text stringlengths 213 24.6k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 1 value | url stringlengths 14 499 | file_path stringlengths 138 138 | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.9 1 | token_count int64 51 4.1k | score float64 1.5 5.06 | int_score int64 2 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
In Willpower, Baumeister and Tierney devote an entire chapter to the to-do list. One of the people they consult for this chapter is man named David Allen, who has come up with the "Getting Stuff Done" method, for which he apparently charges thousands of dollars from celebrity clients like Jim Carrey. According to Allen:
"'When we're trying to decide what to do with our stuff or what movie to see,' Allen says,"we don't think to ourselves, Look at all these cool choices. There's a powerful thing inside that says, If I decide to do that movie, I kill all the other movies. You can pretend all the way up to that point that you know the right thing to do, but once you're faced with a choice, you have to deal with this open loop in your head: You're wrong, you're right, you're wrong, you're right. Every single time you make a choice, you're stepping into an existential void." (Willpower, pp. 86-87).
Each choice will create a new timeline, space/time continuum, etc. In order to choose, people either have to deliberately stay unconscious of the consequences of their choice, or accept them.
- Is it possible that hoarders are more attuned to this existential void?
- Are they just more aware of the consequences of their choices?
- Or, as Stuff seems to imply, are they are unable to distinguish between consequential and inconsequential choices, and treat all of them as consequential? | <urn:uuid:5c5490dd-a4f5-4c87-a82d-a810111b99de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brooklynbooktalk.blogspot.com/2011/10/hoarding-willpower-and-possibilities.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965651 | 314 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, period of Chinese history between the fall of the T'ang dynasty (A.D. 907) and the establishment of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960). It is named for the five successive short-lived dynasties and the ten dominant kingdoms that existed during this period. Characterized by anarchy and national disunity, the period is one of the bleakest in Chinese history. Warfare and official corruption were endemic, and barter replaced the monetary system in many parts of the country. Northern China was particularly affected; its canal and dam system fell into disrepair, causing extensive flooding and famine. The period, however, was marked by one major accomplishment—the widespread development of printing. Many Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist classics were printed, including the first complete set (130 vol.) of the Confucian writings.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
More on Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms from Infoplease:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Chinese, Taiwanese, and Mongolian History | <urn:uuid:734932ea-2c75-4892-8621-0a0ab8c985a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/five-dynasties-ten-kingdoms.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952126 | 239 | 3.53125 | 4 |
CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Class starts Monday for the Charlotte Mecklenburg school (CMS) district and the school system still needs about 100 teachers. Most of the vacancies are in Elementary schools and in subjects like Math and English as a Second Language.
New Superintendent Dr. Heath Morrison says he is excited about the start of the new school year and knows there will be challenges.
"There's going to be mistakes," Morrison said. "But I don't want those mistakes to be mistakes that could have been planned for that was through any lack of preparation, so we are not going to be perfect but we are going to be pretty darn excellent."
Parents and students can expect some changes this school year. Teachers will stress literacy. They want to prepare students for the new way of testing. CMS Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark gave an example of how students will be tested in the future.
"We learning in Kindergarten 1+1 is 2," Clark said. "Now our students are expected to explain why 1 +1 is 2."
CMS hopes if students learn more literacy, it will help them verbalize each concept.
Also more ninth grade teachers will be hired. This will allow class size in that grade to decrease.
"That's excellent," CMS Parent Caroline Mensa said. "Because when I was going to school - it was a class of 20 not 35 or 40 - One on one with the teachers is a great thing."
This year CMS will phase in B.Y.O.T. Bring your own technology. By the end of this year students will be able to bring their own IPads, laptops and other technology to learn the 21st century way.
Some parents are concerned about that change.
"I don't know if I'm crazy about that," Mensa said. "Because I don't know how they are going to monitor the students from getting on Facebook or playing games or things like that. If they are using it for school work - great."
CMS says if you still have questions about the first day of school - call the CMS hotline at 980-343-3628. | <urn:uuid:d4f43293-9cf7-4825-8edd-22e09f360755> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbtv.com/story/19345375/cms-prepares-for-the-first-day-of-school | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970805 | 441 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Blackboard Student Resources
Blackboard is a course management tool, which supports and facilitates education at Winston-Salem State University. It provides faculty pre-formatted templates that allow for easy entry of course materials into the system and a default web page for every course offered by the University. It also offers facilities for interactive communication, secure submission of student assignments to faculty, and online quizzes and examinations. Blackboard enhances communication between faculty and students through sharing of materials and ideas beyond the context of traditional class sessions.
Beginning Fall 2009, you will not have to self-enroll. When you register through Banner your courses will automatically display in Blackboard. When you log into Blackboard you will see the courses you registered under "My Courses" in Blackboard. | <urn:uuid:8b3e4959-4bbf-47cd-9388-786671b8fb1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wssu.edu/it/departments/at/blackboard-student-resources.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924121 | 155 | 1.640625 | 2 |
- Number of videos:
Researchers have been modeling text difficulty for over 50 years. A variety of models have been developed, but few have focused on books for emerging readers (Grades K-2). We used Python for nearly every aspect of the project including collecting data from reading educators, analyzing text features and psychometric data, and creating a predictive model. Tools used include scipy, scikit-learn, pandas, and extensive use of the IPython Notebook which is demonstrated in the talk.
Many of you are probably familiar with NLTK, the wonderful Natural Language Toolkit for Python. You may not be familiar with Linkgrammar, which is a sentence parsing system created at Carnegie Melon university. Linkgrammar is quite robust and works "out of the box" in a way that NLTK does not for sentence parsing. | <urn:uuid:7c8eff46-9b44-4aca-a9a9-586f23d2398b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pyvideo.org/speaker/394/jeff-elmore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941385 | 175 | 3.203125 | 3 |
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck (Low German ) is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. Situated on the river Trave, it was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League ("Queen of the Hanse") and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. In 2005 it had a population of 213,983.
The old part of Lübeck is on an island enclosed by the Trave. The Elbe–Lübeck Canal connects the Trave with the Elbe River. Another important river near the town centre is the Wakenitz. The Autobahn 1 connects Lübeck with Hamburg and Denmark (Vogelfluglinie). The borough of Travemünde is a sea resort and ferry port on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Its central station links Lübeck to a number of lines, notably the line to Hamburg.
Around AD 700 Slavic peoples started coming into the eastern parts of Holstein which had previously been settled by Germanic inhabitants and were then evacuated in the course of the Migration Period. In the early 9th century Charlemagne, whose attempts to Christianise the area were opposed by the Saxons, moved the Saxons out and brought in Polabian Slavs, allied to Charlemagne, in their stead. Liubice ("lovely") was founded on the banks of the river Trave about four kilometres north of the present-day city centre of Lübeck. In the 10th century it became the most important settlement of the Obotrite confederacy and a castle was built. The settlement was burned down in 1128 by the pagan Rani from Rügen.
The modern town was founded by Adolf II, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, in 1143 as a German settlement on the river island Bucu. He established a new castle which was first mentioned by Helmold in 1147. Adolf had to cede the castle to Henry the Lion in 1158. After Henry's fall from power in 1181, the town became an Imperial city for eight years. Emperor Barbarossa ordained that the city should have a ruling council of twenty members. Being dominated by merchants, it meant Lübeck's politics were dominated by trade interests for centuries to come. The council survived into the 19th century.
The town and castle changed ownership for a period afterwards and were part of the Duchy of Saxony until 1192, of the County of Holstein until 1217 and part of Denmark until the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227.
After its defeat in the Count's Feud, Lübeck's power slowly declined. The city managed to remain neutral in the Thirty Years' War, but with the devastation caused by the decades-long war and the new transatlantic orientation of European trade, the Hanseatic League and thus Lübeck lost importance. However, after the Hanseatic League was de facto disbanded in 1669, Lübeck still remained an important trading town on the Baltic Sea.
In the course of the war of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleon, troops under Bernadotte occupied the neutral Lübeck after a battle against Blücher on November 6, 1806. Under the Continental System, the bank went into bankruptcy and from 1811 to 1813 Lübeck was formally annexed as part of France until the Vienna Congress of 1815.
In 1937 the Nazis passed the so-called Greater Hamburg Act, whereby the nearby Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg was expanded, to encompass towns that had formally belonged to the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. To compensate Prussia for these losses (and partly because Hitler had a personal dislike for Lübeck after it had refused to allow him to campaign there in 1932), the 711-year-long independence of Lübeck came to an end and almost all its territory was incorporated into Schleswig-Holstein.
On 3 May 1945, one of the biggest disasters in naval history occurred in the Bay of Lübeck when RAF bombers sank three ships - the SS Cap Arcona, the SS Deutschland, and the SS Thielbek - which, unknown to them, were packed with concentration-camp inmates. About 7,000 people were killed.
Lübeck's population grew considerably from about 150,000 in 1939 to more than 220,000 after the war, owing to an influx of refugees expelled from the former Eastern provinces of Germany.
Lübeck remained part of Schleswig-Holstein after the war (and consequently lay within West Germany) and was situated directly on the inner German border during the division of Germany into two states in the Cold War period. South of the city the border followed the path of the river Wakenitz that separated both countries by less than in many parts. The northernmost border crossing was in Lübeck's district of Schlutup. Lübeck's restored historic city centre became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
Lübeck was the scene of a notable art scandal in the 1950s. Lothar Malskat was hired to restore the medieval frescoes of the cathedral of the Marienkirche in Lübeck, which were discovered inside the walls after the cathedral had been badly damaged during World War II. Instead he painted new works which were passed off as restorations, fooling many experts. The West German government printed 2 million postage stamps depicting the frescoes. Among Malskat's additions were wild turkeys, unknown in Europe during the Middle Ages. Some experts considered this evidence for the early discovery of America by the Vikings. Malskat later exposed the deception himself. The incident plays a prominent role in Günter Grass's novel The Rat.
On the night of January, 18th 1996 a fire broke out in a home for foreign refugees, killing 10 people and severely injuring more than 30 others, mostly children. While most of the shelter's inhabitants considered a racist motivation for the attack obvious, the police and the local court have been accused of having ruled out racism as a possible motive before even beginning preliminary investigations. The incident has not been elucidated to this day. | <urn:uuid:5e5bb689-b642-43ab-ba4b-fcf7b0ec55c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:L%C3%BCbeck%2C_L%C3%BCbeck%2C_Germany | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972685 | 1,298 | 3.078125 | 3 |
I published this because I liked the beauty of expression and the gravity of the essence….
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the united states of America (1861 – 1865) is one of the world’s great statesmen for all time. Here is a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the head master of his school in which his son was studying, a letter so typical of the man who bore malice towards none and had charity for all.
He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero: that far every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader…
Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend. It will take time, I know a long time, but teach, if you can, that a dollar earned is of more value then five of found.
Teach him, to learn to lose…And also to enjoy winning. Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach in the secret of quiet laughter.
Teach him, if you can the wonder of books…But also given quiet time wonder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on the green hillside.
In a school teach him, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat…
Teach him to have faith in his own idea, even if anyone else tell him they are wrong…
Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with tough.
Teach him to listen to all men…But teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good one that comes through.
Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad. Teach him there is no shame in tear.
Teach them to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidder but never to put a prize tag on his heart and soul.
Teach him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes the fine steel.
Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will always have some sublime faith in mankind.
This is a big order, but see what can you do… He is such a fine little fellow, my son! Dad” | <urn:uuid:62f645e4-ff1f-4807-9cab-2028566029d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nrsl.wordpress.com/2004/09/17/a-letter-from-abraham-lincoln-to-his-son%E2%80%99s-head-master/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983158 | 482 | 2.375 | 2 |
Earlier this week, I was invited to participate in an online debate on PolicyMic.com over the legal issues surrounding Arizona SB 1070. PolicyMic hosted the discussion with several legal scholars and think-tank scholars on how the Supreme Court should decide the case.
Here is my essay, cross-posted from PolicyMic.com:
The Supreme Court should affirm the court of appeal’s decision striking down four provisions of the Arizona immigration enforcement law known as S.B. 1070. The Arizona legislature’s stated – and impermissible – purpose is to pursue a state immigration policy of “attrition through enforcement” that both conflicts with, and undermines, U.S. immigration law and policy. S.B. 1070 therefore violates the constitutional mandate that federal law is the supreme law of the land.
Supreme Court precedent requires the affirmance of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling. For well over a century when Congress first passed comprehensive immigration legislation, it has been firmly established that the federal government has the exclusive reigns over immigration and nationality law. That makes perfect sense given that the regulation of immigration can have national impacts and foreign policy repercussions. As the Court stated unequivocally in De Canas v. Bica (1976), “[p]ower to regulate immigration is unquestionably exclusively a federal power.”
Federal preemption of state immigration enforcement laws like Arizona’s S.B. 1070 makes perfect sense. The U.S. government should be able to enforce the immigration laws without interference from the states. A state cannot, as Arizona sought to do, pursue its own state immigration enforcement policy. Such a patchwork approach to immigration law, with possibly 50 different policy variations, can allow the nation’s relationships with foreign countries to be held hostage to a rogue state or states.
Upholding the court of appeals ruling is consistent with the Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, which rejected a challenge to an Arizona law allowing the state to strip the licenses of business that employ undocumented immigrants. Federal immigration law expressly allows the states to use its licensing schemes in the manner that Arizona did in the law at issue in Whiting. S.B. 1070 is much broader in scope than a mere licensing law and claims to create an entire state immigration policy law. In addition, in Whiting, the Chamber of Commerce, not the U.S. government, claimed that the state had infringed on the federal power to regulate immigration. Here, the U.S. government claims that Arizona’s law intrudes on federal power – and has damaged national interests by provoking protests made by the Mexican government as well as governments across Latin America. Needless to say, a claim of the infringement on federal power is more powerfully made by the federal government than the Chamber of Commerce.
Serious civil rights concerns lurk in the background of the legal arguments in Arizona v. United States. Namely, Latina/os and immigrants fear that S.B. 1070’s mandate that state and local police check the immigration status of persons whom they “reasonably suspect” are undocumented, will result in racial profiling at levels never before seen. Those familiar with the civil rights record of Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio know that this fear is real.
To justify S.B. 1070, Arizona political leaders contend that the U.S. government is failing to enforce the immigration laws. It is hard to contend, however, that the Obama administration is not enforcing the law when it has deported more immigrants than any other President in U.S. history (nearly 400,000 last year). In any event, the frustration with the current immigration system is for Congress, not the states, to address through comprehensive – and national – immigration reform.
(King Hall's Professor Gabriel "Jack" Chin and Professor Emeritus Bill O. Hing contributed to the debate, as well. You can read their entries, respectively, here and here.) | <urn:uuid:8f301c2e-6929-4ee2-8215-a204a0a6cf1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://facultyblog.law.ucdavis.edu/post/PolicyMic-Debate-on-Arizona-Immigration-A-State-Cannot-Have-its-Own-Immigration-Policy.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939776 | 817 | 1.671875 | 2 |
To better understand the nature of art in general, it is useful to understand the nature of classicism and the important role that Greek and Roman art played in establishing certain timeless principles that are employed or even tested today. Artistic coins, or their designs, were often used as decorative elements within other works of art or utilitarian objects. For example, we find pottery vases, lamp, and plates with impressed images from identified coins. Metal vases or plates sometimes incorporated actual coins into their design. Coins were a favorite item of jewelry in antiquity, and many are found today within contemporary settings for finger rings, pendants, bracelets, or earrings. The coins exhibited here represent a broad spectrum of time and space. Geographically, they cover the lands from modern day Britain to Afghanistan - including virtually all of the major Mediterranean cultures.
Copyright © 2013 Ball State University 2000 W. University Ave. Muncie, IN 47306
800-382-8540 and 765-289-1241 | <urn:uuid:d561207f-4bc1-4862-8d7e-7023f54f90f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cms.bsu.edu/web/museumofart/bookstore/~/link.aspx?_id=A71C839A2D1E4CE2844595FCA0B57A15&_z=z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943967 | 203 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Photo by George Duffield
Cocos Island is about halfway between the coast of Costa Rica and the famed Galapagos Islands of Ecuador – along a key “swimway” for sea turtles and home to a vast profusion of marine life.
This area is known worldwide as an ocean haven for
spectacular sharks, rare sea turtles, whales and abundant marine
wildlife. Divers travel for days for the privilege of exploring the
waters of Cocos Island National Park, more than a day by boat off Costa Rica's Pacific coast.
World Heritage status has not stopped commercial fishers from invading
these treasured waters to set illegal hooks and lines in ruthless
pursuit of swordfish, tuna and big fish that are quickly disappearing
from the open ocean. Only recently have Cocos Island park rangers begun to patrol and protect the park's marine boundary.
With your help, we will stop the destructive longline fishers. More
than 1,000 prominent scientists around the globe have already joined our
call to stop longline fishing in the Pacific. Now, we will focus their
attention to demand that Costa Rica create a real “no-fishing zone” in
the Cocos Island swimway region.
is demanding that Costa Rica protect Cocos Island National Park
from outlaw fishers and to expand the boundaries of the no-fishing zone
around the Park. In 2011, Costa Rica took a step in the right direction
by creating the Seamounts Marine Management Area. But the rules that
control fishing in this new management area are not yet written, and the
fishing industry is doing all they can to keep the status quo—which
results in tens of thousands of endangered turtles and sharks being
hooked and killed every year. The Seamounts Marine Management Area must be kept completely off limits to industrial fishing.
With your support, we will take our vision of protections for the Cocos Island region even further, calling for Costa Rica to create a protected area that reaches all the way to Ecuador’s waters, north of the Galapagos Islands. These two nations could create one of the world’s largest protected ocean zones, and save the endangered leatherback turtle from extinction!
Please help by donating now to expand protections for sea turtles and all endangered marine wildlife in the Cocos Island region. | <urn:uuid:6ce69c84-ce86-4593-8a38-921765a567f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seaturtles.org/article.php?id=2050 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907959 | 501 | 2.875 | 3 |
The President of the United States is the chief executive of the United States of America. The office of President was established upon the ratification of the US Constitution in 1789, and the President serves as chief executive and head of the executive branch of the United States government. The President is also designated as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, and has powers to sign bills into law, grant pardons or reprieves, and appoint officers, ambassadors, and judges, amongst other powers. The White House is the official home and principal workplace of the President. To date, there have been forty-four Presidents of the United States; the current president, Barack Obama, took office on January 20, 2009.
The post of President has been a highly sought one since its inception. Candidates, in addition to politicians, generals, businessmen, lawyers, and other real-world figures, have included several fictional personages. From Pogo to Winnie the Pooh, colorful icons have tossed their hats into the rings, and the Muppets are no exception. The most notable candidates have been Big Bird and Miss Piggy.
Big Bird, average resident of Sesame Street, first ran for President in Episode 0797, and learned that being President is a big responsibility. The story was the kickoff for the show's Bicentennial celebration. Big Bird lost in that episode, despite having an elaborate campaign and even a presidential seal.
However, Big Bird's ambitions to become President were eventually fulfilled, albeit on a much smaller scale. In 1988, special elections were held for President of Sesame Place, with no age restrictions or pre-registration required. Big Bird was a leading candidate, with the slogan "Birds of a feather flock together." He faced stiff competition from Cookie Monster, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Prairie Dawn, and in an unprecedented attempt to launch a collective into office instead of an individual, the Honkers. Big Bird won, carrying 24% of the vote. Details of his administration and subsequent activities, and how much executive government a children's theme park would need anyway, remain undocumented. Back on the street, Big Bird later became an outspoken supporter of H. Ross Parrot.
In contrast to the unprepossessing, modest Big Bird, Miss Piggy has been far more open about her ambitions. In 1980, she graced the cover of LIFE magazine, openly announcing her intentions. Buttons were also distributed. Not long thereafter, a running storyline in the Muppet comic strip covered her campaign in great detail; Scooter served as manager. Though that bid was less than successful, Miss Piggy remained dedicated. In 1992, she again made a bid, facing off against Gonzo in a televised debate on Good Morning America. It's possible that these ambitions may have occurred to Piggy in her formative years. The Muppet Babies episode "What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?," in a fantasy song sequence, depicted Baby Piggy as President (introduced by Baby Rowlf in Uncle Sam garb).
The Bird and the Pig have not been alone in their politicking, however.
- Betty Lou fantasized about running for office in the 1993 book I Want to Be President. In her imagination, she made state visits, held press conferences, and hosted the Easter Egg hunt on the White House lawn.
- Kermit the Frog has never formally stumped for office. However, along with Mickey Mouse, he has frequently served as a write-in candidate. In Connecticut during the 1980 election, both Kermit and Miss Piggy received write-in support, alongside Ed Koch, Mickey, and Dr. Frankenstein.
- In 1999, pundit Gregory Freeman urged Kermit to run in earnest:
|“||An entire generation has grown up with Kermit the Frog. So why not run Kermit for president? With Miss Piggy by his side and Fozzy Bear [sic] as his campaign manager, he can't lose. ||”|
- At least one Muppet has apparently succeeded in reaching the office, however. A Whatnot appeared as President in Muppets Tonight episode 202, undergoing therapy with Meepzorp in the Independence Day spoof "Co-dependents Day: CD4."
- The "shifty-eyed" variant of Sam the Eagle Action Figure Series 8 by Palisades Toys includes a book titled Strategies for the All-American Campaign: Sam the Eagle 2004. Inside the book is a draft campaign speech, a list of "Important people to mention in speeche (sic)" (including Wayne and Wanda), and a "Note to self: Remember to select a running mate." Furthermore, one of Sam's stickers reads "Sam the Eagle 2004" has the slogans "honesty, integrity, patriotism" along the circular border of the sticker.
- Meanwhile, in the realm of Creatures, the Dinosaur universe sports the Chief Elder as president analogue. In the second season episode "And the Winner Is...," Earl Sinclair and B.P. Richfield enter a fierce political battle for office. Though Earl briefly leads, he ultimately sabotages his own campaign, for the good of the country, and voters instead elect political analyst Edward R. Hero, who was not in fact a candidate.
- Sue Snue imagines growing up to be President in The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss book Who Are You, Sue Snue?
- In the song "We Coulda," Biff states he and Sully could've ran for President of the United States had they not chosen to be construction workers. In his imagination, Biff is seen striking Richard Nixon's popular "V sign" pose.
List of Individual Presidents
Of the forty-three people who have served as Presidents to date, 18 have either been depicted, referenced, or in some cases, personally interacted or collaborated in Muppet projects. These office-holders are listed below, with the dates of their terms. For a complete roster, see List of Presidents of the United States
- George Washington (1789–1797)
- John Adams (1797–1801)
- Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809)
- Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
- Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865)
- Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)
- Grover Cleveland (1885–1889, 1893–1897)
- Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933–1945)
- John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
- Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
- Gerald R. Ford (1974–1977)
- Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
- Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
- George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
- Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
- George W. Bush (2001–2009)
- Barack Obama (2009–present)
The First Lady of the United States is the unofficial title of the hostess of the White House. The following First Ladies have worked with the Muppets.
- Pat Nixon (1969–1974)
- Barbara Bush (1989–1993)
- Hillary Clinton (1993–2001)
- Laura Bush (2001–2009)
- Michelle Obama (2009–present)
Several politicians who have announced their candidacies for president have also appeared with or been referenced by Muppets.
- Joe Biden (1988 and 2008, ran for the Democratic nomination)
- Shirley Chisholm (1972, ran for Democratic nomination)
- Hillary Clinton (2008, ran for the Democratic nomination)
- Stephen Colbert (2008, attempted run for Democratic and Republican nominations in South Carolina)
- Christopher Dodd (2008, ran for the Democratic nomination)
- Michael Dukakis (1988, Democratic nominee)
- Newt Gingrich (2012, ran for Republican nomination)
- Al Gore (2000, Democratic nominee)
- Mike Huckabee (2008, ran for the Republican nomination)
- Jesse Jackson (1984 and 1988, ran for the Democratic nomination)
- Ralph Nader (1992, write-in candidate; 1996 and 2000, Green Party nominee; 2004 and 2008, independent candidate)
- H. Ross Perot (1992, independent candidate; 1996, Reform Party nominee)
- Mount Rushmore, featuring the likenesses of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, has been featured in multiple productions
- In I Love Liberty, in addition to Fozzie Bear as John Adams and Kermit the Frog as Thomas Jefferson, Miss Piggy appeared dressed as first Washington and then Lincoln.
- The first Great Moments in Elvis History sketch on Muppets Tonight featured Jefferson and Washington, along with John Hancock.
- The closing gag of Muppets Tonight episode 103 showed Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan (played by uncredited impersonators) as members of Billy Crystal's all-star band, detained by Bobo the Bear. Other members included Boris Yeltsin, Clint Eastwood, and Queen Elizabeth of England.
The figure of President of the United States, whether a portrayal of a historical president or a wholly fictional creation, has been prominently featured in countless film and television productions over the decades. Several Presidential portrayers have also worked in Muppet/Henson productions.
As real presidents:
- F. Murray Abraham played Abraham Lincoln in Dream Quest (1986, film)
- Simon Russell Beale played John Adams in John and Abigail Adams, The American Experience (2000, TV)
- Robert Beatty played Ronald Reagan in Breakthrough at Reykajavik (1987, TV)
- Kenneth Branagh played Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Warm Springs (2005, TV movie)
- Henry Fonda played Abraham Lincoln in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, film)
- Michael Gambon played Lyndon B. Johnson in Path to War (2002, TV movie)
- Pat Hingle played John Adams in Independence (1976, film)
- Tom Selleck played Dwight D. Eisenhower in Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004, TV movie)
- Martin Sheen played John F. Kennedy in Kennedy (1983, TV mini-series)
- Robin Williams played Theodore Roosevelt in Night at the Museum (2006, film) and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009, film)
As fictional presidents:
- Ed Asner played President Thomas D. Moss in Mars and Beyond (2000, film)
- Robert Beatty played the President in Superman IV: Quest for Peace (1983, film)
- Dabney Coleman played President Richmond in My Date with the President's Daughter (1998, TV movie)
- James Cromwell played President Robert Fowler in The Sum of All Fears (2002, film) and President D. Wire Newman in an episode of The West Wing (2004, TV)
- Geena Davis played President Mackenzie Allen in Commander in Chief (2005-2006, TV)
- Charles Durning played President David Stevens in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977, film)
- Henry Fonda played unnamed presidents in Fail-Safe (1964, film) and Meteor (1979, film)
- Morgan Freeman played President Tom Beck in Deep Impact (1998, film)
- John Goodman played Acting President Glen Allen Walken in The West Wing (2003, TV)
- James Earl Jones played President Douglass Dilman in The Man (1972, film)
- Ben Kingsley played President Gary Nance in Dave (1993, film)
- Kevin Kline played President William Harrison Mitchell in Dave (1983, film)
- Martin Landau played President Morose in By Dawn's Early Light (1990, film)
- William H. Macy played the President in an episode of The Unit (2007, TV)
- Bob Newhart President Manfred Link in First Family (1980, film)
- Leslie Nielsen played President Harris in Scary Movie 3 (2003, film) and Scary Movie 4 (2005, film)
- Gregory Peck played the President in Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987, film)
- Kevin Pollak played President Walter Emerson in Deterrence (1999, film)
- Dennis Quaid played President Staton in American Dreamz (2006, film)
- John Ritter played President Chet Roosevelt in Americathon (1979, film)
- Joan Rivers played President Rivers in Les Patterson Saves the World (1987, film)
- Tim Robbins played the President in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999, film)
- Chris Rock played President Mays Gilliam in Head of State (2003, film)
- George C. Scott played President Samuel A. Tresch in Mr. President (1987, TV)
- Peter Sellers played President Merkin Muffley in Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, film)
- Martin Sheen played President Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet on The West Wing (1997-2004, TV) and President Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone (1983, film)
- Loretta Swit played President Barbara Adams in Whoops Apocalypse (1986, film)
- Lynne Thigpen played President Marjorie Bota in Bicentennial Man (1999, film)
- John Travolta played President Jack Stanton in Primary Colors (1998, film)
- Jack Warden played President Roberts in Being There (1979, film)
- Fred Willard played President Garner in three episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1997, TV)
- Robin Williams played President-elect Tom Dobbs Man of the Year (2006, film) | <urn:uuid:ef22564f-b84c-42ae-a0e6-a955f4c9290c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/President_of_the_United_States?diff=prev&oldid=662227 | 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 | 0.955394 | 2,844 | 3.125 | 3 |
Hurricane-force winds, heavy snow hamper search for missing Canadians
Published Thursday, January 24, 2013 7:24AM EST
Last Updated Friday, January 25, 2013 7:30AM EST
The search for three Canadian crew members missing in frigid Antartica after their plane disappeared over a mountain range is on hold until there's a break in the weather, search officials said Friday (New Zealand time).
A rescue plane flew over the Queen Alexandra Passage mountain range on Friday morning but failed to spot the missing plane.
Calgary-based Kenn Borek Air, which owns the missing plane and a rescue aircraft, said it will make another attempt to locate the Canadians as soon as weather permits.
In a statement, the company said a second aircraft has been deployed in “a spotter capacity,” flying at a higher altitude over the area where the plane disappeared.
The missing Twin Otter's emergency locator transmitter was activated around 10 p.m. local time Wednesday as the plane travelled from a U.S. research station at the South Pole to an Italian research base in Terra Nova Bay.
A plane from the U.S. McMurdo Base then flew over the site where the beacon activated on Friday, but heavy cloud and strong winds prevented any visual contact, said search and rescue officials in New Zealand who are co-ordinating the search.
Hurricane-force winds, heavy snow and cloud cover made it all but impossible to see the men or their plane.
Michael Flyger of the Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand told CTV News that wind gusts have been reaching 170 kilometres per hour.
However, there is hope that the winds will die down and the cloud cover will life over the next 24 hours.
"When conditions ease, the intention is to set up a forward base at a location approximately 50 kilometres from the beacon site, from which to launch operations to the site," search and rescue mission coordinator Kevin Banaghan said in a statement.
Two helicopters are on standby, ready to fly in when conditions improve.
Rescue crews have obtained a fix on the plane's location from its beacon, but there has so far been no contact with the crew. The beacon has stopped transmitting, likely because the battery-- good for roughly 24 hours-- has died, officials said.
Flyger said the missing plane is equipped with survival suits, cold-weather tents and food and water to last up to five days.
Friends have identified the pilot as Bob Heath from the Northwest Territories, an experienced pilot in both the Antarctic and Arctic. Heath has more than 20 years’ experience flying in extreme conditions.
His wife, Lucy Heath, told the Calgary Sun newspaper that she'd been called by airline officials and told "Bob's plane was down, and they were trying to reach it." She said she was just waiting for more news: "I'm so worried."
His friends said if anyone can get through an ordeal like this, it's Heath.
"He's a bit of a living legend up (North)," friend and fellow pilot Sebastien Seykora told The Canadian Press. "He's a very experienced pilot."
"He's been flying down there for at least a decade," said Seykora. "If somebody had a question about how to do things, especially about going down there, he would be the guy they would ask."
Heath, who lives in Inuvik, N.W.T., has logged thousands of hours teaching young flyers in regions from the Maritimes to northern Ontario and administers tests to other pilots, said Roger Townsend, who was a co-pilot with Heath out of Red Lake, Ont. Flying with Heath was always a learning experience, Townsend said.
"He used it as an opportunity to impart knowledge. He's a true instructor with an extraordinary passion for teaching and training."
On the online networking site LinkedIn, Heath writes that he typically spends this time of year coaching and mentoring other pilots to upgrade their skills in polar regions.
It's believed that Heath was accompanied by a co-pilot and an engineer on the flight.
Officials from the Canadian High Commission in Wellington are working closely with local authorities organizing the search from New Zealand.
"Consular officials stand ready to provide consular services as required," said spokesperson Barbara Harvey.
Chris Payne, an oceanographic technician of the University of British Columbia, has participated in the U.S. and German Antarctic programs.
He said the geography would be "tricky" for making an emergency landing but noted the pilots are experienced.
"I have the utmost confidence that these men will have the food and equipment and clothing necessary to survive several days," Payne told CTV News Channel.
Marianne Douglas, director of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute and a professor at the University of Alberta, told CTV News Channel that Antarctica is known as the windiest continent because of its mountains, location at the South Pole and its glaciers.
Douglas, who's travelled to Antarctica by plane and ship, said most people who go there are trained in survival. | <urn:uuid:19570078-b404-44d2-9f3b-0a8662e36295> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/hurricane-force-winds-heavy-snow-hamper-search-for-missing-canadians-1.1127347 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972744 | 1,050 | 1.75 | 2 |
Flooding: Steps You Can Take To Protect Your
Private Drains (laterals) and the Property
residents do not realize the importance of maintaining what is
known as the private drain.
private drain, or lateral, is the connection from your
property to the main sewer. The drain is usually connected to
the city's main sewer in the middle of the street and carries
waste materials from your home or apartment to the main sewer.
People often believe that the city takes care of this
connection. However, care and maintenance of the private drain
- from your home to where it connects to the main sewer - are
the property owner's responsibility.
back ups in your basement can be reduced by keeping the
private drain clear of tree roots, grease and other materials
and by repairing broken private drains.
A licensed plumbing contractor can inspect
your private drain and either clean it or make repairs.
You should have your private drain inspected
regularly. The private catch basin on you property should also
be inspected and cleaned regularly.
How to Floodproof your Basement
Despite the best efforts of the Department of
Public Services to alleviate basement and street flooding,
some rain storms will strain the sewer system and cause
problems for some property owners.
This portion deals with basement floodproofing
devices that you the property owner can have installed. Most
of these items require the use of a licensed, professional
Before having any work done on your plumbing
system, get a number of estimates from different contractors.
After reading the following descriptions, you
should be better able to consult with a plumbing contractor
about which device best suits your needs.
The overhead sewer system diverts sewage from
plumbing fixtures on the first and higher floors to a new
sewer line run above the basement floor. This line is
connected, either in the basement or outside the foundation,
to the original house sewer as it leaves the building.
old sewer system is sealed. Any drainage from the basement
level is pumped up into the overhead sewer.
This system is probably the most effective,
but also the most expensive. Power outages will cause pumps to
fail but upstairs plumbing fixtures may still be used. Only
basement plumbing fixtures cannot be used.
Valves use a gate-like device to keep water
from backing up into your basement. There are a number of
types of valves.
1. A simple, hand-operated gate valve
installed in the private drain can prevent back flow from
the main sewer if the valve is closed before the main
sewer backs up. The disadvantage with this valve is that
it must be closed manually and you cannot use your sewer
system until the valve is opened again.
2. An automatic back up (check) valve closes
as soon as water begins to flow up the private drain from
the main sewer.
3. The combination automatic backwater valve
and a sewage ejector pump are another option. This unit
operates when the backwater valve closes and plumbing
fixtures, etc., build up to a level behind the valve that
activates the ejector pump. The pump is able to pump water
against the pressure of the sewer backwater.
The advantages of these valves include:
in the case of the hand-operated valve, someone must be home
to close it. Also, the gates of the automatic and
combination automatic sewage ejector need to be frequently
checked to ensure they are not being blocked by debris.
Any of these systems must be
installed by a licensed plumbing contractor. A permit is
required and a plan of the work must be submitted to the
Department of Building & Zoning for approval.
Standpipes are lengths of pipe open at the
top and screwed into the basement floor. They hold sewer
overflow until it recedes. Standpipes are generally
inexpensive, easy to install and do not require a permit.
They also help relieve pressure caused by back ups.
However, using standpipes over 12 inches
tall or capping a standpipe may rupture sewer pipe joints
under the basement floor. Also, the protruding pipes may be
tripped over and basement floor drains cannot be used until
standpipes are removed.
Plugs are plastic or metal devices fitted
into floor drains to prevent water back-up. They are not
useful if you expect over 3-4 inches of flood water.
Plugs are generally inexpensive, easy to
install, do not require a permit and can be installed flush
with the basement floor. Do not use plugs if you expect
flooding to exceed 3-4 inches. Severe flooding may cause
ruptured pipes or cracking in the basement floor. Plugs must
be removed to restore drainage.
Other Ways to Help Alleviate Minor Flooding
Here are additional tips to help prevent
dump anything into street or alley sewers. Leaves, grass
clippings, motor oil and other items pose a hazard to
people working in the sewers.
Make sure that
curbside gutter boxes are not covered by trash, leaves,
papers or other items. When these structures are blocked,
water cannot drain from the street and will cause street
private drain and catch basin regularly. Also have them
inspected at least once a year.
information about the sewer system, call the Department of
Public Services at (618) 251-3122, Monday through Friday
between 8:30am and 4:30pm.
Home | Business
| Government | Services
Online Payments |
Reference Desk |
The City of Wood River, Illinois
111 North Wood River Avenue
Wood River, Illinois 62095
This page last modified
All information © 2009 City of Wood River
Site Design/Development by | <urn:uuid:77ade14c-cbce-40b6-8a54-9aeee2845a91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.woodriver.org/FloodInfo/ProtectProperty/StepsToProtect.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902208 | 1,212 | 2.328125 | 2 |
The UNM-Gallup Student Senate 2012-13, front row, from left: Samir Wahid-Faculty Advisor, Elroy Natachu Jr.-President, Matthew Herrera-Vice-President; back row, from left: Nancy Curley-Secretary, Ardell Watchman-Senator, Christian Sanchez-Senator, Kevin Mahkee-Treasurer.
The Student Senate is an elected body which represents the interests and concerns of all students on campus and is the official link between the student body and the university administration and faculty. All students who are officially registered for classes at UNM Gallup are entitled to bring issues before the Senate, and, along with the public and other members of the University community, are welcome to attend all meetings of the Student Senate. The Student Senate performs a variety of tasks on Campus which affect the life of the general student body. A general summary of their duties includes:
To obtain Student Senate recognition and funding for a student group, contact the Student Senate Office, Gurley Hall, RM 1223, 505.863.7553 and complete an application-for-charter form. Likewise students interested in involvement in their student government are encouraged to seek office in the Senate by completing a Declaration of Candidacy at the Student Senate Office. | <urn:uuid:edbf0190-f88e-43f1-b350-b44e1d7362f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gallup.unm.edu/vert/students/s-life/student-senate.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93824 | 259 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Robert Lee HENRY
HENRY, Robert Lee, (great-great-great-grandson of Patrick Henry [1736-1799]), a Representative from Texas; born in Linden, Cass County, Tex., May 12, 1864; attended the common schools; moved to Bowie County in 1878 and to McLennan County in 1895; was graduated from the Southwestern University of Texas at Georgetown in 1885; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1886 and practiced for a short time in Texarkana, Tex.; was graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1887; elected mayor of Texarkana in 1890 but resigned in 1891; first office assistant to the attorney general of Texas 1891-1893; assistant attorney general 1893-1896; settled in Waco, McLennan County, Tex., in 1895 and practiced law; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-fifth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1897-March 3, 1917); chairman, Committee on Rules (Sixty-second through Sixty-fourth Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1916, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator; engaged in the practice of law in Waco, Tex.; again an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator in 1922 and 1928; moved to Houston, Tex., in 1923 and resumed the practice of his profession; died in Houston, Tex., July 9, 1931, from a gunshot wound; interment in Rose Hill Cemetery, Texarkana, Tex.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present | <urn:uuid:447712cb-ef0c-4d0a-850d-30defe96a56a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infoplease.com/biography/us/congress/henry-robert-lee.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967028 | 339 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 288
Page 288 Appendix G Glossary and Acronyms Glossary A Access: The ability to obtain needed medical care. Admission Review: Assessment of the appropriateness of urgent or emergency admissions within a limited period after hospitalization. Ancillary Services: Supplemental services such as laboratory, radiology, and physical therapy that are provided in conjunction with medical care. Appropriate Care: Care which is clinically justified; sometimes used interchangeably with necessary care and sometimes used only to refer to whether the use of a particular site of care (for example, hospital) is justified. B Business Coalitions: Regionally based groups of employers and/or providers, insurers, and labor representatives who may disseminate information on health care issues, collect and analyze data, and provide other services for members. C Capitation: A fixed rate of payment to cover a specified set of health services. The rate is usually provided on a per member per month basis. Claim: A bill for health services submitted to a health benefits plan for payment. Coinsurance: The percentage of a covered medical expense that a beneficiary must pay (after the deductible is paid). Concurrent Review: See Continued-stay review.
OCR for page 289
Page 289 Continued-Stay Review: Assessment of the need for continued inpatient care for a hospitalized patient. Cost-Sharing: The share of health expenses that a beneficiary must pay, including the deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and extra bill. Criteria: Bases for assessing the necessity or appropriateness of a medical service; explicit criteria are written. Current Procedural Terminology (CPT): A listing of descriptive terms and identifying codes for reporting physician services and procedures. Deductible: The amount of medical expense that must be incurred and paid by an individual before a third party will assume any liability for payment of benefits. Discharge Planning: The process of ensuring that patients are discharged as soon as medically appropriate, with follow-up care planned and arranged as needed. E Effectiveness: Probability of benefit to patients from a specific medical service under average conditions of use. Efficacy: Probability of benefit to patients from a specific medical service under ideal conditions of use. Efficiency: Level of benefit from a fixed level of input or amount of input cost to achieve a defined level of benefit. Encounter: In the health maintenance organization setting, generally refers to an outpatient visit to a physician or allied health professional. Enrollee: Individual covered by a health benefit plan. F Feedback Approaches: Programs in which physicians' patient care decisions are reviewed based on medical records, claims, or other documents of care, with the results shared with the physician. Fee-for-Service: A method of paying practitioners on a service-by-service rather than a salaried or capitated basis. G Gatekeeper: Primary care provider who is responsible for coordinating all medical treatment rendered to an enrollee of a health plan. Group Model Health Maintenance Organization: A health maintenance organization that contracts with a primary care or multispecialty medical practice for delivery of health services. H Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): An entity that accepts responsibility and financial risk for providing specified services to a defined population during a defined period of time at a fixed price. High-Cost Case Management: A process for identifying high-cost patients and facilitating the development and implementation of less costly appropriate courses of care.
OCR for page 290
Page 290 I Individual Practice Association (IPA): Model Health Maintenance Organization: A health maintenance organization that contracts with private physicians who serve health maintenance organization enrollees in their offices, generally on a fee-for-service basis. Insurer: Organization that bears the financial risk for the cost of defined categories of services for a defined group of enrollees. M Medical Necessity: The need for a specific medical service based on clinical expectations that the health benefits will outweigh the health risks; sometimes used interchangeably with appropriateness. N Network Model Health Maintenance Organization: A health maintenance organization that contracts with two or more medical group practices. O Outcome: The result of a medical intervention. Outliers: Cases that are at the extremes of a distribution. P Peer Review Organization (PRO): A physician-based organization that reviews the medical necessity and the quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Per Diem: A negotiated daily payment for delivery of hospital services, regardless of the actual services provided; sometimes refers only to "room and board" charges (meals, routine nursing care, etc.), not ancillary services. Practice Guidelines: Clinical recommendations for patient care. Practice Patterns: Aggregate characteristics of a practitioner's use of medical resources over time. Practitioner: One who practices medicine; may include physicians, chiropractors, dentists, podiatrists, and physician's assistants. Preadmission Review: Assessment of the clinical justification for a proposed hospital admission. Premium: An amount paid periodically to purchase health insurance benefits. Prepaid Group Practice: A term used before the term health maintenance organization was coined to refer to multispecialty groups paid on a salaried or capitated basis. Preservice Review: Assessment of the clinical justification for a proposed inpatient or outpatient service. Prior Review/Authorization/Certification/Determination: Prior assessment by a payer or payer's agent that proposed services, such as hospitalization, are appropriate for a particular patient. Payment for services also depends on whether the patient and the category of service are covered by a benefit plan. Professional Standard Review Organization (PSRO): Medicare review organization that preceded the peer review organization.
OCR for page 291
Page 291 Profile Analysis: Use of aggregate statistical data on an institution or practitioner to compare practice and use patterns, identify inappropriate practices, or assess other characteristics of practice. Provider: An individual or organization that provides personal health services. Q Quality Assessment: Evaluation of the technical and interpersonal aspects of medical care. Quality Assurance: An organized program to protect or improve quality of care by evaluating medical care, correcting problems, and monitoring corrective actions. R Referral: An arrangement for a patient to be evaluated and treated by another provider. Retrospective Utilization Review: Assessment of the appropriateness of medical services on a case-by-case or aggregate basis after the services have been provided. S Second-Opinion Program: An opinion about the appropriateness of a proposed treatment provided by a practitioner other than the one making the original recommendation; some health benefit plans require such opinions for selected services. Self-Insurance: When an organization bears financial risk for hazards (for example, medical costs, and property damage) that the organization itself may experience. Self-Referral: The process whereby a patient seeks care directly from a specialist without seeking advice or authorization from the primary care physician. Site of Service: Location where care is provided, for example, an inpatient facility or home. Staff Model Health Maintenance Organization: A health maintenance organization which provides health services through a multispecialty group practice, usually on a salaried basis. T Third-Party Administrator (TPA): Organization that processes health plan claims without bearing any insurance risk. Third-Party Payer: An organization other than the patient (first party) or health care provider (second party) involved in the financing of personal health services. Triple-Option Plan: An experience-rated program for an employer group in which a single insurance carrier, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan, or health maintenance organization provides indemnity or service benefits in conjunction with various managed care or health maintenance organization plans. U Unbundle: Charging for individual services which ordinarily should have been covered under one procedure code.
OCR for page 292
Page 292 Upcode: Using a procedure code which reflects a higher intensity of care than would normally be used for the services delivered. Utilization Management: A set of techniques used on behalf of purchasers of health benefits to manage costs through case-by-case assessments of the clinical justification for proposed medical services. W Withhold: A portion of a capitated or fee-for-service payment to a contracting physician withheld by an HMO or similar organization during the year. Depending on how revenues cover costs, the organization may retain or return some or all of the amount withheld. Acronyms AEP: Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol BCBSA: Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association CBO: U.S. Congressional Budget Office CCMC: Committee on the Costs of Medical Care CPT: Current Procedural Terminology DHHS: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services DRG: Diagnosis-related group FFS: Fee-for-service FMC: Foundation for Medical Care GAO: U.S. General Accounting Office GHAA: Group Health Association of America HCFA: Health Care Financing Administration HIAA: Health Insurance Association of America HMO: Health maintenance organization ICD-9: International Classification of Disease IMC: International Medical Centers Inc. IOM: Institute of Medicine IPA: Individual practice association ISD-A: Intensity of service, severity of illness, discharge, and appropriateness screens OBRA-86: Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 PCP: Primary care physician PPO: Preferred provider organization PPS: Prospective payment system (for hospitals) PRO: Peer review organization TPA: Third-party administrator
Representative terms from entire chapter: | <urn:uuid:da72ef86-54be-409f-bb9c-3aa977b342da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1359&page=288 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913167 | 2,041 | 2.078125 | 2 |
On Thursday, September 13, 2012 I had the opportunity to attend an educational briefing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC hosted by the National Association of Elementary Principals (NAESP), the National Association of Secondary Principals (NASSP), Johns Hopkins University, and the American Institutes for Research to release a new collaborative framework and guide for policymakers and practitioners on effective principal evaluation found in their new publication titled: "Rethinking Principal Evaluation." Speakers at the briefing included Steve Ross, Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University; Matthew Clifford, Senior Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research; Jon Millerhagen, Principal, Washburn Elementary School, Bloomington, MN; and Janice Koslowski, Principal, Potomac Falls High School, Potomac Falls, VA.
The panelists began by reminding briefing attendees that "the research to date on principal evaluation suggests that many state and district evaluations do not reflect existing principal standards or proven practices, and many principal evaluation instruments are neither technically sound or useful for improving principal performance - despite the proven importance of the principal to school and student success." The panelists also said that there are better ways to evaluate principals than the sole use of student test scores since principals have a ripple (or indirect) effect on student achievement because they work through teachers vs. working with students directly. Principals provide the conditions, resources, and inspiration to teachers to improve their practice.
The principal evaluation framework presented at the briefing addresses principals' desire for better feedback to grow their leadership practice. "Rethinking Principal Evaluation" is the only comprehensive body of knowledge and practice on principal evaluation. It not only captures principal voice and the areas they agree they should be evaluated on, it also insists that principal evaluation become a process to improve practice. As Steve Ross states at the briefing: "Since we can't replace principals effectively and can't evaluate principals validly, then we need to focus on principal improvement." This new framework delineates six areas of principal influence that need to be measured in a principal evaluation process. The framework requires multiple sources of data to measure principal effectiveness.
The six areas of principal influence that comprise the evaluation framework are: (1) Professional Growth and Learning; (2) Student Growth and Achievement; (3) School Planning and Progress; (4) School Culture; (5) Professional Qualities and Instructional Leadership; and (6) Stakeholder Support and Engagement. Interestingly enough, only the dimension of Professional Qualities and Instructional Leadership directly links to current leadership standards.
From the beginning the panelists were quick to caution that the framework is not an evaluation process; instead, they are guidelines for states and districts to use to develop/select an evaluation process and instruments. John Mullerhagen, Principal of Washburn Elementary School, emphasizes that principals need to be evaluated on areas they directly control and influence. Janice Koslowski, Principal of Potomac Falls High School, says this framework matters because it drives the capacity of school leaders to be effective and drives very honest conversation between the principal and his/her supervisor. Matthew Clifford said that the intent of this document is to increase the fairness of principal evaluation systems and he hopes that this document will move evaluation practice forward.
The presenters urged the federal government to continue its
emphasis on principal effectiveness, multiple measures, and overall support of
principals. They urged state and
district policymakers to: relook at their newly developed principal evaluation
systems to see if these six areas are included; ensure consistency across the
states and districts; allow principals to have the opportunity to "sharpen the
saw" via ongoing professional learning; and include professional learning and
the funding to support it in their policies.
Taken from the release a new collaborative framework and guide for policymakers and practitioners on effective principal evaluation found here: http://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/PrincipalEvaluationReportExecutiveSummary.pdf | <urn:uuid:0ec8560d-4b0c-45f7-be87-39e37824ebaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scee.groupsite.com/post/rethinking-principal-evaluation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926662 | 815 | 2.3125 | 2 |
View your list of saved words. (You can log in using Facebook.)
Fluid flow in which the fluid travels smoothly or in regular paths. The velocity, pressure, and other flow properties at each point in the fluid remain constant. Laminar flow over a horizontal surface may be thought of as consisting of thin layers, all parallel to each other, that slide over each other. It is common only where the flow channel is relatively small, the fluid is moving slowly, and its viscosity is relatively high. Examples include the flow of oil through a thin tube and blood flow through capillaries. See alsoturbulent flow.
This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the full entry on laminar flow, visit Britannica.com. | <urn:uuid:ec2b1bd8-6179-4cf0-9574-2b7bbb7ba714> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://east.merriamwebster.com/concise/laminar%20flow | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930592 | 163 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Q: As a woman affected by breast cancer, how do I know if I should have genetic testing?
A: Genetic testing for inherited breast cancer risk typically involves a blood test to look for "misspellings" in the genetic code called gene mutations. If you have an inherited gene mutation in certain genes like BRCA1 (Breast Cancer-1) and BRCA2 (Breast Cancer-2), you have a higher risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.
If you have had cancer in the past, you also have a higher chance of developing another cancer (a new and different one, not a recurrence) if you have a BRCA mutation.
If you have questions about genetic testing, you should talk with your oncologist about your concerns. Your doctor can help you understand when to consider genetic counseling and testing. You should also meet with a genetic counselor before deciding whether or not to have genetic testing. This trained health professional can review your family’s medical history and explain what your chance is of carrying a gene mutation. You can learn how genetic risk might influence your healthcare decisions, as well as those of your family members. They can also help you weigh the advantages and disadvantages of genetic testing, arrange insurance coverage and explain how the test is done before you move ahead. Women have different reasons for getting tested, and counseling is key to helping you make decisions that are right for you.
No matter what your race or ethnic background, if you have breast cancer yourself or have a family history of breast cancer, and you are concerned about your risk or the risk to your family members, you can ask for a referral to a cancer genetic counselor.
For more information on breast cancer and genetics, visit our website community for women at high risk.
Reviewed by Jill Stopfer, MS | <urn:uuid:b3754cce-4853-4818-82ae-8b2c8333cb28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lbbc.org/Understanding-Breast-Cancer/Breast-Cancer-Basics/FAQs-about-Breast-Cancer/FAQs-about-Breast-Cancer-in-African-American-Women/Genetics-and-Family-Risk-Assessment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961555 | 370 | 2.65625 | 3 |
GCN LAB IMPRESSIONS
Don’t get raided by a SWAT team; secure your wireless hub
There are many risks in setting up an unsecured wireless hub, from losing bandwidth when unauthorized people connect to having files snooped and removed from your network. But having heavily armed police officers toss grenades into your house probably isn’t a consequence that comes to mind.
One couple unlucky enough to live in Evansville, Indiana, where the police could become poster-children for overreaction, found out otherwise. Their “crime” was one that probably half the people in this county have committed.
They bought a wireless access point from a store, took it out of the box and turned it on. Pretty soon they could have been watching “Game of Thrones” on their laptops and playing “Words With Friends” on their iPhones.
But they also had unknowingly opened up their network, and their lives, to the outside world.
How to secure your ‘Ethernet port in the parking lot’
Someone — police still don’t know who it was — used their wireless signal to post a threatening message on a chat board, warning of violence against police. That prompted a fully armed SWAT team from the Evansville Police Department to roar to their home. It was apparently an emergency, yet the police had time to invite a TV news crew to come along for the ride to film their heroic actions.
When they arrived at the home, they saw a clearly unarmed woman sitting on the sofa watching TV. The front door was open, with just an unlocked screen door between them and the suspect. So the Evansville PD thought the best course of action was to shatter a window, break down the unlocked door, and toss two stun grenades into the house.
Then amid chants of “go…go…go” they rushed in, automatic rifles at the ready. But instead of finding a terrorist, they just scared the wits out of an 18-year-old woman and took her and her boyfriend into custody. They were later released without charges, and the city agreed to pay for all damages relating to the raid.
While the police might have acted poorly in this case, some of the blame -- not in a criminal sense -- does rest with the homeowners. A threat was made via their network, which they failed to secure. In addition to this type of situation, I’ve heard that child pornographers also drive around looking for a house with unsecured wireless access to use to download their digital prey.
It’s better to lock down your wireless signals and avoid any hassle. And it’s so easy to do these days. Almost any new router you buy will allow changing the Service Set Identifier (SSID) and default password as the most basic level of control. You need to do two things.
First, change the SSID, which is the name the device broadcasts to the world. No need to let people know what kind of device you have, as this is mostly always part of the name. You can also choose to cloak the network ID, although then you will have to remember the name and manually enter that for each device you want to connect.
Second, you need to change your network key, which is a fancy way of saying change your password. In the old days, most wireless APs from any company used the same default password for every device. One well-known company used to use “tsunami,” for example. So be sure to change it, or add one if your device comes in default open network mode, something that thankfully is becoming pretty rare.
Due to a terrible storm that hit the area where I live, I ended up losing my old wireless hub despite all the protections I could give it. I went out and bought a new one from Netgear, just a basic model that costs less than $40, and was pleased to find that it came with WEP encryption by default.
Even better, the default SSID and password were both randomized. So my password was something like “elegantgazelle091” printed right on the bottom of the device. My SSID was somewhat random, though it used the name Netgear. Still, that means that if I just plugged it in and went about my business, I would be more protected than those poor people in Evansville. So it’s nice to see companies getting more serous about wireless security.
Of course, I changed both of the default names on my wireless, but I happen to be allergic to grenades. If you are, too, take my advice and don’t leave yourself vulnerable to a wireless intrusion, or by extension, a police action. | <urn:uuid:5d7f45fa-5862-4368-bf2d-882c7b2be0a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gcn.com/articles/2012/07/03/swat-team-raids-unsecured-wireless-hub.aspx?admgarea=TC_LABREVIEWS | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971047 | 983 | 1.734375 | 2 |
[Full-disclosure] OpenID/Debian PRNG/DNS Cache poisoning advisory
dguido at gmail.com
Fri Aug 8 19:06:47 BST 2008
*cough* http://codefromthe70s.org/sslblacklist.asp *cough*
On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 12:57 PM, Eric Rescorla <ekr at networkresonance.com> wrote:
> At Fri, 8 Aug 2008 17:31:15 +0100,
> Dave Korn wrote:
>> Eric Rescorla wrote on 08 August 2008 16:06:
>> > At Fri, 8 Aug 2008 11:50:59 +0100,
>> > Ben Laurie wrote:
>> >> However, since the CRLs will almost certainly not be checked, this
>> >> means the site will still be vulnerable to attack for the lifetime of
>> >> the certificate (and perhaps beyond, depending on user
>> >> behaviour). Note that shutting down the site DOES NOT prevent the attack.
>> >> Therefore mitigation falls to other parties.
>> >> 1. Browsers must check CRLs by default.
>> > Isn't this a good argument for blacklisting the keys on the client
>> > side?
>> Isn't that exactly what "Browsers must check CRLs" means in this context
>> anyway? What alternative client-side blacklisting mechanism do you suggest?
> It's easy to compute all the public keys that will be generated
> by the broken PRNG. The clients could embed that list and refuse
> to accept any certificate containing one of them. So, this
> is distinct from CRLs in that it doesn't require knowing
> which servers have which cert...
> Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
> Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
> Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/
Full-Disclosure is hosted and sponsored by Secunia. | <urn:uuid:2c454eb2-2e3a-4a08-8775-e10ed3de26b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lists.grok.org.uk/pipermail/full-disclosure/2008-August/063770.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902034 | 440 | 2.046875 | 2 |
E. Coli Most Likely Engineered Bioweapon_Featured_, Pathogens Saturday, June 11th, 2011
Forensic evidence suggests the recent outbreak of E. Coli in Europe was bio-engineered to resist antibiotics. This strain of e. coli is a member of the O104 strain which is usually never antibiotic resistant. Scientists at Robert Koch Institute in Germany discovered this strain of e. coli is resistant to penicillin, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazol, cephalosporins, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, piperacillin-sulbactam, and piperacillin-tazobactam. In the simplest terms the e. coli was exposed to each antibiotic, and those that were resistant were then exposed to the next antibiotic and so on until a “super” bioweapon was created.
But wait, there’s more. The O104 also has ESBLs or Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases which enzymes manufactured by bacteria which give them resistance to most of the common antibiotics used in hospitals according to the UK’s Health Protection Agency.
This e. coli strain also has two genes which causes organ failure and has doctors in fear.
With all the evidence it seems extremely unlikely this happened naturally. Only in the lab can something this resistant be created which survives eight kinds of antibiotics even when combined and violates the laws of genetic permutation. | <urn:uuid:284830fe-4f8d-42ff-93b9-53451be002fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://consciouslifenews.com/e-coli-most-likely-engineered-bioweapon/116587/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948995 | 316 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Manuel Mujica LáinezArticle Free Pass
Manuel Mujica Láinez, (born September 11, 1910, Buenos Aires, Argentina—died April 21, 1984, Córdoba province), popular Argentine writer whose novels and short stories are best known for their masterful and fascinating blend of myth and fantasy with historical figures and events.
Mujica Láinez was descended from an Argentine family that included the writers Juan Cruz Varela and Miguel Cané. He was educated in Buenos Aires, France, and England. At age 22 he returned to Buenos Aires and became a correspondent for La Nación, a newspaper with which he was associated as an art critic and correspondent for the remainder of his life.
Mujica Láinez’s first novel, Don Galaz de Buenos Aires (1938), was a re-creation of city life in the 17th century. Canto a Buenos Aires (1943), his first literary success, is a poetic chronicle of the foundation and development of the Argentine capital. He solidified his reputation in Argentina with a series of novels known as his Buenos Aires cycle; Los idolos (1953; “The Idols”), La casa (1954; “The House”), Los viajeros (1955; “The Travelers”), and Invitados en El Paraíso (1957; “Guests at The Paradise”) are an account of the decadence and dissolution of the wealthy class in Buenos Aires. Aquí vivieron (1949; “They Lived Here”) and Misteriosa Buenos Aires (1950) are collections of short stories that develop some of the themes of his previous works.
Mujica Láinez’s masterpiece is the novel Bomarzo (1962; Eng. trans. Bomarzo), a painstaking re-creation of the life and times of Pier Francesco Orsini, one of the most powerful men of the Italian Renaissance. Mujica Láinez also wrote the libretto and program notes for the opera Bomarzo by Alberto Ginastera, which had its premiere in Washington, D.C., in 1967.
Rooted in Latin American literary tradition, Mujica Láinez’s novels are characterized by social satire and an ironic perspective on history. In addition to fiction, Mujica Láinez wrote biographies and critical studies of many Latin American artists and poets. His later works include Cecil (1972), El viaje de los siete demonios (1974; “The Journey of the Seven Demons”), El laberinto (1974; “The Labyrinth”), Sergio (1976), and El gran teatro (1979; “The Great Theatre”).
What made you want to look up "Manuel Mujica Lainez"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:85cbda07-97e8-4bb5-9d56-e739944f4074> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396641/Manuel-Mujica-Lainez | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948735 | 612 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Laparoscopic Procedure Gives New Hope to Cancer Patients|
BEDFORD, Texas — Radio-Frequency Tumor Ablation (RFA) is giving hope to cancer patients with otherwise inoperable liver tumors. The minimally invasive procedure, performed at Harris Methodist H•E•B Hospital (HMHEB), uses low frequency electrical energy to generate heat that kills cancerous growths inside the liver.
Once cancer has spread to the liver the options for treatment are usually limited. Radio-Frequency Tumor Ablation provides a new treatment option to individuals who may not tolerate major surgery or who do not respond to other treatments. Using a special needle-electrode placed directly into the tumor, heat is generated by a low intensity electrical energy called radio-frequency. When the tissue temperatures rise to sufficient levels, the targeted tumor dies.
Not all liver tumors can be removed safely and effectively using traditional, invasive surgical procedures. Cancer that has spread to the liver presents a number of problems. Tumors may be numerous and are often scattered throughout the liver, making it impractical or even impossible to surgically remove the growths without significant damage to healthy liver tissue, said Robert Sewell, M.D., a surgeon who performs RFA at HMHEB.
"In many cases, attempting a major liver resection would do more harm than good," Sewell said. "The RFA procedure is not a cure for liver cancer, but it may add to a cancer patient’s useful life and give them hope for a future that might otherwise be unobtainable."
Physicians routinely use MRI and CT scans to evaluate the liver for possible tumors, but these tests often fail to show the full extent of the cancer and whether or not the tumors can be successfully treated with RFA. The most accurate determination of the extent of the cancer can be made by using intraoperative ultrasound, or a direct examination of the liver during the laparoscopic operation.
Using the ultrasound images as a roadmap, the surgeon guides the RFA needle-electrode into the tumor where the low frequency electrical energy generates heat and kills the tumor. Radio-Frequency Tumor Ablation allows the surgeon to target just the tumor and a small rim of normal liver around the tumor, minimizing the risk to surrounding healthy tissue. Patients treated with RFA usually go home the next day with far less discomfort than those whose tumors are surgically removed, Sewell said.
Sewell has trained more than 100 surgeons in RFA. He was recently honored for his efforts by receiving the Presbyterian Institute for Minimally Invasive Technology’s (PIMIT) Distinguished Faculty Award for 2001. | <urn:uuid:e7571a1d-fe15-4a2b-9d64-cb9a909bc464> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.texashealth.org/body.cfm?id=2574&action=detail&ref=276 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93136 | 551 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Balkan GEO Network – Towards Inclusion of Balkan Countries
Into Global Earth Observation Initiatives (BalkanGEONet)
A new project was recently initiated by the European Commission to stimulate the broader participation of the Balkan Countries in GEOSS activities. The project is coordinated by Prof. Vladimir Crnojevic of the University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
Several! Balkan Countries such as Croatia, Greece, Romania! and Slovenia are already members of GEO. These countries are currently performing a number of activities within the GEO work plan and other activities called out in the GEOSS 10 year Implementation Plan. However, the broader inclusion of all Balkan countries is of great importance since only a comprehensive regional EO framework can achieve the GEO objective s of comprehensive understanding and improved utilization of resources in a sustainable manner leading to increased quality of life and stronger economic development.
The BalkanGEONet project brings together EO data users, research and governmental institutions, SMEs and international organizations as well as a number of world leading experts in the field of EO. This broad range of participation is needed to address many of the challenges occurring in the Balkan region. Besides the different cultural backgrounds and attitudes toward the environment, natural resources and the functioning of governments, the economies of the region are quite disparate – where the average GDP per capita in Slovenia is $30,000US, while that in Bosnia and Albania is $6000US. Thus the willingness to directly invest in science verses housing and social welfare projects differs according to country in the region. BalkanGEONet will work throughout the regions to reinforce the access to and understanding of the benefits of Earth Observation for societal decisions.
Marko Delimar of IEEE is participating on the Advisory Board of the project. | <urn:uuid:95688ebc-b6a3-445f-8ec0-cfb7447c61ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ieee-earth.org/projects/balkan-geo-network | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915959 | 366 | 2.171875 | 2 |
There is a complex statistical relationship between alcohol and violence, mediated by personality, expectancy, and situational and sociocultural factors.
- Norms and patterns surrounding alcohol and violence play a role in the relationship between the two.
- Cultures in which alcohol is well integrated into society (e.g., France, Italy, and Spain) have lower rates of violence associated with alcohol than do cultures in which alcohol is less integrated into everyday life (e.g., Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States).
- Violence is more likely to involve drinking patterns such as extreme or “binge” drinking and high-volume consumption.
- The relationship of alcohol to violence is strongest in societies that condone violent behavior.
Certain drinking patterns and violence may share common risk factors.
- Genetic and temperamental traits, antisocial personality disorder, parental modeling of heavy drinking and aggression, and poor interpersonal relations have been identified as predictors of both violence and harmful drinking.
- Young men are most likely to drink heavily and also most likely to engage in aggressive and violent behavior.
- Group violence is often associated with delinquency (e.g., sports hooliganism and gangs).
- Similar neuropharmacological mechanisms may underlie both the action of alcohol on the central nervous system and some correlates of violent behavior.
A significant proportion of violent crimes and offenses involves alcohol, but the causal relationship remains unclear.
- Reports of alcohol intake at the time of an offense may indicate simply that offenders and victims consume alcohol, not that alcohol caused offenders to commit violent acts.
- Intimate partner violence, sexual assaults, and suicide are more frequently reported to involve some use of alcohol—especially heavy drinking.
- Assaults (particularly sexual assaults) in which people who do not know each other well are more likely to involve alcohol.
Successful prevention of violence must address a range of factors and contexts.
- Certain modifications to drinking environments can reduce the incidence of violence involving alcohol.
- Strategies that target violent behavior can also be effective, including early identification of risk factors and tendencies among aggressive individuals.
- Health and other professionals (e.g., counselors and social workers) can be trained to recognize and address violent behavior and alcohol problems.
- Improved anger management and communication skills can be helpful in reducing the risk for violent behavior.
- Reducing the prevalence of harmful drinking can help minimize risk in this and many other areas of potential harm. | <urn:uuid:50dc6720-0ae3-48cd-b5c8-20dcf8d486c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icap.org/PolicyIssues/Violence/KeyFactsandIssues/tabid/128/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931559 | 503 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Greek-Romani Immigrant Issue of 1898 Βecomes Current AgainThe story behind these 26 early migrants and their exploits has resurfaced once again and taken center stage as part of the continuing dialogue focused on managing the problem of mass immigration and the reception of asylum seekers into Australia
The Greek-Romani migrant story begins back in Greece in 1897, when the Greeks lost a war against the Turks. The May 1898 truce between the two rival countries in Lamia created a wave of thousands of migrants forced to abandon their land and either migrate abroad or seek shelter in the then free Greek territories. Like many, the 26 Romani were also forced to leave their homes in the villages of Thessaly, flee to Volos and take a ship to Australia without a clue as to what the future would have in store for them.
Heeding the advice of merchants and ship-owners in Volos who told stories of a prosperous life in Australia, the Romani decided to give up whatever last funds they possessed in order to pay for their journey aboard the French steamer “Ville de la Giotat” on June 20, 1898. And this is where their adventures commence.
By mistake the 26 migrants landed in Adelaide instead of Sydney and soon became the center of unpopular negative attention in the country for quite a long time. The local authorities were alarmed by the arrival of the unexpected, unwanted and dangerous newcomers clad in rags. Their entry into the country had not been authorized, a fact which soon ignited the racial flame against the colored migrants that swept across the whole of Australia.
The local newspapers painted the arrival and appearance of the 26 Romani in the blackest of colors, while they also published their pictures. Special emphasis was put on the fact that these Romani were not of Greek origin but rather born and raised in Greece with the only work known to them was that of tinkers. Their settling into the area attracted many visitors right from the very start; some gave them money, some made fun of them and others offered them clothes and food. Most of them, however, under the guidance of the mayor of Adelaide, began organizing a campaign to drive them out of the city. Even the Australian Ambassador of Greece visited the small settlement and was surprised to know that the 26 migrants could only speak Greek.
In the meantime, the Greek-Romani issue was introduced at the South Australian parliament by an MP who suggested that no Greek, Hindu or Chinese should be allowed to enter Australia henceforward.
But the Greek-Romani migrants had a more serious problem to solve: survival. Without any means to support themselves, they resorted to wandering and begging or staging random acts of street entertainment for the local residents. They started dancing, joggling, and singing in order to make ends meet. But their way of life was not appreciated by the press or the aristocracy.
Local authorities in Adelaide did their best to expel the 26 migrants to Melbourne, but their journey did not end there. The Greek-Romani were first boarded on a train to the suburbs of Norwood, South Australia, where the people gathered at the station and made them leave with the next train. In other stations, the locals would throw stones at them or would not even let them get off the train. Whenever they could get off the train, they would put up their tents at a good distance from the village and seek for food from the peasants. There were people who helped the outcasts in any way they could before finally reaching Serviceton,Victoria on June 23rd, 1989.
The Melbourne media announced their arrival by describing them as Greek refugees or simply as Gypsies. Ninety-four Greeks publicly protested because Australian authorities and the media “classified them as Greeks” and insisted that the group were Romani from Serbia, who could speak Greek. However, the then Minister of Justice denied this story because all 26 migrants had Greek passports with them issued by the Greek Consulate in Egypt.
The press continued with its racially biased reports against the Greek-Romani. The migrants started wandering once again from one village to the next. The New South Wales government ordered its police forces to prevent the Romani from entering the county. Starving, huddling in rags, the 26 Romani dreamt of reaching Melbourne where the Greek community would hopefully help them. On August 17th, the wanderers got to Ballarat, one of the few places where they would be treated as humans. There they spent a week before setting off again to Melbourne, making a living by performing in the nearby villages. Finally, the Melbourne authorities did not allow them to enter the city opting to have them camp at the suburban area of St. Kilda, which was not under the city’s jurisdiction.
Their wandering and adventures did not stop there but rather continued for several decades. | <urn:uuid:aafe64bf-35ae-416d-8fc0-61320ff4d7cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lolodiklo.blogspot.com/2012/06/greece-then-and-now.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980688 | 985 | 3.59375 | 4 |
I am thrilled to see Coach Reiser make an effort to get more young girls and boys involved in the sport of soccer and start them off on the right foot. With the program he has put in place through training his staff, the curriculum he has developed, and the philosophy he shares with parents, the children should be exposed to an environment that promotes a true enjoyment of the game and physical activity in general. Young soccer participants need to play a variety of games with a ball incorporated, and they will be learning skills while having fun. The more touches on the ball per session, the better skilled they will become, and with the variety of activities Coach Reiser will lead them through, they are bound to enjoy the wonderful game of soccer!Signup Now
Shelley A. Smith
In the classroom, teachers are encouraged to use "Best Practices". This includes small grouping of similar ability to target skills and presenting the same material in different ways to accommodate the different learning styles of learners. Coach Jim Reiser uses the same techniques found in Best Practices of education and is applying them to the soccer field. He is targeting small groups of children that are the same age. This practice better meets the needs of the students versus grouping many ages together. My son, Matthew, enjoyed the fun games that were played as Coach Reiser focused on teaching various skills. Coach Reiser explained what he wanted the students to do, demonstrated, and then had the students participate. The program was fast paced with all students participating so there was no time for boredom. All the children received positive reinforcement and feedback throughout the program. If there is such a thing, I believe the Soccer Lesson Company is an excellent example of "Best Practices in Sports". Thank you Coach Reiser!
Tamela Jett & her son Matthew
What can I say?! My daughter had a blast learning the different techniques of soccer. Coach Reiser & Coach Ricky were so patient and made learning on her level super fun. We've taken swim lessons from The Swim Lessons Company for the past 2 summers and I wouldn't have expected anything less from this group. Keep up the good work guys!! We're looking forward to seeing you in September. Thanks for everything!
April Garbade & her daughter Anna Catherine
The Soccer Lessons Company encourages children to learn valuable soccer skills while playing lots of fun games. Dividing the children into small groups by age level provides a great way for everyone to be involved. The Soccer Lessons Company is a wonderful alternative to the traditional soccer leagues for young children. We plan to be a part of the fun in the Fall!!
David Ely & his son Caleb
This was Britton's first soccer lesson and he had a BLAST!! Coach Jim and Coach Ricky did a great job of keeping all of the kids involved. I appreciate the small class size - it allowed each child to have plenty of hands on playtime. Their approach of playing to learn and learning to play really makes sense. We look forward to more lessons in the fall.
Sandy Whitaker & her son Britt
I think the soccer lessons were fun and exciting for the my daughter. It was well organized and everyone participated. I enjoyed the way Coach Reiser used fun exercises and words for the kids to learn and remember actual soccer moves and positions. It was an enjoyable experience.
Deneen Moore and her daughter Jazmyn
My son, Caleb, had a wonderful time taking soccer lessons with Coach Jim and Coach Jason in Lexington! I was amazed and delighted to see the ease with which they taught a group of energetic three-year olds soccer techniques and even a little patience. It was a tall task and one the coaches really embraced. Every practice was a treat for Caleb to participate in and for
Matt & Tracy Hegler Caleb’s parents | <urn:uuid:de5d229e-b39b-4bc0-813f-777b48a0e10a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.soccerlessonscompany.com/Endorsements.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973373 | 772 | 1.71875 | 2 |
This family house was planned and built during the creation of the surrounding agricultural farmstead. The new house is located a short distance from the farm complex, in the middle of an orchard. An elongated one-story building appears to float slightly above the flat lawn. The flat roof and the north façade, together with a slightly raised floor envelope, are all clad in copper and protectively encase the floor to ceiling glazing on the east, west and south façades.
The large glazed areas and the flat roof make optimal use of solar energy. The large roof overhangs the main core, protecting it from overheating in the summer. A heating pipeline in the farm building, fired with own wood, carry most of the energy for the home. The energy concept is supplemented with a photovoltaic system on the roof of the adjacent farm building and a stove in the living area. | <urn:uuid:e55a0c3f-c756-4ea6-b827-eff2b6057105> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.archdaily.com/253576/farm-house-k_m-architektur/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96293 | 185 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Join the Crowd!
Nearly two-thirds of American adults suffer sleep problems several nights a week. Even worse, 58 percent of us experience one or more symptoms of insomnia, the most common sleep disorder.
Whether we have difficulty getting to sleep in the first place or wake up in the middle of the night to toss and turn, women suffer more sleep problems than men. And as we grow older, the incidence of insomnia only increases.
Besides feeling cranky the next day or nodding off at your desk, sleep problems can cause serious long-term effects. For starters, lack of sleep increases the risk of diabetes and obesity. Who knew?
Research at the University of Chicago found that too little sleep inhibits the way the body handles food, creating impaired glucose tolerance. This can result in insulin resistance—and unwanted pounds.
A lack of quality (deep or rapid-eye movement) sleep appears to inhibit growth hormones, leading to increased fatty tissue and reduced muscle mass. Sleep deprivation also lowers body temperature and causes fatigue, naturally making you want to eat more to increase energy and help you stay warm.
That’s not all. New research reports that for every hour’s reduction in sleep, the risk of high blood pressure rises 37 percent. Insomnia also leads to cardiovascular problems, depression, dizziness, memory loss, tremors, and trouble speaking.
As strange as it sounds, I have come to believe that we are slowly dying —”really” dying—for a good night’s sleep. Researchers from the MacArthur Mind/Body Foundation at the University of Chicago, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institutes of Mental Health, and NASA agree.
On anything less than 9.5 hours of sleep at least seven months out of the year, we can develop heart disease, diabetes, severe depression, and cancer. That realization alone can give you sleepless nights!
Truth is, there’s a lot you can do to sleep soundly. Exercise regularly during the day and make sure to get some natural light in your eyes that can “feed” the pineal gland.
Sunglasses, regular glasses, and contact lens can block the natural light responsible for regulating the body’s 24-hour circadian rhythm. This in turn impacts sleep, mood, and appetite. If the pineal gland isn’t properly releasing the hormone melatonin, that can disturb sleeping-waking cycles. Production of this hormone peaks between 2 and 4 pm.
I recommend that everyone, particularly people over 40, take melatonin. Anywhere from 3 to 15 mg of a time-released melatonin a half hour before bedtime can promote a restful night’s sleep.
Stress plays a role here too. Learn to take control of life, especially your time. Break the worry habit, and learn to share your feelings. The Bach Flower remedy White Chestnut is great to take before sleep if you are preoccupied and worried.
Remember that sleep and the adrenal hormone cortisol are intricately entwined. Insufficient sleep forces cortisol levels to rise and stay elevated. A 50-year-old may have evening cortisol levels as much as 30 percent higher than a 20-something. Not exactly sleep inducing!
Cortisol works in concert with other chemicals to quicken fat storage, targeting the central fat cells. This releases glucose and fatty acids providing energy to muscles and stimulating the appetite.
Many people are helped with ¼ to ½ teaspoon of baking soda mixed in 8 ounces of water a half hour before bedtime. This simple remedy reduces overacidity as we grow old—it’s been a godsend for me and my clients.
Also support your adrenal glands with mineral-rich foods. Go for vibrant colors in fruits and vegetables: green (broccoli, collards, kale, and mustard greens) and yellow-orange (cantaloupe, carrots, pumpkin, squash, and sweet potatoes).
Adaptogenic herbs—American and Chinese ginseng, hops, passionflower, and skullcap—help the body adapt to stress. Hops, passionflower, and skullcap also work as natural sedatives, helping to promote sleep.
Vitamin B12 appears to significantly relieve insomnia. In one study, 3,000 mcg of this vitamin enabled people with sleep problems to drift off more easily and stay asleep longer. B complex vitamins are crucial during stress.
Chinese medicine says that the liver governs the body during the early morning hours. If you awaken regularly between 1 and 3 am, your liver may need some extra TLC. (Cut out overly fatty foods and make sure you are not overdoing over-the-counter meds.)
Do you crave chocolate when you have trouble sleeping? That usually means you need more magnesium, an important mineral that promotes sleep and supports cardiovascular health.
Try taking magnesium just before bedtime. If you wake up during the night, take another dose. I like Magnesium 400 mg. | <urn:uuid:42ba1d29-81ea-4a75-9a46-09c15dbb7244> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.annlouise.com/blog/2009/09/11/trouble-stacking-zzzs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919094 | 1,022 | 3 | 3 |
At the “alter of sacrifice,” justice was surrendered in the interest of peace, stability, and illusionary reconciliation.
The day we stop questioning will be the day we live in fear of the unknown; this is good if you don’t want to consider, address, and answer new questions about life. New inventions or technologies are a byproduct of questioning the relevancy of existing technologies and seeking new ways of doing things to improve current conditions.
My question today: To what extent has amnesty eroded the fabric of our criminal justice system?
Amnesty is defined as “a pardon extended by a government to a group or class of persons, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted.”
Out of a negotiated settlement, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was born from a major compromise for parties striving to make a smooth transition from apartheid to democracy. Many perpetrators from both parties — the liberation movement as well as the apartheid regime — had vested interests in how their inhuman acts would be dealt with in the post-apartheid dispensation.
At the helm of the commission was Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a man of the cloth, who was naturally inclined to forgive wrongs of the past, following well-regarded biblical imperatives. He was given the responsibility of creating a national narrative about reconciliation and forgiveness.
While he delivered on his mandate, he later questioned the extent of justice allegedly performed during much of the TRC process by recently proposing a guilty tax (taxation for apartheid beneficiaries for reparation purposes). He also raised concerns about how the apartheid government did not use the TRC platform to provide formal apologies for gross violations of human rights.
Obviously, this lack of pronouncing apology by the apartheid regime was interpreted by many as a clear lack of remorse, which essentially suggests that (a) the regime did not see anything wrong with their racial segregationist policies or (b) the segregationists did not apologise because apology implies an obvious need for righting past wrongs.
This series of events might have had a negative impact on the public’s conception of what is just, particularly regarding the notion of amnesty.
Here are the documented facts, compliments of the University of Witwatersrand.
South Africa’s TRC is the only truth commission to have been given powers of amnesty. The 1993 Interim Constitution made specific provisions for an amnesty process but did not prescribe details. Indeed, the wording of the Constitution’s preamble was deliberately vague, in effect, leaving it up to a subsequent political process to work out the details.
Although the undertaking to indemnify perpetrators was a bitter pill to swallow, especially for those within the antiapartheid movement, most commentators agree that momentum towards transition would have been fundamentally undermined without it.
Although the motivation for a general amnesty had come primarily from representatives of the apartheid state and its security forces, there were powerful elements within the liberation movement who recognised and supported this position. Former Umkhonto we Sizwe chief and post-apartheid’s first Minister of Defence, the late Joe Modise, for example, had reportedly assured apartheid defence-force negotiators that this is what would be delivered.
The number of amnesty applications that were submitted stunned the TRC
because Parliament had envisaged that an eighteen-month-to-two-year period would be adequate to process the anticipated caseload. By the end of April 1996, only 197 applications had been received, at which point five committee members and four staff members were dealing with the handling and processing of applications.
By the end of 1997, however, the committee had received over 7,000 applications relating to more than 14,000 different incidents. The committee was expanded to 19 participating members and 94 staff members, allowing them to hear as many as 6 matters at a time. A total of 7,116 applications were received before the receipt of applications cutoff date.
Many applicants were granted amnesty, however, some perpetrators are currently appealing to the government for amnesty, even a presidential pardon.
(Source credit: University of the Witwatersrand, Traces of Truth; Documents relating to the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission.)
Against this backdrop, I’m tempted to question whether correlations exist between: the past violent nature of South African society; government’s manipulation of laws to suit its apolitical ends and current violent protests; lack of respect for the rule of law; and South Africa’s current crime rate.
Perhaps, the way in which different societal actors conduct themselves is a byproduct of the amnesty practice, among other things. For example:
-- Criminal offenders, inside their narrow realms of life, often try to justify their stealing from “the former colonial master” by saying that they are taking back what was stolen from them.
-- Today’s miners ignore legal channels of striking because they feel that justice is not performed at their work place.
-- Current leaders have broken apartheid laws for most of their lives thereby becoming political prisoners while seeming to be heroes at defying unjust laws (in their view & others). Whether just or not, apartheid laws governed the land of South Africa, as viewed through the prism of the South Africa Criminal Justice System. For example, today’s seated president’s respect for law remains under scrutiny while, immediately before he assumed presidential duties, he was in and out court on a variety of charges not limited to political ones.
-- Opposition party leader Helen Zille — still viewed by many as the embodiment of that which facilitated apartheid — finds it easier to govern through the judiciary, which brings to question the legitimacy and role of South Africa’s judiciary.
My perceived correlation might not be true on all points. However, we as a nation might want to do away with the current practice of politicizing the plight of struggling people just to score political points. Instead, we should come to terms with our social reality and explore options that could allow us to again restore dignity to our justice system by clearly demonstrating that the rule of law is designed not only to protect the interests of “the chosen few”, but uphold those public institutions that have been developed to safeguard human rights regardless of one’s social class.
Otherwise, we’ll eventually see Vavi’s forthcoming negative time-bomb prophecy play out.
Let us never forget that our nation didn’t arrived to where it is today by some accident of our natural past; we are here as a direct consequence of making both wise and bad decisions. We should not be afraid to revisit our past occasionally, not only to assign appropriate blame, but to learn also from our past, which can often be the very best teacher.
The remaking of our nation is a dream within reach. We South Africans have come a long way; we have proven to the world that we have the capacity and insight to reform our society. The choice remains ours: whether we want our children and their children to live in a country where skin colour determines one’s ultimate fate.
It is our responsibility to create a national environment in which next-generation South Africans would be able to truly experience the beauty of diversity thriving in an atmosphere where security walls have been broken down because there would no longer be a need for citizens to take from one another what isn’t theirs. I have tasted what it’s like to be both white and black, and it’s delicious.
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received. | <urn:uuid:75c46c15-4c8b-4326-b53e-7c9c67e59a2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Amnesty-and-Justice-Remaking-Our-Nation-20121110 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969425 | 1,619 | 2.8125 | 3 |
PRINCETON – Next week, NATO’s 28 members will meet in Chicago for their annual summit. Sixty-two years after the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, binding the United States, Canada, and ten European states to consider an attack on one an attack on all, NATO is transforming itself into a twenty-first-century global security organization. The result will be a safer world.
In 1949, the world was rapidly dividing into two principle political-military blocs, East and West, alongside a large “non-aligned movement.” NATO faced off against the Warsaw Pact, created by the Soviet Union and its allies in 1955. Within both blocs, smaller powers clustered around the superpower. No flexibility existed within either bloc for smaller groups of members to deploy alliance assets.
Today, NATO is becoming, in the words of its secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, “a hub of a network of security partnerships and a center for consultation on global security issues.” It is a “globally connected institution,” with more than 40 individual country partners and growing ties to other international organizations.
Indeed, the country partners include all of Europe’s non-NATO countries, such as Austria, Switzerland, Finland, and Sweden, and aspiring and possible NATO members such as Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Ukraine, Belarus, and even Russia. Virtually all of the Central Asian countries – from Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan, as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan – are partners, as is the entire Maghreb, from Morocco to Egypt, as well as Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Finally, Pacific partners include Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Mongolia.
On the organizational side, NATO describes itself as having developed “close working relations” with the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It also collaborates regularly with the African Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Organization for Migration, the World Bank, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
If one draws links radiating outward from NATO to all of these different countries and organizations, the result is a security network that has multiple hubs and clusters – much like a map of the Internet or of planets and galaxies. This world is no longer unipolar, bipolar, or even multipolar, because the actors that matter are not single states but groups of states that are more or less densely connected. It is a multi-hub security network, in which the hubs are regional organizations of different sizes and strengths.
This structural shift has enormous practical significance. For starters, it means that not only NATO’s military resources, but also its human capital and practical knowledge in combating many different kinds of threats are available globally. NATO has created a Comprehensive Crisis and Operations Management Center that brings together civilian and military expertise on crisis identification, planning, operations, reconstruction, and stabilization capabilities in ways that are explicitly designed to connect NATO headquarters in Europe to “the networked world.”
Second, NATO’s own identity is becoming that of an alliance that exists to empower – to offer assistance and partnership – as much as to overpower. NATO is no longer just a hammer; it is an entire toolbox of security options. These options include developing counter-networks to meet networked security threats such as terrorism and proliferation of nuclear, chemical, or biological materials, as well as highly decentralized threats such as piracy. As a result, when a crisis like the war in East Timor in 1999 or last year’s political stalemate in Côte d’Ivoire arises, NATO can backstop whichever country or group of countries chooses to take the lead in carrying out a UN mandate.
NATO members themselves also have much more flexibility to draw on NATO’s collective assets. Even skeptics of NATO expansion and operations like the intervention in Libya now recognize that joint operations by member countries, operating under a UN mandate and in conjunction with regional partners, is likely to be a model for the future. As General Brent Scowcroft, National Security Adviser for President George H.W. Bush, observed recently, the UN Charter originally envisioned a standing military force to enforce Security Council resolutions – a vision that the NATO partner model might ultimately realize.
Power in a network flows from connectedness, or what network theorists call “centrality.” The most powerful member of a network is the node that has the most connections to others, which means that a node can increase its power not only by adding connections directly, but also by increasing the connectedness of nearby nodes.
In other words, the US can increase its own power both by connecting to other NATO members (and then ensuring that NATO is connected to as many other countries and organizations as possible) and by increasing the connectedness of those other countries and organizations. If NATO connects with the African Union, for example, and increases the AU’s connectedness, then both NATO and the AU become more central to the network and hence more powerful in terms of their ability to exercise influence and marshal resources.
The logic of centrality as a source of power creates a virtuous circle, in which members of a network gain advantage by bringing more members into the network and connecting more densely to them. That is exactly the logic behind NATO’s transformation.
The immediate topic on the agenda in Chicago next week will be getting NATO forces out of Afghanistan. But the longer-term subject will be getting as many countries as possible into the global NATO security network. | <urn:uuid:2693f335-1170-410b-9654-a13ca4b7dbe9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/globalizing-nato | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951137 | 1,164 | 2.625 | 3 |
Excerpt of Escape from the Land of Snows by Stephan Talty
(Page 1 of 2)
Printer Friendly Excerpt
Escape from the Land of Snows
Early one morning in March 1959, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama walked slowly along a gravel path that led away from his small home at the Norbulingka, his beloved summer palace. The air just after first light still carried a snap of cold that reached from the Himalayas, and the sun was only now beginning to warm the breeze. This was his favorite time to walk the grounds, after rising for prayers and breakfast at 5:00 a.m., when everything was still. Against a sky beginning to lighten, the leaves of the palace trees poplar and willow, mostly fairly pulsed green. It was the Dalai Lamas lucky color.
He was deep in thought, and then deep in the effort to avoid thinking. When he lifted his head he could spot thrushes and willow warblers and even an English kingfisher as they swung through the branches and then out over the two thick walls that surrounded the palaces 160 acres. The Norbulingka, three miles outside the capital city, Lhasa, was the place the Dalai Lama felt most at home.
As the Dalai Lama walked, he could hear the calls of his pet monkey, which was tethered to a stick in another part of the Jewel Park. If he was lucky, he would spot the musk deer that roamed the grounds, along with cranes, a Mongolian camel, and high-stepping peacocks. He could also hear the occasional burst of gunfire that echoed outside the walls. Out there, thousands of his fellow Tibetans were camped, guarding against what they thought were conspiracies to kill or abduct him. There were, the Dalai Lama was convinced, no conspiracies, but that didnt change the power or the direction of the uprising that was gathering in the streets of Lhasa. The crowds would not let him leave, and their very presence was inciting the Chinese, who had occupied the country, or retaken it from a corrupt, intriguing elite, if you asked them, nine years earlier.
The past few days, since the uprising had begun, had run together in a dizzying, frightening blur. The Norbulingka couldnt have appeared more serene as it took on its new greenery, but it seemed that the future of Tibet was spinning out of control just outside its walls. The Dalai Lama felt that he was caught between two volcanoes. But there were actually more than two sides; the Tibetans themselves were divided. As was his own mind, particularly on the question of what to do now: stay in Lhasa, or flee to a safe haven in the south, or even on to India itself?
As the thin monk, just twenty-three years old, usually luminous with energy, paced slowly along the path, he was successfully avoiding returning to his small whitewashed palace, especially the Audience Hall, where he held his meetings. (It was even furnished with chairs and tables instead of Tibetan cushions, as an optimistic nod to the foreign diplomats hed hoped to welcome, but the Chinese allowed few visitors.) Bad news was all that arrived there these days. The Chinese official Tan Guansan, one of the leading officials on the influential Tibet Work Commission, had made a point of coming to see him over the past few months, and the confrontations had become increasingly ugly. And for months the Dalai Lama had been receiving messengers arriving from Lhasa and beyond with stories of Chinese atrocities against his people beheadings, disembowelments, accounts of monasteries burned with monks inside them that were so outlandishly brutal that he had to admit he himself didnt believe them all. They were almost beyond the capacity of my imagination, the Dalai Lama remembered. It simply wasnt possible for human beings to treat one another that way. Now new reports were coming in daily through the gates of the Norbulingka, watched not only by his bodyguards and Tibetan army troops but also by representatives of the peoples committee, a bewildering concept in Tibet, which had been ruled for centuries by aristocrats and abbots, under the authority of the Dalai Lama himself. These bulletins told him that the Chinese were bringing artillery and reinforcements into Lhasa and installing snipers on the rooftops of his restive city. He could sometimes feel the rumble of tanks diesel engines as the vehicles negotiated the narrow streets.
Excerpted from Escape from the Land of Snows by Stephan TaltyCopyright © 2010 by Stephan Talty. Excerpted by permission of Crown, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. | <urn:uuid:ccc0dd3e-05d1-4563-8982-016aa152fbd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookbrowse.com/excerpts/index.cfm/book_number/2523/escape-from-the-land-of-snows | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987092 | 992 | 1.648438 | 2 |
NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Inherited Disorders and Birth Defects
Normal Aging or Down`s Syndrome Dementia?
My 47 yr. old sister has Down`s Syndrome. Over the past 3-4 years her mental abilities have diminished tremendously. She has deteriorated to the point where we had to put her in a nursing home. Even her speech has become impossible to understand - except for a few occasional words. She also seems to be hallucinating, often putting imaginary food in her mouth. For some unknown reason she also yells a lot... screaming NO! Some days she`s more alert, interactive, & makes eye contact. Other days she`s so far "out of it" that all she does is slump in her wheelchair, barely awake. Is this "normal" or should we be looking into the various medications they`re giving her? Or, is there some form of medication that she should be receiving?
Many people with Down syndrome will develop Alzheimer's disease (AD) or some type of dementia as they age. However, some of the symptoms of AD can be similar to other health problems such as hypothyroidism or psychiatric problems such as depression. All of these can be treated with medication.
I would recommend that you talk to your sister’s doctor about having her evaluated to make sure there are not other reasons for her deterioration.
If you haven't already, you may find the National Association for Down Syndrome helpful.
Anne Matthews, RN, PhD
Associate Professor of Genetics
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University | <urn:uuid:fcdfdc70-68aa-4f08-bb8a-3b7d48ec9ade> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/39771.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970566 | 356 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Learning Resources | Q&A
Khan Academy Talks Analytics, OER, and iPads
Thanks in part to a recent 60 Minutes segment with founder Sal Khan, education wunderkind Khan Academy has become very popular. The nonprofit's video lessons have racked up more than 130 million views to date from a wide spectrum of learners, opening a dialogue among educators coast to coast on the merits of the flipped classroom and the promise of technology to differentiate instruction. At the same time, the company is still very much a startup--30 employees and growing--that admits there is a lot of work to be done before it achieves the lofty goal of providing a free world-class education to anyone, anywhere.
THE Journal Associate Editor Stephen Noonoo recently spoke with Khan Academy's Matt Wahl, who splits his time between the products and implementation teams, about the newly released iPad app, using data in the classroom, and how the company thinks schools can finally dump the "sage on the stage" model once and for all.
Stephen Noonoo: Where is Khan Academy presently in regard to K-12 education?
Matt Wahl: Right now Khan Academy has an immense amount of content. We have over 3,000 videos in subjects ranging from math to biology, chemistry, even spreading into some economics and finance. Recently, we've added some content in art history with some of our partners. It's really been very humbling to watch and see the impact these videos are having on students.
The other thing we're focused on is the exercise platform. We have a set of self-paced exercises that broadly cover K-12 and today we're focused on fleshing that out. We have a pretty strong gauge looking at grades 3 to 9 and we're really focused on developing our content for 9 to 12. We're excited about the impact on the individual learners outside of the classroom. On our Web site we have, to date, around 2 million-plus problems done every day, and we just recently approached 400 million problems solved.
The third thing we think is exciting is our analytics platform, which lets students and teachers track what's occurring on an individual level to be able to see everything from how a student is performing overall in math, to how they're performing specifically within algebra and within linear equations, to how they're doing on specific problems.
We recently started putting more effort into tools for teachers and we released a comprehensive set of teacher resources. The goal is to provide a platform where we can share some of the learning that we've seen in the classroom with the broader base. We now have over 10,000 schools that are actively using Khan Academy in groups of 10 or more students, so we're really trying to shape the learning that we work with directly, and then scale those out.
Noonoo: Tell us about your new iPad app. What is the potential for engaging students on tablets and how do you see it having an impact on schools?
Wahl: We're really excited about the iPad app because we see it as really a great video-watching experience. It's our first foray into the app world, but it's something that we worked really hard on and we hope folks will enjoy.
First, on the product side, there are a couple of features that we think are pretty exciting. This has our entire video library on it. Right now our video library stands at 3,041 videos, and recently we've revamped our content management system. In addition to Sal making videos, we also have Vi Hart, who is creating really rich math content. We also have SmartHistory who created these awesome art history experiences, and now all their content weaves into the iPad app.
As those new videos are being pushed out, they are all seamlessly updated to the app. Once you have access to that content, one of the main features to the app is that you can download it and take it offline. We've already heard some cool stories of folks using this--because the videos are byte-sized--on their morning commute, or students on a bus in some districts where they have iPad programs, by being able to brush up on things without having to rely on an Internet connection.
Another thing that we think is great about this is the interactive subtitle navigation. We actually have an open source subtitling effort where anyone can contribute subtitles to our videos, and then we have a team that vets those and releases them.
If you played around with the app now, right beneath the video screen, there is a section that has all of these interactive subtitles. You can actually scrub to individual sections there, and we've seen that be a really effective point of navigation for our users.
As part of the iPad app, you can actually log in and save your progress so you can get points and badges in the traditional Khan Academy way. One of my favorite features is that I can be playing a video on the iPad app--and let's say I'm eight minutes through--I can pause the video right as I hop off the train and get into work, then when I go into my browser on my computer, the video will resume at the same spot. I talked earlier about the platform and the analytics we have. We're basically tracking all of this so we can give the users some of those advantages other than just the points and the badges and really start to showcase some of the advantages of the platform.
Noonoo: Does Khan see itself as part of the open educational resource movement, and does the iPad app fit into that at all?
Wahl: I think that from day one, if you look at our mission statement, it has been to provide a free world class education to anyone, anywhere. All of our resources are free, including the iPad app, analytics, and the interactive exercises, and all of our software is open source. We actually have a pretty active development community around exercises. I think roughly 20 percent of our exercises have been contributed by the open source community. And you can literally view the source code for our entire Web site online. We think there is a tremendously exciting future in open education.
Noonoo: Let's talk about the traditional textbook approach to teaching versus the Khan Academy model. Has the traditional approach failed and are educators looking for new models, like yours, to fill the void?
Wahl: I would take a step back from that. What we look at is the textbook approach to teaching, but really looking at what happens in the classroom. I think the traditional model as it stands, where there is a teacher at the front of the classroom lecturing at the blackboard and having students listening obediently, is going to change. Basically, we want to provide tools that enable great teachers to really energize and to move those teachers up the value chain and become a great mentor or a great coach by leveraging the skills that great teachers have and their relationships with students in the classroom.
We really see ourselves as a platform to be able to do that. Today we offer a set of videos and exercises and analytics with a set of proprietary content in-house. Looking forward to the future, we're excited to become a platform that allows other folks to do this as well. Thinking out into the future, by allowing anyone to take these tools that we're developing in-house and scale them for their classroom--or to take the content we have and the other great content we're curating and apply them in their classrooms, we think there's a huge amount of power in that.
As for the ramifications in the classroom, we think they're really fascinating. In the classrooms we work in, we see students moving at their own pace. Instead of everyone following one lecture, the teacher is letting everyone master concepts as they go along, so that they're exposed to the ideal content at the right time.
We think that that also opens up a lot of exciting possibilities, where foundational learning can take a smaller amount of time, which will free up the teacher to do a lot more interactive material in class. We're really at the beginning of what is possible regarding innovative projects and exciting activities in class. It's an area we're excited to work more on with great partners in the future.
Noonoo: Where do you see Khan Academy fitting into the traditional textbook-based education model, especially as textbooks begin to migrate to tablets? Is it a complete alternative?
Wahl: I think that whether you talk about a textbook or videos or interactive exercises, at the end of the day these are tools that can help learners move on, conquer subjects, and progress on the epic journey of becoming lifelong learners. What we're excited about is this explosion of different tools. Right now there are a lot of exciting things that are happening. We're just excited that folks are finding value in the tools we're providing.
Noonoo: As textbooks on tablets become more popular, OER may get less attention. Is this a challenge for Khan Academy?
Wahl: I don't think it's a challenge. What really counts is what students are finding effective. What are the new mediums that they're experiencing things on--whether through a tablet or as different pieces of content go online? When you talk about a textbook, it's really two fundamental things. One is the instruction of the actual lesson--essentially the information dissemination. The second thing is the interactive problems, and we've kind of taken our own spin on that through videos and exercises. We're experimenting with different formats, and asking: How can we integrate interactive questions into different videos, kind of [contextual] understanding, and are there other options to make even more interactive, immersive experiences on the exercise side? We really gear it as an evolution of tools that can be used by learners and teachers.
Noonoo: We've seen OER gain ground in home study and online learning, but what is its role in the classroom?
Wahl: Really, we've seen a lot of the innovation on how teachers use these tools in the classroom to respond to their needs. Today, we're working with about 10 schools pretty closely in the classroom with two goals in mind. One is looking at the content and integrating with the typical startup approach of wanting to really work on improving our content in the classroom in response to student and teacher feedback. The second thing we're looking at is to understand how the broader platform and the analytics are being used.
What we've heard is that teachers are really using Khan Academy to get a pulse on what's happening in the classroom. We have a set of real-time dashboards that give teachers information from the macro level of "How is my entire class doing on linear equations?" to the micro level of "How is Sam doing on mastering 2-step equations?" So, for teachers, what we've heard is, on one side, they can actually scale their abilities because their point of interaction is that much stronger with students. They know that when they come over to a student they have a hypothesis of what's wrong and can talk about that with the student, as opposed to having relatively little information as in the traditional model.
The second thing is there's actually a class in Los Angeles, the Marlborough School, that's been doing a blended class. They've taken two students in [each of] grades 7 through 12, and they basically have an individual class for those student cohorts. They rely pretty heavily on peer tutoring in the class, so that students who are working on algebra teach students who are learning pre-algebra. What we've heard from the teachers and students there is that it feels almost like there's a second teacher in the classroom.
There are things that the student can go to Khan Academy for, and then there are other things that the teacher wants to go deeper on and really emphasize, and the class is really able to do that.
In the education community we've all talked about differentiated learning as this really exciting place to get to, but the tools haven't been there in the past--it's been very difficult to scale. What we really see--and we generally think we're very early in this game and we have a lot of work to do on our product--is that the potential is there to provide the tools to allow effective differentiation in the classroom, where it's tenable to have a quarter of the class working specifically on algebra--say, linear equations--while another quarter has moved on to linear equality, and half of the class is working on an interactive project measuring how big Washington's nose is on a statue. We think that the ability to have these tools, and enabling teachers to have a pulse on the classroom and embrace the chaos that we've been hearing about in differentiation, can provide for a really exciting structure.
Noonoo: Let's talk about these analytics. What are the data points being collected by Khan Academy?
Wahl: We collect a lot of different data. What we're trying to do is form a cohesive picture, primarily first and foremost for the student: What is the history of the learner? Out of that we're seeing a kind of history being translated for teachers. Some of the specific data points that we collect are: "How long am I watching a video for?" and "Over the past week, what have I spent time watching?" On the exercise side, "What am I spending my time on? How many problems have I done?" and "How many points have I earned on Khan Academy?"
Then we also give you the ability to look at, for example, the specific linear equation exercise that we have. A teacher can see how many students have started it, how many students are proficient on it, meaning they mastered it, and how many students are struggling. Then we're able to guide within that and drill down to see, "okay, Anna is struggling here," and then we're able to look at her problem history over linear equations. Specifically, I can see that Anna has done 22 problems in linear equations, I see that she has gotten the last four problems wrong, and used hints on two of those.
The teacher is able to dive in within the specific problem and see a student's answer history--what answers they're putting in the box and how much time they're spending between each individual answer. We can look at that macro level--what am I spending my time on, if I'm a student, or, if I'm a teacher, what are my students spending time on--down to that micro level: Where are my students spending their time and what are they getting tripped up on?
Noonoo: Are these things you're specifically noticing when you go into the classroom or are these just overarching data points that are getting reported back to Khan Academy?
Wahl: These are things that are very much in use in the classroom. I think the important thing to note here is our dashboard and all the data that we collect has been developed in very close concert with teachers in the classroom.
We have a new report called the progress summary report, which actually came out of our pilot teachers being frustrated with our overall progress report. They told us they just needed a way to visualize how their class is doing within a specific exercise. Now the progress summary is our most popular report in terms of which reports teachers are spending the most time on and getting the most value out of.
On our end, the metric is how people are using our tools and what value are they getting out of them. Right now, a lot of that development has really been informed by the teachers and their students.
Noonoo: There is a lot of pressure on schools regarding high stakes testing and a standardized curriculum. How do Khan Academy and its videos fit into an education environment where so much attention is paid to testing and scores?
Wahl: First and foremost, we're interested in developing great experiences for students, but we recognize that there are a lot of reference points and common standards. One thing that we've done recently is align most of our video and exercise content to the Common Core State Standards. Basically, we have a map that shows you which videos apply to which standards, and which exercises apply to which standards as well. We're also working on creating community tools for that as well that will allow teachers to give us feedback.
At the end of the day, the math is pretty subjective in terms of structuring of the standards and allowing teachers to give feedback and crowdsource what the community finds useful.
Noonoo: There is discussion on whether YouTube should be blocked in schools, which would naturally be problematic for Khan Academy's use in the classroom. What is your take?
Wahl: There's an exciting initiative called YouTube for Schools. I think the focus of that is to unblock educational content. It's something that they're still iterating on, but we're excited for the potential. What's most important is the norms and the behaviors that are set in the classroom and the culture that's being set around being focused on [students'] work and taking class time seriously. I think YouTube recognizes that, and hopefully the kinks can be worked out and this can be something that everyone can rely on.
If you look at Khan Academy, or at open courseware, there's a lot of great content on YouTube that students will be able to have access to in a classroom setting, without having the rest of the overhead of the YouTube experience.
Noonoo: How do you address the argument that technology like Khan Academy videos could be used to replace teachers?
Wahl: I think it's exactly the opposite. We feel that individualizing the classroom allows teachers to move up the value chain and spend their time on more value-added activities rather than being in the front of the class and being the sage on the stage.
Noonoo: What are some of the conversations you're currently having with schools about using Khan Academy?
Wahl: Just over a year ago, in December of 2010, we started working with the Los Altos School District on a pilot across five classrooms. We've worked with some incredibly innovative teachers and we were excited about how they were using the tools, and they were impressed with the successes they were seeing with their students.
We want to expand from there. Basically, we've seen how Khan Academy works on a small scale in one of the best school districts in California. Now let's see how it works in a variety of other different settings--in low-resource charter schools, independent schools, at run of the mill school districts. We're now working with a variety of different partners, and we've been very excited with some of the early results we've seen and with the reactions and the personal growth of students, both on the remediation side, and on the other side, where students are actually ahead of grade level.
As the students are moving ahead and are able to tackle content at a higher level, you set up a very fundamental question about why all of these students, who are doing content along with students two years older than them, are prohibited from interacting and learning from those students.
We look at the model at Marlborough--the multi-age grouping--and we get really excited about the possibilities around that situation. It's something we're keen to understand and see in action in more places. Looking at that and thinking about math and science, compared with chemistry and biology, and looking at the entry points, can we have something that actually weaves multiple subjects together and really abolishes traditional boundaries? The conversations we're having now are exciting, and for next year we will be working with folks to really push the traditional boundaries of the classroom to see what's really possible when you introduce these new tools. | <urn:uuid:0e342465-0618-4206-91ac-83b8fc432bdb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thejournal.com/Articles/2012/04/05/Khan-Academy-Talks-Analytics-OER-and-iPads.aspx?Page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974384 | 4,030 | 2.03125 | 2 |
I’ve been listening to the Grammar Girl podcast for years. It offers grammar lessons in plain English. The Grammar Girl widget sits to the right of this column (scroll down and take the quiz!). I guess you could say I’m a fan. I haven’t read Fogarty’s first GG book, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, so I wondered if her new book, The Grammar Devotional, would live up to what I’ve come to expect from “Grammar Girl.”
How to Use This Book
The Grammar Devotional is organized into 52 weeks/chapters with 7 days/sections. The weeks aren’t dated, so you can start at any point of the year if you choose to read a lesson a day. Most Mondays have a punctuation lesson, Wednesdays offer “Language Rock Stars” (more on that below), Fridays hold quizzes, and Sundays often have cartoons.
Each lesson is very short and concise. Take five minutes a day, reading one lesson, and you’ll improve your grammar over time.
Of course, you don’t have to read just one lesson a day over the course of a year. You can read several entries at once or go to the index for specific issues. If you get stuck on something, you can dig deeper into the topic online or in another reference book (check out my Language Reference page for some ideas). It’s a compact book, so it’s easy to keep it nearby or carry with you.
The Information Within
Grammar is tricky stuff, and it’s easy to get it wrong. Or sort of right but not the whole story. Fogarty takes a risk by writing with such brevity; it’s easy to miss a small but important point in a lesson. But Fogarty succeeds in accuracy with grace.
I don’t know why, but I expected the quizzes to reflect the previous week’s lessons. They don’t. They’re individual grammar lessons. They allow you to test your knowledge by not reviewing anything first. All the answers are in the back, along with explanations, so if you didn’t understand the quiz or the answers, you will.
Sometimes I just wanted more. The ampersand (&) entry (p. 7) says that the use of the ampersand is governed by style guides. But which allow it in company names? What kind of writing might it be OK in? You are going to have to take that next step on your own. Check out your own style guide, or if you don’t have one, do some research on whether it’s reasonable to use the ampersand in your type of writing.
“Language Rock Star” is a departure from most grammar books I’ve seen. If you’re not familiar with the heavyweights or the history of American English (and many people are not), this is a great way to get to know both better. This can be key if you’re looking for more authorities to dig deeper into any topic. Fowler is included, as are the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook. Bryan Garner even gets a swoon (yeah, I swoon for him too). These entries also help you answer such important questions as, Why are they “malpropisms”? What’s up with all these Webster’s dictionaries? What did Ben Franklin have to do with language?
What else will you learn in this book? How about:
- Restrictive clauses
- Begs the question (one of my hobby horses)
- Well vs. good
- Less vs. fewer
- Action vs. linking verbs
- Coordinating conjunctions
Do I Like It? Will You?
This book deserves to be in your collection. For a quick question or a quick review, The Grammar Devotional is great. If you’re totally at sea with some of the entries or with the finer points of grammar, you’ll need something more in-depth, however. It’s not that the information is faulty. It’s not; it’s spot on. It’s just that it’s brief. If you’re new to the writing game, you’ll need more explanation, not to mention practice. Still, this is a great place to start.
And if you’ve ever wondered what goes into making a grammar book, Fogarty did a great video podcast on how she organized The Grammar Devotional. I found it really interesting how she put it all together. Check it out: | <urn:uuid:871e1257-8121-441a-ba35-69e4d93ded01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thewritingresource.net/2010/04/01/the-grammar-devotional-learn-something-new-today/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917787 | 995 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Avoid having problems with your radiators and boilers. Magnetic and non magnetic (Hydrocyclonic) Central heating filters available from Fernox, Sentinel & Magnaclean installed by professional, insured, qualified Gas Safe heating engineer in the Peterborough, Cambridgeshire area.
Installing central heating filters will actively remove sludge and rust, which naturally occurs, from wet central heating systems. Radiators, Valves, Pipes and boiler components can clog up from sludge causing expensive breakdowns and call outs to heating engineers.
Even a small build-up of iron oxide in a standard or modern efficiency boiler results in substantial efficiency loss and fuel wastage. So, not only does the system perform inadequately, it also costs more to run and maintain.
Central heating systems can easily be maintained via the central heating filter by domestic customers.
Periodic draining off of the sludge, which has been removed by the filter, can easily be carried out by the householder.
Also, readily available chemical additives can be added to the system via the filter.
Untreated water in a wet central heating system will naturally corrode metal components. Most poorly maintained or untreated hot water central heating systems suffer from the accumulation of thick sludge deposits. These deposits are usually a mixture of black iron oxide corrosion products, water hardness scales, casting sand, welding debris, non-ferrous metal flakes, paint particles and other undesirable material. The sludge particles can range in size from very large to less than a micron. The smaller particles typically bond to the interior surfaces of components, often causing wear and premature failure of pumps and valves. The heavier types of debris can settle at points of low water flow causing blockages and upsetting the balance of the system, resulting in loss of boiler efficiency and system effectiveness.
An innovative product for professionals and perfectionists looks set to revolutionise the maintenance of efficiency levels in central heating systems.Proven technology to guarantee central heating system protection. MagnaClean® Professional sets an industry standard for customers when it comes to protecting and maintaining both new and existing heating systems.
MagnaClean Professional is a proven, high efficiency, full-flow magnetic filter designed to tackle all central heating systems removing virtually 100% of the suspended black iron oxide. The benefits of this simple technology are immediate:
ADEY has extended its impressive product range with the addition of MagnaClean TwinTech®, the company’s first dual-action magnetic and non-magnetic filter. Advances in recent years have now created a totally effective dual-action filter all in one, eliminating virtually 100% of suspended black iron oxide and all other non-magnetic particles and debris from the system. MagnaClean TwinTech is a proven technology and with its powerful magnetic and non-magnetic filtration characteristics, the benefits for new and existing central heating systems are immediate:
Fernox TF1 filter designed to magnetically remove iron oxide contamination from your central heating system.
Fernox TF1 Total Filter is a revolutionary in-line filter, which combones hydrocyclonic action with specially designed magnet assemblies, to remove and contain both magnetic and non-magnetic contaminants within heating systems.
ApplicationThe Fernox Total Filter TF1 Magnetic Filter is availale in 2 sizes, 22mm and 28mm depending on your pipework. The Fernox TF1 is then connected directly to the pipework using the valve fittings provided. The Fernox TF1 Magnetic Filter can also be installed horizontally or vertically and has been conveniently designed to be installed flust to wall in existing pipework.
Unlike filter units which contain a simple magnet, and which therefore remove only magnetic debris, the Sentinel System Filter unit controls and removes all types of debris commonly associated with wet central heating systems. It provides fast and effective removal of both magnetic and non magnetic debris, helping to maintain optimum system operation and efficiency once the flushing and inhibiting process has been performed.
Call for central heating filter fitting in the Peterborough area for your choice of
MagnaClean Professional Filter
Magnaclean Twinlock Filter
Fernox TF1 Total Filter
Sentinel System Filter
Gas Safe Registered to work on boilers & Energy Efficiency Qualified.
Be wary of engineers NOT Gas Safe registered performing "work" on gas appliances -
whilst working on central heating systems.
email - email@example.com
mobile - 07783146897
landline - 01733 755667
Gas Safe Register has now replaced Corgi Gas - the regulator for gas engineers | <urn:uuid:d90ac761-c124-4cf5-bb40-3b0008eeeecc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boilerpeterborough.co.uk/Central-Heating-System---Central-Heating-Services-in-Peterborough/Heating-System-Filters---Central-Heating-Filters-In-Peterborough | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909184 | 934 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center today released its report on college completion, which shows Virginia's college students finishing their degrees at an impressive rate, far above the national average.
This report focuses on six-year completion rates for first-time degree-seeking students. In most categories, college students from Virginia perform well above the national average. For example, the average completion rate for college students from Virginia at four-year public institutions is 76 percent, compared to a national average of 61 percent. Only students from Iowa and New Hampshire had higher completion rates.
"I'm pleased to see the results from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center," said Governor Bob McDonnell. "This report highlights the impressive work that our institutions of higher education are doing to assist Virginians in college competition and retention. I commend our colleges and universities on their efforts to increase these completion rates and help the Commonwealth meet the goals of the Top Jobs legislation of an additional 100,000 new degrees."
"Increasing the number of students who complete their college degrees is a priority of Governor McDonnell and was specifically included in the Top Jobs legislation," said Secretary of Education Laura Fornash. "This report shows we are headed in the right direction. It's important to compare well to other states, but we also have to exceed our own high standards and continue to improve, to help grow our economy."
The report also looks at student behavior at public two-year, and private nonprofit four-year institutions. These groups are further subdivided into additional categories, including: students enrolling exclusively full-time until degree completion; students enrolling exclusively part-time; students with mixed enrollment; students age 24 or younger at first entry into college; and students aged 25 or older at first entry.
"This report is unique in that it looks at real student behavior regarding degree completion," said SCHEV Director Peter Blake. "While the higher education community should be proud at the performance of these students, we can use this data to further improve student success by Virginians."
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's "Signature Report on Completing College: A State-Level View of Student Attainment Rates" can be found at http://research.studentclearinghouse.org/.
SCHEV is the Commonwealth's coordinating body for Virginia's system of higher education. The agency provides policy guidance and budget recommendations to the governor and General Assembly, and is a resource for information on higher education issues. | <urn:uuid:c620a797-6b3f-41b6-9f2b-2978e336c630> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://votesmart.org/public-statement/767422/new-study-shows-most-virginia-college-students-finish | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955905 | 501 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Yes, it does, according to a senior Google executive.
Google announced and shipped a new version 3.1 of Android at the company's annual developers conference, Google I/O. They also announced a future version of Android, code-named Ice Cream Sandwich, which they expect to ship later this year. The combined features announced in these two releases add up to an operating system that can be used as a big-screen, multi-touch desktop computer.
Google emphasizes that, unlike Apple or even Microsoft, the company doesn't try to control or direct what kinds of systems will be built. They try to make all things possible, and expect to be surprised by what hardware makers come up with.
Google Android chief Andy Rubin said at a press conference yesterday that "You let these Androids out of their cage, you give them autonomy, they have feet and stuff, and you have no idea where they'll go."
Well, maybe. We do know one place they'll go: The desktop market.
I asked Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's director of engineering for Android, whether there is anything preventing hardware makers from creating 13-inch, 15-inch, 21-inch or even, say, 41-inch screen-size Android tablets and using them as desktop replacements for Windows or Mac PCs.
"No, there isn't," he told me.
The new Android version 3.1 offers USB host APIs. That means it supports all kinds of peripheral devices connected wirelessly or via USB ports. Supported devices include keyboards, mice, game controllers, plug-in hard drives -- you name it.
USB device support enables basic PC features currently missing from all touch tablets, including the Apple iPad. But Android 3.1 goes even further.
New Open Accessory support lets Android devices control home stereo equipment and even robots, exercise equipment and more. Google announced at the conference a new initiative called Android@Home, which is designed to enable the use of Android to control appliances in the home.
Google is facilitating Android phones, tablets and other devices that that can monitor home power use in detail, control lights, washing machines and cooling systems.
All this adds up to a compelling argument for Google partners to deliver what Microsoft's Steve Ballmer promised years ago, but hasn't delivered: A consumer coffee-table computer controlled by touch.
Someone is likely to build an Ice Cream Sandwich-based coffee table that functions as a TV remote, entertainment system controller, lights and appliances controller, as well as web browser, e-mail checker, gaming system and all the rest.
Android 3.1 also adds another important requirement for a desktop computer. Home screen widgets can now be resized horizontally or vertically, or both. Now users can have their e-mail open in a window over here, and their Twitter feed running over there as they work on a document in the main window, with all windows sized, shaped and positioned according to the users' preferences.
In other words, the feature gives Android real "windows."
One of the ways around the issues of security and control that make some businesses wary of cloud computing is to build a private cloud -- one that remains within the corporate firewall and is wholly controlled internally. Private clouds also increase the agility of IT an organization's IT infrastructure and make it easier to roll out new technology projects. Download this eBook to get the facts behind the private cloud and learn how your organization can get started. | <urn:uuid:e1117adc-d3ee-46bb-93ac-ae05b3ea31aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.datamation.com/mowi/article.php/3933226/Googles-Desktop-Android-Are-Apple-and-Microsoft-Worried.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945854 | 702 | 1.601563 | 2 |
July 17, 2012
From yesterday’s DNA, written by Jayadeva Ranade:
This is a crucial year for China, when large-scale changes at the top echelons of the Chinese Communist Party as well as the People’s Liberation Army will be approved at the 18th Party Congress scheduled to be held in Beijing in October 2012. The changes coincide with rising domestic discontent and increased turbulence in China’s neighborhood.
They also overlap with widening resentment against corruption and spread of pro-Mao nostalgia in the country. At least two PLA generals of impeccable ‘revolutionary’ lineage, Mao Zedong’s grandson Mao Xinyu and General Liu Yuan, former Chinese president Liu Shaoqi’s son, have spoken out strongly against corruption. Like the CCP, the PLA has been buffeted by the recent factional infighting centering on Bo Xilai. This has given prominence to the issue of the PLA’s ‘absolute loyalty’ to the Party and could blight the promotion prospects of some senior officers.
The implications of the forthcoming changes are far-reaching. They will usher in a virtually new Central Military Commission, with seven of the current 10 uniformed members reaching the retirement age of 70 years. This includes both the uniformed CMC Vice Chairmen.
China’s Vice President Xi Jinping, ranked first among the three CMC Vice Chairmen, would, in the normal course, be expected to take over as CMC Chairman from Hu Jintao. In view of the unsettled political situation and repeated exhortations by senior officers and official media urging the PLA to be ‘absolutely loyal’ to the Party and rally ‘more closely’ around ‘Chairman Hu,’ it appears probable that Hu Jintao will retain the position of CMC Chairman for at least another year. The two CMC Vice Chairmen who retire will be replaced by two of the three remaining CMC members. The third CMC member will be appointed Minister of Defense.
Reports suggest that the number of Vice Chairmen will be increased and Air Force General Ma Xiaotian, a ‘princeling’ close to Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping and a frontrunner for the position of PLA Air Force Commander, will instead be appointed Minister of Defense with the rank of CMC Vice Chairman.
There is also a proposal to symbolically assert generational change and appoint only those born after 1949, or after ‘liberation’ of the People’s Republic of China. If accepted, the changes will encompass Military Region Commanders and other senior officers.
There will be new Commanders for the PLAAF, People’s Liberation Army Navy and Second Artillery. The head of the PLA’s General Staff Department, who is equated with the Army Chief, will be new, as will be those of the General Political Department, General Armaments Department and General Logistics Department. All are members of the powerful CMC.
General Liu Yuan, presently Political Commissar of the GLD and friend of China’s putative President Xi Jinping, is tipped to be CMC Vice Chairman overseeing the PLA’s political work. This, however, entails a double promotion and he might just be appointed Director of the GPD, which still makes him a CMC member.
The newly constituted CMC will have some new features. Prominent will be that it will overwhelmingly comprise ‘operational’ officers and, for the first time, have increased representation from the PLAAF, and perhaps PLAN. This will give renewed emphasis to Hu Jintao’s concept of ‘Joint Integrated Operations’, focused upon since 2004 when Hu Jintao first introduced changes in the GSD’s structure to include PLAAF and PLAN officers at senior levels.
The presence of two PLAAF officers in the CMC guarantees the Air Force will pursue its modernization program and that at least 10% of the defense budget will continue to be spent on aircraft procurement and R&D. The Navy’s modernization program will similarly proceed apace. PLAN and PLAAF are both anticipated to adopt more operationally assertive postures. The new head of the PLA GSD will certainly have an operational background, which means increased attention to the Sino-Indian border and China’s other troubled frontiers.
Finally, of the 16 identified ‘princelings’ in the PLA’s senior echelons, for the first time there will be three or even four in the CMC. Like in the CCP, they will influence national strategic policy giving it a harder inflexible edge and, additionally, be Xi Jinping’s core supporters.
The changes, however, do not reduce the primacy of PLA ground forces, or PLAA, as they are being designated. Of 57 senior General Officers in the PLA, for example, 37 are from the PLAA. All seven Military Region Commanders are from the PLAA. The PLAA, with considerably larger manpower, receives a larger proportion of the budget.
The PLA’s overall political clout is likely to remain unaffected with representation in the Politburo probably remaining at two and it probably continuing to retain 24 seats in the Party Central Committee. | <urn:uuid:8ae1f89a-928f-4e1e-b9c8-ea8c71b185e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mikeldunham.blogs.com/mikeldunham/2012/07/what-chinas-new-military-leadership-changes-mean.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953686 | 1,093 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Federal Register: January 9, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 6)
DOCID: FR Doc 01-594
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
RIN ID: RIN 0651-AB30
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
Establishment of a Database Containing the Official Insignia of Federally Recognized Native American Tribes
DATES: Comment Deadline Date: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received on or before February 8, 2001. No public hearing will be held.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is proposing to create and maintain a database of the official insignia of federally and staterecognized Native American tribes. The USPTO seeks comments on its proposed method for creating and maintaining this database.
Native American tribes, federally and State-recognized; official insignia database; establishment,
Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act, Pub. L. 105330, Sec. 302, 112 Stat. 3071 (1998) required the USPTO to study issues surrounding the protection of the official insignia of federally and staterecognized Native American tribes. The study was conducted, and a report was presented to the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and to the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives on November 30, 1999.
One of the recommendations in the report was that the USPTO create and maintain an accurate and comprehensive database of the official insignia of Native American tribes.
The USPTO proposes to create such a database and seeks comments on the proposed method. If the comments received include a suggestion for a better method for creating and maintaining the database, the USPTO will publish a proposal describing this method and requesting further comments. Otherwise, the USPTO will publish an announcement that finalizes the procedures described in the present notice.
All requests to enter an official insignia of a Native American
tribe into the USPTO database must be in writing, addressed to the
Commissioner for Trademarks, and must include the following:
(1) A depiction of the insignia. If the insignia consists of a
word, this word should be typed in uppercase letters. If the insignia
consists of a design, or a combination of a word or words and a design,
the depiction of the insignia should not be larger than 4 inches by 4
inches (10.3 cm. by 10.3 cm.). The depiction of the insignia should be
placed at or near the center of a sheet of white paper 8 to 8\1/2\
inches (20.3 to 21.6 cm.) wide and 11 inches (27.9 cm.) long. The paper
should have a heading that includes the name of the tribe and the address for correspondence.
(2) A copy of the tribal resolution adopting the insignia in question as the official insignia of the tribe;
(3) A statement, signed by an official with authority to bind the tribe, confirming that the insignia included with the request is identical to the official insignia adopted by tribal resolution; and (4) For all entities not recognized as Native American tribes by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), either (a) a document issued by a state official that evidences the state's determination that the entity is a Native American tribe, or (b) a citation to a state statute that designates the entity as a Native American tribe.
The request should be sent by facsimile to (703) 8729192, or mailed to a United States Postal Service mailbox that the Office will identify at a later date.
The USPTO will record any official insignia of a Native American tribe submitted in the above manner, if the Commissioner determines that the entity that submitted the request is a Native American tribe recognized by the Federal Government or by one or more state governments.
The Commissioner will determine whether or not the entity that submitted the request is a federally recognized Native American tribe by consulting the list of Native American tribes maintained by the BIA.
If an entity that seeks recordal of its insignia wishes to
demonstrate that it is a staterecognized Native American tribe rather
than a federally recognized Native American tribe, that entity must
provide the Commissioner with either (1) a document issued by a state
official that evidences the state's determination that the entity is a
Native American tribe, or (2) a citation to a state statute that designates the entity as a Native American tribe.
Legal Significance of Recordal
The recordal of an official insignia of a Native American tribe at the USPTO will not be the equivalent of registering that insignia as a trademark pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq. Thus, including an insignia in the USPTO's database would not create any legal presumption of validity or priority, and none of the benefits of trademark registration will accrue to a Native American tribe whose insignia may be recorded pursuant to this notice.
Acceptance of the insignia for recordal will not be a determination as to whether a particular insignia for which recordal has been requested would be refused registration as a trademark pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq., or to some provision of Chapter 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or to any requirement of the USPTO.
The USPTO will use the official insignia recorded by the USPTO as information useful in the examination of certain applications for registration of trademarks and as evidence of what a federally or staterecognized tribe considers to be its official insignia.
The database of official insignia of Native American tribes will be included, for informational purposes, within the USPTO's database of material that is not registered but is searched to make determinations regarding the registrability of marks. This database is available at the USPTO's web site. Inclusion of official insignia in this database will ensure that an examining attorney, who is searching a mark that is confusingly similar to an official insignia will find and consider the official insignia before making a determination of registrability.
For correspondence pertaining to the database of official insignia of Native American tribes, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has waived the requirement of 37 CFR 1.1 that all correspondence intended for the United States Patent and Trademark Office be mailed to one of the addresses identified in 37 CFR 1.1.
The Office has determined that the proposed establishment of the database has no federalism implications affecting the relationship between the National Government and the State as outlined in Executive Order 12612. The proposed database conforms with Executive Order 12612.
Dated: December 21, 2000.
Q. Todd Dickinson,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 01594 Filed 1801; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 351016P
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Ari Leifman by telephone at (703) 308- 8900, or by mail addressed to: Box Comment Trademarks, Commissioner for Trademarks, Washington, DC 20231, or by facsimile to (703) 8729285, marked to the attention of Ari Leifman. | <urn:uuid:7270ca4a-5775-4059-9b6f-20ab0a39634d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2001-01-09-01-594 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920528 | 1,535 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Hello and welcome to my blog! I look forward to posting some fun ideas over the next few months that relate to golf game improvement and golf enjoyment.
The ‘1 & 1 Rule’
I’m working on coining a new phrase, The 1 & 1 Rule, that may be a good reminder for those needing some focus during practice time. If you are a golfer who finds golf practice boring or ineffective, give the following idea a try the next few sessions and see if it will help make a difference…
Imagination is a great thing in golf. Some people are naturally creative while others need some help in seeing various options. Either way, being able to understand how it can be used in putting can be a huge benefit when reading greens.
While putting seems like a simple enough task, it’s a part of the game that really makes or breaks scores and matches. Put some good practice and effort into your putting NOW and the rewards will come sooner than you think! Poor shot-making with great putting can save scores. Poor shot-making and poor putting creates very high, unwanted scores.
Don’t have much time to practice? Try working on some much needed short game practice! Chipping is often made more difficult than necessary. Many golfers could become better chippers by improving their pre-shot fundamentals and club management.
One of the best ways to create more consistent ball flight is to become a relaxed golfer. Many golfers are familiar with the “Grip It & Rip It” phrase but this doesn’t always lead to consistency in their long games. There’s a time and place to ‘go for it’ and the average golfers might see better scores if they understood how to create club head speed properly. The golf swing is not based on HOW HARD the ball is hit as much as HOW the ball is hit HARD – where is that power stored and used? And some might argue it’s not how hard but how FAST can
Think about an athlete preparing to execute a shot or movement in sports and often times you’ll see them going through a ritual to help prepare themselves for that action. A basketball player bouncing and spinning the ball at the free throw line. A tennis player bouncing the ball at the service line. A bobsledder or freestyle skier closing the eyes and imagining/going through the upcoming movements and twists. Simulating the upcoming moment can help enhance success through awareness.
Golf is certainly one of the hardest games to keep at a consistent level – it takes lots of practice to develop a feel for a skill, as well as patience to allow the application of the skill to come to fruition on the course. We’ve all hit great shots and made some spectacular putts, so we know that it’s possible and that’s what keeps us involved… today COULD be the day it all comes together!
For those golfers who are open to new perceptions in golf, I want to highly recommend “Extraordinary Golf” by Fred Shoemaker. Fred has been a guest speaker for an LPGA teaching professional friend of mine in Charleston and has a magnificent way of showing people how to get more enjoyment out of their games. The book has so many gems in it… | <urn:uuid:ff67d018-b414-43de-9dfa-5ba13786c153> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blufftontoday.com/blog/nicwellerblog/nicwellerblogs-blog?sort=views&quicktabs_1=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961176 | 684 | 1.539063 | 2 |
>> Pipelines & Terminals
Yemen has entered the area of oil in the
summer of 1984 upon the Hunt Oil Company announced the first
commercial discovery of oil in Yemen (Alif Field). The well Alif
#1 produced an average of 8000 Barrel Per Day (BOPD). Oil was
found in Block 18, Marib. Following that, oil explorations
successive in the other fields. They reached more than 14 fields
of oil and gas. Then the development of the block was done through
building surface plants and constructing a pipeline to the Red
- In September 1986, the production and export of the first oil
shipment was executed from block 18 under the guidance and reign
of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the maker of Yemen’s new
renaissance and oil revolution.
oil and gas explorations continued in other blocks.
it was announced that oil was discovered in three fields of
Shabwah governorate by a (former) Russian company, Techno-Export.
These were West Ayad, East Ayad and Amel fields (block 4).
Developing of the block was done through building its plants and
construction of pipelines to
on the Arab Sea.
1991, significant oil discoveries were made on Sounah field Masila
block (block 14) by Canadian Occidental Petroleum (now Canadian
Nexen Petroleum). Such discoveries were followed by more findings.
Then, the block was developed by building its plants and
construction of the oil pipeline to Al-Dhabah
(Ash Shihr) area, Hadhramout
governorate, on the Arab Sea.
September 1996, oil was discovered in Halewah field Jannah block
5. (It was discovered by a consortium of companies operating in
the block). Then plants were built and the produced oil was
carried by the pipeline of Hunt Yemen Company, the (former)
operator of block 18, Marib . Hunt pipeline delivered oil the port
on the Red Sea.
Total E&P Yemen (Total Fina Alf) made a number of oil discoveries in
the following fields: Kharir, Atouf, and Wadi Taribah, (East
Shabwah block 10). Production was linked with Al-Masila block 14.
December 18, 1999, DNO, a Norwegian company as operator of Hwarim
block 32, announced the discovery of oil. It started production
and exporting oil through Al-Masila pipeline in November 2001.
December 20, 2001, announce the oil commercial discovery in
E.Saar (Block 53) Dove Energy -British, It started production and
exporting oil through Al-Masila pipeline in 2002.
October 14, 2003, Vintage, an American company and operator of
Damis block S1, announce the oil commercial discovery, It started
production and exporting oil through Jannah pipeline in March 29,
December 17, 2003, Nexen Petroleum Yemen Ltd., an Canadian company
as operator of E.
Al-Hajr block 51, announce the oil commercial discovery, It
started production and exporting oil through Masila pipeline in
November 9, 2005.
2005, oil production initiated from Block 43, which operator by
October 1, 2005, Calvally a Canadian company as operator of Malik
block 9, announce the oil commercial discovery, It started
production December 29, 2005.
January, 2006, OMV, an
company as operator of Al-Uqlah block S2, announce the oil
commercial discovery, It started production and exporting oil in
On March 2011, DNO , ANorw company as oprator of south Hood
Block 47,announced the discovery of Oil.
This is Yemen with very humble potentials to
serve the people and the homeland. | <urn:uuid:2de79548-e1ba-4c9a-996e-ca50dd3c76f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pepa.com.ye/Production%20Activities/production%20activities.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946527 | 799 | 2.59375 | 3 |
[xi] History is written and read for several reasons, and the NASA history program serves multiple purposes. John Sloop's history of liquid hydrogen as a fuel illustrates the most practical of those purposes: it is useful to current and future managers of high technology. Of course history does not repeat itself-there are too many variables. But similar situations often have similar results, and thoughtful study of the management of technology in the past can sometimes help us to recognize pitfalls in the present pitfalls that managers can then act to avoid. We may also find ways to make desired outcomes more likely. In any event, study of history lets us see current problems more clearly.
For example, notice in this book how many times something had to be rediscovered. This has been a real problem, and a costly one, in the recent past; it is apt to get worse in the future. Are we in NASA doing all we reasonably can to manage this problem-not just making new technology available to industry, not just trying to stay current in our respective fields, but contributing something to the process by which the knowledge explosion can be made more tractable?
It is a truism that technology feeds on itself-that work in one area often is quickly applicable in an entirely different area. Perhaps the sharpest example in this book is the Air Force's building of plants for liquefaction of hydrogen and developing equipment and procedures for its handling. That program was cancelled short of completion, but the technology was on the shelf, already paid for, when NASA needed it for the Apollo program. Can we explain this process to Congress and to the taxpayers more effectively? The problem is similar to that of justifying basic scientific research. Can future NASA managers, in defending their programs, do so more effectively by elaborating that similarity?
A recurring theme in this book is the widespread fear of hydrogen, originating with the explosion of the Hindenburg and reinforced by the H-bomb. Proponents of hydrogen-fueled rockets had to overcome that prejudice. Are other technologies ignored today because of a bias against certain materials or processes? Engineers and scientists remain subject to the human condition; they, like the rest of us, need to be reminded from time to time to take a fresh look at old attitudes and familiar procedures.
The author illuminates the overlapping, often conflicting roles of the individual, who originates ideas, and of the group, which manages today's complex technology. Many worthwhile ideas have doubtless been lost, at least temporarily, because individuals were unable to convince committees. Hence how consensus is achieved within groups is worth studying. When agreement seems impossible, an individual is occasionally big [xii] enough, wise enough, to forego his preferred solution, so that a project may continue. In this regard, timing is critical. If the individual does not press his case hard enough, he is labeled irresolute; but if he says, in effect, "My way or none," he is obstinate. The story of the decision to use liquid hydrogen in the upper stages of the Saturn launch vehicles contains several accounts of individual-group interaction from which any manager can profit.
Finally, the book argues against the casual hindsight judgment of " the idea whose time had come." More than once participants were convinced--wrongly-t hat hydrogen's time had come. Its time came only after a number of disparate events gradually took on a pattern. If we are sometimes tempted to assume that a favorite project is inevitable, or that a solution to a sticky technical problem will inevitably be found, then we may be contributing to the failure of our own purposes.
This book is also a good story, with real drama, colorful men, and fascinating technology. If hydrogen comes to occupy an important place in the energy field, as some now predict, this book will take on an importance that cannot now be foreseen. But at a time when NASA is emphasizing the solution of workaday problems facing the nation and seeking early return on the taxpayers' investment, it seems appropriate to point out the book's practical significance.
JAMES C. FLETCHER | <urn:uuid:3bd1e22b-9ca5-4dd9-88f1-127ec2f72f2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4404/foreword.htm | 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 | 0.961244 | 828 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Zimbabwe music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi discloses HIV statusBy KITSEPILE NYATHI in Harare | Tuesday, January 8 2013 at 09:57
Zimbabwe music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi has moved to quash rumours that he is HIV-positive following several false stories that he had died last year.
Arguably the country’s most successful musician, Mtukudzi has in the past revealed that he is diabetic.
His often sickly look has spawned persistent rumours that he has HIV and in December some online blogs even reported that he had died.
But the 60-year-old music maestro told CNN’s African Voices programme at the weekend that although he had many relatives who had succumbed to Aids, he was not HIV-positive himself.
“I am not HIV-positive myself but I have dealt with HIV and Aids programmes, a lot of them,” he said.
He disclosed that his brother Robert and four of his band members had died of Aids in quick succession in the 1980s.
“My brother Robert died of Aids…so I had all the reason to try and help and give awareness to the people and fight the stigma,” Mtukudzi said. “I am glad the stigma in Zimbabwe has fallen away, not completely though.
“People now talk about it, they don’t hide it.”
Zimbabwe has 1.2 million people living with HIV but the prevalence rate has been falling significantly in the past few years.
Mtukudzi has also worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) since the 1980s to spread HIV/Aids awareness.
“I am one of the very first artists in Zimbabwe to be approached about HIV by the World Health Organisation, that was 1987,” he told CNN. “Nobody knew about the disease in Zimbabwe and I was lucky to get the material about the disease.
“I had to learn and come up with a song which made me go to Swaziland where I actually saw people infected and affected, so I had a better understanding of the disease than my fellow artists because they hadn’t seen it and I had seen that.”
The musician went on to pen several hits that address HIV and Aids-related issues.
Last year he was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to raise HIV and Aids awareness in Eastern and Southern Africa.
In 2009, Mtukudzi’s manager Sam Mataure said the persistent death rumours were affecting the musician’s family.
“These rumours are sadly not new but their effect remains the same,” he said then. “No-one wants to hear of themselves as dead.
“Those peddling these false rumours should really consider their effect on Mtukudzi’s family, his friends and his fans.
“You have so much opinion about Tuku out there you would think Zimbabwe is full of medical doctors.”
- Kenya's President receives TJRC report
- Why Obama is visiting Tanzania
- The girl who met Gaddafi 'in hell'
- US 'committed to partnership with Kenya'
- Namibia finds oil for first time
- Kenyan call girls go high-tech
- Kisumu, where some folks are eating well, while others are going hungry
- Achebe’s body arrives home
- It's a tough life for Sierra Leone's gays
Beyond the ballot | <urn:uuid:d853832d-b43d-4481-9c2a-317d1db3ae90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.africareview.com/News/Zimbabwe-music-superstar-Oliver-Mtukudzi-discloses-HIV-status/-/979180/1660218/-/4lf810/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985646 | 731 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Lincoln Memorial Re-dedicated on Capitol Boulevard
Boise--Idaho dignitaries rededicated Idaho's Lincoln Memorial on the Capitol Boulevard island in front of the Statehouse.
Work crews moved the Lincoln statue from the entrance of the Boise Veteran's Home at Fort Boise where it stood since 1970, prior to that the statue stood 61 years in front of the old Home in present day Veteran's Park.
Former Idaho Attorney General and chairman of the Idaho Bicentennial Lincoln Commission David Leroy conducted the ceremony in front of a hearty Statehouse crowd in 30-degree weather as snowflakes drifted from gray skies.
"The effect America's 16th President of the United State had on the State of Idaho has been a profound one which will stay with the residents of Idaho forever," Leroy told the noontime crowd. People should know that with a stroke of a pen Abraham Lincoln created Idaho. The authorization of the Idaho Territory was one of the most significant, expansionist acts of his presidency."
Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Dan Eismann lead the crowd in the pledge of allegiance, Lt. Governor Brad Little accepted the monument on behalf of the State of Idaho. Skip Critell, A Lincoln re-enactor delivered the Gettysburg Address in front of a crowd of 500.
The Lincoln Monument was orginally given to the State in 1915 by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic, making it the oldest such monument in the Western United States. The 17-foot high statue and pedestal weighs about 29,000 pounds. Lincoln was credited with helping pick the name of "Idaho."
A poll conducted this week in Idaho revealed that President Abraham Lincoln is the Gem States most favorite president with a 38-percent favorable rating, Franklin Roosevelt and JFK were tied for second with a 14-percent rating, George Washington followed at 12-percent. | <urn:uuid:19dcfa0f-2484-402c-9077-7e6d71c1908e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://idahofarmbureau.blogspot.com/2009/02/lincolns-200th-birthday-observed-in.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951786 | 384 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Now, however, they're acting persecuted. Thayne C. Smith, president of the Sons of Utah Pioneers, recites local grievances as he drives me from the town of Kanab to the abandoned town of Pahreah, the day after my hike with Johnson. He claims that the establishment of the monument blocked a coal mine from opening, and that ranchers are being driven out by new grazing restrictions. Smith, a 78-year-old retired nurseryman, blames environmentalists for forcing a nearby sawmill and uranium company to close, keeping the region's one-horse economy depressed. But that's all part of the local song and dance. Environmentalists (along with East Coast politicians) get blamed for everything. "They keep taking things away—it gets worse all the time," Smith says.
Pahreah, established by Mormon pioneers in 1871 and destroyed by a flood 30 years later, lies in a part of the monument with spectacular sandstone formations that look like upended tiramisù. In the angling light, the colossal Vermilion Cliffs and White Cliffs glow to the northwest—two steps of the Grand Staircase, which climbs 5,000 feet in elevation over the course of 40 miles. Smithworked with the BLM to restore the town's neglected cemetery, and when we get there he points to some names on a bronze plaque. "There's my great-grandfather, and there's his wife, and here's my other great-grandfather." In all, 15 of the 17 names on the plaque are family members. "When the restoration project started five years ago," he tells me, "the BLM said, 'We'll call the shots—this is federal land,' and I said, 'Well, this is sacred ground to me.'" They haggled over every fence post since. A local witcher correctly divined where the bodies were buried, Smith says; the BLM hauled in sonar equipment but couldn't even read the results.
Smith might sound like a crank, but among southern Utahans, it's a badge to tell jokes about the BLM's incompetence, or about backpackers who come to town for a week with only a $20 bill and a pair of shorts and don't end up changing either one. Outsiders are the enemy, plain and simple. "Easterners are the ones who did us in," Smith says, and his solution is to start establishing national monuments where most Americans live. "Let's put them back East! The East ought to contribute," he says, only half joking. Historic areas of Manhattan would make fine public lands, he thinks.
In talking with BLM staffers here, I get an entirely different picture of the monument's effects. The agency's grazing specialist, who comes from an old ranching family, assures me the bureau isn't trying to force out cattle. As for the coal mine being foiled, I'm told the two companies that already had leases decided not to proceed. While locals grouse about roads being closed, the BLM argues convincingly that none have been closed yet at all.
But there does seem to be a thin new layer of bureaucratic control since the monument was established. Business owners swear that the BLM's sole intention is to drive them crazy. A rancher shows me a form asking him to list every dusty track he plans to drive on while looking after his wandering cattle. Even tourism operators are exasperated. Robert Houston, who leads pack trips into the monument, tells me he's not allowed to take more than 25 riders into Pahreah Canyon for fear of overcrowding, even though his trips have run across a grand total of six people there in a decade—four of them fish-and-game officers. Another outfitter wonders how he can tie his horses up at least 200 feet from a stream, as required by BLM rules, when the canyon is only 100 feet wide.
Then there are those who have gone beyond complaining. The couple who run the Escalante Wilderness Project have had their door kicked in, their windows broken, and their phone line cut—merely for advocating that more land be left undeveloped. The editor of the Southern Utah News had newspapers stuffed up the tailpipe of her car after writing that ranchers have been on the government dole for ages and should work with the system. Counties have sent bulldozers out to scar up wilderness areas to make sure they won't be classified as "roadless" and thus protected from further development. | <urn:uuid:0288784f-5a0c-4045-b98a-a1619b26719e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/rift-valley/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975892 | 919 | 1.828125 | 2 |
This blog has moved! Please update your
bookmarks to http://www.blog.modsecurity.org.
Posted by ivanr on March 19, 2008.
After some deliberation, I have decided to add Continuous security assessment as a standalone item on my web application firewall use cases list. Although some could argue the functionality is already covered in the Web intrusion detection and prevention section, it is not obvious—you have to understand this field in order to know it is there.
Continuous security assessment is not specific to web application firewalls—it's been used for the network layer for years—but web application firewalls are more useful for web applications (than IDS tools are for network applications), simply because there's essentially one data format to analyse (if you can call a bunch of loosely related specifications used by web applications "one" data format). With web applications, you get to see clear picture of application input and output. Therefore, with proper parsing and analysis in place, it's almost like having a direct communication channel with the application itself.
The focus here is not on the attacks and other suspicious client behaviour, which comes out of the stock IDS/IPS functionality, but on everything else:
and so on. The advantage is that you can detect some very subtle issues, only possible because of the depth of analysis.
Just as an extreme example, there are quite a few web applications out there where SQL injection (less often) and XSS (surprisingly common) exist by design—their clients are allowed and expected to send such low-level stuff and have it executed by the server. These types of problem can be detected early and with little effort, and because assessment never stops, you get the alert as soon as they are manifested.
Note: This post is part of the Web Application Firewall Concepts series.
Posted by ivanr at March 19, 2008 02:42 PM | <urn:uuid:44d8b53c-5890-48d7-a552-9f0e594f8f6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.modsecurity.org/blog/archives/2008/03/web_application_5.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950171 | 392 | 1.859375 | 2 |
?Weather trumps all
Many sportsmen and sportswomen believe that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks controls the state’s fish and wildlife populations. We do, to some extent, through habitat conservation, partnerships with landowners, and regulated hunting, fishing, and trapping seasons. But what plays a far greater role, both in the short term and over the long haul, is weather.
For example, the current long-term drought has lowered stream flows and raised water temperatures throughout much of the state. Fluvial (river-dwelling) arctic grayling have been particularly hard hit, but the drought has also hurt brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout populations.
A lack of precipitation can also depress waterfowl numbers. During dry years, prairie potholes dry up, depriving ducks and geese of vital feeding, nesting, and migration habitat. But with just one wet spring, many of those dry basins will fill up, again providing excellent habitat.
Snowfall is another huge factor affecting wildlife populations, especially in the mountains. Heavy, early snow forces elk down to lower elevations where forage is still available. Such conditions make elk vulnerable to hunters, especially in the Sun River and northern Yellowstone areas, which creates a much higher harvest than in years with little snowfall. If heavy snows continue through the winter, elk numbers will often decline further due to starvation and the loss of unborn calves.
Mild winters, on the other hand, allow elk to stay at high-
elevation parks, beyond the reach of most hunters. That’s the main
reason for the high elk numbers in parts of southwestern Montana. The same
dry, hot weather that has harmed grayling numbers has allowed many elk herds
in that region to flourish.
Over time, weather changes. Droughts become wet years, and winters of heavy snow are followed by ones with little snowfall.
Elk, trout, and other species evolved with these changing
conditions. If weather was all fish and wildlife populations had to contend
with, they would do fine.
Once humans began significantly changing the
landscape, however, fish and wildlife had new challenges to cope with. Migration routes were blocked
by fences and roads. Naturally beneficial wildfires were suppressed. Dams blocked river fish migration while irrigation and other water use lowered water levels. Unregulated hunting and fishing also took a huge toll.
FWP exists to help manage these human effects on fish and wildlife. And we often succeed, mainly by working with landowners, hunters and anglers, and other conservation agencies to find ways for human use to continue while doing as little harm as possible to fish and wildlife.
But when it comes to the major factor affecting populations— the powerful forces of weather—there’s little we can do besides stand back with everyone else and watch how it plays out.
M. Jeff Hagener is Director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks | <urn:uuid:d7de4bb4-7a9e-4510-8e6a-44af9b0f2ca1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stateparks.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/director/SO04.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954583 | 613 | 3.53125 | 4 |
Activity in Schools
Getting kids active throughout the school day
When people think of activity in schools, they usually think of going to the gym for PE class. But school districts across the country are reducing their physical education offerings and they are no longer sufficient to meet the daily activity needs of children. Introducing physical activity throughout the school day and across the curriculum not only allows students more opportunity to be active but can enhance the learning process.
One approach to increasing activity during the school day is to use movement to underscore information in lessons. Research demonstrates that students are more successful in learning new information when they are able to actively participate in the lesson. Additional research shows that physical activity is one way to approach sensory-based learning and that this approach yields better understanding and retention across many different age groups. By combining movement and lessons, students get the opportunity to be physically active and learn more effectively.
Another approach to rethinking physical activity throughout the school day is considering recess. By moving recess before rather than after lunch, schools have found that kids are not only more active, but eat better, too. Physical education classes should not be forgotten, however. A student's success--academically and otherwise--depends in large part on the well being of the student and the ability to care for his or her body. Schools may need to be creative in structuring their physical education offerings, such as partnering with an outside organization for support or adding a "zero hour" PE elective before the school day begins. School is the launch pad for children to grow and achieve and incorporating more activity throughout their day helps them do both.
School officials at the elementary and combined middle and high schools in Grundy Center, Iowa, recognize that physical activity at school is critical in the fight against childhood obesity. It is one of the first schools to feature the PE4Life model of physical education for students and is a role model for many other schools.
A visitor to Patricia Whitmore's Kindergarten classroom at Harmony Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas, is just as likely to find students hopping, stretching, or rolling on the floor as sitting at a desk. Ms. Whitmore uses a series of creative energizers throughout the school day to engage her students in action-based learning. | <urn:uuid:924bda71-85ac-45f3-bda4-bbf4167a4fbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kchealthykids.org/Active-Living/Activity-in-Schools | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969437 | 460 | 3.59375 | 4 |
Looking for Cramster? Cramster is now Chegg Homework Help. Learn More
Corrin Stewart asked
A fuel tank explodes, ripping the container into two pieces of masses 30 kg and 11 kg and sending them 8.4 m and 13.3 m high, respectively. What was the energy released by the explosion if all energy becomes the KE of the fragments?
Anonymous answered3 minutes later
You need a Homework Help subscription to view this answer! | <urn:uuid:914625d2-7833-482e-a53a-f660676b1d05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/fuel-tank-explodes-ripping-container-pieces-masses-30-kg-11-kg-sending-84-m-133-m-high-res-q2606421 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929353 | 96 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Sources: The Library of Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook
The Ismaili Shia are also known as Seveners because in the eighth century their leaders rejected the heir designated by the sixth Imam, Jafar al Sadiq (d.765), whom the Imami accepted. The new group instead chose to recognize Jafar's eldest son, Ismail, as the seventh Imam and the Shia community split into two branches.
Ismaili communities in Afghanistan are less populous than the Imami who consider the Ismailis heretical. They are found primarily in and near the eastern Hazarajat, in the Baghlan area north of the Hindu Kush, among the mountain Tajik of Badakhshan, and amongst the Wakhi in the Wakhan Corridor.
Many Ismaili believe the line of Imam ceased when Ismail died before his father in AD 760; others believe he did not die but remains in seclusion and will return at the end of the world. Ismaili beliefs are complex and syncretic, combining elements from the philosophies of Plotinus, Pythagoras, Aristotle, gnosticism, and the Manichaeans, as well as components of Judaism, Christianity, and Eastern religions. Ismaili conceptions of the Imamat differ greatly from those of other Muslims and their tenets are unique. Their beliefs about the creation of the world are idiosyncratic, as is their historical ecumenism, tolerance of religious differences, and religious hierarchy. There is a division of theology into exoteric (including the conservative Shariah) and esoteric (including the mystical exegesis of the Quran which leads to haqiqa, the ultimate realty). These beliefs and practices are veiled in secrecy and Ismaili place particular emphasis on taqiya meaning to shield or guard, the practice that permits the believer to deny publicly his Shia membership for self-protection, as long as he continues to believe and worship in private. Taqiya is permissible in most Shia, and some Sunni, sects.
Ismailis in Afghanistan are generally regarded with suspicion by other ethnic groups and for the most part their economic status is very poor. Although Ismaili in other areas such as the northern areas of Pakistan operate well-organized social welfare programs including schools, hospitals and cooperatives, little has been done among Afghan Ismaili communities.
Considered less zealous than other Afghan Muslims, Ismaili are seen to follow their leaders uncritically. The pir or leader of Afghan Ismailis comes from the Sayyid family of Kayan, located near Doshi, a small town at the northern foot of the Salang Pass, in western Baghlan Province. During the Soviet-Afghan War this family acquired considerable political power.
Data as of 1997
NOTE: The information regarding Afghanistan on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Afghanistan Ismailis information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Afghanistan Ismailis should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA. | <urn:uuid:78250f1e-7a18-4f2f-8a0f-ca29ba3bd62f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.photius.com/countries/afghanistan/society/afghanistan_society_ismailis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950311 | 634 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Mis Pasos Primeros
I love my job.
I work at a preschool called Mis Pasos Primeros, or my first steps. I work with 2-5 year olds, teaching the ABeCeDario (ABC’s) and los numeros 1-10. We also learn about colors and writing our letters. We sing songs, play Bingo, do flash cards, eat snacks, and we also help some older kids with their homework. However, the most favoritist ( ) game of the kids at the school is Caballito. From the moment I arrive at the school in the morning, to the moment I leave, there is always at least one kid chasing me around yelling “Caballito! Caballito!” If you don’t already know, caballito means “little horse.” They LOVE piggy back rides. And as much as it tires me out, I love giving them.
After lunch and siesta, I return to the school either for English class or to help out with a literacy “clinic” for adults. The English class is always interesting because our students consist of about 15 boys from the church, aged 15-23. It’s never boring! The literacy clinic is really cool for me, because I’m teaching people to read in my second language. I wouldn’t have considered myself competent enough for that, but here I am! It’s so rewarding to see people start to get it. Reading and writing are huge and very important parts of my life and it is hard for me to imagine being without them. So helping other people attain these skills is something that brings me incredible joy. God is so good. He proves to me time and time again that he knows what he’s doing! | <urn:uuid:7da3a471-9f0c-44de-bc7e-01fef84c89d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bethelcollege.edu/blogs/?p=5420 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96087 | 379 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Genesis IIIs were a line of supercomputers.
A P-series Genesis III was in operation on board Space Station Alpha. It was tasked with finding new places for humanity to colonise. It formulated a way to do this by miniaturising the humans with a Composition Adjustment Teleport, and having them live on a single atom of carbon.
The Genesis III brought the Fourth Doctor to Space Station Alpha in the hope and using him and his TARDIS to continue this miniaturisation. The Genesis III agreed to be linked to the Doctor in order to gain his knowledge. However, the Doctor told him the story of Puss in Boots, confusing the computer and rendering it harmless. The Doctor explained that this was due to it not being able to imagine; this would not be incorporated until the R-series. (PROSE: Inter-Galactic Cat) | <urn:uuid:cdcc1dc2-8fc4-43c7-a5a2-f68aaec2c957> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Genesis_III | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970244 | 178 | 2.203125 | 2 |
A real hero for aboriginal people
VICTORIA – The century-old plight of Canada’s aboriginal people is back in the public eye, thanks to protests dubbed Idle No More.
As with Occupy protests last year, the demands are vague. One of the claims, repeated in media coverage of protests, is that the federal government is moving to end the historic Indian Act restriction against selling reserve land.
A look at the federal legislation, Bill C-45, shows this is not the case. Amendments ease restrictive provisions for leasing reserve land, which remains property of the Crown held in perpetuity for the aboriginal community.
This change was initiated by B.C. aboriginal leaders so they can follow the trail blazed by one of the most entrepreneurial chiefs in Canadian history.
His name is Ron Derrickson, and he served six terms as chief of the Westbank First Nation near Kelowna. One of my first big reporting assignments was covering a Royal Commission into his administration’s business affairs in the mid-1980s.
There had been an astonishing 17 federal investigations before that, stemming from local claims that Derrickson was just too successful. He drove a big black Mercedes, wore expensive suits, and established a bunch of enterprises, including Canada’s first water slide.
The commission was chaired by John Hall, then known as the Crown prosecutor who put serial killer Clifford Olson away, and now an appeal court judge.
Derrickson’s suit jacket had a conspicuous bulge as he took the stand each day. He was packing a semi-automatic pistol, having demanded and received a carry permit after a brutal attempt on his life.
The hit man, an ex-cop, was hired by people who didn’t like the bottom-line way Derrickson ran Westbank’s lease-hold mobile home parks. He showed up at Derrickson’s home one day and tried to beat him to death with a metal bar. Badly injured, Derrickson made it to his gun cabinet and shot his assailant, who survived to go to prison.
Derrickson testified that his approach to the Indian Affairs bureaucracy was simple. He did business, and if they didn’t like it, they could tell him. Reserve land can’t be sold, so he leased it, offering people a low-cost way to enjoy the sunny Okanagan.
His business plan was also simple. Drive to California and see what they’re doing. Drive back and do it in B.C.
A 2007 profile of Derrickson by Greg Fjetland in Canadian Business magazine describes how he came by his approach to Ottawa. (You can read the entire, fascinating article here.)
He grew up “dirt poor, living in a tar paper shack.” His family name was Tousawasket, until the local Indian Agent drew an Anglo name out of a hat. He and his brother were the first aboriginal kids to attend public school in Kelowna. Racist bullying drove his parents to move him to a residential school in Washington State.
He dropped out in Grade 9, toiled on farms, learned to weld, and worked his way into ranching, real estate and politics. He never gave up or backed down, ever.
The Hall commission and all previous government probes concluded that he did nothing wrong. Derrickson sued his local accusers and won, and Ottawa began to change its racist, paternalistic ways.
Which brings us back to today. Derrickson’s pioneering work is still changing the Indian Act for the better. This effort is under dishonest attack from people whose legacy is mainly incompetence and failure. Protesters demand more unearned public subsidy, and a petulant soup-only strike is celebrated as an act of bravery.
Choose your own hero. I’ve chosen mine.
Tom Fletcher is legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press and BCLocalnews.com | <urn:uuid:f97283d1-f1cc-4d27-b1ff-232fe8f67cf1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/186036881.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979187 | 817 | 1.953125 | 2 |
A year ago when we saw an article at MAKE: on how to make a fuel cell out of a band aid we knew we had to get in touch with this guy. Gavin D.J. Harper is a frequent contributor to EcoGeek and has written several books in McGraw Hill's "Evil Genius" series.
Most recently, Gavin completed "50 Solar Power Projects for the Evil Genius." The book, filled with projects on how to harness the sun for your own personal gain was forwarded by Willie Nelson and has been sitting on my nightstand for the last few days. We're happy to have Gavin as this week's ecogeek of the week.
EcoGeek: When I think of evil geniuses, I don't generally thing of solar power. That's more for benevolent geniuses. Where do evil geniuses fit with solar?
Gavin D.J. Harper: Hey Hank! You must have missed the Solar Powered Death Ray..... It's OLD technology, Archimedes was rumoured to have suggested it waaay back when, like a lot of renewable innovations - we've known how to do it for a long time - we are only now starting to refine the technology. However, I must state, despite the natty title, I think solar power is definitely a force for good in the world.
EG: What's your favorite project in the book?
GH: I think that the photochemical solar cells are 'really cool' as they are such a futuristic high tech - wowfabgroovy technology and yet they are something easy that you can make at home and get to understand relatively easily. It's complicated science, but made easy for the smart kid in the street.
EG: What's the easiest project in the book?
GH: Hmmm... that all depends on your skills and where you are coming from; but I have to say making a solar powered engine from a drinking bird is the most impressive project for the least effort... that is if your not a clumsy klutz and manage not to break the drinking bird (no names.... Gavin Harper).
EG: As an environmentalist, what scares your pants off.
GH:Transport. Electricity we can do, EASILY if we put our minds to it. I have total faith in renewables, and think that their large scale adoption could meet our electricity needs with relative ease. However, transport is waaay scary - I think there are a lot of issues surrounding alternative vehicle fuels, that we don't yet fully understand - these problems are as much social, economic and political as they are technical. I also think that we are going to struggle to live in the built environments that we have created with a 'reduced' level of transport that will be necessitated by an increase in the cost of energy.
EG: What keeps you hopeful.
GH: Kids. I see some really great ideas come out of school Design & Technology departments, and I passionately believe that if we can get more kids fired up about science and technology, they can come up with some fantastic ideas for the future. I have less faith in adults... they've kind of got us where we are today, and the rate of change isn't fast enough by far, so I think if you are going to do anything important... drum it into a kid who is a friend how important these issues of sustainability are, and show them, empower them with the tools to change the world. (Pass the tissues Hank, I think I'm going to burst into song.. "I believe that children are our future.... teach them well and let them lead the way...."
EG: OK...that's enough of that...What applications for solar power do you think will be most important in the next 20 years.
GH: Thin film... thin film... we all love thin film. I think we will see thin film EVERYWHERE very soon indeed. I look forward to seeing innovative building designs using vast arrays of thin film solar. I think we are going to see solar power become 'ubiquitous' due to the versatility of the thin film material - we are already moving forward to 'ubiquitous computing' we see power-munching computers in every possible application - but I think we now need to move forward to ubiquitous energy generation - where everything you see around you has some element of embedded generation, doing its bit to capture some ambient energy.
EG: Do you hope that solar power will someday be a significant source of electricity for our planet?
GH: I don't hope Hank, I 'know'. Let's face it, as time goes on, our options are going to get more and more limited. We have this 'HUGE' nuclear reactor, that is 149 600 000 000m away (which I think is the only safe distance away from my home that I'd wish to have one), and it is producing this massive amount of energy for free. The smart man harnesses that energy. I think that there is going to have to be a focus on large scale solutions as well - I think that 'embedded' generation has it's place in the world - and we can go a long way by deploying solar panels on our homes, but I think that we still need to be considering some element of centralised generation - albeit implemented using renewable technologies.
EG: What's next for "High Tech Guru" Gavin D.J. Harper?
GH: Lots more learning, lots more books. I'm going to be a research student for the next several years, looking at Alternative Vehicle Fuels and their impact in society, which I am really excited about. I love writing the books, on the immediate horizon, 'Fuel Cell Projects for the Evil Genius' is going to print very soon indeed, and I'm already discussing 'what next' - probably a How-To book on Biodiesel Conversion. Of course, expect lots of posts to EcoGeek!
written by Sofi Jane, August 23, 2007
written by Marilyn Terrell, August 23, 2007
|< Prev||Next >| | <urn:uuid:67bd72af-cfa3-4053-85c2-557189d702c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/909 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969061 | 1,244 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Patients who rely on recombinant, protein-based drugs must often endure frequent injections, often several times a week, or intravenous therapy. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston demonstrate the possibility that blood vessels, made from genetically engineered cells, could secrete the drug on demand directly into the bloodstream. In the November 17 issue of the journal Blood, they provide proof-of-concept, reversing anemia in mice with engineered vessels secreting erythropoietin (EPO).
The technology could potentially be used to deliver other proteins such as Factor VIII and Factor IX for patients with hemophilia, alpha interferon for hepatitis C and interferon beta for multiple sclerosis, says the study's principal investigator, Juan Melero-Martin, PhD, of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Children's.
Blood Journal - Induction of erythropoiesis using human vascular networks genetically engineered for controlled erythropoietin release
Such drugs are currently made in bioreactors by engineered cells, and are very expensive to make in large amounts. "The paradigm shift here is, 'why don't we instruct your own cells to be the factory?'" says Melero-Martin, also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
The researchers created the drug-secreting vessels by isolating endothelial colony-forming cells from human blood and inserting a gene instructing the cells to produce EPO. They then added mesenchymal stem cells, suspended the cells in a gel, and injected this mixture into the mice, just under the skin. The cells spontaneously formed networks of blood vessels, lined with the engineered endothelial cells. Within a week, the vessels hooked up with the animals' own vessels, releasing EPO into the bloodstream.
Tests showed that the drug circulated throughout the body and reversed anemia in the mice, both induced by radiation (as often occurs in cancer patients) and by loss of kidney tissue (modeling chronic kidney failure). Mice with the vessel implants had significantly higher hematocrits (a measure of red blood cell concentration) and recovered from anemia more quickly than controls.
The system also had a built-in on/off control: the inserted EPO-encoding gene was linked to a repressor protein that prevented it from being turned on unless the mice were given the oral drug doxycycline (added to their drinking water). Doxycycline disabled the repressor protein, allowing EPO to be made. When doxycycline was added to the water on a weekly on/off schedule, the animals' hematocrit fluctuated accordingly. When hematocrit reached a normal level, the system could be switched off by simply giving them plain water.
Melero-Martin and colleagues are looking at ways to deliver doxycycline through the skin to avoid exposing the whole body to an antibiotic. There are also other ways to design the genetic on/off control, using synthetic systems or even regulatory elements used naturally by the body - sensing blood oxygen levels and stimulating EPO production when oxygen levels dip.
A traditional barrier to gene therapy has been getting the genetically altered cells to engraft and stay in place. Blood-vessel implants are an ideal platform technology for gene therapy applications whose goal is systemic drug delivery, says Melero-Martin.
"Blood vessels are one of the few tissues where we have good control over engraftment," he says. "Endothelial cells are easily isolated from blood, are good at assembling themselves into blood vessels, and are ideal for releasing compounds into the bloodstream, since they line the blood vessels."
The lab is interested in trying this system with other therapeutic proteins, and is also exploring ways to get cells to release therapeutics at a moment's notice by getting accumulating stores in advance that could be released upon the proper signal, as beta cells in the pancreas do with insulin, for example.
In addition, Melero-Martin wants to explore regenerative medicine applications, creating blood vessels with genetic instructions to produce factors that attract stem cells or induce cells to differentiate.
For decades, autologous ex vivo gene therapy has been postulated as a potential alternative to parenteral administration of recombinant proteins. However, achieving effective cellular engraftment of previously retrieved patient cells is challenging. Recently, our ability to engineer vasculature in vivo has allowed for the introduction of instructions into tissues by genetically modifying the vascular cells that build these blood vessels. In the present study, we genetically engineered human blood–derived endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) to express erythropoietin (EPO) under the control of a tetracycline-regulated system, and generated subcutaneous vascular networks capable of systemic EPO release in immunodeficient mice. These ECFC-lined vascular networks formed functional anastomoses with the mouse vasculature, allowing direct delivery of recombinant human EPO into the bloodstream. After activation of EPO expression, erythropoiesis was induced in both normal and anemic mice, a process that was completely reversible. This approach could relieve patients from frequent EPO injections, reducing the medical costs associated with the management of anemia. We propose this ECFC-based gene-delivery strategy as a viable alternative technology when routine administration of recombinant proteins is needed.
17 pages of Supplemental Material
If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks | <urn:uuid:f0660dd5-091c-43eb-a07c-160bfbac136d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/engineered-drug-secreting-blood-vessels.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944857 | 1,127 | 3.34375 | 3 |
by Marcelo Dimentstein
In the wake of groundbreaking elections in France and Greece, with the specter of social unrest and increasing economic decline, the top concerns facing a variety of European Jewish community leaders might seem inconsequential. However, in the Second Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers, a project of the JDC International Center for Community Development, economic strife, the rise of right-wing parties, and the demographic decline/assimilation of their co-religionists were cited among those concerns facing these Jewish leaders as of the end of 2011.
Performed every three years, the survey was conducted between June and October 2011 by a research team under Dr. Barry A. Kosmin from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. The survey reflects the sensibilities and expectations of Jewish leaders at that time and may indicate how these points of view will impact community planning and the future of European Jewish communities. Such data is more important than ever given the serious socio-economic challenges that European Jews, like their neighbors, face today.
There is no doubt that the last three years have seen profound changes in Europe. As the economic crisis plagued countries like Spain and Ireland, spread to the Baltics, Greece, and now Bulgaria, Jews were impacted. Additionally, the rise of right-wing political parties such as Golden Dawn and the National Front, as well as the tragic murders in Toulouse, made it clear that Jews can feel these challenges perhaps more than others.
That’s why this 191-item survey, conducted in English, French, Spanish, German and Russian in 32 countries, is so telling. Answers were culled from 328 Jewish community leaders, including organizational executives, current and former board directors of communities, Rabbis from all denominations, school principals and educators, media editors and publishers, academics, intellectuals and recognized opinion formers.
In the area of threats to Jewish life in Europe, 46% of respondents widely considered the rise of right wing nationalist parties to be the biggest outside threat to European Jewish communities. When asked about the top challenges facing Jewish life in Europe, the majority of respondents cited “alienation of Jews from community life (67%) and “demographic decline” (59%).
And when asked about the top priorities for European Jewish communities in the future, respondents rated inclusion of young leadership in decision making bodies; the strengthening of Jewish education; and supporting needy Jews in the community among the top three. The focus on the needy reflects overall feelings on financial challenges facing the community with 41% of respondents describing their community as suffering under greater financial strain (as opposed to 28% in 2008).
In terms of their ties to Israel, respondents see their relationship with the Jewish State as an asset of great importance to European Jewish communities. In this context, 85% also agreed that “communities should provide opportunities for members to share different opinions and points of view on Israel and its policies.”
From all 13 topic areas in the survey – including Anti-Semitism/Security, Status Issues & Intermarriage, Israel, Denominational Tensions, and Decision making and Accountability – we can see a European Jewish community leadership that in 2011 was very aware of the challenges it faced. As a new dawn has set on the European continent, such awareness is important, but the subsequent planning for the future is paramount.
Marcelo Dimentstein, an anthropologist, is Operations Director for JDC-ICCD. | <urn:uuid:28f663d0-31d2-4add-afe3-1ec98d8c741f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/in-an-uncertain-europe-jewish-leaders-survey-reveals-much/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958069 | 700 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Southeastern Utah fishing report
This is the weekly report from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources on the fishing conditions in the area.
â¢Electric Lake. Weekend blizzard conditions kept anglers at home. There is open water at the north end of the reservoir, where the mine's water discharges into the lake. Anglers may also encounter springs or isolated pockets of open water. Please use caution.
â¢Huntington North Reservoir. Anglers can expect slow fishing at the reservoir.
â¢Huntington Reservoir.Blizzard conditions over the last weekend in January put a stop to angler activity. The ice is thick and covered with snow. Angler access is difficult, and drilling an ice hole is even harder.
â¢Joes Valley Reservoir.Conservation Officer Casey Mickelsen reported fair to good fishing on Jan. 24 for 10 to 12 inch splake. He checked 10 parties of anglers, all of whom were using jigs tipped with chub meat. Mickelsen recommends fishing west of the new boat ramp and south of Lowry Water. Ron Sorensen of Mount Pleasant, who caught a 27-inch splake on Jan. 3, caught another 27-incher on Jan. 17. It weighed an estimated eight pounds. Sorensen fishes with a custom yellow/chartreuse jig tipped with chub meat. He fished in 12 feet of water near the Lowry Water inlet on the north side of the lake. He reported catching a lot of small splake that moved around in schools, so the bite alternated between hot and cold all day long.
â¢Millsite State Park. Fishing is slow.
â¢Scofield Reservoir.Sergeant Stacey Jones reported that Scofield Reservoir was rainy all weekend (Jan. 21-23). Rain, slush and a slick surface made it very difficult to move around on the ice. Fishing was slow across the reservoir, regardless of tackle. | <urn:uuid:c2d36403-7e5f-4456-bfcd-c1e8e117b84f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunadvocate.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=15022 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931848 | 408 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Canadian Forest Service Publications
Influence of fire and harvest on soil organic carbon in jack pine sites. 2009. Norris, C.E.; Quideau, S.A.; Bhatti, J.S.; Wasylishen, R.E.; MacKenzie, M.D. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 39(3): 642-654.
Available from: Northern Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 29404
Boreal forest soils represent a considerable reservoir of carbon on a global basis. The objective of this study was to compare the response of soil organic carbon (OC) to disturbance along two jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) chronosequences of either fire or harvest origin. Total OC stocks were determined for the A and B horizons, and results indicated a recovery to predisturbance levels by 30 years in both chronosequences. To further characterize OC composition at all sites, we used a combination of physical fractionation of soil OC pools, 13C isotopic determination, and cross-polarization magic-angle spinning 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. OC within all soils was dominated by a labile pool associated with the coarse-sand fraction. The relative importance of this labile pool increased with time since disturbance along both chronosequences. However, the fire and harvested sites differed in terms of the macromolecular composition of soil OC as determined by NMR. In particular, spectra of the forest floors from the two younger fire sites showed a high aromatic OC intensity that may be attributed to the presence of char. Interestingly, our results also indicated that with increasing time since fire, this char was transferred from the forest floors to the A horizons. | <urn:uuid:e0b7265c-2978-497e-8a4e-5564fb9d9843> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications?id=29404 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910613 | 353 | 2.046875 | 2 |
The word Taíno is used to identify the inhabitants of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico) who first met Christopher Columbus during his first overseas exploration to the New World. Taíno means "good" in the Arawak language.
Towards the end of the 19th century, historians and archaeologists developed an interest to identify this group of other Native Americans. Taíno is not an ethnical term for the Arawak groups (whose ancestors came to the Antilles from South America since pre-historic times). Some archaic groups like the horticultural "Huecan," "Saladoid," and "Barrancoid," arrived to the Antilles from South America before the Taíno period.
The Taíno culture flourished between the 1000-1500 A.D., having its epicenter in the islands of Puerto Rico and La Hispaniola. During that time, this group migrated to the nearby islands of Jamaica, Bahamas, Vieques, Virgin Islands, and lastly, eastern Cuba, half a century before Columbus' arrival. They reached a high level of socio-economic development that influenced most of the Caribbean. The presence of a great number of villages of chiefdoms that ruled over expansive regions, of active commerce between islands and of agricultural techniques (i.e., irrigation systems, cultivation of elevated lands) tells us of a complex society; one whose evolution was cut short by the Spanish Conquest.
They were a hierarchical society: the Taíno head chief was called cacique, followed in power by the shaman or "bohique". Next were the nitainos, composed of high-class members and warriors; and in the lower level of this social pyramid, the naboriasthe common citizens and workers. Agriculture was the base of the Taíno economy, but hunting and fishing thrived as well.
Taínos believed in the existence of many deities, immortals who lived in heaven. Standing out among them is Yocahú, the creator of all things, and his mother Atabei or Atabeira. Besides mythical gods, the Taínos paid homage to their ancestors believing that they became protective spirits, also called zemís, upon death. In fact, many of these protective spirits were past chiefs. Zemís, which are made with stone, wood, shell or bone, and vary in size considerably, are perhaps among the best examples of pre-Columbian sculpture of the New World. The principle art manifestation of the Taínos is the rock art or petroglyphs with stylized anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and abstract motifs. They were made by engraving walls of caves, large rocks in riverbeds, as well as on the monoliths that were arranged as a "fence" for the bateyes, or multi-purpose courts, where they celebrated areytos (rituals) and played a ball game.
Their art reflects highly inspired artisans by the "icons" associated to culture and environment. The pictorial representations embody what that society revered and respected. Stylized depictions of the elements of nature, along with related icons, reflect their belief in magical forces in nature. In many cases, Taíno artifacts correspond to ceremonial paraphernalia. The zemi, or idol, is the iconographic object that represents the power of nature and was highly used in sympathetic magical rituals. Their magic-religious worldview was a factor in the high-volume of artifacts produced. Some artifacts, for example, were believed to make chiefdoms dominate the powers of nature (in the case of objects that represented the elements). With that panorama, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic zemís were made to represent spirits that control different aspects of nature. Zemís were used not only in religious and ceremonial activitiesof oracles, and activities like shamanism and funeral practicebut also in music, dance, ball game, pottery, and domestic activities.
Some objects, like the dujos, or ceremonial stools, display the majesty of the artistic treatment of finely polished woodlike the Antillean Guayacán (guaiacum)and of engraving. Only chiefs and shamans had the privilege of using the dujo. This nourishes the idea of power in a hierarchical society: both characters (cacique and bohique) became the controllers of nature and society. The icon and the power associated to it and its bearer, reflect the dichotomy that artifacts serve as political and religious purposes. During warfare, it was believed that the acquisition by force of the idols that protected certain cacique and his village bestowed more ruling power to the prevailing chief, "upgrading" his level of chiefdom. The more idols, the more power.
Artifacts carved in stone, wood, shell, and bone point to certain aspects in Taíno life, especially about social stratification, or hierarchy. And many modeled clay vases decorated with intricate lineal incisions and dotted motifs reveal much about their abundant artisan production. From the hands of Taíno master crafters come the richest works for ceremonial purposes, with intricate decorative motifs of a unique aesthetic quality. Among the most significant pieces are the three-peaked stones with human (anthropomorphic) and animal (zoomorphic) motifs, anthropomorphic stone daggers, stone masks, amulets massive stone collars, elbow stones, ceramic vases, stone mortars and pestles, bone vomit spatulas for magic ceremonial activities, wooden dujos, and sculptures. The solid stone collars are the most impressive handiwork of the ritual objects of the indigenous Taíno art of Puerto Rico. The great amount of time employed to create each one of them indicates that there was some sort of power ritual involved.
Other objects of special interest are the amulets. They reveal many fundamental aspects of Taíno mythology and craftsmanship. The magic realm is the basis for their aesthetic explanation of reality, because it is by wearing these amulets that represent the gods, the forces of nature, and those intangible forces beyond day to day experiences, that the Taíno try to take control of their environment.
The importance of the Taíno art objects lies in the symbolic part they play in their religion and daily needs. The Taíno "cosmovision," or worldview, comes from an ancient myth about creation of men and women, of the flora and fauna, of day and night and about life after death. Taíno objects were manufactured with this worldview in mind: influences of animistic power, and with specific beliefs and guides that rule their lives. All prime materialsstone, wood, clay, shell and bonewere always given a special treatment, keeping harmony with nature. That extended a distinctive sign for that culture.
Since the 1980's Taíno art exhibition at Seville,
Spain, and then in 1992 at Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico
y el Caribe (The Center of advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean)
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the international appeal for Taíno art
grew exponentially. In a matter of years, the interest for its aesthetics
and values, and the study of the meaning behind Taíno objects was
no longer within the Antillean frontiers. Institutions like the Museé
du Petit Palais in Paris, France; El Museo del Barrio in New York; Instituto
Latinoamericano in Rome, Italy; and the Lehman College Art Gallery in
New York, presented exhibitions of Taíno art in the 80's, 90's,
and, more recently, in 2003. Those exhibits marked the beginning of a
Taíno "revival" in the art world, where handcrafters,
sculptors, engravers, printmakers, jewelers, and tattoo artists incorporated
Taíno motifs in their work. On the other hand, the academic world
paid attention as well. Archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and
art historians conduct extensive research and new studies on the complex
In the past three decades of studies, the Taínos have become a rich model of a culture. Their objects roused a deep interest in themes that relate to their way of life. A closer look to Taíno art is an invitation to discover, know, and appreciate the marvelous heritage from this Antillean culture. | <urn:uuid:7f45b18d-a947-4032-bb83-7e3fbe44902c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/gallery/taino_treasures/mendez_essay_a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946551 | 1,752 | 3.765625 | 4 |
User:Heroes Legends/Abilities/Spontaneous Combustion
From Heroes Wiki
Jimmy causes a company agent to burst into flames
|Held by:||Jimmy Wright, |
|Ability to:||cause objects or people to burst into flames by focusing on them.|
Spontaneous Combustion is the ability to cause objects or people to burst into flames by focusing on them.
It has been shown that the user of this ability can target both people and objects. The smaller the object the quicker and easier it is to make it burn. While using this power, the user's pupil's dilate and their eyes redden.
With lots of practice, a person with this ability can actually target specific parts of a person or object (Jimmy demonstrated this by burning a paragraph out of a document from a long way away).
If a user tries hard enough, they can control the heat and intensity of a fire. (Jimmy made a person break out in a very extreme fire that burned the person to ashes fairly quickly).
This power does not, however, give the person the ability to control fire or manipulate it. Jimmy has tried several times to control the fires he starts, but to no avail.
The person needs to be in close proximity to the victim for the power to work.
- See more information on Spontaneous combustion in the mainspace.
- For an ability that allows one to shoot flames out of one's hands, see Pyrokinesis | <urn:uuid:3293dd52-2f77-4894-99d1-f36f7d3706d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heroeswiki.com/User:Catalyst/Heroes_Legends/Spontaneous_Combustion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929395 | 307 | 2.40625 | 2 |
On Sunday, December 16 at 5:00 p.m., in the basketball gym of San Francisco State University, Author Dr. Thienna Ho will announce the book's launch and have a question and answer period.
Dr. Thienna explains that skin color is not permanent; it can be changed, to a remarkable degree, without the use of toxic drugs, chemicals, or steroids.
According to Dr. Thienna, this incredible method is not new. It has taken thousands of years of dietary practices and traditions to create the diversity of skin colors we see in the world today; they are changeable through the use of those same elements.
"Unlocking the Mystery of Skin Color" reveals age-old traditions that led to the development of the lightest complexions, such as those seen in Northern Europe and Japan.
"This book will teach people how to use diet and lifestyle to control their own skin color," Dr. Thienna says.
Readers will learn how to lighten their complexion, not only on the face, but all over their body. They will also be given tips on how to even out complexions, reduce visible age and sun spots, and eliminate hyper-pigmentation.
Sun damage is always a concern. Tips for restoring sun-damaged, dull, and darkened skin to a youthful and healthy luster are revealed.
What about trouble areas such as the knees and elbows? These areas require extra attention and natural color can be restored to skin that is ashen or gray.
If a yellow hue is cause for concern, there are ways to noticeably reduce the cast and maybe even achieve a natural tan complexion.
The book also addresses a variety of popular questions that include: Why do the poorest countries have people with the darkest skin? Why do some African-American celebrities seem to grow lighter over time? Why do people tan even when they do not go out in the sun?
Dr. Thienna has written a book that promises to deliver results, no matter what the skin color.
The author was born in Saigon, Vietnam three months after Viet Cong forces attacked the city during the infamous Tet Offensive. Eleven years later, Dr. Thienna and her family fled communist Vietnam in a 50-foot wooden boat that carried 285 passengers. On its way to Indonesia, the vessel was attacked by pirates on numerous occasions. Less than one year later, Dr. Thienna's family immigrated to the U.S. and settled in San Francisco.
Dr. Thienna is founder of Thienna, Inc. and is one of the world's leading authorities on human skin color. She holds a number of academic degrees, including a BA in Economics; a BS in Microbiology; a Graduate Certificate in Genetic Engineering; an MA in Business Administration; and a Ph.D. in Scientific Nutrition. She also has performed significant additional study in the fields of chemistry, biology, and molecular biology. At the age of 27, Dr. Thienna started a small business that has blossomed into a million-dollar success.
Where to find the book? Visit: www.thienna.com; or call 415-829-3936.
DISCLAIMER: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not evaluated these statements. The products discussed in this book are not intended to diagnose, cure or prevent any disease.
Edited by Liisa Sullivan | <urn:uuid:203da913-38b5-43ad-a3a8-2a9d13fd7ac7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uzuri.com/index.php/beauty/make-up-trends/item/245-new-book-reveals-ways-to-enhance-and-alter-skin-color | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952649 | 700 | 2.296875 | 2 |
I produced Pelicana Americana for the purpose of applying some mixed media techniques I’ve been exploring, drawing on elements from City Scape no. 1 and no. 2, and, in particular a recent poster. The painting, which is about 12” wide, was done atop a panel left from a previous painting. This work integrates colored pencil, black and blue ink applied with a brush, and gouache, with red and yellow acrylic ink applied last to bump up selected areas of saturation. Pelicana was also an attempt at creating spatial depth with deep and shallow layers of process- painting.
Below are process images of the painting, which was basically created in layers of drawing medium, which I sealed with a spray fixative, then covered in a layer of gouache.
As I’ve tried to explain Pelicana to myself and to others, I’ve been calling it a sort of fine art-illustration; it utilizes text and has a basis in the vintage illustrated pelican postcard, but its prompts interpretation rather than understanding. Myself, I see that the pelican in the foreground has assumed a soldier-like pose against a sky like an American flag; the stars, designs, and antiqued affect on the right side of the piece call upon some North American antiques and country- style ornamentation (Americana). The soldier-pelican’s banner blossoms from its eye like a wound; behind him and running through him stands an ancestor-pelican who overlooks a messy environmental situation in the background (possibly oil- or pollution-related). The pelican on the right flattens out spatially, almost turning into ash. I suppose the painting basically comments on the impact of human violence and military activity on the environment, and on the ramifications of their North American citizenship for non-human beings, though in this case, the idea for the title really came before the artwork; the imagery developed from the rhyme. | <urn:uuid:1d5654b6-e7e0-4b24-befb-26c88a4c9ecb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hnwright-blog.com/2012/05/29/pelicana-americana/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945334 | 403 | 1.671875 | 2 |
I was asked this question recently on a visit to DC by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS). Senator Moran is an outspoken supporter of skilled immigration and the author of the Startup Act 2.0 and I met him at the Kauffman Foundation’s State of Entrepreneurship launch event. Sharing the presence of immigrants at many critical junctures of our State’s launch, and our continued presence and inflow into the State’s economic drivers – our businesses – made the case to him and he shared a few anecdotes from Kansas. Returning from DC, I had the opportunity to submit an editorial to the Des Moines Register with two leaders of our community – Lori Chesser of Davis Brown Law Firm and Jay Byers of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The editorial lays out many of the important items for our cities and State and is duplicated below.
Seize the day. That is our recommendation to Iowans — including our congressional delegation — regarding immigration reform.
Our outdated system has long hobbled economic growth nationwide, but nowhere more than in Iowa. Immigration reform is a critical element in building a strong economy and a vibrant culture both now and in the future.
Iowa’s economic success depends largely on our ability to enhance international connectivity to compete in the global marketplace. This includes increasing exports, facilitating foreign direct investment, and attracting top talent.
But the current system impedes growth on all fronts.
Potential trading partners cannot visit the U.S. — or establish branch offices — because of restrictive visa policies. Potential investors are stymied by lack of visas or overly restrictive interpretations of the few visas categories available. Talented students educated at Iowa’s universities — including coveted “STEM” graduates — leave because of a random H-1B visa “cap” and painfully long waiting lines for legal residence.
Entrepreneurship is another key element of a healthy economy, and immigrants have proved to be highly entrepreneurial. A recent study by the National Foundation for American Policy found that almost half of the top 50 venture-backed U.S. companies had at least one immigrant founder. An immigrant-founded venture-backed company creates, on average, 150 jobs.
Again, our current immigration system has few options for company founders, leaving this resource largely untapped. Meanwhile, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Chile have all created programs to attract immigrant entrepreneurs.
Iowa is also an agricultural leader, responsible for the safe production of food both in the U.S. and around the globe. Reliable estimates indicate that 75 percent of the agricultural workers in the United States are immigrants — most of which are not authorized to work. The main reason is that the current system does not allow for non-seasonal temporary labor.
This restriction also hampers processing and service industries, which often cannot find reliable workers because of the preference for — and accessibility of — post-secondary education.
But a robust economy is only one measure of success. Surveys of students and young professionals show that quality of life, including diverse cultural, food and entertainment options, are important to their decisions about where to live and raise a family.
Immigrants — including German, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Mexican and Laotian — are Iowa’s cultural heritage. Immigrants — including Burmese, Iraqi, Sudanese, Bosnian, Vietnamese, Indian, Pakistani, Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, Liberian and many others — are our cultural future.
Recent announcements by both President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators, along with the bipartisan introduction of the Immigration Innovation (Isquared) Act, and a day of thoughtful hearings on immigration reform in the U.S. House of Representatives last month encourage the hope that real change could happen.
To secure a bright future for Iowa, we must make it happen. The right immigration reform will spur economic growth, create jobs and foster a cultural richness that has made America what it is today. Iowans particularly will benefit from these changes. Let’s seize the day. | <urn:uuid:7bf8be8d-2333-4071-8028-9b9a4e19b927> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tejdhawan.com/2013/why-is-immigration-important-to-iowa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947837 | 833 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University is hosting a lunchtime colloquium on Wednesday, 27 October, with Prof. Louis Wilson of Smith College on his research project, “Black Patriots in the American Revolutionary War from Rhode Island.”
He describes his project this way:
My project will attempt to reconstruct the personal history of many of the approximately eight hundred previously neglected African Americans and Native Americans who fought in various Rhode Island army units from 1775 to 1783. Using only primary documents, first, I am attempting to identify who these men were, and second to reconstruct many of the men’s personal histories before, during and after the conflict.This event will take place from noon to 1:30 P.M. in the Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street in Cambridge. A question-and-answer period will follow Wilson’s lecture, and attendees can feel free to bring a lunch.
Ethnically the men are divided into essentially two groups—Native Americans (Indians) and African Americans (Black, Negro, Mulatto, Mustee and colored). Each served in various Rhode Island army units—local militia, state regiments and the Rhode Island Continental regiments.
I have collected information, often extensive personal information, on many of these men, including birth dates, places of birth, occupations, height, family status, wills, if they were enslaved or free at the time they enlisted, and if their discharge papers were signed by General George Washington.
The picture above shows a black soldier in the Rhode Island regiment, wearing the unit’s distinct uniform and cap, as painted by Jean-Baptiste Antoine de Verger (1762-1851) during the siege of Yorktown. Wilson aims to dig beyond such representations of a type to uncover the individual Rhode Islanders. | <urn:uuid:d4f8faeb-899c-4d11-8839-644064044a55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2010/10/researching-black-patriots-of-rhode.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93725 | 386 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Last week the blog looked back at the performance of its 3 benchmark products since the start of 2009. This week it looks at what has happened to its 3 financial market products:
• Before 2009, there was normally an inverse correlation between oil/naphtha prices and the US S&P 500 stock market index. Higher oil prices would normally lead to inflation, which would lead to higher interest rates and slower growth. So the S&P 500 would fall. Equally, falling oil prices would lower inflation and boost growth, causing the S&P 500 to rise
• But since 2009, as the chart shows, the position has reversed. The US Federal Reserve and other central banks have instead chosen to flood markets with liquidity, thus creating what has become known as the 'correlation trade', where no single market now knows what it is pricing
• Naphtha (brown) has seen the biggest rise, up 197% from $310/t to $922/t
• Brent crude oil (blue) is up 140% from $45/bbl to $109/bbl
• The S&P 500 (pink) is up 59% from 890 to 1418
Interestingly, 2 of the 3 markets show the same recent pattern as the petchem products of falling peaks and troughs, since the blog launched its Downturn Monitor. And both Brent crude oil and naphtha are now lower priced, despite the introduction of the Twist and QE3 liquidity programmes. The S&P 500 is up just 4%.
The problem, of course, is that the Fed's policy is fundamentally flawed. Its models suggest that boosting asset prices will boost consumer confidence and ensure constant growth. It is like a doctor who decides not to talk to real patients, but instead relies on computer models to diagnose the problem. It ignores the possibility that demographics might instead drive demand.
However, across the Atlantic, at least one central bank is clearly getting worried about what might happen next. On Friday the German Bundesbank issued a surprise warning on the outlook for the economy. Its tone suggests that some policy makers are finally starting to have real doubts about the value of the policies that are being pursued:
"The cyclical outlook for the German economy has dimmed. Enterprises are cutting back their investment and hiring fewer new staff. The main drags are not only the adjustment recessions in some euro-area countries but also the slowing of the global economy... economic growth will be lower than previously assumed..... The current projection is characterised by a high degree of uncertainty. The balance of risks is on the downside. If global economic growth falls short of expectations or the debt crisis intensifies in some countries, growth will probably fall below the baseline assumption."
The chart shows benchmark price movements since the IeC Downturn Monitor's 29 April 2011 launch, with latest ICIS pricing comments below:
HDPE USA export, down 22%. "US material was plentiful, as producers seek to lighten their inventories"
PTA China, down 14%. "The trend in PTA futures was elusive and was said to be controlled by major financial players rather than industrial players."
Naphtha Europe down 16%. "Market remains oversupplied and bearish and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future."
Brent crude oil, down 13%
Benzene NWE, up 10%. "Demand from the key styrenics sectors is seasonally weak."
S&P 500 stock market index, up 4% | <urn:uuid:771ed2b3-13ef-42e7-89e6-26862f8bcc01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icis.com/blogs/chemicals-and-the-economy/2012/12/germanys-bundesbank-warns-on-t.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959739 | 718 | 1.617188 | 2 |
And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD,
and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar
his son to keep the ark of the LORD. And it came to pass, while the ark abode
in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty
years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a
man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
1 Sam.7:1-2 says that the ark of the covenant was brought to Abinadab's
house and that it stayed there for 20 years. This was before Saul was made king
But according to 2 Sam.6:2-3, David removed the ark
from Abinadab's house. And Acts 13:21 says
that Saul (David's predecessor) was king for 40 years. So the ark must have
been at Abinadab's house for more than 40 years. | <urn:uuid:d3496959-bb88-4945-902e-7d3da9b1787a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/abinadab.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957781 | 248 | 2.375 | 2 |
West Nile virus cases continue to climb, CDC says
Last week, the CDC announced 2,636 cases of the virus with 118 deaths - representing a 19 percent rise in reported cases over the week.
The newly released numbers are the highest reported to CDC through the third week in September since 2003. The worst year for disease saw nearly 3,000 severe cases and 284 deaths, the Associated Press previously reported. Previous week-to-week statistics announced by the CDC were as high as 30 percent increases in cases.
Two thirds of all West Nile virus cases have been come from seven states - Texas, Mississippi, Michigan, South Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and California - and almost 40 percent of all cases have been reported from Texas.(Learn more about the West Nile virus by watching the video on the left.)
West Nile virus usually occurs in North America from the summer through the fall, according to the CDC. It spreads mostly through infected mosquitoes (which become infected from feeding off birds) but in rare cases can spread through transfusions, transplants, breastfeeding and during pregnancy from mother through baby.
About 80 percent of people won't feel symptoms if they are infected, and 20 percent may develop "West Nile fever" or non-neuroinvasive disease, with symptoms like fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting and sometimes a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. Those symptoms typically develop between 3 and 14 days after infection, and may last for several weeks with resulting fatigue lasting even longer.
West Nile Virus outbreak 2012
The best way to reduce risk for West Nile is to reduce risk of mosquito bites, the CDC said. The agency recommends using an using insect repellent containing an EPA-registered active ingredient, wearing long sleeves and pants during dusk and dawn, making sure windows have screens and emptying puddles of stagnant water where mosquitoes may breed.
The CDC has more on West Nile virus.
Popular in Health
- Consumer Reports 2013 sunscreen ratings: Which is tops?
- Surgeons remove 4-pound hairball from tiger 10 Photos
- Skin cancer self-exam: What to look for (PHOTOS)
- How to get in shape for your wedding
- Doctor: Gel manicures a potential skin cancer risk
- Heartburn raises throat cancer risk but antacids may help
- Cause of Alabama mystery illness cluster determined
- Drinking sugary drinks daily linked to kidney stones | <urn:uuid:d5c08740-3204-4e7d-b034-4efbd9f36dfd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57515974-10391704/west-nile-virus-cases-continue-to-climb-cdc-says/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942888 | 496 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Something is happening when it comes to religion in America.
Though more Americans go to church or believe in God than their counterparts in virtually every other Western country, fewer Americans now trust religious institutions. A recent Gallup poll showed that just 44 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in "the church or organized religion."
That's a matter of fierce debate among Christians — with conservatives promoting a small-government Jesus and liberals seeing Jesus as an advocate for the poor.
After the House passed its budget last month, liberal religious leaders said the Republican plan, which lowered taxes and cut services to the poor, was an affront to the Gospel — and particularly Jesus' command to care for the poor.
The United States ranks as the most religious country in the developed world. And New York Times columnist Ross Douthat says that despite our politics, debates and doubts, this country is as God-besotted today as ever.
But in his new book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, Douthat argues that religion has fallen into heresy (hence the feisty subtitle). Douthat recently spoke with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about why he thinks American Christianity has become distorted. | <urn:uuid:657785c1-16ba-4190-ba67-57fa840f5e44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kunc.org/term/christians?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965446 | 247 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC – Berkeley has released a new pair of studies on sex differences in formulating ethical standards. This has obvious implications for the sexual marketplace, as it suggests that men and women may hold very different views on what constitutes deceptive or manipulative behavior.
From the online research and policy blog Pacific Standard:
When it comes to negotiating a deal, “Males more readily justify moral misconduct by minimizing its consequences or otherwise excusing it,” write Laura Kray of the University of California, Berkeley, and Michael Haselhuhn of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Their study finds “a robust pattern by which men are more pragmatic in their ethical reasoning at the bargaining table than women.”
“Men’s competitive behavior, more so than women’s, appears to be motivated by situational threats to their masculinity,” the researchers write in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. “When men feel like they have something to prove or defend against, they become more aggressive and competitive.”
From the study Male Pragmatism in Ethical Decision Making:
Men are more accepting of ethically questionable negotiation tactics (Lewicki & Robinson, 1998; Robinson, Lewicki, & Donahue, 2000) and engage in more deception than women in strategic interactions (Dreber & Johannesson, 2008).
The researchers hypothesize the key difference between men and women:
- Men: We expect men’s achievement goals to guide their ethics.
- Women: What benefits them personally and what helps them to accomplish their goals are expected to be irrelevant to their ethical standards.
In the first study, 96 MBA students (64M, 32F) read this reader question from Randy Cohen’s Ethicist column in the New York Times:
I have an opportunity to buy the property of my dreams. The problem is that the elderly couple who have lived there for more than 40 years love the house and assume that I will maintain it. I intend to tear it down and build a more modern house on this beautiful property. If I reveal my plan, they may refuse to sell me the house and the land. Am I ethically bound to tell?
(Note: The Ethicist advised the Reader that withholding this information that the sellers considered paramount amounted to tacit deceit and was unethical.)
Men were generally more inclined to approve withholding the information, but more interestingly, their position depended on whether they represented a theoretical Buyer (Don’t tell!) or Seller (You should probably tell.) Conversely, more women advised telling the truth to the Sellers, regardless of which party they were representing.
Full Disclosure: As a former MBA student, I would absolutely not tell the Sellers of my plans to tear down their home. I always felt that Randy Cohen had a hair trigger on ethics questions, and this is no exception. So I’m with Team Man on this one.
In the second study, 411 MBA and undergrad business students particpated (53% M, 47% F). Two surveys were administered. The first measured the particpants’ Implicit Negotiation Beliefs. The second was the Self-reported Inappropriate Negotiation Strategies (SINS) scale (Robinson, Lewicki, & Donahue, 2000), which gauges the perceived appropriateness of ethically ambiguous negotiation tactics. Areas include:
1) traditional competitive bargaining
2) attacking opponent’s network
3) false promises
5) inappropriate information gathering
Men rated the ambiguous tactics as more acceptable than women did. The authors conclude:
We began by asking whether a hypothetical Bernadette Madoff would have committed the same infamously unethical actions as the real Bernie. The current research suggests not and, importantly, offers an explanation as to why not. Though men and women may share common social and achievement motivations, they appear to differ in the extent to which their experiences and beliefs are called upon to set ethical standards. By relying more heavily on their motivations, men derive considerable leeway in setting ethical standards, rendering them more vulnerable to ethical lapses.
In recent comment threads here at HUS, there has been considerable debate about the ethical responsibility of men in being honest about their intentions with regard to sex. Though I have always defined a cad as a male who uses deceit to get sex, it’s important to note that men and women may define deceit differently. In addition, they may differ in their views with regard to the responsibility of the other party to detect deceit.
In the context of sex and relationships, women might keep this in mind. At the very least, the studies suggest that men may decide with a clear conscience that they are not required to divulge their true motivations or level of interest in you other than sexually.
In view of this, relying on a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach is especially foolish. Even asking questions outright may not be sufficient to suss out true motives. The only sensible approach from a female point of view is to delay sex until you have the true measure of the man - as defined by his actions rather than his words.
And oh yeah, you might want to avoid MBA types. Or grow a pair.
C0mpletely off topic: It’s Cinco de Mayo tomorrow! Here’s a great recipe for margaritas: | <urn:uuid:3ad0e24a-8068-4d10-9b04-3c1ee60443c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hookingupsmart.com/2012/05/04/hookinguprealities/the-malleability-of-male-morality/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950075 | 1,122 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Make Your Home Energy Efficient with Limited-Time Program
The program includes a discounted inspection and rebates on recommended alterations.
Go Green Wilmette’s green tea event on Saturday, Dec. 1 was well attended.
Everyone was looking for ways to make their homes more comfortable and save money on energy used to heat and cool their homes. And everyone was shocked to learn that all of their efforts to seal their homes by replacing windows only accounts for 10 percent of heat and cool air loss.
Then we also learned about a program funded by the utility companies and a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy called Energy Impact Illinois that can benefit all of us, and you, too. It was clear that it would be very helpful to save five hundred dollars a year on the cost of energy.
For a limited time, Energy Impact Illinois in partnership with ComEd, Nicor Gas and other natural gas utilities are together offering a cost-saving program through local non-profits called Energy Impact Illinois to all Chicagoland homeowners to make their homes more comfortable and energy efficient. Under this program, homeowners can save 70 percent, up to $1,750, off the most cost-effective and permanent energy efficiency improvements: air sealing and insulating your home.
The program includes an assessment, which is a $400 to $800 value available to you for $49 to $99 or free if you have a home party with five to 10 homeowners attending.
The assessment takes two to three hours, and you need to be home when this is being done. You are not obliged to do work recommended as a result of the assessment but if you do the work you can receive an instant rebate of 70 percent (up to $1750) for proceeding with the insulating and air sealing recommendations for your home.
An average cost is $2,000 to $4,000, so, with the rebate the cost is $600 $1,200, which has a payback in about one to two-and-a-half years. The work generally takes one or two days.
Energy Impact Illinois is even providing access to low-interest loans on amounts over $1,000 through partnerships with several local banks and credit unions, which can be used for boilers, furnaces, windows or other energy efficiency improvements. The first year's interest is paid by the program and free to you. Interest thereafter is capped at eight percent.
One of the best parts of the program is that Energy Impact Illinois provides approved contractors and a friendly call-center staff, who will take you through the process from your phone-in application to the completion of the work to your satisfaction. They want you to be satisfied.
Those who attended the green tea were so convinced of the many benefits of the program that everyone signed up for an assessment and many signed up to have house parties.
You can apply for the program or get more information by emailing Mary Edsey at firstname.lastname@example.org, calling her at 773-404-9402 or visiting http://www.energyimpactillinois.org. Though the utility company rebates will likely continue, the additional grant funding expires mid-May, so act soon to take advantage of the highest rebates this great program offers to help you and the planet. | <urn:uuid:d7bbd05a-67b8-4e0d-9d53-dc8ef4b8c70a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wilmette.patch.com/articles/make-your-home-energy-efficient-with-limited-time-program | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963438 | 677 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Approximately 50 miles (80km) east of Tunis lies Kerkouane, a former city of the Phoenician and Punic periods. The city was abandoned around the 3rd century BC, which meant it was largely ignored by the conquering Romans and is today the only remaining untouched Punic settlement. The city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1980s.
The remains of Kerkouane and its famous necropolis are not large, and can be explored in about an hour. Visitors can look for the distinctive minimalist mosaics of the Punic god Tanit , and learn about the city's surprisingly modern town-planning. A small museum housing interesting relics and artefacts gives further insight into the history of Kerkouane.
Set along an attractive bit of Tunisian coastline, visitors from Tunis will enjoy the peace of the site and lovely ocean views. The museum shop sells a few souvenirs and snacks, but a picnic lunch is the best complement to an excursion to Kerkouane. | <urn:uuid:000328c4-c844-43d8-bb4f-3c20905538c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordtravels.com/Excursions/3679 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953565 | 208 | 2.5625 | 3 |
SPECIAL OFFER: - Limited Time Only!
(The ad below will not display on your printed page)
Children this age may appear self-assured, even driven. They are frequently eager for challenges: "I want to be in Little League, but I don't like the rules -- I just want to see how far I can hit that ball; I can do piano and dance lessons, draw a picture; and have friends over...all before lunch." Third graders are feeling their power in some ways: They have expanded vocabulary, life experience, and practice in reading and knowledge of the world. Socially, kids widen their friendships and are less critical of each other. Boys are extremely dependent on mothers; girls are more dependent on peers.What your child will learn
This is a year when academics click, and socially, kids form "cliques." A subject your child had difficulty with in the past might become crystal clear this year. At the same time, social problems develop for some kids as classmates form tightly knit, sometimes-exclusionary peer groups. This is the year of note passing and name-calling. The sensitive third grader may come home weeping because children in the playground have teased her. Teachers this year focus on independent work and learning multiplication. They ask students not only to learn information, but also to apply it. You'll probably see more cooperative learning as well as paired learning -- completing a project with a classmate by comparing answers and rethinking strategies. Use of computers will extend to the Internet; class assignments may require finding information on the web.
Setting firm limits and schedules for your child has never been more important; third-grade teachers expect homework done independently and on time. It's a good idea to schedule homework as well as playtime into your child's day.
Teachers will show students how to...
"Series of books are great for kids this age. They get excited about reading them because they can become authorities on a certain author's books. And they love having a goal -- so completing a whole series of books makes them feel like superstars!" Amy Ward, teacher, New York City
Here are some of the most popular and appealing series for third grade (and advanced second-grade) readers: | <urn:uuid:0e32c0e4-2311-47bb-8044-f3f2ffcf0040> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lhj.com/lhj/printableStory.jsp?storyid=/templatedata/lhj/story/data/edu_3_08082001.xml&catref=cat370009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963188 | 457 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Everyday, it seems we hear about a new typhoon or earthquake has plagued a part of Pacific Asia. Here is a round-up of the disasters as provided by Reuters:
* On Sept. 26, Typhoon Ketsana tore through the Philippines, submerging houses, triggering landslides and killing nearly 300 people.
* On Sept. 29, an undersea earthquake sparked a series of tsunamis in the South Pacific that tore buildings apart and washed people to sea, some still in their beds. The death toll in Samoa, American Samoa and neighbouring Tonga nears 200.
* A day later, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's Sumatra island, toppling hundreds of buildings in Padang city, killing more than 1,000 people and trapping many more under rubble. Within 24 hours another quake struck Sumatra.
Bookmark/Search this post with | <urn:uuid:c38c3c96-0416-49d7-a087-98aac513ac92> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.texasimpact.org/blog/309?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943145 | 179 | 2.09375 | 2 |
June 20, 1917 - August 9, 1994
Based on the article "Helena Rasiowa, 1917-1994" by W. Bartol, E. Orlowska, and A. Skowron from the Bulletin of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science, Vol. 62 (1997), 353-366. Reprinted with permission of the EATCS.
Helena Rasiowa, mathematician and logician, passed away on August 9, 1994. Her influence on the shape of mathematical logic can hardly be overestimated.
She was born in Vienna on June 20, 1917 to very patriotic Polish parents. As soon as Poland had regained its independence in 1918 after more than a century of partitioned stateless existence, the whole family settled in Warsaw. Helena's father was a high-class railway specialist; his knowledge and experience in the field led him to assume very important positions in the railway administration. The girl, her parents' only child, had good conditions to grow up physically and mentally. And, indeed, she exhibited many different skills and interests, varying from music, which she was learning at a music school parallel to her normal studies in a secondary school, to business management, which she studied for more than a semester after completing her secondary education. But finally the most important of her interests, as the future was to prove, took the lead.
In 1938 the time was not very propitious for entering a university. Even if not many in Europe were convinced that war was inevitable, the next year was to prove how mistaken those of the majority were. Rasiowa had to interrupt her studies, for no legal education was possible in Poland after 1939. Many people fled the country, or at least they fled the big towns which were more subject to German bombardments and terror. So did the Ras family, also because of the fact that most high-ranking administration officials and members of the government were being evacuated to Romania. The Ras's spent a year in Lvov. After the Soviet invasion in September 1939 the town was taken over by the Soviet Union. The life of many Poles became endangered, so eventually the father decided to return to Warsaw.
Life was very restricted in Poland during the Nazi occupation. Nevertheless, there were enough courageous people to organize an underground life, not only for armed conspiracy against the Nazis, but also for the development of all the areas of a nation's life which are vital for its survival, education and, in particular, higher education among them. Thus Helena Rasiowa followed her studies in mathematics, risking her life, as did everybody who dared to conspire during that dark period.
Polish mathematics acquired particular strength in the pre-war years, mainly after the emergence of the Polish School of Mathematics in 1921. The names of Stefan Mazurkiewicz and Waclaw Sierpinski, who were in Warsaw, or those of Stefan Banach and Hugo Steinhaus, who were in Lvov, were well known to mathematicians all over the world. One of the branches which became important at that time besides functional analysis, set theory and topology, was logic, with researchers such as Jan Lukasiewicz, Stanislaw Lesniewski, Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, Alfred Tarski and others.
Rasiowa became strongly influenced by Polish logicians. Still in conspiracy, she wrote her Master's thesis under the supervision of Jan Lukasiewicz and Boleslaw Sobocinski. History, however, turned against her once more. In 1944 the Warsaw Uprising broke out and in consequence Warsaw was almost completely destroyed, not only because of warfare, but also because of the systematic destruction which followed the uprising after it had been squashed down. Rasiowa's thesis was burned together with the whole house. She herself survived with her mother in a cellar covered by ruins of the demolished building.
After the war Polish mathematics, as all other areas of life, began to recover its institutions, its moods and its people. Many had been killed, many had died, many had left the country, but those who remained considered their duty the reconstruction of Polish science and universities. One of the important conditions for this reconstruction was to gather all those who could participate in recreating mathematics. Rasiowa had in the meantime accepted a teaching position in a secondary school. That is where she was discovered by Andrzej Mostowski and brought back to the University. She rewrote her Master's thesis in 1945 and in the next year she started her academic career as an assistant at the University of Warsaw, the institution she remained linked with for the rest of her life.
At this University she prepared and defended her Ph.D. thesis in 1950 (under the guidance of Prof. Andrzej Mostowski). The title of the thesis was "Algebraic treatment of the functional calculi of Lewis and Heyting" and it pointed to the main field of her future research, algebraic methods in logic. In 1956 she earned her second academic degree (equivalent to habilitation today) in the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where between 1954 and 1957 she held a post of Associate Professor jointly with an analogous position at the University, becoming Professor in 1957 and subsequently Full Professor in 1967. For the degree she submitted two papers: "Algebraic models of axiomatic theories" and "Constructive theories," which together formed a thesis named "Algebraic models of elementary theories and their applications."
Her interests were not limited to pure research. Always ready to cooperate with others and aware of the importance of a strong mathematical community, she participated in many forms of this community's activities. Since 1964 and till her retirement in 1993 she headed the section of Foundations of Mathematics and later of Mathematical Logic after its creation in 1970. For more than 15 years she was Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Mechanics (1958-1960, 1962-1966, 1968-1978). Strongly attached to the Polish Mathematical Society, she was its Secretary (1955-1957) and then Vice-President (1958-1959); in the Warsaw division of the Society she was elected President twice (1957-1959 and 1963-1965). In the Association for Symbolic Logic she was Council member (1958-1960) and member of the Executive Committee for European Affairs (1972-1977). She also was Alternate Assessor (1972-1975) and Assessor (1975-1979) in the Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Sciences. On the other hand, she contributed to the development of mathematics in Poland as a member of the Committee on Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences from 1961 until her very last days, and as a member and, for 20 years Chairperson, of the Group on Education and Research in Mathematics of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Since 1972 she was on the Scientific Council of the Institute of Computer Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, guiding its works as Chairperson in 1972-1983. Last but not least, in recent years she greatly contributed to the foundation of the Polish Society of Logic and Philosophy of Science.
No description of Rasiowa's activities would be complete without a mention of her deep involvement in the development of research journals she was involved with. The most cherished by her, Fundamenta Informaticae, had been established in 1977 mostly due to her efforts, and Helena Rasiowa was its Editor-in-Chief until her death. Even when her illness began to take overtake her she never ceased to control the preparation of the consecutive issues of the journal. In particular, she acted as Editor of a special anniversary issue commemorating the publication of the 20th volume of FI in 1994. Moreover, demonstrating once more proof of her inexhaustible energy, she was an active Collecting Editor with Studia Logica (since 1974) and Associate Editor with the Journal of Approximate Reasoning since 1986.
Professor Rasiowa educated generations of students and researchers, in particular, she had supervised over 20 Ph.D. theses. Her lectures were known all over the world. She had been a visiting professor at 14 universities, ranging from Bahia Blanca in Argentina to Moscow in the Soviet Union. passing through Campinas in Brasil, UNAM in Mexico, Rome in Italy and Oxford University in England. In the USA she was hosted by universities such as Princeton, University of Chicago, University of California at Berkeley and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Moreover, she gave invited lectures at 46 universities and research establishments abroad, in some of them more than once.
She contributed to mathematical literature with three important books and more than 100 publications. The topics covered by her work include proof theory and deductive logic, algebraic methods in logic and algebras related to logics, classical and non-classical logics, algorithmic and approximation logics, and artificial intelligence. She worked on a new monograph till her very last days. The intended title was Algebraic Analysis of Non-Classical First Order Logics.
The study of the relationship between logic and algebra, originated by the work of George Boole and continued by A. Lindenbaum, A. Tarski, M.H. Stone, R. McKinsey, A. Mostowski and L. Henkin – to mention only a few – was the main research subject of Helena Rasiowa. One of the crucial moments in the development of algebraic study of logic was the introduction of Lindenbaums and Tarski's method for treating equivalence classes of formulas as elements of an abstract algebraic system. This provided a link between theories based on classical logic and Boolean algebras. An analogous correspondence between intuitionistic logic and pseudo-complemented lattices was established by Stone and Tarski, while the application of algebraic methods to modal logics was originated by McKinsey and Tarski (1944-1948). Another important idea leading to the emergence of the field of algebraic logic was the treatment of formulas as algebraic functions in certain algebras, initiated by Lukasiewicz and Post with their generalization of truth tables.
Helena Rasiowa became very active in these areas in the early fifties. Her research work on algebraic logic was aimed at finding a precise description for the mathematical structure of formalised logical systems. Her early papers contain several examples of algebras associated with logical systems as well as algebraic proofs of some of their properties. Jointly with Roman Sikorski she presented the first algebraic proof of the Gödel completeness theorem for classical predicate logic. Next, she algebraically proved analogous theorems for intuitionistic and modal logics. In other papers she turned to other nonclassical logics, applying with success the algebraic tools she had developed. All these investigations led her to a synthesis of the results hitherto obtained; she developed a general framework for an algebraic presentation of propositional and first order logics. In particular, she established elegant formal techniques for associating classes of algebras with logical systems and for providing their algebraic semantics.
Helena Rasiowa greatly contributed to the development of research in Poland on applications of logical methods in the foundations of computer science. She was one of the first to realize the great importance of mathematical logic for computer science - and at the same time she clearly saw the significance of computer science for the development of logic itself. In the last 20 years of her scientific activity she focused her efforts on the realization of this main idea through papers, seminars and research projects. Many of her students and collaborators who attended her lectures or seminars, those who wrote their PhD theses under her supervision, are now continuing the work she initiated. There remains no doubt today that she was right in the appreciation of the significance of the field. Among the authors of important research results on logical and algebraic methods in computer science the names of her students can be found quite often. Moreover, some of these important results have appeared in a journal which would not have existed without her dedication and to which she had been Editor-in-Chief for man years, i.e. Fundamenta Informaticae.
The form of this short article makes difficult a complete presentation of her achievements in the field of applications of logical and algebraic methods in computer science. She was the author of more then 30 papers, two lecture notes, and an unfinished monograph in which she relates algebraic methods of non-classical logics with applications in the foundations of computer science. She was able to write eight chapters before she was taken to the hospital.
Her contribution to theoretical computer science stems from her conviction that there are deep relations between methods of algebra and logic on one side and essential problems of foundations of computer science on the other. Among these problems she clearly distinguished inference methods characteristic of computer science and its applications. This conviction of hers had been supported by her results on many-valued and nonclassical logics, especially on applications of various generalizations of Post algebras to logics of programs and approximation logics.
Note: One book written by Helena Rasiowa was Introduction to Modern Mathematics, written in 1971 and published in an English translation in 1973. | <urn:uuid:3167c677-d3e3-4083-84ee-61ba98ba8a4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/rasiowa.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977333 | 2,721 | 2.28125 | 2 |
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health says a middle-aged man from Middlesex County is the state's first case of West Nile virus this year.
Officials say the infection was confirmed Friday. They say the patient first showed symptoms on Sept. 1 and was hospitalized that day. Officials say his condition remains serious, but he's improving.
The state had seven cases in 2010.
The department also said Friday that testing on a 21-year-old horse, since euthanized, showed it had West Nile virus in the state's first horse case this year.
State epidemiologist Dr. Al DeMaria said the cases are reminders that the virus will be out there until the first hard frost.
Public health officials say people should apply insect repellant and wear long sleeves and pants to avoid mosquito bites. | <urn:uuid:2ade2551-7fcf-47cf-88bf-1a9d0d37b827> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/09/massachusetts_reports_1st_2011.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975432 | 167 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Do New Rules for Debt Collectors Go Far Enough?
From credit cards to mortgages to student loans, the average American consumer is loaded with debt. Roughly 30 million people have debt collection agencies coming after them to repay an average of $1,500 in unpaid loans.
For the first time ever, Americans will be somewhat more protected from the sometimes aggressive practices of debt collectors.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Wednesday that it will regulate debt collection agencies with more than $10 million in annual receipts and release a field guide that will be used by its examiners.
"Millions of consumers are affected by debt collection, and we want to make sure they are treated fairly," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a press release. "We want all companies to realize that the better business choice is to follow the law — not break it."
According the The New York Times, The Federal Trade Commission, which collects and enforces abusive practices by credit agencies, collected 180,000 consumer complaints about debt collection agencies in 2011, up from about 14,000 in 2000.
The new CFPB rules are set to take effect on Jan. 2, 2013 and will impact about 175 of the 4,500 debt collection agencies in the country. While that number may seem small, the newly regulated debt collectors account for more than 60% of the industry's $12 billion in annual collections.
Next year the consumer watchdog will make sure that debt collectors are following the proper practices and procedures when contacting consumers. Collection agencies must adequately identify themselves and then indicate the amount to which they are seeking collection. Additionally, there must be a sound method for settling disputes "civilly and honestly" with consumers.
"Examiners will be assessing whether debt collectors have harassed or deceived consumers in pursuit of debt," said the CFPB in a statement. "For example, debt collectors should not be using obscene or profane language with consumers. Nor should they be engaging the consumer in telephone conversations repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass. Debt collectors cannot threaten to imprison consumers who do not pay their debt or threaten to tell the consumer's employer about the debt."
Roughly one-third of states allow delinquent borrowers to be thrown in jail, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"As the CFPB is a work in progress so are these rules. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is antiquated and needs a refresh to bring it into the 21st Century," says Adam Levin, chairman and co-Founder of Credit.com in an e-mail to The Daily Ticker. In that same vein, Aaron Task and Henry Blodget discuss in the accompany video why there should be one set of bankruptcy laws for people and corporations.
"I think the $10 million threshold is too high, I agree with many consumer advocates that the zone of regulation should be expanded and the regulatory entry point should be lowered to $7 million as it is proposed for credit reporting agencies. That will cover many smaller collectors who are more problematic than many of the larger collectors," says Levin. "With the evolution of technology from robo-calling, smart phones, texts and social networking, the little shop can now play in the bigger debt collection leagues and harass and intimidate consumers which equal effectiveness and even less regard for consumer protection. We need to put the spotlight on the entire community to ensure that consumers and legitimate collectors are protected from bad actors."
The CFPB is set to hold a public field hearing today at 1 pm ET to release the new rukes. The hearing will be webcast on the watchdog's website.
More from The Daily Ticker
Check out Yahoo! Finance's Breakout | <urn:uuid:ee5b4063-d792-45dc-84eb-edd853fc318b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnbc.com/id/49534595 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946485 | 753 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Pediatric-onset mastocytosis is an uncommon disease. Although the resolution of disease is often stated to be approximately 50%, there are only a small number of studies on which this general conclusion is based.[3
] The present study represents the longest duration of follow-up in a pediatric population with cutaneous disease and in which the initial study included a bone marrow analysis.
The results of our study are highly encouraging for those dealing with children with cutaneous mastocytosis. In this follow-up study, 10 of 15 of patients had complete resolution of cutaneous disease and symptoms at follow-up approximately 20 years later (). This resolution of disease, based on cutaneous findings and symptom scores, occurred in the absence of use of topical or systemic steroids, PUVA or cytoreductive agents including imatinib. Thus reports, such as one recently published reporting cutaneous improvement after administration of imatinib[12
] should be viewed with caution, as the natural history of disease is improvement. This conclusion is reinforced by our observation that the remaining 5 patients in our study experienced a major or partial regression of disease on conservative therapy.
The bone marrow examination performed when children were first entered into the study was highly predictive of outcome. All patients who experienced disease resolution or major regression had essentially normal original pediatric marrow biopsies upon re-evaluation. Two patients had partial regression. One of these patients had DCM at original evaluation and this persisted and was present on follow-up. The initial marrow examination revealed some increase in mast cells which persisted and was present on repeat biopsy. However, no disease progression on repeat examination was found. The second patient had UP and a bone marrow examination was compatible with ISM at the time of the initial evaluation. A repeat marrow biopsy during the follow-up examination reported in this paper again revealed evidence of ISM; and the marrow findings appeared relatively unchanged from the initial bone marrow. Thus if an initial marrow did not show evidence of systemic disease, no evidence of systemic disease was found an average of 20 years later. If a marrow was positive for ISM, the disease persisted. We continue, based on this data, to recommend bone marrow studies only on children with evidence of systemic disease including organomegaly, elevated tryptase, or unexplained peripheral blood abnormalities.
The KIT D816V mutation is one of the minor diagnostic criteria for systemic disease.[7
] The one patient with persistent systemic disease was positive for this mutation. We do not know if other mutations [13
] were present in other individuals in this study, but if they were present, they did not prevent disease resolution.
Tryptase levels were not available in the late 1980’s, as the tryptase assay was reported and evaluated somewhat later for both the diagnosis of mastocytosis and anaphylaxis.[14
] However, on the follow-up repeat examinations, only two patients had tryptase levels above 20 ng/. One patient had persistent DCM, and it is known that such patients with extensive cutaneous disease may have elevated tryptase levels.[17
] The second patient was the patient with persistent ISM, whose tryptase level could be expected to be elevated.
The age of inception of pediatric-onset cutaneous mastocytosis has been reported to have prognostic implications. In previous studies, skin lesions characterized as hyperpigmented red brown macules or papules typically were reported to appear prior to two years of age. In five such studies with 180, 112, 71, 55 and 17 patients, disease-onset prior to age 2 years was seen in 78, 92, 98, 92, and 82%, respectively.[1
] In the majority of patients, these lesions were reported to fade or resolve by late adolescence or early adulthood. Fading or resolution of UP is also reported in some adults (around 20%), although bone marrow disease persisted.[18
] Similarly, patients entered into our study had disease onset by age 2 and most had disease resolution or improvement as discussed above.
Five patients had increased mast cells and three patients had spindle shaped mast cells on the initial bone marrow biopsy. One of these patients (patient 15) had complete resolution of clinical and constitutional symptoms at follow-up. Three of the remaining four patients were re-evaluated. One of these was the patient with continued systemic disease (patient 14), one had persistent DCM (patient 11) and one had continued UP. However, two other patients with continued UP (patients 1 and 4) had neither an increase in mast cells nor spindle shaped mast cells noted on original bone marrow examination. Thus, while the presence of increased mast cells and of spindle-shaped mast cells was more often observed in those with persistent disease, the association was not sufficient to predict outcome.
The etiology of most cases of pediatric cutaneous mastocytosis remains unknown. Such cases have, by association, been attributed to mutations and polymorphisms in KIT. But if or how such genetic rearrangements would cause disease that often resolves is unknown. This leaves open the possibility that some cases of cutaneous mastocytosis could involve a mechanism independent of KIT mediated signaling.
This study makes the important observations that patients with pediatric-onset mastocytosis often experience disease resolution by adulthood; and that a bone marrow examination, if read as positive for evidence of systemic disease, should lead to the possibility that disease may persist. This further documentation of the natural history of mastocytosis combined with evidence of the predictive nature of a bone marrow examination should help in counseling those dealing with childhood onset cutaneous mastocytosis; and help prevent the unwarranted use of more aggressive agents directed toward ablating the mast cell compartment. | <urn:uuid:5d9a4f1b-7a1e-480b-bb9d-041d4a850512> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC2786499/?lang=en-ca | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974046 | 1,179 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Turning a DIY Project into a Product
Making something for others, instead of yourself, poses different challenges
Photo: James Turner
SON POWER: Daniel Turner, the author’s 17-year-old son, solders up one of the prototype megaBars for testing.
Most DIY projects never go beyond what’s essentially a prototype stage—they’re one-off affairs that don’t have to be cost-effective or easy to use.
But after a bunch of your friends say, “Gee, I could use one of those,” it’s time to consider producing your project on a larger scale. It’s also time to rethink the entire project: What works for a single build often doesn’t when you have to do it hundreds or even dozens of times.
I got a sense of this recently when my son and I built a high-powered replacement for the Wii sensor bar. Nintendo’s own sensor bar, which is actually a pair of infrared emitters that the Wii controller uses to determine which way it’s pointed, isn’t much good beyond 3 meters. We created a bar that has nine high-powered IR emitters. (Actually, we built two bars, one for each of us.) We liked it so much we knew others would too, so we launched a Kickstarter project with the goal of producing at least 100 pairs. Kickstarter is a way to fund projects in which the money comes from potential customers instead of a bank (see “Getting a Kick Start” for more about it).
When you create a Kickstarter project, you need to figure out the pledge levels and exactly what the pledger gets for his or her money. Essentially, you’re figuring out the selling price, as you would with any product. It turns out there’s a lot to consider.
First, there’s the matter of component costs. Large-scale production saves money on both unit costs and shipping. The printed circuit board for the MegaBar (as we called it) ran about US $13, using BatchPCB (which I described in an April 2010 article, “Build a Custom-Printed Circuit Board”). But for 200 (two boards per pair), the cost dipped below $2, an $11 savings. While things like switches and LEDs don’t go down as dramatically, savings of 25 to 50 percent aren’t uncommon.
By the way, for those off-the-shelf components, I avoided eBay as much as possible. All too often you find a bargain that’s not available the next time you need it. Industrial suppliers, such as Mouser Electronics, keep large stocks of components available and will tell you how many they have on hand. Mouser, with an easily searched website and online data sheets for pretty much everything it sells, is especially nice.
Once you know your component prices, consider the packaging. This is really just another component, but because it comes last, it’s often overlooked. We wanted to keep the bar small, but the device needed some extra room for thermal dissipation—the driver chips can get quite hot. We settled on cases normally used for pagers, which had the added benefit of having internal standoffs that could be used to secure the board.
It really is better to think about packaging sooner rather than later. By specifying screw holes on the PC boards that lined up with the standoffs, we were able to mount the boards directly, but we had to figure out exactly what the dimensions needed to be, which in turn required a careful study of the data sheet for the case. Typically, the one critical measure you need will not be directly available, and you’ll have to infer it from other measurements that are provided.
Now is a good time to think about labor costs. For our project, each case needed to have 12 precisely positioned holes drilled (10 through the front, and 2 on the side). The holes needed to line up perfectly with the LEDs, switches, and jacks on the PC board or things wouldn’t fit when assembled. Even with a template, drilling that many holes is time-consuming. Add in soldering, testing, and shipping, and I was looking at a significant cost, even at teenage-son labor rates—high enough to consider having a local machine shop drill my holes for me.
The last piece of the cost puzzle is the outbound shipping. Our unit was about 2 kilograms, which seems light but still came to $6 just to send it within the United States.
Once you have all your costs, add what you want to make as net profit, and then tack on another 10 to 25 percent for all the things that never work out the way you planned—wastage, defective units, and so on.
There’s one more thing to keep in mind—liability. I’m not a lawyer, but I know that if you make something that gets ridden, heated up, or plugged in, someone will find a way to get hurt. In our case, we overengineered for safety, using parts rated well above the actual current load. We also used a DC power jack, rather than hardwiring the power leads, and a source voltage just high enough to drive the LEDs, reducing the heat that’s shed by the driver chips. Even so, we were leaving ourselves open to potential trouble. It’s a calculated risk.
If you plan carefully and wisely, you can scale up your one-off into a successful and profitable product. Inventing the next great mousetrap is just the first step—now manufacture it!
This article originally appeared in print as "DIY Manufacturing."
About the Author
James Turner is a contributing editor for O’Reilly Media and a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. In an article last August, he answered the question, “Does your do-it-yourself workbench have everything you need?” | <urn:uuid:b2a819db-c9a1-41a7-8c1d-b7372ae15389> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/turning-a-diy-project-into-a-product/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958533 | 1,252 | 2.390625 | 2 |
James Parish was established in 1886 to serve Ludlow's English-speaking
Catholic population (Irish). In 1887, the parish purchased the Armory
Hall on Carneal Street. The building was remodeled to serve as the first
parish church. Many of the early parishioners worked for the railroad.
St. James congregation grew quickly. In 1891, the parish purchased the
Odd Fellows Hall on Oak Street for $3,500.00. This building housed the
first St. James School, which opened in September 1893 with an enrollment
of 125. The teachers were the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. 1893 also
marked the purchase of the Cassidy home on Oak Street for use as a rectory.
The Reverend Thomas N. Kehoe led the parish from 1894-1921. Under Father
Kehoe's guidance, the parish flourished. By 1900, the congregation claimed
a membership of 450.
A new St. James Church was constructed in 1903-04 on Oak Street. The structure,
dedicated on October 9, 1904, cost over $20,000.00 to construct. A new
school building was constructed in 1911-1912. Both buildings were designed
by architect Walter Sheblessy.
In 1922, a new rectory was constructed at the northwest corner of Oak
and Davies Streets. At this time, the old rectory became the home of the
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth who taught in the parish school.
In 1928, The Reverend Clement Bocklage established St. James High School.
The high school program was housed in a small two-room addition to the
church and on the first floor of the rectory. Originally, the high school
was taught by laypersons. Ruth Kelley held the position of principal of
the school for many years. By 1935, St. James High School enrollment reached
100. In 1942, the Sisters of Charity assumed responsibility for the high
school. The high school closed following the 1947-1948 school year.
1967, diocesan officials merged St. Boniface and St. James Schools. During
its first year of existence, St. James-St. Boniface School enrolled 267
with a faculty consisting of five Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and four
lay teachers. For a few years, both school buildings were used. However,
in 1971, the entire school (Grades 1-8) was housed exclusively in the
former St. James School building.
In 1980, Bishop William A. Hughes announced the merger of St. Boniface
and St. James Churches in Ludlow. The St. James Parish facilities were
used by the new congregation, which was named Sts. Boniface and James
Schroeder, David E., United in Faith: A History of the Catholic Church
in Ludlow, Kentucky, 1872-1897. | <urn:uuid:d8e2301d-e684-4c38-b05e-9238fbe1e9d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kenton.lib.ky.us/genealogy/history/ludlow/article.cfm?ID=284 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969284 | 605 | 2.09375 | 2 |
|Editing:||Please feel free to edit constructively!|
Giantkin form close-knit social structures, within and interacting with the societies of other humanoids and giants. As a group, they are adaptable due to the variety of giant heritages they hold; as individuals, though, they tend to specialize and have one specific focus. They enjoy rowdy sport and quiet contemplation in equal measure, and are quick to be roused to action.
Giantkin are the degenerate descendants of giants, reduced in stature to that of mortals, with whom they live and intermarry. The offspring of such relations are, themselves, almost always giantkin.
Giantkin, on average, are somewhat taller and heavier than the average human, with males averaging about 6'8" and 230 pounds and females averaging 6'5" and 205 pounds. Both sexes are well-muscled. Their skin and hair colors vary with their descent: ranging from ashen skin and red hair (fire) to blue-white skin and silver hair (frost) to light green skin and deep green hair (storm), or to the colors of stone and cloud giants. However, giantkin also have a mortal heritage, which usually draws their skin a bit toward some shade of brown or tan, which can be pale or deep. Giantkin of mixed descent on their giant side are not uncommon, and tend to slightly favor one side over the other.
Giantkin tend to integrate themselves well into any society that will take them, and so get along with some human societies. Dwarves sometimes treat giantkin as giants, but other dwarves accept the giantkin into their societies or as allies. Gnomes act similarly to dwarves, except that they seldom run a nonviolent giantkin out of their homes, instead expressing their displeasure through increasingly cruel pranks. Halflings are the most accepting, eagerly taking giantkin into their societies.
Among the savage humanoids, hobgoblins and bugbears get along the best with giantkin, taking them in as mercenaries quite frequently. Orcs and common goblins often fight with giantkin to test their strength, and kobolds seldom accept any that large into their warrens.
Giantkin and true giants likewise have a varied relationship. To many giants, giantkin are a disowned branch of the family tree, not worthy of meeting with the true giants unless they can prove themselves. To other giants, a giantkin of sufficient deference can be accepted into their homes and societies.
Giantkin tend toward Lawful alignments; within their groups, your ability to trust the words of another is paramount. They are distributed across Good and Evil in much the same way as mortals are.
In unsettled areas, whether near a society that will not take a giantkin population or on the outskirts of an expanding allied society, giantkin often found their own homes, usually in some form of dangerous wilderness. Typically a giantkin home is tightly-packed, with the entire society a few hours walk, at most, from some kind of stronghold, from which the giantkin warriors patrol. These homes often connect to allies nearby, whether other giantkin or other races, and are able to call on help if needed.
Giantkin speak Common; their generations of exposure to mortal societies have all but taken Giant from them. Many giantkin, however, do study Giant, and entire societies of giantkin speak Giant as a primary language instead of Common.
Giantkin are typically named in Giant. A giantkin typically has both a given name and a clan name. At adulthood, they are also often given a heroic name by the head of their clan or by their priest. giantkin clans are patrilineal, and are named by their founders, usually with words in Giant. A few clans can trace their lineage back to the full giants. A giantkin's heroic name is the given name of a past great hero of their clan, usually not the founder unless the clan is very young, whom the giantkin is expected to emulate. Living heroes are seldom used, with the exception of those who have ascended to immortality and left their clan behind. A young clan might have a total of three or four heroic names, while the oldest clans have over two dozen. Scholarly giantkin often track what the heroic names of past heroes are, drawing lines of descent for the accomplishments of a single heroic name.
- +2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution: Giantkin are strong and hardy, but their large size can be unwieldy at times.
- Humanoid (Giantkin)
- Medium: As medium-sized creatures, giantkin have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size
- Giantkin base land speed is 30 feet.
- Giant-Blooded (Ex): Giantkin count as Giants for any effect relating to race or type. They also count as their actual type (Humanoid).
- Low-Light Vision (Ex): Giantkin see twice as far as humans in cases of poor illumination, such as moonlight, starlight, or torchlight.
- Rock Throwing (Ex): Giantkin have their giant ancestors' talent for throwing rocks. This allows them to throw appropriately-sized rocks for 1d6 damage at a 40' range increment, or two-handed rocks for 1d8 damage at the same increment. This range increment increases 20' for every step of size increase, and damage increases normally at increased size. They also gain +1 to hit with all thrown weapons, and +10' to the range increment of all thrown weapons except for their rocks.
- +2 to Constitution checks to survive weather, exhaustion, starvation, or thirst. Giantkin are extraordinarily hardy.
- -2 penalty to Sense Motive checks. Giantkin are trusting around each other, and this extends to outsiders even if they don't deserve it.
- Feat Qualifications: Giantkin count as Fiends for purposes of taking the Large Size and Huge Size feats. They do not count as Fiends for any other purpose, nor do they gain Fiendish Taint for taking those feats.
- Automatic Languages: Common.
- Bonus Languages: Auran, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Goblin, Ignan, Orc, Sylvan, Terran.
- Favored Class: Knight, Tome and Favored Class::Elementalist.
- Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::0
- Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1
|Middle Age1||Old2||Venerable3||Maximum Age|
|60 years||110 years||150 years||+5d20 years|
|Gender||Base Height||Height Modifier||Base Weight||Weight Modifier|
|Male||5' 11"||+2d8||170 lb.||× (2d6) lb.|
|Female||5' 10"||+2d6||155 lb.||× (2d6) lb.|
In games that use a lower balance point than the Tomes do, giantkin may deserve a +1 Level Adjustment if being used in a warrior or gish build due to their being taller than humans, having unbalanced stat adjustments, and thrown weapon aptitude. None of these benefit a caster build, and so a giantkin spellcaster (except for possibly a Cleric) should probably not be level adjusted.
If the suggested favored classes are not available, the Player's Handbook II Knight or the Tome of Battle Warblade are acceptable substitutes for Knight; if all else fails, use Fighter. If the Tome Elementalist class is unavailable for any reason, such as its author having left its spell list unfinished for three years, Sorcerer is an acceptable substitute.
Related Links Edit | <urn:uuid:61f7d3ae-b3e1-4a48-9bf9-aa96facf7265> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/Giantkin_(3.5e_Race)?oldid=65673 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93897 | 1,601 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Community supported agricultureCommunity Supported Agriculture (CSA) is the practice of farming with a greater than usual degree of involvement of consumers and other stakeholders.
The idea behind CSA is for each participant to contribute equal amounts of labor and capital, and in return receive an equal share of the production, with management by consensus. CSAs grew out of subscription farming and the food cooperative movement of the 1970s. Many CSAs avoid use of pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. There are a disproportionate number of vegetarians among CSA members.
Most real-world CSAs have a few designated people who provide the labor and management, hired help, or both. Some sell excess goods to nonmembers. Vegetables are the most common crop, with fruit occasionally grown.
There is no documented case of the CSA model being applied to meat production. However, related movements like Slow Food have been involved in both meat and dairy production. | <urn:uuid:ff6289f0-01b5-4683-9cf5-1d03c1b5610b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.encyclopedia4u.com/c/community-supported-agriculture-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956642 | 187 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Santoso, Noviasyanti (1996) The Analysis of speech errors among Javanese speakers in using Indonesian. Bachelor thesis, Petra Christian University.Full text not available from this repository.
This project is an Error Analysis study, and this thesis deals with the speech errors produced by Javanese speakers whose mother tongue are Javanese in using Indonesian as their L2. As it is commonly known, in order to be successful in communication we have to be able to choose appropriate linguistic items based on to whom we are speaking, where and when we are speaking, why we are speaking and what we are speaking about According to Martin Joos, in a formal situation the spakers are strongly expected to use the standard form of language. Therefore, in this research the writer wants to find out the deviations of the standard Indonesian which is surely in line with EA movement that we can look at the errors on the basis of non standard language varieties the speakers produce in that situation. In this thesis, The writer uses seven subjects in which each of them is recorded while making speech in a one day seminar held by Senat Mahasiswa Fakultas Farmasi Universttas Airlangga entitled 'Dampakdan Penggulangan Pil Koplo'. The Bet of data collections are extracted from their speech. Having finished recording the source of the data, the writer is going to transribe them. Afterwards, the data will be analyzed In the data analysis, the writer would only focus her analysis on the grammatical errors specified on the word formations mat will include the use of affixes and reduplication. The writer does this research because unlike other languages, the syntactic structure of Indonesian is very complicated. All the same, its morphological construction is very complicated. It is shown in this research that the educated Javanese still make so many speech errors even in the formal situations that we assume them to be very well prepared. Then, the writer divides data analysis into two main parts. First, the errors are seen from the linguistic category taxonomy, and in this case she will classify the errors of word formations based on their forms; verbalizer, nominalizer, adjectivizer, adverbizer, other affix functions, and reduplications. After that, the errors are seen from the surface strategy taxonomy that will include omission, addition, misformation, misordering, and inapropriate usage of items. In the process of analyzing the data, she finds difficulties to distinguish between competence errors (errors), and performance errors (mistakes). Following Dulay and Burt, however, in order to facilitate reference to deviations that have not been yet classified as performance and competence-based deviations, the norm of languages no matter what the characteristics or causes of the deviations might be. Later, she can draw conclusion that the deviations which happen continuously are considered as errors. Finally, the result of this study discovers that from linguistic category taxonomy, the errors which are most likely to happen are verbalizer (61.19%). While if they are seen from the surface strategy taxonomy, ommision errors are found at the most (65%).
|Item Type:||Thesis (Bachelor)|
|Uncontrolled Keywords:||speech errors, javanese speakers, mother tongue, communication, formal situation|
|Date Deposited:||23 Mar 2011 18:48|
|Last Modified:||31 Mar 2011 16:52|
Actions (login required) | <urn:uuid:15b28429-7452-43c2-8452-7f66fda770ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://repository.petra.ac.id/2620/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928682 | 710 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Common Knowledge in Legal Reasoning About Evidence
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
University of Winnipeg - Department of Philosophy
International Commentary on Evidence, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1-42, 2005
It is shown how tools of argument analysis currently being developed in artificial intelligence can be applied to legal judgments about evidence based on common knowledge. Chains of reasoning containing generalizations and implicit premises that express common knowledge are modeled using argument diagrams and argumentation schemes. A controversial thesis is argued for. It is the thesis that such premises can best be seen as commitments accepted by parties to a dispute, and thus tentatively accepted, subject to default should new evidence come in that would overturn them. Common knowledge, on this view, is not knowledge, strictly speaking, but a kind of provisional acceptance of a proposition based on its not being disputed, and its being generally accepted as true, but subject to exceptions.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 42
Keywords: presumption, defeasible reasoning, Wigmore chart, generalization, crime sceneAccepted Paper Series
Date posted: January 31, 2011
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This page was processed by apollo5 in 0.297 seconds | <urn:uuid:04e6dbe1-61dd-4fb1-933b-637e65a9ea6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1751661 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909899 | 256 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Doing It Right
- He would shrink the group before he grew it.
- He would do most of his youth ministry outside the four walls of the youth room.
- He would bring the "un" ones (dirty, flirty and rejected) into his inner circle.
- He would confront the status quo in the youth group and church at large.
- His hair would be way too long to be taken seriously.
And now for the likes. I love the idea that ministry is something that happens outside of the facility. We face a two-edged sword in our church facilities. The amount of resources we expend to build and maintain them would demand that we use them to their fullest. But the people that need the gospel are OUT THERE. This is where the idea of delegation comes in. The ministry professional should probably work in the confines of the facility - but their work should be to prepare and send people out.
The idea of working with the "un" is old, just dressed up in the latest language. One of the more fascinating aspects of age to me has been how those that seemed insignificant in high school are very significant now and in many cases the reverse. Achievement matters, but cool does not, and often those that achieve are uncool precisely because of their achievement. I think youth ministry should think more about the future and less about the immediate. Focusing on individuals that will have an impact beyond the high school years may just change everything.
Technorati Tags:youth ministry, impact
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator | <urn:uuid:71563d04-d623-486c-87ba-0fab21b7030f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogotional.blogspot.com/2012/12/doing-it-right.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97799 | 326 | 1.539063 | 2 |
A French community for Haskell
During the past few months, there has been some growing activity in the (hidden) French circles of the Haskell community. A few people, including myself, are trying to increase the interest around Haskell in the French-speaking communities. You may (or may not) have noticed the translation of Learn You A Haskell that is available here, in French. We also have an IRC channel, #haskell-fr (access it through Freenode’s webchat), and a mailing list. Please let us know about you if you are a French-speaking haskeller!
But we would like to get it a step further. We are currently considering the idea of a French hackathon. We already have been offered a room for 3 days in June 2012, in conjunction with a French Perl event. So one of the reasons behind this blog post is to get some feedback about this, in addition to letting people know about the French community. Who would be interested in attending such an event? This would be in Strasbourg, France for the moment. Note that this would not necessarily be restricted to French haskellers! The format would be a pretty much classical Hackathon: potential talks and a lot of Haskell hacking. So please let us know if you’d be interested in attending this (by commenting this post, the IRC channel or the mailing list).
On a side note, these past few days, I updated one of my libraries: statistics-linreg and published one too: kmeans-vector. It performs the k-means clustering algorithm on a list of points, and can lead to “pretty” graphics like the following. | <urn:uuid:0684aa92-b118-4198-bc8e-e9076263a292> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alpmestan.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/a-french-community-for-haskell/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=8ef4095fcf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964215 | 345 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Addition. Subtraction. Maybe a little multiplication. Not typically stimulating stuff. But when you toss in a promotional calendar, math becomes fun.
Consider this promotion from KUMON, the world’s largest after-school math enrichment program for kids. The people at KUMON understand that routine can become boring—especially when it comes to learning new things.
That’s why they turned to promotional calendars. These custom calendars, which were mailed to families with children ages 5-6, require some number crunching to determine the date. Kids get to practice their math skills in a fun, engaging way every day, helping them get a grasp on numbers and reach their full potential.
This promotion is an exciting way to get young ones enthused about math, and it’s year-round exposure for the KUMON brand.
Promo know-how tip: Gear your promotional calendar to a different audience as KUMON has creatively done. We can pinpoint the perfect calendar to promote your business—our promotions specialists are ready to help. | <urn:uuid:a5feed30-efa1-4eca-8050-f20805f03c14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.epromos.com/promotional-marketing-advertising/promotional-calendars-make-math-fun/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942682 | 219 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Well, the legislation implementing “The Buffett Rule” has been voted down in Congress as we all knew it would be. But so what? The Federal Government doesn't really need your money, since it can generate all the money it needs to pay off the national debt and also close any gap between tax revenues and Federal spending that Congress may want to legislate for the foreseeable future.
There's no problem of Federal solvency. There hasn't been since 1971, when the US went off the Gold Standard! The idea that we risk insolvency is just a fantasy of people who won't acknowledge that the US Government is the monopoly supplier of fiat currency to the non-Government sector of the economy, including all of the private sector.
However, even though your money isn't needed by the Government, it is very badly needed to help fund two things, I'll describe below. But, before I do that, since your patriotism has moved you to advocate for higher taxes for yourselves, I hope and expect that you will be motivated to spend the same amount in the two areas of activity where your money is most needed and would be much more effective in bringing the United States back to the state of a healthy democracy, than it would be if you and and other similarly situated patriots paid it to the Government in taxes.
I know you've frequently heard the Republican response to your proposals for higher taxes on very wealthy people like yourselves, namely that if you're so sure that higher taxes on the very wealthy are the right thing to do, then you can always contribute the additional money to the government, if you really want to. Well, my view is that you can equally well, and with much greater effect on restoring fair and effective functioning to our democracy, contribute that money directly to activities that will change key background conditions that are driving our democracy towards plutocracy right now. Here are the two areas of activity. Read below the fold... | <urn:uuid:9ac82b71-a25e-4e1b-a1ae-c046cfe08107> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.correntewire.com/thread/meta_meta | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978766 | 394 | 1.953125 | 2 |
I’ll start this week with a plea to any lurkers who might be out there, reading these lessons but too timid to post on the boards. Please—post on the boards! We all learn from each other, and I can’t give you feedback if I can’t read your responses. If you’re absolutely
too shy to post here, at least send me a PM. I need to know that I’ve got an audience, and that the long
time it takes to run these classes isn’t going to waste.
I’m wondering—is there a better way for me to make myself available to beginning and intermediate writers? Are there any suggestions about how to get more people to this class (or how to keep them here)?
TODAY’S QUICK TAKE: Shoulda, woulda, coulda
There’s a common error in this sentence:
I wish I would of saved a piece of that coconut cake for tonight.
Did you find it? The error, of course, is that I ate the last piece of cake this afternoon, and now it’s gone.
Nah, just kidding. It’s that little word ‘of’ after the ‘would’. The correct phrase is ‘would have’. The same goes for its cousins, ‘could have’ and ‘should have’.
It’s an easy mistake to make—when we talk, we usually make the phrase into a contraction (would’ve) which sounds like ‘would of’. But it’s not. And I can’t think of a handy device to help you remember this one, so you’re on your own.
Should have, would have, could have.
Over the next several weeks, I plan to use the writing challenge judging criteria
as an outline for my lessons. Even if you plan to branch out from the writing challenge, or you do most of your writing elsewhere, these are excellent criteria for almost any genre or length of writing. Learning to write to these criteria should definitely improve your overall writing skills.
Here’s the first one (which might take two weeks to cover): How well did this entry fit the topic?
1. Understand the topic.
Many weeks this is not a problem, as the topics are fairly straightforward. But there have been weeks when the topic was unfamiliar to some people (Australia, A Stitch in Time Saves Nine, Science Fiction…). If this is the case—before you start writing, do a little bit of research. You might also check the Writing Challenge forum, as there is often a thread with clarification of the trickier topics.
2. Don’t refer to the topic itself as the topic, or to the Writing Challenge
. I’ll use a made-up topic from a few lessons ago as my example: let’s say the topic for the week was ‘Fire’. You wouldn’t want to write anything like…
When I saw that this week’s topic was ‘fire’, I immediately thought of the time my Thanksgiving turkey burst into flames.
There are several reasons for this. First of all, self-referential statements are redundant, so you’re wasting precious words. Second, referring to the topic isn’t a very effective ‘hook’, nor is it particularly original. Finally, the winning entries will eventually be published in a book, purchased and read by people outside of FaithWriters. They may know nothing about the writing challenge, so the entries need to be able to stand on their own, without referring to ‘the topic of the week’.
3. Don’t overkill the topic.
There’s a bit of finesse to being sure that your entry is on topic
but not to the extent that you make your reader weary of it. Back to the ‘fire’ example: you don’t need to include a fire in every paragraph. This error is even more noticeable in weeks when the topic is a more uncommon word or phrase (oops, bitter and sweet, charades). BUT…
4. Make sure that the topic is integral to your story, poem, or article
. Here’s where the finesse comes in—how to make the topic important, but not to overdo it? When I was writing for the challenge, I tried to write a story that could not have been written without the topic concept.
The best example I can think of was a story for which the topic word was ‘Space’. I didn’t use the word ‘space’ until the last sentence (except for a few red herrings)—but the entire climax and resolution of the story revolved around the fact that my main character had mis-read a phrase because of a missing space. My story for the topic of “America” wasn’t really about America—it was about a very old woman being interviewed—but it was essentially American, and it couldn’t have been set in any other place. When the topic was “River”, I wrote not about a river, but about a series of comedic events—however, a river wound its way throughout the whole piece.
Here’s where I can just advise you to trust the judges to “get it”. Every week, the judges are given instructions about the topic, and included in those instructions is usually something along the line of “if it conveys the essence of [topic-ness], it’s on topic.
And…that’s enough for this week; I’ll cover ‘being on topic’ again in my next class. That’ll be two weeks from now, as we’re going to Florida next week to visit my daughter and her husband. I’ll get back here as often as I can before Friday to check your responses, and occasionally while we’re gone.
1. Ask me a question about writing to the topic. OR
2. Comment on something in this lesson. OR
3. If you’ve been writing for the challenge for a while, please let us know what you do to make sure you’re on topic. | <urn:uuid:b612c533-d523-4251-8cd5-7c0b3fbb4348> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.faithwriters.com/Boards/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=424325 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960708 | 1,339 | 2.375 | 2 |
Cosmetic Dentistry: A single case (simulated two ways) so to compare treatment outcome with porcelain veneers vs braces.
Patients seeking an improvement with their smile are often attracted to the possibility of placing a set of porcelain veneers, as opposed to having orthodontic treatment (braces). Here's a digital smile makeover that we've simulated two different ways, treatment with veneers and braces. With each approach, we discuss some of its relative advantages and disadvantages.
Digital smile makeover #1: How this case might turn out if veneers are placed.
Dental history and concerns:
1) The request from this person was simply one where they wanted to see what they would look like with "straight" teeth.
It seemed to us that this task could be accomplished by either placing a set of porcelain veneers or else by realigning her teeth using orthodontic treatment (braces). Instead of simulating just one approach or the other, we decided to create an "after" picture for both.
2) From the limited information available to us by viewing the 'before' picture, we developed the following impression.
- Overall, this seems to be a healthy mouth. (The gum tissue looks good. We don't see any obvious dental problems or missing teeth.)
- There is a generalized tooth misalignment, both top and bottom.
- To a very minor extent, the outline shape of some of the teeth (mostly their biting edges) might be improved upon.
- Lightening the teeth a little might make a nice improvement.
Cosmetic dentistry solutions: An approach involving porcelain veneers.
1) We'll let our "after" picture above speak for itself. What we've tried to illustrate is that yes, porcelain veneers can be used as a way to change the apparent alignment of teeth.
The way this is done is as follows. When veneers are made, protruding aspects of offending teeth can be trimmed back modestly. And the thickness of veneers placed on recessed teeth can be made relatively thicker. In combination, these two changes can create the illusion of straighter teeth, without the need for orthodontic treatment.
2) Disadvantages. - Just because it can be done, doesn't mean that placing veneers is our favorite solution for this case. We prefer the idea of realigning the teeth with braces. Here are some of the reasons why.
A) It can be difficult to get a "perfect" result with veneers.
Look at the alignment of the lateral incisors in our "after" picture. In the "before" picture, these teeth stick out somewhat. And in our "after" picture they still do a little bit.
That's because we've tried to simulate that there are limitations regarding how much tooth structure can be trimmed away when veneers are placed. And with some cases, that makes it difficult to create the "perfect" alignment.
The veneers for adjacent teeth could be made thicker, so to even things out. But relatively bulky veneers can be awkward for the patient, and possibly detrimental to the long-term health of their gums.
B) It can be expensive to get a "perfect" result with veneers. (In more than one way.)
Now, take a look at the "after" picture again and take note of the "V"-shaped spaces on the lower arch. (They're off to each side of the four center teeth. You may need to compare this makeover with the one below to understand what we're referring to.)
Sure, restorations could be placed that could fill in these spaces. But the question always remains, how many teeth will need to be treated to effectively mimic the overall regularity and evenness of teeth that have been realigned using braces? In reality, it may turn out to be a fairly large number.
If a large number of teeth are treated, it means increased costs, both initially and due to maintenance (both planned and unexpected) that's required over the years. (Yes, you have to expect that your veneers will need to be replaced at some point during your lifetime, possibly more than once. No "permanent" dental restorations really ever end up lasting forever. Especially when their cosmetic appearance is a major concern.)
2) Advantages. - As an advantage, the veneering approach is the "instant gratification" and "least effort" method. Orthodontic treatment can take 1 to 2 years and is a bit of a lifestyle inconvenience.
In terms of limiting the number of veneers needed (and minimizing treatment costs), a person may decide that the relatively lesser appearance achieved by treating fewer teeth is perfectly satisfactory to them.
Digital dental makeover #2: Realigning the teeth with braces.
Without question, it seems to us that this case really shouldn't be considered to be a 'cosmetic dentistry' case at all but instead an 'orthodontic' one.
Solutions: An orthodontic approach.
1) If an orthodontic approach is chosen, the treatment plan would simply be one of realigning the teeth using some type of dental braces.
2) Disadvantages. - For most people, the biggest drawback of this approach would probably be how long the treatment will take and the fact that they feel that wearing braces looks goofy and is too much of a lifestyle inconvenience.
In regard to treatment time, yes, the orthodontic work required here would probably take a year or so, possibly two. As far as the inconvenience factor goes, it might be possible to treat this case using removable braces (Invisalign ®).
2) Advantages. - The clear advantage of using an orthodontic approach is one of long-term maintenance. After treatment, the only maintenance required would be one of wearing a retainer (possibly as infrequently as just several nights per month). That's a pretty small price to pay compared to a lifetime of planned and unexpected repair and replacement sets of porcelain veneers.
3) Teeth-whitening treatments are an option. - If they so desired, it seems likely that the color of this person's teeth could be lightened using teeth-whitening treatments, either at-home or in their dentist's office.
This treatment will tend to relapse over time, but touch-up maintenance should still be much easier and less costly than replacing a set of veneers. | <urn:uuid:b04f1116-88a0-4f68-b482-1cec2532e397> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.animated-teeth.com/cosmetic_dentistry/t42-cosmetic-dentistry.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948112 | 1,374 | 1.90625 | 2 |
All Things Considered
Thu July 12, 2012
The Tall Ship Privateers Who Shaped the War of 1812
Today is the first day of Sail Portsmouth, a four day festival of tall ships on New Hampshire’s Seacoast.
One of the featured ships in this year’s festival is called The Pride of Baltimore II. It’s a recreation of a topsail schooner that served as a privateer in the War of 1812 - ships that shaped the course of the war between the United States and Britain two hundred years ago.
"Short, easy, infallible"
The term privateer sounds odd today; one might ask why wouldn’t the country use naval ships? But in the early 19th century America was led by the Revolutionary War generation, who were very opposed to having a large standing military. They worried troops could become the personal army of whichever person or faction was in power.
The problem was this: in 1812 President James Madison convinced Congress to declare war against the British – and when you’re at war, you kind of need an army and a navy.
“When we declare war on England in 1812, they have 1,048 ships in the British Navy, and we have 17," J. Dennis Robinson says. He's an author and historian at SeacoastNH.com – he wrote about the Lynx, a tall ship similar to the Pride of Baltimore, in his book America’s Privateer: Lynx and the War of 1812. He says privateer ships were the naval version of militias – private citizens called into service during a national emergency.
“If you remember John Adams," Robinson says, "He says privateering, that’s the answer. He calls it a short, easy, infallible method of humbling the British.”
Privateers, not pirates
It might sound a little audacious to think that private lobster boats and merchant ships could take down the largest naval power in the world. Fortunately the British stayed focused on European turmoil and didn’t put their full might into the war, and the few American ships that were equipped for battle did well, most famously the USS Constitution, christened “Old Ironsides” after a British vessel fired on the Constitution and the cannonballs bounced off its hull.
The privateers, then, were used to essentially hijack British supply ships. Technically these weren’t pirate ships because they had official government backing, but the idea was pretty much the same – the privateers raided British ships before they could resupply their troops, and they took away the booty.
J. Dennis Robinson says a number of New Hampshire families made their fortunes in part from privateering work. But he says many others were concerned privateers would ended up hurting the economy. “New Englanders had already been beaten into the ground by embargos," Robinson explains. "We couldn’t take our ships anywhere, our sailors were being captured by the British and we did not want to into a war in which shipping would be just shut down. So New Hampshire was actually very much against the war.
"And as evidence of that, Daniel Webster, who at that time was living in Portsmouth, made a speech in Brentwood, New Hampshire, in which he suggested that we, New England, secede from the United States.”
Webster’s speech was so well-received that he wound up winning a seat in Congress for the first time, the start of a hugely successful political career that’s now best remembered for a speech in 1850 where he urged Southerners not to secede from the United States.
But that's a story for another bicentennial.
The "perilous fight"
The privateers, meanwhile, were proving largely successful, too. “Privateering ships were annoying the heck out of the British," J. Dennis Robinson explains. "Think of it as kind of an army or navy of mosquitoes" - mosquitoes that left 1700 British merchant ships sank, disabled or otherwise looted. And by 1814, Britain’s forces decided to swat back by attacking Maryland, where many of the privateer ships were built or based. Ground troops stormed Washington DC; they burned the White House and the US Capitol while President Madison and his government fled to Virginia. British ships sailed to Baltimore; they bombarded Fort McHenry for 25 hours in what local poet Francis Scott Key called “a perilous fight" in his poem (and now national anthem) "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Unable to take Baltimore or keep its star-spangled banner from waving, the British left the Chesapeake and headed to New Orleans, where they were roundly defeated by American general Andrew Jackson just as the two countries decided to call an end to the war.
Lost and found
And with the end of hostilities, the privateers went back to private work, just as they were intended to do. Shortly after the war the Pride of Baltimore, officially known as the Chasseur, sailed to China and brought back tea and other goods to the US. It was eventually sold to the Spanish Royal Navy and renamed the Cazador.
Over the last two hundred years these ships – much like the War of 1812 as a whole – were largely forgotten. But history buffs and boat enthusiasts remembered – and so today, a number of nonprofit groups operate built replica ships, like the Pride of Baltimore II, which sail from town to town and tell the story of the privateers of the War of 1812.
J. Dennis Robinson sailed on the replica of the Lynx schooner as he was writing his book – he even got to take part in a mock sea battle – and he says seeing the ships up close gave him a new appreciation for the privateers.
“Here are these two ships swooping in on each other and firing their guns – blanks, luckily," Robinson says. "You really get the sense of what an incredible mastery of sail it would take to run these ships in that time period. Lots of men, super speed, and tons and tons of sails… they wrote back then that it looked like the schooners were going to lift up into the sky and float away – they were like clouds.”
This year’s Sail Portsmouth festival continues through Sunday. | <urn:uuid:3b66fa80-5c67-430b-94f8-8a4d5f27e1a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nhpr.org/post/tall-ship-privateers-who-shaped-war-1812 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981853 | 1,320 | 3.265625 | 3 |
A logo is not a brand
Yesterday I was walking downtown when I got struck with a familiar smell. The smell was the one of freshly baked bread mixed with Italian herbs and cheese. I didn’t have to see the store sign to know that I was near a Subway franchise.Subway gets their branding right. They know that we have five senses and that engaging all of them will make us go crazy for the product they sell.
They know that smelling that bread and Italian herbs will engage our saliva glands and that our brain will make our stomachs growl and our stomach will tell our legs to take us to the store. In marketing this is called salience. Subway’s message is very salient, literally.
The folks from Subway also know that for a campaign to be successful there has to be good repetition. Salience x Repetition = Good Campaign. Subway gets this right as well. In every single Subway location they have a bread oven. A company like Subway could certainly get a supplier to provide already baked bread to each store and it would probably be cheaper than making small batches of bread at a time. Their competitors do it, but not Subway. Subway is different. Subway has figured out how to differentiate themselves with something that is very attractive to their customers.
What can you do in your business to stand out, be recognized and loved? If you can figure that out and do it consistently, you’ve got your brand. | <urn:uuid:027bd231-f958-4cfb-9b7c-cbd52150c410> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lookmatters.com/blog/a-logo-is-not-a-brand | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980186 | 296 | 1.5625 | 2 |
There was quite a delegation at the Grand Central Station to meet them. Mr. Jennings was there in person, and he explained that Mr. Van Bunting was waiting anxiously at the office to see him. Then there were reporters from the various other city papers, who wanted interviews, but Archie was told to say whatever he had to say in the columns of the Enterprise, so he had to deny the reporters for the first time. Bill Hickson was introduced at once, and became the lion of the hour. Every one had read of him, and was glad to shake his hand, and poor Bill was quite bewildered by so much attention. They didn’t linger long at the station, however, but hurried down to the Enterprise office, where Mr. Van Bunting was awaiting them. He grasped Archie’s hand in his as they entered, and cried, “Well done, my boy, well done.” And Archie felt as if he had grown three feet that instant.
Work upon the evening paper—
interviews with famous
men— calls upon old friends.
There was so much to tell Mr. Jennings and Mr. Van Bunting, that Archie didn’t get away from the Enterprise office until seven o’clock in the evening. And what a lot they did say to each other during the afternoon! Archie told of all his experiences, and found them all anxious to hear about them. He learned, to his joy, that everything he had sent had been printed, and that the articles had made a great hit with the public. “We would have liked to keep you there longer, but we knew you must be worn out, and then we want you to stay right here, now, and see if you cannot get us some good interviews and articles of various kinds for the Evening Enterprise. The paper has been losing ground somewhat, of late, and we need some new life for its pages. Of course the morning paper profited greatly by your articles, but the evening edition seemed very weak in comparison, and we think it only fair to Mr. Jennings to let him have you on his staff for awhile now. So if you are willing, you can start in to-morrow as a member of the staff. We will see that you are well paid for what you write, or we will put you on salary, whichever you like. You can think it over, and in the morning you can tell us which plan you like best.”
Archie wanted to ask for a few days’ absence to return home, but he felt, somehow, that he ought not to ask it just now. So he contented himself with writing a long letter to his mother, in which he enclosed a very large check, money which he had not used on his return to New York. He told her that he would be home just as soon as he could get off for any length of time, and he knew that she would now be looking forward to the visit every day. She had written him about the enthusiasm displayed by every one over his achievements, and how proud she was of what he had accomplished. “I | <urn:uuid:849c3bab-e818-41d5-b2cc-8660d39fd6f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/4990/75.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994817 | 643 | 1.640625 | 2 |
This is an excellent biography of Robert Oppenheimer (Oppie), the physicist who successfully created the first atomic bomb in the United States. The author is a fellow physicist and a close friend of Oppenheimer, writes his observations about a man who is as complex as any human being can be. In 1920's, the author recalls several incidents' of violence and troubled nature of Oppie partly due to his inept performance in the laboratory and his unsatisfactory sexual adventures or his overall insecurities in life. In one instance, the author states that he seemed agitated because he gave a poisoned apple to one of his friend. Oppenheimer had a dysfunctional family; his wife Kitty was a confirmed alcoholic who was vicious to anyone she did not like. The troubled relationship between two parents had significant negative impact on their two children. Peter did not get along with his mother and left home in his late teens and their daughter Toni committed suicide.
While in Berkeley in 1936, his girlfriend Jean Tatlock of Stanford introduced him to communist party and her left-wing friends in San Francisco which led the way for great deal of trouble during McCarthy era. In 1949, Oppenheimer appeared before the house committee on un-American activities (HUAC) and answered some tough questions about his brother and left-wing friends. The Security Board's hearing in 1954 on Oppenheimer's security clearance was traumatic when they revoked his clearance. This was a sad time in his life, since he emerged from the war as an American hero, and the War department called him "a man of boundless energy, rare common sense, and possessing tremendous organizational abilities." The year 1949 was not good for Oppie, since in the same year Soviets had successfully tested an atomic bomb. The quickness with which the Soviets had produced the bomb had many people to believe that American physicists may have given secretive information to Soviets. Klaus Fuchs was the first suspect who was convicted for his crime. Harry Gold in Philadelphia, David Greenglass in New York, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's were also convicted of passing on the nuclear secrets to Soviets. A security officer falsely accused Oppenheimer was responsible for passing on secrets to Soviets. This did not sit well with McCarthy and Hoover who disliked him strongly.
Oppenheimer delivered brilliant summaries as a keynote speaker. He explained complex physical problems, turned unforgettable phrases, attracted reporters, and idolaters. He was half-legendry; he was loathed and feared for the brutal way he treated people. He was highly respected and cordially disliked. Oppenheimer was also notorious in getting math wrong although his physics was always sound. Oppenheimer implicitly predicted the existence of positions just about the time Dirac explicitly stated that. His contributions included; Born-Oppenheimer approximation, Oppenheimer-Phillips effect and physics of black holes. During his tenure as the director of prestigious Institute of advanced Study at Princeton, he showed leadership for the advancement of physics by assembling the right people just like he did at Los Alamos laboratory. He concentrated mainly on young physicists. He hired Freeman Dyson and C. N. Yang. Other notable visitors were Hideki Yukawa, Sin-itiro Tomaya, David Bohm, John van Neumann, and Oswald Veblen.
Oppenheimer was more interested in Hindu philosophy since early 1920s and spent more time studying Vedanta and Vedic literature than his study of stellar structures at Pauli's Institute at Zurich. In his letters to his brother Frank, he expresses his interest in studying Sanskrit and Hindu philosophy. In some respects Oppenheimer was over educated in those fields which lie outside physics, especially religion and Hinduism in particular. Oppenheimer himself translated the following hymn from Vedic literature just two days before the first testing of atomic bomb at Trinity site near Alamogordo in New Mexico.
"In battle, in the forest, at the precipice in the mountains
On the dark great sea, in the midst of javelins and arrows,
In sleep, in confusion, in the depths of shame,
The good deeds a man has done before will defend him."
Shortly after the successful testing of the first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer saw the fireball glowing and two hymns from Bhagavadgita came to his mind. One is from Gita 11.12
"A thousand simultaneous suns
Arising in the sky
Mighty equal that great
With that great radiance glory vie"
The second, the most quoted is when Krishna speaks to Arjuna (Gita 11.32)
Death (time) am I, the great destroyer
Of the world
This hymn is variously stated in the literature on nuclear weapons. One form "I am become death, the shatterer of the worlds" is most common. William Laurence, a New York Times reporter who interviewed Oppenheimer was the first one to hear this quote, and latter quoted by Robert Junk in his 1958 book. According to Vedanta, death is an illusion, even though the body perishes but the soul is eternal. It appears that Oppenheimer was more focused on the duty to act and not the results of the action, which is another important message of Gita. You can hear the video recording of Oppenheimer reciting this verse on YouTube.
1. James Hijiya, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Volume 144 (2), P.123 (2000)
2. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
3. Oppenheimer's Choice: Reflections from Moral Philosophy (S U N Y Series in Philosophy) | <urn:uuid:f3134673-f8e8-4291-bc3c-471cb0746e41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.de/J-Robert-Oppenheimer-Life-ebook/dp/B0058C6QBC | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977309 | 1,163 | 2.625 | 3 |
Funding: Crowdfunding through Kickstarter.com
Amount raised: $17,922
Date launched: August 2009
Sam Putnam and his partners started raising cash just three weeks after coming up with the idea for MakerBeam, an Erector set-like building system that can be used to build robots and other precise machines. They didn't approach investors or banks: Traditional funding would have been complicated because MakerBeam planned to give away the intellectual property for all of its designs.
Instead, the founders turned to Kickstarter, which connects creative projects with an audience willing to pledge money to the ideas. Creators offer donors prizes and incentives, and give Kickstarter 5% of the money raised if the projects are successfully funded.
MakerBeam's promised perks ranged from behind-the-scenes access to the project's development for $1 backers to beams, connectors and institutional sponsorship credit in return for pledges of $1,024 or more.
Pledges came from individuals, businesses and even a few universities. By October they totaled almost $18,000 -- way beyond the company's $10,000 goal. "Good rewards and a good idea are probably the main things we think played into the enthusiasm and success," Putnam says.
MakerBeam is now delivering beams and connectors from its beta production run and is thinking about its next round of funding. The company, still comprising a team of three, is considering going back to Kickstarter for that, Putnam says.
NEXT: Boutique Larrieux | <urn:uuid:a5dc4b12-39ed-4760-9e94-9ad1a36cf723> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/smallbusiness/1003/gallery.startup_cash_now/2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959983 | 310 | 1.742188 | 2 |
.app This namespace will serve as a dedicated and globally identifiable domain for all Web & Mobile applications' websites. A .app domain name will give application developers a greater choice and a larger pool of names to choose from and will give them the creative flexibility to do a lot more with their applications. .chat This extension will provide the e-commerce industry with a designated and differentiated internet destination where customer queries & interactions can be handled in real time in order to improve customer experience. While many ecommerce sites today have a customer service section, they do not have a designated URL that customers can directly go to when they have questions that they need answered. A user has to drill down through the various sections on the website or click through some links before being able to talk to and interact with a representative. With a .chat TLD, businesses will be able to setup their live support and customer service at 'businessname.chat' and customers will know exactly where to go when they want to chat with someone from that particular business. .city This extension will facilitate web services creating a virtual world around a defined name space that represents a real world – your city. The .city extension is intended to provide the registrant an immediately recognized domain name that tells end-users that the registrant's products, services or information, can be found in or associated with a particular city. It is a TLD string with empirical meaning that will give registrants the opportunity for geographic identification through their registrations. Each registrant will be responsible for developing their unique value proposition based upon their products, services or information in the market defined by their .city registration. .deals The .deals gTLD will give e-commerce businesses across the globe a unique web destination to house offers, deals and coupons that they’d like to showcase to their potential customers. The last few years have seen many online deal sites such as Groupon, LivingSocial etc. gain popularity, with consumer spending on deal-a-day offers expected to reach $3.9 billion by 2015. While these sites do a great job of aggregating coupons and deals across brands, as can be imagined, they have limited shelf-space and can only highlight a certain number of deals. Being dependent on these aggregator sites to showcase their offers, means businesses have to deal with high revenue shares, limited avenues and a constant fight to get the prime spot to attract enough eye-balls. If users wanted to know about the deals on offer by a particular brand, imagine how easy it would be for them to directly go to 'Brandname.Deals' and get all the information that they wanted, without needing to go through several sites or drill down through various links and sub-pages of a site before getting the best deal. .press Most businesses and organizations usually have a press section on their website that takes a back-seat to actual business details. With this extensions, companies will be able to bring forth their Press activities by pointing all of these under the url 'brandname.press'. This will make it easier for future clients and vendors/suppliers to review highlights and achievements of the company. | <urn:uuid:cf73fa0e-40d9-4814-9a92-33b45e1b49bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://radixregistry.com/tlds/business-auxiliary.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954867 | 633 | 1.625 | 2 |
It could have been bigger. Much, much bigger.
Back in late 2008, soon-to-be Obama White House economic adviser Christina Romer prepared a policy memo—the contents a mystery until now—about how the new administration should deal with the collapsing economy. Romer thought to really do the job, the stimulus—later called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—should have been $1.8 trillion (highlighting for emphasis):
This memo was dug up by Noam Scheiber of The New Republic magazine. Now, Obama never saw that $1.8 trillion number since Larry Summers, who was leading the econ team, thought it was politically impossible:
When Romer showed Summers her $1.7-to-$1.8 trillion figure late the week before the memo was due, he dismissed it as impractical. So Romer spent the next day or two coming up with a reasonable compromise: $1.2 trillion. In a revised document that she sent Summers over the weekend, she included the $1.2 trillion figure, along with two more limited options: about $600 billion and about $850 billion. … But with less than twenty-four hours before the memo needed to be in Obama’s hands, Summers informed her that he was inclined to strike the $1.2 trillion figure. Though Summers, like Romer, believed more stimulus was almost unambiguously better, he also felt that a $1.2 trillion proposal, to say nothing of $1.8 trillion, would be dead on arrival in Congress. Moreover, since Obama’s political operatives were convinced that any stimulus approaching a trillion dollars was hopeless, Summers worried that urging more than this amount would stamp him and Romer as oblivious in their eyes. “$1.2 trillion is nonplanetary,” he told Romer, invoking a Summers-ism for “ludicrous.” “People will think we don’t get it.”
When the economic team finally walked through the contents of the memo with the president-elect on December 16, Romer mentioned her preference for over a trillion dollars. Summers allowed that bigger would be better. But these points were made in passing. “I don’t remember that as part of the discussion,” conceded one member of the economic team in attendance. The final version of the memo had framed the debate around two basic choices—roughly $600 billion and roughly $850 billion—and these were the focus of the conversation. “The option of going well above $800 billion was certainly raised, but it was not discussed extensively,” Romer later recalled in an interview. “We felt the most important thing was to make sure the president-elect was on board with a plan as large as $800 billion.” Neither the memo nor the meeting would have given Obama reason to suspect this amount was arguably $1 trillion too small.
Good heavens. I recently wrote a post about Michael Grabell, a reporter for ProPublica. He documents the many failings of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in “Money Well Spent? The Truth Behind the Trillion-Dollar Stimulus, the Biggest Economic Recovery Plan in History.”
In reporting on the stimulus over three years, I traveled to 15 states, interviewed hundreds of people and read through tens of thousands of government documents and project reports. What I found is that the stimulus failed to live up to its promise not because it was too small (as those on the left argue) or because Keynesian economics is obsolete (as those on the right argue), but because it was poorly designed. Even advocates for a bigger stimulus need to acknowledge that their argument is really one about design and presentation.
In short, Big Government screwed up the Big Spend. Joe Biden, Grabell notes, said the stimulus would “literally drop kick us out of the recession.” But Grabell concludes that “the stimulus ultimately failed to do what America expected it to do — bring about a strong, sustainable recovery. The drop kick was shanked.”
And Team Obama wanted it to be $1 trillion bigger? | <urn:uuid:43b4bf92-071d-476b-a70c-a5cf44f96c3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/02/secret-obama-memo-wanted-the-800-billion-stimulus-to-be-gasp-1-8-trillion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97696 | 859 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Here's the recent geonews in batch mode.
On the open source front:
In the miscellaneous category:
In the maps category:
A lot of geoblogs mentioned the release of Quantum GiS 1.8.0. QGIS is one of the most mature and widely used open source desktop GIS software, with tons of useful community-contributed plugins. Version 1.8.0 is clearly a major update of this already excellent GIS software.
The list of new features is quite long, here's a few of them:
Head to the release notes (link above) to learn more and see screenshots.
Via the OSGeo Discuss list I learned about OpenPerception.org, an independent non-profit foundation, focused on advancing the development and adoption of open source software for 2D and 3D processing of sensory data. Currently the main output of the foundation is the open source Point Cloud Library.
On the Point Cloud Library: "The Point Cloud Library (PCL) is a standalone, large scale, open project for 3D point cloud processing. The PCL framework contains numerous state-of-the art algorithms including filtering, feature estimation, surface reconstruction, registration, model fitting and segmentation, as well as higher level tools for performing mapping and object recognition."
On Open Perception itself: "We are an independent organization created with the purpose of supporting the development, distribution, and adoption of open source software for 2D/3D processing of sensory data, with applications in research, education, and product development."
It's been over two years since we mentioned the open source GeoMOOSE project, which just announced the release of version 2.6.
From the Why GeoMOOSE page: "GeoMOOSE excels at creating a useful web-based GIS environment for those who need something that works from the first download. The GeoMOOSE demo contains a fully operating web-based parcel application. It can render, investigate, and even edit layers without the need to write a single line of code. [...]
Beyond rendering, gaining information on a dataset is an important every day use of a Web GIS. GeoMOOSE includes all of the basic tools for traditional selection, identification, and searching on a dataset. However, GeoMOOSE’s functionality is not limited by those services. To power that functionality we have developed a power service-based architecture that users can use to create their own custom scripts in any language.
As of the 2.6 version, GeoMOOSE includes new powerful vector capabilities. While not seen in the default demo, GeoMOOSE can work with a WFS-T server to create, edit, and delete features in a dataset. The styling is defined in the GeoMOOSE mapbook and the layers can even be printed to a PDF!"
Direction Mag offers an update on Oracle and spatial.
From the article: "I met with Steiner later in the day and challenged him to share with me three ideas he wanted our readers to know about Oracle in 2012. Here’s his list:
We mentioned Oracle Spatial tons of times before.
Here's the recent open source-related geonews in batch mode.
In software updates:
In other news:
There is a new project on Github that has made a 3D view for OpenLayers! It integrates AGI's new open source WebGL globe (Cesium) and uses the OpenLayers drawing & navigation tools to interact with the globe. Support for WMS layers and feature importing are next on the to-do list.
A live demo can be found here:
The source code is available here.
Still in my geonews catching up process, here's the open source-related geonews not shared yet.
At last week's 3D GeoInfo conference, I learned about the open source Glob3 3D GIS and Glob3 Mobile 3D virtual globe.
There isn't much on the sourceforge website: "glob3 is an open source 3D GIS multiplatform framework written in java with a very non restrictive license and advanced features."
The apps for iOS and Android are free.
I was at the 3D GeoInfo 2012 conference last week and I learned about the DB4GeO / DB3D open source geospatial database, which is a Java object-oriented database focusing on 3D data. It supports CityGML, has a RESTful API and has its own WebGL visualization tool.
Since I failed to find much about it on the web other than the GitHub page (it seems the code wasn't synchronized for a while), let me serve you the abstract [pdf] of last week's presentation: "The analysis of complex 3D data is a central task for many problems in the geo- and engineering sciences. Examples are the analysis of natural events such as mass movements and volcano eruptions as well as 3D city planning and the computation of 3D models from point cloud data generated by terrestrial laser scanning for 3D data analysis in various domains. The volume of these data is growing from year to year. However, there is no geo-database management system on the market yet that efficiently supports complex 3D mass data, although prototypical 3D geo-database management systems are ready to support such challenging 3D applications. In this contribution we describe how we reply to these requirements advancing DB4GeO, our 3D/4D geo-database architecture. The system architecture and support for geometric, topological and temporal data are presented in detail. Besides the new spatio-temporal object model, we introduce new ideas and implementations of DB4GeO such as the support of GML data and the new WebGL 3D interface. The latter enables the direct visualization of 3D database query results by a standard web browser without installing additional software. Examples for 3D database queries and their visualizations with the new WebGL interface are demonstrated. Finally, we give an outlook on our future work. Further extensions of DB4GeO and the support for the data management for collaborative subway track planning are discussed."
I'd like to see the differences between PostGIS vs DB4GeO features in regards to 3D geodata. Is DB4GeO more and a playground for researchers? | <urn:uuid:22df95f5-46b5-42f1-a973-81c30d1b9fc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slashgeo.org/category/Tags/software?page=8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915702 | 1,299 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Symposium # 9: The Water Limitation: Issues in Plant, Community, and Ecosystem Water Use.
Water is a limiting resource in most ecological systems. The symposium will present an up-to-date overview of the fast changing field of ecological plant water relations, integrating individual plant, community and ecosystem level approaches. At the individual plant level, there have been recent highly publicized challenges to the theory of how water moves through plants (cohesion theory) and the mechanisms of how plants recover from impairment of the water transport capacity (xylem refilling). Two of the speakers will critique these challenges, pointing out that the cohesion theory still stands, but that we need more research into the mechanisms of xylem refilling under conditions where plants are transpiring. Also at the individual plant level, two speakers will present the latest interpretations of stomatal responses to hydraulic vs. chemical signals from roots. Understanding the mechanism of stomatal responses to soil and atmospheric drought increase our ability to predict and manage plant water use. The remaining speakers will address the impact of individual plant water use on community and ecosystem level responses. Hydraulic lift is an apparently widespread phenomenon that redistributes water from one soil region to another via plant roots, and it has major implications for competition and total water use of plant communities. Hydraulic constraints on stomatal conductance may play a central role in the decline of productivity with forest age. Ecosystem level studies of water use indicate the extent to which controls on whole plant water use scale up to regional patterns and also reveal new controls operating at higher levels. Overall, the symposium will provide a summary of current debates and advances in the field of ecological plant water relations for ecologists with interests ranging from physiology to ecosystem biology. | <urn:uuid:93628b08-624e-4f4d-9928-8a58f9cb3a65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abstracts.co.allenpress.com/pweb/esa2000/sessions/123.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910455 | 353 | 2.34375 | 2 |