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Linked by David Adams on Mon 20th Jul 2009 23:13 UTC
If you haven't been to our OS Resources page lately, you haven't missed much action, because like many online resource pages, a lot of effort went into it long ago when it was launched, but it's been lacking attention since, with only occasional updates. Alas, thus is the sorrow of Web 1.0. We'd like to drag OS Resources into the participatory web, and let the OSNews community help keep it up to date. Wiki seems like an obvious solution. So I'd like to ask, dear readers, is there a Wiki system that you think would be especially good for a small-but-growing OS Resource guide? There's Mediawiki, of course, but it seems a bit heavyweight and user-unfriendly for something small and simple. I've had good experience with Mindtouch Deki, but thought I should examine other options before picking it. So what do you think? Is Wiki the way to go, if so, which one? And what would you like to see in our new OS Resources? | <urn:uuid:39dcb636-85d9-4bd4-b53c-f2aa38d22263> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osnews.com/share/21865/Recommend_an_Open_Source_Wiki_Platform | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976848 | 226 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In yet another instance of "unintended consequences," a recent study has determined that this year’s drought damage to corn crops is even worse because of Bt corn, and failure to rotate crops.
GreenMedInfo, claiming to be the world’s most widely referenced, evidence-based natural medicine resource, posted an August 23 article revealing the result of the findings of farmers and crop and pesticide management experts. The website specializes in posting abstracts (brief summaries of research articles or in-depth analyses of particular subjects) of scientific findings and academic papers. Dr. Bruce Potter, University of Minnesota professor and farmer Charlie Sandager concluded that the primary corn pest rootworm has developed resistance to the proteins in the GMO (genetically modified organisms) Bt Corn that was designed to kill the pests.
Bt corn is a type of GMO and the subject of the recent investigation into the rootworm outbreak. One effect of the pest’s presence is that it prevents corn roots from absorbing water, especially serious given this year’s drought. Pest experts suggest that the primary reason for the rootworm-infested crops is that rootworms have become resistant to the Bt protein, resulting in strong and larger rootworm populations.
But not only are corn plants unable to absorb water, the plants become unstable and can easily topple over. Sandager said, “Strong wind came up and it just tipped the corn plants over like a big old tree.”
Indeed, RawStory reported that last fall, the EPA warned of the problem. Bt corn, engineered a decade ago by Monsanto specifically to ward off the rootworm, is losing its battle. Even the EPA wondered if the company’s monitoring was “inadequate and likely to miss early resistance events.” With this year’s drought, corn crops hardly have a chance.
Crop rotation traditionally took care of the problem. Alternating corn crops with soybeans, which didn’t attract the rootworm, allowed it to die off, but GMO growers have abandoned the practice. GMO seed producers and distributors have suggested to farmers that crop rotation wasn’t necessary since the modifications were supposed to kill the rootworm.
The toll on crops isn’t the only casualty. Pete Riley of GM Freeze said in a 2011 article that biotech companies are not liable for the failure of the crops, so farmers have no recall when infestations are economically damaging. As they certainly are now in the worst U.S. drought in decades. Riley added, “Strategies to prevent pests becoming resistant are either not being correctly implemented, are failing, or are suffering from a combination of both. The result is more pesticide use rather than less. Throwing more GM at the problem may work in the short term, but the history of artificial pest control in agriculture has repeatedly shown the pests will win over the longer term.
"The sooner we switch to agroecological farming techniques, such as avoidance of monocultures, long rotations and the use of natural predators to control pests, the better.”
Organic practices such as natural pest remedies, crop rotation, and proper fertilization make crops more drought- and pest-resistant, and increase yields. Even the United Nations has concluded that organic practices among African farmers could substantially increase the region’s ability to feed Africans.
Resistance to GMO foods in the United States is growing. And so is resistance to corporate cronyism favoring companies such as agri-giant Monsanto. Critics are being given more ammunition to dismantle claims that GMO foods are better, but in the meantime, be prepared for higher corn prices.
Photo: Corn field via ShutterStock | <urn:uuid:7b0a33d4-d4c1-47e2-bd0d-d886c652d573> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/12658-drought-and-superbugs-devastate-us-corn-crop | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938379 | 763 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Want to examine YSU Undergraduate and/or Graduate Catalogs as far back as the 1995-96 academic year? Want to find a catalog from a college or university you previously attended to help document transfer decisions? This link is provided for you to conduct these explorations.
The Career Guidance Foundation maintains a data based called the College Catalog Collections. Each year this non-profit foundation acquires catalogs from nearly 3,000 U.S. colleges and universities, plus 700 international schools. Besides duplicating the catalogs on microfiche and distributing them throughout the world for use by educational professionals, students, administrators, and guidance counselors, since 1994 the foundation has began to convert these catalogs to a digitized format for distribution on the World Wide Web. This link will connect you to that site.
Important Note #1: Youngstown State University pays a fee for this service and all computers on campus have access to this site. If you are a YSU student using a computer off campus you will not be able to connect to this site. Come into any open computer lab on campus and you will be able to connect. If you are not a YSU student, you will be able to connect if you are attempting to reach the site through a computer located in a library, school, or university who has also purchased this service.
Important Note #2: Much of the information on the Web site is contained in portable document files (pdf). The Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view such files. If you do not have the Acrobat Reader and wish to install it from the Adobe site, you can do this free of charge.
Okay . . . ready to head to this site! Click on the link provided below.
Link to College Catalogs from "CollegeSource Online" | <urn:uuid:4d95c12d-98dc-469e-8650-675e43f6f9c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web.ysu.edu/contentm/modules/display_dynamic.php?menu_id=30¶ms=MjMsMjYs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93049 | 364 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Washington (CNN) -- Americans have always exercised their Democratic rights under the U.S. Constitution to speak out against the government.
Amid the bitter fight over health care reform, a round of hate-filled messages and sometimes violent actions toward members of Congress has prompted calls to ease up on the rhetoric.
Experts say that although protests against social issues such as health care reform are nothing new for the country, such reaction to a landmark bill's passing is uncommon.
"It's unusual that you get this kind of outrage and response to a piece of legislation," said historian Robert Dallek, author of the upcoming book "The Lost Peace: Leadership in a Time of Horror and Hope."
"Of course, it's being fanned in some ways by Republican leaders who keep saying majorities are against this legislation, when in fact there is a pretty even divide in the country, from what the polling data shows," he added.
And those polls indicate that while the country was somewhat evenly divided on the issue in the months leading up to the vote, there has been a bounce in favor of President Obama and the bill.
Throughout last summer and fall, health care reform protesters took to Washington and town hall meetings across the country. Signs at some protests, depicting Obama as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler or calling him a "witch doctor," created a heightened sense that the movement against health care reform had taken an ugly turn.
The recent "sleazy" behavior is highly alarming, CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen said.
"It is sleazy. But this whole thing has gotten to a level of nastiness that I don't think we've seen in some years," he said. "Just as the partisanship has become so hyper now, the rhetoric is so hyper."
Michael Murakami, a professor of political science at Georgetown University, said it's certainly not the first time the country has seen this kind of activity, "inspired by political events that touch a nerve."
"But it's seems like it's been the first time in recent memory that we've seen landmark legislation and also a kind of mass emotional response you get from these controversial but very landmark bills," Murakami said.
History has shown that controversial issues dealing with social or fiscal policies can be the sparks that ignite a flame in people. Here are some other notable events:
CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger said that a lot of the violence and threats now being reported are reminiscent of past legislation involving social issues, especially the crime bill signed by President Clinton.
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, the largest crime enforcement legislation in U.S. history, became law in 1994. It provided funding for hundreds of thousands of police officers, gave aid to crime-prevention programs and put restrictions on weapons, including firearms.
"After the crime bill passed, people [who felt there was strict] gun control in it ... felt the role of government was too huge. After that, you had Oklahoma City [federal building bombing]," Borger said.
A bomb ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1995, killing 168 people.
Timothy McVeigh, an Army veteran, was convicted of planning the attack and setting off the bomb. He was executed in June 2001. Others, including Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier, are serving time for assisting in the crime and not warning about the attack, respectively.
A lot of the same anti-government anger was seen a couple of years before the bombing, namely in the shootout in April 1993 that started the siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, by Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents.
The government believed that the religious group, headed by David Koresh, had stockpiled weapons. A 51-day standoff ended when the FBI stormed the compound, and a group of buildings caught fire and burned to the ground, killing 80 people inside. Four ATF agents were killed.
Civil Rights Act
Going back even further, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was controversial among many in the South. And although violence against blacks continued after the bill's passage, there was no discernable peak in reaction.
"After Lyndon Johnson passed the civil rights bill in 1964, he was apprehensive that there was going to be a violent protest against it in the South," Dallek said. "This proved to be wrong."
Dallek said Johnson assumed that if the change in racial relations was done through Congress instead of the courts, "it would be very difficult for Southerners ... to express opposition in a violent way. That proved to be right."
But Dallek said that a lot of the anger behind the health care protest isn't just about the issue but rather people channeling frustration with the economic climate.
"I think it's partly the fact that you have this recession, an economic problem that puts people further on edge than they are normally," he said. "I think there's an awful lot of anxiety about that out there. That fans the flames of agitation."
He likens those worries to fears in the 1930s with the Great Depression.
"Remember in the 1930s when you had such a dreadful economic downturn," he said, noting that a movement popped up that was "full of a kind of rhetoric and anti-Semitism and anti-government."
"It was an explosion of populist protests, one might say, that seems not entirely divorced from the kind of thing we're seeing now," he added.
The New Deal
Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian and CNN.com contributor, wrote that frustration with joblessness -- like the opposition to Obama's economic stimulus bill -- was also seen during the New Deal era.
"It is possible that continued frustration about jobs allows Democrats to target Republicans as an obstructionist party that has in fact hampered their efforts to revitalize economic growth," Zelizer wrote in the commentary. "During the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt understood that you could not have recovery without jobs. This is why he made public works programs the centerpiece of the New Deal."
The New Deal, which was passed by Congress under Roosevelt's presidency, was signed into law in 1933. The legislation included economic stimulus programs aimed at jump-starting the depression economy. Much like Obama's effort, the New Deal relied on providing relief for those suffering, helping in the recovery of the country's economy and urging reform of the financial system.
The New Deal, Dallek said, provoked the creation of the Liberty League, an organization "fiercely opposed to Roosevelt's New Deal as something that was going to destroy freedom in the country and destroy the Constitution."
Although they didn't revert to violence, there were "a lot of verbal explosions of what Roosevelt's New Deal was doing in the name of small government and reducing centralized authority in the country." | <urn:uuid:cd924224-36a9-41f8-b0d4-0a5c735b8535> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/26/congress.threats.history/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979782 | 1,401 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Here is a photo of a Chinese style headsman’s sword made in the late 1980s.
The blade is D-2 tool steel, all other sword and scabbard furniture is stainless steel. The handles and scabbards are wrapped in twisted stainless steel wire. The 39 inch (one meter) blade is about .165 inch thick at the guard with a distal taper down to .120″ near the end of the long spine groove, and over 3″ wide. The weight is about 3.5 pounds.
This uses a dual-modified Japanese tang style, with steel tang peg, and toggled pommel screw. The handle is covered with red leather. It is signed and numbered on the tang to preserve purity of form. The photo was taken by Jon Verhoeven. | <urn:uuid:d723ca66-8f4f-4e13-a2e5-992611d684c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shirepost.com/wp/headsman/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947032 | 165 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Thursday 27 September 2012—“The welfare states of today are directly responsible for the two great economic crises that are gripping the world: the global financial crisis and the debt crisis,” according to Dr. Tom G. Palmer, editor of After the Welfare State, a collection of essays on the welfare state by scholars from five nations.
The book is published by the Atlas Network, a nonprofit association serving the world’s largest network of free-market think tanks, and Students for Liberty (SFL), a network of over 600 college clubs dedicated to limiting government and defending individual liberty. Atlas and SFL have distributed 100,000 copies of the book in North America and 25,000 in Europe.
In addition to essays on the history and the economics of the welfare state, University of Athens professor Aristides Hatzis shows the roots of the current Greek crisis in welfare state populism and Italian journalist and researcher Piercamillo Falasca explains the history of the Italian miracolo economico that was spurred by free market reforms in the 1950s and then undermined by welfare statism in recent years. As Hatzis notes, “Greece is the textbook example of the generation of unsustainable ‘rights.’”
Historians David Green from the United Kingdom and David Beito from the United States provide detailed histories of what existed before the welfare state and of how welfare states displaced a wide array of voluntary organizations.
Swedish economist Johan Norberg explains the role of welfare state policies in creating the housing bubble in the United States that led to the world financial crisis and American policy expert Michael Tanner explains the growth of unfunded liabilities, legally required expenditures, mainly in pension and health care, for which there is no corresponding government revenue. Other essays deal with the role of welfare programs in entrenching and institutionalizing poverty and the politics of the welfare state as a system of political control.
The book is aimed primarily, but not exclusively at student readers and includes extensive documentation and footnotes for further research and study. Student groups are hosting events around the country to discuss the implications of the ideas in this book on current events. More information is available at Students forLiberty.org.
After the Welfare State is available as a free download at AtlasNetwork.org/AWS and bulk orders can be made for events. To schedule an interview with Dr. Tom G. Palmer or one of the other book contributors, please contact Matt Warner. | <urn:uuid:b524782d-f10d-4fdf-8967-b234826fe306> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ccsindia.org/pressrelease/20120927_atlas-after-the-welfare.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92764 | 500 | 2.265625 | 2 |
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See class lists and photos from each school, and look for a special section in Monday's edition.
Acts of hostility from the Obama-led military toward people of Biblical faith: June 2011 – The Department of Veterans Affairs forbids references to God and Jesus during burial ceremonies at Houston National Cemetery.
August 2011 – The Air Force stops teaching the Just War theory to officers in California because the course is taught by chaplains and is based on a philosophy introduced by St. Augustine in the third century AD – a theory long taught by civilized nations across the world (except America).
September 2011 – Air Force Chief of Staff prohibits commanders from notifying airmen of programs and services available to them from chaplains.
September 2011 – The Army issues guidelines for Walter Reed Medical Center stipulating that “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading materials and/or facts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.”
November 2011 – The Air Force Academy rescinds support for Operation Christmas Child, a program to send holiday gifts to impoverished children across the world, because the program is run by a Christian charity.
November 2011 – The Air Force Academy pays $80,000 to add a Stonehenge-like worship center for pagans, druids, witches and Wiccans.
February 2012 – The U. S. Military Academy at West Point disinvites three star Army general and decorated war hero Lieutenant General William G. (“Jerry”) Boykin (retired) from speaking at an event because he is an outspoken Christian. February 2012 – The Air Force removes “God” from the patch of Rapid Capabilities Office (the word on the patch was in Latin: Dei).
February 2012 – Under Obama’s orders, the Army orders Catholic chaplains not to read a letter to parishioners that their archbishop asked them to read.
Many of these actions are literally unprecedented – this is the first time they have happened in four centuries of American history. The hostility of Obama toward Biblical faith and values is without equal from any previous American president. Quote of the Millennium: "...John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith." - Senator Barack Hussein Obama (Muslim Faith? (Freudian Slip!)
Remember Obama claims to be a Christain!
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Find searchable data, including public employee salaries, crime stats and more. | <urn:uuid:30f9e9f5-8639-48ab-9298-d19f53ce0715> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kitsapsun.com/comments/reply/?target=61:362323&comment=535995 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922371 | 585 | 1.773438 | 2 |
4 January 2010. The membrane lipid transporter gene ABCA13 is identified as a candidate susceptibility factor for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in a Scottish cohort, according to data from a team led by Ben Pickard, now of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, United Kingdom. The study, published in the December 11 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, highlights the genetic overlap between major psychiatric disorders by identifying for the first time, the authors write, multiple and combined coding variants in a single gene associated with these disorders.
Pickard and co-first author Helen Knight, now at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, led a multi-institution collaboration centered at Edinburgh University that first identified cytogenetic disruption of the ABCA13 gene in a person with schizophrenia. Resequencing of key coding regions in a sample of patients and controls revealed 10 rare variants, which were significantly enriched in schizophrenia and bipolar patients in a much larger sample.
No longer so separate
Historically, schizophrenia and mood disorders have been defined as separate mental disorders. However, recent molecular genetic studies suggest a common origin, and results from a large epidemiological study of nine million Swedes over a 30-year period also support a shared genetic risk for the disorders (see SRF related news story). Lichtenstein and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia are at higher risk for bipolar disorder, and vice versa (see also SRF live discussion).
“Recent genomewide association studies that probe common variation at the whole genome scale in large case-control cohorts have found, and sometimes replicated, significant associations of a number of candidate genes with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and have found substantial overlap of risk factors between these two illnesses,” Knight and colleagues write, citing a number of studies. At the November 2009 World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics, the Psychiatric GWAS Conortium (PGC) working group discussed efforts to examine common variants that play a role in individual disorders as well as to elucidate the shared genetic risk for disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (see SRF related news story).
In addition to common polygenic variation, rare copy number variants (CNVs) may also contribute to overlapping disease risk (see SRF related news story). The study of gross cytogenetic abnormalities (visible to the trained eye under a microscope; see SRF related news story), likewise, can be informative. Interestingly, the ABCA13 findings come from the same group in Scotland, using the same old-fashioned karyotyping as a starting point, that first reported DISC1, the most promising gene candidate to date for schizophrenia and mood disorders.
In the current study, Knight and colleagues identified a schizophrenia patient with a pericentric inversion of chromosome 7 coupled with a translocation between chromosomes 7 and 8. The affected gene belongs to the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of genes, which code for molecules that transport a variety of substrates across membranes. The authors restricted the resequencing of ABCA13, a very large gene, to selected exons (two transmembrane domains and two cytoplasmic nucleotide binding domains and a hydrophobic membrane-dipping region) in 100 individuals with schizophrenia and 100 controls, and identified 10 non-synonymous rare coding variants.
A new, larger “test” sample of individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and controls was then evaluated for variant frequencies. Analysis of affected and unaffected family members of those with mutations in this “test” sample was also undertaken. When taken together, the 10 ABCA13 coding variants were significantly associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. "The population attributable risk of the 10 rare non-synonymous mutations was 2.2 percent for schizophrenia and 4.0 percent for bipolar disorder, suggesting that this gene may have an important role in a subgroup of patients and an influence that crosses traditional diagnostic boundaries," the authors write.
Interestingly, additive effects on risk was suggested by five cases of compound heterozygosity and one case of homozygosity, whereas all controls with risk variants were monoallelic. Five cases possessed more than one rare variant simultaneously, and one case showed that a single rare variant damaged both copies of the gene. In contrast, not a single control possessed more than one copy of a rare variant. This observation leads the authors to suggest that additive and interactive combinations of mutations may contribute to these complex disorders.
Lastly, the authors demonstrated that ABCA13 protein is expressed in mouse and human hippocampus and cortex, brain regions relevant in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
In an e-mail to SRF, Pickard speculates, “ABCA13 is involved in the metabolism of an as yet unknown lipid, and this lipid may be important in aspects of neuronal function or development such as neurite outgrowth. There is some precedent to this line of enquiry; a closely related gene, ABCA12, which is mutated in a skin disorder called Harlequin Ichthyosis, results in a failure of the skin cells to secrete a lipid called ceramide, causing a frequently fatal skin malformation in neonates. Something equivalent may be happening in the brains of those with ABCA13 mutations. While this is not in line with established models of psychiatric illness (e.g., dopamine/glutamate hypotheses), the fact that we see the same ABCA13 mutations spanning diagnostic boundaries suggests that it must be regulating a fairly fundamental process.”—J. Meggin Hollister.
Knight HM, Pickard BS, Maclean A, Malloy MP, Soares DC, McRae AF, Condie A, White A, Hawkins W, McGhee K, van Beck M, MacIntyre DJ, Starr JM, Deary IJ, Visscher PM, Porteous DJ, Cannon RE, St Clair D, Muir WJ, Blackwood DH. A cytogenetic abnormality and rare coding variants identify ABCA13 as a candidate gene in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Am J Hum Genet. 2009 Dec;85(6):833-46. Abstract | <urn:uuid:308e178d-4e60-4a4e-9ef0-8b784c8735c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.schizophreniaforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=1564 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930651 | 1,270 | 2.140625 | 2 |
(i) From antiquity to the Renaissance
Symbolic roles apart, the recorded history of the architectural model goes back at least to Ancient Greece. Models were undoubtedly of great value in periods of major structural innovation, such as Imperial Rome and the Gothic era. During the Middle Ages they were used to work out and test systems of masonry vaulting and for setting patterns of decorative carving through templates and full-scale prototypes. Among the earliest to survive, however, is the wood and papier-mâché model for St Maclou, Rouen (Rouen, Mus. d’Art Normand), now thought to date from the early 16th century. Other surviving models from this period include a conceptual one in wood for the Luginsland Tower of Augsburg’s defences (1514; Augsburg, Maximilian Mus.) and an elaborate demonstration model, also in wood, by Hans Hieber for the Neupfarrkirche, the pilgrimage church dedicated to Our Lady, Regensburg (1519/20; Regensburg, Stadtmus.).
The Italian Renaissance gave new prominence to models with the emergence of the architect as the coordinator of building operations as well as the sole author of a design. Brunelleschi used a variety of model functions in creating his dome for Florence Cathedral, ranging from the presentation model that helped him to win the competition to the many improvised ones (even cut out of lumps of rutabaga) used for instructing workmen in technical details. It is now doubted whether the surviving wooden model (Florence, Mus. Opera Duomo) is the one known to have been left at Brunelleschi’s death in 1446 to guide the completion of the lantern. Alberti discussed the importance of models in De re aedificatoria (1485) but added a cautionary note, repeated by theorists for centuries thereafter: ‘I would not have the model too exactly finished, nor too delicate and neat, but plain and simple, more to be admired for the contrivance of the inventor than the hand of the workman.’
By the 16th century models had entered standard practice in Western architecture and inevitably played key roles in the protracted building history of St Peter’s, Rome. Antonio da Sangallo (ii)’s large 1/24 scale presentation model, commissioned in 1539, took several years to make, and Michelangelo’s sectional dome model of the 1560s (both Rome, Vatican, Mus. Stor. A. Tesoro S Pietro) guided Giacomo della Porta in completing the structure. Michelangelo also used models as aids to demonstrate formal composition. His surviving façade model of 1517 for S Lorenzo, Florence (Florence, Casa Buonarrotti; see Florence, §IV, 5) set the fashion for the many façade competition models that followed, such as those of the 1580s and 1590s for Florence Cathedral (Florence, Mus. Opera Duomo). He also used clay models to design the shape of the steps of the Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence, and to explore the spatial innovations of S Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome. In 1546 a full-scale wooden section of his cornice for Palazzo Farnese, Rome, was placed in situ to determine its appearance. Elsewhere models also assisted a lay decision in 1576, when Palladio submitted models of alternative designs to the Venetian Senate for both a longitudinal and a central plan for his church of Il Redentore.
Inevitably, the use of models accompanied the spread of Renaissance design to northern Europe. Domenico da Cortona made models for several of Francis I’s châteaux, including Chambord (begun 1519). In 1567 Philibert de L’Orme discussed their various advantages at length in his Premier Tome de l’architecture. Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau (i), moreover, stressed the need for site models to include garden design in his Les Plus Excellents Bastiments de France (1576–9). The use of urban models was also established in the 16th century, with a model of Florence being constructed in 1529 in order to study the siege defences and Albert V of Bavaria having models made of his principal towns between 1568 and 1574. Meanwhile in England, one of the earliest references to a model dates from 1576, when the French joiner Adrian Gaunt made one for Longleat, Wilts, a country house built for Sir John Thynne.
(ii) The Baroque and Neo-classical periods
The concern for spatial complexity and dramatic lighting that began to develop in the 17th century found particular expression in those types of model that explored as well as represented solutions for interiors. Bernini, like Michelangelo, made sketch models in wax and clay for structures as well as sculpture. While it is uncertain whether Borromini used them as extensively, models devised to reveal elaborate internal systems were used well into the 18th century; a fine example is that for Balthasar Neumann’s church of the Vierzehnheiligen (1744; Bamberg, Hist. Mus.).
In England, Christopher Wren’s technological cast of mind contributed to his exploiting models widely throughout his career; surviving examples extend from the one of 1663 for Pembroke College Chapel, Cambridge (Cambridge, Pembroke Coll. Lib.), to those of the 1690s for the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, London (site model and sectional detail model for one of the domes, London, N. Mar. Mus.). Models were created at all stages of the design of St Paul’s Cathedral. The 18-ft-high Great Model of 1673 (London, St Paul’s Cathedral), made to a scale of 1 inch to 1½ feet by the Cleer brothers and a team of craftsmen, portrays the interior in as much detail as the exterior. Wren’s pupil Nicholas Hawksmoor used models extensively for their creative value, as shown by alterations to his surviving one for Easton Neston, Northants (c. 1702; in situ). Others survive for King’s College, Cambridge, and the Radcliffe Library, Oxford (1713 and 1735; both in situ); others once existed for the architect’s remarkable London churches built as a result of the Fifty New Churches Act of 1711. Indeed, many outstanding models still survive for church designs in 18th-century England, including a pair of highly finished presentation wooden models for James Gibbs’s St Mary-le-Strand, London, and St Martin-in-the-Fields, London (1713 and 1722; both London, RIBA).
Throughout continental Europe and particularly in France, a wide range of models survive from the 18th century, indicating the continuing importance as well as the widening range of their uses. The Musée des Plans–Reliefs in Paris contains a collection of model designs for fortifying the eastern frontier of France by the military engineer Sébastien Leprestre de Vauban. The Musée Carnavalet in Paris also possesses an exceptional group of models for major public buildings such as the façades of Pierre Contant d’Ivry’s church of La Madeleine and Giovanni Niccolano Geronimo Servandoni’s St Sulpice, Jean-Rodolphe Perronet’s Louis XVI bridge and Jacques-Denis Antoine’s foyer of the Law Courts. A large sectional model in plaster demonstrating Jacques-Germain Soufflot’s dome structure (1757) for Ste Geneviève survives in the crypt of what later became the Panthéon. Nearly 30 years later, when the architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau helped Thomas Jefferson design the new Virginia Capitol, a plaster model (1786; Richmond, VA State Lib.) was sent from Paris to Richmond to aid the construction.
Towards the close of the 18th century models began to appear along with presentation drawings at the annual exhibition of the Paris Salon; the model exhibited in 1771 for Charles de Wailly’s staircase at the Château de Montmusard, near Dijon, is an early example. Teaching models, meanwhile, had already been used in the academies for many years, and Jacques-François Blondel gave special emphasis to models of ‘significant buildings’ in his Cours d’architecture (Paris, 1771–7). Similarly, documentary models recording or reconstructing celebrated monuments or sites were produced in lightweight materials, such as plaster or cork, for connoisseurs on the Grand Tour or travelling professionals. This didactic aspect is strikingly illustrated by cork models of the temples at Paestum and the excavations at Pompeii held at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, which has the largest and most diverse collection of models to survive from any architect’s career. At his death in 1837, Soane left over 150 models covering 40 years of practice and representing virtually every function of the architectural model. The most elaborate models were devoted to commissions of particular complexity, such as the Bank of England (1788–1830) and the Westminster Law Courts (c. 1823startend). Soane, as Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy from 1806, regularly used models for teaching and gathered some of the most important examples in a special Model Room at the Museum, now restored to its original purpose.
(iii) The Romantic period and after
Predictably, models were often associated with innovative buildings of the Romantic era where pictorial values were of prime importance. A striking papier-mâché model (c. 1810; priv. col.) of the bizarre mansion Fonthill Abbey, Wilts, was probably used to guide the patron, William Beckford, and his builders after the unexpected death of the designer, James Wyatt; this model registers the Picturesque silhouette and ornamentation of this Gothic Revival masterpiece. At about the same time, Frederick Augustus Hervey, the eccentric Bishop of Derry, had a wood and papier-mâché model made of his equally strange residence at Ickworth, Suffolk (in situ), sent to him in Rome for his comments before its construction under the direction of Francis Sandys ( fl 1796–1814). Portions of the model can be removed to show directions indicated within for colour schemes in the main interiors.
By the start of the 19th century a new range of specialized drawings had begun to undermine the more exploratory functions of the model. Most of the surviving models are of the presentation type, directed at committees and juries, caught up in the controversy over the choice of an appropriate style, known as the Battle of the Styles, where façades were often of greater concern than internal functions. Despite the attractive perspectives drawn by specialist artists, models continued to be required in major competitions involving public buildings of complexity, such as the London Law Courts scheme of the 1860s, won in competition by G. E. Street in 1866.
Through such idiosyncratic and diverse designers as Antoni Gaudí, Rudolf Steiner, Erich Mendelsohn and Theo van Doesburg, the creative roles of the conceptual and sketch models returned during the 20th century. Most recently, this basic function continued in the work of such architects as Denys Lasdun, who developed a design from its earliest stages using the three-dimensional potential of models to the full. The aid of full-scale models to test a design on site was revived by designers as various as Mies van der Rohe (Kröller House, The Hague, 1912) and Edwin Lutyens (Castle Drogo, Devon, begun 1910). Advances in technology also enabled the experimental model to provide exceptionally sophisticated data using computers, as well as photographic or optical aids, such as Endoscopes and Relatoscopes, which enlarge images from model scale to actual size. Vincenzo Scamozzi’s warning (L’idea dell’architettura universale, 1615; Eng. trans., 1669), however, continues to be relevant:Manie modells, being but inanimate and breathlesse things, have need of the Architect’s, or some other worthy, & Knowing purson’s speech, to expresse with words, and demonstrate with reasons, what they are, and to give them life, & motion. For thereby minds are excited, and inflamed, whereby resolutions may be taken in matters of moment … Yet modells are like young birds, mongst which one cannot discerne the males from ye females, but being growen bigger are Showen whither they be Eagles or Ravens: And therefore the owners of the workes may easily be deceaved by Modells.
From Grove Art Online
© 2009 Oxford University Press | <urn:uuid:adf81350-8af7-439f-82e6-0ab47f10b03f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moma.org/collection/details.php?theme_id=10119§ion_id=T003812&background=black | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944853 | 2,746 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Preventative Maintenance “Electrical MOT”
When servicing it’s always the oil and other fluids, filters, tyres and other mechanical items that are looked at – the electrical system is often ignored. Why not have the electrical system checked over, a preventative maintenance check will cover the following:-
Check loom for damage (split insulation, abrasion, excess tension etc.) Any minor faults rectified.
Check connectors (corroded, burnt or damaged terminals) Terminals are cleaned and sprayed with silicon to protect from the elements. Any minor faults rectified.
Handle bar switches sprayed with contact cleaner and silicon to clean, lubricate and protect.
Battery fluid levels checked if applicable.
Charging system checked.
Alternator and Starter motor brushes checked if applicable or practicable.
All systems checked for operation.
Service report issued
Fault location is probably one of the most difficult areas of an electrical system, with ignition faults being the most common and problematic areas to resolve. Intermittent faults (those that come and go) are impossible to locate if the fault is not present at the time of inspection, the more details you can provide about the symptoms the easier it is to locate.
If you know your fault but don’t know how to repair it, we will be happy to repair it for you.
Repairs to wires should be soldered and insulated with heat shrink tubing to protect the joint. Do not use screw type connectors and electrical tape, as this will cause problems in the long term.
Many bikers like to personalise their bike with many accessories, like higher powered head light bulbs, spot lights, horns, indicators, GPS, LED’s etc.
If fitting higher-powered equipment like head light bulbs, you must ensure that the original electrics can cope with the higher current requirements or you could melt the loom, also if the bike is fitted with a plastic headlight lens the extra heat generated could melt this as well, ensure that what you fit will not adversely affect your bike.
You must also ensure that any additional equipment fitted does not exceed the power generated by the alternator or you battery will still go flat even on a long ride and you could be left stranded.
The crimp on type connector that is used on existing wires to make an extra power outlet should be avoided. When the knife like metal part is pressed into the existing wire, you will either make a very poor connection that will corrode quickly or simply cut the wire in two.
If you use proper terminal connectors, crimp them with the proper crimping tool – not pliers, hammers or your teeth, as a poor termination will result.
Towzatronics will ensure that the wiring is suitable for the alteration you require, fitting suitable crimped terminals, fused power leads and relays where required and checking that the total power requirement does not exceed the alternator output.
Complete or partial rewires can be undertaken to your specification taking into consideration any alterations that you wish to make, or to the original wiring specifications. Only modern “Thinwall” wire is used, providing better insulation quality with higher current capabilities, which allow looms to be made with thinner wires, and hence reducing their bulk. Connectors can be to the original specification if available, or to a suitable modern type.
Power feed wires to high current devices will be controlled by relays wherever possible. This can also decrease the bulkiness of the handle bar switch wires to produce neater looking bars (switch wires could also be hidden inside the handle bars).
We usually produce a loom with three separate systems, Charging, Ignition and Power consumption i.e. everything else. This separates and makes it easier in the future to analyse any Charging or Ignition issues, which is the most common area of bike problems.
We always discuss any requirements before any work is started to ensure we get it right first time.
We can fit or remove Motorcycle Alarm Systems. For more information please see our Alarms page. | <urn:uuid:59519d15-827c-4232-8c8a-7889b437ed32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://towzatronics.co.uk/services/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91042 | 833 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Trout are usually found in cool, clear
streams and lakes, and are distributed naturally throughout North
America, northern Asia and Europe. Several species of trout were
introduced to Australia and New Zealand by amateur fishing enthusiasts
in the 19th century, effectively displacing several upland native
Trout have fins entirely without spines, and all of them have a
small adipose (fatty) fin along the back, near the tail. There are
many species, and even more populations that are isolated from each
other and morphologically different. However, many of these distinct
populations show no significant genetic differences, and therefore
what may appear to be a large number of species is considered a
much smaller number of distinct species by most ichthyologists.
The trout found in the eastern United States are a good example
of this. The brook trout, the aurora trout and the (extinct) silver
trout all have physical characteristics and colourations that distinguish
them, yet genetic analysis shows that they are one species, Salvelinus
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), like brook trout, actually belong
to the char genus. Lake trout inhabit many of the larger lakes in
North America and live much longer than rainbow trout which have
an average maximum life span of 7 years. Lake trout can live many
decades and can grow to more than 60 pounds (27 kg).
Most trout are restricted to fresh water, but many spend their
adult life in the ocean and then return to spawn in the streams
in which they were hatched. This is called anadromous reproduction
and is more often seen in salmon. Brook trout, brown trout, cutthroat
trout, bull trout, and Arctic char also have populations that run
to salt water.
Trout generally feed on soft bodied aquatic invertebrates, such
as Diptera, mayfly, caddis fly, and stonefly, although larger specimens
of trout regularly feed on other fish.
As a group, trout are somewhat bony, but the flesh is generally
considered to be tasty. Additionally, they provide a good fight
when caught with a hook and line, and are sought after recreationally.
Because of their popularity, trout are often raised on fish farms
and planted into heavily fished waters in an effort to mask the
effects of overfishing. While they can be caught with a normal rod
and reel, fly fishing is a distinctive method developed primarily
for trout and now extended to other species. Farmed trout and char
are also sold commercially as food fish.
Trout that live in different environments can have dramatically
different colorations and patterns. Mostly, these colors and patterns
form as camouflage, based on the surroundings, and will change as
the fish moves to different habitats. Trout in, or newly returned
from the sea, can look very silvery, while the same "genetic"
fish living in a small stream or in an alpine lake could have pronounced
greenish speckles with far more coloration. It is virtually impossible
to define a particular color pattern as belonging to a specific
breed, however, in general, wild fish are claimed to have more vivid
colors and patterns.
All text is available under the terms
of the GNU Free Documentation License | <urn:uuid:229de380-a2bf-4a58-a695-59fe5f23e90c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/animals/fish/trout.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951884 | 699 | 3.515625 | 4 |
It’s universally clear that most people’s anxiety levels dramatically increase when they go on a job interview. If you want a job, you have to go on an interview. It’s part of the game. It’s unavoidable. Some people are more comfortable with it than others. Nevertheless, every hire is made based on some sort of interview process. As a recruiter, I speak with candidates throughout the entire process. The interesting phenomenon is the response I get from almost every candidate as I debrief with them about how they felt the interview went. Believe it or not, I really can’t remember the last time someone told me that they bombed in the interview. The unanimous response I hear is, “the interview went well.” So let me pose this question. If everyone feels the interview went so well, why aren’t they hired? You may have even asked yourself that same question as well? You thought the interview went well, so why didn’t you get the job?
When you get to the interview stage of the hiring process, you can safely assume that you have the necessary skill set to do the job. No organization is going to waste their time interviewing anyone they don’t feel can do the job. The initial stage of the hiring process is rather objective. They look at your resume, review your work history, and look for skills required for the job. On the other hand, the interview itself can be pretty subjective. The hard truth is almost any little thing can eliminate you from being hired. You could say the wrong thing and you may not even know it. The hiring manager you may be interviewing with could be a staunch Tigers fan without you knowing and may not appreciate you talking about how great it is that the Giants just won the World Series. Just like that, you could have possibly lost an employment opportunity. People cannot control human nature. We’re all human beings and cannot help the way we feel and view things. We each have our own perspective.
What I’ve realized being entrenched in this industry for well over a decade is that, generally speaking, hiring managers aren’t looking for a reason to hire you. They are looking for a reason not to hire you. They will set you up with questions to take a peek into your psyche. They will make you feel comfortable so you can let your guard down in order to uncover more information about you. And guess what, there’s nothing wrong with that. It is their job to hire the best fit for the position and their organization. No one knows who the best employee is beforehand. You could be the most technically qualified person for the job, but if somehow through the course of the interview it is revealed that your work ethic is questionable; that very well could disqualify you.
Hiring is not an exact science; some may even see it as art. I like to pride myself as an artist when it comes to hiring people. I’ve hired some truly amazing people in my time and many of them are still with me to this day. Did I know for sure that these individuals would turn out to be so great? Of course not! I didn’t hire them because I had some crystal ball telling me that they would be great employees. I hired them because I couldn’t find any reason not to.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter. | <urn:uuid:43daec92-830e-414d-8e4e-f356f5e08991> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/life/career-corner-the-interview-finding-reasons-not-to-hire-you-312130.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973136 | 714 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Air Force Academy's CAStLE Provides Structural Sustainment Research for a Broad Aerospace Community
Center's Mission Offers Cadets Unique Acquisition and Sustainment Challenges
The United States Air Force Academy, one of this country's five elite service academies, enrolls approximately 4,000 students, a number comparable to the undergraduate population of exclusive Ivy League colleges. The academy's nine engineering degree programs offer cadets access to myriad opportunities for research into space systems, civil engineering, space physics and atmospheric research, aeronautics, chemistry, and unmanned aerial systems, among other technical disciplines.
The Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension—known as CAStLE—is the Air Force Academy’s largest cadet research program. While specializing in research and education in the areas of structural integrity and structural life extension, CAStLE serves the academy's Department of Engineering Mechanics, while also delivering commercial products and services to the U.S. Air Force and the greater aerospace and aircraft structural community. Read More ...
A 'Remote' Answer To Detect And Mitigate Hidden Corrosion Is Anything But!
As senior leaders within the Air Force grapple with the implications of an austere budgetary environment, the need for more cost-effective business practices has never been greater. As a result, there is a growing call for the integration of the most innovative business solutions and commercial best practices into all DoD operations. Because some of the best sources of innovation are high-tech small businesses, the Air Force Corrosion Prevention and Control Office has sought out partnerships with these innovators to create new and more economical solutions.
In one novel instance of such economical partnering, the Air Force Corrosion Office has partnered with Aging Aircraft Consulting, based in Warner Robins, Georgia, to develop a new approach to identify and mitigate corrosion in the remote areas of an aircraft both noninvasively and with minimal added preparation. This approach has allowed Air Force field units to easily integrate this capability into existing scheduled maintenance processes without needing to tear down significant portions of an aircraft to gain remote access for visual inspection. Read More ...
Cold-Weather Vinyl Coating Tested at Alaska Training Range
A new type of vinyl coating system that can be applied in sub-freezing temperatures also complies with emission standards for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) demonstrated the coating on a bridge at Yukon Training Range, Alaska, and is continuing to monitor its performance.
Protective coatings are the primary method for preventing and controlling corrosion on steel structures at military bases. However, in the case of bridges, the coating systems must either be applied during warm weather or the section of the bridge being painted must be pre-heated. For cold regions, these constraints result in a small portion of the year when work can be done, creating difficulty in completing projects and escalating costs. Read More ...
Fairchild’s Fabrication Flight ‘Key’ to Stratotanker’s Success
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Washington—The Air Force purchased its first KC-135 Stratotankers, its aerial refueling aircraft, in 1954, which means that Fairchild's fleet of roughly 37 aircraft is 58 years old. One key to the fleet's longevity is the 92nd Maintenance Squadron Fabrication Flight.
The Fabrication Flight consists of three sections: Aircraft Structural Maintenance, Aircraft Metals Technology, and the Non-Destructive Inspection Lab. This highly integrated flight consists of 60 active-duty and Air National Guard personnel. They are responsible for inspecting, modifying, and repairing one of the oldest, yet highly utilized assets in the Air Force—the KC-135. Read More ... | <urn:uuid:859a2e36-bca0-4827-aa6f-58266c56873a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://corrdefense.nace.org/corrdefense_summer_2012/index.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912499 | 773 | 1.96875 | 2 |
I feel like I’ve hit rock bottom in my life and just can’t explain it all. I’m bi and I don’t know how to tell my mom and friends, especially the girls. What if they don’t like me anymore? I'll be the laughing stock of the school.
The most important issue here is that you feel like you’ve “hit rock bottom.” Regardless of the reasons for that, it is really important that you get help from a professional to get you back on the way up again. If you don’t feel you are ready or able to confide in your mother about being bi, could you maybe let her know how badly you are feeling and tell her that you’d like help in dealing with those feelings? Could you speak with a teacher or counselor at school? Again, you don’t have to acknowledge your sexual orientation to them if you don’t feel comfortable doing so, but the point is to get some help in dealing with the severity of your feelings. In the meantime, we also strongly encourage you to call The Trevor Helpline at 866.4.U.TREVOR (866.488.7386) so that you can process your feelings with someone that is supportive and non-judgmental. | <urn:uuid:c0f99f9c-74e0-49f5-8699-d653f56e1e42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thetrevorproject.org/dear-trevor/youth/laelae-toledo-oh | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958367 | 277 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Mattel Settles Suit over Lead Toys Made in China
In 2006 and 2007 the world's largest toy maker, Mattel Inc. issued a recall for more than 14 million toys manufactured in China because they contained high levels of lead. Now Mattel and its Fisher-Price unit have agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit. It will resolve 22 suits filed against them on behalf of millions of families who bought the toxic toys before the recall.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Mattel hasn’t yet provided the amount of the total settlement because it depends on the total number of processed claims. But the co-plaintiff lead counsel Whatley Drake & Kallas issued a statement saying the settlement will give “tens of millions of dollars in monetary relief.”
The massive toy recall in 2007 resulted in high costs for Mattel, which had to pay for legal expenses, testing, advertising and product returns.
According to Executive Vice President for Mattel Bryan Stockton, the lead in the toys apparently came from a subcontractor of a vendor in China that did not use certified paint.
Since 2007, mandatory U.S. federal toy-safety standards and regulations have been put into effect. | <urn:uuid:211fe225-fc7a-4fb7-bbf4-3979bef9c676> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ntdtv.org/en/news/china/2009-10-16/002916805586.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944722 | 246 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Composting "Shuttle" Service Seeks Crowd-Sourced Funding (Video)
Image credit: Compost Now
Composting indoors is possible, but it is not always practical. And while some people without land have had success with a DIY worm bin, there are plenty of people who no doubt wish that they had municipal composting or even bike-powered compost collection in their area.
In my region, a group of compost activists are aiming to change that—creating a composting "shuttle" service that picks up household food scraps, replaces them with a clean empty bin, and even delivers finished compost right to your door. But they need your help to do it.
Signing up for the Compost Now Residential Composting Program, which serves the Triangle area of North Carolina, costs a $25 flat fee, regardless of how much waste is produced or how many bins you need to keep on hand. Collection will take place once a week, and members will be entitled to receive the end result of their contributions:
As a compost now member, you are entitled to receive the final results of your composting efforts. Here's the deal, on average composting yields about %50 of the original weight of waste. In other words, if I've collected 100 lbs of waste from you, you are entitled to have up to 50 lbs of nutrient-rich soil delivered right to your doorstep. If you don't have a need for the compost product, just let us know and we'll donate your share to local urban farming projects.
Sign up if you'd like to see them grow. | <urn:uuid:d2b0a9b5-273a-4af8-8145-6466bacd9b45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/composting-shuttle-service-seeks-crowd-sourced-funding-video.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962494 | 328 | 2.375 | 2 |
The Rapids, Hudson River, Adirondacks, 1894
Transparent watercolor, with traces of opaque watercolor, blotting, and scraping, over graphite, on thick, rough-textured, ivory wove paper
384 x 546 mm
Signed recto, lower left, in pen and brown ink: "Hudson River/June 1894 W.H."
Inscribed verso, center, in graphite: "M.K.W.C. 1018-//The Rapids, Hudson River Adirondacks"
Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, 1933.1250
By the time Homer first began visiting the Adirondacks in the 1870s, commercial logging operations in the region were beginning to destroy large tracts of forest and to clog the rivers. He acutely observed and recorded these events in his watercolors, rarely passing explicit judgment. In The Rapids, Hudson River, Adirondacks, the artist combined themes of fishing and logging. On first encounter, this watercolor is peaceful and intimate, a virtuoso study of the movement of the river’s surface over partially submerged rocks. Long, painterly strokes of black watercolor over layers of blue describe the depth and speed of the water, while areas of bright white paper have been revealed by scraping to indicate the bubbling froth of whitewater rapids. It is only along the far bank that one becomes aware of the presence of man in this tranquil landscape, implied by the clean-cut logs lying haphazardly along the rocky bank. Even more subtle is Homer’s suggestion of a fisherman’s presence, indicated by the leaping fish at river’s edge, where the artist used his knife blade to sketch the serpentine motion of a fishing line in mid-cast. The fisherman is invisible, yet we are made to understand that the presence of human beings alters nature profoundly.
New York, The Museum of the Brooklyn Institute, "Water Colors by Winslow Homer," October 16–November 7, 1915, p. 9, cat. 41.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Twenty Water Colors by Winslow Homer, Martin Ryerson Collection," January 5–June 16, 1916, no cat.
Pittsburgh, Pa., Carnegie Institute, "Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent: An Exhibition of Water Colors," November 1–27, 1917, cat. 12; also traveled to the Cleveland Museum of Art, November 30–December 31, 1917; the Toledo Museum of Art, January 1918; the Detroit Museum of Art, February 2–28, 1918; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, March 1918; the Milwaukee Art Institute, April 1918; the City Art Museum of St. Louis, May 5–26, 1918; and the Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, New York, June 6–July 7, 1918.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Watercolors by Winslow Homer Lent by Martin A. Ryerson," October 1–26, 1920, no cat.
Muskegon, Mich., Hackley Art Gallery, "Watercolors and Drawings by Winslow Homer, Lent by Martin Ryerson," May 9–June 20, 1921, no cat.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Watercolors by Winslow Homer, Martin Ryerson Collection," July–September, 1921, no cat.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "The Second International Water Color Exhibition," April 15–May 21, 1922, p. 20, cat. 202.
Paris, Hotel de la Chambre Syndicale de la Curiosité et des Beaux Arts, "Exposition d'Art Americain," May 18–June 25, 1923, p. 39, cat. 12.
Omaha Society of Fine Arts, December 26, 1924–February 3, 1925, no cat.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Watercolors by Winslow Homer from the Collection of Martin A. Ryerson," April 1926, no cat.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Watercolors by Winslow Homer from the Collection of Martin A. Ryerson," July–Fall, 1926, no cat.
The Buffalo Fine Art Academy, Albright Art Gallery, "An Important Group of Paintings in Oil and Water Color by Winslow Homer: Loaned by The Art Institute of Chicago," December 15, 1929–January 6, 1930, cat. 9.
Providence, Rhode Island School of Design, "Exhibition of Water Colors by Winslow Homer," February 6–March 1, 1931, no cat.
City Art Museum of St. Louis, "Water Colors by Winslow Homer Lent by the Art Institute of Chicago," December 15, 1932–January 15, 1933, no cat.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "A Century of Progress," June 1–November 1, 1933, p. 93, cat. 904.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "A Century of Progress," June 1–November 1, 1934, p. 69, cat. 484.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Homer Centenary," July 16–August 16, 1936, no cat.
Indianapolis, Ind., John Herron Art Institute, "Watercolors by Winslow Homer," November 1–December 15, 1936, no cat.
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, "Winslow Homer Centenary Exhibition," December 15, 1936–January 15, 1937, p. 26, cat. 77.
The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, "Winslow Homer to Present Day Chicago," November 29–December 20, 1941, cat. 10.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Twenty-Two Watercolors by Winslow Homer," April 13–May 14, 1944 (Gallery G59), no cat.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Water Colors and Drawings by Winslow Homer," October 14–December 4, 1944 (Gallery 13), no cat.
Minneapolis, Minn., The Walker Art Center, "American Watercolor and Winslow Homer," February 27–March 23, 1945, pp. 42 and 107 (ill.), cat. by Lloyd Goodrich; also traveled to the Detroit Institute of Art, April 3–May 1, 1945; and The Brooklyn Museum, N.Y., May 15–June 12, 1945.
New York, Century Association, "Paintings by Thomas Eakins, 1844–1916, and Watercolors by Winslow Homer, 1836–1910," January 10–February 25, 1951, no cat.
Lake Forest, Ill., Lake Forest College, "A Century of American Painting: Masterpieces Loaned by The Art Institute of Chicago," June 10–16, 1957, cat. 9.
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, "Winslow Homer," April l3–June 3, 1973, pp. 104, 140, cat. 135 (ill.), cat. by Lloyd Goodrich; also traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, July 3–August 15, 1973; and The Art Institute of Chicago, September 8–October 21, 1973.
The Arts Club of Chicago, "The American Landscape," November 14–December 29, 1973, pp. 14-15, cat. 19 (ill.).
New York, Andrew Crispo Gallery, "Ten Americans," May 16–July 30, 1974, n.p., cat. 74 (ill.).
Fort Worth, Tex., Amon Carter Museum, and Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, "Casting a Spell: Winslow Homer, Artist and Angler," December 7, 2002–February 9, 2003, April 11–June 22, 2003, pp. 107, 229, cat. 28 (ill.), cat. by Patricia Junker et al.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light," February 16-May 11, 2008, pp. 139, 140, 141 (ill.), 211, 212, cat. by Martha Tedeschi and Kristi Dahm.
Kenyon Cox, “The Watercolors of Winslow Homer,” Art In America 2: 6 (October 1914), p. 409 (ill.).
“Knoedler Firm Buys 21 Winslow Homers,” New York Herald (November 19, 1915).
“Notes,” Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 10: 2 (February 1916), p. 143.
The Art Institute of Chicago, A Guide to the Paintings in the Permanent Collection (Chicago, 1925), p. 164, no. 2394.
Theodore Bolton, “Water Colors by Homer: Critique and Catalogue,” The Fine Arts 18: 5 (April 1932), p. 54.
Gordon Hendricks, The Life and Work of Winslow Homer (New York, 1979), p. 286, fig. CL–116.
David Tatham, Winslow Homer in the Adirondacks (Syracuse, 1996), p. 142.
The artist to his brother, Charles S. Homer, Jr. (1834–1917), New York, by 1910 [according to correspondence from Abigail Booth Gerdts to the Art Institute, February 10, 2007]. Charles W. Gould (1849–1931), New York, by 1914 [Art In America 1914]. Sold by Knoedler and Company, New York, to Martin A. Ryerson (1856–1932), Chicago, November 11, 1915 [invoice]; given to the Art Institute, 1933. | <urn:uuid:997331ef-e2c5-4d2e-b2d5-c08de668af1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/homer_exhb/artwork/16823 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930787 | 2,002 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Guest post by Educators for Shared Accountability.
A new group, Educators for Shared Accountability (ESA), has issued the first-ever Value-Added Measurement (VAM) evaluation of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Secretary Duncan was rated "ineffective," based on four indicators.
The United States Department of Education had a discretionary budget of $68.3 billion in fiscal year 2011. This amount was up from $64.1 billion the year before, and up from $29.4 billion in 2000. When the Department of Education was established in 1979, Congress appropriated an annual budget of $14.2 billion.
In the past 33 years, the budget for the Department of Education (DoEd) has increased almost fivefold.
Overseeing this massive department is US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Secretary Duncan earns a base salary of $179,700.
Mr. Duncan's time at the DoEd has coincided with a dramatic emphasis on efficiency and accountability in K-12 education at the local level. Since the dawn of NCLB ten years ago, schools have been rated by the federal government according to their effectiveness on raising student test scores. Most public school districts are also rated by their states. The rating systems vary from state to state, but virtually all of them are based on some combination of student standardized test scores, graduation rates, and other student-level data.
More recently, there has been a concerted effort to move from school-level accountability to government entities (as opposed to local school administrators) holding individual teachers accountable for student performance. Under Arne Duncan, the US Department of Education has offered financial incentives in an effort to coerce states into guaranteeing that a percentage of teachers' evaluations will be based on the performance of their students on standardized tests, using complex formulas known as Value-Added Measures (VAM). VAM formulas are intended to ensure that a teacher isn't rated poorly just because he or she teaches a greater proportion of struggling students. Basically, instead of rating teachers on students' absolute scores, a VAM formula is used to rate teachers by gauging student performance against a performance level anticipated for each student by looking at prior performance and the performance of peers.
VAM is serious business. In the case of New York City and Los Angeles, individual teachers have seen their performance levels published in local newspapers. One poor lady was named by the New York Post as the "city's worst teacher" based on her VAM scores. After the release of teacher ratings created by the Los Angeles Times, one teacher committed suicide.
The validity of VAM ratings is doubted in some quarters. Not only has prominent reform skeptic Diane Ravitch questioned VAM's accuracy, but even the New York Times called the ratings "controversial" and noted that education officials "cautioned against drawing conclusions" from them. The Times went on to note various data integrity problems reported by teachers, pointing out for example that English teacher Donna Lubniewski was actually rated based on her students' math scores.
Many education officials and pundits appear undeterred by data integrity questions. In the aftermath of the publication of teacher ratings in Los Angeles, Arne Duncan praised the action and said "Silence is not an option." He recently did an about-face, and criticized the posting of VAM scores in New York, but his policies have pushed these systems into schools across the nation. Duncan has long been a proponent of accountability for student outcomes at the local level.
Strangely missing in all of this, of course, is any sort of mechanism for holding people like Arne Duncan publicly accountable for student-level data attributable to their performance in an important position of leadership. With a salary significantly higher than that of the highest-paid teacher in America, and with a budget that dwarfs that of any local school district anywhere on the planet, we are supposed to just take Arne Duncan's word for it that he is doing a good job.
One would think Duncan would lead teachers across the nation by example and submit himself to a system rather similar to the type he advocates for teachers in the trenches.
Apparently, however, at the US Department of Education silence IS an option.
Teachers have been waiting for years for education policymakers and bureaucrats--those who are paid hefty salaries to theoretically improve educational outcomes for American children--to join them on the front lines of punitive data-driven accountability. Last July, one school administrator at the Save Our Schools march in Washington, DC, asked officials this question: "Why don't you...join me in the crucible of accountability?" Many front-line educators find it disconcerting and demoralizing when this nation's educator-in-chief urges the states to pass out labels to teachers but goes out of his way to avoid any label for his own efforts. While teachers are "objectively" rated by independent auditors using "scientific" formulas, personnel at the DoEd are content to have their actions judged subjectively on the basis of breathless press releases and heavily-massaged conclusions drawn from carefully selected data.
In the absence of any sort of effort on the part of Duncan or his staff to develop a means of legitimately holding themselves publicly accountable for positive student outcomes, a group calling itself Educators for Shared Accountability (ESA) has stepped into the gap. Their "Outcomes-Based, Value-Added Measurement of US Secretaries of Education" weighs every US Secretary of Education in the history of the department by comparing data at the beginning of each of their terms with data from the end of their terms. The data used to measure the effectiveness of each secretary includes two "student quality of life" data points and two data points based on student performance on academic tests. These four data points reflect improvement (or lack thereof) in the following areas during a secretary's term:
1. Student employability
2. Student pregnancy rates
3. Math performance
4. Reading performance
Some may wonder why the first two data points are included. One of the primary goals of K-12 education, of course, is to produce students who are ultimately employable. Furthermore, data suggests that "school achievement...helps reduce the risk of teen pregnancy." If the policies pursued by a US Secretary of Education result in effective schooling for American children, one could fairly assume that more employers would want to hire those students and fewer of those student-aged Americans would get pregnant.
The designers of this system felt it was important to include multiple measures (instead of looking exclusively at test scores) in order to arrive at a fair assessment of which education secretaries most effectively improved life outcomes for American students during their times in office.
ESA acknowledges that questions may arise regarding the validity of these rankings. Nevertheless, in the interest of sunlight, ESA has decided to release their outcomes-based ratings for US secretaries of education as they are. ESA is pleased to share this information and feels that any discussion following the publication of these rankings will be healthy. Like many in the field of education today, ESA is determined not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Students simply can't wait another day for the US Department of Education to develop an objective means for measuring the effectiveness of its highest paid staff member. Citizens, parents, and taxpayers have a right to know this information.
Data Point 1: Teen Employability
One critical aim of the American education system is the holistic development of children. While test scores indicate the content area knowledge and/or the test-taking prowess of students, few dependable measures of a truly well-rounded education exist. How can one measure students' critical thinking skills, communication skills, interpersonal social aptitude, and problem-solving abilities? Fortunately, there is an arena where those precise skills are valued and rewarded--the job market. That being the case, the first data point examined in this study is the employability of the American teen. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ESA's crack research team analyzed the seasonally-adjusted employment population ratio for Americans aged 16-19 years. Each secretary of education was assigned a number of points equal to this ratio for the quarter immediately before he or she took office (which was tallied as the "Beginning" value), and for the quarter immediately after leaving office (tallied as the "Ending" value).
Note: the latest quarter available for the current secretary of education, Arne Duncan, was the fourth quarter of 2011.
The data used for this portion of the value-added measure was gathered using the search feature found here (using these search criteria: both sexes, all races, all origins, 16-19 years, all educational levels, all marital statuses, Employment-population ratio, seasonally adjusted, quarterly).
Data Point 2: Teen Pregnancy
The second data point--also tallied as a "Beginning" and "Ending" value--is the teen birth rate, found here. Each secretary was assigned a "Beginning" teen birth rate and an "Ending" teen birth rate for his or her term in office. Unfortunately, at the time this study was conducted, the latest teen birth rate data available from the CDC was for the year 2008. Since the teen birth rate for 2009 and later was unavailable, Margaret Spellings was assigned the figure from 2008 as her ending figure. For Arne Duncan--who took office in 2009--teen birth rate data was entirely unavailable for his term. That being the case, Duncan was assigned the respective average of all other secretaries' figures for his "Beginning" and "Ending" figures. (This solution was inspired by a similar method used by the state of Tennessee to compensate for a lack of testing data for teachers of non-tested subjects. Such teachers are assigned the average scores of teachers in their school who teach a tested subject, in order to come up with a number for them and determine whether or not they add value to their students.)
Note: unlike the other data points used in this study, teen birth rates improve by dropping. As a result, the teen birth rate immediately preceding a secretary of education's term was listed under the "Ending" category, and the teen birth rate immediately following each secretary's term was listed under the "Beginning" category. Reversing the placement of the two figures enabled an increase in the number to indicate improvement. This was necessitated so that teen birth rate could be combined with the other three data points to generate an overall increase or decrease in the aggregate score of each secretary.
Data Points 3 and 4: Math and Reading Proficiency
Progress in the mathematics and reading proficiency of students during each secretary of education's time in office was gauged based on overall NAEP scores. The "Beginning" figure was the NAEP score immediately prior to each secretary's taking office. Similarly, the "Ending" score consisted of NAEP results for the test administration immediately following a secretary's departure from office. Specifically, this study looked at the nationwide NAEP scores of 13-year-olds. The scores themselves can be viewed here.
Unfortunately, NAEP scores were only available through the year 2008 at the time this study was conducted. Because of this, Margaret Spellings was assigned the latest data available for her "Ending" score, and Arne Duncan was assigned the latest data available for both his "Beginning" and "Ending" scores. ESA fully intends to adjust the VAM scores for both Spellings and Duncan when new NAEP scores become available.
The "Beginning" and "Ending" data for the four data points described above were summed, and a total "Beginning" and "Ending" figure was determined for each secretary. An increase in the figure from "Beginning" to "Ending" indicated improvement; a decrease indicated a downgrade in student performance.
Absolute improvement in the data was considered an insufficient measure for establishing whether a secretary of education added value to students during his or her term in office. Instead, ESA researchers determined an average rate of improvement in the data across all secretaries of education. That average rate of improvement--2.8763888889, to be exact--became the target for each secretary of education to attain to, the measure by which all were judged. A secretary who exceeded the average rate of improvement in his or her data was considered to have been an effective educational leader, while a secretary whose rate of improvement fell short of that target was judged to be an ineffective leader.
The actual VAM score of a Secretary of Education is the number of points (positive or negative) difference between his or her rate of improvement from the beginning to the end of his or her term and the average rate of improvement for all secretaries of education.
In order to assist the public in interpreting these VAM scores, clear and easy-to-understand labels were applied to a simple distribution of the scores. All VAM scores ranged from -12.9764 on the low end to 20.62361 on the high end. The label "Superior" was assigned to scores between 1.523611 and 20.62361. The label "Average" was assigned to scores between -2.07639 and 1.523610. The label "Inferior" was assigned to scores from -12.9764 to -2.07638. Additionally, any score below 0--i.e., any VAM that fell below the average rate of improvement for all secretaries of education--was assigned the label "Ineffective," a label which trumped all other labels. (This trumping mechanism was inspired by the policy devised in New York State that requires that, while student test scores account for 40% of a teacher's evaluation, a failing mark on that 40% will invalidate the remaining 60% of the evaluation and require the teacher to be found ineffective.)
ESA wishes to congratulate former education secretary Richard Riley for the outstanding performance revealed by his value-added score. During his time in office, student data soared to remarkable heights: Riley's data surpassed the VAM target by over 20 points, or roughly 6 times better than the improvement shown by the second-best secretary of education, Lamar Alexander. Current and future secretaries of education in the United States would do well to examine their practices and policies against those of Mr. Riley, who added far more value to American students than any education secretary before or since. Richard Riley was a Blue Ribbon secretary of education.
On a sad note, the data indicates that five out of the nine secretaries of education we have had actually reduced value for their students, forcing researchers at ESA to conclude that the nation would have been better off with no education secretary at all during their terms.
What do you think of the Value Added Method ratings for Secretary Duncan? Does this indicate he has been ineffective during his term?
Image provided by Educators for Shared Accountability, used by permission. | <urn:uuid:8c7df63f-adb4-475c-bf0f-5bce4a2151ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/04/educators_issue_vam_report_for.html?cmp=ENL-TU-MOSTPOP | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969727 | 3,032 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Psychologists study the mental processes and actions of people to gather data that help them to explain and predict human behavior. These professionals examine the effects of attitudes, feelings and emotions on individuals to better understand them and their relationships with others. They formulate hypotheses that they assess through scientific methods and rely heavily on observation and experimentation to gather evidence to test their beliefs. In addition, they conduct interviews, distribute questionnaires, and lead clinical studies to determine the validity of their ideas.
The research undertaken in psychology careers can deeply impact and enhance the health and well-being of others. For example, research findings have better enabled practitioners to diagnose and to treat substance abuse, help individuals modify detrimental behaviors, provide appropriate counsel to couples and to families, and improve students’ academic performance. Psychologists also understand how workplace efficiency and productivity can be improved across various industries because of what they have learned from studies on human motivation and personality development.
Through coursework that will strengthen critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, psychology students are equipped with the skills needed to work with diverse populations. Graduates may pursue psychology jobs in settings such as hospitals, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses and universities. Their responsibilities may include treating mental disorders, developing policies and procedures for workplace personnel and teaching courses in the discipline. In every psychology job description, training rooted in theory, practice and research is an essential requirement.
Professionals can opt to enter their choice of psychology careers. A practitioner’s psychology resume may include one or more work experiences that correspond with his interests and areas of specialty.
- Clinical psychologists work to treat and prevent mental disorders. This may include assisting others who suffer from specific mental illnesses such as depression, as well as those who contend with personal issues. Therapy sessions provide opportunities for patients to discuss their concerns with which these professionals help them cope. Clinical psychologists practice in private offices, hospitals and universities, and some may also work in rehabilitation and community mental health centers.
- Counseling psychologists advise individuals how to manage issues of everyday life and may counsel individuals either one-on-one or in groups. Their work generally takes place in private offices, counseling centers and hospitals.
- School psychologists work collaboratively with teachers, parents and students to create positive schooling environments for students. They assess students’ learning and behavioral problems and recommend strategies to support their development and socialization. School psychologists may practice on-site in schools as well as in school district administrative offices and private offices.
- Industrial-organizational psychologists apply psychological research to workplace settings. They train and counsel personnel, develop policies and analyze operations to enhance productivity. These professionals can work in business and industry as well as in nonprofit and government agencies.
- Developmental psychologists examine physiological, cognitive and social development across the lifespan. They may concentrate their research on a specific population to understand the behaviors of a certain group. Developmental psychologists often work in universities and research centers.
- Social psychologists study how people interact with others and their environment. They may act as organizational and marketing consultants, and may specialize in a specific area. The work of social psychologists can take place in an array of settings such as in universities, research centers and businesses.
- Research psychologists study concepts such as motivation, attention and memory by examining the behaviors of humans and laboratory animals. Their work is heavily experimental and produces findings that inform the field. Generally, these practitioners work in university and research settings.
- Psychology professors teach courses in the discipline in colleges and universities. In addition to class instruction, these individuals may conduct research in an area of interest. | <urn:uuid:ff918ba9-1194-4c56-9bf3-d51e89a189ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psychologydegree.net/psychology-job-description/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94848 | 720 | 3.78125 | 4 |
Building Imagination in California’s Central ValleyModesto, CA
The Building Imagination Center will be a new visual arts hub in downtown Modesto, CA. The Center works with the Modesto Art Museum to provide the community with a visual art gallery for world class photography, sculpture, paintings, and many other traditional art mediums. The Center also actively engages with the community through a Resident Filmmaker Program. The Center leverages its video residency program to bring regional documentary video artists into Modesto, to involve the community directly in hands-on video creation, and to provide real world experience for CSU Stanislaus film students. Providing a wide variety of free events, it is the Center’s mission to create a vibrant activation of the downtown art scene.
ArtPlace spoke with Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Director for the Building Imagination Center, about the goals of the Center and the downtown art scene in Modesto, CA.
ARTPLACE: What is your elevator pitch when you describe your project to people?
GOMULA-KRUZIC: We are transforming a vacant storefront in downtown Modesto into the Building Imagination Center, a space for video and visual arts exhibitions, arts education, and artist residencies.
The Center will provide a link between CSU Stanislaus, the Modesto Art Museum, and Modesto’s downtown cultural district. It will provide a physical space for exhibiting visual arts in a non-commercial gallery, and will regularly host visual arts programming through the Modesto Art Museum’s Building a Better Modesto program. The Center will host video screenings and visual art receptions which will coincide with the downtown ArtWalk.
Using a relaxed “48-hour documentary filmmaking” model, resident artists will work with community groups to create original documentaries, using CSU Stanislaus students as cinematographers. Community members will be an integral part of the production process. Half of the resident artists will be CSU alumni, encouraging them to stay in the area and building a bridge between their academic and professional careers.
ARTPLACE: How do you expect to increase vibrancy in the place you are working?
GOMULA-KRUZIC: The Resident Filmmaker Program will use established video artists to draw interest and viewers from the surrounding region into Modesto for the monthly video screening events.
Working with local groups, the Building Imagination Center will create a distinctive presence in downtown, dramatically intensifying the level of arts activities and opportunities in the developing cultural center of Modesto. The community groups will help to market and socially support the films produced. Additionally, their interactions with the filmmaking process, and attendance at free videography workshops will put marketable skillsets back into a wide spectrum of the community.
The videos produced through the artist residencies will be screened through large-scale outdoor video projections coinciding with the year round Third Thursday ArtWalks. With a projected attendance of 150-200 people, these video events will create a vibrant activation of the streets, provide free art experiences for city residents, create a new arts presence in the Central Valley, and change how this mid-sized city sees itself. | <urn:uuid:c2059d49-100c-49cb-bb7a-82c2c20724ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artplaceamerica.org/articles/building-imagination-in-californias-central-valley/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912741 | 658 | 1.539063 | 2 |
A critical view on a famous installation by Marcel Duchamp (Roue de bicyclette, 1913). Duchamp was born in Blainville-Crevon (Normandie) and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Paris). Hoschele constructed a bicycle with a camera in front and a second camera at the back. The front camera looked forwards, the back camera looked backwards. He traveled from Blainville-Crevon to Neuilly-sur-Seine, which is about 150 km. This trip took him two days. He documented the road, the weather, the landscape (from rural environment to suburbia). Out of this material he made 9 hours video each. For the installation he reconstructed Duchamps ready-made as an interface. By turning the wheel the viewer activates the digitized video material from both cameras on boths screens. By turning the wheel forwards the viewer moves the video forwards; when turning the wheel backwards the video is moving backwards. Therefore the viewer can move forwards and backwards, faster and slower, and even stop. The viewer travels with Duchamp, he participates with his artwork and life. | <urn:uuid:fe67b289-e520-4919-a7b3-3e959d4a6e23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.toutfait.com/newsfulllist.php?id=286 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956593 | 237 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Expectant mothers who gain large amounts of weight tend to give birth to heavier infants who are at higher risk for obesity later in life. But it's never been proven that this tendency results from the weight gain itself, rather than genetic or other factors that mother and baby share. A large population-based study from Children's Hospital Boston, looking at two or more pregnancies in the same mother, now provides evidence that excess maternal weight gain is a strong, independent predictor of high birth weight.
The study, published Online First in The Lancet, highlights the importance of weight management efforts even before birth.
"Since high birth weight, in turn, increases risk for obesity and diseases such as cancer and asthma later in life, these findings have important implications to general public health," says coauthor David Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) at Children's Hospital Boston. "It's appropriate for a baby to be born with some fat, but a baby born too fat indicates that the fetus developed in an abnormal environment during the most critical nine months of life."
Ludwig and collaborator Janet Currie, PhD, of the Department of Economics at Columbia University, used statewide birth records to examine all known singleton births in Michigan and New Jersey from 1989 through 2003. They identified mothers with two or more live births, allowing a comparison of pregnancies in the same mother. Infants born before 37 weeks or after 41 weeks of gestation were excluded, as were mothers with diabetes and infants with extremely low or high birth weights. This left 513,501 women and 1,164,750 infants for analysis.
On average, the women gained an average of 30 pounds during their pregnancies, but with much variation; 12 percent of pregnancies involved weight gains of more than 44 pounds. High-birth-weight babies (8.8 lbs or more) accounted for 12 percent of all births.
"When comparing between siblings to control for genetic influences, we found that increasing amounts of maternal weight gain led to the birth of progressively heavier infants," says Ludwig.
Compared to those gaining just 18-22 pounds, expectant mothers gaining 44-49 pounds were 1.7 times more likely to have a high-birth-weight baby, and those gaining more than 53 pounds were 2.3 times more likely to do so. The pattern was the same after excluding women who had ever smoked, those who delivered by caesarean section, and those who had any pregnancy of less than 39 weeks or more than 40 weeks.
Animal studies suggest that excess maternal weight or excess weight gain during pregnancy affects the uterine environment, producing changes in the hypothalamus, pancreatic islet cells, fat tissue and other systems that regulate body weight. "Hormones and metabolic pathways, and even the structure of tissues and organs that play a role in body weight maintenance are affected," says Ludwig.
Recently updated guidelines from the Institute of Medicine suggest that women gain 28 to 40 pounds if underweight at the start of pregnancy, 25 to 35 pounds if they are normal weight, 15 to 25 pounds if overweight, and 11 to 20 pounds if obese.
Explore further: Consumers largely underestimating calorie content of fast food | <urn:uuid:7b9e99fa-2c97-45bd-9e2e-11c64473d809> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news200146856.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965984 | 650 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Jun 21, 2012 / 6:13 pm
Three scientists from BC have used an internationally prestigious journal to launch an attack against changes to the federal Fisheries Act currently before the Senate.
In a letter published online Thursday in the journal "Science," the scientists from Simon Fraser University criticize cutbacks at eco-toxicology labs and an aquatic research facility and changes to the act itself, saying the government's rational for making the changes is not supported by fact.
The changes are part of the omnibus budget bill known as Bill C-38, which passed third reading in Parliament earlier this week but has not yet become law.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.
"Where it seems that the evidence doesn't support the claims, it's important that people look at that and make the leaders aware of that, and continue to call out that we do value evidence and we do value effective management of the country," said Brett Favaro, a PhD student at the university.
"So that's where this really comes from is looking at the data and making sure we are making the best decisions based on the data."
According to the bill currently before the Senate, the amended act would only apply to major waterways and only to prohibit "serious harm" to a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery.
"Serious harm" is defined as death or permanent damage to habitat.
The changes would also give the federal government more leeway to allow exceptions.
The Conservative government has argued the legislation has been applied indiscriminately against ditches and other structures unlikely to bear fish and as a result has interfered with landowners and farmers, write Favaro, and SFU biology professors John Reynolds and Isabelle Cote, citing Parliamentary debates.
The government has also argued that removing habitat protection would enable Canadians to undertake activities on their properties without obtrusive interference, the scientists add.
But they write that the reasons for making those changes are not supported by evidence.
In fact, the scientists write that between 2006 and 2011, only one proposal reviewed by the federal environmental assessment process was rejected because of potential destruction to fish habitat.
And of 1,283 convictions under the Fisheries Act announced in media releases between 2007 and 2011, only 21 pertained to the destruction of fish habitat, write the scientists.
"Ours is the first, to my knowledge, quantitative assessment, where we actually looked at the data and figured out what they're saying," said Favaro.
He said he hopes politicians will review the bill because of public concern.
During the past 100 years, the country has lost about one-seventh of its wetlands, and it continues to lose them, a fact that will eventually lead to the loss of fish, he added.
The letter by the three scientists will also appear in the hardcopy edition of "Science" on Friday.
Four former fisheries minister, two Conservative and two Liberal, said in an open letter last month they don't believe the government of Stephen Harper has given a good explanation for including environmental provisions in a budget bill.
"We find it troubling that the government is proposing to amend the Fisheries Act via omnibus budget legislation in a manner that we believe will inevitably reduce and weaken the habitat protection provisions," wrote Tom Siddon, David Anderson, John Fraser and Herb Dhaliwal.
All former ministers are from British Columbia.
Recently, Canada's only marine-mammal toxicologist, Peter Ross, announced he'd be losing his job at the Institute of Ocean Sciences on Vancouver Island because of federal budget cuts at Fisheries and Oceans.
The Fiseries Department will be slashing about 400 positions from its 11,000-strong workforce.
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- Mother's heart broken on Mother's Day
- Bodychecking banned in Nova Scotia
- Captain Canada packs his bags | <urn:uuid:9d11f91e-d58c-49c7-9f2f-ee8ad91c7aae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-76903-4-.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959078 | 867 | 1.742188 | 2 |
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For those of you who always visit specific websites every time you open Google Chrome, they you will find Website Opener a handy extension which saves you a lot of time. What is does is it opens all your favourite and important websites with just one click. Instead of opening them all in a new window, it opens then all in new tab whose arrangement can be manually adjusted by the user. This helps keep the desktop neat and tidy.
Installing and using this extension is extremely easy, simply go to the Chrome Webstore and search for Website Opener, then simply click on the ‘Add to Chrome’ button to install it to your Chrome browser. Configuring Website Opener to open your favourite websites is quite easy, right click the ‘blue star’ icon next to the ‘customise and control Google Chrome’ icon and select ‘options’. A new page will open which gives you the option of adding new URL’s. On the right, one can see the list of the websites which will be opened. A panel at the bottom gives you the option to import you bookmarks. There is also the option to save or reset it. To add a webpage, simply type the name in the empty ‘add URL’ field and then click on add. To remove a webpage, click on ‘remove’ next to the name of the respective website.
The instructions are given very clearly and the interface is set up in such a way that even novices will be easily able to use and understand how Website Opener works. The ease of use combined with its practicality make Website Opener a very useful extension for office goers, students and anyone who habitually visits his favourite websites on a daily basis. | <urn:uuid:ace5951e-8b4b-4d1d-9be3-b9b8e4f12387> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chrome-plugins.org/extensions/website-opener/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915661 | 369 | 1.507813 | 2 |
December 10, 2012 - The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, today issued the following statement marking Human Rights Day:
“On Human Rights Day, the final day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, we acknowledge this cornerstone of democracy and stand side by side with women around the world.
“Around the world, women and girls continue to experience discrimination as a result of harmful cultural practices and unjust laws. Too often, women and girls are subject to early or forced marriage, are targeted by violence simply for being who they are and are prohibited from going to school, having a job or holding public office. Whatever form this discrimination takes, Canada will continue to speak out against it and work with others to effect real change in the lives of women and girls.
“As the Minister for Status of Women, I have made it a priority to advocate for women and girls in Canada and around the world who continue to face violence and discrimination in their daily lives. On behalf of Canada, I led the international community in the establishment of the Day of the Girl. The message of this day is simple: girls’ rights are human rights; the sooner in life girls know their rights, the greater the chance they will be able to exercise them and become leaders.
“Our government is committed to advocating the participation of women at all levels of society, especially as old regimes fall and new governments emerge in countries striving for progress, freedom and dignity. That is why Canada has provided almost $14 million in support toward ending sexual violence and encouraging the full participation of women in emerging democracies.
“The Canadian government will intensify its diplomacy and development work to end early and forced marriage in every corner of the world. We take pride in spearheading the establishment of the Day of the Girl and are committed to ending violence against women and girls. Where the human rights of women are fully respected and women play a vital role in government and civil society, we see more prosperous and pluralistic states. On Human Rights Day, let us redouble our efforts to ensure that the active participation of women and girls in all aspects of society becomes a reality in our lifetime.”
- 30 -
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Office of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services
and Minister for Status of Women | <urn:uuid:4db7d072-5bdd-431c-b520-e33f63e575d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2012/12/10a.aspx?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949188 | 484 | 2.640625 | 3 |
There are nearly 700 colonies of people living with leprosy in India and one of them is on the outskirts of Coimbatore, at Maruthamalai.
‘God is love” reads the letterhead of Amarjothi Leprosy Nivaran Sangh (ALNS), a colony of 100 closely packed homes housing 140 women and 160 men, 30 girls and 40 boys. On December 31, 2005, the National Leprosy Elimination Project declared the elimination of leprosy in India, as the prevalence rate was below one case for 10,000 people. Seven years later, reports say, India still bears half of the world’s leprosy burden and is home to many colonies of people living with leprosy, one of which is ALNS in Maruthamalai Adivaram (North).
What began with seven patients with leprosy and their kin 30-odd years ago is today a colony where over 70 patients live with their families. While most of them are near senior citizenship today, their life stories of exile, rejection and transfer from one Government rehabilitation home to the other, speak loud in memory.
To make a living
“Many of us came to Coimbatore to beg at the Maruthamalai temple. We’re from villages all over Tamil Nadu, some from Kerala and some as far as Delhi,” says A. Ganeshan (60), one of the earliest members of the Sangh and its President today. Leprosy is among the primary causes of physical disability and while the free availability of multi-drug therapy has considerably reined in leprosy’s spread, it has not cured the stigma associated with it. In the Sangh, none of the younger generation has a positive bacterial load and among the seniors, years of medication have garnered them negative, but it has not been in time to prevent deformity. Their vital medication is provided by the Rotary Club of Coimbatore Metropolis every three months. When distance and disability keep them from frequent visits to the Government Hospital, M. Lakshmanan (48), a patient himself, tends to their ulcers and wounds with his self-taught first aid. All community activities happen within an office room and extended shed built in the centre of the colony. Tiny homes extend around it up to the very foot of the hills. “When the rains are light, we manage to collect the water in plates but that’s impossible during heavy monsoon,” says Pechiamma (70). “The Government has given us a road leading to the colony, water and electricity. All we need are pattas for the land that our homes are built on so that our children may continue to live here. Only then can we also build sturdier homes,” says Ganeshan. All children in the Sangh currently study at a Government school in the vicinity while four of the young adults go to college.
The first of every month at the Sangh is collection day. Each member, excluding the children, contributes Rs. 2 to a collective which funds their transportation needs. Organisations in the city such as Assisi Snehalaya gift food and clothing on Deepavali and Christmas. These days are also special to men such as Vembannan, as they are the only times he visits his wife and children who continue to live in his hometown. Other’s stories, such as those of Madhinabibi and Abdul Ajiz, reflect more acceptance. They met and married at a rehabilitation home they were both housed in, and later moved to the Maruthamalai colony to make a life for their son who looks after them today. Says P Mohan (60), Vice President of the Sangh, “We believe what Gandhiji believed, that if you raise the life of one leprosy patient, you help raise the whole nation.” | <urn:uuid:2ebf8dfe-c5c6-47b9-970a-60607742f7a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/from-the-outside-looking-in/article4384045.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970234 | 815 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Salem - Anne and Joe Duncan didn't dare venture out to the grounds of their nursery, The Salem Herbfarm, during the height of last weekend's blizzard.
"All you could hear was the wind whipping, and it was looking strange, but you just couldn't get a good view," Anne Duncan said.
She was up all night waiting for the morning light to arrive to get a clear view of the damage the storm may have caused the farm's hoophouses and gutter-connected greenhouses.
What they saw was "just terrible," Anne Duncan said Saturday.
The hoophouses had escaped damage, but the weight of the snow had buckled the metal support beams and ripped through the heavy plastic covering of the farm's largest greenhouse.
Damage to the Duncans' farm and others throughout the state prompted a visit Saturday afternoon from U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who had toured Clinton Nurseries in Westbrook earlier in the day.
"Nurseries and greenhouses took it on the chin from Nemo," Courtney said. "Farming is a risky business, things happen, you can plan and try and sometimes you have no control."
The non-food greenhouse sector is a $1.1 billion state industry, with 3,000 businesses and 48,000 employees, according to a press release from Courtney's office. According to the Connecticut Nursery & Landscape Association, the blizzard caused between $12 and $20 million worth of damage to a total of 47 greenhouses or nursery/farm growers across the state. They include Semkow Farm in Colchester and Canterbury Horticulture.
Robert Heffernan, executive secretary for CNLA, said there are low-interest loans available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but "that's about it" as far as assistance from the federal government for farms impacted by the blizzard.
"The USDA is very focused on food agriculture but not so much on non-food agriculture, and nurseries are the largest component of non-food agriculture in Connecticut, so it's really a battle," Courtney said. "It's the same with shellfish farming, they don't qualify for disaster assistance."
He said his tour of the Herbfarm and of Clinton Nurseries helped him get a better hold on what information he plans to take to Washington as Congress continues work on the farm bill.
"It's helpful to see events like this and see ways that certain programs might be helpful in coming up with ways to help people with reconstruction," Courtney said.
Inside the collapsed greenhouse at the Herbfarm Saturday, rows of pots sat full of soil.
Anne Duncan said the greenhouse would have been filled with seedlings for sale, but because of the collapse, she'll have to buy most of what she typically grows herself.
This summer, the Duncans will lean on other Connecticut distributors for their supply, and the family is already working to find distributors that carry the "weird" varieties of pansies Anne Duncan grows. Her customers come to her specifically for the varieties she offers, she said.
Reconstructing the greenhouse will set the farm's operation back to where it was about 10 years ago, Joe Duncan said.
Some farms and nurseries are insured for their structures while others are not, Anne Duncan said. Farmers will have some tough decisions to make as to whether they rebuild or give up their operations, she said.
The Salem Herbfarm is insured, and Joe Duncan said he expects to at least receive the replacement value for the greenhouse, minus depreciation. The three-bay, 60-by-90-foot greenhouse, which he built himself, is about six years old.
The Duncans will need some helping hands to re-hang the plastic covering over the farm's only other growing area, which survived the blizzard because the plastic had ripped in a previous windstorm. The rip had prevented snow from piling up and collapsing the structure with its weight.
"People love coming in here, and they won't be able to this summer," Anne Duncan said, standing underneath the greenhouse's sagging metal support beams.
"You do what you gotta do and you just pick up and you move on. We'll be all right." | <urn:uuid:70376add-a1ed-4282-81a4-fe929f818819> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theday.com/article/20130217/NWS01/302179934/1070/BIZ03 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97406 | 879 | 1.820313 | 2 |
We all know people talk slower in Texas, but a recent survey has found that the Internet is slower in Texas, too.
Texas has the 6th slowest Internet connection in the Union (a term that still rankles most Rebel sympathizers), according to Akamai. Washington State, Virginia, D.C., Georgia and Illinois are even slower … but that also means Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas are faster.
Akamai used the percentage of homes with Internet connection speeds under 256 kilobits per second. (That’s the same as a very slow DSL connection but 5 times faster than dial-up).
On a brighter note, among countries of the world, the USA has the 7th fastest Internet. Only South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Sweden, Romania and Belgium (in that order) are faster. In fact, the Internet in South Korea is more than 3 times faster than the USA!
Here’s the kicker, though: Nepal’s Internet is about as fast as the USA’s. Some sherpa can surf as fast as you, bubba. | <urn:uuid:e4904a4b-2770-4dbd-a604-ed1df7319219> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.beaumontenterprise.com/bayou/2008/05/30/if-this-blog-loads-slow-its-because-youre-in-texas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948962 | 229 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Social Users Want The Doctor To Be In ... and Online
Healthcare organizations and providers are not exempt from lessons that have been learned by brands and social marketers in other industries. The main lesson is that today’s consumer is more empowered than ever before. Their ability to conduct research online from any number of sources and to compare and share with friends, family or experts makes them a very different breed from yesterday’s healthcare consumer.
Let’s talk about that consumer of the past. When they wanted information or the resolution to a problem, they had to wait however long it took to get an appointment with their doctor. The answers they got were limited to the information the doctor had at that moment. The doctor’s assessment had to be taken at face value and accepted as the right answer. If the patient didn’t like or had doubts about what they were being told, their only course of action was to set up yet another appointment with a separate physician to get a second opinion. And that’s not even getting into how long it took to get an answer back from their health insurer on coverage issues.
While all of these healthcare organizations may have been operating in the most efficient way possible, and with every ethical and professional standard that could be expected, the bottom line was that the consumer was largely at the mercy of the process.
Flash-forward to today, and not only is the consumer no longer at the mercy of the process, they have been empowered with a global, comprehensive knowledge bank, available instantly at their fingertips. They are driving the process. The result is that healthcare organizations must communicate with these empowered consumers from an entirely new perspective. And more than ever before, the consumer wants to conduct this communication over the social channels that are comfortable and familiar to them.
A recent PwC report examined consumer behavior with various kinds of health-related activities on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Overall, 27% of those surveyed commented on health experiences or social updates that they saw; 24% posted about health experiences themselves; 16% posted reviews of medications, treatments, doctors or insurers; and 18% traced and/or shared their health symptoms or behavior. Increasingly, consumers are willing to engage in healthcare discussions and services on social networks.
The study further asked how likely these consumers would be to share their health information using social: 47% would share with a doctor; 43% would share with a hospital; 40% would share with a pharmacy; 38% would share with a health insurance company; and 33% would share information with a retail health clinic or alternative healthcare setting. As you would expect, there are variations in trust according to demographics, but consumers are exhibiting a desire to engage with health-oriented brands and services on social. On the younger end, over 80% of respondents, ages 18 to 24, are likely to share health information through social, compared with 45% of respondents ages 45 to 64. The future is clearly in social communication in healthcare.
So what exactly are the new and emerging consumer expectations of healthcare organizations on social? Well, 72% would use social for scheduling doctor appointments. Not only that, 50% would expect to get a response within a few hours. If you don’t make them happy, 41% said social would influence their choice of a specific physician, hospital or medical facility. Health organizations may learn what some brands were very quick to learn: socially empowered consumers are able to gather, unify and react to negative experiences and quickly alter customer-service practices.
Today, healthcare marketers have new and powerful ways to find, reach out and engage their customers and potential customers, especially on social. The most successful of these efforts revolve around one key element … trust.
When the PwC survey asked how likely respondents are to trust health information on social from the following sources, 60% would trust a doctor, 56% a nurse, 55% a hospital, 54% a patient advocacy organization, 48% a retail pharmacy, and 46% patients they already know.
How can a healthcare organization marketer achieve this level of trust? The first step is to make sure you’re interacting with the consumer regularly and directly. Second, use every technological tool at your disposal to establish personalization. Third, reach out to them where they are, be it their smartphones are at retail healthcare establishments.
In the social world, trust comes from an ongoing dialogue and the deliberate fostering and building of real and human relationships. No patient wants to feel like a number.
They’re putting their health in your hands and feel justified in asking merely that you know who they are. Social makes these personal touch points possible in ways you may have not yet imagined. Even at the very least, a simple birthday greeting from their doctor would make any patient feel wanted and valued.
Your consumer is on social and waiting for you. When you make yourself the primary go-to source for their healthcare information, when you set up a system in which the consumer feels like you’re listening and they’re being heard, and when you reinforce your credibility by taking off your marketing hat and communicating in an unbiased, caring fashion, you are investing in the social relationships that will pay profitable, repeated dividends. | <urn:uuid:2d5181c0-d84d-48fd-860e-9f6e70751eec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/173515/social-users-want-the-doctor-to-be-in-and-onli.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+marketing-health+%28MediaPost+%7C+Marketing%3A+Health%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972996 | 1,072 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Fifty pioneering satirical works are presented in "When Artists Attack the King: Honoré Daumier and 'La Caricature,' 1830-1835" at the Cantor Arts Center. The show is on view through Nov. 11.
The exhibition's works all come from the collection of the Cantor Arts Center. It features works by 19th-century caricaturist Daumier and his colleagues at the Parisian weekly journal "La Caricature." The artists endured fines, litigation and even prison sentences for their scathing portraits of the French king Louis-Philippe I, who came to power after the Revolution of 1830.
The king's monarchy came to be known as the July Monarchy. The artists mocked its ministers and their censorship of the press and their role in the inequities in society. Some works depict government officials as marionettes while others depict the aftermath of an entire working-class family shot after a riot.
Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, the Cantor's Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, notes, "Daumier and the other artists at 'La Caricature' were incredible draftsmen, and they all possessed a gift for using wicked humor to cut to the heart of controversial issues."
The exhibition will continue through Nov 11. The Cantor Arts Center is off Lomita Drive at Museum Way on the campus of Stanford University. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, with extended hours until 8 p.m. Thursdays. Call 650-723-4177 or visit
"I Love California," a member exhibition of the Peninsula Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art, is on view through Jan. 31 at the Milton Marks Conference Center Galleries in San Francisco.
The show includes works in a variety of mediums, including oils, acrylics, watercolor, mixed media, fiber art and photography.
Della Calfee's "Sunshine State" highlights the California state flower. She notes, "Vivid blooms evoke vitality, sunshine and the wild spirit of both the state and its inhabitants."
Yvonne Newhouse has created watercolor paintings of California-grown fruits, recognizing the abundance in California's Central Valley.
Marian Yap, inspired by Haiku poetry, used threads to represent diversity and cultural richness in California's population.
The availability of water inspired both Bonnie J. Smith and Rebecca Lambing. Smith created a textile of a swimmer while Lambing created a painting inspired by a day spent kayaking on Independence Lake near Truckee.
The show also includes works by Beate Amler, Claire Erlin, Annamaria Kusber, Ellen Lee, Kim McCool Nelson, Alysanne McGaffey, Nora Raggio, Jeanette Sacco-Belli, Francine Survilo, Leigh Toldi and Cristina Velazquez.
The Milton Marks Conference Center Gallery are on the lower level of the Hiram Johnson State Office Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For information, visit http://peninsulawca.blogspot.com/ or contact Ellen Lee at firstname.lastname@example.org.
The Coastal Arts League Museum presents The Local Coastal Potter's Show through Aug. 27. A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 18. The exhibit is curated by potter and ceramics instructor Randall Reed.
The gallery is at 300 Main St., Half Moon Bay. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Fridays through Mondays. Call 650-726-6335 or visit www.coastalartsleague.com.
The Bay Area Classical Artist Atelier (BACAA) presents a five-day course in drawing and sculpting the figure from life. "The Figure in Depth, Drawing and Sculpting the Figure from Life" is designed to offer students of all levels a comprehensive investigation of the human form.
The course is presented by Jordan Sokol and Eran Webber. Sokol is a figurative painter from Queens, New York, currently living and teaching in Florence, Italy. Webber is a principal sculpturing instructor at the Florence Academy of Art.
The class will be presented August 20-24 at the BACAA facilities at 345 Quarry Road, San Carlos. The fee is $780. For more information about the class, visit www.bacaa.org, e-mail email@example.com or call 650-832-1544.
Fine art photographer Charles Anselmo of Anselmo Image Works, veteran of 24 trips of Cuba, will lead a weeklong photographic exploration of Havana, Cuba, Aug. 20-27. The program is limited to ten participants.
The $2,500.00 fee includes travel permit and related documents, round trip flight from Cancun to Cuba, lodging, health insurance, translator and in-city transportation. Contact Anselmo at 415-407-3870 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.
Information on visual and literary arts can be sent to Bonny Zanardi at Bzanardi@aol.com. | <urn:uuid:ba463159-ca3d-48f2-b80c-4e7e382e6c0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mercurynews.com/rss/ci_21215871?source=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917659 | 1,092 | 2.296875 | 2 |
A model of an Austrian castle where the Nazis murdered about 30,000 people including many who were mentally ill or disabled is headed to a U.S. museum.
Hartheim Castle was one of several notorious institutions that Adolf Hitler and his regime turned into the main venues for what they called "euthanasia" and where individuals who did not meet their ideals were gassed or given lethal injections.
William C. Eacho III, the U.S. ambassador to Austria, formally received the replica of the castle, located in the northern Austrian village of Alkoven, on Friday. It will now go on permanent loan to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
"The model reminds us of what can happen when society loses its moral compass and forgets the intrinsic value of human life," Eacho said during a ceremony in the Austrian Foreign Ministry. "We must work together to ensure that this never happens again."
After years of denial, Austria has turned in the past few decades from depicting itself as Hitler's victim to acknowledging, and making amends for, its role in the Holocaust.
That includes spending millions on compensation payments and returning artwork and other assets seized by the Nazis to their rightful owners or heirs, most of them Jews.
Eacho praised Austria's efforts, saying the country has done, and continues to do, much to come to terms with its terrible past.
Upper Austria Gov. Josef Puehringer, who also attended the ceremony, said history could not be undone and that it was Austria's responsibility to learn from what happened and make sure such abuses don't occur again.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. | <urn:uuid:699a0586-e182-4736-a5ba-f6b374760322> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=42333&int_modo=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983126 | 335 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Magi Astrology Definition For:
Electional astrology - That part of astrology that deals with the selection of favorable days and times to begin an endeavor or a relationship. The theory is that every activity has a natal chart, and the astrological chart of a relationship or an endeavor is the chart of the commencement date of the activity. Just as is the case for natal charts of people, the natal charts of electional dates have aspects, progressions, and transits. The more favor-able the natal chart of the time and date elected to begin the activity, the more successful the results will be.
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Magi Society is a registered trademark of THE MAGI ASSOCIATES, INC. | <urn:uuid:60626d10-4b92-43ff-9e00-297afd016324> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.magiastrology.com/glossary/electional%20astrology_defined.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908571 | 196 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Ask any teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District if they would rather take a pay cut in the guise of furlough days or have five more students in their classes next year. Without a doubt, the latter would be the choice for the majority of our classroom instructors in LAUSD.
Or ask these same hard-working colleagues if they would take a pay increase if they would only clean their own classrooms and empty their trashcans. Again, the answer would be a resounding “yes” to creatively solving our current budget woes.
One would think that this common sense approach at communicating with its members by offering simple choices would be taken up by our union leaders at United Teacher of Los Angeles (UTLA). Instead, under the panic of budget cuts and million dollar deficits, hotter heads prevailed when the dreaded “L” word was threatened by Superintendent Ramon Cortines in this latest Helen Bernstein compromise where teachers bend over quickly in a co-dependent drama and “solve” the budget crisis by taking yet another pay cut.
In the business world, no one ever asks the workers of IBM or Chrysler to take a pay cut. Companies simply lay off workers and people say it’s a shame and move on to other avenues of employment. No one in the public cries “Foul!” or “Unfair!” It is simply a harsh reality of living in a capitalistic society. After the layoffs, the leaner and fiscally fitter company comes back stronger—and if profits soar in a few years, some people are hired back. But in our business of teaching students, UTLA seems only interested in saving jobs, but not in creating a better, stronger teacher force for the future.
Presently, our district is bloated and needs to take a Slimfast approach with its rank and file. For every teacher working in the classroom, we have two outside positions “supporting” them and our students. Some support is definitely needed — such as a nurse or teacher’s aide — but others — an office bureaucrat or six-figure administrator who works in Beaudry under the division of “Leadership Academy” — we don’t need. If we want leaders, we need only look into our schools to find them fighting the good fight every day. Those other positions can go.
Another layoff that would be less painful than teachers taking a pay cut would be the mandatory retirement of anyone over 60 years of age who has worked for the district 30 years or more. With over 2,000 employees who fit this bill, the District could save over $160 million. These veterans who are forced to retire wouldn’t bear any financial burden and would, in fact, actually make more take home pay than they presently receive while working. More importantly, they would be opening up the fresh recycling process our profession desperately needs to maintain.
Under the tentative agreement currently proposed by the District and union, we would have to maintain a hiring freeze on new teachers because we want to save jobs. This is unfortunate since the lifeblood of our profession is not saving jobs, but in creating, molding, and supporting the fresh young faces in our profession who will be on the front lines of teaching the students we want to be colleg-e and career-ready. These veterans who cling to their jobs because they wouldn’t have anything to do at home, (a 72-year-old administrator actually intimated this to me) bottleneck the rest of us from fulfilling the circle of our professional lives.
There are other creative and more humane ways to solve our present fiscal crisis, such as rethinking school busing and school police by working with the city to cut down costs (eliminate the buses and give our student MTA passes) or creating “new” online hybrid schools that treat high school students more like college students. For example, my doctor can presently take my blood pressure, monitor my heart rate, and prescribe an exercise routine from his office computer. Why not do the same for physical educaion teachers?
If a similar online system were created for our many continuation high schools that house as few as 36 students each, we would avoid paying for a secretary and principal.There are already hundreds of these concept schools sprouting up all over the country and on the Internet. Our union and district need to find out how these “schools of the 21st Century” can be utilized to save our district even more money.
Before our Bernstein compromise of pay cuts was announced to the public, my union sent me a “UTLA Bargaining Flash!” that had none of the ideas or concepts mentioned above. No creativity, no other possibilities, and no new ideas; just disagreements on the logistics of furlough days and budget cuts. I, for one, will not agree to any furlough cuts until my leader looks into the ideas I and others have suggested.
Perhaps the first option he should consider is my 60/30 year proposal. If he fell on his own sword, our union could emerge as a 21st organization instead of the current caveman institution presently negotiating our fates as teachers.
Alfee Enciso, a 28-year veteran of the Los Angeles Unified School District, has worked in education as an administrator, English teacher, Literacy Coach, and Social Studies Specialist. He has presented throughout the state on literacy, culturally relevant teaching, and reading and writing strategies for teachers. He currently works at Banning High School as a teacher librarian. | <urn:uuid:1c8bc084-92ef-4be5-96ff-c4986c631164> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laprogressive.com/creative-cuts-concepts-las-schools/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969189 | 1,139 | 1.5 | 2 |
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ClassicsOnline Home » ADAMS: Shaker Loops / Wound Dresser / Short Ride in a Fast Machine
The story of John Adams is a truly American one. Raised in Massachusetts and trained as a composer at Harvard, at the age of 24 he headed west to San Francisco in order to distance himself from his neo-European upbringing. Shaker Loops, written in the heyday of American minimalism, helped to earn him a place as one of the most famous living composers. It borrows the technique of looping fragments of melody from Steve Reich’s early tape experiments, and continues to be one of Adams’ most frequently performed works. Also included on this disc is Short Ride in a Fast Machine, four minutes of pure aural adrenaline, and The Wound- Dresser, a pensive adaptation of Walt Whitman’s poem about his experiences as a nurse during the civil war.
By John J. Puccio
Penguin Guide Key Recording
By Malcolm Hayes
John Adams (b. 1947) Shaker Loops • Short Ride in a Fast Machine • The Wound-Dresser • Berceuse Élégiaque
“Two things particularly excited me about John’s music,” said conductor Simon Rattle. “One was that it always seemed to be moving forward in space, that I would imagine while listening to it that I was in a light aircraft flying rather fast, close to the ground. The other thing is that, in almost all of his best pieces, there’s a mixture of ecstasy and sadness.” This quotation, from one of the world’s pre-eminent conductors, pretty well sums up the appeal on the work of composer John Adams: its immediacy, its speed (even when slow), and its power, like all great art, to give catharsis through despondency, despair, or even through frantic motion.
The story of John Adams is a truly American one, in the vein of the peripatetic journeyman ranging from Johnny Appleseed to Bob Dylan to the former president who shares his name. Raised in Massachusetts, Adams, in 1971, the tail end of the “love generation”, packed his things into a Volkswagen Bug and headed west to San Francisco, the apex of the waning revolution, in order to distance himself from his neo-European upbringing. He was a trained composer, studying at Harvard with eminent mentors like Leon Kirchner, David Del Tredici and Roger Sessions, pursuing not only composition but conducting and playing the clarinet as well. However, in order to shuffle off this petit bourgeois training, and to reconcile himself with the wave of popular music in which he felt himself (perhaps in spite of his Ivy League affiliation) swept up, Adams, rather than deny it, ran toward it, to California.
This split explains Adams’ oeuvre very well. Who else but such a polyglot could write both the gloomy, sedate Wound-Dresser, the Rent aspirant opera I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky, and the ersatz electronica of Hoodoo Zephyr? When he got to the coast, his career blossomed, and he created pieces for all media: from film scores and operas to symphonies, concertos, string quartets, and think pieces for orchestra, enduring works like Harmonielehre, Harmonium, The Chairman Dances (a suite taken from his opera Nixon in China) and two of the gems found on this disc, Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Shaker Loops.
Adams went on to become one of the most famous composers in the world, with awards too numerous to mention (though the 2002 Pulitzer Prize deserves special dispensation) and new recordings always being released. He conducts regularly, both his own music and that of others, and has earned his place in the mighty triumvirate of American Minimalist composers alongside Philip Glass and Steve Reich.
Short Ride in a Fast Machine is, as the title suggests, a whirling dervish of a piece, where a huge orchestra is juggernauted in to four minutes of high speed life by the insistence of a wood block. Composed as a companion piece to a slow, anti-fanfare called Tromba Lontana, this is four minutes of open throttle fireworks, a concert (or disc) opener if there ever was one. The piece was first performed in 1986 by a young conductor called Michael Tilson Thomas, who would go on to become music director of the San Francisco Symphony, where Adams is composer-inresidence.
Adams’ Nixon, in his opera Nixon in China, was a golden-voiced baritone called Sanford Sylvan, for whom he wrote the gloomy, lamenting Whitman setting called The Wound-Dresser. Whitman was himself a nurse during the civil war, and he wrote, in his inimitable elegiac fashion, of these terrible times, speaking bluntly about the “stump of arm” or “perforated shoulder” or “crush’d head”, all horrid sights he bore witness to while doing his duty. Adams, in making his piece, accents the solemnity and dignity of Whitman’s heroic, unheralded acts of bravery. The music itself, scored for orchestra and baritone, is one of the slowest, most pensive compositions in the Adams canon. Strings dominate, in sparse (but somehow heavy) textures, and though the text is quite brutally dramatic, Adams does not soup it up; his admirable restraint gives the work’s repetition a monodic quality, like a prayer or an atonement, and the words float gorgeously above the orchestra. There is a build (in Adams’ work, there is always a build), but climaxes in this piece are understated and tasteful. This piece is sort of a brother to Harmonium, his setting of three poems of Emily Dickinson. Both deal in the nineteenth century (in different ways), and both poets are, like Adams, at root, salt-of-the-earth New Englanders.
Many think of Shaker Loops, a piece Adams wrote in the mid-1970s, when minimalism in New York was peaking, the period of Glass’s Music in Twelve Parts or Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, seminal works both from the same period. The work began as a piece for string quartet called Wavemaker, something he has since withdrawn, and now ends in this version, for string orchestra. He based the piece on “shaking”, translating this to trills and tremolos. “The ‘loops’,” writes Adams, in liner notes to a prior recording, “are small melodic fragments whose ‘tails,’ so to speak, are tied to their ‘heads,’ creating loops of repeated melodies, a technique borrowed from tape music composition.” He is referring here to Reich’s monumental pieces like Come Out and It’s Gonna Rain, where small fragments of tape were played at speeds just different enough to, over time, create a ‘phasing’ effect. He is also, in his title, referring to a religious sect that made their home near his own rural New Hampshire town. “I would try to imagine,” writes Adams, “what a Shaker ceremony must have felt like—those normally stern souls suddenly sprung loose in a rapture of religious ecstasy as they shook in sympathetic vibration with their creator.”
The piece is cast in four movements, called Shaking and Trembling, Hymning Slews, Loops and Verses and A Final Shaking. The first is rapturous and exciting, fast and wildly caffeinated; the second is a break from the frenzy of the first, favoured by glissandi (sliding around on the strings) and pitting intrusions (rounded and mellow) of the high strings against the lush chords of the lower ones, ending with a collective shimmer; the third is a slow burn, picking up where the second left off and running far afield, moving slowly from a low, throaty cello melody to a shake, to a scamper, to an all out blast, and ending with a sluff-off to the highest, most crystalline register; the fourth, and final movement, makes reference to the first, but in a colder, more controlled way, as the piece dwindles to a calculated whimper.
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By Deborah Douglas
There’s no stopping Amber Bonds, who just picked up her nursing degree on May 17 at Chicago State University’s largest graduation ever. She’ll work for a year, in a field where opportunity abounds. Then she’ll up the ante and return to school to become a nurse practitioner.
“The course work was a challenge, but I learned to be a strong independent learner and a problem solver,” says Bonds, who grew up in Peoria. “I’m following up on clinical leads to secure full-time work, and then I’ll be sure to bring the importance of pubic health advocacy into my work life.”
Bonds is a member of CSU’s largest-ever graduating class. As a member of CSU’s renowned nursing program that typically sets the state and national pace on the nursing license exam, she is poised to be a top earner in a field of great demand.
The jobs outlook for registered nurses is better than average: In the next few years, nursing opportunities are expected to expand 26 percent. Moreover, the median pay for registered nurses is $64,690 a year.
Chicago State University’s graduation was history making for students like Bonds. In addition to being a part of the largest graduating class in the institution’s 145-year history, its College of Pharmacy hosted its first graduating class, in addition.
In fact, CSU will enjoy a graduation rate that is on track to be between 21-25 percent when the final numbers are filed August 30 with the federal Integrated Post Secondary Education Data System. Even with the most conservative estimate, this graduating class is, indeed, the largest ever.
Commencement speaker Bishop Horace Smith, M.D., exhorted students to live meaningful lives of vision, persistence and accountability. The first-generation college graduate told graduates that it only literate societies are prosperous.
“Illiterate societies are plagued by poverty and violence,” Smith said. “What are your values, above what money you’re going to make? What will you do to make others better?”
Retired State Sen. Emil Jones, a longtime CSU benefactor and the key to obtaining state funding to establish a pharmacy school on the South Side also spoke.
“You can accomplish more when you’re doing it for someone else other than yourself,” Jones told the crowd, marveling at the high salaries graduates of the first College of Pharmacy class are poised to earn. “Don’t forget this institution. Give back to this university so some other students can follow in your path.”
When President Wayne D. Watson, Ph.D., arrived on CSU’s campus in October 2009, the institution that has cultivated generations of public school teachers and provided a bridge to middle-class professionalism, was languishing with a graduation rates of 13 and 14 percent respectively in 2010 and 2009. In 2011, the graduation rate increased to 20.9 percent.
The Watson administration has gone through great effort to undergird each student’s academic foundation by increasing retention and graduation supports.
For example, from the first day of classes through end of term, each student may access subject matter coaching to help them catch up, keep up and stay ahead.
CSU also created a Dean of the Freshman Experience position to guide first-time, full-time freshmen through the challenges of college life and burgeoning adulthood.
The South Side institution has also invested in science, technology, engineering and math by building a $1.5 million, state-of-the-art interactive physics lab that allows students to collaborate effectively, and faculty to research student learning methods to increase their chances of success. Chicago State is also notable in that undergraduate STEM majors engage in the type of research reserved for graduate students at other institutions.
“Today is special,” said Dr. Mary Kate Miller, who earned her Pharm. D. degree and will begin a residency at the University of Chicago Medical Center. “It took a lot of hard work, clinical rotation and long hours of studying, but my experience at Chicago State was really great.” | <urn:uuid:b946c724-35dd-499a-8c4a-612596193163> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ndigo.com/index.php/chicago-state-university-graduates-its-largest-class-ever/?feedsort=more | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957894 | 880 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Jim Paladino: The politics of health care
Published: Sunday, February 24, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, February 22, 2013 at 10:54 p.m.
Politics as usual is shaping reform of the American health-care system.
Republicans hate the specter of Big Brother forcing Americans to buy health insurance, the so-called individual mandate, preferring that Americans retain the right to "just say no" to health insurance. Democrats, who never saw a problem they could not afford to solve, scream at the injustice of 32 million Americans suffering from poor health partly because they do not have health insurance. This political battle pits the evils of Big Brother against the benefits of the Nanny State.
Unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, Republicans challenged its constitutionality. The paradoxical Supreme Court decision made both parties squint their eyes, scratch their heads, and ask, "Really?" According to Paul Starr, Princeton professor of sociology and public affairs, the ruling admits that under the Commerce Clause, government cannot mandate a commercial enterprise like health insurance; however, according to this Supreme Court, Congress can force individuals to buy health insurance because this unique mandate is a tax that Congress has a right to levy.
This gave Republicans ammunition to label Democrats as tax-and-spend liberals. It forced Democrats to explain how taxing the wealthy, employer fines and excise taxes on medical devices are not taxes, assuming that Democrats agree with the majority opinion. The Supreme Court further ruled that states could not be forced to expand Medicaid. This gave Republicans, states' right champions, cause for joy, but placed financial burdens on Obama to pay for Medicaid expansion.
Following the money sharpens the political divide in the battle to provide affordable health care to all Americans against the affordability of mandatory health insurance. Republicans espouse free-market solutions, believing that competition keeps costs down and government intervention stifles competition. But it may be difficult to explain why competitive markets never contained prescription drug costs, neither before nor after a Republican president signed the Medicare prescription drug program into law. Democrats believe competition has resulted in inequities leaving millions uninsured.
Efforts to satisfy everyone litter the road to health-care reform. Neither party considered scrapping the current system because both parties guard victories from past battles that established and modified Medicare and Medicaid. According to Beaufort B. Longest, University of Pittsburgh professor of health policy and management, reforms must satisfy the politics of existing programs. They must stimulate Congress' desire to test the political consequences of incremental reform without committing to the unknown consequences of an entirely different health-care system, regardless of how dysfunctional the system becomes.
Vested interests protect the current system. Private insurers protect profits by retaining their freedom to define benefits and establish rates based on demographics, lifestyle and pre-existing conditions. Republicans fear economic collapse if the insurance industry is dismantled. Democrats fear that starting over would be a major setback making future compromise impossible.
And so, political tinkering continues to drive health-care reform. Obama's insurance compromise is health insurance exchanges and premium subsidies allowing insurers to expand their business, but they must operate under new rules of rate restrictions and elimination of pre-existing conditions. This compromise leaves both parties pondering the consequences, with Democrats unwilling to trust insurers to provide comprehensive benefits, while Republicans fear declining profits will bankrupt insurers.
The politics of the public-private insurance debate is fueled by emotional rhetoric. Republicans characterize Obama's panel of medical experts, who evaluate the medical effectiveness of services and evidence-based outcomes, as care-rationing "death panels". Obama, politically savvy after Clinton's health care reform defeat, is reluctant to attack insurers by pointing out that these evaluations are currently made by insurers' boards of directors who ration benefits based on profits. Other interest groups that Republicans embrace are providers, concerned with reduced reimbursements, who may opt out of the system, and employers who may cut benefits or lay off employees.
Compromise surrounds the contraception and religious-freedom issue. Republicans believe that forcing Catholic institutions to pay for contraception violates religious freedom. Democrats do not want to be labeled as infringing on religious freedom. Obama's compromise is to force the insurer, not the religious employer, to pay for contraception for employees who request it.
Republican math still adds up to a Catholic employer paying for products that include contraception. This thorny issue for both parties has some Republicans divided over the championing of a religious right issue, believing this has been their Achilles heel at election time. Obama can rely on the popular politics of free contraception, which includes many Catholics, to guide his conscience.
Obamacare is as if Congress supplied the parts to rebuild our old truck's transmission but neither party is certain how those parts connect. Most Americans simply hope that their health insurance and their old Chevy truck will provide a safe trip that is affordable to their doctors of choice.
Congress thrives on the political tug of war that dominates the slow process of reform. Democrats see Obamacare as a stepping stone to universal coverage. Republicans see Obamacare as a wealth redistribution program that will break Obama's piggy bank. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Obamacare will cost almost $1 trillion over the next decade, but will reduce the federal budget deficit.
Obamacare's imprint on the healthcare system and the economy will be monumental, and future opposition and compromise will force constant adjustment of the nuts and bolts of Obamacare.There is one certainty: Politics will continue shaping reform of the health-care system.
Dr. James C. Paladino has practiced general dentistry in Gainesville since 1976 and is president-elect of the Alachua County Dental Association. | <urn:uuid:fe90a96a-e781-49af-b4b1-0e5c4eb805ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130224/OPINION03/130229779/1077/opinion02?Title=Jim-Paladino-The-politics-of-health-care | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947715 | 1,150 | 1.96875 | 2 |
What part of computers does this program focus on?
This program focuses on networking and computer systems administration and security. You will learn how to design, configure and maintain networks. You will also learn how to install, configure and maintain computer operating systems. Included in the program are some required basic programming courses, but it is not the goal of this program to train software developers.
Will I be able to get certified for CISCO, A+ and Microsoft after completing your program?
Yes. The core courses for the program will prepare you to take the industry exams. However, you will have to pay separately to take those exams since they are not required for your course work.
Can I transfer these credits to earn a Bachelors Degree?
Yes. After completing your AS degree from HCC, you can transfer to UH West Oahu and earn a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computing, Electronics and Networking Technologies. You can also earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Systems Administrations at Hawaii Pacific University. Both Bachelor degrees require that a minimum of 30 credits be completed at that campus. Refer to the Articulation information on http://tech.honolulu.hawaii.edu/cent/ for more specific information on requirements.
Can I get credits toward my degree if I have CISCO and A+ Certification?
Yes. Please see the program counselor and you may be able to get credits for the CENT program.
Are there any classes offered in the evening or through distance education?
No- not at this time. All classes are offered on campus during the day.
Are all of the classes taught in lecture format?
No. Most of the classes include lab so there is a lot of hands-on instruction.
What is the difference between the required internship and required cooperative education class?
An internship is where you are performing some kind of work activity related to computer hardware or networking without getting paid, whereas cooperative education is performing some kind of work activity related to computer hardware or networking but you are getting monetary compensation.
Do I need to find my own internship or cooperative education activity?
No, if you are not presently employed in the field, the college will help you find an internship position which will most likely be on campus. If you are presently working in the field, you may be able to use that work activity for the cooperative education requirement.
How many work hours are required for the internship or cooperative education requirement?
One credit hour is equal to 75 hours of work activity so since the program requires that you complete 2 credits, you will need to complete a total of 150 hours. These 2 credits can be taken during 2 separate semesters if you cannot complete 150 hours in one semester.
What kind of job can I get with an Associate of Science Degree?
An Associate degree will prepare you to work in a variety of industries such as customer support, desk top support, networking, entry level system administration, telecommunications, cabling, security, repair and maintenance.
What kind of job can I get with a Bachelor's degree?
A Bachelor's degree will prepare you to work as a systems administrator. You will be equipped to use your technical knowledge in an administrative environment since most of the upper division classes you will be taking are in business and public administration.
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, indicating companies continue to hire at a modest but steady pace.
The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 350,500, the lowest in nearly five years. The average is low because of seasonal factors, which reduced applications sharply last month.
Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs. When layoffs decline, net hiring typically rises.
The four-week average of applications has dropped nearly 6 percent in the past three months. At the same time, hiring has picked up: Employers added an average of 200,000 jobs a month from November through January.
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GPS could speed up tsunami alert systems: researchers
04/25/2012 15:21 GMT
VIENNA, April 25, 2012 (AFP) - Global positioning systems (GPS) could provide faster tsunami alerts than current warning set-ups, German researchers said Wednesday, citing data collected in last year's deadly Japan earthquake.
"On the occasion of the Fukushima earthquake, we analysed data from more than 500 GPS stations and showed that a correct estimate of the magnitude of 9.0 and of the generated tsunami could have been possible in just three to four minutes after the earthquake," Andrey Babeyko, a scientist from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam, said in a statement.
This "shows again what potential a GPS shield has in tsunami early warning systems," he added.
The findings were presented at a week-long conference of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna.
If an earthquake occurs near the coast, it can take just 20-30 minutes before a resulting tsunami hits land, but GPS measurements taken almost while the earthquake is still happening would enable a faster assessment of its scale, the researchers said.
Traditional measuring methods require more time to provide an accurate picture, often underestimating the magnitude of a quake at first, they added.
In the case of last year's earthquake in Japan, the authorities became aware of its scale only 20 minutes after the event, possibly leading to many more casualties than if a warning had gone out earlier, according to GFZ.
Some 19,000 people died when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake off the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 triggered a tsunami and a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
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|My brother and I each spent a very different day in Texas last week.
For him, the journey required a jet. For me, only books were needed.
For him, the trip was present day only. For me, the trip spanned more than a century and a half.
For him, he was only able to visit Fort Worth. I virtually visited Fort Worth, along with Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and The Alamo, the Hill Country, some of the world-famous Texas ranches, and many points in between.
He was able to meet only a few people IRL (in real life). I was able to see a wealth of fascinating Texas history through the lives of hundreds of Texans, a number of which are our cousins through our Montague ancestors. Some of them included Texas Rangers, America’s first lady Ambassador to Britain, the woman the Buick Electra was named after, political and business leaders, Civil War veterans, and a sports commentator.
I don’t know if he took any virtual side trips. My exploration triggered a number of pleasing recollections from my personal memory archives, including swimming in an absolutely crystal clear stream among the cypress trees on the outskirts of Wimberley.
I’m not sure what his mission was. My mission was to find, extend, and digitally map more Family Forest ancestral pathways into and out of Texas. At the end of the day, numerous additional ancestral pathways that began in Rome, Scandinavia, England, France, Germany, New England, Virginia, etc. centuries earlier had reached Texas.
Some of our neighbors who see me at the keyboard almost all the time are probably shaking their heads and thinking, “The poor guy never gets to go anywhere.” But they don’t need to feel sorry for me. At the beginning of each day, I am fortunate enough to be able to wonder “Where, and when, will my travels take me today?”
|Bruce H. Harrison
Millisecond Publishing Co., Inc.
PO Box 6168
Kamuela, HI 96743
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Posted by R. Berg on November 05, 2001
In Reply to: A Rose by any other...... posted by Bruce Kahl on November 05, 2001
: : : : : : : : What is meant by the phrase "gypsy's warning"?
: : : : : : : The only gypsy warning that I'm familiar with is the one in "The Wolf Man," a 1941 movie. See http://rhs.jack.k12.wv.us/classic/feature/wolfman/wolfsb1.htm
: : : : : : gypsy's/gipsy's warning n.1 [mid-19C+] no warning at
all. [neg. stereotyping]
: : : : : : gypsy's/gipsy's warning n.2 [mid-19C+] morning. [Rhy. sl.]
: : : : : : From _Cassell's Dictionary of Slang_ by Jonathon Green
: : : : : So, "gypsy's warning" is an ethnic slur along the lines of "Mexican standoff" and "Dutch treat." (Search archives under "standoff" and "treat.")
: : : : "Ethnic slur" sounds so harsh... and they are oxymorons,
: : : : most obvious examples - Dutch Courage, Military Intelligence,
: : : : modern parallels - perhaps the warnings phoned in by terrorists 3 minutes before an attack.
: : : Yes, "ethnic slur" is very harsh cause the phrase IS an ethnic slur and an oxymoron it is not.
: : : An oxymoron ( Greek: Oxus = "sharp" Moros = "dull" ) is a
combination of contradictory or incongruous words such as "jumbo
: : : shrimp", "definite maybe", "exact estimate","army intelligence"
: : : etc etc.
: : : An ethnic slur is the attribution of negative, sarcastic, humiliating and demeaning traits to human beings based on their place of birth, race or creed aka "regional chauvinism".
: : : In fact, the English word "gyp" which means to swindle or defraud is derived from Gypsy and "gyp" is an ethnic slur the same as "Gypsy' warning".
: : and Dutch Courage is still an oxymoron, since the implication is that the dutch have no courage and hence need it from alcohol, therefore "dutch" and "courage" are incongruous words placed together, as for that matter are "Gypsy" and "warning".
: "Ok, I see" sez the blindman.
: Hateful oxymora?
: I found a dictionary that said an oxymoron:
: "..is a wittily paradoxical turn of phrase that appeals to 'unconscious responses instead of rational examinations.'
: So I agree with you then that these hate terms could be considered oxymoronic but I see the hate before the wit!
Either "gypsy's warning" is both an ethnic slur and an oxymoron, or it is neither. Proof? Here goes: If it's an oxymoron, it qualifies as one by juxtaposing two logically incompatible terms. For the terms "gypsy" and "warning" to be incompatible, the phrase must presume an inconsistency between gypsies and warnings. We all know that warnings are good things. Therefore the problem must be with gypsies--they don't give warnings, or they give false ones, or untimely ones, or whatever. And that premise is the ethnic slur (or, as a reference book cited above calls it, the negative stereotyping). If there is no ethnic slur--that is, if the phrase doesn't imply a blanket attribution of some bad quality to gypsies as a group--then there's no inconsistency between "gypsy" and "warning," and the phrase is not an oxymoron. (In this condition the phrase is also pointless.)
The world is currently in a crisis of the utmost severity that began with the same "My group is better than yours" mentality seen in the premise "Gypsies are unreliable." Think about that for a while. | <urn:uuid:65bade15-f9e0-4e47-a4da-ce7ebac44d87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/11/messages/714.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919886 | 894 | 1.96875 | 2 |
by Diane Zahm
Translation(s): O uso da Prevenção Criminal Pela Conceção Ambiental (Portuguese) PDF
Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is an approach to problem solving that asks, what is it about this location that places people at risk, or that results in opportunities for crime? In other words, why here? Three case examples will illustrate this point:
Case #1: Custodial workers routinely find evidence of smoking, drinking and vandalism in a high school lavatory.
Why here? The lavatory is in an isolated area of the building, adjacent to a ticket booth and concession stand that are active only during athletic events. The school's open lunch policy allows students to eat anywhere on campus, while monitors are assigned only to the cafeteria.
CPTED response: A lock is installed on the lavatory door, and it remains locked unless there is an athletic event. The open lunch policy has been revised: students are still allowed to leave the cafeteria but must eat in designated areas, and a faculty member is charged with patrolling these areas during lunch periods.
Case #2: The back wall of a building in an office center is repeatedly tagged with graffiti.
Why here? The taggers have selected an area that is out of the view of passers-by: a rear corner location where two buildings come together at the end of a poorly lit service lane. Visibility is further reduced by hedges at the site’s perimeter. Businesses in the office center are open from 9 AM to 5 PM during the week; however the tagged building is next to a roller skating rink where activity peaks at night and on weekends.
CPTED response: Hedges are trimmed and wall-mounted light fixtures installed along the service lane, with motion detection lighting in the problem area. The skating rink agrees to change to a “no re-admission” policy to keep skaters inside the building and away from the office property.
Case #3: ATM patrons at a bank are being robbed after dark.
Why here? The bank is situated along a commercial strip in a neighborhood with vacant properties and abandoned businesses. The ATM is in the front corner of the bank building, and the drive-through teller windows are at the side of the building, around the corner from the ATM. Robbers hide in the darkened drive-through teller area and attack unsuspecting ATM users after they complete a transaction.
CPTED response: The bank installs a fence at the corner of the building, creating a barrier between the ATM and the drive-through teller area.
In each of these case examples, asking why here? reveals that opportunities for crime and other problems arise out of a variety of environmental conditions related to the building, the site, and the location and how the place is used. Solving a problem thus requires a detailed understanding of both crime and place, and the response should consider one of the three objectives of crime prevention through environmental design: control access, provide opportunities to see and be seen, or define ownership and encourage the maintenance of territory.
This guide is a resource for understanding and using crime prevention through environmental design as a problem-solving tool. The guide explains the basic principles of CPTED and outlines a process for identifying problems, evaluating the physical environment, and identifying strategies that will remove or reduce opportunities for crime.
Crime prevention through environmental design is an approach to problem solving that considers environmental conditions and the opportunities they offer for crime or other unintended and undesirable behaviors. CPTED attempts to reduce or eliminate those opportunities by using elements of the environment to (1) control access; (2) provide opportunities to see and be seen; and (3) define ownership and encourage the maintenanceof territory. †
CPTED is unusual when compared with other crime prevention or security measures because it specifically focuses on aspects of the design, while the other measures tend to be directed at target hardening, i.e., denying access to a target using locks and bars, or using sensors and cameras to detect and identify an offender, supported by security guards. CPTED is unusual also when compared to some police activities. This is because CPTED encourages prevention and considers design and place, while policing has traditionally valued an efficient and effective response to incidents, and the identification and arrest of offenders.
CPTED may be distinctly different from traditional policing, yet it is very consistent with problem oriented policing, in four ways:††
†For a more detailed introduction to CPTED, see Crowe (2000), Crowe and Zahm (1994), and National Crime Prevention Council (1997).
††Herman Goldstein’s book, Problem-Oriented Policing (1990) offers greater detail on these and other aspects of POP.
Crime prevention through environmental design is a relatively new term, but the use of design for safety and security is not. Caves and cliff dwellings, and castles and moats are good historical examples. Requirements for street lighting grew out of a need to distinguish legitimate travelers from outlaws and thieves.
Contemporary approaches, including CPTED, emerged out of research on the relationship between crime and place, theories known variously as environmental criminology, situational prevention, rational choice theory, or routine activities theory, among others.† Each theoretical approach focuses on the crime event and how a criminal offender understands and uses the environment to commit a crime. Like CPTED, this research asks, why here? The research reveals:
† See also Newman (1972), Jeffery (1971, 1977), Brantingham & Brantingham (1981, 1984), Clarke (1980, 1992), Cohen & Felson (1979), and Cornish & Clarke (1986).
Crime prevention through environmental design examines crime problems and the ways in which various features of the environment afford opportunities for undesirable and unwanted behaviors. CPTED attempts to remove or reduce these opportunities by changing various aspects of the building, the site, and the location, and how that place is used.
These changes are directed toward three basic objectives, each of which is described briefly below, including examples of CPTED strategies:
This is exactly how NOT to do CPTED! 1. It is dreadfully ugly; 2. the walls around the portable bathroom make it impossible to observe undesirable and unwanted behaviors. Credit: Ronald Clarke
This ATM is placed well, using good CPTED features and has an unobstructed view from the street and patrolling police. Credit: Randy Atlas
Note that while CPTED is a crime prevention program, it focuses on design, not safety, and on productive use, not security. Design features are “supported” by locks, guards and alarms. Target hardening and security measures are not the primary means for improvement. Note, too, that although CPTED is frequently considered the responsibility of police, many of the tools and techniques are things that fall outside the purview of policing. This is why CPTED is a team effort, one that officers participate in but do not necessarily control.
You may order free bound copies in any of three ways:
Phone: 800-421-6770 or 202-307-1480
Allow several days for delivery.
Send an e-mail with a link to this guide.
Error sending email. Please review your enteries below. | <urn:uuid:f36a25b1-5248-4020-bbad-9138be82d0d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.popcenter.org/tools/cpted/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946719 | 1,506 | 3.21875 | 3 |
The Bureau of Land Management knew that euthanasia was a legal alternative, but officials were proceeding slowly, afraid of an intense public outcry. The wild horses had become too expensive to maintain, and cattlemen argued that turning them loose would be a drain on the already scarce grazing lands of the West.
Then yesterday, at a public hearing in Reno, Nev., to discuss the issue, a solution arrived on a white horse, so to speak.
Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, made known her intentions to adopt not just the doomed wild horses but most or all of the 30,000 horses and burros kept in federal holding pens. Lifelong animal lovers, the Pickenses just a few years ago led the fight to close the last horse slaughterhouse in the United States.
Madeleine Pickens is looking for land in the West that would be an appropriate home for the horses.
She is working with the BLM staff to adopt the horses, said Henri Bisson, the bureau's deputy director, while the agency persuades Congress to shift $20 million in funding to feed and protect the horses now in captivity for another year. As backup to Pickens's offer, he said, two other groups, both animal rescue organizations, have expressed similar interest in adoption. "We are very hopeful that euthanasia won't be necessary this year," he said.
The news that Pickens and others intend to adopt the wild horses and burros was celebrated by animal rights groups, several of which were preparing legal challenges to prevent the government from putting the horses to death.
"Of course, I'm thrilled, obviously, that these horses are getting a reprieve," said Shelley Sawhook, president of the American Horse Defense Fund. "At the same time, we need to address the basic issue of how these animals got in this position in the first place."
Bisson said policymakers have to resolve the conflict between a law that permits euthanasia and a nation that is opposed to it. "This is a situation where we have to have a conversation about what the law requires," he said. "We're hearing from members of Congress they don't think euthanasia is an appropriate solution, but the law says, 'You shall.' " If people don't like what the law says, they need to address it. We hope we will find homes for all of these animals before the year is out and Congress will decide what it wants to do about the law."
Long an American icon and inspiration for song and story, the wild horse has special protection under a 1971 law. The federal statute calls wild horses "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West" that should be "protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death." But the same law also requires the government to achieve "appropriate management levels" of roaming horses so they don't overwhelm federal lands -- and that's the part that has been vexing for bureau officials.
About 33,000 horses still roam wild on federal lands in 10 Western states. About half of those are in Nevada. The federal agency believes the range can accommodate only about 27,000 horses, and each year government-hired cowboys round up 7,000 to 13,000 horses and take them to holding pens in several states.
Right now, there are just over 30,000 horses in holding facilities awaiting adoption. Those 10 or older or those who have not been adopted after three tries can be sold without restriction under 2004 legislation.
Wild horses compete with cattle and wildlife for food and water. Horse advocates say federal officials have made faulty assumptions about the number of horses that can be accommodated on federal land, tilting those findings in favor of cattle interests.
"We're livestock people. We know animals live and die. And we take that as a very normal part of life. We fully realize animal rights people hate that aspect of the livestock industry. We don't particularly seek the euthanization. What we seek is the management of the population," said Jeff Eisenberg, director of federal lands for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, an industry lobbying group.
The federal government has been rounding up wild horses since the 1980s, putting them in holding facilities and offering them for adoption to horse lovers, who promise not to sell them for slaughter. But the roundups became aggressive under the Bush administration. As of June, BLM was holding 30,088 animals, more than triple the 9,807 held in 2001.
Bisson said yesterday that the BLM would limit the roundups next year to about 5,000 horses.
Meanwhile, the pace of adoptions has been falling as the cost of feeding and caring for the wild horses has skyrocketed. The price tag to federal taxpayers for maintaining the horses tripled from $7 million in 2000 to $21 million in 2007. Hay prices for one short-term holding facility in Nevada rose from about $160 per ton in 2007 to almost $300 per ton in 2008, for example.
In a report released last week, the Government Accountability Office called the situation a "crisis" and said the bureau needed to exercise its options, including euthanasia and the practice of selling the wild horses "without restriction," meaning they could be sold for slaughter.
In the first analysis of BLM's wild horse program in 18 years, the GAO found that the agency lacked a coherent nationwide management policy. The GAO recommended that the bureau investigate alternatives to euthanasia and adoption.
Animal rights groups say the government ought to sterilize horses and return them to the wild to live out their lives. In addition, they say, it should offer tax incentives to landowners who allow wild horses to live on private land.
Virginie L. Parant of the American Wild Horses Preservation Campaign, a coalition of about 45 groups, said the BLM does not use a scientifically sound method to estimate the size of horse herds or the number of horses that can be sustained on the range. That makes the roundups arbitrary, she said.
What's more, about 19 million acres of land where wild horses once roamed have been removed from the program, reducing the amount of land available to the horses and increasing their concentration elsewhere.
People on all sides of the issue recognize some fundamental changes are needed.
"It's intractable," Eisenberg said. "The animal rights people put the BLM in a box. We are seeking a balance in the land. Congress doesn't want to put more funding into these holding facilities, especially when times are tight. It's a problem nobody likes."
Im glad to see that someone who has money actually cares. | <urn:uuid:c0d35d17-69c7-4b8a-8a59-42bd7a02fe29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.horseforum.com/horse-protection/dramatic-rescue-wild-horses-17871/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961934 | 1,349 | 2.15625 | 2 |
October 5, 2011 by Bob Livingston
A Wisconsin judge has ruled that people in that State have no “fundamental right” to consume any food, own or use dairy cows or consume the milk their cows produce, without government permission.
The ruling from Judge Patrick J. Fiedler was in response to a suit filed by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund on behalf of Zinniker Family Farm and several other farms against the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Wisconsin is one of the most restrictive States in the nation where the consumption of raw milk is concerned. Raw milk sales are prohibited, but private cow share agreements (where people purchase shares of their own cows) are exempted.
A copy of the judge’s ruling can be read here. On page four the judge writes:
- “Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd.”
- “Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow.”
- “Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer.”
- “Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice.”
This ruling begs the question: What country does this fascist judge think he lives in?
Hat tip: Naturalnews.com | <urn:uuid:797c8db5-ff87-46bf-857f-c88a6a9c2d32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://personalliberty.com/2011/10/05/wisconsin-bull/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=836876f408 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955355 | 296 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Pukaskwa National Park of Canada
On Pukaskwa's boulder beaches are mysterious shallow rock structures fashioned by humans. We can only speculate about the purpose of these "pits", who arranged them, when and why. Aboriginal people have lived in this area for thousands of years.
Local anishinabe people have many stories which cover the history of the Pukaskwa area.
In 1618 Étienne Brûlé explored Lake Superior — "this body of water so large that one saw no land on either side." Brûlé was soon followed by the voyageurs. Next came missionaries, then the traders, miners, and adventurers of varied sorts.
Cookery and Bunkhouse at Pukaskwa Depot, 1929© Parks Canada
In the 1880s the new nation's railway was laid north of Superior, and with the turn of the century, commercial logging began in the Pukaskwa River area. Today only memories and vintage cabins recall this once-thriving industry. | <urn:uuid:966f2ccc-f915-4830-b447-7b8c9cc6eb82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/pukaskwa/natcul/natcul1/a.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93588 | 208 | 3.4375 | 3 |
When Your Air Conditioning Freezes Up – Frozen Air Conditioner
This is a common problem for people and it can be caused from one of two things.
- Lack of airflow across the evaporator coil or
- A problem with the refrigeration system.
Most people figure out they have this problem of a frozen air conditioner when they are outside and see ice building up on the outside condenser unit or ice on the refrigeration pipes. Others know they have this problem when they see the air handler and the pipes running into the air handler have ice. This in addition to a noticeable decline in cooling capacity is a sure sign you have frozen air conditioner problems that need to be resolved immediately. The best thing to do once you notice your air conditioner is frozen is to turn it off. If it is summer and you have a frozen heat pump (a heat pump provides heating and cooling using the process of refrigeration) you can turn it to heating mode and everything will defrost. However, be aware that if an excessive amount of ice is on the evaporator coil (located at the air handler usually inside the home) defrosting the frozen heat pump may overwhelm the condensation drain and you will have some water damage as a result. This may happen either way you defrost the system especially if the air handler is located in a hot attic. Turn the frozen air conditioner to the off position and turn the fan switch to on (manual on) on the thermostat selector switch. This will help aid the defrost of the frozen evaporator coil and the frozen air conditioning unit.
Why is the Air Conditioner Frozen? Possible Cause Number One
This is enough to cause concern because the air conditioner pipes have ice on them. Ice on air conditioning pipes is not normal. An air conditioner or heat pump is not designed to make ice. An air conditioning unit is designed to cool the home or business and it is abnormal for ice to form on an air conditioner. A heat pump will form frost or ice on the outside condenser coils in the winter time but frozen condenser coils is common and the heat pump is equipped with a method to defrost the condenser coils.
To solve problem number one with the frozen air conditioner you need to look at airflow first. Every air conditioner or heat pump system is designed to have a specific amount of air flow go through the evaporator coil when the unit is in the cooling or air conditioning mode. Unless you have a high velocity air conditioning system the evaporator coil needs at least 400 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of airflow across the evaporator coil per ton of air conditioning. If you have a 3 ton air conditioning unit or heat pump you need 1200 CFM’s of airflow across the evaporator or the air conditioner will freeze up. This means that if you have a:
- Extremely dirty air filter
- Collapsed duct work
- Bad blower motor
- Something obstructing the ductwork
- Dirt built up on the evaporator coil
Or anything else which would restrict airflow you will get ice build-up on the air conditioning system. This will cause a diminished capacity for the system to cool if it will cool at all. Defrost the air conditioning system and then check the airflow. Make sure the entire air conditioning system is defrosted before checking the airflow of the system. It may take several hours to defrost the air conditioning system completely. The important part is to make sure all the ice has melted from the evaporator coils before checking airflow. After checking the airflow and you find a problem then repaired the problem. If you don’t find a problem then proceed to the next air conditioning problem below.
Why is the Air Conditioner Frozen? Possible Cause Number Two
A frozen air conditioning system can also be caused by a refrigeration problem. The most common problem is a refrigerant leak (refrigerant is commonly referred to as Freon. Freon is a trademark name of DuPont Corporation). This means that the air conditioning is low on refrigerant. This leak needs to be repaired and then the system recharged by a professional. When the refrigerant leaks out the air A frozen air conditioning system can also be caused by a refrigeration problem conditioner pressures drop in the evaporator. A pressure drop in the evaporator coil means that the refrigerant will likely be colder than the dew point. When the evaporator coil in your air conditioner or heat operates below the dew point the moisture or humidity in the air will freeze to the coil. A little frost will appear and then more frost on the air conditioner evaporator coil. This will eventually form into ice and restrict the air flow of the air conditioning system. An air flow restriction in the air conditioner will only exacerbate the problem. You need to call a professional to have this problem repaired. They have all the tools necessary to repair a refrigerant leak and restore the frozen air conditioner to normal operation sans the ice. There is another refrigeration problem which will cause the air conditioner to freeze up. This will require the attention of a trained HVAC professional to troubleshoot and repair the frozen air conditioner.Remember, when you see ice on your air conditioner pipes shut the system down and allow it to defrost. Check for proper airflow. If proper airflow is not present find the problem (or call in an HVAC professional to find and repair the problem).
The following video is of a window air conditioner unit making ice. No matter what type of air conditioning unit you have it is not normal for the air conditioning unit to make ice. In the video they state the system has a leak. This may or may not be true for your frozen air conditioner based upon what is written above. | <urn:uuid:18649579-7e85-48d3-9059-45b8b892b887> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://highperformancehvac.com/frozen-ice-air-conditioner/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919342 | 1,185 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Legislator proposals include armed guards, armed teachers
“It’s not of matter of is something going to happen in Louisiana. It’s a question of when.” col. Mike edmonson, State Police
As state officials debated the safety level of Louisiana’s schools Thursday, state Rep. Greg Cromer made a suggestion.
Cromer, R-Slidell, raised the possibility of training and arming teachers since they were the only wall between schoolchildren and a gunman last month in Newton, Conn.
Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, urged legislators not to mix functions. “I was an English teacher. You don’t want me having a gun,” he said.
The Louisiana House Select Committee on Homeland Security met to review laws and procedures following the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Adam Lanza allegedly shot and killed his mother before driving to the school and opening fire. He later took his own life.
Twenty schoolchildren and six adults died in the shooting spree as law enforcement scrambled to respond.
At the State Capitol on Thursday, committee members spent several hours identifying possible flaws in Louisiana’s school safety plans. Legislators heard from education officials as well as law enforcement officers.
They were told that drills, vigilance and strong law enforcement ties are key. They debated how to secure classroom doors without hampering the ability to evacuate in the event of a fire. They fielded a suggestion of putting an armed guard in every school.
State Police Col. Mike Edmonson reminded members that Lanza blasted his way into a locked down school by shattering a window. To prevent the tragedy, something needed to happen before Lanza reached the schoolyard, Edmonson said.
“We’ve got to have candid conversations about violence in the community. That’s where it starts,” Edmonson said.
The committee’s chairman, state Rep. John Schroder, said recommendations need to form quickly.
The legislative session begins in April.
“I’ve got to believe some type of legislation is needed,” said Schroder, R-Covington.
Every public school in Louisiana is required by law to prepare crisis management and response plans that detail security measures in the event of a violent incident or emergency.
State Superintendent of Education John White said the plans could be sitting on shelves when they need to be rehearsed.
He said law enforcement needs to help design and implement the plans. Parents, he said, should know the contents.
“The events of last month clearly reinforce the need for vigilance,” White said.
Chas Roemer, president of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said local schools, communities and school systems need to examine the specifics of their situations. He said customization will be required.
School systems outlined what they already are doing.
Security cameras are mounted on school buses in St. Charles Parish. Prospective employees are fingerprinted in Bossier Parish.
LSU, which is home to a laboratory school, child-care center, day-care centers and a college, stepped up bike patrols and launched a “See something, say something” campaign.
Monaghan said there is a thin line between keeping students safe and fanning the flames of paranoia.
He described growing up in New Orleans during the height of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when schoolchildren were drilled in the practice of ducking and covering. It was a false sense of security, Monaghan said.
“We have to be realistic about what the role of an educator is versus the role of a security enforcer,” Monaghan said.
The governor formed his own study committee to look at school safety.
Recommendations requiring legislative action are supposed to be ready for consideration in the session that starts April 8.
Schroder said he is willing to call another meeting of his committee if necessary.
State Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport, said she plans to introduce legislation requiring armed security guards in elementary schools.
Multiple legislators agreed that the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness should coordinate efforts to ensure safety in schools.
Edmonson said State Police already monitor social media since many people talk about violent acts before they commit them.
“It’s not a matter of is something going to happen in Louisiana. It’s when,” he said. | <urn:uuid:2eb71d78-a996-457f-a971-6e05a9b0f795> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theadvocate.com/home/4947003-125/school-safety-ideas-aired | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964665 | 935 | 1.640625 | 2 |
While many 19-year-olds were busy worrying about a pop quiz, John Fannin was patrolling in Ar Ramadi, Al Anbar, Iraq as a marine. Jordan Guerrero was also in Iraq working at the utility shop for his marine unit. Carmen Phillips was there too, helping doctors as a combat medic in the Army. In Kuwait, navy corpsman Dustin Hannon was working to save and heal the injured. They are all TLU students. They are all veterans.
While they may not be your traditional college students, all of them understand the value of an education. Despite difficulties in not only transitioning back to civilian life but life as university students, all four of them use the skills they acquired during their service to adjust. Using their own experiences, they share with and educate others on what it’s like being a student and a veteran.
“There are lots of veterans who haven’t touched a book or been inside a classroom since they graduated from high school,” Phillips, 31, senior chemistry major, said. “The way they were taught is probably different from the way subjects are taught now.”
Phillips, president of the chemistry club Pi Rho and a choir member, says it’s important for veterans who go back to school to not seclude themselves.
“While it might be difficult relating to younger students, it’s important to be part of campus life,” Phillips said. “No one makes me feel like an outsider at TLU. I love it here. I feel really comfortable and the interaction I have with other veterans is great because they understand military life. It’s nice to have that support.”
John Fannin and Dustin Hannon found that being involved has helped them make friends and become part of the campus community. Fannin, 26, is a defensive end for the junior varsity football team and Hannon, 25, is a receiver for the varsity football team. Both automatically connected when they met each other.
“Even though I was apprehensive about coming back to school, TLU has become a sanctuary for me,” Fannin, sophomore kinesiology major, said. “When I returned from Iraq, I unfortunately had some fallouts with friends in my hometown and I needed a place where I could focus on me. TLU is that place.”
Hannon says he and Fannin both had to learn how to handle the mentality of college kids and they have both taken on roles as big brothers to their teammates.
“They teach us and we teach them,” Hannon, sophomore kinesiology major, said. “I always knew I wanted to get my degree and I’m so glad I did. I’ve become more outgoing and TLU is like my home.”
Jordan Guerrero, 23, decided to earn his degree not just for himself, but for his family and three-year-old son. The sophomore exercise science major said while his transition from marine to college student was very fast, his decision to come back to school is one of the best he’s ever made.
“I was nervous at first,” Guerrero said. “After visiting other campuses and seeing the one-on-one attention I could have here, I knew TLU was for me. That gives me a chance to excel. I feel like I fit in here and I’m able to talk with other veterans about our service and civilian life.”
Marie Paiz, assistant registrar and veteran affairs certification officer, says although student-veterans are different than your typical college kid, the experiences they had have shaped them into natural leaders.
“They’re leaders in the classroom and we must remember they were trained to not hesitate when given a task,” Paiz said. “They usually go above and beyond with academics and most of them feel they are responsible for others in group projects. They not only set examples for other students, but other veterans who might be thinking about returning to school.”
Most importantly, Paiz says that we must welcome our veterans into college.
“It’s vital that we have their back,” Paiz said. “For some veterans, if they don’t have an education, they fall into that rut where they might miss out on becoming a viable part of the workforce. We must welcome them back with respect and encouragement. That begins in the schools.”
At TLU the commitment to veterans is a priority for not only Paiz, but for the campus as a community.
“We want them to be successful and let them know we supported them before and we’ll continue to support them now,” Paiz said. “They deserve to know we care about them after all they’ve done for us.”
And all four of them would do more. Phillips, Hannon, Fannin and Guerrero said they would reenlist, sharing what they’ve learned from obtaining a college education.
“I want to give back even more because I received an education for my service,” Phillips said. “As veterans, we can use our degrees to continue helping fellow soldiers and citizens.”
Read more about our veteran students and what it's like to finally live the dream of playing college football. | <urn:uuid:57801597-0e59-4ad0-9fba-ed88aa100293> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tlu.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=143401 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984406 | 1,131 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Lama Pema Tsewang was born in 1972 in Tsum, in Nepal-Tibet border in the Himalayas, in a family of great Buddhist practitioners. He is the eldest son of Lama Pema Lapchen Rinpoche who traces his family lineage to that of the Ngak Labrang of the great thirteenth century Nyingma master Guru Chowang. Guru Chowang is known as one of the five great tertons (revealers of hidden teachings buried by Guru Rinpoche for the benefit of future beings). Guru Chowang himself was an emanation of Guru Rinpoche as well as an incarnation of Trisong Deutsen, the second Dharma king of Tibet who invited great masters such as Guru Rinpoche, Shantarakshita, Vimalamitra to Tibet.
Among the termas (or ‘treasure teachings’) Guru Chowang revealed were the Lama Sangdu (the embodiment of the master’s secrets), the thu je chen po yang nying du pa (a terma on Avalokiteshvara), the sang gye nyam jor cag nyug ma (liturgical arrangements and explanations of the ka ma teachings), the yang sang pu dri (Vajra Kilaya), the ka gye sang dzog (a cycle on the Eight Sadhana Teachings), and the dzog chen yang ti sang gye nyam jor (Dzogchen teachings). Because he had accomplished the power of truth in speech, whatever he said brought swift blessings and ensured spiritual attainments for many of his students. In these and other ways, he was enormously kind in serving the dharma. The descendants of Guru Chowang, down to Lama Pema’s father and now brother Lama Pasang, served as abbots for the Dhondupling monastery – also known as Nag Gompa, Nag in Tibetan means forest. Founded by Guru Chowang, Nag monastery, which is located in Tsum, now has six branches.
In 1981, at the age of nine, Lama Pema entered Thrangu Tashi Choling Monastery in Boudhanath, Kathmandu. In 1983, he took initial vows of a monk, formally departing from the family tradition of lay practice. In 1989, he took complete ordination vows of a Gelong Bikkshu from the Very Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche, tutor of H.H. the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1993, Lama Pema entered the first three-year retreat at Namo Buddha Retreat Center in Namo Buddha, Nepal under the guidance of V.V. Thrangu Rinpoche. In the retreat, he accomplished the practices of the Kagyu Guru Yogas, Vajrayogini, Chakrasamvara, Red Chenrezig, Konchuk Chindu, Six Yogas of Naropa, Mahamudra, Tara, Amitabha, and Chod. After retreat, Lama Pema as per tradition returned to Tsum and received all the empowerments for his family lineage of Guru Chowang.
After completing of studies in Buddhist philosophy and rituals in 1997, he became the principal of Shree Mangal Dvip High School, Rinpoche’s school for Himalayan Children in Kathmandu, Nepal. Lama Pema was then appointed as the discipline master (chotrimpa) for Thrangu Tashi Choling Monastery in 1999. In 2002, Rinpoche appointed him as a Vajra Master, one of the highest posts in the monastery amongst khenpos (abbots), retreat masters, staff and monks. He continues to hold this position.
In 2003, Rinpoche sent Lama Pema to Vancouver, BC to help support and teach at Rinpoche’s centre here. In 2004, when plans were made to establish Thrangu Monastery in Richmond, BC, Rinpoche appointed Lama Pema to help make Rinpoche’s vision for the monastery come to fruition. For the next several years, in addition to his teaching duties, Lama Pema coordinated Rinpoche’s visits as well as supervised the ongoing construction of the monastery. Under the sound leadership of Lama Pema, Rinpoche’s vision of a traditional Tibetan monastery in Canada – first of its kind in the country – finally came true in July, 2010. Lama Pema is now the head resident lama of the monastery the chief representative of V.V. Thrangu Rinpoche for North America.
In this capacity, Lama Pema has been responsible for all aspects of the monastery’s day-to-day operations as well as the well being of the monastic community here and its lay supporters. Since its inauguration, the monastery has joyfully hosted Rinpoche’s extensive teaching activities as well as such events such as the 2010 North American Kagyu Monlam. Lama Pema coordinated His Holiness Sakya Trizin Rinpoche’s visit to Thrangu Monastery in August 2011. In February 2012, Lama Pema added another milestone to his accomplished monastic career when he was selected as one of the retreatants for the Akshobya Retreat under the guidance of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa during the Kagyu Monlam gaterhing in Bodhgaya, India. | <urn:uuid:d3df961c-3da6-4d36-b7cb-350e593d77e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thrangumonastery.org/teachers/lama-pema/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944418 | 1,128 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Posted on December 6, 2012
Whole School Whole Child Program Manager
City Year - Whole School Whole Child Program Manager
Organization’s Mission and Goals
City Year is an education-focused, nonprofit organization that partners with public schools to help keep students in school and on track to graduate. In communities across the United States and through two international affiliates, City Year’s innovative public-private partnership brings together diverse teams of young AmeriCorps members who commit to a year of full-time service in schools. Corps members support students by focusing on attendance, behavior and course performance through in-class tutoring, mentoring and after school programs. This year, more than 2,000 City Year corps members are serving in schools and communities nationwide.
City Year Los Angeles (CYLA) was founded in 2007 with an inaugural corps of 75 and has grown to 275 corps members by its sixth year.
City Year Service
As one of the fastest growing nonprofit organizations in the country, City Year is laser-focused on reducing the dropout crisis in America. Corps members provide a continuum of care working in third through ninth grade in America’s highest-need schools. Over the next decade, City Year will focus its growth in the communities with the lowest graduation rates by scaling its impact in the 23 U.S. cities where City Year corps members already serve as well as expanding into carefully selected new markets. By tapping into the thousands of young people who are eager to serve, City Year can provide the extra people power in the classroom to help implement the right interventions for the right students at the right times.
City Year corps members accelerate whole school reform by helping schools implement research-based best practices by strengthening tiered students supports, improving coordination of teaching and learning, increasing teacher effectiveness by allowing more time for differentiated instruction, and expanding and optimizing learning time with before- and after-school tutoring. As near-peers, corps members are uniquely able to help improve student attendance, behavior and coursework - which research confirms are indicators of a student's likelihood of graduating from high school. This school-based service is at the heart of City Year’s approach to helping students and schools succeed.
The Whole School Whole Child Program Manager (PM) is responsible for the implementation of City Year Los Angeles’ program and service objectives, with direct responsibility for up to 20 corps members. Reporting directly to the Program Director as a member of the Program and Service Team, the PM plays a critical role in implementing City Year’s school-based service model, while leading corps members through civic engagement and citizenship development curriculum throughout the ten-month program year. City Year Los Angeles is hiring PMs to lead teams that serve in schools and after-school programs.
Corps Member Management, Development and Training
- Supervise and develop up to 20 corps members, including performance management, performance improvement, weekly/bi-weekly one-on-one meetings, mid-year and end-of-year reviews.
- Coach and manage corps members on team to meet performance standards for service excellence and inspirational standards that are expected of all City Year members.
- Provide effective communication on daily City Year business to corps members.
- Support corps member training and professional development through established training and development tracks and identify additional team training and development needs.
Service Impact, Evaluation and School Partner Management
- Inform and implement the site’s service strategy in the field so that desired outcomes are attained at the team-level.
- Set and monitor clear, measurable monthly and weekly deliverables for corps members to ensure effective planning and execution of service priorities and parent/community engagement events.
- Ensure effective and timely collection of data and implementation of quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools, and that evaluation results are used to make service and program improvements.
- Build strong relationships with school principal, administrative team, teachers, other personnel and all parent councils to ensure alignment with service program output and impact goals.
- Manage special projects and programs as assigned.
External Relations and Site Support
- Identify leaders and resources in a community and develop partnerships that support the ability of the team to implement its school-based and community-based service objectives.
- Work with team to manage relationships with local community organizations and neighborhood councils and direct team’s community engagement activities.
- Support Development Department in securing and engaging team sponsors.
- Partner with City Year Los Angeles departments and staff through applicant interview process, stakeholder engagement, service day participation and cross-departmental committees as needed to ensure site-wide goals are met.
- Bachelor’s Degree strongly preferred; candidates with a background in education given special consideration.
- Commitment to community service, national service and/or the development of young people as leaders.
- Understands current issues related to national service and education policy and the impact they have on Los Angeles communities and schools.
- Aware of importance of outreach, relationships, and partnerships in advancing organizational mission and able to recognize opportunities for collaboration.
- Links organizational mission to individual work, and supports development and implementation of departmental or program strategy.
- Holds self accountable, sets high expectations for self and others, works with and supports others (doing and modeling) to mobilize and motivate and connects tasks to organizational mission to communicate effectively internally and externally.
- Recognizes and appreciates the diversity of talent and leadership styles on a team, and able to develop diverse talent through performance plans, reviews and leadership opportunities.
- Conveys thoughts and ideas clearly, listens well, communicates in a solution-oriented manner and listens to and incorporates others views into work.
- Links problems & symptoms to identify issues, links decisions to potential consequences, knows when to seek guidance and gets diverse input for decisions.
- Thrives in diverse, youthful, high energy, entrepreneurial, fast-changing environment.
Competitive salary and benefits.
Great benefits include healthcare, insurance, vacation, holidays, 401K, FSA, and more.
Qualified applicants should forward cover letter, resume and references to:
Casey Eiseman, Deputy Director of HR & Operations at firstname.lastname@example.org
Subject: CYLA Program Manager
*Please include where you found this City Year posting. | <urn:uuid:e4b256c7-5ec7-4f87-bdb2-36db8ebe3c85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/jobs/job_item.jhtml?id=400900016 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936558 | 1,284 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Standard & Poor’s downgraded France’s credit rating from AAA to AA+ (for real this time) Friday, along with that of eight other European countries. The downgrade is a blow to France which, as the Post’s Howard Schneider and Edward Cody report, has attempted to stave off a potential ratings drop through spending cuts and tax hikes.
Notably, Germany’s pristine AAA credit rating was left untouched, further empowering the nation and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as the euro zone works to implement the region’s bailout fund.
But what does the downgrade mean for innovation in the region?
The euro zone has been plugging away at its growing debt crisis for months, with protests in Greece against strict austerity measures making headlines this past summer, and high-pressure bailout-fund negotiations dominating news reports in the fall and winter. These crises and the efforts to mitigate them have made capital investments difficult, if not impossible in some cases. And that means bad news for European innovation.
“Innovation thrives when capital is abundant,” wrote author and Post contributor Francis Tapon in e-mail correspondence Friday. Tapon, author of The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us cited the high level of venture capital flowing through Silicon Valley — a city-on-a-hill of sorts for those eager to implement a strong innovation ecosystem. “High taxes encourage capital flight. So, if the E.U. tries to solve its financial woes by jacking up taxes, innovation will suffer.”
This means fewer resources for innovations that stand to address long-held problems and concerns — including those related to the environment. For Columbia University economics professor Gernot Wagner, for whom the environment is a chief concern, the downgrades were bad, but hardly surprising, news.
“In the end, these downgrades tell us little we didn’t already know,” wrote Wagner in an e-mail correspondence with the Post on Friday, “but they are a good reminder of how deep-seeded the European debt crisis truly is.”
Wagner, author of But Will the Planet Notice? How Smart Economics Can Save the World and a Post contributor, is doubly worried. “They should serve as a wake-up call for the much deeper crisis facing us.”
The increasing number of credit downgrades and bailouts have led some to be skeptical of the ratings agencies. But Wagner’s skepticism is broader.
“You can bail out Greece, Italy or even the U.S. You can’t bail out the planet as a whole,” he wrote, “yet, we are continuing on our head-on collision course with the planet.”
But, as we’ve written before on Ideas@Innovations, failure and innovation go hand in hand. Setbacks can lead to the creation of new and necessary ideas, discoveries and inventions. So, there may be a silver lining to the downgrade, at least according to Tapon: “Sometimes a good crisis is the mother of invention.”
Read more news and ideas on Innovations: | <urn:uuid:400db531-eb4f-487c-b245-a7a2824e3a69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/europe-the-credit-downgrade-and-what-it-means-for-innovation/2012/01/14/gIQASYJXyP_blog.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9382 | 656 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Technician Training & Professional Development
Repair Training With J.L. Smith Is The Surest Way To Technical Mastery!
Whether you’re a professional technician or you’re just beginning to discover the art of instrument repair, better training is the key to better results and greater success.
At J.L. Smith we’ve always considered it essential to our mission to advance the art of instrument repair and to pass the legacy of our knowledge to a new generation of musical enthusiasts and professional artisans. As the nation’s leading resource for advanced technical knowledge and instrument repair, we’ve taught the art of instrument repair to hundreds of people through educational programs and apprenticeships. In response to growing demand for superior training, J.L. Smith is offering professional instrument repair training programs for beginning and practicing repair technicians at our headquarters in Charlotte, NC.
Our custom programs are unlike anything else currently available. Courses are aligned to fit your schedule and you choose which skills to acquire. Under the guidance of master technicians, Harold Phillips and Jeff Smith, (industry leaders with over 60 years of combined professional experience) you’ll receive detailed, one-on-one instruction that allows you to perfect the skills and techniques that are most relevant to you.
Areas of concentration include:
- Dent Removal
- Crack Repair
- Solder Technique
- Precision Key Fitting
- Overhaul Procedures
- Tone Hole Repair
- Play Condition
- Lathe Work
Training with J.L. Smith gives you access to a wide range of high-level skills sets targeted specifically to your needs, together with the latest techniques for procedural speed and accuracy. Participating technicians study on location at our comfortable and well-equipped training center, using the latest precision tools and highest quality supplies. Completing any given course will prepare you to practice the skills you learn with total confidence and expertise. Our rigorous, hands-on programs keep you sharp, fast and looking to the future with introductions to new ideas, innovative tools, fresh techniques and unique perspectives. Call now to reserve your place.
Join us this spring for the J.L. Smith Intensive 4-Day Intro to Flute & Clarinet. We'll be announcing the dates shortly but bench space is limited for this popular class so register in advance to reserve your spot!
If you’ve ever thought about a career in music repair or wanted to know how to fix your own instruments like a pro, J.L. Smith’s 4-Day Intro to Flute and Clarinet is a rare opportunity to study with true masters in one of the nation’s most respected shops. As the nation’s leading resource for advanced technical knowledge and instrument repair, we’ve taught the art of instrument repair to hundreds of people through educational programs and apprenticeships, and demand for intensive one-on-one training has continually grown. That’s why J.L. Smith offers professional training programs for beginning and practicing repair technicians at our headquarters in Charlotte, NC.
Call now at 800.822.2157 to reserve your place.
Left: Technical Sergeant, J. Blake Arrington, Clarinetist from The United States Air Force Band, trains with Master Technician, Harold Phillips, to learn Brass and Woodwind repair. Center: Novice Technician Kimberly Speiran and Professional Bassoon Technician, Shane Wheeler study the basics with Harold Phillips during our 4-Day Introduction To Flute & Clarinet. Right: Students from Winthrop University's Band Director's Program visit with J.L. Smith to learn about professional band instrument repair and to learn see how we make products like Valentino Pads and Valentino Directors' Fix Kits. | <urn:uuid:591398da-145d-4cad-bdc3-78bccab314f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jlsmithco.com/Repair-Learn-Instrument-Repair | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915665 | 763 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The GMAT® (Graduate Management Admission Test) exam is the assessment for graduate business school candidates—it was designed by business schools to measure the skills shown to help graduate business students succeed in the challenging curriculum. A computer-adaptive exam that assesses Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing skills developed over time, the GMAT exam is a valid and reliable predictor of success in graduate business school.
Business schools use the test as a criterion for admission into graduate business administration programs (e.g. MBA, Master of Accountancy, etc.) principally in the United States, but also in other English-speaking countries. It is delivered via computer at various locations around the world.
Applicants come from different countries, cultures, academic backgrounds, and levels of work experience. Using the GMAT exam gives admissions professionals a consistent, objective measure of skills above all these application variables. The GMAT exam is given under standard conditions around the world, with the highest level of security, to ensure that scores are comparable across applicants.
Generally, GMAT appointments are available six days a week, but testing centers set their own hours to meet local and regional needs. Secure, standardized testing centers deliver the test in 111 countries around the world. To find out more, please visit mba.com to Find a Test Center.
All Indian citizens with a valid passport are eligible to take the GMAT. Test takers can take the test only once every calendar month. The test scores are valid for a period of 5 years.
EXAM STRUCTURE :
The GMAT exam is delivered via computer in individualized workstations.GMAT is administered at all Sylvan Prometric Centers across the world everyday for the first three weeks of every month. For a test appointment you have to contact Sylvan in that particular country and apply to ETS using a GMAT form available in the bulletin. Being computer adaptive (rather than computer based) allows the GMAT exam to determine a test taker's true ability by selecting questions based on previous answers and the test design.
For every wrong response ¼ of the mark is deducted.
>> >>Register for the Test>> >> | <urn:uuid:d2190b58-5246-48a1-9f40-a7d8f659dff3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shiningjobs.com/career/higher%20studies/gmat.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939921 | 443 | 2.09375 | 2 |
“The Story of Gulnare of the Sea”
from The Arabian Nights: Their Best Known Tales (1909)
There was, in olden time, and in an ancient age and period, in the land of the Persians, a king named Shahzeman, and the place of his residence was Khorassan. He had not been blest, during his whole life, with a male child nor a female; and he reflected upon this, one day, and lamented that the greater portion of his life had passed, and he had no heir to take the kingdom after him as he had inherited it from his fathers and forefathers. So the utmost grief befell him on this account.
Now while he was sitting one day, one of his mamelukes came in to him, and said to him: “O my lord, at the door is a slave-girl with a merchant: none more beautiful than she hath been seen.” And he replied: “Bring to me the merchant and the slave-girl.” The merchant and the slave-girl therefore came to him; and when he saw her, he found her to resemble the lance in straightness and slenderness. She was wrapped in a garment of silk embroidered with gold, and the merchant uncovered her face, whereupon the place was illuminated by her beauty, and there hung down from her forehead seven locks of hair reaching to her anklets. The King, therefore, wondered at the sight of her, and at her beauty, and her stature and justness of form; and he said to the merchant: “O sheikh, for how much is this damsel to be sold?” The merchant answered: “O my lord, I purchased her for two thousand pieces of gold of the merchant who owned her before me, and I have been for three years travelling with her, and she hath cost, to the period of her arrival at this place, three thousand pieces of gold; and she is a present from me unto thee.” Upon this, the king conferred upon him a magnificent robe of honour, and gave orders to present him with ten thousand pieces of gold. So he took them, and kissed the hands of the king, thanking him for his beneficence, and departed. Then the king committed the damsel to the tirewomen, saying to them: “Amend the state of this damsel, and deck her, and furnish for her a private chamber, and take her into it.” He also gave orders to his chamberlains that everything which she required should be conveyed to her. The seat of government where he resided was on the shore of the sea, and his city was called the White City. And they conducted the damsel into a private chamber, which chamber had windows overlooking the sea; and the king commanded his chamberlains to close all the doors upon her after taking to her all that she required. | <urn:uuid:05889996-b8d0-43b4-ae57-ede9cf2d331b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biblioklept.org/tag/jesu/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991015 | 608 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Image by dullhunk
It’s been known that if you want to get a ripped body, and bulk up you will need to put in the time at the gym, and stick to a strict diet of food intake and supplements. Some body builders and athletes even cheat with synthetic steroids.
According to a study, published in the September issue of the respected FASEB Journal the way people workout could dramatically change forever.
Cheating and muscle growth may be linked together without the hard work and dedication according to the new study done by scientists in Australia.
The research team believes they have found one of the molecular keys to a protein that promotes weight and muscle mass gain, without any physical activity.
The study used mice to discover that blocking the function of Grb10 – nicknamed the ‘Hulk’ protein – while mice were in the womb, they were considerably stronger and more muscular at birth than normal mice.
The results suggested that in the future it may be possible to alter muscle growth and help people heal faster, as the processes involved in muscle regeneration and repair are similar to those for the initial formation of muscle.
Take heed however “Don’t turn in your gym membership just yet,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. | <urn:uuid:b430a955-1cd9-4e45-b680-1ada828147fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americanlivewire.com/australian-researchers-say-they-have-uncovered-hulk-protein-for-massive-gains-without-working-out/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961027 | 272 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Despite increasing numbers of multiethnic neighborhoods in the United States, relatively few black or white families are actually moving into these types of communities, according to a new study in the June issue of the American Sociological Review.
"We pay a lot of attention to this proliferation of multiethnic neighborhoods, but they are still only a small part of the overall inter-neighborhood mobility picture for blacks and whites," said Kyle Crowder, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington and lead author of the study. "Blacks tend to originate in neighborhoods with very high concentrations of blacks and, when they move, they tend to move to other places that have very high concentrations of blacks. Their typical destination is not a multiethnic neighborhood. The same is even more true for whites."
Titled, "Neighborhood Diversity, Metropolitan Constraints, and Household Migration," the study considers mobility patterns of 44,808 black families and 57,415 white families, some of whom moved several times between 1977 and 2005, the period covered by the analysis. The study, which looks at moves families made from one neighborhood in a metropolitan area to another neighborhood in the same metropolitan area, relies on multiple sources of data, including the Panel Study of Income Dynamicsa nationally representative, longitudinal survey of U.S. residentsand the 1980, 1990, and 2000 U.S. Censuses.
According to the study, of the 9,940 moves that black families made between 1977 and 2005, 43.7 percent (4,340) were to predominately black neighborhoods, 5 percent (494) were to predominately white neighborhoods, 17.7 percent (1,763) were to multiethnic neighborhoods (whose populations were at least 10 percent black, at least 10 percent Hispanic or Asian, and at least 40 percent white), and 33.6 percent (3,343) were to other types of neighborhoods detailed in the analysis. By comparison, of the 8,823 moves that white families made during the same time period, 56.8 percent (5,008) were to predominately white neighborhoods, 2 percent (179) were to predominately black neighborhoods, 5.6 percent (493) were to multiethnic neighborhoods, and 35.6 percent (3,143) were to other types of neighborhoods.
"Our study tells a somewhat pessimistic story, but it's also a realistic story," said Crowder, who coauthored the analysis with Jeremy Pais, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut, and Scott J. South, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Albany, SUNY. "It's a story that counters this idea that we should stop paying attention to residential segregation. The truth is, when it comes to eliminating residential segregation, we still have a long way to go. This becomes particularly clear when we look at the high percentage of black families from predominately black neighborhoods and the even higher percentage of white families from predominately white neighborhoods who wind up in homogeneous communities when they move."
The study found that of the 3,684 moves that black families made from predominately black neighborhoods between 1977 and 2005, 60.9 percent (2,245) were to other predominately black neighborhoods, 2 percent (74) were to predominately white neighborhoods, 18.9 percent (696) were to multiethnic neighborhoods, and 18.2 percent (669) were to other types of neighborhoods. By comparison, of the 4,987 moves that white families made from predominately white neighborhoods during the same time period, 74.9 percent (3,734) were to other predominately white neighborhoods, 1.5 percent (73) were to predominately black neighborhoods, 2.4 percent (120) were to multiethnic neighborhoods, and just over 21 percent (1,060) were to other types of neighborhoods.
Crowder said it is important to note thatafter controlling for other factorsthe year in which black and white families moved had little or no impact on the kinds of neighborhoods to which they moved. "For black families, year of move is statistically non-significant and for white families it has a minimal impact," Crowder said. "So, by itself, year doesn't seem to be a very important indicator of where blacks and whites movedand there wasn't much change in where blacks and whites moved over time, once we account for other factors that affect destinations."
Interestingly, the study also found that the tendency for white and black families to move between neighborhoods dominated by their own racial group varies significantly across metropolitan areas. "The mobility of black and white families into more integrated neighborhoods is shaped substantially by demographic, economic, political, and spatial features of the broader metropolitan area," Crowder said.
According to the study, metropolitan area characteristics likely to limit residential integration for blacks and whites include: high levels of existing residential segregation and poverty as well as a significant percentage of the population living in the suburbs. "Lower levels of these characteristics promote integration," Crowder said. "Additionally, mobility into more diverse neighborhoods is more common in metropolitan areas with large supplies of new housing and relatively large concentrations of racial and ethnic minorities."
In terms of policy implications, Crowder said the study highlights the need for policymakers to continue working on ways to address residential segregation. "Residential segregation influences such things as the concentration and the propagation of crime as well as racial disparities in health and in exposure to pollution," Crowder said. "When people say, 'Segregation is going away' and 'We don't need to worry about it anymore,' those are messages that people will latch onto quickly. Unfortunately, those types of statements are just untrue."
Explore further: The strangely familiar browsing habits of 14th-century readers | <urn:uuid:4e744cab-acc0-4a27-a70a-ada9dd82fa9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news/2012-05-residential-segregation-problem.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 | 0.978149 | 1,174 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Space Exploration Technologies (Space X) will launch their Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) on April 30th at 12:22 pm EDT (16:22 GMT). “This mission will mark a historic milestone in the future of spaceflight,” said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president, “We appreciate NASA’s continued support and their partnership in this process.”
The launch, originally scheduled for early February, had been postponed to enable some improvements to spacecraft and software systems. The Dragon space capsule, slated to be launched atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, will be the first privately built cargo spacecraft to rendezvous the ISS. If the approach is successful, the capsule will be docked to ISS using the Candarm 2.
NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program was developed to enable private cargo transportation to the ISS. Once fully operational, the Dragon capsule will be able to deliver food supplies, water, scientific experiments, and propellant to the ISS.
On December 2010 the Dragon spacecraft was tested for the first time. The spacecraft completed two orbits, then it reentered the atmosphere and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. It was the first privately built spacecraft to perform a complete flight profile, from launch to landing.
SpaceX will receive up to 396 million USD if the mission achieves the requirements outlined in the Space Act Agreement with NASA under the COTS program. According to SpaceX officials, the Dragon vehicle will soon be used to transport astronauts the ISS.
An animation of the ground breaking mission can be seen in the video below: | <urn:uuid:d7adf057-1279-4519-aa52-21bda91d08b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/2012/03/21/spacex-dragon-ready-fly/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923059 | 329 | 3.25 | 3 |
“In the United States more than 80,000 people have Sickle Cell Disease” (Hope & Destiny, p.1).
In fact, it is one of the most prevalent genetic disorders in this country, but also one of the least discussed. I am sharing our story because what you don’t know can hurt you, or your child. Sickle Cell Disease does not only affect African Americans it “affects people of all different racial and ethnic backgrounds, including African, Arabian, Israeli, Greek, Italian, Hispanic, Turkish, and Pakistani (Hope & Destiny, p.37). There are also several types of Sickle Cell Disease and a person can have more than one type, which depends on the genes that a person inherits (Click here to learn more about the different types).
My husband and I did not know that we both carried the sickle cell trait before I became pregnant. We had lived prudent lifestyles and never realized an issue of any sort would ever arise. We also had no idea that our parents passed the SCD trait on to us. With both of us as carriers our babies (twins) had a 25% chance of having sickle cell disease (SCD). The disease is not contagious, it is a genetic disorder that parents pass on to their offspring. When our daughters were born, we decided to only bank one cord blood (because of the cost), as life happens, the one that we saved was from our daughter with SCD; instead of keeping it we donated it for research.
Now, two years later I am glad that I had my children: one daughter has SCD and the other daughter has the trait. Consequently, we live everyday to better awareness about the disease and to lessen the stigma attached to individuals living with SCD. While a cure does exist, ”nearly 200 patients have been cured through a bone marrow transplant” (Hope & Destiny, p.37), it does not come without risks. By the grace of God my daughter has never suffered from the disease, so we have not considered getting her a bone marrow transplant.
The September issue of Essence magazine shares an article entitled, “The Sickle Cell Cure” about one family’s journey from crisis to their daughter’s cure. The article gives SCD a positive face of hope when so many negative views are usually shared.
We combat this disease by trying to eat healthy. For my daughter’s first 21 months she was breastfed, now we lead a strict vegetarian, almost vegan diet and eat very few sweets. We also exercise and get plenty of natural fresh air. Additionally she receives routine vaccinations, gets her rest consistently, and takes in plenty of fluids all throughout the day. She has never attended daycare, avoids extreme temperatures, and does not get sick often. At an early age we taught her to wash her hands regularly; especially before meals so that she doesn’t compromise her immune system. She goes to her pediatric and hematology appointments regularly and takes penicillin twice a day. We believe that a combination of this regiment has helped her remain crisis free.
Overall, my husband and I have accepted that God has given us precious children. One with a disease and one without, we are choosing to use this experience to grow closer to Him and each other. I also encourage people to have a hemoglobin analysis done before you get married and have children together.
I would like to do a follow up article with tips from other parents who have children with SCD. Please let me know what you think and if you would be willing to share your own stories and tips.
*Photo credit: nih.gov | <urn:uuid:0e8fdd33-d4c5-43fc-8bc0-5c066ea0d428> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cleverlychanging.com/2011/08/parenting-child-scd/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976037 | 756 | 2.40625 | 2 |
A musical that blends the weirdness of college with the challenges of overcoming physical and emotional adversity
Fresh! (formerly The New Musical) tells the story of Michael, a quirky yet endearing incoming freshman at New York University, as he is confronted with a world that is nothing like the suburban life he left behind. To help himself adjust, Michael begins to write down his experiences and turn them into songs, being something of an...unconventional musical theater composer.
As the year progresses, Michael struggles to overcome the ties and relationships that bind him to his old life, including trust issues inherited from an ex-girlfriend, artistic frustrations, and a painful connective tissue disorder that makes a normal college life increasingly difficult. With the help of his friends (including Matthew, Michael's thinks-he's-black roommate, and Melanie, a kind but secretive aspiring actress engaged in her own battle with anorexia), Michael learns that it is the most challenging struggles in life that define us, and that carry within them the possibility for unimaginable transformations.
Also, college is pretty freaking weird.
Why This Show is Important
The goal of this show is to speak to and for everyone. Over the years, people of all ages, races, genders, and orientations have begun their praise of Fresh! with almost the same words: "That reminds me exactly of the time I..."
Among Fresh's diverse array of characters are people with "invisible" illnesses: ie., connective tissue, cardiac, or eating disorders - conditions that may or may not be life-threatening, but which are always life-changing. In a culture where illness of any kind seems almost taboo, Fresh! seeks to tell these stories as they have never been told before: through the lens of healing.
The characters in Fresh! each have their own struggles to overcome, whether it's an invisible illness, or any other monumental challenge. But the question for each of them is the same: "How do I take these very scary things, and use them to make me stronger?"
What This Reading Will Accomplish
A staged reading is one of the most critical steps a show must take on its road from the written page to Broadway. It enables the show to be put on its feet in its entirety before a live audience of industry professionals who are capable of taking the piece to its next level.
After the reading (which will take place in early 2013), the audience will be invited to participate in a discussion about the show. This gives the writer and director a strong sense of what the audience enjoyed most, and what they feel should be improved upon. The writer and director then work together to make the show even better in preparation for its next production.
Two scenes from Fresh! were featured Off-Broadway at the Jerry Orbach Theatre as finalists in the "Scene It! New York" competition in 2010. The show has also been performed in its entirety in two "table readings" in Philadelphia in 2011 and 2012. Songs from Fresh! have been performed in concerts throughout New York and Pennsylvania, including Broadway Rocks!, Broadway: Evolutions, Harmonies for Hunger Relief, Broadway in Buffalo, and many more. The complete studio cast album was recorded in 2010 (see samples below!).
1) "Thanksgiving Night"
2) "I've Got a Crush on You"
3) "When I Looked into the Mirror"
4) "Run Away Lover"
5) "Drugs, Drugs, Drugs"
(For more samples, visit www.michaelbihovsky.com/fresh)
About the Writer
Michael Bihovsky (music, lyrics, and book) is a graduate of New York University, with a degree in musical theater performance and composition. Michael is primarily a pop-rock musical theater composer, though his music is often laced with classical influences, inspired in part by his training in orchestration at Juilliard.
In addition to Fresh!, Michael has written two other musicals: Eclipse, an epic story from Ancient Greece, and Safe in Sound, a gothic-rock musical play about an emotionally crippled international superstar.
Most recently, Michael has received international attention for his video "One Grain More," a Les Miserables parody about food allergies that has already garnered over 70,000 views, and many hundreds of newspaper articles and blog reviews characterizing the piece as "The funniest nutrition video ever made!" and "...a must, must, must watch!"
Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
An inherent quality of all staged readings is limited rehearsal time. This means that the show must be taught, blocked, and perfected within the span of one week. To ensure that we can achieve the best reading possible, we will be taking the following steps:
1) We will be auditioning and hiring equity actors (the union for all Broadway productions) for the reading. The level of these actors' professionalism and accomplishment will ensure the best performances possible.
2) Each actor will be given a manuscript with a fully-integrated script and musical score. This means that they will not have to switch back-and-forth between script and score, as they would often have to do in other readings.
3) In addition to musical direction during rehearsals, each actor will receive audio files which isolate their vocal parts throughout the entire show, to help them learn their music outside of rehearsal. They will also be given karaoke tracks to practice with.
4) We have assembled a production and directing team with Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theater experience. This will ensure that all rehearsal time is used efficiently, and that the cast is well-prepared for the reading.
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
pledged of $10,000 goal
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Nov 12, 2012 - Dec 16, 2012
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You'll get three unreleased songs from the original studio cast album of "Fresh!" via private download link!Estimated delivery: Dec 2012
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You'll get the entire studio cast album of "Fresh!" PLUS the "One Grain More" blooper reel, all via private link!Estimated delivery: Dec 2012
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We'll mail you a hard copy of the entire studio cast album of "Fresh!" (with jewel case art), PLUS “One Grain More" the DVD (including blooper reel), both signed by show creator Michael Bihovsky!Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Add $5 to ship outside the US
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All of the above, PLUS a "One Grain More" poster, signed by the video's cast!Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Add $7 to ship outside the US
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All of the above, PLUS mention of you (or your business) in our playbill and on the "Fresh!" website (www.michaelbihovsky.com/fresh) as an official sponsor of our reading!Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Add $7 to ship outside the US
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All of the above, PLUS a "Fresh!" T-shirt, featuring the show's name on the front, and the lyric "When reason takes your voice, you learn to whisper" on the back.Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Add $15 to ship outside the US
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All of the above, PLUS a handwritten, framed page of sheet music from Fresh! written and signed by show creator Michael Bihovsky!Estimated delivery: Jan 2013Add $20 to ship outside the US
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All of the above, PLUS a free one-hour voice or acting lesson via Skype (or in person if within the Greater Philadelphia region) with Michael BihovskyEstimated delivery: Jan 2013Add $20 to ship outside the US
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All of the above, PLUS a signed "Fresh!" script, including handwritten lyrical commentaries by Michael Bihovsky!Estimated delivery: Feb 2013
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All of the above, PLUS a one-minute song written and professionally recorded just for you by Michael Bihovsky, telling you how awesome you are and thanking you for your support!Estimated delivery: Feb 2013
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All of the above, PLUS a professionally recorded piano medley of your three favorite songs, played by Michael Bihovsky!Estimated delivery: Feb 2013
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All of the above, PLUS a credit as "Associate Producer" on the front page of our playbill and on the "Fresh!" website (www.michaelbihovsky.com/fresh)Estimated delivery: Feb 2013
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All of the above, PLUS Michael Bihovsky will collaborate with you on writing and recording an original song in the style of your choice! You can provide whatever you want - music, lyrics, or even just ideas for melodies or words - and Michael will work with you to create your very own song, and teach you anything you want to know about songwriting along the way!Estimated delivery: Mar 2013
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All of the above, PLUS an "Executive Producer" credit on the front page of our playbill, with the words "brought to you by [your name and/or business name]" directly beneath the show's title - PLUS an Executive Producer credit on the "Fresh!" website (www.michaelbihovsky.com/fresh)Estimated delivery: Mar 2013 | <urn:uuid:399597ee-a968-439e-aa9a-3b42b28a3f9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/michaelbihovsky/fresh-a-new-musical-staged-reading-in-nyc?ref=home_spotlight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943513 | 2,001 | 1.828125 | 2 |
|Cathy Huynh, centre, died mysteriously in Vietnam.
Autopsy results suggest poisoning didn't cause the mysterious death of a Canadian woman in Vietnam, but officials won't say what did.
Cathy Huynh, a 26-year-old Vietnamese-Canadian, was travelling with American Karin Joy Bowerman, 27, in the beachside city of Nha Trang when the two fell ill on July 30 and died of respiratory failure.
Officials suspected alcohol or insecticide poisoning.
But a senior officer with the Nha Trang police said Bowerman died of "breathing failures, circulatory collapse due to brain edema," the Tuoi Tre News website reported Tuesday.
Edema is swelling that increases pressure in the skull and can prevent blood from flowing to the brain. It can be caused by head injury/trauma, stroke, tumours and infections like meningitis.
The two women are believed to have died from the same cause.
Police now have the autopsy report on Bowerman, prepared by the Khanh Hoa Forensic Center, but won't release the findings yet, the unnamed officer told the news site.
He also said there were no traces of poison detected in her system, and therefore no grounds for a criminal investigation.
According to the news site, Huynh's family refused to have a post-mortem done on their daughter, saying "one autopsy would be enough." | <urn:uuid:1430515d-a396-48da-8dce-b066048d3b2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2012/09/18/20209081.html?cid=rssnewscanada | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972007 | 296 | 1.546875 | 2 |
In this video Manuel Lima, senior UX design lead at Microsoft Bing, explores the power of network visualization to help navigate our complex modern world.
As you watch this I encourage you to look at the concept maps I've created to map knowledge and networks. If we can create a visualization that works like a "blueprint" to show steps needed to help kids from birth to work, and the network of supports needed at each age level, our networking with people throughout the world can fill each node in our map/library with people, organizations and ideas related to that specific node.
Thus we can provide more ideas for each group of people working on this same long-term goal of helping kids in more places get the support they need to move from a birth in poverty to a life out of poverty.
How can we connect with people at Microsoft, Google or other information innovation organizations who will add us to their team and/or provide us with the talent, dollars and technology to build out this project?
This week I'm part of JELLY WEEK 2012, where I'm connecting with people from all over the world who are thinking about similar ideas. | <urn:uuid:fdf4e1eb-e36e-4a39-aa38-9c0798a40e3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/2012/01/potential-of-mapping-and-visualization.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933623 | 233 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Nodler co-sponsoring amendment proposal
State Senator Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, is again working toward eliminating the checks and balances system in the Missouri Constitution.
Nodler is co-sponsoring SJR 23, sponsored by Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Kansas City, which proposes a constitutional amendment which would say that the "power to determine public school funding shall be exclusively the province of the people's elected representatives in the General Assembly and their Governor. The power to determine public school funding shall not fall within the province of the judiciary."
While on the face of it, that proposal sounds like a good thing, the wisdom of allowing any of the three branches complete power without a check on it goes against our system of government. If governors are not happy with the judges, they have the power to appoint ones that are more in line with their philosophy. The legislature has to approve those judges, while the voters have the ultimate power to turn out their elected officials if they are not happy with the way they are represented.
While I do not agree with every decision made by judges (some of them are downright outlandish), I still feel more comfortable knowing that someone will be able to examine laws to see if they are constitutional. | <urn:uuid:49626995-5e9e-4a89-8b29-b7284605517f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2005/12/nodler-co-sponsoring-amendment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969167 | 262 | 1.664063 | 2 |
To help kick 2010 off right, Intel has filled out the rest of its current-gen processor line-up with the help of Westmere. We’re taking a look at the desktop variant here, which brings a lot to the table compared to the previous generation. For those who’ve been holding out for that next affordable PC upgrade, the wait has been worth it.
It goes without saying that power efficiency is at the forefront of many consumers’ minds today, and for good reason. Whether you are trying to save money or the environment – or both – it’s good to know just how much effort certain vendors are putting into their products to help them excel in this area. Both AMD and Intel have worked hard to develop efficient chips, and that’s evident with each new launch. The CPUs are getting faster, and use less power, and hopefully things will stay that way.
To help see what kind of wattage a given processor draws on average, we use a Kill-A-Watt that’s plugged into a power bar that’s in turn plugged into one of the wall sockets, with the test system plugged directly into that. The monitor and other components are plugged into the other socket and is not connected to the Kill-A-Watt. For our system specifications, please refer to our methodology page.
To test, the computer is first boot up and left to sit at idle for five minutes, at which point the current wattage is recorded if stable. To test for full CPU load, LinX is run with 2560MB memory usage for a total of five minutes. During that run, the highest point the wattage reaches on the meter is captured and becomes our “Max Load”.
Throughout all of our tests so far, Clarkdale has proven to be in a unique class. Compared to all other dual-core CPUs, it’s extremely fast, and showcases gains of between 10 – 35% on average. Of course, being built on a 32nm process, along with its architecture upgrades, we could assume that the Core i5-661 will also excel where power consumption is concerned, and we’re spot on with that… just look at the results.
Because all of our other configurations were tested with a discrete graphics card, I included two sets of results here. One has the GPU installed (Radeon HD 4870), and the other without, so the IGP steps up to the plate. With or without the discrete card, the i5-661 turns out to be the most power efficient of the entire bunch. It’s idle power draw doesn’t change much from its closest competitors, but the only CPU to come close to its low load is AMD’s budget 240e dual-core. | <urn:uuid:431acaaf-8d08-49c4-8594-2dd0c99c9945> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techgage.com/article/intels_32nm_clarkdale_-_nehalem_for_everyone/17/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959614 | 576 | 1.65625 | 2 |
One of the problems of the recent rash of Occupations by the Occupy movement, quite apart from determining what space they should actually be occupying (as in the London, St Paul's Cathedral fiasco) is the difficulty in discerning what the Occupiers are protesting either in favour of, or against. Many, especially in the right-of-centre media have decided that these are anti-capitalist demonstrations (note this example from today's Daily Mail in the UK).
This categorisation is politically convenient, for those of the right, because it supports the view that anyone protesting about the way we appear to be running our economies and societies is an opponent of capitalism and therefore either an un-reconstructed socialist or proponent of a brand of economic management not seen in the West since the 1970s. This, of course, is not true. There is not a problem with capitalism, per se, and very few of the protesters are claiming as such. The problem is the variant of capitalism we have pursuing for most of the last 30 years. This variant is economic neo-liberalism or free market fundamentalism - the belief that free markets (in-so-far as those can ever really exist) are the perfect form of economic and social organisation that can do everything from setting the price of onions in the shops, to managing global trade, to delivering a system of public education or healthcare. This is absolutely not the same thing as capitalism.
This fundamentalist ideology has become established as the global economic orthodoxy, despite its transparently obvious failings, but it has never been given a genuine political expression and thus why democracy struggles to rid itself of this damaging extremism. There are three reasons for this. First, if you give it a political expression, no-one will ever vote for it. Second, placing this idea beyond the reach of politics is a means by which those who benefit from it can continue to benefit irrespective of who is in power. Third, it allows any form of government, no matter what political complexion, to be portrayed as The Problem.
Governments have sometimes attempted to pull elements of this ideology into the public sphere, but whenever they do, they have to give it a heavy disguise. British Prime Minister, David Cameron's 'Big Society' is one such attempt. The Big Society is about turning the business of government into a vast contracting opportunity for the private sector - an idea that would enjoy virtually no democratic support. However, Cameron is able give the idea an attractive, comforting, gloss - talking instead about handing power back to the people, eliminating bureacracy and empowering communities. So attractive, in fact, that many of the left wished they had invented the idea.
All that the Occupy movement is trying to do is drag this free market fundamentalism out of the shadows and into political debate. And all the Occupy movement is calling for is a new idea to confront it. An idea liberated from the failed economic dogma which has been used as a facade behind which established interests have advanced themselves for the last 30 years, immune from the inconvenient interference of democracy. Crucially, almost no-one is proposing resuscitating an idea which harks back even further to the socialist inspired economics which decided that the State (rather than Big Business) was the answer to all our problems.
We need something that recognises that competition in free markets is good for setting the price of onions, but not good at providing a system of public health or education. After all, winners and losers is fine when is a question of Asda versus Tesco (or Eton versus Harrow) - but we don't want a public education or health system of winners and losers. Critically, this needs to be an idea which is subject to public debate and the process of democracy, not something which is bundled past us under heavy disguise.
Note: I live in the English County of Suffolk. The Conservative-led Suffolk County Council recently tried to outsource all of its functions and turn itself into what it called a Virtual Council. In order to draw attention to the insanity and deep unpopularity of this idea I established this blog and a more extensive version of this article appears here under the title 'The Story of The Big Society'. Suffolk County Council has recently announced it is abandoning its plans to create The Big Suffolk Society although I can't claim it was my modest digital efforts that caused this!
Follow Richard Stacy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/richardstacy | <urn:uuid:5cb49433-0349-4f74-8704-0b6256c99207> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/richard-stacy/occupy-movement-capitalism_b_1069398.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963884 | 898 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Last December 30th, a horrific bombing snuffed out the lives of seven American patriots. We can only wish that the same blast had snuffed out the politically correct policies that may have led to those young peoples’ deaths. With heavy hearts, and a salute to our fallen heroes, it is fitting and proper that we should soberly consider the bureaucracy that placed those brave but inexperienced officers at a fire-base in a war zone.
Was it political correctness that killed the CIA operations officer, the analyst, and the others supporting the meeting, just as surely as the blast and fragments from the package strapped under the bomber’s robe? Every clandestine meeting with a terrorist is dangerous and potentially deadly. The meeting itself is a tiny part of the operation. Training and preparation, planning and cultural knowledge, understanding your asset’s personality, motivations, needs, and problems, are just a few of the issues that an operations officer must juggle and attempt to control. But the first step is the selection process itself that chooses candidates who will become operations officers in a war zone.
When the meeting is held in conjunction with a foreign intelligence service, as the presence of the Jordanian intelligence officer seems to suggest this one was, another layer of complications is introduced into an already complicated situation. Language, control, compatible goals, strategy, tactics, all must be coordinated, discussed, hashed out, and agreed upon with the partner. Vastly separated by culture and objectives, a CIA ops officer and her foreign counterpart must dance down a delicately balanced tightrope.
By their very nature, penetrations of terrorist organizations are dangerous, crafty, deceptive, and hard to handle. Whether the source is playing the role of a terrorist at the behest of a hostile intelligence handler, or is a real terrorist cooperating with friendly intelligence officers, the key element of the source’s personality is deception.
A terrorist is not usually the most savory character. In fact, he probably has a long history of walking on the wrong side of the law. Arrests, jail, detention, prison, living double lives, lying about his true intentions, beliefs and plans are second nature to a terrorist. Crimes, deceit, double-dealing, conspiracy, murder, rape and robbery are every day facts of life for a terrorist. He has been involved in black market schemes, counterfeiting, visa fraud, online fraud, identity theft, and multiple other schemes, cons, and rackets.
As if the background of the target does not pose enough challenges, remember that the target comes from a culture so different from that of middle America that, for the average American, the terrorist source may as well be from Pluto.
The target is likely a Middle Eastern male, probably native Arabic-speaking. He is also a member of a vastly complex, interwoven network of social, tribal, national, religious, clan, ethnic, and other groups. The flavor of Arabic he speaks, and the name he bears immediately identify him as a certain clan/tribe/ethnicity. He practices, or used to practice, a form of Islam that is strongly affected by his tribal and ethnic background.
He likely has participated in some sort of Islamic revival movement. He has probably traveled abroad, perhaps to the West. He has been bombarded with Western culture from the day he was born. He has a grasp of English, at least in reading. He probably has been educated in a technical discipline. He is of above average intelligence. He is able to use charm, and knows how to manipulate Americans. He has a strong, though misguided, understanding of American culture and lifestyles. His view of Americans is not complex. He thinks that American men are big, play football and drink a lot of beer. He thinks American women are blond, have large breasts and are eager to engage in casual sex with strangers they have just met. He admires, covets, and loathes the American lifestyle, economy and culture. He is interested in converting any American he meets to Islam.
The target is smooth like a snake, and would rather slip a knife into your American ribs than deal with you. He is meeting with an American intelligence officer for his own reasons, which very likely have nothing to do with the reasons the American is meeting with him.
While every case is different, that is a rough profile of a potential terrorist asset. It might also be helpful to review who a terrorist asset is not. This man is not a diplomat. He does not attend embassy cocktail parties. He is not a European sophisticate looking for an American contact to discuss the Copenhagen round of global warming talks. The terrorist is not impressed with American ideas of equality or political correctness. He does not fear a sexual harassment lawsuit. He shares not one of PC America’s concerns about “offensive speech,” or “the glass ceiling.” He is not interested in hearing the American view of the Middle East.
A CIA ops officer has the task of meeting, assessing, developing a close friendship with, and then recruiting the terrorist described above. The most highly coveted recruitment would be a member of an enemy terrorist organization. If that terrorist had, or could nurture a connection to, or information about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, the recruitment would be a ticket to super-stardom for the ops officer.
Who are the CIA ops officers that are pitted against this hardest of hard targets? What is the profile that the CIA uses to find and hire the operators to work against these kind of adverseness? Based on the CIA’s profile for hiring, you would think this job requires the same skills as an investment banker, an NGO advisor, an accountant, a lawyer, or another high-class professional.
CIA’s recruitment center, flooded with applicants after 9/11, set an arbitrary minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.75 for a candidate to be considered. Falling back on traditional profiles of clandestine service candidates, created during the Cold War, the CIA filled huge classes with eager young faces. The typical recruit came from a prestige school, with a BA or MA in International Relations, Political Science, Area Studies, or other soft liberal arts. The recruit had studied a foreign language, to less than fluent proficiency. Since a class-action lawsuit in 1993, it is now more likely that the recruit is female.
She has foreign experience, probably a semester, or a year, in an American university’s study abroad program, most likely in Europe. She is in her mid-20s. She has never been arrested, never been involved in anything shady or illegal, has never used drugs, and drinks alcohol moderately. She sweated through her polygraph test, probably the first time she has ever been questioned by a hostile authority.
After passing the academic screening and an interview, candidates passed a security clearance, including a thorough background check, drug testing, psychological screening (“I’m fascinated by fire: T or F”), and a polygraph exam. Those with arrest and criminal records are deemed unsuitable. A rowdy, street-smart male is likely to be screened out at some point in the process.
These recruits are the type of kids you would want your child bringing home as a life partner. They come from all the best schools, eager, arrogant, confident, swaggering, innocent, and full of potential. But are they the right candidates for dealing with cunning terrorists?
The answer should be clear. Absolutely not. The recruits make very good choir boys and girls, squeaky clean, innocent, naive, and wholly unsuited to deal with terrorists. However, the problems with the CIA’s process just begin at recruitment. You think that these fresh kids will be trained. Training could be used to create some of the street-smarts required to deal with terrorists and other dangerous sources. But the training to prepare the choir boys to deal with reprobates would take years and years. They only have a few months.
Mandatory sexual harassment training in the CIA is rigorous and repeated. More like communist “self-criticism” sessions, this training infuriates most males, and empowers most females. The video vignettes used in the training paint with a broad brush. Males are pig-headed imbecilic, racist predators. Females are hard-working, put-upon, victims of the white male hierarchy. Past lack of female representation in management has given way to a flood of newly minted Senior Intelligence Service females, and mid-level female managers up and down the chain of command, including in the field.
The “street smarts” training that CIA operations officers go through is quite helpful, if the recruit brings a high level of street sense to the first day of class. If not, the training is all but wasted on the naive innocents. If you’ve never been worried about being detected by the police, if you’ve never been arrested, if you’ve never lied about your activities, if you’ve never cased a location to prepare for an illegal activity, if you’ve never sweet-talked someone into (or out of) something, the training is a confusing whirlwind of alien concepts.
The recruits, selected for their high GPAs, and pristine backgrounds, gamely go through the motions. They learn the basics, and the concepts, intellectually, but for the vast majority, they are in a frightening upside-down universe of moral ambiguity and repulsive manipulation. Where right is wrong, and wrong is right; where you must become best friends with your worst enemy; this is the universe of deadly con-games.
While it is true that females can often be much better, generally speaking (and on certain realms), at manipulating and reading subtle signs in others, the unspoken issue of sex and sexual expectations greatly complicates a female ops officer’s attempts to ply her craft. Political correctness dictates that the CIA and its experienced ops officers should not mention this fact of nature, and in fact, they pretend it does not exist. Unlike other, highly effective intel services, which use sex as part of their arsenal, the PC CIA treats every ops officer as if they are interchangeable.
After training, the newly minted female ops officer is assigned to a post in “the Sand Box,” Afghanistan or Iraq, or to a more genteel post. In neither one does she learn anything about the realities of the street culture of her targets. What she does learn, and become acculturated to, are the realities of American government culture. She learns how to survive and prosper in the bureaucracy. At either the fire base, or genteel circles, she becomes adept at negotiating the social maze of American PC culture. And while this is important for her career, it does not advance America’s fight against terrorists.
In human intel ops, initial attempts at making contact with a potential source might involve an arranged meeting in a public place, or the source may walk-in to volunteer. When a female ops officer approaches a stranger in public, especially an Arab male, the sexual electricity is super-charged. Even with a walk-in, the ops officer is thrust into a highly emotionally charged relationship, with an immediate need to begin to sort out truth from lies and distortions.
Even if operating in the same culture and language, such situations are extremely difficult to handle. But when attempts at befriending and manipulating take place in an alien culture and language, maybe through an interpreter, the relationship is so complicated as to be unmanageable. A male ops officer has a difficult enough time in navigating through the twists and turns of a development, without sexual baggage hanging over each meeting.
PC denial of reality may not have much immediate effect in other US government offices, like the Department of Agriculture, but in CIA operations, the effects are immediate and obvious, to an objective observer. Painful as it may be for the PC crowd to admit, we must adapt to the target culture. We cannot force our targets to adapt to our culture. We should not send a woman in to do a job, and pretend she is not handicapped by her gender.
The father of one of the dead officers knew instinctively that a war zone was not the right place for a girl who had graduated from Keith Country Day School and Colby College, which offers a semester abroad program in Spain, and one in France. The bereaved father recalled: “I begged her not to go, I said, ‘Do you know how dangerous that is? That’s for soldiers.’”
Acknowledging this reality does not demean the work of old, new, or current female ops officers. They are doing their best, and are patriots, one and all. Any exception that one may cite (as there are highly effective female ops officers), simply proves the rule. They clearly have a role to play in the CT intel war. However, just as in our armed forces, where women are not allowed in combat roles, we should use the debacle at Khost as impetus to sift PC dreams of equality from the realities of operating against terrorists.
Kent Clizbe is a former CIA operations officer with extensive counter-terrorism experience. He has written articles on the CIA and the Obama administration’s war on the counter-terrorism operators, for Newsmax, ParcBench, and others, since he stopped contracting with the Agency in 2007. | <urn:uuid:c89aaa8f-575d-476c-9477-cf54c3ddb14e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2010/kent-clizbe/pc-casualties/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965893 | 2,761 | 1.71875 | 2 |
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Short & Sweet
August 2011 marks the two-year anniversary of the Station Fire.
The Station Fire burned from August 26 to October 16, 2009. During that time 160,577 acres (251 sq mi; 64,983 ha) were burned, and 209 structures destroyed, including 89 homes.
The fire started in the Angeles National Forest near the U.S. Forest Service ranger station on the Angeles Crest Highway. Two firefighters were killed on August 30 while attempting to escape the flames when their fire truck plunged off a cliff.
The Station Fire was the worst wildfire in the history of Los Angeles County.
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Tag Archives: fire
LA Times investigation contradicts key assertions by the Forest Service about its response to the fire
Hot off the presses, here is another investigative article by Paul Pringle. Thanks Debra! ~B~ Aerial expert’s report on L.A. County’s biggest wildfire flies in the face of official review As Capt. Perri Hall watched helplessly, a blaze that had … Continue reading
Paul Pringle has done it again, bringing to light the cover-up in the USFS “investigation” of the Station Fire. For full details, go to the L.A. Times article: U.S. failed to fill order for aircraft in Station fire The agency … Continue reading
Updated June 12, 2010 In the fall of 2009, a remote wildlife camera captured the Station Fire moving through a canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains. The camera was one of two placed in the Arroyo Seco between JPL and … Continue reading
Editorial As 2009 comes to an end, I look back at all the changes it brought to so many forest dwellers. The Station Fire began modestly enough, but, like all things that cause great change, it caught everyone by surprise. … Continue reading
I suppose this is a “silver lining”, but…. ~B~ http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-singing-springs19-2009dec19,0,7220619.story | <urn:uuid:7e9e425a-607a-4d81-a8ee-aa430c970467> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.angelesrising.org/index.php/tag/fire/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915551 | 526 | 1.695313 | 2 |
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Other Developing Areas. For cooler parts of the developing world, highland papayas could provide a range of future fruits. Indeed, with their extreme variability, they could become a veritable backyard fruit bazaar for upland villages from Morocco to Papua New Guinea. Like the common papaya in the lowlands, these Andean species and hybrids could provide masses of tasty, nutritious fruits in the highlands. It is likely they would enter local trade and, in time, develop into profitable small-scale or even large-scale domestic and export operations. Before their commercial value can be exploited, however, there is a need to select and develop types that have good and uniform qualities and that can be propagated on a large scale.
Industrialized Regions. Highland papayas may be potential fruits for subtropical and warm-temperate areas of North America, Europe, Japan, and Australasia. However, they require climates that are free from both frosts and excessive summer heat.
These plants can be susceptible to certain pests and diseases, particularly to nematodes, mites, root rot, and viruses. Their climatic requirements and cultural practices for maximum production and best flavor are little known. Thus, considerable horticultural attention is needed before they can be exploited with confidence. Postharvest handling studies would greatly increase their market potential.
Although the fragrance of many of these fruits is instantly appealing, the taste is unusual, often must be acquired, and can be disappointing to consumers expecting a papayalike flavor. Although for simplicity we have called these “highland papayas,” an important strategy in the wider marketing of these species is to create or adopt new names that avoid the papaya image and that allow the fruits to be judged on their own merits.
To create cold-tolerant papayas has been the plant breeder's goal for almost a century. With modern technology, better germplasm collections of Andean species, and old-fashioned persistence, it seems probable that this goal can be achieved. | <urn:uuid:2a37ee1b-3f42-4d55-bdc2-9d2f9fc5f2b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1398&page=261 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943579 | 458 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Beran Collection Pacific Photographs
Prints of photographs taken beween 1890 and 1910 in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
The majority of the 152 images were created by unknown photographers, and show portraits, ceremonies, village scenes and activities as well as trading stations. Some have informative captions, including local names and personal names of traders and settlers. Many of the Solomon Island images are identical to those in another album held by the Australian Museum (see Capell Collection) but the captions are sometimes different. Research suggests that the Beran album images were taken from the original negatives as the captions are at times more detailed. Also included are a few prints of images taken in Vanuatu by John Watt Beattie, Charles Morris Woodford and John William Lindt.
Harry Beran is a scholar, author and collector specialising in the Massim culture of Milne Bay Province, PNG. He was working in the Philosophy Department, University of Wollongong, when he acquired the album and donated it to the Australian Museum. | <urn:uuid:1fd4dca3-6bab-4f4c-8cc5-0bd4eb93ae31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://australianmuseum.net.au/Beran-Collection-Pacific-Photographs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9607 | 218 | 2.21875 | 2 |
She had never seen him before in her life. She saw by his clothing he was a Jew. As she moved toward the well, he startled her by striking up a conversation, requesting she give him a drink with the jug she carried. "You are asking me, a Samaritan woman, to give you a drink?" she blurted out, astonished by his willingness to converse with her.
"If you knew who I was," he told her, "You would be asking me for living water. Everyone who drinks the water I'm offering will never be thirsty again."
"Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, and not have to travel all the way here to draw water anymore," she said.
"Go," he said. "Call your husband and come here." She quickly informed him his assumption about her marital status was mistaken. "It's true you have no husband at present," he agreed. "For you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband."
Her mouth dropped open at his startling revelation. How could he know so much about her? And why so abruptly bring up her sordid history when thus far he had seemed only intent on kindness?
We, too, might puzzle at Jesus' blunt and seemingly confrontational words. How could these be spoken by a loving savior? His conversation with the Samaritan Woman is only understandable when read in light of Jesus' intent. He was leading her to a place where forgiveness and healing were possible. He knew she could never accept an offer of salvation if she thought her shameful past was not known in the offering. Bringing it out into the open would allow an honest relationship with God that would truly quench her thirsty soul.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me," David prayed. Our sin can keep us from intimacy with God, even after we are saved. Taking a good, honest look at ourselves can be a revealing exercise. But the Bible does not instruct us to do so alone. We are to take the Lord with us on our internal journey.
Why is this so important? Richard Foster cites two reasons. First, if we do the examination on our own, there might be a temptation to justify our actions, to rationalize away the blame and guilt. Involving the Lord will bring an integrity to our perception, forcing our evaluation to be made in light of His perfect holiness. Second, with the Lord's presence we avoid the converse trap of falling into despair as we realize how short we have fallen. Instead, knowledge of his great love and mercy brings hope, and our appreciation of the depths of the grace of God only grows.
It is not a comfortable process. Reality can be painful to view and even more painful to confess. Yet like a physical infection, only when sin is brought into the open can healing begin. As Foster assures us, "Under the searchlight of the Great Physician we can expect good always."
After months of freezing temperatures here in Maryland, we were recently blessed with a few days of balmy breezes. Snow, around since mid-January, quickly disappeared as the temperatures soared into the sixties. But I noticed, as Sasha and I walked one early morning, that patches of snow and ice still remained where evergreen trees shaded the ground, preventing the sun from doing its magic. Winter's icy grip remained where the sun failed to reach.
When we allow sin to remain hidden in our hearts, we deny ourselves the healing touch of God in those cold, hard places. Confession is good for the soul. It is time to rid ourselves of our shameful secrets and bring them out into the light and warmth of the saving grace of God.
"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." Proverbs 28: 13
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Posted by Julie Coleman at 7:40 AM | <urn:uuid:10f0aff7-4fb7-4574-8b64-36e11c9c6e8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://juliecoleman.blogspot.com/2011/03/into-light.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981342 | 830 | 1.78125 | 2 |
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2007 National Arbor Day Awards
Lawrence Enersen Award
Majora Carter, Bronx, New York
Majora Carter, Bronx, N.Y., recipient of the Lawrence Enersen Award for outstanding tree planting and conservation work at the community level. Carter, a lifelong resident of the Bronx, founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001, which addresses land use, energy, transportation, water and waste policy to inspire solutions to revitalize the area. Sustainable South Bronx has started the Smart Roof Project, which promotes “green” roofs in the neighborhood, and the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program, which offers residents the opportunity to gain skills and certification in ecological restoration, hazardous waste cleanup, and landscaping. She is also leading the South Bronx Feasibility Study, a community-led plan to create a bicycle/pedestrian greenway along the South Bronx waterfront.
This year's winners are:
Award winners are recognized for their leadership in the cause of tree planting, conservation,and environmental stewardship.
Leaders in tree planting, conservation, and environmental stewardship from around the country and world are honored each year at our annual Arbor Day Awards celebration held in Nebraska City, Nebraska. The awards ceremony is part of the annual Arbor Day weekend celebration held at Lied Lodge & Conference Center. | <urn:uuid:7be8932e-6266-4910-9b11-83d5a930e41e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arborday.org/programs/awards/2007/?award=enersen | 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 | 0.926109 | 272 | 1.632813 | 2 |
It’s never easy to step out of your comfort box and to make friends. As a teen girl you may find that making friends can be one of the biggest challenges you will face. How can you look for ways to make friends and to be a good friend to others? You need to be able to learn how to have confidence in yourself and to start taking the first steps! Here are some easy steps to follow that will help you in being able to make lifelong friends.
Step # 1 – Know yourself
What qualities do you have that will make you into a good friend? You need to get to know yourself and to be able to trust yourself to be a good friend. It is a smart idea to take time to look in front of the mirror each day and give yourself a pep talk. Point out all of the great qualities that you have and that you really like about yourself. This is a great way to have confidence in yourself and to know that you are an amazing and talented person and you can make friends! If you have confidence, you will find that it is a lot easier as the friendships will be able to come to you naturally and you will not need to force them.
Step # 2 – Speak up!
How can you make friends if you just sit in the corner and never talk? If you want to make friends, you need to make the first move and start talking! You may be surprised to see that a lot of other people are dealing with the same hesitation about making friends and they are also scared to speak up. By taking that first step, you can easily make them feel at ease and you will both be able to find a number of different things to talk about. Finding something that you have in common with another person is one of the easiest and best ways in which you can make friends.
Step # 3 – Smile and be kind
A great way to make friends is by being a nice person. When you have a warm smile on your face and you are always polite and nice, people will gravitate towards you. Treat others the way that you want to be treated as a friend. When you have kindness and warmth, it will welcome many others and you will make a lot of great friends.
Step # 4 – Listen
If you want to be a great friend you need to learn how to listen. People want to see that you are actually interested in what they have to say. A good friend is one that knows how to listen and understands the importance of just listening. Always give your friends your complete eye contact so they can see you are invested in the conversation. You need to show your friends that you are listening to them as this will be able to really make an impression on them.
Step # 5 – Be true to yourself
A good friend will love you for who you are and they will not ask you to change for them. You need to be true to yourself and accept yourself for who you are. As you do this, you will be able to gain more confidence and self-esteem. You may also find that other people easily gravitate to you as they can see what a great person you are and that you do have confidence in yourself and you want to be a good friend to others. | <urn:uuid:14703f95-f53e-42af-af6f-ef2e8608f4f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://teengirlnow.com/?tag=be-true-to-yourself | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975576 | 661 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Elaine Witty ’88S, ’91C
The emotional aftershocks from the recent earthquake in Haiti were felt worldwide. Responding to desperate conditions, people across the globe reached out to provide assistance in any way they could. One person, Molly Marks, a pediatric nurse from Knoxville, TN, traveled immediately to Haiti on a medical mission where she became particularly involved with the case of Bella, a 16-month-old orphan with life-threatening cases of pneumonia, bronchitis and giardia, an intestinal parasite.
Devastated by the earthquake, Haitian hospitals were ill-equipped to care for Bella, so Marks sought to bring the child to the U.S. for treatment. She soon found that the paperwork required to transfer victims from Haiti to the U.S. was an overwhelming task needing hours of attention–hours that Bella just didn’t have. So, Marks turned to Elaine Witty ’88S, ’91C, who was referred to her by a local church group that Witty had helped in the past.
Now based in New York City, Witty is an accomplished lawyer with her own practice, Witty Law Group, and an extensive background in handling cases involving battered and abducted immigrants. Applying her expertise–and her passion for pursuing justice for her clients–Witty took up the task of expediting the necessary paperwork for Bella’s transfer.
”The ability to influence a person’s life is incalculable. I’m changed forever by this experience.”
Even in the best of circumstances, it’s a struggle to navigate the labyrinthine structure of U.S. and international immigration bureaucracy. But in post-earthquake Haiti, the complexity of Witty’s task was staggering. With Marks in Haiti and Witty in Tennessee, where she was based at the time, the smallest, most routine chore–such as getting a copy of Bella’s birth certificate and other documents–became a monumental effort. With no access to a photocopier or a computer, Witty had to be creative. She asked Marks to use her cell phone to photograph the necessary documents, and then she used the photos to get the paperwork started.
As daunting as it was to handle the legal side of the process, the greatest challenge for Witty lay in keeping Marks focused and on-task in the midst of chaos and upheaval. Marks faced enormous pressure, and she relied on Witty to cope with it. ”You’re asking people to clamp down on their emotions and focus on documentation in a life-or-death situation,” said Witty. ”You have to be their emotional lifeline.”.
There were many moments where things nearly fell apart. At one point, Witty had secured Marks a critical appointment with the necessary officials in Haiti–no easy feat itself–but Marks was turned away from the gates of the U.S. Consulate in Port-au-Prince because the guards had not yet received word of her appointment with immigration officials inside. After some frantic phone calls to Washington, D.C., and Haiti, with Marks waiting on the street outside the office, U.S. immigration officials located Marks and Bella at the gates and ushered them in for visa processing.
Today, thanks to Marks’ compassion and Witty’s tenacity, Bella is getting the medical attention she needs, while staying at Marks’ home in Knoxville. ”It simply would not have happened without Elaine,” said Marks. ”During the time that I was in Haiti, the government and the laws regarding the Haitian orphans were changing daily–sometimes hourly. She worked furiously to stay abreast of the latest information and present my case to the appropriate people. It was so comforting to know that she was here in the U.S. fighting on my side while I was there in Haiti focusing on Bella and her health. When Elaine finally called me with the good news, I was overcome with emotion, and I could hear tears in her voice as well.”.
While she’s overjoyed that she was able to help Marks and Bella, Witty is not resting–she has since been contacted by other humanitarian workers in Haiti and is now handling five similar cases. The whole experience was ”indescribable,” said Witty. ”Now I understand, firsthand, the Talmudic saying, ‘And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world,” she said. ”Most lawyers don’t get this type of an opportunity. The ability to influence a person’s life is incalculable. I’m changed forever by this experience.” | <urn:uuid:bded9751-5485-4c00-b9a7-d9def2805dd2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.yu.edu/alumni-news/2010/09/08/beating-bureaucracy-and-time-alumna-helps-victim-of-haiti-earthquake/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96986 | 992 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice
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"Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice is destined to make a major contribution to the field of Asian American psychology and to the larger field of multicultural psychology."
—From the Foreword by Derald Wing Sue, PhD Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
"Dr. Nadal has done a superb job of locating the experiences of Filipino Americans within the larger scholarship on ethnic minority psychology, while also highlighting the complexity, richness, and uniqueness of their psychological experiences. This book should be a part of everyone's library."
—E.J.R. David, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Alaska Anchorage
"Ranging from historical contexts to present-day case studies, theoretical models to empirical findings, self-reflection activities to online and media resources, Filipino American Psychology will engage, stimulate, and challenge both novices and experts. Without question, Dr. Nadal's book is a foundational text and a one-stop resource for both the Filipino American community and the community of mental health professionals."
—Alvin N. Alvarez, PhD Professor, San Francisco State University
A landmark volume exploring contemporary issues affecting Filipino Americans, as well as the most successful mental health strategies for working with Filipino American clients
Addressing the mental health needs of the Filipino American population—an often invisible, misunderstood, and forgotten group—Filipino American Psychology provides counselors and other mental health practitioners with the knowledge, awareness, and skills they can use to become effective and culturally competent when working with their Filipino American clients.
Filipino American Psychology begins by looking at the unique cultural, social, political, economic, and mental health needs of Filipino Americans. Noted expert—and Filipino American—Kevin Nadal builds on a foundational understanding of the unique role and experience of Filipino Americans, offering strategies for more effective clinical work with Filipino Americans in a variety of settings.
A must-read for mental health professionals as well as educators and students in the mental health field, Filipino American Psychology is an insightful look at the Filipino American community and the nuances of the Filipino American psyche. | <urn:uuid:564592e1-a641-4170-80f0-9b05fbc1d537> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470951362,subjectCd-CU22.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902687 | 477 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Hurricane Ophelia is centered at latitude 25.6 north and longitude 63.0 west, about 480 miles south-southeast of Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It has maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, making it a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
Hurricane Ophelia is moving north at 16 mph and has minimum central pressure of 956 millibars or 28.23 inches.
A tropical storm watch is in effect for Bermuda, where tropical storm-force winds are possible starting Saturday afternoon. The eye of Hurricane Ophelia is expected to move east of Bermuda late Saturday, then turn to the north-northeast on Sunday.
Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next 12 to 24 hours, followed by a gradual weakening. | <urn:uuid:3a171092-dc45-4211-b9d8-422ff8b09bc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2011/09/hurricane_ophelia_gains_streng.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927975 | 168 | 2.390625 | 2 |
(Phys.org)—LG Chem says it has a cable-type lithium-ion battery that is so flexible it can be tied in knots and worn as a bracelet or woven into textiles. For mobile device designers, the eventual commercial production of such a battery would be a very big deal in reducing design constraints. Flexible batteries have been created before but made in flat sheets and have not stored much energy. The LG Chem flexible battery is thin and very flexible, able to be placed anywhere in any shape. Thin strands of copper wire are coated with nickel-tin. The strands are made into a metal yarn and wrapped around a rod. Once the rod is removed, a strong spring results.
Full details of LG Chem's battery design are provided in the paper, "Cable-Type Flexible Lithium Ion Battery Based on Hollow Multi-Helix Electrodes," by Yo Han Kwon, Sang-Wook Woo, Hye-Ran Jung, Hyung Kyun Yu, Kitae Kim, Byung Hun Oh, Soonho Ahn, Sang-Young Lee, Seung-Wan Song, Jaephil Cho, Heon-Cheol Shin, and Je Young Kim. The research paper was published earlier this month in Advanced Materials.
"In our experiments," they wrote, "we found that our prototype was exceptionally flexible and could suffer large strain without malfunction."
The LG Chem researchers used a fourth-generation iPod Shuffle for testing; the researchers reported that the prototype successfully operated a red LED screen and MP3 player under severe twisting and bending conditions.
The goal is to have this battery readied for mass production. The day can come none too soon for device designers who would be eager to work with more novel form factors but cannot because of the limitations set by batteries. They think the type of battery that is being developed by the company could potentially alter the device landscape.
As the authors point out, in the area of portable electronics, "the limiting factor is often the shape of the battery." They note that freeing up design limitations would constitute "a disruptive technology that could open up a path for design innovation."
They acknowledge that there have been efforts made elsewhere to develop smaller thinner and lighter batteries, but the technologies have not yet resolved constraints owing to fixed cylindrical, prismatic, or pouch shapes.
The LG Chem researchers are to continue working on their design. They intend to test new anode materials, for the batteries to deliver more power, faster.
LG Chem lays claim to being an important force in battery design progress. They began mass production of Korea's first lithium-ion batteries in 1999. By the end of 2008, LG Chem was the fourth-largest maker globally.
Explore further: Bendable battery and LED make up the first functional all-flexible electronic system
More information: DOI: 10.1002/adma.201202196 | <urn:uuid:9453899a-09b1-49a8-8e73-7dd10cca1bd0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news/2012-09-lg-chem-cable-batteries-reshape.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949926 | 596 | 2.15625 | 2 |
NEW ANDY WARHOL DOCUMENTARY ON U.S. TV
An article in a recent issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the new two-part Andy Warhol documentary to be broadcast on September 20 and 21, 2006 caused one irate reader to write to the newspaper accusing Warhol of being "the worst kind of Pittsburgher, a Pittsburgh deserter. As soon as his personal 15 minutes began, he fled our fair city for the hipster hellhole that is New York City." (www.post-gazette.com/pg/06215/710596-42.stm)
Considering that it was over a decade after leaving Pittsburgh that Warhol had his first exhibition of his Pop paintings in an art gallery (in Los Angeles rather than New York), the reader's comments are illogical but reflect a commonly held attitude that Warhol's rise to fame happened almost instantly after he arrived in the "hipster hellhole" called New York. It didn't. He achieved fame the way most successful artists do - through years of hard work.
The new two-part documentary on Warhol is part of the American Masters series on PBS in the U.S. and was directed by Ric Burns who previously directed the epic series New York, A Documentary Film. Musician Laurie Anderson narrates the Warhol film with kitsch artist Jeff Koons appearing as "the voice of Warhol." The creative (?) device of using someone else to portray Warhol in a documentary is not new. David Bailey used it (unsuccessfully) in his 1973 documentary on the artist. The main problem with filtering Warhol's words through somebody else is that Warhol never said many of the things he is credited with as saying. Presumably Koon's narration will be littered with Warholisms from books such as The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again). However, Warhol's Philosophy book was written mostly by his secretary, Pat Hackett, from tapes and interviews, with contributions by Interview magazine editor, Bob Colacello. It remains unclear as to which words were those of Hackett and/or Colacello and which words were those of Warhol:Bob Colacello:
"When I finished the chapter, I handed it to Andy. He counted the pages, as he counted the ads in Interview, and said, 'Only twelve?' He took it home that night and read it over the phone to Brigid Berlin, taping her reaction. Then he gave the tape to Pat Hackett, telling her to 'make it better.'" (BC208)
"On the first book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again), I did eight separate interviews with Andy on the basis of which I wrote chapters 1 through 8 and chapter 10. Then, using material from conversations Andy had taped between himself and Bob Colacello and Brigid Berlin, I wrote the introductory chapter and chapters 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14." (AWDxv)
According to author Stephen Koch, who appears in the documentary, Warhol was "probably the best-read, intellectually best-informed artist of his generation, something he kept very secret because it wasn't part of the image that he was a reader." This is pushing it a bit. Although Warhol may have read more than he confessed to in interviews and although it may be true that he kept abreast of what was happening in the worlds of art and fashion, calling him the "best-read" and "intellectually best-informed artist of his generation" is a major exaggeration, particularly coming from Koch who simply did not know the artist well enough to make such a claim. Warhol's work stands on its own. It doesn't need further hype about the artist's reading habits in order to legitimise itself.
According to the PBS page on Warhol that accompanies the series, Warhol's birth date is unknown and he died at home. Hopefully, Mr. Burns' documentary doesn't repeat these inaccuracies. Andy Warhol's birth date is, of course, not unknown. He was born on August 6, 1928 and when he died on February 22, 1987 it was at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, not at home.
An obituary that was published in the Washington Post the day after Warhol died can be found at:
Local broadcast times for Ric Burns' documentary can be found on the PBS website. The Andy Warhol page is at www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/warhol_a.html.
Ric Burns' website is at: www.ricburns.com. | <urn:uuid:18dd7013-cad1-4df2-890e-f1176eda4741> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://warholstars.org/news/ricburns.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976273 | 970 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Brasilian photographer André França has developed a series called "Vanishing" in which he explore the disappearing beauty using dolls.I found it quite interesting , here some notes from the statement written by Alejandra Hernandez Munoz:
To vanish means to disappear, to undergo a process of decaying or finishing. At first, I thought about what could promote or accelerate the corrosion or disintegration of a body: incineration, caustic lime, acid, bacteria, worms. But the bodies, immersed in a liquid texture, do not display any traces of chemical action or deterioration of matter. Therefore, the title of the work made me think of a brand of soap powder well known in Brazil, which promises in its ads to“eliminate all stains, even the most resistant, and make your clothes whiter than the brand most people buy.” In his sense, the series may be regarded as another artistic contribution to what I call “pop lineage of domestic hygiene”, founded in 1924 by Davis with Odol, made big in 1964 with Warhol’s boxes ofBrillo, and currently trivialized with the giveaway cans of Omo designed by Romero Britto. Nonetheless, differently from Odol or Brillo, here not only we see the image of the product Vanish, which could have produced the foam we see in the pictures, but the action is in present continuous tense, vanishing, a progressive, still uncompleted action supported by a narrative sequence of images of objects in a foamy medium. | <urn:uuid:e1f4d358-1c77-4a99-adfe-b480d3d30cd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mattiolidaniele.blogspot.com/2010/07/augenblick-profile-andre-franca.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958984 | 312 | 1.796875 | 2 |
April 15, 2009
Cygnus X-3 is one of the most mysterious stars ever discovered, and Andrew Collins believes that the Cygnus constellation, and in particular this star, was known by the ancients and revered by them. But why? Andrew has been with the Dreamland Team to discuss this before, but now he has riveting new information.
Andrew's website is AndrewCollins.... | <urn:uuid:57d5aff4-0390-442a-82b9-19c66a4a40dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unknowncountry.com/revelations/archive/2009?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969821 | 82 | 1.875 | 2 |
With flu season in full swing, older adults need to know that getting a flu shot doesn’t just help keep them healthy, it also helps prevent the spread of the flu to family and friends. This is particularly important during the holidays because family members of all generations spend time together in close quarters increasing the risk of spreading the flu. Individuals may be infected with the flu and spread it several days before showing symptoms.
Older adults are particularly at risk for influenza because the immune system weakens with age making it less able to fight influenza infection and less responsive to vaccination. Adults 65 and older have two vaccination options – the traditional flu shot and a higher dose shot designed to trigger a stronger immune response following immunization. Both flu vaccine options are widely available and covered by Medicare Part B with no copay. | <urn:uuid:239613b5-6054-4821-ae71-15d178501060> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mtairynews.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Help+stay+healthy+this+holiday+season+with+a+flu+shot+-Infographic-%20&id=21054874 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961131 | 163 | 2.71875 | 3 |
This blog post fails to understand that performance royalty rates are not paid only to record labels, but also to independent artists that promote themselves. Internet radio, like Pandora, is not obligated to play specific music - as with terrestrial radio, ClearChannel, and top 40s. In fact, the music selected is based on the user’s preference and their music library is vast. Despite this bill, the RIAA’s profits will continue to decrease as more musicians are choosing to produce, publicize, and distribute their own music on the Internet. As such, these performance royalties will be going straight to the musicians themselves, as long as they are not signed with a label. I think this bill is a great way for musicians (not signed with a label) to receive some form of income in addition to live music and merchandising. Considering royalties for publishing and songwriting is managed by ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, performance royalties may be the only way that independent artists are able to receive 100% of the profits for having their music played. | <urn:uuid:3e224f14-afcf-430b-9453-91d84ec2879c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techdirt.com/user/comment_rss.php?u=stepinsidemusic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978147 | 216 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is an American low-cost airline. Southwest is the largest airline in the world by number of passengers carried per year (as of 2007). Southwest, the 6th largest U.S. airline by revenue, maintains the third-largest passenger fleet of aircraftamong all of the world's commercial airlines. As of May 3, 2009, Southwest operates approximately 3,500 flights daily. Southwest is headquartered at 2702 Love Field Drive in the Love Field area of Dallas, Texas, adjacent to Love Field airport.
Southwest Airlines has carried more customers than any other U.S. airline since August 2006 for combined domestic and international passengers according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Southwest Airlines is one of the world’s most profitable airlines, posting a profit for the 36th consecutive year in January 2009. However, Southwest has posted individual quarterly losses, despite the year-end revenue posting profits.
Southwest's successful business model involves flying multiple short, quick trips into the secondary (more efficient and less costly) airports of major markets, and using only one aircraft type, the Boeing 737. | <urn:uuid:9eb0d256-59de-4743-8f85-ec268c5628de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lunch.com/Reviews/corporation/Southwest_Airlines-wiki-1433520.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952637 | 238 | 1.671875 | 2 |
- The main Import dialog
- Copy as DNG, Copy, Move, or Add?
- Importing files from a card
- Source panel
- Content area
- File Handling panel
- File Renaming panel
- Apply During Import panel
- Destination panel
- Import Presets menu
- Importing video files
- Adding photos from a folder to the catalog
- Importing photos via drag and drop
- Auto Imports
- Importing photos directly from the camera
- Layout Overlay view
File Handling panel
The File Handling panel (Figure 2.12) is where you decide how the imported photos should be managed. The Render Previews menu allows you to decide how previews should be rendered during the import process. The default setting here is Minimal, which imports photos as quickly as possible without devoting resources to building the previews just yet. The Embedded & Sidecar option makes use of any previews embedded in the original images or sidecar files. This can help speed up the import process from a camera card and let you see some kind of image preview right away, but the previews may only offer a rough guide as to the images’ appearance. You can also force Lightroom to build Standard previews as the files are imported, or choose 1:1, which will go the whole nine yards and build full-size previews (this can really slow down the import times). Fortunately, Lightroom always prioritizes importing the photos first before it proceeds to render the finer-quality previews. Of the four available options, I reckon “Embedded & Sidecar” makes the most sense, because although the previews may not be as accurate, this will still be the fastest way to get some kind of preview to appear as the files are imported.
Figure 2.12 This shows a full view of File Handling panel options (top) and the Render Preview options (bottom).
It should be noted that Lightroom is able to import all the supported raw file formats plus RGB, Lab, CMYK, and grayscale images saved using the TIFF, JPEG, or PSD file formats. Non-raw images can be in 8-bit or 16-bit mode, but PSD files must be saved from Photoshop with the Maximum Compatibility option switched on (see Figure 2.13). If there are no compatibility problems, everything should import successfully, but if there are files Lightroom cannot process you’ll encounter a feedback dialog like the one shown in Figure 2.14.
Figure 2.13 To ensure that your layered Photoshop format (PSD) files are recognized in Lightroom, make sure you have the Maximum Compatibility option switched on in the Photoshop File Handling preferences before you save layered PSD files via Photoshop. If you ever find you are unable to import PSD files into Lightroom, try switching this option on in Photoshop and resave the PSDs overwriting the originals. Shown here is the Photoshop CS5 Preferences dialog.
Figure 2.14 If there are files that can’t be imported into Lightroom, you’ll see the warning dialog shown here, which lists the files that couldn’t be imported and the reasons why.
Making backup copies of imported files
Whenever you choose Copy as DNG, Copy, or Move to import files into Lightroom you can check the “Make a Second Copy To” box and select a folder for storing backups of the files that are about to be imported. The backup option is therefore extremely useful when importing photos from a camera card, because you never know when a hard disk failure might occur. If you copy the original camera files to a separate backup drive at the import stage (as shown in Figure 2.15) the chances of losing all your camera files due to disk failure or human error will be greatly diminished. Note that the backup copy images are always stored in their original file state with no file renaming and no develop settings or metadata settings applied to them (although when you choose “Copy as DNG” the backup copy files will be renamed). What you end up with is an exact copy of the files that were captured on the original camera card before they were imported into Lightroom. After you have renamed and edited the master selection of images and have backed up these images, you’ll no longer need to keep the initial backup copy files. Nonetheless, it’s a wise precaution at the camera card import stage to temporarily keep more than one copy of the master files stored on the system.
Figure 2.15 This illustrates the standard Lightroom file handling backup procedure where you can assign a Second Copy folder to save backup files to at the time of import.
Photos shot as raw + JPEG
If you have your camera set to capture both raw + JPEG and the “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” option in the General Lightroom preferences is left unchecked (the default setting), the imported photos will appear grouped as a raw+JPEG image in the Lightroom catalog (Figure 2.16). If you decide later to import the JPEGs as separate photos, you can check the “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” option in the preferences, select the relevant folder, and choose Synchronize Folder... from the Library module Library menu. This will allow you to import the JPEGs that accompany the imported raw files as separate JPEG photos.
Figure 2.16 If “Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos” is unchecked the raw files and accompanying JPEGs will both be copied to the destination folder during the import process, but only the raw files will actually appear “imported” into Lightroom. You will see such imports named using an extension suffix such as: .CR2+JPEG or .NEF+JPEG.
File handling limitations
As you may have gathered by now, Lightroom is principally a photo cataloging and raw editing program that can also edit non-raw files. You can import Grayscale, CMYK, and Lab mode images and these can be previewed and adjusted in Lightroom, but when you do so, the edit calculations are carried out in RGB and exported as RGB only. Lightroom does actually support importing CMYK photographs and makes it possible for you to edit them in the Develop module (via an internal RGB conversion), but I don’t recommend doing this. Basically, it is best to use just the Library module to manage your CMYK images and not take them anywhere near the Develop module. Even so, I am sure many photographers will now appreciate being allowed to manage all their image assets (including CMYK originals) in Lightroom and have the ability to export them in their original format.
Many digital cameras are capable of shooting movie clips as well as stills, so Lightroom also allows you to import video files; plus, Lightroom 4 now offers support for previewing movie clips inside Lightroom. You could argue that Lightroom has gone somewhat beyond it’s original remit as a “photography only” program. But as many photographers are now getting more and more into shooting video on their stills cameras, it makes sense that Lightroom should be able to handle the import, viewing, and (limited) editing of video files. Besides, anyone who has a video mode on their camera is likely at some point to want to shoot a few video clips alongside their still photos and will want to import these along with their stills shots. So while it is great that Lightroom 4 allows video clips to be played and edited inside Lightroom, I don’t anticipate a shift toward full video editing capabilities being built into the program just yet.
I mentioned already the limits of files saved in the PSD format with backward compatibility switched off in Photoshop and how to resolve this. One other thing to bear in mind is how the pixel limit for importing photos into Lightroom is 65,000 pixels per side. This means that where the widest dimension of an image exceeds this value, it can’t be imported into Lightroom. But 65,000 pixels should be enough to satisfy most users. | <urn:uuid:43bcceac-eb5e-4777-96e9-fa4610fa73ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1843394&seqNum=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901202 | 1,680 | 1.578125 | 2 |
One of the latest dangers parents need to understand is the allure of Tide detergent packets to kids. There have been reports of poisoning, but not death, of children who swallow these candy-like packages. Fortunately, Tide has pledged to remedy the situation, but until that happens, there will be many of these dangerous products in households across the country.
The story was recently detailed in an article at Philly.com. Here are excerpts:
Miniature laundry detergent packets arrived on store shelves in recent months as an alternative to bulky bottles. But doctors across the country say children are confusing the tiny, brightly colored packets with candy and swallowing them.
Nearly 250 cases have been reported this year to poison-control centers. Though they remain a tiny fraction of the thousands of poisoning calls received every year, doctors are concerned. The symptoms they see in connection with ingesting the packets – such as nausea and breathing problems – are more severe than typical detergent poisoning. No deaths have been reported.
“We’re not quite sure why it’s happening,” said Kurt Kleinschmidt, a toxicologist and professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “But we’ve clearly had some kids who have become much more ill. We look at these pods as being clearly more dangerous than the standard detergent.”
Tide, Purex, and other detergent manufacturers introduced versions of the packets earlier this year. The lightweight, colorfully swirled plastic packets contain a single-use amount of detergent.
Several poison-control centers started to get calls about the packets in March and April. Texas reported 71 instances of exposure this year, all but one in March or later. | <urn:uuid:5b728128-6613-450a-af82-b49f8ea9a8d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pissd.com/2012/06/kids-eating-packets-of-laundry-detergent/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962902 | 352 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building
361 Rowe Boulevard
|For Immediate Release||CONTACT:||Rita
Sally Rankin 410-260-1488
Coloring Book Helps Children with “Learning the Law”
(ANNAPOLIS, MD — November 18, 2005) As part of its continuing educational outreach program, the Maryland Judiciary has developed a pair of coloring books for children designed to introduce them to the legal system and the Judicial Branch of government.
The books, titled “Learning the Law” and “Learning More About the Law” are designed for children in third grade or younger. They include a variety of activities such as coloring, fill-in-the-blank tests, and matching terms with pictures that offer a fun way to teach children the basics of the legal system. A project of the Judiciary’s Committee on Public Awareness, the books are the latest method used by the Judiciary to reach out to the community through educational programs such as the Speakers Bureau, Mock Trial and Schools in the Courts.
“The whole purpose of the coloring books is to provide a vehicle by which young children can be educated about the courts and the Judiciary in a fun and informative context,” said Judge Jean Szekeres Baron, chair of the Committee on Public Awareness. “We even adopted a mascot, Chester the Crab, who is featured as a sort of judicial guide – the children will find him absolutely endearing.”
Justin Lloyd, an Owings Mills resident and graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art, donated his time and talent to design Chester the Crab and assist with the design of the coloring books.
Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge John O. Hennegan will distribute the books for the first time Saturday, November 19, 2005, to children being adopted during the court’s National Adoption Day celebration. Nine families will adopt children as part of the event, scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Ceremonial Courtroom No. 5 at the Old Courthouse, 400 Washington Avenue in Towson.
The coloring books are available online at www.courts.state.md.us/publications/coloringbooks/.
For more information about the Chester the Crab coloring books or National Adoption Day, call the Court Information Office at 410-260-1488.
# # # # # | <urn:uuid:eef2af0c-8c47-4a43-a7eb-8c1df5636135> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.courts.state.md.us/press/2005/pr11-18-05a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925027 | 490 | 2.203125 | 2 |
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FYI - Here's another article and video about this project ...
Tejano Monument Coming to the Texas state capitolhttp://weareaustin.com/fulltext?nxd_i...
.... plus a few books and other references ....http://www.asksam.com/southcentraltex...
The Tejano Monument is by far the most important tribute the people of the Great State of Texas, can bestow to the original Tejano pioneers, who emerged, evolved and developed in Texas. Unlike all others, who came to Texas, Tejanos/as have the distinction of originating in the New Spain Tejas province. In some cases original Tejano origin consisted of local Texas, indigenous people and European, Spanish, French, Italian, Greek and other immigrants, who came here.
Tejanos have sacrificed, defended and served Texas like no others.
Around 1779, Texas Governor Domingo Cabello y Robles provided Spanish, General Gálvez with over 10,000 cattle for food and several hundred horses for the soldiers. Tejano vaqueros took care of the cattle, horses and join in the fight to help the American Colonies struggle against the British. At that time, there were no Mexican or Mexican-American, because the country of Mexico did not exit. The Republic of Mexico and its federal constitution was established October 4th. 1824.
On April 6, 1813, Tejanos with the assistance of United States volunteers defeated the Spanish and established the first Texas Independence at the Governors Palace in San Fernando present day San Antonio, Texas. Regrettably on August 18, 1813, the first Texas Independence, was lost at the bloodiest battle ever fought on Texas soil, twenty miles south of San Antonio in a sandy oak forest region then called el encinal de Medina. Both Tejano and Estadounidences (Unitedstasian) made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of Tejas. No Mexican or Mexican-American were present only Spanish, Unitedstasians and Tejano as well as some Indigenous volunteers.
On April 21, 1836, at the Battle of San Jacinto the combined forces of Tejanos and Unitedstasians were victorious against the forces of El Generalisimo Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna. The Tejano community has been an integral part of Texas for nearly four hundred plus years. Today the composition of Tejanos and Tejanas include a wide diversity of origins, ethnicities and races but the customs and traditions remain part of the Tejano, Texas genera.
The Tejano Monument is suppose to identify with and represent the Tejano community of the state of Texas, and should not be confused with others, who in the past, were part of the history of Texas.RudyTejano Pena, Tejano Cultural Historian, www.TejanoPride.com
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Good luck all I am finished with this topic.
From an article about a Tejano Monument morphs into a lesson on the "Truth". Sounds like a acid trip at the Capital Building in Austin gone bad.
"Truth" is a monunment to the Tejano citizens history in Texas should be honored and I like the idea.
Jason, never mind us, just keep posting
jason, why don't you write a blog and enlighten us. i said you weren't very smart, but not because you don't like the monument or what it stands for.
what is your issue with a monument to the spanish and mexican influence of Texas?
I knew a guy that was special, but he had 6 toes on his left foot. Caused him to lean way over to the right. Maybe that also made him "right"?
JasonBourne doesn't need a monument to make him feel special or recognized.
I can (without monuments) recognize accomplishments that I believe made this country great.
Not everything is monument worthy. As shocking as that may be to some of you, it is the truth.
I would like to explain my thoughts in a much clearer way that would help you all understand but this site doesn't allow that kind of thing. So go ahead and call me names and make your fun. I don't expect anyone to agree with me all the time, even when I'm right.
Where do we send our donations to the "jasonbourne Monument"?
Who would have guessed I am a redneck, thought the world was flat, not very smart, unfamiliar with Texas history, and a few other choice things, all because I don't agree with this monument.
Imagine if I didn't agree that Obama was given a Nobel Prize. I would probably be shot on sight.
Pilot, we get it, you and you're family are special. We'll all try to remember that for the next 5 minutes or so.
BTW, you got me by 2 years. Man you're old.
Easy, Pilot. Bigotry reveals itself in the comments of the bigot. From various points of bigotry. Right, Robert?
A private group raises money to honor their predecessors. From private funds. More power to them.
A Second Generation Irish (legal) Bohemian (maybe not) American.
Nice credentials Charley, thanks for the family resume. My kin are all from around here. They didn't do anything exciting. They wouldn't have liked this monument either. I'm glad you have chosen to support this project.
Respect, now there is an interesting word.
RegardsJason Bourne (thats Bourne with a B)
Well I'm going to give you a few bonus points for your excellent play on words from my previous post. Funny, yes...Correct, not even close.
What's really funny is you thinking it's a good idea to have a discussion over something like this with a person that thinks the world is flat.
Funny how people know everything about me from reading a single sentence.
I still do not like the monument the articles depicts.
Oh Jason,you do a pretty good job of exclaiming the wonderous value of the others you don't like here.Always looking forwards to your nest post Amigo
When the Victoria Advocate runs an article exclaiming the wonderous value of the others I don't like, I'll let you know. Until then, just the one in this article.
HEY JASON:There are at least 18 monuments on the capitol grounds including a Texas cowboy monument? How many of these are you against?
roberttx,They don't need a monument, they have an entire STATE!!!
If they are willing to raise the money privately, rather than going to a government agency hat-in-hand, I say go for it, and good luck.
I am admitedly a smart-_ _ _. A very intelligent one. I also have much more to say on this topic. I assure all of you if I spoke as freely as you have here my post would exist for all of 10 seconds.
I'll let yet another opportunity slide on by and let you have your way with me. Not by choice.
I do not agree with the monument program depicted here. I'll choose to disagree with how wonderful this is...well because I can.
Sounds like some folks need a monument to stupidity. Texas is and always will be a wonderful mixture of Texican, Mexican and Spanish with more than a few German, Irish, English, French and many Eastern Europeans. And let's not forget the African-Americans that did not move here by choice. Now we have Arab, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and just about every culture from the world over.
And we still have people that think the earth is flat and we are the center of the universe, which Texas is of course!
where is the monument for the gringos that killed the mexican land owners that fought next to them for independence, then stole their land ?
psst: there's a way to delete your own comments here
Educate yourself as to why you happen to be in Texas Jason. I reckon some of your ancestors came to Texas because they were hungry and hungry for land and to get away from debts, etc. in the United States -Tejanos were individuals who were here already - remember this was another country and the mother language was Spanish like it or not. We need to recognize that Spaniards/Mexicans were so instrumental in the development in this part of the Country. Your ancestors learned everything, and I do mean everything about living in this part of the Country from Spaniards/Mexicans. Your ancestors came wearing coon hats and moccasins, and learned to wear and use the vaquero hat, boots, horse saddles, etc. from the Spaniards/Mexicans. Some of us have such a beautiful history.
In 2003, Benny Martinez mounted Brook Shileds and set out on a 125-mile ride from Goliad to the State Capitol in Austin. His mare was named Brook Shields.
(LOL)HEY JASON: does that meam you and Rick Perry are going to carry the San Jacinto Monument back to Washington since Texans were to cheap to pay for it. You know it took those evil Federal dollars to build it.
(sigh) So, if your group decides it needs a monument, simply raise the money and get yourself one? | <urn:uuid:7ebf412c-baff-473c-ba1f-42a5f6bdebc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2011/jul/17/jp_tejano_071811_146123/comments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966103 | 1,992 | 2.796875 | 3 |
You wouldn’t guess there’d be much to think about before setting out to choose among all the backpacks for toddlers — it’s not like your tot’s lugging around a stack of schoolbooks…yet. But as with other toddler gear, there are some guidelines to follow; these will help make sure your cutie carries her little load safely. So whether you’re getting her ready for preschool or looking for a bag she can bring on vacation — or one for your tiny pack rat to bring on a playdate, to the mall, or to the playground — here are some tips to help you find a small toddler backpack that fits the bill.
When are backpacks for toddlers safe to use?
Once your tot can walk with a toy in hand without taking too many tumbles — usually between ages one and two — she can start carrying a small toddler backpack.
What should I look for when choosing among all the backpacks for toddlers?Of course, you’ll probably want to buy a small toddler backpack with your child’s favorite cartoon character smiling on the front. But beyond this basic, the best backpacks for toddlers have the following features:
- Two wide, padded shoulder straps. Backpacks with just one strap don’t distribute weight evenly across a child’s back, and cushioned straps are less likely to dig into your child’s skin.
- A small, lightweight design. Backpacks for toddlers shouldn’t be too big because (1) toddlers aren’t that big, and (2) they can’t carry much weight. So what’s the right size? The top of the pack shouldn’t go above your tyke’s shoulders, and the bottom shouldn’t fall below her waist. And no need for a frame at this point, which will add to her load. Beyond that, let your common sense and her personal preference be your guide.
How can my child use a small toddler backpack safely?To keep your little one from taking a tumble, remember these tips:
- Don’t overload. Even a lightweight pack can cause a toddler to tip over, especially if she’s walking up stairs or on an uneven surface. A good guideline: A child’s backpack should never weigh more than 10 percent of her total body weight. For a 30-pound tot, that means no more than three pounds of luggage (including the bag), so toss in a sweatshirt and favorite stuffed animal, but have her carry her lunchbox separately.
- Tighten the straps so the backpack hangs close to her body rather than low and away. This helps distribute the weight more evenly. And make sure there are no dangling straps that can trip your toddler up (or get caught in a car door or escalator). Cut the straps if they’re too long.
- Get her in the habit of using both shoulder straps. Carrying a pack over just one shoulder — like the big kids in the neighborhood likely do — can strain back, shoulder, and neck muscles. Although your toddler shouldn’t be carrying a heavy enough load to strain anything, getting her used to carrying a bag this way now will prevent injuries later.
- Before you buy a backpack with wheels and a retractable handle for your next big trip, check that your older toddler can walk while rolling the pack in the store — a trickier skill set. If she’s not coordinated enough yet, skip the wheeled pack for now — and resign yourself to lugging her luggage for just a bit longer. | <urn:uuid:92bf7349-a645-4df0-b568-eee2b79a07b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whattoexpect.com/toddler/toddler-gear/buying-backpacks-for-toddlers.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925015 | 746 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Here, you see a double pendulum with respective masses 2 kg and 3 kg. The lengths of the two legs of the pendulum are 6 m, respectively 4 m. You can click on the inner mass and move it around to influence the motion of the pendulum.
Each type of dynamical system is represented by a Java class. On the following pages, you can try various different types of dynamical systems, and you can also experiment with changing their physical parameters.
Go here for a brief explanation of Lagrangian Mechanics, the physical principle on which the simulations are based. You can also find out how to define your own mechanical systems. You can also view the source code of the applet and a description of the applet parameters.
May 9, 2002: Here is a very fun applet which allows you to interactively contruct life-like mass-and-spring mechanical systems and animate them. Beware, this is addictive! Sodaplay.
May 8, 2002: Mark Napier has written a cool applet which simulates a wave by connecting a large number of masses with springs. You can click on masses and drag them around to stimulate the system. Click here to try it out. See also here for some additional cool animations.
August 23, 2001: Mehrtash Babadi has been working on a "Mechanical Workshop". The Workshop is originally based on my Lagrange applet, but has many new features, for instance, you can interactively put together mechanical systems from springs, and even record the motion and play it back later. There is a 2-dimensional and a 3-dimensional version of Mehrtash's Workshop. Both are available as "jar" files: you can start them by typing something like "java -jar filename.jar".
June 3, 2001: Following a suggestion by Peter Lynch, I modified the applet to use a fourth-order Runge Kutta method for solving the differential equation. This improves the naive Euler method used before, giving a more faithful simulation, as well as better (though not perfect) preservation of energy. Also added applet parameters that allow forced energy preservation to be turned on/off, and/or the total energy of the system to be displayed. For an example, check out the Spring Pendulum.
June 3, 2001: Fixed a bug in the MechSystem.solve() method pointed out by Mehrtash Babadi.
March 23, 2001: Peter Lynch has used the Lagrange Applet to display the motion of a three-dimensional Swinging Spring. He also modified the applet to use the Runge Kutta method, a better method for the numerical solution of differential equations.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
Click here to see the full GNU public license.
Back to Peter Selinger's Homepage: | <urn:uuid:04a7181e-42c1-4970-b340-a1aa8e3d7c43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~selinger/lagrange/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919221 | 674 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a new certified reference material to support the federal government's Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) in the wake of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill 40 miles off the Louisiana coast. The new Standard Reference Material, Gulf of Mexico Crude Oil" (SRM 2779), will be used as a quality control material for the ongoing environmental impact analyses for the NRDA effort.
The Deepwater Horizon disaster resulted in the discharge of tens of thousands of barrels of oil per day from the seafloor into the Gulf of Mexico. In what has become the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a wide expanse and variety of natural resources have been exposed to and potentially impacted by oil. During the NRDA, tens of thousands of environmental samples including oil in various forms, water, sediment and biological samples are being collected and analyzed to characterize both pre-spill and post-spill environmental conditions.
The petroleum crude oil for SRM 2779 was collected on May 21, 2010, on the drillship Discoverer Enterprise from the insertion tube that was receiving oil directly from the Macondo well during response operations. The oil was collected in 2.5 liter glass bottles and transported via a defined chain of custody to a laboratory in College Station, Texas. A portion was subsequently provided to NIST under the authority of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for use in the preparation of SRM 2779.
Using the data from three independent methods of analysis performed at NIST as well as one set of data from an interlaboratory study coordinated by NIST and NOAA, certified and reference values (as mass fractions) are provided for a number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) along with reference values (as mass fractions) for a number of alkylated PAH groups, hopanes and steranes. These compound classes are among those used as indicators for the presence of petroleum crude oil. Each unit of SRM 2779 consists of five ampoules, each containing 1.2 mL of crude oil.
Technical details of SRM 2779, Gulf of Mexico Crude Oil, are available at https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_detail.cfm?srm=2779.
Standard Reference Materials are among the most widely distributed and used products from NIST. The agency prepares, analyzes and distributes about 1,300 different materials that are used throughout the world to check the accuracy of instruments, validate test procedures and serve as the basis for quality control standards worldwide.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system. | <urn:uuid:c91521b2-a741-4193-a20d-70e9f65817b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/nios-nrg030712.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938619 | 584 | 2.90625 | 3 |
"Residents of rural Ontario have as many different New Year's wishes as there are different individuals.
Among them of course are wishes for continuing strength in commodity markets, cattle prices that hold up until this year's stockers are sold next fall, improvement in other livestock markets and a reduction of input costs.
Although such wishes directly affect only those involved in agriculture, they have a huge impact on rural communities large and small that rely on the agricultural sector for their survival, whether they know it or not.
Although wishes vary, rural Ontario did speak with something close to one voice during last October's provincial election.
And nothing has happened since to suggest the majority of residents north of Hwy. 7 would wish for anything more than they wanted back then - better government in 2012."
The concerns that face rural residents have been all but ignored by the Dalton Gang for the past eight years. In fact, when this government has decided to act, often it has been to the detriment of rural Ontario.Continue Reading on London Free Press Site
At the risk of blowing in the wind once too often, let me repeat that the single most important issue continues to be the wind factories that are springing up on farmland around the province. | <urn:uuid:74d89aa3-e820-450b-b27a-b86124a04e2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freewco.blogspot.com/2012/01/rural-wishes-can-no-longer-be-ignored.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974011 | 247 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In previous posts, I've mentioned serious fiscal problems that need to be addressed at state and local levels. This varies by region and some issues are potentially solvable.
I live in Illinois, which is ground zero for fraud, corruption, underfunded pension funds and general fiscal mismanagement. It's an example of one of the worst fiscal messes in the United States. This year Illinois hiked personal income taxes from 3% to 5%, and increased corporate taxes. We'll be slammed with hidden tax increases in utilities, purchases, and more. When now Mayor Rahm Emanuel left his post as White House Chief of Staff to run his election, the Chicago mayoral race centered partly around steps, including budget cuts, needed to solve Chicago's serious fiscal issues: See "Third World America: Drowning in Debt and Choking on Lies," Huffington Post, June 24, 2011, and 'Fast-Tracking to Anarchy;" August 25, 2010.
On December 19, 2010, I was (at first) happy to see 60 Minutes highlight fiscal problems of states and municipalities. It explained how Illinois was late on payments to service suppliers, and it's a huge problem for people doing business with the state. The state's pension fund is underfunded and although 60 Minutes didn't mention it, state pension funds are the prey of Wall Street cronies that stuff them with losses and then propose fee-loaded leveraged financial products that are bets to make up the shortfall. Then 60 Minutes went completely off the rails by suggesting that these problems would lead to widespread defaults on municipal bonds in 2011. You can still view the segment, "State Budgets: Day of Reckoning," on the CBS web site.
Instead of focusing on the implication of these problems to public services including police protection, fire departments, city maintenance, and city jobs (among other things), 60 Minutes let a pundit claim these problems translate into near-term massive municipal bond defaults. Meredith Whitney, the pundit, had written a report, "Tragedy of the Commons," which supposedly backed her claims.
Contrary to 60 Minutes's assertion, Meredith Whitney, a banking analyst, did not have a great track record. Gullible reporters had given her great PR for an October 31, 2007, call on Citigroup that had been correctly made many months earlier in her presence by my friend Jim Rogers, a legendary investor. They appeared on television together, and at the time she refuted Rogers. I was later bemused to see that either she or her PR flacks apparently took credit for my early warnings about serious problems at AIG. (See: "Reporting v. PR: Meredith Whitney and AIG," TSF, March 23, 2009.)
Whitney was quoted as claiming: "Clients are not pleased with my call and I have had several death threats." A 2008 Fortune cover story reported she had received "one death threat." (Perhaps clients were displeased that her ignoring Rogers had already cost them thirteen points and even then she didn't directly tell people to bail out.) With characteristic humor Rogers quipped: "Gosh, I have never received a death threat ever for saying I was short a stock or that a company would be going bankrupt. What have I been doing wrong?"
Whitney told 60 Minutes: "You could see 50 sizable defaults. Fifty to 100 sizeable defaults. More. This will amount to hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of defaults....It'll be something to worry about within the next 12 months."
A Wild Guess
Subsequently, Whitney wouldn't justify her analysis saying "Quantifying is a guesstimate at this point." ("Whitney Municipal-Bond Apocalypse Short on Specifics," by Max Abelson and Michael McDonald, Bloomberg News, Feb 1, 2011.) 60 Minutes admitted it had never reviewed her much-touted report. The report never mentioned sizable defaults, only that there "invariably" would be defaults. Bloomberg also reported that 60 Minutes was wrong about her "untarnished' track record. Since she started her company in 2009, about two-thirds of her stock picks underperformed market indexes. A 2008 Fortune cover story ranked Whitney 1,205th out of 1,919 equity analysts the previous year, based on stock picks.
Whitney told Bloomberg's reporters: "A lot of this is, you know it, but can you prove it? There are fifth-derivative dimensions that I don't think I need to spell out to my clients." As a derivatives expert I can attest that this is gibberish. But I want to hear her explanation of "fifth-derivative dimensions," because I adore a good belly laugh.
Genuine Research via Bloomberg
Bloomberg is also the financial news service that has done great early work on fraud and related municipal bond defaults, because that's a worthy story. Municipal credit issues are granular and the severity of the problem -- or non-problem -- depends on the specific situation.
In September 2005, Bloomberg broke a story about Jefferson County's hair raising problems, "The Banks that Fleeced Alabama," by Martin Z. Braun, Darrell Preston and Liz Willen. According to the article, "taxpayers blame the $160 million in fees JPMorgan Chase and other banks have charged to arrange the county's financing--in deals that were never put out to bid." This year, Jefferson County filed for bankruptcy.
As the year wore on, Meredith Whitney waffled and by May she told a Bloomberg radio host: "In the cycle of this municipal downturn, I stand by it. But we never had a specific estimate for that." Fortunately, Joe Mysak, a Bloomberg print reporter, exposed that for the nonsense it was. Whitney had indeed given a one-year time frame on 60 Minutes and had called for hundreds of millions of dollars in defaults with 50 to 100 or more sizable defaults. ("Meredith Whitney Trips Over Her Muni Default Tale," May 19, 2011.)
A Stellar Performance
Whitney's prediction of "hundreds of billions" of defaults was way off the mark. Even with Jefferson County's $943 million filing, defaults for 2011 were down from 2010. Bonds that dipped into reserves to make payments totaled only $24.6 billion according to Richard Lehmann, publisher of the Distressed Debt Securities Newsletter. Defaults defined as bonds that missed payments are down to only $2.1 billion from $2.8 billion in 2010. In 2011, municipal bonds had stellar performance as an asset class returning more than 10% of potentially tax exempt returns. They beat the S&P, treasuries, corporate bonds and most commodities. ("Whitney's Armageddon Belied by '11 Returns," by Martin Z. Bruan, Bloomberg News, December 16, 2011).
CNBC Schools 60 Minutes
As for the actual analysis in Meredith Whitney's "Tragedy of the Commons" report, it seems that it had serious flaws, at least when it came to Nevada.
Nevada State Treasurer Kate Marshall appeared on CNBC to debunk Whitney's claim that Nevada's municipal bonds were troubled. Marshall challenged Whitney's analytics saying (among other things) that Whitney apparently misinterpreted a PEW report on pension plan liabilities. Nevada only represented 1/16th of the plan, and state employees pick up half the tab. Marshall then explained why Nevada's municipal bond claims paying ability is much better than it would appear to the casual observer. The economy was still tough, but Nevada managed in anticipation of the ongoing crunch. Property tax revenues dropped, but sales tax revenues were up, gambling revenue was up, and business modified tax revenues were up. Her cash position in June 2011 was much better than 2010. | <urn:uuid:514b2214-fa11-4c23-978b-03c6c1e607d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janet-tavakoli/2011-the-year-60-minutes_b_1175974.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973575 | 1,568 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Scopes are pretty hard to blow up unless possibly you are working with circuitry directly connected to the power line (not thru a transformer or other isolated power supply).
Ordinarly scope probes are usually switchable between x1 and x10. What is being multiplied is the impedance, not the voltage as you might think at first glance. The voltage is multiplied by the inverse. A x1 probe therefore has the impedance on the label (usually around 1 MΩ and 10-20 pF) and passes the voltage directly. A x10 probe has 10 times the impedance and attenuates the measured voltage by 10 before passing it to the scope. Therefore if you're not sure what voltage the circuit is, start by putting all the probes on the x10 setting and choose a high voltage scale. Since digital scopes can do math, nowadays you tell the scope (or fancy ones can sense for themselves) what setting your probe is and it automatically adjusts the voltage scale accordingly. For example, the 5 V/div setting for a x1 probe automatically becomes 50 V/div and is displayed that way when using a x10 probe.
Otherwise there is little you can do to hurt a scope. Getting a useful display for various conditions is something else to learn. When I don't know much about the signal or am just using the scope more like a voltmeter because it's already on and sitting on my bench, I usually keep it at x1 probe, 1 V/div vertical, 1 ms/div horizontal, auto trigger, with the vertical offset adjusted so ground is one or two divisions from the bottom. | <urn:uuid:811aae4a-15cd-4053-a332-e968eddebbb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/21911/what-are-the-things-i-need-to-know-when-operating-an-oscilloscope/21923 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930263 | 326 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Coffee Break, Anyone?
Publication: Monitor on Psychology
Article: Caffeine’s wake-up call.
Blogger: Larry Martinez
We all have that one person in the office who just can’t function properly until they’ve had their cup of coffee in the morning (maybe it’s you). And who doesn’t get a boost out of a candy bar and soda around mid-afternoon? A short article in the APA Monitor synthesized some of the most relevant research on America’s favorite and most widely accepted drug: caffeine.
Issue 1: Is there a placebo effect for caffeine?
Well, like almost any other psychological question, the answer is “it depends.” Forty-five minutes after participants received caffeinated coffee but thought they were given decaf, they reported more physiological withdrawal symptoms than every other group in this classic placebo experimental design (got/didn’t get caffeine, thought they got caffeine/thought they got decaf)..… That is, if they expected they would feel sluggish and tired, they reported that way. However, after a couple of hours, the placebo effect wore off. So, from a physiological point of view, placebo effects only work in the short term. You can’t fool your body for long though; it’ll soon realize what’s up and respond accordingly.
The second issue: Is there a performance boost gained from caffeine?
This one has another typical psychological answer, “yes, but…” Participants who were given caffeine performed better at a mundane task than those that were given a placebo, despite the fact that the placebo group reported that they felt the effects of caffeine and performed better because of them. So, caffeine does give you a brief boost in performance. BUT…let’s not forget: It’s a drug (think psychoactive stimulant) and it can have harmful, addictive affects if it’s abused (i.e., cardiac problems, anxiety disorders, insomnia, digestive problems, withdrawal)!
The first issue + the second issue = a solution?
So, we see that there are performance benefits to caffeine, but we want to avoid consuming too much of it. Let’s bring the placebo back in! Military researchers in China found that people who consumed caffeine followed by placebos sustained attention better without consuming much caffeine. That is, participants benefited from the initial boost that caffeine provides, as well as the benefits that come from simply believing they’d had caffeine (without the negative side-effects of actually having it).
Whether you decide to start clandestinely switching the coffeepot out for decaf at 10:30 is a decision you’ll have to make. The point is that caffeine consumption is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The benefits should be weighed with the risks, which are too often ignored. | <urn:uuid:d90a5839-e575-42b1-8305-1112c34cef64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ioatwork.com/category/monitor-on-psychology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950799 | 604 | 2.3125 | 2 |
When high priests of America’s political right and left as articulate as William F. Buckley Jr., founding editor of National Review, and Anthony Lewis, a columnist for The New York Times Op-Ed page, peddle the same drug legalization line, it’s time to shout caveat emptor--let the buyer beware. For the boomlet to legalize drugs like heroin, cocaine and marijuana that they--and magazines like National Review and New York--are trying to seed among the right and left ends of the political spectrum, is founded in fiction, not fact. And it’s our children who could suffer long-lasting, permanent damage.
Fiction: There’s been no progress in the war on drugs.
FACT: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Household Drug Survey, the nation’s most extensive assessment of drug use, reports that from 1979 to 1994 the number of current drug users (those using within the past month) has dropped from 24.8 million to 13 million, marijuana users from 23 million to 10 million and cocaine users from 4.4 million to 1.4 million. The number of hard-core addicts has held steady at around 6 million, a situation most experts attribute to the unavailability of treatment and the large number of addicts in the pipeline.
Fiction: Whether to use drugs and become hooked is an adult decision.
FACT: It’s children who choose. Hardly anyone in America begins drug use after age 21. An individual who does not smoke, use drugs or abuse alcohol by age 21 is virtually certain never to do so. The nicotine pushers understand this, which is why they fight so strenuously to kill efforts to keep their stuff away from kids.
Fiction: Legalization would be only for adults; legalized drugs would not be available to children.
FACT: Nothing in the American experience gives grounds to believe in our ability to keep legal drugs out of the hands of children. It’s illegal for children to purchase cigarettes and alcohol. But today, 3 million adolescents smoke an average of half a pack a day: a $1 billion a year market. Twelve million underage Americans drink: a $10 billion a year market.
Fiction: Legalization would reduce crime and social problems.
FACT: Any short-term reduction in arrests from repealing drug laws would quickly evaporate as use increased; and the criminal conduct-assaults, murders, rapes, child molestations, vandalism and other violence-spawned by drugs like cocaine and methamphetamines would explode. The U.S. Department of Justice reports that criminals commit six times as many homicides, four times as many assaults and almost one and a half times as many robberies under the influence of drugs as they commit in order to get money to buy drugs.
Here the history of our experience with alcohol can teach us. More state prisoners were drunk on alcohol than high on drugs when they committed their crimes, and America’s number one criminal offense is driving while intoxicated (1.5 million arrests in 1993). Health and welfare costs would skyrocket if drugs were legalized.
Fiction: The American experience with the prohibition of alcohol supports drug legalization.
FACT: This ignores two important distinctions: Prohibition was in fact decriminalization (possession of alcohol for personal consumption was not illegal); and alcohol, unlike illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine, has a long history of broad social acceptance dating back to the Old Testament and Ancient Greece. Nevertheless, alcohol consumption dropped from 1.96 gallons per person in 1919 to 0.97 gallons per person in 1934, the first full year after Prohibition ended. Death rates from cirrhosis among men came down from 29.5 per 100,000 in 1911 to 10.7 per 100,000 in 1929. During Prohibition, admission to mental health institutions for alcohol psychosis dropped 60 percent; arrests for drunk and disorderly conduct went down 50 percent; welfare agencies reported significant declines in cases due to alcohol-related family problems, and the death rate from impure alcohol did not rise.
Nor did Prohibition generate a crime wave. Homicide increased at a higher rate between 1900 and 1910 than during Prohibition, and organized crime was well established in the cities before 1920. I put these facts on the record not to support a return to Prohibition, which I strongly oppose, but to set the historical record straight and temper the revisionist view of legalizers who take their history from celluloid images of 1930’s gangster movies.
Fiction: Greater availability and legal acceptability of drugs like marijuana, cocaine and heroin would not increase use.
FACT: This contradicts not only experience but human nature. In the 1970’s we decriminalized marijuana. The Schafer Commission appointed by President Richard M. Nixon recommended decriminalization, as did President Jimmy Carter. The result? A soaring increase in marijuana use, particularly among youngsters.
Today we have 50 million nicotine addicts, 18 million alcoholics and alcohol abusers and 6 million illegal drug addicts. Experts like Dr. Herbert Kleber at Columbia University believe that with legalization the number of cocaine addicts alone would jump beyond the number of alcoholics.
That spells big trouble. In 1995 illegal drugs killed 20,000 Americans. Tobacco was responsible for 450,000 deaths; alcohol for more than 100,000. Studies at the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reveal that, of the $66 billion that substance abuse costs Federal health and disability entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, $56 billion is attributable to tobacco and alcohol.
Fiction: Drug use is an issue of civil liberties.
FACT: This is a convenient misreading of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty. Legalizers cite Mill to argue that the state has no right to interfere in the private life of a citizen who uses drugs; only when an action harms someone else may the state take action to prevent it. They ignore the fact that Mill’s conception of freedom does not extend to the right of individuals to enslave themselves or to decide that they will give up their liberty. Mill wrote with blunt clarity: “The principle of freedom cannot require that he should be free not to be free. It is not freedom to be allowed to alienate his freedom.”
Drug addiction is a form of enslavement. It “alters pathologically the nature and character of abusers,” says Mitchell Rosenthal, M.D., the president of Phoenix House. Even Mill at his most expansive would admit that the state can take action not only to free an addict from chains of chemical dependency that take away the freedom to be all that God meant him or her to be, but also to prevent those bonds from becoming shackles in the first place. Indeed, a state devoted to individual freedom has an obligation to nourish a society and legal structure that protects individuals from the slavery of drug addiction.
Even Mill’s most libertarian contention--that the state can regulate only those actions that directly affect others--does not support individual drug abuse and addiction, because such conduct does directly affect others: from the abused spouse and baby involuntarily addicted through the mother’s umbilical cord, to co-workers and innocent bystanders injured or killed by adolescents high on crack cocaine. In a society as interdependent as ours, the drug abuser’s conduct has a direct and substantial impact on every taxpayer who foots the bill for the criminal and health cost consequences of the drug abuser’s actions.
Certainly a society that recognizes the state’s compelling interest in banning (and stopping individuals from using) lead paint, asbestos insulation, unsafe toys and flammable fabrics can hardly ignore its interest in banning cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamines and hallucinogens. Indeed, refusing to include drug use in the right of privacy, the Supreme Court has blessed state laws that prohibit even the sacramental use of peyote. With the exception of Alaska, state courts, like those of New York, have held that possession of marijuana in the home is not protected by the right of privacy.
Fiction: Legalization works well in European countries.
FACT: The ventures of Switzerland, England and the Netherlands into drug legalization have had disastrous consequences. Switzerland’s “Needle Park,” touted as a way to restrict a few hundred heroin addicts to a small area, turned into a grotesque tourist attraction of 20,000 heroin addicts and junkies, which had to be closed down before it infected the city of Zurich. England’s foray into allowing any doctor to prescribe heroin was quickly curbed as heroin use increased.
The Netherlands legalized marijuana for anyone over age 15. Adolescent pot use there rose nearly 200 percent while it was dropping 66 percent in the United States. As crime and the availability of drugs like heroin and cocaine rose, and complaints from city residents about the decline in their quality of life multiplied, the Amsterdam city council moved to raise the age for legal purchase of marijuana from 16 to 18 and trim back the number of pot distribution shops in Amsterdam. Dutch persistence in selling pot has angered European neighbors because the Netherlands’ wide-open attitude toward marijuana is believed to be spreading pot and other drugs beyond its borders. And Sweden, after a brief turn at permitting doctors to give drugs to addicts, in 1980 adopted the American policy of seeking a drug-free society. By 1988, Sweden had seen drug use among young Army conscripts drop 75 percent and current use by ninth graders fall 66 percent.
What is most disturbing about the arguments for legalization is that they glide over the impact such a policy would have on our children. The United States in 1996 is assuredly not the Garden of Eden of the Old Testament. Dealing with evil, including drugs, is part of the human experience. But there is a special obligation to protect our children from evil, and drugs are first and foremost an issue about our children. It is adolescent experimentation that leads to abuse and addiction.
Today, most kids don’t use illicit drugs. But all children, particularly the poorest, are vulnerable to abuse and addiction. Russian roulette is not a game anyone should play. Legalizing drugs is not only playing Russian roulette with our children. It’s slipping a couple of extra bullets in the chamber. | <urn:uuid:70efbc2e-3223-4973-90df-c19c912f4113> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americamagazine.org/node/148976 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942641 | 2,110 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Smith, Kiki, 1954–, American sculptor and printmaker, b. Nuremberg, Germany. The daughter of sculptor Tony Smith, she grew up in New Jersey and settled in New York City in 1976. Prolific and essentially self taught, she has been acclaimed as one of the most significant artists of her generation. Her audacious yet often delicate figurative works are made in many media, including bronze, aluminium, wax, paper, glass, ceramic, and fabric. Smith has been fascinated with the human body, as a functioning unit and a political object. Much of her 1980s work portrays external and internal parts of the body (feet, breasts, organs, fluids), some bearing signs of mortality and decay, some evoking the ravages of AIDS. Her later sculptures are mainly bodies in the round, often life-sized and under some duress; some are flayed, some dead. Others are frank in their concern with bodily functions, e.g. Pee Body (1992), some, e.g., her St. Genevieve series, mirror her Roman Catholic background, and others reflect her concerns with storytelling, myth, and the feminine, as in her sculptures and prints of the Red Riding Hood story or her monumental witches on pyres. Smith's more recent works frequently portray birds and other animals—often interacting with human figures—as well as flowers.
See W. Weitman, Kiki Smith: Prints, Books and Things (2003), H. Posner and C. Lyon, Kiki Smith (2005), and S. Engberg et al., Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980–2005 (2006).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:09d151de-9460-43b0-a05d-e82fc8046842> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/people/smith-kiki.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950429 | 361 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Jaisalmer is one of the prominent places in the tourism map of Rajasthan. Whenever you think of going to Rajasthan, there are some places that immediately go across your mind. Jaisalmer is one such place that is often considered an integral part of Rajasthan tours. The presence of a large number of Jaisalmer Tourist Attractions makes it one of the most popular places in Rajasthan. Having a perfect blend of scenic beauty and historical significance, tours to Jaisalmer are always a great experience.
Jaisalmer is also known as the golden city of India. Attractions in Jaisalmer include splendid forts, beautiful temples and a number of majestic havelis. Jaisalmer is also a place that signifies valor and courage. Such is place is bound to attract tourists.
Variety of Jaisalmer Tourist Attractions
Forts and havelis: There are plenty of Jaisalmer Tourist Attractions. One of the most popular of the Jaisalmer attractions is the Jaisalmer Fort. The fort is built of sandstone and offers a breathtaking view. A Jaisalmer tour will also let you witness the splendid architecture of the Salim Sing ki-Haveli, Patwon-Ki-Haveli and Nathmalji-ki-Haveli. These havelis boast great lattice work.
Temples: The Jain temples are also one of the most popular tourist sites in Jaisalmer. These temples look beautiful with the carved human and animal figurines. A look at these attractions will be a lifetime experience. It will also add a lot of value to your tour.
Natural Beauty: Jaisalmer tourist attractions will also provide the pleasure of natural beauty. The desert camps in Thar Desert will be an exciting experience for the tourists. The camel safari through though the Sam and Khukri sand dunes will be a lifetime experience. If you want to explore more natural beauty of Jaisalmer then you can also visit the Gadsisar Lake or the Baba Bagh.
Culture and tradition: Jaisalmer Tourist Attractions also include places that are perfect to gain knowledge about the rich culture and tradition of the place. Jaisalmer will make you familiar of cultural facsimiles like dances and festivals. The Camel Fair is also one of the places of interest in Jaisalmer. The lively dances, melody and colorful crafts of this fair portray a colorful picture of the city.
Museum: There is also a museum in the city of Jaisalmer. This museum is the right place to be if you want to fair knowledge about its rich past. The museum exhibits a variety of items like customary Rajasthani instruments, diverse kinds of textiles, assortment of old coins and fossils. A trip to the Lodurva historical city will give you an idea about the rich history of the place.
Jaisalmer is a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the tourists of all kinds. Book your tour to Jaisalmer as soon as possible. It will truly be a lifetime experience for you. There are a number of tour operators which offer tour packages to Jaisalmer. However, try to get it from a tour operator which has a certain level of experience and expertise in this sector.
Indian Holiday offers online information on Jaisalmer Tourist Attractions, Rajasthan, India. | <urn:uuid:064a86ff-bea4-443e-8ebc-fb7cc10bfaff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indianholiday.com/tourist-attractions/rajasthan/jaisalmer/ | 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 | 0.930723 | 694 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Last month, I explained the origins of Québec's new ethics and religious culture course, and I noted that it seemed to be on the cusp of becoming a significant issue in the provincial election campaign. I also pointed out that Mario Dumont, a right-wing politician, had tried to take advantage of public controversy surrounding the new course (it was alleged to be overly secular), and I promised that I would give an update on whether the issue caught fire. Interestingly, the issue did not prove to be to M. Dumont's advantage at all--the general public was, apparently, not interested in his criticisms. On Dec. 8, Dumont's party, the Action Democratique de Québec (ADQ), was crushed at the polls, and was reduced from 41 seats to 7. Dumont immediately resigned from the leadership of the ADQ as a result of this poor showing.
In the previous (2007) election, Dumont had profited politically from a media frenzy (which he helped to incite) surrounding the question of reasonable accommodations for immigrants and religious minorities. This controversy resulted in the formation of a traveling commission chaired by philosopher Charles Taylor and historian Gérard Bouchard (see photo above). In May of 2008, Bouchard and Taylor released their final report on the matter of reasonable accommodation, entitled Building the Future: A Time for Reconciliation.
In a previous post, I commented on the role of the media in representing the views of people who attended the public hearings of the commission. As it turns out, one of the most interesting aspects of the final report examines the media's systematic misrepresentation of the reasonable accommodation controversy. Bouchard and Taylor analyze 15 separate incidents in which they feel the media distorted the account significantly. In each case, the commissioners present two versions of events: the media's account and the story that they gathered through their own investigations. I've quoted one exemplary account at length:
11. The Mont-Saint-Grégoire sugarhouse (March 2007)In the report, Bouchard and Taylor discuss what they call the media's "Fabrication of Perceptions," and they note that there was a significant amount of public outrage about the role of the media, both from the general public as well as from individual members of the media. Clearly, Bouchard and Taylor have some of the same concerns about the shaping of public perceptions that preoccupied Dewey and Lippmann during the 1920s. Books like Public Opinion (Lippmann), The Phantom Public (Lippmann), and The Public and its Problems (Dewey) still shed a great deal of light on these kinds of issues.
([The media account]) Muslims arrived one morning at the sugarhouse, which can accommodate 750 people, and demanded that the menu be altered to conform to their religious standard. All of the other customers were therefore obliged at noon that day to consume pea soup without ham and pork-free pork and beans (this prohibition was apparently subsequently extended to other sugarhouses). In the afternoon, the same Muslims entered the crowded dance hall and interrupted the festivities under way (music and dancing) to recite their prayers. The customers in the dance hall were expelled from the sugarhouse.
([The commission's account]) One week before the outing, a representative of Astrolabe, a Muslim association, met with the sugarhouse’s owners to discuss certain changes to the menu, which would apply solely to the members of the group. The modified menu excluded pork meat but included halal sausage and salami provided and paid for by Astrolabe. This arrangement having been made, the association reserved one of the four dining rooms in the sugarhouse for its exclusive use. On the appointed day, after the meal, members of the group moved several tables and chairs in the room reserved for them for a short prayer. The management of the sugarhouse wanted to free up the room as quickly as possible (business was brisk and nearly 300 customers were waiting to be seated) and proposed to the 40 or so individuals who wished to pray that they use instead the dance hall, which can accommodate roughly 650 people. Thirty or so customers were then in the room, some of them waiting to be seated in the dining room. Several young girls were dancing to popular music. The management of the sugarhouse interrupted the music so that the Muslim customers could say their prayers, which took less than 10 minutes. The music then resumed. According to the management, no one was expelled from or asked to leave the dance hall.
See Building the Future: A Time for Reconciliation (Québec: Gouvernement de Québec, 2008), 72.
Obviously, this is an issue that extends far beyond the Québec context, and which poses an ongoing and difficult (albeit fascinating) educational challenge. | <urn:uuid:a0c2905a-ea79-45dd-9fa9-b50de2c04718> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://deweycsi.blogspot.com/2008/12/media-shenanigans-in-qubec.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9693 | 979 | 2.03125 | 2 |
"As a child the designation "good" for today confused me. How could we call such a somber day, good? Holy, yes. Blessed, yes. But, good?
As an adult I understand the meaning of good for this day. It is a solemn day of remembrance but it is also a time for us to stop and recall the great gift of love that we received this day. And that is most certainly good.
Our worship today will differ from place to place. Some services will focus on the great litany of prayers. Others will use the seven last words of Jesus. Some of us will walk the stations of the cross. Others will participate in a Tenebrae service of shadows and light.
I hope that this Friday Five will be a meaningful part of your Good Friday. God's blessings to you on your journey."
- Our prayer concerns are as varied as we are this day. For whom would you like us to pray? Right now there are 4 people on my prayer list who all have different neurological concerns. Velma, an old friend from high school days, just diagnosed with ALS; Marcia, another friend from a different high school, who is recovering from problems caused by an arterial-venous malformation; Andy, an old friend's husband with vasculitis of the brain; and my brother, with MS and recently a problem involving brain capillaries. So I'm praying today for those four and for many, many others not known to me who have similar issues.
- Are there things you have done or will do today to help the young ones understand this important day in our lives? In the middle of this I talked on the phone to Sisterknits and she confirmed that I probably didn't do much to help her understand Good Friday. For one thing in my defense, our church mostly conflated it with Maundy Thursday so that we had a prayer of getting a decent attendance! So after communion, we would do the Tenebrae service. She had some interesting thoughts about Good Friday which she has mostly come to on her own.
- Music plays an important part in sharing the story of this day. Is there a hymn or piece of music that you have found particularly meaningful to your celebrations of Good Friday? As I posted earlier, Were You There? is the song that comes into my head all day. As a visual, I recall the scene in the film Green Pastures when the angels are watching Jesus carry the cross.
- As you hear the passion narrative, is there a character that you particularly resonate with? Mary, the Mother of Jesus; I've been fortunate thus far not to have lost a child, but I think any parent can identify with her shock and sorrow.
- Where have you seen the gracious God of love at work lately? Lately, I've mostly seen it in the various postings by my RevGalBlogPals; nearly every day there's a wonderful story of love on someone's blog. | <urn:uuid:94d33ba0-a337-4e70-96fb-18fb1a9aa8b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://auntieknickers.blogspot.com/2008/03/friday-five-good-friday.html?showComment=1206122520000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977537 | 612 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Correlates of maternal teaching behaviors in low-income Dominican and Puerto Rican mothers
This study was designed to examine the correlates of maternal teaching behaviors among low income Dominican and Puerto Rican mothers. The sample consisted of 51 Puerto Rican and 50 Dominican mothers and their preschool children in Head Start Programs. The mothers were assessed on four exogenous variables: parenting stress, utilization of social support, acculturation, and available social support, and on two mental health measures, anxiety and depression. In addition, the dyads were videotaped while the mothers taught their children two cognitive-perceptual tasks using the Maternal Teaching Observation Technique. Raters scored the videotapes for frequency of maternal use of inquiry, directives, praise, negative verbal feedback, modeling, and use of visual cues. The data were analyzed to determine the relationships between maternal teaching behaviors and both the exogenous variables and the mental health measures. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were carried out to determine whether anxiety and depression mediated the relationships between the exogenous variables and the teaching behaviors. Correlations indicated a significant relationship between anxiety and the use of directives and modeling. Depression was related to negative verbal feedback and to modeling. Parenting stress was related to inquiry, praise, and modeling, and to anxiety and depression. The use of praise was correlated to social support. Acculturation was related to the use of praise, inquiry, and modeling. A significant relationship was found between anxiety and acculturation. Multiple regression analyses indicated that anxiety and depression did not mediate the relationship between the exogenous variables and the maternal teaching behaviors. Instead, parenting stress appears to mediate the relationship between mental health and teaching behaviors. In addition, acculturation appears to be a critical variable, determining parenting stress and social support and thereby affecting maternal teaching behaviors. Contrary to expectations, these findings suggest that both mental health variables of anxiety and depression and psychosocial factors appear to contribute separately to maternal teaching behaviors. Program development and interventions aimed at Puerto Ricans and Dominicans should target both mental health and psychosocial factors to enhance mother-child interactions. ^
Psychology, Developmental|Psychology, Clinical
"Correlates of maternal teaching behaviors in low-income Dominican and Puerto Rican mothers"
(January 1, 1993).
ETD Collection for Fordham University. | <urn:uuid:fef20a68-1e1b-484a-9ae2-573c462f2b52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fordham.bepress.com/dissertations/AAI9324624/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930588 | 467 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Zoo Green Class: Rewards of Recycling!
Join us for one more free green class this month, this time on the rewards of recycling! Learn exactly what you can and can’t recycle in your curbside bin. Also find out how you can get great benefits from recycling such as gift cards to your favorite restaurants, stores and attractions. Get an update about the City of Cincinnati’s enhanced recycling program. In the past year, the city switched from 18 gallon bins to larger 63 and 96 gallon rolling carts. As of December 2010, with just 50% of the city having received the new carts, the monthly tonnage record was exceeded, in the 21 year history of the program. Over 1500 tons was recycled, 300 tons higher than any month in history. Now, 8 months later, find out how much more has been recycled. RecycleBank will also be here to show how it pays to recycle.
Recycling rates have increased from 40% to 75% in the past year, and have saved the city over $900,000 while creating jobs and diverting so much waste from entering the landfill.
Join us in Frisch’s Theater on Monday, August 29th from Noon to 1pm for this informative class! Class is free for guests with a zoo membership or paid admission, but space is limited. Please RSVP to Fia at (513) 487-3355 by Sunday, August 28th. | <urn:uuid:c9b1fe0e-c6b3-4690-a09d-67097059af6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2011/08/24/zoo-green-class-rewards-of-recycling/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953917 | 298 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Study Reveals How Travelers Consume News and Information
McLean, Va.—A recent study commissioned by the USA TODAY Travel Media Group reveals that there is a unique continuum of how travelers consume news and information and how various platforms all play a role in their lives. The “Today’s Connected Traveler” study results show that travelers desire an all-in-one resource that offers connections to content across platforms and even in a multiplatform world, newspapers are an expected part of the travel and hotel experience. The study was in partnership with Latitude, an international research consultancy. READER COMMENTS
According to the study, business and leisure travelers revealed that they crave news to stay connected and that 1 in 2 follow news more when traveling compared to when at home. Newspapers continue to be a desirable medium for news consumption with more than 80% of all travelers reading a newspaper when they travel.
“Consumer insights about travelers are essential to how we produce content, how we work with our partners and to how we provide media and marketing solutions for marketers. The on-the-go, connected traveler is a valuable and hard to reach consumer and we are pleased that this study can provide some unique insights into how they consume news and information in this vast media landscape. More than ever, travelers want news delivered to them exactly when and how they want it, wherever they are in their travels,” said Sandra Micek, senior vice president of marketing for USA TODAY, in an announcement.
According to the study, travelers turn to news out of their craving to stay connected to what’s going on at home and in the world around them. They’re looking for news and information that helps them stay up to date on what’s happening. They want to be knowledgeable and informed, particularly about big news items so they can combat feelings of isolation and participate in the national conversation. Travelers view newspapers as a means to get “me” time, relax and pamper themselves.
Highlights of the study results include:
- 77% say that news help them stay in the loop so they don’t feel disconnected from what’s going on
- 62% say that news connects them to issues and people across the country
- 77% of all travelers prefer to have the complimentary hotel newspaper delivered to their room
- 61% of travelers don’t want to be overwhelmed with information but would rather have news highlighted in an organized fashion.
The “Today’s Connected Traveler” study consisted of a quantitative online study with 1,631 business and leisure travelers along with in-depth one-on-one interview discussions with select respondents.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 by digital camera guide
1QUsAy Thank you ever so for you blog article.Really looking forward to read more.
Sunday, March 03, 2013 by click here
ftpCeE This is one awesome blog article.Thanks Again. Want more. | <urn:uuid:196d4e38-a1e8-4c9e-a706-245686104fa9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lodgingmagazine.com/News/News/Study-Reveals-How-Travelers-Consume-News-and-Infor-1731.aspx?email=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945882 | 617 | 1.664063 | 2 |