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my kids are 1 and 2. should i be reading to by 1 and 2 year old every night before bedtime?
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Misty - posted on 09/11/2009
Yes you can never read too much to any child. If you do it at bed time every night it establishes a routine for them so when they get older they might be easier to put to bed. It also helped with my sons vocabulary he is now 6 & brings home what I call science books because they are books about animals & bugs he loves to read things like that.
Becky - posted on 09/10/2009
Hi Ermine! I don't read to my son even though I love to read, but I find that when I have tried, he is only interested in 1. looking at something else or 2. ripping the pages out of the book! He is 10 months and is constantly on the go-go-go, but everything I have heard from other people is that it is really good to read to them. Good luck!
Jessica - posted on 09/10/2009
Yes, the younger you start the better it is. I seen that there was some kind of study that proved young children that were read to get better grades and love to read. I've been reading to my daughter since she was newborn and so far she has been doing great in school, but then she is only in first grade.
Sara - posted on 09/10/2009
I have been reading to my kids every night since they were six months old. But, by every night I mean, about five nights a week and about a half an hour. I give myself some wiggle room to not do it every single night and if I have a bad week where I am tired or sick, then I dont beat myself up and just try to do better. It helps me a lot to read books that I like. For instance right now I am reading the Bridge to Terabithia to Alexis and Noah, who are three and two. If I come across a part that I think is not ok for them or a word that would upset them, I make up something else or skip it. I enjoy it and they sleep better. Warm wishes.
Jessica - posted on 09/10/2009
I work full time so understand how tired you can be by the time bed time rolls around. However, I did read to my son every night. It was great to have that time with him after being busy all day -- which he really needed that alone time with mom. My son is 8 now and reading at a 7th grade level. He loves to read!
Khadijah - posted on 09/10/2009
Definitely yes!! I have been reading to my twin girls since they first learn to hold their heads up. They at 7 months old now and they love the books now more than ever and sit quietly when I am reading and love, love, love, all the colorful pictures in the book. I am a avid reader myself and I was expose to reading very early on as a child. I was in spelling bee's, book clubs, drama, loved english and literature in school, and all sorts of things because of it and I am hoping they will gain the same from it.
Its so rewarding for them and you as well and the kids love it!
Queenee - posted on 09/09/2009
It does not hurt. Reading to and with your children is a great way to spend time together and unwind. When you read with your child make sure that they are looking at the pages with you and point to the words it helps them...they might even surprise you and read along with you the words they recognize. | <urn:uuid:1fe253cd-7554-4f99-9871-ba5921efe4eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.circleofmoms.com/working-mums/my-kids-are-1-and-2-should-i-be-reading-to-by-1-and-2-year-old-every-night-before-bedtime-372924/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98263 | 796 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Foot and Ankle Disorders
Did you know the foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles, and numerous tendons? These parts all work together to allow the foot to move in a variety of ways while balancing your weight and propelling you forward or backward on even or uneven surfaces. It is no wonder that 75 percent of all Americans will experience foot problems at one point or another in their lifetimes.
Click on the categories below to read articles on foot disorders and conditions. | <urn:uuid:c321273b-a194-4d35-bbb7-65deed409818> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clevelandfoot.com/resources.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903277 | 102 | 2.65625 | 3 |
A stone’s throw away from Janpath, a crowd has descended on Delhi’s Parliament Street, asking for an end to violence against women.
But unlike other protests, where slogans or speeches overwhelm, here a group of young people is dancing, cheered on by a large crowd of onlookers and media persons.
“Dance is a beautiful way of getting people together,” says artist Swapna Maini, one of the leading dancers. “Even one person dancing on the street is a big thing.”
A flash mob — random people coming together seemingly spontaneously at a public place to dance — has seen its popularity grow as a platform for protest across the world and in India, particularly in the last couple of years.
If every generation has its own method of protest, ‘cause’ mobs and street dances of today’s Gen Y have taken over from street theatre groups and fasts.
But how far can such gatherings which last a few minutes further a cause?
Eve Ensler, playwright and founder of the ‘One Billion Rising’ campaign, hopes that for Delhi, still reeling from the brutal gang rape incident and the protests that followed, the campaign succeeds in “fanning that fire”.
The movement found resonance across the country.
In Kolkata, various NGOs and colleges took part, organising dance performances at Shahid Minar while students at the city’s schools distributed leaflets focusing on crimes against women.
In Lucknow, thousands of dupattas were formed into a chain by participants, who also sang songs and raised slogans.
Bangalore’s famous Cubbon Park saw the city’s women organisations come together with hundreds of citizens to mark the occasion. Similar events were held in Shimla, Imphal, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Jaipur.
The government, sensing the nation’s mood, had hurriedly passed an anti-rape ordinance this month. However, for many, this was still a far cry from the change they wanted to see.
For film-maker Reecha Upadhyay, one of the coordinators of the ‘Delhi Rising’ group, it was all about channeling her anger into something bigger. “I went online and I found others who also wanted to continue the momentum.”
Why flash mobs?
“For any protest to be effective, it must be eye-catching. Something out of the ordinary, otherwise it will not attract attention,” says Kamalini Mukherjee, a research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The reasons why such mobs are popular are evident. “The frivolity of it!” says Mukherjee. Upadhyay agrees.
“Dancing is different from the usual sort of depressive marches. You’re out in the street, occupying public space and awaking the world through an act of empowerment.”
At last count, the promotional videos put up by Delhi Rising had garnered over 40,000 hits.
But one can’t help wondering, after the music stops and the dancers go home, does a flash mob count for anything?
(Inputs from Kolkata, Lucknow, Shimla, Imphal and Bangalore) | <urn:uuid:1487c5c0-d5ab-43e4-841a-c1487d4efa19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/newdelhi/Dancing-their-way-into-the-hearts-and-minds-of-people/Article1-1011878.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958488 | 684 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Library news, events, links, and reviews from Texas!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Art of the Pitch
There are more novels written about the sport of baseball than any other sport. The structure of this timeless game lends itself well to exploring some of fiction's most common themes: death, love, friendship, honor, and identity. These novels that feature baseball use the sport to explore other challenges in the lives of the characters, as well as providing an opportunity for some base-stealing, bat-cracking, super-fly fielding action and conflict.
Chabon, Michael.Summerland.In the Summerland of Clam Island, Washington it never rains, thus, baseball is played year-round and inspires almost religious devotion among its residents, except for one, Ethan Feld. Ethan plays for the local team and is the worst player they've ever seen, and freely admits it. Yet, Ethan is the only person on the island who will be able to save the magical Summerland ball field and its threatened unseen natives, the ferishers, from the wily spirit-god, Coyote. Full of magical flights of fancy in air-light dirigibles, fantastic creatures such as the willful Spider Ann, the motherly beast Taffy, and a rag-tag team of fairy-tale ballplayers, it all depends on the crack of a bat and a ball in a glove if all the worlds are to remain in peaceful balance. Lots of baseball lore mixed with legends from Native American and other traditional sources.
Harbach, Chad.The Art of Fielding. At Westish College in Wisconsin, the baseball team is hoping to capture a national championship. Henry Skrimshander and Mike Schwartz, idolized by the younger players, bring their enormous talent to the field along with their personal hopes and expectations. With Zen-like meditations on the art of baseball, complex interpersonal relationships, and unexpected slumps, this novel covers the full range of what can happen in life -- and baseball.
Lupica, Mike.Wild Pitch.One of the great things about baseball is that eventually, a player gets a second chance. When "Showtime" Charlie Stoddard's second chance finds him, he's a washed-up, girl-chasing boozehound who signs baseball cards for kids who ask him who he used to be. With the help of an unorthodox therapist named Chang, Charlie believes he may have his pitching arm back, and what a coincidence! The Red Sox need a pitcher! Charlie hopes to turn his life around, get back with his ex-wife, reconnect with his son, who will not acknowledge Charlie's existence, and, maybe, earn a berth at Cooperstown.
Parker, Robert B.Double Play.The Grand Master of Mystery turns his attention to his lifelong love of baseball in a tense novel about Jackie Robinson's first year with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Dodger manager Branch Rickey knows history is unfolding, but he's more interested in keeping Robinson healthy enough to take the field. Rickey hires WWI veteran Joseph Burke to guard Robinson, and the two men find themselves involved in a plot to assassinate them both. Robinson has more to protect than his life — he has a career and family. Burke has lost the only thing he cares about and his life is secondary. Full of colorful supporting characters, both fictitious and real, rapid dialogue, and a suspenseful pace, Parker inserts himself into the story by recalling the summer of 1947 and the impact this historic athletic moment had on his own life. | <urn:uuid:b23c69ea-da7c-47f3-8025-c84b088fadd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://southlakelibrary.blogspot.com/2012/05/art-of-pitch.html?showComment=1337723274509 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961755 | 721 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Out of the Sea Came Pirates/The Golden Age of Piracy in Hampton Roads by Mark St. John Erickson, The Daily Press, 2012. Hampton Roads and the lower Chesapeake Bay played landmark roles in the golden age of piracy, overshadowing virtually every other part of what became the United States. No other body of water in North America was fought over so frequently - or produced so many tales about its long and often bloody links to the brigands of the sea. Here are some of those stories. Available in print for $13 and eBook for $9 at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. | <urn:uuid:7ab8575e-d81c-4a1e-90c6-18e71ba358bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wdbj7.com/dp-writers-block-gift-books-by-local-authors-2-005,0,6256011.photo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942343 | 125 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Is the high-risk strategy to prevent cardiovascular disease equitable? A pharmacoepidemiological cohort study Full Text
BMC Public Health, 08/20/2012
Wallach Kildemoes H et al. – The high–risk strategy to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) by initiating statin therapy seems to be inequitable, reaching primarily high–risk subjects in lower risk socio–economic position (SEP)–groups.Methods
- Applying individual–level nationwide register information on socio–demographics, dispensed prescription drugs and hospital discharges, all Danish citizens aged 20+ without previous register–markers of CVD, diabetes or statin therapy were followed during 2002–2006 for first occurrence of myocardial infarction (MI) and a dispensed statin prescription (N=3.3 mill).
- Main outcome measures: Stratified by gender, 5–year age–groups and socioeconomic position (SEP), incidence of MI was applied as a proxy for statin need.
- Need–standardised statin incidence rates were calculated, applying MI incidence rate ratios (IRR) as need–weights to adjust for unequal needs across SEP.
- Horizontal equity in initiating statin therapy was tested by means of Poisson regression analysis.
- Applying the need–standardised statin parameters and the lowest SEP–group as reference, a need–standardised statin IRR>1 translates into horizontal inequity favouring the higher SEP–groups.
- MI incidence decreased with increasing SEP without a parallel trend in incidence of statin therapy.
- According to the regression analyses, the need–standardised statin incidence increased in men aged 40–64 by 17%, IRR 1.17 (95% CI: 1.14–1.19) with each increase in income quintile.
- In women the proportion was 23%, IRR 1.23 (1.16–1.29).
- An analogous pattern was seen applying education as SEP indicator and among subjects aged 65–84. | <urn:uuid:071d7447-9bb4-4afe-86e4-e2aed399a986> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mdlinx.com/family-medicine/news-article.cfm/4163567/0/cardiovascular-disease/next/17?source=scroller | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900582 | 425 | 2.0625 | 2 |
President Goodluck Jonathan travelled days back to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum that took place there. It’s an annual event. Over a thousand leaders in government and in business always show up. They discuss issues; what they discuss influences the direction serious global matters follow. Leaders use the opportunity to meet other leaders, and they advertise their countries to would-be buyers. Now that Mr President is back home, it’s a good thing to report to him what had happened in his absence. Children report what happens when their parents are not at home. One, a former president of Botswana, Festus Mogae, came to Abuja while Mr. President was away. And he gave a lecture. Nigeria featured in his lecture. “Nation Building: Challenges and Reality”, was the title of what Mogae spoke about. “The practice of impunity must be stopped”, he had commented. He meant impunity in high places in Nigeria, and it was just one of the things he had said. “You have the competence to stop corruption but you are not doing enough”, was another thing he said. “A lot of development has taken place but the country has yet to realise its full potential,” he had added. Alright. Let the reader place that side by side with a recent comment by President Jonathan at a church service: “We talk about corruption as if it is the cause of our problems,” and the discerning will see where this piece is heading.
One may want to pay closer attention to the personality that spoke in President Jonathan’s backyard that time. A good endeavour in order to assess the weight of what he says. Mogae ruled Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He had been Vice-President from 1992 to 1998. He stepped down in 2008. He had affirmed his intention to so do nine months before he did. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d’honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on March 20, 2008 for his “exemplary leadership” in making Botswana a “model” of democracy and good governance. His country is not a former colony of France, but he was awarded. It’s good to notice it. Quality leaders are a goldfish. Mogae won the 2008 Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, and will receive US$5m over 10 years and US$200,000 annually throughout his lifetime. Quality citation for this model of a leader soon shifted to London’s City Hall. There in October 2008, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated: “President Mogae’s outstanding leadership has ensured Botswana’s continued stability and prosperity in the face of an HIV/AIDS pandemic which threatened the future of his country and people.” Mogae currently serves as Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Climate Change. That was the man who spoke about Nigeria. It’s a good thing to remember that since he won the Mo Ibrahim Prize, the prize had gone three times without a winner.
Other personalities had also commented at the time Mogae did in Abuja. They said Nigerians pretend a lot and that there is a need to change this attitude for the nation to overcome its challenges. They said the challenges facing the nation will remain elusive until Nigerians are able to tell one another the truth. Let someone think of the comment of a former minister of education in the Obasanjo administration about the poor state of the nation’s education, and how some in the Jonathan’s cabinet, and others out of it, had gathered, created a war room atmosphere, and lambasted the former minister rather than address the issues she had raised. The President’s men went about the matter as though corruption does not exist at all both in the nation and its education sector, as the former minister had rightly pointed out.
Corruption may be seen as the exploitation of public position, resources and power for private gain. It can be the betrayal of public trust for individual or public gain. It may be an effort to secure wealth or power through illegal means for private gain at public expense; or a misuse of power for private benefit. The word covers a broad spectrum of activities ranging from fraud (theft through misrepresentation), embezzlement (misappropriation of corporate or public funds) to bribery (payments made in order to gain an advantage or to avoid a disadvantage). And the malaise is a symptom of dysfunctionality of the relationship between the state and the people, characterised by bribery, extortion and nepotism. From a political standpoint, corruption is the abuse or misuse of public or governmental power.
Now, there is a correlation in what the President went to do in Switzerland and the corruption issue that Mogae mentioned in Abuja. Mr. President did not go to the World Economic Forum in 2012. This writer noted the fact and had listed the disadvantages that time. So it was a good thing he went this time. The Cable News Network would however take him on the same issue of corruption that the President obviously did not go to Switzerland to discuss. “You cannot change the mindset of people by waving your hand. You must take means to make sure that you don’t create an environment where everyone will be corrupt and we are doing it very well”, the President had told the CNN interviewer, Christiane Amanpour. According to a report of the International Energy Agency, Nigeria loses $7 bn a year annually to oil theft. It was a reason the CNN had queried President Jonathan. In his response, assistance was what he sought: “Frankly speaking, I want the international community to support Nigeria because this stolen crude is being bought by refineries abroad and they know the crude oil was stolen. The world must condemn what is wrong.” Alright. If that is what the President wants, it makes sense that he categorically condemns and takes action in a system that allows what is wrong to happen. So far, Nigerians don’t think he has, much less outsiders such as Mogae. Even when a servant of God said, (in the course of a church service) what Mogae would later repeat, what the President did was to disagree from a pulpit that belonged to another man. And what he had said on that occasion sent signals to his citizens that he doesn’t see the corruption perception problem the way it really is. Yet, the implication of such a perception is grave for the country.
IMD is the name of an independent not-for-profit foundation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, that measures the implications of corruption perception on any country. Incidentally, that was where the President went to try and attract business to Nigeria. IMD’s well-known annual publication on corruption perception is called World Competitiveness Yearbook. In it, countries are ranked with respect to their business environment. So, corruption perception by the international community as well as the same investment that the President went to attract are crucial. IMD shows that there is a link between bribery in international business and the competitiveness in global economy. It also found out that competitiveness of a country is likely to be affected by whether bribery is a prevailing part of the culture of doing business in that country. If the perceived level of bribery in a country is high, it will discourage foreign investors from going into that country (although that is made nonsense of with transnational companies like Halliburton that had admitted building bribe money into their expenses when Nigeria is their radar.) The reason leaders here continue to beat their chests that Nigeria still attracts large volume of foreign investment is clear. However, in countries where the prevalence of bribe-taking to conduct business is low, it signals a more inviting operating environment to businesses. Firms are likely to be more confident of doing business in such a country.
Now, if a personality such as Mogae says Nigeria has corruption problem, President Jonathan needs to worry, and pay closer attention. What is happening in the country, what the international community perceives and what the leadership are seen to be doing about it are as crucial as the President’s attempts to attract investment. For if the leadership say it is confronting corruption and no one believes, internally and externally, as Mogae’s words show, then it is time for even those who defend Mr. President to be more objective, rather than sell a product that everyone is wary of touching with a long stick. | <urn:uuid:ed2d9d15-1e09-4db2-b202-52dea2f2b8f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.punchng.com/opinion/when-mr-president-travelled/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98318 | 1,758 | 1.585938 | 2 |
This post has been provided by Paul of AnxietyGuru.com. As you may remember, last week, one of my posts appeared on the anxietyguru site and this week I am bringing you a post written by Paul. It is my hope that we can learn from shring and reading about different perspectives on anxiety.
Picture it, a nice sunny day and your sitting on a lawn chair under a big tree sipping lemonade when all of sudden you get a sharp jabbing pain in the center of your chest. You go from totally relaxed to "oh no!" in about 3 seconds. This is a very typical reaction to anxiety induced chest pain. Chest pain can create a swift and focused sensation of fear all over your body in what feels like an instant.
Your first assumption is that you're having a heart attack and that you're going to die suddenly. After several minutes of experiencing chest pain, even though you haven't died just yet, you figure that it has to be something serious. Symptoms like chest pain may have even prompted you to visit the ER or set up an appointment with your primary doctor.
If you did go to see a doctor he/she probably put you through the paces of blood tests, EKG, stress test and maybe even a portable heart recorder for good measure. The tests all came back normal and you were sent on your merry way. But, you still get chest pain from time to time. So what is happening, can it be anxiety causing you to have these pains?
First let me just say that if you are experiencing regular chest pain and haven't seen your doctor you should go see him/her asap. Chest pain really can be a sign of heart attack or other serious heart condition. Really I'm not trying to be an alarmist but this is just a fact. However, once you have been through the hamster wheel and have been told that your problem is nerves than you might be experiencing anxiety induced chest pains. Anxiety does have the ability to make your chest hurt and it does this in generally five ways.
1. Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD causes your stomach to create excess acid which is "backed" up into your esophagus which in turn creates heart burn and chest pain.
2. Esophageal spasm : This causes your lower esophagus to contract and also disturbs the muscles in your chest wall. This is a random and involuntary contraction of a series of muscles.
3. Stress : High levels of stress over a prolonged period of time can cause muscle tightness and tension. This can lead to all kinds of aches and pains all over, including the chest area.
5. Panic attacks :It is also very common to feel chest pain and shortness of breath when experiencing a panic attack.
I have read many articles that try to explain the difference between chest pain and a heart attack. As far as I can tell there is very little difference between the two. This is exactly why it is so important to see your doctor if you are experiencing new or different types of chest pain.
Once you have been checked out however you should relax and accept that not all chest pain is heart related. This is not to say that it isn't frightening because it absolutely is. I'm just saying that you should try to put your mind at ease so you can reduce your stress level which would decrease the anxiety symptoms that create chest pain. | <urn:uuid:99214b21-c44a-4cd0-a211-c1eb2b88ebd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcentral.com/anxiety/c/22705/60248/anxiety-induced | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973355 | 703 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies, Inc. and Schneider Electric Sachsenwerk GmbH have announced the successful completion of a major milestone in the development of a novel shielded, inductive superconducting fault current limiter (iSFCL), which is to begin field test operations in the Stadtwerke Augsburg (Germany) grid in 2013.
Testing of a subscale device under expected operating conditions was performed at the Institute for High-Voltage Engineering and Electrical Energy Systems of the University of Braunschweig, a German research institute in the field of high-voltage and power systems engineering. This device implements the same concept that is expected to be used in the full-size iSFCL system and uses BEST’s 40 mm-wide second generation (2G) high temperature superconductors (HTS), specifically designed for application in fault current limiters.
During the tests in Braunschweig, the device functioned as predicted in more than 100 triggered short-circuits. Due to the novel design of the superconducting modules, the system withstood fault durations of up to 500 milliseconds (ms), believed to be the longest withstand time reported worldwide with HTS coated conductors. Additionally, these results validated the performance parameters predicted by computer models, thus enabling extrapolation to other grid topologies and requirements.
“The positive results from these tests have further strengthened our confidence in the success of this project and the superior performance and market potential of the iSFCL design,” said Hans-Udo Klein, Senior Vice President for Business Development of BEST. “We now expect a performance and safety test of the full-size single-phase prototype later this year as the final gate for our iSFCL product development before field tests and application in the Augsburg grid next year.”
Fault current limiters are devices that protect electrical equipment in the transmission and distribution infrastructure from damaging power surges caused by fault currents arising from short circuits, power generation disturbances and lightning strikes.
The novel, proprietary iSFCL design uses HTS technology, enabling self-activation at extremely fast response times (less than 5 ms) and automatic recovery after a fault situation.
The medium-voltage iSFCL project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie, or BMWi), is a collaboration of the partners BEST, Schneider Electric Sachsenwerk GmbH, and Stadtwerke Augsburg Energie GmbH – a utility capable of providing a long-term testing environment for the iSFCL– and is based on the partners’ specific competencies. This includes BEST’s 2G HTS tapes as well as modules and know-how in superconducting devices, along with Schneider Electric's experience in designing electrical grid equipment such as transformers and their in-depth knowledge of the electric transmission and distribution markets. | <urn:uuid:4c0ab149-6b75-418f-826b-798287d18724> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tdworld.com/smarter-grid/inductive-superconducting-fault-current-limiter-tested-sucessfully-validation-tests | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903279 | 621 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Friedman wrote a memo to Indian govt. in 1955:
A 5 percent per annum rate of increase in real national income, seems entirely feasible, on the basis of both the experience of other countries and of India’s own recent past. The great untapped resource of technical and scientific knowledge available to India for the taking is the economic equivalent of the untapped continent available to the United States 150 years ago. The basic question is one of method, of the social and economic arrangements that will best promote the conversion of these potentialities into realities while at the same time maintaining freedom and democracy and giving ever-widening opportunities to the mass of the Indian people.
The belief that underlies these notes is that the basic requisites are a steady and moderately expansionary monetary. framework, greatly widened opportunities for education and training, improved facilities for transportation and communication to promote the mobility not only of goods but even more important of people, and an environment that gives maximum scope to the initiative and energy of farmers, businessmen, and traders. The conquest of the technical frontier like the conquest of the geographical frontier requires a varied initiative by millions of individuals, flexibility of outlook and organization, and willingness to venture.
The Government of India is doing much, and much that is highly effective, to bring these requisites into being. There is much more to do that at least in Indian conditions can be done only by the Government. But the Government also is following some: policies and proposing others that are likely to hinder rather than promote economic development. The following comments, which are mainly restricted to such policies, deal with investment policy; policy toward the private sector; monetary policy; resources available to the public sector; and foreign exchange policy.
Quite a bit is still relevant and still applies. Check this on mon pol:
A stable monetary climate is a basic prerequisite for healthy economic growth. Yet over the past five years, monetary policy has been highly erratic. It first permitted and facilitated substantial price rises, then reacted too far in the opposite direction. More recently, monetary policy has again reversed direction and again threatens to go too far, this time in an inflationary direction. This erratic policy is recorded directly in the behaviour of the stock of money and of wholesale and retail prices, and indirectly, in a less rapid rate of economic advance than would have been feasible.
Most would smile at this.. Well, in the recent phase I don’t think RBI reacted too far to control inflation but did not like the recent policy reversal. RBI cut the policy rates by 50 bps but its policy statement was full of information why there should not be a rate hike at all!
Then this bit on capital output ratio:
There is a tendency not only in India but in most of the literature on economic development to regard the ratio of investment national income as almost the only key to the rate of development to take it for granted that there is a rigid and mechanical ratio between the amount of investment and additions to output. In the opinion of this writer, this seems a serious mistake. At the one extreme, output can increase even without investment; at the other, too high a ratio of investment may actually produce a lower rate of increase in income.
In the United States, for example, only about one-fifth of the total income is return to physical capital, fourfifths to human capital. By this writer’s estimate similarly, only about one fifth of the annual rate of growth in the United States can be attributed to the direct effects of investment in the usual sense; four-fifths must be attributed to the growth in the productivity of human beings. Annual expenditures on improving the quality and quantity of human resources are at least as large as and perhaps much larger than investment as usually defined.
We still hear this emphasis on capital output ratio. Policymakers often say with the capital output ratio at 4 and investments at around 35% of GDP, 9% growth rate in GDP is a given. Yes, we have shifted emphasis on human capital but it basically on quant side. Qualitatively, we are still far off.
We have allowed the private sector to invest much more now thanks to the 1991 crisis. Even exchange controls he mentions have been eased quite a bit over the years. Some may still complain but in econ it is all about relative..
In the end:
If these comments have concentrated largely on the financial machinery of economic organization, it is not because that is the only or even the most important problem facing India but rather because, on the one hand, it is more within this writer’s special competence, and on the other, it seems to be the area in which current policy can be improved most.
The present writer is convinced that the fundamental problem for India is the improvement of the physical and technical quality of her people, the awakening off sense of hope, the weakening of rigid social and economic arrangements, the introduction of flexibility of institutions and mobility people, the opening tip of the social and economic ladder people of all kinds and classes.
And what gives an outsider like this writer a feeling of optimism and hope about the future of India makes one feel that India is on the move and will continue move, is that so much is being done and such a good beginning has been made on this fundamental problem of creating the human and social basis for a dynamic and progressive economy.
If Friedman was to write this again, I am sure he would have been happy to note that a lot has changed. But still critical issues he highlighted then are still present. He would still be disappointed with the potential and actual achievement of the Indian economy. | <urn:uuid:ffdf14c1-d31c-4d6a-a804-a1da54f688be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mostlyeconomics.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/milton-friedmans-memo-to-indian-government-in-1955/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962195 | 1,140 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Orthodox Christians Begin Great Lent March 14 - Eastern Orthodox Pascha (Easter) Celebrated May 1
Mar 9, 2005
NOTE: This News Item May Refer to Outdated Information. Please see the Online Chapel for current Information.
New York, NY - Over 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, including some six million in North America, will enter the season of Great and Holy Lent on Monday, March 14. This solemn day will mark the beginning of the period of prayer and fasting that precedes the celebration of Easter (Pascha) the most sacred and holy day of the Orthodox Church, which will be observed this year on May 1.
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), will concelebrate the Archierarchal Divine Liturgy on the First Sunday of Lent, commemorating the Triumph of Orthodoxy, with fellow SCOBA hierarchs at St. George Orthodox Cathedral, Worcester, MA on March 20 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Similar Orthodox services will be celebrated throughout the world on that day.
In their encyclical for March 20, the SCOBA hierarchs stated: This triumph of our faith does not belong to the past. It applies to our present age, where forces that oppose the Church's regard for the sanctity and integrity of the human being continue to manifest themselves in various forms. These forms range in substance and degree, appearing as false teachings that promote sexual impurity, as policies that justify military aggression, or as lethal practices such as abortion and assisted suicide. These forms are examples of contemporary forces within society that seek to diminish the integrity of the Church's teaching regarding the sanctity of the human being. Today, we continue to assert the truth of our Orthodox faith in the face of these heretical teachings regardless of their degree, context, or form.
Orthodox Christian Lent always begins on the Monday before the Sunday of Orthodoxy. It is designated as "Clean Monday", the "Monday of cleansing or purification". On that day Orthodox faithful are required to begin a spiritual and moral purification through fasting, prayer, meditation, repentance, attending Lenten religious services and partaking of the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. Religious services during the Lenten period are especially beloved by Orthodox faithful. They include the Compline, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the Salutations to the Virgin Mary and the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil compiled in the 4th Century.
Sunday of Orthodoxy
The historical significance of the Sunday of Orthodoxy dates to 787 A.D. when the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea decreed the restoration of the icons as a means for the spiritual growth and formation of the Christian ethos and character in the likeness and image of God and His Saints. In 843 A.D. when the icons were finally restored in the churches, the first Sunday of Lent was designated as a day for thanksgiving and doxology. It came to be known as the "Sunday of Orthodoxy", calling the faithful to a rededication to the Orthodox Christian Faith, as received from the Apostles. Following the Divine Liturgy, the clergy lead the faithful in the Procession of Icons and the recitation of The Declaration of Faith.
Lenten and Paschal Calendar for 2005
Great Lent Begins March 14
Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday) April 24-April 30
Easter (Pascha) Sunday May 1
Ascension Day June 9
Pentecost June 19
For more information on the Orthodox Christian observance of Great Lent and Pascha:
For information on the Calendar of the Orthodox Church:
- Schedule of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios for May 23- June 2, 2013
- Archbishop Ieronymos Concludes Visit to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
- The Community of Sts Constantine and Helen Welcomes Archbishop Ieronymos with Respect and Love
- Archbishop Ieronymos Visits the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Community of St. Demetrios in Astoria | <urn:uuid:ac17924d-38a9-44cb-9bfb-72e1c2a0a6df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goarch.org/news/goa.news1310 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927804 | 869 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Guest Commentary by George Tselioudis (NASA GISS)
In the past few years several attempts have been made to assess changes in the Earth’s planetary albedo, and claims of global dimming and more recently brightening have been debated in journal articles and blogs alike. In a recent article entitled “Can the Earth’s Albedo and Surface Temperatures Increase Together,” that appeared in EOS, Enric Palle and co-authors use recently released cloud data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) to explain how it is possible for the Earth to be warming even as it’s albedo is increasing. The need for an explanation arises from the author’s claim that the earth’s albedo has increased since the year 2000, an increase that was not followed by a decrease in surface temperature. They base this claim on Earthshine data (a measurement of the glow of the dark side of the moon that they use to deduce the earth’s reflectance) and on an albedo proxy derived from ISCCP parameters after they are regressed with two years of overlapping, but not global, earthshine observations. Subsequently they claim that the rising reflectance of the Earth has not led to a reversal of global warming because the difference between low and middle-plus-high ISCCP clouds has increased in the last four years. This they say implies that as the low-level, cooling clouds have decreased during the most recent years, the high-level, warming clouds have increased even more negating any potential cloud-induced cooling.
There are several issues connected to the use of earthshine data to calculate the earth’s albedo that have been discussed in peer-reviewed publications and that I will not discuss in this posting. I will say a few things, however, about the selective use of ISCCP data in this article to construct qualitative arguments that do not stand up to detailed quantitative analysis .
First, let’s take the claim that the Earth’s albedo has increased in the last four years. This is based primarily on the huge earthshine-derived albedo increase in 2003, which the authors now admit may be caused by undersampling of the data but was the the highlight of the authors’ recent Science paper (Palle et al, 2004). The other three years have values close to zero (relative to the reference year) with two years having error bars extending into the negative territory. The earthshine-trained ISCCP reconstruction of the albedo is a purely statistical parameter that has little physical meaning as it does not account for the non-linear relations between cloud and surface properties and planetary albedo and does not include aerosol related albedo changes such as associated with Mt. Pinatubo, or human emissions of sulfates for instance. Even this albedo reconstruction, however, shows only a weak positive trend in the last four years.
The ISCCP group produces an independent estimate of the albedo, from performing a full radiative flux calculation that takes into account observations of all radiative forcings and produces top of the atmosphere, surface, and in-atmosphere fluxes (data, figure right). This has been shown to be in excellent quantitative agreement with satellite measurements at the top-of-atmosphere and with surface measurements. The year-to-year variations of these values show some qualitative agreement with the earthshine-trained ISCCP reconstruction but very large quantitative differences.
The ISCCP estimate (right) shows a decreasing albedo trend of 1-2% in the 80s and 90s (as opposed to 7-8% in the earthshine-based proxy), a small increase of 1% form 1999 to 2001 and a flattening of the curve in the last three years. Quantitatively similar trends are derived from radiative flux retrievals by the ERBS and Terra and Aqua satellites.
Next consider the difference in trends between low-level and high-level clouds. It’s important that definitions be used carefully when we interpret satellite retrievals. First, the satellite can see actual low clouds only when higher cloud layers are not present. Second, the satellites retrieve the radiative, not the physical top of the clouds. As a result, a low cloud with a cirrus cloud overhead can be classified as a midlevel cloud in satellite observations. All these issues must be taken into account when calculating the radiative effect of clouds, as is done in the radiative calculations by the ISCCP group. More importantly, not all high-level and almost none of the middle-level clouds are radiative-warming agents. There is an optical depth threshold that depends on the cloud top height, above which the cloud becomes a cooling agent even with tops at high altitudes. Therefore the use of combined middle-plus-high clouds as a measure of the warming potential of the cloud field is a substantial overestimate of the effect. Moreover, a more careful look at the changes of ISCCP clouds by cloud type shows that the increase in total cloud cover from 2000 to 2004 is due to a small increases in high-level clouds and a larger increase in middle-level clouds that are mostly thermally neutral and therefore could not cause warming (see figures, data).
The increases in both high-level and middle level clouds (right) are caused by increases in the optically thicker cloud types, cirrostratus and cumulonimbus for the high-level and altostratus and nimbostratus for the mid-level clouds, that due to their large optical depths, cause radiative cooling. In fact, the same radiative calculations performed by the ISCCP group show that the outgoing longwave radiation increases during this time, opposite to the effect claimed. Therefore, the qualitative explanation given in the article is contrary to the quantitative analysis results derived from the ISCCP data.
The reconstruction of radiative fluxes from atmospheric properties is a very difficult and tedious job and both the ISCCP and ERBE/CERES groups are putting a great deal of effort into producing detailed and carefully evaluated radiative flux datasets. Both datasets show little or no albedo trend in the last four years. Thus explanations for how the albedo trends of the last four years are consistent with the surface warming and the ocean heat content increases are not necessarily required at this point in time. | <urn:uuid:3cbb46b2-a076-4106-af18-287cfcb091e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/02/cloudy-outlook-for-albedo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945689 | 1,335 | 3.25 | 3 |
For a perfect example of Tolkien’s wildly creative genius, one needs to look no further than the Istari—his Wizards.
What were the Istari exactly? Quite simply they were angelic creatures whose souls had been deposited into corporeal vessels—bodies resembling old men. Their memories of their lives in the Blessed Realm (from whence they had come) were virtually wiped from their minds, leaving only a dim recollection of their former divine selves and life amongst the demigods called the Valar.
Even though the Istari were created as old men, they aged very slowly. When Gandalf showed up at Bilbo’s door at the start of The Hobbit, he’d been living in Middle-earth for two thousand years. (No wonder he needed that staff!) The Istari were no “conjurors of cheap tricks,” however, as Gandalf said to Bilbo in a moment of anger after Bilbo’s “eleventy-first” birthday party. They had been chosen by the Valar to come and serve the Free Peoples Middle-earth in their fight against the growing power of Sauron—the wicked servant of an even wickeder master named Morgoth (himself a fallen Vala).
The Istari were forbidden to reveal their true powers and were supposed to merely guide Men, Dwarves and Elves with good advice (and some occasional magic). And all of the Istari had been given free will to act in the ways they each thought best to achieve their mutual goal of destroying the creator of the Ring of Doom.
There were only five of these Istari in the history of Middle-earth: Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown and two others who are briefly mentioned but not named in The Lord of the Rings. (These two “missing” Wizards names were revealed in the posthumously published Unfinished Tales.)
Each of the Wizards reacted to their new home quite differently. Radagast became enamored of the flora and fauna of Middle-earth and eventually forgot his quest. Saruman became intoxicated by power and headed down the same crooked path as Sauron, and was eventually ensnared by the Dark Lord himself. Only Gandalf remained true to the distant memory of the Valar “a vision from afar off,” and died fighting one of Morgoth’s ancient creations—the Balrog—in the Mines of Moria. And then he was resurrected…brought back to life by the Valar and given another body (the corporeal form of Gandalf the White).
This is all visionary stuff. Spiritual beings placed into bodies manufactured by demigods, like avatars in a videogame. A main character killed off and reincarnated back into the tale—something I don’t think had ever been done in the history of literature until Tolkien’s epic. The concept of the Istari is especially inspired when one keeps in mind Tolkien conceived all of this in the middle part of the 20th century—nearly three quarters of a century ago.
In my opinion, Tolkien could have penned an entire book based on Gandalf and Saruman alone. Wizards are fascinating. Peter Jackson & Co. must have felt the same, because they’ve written both Saruman and Radagast into The Hobbit Trilogy (you can see Radagast in the film trailer being pulled in a sleigh by a gigantic bunny rabbit—a vision of inspired lunacy).
The tales of the two missing Istari would have made a great story as well. The only time a reference is made to these other two Wizards is in The Two Towers (in the chapter “The Voice of Saruman”) when, after the Ents have destroyed Isengard and trapped Saruman, the corrupted Wizard rails at Gandalf, accusing him of wanting to take control of all of Middle-earth, including seizing hold of “the rods of the Five Wizards.” Three of these “Five” Wizards are Radagast, Gandalf and Saruman himself. The other two Istari are never mentioned again, not even in the Appendices.
After Tolkien died, however, his son Christopher put together a collection of his father’s writings called Unfinished Tales that revealed selections of J.R.R. Tolkien’s notes and stories about Middle-earth that had never been published before. In the chapter concerning the Istari we learn more about these two missing Wizards. They were certainly called the “Blue Wizards” and they may have even been named Alatar and Pallando (a great subject for starting a heated debate between Tolkien geeks).
Soon after the two Blue Wizards arrived in Middle-earth they passed into the East on a mission alongside Saruman never to return. The “East” here means the distant lands of Harad (and Far Harad)—the realms populated by evil Men under the thrall of Sauron. (These are the same Men who join Sauron’s forces and attack Minas Tirith in The Return of the King.)
Did Alatar and Pallando go on a mission to study the ways of the Enemy? Were they ensnared by Sauron and become his servants, intending to do good but falling into evil? Or were they betrayed by their travelling companion Saruman out of jealousy or fear, thus starting Saruman’s downward spiral into villainy? We will never know, because Tolkien didn’t write their tale. It’s interesting to speculate, however. Perhaps Saruman killed them and absorbed their power. Or maybe they were captured and destroyed by The Dark Lord, their sprits sent flying back to the Blessed Realm. Whatever the case, by the time the events of The Lord of the Rings begin, the missing Istari are nothing more than a passing reference in Tolkien’s vast sub-creation.
Fortunately for Middle-earth there was Gandalf, the wisest Istari who never gave up hope, who always returned at the turn of the tide, the divine being sent in “human” form to help defeat Sauron and who—once his mission was accomplished—happily boarded a ship for the Blessed Realm. Before departing Middle-earth for his true home, he imparted sage advice to Merry, Sam and Pippin: “Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep: for not all tears are an evil.” This Wizard would be missed. | <urn:uuid:4510d721-fe26-4762-9fdb-c4aa8ac77813> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shirewisdom.com/2012/10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977306 | 1,363 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Lady Dunmore, Charlotte Murray
- Married first cousin Lord Dunmore in 1759
- Followed Lord Dunmore to America in 1773
- Much beloved figure known for ladylike grace and charm
- Mother of nine children
High rank by birth and marriage
Lady Charlotte Stewart was the sixth daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway, and the former Lady Catherine Cochrane. Lady Charlotte Stewart became Lady Charlotte Murray, Countess of Dunmore, when she married John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore on 21 February 1759. The bride and groom were first cousins, once removed. Her grandmother Lady Anne Murray was the daughter of Charles Murray, the 1st Earl of Dunmore, the 4th Earl’s grandfather.
A reputation for charm
Lady Dunmore soon became known for her charm. In May 1761, Lord Dunmore became one of the 16 Scottish peers to sit in the British Parliament. As such, he and Lady Dunmore, although she was pregnant with their second child, participated in the Coronation Procession of the young King George III in September. Horace Walpole, seeing her on that occasion, wrote that “there were two new Scotch peeresses that pleased every body, Lady Sutherland and Lady Dunmore.” Later that year Lady Sarah Lennox pronounced Lady Dunmore “charming.” The Countess of Dunmore moved in the highest London circles, even visiting with the queen.
In January 1770, Lord Dunmore was appointed Governor of New York, and he departed for America in the fall. At his departure, Lady Dunmore stayed in Britain. She was pregnant with their eighth child, a boy who was born in December and christened Leveson Granville Keith Murray, in honor of Lord Gower. Dunmore was less obliged to Lord Gower when the Lord President arranged for Dunmore’s transfer to Virginia, a change Dunmore had not sought and did not wish to make.
Voyage to America
Lord Dunmore, finding that he could not return to England to visit his family without relinquishing his governorship, sent for Lady Dunmore in the spring of 1773. At nearly the same time, their son William died. In mid-June 1773, Lady Dunmore apparently had not yet received the summons from her husband, as she planned to go abroad in the autumn and visit Naples. She immediately changed her plans, however, on learning of her husband’s wishes, intrepidly making a winter crossing of the Atlantic with three sons and three daughters. She left the baby in England with her sister.
The family reached New York January 2, 1774, after 44 days at sea, and Lady Dunmore immediately made a favorable impression. Gouvernour Morris, an experienced connoisseur of womankind, described her as “a very elegant woman,” who “looks, speaks, and moves and is a lady.” She and the children stayed in New York for about a month, and then made their way to Virginia by sea, stopping at Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Annapolis.
Arrival amid fanfare
They arrived at Yorktown February 26, where they received a cannon salute, which unfortunately caused great injury to several men manning the cannon. The party traveled on to Williamsburg, where the city was illuminated and a crowd of citizens escorted them to the Palace. Over the next several days there were fireworks and congratulatory addresses at their safe arrival. The House of Burgesses officially welcomed her at a ball on the 27th of May, the day after their assembly had been dissolved by Lord Dunmore for passing resolutions for a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer in support of the Bostonians, whose port was to be closed on June 1st in consequence of the Boston Tea Party.
Lord Dunmore led a military expedition to the west against the Shawnee in the summer of 1774, leaving Lady Dunmore and the children in Williamsburg. She gave birth to a daughter on December 3rd, the day before his return. On the Queen’s birthday, January 18th, the baby was christened Virginia, in honor of the colony, and the Queen’s birth night and Lady Virginia’s christening were celebrated at a ball at the Palace the same evening.
Beloved by Virginians
Lady Dunmore appears to have thoroughly won the good opinion of the Virginians. Even when difficulties with her husband arose in the prelude to the Revolution, the colonists were quick to assure Lady Dunmore of their affection for her. The Dunmore family left the Palace twice in the spring and early summer of 1775 in consequence of the unrest, and Lady Dunmore and the children left for England on June 9th.
While Lord Dunmore remained in Virginia, Lady Dunmore and their eldest daughter were apparently in Paris in 1776. After a series of military engagements in Virginia, Lord Dunmore sailed for New York in August 1776 and arrived in England in 1777. He once again sat in the House of Lords. When he returned to America from 1781 to 1782, his wife did not accompany him. Lord Dunmore was appointed governor of the Bahamas in 1787, but appears that he departed for his post without Lady Dunmore.
Scandal in Italy
In the early 1790s she was in Italy with her daughter Augusta, when the young Prince Augustus Frederick, son of George III, met and courted Augusta. They were married in Rome in the spring of 1793 in defiance of the Royal Marriage Act, but the marriage, which produced two children, was ordered annulled by King George III. Likely as a result of royal disfavor, Lord Dunmore was recalled from the Bahamas in 1796.
Lady Dunmore was living at Ramsgate, Kent, by 1804. Perhaps the scandal of her daughter’s annulled marriage followed her there for it was said that she was “visited by very few proper people.” Lord Dunmore died there on February 25, 1809, and Lady Dunmore became a widow. She never remarried. Lady Dunmore died November 11, 1818. | <urn:uuid:f8f8748e-1ddf-4bec-a5eb-4ad8fe253167> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.history.org/almanack/people/bios/bioldun.cfm?showSite=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985828 | 1,274 | 2.5 | 2 |
DISCLAIMER *I do not consider myself an authority, this is just MY opinion, because someone asked*
Church and religion, these are volatile words to use. Their meaning is often contextual. When *I* use the word religion, *I* mean the following:
Anything replacing relationship with legalism.
The definition of legalism: 1. Excessive adherence to law or formula.
I'll explain what I mean:
Pretend that a book has finally been published that explains to men all the perfect things to do, how to do them, and when to do them, to keep their wives happy. I buy this book and read it. I then proceed to do what it says. Using the formula in the book, I know when to do the laundry, buy flowers, say I'm sorry, when it's supposed to be a back rub, and when it's supposed to be more. I know when it's a fix it conversation, and when it's a shut up and just listen to me conversation. In other words, I now know the formula of when X happens, do Y. I don't understand the person I'm married to any better, I just know a formula.
One day my wife finds the book and reads it. After reading the book she figures out that our entire relationship has been reduced to a formula. How does she feel at that point?
If you ask Google to define church, the response is : 1. a building used for public Christian worship 2. a particular Christian organization, typically one with its own clergy, buildings, and distinctive doctrines: "the Church of England".
By definition can the outdoors be a building? God I hope not. I go to the outdoors to get away from buildings.
So by strict definition does "nature = church?"
Now for that contextual thing, in your question is church tied to a building? Are you saying, "If we take the building consideration out of the word church, does church = nature?" The only part of that definition that is left is worship (ignoring Christian at the moment, assuming it is interchangeable). Are you asking about the noun form of the word worship: The feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity: "ancestor worship," or the verb form, to show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites?
If the noun, what you are asking is, "Can I go out into nature and express reverence and adoration for a deity." Yup, you can do that.
If the verb, what you are asking is, "Does going out in to nature show reverence and adoration for a deity?" That depends on one thing, is that deity a legalist? If it is not a legalist, no, going out into nature (in and of itself) will not show reverence or adoration to that deity. Why do I say that? Because as I explained, executing a series of actions, without relationship (understanding a being (person, deity, etc..)) is legalism.
Now, if the question it meant to ask was, does going out into nature make you (us the reader) feel... (I don't want to put words in your mouth, feel free to explain what you feel), then maybe. I have to know how you feel to answer yes to that.
Now for some things that provide context about my answer: Do I personally participate in nature worship? No.
I'm Christian. I believe in being a follower of Jesus Christ. I don't believe in legalism. I find it directly contradictory to relationship. What I mean is: I don't believe being able to follow ten commandments, or 643 laws, or any other legalist actions bring you any closer to a deity, or make you "more" Christian. I truly believe Ghandi's quote regarding how unChristian like followers of Christ are (and can be).
What do I feel when I'm outdoors? Freedom, the way God intended it, and I thank him for it. I invite anyone else's opinion, including one's that contradict mine. | <urn:uuid:b6c62719-530b-4fb3-b98d-1209d68de275> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=61451 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965877 | 847 | 1.929688 | 2 |
[M]y question in response is how did you learn about these theories?... As abhorrent as these propositions are, how do any of us find out about them and understand their rationale?Well, he came at that obliquely, but I guess that means he would allow a white supremacist to teach his theory if he'd managed to get himself hired here. But he won't say it head on, and he won't even look straight at the Barrett problem, which is not that the students are learning that many Muslims believe this theory, but that they are learning it from someone who actually believes it's true, which ruins any useful potential for understanding Muslim culture. The interesting issue here is why they believe something so plainly false. How can someone who believes it take students down that path? That issue has some relevance to a course on Muslim culture. The evidence supporting the theory is something that might be profitably examined in an engineering class, using the tools of that discipline. But it's hopelessly off topic in a humanities course.
Perhaps we read about them in the newspaper or in magazines; perhaps we hear about them in discussions with friends; or perhaps they were part of the curriculum of a class we took at the university. We are told that a small number of academics in this country, and a much larger number of Muslims in other parts of the world, believe that the U.S. government was implicated in the disasters of 9/11.
Why shouldn't students at the University of Wisconsin learn that, with whatever evidentiary bases exist for that assertion, as they also study the conclusions reached by the 9/11 Commission to which most of us subscribe? Why shouldn't Kevin Barrett have to answer his students' questions about how such a horrendous and far-reaching disaster could be orchestrated by our government without even one person "blowing the whistle" and bringing the conspiracy to an end?
Bartell does end with this:
Mr. Barrett may not be the person I would hire to teach this course on Islamic culture and religion. But neither would I fire him or prevent him from teaching solely on the basis of his controversial, even bizarre, views. I think Provost Farrell made the right call.May not be? Controversial, even bizarre? Why pull those punches? Barrett is absolutely not the right person to teach this, and his views are idiotic, even evil.
Tell it straight, and then it will mean something when you back Farrell. I do. | <urn:uuid:de074df4-941f-424c-ba74-aae1b84f64a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/07/would-university-allow-white.html?showComment=1153793460000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984695 | 503 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Here are some facts you may have not known about Elizabeth Taylor:
Before she made films, she had a lemonade stand in Southern California.
She has seen every episode of Law & Order.
She converted to Judaism in 1959.
Her Jewish name is Elisheba Rachel.
Her first horse was named Betty.
Her first date was when she was 16 years old.
Her most proudest film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Always wears perfume.
She dreamed of designing perfume 25 years before she actually did.
She loves blood-orange juice.
She was heartbroken that Richard [Burton] never won an Oscar.
People on Twitter named her fragrance, Violet Eyes.
She never had acting lessons, though many people think she needed it.
She hates being called Liz, because it can sound like a hiss.
She believes you can be close to God anywhere.
Her family and people with HIV/AIDS are her life.
See full List here US Weekly | <urn:uuid:9e641485-df55-4194-8783-86c69b2d7d36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://b93radio.com/blogs/post/jganz/2011/mar/23/things-you-didnt-know-about-elizabeth-taylor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979552 | 210 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Alien Solar System May Exist in Nearby Star Cluster
At 150 light-years from Earth, the Hyades cluster is the nearest star cluster to Earth's solar system and scientists have long wondered if some of those stars are home to alien planets.
Now, that particular mystery might be solved.
Astronomer Ben Zuckerman, a physics and astronomy professor at UCLA, and his team have discovered evidence that the atmosphere of a white dwarf star in the Hyades cluster is "polluted" with rocky material from pulverized asteroids pulled into orbit around the dying, super-dense star.
The presence of asteroid dust, Zuckerman said, suggests that larger objects like exoplanets, or possibly an entire solar system, may also be orbiting the white dwarf.
Measuring the atmosphere
Zuckerman told the scientists at the American Astronomical Society earlier this month that he and his team found traces of asteroid dust pollution in 50 to 100 of the white dwarfs they observed. The new discovery is the first of its kind seen in the Hyades system. Because this particular star cluster is relatively near Earth, the white dwarf is a great candidate for study, Zuckerman said. [The Nearest Stars to Earth (Infographic)]
Usually, white dwarf atmospheres are relatively "clean," Zuckerman said in the Jan. 8 presentation. Because the heavier elements in a dying star clump in the core, only light elements like helium and hydrogen are left swirling in the atmosphere.
By using a very sensitive spectrometer at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, the team detected hints of calcium in the atmosphere of the star in its death throes.
"We looked at calcium because it’s the easiest element to detect in these stars," Zuckerman said.
John Debes of the Space Telescope Science Institute was able to confirm that the dust came from asteroids and not from another source by matching the team's new observations with earlier ones.
Signs of planets
Zuckerman described how the star would have become polluted by asteroid dust: "The gravity of the major planets perturbs the orbit of some of the asteroids in towards the white dwarf," he said. "They don't actually have to hit the white dwarf, but they have to get within the tidal radius of the white dwarf, and if that happens, then they get torn apart, torn asunder into little dust grains."
Once the asteroids are pulverized, they will start a new orbit, crafting a new planetary system around the white dwarf.
Of the 50 to 100 polluted white dwarfs Zuckerman's team has studied, it has detected more than 10 heavy elements in the atmospheres of many of the stars, he said.
The most abundant elements detected in these accretion discs — oxygen, silicon, magnesium and iron — are also the most abundant elements found in the Earth. The team also found some less common elements circling the distant stars.
"I didn’t even know that scandium was an element until we discovered it in the atmosphere of a white dwarf," Zuckerman said.
Based on observation and statistical analysis, Zuckerman thinks that at least one quarter of white dwarfs could be polluted with accreted dust, giving researchers the chance to study the insides of asteroids outside of the solar system.
This story was provided by SPACE.com, a sister site to LiveScience. You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
MORE FROM LiveScience.com | <urn:uuid:2741320b-0c20-412d-8def-f974b42f9b04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.livescience.com/26650-exoplanets-solar-system-white-dwarf-star.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Livesciencecom+%28LiveScience.com+Science+Headline+Feed%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937081 | 744 | 3.328125 | 3 |
A heart from a flap of skin: developing a machine that will repair any organ or tissue from the cells of our skin. A concrete hope for regenerative medicine and treatment of serious diseases, otherwise intractable
A veritable "time machine" able to bring stem cells rather than ancestral State, embryonic-like, to help molecular biologists to "reprogramme" and turn them into any cell type. It's called REAC (Radio Electric Asymmetric Conveyer)-configured as Bio-Neuro Enhancer Enhancer (B.E.N.E.)-and it is a conveyor that produces radio fields at very low intensity.
For the first time in the literature the reprogramming of adult cells was obtained through the use of a low-emission intensity of a spectral field and not with the use of genetic engineering or with the use of viral vectors as already experienced by Prof. Shinya Yamanaka, neo-Nobel Prize for medicine.
The study and the research findings of the team of researchers led by Carlo Ventura, a Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Bologna ("Radio Electric fields directly Conveyed to reprogram human skin Fibroblast dermal toward Cardiac, Neuronal, and Skeletal Muscle-like lineages")-published in Cell Transplantation, the prestigious American Journal of regenerative medicine-open up unprecedented prospects. The discovery is the result of the synergy between the laboratory of molecular biology and stem cell Bioengineering, directed by Prof. With the collaboration of Ventura Dr.ssa Claudia Casey (cardio-vascular Department of the University of Bologna), the Institute of Florence with Fountains Rinaldi, his research team as part of regenerative medicine, coordinated by Prof. Salvatore Rinaldi and constituted by Dr.ssa Vania Fountains and Dr. Alexander Carpenter and the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Sassari, with a research team coordinated by Dr.ssa Margaret Maioli and constituted by Dr.ssa Sara Santaniello, by Dr. Gianfranco Pigliaru and Dr.ssa Sara Gualini.
"The fibroblasts represent the essential cellular component of connective tissue which in turn constitutes a major part of every organ and tissue," says prof. Ventura. "It's so precisely by fibroblasts which could go through the process of reprogramming just discovered, an absolutely general mechanism of repair and regeneration for organs and tissues damaged by various diseases".
Stem cells offer an increasingly concrete hope for cure and healing in serious diseases, often fatal or high impact on quality of life, currently not treatable even with the most advanced pharmacological remedies and/or surgery.
Human adult stem cells can be obtained from various sources, including adipose tissue: at the time of the levy are in a State in which (undifferentiated) still do not look like any of an individual's adult cells. Under certain physical and chemical stimuli, these cells have the ability to transform (differentiate) in vitro and in vivo in different cell types that make up the different organs and apparatus. The percentage of adult stem cells that take on these new roads, with success, is very low.
"The kind of reprogramming obtained for the first time since research team -explains Margaret dott.ssa Maioli-is a direct cell reprogramming. Instead of sending a non-adult stem cell back in time until it becomes almost embryonic and then from there to get a differentiation has managed to turn this mature cell a direct route, or to direct it towards more cell fates, in this case, cardiac, and skeletal muscle, neuronal, as if you departed already from a embryonic ".
Another novelty was to avoid the use of viral vectors and genetic engineering techniques. REAC technology ", explains Prof. Rinaldi-and in particular the specific protocols developed specifically for this study lead safely, without risk of cancer, changes in cell fate related to the modulation of gene expression and molecular signals network and physicists that control cellular homeostasis. For the first time in the literature the reprogramming of adult cells, in this case fibroblasts, was obtained thanks to the asymmetric routing within a cell culture of Radioelectric field emission at very low intensity, produced by B.E.N.E. and exceptional equipment also as human fibroblasts rescheduled by the research team showed the same efficiency that would transform from embryonic stem cellsas this research team had already demonstrated. In fact, the percentages obtained differentiation with REAC technology have vastly superior to any other previous technique, producing cell lines immediately usable and safe.
Concludes prof. Ventura: "our study used therapeutically immediately makes the reprogramming of fibroblasts, representing the evolution of the work started by Prof. Shinya Yamanaka, neo-Nobel Prize in medicine ".
Translated by Google Translator | <urn:uuid:2ab53efe-800f-42d7-9e7e-dd9adcd677ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?p=930204 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932509 | 1,015 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Produced by Birth Joy Consultants
This new 2-disc edition is packed with information for the student midwife. A combination of live workshops and demonstrations help you prepare for clinical site training and experience. The set includes detailed instructions for many emergencies, such as postpartum hemorrhage, shoulder dystocia and shock. You'll also be shown how to set up and put away equipment and you'll be able to watch roleplay of various scenarios such as waterbirth procedures and neonatal resuscitation.
The major sections are Requirements, Duties, Informed Choice, The Delivery, Postpartum, Waterbirth, Cleanup Duties, Blood Pressure, Leopold's Maneuvers, Fetal Heart Auscultation, Record-Keeping, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Procedures, Oxygen Usage, Resuscitation of the Newborn and Intravenous Fluid Administration.
Disc 1: 2 hours, 15 minutes, Disc 2: 2 hours, 17 minutes
|Educator or Institution Versions: If you are purchasing this DVD and are associated with a College, University or Educational Group and you would like to use the DVD in your program, please purchase the Educator Version and this will allow you the Public Performance Rights. If you would like to have a copy of the License, or for further details, please e-mail email@example.com.|
This DVD is available in the following format:
NTSC ( playable in the US, Canada, and other countries ) | <urn:uuid:396833f1-d8f0-40fc-84ef-88c026b7ba81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.midwiferytoday.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Store_Code=MT&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=V12AO | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910673 | 311 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Fun Flower Facts
Roses in Unique Colors
A dozen red roses remains the classic Valentine's Day favorite. However, many women report that they adore roses in other colors just as much. There are hundreds of colors to choose from. The choices are endless and it is easier than ever to select a rose that is as unique as your sweetheart. Be sure to ask us for our available colors or have us pick the nicest available rose color!
Rose Color Trends: Rage for Red Roses
A rose is a rose is a rose. Or is it? Unbeknownst to most of us, the 1990s spawned a virtual baby boom of rose varieties. Brought on by a fertile production period, today there are close to 120 rose varieties commercially available - up from the few dozen choices found in flower shops in the 1980s. These new rose varieties have not only expanded the color palette - from extreme lights to bright brights - but have enhanced characteristics such as bloom size, shape, stem length and strength of fragrance. The new reds for roses range from shades of bright raspberry to majestic scarlet to velvety-dark red to orange-kissed hues. | <urn:uuid:f9c7eec5-7bb1-41c2-a2f9-fcacbe498866> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kremp.com/florists/c-flowers-franklin-maryland-17220 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931118 | 238 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Twitter was NEVER a Social Networking Site – proof!
December 31, 2009 - Posted by Shama Kabani
For years, I have been explaining that Twitter was never in the social networking business. It was in the human search engine business. It isn’t Twitter vs. Facebook. It was – and will be – Twitter vs. Google. Do I also smell an IPO in 2010?
Good buddy and reputation management expert, Andy Beal, picked up something very clever in Biz Stone’s OpEd piece. Biz Stone is one of the founders of Twitter, and I had the pleasure of sharing the speaking stage with him this past year. Very down to earth guy, but, I digress.
Here is what Andy found…
“It can be these things but primarily Twitter serves as a real-time information network powered by people around the world discovering what’s happening and sharing the news…In the new year, Twitter will begin supporting a billion search queries a day. We will be delivering several billion tweets per hour to users around the world…”
A BILLION searches. Google currently handles around 400,000 million searches a day. Twitter will BEAT that.
The coming decade will redefine not just the role of media – but media ITSELF.
The King is Dead. All Hail the People.
(photo credit @respres on Flickr) | <urn:uuid:b395fde1-5e7c-411f-8dab-b11eb02875b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marketingzen.com/twitter-was-never-a-social-networking-site-proof/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945932 | 289 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Encountering the Global Economy after Communism: Russia and China Compared
China "has embraced the international economy with two hands," remarked Harley Balzer, Associate Professor, Department of Government and School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University at a 17 October 2005 Kennan Institute seminar. "Russia has an open economy, but its international integration is thin." Balzer argued that over time China's economic policies have been strongly influenced by coalitions of entrepreneurs, government officials, and investors, while in Russia policy has increasingly been dominated by the central government.
According to Balzer, the biggest global change during the past twenty years was not the end of Communism, but rather the impact of China and Russia on the international economy. In the late 1970s, modernization theory suggested that Russia was better positioned for industrial development: universal literacy, newspaper saturation, large numbers of educated professionals, and a large R&D community were seen as indicators that Russia would be an industrial power in the 21st century. China was an overwhelmingly peasant society just emerging from the Cultural Revolution. During the following thirty years, economic and political changes confounded this prediction. Balzer noted that China's GDP has grown much more rapidly over the past 15 years than has Russia's, and that China has caught up with Russia on many important development indicators. He attributed China's greater economic success to its "thicker" integration with the international economy.
Balzer compared the attitudes of Russian and Chinese elites as one important factor in their different approaches to the global economy. Russia began its reforms as a co-equal superpower, and many in Russia view globalization as Western or American infiltration. China began its reforms following the Cultural Revolution with a political elite less invested in the old system. Approaching globalization with a "nothing to lose" attitude and a realization that there could be much to gain aided the leadership's decision to promote integration with the world economy.
Balzer continued by comparing Russia's and China's initial steps toward international integration. Following the collapse of the USSR, the Russian government initiated an extensive reform process that greatly increased the country's political and economic openness. However, Russia's economy has come to rely heavily on exporting natural resources. Balzer argued that the Chinese government has not developed a better industrial policy than Russia, but rather has "lost control" in certain key regions and sectors, allowing them to become thickly integrated with the global economy. He emphasized that "success in the global economy depends not on a country's degree of openness but on the quality of its integration."
Balzer cited four areas that demonstrate China's thicker international integration and Russia's ambivalence. First, China has been more open to internationalizing science and education. Although China and Russia currently devote equal proportions of their GDP to education, China is no longer suffering as much from "brain drain." Specialized programs in China promote educational, scientific, and technological development, such as special housing and research funding offered by the Chinese government to qualified Chinese scientists who return from abroad. Secondly, Balzer argued that China's policies produced intense competition among its regions for FDI and international linkages. Chinese regions competed to host special economic zones and put pressure on the central government to expand the zones and open them further to international integration. By contrast, Russia's special economic zones became ways to circumvent taxes rather than fostering production.
A third reason for China's success involves the leading sectors in the two economies. Balzer pointed out that "finished goods represent only 9 percent of Russian exports to China, while they constitute 90 percent of Chinese exports to Russia." Dependence on exporting raw materials narrows Russia's opportunities for economic integration, while China has evolved into a global producer of manufactured goods and is increasingly moving up technology chains in a variety of industries. Fourth, Balzer noted that while corruption rankings indicate that it is an enormous problem in both countries, corruption seems, at least thus far, to be doing less damage in China. The difference, he argued, is in the nature and quality of the corruption. Russia's natural resource economy leads to rent-seeking, unproductive corruption, while corruption in China occurs in conjunction with real investment in industry and infrastructure.
According to Balzer, the common argument that China succeeded with gradual market reforms while Russia failed due to excessively rapid reforms misses the key point. China is not an example of effective state-led reform, because its greatest successes are in areas where the state has largely lost control and been forced to accommodate development coalitions and international market forces. In large part, China's leaders "are taking credit for simply getting out of the way." However, "when Russian commentators suggest that they need to emulate China's policies, they generally have in mind policies based on strong governmental controls, rather than the diverse and often highly independent local and regional economic activity linked to the international economy that accounts for China's success," he concluded. | <urn:uuid:837664e8-c93e-490d-99d3-148cf6fb65a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wilsoncenter.org/publication/encountering-the-global-economy-after-communism-russia-and-china-compared | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963448 | 979 | 2.421875 | 2 |
December 17, 2010
The new rules will allow polluting industries to buy and sell emissions allowances. 90 percent of allowances would be free during the early stages of the program, but as the cap tightens, fewer allowances will be available. By 2020 the cap would limit emissions to 1990 levels.
In the early years of the cap, companies that are unable to reduce CO2 emissions to target levels would be allowed to "offset" a portion of their emissions--up to 8 percent of total emissions reductions--via carbon credits generated through various activities, including forest conservation projects in tropical countries. In total, California will accept up to 74.3 million tons of CO2 reductions from such credits by 2020, according to John O. Niles, director of the Tropical Forest Group, a forest policy organization.
California's climate law enjoys strong voter support. A ballot challenge mounted last month--Proposition 23, which would have repealed AB32--was soundly defeated at the polls.
Analysts say California's AB32 could serve as a model for future cap-and-trade legislation in other states.
New data shows REDD+ is succeeding
(12/15/2010) Amid the whirlwind of climate change news before and after the Cancún climate conference, including a landmark agreement on REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation, and related pro-forest actions), an important story seems to have passed by with little notice. Over the past two months, several new analyses have given clear evidence that deforestation has gone down over the past several years. In fact, the drop is quite impressive, and shows that of all the approaches to avoiding the worst consequences of global warming, reducing tropical deforestation is the one that has contributed by far the most to date.
Can RED Hot California Heat Up A Sedated Cancun?
(12/07/2010) In his concession speech after the 2010 mid-term elections, President Obama said that prospects for meaningful U.S. climate change legislation are doubtful and will be for years. With the US and the international community unable to take even modest steps to combat global warming, the State of California has stepped up in a big, big way. Despite record unemployment rates, deficits and unemployment, California voters trounced a measure that would have suspended AB 32, California's landmark climate change law. California's AB 32 cap and trade program will soon be the biggest market for compliance emission reductions outside of Europe. In the wreckage of the Copenhagen talks and the new political landscape in America, California is the most dynamic jurisdiction for climate change implementation.
Stymied by lack of global climate deal, states develop own low carbon accord
(11/17/2010) California and other states launched an international initiative that will work toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning toward a low carbon economy in the absence of a global climate deal.
Are we on the brink of saving rainforests?
(07/22/2009) Until now saving rainforests seemed like an impossible mission. But the world is now warming to the idea that a proposed solution to help address climate change could offer a new way to unlock the value of forest without cutting it down.Deep in the Brazilian Amazon, members of the Surui tribe are developing a scheme that will reward them for protecting their rainforest home from encroachment by ranchers and illegal loggers. The project, initiated by the Surui themselves, will bring jobs as park guards and deliver health clinics, computers, and schools that will help youths retain traditional knowledge and cultural ties to the forest. Surprisingly, the states of California, Wisconsin and Illinois may finance the endeavor as part of their climate change mitigation programs. | <urn:uuid:8e3823b0-3824-4895-a1ec-4c043465f80f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.mongabay.com/2010/1217-ca_ab32_cap-and-trade.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950159 | 744 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Posts Tagged ‘international space station’
With the Space Shuttle Atlantis touching down today, the 135th and final mission marks the end of the era of America’s Space Shuttle Orbiters. The accomplishments were great, the deployment and subsequent repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, which provided views of the universe unimaginable from Earth’s atmosphere, the building of the International Space Station, the greatest cooperative effort in space history, but the payloads were borne almost entirely by the Space Shuttles, and 180 other satellites and payloads brought into orbit by the shuttles.
The costs were great as well – $209 billion dollars from development to retirement, and of course, the tragic loss of fourteen astronauts in the Challenger and Columbia disasters.
So sad to see thousands of workers at NASA are headed for the unemployment line with the end of the mission. By the White House’s own numbers, the $666 billion in stimulus money spent so far has created or saved jobs to the tune of $278,000 per job, but we couldn’t find enough pocket change to keep America in space and keep the workers at NASA busy and employed.
A conversation I had with a friend on Facebook a few months back . . .
J.G. — Are you pro space exploration?
M.C. — Yeah, and was very sad to see out of 3/4 trillion in “stimulus” spending, this administration couldn’t spare a dime for NASA.
J.G. — I love nasa, but there is a time to spend and a time to save. You would have critisized him for spending money on nasa if he had!
M.C. — Not true. I was sitting there thinking these exact thoughts, “All this money to throw around on pork spending projects and not a dime for NASA.” You know the term, Bucket List, the stuff you vow to do before you kick the bucket, well I have one thing on there I have absolutely no control over, but I want to see man walk on Mars before I die. That’s become more and more remote now thanks to Obama’s priorities. And you know why I think he had money for everything under the sun, but not NASA? Because NASA gives us something that WE can be proud of as AMERICANS. He would rather share those accomplishments with the global community. We’re shutting down the Space Shuttle, have no plans for any American achievements and now if we want to get out into space, we have to hitch a ride with the Euros or the Commies.
J.G. — Its Obama’s fault that “you think” man wont walk on mars before you die……now ive heard everything. I dont even know what to say to that. I would imagine that if it was that big of a deal to you, that the fact that a human bieng did infact set foot on the red planet, we as HUMANS would celebrate as one. Not because it was an american…unless ofcourse its just never going to be as impressive otherwise.
M.C. — I would wish it would be an American, hell yes, just the same as you take special pride in seeing your own family do great things, yes, I would much rather it be an American.
Nothing wrong with being a nationalist and rooting for your home country to do great things. Taking pride in the achievements of humanity is all fine and great, but after my own immediate family, I feel very much connected to what I consider my extended family – the American Family. Just the same as you take special pride in the accomplishments of your father, your mother, your brothers, your sisters, I also take much more pride in the accomplishments of Americans than I ever would in the doings of people from any other corner of the globe.
Over 42 years later, no nation on Earth has managed to duplicate the American accomplishment of stepping foot on the moon, and I damn sure am rooting for that first footstep on Mars to be an American footstep. | <urn:uuid:7d2f226f-70e0-4200-924d-56d5105b18ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mikecornelison.com/tag/international-space-station | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964892 | 845 | 1.671875 | 2 |
A Rising Star in Astronomy
Grad student Rachael Beaton’s galactic discoveries earn international attention.
Posted May 7, 2008, 10:28 AM EST
Photo by Stephanie Gross
First-year graduate students aren’t usually given historic research assignments. But after years of waiting for the opportunity to make their first observation on the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Tucson, Ariz., whose construction was completed last fall, U.Va.’s astronomy faculty voted last fall to bestow the honor on first-year graduate student Rachael Beaton (Astronomy-Physics, Mathematics ’07, MS Astronomy ’10).
Beaton had made breakthrough discoveries before receiving her undergraduate degree. Beaton used the LBT— the world’s largest optical telescope in which the University shares ownership— to take images of the dwarf galaxy she had discovered in 2006.
“I was very flattered to be the first astronomer from U.Va. to receive data from the LBT,” says Beaton, a Jefferson Scholars Graduate Fellow.
“While realizing how significant it is to have the first U.Va. observations taken with the LBT, I suppose my main excitement is having the potential to learn so much more about the galaxy itself.”
Beaton found the unusual dwarf galaxy—dubbed Andromeda XIV—while conducting a survey of the large Andromeda galaxy (which scientists call “M31”), a Milky- Way neighbor about 2.5 million light-years from Earth and thought to be the largest of the “Local Group” of galaxies.
While most nearby dwarf galaxies appear to be satellites bound by gravity to larger, Local Group galaxies such as M31 or the Milky Way, Andromeda XIV seems to be moving too fast to be bound to either system. Andromeda XIV may be falling into the Local Group for the first time or even just passing through, making Andromeda XIV an “intergalactic rogue” with a unique life story compared to nearby star systems, says Beaton. Another possibility, she adds, is that M31 may be more massive and exert a much stronger gravitational pull than astronomers thought. Either result would be interesting, says her adviser Steven Majewski, professor of astronomy, because of what scientists might learn about the nature of dwarf galaxies and the evolution of galaxy systems in the Local Group. Beaton’s data from the LBT may help resolve the mystery.
Finding Andromeda XIV isn’t Beaton’s only contribution to the field. In the 1990s, M31’s status as a twin and research model for the Milky Way was shaken when astronomers, including Professor of Astronomy Michael Skrutskie, discovered that our home galaxy contained a bar-shaped formation of stars in the center.
Beaton settled the debate in 2005 when she found a similar bar in M31 using data from a large infrared survey of the sky led by Skrutskie. As a result, in March 2006 Beaton was invited to Marseilles, France, to work with world-renowned astronomer Lia Athanassoula, an expert in galactic bars. Beaton also presented her work at the Universitas 21 Undergraduate Research Conference in Brisbane, Australia.
Described by Majewski as a “phenomenal student” with enviable organizational skills, Beaton is committed to mentoring young scientists at the high school and college levels. She also has been active in the Cavalier Marching Band and the University’s chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, a national music fraternity.
With at least four years of graduate studies ahead, Beaton is not making firm career plans but will continue studying M31 and Andromeda XIV. She loves doing research, and her discoveries have only fueled her scientific curiosity.
“Discoveries like these often pose more questions than they answer,” Beaton says. “So, what I felt at the initial moment of discovery was an overwhelming sense of the potential these could have in my field—a sort of wide-eyed awe at what these discoveries could do.” | <urn:uuid:0dfdc7ff-0dad-4adc-8024-1ca3f1e778c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://magazine.clas.virginia.edu/x13167.xml | 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 | 0.942131 | 850 | 2.703125 | 3 |
About the Department
Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, controls, and governance processes.
The objectives for the Internal Audit Department at HHMI include:
- Assess the soundness of the Institute's internal controls and identify potential improvements in controls.
- Appraise the economy and efficiency with which resources are employed and identify means for improving HHMI operations.
- Review the systems established to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, contracts, policies and procedures.
- Review the reliability and integrity of financial and operating information and the means used to identify, measure, classify, and report such information.
- Review the means of safeguarding Institute assets and, as appropriate, verify the existence of such assets.
- Participate in the development of standard policies and procedures.
- Participate in the planning, testing, and implementation of computer-based applications.
The Internal Audit Department reports to the Vice President for Finance and Treasurer and to the Trustees through the Audit and Compensation Committee. The Department furnishes the Trustees and management with independent and objective analyses, recommendations, counsel, and information concerning the activities reviewed. Semi-annually, the Department provides both written and oral reports to the Audit & Compensation Committee regarding audits and other activities conducted during the period, their status, and important findings and recommendations. The Committee reviews the reports and the audit plan for the coming year.
Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct
As members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Department subscribes to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, which can be found on the AICPA Web page at http://www.aicpa.org/Research/Standards/CodeofConduct/Pages/intro.aspx, and the IIA's Code of Ethics and Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, which are at www.theiia.org/iia/index.cfm?doc_id=92. | <urn:uuid:f91e85d2-57c1-42ba-8e83-6afbd4465217> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hhmi.net/about/iad/about.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 | 0.920965 | 450 | 1.828125 | 2 |
With the aim of protecting the privacy of internet users, the Directive requires websites to obtain permission from users before certain types of cookies—small files that store information about an individual’s online session—are used. Companies that do not comply could face fines of up to £500,000.
“The cookie laws have created a confusing situation for all website owners. There are pages and pages trying to interpret what needs to be done to be compliant—and as yet no clear answer,” says Chloe Thomas, who runs online marketing agency IndiumOnline. “The key point of the UK version is that you need ‘prior consent’ in order to drop ‘nonessential’ cookies on users. Prior consent is easy to understand, but hard to implement,” she adds.
Essential cookies are defined as those necessary for a service, for example, to remember the contents of a user’s basket as he navigates an online shop, and are therefore exempt. “The offending cookies are those that study the customer’s profile and behaviour, are applied to personalise a website or serve relevant third-party adverts,” explains Kevin Galway of digital marketing agency BSS Digital. In order to continue using nonessential cookies, website owners must unambiguously obtain consent from users; for example, by updating privacy policies or using pop-ups during a visitor’s session. Even businesses that don’t use sophisticated behavourial targeting tools need to comply, as Galway warns, “if your site uses Google Analytics, then you are impacted by this law.”
Taking the biscuit
Some retailers welcome the “fuzzy nature” of the new regulations. Rob Silsbury, ecommerce director UK and Europe at Tiffany & Co, says that while complying fully with the new regulation, “we are looking at the lack of defined boundaries as a positive, giving us some freedom to ensure that the impact on our business and the customer experience is minimal”. For him, the big question is what constitutes “consent” and how to deal with those who don’t give it. “The issue of whether ‘consent’ needs to involve a click is the biggest focus and we will be preparing a couple of approaches based on two very different views of the answer.”
At another business that spoke to Direct Commerce on condition of anonymity, the year’s grace helped focus the ecommerce team. Its head of multichannel retail says, “We have run internal audits to understand the totality of the cookies we collect, we considered how best to address the requirement of informed consent, and in particular we paid careful attention to what the ICO was saying and what some of the larger brands were doing.”
For the main part, he is taking a wait-and-see approach, “We noted that the ICO was really only going to act in cases of widespread complaint, or where cookies were being collected for nefarious purposes. As we are unlikely to trigger either of those elements, we will not be actively asking for informed consent.” This isn’t a complete flouting of the law, he hastened to add, “we recognise we could do more to explain to customers about the information we gather on them, and we will be progressively updating our privacy policies over the next three to six months to be more open”.
“It’s tempting to see this as another PCI DSS or 3D Secure. But it’s worse,” says Chloe Thomas. “At least with them it was black and white what needed to be done to be compliant. The penalties for not being compliant with the cookie law are big, but the ICO doesn’t have the resources to prosecute lots of companies.”
So what should you do to ensure you meet the deadline? In the first instance, says BSS’s Galway, all retailers should read the ICO’s guidelines. “Then find out what type of cookies your site has and determine the optimum solution to obtain consent from visitors. There will be a fine balance between the desire to collect as much information as possible on visitors and not deterring them away from your site, but retailers must address this challenge now before it’s too late.”
*Mandatory fields your email address will not be published. All comments are moderated and may be edited. Comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the Catalogue Development Centre Ltd.
While the EU Cookie Directive has given a few online businesses and marketers headaches over the past year, ultimately the conversation about privacy has been productive. Trust and privacy are paramount and we should all be actively promoting open dialogue and transparent business models.
Mark Haviland, MD at Rakuten LinkShare
The EU Cookie law is simply a bad law and a restraint to trade online at a time when business needs all the help it can get.
Trading online without using cookies for analytics or various types of marketing tracking is analogous to asking a retailer to trade blindfolded. It's simply not possible.
The law is well intentioned - protecting consumers and consumer data is important but one needs to police the abuse, not the benign actions of honest online merchants.
Michael Ross, Director of eCommera. | <urn:uuid:206b1787-abd8-4339-a2cd-e8a425e4b5ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://catalog-biz.com/news/The-way-the-cookie-crumbles_3456.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948395 | 1,105 | 2.15625 | 2 |
I have been confused by this statement in the Dennis Ritchie's manual:
"If the input stream has been parsed into tokens up to a given character, the next token is taken to include the longest
string of characters which could possibly constitute a token."
What does this mean? It is under the Lexical Convention section of the manual. | <urn:uuid:4f3b309a-d105-48aa-af55-fb5903c6ca64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cboard.cprogramming.com/c-programming/144953-lexical-convention-dennis-ritchies-manual-printable-thread.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960107 | 70 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Previous abstract Next abstract
Session 62 - Workshop on the Future of Antarctic Astrophysics - II.
Topical, Oral session, Wednesday, June 10
Simple hydride molecules are of great importance in astrophysics and astrochemistry. Physically they dominate the cooling of dense, warm phases of the ISM, such as the cores and disks of YSOs. Chemically they are often stable end points of chemical reactions, or may represent important intermediate stages of the reaction chains, which can be used to test the validity of the process. Through the efforts of astronomers, physicists, chemists, and laboratory spectroscopists we have an approximate knowledge of the abundance of some of the important species, but a great deal of new effort will be required to achieve the comprehensive and accurate data set needed to determine the energy balance and firmly establish the chemical pathways. Due to the low moment of inertia, the hydrides rotate rapidly and so have their fundamental spectral lines in the submillimeter. Depending on the cloud geometry and temperature profile they may be observed in emission or absorption. Species such as HCl, HF, OH, CH, CH^+, NH_2, NH_3, H_2O, H_2S, H_3O^+ and even H_3^+ have been detected, but this is just a fraction of the available set. Also, most deduced abundances are not nearly sufficiently well known to draw definitive conclusions about the chemical processes. For example, the most important coolant for many regions, H_2O, has a possible range of deduced abundance of a factor of 1000.
The very low submillimeter opacity at the South Pole site will be a significant factor in providing a new capabilty for interstellar hydride spectroscopy. The new species and lines made available in this way will be discussed.
Program listing for Wednesday | <urn:uuid:8e104933-94c2-4fc6-b200-301200b87b99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aas.org/archives/BAAS/v30n2/aas192/abs/S062001.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903556 | 386 | 2.890625 | 3 |
The News Desk is a collection of news, notes and breaking items affecting the Fredericksburg community.
Kiosks helping handle Obamacare surge
BY DONNIE JOHNSTON
The expected influx of new participants should Virginia expand Medicaid services under the federal Affordable Care Act is forcing Culpeper Human Services—and other local social services offices—to take a “serve yourself” approach.
Instead of automatically seeing an eligibility worker, new clients now are being asked to use computers in a lobby kiosk to determine eligibility, fill out necessary forms and apply for benefits.
The “do-it-yourself” system is designed to take some pressure off the Human Services staff should new standards make many more people eligible for government health insurance in 2014.
“If expanded Medicaid is adopted, the state is expecting about 450,000 more people to be eligible for Medicaid,” said Culpeper Human Services Director Lisa Peacock. “In Culpeper, we’re expecting about 5,000 more participants.”
That’s a lot of new applications to process and cases to review annually.
State officials hope that a computer program called “Common Help” will make the job easier. This customer portal, which can be accessed through Virginia.gov on any computer, will guide clients through the application process.
For Human Services’ many clients who do not have access to the Internet, the new computers in the building’s lobby should be ready for use no later than the first of December.
Until then, Culpeper clients may use a friend’s home computer or ones that are available at the Career Resource Center downtown or the Culpeper County Library in the Southgate Shopping Center.
Peacock said Human Services had contemplated placing computer kiosks in several public places, but decided against it because there would be no firewall protection.
How the new in-house do-it-yourself application system will work is uncertain, but Teresa Jenkins, who oversees Culpeper’s Medicaid program, says that so far there have been few problems with the online phase of the program.
“We started accepting online applications last July and last month we had 82,” Jenkins said, adding that Human Services has been accepting online applications for day care services for more than a year “and it works well.”
Aside from lack of Internet access, the biggest problem many online clients have had is remembering usernames and passwords.
“Some people are really struggling with that,” Jenkins said.
Common Help is set up to explain state benefits programs to clients, but Peacock worries that some applicants won’t discover some of the local programs that are available, such as assistance with winter heating bills.
“The biggest concern I have is that we’re taking the personal aspect out of [the application process],” Peacock said.
“Our goal is to keep the human aspect in all this,” she said.
Both agree that having applicants sign up for benefits at a lobby computer will be of only minimal assistance to the Human Services staff, especially since a worker may need to be stationed there to help clients, some of whom have little education, navigate the online program.
“Workers still have to verify all the information and every application—whether the client is eligible or not—must be processed,” Jenkins said. “This will likely only eliminate a few minutes of typing.”
Still, if Virginia adopts the expanded Medicaid program and the influx of new clients is as heavy as anticipated, even a few minutes of typing may be a big help.
Peacock said her office will somehow manage accepting and verifying as many as 5,000 new applicants, but wonders where that many new people will find doctors in 2014.
“That’s going to be a huge problem,” the Culpeper Human Services director said. “It has been hard getting doctors to accept Medicaid patients up to now. I don’t know how [the town’s doctors] can handle an influx of 5,000 new patients.”
Last year, the federal government made more than $30 million in Medicaid payments to Culpeper County health care providers, Peacock said.
Under Obamacare guidelines, which would allow a family of four to make almost $32,000 a year ($15,400 for an individual) and still qualify for benefits, that payment amount could quadruple.
“Right now, everyone is just trying to work out the kinks and get prepared,” Jenkins said. | <urn:uuid:06ea86e6-e9bf-4c32-8869-1f2bfff80f9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2012/11/25/kiosks-helping-handle-obamacare-surge/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945921 | 963 | 1.695313 | 2 |
I recently finished the book The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband by David Finch. As the title implies, the book is about a man who saves his in-peril marriage after learning he has Asberger’s. I don’t think I’m giving too much away (if you intend to read it) by telling you he used some of the elements of his condition that gave him the most trouble in his marriage–his need for logic, to thoroughly understand a situation, the kind of traits that drove his wife batty—and leveraged them to his advantage by working with his wife to thoroughly and gradually understand how to better respond to her and his children’s needs.
Put another way, ‘normally’, people call on their emotional abilities to deal with emotional matters and mental/logical abilities to deal with brain-centric issues. Finch actually turned that paradigm on its head and used his strong ‘mental’ abilities to arrive at emotional conclusions and learn how to be more empathetic with his wife.
I once worked for someone who was very well respected in his field. His success was due not only to his deep insight into his space, but also because of his ability to socially navigate with clients, media and colleagues. After a while of working with him it became clear that he was not naturally gifted when it came to social navigation, but that he had obviously picked up social/emotional navigation skills because he was just that smart (his flattish affect & occasional moments of social awkwardness that flared up gave away that it was not natural for him).
The notion of someone logic-ing their way to emotional awareness to such a degree that his marriage is transformed seems so, well, intelligent, that it hardly seems relatable. I think the takeaway is that often we say to ourselves “that’s outside of my abilities” when faced with seems like an insurmountable problem. Then there are others who say “I may not be able to get there via traditional methods, but I’ll find a way there”.
- About the Author
Nathan Safran is a former Analyst at Forrester Research where he covered the Digital Home. While at Forrester, Nathan authored research studies on trends, attitudes and behaviors of consumers toward technology adoption and use.
Nathan has been quoted as a subject matter expert in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Fortune magazine. Currently, Nathan heads the Research Department at Conductor, Inc an SEO Technology Platform firm.
Nathan writes at exceljockey.com about the intersection of Business, Technology and Psychology. See the About page for more info. Follow Nathan on Twitter: @Nathan_Safran | <urn:uuid:7d191161-88a8-410e-a1f0-ce81b1ff49b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://exceljockey.com/2012/08/many-paths-to-the-same-destination/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98566 | 586 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) rejects the conclusion of Benbrook Consulting Services that claims that corn developed with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has hurt, rather than helped, U.S. farm income.
“U.S. corn producers are very attuned to costs and revenues and the bottom line. About 18% of corn farmers in the U.S. chose to plant Bt corn this past year,” says farmer Leon Corzine, chairman of the NCGA biotech working group. “It is ridiculous and downright insulting to assume that we would make that decision without having clearly weighed the costs and benefits.”
NCGA's “Know Before You Grow” program, available at its Web site (www.ncga.com), helps farmers decide whether to use biotech hybrids, Corzine says.
“Individual farmers decide whether it makes sense in their operations,” he says. “It is not appropriate nor effective in all corn production situations.”
To read the report, called When Does It Pay To Plant Bt Corn? visit www.iatp.org. | <urn:uuid:99a276d8-02f8-4de3-ba59-7e3b151ef8a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/ncga-unhappy-bt-corn-study | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934536 | 238 | 2.265625 | 2 |
(Phys.org)—A James Cook University researcher has helped uncover two new lizard species in the Townsville area.
Dr Conrad Hoskin from JCU's School of Marine and Tropical Biology, and Patrick Couper from the Queensland Museum discovered the two new species: the Elegant Rainbow Skink (Carlia decora), and the Orange-flanked Rainbow Skink (Carlia rubigo).
Dr Hoskin said the new lizards were described and given scientific names in a recent paper published in the international journal Zootaxa.
"Both species are small skinks belonging to the genus Carlia, a diverse group of skinks in tropical Australia," Dr Hoskin said.
"The species names are in reference to the bright colours sported by breeding males of each species; 'decora' means 'beautiful' in Latin, with males of that species marked with vivid orange and blue, while 'rubigo' translates to 'rust', referring to the rusty orange colour of males of that species."
Dr Hoskin said the Elegant Rainbow Skink was found in forests in the Townsville and Mackay areas.
"It is one of the most common skinks in Townsville gardens and would be familiar to many Townsville residents as the small skink that scurries away into the garden bed," he said.
"However, the Orange-flanked Rainbow Skink is found in drier areas of eastern and CentralQueensland, preferring open forests and rocky areas. It is not found right in Townsville but lives on the rocky ranges around Townsville like Magnetic Island, Cape Cleveland and Herveys Range. The best place to see it around Townsville is Magnetic Island, where it is the most common lizard."
Dr Hoskin said a third species was also described in the paper, the Whitsunday Rainbow Skink (Carlia inconnexa).
"This species had previously been recognized as a subspecies of another skink species, but our research found that it was sufficiently different from allother populations that it should be elevated from subspecies to full species status.
TheWhitsunday Rainbow Skink is only found on Whitsunday, Hook, Hayman and Lindeman Islands. The species name 'inconnexa' means 'unjoined', in reference to the isolation of this skink on islands.
The three new species resulted from a detailed study of the widespread Open-litter Rainbow Skink (Carlia pectoralis).
The study looked in detail at morphology, colour pattern and genetics of all populations thought to be this species and found that in reality Carlia pectoralis actually consisted of four species that are genetically distinct and can be identified based on morphology and colour pattern.
"It just goes to show that we still haven't discovered all the diversity that's out there, even in a fairly well known group like lizards in a fairly well studied area like eastern Australia," he said.
"More and more we are finding that species we thought were widespread in eastern and tropical Australia are in fact composed of multiple species that have been overlooked because they look approximately similar.
"It's only when we look in detail that we find that there are very interesting new species hidden in there."
Dr Hoskin said while scientists had always known that these skinks existed, they had been calling several species by one name.
"It would be like calling the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Western Grey Kangaroo and Red Kangaroo one species, the 'Kangaroo'," he said.
"In the case of these skinks, one of them isn't even the closest relative of the others, it just happens to have scale characteristics that meant it was incorrectlylumped in with Carlia pectoralis when the original taxonomy was done.
"It is exciting that in this day and age we can realise that the most common skink in Townsville gardens is in fact a new species that needed a scientific name.
"When we don't even have the taxonomy of common backyard creatures sorted out, it shows just how much undescribed diversity is still out there to be discovered."
Explore further: Hinchinbrook gets its own frog | <urn:uuid:be3235a8-e382-4f6f-b79d-9f4dcae8b502> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news/2012-12-lizards-townsville-area.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962074 | 863 | 3.078125 | 3 |
» About the Department
» Mass Communications
» Organizational Communication
» Related Links
The Methodist University Communications Department is a unique combination of talents and disciplines that take advantage of the flexible nature of modern communication technology and the benefits of a small private university. At Methodist University classes are small, which allows for a great deal of individual attention. Our lab facilities also operate in an open fashion, which means that students have virtually unlimited access to the technology they need. Our communication students produce numerous projects in their careers at Methodist University and they leave with skills that will serve them well. They are taught to solve problems and to be innovative and original. Their success stories speak for themselves.
What We Offer
The principles of communication never change, but they can be applied in diverse ways. The faculty at Methodist University complement one another in skills and backgrounds. Our professors have worked on movie sets both in front of and behind the camera. They are also skilled in audio production, radio announcing, public speaking, computer graphics, and all aspects of modern computer-based communication. They also have relationships with local media companies and can offer many possibilities for internships and job referrals. Success in any endeavor is never guaranteed, but the more skills one acquires, the better one's ultimate position becomes.
The Course Structure
What do our graduates do? That depends entirely on them. Our program is intended to be flexible enough to accommodate a wide variety of paths. We establish a core of general theory classes, but beyond that students may choose from a number of electives. Our students study advertising, video production, web page and multimedia design, graphics and animation, performance for the camera, radio production, print journalism, and much more. We also structure the prerequisites in such a way as to keep all courses open to the student whenever possible.
How do you learn communications technology? By using it. How do you learn to be a communications specialist? By being one. Our students have enormous opportunities for internships. They learn by doing in a variety of supervised environments. Ultimately many of our interns become full-time employees and have numerous opportunities to prove themselves. If one believes in one's self, horizons always expand. | <urn:uuid:6faa6198-4f62-4668-81e2-a460f035065e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.methodist.edu/com/program.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953391 | 443 | 2.25 | 2 |
Parieto-occipital alpha power indexes distraction during simulated car driving
The two major causes of fatal car accidents are distraction of visual attention and lapses in vigilance. Psychophysiological research on real-time classification of a driver's floating brain state, aims at enabling preventive feedback. While various vigilance monitors have been suggested, tracking attention non-invasively and with high temporal resolution is still an open problem. Traditionally, modulation of the parieto-occipital alpha band (~ 10 Hz) has been taken as an index of fluctuations in vigilance. Recently, parieto-occipital alpha power was found to positively correlate with increasing task demand and externally and internally directed attention, which might reflect functional inhibition of irrelevant brain areas during cognitive processing. Here, we characterize EEG signatures of competition for attentional resources arising when a primary visual driving task is challenged by a secondary auditory task. | <urn:uuid:a30d7c5e-efc2-4470-9db0-e77b05dbbb5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eprints.pascal-network.org/archive/00005909/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927859 | 181 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Some N.J. schools open on MLK holiday to make up days lost to storm
Schools in Little Ferry, where many homes were devastated by Sandy, had to make up seven school days, Superintendent Frank Scarafile said. He used Martin Luther King Jr. Day, two days set aside for Presidents Day and others at the end of the year.
Scarafile said he did not take days from the April recess because it was the only block of time children were off before the state’s standardized tests.
“Unfortunately, our performance is based on these test scores, and they are an important aspect,” he said.
He said the district traditionally opens on Veterans Day, when students and teachers hold commemorative activities. He said the same will be done today.
“We don’t discriminate here. We go to school on Veterans Day, and the kids are engaged in a Veterans Day ceremony,” he said. “If they didn’t have school, they’d be watching television, and they wouldn’t be here.”
Officials in a variety of districts said they will honor King and his legacy with assemblies and classroom lessons. Some students will watch today’s inauguration of President Obama, which administrators say will be incorporated into civic lessons.
Owens argued that lessons on the civil rights and human rights that King fought for should not be relegated to one day a year.
“They don’t need to wait until one day to teach about one of the greatest Americans that ever lived,” he said. “I want our children, our children’s children and their children to understand the impact and the change of our nation because of one man’s dream, and I don’t want any school open on Dr. King’s birthday.” | <urn:uuid:736442bf-3f48-4a62-8141-676cfae9ca04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northjersey.com/englewood/Some_NJ_schools_open_on_MLK_holiday_to_make_up_days_lost_to_storm.html?c=y&page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968845 | 386 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Thank you for your generosity! Your food donations provide variety to supplement the staple items and produce Northwest Harvest distributes to our partner programs. We can accept nonperishable items only.
Please give careful consideration to what is in your donation bag. Foods highest in nutritional density tend to be the least processed foods. Fresh fruits and vegetable are mostly very good in nutritional density, and monetary contributions help us access fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. Within shelf-stable products, select ones with the lowest saturated fats and refined carbohydrates (sugar, white flour).
More than 50% of those we serve are children and the elderly—the populations most affected by a compromised diet. We know that nutrition matters, and we’re committed to providing the most beneficial food possible to our clients. We believe that fighting hunger, and ultimately helping end it, requires a focus in part on what we eat.
Hold a food drive.
Find a public drop site in your neighborhood.
See our calendar of events. Many accept food donations as admission or offer other benefits to donors.
Find a food bank or meal program in your area.
Find information about gleaning services that benefit food programs.
See what foods Northwest Harvest can use. | <urn:uuid:63e2444c-049d-45f3-80c3-4dcf500e8c58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northwestharvest.org/Donate/Give_Food.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920705 | 248 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The closest I had found until 2011 was a photo of a group of Canadian M-38A1's (50K JPEG) awaiting transport overseas on the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure in January 1970 (DND Canada photo.)
But in late 2011 Mick Broomfield in Australia sent this photo from the State Library of New South Wales. Just the one photo, but since we had waited so long I thought it deserved its own page. I hope it won't be too long until we find more information, and possibly pictures, to add to this page.
The picture was taken by Mick Toohey of the Australian Photographic Agency, at Garden Island, NSW, Australia. It shows Royal Canadian Navy light cruiser HMCS Ontario loading to leave for New Zealand on 26 February 1955. And there, being lifted on board, is a CJ-3B.
Even in the large copy of the photo (80K JPEG), the details aren't clear, but it appears to have "RCN" and a number stencilled on the side, and a badge mounted on the front grille. The badge could be the Navy crest, or it could be HMCS Ontario's own badge (right).
The Ontario was one of the largest ships ever to sail in the Canadian fleet. The light cruiser was built in Belfast during World War II for the Royal Navy as HMS Minotaur, and transferred to the Canadian Navy and renamed Ontario near the end of the war. She sailed to the Pacific Theatre but was too late to see action, and was subsequently used for training duties in the Pacific until being retired in 1959 (see Naval-History.net).
This 18 April 1951 photo by Allan C. Green is from the State Library of Victoria.
Any new information regarding Jeeps on Canadian naval vessels is welcome.
Note: the flag at the top of this page is the pre-1957 version of the Blue Ensign, a naval jack flown by RCN ships in port (see HMCS Ontario in Portsmouth, England, 60K JPEG courtesy of Barry Lake and MaritimeQuest.com.) At sea they flew the same White Ensign (20K JPEG) as Britain's Royal Navy, until 1965.
Thanks to Mick Broomfield for finding the photo. By the way, the ship's bell of HMCS Ontario is currently on display at the HMCS Ontario Sea Cadet Training Centre in Kingston, Ontario (home of The CJ3B Page.) -- Derek Redmond
See details on Kaiser Jeep in Windsor, Canada, 1959-69 on The CJ3B Page.
See more CJ-3B and M606 Military Jeeps.
CJ3B Home | Site Map | Updates | Search | Links | Bulletin Board | <urn:uuid:ccc6a759-26e3-4d91-8fd1-d99b8a18a017> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.film.queensu.ca/Cj3b/Canada/RCNavy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954753 | 553 | 1.921875 | 2 |
1. Chairs: Old Chairs make amazing raised planters. This one is super cute because they've painted it to contrast with all the garden greenery.
2. Shoes: I've seen shoe gardens before but this repurposed sandal is especially cute because of its size, colour and inbuilt drainage!
3. Buckets: These metal buckets have been raised on concrete parking guides and they look amazing lined up against the wall. Garden herbs ready to go!
4. Furniture: I love this idea! When a piece of furniture has outlived its indoor life it can be moved to the outdoors! Just add dirt, lining and drainage.
5. Guttering: Suzanne lined the sunny side of her house with rain guttering and now has fresh salad produce just outside her window.
6. Bread pans: Just add holes and dirt and your unused kitchenware lives again as a kitchen planter!
7. Colanders: Another repurposed planter with built in drainage. It's like it's meant to be!
8. Oil tins: These oil tins make fantastic planters when you're done with your oil.
9. Washing buckets: I've seen these old buckets in a lot of op-shops and I've often wondered... but what would I do with it? Plant in it!
10. Pots and pans: More kitchen stuff that makes its way into the yard. Tiny pots full of garden greenery.
11. Bags: This tiny succulent garden looks so cute in its repurposed home.
12. Yogurt containers: Love yogurt. But I've yet to find a yogurt that doesn't come in a plastic container of some description. So rather then recycle them or store them in the cupboard for 'some day' I'm going to repurpose them into a yogurt planter garden.
13. Tins: Empty tins make fantastic planters. Easy to add drainage, easy to decorate and very durable.
14. Coffee mugs: I love these mugs turned into mini herb gardens... I'm just not sure how to add the drainage... something to try!
15. Boxes/guitars/drawers/tubs: If you have the space and propensity arranging all your repurposed planters together can look amazing! This rooftop garden has me inspired.
(Re-edited from a post originally published on 3.24.2011 - CM)
(Images: 1. The Seattle Times; 2. Our House; 3. CantyShanty; 4. The Micro Gardener; 5. Juneau Empire; 6. Giant Jeans Parlor; 7. The Micro Gardener; 8. My HomeGrown; 9. Make Things Go; 10. The Bowerbird; 11. The Micro Gardener; 12. Eco-Friendly Freckles; 13. Ewa in the Garden; 14. Sow Your Own; 15. Urban Garden Casual)
Originally posted April 6, 2012 | <urn:uuid:0cecfc4b-9c36-45ce-acff-45aa8a3a9271> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/15-repurposed-planters-just-ad-142393?img_idx=9 | 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 | 0.923896 | 623 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Posts Tagged ‘services’
DriversEd.com Approved in State of Georgia: Rapid National Enrollment Fuels Company Growth
DriversEd.com has been approved by the state of Georgia to provide teens seeking their first license a DDS (Georgia Department of Drivers Services) recognized certificate-of-completion of drivers education.
DriversEd.com, the nations’ leader in online drivers education , has been approved by the state of Georgia to provide teens seeking their first license a DDS (Georgia Department of Drivers Services) recognized certificate-of-completion of drivers education.
Georgia requires all applicants be at least 16 years old, have held a learner permit for a year and a day and as of January 1, 2007, a state approved driver’s education course certificate-of-completion in compliance with Joshua’s Law. DriversEd.com provides a Georgia specific course that satisfies the mandated requirements of the in-class theoretical portion of drivers education, all online.
“Senate Bill 226, also known as ‘Joshua’s Law,’ mandates that all applicants under the age of 17 complete a state-of-Georgia recognized driver education course along with a total of 40 hours of supervised driving,” says DriversEd.com founder Gary Tsifrin. “A certificate-of-completion from a drivers education school such as DriversEd.com is mandatory and students must score at least 80% in the final exam.”
Teens can take the DriversEd.com course on their own computer at their own pace. It’s comprehensive and designed to help students become safe, confident and defensive drivers. The curriculum takes into account how teens learn — students use interactive video and animations about real on-the-road scenarios. New drivers can prepare for the written test by taking up to 50 online practice tests online and can re-take the final test until they pass.
What else can you do on DriversEd.com?
- Learners Permit Preparation: courses available for all fifty states
- Practice Tests: offered in English, Chinese and Spanish
- MyDMV: your department of motor vehicle resource
- Drivers Training: get behind-the-wheel
- WebTrafficSchool: traffic school, ticket dismissal and defensive driving course
- Game Zone: have fun while learning some of the rules of the road
- MyCars: Cars.com-DriversEd.com new and used auto purchasing program
- I Am Not a Statistic awareness campaign; don’t be a statistic, don’t drink and drive
DriversEd.com is the first company to bring drivers education online. Developed in 2003, the all online course has over a million users: http://www.driversed.com/ — “click.” enroll in DriversEd.com, “learn.” do your drivers ed, “drive.” get behind-the-wheel. In addition to Georgia, the course is available to first time drivers in California, Nevada, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida.
Note to Editors:
DriversEd.com is an approved provider of driver education for the state of Georgia: License #DT397. Course link: http://www.driversed.com/courses/drivers-ed/Georgia-Drivers-Education.aspx?state=GA
Joshua’s Law explained online at: dds.ga.gov/Joshua/index.aspx
# # #
georgia department of motor vehicles | <urn:uuid:ccd9264e-ba68-42d2-b843-2d426fb742e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.4safedrivers.com/blog/dmv-record-checks/services/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916933 | 746 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Jordan History Academy of Teachers, Jr. (JHAT, Jr.)
History can be easily overlooked in the general instruction common at the elementary level. However, the Jordan History Academy of Teachers, Jr. (JHAT, Jr.) grant seeks to remedy this in four Utah school districts: Jordan, Provo, Murray, and Wasatch.
JHAT, Jr. combines the teaching of history with literacy and the Language Arts Common Core State Standards. It also emphasizes expanding educator content knowledge.
Over the summer, 4th- and 5th-grade educators are invited to attend a 15-day academy. This training session is divided into two portions. Mornings are spent with a guest university professor who focuses on social studies content. Afternoons consider how best to teach the material, with sessions led by a master teacher.
The experience does not end after the academy. Educators receive three years of ongoing support, including reflective exercises, coaching, and more, as well as a field opportunity in Boston and Philadelphia focusing on early U.S history.
The project Wikispace offers resources to the wider public. Here, you can find a list of teaching strategies from "alphaboxes" to "voting with your feet," primary source activity ideas, participant-created lesson plans, and more.
For others looking to take inspiration from the overall project, key strengths include a focus on both content knowledge and teaching strategies, long-term educator support, resources accessible to both participants and visitors, and the combination of language arts and social studies goals. | <urn:uuid:959a7679-6be3-4320-a7f8-6d291bb0232c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://teachinghistory.org/tah-grants/project-spotlight/25499 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947712 | 318 | 2.8125 | 3 |
While doing research for an upcoming Bicentennial Minute (Groveport AND Canal Winchester jointly together, coming soon to a Community Radio dial near you)- I asked this question: Wert’s Grove or Rarey’s Port? What would have been the better name. We may never know, but the dispute of the two names is the basis for the Village of Groveport’s name.
1) Welcome to Groveport
2) Groveport Log House: This house was discovered in the mid-1970s when a house was being dismantled to make way for a new post office. The Groveport Historical Society took possession of the log house on the condition that they move the Log House to a new location, which they did, along Heritage Park.
3) Groveport Town Hall
4) Groveport Elementary School- This is where the high school was until the 1950s, it is now an elementary school. The high school moved to a new location at the former site of the Elmont Hotel (a turn of the 20th Century hotel that was razed in 1950). Groveport High School moved to its current location in 1971.
5) Train Tracks- There was a train line that went through Groveport to Canal Winchester, and there are train tracks along Blacklick Street in the Village.
6) This was an animal feedery of some sort, on Front Street (near Ebright Rd.)
7) Little Italy
8) Groveport Veterans Park- This park was built in 1997 to honor Groveport’s military veterans
9) Mott’s Military Museum- You’ve probably seen the jeeps and what-not at July Fourth parades, Mott’s Military Museum is on Hamilton Road just north of the Village proper.
10) Groveport Zion Lutheran Church (now New Hope Community Church)- This is one of a few churchs in the Village proper | <urn:uuid:bb3554c1-9f40-496c-b309-d378734c115a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://djbcadventures.tumblr.com/post/27719675757/groveport-while-doing-research-for-an-upcoming | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955119 | 394 | 1.960938 | 2 |
The Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, New York, will exhibit Slavins “Intersections”: paintings and the related outdoor woven colored translucent sculptures. Summer 2014.
Intersections: Aerial views of abstracted urban plans.
A new series of paintings that reference work Slavin’s successfully exhibited in the mid 1970s. Like the early pieces these paintings are pencil grid based, with layers of lush transparent stained colors. The X provides a recognizable entrance into this abstract world, as the viewer's eye scans and jumps from color to color slowly entering into the depth of the painting.
Slavin is also working on a group of large scale indoor and outdoor sculptural screens using this luminous chromatic overlapping format.
All of Slavin's work use elements from the natural world. Working in a wide range of material, including paint, metals, etched glass, concrete and terrazzo, her forms weave an interplay of silhouettes and shadows. Her current work consists of painting, sculpture, ornamental fences, gates, railings, floor inlays, room dividers, etched glass windscreens.
Arlene Slavin Studio - www.arleneslavin.com | <urn:uuid:1494fd2b-4ca1-43a9-9b17-ae4fe1ef1a97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artnet.de/usernet/awc/awc_artisthome.asp?url=arlene-slavin.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92066 | 243 | 1.695313 | 2 |
is a big, giant treat of a book, which is not to
say that it's an easy read, or that it isn't packed with more meaty fare closer
to the bone. Rabih Alameddine shines as a storyteller and a novelist, and
nowhere are the distinctions between the two vocations more evident than in this
lovely, captivating tome. As a storyteller, Alameddine dazzles us with bejeweled
adventure stories of lust and love, murder, scandal, and war. As a novelist, he
crafts a complex structure, shaping subtle mirrors between the flights of fancy
and the central story of a family in war-torn Beirut, gently shifting the
perspective until, like a mosaic, the tiny pieces begin to take shape, and the
real picture of the novel emerges.
Like a merry-making band of magic carpets, the folk tales and adventure stories
woven into the central story of a Lebanese family...
Beyond the Book
A Thousand and One Nights
Once upon a time, not terribly long ago, hakawatis, or storytellers, were
commonplace fixtures on Middle Eastern streets. As coffee-drinking gained
popularity in Ottoman times, the hakawatis moved from the streets into the
coffee houses. Hakawatis were paid by the owners of the coffee houses to draw
customers, and the best could also expect tips from their audience. Hakawatis
were known for their dramatic performances, and were consummate entertainers.
The rise of radio and television brought the demise of this ancient Arab
tradition of public storytelling, and hakawatis all but disappeared from the
Middle East by the 1970's.
Listen to an NPR interview with the last full-time hakawati in the Syrian
capital of Damascus.... | <urn:uuid:fd4e6f1a-ce1f-46f4-8674-ffea6ac12d9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/2118/the-hakawati | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939246 | 391 | 1.640625 | 2 |
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The countdown to Census 2010 is upon us, but is the U.S. Census Bureau satisfied with the progress of its quest to go high-tech?
The U.S. Census Bureau is charged with assessing the U.S. population and demographics every 10 years, and the next assessment will occur in 2010. In preparation, 140,000 address canvassers have begun fanning out across their assigned areas to verify old addresses, add new ones, and document residences that include multiple residents. For the first time ever, canvassers are equipped with handheld computers that include a built-in GPS.
Some people think that this use of technology is an invasion of privacy, and are upset over a $700 million taxpayer-funded contract to collect GPS readings for every front door in the country. These readings are pinpointing locations with technological accuracy and have raised concern from those who question why such information is necessary. These privacy advocates are worried about what could be done with the information.
The Obama administration recently decided to put White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in an oversight role over the census, which will be used to determine a reapportionment of congressional seats and could be used to solidify a single political party’s control over the nation, its budget, military and future. This decision seems to have enhanced the already raised concerns regarding the upcoming census.
Nevertheless, this new technology promises to be of great assistance to the process of counting the number of Americans residing in this great nation. Instead of using paper-based lists and surveys, the U.S. Government will use its newly developed, paperless method to achieve census goals. According to the Political Pistachio blog:
Efficiency and accuracy are the promised bi-products of these new technology-based programs, which includes creating Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates for the front doors of American homes. This way, in addition to the current satellite location and picture of your property from the roof, the government will now have a GPS coordinate for your front door.
Although some experts feared technological breakdowns, early reports say the GPS systems worked with few glitches. The Census Bureau had hoped to use the $600 million system from Harris Corp. to follow up with those who do not respond to the six-question Census form in 2010, when the actual counting begins. However, technological problems forced the Bureau to return to the paper-based method. According to Tami Luby, CNN Senior Writer:
This last-minute switch, announced in April 2008, could cost taxpayers up to $3 billion through fiscal 2013, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The increased price tag reflects the additional time and manpower the paper-based method requires, as well as added supplies and systems….
The 2010 Census is expected to cost up to $14.5 billion in total and is expected to employ 1.4 million people, the vast majority of whom will be hired next year.
So, the countdown continues… and privacy advocates are left to wonder, “is Big Brother really watching?”
– Traci Galbreath | <urn:uuid:1ae380a5-5b50-4d26-b472-ee98d51bc542> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jetlaw.org/?p=1426&cpage=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945442 | 704 | 2.125 | 2 |
(Miami-Dade County, FL) -- On January 15, Miami International Airport welcomed the inaugural flight of Tampa Cargo Airlines' new Airbus A330-200F, one of only 15 of these new generation freighter aircraft in use worldwide and the first of its kind in Latin America. The inaugural flight received a water cannon salute from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue upon its arrival from Medellin, Colombia.
To download a hi-res version of this photo, go to http://www.miami-airport.com/photos.asp
The A330-200F is one of the world's only mid-size, all-cargo aircraft capable of carrying 70 metric tons up to 4,000 nautical miles. Tampa Cargo will add four of the mid-size freighters to its fleet to serve its 12 destinations throughout Latin America, including: Medellin; Barranquilla; Cali; Bogota; Lima; Quito; Guayaquil; Caracas; Valencia; Asuncion; Manaus; and Curacao.
Tampa Cargo, AviancaTaca Holding's cargo airline based in Colombia, ranks among the top five of MIA's 38 freighter carriers. In 2012, the airline transported 142,985 tons of freight between MIA and Latin America, including its top imports of flowers, fruit and vegetables, seafood and textile products, and exports such as computers, industrial machinery and parts, telecommunications equipment, vehicle parts and tires. In 2011, Colombia was MIA's top trade partner for total tonnage with 225,822 tons valued at more than $6.3 billion.
For more information about Tampa Cargo Airlines, go to www.tampacargo.com. | <urn:uuid:66e26d80-7094-46eb-b776-0e26b3f85780> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miami-airport.com/releases/13-01-18-MDAD_Tampa_Cargo.asp | 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 | 0.904008 | 353 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Arai, Lisa and Harding, Seeromanie
A review of the epidemiological literature on the health of UK-born black caribbeans.
Critical Public Health, 14(2),
Full text available as:
A review of the epidemiological literature on the health of UK-born Black Caribbeans was undertaken. Forty-three papers were found; around half of these were on the incidence of schizophrenia and psychotic conditions in this population. A small number were on autoimmune disorders, sexual health, diet and alcohol intake and children's health. Although there are many methodological limitations with the research on schizophrenia and psychotic conditions, the findings are consistent in that UK-born Black Caribbeans are more likely to be diagnosed with these conditions than Whites, and possibly more so than migrant Black Caribbeans. Poorer sexual health and the high prevalence of some specific autoimmune conditions, such as human T-cell lymphoma/leukaemia (HTLV-1), were also consistent features in the research evidence. The findings from these studies suggest a transmission of risk of these conditions across generations, and that environmental factors, rather than genetic susceptibility, play a major role in outcomes. There was a lack of research investigating generational shifts in risks for major conditions, such as coronary heart disease, lung or breast cancer.
Actions (login may be required) | <urn:uuid:94d9cf59-9cfe-485d-9f86-3715d7d87761> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oro.open.ac.uk/11589/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953834 | 270 | 1.773438 | 2 |
“You may have heard the advice ‘If you exercise, you'll live longer.’ The good news -- or the bad news, if you hate doing anything more active than downloading iTunes -- is that it's true. Research backs this up. A 2007 study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. found that fitter people lived longer, even if they had extra pounds around the middle. Among 2,603 adults 60 and older enrolled in that longitudinal study, the fittest people (those who did best on a treadmill test) also had the lowest risk factors for hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. Most of the negative changes to our bodies over time can be chalked up to two things, says Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, head of the department of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: normal aging and disease-related aging (that is, changes accelerated by illnesses and conditions such as diabetes and heart disease). | <urn:uuid:73c55cf1-a690-43fc-a8a0-502fac010b86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ihrsa-industry-news.blogspot.com/2009/07/exercise-and-longevity-get-moving.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947568 | 202 | 2.515625 | 3 |
What is the world coming to? I've been asking myself that for a while now without getting an answer I relish. I think the world took a turn for the worse when schools started trying to elevate feelings over achievement. Self-esteem became a catchword and those who stand out above the crowd, in many venues, are no longer recognized for their achievement for fear that doing so might somehow negatively affect the self-esteem of a child who hasn't worked hard enough or, quite frankly, doesn't have the ability or the background to achieve at a high level.
The entire philosophy of No Child Left Behind, after all, is designed to bring all students toward the middle, no matter how many times government bureaucrats dance around and insist that the opposite is true.
My son teaches at North Oconee High School. He also is an assistant basketball coach, and I spent a lot of time in their gym this winter. On one wall of the gym, close to the scoreboard, is a plaque containing the NOHS vision statement. "North Oconee High School will be a nationally recognized high school in academic achievement by ensuring all students receive rigorous, balanced education that will enable them to compete in and contribute to a global society." The folks at North Oconee realize that students need to be prepared to compete.
Good for them. Life in the 21st century is full of competition. Those who are coming of age in this century will be competing for jobs, for resources, for position in society, for positions of leadership -- just as people who have come of age in every period of history have been forced to compete.
In competition there are winners and losers. Period. Losing isn't as much fun as winning. Ask any Georgia fan who was in the Georgia Dome on the first day of last December how much losing hurts. The Alabama folks who walked past after the game were certainly happier than I was. Nick Saban was happier than Mark Richt. But I am certain that Mark Richt, and the players under his charge, left that building determined to work even harder in the year to come.
Vince Lombardi, who knew a little bit about competition, once famously remarked, "There is no greater feeling a man can have than to lay on the field of battle, completely exhausted, victorious!"
I have competed my entire life -- in sports and otherwise. I have won and I have lost and the wins never felt as good as the losses felt bad, but if I had never lost I would never have appreciated the feeling that Lombardi spoke of that came with winning.
Years ago, youth sports programs began "protecting young people's self-esteem" by turning off the scoreboards and refusing to keep score during athletic contests. If there are no winners there can be no losers. Don't think for a minute that every kid in those programs didn't know what the score had been. These same programs began giving out "participation trophies" to every child who played. The right-fielder who batted .023 got the same recognition as the best player on the team. I was that right-fielder when I played for the Porterdale Yankees, and if I had been given such a trophy I would have known that it was bogus and it would have meant as much as the attic full of discarded participation trophies my kids accumulated in soccer, basketball, softball and swimming did.
Somehow this philosophy expanded to academics, and school after school after school has taken steps to protect the feelings of the underachiever -- at the expense of recognizing those who have worked so hard to achieve. Time and again those students have failed to receive their due recognition as Honor Roll requirements have been watered down and All A honor rolls have been altered to create Almost All A honor rolls and All A-B honor rolls and Almost All A-B honor rolls. Just don't hurt anyone's feelings.
This week, in Massachusetts, another group of high achievers has fallen subject to the specter of inclusiveness. David Fabrizio, principal of Ipswich Middle School has canceled Honors Night because, in his words, "Honors Night can be devastating to a child who has worked extremely hard in a difficult class but who, despite growth, has not been able to maintain a high grade-point average." He goes on to explain that some children don't receive the same amount of academic support at home as others.
So there you have it. Since everyone hasn't achieved, no one shall be rewarded.
Shame on David Fabrizio. Shame on the good folks of Ipswich, Mass., who put up with this. Shame on schools everywhere who are failing to recognize that their students need to learn to compete and that fail to recognize -- and reward -- those who go above and beyond.
This time last year I was advised that I might have as few as six months to live. I was ready to take the doctor's word for it and give up. A high school friend, Bonham Johnson, wrote on my Facebook wall, "The Darrell Huckaby that I knew was a fierce competitor."
I decided to compete -- and here I am. Thank God I had been taught how.
Darrell Huckaby is a local educator and author. Email him at email@example.com. For past columns, visit www.rockdalecitizen.com or www.newtoncitizen.com. | <urn:uuid:88b4769f-4ee8-4576-b181-89e52d31a3b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newtoncitizen.com/news/2013/mar/21/darrell-huckaby-there-are-no-winners-without/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984139 | 1,104 | 1.851563 | 2 |
1. When were you first diagnosed with Lyme disease? Were you diagnosed with any other tick-borne diseases? If so, which ones?
It took doctors two years of testing to finally diagnose me, and my initial diagnosis was for Lyme (borrelia) only. After being treated for only Lyme disease for a year and a half and not responding well to antibiotics, another doctor tested for co-infections and found traces of bartonella. A year and a half later I was also diagnosed with babesia.
2. How long was that after you first developed symptoms or found a tick?
I never found a tick – never had a rash. And because I was in such good physical condition at the time, it took a long time for symptoms to emerge. From the time I first noticed symptoms, it took two years of testing for me to get diagnosed.
3. What steps have you taken to help cope with your symptoms?
Initially, I attacked the illness with antibiotics, which gave me crushing Herxheimer reactions. It took years for me to find out I could take detox measures to reduce those symptoms, using herbs, changing my diet, exercising, etc. Daily meditation also works really well.
4. How does encouraging and connecting with others in the Lyme community help you deal with the disease in yourself and/or your loved ones?
At first I joined some online support groups, but I couldn't relate to the conversations that really focused on everyone's symptoms and misery. I was always more interested in breaking through the depression and bad feelings that can arise from the illness. It was only after I started feeling better that I felt compelled to reach out to others to let them know there is a light at the end of the tunnel... and that wallowing in despair is not the way out. I found the more I reached out and connected with others to make them feel better, I too felt 100 times better!
5. What do you think is the most important thing about Lyme and other tick-borne diseases that the average person who hasn’t been affected by them doesn’t know and should?
Because tick-borne illnesses can be a collection of bacteria and parasites, the disease affects people differently, depending on their physical make-up and the bugs they've been exposed to. Not everyone gets a bulls-eye rash. I didn't. Not everyone gets a fever. I didn't. So if you ever find a tick on your body, start paying attention to the little physical changes that might happen in your daily life. As soon as you start to feel something weird or unusual, go see a Lyme literate doctor immediately. Waiting is not a good idea!
6. What has been the most difficult challenge for you in coping with this disease?
The symptoms can change your personality and make you more reclusive and withdrawn as a person, while on the outside you still look like the same individual. That's difficult for people not dealing with the disease to cope with, and it can really damage personal relationships. I used to brew my own beer, and I became sensitive to alcohol since I developed Lyme. I can't drink more than one beer without getting a bad reaction. That really sucks for a homebrewer!
7. How did you rise above it?
So, I've taken up other hobbies... like raising a 9 year old daughter! I've also done a lot more songwriting because I'm a musician, and I've released one CD "Obrigado" that was written mostly about overcoming the illness. The music can be found at www.thezenengines.com.
I think the most obvious changes that need to be made are with developing better diagnostic tools and treatment programs. Anyone who has gone through more than a year with the illness will tell you that it can be a struggle just to be diagnosed. And diagnosis is when the real journey begins. It would be great if tick-borne illnesses could be approached with the research, funding and vigor we saw for HIV/AIDS more than a decade ago.
9. Do you have any favorite holistic methods that you use to alleviate and reduce your symptoms that you’d like to share?
I do a combination of some Gerson therapies (www.gerson.org), some herbal remedies, meditation, exercise and a healthy diet. I also feel strongly that NOT focusing on your symptoms and illness and instead concentrating on more positive things in your life is a great way to break through your healing plateaus. I think it's important to always have something to look forward to everyday... and that's something I lost when I was really struggling with the illness. Now I'm happy to wake up in the morning and look forward to particular things that I'd like to do in my day. | <urn:uuid:e3777c95-c64d-438b-bb09-3e417ff28645> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tbdalliance.org/getinformed/tbdablog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98058 | 977 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Chantix (varenicline): Label Change - Risk of Certain Cardiovascular Adverse Events
[UPDATED 07/22/2011] FDA has approved an updated drug label for Chantix (varenicline) to include information about the efficacy and safety of the drug in two patient populations who may benefit greatly from giving up smoking—those with cardiovascular disease and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The updated label now also includes alternative directions for patients to select a quit smoking date.
AUDIENCE: Family Medicine, Cardiology
ISSUE: FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that the Prescribing Information for this drug product will be strengthened to inform the public that use of varenicline may be associated with a small, increased risk of certain cardiovascular adverse events in patients who have cardiovascular disease. This safety information will be added to the Warnings and Precautions section and the patient Medication Guide.
BACKGROUND: FDA reviewed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 700 smokers with cardiovascular disease who were treated with Chantix or placebo. While cardiovascular adverse events were infrequent overall, certain events, including heart attack, were reported more frequently in patients treated with Chantix than in patients treated with placebo. The events included angina pectoris, nonfatal myocardial infarction, need for coronary revascularization, and new diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease or admission for a procedure for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. FDA is continuing to evaluate the cardiovascular safety of Chantix and is requiring the manufacturer to conduct a large, combined analysis (meta-analysis) of randomized, placebo-controlled trials. FDA will update the public when additional information is available.
RECOMMENDATION: See the Data Summary section of the Drug Safety Communication for additional information.
Healthcare professionals should be aware that smoking is an independent and major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and smoking cessation is of particular importance in this patient population. The known benefits of Chantix should be weighed against its potential risks when deciding to use the drug in smokers with cardiovascular disease.
Patients are encouraged to read the Medication Guide they receive along with their Chantix prescription.
Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events, side effects, or product quality problems related to the use of these products to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:
- Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm
- Download form or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178
Previous MedWatch Alert: | <urn:uuid:41d5ee69-c0c4-4ad6-8660-0735060e4dc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm259469.htm?CID=EMN_L_0711 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916237 | 571 | 1.734375 | 2 |
by Esther Thornburg
2/12/2012 / Self Help
What mountain did Christ ascend from?
Read Acts 1: 12; Olivet, sometimes refered
to as Mt. of Olives.
What is the name of the mountain He will return to?
Read Zachariah 4: 1-3.
What happens to the mountain?
Read Zachariah 4: verse 4.
Could that leave any doubt of who returns?
Years of living in agricultural communities with the difficulties, duties and emotions that need assistance beyond human ability, found expression in writing. Author of Timeless Words of Poetry .
There is enjoyment in searching who God gave the instruction to, the because, but now, and therefore,
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel. | <urn:uuid:fc9020eb-a7f0-431f-9bc3-6a95b925f895> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.faithwriters.com/reprint-article-details.php?article=21062 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930759 | 210 | 1.929688 | 2 |
My interest in modular eco-friendly homes grew when I ran across some modular home companies at West Coast Green last year in San Francisco. That interest was pushed to the back of my mind until I ran across this story of a 16 year old building a self-contained “tiny green home” in his parents backyard because he, like most teenagers, “wanted to move out.”
That is not his only reason however. In this short video showcasing his house, the young man sites all sorts of economical and environmental reasons behind starting his project.
He was happy about owning a home but not worrying about paying a mortgage. The small size also limits the amount of electricity and other utilities, saving money in the process. He was able to greatly reduce the amount of waste produced during construction due to the small scale of construction(he only had two trash cans of waste from one year of construction). Almost all of the materials used in construction have been reclaimed from salvage yards or donated from friends, the framing lumber was the only material purchased new as it was needed for the structure of the house. He estimates the total project costing $12,000.
This led me to asking the question: who is doing this on a larger scale? I rummaged through the internet and discovered many cool companies involved in the modular home business, and nearly all of them are focused on making their homes as efficient and eco-friendly as possible while keeping the associated costs for the consumer down(sections of the home are built in factories and loaded on a truck then assembled in a few days at the site – this allows the builder to reduce the cost of construction). Keywords and phrases that keep popping up when I search modular homes include: smart design, passive solar, simplify, healthy, water conservation, cheaper, solar, wind, thermal, easier, and flexible just to name a few. All of these terms are related to conservation and efficiency; Everyday we are told to be conservative with our resources in order to be more sustainable so why not become more conservative, economical, and efficient while building our homes. Here are some of the companies I discovered that are doing just that:
- Alchemy Architects have designed the Weehouse using an ultra modern modular home that can be constructed fast and easy. They just developed a “net-zero” WeeHouse in Moab, Utah that will produce as much energy as it uses.
- The modular homes featured at tinygreencabins.comcan be built on a trailer bed so that if you would like to take your home with you, you could hitch up the trailer and be on your way. They also offer non-toxic options, organic certified material, locally harvested lumber, steel framing, and recycled products. The cabins can also be customized with solar panels and solar hot water heaters.
- Green Pod Development builds compact custom modular homes built for energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and sustainability. The SoloPod “features innovative designs and artful furnishings.”
- And finally, Bluhomes, they claim that their “highly efficient, innovative steel-framed homes cost on average 50-70 percent less to operate on a monthly basis than conventional homes.” | <urn:uuid:caa7f1e5-2d81-4977-a232-a2c5a26bd403> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pnsenergy.wordpress.com/tag/insulation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967474 | 657 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Hi, sorry not sure if this post goes here, I assume it does since its C++, well Microsoft´s Visual C++.
I just started using 2008 express ed. and after writting some code in version 6 and converting to the 2008 express ed. I tried to compile it, and everything else looks great.
Except this error. Erro Spawning Rc.Exe,
I know RC. means Resource compiler, but what does it mean?,
where does this file go?,
How can I fix or avoid this problem?
thanks in advance. | <urn:uuid:7bed7b29-1f0e-4c4e-9168-5cdc062cd014> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cboard.cprogramming.com/cplusplus-programming/120531-how-do-i-fix-rc-exe-problem-printable-thread.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919494 | 118 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Price regulation in a free market economy
Actions taken by the AG to ensure a competitive marketplace
Factors affecting gasoline prices
This report, produced by the Washington Attorney General's Antitrust Division, provides information to help consumers understand the many factors that contribute to our current gas price situation.
Note that the Quarterly Gasoline Report and the Gas Price Study are separate reports. The Gas Study was published in 2008 and no supplement is currently planned. The Quarterly Gasoline Report is updated on a quarterly basis with information from, among other possible sources, the Energy Information Administration and the American Automobile Association.
Price regulation in a free market economy
Gasoline is not a regulated commodity, which means that producers and retailers are free to charge whatever price for their product that they choose, so long as they do not collude or engage in unfair and deceptive practices. The Attorney General's Office regularly monitors gasoline pricing to determine whether price increases indicate possible anticompetitive behavior or reflect normal market forces. Nationwide, various state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regularly review gas prices.
Prices of any commodity may fluctuate dramatically for reasons unrelated to anticompetitive activity. A sudden surge in demand or an unexpected problem in the supply chain can cause prices to spike quickly. A change in the price of a necessary input can have a dramatic effect on the price of the final good. Such price changes are disruptive to both consumers and businesses, but they are not necessarily evidence of collusive activity. There are no federal or Washington state laws explicitly prohibiting price-gouging. However, the Washington Attorney General’s Office has played an active role in keeping the marketplace free from anticompetitive activities.
Actions taken by the State Attorney General to ensure a competitive marketplace
The Attorney General's Office has a long history of studying the oil industry and taking enforcement action when necessary. Reports have been issued when precipitated by historical events. Cases have been filed against companies for price fixing and for anticompetitive mergers. Merger cases have focused on all segments of the market, from crude oil exploration to retail sales. In cases in which competition might have been decreased, the Attorney General has required the merging companies to sell assets to a more competitive buyer. Here is a summary of some of this office's activity over the last two decades:
- In 1977, the Attorney General filed a landmark lawsuit against the major oil companies, alleging that the oil companies fixed prices and artificially created a shortage of petroleum products. This litigation lasted for 15 years and was settled in 1992 for more than $150 million.
- In 1987, the Attorney General sued three oil distributors, alleging price fixing by jobbers and retailers. The companies paid $132,000 in restitution, which was used for transportation and energy conservation in south-central Washington. Also in 1987, the Attorney General prepared a report to the Washington State Legislature in response to a request to study retail gasoline marketing practices in general.
- In 1989, a report was issued analyzing the spring 1989 gasoline price increases. This price spike followed the wreck of the Exxon Valdez. It was found that separate from the accident, crude oil prices had increased, unscheduled refinery problems occurred, and inventories were low. When the Valdez accident occurred, although the actual spill had very little effect, the market reacted disproportionately in panic. Additionally, with increased summer demand there was very little downward pressure on prices.
- In 1990, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Attorney General’s Office studied the price increases which resulted. The resulting report concluded that price increases were the result of a combination of increased crude prices caused by supply concerns, coupled with increased demand.
- In 1991, the Attorney Generally formally challenged Texaco's attempted acquisition of Shell retail stations. A settlement was reached in which Texaco was required to divest some of the acquired stations.
- In 1992, the Attorney General challenged British Petroleum's acquisition of the Exxon marketing and distribution network. BP was required to divest stations in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties to another competitor, in order to promote competition.
- In 1997, Tosco acquired the Unocal stations in Washington. After challenge from the Attorney General, Tosco was required to put certain stations up for sale and provide space for competitors at one of its terminals.
- In 1997, Shell and Texaco formed a joint venture and wanted to maintain two refineries in Anacortes. After investigation, the Attorney General required the parties to sell the Shell refinery to a new buyer. Tesoro, a new entrant, purchased that refinery and continues to supply gas to both branded and unbranded stations.
- In 1999, the Attorney General reviewed Exxon's acquisition of Mobil's national network. Exxon had previously withdrawn from retail sales in the Northwest after the Valdez incident, so the review was limited to its purchase of Mobil's share of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS) in Alaska. Exxon was required to sell Mobil's share of TAPS so that another competitor would be available to provide pipeline access for crude oil shippers.
- In 2000, the Attorney General challenged British Petroleum's acquisition of Arco's exploration and marketing assets. The litigation was settled and BP was allowed to buy Arco's marketing and distribution network in Washington, but was required to sell its crude oil exploration assets in Alaska. Phillips purchased those assets.
- In 2001, Chevron attempted a full purchase of Texaco. The Attorney General challenged that merger, requiring Chevron to divest its Texaco assets in Washington, because of Chevron and Texaco's high retail market shares. Texaco sold its assets to Shell, including its interest in a refinery in Anacortes and its retail and marketing assets.
- In 2002, Phillips purchased the assets of Conoco, Inc. After reviewing the transaction, the Attorney General required ConocoPhillips to sell its terminal in Spokane to a new buyer.
- In 2007, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna teamed up with the Governor’s Office and the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development to investigate factors that influence gas prices in the state. Phase I of the study was a fact-finding stage and results were released in September 2007. Phase II of the study examined the possible explanation for the price differences across the state as well as significant changes in those price differences and results were released in April 2008.
Recent actions in participation with other state attorneys general
The Washington State Attorney General’s Office periodically works in close cooperation with other Western states to review the factors influencing the price of petroleum products in the West. This office has and will continue to work with other state and federal agencies to insure petroleum prices are not the result of collusive activity. The Attorney General’s Office also participates in regular discussions with federal agencies and other state attorneys general about petroleum issues and how they are being addressed throughout the country.
Major factors affecting gasoline prices in Washington
In addition to enforcement actions, the Attorney General’s Office also monitors the normal market forces that affect the price of gasoline. What follows is a brief summary of some of the major factors affecting gasoline prices in Washington state:
1. Increased demand and limited production capacity leave no room for error or disruption in the supply system
Many factors that impact the price of gasoline are not unique to Washington state. Gasoline is a commodity and the price rises and falls according to the laws of supply and demand. If supply falls short or demand increases, the market will reflect that change.
The West Coast is a unique market in the United States in terms of supply, demand, and production of gasoline. As a result, the average price of gasoline tends to be higher than other areas of the country. Unlike the rest of the United States, the West Coast has limited refineries and pipeline capability. The majority of crude oil in the United States is delivered and refined in the Gulf States where it is efficiently distributed via a network of pipelines. See Illustration 1. In contrast, the West Coast and Washington in particular remain isolated with minimal pipelines. See Illustration 2. In addition, due to our geographical and social factors, the West Coast exceeds the national average for gasoline consumption.
During the past decade, Washington, Oregon and California have all experienced population growth above and beyond much of the nation. These population increases result in an increase in demand for gasoline.
At the same time, refinery capacity on the West Coast has only increased slightly during the past decade. Oregon has no primary refineries and the Portland metropolitan area receives much of its gasoline from Washington refineries via the Olympic Pipeline. Additionally, some of Washington's refineries are now able to produce a special blend of fuel required by California's environmental laws. This has resulted in Washington refineries shipping an increased amount of gasoline to California where prices are higher. See Illustration 3 and Illustration 4. It must also be kept in mind that for every barrel of oil (42 gallons) only about 19 gallons of gasoline are produced. Many other products are produced from a barrel of oil during the refinery process at that same time. See Illustration 5.
Unfortunately, there are few prospects for increasing refinery capacity on the West Coast in the near future. Unless existing refineries can be expanded or upgraded to make up for losses in production, and as long as demand for gasoline remains strong, prices are likely to remain high.
Major oil companies continue to reap the benefits of this high demand and tight supply. Many of them recently reported extremely strong financial results, with some noting record earnings. Much of their success came from oil and gas exploration efforts, but a significant portion came from refining and marketing.
2. Zone Pricing
Many factors can influence the price of gasoline such as the price of crude, the cost of additives, and transportation costs. But one factor, “zone pricing,” has little to do with any of these factors. Zone pricing is a practice under which refiners sell gasoline to retailers at wholesale prices that differ across geographic areas. Generally, these geographic areas vary in the level of competition. Thus refiners charge more in areas where demand is high and/or competition is low. Simply put, zone pricing is pricing set by the refiners based on supply and demand.
Refiners are free to set their own price zones and, nationwide, these zones can vary substantially from one refiner to the other. Zone pricing is viewed by some as price gouging and by others as a natural outcome of competitive markets. Zone pricing is practiced throughout most of the United States and some states have considered legislation to curb the practice. Currently, zone pricing is not illegal in Washington state, as long as it does not involve collusive or deceptive practices.
3. Retail Margins
On average, increased retail prices appear to generally mirror increases in wholesale prices. Although estimated retail margins do fluctuate, these along are not usually an indication of any aberrant behavior. Margins appear to be fairly consistent throughout the state. See Illustration 8, and Illustration 9.
4. Other conditions contributing to higher prices
Washington's price increases are not unique to the West Coast or other U.S. states. See Illustration 6. In addition to the tight West Coast supply/demand balance, other events - both here in the U.S. and worldwide - have greatly influenced the prices we are seeing today.
- The Price of Crude Oil. The single most important factor affecting both the level and movement of gasoline prices in the United States is the price of crude. When the price of crude increases gasoline prices also increase. Crude oil prices are determined by supply and demand on a worldwide basis. See Illustration 7.
- Low Gasoline Inventory. Another important factor in the U.S. is the relatively low gasoline inventory. The absence of a gasoline stock cushion creates increased volatility in the market. If there is no cushion to fall back on, refiners are forced to turn to imports to fill the widening gap. Uncertainty about supply, as well as actual loss of production, can drive gasoline costs up.
- The Price of Gasoline Additives. Ethanol, a renewable fuel source and a corn product, fluctuates in price over time as any commodity does, and this has a certain minimal affect on the price of gasoline.
- Political Unrest. Political unrest in oil producing countries can also result in temporary price spikes. Unrest, strained relations, or oil embargos involving oil producing countries such as Venezuela, Iraq, Iran and Nigeria do affect the world’s supply of crude oil. When supply is disrupted for any reason, it generally results in higher prices, particularly if the level of demand exceeds the level of supply.
- Seasonal Shift in Gasoline Blends. Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) specifications change with the season. The specifications, set forward by the Environmental Protection Agency, not only vary by season but also vary by region and can lead to price differentials geographically. This is part of the reason that the country almost every year sees a rise in gasoline prices in the spring. The gasoline produced and distributed during the summer contains less butane and is therefore more expensive. Adding less butane also results in lower overall supply levels.
5. What does the cost of a gallon of gas go to?
Many Washington consumers are concerned about what they are paying for when they buy a gallon of gasoline. How much of a gallon of gasoline consists of federal and state taxes? See Illustration 10. Currently, the state fuel excise tax is 37.5 cents per gallon. The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, and the federal diesel tax is 24.4 cents per gallon. This makes for a combined fuel excise tax of 55.9 cents per gallon of unleaded, and ranks Washington as having one of the highest fuel excise taxes in the nation along with Connecticut, California, New York, Illinois and Michigan. The combined fuel tax for diesel is 61.9 cents per gallon and ranks Washington as having one of the highest diesel fuel excise taxes in the nation. *1
What can consumers do?
As with most other goods and services, gasoline prices are influenced by supply and demand. One way to reduce demand is to reduce consumption. Because demand is higher in Washington state than many other areas of the country, it is particularly important for Washington consumers to conserve gasoline by finding alternative modes of transportation. When consumers form carpools or begin using public transportation, it creates huge differences in the demand and can go far to reduce prices.
The following websites provide a list of up-to-date gas prices, allowing a consumer to shop wisely:
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*1 Some states may add sales taxes to sale of gasoline. Sales taxes are not included in this information. | <urn:uuid:17119d42-c61d-4a02-9127-3db78c6ac709> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.atg.wa.gov/Antitrust/GasPrices/QuarterlyGasolineReport.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955119 | 3,005 | 2.59375 | 3 |
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Vast crowds demand Catalan autonomy from crisis-hit Spain
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets of Barcelona on Tuesday in an unprecedented show of mass support for autonomy from Madrid, blaming Spain's economic crisis for dragging their wealthy region down.
Surging unemployment and financial disarray have stoked a fever of separatism in Catalonia, a comparatively prosperous part of Spain whose leaders say their wealth is being sucked dry by the central government.
Crowds waved red and yellow striped Catalan flags - one of the oldest still in use in Europe - and sang the Catalan anthem on a national day marking the conquest of Catalonia by Spain's King Philip V in 1714 after a 13 month siege of Barcelona.
The central government said the crowd was 600,000 strong. Catalan police gave figures as high as 1.5 million.
Marchers said the sheer size of the crowd - swollen with people from around the region who descended on its capital in bright sunshine - would at last make Madrid hear their message.
"This is a blow for the government. People like me came from everywhere. I don't think they were expecting something as big," said 53-years-old Teresa Cabanes, who came from Santa Coloma de Gramanet, in the outskirts of Barcelona, to march.
"We feel that the central government is fooling with us. We Catalans are giving away a lot of money to Spain."
They held up banners and signs saying "No to the Fourth Reich", "No to Europe", "Independence Now!" and "Catalonia: the New European State".
The huge volume of people overwhelmed the mobile phone network, which shut down for hours under the strain. Marchers who had attended Catalan national day rallies for decades, including others that attracted hundreds of thousands, said this was the biggest they could recall.
The march ended after nightfall without any incident and no people were arrested, police said.
The show of anger and ethnic pride will play into the hands of regional authorities who are trying to force the central government to yield control over taxes raised in Catalonia.
Catalans speak a language similar to, but distinct from, the Castillian Spanish spoken in the rest of Spain. The region accounts for 15 percent of Spain's population but 20 percent of its economy.
With Spain's economy in freefall from the euro zone debt crisis, Catalans complain of paying billions of euros more in taxes than they receive back from Madrid, even as their regional government has been forced to fire workers and cut services.
The region's president, Artur Mas, has suggested he could seek independence if he is not given more control over tax raised from Catalonia.
"If we cannot reach a financial agreement, the road to freedom for Catalonia is open," he repeated on Tuesday. Mas did not attend the march but said he backed it in spirit.
The annual Diada holiday is typically commemorated with a fiesta in the Catalan capital with song, dance and a floral offering to Rafael Casanova, a hero of the siege.
But the outpouring on Tuesday was a sign that the economic crisis has transformed issues of cultural identity into a mainstream political movement bent on autonomy. A poll by the regional government in July showed for the first time that more than half of Catalonia's population favors independence.
For Mas and his nationalist Convergence and Union party (CiU), that translates into demands for control over tax.
When Spain returned to democracy in the mid-1970s, regions such as Catalonia and the Basque Country saw a vibrant resurgence of their culture and languages that had been crushed during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
Catalonia has long sought more autonomy, though without a violent separatist movement like the Basque Country's ETA.
Economists calculate Catalans pay at least 12 billion euros more in taxes per year to Madrid than they receive back for services like schools and hospitals. Many Catalans say the figure - difficult to calculate because of a complex system of transfers - is even higher, up to 16 billion.
"A lot of people who were not into independence are more and more into it now," said Elvira Farre, a retired secretary from Barcelona. "They are being driven into it by their feelings but also by their wallets."
Government worker Jauma Turra said: "It's like a marriage you can't put up with any more."
The Madrid government took a dim view of what leaders there saw as Mas's stirring up Catalans ahead of the march.
"Catalonia has serious deficit and employment problems and this is not the moment for messing around or disputes or controversy," Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the conservative People's Party said on Monday.
Many Catalans are suspicious of what they see as the centralizing aims of the People's Party.
Although Catalonia's unemployment is somewhat lower than Spain's as a whole - 22 percent instead of more than 24 percent - the region has suffered badly due to the Spanish debt crisis.
There are 700,000 jobless in Catalonia. The government cannot borrow from financial markets to pay bills because, like other Spanish regions, it saw its debt downgraded to junk.
Catalonia was among the first of Spain's 17 autonomous regions to start making budget cuts to its public services in 2010 and cuts have grown deeper, with civil servant pay cuts causing a public backlash in recent months.
Despite his austerity drive, Mas has managed to deflect fury over his region's economic problems onto the central government, saying if the tax system were set up differently Catalonia would not be in its quagmire.
He has proposed a "fiscal pact" that would give Catalonia its own tax authority. He is scheduled to meet Rajoy on Sept 20 to discuss it, but Rajoy is expected to reject it.
"It's part of a political game that has been going on for years. The only difference is that the crisis has changed the stakes," said Antonio Barroso, political analyst with Eurasia Group consulting firm.
Catalans were particularly galled when the central government raised the value-added tax across Spain from Sept 1, but said it would not pass the extra revenue to the regions.
Catalonia has already had to tap billions of euros in emergency central government funds this year to catch up on months of back payments to service providers.
Mas says he now needs another 5.7 billion euros to pay maturing debt, but the possibility that the central government would demand more say in local finances in exchange for the aid is adding to anger in the province.
If he meets the expected resistance from Rajoy on the fiscal pact, Mas is expected to call early elections to try to win an absolute majority in the regional parliament, where he currently governs through alliances with other parties. He could use such wider backing to press Madrid for more autonomy.
(Additional reporting by Nigel Davies; Writing by Fiona Ortiz and Julien Toyer; Editing by Peter Graff)
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One of the hardest parts of treating cystic fibrosis in children is convincing them to perform tedious breathing exercises required to keep airways clear. However, a new study that applies gamification techniques to cystic-fibrosis treatment indicates that specially made video games not only get children to perform breathing exercises--they also improves breathing performance when not playing games.
The study, led by Dr. Peter Bingham of the University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care, was released at the annual Pediatric Academic Societies conference in Denver on April 30. According to the abstract, breathing techniques practiced in the video games appear to have been used in the days and weeks after the game was played--leading to improved pulmonary function. Both games used a digital spirometer for a game controller.
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that leads to the build-up of thick mucus in the lungs and progressive disability. Conventional physiotherapy techniques for cystic fibrosis involve breathing exercises that are often uncomfortable, time-consuming and boring for children.
Two games were created as part of the study. The first game was a breath-controlled racer, which had players breathing in order to maintain a race car's speed, with special exercises being used to acquire gas tanks and wash the car. In the second game, players' breath movements were used to hunt for treasure in a world where animals are covered in slime; when players encountered slime-covered animals, they were required to blow the slime off them to earn additional treasure.
Applying gamification techniques and video games to medical treatment is nothing new. Specialized computer and video games have been on the market for years and entire conferences have taken place devoted to them. However, the use of video games for treatment of cystic fibrosis has been relatively limited and restricted to a hospital environment.
The two games in the study were designed for take-home use. Both games used digital spirometers--devices that measure the speed and quantity of breath--as controllers and were designed to play on home computers. The games were developed in collaboration with the Game Design program at Vermont's Champlain College; students interviewed children with cystic fibrosis about their game-playing habits and preferences and the games were custom-created based on the feedback.
According to Bingham, the idea for the study came about in collaboration with the University of Vermont's Jason Bates. Bingham told Fast Company that “kids were avid to play the games. They only played them for a few minutes, but it was long enough to make an improvement in their breathing.”
In the study, children who bought the computer games home with them were encouraged to play at will over a two-to-four week period and then spent an identical period doing breathing exercises with a digital spirometer, sans-games. Children who played the games had a significant improvement in adherence to their breathing exercise regime. Most interestingly of all, they also showed an improved ability to take deep breaths after playing video games that did not appear in the control period at all. According to Bingham, “We aren't sure why that improvement happened,but it could be that the player's ability to carry out the vital capacity test improved simply because they were practicing this skill more often, and not because of an actual improvement in their lungs.”
One out of every 3,200 children worldwide is born with cystic fibrosis.
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1 This publication presents results from an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey of businesses/organisations engaged in sports and physical recreation services for the reference year 2004-05. This is the third time the ABS has conducted this survey. Previous surveys were conducted in respect of the 1994-95 and 2000-01 financial years.
2 The scope of the 2004-05 Sports and Physical Recreation Services Survey was all employing and significant non-employing businesses/organisations on the ABS Business Register, classified to the following Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) classes:
3 For the purposes of this survey significant non-employing units were defined as those with turnover in 2004-05 of $135,000 or more. Non-employing units were excluded from previous surveys.
- 9311 - Horse and Dog Racing. This class includes businesses/organisations mainly engaged in operating facilities designed and used for horse and dog racing. Examples of businesses/organisations in this class are thoroughbred, harness and greyhound training businesses/organisations.
- 9312 - Sports Grounds and Facilities n.e.c. This class includes businesses/organisations mainly engaged in operating any kind of indoor or outdoor sporting facility other than horse and dog racing facilities. Examples of businesses/organisations in this class include those which operate gymnasia, squash courts, swimming pools, bowling alleys, basketball stadiums, football grounds, etc.
- 9319 - Sports and Services to Sports n.e.c. This class includes businesses/organisations mainly engaged in providing sporting services not covered by Classes 9311 and 9312 above. Examples of businesses/organisations in this class include sporting associations, sporting administration businesses/organisations and sports coaching businesses/organisations.
4 The scope of the survey also included units classified to the general government sector of the ABS Standard Institutional Sector Classification of Australia (SISCA) with primary portfolio responsibility for sports or mainly involved in the provision of sports services. Local government authorities providing sports and physical recreation services were also included. These government organisations are classified to the following three ANZSIC classes:
5 More information on SISCA can be found in the ABS publication Standard Economic Sector Classifications of Australia (cat. no. 1218.0).
- 8111-8112 - Central and State Government Administration. These classes include organisations mainly engaged in formulating and administering federal and state government policy (except justice and defence). For the purposes of this survey the scope has been restricted to only general government organisations with primary portfolio responsibility for sports and/or mainly involved in the provision of sports and physical recreation services.
- 8113 - Local Government Administration. This class consists of organisations mainly engaged in local government administration. For this survey the scope is only local government authorities providing sports and physical recreation services.
6 This publication also presents statistics based on the Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications (ACLC). These classifications were released in 2001 and details are available in Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications (cat. no. 4902.0). Estimates are presented for the following ACLC classes:
- 311 - Horse and Dog Racing. This class consists of businesses/organisations mainly engaged in operating facilities especially used and designed for thoroughbred horse racing, harness horse racing or greyhound racing. This class also includes the operation of racing stables and kennels and the provision of riding or harness driving services.
- 321 - Health and Fitness Centres and Gymnasia. This class consists of businesses/organisations mainly involved in operating health clubs, fitness centres and gymnasia. They may operate as participative exercise groups or allow individuals to use the available gymnasium equipment. Units in this class may contain squash courts, swimming pools and other sporting facilities provided their primary purpose is the provision of a range of fitness and exercise services.
- 322 - Other Sports and Physical Recreation Venues, Grounds and Facilities. This class consists of businesses/organisations mainly engaged in operating any kind of indoor or outdoor sports or physical recreation facility other than for horse and dog racing. Included are sporting clubs which operate their own sports grounds or facilities. Units operating their own training facilities which are a main avenue to regular involvement in a sport (e.g. martial arts training facility) are also included in this class.
- 331 - Sports and Physical Recreation Administrative Organisations. This class consists of organisations mainly engaged in the administration and/or control of sports or physical recreation disciplines and/or groups of clubs. These units may be responsible for the policies, rules and regulations governing the conduct of an individual sporting or physical recreation discipline, or may distribute funding to affiliated member organisations.
- 332 - Sports and Physical Recreation Clubs, Teams and Sports Professionals. This class consists of businesses/organisations mainly engaged in operating individual sports or physical recreation clubs or teams which predominantly provide opportunities for participants or entertainment for spectators. This class also includes freelance sports professionals.
- 334 - Sports and Physical Recreation Support Services (part). This class consists of businesses/organisations mainly engaged in providing support services to persons and organisations involved in sports and physical recreation. In this publication, estimates presented for support services include sports and physical recreation services, education and coaching services and personal fitness training services. Note that this is not the full scope of Sports and Physical Recreation Support Services outlined in the ACLC. This class has been restricted to include only the above activities for the purposes of this survey.
STATISTICAL UNITS DEFINED ON THE ABS REGISTER
7 The ABS uses an economic statistics units model on the ABS Business Register to describe the characteristics of businesses/organisations, and the structural relationships between related businesses/organisations. The units model is also used to break groups of related businesses/organisations into relatively homogeneous components that can provide data to the ABS.
8 In mid-2002, to better use the information available as a result of The New Tax System, the ABS changed its economic statistics units model. The new units model allocates businesses/organisations to one of two sub-populations. The vast majority of businesses/organisations are in what is called the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Maintained Population, while the remaining businesses/organisations are in the ABS Maintained Population. Together, these two sub-populations make up the ABS Business Register population.
ATO Maintained Population
9 Most businesses and organisations in Australia need to obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN), and are then included on the ATO Australian Business Register. Most of these businesses/organisations have simple structures; therefore the unit registered for an ABN satisfies ABS statistical requirements. For these businesses/organisations, the ABS has aligned its statistical units structure with the ABN unit. The businesses/organisations with simple structures constitute the ATO Maintained Population, and the ABN unit is used as the economic statistics unit for all economic collections.
ABS Maintained Population
10 For the population of businesses/organisations where the ABN unit is not suitable for ABS statistical requirements, the ABS maintains its own units structure through direct contact with the business/organisation. These businesses/organisations constitute the ABS Maintained Population. This population consists typically of large, complex and diverse businesses/organisations. The new statistical units model described below has been introduced to cover such businesses/organisations:
11 For more information on the impacts of the introduction of the new economic statistics units model, refer to Information Paper: Improvements in ABS Economic Statistics [Arising from The New Tax System] (cat. no. 1372.0).
- Enterprise Group: This is a unit covering all the operations in Australia of one or more legal entities under common ownership and/or control. It covers all the operations in Australia of legal entities which are related in terms of the current Corporations Law (as amended by the Corporations Legislation Amendment Act 1991), including legal entities such as companies, trusts, and partnerships. Majority ownership is not required for control to be exercised.
- Enterprise: The enterprise is an institutional unit comprising (i) a single legal entity or business entity, or (ii) more than one legal entity or business entity within the same Enterprise Group and in the same institutional subsector (i.e. they are all classified to a single Standard Institutional Sector Classification of Australia subsector).
- Type of Activity Unit (TAU): The TAU is comprised of one or more business entities, sub-entities or branches of a business entity within an Enterprise Group that can report production and employment data for similar economic activities. When a minimum set of data items are available, a TAU is created which covers all the operations within an industry subdivision (and the TAU is classified to the relevant subdivision of the ANZSIC). Where a business cannot supply adequate data for each industry, a TAU is formed which contains activity in more than one industry subdivision.
Comparison over time
12 Prior to the 2004-05 survey, the Sports and Physical Recreation Services Survey used the management unit as the statistical unit. The statistical unit in the 2004-05 survey was the ABN unit for businesses/organisations with simple structures, and the TAU for businesses/organisations with complex structures. In most cases, ABN/TAU units concord with the management units used in previous surveys.
13 The frame used for the Sports and Physical Recreation Services Survey, like most ABS economic surveys, was taken from the ABS Business Register. The ABS Business Register is updated monthly to take account of new businesses/organisations and businesses/organisations which have ceased employing.
IMPROVEMENTS TO COVERAGE
14 Data in this publication have been adjusted to allow for lags in processing new businesses/organisations to the ABS Business Register, and the omission of some businesses/organisations from the register. The majority of businesses/organisations affected, and to which the adjustments apply, are small in size.
15 Adjustments have been made to include new businesses/organisations in the estimates in the periods in which they commenced operations, rather than when they were processed to the ABS Business Register. Adjustments of this type will continue to be applied in future periods.
16 For more information on these adjustments, please refer to the ABS publication Information Paper: Improvements to ABS Economic Statistics, 1997 (cat. no. 1357.0).
COMPARISON WITH OTHER ABS STATISTICS
17 Annual data for sports and physical recreation services are also published in Australian Industry (cat. no. 8155.0). There are important differences between the statistics published in the Australian Industry and Sports and Physical Recreation Services publications and users should exercise caution when making comparisons between the two sets of estimates.
18 The Australian Industry publication presents annual summary statistics at the ANZSIC class level. It shows the relative performance of each industry class, and allows patterns of change or growth to be analysed across particular segments of the Australian economy. The industry estimates presented in Australian Industry are used in the compilation of the National Accounts, and in the derivation of economy-wide indicators such as gross domestic product.
19 The Sports and Physical Recreation Services publication supplements the annual industry summary statistics with a detailed examination of the structure and performance of businesses/organisations involved in sporting operations for the reference year of the survey.
20 One reason the two sets of estimates vary relates to the use of different industry coding practices. For the Australian Industry publication, businesses/organisations are coded to ANZSIC industry classes on the basis of the activity reported to the ATO when they registered for an ABN, or for more complex businesses/organisations, on the basis of information reported directly to the ABS (see Explanatory Notes paragraphs 7-11). On the other hand, Sports and Physical Recreation Services presents estimates for ANZSIC Classes 9311, 9312 and 9319 based on detailed financial data reported in the survey.
21 Other differences in results relate to scope and coverage variations between the two surveys. All non-employing businesses/organisations were included in the scope of Australian Industry, however only employing and significant non-employing businesses/organisations were in scope of Sports and Physical Recreation Services (see paragraphs 2-6 of the Explanatory Notes).
22 While comparisons are made between the 2004-05 and 2000-01 survey results, the reader should bear in mind that the 2004-05 survey was not designed to support accurate estimates of change, and should exercise caution when comparing 2004-05 results to the 2000-01 results. The following changes were made to the 2004-05 survey:
23 In addition, the sports and physical recreation estimates for 2000-01 were heavily impacted by the conduct of the Sydney Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Data for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee Limited were included in the summary sports and physical recreation estimates in the 2000-01 issue of this publication. These data have been omitted from historical estimates presented in this publication.
- inclusion of non-employing units with a turnover greater than $135,000. The inclusion of significant non-employing businesses in the 2004-05 Sports and Physical Recreation Services Survey is estimated to have contributed an additional 13% to business counts and 3.3% to financial estimates
- reclassification of some units. Ski field units were reclassified from ACLC 322 in the 2000-01 survey to ACLC 334 for the 2004-05 survey
- changes to data items. For the 2004-05 survey, membership income included competition fees, and a new item was added for income from coaching, training or instructing.
RELIABILITY OF DATA
24 When interpreting the results of a survey it is important to take into account factors that may affect the reliability of estimates. Such factors can be classified as either sampling or non-sampling error.
25 The estimates are based on information obtained from a randomly selected stratified sample of businesses/organisations engaged in the provision of sports and physical recreation services in the Australian business/organisation population. Consequently, the estimates in this publication are subject to sampling variability, that is, they may differ from the figures that would have been obtained if all units had been included in the survey (that is if a census was conducted). One measure of the likely difference is given by the standard error (SE), which indicates the extent to which an estimate might have varied by chance because only a sample of units was included.
26 There are about two chances in three that a sample estimate will differ by less than one SE from the figure that would have been obtained if a census was conducted and approximately 19 chances in 20 that the difference will be less than two SEs.
27 Sampling variability can also be measured by the relative standard error (RSE), which is obtained by expressing the SE as a percentage of the estimate to which it refers. The RSE is a useful measure in that it provides an immediate indication of the sampling error in percentage terms, and this avoids the need to refer also to the size of the estimate. The following table contains estimates of RSEs for a selection of the statistics presented in this publication.
28 As an example of the above, an estimate of total income for sports and physical recreation activities during 2004-05 was $8,820.5m and the RSE was estimated to be 2.1%, giving a SE of approximately $185.2m. Therefore, there would be two chances in three that, if all units had been included in the survey, a figure in the range of $8,635.3m to $9,005.7m would have been obtained, and 19 chances in 20 (i.e. a confidence interval of 95%) that the figure would have been within the range of $8,450.1m to $9,190.9m.
29 It should be noted that the sampling variability for estimates at the state/territory level was higher than for Australian level aggregates. Survey estimates for states/territories should therefore be viewed with more caution than those for Australia as a whole.
30 Errors other than those due to sampling may occur in any type of collection and are referred to as non-sampling error. For this survey, non-sampling error may result from such things as deficiencies in the register of businesses/organisations from which the sample was drawn, non-response, imperfections in reporting and/or errors made in compiling results. The extent to which non-sampling error affects the results of the survey is not precisely quantifiable. Every effort was made to minimise non-sampling error by careful design and testing of the questionnaire, efficient operating procedures and systems and the use of appropriate methodology. Survey estimates subject to a high level of non-sampling error have been suppressed or provided with relevant cautions.
31 Estimates that have an estimated relative standard error between 10% and 25% are annotated with the symbol '^' . These estimates should be used with caution as they are subject to sampling variability too high for some purposes. Estimates with an RSE between 25% and 50% are annotated with the symbol '*', indicating that the estimate should be used with caution as it is subject to sampling variability too high for most practical purposes. Estimates with an RSE greater than 50% are annotated with the symbol '**' indicating that the sampling variability causes the estimates to be considered too unreliable for general use.
32 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the components and the total. Similar discrepancies may occur between a proportion or ratio, and the ratio of separate components.
33 Data contained in the tables in this publication relate to sports and physical recreation businesses/organisations in Australia during the year ended June 2005. Financial estimates include the activity of any business or organisation that ceased or commenced operations during the year. Counts of businesses and organisations include only those that were operating at 30 June 2005. Employment includes only persons working for a sports or physical recreation business/organisation during the last pay period ending in June 2005.
34 ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is appreciated; without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.
DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
35 Inquiries about these statistics and more detailed statistics than those presented in this publication should be made by telephoning the contact shown on the front page.
This page last updated 28 August 2006 | <urn:uuid:0baa5e59-4cf7-4fab-9501-0d381a2368c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/8686.0Explanatory%20Notes12004-05?OpenDocument | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945937 | 3,814 | 1.585938 | 2 |
By Sandra Block, Kathy Chu, Christine Dugas and John Waggoner, USA TODAY
Myths, the late Joseph Campbell taught us, are fundamental truths that help people carve order out of chaos. But in personal finance, myths are often fundamentally false. Yet, most of us cling for years to financial misconceptions, fantasies and half-truths, merrily unaware that they're, well, myths.
To help shine the light of truth on some financial fictions, staffers at USA TODAY selected 10 of the most common myths about personal finance. We explain why each is untrue. And for each myth, we reveal the reality and suggest a better path to financial security.
Myth: The more I know about investments, the less likely I am to fall for scams.
Reality: A study by Wise & Healthy Aging, funded by the Finra Investor Education Foundation, found the opposite was true for investors 60 and older who fell prey to fraud. Victims tended to be more financially literate than non-victims. Why? Possibly because victims are often knowledgeable enough to feel confident about investing — but not enough to detect inappropriate products or outright scams, says Grace Cheng Braun, chief executive of Wise & Healthy Aging.
While no research is available for investors of other ages, the same pattern likely holds true, since a little investment knowledge tends to lull many people into overconfidence about their investment know-how, Braun says. Investors should check with state and federal regulators about the legitimacy of an adviser or financial product before investing.
Myth: Your fund's performance is the main factor in the growth of a retirement account.
Reality: Not so. And your fund's performance is the one factor over which you have the least control. The best way to increase your retirement kitty is more elementary: Save more.
Let's say you earn $50,000 a year and save 5% of your salary annually. Each year, you get a 4% raise. If your fund earns 10% a year, you'll have $651,000 in 30 years. Sure, stocks have typically earned 10% or more a year in the very long term. But the long term includes vast stretches of poor performance. If you really need $651,000 to retire, you shouldn't bank on a 10% annual return.
Better to assume a smaller return and save more. Say you earn the same pay, but this time save 10% of it. Your fund, alas, earns just 6% a year. Yet, after 30 years, you'll have generated $663,000. And if your fund really does earn 10% a year, you'll have $1.3 million.
Set savings goals rather than trying to pick the next hot fund, says Dan Makin, financial advisor for the Professional Planning Group in Westerly, R.I. "If you pick the wrong fund, you can get really hurt."
Myth: Dollar-cost averaging boosts returns.
Reality: There's certainly nothing wrong with dollar-cost averaging; it involves investing an identical amount into a mutual fund at regular intervals. But that strategy won't necessarily deliver superior returns in the long run.
With dollar-cost averaging, you'll automatically buy more shares when a fund's share price is low and fewer when the share price is high. That serves you well.
But the stock market rises more often than it falls. If you have a lump sum to invest, you'll generally earn more money if you invest the entire amount at the beginning of a period, rather than bit by bit.
Say you had $12,000 in 1998 and invested the entire sum in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund. After 10 years, you'd have $16,775 in your account, according to Morningstar, the fund trackers. Had you invested incrementally in the same fund — say, $100 a month for 10 years — you'd end up with only $12,350.
In some cases, you'll earn more by dollar-cost averaging. If, say, the period begins with a soul-searing bear market, your returns improve by investing a bit at a time. But don't dollar-cost average to try to improve your returns. Do it because it's the easiest way to save on a budget.
Myth: I should always get the credit card with the lowest interest rate I can find.
Reality: If you pay off your balance in full every month — about half of us do — it generally doesn't matter what rate applies to the card. Shop instead for cards with no annual fee and generous rewards. Also pay attention to late, over-the-limit and foreign-exchange fees. Through the years, banks have made it all too easy for such fees to snag even the most financially prudent credit card users.
If you do carry a balance, look for a low-rate card on such sites as Bankrate.com, CardRatings.com and LowCards.com. Just be sure to look beyond the teaser rate, which will likely jump after three to six months. And don't even think about a rewards card.
"In general, rates on rewards cards are about 2 percentage points higher than on other cards, so you're going to pay more in interest charges than you're actually getting in rewards" if you don't pay your balance off each month, says Justin McHenry of IndexCreditCards.com.
Myth: If you file for personal bankruptcy, you'll lose your home.
Reality: "In most cases, people can keep their home in bankruptcy, especially when they don't have much equity," says Henry Sommer of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.
But state laws vary, so homeowners should look into their own state's rules. Those with little home equity might be able to keep their home if they file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which erases most debts but typically requires you to pay overdue mortgage bills upon filing. Another option: Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which usually entails a debt-repayment plan that lets you pay past-due mortgage bills over time.
Myth: Buying a house is always better than renting.
Reality: Many investors jumped on this bandwagon during the housing boom, feeling they'd been tossing money away and forgoing a tax break by renting. But sinking home prices have made many homeowners regret their hasty purchases.
Here's when it makes sense to rent: Your budget won't accommodate extra home-buying costs, such as property insurance and taxes. You can't accept the idea that if the toilet overflows, you — not a landlord — will have to pay to fix it. Or you don't expect to stay in the house at least five years.
"The transaction costs of getting into a home and then ultimately selling a home are exorbitant," says Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a consumer-loan information site. "If you're only going to be there for two years, (the purchase) could be a money-loser."
Calculators on HSH.com, Bankrate.com and other sites can help you weigh whether now's the time for you to buy. If the answer is yes? Good luck. Even as homes have become more affordable — thanks to falling prices and lower rates — lenders have made it harder to buy one. Today, you'll need higher credit scores and larger down payments to qualify for a loan.
Myth: Because I'm getting a tax rebate this year, my 2008 tax bill will be higher.
Reality: No, it won't.
Starting next month, more than 130 million taxpayers, senior citizens and disabled veterans will receive rebates ranging from $300 to $600, or $1,200 for married couples who file jointly. Parents with dependent children under age 17 will be eligible for an additional $300 per child.
Technically, the rebate is a credit based on your 2008 taxes. To get money into consumers' wallets more quickly, though, Congress decided to calculate the rebate using taxpayers' 2007 returns, says Mel Schwarz of the accounting firm Grant Thornton.
If it turns out you're due a larger credit, you can claim it when you file your 2008 tax return. And if your rebate was too large? No worries: You won't have to give the money back.
Surveys suggest that taxpayers will be more likely to save their rebate or use it to trim debt than to spend it. But whatever you do with the money, don't worry about setting aside a portion of your check for the IRS. The rebate won't be treated as income when you file your 2008 return, Schwarz says.
Myth: E-filing your taxes makes it more likely you'll be audited.
Reality: Taxpayers have an equal chance of being audited whether they file a paper or electronic return, says Robert Marvin, a spokesman for the IRS.
In fact, e-filing could reduce your chance of an audit. Those who use tax software to prepare and file their returns tend to make fewer errors than paper filers, the IRS says. Paper filers are more likely to omit information, too. And when you leave stuff out of your return, you're more likely to draw scrutiny from the IRS.
SAVING FOR COLLEGE
Myth: I put myself through college by working part time and taking out loans. So can my kids.
Reality: College costs have risen at a much faster rate than inflation. Financial aid has declined. And wages from part-time jobs don't go as far now.
In 1981, you could work full time all summer at minimum wage and earn about two-thirds of annual college costs, an analysis by Heather Boushey, economist for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, found. Today, a student earning minimum wage would have to work full time for a year to afford one year at a four-year public university.
The Pell grant, the largest source of direct federal aid, hasn't kept up with costs. In 1986-87, the maximum Pell grant covered about 52% of the average cost of tuition, fees, room and board at a state four-year college or university, according to the College Board. In 2006-07, it covered only 32% of the cost.
That means students are increasingly relying on loans to fill the gaps. Yet, there are limits to how much in federal loans you can borrow. As a result, students at high-cost schools have had to increase their reliance on private loans, even as the credit crisis has made those loans more expensive. And borrowers who don't have a co-signer with excellent credit might not be able to get a private loan at all. (Student loan safety net, 2B).
The upshot? Two-thirds of undergrads leave school with debt; the average debt for graduating seniors is nearly $20,000. Ten percent of undergrads are leaving college with debt of $35,000 or more.
Consider setting up a 529 college savings plan. Nearly every state offers a plan; many let you start with as little as $50. Some offer a state tax deduction. If you start saving when your kids are young, you'll likely amass a sizable sum by the time they start college.
Myth: I don't need to save that much for retirement, since my living costs will fall a lot once I stop working.
Reality: Most retirees don't spend less in retirement, says Sheryl Garrett, founder of Garrett Planning Network, a network of fee-only financial planners. She tells clients to expect to spend more, particularly during the early years of their retirement. "It's not uncommon for us to add maybe $5,000 to $10,000 to their yearly budget for trips, hobbies or other things they haven't had the opportunity to do," she says.
Even if you're determined to forgo travel, health clubs and restaurant meals, medical costs could drive a hole through your budget. Fidelity Investments estimates that a 65-year-old couple who retire this year will need $225,000 for health care expenses not covered by Medicare. Only about a third of workers expect to have employment-based health coverage during retirement, the Employee Research Benefit Institute's annual retirement confidence survey found. That's down from 42% in 2007.
Her advice: Save as much as you can. And ignore retirement-planning calculators that suggest you can live large on just 70% of your pre-retirement income.
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Dallastown Area School District under the provisions of No Child Left Behind receives funding to help supplement the educational opportunities at three elementary buildings. Those elementary buildings include Dallastown, Ore Valley, and York Township. Title I, Part A provides these federal dollars to help supplement the reading services in each building.
Dallastown offers a Targeted Assistance program in which individual students are targeted to receive Title I services. Students are identified based upon multiple, objective, educationally related criteria. Services may be delivered in a number of ways such as in-class instruction, pull out instruction, and week or year programming. The Title I teacher(s) are responsible for providing extra services to the identified children, coordinating with other school personnel involved with the children and involving parents in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the Title I program.
During the course of a school year, we offer several different programs for parents and children. Please see the attached Title I calendar for specific dates of these programs. Ready, Set, Read is our summer school program for identified children in grades 1 and 2. Information is sent to parents in early June about this summer program.
If you have any questions about the Title I program, please call Mr. Scott Carl, Principal of Loganvile/Springfield Elementary at 428-2240.
Click here to view the Title 1 Parent Night Presentation. | <urn:uuid:d8b51f12-e624-4a36-8548-d4968becb435> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dallastown.net/domain/394 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951969 | 281 | 2.625 | 3 |
The USCIS Plain Language Program: Striving to Communicate More Clearly
(By Kathryn Catania, Acting Chief of the Plain Language and Content Division, Office of Communications, USCIS)
Let’s face it: The immigration process can be complex and frustrating – even if you are a native-speaker of English. So just imagine how those who speak English as a second language sometimes feel. In many instances, it is not the complexity of a process or task that poses the greatest obstacle – but the dense, jargon-laced language that we use to describe it. In other words, how we communicate is just as important as what we communicate.
That’s why we started the USCIS Plain Language program, which teaches employees how to provide clear and usable information to those we serve. As head of the USCIS Plain Language program, I start by putting myself in the reader’s shoes. Before I put pen-to-paper, I ask three simple questions:
- Who am I writing for?
- Will my audience understand what I’ve written?
- Will readers be able to act competently (if action is required) on the information I’ve provided?
That’s why I'm so passionate about plain language, because at the end of the day, it's really about common sense and showing consideration and respect for those we serve.
I also enjoy sharing the importance of writing clearly with others in government. On October 13, I had the chance to speak at the Center for Plain Language Workshop at the National Press Club.
Above: Kathryn Catania speaking on Plain Language
The workshop, attended by over 50 federal employees, was timed to coincide with the Plain Writing Act of 2010 going into effect. This law requires government agencies to write documents that the public can easily understand.
At the conference different agencies discussed how they were working to start plain language programs for their employees. Since USCIS already has a program, I had the honor of sharing best practices with the attendees. USCIS provides employees with in-person classes, video conferences and educational videos (check them out on YouTube) that explain how to write for the reader by using:
- Active voice – showing who is doing the action upfront in a sentence
- Short sentences and paragraphs
- Lists of required items
- Tables for complex "if"/"then" procedures
- Words that don’t require the reader to pick up a thesaurus.
USCIS also just held its annual Plain Language awards ceremony this past October 17, and awarded teams that:
- Improved e-filing instructions on our website;
- Provided clearer web pages on international adoptions in response to a Congressional inquiry;
- Re-organized, shortened and clarified the information from the Customer Service Number;
- Created the new Avoid Scams section of our website; and
- Wrote the I-9 Central web pages. | <urn:uuid:fd2539cd-7714-43ae-9774-208faa59323f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.uscis.gov/2011/10/uscis-plain-language-program-striving.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943981 | 601 | 1.96875 | 2 |
My Chat With Chris Sheridan at eNom about .ORG
A few weeks ago, I sat down with eNom’s Chris Sheridan for an informal discussion about what’s going on with .ORG, and about some of the important issues facing the Internet and the domain name space today. One topic we spoke a lot about is how .ORG has evolved since it launched 25 years ago. When first introduced, .ORG was known primarily as the domain extension for non-profits. Today, while non-profits still make up a core part of our user base, .ORG encompasses a much larger and diverse community. For-profit corporations have started turning to .ORG to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, educational initiatives and crisis communications. For example, Hyundai launched the award winning Hyundai Hope on Wheels on a .ORG, Avon’s Walk for Breast Cancer lives on a .ORG, and most recently, Facebook introduced the Open Compute Project on opencompute.org.
Another topic that came up is the globalization of the Internet. As we saw in Egypt recently, the Internet drives change and mobilizes global communities in a powerful way. Creating and maintaining an open and global Internet is one of our core values at the Public Interest Registry. We believe the Internet should reach everyone globally, from individuals here in the U.S., to every country in the world. As such, we are currently focusing on ways to bring the Internet and .ORG to international communities, specifically with international domain names (IDNs).
To hear our full discussion, feel free to check out the below videos from my chat with Chris.
Part 1 of 2 : Press play below or here for YouTube
Part 2 of 2 : Press play below or here for YouTube | <urn:uuid:15b69aa7-094a-423c-95a7-9ec68c786216> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pir.org/blog/2011/withchris | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917546 | 368 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Gloves, Hand Safety, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Before you read this article take a quick moment to consider your hands. They're the only two hands you'll ever have. Look at your palms, your fingers, and your miraculous thumb, the evolutionary digit that makes so much of what we do possible. Without a thumb you can't tie your shoes, you can't open a door and you can't play the violin. The point is, take good care of your fingers and hands and they'll take good care of you.
What is PPE? And What Does It Mean for Hand Safety?
Personal Protective Equipment is the "gear" that allows you to safely do your job. Personal Protective Equipment, when used correctly, protects your fingers and hands from all sorts of things: absorption of harmful substances, chemical or thermal burns, electrical dangers, bruises, abrasions, cuts, punctures, fractures and amputations.
Hand safety is much more evolved and thought out than simply grabbing a pair of leather gloves. Personal Protective Equipment requires specificity. What job will you be doing? What hazards will you face? What chemicals will you be working with? How long will your hands be exposed to the chemicals? What kind of gloves will you need for the task you're trying to perform?
Personal Protective Equipment is not the first line of protection: Personal Protective Equipment IS YOUR LAST LINE OF PROTECTION! There are three legs to the Personal Protective Equipment risk management process: training, engineering and work practice controls, and Personal Protective Equipment.. What's important with all Personal Protective Equipment for hand safety is that the pair of gloves you use must be compatible with the task at hand. Leather gloves, a go-to staple for industrial workers, are surprisingly not very cut resistant. A cotton knit glove can sometimes be a better choice for hand safety.
And while hand safety is a small piece of the Personal Protective Equipment pie, practicing hand safety can still have a significant impact on costs. Every year there are 110,000 days of missed work because of hand and finger lacerations. This injury figure is second only to back strain and sprain injury, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The average hand injury claim has now exceeded $6,000, with each lost-time workers' compensation claim reaching almost $7,500, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Safety Council.
Specialized Gloves for Hand Hazard Protection
There are more kinds of Personal Protective Equipment gloves than you can possibly imagine: reflective gloves, neoprene gloves, Kevlar gloves, rubber gloves, dust-free gloves, heat resistant gloves, fabrication gloves, lead lined cotton gloves, PVC gloves. One industrial glove maker claims to make 1,800 different kinds of gloves!
What Job? What Gloves?
There are many kinds of gloves that fall into the category of Personal Protective Equipment. The nature of the hazard and the operation involved will affect your glove choice. The range of potential occupational hand injuries makes selecting the right pair of gloves challenging. The gloves you use need to be appropriate to the job you'll be doing. A Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety study found that wearing gloves reduces hand injury risk by 60 percent.
Consider, for example, the range of exposure your hands could possibly have. Are chemicals involved? What kind of contact will the job require? Will there be immersion? Splashes? How long will the chemical contact be? How much of your hands and arms will be exposed? What are the grip requirements for your task?
Gloves should be specifically designed for the hazards and tasks found in their workplace because gloves designed for one function may not protect against a different function even though they may appear to be an appropriate protective device. These are the types of questions you have to ask. Here's a quick overview of what's available.
Leather, Canvas or Metal Mesh Gloves provide protection against cuts and burns. Leather or canvass gloves also protect against sustained heat.
- Leather gloves protect against sparks, moderate heat, blows, chips and rough objects
- Aluminized gloves provide reflective and insulating protection against heat and require an insert made of synthetic materials to protect against heat and cold
- Aramid fiber gloves protect against heat and cold, are cut- and abrasive-resistant and wear well
- Synthetic gloves of various materials offer protection against heat and cold, are cut- and abrasive-resistant and may withstand some diluted acids. These materials do not stand up against alkalis and solvents.
Fabric and Coated Fabric Gloves
Fabric and coated fabric gloves are made of cotton or other fabric to provide varying degrees of protection.
- Fabric gloves protect against dirt, slivers, chafing and abrasions. They do not provide sufficient protection for use with rough, sharp or heavy materials. Adding a plastic coating will strengthen some fabric gloves.
- Coated fabric gloves are normally made from cotton flannel with napping on one side. By coating the unnapped side with plastic, fabric gloves are transformed into general-purpose hand protection offering slip-resistant qualities. These gloves are used for tasks ranging from handling bricks and wire to chemical laboratory containers. When selecting gloves to protect against chemical exposure hazards, always check with the manufacturer or review the manufacturer's product literature to determine the gloves' effectiveness against specific workplace chemicals and conditions.
Chemical- and Liquid-Resistant Gloves
Chemical-resistant gloves are made with different kinds of rubber: natural, butyl, neoprene, nitrile and fluorocarbon (viton); or various kinds of plastic: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene. These materials can be blended or laminated for better performance. As a general rule, the thicker the glove material, the greater the chemical resistance but thick gloves may impair grip and dexterity, having a negative impact on safety.
Care of Protective Gloves
If you need to wear Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves, make sure they're in good condition each time you wear them. You can test rubber gloves for pinhole leaks by filling them with water and rolling the cuff towards the fingers. Stiff, discolored gloves may mean the gloves are damaged by chemicals. Damaged gloves should be discarded and replaced. Reuse of chemical-resistant gloves should be evaluated carefully, taking into consideration the absorptive qualities of the gloves.
What Are Common Hand Dangers?
- Hands can be crushed from manually shifting heavy products whilst on rollers or slings.
- Fingers can be crushed between moving products and stationery objects.
- Lacerations from sharp edges on moving and stationary plant and products.
- Burns to hands and forearms from exposure to hazardous substances and materials
- Fractures to fingers and wrist: from the incorrect use of tools
Be mindful of doing the task required, safely, by:
- Following all safety instructions at work sites and ensuring you're focused on the task before you
- Being aware of moving parts of machinery where you can get your hands or fingers caught or crushed. These should have a protective barrier or guarding.
- Being aware that moving heavy materials manually by hand requires extreme caution.
- Using gloves if you have been provided with them.
- Always using two hands when operating power tools and ensure that they are the right power tools for the task. If not, obtain the right power tool from the client before commencing the task.
- Avoid washing your hands with solvents, harsh soaps or abrasives
- Avoid wearing loose clothing or jewelry which can get caught in moving parts
All injuries are preventable! At Graphic Products we make the signs and labels that support and promote workplace safety. To learn more about Personal Protective Equipment and keeping your fingers and hands safe give us a call at 1-888-326-9244. Our safety labeling materials can helps keep workers safe, and our trained representatives would be pleased to guide you. | <urn:uuid:4dff64d1-e734-4191-a000-8a03fb24a25b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.duralabel.com/labeling-guides/personal-protective-equipment.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922055 | 1,628 | 2.734375 | 3 |
- Ages: 10+
- Players: 2-4
- Playing Time: 45 minutes
- Designer: Alfred Victor Schultz
- Art: Harald Lieske
Age of Discovery™
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the great royal houses of Europe sent explorers and conquerors all over the world, hoping to discover and secure new areas of influence and sources of wealth. Without the right naval vessels, these voyages would have been impossible. But even the incredible wealth of the royal houses could not sustain these expeditions for long. So they were happy that private entrepreneurs were ready to finance these expensive journeys.
Now your king has come to offer you the opportunity to invest in the great voyages of the famous explorers like Columbus and Magellan. You will need to purchase a fleet of ships, and assign them to the most successful expeditions. Of course, you will need a lot of money! To earn money you must fulfill trade contracts.
Can you balance the needs of trade with the demands of the great explorers? It is time to seek wealth and glory in the Age of Discovery!
- 50 ship cards
- 12 expedition cards
- 24 trade contract cards
- 12 special mission cards
- 12 action cards
- 88 wooden tokens
- 1 victory point chart
- 60 coins
- 1 rulebook
Look for other games in these categories:
Other Recomended Titles:
Nautilus, Adventure in the Deep
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Entdecker: Exploring New Horizons | <urn:uuid:1faece7a-077d-45c3-8547-7c78a279450b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mayfairgames.com/game.php?id=144&stock=PHA6022&name=Age+of+Discovery | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915479 | 315 | 1.5 | 2 |
Warm welcome for Cold War fighters
Aircraft from the Cold War era will bring nostalgia to the skies of St Andrews and north east Fife next month.
A warm welcome is expected for the Gloster Meteor and de Havilland Venom when they perform at the RAF Leuchars Airshow: A Diamond Celebration on Saturday, September 15.
It will also be a trip down memory lane for many enthusiasts as Meteor aircraft were based at RAF Leuchars in 1952 when the Queen ascended to the throne.
A Meteor T7 will fly at the Airshow as fitting tribute to Her Majesty’s 60-year reign.
The Meteor entered service in 1944, and is the only jet fighter to have seen combat during World War Two when it protected the United Kingdom from V-1 flying bombs.
It was based at RAF Leuchars throughout the 1950s and will no doubt bring back fond memories for some of the guests.
Fittingly, the Meteor will be joined by the de Havilland Venom which entered RAF service in 1952 and was one of the predecessors of the Typhoon as the aircraft of Leuchars-based 6 Squadron.
The Venom saw service in Germany and the Far East and equipped 19 squadrons during its service with the Royal Air Force. It was also evaluated for navel use and the carrier-based version known as the Sea Venom entered service in 1954.
Trevor Bailey from Air Atlantique, on behalf of the Classic Aircraft Trust, told the Citizen: ‘‘Bringing these two hugely historic aircraft to RAF Leuchars to contribute to A Diamond Celebration in September is a great privilege.
‘‘It fits exactly with the objectives of the UK’s new aviation charity, to enable the British public to view these aircraft where they belong, in the sky. The Classic Aircraft Trust has been set up to ensure aircraft like these and others in the collection can remain operational as flying exhibits, as a tribute to the great British designers, engineers, pilots and operators, that helped so much to make aviation what it is today.”
Wing Commander Neville Clayton, officer commanding Base Support Wing at Leuchars, added: “To have the Meteor at the RAF Leuchars Jubilee Airshow is a most fitting tribute to the 60-year reign of the Queen.
‘‘I am also delighted the Venom will also be displaying as it is an aircraft that represents the joint contribution of the Armed Forces during Her Majesty’s reign with its service in both the RAF and the Navy.
‘‘I am sure both displays will be enjoyed by young and old alike.”
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Weather for Kirkcaldy
Sunday 19 May 2013
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East | <urn:uuid:1237e7d7-1ac7-460c-839a-96e2828a6ecc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/local-headlines/warm-welcome-for-cold-war-fighters-1-2459299 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947409 | 609 | 1.914063 | 2 |
- Extended Learning Home
- Outreach and Enrichment
- College Challenge
- Distance Education
Information on Academic Programs
For information on academic programs (including advisement), students should contact their academic advisor or visit the academic department or college in which the major is housed:
For assistance with admission, campus tours, credit transfer, financial aid, housing options, registration, scholarships, and veterans benefits, students should contact:
Nursing Education Post-Master's Certificate
Indiana State University offers the Nursing Education Graduate Certificate for registered nurses holding a master's degree in nursing who desire to continue their education and expand their educator certification.
- The Nursing Education Post-Master's Certificate is a 14-credit-hour program that can be that can be completed entirely via distance education.
- The program can be completed in one calendar year.
- Clinical placement can be arranged in the student's community.
- All courses are developed and taught by ISU's nursing faculty.
- Upon successful completion of program requirements, a certificate is awarded and students are eligible to take the National League for Nursing (NLN) Nurse Educator Certification Examination.
All courses are offered on-line. On-campus visits are not required. High-speed Internet access is required.
[ list all ]
Applicants must satisfy the following minimum requirements:
- Hold a master degree in nursing from a college or university accredited by the National League for Nursing (or equivalent accreditation association) with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
- Hold a current registered nurse licensure or equivalent in the geographic location where the student does his/her preceptorship or clinical practicum
- Provide three (3) letters of reference including at least one academic and one professional reference
- Provide a personal statement of professional goals that describe the student's leadership and community service as a registered nurse
- Provide a current passport photo
- The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is not required
The University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
The Graduate Nursing Program (renamed the Department of Advanced Practice Nursing in 2008) at Indiana State University admitted its first students in 1986. It has maintained continuous accreditation by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc. since 1989.
For application instructions and deadlines, visit Post-Master's Nurse Educator.
Fees & Expenses:
Nursing students pay the same University fees as other students, including distance education delivery fees. Other expenses specific to the program include books, supplies/equipment, name pin, special test fees, and a clinical/program fee attached to designated courses. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from clinical and practicum experiences.
Financial Aid & Assistance:
Graduate students may be eligible for federal student loans if they are admitted into graduate degrees (or first-time teacher certification programs) and meet other eligibility requirements. Certificate programs are not eligible for financial aid. Private alternative loans can help students pay college expenses that may not be covered by federal loan programs or other financial aid. For more information, visit financial aid.
Further Information:Department of Advanced Practice Nursing
College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services
Indiana State University
1-888-293-4842, option 3
Distance Education Students Residing Outside of Indiana: Each of the states has its own approval processes for out-of-state institutions offering distance education. While Indiana State University endeavors to offer all of its programs to as wide an audience as possible, all ISU distance education programs may not be available in all states. To check the status of programs available in a particular state, visit program availability.
The Catalog of Indiana State University is the document of authority for all students. The requirements given in the catalog supersede information issued by any academic department, program, college, or school. The University reserves the right to change the requirements at any time. | <urn:uuid:0461cc51-9ac9-4ffb-9183-12ef121fee2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://indstate.edu/distance/necertificate.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928887 | 809 | 1.5 | 2 |
A selection of Britain's technology, science and games
luminaries have been recognised in the Queen's
New Year Honours list.
Physicist Peter Higgs was made a Companion of Honour following
discovery in 2012 of the subatomic particle named after
him - the Higgs Boson. The particle helps explain why
objects in the universe have mass.
Ian Livingstone was made a Commander of the British
Empire, recognising his work as the creator of the immensely
influential Fighting Fantasy book series and founder of the
videogame studio Eidos - publishers of the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex
Martha Lane Fox was also made a Commander of the British
Empire in recognition of her voluntary services to Britain's
digital economy and to charity. She founded Lastminute.com in 1998
and has acted as the government's "digital inclusion champion"
under both Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
Industrial designer Kenneth
Grange was knighted for services to design. Grange created
a number of iconic British designs, including that of the InterCity
125 train, the country's first parking meter, the 1997 redesign of
London's black cab and Kodak's Instamatic camera.
Finally, a number of other technologists, scientists and artists
were granted honours, including Quentin Blake, Hossein Yassaie,
Kate Bush, David Payne, David Cleevely, Barry Cox, Peter Fraenkel,
and Michael Terrett. | <urn:uuid:416f10b0-3f85-4df2-990d-769ee5d613c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-12/29/new-year-honours | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935325 | 309 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Floral resources, pollinators and fruiting in a threatened tropical deciduous tree.
Study of the pollination ecology of the threatened Nothapodytes nimmoniana tree to assess if there are constraints in pollination and fruiting success in its natural populations.
Year of Publication2011
Aims: Nothapodytes nimmoniana (Family Icacinaceae) is a deciduous tree species distributed in Asia facing severe population decline. Wood chips from the tree are a source of camptothecin, a globally sought after alkaloid with cancer-treating properties, and are harvested unsustainably in natural forests. We studied the pollination ecology of the species and asked if there are constraints in pollination and fruiting success in its natural populations. We also discuss the potential effects of wood extraction on pollinators and reproductive success in the population. Methods: The study was carried out during the flowering season in two populations with varying exploitation levels, both located in the Protected Area Network in the Western Ghats of Karnataka State. We assessed floral resource availability and measured pollinator diversity and activity in the canopy from the perspective of the biology of the species. We quantified pollinator abundance and percent fruit set as a function of population density. Important Findings: Flowers belong to the fly pollination syndrome and are open to visits by generalists such as Apis dorsata and Trigona iridipennis. Fruiting success did not vary between exploited and unexploited sites, but there was a significant difference in pollinator assemblage. In a lean male flowering year, fruit set was low, suggesting pollen limitation in the population. No fruiting was recorded in the second year at the site where trees were felled soon after the flowering period. We argue that when male floral resources are altered in exploited populations, pollinators of generalist nature may show a shift in foraging pattern. Also, generalist plants may be as susceptible to pollination loss as are specialist plants. The need for outcrossing in the species would probably exacerbate this vulnerability.Citation
Sharma, M. V., Shaanker, R. U., Leather, S. R., Vasudeva, R. Hivanna, K. R. (2011) "Floral resources, pollinators and fruiting in a threatened tropical deciduous tree."Journal of Plant Ecology 4 (4) pp 259-267
This item is categorised as follows
Additional keywords/tagspollen limitationpollinator assemblageover harvestfruit setgeneralist
This is a brief summary of an item in the OpenFields Library. This free online library contains items of interest to practitioners and researchers in the agricultural and landbased industries. | <urn:uuid:368879e3-0a21-476c-990e-d1dc809f2a6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.openfields.org.uk/topics/environmental-impact/wildlife-and-biodiversity/floral-resources-pollinators-and-fruiting-in-a-threatened-tropical-deciduous-tree.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920359 | 560 | 3 | 3 |
US relief supplies arrive in North KoreaSeptember 4th, 2011 - 5:33 am ICT by IANS
Washington, Sep 4 (IANS) A cargo plane carrying emergency relief supplies from the US has arrived in North Korean capital Pyongyang to help people in flood-hit areas of the country, Xinhua reported.
Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organisation that provides aid to victims of war, poverty, natural disaster, and disease, has been authorised by the US government to manage the relief effort.
Melvin Cheatham, an official of the organisation, said the plane was loaded with food, medicine, items for children, a water filtration system, blankets and other emergency relief supplies for people affected by heavy rains and flooding.
The Boeing 747 plane had departed from Chitose, Japan.
North Korea has suffered massive damage due to heavy rains and floods that began in July. More than 6,750 houses have been destroyed and 15,800 people left homeless.
The US said earlier $900,000 in emergency supplies would be sent to North Korea as aid.
- US supports emergency humanitarian aid to North Korea - Aug 06, 2011
- US offers flood aid to North Korea - Aug 19, 2011
- Flood-hit North Korea requests UN food aid - Aug 03, 2012
- Over 300 killed, 6 million affected in Pakistan floods - Sep 18, 2011
- Flood-hit North Korea seeks help from South Korea - Sep 07, 2010
- UNHCR seeks $33 mn for Pakistan flood victims - Sep 21, 2011
- India airlifts relief to flood-hit Sri Lanka - Jan 14, 2011
- China to give $5 million more for Pakistan's flood victims - Oct 07, 2011
- Typhoon Muifa kills at least 10 in North Korea - Aug 10, 2011
- Death toll from Typhoon Bolaven in North Korea reaches 59 - Sep 06, 2012
- US to send additional 18 helicopters for Pak flood relief - Aug 29, 2010
- Turkey donates 85 homes to flood-hit Pakistani city - Jan 28, 2012
- 88 killed in North Korea floods - Jul 29, 2012
- Thailand's flood death toll rises to 112 - Sep 19, 2011
- Obama declares emergency for New York ahead of hurricane(Lead) - Aug 27, 2011
Tags: blankets, boeing 747, cargo plane, chitose japan, emergency relief supplies, emergency supplies, floods, food medicine, heavy rains, korean capital, massive damage, natural disaster, north korea, north korean, purse, pyongyang, relief effort, victims of war, water filtration system, xinhua | <urn:uuid:f85a2c87-3d57-41e1-b4a7-aa3873e39f43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/us-relief-supplies-arrive-in-north-korea_100561170.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908197 | 548 | 1.898438 | 2 |
January 4, 2005
15th MEU Concept of Operations Insight
Upon arrival in the Indian Ocean in the next three days or so, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit will begin what is known as "split-ARG operations." ARG stands for Amphibious Ready Group and represents the ships that the MEU is embarked upon.
"Split ARG" means that the battle group will split into two parts and conduct separate missions independently of each other.
According to this article on the 15th MEU site, the USS Bonhomme Richard will head toward Sri Lanka, while the USS Duluth will stay near Indonesian waters. The article doesn't mention where the Pearl Harbor is headed, but we think it will stay with the Bonhomme Richard. Perhaps the Bonhomme Richard is headed to Sri Lanka because there are few operable airfields on the island and its deck will have to do, or perhaps because it has a greater command and control capability for operating independently. We'll see when things develop.
The subordinate elements of the MEU are being split between these two parts of the ARG. The Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, along with the Air Combat Element, HMM-165, and the MEU Service Support Group-15 (MSSG-15), or the combat service support element, are all more or less halving themselves and their equipment and figuring out how to divvy up what they possess.
While 2200 Marines in a MEU sounds like a lot, they are spread extremely thin in many areas, like maintenance, supply and engineering. As a combat engineer, I participated in a number of exercises meant to simulate planning for deploying on a MEU with an Engineer Support Detachment, part of the MEU Service Support Group. The entire detachment is only around 35 Marines, and the entire MSSG is only about 250, though headed by a Lieutenant Colonel. The MSSG is by far the most thinly spread of all the embarked commands and figuring out how to accomplish what needs to be done with the assets at hand is one of the trickier aspects of planning. MEU staffs usually become very creative in accomplishing different objectives.
Interestingly enough, the Commanding Officer of MSSG-15 this time around, LtCol Hatton, is a veteran of the LA riots and Operation Sea Angel.
More on the upcoming operation as it develops . . .
Posted by Chester at January 4, 2005 1:47 AM
TrackBack URL for this entry:
free poker Have a nice day :)
Posted by: free poker at January 19, 2006 6:35 PM | <urn:uuid:c274116d-6e3e-4e6d-add4-66f311f054e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theadventuresofchester.com/archives/2005/01/15th_meu_concep.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955285 | 540 | 1.585938 | 2 |
|News: Afghan Schoolgirls Attacked with Poisonous Gas|
|Written by Administrator|
|Wednesday, 30 May 2012 10:38|
160 Afghan schoolgirls have fallen ill after an alleged gas attack on their school in Taloqan, Takhar Province. The May 29, 2012 attack comes less than a week after a similar attack left 120 sick. This is the fourth such attack on schools in that region since last month.
Related: New bulletins being coded from Human Rights Watch's 2006 report: "Lessons in Terror: Attacks on Education in Afghanistan." Schools have been, and will continue to be, common targets in Afghanistan.
|Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 May 2012 16:28| | <urn:uuid:638f041d-2d26-47c2-a828-a4cdf5a1dd87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.afghandocproject.org/index.php/component/content/article/5-top-highlights/48-newsafghanschoolgirlsgassed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924702 | 147 | 1.515625 | 2 |
As usual, Iceland is unusual: here in the Northern Atlantic you can walk on black volcanic sand beaches or go pony trekking on the lighter sands of the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Jules Verne used the glacier on this peninsula as the setting for Journey to the Center of the Earth, so you know it’s an inspiring landscape. These beaches cry out for picnics, and the terrain is such that all ages can enjoy exploring around that next bend in the trail or over one more intriguing hill.
Start heading south and you’ll find over 1400 km of spectacular coastline in Ireland. As well as towering cliffs, clear fresh waters, pristine sandy beaches, and an abundance of opportunities for the water sports enthusiast, the coastline features lively fishing villages with some bewitchingly delicious seafood.
And then there are the famous beaches of Spain and Portugal, including the delights of their Atlantic islands. For spectacular family beaches, head to the Algarve in Portugal, where long beaches are interspersed with irregular rock formations including mysterious caves that you can reach only from the ocean. Portugal’s longest stretches of beaches are along the coast of Aveiro, Figueira da Foz and Leiria – wide expanses bordered by dunes and sheltering pine groves. Madeira and the Azores are beautiful islands of green and gold with some of the Atlantic’s most beautiful waters and beaches to match.
Spain’s Atlantic coastline offers a world of beach possibilities including an enormous number of Blue Flag – meaning the ultimate in pristine – beaches. The rugged northern beaches are set against a dramatic backdrop courtesy of the Pyrenees, and give way to sandier stretches yet some massive waves as the coastline winds west and then south. On the Costa del Luz on the southern curve of Spain’s Atlantic border, enjoy endless golden sands as you look across to Africa.
On perpetually sunny Gran Canaria enjoy the large and popular stretches of sand at Maspalomas and the Playa del Inglés, or go for a more tranquil time at the smaller and quieter beaches such as Taurito and Amadores in Mogán. At constant “t-shirt” temperature, you can’t resist smiling and relaxing in the sparkling ocean air. | <urn:uuid:50eff77a-d5ef-4f51-b25b-59a5e1f5af01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://visiteurope.com/Discover/Where-To-Go/Atlantic-Coast/Beaches-Atlantic-Coast?lang=en-GB | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901716 | 469 | 1.734375 | 2 |
SCARSDALE, N.Y. – The Scarsdale School District has rescheduled its meeting with Dr. Tony Wagner, the first Innovative Education Fellow at the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University, after Hurricane Sandy forced the original discussion to be postponed.
Wagner, the author of “Creating Innovators” and “The Global Achievement Gap,” will host a presentation from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 5 in the Scarsdale High School auditorium, and will take questions from the audience.
Wagner is the founder and co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and his latest book provides a roadmap for parents who want to help their children prepare for the workplace of the future, according to the district.
“Our commitment to prepare graduates for an increasingly interdependent world has led us to reach out to Scarsdale and beyond for perspective and advice,” said Public Information Officer Vicki Presser. “As a result of that outreach, the Center for Innovation is hosting ‘An Evening with Tony Wagner.’”
The presentation is free and open to all members of the community, but pre-registration is required. Copies of Wagner's book “Creating Innovators” will be available for purchase at the event. | <urn:uuid:62748f7e-4a5c-4a15-ade8-1d71dd2637fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scarsdale.dailyvoice.com/schools/scarsdale-schools-host-talk-workplace-readiness | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947114 | 284 | 1.554688 | 2 |
My city suffers from urban sprawl.
Urban sprawl happens when a city continues to grow outward. To sprawl means to stretch out on the ground, so urban sprawl is when a city grows wider and wider. Notice the following examples:
- The city is trying to stop urban sprawl by making it hard to build on empty land.
- Because of urban sprawl, the city is no longer beautiful.
The San Francisco Bay Area is a nice place to live.
The Bay Area consists of three major cities: San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. Those three cities are all on the San Francisco Bay, so they make up the Bay Area. Surprisingly, even though San Francisco is the most famous of the three cities, it is the smallest of the three cities. San Jose is actually the largest of the three.
We are in the middle of a serious housing crisis.
A crisis is a time of serious difficulty or hardship. In a crisis, things are expected to get worse unless things are done to correct a bad situation. Notice the following examples:
- The government has no solution to the economic crisis.
- The family was in crisis after the father was arrested for selling drugs.
My city has a big problem with homelessness.
People who do not have a home and must live on the street are called homeless people, or 'the homeless'. Homelessness is a noun and refers to the problem as a whole. Notice the following sample sentences:
- The city is opening a shelter to deal with the rise in homelessness.
- Because homeless people do not vote, most politicians do not care about homelessness.
People who are mentally ill have a hard time keeping a job.
People who are mentally ill have a hard time thinking like most people do. Mentally ill people often have much more stress, worries and fears than most people.
It is one of the pricier cities in America.
The adjective 'pricy' means to be expensive. We often use the word pricy with luxury good or things associated with wealthy people. See the samples below:
- He lives in one of the pricier parts of town.
- The restaurants around here are quite pricy. | <urn:uuid:ca195703-a8e5-4b5c-8af1-8c3f9a9532fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.elllo.org/english/0350/N357-SFBad.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95713 | 452 | 2.96875 | 3 |
For Immediate Release: 05/09/07
Civil War Preservation Trust Announces Winners of 2007 Preservation Awards
(Washington, D.C.) - At its annual conference in mid-April, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) announced the winners of its 2007 Preservation Awards. The awards were created to honor individuals and organizations for their exemplary dedication to the cause of Civil War preservation.
"We are engaged in a struggle to save America's Civil War legacy," remarked CWPT President James Lighthizer. "Without the kind of commitment displayed by this year's recipients, many Civil War sites will be little more than a memory within a few years."
The Preservation Awards were presented during a banquet at the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel in Portsmouth, Virginia on Saturday evening, April 21. During the ceremony, Lighthizer stressed the need for cooperation among preservationists, and stated that he was proud to recognize a few of CWPT's many partners with these awards. Among the partners recognized this year were members of the U.S. and Virginia legislatures, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, the Richmond Battlefields Association, Friends of Cedar Mountain and No Casino Gettysburg.
Over the years, CWPT has honored a wide variety of individuals and groups for their work to preserve endangered Civil War battlefields. Previous winners include historians, celebrities and even residential development firms. Despite such disparate backgrounds, all have made unique and lasting contributions to historic preservation.
The 2007 award winners are:
Edwin C. Bearss Lifetime Achievement Award: CWPT's highest honor was awarded to Jack Ackerly, Vice President of the Lee-Jackson Education Foundation of Virginia and a member of the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. Ackerly has long been involved in the preservation movement, and was one of the founders of CWPT. Most recently, he helped save 422 acres at the McDowell Battlefield (Highland County, Va.).
Shelby Foote Preservation Legacy Award: The Preservation Legacy Award is generally given to members of the business community for exceptional contributions to battlefield preservation. This year's award goes to C. T. Hill of SunTrust, for his role in enabling CWPT to purchase the Slaughter Pen Farm on the Fredericksburg Battlefield.
Carrington Williams Battlefield Preservationist of the Year Award: This award, named after the first chairman of CWPT, was presented to Susan Star Paddock of No Casino Gettysburg. Mrs. Paddock led the grassroots effort that successfully derailed plans to build a slots parlor near the Gettysburg Battlefield.
National Leadership Award: The National Leadership Award is presented to policymakers who have made significant contributions to preservation on the national level. This year awards go to Congressmen Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) and Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), for their support of the federal Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program and for forming the Congressional Battlefields Caucus.
State Leadership Award: The State Leadership Award is presented to policymakers who have made significant contributions to preservation on the state level. This year awards go to President Pro-Tempore of the Senate John Chichester, Speaker of the House of Delegates Bill Howell, Senator Edd Houck and Delegate Joe May for the creation of the Virginia Civil War Historic Site Preservation Fund, a state-level matching grant fund designed to aid nonprofit sector preservation enterprises.
Brian C. Pohanka Preservation Organization of the Year Award: This year's Brian C. Pohanka Award went to two outstanding groups warmly supported by the late historian: the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and Richmond Battlefields Association. The two groups were recognized for their unprecedented contributions to the Slaughter Pen Farm and Glendale Battlefield acquisitions.
National Park Service Preservationist of the Year Award: This award for outstanding NPS personnel, was awarded to historian Terry Winschel of Vicksburg National Military Park. Winschel has been key to CWPT's preservation efforts throughout the western theater, most recently at Champion Hill, Mississippi.
Preservationist Teacher of the Year Award: Every year, CWPT recognizes an outstanding teacher who motivates students to become involved in battlefield preservation. This year, CWPT recognized John Camardella of Mt. Prospect High School in Illinois, for involvement in the campaign to prevent a slots parlor at Gettysburg.
Civil War Discovery Trail Site of the Year Award: For years, the all-volunteer Friends of Cedar Mountain in Culpeper County, Virginia have worked tirelessly to clean up and restore the battlefield. Thanks to their efforts, the site is one of the most memorable along the Civil War Discovery Trail.
Reenactment Unit of the Year Award: In recent years, CWPT has begun recognizing the most preservation-friendly reenactment groups in the nation. This year, CWPT awarded the 17th Michigan Regiment for its financial contributions for battlefield preservation in 2006.
Civil War Roundtable of the Year Award: Few Civil War Roundtables in the nation can compete with the Civil Roundtable of Chicago for its commitment to excellence and battlefield preservation. The Chicago roundtable is also one of the nation's oldest, founded in December 1940, and has donated considerable money to CWPT and other organizations for battlefield preservation.
With 70,000 members, CWPT is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Its mission is to preserve our country's remaining Civil War battlefields. Since 1987, the organization has saved more than 24,000 acres of hallowed ground nationwide. CWPT's website is located at www.civilwar.org. | <urn:uuid:51cce6e4-9ae6-4126-879b-dc35b31cd5e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.civilwar.org/aboutus/news/news-releases/2007-news/civil-war-preservation-trust-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943874 | 1,119 | 1.75 | 2 |
April 12, 2012 By Tanya Roscorla
This summer and fall, parts of a southeast Massachusetts regional communications infrastructure project will be available for schools, government agencies and public safety personnel to access as they serve their communities.
Through a $32 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant and $8 million in matching funds, the OpenCape project has the funding it needs and is on pace to meet the Jan. 31 completion date set by the grantees.
Once the project is completed, schools could share faster Internet services and common apps.
Government agencies could share regional applications and GIS databases.
And public safety personnel could use a regional 911 dispatch system, be able to support a national mobile public safety system and have a microwave backup system for their communications.
CapeNet LLC is managing construction of the 350-mile fiber-optic network and will be selling access to the network once it's done. Ciena Corp. and Integration Partners are providing coherent optical transport and Carrier Ethernet solutions for the OpenCape Network.
So far, CapeNet has laid about 55 miles of fiber out of the 300 miles scheduled to go from Providence to Provincetown and from Cape Cod to Boston, said Dan Gallagher, CEO of OpenCape Corp., a nonprofit organization formed to spearhead the project. Another 50 miles will connect off the main line to 70 anchor institutions. Some microwave components are being built now, and a collocation center is being renovated.
In each town, the group has selected four or five anchor institutions — such as schools, libraries, town halls and police stations — to connect on a municipal regional area network. These regional networks allow small towns to access services and applications they couldn't afford before, Gallagher said.
"We have towns here with populations in Massachusetts that have 500 households, so they don't have an economy of scale to be able to really do anything efficiently or effectively," Gallagher said. "By creating this network where they're all connected together, now they have this opportunity for collaboration and aggregation of services and shared applications."
The School Benefits
Ten to 12 schools serve as anchor institutions because they're designated as shelters that residents go to when hurricanes and other violent storms hit, Gallagher said. These schools will be able to access a 1 gigabit per second shared Internet service.
On top of that, they'll use a connection from Internet2, a not-for-profit advanced networking consortium that provides schools with access to its high-speed network. And they can share common apps, such as learning management systems and student information systems.
When Gallagher was the CIO of Cape Cod Community College, he converted the community college from a proprietary, expensive learning management system to the open source and no-charge Moodle learning management system.
Now the college and K-12 school districts use the same kind of system, which allows them to work and learn together. These are the kinds of things OpenCape hopes to bring to education through its network.
The Government Benefits
Government has a huge opportunity to collaborate and aggregate through OpenCape, Gallagher said.
One of the first apps that will be introduced is e-permitting, licensing and inspection. Someone could buy this software for the whole region and create specific town instances of it if they chose. It would run on a common back end, hardware and license.
"The savings are tremendous because of the single common support element," Gallagher said. "But everybody gets the benefit of this very advanced software for delivering services to their community that frankly they could not deliver on their own."
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to | <urn:uuid:730c955b-2553-4471-af35-96df0d4c0d13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.govtech.com/wireless/Cape-Cod-Broadband-Update.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953209 | 740 | 1.65625 | 2 |
File System Filter Drivers
About Windows File System Filter Drivers
File System Filter drivers allow windows driver developers to extend the functionality of an existing file system, often enhancing functionality or improving security. There are two main driver models for file system filters - the legacy driver model, or the new minifilter driver model. The new minifilter model address many of the brain-spinning complexities that were left for the driver developer to deal with in the legacy model. However, a solid understanding of the legacy file system filter driver model is very helpful when developing and especially debugging issues with minifilter file system filters.
Typical applications for file system filter drivers include
- Encryption file system filter drivers
- Compression file system filter drivers
- Secuirty and augmented access control file system filter drivers
- Executable whitelisting file system filter drivers
- Anti-virus and anti-malware file system filter drivers
- Monitoring and callout file system filter drivers
An excellent book on the Windows file system filter drivers, and Windows internals in general is Rajeev Nagar's Windows NT File System Internals book. Though a quite old, much of it is still applicable to todays windows driver developer, and file system driver developer. There is a ton of information on the windows internal operation on both the cache manager and memory manager that is difficult to find anywhere else. Highly recommended.
What our customers say about us?
Read our customer testimonials to find out why our clients keep returning for their projects.View Testimonials | <urn:uuid:4a490d6f-9697-4c6d-8740-8d39e6f9e731> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.joyasystems.com/file-system-filter-drivers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92209 | 318 | 1.945313 | 2 |
The Professional Preparation in Cochlear Implants (PPCI) Training Program at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia provides a variety of training opportunities. Within the departments of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, graduate student interns and trainees in their American Speech Language Hearing Association Clinical Fellowship Year gain experience with our team. In the department of Pediatric Otolaryngology, residents and fellows work with the implanting surgeons.
The team lectures to a wide range of professions through an annual conference and numerous intra- and extra-mural presentations.
The program offers regular educational workshops for families to assist them in obtaining the most appropriate educational services for their children. In addition, educators from around the tri-state area meet each month in a study group at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to discuss the best practices for educating children with cochlear implants.
The Professional Preparation in Cochlear Implants (PPCI) Training Program is a credit-granting collaborative effort between The Center for Childhood Communication at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Smith College and The Clarke School for the Deaf, provides specialized graduate-level training for teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students.
Outside clinicians and educators may arrange meetings and observations by contacting the director of the program, Mary Ellen Nevins, at 267-426-5084.
In this section, you will find the following information: | <urn:uuid:b5430aef-d729-4a74-9a21-581135030305> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chop.edu/service/cochlear-implant-program/training-education/ppci-training/ppci-training.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929314 | 282 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Search articles from 1992 to the present.
Fabraea Leaf Blight on Hawthorn
This article was published originally on 8/11/1993A leaf blight on hawthorn was diagnosed recently in the PlantDisease Clinic. The disease is caused by the fungus Fabraeathuemenii. Symptoms of leaf blight begin in spring and earlysummer as small, angular, reddish-brown spots on the upper surfaceof leaves. The spots increase in size and run together, causingpremature defoliation during wet years. From a plant pathologist'sview point, the disease is very interesting because of thecharacteristic spores, which resemble minute, winged insects. Thefungus survives the winter on stems and fallen leaves, infectingnew leaves as they emerge the following year. Raking and disposingof fallen leaves will reduce the amount of inoculum and perhaps theseverity of the disease. Applications of Daconil 2787 or Bordeauxmixture, beginning when the leaves are half unfurled and continuingat 2-week intervals while conditions favor disease development,will control the spread of the disease and prevent prematuredefoliation. During a "normal" Iowa summer, with low to moderaterainfall, Fabraea leaf spot probably poses little threat of damageto hawthorns.
Year of Publication:
IC-465(21) -- August 11, 1993 | <urn:uuid:7aa01720-d0ec-4752-b7e6-4e1bc7290716> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1993/8-11-1993/flbonh.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937022 | 289 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Confectionery giant Mars predicts a major cocoa shortage by 2020 and reveals harmonization of global cocoa certification programmes to ensure meaningful income hikes for farmers is one of its sustainable cocoa project goals.
The chocolate company warns that "unless more is done to promote sustainability”, the industry as a whole can expect a shortfall of more than one million tonnes of cocoa in just nine years.
Pledging to use 100 per cent certified sustainable chocolate by 2020, Mars said its new cocoa sustainability drive is focused on “technology transfer that puts farmers first; innovations in agricultural science; and rigorous certification standards.”
Last year Mars Chocolate purchased certified cocoa representing about 5 per cent of its total supply.
“This year, we are on track to buy ten per cent of our cocoa from certified sources.
By 2020, our goal is to purchase 100 per cent certified cocoa, and we've committed to buy 100,000 metric tonnes each annually from both UTZ and Rainforest Alliance by that time,” said Andrew Pederson, global chocolate manager – sustainability at Mars Chocolate.
He told ConfectioneryNews.com that while schemes such as UTZ and the Rainforest Alliance have already been great partners in advancing the ways certification can support real progress for farmers, the industry now must:
“Increase its investment in evaluating and improving certification programmes according to common goals that prioritize good outcomes for farmers.
Creating a common set of auditing standards and farm-level intervention will take a much more focused coalition of government, industry and civil society partners, and Mars is very interested in supporting future efforts along these lines.”
Cooperation between standards
Pederson said that Mars has been teaming up with German body GTZ on the Certification Capacity Enhancement project (CCE), which is bidding to promote cooperation between standards, companies and NGOs.
“We have also collaborated with ISEAL [global association for social and environmental standards] to identify potential improvements,” said the Mars representative.
Pederson added that its sustainability drive also includes new Cocoa Development Centers (CDC) in Africa and Asia to give farmers “access to advanced agricultural methods and to cocoa trees that produce more and are more disease resistant.”
And following on from its role in mapping the cocoa genome, it is now engaged in applying the genome to specific issues in cocoa growing regions.
Pederson explained that Mars is involved in breeding projects in South America and Asia: “We expect that [these] will greatly speed up our process for evaluating and distributing new plant types that address common pests like cocoa pod borer.”
Mars comments that industry efforts can help to mitigate climate change by reducing the overall land footprint taken up by cocoa.
“By focusing on increasing farmer productivity and promoting crop diversity, farmers can get much more income out of the same land area,” said Pederson.
He also notes that while the Ivory Coast “has some added challenges,” Mars is absolutely committed to long-term success there, and “the Ivorian government is a key partner for us.”
“Early in 2010, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ivorian government, and we are currently working with their agriculture extension services on a long-term strategy to create sustainable livelihoods for farmers,” added the Mars spokesperson. | <urn:uuid:4337fc65-2606-44f1-a852-5034ff839075> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.confectionerynews.com/Commodities/Cocoa-shortage-by-2020-unless-industry-acts-now-warns-Mars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950356 | 685 | 2.71875 | 3 |
|Tim Mara Artist's Alphabet|
|S, T and U > U: University & School Education
||| back | start | next |
From the age of eleven Tim attended St Joseph's College in Beulah Hill, South London, until he was seventeen. Whilst there he had begun to develop an interest in art and had started to produce modernist sculpture in the mode of Henry Moore and Anthony Caro. He was inspired here by his art teacher Barry Robinson. He said of his art teachers there that "compared with all of the other teachers they seemed to be in touch with the world and all credit to the Head of Department who used to make sure that we got these people (i.e. Professional Artists) in to do sculpture with us". The students here organized weekend visits to Galleries and also to an open-air sculpture exhibition in Battersea Park, which included work by Anthony Caro, Philip King and Roland Piche amongst others. Tim was so influenced by this show that he began making abstract sculpture back at the school. He said of this activity "I loved making them and wanted to do it forever".
On leaving school he rejected the path of an academic degree and chose to work in advertising buying time in television and space in newspapers for the London Press Exchange in St Martin's Lane. He left after one year due to boredom and a need to continue to learn and a desire to make more sculpture.
He obtained a place on the foundation course at the Epson and Ewell School of Art which he thought was "fantastic". He attended this course for two years from 1968 until 1970 where he was taught by, amongst others, Mike Peel, (who later became his Colleague when Tim was appointed external examiner at Central/St Martin's College of Art where Mike was then head of printmaking). Here he expanded his artistic interest and vocabulary and experimented with various processes and developed an attachment and knowledge of photographic line work and a passion for film.
From 1970-1973 he attended his undergraduate degree course at Wolverhampton Art College where he combined his interests in sculpture, photography, prop-making and film directorship and started to make printed works produced in silkscreen such as 'Mirror Man', 1979 and the picnic series, all in a narrative vien.
Whilst here Tim's work entered a stage of crisis and he became frustrated by his own lack of creative authorship. He said of his experience:
"I was fed up with doing problem solving projects - they were fairly well resolved, but who wants to solve the staff's problems anyway? Patrick Hughes was my Tutor and was right to call my bluff. He said, you don't have to do projects anymore, get on with being an Artist in your own right, let's see what you can do. I just put all my resources together and had a sense of wanting to be narrative".
Under the tutelage of other artist teachers such as Don Bessant and Jim Chappin, he enjoyed much success, recognised by winning both the prestigious Stowells Trophy and The British Airways Award during his time as a student there. He continued to produce ambitious complex print works, which would form the bulk of his portfolio for his successful application to the postgraduate course in printmaking at The Royal College of Art where he studied between 1973-76.
Here Tim was taught under the Professorship of Alistair Grant and influential tutors such as Alf Dunn and Richard Wentworth. He also met the Artist Eduardo Paolozzi who was an important influence on and supporter of Tim's art.
He obtained his Masters Degree in July 1976, but did not collect it as he refused to attend the college's convocation ceremony as he objected to what he saw as corruption in the examination procedure and the unfairly preferential treatment of certain graduating students. Upon leaving Tim was awarded the major traveling scholarship by the College which he used to travel to New York (click on 'N' for details). | <urn:uuid:f923d086-e8a5-4e2a-924c-c39ccc89aa36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vads.ac.uk/mara/u.html | 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 | 0.988238 | 812 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Its been another crazy summer for maintaining baseball fields around the country considering the 100 degree days, not to mention the pressures of keeping them playing safely and looking great. This blog is for a few of our guys who really make that happen on our Brickman Sportsturf team. Next blog (when I have time) I will post the rest!
Camden Riversharks hosted the Atlantic League All -Star tour this year. Sportsturf manager Isaiah Lienau and his crew.
Southern Maryland Bluecrabs ballpark Operations Manager Kevin Moses and his crew.
Long Island Ducks baseball field managed by Sportsturf Manager Eric Ogden and his crew.
Lancaster Barnstormers Baseball field . Managed by Anthony DeFeo and his crew.
Staten Island Yankees baseball field managed by Ryan Woodley Sportsturf Manager and his crew.
York Revolution baseball field managed by Rob Borman, Sportsturf Manager and his crew.
Sugarland Skeeters ballpark managed by Sportsturf manager Brad Detmore and his crew.
First, it feels a little weird not having baseball or softball in the Olympics this year after working on baseball and softball fields during the past 3. It’s really hard to believe. So what happened? I have been asked this question a lot lately. In 2005 news folks reported that the IOC decided to vote baseball and softball out of the Olympics. Baseball was eliminated by a vote of 54-50 and softball was deadlocked at 52 which resulted in removal of the sports. ESPN put out a story about a so-called secret meeting where they voted off baseball and quickly tried to vote in karate and squash to replace Baseball and Softball. That’s why there are only 26 sports in the 2012 Olympics instead of 28. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=2103234
In 2006 a re-vote was taken and it was 46-42 against baseball and 47-43 against softball. The first Olympic sport to be removed from the games since they booted polo in 1936.
The answer to “why” depends on who you ask and what you read as to the reasons baseball and softball lost the Olympics. Some say it was politically influenced because of anti- American feelings, others say it was due to differences regarding drug testing. Some say it was due to not having the best players represent the sport. All of these theories can be debated as to their accuracy but i do know that the IOC had their eye on introducing new sports to the games and unfortunately baseball and softball drew the short straw.
In 2009 there was a 3rd IOC vote and again we were not even shortlisted to the top 3. At this vote, Baseball and softball presented separate bids. The governing body of baseball “IBAF” is working very hard to get the game back into the Olympics. This time with a potential for softball/baseball to have a combined bid. I think we have a really good shot at making it back in under the leadership of IBAF and the ISF.
The GOOD NEWS! The sport Federations are making major strides towards being included on the shortlist for the 2020 games . The reinstatement campaign is in full force and the game is growing tremendously around the world. I have seen numbers on the web where there are 2 million or 4 million even one report says 10 million kids playing little league baseball. If you want to support the game and see softball and baseball back in the Olympics you should send letters and support to the federations in your country. Send a letter to the IOC too! The more we grow the game in our hometowns around the world, the better our chances will be for inclusion into the 2020 Olympics.
As part of the USA-Cuba Friendly Game Series this week, we held the 1st MLB Field Clinic in Havana this week. The Cuban Baseball Federation invited us to lecture on baseball field maintenance at Estadio Latino Americano. All 16 pro clubs from the country had representation at the clinic. What these guys have to work with would amaze many of you. Picture yourself having only a residential riding mower, 4 rakes, 4 shovels, no tarp, no clay, no soil conditioner, weed control, ant control, etc…. to prepare for an international tournament in front of thousands of people. These guys do this everyday. I just love the passion the people in Cuba exhibit for the game of baseball. That passion was also evident in the groundskeepers that care for the fields. I have had the privilege of traveling to this country several times.
It was the first time all these guys were together and you would have thought they had known each other forever. We did a slide show to talk about materials and maintenance processes then went to the field for hands on training. Typically hands-on means most are watching but this event had all of the guys heavily involved. They really enjoyed the Sports Turf Management slides ( WWW.STMA.ORG ) as they were translated in Spanish. Such a great exchange between friends in sportsturf. Hearing stories about their fields and issues was no different than sitting in a room with my peers in the states.
They have created a pretty good clay for the island. Drains well and is designed to wick water past a certain point. Then it will firm up. On opening night of the series, we had an inch of rain and puddles of water all over the infield. With no big tarp to cover the field and we still played in under two hours.
Havana – After a crazy rain delay USA battles Cuba in the opener of the freindly series 4-3. The teams used to play each other pretty back in the early 90′s and now they started a new set of annual games. The Cuban players played are seasoned squad and the college level USA team did a pretty good job handling them. A great game on a very wet night. After an 1 1/2 rain delay we finally got the game rolling. Heavy rains fell for an hour. No tarp was available so it was back to old school groundskeeping. Awesome ground crew with Juan, Orlando and Elier. | <urn:uuid:40bbe1e3-800a-414f-b65a-5e3b9feb28cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://groundskeeper.mlblogs.com/2012/07/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980354 | 1,287 | 1.523438 | 2 |
This month, Molecular Pharmaceutics reported promising findings from the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research and the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Delaware, about the potential for nanotechnology to deliver chemotherapeutic agents in a way that attacks cancer cells without harming healthy cells. To date, nanoparticle-based drug delivery approaches have been poorly developed for the treatment of childhood leukemia, which comprises 30% of childhood cancers. In the Nemours study, encapsulated dexamethasone ("dex") delivered to pre-clinical models with leukemia significantly improved quality of life and survival compared to the control receiving the unencapsulated drug.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common form of pediatric leukemia. Although 5-year survival rates for ALL approach 90% with available chemotherapy treatments, the deleterious side effects of the drugs, including secondary cancers and fertility, cognitive, hearing, and developmental problems, present a significant concern for survivors and their families. Dex is one of the most commonly used drugs to treat childhood leukemia and long-term systemic exposure to dex causes considerable side effects. | <urn:uuid:5c168528-3193-4cf0-9d9f-05278946cce1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news-medical.net/news/20121205/Nanoparticle-based-drug-delivery-attacks-cancer-cells-without-harming-normal-ones.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923943 | 225 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Wind Chill Values May Drop to 10 Below in Maryland
Frost bite and hypothermia could occur, unless precautions are taken, according to the National Weather Service.
A strong cold front is moving through the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area, and wind chill values will drop as low as 10 below zero overnight, according to a report the National Weather Service (NWS) released Saturday afternoon.
Unless precautions are taken, frostbite and hypothermia could occur due to cold air and strong winds combining to generate low wind chills, according to the NWS. Forecasters advise those who must venture outdoors to make sure they wear hats and gloves.
Winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour will blow through the area with gusts up to 55 miles per hour, according to NWS.
Temperatures will be dropping to the 20s this evening, the NWS predicts, and a wind chill advisory will be in effect from 7 p.m. Saturday evening to 10 a.m. Sunday with wind chill values dropping as low as 10 below zero to zero overnight.
Maryland State Highway Administration officials are warning drivers to watch out for the high winds and wet and icy pavement, Charlie Gischlar, spokesman for the SHA told the Gazette.
The wet conditions will be followed by rapidly falling temperatures, Gischlar warned. | <urn:uuid:51cbc235-ed2d-4f80-978a-f6cc17486ccb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bowie.patch.com/articles/weather-service-says-wind-chill-values-may-drop-to-10-below | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929404 | 275 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Empty legislatures a disturbing trend for Canadian democracy: Tim Harper
Explore This Story
OTTAWA—There are 1,066 duly elected members of the House of Commons, provincial and territorial legislatures in Canada.
Tuesday, not a single one sat in their legislative chamber.
Not a single prime minister, premier, federal or provincial cabinet minister was formally being held to account under our Parliamentary system anywhere, from Victoria to St. John’s, from Ottawa to Iqaluit.
Yes, January is traditionally a dark month in our legislative chambers, but that does not diminish a growing trend in this country of governments under fire merely turning off the lights in their legislatures, leaving ornate buildings to tourists and political aides.
Even those with comfortable majorities treat their legislatures like a nuisance, often with the tacit approval of provincial members who are quite happy to guard their turf in home constituencies, making noise only if they believe they are being denied a chance to go after a government in trouble or a minister grappling with scandal.
Queen’s Park has been closed since Dalton McGuinty prorogued the legislature last Oct. 15 and a frontrunner to replace him, Sandra Pupatello has suggested she will keep it closed until she can win a seat in a by-election, and good luck making a constitutional argument for that as a reason to keep elected representatives from doing their jobs.
But Ontario is hardly alone.
By the time British Columbia goes to the polls this spring, the legislature in Victoria will likely to have sat a grand total of 19 days in the previous calendar year, according to the number crunching of Mark Jarvis in a blog for Maclean’s.
Premier Christy Clark just shut it down last May 31.
In Alberta, where Progressive Conservative Premier Alison Redford is facing a new era with a real opposition and the province is facing an oil glut and plunging revenue, the Edmonton legislature will not return until March 5 and is scheduled to sit 39 days.
The opposition Wildrose, ignoring years of such behaviour by Ralph Klein, the king of the sporadic sittings, said Alberta is becoming a “national embarrassment.’’
That may be overstating the fact, but government House leader Dave Hancock brought them closer to that status by telling the Edmonton Journal the length of the legislative sitting has “no bearing on whether democracy is alive or not.’’
Remember your Christmas break?
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island legislators don’t come back until March 26. Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Yukon haven’t even bothered to set return dates.
Newfoundland Premier Kathy Dunderdale didn’t recall her legislature for six months after her 2011 election, but did allow the legislature to sit for 73 days in 2012.
Doesn’t sound like much? Only Ontario sat longer, according to the Parliament of Canada website.
In 2012, the 13 provincial and territorial legislatures sat a combined 728 days.
Twenty years ago, the 12 legislatures (minus Nunavut) sat a combined 842 days; 25 years ago the dozen chambers sat for 838 days.
The House of Commons sat for 129 days in 2012, longer than any other legislative body and will be the first one to open its doors in 2013 when MPs return next Monday.
But a generation ago, the Commons routinely sat between 165 and 185 days in non-election years.
Anecdotally, it appears Canadians don’t much care about this and that’s why leaders feel they can get away with it.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper brought prorogation back into the vernacular and was re-elected with a majority in 2011.
Anyone who spends any time in Ottawa knows that too much time is wasted here on picayune partisan posturing and MPs do have responsibilities in their constituencies.
But these 1,066 men and women are elected to represent our interests in a Parliamentary forum.
“If you work in the private sector or are a public servant, you work at least 220 days per year,’’ said Duff Conacher, the coordinator of Your Canada, Your Constitution.
“This is not to say MPs don’t work when the House is not sitting, but they have staff to deal with most constituency issues. Their other job is to solve systemic problems and you need to pass legislation to do that.’’
When they don’t sit, governments are not held accountable, Conacher says.
Canadians are disengaging from politics. That could be because they rarely see their representatives in action. Or perhaps our politicians are using this disengagement as cover for their empty legislatures.
Neither conclusion is good news for those who lament the erosion of democracy in this country.
Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. firstname.lastname@example.org
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- Updated The Ward: Toronto's forgotten community | <urn:uuid:905a07ad-042a-4b7f-bb89-4aabc7100da2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/01/22/empty_legislatures_a_disturbing_trend_for_canadian_democracy_tim_harper.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94256 | 1,118 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Guide to your new home
Getting your first home
Sharing a house or flat in Cardiff brings with it as many good as it does potential bad points. Most students will need to share due to budgetary restrictions and will often look to share with friends or other students on their course.
Capital Properties are able to assist with those looking to share but are searching on their own as well as those in groups and can regularly accommodate up to 9 people in a house.
Here's a couple of bits of info you might find useful for when you move into your new home:
There always unfortunately has to be a boring part when you rent a property and that’s the paperwork. You will be provided with various paperwork when you begin your tenancy, the main thing being your contract. You will be provided with just one contract per household amongst some other paperwork. It is good to always ensure that you keep your paperwork in a file somewhere like say your kitchen drawer in case you ever need it.
Cardiff is pretty well equipped for internet connections and you should find a connection is available wherever you are in the city, however it’s always worth checking the property has the necessary connections as this can be a major concern for students. With this in mind it is pretty much unheard of for a property to not be able to receive internet.
As a student you won’t have to pay council tax whilst living in halls or sharing with other students.
As a general rule pretty much everyone is required to purchase a T.V License you can see the full details available at http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk. As a Student you might be tempted to save a bit by putting off buying a license but little can ruin term time nights out like a £1000 fine that could land on your lap if you do. So always best to cover yourself and get that licence!
If you’re living in your first shared house with other students it can really pay to organise yourself and your finances early on. Make sure everyone knows if the bills are set up to come monthly, quarterly or annually as these can really creep up on you otherwise.
Cardiff council are really cracking down on people who are putting their rubbish out on the wrong days and times as this causes an ugly smelly build up of rubbish that can make your streets messy and dirty.
The council now offer a free text reminder service, you can find more information at www.cardiff.gov.uk/recycling. They are now imposing fixed penalties of £100 so it’s always best make sure you are covered.
Majority of rental properties in Cathays and Roath will be fully furnished. This usually includes all white goods in the kitchen i.e fridge/freezer, washing machine, oven hob.
Beds, wardrobes, desks and chairs in bedrooms (desks and chairs usually only available in student properties). The lounge will always be furnished with at least a sofa at minimum. Other items may be available however this will vary on the size of the property.
The landlord will be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all of his furniture for fair wear and tear and any malfunctioning of the fixtures, fittings and white goods in the kitchen. However if any damage or issues arise through fault of your own then you can be responsible for the cost of repair or replacement. Therefore always take care of your furniture and report anything of concern as soon as possible to avoid further deterioration. | <urn:uuid:b68c6300-3819-406a-8039-1d4bd84abdc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.studentaccommodationincardiff.co.uk/newhome.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959275 | 709 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The debate over the presence of mosques in the United States seems to go on without end, and much of the debate is based on misinformation (both intentional and non-intentional). Martin Marty takes up some of this in an especially pertinently entitled piece. I invite you to read and enter a civil and informed conversation, so the tantrums of the day can start to die down.
Until There Are Churches in Saudi Arabia
-- Martin E. Marty
The tantrum—let’s call it what it is—against government, taxes, Muslims, and moderates continues to rage, and will through November and perhaps long after. A child in a tantrum eventually stops stomping and rejoins the family, where speaking and hearing, agreeing and disagreeing, can resume. Sightings would like to move on to other topics about religion and public life, and may do so soon, out of boredom, fear, weariness, or, dare we hope, with hope for better, tantrumless times.
In the meantime in these mean times, out of thousands of choices from columns, blogs, and books, let me select two, one of the best, and one of the worst. In The New Republic Leon Wieseltier challenges readers with a question: Is Islam, as some defenders say, “a religion of peace?” He answers, “It is not. Like Christianity and like Judaism, Islam is a religion of peace and a religion of war,” depending on which era and which circumstances bring forth “the tendencies” within the religion. To relate terrorism to movements within Islam “is not Islamophobic. . . Quite the contrary: it is to side with Muslims who are struggling against the same poison as we are.”
As for the World Trade Center attacks, he pleads, don’t erect a cross as a memorial. “Christianity was not attacked on September 11. America was attacked. They are not the same thing.” American Christians who use the cross in their ads against Islam “do not deplore a religious war, they welcome one.”
Now read William McGurn in The Wall Street Journal. Ask yourself what does he and the tantrum-throwers to his far right, the Newt Gingriches and company want? Peace? Moderation? Can you find the beginning of the beginning of a way to peace in the McGurn column? Note that, for good measure, he links American liberalism to radical Islam. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, “perhaps” a “moderate Muslim,” Richard Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations, and others support “‘interfaith dialogue,’ and called for American Muslims and non-Muslims to ‘break bread’ together.” Not on your life, says columnist McGurn. Stooping lowest he asks, “What are the fruits” of the efforts at moderation and dialogue?
These efforts, he writes, produced as fruit the “obscure Florida Pastor” and other would-be Qur’an burners, those who tear out pages of the Qur’an in front of the White House, and—this one is half right—“angry marches between pro- and anti-Islamic Center crowds,” all to be blamed on one “typical experiment in liberal bridge building.” He implies that there should be no efforts at “interfaith dialogue,” “breaking bread together,” or differentiating moderates from extremists in all faith traditions. Whom to blame for the current rages? Muslims, of course; one Imam, of course; and “folks who cling to their liberalism and their antipathy to people who aren’t like them.”
McGurn does have the grace to scold “Republican politicos” who, thanks to “liberal hectoring,” exploit tensions, “saying no mosque near Ground Zero until we see a church in Saudi Arabia.” Which sets us up for Wieseltier’s best line: “I also hear that there should be no mosque in Park Place until there are churches and synagogues in Saudi Arabia. I get it. Until they are like us, we will be like them.”
William McGurn, “'Bridge Building' and the WTC Mosque,” The Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2010.
Leon Wieseltier, “Mosque Notes,” The New Republic, September 2, 2010.
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, publications, and contact information can be found at http://www.illuminos.com/.
Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School. | <urn:uuid:d44d4741-2497-43b6-8a9f-0d52f4bba7e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bobcornwall.com/2010/09/until-there-are-churches-in-saudi.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 | 0.94163 | 999 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Hello again and sorry I haven't posted for such a long time. I am sure you have all missed me immensely. :D
I entertained the thought of selling these snowflakes, but somehow I have ended up in the tangled web of computer games and abandoned my shop a little. But since it is December, finally, and Christmassy things are justified, I am going to show you how to make them. It's the way I was taught from pvery early age and I have used snowflakes as Christmas decorations ever since, one way or the other.
You will need:
Scissors - best are the longer and sharper kind, and remember to be very careful, and not to use the tips. If you have your kids making snowflakes, choose ones that are medium sized with round tips that open and close easily. It will make a difference. There won't be as many snowflakes cut in half. :D I use big Fiskars ones.
Paper - Now here's the good time to go through your paper recycling bag and find the white printer paper that is only a bit used, like printer calibrations etc. I have used old bank statements, junk mail that has printing only on one side, receipts from internet shops. (Also, I used blue tones from regular magazines etc to make Xmas cards last year.) The best kind of paper is still white printer paper, it is stiff and hard enough and relatively cheap.
The size you need your paper to be is quarter of A4. It will leave your snowflakes about 10cm in diameter. If your snowflake makers are kids, especially not very experienced ones, I would use half an A4 for practice. These bigger snowflakes can go on windows later and they will look very nice. :)
Now to make the template (and be prepared to make about hundred of them for yourself and your children, because the folding can be tricky for little hands, but cutting is sooo much fun! I used to pester my mother to fold more and more and more snowflake bases for me). :)
Take your pre-cut paper and lay it on the table. (I usually do everything up in the air, but table may be easier to start with).
Fold it in half (shorter sides together) and turn 180 degrees so that open ends are at the bottom.
Fold the left top corner over to the right corner and press down make a little fold for the middle. NB! Do not fold the entire length.
Now for the tricky bit: Judging by eye, fold the right corner down by a third. It helps a bit if you place your left thumb on the little fold you just made. (In your mind, note down a point about 5mm to the right of the bottom left corner and line the top right corner up with that point, it should be about accurate.) Don't worry if you don't get it immediately. Practice makes perfect! :) Turn over.
Now fold down the other corner (right one again), lining the corner up with the fold you just made.
Fold the whole thing in half and turn 180 degrees. That is what your snowflake template should look like. Can you see the the lines in the middle? This is where you have to cut off the top, and your snowflake template is ready!
Your snowflake should look like this. Discard the top and you are ready for the fun bit!
You can cut any design you like into your snowflake, but over the years I have found that triangles work the best - they are easy to cut, just straight lines crossing, and the result looks realistic. Edit: I also don't draw anything onto my snowflakes, I just "go with the flow", but you might want to try and draw something on for guidelines: see the photo with all my designs this year below.
I normally start with the top to give my snowflake nice pointy ends. Of course, you can cut just little lines to give it a fringe-y edge or not cut the edge at all.
The very clever bit which results sometimes in spectacular snowflakes is here: after you have cut out a triange, you can cut another triangle into the side of the one you just made!
You can also cut off the bottom tip, to make a cute little star in the middle of your snowflake.
Another double triangle...
And if we open it up... it will look like this. Maybe not the best I have made, but definitely allright.
If you wish, you can use these designs. They will end up looking like this:
Though they aren't in the right order or anything. The best bit of making a snowflake is the opening up bit! You'll never know what they're going to be like, and sometimes relatively simple-looking design can make a surprising result! :)
P.S. I tie some thread onto my snowflakes and stick them in the ceiling with some masking tape. ;) Looks great!
Friendship Bracelets - The lovely people at Find Me A Gift often send Izzy little things to try out and review. She gets very excited when they arrive in the post as they are alw... | <urn:uuid:813fc0de-30a2-4df0-a965-9bc5b25ff57b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kerliandanimals.blogspot.com/2009/12/tutorial-how-to-make-lovely-snowflakes.html?showComment=1259867296056 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951987 | 1,081 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The endangered species road trip eventually brings me back to my childhood home in southwestern Ontario.
We cross into Ontario at the Sarnia border crossing, with the red dirt of the Dakotas still clinging to our wheel wells. The plan is to spend 10 days in Ontario, during which time I will try to see a few endangered species — wood turtle, American chestnut, and eastern prickly pear cactus — plus I have an appointment to tour the captive breeding facility at the Toronto Zoo, a facility that has been instrumental in saving both Vancouver Island marmots and black-footed ferrets.
I head out with only the pooch for company to find an endangered wood turtle in Algonquin Park, the park where I spent seven years working as a field biologist. Later in the trip, I tour an American chestnut nursery in Alymer, where dedicated volunteers are trying to breed disease-resistant varieties that might once again allow the American chestnut to dominate Carolinian forests. Later, after a long drive south, the whole family visits the Toronto Zoo.
We arrive at the zoo two hours early so Brora has lots of time to see the animals that comprise 70 per cent of her vocabulary – lions, tigers and bears. At the polar bear enclosure, I sneak away for a meeting with Maria Franke, the curator of mammals and the person in charge of ferret and marmot captive breeding programs.
When a species becomes so rare in the wild that extinction appears inevitable, Maria explains en route to the enclosures, one option is to capture some or all of the wild individuals and attempt to breed them in captivity. The hope is that the captive population will quickly grow to the point where captive-born individuals can be released back into the wild. It’s a last-ditch attempt to save a species that would go extinct without intensive intervention.
We visit the black-footed ferret facility first. I am lucky, given the facility doesn’t receive many visitors in order to limit disturbance and prevent disease transmission (I will only get to see the ferrets from behind glass and after suiting up in scrubs). As we enter the facility, we are greeted by one of the ferret handlers and a bank of closed-circuit televisions that display the interior of each ferret cage. Most of the ferrets are off screen sleeping, but after a few minutes I see the slender, mink-like silhouette of a ferret as it darts across the screen.
In the 1980s, Maria explains, the last 18 black-footed ferrets in the world were brought into captivity and, eventually, seven individuals successfully bred. Every black-footed ferret alive today is a direct descendant of those seven individuals. Despite this incredibly tight genetic bottleneck, wild populations of ferrets are now established in several locations in the U.S. and, recently, in Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan, although the long-term success of the Canadian reintroduction is still in question.
We head over to the window to get a look at a real ferret; Maria continues to chat away about artificial insemination and hormone monitoring and preventing domestication. After they leave this facility, Maria says, the ferrets will go to a boot camp in Colorado where they’ll get to hunt prairie dogs and live in real burrows. I am listening, but I am also distracted by the incredibly cute ferret that is busy darting around its cage.
As we enter the marmot enclosure, Maria says you’d think marmots would be easy to breed, given they’re rodents. But it’s surprisingly difficult. Right away we see two young marmot pups poking their white-tipped noses out of a nest box. The marmot reintroduction has been very successful, Maria says. A decade ago there were only 30 marmots in the wild, but today there are more than 200 — still endangered, but thankfully no longer on the brink.
Myself, I’ve been lucky enough to see a number of Vancouver Island marmots in the wild, and I hope to soon see ferrets in the wild too (I tried in South Dakota on this trip without success). Without intensive intervention that includes captive breeding, both of these species would have already gone the way of the dodo.
Cameron MacDonald is a biology instructor at Langara College. His book, The Endangered Species Road Trip, will be published by Greystone Books in summer 2012. | <urn:uuid:5a9eb4d5-969d-4e04-b25f-39e047d0ace8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.leaderpost.com/health/Saved+species+boot+camp/5247411/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942895 | 923 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Comprehensive research into E. Mervyn Taylor’s life and art is presented intelligently and provocatively, and showcased with abundant photographs and images, many previously unpublished.
It is a richly illustrated biography of NZ’s greatest wood engraver – an artist who received international recognition in 1950 when he was elected a Member f the Society of Illustrators, New York, held a solo exhibition at the Museum of Natural History, New York, and in 1957 exhibited at the International Biennale of Prints, Tokyo. In 1958, 102 works toured the USSR at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture.
Now, this modest artist, whose illustrations in the School Journals made his art familiar to many, can continue to delight and inspire future generations.
Available in hardback only, this book contains more than 300 images within its 160 pages, 16 of which are in full colour. | <urn:uuid:7339a395-38b8-43a0-be70-ebb4e6f224b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fernergalleries.co.nz/default,2831.sm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954354 | 183 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Allergic to the cold? Two Colorado children suffer from rare condition
It will be a tough winter for two Colorado children—because they are allergic to the cold.
Connor and Taylor Frankenfeld have been diagnosed with Cold Urticaria. They bundle up when they go to school and can’t leave the house when temperatures are in the single digits.
Experts say Cold Urticaria affects a small number of people, mostly in the southern United States. It is not clear what causes it, but it can be treated with anti-histamines.
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"Katie" weekdays at 4pm on ABC7 followed by Leon Harris and Alison Starling on ABC7 News at 5. Click here to find out more about "Katie!" | <urn:uuid:58fbc256-0153-4a71-b2f6-c9e6015cc69b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/11/allergic-to-the-cold-two-colorado-children-suffer-from-rare-condition-82150.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915634 | 174 | 2.40625 | 2 |
30 Under 30: Patrick Taylor
High school: R.A. McMath
Hitting the books and listening to lengthy lectures to learn about the sciences was hardly inspirational for Patrick Taylor, and it reflected in his grades.
But as soon as his university classes shifted towards more laboratory works, he found his calling, and his academic performance suddenly soared.
Today, he’s 18 months in to a two-year masters program in microbiology and immunology at the University of B.C., and his thesis project is studying a deadly bacteria with wide-ranging tools for fighting off antibiotics.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium commonly found in soil, fresh water and sea water, is one of the prevalent pathogens found in hospitals, and can cause deadly consequences for those who are immuno-compromised, have cystic fibrosis, or suffer from burn wounds.
He is studying the genetics of the bacterium, and the poorly-understood mechanism behind its ability to resist antibiotics. He’s also researching the reason why in some cases bacteria become only somewhat antibiotic resistant, while in other circumstances, they transform into a completely antibiotic-resistant super bug.
Inspiration: “I’m inspired by my family; they’ve always believed in me and challenged me. I’ve been given a lot of opportunities in life thanks to them and that drives me to improve the world around me.”
Most proud of? “I take the most pride in knowing that by sticking to pursuing a career in science over the years I’m now making a contribution to our understanding of human diseases.”
What is your advice for others? “I never liked science in the classroom and my grades showed that, but I enjoy being hands-on with science and I’m good with research. My advice is to always keep working to your talents and you’ll be able to enjoy making a living and give something back to the community." | <urn:uuid:6513d4b6-a94e-4b5d-9158-61dd7b987901> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.richmondreview.com/community/193697511.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962621 | 413 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Good Facial Exercises
By Shelby Golding, eHow Contributor
updated: October 28, 2010
Dougal Waters/Digital Vision/Getty Images Tone seldom exercised muscles with facial exercises.
- Facial exercises stimulate blood flow, increase muscle tone and can improve the overall aesthetic appearance of your face. As you age or gain weight, the natural shape of your face tends to change and skin can become heavy or sag in certain places. According to Patricia Goroway, author of “Facial Fitness,” facial exercises reverse these negative changes and help achieve a youthful appearance. Several exercises are available to assist in toning your face. | <urn:uuid:a2bdbd38-9eb5-42cd-a9f5-0ce2de5772da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://facefit1.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/article-from-ehow/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916569 | 132 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Here is its story.
|THE RICH SCENT OF ISMENE IS SIMILAR TO DAFFODILS, BUT I THINK IT SMELLS MORE LIKE SUN TANNING LOTION.|
I used to grow these bulbs and them dispose of them, buying new ones each year, or, keeping them from year to year in pots that were far too small for them. I discovered this a few winters ago, when I emptied a 6 inch pot with a single bulb in in which appeared to be dormant, to only find a pot filled with thick, fleshy roots. Clearly, my single bulb wanted a larger pot, so while dormant, I up-sized the pot to a 10 inch pot.
The following winter, while the bulb (s) were dormant in their 10 inch pot, I knocked it out in January and saw the same thing, a root ball completely white with thick roots while dormant ( not unusual for most bulbs in the amaryllis family - which is why any amaryllis relative prefers to keep its roots while the top of the bulb is dormant - they often grow underground during their 'dormant period'. I upgraded again to a 12 inch pot.
Last winter, I upgraded again to a 14 inch pot, and look at the plant now. I think it is safe to say that if you have been under impressed with Ismene (Hymenocallis), then try saving and upgrading your pot each year, and see what happens. Now, I want to try some of the other hybrids, and maybe some of the species of both Ismene and Hymenocallis.
A brief botany lesson here, without getting into it too deeply, In 1990, the genus Hymenocallis was split into two - Ismene and Hymenocallis, so although you may see these bulbs sold in catalogs as Hymenocallis, they are properly referred to as Ismene hybrids ( complex crosses between a number of species according to the Pacific Bulb Society Wiki). | <urn:uuid:f77b4f04-fcab-4e7e-bba5-feefe0e3585c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.growingwithplants.com/2012/07/the-happy-story-about-my-ismene-advance.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968099 | 421 | 1.9375 | 2 |
|Born||Richard Sylvan Selzer
August 29, 1922
Brooklyn Heights, New York,
|Died||October 19, 2008
Los Angeles, California,
|Occupation||Journalist, fashion critic, actor|
Richard Blackwell (August 29, 1922 – October 19, 2008) was an American fashion critic, journalist, television and radio personality, artist, former child actor and former fashion designer, sometimes known just as Mr. Blackwell. He was the creator of the "Ten Worst Dressed Women List", an annual awards presentation he unveiled in January of each year. He published the "Fabulous Fashion Independents" list and an annual Academy Awards fashion review, both of which receive somewhat less media attention. His longtime companion, former Beverly Hills hairdresser Robert Spencer, managed him. He wrote two books, Mr. Blackwell: 30 Years of Fashion Fiascos and an autobiography, From Rags to Bitches.
Early years
Blackwell was born Richard Sylvan Selzer and raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. He was of Jewish descent and grew up in the tenements that housed the “working-poor” immigrant families of the early 20th century. As a child, he claimed he was severely beaten by his stepfather, often resorting to sleeping in the alley beneath his fire escape with a broken bottle he used for protection rather than face further abuse.He said on the Howard Stern Show,that as a 7 yr .old boy he had to beg for a quarter on the street to be able to get something to eat.He mother was frequently absent & or drunk.Men would take him in a nearby alley & abuse him.He was very scared& hungry & was doing what he could to stay alive. He only completed the third grade of elementary school. When he was 11, he was the victim of rape by an older man while attending a boys’ camp. He also worked as a gay prostitute in his early days.
He began acting in theater in his teens, appearing in the original 1935 Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley’s Dead End. After relocating to the West Coast in the 1930s (where he went to school with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, among others) he adopted the name “Dick Ellis” and was signed by the studios to play small parts in the motion picture industry. Between acting assignments, he worked as a messenger at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, California. Howard Hughes changed his name to Richard Blackwell when he signed him to RKO. He returned to Broadway in 1944 for Catherine Was Great, which starred Mae West, but eventually left acting for a short stint as a Hollywood agent. He discovered a talent for design while making his client’s stage costumes.
Fashion designer
The name "Mr. Blackwell" came in the late-1950s when he launched his clothing line. As with Valentino, Versace and later Richard Tyler, he and his line became synonymous. He was an important designer and during the 1960s he became the first in history to present his line on a television broadcast, and was the first to make his line available for plus-size women. His designer dresses sold for between $800 to $1,000 and were very successful. During the nearly two decade existence of the "House of Blackwell”, he was designer to Yvonne DeCarlo, Jayne Mansfield, Dorothy Lamour, Jane Russell and California first lady Nancy Reagan. At the height of his prominence, he openly declared his disdain for Women's Wear Daily and its publisher, John Fairchild. During the 1980s, the emerging drift toward casual wear brought an end to The House of Blackwell.
Fashion critic
In his beginning years as a designer he was asked to do a one-time article for American Weekly magazine of the “10 Best and Worst Dressed” people and developed the franchise from it. Although best known for his “Worst Dressed“ list, he maintained a successful career as a fashion journalist. He was syndicated in The Globe tabloid and wrote features in newspapers and lifestyle magazines. His "Fabulous Fashion Independents" often featured celebrities whom in prior years have been listed in his Ten Worst Dressed.
Worst-dressed lists
The first “Ten Worst Dressed Women” list premiered in 1960, to moderate media success, but as the House of Blackwell became more successful, the list took off. By its third year every television and radio network and virtually all news services worldwide began to cover it. Forty-seven years after first release, Blackwell annually spent a week after its publication on telephone interviews to fashion magazines, radio programs and news networks. The list is a conglomeration of techniques from first letter alliteration: Martha Stewart – "dull, dowdy and devastatingly dreary" and consonant: “fabulous fashion independents”, to free verse: Cher – “A million beads/And one overexposed derriere”, and pun: Queen Elizabeth, “Was she the palace Christmas tree, or just a royal clown?” About Wynona Judd – "She looks like Hulk Hogan in sequins." Often, he simply quipped: Martha Stewart – “Dresses like the centerfold for Farmers' Almanac”, and other times combines forms: Dixie Chicks – “They look like a trio of truck stop fashion tragedies/ trapped in a typhoon”. The list’s popularity has waned in some segments of contemporary culture, many feeling that it is mean-spirited. However, Blackwell has displayed personal missives from many celebrities including Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey and country singer Tanya Tucker expressing their thanks for being selected. Other former list alumni like “Hollywood Beat” editor, Marci Weiner – “Why does Marci Weiner always dress like she’s auditioning for a Fellini movie?” – who was initially angered by her inclusion, now considers it an honor. Still, despite its decline in universal acceptance, it was nonetheless published each year.
The list spawned a parade of imitators from TMZ’s In The Zone: Mr. Blackwell vs. TMZ to the UK’s The Sun newspaper’s Sun Women Online: Celebrity Style Watch and the less known such as “The Catwalk Queen”. Not all are lists, but virtually all include jibes and jabs similar to those that Blackwell first used to capture media attention in the early 1960s. Harry Shearer's Le Show radio program has featured "Blackwell on Blackwell." Roger Stone, himself known for his taste in fashion, has taken up Blackwell's tradition of best and worst dressed lists (albeit with a greater emphasis on the best dressed) since Blackwell's death.
Television and radio
Mr. Blackwell was a pioneer in television fashion and had been a fixture in the medium throughout his career as a designer and critic. Most recently, he appeared as himself on an episode of the ABC daytime soap, Port Charles. He hosted a daily program on Los Angeles' talk radio powerhouse KABC from 1972–74, moving to KIEV 1975–1981.
In 1968 he starred in his own KCOP two hour color television special,’’Mr. Blackwell Presents’’, with Anna Maria Alberghetti, Nick Adams and Rose Marie. It was the first telecast in history in which a designer presented his line on television. He continued to be recognized as preeminent during his years in the field.
He often participated in audience critique segments on daytime talk and variety shows. He appeared on The Mike Douglas Show on numerous occasions, and on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, as a guest on the first broadcast after Carson moved the show from New York to Burbank. The May 2, 1972 episode also featured Rob Reiner, George Carlin and Johnny Mathis. He appeared on a total of four additional Tonight Shows between August 1970 and January 1973 and is included in the series “Best Of The Tonight Show” DVD sets.
Personal life
Blackwell lived in the Hancock Park enclave of Los Angeles with his partner of 60 years, Robert Spencer. In 1964, they rented their home to The Beatles for the English band’s first visit to the city. It was leaked to the media, however, and the group made other arrangements. He was also an artist known for his avant-garde and he published several editions of his work, including his "Mother America" series.
In 2001, Blackwell was diagnosed with Bell's palsy which causes limited to severe paralysis of facial muscles and can affect eyesight as well. if treated in time, it is completely curable; however, if not treated it can have life lasting effects. Blackwell was unable to unveil the 2000 list at a live news conference for the first time in its 40-year history and remained out of the public eye for six months. He came back for the 2001 “Worst Dressed” and returned to a full, normal social life.
Blackwell died in Los Angeles on October 19, 2008 of complications from an intestinal infection.
In pop culture
In the Seinfeld television series episode (No. 87), “The Chaperone” originally aired on September 22, 1994, the Kramer character becomes a chaperone for a Miss Rhode Island contestant in a national beauty pageant. In an exchange with Kramer (played by Michael Richards), Seinfeld exclaims, “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Blackwell,” as Kramer slides into the room. Kramer responds, “Oh, come on! … You’re pooh-poohing!” to which Seinfeld responds, “Yes, I pooh-pooh.” He was played by Harry Shearer on the May 20, 1995 episode of SCTV’s, The Show Formerly Known as The Martin Short Show. In 2006, CBS picked up an AP story about US figure skater Johnny Weir’s costume at the Olympics in Turin under the Headline: “Figure Skating Gets Ugly: Mr. Blackwell, You’re Wanted At The Olympics”.
The Kiss concept album Music from "The Elder", includes a song about a villain named "Mr. Blackwell". The pre choruses include the refrain, "You're cold and mean, and in between / You're rotten to the core", which seems to describe various celebrities' opinions of the real Blackwell.
In Season 4, Episode 2 of "Frasier" during an exchange between Kelsey Grammar and David Hyde Pierce, Pierce makes a comment about his dwindling financial resources and, after gesturing to his belt, disparagingly whispers "Spanish leather" to evidence his claim. Grammar quickly retorts, "If Mr. Blackwell comes in, I'll create a diversion so you can make a run for it."
The animated television show The Simpsons had a parody version of Mr. Blackwell named "Mr. Boswell." A sample quote from "A Streetcar Named Marge": "Memo to Goldie Hawn: Cheerleading tryouts were 30 years ago – let's grow up, shall we?" Bart Simpson, watching him on TV, chuckled and said, "He's such a bitch!"
In the sitcom Two and a Half Men, Season 5, Episode 14: Winky Dink Time, Charlie Harper exclaims to his nephew Jake, "Please, Mr. Blackwell, I want your opinion!"
In the television drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", Matt Albie (played by Matthew Perry) expresses his dismay at his staff's appearance, remarking, "I'm not Blackwell or anything, but holy cow, what the hell are you guys wearing?"
- Juvenile Court (film) (1938) as “Ears” (Dick Selzer)
- Little Tough Guy (film) (1938) as “Bud” (un-credited)
- Promises! Promises (film) (1963) as Jayne Mansfield's wardrobe designer
- The Mike Douglas Show (1967) – Guest appearance
- Mr. Blackwell Presents (1968) TV special (Host, designer and producer)
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1970–1973) – Five guest appearances
- The Virginia Graham Show (1971) – Guest appearance
- The Mike Douglas Show (1972) – Guest appearance
- The Mike Douglas Show (1975) – Guest appearance
- The Brady Brides (TV series) (1981) "A Pretty Boy Is Like A Melody" (as himself)
- Matt Houston (TV series) (1982) "Deadly Fashion" as “Valentine St. Clair”
- Matlock (1990, two-part episode) as the Art dealer
- Civil Wars (1992) "The Triumph of DeVille" as himself
- Blossom (TV series) (1991) "Blossom: A Rockumentary" as himself
- Hollywood Women (miniseries) (1994) as himself (interviewee) in Segment 4 ("Fear and Violence")
- Howard Stern (TV series) (1995, two episodes) as himself
- Port Charles (soap opera) (1997, 1999) as himself (13 episodes)
- Intimate Portrait of Marilyn Monroe (Lifetime TV documentary) (1998) as himself (interviewee)
- Elvis Is Alive! I Swear I Saw Him Eating Ding Dongs Outside the Piggly Wiggly’s (film) (1998) as himself
- Dead End (1935) – billed as Richard Seltzer
- Catherine Was Great (1944) – billed as Dick Ellis
- Blackwell, Richard (1991). Mr. Blackwell: 30 Years of Fashion Fiascos (First ed.). Pharos. ISBN 0-88687-625-7.
- Blackwell, Richard (1995). From Rags to Bitches (First ed.). Stoddart. ISBN 1-881649-57-1.
- Blackwell (1991)
- Blackwell (1995)
- Mr. Blackwell: Information and Much More from Answers.com
- http://www.peteranthonyholder.com/cjad11.htm Peter Anthony Holder interview with Blackwell, June 3, 1995; CJAD 800 AM radio, Montreal. Captured April 9, 2007
- From Rags To Bitches; Stoddart
- http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/10/20/blackwell.death.ap/index.html. Missing or empty
- http://www.shoestring.org/mmi_revs/blackwell.html Monica Sullivan: Book Review; October 13, 1996
- Peter Anthony Holder Interview
- http://www.dm.cahs.colostate.edu/Pages/CostumeCollection/blackwell.aspx Colorado State University, Department of Design and Merchandising, Historic Costume & Textile Museum
- http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/celebrity/la-spinoffs-blackwell9jan09,0,7247295.story – January 9, 2007 Captured April 9, 2007
- http://www.shoestring.org/mmi_revs/blackwell.html Book review, “From Rags To Bitches”; Shoestring.org
- Mr. Blackwell from Answers.com
- Blog Mr. Blackwell Justifies Existence for One More Year
- Angelina Jolie was on "Worst" in 2000 and on the "Independents in 2006
- http://www.thegoldenneedleawards.com/judges.html Golden Needle Awards Captured 07, April, 2007
- Rag To Bitches”
- http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2000/01/18blackwell.html AP Article by Gustavo P. Secchi, January 18, 2000; from McSweeny’s.com in which the author calls Blackwell “a genius”. Captured April 16, 2007
- Mr. Blackwell: 30 Years of Fashion Fiascos; Pharos, 1991)
- http://www.movieweb.com/news/83/17083.php From movieweb.com Captured April 10, 2007.
- http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-01-09-blackwell-list_x.htm USA Today.com article Captured April 15, 2007.
- http://www.tmz.com/2006/01/11/mr-blackwell-vs-tmz/ TMZ.com
- http://www.thesun.co.uk/section/0,,2006000000,00.html Captured April 9, 2007
- http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/fashion_police/ Catwalk Queen: Fashion Police from the website April 14, 2007
- http://www.tv.com/mr.-blackwell/person/32915/summary.html Episode #506; Monday, August 2, 1999
- Mr. Blackwell Presents (1968) (TV)
- Colorado State University Historic Costume & Textile Museum
- http://www.themikedouglasshow.com/ From The Mike Douglas Show website; 11, April, 2007
- http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/emd/307272477.html Rare Tonight Shows. Captured April 9, 2007.
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0783665/ IMDb.com Richard Selzer [sic]
- Adams, Guy (21 October 2008). "Richard Blackwell and the great crimes of fashion". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- Rags To Bitches; pp. 223–225
- ArtzDirect/ebay.com Blackwell avant-garde series serigraphs and posters “Mother America” Captured April 12, 2007.
- http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/spotlight/2001-09-25-blackwell-bells-palsy.htm USA Today.com article “Mr. Blackwell Dresses Down Bell’s Palsy”; September 25, 2001
- Bob Thomas (20 October2008). "Fashion Critic Mr. Blackwell Dies at 86". The Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-10-23.[dead link]
- Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated
- http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheChaperone.html From Seinfeld Scripts website; April 9, 2007
- http://www.sctvguide.ca/episodes/as_msshow.htm From SCTV Guide.
- http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/21/sportsline/main1335347.shtml CBS Sports: Sportsline.com Captured April 8, 2007
- http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/s/shallow-hal-script-transcript-paltrow.html; Script-o-rama.com; Shallow Hal Script – Dialogue Transcript, Captured January 5, 2011
- Richard Blackwell at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview with Mr. Blackwell
- Interview at salon.com
- Book review at Movie Magazine International | <urn:uuid:7211f01b-78c8-4800-be97-28bd2d49fad3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Blackwell | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942598 | 4,086 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The time of year that is set aside for a few moments to focus on what we are grateful for in our lives. As most of us know there are days when it is really easy to see what we are thankful for and other days we are too overwhelmed to go there. When I was younger there were years when getting together with family to eat and drink and talk felt like a chore or dare I say a punishment (I totally failed to see the bigger picture!). However, now that I have children thanksgiving has become one of my favourite times of year. I have realised just how precious this time together really is and how important reflecting on what we are grateful for also is! Tons of research in positive psychology points to the profound effects that taking some time to focus our attention on what makes us thankful. In the movie "happy" they talk about a study done on 1500 university students in a positive psychology course half the class once a week took a few moments to focus on 5 things that they were grateful for. The other half of the class continued with their regular course work. After just 3 weeks the the group who were doing gratitude work reported a marked increase in happiness. It makes sense when we feel thankful for something it makes us feel good! After reading Eat, Pray, Love I fell in love with the idea of a gratitude circle. She talks about doing this with some of her friends in her book. I have started to do this with my children on weekly basis if not more to get them to stop for a moment to connect with their own gratitude. They love it now but I am sure at some point this might become annoying to them but I don't care because I think it is such an important foundational and life skill to have. I feel ridiculously passionate about this and had to stop for a moment to connect with why? Then I remembered I had been taught the lesson of seeing gratitude even in the strangest places by one of the most precious people in my life. My Mother. Even after her death she managed to portray the message of how important it is to be thankful. She asked that her funeral be done as a thanksgiving day service. I never really paid any attention to this until recently and it now means a lot to me. I think as parents sometimes we don't really know why we are doing the things we are such as making our kids see what they are grateful for. Right now they might only be talking about toys, crayons, video games the colour blue, who knows. We might get some resistance, the occasional eye roll or "really Mom or Dad". But taking the time teach our kids and ourselves to see how much we do have to be grateful for is opportunity to shape perspective and a definite increase in the ability to be happy.
It certainly has helped me!
My Mom Lucille.
Be Happy, Be Healthy, Mieka : ) | <urn:uuid:e545b442-539c-4554-908b-764223c9b62b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miekaforte.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986041 | 585 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Divide Early-Flowering Perennials
The ideal time to divide perennials is about two weeks after the last flowers have faded and the plant is set to put energy into growing new roots. After digging and dividing, work plenty of compost and slow-acting organic fertilizers into the spoil. A deep soaking of water and a layer of mulch will get new plants off to a good start.
Watch for Rose Suckers
Keep an eye out for any growth on grafted roses that emerges below the spot where the ornamental variety was grafted onto rootstock. Called suckers, these growths should be removed as soon as possible, otherwise they will weaken and overtake the desirable plant.
Build a Healthy Lawn
There are several key steps to building a healthy lawn: begin with a turf grass that is appropriate for your climate and growing conditions, water deeply once a week when rain is lacking, mow when the lawn has grown one-third above its ideal height, leave mulched clippings to enrich the soil, and prevent weeds from spreading by removing or mowing them before they set seed.
Kill Weeds with Sunlight
If you're ready to throw in the towel on a garden area that is overrun with weeds, consider using the heat of the sun, multiplied by a sheet of clear plastic, to solarize the soil. Just before the hottest time of the year, mow weeds and then soak the soil with water to facilitate heat penetration. Place a sheet of 1-mil plastic over the bed, anchoring it with stones or soil, and leave it in place for 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the climate.
Fend Off Felines
Discourage cats from jumping up into large container gardens with a mulch of prickly pinecones. | <urn:uuid:739eb94e-b1f7-4cc9-aed6-0e380c4cba9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.garden.org/regional/report/arch/reminders/4154 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934229 | 364 | 2.9375 | 3 |
By Billy Corriher
Real estate agent Joe Lane said that any time a family comes to him looking for a home, the first question the parents ask is about the local school system.
"When they pick a place to live, it's their number one priority," he said.
And with Clayton County Public Schools still on probation from its accrediting agency, Lane said it's tough to find buyers for homes in the county.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the school system on probation in May for violating its own policy, pointing to the Board of Education's meddling in the affairs of the superintendent.
Lane said many homes are now selling below their market value.
"The residential market is bad," he said. "No one wants to live here."
Lane said many families prefer to live in neighboring Henry or Fayette counties, instead of sending their children to Clayton County schools.
Jack Hancock, legal representation for the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce, said he hasn't explicitly heard from real estate firms that the school system is turning potential residents away.
But Hancock said the impact on the housing market was one reason the Chamber became involved with the controversy last summer, calling for the resignations of several school board members.
"There was concern about the overall economic impact," he said. "When you're seeking to attract an industry (to the county), they look at all those kinds of things."
Hancock said he is confident in the progress the system and its new superintendent, Barbara Pulliam, are making.
School board member Bob Livingston said he's heard concerns from area residents about property values, but he reassures them that the situation with the school system is improving.
"I do think that we'll get off the SACS (probation) shortly," he said, pointing to Pulliam's installment as an indication that the system is making progress.
Real estate broker Bonnie Myers said many parents of high school students want to leave Clayton County because they are worried their children won't be eligible for the HOPE scholarship if the system doesn't get off probation.
"The single best thing Clayton County can do is straighten out this situation and make it as public as they can," she said.
The local real estate market was also hurt when the airline industry took a dive after Sept. 11, 2001, but Myers said the school system controversy has been more detrimental to property values.
"I think there's a whole lot of people who don't realize what kind of effect this is having on them economically," she said. "I hope they'll set (the school system) straight, because the county needs it." | <urn:uuid:85635abc-7460-40ce-b6d4-6e0a898abcbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news-daily.com/news/2004/feb/10/school-system039s-probation-hurting-real-estate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984193 | 544 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Just before Christmas we implemented a major new feature on bookleteer – an API (application programming interface) enabling eBooks and StoryCubes to be generated by users direct from their own web applications and stored in or downloaded from their bookleteer accounts.
Realising Tangible Souvenirs
This has been a long-cherished ambition for us – harking back to plans we made for linking the earlier Diffusion Generator to our Urban Tapestries public authoring and mapping platform in 2004 – where we imagined people being able to select or collate material on Urban Tapestries by theme or around a geographic place and outputting it in different paper formats (Diffusion eBooks, postcards and posters). This was the origin of our concept for creating tangible souvenirs from digital experiences – bridging different media (online/offline, digital/analogue) with the different capabilities that people have. Our experiences of working with local communities in social housing and other contexts showed us how important it is not just to be able to share things in many ways, but to tailor a range of modes of interaction to the capabilities and capacities of the people who had the knowledge and experience to share, but not necessarily the familiarity with web and mobile technologies to be engaged by the opportunities we saw them offering.
We’ve continued to develop our tangible souvenir concept through other projects – such as the Sensory Threads prototype – but the bookleteer API now represents a crucial milestone for us in building the links between our earlier work on public authoring and media scavenging and the current ecosystem of web technologies and public/open data initiatives. We hope to see lots of exciting ideas building on the first experiments – bookcubes – we commissioned from James Bridle last spring. Look out too for some forthcoming experiments by Simon Pope & Gordon Joly.
Accessing the API
Access to the API is limited for the time being to Alpha Club members and guest testers whilst we put it through its paces and explore how it can be used (our resources are rather limited for supporting it). We’re hoping to organise some events in 2011 where people can come along and explore what they might do with the API. In the meantime, if you’re taking part in Culture Hack Day this weekend (January 15th & 16th) then you can ask to test it out using the special account we’ve created for participants (ask the organisers for access details on the day).
If you do have an exciting idea for mashing up the bookleteer API with your own web service or public data please do get in touch, we’d love to hear from you and see how we can help. | <urn:uuid:d3f5306d-e5f6-4751-a409-4b29c6f78334> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bookleteer.com/blog/2011/01/bookleteer-api/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933041 | 549 | 1.609375 | 2 |