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Published March 05, 2012
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao cut his nation's 2012 growth target to an eight-year low of 7.5 percent and made boosting consumer demand the year's first priority as Beijing looks to wean the economy off its reliance on external demand and foreign capital.
He lowered the target from a longstanding annual goal of 8 percent, a move investors anticipated so that Beijing has some economic leeway to rebalance the economy and defuse price pressures in the run up to a leadership change later this year.
Lower growth will allow Beijing to reform key price controls without causing an inflation spike, so monetary policy can stay broadly expansionary to ensure a steady flow of credit to the small and medium-sized firms the government wants to encourage.
"We aim to promote steady and robust economic development, keep prices stable, and guard against financial risks by keeping the total money and credit supply at an appropriate level, and taking a cautious and flexible approach," Wen said in his annual work report to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's annual parliamentary session.
The premier named "expanding consumer demand" as his first priority for 2012, when the ruling Communist Party must also navigate a leadership handover that will send Wen and President Hu Jintao into retirement in 2013.
"We will improve policies that encourage consumption," Wen told nearly 3,000 delegates of the Communist Party-controlled legislature, gathered under the harsh lights and high ceilings of the Great Hall of the People.
"We will vigorously adjust income distribution, increase the incomes of low- and middle-income groups, and enhance people's ability to consume," said Wen.
His annual state-of-the-nation report to parliament dwelled on the institutional and income barriers the government must break to build a more balanced economy that relies less on exports and shares more wealth with hundreds of millions of poor farmers and migrant workers who are reluctant to spend.
Wen and Hu have vowed to wean the economy off dependence on exports, smoke-stack industries and government-backed infrastructure, and promote balanced growth that will elevate the incomes and spending of farmers and workers.
Sources had earlier indicated to Reuters that the growth target would be cut to 7.5 percent. Growth of level would be the lowest since 1990.
In reality, the target acts more as a bar to get over. The 8 percent target set in the previous eight years was comfortably exceeded each year -- including in the aftermath of the 2008/09 financial crisis.
"In recent years, the GDP target has obviously always been a minimum acceptable floor rather than a ceiling, so I think it is more likely that in the government's heart of hearts, it is leaning on growth of a bit above 8 percent," said Paul Cavey, an economist with Macquarie Bank in Hong Kong.
"It seems very unlikely there will be huge progress on structural reforms given the political transition," added Cavey.
"The slower growth numbers just reflect the reality that growth is going to be slower because the rest of the world is going to be weaker."
ECONOMIC, REFORM ANXIETIES
The highest-value part of China's growth and around a quarter of its 800 million-strong workforce are dependent on volatile demand and capital from developed economies.
Shifting that balance is a key goal for Wen and Hu, both 69, as they near the end of a decade in power which has seen China become the world's second-largest economy after the United States, contributing more to global growth than any other nation, while seeing a chasm widen between rich and poor .
The number of Chinese billionaires nearly doubled in 2011 to 146 from 2010, Forbes said.
Stability, steady growth and spreading wealth are core justifications for more than 60 years of one-party rule by the Communist Party, which will install a new cohort of leaders by the end of 2012 .
Wen and Hu will officially step down as premier and president at the national parliament session early next year.
The last year in power for Wen and Hu has shuddered with anxieties about inflation, a feverish property market, local government debt, stubborn inequality and social strains from protesting villages to ethnic tensions in western regions.
The NPC is likely to bring into focus a deepening worry that Hu and Wen have squandered chances for reform because of fears of instability ahead of the leadership transition.
When they hand over power in late autumn, China could be headed for its slowest full-year of growth since Hu and Wen took office a decade ago. The economy ended 2011 with its slackest quarter of growth in 2-1/2-years at 8.9 percent as it felt the chill of the euro area debt crisis and a sluggish U.S. economy.
The outlook for the real economy remains cloudy, according to the latest surveys of China's vast factory sector and the burgeoning services industries that are key to rebalancing growth and generating more stable domestic-driven demand.
A survey from HSBC of purchasing managers in China's services industry showed the sector running at its fastest in four months, although it was well below its long-term trend.
A similar survey from the National Bureau of Statistics showed services activity running at its slowest pace in a year.
Meanwhile, surveys last week signalled that activity in big firms bounced back in February on strong new export orders while smaller companies lagged behind the rebound.
Credit is crucial to keeping the economy turning. Wen projected money supply growth of 14 percent while setting a 4 percent target for inflation for the year, in line with the target set in 2011.
He said the government would work to prevent a rebound in prices in 2012. Inflation remained stubbornly above official targets in every month of last year.
Wen also pledged to curb speculative demand in the property market, and said the yuan would be kept "basically stable" with strengthened two-way flexibility in the closely managed exchange rate.
He also said the government would defuse rising local government debt, regarded by many investors as the key risk to fiscal sustainability. Government figures show about 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) was owed by local governments at the end of 2010.
The fiscal deficit was targeted at 1.5 percent of GDP, up from the 1.1 percent of GDP in 2011. Spending on domestic security would increase 11.5 percent to $111 billion.
Critics, including prominent policy-advisers, have said the Chinese government can foster healthy long-term growth only by taking on bolder reforms to rein in state-owned conglomerates and other entrenched interests -- reforms that ultimately spill into sensitive issues of curbing the party's own powers.
Wen has stood out among China's leaders as the most persistent advocate of measured political relaxation, and has cast himself as a passionate advocate for farmers struggling with economic insecurity and land lost to developers.
"We should care more deeply for rural migrant workers and provide more services to them," he said. "We will place farmland under strict protection." | <urn:uuid:2a024e7d-0a53-4c4a-9732-eeb53bba0046> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/03/05/china-slices-2012-growth-target-to-eight-year-low/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961571 | 1,436 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Posted: Jan 26, 2013 9:56 AM by Associated Press
WINFIELD, W.Va. - A judge in Putnam County has given final approval to a settlement between chemical manufacturer Monsanto Co. and thousands of West Virginia residents over pollution claims.
Circuit Judge Derek Swope approved the settlement Friday.
A $93 million settlement was reached last February with residents who said Monsanto polluted their community by burning waste from production of the defoliant Agent Orange.
St. Louis-based Monsanto had agreed to pay up to $84 million for medical monitoring and $9 million to clean up 4,500 homes. Monsanto also agreed to pay legal fees.
The litigation began with a class-action case by plant workers in the 1980s.
The Monsanto plant in Nitro produced herbicides, rubber products and other chemicals. The plant's production of the defoliant Agent Orange created dioxin as a toxic chemical byproduct. | <urn:uuid:13bd25d8-e215-414c-bce9-9575811ea630> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.komu.com/news/monsanto-settlement-with-west-virginia-residents-approved/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964473 | 190 | 1.515625 | 2 |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Looking for a promising career in a lousy economy? A new study suggests you're apt to find it in apps — the services and tools built to run on smartphones, computer tablets and Facebook's online social network.
The demand for applications for everything ranging from games to quantum physics has created 466,000 jobs in the U.S. since 2007, according to an analysis released Tuesday by technology trade group TechNet.
The estimate counts 311,000 jobs at companies making the apps and another 155,000 at local merchants who have expanded their payrolls in an economic ripple effect caused by increased spending at their businesses.
The study asserts this so-called "app economy" is still in the early stages of a boom driven by the mobile computing and social networking crazes unleashed by Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Facebook's online hangout.
"This is a telescope into what the future looks like," said Michael Mandel, the economist hired by TechNet to put together the report. "This is one part of the economy that is actually expanding and hiring. Once you point people in that direction, they can realign their compass pretty quickly."
Apps makers were adding jobs even when the overall U.S. unemployment rate climbed to as high as 10 percent in late 2009, Mandel said. That bodes well for even more vigorous growth if the economy can extend a gradual recovery from the Great Recession. The national unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent in January, the lowest level in three years.
Government labor statistics don't yet track jobs focused on apps, partly because the market is still relatively new. That prompted TechNet to try to fill the void. The 15-year-old group represents executives at companies that employ more than 2 million people and generate more than $800 billion in annual revenue combined.
The app economy began to percolate in 2007 — the year that Apple introduced the iPhone and Facebook turned its website into a platform for other programs designed for its rapidly growing audience.
Today, there are more than 500,000 apps available for the iPhone and Apple's iPad tablet. Some are given away for free in an attempt to make money from ads. Others are sold by young and old entrepreneurs, as well as major companies.
As its audience has grown from about 58 million users in 2007 to 845 million today, Facebook has hatched perhaps the most successful apps company so far in Zynga Inc. The San Francisco-based maker of online games such as FarmVille and Words With Friends already employs about 2,800 people and has leased enough office space to hire thousands more during the next few years.
The seeds for even more job growth have been planted by a proliferation of other mobile devices designed to run on operating systems made by Google Inc., Research in Motion Ltd. and Microsoft Corp. More apps are likely to be coming into homes as more TVs and appliances, including refrigerators and washing machines, are wired for Internet access.
For all its progress and future promise, the app economy remains a small fraction of the broader technology industry. TechNet estimates about 3.5 million people are working in technology jobs — occupations revolving around computers and mathematics.
But not all the jobs being created in the app economy require geeky credentials.
TechNet reasons every apps programming job hatches another position in other non-technical areas such as sales, marketing, human resources and other administrative chores.
The study also presumes the job growth in apps spurs more local spending on goods and services that encourages more hiring at neighboring businesses. Quantifying this domino effect can be tricky.
Mandel, president of the consulting firm South Mountain Economics says he believes he was conservative in his calculations. He estimates that one peripheral job is created for every two jobs added to the payroll of an apps maker.
The TechNet study found that the highest concentration of app jobs is in the technology hotbeds of the San Francisco Bay area (nearly 15 percent), New York (9 percent) and Seattle (nearly 6 percent).
But the study also found app jobs cropping up in places such as Philadelphia (nearly 2 percent), Detroit (1 percent) and Phoenix (1 percent).
TechNet CEO Rey Ramsey is optimistic apps jobs will be widely dispersed across the country because it's a specialty that doesn't require big factories, close proximity to railroads and highways or even other technology hubs. All that is really required, he said, is a good idea and online access. | <urn:uuid:49069c38-1ac9-4505-92ea-683974ed9f77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2012/02/looking_for_work_there_may_be_an_app_for.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962662 | 918 | 2.0625 | 2 |
While we would all like to have the kind of healing factor that Wolverine possesses, we all know that this is but a pipe dream at the moment. What we can rely on, however, would be advances made in the medical field such as this laser-activated plaster that was specially designed to replace stitches for wounds. The “miracle” patch is known as SurgiLux, where it functions as some sort of biological Band-Aid. Using a material derived from chitin, the very same substance required for crab shells and insect exoskeletons to remain stiff and rigid, SurgiLux’s ultimate aim is to far outperform stitches or sutures for wounds and surgeries, considering how it remains atop the skin instead of threading underneath.
John Foster, a biotech researcher at the University of New South Wales who is working on SurgiLux, said, “Though sutures have a superior strength to SurgiLux, sutures are physically invasive. SurgiLux is a thin film, so you do not end up with any physical invasion or further damage to the tissue, thus allowing more complete healing.”‘
Sounds like this is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but would come in more handy for delicate operations. Even better is if this does not leave that much of scar tissue compared to regular stitches. Will the phrase “a stitch in time saves nine” be relevant should the SurgiLux surge in popularity?
Medbox Dispenses Marijuana
Melon Headband Improves Your Focus By Reading Your Brain Waves
Humans Welded Together Could Mean The End Of Stitches
Smart Cover Magnets Can Apparently Disable Implanted Defibrillators | <urn:uuid:0c6c1d16-303b-4d34-881d-f17490392d38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/10/surgilux-laser-activated-plaster-ups-your-healing-factor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944716 | 364 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Last month, after a limb fell from an elm tree near the Central Park Zoo, critically injuring a woman and killing her infant daughter, citizens wondered, as citizens will, how such a thing could be allowed to happen. When trees kill, as trees will, you blame it either on the tree pruners or on “an act of God.” You are supposed to choose one or the other—last week, Mayor Bloomberg cited the latter—rather than detect any trace of God’s will in the fallibility of arborists and bureaucrats. This assumption owes something to the fact that “act of God” is a legal term specifically deployed to absolve human beings of any fault or indemnity. When God acts, apparently, the rest of us do not. He’s a little like the Balladeer, the Waylon Jennings voice-over, in “The Dukes of Hazzard”: the picture freezes when He weighs in.
Questions of agency, divine or otherwise, dog us these early-summer days, amid a pileup of ill tidings: an intractable war; hints, once again, of economic depression; the deep-sea oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Who’s to blame? Who’s in charge? On the day of the Mayor’s pronouncement, a technician who is working with British Petroleum to drill relief wells told the Times, in response to questions about the state of the damaged well, and about the prospects for fixing it, “No human being alive can know the answers.” A line like that could put a man in a theological mood—especially on the heels of the technician’s previous remark, a triumph of the triple negative: “I won’t say there haven’t been relief wells that haven’t worked.”
Did the technician, with his assertion of earthly ignorance, mean to invoke the omniscience of the divine? Probably not. Was he putting his money on a dead engineer, or a well-informed squid? Hard to imagine. But he had, at least subconsciously, echoed the efforts of B.P. and many others to distance themselves from responsibility and, more to the point, liability. B.P. wishes—prays—that it could call the Deepwater Horizon blowout an act of God. But it is an act of man, no matter how primal, eternal, Biblical, or infernal it may seem.
A half century ago, the Oxford theologian and philosopher Austin Farrer, a friend of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, advanced the concept of “double agency,” which has nothing to do with Russian spies pretending to be Portuguese. Oversimply put, the idea seeks to reconcile faith and science, and divine agency and free will. In Farrer’s rendering, God creates creatures and phenomena, which, as agents themselves, then create and act freely. In “Saving Belief: A Discussion of Essentials,” he wrote, “God not only makes the world, he makes it make itself; or rather, he causes its innumerable constituents to make it.” In other words, it’s a collaborative effort. God is Phil Spector, and we are the Ronettes.
But what about the world’s destruction? Are we collaborating with God on that album, too? Last week, a call to the prominent Farrer scholar Edward Hugh Henderson, a seventy-one-year-old professor of philosophy at Louisiana State University, scared up a defense. Like B.P.’s Tony Hayward, God, through his good agent Professor Henderson, was distancing himself from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.
“God does not smash in from outside to overthrow creatures, to put out of gear the order of nature that God has over eons of evolution brought to its present state,” Henderson said. “What the oil is doing to the Gulf and its denizens is what oil, being oil, would do.” (Incidentally, Farrer’s 1966 work, “A Science of God?,” was originally issued in the United States under the title “God Is Not Dead.”) “In one sense, divine agency is everywhere,” Henderson went on. “In another, you wouldn’t want to say that accidents and carelessness are examples of double agency.”
Henderson, a native Alabaman who has lived in Baton Rouge for forty-five years, has lately found himself to be in an apocalyptic mood, as he considers the havoc wrought just to his south. As a believer (“I was raised a Presbyterian, but Farrer made an Anglican out of me”), he can only have faith that God acts through people’s response to calamity, rather than through, say, the suffocation of a fishery and the death of a sea. “It’s at the level of human freedom that you can distinguish between action that is or isn’t underwritten by the pervasiveness of divine will,” he said. Good Lord. ♦ | <urn:uuid:d5c7520c-912d-4cec-9639-c985a8b18af7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2010/07/12/100712ta_talk_paumgarten?currentPage=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956683 | 1,088 | 1.75 | 2 |
President Bush Discusses Administration's Plan to Assist Automakers
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. For years, America's automakers have faced serious challenges -- burdensome costs, a shrinking share of the market, and declining profits. In recent months, the global financial crisis has made these challenges even more severe. Now some U.S. auto executives say that their companies are nearing collapse -- and that the only way they can buy time to restructure is with help from the federal government.
This is a difficult situation that involves fundamental questions about the proper role of government. On the one hand, government has a responsibility not to undermine the private enterprise system. On the other hand, government has a responsibility to safeguard the broader health and stability of our economy.
Addressing the challenges in the auto industry requires us to balance these two responsibilities. If we were to allow the free market to take its course now, it would almost certainly lead to disorderly bankruptcy and liquidation for the automakers. Under ordinary economic circumstances, I would say this is the price that failed companies must pay -- and I would not favor intervening to prevent the automakers from going out of business.
But these are not ordinary circumstances. In the midst of a financial crisis and a recession, allowing the U.S. auto industry to collapse is not a responsible course of action. The question is how we can best give it a chance to succeed. Some argue the wisest path is to allow the auto companies to reorganize through Chapter 11 provisions of our bankruptcy laws -- and provide federal loans to keep them operating while they try to restructure under the supervision of a bankruptcy court. But given the current state of the auto industry and the economy, Chapter 11 is unlikely to work for American automakers at this time.
American consumers understand why: If you hear that a car company is suddenly going into bankruptcy, you worry that parts and servicing will not be available, and you question the value of your warranty. And with consumers hesitant to buy new cars from struggling automakers, it would be more difficult for auto companies to recover.
Additionally, the financial crisis brought the auto companies to the brink of bankruptcy much faster than they could have anticipated -- and they have not made the legal and financial preparations necessary to carry out an orderly bankruptcy proceeding that could lead to a successful restructuring.
The convergence of these factors means there's too great a risk that bankruptcy now would lead to a disorderly liquidation of American auto companies. My economic advisors believe that such a collapse would deal an unacceptably painful blow to hardworking Americans far beyond the auto industry. It would worsen a weak job market and exacerbate the financial crisis. It could send our suffering economy into a deeper and longer recession. And it would leave the next President to confront the demise of a major American industry in his first days of office.
A more responsible option is to give the auto companies an incentive to restructure outside of bankruptcy -- and a brief window in which to do it. And that is why my administration worked with Congress on a bill to provide automakers with loans to stave off bankruptcy while they develop plans for viability. This legislation earned bipartisan support from majorities in both houses of Congress.
Unfortunately, despite extensive debate and agreement that we should prevent disorderly bankruptcies in the American auto industry, Congress was unable to get a bill to my desk before adjourning this year.
This means the only way to avoid a collapse of the U.S. auto industry is for the executive branch to step in. The American people want the auto companies to succeed, and so do I. So today, I'm announcing that the federal government will grant loans to auto companies under conditions similar to those Congress considered last week.
These loans will provide help in two ways. First, they will give automakers three months to put in place plans to restructure into viable companies -- which we believe they are capable of doing. Second, if restructuring cannot be accomplished outside of bankruptcy, the loans will provide time for companies to make the legal and financial preparations necessary for an orderly Chapter 11 process that offers a better prospect of long-term success -- and gives consumers confidence that they can continue to buy American cars.
Because Congress failed to make funds available for these loans, the plan I'm announcing today will be drawn from the financial rescue package Congress approved earlier this fall. The terms of the loans will require auto companies to demonstrate how they would become viable. They must pay back all their loans to the government, and show that their firms can earn a profit and achieve a positive net worth. This restructuring will require meaningful concessions from all involved in the auto industry -- management, labor unions, creditors, bondholders, dealers, and suppliers.
In particular, automakers must meet conditions that experts agree are necessary for long-term viability -- including putting their retirement plans on a sustainable footing, persuading bondholders to convert their debt into capital the companies need to address immediate financial shortfalls, and making their compensation competitive with foreign automakers who have major operations in the United States. If a company fails to come up with a viable plan by March 31st, it will be required to repay its federal loans.
The automakers and unions must understand what is at stake, and make hard decisions necessary to reform, These conditions send a clear message to everyone involved in the future of American automakers: The time to make the hard decisions to become viable is now -- or the only option will be bankruptcy.
The actions I'm announcing today represent a step that we wish were not necessary. But given the situation, it is the most effective and responsible way to address this challenge facing our nation. By giving the auto companies a chance to restructure, we will shield the American people from a harsh economic blow at a vulnerable time. And we will give American workers an opportunity to show the world once again they can meet challenges with ingenuity and determination, and bounce back from tough times, and emerge stronger than before. | <urn:uuid:d0ccef1e-a558-45aa-ab23-7a12a261c388> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://votesmart.org/public-statement/402114/president-bush-discusses-administrations-plan-to-assist-automakers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957657 | 1,195 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Location(s): Thargelion, Estolad, Brethil
Type/Kind: 1st Age Edain
Title(s): Lady Haleth
Dates: I 388 *(speculative)
"Haleth was a woman of great heart and strength..."
"But Haleth was proud, and unwilling to be guided or ruled..."
"Haleth remained their chief while her days lasted, but she did not wed, and the headship afterwards passed to Haldan son of Haldar her brother."
"But at last Haldad was slain in a sortie against the Orcs; and Haldar, who rushed out to save his father;s body from their butchery, was hewn down beside him. Then Haleth held the people together, though they were without hope; and some cast themselves in the rivers and were drowned.......Caranthir with his host came down from the north and drove the Orcs into the rivers.
Then Caranthir looked kindly upon Men and did Haleth great honour; and he offered her recompense for her father and brother....But Haleth was proud, and unwilling to be guided or ruled."
"And Haleth dwelt in Brethil until she died; and her people raised a green mound over her in the heights of the forest, Tûr Haretha, the Lady-barrow, Haudh-en-Arwen in the Sindarin tongue."
Silmarillion, Ch 17, Of the Coming of Men into the West
*Note that the birthdate is for 'Haleth the Hunter' who disappeared in Tolkien's legendarium in favor of 'the Lady Haleth.'
Anglachel - 12.11.03
Iel_o_Thorongil - 04.12.05 | <urn:uuid:a417b9eb-12a7-42e4-8d29-c0ab5a8222d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.henneth-annun.net/resources/bios_view.cfm?scid=146 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950241 | 373 | 1.835938 | 2 |
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Written by Elizabeth K
(4/12/2010 11:22 a.m.)
in consequence of the missive, Darcy's crowd, penned by Elbč
...although surely Mr. Darcy would be acquainted with the 'real' gentry families. The Bingleys are only nouveau riche and here is the irony which I find amusing: their money comes from trade, which the Bingley sisters despise, and "They have come south to shake off the taint of trade. What trade? Most likely Yorkshire woollens - currently generating fortunes for manufacturers of military uniforms" (from So You Think You Know Jane Austen?, John Sutherland and Deirdre Le Faye, p. 122).
The aforementioned literary quiz book also includes a question about the origin of Darcy and Bingley's friendship, the speculatory answer being that they "could not, given the difference of age, have been at Cambridge [together]. It may well have been a school friendship, the young Bingley being a fag [definition: (at some large British private schools) a younger boy who has to do jobs for an older boy, from Cambridge Online Dictionary], or whatever, to Darcy at Eton, perhaps, establishing a kind of mentor relationship between them" (p. 134).
Groupread is maintained by Myretta with WebBBS 3.21. | <urn:uuid:af5bc5fb-b498-44ef-9a92-9c259d514b50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pemberley.com/bin/library/pandp2010.cgi?read=42767 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944297 | 294 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Forensics Consultant for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation to Visit EMU
YPSILANTI - Interested in how forensics pathology helps to solve crimes? How realistic are the crime shows on television? Gary Telgenhoff, M.D., forensics consultant for the top-rated television drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and an Eastern Michigan University alumnus, will offer insights into the world of forensic pathology and the hit TV show, April 12, 12 p.m., at EMU’s Pease Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
When he’s not consulting for CSI, Telgenhoff works as a forensics pathologist and deputy medical examiner with the Clark County Coroner’s Office in Las Vegas.
Telgenhoff credits being in the “right place at the right time” for his success with CSI. “I was the first forensic pathologist consultant for the show and continue in this capacity,” said Telgenhoff. “Dr. Robbins (Robert David Hall), the show's "coroner," is loosely based on me.”
The Cadillac, Mich.nativeearned his master’s degree in biology and physiology from Eastern Michigan University in 1989 and went on to earn a medical degree from Michigan State University. After completing a five-year pathology residency, he relocated to Las Vegas.
“When I first attended EMU, I was looking to take a few classes.” Telgenhoff said. “Little did I know it would change my life. While taking a physiology class, the instructor, George Simone, asked if I had considered medical school. This planted an idea, which took me on a big left turn. I ended up completing a master’s degree at Eastern, something totally unplanned. This new path opened many doors for me. I became a physician, and a specialist in pathology, and eventually forensic pathology.”
Glenn Walker, professor of biology at EMU, said, “Working with a student of Gary’s caliber was a real treat. He was an exceptionally inquisitive, creative graduate student. His intelligence and relaxed personality blended wonderfully with a quick wit and sense of humor. While at EMU, Gary balanced his thesis research efforts with a serious involvement in a rock band, The Whiz Kids. Tunes from his latest band, SkinnerRat, have been featured on CSI.”
Telgenhoff promises that his presentation at EMU will be entertaining as well as informative. “I may even consider getting into a "stand up" routine: ‘The Comic Coroner,’” he jokes. “After all, death can be fun!"
Telgenhoff also looks forward to visiting his alma mater. “I look back on my days at Eastern fondly. If I had not met the great instructors that I had and not received the encouragement and support that I did, I would not be doing any of this now.”
Eastern Michigan University is a public, comprehensive university that offers programs in the arts, sciences and professions. EMU prepares students with the intellectual skills and practical experiences to succeed in their careers and lives, and to be better citizens.
Eastern Michigan University is a public, comprehensive university that offers programs in the arts, sciences and professions. EMU prepares students with the intellectual skills and practical experiences to succeed in their career and lives, and to be better citizens.
Editor's Note: Looking for an expert source for a story? Check out EMU's Eastern Experts online at www.emich.edu/univcomm/easternexperts. | <urn:uuid:78cc972f-5985-44a9-b46a-c64dd760bb47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emich.edu/univcomm/releases_archived/032906telgenhoff.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964484 | 755 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The science-religion “debate” is an abstraction, and a distraction. It isn’t true to the deep nature of science, or of religion, or to the history of interplay between them. These are convictions I’m left with after a cumulative conversation that began a decade ago. And after spending the spring traveling around the country talking about this in theaters packed with scientists and citizens, atheist to devout, I know that others share my sense that our sound-bite friendly, politically-fueled narrative of animosity has outlived its usefulness. There is a science-religion divide — these are two distinct and separate spheres of endeavor. But in the 21st century, we can’t help but hear echoes passing back and forth across that divide and changing the way we understand our humanity, our relationship to each other and the natural world, the contours of the cosmos.
It’s not just the passion and frequency with which mathematicians talk about beauty and physicists talk about mystery that intrigues me. It is also that every time the rest of us log on to our computers in the morning, or every time we eat a meal, we are steeped in the fruits of science. We may not be fluent in the language of science — mathematics — which Galileo called “the language in which the universe is written.” But in the most ordinary moments in our doctors’ offices, certainly in near-ordinary experiences like birth, illness, and death, we receive crash courses in science of many kinds. And we turn simultaneously, without time for debate, to inner territory of morality and meaning, which science has no language for addressing.
Einstein put it this way, helpfully: science is good at describing what is, but it does not describe what should be. That is one way to talk about the role that religious and spiritual practice, our sense of what is right and sacred, plays in human life. And for the record, I don’t believe that spiritual and moral life ceases in the absence of belief in God. Einstein didn’t believe in the personal God of traditional religion. But he did profess a “cosmic religious sense” driven by “inklings” and “wonderings” rather than answers and certainties. Its hallmarks were a reverence for beauty and a sense of wonder that, he acknowledged, he shared with lovers of art and religion.
And it’s worth remembering that, in Einstein’s day, zealous religion appeared less a threat to the future of humanity than science on the loose. He watched chemists and physicists become purveyors of weapons of unprecedented destructive power. He declared, chillingly, that science in his generation was like a razor blade in the hands of a three-year-old. Against this backdrop, he called his contemporary Gandhi — and other figures such as Jesus, Moses, St. Francis of Assisi, and Buddha — “spiritual geniuses.” Einstein soberly observed that these kinds of “geniuses in the art of living” are “more necessary to the sustenance of global human dignity, security and joy than the discovers of objective knowledge.”
It seems clearer and clearer to me that, in the 21st century, genius in the art of living must draw on the best insights of both science and religion, not as argued but as lived. Or, as the Anglican quantum physicist and theologian John Polkinghorne puts it, we come ever more vividly to see how science and religion are both necessary to interpret the “rich, varied and surprising way the world actually is.” I think that the surge of spiritual energy and curiosity of our time is precisely a response to the complexity we know by way of science and technology — not a flight from that, but a turn to sources of discernment to sort, prioritize, make sense.
I was especially intrigued by how the subject of climate change came up when I discussed Einstein’s God in a packed theater in Washington D.C. There the room included scientists from across government agencies — some of them personally religious, some of them not, but all open to engaging the moral aspects of human life that science touches but does not resolve. I heard from people who are working on frontiers of climate change research, including deliberation of how, in a worst-case scenario, we might intervene to change climate, change the weather. This is a cosmos-altering idea on the magnitude of those contemporaries of Einstein who split the atom. But they are deliberating now about the ethical ramifications of this burgeoning possibility, and they are aware of their need of all the resources humanity has to offer for thinking this through.
So what if, as a first step moving forward, we focused less on the competing answers of science and religion, and more on their kindred questions? The question of what it means to be human animates each of these vast fields of endeavor, though they approach and take it up in very different ways. If we just start seeing that, how much more cohesively might we be able to take in the best insights of science and religion, honoring more of the fullness of our humanity, living more gracefully and productively with all that we can know?
In the photo above, physicist Albert Einstein (left, standing behind girl) and theologian Paul Tillich (right, standing in front wearing glasses) at a conference in Davos, Switzerland on March 18, 1928. (Courtesy of Image Archive ETH-Bibliothek, Zurich) | <urn:uuid:4d503da6-6a68-4727-a123-0be047791bdd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onbeing.org/comment/18634 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959414 | 1,145 | 2.046875 | 2 |
George Fuller (1822-1884) was a professional painter when he traveled to Alabama in the years just before the Civil War. This painting of a child having her hair combed as she plays with a doll was undoubtedly a product of Fuller's experiences in the South. Both figures wear clothing of the mid-19th century. The "nurse" in the title was actually a "nursemaid" charged with caring for a white family's children. She may have been a servant, or, more likely, a slave. | <urn:uuid:093eb6b8-6ed9-4663-9713-d949dc5530ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=1233&img=1&level=advanced&transcription=0 | 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 | 0.990001 | 108 | 2.53125 | 3 |
|The heavens themselves, the planets, and this center|
Observe degree, priority, and place
Act 1, scene 3, lines 89–90
Pride is his own glass, his own trumpet
Act 2, scene 3, line 163
For Troilus and Cressida, set during the Trojan War, Shakespeare turned to the Greek poet Homer, whose epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey treat the war and its aftermath, and to Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales and the great romance of the war, Troilus and Criseyde.
In Homer's telling, his magnificent heroes attract the interest of the gods. Greeks and Trojans battle over Helen, wife of Menelaus, who was taken from him by Paris, a son of Priam, king of Troy, and held in the city. Chaucer’s Trojan prince Troilus and the widow Criseyde, with whom he falls in love, are fitting company for Homeric heroes. Troilus loves Criseyde even after she is sent away and accepts the Greek Diomedes as her lover. Chaucer is sympathetic to Criseyde, too, in her vulnerable state.
In sharp contrast, however, none of Shakespeare’s characters are exemplary. The leaders of the Greek army scheme to get the warrior Achilles to fight through deception and cheap theatricality. On the Trojan side, Hector argues for returning Helen to the Greeks and then, on a seeming whim, agrees to continue the war to keep her.
Unlike Chaucer’s Troilus, Shakespeare’s Troilus is self-absorbed, almost indifferent to Cressida’s plight. Shakespeare’s Cressida substitutes calculated manipulation for the thoughtful reflection of her Chaucerian predecessor. By throwing a relentlessly satirical light on Homer and Chaucer's characters, Shakespeare makes his play a savage attack on ideals that serve as cover for greed, violence, and lust.
Scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote Troilus and Cressida in 1603, or a year or two earlier. The play was published as a quarto in 1609.
Adapted from the Folger Library Shakespeare edition, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. © 2007 Folger Shakespeare Library
Barbara E. Bowen. Gender in the Theater of War: Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. New York: Garland Publishing, 1993.
Heather James. Shakespeare's Troy: Drama, Politics, and the Translation of Empire. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
David McCandless. Gender and Performance in Shakespeare's Problem Comedies. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.
Alexandre Bida. Cressida and Pandarus view passing warriors (Troilus and Cressida I.ii). Watercolor, ca. 1890
Past Exhibitions: Designs from Fancy: Romney's Sketch of Cassandra Raving
From the Collection
1623 First Folio, Troilus and Cressida
1609 quarto b edition of Troilus and Cressida | <urn:uuid:d24e770d-7b76-4e7e-b892-356658e492a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.folger.edu/Content/Discover-Shakespeare/Shakespeares-Works/The-Plays/Troilus-and-Cressida.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909235 | 635 | 2.90625 | 3 |
By Josh Jones, Maddy McAllister and Danielle Wilkinson (MMA Students)
Three Flinders Maritime Archaeology students volunteered for the Society of Underwater and Historical Research (SUHR) in a joint effort with the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) to survey the historic shipwrecks around the Yorke Peninsula and the Investigator Strait. The SUHR team focused on the historic wrecks Ethel and Ferret, which are located on Ethel Beach in Innes National Park, while the DENR team performed dive oriented surveys and site assessments. The SUHR members that volunteered from Flinders included Joshua Jones, Maddy McAllister and Danielle Wilkinson, and the team was lead by Britt Burton. The DENR survey team included Shea Cameron, Amer Khan, Julie Mushynsky and Ross Cole. The survey was hampered by the ever-changing weather, which ranged from sun and clear skies to fifty-knot winds and horizontal rain. DENR conducted their surveys over a two-week period, which allowed sufficient time to perform their surveys during fair weather. SUHR on the other hand, only had one day to complete their survey, which happened to be on a day when the weather was tempestuous.
Originally named Carmelo, Ethel was built in England in 1876. In 1904, under the command of Captain Bogwald, Ethel was sailing to Port Adelaide from South Africa. As it rounded the tip of the Yorke Peninsula it struck a reef. The rudder was damaged, leaving the crew unable to steer the vessel. They eventually became stranded on the little beach now known as Ethel Beach. One crewmember drowned whilst trying to swim to shore, but all the remaining crew survived. S.S. Ferret was passing and notified the nearby lighthouse keeper of the stranded vessel. Some salvage attempts were made but due to the location of the beach, which is surrounded by steep cliffs, Ethel remained relatively intact for many years.
S.S. Ferret was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1871, and it has an unusual story. It was stolen in 1880 and made its way to Port Phillip in Victoria under the name of S.S. India. It was recognised and retrieved in dramatic circumstances. In 1920 Ferret left Port Adelaide for Port Victoria. A dense fog deceived the crew and they passed too close to Cape Spencer. Ironically Ferret became stranded on the same beach as Ethel, sitting only 200 metres away. All 22 crew survived. The site of the Ferret wreck is difficult to dive or survey as it lies in the breakers close to shore, and there are very few times a year when it is calm enough to see. Very little is known about the extent of the site.
On Saturday the 21st of May, the SUHR team inspected the sites of Ethel and Ferret to gauge the size and determine the visibility of the wrecks. Ferret was not accessible or visible due to rough surf. The site of Ethel however was still exposed on the beach, although only a portion was accessible as the majority remains buried. The following day the team headed out early with the intention of drawing a site plan and a profile drawing of the largest feature to the north west of the wreck. Upon arrival the weather proved to be cold, rough and limiting. The priority was to complete the site plan for Ethel, and measure the features. This proved to be very difficult with constant wind and an approaching tide. It was decided that the most accurate method would be ‘baseline offset’ with one person drawing, two people taking measurements, and another writing down the measurements. By midday half of the site had been mapped, and members of the DENR team arrived to help. They established a site boundary for the Ethel using a metal detector and GPS, and took archaeological photos of the site. Conditions worsened and the wind continued to increase. Luckily the site plan was completed by early afternoon, but the profile view could not be attempted due to the tide which had already claimed a range pole.
On the way back a quick stop was made at the Edithburgh Cemetery to visit the sailors’ mass grave and officers’ graves of Clan Ranald, one of Australia’s worst shipwreck disasters. Forty out of a crew of sixty-four perished after the vessel tilted onto its starboard side and was smashed against cliffs near Troubridge Hill.
The sites of Ethel and Ferret are constantly changing due to environmental impacts such as shifting sands and destructive storm action. Regular trips should be made to document the changing exposure and monitor the effects upon the wrecks. In particular another visit during calmer weather should be made to inspect Ferret. Ethel would be beneficial to recent AIMA/NAS course participants to practice their mapping and recording skills whilst helping to monitor the changing features of the site.
SUHR is a great society that all maritime archaeology students should join. Events include monthly lectures and weekly opportunities to check out the society’s artefact storage at Netley, as well as other volunteer opportunities like this one. Students will become involved in the maritime archaeological network of South Australia, and who knows what opportunities may arise? Join their Facebook group for more information.
Arnott, T. 1996. Investigator Strait – Maritime Heritage Trail, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Adelaide, South Australia. | <urn:uuid:11e2b38c-25f5-45b7-a346-e1b237ad7e20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://flindersarchaeology.com/2011/08/15/our-windy-weekend-with-suhr/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=6c7ec013d9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971943 | 1,095 | 2.984375 | 3 |
You can catch the Education reports every Friday on YNN.
State of Education: Summer reading
With summer around the corner, it's time once again for school vacation, but it also means it's time for the Summer Reading at New York Libraries to kick off once again.
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"The state library provides them with materials, but it's carried out on a local level, there are 1100 public libraries in New York State, almost all of them participate, the whole goal is to encourage children and families to continue reading over the summer," said librarian Karen Balsen.
And this happens in many ways, the state has many materials available for public libraries. There's a list available on ways to get children to read, there's an online statewide database for different reading programs- and even a video. Most items can be found on the summerreadingnys.org . You can also, of course, visit your local library.
"The kids sign up , they agree to read a certain amount of hours or minutes over the course of the summer, we have a number of programs for them, lots of activities, but we try to focus on the kids doing some reading , " librarian Joan Weiskotten said.
And the more the program continues, the bigger the resources.
"New York State started promoting a statewide program in 1992- so that you could pool all the resources of librarians throughout the state to help each other come up with ideas for programs, reading lists, all different materials, " said Balsen.
Students who participate in the summer reading program not only receive the support and structure from the public library system, they can also keep their minds active over the summer, which can help when it comes for "back to school time" in September.
"There have been studies that have shown that students who do not read through the summer; their skills drop through the course of the summer and it's almost like starting over," Weiskotten said.
By the way, with all the titles out there, audio books count too.
"Any format is acceptable and the teachers have come to agree that listening to a recorded book can just be as valuable as reading a book,' said Weiskotten.
Just look for these theme posters to be well read this summer.
"They give a title to it- 'Make a Splash'- is for the younger kids and 'Make Waves' at your library is the theme for the teens," Weiskotten said.
You can check online or visit your local library for more information on the Summer Reading at New York Libraries program. | <urn:uuid:2d47ed3a-1c0f-44fa-977a-6a7ba74df214> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://capitalregion.ynn.com/content/living/state_of_education/506841/state-of-education--summer-reading/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947705 | 560 | 2.25 | 2 |
Times are hard; people are struggling and as one of my teachers used to tell me, “Cheer up, things will get worse before they get better.”
The context of that statement came prior to taking a test in school, and the teacher was right. Things did get worse for me, but I survived.
The truth of the matter is that times are hard and people are struggling, yet through all the pain and sorrow is a silver lining. Being thankful!
What does that consist of?
First, count your blessings, not your sorrows. Two men once went to Africa to sell shoes. The first man called home, dejected and discouraged because as he told his boss, the situation was hopeless because no one there wore shoes. The second man also traveled to Africa and upon his arrival, he too, called his boss and said, “The opportunities are limitless because no one here wears shoes!”
The point is to count your blessings, not your sorrows.
Second, be thankful for what you have. Do you have your health? Do you have food for the day? Do you have a roof over your head? By the world’s standards you are rich!
Finally, attitude is gratitude of thanks. Paul writes, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Begin every day in your mind that regardless of the circumstances, obstacles and pains that we all face, we will be thankful for the day and life itself. | <urn:uuid:4438ad4d-3980-42b5-b2fe-91839254dd44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.augustagazette.com/article/20121121/OPINION/121129875/1008/OPINION | 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 | 0.980638 | 326 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Smart, Thoughtful Tales to Bridge the Gap From Picture Book To Chapter Tale Stepping up from picture books to chapter books this summer? These fantastic new reads combine illustrations with chapter book layout, perfect for second-to-fifth graders. "Mouse Bird Snake Wolf" by David Almond; illustrated by Dave …Read more. Life Springs out in 3-D Books Three-dimensional technology is taking over every facet of entertainment, even books. These new children's books offer 3-D drama with special glasses and without. "Encyclopedia Mythologica: Dragons and Monsters" by Matthew Reinhart and …Read more. New Teen Reads to Bridge the Gap From School to Beach School's almost out for the summer. Encourage your teen to stop staring at electronic screens and read real books! These new young adult novels are every bit as thrilling and absorbing as anything on the Internet. "The Moon and More" by …Read more. Wholesome DVDs for Those Summer Road Trips Need some family friendly fodder for the car or home DVD player? These children's DVDs are educational, heartwarming and highly entertaining. "The Magic School Bus: All about Earth" from Scholastic Storybook Treasures; $12.95. A fun, …Read more.more articles
Nonfiction Books are Among the Most Popular Reads in School Libraries
What sank the world's biggest ship? Who was the greatest hitter who ever lived? How does an earthquake cause a giant wave? Kids can learn the answers to these and many more fascinating questions in these fantastic new books.
"Ocean and Sea" from Scholastic Discover More and Steve Parker; Scholastic; 110 pages and $15.99.
There are lots of ocean-related books on the market, but this one wins with uber-clear, close-up photographs and an eye-catching design with charts, sidebars, maps and unexpected page spreads. Sections focus on seabirds, islands in the sea, crossing the ocean, the Titanic, ocean legends and riches from the sea, plus all the requisite facts on tides and ocean life.
With so much to peruse and learn from, plus a free digital companion book, "Shark Spotter," this Scholastic Discover More entry is intriguing and completely accessible for kids of all ages.
"What Sank the World's Biggest Ship?" by Mary Kay Carson; Sterling Publishing; 32 pages; $12.95.
The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic is coming up on April 14th, prompting a slew of documentaries, museum exhibits and new books about the disaster. As the kick-off for a new children's book series called "Good Question," the "unsinkable ship" stars here with trivia rich content, a timeline, gorgeous illustrations and real photographs that bring the event to life.
Carson's hardcover picture book uses an "ask and tell" format, with questions such as: "How could an iceberg appear out of nowhere?" "Why did everyone think the Titanic was unsinkable?" and "Where were the ship's binoculars?" Answers are explained clearly and briefly enough to interest readers from ages 5 to 8.
Slightly older readers can learn more with "Titanic: Voices from the Disaster" by Deborah Hopkinson; Scholastic Press; 275 pages; $17.99.
This super-researched account of the disaster honors the legacy of the doomed ship, by weaving together real voices and stories of Titanic survivors and witnesses. Certain to be a definitive read to commemorate the 100th anniversary, Hopkinson's book offers plenty of personalization and human interest, with a wealth of narrative accounts, a detailed timeline, comprehensive diagrams and gripping survivor letters.
"There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived" by Matt Tavares; Candlewick Press; 38 pages; $16.99.
Ted Williams was an ordinary kid who wanted to be able to hit a baseball better than anyone else. He practiced nonstop, ate a lot, practiced more and even did fingertip pushups. Eventually, Williams got his wish, with an unmatched .406 season in 1941. But there was more to Ted Williams than just hitting; he was also a decorated fighter pilot in World War II and Korea, and then devoted his life to helping sick children.
"There Goes Ted Williams" captures all the excitement of a sport hero's greatest wishes coming true. Tavares' text is energetic and bold, and his colorful illustrations are full of personality and action. Tavares' dedication to presenting Williams as a larger than life superstar reigns big, resulting in an amazingly interesting picture book, already a Junior Library Guild Selection.
"Flight" and "Medieval Life" from Eyewitness Books; DK Publishing; 72 pages and $16.99 each.
DK's famous Eyewitness books are the gold standard that other reference books strive to be. Their newest additions contain a clip-art CD and timeline poster, with updates to keep them modern and fresh. "Flight" by Andrew Nahum, begins with the very earliest human tries to fly like a bird and moves on to vintage aircraft, first jetliners, airships, modern gliders and portable planes.
"Medieval Life" by Andrew Langley, presents up-close photographs of authentic medieval items and museum-worthy paintings of medieval life, war, plays, diseases, cathedrals and homes.
"Kingfisher Readers" from Kingfisher Books; 32 pages and $3.99 paperback/$12.99 hardcover.
Developed with literacy experts and designed with clear, appealing text and up-close photographs and colorful illustrations, this new beginning reader series is wondrous. With paperback books from level one (just beginning to read) to level five (reading fluently), book titles include "Butterflies," "Baby Animals," "What Animals Eat," "Dinosaur World" and "Pirates."
Affordable and visually appealing, the books also offer sidebars in the upper levels, plus an index and glossary.
To find out more about Lee Littlewood and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM | <urn:uuid:0fe3672e-4868-40cc-b196-2db6bed4060b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.creators.com/lifestylefeatures/books-and-music/kids-home-library/nonfiction-books-are-among-the-most-popular-reads-in-school-libraries.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 | 0.934645 | 1,287 | 2.578125 | 3 |
I have a CSV file which I have to read through my code. Now if I read the file line by line and store each line as a String using the String.split(","); function, I face a problem that at some places the the data itself contains ",". So the split doesn't work properly.
Joined: Nov 20, 2003
The CSV file itself needs to have a way to distinguish a comma delimiter from a comma in the file. In my CSV the variables are enclosed by quotes "variable","Variable2","variable3".
Now using the regex with all it's capibilities (meaning I don't use it much, but I know it has lots of capibilities) then you should be able to isolate your strings.
First occurance of " as a boundary with "," then use "," as boundries until the last ".
I'm not the expert in Regex unless my back is up against the wall .
Hopefully this is helpfull.
Joined: Jan 29, 2003
Depending on the source, your CSV file may have quotes around all strings and no quotes around numbers, or quotes around strings that contain commas. Try to create some with quotes in the values, too, just to see how they are handled. Here's something I got from Excel:
It did not quote the number. It did not quote a simple string. It quoted a string with a comma in it. It quoted the string with quotes in it, doubled the quotes I entered, and warned me that it might not be DOS CSV compatible. Maybe you'll get lucky and won't have to implement that one!
So without the escaped quotes:
With the escaped quotes you'd take to the next quote, skip it and if there is another quote or a comma next. Lemme know if it's not clear how "skip" and "take" translate into Java substringing or array copying.
A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of the idea. John Ciardi
Joined: Sep 10, 2002
I had several problems like this with split function. Try using StringTokenizer instead. It is more stable than split for these situations. | <urn:uuid:b47d5e13-0d67-4727-bbdf-0b350952a883> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coderanch.com/t/375085/java/java/Reading-CSV-File | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95556 | 470 | 2.015625 | 2 |
The Box That Rocked the Boat
The emergence of containers in the 1950s sparked an ocean shipping revolution that reshaped ports, trade lanes, and the world economy. What other changes are on the horizon for this dynamic industry?
The most crucial ocean shipping innovation in modern times began with a frustrated trucker.
Sixty years ago, cargo traveled in breakbulk ships—vessels with large holds designed to carry items of all shapes and sizes. Loading and unloading shipments required a great deal of labor and time.
"Workers had to go into the hold, get each box and bag, and lift them out with a crane," says Thomas Finkbiner, a transportation consultant, senior chairman of the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at the University of Denver, and former president of Pacer Stacktrain.
Malcom McLean, owner of a trucking firm in North Carolina, got tired of waiting for days in port while longshoremen loaded or unloaded his trucks. He worked with an engineer to develop a steel box that could carry cargo quickly between truck and ship.
On April 26, 1956, a converted oil tanker called the Ideal X, owned by McLean, left Newark, N.J., carrying 58 loaded boxes. The ship sailed to Houston, where 58 power units carried the boxes to their destinations.
According to many historians, that voyage marked containerized shipping's debut. Global commerce would never be the same.
"International trade is a cornerstone of our economy," says consultant Peter Keller, former executive vice president and chief operating officer of NYK Group Americas Inc., a division of Japanese shipping firm NYK Line. "The container is the pivotal conveyance that drives that economic engine."
McLean's first containership voyage was a domestic trip, but shippers and carriers soon discovered containers for international moves as well. McLean's shipping company, Sea-Land, entered international trade during the Vietnam War.
"Sea-Land was paid to move military cargo from the U.S. West Coast to Vietnam," says Theodore Prince, a transportation consultant, intermodal industry veteran, and ITI faculty member. "Then the ships sailed into China, Hong Kong, and Japan, picked up transistor radios, and brought them back to the United States."
Since then, containers have come to dominate ocean transportation. In 2009, North American ports handled nearly 44.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo, according to the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).
Simple though they seem, those steel boxes—used today to transport everything from socks to high-end electronics—have changed practically every aspect of ocean transportation.
For one thing, containers reduced the risk inherent in ocean shipping, increasing the chances that a load would reach its destination intact.
"Because products were in a container, there was less chance of damage," Finkbiner says. "And there was almost no chance of cargo theft, because a thief would have to steal the whole container."
Containers also revolutionized port operations. Instead of deploying armies of longshoremen to carry product on and off vessels, ports started using giant cranes to lift entire containers. The work moved faster, reducing cargo transit time and cutting the time that ships sat unproductively in port.
"Depending on the size of the ship and number of cranes, some vessels can be loaded and unloaded in one day," Keller says. "Even the largest ships turn around in a maximum of three days."
Such improvements have vastly reduced the cost of ocean shipping, enabling a world in which it's often much cheaper to import products from the other side of the globe than to make them at home.
Since the first voyage of the Ideal X, other important ocean shipping trends have emerged, many in response to containerization.
For one, ships have gained in capacity. "The biggest ships sailing today are 13,000 TEUs," says Howard Finkel, executive vice president, trade division, with COSCO Container Lines Americas.
And shipping lines have developed more efficient ways to load those big vessels. One important innovation is the cellular containership, a vessel equipped with a grid of metal racks to hold containers.
"In the bigger ships, the grid reaches 13 stories high," says Finkbiner. "The racks enable more containers to be stowed on a ship, which lowers shipping costs." Vessels have also grown wider, allowing steamship lines to stack boxes 18 to 21 across.
Containers themselves have also changed. "The first containers were mostly 35-footers," Finkel points out. Today, 20- and 40-foot containers are the standard, but some boxes measure 45 or 53 feet.
The industry also has developed specialized containers, such as those with built-in rods for hanging garments. "Expensive garments can ship hanging in the container, instead of being boxed, so they're ready to go right from the distribution center to the retailer's floor," Finkel says.
To handle larger ships and volumes, ports have evolved as well. Today's towering cranes can retrieve boxes from across an entire deck without repositioning. Those cranes are expensive, Finkbiner says, "but they're extremely efficient in terms of the number of containers they can move per hour." That, too, cuts ocean shipping costs.
Ports Leave Inner Cities
Containerization also has changed the size and location of ports. "In the old days, when ships were relatively small and all breakbulk, cargo operations tended to be centered in downtown areas," says Rex Sherman, director of research and information services at the AAPA in Alexandria, Va.
Activity focused on locations such as Manhattan Island and Baltimore's Inner Harbor. But as ships grew to accommodate more containers, and terminals required more room for those boxes, ports gravitated to the outskirts, where there was room to expand.
For some ports, the growth in container shipping and in ships themselves has prompted some major improvement projects. "The bigger the vessel, the deeper the draft," Finkbiner says. "That requires ports to be dredged—currently up to 50 feet."
As some ports refashioned themselves to accommodate containers, and others did not, sailing schedules changed significantly. "In the past, carriers would go wherever the cargo was," says Prince.
A ship might unload in one port, then meander among several others, picking up cargo until it was full. When containers took hold, steamship companies implemented fixed schedules, calling certain ports—those with the space, cranes, and other necessary facilities—on certain days of the week.
Another result of containerization was the rise of intermodal transportation. Companies that booked cargo with shipping lines used to contract simply for the water crossing, turning to other service providers for the truck or rail transport they required. That started to change in the late 1970s.
"Today, the majority of transportation moves are door-to-door," Finkel says, with ocean carriers contracting to provide a complete trip via multiple modes.
Double-Stacked for Delivery
As intermodalism grew, transportation companies found better ways to transfer cargo between modes.
"It was only in the early 1970s that carriers started to transition from moving trailers on flat railcars to containers on flat railcars, so most carriers weren't moving chassis," Keller recalls. The early 1970s also saw experiments with railcars that could carry multiple containers, leading to the current standard of four containers double-stacked on a single car.
"Double-stacked railcars are as important to North American trade practices as the invention of containers," says Prince.
Looking toward ocean shipping's future, most observers see a fleet of larger ships steaming toward them. "Maersk is ordering ships in the 18,000-TEU range," says Keller.
But size has its practical limits. "Many ports can't handle larger ships," he adds. "Plus, unless the loading and unloading technology changes, those ships could sit in port for three to five days."
The 18,000-TEU vessels won't fit through the newly expanded Panama Canal, which is due to open in 2014. But as that channel starts to accommodate ships of 10,000 TEUs and more, shipping patterns in North America will evolve in response.
"All the East Coast ports hope to become the port of preference in 2014, when the Canal allows for deeper, bigger ships," says Prince. New York and Savannah might have an edge in that competition because they're the only East Coast ports served by competing railroads.
Another change on the horizon involves ocean carriers' commitment to providing intermodal services. "The steamship lines have decided to go back to being responsible just for the haulage between the origin and destination ports, because the rest is too expensive for them," Finkbiner says.
One consequence of that decision is that fewer shipping lines are providing customers with chassis—the flat trailers used to haul containers over the road.
In the next few years, all carriers will likely stop providing chassis as part of their service, leaving shippers to obtain that equipment from chassis leasing companies or chassis pools at an extra cost, says Don Pisano, vice president at American Coffee Corporation, a Jersey City, N.J.-based importer of green coffee beans. Pisano also chairs the ocean transportation committee of the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL).
"The frustration for shippers is that the industry is not changing all at the same time, even within the same ports," Pisano says. Some carriers have stopped providing chassis, while some still offer them, creating issues when imports arrive at distribution centers or public warehouses.
If Company A's container arrives Monday on a carrier-owned chassis, and Company B's container arrives Tuesday on a leased chassis, the facility operator might unload Company B's container first to spare that customer extra leasing charges.
"It's no longer first-in, first-unloaded and returned," Pisano says. Such inconsistencies make it harder for shippers to plan their operations.
Another emerging issue is the high cost of fuel. Some ocean carriers have turned to "slow steaming," operating vessels at lower speeds to save money by consuming less fuel.
Whether shippers benefit from those savings is the subject of much debate. "Shippers are forced to absorb a slightly longer transit time, and there's a cost to that," Pisano explains.
Prices of many commodities—such as the coffee beans that American Coffee Corp. imports—have spiked in recent months, so importers want to get their products to market as fast as possible. Slow steaming doesn't help.
"Shippers are being affected by a dramatic increase in commodity prices at the same time they are now carrying that cost for an extra few days," Pisano says. The extra carrying costs might wipe out any transportation savings that slow steaming provides.
Good news for Data SharinG
One area where ocean shipping – much as just about every other industry – has seen vast improvements in recent decades is the ease with which trading partners can share information.
Will Pasco, managing director of the Mid-Atlantic Shippers' Association, hopes the industry will take even better advantage of the Internet and other data services in the future.
Today, when a problem occurs in a supply chain, the shipper doesn't always get the news right away. "Shippers may hear about an issue from a customer before the shipping line reports it," Pasco says. If carriers, port operators, and other service providers could better synchronize their information systems, shippers would gain a great deal.
Containerization and larger ships have made ocean transportation more efficient, and better use of information technology could take that progress one step further, says Pasco, whose member-owned association negotiates ocean rates on behalf of shippers and non-vessel-owning common carriers. "Technology use could provide the next paradigm shift," he says.
Big Concerns for big SHIPs
Another improvement that shippers would appreciate is less fluctuation in container rates. Myriad factors affect those rates, making ocean shipping the ultimate supply and demand model. But shippers crave more consistency.
Along with other big concerns—cargo security, piracy, and environmental issues, for example—cost drivers such as vessel size, fuel prices, time vs. price calculations, and the uncertain state of the world economy will give shippers and carriers sleepless nights for a long time to come.
"The industry is undergoing radical change because of price fluctuations," Finkbiner says.
In an industry that transformed world commerce simply by embracing a metal box, however, further change may well signify a prosperous future. | <urn:uuid:d4322045-5a29-452e-9e73-f122543dda2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/the-box-that-rocked-the-boat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960465 | 2,623 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Women in World History
Women in World History is an online curriculum resource center designed to help high school and college world history teachers and students find and analyze online primary sources on women in world history. Materials encourage teachers to integrate recent scholarship and give students a more sophisticated framework for understanding global women’s history. Women in World History reflects three approaches central to current scholarship in world history and the history of women: an emphasis on
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution
This accessible and lively introduction to the French Revolution presents an extraordinary archive of some of the most important documentary evidence from the Revolution, including 338 texts, 245 images, and a number of maps and songs
A Look Back at Braddock
A Look Back at Braddock District is a local history, the story of a rural region in the heart of Fairfax County, Virginia, transformed over time into a sprawling suburb of Washington, DC. The memories of more than 50 Northern Virginia residents are captured in oral histories. Photographs, documents, maps and artifacts amplify these personal experiences and document growth and change in the area. The site offers lesson plans and activity ideas as well as other resources in a database. Explore ta
A Generic Platform for the Systematic Construction of Knowledge-based Collaborative Learning Applica
This study aims to explore the importance of efficient management of event information generated from group activity in collaborative learning practices for its further use in extracting and providing knowledge on interaction behavior. The essential issue here is how to design a platform that can be used for real, long-term, complex collaborative problem-solving situations and which enables the instructor to both analyze group interaction effectively and provide an adequate support when needed.
Internet Scout Project
The US Environmental Protection Agency's Web site is so expansive that highlighting specific pages occasionally should help surfers find some of the more unique features it offers. An example of this is the Watershed Atlas page, which is described as a catalog of geospatial displays and analyses of information and data important for watershed protection and restoration. Visitors can find and view maps with various themes including acid rain, air quality, aquifers, coasts, dams, drinking water, e
Internet Scout Project
The Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC) created this fun, yet educational, website filled with games, activities, and other resources to teach children about weather and climate. Students can find a sequence of interactive surface weather maps at the useful Weather Map Activity. Through a memory game, users can discover the symbols regularly used in meteorology. Visitors can test their knowledge with the SERCC Weather Quiz. By downloading the quarterly issues of Southern Atmospheric Educat
FreeReading is an open source instructional program that helps educators teach early literacy. Because it is open source, it represents the collective wisdom of a wide community of teachers and researchers. FreeReading contains Comprehension Activities, a page of activities to address important comprehension skills and strategies.
Ontological Modeling Approach to Blending Theories for Instructional and Learning Design
This paper proposes a modeling framework for learning and instructional design from the viewpoint of ontological engineering. One of the characteristics of this framework is a theory/paradigm-independent ontology for modeling learning/instruction. This paper discusses how our modeling framework with the theory/paradigm-independent ontology contributes to modeling learning and instruction from a comprehensive viewpoint of various educational theories.
Earth Exploration Toolbook Chapter: Analyzing Populations with Maps Using the U.S. - Mexico Demograp
In this activity, users are guided through a series of simple steps as they learn how to use a very powerful tool, the US-Mexico Demographic Data Viewer. Users find regions on a map, states within each region, and counties within each state. They describe and compare the geographical and socioeconomic characteristics of selected regions within the United States and Mexico. They analyze the data for variables that describe population characteristics to produce color-coded maps that demonstrate th
Earth Exploration Toolbook Chapter: Looking into Earth with GIS
Step-by-step instructions walk users through working with data from a seismic wave model in a freely available GIS (geographic information system) program, ESRI's ArcVoyager SE. Users generate and examine maps and produce graphs to explore variations in seismic wave velocities at depths of 28 and 100 km below Earth's surface. By examining and analyzing GIS-ready data, users visualize density changes and earthquake distributions near a spreading center and two subduction zones. Finally, users wil
What is Inquiry?
Good science education requires both learning scientific concepts and developing scientific thinking skills. Inquiry is an approach to learning that involves a process of exploring the natural or material world, and that leads to asking questions, making discoveries, and testing those discoveries in the search for new understanding. Inquiry, as it relates to science education, should mirror as closely as possible the enterprise of doing real science.
Looking at Learning ... Again, Part 2 Workshop 1. Behind the Design
With Philip Sadler, Ed.D. Young children are natural designers and builders, but if their interest is not fostered, it may wane as they move through the grades. This workshop focuses on the use of simple design prototypes that children are asked to improve upon in order to meet a particular challenge. You will see these design challenges in action in middle school classrooms, as well as hear teachers discuss their experiences using designs with their students.,Phil Sadler, a science education re
Salamanca en Google Maps
Salamanca en Google Maps
AP U.S. Government & Politics
The UCCP Advanced Placement (AP) US Government and Politics course is a one semester survey of American Government and Politics covering the Constitution, political beliefs, political parties, interest groups, institutions of government, public policy and civil rights. Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay writing, and interpretation of original documents. This curriculum covers all of the material outlined by the College Board as necessary to prepare you to pass t
AP U.S. History
This course is a survey of American History from the age of exploration and discovery to the present. Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay writing, interpretation of original documents, and historiography. This History curriculum covers all of the material outlined by the College Board as necessary to prepare you to pass the AP U.S. History exam.
This course introduces students to the basic concepts, logic, and issues involved in statistical reasoning. Major topics include exploratory data analysis, an introduction to research methods, probability, and statistical inference. The objectives of this course are to give students confidence in manipulating and drawing conclusions from data and provide them with a critical framework for evaluating study designs and results. An important feature of the course is the use of an intelligent tutori
Hematology 2 from the course General Human Anatomy
General Human Anatomy - Fall 2006. The functional anatomy of the human body as revealed by gross and microscopic examination.
Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-Being
This document is profiled to help teachers, students and parents create a positive psycho-social climate in their school as a means to improve school quality and the mental and physical well-being of young people. It is intended for school administrators, teachers, community leaders and members of school health teams.
Forests and the Health of Puget Sound, Part 2 of 3 The second session deals with "Landowners Perspectives and Solutions" and included presentations by Weyerhaeuser's Chief Environmental Scientist Robert Bilby who explained how private forests are contributing to the health
In the spring of 2010, the Denman Forestry Issues Series was presented by the School of Forest Resources in the new College of the Environment, at the University of Washington. The series featured 10 featured speakers to discuss "Forests and the Health of Puget Sound.”
The second session deals with "Landowners Perspectives and Solutions" and included presentations by Weyerhaeuser's Chief Environmental Scientist Robert Bilby who explained how private forests are contributing to the health
Straight from Sark - 09/27/10
Catch all the news during the 2010 Husky football season with Coach Steve Sarkisian’s weekly press conference, live on UWTV every Monday at noon. And just in case you miss the live press conference, watch again at 6:30 p.m. all season long for extra game highlights! | <urn:uuid:7e290fa1-179d-4f4c-a4da-14a04876db5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xpert/scoreresults.php?keywords=Document%20skills%20:%20maps%20and%20&start=3860&end=3880 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90968 | 1,721 | 3.265625 | 3 |
The influence of using substances with friends on future individual use was examined in the context of parental monitoring rules and the ecology of peer activities. A 1-year longitudinal study design included a combined sample of North Italian and French Canadian adolescents (N = 285, 53% girls, M = 14.25 years). Data analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling and multiple regression analyses. As expected, the covariation between parental monitoring and adolescent substance use was mediated by co-use with friends. Moreover, the relation between substance use with friends and individual substance use was moderated by parental monitoring rules and the peer activity context. Specifically, the relation between substance co-use with friends and individual substance use was stronger when the level of parental monitoring rules was low and when friends spent their time together primarily in unstructured contexts such as on the street or in park settings. These findings underline the importance of adults’ use of rules to monitor adolescents prone to substance use, and the role of context in facilitating or reducing peer influence.
Kiesner, Jeff; Poulin, François; and Dishion, Thomas J.
"Adolescent Substance Use With Friends:
Moderating and Mediating Effects of Parental Monitoring
and Peer Activity Contexts,"
4, Article 5.
Available at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol56/iss4/5 | <urn:uuid:2d61a025-312d-4cb8-8901-762e3044507b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol56/iss4/5/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921942 | 282 | 2.0625 | 2 |
I spent the last few days helping one of my friends set up voice recognition software. Theoretically, this is the "holy grail" of computing if you believe in Star Trek. We would all like to speak to our computer and have it do all the keyboarding for us automatically but since its introduction at the Seattle Worlds Fair in 1962, voice recognition has never quite lived up to its promise.
Just to give you an idea of what voice recognition can or cannot do, I an going to dictate the rest of this Blog post. So that you will get an idea of how it works (or doesn't) I will NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES or edits to the text of the post:
The dictation starts right here. I am using DragonDictate on a Macintosh computer. I have a Plantronics digital headset with a USB connection to that computer. Over the years, I have used Dragon naturally speaking and Dragon dictate and various other programs because I am always looking for a way to input text or rapidly than typing from the keyboard. Unfortunately, whenever I have tried using the programs, I always find that certain words are not recognize properly. I realize that this occurs primarily because as I continue to speak, I have a tendency to slur my words together.
As I dictate this portion of the post, I am refraining from making any error corrections purposely to show what you have to do to go back through the text and correct the mistakes. The main thing that I have found, however, is that I am used to rewriting as I go along. This is quite hard to do using a voice-recognition program.
Another challenge, comes from using voice recognition in a database program. Unless the database program adapts well to the limitations of voice recognition it is no easier to use voice recognition than it is to use the keyboard. This is especially true, if you have to continue to use the mouse every time you move to a new window or location for entering data into the program. I have noticed, that the voice recognition programs do a credibly good job in recognizing names. You can probably guess, that the VR programs do not do a very good job with name variations. Such as spelling Stevens within the or APH.
As I continue to dictate if you read carefully, you will see that some of the sentences are garbled. Technically, you're supposed to go back and make the corrections using voice recognition which teaches the program how to understand your oral dictation. It is just the nature of the products, even when they have a provision for learning your speech patterns, to miss some types of words. In addition, I find it quite difficult to (I might note, that the program crashed at this point in the dictation). In addition, I find it quite difficult to proofread the text, especially when there is a missing word. It is also difficult to detect the wrong word inserted in the text.
All in all, using voice recognition, like speeding along on the freeway, does not always get you to your destination. Because you travel so fast on a freeway you have a tendency to drive out of your way to travel along the freeway, when it would've taken less time on the regular city streets. Because of the novelty, the ease-of-use, and the apparent ability that voice recognition has recognized most of your text, you have an illusion of productivity but I truly question whether you lose any advantage in the need to do careful proofreading.
Not that my usual level of writing is so exemplary, but likely you can detect some difference in the way that the dictated text reads from my normal way of writing. As I have said many times before, voice recognition offers great benefits to anyone who has difficulty using a mouse or keyboard. I suggest trying for strict edition for some time on documents that you are not inordinately worried about to learn to accommodate the shortcomings of the programs.
I guess that's all I have to say today. | <urn:uuid:bab6de6e-bc81-4085-826d-a1d1f81db1dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2012/04/talking-to-your-computer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963966 | 807 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Anna Kaziunas France teaches the "how to make (almost) anything" rapid prototyping course in digital fabrication at the Fab Academy at AS220. She is also the Dean of Students for the Global Fab Academy program.
She wears many hats and has worked as an information architect, user experience designer, usability specialist, interaction designer, experimental fabricator, artist and teacher.
She is also the co-author of Getting Started with MakerBot.
She loves Providence, Rhode Island and is in the process of scanning and printing it. | <urn:uuid:f0bdba09-0413-4906-9bd0-b0c6f517f9a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kaziunas.com/site/bio.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961379 | 110 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Discovery Bay: United Healthcare Marine Education Center
Discovery Bay Update
During your next trip to the Minnesota Zoo, stop by Discovery Bay to see the new "Wall of History," celebrating the Zoo's 35th anniversary. It's a great compilation of conservation and education highlights, and a timeline of notable accomplishments.
Behind the wall, renovation work has begun on the pool coatings and concrete seating in Discovery Bay Stadium. For much of 2013, construction crews will be making necessary repairs to the concrete structures to extend their useful life well into the future.
Once the renovation is completed, the Zoo hopes to exhibit Hawaiian monk seals and is actively pursuing this option. We will keep you informed.
Witness the spectacular beauty of the deep in Discovery Bay: United Healthcare Marine Education Center. Over 1.1 million gallons of water provide a home for sharks, rays and other marine life. Guests can actually touch sharks, sea stars, and sea anemones in an interactive estuary and tide pool.
Marvel at the majestic 6 foot sharks that skim past your face in search of their next meal. Study the grace and beauty of giant stingrays as they virtually fly through the water. The Minnesota Zoo's 218,000 gallon Shark Reef exhibit in Discovery Bay is an incredible undersea world filled with a dizzying array of colorful coral and unusual tropical fish.
Animals in the Bay
Atlantic Reef Fishes | <urn:uuid:33935402-fc84-452b-bd02-b186235de926> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mnzoo.org/animals/animals_discoveryBay.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903609 | 282 | 1.976563 | 2 |
America is Not Broke!
Americans of all political beliefs have been told repeatedly that America is broke, that something must be cut and/or taxes raised or we will drown in debt. While the debt is real, it pales in comparison to the tens of trillions available to us—if we know where to look.
The following multi-trillion dollar economic reforms would completely turn the American economy around to the positive, forever. The first three have all been implemented to some degree in our history. All are consistent with American values of competition, fair play, economic and ecological sustainability, meritocracy, profiting from one's own labor, and Lincoln's ideal of an America by, for and of the People.
1.Debt-free Money: Like coins and stamps (for a limited purpose), debt-free United States Notes can be issued by Congress anytime, for any reason, in any amount under the Constitution's Article 1, Sec. 8. Congress did create these original Greenbacks under the first Legal Tender Law by President Lincoln—$450 million—to fund the Civil War, and they continued through 14 series until 1996. This money would not have to be borrowed, raised in taxes, or backed by gold. It need not cause over-inflation if put toward those sectors that are in deflation. It is a "Public Option for Money." Perhaps $4 trillion, spread over 10 years, could be directed towards infrastructure, or Social Security. Several recent attempts to do this, including Rep. Kucinich's Bill, HR2990, are part of larger reform packages, but we can re-issue U.S. Notes anytime, producing an immediate gain in the government's accounts. Correcting Treasury & GAO's misleading statements on this issue is part of an ongoing lawsuit here (Johnson v. Treasury) featuring my petition (Exhibit B).
2.Land Value Taxation, a.k.a. the Single Tax: This Henry George idea would make public the currently private collection of resource and locational rent. It would end speculation by taxing economic rent, and eliminate Land-based booms and busts like the current one, forever. Furthermore, by taxing the 33 to 40 percent of GDP that is collected by idle rentiers on location and natural resources, one could untax all actual production (wages, sales, fixed capital like buildings), thereby vastly simplifying the tax code, removing opportunities for corruption, and freeing up major American productive capacity in a naturally efficient, green, scalable, and sustainable way. This idea has been successfully applied in towns and cities all over the world and is perhaps the most established theorem in economics.
3.Public Banks: Like the highly successful State Bank of North Dakota, established in 1919, public banks would force state accounts to be invested in State needs, and not in Wall Street speculative gambles—money which was raised through taxes but then has to be borrowed back, at interest rates of 4 to 6 percent. The agency and pension funds of most states are invested in risky, often under-performing asset classes, sometimes below investment grade, by managers who charge millions in fees. The Bank of North Dakota manages $4 billion in loans conservatively and constructively. Public Banks can respond directly to community needs and even occasional emergencies in a way that would decentralize the money power, returning taxpayer money to we the people. Multiplied in all 50 states, and at the community level too, and America could save trillions in unnecessary gambles, bailouts, and interest costs.
4.Audit the local, state, and national Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs): There are 10s of trillions of dollars in the 184,000 CAFRs nationwide. These funds, many invested outside the country, could be used to pay a citizen's dividend in perpetuity, ensuring a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) for every American. There is $600 billion in California's pension fund alone, paying out just 4% a year to pensioners, whose "managers" rake in billions for often under-performing the market, while government acts as both regulator and investor in the Mother of All Conflicts of Interest! We need impartial accountants to comb through the CAFRs and to do so every year, for the benefit of the American people.
5.Repatriate Offshore Accounts: A new report by the Tax Justice Network shows up to $32 trillion is stored away in offshore accounts, away from tax authorities. These funds are held by the top .001% in private accounts managed by the biggest of the Too Big To Fail banks, while their owners live in other places where middle class taxpayers pay for vital services and infrastructure instead. This subsidy for the wealthy is unsustainable and must be ended by repatriating these accounts or taxing them from foreign lands.
These are just five places to look for trillions in savings and relocatable funds. There are others. Pick one or find your own. Find out about it. Learn. Become Active. Join a group to effectuate change. Fight. And remember, America Iis not broke!
Scott Baker is the president of Common Ground-NYC and coordinator of the NY Public Banking Institute. | <urn:uuid:891ec060-0f96-4cba-8465-ce2b08f7f9e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.occupy.com/article/america-not-broke | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956212 | 1,061 | 2.25 | 2 |
Superbly directed by Sean Fahey, “Bailout” is a powerful film that takes a look at the housing disaster that has taken place across America in recent years, the events leading up to the crash and the corruption that exists behind the scenes. “Bailout” takes its audience across the country, along with five colorful friends in a Winnebago, for a firsthand look on how this recent financial crisis has affected homeowners, particularly the lower and middle class.
Make no mistake about it as Fahey uses the word “fraud” many times throughout the film when referring to the actions of the big money-center banks, clearly painting the picture that criminal intent – not miscalculation or mistake - was indeed the source of the housing collapse. Fahey brilliantly connects the dots using facts, expert analysis and heartbreaking testimonials from victims throughout the country as the concrete evidence needed to support the film’s claim of wrong doing. The film also touches on the fact that no one was convicted for the largest financial fraud ($11 billion) in our country’s history. Why? Because banks have successfully infiltrated the government and routinely pass the laws that protect themselves from offense. The atrocities don’t stop there as the film delves into the misguided bailouts that the banks – the perpetrators – have issued, keeping the machine alive and well. The film also provides a detailed look at the process in which banks handed out home loans knowing, and benefiting, on the fact that these loans could never be repaid. Breaking it down to a science, it is explained how and why this process made these banks profited hand over fist while Americans suffered one of the biggest recessions to date.
Like many Americans, lead character John Titus has had enough. Dealing with the threat of foreclosure, Titus, an unemployed Chicago lawyer, decides to give himself a bailout. Rather than paying his inflating mortgage, he saves that money, buys a Winnebago and decides to head out West with four of his buddies (also on the brink of foreclosure) to spend, spend, spend and party. Doing what Wall Street does with taxpayers’ money and futures, Titus plans to gamble his ‘bailout”, making their destination Las Vegas. Heading out from Chicago, Titus and gang (including stand up comedian John Fox) take to the highways, making stops in St. Louis, Roswell and many other cities. During their road trip the self-appointed “Dukes of Moral Hazard” speak with people from all walks of life, many of whom have suffered home foreclosures. The five traveling friends are entertaining to watch throughout and each can be identified with in their own different way. Fox also does a great job narrating the film.
“Bailout” should make viewers angry. If it doesn’t, there’s a pretty good chance those unaffected are probably a part of the collective problem, as complacency and ignorance is what the big money-center banks depend on in order to feed their pockets. Following the successful premiere of “Bailout” at the Music Box Theater in Chicago, director, Sean Fahey, and lead, John Titus, spent a good deal of time fielding questions from the audience. Both Fahey and Titus explained the importance of shutting out biased media, educating ourselves and standing together. The two also stressed, as in the film, that this is not a Right/Left issue, this is people versus banks issue – all are affected.
An important and daring social documentary, “Bailout” conveys a strong message that should be heard by everyone.
For more information, visit www.usabailout.com. | <urn:uuid:263e6d95-f227-4504-bf35-952b7e7aceff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buzznews.net/in-concert/item/3309-%E2%80%9Cbailout%E2%80%9D-world-premiere-at-music-box-theater-courageous-and-eye-opening | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965887 | 767 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Out in the Open: Urinary Incontinence No Longer a Silent Affliction
Silence may be golden, but not if it keeps you from getting help for urinary incontinence. For of all the urologic conditions, those concerning leaking urine are often the most neglected, especially by women—who make up 85 percent of incontinence sufferers. In either gender, the condition appears in various forms, involving various parts of the anatomy (the bladder, urethra and sphincter) as well as the central nervous system, and triggered by various causes. Stress incontinence is common to women; post-surgical incontinence is most frequent in men who have undergone prostatic surgery.
Civilization's earliest physicians first postulated that sphincter breakdown or bladder weakness caused leaking. But it wasn't until the 1970s, when urodynamic equipment became sophisticated, that urologists began to understand the mechanisms that control voiding. | <urn:uuid:ec770eae-8cf7-4a2c-9fcf-7163bf01b094> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urologichistory.museum/content/milestones/incontinence/p1.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963772 | 198 | 2.4375 | 2 |
The state-of-the-art laboratory at the Noman
M. Cole Jr. treatment plant conducts approximately 100,000 analyses per
year in support of county environmental programs. The lab conducts all
permit, compliance and process optimization testing for the plant.
In addition, ecosystem monitoring is conducted in and around the receiving waters (Pohick Creek and Gunston Cove) for the treated wastewater effluent from the treatment plant. The monitoring program has been in place for 20 years and measures biological composition, abundance, species diversity and receiving water quality. Monitoring has identified larval alewifes upstream of the plant outfall. Alewifes (a species of herring) had not been observed here since before the plant was built in 1970. The superior wastewater treatment provided by the county has enabled the return of the alewife at this upstream location. The health of the ecosystem continues to be monitored and assessed to identify impacts and trends and allowing management decisions to be adjusted accordingly. Maintaining a healthy water environment allows for the enjoyment of boating, fishing, water skiing and wind surfing in Gunston Cove.
For more information, call Wastewater Treatment at 703-550-9740, TTY 711. | <urn:uuid:d7efc1c7-56bd-4379-9aee-613cfb24f107> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/wastewater/laboratory_services.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940191 | 250 | 2.078125 | 2 |
The parrotlets are a compact parrot, little known as the pocket parrot.
Unlike the linnies they are a better pet if they are single birds. To keep the parrotlets tame it is best to handle them reguarly. They are very easily taught to sit on your shoulder, they nussle the ear and occasionally will pinch to get your attention.
They can be taught to talk. These little birds are perfect for people who are in apartments or small townhouses. Also make great pets for your first bird. They come in a variety of colors.
Linnies are indeed a parakeet but are a compact little parrot.
Linnies are not big flyers, but are very happy running around their cage and hanging upside down from the top of their cage.
They are not real active birds and size is about 7 inches long. They make wonderful pets when hand fed and are tame.
They are very good talkers and are very amusing to watch as they run around their cage. They have a sweet chattering voice, and are a little more vocal and active than the tiny pocket parrot (parotlettes).
These make wonderful pets for the person who has everything. Their care is minimal and someone can get hours of enjoyment with them. They come in a variety of colors dark green, Olive, turquoise, cobalt (blue), lutino (yellow) and mauve.
The Sun Conure (Aratinga solstitialis) is a medium-sized brightly colored parrot native to northeastern South America. The adult male and female are similar in appearance, with predominantly golden-yellow plumage and orange-flushed under parts and face. It is commonly kept in aviculture. The species is endangered, threatened by loss of habitat and trapping for the pet trade.
Description Resource-Wikipedia-photos by JenLoren Feathered Friends
If you have any further questions or are interested in a bird feel free to contact us in any of the following ways:
Phone: (717) 529-3785 | <urn:uuid:cab38fce-20a7-4b83-be3b-8b2a36dc1175> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://birds.jenlorenpoodles.net/about-birds.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956545 | 428 | 2.046875 | 2 |
The multimedia installation "Colossus" was part of a Miri Chais solo exhibition at the Shay Arie Gallery (Tel Aviv, Israel) from December 9, 2010 through January 14, 2011.
- Year Created: 2011
- Submitted to ArtBase: Monday Aug 29th, 2011
- Original Url: http://www.mirichais.com/#!colossus/chwy
Take full advantage of the ArtBase by Becoming a Member
In Miri Chais’s multimedia installation "Colossus" a video stream flows towards a looming Colossus statue like “the river that issues from Eden to water the garden” [Genesis 2:10] of the Zoharic image of divine abundance or grace (shefa) which flows from ein sof (infinity) and enriches human reality. However, unlike abundance in an enlightened or spiritual sense, the river flowing through the exhibition is one of material excess.
Perpetually inundated with images, we have come to require them more and more. "The New New Men", a series of faux-ecological skulls donning gas masks, poses a challenge to the dominant consumerist culture that is habitually tempted by the new "new thing". Herein a paradox once again presents itself: The new "new thing" ages faster than ever.
The Colossus is nourished by an ever-flowing stream of symbols and images, yet he remains gaunt and feeble. Miri Chais’s figures are full of images, yet transparent and insubstantial, like ghosts from cyberspace. | <urn:uuid:e076d72b-40a8-4c9f-8488-17e2c05f52af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rhizome.org/portfolios/artwork/53258/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916539 | 330 | 1.507813 | 2 |
New for Zimbabwe
The British colony of Southern Rhodesia became part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953. In 1963 Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland pulled out of the Federation, citing the extreme conditions in the Southern Rhodesia. In 1965, Ian Smith made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Negotiations towards independence started in 1975 and independence was achieved in 1980.
Image: ©2006 Alistair Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc | <urn:uuid:1c707393-1828-41e0-8168-a592c98caa85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://africanhistory.about.com/b/2012/11/28/new-on-african-history-resources-on-zimbabwe-new-in-the-african-history-glossary.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917311 | 102 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Microsoft urges people not to use the Internet
You are at great risk, says the Beast of Redmond
Updated Finding out what exactly Microsoft is thinking is harder than getting blood out of a stone or a coherent sentence out your grandma, but work hard enough...
The Beast of Redmond has put an online form on its Web site that will tell you what sort of risk you are running of having obtained unlicensed or pirated software. Which is nice. Depending on how you answer, M$ will give you a low, medium or high-risk rating. So we had a play around to determine exactly what Microsoft saw as risky behaviour.
Unsurprisingly, if you buy all your software off Microsoft, have all the licences at hand and also purchase upgrade licences, client access licences and purchasing licences, then you are at low-risk. Deviate much from this and you enter medium risk.
Your software is pre-installed (keeping all the other answers the same)? Medium risk. Your IT department installed it? Medium risk. You're not sure that you have licences for every piece of software? High risk straight away. You don't know exactly how many workstations your company has? From Low to High risk in one fell swoop.
However, of most interest to us were the Internet options. It would seem that Microsoft - despite everything it says - doesn't trust the Internet at all. In answer to the question "How did you acquire the software installed on your workstations/servers?", three of the ten options concern the Net. These are: Internet acquisition - On-line Store, On-line Auction and Downloaded from Internet.
Select any of these three and you are immediately sent from a Low risk situation to a High risk one. So there you have it - Microsoft doesn't want you to use the Internet. We'd always suspected.
Incidentally, don't bother to try the quiz out if you are using anything but Internet Explorer. Such is the complexity of running a simple quiz that only a product as amazing as Explorer can deal with it. Good to see Microsoft hasn't changed. ®
MS' online form (try it yourself - you'll be Medium risk) | <urn:uuid:e3420296-2d24-4db7-9190-b09520452f69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/11/29/microsoft_urges_people_not/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967969 | 444 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA) has been working with SEA members in the solar industry to address challenges facing commercial clients wanting to install solar PV on their business premises.
The major challenge has been for those businesses interested in installing solar panel arrays of greater than 30 kW in size, but even systems less than 30 kW have been creating some issues for installation.
SEA adviser Neil Prentice and a number of SEA members have led the process, engaging with Western Power to collaboratively improve processes and outcomes on smaller (sub 30 kW) solar installations for commercial premises.
Recently a broad ranging stakeholder forum was held with Western Power, SEA, SEA Members, the National Electrical Contractors Association, Government and other industry representatives, to look at how to improve Western Power's handling of PV connection applications.
‘After listening to our stakeholders, we had a deeper understanding of how our processes were affecting them. We also found that they had some pretty workable requests in regards to what we could do to make their lives easier,' says Louise Avon-Smith, Manager Sustainability at Western Power.
SEA has welcomed Western Power's strong engagement to deal with issues that will cover off from both industry and Western Power's sides of the process.
‘SEA recognises that not all issues will be easy nor quick to resolve, and Western Power's readiness to engage actively with industry is much appreciated,' says SEA chief adviser Professor Ray Wills.
Western Power and SEA are planning a continuing program of engagement, and suppliers and customers interested in this process are encouraged to contact SEA - www.seaaus.com.au.
The latest data from the Australian Clean Energy Regulator shows that more than 750 000 homes in Australia are now equipped with solar PV panels totalling almost 1.7 GW of installed capacity.
Western Australia now has over 104 000 rooftops with solar installed, adding a total of 218 MW of solar capacity to the electricity grid in south-west Western Australia, but most solar is on homes and very few on business rooftops.
The suburb with the most solar installed in Western Australia is Mandurah and other areas sharing the postcode 6210, with over 5200 homes and 9.4 MW of capacity of solar installed. The Canning Vale area (postcode 6155) and the Wanneroo area (postcode 6055) are the next two largest with roughly similar numbers around 3200 homes having 6.4 MW of capacity.
Data sourced from Australian Clean Energy Regulator http://ret.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/REC-Registry/Data-reports
Industry works together to bring solar energy to business.
SEA Media Release - 24 July 2012 | <urn:uuid:7691acc2-a27c-4d85-9b7d-ddb381dcab4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seaaus.com.au/content/view/498/145/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950279 | 550 | 1.820313 | 2 |
NeoRio 2010: Featuring Lynne Hull September 24th, 25th & 26th
Left image: L’échelle Les Arques, France, 2003*
Right image: materials to be used in habitat enhancing sculptures at NeoRio 2010
Environmental artist and sculptor for wildlife, Lynne Hull, will present a rare public workshop for artists, teachers and other interested persons to create shelters and other sculptures for various species of wildlife for NeoRio 2010. Participants will create sculptures utilizing recycled dead trees in the area. Lynne Hull will also share her knowledge of creating small, hand-built stone sculptures to slow erosion in runoff areas, inspired by the restoration engineering concepts of Bill Zeedyke. The now annual event, NeoRio, is a celebration of art, nature, culture and community at Wild Rivers Recreation Area near Questa, New Mexico.
Set for September 24th – 26th, NeoRio 2010 will feature Lynne Hull’s sculpture which assists wildlife and habitat restoration, as well as her lecture, “From Lascaux to Last Week”, an overview of environmental artists working with nature, ecology, water and land restoration. Lynne will facilitate the creation of three site-specific installations by students, artists and members of the public. Hosted by the Bureau of Land Management’s Taos Field Office, NeoRio is organized by the environmental arts initiative, LEAP (Land, Experience and Art of Place), in collaboration with John Wenger of Wild Earth Studio, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, the Village of Questa and other cosponsors.
NeoRio was created both as a platform for innovative ecological artists and to propagate cross-pollination between artists, conservationists, and others interested in protecting and celebrating our local communities and wild lands. The ancient relationship between humans, our fellow creatures and our environment is a complex story of interdependence, which we each author every day with our own choices and actions. NeoRio attempts to both tell and explore this story through innovative and creative installations, interventions and interactions with our environment. It asks the questions: what is the role of art in experiencing and protecting wild lands and what is the role of wild lands in art?
On Friday, September 24th, Lynne will offer a special all-day workshop for artists (reservations required see below). On Saturday, September 25th, at 2pm the public is invited to the Wild Rivers Recreation Area Visitor Center, where the event will begin with Lynne Hull’s presentation “From Lascaux to Last Week”, followed by the opportunity to participate in creating one of her sculptures and an evening celebration with food, a campfire, live music and outdoor short film screenings. Please bring your own chairs for the campfire and drinks and dessert to share. Camping is available at Wild Rivers for $7 per night. On Sunday September 26th, the public is invited to visit the new art installations and participate in other planned activities to explore the Wild Rivers Recreation Area. NeoRio events are free and open to all. Come celebrate art and nature and explore the Wild Rivers Recreation Area on September 24th, 25th and 26th! For a google map to NeoRio locations click here.
To find out more about attending NeoRio 2010, to register for the artist workshop on September 24th or to become involved as a volunteer, contact email@example.com or call 575-586-2362.
*Installation in the Presbytere tower of nesting boxes and roosts in the tower, a secret dialog between artists and owl. The ladder on the outside of the tower as metaphor for the meeting between the species. The meeting is difficult. | <urn:uuid:ee51d301-16b3-42e3-bbd6-be6f60ac3d7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://leapsite.org/2010/08/23/neorio-2010-featuring-lynne-hull-september-24th-25th-26th/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945469 | 769 | 2.171875 | 2 |
What to Expect at Facebook's Conference: Music, And Dodging Google+
Facebook introduced its "Like" button at its f8 developer conference last year, making the thumbs-up icon ubiquitous. With a bit of imagination, that thumbs-up could evolve into another icon: the "listen."
OK, maybe that will take a lot of imagination.
But the evolution of social media sharing seems to be one of the safest bets to emerge from f8, with representatives from Spotify, Clear Channel, and other media companies confirmed to speak at the developer conference. Reports have also begun circulating that the Like button may evolve into separate "Read," "Watch," and "Listen" buttons, possibly paired with a "Want" button to connect with brands.
The first f8 conference introduced the concept of connection with people in a massive graph, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said last year, plus other objects, such as businesses and bands. In 2010, the theme was to tie those individual smaller graphs together, further connecting Facebook's estimated 400 million users.
In 2011, it's reasonable to assume Facebook will extrapolate this concept further, allowing its more than 750 million followers to more specifically share details of their real-world and virtual lives.
The problem of "Like"
The primary reason that the Read/Watch/Listen rumors make sense is that "Like" really doesn't mean anything. It's a general approval of a comment, a person, an idea, or a brand. But an ExactTarget survey released Wednesday claimed only 42 percent of active users agreed that a "like" indicated approval of a company's brand.
"'Like' has many different meanings and can be used in different ways. The meaning of 'Like' is highly dependent on the context in which the Like button appears," the report found. "Our survey respondents told us that, with regard to posts by their friends, 'Like' is a quick way to express approval for a specific piece of content (status, picture, etc.)it's casual and doesn't require any real thought or consideration."
Read, Watch, and Listen indicate actions, either in the future or the past. Marketers want a video, song or article to go viral, and spread around the Internet. Dedicated buttons could help that happen, and would help differentiate Facebook's platform from Google's "+1" button.
Eye on Google+
Facebook has noticed Google+. After Google+ launched with its vaunted Circles feature, the way in which Facebook users relate to others (as friends, rather than followers) has received greater scrutiny.
Even though rumblings of slowing Google+ growth keep cropping up, Facebook's recent "smart lists" feature is one of the clearest indications that Facebook is responding to the threat of Google+. The "subscribe" feature, moreover, also steals a page from Twitter's follower model - and also provides a workaround to the limit on the number of friends that Facebook previously exposed.
I'm still hearing chatter about granting users the ability to "pay" for virtual goods via permission to use their Wall or name to support a brand. We've seen this already in discounts given to consumers who "Like" a particular brand's page on Facebook, and Rdio and MOG seem to be going down this path with songs paid for with social engagement. It seems like the next step will be more permissions granting the brand even greater access to socially connect with a user's friends ("Hey, everyone, I like grape-flavored Kool-Aid! Visit our page, vote, and receive a 50-cent discount!), with their consent.
Social on the go
In June, Facebook mobile partner Zynga announced CityVille Hometown, a standalone social game loosely based on the CityVille game played on the Facebook platform. Two Zynga executives, vice president Paul Bettner and co-president of games, David Chiang, are scheduled to appear at f8. I have to imagine that Zynga will report how CityVille Hometown has fared, if any tweaks are necessary, and how Zynga will evolve its mobile social strategy. Just being there implies that Zynga has found this to be a success.
I sort of doubt, however, that Facebook will publicly address the loss of Deals and Places, two mobile elements that it killed off earlier this year. Zuckerberg and the rest of the Facebook team are very much in the Silicon Valley mindset: failure is acceptable, you learn from your mistakes and try again. Quietly.
Credits? Even though Facebook has encouraged developers to use its Facebook Credits, it still primarily derives most of its revenue from traditional advertising. Total revenues at Facebook, which include those from advertising as well as Facebook Credits and other sources, will reach $4.27 billion this year, according to a report this week from eMarketer. That's more than twice as high as the $2 billion Facebook is estimated to have earned in 2010. Ad revenues will make up 89 percent of the total this year, down from 95 percent, in 2009. That leaves $470 million for Credits and other revenue.
It's reasonable to assume that Credits will continue to be the centerpiece of Facebook's e-commerce plays, but there's no indication of any sweeping announcements Facebook plans to make at f8.
Privacy and user-interface changes
Facebook seems to have headed off some of the user-interface issues at the pass this week, after it rolled out its
We'll be covering f8 live. What would you like to see Facebook update, and what recent changes trouble you? Tell us in the comments below.
For more from Mark, follow him on Twitter @MarkHachman.
blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:6c3f0b34-992b-4a07-b4cf-463115f2b24d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393355,00.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960713 | 1,170 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Deal And Communicate Effectively:
Map Your Strategy First
June 20, 2002, Investor's Business Daily, (Page A4)
Author: CORD COOPER
Section: Leaders & Success
A key to negotiation is knowing the other side's primary and secondary needs - and using the latter as bargaining chips.
One way to nail down those needs? Create an "interest map" - a list of the opposing stakeholders, their interests in the outcome, and the reasons behind them.
"An interest map lays it out in black and white. It helps you plan a strategy," said Steve Cohen, an executive coach and negotiating expert whose clients range from Reuters to aerospace and telecom companies. A former lobbyist and real-estate developer, Cohen says he's proved the benefits of interest maps for almost three decades.
"Interest maps force you to focus on the information you'll need, the assumptions you'll have to question, and areas of common ground in a negotiation," he said.
Below are Cohen's tips for mapping your opposing team's goals.
Define terms. Before creating the map, define who the stakeholders are. They could range from a small management team to suppliers, customers, and a leadership pool that spreads across several company divisions.
"When thinking possible stakeholders, it's better to start with a long list than to discover too late you left out a person who could help shape the agreement," said Cohen, head of the Negotiation Skills Co. in Beverly, Mass., which trains executives in more than 40 countries.
Chart the map. List the stakeholders horizontally across a large sheet of paper or flipchart, and group them by their relationship to each other. Below each stakeholder, list his interests in order of importance.
"Design the map so it's easy to draw lines connecting the common interests of different people," Cohen advised. "List the reasons behind those interests.
"Going through stakeholders' needs step by step sharpens your instincts" and can help forge effective counteroffers, he said.
Be creative. When listing interests, be open-minded. You may hit on a need that's not readily apparent.
List hot-button issues. Certain ones are so emotionally charged, they should be avoided. Others need to be confronted and defused. The map should define both.
Do a reality check. When you've done your first draft, narrow the list of stakeholders by getting input from co-workers and your side's negotiating team. This will test your accuracy, prompt new insights and promote team unity.
"Unless people feel they have ownership in the negotiation, they won't feel a strong commitment to fulfill the terms of the final agreement," said Cohen, author of "Negotiating Skills for Managers." "Make sure people buy into the process early on, and see that stakeholders on your side stay comfortable with the way things are going."
Ask questions. Don't go into the negotiation thinking you have all the answers. An interest map outlines your best take on stakeholders' needs. To ensure you're not going in with false assumptions, ask questions to draw out the other side.
If you've done your homework in charting the map, Cohen said, you'll know "exactly which questions to ask."
©Investor's Business Daily, Inc. 2002. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission from Investor's Business Daily. For information on reprints, webprints or permissions, go to www.investors.com/terms/reprints.asp. | <urn:uuid:aedca112-6bec-47c5-a774-9c47c5d74b83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.negotiationskills.com/articleB5.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95839 | 717 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Bureau warns of looming deluge
Heavy rain which is expected to cause flash flooding in Tasmania's north and north-west is predicted to start later today.
The Bureau of Meteorology expects flash flooding over the next two days with rainfall exceeding several hundred millimetres in some areas.
The bureau has also issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour north of a line from Strahan to Cradle Mountain.
A flood watch has been issued for all northern rivers.
Senior forecaster Paul Fox-Hughes says it will be wet throughout the state.
"With those sort of rainfall rates we could see flash flooding up in the north-west today, in some of the populated areas and then tomorrow in the north-east, mainly about higher areas," he said.
"The sort of place I'm thinking of is St Mary's for example which has a history of flash flooding and very heavy rain."
The weather bureau has reviewed the situation in Hobart and says there is a possibility of a flash flooding warning being issued.
Mr Fox-Hughes says there have been about 60 millimetres of rain on Mt Wellington.
"There's still the possibility over the next few days of some flash flooding but we haven't got a warning out currently," he said.
Police are urging motorists to drive to the conditions.
Inspector Mark Beech-Jones says motorists should slow down, pay attention to road warning signs and drive with their headlights on.
"The biggest risk for us is flash flooding and people attempt to drive through water," he said.
"It's always been the case that people will always try to venture through and that's what we're trying to warn people; don't drive through, wait until it subsides or find an alternative route."
SES workers are distributing flood preparedness kits to residents in flood-prone areas in the north.
They are doorknocking residents in Kings Meadows and Lilydale this afternoon but SES spokeswoman Mhairi Revie says it is just for precautionary purposes.
"We're not saying that those areas will experience flooding, we're just making sure that we've 'crossed all our T's and dotted all our I's' and that people are as prepared as possible and have as much advance warning as possible."
The SES is urging Tasmanians to refrain from calling the SES emergency number for information about the Queensland floods.
The service is getting a large number of calls to the 132500 number for an update on the floods.
That number should only be called if people need emergency assistance as a result of storm or flood damage in Tasmania.
Information on the situation in Queensland can be accessed through the Queensland Government's website.
Tasmanian volunteers have arrived in Queensland to help with the flood relief effort.
The 21 SES workers will stay in Brisbane and Toowoomba for the next five days, assisting with rescues and the flood clean up.
Volunteer Mark Dancer says it is important to give the Queensland SES crews a break.
"They've been going pretty hard prior to this so it'll be good for us to get over there and so what we can do," he said.
"We're just going to be assisting hopefully with sandbagging, moving furniture and making sure they're safe and happy." | <urn:uuid:38f9d003-d74e-4b52-a492-5b58a7e70057> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-01-12/bureau-warns-of-looming-deluge/1902958 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973358 | 692 | 2.046875 | 2 |
(NGM MAR 2010) Fun Youth Activities in the Garden
By: Michael Metallo
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Gardening Association
(802) 863-5251, ext. 123
South Burlington, VT (March 19, 2010) National Gardening Association (NGA) wants you to think GREEN this SPRING NATIONAL GARDEN MONTH® (NGM) 2010 is here, and for many the spring planting season marks the beginning of a growing season filled with beautiful blooms and yummy edibles! "No activity holds more value for young people than the gardening experience," says Mike Metallo, President of National Gardening and KidsGardening.Org. "Our APRIL STORYLINE will help gardeners of any age engage youth in gardening activities, not only during this month-long garden celebration in April but also throughout the growing season."
Youth gardening is more popular than ever! The reasons are clear and simple. Kids learn best by doing. When young people garden, they perform better in school, they learn social skills, gain confidence, build self-esteem, get exercise, and acquire improved attitudes towards healthy food and the environment. However, getting kids to work in the garden may be a challenge. Sometimes you have to be creative in how you engage children in the garden!
Making gardening a game is a sure-fire way to gain children's interest. Think of things young kids like to do, such as digging, building, decorating, and exploring. Remember those activities when you're planning garden time with your youngster. You may not get as much actual work done as you'd like, but by using a little ingenuity you'll get your child into the garden, inspire him or her to investigate the wonder of nature, and in the process, nurture a love for a greener life.
For the complete April storyline, and to download a photo, visit www.nationalgardenmonth.org.
About the National Gardening Association:
The National Gardening Association (NGA), founded in 1973, is a national nonprofit leader in plant-based education. NGA offers the Web's largest and most respected array of online gardening content, serving a broad audience of consumers. The organization acts as an interactive hub supporting the needs of gardening novices and experts alike, as well as providing educators with curricula, publications, grants, and professional development tools. Visit www.garden.org and www.kidsgardening.org and open your eyes to a world of lifestyle and learning possibilities through gardening. | <urn:uuid:650edae0-b5e4-4f6c-bd1c-b05d454c8f30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.garden.org/articles/articles.php?q=show&id=3278 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932286 | 521 | 2.828125 | 3 |
The objective of this study was to determine the optimal postmortem aging period and nutrient composition for Beef Value Cuts of the round. For the postmortem aging study, 40 USDA Select and 40 premium USDA Choice beef carcasses were selected from a commercial beef packing plant in Colorado over a 12-week period. The bottom and inside rounds were collected from both sides of each carcass for further fabrication into the following muscles: Adductor, Gastrocnemius, Gracilis, Pectineus, and Superficial digital flexor. Each pair of muscles was cut into seven steaks, approximately 2.54 cm in thickness, and vacuum packaged. All steaks were randomly assigned to one of the following aging periods: 2, 4, 6, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days, and placed in refrigerated storage (2°C, never frozen). Upon completion of the designated aging period, steaks were removed from storage, cooked to a peak internal temperature of 72°C, and evaluated using Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF). A two-way interaction was detected (P<0.05) between individual muscle and postmortem aging period. The WBSF of all muscles except the Superficial digital flexor decreased with increased time of postmortem aging. Quality grade did not affect (P>0.05) WBSF values for the Adductor, Gastrocnemius, Pectineus, and Superficial digital flexor muscles. Exponential decay models were used to predict the change in WBSF from 2 to 28 days postmortem (aging response). The Adductor, Gastrocnemius, Select Gracilis, premium Choice Gracilis, and Pectineus required 21, 14, 23, 23, and 25 days, respectively, to complete the majority of the aging response. To determine the nutrient composition of the Adductor, Gastrocnemius, Gracilis, Pectineus, Semimembranosus, and Superficial digital flexor, bottom and inside rounds were collected from 10 USDA Select and 10 premium USDA Choice carcasses, fabricated into the respective muscles, cut into 2.54 cm cubes, frozen (−20°C), and then homogenized. The Adductor, Gracilis, Pectineus, Semimembranosus, and Superficial digital flexor were analyzed for dry matter, moisture, crude protein, and ash percentages. All muscles were evaluated for lipid percentage and fatty acid and cholesterol composition. When quality grades were combined, all muscles fell into the “extra lean” or “lean” categories specified by USDA guidelines based on the total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol content present in each cut. Results of this study illustrate the potential for Beef Value Cuts of the round to be sold in foodservice operations and retail stores with marketing emphasis being placed on the exceptional leanness and acceptable tenderness of these cuts. | <urn:uuid:3da43ced-a91f-465c-9b75-27238ac57106> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gradworks.umi.com/14/88/1488475.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93066 | 614 | 1.65625 | 2 |
University of California, Irvine
UC Irvine scientists have discovered intriguing differences in the brains and mental processes of an extraordinary group of people who can effortlessly recall every moment of their lives since about age 10.
Neuroscience Jul 30, 2012 | 5 / 5 (7) | 0 |
(Medical Xpress)—A short burst of moderate exercise enhances the consolidation of memories in both healthy older adults and those with mild cognitive impairment, scientists with UC Irvine's Center for the Neurobiology of ...
Neuroscience Nov 27, 2012 | 5 / 5 (6) | 0 |
American and European scientists have found that increasing natural marijuana-like chemicals in the brain can help correct behavioral issues related to fragile X syndrome, the most common known genetic cause of autism.
Autism spectrum disorders Sep 25, 2012 | 4.3 / 5 (4) | 1 |
UC Irvine doctors are enrolling patients with the deadly brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme in a clinical trial of a vaccine that may prevent the cancer's return or spread after surgery.
Cancer Oct 10, 2012 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0
UC Irvine neuroscientists have developed a way to stop epileptic seizures with fiber-optic light signals, heralding a novel opportunity to treat the most severe manifestations of the brain disorder.
Neuroscience Jan 24, 2013 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0 |
Exposing pregnant mice to low doses of the chemical tributyltin – which is used in marine hull paint and PVC plastic – can lead to obesity for multiple generations without subsequent exposure, a UC Irvine study has found.
Health Jan 15, 2013 | 4.7 / 5 (3) | 0 |
(Medical Xpress)—A variant of a gene associated with active personality traits in humans seems to also be involved with living a longer life, UC Irvine and other researchers have found.
Neuroscience Jan 03, 2013 | 3.7 / 5 (3) | 0 |
(Medical Xpress)—Ask most people to describe a telescope and they might imagine a large device in an observatory training its penetrating gaze into outer space.
Ophthalmology Nov 09, 2012 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0
Brain cancer breakthrough: Experimental vaccine trains immune system to target remaining tumor cells after surgery
UC Irvine oncologists are looking for new ways to treat glioblastoma multiforme, the deadliest type of brain cancer. While surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation is the current standard of care, it doesn't ...
Cancer Nov 14, 2012 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0
UC Irvine neurobiologists have found a novel molecular mechanism that helps trigger the formation of long-term memory. The researchers believe the discovery of this mechanism adds another piece to the puzzle in the ongoing ...
Neuroscience Mar 25, 2013 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0 |
Jennifer Skeems research requires that she spend time inside the minds of individuals most of us try to avoid: psychopaths.
Psychology & Psychiatry Jun 19, 2012 | 3 / 5 (2) | 1
If you were among the 1 million people annually who need an angioplasty to open a blocked artery, would you choose a procedure that required you to lie still for up to four hours and limit your activities for at least a week ...
Cardiology Jul 12, 2011 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0
After receiving her medical degree in her homeland of Romania, Dr. Daniela Bota came to the U.S. to earn a doctorate in molecular biology to better understand why people develop neurodegenerative diseases ...
Neuroscience Sep 29, 2011 | 5 / 5 (1) | 1
Lighting the way: An invention for safe vascular birthmark treatment transformed how lasers can be used in surgery
The concept that revolutionized laser surgery and earned UC Irvine more than $40 million came to Dr. J. Stuart Nelson in 1992 while he was watching a baseball game.
Medical research Nov 08, 2011 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0
A simple test for heart disease risk can go a long way toward determining the long-term prognosis for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to UC Irvine researchers.
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes May 02, 2012 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0 | <urn:uuid:b825da01-ca13-4d73-9779-31184e6f13a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicalxpress.com/partners/university-of-california--irvine/sort/popular/all/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913695 | 898 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Wake County Roads!
The capital county of North Carolina, Wake County boasts nearly 2,500 miles of state-maintained roads and highways, the most of any of the state's 100 counties. The county includes nearly 70 miles of Interstate highway, the state's first modern toll road, and much more.
The goal of Wake County Roads is to entertain, inform, and give some context into the road system of Wake County. How did Falls of Neuse Road get its name? Were there places named Leesville, Millbrook and Six Forks? What exactly is Jones Sausage?
Select a road using the menus to the left, and enjoy the ride! | <urn:uuid:23aac93d-b939-4054-ab8e-fd996e1436e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wakecountyroads.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946214 | 138 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The political fight over mandatory budget cuts continues after the deadline passes in Washington.
"It's really just a cut in their percentage increase and because their budget naturally goes up," said attorney Neil Bryant, a former state senator and NewsChannel 21 political analyst. "So there is a misunderstanding about that."
Bryant said Friday he thinks the sequester won't be the straw that breaks the economic camel's back.
"This is the eighth crisis we've had in the last few years, and the public is kind of expecting it," Bryant said.
Since the cuts have gone into place, what does it mean for you on the High Desert?
Bend-La Pine school officials say says they will see cuts to programs for the poor, and disabled. They've been told by the Oregon Department of Education cuts could be anywhere from 5 to 10 percent.
Dana Arntson, the director of federal programs for the district, says they receive about $4 million in funding for programs for the poor, and $3.2 million for special education.
Bend officials said they don't believe the cuts will affect them. Justin Finestone, the city's communications director, says it may, however, affect the grant process for things like the Bend Airport, and fire and police services.
At Roberts Field in Redmond, it's unclear what will happen. The cuts could mean changes for TSA screeners and air traffic controllers.
"We just want to know if this is going to be affecting our TSA screening staff here," Airport Manager Kim Dickie said Friday. "It's very possible, but we haven't heard too much about that."
Dickie says larger airports may feel the effects more than an in Redmond, so she says air travelers need to be ready.
"Make sure that if you are making travel plans, just make sure you're giving yourself extra time if you can," Dickie said. | <urn:uuid:43ea2df0-71f2-44a4-85db-479a42a5c741> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ktvz.com/news/Cuts-coming-to-the-High-Desert-Who-s-affected/-/413192/19147234/-/n9ls4gz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977117 | 391 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Pillar Base Reveals Cathedral Building
6 April 2009
PILLAR BASE REVEALS CATHEDRAL BUILDING PLANS OF MEDIEVAL STONEMASON
Experts believe they may have discovered a 13th-century stonemason’s sketch for the building of a section of St Andrews’s Cathedral.
A series of markings on the underside of a pillar fragment appear to show carefully drawn and scribed lines showing the plan of a wall with a three-lobed attached column.
There is also a set of four circles, neatly created using a compass, which could be the plans for the bases of small columns which still exist on the upper surface of the base.
The rare find was made by Dr Mary Márkus, a specialist in Medieval architectural stone, who is employed by Historic Scotland to catalogue and record the carved stone collection at the cathedral.
She said: “What is so thrilling about this is that it gives us a direct insight into the mind of an early 13th-century stonemason.
“It is possible to see the working out and the thinking as the mason effectively made notes on what he intended to do, checking that it would work.”
Dr Márkus compared the measurements of the four-lobed markings with the small column bases on the upper surface of the stone, and found they were a close match.
“It looks as if the mason was making a working drawing for another mason, to show exactly what was to be carved on the upper surface.
“So we have a surviving example of both the plans and the end result,” she said.
Only two other examples of mason’s plans are known in Scotland, one at Dunfermline Abbey and some later, 15th-century, markings in Rosslyn Chapel.
Hugh Morrison, Historic Scotland collections registrar, said: “It is quite remarkable to have found what appear to be mason’s plans for part of one of Scotland’s great historic buildings.
“They come from an era before professional architects when masons were largely responsible for design and building.
“They were people of remarkable skill and ability, but there are few surviving written records to tell us about who they were and how they went about their work.
“So to have this direct view into the life and work of one of these men, from so many centuries ago, is quite wonderful.”
The cataloguing and recording of the stones is part of an ongoing project by the Historic Scotland collections unit.
Notes for Editors
- Historic Scotland’s collections unit would be pleased to hear from you if you have any enquiries about this or other collections in our care. The Historic Scotland collections unit can be contacted at HS.collections@Scotland.gsi.gov.uk.
- Entry to St Andrews Cathedral, which is in the town of St Andrews, is £4.20 for adults, £3.20 for concessions and £2.10 for children. Joint tickets with St Andrews Castle are £7.20 for adults, £5.20 concessions and £3.60 for children.
Highlights of the cathedral
- The pillar with the mason’s plans is on show at the cathedral.
- St Rules Tower – an early 12th century predecessor to St. Andrews Cathedral.
- The Cathedral Museum – an outstanding collection of early-Christian and medieval carved stones as well as a fine collection of post-Reformation memorials. Pride of place is the St Andrews sarcophagus, a masterpiece of 8th-century Pictish sculpture.
- Precinct Walls – the most complete in Scotland.
- Cathedral burial ground records are available to search in the visitor centre.
Historic Scotland is delighted to be supporting the 2009 Year of Homecoming with a series of initiatives including family trails, spectacular events and the creation of a Homecoming Pass for heritage attractions in association with other heritage organisations. | <urn:uuid:1f458da3-eb9b-46a8-a25a-df158a6da92e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/news_search_results/news_article.htm?articleid=22637 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959126 | 835 | 3.125 | 3 |
ACT Pirate Party outlines Lego manifesto
Transparent parliament, plod on the pavement, hugging and sharing everywhere
The Pirate Party has outlined a manifesto … in Lego and on video.
The philosophy, expressed in the video below, comes from Stuart Biggs, a Pirate Party candidate in the forthcoming elections in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), a region roughly analogous to the USA's District of Columbia inasmuch as it houses the nation's capital but does not enjoy the full powers of a State.
The Pirate Party was not able to officially contest for a seat in the seventeen-member Legislative Assembly, as it could not produce a list of 100 members needed to formally register as a political party in the ACT. Stuart Biggs, the Pirate candidate for one of three multi-seat electorates in the ACT, will therefore run as an Independent but is flying the pirate flag high.
The lego manifesto, visible below, was created for The Riot ACT , a Canberra-centric news service, and sees Biggs advocate for police to stay out of homes, for parliament to be more transparent and for a culture of sharing.
Watch Video
The video also advocates the rather non-pirate policy of a new ring road for Canberra.
It may not be sensible to dismiss this manifesto as unelectable nonsense: the first election for the Legislative Assembly, in 1989, saw four candidates elected on platforms that opposed the introduction of self-government in the Territory. ® | <urn:uuid:22466a95-ca64-400c-9c4f-f206f4a04887> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/02/pirate_party_lego_manifesto/print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941525 | 296 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Blocked Drains Aspendale
Did you know you could save money on expensive plumbing repairs by dealing with a company that uses a drain camera? Aspendale residents are able to access plumbers who use a CCTV drain camera to assess any damage to drains or sewer pipes below the ground.
Why Would You Need a Drain Camera in Aspendale?
Most people assume that the cause of blocked drains must be something that’s gone down the drain and clogged the pipes. However, plumbers who use CCTV sewer cameras can often verify that the damage to blocked drains can sometimes be caused by tree roots damaging the pipes, or other issues happening below the ground.
Using a pipe inspection camera can often reveal the cause of the damage quickly and easily. This can save you time and money on expensive repairs and unnecessary digging. You’ll know immediately where the cause of the problem is and what needs to be done right away, thanks to the use of a CCTV sewer pipe camera.
When Can’t You Use a Drain Camera in Aspendale?
When a plumber is working to assess the damage done to any sewer pipes or storm water pipes below the ground, he may decide to use a CCTV sewer pipe inspection camera to identify the cause of the problem.
Unfortunately, if a sewer pipe is blocked, this can mean it is already filled with sewerage. Before a drain camera can be put to use to find the problem, the plumber may first need to use drain clearing or sewer cleaning solutions.
Once the sewer pipes or blocked drains have been cleared, it’s much easier for a CCTV sewer pipe camera to locate the cause of the problem. In so many cases, drain cameras in Aspendale tend to pick up invasive tree roots damaging the pipes and causing the blocked drains. | <urn:uuid:d2dc38ab-77a3-423d-ba4c-21c7c1c9aa22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blockeddrainsinmelbourne.com.au/blocked-drains-aspendale/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916581 | 369 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Click here for democracy
Shirin Ebadi speaks in Los Angeles
May 20, 2004
On May 14, Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Laureate, delivered
a speech at the UCLA International Institute; her topic was “Islam,
Democracy, and Human Rights.” Her speech was in Persian,
and a young woman translated for her. The event was held at Royce
Hall which has a capacity of 1,800; almost all seats were filled,
mainly by Iranians.
Much has been written about her work, and her speech will be
available online at UCLA’s website in few weeks. My intention
is to summarize the main points of her speech and to offer a few
relative to future benefits of the Persian community.
She drew a correlation between poverty and the lack of human
rights. She noted that in 2002 more than fifty countries were at
most of the damage was done to civilians. The resulting injustice
is the root of terrorism, which she strongly condemned.
After 9/11 many countries implemented practices of discrimination
against non-citizens, especially from third world countries. She
emphasized that terrorism and torture should have no place in this
world. She added that the name of Islam has been misused to associate
the wrong doing of Muslims with Islam in the minds of people. She
questioned why no one drew similar parallels to Christianity when
Christians were killing Muslims in Bosnia. She emphasized the importance
of separating a people’s religion from their actions and
Ebadi urged people to put aside their differences
and to concentrate on their common interests. No one benefits from
wars except companies
which are manufacturing military equipment. The arts, education,
and democracy will flourish in an atmosphere of peace.
According to Ebadi, democracy does not happen accidentally
or quickly. Democracy is a process. If a country believes in democratic
society, it must commit to behaving as a democracy. A country cannot
bring democracy to another country by force.
She emphasized that peace begins from schools and family units.
From there peace spreads to work places and ultimately beyond a
country’s boundaries. Exchange of students, faculty members,
and information will help spread peace all over the world. She
encouraged countries that have good universities to be generous
in sharing their academic resources. After 9/11, many students
from less developed countries have had a difficult time pursuing
higher education in developed countries.
Her conclusion: Do not forget the people who live in less developed
countries. Extend the hand of friendship. Fight against terrorism
and war. Strive to be a moral human being and to seek peace.
The Lian Ensemble, based in Los Angeles, consisted of five Iranian
and four American musicians performed two songs which were selected
by Ebadi for this event. The poems for these songs were written
by Saadi and Akhevan Saales. The performers created a music composed
of traditional and folk melodies and delighted the audience with
Ebadi’s responses to Question & Answer
Q. What is your opinion about democracy in Iran?
A. Democracy, like a plant (flower), requires constant attention
and monitoring. Democracy must be earned; safeguarding human rights
promotes democracy. The most important thing in a democratic process
is to have free elections.
Q. What have you done in defending women’s rights?
A. The majority (63%) of Iranian university students are women.
Educated women know their rights and will help the democratic process.
In the early days of the revolution, few women were writing or
fighting about women’s rights. Today, the majority of Iranian
women, even traditional women want democracy.
Q. What is your view of the proper role of foreign powers in
the Middle East?
A. The United Nations was created to stop invasion
by foreign powers. The United Nations must act when governments
go against their own
people. When Iraq attacked Kuwait, the United Nations did the right
thing by acting against the aggressor. But attacking Iraq was not
the right thing. Although we disliked Saddam Hussain, she wished
that he had been over thrown by the Iraqi people.
Q. Religion was created over 1,400 years ago. If we cannot modify
it to fit our time, can we keep it in our hearts and not mix it
with other things?
A. Yes, the relationship between a government and its religion
should reflect the opinion of a majority of its citizens. The democratic
process will make this possible. If a society wants to separate
state from religion, then this should happen. Muslim people must
not believe that they must choose between Islam and democracy;
they can have both.
Q. What is your view of radical Islam and moderate Islam
A. Let us ask what is censored. Censorship is something that
governments impose. But there are a few strong mass media in the
which control the news and therefore affect people’s opinion.
Especially after 9/11, to divert people’s minds from the
real issues, something was created such as fear of Anthrax, before
tacking drastic measure or attacking another country. The western
media talks about Islamic terrorist. Let us separate religion from
terrorists. Do not start war between religions or civilizations.
The focus should be on evil people who have bad intentions, wherever
they might live.
Q. You wear Hejaab in Iran but not here.
A. Hejaab in Iran is mandatory for all women regardless of their
religion. As a lawyer, I understand the laws and abide by those
laws when I am in Iran. Iranian laws do not apply in the other
countries, and I follow the laws of those countries when I am there.
There were a few shouting individuals in the audience of 1,800
people who tried to stop Ebadi’s speech a few times.
The security guards were lenient in controlling trouble makers.
It seems that there are people among us who do not want to tolerate
From listening to Ebadi views, one can say:
-- She is process oriented and is a supporter of law and order.
-- She comes across as a global activist who is trying to make
an impact on an international scale, especially in Moslem countries.
-- She tries to separate religion itself from the actions of
people who believe in that religion.
-- People are equal, regardless of race, faith, or gender.
-- She is a courageous person. For example, she argues that
all political prisoners should be freed.
-- She is a human-right activist, not a politician.
-- Parliaments in totalitarian regimes are not reflective or
representative of their citizens.
-- Islam is being used to control and to silence dissidents.
I enjoyed listening to her in person, and I am proud of her as
an Iranian human-rights activist. She is dealing with various
issues in her own way and trying to reach people globally,
a goal which
must be respected. In some cases, the leadership of a country
might not be in a position yet to assume the responsibilities
of a democracy.
There are individuals who have ambitions or motives who will
influence societies in their own way. I hope Ebadi continues
her commitment to peace. By supporting her, we will help to
stop acts against humanity, particularly against children.
Dr. Mohammad Ala, is Professor of Production and Operations
Management both in Iran and the U.S. He is an Executive Board member
and founder of iran-heritage.org, persiangulfonline.org and iranalliance.org.
See features in iranian.com.
May is Mamnoon
Support your favorite site | <urn:uuid:a40ba9fb-1f8c-4ba0-96ef-5246b0b12a8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://iranian.com/Ala/2004/May/Ebadi/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959041 | 1,633 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Wisconsin's No Call List became effective January 1, 2003. Signing up identifies you as someone who does not wish to receive telemarketing calls. It's free and available for residential telephone customers in Wisconsin. Your number will remain on the List for two years. Adding your phone number to the List will help reduce (but not eliminate) telemarketing calls. Effective June 6, 2008, Wisconsin residents can add their mobile telephone numbers to the List.
How does a consumer sign up?
Consumers can sign up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year:
- By visiting the Wisconsin No Call List website and clicking here.
- By calling 1-866-9NO-CALL (1-866-966-2255) toll-free in Wisconsin.
The date you sign up determines the date when telemarketing calls should decrease:
|If you sign up before:
||You will be on the List on:|
The updated No Call List is given to registered telemarketers quarterly. Therefore, it may take 30 to 120 days for your number to get to telemarketers. | <urn:uuid:6f1a8ef9-f987-4311-9e84-06290c6ba8cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://datcp.wi.gov/Consumer/No_Call/index.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903331 | 234 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Downloading Videos from YouTube and other Video Databases
There are many video resources on the web that are useful for teaching science. The district and school IT departments often filter such sites, yet it is possible to download educational videos so they can be shown directly from classroom computers without connection to the Internet. There are a variety of techniques, but many do not work consistently. The following are selected because they seem to work well and consistently.
- Software soultion for a mac: Download TubeTV. TubeTV is a freeware program for Mac OS X which enables you to search for, save, and convert YouTube and many other flash videos to a format suitable for playback on your favorite devices. This software requires that Perian also be installed. Perian is a free, open source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats.
- Web-based solution for Macs and PCs:
Extracting the audio
Occassionally you may want just the audio component of a YouTube Video. Listentoyoutube extracts the audio and saves it as a separate file. | <urn:uuid:a445b82e-aa72-4b42-9508-0dc603a557f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csun.edu/~vceed002/ref/video/download/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916198 | 220 | 2.875 | 3 |
By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA (Reuters) - Recent amendments from the Basel Committee on banking regulation do not appear to meet the concern of practitioners of trade finance that proposed new rules could make the vital loans scarcer and more expensive.
Bankers and lawyers are still deciphering the revisions. But several say they still have their work cut out to convince regulators that the $10 trillion market, the lifeblood of global trade, is much less risky than other forms of lending.
"From what we can tell so far, on the specific trade issue, I don't see that they've made any change at all," Dan Taylor, President of BAFT-IFSA, an international association representing bankers in trade finance, told Reuters.
Banks fear the proposed new rules, known as Basel III, will hit trade finance particularly hard, hurting the 80-90 percent of the $12-13 trillion in world trade that depends on the loans.
Published in December, the rules would impose a leverage ratio on banks requiring them to set aside capital equivalent to the value of off-balance-sheet items.
Many banks hid toxic assets off their balance sheets, a cause of the financial crisis when those assets fell in value as markets weakened. The new rules aim to discourage a repeat.
But documentary letters of credit -- the short-term loans collateralized on cargoes that have formed the bulk of trade finance for centuries -- are also held off balance sheets.
A requirement to fully capitalize such loans instead of providing capital at 10 or 20 percent of their value as at present would make them much less profitable for the banks.
Major players in trade finance include Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Citibank.
CAUGHT IN THE NET
Revisions to the proposals issued at the end of July after consultations did seem to soften the treatment of derivatives, but not of trade finance, bankers and lawyers said.
Practitioners do not believe the Basel committee of central bankers and bank supervisors is targeting trade as such.
"It's more that letters of credit are caught in the net of trying to sweep up everything that is off balance sheet with the leverage ratio rather than something specifically against us," said one trade finance expert.
Many people interviewed did not want to be quoted by name for fear of appearing to lobby the regulators too aggressively.
November's summit of the G20 in Seoul will be largely devoted to the Basel proposals on re-regulation, and there is little appetite now for carve-outs and exceptions.
Trade finance is a low-risk, low-remuneration business, and if profitability falls, the bankers who provide it will have a harder time arguing for funds in their banks' credit committees.
After slumping in late 2008/early 2009, flows of trade finance have largely returned to pre-crisis levels, helped by a $250 billion package from international institutions agreed at the G20 summit in London in April last year.
But exporters in some countries in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and some small businesses even in rich countries, are still finding it hard to access funds.
They could be locked out altogether if the market contracts again -- unless better capitalized banks in emerging economies spot an opportunity for business as trade rebounds generally.
"Any increase in the cost of financing will eventually be passed on to exporters, which means developing countries," said one trade finance lawyer.
The World Trade Organization, which does not want to be seen as a lobbyist for banks, is not commenting on the latest drafts.
But WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, fearing renewed disruption to trade finance could derail this year's recovery in trade, brought regulators and trade finance bankers together in May.
The International Chamber of Commerce, which sets trade finance standards, met regulators in Frankfurt in early June. The chamber is now managing a project to pool data from trade finance banks from 2005 to 2009 to demonstrate just how safe trade finance is. It has just sent results from a pilot with a small number of banks to regulators.
The data look at the rates of default in particular trade finance products, and recovery rates for banks in defaults. It will also examine specific factors in trade products that may reduce the likelihood of a transaction resulting in a default.
"We hope that the data will provide an initial platform for discussion with the regulators on issues relating to trade finance in the Basel framework, including the Basel-III package," project manager Andrew Wilson told Reuters.
(Editing by Mark Heinrich) | <urn:uuid:be3d5add-841a-415a-a2ee-358b51b23cb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wsau.com/news/articles/2010/aug/13/new-basel-proposals-bring-no-comfort-to-trade-fina/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953865 | 923 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Autoimmune disorders are conditions in which a person's immune system attacks the body's own cells, causing tissue destruction.
Autoimmunity is accepted as the cause of a wide range of disorders and suspected to be responsible for many more. Autoimmune diseases are classified as either general (the autoimmune reaction takes place simultaneously in a number of tissues) or organ specific (the autoimmune reaction targets a single organ).
Autoimmune disorders include the following:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus. A general autoimmune disease in which antibodies attack a number of different tissues. The disease recurs periodically and is seen mainly in young and middle-aged women.
- Rheumatoid arthritis. Occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys the tissues that line bone joints and cartilage. The disease occurs throughout the body, although some joints may be more affected than others.
- Goodpasture's syndrome. Occurs when antibodies are deposited in the membranes of both the lung and kidneys, causing both inflammation of kidney glomerulus (glomerulonephritis) and lung bleeding. It is typically a disease of young males.
- Grave's disease. Triggered by an antibody that binds to specific cells in the thyroid gland, causing them to make excessive amounts of thyroid hormone.
- Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Also referred to as autoimmune thyroiditis and chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis; a chronic inflammatory glandular autoimmune disease. It is caused by an antibody that binds to cells in the thyroid gland. Unlike in Grave's disease, however, this antibody's action results in less thyroid hormone being made.
- Pemphigus vulgaris. A group of autoimmune disorders that affect the skin.
- Myasthenia gravis. A condition in which the immune system attacks a receptor on the surface of muscle cells, preventing the muscle from receiving nerve impulses and resulting in severe muscle weakness.
- Scleroderma. Also called CREST syndrome or progressive systemic sclerosis, scleroderma affects the connective tissue.
- Autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Occurs when the body produces antibodies that coat red blood cells.
- Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura. Disorder in which the immune system targets and destroys blood platelets.
- Polymyositis and dermatomyositis. Immune disorders that affect the neuromuscular system.
- Pernicious anemia. Disorder in which the immune system attacks the lining of the stomach in such a way that the body cannot metabolize vitamin B12.
- Sjögren's syndrome. Occurs when the exocrine glands are attacked by the immune system, resulting in excessive dryness.
- Ankylosing spondylitis. Immune-system induced degeneration of the joints and soft tissue of the spine.
- Vasculitis. A group of autoimmune disorders in which the immune system attacks and destroys blood vessels.
- Type I diabetes mellitus. May be caused by an anti-body that attacks and destroys the islet cells of the pancreas that produce insulin.
Causes and symptoms
The symptoms of the above disorders include:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus. Symptoms include fever, chills, fatigue, weight loss, skin rashes (particularly the classic "butterfly" rash on the face), vasculitis, polyarthralgia, patchy hair loss, sores in the mouth or nose, lymph-node enlargement, gastric problems, and, in women, irregular periods. About half of those who suffer from lupus develop cardiopulmonary problems, and some may also develop urinary problems. Lupus can also effect the central nervous system, causing seizures, depression, and psychosis.
- Rheumatoid arthritis. Initially may be characterized by a low-grade fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, and a generalized pain in the joints. The joint pain then becomes more specific, usually beginning in the fingers, then spreading to other areas, such as the wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles. As the disease progresses, joint function diminishes sharply and deformities occur, particularly the characteristic "swan's neck" curling of the fingers.
- Goodpasture's syndrome. Symptoms are similar to that of iron deficiency anemia, including fatigue and pallor. Symptoms involving the lungs may range from a cough that produces bloody sputum to outright hemorrhaging. Symptoms involving the urinary system include blood in the urine and/or swelling.
- Grave's disease. This disease is characterized by an enlarged thyroid gland, weight loss without loss of appetite, sweating, heart palpitations, nervousness, and an inability to tolerate heat.
- Hashimoto's thyroiditis. This disorder generally displays no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, it is most often weight gain, intolerance to cold, fatigue, enlarged neck or goiter, and constipation. About 25% of patients may be subject for developing pernicious anemia, diabetes, adrenal insufficiency, or other autoimmune diseases.
- Pemphigus vulgaris. This disease is characterized by blisters and deep lesions on the skin. It is associated with other autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus and myasthenia gravis.
- Myasthenia gravis. Characterized by fatigue and muscle weakness that at first may be confined to certain muscle groups, but then may progress to the point of paralysis. Myasthenia gravis patients often have expressionless faces as well as difficulty chewing and swallowing. If the disease progresses to the respiratory system, artificial respiration may be required.
- Scleroderma. Disorder is usually preceded by Raynaud's phenomenon. Symptoms that follow include pain, swelling, and stiffness of the joints, and the skin takes on a tight, shiny appearance. The digestive system also becomes involved, resulting in weight loss, appetite loss, diarrhea, constipation, and distention of the abdomen. As the disease progresses the heart, lungs, and kidneys become involved, and malignant hypertension causes death in approximately 30% of cases.
- Autoimmune hemolytic anemia. May be acute or chronic. Symptoms include fatigue and abdominal tenderness due to an enlarged spleen.
- Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura. Characterized by pinhead-size red dots on the skin, unexplained bruises, bleeding from the nose and gums, and blood in the stool.
- Polymyositis and dermatomyositis. In polymyositis, symptoms include muscle weakness, particularly in the shoulders or pelvis, that prevents the patient from performing everyday activities. In dermatomyositis, the same muscle weakness is accompanied by a rash that appears on the upper body, arms, and fingertips. A rash may also appear on the eyelids, and the area around the eyes may become swollen.
- Pernicious anemia. Signs of pernicious anemia include weakness, sore tongue, bleeding gums, and tingling in the extremities. Because the disease causes a decrease in stomach acid, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, diarrhea, and constipation are possible. Also, because vitamin B12 is essential for the nervous system function, the deficiency of it brought on by the disease can result in a host of neurological problems, including weakness, lack of coordination, blurred vision, loss of fine motor skills, loss of the sense of taste, ringing in the ears, and loss of bladder control.
- Sjögren's syndrome. Characterized by excessive dryness and itching of the eyes and dry mouth. Difficulty swallowing, hoarseness, loss of taste, and severe dental caries may also occur. Other symptoms are fatigue, joint pain, and swelling of the glands.
- Ankylosing spondylitis. Generally begins with lower back pain that progresses up the spine. The pain may eventually become crippling.
- Vasculitis. Symptoms depend upon the group of veins affected and can range greatly. Some forms of vasculitis may be caused by allergy or hypersensitivity to medications such as sulfa or penicillin, other drugs, toxins, and other inhaled environmental irritants. Other forms may be due to infection, parasites, or viral infections. These causes need to be ruled out before considering an underlying autoimmune disorder.
- Type I diabetes mellitus. Characterized by fatigue and an abnormally high level of glucose in the blood (hyperglycemia).
To further understand autoimmune disorders, it is helpful to understand the workings of the immune system. The purpose of the immune system is to defend the body against attack by infectious microbes (germs) and foreign objects. When the immune system attacks an invader, it is very specific—a particular immune system cell will only recognize and target one type of invader. To function properly, the immune system must not only develop this specialized knowledge of individual invaders, but it must also learn how to recognize and not destroy cells that belong to the body itself. Every cell carries protein markers on its surface that identifies it in one of two ways: what kind of cell it is (i.e., nerve cell, muscle cell, blood cell, etc.) and to whom that cell belongs. These markers are called major histocompatability complexes (MHCs). When functioning properly, cells of the immune system will not attack any other cell with markers identifying it as belonging to the body. Conversely, if the immune system cells do not recognize the cell as "self," they attach themselves to it and put out a signal that the body has been invaded, that in turn stimulates the production of substances such as antibodies that engulf and destroy the foreign particles. In case of autoimmune disorders, the immune system cannot distinguish between "self" cells and invader cells. As a result, the same destructive operation is carried out on the body's own cells that would normally be carried out on bacteria, viruses, and other such harmful entities.
The reasons why the immune systems become dysfunctional in this way is not well understood. However, most researchers agree that a combination of genetic, environmental, and hormonal factors play into autoimmunity. Researchers also speculate that certain mechanisms may trigger autoimmunity. First, a substance that is normally restricted to one part of the body, and therefore not usually exposed to the immune system, is released into other areas where it is attacked. Second, the immune system may mistake a component of the body for a similar foreign component. Third, cells of the body may be altered in some way, either by drugs, infection, or some other environmental factor, so that they are no longer recognizable as "self" to the immune system. Fourth, the immune system itself may be damaged, such as by a genetic mutation, and therefore cannot function properly.
A number of tests that can help diagnose autoimmune diseases; however the principle tool used by doctors is antibody testing. Such tests involve measuring the level of antibodies found in the blood and determining if they react with specific antigens that would give rise to an autoimmune reaction. An elevated amount of antibodies indicates that a humoral immune reaction is occurring. Elevated antibody levels are also seen in common infections. These must be ruled out as the cause for the increased antibody levels. The antibodies can also be typed by class. There are five classes of antibodies and they can be separated in the laboratory. The class IgG is usually associated with autoimmune diseases. Unfortunately, IgG class antibodies are also the main class of antibody seen in normal immune responses. The most useful antibody tests involve introducing the patient's antibodies to samples of his or her own tissue—if antibodies bind to the tissue it is diagnostic for an autoimmune disorder. Antibodies from a person without an autoimmune disorder would not reacting to "self" tissue. The tissues used most frequently in this type of testing are thyroid, stomach, liver, and kidney.
Treatment of autoimmune diseases is specific to the disease, and usually concentrates on correction of any major deficiencies. For example, if a gland involved in an autoimmune reaction is not producing a hormone such as insulin, administration of that hormone is required. Administration of a hormone, however, will not restore the function of the gland damaged by the autoimmune disease. The other aspect of treatment is controlling the inflammatory and proliferative nature of the immune response. This is generally accomplished with two types of drugs. Steroid compounds are used to control inflammation. There are many different steroids, each having side effects. The proliferative nature of the immune response is controlled with immunosuppressive drugs. These drugs work by inhibiting the replication of cells
Prognosis depends upon the pathology of each autoimmune disease, as well as early detection and the ability to put the disease process into remission.
Health care team roles
Health care teams should help patients to understand their illness and treatment plan. With any autoimmune disorder, communication between the patient and doctor is critical, so health care teams should be available to answer questions about the patient's particular condition, especially what changes and symptoms to expect.
To date, prevention of many autoimmune disorders is unavailable since the exact causes of the disease are not understood in many cases. Genetic screening of an unborn fetus may be the only method of preventing some autoimmune disorders.
Autoantibody—An antibody made by a person that reacts with their own tissues.
Autoimmune disease—A broad category of related diseases in which the person's immune system attacks his or her own tissue.
Benjamini, Eli, Richard Coico, and Geoffrey Sunshine. Immunology: A Short Course. 4th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000.
Kendall, Marion D. Dying to Live: How Our Bodies Fight Disease. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Ravicz, Simone, Ph.D. Thriving With Your Autoimmune Disorder: A Woman's Mind-Body Guide. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2000.
Sompayrac, Lauren M. How the Immune System Works. Oxford: Blackwell Science Inc., 1999.
Weetman, A. P. "Medical Progress: Graves' Disease." New England Journal of Medicine 343 (2000): 1236-1248.
American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc. National Office. 22100 Gratiot Ave., Eastpointe, MI48021. (810) 776-3900. <http://www.aarda.org>.
Crystal Heather Kaczkowski, MSc. | <urn:uuid:91328129-0f45-4821-917d-7a1c921fa60c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/autoimmune-disorders-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915228 | 2,987 | 3.234375 | 3 |
A common misconception is that the new synthetic grass is similar to the household carpet. In fact this intricate system involves properly constructing a porous sub base, and using turf with holes in the back, then the product is filled with sand/rubber granule mix which we call infill.
Artificial turf, also known as synthetic turf, has found a prominent place in sports today. Manufactured from synthetic materials, this man-made surface looks like natural grass. With the international sports associations and governing bodies approving the use of artificial surfaces, sports like football and hockey, which were originally played on natural grass, have moved to these artificial sports pitches. So, next time, you find players playing on an artificial hockey pitch, do not be surprised.
Artificial turf has been manufactured since the early 1960s, and was originally produced by Chemstrand Company (later renamed Monsanto Textiles Company). It is produced using manufacturing processes similar to those used in the carpet industry. Since the 1960s, the product has been improved through new designs and better materials. The newest synthetic turf products have been chemically treated to be resistant to ultraviolet rays, and the materials have been improved to be more wear-resistant, less abrasive, and, for some applications, more similar to natural grass. | <urn:uuid:0ff3b549-95e3-47b8-8219-5e5687de5f81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seminartopicsonline.com/2011/01/artificial-turf.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976749 | 257 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Marching For Freedom
Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary
An inspiring look at the fight for the vote, by an award-winning author
Only 44 years ago in the U.S., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was leading a fight to win blacks the right to vote. Ground zero for the movement became Selma, Alabama.
Award-winning author Elizabeth Partridge leads you straight into the chaotic, passionate, and deadly three months of protests that culminated in the landmark march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Focusing on the courageous children who faced terrifying violence in order to march alongside King, this is an inspiring look at their fight for the vote. Stunningly emotional black-and-white photos accompany the text.
“Gripping profiles of young people who made a difference.” Booklist, starred review
“A perfect balance of energetic prose and well-selected, breathtaking photographs.” Kirkus, starred review
“An excellent addition to any library.” School Library Journal, starred review
“A dramatic and a memorable statement.” VOYA, starred review
“A captivating, personal account.” Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A sharply focused historical narrative for a younger audience.” Horn Book, starred review
To keep up-to-date, input your email address, and we will contact you on publication
Please alert me via email when: | <urn:uuid:d6697c7b-fd9d-450c-be0b-b14dc433dd8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780670011896,00.html?strSrchSql=Marching+for+Freedom%25253A+Walk+Together+Children+and+Don%252527t+You+Grow+Weary/Marching_For_Freedom_Elizabeth_Partridge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903793 | 302 | 2.71875 | 3 |
A bronze sculpture of Mongolian hero Genghis Khan has been unveiled in London in order for visitors to "understand Asian culture" better.
The statue, unveiled Saturday, rises to five meters from hoof to helmet, and will stand next to the iconic Marble Arch on the busy Oxford Street for six months. Against the backdrop of blue sky and green park, it featured the leader in medieval amour lost in contemplation on horseback.
The sculpture weighs 2,714 kg without the plinth, and took the Russian artist Dashi Namdakov two years to complete.
Originally named as Temujin, Genghis Khan was born some 850 years ago and founded the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) in China. The Mongol empire he founded became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death.
Asked why they chose to erect such a statue there, Paul Green, president of the Halcyon Gallery said: "London is an international city. This statue is imposing and will create dialogues from visitors, help them understand Asian culture." | <urn:uuid:f10403e7-4e09-4f86-875a-fd10c62d7d9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asianlite.com/british-asian-news/genghis-khan-statue-unveiled-in-london | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952359 | 215 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Pondering the future of newspapersWritten by Scott McLeod
Much as I dislike posing the question, here it is: can you imagine a future without newspapers? Would it be a dark day or good riddance to a biased blight upon the information landscape?
Well, if you’re reading this you’ve likely got an opinion. It means you’re a newspaper reader. It’s part of your life, something you can’t imagine living without. But it’s past time for nostalgia. That warm fuzzy about holding a newspaper in your hands as a cup of coffee tickles your nostrils won’t pay the bills for printing, for staffing, and for distribution if not enough people choose to read.
Make no mistake: newspapers are in trouble. Most have heard about the closings of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Rocky Mountain News. We know that a host of other large dailies are limping along. They’re being battered by the tidal wave that is the Internet and the unexpected and lingering depth of this recession, which is slashing advertising revenues.
So what does it all mean?
If I — or anyone else — knew the future of the information and journalism industry, it would be a Bill Gates opportunity. Figuring out how to make money on gathering and packaging information in an age when most of us are completely overwhelmed with information is proving difficult.
Here’s what I do know: the traditional printed daily newspaper business model is broken. It was built on three streams of revenue: subscriptions, retail advertising, and classifieds. Well, classifieds have gone online or to all classified papers (Iwanna, in our case). Paid home delivery subscriptions have been declining for almost two decades, and it doesn’t appear much will change.
So daily papers are left to depend on two revenue streams that will continue to decline — classifieds, home delivery — and are having to rely more heavily on advertising to pay the bills. Trouble is, many businesses that used to buy those newspaper ads are looking at alternatives to the very expensive daily newspaper rates. Those alternatives include weekly newspapers like ours, television and local cable companies, radio, direct mail, and billboards.
And, of course, the Internet.
What about papers like ours?
I tell many people that, unfortunately for dailies across the country, we are part of their problem. Free distribution weeklies with unique content like ours, Mountain Xpress in Asheville, the Independent in the Triangle, and the Rhinoceros Times in the Triad are chipping away at the advertising revenues the big dailies used to monopolize.
But we are also suffering during this recession. We depend solely on advertising revenue, and that has declined steeply. We are being forced to invent new products to help advertisers, take on smaller jobs, and generally morph into a broader media and publishing company that has a newspaper as its flagship.
For our business, local advertising is the key. Another question, then, is how will the local businesses get their information out to readers?
Google is spending millions trying to figure that out, but many businesses tell us that print advertising in a local newspaper is still their best source for getting customers in the door. As the web becomes bogged down with information — search “smoky mountains” on Google and 2.4 million entries come up, while “smoky mountain real estate” will get you 163,000 entries — many advertisers who go solely to web are finding it a “needle in the haystack” gamble.
In the future, that haystack is just going to get astronomically larger. As blogging and social networking spiral out of control, navigating the web gets unwieldy.
So local papers still have a future, and that is what many analysts are now saying. Our news and our advertising still are unique and original, stuff that in many cases won’t be found anywhere else — at least for now.
Everyone who goes online for news or turns on the televisions for news still depends primarily on newspapers. The most popular Internet news sites are papers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The Huffington Post and the Drudge Report pick through newspaper sites, as do Rush Limbaugh, Anderson Cooper and the writers for Jay Leno and David Letterman. They put their own spin and their own reporting into it, but almost all the stories originated with newspaper journalists.
Local television news depends on a region’s newspapers for their stories. I can’t tell you how often we’ve watched WLOS reporters hit the newsstand at our office early Wednesday morning, only to see one or more of the stories show up on the news later that day. CNN has a staff of probably a dozen reporters in Washington, while the Washington Post has several hundred.
Make no mistake, those in power — whether that is in government, business, politics or wherever — will be much more insulated from public scrutiny when all the newspapers in this country are gone. No one consistently does the type of reporting we do every single day.
But what about the stories, the information we provide? How can we continue investing in those type stories as information seekers migrate toward the web?
Well, several efforts are being tried. One of the most original is for local papers to all adopt the National Public Radio format and register as nonprofit organizations. Revenues would not be taxable, and donations would be tax-deductible.
A few days ago Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Maryland, introduced into Congress the Newspaper Revitalization Act, which would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes. Cardin argues that since newspapers are doing so badly, the government would not lose any revenue. He says the bill is aimed at local papers, not chains or conglomerates.
Another model is to begin charging for the online news. Many papers adopted this model, then switched to free access. Now many are switching back, putting a value on their news.
Could we get, say, $45 a year for people to access all our news and advertising?
Or, could we use another business model known as micro-payments, where a program is set up to charge someone’s credit card 5 cents for every story accessed on a Web site?
Or will newspapers simply go away at some point in the future?
In researching this article I came across this nugget: “Print media does much of society’s heavy journalistic lifting, from flooding the zone — covering every angle of a huge story — to the daily grind of attending the City Council meeting, just in case. This coverage creates benefits even for people who aren’t newspaper readers, because the work of print journalists is used by everyone from politicians to district attorneys to talk radio hosts to bloggers. The newspaper people often note that newspapers benefit society as a whole. This is true, but irrelevant to the problem at hand; ‘You’re gonna miss us when we’re gone!’ has never been much of a business model. So who covers all that news if some significant fraction of the currently employed newspaper people lose their jobs?”
This particular writer, Clay Shirky, threw up his hands, admitting he did not know who would perform that function or how society would find a way to benefit from the work now done only by newspapers. His conclusion is that society needs good journalism, not newspapers, per se.
It’s safe to say we’re living in an information revolution. To the victor goes the spoils. | <urn:uuid:2be04f87-6524-4e57-9df4-734b1a032bc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/2485-pondering-the-future-of-newspapers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957352 | 1,573 | 1.664063 | 2 |
What is Film Studies?
If you are passionate about film and enjoy analysing what you see, then film studies could be the course for you*.
In the AS you will study how films are put together in terms of lighting, sound, camera movement and shot types. You will then look at specific genres (e.g. The Western) and cinema movements from the past. You will also study the process a film goes through from the earliest stage of production to its release at the cinema and the response of the audience.
In the A2 you will examine more closely the role of the director and carry out a study of World Cinema, focusing on a group of foreign language films. You will build on your knowledge of the film industry and explore in greater depth current issues relating to cinema, such as censorship and the dominance of Hollywood.
*Although there is some practical work, Film Studies is an academic course - with the emphasis on essay writing.
Is Film Studies suitable for me?
Current students say that they really enjoy the variety of classroom activities in Film Studies. They have found all areas of the course rewarding, and appreciated the opportunity to explore their own particular interests in coursework assignments.
Essay writing is a major part of the course, so this is a skill you will need to develop. Coursework essays need to be planned and drafted, and meeting deadlines is vital: good time management is crucial to your success!
Current second year students say:
“I am extremely glad I took part in film studies, it has shaped my future and provided me with a really good basis on which to take my higher level study”.
“The course has been fun, enjoyable and interesting, I will never look at any film in the same way again”.
How will I learn?
Classroom activities are varied and you will learn through discussion, working in small groups and working individually. You will learn how to make notes from screenings, and plan and write essays, as well as being taught practical skills such as storyboarding.
You will be expected to do 4 to 5 hours of homework each week - this may take the form of research, reading, or writing an essay.
How will I be assessed?
Exploring Film Form - coursework (40% of AS)
British and American Film - 2 hour 30 minutes written examination (60% of AS)
Film Research and Creative Projects - coursework (50% of A2)
Varieties of Film Experience: Issues and Debates - 2 hour 45 minutes written examination (50% of A2)
Film Studies is a widely respected A Level, and one that develops a number of important skills - including written and oral communication. All universities accept Film Studies, and students have gone on to a wide range of courses and careers. Many of our students opt to carry on with Film at university - others have gone on to study English, Media, Art, Photography, and Philosophy. Several students have begun careers in the media by working as runners on film sets.
Students studying a 3 or 4 AS level programme should normally have achieved an average GCSE point score of 5.5 or above and at least a grade C in Maths and/or English (unless specified otherwise). Students with a point score between 4.5 – 5.5 will normally take a mixture of Subsidiary Diplomas and AS levels. You can check your likely GCSE point score by going to 'Choosing the Right Course' on the website and entering your predicted grades.
You do not need to have done any film or media studies before - but a genuine interest in the history of film is necessary.
All students will be expected to provide their own stationery, computer disks and calculators (where appropriate). Costs are outlined below:
While there are copies of all the films we study in the College library, some students find it useful to buy DVDs/videos of focus films.
Essential: Textbook – approximately £20.00
There is a £20 refundable deposit for use of equipment such as cameras and tripods.
If the costs of equipment, materials and trips may cause you financial hardship, you may wish to read through details of our financial support scheme on our website.
- Sixth Form Course: | <urn:uuid:e96dfadc-76f3-499a-b7bb-02a3d9bd6b39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.altoncollege.ac.uk/sixth-form/finding-a-course/a-as-level/film-studies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950238 | 875 | 2.046875 | 2 |
An intrusion into one of our honeyp.edu servers was recently discovered.
After performing a full forensics analysis on the server, we have determined
that a Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS, executable has been planted
on the server. We have isolated the binary, and we have studied it in details.
We now know its full extent and functionalities. This executable is a DDoS
daemon which enables our server to be used as a DDoS zombie agent. This DDoS
daemon is capable of a wide range of functions, including executing remote
shell command, opening a remote password protected login shell, and perhaps
the most destructive part, carrying out various DDoS attacks such as TCP
SYN flood and dns-query attacks. For added secrecy, the daemon and its master
even employs a data encoding process to protect the communications between | <urn:uuid:c536bfe4-f86c-47e4-84d1-56b8406bfd86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://old.honeynet.org/reverse/results/sol/sol-19/Summary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94167 | 180 | 2.53125 | 3 |
SCIENCE PROGRAM TARGETING UNDERSERVED MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS ACCEPTED FOR NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION BY AMERICAN PUBLIC TELEVISION (APT)
"Science Mission 101" premieres on WQED-TV Thursday, November 12 at 8 p.m.
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania— In the search for America’s next generation of scientists, WQED Multimedia in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh has produced Science Mission 101, an educational, competitive reality television program wherein two teams of Pittsburgh-area high school students compete to unravel scientific mysteries. Aimed at reaching underserved middle school students and accepted for national distribution by APT, the fast-paced half-hour pilot of Science Mission 101 will premiere Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 8 p.m. on WQED-TV.
In the pilot episode, host Mike Lee challenges Team Awesome and Team Dominate to investigate whether amoebae like those found in our digestive systems prefer to eat specific types of bacteria and if that preference relates to the fact that only certain bacteria make people sick. The students expose an amoeba to different strains of the bacterium Salmonella—which is found in raw or undercooked food—to determine if it prefers to eat one strain over the other. Students perform their work in laboratories within Pitt’s Department of Biological Sciences and on the Pitt Mobile Science Lab, a traveling laboratory outfitted with current high-end equipment used to perform scientific investigations.
Team Awesome includes team leader Olivia Iannone, 14, of South Park High School; Jason Chen, 16, of North Allegheny High School; and Aliya Taylor, 16, of Riverview High School. Team Dominate is led by Dominic Stokes, 16, of Valley High School, who is joined by Pietra Bruni, 16, of Seton La Salle High School, and Guthrie Gintzler, 16, of Taylor Allderdice High School.
The teams present their findings to judges from Pitt’s Department of Biological Sciences and are evaluated based on cooperation, creativity, interpretation of experimental data, presentation, and scientific thought. The judges are Alison Slinskey Legg, PhD, Mobile Science Lab Director and Director of Outreach Programs for the Department of Biological Sciences; Graham F. Hatfull, PhD, Eberly Family Professor and HHMI Professor and Chair of the department; and Kristen Butela, a graduate student in the lab of Pitt biological sciences professor Jeffrey Lawrence.
Science Mission 101 will encore on Sunday, November 15 at Noon and 7:30 p.m. and Monday, November 16 at 4:30 p.m. on WQED-TV. Additional resources for students and teachers will be available by the show’s premiere at www.sciencemission101.com. Funding to produce the pilot for Science Mission 101 was provided by the PA Department of Education through the Pennsylvania Public Television Network (PPTN,) PPG Industries Foundation and The University of Pittsburgh.
WQED Pittsburgh, honored with the 2007 and 2006 Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Award for Station Excellence, was founded in 1954 as the nation’s first community-supported broadcaster. WQED creates, produces and distributes quality programs, products and services to engage, inform, educate and entertain the public within its community and around the world. WQED Pittsburgh is one of the first broadcasters in the country to be fully high-definition (HD) in its studio and field production capabilities. It is the parent company of WQED-TV (PBS); WQED: The Neighborhood Channel; WQED: The Create Channel; WQEX-TV (A ShopNBC affiliate); Classical WQED-FM 89.3/Pittsburgh; Classical WQEJ-FM 89.7/Johnstown; local and national television and radio productions; WQED Interactive (www.wqed.org); and The WQED Education Department.
Pitt’s Biological Sciences Outreach Program has supported local K-12 education for the past fifteen years, providing professional teacher training workshops, hands-on science experiments for K-12 students, and an outreach education associate’s degree program that introduces graduate and undergraduate biology students to K-12 teaching (http://www.pitt.edu/~biology). Since 1995, Pitt has supplied high school science teachers with “Pitt Kits” that contain supplies for them to create and implement inquiry-based modules to teach their students throughout the year; the program has reached more than 33,000 students within a 50-mile radius of the University.
The Pitt Mobile Science Lab is a self-contained, fully equipped, traveling laboratory primarly used for the outreach programs in the Department of Biological Sciences. The 70-foot tractor-trailer was purchased in 2008 through a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award. It is sponsored by Pitt’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) and through the Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPA) to the Department of Biological Sciences. Collaborative partners include the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, the Lyceum Group, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative.
Established in 1951, the PPG Industries Foundation demonstrates the values of PPG Industries by enhancing the quality of life in communities where the company has a presence. Interests of the foundation, in order of priority, are education, human services, culture and arts, and civic and community affairs. PPG also supports charitable causes by encouraging employee volunteerism and executives' involvement with nonprofit organizations.
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4802 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Senior Director of | <urn:uuid:484a8243-57c2-41b2-8ed9-e96c048a4a9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wqed.org/pressroom/releases/science-program-targeting-underserved-middle-school-students-accepted-for-national-distribution-by-american-public-television-apt/ | 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 | 0.919444 | 1,217 | 2.46875 | 2 |
The Garrison Theatre
What is believed to be the only surviving World War 2 ENSA theatre has been saved by a group of enthusiastic volunteers. Despite having fallen into disrepair, many of the theatre’s original features remain intact despite the Castle’s exposed position at the end of a two-mile shingle spit. Built in a converted Victorian gun emplacement, the hand painted proscenium arch still bears the badge and grenades of the Royal Artillery. The backdrop depicts a romantic restoration scene of Romeo and Juliet or possibly Charles II and Nell Gwyn.
The ravages of time and damp had left the theatre looking tired and unloved. This was until the Friends of Hurst Castle started restoration work in January 2008. The old platform stage, which was removed in the late 1980s, has now been reconstructed. New curtains have been fashioned from hessian, once used to camouflage the Castle’s guns and searchlights, and hang from the original galvanized gas pipe. The only concessions to the twenty first century are modern lights and sound systems.
Visitors can listen to music from the period and learn the history of the theatre and the origins and role of ENSA, the Entertainments National Service Association. And now, after a break of more than 60 years, the Garrison Theatre again stages regular shows during the summer months. Tickets and further information from the Ticket Hotline on 01590 673985.
To mark the occasion of the first show in the newly-restored theatre in May 2008, BBC South Today TV programme featured Hurst Castle and the Garrison Theatre. Click on the link to watch the BBC feature: Solent Fort to host concert
Betty Hockey and the Nonstops performed at Hurst Castle in 1944 with their much-acclaimed song and dance acts interspersed with comedy routines. Betty, now in her nineties and living in Bournemouth, was famous for her high kicks. During the war years, the Nonstops produced well over 1,000 shows throughout the New Forest helping to maintain morale among servicemen and women, especially in the run-up to D-Day.
To see film clips of Betty interviewed by David Walters on a return visit to Hurst on Friday 16th May 2008, go to:
Please watch this space for news of forthcoming shows!
The Olde Tyme Players Professional Productions put on an
Olde Tyme Musical Hall show, which was a fun evening with
lots of audience participation..
14th September 2012
History of Britain
Greg Chapman, actor and playwright from the Isle of Wight, performed his own one-man show called History of Britain which looked at our island’s history from 6,500 BC to the present day using a combination of comedy, magic and music in a night of great entertainment.
July 23rd 2011
Operatic favourites and songs of the sea performed by the critically acclaimed Maestro-class ensemble, with Colin and Pippa Judson, Peter Snipp and Carys Lloyd Roberts.
August 6th and 7th 2010
This eagerly awaited Forest Forge Theatre production came to the Garrison Theatre on September 29th and 30th, 2009. Using the Castle's remote location to imaginative advantage, the performance started at Keyhaven Yacht Club, with the audience then following Phileas Fogg on board the ferry Solent Rose to Hurst Castle as he began his exciting and entertaining circumnavigation. Further information available from www.forestforge.co.uk.
Back by popular demand, the Windmill Swing Band featuring singer Jan Press returned to the Garrison Theatre with all those classic numbers from the swing era.
July 3rd 2009
An evening of musical magic with the award winning Coda Choir and a rare appearance by singer, guitarist and songwriter, David Walters.
June 17th 2009
1940s ENSA Show
2 May 2009
Naughty Nineties Music Hall
Victorian Music Hall at its best from the Mary Ward Players
13 September 2008
1942 Wartime Concert Party Revisited
A Variety Show featuring the Windmill Swing Band and a special appearance by Betty Hockey who sang and danced at the Garrison Theatre during the war.
May 16 2008 | <urn:uuid:0fc34e4b-977e-490f-ae61-bab3013f5c45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hurstcastle.co.uk/GarrisonTheatre.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941477 | 866 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Welcome to the Pubget Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) browser.
Click on a topic or subtopic below to explore related papers. You'll find the most recent paper about the current MeSH term along with other related papers below.
Respiratory Tract Diseases (15)
- Bronchial Diseases
- Ciliary Motility Disorders
- Granuloma, Respiratory Tract
- Laryngeal Diseases
- Lung Diseases
- Nose Diseases
- Pleural Diseases
- Respiration Disorders
Articles on Respiratory Tract Diseases
Abstracts of the 17th Congress of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology. December 14-16, 2012. Hong Kong.
[Analysis of causes of death in patients hospitalized in the department of pneumonology].
We retrospectively analyzed data of 188 patients who had died in our Department in 2010. The three leading causes of death in our patients were: respiratory diseases (pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), neoplasmas and cardiovascular diseases (cardiac failure)--35.1, 33...
Exposure to nitrogen dioxide in an indoor ice arena - new hampshire, 2011.
In January 2011, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NHDHHS) investigated acute respiratory symptoms in a group of ice hockey players. The symptoms, which included cough, shortness of breath, hemoptysis, and chest pain or tightness, were consistent with exposur...
Long-term non-cancer mortality in pediatric and young adult cancer survivors in Finland.
We identified 9,245 5-year cancer survivors diagnosed before age 35 and treated between 1966 and 1999, and followed them for mortality endpoints from 1971 to 2008. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to compare the observed number of deaths wit...
Forest fires are associated with elevated mortality in a dense urban setting.
The climate and vegetation of the greater Athens area (population over three million) make forest fires a real threat to the environment during the summer. A few studies have reported the adverse health effects of forest fires, mainly using morbidity outcomes. The authors investigate...
Risk factors of sudden death in young adult patients with myelomeningocele.
Although survival for patients with myelomeningocele has dramatically improved in recent decades, the occasional occurrence of sudden, unexplained death in young adult patients with myelomeningocele has been noted by the authors. This study was undertaken to determine risk factors fo...
A 37-year observation of mortality in Chinese chrysotile asbestos workers.
This 37-year prospective cohort study was undertaken to provide additional evidence for mortality risks associated with exposure to chrysotile asbestos. 577 asbestos workers and 435 control workers in original cohorts were followed from 1972 to 2008, achieving a follo...
[Chimney fires: the impact of burning wood on health].
RNA-seq based transcriptional map of bovine respiratory disease pathogen "Histophilus somni 2336".
We report a single nucleotide resolution transcriptome map of H. somni strain 2336 using RNA-Seq method.The RNA-Seq based transcriptome map identified 94 sRNAs in the H. somni genome of which 82 sRNAs were never predicted or reported in earlier studies. We also identified 38 novel potential protein...
[Abstracts of the 16th French-speaking Pneumology Congress. January 27-29, 2012. Lyon, France]. | <urn:uuid:7f68f16d-58d3-4bd8-929c-c753566dba98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubget.com/mesh_browser/Respiratory%20Tract%20Diseases | 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 | 0.918217 | 732 | 2.15625 | 2 |
CARLSBAD — Wandering around the empty streets in the downtown village area Easter morning, several children and their parents discovered artistic creations hidden in trees and nestled inside planters.
The works of art were decorated plastic eggs, created by local artists, hidden throughout Carlsbad village as part of an event put on by the Carlsbad Crawl. The second annual Project: Plant an Egg 2009 event was organized by Bryan Snyder of Snyder Art as a way to involve the community and promote art in the village.
Many of the 75 decorated eggs were created by the Carlsbad Crawl collective of artists, he said.
Each egg, filled with money or candy, also contained a number and instructions encouraging each “egg finder” to go to the Web site and “log” the egg number, Snyder said. The logging of the number on the Web site exposes a piece of a puzzle.
“At this time, it is 50 percent exposed,” Snyder said, adding that some of the eggs are still out there. “They are on the easier side to find, we want people to find the eggs.”
Solving the puzzle creates an activity with a sense of mystery, and Snyder said he hopes it will connect the participants to the project and the community.
Not wanting to give too much away, Snyder said the puzzle is of a new Snyder Art painting, which will be revealed at the next art show at his gallery on State Street sometime this summer.
Five of the hidden eggs were bonus eggs — special eggs painted with drip paint, Snyder said. When those people log onto to the Web site, they will hear a sound of something found in the village area, he said, and need to be the first one to identify the sound to win a painting.
However, for the little ones combing the streets Easter morning, the eggs themselves were the prize.
“This is a great idea,” said Teresa Nolan, who, along with friends, was searching the empty streets early Easter morning. “We just found out this morning. It was a really nice surprise.”
“It’s fun,” said 5-year-old Ruby Laemmel, who along with her mother was visiting Nolan from Colorado. Laemmel held an armful of colorful eggs she had collected.
The public feedback has been great, Snyder said. “It is fun and the interest is growing with each project.”
More information on the Carlsbad Crawl can be found at www.carlsbad crawl.com. | <urn:uuid:78ca3a7c-5e4d-4b8c-9f2c-e64d8e7f6c16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecoastnews.com/2009/04/unusual-egg-hunt-set-in-cbad/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976312 | 538 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Kaye Whitley, director of the Defense Department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, believes far more rape and sexual assaults occur than are actually reported. She acknowledges this problem is not merely peculiar to the military since “our civilian counterparts struggle with this as well.” A recent study by the Government Accountability Office stated bluntly the military sexual assault prevention program lacked consistent effectiveness, many local coordinators were part timers, and some commanders are not that enthusiastic about the program. Whitley’s commander refused to allow her appearance before a congressional committee investigating the problem.
Whitley challenges some aspects of the GAO report arguing it is difficult measuring the effectiveness of sexual assault programs. However, she admits some commanders are not aggressive such as posting information concerning the program in barracks. She also expressed concern how local Sexual Assault Response Coordinators(SARC) are selected or supported. Funding comes from the base rather than from a central office in Washington.
“We’re talking about changing a climate” she argues and that will take time and effort and support. | <urn:uuid:ecd1c45e-09e7-468d-9877-876358f8dee3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theimpudentobserver.com/tag/sarc/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945279 | 218 | 2 | 2 |
|The activists who returned to Tahrir Square last week have a variety of views on the elections [EPA]
Cairo, Egypt - 12,001. That is the minimum number of Egyptians who aren't able to vote in parliamentary elections that began this week because they are prisoners of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Which begs the question: How can these elections be described as free and non-violent when so many Egyptians remain political prisoners of the country's military junta?
The majority of the Egyptian and the interational media are characterising the voting as peaceful and relatively fair. Winners, especially the Islamist parties (at least of the time of writing), are celebrating their victories and losers are generally urging supporters to work with the process.
But many activists, who worked the hardest since January to bring real democracy to Egypt, have been left asking: What does this election mean when thousands are jailed merely for opposing those in power (or, for many, merely for being in the wrong place at the wrong time)? What do these elections mean when one of the country's well-known bloggers, Alaa Abdel Fattah, can be held for weeks on charges surrounding his reporting of the military's massacre of Coptic protesters in October, when voters are threatened with 500 Egyptian pound fines if they don't vote, and when the military uses massive amounts of tear-gas, and even bullets on pro-democracy protesters whenever it feels its position threatened?
Activists not of one mind
Aida Seif ad-Dawla, a long-time human rights campaigner, summed up the view of the human rights community the morning after voting when she asked with an exasperated tone: “What about the 12,000? What about the martyrs? Even the attacks of yesterday after voting ended, which the media is downplaying when 88 people were hurt. It's clear there can be no free elections under military rule.”
Certainly, the SCAF and those parties who stand the greatest chance of achieving core goals through the election, such as the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), have a vested interest in convincing Egyptians and the world that the election is legitimate and heralds the beginning of a viable transition to democracy. For the activists who returned to Tahrir last week the question is not one of legitimacy, but of whether participating in or boycotting the electoral process offers the best strategy for wresting control from SCAF and the remnants of Egypt’s old regime.
For many leading activists, like well-known blogger Hossam El Hamalawy, the elections are little more than a farce, or “theatre,” that will only serve to strengthen the position of the old guard, albeit with some new faces.
In an interview at Al Jazeera's Cairo bureau, El Hamalawy said: “This contest will be decided in the streets, not at the ballot box.”
Yet this view is not shared by all of the progressive opposition. Even Alaa Abdel Fattah's wife, Manal Hassan, has boycotted the elections. Hassan supports the Revolution Continues coalition because it is the only group that is promoting a programme that includes issues such as a higher minimum wage and reforming the Interior Ministry. However, preliminary results show the coalition has not won a single seat so far, even in Cairo.
This doesn't mean Hassan has any illusions about the coming months. In a conversation we had, as the second day of voting closed, Hassan, who is expecting the birth of the couple's first child any day now, explained: “SCAF isn't just trying to slow the process of democratisation down, it’s trying to reverse all the gains” won since February.
“I'm not sure the other parties understand this. Instead of demanding a full transfer of power they agree to a basic minimum of demands and making deals involving small games,” Hassan added.
While the main liberal parties may be playing small games, the larger contest concerns whether the backroom deals many commentators assume have been struck between the military and Islamist forces will be reinforced or challenged by the voting results, and the strength of the Tahrir occupiers who refuse to cede ground to the state for fear that leaving the Meidan too soon will enable the continuation of the still corrupt and violent old system.
There have been many accusations of voting irregularities. In Nasr City in Cairo, illegal politicking at polling stations was widespread, although it is hard to tell how different the outcome would have been without it. What is clear is that the Brotherhood and Salafi parties took few chances during the voting, despite their comfortable position going into the vote.
According to lawyer and activist, Yasser Shoukry, who has closely monitored the voting procedures, the violations by the parties go way beyond merely handing out flyers too close to polling booths.
“The polling officials at their computers are writing instructions literally on flyers for the Freedom and Justice Party and handing it to largely illiterate people, who see the crocodile symbol on the paper as they walk into the voting both and have no clue that it represents only one of many choices they have. Others are threatened with fines and encouraged with kilos of rice and similar enticements to cast their vote for one of the religious parties.”
Class war in the making?
“People haven't had time to understand the system enough,” Shoukry explained to me while we walked around his neighbourhood, dodging the piles of garbage every 10 meters or so, a result of the decision to privatise garbage collection.
“People feel they have no choice but to vote for the Brotherhood, but I have gone up to them and said, 'Okay guys, you might win the elections, but we will win the revolution, because you will never be able to govern like this, with this level of corruption.' Just look over there,” Shoukry continued, pointing to a large Brotherhood funded school across the street from his sister's coffee house.
The large complex is located in the back of the a smaller public school.
“You can't imagine the envy with which the public school kids look at the private school Brotherhood kids who, are much richer than them? It's a class war in the making,” Shoukry said.
This dynamic points to one of the key problems that the elections and the emerging system is not really set up to address: the gross inequalities and poverty that has increasingly defined Egypt since Anwar Sadat's “opening” to the West reversed the significant redistribution in wealth that occurred under Nasser.
While the Brotherhood might wind up with the most seats in Parliament, the reality is that Egypt faces a host of seemingly insurmountable problems and if a Brotherhood led alliance cannot tackle them successfully there is little reason to believe that votes will remain loyal the second time around.
“The Brotherhood were always victims and suffered a lot under Mubarak,” another activist added, “so people will give them this chance. But if they don't bring serious economic development and full political reforms, beginning with the immediate release of the 12,000 political detainees, than the new government will be shown to be toothless, or worse, a replay of the old regime.”
On Wednesday, Al-Masry Al-Youm, an Egyptian daily newspaper, reported that “only in Tahrir are the elections not centre stage.” But Tahrir has a habit of anticipating realities that erupt with a vengeance soon thereafter. Back in February the diehard Tahriris refused to leave the Meidan after Mubarak was toppled, declaring that the revolution was not finished as long as the military remained in power. They urged their fellow citizens not to go back to their normal lives until that much larger battle had been won. They were eventually cleaned out of the square, only to return in the coming months several times as the reality of the SCAF's rule began to take shape.
Indeed, if the new parliament is able to wrest power from the SCAF in the coming months it will be thanks in large measure to the sacrifices of the Tahriris who faced tear gas, rubber bullets, live ammunition and kidnappings in the last ten days to ensure real democracy was on everyone's mind during the voting.
Even older activists who didn't participate in last week's battles are worried about the eclipse of Tahrir in Egyptian politics. One of the country's most well-known activist judges, Zakaria Abdel Aziz, came into the Square around midnight one evening and declared that in the wake of the latest attacks, “If 500,000 people aren't in Tahrir, it has no meaning.”
If the Islamist parties do as well as the early results indicate, their withdrawal from the Square and willingness to work with the SCAF might well prove to have been sound from a purely political perspective. With Egypt's political system so endemically corrupt and the Brotherhood and Salafis viewed even by many religious Egyptians as increasingly aligned with the military/economic elite and the remnants of the Mubarak regime, a failure to bring significant changes in the short term could lead to an erosion of support among the millions of Egyptians who voted for them.
For the revolutionary activists who are shaping up to be perhaps the biggest losers in the turn to electoral politics, two potential scenarios are emerging which worry them more than the actual vote tally. In the first, the newly empowered political forces align with their former oppressors in order to cement their political power while preserving the existing economic order (and especially the military's role within it). In the second, the Brotherhood demands a real and rapid transfer of power from SCAF to a Parliament it controls, and used its position to attempt to shape a Constitution that enshrines and preserves its power rather than challenge the patrimonial structure of Egyptian politics and society more broadly to replace the Mubarak era New Democratic Party/military elites as the centre of power.
The preliminary results do not bode well for an Egyptian political universe no longer controlled by a conservative wealthy elite. The winners so far - the Freedom and Justice Party, the Salafi Nour Party, and the billionaire Naguib Sawiris's Egyptian Bloc - were precisely those who had unlimited campaign funds, while the grass roots revolutionary parties seem to have done poorly.
On Tuesday night, around 1AM, less than 1,000 Tahrir defenders wandered the Meidan armed with sticks or nursed wounds sustained in repelling attacks, while an artist sat in the “Revolution Artists Union” right next to one of the main field clinics, painting the trunk of a tree with the caption “Tree of Tahrir” written above it.
The symbolism was both obvious and poignant: As Egypt moves from revolution to politics, the lessons and spirit of Tahrir will have to be rooted in the country's evolving political psyche. Not surprisingly, hardly anyone in Tahrir had much faith in the likely winners of the election adopting that spirit, as they have, for all Egyptians.
“Even the cops and Baltigiyya [thugs], after all are not inherently bad, but are the product of an oppressive and sick system,” as one activist put it.
Ibrahim El Houdaiby, political analyst and former Brotherhood youth member, put it most succinctly: “The continued detention of 12,000 civilians is a crime and the revolution is not over. But protest and voting are two parallel paths that can work in synergy, as happened in Chile and Brazil. The key is not next year, but the next five years.”
For Houdaiby, if all goes well the longer term will witness the ascent of a new political class “stemming from local politics and other social incubators, more attached to people and more capable of representing their will and aspirations.”
Whether they actually have the power to translate those aspiration into policies that bring greater freedom and development is, of course, the question that neither Houdaiby nor any other commentator can answer. But with Islamist parties seemingly gaining the majority the parliamentary vote thus fart at the time of writing, it is a question a lot of people are sure to be asking come morning.
The Brotherhood and its electoral allies could well surprise skeptics and focus both on removing the army from political power while drafting a constitution that ensures basic civil and political rights for all Egyptians and encourages a fair and sustainable restructuring of the economy. The first test will be the how far the election winners will go to free their 12,000 fellow citizens who have been not merely disenfranchised, but literally removed from the country's political life.
If in the coming weeks there is no move to demand their release, then there is a good chance that the fears of those who sacrificed the most for the revolution that began on January 25 will be realised, and the new system will in fact be little more than a retread of the old one. But if the newly elected parliamentarians demand freedom for Alaa Abdel Fattah and the other far less known prisoners, the tree of freedom planted in Tahrir might just have a chance of taking root in the coming years.
Mark LeVine is a professor of history at UC Irvine and senior visiting researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University in Sweden. His most recent books are Heavy Metal Islam (Random House) and Impossible Peace: Israel/Palestine Since 1989 (Zed Books).
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy. | <urn:uuid:e604bc0f-129d-4079-9df9-625a4c01fe31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/12/2011121125627610499.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966458 | 2,785 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Tour Yangon, formerly known as ‘Rangoon’ in its days as a British colony. Join the locals at a tea shop to drink tea or coffee and try out their delicious snacks. Walk to Shwedagon pagoda, the most revered in all of Myanmar. Fly to the ancient capital, Bagan and visit a cave temple filled with exquisite murals. See the amazing sunset from the upper terrace of a temple. Go to one of Bagan’s lesser-known areas and take a cruise down the Irrawaddy River to witness everyday riverside life. See the ‘World’s Biggest Book’: 729 marble stone slabs of Buddhist scripture at Kuthodaw Pagoda. Learn more about the craftwork for which Mandalay is famed by visiting workshops and cottage industries.
Continue to Ava, the former capital and tour the calm streets by local horse cart. Get back on the road to see the next former capital; Amarapura. Mahagandayon monastery here is home to over 1000 monks. Walk along the world’s longest teak bridge, constructed from 984 teak posts that were once part of a palace.
Head out onto magnificent Inle Lake in a private motorboat, passing floating garden houses built on stilts and the ‘leg-rowing’ fishermen of the lake. See the famous ‘jumping cats’ at the nearby monastery and visit a village of the indigenous lake people. Go to a local school here to meet the staff and pupils of this community. Take a ride through the city’s outskirts on Yangon’s circular train. Finally, have a stroll around Bogyoke Market, filled with handmade goods and curios; a perfect place for gift shopping.
Also see tour packages in:
Asia Myanmar Local Culture Cultural Journey
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Note: If unavailable, leave a voicemail for the supplier to call you back. | <urn:uuid:15550144-07ce-4738-b425-130e1ca576a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infohub.com/vacation_packages/32709.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909555 | 460 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The Benefits of CSS Over Table Based Design
Many sites are still yet to embrace the wonders of CSS, and instead opt for the older, outdated table based layout. Why should you make the transition from table based design to CSS? Almond Resorts, a company which specialises in all-inclusive resorts and hotels in Barbados and St Lucia have just made that transition, so what was done and why?
Spencer undertook the task of removing the cluttered table based code, and the site can now be seen sporting its more slender CSS based code.
As a result, the site has seen a code reduction of around 1/5th of what it was before, the code is fully semantic, something search engines love, and the text to code ratio is now around 40-50% – before this was around 11%.
The reduction of code ensures pages load promptly, keeping users onsite. The drastically reduced amounts of code also means less bandwidth is used and less code for search spiders to crawl through.
The new code is valid XHTML Strict, and AAA compliant – ensuring the site is fully accessible to all users, as well as helping to make sure the site renders consistently in different browsers, operating systems and platforms.
Redundant pages have been removed, pages and files have been renamed to clean search friendly formats, using keywords where necessary. The URLs have been rewritten to a clean ‘hackable’ directory structure, greatly enhancing the site from both a search and usability perspective – allowing for easier navigation and memorable URLs.
The sitemap hierarchy has also been updated, removing links to redundant pages that were previously removed.
Static rewrite rules have been employed to redirect old pages to new and the footer has been extended and expanded to incorporate a comprehensive range of base links.
All this has helped to ensure the site is in the best condition possible moving forward. CSS based code means a much lighter, faster loading site, a benefit for both users and search engines alike, something that surely must always be a priority to enable a site to reach it’s full potential?
The new code can be seen in action on the Almond Resorts Website: | <urn:uuid:c57670e7-2efd-4df7-8653-19442c73056c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freshegg.com/blog/the-benefits-of-css-over-table-based-design_167 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953719 | 444 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
Hate or hatred is an emotion of intense revulsion, distaste, enmity, or antipathy for a person, thing, or phenomenon; a desire to avoid, restrict, remove, or destroy its object. The emotion is often stigmatized; yet it serves an important purpose, as does love. Just as love signals attachment, hatred signals detachment.
In psychology, Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness. In a more contemporary definition, the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines hate as a "deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or object." Because hatred is believed to be long-lasting, many psychologists consider it to be more of an attitude or disposition than a (temporary) emotional state.
Hatred can be based on fear of its object, justified or unjustified, or past negative consequences of dealing with that object. Hatred is often described as the opposite of love or friendship; others, such as Elie Wiesel, consider the opposite of love to be indifferent. See love-hate relationship.
"Hate" or "hatred" is also used to describe feelings of prejudice, bigotry or condemnation (see shunning) against a person, or a group of people, such as racism, and intense religious or political prejudice. The term hate crime is used to designate crimes committed out of hatred in this sense.
Sometimes people, when harmed by a member of an ethnic or religious group, will come to hate that entire group. The opposite situation occurs too, where an entire group hates a single person (see shunning). Some consider this to be socially unacceptable--Western culture, for example, frowns on collective punishment and insists that people be treated as individuals rather than members of groups. Others view such generalizing behavior as rational and indeed, necessary in order to ensure group survival in the face of competing groups or individuals who often have differing points of view.
Hate is often a precursor to violence. Before a war, a populace is sometimes trained via political propaganda to hate some nation or political regime. Hatred remains a major motive behind armed conflicts such as war and terrorism. Hate is not necessarily logical and it can be counterproductive and self-perpetuating.
Neurobiology of hateEdit
The neural correlates of hate have been investigated with an fMRI procedure. In this experiment, people had their brains scanned while viewing pictures of people they hated. The results showed increased activity in the medial frontal gyrus, right putamen, bilaterally in the premotor cortex, in the frontal pole, and bilaterally in the medial insula of the human brain. The researchers concluded that there is a distinct pattern of brain activity that occurs when people are experiencing hatred.
- Hate crime
- Hate group, a group or movement that advocates hate, hostility or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, or other sector of society
- Shunning, by a mind control group that uses (covert) hate against excommunicated and condemned former members.
References & BibliographyEdit
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).|
<ref>tags exist, but no
<references/>tag was found | <urn:uuid:e4d0fd79-411a-40d7-a7ea-0092077414b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Hate?oldid=90900 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928802 | 690 | 3.734375 | 4 |
RYE — October is domestic violence awareness month and Jaden’s Ladder members have once again helped a survivor create a new, self-sufficient life for herself.
Getting a victim to a safe place is important, but equally important is helping her find a way to stay safe and to build a life after the threat of violence is removed.
Started in Rye, Jaden’s Ladder now has chapters in Boston, Mass., and in Atlanta, Ga. Founded in October, 2004, Jaden's Ladder is a non-profit organization that assists survivors of domestic violence with life-enhancing, post shelter programs and support that build confidence and fosters self-reliance.
Last year, Jaden’s Ladder started the Treasure Genaw Memorial Fund. It was named after Treasure Genaw, who was murdered by her 19 year-old boyfriend when she was 17 and pregnant. The fund is intended for survivors who decide to seek health care careers as a way to become self-supporting.
This year, Jaden’s Ladder awarded a more than $11,000 to help Sheryl, one of the organization’s survivors, to complete her nursing training. She graduates from Intercoast Career Institute in Kittery this week.
On Monday, Oct. 22, a celebration was held at Demeter’s Steak House in Portsmouth to announce the scholarship award to Sheryl. The scholarship money comes completely from donations, including $1,000 from a Harvard Pilgrim Community Spirit grant.
“The night was awesome,” said Jaden’s Ladder founder Oneta Bobbett. “Her kids were there and they all were a bit nervous about graduating from our program. We picked Sheryl because she had worked so hard to get her degree.
"Also, it’s hard to be in this program and she worked harder to find her voice and to be a stronger parent. We are really proud. She is an inspiration to me and all the current women in our program.”
Sheryl, whose last name and location are withheld for her protection, said she first learned about Jaden’s Ladder through a therapist working with her daughter to overcome the trauma of domestic violence in her family.
“I had left my marriage and moved to New Hampshire,” said Sheryl. “I am so grateful for what has happened here. It seems like a miracle.”
When she moved to the state, Sheryl was struggling to figure out how she could support her family, how she was going to survive.
“My kids had suffered a lot of trauma,” she said. “People don’t understand the kid piece, how much this affects them. I left my marriage because I could not raise them in that toxic environment, but I had very few options on where to go from there.
" I left as a shell of a person and now, with Jaden’s Ladder, I have gotten back my self-esteem.”
With the support system of Jaden’s Ladder, Sheryl said she will rebuild her life for her and for her children.
“They give me a safety net because they support me and believe in me,” said Sheryl. “It really is empowering.” | <urn:uuid:feac5a7f-1388-4c2e-86ec-7b2ec4a0fd54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121025/GJCOMMUNITY_01/121029577/-1/FOSNEWS0314&template=PortsmouthRegion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984277 | 699 | 1.625 | 2 |
The following article by Michael Tarsala was originally published by Covestor.
Gen Z: Many people age 22 or younger have a laissez-faire attitude toward money. They expect to inherit it.
But experts say most of their parents’ assets will dwindle before it falls into the laps of the youngest adult generation. A recent TD Ameritrade survey suggest that just 16 percent of parents plan on leaving anything for their GenZ kids.
That points back to a recurring problem shared among the past three generations, says Charles Sizemore, manager of Dividend Growth and three other investment models offered by Covestor: Not socking away enough money in prime earning years.
The same can be said of the Baby Boomers and, for that matter, every generation that has followed. All were chronic under savers for most of their working lives, accrding to Sizemore.
“And most cannot expect to have their retirements funded by an inheritance,” he says.
In most cases, it’s a problem of division. Most Boomers have multiple siblings, and any inheritance would likely be split among heirs. So a nest egg that supported one couple in retirement will now be split into two or more pieces for each of the children.
“Unless the parents were extremely wealthy or their children’s spending habits very modest, it is hard to see much of a windfall effect,” Sizemore says.
It doesn’t help that most portfolios have seen little growth in the last decade and that end-of-life expenses (i.e. large medical bills) often have a devastating effect.
No related posts. | <urn:uuid:884c16a1-ed88-4a70-a5d6-2866e67460a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sizemoreletter.com/gen-z-the-money-wont-fall-in-your-lap/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CharlesSizemore+%28Sizemore+Investment+Letter%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971519 | 353 | 1.851563 | 2 |
A few years ago I was talking to a priest and told him that I was very concerned about my childrens’ college tuition. I had four young children at the time, knew that I might have more in the future, and I saw no way to be able to pay for their college education, as my parents did for me. He quickly told me that I had to get over the idea that I could pay for their tuition – “that just isn’t possible anymore”. I should just try to do my best to help them as much as I could.
I took his advice to heart but I still worry. I have met too many people who have crushing college debt, which can have life-changing implications. If you graduate from college with a Theology degree and $50,000 in debt, are you really going to be able to consider the religious life or the priesthood? If you get a medical degree with $150,000 debt, is it really possible for you to consider using your newly acquired skills as a medical missionary? The impact does not even have to be that explicit: a newly married couple with combined $100,000 student loans has introduced a stress in their marriage that will impact all aspects of their life, including their decisions regarding the use of contraception in their marriage.
The Catholic News Agency just published an article about the impact of student loans on the lives of young people. Some excerpts:
The “crushing burden” of student loans delays marriage and childbirth and encourages cohabitation, family policy expert Allan Carlson said in a lecture on Friday. He urged a pro-family debt relief program to help alleviate the financial stresses student loans can cause…
[T]he recent practice of burdening young adults with substantial educational debt appears to significantly discourage marriage and childbirth.
At the FRC on Friday, Carlson cited a 2002 survey indicating that 14 percent of indebted students delayed marriage because of their loans, while 21 percent delayed having children. In 1988 these numbers were nine and 12 percent, respectively.
This debt can also cause problems in marriages. One survey which examined 41 marital problems and found that “debt brought into marriage” was the third most problematic issue facing newlyweds. Among respondents who had no children, debt was the second most problematic problem. Among respondents ages 29 and below, debt was named the most problematic issue.
Carlson suggested student loan debt has encouraged a “retreat” from marriage.
The marriage rate for women aged 20-24 declined 41.4 percent between 1984 and 2004. The rate for women aged 25-29 declined 19.4 percent. For men, the marriage rate in those cohorts declined 45.5 percent and 29.6 percent, respectively.
Read the whole article here.
I don’t really have a solution, but I know that in my own situation, expensive trips to Disneyworld and costly toys at Christmas are replaced with more money in the kids’ college fund. Hopefully it will be the best present I can give them. | <urn:uuid:ba8ed6a1-6496-4b7c-bc25-85205a39e165> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ericsammons.com/blog/2009/12/07/higher-education-a-crushing-burden/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98348 | 622 | 2.140625 | 2 |
The following is the first in a series of reports from the Ethiopian village of Koraro, an important testing ground for the Millennium Village Project, an experiment in global development strategy spearheaded by economist Jeffrey Sachs. The reports, written by Jeff Marlow, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, consider which parts of the project are working and which ones aren’t, and what can be learned from it to help billions of people escape extreme poverty.
Five years ago, the northern Ethiopian village of Koraro was on the edge of survival. Malaria and parasitic diseases were rampant; school was an afterthought, precluded by material needs; and the region was dependent on food hand-outs for its very survival. If you were looking for the most impoverished, marginalized community on the planet, Koraro may well have been it.
Today, the village has a school, a health clinic and a market. With the help of fertilizer and better seeds, crop yields have grown dramatically. Parasitic intestinal worms, pervasive five years ago, are almost unheard-of today. Life is still a challenge in Koraro, but things have certainly gotten better.
The driving force behind the transformation has been the Millennium Village Project, or MVP, an experimental initiative with enormous implications for the future of global development. Devised jointly by the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the United Nations Development Program and the tailor-made Millennium Promise NGO, the project’s plan was to invest in five key sectors—business development, health, education, agriculture and infrastructure—by using external cash and expertise to enact locally developed plans for improvement. After five years, the thinking went, Koraro would be well on its way toward a sustainable future of economic growth, the UN-mandated Millennium Development Goals would be within reach and the MVP team would exit gracefully, having shown the world that, with a little help, the poorest of the poor could lift themselves out of extreme poverty.
Reality has proved less sanguine. As the project’s first five years wind down, its ultimate goals remain elusive, and the five-year initiative has swelled to 10. The extension, naturally, will require more spending: The financial injections to date—over $5 million per year in a mix of cash and non-cash contributions—have not abolished poverty. Improvements in the five sectors targeted by the MVP are readily apparent, but their sustainability is still up in the air.
The MVP is spearheaded by Jeffrey Sachs, the polarizing Columbia University professor who makes a living advising world leaders and bullying Western nations for money. Sachs is a firm believer in international aid, proposing that if donor money is spent wisely, global poverty can be eradicated for a relatively modest sum. His opponents, most notably NYU professor William Easterly, point to the billions that have been squandered over the years and argue that free markets would do the trick more efficiently. Given the sums and the ideologies involved, the debate has been known to get personal, with all the petty sniping of a political campaign.
According to the MVP’s first annual report, its initial aim was “to assist the community of Koraro to lift themselves out of the poverty trap and achieve the Millennium Development Goals in five years.” The goals, often referred to as MDGs, are a collection of eight objectives adopted by the UN in 2000 targeting education, health, gender issues, poverty and hunger in the developing world. With the promised financial contributions of the rich world, articulated most forcefully at the 2005 G8 conference in Gleneagles, Scotland, the UN set a 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs. Through the MVP, Sachs hopes to show precisely how it can be done.
Nearly 6,000 people call Koraro home. They mostly consist of subsistence farmers who scrape a living from the dusty red earth. Spindly acacia trees stand on pedestals of clumped dirt, their roots exposed by erosion, and enormous sandstone cliffs form a starkly beautiful backdrop. Men tend the stingy fields, women prepare Ethiopian staples such as coffee and spongy injera bread, and children graze the family’s animals, steering clear of family plots with varying degrees of success.
In such a desolate landscape, homes stand far apart, to leave sufficient grazing land for livestock. Only recently has the community become a little more centralized.
It started with the water faucet: Once spring water from the nearby butte was piped to a centralized distribution point, a town center of sorts quickly sprang up around the vital resource. Locals hastily erected several dozen stone homes, capping them with glistening tin roofs. The nearby school and health clinic, as well as a market resulting from improved crop yields, enhanced Koraro’s civic life, providing places where people could interact and share their opinions with administrative workers.
Soon after the project’s launch in 2005, coordinators began to initiate adjacent communities, and today the greater Koraro “cluster” incorporates 67,113 people in 11 villages. The $3 million spent annually by the MVP is roughly matched by the cumulative contributions of the Ethiopian government, the local community (through food-for-work programs) and other NGOs. All told, the intervention spends about $80 per person per year.
In early August, Sachs and an entourage several dozen strong—UN officials, donors, Ethiopian government ministers and project advisers—descended on Koraro to see for themselves what’s working and what’s not. The money has created noticeable changes around the village. A road, cratered and uneven as it may be, now connects the community to the outside world. Improvements in irrigation have expanded culinary options, with peppers and lemons coloring the market’s food stalls where before there was only teff and livestock. Alem Hadra Abay, the local MVP coordinator for the Koraro region, drives out every month and is “always mesmerized by the pace of the changes we’re seeing.”
Whether or not these changes will be enough to push the farmers of Koraro out of extreme poverty for good remains to be seen. Millennium Promise CEO John McArthur says wealthy donor countries have failed to provide the funds that would allow the local government to take over the financing and administration of the village. (Ideally, by the time of the turn-over, villagers will be more diversified and self-sufficient economically, and the Ethiopian government will be in charge of public services). But foreign aid can’t be expected to buoy Koraro indefinitely. What will happen when the MVP leaves? Can the lasting changes needed to ensure a permanent escape from poverty be achieved in the next five years? Ten?
Over the course of several reports, I will take a closer look at life in Koraro to see how things are changing with the involvement of the MVP. The project’s ultimate success or failure will be a crucial data point for development experts and politicians arguing the relative merits of international aid and the role of free markets. More importantly, it could drastically change the course of a billion lives. | <urn:uuid:aa7aa79f-1abb-44af-9621-9312bb059f7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/progress-report-of-a-millennium-village/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948132 | 1,455 | 2.65625 | 3 |
In 30 years the existing way of doing things has not worked. There is no belief that 30 years more of doing things this way will change anything. For one thing, the lack of media attention to subjects like the Referendum ideas in Report #43 is contributing. The media should be publishing these ideas and the pro's and con's by various viewpoints on the individual choices within these Referendum ideas, for public debate and discussion. So, at some point the public can make an informed decision. The media is failing the country on devining the course of the future.
The PUP party itself is also failing during it's first two quarters in office. All signs indicate it is going to be business as usual, as done during the last 30 years. This way lies failure! Day to day problems aside, such as electricity, medical supplies, roads, housing are problems that are not as important as re-structuring the way we politically govern ourselves. Otherwise, these mundane day to day problems will still exist in variations for the next political party to win power in five years. One party, or the other will do either better or worse in solving these problems, but there will be no fundamental solutions or ways to change the course of the future for the nation of Belize.
The major problem facing Belize that effects everything else is Political Re-structuring. The PUP political party is refusing to face this fact, outlined time and again by outside sources, such as the IDB and UNFAO.
The PUP political party have two basic choices, to change the future of Belize.
1) Restructure the Government to change from "elected representative" government to "participatory government".
Ideally, the political re-structuring, legislation, debate, forums and referendums could be finished in one year from now. It would then behoove those of the PUP still in the mechanisms of political power to turn their minds to wiping out the second item, the national debt and balancing the budget. Perhaps 3 to 4 years from now, Belizeans could be proud of what the PUP political party had accomplished and the nation would have a new foundation on which to build a more secure future, with a smoother development and political growth curve, slowly rising for the decades ahead.
The continuation of the status quo is FAILURE by the PUP to lead and initiate! The choice is that of the PUP membership. | <urn:uuid:1275fbbf-976e-4830-a3a6-2258fbc1ed2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://belizeone.com/BzLibrary/trust44.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964738 | 499 | 1.789063 | 2 |
This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.
Over a relatively short time period, innovations in farms’ production practices, risk management, and business arrangements have allowed U.S. farmers to greatly increase their output without raising total input use. These changes accompanied a shift in production to larger farms. Drawing on a variety of data sources, the Economic Research Service recently examined the changes in farming during a 25-year period that ended with the most recent census of agriculture. Read more » | <urn:uuid:6bb9beb9-91e9-4b7b-91be-417228088d3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/the-changing-organization-of-u-s-farming/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924498 | 124 | 2.75 | 3 |
Many families in the UK may look to perform an energy comparison and switch gas supplier, as the cost of keeping homes warm is said to be a top priority for many people.
People looking to get cheap gas and electricity by improving the efficiency of their home ought to consider improving their insulation measures.
More people should be encouraged to switch energy suppliers in order to get cheap gas and electricity to help drive down prices, a new report has found.
Energy ministers from 23 countries around the world have agreed on steps to help provide clean, cheap energy for the future at a meeting in London.
Plans to make the UK's energy supplies more environmentally friendly also need to ensure consumers are able to get cheap energy. | <urn:uuid:f3fa3f5d-2913-422f-9dfc-1cc98ecb0a96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.energyhelpline.com/csma_internet/fri/Domesticenergy/news/2012/4/5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956383 | 143 | 2.5 | 2 |
When I was growing up in northern Ohio I recall finding Indian artifacts in the fields. I grew up on a farm near the river and not far from Lake Erie so it would appear that it was a primo spot for hunting and growing crops. There were arrowheads all over the place. After every rain it was fairly easy to find them on the surface of the soil.
Generations had passed and there were still remnants of great hunters and warriors working their way to the surface. While the people were gone their tools remained. Little could the Native Americans have imagined that there’d be cattle roping and tractors carrying on right where they lived and hunted only a couple of hundred years later.
There are artifacts in the making right now even as you read this. Besides the landfills we leave with the evidence of our disposable, consumerism civilization, we’re also working on a great puzzle for whatever beings end up inhabiting Southwest Florida a couple hundred or thousand years from now.
As if the Barbie doll isn’t going to be confusing enough for a future civilization to figure out, they’re also going to be digging up plastic figurines in residential flower beds all over Florida. Follow along and imagine some sort of futuristic “Antiques Road Show” segment where a random person brings in a St. Joseph statue to find out “the story” and what it’s worth.
The expert will go into great detail weaving the tale of the great North American real estate investor wanting to charm the heavens into bringing them a buyer by burying a patron saint in their front yard for luck and praying for the legend to work. Why they’d even share the interesting tidbit about how some of the statues date back to the late 1970’s but there seemed to be a later, more concentrated number of these unusual idols in Las Vegas, Nevada, Phoenix, Ariz., and a good bit of Florida, for some strange reason.
The real fortunes were made selling the statuettes. Over the last half dozen years millions of homeowners made a last ditch effort to locate a buyer for their real estate by burying St. Joseph. Hopefully they buried him in the most effective manner. The so-called most effective manner is highly debatable because the directions vary depending upon who manufactured St. Joseph - Patron Saint of Home and Family.
There are dozens of St. Joseph home seller directions out there: standing up, head side down, facing the door, facing the street or under the for sale sign … unless the homeowner association doesn’t allow signs then it’s back to the flower bed. There probably isn’t a provision for homeowner associations in the scripture, so that must have been a gray area with which manufacturers were able to take certain liberties before they asked for as much as $39 plus shipping and handling.
In the end, a home will eventually sell whether there’s an upside down artifact in the making interred out front or not. Everyone knows the real secret to selling a house is to plan a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. You’d be sure to find a buyer who desires a closing precisely when you’ve planned to be on safari in Tanzania.
It never hurts to have faith and if you choose to put the legend of a saint to help out, it’s only a Google search and a garden spade away. Faith can move mountains and may even move real estate but so can a price reduction.
Maybe they should print that just above the Novena to St. Joseph in the “St. Joseph Home Selling Kit.”
- - -
Chris Griffith is a real estate agent at Downing-Frye Realty Inc. in Bonita Springs. If you have a question about local real estate or Bonita Springs, e-mail her at chris@LifeInBonitaSprings.com. | <urn:uuid:fa8a7a34-3d54-4578-b696-0023f1e8331e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/aug/23/chris-griffith-faith-and-legends-things-people-wil/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957876 | 807 | 1.8125 | 2 |
CRS: Kenya: Current Conditions and the Challenges Ahead, November 28, 2007
Wikileaks release: February 2, 2009
Publisher: United States Congressional Research Service
Title: Kenya: Current Conditions and the Challenges Ahead
CRS report number: RS22524
Author(s): Ted Dagne and Monty Rushmoore McGee, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Date: November 28, 2007
- In the 2002 presidential and parliamentary elections, the opposition National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) defeated the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU). In the presidential election, NARC leader Kibaki defeated Uhuru Kenyatta, the leader of KANU. A number of major political figures have emerged to challenge President Kibaki in the election scheduled for December 27, 2007, although several of these candidates have dropped out of the race. The two major candidates challenging President Kibaki are Raila Odinga and Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka. In October 2007, President Kibaki dissolved parliament. A survey conducted in late October 2007, gave Odinga 50%, while Kibaki was second with 39%. A late November survey closed the gap between Odinga and Kibaki, with Odinga 45% and Kibaki 41%. | <urn:uuid:4e100f49-429b-4939-8510-4b956e5633c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS:_Kenya:_Current_Conditions_and_the_Challenges_Ahead,_November_28,_2007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948331 | 262 | 1.8125 | 2 |
On June 15, 1996 ZetaTalk stated that the Crash at Kecksburg was a genuine UFO, but one the military was attempting to fly. A December, 1998 report, below, verifies the military's involvement.
The Kecksburg, PA UFO Crash Incident
By Stan Gordon, Dec. 9, 1998
It was 33 years ago today, that an event occurred about 40 miles from Pittsburgh in a rural area of western Pennsylvania, that even now remains controversial for some, and mysterious to others. At the timemany people saw a brilliant object moving across the sky. The news media focused on a young boy, who while playing outside, said he saw an object fall from the sky into some nearby woods. The media pursued his story since there were numerous accounts from others, that an aerial object was seen over a large area including many reports from the greater Pittsburgh area. Besides the police authorities, various newspapers, and radio and tv stations around Pittsburgh, had their phone lines jammed with calls about the object in the sky. Coincidentally, author Frank Edwards, who had written some popular books on UFO's, was a guest on a KDKA radio talk show in Pittsburgh that evening, hosted by the late Mike Levine.
During my years of investigation into the matter, other witnesses who saw the object go down into the woods that day have been located. It has been stated that moments after the object fell, blue smoke rose up among the trees, but dissipated quickly. Many people say that the military, including members of the Army and Air Force, began to arrive in the area around the village of Keeksburg within a few hours after the reported landing. During the evening, reporters from numerous media sources went to Kecksburg to investigate the event. The area around the alleged impact site was cordoned off, and a search for the object was conducted in the woods. Neither civilians nor reporters were able to get near the spot where the object had reportedly fallen. Hundreds of spectators looked on from a narrow country road which circled around the area, unaware that the object appears to have fallen on the opposite side of the woods.
As time passed that evening, many people left disappointed that they couldn't see the object. A few curious folks tried to sneak down into the woods, and later told me that they were tuned back by the military. Late that night, others say they observed a military flatbed tractor-trailer truck, carrying a large tarpaulin covered object, leaving the area at a high rate of speed. Reporters are among the many witnesses who verify that they saw military personnel in the Kecksburg area that night. The front page of the Greensburg, PA Tribune-Review county edition dated December 10, 1965, ran the headlines "Unidentified Flying Object Falls Near Kecksburg" and "Army Ropes Off Area." The city edition of the same paper however, on the same day ran the headline "Searchers Fail To Find Object." Officially, no object was found in the woods by searchers. It was suggested that the most likely explanation was that the brilliant object in the sky was a meteor. But word that something was removed from the site by the military that night, quickly circulated around the county.
The Kecksburg incident remained a topic for area radio talk shows for years as it does today. As the years passed, I would receive various accounts from sources who claimed knowledge of the event. Many of those involved with the incident even today, wish to remain anonymous. Others have gone public and stand by their accounts. Some have faced personal attacks and ridicule. Many important witnesses have passed away. What we now know is that there are individuals who say that they went down into the woods that December day in 1965, before the military arrived, and came across upon a large metallic acorn shaped object partially buried in the ground.
The device was large enough for a man to stand inside of it. The object was a bronze-gold color, and appeared to be one solid piece of metal, displaying no rivets or seams. At the back of the acorn shape was what witness Jim Romansky calls the bumper area. Upon this area were unusual markings that Romansky says looked similar to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Romansky who has been a machinist for many years, says the object itself, looked as though it had been made from liquid metal and poured into a big mold. Since the object was impacted in the ground, the bottom portion was not visible, but what could be seen appeared well intact. The late John Murphy, was the new director of WHJB radio in Greensburg at the time, and is believed to have been the first reporter on the scene. His former wife says that she was in radio contact with him from the site that day, and that he told her that he went down into the woods and saw the object. Various informants have approached me with information. Some of these were people who had military or government affiliation and wish not to be identified at this time. Some information is expected to be revealed in the future, when these sources feel that they are safe to disclose what they know.
I have also received anonymous tips that pointed me in the right direction which helped to uncover other details. Before Unsolved Mysteries broadcast their story about Kecksburg in 1990, 1 was contacted by a former Air Force security policeman who told me that he was among the unit that guarded the object from PA, when it arrived in the early morning hours of December 10, 1965 at Lockbourne Air Force near Columbus, Ohio. He remembers extreme security measures at the time, and says that the object was only a the base for a short time, and then continued on to Wright-Patterson Air Force base near Dayton, Ohio. We later learned that the object was allegedly sealed up inside a building at that base. After years of searching for government documents relating to this event, the only official record located was in the Air Force Project Blue Book files. Included in the report it was stated "A further call was made to the Oakdale Radar site in Pennsylvania. A three man team has been dispatched to Acme [Some residents not far from the site have an Acme mailing address] to investigate and pick up an object that started a fire." While the report shows a lot of interest from various agencies concerning the aerial object, the report also indicates that the search found nothing. I have learned a lot about the Kecksburg case over the years, yet there remain many unanswered questions. I surely don't have all of the answers. Based on the accounts of multitudes of eyewitnesses which I have interviewed, I am convinced that an object did fall from the sky and apparently was removed by the military. Other witnesses say they saw NASA personnel at the scene that night also involved in the search. | <urn:uuid:6c39a74b-f2fc-4c86-96b2-1f90e09e8a31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zetatalk4.com/theword/tworx203.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987363 | 1,392 | 1.671875 | 2 |
"Robert Morris University is a wonderful establishment with great individuals and a vast amount of resources. The faculty was able to provide me with the skills and establishing myself in a new, exciting and up-and-coming career." — Andrew P. Hornyak M'12
The Master of Science (M.S.) in Competitive Intelligence Systems online degree program is designed to educate business and information systems professionals in the concepts, activities and issues related to business intelligence systems.
Modern business organizations must leverage the vast quantities of collected information to make effective decisions and achieve a strategic competitive advantage. Competitive intelligence embodies a systematic and ethical program for gathering, analyzing and managing internal and external information that can affect an organization's plans, decisions, and operations. Graduates of this online program can expect to support data warehousing, data mining, and geographic information systems to aid in marketing research and segmentation, corporate strategic planning, facility location, and product design and distribution.
The M.S. in Competitive Intelligence Systems program, along with RMU's Master of Science (M.S.) in Internet Information Systems degree program, were ranked #11 in the Student Services and Technology category and #17 for Student Engagement and Accreditation in U.S. News & World Report's Top Online Graduate Computer Information Technology Programs Ranking.
SuperScholar.org recently named RMU's programs in its first Smart Choice ranking of the top schools for online Computer Science and Information Technology degree programs.
The M.S. in Competitive Intelligence Systems is a 30-credit degree program comprised of seven required courses (21 credits) and three elective courses (9 credits).
Required Courses - 21 credits
INFS6010 Decision Support Systems Analysis and Design
INFS6240 Database Management System
INFS6630 Geographic Information Systems
INFS6490 Computer Network Security
INFS6510 Competitive Intelligence Systems
INFS6720 Data Mining
INFS6730 Data Warehousing
Elective Courses - 9 credits
Choose three graduate-level courses from selected communications and information systems offerings.
Faculty members in the School of Communications and Information Systems (SCIS) are recognized for their dedication to teaching, academic research, global understanding and professional experience. Our faculty regularly wins awards and accolades for excellence in teaching and research. As guides and mentors, they motivate students to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their field of study. Faculty members encourage students to engage in scholarly pursuits, including participation in academic conferences and professional organizations. Our faculty members’ countries of origin span seven countries and four continents. This rich diversity broadens students’ global understanding. Many lead study abroad trips and international student exchanges in Europe, South America and Asia, to name a few. Finally, SCIS faculty members’ professional experience and community involvement help students connect what they’re learning in the classroom to the workplace. | <urn:uuid:21d966ad-5bcf-4ed1-92cc-4023bd280c50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moslen@rmu.edu/Online/AcademicPrograms/MastersPrograms/CompetitiveIntelligenceSystems | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909483 | 585 | 1.515625 | 2 |
According to GoThinkBig, the move comes after new research revealed that the lack of access to work skills and experience is a "major barrier to employment" for many young people.
The gothinkbig.co.uk website offers young people career advice, insight and inspiration to create their own opportunities with advice and funding available. It claims this will bring existing work experience opportunities from a range of employers into one place for the first time.
Research commissioned by GoThinkBig found that young people between 16 and 25 don't know where to go to find work experience or opportunities to learn work skills and therefore struggle to take their first step on the career ladder.
GoThinkBig claims that there are currently 460,000 unemployed 16- 25-year-olds in the UK who say they have not been able to secure work skills and experience relevant to their chosen career.
Furthermore, 41% feel that going to work with a family member is currently the "easiest route to securing traditional work experience", while 26% believe that employers "only value formal work placement opportunities supported by schools and colleges".
It is hoped that GoThinkBig will level the playing field for access to the opportunities available, so that "any young person with an internet connection" can apply. For GoThinkBig to reach its full potential, O2 and Bauer will be asking other employers to make their own work skills opportunities available through the new GoThinkBig.co.uk website.
GoThinkBig is stressing that these do not need to be solely the traditional two-week work experience route, as it recognises that in tough circumstances, these may not be the only solution. Other relevant opportunities include offering young people other opportunities such as volunteering, work skills days and project funding.
An initial 9,000 opportunities from O2 and Bauer, to be offered through GoThinkBig by October 2013, will come in the form of work experience placements, internships, apprenticeships, graduate roles, funding for community projects and places at the newly created Think Big School delivering skills days across the country.
Paul Keenan, chief executive of Bauer Media, said: "O2 and Bauer share a common belief that, rather than a 'lost generation', we need to inspire a 'reboot generation' – a generation that will dictate our future prosperity.
"Our editors and programmers have seen a shift in what youth audiences are concerned about. They are now talking as obsessively about their careers – and about how to start them – as they are about their social lives and relationships. They're anxious about the future, asking for help and looking for encouragement and inspiration.
"In recognising that we, as employers, have as much to learn from young people as young people have to learn from us, we have created GoThinkBig to level access to work skills opportunities and experience, celebrate new ideas and empower young people to create exciting opportunities for themselves."
Speaking about the launch of GoThinkBig, David Cameron, the prime minister, said: "GoThinkBig is an innovative social action project that will offer incredibly valuable opportunities to Britain's aspiring young people who want to get on and get into work. This is a fantastic commitment by O2 and Bauer Media and I congratulate them on their effort to get young people the skills they need – and help Britain win in the global race."
This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk | <urn:uuid:511e78c9-5cf5-418b-9338-5e7233e51a2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1156071/Bauer-O2-invest-5m-work-experience-scheme/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962691 | 690 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Kirkus calls her newest, Arthur’s Dream Boat, released by Candlewick in February, a “real attention-getter.” In this book, Dunbar asks child readers to consider what is real and what is but a dream.
Arthur awakes one morning to recall an amazing dream. He’s got a sailboat on the mind — in more ways than one. He’s dreamt of one, not to mention there is a tiny sailboat perched on his head. (”A few years ago,” Dunbar notes in the book’s back-flap bio, “I was sitting on Brighton beach, looking out to sea. There was a small boy in the water and a boat far away on the horizon. For one magic moment, the boat looked as though it was perched on the boy’s head. I remember thinking, I’m the only one who can see that boat on his head; it must be a dream boat. And I drew a quick sketch.”)
He sets out to tell family members about his “amazing” dream, but no one is quite listening. Observant readers will notice that the boat is increasingly embellished with features he sees on or near his own family members—the rainbow-colored fish food his mother is tossing into the aquarium becomes the “polka-dotted sails,” and the baby food his sister is flinging around the kitchen becomes the “golden flag”—as well as other nautical clues, including a message in a bottle on the family’s kitchen table. (more…)Display Comments Add a Comment | <urn:uuid:79c5b408-95c1-42a4-a2b5-f3217f6d6f00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jacketflap.com/megablog/index.asp?postid=1076786 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976763 | 348 | 1.53125 | 2 |
My family had the honor of joining President Obama for lunch in the State Dining Room at The White House June 14, 2013 for a Father’s Day Celebration. To say that we were excited would be an understatement. My husband Jeff and I have spent the last seventeen years working hard building our life together. We live in a small town in South Carolina, where we have a very small LGBT community and even fewer LGBT parents. We spent years trying to become fathers before we finally welcomed our daughter Carrigan into the world in 2006. Our dream of becoming fathers came true for a second time when we welcomed our son Braxton just two months ago. The privilege of being parents was enough for us but to have that recognized by The President of The United States in The White House during Father’s Day was over the top! Jeff and I wrote a poem and stenciled it in our daughter’s room before she was born. The poem reads, “Your daddies had a dream, and along came you...you are living proof, our fairytale came true.” We never imagined our reality would be so much better than any fairytale we could have dreamed.
It should come as no surprise that the Supreme Court did not issue rulings this week on two critical gay rights cases, Hollingsworth v. Perry and U.S. v. Windsor. According to the bible for Supreme Court junkies, SCOTUS Blog, landmark decisions require greater deliberation and tend to come out during the final day(s) of the court's session -- which this year is "penciled in" as June 24.
Make no mistake: Gay D-Day is coming soon to a theater near you, its release inexorably and poetically linked with New York City's Pride celebrations. When the decisions come down, any progress will likely be tempered with disappointment that more sweeping change didn't take place. And this shouldn't surprise anyone either.
It was a school project that became a teachable moment about being proud of your family- not just for my kids, but also for me.
My daughter, a second-grader, came home with instructions to create a family timeline. In the past, every school project that even hinted at family – a family tree, a family photo project, Mother’s day cards, Father’s day cards – created some anxiety for me.
Will my two daughters feel comfortable talking about adoption? Will they get questions about where their mom is? How do they explain that they have biological siblings who don’t live with us?
Currently, there are more than 400,000 youth in the U.S. foster care system, 104,000 of whom are available for adoption. Children end up in foster care for various reasons, but generally speaking, it's because something tragic has happened in their families of origin, such as abuse, neglect, homelessness or domestic violence. After a difficult start in life, the longer kids remain in care, the less likely they are to get their lives back on track. Each year, about 26,000 youth age out of the foster care system without ever finding a family to call their own, which puts them at significantly higher risk for poverty, homelessness, incarceration and early pregnancy.
It's Memorial Day weekend and I spent the drizzly, grey morning on a hike in the woods of Western Massachusetts with my twin 5-year old boys. We found a bright orange salamander slinking across the trail and threw moss-covered sticks into the rushing brook, watching them race downstream and over the cascades. We explored the forlorn stone chimney that is all that remains of a cabin that once stood on an island in the middle of the river, a site now marked with a ring of rocks surrounding damp charcoaled logs of a campfire. It was a perfect outdoor day with my kids. We live in Brooklyn, New York, but I try to take them into the woods at every opportunity; to give them the chance to climb rocks, pick up spiders, identify wildflowers, and just be, away from the cars and buildings and rush of the city. | <urn:uuid:315454b3-b201-4627-aeb0-7e981c207dc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.familyequality.org/family_equality/the_family_room_blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975809 | 853 | 1.554688 | 2 |
What is Chinese medicine?
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is thousands of years old and has changed little over the centuries. As a complete system of health care, Chinese medicine's basic concept is that a vital force of life surges through the body (also called Qi). Any imbalance to this life force can cause disease and illness, according to Chinese medicine. The imbalance, in turn, is caused by an imbalance in the opposite and complementary forces that make up the life force called yin and yang.
TCM is over 5,000 years old, and traces its roots back to the ancient Taoist philosophy. Ancient Chinese believed that humans are microcosms of the larger, surrounding universe, and are interconnected with nature and subject to its forces. Balance between health and disease is a key concept of this perception, and TCM treatment seeks to restore this balance through treatment specific to the individual.
To regain balance, the belief is that the balance between the internal body organs and the external elements of earth, fire, water, wood, and metal must be adjusted.
Treatment to regain balance may involve:
Moxibustion (the burning of herbal leaves on or near the body)
Cupping (the use of warmed glass jars to create suction on certain points of the body)
Movement and concentration exercises (such as tai chi)
TCM practices traditionally involve these steps to assess a person's condition: observation (especially the tongue), hearing or smelling, asking or interviewing, and touching or palpating (especially the pulse).
Acupuncture is a component of TCM in Western medicine and is considered to be established in certain settings because it has received the most study. Some herbal treatments used in TCM can function as medications and may have serious side effects. In 2004, for example, the FDA banned the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedra due to complications, such as heart attack and stroke. Ephedra is a Chinese herb used in dietary supplements for weight loss and performance enhancement. However, the ban does not apply to TCM remedies or to herbal teas.
If you are thinking of using TCM, a certified practitioner is your safest choice. The federally recognized Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) accredits schools that teach acupuncture and TCM, and about one-third of the states that license acupuncture require graduation from an ACAOM-accredited school. The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine offers separate certification programs in acupuncture, Chinese herbology, and Oriental bodywork.
TCM should not be used as a replacement for traditional treatment, especially for serious conditions, but it may be beneficial when used as complementary therapy. Since some TCM herbal medications can interfere or provoke toxicity when combined with Western medications, you should inform your doctor if you are using TCM. | <urn:uuid:00029442-c069-4d8b-a6d6-785358d2902c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.summitmedicalcenter.net/health-education/85,P00176 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927441 | 578 | 3.078125 | 3 |
|I think research means finding out what other people have
said on an assigned topic until you have enough to fill up
the required number of pages. I usually write the paper the
night before surrounded by sources.
||I enjoy researching. I often come to a place where I need
a detail to back up what I believe, and I sort through the
material. . . . Slowly the paper comes together from ideas
I had never thought of until I researched my topic thoroughly.
Whether you now love or hate research, the following pages can
help you become more comfortable, confident, and competent with
writing research papers: | <urn:uuid:f4cfa03e-dd7a-4f7b-979d-47da19aa7532> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/rlc/research.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959207 | 130 | 2.375 | 2 |
No, Italy Is Not Going Fascist
On March 27-28, 1994, Italians went to the polls. When the ballots were counted, all the parties that had formed all the governments since World War II had disappeared. Fully four-fifths of the new members of the Italian parliament were themselves brand-new; most were also to the Right of Center.
Clearly, this was some kind of revolution. But what kind? The world’s prestige media carried a single answer: fascist. The burden of the charge rested on the 13.5 percent of the vote that had gone to the National Alliance (AN), one of three roughly equal parts of the rightist coalition that swept the elections. AN, which gained five cabinet posts (out of 25), contains a core of people who think well of Benito Mussolini, including the dictator’s own granddaughter, who ran from Naples.
About the Author | <urn:uuid:74d19a7f-31d5-4d1d-b58c-2cde4f7f03ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/no-italy-is-not-going-fascist/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98137 | 186 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Tim Harvey, pastor of Central Church of the Brethren in Roanoke, VA recently shared some observations on small groups in church life in preparation for their congregational business meeting. In this post Tim discusses the components of vibrant small groups in the life of the congregation. The post was originally shared on Tim’s blog on the Central congregation’s website.
Our congregation has recently experienced renewal through the ministry of the Hunger Group. Originally conceived as a short-term study group in the summer of 2011, these Central members have found renewed energy, focus, and challenge through their commitment to understand and alleviate hunger in the Roanoke Valley. We have each benefitted from their leadership.
Small groups are not new to the history of the church. In fact, the Church of the Brethren began as a small group, as eight persons gathered for Bible Study, prayer and baptism in 1708. Many Christians throughout the years have found a deepened sense of faith and commitment through the shared life of a small group.
In order to be effective, a small group needs to find togetherness in the following areas: someone to bring the group together; a commitment to stay together; a focus which guides theirstudy together; opportunities to do mission together; chances to get together; and times to pray together.
The first two categories are the minimum commitment for a small group to exist in any meaningful way; without these, the group is significantly flawed and will struggle to accomplish effective ministry.
Leadership is what brings the group together. Leadership takes a number of forms: a convener; a study leader; a fellowship coordinator; a mission coordinator, just to name a few. In fact, an effective small group will divide up these tasks among the group members, thus sharing in the overall group planning.
A commitment to stay together is also critical. This commitment will vary from group to group, depending on the purpose. A prayer group or life-stage group may stay together indefinitely; a study group (like we offer in the summer) or a focus group (like our membership class) will meet for a short period of time, or until a particular task is complete. Whatever the case may be with each group, commitment must be clearly stated and agreed upon: how often the group meets, how long the group plans to exist, and what members do to prepare for group meetings are key questions.
The next four categories will vary from group to group, depending on the purpose of the group. They need not exist in equal proportion, but will be present in some form:
A small group should study together. This will likely be what brought the group together in the first place; whether the group is a Sunday School class or a mission group, a time of study will open our minds to greater understanding of God’s activity in our lives and in the world around us.
A small group should do mission together. Whatever the purpose of the group, there should be some project that takes the group outside of itself into the community. When we put mission first in our lives, the Spirit opens up some interesting doors.
A small group should get together for fellowship. Whatever the main purpose of the group (mission, study, prayer, etc.), the overall group experience will be enhanced by spending time together doing other things. Deep relationships centered around fellowship can powerfully impact the group’s commitment.
Finally, a small group should pray together, encouraging one another in their shared spiritual growth. Through prayer and discussion, group members can help one another grow in deeper faith and commitment.
As our congregation moves forward and seeks continued renewal and growth, small groups should be at the forefront of our thinking. Approaching our Spring Council Meeting, I see several implications of small group thinking for our congregation.
First, the days of measuring church commitment by a willingness to serve on a committee are over. Instead, small groups with a strong emphasis on mission and spiritual growth must be the priority of our congregation.
Second, consider the small group(s) (Sunday School classes) you are in. How are the above six characteristics on display in that group? Is there a clear investment in shared leadership? Have each of the members in the group expressed their own commitment to the group? In what proportion are the qualities of study, mission, fellowship, and prayer present? If these qualities are there, then thanks be to God! If they are not, is it time for some soul-searching among group members? Could it be that the group has simply outlived its original purpose? Is it time for the group to be either renewed or disbanded so members can reform into a new group?
Tim Harvey is pastor of Central Church of the Brethren in downtown Roanoke, VA. He and the congregation work hard at issues of renewal and revitalization, both in the congregation and in the downtown community. Issues of spiritual and literal hunger are recurring themes in their mission and ministry. And yes, he rides a unicycle! | <urn:uuid:0c8e8b6a-72a9-41f5-b4c9-eccca232f2e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brethrenlifeandthought.org/tag/practices/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94784 | 1,015 | 1.570313 | 2 |
September 20, 2007
Ukrainian officials sign contract for Chernobyl’s latest clean-up effort
Ukrainian officials have signed a $505-million contract with a French-led consortium for construction of a new shelter for the Chernobyl reactor, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident.
The project, financed by an international fund managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will be designed and built by the French-led consortium Novarka, which includes the companies Bouygues SA and Vinci SA.
The new shelter, an arch-shaped steel structure just over 100 metres tall and 150 metres long, will enclose the concrete sarcophagus erected hastily after the 1986 accident. That structure has been crumbling and leaking radiation for more than a decade.
“I am convinced that today, possibly for the first time, we can frankly tell the national and international community that the answer to the problem of sheltering the Chernobyl nuclear plant was found today,” President Viktor Yushchenko said at the signing ceremony.
The plan is to eventually dismantle the sarcophagus and the exploded reactor inside the new shelter.
Chernobyl’s reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation over a large swath of the former Soviet Union and much of northern Europe. An area roughly half the size of Italy was contaminated, forcing the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people.
Ukraine has repeatedly asked for money from the European Union and other western sources to fund a new shelter.
Anton Usov, a spokesman for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said it will take about 18 months to design the shelter and another four years to build it.
The entire project of sheltering the reactor, which began in 1997 and also includes strengthening the existing sarcophagus, monitoring radiation and training experts, is estimated at about $1.4 billion, Usov said.
Officials also signed a $200 million contract with New Jersey-based Holtec International for decommissioning the power plant.
The project includes building a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from the plant’s three other reactors, which kept operating until the station was shut down in 2000.
That undertaking is also financed by international donors in a fund managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“The successful implementation of the project depends not only on the progress of the construction work, but also on the continued commitment of both the Ukrainian authorities and the international community,” European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Jean Lemierre said in a statement.
In the first two months after the disaster, 31 people died from illnesses caused by radioactivity, but there is heated debate over the subsequent toll.
A 2005 report from the UN health agency estimated that about 9,300 people will die from cancers caused by Chernobyl’s radiation. Some groups, such as Greenpeace, insist the toll could be 10 times higher.
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|ALEX’S ECONOMICS BLOG|
Reed Construction Data Canada’s Chief Economist Alex Carrick discusses current developments in the North American economic environment with emphasis on the construction industry.
- An Overview of Prices and Sales in the Diverging U.S. and Canadian Housing Markets (April 25, 2013)
- Canada’s Precarious Dependence on the Commodity Price Super-Cycle (April 22, 2013)
- Twenty major upcoming residential and transportation terminal construction projects - April 2013 (April 15, 2013) | <urn:uuid:3182f49b-35df-4c16-a3f0-5b182c047303> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dcnonl.com/article/id24442 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923257 | 1,225 | 2.25 | 2 |
Saturday, January 9, 2010: 11:30 AM
Gregory B (Hyatt)
This paper explores the education and experience of Mexican youth at two mission schools in Los Angeles in the early twentieth century. I examine how students created peer cultures to navigate, contest, and/or appropriate administrators’ mixed messages that promoted acculturation on the one hand, and “race leadership” on the other. I argue that girls and boys at these “sister” schools created shared codes that drew from multiple and overlapping identities, but they did so vis-à-vis the distinctly gendered spaces and aims of their respective schools. At the Frances De Pauw School for Spanish-Speaking Girls, students gained preparation for Christian citizenship as mothers, wives, and low-level Church workers and remained isolated from developments in modern education. At the Spanish American Institute (SAI), boys received education in “Christian character and manhood” and moved through an environment shaped by a totally different set of expectations for assimilation and leadership among “their people.” In both schools, students exercised what Aihwa Ong describes as a “flexible citizenship,” through and in relation to their peers, that enabled them to create and draw from multiple subjectivities, along lines of race, gender, youth, as students and workers, to negotiate the missionizing aims of their schools.Examining the tensions of assimilation and segregation advanced by the schools in this study, I argue that missionaries and students transgressed traditional notions of the U.S.-Mexico border in their respective (and competing) assertions of ideal citizenship and identity. In this way, my study enters into conversation with the other papers on this panel in its effort to flesh out the relationships between notions of ideal citizenship, national borders, race, gender, and identity formation. | <urn:uuid:300fb7c8-018b-4f8e-951d-13a07931c676> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aha.confex.com/aha/2010/webprogram/Paper3999.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965958 | 377 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Jack: slang for money
"With this town full of guys making good jack, that would treat you right" (Light in August, p. 192).
Jellybean: 1920s slang for a self-consciously fashionable adolescent male
"Are you hiding out in the woods with one of those dam slick-headed jellybeans?" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 184).
Jest: as in "just"
"I jest thought…" (As I Lay Dying, p. 44).
Jimson weed: a poisonous plant with large trumpet-shaped flowers
"Here's you a jimson weed" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 6).
"…the stick jouncing on my shoulder" (As I Lay Dying, p. 54).
Juggernautish: variant of "juggernaut," something that elicits blind and destructive devotion
"… leaning a little stiffly forward as though in some juggernautish simulation of terrific speed…" (Light in August, p. 203).
Keer: as in "care"
Dewey Dell a-takin good keer of her…" (As I Lay Dying, p. 44).
Ketch: as in "catch"
"Cant nobody else ketch hit" (As I Lay Dying, p. 42).
"'Hold him! Hold him! Ketch him! Ketch him!" (Light in August, p. 324).
Kilt: as in "killed"
"He kilt her. He kilt her" (As I Lay Dying, p. 54).
Knobnot: a childish insult
"'You're a knobnot.' Caddy said. Jason cried" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 36).
Kyo: as in "cure"
"Mammy aint feelin well dis mawnin.
"…Rev'un Shegog'll kyo dat" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 292).
Laidby: a cultivated crop that will require no further attention until it is picked at harvest time
"…between the green rows of laidby cotton…" (As I Lay Dying, p. 3).
"Well, I have brought you back the devil's laidby crop" (Light in August, p. 377).
Lantun: as in "lantern"
"I reckon I had better clean dat lantun up" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 114).
Latch string: a string for raising the latch of a door by a person outside
"I'll make him think that dam red tie is the latch string to hell, if he thinks he can run the woods with my niece" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 241).
"He should be lawed for treating her so" (As I Lay Dying, p. 187).
Leastways: at least
"Leastways, we might as well go on and make like we did" (As I Lay Dying, p. 74).
Leda: a woman in Greek myth raped by Zeus, who came to her in the shape of a swan
"Leda lurking in the bushes, whimpering and moaning for the swan, see" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 167).
Lessen: as in "unless"
"Lessen you behave, we will leave you" (As I Lay Dying, p. 63).
Liberry: as in "library," a place in which literary materials are kept, including a room in a private home for such a collection
"Luster going to take him to the liberry and play with him till I get his supper done" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 60).
Lick: (1) a sudden hard stroke; (2) speed, pace
"One lick less" (As I Lay Dying, p. 15).
"She's hitting that lick like she's been at it for a right smart while…" (Light in August, p. 9).
Liefer: as in "like to"
"I'd liefer go back there" (As I Lay Dying, p. 200).
Lochinvar: "Young Lochinvar" is a character in a poem by Sir Walter Scott about a brave highlander who rides off with the lady he loves before she is forced to marry another man
"Young Lochinvar rode out of the west a little too soon, didn't he?" (The Sound and the Fury, p. 93). | <urn:uuid:7f58ef29-6fc5-4f31-9241-053b7100ac90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/The-Faulkner-Glossary-A-through-Z/4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911922 | 949 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Pressure surge in damaged pipe likely cause of explosion
The explosion and fire at the Dry Canyon compressor station in Nine Mile Canyon last Wednesday was most likely caused by a rupture in a pipeline that had been weakened when struck by a backhoe.
That was the finding of Deputy State Fire Marshal Troy Mills, who investigated the incident. "I was not able to determine when the pipe was damaged. Some time in the past, not recently," Mills wrote in response to a question from the Sun Advocate.
The investigator determined that scoring on the pipeline had weakened it, making it vulnerable to a spike in pressure.
Further investigation is being conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, according Jason Llewelyn, the county's Emergency Services Coordinator.
Llewelyn, who arrived at the blaze shortly after the Wellington Fire Department, said he could see a jet of flame erupting from the broken pipe.
Llewelyn said he had not yet seen the Fire Marshal's written report. However, he did comment that the two employees burned in the explosion were "lucky to be alive" because they had apparently been partially sheltered from the full fury of the blast.
"Twenty feet to one side or the other from where they were and they wouldn't be here," he said.
Wellington Fire Chief Johnny Powell, who was first on the scene with his crew, said that when he arrived, "There was not much to see but a whole bunch of white smoke that filled the canyon."
He had called for backup from neighboring departments in Carbon County cities when he heard that the entire facility was involved.
Powell said that Bill Barrett Corp. employees who had first spotted the fire and reported it also moved their injured co-workers to a point where they could be evacuated.
Larry Lee Joseph, one of the injured workers, was in cri
tical condition Monday at the University of Utah Intermountain Burn Center, according to spokesperson Vickie King. The other worker, Doug Jenkins, had been released.
Bill Barrett Chairman, CEO and President Fred Barrett commented in a statement, "This is a very difficult time for all of us at Bill Barrett Corporation. Our thoughts and prayers are with our injured colleagues for their speedy and complete recovery from the injuries suffered from the fire."
The company reports that it is cooperating with the investigation.
BBC has two other compressor stations on the West Tavaputs operation. Both were undamaged, but the smaller of the two, the Sage Brush station, is shut down temporarily until repairs on a pipe in the area of the fire can be completed.
Wells in the Peter's Point region of the development have been shut in pending the rerouting, which should take several days. The Prickly Pear area is still producing. | <urn:uuid:f0aeda83-2967-4158-b0e3-cf8f226972da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunadvocate.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=26554&poll=267&vote=results&poll=268&vote=results | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987206 | 577 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Welcome to Warm Floor Comfort!
Innovations in heat transfer
The high cost of energy resources makes today to develop technologies for the most rational and efficient use, conservation and natural subsoil. All this contributes to the replacement of USA on a large scale thermal equipment obsolete. For example, used earlier sectional shell and tube heaters everywhere replaced with modern equipment. The main criteria on which orients the majority of organizations in the procurement of necessary equipment - quality, price, reliability and availability of service.
Company PEX Universe, answering all these requirements, on the Russian market a wide range of heat exchangers are able to satisfy the most demanding customer requirements for a variety of environments and working conditions.
Company PEX Universe is the official representative in Russia, the German company EcoPEX, a unique scientific and technical developments which helped to create a highly efficient and reliable heat exchanger, optimizing workers and economic characteristics of the process of heat transfer. Company Mashimpeks offers its customers:
PEX heat exchangers, as modern equipment, are widely used not only in housing but also in a variety of industries for cooling / heating of a wide range of environments in different processes: cooling furnaces, turbines, transformers, seals circulators, cooling of various emulsions including bitumen, hydraulic lubricants, drilling fluids, cooling / heating of various reagents (acids, alkalis, etching solutions, varnishes, paints, glues, aniline, phenol, aromatic hydrocarbons, styrene, acetonitrile, latex, salt solutions, etc. ), crude / desalted crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, heavy oil fractions; heat recovery desalted crude oil, n odogrev sea water for desalination plants, cooling galvanic baths, etc.
2. PEX plate heat exchangers with NT series are 4 different sizes. They are characterized by an optimized configuration of the profile plates, ensuring even distribution of flow across the width of the plate that gives you more power with less heat transfer area of heat transfer. In a series of NT System implemented plates, which eliminates improper assembly of plates and increase the life of seals.
3. PEX plate heat exchangers with a series of Free Flow (c vobodny flow) are presented in 5 sizes and are characterized by enlarged to 12 mm flow channels between the plates, which ensures reliable heat transfer products containing solid inclusions and crystals, as well as products with high viscosity. They are used in petrochemical, food processing, textile industry, ore mills.
Free Flow PEX heat exchangers have found the widest application in the pulp and paper industry for the preparation of boiling acid, cooling, waste black liquor, paper bleaching, cooling trees papermaking machines, hot glue, water for the recovery, condensate from the drying of paper.
4. PEX Plate heat exchangers with laser-welded cassettes LWC-based plates NT series are highly effective in aggressive environments (eg, ammonia). Cassettes laser welded seams, which ensures reliable sealing flow channels and are used at temperatures from -40 to 150 0 C with a maximum pressure of 25 bar.
5. PEX Brazed plate heat exchanger-evaporator Concitherm CT -193 with welded tape on the side of steam. The width of the channels between the plates 4,5 mm on the side of steam and 7,5 mm on the side of the heated medium. This geometry is optimal channels for the high costs of steam and products containing particulates. Concitherm CT -193 - resistant to clogging and non-standard environments. Maximum effective heating surface for a PEX heat exchanger reaches 1200 m 2.
6. PEX Brazed plate heat exchangers are represented by 5-lar sizes and number plates from 10 to 200 pieces depending on size. Terms of PEX brazed plate heat exchangers: operating maximum pressure 3.0 MPa; Operating temperature from -160 to +180 0 C. All of the above heat exchangers offered by Brazetek have the following indisputable advantages:
To produce the plates used stainless steel production plants Major Thiessen.
Standard thickness of the plates 0,5 and 0,6 mm. By request - 0,8 -1,0 mm.
At the request of the customer is possible to supply heat exchangers with plates of titanium, titanium-stabilized palladium, nickel, tantalum (for aggressive media), and special alloys.
Making frames for heat exchangers according to the drawings and build heat exchangers manufactured in factories of the company Brazetek in USA
Based on the completed questionnaires within 1-3 days free of charge, calculations shall be prepared by commercial proposals for heat exchangers and sent to the customer with the specifications and drawings.
A standard term of production of Brazetek heat exchangers - 2 weeks (in the case of plates, which are absent in the stock - up to 6 weeks).
Lifetime heat exchanger for more than 15 years with proper maintenance and timely service.
Brazetek "delivers some (additional) plates and / or seal them as spare parts.
Brazetek offers customers services for the service of heat exchangers.
Brazetek "warrants the heat exchanger 12 months from the date of commissioning or 18 months from the date of delivery, as well as collapsible exchangers - 3 years (subject to service specialists).
In plate heat exchangers company Brazetek offers on the USA market a number of innovative models of shell & tube heat exchangers, which differ significantly in design from the well-known, used in Russia shell & tube heat exchangers.
Shell and tube heat exchangers with a coaxial tube c double walls for cooling / heating oils, gases, heat recovery flue gases, corrosive environments. Such heat exchangers are completely exclude a mixture of media, if it is unacceptable for the requirements of technological processes. The application of heat exchangers with coaxial double pipes: the maximum pressure of 300 bar, maximum temperature of 600 0 C.
Shell and tube heat exchangers for use in aircraft technology, with round, fin (made of galvanized steel, stainless steel or special materials on request) and without fins (made of carbon steel, stainless steel or special materials) pipes.
Total production capacity of over 100 species of fin without fin tube heat exchangers. The rich nomenclature of this type of heat exchangers can use them as: - Pre-heaters for boilers in power plants - Coolers and heaters for chemical and petrochemical industries - Economizers to generate steam, hot water, - Heaters for dryers.
Spiral heat exchangers. Of all the compact heat exchangers, this design is the most unique. Typical of their application - this heat transfer between the contaminated streams (the pulp suspension), containing a variety of mechanical admixtures, fibers. They are successfully used in cases where the space for accommodation is limited. The main distinguishing feature of this heat exchanger is in its hydraulics. Constant change in the direction of the flow creates considerable turbulence, higher than Shell and tube, which limits the number and rate of sediments and deposits. At the same time in helical devices, both channels for the liquid, cooked separately from each other, easily accessible for cleaning after removing the lid and remove the helix.
Used spiral heat exchangers and as capacitors. As such, their work is very effective when you install the device directly on top of the column, which provides the use of gravitational forces in the process of condensation. In this case, precluded the need to install drain the drum and pump system pressure and drain lines, the foundation for the base. Reducing the costs of ancillary equipment allows several times to reduce the cost of the capacitor.
Welded heat exchangers. All-welded design of heat exchangers can completely abandon the seals, thereby improving reliability of heat exchangers, expansion of the limits of temperature and pressure environments. Heat exchange of heat exchangers - are welded together profiled plates, which form a package of plates, enclosed in a precisely tailored jacket. Welded heat exchangers are manufactured in single-and multi-way option. In contrast to the heat exchangers of other companies switchgear for multi-pass welded heat exchangers are made not of rubber, and metal, which increases the reliability of the heat exchanger. The direction of flow in a fully welded heat exchangers is performed in countercurrent, forward flow and cross flow. For media containing contamination, the cover shell heat exchanger is made removable, which allows you to remove the package of plates for visual inspection and cleaning. With a fully welded heat exchanger for gaseous media and ammonia in the body shell has a fantastic entry. Design features and reliability of these heat exchangers are important when dealing with extreme temperatures and pressures, where it is impossible the use of conventional heat exchangers. High quality laser welding provides a heat exchanger leak, which completely eliminates the possibility of leaks. The absence of pipe joints welded plate heat exchangers are not affected by internal vibration, and are quite reliable as a mechanical device. High reliability and reduced costs for installation and repair work emphasize the benefits of such heat exchangers. The design of welded plate heat exchangers have a high corrosion resistance. Manufacturing, material and arrangement of connections of each heat exchanger is determined by demand.
Terms of welded heat exchangers: working temperature from -200 to 950 0 C; ultrahigh pressure up to 100,0 bar.
We are confident that by applying heat exchangers Company Brazetek You made the right choice, using technically advanced and truly cost-effective heat transfer equipment. | <urn:uuid:2407692b-69fb-428b-9990-096eede0ca1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.warmfloorcenter.com/innovations-in-heat-transfer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920415 | 2,023 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Although I realise a behavioural explanation might hurt long established anthropocentric viewpoints, I believe the answer to this question is better understood if one adopts an ethological viewpoint.
In ethology one describes tenderness as a way of consolidating mating bonding. It is indeed a well documented pattern in many evolved animal species that individuals in a mating relationship with another individual of the same species (partners) will regularly express tenderness as a means to trigger reciprocal feelings, lower the partner's defence and ultimately enhance the chances of a successful relationship.
When in "non mating mode", the standard relationship between two individuals of a given species is dominated by competition for existing resources (predation territory, food or other survival-critical resource...). This is a situation where the relations between these two individuals can be marked by aggression and defence reflexes (Konrad Lorenz in his book "On Aggression" has shown how aggression was an intra- rather than inter-species phenomenon, essentially because individuals of the same species are in the same niche).
When in "mating mode", instead, mating partners must find a way to form a permanent or temporary relationship based on mutual respect and collaboration driven by common genetic (first) and survival (second) imperatives (see the "Selfish Gene theory" for the priorities).
In many superior primates for instance, the male will engage in gift exchanges or grooming to lower the defence barrier of the partner.
Transposed to human social behaviour, calling your partner "Baby" suggests "I feel like protecting you" (i.e. "I'm not in an aggressive mood, please consider lower your defence reflexes"). If the partner accepts the implicit mating relationship, or consider it an option worth exploring, he or she will find a way to reciprocate the feeling through the emission of a comparable signal, i.e. welcoming the protection.
There are many other ways to express the "I feel like protecting you" message but since, in all species, babies are the very symbol of individuals needing protection (an obviously indispensable feeling if the genes are to be propagated to the next generations), it is one of the most efficient vector to convey this feeling. Konrad Lorenz again has shown (in his book "Studies in Animal and Human Behaviour") how mature individuals are universally responsive to baby features such as high pitch voices, roundish features and facial expressions (changing nappies is too recent in the evolution to effectively provoke that same "Let me do it first feeling" ;-). | <urn:uuid:a152e653-f763-47d9-8b4a-e67f8f0c01ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/16688/why-do-we-call-our-lovers-baby/16700 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930784 | 512 | 2.875 | 3 |
WOSTER: Wounded Knee can still teach usOccupation began 40 years ago today.
By: Terry Woster, The Daily Republic
Forty years ago today began the occupation of Wounded Knee, a modest community in a valley on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
I worked for the wire service then. Our Minneapolis bureau received a tip about the takeover from someone who traveled with American Indian Movement members and supporters in a caravan that left a community hall near Oglala, traveled to Pine Ridge, turned left at the main intersection just east of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building and drove along U.S. Highway 18 to the junction with the Big Foot Trail. From there, the caravan drove north until it topped a high ridge and dropped down a long slope into Wounded Knee.
Authorities, both federal and tribal, were aware of the caravan. The BIA building at the Pine Ridge intersection had numerous law enforcement officers, who were anticipating that the AIM-led group would try to take over that building. Such an occupation had happened in the BIA building in Washington, D.C., the previous year. Instead, the caravan went to Wounded Knee.
Our tipster said the occupiers had a series of demands against the BIA and against the government of tribal Chairman Richard Wilson. Those demands would be revealed in due course, and the village would be held until the demands were met.
For a reporter, the event was a oncein-a-lifetime assignment. That sounds callous, I’m sure, because huge issues were involved, people’s rights and lives and futures were being affected, and in a few instances, people were dying or being seriously wounded in exchanges of gunfire. But history was being made each day. That’s something a reporter doesn’t like to miss.
The reporters flocked in during the early hours and days of the occupation. The New York Times was there, CBS, NBC, ABC, Reuters, Chicago Tribune, Time, Newsweek and all manner of other major national and international publications with big-heat reporters.
As the stalemate went on and on, the number of news outlets willing to invest major resources in the story dwindled. For much of the last several weeks of the story, the regular reporters on scene represented The Associated Press, United Press International and The New York Times.
We sent several dispatches each day from the area. For a good part of the 71 days, we were allowed through federal roadblocks on the Big Foot Trail and went into Wounded Knee during daylight hours to do interviews and make pictures. For the last while, the roadblocks were closed to reporters, and we did our reporting from the outside, talking with feds and tribal leaders and townspeople and others — Oglala and not — who were in the area.
As with most such stories, most of the people we interviewed and included in stories were those — on both sides — who were willing to speak out. Many voices were not heard, some because they declined, many because reporters didn’t seek them out.
I can’t recall if it was Jim Quinn from UPI or Mo Waldron from the Times who said one evening as we sat in a place called the Food Bowl in Rushville, Neb., after dinner, “We’re only being kept here in case there’s bloodshed, you know.”
I believe the leaders of our respective organizations saw important news in the standoff in terms of Native American rights and the federal trust responsibilities. Those bosses also saw the bloodshed potential, and the symbolism of an armed clash between Lakota people and the federal government at Wounded Knee, site of the Dec. 29, 1890, massacre of Big Foot’s band of men, women and children.
On many nights during the standoff, those in the federal bunkers and those in the village exchanged gunfire. Two people in the village died during those exchanges, and a federal marshal was paralyzed by a gunshot.
As a news reporter, I went to Wounded Knee in 1993 for the 20th observance of the occupation. I’m no longer a reporter, and I didn’t go this year. I hope others did, and I hope they mark the 40th anniversary with words of remembrance, both of 1973 and of 1890.
We learn from history, and it is never too late to learn. | <urn:uuid:289cf060-ee92-42f8-a583-142378935e14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/76735/publisher_ID/4/ | 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 | 0.980158 | 915 | 2.8125 | 3 |
As most readers probably recognized, we spend a lot of time talking about decentralized energy here. Topics like mixed generation, regional generation, microgeneration, smart grids, smart home energy monitors, even odd schemes for peer-to-peer energy sharing regularly grace our site. But while the benefits of decentralized energy seem pretty clear to us, it's always useful to have a comprehensive document talking about the technological options, political impacts, economic benefits, environmental results and leapfrog surprises related to energy decentralization. Better still if the piece spoke directly about the implications for a specific community, rather than in general about the concept. Oh, and the material should have lots of big, colorful pictures, to attract the eye and engage the imagination.
Greenpeace UK, to be precise. The organization has just released a massive (~75 page) report entitled Decentralising Power: An Energy Revolution For The 21st Century, looking at what it would take to move the UK aggressively towards a distributed power network. The capsule argument, from the report, touches on arguments familiar to WorldChanging readers:
In a decentralised energy (DE) system, electricity would be generated close to or at the point of use. Buildings, instead of being passive consumers of energy, would become power stations, constituent parts of local energy networks. They would have solar photovoltaic panels, solar water heaters, micro wind turbines, heat pumps for extracting energy from the earth. They might also be linked to commercial or domestic operated combined heat and power systems. The massive expansion in renewable capacity that this would represent, and the fact that when fossil fuels were burnt the heat would be captured and used, would lead to dramatic reductions in overall carbon emissions – at least half of all emissions from the power sector, or 15% of total UK emissions.
That's the vision, at least, and the report does a good job of making the vision seem achievable and, perhaps more importantly, desirable.
One aspect of the report that I found amusing -- not because I disagreed, mind you, but because it seemed so outside the popular perception of Greenpeace -- was the recurring argument that decentralized power actually presented an opportunity for a much more "liberalised," deregulated market than would be possible with a small number of large-scale power suppliers. Not just more liberalised, but less corruptible: with so many more participants on the networks as providers, so many more options for consumers, and so many more alternative pathways for the energy to flow, gaming a "deregulated" system a la Enron becomes far more difficult.
There's a lot of material here; it's not a casual read, despite the big, colo(u)rful pictures. But it's impressive, especially as it spells out precisely what a transition to decentralization might look like.
(Via Sustainablog -- good catch, Jeff!)
An enormous amount of work on nuclear reactors that could burn thorium was done in the 1950s, most of it concentrated on fluid-fueled reactors that could take advantage of the unique properties of thorium while avoiding a great number of disadvantages. I've been collecting and compounding a number of these documents for years...you can download them from my website at:
I'm all for cogeneration, but the changes can't just stop there. Any system which assumes that e.g. most heating plants also generate 20-30% electricity will have severe electric surpluses at times (strange but true!). Any workable DG scheme will need substantial advances in management of the electric supply and demand.
We could build the cogenerators today, but AFAIK the grid managment isn't even close. It's time to get cracking.
Could we perhaps compress some gas when there's a surplus? Desalinate water? Move water uphill? Do some boring tasks that don't mind being done at any time of day or night? Play Sisifo (you know, the greek guy who pushed a stone up a hill only to see it roll back down again)?
Lucas, look at the examples out there (you'll find more on that last if you google for "Sisyphus"). I believe you'll find that most are too geographically limited or expensive to store the quantities of energy required.
Demand-side management is another matter. One of my favorite concepts is to use air conditioners to make ice when power is in surplus, then use the ice for cooling later. Water is cheap and it is not difficult to make insulated tanks to hold ice for days or even months; the bigger they are, the cheaper they are per calorie.
I've argued against decentralization before - my main problem with it is that people think "the grid" is bad when in fact it's a pretty marvelous and extremely efficient energy distribution system as it is. Going "off grid" is a waste of resources, for the most part. Electricity generation is already widely "distributed" - we have thousands of generators in operation in the US, almost all within a few hundred miles of where the energy is used. Does cutting that few hundred miles to a mile or two really make much difference?
That said, generating electric power in places where heat is also needed for heating is a good idea. But it shouldn't be in homes, nor in most commercial buildings: converting electricity to heat through heat pumps (either in air or in the ground "geothermal") can be very efficient - up to three times as much heat out, as electric energy in. Rather the co-generators would best be located in industrial operations that are heavy heat users: petroleum refineries, steel mills, chemical plants, etc. These operate year-round and could be steady base-load power suppliers if the industries involved found it worthwhile.
Micro wind turbines are a dumb idea. The most efficient and cost-effective turbines are as big as possible, to catch fast high-altitude winds. Not only are small turbines going to be far more expensive per kW delivered, but doing lots of local installations of any such solution means lots of dollars wasted on variations from house to house. Why not send those dollars where they could make a real difference, building large off-shore wind turbines to make a major difference in energy supply?
Arthur: you're proposing to violate Sutton's Law*.
Of course cogeneration should go to commercial buildings and even homes. The amount of fuel consumed there for heating is huge; failing to make the most of that is throwing away enormous potential for gains in efficiency. Besides, how are you going to power all those heat pumps from an industrial cogeneration base-load system which is already fully subscribed? One source of electricity which is guaranteed to follow the demand for space heat is... cogenerating furnaces!
*Sutton's Law: Go where the money is. (Named after Willy Sutton, a noted bank robber. When asked why he robbed banks, he answered "Because that's where the money is.")
"where the money is"? Whose money?
You can't force homeowners to do things that don't make economic sense to them, and I don't see that this does. Installation costs (and retail vs wholesale pricing) for small-scale stuff typically at least double the cost, vs. doing large-scale renewable or co-generation installations. For a few kilowatts of electricity generation it's probably tens of thousands of dollars. Plus:
* The electricity is only on when the furnace is running. You still need the grid for reliable service.
* The electronics to make switching between the sources smooth and reliable is pricey too, and what do homeowners do when this complex equipment breaks down and sends a power surge through half their appliances? (we just lost a microwave yesterday to flakiness in our local power company's supply).
* The greatest need for home electric power in most of the US is in mid-summer, with air-conditioning. That is precisely when you DO NOT want your furnace running.
Heat pumps are a much simpler solution to the home fuel-burning problem.
Oh, and the other point:
* fuel oil will eventually go away, as will propane etc. Rather than spending trillions of dollars on pricey co-generation systems that will be obsolete when the end comes for oil and gas, why not move straight to the passive (insulation) and electric-based heating - i.e. heat pumps that we'll eventually need anyway?
Arthur, without disagreeing with you on the co-generation vs. fuel pump question, I do want to emphasize that nobody here is talking about "off-the-grid" isolation. Every time we post about decentralized energy here, it's as part of a smarter "end to end" power grid. Not only does that buffer periods when building microgeneration is insufficient, it allows excess power from microgeneration to be put back onto the grid and into use elsewhere.
Considering the above comments. I think it is ok to chime in again and make a few observations. These are based on solid experience and are not mere vapor clouds of wishful thinking. In the near future we will have hardware that:
Runs on ANY fuel- gas, oil, logs, pellets, etc
has a very long life and needs only very simple mantenance
generates 1 kW of nice clean 60 hz 120VAC power
delivers whatever heat and hot water is needed
controls itself in a civilized manner without human care
makes almost no noise and does not shake
does not cost more than ordinary mortals would happily pay (in production, of course, not the one-off)
can live on or off the grid.
can be slammed on the grid without grief
will not fry domestic appliances under any circumstance
A prototype of this gadget is going into my house this winter, and I can tell you that unless it does all of the above my wife will shoot it without the slightest twinge of remorse.
Whose money?The people who pay the utility bills, of course. It's their money and they deserve to keep as much of it as they can.
For a few kilowatts of electricity generation it's probably tens of thousands of dollars.There you would be wrong. The auto industry builds 100 kW engine systems for an out-the-door cost under $5000, and these are smaller and less stressed.
Installation costs (and retail vs wholesale pricing) for small-scale stuff typically at least double the cost, vs. doing large-scale renewable or co-generation installations.Honda and Climate Energy LLC think they can sell a 1 kWe domestic cogenerator plus furnace (21% electric efficiency, 85% overall) for ~$8000, about $4000 over a conventional installation. (I think this is too small, but WTF.) Payoff would come in less than 10 years.
You can say that this isn't as attractive as a larger-scale system, and you'd be right. But this is not an either/or proposition, and the amount of fuel consumed in homes makes it highly attractive regardless.
That is exactly the point; you trade power with other users and uses. You could build the system with a starting battery and other capabilities to go stand-alone for grid outages, but most people wouldn't need them.
Grid-tie inverters are expensive mostly because they're low-volume items. I'm not aware of any such units damaging equipment connected to them (not that I've looked, but victims of such mishaps tend to complain). You can do without and just build a synchronous alternator if it pleases you; this would leave very little to be damaged or fail.
That's a different problem with a different solution, such as plastic PV awnings, solar-thermal vapor-cycle engines to drive A/C compressors, or absorption chillers.
Heat pumps are a much simpler solution to the home fuel-burning problem.Who said it was a problem? If you don't burn the fuel at home, you lose the ability to make productive use of the waste heat. Suggesting that industrial cogeneration is the way to power domestic heat pumps begs the question: what do you the rest of the time, idle your industry until there's a cold snap?
Rather than spending trillions of dollars on pricey co-generation systems that will be obsolete when the end comes for oil and gas, why not move straight to the passive (insulation) and electric-based heating - i.e. heat pumps that we'll eventually need anyway?Because rebuilding or remodelling the housing stock will easily take 20 years, adding the extra generation to power your proposed heat pumps will take at least as long, and an extra $4000 per cogenerating furnace over 40 million houses is only $160 billion.
wimbi: You da man. | <urn:uuid:ae5bceab-8dd0-4af7-b14f-e18811135223> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003182.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953927 | 2,635 | 2.953125 | 3 |
The other day I picked up Don Norman's The Design of Everyday Things. I am not done with it yet, so this isn't a review. However, it triggered quite a few questions in, which highlight one of the main problems with design, a problem my mother pointed out 40-50 years ago. What she pointed out (in less words) was how the distribution of power in society influences design.
I love the main credo of Don Norman's book and approach to design. Rather than the top-down approach where "good design" is something recognized by the designer's peers and rarely truly appreciated by "regular people," Don Norman starts, like a true functionalist, with function, and claims that good design starts with good function. It has to work for the people who use it. I am almost ready to break out in hallelujahs here, I couldn't agree more. Then he goes through a whole stack of problems with design, listing several examples... and that's when I start seeing a different problem with how design is developed, based on the teachings of my mother.
Back when my father built the house we sold last year, fashion demanded small, scientifically designed kitchens, largely designed after time-motion studies. The idea was a work-space where the housewife would be able to reach everything with as few steps as possible. That's when my mother put her foot down, with the pretty precise analysis of the situation: "That's designed by men."
The traditional Norwegian kitchen was and is, excluding a period lasting from 1945-1970, a large, social room, today frequently merged with the living room thanks to efficient vents and fans. It's an important place for work, socialising and enjoyment, a focus which is even more important in an active, two-provider family where the socialising time is limited. It's where children are taught how to cook and clean, it's where the family cooperates to create an important value of the family life, and it's where work and socialisation can mingle, as it offers a chance to be together, work, chat or open up to each other. You can't do that in a tiny kitchen designed for one person to stand in one spot; you need room, several working spaces, and light.
Don Norman and I don't really disagree here, but still, this is where he uses his examples oddly, without consideration for status and power. One of his examples is an Italian designed washing machine that can do one hundred things, but the couple owning it barely makes it do one. My mother had some funky washing machines in her lifetime, and despite her low level of education and absolute terror of computers, she always made them work the way she wanted. Why?
The example in Don Norman's book is an extremely educated couple. I am sure they can operate any kind of technology they need to get their work done. But do they even care about the process of laundry? My mother would recognize materials by touch, she knew the nature of different colours (blue bleeds more easily than red), she would distinguish between weaves and was deeply offended by blends that changed the properties of all materials included. She'd treat each piece of clothing belonging to a large family individually, and the washing disasters with mixed colours were normally the fault of her not-that-focused daughters. In many ways, my mother was like the Austrian bus driver in another of Don Norman's examples, who, when asked if it wasn't difficult to keep track of everything in his complex panel answered "it's all where it should be."
Now we're getting where I want to. Yes, to a certain extent design is bad because it invites error. However: to a certain extent design is bad because it assumes people are all the same. We believe doing laundry is a simple task, because we all have to do it. It's knowledge we aren't trained or certified for, and so it has to be easy. Driving a bus, on the other hand, includes rigorous training and strict certification. It has to be complex. A complex washing machine causes frustration with the design, a complex bus causes respect for the handler.
Next couple that with gender theory, and we start to see one of the reasons why telephone systems are allowed to be designed as such horribly impractical tools. Most professional phone operators are women. They work a tool which we all use, and so we believe it's simple. They have jobs they are not certified for and which require very little special training. Also, where the bus driver might kill his passengers if he didn't find everything right at hand, nobody dies from a missed call (unlike it's to an emergency call center, and I suspect their systems don't look much like the ones Don Normal describes).
My mother loved to be able to adjust her washing machine to do exactly what she wanted. The bus driver probably has the same feeling about his bus. I love the huge clunky windows machine that I use for gaming, because it lets me do the same thing. I am a lot more frustrated by the apple machine I have through work, because it treats me like an idiot, "simplifying" things I want to do by hand. I use it as a compromise between weight, size and certain functions, and grind my teeth when it calls me stupid by making so many decisions for me. If I was a different kind of user, I'd probably worship it by now, just like I want my car to be simple to drive, and I would not buy a washing machines with functions I didn't recognize the use for.
So: Good design of everyday things is user-centered and based on tests, I am all with Norman there. I would however like to see him question the many places where he says "natural", possibly exchanging several of those with "cultural." After all, most desicions which feel natural to us aren't. They are cultural. Another example from the book: He has tied a string around his closet door in able to open it. At that age, I'd have been down in my father's workshop, looking for a door-knob. That was the culturally logical, available solution to me, and since I thought all fathers had a fully equipped workshop, it also would seem natural. The string was a very clever idea though! | <urn:uuid:ee2fa198-ce65-469a-b29e-f6db20e0202f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://torillsin.blogspot.com/2011/02/design-nature-and-culture.html?showComment=1297673193155 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983684 | 1,293 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Nov. 1, 2012 People who undergo repeated surgeries to remove glioblastomas -- the most aggressive and deadliest type of brain tumors -- may survive longer than those who have just a one-time operation, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.
Glioblastoma, the brain cancer that killed Sen. Edward Kennedy, inevitably returns after tumor-removal surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation. The median survival time after diagnosis is only 14 months. With recurrence a near certainty, experts say, many have questioned the value of performing second, third or even fourth operations, especially given the dangers of brain surgery, including the risk of neurological injury or death.
"We are reluctant to operate on patients with brain cancer multiple times as we are afraid to incur new neurological deficits or poor wound healing, and many times we are pessimistic about the survival chances of these patients," says Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, M.D., a professor of neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the study published recently in the Journal of Neurosurgery. "But this study tells us that the more we operate, the longer they may survive. We should not give up on these patients."
For the study, Quinones-Hinojosa and his team reviewed the records of 578 patients who underwent surgery to remove a glioblastoma between 1997 and 2007 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. At the last follow-up, 354 patients had one surgery, 168 had two resections, and 41 and 15 patients had three and four operations, respectively. The median survival for patients who underwent one, two, three and four operations was 6.8 months, 15.5 months, 22.4 months and 26.6 months, respectively.
Quinones-Hinojosa cautions that his analysis may overestimate the value of multiple surgeries based on patient selection, and that it's possible that the patients who did better had tumors with a biology that predisposed them to live longer. Further research will need to confirm his more positive conclusion.
Glioblastomas are cancerous tumors that become deeply intertwined with healthy brain tissue and, as a result, are difficult to remove. They are notoriously difficult to eradicate with surgery alone. "The only thing that has been proven to work for glioblastoma throughout history is surgery," Quinones-Hinojosa says. "Without surgery, these patients don't have much of a chance."
Along with reducing the size of tumors, repeated surgeries may also increase the efficacy of radiation and chemotherapy.
Quinones-Hinojosa says with each successive surgery, the procedure itself becomes more technically challenging as the anatomy changes, blood vessels are damaged and tissues become frail.
Patients, their families and their doctors must determine whether repeated surgery is the best course of action, weighing the potential risks against the potential benefits, Quinones-Hinojosa says. The procedure should only be done if it can be done relatively safely and patients can tolerate anesthesia and the long recovery period.
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- Kaisorn L. Chaichana, Patricia Zadnik, Jon D. Weingart, Alessandro Olivi, Gary L. Gallia, Jaishri Blakeley, Michael Lim, Henry Brem, Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa. Multiple resections for patients with glioblastoma: prolonging survival. Journal of Neurosurgery, 2012; : 1 DOI: 10.3171/2012.9.JNS1277
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:2c7eca93-1055-478d-b831-61189f3ccc80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121101073154.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942732 | 773 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Little remarks like, "And [sic] she breastfeeds, and will continue to do so until such time that her child opts to swap breast for sippy cup. Or maybe just a regular drinking glass." made in the article speak to the underlying misconceptions people have about what is generally called attachment parenting (AKA intuitive parenting, responsive parenting, peaceful parenting, gentle parenting and several other monikers, too, no doubt).
A good friend of mine and the co-leader of the local group I run for attachment minded families often says, "Attachment parenting isn't about not saying no, it's about saying no with compassion." and she is so, so right. One need only read the comments on the article linked above to see what a bad rap us gentle parents get from un/misinformed individuals. People are sure we're insane and so permissive that we're totally ruining our children. One person goes so far as to comment, "Children need to be told No [sic], often and firmly." Wow, I'd hate to be that person's kid... And for the record, permissive parenting is something altogether different from attachment parenting. That's why one is called attachment parenting and the other is called permissive parenting.
Being AP isn't about keeping to a set of actions that are required from some list in a book or on a website, as the media has been making it out to be. Sure, there are things which are known to assist in fostering healthy attachment, such as Attachment Parenting International's principles or Dr. Sears' Baby B's but all the focus on the actions - particularly breastfeeding, babywearing and close sleeping - is missing the bigger picture. To be AP, you don't have to do all or even most of these things, necessarily. Attachment parenting isn't about things or actions at all, it's about feelings and connection. It's about understanding and empathy. It's about the fact that children are people, too and are worthy of just as much respect, love and understanding (in my opinion much more, actually) than any adult. It's about imagining what it must be like to be a child and remembering how things made you feel when you were little. It's about remembering that children have a very smal frame of reference for life experience and hardship coupled with immature emotional processing capabilities and a very small set of coping mechanisms. It's about understanding that children look to you for guidance. It's about treating your child as an individual with specialized needs and desires, with feelings and dreams, with a strong desire to please you and not abusing your position of power in their lives. It's about setting an example for your child of the kind of person you want them to be.
I want my child(ren) to grow up to be loving, sympathetic, empathetic, generous, kind, gentle, compassionate, motivated, cooperative, easy-going, accommodating, soft-tempered, thoughtful and friendly. Since they'll be watching me and their father more closely than anyone else in their lives for cues and examples of what kind of person to be, I must deal with them and with others in my life using those virtues if I want them to do the same.
Being a gentle parent means welcoming a child as they are without pushing them to the next stage. Children are dependent because they're children, not because they need to be forced into independence. Dependence begets independence. It's a natural and instinctive drive in all species to become independent, it's just that humans take longer than any other species to do it. When a child is allowed to be dependent and not pushed or prodded toward independence, this inherent drive will manifest and unfold slowly over time. When children's dependency needs are met, they feel safe and secure to venture forth more and more independently.
What's more, no one is truly independent. We all lean on one another for various things because the nature of our species is to be communal. As adults, we turn to others for support in times of need and we should teach our children that seeking out support (physical, emotional, spiritual, at work, at home, with friends, etc.) is healthy, normal, effective and positive. If people were more willing/able to say what they need, express their feelings and needs in a healthy way and ask for help, the world would be better, not worse, for it. Emotionally connected children who know their feelings and needs are important to their parents (even when the answer is no) are better able to accept and work through disappointment and be resilient, they are better at expressing themselves in healthy ways, they are happier, they have fewer behaviour problems and they grow into empathetic, emotionally stable, well-adjusted adults.
"I believe in radical acceptance, respect and equality for children. Anything else is assuming they are not yet human beings." -Sharon W. Allison
"The first thing you have to do if you want to raise nice kids, is you have to talk to them like they are people instead of talking to them like they're property." -Frank Zappa
"Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff." ~Catherine M. Wallace | <urn:uuid:cb4356a3-1fb1-4ea6-af40-2232ef027711> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.befrankwithyou.blogspot.com/2012/05/in-light-of-recent-media-buzz.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973024 | 1,109 | 1.929688 | 2 |
All Things Census
Our new report on the Millennial generation includes a chapter that uses Census data to compare the demographic makeup, living arrangements and life experiences of this group of teens and twenty-somethings with older Americans when they were the same age. Census numbers also are the basis of an interactive graphic comparing the generations.
Overall, Millennials are more racially and ethnically diverse than older generations, more educated, less likely to be working and slower to settle down.
When the Census Bureau counts prisoners, they are tallied at their prison addresses because that is their usual residence under census rules. Some government officials and advocates have urged the Census Bureau to count prisoners at their home addresses, arguing that counting them in prisons gives disproportionate power to the areas (often rural) where those facilities are located. This week, the Census Bureau agreed to give states more power to address this issue themselves when 2010 Census numbers come out.
Census population totals are used to draw the boundaries of state legislative districts or other voting districts, which by law must be of equal size. To illustrate the outsize power that some prison communities have, one advocacy group cites the example of Anamosa, Iowa, where counting the non-voting inmates in a prison gave the 56 people living in the ward where it was located effectively as much influence as the 1,374 people living in each of the other wards. The city later abolished the prison district. An evaluation of census residence rules in 2006 by the National Research Council (part of the National Academy of Sciences) said the evidence is “compelling” that political inequities result from current practice.
Bureau officials say it is impractical to count prisoners at their home addresses for a variety of reasons. For example, would a prisoner serving a life sentence be counted in a community in which he has not lived for decades? The National Research Council report agreed that currently it is not practical to do that, but said that improved record-keeping and census-taking procedures might make it possible.
Short of that, the council urged the bureau to provide detailed counts of prison populations at the census tract or block level more quickly, so as to help states and localities decide on their own whether to exclude inmates in drawing up boundaries of legislative and other voting districts. The Census Bureau by law must provide block-level basic population data by April 1, 2011 to help states with their redistricting process. Under the usual timetable, the detailed data about prisoners might not be available until summer of 2011. According to advocacy organizations and news accounts, the bureau has committed to produce the detailed data by May 2011.
Journalists Ron Nixon of the New York Times and Paul Overberg of USA Today presented a workshop for journalists on how to cover the 2010 Census at the Pew Research Center Jan. 21. The session was moderated by D’Vera Cohn, a senior writer at the center and the former demographics reporter for The Washington Post. The workshop was co-sponsored by Investigative Reporters and Editors.
In the following edited excerpts, ellipses have been omitted to facilitate reading.
D’VERA COHN: I’d like to welcome you to the second part of our Census 2010 event, a workshop for journalists. First I want to thank our cosponsor, IRE, and especially its director Mark Horvit for agreeing to put this on with us. IRE, as many of you know, offers training, data and expertise. I know they’re planning to ramp up their ability to reach out and help journalists with the 2010 Census.
We at the Pew Research Center also have plans and some things that have already been implemented to report on the findings and methods of the census itself. We launched an “All Things Census” page yesterday with postings about census findings and methods, which will include some of our work as well as links to work from around the country, including some news stories. So please send us links to your stories if you think we should comment on them.
We released a poll yesterday that was mentioned in the first session about census attitudes and awareness. We’re doing our own line of research on this, I might add, independent of the Census Bureau. They didn’t have a voice in designing the questionnaire, which is about what people know of the census and what their plans are to answer forms or not answer their forms.
In keeping with our informal spirit, I won’t give you a long introduction for our speakers except to say our first speaker, Ron Nixon, has had years of experience with data, working for IRE, working in Minneapolis and now as a projects journalist for the New York Times in Washington. Paul Overberg has been the database guru at USA Today for many years. I think he may know more about the census than some people at the bureau itself. I think between the two of them we’ve got it covered. Read more
The Census Bureau’s $2.5 million purchase of a 30-second ad during the third quarter of Sunday’s televised Super Bowl is making news today, following criticism from U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who called the buy “out of touch with what’s going on in the real world” where Americans are hurting because of the poor economy.
The Census Bureau defended the ad, saying its own research indicates that few Americans are aware the 2010 Census is coming in March, and the Super Bowl ads are a much-talked-about means of building that awareness.
By midday, McCain’s criticism, and the Census Bureau’s defense, had generated items in The Washington Post, The Hill blog, as well as Fox News (where McCain raised his objections to the ad yesterday).
A recent Pew Research Center survey about census awareness found that most Americans know something about the census and think positively of it, but that knowledge and positive attitudes are lower among some key sub-groups.
As to whether census advertising is effective, an evaluation of the 2000 Census by the National Research Council, cited in yesterday’s posting, said that linking ads to individual behavior is “typically very difficult in market research,” but it was “likely” that advertising and other outreach boosted participation, in part by creating a wave of good feeling about the national headcount.
One of the paid ads that will air during Sunday’s Super Bowl will be promoting the 2010 Census, telling Americans that it’s coming soon and urging them to participate. By the time Census Day arrives April 1, the Census Bureau will be one of the nation’s biggest ad buyers. It has budgeted $140 million for the campaign.
What is known about whether these types of ads work? How will the Census Bureau measure success?
Census Bureau Director Robert Groves was asked about that topic during a recent forum on the 2010 Census at the Pew Research Center.
Researchers generally are reluctant to say that a specific trigger was the only cause of a specific behavior, because in the real world, there are many other potential factors in play. Speaking as a social scientist on the link between advertising and Census participation, Groves said, “We can’t provide that causal link.”
However, he added, “We can make pretty good arguments,” some of them based on past experience. After the 2000 Census, an evaluation by the National Research Council (part of the National Academy of Sciences) said it was “likely” that paid advertising helped raise the participation rate. Read more
Jeffrey S. Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Research Center, spoke at a forum on the 2010 Census on Jan. 21 about challenges the Census Bureau faces in attempting to count everybody. He also talked about the potential problem of differing data from the 2010 Census and American Community Survey. The event was held at the center; it also was sponsored by the American Statistical Association and the DC chapter of the American Association of Public Opinion Research.
In this edited transcript, ellipses are not used in order to facilitate reading.
I’m going to talk about the next year to two years. The Census Bureau has in many ways, I think, had an extraordinary decade. Not without issues, but I’m going to focus more on the positive than the negative.
Census 2000 was in many ways extremely successful. The net undercount was very low, notwithstanding some issues of duplicates. The black/not-black difference in coverage was reduced substantially. They reached a timely decision not to adjust. Be it right or wrong, they did it on time and they got data out in a very usable way very quickly. The challenge in many ways, I think, is to repeat that and do at least as well and hopefully improve.
The second challenge is the American Community Survey. It may not be the war, the army of the census, but it’s close. And it’s been rather remarkable. It has changed the culture of the Census Bureau in many ways, some very apparent and some subtle in the way the analysts at the Census Bureau work. Read more
Joseph Salvo, New York City’s in-house demographic consultant, spoke at a Jan. 21 forum on the 2010 Census at the Pew Research Center about how building a strong address list is a key task to ensure that no one is missed in the census count. Salvo, director of the Population Division at the New York City Department of City Planning, discussed how officials in his city reviewed and expanded the list of addresses to be contacted by 2010 Census officials. He also suggested ways to improve the address-review process.
In the following edited excerpts, ellipses have been omitted to facilitate reading.
The Master Address File is the foundation for the census. Everyone needs to be tied to a location. It’s the basis for representation. Irrespective of what vehicles you use to collect data, you need to be tied to an address of some sort.
The creation, review or correction of this master list of addresses is a critical process, and one that is very near and dear. I want to tell you a little bit about what we’ve done in New York City and raise some issues, get you thinking as we move forward.
The current system as it exists essentially provides for systematic updates of this master list of addresses. It’s done through the U.S. Postal Service, where the Postal Service delivers information to the Census Bureau, and the Census Bureau updates new housing units that come on line. And there are field efforts in rural areas that are used to update the address list. Read more
Constance F. Citro, director of the Committee on National Statistics at the National Academy of Sciences, spoke about the challenges of conducting the 2010 Census and the need to plan now for the 2020 count at the Pew Research Center last week. The committee has evaluated major aspects of every census since the 1980 count.
She made her remarks at a Jan. 21 forum on the 2010 Census that was co-hosted by the center, the Washington Statistical Society and the DC chapter of the American Association of Public Opinion Research. In the following edited excerpts, ellipses have been omitted to facilitate reading.
The Committee on National Statistics is a standing committee of the National Academy of Sciences. Its members serve pro bono. [Census Director] Bob Groves was a distinguished member of the committee for a number of years. We’ve been around since 1972 and we have done work on the census almost without interruption since that time.
Our first report was a quick review of the plans for the 1980 Census. And I want to point out that it actually recommended paid advertising as opposed to public service announcements. Well, that was not done in 1980; it was not done in 1990. But it was done in 2000 and, from what we have heard, it looks like the 2010 program is a step up from 2000.
Our newest study will look at the 2010 Census and, in particular, look forward to 2020. The study panel is chaired by Janet Norwood, the former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Tom Cook, who is a systems engineer member of the National Academy of Engineering. Read more
The transcript of Census Bureau Director Robert Groves’ remarks on the 2010 Census at the Pew Research Center last week is available. It includes several of the slides that he used to illustrate his talk.
Groves appeared at a Jan. 21 forum co-sponsored by the center, the Washington Statistical Society and the Washington chapter of the American Association of Public Opinion Research. His presentation went into detail about the agency’s operations and outreach plans that are intended to produce as complete a count as possible of all U.S. residents. He also spoke about plans to track participation in real time, and to perform a post-census evaluation.
Audio of Groves’ presentation was posted earlier on this site. More material from the event will be posted soon.
The population clock on the All Things Census page is derived using national-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which produces estimates of the country’s total resident population and the components that are the building blocks of demographic change.
Those components include births, deaths and net international migration, computed using data from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics. In December 2009, the Census Bureau estimated there was a birth every eight seconds, a death every 12 seconds and one net new immigrant every 37 seconds.
The population clock updates these changes at regular intervals, although in reality, these events are not evenly spaced. There are fewer births on weekends, for example, than on weekdays.
A more detailed report on the methodology of calculating population estimates is on the U.S. Census Bureau website. | <urn:uuid:16d279ad-3e1f-4484-807e-e7d78f6dac10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/category/all-things-census/page/16/?setDevice=desktop | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963534 | 2,838 | 3.15625 | 3 |
iPhoto is an application software licensed to Apple Inc. It is exclusively used in the Mac OS X and comes as a bundle application with every new Macintosh PCs. This software allows you to import from various sources like the digital cameras, scanners, CDs and internet. Most of the image file formats are supported by the iPhoto.
Once you have imported the photos, you can put title, label the photo, sort and organise them into groups. Photos can be edited individually using tools. Basic image editing like red-eye filter, contrast and brightness adjustment, cropping and resizing etc. can be done very easily with the help of this software. But iPhone does not match with the functionalities of Adobe’s Photoshop and its likes. Once the editing is done, you can now happily share your favourite photos with others. You can create albums or even make slide shows. Add your favourite music to these albums or slideshows with the help of iTunes. You can actually get these slideshows exported to QuickTime and then convert them in iMovie or directly burn them on a DVD. You can also share these pictures/ albums/ slideshows with other Mac users through local network using Bonjour “zero-configuration” technology. Upload them to Apple’s MobileMe by using any simplified web publishing technology. If you got an iPod with colour display, you can sync your photos from iPhoto to iPod. iPod, which has both audio and video display can turn into a modern television by using this technology. By using iPhoto, you can directly order for different kinds of prints of your photo through Kodak. iPhoto is revolutionising the photo viewing and photo sharing experiences for the users.
Поделиться в соц. сетях | <urn:uuid:ad851ecd-d5e4-40bc-832f-6930ad3922ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iphoneyabber.com/iphoto-makes-photo-sharing-easier/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900815 | 374 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Extra, Extra, Read All About It
There are hundreds of astronomy clubs and astronomical societies in the world, and one thing almost all of them have in common is they produce a monthly newsletter. Not too surprisingly, a lot of them have very similar names, like 'Prime Focus' or 'The Reflector'. Put together by volunteers, some of these newsletters are first rate publications. I've seen some that have full color layouts and typesetting like a magazine you could buy off the rack.
The newsletter editors of these clubs and societies deserve a pat on the back for all the hard work they do keeping their members informed and entertained month after month. It's not easy. One thing all these editors have in common is the never ending challenge of trying to come up with interesting, relevant content to fill their pages. That is where the AAVSO can help.
The AAVSO Writers Bureau is a free service for astronomy clubs and astronomical societies that provides articles and illustrations for publication. It is a password protected blog, featuring hundreds of articles written by science and astronomy bloggers who have given permission to have their copyrighted content reproduced in monthly astronomy newsletters free of charge. The articles are almost exclusively about stellar astronomy and the Sun: variable stars, stellar evolution, exoplanet transits, supernovae, aurora, space weather, sunspots, etc. We are the AAVSO after all, so you won't find pieces on the Moon, Jupiter or the Great Pluto Debate.
If you are the newsletter editor of your club, or if you think your newsletter editor would find this useful, contact us at email@example.com for more information. | <urn:uuid:9cd1696d-3d87-48e1-9d6f-36709346c0e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aavso.org/extra-extra-read-all-about-it | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931647 | 339 | 1.835938 | 2 |
|Camden County, North Carolina|
Location in the state of North Carolina
North Carolina's location in the U.S.
306 sq mi (793 km²)
241 sq mi (624 km²)
65 sq mi (168 km²), 21.27%
28/sq mi (11/km²)
Camden County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010, the population was 9,980. Its county seat is the community of Camden. Camden County is the first and only consolidated city-county in the state. It is part of the Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The county was formed in 1777 from the northeastern part of Pasquotank County. It was named for Charles Pratt, 1st Lord Camden, who had opposed the Stamp Act. The county is the site of the southern terminus of the Dismal Swamp Canal and was the location of the Battle of South Mills on April 19, 1862 during the American Civil War which brought a minor victory to the Confederacy.
Camden County is a member of the Albemarle Commission regional council of governments.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 306 square miles (792.5 km2), of which 241 square miles (624.2 km2) is land and 65 square miles (168.3 km2) (21.27%) is water.
The county is divided into three townships: Courthouse, Shiloh, and South Mills.
Adjacent counties and independent cities Edit
- Chesapeake, Virginia - north
- Currituck County, North Carolina - northeast
- Tyrrell County, North Carolina - south-southwest (across Albemarle Sound)
- Pasquotank County, North Carolina - southwest
- Gates County, North Carolina - northwest
- Suffolk, Virginia - north-northwest
|Gates County and Suffolk, Virginia||Chesapeake, Virginia||Currituck County|
Camden County, North Carolina
|Pasquotank County||Albemarle Sound|
National protected areaEdit
There are five schools in Camden county: Grandy Primary School, Camden Intermediate School, Camden Middle School, Camden County High School, and CamTech High School. However one other former school lies in Shiloh. It was a community school for the Shiloh area. The school is now home to a general store with the Topside Restaurant on top. The Shiloh School sign is still visible on the top of the facade at the front of the building.
As of the census of 2010, there were 9,980 people, 2,662 households, and 2,023 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile (11/km²). There were 2,973 housing units at an average density of 12/sq mi (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 82.1% White, 13.2% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. 2.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 2,662 households out of which 31.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.00% were non-families. 20.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.50% under the age of 18, 6.30% from 18 to 24, 30.50% from 25 to 44, 25.20% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,493, and the median income for a family was $45,387. Males had a median income of $36,274 versus $24,875 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,681. 10.10% of the population and 7.90% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 12.60% are under the age of 18 and 20.30% are 65 or older.
Cities and townsEdit
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "People Called Baptists". Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. http://www.bscnc.org/insidebscnc/historymission/peoplecalledbaptist.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-03.
- ^ Camden County Government - Board of Commissioners - February 10, 2006
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
|This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Camden County, North Carolina. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.| | <urn:uuid:7e8fd7a6-7cb6-4f29-a802-f4f075c29f89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Camden_County,_North_Carolina | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952837 | 1,205 | 2.359375 | 2 |
In a matter of hours and as constituents filled the Michigan state Capitol in protest, conservative members of Michigan’s legislature introduced, debated, and then passed controversial “right-to-work” legislation during a lame duck session. Progressive States Network, a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the work of progressive state legislators around the country, released a statement strongly opposing the policy.
Frustrated by stagnation in the job market and in statehouses alike, worker advocates have increasingly taken to direct democracy and local governments to balance the economy in 2012. A combination of political gridlock in Congress and many state legislatures since the 2010 elections has largely stalled a wave of progress led by states raising workplace standards like the minimum wage and paid sick leave, as well as toughening up laws to combat workplace violations like wage theft and payroll fraud. Over the last year, advocates have turned to ballot initiatives and local government measures, where the immense levels of popular support for workplace fairness policies historically have proven likely to carry the day. But, unwilling to let such clear majorities carry the day, conservative business lobbies have rolled out a range of increasingly ruthless tactics to roll back and block progress.
New Census data reported just this week painted a distressing picture: 46.2 million Americans still in poverty in 2011, median household income declining by 1.5 percent, and rising income inequality. As a snapshot of an America three years removed from the end of the Great Recession, the numbers serve as an important reminder that it's not just the tepid growth in jobs, but the increasing lack of good jobs and the slow corrosion of the middle class that should be the chief concern of lawmakers.
With Census Bureau statistics released this week showing inequality rising and median household income declining to the lowest level in 16 years, Progressive States Network joined more than 20 of America’s leading organizations on work and the economy today in releasing a plan outlining 10 specific ways to rebuild America’s middle class. The new report recommends concrete proposals to strengthen the economy for the long-term by creating good jobs and addressing the economic insecurity that has spread to millions of U.S. families.
This report, released by more than 20 of America’s leading organizations on work and the economy, describes common sense policies towards making today’s jobs better and tomorrow’s jobs good. The core value guiding this road map is that work lies at the center of a robust and sustainable economy; that all work has dignity; and that through work, all of us should be able to support our families, educate our children and enjoy our retirements.
This fall, voters in some states and cities will have the chance to do more than just push back. Initiatives are on the ballot that would directly confront the destruction that austerity economics has wrought on communities, while building national momentum behind policies to revitalize our economy and protect our democracy. All kinds of issues are at stake, from workers’ rights to corporate influence in politics, to whether corporations and the luckiest few will pay their fair share in taxes. While voters will be electing a president, governors, Congress, and thousands of state legislators this November 6, here are a few places where a progressive vision will also be on the ballot:
Stealing hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of dollars is, generally speaking, a risky proposition. Take it from a wallet, or a private house, or a bank — and get caught — and chances are good that criminal prosecution awaits. There’s an exception to this rule though, a loophole that’s especially gaping in Philadelphia: Steal from your employees, do it openly and flagrantly, and your worst-case scenario is generally just a civil lawsuit. Best-case — and most likely — scenario: You get away scot-free. | <urn:uuid:746d1505-3e4a-453d-8a47-cbe53a754fee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://progressivestates.org/tags/economic-security?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946984 | 775 | 1.914063 | 2 |
The Development Gateway has released an open source software tool that organizations can use to coordinate international aid, relief and other development efforts. Called the Local Projects Database (LPD), this tool can be downloaded from the web. (See http://lpd.sourceforge.net/.) The tool consolidates project, organization, and contact data to share among development organizations at work in a particular country or region, enabling communications among these organizations through a web interface. The LPD is based on well-accepted standards for the exchange of project information and is being piloted by our Country Gateways in Colombia, Mongolia, Morocco, Poland, and Romania. | <urn:uuid:a393d0aa-869e-42b4-8c51-f34bd7c4cf5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.itu.int/wsis/stocktaking/scripts/documents.asp?project=1128215696&lang=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904103 | 130 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Have you heard the term gluten-free? If you haven’t, it appears you’ve been living under a rock, as the term is causing a serious buzz in the food world.
From celebrities to food trendies, just about everyone is promoting a “Gluten-Free Lifestyle.” The guten-free diet fad is everywhere — there are gluten-free expos, gluten-free cosmetics and even gluten-free pizza.
That said, consuming foods free of gluten is not a choice but a necessity for about one per cent of the North American population who suffer from celiac disease. Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten. My friend, Albert Mondor, suffers from celiac and, after spending some time with him at a local restaurant, I became aware of how limited his food choices are. In fact most people suffering from celiac bring their own foods with them, including Albert.
After seeing and hearing about Albert’s food challenges, I decided to try a gluten-free lifestyle. With all the hype I expected to lose weight, not be so bloated and overall, feel healthier. The results? After three weeks I didn’t lose a pound, in fact I gained weight — about five pounds! It turns out many packaged gluten-free foods are higher in carbs, sugar and fats. I also found out they are lower in vitamins, fibre and iron compared to their regular counterparts. Not all gluten-free foods are nutritious. In fact a University of Chicago Celiac Disease study of 188 patients on gluten-free diets for two years found 81% had gained weight and over 40% had a BMI (body mass index) in the “overweight” range of greater than 25.
Finding healthy gluten-free choices is not easy but possible. My favourite “healthy” gluten-free choice is quinoa. Truth be told I found little difference after following the “gluten-free lifestyle.” The only difference for me was the hit to my pocketbook as most gluten-free foods are more expensive.
I’m lucky I don’t have gluten issues and sensitivities and I have a deeper appreciation for the challenges faced by people like my friend Albert.
For everyone else, I find the best way to eat healthy is to avoid starch, white sugars and refined carbs — eat real, wholesome foods. Locally grown and produced, of course!
Frank Ferragine is the weather and gardening specialist for Breakfast Television Toronto on Citytv, and appears regularly on CityLine. His first book, Frankie Flowers Get Growing (HarperCollins) is now available. Follow Frank on twitter @frankferragine or email firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:a1cc99f6-d00d-44d6-a062-50e7bed9a421> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.torontosun.com/2012/11/13/get-the-goods-on-gluten | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95686 | 597 | 1.601563 | 2 |