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Rugby NEEDS to bring back tackle for kids. Tackle is FUNDAMENTAL part of the sport & is MORE important then stepping or ball skills!
It teaches safety, confidence and SIGNIFICANTLY reduces fear! So then WHY would we not give it too our kids of today?
Because, rugby has got so bloody PC that we want them to play "tag" & justify it with "safety"!!!
Here's off the NZRU website for under 7's. What individual skills do I teach each grade?
- Running with ball
- Tap kick and pass
- Basic pass
- Receiving pass
- Ball familiarization
Actually, Ritchie Macaw is SHIT at swerving, passing & in my oponion "ball familarization" BUT, BUT, BUT! He is one of the MOST devasting people at ruck and maul time and in the tackle for getting the ball EVER that the game has ever seen! This is from a "workers/tackling" mindset not a swerve, pass/catch skill set!
Tell me the last time you saw a kid under 8 break his leg or neck from rugby or league?
Here's what I think, parents are inflicting fear into the kids about tackle in particular the mums, (there you go I said it!!). This is why we need more coaches like Marie who supports tackle!
If your a mum and don't want to see your little Tommy or Tammy get dirty then don't watch him/her play & DON'T pass on your fear to your kids, "oh be careful, they so much bigger then you"!
So what, Maaori or Island kids are bigger, the more reason tackle is so important!!
I love sport & BELIEVE every kid should do "something"! Ur thoughts? | <urn:uuid:843670a6-0157-4d11-9108-926614643e61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ehp-fitness.blogspot.com/2009/05/they-dont-get-hurt.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941978 | 379 | 2.1875 | 2 |
THE RED MARKET: On the Trail of the World’s Organ
Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers
By Scott Carney
HarperCollins, 254 pp., illustrated, $25.99
Unlike, say, a car, there’s no agreed-upon price for a human kidney. In some countries it’s illegal to buy and sell kidneys; in others, Scott Carney writes, selling a kidney is common enough that poor people “view their organs as a critical social safety net.’’ In a provocative, entertaining new book, Carney argues that the American model of organ donation as a purely altruistic affair has serious shortcomings, exceeded only by a flourishing international “red market’’ in body parts.
The red markets Carney investigates range from relatively benign transactions that send the hair of Hindu devotees to salons in urban America to more troubling exchanges, such as American and European prospective parents using Indian women as gestational surrogates or criminal blood-bank suppliers on the Nepalese border who capture homeless men and bleed them twice a week. Perhaps the most upsetting chapter deals with Indian families whose children were kidnapped, then placed into an international adoption system that isn’t uniformly regulated; the American family of a son who had likely been trafficked was distraught after Carney contacted them, but nevertheless refused to make contact with his devastated birth family.
Carney’s habit of grouping fairly standard reproduction technology with more ethically vexing issues such as human cloning will strike many readers as overreaching, or even unfair. His tough-love lectures against trying to cheat death come across as nearly churlish (at one point he suggests that those waiting for a transplant should “think more realistically about mortality’’). Yet the book’s overarching argument — that most markets in human parts are fouled by systemic inequalities between donors and recipients — is both convincing and disturbing.
By Rosamund Lupton
Crown, 336 pp., $24
Beatrice Hemmings is summoned home to London with news that her sister, Tess, has gone missing just weeks before her first child was due to be born. Soon after arriving from New York, Beatrice, a tightly-wound perfectionist, learns that Tess and her baby are both dead: the child from natural causes, and Tess by suicide, according to the police. This fast-paced, absurdly entertaining novel, Lupton’s first, unfolds in the form of a long letter from Beatrice to her adored (if sometimes patronized) younger sister. Along with a juicy mystery, it resounds with an authentic sense of sisterly love and loyalty.
As Beatrice follows clues and tries to convince the police that Tess was no suicide, Lupton gracefully sketches the sisters’ story, with its twin wounds of their brother Leo’s death at age 8 from cystic fibrosis and the departure some months later of their father. Beatrice sees the sisterly relationship as “the familiar scenario of being the superior, mature, older sister telling off the flighty, irresponsible young girl who should know better by now.’’ Dead at 21, Tess is destined never to know better, and it’s to the book’s great credit that we see how much the younger sister, even in death, has to teach her older sibling.
THE CLAMORGANS: One Family’s
History of Race in America
By Julie Winch
Hill and Wang, 432 pp., illustrated, $35
In 1911, suburban St. Louis found itself rocked by racial scandal when a white couple accused their daughter-in-law of hiding her identity as a black woman to ensnare their white son. The bride’s sister, also assumed to be white, had recently given birth to a child who looked unmistakably black. As historian Julie Winch writes, such dramas deeply unsettled many Americans, raising an uncomfortable question: “If these two families had crossed the racial divide, how many other ‘white’ families were keeping secret certain crucial facts about their racial identity?’’ If Winch’s book on one notable and fascinating family is any indication, the answer is: countless.
The black family chronicled in this sprawling, pain- stakingly researched history was founded by a Frenchman, Jacques Clamorgan, a speculator and all-around hustler. Arriving in St. Louis when it was still under Spanish rule, Clamorgan accumulated land holdings whose value was more theoretical than actual — a lesson his descendents learned slowly and painfully, over nearly a century of mostly-fruitless litigation. He died in 1814, leaving behind four children by three black women, all of whom he either owned or employed. Their sons, mostly classified as black when they were born, died as white men, either by virtue of the vagaries of (white) census takers or because of the strategic strivings of widows.
In this dense, thoughtful history, Winch looks at how and why people chose to pass into white society — what they hoped to gain and what they gave up (including, of course, family members who didn’t, or couldn’t, join them). At times the book bogs down in seemingly endless land disputes and court cases, but Winch’s sharp insights redeem it. The family’s white patriarch, Jacques Clamorgan, is often identified today as having been the first black settler in colonial St. Louis. As with his descendents, his racial identity depends in part on who’s looking, and what they want to see.
Kate Tuttle, a writer and editor, can be reached at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:38d31e3f-ef0e-4458-8c81-23990619f9b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2011/06/05/short_takes_boston_globe/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Book+reviews | 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 | 0.965152 | 1,201 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Published July 23, 2012
A House Republican introduced a bill Monday that attempts an end-run around President Obama’s approval to pave the way for construction of the northern stretch of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline.
The proposal by GOP Rep. Lee Terry would cover the Canada-to-Nebraska stretch, the permit for which remains under federal review.
Obama has already approved the southern leg of the roughly 2,000-mile-long pipeline that would take crude oil from Canada and mineral-rich Western states to refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas.
“All I am saying with my legislation is: Mr. President, please treat the northern portion of the pipeline in the same manner as you treated the southern portion,” Terry, R-Neb., said on Capitol Hill. “You praised the construction for the southern route but keep changing the rules for the part that crosses the border."
The legislation would allow the northern section to be approved under the same State Department environmental impact study that allowed for construction of the southern section. Still, Obama would have to sign off on construction of the northern stretch as he did on the southern part.
He also urged Obama to remain consistent and asked that election-year politics be removed from the pipeline debate.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans argue that building TransCanada Corp.’s pipeline would generate much-needed jobs and help the country become less dependent on foreign oil.
“The Keystone XL pipeline is an element of the picture that we're focused on to address our energy problems,” said Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss.
Obama and other Democrats have heeded the concerns of environmentalists by asking for additional studies but have disappointed some labor unions by delaying the proposed project.
Terry said House Speaker John Boehner’s office has been involved in the legislation and expressed confidence it will reach the chamber floor. And he thinks the bill will get bipartisan support in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
In January, Obama put a hold on TransCanada's application, saying the State Department needed more time to review the process.
In March, he approved only the southern leg of the project. The company submitted another application to avoid Nebraska’s environmentally sensitive Sandhills region, which prompted the State Department last month to call for a supplemental study that could decrease the likelihood a decision will be reached before the November election.
Senate Republicans last month failed to get a provision in the transportation bill passed by Congress that attempted to accelerate the entire project. | <urn:uuid:3253a9d7-8ea0-45c7-9ade-50a89f327891> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/23/house-republican-has-plan-to-end-run-obama-to-complete-keystone-pipline/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947458 | 514 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Thank you for your research. I have a copy of the first part of the NCGSJ article, and am hoping to find a copy of the Vol. XXI second part.
My interest comes from the association of this group with James Adair, the trader and author. I am descended from a James Addair who shows up in written records in Virginia in 1772 as a settler on the New River. Recently a lawsuit turned up in which, like James Colbert, he states he was a resident "since my nativity." All known descendants of this James Addair share a tradition of Indian ancestry (most claim Cherokee, with no details!). I have been unable to trace him any earlier.
Names you may find familiar: one of the first mentions of James Addair comes in a Fincastle County complaint from a William Kavennagh that he has blocked the path with his fence. Charles, William and Philemon Kavenaugh made land claims in the same area in 1775 (on New River near the mouth of the East River, presently Giles County, VA).
Later, in 1789, James was reported as surety for the marriage bond of John Hix (also spelled Hicks) and Elizabeth Brown.
I am intrigued by your report of land purchased in Bladen County, NC, in 1750 by James Colbert, James Adair, Abraham Colson and Johnathan Mulkey. This site, listing various James Adair dates:http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/9708/marj.html
"23 Mar 1775 Benjamin Fuller of SC to JAMES ADAIR of Dobbs Co, NC, 20pd, 200ac on both sides of Wilkesons Swamp on Little Pedee.
Witt John Cade & Edward Hughes.
Bladen Co, NC DB 1738\1804, 373"
Would this land appear to lie in the same area?
Do you have any other clues about James Adair's involvement in the mixed race trader community of this part of North Carolina? | <urn:uuid:7b685d9e-a238-48eb-9ed1-603168ad05e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldfamilies.net/forum/index.php?topic=8691.msg110498 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928824 | 425 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Cyprus is negotiating a bailout of as much as (EURO)17 billion ($22.65 billion)—roughly equivalent to its annual economic output—with the so-called 'troika' of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The money is mostly meant to rescue its banks, which have taken huge losses on bad Greek debt investments. But Cyprus can only get a bailout if it is deemed to have a realistic chance at repaying the rescue loans. That will be determined by a yet-unfinished report on the recapitalization needs of the banks.
Economists estimate a loan of around (EURO)17 billion would increase the public debt load to around 150 percent of GDP, which would be considered unsustainable.
Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou on Tuesday defended the left-wing government's opposition to privatizations, confirming that a final agreement on the bailout will likely have to wait for a new government to come to power after general elections on Feb. 17.
"We believe and we can strongly argue that even if the debt is not sustainable, there are other ways that it can be made so," said Stefanou in a speech to managers and employees of the state-owned Cyprus Telecommunications Authority.
One such way, he said, is for Cypriot banks to receive money directly from the EU's bailout fund instead of through the government. That means the banks, not the government, would be responsible for repaying their rescue loans.
However, the bailout fund won't be ready to help banks directly at least before the end of this year. It is not certain that the new bailout fund's capacity to rescue banks directly would apply retroactively to bailouts that had already been agreed on.
He said future revenues from significant, newly-discovered offshore natural gas deposits can also help the country manage its debt. Though those revenues would take years to tap, they would brighten the country's longer-term financial outlook.
Stefanou said Cyprus is "obligated" for national security reasons to retain control of its telecommunications, electricity and ports authorities. Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.
Cyprus, which has already enacted a raft of public sector wage and benefit cuts and tax increases agreed under the draft bailout deal, will usher in a new government next month when it holds presidential elections. Incumbent President Dimitris Christofias isn't seeking re-election.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the outgoing head of the group of euro area finance ministers, said on Monday that a decision on a Cyprus bailout would probably be made in March.
That means finalizing a bailout agreement will fall on the shoulders of a new government. Nicos Anastasiades, the head of the center-right Democratic Rally party who leads opinion polls ahead of the Feb. 17 election says he would seek to avoid outright privatizations of major state-owned companies that are "nationally and socially beneficial" by overhauling them, selling off a stake or seeking a strategic investor.
Stefanou also rejected allegations that Cyprus is a Russian money laundering hub, saying that other countries' banks also hold billions in Russian deposits.
"Why is Cyprus then in the crosshairs? It's clear that there are expediencies and interests arrayed against Cyprus," he said. | <urn:uuid:d5832f35-cda2-44c2-8e15-51d2997e5e94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scsun-news.com/silver_city-business/ci_22423450?source=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964142 | 690 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Gravity- Defying Transfer of Magnitized Energy- And Its Fun Too!
To operate, simply place the wheel in the metal track, move up and down and watch with amazement as it magically (or scientifically) travels inside, then outside the 11" travel track. What’s the secret? Hint: when electrons spin in the same direction, the metals become “magnetized” and will attract other like metals.
Warning: Choking Hazard -Small Parts. Not for children under 3 years. | <urn:uuid:7a3150eb-88a7-4d21-846c-b94d541749ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scientificsonline.com/review/product/list/id/6259/?cat=421260 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904539 | 108 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Summary: The need for change at midlife--an emotional pressure for one phase of our lives to transition to another--is a universal human phenomenon. There simply comes a time, as when puberty separates childhood from adulthood, when a part of ourselves must die in order for something new to be born.The purpose of this book by New York Times bestselling author and lecturer Marianne Williamson is to psychologically and spiritually reframe the transition so that it leads to a wonderful sense of ...show morejoy and awakening.In our ability to rethink our lives lies our power to change it. What we call ''middle age'' need not be seen as a turning point toward death. It can be seen as a magical turning point toward life as we've never known it, if we allow ourselves the power of an independent imagination.Midlife is not a crisis; it is a time of rebirth. It is a time not to accept death, but to accept life. Younger people may have lots of energy, but they often don't know what to do with it. People in midlife might have less energy, but far more understanding of what each breath of life is for. At last they have a destiny to fulfill--not the destiny of a life that's simply over, but the destiny of a life that can finally be truly lived. ...show lessEdition/Copyright: 08
More prices and sellers below. | <urn:uuid:05e9d969-e4f8-4a06-bdb1-018613bb21c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.textbooks.com/Age-of-Miracles-08-Edition/9781401917197/Marianne-Williamson.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949171 | 281 | 1.921875 | 2 |
In December, the labor market continued its improvement by adding 200,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell again to 8.5 percent, the lowest level since February 2009. The annual year-end revisions to the unemployment rate confirm the gradual but significant improvement in the labor market since the end of summer. The December report indicates that the labor market has strengthened along with the rest of the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, the growth is still very slow and tenuous as the economic headwinds from the Atlantic and Washington, D.C., impede the recovery.
The household survey report indicates that the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points from 8.7 percent to 8.5 percent. The year-end revisions indicate that the November unemployment rate was a bit higher than originally announced. However, the revisions confirm that the unemployment rate has declined by more than half a percentage point since August.
The labor force participation rate remained flat at 64 percent with a small, statistically insignificant decline in the civilian labor force from a drop in teenage participation. The decline in the unemployment rate was driven primarily by an increase in employed workers and a decline in the number of unemployed workers.
This month’s report continues the story of rapid improvement for adult men but little improvement for adult women. The adult male unemployment rate has fallen from 8.7 percent to 8.0 percent since October. The unemployment rate for adult women remains flat at 7.9 percent.
The payroll survey also showed solid growth with 212,000 private-sector jobs and a decline of 12,000 government jobs. Job growth was widespread throughout the private sector, with even construction (17,000) showing slight growth. Transportation and Warehousing (50,200) led the sharp growth in the service sector. Most of this growth was from couriers and deliverymen, which was sparked by strong online retail sales. Two concerns: Temporary help turned negative (-7,500) and job growth in November was revised downward.
Average weekly hours ticked back up to 33.7, the same level as October. Average hourly earnings remained flat for production and non-supervisory employees.
Good, But Not Good Enough
While the jobs report was encouraging, it will still take years for unemployment to recover at this pace. Economists estimate that the “natural rate of unemployment” in the U.S. economy is 5.2 percent.
The Heritage Foundation used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate how long, with a given level of job creation, it would take unemployment to return to its natural rate. These estimates are not a prediction of how quickly unemployment will fall; instead, they illustrate what different rates of monthly job creation mean for the speed of the labor market recovery.
If employers continue to create 200,000 net jobs per month, then one year from now, the unemployment rate will still stand at 7.9 percent. At that pace, the unemployment rate will not return to normal levels (or 5.2 percent) for four and a half years—not until September 2016.
However, the payroll survey showed stronger growth in December than it did in most of the rest of the year. If employers create jobs at the same pace they did in the 4th Quarter of 2011—137,000 jobs per month—then the unemployment rate will barely change over the next year, standing at 8.4 percent in December 2013. At that pace, unemployment would not return to natural levels at any point in the next decade.
Even with strong economic growth, it will take time for unemployment to return to normal levels. If employers add an average of 265,000 net jobs per month—the rate the payroll survey showed between 1997 and 1999—then unemployment will not return to its natural rate until December 2014.
Policy Changes Needed to Spark Job Creation
The December report is a nice belated Christmas present, with both surveys showing signs of labor market growth. However, there have been false signs of a labor market rebound, such as the ill-fated “recovery summer” of 2011. The U.S. economy is resilient, and the labor market should continue to grow throughout the next year. But the growth is too slow to help many workers, due in part to the slowdown in the European economy. Worse, however, are the policies in Washington that have impeded or hurt job creators. Entrepreneurs are looking down the barrel of tax increases and the failure of politicians to have a credible debt-reduction plan. In the end, it is how these job creators see the future that will determine the pace of recovery in overall employment.
Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
, is Assistant Director of and Research Fellow in the Center for Data Analysis, and James Sherk is Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics in the Center, at The Heritage Foundation. | <urn:uuid:d02fd0e4-10a7-4810-a1f8-8a4e72fb69d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/01/employment%20report%20unemployment%20rate%20falls%20as%20labor%20market%20improves | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956246 | 987 | 2.015625 | 2 |
March 30, 2011
| by EH Staff
Theater by Cinetec Audio Video Design Centers of Palos Hills, IL
Award-winning Chicago Interior Designer John Cannon of Cannon Frank, weaves together an elaborate downstairs entertainment zone that revolves around an antique Parisian bar and a breathtaking home cinema, all decorated with the utmost in Art-Deco detailing.
HE: The home is designed to resemble an Italian villa with Greco-Roman touches throughout, but the theater isn’t Greco-Roman in style. How did the Art Deco look come about?
JC: My client took a photography trip on the Orient Express in the early 1990s and fell in love with the original styling of that train. So there was some influence from that. We all felt the theater, train room, exercise room and game room were perfect places to showcase some of the owners’ Art Deco sculpture, which they found during their travels to various art shows in Palm Beach, Chicago and New York. So that’s how the Deco look came in.
Even the wall treatments in the spa’s exercise room tie into this overall Art Deco look: They replicate some of the murals at New York’s Rockefeller Center, which include Art Deco-style gazelles and impalas in a forest setting.
The entertainment zone’s sauna, hot tub and steam shower are all tiled in an Art Deco-style design with Ann Sacks tile and very elaborate tile bordering.
HE: How did you weave in the antique French bar?
JC: After I found the Parisian bar at Judith Racht Gallery in Michigan, I began the design of the lobby bar and the theater. The bar is made of mahogany and it’s inlaid with several kinds of wood in an intricate geometric patterns.
The bar’s antique, zinc-topped countertop wasn’t large enough to accommodate everything we wanted, so we added onto it so it could hold a popcorn machine and drink fountains.
HE: The footprint of the home theater doesn’t appear square or rectangular, although I’m not sure that it’s concentric in shape either. Please describe the floor plan.
JC: The room is basically rectangular with a full radius at one end. The home theater itself has the same footprint as the family room right above it. The projection screen is recessed into an alcove on the opposite end of the room.
So we created two alcoves on either side—one at the entrance and the other as a niche for an 18th-century sculpture of [the Greek God] Mercury, for whom the home theater is named.
HE: Is there a specific element in the theater—such as the chandelier or the proscenium—that served as the catalyst for the overall look?
JC: My clients love the old movie houses of Hollywood, so after we purchased the pair of Sue et Mare torchères—designed and fabricated by the contemporary of Lalique, Ruhlmann and Edgar William Brandt—the tone for the room was set.
The torchère style is pure Art Deco. They are made of cast bronze, a gold bronze and solid onyx. The proscenium followed suit.
We used two different kinds of draperies in this theater. The panels that envelope the room are a crepe silk velvet in a dark rust, trimmed in a gold metallic Greek key pattern. The ivory panels behind the screen can change color, as determined by the neon control panels.
HE: How did you create the proscenium and its elaborate scrollwork? It looks like you can change the illumination from behind the ironwork to change the mood?
JC: I love [the style of] Ruhlmann and Edgar William Brandt. Since we had to create a level of camouflage to hide all of the technical aspects of the screen, we came up with an ornate, highly stylized proscenium and crown that hides the screen’s masking elements.
The proscenium is very heavy, but we can access everything—the speakers, the screen—for maintenance without dismantling a lot. The gold-leaf “waterfall” panels on the sides hide the neon lighting. The clients can change this lighting from yellow to gold, orange to red, and blue or lilac to emerald green.
You can achieve any color you want to suit the movie you are watching or your mood by dialing in any combination, using the three dimmers, one for each primary color.
HE: Many theaters of this scale and complexity are designed with theater curtains that close to cover the screen, but you opted to do something very different here.
JC: Originally we wanted a traditionally draped theater screen, but we couldn’t do that and accomplish everything our client wanted—such as accommodating the depth and width of the screen, and the chosen screen lighting.
As a compromise we incorporated an ivory velvet backdrop behind the screen. This light hue is a wonderful canvas, and accommodates any color the clients choose from the behind-the-screen lighting system. I designed the proscenium with a lot of open space so the illumination from behind glows through. You can actually see through the proscenium, as well as around the screen.
HE: Let’s discuss the seating arrangement you created for the private screening room. You incorporated three different kinds of seating, all of which commingle in harmony.
JC: Since the theater is so elaborate—we envision it as more of a private screening room in a Hollywood producer’s home rather than a home theater—we decided against theater-style row seating. Additionally, we know some people like to sit alone while watching a movie, and some people want to sit together. Our clients wanted to sit right in the middle of the room on a love seat, so we opted for a seating arrangement that mixes several styles, fabrics and types of comfort.
The chairs and ottomans are from the Lucien Rollin Collection through William Switzer & Assoc., and are covered in Edelman leather. The velvet-covered sofas are custom designed by our firm, Cannon Frank, and fabricated by our custom upholsterer, Anees Upholstery.
To design these custom sofas, we studied photos of old Ruhlmann rooms: our renditions are more comfortable and are designed in a more suitable size than the originals would have been.
HE: The wall treatment for the theater is an orchestration of wood paneling and more Deco-inspired scrollwork.
JC: In keeping with the concept of a movie mogul’s private screening room, we designed the walls with book- and end-matched, horizontal-crotch mahogany panels, trimmed in walnut with pilasters. The pilasters are covered in speaker cloth and are faced with additional iron and gold-bronze ornamentation that’s reminiscent of Deco grasses and seeds.
HE: Talk to me about the transitioning you created in the lobby and the bar’s mural.
JC: My client wanted to have an area for refreshments and entertaining large groups, so the bar area evolved into more of lobby with concessions.
The mural is a tongue-in-cheek depiction of a scene from “Cleopatra,” complete with a leopard, movie-set lighting, and the director and actors.
HE: This entertainment zone is larger than many people’s homes. How long did you spend in the design and build-out processes?
JC: The project took about two years to conceive, shop, procure and then fabricate; it kept evolving as we went along.
HE: Have you had the privilege of watching a movie in this theater?
JC: My clients, assistant and I got to watch the very first movie! We wanted to make sure the system worked well, so we did a “test” run, but we all became so engrossed in the movie we ended up watching the whole film. We were really blown away. I actually felt as if I was in Louis B. Mayer’s private screening room. The only thing missing was the cigar smoke.
By Brooke Lange/ Home Entertainment | <urn:uuid:31e92872-7300-416d-ae70-267f1fc8c80d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electronichouse.com/article/chicago_home_theater-in-the-round/P1071/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951694 | 1,733 | 1.875 | 2 |
It’s a logical outcome of decrim, and it finally happened today. The mere odor of burning marijuana is no longer reason enough for police officers to order a person out of their car in Massachusetts, now that possession of less than an ounce of pot has been decriminalized there, the state’s highest court ruled on Tuesday.
“Without at least some other additional fact to bolster a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the odor of burnt marijuana alone cannot reasonably provide suspicion of criminal activity to justify an exit order,” the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in a decision written by Chief Justice Roderick Ireland, reports Martin Finucane at the Boston Globe
According to the court, the people’s intent in passing a ballot question which decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis was “clear: possession of one ounce or less of marijuana should not be considered a serious infraction worthy of criminal sanction.”
“Ferreting out decriminalized conduct with the same fervor associated with the pursuit of serious criminal conduct is neither desired by the public not in accord with the plain language of the statute,” the court ruled.
In a long-overdue triumph of logic, the court ruled that the change in the law should — you guessed it! — affect how police behave in the field.
Justice Judith Cowin, who has since retired, wrote a dissent in the 5-1 decision. She wrote that up until this ruling, Massachusetts state law has allowed police to perform a warrantless search if they smelled burnt marijuana in a car.
“Even though possession of a small amount of marijuana is now no longer criminal, it may serve as the basis for a reasonable suspicion that activities involving marijuana, that are indeed criminal, are underway,” she wrote in a torturous example of non-logic.
“Our case law is clear that ‘the odor of marijuana is sufficiently distinctive that it alone can supply probable cause to believe that marijuana is nearby,’ ” Cowin wrote.
“The advent of decriminalization certainly has had no effect on the distinctiveness of marijuana’s odor. Nor has decriminalization affected the criminal status of numerous other activities involving marijuana,” she wrote, inadvertently revealing that her fevered imagination around what those potheads must be doing is a lot keener than is her shaky legal acumen.
Massachusetts voters in November 2008 overwhelmingly approved Question 2, which decriminalized marijuana, with backers calling for a “more sensible approach” to marijuana laws and asking law enforcement to focus on more serious and violent crimes. | <urn:uuid:c3f77fca-8b12-44d5-9cf6-346346676c1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://valetudocafe.wordpress.com/tag/massachusettes-laws/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959139 | 532 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Morocco's interests should be central in any new fishery accord, minister
Morocco-European Union, Economics, 2/17/2001
Morocco on Friday stressed that the preservation of its interests should at the core of any new fishery accord with the European Union.
"Morocco is not in confrontation with Europe. Morocco is rather in cooperation with Europe, and it will use all means to reach the fairest possible accord," Moroccan fisheries minister, Said Chbaatou, told a meeting in Casablanca of Moroccan and European experts.
European agriculture and fisheries commissioner, Franz Fischler, is expected next week in Morocco for a new round of talks with Morocco.
Moroccan-European fishery negotiations started last September but failed to reach agreement on the renewal of a fishery accord.
Negotiations are stumbling over several issues, mainly the duration of the accord-- Morocco wants it not to exceed 2 years while the EU seeks to strike a deal for 4 to 5 years--, the number of European trawlers to be allowed in Moroccan grounds, the amount of the financial compensation to be granted to Morocco and other technical aspects.
Since the latest fisheries accord between Morocco and the European Union expired on November 30, 1999, more than 500 European trawlers, mostly Spanish, are forced to berth.
New round of Morocco-EU political talks on fisheries as progress is cited in technical talks
Morocco, EU Resume Negotiations on Fisheries Friday
Morocco, EU hold new round of negotiations on fisheries
Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.
| Advertise on ArabicNews.com. MyFlowers.com sold more than $2700 of flowers in one month advertising on ArabicNews.com! Make your company, and products a success. Special rate for new and small business. Inquire!Advertising Info | <urn:uuid:e4b1f2b9-8632-46bc-9cbb-90c78131e2ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/010217/2001021719.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919233 | 406 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Firestorm Seen From Space
23 January 2003
Smoke billowing from the fires that ravaged through Namadgi National Park and into the south-western suburbs of Canberra on 18 January 2003 can be clearly seen in this MODIS satellite image. The smoke appears as a pale green veil, extending south-east from the lower-central part of the image.
Geoscience Australia acquired this image at approximately 11:00 am (AEST) on 19 January 2003. The geographical extent is from central-western NSW in the top left corner to Bass Strait in the lower right corner. Port Phillip Bay can be seen in the lower left of the image.
The Barmah Forest, a very significant area of remnant natural vegetation can be seen in the centre of the left side of the image.
South of the ACT fires, extensive plumes of smoke generated from major bushfires in the Alpine country of north-eastern Victoria and Southern NSW can also be seen sweeping across the east coast.
MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is the key instrument aboard the satellites Terra (EOS AM-1), and Aqua (EOS PM-1) and views almost the entire surface of the Earth every day. MODIS imagery such as this plays a vital role in the development of validated, global, interactive Earth system models able to predict global change.
The AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) sensors collect global data on a daily basis for a variety of land, ocean, and atmospheric applications. Specific applications include forest fire detection, vegetation analysis, weather analysis and forecasting, climate research and prediction, global sea surface temperature measurements, ocean dynamics research and search and rescue.
Topic contact: firstname.lastname@example.org Last updated: May 31, 2012 | <urn:uuid:5d8f264e-5a26-4bc4-8e87-aec6fa092e4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ga.gov.au/about-us/news-media/news-2003/firestorm-seen-from-space.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916433 | 364 | 3.0625 | 3 |
The great campaign between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Potomac ground to a halt in mid-June. Having battered each other for a month and a half, the armies came to a standstill at Petersburg, just south of Richmond. Here, they settled into trenches for a long siege of the Confederate rail center.
The men of the 48th Pennsylvania sought to break the stalemate with an ambitious project. The brainchild of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pleasants, the plan called for the men of his regiment–mostly miners from Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region–to construct a tunnel to the Confederate line, fill it with powder, and blow a gap in the fortifications.
On June 24, the plan received the approval of the regiment's corps commander, Ambrose Burnside, and the digging commenced the following day. Burnside's superiors, Generals Grant and George Meade, expressed little enthusiasm for the project but allowed it to proceed. For five weeks the miners dug the 500-foot long shaft, completing about 40 feet per day.
On July 30, a huge cache of gunpowder was ignited. The plan worked, and a huge gap was blown in the Rebel line. But poor planning by Union officers squandered the opportunity, and the Confederates closed the gap before the Federals could exploit the opening. The Battle of the Crater, as it became known, was an unusual event in an otherwise uneventful summer along the Petersburg line. | <urn:uuid:09c3b089-19e8-4937-9d5e-9784cf4ad3fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-construction-of-a-tunnel-begins-at-petersburg?catId=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954482 | 313 | 3.796875 | 4 |
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Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman, on May 24th 1941, in the USA. To a generation he was inspirational. His music sent shock waves through the popular culture of the day and almost 60 years later he is still going strong.
Bob had his roots in folk music. In the sixties it was a case of Dylan being in the right place and at the right time. From his early work, in the style of Woody Guthrie, he went on to modernise folk music. More of a singing poet, than a beautiful singer, none the less Dylan had a distinctive singing voice. Audiences either loved or loathed Dylan, and back then many adored him. Successive musicians have credited Dylan for influencing their style.
Over the years Dylan has remained creative. He has re-invented himself so many times. That is he has re-invented his singing styles. Early in his career, when he embraced pop music, and went "electric" traditionalists were horrified. Even some ardent fans turned their backs on Dylan, but he was not about to change unless HE wanted to. Through his lengthy musical career Dylan has experimented with pop, folk, gospel, rock and jazz music. He has written songs that are so beautifully crafted they will remain classics forever.
Dylan began what was to be called a "never ending tour" in 1988. Between 1988 and 2010 Dylan performed around 100 tour dates each year. That is a staggering amount, even for a much younger man. He is due to play Australia in April 2011. Bob has been married twice in the past and currently lives in Malibu, California. That is when he is not on the road touring.
Bob Dylan has been called influential, one of the most important figures of the 20th Century and much more. All such statements are true. Whether Dylan meant to amze people quite as much as he did, I am not sure. However, that is just what he did. | <urn:uuid:a59387d3-c366-4c50-a37c-bfd4b8eff5ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.allvoices.com/people/bob_dylan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989126 | 434 | 2.265625 | 2 |
According to a 2004 U.S. News & World Report article full of horrifying stories about young people being brutally neglected and abused in state juvenile detention facilities, Texas isn’t alone in its problems. In fact:
Juvenile justice facilities across the nation are in a dangerously advanced state of disarray, with violence an almost everyday occurrence and rehabilitation the exception rather than the rule. Abuse of juvenile inmates by staff is routine. … "Almost every place is experiencing major problems," says criminologist Barry Krisberg, author of a recent scathing report on the California Youth Authority. "There are cycles of abuse, reform, and abuse, and we are in a cycle of abuse."In an unusually happy turn of events, the federal government has stepped up to the plate to intervene on behalf of incarcerated young people. Says U.S. News & World Report:
Juvenile lockups typically are the provinces of states, which either run them or pay millions to private contractors to do the job. But the U.S. Department of Justice has recently begun attacking abuses in juvenile facilities in an aggressive way. The feds have active investigations or are monitoring settled cases in juvenile justice systems in 13 states or separate territories. ... And more cases are on the horizon. "We have a full-court press on this," says R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for civil rights. Under a 1980 law, his attorneys have the power to investigate and sue to correct a pattern or practice of unlawful conditions at juvenile facilities. The 1994 federal crime act also allows the department to sue when administrators of juvenile justice systems violate kids' rights. The flurry of suits began during the Clinton administration, but John Ashcroft's Justice Department has more than kept up the pace, doubling the number of new investigations. "No one deserves to be treated this way," says Brad Schlozman, deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights.Clearly, the ongoing DOJ investigation into TYC is part and parcel of the overall federal campaign to improve conditions of confinement in state juvenile corrections facilities. And, as far as I’m concerned, it’s about time that the feds come to Texas. Allegations about problems at TYC that have recently surfaced in the local media include:
- Vicious and violent attacks on inmates by guards. Attacks at the Evins Regional Justice Center in South Texas reportedly led to baseball-sized swelling when a boy's head was used as a battering ram, and temporary blindness when a guard scraped another boy’s face raw against the concrete. Yet another youth alleges that guards cuffed him and left him outside in the sun for several hours on top of an ant nest, where he was bitten hundreds of times.
- A corrupt complaint and investigation system. Former and current TYC staff claim that they have been asked to change records, lie to inspectors and parents about youth who are injured, and have seen abuse reports and videotapes that document abuse mysteriously disappear
- Lack of responsiveness to family members’ concerns. Parents have testified before the House Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues about their children being beaten by staff members, their grievances being ignored, and their children's sentences being unduly extended, even when the youth were serving time for less-than-serious crimes. | <urn:uuid:3f405408-ff02-4bff-b755-3926272d9022> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2006/08/feds-look-into-texas-youth-commission.html?showComment=1155638220000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96371 | 664 | 2.265625 | 2 |
When I reached the Chapeu Mangueira favela in Leme, a slum that borders on Copacabana, I was expecting to do a story on a martial arts school for poor kids. But there I met “Nativo” (Native), expert in what is today called MMA/NHB, or Mixed Martial Arts/No Holds Barred fighting. Nativo is the nickname of Fabio da Conceicao Ventura, 25, a lifelong resident of the same slum. Nativo told me how he was born in Chapeu Mangueira, and when he was just five he watched his mother set fire to herself to escape her miserable life. Two years later his father kicked him out of the house and he found himself on the streets.
In the streets Nativo learned to steal before joining up with drug traffickers. He told me how he first liked to rob tourists on Copacabana Beach, but then how it was really being part of a drug gang that made him feel most protected. He made it obvious to me that the gang came to be his family. With them he would spend hours consuming drugs and taking care of business inside the slum.
I started to photograph him and accompanied him around the narrow streets of the favela that was “pacified” by police in June, 2008, as part of a government program. Nativo showed me the places where drugs used to be commonly sold, and where he sat with his rifle giving cover to the gang.
In one corner he showed me where 12 of his companions were massacred by a rival gang. Several times while walking around he acted strange, scaring me like someone I always hoped not to come across on a dark street. He said to me, “I’ve done all types of evil, including things that you can’t even imagine.”
At the age of 18, Nativo was drafted into the Navy, where he remained for two years. During the first week he was arrested for beating up a marine he believed was homosexual. Even while serving in the military, Nativo never stopped his habit of stealing. “That was what I liked doing,” he explained. After the Navy he returned to the favela, the drug gang, and his old way of life. Change came for him one day when, after being arrested for dealing, he was convinced by a jiu-jitsu trainer to take lessons. In a short time he became an expert, and went on to excel at boxing and then MMA. | <urn:uuid:9fa8f865-2ce5-49e5-96ce-114d3edd659f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/tag/mma/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991093 | 528 | 1.796875 | 2 |
What inspired you to use color? We want our home to reflect our love of art and design, finding a current way to showcase our midcentury modern and pop art influences. There is a misperception that contemporary spaces are cold and unlivable, but we prove that with the use of color and natural materials (stainless steel, walnut, flokati rug, teak wood, and concrete-look corian), a modern interior can be warm and comfortable. We want visitors to be surprised at every turn (not unlike Gehry designs), giving them a new view from every living space. We painted accent colors on key walls, so that every vantage would include more than one color field. From any room, you see multiple color planes, kind of like a Mondrian painting in 3-D. We left the largest walls white to leave big areas for our growing art collection, and so we could feel like we live in an art gallery!
Color Tip: Avoid painting all the walls in a room the same color...it's much more interesting to create focal walls. Find a way to connect two smaller spaces with a colored wall extending from one room into another, or taking the same flooring through multiple areas to elongate the space. Select colors that are less saturated than you think you want, because in large areas and different light (especially sunlight), they will seem much brighter than the paintchip. Don't be afraid to be eclectic and mix colors, patterns, and elements of different styles. Surround yourself with things you love and have collected and want to look at every day!
Colors Used: Swampwater, Stone, Bangkok Rust
Fall Colors Introduction -------------------------------
Welcome, everyone, to our Fourth Annual Fall Colors Sharing & Contest. We're looking for the most beautiful & colorful home in the world and sharing all of the great ideas we get with our readers. This year we're amping things up and hoping to do things better than ever. There are two basic phases, the Sharing Phase and the Voting Phase...
1. Sharing Phase - you comment, judges decide
The 40 best, completed entries will be posted on a daily basis for three weeks. You can view them all at anytime via our new, improved contest pages under ALL ENTRIES. During this time your comments are VERY IMPORTANT as our six judges will be choosing 16 finalists from each region based on comments and their own colorful opinion.
2. Voting Phase - you vote till you drop
Starting October 20th, finalist voting will begin on a daily basis through our new bracketed voting system, which will pit our 16 finalists against one another until only one remains. Sound exciting? We hope so. | <urn:uuid:c055f3e5-07a0-4fff-be26-d6727553c97c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/southwest-17-chris-kendras-eye-66247?img_idx=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932427 | 548 | 1.664063 | 2 |
A corporate-jargon non-word meaning "motivate," coined in 1968. Some 10 years later, it was shortened to the equally annoying verb "incent." Unfortunately, both are recognized by both Merriam-Webster and the OED.
The only respectable form of the word is the noun "incentive."
I would like to motivate him to never say "incentivize" again by telling him I will rip his windpipe out of his throat the next time I hear him say it.
I hope everyone who says "incentivize" in earnest knows they come across as a jargon-spewing ahole.
Verb, apparently. American version of the much simpler root word "incent".
Why they can't seem to cope with this much simpler word, I don't know.. obviously doesn't sound important enough.
From dictionary.com (yes, that's right, it's listed - to make matters worse, their definition of "incent" says, "to incentivize"):
"This bill will help incentivize everybody to solve that part of the problem” (Richard A. Gephardt)."
How absurd is that. Gah. | <urn:uuid:f0ee2da6-7bfb-4c40-8d93-77f9c60482f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Incentivize&defid=3216869 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973648 | 245 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Whether you are a child, teenager, parent, carer or teacher, the thinkuknow website has information for you that could keep you and yours safe online.
Parents and carers, as your child grows and becomes more independent, it is only natural that they take this independence online. In our teenage years we explore, try new things and sometimes push boundaries and take risks, this is an essential part of growing up.
With all of the potential that the online world and new technology offers, young people now have access to huge opportunities. They use technology to express themselves, explore, and be creative; it has changed the way they communicate.
The internet has changed all of our lives, and your child has grown up during this change. Many of the things that confuse, baffle or even scare us, are part of the everyday for them. For many of us, this can all be a bit too much.
Whether you’re a technophobe or a technophile, it’s still likely that you’ll be playing catch-up with the way your child is using the internet.
You might wonder whether what they are doing is safe, and you might also be thinking how can I be as good a parent online as I am offline?
This site aims to make online parenting simple. | <urn:uuid:2fbc6695-6ac9-4ee0-b729-4a2e9ce3dfc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.paca.uk.com/information/internet-safety/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964214 | 270 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Front line female Marines
By Romeo Ranoco
Long before U.S. President Barack Obama allowed female soldiers to be deployed for combat duties, the Philippines has been doing exactly that for several years, in particular among those in the Marines.
I was excited to photograph some of the women during a military exercise at a Marine base south of the capital Manila. This was not the first time that I had taken pictures of female soldiers during training exercises, but I volunteered again because this time I would be documenting new recruits.
I arrived at the base in the afternoon and was immediately briefed by the training officers, discussing my interest and the pictures that I would like to take. I wanted to take pictures of female soldiers trying out to join the “few and proud” Marines, showing their capabilities and comparing their skills, stamina and endurance with male soldiers.
There were 30 new women soldiers, about a platoon-size, trying out to be part of a Marine reconnaissance company to be organized for deployment on a troubled southern island in the Philippines. I found them fumbling over a rubber boat as they responded with confusion to orders barked by a drill sergeant. But, as they kept on rehearsing how to position themselves in a rubber boat, they were able to perfect the drills with amazing precision.
That night, I visited the women’s barracks and my camera captured them cleaning their assault rifles. A female Marine who escorted me allowed me to take some more pictures of the recruits dismantling, cleaning and putting their assault rifles back together.
The next day, I was awakened at 3 a.m. with female voices counting repeatedly from 1 to 8. I went out from my quarters and saw the female recruits doing their morning exercises. I started taking pictures after sunrise and went back to the beach to watch the rubber boat drill. This time, the female recruits did well and were comparable with the stronger, faster and more agile men.
After the mock boat raid, I followed the female Marines on to grassy slopes in the hills of Ternate, Cavite as they simulated a jungle patrol. When they reached a clearing, martial arts instructors were waiting for them for Kali drills. A few hours later, they joined the male recruits in field drills, marching in perfect cadence, before taking lunch. I was surprised to see the recruits eating with bananas placed on top of their head.
I couldn’t help but take pictures of the women eating lunch while balancing bananas on their heads. When I asked an officer why they were doing this I was told that it was a form of discipline and training. The recruits would be forced to eat the banana, including its peel, if the fruit dropped from their head.
There are about 350 women among the 10,000-member Philippine Marines. The women Marines undergo the same rigorous physical, mental and emotional training the male recruits go through. Since 2006, the women Marine officers and enlisted personnel have been deployed on combat duties, taking part in infantry, armor, artillery and even airborne operations. In fact, one female Marine served as a tank commander during a combat operation to free Italian Catholic missionary Giancarlo Bossi in July 2007 near Tipo-tipo town on southern Basilan island, a stronghold of the al Qaeda-linked Abu sayyaf Islamic militants. She was wounded in an assault on their Muslim rebel jungle base.
Women Marines are now volunteering to undergo more punishing and excruciating training to join special operation units, including scuba and sky diving or marksmanship units.
Before returning to the capital Manila, I had the chance to talk to one female recruit and asked her why she decided to risk her life and limbs to join the Marines. “I am doing this for my family and I really love challenges and risks. I cannot imagine myself as a teacher but I love wearing a combat uniform,” the 24-year-old recruit and eldest of three siblings said. “My father is a fireman and I am fascinated with his work. I told myself, if a man can do it, I can do it even better.”
At times, she said she fears for her life and safety but she has learned to control this. “From the start, when I enlisted, I know the risks and dangers, so I have to face them squarely.” When asked if she has regrets in joining the Marines, she quickly and firmly responded” “NO, Sir!” | <urn:uuid:5e591adb-4d70-458e-8901-1e592274daf5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2013/02/18/front-line-female-marines/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984277 | 906 | 1.8125 | 2 |
William F. Sibley, Japanese Scholar, 1941-2009
University of Chicago professor William Ferguson Sibley, a scholar and translator of Japanese literature, died Thursday, May 7. He was 67 and had been undergoing treatment for lung cancer.
Sibley, Associate Professor Emeritus in East Asian Languages and Civilizations, is perhaps best known for his work, The Shiga Hero, said Edward Shaughnessy, the Creel Distinguished Service Professor of Early China and Chairman of East Asian Languages and Civilizations.
The book, first published by the University of Chicago Press in 1979, introduced Western readers to the fiction of Shiga Naoya, one of Japan's foremost modern writers. The Shiga Hero analyzed Shiga's psychological portraits of his hero and demonstrated a close link between this fictional hero and Shiga himself. Sibley concluded the book with translations of 10 of Shiga's short stories, showing the hero at various stages of his development.
Writing about the book shortly after it was published, Paul Anderer, a professor of Asian humanities at Columbia University, said, The Shiga Hero is a valuable book, not simply because it is an original study of an important Japanese writer, but because it was a breakthrough in Japanese literary criticism. More than any other recent work in the field, wrote Anderer, The Shiga Hero quickens our sense of what is possible as foreign critics of Japanese literature.
A gifted translator, Sibley produced numerous other translations of modern Japanese literature, especially those of short stories and essays. He translated several important selections of Japanese gay literature and correspondence. He was also a deft and inventive translator of 18th-19th-century prose, challenging for its verbal play and range of reference. Sibley's translation of "On Farting," a piece of mock erudition by physician, inventor, and writer Hiraga Gengai (1728-80), has helped make Vol. 9 of Select Papers from the Center of East Asian Studies of the University a best seller. It now circulates as part of an "episodic festschrift" for Howard Hibbet, with whom Sibley studied at Harvard.
Born June 9, 1941, in Cambridge, Mass., Sibley graduated from Harvard University (A.B.,'64, M.A.,'65) and the University of Chicago (Ph.D.,'71). As a graduate student, his dissertation, also titled "The Shiga Hero," won the Marc Perry Galler Prize for the Best Dissertation in the Humanities.
After serving as an assistant professor for one year at the University of Rochester, he began teaching at the University of Michigan. He taught at Michigan from 1969 until 1978, when he returned to Chicago as an Associate Professor of Japanese Literature. He later served as chairman of the department of Far Eastern Languages and Civilizations (which was later renamed East Asian Languages and Civilizations) from 1984 to 1990, and then again from 1993 to 1994. He retired from his teaching position at the end of 2000.
Sibley was beloved by his students, Shaughnessy noted. During his 22 years of teaching, he served as a mentor to scores of students working on all aspects of modern and early modern Japanese literature and culture. "However removed a particular student's research focus from his own interests," said his longtime colleague Norma Field, the Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor of Japanese Studies, "Sibley gave unstintingly of his time to read texts one-on-one with them and insisted, with frequent illustration by example, that even passages quoted casually in dissertations be translated with precision and grace."
A former Sibley student, Noriko Aso, assistant professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said, "Bill was extraordinary, kind and generous."
Miho Matsugu, a 2005 Ph.D. and presently assistant professor of Japanese at DePaul University, said, "I just taught his translation this week for my literature class at DePaul and told my students how wonderful it was to take Bill's seminar when I was a graduate student."
At the time of his death, Sibley was midway through the translation of a trilogy by Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), arguably Japan's most important modern writer. Although these volumes had been previously translated, Sibley, through sustained engagement with Soseki's writing, had come to the conclusion that the language the writer was in the midst of crafting called for new translations. In an Afterword to Text and City: Essays on Japanese Modernity by Maeda Ai, to which Sibley also contributed a translation, he observed of Maeda's premature death that it gave "the wrenching feeling that came from a recognition that truly inimitable work-in-progress had been abruptly arrested." Field said that "given the energy Sibley brought to this new project, combined with his experience, verbal gifts, and sheer erudition, prompt us to apply the same words to his death."
Sibley was a member of the Association for Asian Studies and its Committee for Comparative Literature in East Asia.
Sibley is survived by his sister, Jill S. Bixler, of Washington, D.C. ; and her two sons Joshua E. Bixler, and Matthew Bixler.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m., Saturday, June 6, at St. Paul the Redeemer, 4945 S. Dorchester Ave. Chicago. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Northwestern Memorial Foundation, Lung Cancer Research, 676 N. St. Clair, Suite 2050, Chicago, Ill. 60611.
Follow UChicago’s social media sites, news feeds and mobile suite. | <urn:uuid:25380353-bbd6-403e-ac48-2749f044b3f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2009/05/17/william-f-sibley-japanese-scholar-1941-2009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973503 | 1,199 | 2.515625 | 3 |
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A data warehouse stores a database of information that is used for reporting and analysis. Data warehouses can integrate data from multiple sources, regardless of the variety and type.www.business.com/software/data-warehouse/
Providers of bonded warehouse services.www.business.com/real-estate/bonded-warehouses/
Contractors and builders of industrial buildings and warehouses.www.business.com/construction/industrial-complex-construction/
Providers of WMS software and warehouse management systems. Research sellers offering warehouse management software and warehouse inventory management systems. Identify WMS software vendors providing applications that meet your business needs.www.business.com/operations/wms-software/
Quickly find manufacturers and distributors of industrial storage racks, racking systems and steel storage racks. Review listings to locate vendors offering warehouse storage racks, used storage racking, and other storage equipment.www.business.com/real-estate/storage-racks/
Warehouse storage services and facilities.www.business.com/software/warehouse-storage-services/
Provider of contract warehousing services.www.business.com/shipping-and-supplies/contract-warehousing/
Providers of data warehouse management services. Software solutions for data warehousing managers and staff to meet the challenges of data and records management.www.business.com/technology/data-warehousing/
Offering health care database design services.www.business.com/technology/health-care-database-design-services/
A bonded warehouse is where products with unpaid duties get stored. Goods at bonded warehouses get stored under bond and are jointly owned by the importer, its agent and U. Read More »
If your business relies on receiving imported goods, or you are importing goods into the United States, you may wish to utilize the services of bonded warehouses. If you've never worked with a bonded warehouse, you'll benefit from learning many bonded warehouses key terms. Read More »
Owning or renting a warehouse space is essential for many companies, but choosing which space to use can be one of the most important decisions a business can make. Business owners should research every aspect of their warehouse purchase, including ease of use, location, cost, and potential income, before making a decision. When one thinks of a warehouse, storage is most likely the first word that comes to mind. However, there could be uses for this asset that are less obvious. Warehouses can be very profitable business investments if chosen wisely, but there are also some disadvantages that should be considered.
There are many ways in which warehouses benefit their owners. With the right technology, keeping a warehouse organized and efficient is simple. Renting out unused storage space to small businesses can defray the costs of ownership. Warehouses are not solely restricted to storage purposes, either. They lend themselves to conversion—into retail space, office space, or as a base of operations for goods production. This versatility, as well as the tax benefits that may come from owning a commercial property, makes investing in warehouse space a profitable investment choice.
Keeping in-store storage space free for fast-selling items is a crucial aspect of avoiding sale losses. Moving less popular items to a warehouse and keeping in-demand items more readily available in stock at the store is an excellent method for this.
Ease of Use
The proper picking system can make your warehouse more efficient and increase profitability. The Voice Pick ’n Pack, developed by Datria Systems, Inc., is a new development in warehouse picking and packaging. It allows a warehouse manager to voice-activate material handling devices that automatically pick an order and send it to an automated packaging system. The Voice Pick ’n Pack System has been implemented by more than 1,000 companies around the world.
The open layout of many warehouses makes conversion easy. You can divide your warehouse into storage, office and retail space, and adjust these spaces as your needs change.
Smaller businesses that may not be able to afford the cost of a full warehouse will look for warehouse owners willing to sublet unused storage rooms. Again, the versatility of warehouses expands the market of possible renters—those looking to create unique entertainment venues may seek out owners.
Owning a warehouse mitigates the risk of sales losses and generates income through rent. As warehouses are considered commercial real estate, they are an investment subject to possible tax benefits at both the local and federal levels. Leases on warehouses are often longer than most commercial properties and therefore pay out dividends in the long-term and can be used as collateral.
Along with the many benefits of warehouse space, there are also several potential pitfalls that should be considered.
Lack of Space
When using public warehousing for storage, you will not have any control over the amount of space available. During holidays and other peak times, it may be hard to find space to store your items. If your stock increases and you have reserved a limited amount of space, it can be a hassle to get the size changed, especially if it is not available at the time you need it. The inability to find adequate storage space can force you to stockpile items at your primary location. This can cause problems if you do not have extra storage space.
Temperature is often insufficiently monitored in warehouse storage locations. This is very important if the product being stored requires a cool temperature and the storage facility is in a hot climate. This can cause a huge loss for a company. Most warehouses require you to sign a contract that limits their liability. If you lose a product due to temperature problems, the storage facility will probably not be held responsible.
The distance to the storage facility from your company can be a problem if the facility is far from your main office. Thus shipping products from and to the warehouse can be very inconvenient and troublesome.
You will then incur an additional cost for transportation, which in turn will be transferred to your customers. The cost of moving products from one location to another can get expensive and cause budgeting issues.
A lack of communication between the warehouse and your company can hurt your business. If the warehouse is not accessible during certain hours and you cannot access your stored items, it can cause strain and cost you and your customers both time and money. If it is difficult to get in touch with someone concerning your items, your productivity and goals will also be affected.
The costs of warehouse space will vary depending on where your business is located and how much space you need. You can save money by buying space, rather than renting. As of 2011, warehouse space was selling for an average of $5.50 per square foot. For a warehouse of 25,000 square feet, you should expect to pay approximately $137,500.
You will need employees to receive, scan, and ship out the product. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average hourly wage for a warehouse employee was $12.35 in 2006. However, a company can save money by hiring contractors, rather than full-time employees. Each day in the first quarter of 2007, there were an average of 2.8 million workers in temporary and contract warehouse positions, according to The American Staffing Association.
Packaging supplies, scanners, RFID tags, and security cameras represent additional expenses to consider. The price for these items varies significantly depending on where and when you purchase them.
As with any firm business decision, how to handle your warehousing needs should be given careful thought and planning. Consider each of these benefits and pitfalls before making such a large purchase. Serious thought should go into the potential investment of profits and resultant tax breaks a warehouse could provide. Equally as important, is making sure to minimize the potential disadvantages by properly analyzing space needs, location and costs.
Choosing the right warehouse space can boost efficiency and profitability, helping a business to reach its goals. On the other hand, choosing the wrong warehouse space can do irreparable harm to your bottom line.
Many successful businesses come to a time when they need to consider buying or leasing warehouse space. Careful planning is required to find that perfect location that suits the needs of the company.
Business.com is a perfect place to link up with management companies that are leasing or selling warehouse space for any type of business.
Some of the functions of a warehouse are for the storage of supplies and products. If this is the case, an attractive shopping location is not necessary. If clients are not going to the warehouse to complete business then there is no point in paying high prices for a trendy location. All that needs to be considered in a storage warehouse is the proximity to staff and resources.
Shopping for warehouse space can lead to weeks and months of driving around only to arrive at locations that aren't suitable. Online research can eliminate all the unnecessary driving and hassles. Business.com provides access to companies that will help locate the perfect location and resources for any warehouse needs.
Spiffy Spaces is an online company that specializes in linking companies with their perfect warehouse space. Online galleries show all available warehouses in a certain area. It is easy to pick out the ones that aren't suitable and go directly to any that might fulfill business needs. | <urn:uuid:37db8055-b23e-49fe-b6f3-56afa23bdacc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.business.com/real-estate/warehouse/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946916 | 1,926 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Memory loss (amnesia) is unusual forgetfulness. You may not be able to remember new events, recall one or more memories of the past, or both. . The purpose of the community is to share support and information with Memory Loss patients, their loved ones, and caregivers. Topics in the community include: causes, clinical trials, complications, family issues, living with Memory Loss, prognosis, research, surgery, treatments. | <urn:uuid:9401feaa-a4b1-4403-97e9-694ec9d1a7e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Memory-Loss/I-just-got-this-MRI-result-I-cant-understand-it-Help-please-/show/1913840 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944544 | 87 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Page:Mars - Lowell.djvu/79
state. This coincidence of lack of hydrogen with lack of liberty takes on yet more significance from the further fact that the same is not true of oxygen, water vapor, or indeed of any of the other gases we know. With them, freedom is not synonymous with absence. The Earth’s atmosphere contains plenty of free oxygen, nitrogen, and the like. But, as we have just seen, the maximum speed of all these gases falls short of the possibility of escape. This accounts for their presence. They have stayed with us solely because they must.
The appearance of the other heavenly bodies seems to confirm this conclusion. The Moon, for example, possesses no atmosphere, and calculation shows that the velocity it can control falls short of the maximum of any of our atmospheric gases, that velocity being but one and one half miles a second. All were, therefore, at liberty to leave it, and all have promptly done so. On the other hand, the giant planets give evidence of very dense atmospheres. They have kept all they ever had.
But the most striking confirmation of the theory comes from the cusps of Venus and Mercury; for an atmosphere would prolong, by its refraction, the cusps of a crescent beyond their true limits. Length of cusp becomes, consequently, a criterion of the presence of an at- | <urn:uuid:2dd94a7d-72f7-4878-ae9c-05bd72ca526b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Mars_-_Lowell.djvu/79 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945414 | 282 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Attractions and Activities
Despite its reputation as a giant pineapple farm, Lanai has much to offer in terms of scenic beauty. The big-time agricultural industries have been shut down since the 1980s, and the island's natural areas are being conserved.
The Garden of the Gods is a desert-like geological area featuring fiery-colored earth and boulders exposed by the wind. The area's beautiful colors seem to transform with the light, especially during the early morning and late afternoon hours.
The Munro Trail travels on a generally undeveloped road along the island's elevated central crest. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is necessary to traverse this scenic route, which on a clear day offers a sweeping panoramic vista of most of the other islands.
The Kanepu'u Nature Preserve is land purchased by the Nature Conservancy to protect an area containing many native trees and other plant species. Take the short, self-guided nature tour.
Of Historical Interest
For such a small island, Lanai offers some very interesting old sites. Ruins of ancient settlements can be found here and there as well as more recent “antiquities” dating to plantation days.
On the southwest coast of the island can be found the well-preserved ruins of the old Hawaiian fishing village of Kaunolu, which was abandoned in the mid-1800s. The village was a favorite of King Kamehameha. There's a heiau there called Halulu and also a spot known as Kahekili's Jump. As the story goes, a ruling Maui chief named Kahekili demonstrated his bravery by jumping off the cliff here into the relatively shallow waters below. This involves clearing a 15-foot wide jutting rock shelf at the bottom, and not everyone who has attempted to duplicate Kahekili's stunt survived the experience. Please — don't try it yourself. The main hotels can probably arrange a tour of the site for you.
George C. Munro was a New Zealand ranch manager and naturalist who did much to preserve Lanai's environment. He came to the island in 1911. Among other things, he planted the Cook Island Pines found in the higher elevations. The pines collect the mountain mists and add water to the dry environment.
Lanai is home to several large groupings of petroglyphs. Those at Luahina, off Highway 440, are carved on a number of boulders on a hillside. Some of the boulders have been more recently “enhanced,” so if you see motifs depicting horses and other late introductions, those carvings are relatively recent. As with all petroglyphs, you can enjoy, but do not touch. There are also some petroglyphs in the vicinity of Shipwreck Beach, including some of the so-called “birdman” motif.
Off Route 44 on the northeast coast, you'll find the ghost town of Keomuku. The town served the sugar industry until it was abandoned in 1901. Nearby can be found the Kahea heiau.
When a railroad was built to facilitate the sugar industry, some stones from the Kahea heiau were taken for construction materials. According to legend, this desecration of a sacred site led to the failure of the project and the deterioration of the quality of the local water supply.
There aren't a lot of regularly scheduled cultural activities on Lanai, but here are a few:
The Lana'i Art and Cultural Center offers a variety of artistic classes. 565-7503
The Manele Bay Hotel and The Lodge at Koele host a visiting artist program featuring invited chefs, artists, and others. Check their Web sites for the latest schedules.
An annual Pineapple Festival is held in Lanai City each July. | <urn:uuid:4f618741-99c0-4b4d-8b91-3a60ee15867e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netplaces.com/family-guide-to-hawaii/lanai-the-smallest-island/attractions-and-activities-2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965163 | 799 | 2.078125 | 2 |
The front page of the May 2002 issue of Environment & Climate News responds to the biggest environmental controversies in the news: the collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula, which environmentalists claim is a sign of “global warming,” and a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association alleging to show a more significant health effect of air pollution than previously thought.
Also in the May issue, Joseph Bast discusses why a proposed merger between EchoStar and DIRECTV is important to farmers and rural communities; Brian Bishop comments on Congress’s cop-out on CAFE; Howard Fienberg of TechCentral Station and the American Council on Science and Health expose anti-biotechnology protests based on junk science; James Taylor critiques the American Planning Association’s 1,450-page legislative guidebook promoting smart growth; and Randal O’Toole exposes government funding of smart-growth advocacy. (download pdf)
Newspaper Articles in this Issue
No matching newspaper articles | <urn:uuid:4d43ef52-8402-484b-a2ef-6f52063fe81e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heartland.org/newspaper/may-2002-environment-climate-news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901111 | 205 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Apprentices are instructed in traditional joinery techniques at the apprentice training workshop hosted at Daniel Boone Homestead.
Become part of a large and growing sector of the construction industry preserving Pennsylvania's treasured historic buildings.
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is sponsoring its 8th annual summer apprenticeship program to introduce students and recent graduates of post-secondary trade schools, technical colleges and other training programs and others with building trades experience, to the preservation and traditional building trades needed to preserve Pennsylvania's historic places.
PHMC and several partner organizations and companies will be offering paid apprentice positions for 12 weeks in the summer of 2013 at locations throughout Pennsylvania. The apprenticeships will include a free training program with an introductory one-day seminar in historic preservation and two days of hands-on training by master craftsmen in various preservation and traditional trade skills.
Interested students should review the list of positions and contact the representative for those they are interested in for more information or to schedule an interview. All hiring decisions are the responsibility of the company or institution hosting the individual apprenticeship. The hiring period will end on April 30, 2013.
For general information on the program contact Joe Lauver, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, by phone at 717-787-6242, FAX at 717-214-2988 or email at email@example.com.
Division of Architecture and Preservation
Commonwealth Keystone Building
400 North Street, Room N118
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0053 | <urn:uuid:b57a7b06-5e94-4daa-bc8e-ea8565977591> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/internships/2521/apprenticeship_program/299144 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92793 | 309 | 1.890625 | 2 |
|The consumer is king: have advertisers realised this yet?
No, quite the opposite. Their disregard, disrespect and thorough dismissal of the consumer is obvious by their tactics and mentality and it has grown exponentially. The lack of customer loyalty isn't because of an ad agency, it is because the brands are disingenuous to start with. The agency takes the hit because brands will never admit that they do anything wrong, therefore the culture does not exist for them to learn from it, so they perpetually repeat their mistakes!
Consumer is the king because sales depend on him or her. Nevertheless, is not true that the consumer is always right, sometimes consumers donít know what they want or simply are not prepared for a specific product or service. Many times is necessary to filter the consumer response or to know in advance whom to ask.
Mostly not at all.
The mass market is dead and is beginning to really stink.
I, for one, am really happy about that.
Not many, but as an author myself and freelance grant writer/researcher I know what the needs and expectations are and I plan to surpass.
I sure hope so! Last time I checked, it was the consumer who was forking out the money, not the other way around!
I spend a great deal of time identifying and illuminating all the benefits of whatever it is I'm selling. I care very much about my clients and about their customers as well. If we can't offer value, ultimately we have no business.
Yes and No. All too often advertisers tell customers only about the features of the product or service, rather than the benefits. It is the benefits that will make the customer buy e.g. the feature of a vaccum cleaner is a large bag. So what? The customer wants to know the benefit e.g. it will save them time by not havng to empty the bag as often. Benefits and the word You are key in an advert headline.
Most have. I still run across businesses who think they are doing their clients a favor.
Yes, but not all. If they haven't then they are wasting their time and money.
Yes and No. You have to sell the sizzle not the steak. A lot of advertisers only promote the features of the product or service, rather than the benefits. It's the benefits that make the customer buy the item. It's something that either makes their lives easier or better is some way. It has to be a solution to a problem.
Advertisers (or at least the characters in advertisements) realized this at the dawn of the age of advertising. The ones who have not always realized it are the companies themselves in conducting their day-to-day business. The charter member in this hall of shame is SOUTHWEST AIRLINES, which continues to spend untold millions hammering us all over the head for years with its "No Change Fees" mantra...yet in actual practice has charged travelers, including our own organization, change fees. That's where the rubber meets the road (or where the metal meets the sky) for Southwest and every other air carrier. "No change fees"? Don't you believe it for a second.
I think so
I've been out of the loop for a while but I do see particularly commercials on TV that seem to have little relevence to those they're trying to capture. I think consumers can be 'swayed' by advertising but as I said before, the product must stand up. Under promise and over deliver.
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- About Us
- Theoretical Computer Science
- Theoretical Physics
- Computational Biology
- Quick Links
Getting to IMSc
Welcome to Chennai neé Madras, and to IMSc, the Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Here is some information on getting to the Institute. Our address and phone numbers are
THE INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
C I T CAMPUS, TARAMANI, CHENNAI 600 113
Here are some maps to give you a rough idea of the layout of Madras and the area around the Institute.
* A simplified schematic map of Madras, showing the major roads and Hotels and marking the area in which the CIT Campus is located.
o A postscript version of this figure if you want to download it to print at your end.
* A detailed Madras map.
o A gzipped postscript version of this figure
o A schenatic map of the location of IMSc within CIT Campus and its environs
* Detailed map of the location of IMSc within CIT Campus and other landmarks in the Greater Adyar area.
The Institute of Mathematical Sciences is located in a campus-like area variously known as the ``CIT Campus'' or the ``CPT Campus''. Many people in Madras may not have heard of the Institute, but almost everyone would have heard of the M.G.R. Film City and Tidel Park which are further down in the same campus area. IMSc has two complexes. One houses the main Institute building, the library building and the new building. The other has the students' hostel and Guest House. These two complexes are across the road from each other. | <urn:uuid:f92cced3-870b-417b-9ebd-4b92ee55a3d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imsc.res.in/getting_imsc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929351 | 363 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Data Architecture of Branchless Banking
The series aims to explore the landscape of supply and demand-side data gathering efforts with the related goals of (i) identifying gaps in the data architecture; (ii) moving toward consensus – where it makes sense – on the correct indicators and methodologies to track progress and understand client value; and (iii) developing a common agenda for data collection and measurement as the branchless banking and mobile money industry continues to mature and improve. The series coincides with the recent release of the data by the IMF collected through its Financial Access Survey (FAS) and will include contributions from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CGAP, GSMA, Intermedia, MIX and UNCDF. We hope to also gather the perspectives of other members of the field through discussion on the blog.
How can we build a framework for a data architecture on the branchless banking industry?
The GSMA Mobile Money for the Unbanked programme (MMU) has been following the growth of the industry for the past few years using its Deployment Tracker which monitors the number of live and planned mobile money services for the unbanked.
There are at least four lessons that branchless banking stakeholders can take from the MFI experience when it comes to reporting standards.
The second post in our series described the importance of demand-side data for understanding consumers and their financial habits and needs. Various organizations are contributing to the global pool of demand-side data in branchless banking and in this post we’ll focus on two of the main sources. The Financial Inclusion Tracking Surveys (FITS) are annual household panel surveys in Uganda, Tanzania, and Pakistan while the Tanzania Mobile Money Tracker Study (TMMT) uses quarterly surveys to track market trends. Both are being carried out by InterMedia and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this post, we’ll highlight some of the analysis on rural and urban households to demonstrate the actionable insights that can be gathered from such datasets.
The second post in a series on the emerging branchless banking data architecture focuses on the demand side of the data equation and attempts to answer questions such as: which clients are using which products for which purpose? What aspects of a service are they satisfied or dissatisfied with? And, perhaps most importantly, is the service having a positive impact on their general well-being? | <urn:uuid:a15420aa-821e-44e3-85af-247adc812147> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cgap.org/blog/series/data-architecture-branchless-banking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93312 | 481 | 1.578125 | 2 |
On this day in 2011, a 6.3-magnitude quake delivered our second-deadliest disaster and Christchurch's darkest day. How far are we towards being able to predict the next one? Science reporter Jamie Morton investigates
Two years ago today, with a force equal to 15,000 tonnes of TNT, came the devastating aftershock that scientists hoped they would never see.
It struck suddenly and violently at 12.51pm, with a 6.3 magnitude from a shallow hypocentre 5km deep, about 10km southeast of the Christchurch city centre - an earthquake that would kill 185 people.
Even after the 7.1 quake had struck at Darfield six months earlier, there was no way seismologists could have predicted the time and location of the aftershock - one among thousands - that would change a city forever.
Two years on, pinpointing the next big one still remains beyond the capability of even the world's most advanced science.
"Here's a nice analogy," explained Professor Euan Smith, of Victoria University's School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences.
Imagine you're a weather forecaster, standing in a room without windows. You are given data about the change in windspeed, rainfall and sunshine at a number of sites in New Zealand - but not the absolute amounts. Now, go ahead and forecast the weather.
The point is, Professor Smith said, seismologists can measure changes in stress, and perhaps other useful indicators, but not the absolute levels.
The Darfield and Christchurch faults were unknown to them before the September 4, 2010, quake.
"Try forecasting the weather if there is a front coming for which you have no information."
Professor Smith doubted science could ever create a black-and-white reliable prediction system, but it could build a forecasting method that would deal in probabilities and use statistical methods. The big stumbling block was that unlike predicting weather, our database of previous seismic events still remained very small.
"We don't have enough of a historical record to see any predictable pattern - and we still don't know enough about the physics of the earthquake mechanism," said Victoria University's Dr Tim Stern.
"For example, weather occurs on a scale of days, weeks or maybe months. Earthquakes occur on a scale of years, hundreds or thousands of years."
In attempting to forecast quakes, scientists would face two situations - predicting aftershock events after a main event, such as the September 4 quake - and the far more difficult feat of predicting them from a cold start. In New Zealand, this would be done based on the existence of known active faults and their return time of movement based on geological data.
But the problem was that not all faults were visible - and geological processes created an ever-moving feast. Christchurch, for example, is built on a rapidly growing flood plain fed by the eroding rocks from the alps.
"And indeed, of the 19 magnitude-six earthquakes that have occurred in New Zealand in historical times, only about three to four have occurred on known active faults," Dr Stern said.
Yet some steps had been taken towards the holy grail of earthquake science. The past few years have seen the establishment of the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP), an international collaboration started in California. This aimed to develop a virtual, distributed laboratory that could support scientific prediction experiments in multiple regional or global natural laboratories. Its approach sought to answer two questions: how should scientific prediction experiments be conducted and evaluated; and what was the intrinsic predictability of the earthquake rupture process?
CSEP has now set up forecast testing centres in California, Japan, Europe, and in New Zealand under GNS Science. These allow researchers freedom to submit their models to testing centres and have them rigorously and transparently tested.
A model is essentially a computer code that will estimate the future rate of occurrence of earthquakes in the next day, three months or in a year, in tens of thousands of bins of space and magnitude within a defined testing region. Models are also updated with new earthquake data at the end of each time interval.
Dr Rhoades said there were about 20 such models being tested in the New Zealand centre, and many more in California and Japan.
The testing centres run these codes and apply standard statistical tests that measure how well the model is performing, compare the models with one another, and measure the probability gain over reference models. The testing experiments are intended to run for many years.
"It will be possible to refine and improve the models as the experiments proceed, and there is also the possibility of forming ensemble models which are more informative than any of their components," Dr Rhoades said.
As we better understood the processes going on beneath our feet, he said, so our ability to predict quakes would improve. When it came to forecasting, the earthquake catalogue was the world's best asset for forecasting future events. Catalogues began over a century ago, and their quality had gradually improved over time.
"As the seismograph network becomes more dense, the magnitude threshold of completeness gets lower, and we can learn more about the relations between small and large earthquakes," Dr Rhoades said. "Most large earthquakes are preceded by small earthquakes in the medium-to-long term - years or decades - and it is very well known that large earthquakes are followed by smaller ones - so-called aftershocks - according to a power law, the Omori-Utsu law."
These features were already being exploited by existing forecasting models, he said.
In a five-year forecasting experiment recently completed in California, a model that made good use of the locations of the smallest earthquakes in the catalogue to estimate the spatial distribution of earthquakes over the five-year test period performed much better than all other models, which were based on a variety of data and physical modelling ideas.
"So I think there is still much room to improve our forecasts, just by learning from existing earthquake catalogues."
Other newer data streams, like GPS observations of crustal deformation, and existing data like the locations of active faults and their slip-rates, could be used to improve earthquake forecasts, he said.
"Some faults, like the alpine fault in the South Island, are known to have ruptured in large earthquakes many times in the past, so we can be pretty confident that they will continue to do so in the future.
"Unfortunately, the time interval between successive events is not regular enough to allow us to accurately predict when the next big earthquake will be."
The fault data was already a major component of standard long-term earthquake hazard models and, ironically, these standard models were the most difficult to test because of the long timeframe involved.
Physics-based models, which calculated changes to the stress field after an earthquake and stress interactions between faults, also held some promise for short-to-medium term forecasting, Dr Rhoades said.
There was a large research community working in the area of electromagnetic phenomena, which had produced anecdotal evidence of electromatromagnetic precursors before earthquakes. In this field, one of the most persistent suggestions was of ionospheric disturbances as short-term earthquake precursors, usually about three days.
But Dr Rhoades said this was a controversial area, partly because there was no agreed physical mechanism for such precursors.
In New Zealand, fresh studies into what is termed tremor held particularly exciting possibilities in understanding what was happening within our most potentially destructive faultline.
This year, a report will be released on years of research into this recently discovered seismic process, described as a collection of tiny earthquakes usually not detected on seismic networks, and thought to be a long-lasting slip on faultlines which creates a creaking and groaning kilometres below the earth's surface. The first case of tremor in New Zealand was found on the Alpine Fault only a few months ago.
Eventually, tremor would be found to indicate a build-up of stress before a big earthquake - an invaluable asset to quake forecasting - or merely a safety valve to release stress putting off the likelihood of a major shake.
"Studies on tremor are helping us get a better understanding of the fundamentals of the earthquake source," said Dr Stern, who is leading New Zealand studies. "An increase in tremor may one day be shown to portend an approaching large earthquake - that is still to be seen."
By the numbers:
7.1 The magnitude of the September 4, 2010, earthquake near Darfield, Canterbury, that preceded thousands of aftershocks.
185 The number of people killed in the most violent aftershock, a shallow 6.3 jolt near Christchurch on February 22, 2011.
19 The number of quakes higher in magnitude than six in New Zealand over historical times, of which just a few had occurred on known active faults.
20 The number of statistical forecast models being tested in New Zealand.
308 The number of people believed killed when an earthquake struck near L'Aquila, Italy. Six scientists were later jailed after being accused of downplaying the threat days before.
1000 The years of rupture history on the South Island's alpine fault hoped to be gained by scientists in a new deep drilling project that could shed light on the timing, size and style of big quakes on the fault. | <urn:uuid:9a4606b1-4622-4d22-8338-776602d63008> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christchurchstar.co.nz/news/quake-experts-reach-towards-holy-grail/1766091/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967335 | 1,916 | 3.375 | 3 |
Think pro athletes make good clients?
The stories about big-spending client athletes too often are true, according to advisers who deal with them. And even athletes who follow the advice of advisers and set some cash aside for the future can be a handful.
“A lot of what we do is damage control,” said Jonathan Miller, a Phoenix-based certified public accountant and one of the founding members of the Sports Financial Advisors Association.
“It's like having kids” and keeping them out of trouble, he said.
Members of the association said getting late-night calls from athletes with some type of legal or family issue is not uncommon.
The group is concluding its annual meeting in San Diego today.
Money issues are only part of what young pro athletes must deal with. Their careers are extremely high-stress, and sports agents and financial advisers who work with them will be asked to deal with a variety of emotional issues.
“They've got to perform, and there's always someone ready to steal their job,” Mr. Miller said.
Understanding the counseling and other resources available at colleges and pro franchises is part of the job, SFAA members said.
Knowing how to keep young future clients out of trouble is important. At one session today, NCAA enforcement officials reminded SFAA members about the risks in dealing with college athletes.
Anything of value — even a cup of coffee — given to a college athlete can make him or her ineligible for competition until they complete a reinstatement process.
Those strict rules are designed to prevent shady dealings between agents and advisers, who have been known to extend credit to promising young athletes.
The athletes “are already thinking the lifestyle and how they can spend it” once they go pro, Mr. Mirkine said.
The SFAA was founded in 2005 by Mr. Miller; Andre Mirkine, a financial adviser with Wells Fargo Advisors; Michael Misner, a financial adviser with Ameriprise Financial Services Inc.; and Femi Shote, owner of Asset Harvest Group LLC.
The group remains small — just 42 members — mostly financial advisers but also accountants, attorneys, insurance professionals and money managers, Mr. Mirkine said. | <urn:uuid:5897e06d-0b28-4171-aced-a1b020a3edfb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20121026/FREE/121029954 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962022 | 458 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Does staying at home make cents for parents?It’s a question certified financial planner Jim Dunkel has been asked by clients in his First International Bank and Trust office, and one he’s asked himself at home with wife Shari, a nurse practitioner. Can we afford one parent to stay at home?
By: Sherri Richards, Forum Communications
WEST FARGO — It’s a question certified financial planner Jim Dunkel has been asked by clients in his First International Bank and Trust office, and one he’s asked himself at home with wife Shari, a nurse practitioner.
Can we afford one parent to stay at home?
While the decision to become a stay-at-home parent encompasses many factors, such as personal fulfillment, professional aspirations and the children’s well-being, the most practical consideration is finances.
“A family has to live within their means,” says Dunkel, who has two sons. “You can look at numbers objectively and make a decision.”
The first step would be to look at the money coming in and subtract out all the expenses associated with that income, such as taxes, Dunkel says.
Because the federal tax system is progressive — from 10 percent to 15, 25, 28, 33 and then 35 percent — a family’s second income is taxed at a higher rate than the first. In 2012, the 25 percent bracket starts at $70,700 on a joint return.
After state and payroll taxes, about 35 percent of that second income could go straight to taxes, Dunkel says. A second income earner making $30,000 annually may be down to $1,600 of take-home pay each month, depending on the spouse’s income.
Day care costs then need to be considered. In 2011, the average weekly cost of infant care in Cass County was $160.22 at a center and $122.87 at a licensed home-based provider, according to Child Care Resource and Referral figures. For preschool care, the weekly averages in Cass County were $140.20 at a center and $117.62 for home-based child care.
At that point, the second income earner may be working for less than minimum wage, Dunkel says.
“You start to think, is it worth it for me to work full time and have my child at day care for a $1,000-a-month difference?” Dunkel says. “And for some families, absolutely, $1,000 will make or break it.”
He also encourages families to think about other costs associated with working.
“When you’re busy with jobs, both spouses are tending to go out to eat more or get convenience foods, run for coffee in the morning on the way to work,” he says. “When one spouse is home, there’s more time to take care of things in ways that aren’t quite as expensive.”
On the other hand, parents also need to consider the employee benefits they receive, especially health insurance.
“Sometimes, we see the spouse can’t quit his or her job because they need the health care benefits,” Dunkel says.
Dunkel says he can sit down with couples and do “what-if” scenarios, adjusting for the different tax situations, health insurance premiums and adding back in day care savings. Online calculators can help families make those calculations themselves, too.
Duane Emmel, a financial counselor at The Village Family Service Center in Fargo, says he often is asked about the financial factors of staying at home once a second child is expected.
“What drives this is day care. A lot of individuals, they might have the one child and then they have the second baby and they start looking at the day care numbers,” Emmel says.
Emmel says many young couples maintain a separate approach to their finances, which isn’t feasible if one party is going to stay home. They have to trust each other enough to blend finances.
Parents also must be willing to make a lifestyle change if one parent is going to stay not work, Emmel says. There won’t be as much money to do the things people get used to, such as eating out, traveling or redecorating the house.
“Unfortunately in our modern-day society we have blended our wants and needs together, and in many cases, we never separate those things out,” Emmel says. “A lot of people have never gone through and figured out: what does it cost to make sure all of their priorities are being paid.”
Parents should also consider the nonmonetary benefits of staying at home and of working. Communication is key, Emmel says.
“Even before they start getting to the numbers, they really have to be on the same page. Is this our objective? Is this our goal?” he says.
Once they’ve determined what the family’s priorities are, it’s possible some intermediate steps can be taken to reach those goals.
Paying off a car loan, student loan or credit card — or cutting expenses like cable of phone plans — may free up enough cash flow to balance a one-income budget. If two incomes are still needed, or both parents want to work but day care is cost-prohibitive, perhaps the parents can stagger their shifts to reduce child care costs.
“Every family is unique. I think they have to sit down and analyze what they want,” Emmel says. “Then at that point, make a determination. How can we make it work?”
Stacey Carlson of Fargo says she left a good job of eight years after her son was born. The pull to stay at home with him was greater than any financial consideration.
“We decided there were things we would do without,” Carlson says, such as clothes and shoe-shopping, trips and building up their savings.
She worked part-time until 2009, when she had two kids. Leaving that job was more of a financial decision. They made a pros and cons list, figured out the numbers and decided it made no sense for her to work part-time.
Carlson now has three kids. She’s babysat, clipped coupons and plans to one day go back to work, but she says she wouldn’t trade being at home now.
“I’m happiest being home with my kids, whether we’re building anything financially or not,” she says. “Whether you work outside of the home or at home, if you’re happy and content with your decision, that rubs off on your kids.”
In the book “Comeback Moms,” a manual on how to leave the professional ranks, raise children and eventually return, authors Monica Samuels and J.C. Conklin say when a worker earning $30,000 gross annually, about $26,000 is tied up in the costs of working, such as taxes, clothing, eating out, transportation and child care.
“So the question for you is: Can you cut $4,000 a year out of your budget? If you can’t do that at the moment then make a plan so you can do it in a year or two years,” they write.
Some suggestions in the book for reducing expenses include:
• Switch to cheaper phone and cable plans
• Cancel subscriptions to unread magazines
• Trade in one of your cars for an older, less expensive model
• Cut down on eating out and prepackaged convenience foods
• Adjust your thermostat a degree lower in the winter and higher in the summer
On the Web:
An online decision-making tool for whether to work or stay-at-home is available at childcareaware.org | <urn:uuid:54a1bf68-614e-47a1-9f7a-0daa2593db1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/247107/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971798 | 1,664 | 1.585938 | 2 |
As you all know I have only talked to my 1 year old in Spanish since she was born. Well, now she is 14 1/2 months and my Spanish is limited. I knew enough to get me through this year with her, but if I want her to be fluent in both Spanish and English I NEED to get on the ball and start learning more myself which I have been trying to do.
If I need to tell her something and I don't know how to say it I look it up on Google Translator , use my Spanish/English Dictionary (it's always with me), but that doesn't help with how to say sentences correctly or I ask my mom (who is fluent in Spanish). Google Translator hasn't been always accurate as well and some things I say, I found out from my mom weren't correct and a word was being said in a way than what I wanted.
I have even tried Instant Immersion Spanish, there are 2 CDs and I passed both with flying colors. Everything that it taught I already knew. The games where fun, BUT easy ... this is for someone that doesn't know any Spanish.
If we watch Disney movies I select the audio in Spanish and the music we play is only Spanish as well. Yes, my husband and son talk to my daughter in English, but since she is around me more she just understands the Spanish I speak to her. She loves me to read to her and we have a few books that are in both Spanish/English. One toy that is also in Spanish/English and the other day we got her Baby Einstein Tarjetas de Aprendizaje de Idiomas. I do like these since she can see what they are AND on the back they use the words in different sentences which is also helpful. There's nothing in English on these cards and I'm glad I know what the sentences mean (they have helped a lot) I just wish there were more cards in the pack.
I'm determined to learn Spanish fluently and to teach my daughter as well. I admit I know A LOT more than I did last year, but what I do know should be way more as a parent trying to communicate with her child. We also got my son Hooked on Spanish but he knew everything that they had on there as well from listening to me. It taught hola, adios, and the numbers in Spanish, which he already knew.
I have heard MANY things about Rosetta Stone and if you click HERE you can see the different levels of programs that they have to learn Spanish. It's pretty pricey, but to be fluent in a language I feel it's worth it 100%. You can try the FREE demo HERE as well! I tried it and passed but this is just a glimpse of the Rosetta Stone program. I know there is much more to it and if I had this program (all 5 levels) I know I would be a lot more successful at becoming fluent in Spanish. I've read most of the reviews and there was nothing negative that I could find! There is no way that I could afford even one level, so for now I will continue to look online for more programs preferably free that can help me on this mission. Is anyone fluent in another language? What is the best way that you learned? Did you use a program or self teach? What suggestions do you have for me? From now on I will post different sites or blogs that I come across that has helped me out as well! Thanks everyone for stopping by!!! | <urn:uuid:17939131-279a-4c21-a1d2-7d97667427a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://meandmineinasmalltown.blogspot.com/2011/04/mission-of-mine.html?showComment=1301783004140 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989778 | 719 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Chunks of Antarctic Wilkins Ice Shelf breaking off
Wilkins Sound is a sound (another word for a seaway) in the Antarctic Peninsula. It is located between the western coast of Alexander Island (to the east) and the eastern shores of Charcot Island and Latady Island (to the southwest). Most of Wilkins Sound consists of the Wilkins Ice Shelf.
Wilkins Sound and Wilkins Ice Shelf are both named after Sir George Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958), an Australian explorer, pilot, photographer, and geographer, who observed both while investigating the area in 1929.
Wilkins Ice Shelf is about 80 miles in length and around 60 miles in width; thus, an area of about 4,800 square miles (1,240 square kilometers)—about 208 times the area of Manhattan Island (New York City) in the United States and roughly the same size as the metropolitan city of Sydney, Australia.
On February 28, 2008, an iceberg broke off from the shelf. It was about 40 square miles (100 square kilometers) in area.
Then, on March 25, 2008, another much larger chunk of it, about 160 square miles (400 square kilometers) in area (about 7 times the area of Manhattan), began to disintegrate.
Scientists have observed that only a thin strip of ice between two islands is holding up the rest of the shelf. If this 3.7-mile (6-kilometer) wide beam breaks off, it will probably take the rest of the shelf with it.
Satellite and aerial images (YouTube) of the collapse of the shelf were taken, which helped scientists study further the actions of the ice shelf. The science behind such ice shelf activities is described at Science at YouTube .
Scientists aren’t sure what will happen over the next few weeks. With winter coming on in the southern hemisphere, scientists think that it might “hang on” at least until next year.
From a press release by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) “Antarctic ice shelf ‘hangs by a thread’,” David Vaughan, a scientist with the BAS, stated, "Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula yet to be threatened. I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread – we'll know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be."
What did the BAS team find on its exploratory trip to the Wilkins Ice Shelf? Please continue on to the next page.
RECRUITMENT & RETENTION REPORT 2013HIRE OR FIRE? BUY OR BUILD
2013 is well underway and Australian companies need to know whether they should invest in IT skills training or pay a premium for the people they need.
If you want to know which choices are being made in your sector, what skills are hard to find, which sectors intend to hire or fire and where the IT spend is going, this free report is must have.
William Atkins completed educational degrees in science (bachelor’s in physics and mathematics) from Illinois State University (Normal, United States) and business (master’s in entrepreneurship and bachelor’s in industrial relations) from Western Illinois University | <urn:uuid:fe651427-b64b-4b00-8fc0-2c4b74e41143> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.itwire.com/science-news/climate/17376-chunks-of-antarctic-wilkins-ice-shelf-breaking-off | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948223 | 673 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Our dogs rely on us to choose the right nutrition. We can’t leave it up to them. After all, you’ve seen some of the nasty things they like to eat!
Choosing the right food for your dog, though, requires more than simply filling up the bowl. A wide range of appropriate commercial diets are available, from grocery store “cost cutter” brands to premium and super-premium foods as well as therapeutic diets from the veterinarian. The ultimate choice depends on a couple of factors.
Questions to Ask Yourself (and Dog) to Find the Perfect Food
First, what kind of nutrition does your dog need? Second, find out the type of foods available and what you can afford. And finally, will your dog eat the food? Some dogs do great on dry diets while others prefer wet foods. Bottom line, the best food in the bag does no good if your dog refuses to eat it.
How old is your dog? Growing puppies need different nutrition than healthy adults, for example, so choose an age-appropriate diet. The manufacturers call these “life stages” and label products according to what life stage they’re designed to meet.
Most healthy adult dogs do well in diets labeled for an adult life stage. These are considered a maintenance food for moderately active canines. Remember, though, that the amount to feed varies depending on the dog and that product recommendations are only a starting point. You’ll need to adjust the amount up or down for your special dog.
Competition and working dogs do better on a performance food. These premium and super-premium foods tend to have more calories and higher quality ingredients because hunting dogs or other canine athletes burn enormous energy during competitions.
Food sensitive or allergic dogs may need special foods that avoid certain ingredients. While only your veterinarian can diagnose such a problem, these dogs often can find relief of itchy skin or vomiting symptoms by eating foods that contain unusual ingredients they’ve never before encountered—like salmon or turkey.
Other health challenges often benefit from therapeutic foods that help relieve symptoms of arthritis, for example. Veterinarians can recommend a therapeutic food that’s specific to your dog’s health challenges. But the best measure of success for any food is how well the dog does on the food.
Amy Shojai is a certified animal behavior consultant, consultant to the pet care industry and the award winning author of 23 pet care books. | <urn:uuid:d0ecf13e-6db1-45e7-b36a-ebfe305279ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.petcarerx.com/c/102/dogs/food-nutrition/find-the-right-food-for-your-dog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922053 | 504 | 2.28125 | 2 |
A while back, I took a first stab at answering a reader’s question about flash drives. He wanted to know if they were safe for long term storage. Here’s what I said (cue time machine music):
I got an email from a new subscriber to my newsletter. He was asking me to update my free-with-subscription bonus e-book about how to safely scan family photos. He wanted me to include the option of storing digital photographs on USB flash drives.
Will I make that change? That depends on the answer to some important questions:
- How long can we expect USB-powered flash drives to last?
- How soon will they become obsolete?
- How do these numbers compare to CDs? To hard drives?
Do I have an answer?
Nope. Not yet.
Flash Drive Caveat I’m an IT director. When we hand out flash drives (which we hand out like candy), we have a little “talk” that goes with them. It goes like this:
“Flash drives are very handy for carrying files from place to place and computer to computer. However, they are relatively volatile storage, so you should never consider them a primary backup for your files. They fail much, much, much more quickly than CDs or hard drives.”
Back up your files on CDs or hard drives. Check them after you back up to make sure the backup works. Check them once in a while to make sure they are still working. Every few years, transfer them to a new CD or hard drive. How many years depends on the conditions in which they are stored. If you have air conditioning, low humidity, and clean air, they will probably last longer than they will in a more humid or dusty environment.
Wise words from the field. Flash drives are a convenient way to carry files around with you, but they are not for long term storage. Thanks, Rae!
Source: 24/7 Family History Circle | <urn:uuid:11955ad3-48e2-4dfa-9aa5-da1e0a7752ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://practicalarchivist.com/flash-drives-are-not-for-long-term-storage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957513 | 411 | 1.671875 | 2 |
An online journal about visual art, the urban landscape and design. Mary Louise Schumacher, the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic, leads the discussion and a community of writers contribute to the dialogue.
Green gets to be money. Yellow, well, our fingers do the walking. Red, a starring role in the stars and stripes, along with blue. White conjures something about dreaming and Christmas. And purple is the first love of children everywhere because, well, one word: Barney.
And so what of the color orange?
Often relegated to get-away-from-me, cautionary items such as little rubber cones, diamond-shaped detour signs, flashing reflectors and prison jumpsuits, the color has a shady rep. Even bug repellent is packaged in it.
Oh sure, this is the time of year when we pause, for a fleeting moment, to give the hue its due. Ah, the pumpkins, the basketballs, we say. The turning leaves, yams and butternuts.
Women's magazines will flash a little orange on their October covers. And candy aisles are racked out with wee orange confections for Halloween.
But is that all of the enthusiasm we can muster for this undervalued color that, according to some, symbolizes happiness itself? Or creativity, joy, energy, power and even -- sigh -- sexual desire.
In survey after survey, orange has not only ranked low on Americans' lists of favorite colors, it has repeatedly ranked dead last, according to Pantone, a color institute.
And yet, while we proclaim it puke-worthy, the who's who in cool have been saying it's the hottest thing in fashion, furniture, industrial design and tech in recent years.
So what gives? Unfit color or "it" color?
Truth be told, it's both.
Orange is so bad, it's good. It's the anti-aesthetic that captures attention, some color specialists say, so designers hone in on what we hate. Shock sells and supersedes, says hue guru Leatrice Eiseman, a color historian and author of several books on color.
It is the most blatant of colors, the most pungent psychically for Americans, partly because it's so rarely used. Other colors, even purple or lime green, can sneak onto the cultural canvas with a mini splash, says Eiseman.
But orange -- automatic tsunami.
Considering that color has the power to invoke patriotism and sell little strappy shoes, that's saying an awful lot for the omnipotence of orange.
But, hey, Milwaukee, as our fair city braces for months of monochromatic gray, embrace your jaunty, Day-glo side. Let's see a little zest out there, people.
For me, orange amour is a '70s thing, recalling the feel-good orange of youth. It was walking shoeless to 7-Eleven for a Dreamsicle or Big Stick. Pining for Mary Richards' orange-accented apartment. Or my girlfriend's bright orange Pinto.
A colorful destination
Childhood memories inspired Christina Ward to open a shop in Bay View last month called Oranje.
"Digging through childhood pictures and seeing myself in orange Toughskin Jeans from Sears . . . we had good times with those colors," said Ward, 32, whose shop at 2241 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. sells orange gift items, vintage duds and European and Asian skin care products.
Ward also remembers treks to her grandmother's nearby farm on Sundays and taking rides in a 1960s beetle, dubbed Herbie and slathered in orange house paint.
One of Oranje's popular items is a line of "nicely clunky" travel bags in orange with a '70s look. And Ward makes orange soaps.
The "j" in Oranje, Ward explains, is used because the word in Indonesian and Malaysian languages means "people," and she liked the added meaning. The word for orange is derived from the Arabic Naranj, which comes from Sanskrit.
His signature color
The shag carpet days of the '60s and '70s are also recalled in the art of Jim Isermann, perhaps the most famous contemporary artist to come from the Milwaukee area. His work is inspired by the craft movement of the '70s, and orange has been his signature color for about 20 years.
"I am re-creating the idea of the future that I grew up with," says Isermann, 46.
Since he was a kid, long before he became the cover boy of Art in America, he started collecting orange things. With a newly purchased stark-white house in Palm Springs, he is making a "museum" to his orange stuff.
The big splash orange made was due to several factors, perhaps the simplest being materials. Remember what Walter Brooke said to Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate"?
"I have one word for you, Benjamin -- plastics," he said, sounding prophetic. Well, plastics it was. New, cheaper materials had a less permanent feel and spawned the use of less serious colors. Kitchen countertops and kitchen utensils also started being manufactured in new, bold colors.
But the shift was also a cultural one. Facing the tragedies of Vietnam and political assassinations, but also the glories of space exploration and the triumphs of the civil rights and women's liberation movements, the youth counterculture emerged.
It was an optimistic and rebellious time, which birthed an explosion of rock music, free love, go-go boots, mini skirts -- and orange, a perfect fit, since it was strikingly different from parental palettes.
The psychedelic joie de vivre that came with the music, disco, hippie, festival and drug cultures also invigorated fabric design, with stripes and wending curves in bold colors like orange becoming the rage.
By the time the Molly Ringwald era rolled around, pink was pretty, and orange was pretty much out. The mere mention of bell-bottoms and leisure suits made us wince.
Still, by the mid 1980s, a bunch of young artists in New York started working in bright, bright orange. They blended Neo Expressionism and a weird Popish art, said Michael Torke, a New York composer who was part of the Andy Warhol clique at the time.
Torke, a Wauwatosa native, wrote his first orchestral piece at that time, "Ecstatic Orange." The brash piece was danced by the New York City Ballet in bright orange and pink costume.
A few years later, and long before the tangerine iMac came along, taking credit for a design revolution, there was the tangerine Igloo cooler in 1989. New cool-colors were credited with boosting sales for Igloo Products Corp. by 15%.
Always coming back
Still, even fashion writers and trend watchers seemed to be in denial about orange's allure. Every few years they'd report that they were shocked -- shocked -- that the brazen hue was "back."
The fashion editor at The Washington Post noted with a hint of concern the ubiquitous orange in 1989. Calvin Klein had served iced tea doused with fresh orange juice, to emphasize his orange amour. And Clinique was selling more orange Sun Tang lip crayon than any other color.
By 1990 and 1991, several fashion writers declared orange was busting out all over. In 1992, Karl Lagerfeld bounced out an orange flapper wig, while Japanese textile makers cranked out orange swimwear fabrics.
The "Dumb and Dumber" effect came into play around 1995, when high-school boys plumbed vintage shops for a twist on the prom-night tux -- head-to-toe, garish 1970s styles.
Today, designers are sampling and twisting the symbolic riches of the Laugh-In era the way hip-hop artists sample funk and soul. After another renaissance in materials and tooling, we can now find sculptural, injection-molded plastic toothbrushes, hairbrushes, staplers, soup ladles and pencil sharpeners in nostalgic shapes and colors.
Or cruise Mayfair Mall, where I swear that silly vinyl, faux leather, orangish jacket with the scruffy lapel that my mom bought me, against my will I might add, in 1978 is hanging on the racks.
At the heart of hue hoo-hah right now, of course, is computer couture. Some will say it was the Apple iBooks and iMacs in translucent tangerine, blueberry and other tasty colors that inspired design changes. In any case, colorful tech gadgets are now part of the fashion blur, being mixed and matched with our sunglasses, cars, shoes and jewelry.
But perhaps the ultimate hurdle for the brazen color, was bounded just this year. Not since the Pinto, the Pacer and the Volkswagen bug has orange made a splash on cars like it did at this year's North American International Auto Show. Nissan, Pontiac, Saturn, Chevy, Honda, Oldsmobile and Volvo all joined the fray.
Orange may stick like a stain, whether we like it, for one good reason: It's good at garnering greenbacks. The color alone communicates accessibility, so retailers can use it to snag a lower-income clientele, says Judy Fleming, a color specialist and one of the owners of Manhattan Textiles in Wauwatosa.
Home Depot, for example, pretty much owns the color, Fleming says. And fast-food joints like McDonald's, Burger King and Orange Julius pack a double wallop, since their orange decor not only draws the bucks, it drains the willpower to pass up the extra-sized fries and shake.
For some, orange has problematic connotations. Agent Orange. O.J. Simpson. Enough said? Then there's the image of the Buddhist monk, his orange robes replaced with massive orange flames, as he burned himself in protest to the war in Vietnam. Orange also denotes Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza on maps used in negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel over land.
The bottom line, orange is not a color for schlemiels, even if only a few major sports teams (such as the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns) use it as a primary color and few comic books sport orange superheroes. Even if it does symbolize coffee without caffeine.
It is more than an oddity, a device in knock-knock jokes, one of the few words in the English language with no rhyme.
Halfway between red and yellow on the color wheel, born in the Middle Ages when a batch of yellow was, essentially, overcooked, orange is the only warm color that actually gets brighter when it is more saturated. So give this harangued hue its due, Milwaukee. Go bright.
Clinique's Happy perfume
"Tangerine" by Led Zeppelin
The New York Observer, a snarky paper printed on pale orange
America Online's instant messaging and Cingular logos -- little orange men
Tang, the first drink in space
Frito-Lay Chee-tos, that turn blue or green on your tongue
Rusty Staub, a.k.a. Le Grande Orange, one of the most popular members of the 1973 Mets
Sprecher Orange Dream soda
Henna tattoos, from the Middle East, Pakistan and India
Holland, where orange is the national color | <urn:uuid:a86e193c-49f6-4f9f-b4aa-bdaa4b147282> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/32287719.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943431 | 2,405 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Views the world through a spiritual lens
This moment. Yes, this one right here. Are you enjoying it? Are you milking it for all it’s worth, savoring its nuances, pouncing on its opportunities?
The reason I ask is that this moment happens to be the only game in town. Not to be a downer, but the paper on which these words are printed will one day yellow and fade, then wither and crumble. Everything we see—as well as the eyes we see it with and the brains we’re using to process it with—will eventually return to the earth, and all of our efforts, dreams, struggles and schemes will be forgotten. The truth of Emerson’s assertion “Life is a journey, not a destination” couldn’t be more evident: The end of the line is oblivion (or at the very least, the oblivion of our present forms), so let’s not be in such a hurry to “get there.” Instead, let’s make damned sure we enjoy the ride, shall we?
Various cultures have developed some inventive ways to acknowledge life’s impermanence and to redirect our focus to the process rather than the result. One obvious example is the Tibetan Buddhist practice of creating sand mandalas: sacred works of art that take several days to construct and are then destroyed shortly after completion. Another example (which, incidentally, also happens to involve plenty of sand, to which all things eventually return) isAmerica’s own yearly Burning Man festival, where artwork that has taken a year or more to construct is devoured by flames in mere minutes. Just to spell things out all the more clearly, the central ceremony at Burning Man is the fiery sacrifice of a faceless representative of humanity as a whole: an everyman known simply as The Man. This towering statue is reduced to sparks and dust, merging with the desert sand and blowing away forevermore, as if to say, “All we are is dust in the wind, dude.”
This quality—impermanence—is, of course, an important part of what gives photography its magic. In the camera we have a tool for freezing in place the passing instant, the fleeting look of surprise, the here-and-gone birthday party, the coveted glow of youth. In so doing, we’re able to hold onto the moment, cherishing its preciousness and honoring the eternal within the temporal.
Such is the life’s work of Santa Cruz’s Kyer Wiltshire. Wiltshire’s work, which earned him the title of Best Photographer in GT’s 2009 Readers’ Poll, can be seen at kyerphotography.com, in the book “Tribal Revival: West Coast Festival Culture” (available through tribalrevivalbook.com and at Bookshop Santa Cruz, Logos and Jedzebel) and in the annual Sacred Form Nude Yoga Calendar (sold through sacredform.com and at the local shops mentioned above). Along with taking vivid, epic shots of neo-tribal festivals and events such as Burning Man, Harmony Festival, Faerie Worlds, Sea of Dreams and Oregon Country Fair, Wiltshire photographs locals engaged in such things as fire dancing, aerial dance and belly dancing. He is also known for his portraits, his wedding photography, his professional photos of bands like Michael Franti & Spearhead, Ozomatli, Lost at Last, Hamsa Lila, Sound Tribe Sector 9 and SambaDá, his tasteful nude shots and his travel photos taken in exotic regions like Bali, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and Costa Rica. One of his new artistic passions is documenting neo-tribal culture by way of video: http://vimeo.com/24686545.
“In some ways, all photography benefits from capriciousness,” the 47-year-old photographer observes. “I mean, the lighting is there for 30 seconds on the mountain, or that baby’s smile is there for an instant.” But Wiltshire feels that the element of impermanence is especially evident in his particular style of photography, which focuses on the neo-tribal subculture found at summer festivals like Burning Man. “The whole festival, in a way, is just this moment in time: It’s here now, and it’s gone, and then it comes back next year,” he says.
Wiltshire, who spent a month last winter in the former king’s private quarters of Bali’s Tirtagangga Water Palace, says that like all good photographers, he serves simply as a mirror. “We’re all mirrors—in all interactions, we’re mirroring each other constantly,” he notes. “But a good photographer is an extra-powerful mirror. Here I am taking a photo of you, and this is what you look like, by the way—at least in my eyes, in the way that I took it. In that mirroring, in that reflection, people’s essence, in many ways, comes out. And that is one of the most inspiring things about photographing people: meeting them on that level, even if it’s fleeting.”
Take a Picture—It’ll Last Longer
Though born in Japan, Wiltshire spent most of his formative years in Northwest Portland, Ore., which he describes as “kind of like Santa Cruz: In the ’70s, it was a very hippie, progressive, artistic place to be, and then in the ’80s, the yuppies came in and bought all the property.” When his parents split up, he spent part of his time with his mom in Portland and his dad in a small cabin in Eastern Oregon with no running water or electricity. Though the region in which his father lived was “very redneck and conservative,” it helped Wiltshire develop an appreciation for nature. “I’m a huge lover of nature—and of human nature,” he notes.
It was Wiltshire’s love of nature that first drew him to photography. “I grew up climbing mountains with my father, backpacking, and so I was taking pictures as a teenager … not very well; it was a hobby, and I didn’t understand lighting,” he explains. “I understood composition, but I didn’t understand what made a great photo. I understood what made a decent photo.”
Wiltshire started out as a landscape photographer, but as he points out, “mountains don’t move; mountains don’t interact with you.” The young shutterbug found a new direction while spending some time in Latin America. “I really started enjoying taking pictures of people, whether it was Indians in Guatemala or different people dancing in Mexico City,” he recalls. “I started realizing, ‘Yeah! You know, I’m actually able to bring something out of people and connect with them.’”
Wiltshire’s ability to engage people, which he considers his greatest asset as a photographer, affords him access to the Holy Grail of photography— that elusive element known as essence. “When somebody tells me, ‘Oh, you captured the essence of that person,’ or, ‘You captured my essence,’ that, to me, is the most notable and meaningful possible thing you could say about my work. And capturing the essence means that there’s a vulnerability for the subject; there’s a rawness to it. Even though they might be in character, it’s them. It’s not a façade.”
Years ago, Wiltshire came to a turning point in his career when he showed his portfolio to a well-known Dutch photographer who lives here in town. “He looked at it, and he said, ‘Technically good. Doesn’t really inspire me that much,’” Wiltshire recalls. “And he was right. Nothing I had in there was that interesting.” That photographer then explained to Wiltshire that he was intrigued by photography that shows a risk taken by either the photographer or the subject. “And that has resonated with me ever since,” Wiltshire says. “Photographing firedancing and having poi spin around your face is dangerous. Being photographed as the model doing naked yoga on the side of the cliff or [with] the waves crashing around you is edgy. There’s a risk involved, and that often is a big inspiration to me.”
Examples of such risk-taking abound in Wiltshire’s book “Tribal Revival”: aerial dancers suspended in midair, Burning Man revelers braving the dust on the playa, a nude woman eating fire. The book’s cover, too, is edgier than it appears at first glance: Though you can’t tell, the woman playfully crawling out of the water toward the photographer is naked. “It’s like a little edge that I pushed there. I’ve got a nude woman on the cover, but nobody would know it!” Wiltshire laughs.
But there’s more to Wiltshire’s work than stunts, fireworks and bare flesh. The neo-tribal culture that he documents is a viable antidote to the insanity of consumer culture. For citizens of a supposed “real world” that values doodads and frivolous conveniences over human connection, a journey to Burning Man or Oregon Country Fair can feel like a much-needed return to reality.
According to Wiltshire, who began to photograph tribal gatherings in 2000, the West Coast’s festival culture is an extension of the Grateful Dead scene. “Most of these festivals didn’t exist before Jerry Garcia died,” he says. “The Dead was no longer around, and people said, ‘What are we going to do?’”
But psychedelic culture has evolved in all kinds of compelling ways since the tie-dyed, electric Kool-Aid-drenched era that The Dead represented. “The subculture of the ’60s, with good reason, was rebelling against the dominant culture,” Wiltshire notes. “This tribal culture of today is not rebelling—it’s just saying, ‘We’re different, and we’re doing what we’re doing. We still live within mainstream society; many of us do have nine-to-five jobs. A lot of us don’t, but some do. And some of us may not believe in the capitalist system, but we’re not rebelling against it.’”
In Wiltshire’s view, the primary focus of neo-tribal culture is the worship of the Goddess and the feminine. “And I mean that for men as well,” he offers. “Men are encouraged to wear jewelry and look beautifully adorned, like women.” He adds that at many of the festivals he photographs, he can be seen walking around in a purple tutu.
While we’re on the subject of Goddess worship, we can’t help noticing how frequently Wiltshire turns his camera toward females, in all their naked beauty. “Guilty as charged!” he states with a laugh. “My favorite subject, of course, is the Divine Feminine, which is ever-changing—to, I think, great confusion to us men. Right?” he prods, swatting the interviewer’s arm playfully. “People are like, ‘Why don’t you photograph more men naked? I go, ‘Well, I have —for my calendar, but they don’t sell as well, and men are not always as into taking off their clothes for you, you know?’ Men are like, ‘I need to think about the ramifications in the long run.’ Young women in particular are like, ‘Hey, I’m in the moment now. I’m feeling beautiful. Let’s do it.’”
In explaining how he approaches a woman about doing such a photo shoot, he momentarily strikes a hunchbacked pose and adopts a weasley voice. “I show up, and I don’t look like some creepy guy going, ‘Hey, can I take your picture? I’ve got this little instamatic camera here—if I can get it working, I’ll take your picture. I always get my thumb in the way.’ You show up and you have the energy of ‘This is what I do. Do you want to participate?’ It’s an invitation to push the edges a little bit. I do sometimes carry a nice portfolio with me, so it’s like, ‘This is what I can create.’”
Wiltshire’s focus on the Divine Feminine is an extension of his love of beauty. “Sometimes photographers are inspired by darker subjects,” he notes. “I’m open to that—as a photographer, you of course want to always push your own edges—but I’m not always into capturing people’s dark and shadowy sides. I like to see them in their joy; I like to capture them in their flow, in their love, in their openness.”
At the end of the day, what we want most is connection, and Wiltshire sees his photography as a way of connecting with people. “Sometimes we’re graceful in that connection; sometimes we’re clumsy,” he offers. “We’re all human. I think photographing this culture and being involved in it in this way is a reminder that, yeah, we really are all connected, and we really have basically all the same fears and desires. Knowing that, there’s more space for acceptance, forgiveness and understanding of each other.”
Photo captions: This shot, one of many taken by Wiltshire at Burning Man, captures what he calls the “beauty, love, connection, spontaneity and impermanence” of his photographic journeys.
Another Burning Man image captures aspects of the divine feminine.
Freedom reigns at Burning Man.
Wiltshire’s images also delve into conventional corners. His wedding portraits deliver a distinctly original look. Lately, he says, he’s been shooting more LGBT weddings.
Wiltshire’s images from Bali capture the pureness in humanity.
|< Prev||Next >| | <urn:uuid:3f3e4758-8b60-49c4-878f-3bddf7ff5ac9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gtweekly.com/good-times-cover-stories/2705-kyer-wiltshire.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964585 | 3,168 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Energy saving measures make big difference to properties' running costs
Reducing the energy consumption of a building takes a concerted combined effort from the property owners, managers, tenants and staff - but is a very worthwhile exercise, both from a financial and an environmental point of view.
This is according to Martin Bester, Managing Director of Intersect Sectional Title Services, the sectional title specialist subsidiary of the Spire Property Group, who manage the Icon Building on the Foreshore in Cape Town.
"The Icon is a 19 storey building that used to be a high consumer of energy. So much so that we were concerned and adamant that things had to change," says Bester. "We started by tracking the consumption of the building at various stages over a period of time and compared this to the municipal invoices and meter reading statistics. This then presented us with a benchmark and allowed us to calculate what we would like to achieve in energy reduction."
"Once we ascertained our goal, we then set about specifically identifying the energy intensive equipment in the building and sought ways to reduce their consumption. This led to replacing over 600 T8 fluorescent light fittings with the smaller and more energy efficient T5 fittings and converting 1100 down lighters to LED alternatives."
According to Bester, the next step was the installation of CO2 sensors in the basement parking levels, which reduced the usage of the extraction fans from 24/7 to 'as required' - this resulted in a massive decrease in the energy consumption of the building. "We were also able to take advantage of Eskom's rebate policy to recover a great deal of the capital cost of the exercise as well."
"These measures, along with the awareness and assistance from the various role players in the building, have led to significant reductions in both energy consumption and cost. Further savings are achieved by the installation of timers and sensors thereby utilising equipment only when required."
"These savings are perpetual, and in the face of ever increasing energy costs are a welcome reprieve for the owners of the Icon building. Intersect are pleased and proud to have helped with, and to be associated with, this important exercise in 'green' retrofitting," concluded Bester.
Intersect Sectional Title Services is the sectional title specialist subsidiary of the Spire Property Group and manages many upmarket buildings in and around Cape Town and may be contacted on 021 659 5965 or visit their website www.intersect.co.za for further information.
Intersect Sectional Title Services Press Release
Posted at 07:40AM Oct 31, 2012 by Editor in Residential | | <urn:uuid:dac2fa15-a996-4069-b3ba-3186bbf5f256> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iolproperty.co.za/roller/news/entry/energy_saving_measures_make_big | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963807 | 532 | 1.804688 | 2 |
NEW YORK (Dec. 4, 12:25 p.m. ET) — Challenges facing Dow Chemical Co. and other global plastics and chemicals firms were on full display at a media event hosted by the firm on Dec. 3 in New York.
At the event — which preceded Dow’s 2012 Investor Forum — Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris professed optimism about the North American economy, while at the same time confirming that the firm would divest businesses with $1 billion in annual revenue over the next 12 months.
Liveris offered no details of those divestments. In late October, Midland, Mich.-based Dow announced it would close about 20 plants worldwide and eliminate 2,400 jobs. Those cuts will include plastics materials plants in Belgium and Japan.
That announcement came only six months after Dow confirmed it would cut 900 jobs worldwide by closing four plants that made expanded polystyrene foam and polyurethane feedstocks.
Like many global firms, Dow is struggling with a weak European economy and slowing growth in Asia. But Liveris singled out the U.S. market as “a bright spot” for Dow.
The North American automotive and construction markets “both should be up” in 2013, he said, adding that the U.S. “is moving into territory that could lead the world out of a two to two and a half percent GDP growth level.”
Regarding Dow’s plans to build a massive plant making plastic feedstock ethylene in Freeport, Texas, Liveris said that the project “is moving ahead and is going through the permitting process.”
He stopped short, however, at saying if the project — set to open in 2017 — would include new polyethylene resin capacity.
“We’re looking at offers and deciding what makes the best sense,” Liveris said. “We could have large contracts to base-load someone else, but we’re not sure if that’s going to be for commodity polyethylene or not.”
Through the first nine months of 2012, Dow’s sales fell almost 7 percent to just under $43 billion. The firm’s profit slid almost 32 percent to less than $1.9 billion. Dow generated about half of its nine-month sales from plastics-related businesses. | <urn:uuid:6bdfc930-5694-44e8-93fa-2cc8254fa901> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20121204/NEWS/312049983?channel=130 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949169 | 485 | 1.523438 | 2 |
How To Draw Anime Bodies
How To Draw Anime Bodies
Anime artists! All you worried on drawing anime and manga bodies are no more with this short video describing the steps and various tips in drawing short and fat and tall and thin anime characters.
Hi my name is Laura Watton. My website is pickapplejam.com, I am the co-founder of SweatDrop Studios.
I have been illustrating in manga-style for almost six years. All right this is how to draw a manga style body. I am going to draw a very roughly, a fat person, a thin person and a very tall person and a short person.
So okay, as you can see in this very simple silhouette. This person is a bit chubby, a round body, obviously we do not have to draw him or her exactly as that wide as a circle so if we give this person a slightly more human shape. Like so, make the head a bit better, bigger rather.
Put a little bit more proportion. This character is going to be quite cartoon-y. Obviously not very realistic but kind of emphasizing the shape the person is.
All right I imagine that's where this person's felt will go. I'm going to make this person into a chap. So, he quite actually likes his hamburgers.
I'll go into detail more and in just a second. Here are his ears, as you can see there is the crossover together with the ears. Up here exactly equal to each other.
Not one up here that would be a bit weird. The shoulders I'm going to do it here and here. It's going to develop these shapes into arms.
And he's also got chubby little fingers. If he was a thin person, I wouldn't draw him chubby fingers I would draw quite slim fingers but I'll come back to this chap in a minute. Okay, his trousers they are quite baggy.
I think if you look in chap's trouser for bigger people, they kind of have streamline the character. I don't think they come around and then be quite high here. They kind of drop down here from the waist down to the feet.
So lots of creases I think to note. That drop in fabric. I'm going to draw some shoes on this chap.
Okay, so there's a proportions of a bigger person. If you're drawing a comic about team members you want each member to look a bit different in silhouette. Then again you could have a thin person.
So as you can see I have drawn these very rough shapes. I'll start to flush them out a little bit. These shoulders would come out a little bit.
You might want to draw some loose creases as this character is quite tall. Okay, I think on that page there we have it. Short and tall and fat and thin characters. | <urn:uuid:0c5212ba-3b7b-422f-97e7-686afef03865> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-draw-anime-bodies-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979966 | 593 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Wall Street Journal Profiles Young EB-5 Investors, Wealthy Chinese
Millionaire writer Shi Kang plans to leave China for the United States.
Better education for their children, cleaner air, safer food. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, these are just some of the things bringing wealthy Chinese immigrants to the United States.
As the EB-5 stakeholder community knows well, many people who have made their fortunes in China are looking for ways to emigrate. And a large number of them, it seems, are young. Indeed, the individual the Journal profiles for this article, Shi Kang, is only 43 years old.
Shi is one of many Chinese citizens seeking opportunities in the United States despite finding so much success in his own country. And he is typical of many wealthy Chinese residents arranging their immigration by investing hard-earned money into any of several EB-5 visa projects.
What’s driving this exodus?
According to the Journal, “a survey published in November found that 60% of about 960,000 Chinese people with assets over 10 million Yuan ($1.6 million) were either thinking about emigrating or taking steps to do so.” This matches a study conducted previously by Bain Capital and the state-run China Merchants Bank, according to the report.
60% is a lot, and the numbers may be shocking to many – especially since many Americans think of immigrants coming here to earn money, not invest it. However, these Chinese residents are looking for more than increasing their wealth. They are looking for a new way to live and for the opportunity to enjoy many things US citizens take for granted – things like financial security, clean drinking water, and outdoor scenery.
A friendlier business environment than that offered in China is another frequently cited reason for increased emigration.
Officials taking notice
Chinese officials are not unaware of the increasing number of applications for American, Canadian, and European visas. To combat the emigration, they have promised reforms such as improved public services and plans to combat environmental problems, but few changes will go into effect until 2015.
Many of China's young, upwardly mobile individuals are not waiting. Instead, they are searching for investment opportunities outside of China – opportunities that let them use their wealth to secure a better future for themselves and their families.
China's population, by many standards, is actually quite wealthy. Some estimates now show China being home to as many as 150 to 300 billionaires and as many as 1 million millionaires. With numbers like these and with so many wealthy Chinese citizens eager to leave, the prospect of continued growth in the EB-5 visa program looks good.
Image Credit: Mask 9 | <urn:uuid:fe52f64c-f909-4c81-a5f7-2dc7b03d1668> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eb5info.web11.hubspot.com/bid/125776/Wall-Street-Journal-Profiles-Young-EB-5-Investors-Wealthy-Chinese | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971199 | 546 | 1.875 | 2 |
Neolithic art is something we do not spend too much time studying. We class it with ancient graffiti, decorative art, or a bit of bragging about the recent hunt. We do not really expect it to tell us anything in the way of communication of important ideas. If it does say anything, we assume they are simple messages from simple minded people and move on. An article by Dr. Philip Stooke in 1994, “Neolithic Lunar Maps at Knowth and Baltinglass, Ireland,” proposed that several works of art found in the Knowth Passage Mound, Ireland are images of the moon’s surface. Most of the art at Knowth and the nearby sites are an odd assortment of lines, swirls and dots. One stone simply depicts 16 circles. Then there is the other extreme. There is another stone so covered with markings it looks like a piece of overused doodle paper.
We are going to look at a few kerbstones found at Knowth, Ireland. These stones are some 5500 years old.
The first stone we study is the aforementioned simple 16 circle image drawn on Kerbstone 42.
If this was drawn anywhere else in the world, I would have to say it is what it is, 16 circles. But since it appears as one of the 127 kerbstones at Knowth, I suggest it is a mathematical message.
Another author has proposed that these Neolithic artists counted their year in 16 months and therefore each circle is a month. I will argue differently. These people believed there are 12 months in a year which coincides with the number of signs in the Zodiac.
The 16 circles simply represent the distance Earth travels in a day. ??? Yes. It travels 1.6 million miles on the average in any given day.
Now it would be logical for you to scoff and say these artists did not measure in miles, nor were they even aware the Earth moves or even rotates. Since we believed until quite recently in our own history that the Sun circled the Earth we assume they were as simple minded as we are/were.
As far as measuring in miles, they left us another clue that they did measure in miles and perhaps we should hold up on the scoffing. That 16 is written as two pairs of 8 circles, the upper line and the lower line. 8 and 8 as in 88. We all remember that 88 x 60 = 5280 and that is how many feet are in a mile. There is a group of 6 neatly arrayed on the right side to remind us of 6 and 60 and the minutes in an hour.
Now would be a good time to declare, “That it is purely co-incidental!”
Before tossing the whole idea out as a sour apple we might note the left group forms 9 circles and the right group 7 circles. 7 and 9?? 79?? As in 7920 miles in the diameter of Earth?
Yet we might say the left group has 8 circles in a neat square array and the right group has 6 circles in a neat square array as in 8 6. The Sun’s diameter is 864 thousand miles.
But we have forgotten the one hanging out on the beginning and end. We could say we have a series 1 8 6 1 which looks remarkably like the diameter of Earth’s orbit at 186 million miles.
Now we discover a second way to determine 5280 feet. Note that the group of 8 times the group of 6 times one on each end for 11 equals 8 x 6 x 11 = 528.
There is an expected number still missing. The number 56 should appear in the message since this number consistently appears at ancient sites.
3200 is 56.56². The image has 16 circles. In Hebrew each letter expresses not only a sound but a numeric value. If each circle equates to 200 then we have the required 3200 from which calculate the 56. So for the time being, we will equate a circle to 200 and give it the sound R in the manner of the Hebrew alphabet, as in Ra for the Sun God. Further study will prove or disprove this temporary assertion.
Since we have already mentioned Ra, we might recall that the Great Pyramid was constructed only 750 years after these tombs and it displays celestial measurements encoded into its structure. Knowth is a structure which is a large mass with two narrow halls that emit light. The pyramids are similarly designed.
Perhaps you think this is too much knowledge for a stone age man to possess? The name of the place is Knowth which means “to know” which only adds to the curiosity of it all. So, for a Neolithic doodle this one packs a powerful mathematical message. This artist has written in a language we can understand and yet we still do not trust our eyes.
In “The Deep Mystery” I look at Kerbstone 15 and at the entrance stone to Newgrange in detail. Since it is not my goal to overlap or reveal anything that is a part of “The Deep Mystery” here, only to add to it, I cannot reveal what they so very cleverly state. But very shortly we will look at Kerbstone 52, a much more complex doodle and that will really leave us wondering.
Have a great day! | <urn:uuid:7786099a-098c-4f6d-88c8-a0ac0694cb13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://noahsage.com/2013/03/07/did-neolithic-artists-just-doodle-or-did-they-draw-with-intelligent-intent/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961785 | 1,091 | 3.53125 | 4 |
The American Association for the History of Nursing (AAHN) is a professional organization open to everyone interested in the history of nursing. Originally founded in 1978 as a historical methodology group, the association was briefly named the International History of Nursing Society. The purpose of the Association shall be to foster the importance of history as relevant to understanding the past, defining the present, and influencing the future of nursing by...Continue
AAHN is a network of discovery that advances historical scholarship in nursing and healthcare and promotes the development of historians.
Promote the appreciation and scholarship of the history of nursing to inform and shape nursing's future.
Membership includes the annual journal, The Nursing History Review and the semi-annual, AAHN Bulletin. At the annual meeting members have the opportunity to meet and discuss historical interests with other nursing history researchers. Join AAHN Today!
Save the Dates
September 26-29, 2013
30th Annual Conference
Watch for new Talking History dates in the fall
The second in a series of Talking History telephone conferences was held on April 24, 2013 - the discussion focused on publishing. If you would like to listen to the conversation click here. | <urn:uuid:a4e76064-b742-462b-a74f-5d12afd18e38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aahn.org/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933043 | 239 | 2.125 | 2 |
We propose a CIRM Creativity Award program that builds on our existing summer research program for undergraduate and high school students by offering additional elements tailored to Creativity Award students, including: (a) a lecture series highlighting local young investigators, ethical issues, and future undergraduate educational opportunities, (b) a series on “The Art in Science”, and (c) a project challenging their creativity and executed individually or in small groups. The CIRM Creativity Award program will expose the next generation of California professionals to evidence-based stem cell research at an early time in their scientific development. The actual practice of scientific research will broaden their general education at the pre-college stage. CIRM Creativity Award students may not necessarily gravitate to scientific research, but their understanding of stem cell biology and scientific research will shape their thinking as they move into the diverse career options that will be available to them.
Statement of Benefit to California:
The mission of the CIRM Creativity Award program is to provide a research opportunity for high school students in the fundamental biology of stem cells and developmental biology, and to provide an opportunity for mentored creative activity executed individually or in small groups. This training will enhance stem cell-based biomedical research efforts, promote the development of novel therapies for previously intractable conditions, and give a new perspective on the contributions of stem cell research to the health of Californians. These contributions include, but are not limited to, maintaining California’s leading position in stem cell research and the state’s biotechnology industry. In addition, we will have a special emphasis on identifying and selecting under represented minority students with outstanding potential to do biomedical research related to stem cells.
Reviewers agreed that this is an outstanding and well-conceived proposal for a program with a very long and successful history. Reviewers found no significant weaknesses and were extremely impressed by the exceptionally strong proposal. Significant strengths included a well described recruitment process, a highly qualified and experienced Program Director, a very creative set of activities and integration of the second discipline. One of the unique features of the recruitment process cited by reviewers is that student selection will be based on student potential rather than past achievment. Additionally, reviewers praised the proposed program activities that include discussions of ethical issues and clinical trials, education career talks, field trips including visiting a Biotech company and a poster session at the conclusion of the program. Overall, reviewers agreed that this proposal strongly meets the objectives of this RFA. Particular highlights include the inclusion of students from underrepresented groups, excellent hands-on stem cell science training and encouragement of creativity through a resourceful and integrated set of activities in the second discipline.
- A motion was made to recommend this application for funding. The motion carried. | <urn:uuid:e20a4bb2-16f7-49b8-9ea6-8c2cbda9ad5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cirm.ca.gov/node/10063/review | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939297 | 559 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Book Description: Swamped with requests from the military for permission to use their famous cartoon characters in unit insignia and for nose art on fighter planes, the Disney studio set up a special group to design badges and emblems for all branches of service - American and Allied (Lord Mountbatten was one of the first to write in). Part of the studio's extensive contribution to the war effort (which included countless training films), was some 1200 delightful insignia, the best of which have been selected for this volume. It is a tribute to Disney's expertise in characterization that some of the studio's famous figures were immediately suitable for military service. Donald Duck appeared on more than 100 designs (his uncontrollable temper fit him for such roles) but the sweet and lovable Mickey Mouse was less often called upon. Where no character quite fit an assignment the studio happily created a new one, as in the case of insignia for the flying Tigers and the Seabees. This book may interest not only veterans and military buffs but also Disney art enthusiasts and collectors. | <urn:uuid:83677d9d-129c-41cf-8f5c-1bdf0ed30d18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.campusbooks.com/books/comics-graphic-novels/cartooning/9781558594012_Rawls-Walton-Rawls-Walton-Foreword-by-David-R-Smith_Disney-Dons-Dogtags-Th.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966315 | 211 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Episode 26 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Norman Doidge, MD, author of The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (2007). Dr. Doidge and I agree that neuroplasticity is the most important discovery about the brain that has been made in several hundred years. In his interview, Dr. Doidge talks about some of the obstacles that delayed this discovery including what he calls the "plastic paradox," which is the fact that plasticity itself can contribute to the development of rigid behaviors, including addictions and bad habits.
The Brain That Changes Itself includes the work of the key scientists of neuroplasticity. In my conversation with Dr. Doidge, we talked about the work of Paul Bach-y-Rita, Edward Taub, and VS Ramachandran. Dr. Doidge also shared how his own work is being affected, and why he thinks neuroplasticity has the potential to lead to more important discoveries.
I will be talking to Dr. Taub in Episode 28. If you are new to the Brain Science Podcast, you may want to go back and listen to Episode 10, which is where I first introduced neuroplasticity in my discussion of Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves, by Sharon Begley. | <urn:uuid:126feb9e-7445-4a37-abb3-afbe54a372ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brainsciencepodcast.com/bsp/neuroplasticity-with-dr-norman-doidge-bsp-26.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956943 | 292 | 2.75 | 3 |
ACCORD BY SOCIALISTS FORESEEN IN FRANCE; Conciliatory Speeches Made by Both Sides of Nantes Parley
Wireless to THE NEW YORK TIMES. ();
May 31, 1939,
, Section , Page 12, Column , words
NANTES, France, May 30.--Conciliatory speeches by champions of Leon Blum, leader of the Socialist party, and Paul Faure, the party's secretary general, were viewed as ... | <urn:uuid:811ff55d-b0f7-487c-8ec6-027d3e111801> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00F13FF3F54107A93C3AA178ED85F4D8385F9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906945 | 99 | 1.585938 | 2 |
|Available Formats:||Text | DVD/Manual | See All|
The United States is engaged in a significant project with the IASB to converge IFRS and U.S. GAAP. And this project is having a major influence on the way in which IFRS will develop for the world as a whole. But recent developments suggest that IFRS may start to be permitted in the United States itself—something that could scarcely have been contemplated, even a few years ago. It will be some years before answers become clear. Nevertheless, it is clear that there has been a major strategic shift in international accounting as a result ofthe SEC actions.
This course prepares accountants for these upcoming changes and will help solidify your knowledge of the similarities and differences between IFRS and U.S. GAAP. You will also learn to apply specific IFRS standards to the impacted financial statement elements. Walk away with a greater understanding of what you need to know as the acceptance of International standards continues to grow.
Prerequisite: Completion of AICPA course International versus U.S. Accounting: What in the World is the Difference (in any available format) or a high-level understanding of the conceptual differences between IFRS and U.S. GAAP.
Advanced Preparation: None
In this 211-min video, Rama Ramamurthy, CPA, Clinical Professor of Accounting at the College of William and Mary, discusses IFRS issues with Anne M. Marchetti, President of Account-Ability Consulting and AICPA course instructor; Paul Munter, CPA, Audit Partner with KPMG LLP and lead partner and practice leader for U.S. firm’s IFRS activities, Jennifer M. Myers, CPA, Senior Vice President of Integration Operations at inVentiv Health, Inc., and George I. Victor, CPA, Director of Quality Control of Gaimbalvo, Giammarese & Stalzer, CPAs, PC and member of the International Accounting and Auditing Committee of the New York State Society of CPAs.
*The DVD contains the video presentation. A CD contains a viewable copy of the Manual. | <urn:uuid:26000085-9934-43c9-af24-5a7c350249af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cpa2biz.com/AST/PricingStructureAssortments/Educator/Pricing_Educator/PRDOVR~PC-741600/PC-741600.jsp?selectedFormat=DVD/Manual | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916427 | 447 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Landing the perfect presidential Web address
Washington (CNN) -- Both Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, and Barack Obama, D-Illinois, used their Web sites to launch bids for the White House in 2008. While such campaign announcements are made with sophisticated web video and online savvy, the bells and whistles can overshadow what are often complicated struggles to obtain primo web addresses.
In 2005, lawyers for Hillary Clinton won back www.HillaryClinton.com after successfully proving the owner, a woman with an address in Italy, was using it in bad faith. That site is now a clearinghouse of video and information for Clinton's presidential bid. Last week, Sen. Barack Obama used www.BarackObama.com to announce the formation of his presidential exploratory committee. That site was rescued in 2005 on the Senator's behalf by a company specializing in the retrieval of web addresses that have expired.
Other 2008 hopefuls have decided not to put up a fight. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, officially launched his presidential bid today in front of a banner advertising his Web site, www.gohunter08.com. The most obvious choice, www.DuncanHunter.com, is unavailable, registered to a San Diego web publisher whose name is linked to dozens of web addresses featuring the names of actors, congressmen, and a senator. (Calls to the registrant, Lincoln Pickard, were not returned.) A spokesman for Hunter said that they have not tried to obtain that site, instead going with the "strongest ... of what was available."
The site bearing the name of Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, is registered to political Internet Strategist Henri Poole. Poole tells CNN he intends to use it "in opposing [Tancredo's] nomination." A spokesman for Tancredo, whose campaign site is actually www.TeamTancredo.com, said this is "not something we are concerned with," pointing out that "hate sites against [Tancredo] are a dime a dozen."
While some buy web sites to protest, others use them to turn a profit. Currently for sale on eBay is www.Hillary2008.org, which is being hawked by retired Arizona Judge Tom Jacobs, a self-described Clinton supporter. Jacobs, who says the site has "a fifty-fifty chance of falling into the wrong hands," is offering a starting bid of $10,000.
So far, no takers.
-- CNN Internet Reporter Abbi Tatton
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• Bushes to Attend Alfalfa Club Dinner | <urn:uuid:63d3403c-344e-4214-a3c1-8fa2bc9bf058> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/01/landing-perfect-presidential-web.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931665 | 711 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Study finds the bulk of shoes’ carbon footprint comes from manufacturing processes.
Using DNA microarray technology, researchers at the MIT/Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have discovered that a type of human immune cell known as a dendritic cell initiates an immune response that is tailor-made for specific infectious organisms. The researchers found that dendritic cells turn on different sets of genes, or a signature pattern of gene response, depending on whether the organism is a bacterium, virus or fungus.
This study shows that even at the earliest stages of infection, the human body knows the nature of the infectious organism, or pathogen, and responds with a specific type of immune response to eliminate that pathogen.
EVIDENCE NOW EXISTS
Although researchers have suspected that dendritic cells can mount tailored responses in addition to a set of common responses, they haven't had much concrete evidence to support their belief. This DNA array study provides the first comprehensive evidence for such specific responses and offers snapshots of what such pathogen-specific responses look like at the genetic level.
"The knowledge that dendritic cells are able to sense and respond specifically to each pathogen could ultimately help clinical scientists detect the presence of particular pathogens and measure the nature of the immune response by looking for the signatures of pathogen-specific genes described in this study," said Whitehead Fellow Nir Hacohen, who led the study.
MEASURING GENE ACTIVITY
DNA array technology has already proved useful in diagnosing different types of cancers by detecting signatures of gene expression, and may thus play a similar role for infectious diseases in the future.
By measuring the activity of many genes in these immune cells as they respond to pathogens, researchers hope to gain information about the strengths and vulnerabilities of the microbes and our own immune system during an immune response to infection. Such information, coupled with more detailed studies of pathogen-specific genes will eventually enable the development of customized therapeutics for the optimal elimination of each type of human pathogen, said Hacohen.
This study, published in the Oct. 26 issue of Science, was conducted in Hacohen's lab with lead authors Qian Huang and Dongyu Liu, in collaboration with Whitehead members and professors of biology Eric Lander and Richard Young.
IMMUNE RESPONSE INITIATORS
Dendritic cells--among the first cells in the body to encounter infectious organisms--are key players in initiating an immune response. These cells arise in the bone marrow but migrate to and seed tissues throughout the body. Before dendritic cells encounter an infectious agent, they are immature and act as roving sentinels of the immune system. Upon an encounter with an infectious agent, the cell reaches maturity--capturing the infectious agent and processing it for presentation to the T-cell, thus initiating a cascade of immune events that fight infection.
"What we've discovered is that dendritic cell maturation--as a result of its recognition of a pathogen--is highly specialized," said Hacohen. "The dendritic cell fine-tunes its response based on the nature of the pathogen; for every pathogen, there is a specific set of genetic programs that are activated or not activated, which then impacts how the immune system as a whole reacts to the infectious agent. In this way, pathogens have taught us an important and useful lesson: it is possible to program particular immune responses through the activation of dendritic cells."
The Hacohen lab used Affymetrix DNA microarray technology to investigate at a genetic level how dendritic cells discriminate between pathogens. Also called DNA chips, DNA arrays consist of rows and rows of DNA probes mounted on a silicon wafer or glass slide. These "labs on a chip" allow scientists to study the activity or expression of thousands of genes simultaneously.
These arrays were used to identify genes involved in the dendritic cell's response to three common pathogens: a virus (influenza), a bacterium (Escherichia coli) and a fungus (Candida albicans). They looked for genes that were turned on or off in a dendritic cell after it encountered a pathogen, thus generating a snapshot of which genes were active during a dendritic cell's response to a specific pathogen.
Several clear results emerged from these studies. First, dendritic cells were able to activate genes that regulate several phases of the immune response--from the early and rapid defenses (neutrophils and macrophages) to the later, long-lived and potent responses (T and B cells).
Second, pathogens were able to guide activation of these dendritic cell genes, so that only particular arms of the immune response were induced by a pathogen. For example, E. coli was able to rapidly induce a set of genes that attracts neutrophils; however, influenza virus was not able to activate these genes. These results allowed the authors to conclude that the dendritic cell plays an important role as a messenger in the body: it senses infections in the body's tissues and carries instructions to the immune system to activate its different arms.
Hacohen said that only a small fraction of the identified genes may become targets for therapy but the larger set of genes does provide clues to finding the key players, or group of genes, involved in the tussle between the microbe and the immune cell. The most important task right now is to determine whether the responding genes are most beneficial to the life of the host or the pathogen.
"In this study, we have identified a large set of genes that are activated in the presence of pathogens. The next step is to determine what specific function those genes have in dendritic cells," said Hacohen. "In addition, we can now ask more meaningful questions about how these genetic programs get turned on and off, and use those insights to design better therapies."
The study was supported by grants from the Whitehead Institute Fellows Program, the Functional Genomics Consortium of Affymetrix, Bristol Meyers Squibb and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and by the Rippel Foundation and Hascoe Foundation.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 7, 2001. | <urn:uuid:02f038e1-3b29-48a8-bc6b-8b730adeac1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/immune-1107.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938895 | 1,280 | 3.609375 | 4 |
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The Challenge & Mission of Christian Women Today
by Helen Hull Hitchcock
No one would deny that Christian believers—especially women—face serious challenges today. Our faith challenges us to accept our mission as believing Christians living in a culture and in an age which is openly hostile to the fundamental tenets of our faith. It also requires that we meet those challenges to our faith that we will most certainly encounter with wisdom and with responsibility.
But challenges to our faith do not come only from the world outside Christianity—the “Areopagus,” as Pope John Paul II calls it in his encyclical on the Mission of the Church, Redemptoris Missio. In fact, one of the identifying features of the current period of Christian history is that a tremendous confrontation is coming— not from atheists, or pagans, or members of other religions—but from within the Church itself. Church life today is marked by the prevalence of dissent, the divisions and disunity which dissent brings, and the rejection of perennial Christian truths and essential Christian beliefs by people who describe themselves as Christians. All Christian bodies have been affected by this phenomenon. Persecution from outside can have the effect of strengthening faith: but dissension within divides and disperses its energy, and ultimately destroys faith.
It is not only or even primarily, of course, the smooth functioning of the Church as an institution which concerns us most deeply in the midst of this dissent; but also the Church as the Body of Christ comprised, as St. Paul tells us, of individual persons—of each believer. The souls of an entire people, of an entire age, are put in jeopardy by this kind of dissent.
The challenges to Christian women today loom on both fronts: inside and outside the Church. The challenge from outside may be described as cultural, and it confronts the family. The challenge from inside the Church is theological, and the most significant theological controversy is that of feminism. Christian women are called to face both the cultural challenge to the family and the feminist challenge to their faith in fulfilling the challenge of their overall mission as Christians.
The Challenge of Culture & Family
The family as the “fundamental cell of society” is the key to culture. The family is the essential link connecting the past with the future. Each family provides a living connection between inherited traditions and the future which we are in the process of creating. Indeed, a principal function of the family is to transmit received culture (including religious beliefs and moral principles) to their children, the new generation of the world’s inhabitants. If the family is weakened or broken—if this link, this umbilical cord, this connection which provides its dynamism, which nourishes it and gives it life and brings the wisdom of past centuries to birth in the living present, is severed—no culture can survive.
In our time, maintaining a vital connection to the past is made difficult for many reasons (e.g., social mobility, wars, ideological revolutions, secularization, and so forth). In our society the very process of change in itself has come to be seen as both natural and inevitable (which it is) and an unqualified good (which is debatable). The point of Christianity (and of atheistic ideologies, as well) is to affect the way in which things change.
In traditional Christian thought, change —conversion—which draws man closer to God is good. Those changes which do not, or which, in fact, lead away from God, are not. The conversion process—the means by which we become Christians—is secondary to the result. If we hope to evangelize society, if we hope to effect the conversion-for-the-good, we have to give our attention to what we hope to achieve by it. And this consideration will lead to different conclusions for Christians than for non-Christians and non-believers.
There can be no culture without faith—a body of beliefs held in common. Culture, by definition, demands a coherent worldview which its members understand and to which they give not only assent but also expression. This expression may be through literature, music, architecture, fine art, philosophy, social science, education, or politics. Authentic expression of culture is bound to reflect “cultural norms”: that is, those beliefs and moral and ethical principles which are (or have been) generally accepted by the members of a social group or society. Otherwise the expression cannot be an authentic manifestation of the culture.
Culture not only proceeds from a consistent worldview, but also requires the continual reaffirmation of the set of beliefs which comprise it—the continuous building, refining, explaining, enhancing of a system of thought—the enhancement of metaphysical assumptions. A culture, although based on individual perceptions of reality and predicated on specific experiences (including geography, time, and various factors, such as war, government, and so forth), must also be able to transcend the limitations of a particular time or place, as well as the limitations of individual persons. Culture’s reaffirmation, its enhancement, must likewise have the characteristic of continuity.
Counterculture is precisely that which seeks to challenge and even destroy the prevailing cultural givens. Yet counterculture depends for its startling or even scandalizing effect, for its revolutionary power, on the existence of an intact and prevalent worldview; on the presence of a commonality of beliefs about man and the world, man and the universe, man and God, and the ultimate meaning of human existence. Even so-called anti-art—art whose point is the rejection of aesthetic givens and/or to comment critically on the prevailing culture—depends entirely for its effect on the existence of a dominant or generally accepted culture. Its message is otherwise meaningless. This type of counterculture is simply reactive and has no life of its own aside from its parisitical relationship to cultural norms. This lack of a positive vision is shared by much of postmodern culture, including feminism.
A cultural revolution takes place when such an alien set of beliefs is deliberately imposed on a given society by its leaders. This can be done directly and suddenly, as in the case of the Communist revolutions in Russia and China. It also can be done indirectly, as in the case of the more or less gradual erosion or collapse-from-within of what used to be called Christendom—civilization based on Christian moral and ethical principles.
We now find ourselves, at the end of the second millennium, at the end, also, of Christian culture. Christian moral teaching, core Christian concepts about the meaning of human life, are being rejected and attacked openly by many of the world’s most influential people, including some who claim to be Christians. But even as the remnants of Christian culture continue to decline, we also see, paradoxically, a new countercultural activity of believing Christians who hope to revive the energy of Christianity as a belief-system in an environment which has become essentially non-Christian, or even anti-Christian.
The fact that the cultural force of Christianity has been all but lost to contemporary society creates a situation not entirely unlike that which existed in Europe in the waning days of the Roman Empire. Christianity today may be nearly as countercultural as it was to the pagans of Europe during the first millennium A.D. Its essential message is as alien to jaded post-Christians of the end of the twentieth century as it was to our pre-Christian ancestors of the third.
What must we do? The challenge for all Christians is articulated well by Pope John Paul II: “It becomes necessary . . . to recover an awareness of the primacy of moral values, which are the values of the human person as such. The great task that has to be faced today for the renewal of society is that of recapturing the ultimate meaning of life and its fundamental values.”
The countercultural role of Christianity has the advantage over its post-Christian usurper of having a positive message and vision of redemption based on truth. But tragically, just when it is needed most, fidelity to that vision within the Church to which it was entrusted is often lacking. And so it is necessary to recognize the challenge of feminism from within.
Feminism & the Mission of Women
Feminism, I have become convinced, presents the most sweeping and revolutionary challenge to Christian beliefs and principles, the single greatest impediment to authentic evangelization of the world, and the most lethal subversion of the Christian faith in the history of the Church.
I am not going to attempt to present here a list of the many theological, psychological, anthropological, sociological, and spiritual challenges of feminism. Most are well aware of the depth and scope of the feminist challenge and also are very conscious that this problem—and, to a large extent, its solution, as well—centers on each individual Christian—and especially on women.
Many Christian women have at some time been personally embarrassed, ashamed, or angered at what is often promoted and demanded in the name of the “rights” of our sex. It is outrageous that feminists stereotype believing Christian women who contradict feminist fundamentalism as victims of oppression too ignorant even to understand how we are victimized and oppressed.
Instead of critiquing feminism, or listing feminism’s countless hostile challenges to society and to the Church, I will focus on two basic challenges especially to Christian women at this moment in history. Feminism makes responding to these challenges to women dramatically necessary.
In his Apostolic Exhortation issued following the Synod on the Laity, Christifidelis Laici (The Lay Members of Christ’s Faithful People) Pope John Paul II notes two “great tasks entrusted to women”:
1. “First of all, the task of bringing full dignity to the conjugal life and to motherhood. Today new possibilities are opened to women for a deeper understanding and a richer realization of human and Christian values implied in the conjugal life and the experience of motherhood. Man himself—husband and father—can be helped to overcome forms of absenteeism and of periodic presence as well as a partial fulfillment of parental responsibilities—indeed he can be involved in new and significant relations of interpersonal communion—precisely as a result of the intelligent, loving and decisive intervention of woman.”
2. “Secondly, women have the task of assuring the moral dimension of culture, the dimension—namely of a culture worthy of the person—of an individual yet social life. The Second Vatican Council seems to connect the moral dimension of culture with the participation of the lay faithful in the kingly mission of Christ: ‘Let the lay faithful by their combined efforts remedy the institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an inducement to sin, that all such things may be conformed to the norms of justice, and may favor the practice of virtue rather than hindering it. By so doing, they will infuse culture and human works with a moral value’.”
The pope continues:
“As women increasingly participate more fully and responsibly in the activities of institutions which are associated with safeguarding the basic duty to human values in various communities, the words of the Council just quoted point to an important field in the apostolate of women: in all aspects of the life of such communities, from the socio-economic to the socio-political dimension, the personal dignity of woman and her specific vocations ought to be respected and promoted. Likewise this should be the case in living situations not only affecting the individual but also communities, not only in forms left to personal freedom and responsibility, but even in those guaranteed by just civil laws.
“. . . God entrusted the human being to woman. . . . precisely because the woman in virtue of her special experience of motherhood is seen to have a specific sensitivity towards the human person and all that constitutes the individual’s true welfare, beginning with the fundamental value of life. . . .”
Then the pope stresses the need for men and women to work together in unity both in the Church and especially in the formation of families and the education of children. This last has been a dominant theme running throughout Pope John Paul II’s works—beginning even before he was pope (in The Acting Person and Love and Responsibility). His trilogy on the Theology of the Body, his Apostolic Exhortations on the family, Familiaris Consortio, and on women, Mulieris Dignitatem, expand on these themes.
The Strategic Place of Women
Christian women and their families, then, are charged—and challenged—with the responsibility of transmitting a distinctly countercultural message to the society in which we live. It is our mission to affirm life within a culture of death—to affirm the essential moral teachings and ethical principles of Christianity. It is the Christian message which affirms what it means to be a man or a woman in this or any other society, and what it means to be a human being—in relation to other human beings and in relation to God. This message is, in essence, identical with the gospel message of love and of life which our Lord Jesus came to give us and that he suffered and died to bring us. Delivering this life-giving message is especially the vocation of women, because, as Pope John Paul II has said, God has entrusted the human being especially to women.
The ultimate challenge, the mission to which every Christian is called—a mission and a vocation conferred on us by our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church—is to bring his liberating truth into all the world. We must apply all our talents, energy, faith, hope and love to this end.
Given the collapse of Christian culture, the strategic role that women play in assuring the moral dimension of culture makes it inevitable that women must stand center stage. They remain in a vital position in the struggle to reconstitute Christian culture. The places in which small victories will accumulate into ultimate triumph over the forces of anti-Christianity (of which the feminists are but one phalanx), are not to be found in the academies or ecclesiastical offices of the churches that have been besieged and overrun by feminists and their allies. They are found in the home, the family, and the relationship of mother and child. These places have been dismissed by feminists as degrading arenas of servitude. Though sadly besieged and damaged by unchristian influences, they remain by and large under the control of Christian women. The women who embrace the challenge of family and faith stand in positions of greater power than any prelate or feminist ideologue. (Prelates are under the obligation to transmit received tradition accurately, not innovate. And ideologues ultimately must give way to the next ideological wave.) Such Christian women are in reality the strong ones, not paralyzed by feelings of victimization and weakness for which there is no real cure.
Our work must begin with the internal evangelization of the family—the source of life and the cradle of faith. We must—and can—begin to rebuild Christ’s Church from within the very heart of the “Domestic Church”—in every Christian home. To those for whom the family is too small a place, for whom the raising of children is not a socially-respected occupation, for whom the family and traditional parenting are quaint relics of an imagined misogynist past—to those and to us our Lord says plainly, “To such [children] belongs the kingdom of heaven. . . . Woe to him . . . who causes one of these little ones to stumble.” The challenge of culture and feminism to the Christian family is one that we dare not take lightly.
Contributing editor Helen Hull Hitchcock is the director of Women for Faith and Family and editor of its newsletter, Voices. She has written for Crisis, First Things, and edited The Politics of Prayer (reviewed in Touchstone, Winter 1994). She and her husband live in St. Louis, Missouri. | <urn:uuid:097595d0-eb49-41ad-b4bd-85e3a789db82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/print.php?id=07-03-023-f | 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 | 0.955286 | 3,295 | 2.34375 | 2 |
CINCINNATI - Some buildings sweep to the sky in eyecatching twists and turns, while the mirrored exteriors of others reflect surrounding landscapes.
Visions by such celebrated architects as Michael Graves and Daniel Libeskind will likely change the skylines of many American cities, as developers increasingly turn to designers known more for their work on museums and other public buildings than condominiums and luxury housing.
Today’s structural stars are creating condos with curves, glass enclosed elevated walkways, glass expanses and other flourishes that in previous decades were reserved for office towers. Some in the architectural community see the burst of creativity as a renaissance in urban residential building.
‘‘I think there is a new awareness in this 21st century that design is as important to where and how we live as it is for museums, concert halls and civic buildings,’’ says Libeskind, who designed the landmark Jewish Museum in Berlin and won the competition to create the master plan for the new World Trade Center in New York City.
Libeskind has designed a crescent-shaped, 21-story condominium complex — The Ascent — that will give the appearance of sweeping upward in a flourishing curve of mirrored glass against the backdrop of the Cincinnati skyline. Construction, which is expected to top $40 million, is to begin this year at along the Ohio River in Covington, Ky.
‘‘Having a noteworthy architect’s name on a project also makes it unique and individual, so that if the market goes bad or softens up, we will be a notch above competitors,’’ says Craig Nassi, president of the Denver-based BCN Development LLC, which is building the 38-story Aura condominium in Sacramento, Calif.
In recent decades, urban condo design has largely tended to be more sedate and less imaginative than commercial office buildings and cultural institutions. Developers of residential buildings have often gone with designs that were more economical to build, especially as urban residents continued to migrate to the suburbs. While some cities such as San Francisco and New York have been innovative with urban loft spaces, much of the urban landscape has continued to be dominated by more traditional, often boxlike, brick apartment and condo dwellings.
‘‘There was no heart or soul to it,’’ Ronnette Riley, chairwoman of the committee on design of the American Institute of Architects, says.
The demand for high-rise condominiums has increased as land becomes scarce and property values rise, and developers are looking for ways to make their buildings stand out in the urban residential market.
‘‘Our region has come to grips with the future,’’ says Gary Stonehouse, Sacramento’s recently retired planning director. ‘‘We either could continue suburban sprawl or focus on more intense urban development. Eventually, you run out of land and freeway lanes.’’
Developers count on the names behind what they hope will be eye-catching, fingerpointing designs: Libeskind; Graves, who designed the Walt Disney Co. headquarters in Burbank, Calif.; Richard Meier, known for the Getty Center; and Ralph Johnson, whose resume includes the Boeing World Headquarters.
Graves is designing a condominium hotel for Donald Trump in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that will feature a curvilinear design and art deco windows, while Meier is doing the Beach House, a nearly allglass structure in Miami Beach, Fla., and a new 16-floor condo tower in New York with an exterior of mostly glazed glass and steel. Johnson is the architect of the planned Signature Place, a 35-story complex of residential units and office and retail space to be built for $125 million in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The glass residential tower resembling a huge sail will soar above an attached fivestory parking garage. The garage is topped by a landscaped park bigger than a football field and a pool that will create the illusion of a waterfall cascading down the side of the garage to a commons area below. Prices will range from around $350,000 to more than $4 million for the grand penthouse.
At Covington’s The Ascent, units go from about $395,000 for a single-bedroom condo to about $1.5 million for the penthouse, says Debbie Vicchiarelli, senior vice president for developer Corporex Cos.
The costs don’t seem to be keeping buyers away.
In Denver, at least 75 percent of the units in the Libeskind-designed Museum Residences were sold before construction began. In two Meier-designed condominium towers in New York, units are now resold for millions of dollars. The laminated glass and metal-paneled towers feature floor-to-ceiling windows that reflect the rippling waters of the Hudson River far below.
The projects are aimed especially at single professionals and baby boomers whose children have grown, such as Steve and Nancy Frank, who are considering moving to the Covington complex since their son has graduated from college.
‘‘We no longer need a big house and the burden of maintaining it and a yard,’’ Steve Frank says. ‘‘At The Ascent, we would be within minutes of the symphony, art galleries, great restaurants and my office.’’
‘‘Materials and our ideas of space are changing, and our taste is changing,’’ says Jay Chatterjee, professor of architecture and planning at the University of Cincinnati. ‘‘People are tired of the traditional box-type buildings.’’ | <urn:uuid:9c8a8f06-adac-494b-a5f6-3a1eb3fec222> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/money/article_6f965786-2f4c-577e-acfa-2f792e7db5c5.html?mode=story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949368 | 1,177 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Our thoughts appear to collapse infinite potential into infinite energy made to appear as material we call 'matter'. In reality, no atoms exist - matter is only vibration. This is the science that David presents in his conferences.
And I believe it is in complete agreement with what is presented in ACIM and also his personal spiritual system called 'The Law of One'.
This is similar to the effect of vibrating a viscous fluid (such as sand and water) with sound waves that form 'shapes' on the surface (aka Cymatics). In reality, those shapes only appear to exist - and eventually lose their form once the vibrations (i.e. 'thought projections') cease. The shapes take on various forms and change over time according to the frequency of the vibrating source.
The forms tend to rearrange themselves into geometrical structures and even appear to create more complex structures as the frequency increases. But in reality, these shapes only appear to be there - the fluid simply molds into those shapes as a result of the frequency of the sound sent to it. (i.e. our 'beliefs').
In this analogy, God (or Everything) is the fluid and our bodies appear to exist as a result of a 'vibrating frequency'. Notice that this model does not state that we are simply the vibrating fluid, but instead states We are the 'dreamer of the dream' - i.e. We are Source - or the sender of the vibration.
We do not exist in the shapes but instead experience them as 'real' by projecting our thoughts into the form via belief.
Once we remove our beliefs (our projections of our beliefs), our 'thought frequencies' change and forms appear to change. None of this affects Who We Truly Are since we are not IN the form - but only 'believe' (or project thoughts into) the form. In reality, we are far beyond the simple shapes (bodies) we believe we inhabit - we are beyond all time and space - and we are beyond all matter and energy.
We are Everything - EXACTLY the same as our Creator.
There is no world. There is no separation. There is only the One Infinite Creator (i.e. Everything) viewing itself subjectively through extensions of Itself which It has 'projected' into Itself. We call these extensions 'individuals'.
These 'individuals' are identical to the One Infinite Creator in all respects and have been endowed with equal potential and equal power because infinity has no limits and would never impose limits upon It's extension.
These 'infinite extensions' are EXACTLY like the One Infinite Creator and are given complete freedom to choose to experience anything they want. However, since Truth can NEVER be false, playing a Mind game of 'could the false ever be true?' can seem to produce an experience of separation - an impossible thing.
So we have the impossible appearing to not only be possible, but through the power of our beliefs, now appearing as 'real', inevitable and unchangeable.
But this need not be. We need only be willing to be shown the Truth. We must be willing to be wrong in order that the Truth may be shown upon us like the Ray of Light our One Infinite Creator intended for us to Be.
Our beliefs are all powerful and we have hidden behind a veil of forgetfulness imposed upon ourselves by ourselves. The One Infinite Creator is not aware of the 'shapes' we have formed upon Infinite Potential - He (for the lack of an appropriate pronoun) only sees His Extension as Perfectly playing with thoughts of projection (vibration). This veil of forgetfulness can be lifted at any time, but will not be removed until such time as we are willing to 'give up' our beliefs that we are right.
If we had ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had eggs. Belief permeates into our most subtle creavices. One must quiet the mind and reach a complete state of 'stillness' or silence in order to remember/experience Truth. Otherwise, the thoughts (projections of vibration) fill the Mind with desires long since forgotten - although presently experienced.
If we suspend enough belief, matter will return to our awareness as simply 'infinite potential' or 'infinite energy'. But we must be willing to suspend ALL beliefs in order to 'see' the Truth.. Otherwise, we merely project our beliefs onto infinite potential/energy and matter appears to be what we 'expect' it to be.
Thus, "As you believe, so it is for you."
Our beliefs and desires seem to make infinite potential (i.e. energy/matter) appear to be 'real' only because we believe so strongly it is true. But thankfully, just because we believe something strongly does not make it true. And all of our beliefs can only mold potential into illusion while we believe we exist in time. (which we do not).
There is no time. There is only NOW. And there is no world.
In reality, there are no atoms, no electrons, no particles, no molecules, no bodies, no world and no separated anything.
There is only Everything - undifferentiated formed into what we 'see' by belief.
Releasing our beliefs through the quieting of the seemingly separated mind awakens the One Mind to the reality that there is no separated individual anything - only the One Infinite Creator. | <urn:uuid:e0662463-8380-4d9b-a205-aaf94d32c963> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.divinecosmos.com/index.php/start-here/larrys-corner/larry-articles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943005 | 1,121 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Valles Marineris, the grand valley of Mars named after the Mariner program which first took close-up images.
Click on image for full size
Image from: USGS
Next to the Tharsis Ridge is Valles Marineris, a very long canyon of Mars.
As can be seen in the image, many huge ancient rivers extend toward the top of the image. The three Tharsis
volcanoes (dark red spots) are visible on the leftmost edge of the image. To the south are the highlands; very ancient ground, covered by many craters.
Better images returned by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft allow a closer look of this unusual canyon. These images show slopes descending steeply to the north and south
debris-filled gullies. These gullies look a lot like canyons on Earth.
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How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other explanations with which they are more comfortable....more
This image, taken from the Mars Global Surveyor mission (MGS), shows the Tharsis Ridge, the green/blue area in the middle of the picture, as well as a portion of the southern hemisphere of Mars. The green...more
Mars doesn't seem to have very much water. If Mars had lots of water life could survive there. There seems to be *some* water because clouds, fog, and icy polar caps are seen on Mars today. There are also...more
The surface of Mars can be broken into two parts, the highlands and lowlands. The highlands are in the southern hemisphere (the bottom of the picture). The lowlands are in the northern hemisphere of Mars...more
Over the course of time there are many things which can cause the surface of a planet to change its appearance. winds slowly wear away the surface. weather & water, which cause a planet's surface to be...more
This is an example of the cratered surface of Mars. Almost all of the surface of Mars is covered with craters. Craters can be wiped out over time, so a surface which has many craters is very old. The lowlands...more
The mission of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS for short) is to map the surface of Mars from space. MGS is also looking at the atmosphere of Mars and the weather of Mars. MGS and the Mars Pathfinder (MPF for...more
This view of Valles Marineris shows debris-filled gullies very much like canyons on Earth. The layered rocks seen in these images indicates that there may have been a complicated and active early history...more | <urn:uuid:990b3c29-753d-421e-94bf-c3d7634c6c34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.windows2universe.org/mars/interior/Valles_Marineris.html&edu=elem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947952 | 630 | 3.9375 | 4 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Groundwater is any water found below the land surface. It is found in aquifers, in the pore spaces of rocks, in unconsolidated sediments, as permafrost, and as soil moisture. Groundwater flows to the surface naturally at springs and seeps and can form oases or swamps. It may also be tapped artificially by the digging of wells. The study of the distribution and behavior of groundwater is hydrogeology.
Groundwater is a long-term 'reservoir' of the natural water cycle, as opposed to short-term water reservoirs like the atmosphere and fresh surface water. It is naturally replenished from above, as surface water from precipitation, streams, and rivers infiltrates into the ground. It is estimated that groundwater is fifty times that of surface freshwater.
Groundwater is often contained in aquifers, which are subterranean areas (or layers) of permeable material that channel the groundwater's flow. Aquifers can be confined or unconfined. If a confined aquifer follows a downward grade from a recharge zone, groundwater can become pressurized as it flows. This can create artesian wells that flow freely without the need of a pump. The top of the upper unconfined aquifer is called the water table or phreatic groundwater, where water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure.
The region between the land surface and the water table is called the unsaturated or vadose zone ("vadose" is Latin for "shallow"). Within the vadose zone water is held to soil particles by adhesion (funiculary groundwater) and in pore spaces by capillary action (capillary groundwater).
Problems with groundwater
Groundwater is a highly useful and abundant resource, but it does not renew itself rapidly. If groundwater is extracted intensively from water wells, as for irrigation in arid regions, it may become depleted. The most evident problem that may result from this is a lowering of the water table beyond the reach of existing wells. Wells must consequently be deepened to reach the groundwater; in some places in India, the water table has dropped hundreds of feet due to over-extraction. A lowered water table may, in turn, cause other problems such as subsidence.
The film of ground water around particles of an aquifer of unconsolidated sediment actually holds the particles apart, and the removal of this water will compact the sediment. Thus the aquifer is permanently reduced in capacity, and the surface of the ground may also subside. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana is actually below sea level today, and its subsidence is partly caused by removal of ground water under it.
Generally (but not always) ground water flows in the same direction as the slope of the surface. The recharge zone of an aquifer near the seacoast is likely to be inland, often at considerable distance. In these coastal areas, a lowered water table may induce sea water to reverse the flow toward the sea. Sea water moving inland is called a saltwater intrusion. Alternatively, salt from mineral beds may leach into the groundwater of its own accord.
Sometimes the water movement from the recharge zone to the place where it is withdrawn may take centuries. When the usage of water is greater than the recharge, it is referred to as mining water. Under those circumstances it is not a renewable resource.
In India and Bangladesh, a drop in the water table has been associated with arsenic contamination. It is thought that irrigation for rice production since late 1970s resulted in the withdrawal of large quantities of groundwater, which caused the local water table to drop, allowing oxygen to enter the ground and touching off a reaction that leaches out arsenic from pyrite in the soil. The actual mechanism, however, is yet to be identified with certainty.
Not all groundwater problems are caused by over-extraction. Pollutants dumped on the ground or in landfills may leach into the soil, and work their way down into aquifers. Movement of water within the aquifer is then likely to spread the pollutant over a wide area, making the groundwater unusable. Areas of karst topography on limestone bedrock are especially vulnerable to surface pollution. Sinkholes and underground caverns allow direct groundwater flow without the filtering effect of a permeable aquifer. See environmental engineering and remediation.
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:52131be2-9145-4999-adad-ca3c7e9a0fee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Groundwater | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949301 | 926 | 4.03125 | 4 |
Yes, that can unfortunately easily happen to an otherwise harmonious pair when they are moved, or just even by re-decorating their tank
Do you have any fishes you can move to their tank as dither- or target fish? It sometimes helps, that the dominate has other fishes to spread his aggression on, instead of spreading them out the partner and it also strengthens the pair bond between the two
If things runs totally out of control, you could move the dominate fish for a while and give the other (properly the female) some time to recover from the moving and if it´s the female, time to produce some eggs, so she is ready when he returns
Another solution I´ve used a couple a times with X. spiloptera, is to lay their tank in complete darkness, covering it with towels or a blanket, for a couple of days
I’ve stopped keeping the bi-parental Xenotilapia by themselves in their own tanks, for the same reason – one of my X. sp. “fluorescent green” males is extremely nasty towards the female, and if there were not any tankmates he could chase instead of her all the time, I’m sure he would kill her.
Good luck with them | <urn:uuid:798f121f-d4a1-487d-a9e6-6d20dc3c9fec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cichlidae.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3259 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965312 | 264 | 1.648438 | 2 |
If you are hunting for a terrific graduate-level text in microeconomic theory, pick up Varian's 3rd Ed. Microeconomic Analysis. The book is rigorous, but not at all overwhelming, and is replete with the kinds of exciting results that made you major in economics as an undergraduate. Moreover, the book is concise -- the author seems to recognize that taking a long time to explain relatively straightforward concepts is not a way to endear onesself to one's readers. (Unlike a certain very large and cumbersome graduate microeconomics textbooks that came out recently.)
I saw some comments about the book requiring topology. I beg to differ -- while the math requirements are nontrivial, they are not so severe as topology. Anyone with a good background in linear algebra and multivariate calculus will find the book approachable. A course in rigor and proof, such as "Foundations," might be useful, but one can pick up such details from Varian's text itself. Differential equations and Real Analysis help, but are by no means essential.
This is a terrific text for graduate and highly advanced undergraduate economics students. However, I suspect many graduate business students will find the mathematics unweildy and perhaps a bit unnecessary for their purposes. | <urn:uuid:1627d1c6-2fac-4ac4-96eb-9f30ed8461d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microeconomic-Analysis-Hal-R-Varian/dp/0393957357 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964828 | 255 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The effort to complement students' natural abilities begins at an early age and continues throughout their time at a Waldorf school. It is encouraged by the curriculum and supported by the fundamental understanding that a child's strength should not become their weakness because of one-sided development.
Understanding Waldorf Education
Just as Waldorf schools honor the natural development of the human being in determining the academic curriculum, the physical education program, "games," springs from this same understanding. In a culture where organized team sports hold such high status, children can come to think of movement only in those terms. The Waldorf games curriculum cultivates basic coordination and movement skills in children that will help them if and when they decide to play organized sports. Above all, the approach to games and movement at the Waldorf School of Orange County is dynamic—growing out of a belief that spatial awareness and intelligence as well as a joy of physical movement are essential components of living a full and balanced life. In their own journey through the grades, students will explore movement activities ranging from imaginative or strategic games to tackling challenging obstacle courses and finally to competitive games. This multifaceted program provides the opportunity for children to truly play as they develop their skills. The games program teaches the students to play with each other before they play against each other, to acknowledge each other, to play safely, and to gain an appreciation for all kinds of movement. The games program enables students to move fully and enter into a more healthy relationship with the world and its requirements.
In the early years, healthy movement is fully integrated into the kindergarten day through circle games, imaginative play, time in nature and purposeful work.
In grades 1 through 4, physical education is taught through various games to help develop spacial awareness. Physical activity, incorporating both gross and fine motor activity, is emphasized through games using imagery, story, rhythm and imitation.
In grade 5, there is a focus on the nobility of sport, on the beauty and form of physical movement. This distinctly mirrors the academic curricular emphasis upon ancient Greece in this year and, in the spring, the fifth graders participate in our pentathlon of Greek Games (javelin, discus, long-jump, wrestling and running), meeting with other Waldorf schools from Southern California and the Southwest.
Reflecting the curriculum of grade 6, students participate in Medieval Games, again meeting with other Waldorf schools from the region.
In grades 7 and 8 more conventional sports are introduced into the physical education curriculum and track-and-field meets are held with other area Waldorf schools. Now the children have a real respect for rules and understand how a team works together. At the same time, they are developing their own self-discipline and competitive nature. In these years, students also begin to consciously work toward developing a balance in their lives that incorporates a healthy level of fitness. Students chart their own progress through a teacher-guided program in which they keep track of various dynamic exercises and running. Students at this age aspire to a finer exactness, technique, timing and spirit of the law, as they also become more aware of the world. It is this holistic development of an understanding of, confidence in, and utilization of the physical self that the Waldorf games curriculum beautifully honors and hones as a means of preparing children to become active, strong, energetic and aware in all dimensions of their futures. | <urn:uuid:f0191227-9c4b-457d-a7a8-1d2cfc207454> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.waldorfschool.com/games | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960206 | 686 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Nebraska Wind Farms
Existing and Proposed Wind Projects
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Existing Nebraska Wind Farms
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Map of Existing and Proposed wind projects in Kansas (PDF-447 kb), Source: Kansas Energy Information Network, July 2009.
Ainsworth Wind Farm
Brown County, Nebraska - This 59.4 MW project came on-line in 2005. RES Americas served as the EPC construction contractor, while it is owned by Nebraska Public Power District. It consists of 36 Vestas V82, 1.65 MW wind turbines. The project is located around 6 miles south of the town of Ainsworth.
Elkhorn Ridge Wind Farm
near Bloomfield, Knox County, Nebraska - This 81 MW project came on-line in early 2009 and is comprised of 27 Vestas V90, 3.0 MW turbines. The project was developed by Midwest Wind Energy LLC and is owned by Edison Mission Group and the Tenaska group, with power sold to Nebraska Public Power District. The wind farm consists of 27 Vestas V90 (3.0 MW) wind turbines.
The Wind Project at Kimball
Kimball, Red Willow County, Nebraska - A 10.5 MW project of the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) came on-line in November 2002.
Flat Water Wind Project
Richardson County, Nebraska -
A 60-MW project that was developed by juwi Wind (formerly JW Prairie Wind Power LLC of Lawrence, KS), but bought out by
Gallop Power of Austin, TX and later
Gestamp Wind North America of Houston (with the parent
company in Spain). This 60-MW
project went on-line in December 2010 and consists of 40 GE 1.5 MW turbines. RES Americas
handled construction, while the power
is sold to
Omaha Public Power District via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
Laredo Ridge Wind Energy Project
Boone County, Nebraska - Laredo Ridge Wind Farm LLC, a project of Midwest Wind Energy LLC and Edison Mission Group, signed a 20 year PPA with Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD). The 80 MW project went on-line at the end of 2010. (April 2011)
TPW Petersburg Wind Project
Boone County, Nebraska - The 40.5 MW TPW Petersburg Wind farm was developed by Third Planet Windpower of Incline Village, Nevada. This project consists of 27 GE 1.5 XLE-ESS wind turbines, the power of which is purchased by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD). In December 2011, Gestamp Wind North America acquired the project The project qualified as C-BED and came on-line date in November 2011. enXco Service Corp. announced in February 2012 that they signed an Operations and Maintenance Agreement with the wind farm. (February 2012)
Broken Bow Wind Project
Custer County, Nebraska - This project was originally started by NPPD in 2008 and later awarded to Midwest Wind Energy LLC in 2009 through a bid process. Midwest Wind completed development of the project and later sold it to Edison Mission Energy. The 80 MW project is located just east of Broken Bow, and came on-line in October 2012. The project consists of 50 GE 1.6 MW turbines and is now owned by Edison Mission Energy. Wanzek Construction was the Balance of Plant (BOP) contractor.
The power purchasers for this project will be: NPPD - 47 MW, OPPD - 18, Lincoln Electric System - 10, the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) - 4, and the City of Grand Island - 1 MW.
Benefits: According to a news report, construction activities at this project created an estimated $5.6 million in state sales tax revenues. Over the completed project's 25-year life, it will provide nearly $900,000 in annual property tax and state income tax revenues plus and additional $540,000 in lease royalty payments to the landowners. (October 2012)
Crofton Bluffs Wind Farm
Knox County, Nebraska - This project was a joint effort between NPPD and Edison Mission Group. There are 22 Vestas V90 wind turbines - some sized at 1.8 MW and others at 3 MW - at this site. In all, the project is capable of producing 42 MW of power. From this project, NPPD will take 20 MW, Omaha Public Power District 13 MW, the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska four, and Lincoln Electric System three. This wind farm will be on-line by the end of 2012. (August 2012)
Proposed Nebraska Wind Projects
Prairie Breeze Wind Project
Antelope & Boone Counties, Nebraska - Invenergy is in the process of developing a 200 MW, 133 turbine project that will be the largest wind farm in Nebraska. In October 2010, it was announced that the Nebraska Power Review Board granted the project conditional approval to allow export of power from this project. In December 2012, it was announced that the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) had signed a PPA to purchase power from this project. The agreement would cover 25 years and gives OPPD the option to purchase the project after 10 years (when the tax credits, which publicly-owned OPPD is not eligible to use, expire). NPPD is also eyeing a PPA with Invenergy for up to 75 MW of power. While the wind farm is scheduled to be operational by January 2014. (January 2013)
Conestoga Wind Project
Cass Counties, Nebraska - This project is under development by Midwest Wind Energy LLC. The project is expected to be around 80 MW. (April 2011)
Cherry County Wind Project
Cherry County, Nebraska - A 100 MW wind farm filed for interconnection in the Southwest Power Pool in Spring 2010. The developer and other details of the project is not yet known by KEIN. (May 2010)
Broken Bow II Wind Project
Custer County, Nebraska - Broken Bow II will be the second phase of to the Custer County project. This phase was also developed by Midwest Wind Energy LLC. NPPD will purchase 30 MW of this power, while OPPD will purchase 45 MW. This phase will have a capacity of 75 MW and has an estimated cost of around $110 million. It is likely that this project will be built in 2013, now that the PTC has been renewed. (January 2013)
Dawson County Wind Project
Dawson County, Nebraska - Geronimo Energy is in the process of developing a wind farm in Dawson County. A meteorological tower has been collecting data at a site seven miles northeast of Farnam. The proposed wind farm will span 20,000 acres between Highways 21 and 47 and include around 50 towers producing 100 MW of power. Geronimo Energy plans to have the project ready by 2015-16. (August 2012)
Rattlesnake Creek Wind Project
Dixon County, Nebraska - TradeWind Energy of Lenexa, Kans. is working on a 200 MW project in NE Nebraska near the towns of Allen, Emerson, and Wakefield. They currently estimate this project to be ready in 2012. The Impact Analysis of this project, through the Southwest Power Pool, is complete and the project remains on-schedule. (October 2012)
Volkswind Nebraska Wind Project
Gage and Jefferson Counties, Nebraska - Volkswind USA, a German company with a U.S. office in Portland, OR, is in the process of developing a 100 MW project along the Gage and Jefferson County border in SE Nebraska. Development for the project began in 2009 when Volkswind began working with a landowners group consisting of 65 families called 136 Wind Energy Group. It's not currently known by KEIN whether this project is the same as the Jefferson County project described below. (October 2012)
Steele Flats Wind Project
Jefferson & Gage Counties, Nebraska - NextEra Energy Resources plans a 75 megawatt project in Jefferson and Gage counties. The project will contain 44 turbines and will interconnect to the grid at a substation near Steele City. The power from this project will be purchased by NPPD and construction will begin in 2013. This is likely the same project that filed for interconnection with the Southwest Power Pool in early 2011 near Steele City with a projected December 2013 on-line date. (February 2013)
Johnson County Wind Project
Johnson County, Nebraska - This 60 megawatt project of Invenergy received Special Use Permits by the Johnson County Commission in March 2012. The project is expected to consist of 37 turbines and will be located the towns of Sterling and Crab Orchard. (April 2011)
Madison County Wind Project
Madison County, Nebraska - A 100.5 MW wind farm filed for
interconnection in the Southwest Power Pool in early 2010. The developer and
other details of the project is not yet known by KEIN.
North Fork Wind Project
Knox & Cedar Counties, Nebraska - This project was developed by Midwest WindEnergy LLC. The project is expected to be around 1,200 to 1,500 MW in size. (April 2011)
Burr Ridge Wind Project
Otoe Counties, Nebraska - This project is under development by Midwest Wind Energy LLC. The project is expected to be around 80 MW in size. (April 2011)
Thayer County Wind Project
Thayer Counties, Nebraska - Aether Energy LLC (also known as Aksamit Resource Management) of Texas has put up multiple met towers in Thayer County, one a mile NE of Byron, along Highway 8, just north of the Kansas border. In October 2012 they received a determination of no hazard for a met tower East of Byron, perhaps the same one as reported in June 2011. (October 2012)
Wayne County Wind Project
Wayne County, Nebraska - A 99 MW wind farm filed for
interconnection in the Southwest Power Pool in Spring 2010. This is
likely a project of Way Wind LLC of Madison, Wisconsin. In June
2011, it was announced that Way Wind and Nordex USA were teaming to
develop a project between 99 and 120 MW. The developer and
other details of the project is not yet known by KEIN.
Winside Wind Project
near Winside, Wayne County, Nebraska - A 120 megawatt project filed for interconnection with the Southwest Power Pool in early 2011. The planned location is near Winside and lists a December 2012 on-line date. As of August 2012, this project was pending an impact analysis. (August 2012)
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The current URL is www.kansasenergy.org/wind_projects_Neb.htm | <urn:uuid:9797f373-3f1d-4097-a915-0f568bed48e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kansasenergy.org/wind_projects_Neb.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92894 | 2,467 | 1.851563 | 2 |
The year was a memorable one – looking back at the unforgettable images over the past 12 months, you might think of apocalyptic-looking clouds over Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy, or Mitt Romney’s children mistakenly standing in a line spelling out the word “MONEY”, or even the winning US Powerball lottery ticket that became the most shared picture on Facebook. There’s only one problem. All these images are fake.
It would be fine if we could dismiss these images as a fleeting joke, an amusing but harmless tidbit shared among our friends and followers, if it weren’t for the fact that our minds appear to have a curious but fundamental glitch. People tend to think of their memories as a transcript, a rough history of events from some early age until the very moment they are experiencing. But human memory is far more like a desert mirage than a transcript – as we recall the past we are really just making meaning out of the flickering patterns of sights, smells and sounds we think we remember.
For decades, researchers have been exploring just how unreliable our own memories are. Not only is memory fickle when we access it, but it's also quite easily subverted and rewritten. Combine this susceptibility with modern image-editing software at our fingertips like Photoshop, and it's a recipe for disaster. In a world where we can witness news and world events as they unfold, fake images surround us, and our minds accept these pictures as real, and remember them later. These fake memories don't just distort how we see our past, they affect our current and future behaviour too – from what we eat, to how we protest and vote. The problem is there’s virtually nothing we can do to stop it.
Old memories seem to be the easiest to manipulate. In one study, subjects were showed images from their childhood. Along with real images, researchers snuck in doctored photographs of the subject taking a hot-air balloon ride with his or her family. After seeing those images, 50% of subjects recalled some part of that hot air balloon ride – though the event was entirely made up.
In another experiment by Elizabeth Loftus, one of the pioneer researchers in the field of altered memories, researchers showed people advertising material for Disneyland that described one visitor shaking hands with Bugs Bunny. After reading the story, about a third of the participants said they remembered meeting or shaking hands with Bugs Bunny when they had visited Disneyland. But Bugs Bunny doesn't live in Disneyland – he's a Warner Brothers character. None of those people had ever met Bugs, but seeing images of him and reading the story made them remember something entirely fabricated.
Childhood memories may be the easiest to manipulate, but recent, adult memories are at risk too. In one experiment, researchers asked participants to take part in a gambling task alongside a partner. When they came back for the second part of the experiment, they were shown doctored footage of their partner cheating. Despite not actually having seen their partner cheat, 20% of participants were willing to sign a witness statement saying that they had. Even after being told that the footage was doctored, participants sometimes recalled the cheating that never happened. “They say things like ‘I remember seeing it, I saw them taking too much money’,” says Kimberly Wade, a memory researcher from the University of Warwick, who carried out the study.
Of course, people aren’t walking around doctoring false images of your childhood or your recent past, but you've probably seen thousands of doctored photographs in your lifetime without you knowing it. From advertisements to political campaigns, altered and faked images surround us every day. Restaurants make their food look more appetising, magazines make their models skinnier and blemish free, colleges and politicians splice people into photographs to make their students and crowds look more diverse.
In political campaigns especially, faked images show up again and again. In one famous photograph that surfaced during the 2004 US election campaign, Senator John Kerry is sitting next to Jane Fonda, with the caption explaining that both Kerry and Fonda were at a Vietnam war protest. The New York Times cited the image, and many anti-Kerry blogs and sites displayed it prominently. The problem is, the photograph is a fake. John Kerry and Jane Fonda were never at any anti-war protest together – someone had combined two different photographs. | <urn:uuid:9593bb7e-14a0-48ee-812a-bba3e388f513> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121213-fake-pictures-make-real-memories | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966832 | 895 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine.
Lies, damned lies, and science-based medicine? (David Gorski) A study by John Ioannidis reminded us that “most published research findings are false;” we take this into account when interpreting studies. In recent articles, critics have distorted Ioannidis’ message in an attempt to discredit science-based medicine, implying that it is hopelessly flawed. SBM’s flaws are not hopeless and there is no other system that can begin to compete with it.
Energy Bracelets: Embedding Frequencies in Holograms for Fun and Profit (Harriet Hall) Several companies are selling bracelets, cards, and other products that supposedly improve strength, balance, and sports performance. They say that beneficial frequencies embedded in a Mylar hologram somehow interact with a mythical body energy field. Their explanations are laughable pseudoscience and their demonstrations of effectiveness are simple musculoskeletal parlor tricks.
Blog Discussion with an SBM Critic (Steven Novella) Marya Zilberberg has criticized science-based medicine in a blog-to-blog discussion with Dr. Novella. Her misguided accusations are regurgitations of CAM propaganda and are full of logical fallacies She attacks what is really a straw man misrepresenting the SBM position.
Fatigued by a Fake Disease (Scott Gavura) Vague, nonspecific symptoms like fatigue are being diagnosed as “adrenal fatigue” on the basis of an unvalidated questionnaire and questionable lab tests. There is no such disease. The fake diagnosis may interfere with getting appropriate care for a real diagnosis, and unnecessary treatments could cause harm.
Corporate pharma ethics and you (David Kroll) An insightful historical review of the complexities of the recent Avandia case illustrates how pharmaceutical companies are constantly having to make tough financial and clinical decisions. If you try to imagine yourself in their shoes, you will realize that it is overly simplistic to label them as evil profiteers. We need to protect the worldwide drug discovery effort while finding ways to minimize bias, conflicts of interest, and unethical behavior. | <urn:uuid:d3a463b0-e04a-4a12-93f0-d6929a794e82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/component/content/article/3-newsflash/1133-last-week-at-science-based-medicine.html?fontstyle=f-default | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917616 | 469 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Final Thesis Statement: To Simulate an Ecosystem
An exploration in the potential to create a simulated ecosystem as the basis for a game.
I am interested in creating games that have value beyond entertainment. The knowledge gained in this exploration is applicable to a game I have been designing. The purpose of the game is to model the complexities of resource management and building in a dynamic environment where all components are interconnected.
My final prototype integrates an interactive brush tool. When the user clicks and drags the mouse the will remove resources. Immediately, the resources begin to flood into the empty space. With this tool users can subtly change the layout of the map similar in the way the players of the game would remove resources. It is an early interactive prototype. I would like to add a variety of brushes as well as other additional functionality.Link to: Final Paper and Final Presentation. | <urn:uuid:3775cfb4-9754-4fc3-ac04-a744a76893b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yg.typepad.com/computation08/joe_mauriello/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936683 | 177 | 1.617188 | 2 |
All colour is drained from the world and the land is dark. We walk the bounds of the village where we live on this arm of rock that stretches out into the sea. Across the cloud filled sky the lighthouse sweeps its path of light from Strumble Head to home. Three pulses and a pause, three pulses and a pause. Strange heart-beat of light. Pixie walks too and then is lifted and held in Her hand like a hawk in the night. From the west another arm of light cuts across the sky.
If we were sailors at sea the light would warn of dangerous coasts, rocks and peril. Even here the steady rhythm gives comfort in the darkness. | <urn:uuid:afa006ad-0755-473d-9586-60b3aa4ec9bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wethreecats.blogspot.com/2008/10/night-lights.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958812 | 134 | 1.625 | 2 |
Slugs are doing very well; in truth I can't recall a better slug summer. The wet April and June mean the slugs and snails are out feasting when they would usually have retreated deep underground to avoid the desiccating sun. The little meadow on the edge of Woodnewton is alive with a cornucopia of slugs, many small and juvenile. The buttercup flowers are ragged; some have petals entirely chewed off. Even the softer parts of the tough false oat-grass leaves are being grazed, leaving stripped khaki patches. The cow parsley is burdened with many snails, chiefly the stripy brown-lipped snail, the blackish, clay-coloured strawberry snail and the Kentish snail – pale with a reddish wash near the shell mouth and brown mottling underneath.
Slugs are rather amorphous blobs and despite their familiarity we rarely pay them proper attention. In recent decades our slug fauna has changed greatly with the introduction and spread of new arrivals such as the Spanish slug, invasive slug and worm slug. There are now 33 species of slug in Britain, and while some – such as the huge ash-grey slug – are quite easy to identify, others are not.
Different species of slugs have very different habits. The garden specialists, feeding on our flowers and vegetables, thrust themselves into our consciousness, but many slugs are not garden inhabitants; for instance the beautiful lemon slug lives only in damp, ancient woods, and the black slug resides on misty heaths and moors. Even in gardens many slug species feed mainly on decaying matter, recycling nutrients back into the soil. The ubiquitous field slug, 3cm long, cream and speckled, is commonest on the Woodnewton meadow, but there are also mid-sized ginger slugs and one I would once have confidently called a tree slug but am now less sure: could it be a new arrival, the three-banded garden slug? | <urn:uuid:355968ec-d94f-4826-903f-c4ba6b00b1f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/the-northerner/2012/jun/20/woodnewton-northamptonshire-a-slugs-life | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96681 | 409 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Holiday albums seem to run the gamut from the utterly banal to the truly inspired. There are classics of the genre, among which I would nominate the London Symphony for orchestral perfection at rendering traditional carols; any of several Mormon Tabernacle Choir recordings for choral versions of the same; and perhaps Andy Williams' album from the 1960s for smooth pop vocals of many more recent compositions.
One of the most original and ultimately satisfying holiday efforts was the Kingston Trio's 1960 album The Last Month of the Year. Unlike many other pop artists, some of whom in their holiday albums got way out of their depths in attempting songs that they could not do or crassly altered carols to fit into their pop or rock styles, the KT stayed squarely within their power zone of folk-type music and created a classic album by both presenting genuine folk carols like "Somerset-Gloucestershire Wassail" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" (link to last year's Christmas post with some comments on carols in general) and presenting less familiar (to U.S. audiences) folk carols from our country and around the world, often with unusual instruments like the bouzouki. I loved these, especially the spiritual "Go Where I Send Thee," "Follow Now, O Shepherds" from Spain, "Sing We Now Noel" from France, and most especially "All Through The Night" from Wales.
This lovely song is one of several numbers from the Welsh language that have broken through the language barrier to become in translation part of the folkways of English-speaking peoples ("Men of Harlech" would be my nominee for #2 in this category). The Welsh, of course, are an ancient and fiercely independent Celtic group, the last remnant of the ancient Brythons who were driven from their country by the invading Saxons fifteen hundred years ago - and in all that time, they have never given up their national flag, identity or language. Or, I might add, their music - one of the most common remarks I noted on YouTube versions of "All Through The Night" was the plea "Nice, but can't you sing it in Welsh?"
The air to the song known originally as "Ar Hyd Y Nos" is a very old harper's tune that dates back hundreds of years and was published as early as the mid-1700s. But the lyrics with the Christmas theme were added in the nineteenth century by beloved Welsh poet John Ceiriog Hughes, and the English words that we know were rendered apparently very loosely from Hughes.
The KT's version demonstrates their skill with genuine three part harmony, and its fidelity to the original and no-frills instrumentation belie the critics who said that the group could not deliver traditional songs in an authentic and meaningful manner:
Now, back to the source song. Here's the Men's Choir of Wales singing Hughes' words - the number (like "Harlech") is a standard for groups like this:
Welsh-born tenor pop star Aled Jones gives it a go with full chorus in 2002 - ruggedly masculine and beautiful:
The great American baritone Paul Robeson brought his operatically-trained voice to bear in this stately version:
Next, a different take on the song from jazz/blues/pop legend Nancy Wilson - this is non-traditional but somehow works for me:
By way of contrast, Olivia Newton-John (with Michael McDonald)gives the song that breathy treatment we hear so much on American Idol - not my cup of tea at all, but McDonald's harmony partially redeems this version:
Finally, an informal, almost home video of current British pop and folk singer Meinir Gwilym singing in a pub with Anwen Jones - this intimate version is just so right:
So a Merry Christmas to all, remembering the spirit of the season from the man who expressed it best, Charles Dickens - "It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!" | <urn:uuid:be8c1c7c-ed1c-43d9-a78d-dafa52202cd2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://compvid101.blogspot.com/2009/12/for-season-2-all-through-nightar-hyd-y.html?showComment=1324700790319 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964068 | 868 | 1.992188 | 2 |
FoodProductionDaily.com caught up with Realco at the recent IPA trade show in Paris to discuss biofilms and the company’s breakthrough in tackling these slime layers that pose a constant contamination threat for food processors.
Olivier Fain, the firm’s biofilm production manager, explains why biofilms are such a problem in processing facilities and what its innovative enzymatic solution can do to combat the hazard.
Biofilms are layers of slime that stick to surfaces and are highly resistant to conventional cleaning methods. They pose a permanent menace as they release microorganisms into the environment and provide new sticking points for contaminants. As well as obvious food safety implications, their presence can also trigger in-plant efficiency and profitability problems.
The Belgian company’s solution has been to develop BIOREM, a special enzyme that destroys biofilms and removes them from processing surfaces. It not only fits in with current cleaning practices but also represents a major advance plant cleanliness, he said. | <urn:uuid:3983916c-f542-442e-a981-05a4609893d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Processing-Packaging/Biofilm-busting-enzyme-boosts-plant-hygiene | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94687 | 205 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Harlan County, USA
Harlan County, USA is a 1976 documentary film documenting the efforts of 180 coal-miners on strike in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1974. It was directed by Barbara Kopple , who has long been an advocate of workers' rights. Harlan County, U.S.A. is less ambivalent in its attitude toward unions than her later American Dream.
Kopple and her crew spent years with the families depicted in the film, documenting the dire straits they put themselves through striking for higher wages: following them to picket in front of the stock exchange in New York, filming interviews with people affected by black lung disease, and even catching an attempted murder on tape.
The film won the 1976 Academy Award for Documentary Feature and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The events are also been dramatized in the 2000 TV movie Harlan County War .
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:8f61a1d1-f55d-4a9c-ba67-7ad21e95df6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Harlan_County%2C_USA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95627 | 228 | 3.125 | 3 |
The Case Against Reincarnation
By Webster, James
Customer review: At last, a long awaited study of the controversial subject of reincarnation and its bedfellow karma. Hitherto, books on the subject have generally supported reincarnation as a reality. James Webster's new book challenges most eloquently alleged cases of reincarnation which to some offers part explanation of the purpose of life.
The author quotes cases of spirit overshadowing, spirit attachment, false memories and the frailty of hypnotic regression which can be confused with evidence of reincarnation or past lives. Sometimes these manifestations are of a third person in the Spirit World projecting thoughts of their past life through the aura of the unwilling subject in the present.
Webster also quotes from the research of numerous intellectuals from the fields of philosophy, psychiatry and science along with contributions from the pioneers of spiritualism and psychical research, past and present. Most interesting are accounts of the work of Dr. Carl Wickland, an American psychiatrist whose work in spirit attachment is becoming recognised in modern psychiatry. Dr. Wickland helped patients who had been mentally disturbed by confused thoughts of being reincarnated or holding attachments of persons in spirit attempting to reincarnate. This milestone book is a must read and represents a definitive reference for students of spiritualism and philosophy.
Grosvenor House Publishing, May 2009. ISBN-10: 1906645930 ISBN-13: 978-1906645939 | <urn:uuid:0892e79d-ddae-4fbb-8d16-23edfe393f83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.spr.ac.uk/main/publication/case-against-reincarnation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921468 | 289 | 1.796875 | 2 |
What are clouds? Many millions of little drops of water or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body, and held in place around it by gravity, like interstellar clouds and nebulae in space. On Earth, they are normally made up of water vapour. Dense clouds reflect 70% to 95% of the visible range of wavelengths, which is why they appear to be white, at least from the top.
Water droplets within clouds scatter light efficiently, so that levels of solar radiation decrease as light descends through the cloud cover depth, leading to the sometimes dark appearance at the base of the clouds. Thin clouds can seem to have acquired the color of their background and when illuminated by non-white light, such as sunrise or sunset, can seem multi-
coloured. They can take some awesomely attractive shapes as the following pictures demonstrate.
Shelf clouds are low, horizontal wedge-shaped structures, associated with a thunderstorm gust front, or sometimes with a simple cold weather front. Shelf clouds are always attached to the base of the parent clouds above them.
Roll clouds occur during similar weather patterns as shelf clouds. Cool air sinking from a storm cloud’s downdraft spreads out with the leading edge called a gust front. This outflow undercuts warm air being drawn into the updraft, and as cool air lifts, the warm water condenses creating a cloud which often rolls in harmony with different winds blowing both above and below it.
Where stable moist air flows over a mountain or a range of mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves may form on the downwind side. Lenticular clouds sometimes form at the crests of these waves.
Mammatus clouds are pouch-like structures and a rare example of cloud formations in sinking air. Though they can seem very threatening, these clouds are not harbingers of severe weather to come. In fact, this type of cloud formation is most often seen after a thunderstorm has passed over.
So-called "jellyfish clouds" form at around 17,000 ft up in the atmosphere, due to a rush of moist air coming from the Gulf Stream getting trapped between layers of dry air. The top of the cloud rises into a jellyfish shape and long tentacles known as “trailing virga” form from rain drops that have evaporated. These are amazing to see.
Mushroom clouds form as a result of the sudden formation of a large mass of hot low-density gases near the ground creating what is called a "Rayleigh-Taylor instability". The rapidly rising volumes of gas result in a kind of whirlpool effect, drawing up a column of additional smoke and debris in the centre to form its “stem”. These clouds form normally through volcanic eruptions or impact events. The cloud reaches an altitude where it stops being more dense than the surrounding air and disperses, the central debris scattering and drifting back down to the ground.
Nacreous clouds are extremely rare and referred to as mother-of-pearl clouds. They form 9-16 miles up in the stratosphere, well above tropospheric clouds. These structures shine brightly in high altitude sunlight up to two hours after ground level sunset or before dawn. The incredible spectacle of the bright iridescent colours relative to any clouds below them make these cloud formations truly an unforgettable sight.
You may well not see all of these awesomely beautiful cloud formations in your lifetime, but is it not reassuring to know that, however artistic and imaginative humanity can be, nature can always go one better? | <urn:uuid:f6772329-5bff-48e9-b3f6-446a0d9726bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-different-kinds-clouds?image=7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939277 | 733 | 4.09375 | 4 |
04201_000_027This year presents the wonderful opportunity for each of us to receive great blessings by studying the Doctrine and Covenants—a marvelous book of revelation that was written in our day and for our day.
Sometimes referred to as the Lord’s handbook of the Restoration, the Doctrine and Covenants contains “the tender but firm voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking anew in the dispensation of the fulness of times.” 1
Many members have already discovered a great love for this book. One sister said, “The specific revelations to individuals in the Doctrine and Covenants are helpful. I feel I can relate to them.” Another commented, “The Doctrine and Covenants helps me relate to situations I’m facing because it is not so ancient.” One brother said, “I like the Doctrine and Covenants because it helps me understand the priesthood.”
We testify that the Doctrine and Covenants is truly the Lord’s voice in our time to each child of God and that great blessings come to those who study it. We also offer four suggestions to make your study this year a rewarding experience and suggest some ways in which Sunday School can help.
Read the Book from Cover to Cover
The Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Class Member Study Guide encourages members to “read the Doctrine and Covenants from beginning to end” 2 during 2009, as well as to complete each Sunday’s reading assignments, which are arranged by topic.
Studying in this manner helps us understand the context of the sections studied as well as the sections themselves. It also prepares us to participate in a rich discussion in Sunday School class—which, in turn, will provide added insight and inspiration for us to use in our personal and family lives.
In your daily scripture study, you may find it helpful to set aside one or two days each week to preview specifically what will be discussed in class and then continue your reading of the Doctrine and Covenants from beginning to end.
Read with Questions in Mind
Brother Renzo Molly Barrios Matias, of Guatemala, learned the power of using scripture study to receive personal revelation for his own life.
“After Hurricane Mitch passed through Central America in 2001 and left everything in desolation, I had many questions,” he says. “Seeking answers, I went to a friend I greatly respect. He said, ‘Read the scriptures. You will find the best answers to your questions in them.’
“This revolutionized my life,” says Brother Matias. “After studying the scriptures for quite a long time, I began to find answers to my questions. I was able to see that my life did have meaning. It was then that I decided to serve a full-time mission.”
Soon Elder Matias was serving in the Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission, helping others discover the power of scripture study.
Reading with specific questions in mind invites the Lord to inspire and direct us in our challenges and opportunities. You may want to write down questions to prayerfully include in your scripture study. As you receive answers, you may feel inspired to share that insight in Sunday School. Class members are edified as they hear one another appropriately bear witness of how the Lord uses the scriptures to provide personal guidance and inspiration.
Search for Connections, Patterns, and Themes
An example of a connection in the Doctrine and Covenants is the link between our obedience and promised blessings. “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (D&C 82:10). Our scripture study becomes more meaningful as we recognize this connection and resolve to act on what the Lord has commanded us to do.
One pattern in the Doctrine and Covenants is woven into the very nature of the book itself. As the introduction indicates, “These sacred revelations were received in answer to prayer, in times of need, and came out of real-life situations involving real people.” 4 The revelations were personal and answer specific questions concerning things that Heavenly Father knew would “be of the most worth” (D&C 15:6; 16:6) to each individual. 5 This pattern of seeking and receiving personal revelation is one that we can follow in our own lives.
One of the most common themes in all of scripture is “Seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (D&C 88:63). Themes such as this encourage us to accept greater responsibility for our own learning as we read and ponder God’s words.
While the Doctrine and Covenants doesn’t always read as a story, it is woven together with connections, patterns, and themes. One of the blessings of discussing scripture together in Sunday School is that we become more aware of these insights as we share our own and listen to the insights of others.
Seek to Be Edified and Rejoice Together
The Lord has said that when Church members both learn and teach one another by the Spirit, “both are edified and rejoice together” (D&C 50:22). Powerful gospel teaching and inspired learning occur when teachers and learners understand that the real teacher in any Church class is the Holy Ghost and that classroom participation invites the Spirit to bear witness.
In the February 2007 worldwide leadership training on teaching and learning, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles invited us to assume greater responsibility for learning the gospel. He then demonstrated how inspired teachers can invite class members to become active rather than passive participants in class discussions.
Elder Holland said, “If we will help the learner assume responsibility for learning, and if we will testify of the truths that we have taught, God will confirm to our hearts and to the hearts of our students the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” 6
As class members prayerfully study during the week and then together read from the scriptures and share insights, the Holy Ghost will bear witness and carry “unto the hearts” (2 Nephi 33:1) of each class member specifically what he or she needs to know and do (see 2 Nephi 32:3–5).
A Personal Invitation
As we study and learn from the Doctrine and Covenants this year, our faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will be strengthened and our testimony of Joseph Smith as God’s prophet of the Restoration will increase. The Lord will open our understanding, and the scriptures will become an even more integral part of our lives. 7
At the beginning of this new year, we invite you to join with us as we joyfully “search these commandments [in the Doctrine and Covenants], for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled” (D&C 1:37).
Studying the Study Guide
As we use the Class Member Study Guide in our studies before coming to Sunday School, it will help us be better prepared to “teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom” (D&C 88:77). The study guide contains a variety of study resources:
An introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants.
The weekly scripture reading assignments and scripture study chains.
A brief Church history chronology.
Maps showing the location of important places in Church history.
Faith-promoting questions to encourage gospel discussions.
A copy of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.”
Powerful gospel teaching and inspired learning occur when teachers and learners understand that the real teacher in any Church class is the Holy Ghost and that classroom participation invites the Spirit to bear witness.
Photo illustrations by Craig Dimond
Explanatory Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants.
Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Class Member Study Guide (1999), Introduction, 3.
See David A. Bednar, “A Reservoir of Living Water” (Church Educational System fireside for young adults, Feb. 4, 2007), www.ldsces.org.
Explanatory Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants.
For other examples of specific personal revelation, see D&C 7–9; 11–12; 14–17.
Jeffrey R. Holland, “Teaching and Learning in the Church,” Liahona, June 2007, 73; Ensign, June 2007, 105. The broadcast is available in several languages at www.lds.org. Click on “Gospel Library,” “Additional Addresses,” then “Worldwide Leadership Training: Teaching and Learning.”
See Joseph Smith—History 1:73–74. After being baptized, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were “filled with the Holy Ghost.” Their minds were then “enlightened, [and they] began to have the scriptures laid open to [their] understandings.” | <urn:uuid:078bd067-73e1-4d58-afcb-3a53625ffe6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/ensign/2009/01/enriching-your-study-of-the-doctrine-and-covenants?lang=eng&media=audio | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945447 | 1,885 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Bobbie Kalman, Anne Rosenberg. Nigeria the Culture. The Lands, Peoples and Cultures Series. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2001. x + 32 pp. $7.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-86505-329-8.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Akingbola (School of Teaching and Learning--Language, Literacy and Culture Social Studies/Global Education, The Ohio State University)
Published on H-AfrTeach (February, 2002)
Nigeria the Culture
Nigeria the Culture
This book on Nigerian culture is another book in the Land, Peoples and Cultures Series. This text provides a good introduction to Nigerian culture. It begins by describing Nigeria as a mix of cultures with over 470 different ethnic groups. Traditional religious beliefs are depicted accurately. The text provides information about Islam and Christianity in Nigeria. Pleasantly, readers learn that Nigerians often combine traditional religious beliefs with Islamic and Christian teachings. Key festivals and celebrations are discussed, notably the Oshun Festival, Ramadan and the Yoruba Naming Ceremony. As a reference, the text would benefit by suggesting the following website: http://www.si.edu/folklife/vfest/africa/start.htm. This website provides additional information about a Yoruba naming ceremony held in Washington, D.C. a few years ago. It can be used to help students and teachers see how traditional cultural practices in Nigeria have survived in the Diaspora. Vibrant, colorful photographs accompany the entire text but are particularly gratifying to the eye with respect to Nigerian art and crafts. An array of musical styles are presented, but the text does not take advantage of the opportunity to discuss how these styles have influenced music in other parts of the world--namely the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States.
The book provides a good discussion of language and literature in Nigeria. On page twenty-eight, readers will learn that over 400 languages are spoken in Nigeria. Specific attention is given to the three dominant languages of Nigeria: Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. A chart provides students with translations in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba of basic English greetings and introductions. Students learn that Nigerians do not only speak several languages, but are introduced to a practice called "code switching." In addition, students learn about two prominent Nigerian authors, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. The text concludes with a beautiful illustration and story of a Yoruba creation myth. A good resource for examining Nigerian culture. I recommend using this text with upper elementary students.
Points of Concern: the book's coverage of polygyny is rather brief and does not provide contextual information about this marital practice. From reading the description about polygyny, it implies that men are the beneficiaries of this practice. What is not discussed is that men who are polygynists must be able to provide and spend quality time with all wives and children equally, meaning that they must provide housing, education, food, healthcare etc., for all of their dependents. In addition the text fails to reveal that the practice of polygyny was an economic and historical necessity when economic production was family-based and that the labor-intensive nature of the primary agricultural production of the family meant that the larger families could produce more and be more prosperous. Also students do not learn that polygyny is no longer as popular a practice as it once was due in part to the influence of Christianity and the economic constraints of having larger families. Furthermore, while polygyny is practiced in Nigeria the book fails to mention that most men in Nigeria are monogamists, meaning that they only have one wife.
While the book provides a good description of everyday clothing in Nigeria it would be useful to provide visual images of such clothing--i.e. a wrap-around skirt, sashes for carrying babies etc. Lastly, the book is rather sexist with regards to exposing students to Nigerian literature. The literary works of Buchi Emecheta would be a nice addition. Overall, I would recommend this book for students and teachers interested in learning about Nigerian culture.
Reviewer's Overall Impression of Series
I would recommend this series primarily as a supplemental resource. Good for a country study of Nigeria. I suggest using other supplemental resources for the purpose of enhancing what is covered in the books, especially as it relates to Nigeria's ethnic diversity and the current/past.
If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the list discussion logs at: http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl.
Elizabeth Akingbola. Review of Kalman, Bobbie; Rosenberg, Anne, Nigeria the Culture.
H-AfrTeach, H-Net Reviews.
Copyright © 2002 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:18e0f4d5-6793-40bb-8466-e25e3a216f47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=5974 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926184 | 1,072 | 3.59375 | 4 |
While women’s lives around the world have improved dramatically, gaps remain in many areas, including water and sanitation. For example, a recent study in 44 developing countries found that women carry water more often than men by a ration of nearly 2 to 1. Time is but one cost. There are many. How can we draw more attention to gender issues in water and sanitation ? Perhaps through drawings.
The World Bank/WSP 2012 Calendar combines illustrations, humor, and data to focus attention on the role of gender in developing countries’ ability to ensure improved water and sanitation services for all citizens. Gender is also the focus of the World Bank’s 2012 World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development .
Take a look. Images are worth a thousand words– and they can speak on behalf of billions.
Comments and feedback on the calendar are welcome at firstname.lastname@example.org.
See Related Content: | <urn:uuid:eb0c492f-8f46-4629-89e7-5870911e417a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/focusing-attention-on-the-critical-role-of-gender-in-water-and-sanitation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946599 | 187 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Empty Quarter. Film screening & presentation with filmmakers Pam Minty & Alain LeTourneau
Free and open to the public.
Empty Quarter (2011, 16mm black & white/sound, 71 minutes) is a film about the region of Southeast Oregon, an area populated by ranching and farming communities, in Lake, Harney, and Malheur counties. The region is roughly one-third of Oregon’s landmass yet holds less than 2% of the state’s population.
Southeast Oregon, though familiar by name is a foreign place, particularly to those who reside in urban environments. It is a landscape in the making, constantly undergoing change, being re-worked. It is a highly politicized landscape, evoking differing opinions concerning resource management and land use. It is also a landscape that is, despite some beliefs, rich with diversity, as seen by the presence of East Indian and Japanese families, ancestors of Basque sheepherders, home to the Paiute tribes people, and to Latinos who have come to help work the land.
Empty Quarter departs from a documentary form that utilizes “talking head” interviews and “B-roll” or “cut-away” images tied together with occasional narration. The film instead presents stark portraits, waiting to be explored and digested by the viewer. Meaning is extracted in the slow process of accumulation and measured response. Through a series of stationary shots, recording open landscapes and the activities of local residents, Empty Quarter reflects on the character of the region. Natural areas are viewed among images of industry, various labor processes, resource management and recreation. Voices of local residents describe the history of pioneer settlement, social life of rural communities and the struggles of small town economies.
Pam Minty and Alain LeTourneau are Portland, Oregon based media artists. They co-founded 40 Frames, a 16mm conservation and advocacy organization that maintains the web resource 16mmdirectory.org, houses a collection of 16mm prints, and provides technical services to artists and organizations. Pam and Alain's film/video work has been exhibited at Anthology Film Archives, Images Festival, Margaret Mead Film Festival, Portland Art Museum, University of Chicago Film Studies Center, Vancouver International Film Centre and other venues throughout North America. Empty Quarter is their first co-production, and has been self-distributed since its release in 2011.
Requests for reasonable accommodations may be made to Conference & Events Office, (503) 725-CONF, e-mail:email@example.com or the Disability Resource Center, (503) 725-4150, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org. In order to ensure that reasonable accommodations can be provided in time for this event, please make your requests as soon as possible. | <urn:uuid:ebe3e8a1-57ff-4005-a3ff-98a413b104da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pdx.edu/tutoring/event/empty-quarter-film-screening-presentation-filmmakers-pam-minty-alain-letourneau?delta=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939675 | 578 | 1.875 | 2 |
109th Airlift Wing flies a cold-comfort mission to Antarctica
Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
GLENVILLE, N.Y. — Two hulking ski-equipped planes, each carrying a crew of six, lifted off Tuesday from Stratton Air National Guard Base for the first leg of a five-day, 11,000-mile trip to the southern coast of Antarctica.
The aircraft, 45-ton LC-130 Hercules, or "Skibirds," are the latest to make the flight to support ice and climate studies by the National Science Foundation. The Glenville-based 109th Airlift Wing, which flies the only ski-outfitted aircraft in the U.S. military, has been flying missions to the South Pole for 24 years.
From the 109th's base just north of the Mohawk River, the planes will fly to California, then island-hop from Hawaii to the Samoan capital of Pago Pago to New Zealand, and then make their final descent on a wide-open stretch of arctic ice and snow. The planes will then be based at McMurdo Station, an Antarctic research center at the southern tip of Ross Island.
Deployed for one to two months at a time, the crew members — about 120 will make the trip this season as six planes will rotate crews every 30 to 60 days — will ferry fuel and supplies to scientists around the icy continent and maintain the only aircraft in the South Pole capable of reaching remote outposts.
But the crews also will help in case of a crisis, like they did in January when a plane from the 109th transported seven Vietnamese and Indonesian fishermen who were badly burned in a boat fire on the Ross Sea to a hospital in New Zealand.
An Air Force plane had been scheduled to pick up the fishermen but could not land due to bad weather. So a 109th Skibird was called on to make the 2,400-mile flight to Christchurch instead.
The 109th has aided in several other rescue missions, including a 2008 flight for an Australian researcher who suffered a broken leg. In 1999, Guard members carried out a risky mission to get a researcher back to civilization after she had treated herself for breast cancer for months at her outpost.
Most of the 109th members have made multiple trips to the South Pole. Lt. Colette Martin has been four times.
"It's an amazing experience," Martin said. "There's nothing else like it."
The Guard members will fly more than 350 missions across the continent, amassing more than 3,000 hours of flight time in 16 weeks. They'll work in 12-hour shifts, six days a week.
Parts of the South Pole where the crews will operate are high above sea level, and temperatures can dip well below minus-50 degrees, cold enough to freeze fuel.
McMurdo Station, however, was built on one of the lower, warmer portions of the continent. Monday's high there was 0 degrees Fahrenheit — minus 17 with the wind chill — according to weather.com.
"Sometimes it gets above freezing," Lt. Col. Cliff Souza said. "Maybe even around 40." | <urn:uuid:1134a757-1dcf-4716-8c46-354137660cd3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stripes.com/news/us/109th-airlift-wing-flies-a-cold-comfort-mission-to-antarctica-1.193396 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958706 | 650 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Photo courtesy Walther
FEATURED IN TACTICS AND WEAPONS
German firearms company Walther has been in business for almost a century and a half. Starting out as a manufacturer of high-end sporting long guns, Walther introduced its first semi-automatic pistol around the turn of the century. Since that time, Walther has made a number of top-quality pistols, several of which have become historical classics, such as the 9mm P-38 that replaced the famed Luger as the official sidearm of the German military during WWII, and James Bond s .32-caliber Walther PPK.
The company s latest addition is the PPS (Police Pistol Slim), which is a very compact, polymer-frame, semi-auto available in both 9mm and .40 S&W, a serious step up in power from Walther s earlier hideout handguns. Similar in size to the PPK, the PPS keeps its weight low by employing a polymer frame.
Depending on which magazine you use, the 9mm comes with a capacity of six, seven or eight rounds, and the .40 offers one less round for each magazine. Like the Walther P99, the PPS uses a pre-cocked, striker-fired system that reduces the number of parts used, making the gun simpler to disassemble and maintain.
One noteworthy feature: Removing the backstrap will render the pistol inoperable for safe storage and also offers a different grip configuration for different size hands. While disassembling the PPS, Walther suggests removing the backstrap instead of pressing the trigger to release the action, which would certainly eliminate any involuntary discharge.
But what really sets the gun apart from similar models is its trim profile. With a width of just 1 inch at the slide-stop lever (its widest point) the PPS is quite slim. The 3.25 barrel keeps the gun to an overall length of just over 6 inches. The PPS weighs just 19 oz., so the gun will be very easy to carry for long periods of time.
The three magazines offer not only different capacities but add to the length of the PPS grip frame. The six-round magazine sits flush with the bottom of the grip. The seven-round magazine offers a small pinky rest reminiscent of the classic PPK. The eight-round version has an even bigger floor plate that will probably prove popular among those with large hands.
Many shooters can make the speed load look easy, but there s a large amount of practice behind a quick magazine exchange, especially when using a slim single-stack magazine. Precise alignment is necessary, and any movement on the part of the gun or magazine hand will mess up the action. Having a pinky finger hanging out in space complicates this, as does pinching the hand between the magazine and grip frame as it slams home.
These drawbacks can be overcome, but it will take some practice, so understand the downsides of extreme compactness before buying. And don t underestimate the amount of control the pinky finger offers. While it s true you hold the pistol in place with the middle finger, the ring and pinky fingers help cam the muzzle down during recoil.
As stated earlier, the PPS is a striker-fired gun, and it s similar to the Glock in several ways. The trigger offers a safety lever in the middle of its face deactivates when you seat your trigger finger on it. The action is smooth with a bit of stack, and breaks at 6.5 lbs. The reset is short with a length of travel just under .5 inches.
The PPS trigger action is easy to use, but it was a bit sluggish initially. Happily, after several hundred rounds, the gun smoothed out and ended up with a surprisingly good trigger. Not match grade, mind you, but very useable for a defensive firearm.
In reality, I didn t like the PPS initially, but after shooting the gun for an afternoon, it ended up being a very satisfying pistol. This is not the first time I ve worked with a gun that required a break-in period.
Accuracy was good from the beginning. I started my testing by shooting 3 inch dots at 10 yards from an unsupported, two-hand stance. Both Hornady 124-grain XTP and Extreme Shock 115-grain Enhanced Penetration Rounds (EPR) grouped nicely.
I was feeling pretty good about the gun, so I moved back to 25 yards and attempted the same test. I was quite encouraged with the Extreme Shock rounds, placing seven rounds into the head region of a Riposte-1 silhouette target with five of the seven touching. The Hornady rounds also grouped well with a vertical line that measured 3 inches long.
The three-dot sights that come standard on the PPS are very low profile but very visible. It helped that the sights, which consist of a trim front sight combined with a wide rear window, allowed me to get more target information around the front sight. The rear sight is dovetailed in place, and the front sight is held in place via a slotted screw you can access after removing the slide and barrel.
The PPS is equipped with an ambidextrous slide-release lever instead of a single side button. The lever is nicely blended into the contours of the trigger guard, making it quite snag resistant, but I found it difficult to release the magazine regardless of whether I used my thumb or index finger. In the end, I had to use my middle finger. Admittedly, I have very small hands. Those with normal to large hands and won t have this problem.
Like the P-99, the PPS features a rail on the dust cover for mounting short rail lights and lasers. The slide-stop lever is located at the rear of the frame and has a ridge around it to keep you from inadvertently engaging it.
The PPS field strips similar to a Glock: You must unload the gun and then disengage the trigger in order to remove the side assembly from the frame. Once the steel slide is removed, you can see the metal chassis that houses the internal components.
These parts appear robust and simple. The recoil spring and guide-rod assembly is a dual-spring design that helps reduce both felt recoil and continuous battering of the slide on the frame. The system works quite well, making the muzzle flip on the short-barreled PPS negligible. This system will be greatly appreciated in the .40-caliber model, and they also make for a very reliable gun. The PPS worked flawlessly throughout 500 rounds of varied 9mm ammunition, including some old lead reloads I still had on hand.
The Walther PPS will make a large number of officers happy who currently carry a striker-fired duty gun and want something compact, light and thin to carry for backup or off duty. The PPS will be quite at home on the beat in a pocket or ankle rig, or tucked away under a light jacket or shirt while shopping at the mall with your significant other.
The Walther PPS 9mm Compact
- Caliber: 9mm or .40 S&W
- Length: 6.3 inches
- Height: 4.4 inches
- Width: 1.04 inches
- Barrel length: 3.2 inches
- Sight radius: 5.4 inches
- Weight: 19.4 oz.
- Action: Striker fired-precocked
- Frame: Black polymer
- Light and thin making it easy to carry and conceal
- Easy to maintain
- Consistent with many striker-fired guns
- Available in both 9mm and .40 caliber
- Some will consider the grip too short
- The slide sits tall in the hand compared to other guns
2100 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104 | <urn:uuid:8c019074-51d2-4218-b2f3-da45646a2a77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lawofficermagazine.com/article/magazine-feature/walther-pps-9mm-compact | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945855 | 1,616 | 1.570313 | 2 |
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High-Interest, Non-Fiction Titles Make Digital Debut on Storia as Teachers Nationwide Seek Quality Titles to Help Meet the Requirements of Common Core State Standards
NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children's publishing, education and media company, today announced an agreement with the UK based publisher, Arcturus Publishing Limited, to offer a selection of their internationally celebrated non-fiction titles on Storia®, the classroom-based, teacher-recommended eReading app for kids. A collection of children's nonfiction reference ebooks ranging from art, to modern history, science, nature and magic will be available for purchase by teachers and parents on Storia, through Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs beginning in June 2013.
Available for free download on iPad, PC, and select Android tablets (with more platforms to come in 2013), the Storia eReading app, is designed exclusively for children with a personalized approach to helping them become better readers. Storia offers thousands of titles for kids from toddlers through teens with more content being added weekly. Storia was recognized by Warren Buckleitner with the "Editor's Choice Award" for children's eBook.
"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Arcturus to Storia and to offer their titles for young children to enjoy reading digitally," said Jenny Frost, SVP ePublisher and eBook Strategy, Scholastic Book Clubs and Ecommerce. "With the new Common Core State Standards being implemented into schools there is a need for more non-fiction books for kids, and Arcturus' unique collection is ideal for our school market and Storia app."
"This is an exciting time for young readers who are experiencing reading through different platforms and we are excited to bring our titles to them in digital format on Storia," said Ian McLellan, CEO of Arcturus. "For 20 years we have been creating titles that inform, inspire and entertain, and that remains our ambition in today's growing and changing publishing landscape."
The Storia eReading app is designed to meet the needs of a 21st Century classroom, giving teachers the support and tools they need to keep their students motivated and excited to read. Teachers using Storia can access the free Spotlight on Storia, a teacher's guide to using Storia in the classroom. The guide offers how-to videos that showcase students and teachers using Storia in small groups, as a whole-class activity and on an interactive white board. Spotlight also provides teachers with free booktalks and discussion guides to use with Storia ebooks, and other downloadable teaching materials and activities to supplement Storia books.
Scholastic is currently working with several other top publishers to offer their front- and backlist titles on Storia.
For more information about Scholastic, visit our media room at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.
The online press kit for Storia is available at: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/storia.
Arcturus Publishing is a leading, independent UK packager and publisher. For 20 years Arcturus has been publishing books that appeal to a broad, international market. Our books aim to combine excellent content, attractive design, great production values and exceptional value for money. Our non-fiction ranges cover reference, practical art, new age, classics, puzzles and children's books and we now have more than a 1,000 active titles in our list. For more information visit www.arcturuspublishing.com
©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:c15d4e60-d974-4f19-b78b-4a386aac915d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfsb.com/story/21424394/storia-the-teacher-recommended-ereading-app-for-kids-created-by-scholastic-to-offer-non-fiction-titles-from-uk-publisher-arcturus | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934559 | 798 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Paternity leave is the time a father takes off work at the birth or adoption of a child. This kind of leave is rarely paid.
A few progressive companies offer new dads paid time off ranging from a few days to a few weeks. And in 2004, California became the fist state to offer paid family leave. (If you work in that state, you may be able to take up to six weeks at partial pay to care for your new baby.)
Washington and New Jersey have also passed paid family leave laws, and other states have considered similar bills. In the meantime, though, most fathers take vacation time or sick days when their children are born, and a growing number of new dads are taking unpaid family leave from their jobs to spend more time with their newborns.
Start by talking to your company's human resources department. Many employers are required by federal law to allow their employees (both men and women) 12 weeks of unpaid family leave after the birth or adoption of a child under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). At the end of your leave, your employer must allow you to return to your job or a similar job with the same salary, benefits, working conditions, and seniority.
You're eligible if you meet both of the following conditions:
There are a few exceptions: Your employer can deny you this leave if you're in the highest paid 10 percent of wage earners at your company and can show that your absence would cause substantial economic harm to the organization. In this case, your employer isn't required to keep your job open for you.
Another exception is if you and your partner both work for the same company. In this case, you're only entitled to a combined 12 weeks of parental leave between the two of you.
Even if you're not eligible under the FMLA, you may still be eligible for leave under your state's provisions, which are usually more generous than the FMLA, or under your company's policy.
Your company may require that any paid leave you take count toward the 12 weeks allowed under FMLA. But some states allow you to take the full 12 weeks in addition to whatever paid leave you've taken and, of course, individual employers may also allow this.
You can use your unpaid leave in any way you want during the first year after your child is born or placed with you. That means you can take it all at once or, as long as your employer agrees, spread it out over your child's first year by taking it in chunks or reducing your normal weekly or daily work schedule. | <urn:uuid:24a706a7-5946-4070-873a-09819e23daad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.babycenter.com/0_paternity-leave-what-are-the-options-for-dads_8258.bc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97735 | 521 | 1.960938 | 2 |
I had a supervisor who once said to me: "If a woman is crying in your office, ask her what she's angry about. If a man is angry, ask him what he's sad about."
The point of this advice is that each gender has "safe" emotions, emotions that society and surroundings have given them the message it's more okay to express. Typically it is safe for women to cry and safe for men to be angry. Switch the two around, however, and things become more dicey: most women have greater difficulty expressing their anger than they do their sadness; most men have greater difficulty expressing their sadness than they do their anger.
But it's more involved than that. For a variety of reasons, men seem to have access to fewer emotions overall than women, or to be less able to discern between the palette of feelings than women are. It's like the story about the Eskimos having so many words for snow: because snow is such a constant for them, they are much more attuned to all the subtle gradations of snow and the different types of snow. So too for women and emotions: they are often able to discern far more nuanced shades of feelings than their male partners.
Why does this matter? Let me tell you what I tell the men in my office when their wife asks them what they're feeling and they shrug their shoulders and say "nothing."
There are a number of reasons it's important to learn to identify and name your feelings. For starters, the more you can identify them and put words to them, the more control you have over them. Having a name for a feeling shifts the experience: the feeling is then within you, rather than you being in the feeling. If you are quaking with rage and can say that, or if you are wracked by grief and can say that, you will be in the driver's seat of the emotion, rather than being thrown around without a seat belt.
Second, and men seem to have a hard time getting this, your wives really want to know what you feel. It helps people feel more connected to each other when feelings are shared. If you learn to feel and express your own feelings more clearly you will start to enjoy hearing about your wife's as well.
Third, it is much more likely your wife will want to have sex with you if you talk to her about your feelings. She will feel closer to you and more trusting of you. Like sunshine opens up flowers, you expressing yourself to your wife will open her up to you.
Fourth, if you don't talk to your wife about what you're feeling, she's going to start guessing and making up things in her head. And women, believe it or not, are often wrong. Just because they have this verbal fluency and just because you hear them talking on the phone to each other using all these feeling words, does not make them emotional geniuses. Women are by and large more complex than we are emotionally, and they will come up with some complicated explanation for why you're grumpy when all you needed to say when you came home is: "Honey, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I need to be alone for 45 minutes. It's not about you."
Fifth, think of feelings like keys on the piano. The more you learn to identify, the more keys you can play, the more your life will have richness and color and depth, like a more complex piece of music. You won't lose your favorite keys (happy, horny, hungry) but you will get a lot more keys to play with.
Sixth, this is an ongoing mission of mine: I want you to learn to trust yourself more. Like any other skill you develop, the more you become conscious of your feelings, the more finely honed they become. Eventually you will come to rely on them as extraordinarily fine and sensitive instruments of perception, providing you with information about yourself and your surroundings which is stunning in its nuance and detail. You will have a more beautiful and accurate instrument panel than the highest end sports car has on its dash.
Next week: Women in Relationships, Part I.
Do you have a question about your marriage or relationship? Is there a particular topic on relationships or individual psychological issues you would like addressed in this blog? Ask Josh in the comments below or email him at email@example.com.
Josh Gressel, Ph.D., is a couples therapist based in Pleasant Hill, CA. Visit his website at joshgressel.com. | <urn:uuid:c2cdef4b-ae9b-4db8-907a-1cc13864ab48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pleasanthill.patch.com/groups/josh-gressel-phds-blog/p/bp--men-in-relationships-part-iv-a-feeling-is-not-an-f-word | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98138 | 933 | 2.15625 | 2 |
North Carolina General Statutes § 105-242 Warrants for collection of taxes; garnishment and attachment; certificate or judgment for taxes
Legal Research Home > North Carolina Lawyer
(a) Levy and Sale. If a taxpayer does not pay a tax within 30 days after it is collectible under G.S. 105‑241.22, the Secretary may take either of the following actions to collect the tax:
(1) Issue a warrant directing the sheriff of any county of the State to levy upon and sell the real and personal property of the taxpayer found within the county for the payment of the tax and the cost of executing the warrant and to return to the Secretary the money collected, within a time to be specified in the warrant but not less than 60 days from the date of the warrant. The procedure for executions issued against property upon judgments of a court apply to executions under a warrant.
(2) Issue a warrant to any revenue officer or other employee of the Department charged with the duty to collect taxes, commanding the officer or employee to levy upon and sell the taxpayer's personal property found within the State for the payment of the tax. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, the levy upon and sale of personal property by an officer or employee of the Department is subject to and must be conducted in accordance with the laws governing the sale of property levied upon under execution. The Secretary may sell the property levied upon in any county and may advertise the sale in any reasonable manner and for any reasonable period of time to produce an adequate bid for the property. Levy and sale fees, plus actual advertising costs, must be added to and collected in the same manner as taxes. The Secretary is not required to file a report of sale with the clerk of superior court, if the sale is otherwise publicly reported.
(b) Attachment and Garnishment. Intangible property that belongs to a taxpayer, is owed to a taxpayer, or has been transferred by a taxpayer under circumstances that would permit it to be levied upon if it were tangible property is subject to attachment and garnishment in payment of a tax that is due from the taxpayer and is collectible under G.S. 105‑241.22. Intangible personal property includes bank deposits, rent, salaries, wages, property held in the Escheat Fund, and any other property incapable of manual levy or delivery. G.S. 105‑242.1 sets out the procedure for attachment and garnishment of intangible property.
A person who is in possession of intangible property that is subject to attachment and garnishment is the garnishee and is liable for the amount the taxpayer owes. The liability applies only to the amount of the taxpayer's property in the garnishee's possession, reduced by any amount the taxpayer owes the garnishee.
The Secretary may submit to a financial institution, as defined in G.S. 53B‑2, information that identifies a taxpayer who owes a tax debt that is collectible under G.S. 105‑241.22 and the amount of the debt. The Secretary may submit the information on a quarterly basis or, with the agreement of the financial institution, on a more frequent basis. A financial institution that receives the information must determine the amount, if any, of intangible property it holds that belongs to the taxpayer and must inform the Secretary of its determination. The Secretary must reimburse a financial institution for its costs in providing the information, not to exceed the amount payable to the financial institution under G.S. 110‑139 for providing information for use in locating a noncustodial parent.
No more than ten percent (10%) of a taxpayer's wages or salary is subject to attachment and garnishment. The wages or salary of an employee of the United States, the State, or a political subdivision of the State are subject to attachment and garnishment.
(c) Certificate of Tax Liability. The Department may file a certificate of tax liability to collect a tax that is owed by a taxpayer and is collectible under G.S. 105‑241.22. A certificate of tax liability must state the taxpayer's name and the type and amount of tax owed. If the taxpayer resides in this State or has property in this State, the Department must file the certificate of tax liability with the clerk of the superior court of a county in which the taxpayer resides or has property. If the taxpayer does not reside in this State or have property in this State, the Department must file the certificate of tax liability in Wake County.
The clerk of court must record a certificate of tax liability in the same manner as a judgment. A recorded certificate of tax liability is considered a judgment and is enforceable in the same manner as other judgments. The legal rate of interest set in G.S. 24‑1 applies to the principal amount of tax stated on the certificate of tax liability. The tax stated on a certificate of tax liability is a lien on real and personal property from the date the certificate is recorded.
A certificate of tax liability is enforceable for a period of 10 years from the date it is recorded. If the certificate is not satisfied within this period, the remaining liability of the taxpayer is abated and the Department must cancel the certificate. An execution sale initiated before the end of the 10‑year period may be completed after the end of this period, regardless of whether resales are required because of the posting of increased bids. The Secretary may accept tax payments made after a certificate has expired, regardless of whether any collection actions were taken before the certificate expired. A taxpayer may waive the 10‑year period for enforcement of the certificate for either a definite or an indefinite time.
The 10‑year period in which a certificate of tax liability is enforceable is tolled during the following periods:
(1) While the taxpayer is absent from the State. The period is tolled during the taxpayer's absence plus one year after the taxpayer returns.
(2) Upon the death of the taxpayer. The period is tolled while the taxpayer's estate is administered plus one year after the estate is closed.
(3) While an action is pending to set aside a conveyance made by the taxpayer as a fraudulent conveyance.
(4) While an insolvency proceeding against the taxpayer is pending.
(5) During the period of any statutory or judicial bar to the enforcement of the certificate.
(6) The period for which a taxpayer has waived the 10‑year period.
(c1) Release of Lien. The Secretary shall release the State tax lien on a taxpayer's property if the liability for which the lien attached has been satisfied. The Secretary may release the State tax lien on all or part of a taxpayer's property if one or more of the following findings is made:
(1) The liability for which the lien attached has become unenforceable due to lapse of time.
(2) The lien is creating an economic hardship due to the financial condition of the taxpayer.
(3) The fair market value of the property exceeds the tax liability and release of the lien on part of the property would not hinder collection of the liability.
(4) Release of the lien will probably facilitate, expedite, or enhance the State's chances for ultimately collecting a tax due the State.
If the Secretary of Revenue shall find that it will be for the best interest of the State in that it will probably facilitate, expedite or enhance the State's chances for ultimately collecting a tax due the State, he may authorize a deputy or agent to release the lien of a State tax judgment or certificate of tax liability upon a specified parcel or parcels of real estate by noting such release upon the judgment docket where such certificate of tax liability is recorded. Such release shall be signed by the deputy or agent and witnessed by the clerk of court or his deputy or assistant and shall be in substantially the following form: "The lien of this judgment upon (insert here a short description of the property to be released sufficient to identify it, such as reference to a particular tract described in a recorded instrument) is hereby released, but this judgment shall continue in full force and effect as to other real property to which it has heretofore attached or may hereafter attach. This __ day of ___, ____
Revenue Officer, N.C. Department of Revenue
The release shall be noted on the judgment docket only upon conditions prescribed by the Secretary and shall have effect only as to the real estate described therein and shall not affect any other rights of the State under said judgment.
(d) Remedies Cumulative. The remedies herein given are cumulative and in addition to all other remedies provided by law for the collection of said taxes.
(e) Exempt Property. Only the following property is exempt from levy, attachment, and garnishment under this Article:
(1) The taxpayer's principal residence, unless the Secretary approves of the levy in writing or the Secretary finds that collection of the tax is in jeopardy.
(2) Tangible personal property that is exempt from federal levy as provided in section 6334 of the Code.
(3) Intangible personal property that is exempt from federal levy under section 6334 of the Code.
(4) Ninety percent (90%) of the taxpayer's salary or wages per month.
(f) Uneconomical Levy. The Secretary shall not levy against any property if the Secretary estimates before levy that the expenses the Department would incur in levying against the property would exceed the fair market value of the property.
(g) Erroneous Lien. A taxpayer may appeal to the Secretary after a certificate is filed under subsection (c) of this section if the taxpayer alleges an error in the filing of the lien. The Secretary shall make a determination of such an appeal as quickly as possible. If the Secretary finds that the filing of the certificate was erroneous, the Secretary shall issue a certificate of release of the lien as quickly as possible. (1939, c. 158, s. 913; 1941, c. 50, s. 10; 1949, c. 392, s. 6; 1951, c. 643, s. 9; 1955, c. 1285; c. 1350, s. 23; 1957, c. 1340, s. 10; 1959, c. 368; 1963, c. 1169, s. 6; 1969, c. 1071, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 193; c. 1287, s. 13; 1979, c. 103, ss. 1, 2; c. 179, s. 5; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1085, s. 1; 1989, c. 37, s. 6; c. 580; 1991, c. 228, s. 1; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 1007, ss. 12, 13; 1993, c. 532, s. 5; 1997‑121, s. 1; 1999‑456, s. 59; 2003‑349, s. 2; 2007‑491, ss. 28, 29, 31; 2010‑31, s. 31.8(h).)
Last modified: February 21, 2012 | <urn:uuid:84ad2a9a-2781-479e-842a-9f9f0410e39c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://law.onecle.com/north-carolina/105-taxation/105-242.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933636 | 2,306 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Tove Jansson’s Moomin stories (whether in chapter book, picture book, or comic form) all have a similar quality—a quality that is rare in today’s world. There’s a distinctly carefree individualist vibe mixed with a hint of playful cynicism, a kind of embrace-life-and-live-it-to-its-fullest-but-maybe-don’t-get-too-carried-away ethos. The Moomins can be selfish, cruel, and petty at times but more often than not they are generous, nurturing, and involved—like real people. The Moomin world is populated by cranks, misanthropes, beasts, monsters, fretters, hagglers, and poets. The Moomin family clashes or organizes with these folks against common enemies or natural disasters or themselves.
One of my personal favorite aspects of the Moomin stories is how Jansson never preaches. The world is what it is and the Moomins are who they are and maybe we should all just stop and have some tea and jam or go for a walk. And the drawings! Tove Jansson is in that elite class of illustrators who can say so much with so little in the simplest illustration but then turn around and fill a page with undulating lines of darkness and water. Her drawings are a revelation—deep black ink or gorgeous fulsome watercolors demand we stop and drink them in while clearly propelling us forward to the next adventure. Has any children’s author ever so eloquently stated book after book, story after story “you are alone but that’s okay, we’re all alone”—and made it seem like an affirmation?
I didn’t read the Moomin books as a kid. I only heard about them as an adult. The descriptions people used seemed improbable. These books couldn’t possibly exist. Small mushroom-like beings that emitted an electrical charge (Hattifatteners)—no way! A muskrat that carries a book called The Uselessness of Everything—never! But I was intrigued. And even better, there seemed to be a little-known comic strip...I was designing this book series for Drawn and Quarterly in my head the moment I heard about it. I remember holding oversized slim hardcover books in my tiny hands as a child. They felt important; they enveloped me as I read them. I was physically in the book’s world. I knew that was what a Moomin comic book should be. It should feel ageless, heavy (but not too heavy!), and there should be a bunch of books—to talk about, to lend, to lose, to find again, to fall asleep clutching. They should feel like the most important thing I had ever touched. | <urn:uuid:427444e8-b19b-4fc2-9abc-ffa7a7055110> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/04/daq-talks-moomins | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960703 | 592 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Under pressure from President Bush, House and Senate negotiators are laboring to resuscitate the comatose economic stimulus bill. But it increasingly appears Congress would be better off pulling the plug. The stimulus plan looks like an idea whose time has come--and gone. Washington might want to save the $75 billion or $100 billion the stimulus plan would cost, because all signs are that it will need that money, and more, to meet the demands of the coming years.
Historically, the rap on congressional efforts to goose the economy is that they come too late to matter. Whatever economic jolt Washington provides from new spending or tax cuts is often diluted, because the money drips out of the pipeline only after the economy has recovered on its own. By allowing the partisan stalemate over the stimulus bill to persist for so long this fall, Congress has put itself behind the curve again.
New home construction, car sales, holiday retail sales, the rising stock market--all point to the first stirrings of recovery. It's true that the National Bureau of Economic Research last week officially labeled the economy in recession. But even that announcement may have weakened the case for the stimulus plan.
The bureau said the economy fell into recession in March. Since World War II, the average U.S. recession has lasted 11 months. That means the country may be about two-thirds of the way through the current downturn. By the time Congress gets tax cuts or new spending out the door, the worst could well be over. In this case the watchwords should be: Better never than late.
Already the delay on Capitol Hill has invalidated one of the plan's principal justifications. New tax cuts for individuals have been sold largely as a way to increase consumer spending for Christmas. But no plan approved now could put money in shoppers' pockets quickly enough to do that; it's unlikely that Congress could even act fast enough to influence spending decisions through the promise of future tax cuts. The most that new tax cuts might accomplish is to help Americans pay down their credit card debts faster next year. But, as one Democratic economist acknowledges, "if people use a tax cut to pay down debt, you are one more step removed from stimulating the economy."
The recent hints of recovery are indeed only that; unemployment is likely to continue rising for several more months. But it's dubious that the stimulus proposals now under discussion will change that trajectory much. Constrained by the deteriorating federal budget picture, the packages probably aren't big enough to shock the system. Even President Bush's top economist last week said the plans would have only a "pretty modest" impact on the economy. "Would the economy recover without it?" said R. Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. "Of course. It's a $10-trillion economy."
But if a $100-billion stimulus plan is chump change in a $10-trillion economy, it's real money in a federal budget suddenly facing a return to deficits. Less than a year ago, the Congressional Budget Office was still estimating that the government would accumulate a cumulative surplus of $1.35 trillion through Bush's first term. After last summer's massive tax cut, the recession and the costs of responding to the Sept. 11 attacks, those prospective piles of cash have vanished. Last week, Office of Management and Budget Director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. said the administration was now projecting that the government would run deficits every year through 2004.
And he's not talking about the nouvelle sort of deficit that's concerned Washington lately--a shortfall when government is forced to tap Social Security revenue to fund other programs. Daniels was projecting an old-fashioned deficit where the government spends more than its revenue from general taxes and Social Security combined, and is forced to increase the national debt to cover the bills.
That pending squeeze on the budget demands that Congress carefully weigh each dollar it commits against all alternate uses. Under that standard, it's difficult to justify any of the proposed tax cuts in the stimulus bill.
Consider the Democrats' top priority in the discussions--a $600 tax rebate for working poor families who didn't earn enough to benefit from last summer's rebates. That would cost about $14 billion next year. But with that much money, Congress could fund almost the full package of homeland security measures Senate Democrats are pushing. Alternately, that's enough money to cover half the $28 billion Congress promised in last summer's budget resolution to expand health care coverage to millions of working poor adults, a promise that now appears unlikely to be kept. Would a one-time tax rebate really help the working poor more than an ongoing commitment to ensuring them health care? | <urn:uuid:6443849e-9edf-4879-a58e-c3d83c378aa4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2001/dec/03/news/mn-11004 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95774 | 954 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Grand Mound, WA
Grand Mound is located in west Washington. Grand Mound is between the Lewis, Thurston county. Grand Mound has 3.93 square miles of land area and 0.07 square miles of water area. As of 2010, the total Grand Mound population is 2,981, which has grown 53.03% since 2000. The population growth rate is much higher than the state average rate of 14.09% and is much higher than the national average rate of 9.71%. Grand Mound median household income is $41,750 in 2006-2010 and has has shrunk by 0.96% since 2000. The income growth rate is much lower than the state average rate of 21.53% and is much lower than the national average rate of 19.17%. Grand Mound median house value is $184,800 in 2006-2010 and has shrunk by -58.08% since 2000. The house value growth rate is lower than the state average rate of 61.50% and is higher than the national average rate of 50.42%. As a reference, the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate for the same period is 26.63%. On average, the public school district that covers Grand Mound is close to the state average in quality.
Grand Mound, WA Map, Border, and Nearby Locations
* Based on the U.S. 2010 Data | <urn:uuid:f3b85d39-4aed-43b6-a3c3-f32be36bfe4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usa.com/grand-mound-wa.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966826 | 291 | 2.203125 | 2 |
The Indian navy has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for 56 light utility helicopters to replace its fleet of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Chetaks.
The move follows a request for information released in May 2010. It calls for aircraft with a maximum weight of 4,500kg (9,920lb), with bids due in January 2013.
The RFP, which calls for field trials in India, was issued to several major helicopter, firms including AgustaWestland, Bell Helicopter, Eurocopter and Russian Helicopters, says an industry source.
The fact that the helicopter will be used for shipboard operations could limit the navy's choices in the competition, as the type will require folding rotor blades.
At the Farnborough air show in July, HAL told Flightglobal that the challenges and expense involved in modifying its Dhruv advanced light helicopter for shipborne operations would preclude the indigenous type from the competition.
The RFP foresees the helicopter undertaking a number of roles, including search and rescue, casualty evacuation, logistics support, observation and surveillance, and electronic intelligence. It will also be required to carry light torpedoes and depth charges for prosecuting undersea targets, as well as rockets and machine guns. It also calls for a major support and simulator package.
A strong contender for the requirement is likely to be the Eurocopter AS565 MB Naval Panther (above), a military variant of the popular Dauphin. Several nations use variants of the Dauphin in naval and coast guard operations. Another contender is likely to be the AgustaWestland AW139 (below).
India has two other naval helicopter requirements. The NH Industries NH90 and Sikorksy S-70B Seahawk are competing for a 16-aircraft multi-role helicopter requirement. An industry source says a decision for this competition is imminent.
In June 2011, New Delhi issued a request for information for a 75-aircraft, naval multi-role helicopter requirement. This called for a large shipborne helicopter in the 9-12.5t class. | <urn:uuid:9545a4a6-f274-4b9e-b9f6-1aa426d28348> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/india-issues-rfp-for-56-naval-light-utility-helicopters-375710/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932066 | 431 | 1.640625 | 2 |
What would you expect on your birthday?
Let's put away greetings, presents and parties for a minute.
There are few things Koreans can’t go without on their birthdays.
The birthday morning starts with a special soup called Miyeok Guk.
It is a boiled seaweed soup with beef or seafood broth. Even if you don’t like the soup, you will be disappointed if someone forgets to prepare it for you. It has been a long tradition for most Koreans to have the soup on their birthday to commemorate the pregnancy and labor of their mother and for the birthday boy or a girl to have a good luck throughout the year. Although the northern part of Korea enjoys a beef and radish soup better, most parts of the country start the birthday morning with seaweed soup.
When a mother gives a birth to her child, the Miyeok Guk is served for many days. It quickens recovery and encourages lactation for the mothers. The seaweed is rich in iodine, calcium, fat-burning protein and fiber. It promotes circulation and purification of the blood, regeneration of organs and skin and helps menstrual regularity.
The next item is a noodle dish.
Any type of a noodle dish is acceptable. A noodle dish on a birthday bestows you with longevity.
Noodles are served not only on birthdays but also at other special events like weddings and one’s 60th birthday. Noodles are not to be cut into shorter length. The dish is shared with friends. Noodle dishes accompany the best wishes.
Last but not least is the rice cake.
There are a number of different rice cakes that can be served on special occasions. One of the traditions is to have rice cake made out of glutinous kaoliang (liquor) and red bean until a child is 5 or 6 years old. It symbolizes repelling bad spirits and keeping the little ones healthy. Rice cakes are also shared with lots of people. It is known to bring more luck to a person if they are shared. A variety of western-style cakes are more preferred over the rice cakes these days. Rice cakes are transitioning to fit peoples’ taste buds while keeping our culinary traditions alive.
Seaweed soup, noodle dishes and rice cakes are the must-have items on your birthday.
“Have you had Miyeok Guk this morning?” or “Let’s have some noodle dish for lunch, because it’s your birthday.” These are heartwarming greetings that will make someone happier on his or her birthday. | <urn:uuid:41795351-731b-44ee-bd08-5bf86b4140fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rosemont.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/korean-birthday-foods-are-must-haves | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963293 | 544 | 1.796875 | 2 |
September 17, 2009
January 17, 2010
John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery (29)
The Academy’s year-long celebration of the life and career of Charles William Bartlett (1860-1940) continues with a second rotation of the artist’s paintings, drawings and prints in the John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery. Departing from the Hawaiian scenes that have come to define Bartlett’s storied career, this exhibition will focus on the artist’s early years in Europe.
In 1883, Bartlett—then an art student at the Royal Academy in London—traveled to Paris to study with the painters Jules Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger at the esteemed Académie Julian. At the Academy, Bartlett mastered the finer points of traditional painting and draftsmanship; in the cafes and alternative salons of Paris, however, he became immersed in the thriving, dynamic avant-garde. In Paris, Bartlett witnessed the rise of post-impressionism; shared in the vogue for ukiyo-e prints (three decades before his own trip to Japan); and moved in an international circle of artists that included Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, Paul Sérusier, and Paul Gauguin. No doubt influenced by this creative ferment—as well as by the painter-printmakers Edvard Munch and James Ensor—Bartlett expanded his aesthetic repertoire beyond the bland virtuosity of academia to experiment with etching and watercolor as legitimate expressive media, and to develop a formal vocabulary that echoed the compressed perspective and unmediated color that he had discovered in Japanese prints.
The exhibition will show how this early experimental moment gave impetus to Bartlett’s work of the 1890s and early 1900s, when the artist, following the untimely death of his first wife, traveled to Brittany and Holland to sketch the noble toil and quiet domesticity of rural life, and returned home to develop these sketches into works of stark tonality, compositional daring, and remarkable psychological depth.–Theresa Papanikolas, Curator of European and American Art.
A Printmaker in Paradise: The Art and Life of Charles W. Bartlett catalog is available at the Honolulu Museum of Art Shop and online. | <urn:uuid:c9cea02f-8d1f-4a16-a4cb-1ec7cf35fa6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://honolulumuseum.org/art/exhibitions/11642-hawaiian_master_revisited_bartlett_europe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919593 | 481 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Every writer needs a little prompting at one time or another. In today’s hectic lifestyle multi-tasking has become the norm. Yet studies have shown it isn’t possible to perform a slew of tasks at the same time without confusion setting in. Our brains get used to jumping around and are not able to focus for any quality of time. Instead they switch back and forth over and over and over. I’m dizzy already.
Also productivity is significantly decreased for writers when the brain does not stay focused on one task long enough. Each writer needs time to daydream as they figure out plots and writing scenes with dialogue. Non fiction writers need time to focus on research and continuity.
When you subscribe to The Morning Nudge you will receive daily tips loaded with motivation to get a little writing done each day. Watch the video and see for your self.
I have been receiving The Morning Nudge for several years now and I am always happy with the volume of information Suzanne Lieurance offers her Morning Nudge Club members. As a member of The Morning Nudge club you will have many opportunities to enroll in workshops, teleseminars and network with other professional writers like yourself.
In addition, Suzanne Lieurance offers a wide variety of writing Ecourses and guest teachers that you cannot get anywhere else for the price. Go to the Morning Nudge Link and see for your self.
Writing requires a clear mind. | <urn:uuid:06a1dbaa-f1fe-44cf-9144-8a57965c45d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://carmaswindow.blogspot.com/2010/08/start-day-morning-nudge-way.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957903 | 293 | 1.679688 | 2 |
1784 – He was born on the 24th day of November this year in Montebello, near Barboursville in Orange County, Virginia.
1808 – He joined the U.S. Army, receiving a commission as a first lieutenant of the Seventh Infantry Regiment.
1810 – He met Margaret "Peggy" McCall Smith of Maryland in early this year and married this year too. He was promoted to captain in November of this year.
1812 – He had a 40-year military career in the U.S. Army, serving in the War of this year, Black Hawk War, and Second Seminole War after achieving fame while leading U.S. troops to victory at several critical battles of the Mexican-American War.
1848 – He was uninterested in politics but was recruited by the Whig Party as their nominee in this year presidential election.
1850 – As president, Taylor urged settlers in New Mexico and California to by-pass the territorial stage and draft constitutions for statehood, setting the stage for the Compromise in this year. He died this year too.
This page is copyright © s9.com | <urn:uuid:c6a754c2-dca5-44f2-883d-0659731d1079> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.s9.com/Biography/Print/Taylor-Zachary | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984907 | 238 | 2.421875 | 2 |
(Updated: April 2012)
We love Firefox, so when our resident geek compiled this interesting list of "about" commands, we couldn't resist sharing it with you guys.
To use the about commands just type the it into the Firefox address bar.
Just typing "about:" will show general and version information. It's kind of short for about firefox :)
> Read more | <urn:uuid:15e3fca1-5646-4d1e-aed3-d939dc65e8df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geek24.com/?from=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900544 | 79 | 1.554688 | 2 |
- Category: Injection Drug Use
- Published on Tuesday, 20 March 2012 00:00
- Written by Matt Sharp
Late last year Congress voted to reinstate a ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs, which had only been repealed in 2009 after 2 decades of concerted advocacy by harm reduction and HIV and hepatitis prevention activists. Matt Sharp talked with Laura Thomas, the Drug Policy Alliance's Interim State Director for California and a long-time needle exchange volunteer, about the status of syringe access in the U.S. and where do we go from here.
For over 20 years Laura Thomas has been a fearless activist and advocate for people with HIV, hepatitis C, and drug policy reform. Back in the days of ACT UP, we fought the good fight at many demonstrations in San Francisco, and I always admired her leadership.
Laura is currently Interim Deputy State Director for California for the Drug Policy Alliance. I recently reconnected with Laura in a telephone interview about the reversal of support for federal funding for syringe exchange. I gained some interesting insights into the political process on the Hill and the critical need for syringe access advocacy despite recent setbacks.
Matt Sharp: In order for readers to understand the issues fully, will you give a brief history of syringe exchange funding in the U.S.?
Laura Thomas: The vast majority of syringe access programs in the U.S. have been funded by private foundations or local health departments. But the reality of these programs is that almost all of them started as very shoestring, very grassroots, volunteer operations. They have gotten bigger and better funded over the years. There has been support from Levi Strauss Foundation and the MAC AIDS Fund and a handful of other foundations through the Syringe Access Fund for syringe access programs and also the policy work to make them legal.
In large part that was because for many, many years there was a ban on using federal HIV prevention dollars, which might have been the most obvious source to fund these programs. It wasn't until 2009 that the ban was ban removed. The ban never made it illegal to provide syringes, but it meant that you couldn't use CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] HIV prevention funding. On top of that, syringe access hasn't always been legal, since there are generally state laws that cover it. So advocates around the country have had to work to get local authorization.
MS: What kind of effectiveness/cost-effectiveness data or expert opinion support syringe exchange programs?
LT: The CDC website lists many citations, but we know that it is incredibly effective. Sharing syringes and related equipment is responsible for about one-third of new HIV infections. This figure has come down in terms of more recent infections, but it is still a significant driver of new HIV transmissions in the U.S.
The goal is to use a new sterile syringe every time, and if you are providing sterile syringes then people have less incentive to share. [Syringe access programs] are also for people who inject hormones, steroids, or other things beyond illicit drugs; all are at risk of contracting HIV.
There's a huge stack of information [on the effectiveness of syringe programs]. Last year HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] Secretary [Kathleen] Sebelius issued findings recorded in the federal register saying that syringe access is incredibly effective.
Part of what gets lost sometimes is that while syringe access programs are effective at preventing HIV and HCV [hepatitis C virus] transmission, it's also very effective at engaging people in services, bringing people into care, and offering access to services.
One of the arguments against syringe access programs is that they encourage people to use drugs, but the reality is the opposite. It's actually an effective way to link people into services and get people into drug [addiction] treatment if that's what they want. Studies show that people who use syringe access programs are more likely to go into treatment than people who don't.
Another way syringe access programs are effective is getting syringes off the streets. It's sort of an obvious one -- no one wants to be finding used syringes lying around in the gutter. Syringe access programs have shown time and time again that they can contribute to cleaning up neighborhoods and getting used syringes out of public view, getting them collected and disposed of properly.
MS: What are the pros and cons of drug store access to syringes? How effective has that been?
LT: We usually describe this as non-prescription pharmacy sales. In some states there is no paraphernalia code; for example in my home state of Virginia, my dad is a type 1 diabetic and can purchase his syringes in the drug store [without a prescription]. But in California that has not been legal up until fairly recently, whether you are injecting insulin or illicit drugs. The research shows that it is an important compliment to traditional syringe access programs [exchanges or direct distribution].
Most people have a pharmacy relatively close to them, pharmacies are usually open much longer hours than syringe programs -- which may be available only 2 hours a week -- and there is far less stigma going into a pharmacy and purchasing medical supplies. That's what you do when you walk into Walgreens and you walk out with a bag full of whatever it is that you need.
There has been an increasing focus on ensuring non-prescription pharmacy sales in every state. Last year the Drug Policy Alliance co-sponsored a bill with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. We tried 2 years ago and [former] Governor [Arnold] Schwarzenegger vetoed it, but this past year Governor [Jerry] Brown signed it. It authorized pharmacies to sell up to 10 syringes without a prescription. Now any pharmacy in California can sell 30 syringes at a time to any individual, and with it goes legal protection for that purchase. In New Jersey they are working on a bill now, and after that I think Delaware is the only state left.
People do have to use their own money to purchase [syringes] and there is no cost to the health department, but it enables people to purchase what they need to take care of themselves. The other downside is that it is not linking people into care and services, but it's important to have.
MS: What do the users say about non-prescription pharmacy sales?
LT: It varies. Users say they need money to purchase [syringes], you need to have money. People sometimes get stigmatizing treatment. For example in San Francisco, I always tell people to not ask at the front register, but to go back to the pharmacist and ask. It depends on the pharmacist and who’s working. Certainly pharmacists aren't immune from stigmatizing drug users. Some of them could use a little bit more training. But at the same time, if you have a 24-hour Walgreens and your [other] choice is to wait until the needle exchange opens up, it's an added level of availability and convenience.
MS: To the crux of the matter, how did syringe access defunding happen and why?
LT: HIV, HCV, harm reduction, public health, and drug policy advocates have been working for years to try and get this language out of the federal appropriations bill. In 2009, with an enormous amount of work across the country, they succeeded. There was significant leadership from then-speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, Rep. José Serrano from New York, Rep. Barbara Lee [from Oakland, CA]. They were able to go through the appropriations process and take the [funding ban] language out. It was very difficult because the Republicans forced a floor vote, so that everyone had to actually vote and make their opinion known on this topic. A lot of Democrats went out on a limb and voted the right way, some of course voted the wrong way.
But we won and the language was taken out. For the last couple of years different federal agencies have been issuing regulations on how to use federal funds [for syringe access]. One of the challenges has been that there was no new funding for this, there is no [new] HIV prevention money, a tiny amount of viral hepatitis money. There hasn't been any new money from this [legal change] to create new programs.
So what has been happening is that SAMHSA [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration] in particular has been telling people that if you've got a grant from us, you can use the unspent portions and [reallocate] that for syringe access. People have been very creative with it. At the National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta last year there were presentations from syringe access grantees on how to spend the money -- it was like adding an outreach worker here, using pharmacy vouchers there, so there was a way to use money to increase syringe access. But if we'd lifted the ban and gotten a bunch of new money we would have been able to really increase capacity. The economic [climate] is why there was no new HIV [prevention] money...it wasn't specific to this issue.
MS: What happened with the latest reinstatement of the funding ban?
LT: We ran afoul of the Republicans and their culture war, and they were determined to make as big a mess of the federal budget process as possible. They put all of these policy amendments into the federal appropriations bill, on everything from light bulb standards to a lot of stuff about abortion, so syringe access funding was just one of a long list of things. They weren't particularly aiming for drug users, but they recognized one of those cultural issues that were on their checklist. The Democrats fought back and got a lot of these amendments out, but not this one.
MS: Why didn't the Democrats step up?
LT: We clearly don't have the clout that some of these other issues have. We need to be doing more organizing, we need the full weight of community public health behind us. But unfortunately the politics of hate and the stigma around drug users won out over solid public health and wise use of taxpayer resources in HIV and hepatitis prevention.
To me it signifies how much work we still need to do with engaging more allies, to strengthen our messages about why HIV and HCV prevention are so important and what larger benefits syringe access brings to our community in terms of getting syringes off the street, in terms of getting people into substance abuse treatment…all of these things Republicans say they support and yet they went after the funding.
MS: There were a lot of social media and action alerts about this. Did it happen too fast to mobilize people to contact their legislators?
LT: It happened very quickly, and there were so many different issues involved. I don't know about you, but I got so many action alerts that week saying, "call your member of Congress" about this…all the environmental people were calling about the Keystone pipeline, there was all the horrific abortion language, so all the reproductive health people were fighting for that. A lot of advocates were sort of overwhelmed. Ultimately, it didn’t matter how many people were mobilized because so many Democrats and Republicans were going to negotiate this stuff based on their own set of priorities. The Republicans just wanted to jam up the process. People had been saying that there was a concern that the language would come back, but we just got clobbered by DC politics.
MS: Even though syringe access wasn’t federally funded in the first place, how do you think this recent action is going to impact the user on the street? How is it going to affect HIV and viral hepatitis infections?
LT: I think that there is still a lot of work to be done to improve syringe access around the U.S. I don't think this helps. But the only upside to not having a lot of federal dollars in programs is that there is not as much to lose. We won't see programs close that had opened in the last few years. What we are seeing is the ongoing economic struggles, everybody's health budget is shrinking and there is just less money for these programs. My hope and fear is that people won't see a lot of change on the street.
I am very encouraged that the viral hepatitis community is getting it's advocacy legs under it and starting to be a stronger voice, and ready to be effective at getting federal dollars for viral hepatitis. Ensuring that the HIV and hepatitis folks are working arm-in-arm on this is going to continue to be really important.
I want to hear the hepatitis people yelling as loudly as the HIV folks have been. When it comes to syringe access it's as important, if not more important given HCV rates among injection drug users, that hepatitis advocates are clear about the importance of these programs.
MS: What does the future hold in terms of getting syringe access funded again? What is the process? What are some advocacy plans?
LT: Honestly it's going to be a crazy year -- there's a presidential election, Congress is up for re-election, it's going to be a very politically driven year in DC. It isn't in their [legislators'] favor -- no one wants to go out on a limb for syringe access.
But this is the year the International AIDS Conference is coming back to the U.S. for the first time in 21 years, because we finally got rid of the HIV travel ban. I know that a lot of people want to show off all the great strides the U.S. has made to address the epidemic, but this is one of the stupider things that we have done.
If people want to showcase how the U.S. has responded to HIV, this is a glaring fault, along with HIV criminalization laws. We've got some things to be held accountable for in the global environment. I'm hoping that the International AIDS Conference and the focus on the U.S. response on AIDS is an opportunity to really encourage Congress to do the right thing on syringe access. | <urn:uuid:79bda7f5-8140-474d-bca1-fa0a6501a81f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hivandhepatitis.org/hiv-prevention/hiv-injection-drug-use/3510-federal-syringe-access-policy-where-are-we-now | 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 | 0.974122 | 2,908 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Plants at Risk on Google Maps
Did you know that with one in five plant species in the world are threatened with extinction?
Kew Royal Britannic Gardens together with the Natural History Museum, London and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has completed a global analysis of the risk of extinction for the world's plants. The results of this research are presented on four Google Maps.
The first map shows the average threat level of plant life in different countries around the world. The second map shows the percentage of plant species under threat in different countries around the world. A third map shows the proportion of plant species unique to each country.
A fourth map has also been created to give an indication of the level of confidence that the researchers have in the data for each country.
Plants at Risk | <urn:uuid:df11ae77-8ed5-441e-be81-300860158e8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mapsmaniac.com/2011/08/plants-at-risk-on-google-maps.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930149 | 173 | 3.015625 | 3 |
In the same week a secret video exposed him saying 47% of “dependent, entitled” Americans don’t pay income taxes, Mitt Romney disclosed a relatively small amount of information about his own taxes— that he paid 14.1% in 2011. That’s about half the percentage of what an average worker earning $60,000 annually would pay.
Romney’s disclosure of his 2011 returns didn’t do much for Rev. Al Sharpton, who told PoliticsNation viewers: “The question remains. What is in [the rest of] his tax returns is he afraid of showing the public?”
The Romneys have said many times they will release no more than two years of returns. However, their accountant/trustee Brad Malt wrote a press release-style letter on Friday addressing the issue, going a step further and releasing a certified summary of his tax returns over a two-decade period preceding 2010. According to the letter, from 1990-2009 the Romneys paid an average of 20.20% in income taxes and the lowest they ever paid was 13.6%.
Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell told Rev. Sharpton that math doesn’t logically explain Romney’s refusal to answer to the 63% of Americans who want to see more returns:
“If the Romneys paid 14-20% anyway, and this year it says they paid 14% at the low end of the spectrum, then why wouldn’t you release the last 15-20 years and put this issue to bed? It’s very curious. It makes me more curious than before the accountant released that letter.”
Rev. Sharpton also spoke to author and tax expert David Cay Johnston about another interesting excerpt of Malt’s letter. It reads, “In each year during the entire 20-year period, the Romneys owed both state and federal income taxes.”
Johnston took issue with the word “owed”:
“Among the possibilities the word “owed” raises is, there was an audit that resulted in a large payment of taxes later because they underpaid their taxes, an amended tax return by the Romneys, or an obligation they didn’t pay for some number of years.”
So, Johnston wrote the Romney campaign and asked why the statements said “owed” instead of “paid.” In an increasingly characteristic move, the campaign’s response was, "We’re not answering that question." Johnston wasn’t impressed:
“The trouble I’m having with that is very simple: This is an issue Romney needs to shut down, and yet at every juncture he’s taken actions that just lead to more questions. And what does that tell us about the man’s judgment? Because the only test we have when you’re going to be president of the United States is what do you do when faced with the unexpected? Well, this is the expected and he doesn’t seem to be dealing well with it.” | <urn:uuid:4eb549da-545f-4997-8ee2-7aa04172ee65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://leanforward.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/21/14019625-romney-trustees-letter-raises-further-tax-questions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973655 | 643 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Voice of Russia
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2008)|
|Owner||All-Russia State Television and Radio Company|
|Key people||Andrey Bystritskiy (Chairman); Maxim Krasovsky (Editor-in-Chief, World Service in English)|
|Launch date||29 October 1929|
|Former names||Radio Moscow|
Voice of Russia (Russian: Голос России) is the Russian government's international radio broadcasting service owned by the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company. Its predecessor Radio Moscow was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Early years
Radio Moscow began broadcasting in 1922 with a transmitter station RV-1 in the Moscow region. In 1925 a second broadcasting centre came on air at Leningrad. Radio Moscow was broadcasting (on mediumwave and shortwave) in English, French, German, Italian and Arabic by 1939. Radio Moscow did express concern over the rise of German dictator Adolf Hitler during the 1930s, and its Italian mediumwave service specifically was jammed by an order of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini during the late 1930s.
The Cold War years
The U.S. was first targeted by Radio Moscow during the early 1950s, with transmitters in the Moscow region. Later Western North America was targeted by the newly constructed Vladivostok and Magadan relay stations. The first broadcasts to Africa went on the air in the late 1950s in English and French.
In 1961 Radio Moscow for the first time spoke in three African languages: Amharic, Swahili and Hausa. Over time, listeners in Africa got a chance to tune in to Radio Moscow in another eight African languages.
The first centralized news bulletin went on the air in August 1963 and reached out to listeners all over the world. In the years of the Cold War most news reports and commentaries focused on the relations between the United States and Soviet Union.
In the 1970s the cream of Radio Moscow's commentator teams united in a radio journal, called "News and Views". Taking part in the ambitious project were Viktor Glazunov, Leonid Rassadin, Yuri Shalygin, Alexander Kushnir, Yuri Solton and Vladislav Chernukha. Over the years the journal grew into a major information and analytical program of the Radio Moscow foreign service.
Changes 1980s–1991
In the late 1970s its English language service was renamed Radio Moscow World Service. The project was launched and supervised by a long-time Radio Moscow journalist and manager Alexander Evstafiev. Later a North American service, African service and even a "UK & Ireland" service (all in English) operated for a few hours per day alongside the regular (24 Hour) English World Service as well as services in other languages, the "Radio Peace and Progress" service and a small number of programmes from some of the USSR republics.
Broadcasting Soviet information was Radio Moscow's primary function. All programmes (except for short newsbreaks) had to be cleared by a "Programming Directorate", a form of censorship that was only removed in 1991.
Radio Moscow's interval signal was 'My Country's Vast' (Russian: Широка страна моя родная), played on chimes. This has been changed to Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky in 1991. A move has been made in an attempt to drift away from the image of the communist propaganda media.
One of the most popular programmes on air in the 1980s, due to its informal presentation that contrasted with most other shows, was the 'Listeners’ Request Club' hosted by prominent radio presenter Vasily Strelnikov. Another popular feature which began on Radio Moscow was Moscow Mailbag, which answered listeners' questions in English about the former Soviet Union and later about Russia. For almost five decades, between 1957 and 2005, the programme was presented by Joe Adamov, who was known for his command of the English language and his good humour. Radio Moscow continued to broadcast until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and was renamed the World Service of the Voice of Russia.
Transmission network
The Voice of Russia continues to broadcast to most of the world on shortwave and mediumwave, satellite, via the World Radio Network and via the Internet. Interestingly, broadcasts with strong signals targeted at Europe continue. Many major international broadcasters no longer target shortwave broadcasts at Europe, including the Cold War rivals of Radio Moscow: the Voice of America and BBC World Service (China Radio International continues, and has expanded, short wave broadcasts to Europe).
Radio Moscow's and Voice of Russia's shortwave (SW) transmission network has never been equalled in its transmission power, directivity and reach. During the station's peak in the 1980s the same programmes could often be heard on anything up to forty frequencies on the (heavily overcrowded) shortwave bands although the station never published its complete or accurate time/frequency schedule. It is unclear whether the station's staff knew what freqencies it was broadcasting on.
The transmission network consisted of at least 30 high-power transmission sites (West to East, with first transmission dates):
- Wachenbrunn, East Germany (1000 kW carrier power, MW)
- Bolshakovo (2500 kW carrier power, MW)
- Saint Petersburg (1961) [16 × 200 kW SW]
- Moscow (5 known high-power SW transmission sites)
- Krasnodar (1967) [8 × 100 kW SW, 8 × 500 kW SW]
- Kamo, Armenia (site ceded to Armenia, but operated by RMOC)
- Samara [6 × 250 kW SW, 3 × 200 kW SW, 7 × 100 kW SW]
- Yekaterinburg [9 × 100 kW SW]
- Tashkent (1000 kW carrier power?)
- Dushanbe (1000 kW carrier power)
- Novosibirsk (1956) [17 × 100 kW SW, but 1000 kW carrier power capable]
- Irkutsk (Angarsk, 1971) [2 × 100 kW, 4 × 250 kW SW, 8 × 500-kW)
- Vladivostok (1000 kW carrier power?)
- Petropavlovsk-Magadan (1000 kW carrier power?)
The transmission network is partially documented here: http://www.tdp.info/rus.html
Also there are DRM transmissions on 6 languages.
Broadcast languages
As of 2011[update] the Voice of Russia broadcasts in 39 languages, including:
VOR output compared to other broadcasters
For a comparison of VOR (RM) to other broadcasters see
|VOA, RFE/RL & Radio Martí||497||1,495||1,907||1,901||2,611||1,821|
|China Radio International||66||687||1,267||1,350||1,515||1,620|
|BBC World Service||643||589||723||719||796||1,036|
|Radio Moscow / Voice of Russia||533||1,015||1,908||2,094||1,876||726|
|Radio Cairo / ERTU||0||301||540||546||605||604|
|IRIB World Service||12||24||155||175||400||575|
|All India Radio||116||157||271||389||456||500|
|NHK World Radio Japan||0||203||259||259||343||468|
|Radio France Internationale||198||326||200||125||379||459|
|Radio Netherlands Worldwide||127||178||335||289||323||392|
|Israel Radio International||0||91||158||210||253||365|
|Voice of Turkey||40||77||88||199||322||364|
|Radio Pyongyang / Voice of Korea||0||159||330||597||534||364|
|Radio Romania International||30||159||185||198||199||298|
|Radio Exterior de España||68||202||251||239||403||270|
|Radio Havana Cuba||0||0||320||424||352||203|
|Rai Italia Radio||170||205||165||169||181||203|
|Radio Canada International||85||80||98||134||195||175|
|Radio RSA / Channel Africa||0||63||150||183||156||159|
|Sveriges Radio International||28||114||140||155||167||149|
|Voice of Nigeria||0||0||62||170||120||127|
Source: International Broadcast Audience Research, June 1996
The list includes about a quarter of the world's external broadcasters whose output is both publicly funded and worldwide. Among those excluded are Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea and various international commercial and religious stations.
- 1996 figures as at June; all other years as at December.
- Before 1991, broadcasting for the former USSR.
- Before 1996, broadcasting for the former Czechoslovakia.
In 1996, the USA's international radio consisted of 992 hours per week by VOA, 667 hpw by RFE/RL, and 162 hpw by Radio Marti.
USSR Shortwave broadcasting milestones and innovations
The USSR pioneered the use of HRS 8/8/1 antennas (horizontal dipole curtain, eight columns, eight rows, with electrically steerable pattern) for highly targeted shortwave broadcasting long before HRS 12/6/1 technology became available in the west. HRS 8/8/1 curtain arrays create a 10-degree beam of shortwave energy, and can provide a highly audible signal to a target area some 7,000 km away.
The full extent of Russia's shortwave antenna directivity research is unknown, although it is understood that some ionospheric heating experiments were carried out at the Kamo and Dushanbe relay stations in the late 1980s to 1990.
HRS 6/4/1 and HRS 12/6/1 curtain arrays are sold by an U.S. company TCI in California. Marconi (UK) sold two HRS 6/4/1 antennas to Voice of America-BBG before terminating all sales and service for its longwave/mediumwave and shortwave products in the late 1990s.
The full list of available shortwave relay stations is only known by the Russian Ministry of Communications. These transmission facilities can be rented by contractual agreement. The Voice of America, Deutsche Welle and other international broadcasters have leased facilities in the past and currently possess lease agreements with Russia's MOC.
All shortwave relay station facilities in Russia and the former USSR are owned and operated by the Russian Ministry of Communications, with a few exceptions where the facilities were ceded to national governments.
See also
- Eastern Bloc information dissemination
- Radio Wolga - radio station for Soviet Soldiers in former East Germany, until 1990.
- Voice of Russia World Service website (in Russian)
- Voice of Russia World Service website (in English)
- SWDXER ¨The SWDXER¨ - with general SWL information and radio antenna tips.
- Russia Today TV (in English) | <urn:uuid:6b8e0b4d-f09a-468d-9fbc-6fa24bbca1b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_Russia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902833 | 2,408 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Tobacco is one of the first Native American crops to be commercially cultivated and marketed. Historical records show that John Rolfe began commercial cultivation of tobacco in Virginia as early as 1612, with subsequent shipments to England. As tobacco cultivation expanded to other areas of the U.S., it soon became apparent that differences in soil and climate caused significant differences in the characteristics of the leaf. In turn, these differences greatly affected the leaf's suitability for use in manufactured forms of tobacco. Each geographic area produces a special type of leaf that is particularly adapted for certain uses -- cigarettes, cigars, smoking or chewing tobacco, and snuff.
Because of the specificity of use by tobacco type, both producers and buyers found a need for uniform standards on which to base marketing decisions. In recognition of this need, Congress enacted the Tobacco Inspection Act in 1935. This act established the framework for development of official tobacco grade standards, authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to designate tobacco auction markets where tobacco growers would receive mandatory inspection of each lot of tobacco to determine its grade and type, and provided for the distribution of daily price reports showing the current average price for each grade. As a result of these services, tobacco growers and buyers know the true grade of tobacco being marketed and the approximate value of that grade. The Agricultural Marketing Service's Tobacco Division was established to provide these services to the Nation's tobacco industry.
The Fair and Equitable Tobacco Transition Act of 2004 eliminated price supports and marketing quotas for all tobacco beginning with the 2005 crop year. Mandatory inspection and grading of domestic and imported tobacco was also eliminated as well as the mandatory pesticide testing of imported tobacco and the tobacco market news program.
Beginning with the 2005 crop AMS, Tobacco Division offered voluntary tobacco inspection and grading on all types of domestic and imported tobacco, as well as pesticide testing, on an expanded list of pesticides, on all domestic and imported tobacco. These services were implemented by contracts between AMS and the individual tobacco dealers and manufacturers. | <urn:uuid:b03bf9df-d875-4c61-b6b9-fe4bb940a66c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateN&navID=Division%2520Mission%2520and%2520History&rightNav1=Division%2520Mission%2520and%2520History&topNav=ContactUs&leftNav=&page=TobaccoAuthorizingLegislation&resultType=&acct=tgeninfo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955392 | 397 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Jammy treasure hunters discover over E13 million in Celtic gold
Treasure hunters on the island of Jersey have made one of the biggest buried treasure finds in European history, having unearthed over €13 million in Celtic gold.
The metal detector-wielders – who sadly, were not pirates – were attracted to the area of Grouville on Jersey, one of the British Channel islands near the coast of France, and there they found a quantity of between 30,000 to 50,000 coins, each silver and gold. Yes, somebody actually managed to bury all that originally…
It is estimated that the coins date back to 50 BC and had been used by the Celtic tribe of Corisolites. The Corisolites had an “army of the sun” back in the day and used to occupy North Brittany, naming its capital Corseul. Thanks, Google.
Scientists believe that the coins were buried by the Corisolites ahead of a Roman invasion from Julius Caesar but the tribe were evidently too forgetful or… dead to return back for their loot.
The staggering haul was discovered by just two treasure hunters using a powerful metal detector, Reg Mead and Richard Miles, both of whom had been searching for the treasure for three decades.
“The machine picked up a really strong signal – so we immediately got in touch with professional archaeologists,” recalled Mr Mead. “They started digging and we could not believe how many coins there were.
“All of them were stuck together. I have been searching for things like this since 1959 and never found anything on this scale before. We had been searching that land for 30 years.” | <urn:uuid:7f007e83-8ee2-402f-8377-ac2132cc6858> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.joe.ie/news/world-affairs/jammy-treasure-hunters-discover-over-e13-million-in-celtic-gold/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977776 | 339 | 2.453125 | 2 |
Numerous studies indicate that polyphenol-rich chocolate reduces fasting blood glucose, blood pressure (BP) and total cholesterol in healthy individuals and hypertensives with or without glucose intolerance. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of two doses of polyphenol-rich dark chocolate (DC) on fasting capillary whole blood glucose, total cholesterol and BP and to examine whether improvements in these parameters are associated with changes in adrenocorticoid excretion in overweight and obese individuals. The study used a randomised, single-blind, cross-over design where fourteen overweight and obese subjects were randomised to either take 20 g DC with 500 mg polyphenols then 20 g DC with 1000 mg polyphenols or vice-versa. Participants followed each diet for 2 weeks separated by a 1-week washout period. It was observed that the 500 mg polyphenol dose was equally effective in reducing fasting blood glucose levels, systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) as the 1000 mg polyphenol dose suggesting that a saturation effect might occur with increasing dose of polyphenols. There was also a trend towards a reduction in urinary free cortisone levels with both groups although it did not reach statistical significance. No changes in anthropometrical measurements were seen. We suggest that more research is required to investigate the mechanism(s) by which polyphenol-rich foods influence health.
(Received March 31 2009)
(Revised July 21 2009)
(Accepted September 14 2009)
(Online publication October 13 2009)
Abbreviations: BP, blood pressure; DBP, diastolic BP; DC, dark chocolate; FG, fasting glucose; SBP, systolic BP | <urn:uuid:c8b76ef5-17db-40bc-8046-f3a163ec5c81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7358604 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929847 | 359 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Pakistan: Now or Never?
Perspectives on Pakistan
Pakistan is dealing with multiple challenges all at once – its sovereignty and its very idea of itself as an independent nation state are tested in the northwest by both the Islamist militants and U.S. forces hunting them. To its east, the old hostility with India is back in full force following the Mumbai attacks. Then above all, some think the economic meltdown is a more serious risk to Pakistan’s survival than the threat of a conflict with India.
Where does a proud nation turn to for deliverance, faced with almost daily prognosis of its imminent demise?
To religion, going by the rise and rise of the mullah in Pakistani society according to a couple of articles in Pakistan’s Newsline magazine. Time was when the village mosque imam was one of the most powerless men in the community whose social functions were limited to being present at births, deaths and weddings, recalls author Mohammed Hanif .
The imam also led the prayers, but it was a different time then. There would be people loitering around the mosque but it never occurred to him to ask them to join the prayers; nor were those hanging outside the mosque embarrassed about sitting them out.
Students from 24 religious schools in Islamabad, including the hardline Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), have been taking part in the past week in a cricket tournament organised by the city authorities as part of measures to regulate and revamp the schools. The students swapped their shalwar kameez for track pants and T-shirts, and sticks for cricket bats. | <urn:uuid:d64ddc5f-9497-4a0d-949e-9d4e22c697ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/tag/madrasa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977408 | 325 | 1.664063 | 2 |
SMALL GRAINS GENETICS AND GERMPLASM ENHANCEMENT
Location: Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research
Title: Low Phytic Acid Barley Responses to Phosphorus Rates
| Jackson, Chad - UNIV OF ID, ABERDEEN |
| Windes, Juliet - UNIV OF ID, ABERDEEN |
| Obert, Donald |
| Price, William - UNIV OF ID, MOSCOW |
| Bradford, Brown - UNIV OF ID, PARMA |
Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: May 1, 2009
Publication Date: September 1, 2009
Citation: Jackson, C.A., Windes, J.M., Bregitzer, P.P., Obert, D.E., Price, W., Bradford, B. 2009. Low Phytic Acid Barley Responses to Phosphorus Rates. Crop Science. 49:1800-1806.
Interpretive Summary: Barley seeds, as well as seeds of other crops, contain phosphorus. This important nutrient, unfortunately, is tied up in a molecule--phytic acid--that is difficult for non-ruminant animals such as pigs and fish to digest. To provide better phosporus nutrition, barley varieties have been produced that have decreased phytic acid phosphorus and increased inorganic phosphorus (available). However, it is not know whether these types of barley will require different production conditions to realize optimal yield and phosphorus content. In this study, we studied yield and phosphorus content of two normal and two low phytic acid barley cultivars as it was affected by different levels of soil phosphorus fertility. The results showed that, except at very low levels of phosphorus, both the normal and the low phytic acid cultivars were unaffected by phosphorus fertility. Only at very low phosphorus fertility levels were changes noted: for both types of barleys, both the total amount of phosphorus, inorganic phosphorus, and yield were reduced. Our conclusion is that over the range of soil phosphorus levels that would typically be encountered in a farmers field, both normal and low phytic acid barleys showed no changes, and in all conditions both types responded similarly. Therefore, low phytic acid barleys can be managed identically to normal barleys with respect to phosphorus fertilization.
Low phytic acid (LPA) barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars partition phosphorus in seed tissue differently than conventional barley cultivars through a reduction in seed phytic acid (myo-inositol-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexkisphosphate) coupled with an increase in inorganic phosphorus. The response of the LPA characteristic to phosphate fertilization has not been previously investigated; therefore the effect of phosphate fertility on barley seed yield, total seed phosphorus, inorganic seed phosphorus, and flag leaf phosphorus was investigated at four locations over two years. Two conventional cultivars, Baronesse and Colter, were compared to one LPA cultivar, Herald (lpa1-1 mutation), and one advanced breeding line, 01ID451H (mutation 640). At three locations, phosphate fertilizer (P2O5) was applied in the form of triple superphosphate (0-45-0) at rates of 0, 56, 112, 168 kg ha-1. At these locations, no responses to phosphate fertilization were observed except for flag leaf phosphorus levels which increased with increasing phosphate application. At a fourth location, differential soil phosphorus fertility was achieved via previously established plots varying from very low to adequate phosphorus fertility. These tests showed that limiting phosphorus fertility reduced yield, test weight, height, delayed maturity, and reduced total seed phosphorus content, with the LPA cultivars responding similar to the wildtypes. In conclusion, the LPA traits in barley originating from lpa1-1 and 640 mutations are stable under a wide range of soil phosphorus fertility conditions in comparison to the wildtypes. | <urn:uuid:5ad9409b-a634-4b6a-87a8-5cae3b3373c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/Publications.htm?seq_no_115=232946 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918857 | 842 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Wrinkles are an inevitable sign of aging that everyone must deal with. Some people develop wrinkles as early as their 20s, while others don’t experience wrinkles until much later in life. With a healthy lifestyle and avoiding some environmental factors, the development of wrinkles can be put off.
This article will discuss:
Everyone experiences physical changes in their appearance as they age. Because fat under the skin is lost, and around the age of 50 skin’s elasticity declines, wrinkles appear.
Another reason wrinkles occur in older people is because the middle layer of the skin, or the dermis, loses moisture. There is a protein in the dermis which provides the top layer, epidermis, with elasticity.
There are 3 different kinds of wrinkles that appear on the face:
- Dynamic wrinkles – Result from repeated facial expressions. The most common types of dynamic wrinkles appear in between the eyebrows and on the outer corners of the eye. Crow’s feet are the wrinkles on the eye’s outer corners and are a result of squinting.
- Static wrinkles – Caused by extrinsic aging factors like sun damage, smoking, genetics, poor diet, and prolonged dynamic wrinkles. These wrinkles are seen even when the facial muscles aren’t contracting.
- Wrinkle folds – Result from underlying facial structures sagging. The wrinkle folds appear usually between the nose and mouth.
Preventing wrinkles takes years of a healthy lifestyle and avoidance of harmful external factors. Different from intrinsic aging, extrinsic aging occurs from outside factors like the sun and smoking.
To prevent wrinkles:
- Use sunscreen – Apply a sunscreen of at least SPF 15 to your skin, especially the face and hands, 15 minutes before contact with the sun to give the lotion time to absorb into the skin. Avoid the sun between 10 A.M and 4 P.M when the Ultraviolet rays are strongest. Not only do the sun’s ultraviolet rays cause wrinkles, but the sun and tanning beds are also a major cause of skin cancer. The sun causes 90% of premature aging in people.
- Quit smoking – Smoking tobacco causes skin to lose moisture and elasticity. The enzyme in cigarettes breaks down elastin. Smokers develop wrinkles, usually around their mouth and eyes, as early as their twenties.
- Drink Water – Aim for drinking 8-10 glasses of water daily to keep skin hydrated.
- Get enough sleep – Sleeping helps skin retain elasticity.
- Have a healthy diet – Proper nutrition and vitamins, like vitamins C and E, help to keep skin tight. Vitamin B hydrates the skin. Antioxidant rich foods fight free radicals which damage skin. Omega-3 fatty acids help tighten facial skin. Cold water fish is an excellent source of Omega-3.
- Exercise – Increases circulation to firm skin.
Other preventative measures include using topical skin care products meant to help prevent free radical damage, wrinkles, and other early signs of aging, for instance, products from Perricone MD’s RX1 Prevent regimen.
Doctor Perricone‘s Gentle Cleanser and Nutrient Fortifier are formulated with key sciences Olive Oil Polyphenols and DMAE to help restore skin’s natural, youthful radiance. Olive Oil Polyphenols help hydrate and nourish skin while providing protection to the cell. DMAE helps to lift, tone, and tighten skin, while helping skin retain elasticity. Perricone Cold Plasma contains sciences such as neuropeptide technology and L-tyrosine that work together to brighten skin and combat signs of aging. Cold plasma reviews discuss the added benefits and results of using the product. | <urn:uuid:31043cfb-8765-4909-94cf-a36177c04eb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.perriconemd.com/preventing-wrinkles-and-looking-younger/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912103 | 765 | 3.28125 | 3 |