae3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7170298.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972424 | 462 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Serious tea planting in India started with the British and was
done in a plantation style instead of the small farms which are so
prevalent in China. India is known for its black tea production,
Darjeeling and Assam have become household names the world over. Now
there is much experimentation as Indian tea estates produce other
types of tea as well.
with other countries in the golden triangle and Eastern India, Myanmar
is home to old tea trees and is part of the region where the tea plant
originated. They have a special tea culture that includes eating tea
leaves as well as drinking tea.
Fujian Province, China Fujian
Province is important to the tea industry because they produce many
different types of tea. White tea originated here and is still grown in
the Northern coastal region today. Tiequanyin oolong and the Cliff
oolongs from the Northwest are famous worldwide. Green tea, Black (Red)
tea as well as teas scented with flowers are also produced here. This
photo is from the Wuyi Mountains where the Cliff teas are grown.
Sri Lanka Historically known
as Ceylon, the tear drop shaped island just south of India has a very
productive tea industry. They produce many styles of black tea, most of
which is sold at auction in Calcutta. The climate is such that tea can
be grown all year around.
Taiwan makes a range of handcrafted oolongs in a different style than
the Chinese oolongs. They are light and green and fragrant as well as
more oxidized, darker and almost as full of flavor as a black tea. The
high quality teas are sought after by tea aficionados all over the
world. View Taiwanese teas here.
Thailand is located in South East Asia, and its northern tip forms part
of the golden triangle. This is the region where the tea plant traces
its origin to. We find the tea tradition here turning to oolong, which
they are growing in the Taiwanese style. The traditional large leaf
Yunnan tea trees are more valued across the border in China where they
are used to make Pu-erh. The climate is also great for herbs and
spices. We work with some local farmers who grow the ingredients found
in some of our Chais.
The dramatic scenery and city of Hong Kong has been a very important
place for the history of the tea industry. It was the main trading port
where the Europeans loaded their boats with tea from the interior of
China. Oolongs and Pu-erh teas are especially popular. Much of the
Pu-erh tea produced in Yunnan has been aged and enjoyed here for
origin of tea plant traces its roots to Yunnan Province in southern
China. Tea culture began here as well, before being exported to other
countries around the world. China is known for it's skill in producing
all the different styles of tea, including Pu-erh. | <urn:uuid:07cd0cd5-886b-41cb-a2f9-02782e7b2523> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inpursuitoftea.com/Explore_Teas_of_the_World_s/149.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961845 | 635 | 2.671875 | 3 |
IMF: pace of austerity must depend on economy
PARIS (AP) — The pace at which countries like Greece and Spain cut their deficits with austerity measures must depend on their economic conditions, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Tuesday.
Lagarde said that while financially weak countries should hike tax hikes and cut spending to heal their public finances, the pace of those measures may have to be reconsidered in some cases because ‘‘conditions have changed’’ — notably the slowing global economy.
Deficit reduction must be ‘‘compatible with each country’s circumstances,’’ she told reporters in Paris on her way back from the IMF’s annual meeting in Tokyo last week.
Many European governments, led by Germany, have for years insisted that countries with excessive public debts focus on debt reduction measures, even if that meant the economy was damaged.
But some economists argue that the pace of austerity measures in countries like Spain and Greece is now proving counterproductive by worsening their recessions, which deprive governments of valuable tax revenue needed to cut debt.
The issue has become a hot topic of debate in the European Union, whose 27 leaders will meet Thursday and Friday to address the financial crisis.
Faced with the evidence that deficit cuts are proving increasingly difficult in some countries, German Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to be softening her stance on austerity. She said last week that although Greece was missing its deficit reduction targets — which it had promised to meet in exchange for more bailout loans — it deserved another chance.
The International Monetary Fund is in favor of giving Greece two more years to meet the agreed targets.
Merkel, who visited Athens last week, has said that extending the timeframe for Greece’s reforms can only be decided after a debt inspector’s report, expected within weeks.
In Spain’s case, the government has been imposing new austerity measures that analysts say would pre-qualify it for eurozone aid — should it want or need to request it.
Other countries that are pushing through tough budget cuts include Italy, Portugal, Ireland and even larger, traditionally more stable economies like France and Britain. | <urn:uuid:e9584945-f6f3-4271-80fc-c14a8816dd53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/2012/10/16/imf-pace-austerity-must-depend-economy/rriGfBpyfh5zDIwFo9zfDJ/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967662 | 443 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Did Jesus Fake the Crucifixion?
This post was written by Mel Lawrenz
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared to us…. We write this to make our joy complete” (1 John 1).
The Incarnation was not a divine visitation in the mere form of a human being. Jesus was no holograph of divinity. Some ancient self-described sophisticates called the Gnostics, who wanted to make Christianity more spiritual than it already was, said that the Savior only appeared human and to possess real flesh. He was a super-spiritual being who came to impart cryptic saving knowledge. If you could understand this coded truth and grasp the lingo, then you would be enlightened, and thus saved by the knowledge. They even said that the Savior went nowhere near the cross. He switched identities with Simon of Cyrene, the man who was forced to carry Jesus’ cross, and then stood at a distance, laughing at the foolish Romans who thought they had nailed the man who claimed to be Messiah to the cross.
No, Christ was not standing at a distance laughing at the cross. He was on the cross, and bore all its sorry, shame, and pain.
The Gnostics of ancient days and today (New Age religion) are wrong. 1 John 4:2-3 says, “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” The Messiah didn’t laugh on that day because he fooled people into thinking he was a human being, while he skirted around the torture of the cross. Rather, he took the pain of the world on himself, and in that abject agony offered the way out for us. As wrong and unjust and inexcusable as it was, the death of Jesus also makes perfect sense. It all fits into a consistent pattern of God’s character, the nature of the corrupt world, and the love that God has for those he created in his own image. The mission to put the world back together was itself coming together. God was doing what only God could do.
You are invited to receive via email a three-week daily devotional I have written, focussing on the Christ who died and rose for us. It begins March 18.
“Knowing Him: An Easter Devotional” is your opportunity to grow in the grace and power of Jesus. Use the link below to sign up. If you get the message “Update Your The Brook Network Profile,” just follow the steps it indicates.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 at 2:00 am and is filed under Christian Thought, Everything New.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed. | <urn:uuid:1f1b6da7-d92c-4d40-9afc-f35deb7ccea1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebrooknetwork.org/2012/03/13/did-jesus-fake-the-crucifixion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981633 | 625 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The name says it all. Softboxes were made to create soft light, but what if you want to go further?
Christopher Grey shows us one idea in this how-to article. With examples to illustrate each lighting set-up, Grey walks us through three different variations on one portrait, focusing on getting a very diffused, soft light. He starts with a traditional softbox, then adds a white bookend to fill in the shadows, and finally adds a nylon diffusion panel (or white sheet, if you prefer) to soften the light even more.
See the full article for details.
All images and quotes in this post are used with permission and ©Christopher Grey, all rights reserved; story is ©Sekonic. Please respect and support photographers’ rights. Feel free to link to this blog post, but please do not replicate or repost elsewhere without written permission. | <urn:uuid:2e0690cf-2b58-4a7e-b44b-d1cca09172e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.sekonic.com/2013/03/04/christopher-grey-double-diffusion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926514 | 180 | 1.601563 | 2 |
IBD flares can cause severe cramping and pain in many people. To alleviate these symptoms, doctors will often prescribe prescription pain killers. Over the counter pain killers are also helpful for less severe bouts of IBD pain. Some patients also choose to treat symptoms with holistic methods such as acupuncture or yoga.
A friend that I chat with on another web site mentioned that she was having her first Ulcerative Colitis (UC) flare-up in a couple of years and she couldn't figure out why. After some prodding and questioning from fellow chatters it was discovered that she had been taking NSAID's (Aleve, I think) for a couple of weeks to treat an aching… | <urn:uuid:2bfca877-be56-415d-ba97-b2aa6cda861f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/general/living-with/pain-relief | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975127 | 141 | 1.640625 | 2 |
RENO, Nev. — There may or may not be too many horses on federal lands in the West, but a U.S. district judge says there’s not enough judicial staff in Nevada to deal anytime soon with an appeal over First Amendment rights at wild horse roundups.
U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks told lawyers for the government and a horse protection group he won’t make a ruling until after March on a case sent back to his court last year by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The lawsuit was brought by Laura Leigh, a photographer and leader of the group Wild Horse Education who says her freedom of press rights were violated in 2010 when she was denied access to mustang roundups in Nevada’s Lincoln County near the Utah line.
A three-judge panel in San Francisco overturned Hicks’ earlier ruling and told Hicks to reconsider whether the Bureau of Land Management’s restrictions on media access to roundups are constitutional.
“Courts have a duty to conduct a thorough and searching review of any attempt to restrict public access," said Gordon Cowan, a Reno lawyer for Leigh. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and National Press Photographers Association have signed on as backers as friends of the court.
Hick said at the close of a two-day hearing Wednesday that he recognizes it’s an issue that “strikes deeply in people’s emotions and interests."
“I also recognize the government is placed in a difficult position. It seems no matter what they do, they are going to be subject to certain controversy and challenges," Hicks said.
Hicks said Nevada’s judicial district is so understaffed that four judges now oversee cases that seven judges used to handle. He added that the district’s caseload has nearly doubled since it was fully staffed six years ago and that it was one of the busiest districts in the nation even then.
Ninth Circuit Appellate Judge Milan Smith said in an 18-page opinion last February the court must balance the “vital public interest in preserving the media’s ability to monitor government activities against the government’s need to impose restrictions if necessary for safety or other legitimate reasons.
“When the government announces it is excluding the press for reasons such as administrative convenience, preservation of evidence, or protection of reporters’ safety, its real motive may be to prevent the gathering of information about government abuses or incompetence," the judge wrote.
About half of the estimated 37,000 horses and burros on federal lands are in Nevada. The BLM maintains that the range can sustain only about 26,000 and conducts roundups regularly to try to get closer to that number.
Agency officials testified during the hearings this week they do their best to provide public access to the roundups and temporary holding of the animals and denied Leigh’s claims she was singled out to be kept away from the mustangs.
“No one is treated any differently than any other one," testified Patricia Bute, who served as the public information officer overseeing the roundup. They said they eventually stopped public tours at one temporary facility in Nevada because interest was dwindling and the tours were costing the government nearly $2,000 per tour — a total of more than $50,000 during the period.
Horse protection advocates testified they believe the access was restricted because critics of the operations were gathering video documenting abuse of the animals.
“I don’t believe it was a matter of diminished interest, just some people quit hitting their head against BLM’s wall before some of the rest of us did," said Terri Farley, author of the children’s book series “Phantom Stallion." | <urn:uuid:e72ec603-ec5c-4c6b-94cd-6e5ac6b24a91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130222/NEWS0107/302220382/1009/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973453 | 775 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Each Green Map is a local project, created by people who live or work in
the community. Each is independently managed, and all Green Mapmakers (our term for the leadership team) are part of a global movement, sharing their
progress, resources and experiences to benefit
others. This spirit of collaboration among the global network has been central
to Green Map System’s success since 1995.
Capital cities, rural villages, tourist destinations, watersheds and neighborhoods
– these are some of the settings where successful Green Map projects are
based. It’s easy to appreciate the phenomenal way a Green Map project
can bring communities together to chart practical solutions and address urgent
environmental issues. Created by established organizations, universities and
governmental agencies, as well as newly-formed youth, community and grassroots
groups, regional design elements, narratives and images are often highlighted
in our maps.
The Green Mapmaking process is scalable: it offers citizens of all ages, backgrounds
and technological skills a genuine opportunity to build sustainable communities.
Taking cues from more experienced leaders, Green Mapmakers determine the best
way to develop their team and funding, then research, design and produce their
Green Map. Whether published online or printed as a folding map, painted as
a mural, or simply shared on a bulletin board, each map may be used by thousands
of people who discover new ways of seeing and interacting with their home environment.
"It’s a great way of working with communities to help them understand
what sustainable development actually means on a local level”. Mike Trevett,
Fife, Scotland Green Mapmaker, Action for Change
Green Mapmakers in the past have charted within a city's political boundaries,
mapped clusters of small towns, and bioregional boundaries such as watersheds.
Youth have often worked at the neighborhood level. Whether comprehensive
in scope or a ‘theme Green Map,’ great care is taken to assure the
mapmaking process is inclusive and the resulting map communicates well with
its intended audience (which can be tourists, families, general, newcomers, etc). Many
Green Mapmakers work in multiple formats over time, piloting new concepts and
continually creating compelling new perspectives on familiar places.
All projects receive help from this website’s ever-expanding Tool Center, other members of the Green Map network,
regional Hubs and
our global office as soon as they register. This website includes
a Mapmakers Exchange and other shared resources refined by direct experience
that cannot be accessed by the public; many Mapmakers also purchase a kit that
includes inspiring maps as examples and outreach materials. Each Mapmaker supports
Green Map System by contributing a modest fee or service, uploading tools they
have developed and by sharing their story with the public in their Profile.
It may take many weeks or months (or even years!) to publish a Green Map (unless Mapmakers are using the new Open Green Map, which makes their work instantly available on an interactive platform that invites public participation). The
traditional mapmaking process isn’t easy, but it helps create stronger and more connected communities.
Even the smallest green site becomes important when it is literally put "on
the map". Moreover, successfully published Green Maps have opened vocational
and career doors for many project leaders as the map projects demonstrate evidence
of personal commitment to sustainability, organizing skills and design expertise.
Further, Green Map projects around the world find that their efforts are elevated
by being part of the movement. Truly, the whole is greater than the sum of the
Today, printed and digital Green Maps guide millions of people to everyday
resources for sustainable living, right in their own backyards. Explore our
in-depth profile, articles, newsletters and
stories to find out more about each project’s unique approach,
validity and impacts. | <urn:uuid:f67ee644-b86b-4c4e-b2ff-771272ae6fbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/id/about/mapmaking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930899 | 804 | 2.34375 | 2 |
I gave a lecture to the Wrexham Science Festival some years back on "How mathematics gets into knots", advertised as for 8-80, but I think it extends. You see some ideas for this on the knot exhibition part of
Things you can do are:
Dirac string trick (using the home made apparatus apparatus illustrated there, two wooden squares, one with an arrow on it, coloured ribbon, and bulldog clips to fasten the ribbon to the board, easy to undo in case everything gets tangled), and related to the belt trick and the Philipine wine glass trick (do a search on this, and also on Air on the Dirac String). We have found young children love this, but best to let them try an empty glass or plastic mug first!
Showing addition of knots is commutative, using just a piece of rope. Hope that helps. | <urn:uuid:03c3ed43-9ddd-4df6-81c3-44bf7609ab42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mathoverflow.net/revisions/108662/list | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942526 | 179 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Objectives: the previous SOP presented a procedure for handling the recovery from disaster by preparing alternative systems. This SOP supplements the previous SOP by presenting good practices to be followed when handling such situations.
The following Good Practices are suggested as a support to the Disaster Recovery Procedures of the previous SOP
1. Outsourcing: the major servers needed as Recovery Systems may not always be available within the Ministry or Agency. Indeed, in some cases, it has been known to resort to such systems outside the country. Therefore, any outsourcing to be made to have access to such systems must be submitted to rigorous qualification. Furthermore, it is critical to regularly test the alternate site to ensure that the Recovery System is ready for operation.
2. Testing: as in the case of Backup, Disaster Recovery is a kind of a “Restore” operation. Therefore, it is crucial to test the Recovery on a regular basis by simulating a disaster.
3. Insurance: not all problems generated by the Disaster can be resolved by a Disaster Recovery Procedure. A lot of cost and effort is required to setup of a Recovery System:
The increase in backup frequency
Repeat work that is lost during Emergency and Recovery
Replacement of equipment
Additional running costs such as transportation, relocation, data entry, etc.
Outsourcing of servers, sites, etc.
It is recommended that such activities be insured so that the Ministry or Agency can recover parts of its losses.
4. Training drills: an emergency is sure to have people lose their heads. It is therefore crucial in semi-critical and critical situations to have training drills on Emergency and Recovery Procedures.
5. Risk Analysis: much of the cost and time loss of the Disaster Recovery can be avoided by a rigorous Risk Analysis of such situations. Ensure that Disasters are included in the Risk Events to be analyzed in the Ministry or Agency. | <urn:uuid:d07f1580-4a28-4e95-9ab6-85641433f1f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.omsar.gov.lb/ICTSG/204SC/12.3_Good_Practices_Disaster_Recovery.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958498 | 383 | 2.125 | 2 |
Bin Laden Death Photo: Obama Breaks from History, America Losing Spine
By: Paul A. Ibbetson
It is said that a picture says a thousand words. When it comes to today’s politically correct world, presenting some pictures may say even more. President Barack Obama’s refusal to submit the death photo of the number one terrorist behind 9/11, Osama bin Laden, is a fundamentally flawed decision full of negative consequences. The President’s decision appears to be based on a concern that terrorists around the world will be inflamed to a higher level if bin Laden’s death becomes public through pictures. This argument is weak and without supporting evidence. Certainly the idea of withholding potentially inflammatory photos for fear of angering terrorists around the world went out the door years ago with the overwhelming photo coverage of human rights violations at Abu Ghraib. If documenting this portion of American history through photos was deemed reasonable, how can withholding Osama bin Laden’s death photo from the American people and history be justified?
The President also seems to believe that releasing bin Laden’s death photo is in itself an act of selfish aggression beneath the dignity of the American people, which he has termed “spiking the ball.†Someone should walk the president through American history, which is in complete opposition to this line of thinking. Historically, America has consistently used photos to chronicle the history of the deaths of those that have brought terror to this country. This has been a fundamental byproduct of our free speech that is recognized through our Constitution. This freedom to document history through published photos may not be pretty, but it was never feared nor denied to the American people.
In 1892, the infamous outlaws of the Dalton Gang were shot dead by local citizens in Coffeyville, Kansas. The death photos of these outlaws brought to justice were circulated through print worldwide. Documenting the deaths of bandits such as these through published images and photos was commonplace. Almost four decades later Americans would see death photos of gangsters such as John Dillinger to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in newspapers across the country. Americans recorded the photos of the deaths of fascists like Benito Mussolini during World War II, and decades later monsters like Che Guevara were placed into historical context through the same means.
The idea that a handful of government officials would withhold visual verification of the death of the biggest villain of modern times is only surpassed in outrageousness by the possibility that Americans will stand for it. The Obama administration’s purposeful denial of visual verification of this terrorist’s dead body needlessly sows the seeds for myth, folklore and conspiracy theories. Does this make America safer? Of course not. This bungling administration is confused about the proper priorities within the war on terror.
Our country’s history has not always been beautifully photogenic, but it’s been our history and many have given the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard the freedom we have to keep it accurate and truthful. When citizens see pictures of African Americans being hung from ropes along roadsides during the terror of the Ku Klux Klan, it is unsettling to view, but also a true part of our history. Should we remove these photos from public consumption because somewhere someone will be offended? Only cowards and fools would endorse such actions.
President Barack Obama should do the right thing and release the death photo of Osama bin Laden. It is an action rightly done, not for the purpose of blood lust or to celebrate death for death’s sake, but to place this part of America’s history into an accurate context. Americans can handle the photo as they have been seeing the end results of what happens to those that terrorize Americans since the days of the Daltons. Those that view our publications from around the world can take from it the valuable lesson that America is the land of the free, and free people need not be denied reality for fear of being politically incorrect. The issue of the Osama bin Laden death photo release is now less of an observance of America’s stomach or heart, but of the country’s spin.
Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his Ph.D. in Sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of several books including the 2010 release “Oliver’s Tale: A Squirrel’s Story of Love, Courage, and Revolution.†Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 award-winning radio program, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 FM, www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact him at firstname.lastname@example.org
Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and his Ph.D. in Sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of several books including the 2011 release “The Good Fight: Why Conservatives Must Take Back America.” Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 award-winning radio program, Conscience of Kansas airing on KRMR The Patriot 105.7 FM, www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact him at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:f27b9dd0-b079-42ce-b856-6c44bab28ecd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelandofthefree.net/conservativeopinion/2011/05/13/bin-laden-death-photo-obama-breaks-from-history-america-losing-spine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95052 | 1,213 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Networks are a dynamic and fluid form of research organisation for developing collaborative and interdisciplinary projects. The School has taken the lead in, or is an active member of, a number of research networks, involving researchers in other Schools and Institutions both in the UK and internationally, two or which have received AHRC funding.
This international and interdisciplinary network was established with funding from the Arts and Humanities Council of Great Britain
The Research Network for Linguistics in Cardiff (LinC)
The Research Network for Linguistics in Cardiff (LinC) was created in 2009 to provide a forum and resource for linguistics research and in particular for esearchers interested in Systemic Functional Linguistics.
Crime Narratives in Context (CNIC)
Launched in November 2006, this multidisciplinary research network brings together a range of scholars whose research interests relate to the production, transmission and interpretation of crime narratives.
Philosophy of Mind: Embedded, Extended, Enactive and Embodied
This research network is a collaborative project which was originally set up in 2005/6 between Cardiff University and the University of Hull to develop an international research network in the philosophy of mind with a distinctive focus on accounts of the mind as embedded, embodied, enactive, and extended.
The Formulaic Language Research Network (FLaRN)
FLaRN is a loose association of professional and student academic researchers which exists to co-ordinate research work in the field of formulaic language, to share ideas and resources, and to create a sense of community between researchers who are not necessarily in geographical proximity. It also acts as a focus for Cardiff students researching formulaic language. | <urn:uuid:030ff242-7bfc-4cad-b360-9c75eda88aae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cardiff.ac.uk/encap/research/networks/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940684 | 338 | 2 | 2 |
Main content starts here.
Another new facility, “Amagi Museum” was opened on Jan 2, 2012 in the middle of Izu Peninsula, Amagi, Izu City. They basically exhibit Japan’s famous arts for some duration and when I visited it, they were having the exhibition of world-loved Lego block works “PIECE of PEACE” ( legoⓇ ).
The first thing you will see at the entrance hall is the Tutankhamen built with as many as 20000 pieces of Lego, and dozens of Lego artistic works welcome you in the exhibition hall. Actually, they are displaying 26 world heritages of 20 countries for now until April 8, 2012. They look so real seen from a distance but if you walk closer, you will know that they are built only with pieces of Lego. Honestly amazing !
Walking around “Mont-Saint-Michel”, “Shuri Castle”, “Eiffel Tour” and “The Tower of Pisa”, I was almost feeling like I had been touring around the world. What pleased me most was that Mt. Fuji, temporarily registered in the list of prospective world heritage, was shown in the hall. 6000 pieces of Lego. How could it be ?
Then, I found a room for build-it-by-yourself, which reminded me of my childhood. I of course sat on the chair and reached some of Lego pieces. Imagination was only what was required but no matter how much I tried to figure a shape, nothing came upon me. There, I found a pair of tire. Maybe this is it. I put another piece on it, one after another, and finished it up after 10 minutes or so. Weird. I know I have no sense of beauty or art, whatever. Anyway, the world heritages of Lego worth seeing ! I reacknowledged then the fact that we are all connected to each other. Please stop by to find your own discovery.＾＾
From April 14, a Japanese cartoonist Ebisu’s work will be exhibited in the hall. Hope you enjoy it too !
Have a good day !＾＾
Access：30 minutes by bus to “Yugashima” bus stop from Shuzenji Station of Izu-hakone Railway
Admission：￥500 for adults, ￥300 for children ( Free for pre-school children )
Open Hours：10:00 – 17:00 ( closed on Tuesdays )
※ Part of admission and sales of related goods will be donated for World Heritage Activity of National Federation of UNESCO Association in Japan
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾ | <urn:uuid:85a30ba6-cf9c-42ad-9483-514294d00135> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shizuoka-guide.com/blog-trip/index.php?tag=Izu,Museum | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958977 | 613 | 1.5 | 2 |
The China Lover by Ian Buruma
The past can easily become a gimmick. When a writer makes an effort to re-create a particular moment -- especially a familiar one, like the Second World War or the 1960s -- the temptation is to wallow in period detail, as if doing the homework is all that matters. But for historical fiction to succeed, those details must illuminate the characters that inhabit them. Otherwise, we’re just getting scenery.
Ian Buruma’s novel The China Lover is certainly well researched, weaving through nearly half a century of life in Japan -- from the invasion of Manchuria in the 1930s through the nation’s postwar reconstruction to the tumult of the 1960s and 1970s. But the book is primarily a meditation on propaganda, identity, and empire. And it is on these grounds that the work really shines.
The China Lover centers on the life of a woman named Yoshiko Yamaguchi, a Manchurian-born actress of Japanese decent. During World War II, she is launched into stardom as Ri Koran, a “Chinese” singer and star of Japanese propaganda films. After the war, she drops the name Ri Koran, restarts her film career in Tokyo, and then heads to Hollywood as Shirley Yamaguchi. When that peters out, she returns to Japan, takes back her birth name, and eventually becomes a successful journalist and political figure.
In her movement from willing pawn of Japan’s military leaders to America-besotted celebrity to serious anti-war journalist and activist, Yoshiko’s life mirrors the wider cultural mood of the nation. However, Buruma is not interested in giving us her biography. Instead, she becomes the thread that ties together three separate first-person stories. The narrators of these accounts, named Sato, Sidney, and Sato, respectively, are the book’s true protagonists. Though they believe in vastly different things, they share a tendency toward idealism, to the point of blinding themselves to their own excesses. This is historical fiction at its most impressive -- giving a sense of the intimate human drama that is often swallowed up by larger events.
The fact that they have similar names -- two of them even share one -- is no accident. Each man’s story echoes the other two. All three are more comfortable living abroad than in their homelands: the first Sato leaves Japan to work as an imperial officer in China, falling in love with the country; Sidney, an American soldier, feels more comfortable in Japan than the United States; and the second Sato, a filmmaker and activist, heads to the Middle East to become a “revolutionary.” All of them are motivated in part by sex: the first Sato is more attracted to Chinese women than Japanese ones, the gay American Sidney finds his sexuality more tolerated in Japan than in his homeland, and the second Sato falls in love with a fellow Japanese radical who recruits him to Palestinian cause.
But the most important thing they share is that are all film lovers -- and committed propagandists. The first Sato gives Yoshiko her first taste of success as Ri Koran by recommending her for a pro-Japanese broadcast role on the radio, and later guides her into propaganda films. He inadvertently sums up the novel’s concerns by declaring: “People need spectacles to nurture their dreams, give them something to believe in, foster a sense of belonging.” His “spectacles” are meant to give the newly conquered Chinese “a great and noble goal to live and die for,” the newly created puppet state of Manchukuo.
A great fan of -- and later expert in -- Japanese film, Sidney becomes a friend and confidant of Yoshiko’s as she tries -- and fails -- to break into the US entertainment industry in the 1940s and 1950s. He embraces the occupation of Japan, saying: “To lift this defeated nation from its feudal past seemed to us the noblest undertaking in the history of man.” Though ambivalent about censorship, he admits, “My life as a censor had small compensations…I could only marvel at the magic of film, the way a religious person marvels at stained-glass windows and candlelit saints in a place of worship.”
The second Sato, however, is the most blunt about his career: “Art is never neutral,” he explains. “Everything is a reflection of power relations. My films, shot on sixteen-millimeter stock, were made to empower the powerless.” After a start working on pornographic films, Sato becomes a writer for Yoshiko’s television news program. Eventually, he leaves for a life as an anti-Israeli radical in Lebanon. Sato’s eventual disillusionment with the power of film leads him to terrorism and violence, as he tries to make his propaganda into reality. This harrowing sequence brings the book’s interplay of art and violence into stark relief and is the highlight of the novel.
Though The China Lover tackles heavy issues like occupation and war, at no point does the history overwhelm the characters. In fact, it only serves to inform our view of them. For example, when the first Sato observes the Chinese living under Japanese occupation and reflects, “I knew that one day they would understand that this was their moment of liberation,” it is the historical fact of Japanese misconduct in Manchuria that allows us to see the depth of Sato’s self-deception.
By using history in such a subtle way, Buruma has given us an insightful and compelling novel. While it will be of special interest to those already interested in Japanese culture, it is a very human story that will also resonate with a wider readership.
The China Lover by Ian Buruma | <urn:uuid:0b13fd8a-3dc0-4ebb-bb42-09923bd91529> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookslut.com/fiction/2009_10_015323.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964466 | 1,211 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Hoboken High School Spanish teacher Tasha Austin recently turned a graduate school project into something much, much more.
The former student of Jersey City’s James J. Ferris High School recently decided that she had what it takes to become a children’s author when she self-published her book, “El Barrio Mío,” last month.
Her book, born from an assignment from a Rutgers University education class, is a simple yet effective beginner-level introduction to both the Spanish and English language. With simple sentences in both dialects, the book can help first-time students learn either Spanish or English whether it’s their first language or not.
According to Austin, the story is about a young girl who travels around her neighborhood, discovering the various different aspects of culture happening right outside her door.
“You can’t teach language in a vacuum.” – Tasha Austin
Austin, a native English speaker, said that while studying abroad for a year in Spain, she was able to gain knowledge about the excitement of learning a new language.
“My year in Spain gave me a much broader perspective into how much significance language carries,” said Austin.
In fact, Austin’s graduate school assignment called for a summary of the student’s personal border-crossing experience.
“It was done originally in a scrapbook,” said Austin. “My professor was so impressed with it and recommended that I publish it.”
After five years of teaching Spanish at Hoboken High School, Austin finally decided to get her book out on the market.
“It’s an educational book,” said Austin, who added that the book best helps readers at third and fourth grade levels. “You can’t teach language in a vacuum. There’s language, and then there’s culture, and it’s best to [combine the two]. The best way for kids to learn a language is by stories.”
Austin said that her goal is to use her book to encourage learning on a variety of different levels.
“My juniors could be given a project based on the book,” said Austin. “They can write their own stories based on their own experiences, using my book as a guide. This book can be manipulated in many ways.”
Austin said that she aspires to continue writing and publishing more children’s books about exploring the cultures found in “melting pots” such as America.
“I definitely have ambitions to continue writing children’s books,” said Austin.” “If I can make this book into a series, it’d be nice.”
“From an adult’s perspective, it’s really encouraging that a child has the motivation to explore and become acclimated with another culture,” said Austin.
Austin also said that she plans to tackle other ideas and issues in her books to come.
“There are some other complex issues I’d like to talk more in depth about, such as cultural celebration and the recognition of diversity,” Austin added.
Austin, who uses the pen name “Tori Leggard,” said that she will begin book signings once school ends in June. For more information or to purchase the book, visit Barnesandnoble.com or Amazon.com.
Stephen LaMarca may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:2db0f44f-0423-4480-a1c0-42392ebf33d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Learning+language+through+stories-Hoboken+Spanish+teacher+releases+children%E2%80%99s+book-%20&id=18250684 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967684 | 746 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Gravitational Wave Detection for Non-Specialists
According to the general theory of relativity, gravitational waves should be emitted by moving masses. They are, however, very weak and only when huge amounts of mass are converted into energy, as when stars explode or collide, are measurable amounts of gravitational radiation generated.
In the early years of the next century it is planned to launch a group of satellites which ought to be able to detect low frequency waves by measuring the changing distance from one satellite to another. My project, however, is concerned largely with ground-based detectors.
There have been three generations of ground-based detectors. The first generation was designed by Professor Joseph Weber of the University of Maryland. Weber is widely credited with being the pioneer of the field. Many scientists believed that the field would not be where it is now if Weber had not decided to try this `impossible’ experiment against all the odds. When Weber started scientists were still arguing about whether gravitational waves could be detected even in principle.
Weber hung a massive bar, weighing a ton or so, in a vacuum chamber and insulated it from all known forces. He compared the residual vibrations in the bar with the vibrations in similar bars separated by hundreds or thousands of miles. When the separated bars vibrated in coincidence, this was taken to be evidence for the existence of gravitational waves. Weber began to make credible claims of this sort in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The trouble was that calculations suggested that Weber was seeing far too much gravitational radiation. According to accepted theory, with his calculated sensitivity, he should have seen nothing, and certainly substantially less than one pulse a year, and he was seeing several per day.
A number of groups tried to repeat his experiment and they eventually concluded that Weber was wrong, and that his design of bar was insufficiently sensitive to see the amount of radiation that Weber claimed to see. Weber , however, did not give up and argued back. My early studies - papers 1 to 3 below - turn on this argument.
By 1975 the consensus had clearly turned against Weber but he is still developing theories and finding evidence to support his early claims. More recent studies - papers 5 and 6 - explore the history of Weber’s claims after the consensus had turned against him.
The second generation of gravitational wave detectors are like Weber’s design except that they are cooled to liquid helium temperatures. This design of detector dominated the field from 1975 until the early 1990s. Once more, the consensus is that they have detected nothing. Paper 4, deals with the history of a proto-claim to have detected interesting coincidences between a cooled bar in Italy and another in Australia and the argument that took place with an American group.
The third generation of detectors use a different technique called interferometry. Carefully controlled beams of laser light are directed along long arms and reflected back to the origin. The way the light beams `interfere’ with each other reveals any comparative changes in arm length during the passage of the light. [This is the basis of the famous Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887 - See my book The Golem under main books.]
This technique promises to be more sensitive to the radiation and to be able to see the shape of the pulses of radiation, not just their energy. But it is a much more expensive technique. For example, the American program is costing in excess of $300M and is the largest project ever funded by the US National Science Foundation. [High energy physics is much more expensive - eg the Super-Conducting Super-Collider was to cost $8 billion - but in the US it is largely funded by the Department of Energy.]
The sheer size of the interferometer program has meant that it has come to dominate the field in recent years. I argue in papers 4 and 5 that recent events in the resonant bar field can be fully understood only in the context of the larger program.
The first interferometers should come on air in the first years of the new millenium. A pair of interferometers with 4km arm lengths is being being built in the US, a 3km device is being built in Italy by a French-Italian team, a British-German team is building a 600m device in Hanover, while smaller devices, accompanied by plans to build much larger ones, are to be found in Japan, Australia, and Malaysia.
According to consensual theory, gravitational waves will first be seen by the first generation of these devices around 2003-4, or by the second generation which will be `on-air’ a couple of years later.
Paper 7 deals with the changing management structure of the American Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) as it developed from small science to big science.
Paper 8 deals with the problems of the international collaborations which are integral to this field. | <urn:uuid:e361cbd7-a39a-4820-afc6-4962ba7b935e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/contactsandpeople/harrycollins/gravitational-wave-detection.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971243 | 997 | 3.828125 | 4 |
‘IDEAS FROM CAMBRIDGE
REACH AROUND THE
Christian Heritage, in the heart of Cambridge, seeks tocommend the truth of Christianity to a sceptical world.We aim to promote appreciation for the infl uence ofChristianity on Western civilisation and to inspire andequip Christians to demonstrate the reasonablenessand transforming power of their faith.
Tourism that shows England's Christian heritage and questions secularism: The Round Church Visitor Centre & Guided Walks
Lectures and teaching:
Reaching thinkers and school children in Cambridge
Apologetics Apprenticeships and Summer Courses:
Equipping believers from around the world
RECOVERING THE PAST
‘Quite frankly, I do not think that even Oxford or Rome, or any other city in the world, with the possible exception of Jerusalem, provides as much opportunity for bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ from the buildings and historical facts that stand there, ready to be pointed out to every student and every tourist who comes to Cambridge.’
PROFESSOR WAYNE GRUDEM, PHOENIX SEMINARY, ARIZONA, USA
Cambridge’s history demonstrates with
unique clarity the positive impact of
Christianity on our culture. Building on
the history of the city, the Round Church
Visitor Centre offers visitors the chance to
refl ect on our Christian past and consider
its implications for our present and the
Approximately 75,000 visitors enter the
Round Church visitor centre each year,
from which we run courses, internships and
Visitors to Cambridge are guided through the lanes of the historic city centre,
college courtyards and chapels on twice weekly walks throughout the year. Guides explain how Christianity has infl uenced the development of Cambridge which has in turn had such a huge infl uence in the growth of the modern world. Human stories are woven into themes including:
- the Protestant Reformation and the Puritan revolutions
- the development of modern science
- the founding of the USA
- the introduction of constitutionalm government and political freedom
- the abolition of the slave trade
Special group bookings include Friends International, community groups, seminaries, academic conferences, high schools from the US, local primary schools, church groups, University ‘freshers’ and family celebrations as well as the many visitors to the city annually.
As a complement to the walk, the 23 minute video ‘Saints and Scholars’ provides an excellent introduction to the history of Cambridge. The English audio commentary is now available in Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese.
This 12 panel exhibition takes the reader through the impact of Christianity in England with special reference to Cambridge. Many visitors make positive comments about what they have learned and purchase the exhibition text to read and share. The exhibition was used in a Christianity awareness raising event in the Cabinet Office, Whitehall at which Ian Cooper from Christian Heritage spoke. The event was introduced by Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary.
3-4 million people have visited the Round Church Visitor Centre since it opened in 2001
Each year, over 1000 people participate in the guided walks
‘The best history of the West in a nutshell I have read’ Chinese Professor
Challenging the present
I thoroughly recommend Christian Heritage to all serious minded believers who are keen to reveal the Lordship of Christ to our dying culture.
REV. RICHARD CUNNINGHAM, DIRECTOR OF UCCF - THE CHRISTIAN UNIONS
The Round Church is much more than
a tourist hub. From here we seek to
demonstrate that Christianity is rooted in
history, that it is a true and living faith which
offers hope to a sceptical world.
‘Life-in-the-Round’ lectures and discussions aim to show that there is a Christian response to all of life and provides the opportunity to refl ect on the ‘big picture’ questions. Topics include literature, jazz, law, history, cultural trends and the arts. Lectureships involving internationally renowned speakers will provide a regular opportunity for the Cambridge community to hear the Bible expounded and related to culture, ‘big picture’ topics and ideas.
US HIGH SCHOOL SEMINARS
‘Rekindling the Vision’ guided walks and seminars provide an excellent opportunity for students who are about to embark on degree courses to be equipped for the secular onslaught, to understand the background to the rejection of Christian values in the west and to consider the challenge of living Christianly in today’s postmodern culture.
PRIMARY SCHOOL WALKS
‘Footprints of Faith’ is a collaborative project involving Christian Heritage and the Church Schools of Cambridge. Resources for teachers enable them to conduct walks in the town and colleges on various themes providing opportunities to explore and understand the contribution which Christianity has made to the city and the modern world.
Apologetic discussion groups are being organised by the apprentice team as they build relationships with the Cambridge residents and the student community through informal contacts and the outreach events of Christian Heritage. ‘Forum’ is one such group and is a follow up to the University Christian Union mission this Spring.
Hundreds of high school students from the US have visited since 2010 for walks and seminars, boosting the impact and turnover of our teaching programs: ‘Our experience (of Rekindling the Vision) was
nothing short of transformational for students and teachers alike…. I
have not seen any program that is better equipped to carry out this
mission and ministry than Christian Heritage.’
Bill Shelnutt, Mount Pishgah Christian School, Georgia, USA
‘I want to thank you for the amazing walk you gave us…’ | Alex, 9yrs old, Eltisley Primary School, Cambridgeshire
Shaping the Future
Your summer courses have a great impact on the lives of Christian thinkers and earnest believers’
WALTER C KAISER JNR., PRESIDENT EMERITUS GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, MASSACHUSETTS
‘Initiatives like these enable the voice of Christian realism and sanity to be heard again - undiluted and unashamed - in the public forum.’
DAVID JACKMAN, FOUNDER OF PROCLAMATION TRUST, LONDON
We seek to encourage and equip Christians
to communicate and defend the Gospel in
our secular culture through offering courses
with renowned speakers and year-long
2011/2012 saw the start of the year-long apprenticeship scheme. With mentoring and a structured curriculum focusing on apologetic issues and cultural engagement, graduates are equipped to engage with those in the community in apologetic evangelism and helped in their own spiritual and intellectual development.
The Theology course runs in cycles of six years, covering the six doctrines of God, Salvation, Scripture, the Unity of the Bible, Sanctification and Mission. Through an apologetics summer school we seek to equip Christians to be winsome communicators of the truth, able to counter the prevailing scepticism of our times and engage in apologetic evangelism. Through studying the relationship between theology, psychology and counselling, a new course will provide a biblical framework for counselling. Week-long courses in July attract delegates from the UK, Europe and the US with scholarships offered for students with few opportunities to study in their own country.
The Saturday School of Theology provides an opportunity for those serving in Christian ministry and professional work to study topics in some depth. It has included modules on church history, the reliability of scripture, beauty and modern art, politics and ethics. Many attend from Cambridge churches but also from further afield.
PHD STUDENTS & EUROPEAN LEADERS
The European Leadership Forum and Christian Heritage collaborate to organise two annual training opportunities. The aim of the Cambridge Scholars Network is to equip PhD students to be the next generation of intellectual leaders across Europe. The Cambridge Leaders Network provides indepth leadership and management training for leaders of Christian ministries across Europe.
‘The apprenticeship has already made a tremendous impact on me, both intellectually and personally. The tutors are excellent guides in my study and research, and the community of Cambridge offers a vast array of artistic, academic, and historical resources.' | Jon Thompson, Apologetics Apprentice 2011-12
We'd love you to sign up to hear from us regularly. We send updates on events and courses and a quarterly article.
what we do
Visitor Centre (Rated ‘Excellent’ by TripAdvisor)
Lecture and discussion
– a huge archive of previous talks, courses and articles
Training recent graduates in culture and apologetics | <urn:uuid:4d490106-e960-4fe4-bdf8-44542ad55a52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianheritageuk.org.uk/Groups/561/Home/Contact/Contact.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911466 | 1,808 | 2.375 | 2 |
A Smart Trash Can? Now Why Didn't Someone Think Of That Earlier?
We have smart phones, smart cars and even smart glasses, so it would only be logical that the next big idea would be . . . . A smart trash can? At least that's what Minoru Kurata, an engineer at a Japanese auto company is hoping to bring to a store near you, soon.
But before you get your hopes up too high, the device is not smart enough to clean up your room, after you leave for school. What in can do however, is make you seem like basketball superstar. That's because every time a piece of trash is flung anywhere close by, it moves in that direction and ensures that it lands inside, and not around the periphery, as is usually the case.
To achieve this magical feat, a motion-sensing Kinect camera placed strategically around the area first detects the position of the trash. It then sends this information to a computer, which rapidly calculates the location and transmits it to the can via a wireless connection.
This activates the trash can, which is equipped with a motor controller and wheels all snugly fitted on the underside. In order to ensure that the can does not topple over as it tries to catch the badly aimed trash, Minoru designed it so that it has the lowest possible center of gravity - Which means that it is narrow, compact and sits low on the ground.
While getting a trash can that requires such an elaborate set-up may not be a priority on your list, Minoru who was awarded an Excellence Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival held in Tokyo from February 13-24th, says that he has received many inquires about licensing his product for commercial use.
However, the young engineer is holding out for two reasons - He first needs to secure a patent for the elaborate technology and more importantly, get the can's success rate of detecting the falling article a tad higher than the current 10-20%!
Resources: techland.time.com, digiinfo.tv | <urn:uuid:8f097ceb-4291-45be-ba67-30b4a73fa8f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dogonews.com/2013/3/2/a-smart-trash-can-now-why-didnt-someone-think-of-that-earlier | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961774 | 417 | 2.265625 | 2 |
2010 is marked as a year of Kazakhstan in Republic Korea. Cooperation of our country with one of the Asian tigers in a sphere of education has begun with the moment of an establishment of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and South Korea on January, 28th, 1992 With opening in 1993 in Almaty Republic Korea embassies in Kazakhstan the direction of educational cooperation becomes more active. In 1994 together with Association Korean Studies researches in Europe in al-Farabi Kazakh National University «the Chair of the Korean philology», in 1999г has been created. It has been renamed as chair Korean Studies. For today the chair has let out more than 150 graduates on specialties "Oriental studies", "Region Studies", «Foreign philology: the Korean language», «Translation Studies». All of them are demanded experts on a modern labour market: The qualified experts in the Kazakhstan and Korean banks, the companies, the building organizations, science and education organizations, civil servants.
And today the chair continues to prepare the next change of already generated cohort of students of the Korean branch.
Chair Korean Studies faculty of oriental studies al-Farabi Kazakh National University within the limits of actions for realization of Strategy of development al-Farabi Kazakh National University on 2009-2011гг. On February, 16th, 2010 has organized among schoolboys of a city of Almaty the Olympic Games on knowledge of history, culture and language of Korea.
In the Olympic Games pupils of high school №65 (director Askarova E.G.), schools-grammar schools №159 (director Mirasova A.T.), a linguistic grammar school №36 (director Akserikova A.M.) have taken part
On conditions the Olympic Games were spent to two rounds.
The first round has been spent on the basis of high school where participants are trained. Questions of the first round in the sealed kind have been transferred in high school organizing committee. Winners of the first round have been defined by the high school commission. To the second round it has been presented on 10 winners from each school.
The second round has been spent on the basis of chair корееведения oriental studies faculty.
Commands welcomed participants in the free form, pupils have prepared cards with application of a presentation material. Children have prepared songs in the Korean language, danced the Korean national dances, played the Korean tools. Participants have passed written test, took part in a quiz.
Students of final years have prepared presentation about foreign training, students have shown a student's life in everyday life and holidays in the presentation.
Diplomas have been handed over winners. Winners of a steel
The diploma of 1 degree – Votchik Natalia –№65
The diploma of 2 degrees – Lebaeva Is given –№36
The diploma of 2 degrees – Kozhahmetova Akerke –№36
The diploma of 3 degrees – Omiralimova Indira - №36
The diploma of 3 degrees - Toleugalieva Lejla - №36
The diploma for active participation – Rumbaev Alpamys –№65 | <urn:uuid:065e1c2b-3123-4e25-8243-2c6c5ae85917> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kaznu.kz/en/2556/page/Departments/Faculty_of_Oriental_Studies_/Faculty%E2%80%99s_Life_/news_(archive)/The_meeting_of_the_graduatesThe_Olympic_Games_on_knowledge_of_history_2c_culture_and_language_of_Korea | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922965 | 670 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Gordon Brown may come to rue the economic legacy he left as chancellor
ALTHOUGH finance directors often become chief executives, the same is not true in politics. More often than not, the tricky job of managing the country's economy and the public finances wrecks promising careers. Gordon Brown is an exception because he presided over a decade of continuous growth and low inflation. Yet the economy, which has been his making as chancellor, could prove to be his undoing as prime minister.
As far as growth is concerned, it is business as usual. The economy continues to rattle along, helped by a recovery in Europe, a resurgence in business investment and indomitable consumers. In another sign of economic health, Britain continues to top the European league table for inward-investment projects, according to Ernst & Young, an accountancy firm.
Inflation is back, however. Retail prices rose by 4.8% in the 12 months to March, the most for almost 16 years. That surge in inflation, driven by higher home-energy costs, is now receding as gas and electricity prices come down. But underlying inflationary pressures remain uncomfortably strong because the long period of sustained growth has left the economy operating close to its capacity.
The Bank of England has responded with some unpalatable medicine for borrowers. Since last summer the bank's monetary-policy committee has raised the base rate from 4.5% to 5.5%. Four of the nine rate-setters wanted a quarter-point rise this month, according to minutes published on June 20th. This suggests that an increase to 5.75% in early July is highly likely. The City is pricing in another rise after that, taking the rate to 6.0% by the end of the year, and there seems little chance of any easing in 2008.
Household budgets have already been squeezed hard in recent years by rising taxes and higher inflation. Real disposable income grew last year by just 1.3%, the slowest since 1982 and less than half its average rate in the past two decades. So far this year, retail-price inflation has outstripped increases in average earnings, leaving workers worse off.
Some relief will come over the next few months as inflation subsides. Treasury forecasts also suggest a more moderate rise in the exchequer's take from income taxes in the year ahead. But now household finances are being strained by the remorseless rise in interest rates. People who took out two-year fixed mortgages at low rates in 2005 are facing a particularly painful shock as they absorb the full increase in borrowing costs over the past year.
According to Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, debt-servicing costs are at their highest as a share of disposable income since the recession of the early 1990s (see chart). Mortgage borrowers used to get generous tax relief on their interest payments but this was phased out during the 1990s and abolished in 2000. When this is taken into account, the debt-servicing ratio is close to its previous peak when the base rate stood at 15%.
The borrowing binge of the past few years explains why people are having to shell out so much even though interest rates are still far lower than in the early 1990s. Since 2000 household debt has soared from 110% of disposable income to 160%. Taking on bigger loans seemed affordable when credit was cheap. But now borrowers are saddled with higher debt repayments and are vulnerable to relatively small increases in interest rates.
The heavier burden of debt-servicing costs will constrain consumer budgets over the next year or so. Furthermore, although house prices are still rising fast—they increased by 11% in the year to June, according to the Nationwide building society—higher interest rates should eventually cool the market. As this happens, consumers will be less ready to borrow against the value of their homes in order to maintain their living standards.
The willingness of households to pile up debt buttressed the growth in consumption and overall demand during the past few years. In effect, however, it brought spending forward. Now the danger is that consumers will have to retrench, leading to a nasty economic slowdown.
As chancellor Mr Brown derived invaluable political capital from running a stable economy. But the legacy that he both leaves and inherits has drawbacks. As prime minister he will have to cope with more austere times and deal with a debt hangover that threatens to devalue his political stock. | <urn:uuid:610a25e0-1a21-4504-b12e-a76ee7dc4c51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.economist.com/node/9410631 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976026 | 898 | 1.851563 | 2 |
La Tourangelle has partnered with a 270 year-old traditional Japanese oil mill to create a rich, smooth, flavorful, light-colored Sesame Oil that may well set new standards for quality in the United States. According to La Tourangelle President Matthieu Kohlmeyer, "Our mill slowly roasts the sesame seeds using lower temperatures. The result is a lighter colored, more richly flavored oil with a subtle, toasted taste. Most Asian Sesame Oils available in the United States derive their dark, amber color and sometimes burnt flavor from the rapid, high temperature toasting of the sesame seeds." The production of Sesame Oil begins with sesame seeds harvested from South America or Africa . The seeds are toasted and then expeller (machine) pressed to extract the oil. This oil is filtered several times and then bottled. The quality of Sesame Oil varies depending on the quality of the seeds and the length and temperature of the toasting process. While nearly all the Sesame Oil now available in the U.S. is produced in China or Taiwan using methods that involved certain production shortcuts, La Tourangelle's Japanese partner uses only the freshest, highest quality seeds that are painstakingly cleaned and slow toasted. Japanese craftsmanship in the production of sesame oil is recognized as superior throughout Asia.
American cooks may want to use Sesame Oil to flavor an Asian stir-fry or noodle dish or as a marinade for meat or fish. Sesame Oil makes a delicious dressing for a Chinese Chicken Salad. Sesame Oil, rice vinegar, fresh grated ginger, and mustard is a delicious dressing for any combination of salad greens. | <urn:uuid:2c8769ed-eced-46e0-b417-0346ea99a8e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/Sesame-Seed-Oil-by-La-Tourangelle.asp?cf=usp_ListRelatedProducts_CrowdSourced_Sel&cprod=8049 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921784 | 341 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Pity the poor employees of companies like “Windows Technical Support"—scammers who make money by "fixing" computers that were never broken in the first place. For the people who pose as Windows support technicians and cold call unsuspecting victims to warn them about bogus viruses, life is good as long as they can wrangle credit card numbers and remote PC access from the gullible.
The scammer—who is generally from India but claims to live in the same country as the victim—tells whoever picks up the phone that their computer has been identified as having a virus. The scammer directs the user to look in the Windows Event Viewer, which shows a generally harmless list of error messages, and then says that this is a sign of serious infection. From there, the scammer convinces his mark to install a piece of software allowing remote access into the computer to clean up the problem, and to pay several hundred dollars in fees for the service. It's often known as the "ammyy" scam because users are sometimes directed to www.ammyy.com to install the remote desktop software.
Not everyone falls for it. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) didn’t, last week busting six fake tech support companies with names like Virtual PC Solutions and PCCare247 after having undercover agents pose as victims. Ars editor Nate Anderson didn’t fall for it, either, playing a helpless victim on the phone for 15 minutes before revealing that he knew what had been going on the whole time.
But the serious "scam trolls" elevate scammer-baiting to an art form, sometimes wasting as much as two hours on the phone as they see just how long a scammer will stay on the line. The tech support scam is an international phenomenon, and the scam trolls likewise come from across the globe. Many record their interactions with the scammers and post them for the world to hear—and learn from. Here's how the masters do it.
Please wait two hours while my dial-up connects to CompuServe
While some troll scammers as a public service to prevent people from being victimized, others are simply out for laughs. Case in point: a person calling himself "Ted" kept a scammer on the phone for nearly two hours, recording the last 43 minutes and posting them to SoundCloud last week.
“Thank you for two hours of your time, you dumb motherf****r”
A good troll is a prepared troll, and Ted was ready. He dragged out the call by pretending to connect his Windows 95 and Windows Vista computers to CompuServe via dial-up Internet, by providing an expired credit card number, and by providing absurd answers to basic questions.
Ted spent much of his call pretending to struggle to connect to the Internet. "OK, so you want me to connect to the Internet with this. God, it’s an hour and eight minutes we’ve been on the phone, this is taking forever. All right, hold on, so this is called—I need to connect it to the phone. It's called an acoustic coupler… Hold on one second. All right, it's not connecting to my CompuServe account for some reason. Let me try my AOL account, hold on."
Ted switched back and forth between his Windows 95 and Windows Vista computers. On Vista, Ted claimed he couldn't follow the scammer's instructions until he finished installing the non-existent Service Pack 3 (Vista only has two service packs).
Ted asked the scammer if he could make his Windows 95 computer run as fast as his Windows Vista one, and professed his desire to be a good citizen. "I want this machine to be secured, for sure," he said. "And I don’t want my machine being dangerous, for sure, I mean that would be bad, that would be very bad, I don’t want it to be bad, I want it to be good. I’m a responsible Internet user, I don’t want to be some of these hacker types that infect the Web and stuff like that."
The scammer tried to direct Ted to the ammyy website:
Ted: So, I’m connected to CompuServe. What now, what do you need me to do?
Scammer: I need you to open the website, www.
Ted: Hold on. www, d-o-t
Scammer: No, it's not d-o-t. It's www. Full stop.
Ted: Www dot full stop, yup.
Scammer: Sir, it's not like that, it's not like that. Sir, how do you open up any website, sir? www.google.com. www.yahoo.com?
Ted: Yes. Oh, I see what you're saying. I was confused, sorry. So what site do I open? You want me to go to fullstop.com?
Ted: You said to go to fullstop.com, right?
Scammer: No. No sir. www.ammyy.com.
Through it all, Ted periodically replays the dial-up modem connection sound when he has to "reconnect," tells the scammer he doesn't have Internet Explorer but uses Mosaic to surf the Web, and claims to be worried about his online banking because he wants to move a large amount of money out of his account. After initially providing an expired credit card number, Ted gives the scammer a real one—or at least one that sounds authentic enough for the scammer to start verifying Ted's birth date and other information.
Scammer: Confirm your date of birth, please.
Ted: Oh yes.
Scammer: Will you confirm it please?
Ted: Did you give it to me? What is it, what do you have?
Scammer: No, you need to tell me your date of birth.
Ted: OK. Oh, you want my date of birth right now. It’s June.
Scammer: Ok, like, uh, June 12th , June 10th, when is it, sir?
Ted: Oh yes. June 12th.
Scammer: Can you confirm me the year?
Suddenly, Ted is claiming to be hot and tense and says, "I need to take off my pants, it's way too hot." Next, he tells the scammer to address him less formally.
"You don’t have to keep calling me 'sir,'" Ted said. "I mean, we’ve been on the phone an hour and 50 minutes together. My friends call me 'Cinnamon.' If you want to call me Cinnamon, that’s fine." (The scammer actually starts calling Ted "Cinnamon.")
Once the scammer says Ted will have to pay $700 to fix his computer and for ongoing support, Ted tells him to add $50 for himself because of how helpful he's been. The scammer happily accepts the tip... just before Ted concludes with a brutal, "Thank you for two hours of your time, you dumb motherfucker," and hangs up the phone. | <urn:uuid:0cf0c169-b4e0-441a-9409-7345ad76c221> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/can-you-fix-my-windows-95-computer-how-to-troll-a-tech-support-scammer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96468 | 1,505 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Now Microsoft 'actively investigates' Surface slab jailbreak tool
'Appropriate action taken as necessary' against Windows RT hack
A spokesperson for Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group, tasked with Windows security, told The Register that Redmond is “actively investigating” the RT Jailbreak Tool v1 cooked up last week. Microsoft will take “appropriate action as necessary”, the spokesperson said, but provided no further details.
RT Jailbreak is batch file created by a coder called Netham45 that can crack locked-down Windows RT tablets in a matter of seconds. Once in, users can run any unauthorised desktop apps on their ARM-powered devices. Microsoft would rather people download and install authorised, and cryptographically signed, software specifically built for touch-driven computers from its official Windows Store outlet.
The jailbreak tool disables the signature check in the kernel to allow any software to run. It uses a debugging trick published last week by a security researcher known as C. L. Rokr, although the original hack entailed getting one's hands dirty with WinDbg. Netham45 tidied up the process and packaged it as RT Jailbreak Tool v1, which was released just four days after Rokr went public with his or her discovery.
Microsoft appeared to brush off the Rokr hack at the time, saying it wasn’t a security vulnerability - even though it exploited an existing shortcoming in the Windows kernel. “We applaud the ingenuity of the folks who worked this out and the hard work they did to document it. We’ll not guarantee these approaches will be there in future releases,” Microsoft noted.
Redmond's now heightened concern over the new tool may be because it is not quite so inaccessible to "the average user" as the original exploit, allowing punters to install all sorts of ARM-compatible software without the need to trouble the Windows Store. ® | <urn:uuid:3d7eff17-61e4-465b-9618-68ac1f326f7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/windows_rt_hack_microsoft_investigating/print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939515 | 399 | 1.609375 | 2 |
U.N. Professor Says Climate Change Is Creating New Refugees Who Deserve U.N. Protection
UNITED NATIONS -- Increasing global temperatures and land degradation are forcing more people to migrate, creating a wave of environmental refugees who need U.N. protection, a professor at the United Nations University said.
Janos Bogardi on Wednesday urged the United Nations to recognize that droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes and other environmental factors -- many of which are worsening because of climate change -- have played a role in the migration of millions of people worldwide.
Accurate, comprehensive numbers on environmental migrants are hard to come by, Bogardi said, since migrants often leave home for a variety of reasons.
Still, the U.N. refugee agency estimated in 2002 that there were about 24 million people worldwide who had fled floods, famine and other poor environmental conditions. A report from 2005 by Norman Myers, a professor of environmental science at Duke University, estimated that by 2010 about 50 million people will have migrated for environmental reasons.
The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 displaced more than 2 million people, many of whom are still in refugee camps, according to a 2006 report from the U.N.'s office for tsunami recovery.
Bogardi, director of the university's Institute for Environment and Human Security based in Bonn, Germany, said many in the international community are wary of addressing environmental migration because they fear the vague term might water down current U.N. protections for refugees.
"If we overload the (U.N. convention), we are weakening one of the strongest tools for protecting refugees," he told a panel discussion at U.N. headquarters.
The United Nations "should find other means of helping environmental migrants," he said.
Bogardi also said that environmental factors often lie at the root of more obvious causes of migration.
Competition for scarce resources may end in violent conflict, for instance. Over-mining or excessive deforestation -- driven by tremendous need in impoverished countries -- may result in land degradation and thus forced migration, he said.
Bogardi suggested that either the U.N. should adopt a new convention aimed solely at protecting environmental migrants or that provisions for such migrants should be included in international environmental treaties.
He proposed three broad categories to distinguish among people who leave their homes: those who are influenced only in part by worsening environmental conditions, those who leave to escape the worst effects of a poor environment, and those who are forced to flee a disaster.
Bogardi said that, like other migrants, environmental migrants most often flee the developing world for richer countries. But he added that no country is exempt from the negative effects of climate change.
"Vulnerability is with us all," he said, noting that more than 75,000 people are thought to have died from the 2003 heat wave in Western Europe.
He also pointed to Hurricane Katrina which devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast in August 2005, temporarily displacing 1.5 million people. Estimates indicate as many as 300,000 of those displaced will never return home, he added.
Still, he said, developing countries will be the least able to cope with environmental change and should receive the most help from international organizations to both rehabilitate salvageable land and to assist the safe passage of people from places that are no longer inhabitable.
Source: Associated Press | <urn:uuid:fc5c940e-e395-4ac7-966d-146d5c3a907a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/6582 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960834 | 682 | 2.921875 | 3 |
-- Catholic News Agency
Theologian Calls Beauty 'Starting Point' For Faith
DENVER, COLO., February 7 (CNA) .- Prominent theologian Dr. Michael Waldstein said that despite the modern world's dismissal of the connection between goodness and truth, the beauty of the natural world and human relationships can lead to faith in God.
"Natural beauty and human love are an important starting point. If you take true beauty seriously, you are a far way toward being open to an even greater love," Waldstein told CNA on Jan. 31.
A professor of theology at Ave Maria University, Waldstein gave his remarks following an address at Denver's Augustine Institute concerning "Faith, Science and Pope Benedict XVI's Regensburg Address."
He said that "glimpsing Christ's beauty and taking it seriously" is a challenge for modern man because of the tendency to see a "dichotomy between faith and truth."
Waldstein's address began by contrasting two understandings of the word "faith." One, he said, is displayed by individuals such as Richard Dawkins and sees faith as "belief that isn't based on evidence."
Another understanding of faith, one more compatible with Christianity, is accepting the testimony of a reliable witness, he said, adding that faith understood in this way is necessary for human existence, and the rejection of it is irrational.
Francis Bacon, an important figure in the scientific revolution, articulated the principle that "human knowledge should be for the sake of power over nature," he continued. That choice led to the reduction of the sphere of knowledge to mere "mechanics" - mathematics and physics, what can be made.
With this choice, Waldstein said, "the good was displaced from reality." This resulted in a distinction between goodness and beauty - or values - on one side, and truth - or facts - on the other.
Modernity therefore sees science as concerned with objective "facts," he explained, while values are viewed as a subjective phenomenon divorced from reality.
"Here you see, I think, why Richard Dawkins cannot but judge anything that's not in the very traditional scientific mode, as being unable to refer to something real," Waldstein reflected.
This separation between truth and goodness, he said, means that "unavoidably, values are seen as imposed on you by somebody else. If everything except the mathematical aspects of nature are simply projections, then that projection came from somebody."
Waldstein linked this to two current debates in American culture, namely contraception and the concept of gender.
The Obama administration's recent contraception mandate requires employers to offer health insurance coverage of contraception and sterilization, even when employers object to supporting their use on moral or religious grounds.
The dichotomy between truth and goodness "is why it is so difficult in our culture to understand the argument" surrounding contraception and conscience, the scholar said.
When truth and goodness are linked together, he explained, then it is possible to have an intrinsic link ordering the conjugal act towards the resultant good of openness to life.
"That is impossible for our contemporaries to understand, because for that ordering to take place, what you have to focus on is the goodness of the act. Because of that goodness, the act, through a nature in itself, has an orientation to it."
He explained that when facts and values are separated, then people cannot see why contraception is an objective evil.
"But if goodness is a mere value imposed, then this idea is insensible - you can't make sense of it. You see it as a religious argument, because any value is going to be a subjective projection into the facts."
Waldstein also explained how the idea of gender, as opposed to sex, represents a worldview in which "our body is a neutral machine with no meaning in itself, but all meaning is projected by us into it."
"It follows then that men and women aren't, in virtue of their bodies, men and women. As far as gender is concerned, that is not the realm of fact but of value."
"This," he said, "is a consequence of the choice of mechanics as the master science - the separation between fact and value."
Waldstein said that recapturing natural philosophy "plays a central role" in the new evangelization and overcoming the separation of truth and goodness. Natural philosophy's view allows an objective understanding of nature while also keeping goodness and values within the sphere of the objective.
The scholar told CNA that the encounter between persons is a way to help people think again about nature.
"Expression is such an amazing thing. I look at you, and I see you look, and it's fabulous, it's stupendous." He said that rather than being a "complicated process" of thought and analysis, the encounter of persons can be summed up in this experience: "I see you look."
"In the Gospel of John, in the prologue, when it talks about the Word becoming flesh, it's interesting that the very first effect of that... is that 'we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,'" he said. "That's beauty; glory and beauty are very closely related to each other."
Waldstein concluded that "to have a glimpse of that beauty which appears in Christ - glory, the glory of love, giving himself unreservedly, that, according to John, is the real motive of faith."
here to share this news story with a friend. | <urn:uuid:207ef2c0-af89-46df-856e-6b80a9b6e3ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=123911 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957213 | 1,140 | 2.1875 | 2 |
The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose place of business is in an
office; as, I have notified the office.
An office is generally a room or other area in
which people work.
In modern terms an office usually refers to the location where white-collar workers are employed. | <urn:uuid:f0c1f8d4-8163-4502-ba7b-c8e763c06b39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.matrixframe.eu/us/category/office | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914006 | 62 | 2.015625 | 2 |
The Ten Worst Teaching Mistakes
Tomorrow's Professor Blog has a great article listing the worst mistakes teachers can make in the classroom. It's an insightful (and research-driven) article. We talk often at Luther about some of the big-picture mistakes, like not having learning-objectives in mind in course design. Yet (from both a former student and a learning design point-of-view) I found some of the "smaller" listings here helpful as well, especially on a day-to-day teaching level.
"Mistake #10. When you ask a question in class, immediately call for volunteers. You know what happens when you do that. Most of the students avoid eye contact, and either you get a response from one of the two or three who always volunteer or you answer your own question. Few students even bother to think about the question, since they know that eventually someone else will provide the answer." | <urn:uuid:12f26d86-640f-4724-9d5c-fce92bb68419> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.luthersem.edu/technology/freerangelearning.aspx?m=3725&post=263 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970861 | 190 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The Flood of '97 has other environmental effects. They include:
Dust kicked up during cleanup may contain some bacteria that plague floodwater.
Health officials say some organisms will die when the water recedes and the mud dries, but workers are encouraged to wear masks.
Increased pests, especially mosquitos. The majority, however, do not carry communicable diseases. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using insect repellents containing the chemical DEET.
Oils and other petroleum products in floodwater. An East End machine shop owner last week called Clean Harbors Environmental Services of Winton Place after oil from his business reached floodwater. Clean Harbors put 400 feet of containment boom around the perimeter with only a thin ''sheen'' of oil reaching adjacent homes.
''With the amount of rushing water in the river, these kind of minor spills don't present environmental hazards,'' Clean Harbors General Manager John Stevens said. | <urn:uuid:447d7286-a848-4fb1-bc22-2694223996ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enquirer.com/flood/031797_flwenvironment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926775 | 191 | 2.734375 | 3 |
The Wall button allows you to draw straight and diagonal lines on your map. Click where you want the wall to start and drag the mouse to where it will end. As you draws lines they will be added to a list underneath the Wall button with the most recent line being at the bottom of the list. To delete a wall section select it from this list and click the Delete Selected button at the bottom of the pane.
Doors are drawn the same way as walls using the Door button. You can drag the mouse across multiple tiles to make doors larger than one square. Doors will also be added to the list in the middle of this pane and can be selected and deleted just like walls.
The Eraser button will allow you to remove a small part of a door or wall that you've drawn instead of deleting it entirely using the Delete Selected button. | <urn:uuid:0fae865d-a27e-4c43-b24a-45ca740bc8b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://help.mindgene.com/tools/map-tools/draw | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924158 | 172 | 2.125 | 2 |
- National AIDS Control Organization, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (NACP - III) Government of India
- Infection Control and Waste Management Plan for National AIDS Control Program
- July 2006, 45 pp
"The National AIDS Control Program Phase III (NACP-III, 2006-2011), aims to support the Government of India in achieving its goal of halting and reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2011 through integration of prevention and care, support and treatment programs. It has set itself an ambitious timeframe in proposing to achieve the target of halting and reversing its HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2011 (instead of 2015), but the program is very much seen as part of a longer term plan to realize the 6th Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and complete the long term reform agenda by 2015.
Provision of preventative and treatment services under the NACP-III is expected to generate infectious bio-medical wastes such as sharps (infected needles and syringes, surgical equipment, IV sets) infected blood, HIV test kits used in VCT centers, blood banks and laboratories and pharmaceutical wastes. These wastes, if not managed and disposed properly, can have direct environmental and public health implications. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at great risk as most blood-borne occupational infections occur through injuries from sharps contaminated with blood through accidents or unsafe practices. Systematic management of such clinical waste from source to disposal is therefore integral to prevention of infection and control of the epidemic." | <urn:uuid:3aa29f71-08d0-4801-8c67-de34fd97645f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hivpolicy.org/bib/HPP001197.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918563 | 298 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Birth Trauma is Real!
Rumblings among psychotherapists early in the 20th Century pointed to the distinct possibility that birth was for most people a traumatic event which left marks--psychological marks. Physical marks could hardly be denied: marks from forceps delivery could plainly be seen and were sometimes carried as scars for years. Heads emerged from a difficult birth cone-shaped, reflecting a reaction to powerful forces impinging on the skull. But this was not supposed to matter. Some babies emerged blue and stiff with suffocation, and had to be brought back from the dead, but it was merely an incident. With an unfinished brain, babies were incapable of human sensations, emotions, or thoughts--only mechanical reflexes.
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, gave fleeting attention to birth as the possible source of anxiety symptoms presented by clients years later, but he found this idea incompatible with his beliefs about the immaturity of the brain at birth. He preferred to think of trauma as a fantasy created by clients for veiled reasons. Otto Rank, an early disciple of Freud, became convinced of the reality of birth trauma and devoted himself passionately to construction of a form of psychoanalysis which worked directly with birth (see The Trauma of Birth originally written in 1924).
Rank's novel approach dramatically shortened the process of psychoanalysis but was ultimately rejected by Freud, shunting the Rankian method away from the mainstream of psychiatry where it remains to this day. Only a handful of psychotherapists kept the insight alive that birth was an epochal event which left deep impressions and shaped personality, attitudes, and behaviors for many years to come. For a thorough historical review, see Elizabeth Noble (1993), Primal Connections. Current psychologists and psychiatrists for whom birth trauma is central to therapy include Arthur Janov (see his latest, The New Primal Scream, 1991), Stanislav Grof (The Holotropic Mind, 1992), and Lynda Share (If Someone Speaks, It Gets Lighter: Dreams and the Reconstruction of Infant Trauma, 1994).
Among the vast majority of psychiatrists and psychologists today, the notion persists that there cannot be any real trauma at birth because the immature brain cannot register it. This dogma has been the chief obstacle to progress in understanding babies and in understanding the prime importance of early trauma. In retrospect, this dogma, reflecting the age itself, failed to appreciate the holistic nature of babies, preferring to treat them as physical/material objects only. Experts thought the only matter that was real was brain matter, and the absence of brain matter eliminated all possibilities for sensation, emotional, and cognition. This idea is too small to fit the anecdotal, clinical, and experimental data now available.
Although controversy can still be generated, especially among persons who are not acquainted with contemporary findings, we should not proceed arrogantly with the routine traumatization of our infants at birth! Fortunately, an increasing number of therapists are being privately trained to recognize and work to resolve prenatal/perinatal trauma, but there could never be enough of them to do the work that is piling up. It would take an army of therapists to keep up with endless production line of trauma at birth! Their work could be--and should be--eliminated with the prevention of unnecessary traumas of contemporary obstetrics. But there is no end in sight at this time.
In the pages of the Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health most major points of view on the healing of prenatal/perinatal trauma have been represented. See the up-to-date list of these Journal articles. Some papers are reprinted in full as White Papers. All past past articles published in the Journal can be purchased from APPPAH. Tel: 707-887-2838, or Email. | <urn:uuid:d91130a5-c732-402b-92f5-dc4c12734c40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://birthpsychology.com/free-article/birth-trauma-real | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96056 | 771 | 2.546875 | 3 |
*Caution: This may be a parody
If you’re worried about your own or a friend or family member’s genealogy research addiction, it’s important to know that help is available. Learning about the nature of genealogy addiction - how it develops, what it looks like, and why it can have such a powerful hold - will give you a better understanding of the problem and how to best deal with it.
People start genealogy for many different reasons. Many first try researching out of curiosity, to have a good time or because friends are doing it. Researching ancestors doesn’t automatically lead to addiction, and there is no specific level at which research moves from casual to chronic. It varies by individual. No matter how often or how little you’re researching, if your genealogy is improving your life—at work, school, home, or in your relationships—you likely have an addiction.
Genealogy and the brain
- Researching causes a surge in levels of dopamine in your brain, which trigger feelings of pleasure. Your brain remembers these feelings and wants them repeated.
- These changes in your brain increase your ability to think clearly, make connections, and feel mentally stimulated.
- The urge to research genealogy is so strong that your mind finds many ways to deny or rationalize the addiction. You may drastically underestimate the duration of research, how much it improves your life, and the number of ancestors remaining to be documented.
Common signs and symptoms
- You’ve built up a research tolerance. You need to research more to experience the same effects you used to attain with smaller amounts.
- You research genealogy to avoid or relieve withdrawal symptoms. If you go too long without genealogy, you experience symptoms such as restlessness, insomnia and anxiety.
- You’ve lost control over your genealogy time. You often research more than you planned, even though you told yourself you wouldn’t. You may want to stop researching, but you feel powerless against its attraction.
- Your life revolves around genealogy. You spend a lot of time thinking about genealogy, figuring out how to do more research, and recovering from weeklong conferences.
- You’ve abandoned activities you used to enjoy, such as reality TV, collecting garden gnomes, and root canals, because of your genealogy.
Physical warning signs of genealogy research addiction
- Bloodshot eyes, long periods in front of a computer screen.
- Changes in appetite or sleep patterns. Up all night researching.
- Signs of genealogy paraphernalia; old books, index cards and Flip-Pal scanners.
Behavioral signs of genealogy research addiction
- Sudden change in friends, favorite hangouts, and hobbies.
- Unexplained need for money for the latest software or DNA test.
- Engaging in secretive or suspicious behaviors; wandering around attics and graveyards.
- Repeated unexplained outings, often with a sense of urgency; “I have to go to the Archive.”
Psychological warning signs of genealogy research addiction
- Unexplained change in personality or attitude. Increased optimism and sense of connectedness.
- Sudden mood swings, irritability, or angry outbursts about brick walls.
- Periods of unusual hyperactivity, agitation, or giddiness after a breakthrough.
Support is essential
Don’t try to go it alone; it’s all too easy to get discouraged and rationalize “just one more” ancestor. Whether you choose to go to events, rely on webinars or take a self-directed learning approach, support is essential. Living with genealogy addiction is much easier when you have people you can lean on for encouragement, comfort, and guidance.
Coming to terms with genealogy addiction
Remember, you’re not just helping yourself, but everyone around you. You are uncovering history and adding meaning to the events of your ancestor’s lives. You are creating a sense of how the world and its people are connected. You are passing your legacy on to future generations.
Just say know. | <urn:uuid:bdc6ab45-328d-48eb-81d4-74456faa1a8a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://originhunters.blogspot.com/2011/12/genealogy-addiction-just-say-know.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91702 | 863 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Tomorrow on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, SSOE will host a Distracted Driver Simulator in our Toledo, Ohio office in hopes of raising awareness about the consequences of distracted driving. During the event, employees, their family members, and other invited guests will be encouraged to “Take the Pledge” to resist all cell phone activity while driving.
According to www.distraction.gov, drivers who use hand-held devices are 4 times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent—at 55 mph—of driving the length of an entire football field, blind!
The simulator is part of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s comprehensive roadway safety campaign “Every Move You Make, Keep It Safe.” They report that in Ohio alone, the number of crashes caused by distracted driving in 2010 reached 12,410. Ohio law enforcement reported 39 fatalities, 454 serious injuries as a result of these crashes. Our goal of hosting the Distracted Driver Simulator is to do our part to help increase the number of safe drivers on the road and reduce the number of injuries and fatalities associated with texting and driving.
While at SSOE, the Distracted Driver Simulator will challenge participants to navigate city streets and highways while talking on the phone, sending a text message, and listening to passenger conversations.
Stay tuned for pictures and follow-up information on the event and read here to learn more: http://www.ssoe.com/press-releases/ssoe-group-to-host-distracted-driver-simulator/ | <urn:uuid:4224ea08-7bd6-4735-8e96-9242b37a0238> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.ssoe.com/safety/safety-topics/ssoe-to-host-the-distracted-driver-simulator/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937065 | 355 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Posted by ESC on November 04, 2003
In Reply to: Re: Idiomatic expressions in "Minority Report" posted by ESC on November 04, 2003
: : Well, I just got my DVD "Minority Report" and there are some English/American specific idioms and phrases that look completely unknown to me.
: : So could you help?
: : 1. "we're to give him the run of the farm" means "we're going to explain him how the things work here"?
: : 2. "recorded on holosphere by PreCrime's Q-stacks."
: : What the hell is Q-stacks. As far as I see that some kind of computer term concerned with PreCrime Department hardware equipment...
: : 3. Howard's wife said in order to reject his invitation for lunch:
: : "I have an open house at the Ressler place."
: : Does she meant she is some kind of real eestate dealer and had a vacant house at some "Ressler place"?
: : What does she meant by this?
: : Thanks in advance, I'm sure there will be more of them. ;)
: 1. Do you keep the dog in the kitchen or does he have the run of the house? Is he restricted to one area or can he go everywhere? Merriam Webster online: RUN 2 a : to go without restraint : move freely about at will. Let chickens run loose.
: 2. Q-stacks. Don't know this one.
: 3. Open house. In the context you gave, it would mean that people could drop by and go through a house for sale without an appointment. It also has a social meaning: We had a Christmas "open house" on December 23 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Date: 15th century
1 : ready and usually informal hospitality or entertainment for all comers
2 : a house or apartment open for inspection especially by prospective buyers or tenants | <urn:uuid:99523b5e-7ab7-49e4-9ba9-1b3501638787> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/25/messages/835.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966174 | 413 | 1.515625 | 2 |
A movie about a 350-pound African-American girl physically abused by her mother and sexually abused by her father seems like a long shot to win over audiences. In an environment where daily stress causes people to seek out escapist entertainment like Avatar or feel good movies like The Blind Side, why would anyone choose to see this film?
Now that Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire has won awards in the U.S. and Europe, many moviegoers are taking a second look. The ultimate compliment, of course, is being nominated for an Academy Award and two of the film’s actresses, Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique, have received that honor. The film’s director, Lee Daniels, also nominated for an Oscar, is the one who fought to have this film made—from the beginning when he convinced the author, Sapphire, to sign over rights to her work, through the Sundance Festival where he finally won over Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey for help with promotion.
In 1987, Claireece Precious Jones (Sidibe) is sixteen and lives in Harlem with her mother, Mary (Mo’Nique). When we first meet Precious, as she prefers to be called, she’s in English class barely keeping up with the work yet captivated by her teacher. (She fantasizes that he will whisk her off to live with him in Westchester). Her time in school, however, is cut short. Called to the principal’s office, she’s suspended because she’s pregnant, the second time she has had to leave school to have a baby.
On her way home, she’s a target for the abuse that often greets obese people in our society. She counters, as she often does, with physical violence. So far, Precious has done little to win over our sympathies. All of that changes when she arrives home and we witness what her day-to-day existence is like. Her mother lives to watch TV, smoke, collect welfare checks, and have her daughter wait on her, all while delivering one hurtful blow after another—both verbal and physical—upon Precious. We learn through flashbacks that Precious was twice impregnated by her father, her mother watching but doing nothing to stop the abuse. Rather than condemn her husband, she accuses Precious of stealing him and leaving her alone.
Precious’ first child, called simply Mongo, because she’s “Mongoloid,” lives with Mary’s mother, Precious’ grandmother. Whenever a social worker plans a visit, the grandmother brings over Mongo so that Mary can continue to collect welfare checks. (Mo’Nique is superb in this scene where she transforms herself with lipstick and a wig into a caring grandmother and then morphs back into an abusive mother when the social worker leaves).
The principal arranges for Precious to attend an alternative school. In a classroom filled with other students who have somehow gone off track, Precious begins to find herself, owing in large part to a dedicated teacher Blu Rain (Paula Patton, above) who senses Precious’ potential and encourages her to write. After the birth of a second child, a boy named Abdul, Precious returns home but afraid for her baby’s safety finally flees. She finds temporary housing with Rain and her partner (she is curious about her teacher’s lesbian relationship) eventually moving into a half-way house while continuing her studies.
Precious’ problems are far from over. She learns that she is HIV positive, infected by her father who has died from the disease. She is determined to make it on her own, looking towards completing high school and going on to college.
From time to time, Precious meets with her social worker, Miss Weiss (an unrecognizable Mariah Carey, above). When Precious’ mother meets with her daughter and social worker, vowing to change if her family will come back to live with her, Weiss finally extracts the details of Precious’ sexual abuse and why Mary allowed it to happen. Mo’Nique has already won the Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a supporting role, and is considered a frontrunner for the Oscar in that category. This scene should clinch it for her.
This is Sidibe’s first role and she is, quite simply, a natural. She is so believable as Precious that we often feel we are watching the real Precious suffer the indignities of life. Carey is far from her diva self here. Members of our party who hadn’t read about the movie failed to identify Carey as the social worker. (She even sports a hairy upper lip). Lenny Kravitz has a small but memorable role as a male nurse, while Sherri Shepherd (does she manage to find the best jobs ever?) steps away from her View persona to play the wise-cracking receptionist at Precious’ school.
Some reviewers have criticized the movie for its unfavorable portrayal of black American life. Yet, these characters could have been white, Hispanic, or any race without affecting the story. The sad fact is that too many children in our society, no matter their race or, in fact, social status, suffer abuse and often have no where or no one to turn to for help. Hopefully, this film will raise awareness of the problem and serve as a call to action for those of us who can become part of the solution. | <urn:uuid:4e76e3d0-c957-4db3-aee5-41371edcdea3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.womanaroundtown.com/sections/playing-around/precious-a-story-of-survival | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974254 | 1,144 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Egypt Hydrocarbon Corporation (EHC), an affiliate of Carbon Holdings, announced they have concluded financing and have begun work on a world-scale chemical complex in the Suez region of Egypt. The complex includes both nitric acid and ammonium nitrate facilities. The announcement was made by Mr. Basil El-Baz, Chairman and CEO of Carbon Holdings, at a signing ceremony for the $298,000,000 loan facility held in Cairo, Egypt.
The Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers for the loan facility are Ahli United Bank (Egypt) and Ahli United Bank (Bahrain) who are the Bookrunners, Banque Misr who is the Security Agent, and Commercial International Bank (Egypt) who is the Facility Agent.
The Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract and Technology Licenses have been executed with Uhde Gmbh, a wholly owned subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp AG.
“This project is a significant step for Carbon Holdings and EHC in our plan to execute three major projects over the next five years. As a private company, we have the ability to efficiently evaluate market dynamics and implement projects in a timely manner, and this project is the result of that capability," said Mr. El-Baz.
The complex converts ammonia feedstock to 925 metric tons per day of nitric acid which is further processed to produce 1,060 metric tons per day of low density ammonium nitrate.
Start-up of the facility is estimated in 2013. | <urn:uuid:e5a2f448-ffa2-4b99-85e2-85dbca33f747> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.albawaba.com/print/news/egypt-hydrocarbon-corporation-concludes-financing-nitric-acid-and-ammonium-nitrate-complex-suez | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952287 | 308 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Playing mother hen to a flamingo chick
Thursday 5 August 2004
A Caribbean flamingo chick, hatched on the 6 July, is being hand reared by keepers at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park
Standing at 10 inches (25 cm) tall the leggy young bird will eventually grow as tall as 4 feet (1.2 m) and its creamy off white plumage will change to the familiar flamingo pink when it is a year old.
Flamingos lay their eggs in nests made of piles of mud which they carefully mould into a chimney shape, however the keepers noticed that the parents had abandoned one of the nests and so they collected the egg to see if it could be incubated. After 28 days the egg hatched, producing a long, pink-legged and very noisy chick! It has been a major achievement to hatch and rear the youngster as they are notoriously specialised feeders.
The chick is fed 3 times a day on a special mixture of sprats, peeled prawns, two egg yokes, baby food cereals, vitamins, probiotic and calcium, which is liquidised in a food mixer and fed via a syringe.
The keepers will continue to look after the chick for about 10 weeks after which it will be slowly integrated into the flock at Whipsnade.
For further information contact:
Debbie Curtis 020 7449 6363 or email@example.com
Notes to Editors
- The Caribbean or rosy flamingo is found in central and south America and is the tallest flamingos
- They have a unique way of feeding using their specialised beak as an upside down sieve to filter out invertebrates in the water
— ENDS — | <urn:uuid:a4be9596-e4e5-473e-a8fe-d8e89148e4da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zsl.org/about-us/media/press-releases/1623,1623,PR.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951383 | 361 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Learn effective positioning techniques to create inside offense
Develop a quick release on your shot
Sharpen your goal cuts to generate more scoring opportunities
with Bobby Benson, Johns Hopkins University Assistant Lacrosse Coach; 3x All-American player at Johns Hopkins; sixth all-time leading goal-scorer in school history
Things happen quickly around the crease. Ensure that your players have the skills they need to be successful on the inside.
Revealing Johns Hopkins' philosophy on inside play, Assistant Coach Bobby Benson focuses on two areas:
Stick Work -
Quick, efficient stick work is imperative when playing around the crease. Benson demonstrates nine drills to develop good hands and quick wrists. His techniques focus on a quick catch and release, catching across the face, minimizing cradles, accuracy, proper footwork and more. Benson shows you how to modify the drills to play at game pace.
Playing Inside -
Benson teaches effective positioning techniques and principles to get your players open, create good goal cuts and produce scoring opportunities.
Benson delivers detailed instruction on effective cutting, screening and flare techniques to get players into open space. To perfect these techniques, he demonstrates drills that work on communication, awareness, catching the ball and finishing hard with accuracy.
In addition, Benson explains two solid inside moves used extensively at Johns Hopkins to create confusion and make the defense rotate out of its set.
Benson includes a number of drills from his shooting drills video providing tips and concepts on how you can use them to improve your inside play.
Developing a strong inside game will add an extra dimension to your offense. As a player, learning to move without the ball will put you ahead of your competition. This season, take advantage of the many benefits effective inside play has to offer!
60 minutes. 2010.
You must install Flash Player version 8.0 or higher to view this video. | <urn:uuid:c1eeb521-5ebf-4514-abb2-ce42be00182c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.champonline.com/essential-skills-for-inside-play-lxd-03426.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923491 | 385 | 1.898438 | 2 |
As the Islamic Republic moves closer to obtaining a nuclear weapons capability, talk of an Israeli attack on Iran is increasingly the subject of articles and reports in the international media. On the one hand, it is certainly understandable why Israel is extremely concerned about the Islamic Republic's nuclear capability, particularly given the escalating anti-Israeli rhetoric coming from Tehran. On the other hand, is an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities really the best solution to the nuclear threat posed by the Islamic Republic?
The answer to this question lies in the effectiveness of the international sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic and whether a coalition of concerned countries, with American leadership, is now willing to support the Iranian freedom movement.
The international sanctions that have delivered the biggest punch to date have been those imposed on Iran's oil and gas industry and its financial institutions. Iran's crude oil shipments have dropped by 52 percent since July 1 and the Islamic Republic is losing $133 million a day all without the devastating oil-price spike that many had feared would happen. Sensitive internal government reports are beginning to leak in Tehran warning of an impending financial crisis in which the regime might not be able to meet the government payroll in the next three months. The regime has warned its ministries to expect a 50 percent cut in the salary of all government employees.
While Ali Khamenei and his minions have been trying to minimize the effects of international sanctions, it appears that the regime's foreign currency reserve may be exhausted in the coming months. The IMF estimated that the regime had $106 billion in official foreign reserves at the end of 2011; estimates by private economists now put the regime's reserves remaining at $50 billion - $70 billion. In spite of Iran Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani's efforts to hide this alarming situation and halt the dramatic slide of the rial, the rial's unofficial rate is reported to have plunged to record low rates of 25,000 to 29,000 rials to the U.S. dollar. The regime anticipates that the rial may fall to a devastating 67,000 rials to the dollar as the Iranian central bank tries to curb the sharp drop in its reserves.
Inflation has plagued the Iranian economy since the Islamic Revolution. The removal of government subsidies on food and fuel amplified this problem and sanctions have added to the inflationary pressures. With inflation now at 33 percent, prices have escalated to a point that the burden is very difficult if not unbearable for the average Iranian consumer. Discontent with the regime is on the rise. Indeed, if the leaked classified reports are to be believed, the regime should anticipate that riots will occur in border cities where day-to-day conditions are most rapidly disintegrating. The Iranian people blame the regime and its policies for their growing poverty, and food and fuel shortages. Momentum is shifting from the regime to those seeking a free, democratic Iran.
The regime's relentless pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability presents a genuine dilemma. While it is important to keep a credible military strike option on the table, a military attack, especially if Israel executes it unilaterally, will not have long-lasting effects in preventing a nuclear weapons-capable Iran. Israel and all countries concerned about the regime's nuclear threat should not lose sight of the fact that discontent among the Iranians is at its highest level since the Revolution. The Iranian people are capable of surprising the world again by rising up against this oppressive, illegitimate regime just as they did in the 2009 post-election protests.
It is impossible to predict the precise moment when another uprising will happen in Iran, but a military attack will be a serious impediment to the success of any democratic movement in Iran. It will give the mullahs the perfect chance to play victim on the international scene and to impose even greater oppression on the Iranian people. Perhaps this is why the public pronouncements of leaders of the Islamic Republic have been so provocative lately.
The regime believes that a nuclear weapons capability will bestow upon it what the Iranian people will not -- unchallenged legitimacy. Consequently, the Islamic regime will never abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons. A free and democratic Iran is the only permanent solution to the Islamic regime's nuclear threat to the security of Israel and international peace. It requires a concerted international effort to financially paralyze the regime. It also requires a policy by the United States and its allies, including Israel, to support the Iranian freedom movement both inside Iran and abroad.
The Iranian people rose courageously once to show their opposition to this regime and their desire for a peaceful democratic government, but the governments of the free world failed to support them. Today, finally, these same governments, with U.S. leadership, are beginning to take major steps in the right direction through rigorous sanctions. Instead of a military attack, the U.S. and Israel should immediately launch major funding and human rights initiatives to support the Iranian freedom movement in its efforts to bring about a free, democratic Iran that is committed to playing a peaceful and constructive role in the Middle East. The Iranian freedom movement is not asking the United States or its allies to shed blood to advance its struggle with the regime in Tehran. Those seeking a free, democratic Iran are simply looking for strong international public support to secure their God-given freedom and fundamental human rights.
G. William Heiser is a former official in the Reagan National Security Council Staff and currently is an advisor to the Confederation of Iranian Students.
Amir Fakhravar is Secretary General of the Confederation of Iranian Students and a former political prisoner of the Iranian regime. He is presently a Research Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school of international affairs in Washington, DC.
Shadow Government is a blog about U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration, written by experienced policy makers from the loyal opposition and curated by Peter D. Feaver and William Inboden. | <urn:uuid:404680a3-71e5-4768-8e0f-50873e774c7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/09/14/the_only_guarantee_of_a_nuclear_free_iran_a_free_democratic_iran | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954482 | 1,187 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Senators Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) reintroduced legislation (S.1032) designed to reform the U.S.-build requirement of the Jones Act.
This bill, similar to the one introduced by Brownback last summer, would allow foreign-built dry- and liquid-bulk oceangoing self-propelled ships over 1,000 tons to ply the U.S. Coastwise trade under U.S. flag. The U.S. ownership, manning and registration (flagging) requirements would remain in place.
The bill comes during a time of much activity and debate regarding Jones Act reform. Recently, former Maritime Administrator Warren Leback proposed opening a three-year window allowing Jones Act container ship operators to replace their aging fleets. This followed a proposal by the Maritime Administration to give American cargo preference operators a one-year window in which to re-flag foreign-built self-propelled ships. These preference operators obtain subsidized government rates to transport U.S. food aid abroad. And, just three weeks ago, a North Carolina consortium of turket, broiler and hog producers cited the Jones Act as the primary reason they were forced to purchase 75,000 tons of Brazilian soymean, to be transported on a foreign-flag ship, as feed grain.
The bill follows the introduction by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) of the "Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001," one of the provisions of which would implement the MARAD waiver proposal. The bill was co-sponsored by Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.), Senate Commerce Committee Chair
, Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), and ironically, Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), a known proponent of the Jones Act. | <urn:uuid:450bcdc6-7ef4-4057-9e52-44ae50403e0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinelink.com/news/article/jones-act-reform-legislation-reintroduced/320530.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950646 | 405 | 1.78125 | 2 |
All week Mitt Romney has quoted one of his favorite TV series to punctuate the poignant stories of lives cut short that he has woven into his campaign speeches.
But on Friday the creator of the series, “Friday Night Lights,” accused Mr. Romney of plagiarism for adopting the slogan, “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose,’’ and asked him to stop using it.
“Your politics and campaign are clearly not aligned with the themes we portrayed in our series,” Peter Berg, the writer-director of the show, wrote in a letter to Mr. Romney.
“The only relevant comparison I see between your campaign and ‘Friday Night Lights’ is in the character of Buddy Garrity – who turned his back on American car manufacturers, selling imported cars from Japan.”
The Romney campaign did not immediately respond to a question about whether it would cease using the slogan.
Already this week Mr. Romney has stopped mentioning Glen Doherty, a former Navy SEAL killed in the attack on an American consulate annex in Benghazi, Libya, after Mr. Doherty’s mother objected to the candidate politicizing her son’s death.
The “Friday Night Lights” television show, about a high school football team, won critical acclaim and passionate fans, but low ratings during its five seasons on NBC, ending last year. Mr. Romney, who doesn’t name the show, embraced the “Clear Eyes” slogan at the first presidential debate, where it appeared on a sign in his backstage waiting area.
Shortly after, Mr. Romney began using it at rallies, usually after describing a 14-year-old boy he had befriended and counseled as he was dying of leukemia. He said the boy’s bravery in facing death reminded him of the slogan, which in the show is chanted by players in the locker room as inspiration before a game.
Mr. Romney also wove the phrase into accounts of others he knew who had died tragically. “This is something that we share in this country; men and women of clear eyes and full hearts, and America can’t lose,” he said in one speech.
“I was not thrilled when I saw that you have plagiarized this expression to support your campaign by using it on posters, your Facebook page and as part of your stump speeches,” Mr. Berg wrote in his letter.
Mr. Berg does not seem to have the kind of legal case that musicians invoke when insisting political candidates stop playing their songs, an increasingly common phenomenon, especially for Republicans, dating from at least when Bruce Springsteen objected to Ronald Reagan’s use of “Born in the U.S.A.”
A rapper, K’naan, threatened legal action over the Romney campaign’s use of “Wavin’ Flag” at rallies, and a co-writer of “Eye of the Tiger’’ filed a suit against Newt Gingrich.
But Mr. Romney has one vote of support connected to “Friday Night Lights.” Buzz Bissinger, the author of the classic nonfiction book that inspired the television series, announced that he would vote for Mr. Romney in a column on The Daily Beast on Oct. 8, declaring that he was a life-long Democrat who was swayed by Mr. Romney’s debate performance.
Follow Trip Gabriel on Twitter at @tripgabriel. | <urn:uuid:e5f91b0e-8ea8-4620-b431-7e617eec6b45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/friday-night-lights-creator-accuses-romney-of-plagiarism/?ref=politics | 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 | 0.975974 | 724 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Taipei, June 26 (CNA) Taiwan will begin its first large-scale monitoring of particulate matter of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) in August, an official said Tuesday, following the recent inclusion of the dangerous pollutants in the country's air quality standards.
The administration will send staff to 30 air quality monitoring stations across the island to manually record the concentration of PM2.5 particles every three days, said Roam Gwo-dong, director general of the Environmental Protection Administration's Environmental Analysis Laboratory.
It will be the first step in the country's efforts to precisely keep track of the pollutant, Roam said, explaining that the labor-intensive method could reduce the effect of humidity on the measurements because it might make the particles too big to detect.
"Based on the data, we might learn how PM2.5 particles get into the air we breathe and control the source of emissions more effectively," he said.
In May, the administration approved new regulations that limited PM2.5 particles to a maximum 35 micrograms per cubic meter per day, and a maximum annual average of 15 micrograms per cubic meter.
The main sources of PM2.5 particles are industrial facilities, such as power and petrochemical plants, and vehicles, Roam said.
The tiny particles were a key part of the argument raised by protesters last year in their opposition to the proposed Kuokuang petrochemical project in Changhua County, which has since been dropped.
President Ma Ying-jeou later promised to introduce regulations on the pollutant.
Due to the small size of the particles, they can easily enter the alveolar sacs of the lungs and be spread throughout the body by blood circulation.
(By Lee Hsin-Yin) | <urn:uuid:04490ce0-6863-49d8-be06-9614a37069f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/node/8554 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925674 | 372 | 2.421875 | 2 |
|Managing Water for Peace in the Middle East: Alternative Strategies (UNU, 1995, 309 pages)|
|2. Review studies on arid-zone hydrology and water-resources development and management|
Owing to the rapid increase in demand for water in the Arabian Gulf countriesSaudi Arabia' Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Omanwhere conventional water resources such as fresh surface water and renewable groundwater are extremely limited, other alternatives such as wastewater reclamation and desalination have been adopted since the 1960s. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain all use nonrenewable groundwater resources in large quantity, causing depletion of these valuable resources and deterioration in the quality of water. Although conventional water resources such as renewable groundwater and surface runoff are available in countries like Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, these resources still need to be properly developed in an integrated water-resources planning context.
In some of the more arid parts of the Middle East, in particular the Gulf states, where good quality water is not available or is extremely limited, desalination of seawater has been commonly used to solve the problems of water supply for municipal and industrial uses.
Kuwait was the first state to adopt seawater desalination, linking electricity generation to desalination. The co-generation station, as it is called, re-uses low pressure steam from the generator to provide energy for the desalination process. As a result, both energy and costs are minimized. Kuwait began desalinated water production in 1957, when 3.1 million m³ were produced per year. By 1987 this figure had risen to 184 million m³ per year.
In Qatar, too, an intensive programme of desalinated water production has been started, which should be supplying about 150 million m³ of water per year by the year 2000. This is believed to be about threequarters of the total water demand, with the rest to be supplied from groundwater sources, which are mostly brackish. About half of the country's demand will be generated in the urban/industrial centres.
Saudi Arabia entered the desalinated water field much later than Kuwait. The first plant was commissioned in 1970. It has, however, gone in for an ambitious programme of desalination plant construction on both the Red Sea and Gulf coasts. The Saline Water Conversion Corporation had installed 30 desalination plant projects by the end of the 1980s. The total production of desalinated water is estimated to be 2.16 million m³ (572 million [US] gal.) per day including a facility at Al-Jubail producing 1 million m³ per day, which is currently the world's largest distillation plant.
In spite of the high cost of seawater desalination, with unit water costs five to ten times as high as those of conventional water-resources development, a vast quantity has been produced to meet the increasing demand for domestic water in the Arabian Gulf countries. As in Kuwait, however, there is increasing government concern about the production cost of desalinated water, and every effort is being made to ensure that water use is as efficient as possible.
2.9.1 Installed capacity of desalination plants
There are about 1,483 desalination units operating in the Arabian Gulf countries, which account for 57.9% of the worldwide desalting plant capacity. The dominant plant type is multi-stage flash (MSF) which accounts for 86.7% of the desalting capacity, while the reverse osmosis accounts for only 10.7%. The installed capacity of desalination plants in the Arabian Gulf countries is estimated at 5.76 million m³ per day in total, including 2.98 million m³ in Saudi Arabia, which is approximately half of the total desalination capacity of the Gulf countries (Al-Mutaz 1989). The installed capacity with shares of each process are shown in table 2.10.
MSF desalting has proved to be the simplest, most reliable, and most commonly used seawater system in large capacities. It has reached maturity with very little improvement in sight. This maturity is expressed in reliable designs of large units up to 38,000 m³ (10 million gal.) per day, long operation experience with high on-line stream factors (up to 95%), confidence in material selection, and very satisfactory water pre-treatment. However, there has been a recent trend towards the use of reverse osmosis in seawater desalination, both for new plants and in connection with the present MSF plants, taking into account the possible reduction in energy requirements and the lower operation and maintenance cost for RO.
Table 2.10 Installed capacity of desalting plants and share by process type in the Arabian Gulf countries
|No. of units||Capacity (1,000 m³/day)||Share by process type (%)|
Source: Akkad 1990.
MSF = multi-stage flash. RO = reverse osmosis. ED = electrodialysis. VC = vapour compression. MED = multi-effect distillation.
2.9.2 The world's largest seawater desalination with high-pressure pipeline system
To meet the water demands of the increasing population and water short regions in Saudi Arabia, the Saline Water Conversion Office (SWCO) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Water was made responsible for providing fresh water by desalination of seawater in 1965. The first seawater desalination plant was commissioned in 1970. With its increasing responsibilities to provide fresh water, the SWCO was changed in 1974 into an independent corporation, the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), which then developed an elaborate plan to construct dual-purpose plants on both the east and west coasts of the kingdom.
The SWCC had constructed 24 plants by 1985, including 17 plants on the western coast along the Red Sea, from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba in the north to the tiny Farasan island in the south, and 7 plants on the east coast along the Arabian Gulf from Al-Khafji to Al-Khobar (fig. 2.48). These plants were producing 1.82 million m³ (481 million gal.) of fresh water per day and 3,631 MW of electric power. By the end of the 1980s the total production of fresh water was estimated to have been increased to 2.17 million m³ (572 million gal.) of fresh water per day and 4,079 MW of electric power by the addition of six cogeneration plants (SWCC 1988).
In addition to desalination and power plants, the SWCC provides water to inland regions by means of pipelines. The Al-Jubail-Riyadh pipeline is one of the world's largest water pipeline systems with seawater desalination plants. The pipeline has a diameter of 1.5 m (60 inches), a length of 466 km, a differential head of 690 m, and a pumping capacity of 830,000 m³ per day (SWCC 1988).
2.9.3 Cost constraints of seawater desalination
The MSF process has served very well during the past ten years, especially in the Middle East. During this period, operating experience has been developed that should result in substantial extensions to what was heretofore considered a reasonable operating life. Certainly this favourable experience will be a factor in the selection of future plants.
However, the lower capital and operating costs for the RO process should receive increasing attention in the selection of a desalination process in coming years. There are still opportunities for further lowering of costs through improved membrane technology, notably in increasing membrane life. Another new development with good potential for reducing costs for the RO process are membranes for operating at high pressures up to 1,500 psi (105 kg/cm²) and 50% conversion when operating on seawater with 45,000 mg of TDS per litre.
Another alternative process will be low-temperature multi-effect horizontaltube evaporators. If aluminium tubes and tube sheets can be shown to have a reasonable life in Middle East seawater, the capital cost can be reduced, or a higher performance ratio can be achieved.
Another factor which will favour reverse osmosis in coming years is that it is the most energy-efficient of all of the processes. This will be of increasing importance if in fact fuel-oil prices rise further as expected and environmental considerations increase in importance. The cost of energy consumption is also the largest single item in the cost of desalted water. It is significant that, for either a single-purpose or a dual-purpose plant, RO appears to be the most cost-effective. On the basis of world fuel costs in 1989, the RO process would save over 10% compared with multi-effect distillation and 32% compared with MSF (Leitner 1989).
2.9.4 Hybrid RO/MSF seawater desalination to compromise quality-cost constraints
It seems that the race for the second generation of seawater desalters has been settled, with RO and low-temperature multi-effect horizontal tube evaporators as front runners. Both systems are characterized by their low energy requirements compared with the MSF system. As shown in fig. 2.49, which gives the worldwide market shares of various desalination processes, RO accounted for 65% of market share in 1987 (Wangnick and IDA 1988). Beside these two options, there are combination possibilities of different desalting plant types. In the hybrid MSF/RO desalination-power process, a seawater RO plant is combined with either a new or existing dualpurpose MSF plant with the following advantages:
>> The capital cost of the combined RO/MSF plant can be reduced.
>> A common seawater intake is used.
>> Product waters from the RO and MSF plants are blended to obtain suitable product-water quality. Taking advantage of the fact that the MSF product (25 mg of TDS per litre) typically exceeds potable water specifications (WHO standard: 500-1,000 mg/l the product water specification in the RO system can thereby be reduced.
>> A single-stage RO process can be used and the RO membrane life can be extended because of the reduced product-water specification. (The life of the RO membrane can be extended from three to five years, or the annual membrane replacement cost can be reduced by nearly 40%.)
>> Electric power production from the MSF plant can be efficiently utilized in the RO plant, thereby reducing net export power production. In addition, the electric power requirement to drive the high-pressure pumps of the RO system, which is a major factor of energy consumption, can be reduced by 30% by adding an energy recovery unit to the brine discharge in the RO system. (Power consumption for a single-stage seawater RO plant at 30% of recovery/conversion is estimated to be 9.24 kWh/m³ without or 6.38 kWh/m³ with energy recovery on brine discharge [Awerbuch et al. 1989].)
>> Blending with RO product water reduces the temperature of the MSF product water. A problem common in areas in the Middle East is the high temperature of the product water. RO for high pressure brine when no energy recovery is used can be used to cool the MSF product water with an eductor.
JEDDAH RO/MSF HYBRID PROJECT. The first large-scale MSF/RO hybrid project, the Jeddah I rehabilitation project in Saudi Arabia, is now in operation by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation. This 15 million gal. (56,800 m³) per day RO plant, the world's largest facility for seawater conversion, has demonstrated the attractiveness of the hybrid concept. The Jeddah I MSF desalination plant was completed in 1970, with an installed capacity of 5 million gal. (18,925 m³) per day. It was one of the world's largest plants in the early 1970s and therefore has a significant place in history. The installed capacity of the Jeddah desalting complex was expanded by steps to a nominal capacity of 85 million gal. (321,725 m³) per day, all by MSF.
In 1985 the operation and maintenance of the Jeddah I MSF plant had become increasingly costly. To keep pace with the increasing water demand, the 5 million gal. per day Jeddah I MSF plant was replaced by a 15 million gal. per day RO plant (phase I) in 1986-1989, which is incorporated in a hybrid RO/MSF desalination system. The RO unit has the following design criteria (Muhurji et al. 1989):
Since MSF product water has a salinity as low as 25-50 mg of TDS per litre, the salinity of the permeate from the Jeddah I RO plant (phase I) was specified as 625 mg of chloride (1,250 mg of TDS) per litre, which is a major factor in minimizing the cost of the RO. In a cost analysis done by Bechtel (Muhurji et al. 1989), it was shown that the product water cost from the RO system in a hybrid MSF/RO plant can be reduced by 15% compared with a stand-alone RO plant. | <urn:uuid:77117b8f-051b-4688-9924-8ba30bbd8c36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?e=d-00000-00---off-0ccgi--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0-0-11-1-0utfZz-8-00-0-0-11-10-0utfZz-8-00&cl=CL2.5&d=HASH3a8fde430b08596101981c.4.9&hl=0&gc=0>=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935634 | 2,787 | 3.171875 | 3 |
The Multiple Complex Public Spaces of a Global City
Published September 6th 2012 by Routledge – 320 pages
In recent years it has become common-place to hear claims that public space in cities across the globe has become the exclusive preserve of the wealthy and privileged, at the expense of the needs of wider society. Whether it is the privatization of public space through commerical developments like shopping malls and business parks, the gentrification of existing spaces by campaigns against perceived anti-social behaviour or the increasing domination of public areas by private transport in the form of the car, the urban public space is seen as under threat.
But are things really that bad? Has the market really become the sole factor that influences the treatment of public space? Have the financial and personal interests of the few really come to dominate those of the many?
To answer these questions Matthew Carmona and Filipa Wunderlich have carried out a detailed investigation of the modern public spaces of London, that most global of cities. They have developed a new typology of public spaces applicable to all cities, a typology that demonstrates that to properly assess contemporary urban places means challenging the over-simplification of current critiques. Global cities are made up of many overlapping public spaces, good and bad; this book shows how to analyze this complexity, and to understand it.
1. Global Place, Contested Space? 2. A City of Squares, Opportunity and Neglect 3. A City of Growth, Retrenchment and Renaissance 4. The ‘New’ London Squares 5. Spaces of the Corporate City 6. Spaces of the Civic City 7. Spaces of the Consumption City 8. Spaces of the Community City 9. Spaces of the Domestic Sphere 10. Spaces from the In-Between 11. Evolving Space in a Global City
Matthew Carmona is Professor of Planning and Urban Design at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning. His research has focused on processes of design governance and on the design and management of public space. Matthew was educated at the University of Nottingham, from which he holds a PhD. He is an architect planner. His recent books include Public Places Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design and Urban Design Reader (both for Architectural Press). Also, Public Space: The Management Dimension and Measuring Quality in Planning: Managing the Performance Process (both for Routledge).
Filipa Matos Wunderlich is Lecturer in Urban Design at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning. Her research has focused on place temporality and the rhythmicity of everyday urban places, and also on walking and the urban design process. Filipa was educated at the University of Porto, the Technical University of Delft and latterly at UCL, from which she holds a PhD. After completing her PhD she worked as a Research Fellow with Professor Carmona. She is an architect urban designer. | <urn:uuid:a4f99ee7-ff0d-43aa-ae71-4880bbbb87a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415527095/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945904 | 585 | 1.835938 | 2 |