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The International Workshop on Smalltalk Technologies, is a European Smalltalk User Group (ESUG) Conference joint event, that focuses on research activities - namely academic creative work undertaken on smalltalk use, and more generally on object technologies.
IWST was launched in 2009, in Brest, during the 17th ESUG Conference. The second edition took place in Barcelona, and the third edition was held in 2011 at the heart of historic Edinburgh. Next edition will be in Gent, Begium this summer (28th of august).
ESUG gathers groups of professionals and hobbyists who share an interest in the Smalltalk programming languages and related technologies. The goal of the workshop is to create a forum around advances or experience in Smalltalk. IWST contributes to triggering discussions and exchanges of ideas.
As always, we make a point to have a very constructive paper review process that aims to provide in-depth comments and suggestions to all of them (no one-liners!) This makes it ideal to disseminate new research directions, and is a good venue for early stage PhD students to receive feedback on their work. In addition, we intent to invite best papers to a journal special issue as we did last year.
Looking forward to your submissions, and to meeting you in Gent!
Loïc Lagadec & Alain Plantec Co-chairs of IWST
August 28th, 2012 Gent, Belgium.
ESUG 2012 Smalltalk joint event
Goals and scopes
The goals of the workshop is to create a forum around advances or experience in Smalltalk and to trigger discussions and exchanges of ideas. Participants are invited to submit research articles. We will not enforce any length restriction. However we expect papers of two kinds:
We welcome contributions on all aspects, theoretical as well as practical, of Smalltalk related topics such as:
Both submissions and final papers must be prepared using the ACM SIGPLAN 10 point format. Templates for Word and LaTeX are available at http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigplan/authorInformation.htm. This site also contains links to useful informations on how to write effective submissions.
Loïc Lagadec and Alain Plantec (LabSticc CACS/CNRS, University of Brest, France) | <urn:uuid:08342b1b-e841-4dd5-8abb-bb55b0b2a0a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.esug.org/wiki/pier/About/ESUGblog/2012-05-21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923297 | 473 | 1.632813 | 2 |
“I grew up singing. It was natural and easy,” said Oral Moses who, after serving in the military, attended Fisk University where he majored in voice.
Following his undergraduate work, the South Carolina native received masters and doctorate degrees from University of Michigan.
“In music, I studied the great European composers. I never really studied composers of color,” said Moses whose operatic achievements include major roles in “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Regina,” “la Boheme,” “Albert Herring,” “Tremonisha,” “Rigoletto,” and “The Magic Flute.”
While at the University of Michigan, Moses studied voice under bass Willis Patterson who assembled a book of classical songs by black composers. At the same time Patterson formed a group of singers including Moses to showcase these musicians.
“(Patterson) started my interest in African-American composers. I found out there was a whole large body of music I knew nothing about,” said Moses, who has performed with symphonies across the U.S.
He has also studied and toured throughout Europe.
“I fell in love with the poetry, the music (by African-American composers). That led me back to discover the Negro spiritual. I had sung spirituals but not really put any emphasis on them. I loved this music. I loved singing and performing it. And there’s an audience for it,” the Smyrna resident said.
Spirituals are important because of their heritage.
“(The Negro Spiritual) is the voice of my people during an era of enslavement. They show what was the condition of their lives as they faced the struggle while fighting for freedom,” he said.
“I love this kind of music. I love the melodies. I love the rhythms of (the Negro spirituals),” said Moses, 1986 recipient of a National Endowment for Humanities Grant who co-authored a book, “Feel The Spirit-Studies in Nineteenth Century Afro-American Music” published by Greenwood Press.
He is a contributing author in the third edition of, “Notable Black American Women,” and the second edition of “Notable Black American Men,” published by Gale Press.
“More so than anything else I love the texts (of the Negro spirituals) which gives me the history. It gives me a sociological understanding about what life was like. It gives a broad spectrum of the lives of Africans in this country in the early days of enslavement,” said Moses, 66.
Spirituals also provide understanding. “(The Negro spiritual) speaks to lives and times to what African Americans were feeling and what they were expressing in terms of their lives,” Moses said.
Moses moved to Cobb County in 1984 after graduate school to take a teaching position with KSU.
He developed his own course at KSU on black composers after studying (at Harvard one summer with foremost scholar at the time Eileen Southern) music of 19th-century blacks such as Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins Bethune of Georgia.
“I love to engage the minds of young folk,” he said.
“I’ll always be teaching. … I don’t ever want to go to a place and just sit down. Retirement just opens the door to take wings and fly in different directions,” Moses said.
To learn more visit www.oralmoses.com. | <urn:uuid:9ba1857a-5093-43b5-bd2e-5045adb21b3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mdjonline.com/pages/full_story/push?article-A+spirit+for+music-+Bass-baritone+Oral+Moses+sings+the+praises+of+black+spirituals-+composers%20&id=21559411&instance=secondary_story_left_column | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972953 | 764 | 2.015625 | 2 |
In 1915, the Eighth Regiment Armory was the first armory building to be erected for a regiment commanded entirely by African Americans. The three-story brick building, designed by Illinois state architect James B. Dibelka, included a clear-span drill hall, meeting rooms, dining facilities and reception parlors. The detailing of the brown pressed brick and Bedford limestone facade give an appearance of strength and monumentality.
Organized as a volunteer regiment drawn from the black community during the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Fighting Eighth was established as an infantry section of the Illinois National Guard. The Eighth Regiment was especially noted for its service record during World War I. The Fighting Eighth gained special note as the last regiment to drive German forces from the Aisne-Marne region before the Armistice on November 11, 1918.
The Fighting Eighth and its successors eventually incorporated into several specialized military divisions and built new armory headquarters in 1931. The original Eighth Regiment Armory underwent a $18.5 million renovation by the Public Building Commission of Chicago after standing vacant since the 1950s. In 1999 the Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville opened its doors as the nation's first public college-prep military school.
The Eighth Regiment Armory is located at 3533 S. Giles St. Click here to view historic photos of the Armory. It is now the Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville, and is not open to the public.
Chicago's Black Metropolis, which the Eighth Regiment Armory is part of, is the subject of an online-lesson plan produced by Teaching with Historic Places, a National Register program that offers classroom-ready lesson plans on properties listed in the National Register. To learn more, visit the Teaching with Historic Places home page.
Previous Site | Next Site | Back to the Map | List of Sites | Chicago Itinerary Home | <urn:uuid:d55bac4a-f9aa-4fe9-940c-41eadff1a83d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/chicago/c18.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959612 | 377 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Robert: The majority of the furniture is made out of iron and it’s all fabricated steel. We’re really known for steel structures because we bring a sculptural finesse to the manufacturing process. And we use sculptural techniques in the finishing process that aren’t readily available to normal steel fabricators.
Alice: We also do fine woodworking. We have beautiful walnut tops.
Robert: We try to stick with traditional indigenous woods. We’ve been using black walnut almost exclusively for the past couple of years. We’ll do it in either a natural or ebonized finish – desk, dining tables and credenzas. It’s a nice juxtaposition with a steel structure that’s very modern with a traditional walnut element.
Alice: We’ve done work with different stones – slate, marble and sandstone. We have upholstered pieces and work in leather and velvet as well. When you have one of our pieces in your home, it adds so much more because it makes a statement. It’s a piece of fine art, but it’s functional, durable and strong.
bndd: What is your background?
Robert: Alice and I both have fine arts backgrounds. Alice went to New England School of Photography and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and I went to the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. So we’re very much hands-on design and manufacturing. We do ninety-nine percent of the manufacturing in our own shop with help from people in town. We design everything ourselves and take it to market as well.
bndd: Has living in Maine influenced your design style?
Robert: A lot of times we’ll go down to the antique stores. By walking through 10,000 square feet of antiques you get all kinds of design inspirations from items that have been created from the past 200 years. So we’ll take some of those ideas and put a modern and urban twist on it.
bndd: Would you agree that most designers who do their own manufacturing have to have a system in place for custom orders?
Robert: Yes. We were doing a lot of quantity production for stores, but since the market changed – five or six years ago – most of our orders are for custom pieces. Everyone wants something designed specifically for them. We’ll use our set designs, for example a dining table and change the dimensions. It takes us about six to eight weeks. We kind of back-ended into custom [work] because we can do it and there’s a demand for it.
bndd: What do you think it is about Run Run Studio that encourages customers looking for custom furniture?
Alice: Sometimes when you see steel or metal pieces, the rivets are heavy and it has crudeness to it. Robert’s work is very refined and beautifully finished. It’s cleanly done and that appeals to a lot of our high-end customers.
bndd: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Robert: That’s an active question. Everything is in such flux with the marketplace. We continually try to bring quality products and try to get as wide an appeal. We’ve been developing a lot of artwork pieces. Instead of just doing the furniture which is the foundation of the business, we’re bringing in softer items like pillows using some of the imagery within the artwork to help soften the furniture creating more products that reflect the same aesthetic. We’re also developing furniture storage pieces including our own line of knobs and door pulls.
bndd: Being an artist – and certainly one that oversees design + manufacturing is very hard work wouldn’t you agree? What is it that drives artists?
Robert: It is very hard work. I’m very active in the shop every day. If you don’t love it, it’s very difficult to do. When I started doing sculptures over 20 years ago, it was as if something clicked and said this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I love the creative challenges in coming up with a piece and thinking of a new solution to a traditional design.
Alice: There isn’t a choice sometimes. It comes out [of artists]. They’re compelled to create and produce and it’s a part of their essence; their being. From what I’ve observed of different artist, very famous or lesser known, they seem to have a day-to-day interaction with their art and the world. It’s a constant throughout the years. It’s not a part-time thing. Robert is definitely that kind of artist.
DISCOVER: Run Run Studio, Inc. steel furniture manufacturers. | <urn:uuid:30717df9-b72e-4344-98b5-990db17b9b1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brandnewdaydesigns.com/run-run-studio-steel-furniture-manufacturers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956051 | 1,008 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Education and Kids
There are no better places that South Carolina State Parks for your kids to have fun and learn --- all at the same time. Our parks offer a wide variety of fun learning activities for kids of all ages.
Discover Carolina Program
The Discover Carolina Program transforms South Carolina State Parks and the South Carolina State House into living classrooms, providing educational opportunities that surpass the traditional learning experience. Each park in the program holds unique features that are indicative of South Carolina's natural and cultural heritage. Fusing statewide resources with state academic standards, Discover Carolina provides rare experiences in the form of fun learning activities for kids that reinforce classroom lessons. There are opportunities to discover nature at exceptionally scenic and wildlife rich state parks, and to discover history at profoundly interesting historic sites like Charles Towne Landing.
Jr. Ranger Program
The Jr. Ranger Program is an online program with activities and challenges that must be completed in a state park. Once participants complete certain activities and requirements they earn "ranger status", and then they move up in the ranks just like real park rangers do in the park service. Activities range from completing activity sheets to interviewing a ranger. Prizes and certificates are awarded for each level obtained.
Programs & Events for Kids
Many of our programs and events held in our state parks are fun learning activities for kids. Search through our program and event listings to find those that have been marked with the kid seal of approval!
The Boy Scouts of America and South Carolina State Parks have worked together and have enjoyed a very strong relationship since the early 20th century when scouts were formed and parks were developed. The new Scout Carolina Program formalizes this partnership and provides a way for the participating scouts to be recognized for their accomplishments. Follow the requirements and earn the Scout Carolina patch for your scout uniform today! | <urn:uuid:48e89fee-75d4-4b23-a4ee-d9f32b744397> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/education-kids/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949455 | 363 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Oil sands are naturally occurring mixtures of clay, sand, water and extremely viscous bitumen. Such deposits in Canada alone are thought to contain 173.7 billion barrels of oil, a source of oil second in size only to Saudi Arabia.
The extreme viscosity of oil sands, though, makes them very expensive to mine, and difficult to process when they have been dug up, although the recent dramatic increase in oil prices is making extraction commercially viable.
But Steve Larter
, co-director of the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for In Situ Energy at the University of Calgary, and colleagues think the process can be made much simpler.
They propose a way to "upgrade" oil sands while they are still in the ground, starting the refining process early, and making them flow more easily. Their method is to pump hydrogen and particles of a catalyst down into a well while simultaneously heating the oil sands.
That breaks the long chain hydrocarbons
in the bitumen into smaller molecules that flow better and are easier to pump and store.
As well as making it easier to pump, Carter and his team say that "down-hole upgrading" reduces the amount and cost of equipment and storage facilities needed on the surface.
Read the full oil sands thinner
patent application.Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant
Labels: energy, engineering, environment | <urn:uuid:68280e4b-d601-459d-b9a9-0a9d8927622f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newscientist.com/blog/invention/2008/09/oil-sands-upgrader.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956992 | 280 | 3.96875 | 4 |
Senior Living Aids and Assistive Technology Devices
Seniors have thousands of products to choose from that make home life easier. These products—that go the names assistive technology devices (ATDs), senior living aids, enabling devices, and adaptive devices—are designed to help you perform tasks and activities if you are unable to.
These tools or services help you get around, see, eat, open things, communicate, get out of bed, get off the couch, get dressed, turn your car's ignition, and many more daily activities.
The benefits these products provide could make the difference between living independently at home and assisted living.
Some Areas of Assistive Technology
Here's a list of ATDs. See if one of these fits your needs.
Maintaining Mobility. This equipment helps you get around more easily from the simplest items to the most sophisticated. These items include walking cane, walkers, raised toilet seats, automatic seat assists, power wheelchair, and stair elevators.
|More Senior Living Articles|
Senior Lifestyles: What Are All My Options
Paying For Senior Care
Home Care: The Most Affordable Option
Best Places In The US To Retire
Aging Well: How To Master The Art
CCRCs: What Is Continuum Care And Why Should I Care?
Communication. These items enable you to send and receive (hear and see) messages and include hearing aids, large button phones, extra loud phones, intercoms, personal pagers, simple cell phones (the Jitterbug), TV telecaption decoders, and other like devices.
Computer Access. Anything that makes computing easier such as easy access to the Internet, modified keyboards, computer screen magnifiers, etc.
Adaptive switches. These switches make operating electronic devices easier (e.g. voice activation). These are devices such as computers, telephones, power wheelchairs, air conditioning units.
Personal Care. Anything that makes dressing, washing, and grooming easier. These tools include bathtub transfer benches, hair dryer holder, bedrails, etc.
Home modifications. These include modifications to your home such as a wheelchair ramp.
Orthotic or prosthetic equipment. These devices compensate for a disabled or missing body part. Some are as basic as an orthopedic shoe insert and as complex as a titanium prosthetic arm with hundreds of parts.
Other Tools. Anything that makes life more independent such as shower grab bars, key levers, door knob grips, etc.
Determining Your Needs
When determining what you may need to assist you, talk to professionals (e.g. an audiologist for hearing devices), family and friends, especially those people who are familiar with your home life and potential needs.
Additionally, the Administration on Aging (AOA) recommends that seniors "plan ahead and think about how their needs might change over time." For example, can that computer you're buying be updated or expanded in the future with newer hardware. The AOA says to consider these questions before buying an assistive device or service:
- Does a more advanced device meet more than one of my needs?
- Does the manufacturer of the assistive technology have a preview policy that will let me try out a device and return it for credit if it does not work as expected?
- How are my needs likely to change over the next six months? How about over the next six years or longer?
- How up-to-date is this piece of assistive equipment? Is it likely to become obsolete in the immediate future?
- What are the tasks that I need help with, and how often do I need help with these tasks?
- What types of assistive technology are available to meet my needs?
- What, if any, types of assistive technology have I used before, and how did that equipment work?
- What type of assistive technology will give me the greatest personal independence?
- Will I always need help with this task? If so, can I adjust this device and continue to use it as my condition changes?
Paying for Assistive Technology Devices
Medicare Part B pays up to 80% of assistive technology devices or as Medicare says, "durable medical equipment".
This, according to Medicare, is "medical equipment that is ordered by a doctor (or, if Medicare allows, a nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or clinical nurse specialist) for use in the home.
A hospital or nursing home that mostly provides skilled care can't qualify as a "home" in this situation. These medical items must be reusable, such as walkers, wheelchairs, or hospital beds."
If you are a veteran, you may be eligible for assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Out-of-pocket and private health insurance are other ways to pay for ATDs. Most insurance companies, however, will not pay for expensive devices like motorized scooters.
Assistive Technology Devices are designed to make life for seniors easier. Some devices are as simple as a key lever while others like a stair elevator are far more complex and costly. Once you determine what your needs are, you should have no problem finding a product that fits your needs.
For even more tips on making your life easy, check out "Aging Well: The Choice Is Ours."
Updated: Jul 01, 2011 | <urn:uuid:721aa3a2-da92-4601-89c8-c4e66dacd4d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seniorliving.org/products/atds/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93747 | 1,104 | 2.171875 | 2 |
If all goes as planned, the memorial service for Mark Renninger, Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards will be seamless and elegant, a model of decorum.
But behind the scenes, planning for the event has been anything but decorous.
Logistically, the event is staggering in its complexity.
More than 20,000 law enforcement personnel from across the country are descending on Tacoma for the occasion. Well over 1,000 police cruisers and other emergency vehicles will follow the families to the Dome, blocking traffic and interrupting bus routes for hours.
To prepare for the event, more than 50 people from a dozen different public agencies have been working 12-hour days for the past week, seeing to details as mundane as positioning catering trucks and portable toilets to handling traffic control, bomb sweeps and plainclothes security.
Making it all look easy is part of the plan, says Jody Woodcock, a program manager for the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management.
“We want to take care of all the details so the families and the law enforcement community don’t have to think about them,” she said.
‘INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM’
The organizational structure set up to plan Tuesday’s ceremony follows a tried and true approach called the “Incident Command System,” a quasi-military approach that relies on clear delegation of authority and chain of command.
ICS is commonly used throughout the United States for a wide range of emergencies – particularly when several different agencies are involved.
“It’s a way to get order out of chaos,” Tom Minor said. Minor, a Pierce County Emergency Management program manager in charge of urban search and rescue, sometimes is referred to by fellow workers as “the Godfather of ICS” because of his years of experience using the system in assignments to disasters around the world.
The system started in California in the 1960s to deal with wildfires, and since has become a standard that has been used in disasters from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to Hurricane Katrina.
In Lakewood, the ICS was set up hours after the killings, when it became obvious that the Lakewood Police Department was too small – and too emotionally involved – to handle the investigation and arrangements for the four officers, whose deaths quickly became international news.
On the ICS chart at the funeral ceremony command center at Lakewood police headquarters, Lakewood Lt. Dave Guttu is at the top, as incident commander. Directly below him are Minor and Bryan Pearson, assistant chief at Central Pierce Fire & Rescue.
From there, the tasking boxes descend through the broad categories: operations, plans, logistics, administration and finance, and on down to dozens of more detailed duties, including pall bearers, honor guards and security.
The boxes are filled with employees drawn from an array of other public agencies, mostly police and fire officers from various jurisdictions around the Puget Sound region.
The scope of the planning is overwhelming. Aside from the procession and memorial service, there are dignitaries to deal with, limos to rent, parking to find, and food and shelter for 20,000 visitors.
“Traffic control obviously is a huge issue,” Woodcock said. “The family motorcade and procession will cause extensive road closures for at least a few hours.”
Access to so many businesses along the route will be blocked that organizers printed 1,000 informational fliers and distributed them to proprietors.
The planning is complicated by the fact that no one really knows how many law enforcement and other public safety professionals will show up.
“Not everybody lets us know first,” Woodcock said. “Sometimes they just show up. There’s really no telling how many will do that.”
Also, she said, there will probably be a large contingent of soldiers who will want to attend.
“Lakewood is a military town,” Woodcock said. “In some senses the whole community is a large family.”
“It’s tough to estimate how many might want to come,” she said. “We’re trying to use past ceremonies as models, but the impact of losing four officers at once is something we haven’t experienced. ”
COMMUNITY LENDS A HAND
Organizers say their job is made easier by overwhelming support from the larger community.
McChord Air Force Base is suspending flights Tuesday and has opened runways and hangars as gathering points. Fort Lewis is providing logistical assistance.
Support from the public is obvious just a few steps outside the situation planning room at Lakewood police headquarters, where a mound of flowers, handwritten signs and thank-you notes has grown into a mountain.
Every day, people pay their respects in a steady stream, arriving in such numbers that traffic on Lakewood Way has been kept at a slow crawl.
The public support inside the center is obvious, too, from the donated dinners that keep showing up, the pizza and the gallons of coffee in big cardboard containers from Forza Coffee Co. and Starbucks, all freely given.
The American Red Cross has donated food and water. Alaska Airlines has given tickets to family members flying in from other states. Local hotels are giving complimentary rooms for family members and cutting rates on hundreds of others booked by visiting police officers. Local UPS stores volunteered to do all the printing necessary for programs and informational fliers.
“Over and over people say, ‘I just feel so honored to be able to help,’” Woodcock said. “We’re getting hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from people saying, ‘We don’t know what to offer, but if you need anything, just call us.’”
One of the more unusual groups to have stepped forward is Behind the Badge, a Washington nonprofit organization whose “Line of Duty Death Response Team” specializes in dealing with the aftermath of police deaths.
Behind the Badge volunteers are seeing to the personal needs of families and consulting with organizers on the highly standardized protocol of law enforcement funerals, from the bagpipe dirges to the presentation of flags.
A MOMENT OF SILENCE
The command center is set up in a large assembly room in Lakewood police headquarters, a room usually divided in half by a folding curtain, but now expanded to its maximum size.
At least 50 men and women have been working there from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. since shortly after the killings, sitting shoulder to shoulder on folding chairs at long tables, working the phones and staring intently into computers.
Uniform jackets of a dozen different police and fire departments are draped over the backs of chairs.
The walls of the crisis center are covered with maps and poster-size blown-up aerial photographs: the runways and hangars at McChord where the emergency vehicles will gather; the neighborhood around the Police Department, where the caravan will be joined by family members; a multiblock area surrounding the Tacoma Dome where participants will gather for the ceremony.
A poster with photos of the four officers hangs on the front wall, smiling down on the room above the words: “Four Fallen Heroes.”
Precisely at 5 p.m., Minor moves to the front of the room and announces the afternoon briefing. The phone conversations are drawn to a quick close; clicking keyboards stutter and stop.
“First, a moment of silence for our fallen officers,” Minor says, and a hush falls over the room that is so total it is shocking.
Eyes look away, cloud up, stare at the floor.
Fifteen seconds later, Minor is back on task.
“All right. We’re on target so far,” he says. “On paper the plans look good. But remember, it depends on many, many moving pieces coming together at the same time.”
And then it’s on to task force reports: There is parking to be found, alternative assembly halls arranged for citizens who want to watch the ceremony on live video feeds, communication issues to resolve.
Dan Hudson is a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy who, like Minor, is a veteran of nearly every American civil disaster in the past 20 years.
In the command center, he wears a bright yellow vest over his uniform. On the back is a big white sign that reads “PLANS,” identifying him as head of planning on the ICS chart.
The command structure for planning the memorial service is the same as other disasters, Hudson said, but this one is different because it is so intensely personal.
“There’s a lot more hugging going on,” he said.
All disasters are emotional, Hudson said, but the emotion is rarely so intense that it interferes with work. This time, he said, it is difficult to set the emotions aside and deal with the task at hand.
“It’s hard to think about the future when we’re so emotionally impacted,” he said. “It’s difficult at times to try to think effectively.”
Countless times through each day, Hudson said, sudden waves of pain sweep through the room, stopping people in their tracks.
“Every moment there’s one reminder or another,” he said. “It’s very difficult to move forward and focus on what we’re planning. For all of us, I think, there’s a ‘There but for the grace of God’ thought in the back of our heads.
“The officers who died were highly qualified professionals. They didn’t make mistakes. They did everything right.
“It could have been any one of us.”
Rob Carson: 253-597-8693 | <urn:uuid:97e920a4-23e0-4a49-9efe-6a102b5d4d89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theolympian.com/2009/12/06/1060860/making-a-tribute-for-the-fallen.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956819 | 2,071 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Larkspur has chosen the Marin Energy Authority for its power needs.
The City Council voted 4-0 on Wednesday with Councilman Dan Hillmer absent to choose the authority's "light green" program rather than opt for competitor Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Mayor Len Rifkind said.
"Choosing (Marin Clean Energy) supports local community programs and projects," Rifkind said in an email Friday. "As a customer of MCE, a portion of the money spent by Larkspur on its electric bills will be redirected to stay in Marin instead of paying PG&E shareholder dividends."
Rifkind also cited the program's ability to help Larkspur reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and the need to set an example so new renewable energy initiatives move forward in California.
The move will cost Larkspur an estimated $1,500 a year more than going with PG&E, City Manager Dan Schwarz said in a report prepared for the meeting.
Earlier this month, the Corte Madera Town Council voted 3-2 to choose the energy authority rather than PG&E for its municipal electricity. Ross opted to switch to Marin Clean Energy — the authority's renewable energy program — last month, a move that will save the town an estimated $88 a year.
Municipal customers were among the first to enroll in Marin Clean Energy when the service launched, but four municipalities — Novato, Corte Madera, Ross and Larkspur — did not join the authority until fall 2011.
Novato remains a member of authority, along with the county and its 10 other municipalities.
Novato was the second municipality to choose PG&E for its own power after Sausalito, which made the decision when it joined the agency in 2010.
Earlier this month, PG&E spokeswoman Brittany McKannay said the company is "committed to cooperating with local governments as they consider pursuing or developing a (Community Choice Aggregation) program.
"It's always a privilege to provide our customers with clean, affordable and reliable energy, and we look forward to the opportunity to do that for many years to come," McKannay said. | <urn:uuid:24a3ed5a-8c01-499c-a198-7f7c374b948c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinij.com/novato/ci_21124241/larkspur-opts-buy-power-from-marin-energy-authority | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948697 | 440 | 1.546875 | 2 |
May 3, 2012
Over 70,000 workers, students, campesinos and campesinas, community organizations, and members of the left Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, party took to the streets of San Salvador to march for International Workers Day, or May Day. Marching in blocks representing individual unions, campesino organizations and other sectors of the Salvadoran left, participants carried huge banners with messages like: “No More ARENA Privatizations in the Country, Not in Social Security, Not in the Geothermic Energy Company, and No Public Partnerships with Thieves!” This message echoed one of the primary demands of the labor movement – that the Legislative Assembly reject the proposed Public-Private Partnership law, introduced earlier this year by the Funes Administration.
The Public-Private Partnership Law would create the legal framework to concede public services and public works to national and transnational private corporations. According to economist Evelyn Julia Martínez who has been studying the proposed law, the US government – through its bilateral Partnership for Growth program with El Salvador – and the Salvadoran private business sector are pushing for the law’s approval.
As the masses of marchers arrived in downtown San Salvador, they rallied in the Civic Plaza as rock bands played new renditions of traditional revolutionary music and university groups performed street theater. Union leaders then led the crowd in one minute of applause to commemorate the Chicago martyrs who gave their lives in the struggle for an eight-hour workday in May 1886.
Following the applause Francisco García, Secretary General of the Public Pension Workers’ Union (SITINPEP), addressed the crowd on behalf of the organized workers. He called for unity within the social movement to push forward greater changes in the country and to stop the Public-Private Partnership Law. In addition to the “resounding no” to the proposed law, he announced the workers’ demands, including:
- More progressive tax reforms and policies to fight tax evasion.
- Raise the private sector minimum wage to match the $300/month public sector minimum wage.
- No to mining and new hydroelectric dams.
- Freedom to unionize.
- Join and expand El Salvador’s participation in the alternative regional initiatives of the Americas, particularly the solidarity trade block, ALBA – the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.
- Maintain and expand government social programs in education, healthcare, and agriculture.
- Reject the intervention of the US government in violation of the country’s sovereignty and self-determination.
García went on to say, “We have advanced in some changes but not far enough. We are constructing a process and I want to recognize the only political tool on the left that supports the people of this country, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, and call on them to accompany us in our struggle for structural changes.”
After García spoke, the FMLN Secretary General Medardo González addressed the crowd. He responded directly to many of the demands and issues that García had mentioned and publicly declared that the FMLN is in complete opposition to the Public-Private Partnership Law and will vote against it in the Legislature. González went on to say:
“I want to close ranks with Francisco and with the struggles of all workers to demand their rights. We must have the political clarity to bring people together and assure that at the next elections there is a popular victory for the FMLN so we can continue together advancing the changes in favor of our country’s workers.” | <urn:uuid:408ab6c7-b42a-43a6-a4bf-e31206d5945b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/san-salvador-70000-march-against-propose-privatization-law-on-may-day/ | 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 | 0.932832 | 739 | 2.203125 | 2 |
London / 25 February, 2008– Privacy and information management research firm Ponemon Institute, PGP Corporation, a global leader in enterprise data protection, and Symantec Corp. today announced the results of the first study on the costs incurred by U.K. businesses after experiencing a data breach. Research by the Ponemon Institute found that the average total cost per incident was more than £1.4 million. The “2007 Annual Study: U.K. Cost of a Data Breach” also reveals that the financial impact of lost business due to reduced consumer trust was the most significant component of data breach costs. This first-annual U.K. study was sponsored by PGP Corporation and Symantec.
The report released today focuses on the cost of activities resulting from actual data loss incidents as well as identifying the most frequent causes and likely technology responses to a data breach. Breaches included in the survey ranged from 2,500 to more than 125,000 records from 21 U.K. businesses spanning eight different industry sectors. Among the key findings:
- The average total cost of a data breach ranged from £84,000 to almost £3.8 million, with an average of £47 per record compromised;
- 36 percent of reported costs were due to lost business, with an abnormal customer churn rate (higher than average) of 2.5 percent after a breach;
- The cost of a data breach for financial services organisations was more than 17 percent higher than average, at £55 per record compromised;
- 38 percent of respondents reported breaches by third-party organisations, such as outsourcers, consultants and business partners, at a significantly higher cost per record compromised and,
- 36 percent of data breaches resulted from lost and stolen laptops or other mobile devices.
Survey respondents identified encryption and data loss prevention solutions as the top two technology responses following a data breach, indicating that U.K. organisations increasingly understand the benefits of deploying enterprise data protection to defend data against future breaches.
"This study establishes a first of its kind benchmark for organisations in the U.K. to calculate the risk and potential monetary consequences of a data beach," said Larry Ponemon, Chairman and founder of The Ponemon Institute. "Businesses and government in the U.K. are just now coming to realize the impact a data breach can have on an organisation and its customers, similar to developments in the United States five years ago when data breaches first became headline news."
“Over the past year, the number of reported data loss incidents in the U.K. rose at a truly alarming rate,” said Phil Dunkelberger, president and CEO of PGP Corporation. “The new Ponemon study reveals the significant costs of such breaches and should help make organisations aware that they need to rethink their approach to data security. The investment required to prevent data loss is dwarfed by the potential costs of a breach, making the need for an enterprise data protection strategy undeniably clear.”
”The fact that more than a third of breaches result from data being shared with third parties in the normal course of business is a clear signal that organisations should examine how they are sharing their customers’ data with outsourcers, vendors, and partners,” said Joseph Ansanelli, vice president of data loss prevention solutions, Symantec. “Our customers are well aware of this risk, which is why they are investing in data loss prevention solutions from Symantec.”
About the Ponemon InstituteThe Ponemon Institute is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organisations in a variety of industries.
About PGP Corporation
PGP Corporation is a global leader in email and data encryption software for enterprise data protection. Based on a unified key management and policy infrastructure, the PGP® Encryption Platform offers the broadest set of integrated applications for enterprise data security. PGP platform-enabled applications allow organisations to meet current needs and expand as security requirements evolve for email, laptops, desktops, instant messaging, PDAs, network storage, file transfers, automated processes, and backups.
PGP solutions are used by more than 80,000 enterprises, businesses, and governments worldwide, including 95 percent of the Fortune® 100, 75 percent of the Fortune® Global 100, 87 percent of the German DAX index, and 51 percent of the U.K. FTSE 100 Index. As a result, PGP Corporation has earned a global reputation for innovative, standards-based, and trusted solutions. PGP solutions help protect confidential information, secure customer data, achieve regulatory and audit compliance, and safeguard companies' brands and reputations. Contact PGP Corporation at www.pgp.com.
Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help businesses and consumers secure and manage their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.
NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in U.S. dollars and are valid only in the United States.
Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
For PGP Corporation
Jacqui Depares / Richard Scarlett
020 7401 7968
Symantec Corporation (UK) 0118 943 6846
For Ponemon Institute
Mike Spinney (US) | <urn:uuid:287b95f6-dcda-4277-b490-8bac49668a88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20080225_02 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927789 | 1,207 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Cheap Flights from Lamu to Africa
Did You Know?
- There are 12 cities in Kenya with direct flights to Africa.
- There are 10 direct flights from Lamu, KE to Africa.
- There are 12 carriers with direct flights from Kenya to Africa.
- South African has the most flights to Africa.
- There are 60 flights from Dakar, SN per week. | <urn:uuid:a6a73be3-d2f3-4101-9ec5-1115285a2472> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.farecompare.com/flights/Lamu-LAU/africa/cityzone.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9266 | 82 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Add your email & join Nothing But Nets in the fight against malaria.
NBA Cares and Nothing But Nets: These guys were meant to help hang nets!
Submitted by Adrianna Logalbo on August 9, 2010
Last Friday the Nothing But Nets campaign did something we have never done before. We took 20 NBA and WNBA players, coaches, and Legends, to kick off a distribution of 20,000 life-saving bed nets in the town of Rufisque, Senegal – a small town outside the capital, Dakar.
As you drive into Rufisque, it’s easy to see why malaria is such a rampant killer – the town is densely populated and the aging, dilapidated infrastructure leaves pools of standing water during the rainy season we are currently in the midst of – the perfect breeding ground for the malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
When we arrived in Rufisque, the town had gathered with the local officials to welcome the NBA players and talk about the importance of sleeping under bed nets each and every night. Rufisque has a goal for 2010: no severe cases of malaria and no deaths. This bed net distribution will go a long way to making this possible.
To make the distribution manageable, we split into groups and took five different routes along main streets through the town. I headed out with NBA Legend Dikembe Mutombo, Nothing But Nets Champion DeSagana Diop (Charlotte Bobcats), Danilo Gallinari (New York Knicks) and Ronny Turiaf (New York Knicks).
These guys were meant to help hang nets! They had no problem reaching high across a room to put a nail in the wall and string up the four corners of the nets. As a native of Senegal, DeSagana needed no help from the translators we had arranged through the Peace Corps – he jumped right in to speak with the families, ask for the coupons they had received the day before to redeem the nets, and rip open bags to take out life-saving nets, handing them to mothers to help protect their families from malaria.
Each time we walked to another house, Ronny got into a game of street soccer with the kids. He turned to me at one point and said what he really appreciated about the Nothing But Nets campaign was that he knows where each $10 is going – and we were able to see those $10 contributions at work in Rufisque firsthand.
Over the course of two weeks, the 20,000 nets (200 bales) were delivered by boat from Vestergaard-Frandsen in Ghana, put on a truck in the port in Dakar, and unloaded at the health clinic in Rufisque. Meanwhile, 20 community health workers were mobilized to go door to door, educating families on the nets and taking a census to see the number of bed nets needed to cover each sleeping space.
And finally, with the professional basketball players’ help yesterday, we were able to distribute the nets to each home and help hang them. It was an amazing day – successful only through partnership between NBA Cares, Nothing But Nets, USAID, Peace Corp, the Ministry of Health and the National Malaria Control Programme. | <urn:uuid:f9e0b25e-39b5-49ad-9a59-16f83d16a905> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nothingbutnets.net/blogs/nba-cares-nothing-but-nets.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970249 | 663 | 1.859375 | 2 |
WASHINGTON -- A huge ``Baby Boom`` generation will take charge of the nation during the 1990s, raising prospects for an activist decade reminiscent of the 1960s.
Demographers, Census Bureau experts and political analysts say a generational change of leadership inevitably will transform the United States during the new decade.
By sheer numbers, middle-age Baby Boomers will come to dominate Congress and corporate boardrooms, overwhelming the so-called Silent Generation now in power.
``You`ll see more crusading zeal in the 1990s and hear the rhetoric of outrage,`` predicts Neil Howe, co-author of the forthcoming book Generations.
By the end of the decade, the Silent Generation will join the aging ``GI Generation`` to form a massive retiree population of 35 million -- 13 percent of the nation`s people.
This generational tidal change, along with some other currents, portends a turbulent decade swirling with social conflict over such divisive issues as abortion and health care.
``We are going to have some bitter internal struggles,`` predicts Paul Hewitt, a private demographics consultant and former Senate aide. ``Baby Boomers, who once divided over the Vietnam War, will be on both sides of the abortion debate. They will fight to the death over drug control and health care.``
After establishing careers and families, Baby Boomers could try to fulfill some of the social commitments that moved them in the 1960s, says William Schneider, political analyst for the independent American Enterprise Institute. ``What they need is an issue, like the Vietnam War, to galvanize them,`` Schneider says. ``Abortion is a possibility.``
The ``Boomers,`` born after World War II, fit the pattern of previous idealistic generations. They represent the latest turn of a generational cycle that has shaped American life throughout history, Howe says.
After youthful activism and spiritual awakening, idealistic generations tend to retreat into private preoccupations during early adulthood to try to perfect themselves. Then they emerge as middle-age crusaders bent on imposing their goals on the rest of the world.
Howe finds parallels between ``Boomers`` and the generation of Abraham Lincoln -- Radical Republicans and Confederates, imbued with a sense of righteousness, who clashed over the abolition of slavery and state`s rights.
Howe, a senior fellow at the independent Retirement Policy Institute, predicts that Boomers will transform Congress once they achieve a majority by mid-decade.
``These are political perfectionists, not content with compromises, who fiercely defend the rightness of their positions,`` Howe says.
Idealistic generations, Howe says, traditionally try to regulate the behavior of a balky, more conservative and materialistic younger generation that basically wants to be left alone.
The younger ``Baby Bust`` generation, born after 1960, will be pushed around by their elders, Howe predicts, but could benefit from their much smaller numbers.
Boomers flooded the job and housing markets in the 1970s and `80s, creating unemployment, housing shortages and rising real estate values. The small ``Baby Bust`` generation will find entry-level labor shortages and dwindling housing costs, some demographers predict. Corporations will eagerly recruit them.
Boomers, meanwhile, will reach the peak of their earning power.
Hewitt said the net effect promises to be a prosperous new decade with an abundance of housing and job opportunities. The demographic shift could be the best hope for the impoverished ``underclass.``
The elderly population, meanwhile, will continue to grow and gain influence, demographers predict.
``The elderly have an increasing impact on our society because of their numerical growth, propensity to vote, their well-organized advocacy groups and the amount of resources at their command, such as savings and assets,`` says Arnold Goldstein, a Census Bureau specialist on aging research.
Current retirees, about 30 million, are the ``GI generation`` -- survivors of the Great Depression and World War II. They have dominated American leadership for more than three decades, producing seven presidents from John Kennedy to George Bush, the youngest fighter pilot in World War II.
Howe describes ``GIs`` as collegial and optimistic, with a strong sense of entitlement and, despite many exceptions, a belief in strong government. Former President Ronald Reagan, a believer in limited government, nevertheless reflected this generation by promoting national security while sparing senior- citizen entitlement programs from budget cutbacks, Howe says.
The ``GIs`` have belatedly passed the reins of power to the much smaller ``Silent Generation,`` born just before World War II, which now dominates Congress and Bush`s Cabinet.
The ``Silents,`` Howe says, tend to envy the GI and Baby Boom generations, look to them for approval and then move cautiously toward consensus, with only occasional flashes of risky behavior. | <urn:uuid:ebda3c39-0d6f-408f-9046-7c138a6bb5d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-12-30/news/8902170634_1_gi-generation-silent-generation-baby-boomers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930152 | 988 | 2.015625 | 2 |
From Shop Talk, Bulletin of the N.C. Transportation Museum,
By John McRae
Trained, because they shared a love of railroading
with the fine breed of men known as railroaders.
Four particular chickens were ardent fans of North
Carolina's Cliffside Railroad, legend has it. In fact they were railfans
The story of the Cliffside Railroad chickens goes
back to the 1930s.
The story is true, though it sounds romanticized.
One day as one of the railroad's steam locomotives
approached Cliffside Junction on the 3.7 mile line, the fireman Van
McOpsom, saw a bantam hen with her three chicks on the right-of-way
beside their nest.
Some folks say the chicks had already hatched. Others
say they were still on the way. But in either case the train was stopped
and the chickens and their nest were put on board the locomotive's
The next day, McOpsum stopped the train again and
gathered up the chickens for a short ride.
repeatedly being put on the train at the sound of the whistle announcing
the train's movement, the story gores that the chickens began to place
themselves on the tender. And soon they learned a new trick: Whenever
the train stopped or pulled into the shop between runs, chickens flapped
to the ground to scratch and peck about the yards. When the whistle
called, they could be seen scurrying along to get on board.
The railroaders named the mother hen Bessie, after
the wife of Cliffside's Walter Haynes, and one of the community's
The chicks were named Charlie, for the president
of the railroad, Charles Haynes; for Maurice Hendrick, then secretary
of the railroad and general manager of the mill in Cliffside; and
Hollis, for Hollis Owens, the railroad's treasurer.
The railfanning family of chickens were a hit, and
everyone knew that the story would live on long after the railroad
might stop operations.
Later, an article in Trains magazine by H. Reid
drew visitors and mail from around the world to see the spectacle
of these trained chickens.
Alas, neither the chickens nor the Cliffside lasted.
The little line, formed in 1905 to serve the textile
mill there, shut down in 1992 and officially closed in the summer
But the story of the Cliffside, even without the
chickens, is fascinating.
A local business man, R.R. Haynes, started the mill
in 1899. Transportation of the mill's products was a great concern.
The closest railroad was the Seaboard Air Line, slightly less than
4 miles away. Haynes had discussed the matter with this good friend,
B.D. Heath, a prominent businessman in the Carolinas. And the two
launched the railroad.
Phillip White, principal of Cliffside Elementary
School and the town's historian, has built a wealth of history on
One of his favorites is about the train's engineer,
who played a prank on the local school children.
It was usual for the train to be returning to Cliffside
when the children were returning to school after eating lunch at home.
Customarily, the engineer stopped the train and boarded those who
lived along the right-of-way, bringing them back to the school grounds.
“All they had to do when the train stopped
was jump off, run across the ballfield and they were at the schoolhouse,”
The kids apparently took the free rides for granted.
To tease them, the engineer one day decided not to stop to let them
off, and instead took them all the way to the scheduled stop. With
a good laugh, White adds, “Of course they were late!”
The Cliffside started out with three second-hand
15-ton Forney Type locomotives in its earliest years and three second-hand
passenger cars. That service only lasted until 1926 when the automobile
became a dependable mode of transportation, especially for such short
The line was extended to Avondale in 1916 when Haynes
Mill began operations.
Raw materials as well as supplies for the community
were hauled into Cliffside and Avondale, and the finished products
were hauled the other direction to Cliffside Junction for shipment
on the Seaboard to market. In fact, numerous sources have indicated
that the railroad hauled over 50,000 tons of textiles from the factories
for many years.
In later years, Cliffside Railroad locomotives 40,
a beautiful 2-8-0 with a capped stack, and 110, a low-slung Prairie
type, became celebrities themselves by virtue of their longevity.
Years after most other railroads had switched to diesels, the Cliffside's
steamers kept goinguntil July 20, 1962. Two General Electric
diesels took over, and one served until the line's end.
Today, No. 40, built in 1925, hauls tourists for
the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad in Pennsylvania. No. 110 is on
display at the Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad near Atlanta. One of
the Cliffside's wooden cabooses is a permanent part of the N.C.
Transportation Museum collection, parked on track No. 1 in the
They're there today to remind us of the colorful
little railroad that once made it way through the countryside of Rutherford
County to the delight of all who had the good fortune to know the
line, chickens and humans alike. | <urn:uuid:a55e3d6d-15b5-42df-96c8-af4931256de5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.remembercliffside.com/galleries/railroad/specialbrand.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967204 | 1,186 | 2.15625 | 2 |
The fire broke out in the evening ripping through the multi-floor garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka in Bangladesh, burning the factory to the ground. Female workers were cut off as piles of fabric that filled corridors ignited. Early reports indicate that second and third floors were locked forcing many workers to leap to their death from upper floors. The reported 124 deaths and over 150 injuries are expected to rise.
Profoundly shocked by the incident, IndustriALL Global Union conveys its condolences to the families of the victims and its solidarity to the injured workers. The massive fire disaster did not only kill more than 100 workers but also killed the future of their families, their dreams and their hopes.
Fire disasters, especially in the garment sector, are on the rise in many countries of the Asia Pacific Region. The Bangladeshi government reports that 414 apparel workers died in fires between 2006 and 2009. In 2010, two large fires resulted in the deaths of 50 Bangladeshi workers. More than 300 workers were killed in devastating factory fires at a garment factory in Karachi and a shoe factory in Lahore, Pakistan on 11 September 2012.
Together with the unions in the Asia Pacific region, IndustriALL Global Union will put pressure on governments to properly enforce national laws on health and safety issues in general and on fire safety in particular. IndustriALL Global Union demands that:
- Governments must play a critical role in long-term, sustainable change by updating laws and implementing regulations, improving factory inspections, and establishing the tripartite framework necessary for appropriate relations between employer and labour stakeholders.
- Factory owners and operators must commit to facilitate and support a continuing cycle of safety management based on ongoing dialogue between management and trade unions or worker elected representatives.
- Brand owners and retailers must verify that the factories they use comply with applicable safety standards and must ensure that their pricing and sourcing practices make this feasible.
“There are many organizations and programs fighting for better working conditions in the textile, garment, shoes and leather industries worldwide today, but only strong regional trade unions in collaboration with IndustriALL Global Union will be able to stop the ruinous competition at the cost of fire and building safety and therefore at the cost of workers and their families. Together trade unions will have more power at multiple levels to put pressure on governments, employers and international brand owners,” said Monika Kemperle, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union. | <urn:uuid:d3b3646c-2260-4b76-9104-b4a166bad779> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.industriall-union.org/bangladesh-agreement-on-fire-safety-in-textiles-required-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956413 | 491 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Fact File : Potsdam Conference
17 July to 2 August 1945
Location: Potsdam, Germany
Players: US President Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee (who became UK Prime Minister on 26 July), Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
Outcome: The terms of Japan's surrender were agreed; the Council of Foreign Ministers tasked with drawing up peace treaties; Poland's frontiers discussed; Germany's disarmament and reparations confirmed; and the decision made to hold war trials.
Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin talk with an American general at the Potsdam Conference©
The final Allied conference of the war was codenamed Terminal. The three leaders of the Grand Alliance met, although Roosevelt, who died in April, had been replaced by Truman and Churchill returned to England midway through the conference after his defeat in the British general election. The newly-appointed Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee saw the conference through on behalf of Britain.
The conference agreed on the terms of surrender for Japan, to be managed by a council of foreign ministers in charge of peace settlements. The Japanese government would be called on to proclaim unconditional surrender, although Stalin had had word that this would not be acceptable to the Japanese emperor. The Allies agreed that 'it was not intended to enslave Japan' but Japan would be occupied until unconditional surrender was achieved.
It was agreed that Britain, Russia, China, France and America were to be represented in the new peace treaties council and many countries would be discussed:
'The three Governments consider it desirable that the present anomalous position of Italy, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary and Romania should be terminated by the conclusion of Peace Treaties. They trust that the other interested Allied governments will share these views.'
The conference then turned to the fate of Poland, which required the longest debate. Much ground had been covered at the Yalta Conference and it was confirmed that the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity would hold 'free and unfettered elections as soon as possible'.
The conference also agreed on Germany's future. The Allies' priority was to disarm the country: 'In order to eliminate Germany's war potential, the production of arms, ammunition and implements of war as well as all types of aircraft and sea-going ships shall be prohibited and prevented.' Reparations were also agreed, and a trial of major war criminals was planned.
The fact files in this timeline were commissioned by the BBC in June 2003 and September 2005. Find out more about the authors who wrote them. | <urn:uuid:b44f0f7f-a1eb-40e2-9bc3-aca9a22b5c9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a1144829.shtml?sectionId=7&articleId=1144829 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979069 | 511 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Worldwide LHC Computing Grid
The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG), formerly (until 2006) the LHC Computing Grid (LCG), is an international collaborative project that consists of a grid-based computer network infrastructure incorporating over 170 computing centers in 36 countries, as of 2012. It was designed by CERN to handle the prodigious volume of data produced by Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments.
By 2012 data from over 300 trillion (3 x 1014) LHC proton-proton collisions had been analyzed, LHC collision data was being produced at approximately 25 petabytes per year, and the LHC Computing Grid had become the world's largest computing grid (as of 2012), comprising over 170 computing facilities in a worldwide network across 36 countries.
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN was designed to prove or disprove the existence of the Higgs boson, an important but elusive piece of knowledge that had been sought by particle physicists for over 40 years. A very powerful particle accelerator was needed, because Higgs bosons might not be seen in lower energy experiments, and because vast numbers of collisions would need to be studied. Such a collider would also produce unprecedented quantities of collision data requiring analysis. Therefore advanced computing facilities were needed to process the data.
A design report was published in 2005. It was announced to be ready for data on 3 October 2008. A popular 2008 press article predicted "the internet could soon be made obsolete" by its technology. CERN had to publish its own articles trying to clear up the confusion. It incorporates both private fiber optic cable links and existing high-speed portions of the public Internet. At the end of 2010, the Grid consisted of some 200,000 processing cores and 150 petabytes of disk space, distributed across 34 countries.
The data stream from the detectors provides approximately 300 GByte/s of data, which after filtering for "interesting events", results in a "raw data" stream of about 300 MByte/s. The CERN computer center, considered "Tier 0" of the LHC Computing Grid, has a dedicated 10 Gbit/s connection to the counting room.
The project was expected to generate 27 TB of raw data per day, plus 10 TB of “event summary data”, which represents the output of calculations done by the CPU farm at the CERN data center. This data is sent out from CERN to eleven Tier 1 academic institutions in Europe, Asia, and North America, via dedicated 10 Gbit/s links. This is called the LHC Optical Private Network. More than 150 Tier 2 institutions are connected to the Tier 1 institutions by general-purpose national research and education networks. The data produced by the LHC on all of its distributed computing grid is expected to add up to 10–15 PB of data each year. In total, the four main detectors at the LHC produced 13 petabytes of data in 2010.
The Tier 1 institutions receive specific subsets of the raw data, for which they serve as a backup repository for CERN. They also perform reprocessing when recalibration is necessary. The primary configuration for the computers used in the grid is based on Scientific Linux.
See also
- Hayes, Jacqui (21 December 2011). "Happy 10th Birthday, WLCG!". International Grid Science This Week. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
- What is the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid?, CERN, January 2011, retrieved 2012-01-11
- Welcome, CERN, January 2011, retrieved 2012-01-11
- Hunt for Higgs boson hits key decision point
- Worldwide LHC Computing Grid main page 14 November 2012: "[A] global collaboration of more than 170 computing centres in 36 countries ... to store, distribute and analyse the ~25 Petabytes (25 million Gigabytes) of data annually generated by the Large Hadron Collider"
- What is the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid? (Public 'About' page) 14 November 2012: "Currently WLCG is made up of more than 170 computing centers in 36 countries...The WLCG is now the world's largest computing grid"
- "LHC Computing Grid: Technical Design Report". document LCG-TDR-001, CERN-LHCC-2005-024 (The LCG TDR Editorial Board). 20 June 2005. ISBN 92-9083-253-3. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- "LHC GridFest". CERN. 2008.
- Jonathan Leake (6 April 2008). "Coming soon: superfast internet". The Times (London). Retrieved 25 January 2013.
- "The Grid: separating fact from fiction". CERN. May 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2013. Adapted from an article originally published in Symmetry Breaking.
- Geoff Brumfiel (19 January 2011). "High-energy physics: Down the petabyte highway". Nature 469. pp. 282–283. doi:10.1038/469282a. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- "Network transfer architecture". CERN. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- final-draft-4-key[dead link]
- Brodkin, Jon (28 April 2008). "Parallel Internet: Inside the Worldwide LHC computing grid". Techworld.com. | <urn:uuid:051f9d9f-3c59-469c-819c-02cbc5839eb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LHC_Computing_Grid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906934 | 1,094 | 3.1875 | 3 |
There are self-taught contractors and then, there is Alan Ouellette.
Most diggers learn from the ground up. They find the earth itself — with its slabs, rock formations, pitfalls, mineral deposits and undetermined foundations — to be the ultimate test. But about 20 years ago, Ouellette, president of A O Construction Inc. Attleboro, Mass., studied for the state tests that established the parameters of the industry before digging his first holes.
Helping Out Mom
In 1993, Ouellette taught himself a new trade when his Mom needed a favor.
“I was never in the excavation business but my mom needed a septic system and I wanted a new direction in life,” said Ouellette. “I said ‘let me research this.’ and I called the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM). and asked them for study materials. I studied and took the test to be a septic installer.
“I bought my first backhoe — a 1979 John Deere 410. I taught myself how to operate it by clearing the back lot at my mom’s house. I took drafting way back in high school, so after learning how to design a system by reading the RIDEM rules and regulations, I designed and installed my first system and got a successful inspection. I’ve been installing systems and doing site work and expanding ever since.”
Two years later, in 1995, Ouellette founded A O Construction in Pawtucket, R.I., before moving operations to newer, bigger headquarters in Attleboro, Mass.
A O Construction specializes in excavation, site work, septic systems, demolition, ledge removal, utility installation, curbing, etc.
, for the commercial and residential markets.
The company team is comprised of operators with more than 30 years of combined experience. Capable of running the more than 300 tons of available equipment, Ouellette’s crew demonstrates an expertise that will ensure your job is completed in a timely and professional manner.
“The diversity of our equipment enables us to take on virtually any project — from simple grading to breaking up mountains of ledge,” said Ouellette. “Our equipment is well maintained by our in-house mechanical team.”
The company’s past projects have been both commercial and residential.
“We have worked extensively on site development for commercial projects, including foundations, water, sewer and drainage. Our residential work includes creating large subdivisions and working with homeowners on smaller projects,” he added. “We also can design and install your septic system from start to finish in Rhode Island or Mass.”
A O Construction Co. also is a licensed Orenco Advantex Bottomless sand filter installer.
The Son Also Rises
A small firm, with only three employees, the self-taught father is now the proud teacher of the next generation to come aboard — son Michael.
“We put out a tremendous amount of work for only three people,” said Ouellette. “We’re a small company, but my son Mike, a chip off the old block, has become a big part of the business. He dug his first trench for me when he was eight years old. Others have come and gone over the years. I’d be lost without my son.
“This business will be his when I retire. He’s now 23 and, at 23, he’s had his CDL license and Massachusetts and Rhode Island hydraulics licenses for years,” he added, confirming that the next man in the Ouellette family is as much of a go-getter as his father was while still a teen.
Besides complete excavation, site and septic work, A O has added some new wrinkles to their services.
“We recently added a chipper for when trees are in the way. It saves time and money to keep this in-house. We still sub out large tree jobs. This is just for convenience on certain jobs. We also added a gravel screener,” said Ouellette.
A O consistently gets jobs in two states, as some of its recently-finished job projects confirm:
• Completed site work for the Russell’s Mills Fire Station in Dartmouth, Mass., for Coletta Contracting.
• Completed site work for the Bigelow Day Care conversion in Somerville, Mass.
• Completed site work for the John Quincy Medical Center in Taunton, Mass., for Nadeau Corporation.
• Completed site work for the Wickford Package Store in Wickford, R.I., for Cobalt Construction.
• Completed site work for the addition to Attleboro Enterprises in North Attleboro, Mass., for Nadeau Corporation.
• Completed demolition and site work for the new pool at Abbot Run Valley Swim Club.
• Completed site work for Phase 1 (last year) and Phase 2 (this year) on the Rustoleum building in Attleboro, Mass., to upgrade the industrial production rooms for Nadeau Corporation.
• Completed exterior site work for the Salvation Army building in Woonsocket, R.I., in order to bring in a new fire line to upgrade the building to install a sprinkler system for Cobalt Construction.
• Completed site work to upgrade the electrical service at the Honeywell building in Woonsocket, R.I., for Cobalt Construction.
• Numerous residential jobs in between all these commercial projects, such as septic systems, foundations, water lines, etc.
Bottles and Rustoleum
Being so small, A O Construction has a terrific safety record. “Safety is very important. We try to always recognize when a situation can become dangerous and take steps to protect our workers and the public,” said Ouellette.
Job after job, his little firm, has gained a fine reputation.
“Service, fair price and good work means we have many repeat customers and we have great references,” he added.
Ouellette can never be accused of living in a glass house, but he’s worked on a few, and found even more unexpected glass in and around the grounds of older properties. After all, you never know what you might find undisturbed a couple feet under the earth’s surface.
“I do have an extensive bottle collection mostly from installing septic systems on older homes,” he laughed.
But other things can shatter besides bottles and Ouellette has been up to any unexpected challenge.
“One very challenging sewer connection I did was the complete design and installation of about 800 feet of sewer line with various manholes in the Lincoln Industrial Complex in Lincoln, R.I.,” he said. “We had to do a vertical tap on a 24-inch main NBC sewer trunk line, four-feet into the water table. We used special vanguard shoring and kept the hole dry with a Vac truck. I have great pictures of this job.”
Never one to let any equipment rust, Ouellette said his most interesting project involved Rustoleum.
“Yes, the Rustoleum project in Attleboro, Mass. We had no idea what we were getting into with the unknown conditions of subsurface demolition to accommodate new footings for the new processing vats,” he sighed. “The existing piers went down over four feet and were reinforced with rebar, but all had to come up for the new configuration.
“We did it during the summer (factory) shutdown and it was hot and humid. It was quite a challenge to bring the project in on time working double shifts for Nadeau Corporation,” added Ouellette.
Like most contractors, A O has had to adapt to challenging economic times through competitive pricing and great performance, as well as one major modification.?
“I made the leap from residential to commercial when the economy tanked in 2006. I have a great office. My monitor is 42 inches and I have a separate digitizing station for cuts and fills and takeoffs,” said Ouellette. “I even have a 42-inch color printer, as I was spending a fortune in print reproduction. I owe my good leads to ‘The Blue Book’ and ‘Bidclerk.’ I have developed most of my commercial connections through these leads.
In September, A O began work on an important project, the new septic system for the New England Institute of Technology’s golf course in East Greenwich, R.I.
“We’re teaming up with Rick Pezza from Green Wastewater Solutions out of Warwick, R.I.,” he said. “I’ll do all the excavation and leach field construction, ledge removal, asphalt patching and landscaping, and Rick will handle all the tanks and pumps.”
Beyond sand traps on the course, a couple of challenges have already presented themselves.
“Where the tanks are installed is a steep slope with ledge outcroppings,” said Ouellette. “We’ll most likely have to hammer out the ledge to install the tanks.”
But in all work challenges, Ouellette acknowledges the companies he’s worked closely with.
“I have developed great relationships with several great companies: — Nadeau Corporation, Cobalt Construction, Coletta Contracting, Rick Pezza of Green Wastewater Solutions and Seaver Construction,” said Ouellette. “I mean, we are all in this together.”
For more information, visit www.aoconstruction.net. | <urn:uuid:a5ab4ef6-31d0-4550-bfeb-96ef91489401> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/A-O-Constructions-Pres-Learns-Trade-Builds-Business-to-Help-Out-His-Mom/19721/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958174 | 2,038 | 1.5625 | 2 |
January 11, 2012
HSUS is a crucial part of fighting animal cruelty and abuse for ALL animals, not just shelter animals. While I agree that many people mistakenly believe HSUS runs their local shelter (they do not), or that local Humane Societies are "chapters" of the national organization (they are not), I STRONGLY disagree that the HSUS is either deceptive or unnecessary. HSUS' mission is to advocate against animal cruelty and abuse. They do not claim to run shelters. In fact, local Humane Societies (many of which were named after HSUS was formed) will tell donors on THEIR websites and in their marketing materials that they are not affiliated with the national organization. More to the point, HSUS is one of the few organizations large enough to fight animal abuse (such as puppy mills, animal experiments, factory farms, canned hunts, horse slaughter, and fur farming, to name a few) on a national level. Local organizations do not have the resources or the expertise to fight for all animals; they must usually focus their resources on just one or two. It is important to support local rescues and shelters. And it is also important to support HSUS. I have been a donor to HSUS for many years now, and I know EXACTLY where my money goes. My donation goes to help create a world where ALL animals can live a life free of cruelty and abuse. HSUS gives help and hope to ALL animals, and I hope you will give to HSUS. I know I will.
Was your donation impactful?
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When was your last experience with this nonprofit? | <urn:uuid:3e5ab3ea-e46d-4520-8ec5-055e24594ce5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://greatnonprofits.org/users/reviews/137202 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965011 | 358 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Martin McKinsey, Associate Professor of English
Professor McKinsey traveled to Scotland in July to present a paper at the annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literature.
There is something to be said for armchair travel. You are not liable to have your wallet snatched out of your pocket, as was mine on my way to catch a flight from Athens to London. Nor are you likely to spend a sleepless night in the airport because of a missed connection, as I did at London-Stansted during my return trip. Still, for all the disadvantages of actual travel, more than likely what you experience between such mishaps will make you glad you left your armchair behind.
This past July, with the help of a CIE travel grant, I attended the annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literature (IASIL) in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the third IASIL conference I had attended. The first two had been in Ireland. That this year's conference was being held in Scotland had a symbolic dimension. Not only did it reinforce the "World Perspectives" theme of the conference, it also hinted at a mending of fences in Scottish-Irish relations, long strained by differences over the Northern Irish question. The location was lucky for me personally as well, since despite a growing academic interest in Scottish literature, I had never set foot in the country. The IASIL conference allowed me to gracefully fill that gap.
Not surprisingly, given the economic downturn, attendance was lower this year, especially among Americans. I myself had flown in from Athens, where with the help of a research fellowship from the Onassis Foundation I was completing a book on the twentieth-century Greek poet C.P. Cavafy. The theme of the conference allowed me to combine my Greek project with my research interests in contemporary Irish literature, as I compared two poems by Cavafy with poems by Northern Irish poet Michael Longley. The subject of my talk, as it evolved in the weeks beforehand, had to do with how war victims are commemorated in verse. The fact is, you never really know what your subject is, and what its true dimensions will be, until you sit down to write. I plan to spend some of my sabbatical year researching scholarship on public monuments – especially war monuments – and to use this to develop my discussion into a journal article.
In addition to presenting my own paper, I was also called in to serve as chair on two other panels. Outside conference hours, I grabbed the opportunity to meet Alan Riach, head of the Department of Scottish Literature at University of Glasgow and current president of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies. Both he and conference organizer Paddy Lyon brought me up to speed on "literary Glasgow," from poet Tom Leonard ("wirraw init thigithir missyz") to novelist James Kelman ("There was a wee bit of hallucinating going on, but no that much, no when ye come to consider it"). Fortunately, these and other conversations were conducted in standard English, not the near impenetrable Glaswegian variety you sometimes hear on the streets, that writers like Leonard have attempted to capture. Glasgow itself is an impressive Victorian edifice of stone: the Empire's "Second City" in its nineteenth-century heyday, but fallen on hard times since the post-war industrial decline. Urban renewal has erased all but a few traces of its industrial past, and left great rips in its urban fabric; nevertheless the freshly sandblasted city is making a comeback as habitat and destination, and beginning to live down its gritty "mean streets" reputation.
I took advantage of a free weekend to hop over to Edinburgh, an hour away by train. Edinburgh is Scotland's more recognizable cultural capital, home to an internationally famous summer arts festival. The festival was still a week away, but between the Scottish Poetry Library, where I spent the better part of one day, and sights like Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish National Gallery, there was more than enough to distract me. As it happened, my visit coincided with the Edinburgh trip of the UNH Cambridge Summer Program, so I was able to rendezvous with English department colleagues for a delightful meal of mussels and oysters. (Thanks to Andy Merton for snapping my picture.)
Now what was that I was saying about the pitfalls of travel? | <urn:uuid:906d87d1-06c8-4d80-b79e-41c7073abb30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unh.edu/cie/newsletter/2010/spring/faculty_mckinsey.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97468 | 891 | 1.523438 | 2 |
In the early 1900s, the town of Houlton was one of the 10 richest communities in the United States due to its thriving logging and potato industries. Many of the Victorian mansions constructed during this era have been well maintained and the town’s Market Square District contains an impressive collection of buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Houlton, the county seat of Aroostook County, is centrally located among some of the best snowmobiling and ATV trail riding in the Northeast. Canoeing and primitive camping along the region’s lakes and streams is another popular pastime. Local attractions include the mysterious “Boy with Leaking Boot” sculpture, and the world’s largest scale model of the solar system, which begins in Presque Isle and ends 40 miles away at the Houlton Visitor Information Center. | <urn:uuid:4dad3cc4-f55a-4e4b-bbf1-97e335cf43f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.visitmaine.com/region/aroostook/houlton/?_print=1&vm=pugbh857jj54g568kp3gsa3u56 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960798 | 177 | 1.75 | 2 |
Step 1: Gather Materials
Flour paste is made by whisking flour into water. That's all you really need! I like to add a but of white glue because I think it improves the finish, but that's up to you. You can make the paste as thick or as thin as you like; I personally like mine a little bit thick, sort of like pancake batter.
I used one large punch-ball balloon (those giant ones that come with a huge rubber band) and two tiny party balloons. You will also need duct tape, masking tape, and a hairdryer would be handy. | <urn:uuid:34ec31e6-d529-442c-a2d0-1bfc4b416c4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.instructables.com/id/Giant-Mask-Montessaurus/ | 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 | 0.979895 | 128 | 1.804688 | 2 |
NOTE: On Many websites this peak is mentioned to have the height of 683 feet but according to the topo map this peak is only 625 feet! Keep that in mind when searching for additional information.
Aliso Peak is not a very large peak in Southern California. Actually this peak is not even a very large peak in the range of hills that it is even located in. There is not very much prominence to this peak either making this peak seem like not a very important peak to go for when you are in Southern California. That is of course until you start to enjoy the magical ocean views from this peak which views of the ocean are so legendary, there is a park partial named after the peak and a park bench on the summit in which to enjoy the amazing ocean views. It is one of the signature peaks in the Aliso and Wood Canyons Wildlife Park. Honestly there are very few peaks in the area that have as good as sunset views as Aliso Peak. A sunset hike on Aliso Peak IS NOT TO BE MISSED.
In order to get to the summit of Aliso Peak take the Valido Trail (0.3 miles 300 feet elevation gain) to the saddle between Aliso Peak and Niguel Hill. From there make a left on the Aliso Trail and head all the way to the summit of Aliso Peak (0.4 miles 100 feet of elevation gain). The entire trail way up is a walk up though the trail is steep in place heading up to the saddle and just before Aliso Peak. This trail should not be used after a major rainstorm due to severe erosional factors and the fact the trail become quiet slippery. Watch out for wildlife especially rattlesnakes. I did here a rattlesnake here even on an evening in January.
Getting ThereVIA THE VALIDO TRAIL: From the Pacific Coast Highway in South Laguna Beach look for West Street on the east side of the road (3 miles south of downtown Laguna Beach). Take West Street roughly 100 yards to a road signed Valido Street (on Google this is listed as Paseo Del Sur but the sign on the street is Valido Street). Make a left here and 100 feet up a inclined dirt pull off with enough room for maybe two cars will be on your left.
Parking is very limited in an upper class residential area. No smoking on the trail. It is advised not to hike Aliso Peak after a rainstorm due to the very muddy nature of the trail.
CampingCamping is not allowed on Aliso Peak.
External LinksSome more information and reviews from the hike to this peak
A really good webpage of Aliso Peak listed here | <urn:uuid:1a9a2caf-7ad6-47b4-ab0a-12760ad5e8d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.summitpost.org/aliso-peak/773352 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963616 | 549 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Click here to learn more.
Sept. 21, 2012: We've scoured the Web to find the best and most compelling animal stories, videos and photos. And it's all right here.
New Jersey Dog Jumps From Bridge, and Makes It to Shore
When Brandi, a 7-year-old Beagle, got away from her owner on a walk last week, she headed for the Burlington-Bristol Bridge, which connects her home state of New Jersey with neighboring Pennsylvania. A police officer and a group of kids attempted to help her, but Brandi got scared and jumped over the side of the 70-foot suspension bridge. The officer was shocked when he looked down. "She was swimming and made it to the shoreline," he said. The Beagle fought the current and arrived on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. A vet confirmed the next day that dog only suffered a few bruises. “There’s nothing to be said other than it’s a miracle,” the dog’s owner, Alexis Lorenz, told WPIX in New York. — Read it at the LA Times
A group of travelers on a safari in Kenya spent some quality time with an animal they dubbed “Breetah the Cheetah.” The big cat leaped up on their parked vehicle, where she spent 45 minutes sitting eye-to-eye with the tourists. “I’m not sure that I was breathing and my knees were buckling,” said Cate Girskis. “She was stunning.” The tour guide told the group not to move or talk, and it turned out that the cheetah just wanted to use the vehicle as a perch to look for prey. Finally, when the guide started the engine, Breetah hopped off, ending their close encounter. “It was elation and relief” when she left, Girskis said. — Watch it at CNN
Officials are seeing an increase in cases of animals with rabies, including skunks, bats and even beavers — and it comes as supplies of the rabies vaccine used to treat humans are down. Jesse Blanton, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates that the number of confirmed cases will be on the high end of the 6,000 to 7,000 typically seen in a year in the U.S. “We’ve had essentially a lack of a winter, a very warm summer and reports of animal rabies are up,” he said. Two manufacturers of the vaccine are reporting limited supplies, and neither could estimate when more would be available. — Read it at NBC News
DNA Determines a Tabby’s Distinct Pattern
Researchers have identified the gene that determines whether a tabby cat has stripes or blotches and it depends on whether that particular gene is turned on or off. A new study published in the journal Science notes that cats with narrow stripes, or the “mackerel” pattern, have a working copy of the gene. In those cats whose coats have the blotchy or “classic” pattern, a mutation has turned the gene off. Greg Barsh, one of the authors who works at both Stanford University and the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology, said that pattern is called “classic” because “cat lovers really like the blotched pattern.” — Read it at AP via the Washington Post
Baton Rouge, La., resident Freddie Hollier thought there must be some mistake when he got a call from a shelter in Illinois saying that they had his missing dog, T'Chen. The dog wandered away when Hurricane Isaac hit the Gulf Coast area three weeks ago. An Army Corps worker from Illinois found her, but couldn’t find a Louisiana shelter to bring her to, so he brought her to an Illinois shelter when he went home. A group called Lost Pets of Baton Rouge helped the two reconnect, and Pilots N Paws will bring T’Chen back home next week. — Read it at Louisiana’s WAFB
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please install the latest version of Flash. | <urn:uuid:3d945643-f9f1-4c9b-8938-ec831561d7a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/pet-scoop-beagle-survives-fall-from-bridge-scientists-id-how-tabby-gets-its-stripes?WT.z_mod=RP | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956526 | 1,112 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The Federal Government was well behind other countries in managing internet threats with several speakers at a two-day cyber security summit in Canberra alleging Government action was 'too little, too late'.
AusCERT general manager Graham Ingram told attendees that Australia was up to five years behind when it came to planning for cyber security incidents.
“I want to leave you with a very bad feeling...The threat of a cyber attack is high and it has been so for some time," he said.
Queensland University of Technology hacker specialist Dr Nicholas Chantler said Australia was "not moving at the speed that technology was moving" when it came to addressing cyber security.
"We are slipping back,” Chantler said.
"Cyber security is everybody’s problem. But perhaps we need an Australian Cyber Czar – someone that brings everything together. The US were ahead of Australia in appointing a cyber security chief who reported to the national security council."
While agreeing that Government had been tardy in responding to cyber crime, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's operations and capability program director Andrew Davies sought to defend Canberra's position.
Davies accused several of speakers of being alarmist, deceptive and impractical in their demands.
“This (cyber security) community broadly is not good at talking with Government. When it does the policy advocacy often lacks an understanding of economics, lacks an understanding of politics and sometimes lacks an understanding of Government,” Davies said.
Characterising cyber crime as “Cyber Pearl Harbour” or saying “the next 9-11 will be in cyber space” was a good for attention-seekers but led to a tendency to exaggerate the nature of the concerns", he said.
“Making every problem with a cyber prefix a national security problem is actually antipathetical to clear thinking,” Davies said.
Davies was unswayed by calls for a single cyber czar and said it made sense to have three separate Ministers oversighting a single cyber security strategy.
He rated the Government as C- for timeliness, B+ for its conceptual framework, B- for Governance and said the jury was still out on whether resources were appropriate applied.
“Overall that’s a solid result but it could do it better," he said.
AusCERT’s Ingram said what was missed most was a “real public-private partnership” on cyber security between Government and industry.
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1. A concrete noun names a thing that can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched.
Ex: desk, pencil, script, villain
2. An abstract noun names an idea, feeling, quality, or characteristic.
Ex: excitement, dishonesty, freedom, love
3. A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea.
Ex: One student had an interesting suggestion
4. A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
Ex: Several students had interesting suggestions.
5. The possessive form of a noun shows ownership or relationship. Use an apostrophe and –s to show possession. For example, wren’s nest (ownership); Mom’s friend (relationship).
Review pages 31-39 in your Grammar for writing workbook.
6. An appositive is a word or group of words that stands next to a noun. An appositive adds additional information.
Ex: Love Bug, my pet canary, is fed daily.
Ms. Tate, the lady who is by the pool, once won our local golf tournament.
Our bracelet is made of my favorite jewel, emeralds.
More than one appositive may appear in a sentence.
Ex: Lady Gray, my horse, and Duke, my cousin’s pony, son first place ribbons at the fair.
Desserts, peach cobbler and strawberry pie, were served to fifty guests, members
of a wildlife club.
Let’s practice. Underline the appositive(s) in the following sentences.
· We visited Philadelphia, a city in Pennsylvania.
· Popcorn, my favorite food, is prepared in many different ways.
· Snoopy, a famous cartoon character, makes many people laugh.
· Mike, my oldest brother, has given an engagement ring to Viola, the clerk at Minton’s Pharmacy.
· Jim Thorpe, a famous native American, went to school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
7. An antecedent is the noun or pronoun to which a possessive or a reflexive pronoun refers back in the sentence.
Ex: That dog lost its collar. The pronoun its refers back to dog.
Dog is the noun its refers back to in the sentence. Dog is the antecedent.
Let’s practice. Underline the antecedent in the following sentences.
· A monkey hurt its arm
· The little girl broke her foot on the slide.
· The furniture movers left their truck in the driveway.
· Will and I don’t want out meals.
· They handed in their final exams.
8. A verbal is a word that is formed from a verb but acts as a noun, an adjective, or
A gerund is a verbal that ends in –ing and acts as a noun. A gerund phrase
consists of the gerund with its modifiers and complements.
Ex: Allen enjoys singing more than acting.
Playing guitar well takes a great deal of skill.
A participle is a verb form that acts as an adjective. It modifies a noun or pronoun. There are two kinds of participle; present participle and past participles. The present participle always ends in –ing.
Ex: a cheering crowd distracts him. (The present participle cheering modifies crowd.)
The past participle of a regular verb ends in –ed. For irregular verbs such as steal, the past participle has a different ending.
Ex: Stunned, she didn’t know what to say.
(past participle of regular verb)
The stolen diamond was worth
millions. (past participle of irregular
An infinitive is a verb form that usually begins with the word to and acts as a noun, an
adjective, or an adverb. In each example below, the infinitive is to exercise. An
infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive plus its complements and modifiers. The entire phrase functions as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
· Noun- To exercise is essential for good health.
· Adjective- A plan to exercise is necessary.
· Adverb- To exercise regularly, John made a schedule.
Review pages 136-144 in your Grammar for Writing Workbook.
9. Every verb has four basic forms called its principal parts: the present, the present participle, the past, and the past participle. With helping verbs, these four parts make all the tenses and forms of the verb.
Ex: I admire that singer. (present)
I am admiring her high notes.
I admired her presentation. (past)
I have admired her for years. (past participle)
Review pages 85-86 in your Grammar for Writing Workbook.
10. A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or another pronoun.
Ex: I, me, my mine, you, your, yours, he, she, it, him, her, it, his, her, hers, its, we, us, our, ours, they, them, their, theirs
Review pages 46-56 in your Grammar for Writing Workbook.
11. An adjective is a word that modifies, or describes, a noun or a pronoun
Ex: What kind? slow train, slow car
Which one or ones? last chance, second door
How many or how much? three rows, several passengers
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Ex: How? Slowly, quickly, quietly
When? Today, rarely, annually
Where? Nearby, there, around
To what extent? Rather, quite, extremely
A preposition is a word used to show a relationship between a noun or pronoun and some other word in the sentence. A preposition is always followed by an object, either a noun or a pronoun.
A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, its object, and any modifiers of the object, The object of the preposition is the noun or pronoun following the preposition.
Review pages 103-105 for
adjectives, 112-114 for adverbs, 125-129 for prepositions and prepositional
phrases. These pages are in the Grammar for Writing Workbook.
12. A topic sentence introduces the topic or main idea of a paragraph. It tells what all the other sentences in the paragraph are about. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in a paragraph, but it does not have to be in that position. A topic sentence should have focus. Focus means you have narrowed down the topic. The topic sentence states the main idea of a paragraph. For example, you might have the general topic of weather. You could focus on thunderstorms.
Ex: If you can hear thunder, then you are in danger of being struck by lightning. Find shelter inside a building or a car. A car is a safe place to go if the windows are closed. If you are inside a house, unplug any electrical appliances. You can leave your electric lights on, but unplug televisions, radios, and microwave ovens. Do not use the telephone. If you remain calm and use common sense, you can be safe during a thunderstorm.
Now you practice:
· Ex: Topic: Hurricanes: What is the focus? What is the topic sentence?
· Topic: earthquakes What is the focus? What is the topic sentence?
· Topic: Blizzards What is the focus? What is the topic sentence?
13. In writing, the audience is an important consideration. Before a writer puts
anything on paper, he or she should consider exactly who will be reading it.
These readers are the audience, and a writer may need to change writing styles
slightly to capture the interest of different ones.
14. A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses. Each independent clause in a compound sentence can stand alone as a separate sentence. The independent clauses are usually joined by and, but, so, or, for, or yet and a comma.
Ex: I like to dance, but Jim likes to sing. (there is a sentence before the conjunction
and after the conjunction.)
· Sometimes a semicolon (;) is used to join the independent clauses in a compound sentence.
Ex: I like to dance; Jim likes to sing.
A complex sentence consists of one
independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
Ex: When the fire alarm went off, everyone left
the building. (refer to your
Review pages 148-156 in your
Grammar for Writing Workbook.
A good reader is like a good detective in many ways. To succeed, the detective
must be able to gain an overall impression of the case, to recognize clues,
identify important details, put events in sequence, draw inferences, and distinguish fact from opinion. Similarly, the effective reader must be a “reading” detective- on the search for the main idea, for supporting details, clues, inferences, and so forth. In a word, the reader, like the
detective, must master the skills necessary to obtain successful results. You will also derive word meaning and identify the author’s purpose.
Your exam will be “Cold Comprehension” and will test your ability to use the skills learned in reading. You will read stories and answer questions using critical thinking. | <urn:uuid:646dbfd5-9373-4869-99eb-c6b413305268> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://teacherweb.com/LA/BoyetJrHigh/MrsBurkes/apt1.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931464 | 2,010 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Unfolding: The Science of Your Soul's Work by Julia Mossbridge
Price: $4.99 USD. 43820 words.
Published on March 4, 2012. .
In Unfolding, scientist Julia Mossbridge presents a fun, practical, and non-dogmatic method to help you discover, master, and share your life's work. Try just a few of her gentle yet powerful experiments, and you will discover for yourself what it means to become the "scientist of your soul." | <urn:uuid:5b2f73bd-71d6-42de-b74e-fb92e6e3d39b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smashwords.com/books/tags/create_a_better_life?adult=on | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933872 | 104 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Green Inaugural Ball
Where you watch and celebrate the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama might not as be important as how you watch it. The historic swearing-in of Obama on January 20th will be welcomed with celebrations worldwide, marking the beginning of a new era in which the U.S. can focus on the use clean energy and green technology to change the country, save the economy, and solve the climate crisis.
Heading to Washington, D.C this weekend without a plan maybe very adventurous but if you want to have somewhat of an outline of what to do check out the sites listed below.
- For the full guide to the Presidential Inauguration -- where to go, what is happening and how to get there, check out the official inauguration sites here and here.
- US News' A Green Inauguration Visitor's Thrifty Guide to Washington, D.C has some great tips, ranging from where you can stay if you don’t have a place to crash already to free events happening all weekend long. See also Huffington Post's Green Inaugural Guide.
Millions of people are heading to Washington, D.C. this weekend to join in on all the festivities surrounding the Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and while we can't do anything about the crowds, we hope to make it easier for you to lessen your impact on the environment with all the travel and excitement.
Today the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball and Live Earth announce that world-renowned artists – will.i.am., Melissa Etheridge, Maroon 5, John Legend, Michael Franti – are scheduled to perform at the upcoming 2009 Green Inaugural Ball on Monday, January 19, at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.
Executive produced by Live Earth, the intimate evening of featured performances will represent a variety of musical genres from hip-hop to rock. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Van Jones, President of Green For All, and others will speak to the strength and diversity of organizations, corporations, and individuals committed to the new green economy that will advance clean and efficient energy, reduce global warming and protect and restore America’s natural heritage.
Live Earth and online video partner Magnify.net want to give everyone the opportunity to participate in the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball, a celebration of a new era of possibility for the environment and the new green economy.
Anyone can submit a new or existing short film or video to the Live Earth Video site powered by Magnify.net (http://video.liveearth.org/) expressing ideas as to how President Barack Obama and his administration can use clean energy and green technology to change the country, save the economy, and solve the climate crisis.
Today the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball announced selection of Live Earth founder Kevin Wall as executive producer of the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball. Live Earth was selected by the Organizing Committee to bring star-studded cachet to this year’s event, an intimate evening featuring musical performances by world-renowned artists to be announced shortly.
The 2009 Inaugural Green Ball celebrates the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and the expanding network of diverse organizations, companies, and individuals committed to advancing our clean economy to create shared prosperity for all.
“The 2009 Inaugural Green Ball Organizing Committee and I hand-picked Kevin Wall and the Live Earth team to executive produce this year’s event to ensure we deliver the best possible Green Ball befitting this historic occasion. It is my pleasure to be partnered with Live Earth again, as they are the experts in creating high-profile events that marry music star power with an important environmental message,” said the Honorable Al Gore. | <urn:uuid:e46c2dcc-50fe-4433-9f62-3ccd44770461> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://liveearth.org/it/liveearthblog/events/inauguralball?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918067 | 782 | 1.984375 | 2 |
"Vrihadaswa said, 'After the festivities had commenced in the city that was full of joy and without anxiety of any kind, the king with a large force brought Damayanti (from her father's home). And her father, too, that slayer of hostile heroes, Bhima of terrible prowess and immeasurable soul, sent his daughter, having honoured her duly. And upon the arrival of the princess of Vidarbha accompanied by her son and daughter, king Nala began to pass his days in joy like the chief of the celestials in the gardens of Nandana. And the king of undying fame, having regained his kingdom and becoming illustrious among monarchs of the island of Jamvu, began once more to rule it. And he duly performed numerous sacrifices with abundant gifts to Brahmanas. O great king, thou also wilt with thy kindred and relatives, so blaze forth in effulgence soon. For, O foremost of men, it was thus that subjugator of hostile cities, king Nala, had fallen into distress along with his wife, in consequence, O bull of Bharata race of dice. And, O lord of the earth, Nala suffered such dire woe all alone and recovered his prosperity, whereas thou, O son of Pandu, with heart fixed on virtue, art sporting in joy in this great forest, accompanied by thy brothers and Krishna. When thou art also, O monarch, mixing daily with blessed Brahmanas versed in the Vedas and their branches, thou hast little cause for sorrow. This history, besides, of the Naga Karkotaka, of Damayanti, of Nala and of that royal sage Rituparna, is destructive of evil. And, O thou of unfading glory, this history, destructive of the influence of Kali, is capable, O king, of comforting persons
like thee when they listen to it. And reflecting upon the uncertainty (of success) of human exertion, it behoveth thee not to joy or grieve at prosperity or adversity. Having listened to this history, be comforted, O king, and yield not to grief. It behoveth thee not, O great king, to pine under calamity. Indeed, men of self-possession, reflecting upon the caprice of destiny and the fruitlessness of exertion, never suffer themselves to be depressed. They that will repeatedly recite this noble history of Nala, and that will hear it recited, will never be touched by adversity. He that listeneth to this old and excellent history hath all his purposes crowned with success and, without doubt, obtaineth fame, besides sons and grandsons and animals, a high position among men, and health, and joy. And, O king, the fear also that thou entertainest, viz., (Some one skilled in dice will summon me), I will for once dispel. O thou of invincible prowess, I know the science of dice in its entirety. I am gratified with thee; take this lore, O son of Kunti, I will tell unto thee.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "King Yudhishthira then, with a glad heart, said unto Vrihadaswa, 'O illustrious one, I desire to learn the science of dice from thee.' The Rishi then gave his dice-lore unto the high-souled son of Pandu, and having given it unto him, that great ascetic went to the sacred waters of Hayasirsha for a bath.
"And after Vrihadaswa had gone away, Yudhishthira of firm vows heard from Brahmanas and ascetics that came to him from various directions and from places of pilgrimage and mountains and forests that Arjuna of high intelligence and capable of drawing the bow with his left hand, was still engaged in the austerest of ascetic penances, living upon air alone. And he heard that the mighty-armed Partha was engaged in such fierce asceticism that none else before him had ever been engaged in such penances. And Dhananjaya, the son of Pritha, engaged in ascetic austerities with regulated vows and fixed mind and observing the vow of perfect silence, was, he heard, like the blazing god of justice himself in his embodied form. And, O king, (Yudhishthira) the son of Pandu hearing that his dear brother Jaya, the son of Kunti, was engaged in such asceticism in the great forest, began to grieve for him. And with a heart burning in grief, the eldest son of Pandu, seeking consolation in that mighty forest held converse with the Brahmanas possessed of various knowledge who were living with him there." | <urn:uuid:14be4732-ec66-4843-86a7-e7409e27f5b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bharatadesam.com/spiritual/mahabharata/mahabharata_03079.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963058 | 987 | 2.0625 | 2 |
By now, most people understand the energy-saving merits of LED light fixtures. But according to Christopher Thompson, professional lighting designer and founder of Studio Lux, Seattle, Wash., this is just one of many benefits homeowners can reap by switching over to LED technology. The impact of LED on residential lighting is so significant, says Thompson, that more will change in the way homes are illuminated in the next three years than has changed over the past 30 years.
Although LED technology may be expensive now, with web-enabled bulbs like Philips’ Hue selling for $60 each, costs will decline as more manufacturers jump on the bandwagon. Also, notes Thompson, manufacturers of architectural lighting control systems have engineered their products to enable LEDs to be brightened, dimmed and incorporated into lighting scenes along with traditional incandescent bulbs. A few of the other reasons Thompson is “excited” about the transition from incandescent to LEDs:
•LEDs have a smaller form factor than other types of fixtures, which enables them to be installed discreetly in places that other bulbs may not fit. The fact that they emit very little heat also opens up new installation options. LED “pads,” for example, measure just 3/8 of an inch thick, making them ideally suited for mounting to the underside of a kitchen cabinet. Since they generate little heat, there’s no risk to items, like spices, that may be contained inside the cabinetry.
•LED strips tucked around the perimeter of a cove ceiling can blanket a room with gentle, evenly dispersed illumination, often precluding the need for several recessed can lights in the ceiling.
•LED fixtures offer the opportunity for lighting designers to adjust the “temperature” of the bulb’s light output. For example, a designer can dial down the Kelvin temperature to achieve a cool, bluish effect or raise the temperature to create a warmer looking atmosphere. When temperature control is combined with dimming and brightening functionality, Thompson says lighting will start to take on a theatrical look in homes. “Today we achieve this warm and cool affects by using filters and lenses. In a matter of months, we should be able to do it via programming.”
•LED bulbs with a built-in WiFi connection are already starting to hit the marketplace, and their impact, says Thompson will be huge. A WiFi connection will allow homeowners to control lights via apps on their smartphones and tablets, which makes lighting control more affordable and more accessible. “No longer will you have to invest in a hugely expensive system in order to have the convenience of controlled lighting in one concentrated area,” he says.
Below is a video by EnvironmentalLights.com, which shows their new line of modular LED under cabinet lighting systems. | <urn:uuid:d6f4a959-8889-4f4a-9567-c25d1a7ae862> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electronichouse.com/article/big_changes_on_the_horizon_for_residential_lighting/C156 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951959 | 568 | 2.171875 | 2 |
I Want My TIA
Total Information Awareness will consign Google to the Stone Age.
By Howard Bloom
By now, you've heard all about Total Information Awareness, the Darpa program designed to jump-start new methods of knowledge gathering, integration, and prediction. It's one of our high tech answers to the terrorist menace of bin Laden and his many Osama wannabes. But if you know the simple facts about Total Information Awareness, you've also heard that the system itself is the real enemy.TIA is at the center of a media storm that started last summer, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation's online newsletter headlined an alert about the program: "how to build a police state." The EFF analysis became the standard line, and by November, even The New York Times had agreed that it was "a vast electronic dragnet." In February, Congress put the Pentagon on notice that it would not tolerate the surveillance of US citizens. Last I checked, there were 28,000 Web sites opining on TIA. The vibe? Overwhelmingly negative.
Frankly, the critics are missing the point.
TIA promises search engines that will consign Google to the Stone Age. TIA's dialog technology will listen to your words, then link you to a trove of data that makes today's Web look like the library of an illiterate.
Can't think of the perfect search term to dig up what you want? No problem. One of TIA's component programs, Genisys, aims to totally reinvent the database, increasing its usefulness and its contents by an order of magnitude. It will be the database of databases, with an add-on Babblefish able to parse and cross-reference every possible information stream. The most ambitious TIA initiative, Genoa II, is working to produce cognitive amplifiers - a symbiotic thinking system that weaves together human and machine intelligences more tightly than ever before.
Have an important meeting coming up and don't know the first thing about the topic? Did you meet someone on an airplane last year named Jim or John, and then lose his business card?
Well, on your commute, flip the switch to your TIA-developed Communicator platform and initiate a search. It's being designed to knit together all kinds of disparate data: travel documents, phone records, credit card and banking statements, even server logs.
Tracking terrorists is just a pretext for getting the best computer scientists at Darpa to create what we all really want: a general-purpose IQ expansion pack capable of plowing through the built-in barriers of central nervous system-based software. It will show us whole new ways to look at what we're up against - whether it's bin Laden, a demanding boss, or that damn lost phone number.
For a paltry $200 million a year - the cost of a B-1 bomber - we finally get a national technology initiative worth pursuing. And if it accomplishes only a fraction of its goals, so what? Even that will dramatically expand the powers of our forgetful brains.
Of course, I'm assuming that the government will let us have the technology. And I'm right - it will. History proves that nearly every American military invention smaller than a house eventually made its way to the general public. From 1795 to 1851, the government's Springfield Armory first perfected mass production. The Great War gave us commercial aviation, World War II the computers and the tubes that power our microwave ovens. And the Cold War produced NASA, GPS locators, and, oh yeah, the Internet.
Total Information Awareness is in the hands of one of the few government bureaus a technophile can love - Darpa. The agency has long been a Santa Claus for civilian tech junkies. It's given us the very large-scale integrated circuit, packet-switching, X-ray lithography, advanced semiconductors, hybrid cars, supercapacitors, advanced fuel cells, telesurgery, and a bonanza of other technodelights.
Public scrutiny of ominous-sounding government plans is a good thing. If people are being abused by Big Brother, it's vital to drag the atrocities out of hiding and stop them. The misuse of technology is a social evil, and it's essential to fight against this sort of crime. But let's remember that the evil resides in the crime, not in the technology.
Frankly, I want my TIA. And if given the choice, I'd have it today.
Howard Bloom (howIbloom@aol.com) is a paleopsychologist and the author of Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind.
How is the glut of communications devices affecting communication?
Steven Pinker, professor, MIT; author, The Language Instinct
Many have fretted that the casual style of email, IM, and SMS will degrade the English language. I doubt it. When pay-by-the-word telegraphy was introduced, people omitted prepositions, articles auxiliaries, and more - and that didn't lead them to omit the words from their speech. Our teenagers may have to be taught not to use SMS abbreviations in term papers, just as they are taught not to use slang. But formal writing is a special register that children have always had to learn through feedback and instruction.
Anthony Townsend, COO, Cloud Networks; cofounder, NYCwireless
A lot of the random conversations people used to strike up while waiting in a public place are being replaced with mobile calls. Rather than try to chat with the stranger on the next bar stool, today's youth would rather pass the time talking to someone familiar via phone.
Jennifer Allanson, lecturer on interactive systems, Lancaster University
The deliberate and considered effort that used to go into establishing a link and sharing time with another human being is lost - you end up with lots of throwaway interactions. But I think the next generation of communications technologies will be able to detect and relay otherwise invisible physiological responses (touch, smell, eye movements, heart and brain signals, et cetera). This may afford us technology-enhanced interpersonal interactions unlike anything we have experienced thus far.
The Fight to Control Your Mind
Richard Glen Boire
Should the government have the right to alter the biochemistry of your brain? Richard Glen Boire, codirector and legal counsel of the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, says no, and he's making his case before the Supreme Court. In Sell v. US, the government argues that it can drug Charles Sell, a dentist from Missouri, in order to make him competent to stand trial. Boire, whose amicus brief argues that Sell has a right to integrity of mind, explains why cognitive liberty goes way beyond this one case.
WIRED: What is cognitive liberty?
BOIRE: It's the right to determine your own thinking processes, which also means resisting attempts by others, including the government, to manipulate the electrochemical state of your brain. In Sell's case, the government wants to alter his thinking by forcibly drugging him. It's a scary notion with deep implications for the modern status of freedom of thought.
The Constitution already protects freedom of thought.
That's true. What we're arguing is that the legal interpretation of the Constitution needs expanding to account for recent scientific advances in manipulating the brain.
So you think the law isn't keeping up with technology?
To adapt Marshall McLuhan's phrase, the law drives forward by looking in the rearview mirror. The law needs to be harmonized with what's going on in society today so we're not just giving lip service to freedom of thought while the thing that makes it meaningful, the autonomy of a person's brain, is being eroded.
How is it being eroded?
The law needs to account for the plethora of new drugs and technologies making it possible to augment, modulate, and surveil thinking. The question increasingly is: Who has the power to do this, the individual or the government? We contend that the power should rest with the individual.
Charles Sell is a pretty unsavory character, particularly in his views about race. So why should we care what the Supreme Court says about his cognitive liberty?
Protecting speech for everybody means protecting it for unsavory people. The same is true of cognitive liberty. The point is to avoid giving government the power to commit cognitive censorship, whether it's targeting people we agree with or people we don't. That's inherent in all true freedoms.
- Michael Erard
The Secret War Machine
The missing link between the Contras and al Qaeda.
By Bruce Sterling
It may come as a shock that Vice Admiral John Poindexter has popped up as a visionary cyberguru for Darpa. Until recently, the former national security adviser was best known as a convicted conspirator in the late-'80s Iran-Contra scandal. Poindexter's career move makes sense, though, when you consider the astonishing prescience of his scheme to fund covert operations in Central America. The visionary spirit of Iran-Contra never died, and today it's alive and well and fueling the War on Terror.
People born during Iran-Contra are now nearly old enough to drink, so a quick review is in order. In the mid-'80s, the Republican Reagan administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress differed on how to deal with the menace of the leftist government in Nicaragua. Anticommunist Reaganites favored the classic communist tactic of secretly arming opposition movements ("contra-revolutionaries"), while Congress considered this strategy sneaky, illegal, and destabilizing to the international order. Congress prevailed, cutting off the CIA's funding for a proxy war in Central America.
But Congress was merely a local outfit. The anticommunist faction both privatized and globalized, replacing vanished public subsidies with private funds from right-wing charities like the National Defense Council, the Nicaraguan Freedom Fund, and the Western Goals Foundation, as well as from supportive Muslims with oil money to burn. The conspirators secretly acquired weapons from Israel and sold them to Iran at a hefty profit, which they turned over to guerrillas fighting the Nicaraguan regime.
Admiral Poindexter's PROF interoffice email system (powered by an IBM mainframe) seems pretty backward nowadays, but there was an unmistakable Enron-style genius in routing charity money and Saudi profits through Israeli arms contractors to buy munitions for Nicaraguan counterrevolutionaries. John Poindexter, Oliver North, Elliot Abrams, Richard Secord, John Singlaub, Robert MacFarlane, Adnan Khashoggi, Manucher Ghorbanifar: These legendary innovators created something truly new and brilliant - an offshore, autonomous, self-financing, global, anticommunist venture-capital outfit big enough to fight a private war against a sovereign nation. Lieutenant Colonel North liked to call it Project Democracy. It ran loops around Congress the way offshore Internet porn rings dodge the US Customs Service.
Hezbollah, the Islamist terror network that still thrives in the ghastly politics of the Middle East, may have triggered the operation's demise. Iran, which had bought hundreds of small rockets through Oliver North, leaned on Hezbollah to release seven American hostages, a cause close to President Reagan's heart. Somebody, quite likely a Hezbollah terrorist, leaked the truth about arms-for-hostages to Al Shiraa, a Lebanese newsweekly. The leak set in motion a stumbling series of revelations and attempted stonewalls that ended the short, inventive life of Project Democracy.
Considering the audacity of the scheme's challenge to Constitutional authority, its principals have done surprisingly well in the years since. Oliver North gave up his uniform to become what he always had been at heart: a right-wing political agitator. Elliot Abrams now manages Venezuelan revolution, counterrevolution, and counter-counterrevolution for the State Department. And, of course, John Poindexter is in charge of the Department of Defense's Total Information Awareness program.
But the real success story is the Contras, or rather their modern successor: al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden's crew is a band of government-funded anticommunist counterrevolutionaries who grew up and cut the apron strings. These new-model Contras don't need state support from Washington, Moscow, or any Accessory of Evil. Like Project Democracy, they've got independent financing: oil money, charity money, arms money, and a collection plate wherever a junkie shoots up in an alley. Instead of merely ignoring and subverting governments for a higher cause, as Poindexter did, al Qaeda tries to destroy them outright. Suicide bombers blew the Chechnyan provisional puppet government sky high. Cars packed with explosives nearly leveled the Indian Parliament. We all know what happened to the Pentagon.
The next Iran-Contra is waiting, because the contradictions that created the first have never been resolved. Iran-Contra wasn't about eager American intelligence networks spreading dirty money in distant lands; it was about the gap between old, legitimate, land-based governments ruled by voters and the new, stateless, globalized predation. The next scandal will erupt when someone as molten, self-righteous, and frustrated as John Poindexter uses stateless power for domestic advantage. That's the breaking point in American politics: not when you call in the plumbers, but when you turn them loose on the opposition party. Then the Empire roils in a lather of sudden, indignant fury and strikes back against its own.
Email Bruce Sterling at Bruces@well.com.
Profits of Doom
Why the bust was for the best for the rest of us. (Again.)
By J. Bradford DeLong
Let us now praise famous men, the wild-eyed enthusiasts who begat the bubble-boom.
Conventional wisdom, you may remember, once rode side by side with the prophets of change. When the stock market hit the puke stage, conventional wisdom turned. The whole new economy thing had been a bad thing. Time, talent, and capital were thrown away on unsustainable enterprises like point-and-click pet food; it was good for Odwalla, but not good for America.
Today's party line is that the gold rush brought both pain and gain. Fortunes were poured into overflowing snake pits of fiber-optic cables, which, like Web-ordered groceries, proved to be profit-free zones. In just four years, the craze sucked up $600 billion worth of purchasing power. On the flip side, public markets paid for a build-out of the network infrastructure, and burn rates pushed the envelope of the culture at large. As Andy Grove said in these pages, "The dotcoms threw themselves on the bonfire, but they created a bigger flame as a result." So while the Intels, Dells, and Oracles might be shells of their former market-cap selves, huge amounts of useful stuff found its way to consumers. Even the flameouts pumped out stuff so cheap that though it's not all clearly useful, it's still an amazing bargain.
In fact, history will look back and see gain and gain. That's because profits are not the same thing as social value. Just because a group of firms, an industry segment, flopped as a profitmaker does not mean it failed as a producer. Profit is primarily a signal about the size of a set of enterprises: If too small, then customers are desperate for your products, prices are high, and profits abundant; if too large, then customers are satiated, you can barely give the stuff away, and profits are absent. If profits are high, the industry segment should grow; if absent, it should shrink.
That the dotcom and telecom sectors needed (and need) to shrink has next to nothing to do with how useful their products will turn out to be. The US airline industry is a perpetual loss machine. Yet the service it provides the rest of us is incredibly valuable. British investors in US railroads during the late 19th century got their pockets picked twice: first as waves of overenthusiasm led to overbuilding, ruinous competition, and unbelievable (for that time) burn rates, and second as sharp financial operators stripped investors of control and ownership during bankruptcy workouts. Yet Americans and the American economy benefited enormously from the resulting network of railroad tracks that stretched from sea to shining sea. For a curious thing happened as railroad bankruptcies and price wars put steady downward pressure on shipping prices and slashed rail freight and passenger rates across the country: New industries sprang up.
Consider, for example, the old Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck catalogs. Sears and Montgomery Ward discovered at the end of the 19th century that the cost of shipping consumer goods to rural America was no longer a competitive burden.
Mail a catalog to every household in the country. Offer them big-city goods at near big-city discounts. Rake in the money from satisfied customers. For two generations this business model - call it the "railroad services" business model - was a license to print money, made possible only by the gross overbuilding of railroads, the resulting collapse of freight rates, and the fact that railroad investors had had to kiss nearly all their money good-bye. Their pain was outweighed by the gain to American consumers and manufacturers, who could now order and ship goods essentially free. The irrational exuberance of the late 1800s made the railroads a money-losing industry - and a wealth-creating industry. The more money investors lost through overbuilding, the lower freight rates became, and the more railroads belched out wealth for everybody else.
The same thing will happen with the froth that the bubble put on our 1990s boom. Investors lost their money. We now get to use all their stuff. What got built wasn't profitable, but a large chunk of it will be very useful.
We don't yet know what profitable new firms and industries will be built on the bones of the dotcoms and telecoms. The number of people who say TiVo has changed their life makes it likely some form of true video-on-demand, at pennies per picture, will be among these new businesses. The sheer number of files on the Web and their growing size makes it likely that some descendant of Google will be among them. The cheaper the bandwidth, the better the images provided for online shopping - and while realistic images aren't that important when you're buying books or CDs, they become increasingly important indeed when you start buying clothes, cars, and condominiums.
But just as the profits made possible by the railroads showed up in the pockets of Sears stockholders, we will be surprised all over again. And what a rush that will be.
Contact J. Bradford DeLong at www.j-bradford-delong.net.
Copyright © 1993-2004 The Condé Nast Publications Inc. All rights reserved.
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This article was originally distributed via PRWeb. PRWeb, WorldNow and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith.
SOURCE: No Limits Media Inc.
No Limits Media is proud to announce a special presentation of the film, Two Who Dared: The Sharps' War, hosted by the USHMM at the Boston Public Library on March 13th.
Boston, MA (PRWEB) March 01, 2013
There will be a special presentation of the documentary film, Two Who Dared: The Sharps' War in Boston on March 13th. Hosted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Two Who Dared tells the story of a Unitarian minister, Waitstill Sharp and his wife Martha who, just days prior to the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, left their young children in Wellesley, Massachusetts to help save thousands being persecuted in Eastern Europe. Who were these American heroes? What drove their willingness to put the well-being of strangers over that of themselves and their family?
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, March 13th at 7 pm
LOCATION: Boston Public Library
700 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
PROGRAM: Panel Discussion:
Moderator: Aleisa Fishman
Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Catherine Vakar Chvany, Child refugee rescued by Sharps
Artemis Joukowsky III, Director of Two Who Dared: The Sharps' War and grandson of Waitstill and Martha Sharp
The documentary is told from the point of view of Martha and Waitstill, drawing on their recorded interviews, letters and unpublished memoirs, and includes interviews with rescued children and noted Holocaust scholars.
Partnering with Facing History and Ourselves to increase educational outreach for Two Who Dared, an educational curriculum has been developed and will go out to 28,000 educators in the Spring. Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse background in an examination of racism, prejudice and antisemitism to promote the development of a more human and informed citizenry.
Two Who Dared has received a number of awards and recognition:
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/3/prweb10283091.htm | <urn:uuid:596167af-0b07-4826-b0c4-4bc22e20ed17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtrf.com/story/21442610/united-states-holocaust-memorial-museum-to-host-screening-of-two-who-dared-at-boston-public-library | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937917 | 487 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Ted Cruz (TX)
Name: Ted Cruz
Hometown: Houston, TX
Family: Married to wife, Heidi Cruz, with two daughters
Personal Biography: Ted Cruz's father came to Texas from Cuba penniless at age 18, not speaking a word of English, but in high school, Ted gave speeches based on his studies of Mises & Hayek. Ted went on to study at Princeton and graduate from Harvard Law School magna cum laude. Cruz served as the Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to May 2008. He currently serves as a Partner at Morgan, Lewis &Bockius LLP in Houston, where he leads the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national Appellate Litigation practice. In addition, from 2004-09, he taught U.S. Supreme Court Litigation as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law. Ted and his wife Heidi live in Houston, where he grew up, with their three-year-old daughter, Caroline, and their newborn daughter Catherine.
Political Biography: In January 2011, Ted Cruz filed to run for U.S. Senate to defend liberty, preserve the Constitution, and stop federal overreach. Before this campaign, Ted served from 2003 to 2008 as the Solicitor General of Texas. He has authored over 80 U.S. Supreme Court briefs and personally argued 40 oral arguments, including 9 before the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, during Ted’s service as Solicitor General, Texas achieved an unprecedented series of landmark national victories, and he has been nationally recognized on multiple occasions for his legal skills. His Senate campaign has been endorsed by Sen. Jim DeMint, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Rand Paul, and Rep. Ron Paul.
Primary Election: May 29, 2012
Runoff Election: July 31, 2012
General Election: November 6, 2012
The District: Cruz will run to replace retiring Republican incumbent Kay Bailey Hutchison. He faces eight primary challengers, the most notable of whom are David Dewhurst, Texas' Lieutenant Governor, and Tom Leppert, the mayor of Dallas. Polling shows that whoever wins the GOP primary will likely take the seat with a strong majority showing in the general; in Hutchison's last election, she won with 91.3% of the vote against two challengers.
Federalism & the 10th Amendment
Use these links to learn more about Ted Cruz, a true constitionalist for Texas: | <urn:uuid:c178b195-9d01-4bb4-afcf-93bf59e2b169> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yaliberty.org/pac/candidates/cruz | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960287 | 515 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Category: Religion & Philosophy / Religion & Beliefs
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 3 March 1997
Number of pages: 208
Charlotte Joko Beck is one of the most popular Zen teachers currently teaching in the West. This beautifully written book is a Zen guide to the problems of daily living, love, relationships, work, fear and suffering. Beck describes how to be in the present and living each moment to the full.
What the papers say:
'Deals with the most important spiritual practice of all -- how we can live awakened in our daily life.' Jack Kornfield
Charlotte Joko Beck was born in New Jersey and brought up a family of 4 children. In her forties she began the practice of Zen with Maezumi Roshi and Soen Roshi. Joko was eventually designated as Maezumi Roshi's third Dharma heir and now lives and teaches in the San Diego Zen Centre.
In Stock: 0 copies | <urn:uuid:8a80f866-5faf-42b3-a388-22c5f9175f8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenmetropolis.com/book.aspx?isbn=9780722534359 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921766 | 199 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Beacon Parent Association (BPA)
The BPA is an active association of Beacon parents who serve the school by initiating and assisting with school-wide events including Family Fun Day, International Food Fair,Filipino Week, bake sales, Christmas holiday festivities, and charity drives. BPA also provides an essential communication link between the parent community and the Beacon School Leadership Team, offering constructive input on a wide range of school-wide issues: school uniforms, canteen service, student behavior, school traditions, premises, and school climate. Finally, BPA hosts fund-raising activities in support of school-improvement initiatives.
Parent volunteers represent each class from K – Grade 5 and each homeroom section for Grades 6 – 8. The role of the Room Parent is to serve as liaison between the teacher and the parents in their section for communication about and support for special events, field trips, and special class celebrations. Like officers of the BPA, room parents also serve as an essential communication link between parents and the Leadership Team on school-wide issues.
Beacon parents have opportunities to be engaged in the Beacon School learning community in numerous ways throughout the academic year; they serve as resource speakers, join field trips, facilitate hands-on learning experiences, and provide technical assistance to teachers and the Leadership Team members in their areas of expertise such as film or languages. | <urn:uuid:a2591218-8288-4f79-809c-24db62d205ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beaconschool.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=155&Itemid=144 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955806 | 277 | 1.609375 | 2 |
You know the drill: You wake up with a sore throat and stuffy nose. So you dissolve a couple of Emergen-C packets in your water bottle, snuff some Afrin, and suck a few menthol cough drops. If you keep up with the latest buzz about immune boosters, you might even swallow some maitaki mushroom or astralagus extract.
Maybe you keep the cold at bay, and maybe you don’t. Which ever the case, you know that you can expect this routine on a seasonal basis. But why do you regularly get sick if you eat your fruits, veggies and acai berries?
Because our immune system doesn’t start with us. It starts with the creatures who live inside of us!
Immunity is in the Gut
It is estimated that 80-85% of the immune system lies in the gut (Campbell-McBride, 2010). How does that work? After all, isn’t that simply a part of our digestive system?
Our gut houses over 500 species of bacteria, often referred to as gut flora. Although science does not (and will never) fully understand the full relationship between the bacteria housed in our bodies, it is known that these creatures play specific roles in homeostasis and growth, including nutrient absorption, mucosal barrier function, support of gut lymphoid tissue, and immune function (Pai, Kang, 2008).
Due to their vital interactions with the human body, these organisms in the digestive tract has been referred to as “an organ within an organ.” Additionally, the amount of bacteria in the gut out numbers our body cells by ten times (keep in mind that bacteria cells are much smaller than body cells). In a way, we are just a shell to house this civilization of bacteria (O’Hara, Shanahan, 2006)!
How does beneficial gut flora affect the immune system?
So just what role does beneficial gut flora (a.k.a probiotics) play in immunity? Again, we have only scratched the surface of this topic. But these interesting findings give a glimpse into the role of gut flora boosting our immune system:
Lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei (found in naturally fermented foods like sauerkraut and yogurt) produces the enzyme lactocepin. This enzyme destroys immune system messengers called chemokines. In a healthy gut, chemokines guide defense cells to an infection but they exacerbate an autoimmune response in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease. As a result, consuming sources of lactic acid bacteria potentially reduces the autoimmune responses in the body (Technische Universitaet Muenchen, 2012).
A strain of the probiotic Bifidobacteria secretes gama-aminobutyric acid. Macrophages, immune cells that engulf bacteria and virus-infested cells, have butyric acid receptors and–when activated by a presence of the acid–lead to a reduction in the production of inflammatory compounds (American Society for Microbiology, 2012).
The cell walls of Bifidobacterium contain Muramil Dipeptide, a substance which activates the synthesis of lymphocytes (Campbell-McBride, 2010). Lymphocytes, immune cells that produce antibodies, are responsible for acquired immunity (Campbell et al, 2009).
In one study, scientists examined the effect of kefir (probiotic-rich fermented milk) on the immune functions of young rats. The rats were given kefir daily for 28 days and inoculated with cholera toxin (CT) on two different days during the period. The young rats eating a daily dose of kefir exhibited significantly higher CT antibodies than the control group (Thoreux, Douglas, 2001).
What happens when there is an imbalance of gut flora?
As the examples above show, healthy gut flora is key to a fully functioning immune system. Unfortunately, in the modern world, gut flora is easily thrown out of whack.
Antibiotics destroy and mutate beneficial bacteria while fostering the overgrowth of opportunistic strains. Additional drugs and toxins, including the birth control pill, stress, formula instead of breast milk, and pollutants (and more factors) contribute to the disbyosis. Diet plays a huge role, as the consumption of refined starches and sugar feed pathogenic flora and yeasts (Campbell-McBride, 2010).
The most important way to boost your immune system
In a nutshell, balance your gut flora. This will strengthen you immune system with bacteria that produce lactocepin, gama-aminobutyric acid, lymphocytes, and antibodies. The two steps include starving the pathogenic bacteria and consuming sources of probotic bacteria.
Opportunistic flora thrives on refined carbohydrates, such as grains and sugar. A person with a highly dysbiotic gut may need to eliminate all grains, sugar and processed foods for a couple of years in order to starve out the pathogens. This change not only removes the fuel for the bad bacteria, but it removes the polysaccharides that leak through the gut wall and cause allergic responses. Polysaccharides may be incorporated back into the diet without these results after the gut has sealed and formed a protective layer of flora (Gottschall, 2010).
If you are generally healthy, you won’t need to take such drastic steps. Remove processed foods and refined sugars and make your own treats and desserts with whole food ingredients like soaked grains, honey and maple syrup.
Besides starving the pathogenic flora, one must repopulate the gut with proper flora by consuming sources of probiotics. Often, people fall for marketing ploys and eat sugary, commercial yogurt with the assumption that it will restore flora balance. The most potent and effective sources of probiotics, however are from naturally fermented, unprocessed foods. I eat lots of homemade sauerkraut, fermented carrots and homemade goat milk yogurt for probiotics.
Boost your immune system before the cold hits with naturally fermented foods. And remember, eat well and heal!™
Photo credit: 1, 2, 3. Click here for works cited
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April 13, 2012
Can a Hallucinogen from Africa Cure Addiction?
By: Stephanie Hegarty
BBC News tells the story of Thillen Naidoo a South African man who found that ibogaine treatment helped him overcome his severe cocaine addiction. Increasing numbers of caregivers and patients worldwide are exploring the potential of ibogaine for addiction treatment, but the substance remains an illegal drug in most countries. In this article, experts in the UK discuss what it will take to make ibogaine and other psychedelics available as legitimate medicines for the people they could help most.
Originally appearing here.
Since the 1960s a disparate group of scientists and former drug addicts have been advocating a radical treatment for addiction - a hallucinogen called ibogaine, derived from an African plant, that in some cases seems to obliterate withdrawal symptoms from heroin, cocaine and alcohol. So why isn’t it widely used?
For nearly 15 years, Thillen Naidoo’s life was ruled by crack cocaine. Growing up in Chatsworth, a township on the outskirts of Durban in South Africa, he was surrounded by drugs.
After a troubled childhood and the death of his father, he turned to cocaine.
Though he held down a job as a carpenter and could go for days or even weeks without a hit, his wild drug binges often ended in arguments with his wife Saloshna and sometimes even physical abuse.
By the time he met Dr Anwar Jeewa at the Minds Alive Rehab Centre in Chatsworth, Naidoo had tried to quit several times and failed. “Those were dark, dark days,” he says.
Jeewa offered a radical solution, a hallucinogenic drug used in tribal ceremonies in central Africa that would obliterate his cravings.
But Naidoo was anxious. “I didn’t know what this ibogaine thing was,” he says. “I never expected it to work.”
After several medical tests he was given the pill.
A few hours later he lay in bed, watching flying fish swarm above his head. He felt the room move around him and a constant buzz rang in his ears. Scenes from his childhood flashed up briefly before his eyes and each time someone approached to check he was OK he felt a rush of fear.
The hallucinogenic effect wore off overnight but for the next few days Thillen was in a haze. When he returned home a week later, he realised he no longer craved cocaine. Six months later, he is still clean.
He attends a therapy group two days a week, where he learns the skills necessary to maintain a lifestyle without drugs.
“My mind has shifted now from what I used to be,” he says. “I can look back at my childhood and deal with those issues without sobbing and feeling sorry for myself.”
Jeewa estimates he has treated around 1,000 people with ibogaine but it remains largely unacknowledged by the medical mainstream.
The drug, derived from the root of a central African plant called iboga, had been used for centuries by the Bwiti people of Gabon and Cameroon, as part of a tribal initiation ceremony.
But it wasn’t until 1962, when a young heroin addict called Howard Lotsof stumbled upon ibogaine, that its value as an addiction treatment was uncovered.
Lotsof took it to get high but when the hallucinogenic effects wore off, he realised he no longer had the compulsion to take heroin. He became convinced that he had found the solution to addiction and dedicated much of his life to promoting ibogaine as a treatment.
As far as scientists understand, ibogaine affects the brain in two distinct ways. The first is metabolic. It creates a protein that blocks receptors in the brain that trigger cravings, stopping the symptoms of withdrawal.
“Ibogaine tends to remove the withdrawals immediately and brings people back to their pre-addiction stage,” says Jeewa. With normal detox this process can take months.
Its second effect is much less understood. It seems to inspire a dream-like state that is intensely introspective, allowing addicts to address issues in their life that they use alcohol or drugs to suppress.
Howard Lotsof’s early campaign had little success and ibogaine was banned in the US, along with LSD and psilocybin mushrooms, in 1967.
In most other countries it remains unregulated and unlicensed. Lotsof set up a private clinic in the Netherlands in the 1980s and since then similar clinics have emerged in Canada, Mexico and South Africa.
These clinics operate in a legal grey area. But a small group of scientists is still working to bring ibogaine into the mainstream.
In the early 1990s, Deborah Mash, a neuroscientist and addiction specialist at the University of Miami, came upon the work of Dr Stanley Glick, a scientist who had researched the effect of ibogaine on rats.
Glick hooked rats on morphine, an opiate painkiller, by allowing them to self-administer it through a tube. He then gave them ibogaine and found they voluntarily stopped taking morphine.
Around the same time, Mash was contacted by Howard Lotsof. They began working together and in 1995 secured full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate its potential in humans.
But these tests cost millions of dollars, and Mash applied for five separate public grants but each one was declined.
Usually, this money would come from big pharmaceutical companies but drugs like ibogaine offer little potential for profit.
It only has to be taken once, unlike conventional treatments for heroin addiction such as methadone which is a substitute and addictive itself.
“One very cynical reason they are not being developed is that there is no patent on these drugs anymore so there is no pharmaceutical company involvement,” says Ben Sessa.
Pharmaceutical companies make money by patenting new chemicals but ibogaine is a naturally occurring substance and is difficult to secure a patent on.
It also comes with some risks. Ibogaine slows the heart rate and when administered to rats in very high doses, it has been proved to damage the cerebellum, a part of the brain associated with motor function.
There are 10 deaths known to be associated with the drug and its unregulated use has prompted some horror stories. Online forums are littered with stories of unscrupulous practitioners administering ibogaine in hotel rooms or in the patient’s home with no medical support.
One alcoholic says he paid $10,000 (£6,279) and it didn’t work at all. His respiration was not monitored and he didn’t have any physical or psychological check-ups beforehand.
“The ‘visions/trip’ were so excruciating I never wanted to be altered again. I felt I was near death during the trip because I was having trouble breathing.”
Ibogaine also has something of an image problem, says Glick.
“It has too much political baggage associated with it. By the time everybody became aware of it there was already scepticism because this was not something that came from a drug development programme.”
After failing to get funding, Mash opened a private clinical research centre on the island of St Kitts in the Caribbean in 1996. There she collected data on 300 addicts detoxed through ibogaine.
She says all patients showed an effect on their addiction, 70% went into remission for several months and many for years. The clinic’s first two patients are still drug-free 16 years later.
“Cocaine addiction is a terrible addiction,” she says. “Getting people off crack? Good luck. We did it, we were able to break out intractable addicts.”
Determined to bring the treatment to more people, Mash is now working with the private sector to create a version of the drug that will be more attractive to pharmaceutical companies.
She is working to isolate noribogaine, a substance created by ibogaine in the liver, which she believes is responsible for inhibiting cravings, taking away the hallucinogenic effect. But she continues to push for research into the whole drug.
Glick doesn’t believe noribogaine will ever be approved in the US. “If for no other reason than that it is too closely related to ibogaine,” he says.
He is developing an alternative but he regrets that significant testing into ibogaine has never been done.
According to a psychiatrist and addiction specialist, Dr Ben Sessa, the timing for this research could finally be right.
The past two years have seen the first scientific study published into the use of MDMA on trauma victims and psilocybin for psychotherapy, and a similar study into LSD is expected this year.
“Radical options are needed,” says David Nutt, head of the UK’s Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, but he maintains some scepticism about so-called wonder cures.
“The history of medicine is littered with people doing interesting, challenging things, but when you do proper control tests they reveal a massive placebo effect,” he says.
What is needed, he says, is a single blind study in which one group of addicts takes a standardised dose of the drug and another group takes a placebo, both followed by a full 12-step detox treatment plan. He estimates that would cost about $2.37 million (£1.5 million).
Clinicians like Jeewa would like to see the drug licensed but says people need to understand its limits.
“Once you have a patient that is drug free and whose brain is back to its full potential then you can help them change their lifestyle,” says Jeewa.
“Ibogaine helps to interrupt addiction but it’s not a cure or a magic bullet,” he says. “It has to be taken in the right setting and treatment has to be followed up with psychosocial care.”
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Post mortem results for Anna the Asian elephant
Friday 19 July 2002
We recently announced the sad death of Anna, one of Whipsnade Wild Animal Park's female Asian elephants
A post mortem carried out by the Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) veterinary staff has confirmed that Anna's death was due to an infection related to the still birth of her calf. Following a complicated birth of a stillborn calf on Monday 1st July, and despite the best efforts of the veterinary team and the continual attention of her dedicated keepers, she died at 8am on Thursday 4 July.
Anna was born in 1982, and spent the first years of her life in a Burmese logging camp. She arrived at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park in 1989 when she was seven years old, along with two of the other female Asian elephants at Whipsnade, Lucha and Kaylee.
"This has been very upsetting for everyone at Whipsnade and ZSL. As you can imagine, after following her pregnancy for so long, the loss of both Anna and her calf is deeply saddening," comments Nick Lindsay, Senior Curator at ZSL. "Anna was a favourite among many of our staff and regular visitors and will be hugely missed."
"Elephant births are notoriously difficult, especially for first time mothers - for instance, one of our other females, Lucha, failed to fully develop her pregnancy earlier this year," continues Nick Lindsay. "However, with five mature females and a fertile bull we have every reason to remain positive about the herd and its contribution to the conservation of this endangered species."
ZSL Public Relations Office:
Debbie Curtis/Peter Beatty/Joe Laing
Tel: 020 7449 6363/6361/6236
Notes to editors:
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park and London Zoo are owned and run by The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) which is a registered charity.
— ENDS — | <urn:uuid:2a8343af-36b6-472e-91fc-bd51eac402e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zsl.org/about-us/media/press-releases/996,996,PR.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968388 | 408 | 2.046875 | 2 |
This article in The National highlights the sharp drop of road fatalities in Dubai last year. 33 % drop is very significant (it’s phenomenal, in fact), and it deserves a closer examination. Commendable efforts by the RTA notwithstanding, such a sharp fall can’t be attributed to them alone (although one is so tempted……Not). Other than what is mentioned in the article, there are elements and variables that had come together to contribute to this drop. I will try here to think of some of them:
1- The article doesn’t distinguish between pedestrian accidents and vehicles' collision accidents. The former has been a tragic source of death in recent years, especially on highways like SZR. These would have been significantly reduced last year due to the opening of many pedestrian crossings over SZR (as part of metro stations…)
2- This is hard to quantify: but reduction in construction activities all over the place is also a factor. The article does refer to completion of road works and the eradication of spots that were ambiguous and confusing to drivers. But there’s something else: building construction too had slowed down, which meant less number of hurried concrete mixers or heavy equipments on the roads. Also, building contractors are entitled by law to occupy part of the road when they need to carry out major concreting or receive delivery of big construction parts. This is perfectly legal and any contractor can arrange it with a single application to Dubai Municipality (& Dubai Police, I think). Of course, they ought to observe safety procedures, and it’s hard to imagine how the cordoning of a lane at the side of road could lead to fatalities. However, one could think of domino effect and traffic botheration spilling from one place to another and worsening the general mood.
3- Speaking of moods: less traffic doesn’t only mean statistically less chances of cars colliding with each other. Getting stuck in traffic for hours could lead to high levels of stress and poor judgment. (on the other hand, one could argue that lax driving conditions could lead to carelessness…etc)
4- Also related to construction: there were several major accidents involving buses of construction workers in the last few years. One could assume that last year's construction schedules were more tolerant of delays, i.e. bus drivers no longer needed to rush like maniacs from camp to site in order to avoid being berated by the foreman. In addition to that; rents for labor camps had fallen and companies can afford to get laborer lodged somewhere near their place of work.
5- Maybe-- just maybe-- women had finally learned how to parallel-park.
Are there other reasons?
P.S. the entire post is written on the premise that the stats issued are legit and aren’t tweaked or interpreted to show a different picture than reality…… They wouldn’t do that, would they? | <urn:uuid:f616a81f-d69e-4331-9769-4b235b5a6b46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dubai-jazz.blogspot.com/2011/03/death-toll-on-dubais-roads-falls-by.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976822 | 601 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Companies around the world spend up to $100 billion a year to train employees in the skills they need to improve corporate performance—topics like communication, sales techniques, performance management, or lean operations. But training typically doesn’t have much impact. Indeed, only one-quarter of the respondents to a recent McKinsey survey said their training programs measurably improved business performance, and most companies don’t even bother to track the returns they get on their investments in training. They keep at it because a highly skilled workforce is clearly more productive and because employees often need new skills to deal with changes in an organization’s strategy or performance.
Making the benefits of training last
Few companies see sustained benefits from training employees. There are some straightforward steps they can take to do better.
Given how important skilled workers are, companies must do better at creating them. When senior leaders focus on making training work—and get personally involved—improvement can come rapidly. The content of the training itself is not the biggest issue, though many companies could certainly improve it (see sidebar, “Getting training content right”). The most significant improvements lie in rethinking the mindsets that employees and their leaders bring to training, as well as the environment they come back to afterward. These are tasks only senior leaders can take on.
Before training begins
1. Help people want to learn
Adults learn in predictable steps. Before employees can master a new skill effectively, for example, they must be convinced it will help improve their organization’s performance, recognize that their own performance is weak in that area, and then actually choose to learn. Yet most corporate training programs overlook these prerequisites and just assume that employees “get it.” This approach is a big mistake because it allows normal patterns of skepticism to become barriers to learning. The results are familiar to anyone who has attended a corporate training event. Instead of approaching training as active learners, many employees behave as if they were prisoners (“I’m here because I have to be”), vacationers (“I don’t mind being here—it’s a nice break from doing real work”), or professors (“Everybody else is here to learn; I can just share my wisdom”).
To avert these outcomes, companies must help employees to internalize the need for change and to develop the desire to gain the skills that will bring progress. The best method is to include trainees or their peers in determining what changes need to be made and why, thereby creating credible ambassadors for the effort. If this isn’t possible, a similar purpose is served by beginning a training program with an analysis of the existing performance problems of the individuals or business units involved and of how the new skills will address these problems.
Consider the case of a retailer that knew its customer service and selling skills were relatively poor. In response, the company formed teams of district managers, customer service representatives, and salespeople to help it understand its current skill levels and to plan improvements. To observe good customer service, the teams visited high-performing organizations, such as the Ritz-Carlton. The teams also conducted mystery-shopping exercises, in which they did not reveal their corporate affiliations, at the stores of competitors, where they received mixed service at best, suggesting that service improvements could become a real competitive advantage. Teams also conducted exit surveys of the retailer’s own customers to correlate the quality of their experience with how much they purchased and whether or not they intended to return to the store. And the teams observed hundreds of their colleagues in action—enough to believe that the company was not delivering a great customer experience and that change was necessary.
To improve customer service and selling, the teams then designed new processes and tools, including guidelines that helped salespeople translate product features into benefits that shoppers could relate to. Next, they began piloting the improvements at a few stores. The results were impressive—a double-digit leap in conversion rates and rising sales in important product categories. Better yet, after showcasing the results at a meeting of the company’s retail managers and establishing the program’s credibility, the teams found the managers clamoring for the chance to have training start at their stores.
2. Uncover harmful mind-sets
Even when employees do learn what they’re taught, they very often don’t apply it. If this happens, the training will be wasted—no matter how good it is. Preexisting mind-sets are one frequent cause of this problem. Companies should therefore ferret out problematic mind-sets with the same rigor they put into diagnosing skill gaps.
For instance, a big-box retailer had been trying to increase its focus on customers for more than two years. It invested millions of dollars in teaching a five-step selling process, monitoring customer feedback, and rolling out e-learning programs to improve its employees’ knowledge of the products it sold. Salespeople passed every certification test they were given yet still didn’t use the new skills on the floor. Customer feedback and store performance remained lackluster.
To figure out why, the company conducted a mix of employee interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Two troubling mind-sets emerged. First, salespeople fundamentally believed that the behavior of shoppers had shifted, so that they now primarily browsed in stores and made most purchases online. Thus, employees associated attending to shoppers with a low payoff. Second, salespeople clung to age, gender, and racial stereotypes about which customers would make purchases—and tended to ignore the others. An examination of shopper survey, purchase, and conversion data proved both mind-sets false.
The company relaunched its training efforts, now grounded in an open discussion of these two mind-sets, using facts to dispel the myths and to build new enthusiasm for customer service. Salespeople began to apply the methods they’d already learned, which quickly drove a 150-basis-point improvement in conversion rates at the pilot stores and a 20 percent improvement in their net income.
3. Get the leaders on board
To ensure that the lessons stick when training ends, companies must have meaningful support from the relevant leaders beforehand. This point sounds obvious, but we’ve seen many training programs stall when leaders agree with program goals in principle yet fail to reflect them in their own behavior, thereby signaling to employees that change isn’t necessary.
For example, one industrial company noted a need to upgrade the skills of its marketing department. The HR staff launched a well-conceived program—based on a clear definition of the new skills good marketers must have—that included a curriculum developed by a leading university. In parallel, the company hired several employees who had the skills it was trying to foster and who would, presumably, help their colleagues develop them. After sending marketing staffers through the program, however, senior executives still expressed frustration with the department’s capabilities. Worse, many marketers appeared to be spending time on things that weren’t really marketing, such as resolving customer service breakdowns.
A closer examination revealed that the new marketing skills hadn’t taken root, because the company hadn’t trained the department’s leaders, who lacked the necessary skills and could not be effective role models. Further, the leaders were not prepared to change the way they ran meetings, made decisions about branding or advertising programs, conducted performance dialogues, or coached others on marketing skills. Consequently, employees perceived that their bosses weren’t particularly interested in having them apply the new skills and that they should continue to spend a significant amount of time on old activities, such as resolving customer crises.
Outcomes are much better when business leaders participate in the design and delivery of training programs and connect them to the new ways of working. For example, one consumer goods company hoping to bolster its marketing skills began by including senior managers from a range of functions in a detailed discussion about what marketing skills were needed. Marketing leaders then restructured the relevant processes—for instance, those related to generating customer insights—to leverage the program’s content explicitly. To drive home the importance of implementing the new skills, company leaders went through the training first; many taught subsequent courses and also served as role models to reinforce the new behavior afterward. The program as a whole improved business performance tremendously, helping the company to shift from declining or flat unit volumes to double-digit volume growth and from stagnant net sales and operating-margin growth to a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9 percent.
Back in the workplace
4. Reinforce the new skills
Participants rarely leave any training program entirely prepared to put new skills into practice. Old habits die hard, after all, so reinforcing and supporting new kinds of behavior after they are learned is crucial. Furthermore, companies typically expect employees to go back to work and figure out for themselves how to incorporate what they’ve learned into their day-to-day activities, which often take up all of their time as is.
This was a particular problem for a biotech company trying to beef up its poor performance-management skills. (Indeed, at the outset of the effort, performance management was so rudimentary that employees didn’t even have job descriptions.) The company dedicated itself to improvement and trained all its managers in the necessary skills. But when those managers got back to work, they couldn’t find the time to integrate performance reviews into their routines and got no help doing so. Two years later, nothing had changed, and all that the managers had learned was lost.
Contrast this experience with that of a large manufacturer also trying to improve its performance-management skills. The company had trained its frontline supervisors on coaching and on conducting better performance dialogues with line workers, and the supervisors had agreed to begin practicing the new skills immediately. The supervisors even had laminated cards they could use as “cheat sheets” to guide the conversations.
But back on the shop floor, a multitude of distractions, fires to fight, and other mundane barriers made it easy to slip back into old habits. In fact, a check-in later during the week when the training occurred revealed that the supervisors weren’t practicing any of the new behavior. When company executives asked why, it became clear that the supervisors hadn’t made the time—in part because the coaching and feedback conversations would be difficult but also because the supervisors felt management wouldn’t support their efforts. Previous training exercises, the supervisors noted, had never been accompanied by follow-up.
To show that things would be different this time, the executives insisted that the conversations take place and even shadowed the supervisors on the shop floor to help them. While this was uncomfortable for everyone involved, the supervisors soon gained confidence using the new skills and began to see results. Indeed, within just two months, productivity, reliability, and safety performance had all improved, and the plant was able to produce 25 percent more output than it had in the past.
5. Measuring the impact
Measuring impact seems basic, but most companies simply don’t do it. McKinsey research finds that only 50 percent of organizations even bother to keep track of participants’ feedback about training programs. Worse, only 30 percent use any other kind of metric. What this means, of course, is that many companies essentially measure the effectiveness of training by asking the participants if they liked it. Besides the risk of encouraging “edutainment” over substance, the problem with this approach is that it penalizes programs that push people outside their comfort zones. What’s more, it leaves HR departments and other developers of training programs flying blind about their impact. The solution, as we explain in a companion article, “Putting a value on training,” is to track the impact of training programs against whatever hard business metric they are meant to improve. If that’s not possible, measuring leading-edge indicators, such as actual behavior change, can provide insights.
Training can go wrong in all kinds of ways. But the most important failures occur outside the classroom. By focusing on creating a receptive mind-set for training before it happens—and ensuring a supportive environment afterward—companies can dramatically improve the business impact of their training programs. | <urn:uuid:0ee33f3f-6558-4ce6-a7c9-c37da7789d6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/getting_more_from_your_training_programs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969413 | 2,525 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Raising your own bulbs from seeds takes commitment, but gardeners who stick with it are deeply rewarded.
Not only are homegrown bulbs less expensive than store-bought, but they also allow you to grow unusual plants that you may not be able to find otherwise. Plus, you'll reap the satisfaction of having raised them from scratch.
Scott Canning, director of horticulture at Wave Hill in the Bronx, explains the process from seed to bloom.
Bulb Growing How-To
1. Determine whether the bulb you're raising is a summer or winter grower. Summer growers are sown in the spring; winter growers are sown in the fall.
2. Prepare the pot by adding sharp sand to a seed-starting mix. Aim for a ratio of 3 or 4 parts mix to 1 part sand. (If you cannot find sharp sand, chicken grit makes a fine substitute.) It's also helpful to pre-moisten your mix with warm water.
3. Sow thinly! The seedlings will live in this pot for 12 to 15 months, so give them some room. Sow fine, small seeds on the surface, and lightly cover larger seeds.
4. Store the seed pots in a dry place away from direct sunlight, avoiding all extremes of temperature. Hardy bulbs will need the winter season duplicated in a fridge or cold frame for three to five months. Tropical bulbs may benefit from heat, but most bulbs germinate better with the gently fluctuating temperature difference between day and night, so skip the heat mat. Keep pots moist, as you would other seedlings.
5. Growth will resume at the start of the next growing season (during the same season in which the seeds were sown). Watch for shoots beginning, and resume watering lightly. A small amount of liquid fertilizer (1/2-strength at most) is helpful during active growth.
6. After the first growing season, it's time to "prick out" your baby bulbs. Pot into an appropriate mix in a pot size suitable for the plant to grow, at the same depth as you found the bulb in the seed mix, or very slightly deeper. Water carefully, as you would any transplant.
7. You are on your way! Bulbs will sometimes sprout small flowers during the second year. With luck, most will bloom by the third or fourth season. | <urn:uuid:b06c5cfd-60c5-4c94-b691-d9c30123633d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marthastewart.com/267572/growing-bulbs-from-seeds?center=859439&gallery=275706&slide=267572 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956812 | 488 | 2.9375 | 3 |
With former Sen. Chuck Hagel preparing for confirmation hearings for the top job at the Pentagon, the issue of personnel costs is getting new attention. (Junko Kimura / Getty Images)
The spiraling cost of personnel at the U.S. Defense Department isn’t a new problem, yet a solution has been elusive. Cutting benefits for service members during more than a decade of war has been politically unpalatable. As a result, the topic has largely been pushed to the side, left to be debated by budget wonks and defense policy gurus.
Now, with former Sen. Chuck Hagel preparing for confirmation hearings for the top job at the Pentagon, the issue of personnel costs is getting new attention. That attention revolves around one of the major selling points for a Hagel candidacy: His personal military experience could provide him political cover to confront some of the more difficult budget challenges the agency faces, including personnel costs.
“As a twice-wounded combat veteran, who volunteered, he has a high moral perch from which to say, ‘I think we can solve this problem,’ and I think it will take someone of that capacity to wrestle with this problem,” said Michael Bayer, president of the consulting group Dumbarton Strategies.
Privately, industry executives initially were cool to Hagel’s nomination, due to the perception that he would aggressively cut the defense budget. But that perception has changed in the past week, according to multiple sources, as the notion of tackling personnel costs has circulated. Cutting personnel costs creates more dollars for acquisition, they believe.
Still, politicians are hesitant to cut the pay or benefits of the same veterans they routinely cite as underappreciated and protected.
“It’s what I call the political third rail of the defense budget,” said Gordon Adams of American University, who oversaw defense budgeting in the Clinton administration. “People have said, ‘Well, you know Secretary Hagel, he was a grunt, he might be able to do this.’ He’ll have a lot of credibility to try, but trust me, [Former Defense Secretary] Bob Gates tried but couldn’t do it. [Defense Secretary] Leon Panetta tried, couldn’t do it.”
Panetta highlighted the problem in a 2011 speech.
“We must recognize that the growth in personnel costs must be addressed,” he said. “If we fail to address it, then we won’t be able to afford the training and equipment our troops need in order to succeed on the battlefield.”
Personnel Costs Could Hurt Acquisition
Defense industry executives, who make a living off of selling equipment and services to DoD, wouldn’t be the first crowd one would expect to focus on the cost of military personnel. But the industry is realizing that if personnel costs continue to grow, little money will be left over for the Pentagon to buy things. A 2012 report produced by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis highlights the threat personnel costs pose to acquisition: At current growth rates, personnel costs would devour the entire DoD budget by 2039.
“With my greatest apologies to my good friend Norm Augustine, who once said that there was only going to be one airplane that we could afford, I think the real problem is we’re only going to be able to afford one military person,” said Bayer, referring to a former Army undersecretary.
The precise cost of each uniformed military member is both hard to determine and the subject of fierce debate, but there have been several attempts in the past last few years to provide better numbers.
In July, the Congressional Budget Office produced a report that aimed to track cost growth at DoD, and included analysis of personnel costs. The report found that the cost of an active-duty service member had climbed roughly 50 percent since 2001, up to $158,000 per year in the base budget alone. As alarming as those numbers might otherwise be, they were quite low compared to those produced by the Reserve Forces Policy Board (RFPB) in December.
The board had been tasked with looking at the full “life-cycle” cost of people as part of an effort to confront growth in personnel costs.
The board, chaired by Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine Corps major general and former Senate Armed Services staff director, added that when a variety of associated costs usually left out of personnel cost calculations are included, such as family housing construction, operation costs, allowances and health care, the “all-in” cost of personnel eats up more than half of the Pentagon’s budget.
The report found that some of the areas typically left out of cost estimates included family housing construction and operation costs, a range of allowances provided to personnel, and even in some cases health care costs.
Adding some of these costs quickly bumps spending past $100,000 per active-duty member from the personnel account alone, before things such as operations and maintenance costs are included. Once equipment costs, training costs, and the cost of government programs for veterans outside of DoD are considered, the study found that the U.S. government was spending $384,622 per service member per year.
The number for members of the reserve component was only $123,351, or less than a third of the cost for active-duty personnel.
Hagel would get a helping hand from an external source, if he is confirmed. The Pentagon’s newly signed authorization act includes a provision to create a compensation and retirement modernization commission. The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act included a provision creating the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission. The commission is set to look at the issue in the coming months.
Punaro said that one of the major areas of focus for the RFPB was emphasizing the need to gather better data so that outside groups like the commission can effectively evaluate the problem.
“These are the kinds of things you almost have to do from the outside,” he said. “It’s almost mission impossible internally.” | <urn:uuid:26aada43-d289-451c-8b71-44eaaea7a420> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130114/DEFREG02/301140013/Hagel-Seen-Able-Tackle-Escalating-Personnel-Costs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969814 | 1,265 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Steve Fogal wrote:Until someone else answers, I believe a 'dual boot' is an option of what you'd want to isolate those above mentions. Also there are 'User' profiles as well that can be created, which I believe they also isolate...not sure as much of isolation as a dual boot gives.
I used to do a dual boot for a long time. It was kind of a hastle, so you have to ask yourself if it's worth it. When I was raising a family, we created user profiles on the family machine...every user has their own custom 'Desk Top'.
A 'Partition' as far as I know, is only a way of separating area's of your hard drive(s) or dividing hard a drive into sections, so that they 'appear' as separate physical drives (but they're not), each with their own assigned drive letters. But I don't see this as 'isolation'.
Personally, I just use a separate machine for anything internet. You can't better isolation than that.
Thanks, Jarno! I have been looking at what I think is one of those, http://raincomputers.com/rainzone/ . It sounds reasonable, though I **think** the weak link is when one downloads files, as they have to be stored on the real machine.Jarno wrote:How about running "general use" system in a virtual machine (like Sun's VirtualBox)?
Yutaka wrote:I think W7 is very safe, if you :
W7 & W8 are said to be more secure than OS X, though, and I seriously doubt that you need to worry about viruses like on XP.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest | <urn:uuid:59125965-e1ee-4849-85ff-12bedf52cda7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://steinberg.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=35762 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976627 | 363 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Love makes the world go round? Say what?
Let Go and Let Love Spin!
Remember the old tune, Love Makes the World Go Round? It sounds like a cliché, a quick quip. Announcing that “love makes the world go round” over the dinner table on a Friday night will solicit little more than rolling eyes and gags. It’s a corny song, but sometimes I love corny because it makes me feel child-like in the best way: full of wonder, optimism, and eager to see things made right.
But how do we know what “love” is, exactly? Why does love make the world go round? Is love simply a feeling, or is it something that has to be lived? What does it feel like to love someone so deeply that you would do just about anything for them? Sometimes, when we fall in love it is as if we have fallen into the arms of God. The world is warmer, clearer, brighter. We have a more acute sense of the good in those around us. We want to bless. We discover ways to encourage. People become…well, people. When we love, we are curious to learn. We love stories. We love experiencing others—not for what we can get out of it, but for the sheer love of the person.
But what happens when old wounds or bad habits get in the way of genuine love? What happens when you cannot seem to love with the kind of love you so badly wish you had? Are you a hopeless cause? No! This is when you need to let go. Loosen your grip on the reigns and step out into the world. Be willing to risk losing yourself in the stories of others: it will only broaden yours. A good, simple, exciting and passionate love is a love without unrealistic expectations. Throw yourself into the game: only then will you be able to really play.
Each one of us probably has many reasons to be bitter. Life is long and so often very hard. But (and this is admittedly a big “but”) if we do not let go of the bitterness, no love can come into our lives. Love is balm that heals the wounds. Love is the flowering.
Think about it. What would happen if you just let go? What if you went with your heart and just let love lead the way? What if you stopped saying to yourself, out of pity or a low self-esteem, “No, no, no, I don’t deserve this, it’s too good”? What if you said, “Yes! I love this person!” I have a hunch we would be free to let love really make the world go round.
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 9th, 2012 at 8:18 am and is filed under athlete, Clients, Friends and Colleagues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. | <urn:uuid:d47657d2-f42c-4e8f-a2ce-008bec5db8e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sherrirosen.com/2012/06/09/love-makes-the-world-go-round-say-what/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946969 | 634 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Consider the following: The television network you addressed in
Week 4 is asking you to compare the moods of groups that watch
different types of shows. You can choose what they mean by moods.
You may compare them on general mood, happiness, depression,
frustration, or anything else that makes sense to you. This time
you are truly the researcher, and you are creating an experiment
that will require analysis with a one-way ANOVA.
• Before moving to the Discussion, determine the
following: the three different types of shows you want to compare;
the mood you will measure and how you will measure it; what you
think will happen—how you think each group will
score on the mood measure you use.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 your decisions for the following:
• What three types of shows will you
• What mood will you measure and how will you
measure it? Remember to choose only one mood.
• How do you think each group will score on the
mood measure you use?
Then, respond briefly to each of the following questions about your
• What are your independent and dependent
• What is your null hypothesis?
• What is your alternate hypothesis?
• Will your study use a between-subjects ANOVA or
a within-subjects ANOVA? Explain.
• Assume your results are significant. What does
this tell you and do you think the post-hoc comparisons will
show?Read a selection of your colleagues' postings. | <urn:uuid:8943a8bc-6a02-4c82-950b-ad38624b7803> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/consider-the-following-the-television-network-you-addressed-in-week-4-is-asking-you-to-com-q3011746 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946565 | 345 | 3.609375 | 4 |
From NCPR Blogs:
UPDATE: No environmental activist has suggested that a wilderness or Adirondack land parcel be named after themselves personally. The text below has been corrected to clarify this point. This week, a group called Adirondack Wild unveiled a...
Over the years, no one has been a more resolute watchdog of state management of the Adirondack Park than the Glens Falls Post Star. The newspaper’s editorial page has often cast a skeptical eye on the relationship between key decisions inside...
The last forty-eight hours have seen a series of strong statements, pro and con, for the 69,000 acre land deal signed Sunday by Governor Andrew Cuomo. One of the most interesting conversations is happening within local government. At least three...
Over the last century and a half, the Adirondack Park has seen a lot of outsized figures shaping its future, everyone from Teddy Roosevelt to Senator Ron Stafford. But with the Park’s modern structure — the zoning map, the private land...
In a ceremony Sunday afternoon in Lake Placid, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a contract committing New York state to the purchase of roughly 69,000 acres of Adirondack timberland over the next five years. The deal was described as the largest single...
News stories tagged with "land-use"
Aug 21, 2009 — A farmer in Essex County wants more than $200,000 in legal fees from the Adirondack Park Agency, following a lengthy court battle. Todd Moe has more. Go to full article
Detroit, MI, Aug 19, 2009 — As municipal landfills were closed and capped back in the 1980s and 90s, communities across the US built big incinerators to get rid of the trash. Some, like St. Lawrence County, decided "no" for environmental and economic reasons. But many of the massive furnaces were built, financed by bonds and waste contracts just now being paid off. Now that those debts are off the books, some municipalities are having to think, all over again, about whether burning trash makes environmental and economic sense. Sarah Hulett reports. Go to full article
Jun 24, 2009 — A lengthy and secretive attempt to resolve concerns about the impacts of a massive Tupper Lake resort project has come to an end with no agreement between the developer and the project's biggest critics. Michael Foxman, lead developer of the Adirondack Club and Resort, has reportedly ended closed-door mediation sessions with environmental groups and neighbors to the project. The mediation began in April of 2008 but only a handful of sessions took place. As Chris Knight reports, the project is now headed back to the Adirondack Park Agency for an adjudicatory hearing process that could be just as lengthy Go to full article
Secunda, , Jun 12, 2009 — A key Adirondack Park Agency committee has approved plans for a large scale residential development on a remote Adirondack lake. The APA's Regulatory Programs Committee signed off yesterday on the Brandreth Lake Association's plan to build 44 homes on more than 400 acres at the northern end of the lake, located in Hamilton County. Environmental groups were divided over the project. Chris Knight reports. Go to full article
Ray Brook, NY, Jun 01, 2009 — The Adirondack Park Agency is proposing new restrictions on the size and height of boathouses in the park. But some local officials say the changes will result in "cookie-cutter" boathouses and will ruin the character of Adirondack lakes. Chris Knight reports. Go to full article
by Todd Moe
Adams Center, NY, Apr 22, 2009 — Jim Juczak and his family are proud of their Jefferson County home. And they don't mind if people say it's trashy. Most of it is made of junk. Juczak lives near Adams Center and runs Woodhenge, an off-grid community and sustainability school. He's one of the featured speakers at the Sustainable Energy Fair in Canton this weekend. Juczak is a lecturer, tinkerer, gardener, alternative energy do-it-yourself expert, and green builder. He spoke with Todd Moe about his 18-sided home made of wood and papercrete - a paper sludge from a local mill. He says 80 % of his home is made of salvaged materials. Go to full article
by Todd Moe
Apr 22, 2009 — NCPR is media sponsor for the 14th annual Sustainable Energy Fair at the SUNY Canton Miller Campus Center this weekend. This year's fair includes more than 100 workshops and exhibitors, green home tours, environmental theater and more. Todd Moe talks with organizer Patricia Greene. Go to full article
by Brian Mann
Mar 31, 2009 — The Adirondack Nature Conservancy yesterday unveiled one of the largest timber sales in North Country history. The green group, based in Keene Valley, is selling 92 thousand acres of timber land to ATP, a Danish pension fund. Todd Moe has more. Go to full article
Mar 30, 2009 — Details are still emerging, but it appears that the budget deal announced over the weekend in Albany eliminates a controversial plan to cap property tax payments on forest preserve land in the Adirondacks. Todd Moe has more. Go to full article | <urn:uuid:3b4258f4-23a2-4699-a0df-5642a41de6af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/tags/land-use?nophotos=&limit=10&start=20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958904 | 1,092 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The crowds cheered as the pilots and flight attendants of Delta Flight 295 cut a ceremonial red ribbon before the television cameras.
Water cannons sprayed the first official flight out of Atlanta's new international terminal this month as the airplane headed toward the runway, bound for Tokyo, leaving behind airport guests to eat from an elegant buffet of Asian-themed hors d'oeuvres and drinks.
For a brief moment, the glory days of airline travel had returned to the world's busiest airport. On this day at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the pilots were handsome, the flight attendants lovely and handsome (and no doubt could save a life) and the food and drink plentiful.
It was reminiscent of the golden days of air travel portrayed in the television series "Mad Men" and "Pan Am," when travel was an upper-middle-class experience and people dressed up to fly. Even when air travel became affordable to the masses after Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, flight attendants still served full meals and baggage was included in the cost of a ticket.
No more. Even amid the celebratory atmosphere in Atlanta, it was clear that the impact of the September 11, 2001, attacks and the subsequent economic downturn are here to stay. Officers patrolled the halls with drug-sniffing dogs and armed police guarded the exits to the runway. Many travelers wore sweats and other loose, comfortable clothing to get through security.
While many grumble for the "good old days" of airline travel, their nostalgia usually doesn't include the high prices, limited routes and cigarette smoke clinging to the air.
Travelers can still pay for the luxury of rubber chicken and checking two giant suitcases "for free" -- it's called first class. There's certainly no policy stopping travelers from dressing up, but how fun are Spanx and heels on your next flight?
Here are some of the things we miss and why they went away.
Pomp and circumstance
Eva Brams remembers flying with Burt Lancaster in first class, eating caviar on the plane and dining on lobster in a gorgeous hotel in Puerto Rico before returning home. | <urn:uuid:896abac7-c8fe-4491-9964-a393225c724d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcci.com/news/project-economy/travel/The-golden-days-of-air-travel-How-glorious-were-they/-/9356812/14232560/-/hr38cc/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961698 | 435 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Many of us value the precious moments in receiving a brand new product. Perhaps some of us can remember the times we have opened new video game boxes and lavished the scent of a brand new game and cheering within ourselves that it is finally in our possession.
Overtime, in the efforts to improve and provide a better gaming experience, we have moved from 8-bit characters with limited actions to playing with our bodies and watching it all happen with graphics of such exquisite detail.
As video games started to age with us, the machines that run them have been modified to do more than simply allow a game to be saved and played. The consoles of today now allow us to play online, surf the web, watch movies, listen to music, and much more.
Nevertheless, in the creation of these powerful machines, there has been a risk of a possible price that would be payed on the future of new consoles. As video games are becoming more available to play electronically without the insertion of a physical CD into a gaming console, the need to have boxed games is dropping. To make matters drift onto this possible predicament, the use of applications for cellphones and tablets have taken the need to purchase games physically in order to use them to stop since it can now be done with the simple tapping of buttons.
Companies like Sega have made changes to focus on creating video games for download and have converted several of their hard-copy ones to apps for the iPod Touch, iPad, and Android. The applications themselves are also less expensive than those originally produced for the Xbox 360, PS3, or one of the other popular consoles.
As games are becoming more virtually available, updates can be done electronically as well for both games and consoles.
What is left for systems to do? If consoles already have the capability to do what they were intended to do and allow people to connect through social media and practically anything else that would require a computer, it appears that a need for new consoles might stop happening. | <urn:uuid:0df21311-7208-4563-97aa-9a2ab8bde4c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/a-fading-future-game-consoles/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968078 | 402 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Chiang Mai has a different kind of public transport system than in Bangkok, and it takes just a little gumpshun to get started and feeling comfortable getting around town. You will notice that around Chiang Mai, unlike Bangkok, the streets are not loaded with shiny new meter taxis, no sky trains, and very few buses That’s partly because Chiang Mai is really like an overgrown village, and it does not take much to get around. A lot of people call Chiang Mai a “twenty minute town”, because it takes only about 20 minutes to get anywhere in town, from one side to the other. Try that in Bangkok! Ha.
What you do see all over Chiang Mai are converted pickup trucks with a little cabin on back with two rows of wood bench to accommodate the passengers. These are called Songthaews (pronounced “song-tee-ow” – say it quickly). Most of them in the central part of Chiang Mai are painted red. Red Songthaews designate them to ply main streets of the central part of the city.
The other colors usually come from areas outside of central Chiang Mai. White Songthaews travel the Eastern Route to Sankampaeng, Yellow ones go North to Mae Rim and that area, Blue ones go South to Sarapee and Lamphun, and Green ones travel Northeast to Mae Jo. The Red Songthaews (going within the city) usually do not have a fixed route, but they do travel on just the main roads. The other color Songthaews have fixed routes, and are not appropriate for going too much within the center of town.
The writing on the Songthaews that show where they go is just in Thai language, but Chiang Mai people are very easy about giving assistance. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Most Chiang Mai people speak a little English.
If you stand on the sidewalk like you are looking for transportation, the Songthaew is likely to stop, or you can give a slight hand signal that you want him to stop. If they keep on going, don’t be alarmed. His vehicle is probably full, or perhaps temporarily charted for a specific group or family. There are so many of these Songthaews, that you will probably wait for less than a minute for the next one to come by. When one stops, you ask the driver if he is going to the place you want to go. Their English is usually not good, but they can probably understand basic English language. He is likely to respond by shaking his head yes or no. No worries if he says no, because another one will be coming to you in seconds. If he says yes, hop in the back. There may be a slight wait while the driver waits for other fares. Relax. It’s the Chiang Mai way.
How much does it cost? It is cheap. Usually, there is a flat rate of 15 to 20 Baht per person. Many times, people just give a 20 Baht note. Some drivers will try to get more if you are farang. If they say a large amount, like 80 to 100 Baht, just wave him off and pick up the next one. If you see that you are traveling an extraordinary distance, and especially if there is only you and companion on board, be prepared to give a little more. It should still be cheap. He may ask you for more when you board because it is a long distance. It probably should never exceed 50 Baht (about $1.60). (If it is much more, it gets into the price range of a private tuk-tuk). The driver of the Songthaew makes his money by volume, and will not argue or cheat one passenger. He’s always in a hurry to pick up more people.
When you see your destination, you can press a large button on the inside ceiling of the Songthaew to signal for him to stop. After jumping off, you go to the driver’s window and hand him your fare.
Probably the biggest problem for farangs is not knowing where they are going. Don’t expect to have a conversation with the driver of how to get somewhere. You have to know where you want to go. You may be on the wrong side of the street because where you want to go is the other way. If that’s the case, he is likely to tell you. But remember, these guys are always in a hurry. Volume of customers is what is important to them.
Be aware of the time of day. Just before school opens, the Songthaews are usually very full, and kids are stuffed inside to the point where it can be impossible for a big farang to hop on. Same goes for the late afternoon when school lets out. Don’t bother waving over a Songthaew that is stuffed with school kids. You won’t fit.
Also, women should be aware to give space inside to monks. They are not allowed to have women touch them, and you don’t want to be in that situation where you create a problem.
Once you get the hang of it after a few rides, you will be like a native Chiang Mai person, hoping on and off throughout the day.
This is the best map to have for Chiang Mai, and it is worth every penny that it costs. Highly recommended for your trip to Chiang Mai… | <urn:uuid:d4bc0492-a770-43fe-b5d9-624e7f18cf19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americanexpatchiangmai.com/getting-around-chiang-mai-on-a-songthaew-red-pickup-truck-taxi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961905 | 1,131 | 1.617188 | 2 |
US 20020091440 A1
An improved drug delivery graft comprises a drug delivery device coupled to an outer wall of a porous graft. An agent is conducted by the drug delivery device from a source to the outer wall of the graft where it is released to diffuse into the lumen of the graft through porous interstices of the outer wall.
1. A drug delivery graft, comprising:
a graft comprising a lumen defined by an outer wall, wherein the outer wall is characterized by a microstructure having nodes interconnected by fibrils; and
drug delivery means coupled to the outer wall for delivering a drug thereto, wherein the drug diffuses into the lumen through the outer wall.
2. The drug delivery graft according to
3. The drug delivery graft according to
4. The drug delivery graft according to
5. The drug delivery graft according to
6. The drug delivery graft according to
7. The drug delivery graft according to
8. The drug delivery graft according to
9. The drug delivery graft according to
The present invention relates to medical devices, and more particularly, to a graft for delivering an agent into a natural tissue conduit, e.g., a blood vessel.
Providing frequent, direct delivery of bioactive agents to a natural tissue conduit has become a necessity for many medical treatments such as those requiring frequent intravenous administration of drugs. To meet this need, many types of devices including stents and vascular grafts have been used to deliver agents into natural tissue conduits.
Local delivery is advantageous in that the effective local concentration of a delivered drug can be much higher than can normally be achieved by systemic administration. Delivery of agents to vascular tissue to prevent restenosis is especially useful. U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,352 to Hanson discloses a device for delivering an effective concentration of a therapeutic agent locally at a target site within the body without producing unwanted systemic side effects. However, the device described in this reference differs considerably from existing vascular grafts. It would be especially advantageous to deliver drugs with a device more similar to currently used vascular grafts.
Stents and other existing devices are frequently coated with or impregnated with therapeutic agents for the treatment of diseases. A concern related to the use of stents and existing devices for drug delivery is that drug delivery may not be sustainable. Over time the concentration of drug on the stent or other similar delivery devices will diminish, through drug inactivation, degradation, or dilution. Thus, the therapeutic agent may need to be refreshed or even changed after implant of the device. Moreover, these existing devices are not capable of delivering drugs to an internal lumen along the entire length of the graft.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a drug delivery graft capable of delivering a drug or any other agent to the internal lumen along the entire length of the graft, or restrict delivery to a finite area on the graft such that the agent may be renewed or altered after implant of the graft. Furthermore, a desirable drug delivery graft could be implanted in the same fashion as regular vascular grafts.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, an improved drug delivery graft is provided. The invention can be used, for example, as a vascular graft providing sustained release of a selected bioactive or diagnostic agent directly into a blood or other fluid flow pathway. The graft is capable of delivering the bioactive or diagnostic agent to the internal lumen of a vascular graft along the entire length, or of restricting delivery to a finite area of the vascular graft. The graft is preferably made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), but could certainly be made of any other porous type graft. Various ePTFE grafts that are reinforced by external beading are well known in the art. However, unlike previous designs that utilize a solid beading for reinforcing purposes, one embodiment of the present invention utilizes a hollow tubing as a drug conduit. The hollow tubing behaves much like the existing low profile solid beading in that it has a small diameter and can be readily implanted into the body, offering advantages as both a spiral support and drug conduit.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a simple tubular ePTFE graft is used, which is well known to be extremely porous. A hollow tubing of non-porous PTFE, fluoroethylene polymer (FEP) or other implantable polymer is wrapped around the graft and laminated or adhered in place. The hollow tubing may be wrapped helically; alternatively other arrangements (e.g., end to end loops) can be used. Before the wrapping occurs, one surface of the hollow tubing is cut away (for example, laser cut), punctured repeatedly or otherwise rendered porous. When an agent such as a drug is injected into the hollow tubing, e.g., from an infusion pump or a subcutaneous access port, the drug flows through the hollow tubing and leaks through the cut or porous region and diffuses into the outer surface of the ePTFE graft. The drug diffuses into the graft where it mixes into the blood flowing therethrough and influences biological processes along the circulatory system. Depending on the drug used and the precise configuration of the device the dispensed material could have either systemic effect or have limited local effect. One particularly attractive use of the device is to dispense drugs to limit the restenosis that frequently occurs due to tissue proliferation at the site of anastimosis of an ePTFE graft to a blood vessel.
The invention takes advantage of the well-known porosity of an ePTFE graft. Impregnation of ePTFE grafts with therapeutic agents has been previously disclosed. However, the present invention allows the therapeutic agents to be renewed or altered following implant of the graft, something that is not possible with simple drug-impregnated graft materials.
A more complete understanding of the ePTFE drug delivery graft will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages and objects thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings that will first be described briefly.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a drug delivery graft according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of a hollow tubing according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the drug delivery graft showing a cut portion of the hollow tubing according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the drug delivery graft showing a porous hollow tubing according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of the drug delivery graft of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a side view of another alternate embodiment of the drug delivery graft of the present invention.
The following detailed description illustrates the invention by way of example, not by way of limitation, the principles of the invention. This description will clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives and uses of the invention, including what we presently believe is the best mode of carrying out the invention.
The present invention satisfies the need for an improved drug delivery graft capable of delivering bioactive agents, including drugs, to an internal lumen of a graft, either along its entire length or in a localized area, through the use of hollow tubing on the outside of the graft. In the detailed description that follows, it should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures.
Referring first to FIG. 1, a side view of a drug delivery graft 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The drug delivery graft 10 comprises a graft 2, a hollow tubing 4, and a drug source 6. The hollow tubing 4 is wrapped (spiraled) in a helical fashion around an abluminal surface of the graft 2. The drug source 6 is connected to one end 14 of the hollow tubing 4.
The graft 2 may be a standard clinical vascular graft of any shape or size comprised preferably of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), which material consists of a porous network of nodes and fibrils created during the expansion process. This porous network provides a somewhat permeable wall for the graft 2. The graft 2 can be constructed in a variety of sizes to allow a surgeon to select the appropriate size to accommodate a particular vascular application. Likewise, the porosity (internodal distance) of the graft can be varied to affect the rate of drug or agent release.
The drug delivery graft 10 injects a drug or other agent into the bore of the hollow tubing 4 from the drug source 6. The drug source 6 can be any of a variety of commercially and technologically available systems that provide constant controlled rate delivery of an agent, such as a biologically activated mini pump that is either subcutaneously or extracorporeally located, an external mechanical pump, or an access port. For example, an open end 14 of the hollow tubing 4 may be connected via a micro-catheter to a subcutaneous or other drug source.
The agent delivered to the natural tissue conduit can be any substance, including any drug, and the device can be used for local or systemic delivery of such substances to prevent or treat a variety of disease syndromes or to promote or enhance desired activity within the body. A bioactive or diagnostic agent may include, for example, therapeutic or prophylactic agents, such as a drug, protein, enzyme, antibody or other agent, or cells that produce a drug, protein, enzyme, antibody, or other agent. The diagnostic material can include, for example, a radiolabeled antibody or antigen.
The natural tissue conduit into which the agent is ultimately delivered may include any structure of a body that functions to transport substances and includes, but is not limited to, e.g., blood vessels of the cardiovascular system (arteries and veins), the lymphatic system, the intestinal tract (esophagus, stomach, the small and large intestines, and colon), the portal system of the liver, the gall bladder and bile duct, the urinary system (bladder, and urethra), the respiratory system (trachea, bronchi and bronchioles), and ducts and ductules connecting endocrine organs to other areas of the body. The device of the present invention can be used in any mammal or in any animal in which natural tissue conduits are found. Suitable dosage requirements and treatment regimens for any agent delivered can be determined and will vary depending upon the tissue targeted for therapy and upon the particular agent utilized.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a side view of the hollow tubing 4 used in an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The hollow tubing 4 may be manufactured from a non-expanded or partially expanded small diameter PTFE tube or any other implantable polymer (e.g. FEP). The hollow tubing 4 may be manufactured in very small diameters (less than 1 mm) and long lengths (more than 10 feet) to accommodate all sizes of grafts. Whereas the prior art beading used solely for support purposes is a solid filament, the hollow tubing 4 has a bore to provide fluid delivery to the graft 2. Preferably, the hollow tubing 4 has an uncut portion 16 and a partially cut portion 12 (or a porous and less or non-porous region arrange circumferentially) that allows communication between the lumen of the hollow tubing 4 and the outside surface of the graft 2. Alternatively, communication between the lumen of the hollow tubing 4 and the outside surface of the graft 2 may be achieved by using a porous hollow tubing or a hollow tubing with mechanical or laser perforations. While the hollow tubing 4, is shown generally cylindrical in shape, it should be appreciated that alternative designs are possible including a hollow tubing that is tapered along its length as well as one that has a stepped configuration or has other, non-circular cross-sections. Similarly the graft may be tapered or stepped or of a special shape, such as cuffed, as is known in the art.
In a preferred embodiment, to manufacture the hollow tubing 4, a specified length of a tube made of PTFE, FEP or other any other implantable polymer may be loaded on a mandrel to secure the tube in a rigid fashion. The loaded tube may be placed in a cutting device where a defined portion of the tube is cut in the longitudinal direction. A semi-circular “half-tube” C-shaped section 12 may be created in the middle of the tube to create the hollow tubing 4. The cutting device may comprise a LASER cutting device. Alternatively, the tube may be punctured repeatedly or otherwise rendered porous to allow release of the agent into the ePTFE of the graft. One end 18 of the hollow tubing 4 may be sealed mechanically, for example by a crimp, or by a heating process to terminate the lumen. The terminated end 18 may also be sealed with a silicon or other self-sealing material that can advantageously serve as a primer port for infusing an agent through, for example, a syringe.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a cross-sectional view of the drug delivery graft showing a cut portion of hollow tubing according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Hollow tubing 4 is wound spirally around the graft 2. During the spiraling process, a cutaway portion 12 of the hollow tubing 4 is laminated and secured against the outer surface of the graft 2, creating a drug outflow surface that communicates with the outer lumen of the graft 2. Alternatively, FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the drug delivery graft showing a porous hollow tubing 24 according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention. The porous hollow tubing 24 comprises perforations or pores 22 through which an agent or drug is dispensed onto and into the graft 2. The agent or drug is evenly distributed and diffuses into the graft 2 through the interstices of an agent infusion area 8. The rate at which the drug or other agent penetrates the porous wall of the graft 2 is determined by several factors, including the size and number of the pores and the size of the drug molecule.
The graft 2 is capable of delivering drugs or any other agents to the internal lumen along the entire length of the graft 2, or of restricting delivery to a finite area on the graft 2. In addition, it should be appreciated that the spacing of the hollow tubing 4 along the graft 2 can be varied to concentrate dosages in certain areas of need. Moreover, the spiraling of the hollow tubing 4 around the graft 2, as shown in FIG. 1, could be combined with a traditional support beading spiraled around the graft 2 for additional support.
Turning now to FIG. 5, an alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown. Drug delivery graft 30 includes graft 32 and hollow tubing 34. In this embodiment, the hollow tubing 34 is arranged longitudinally along the graft 32, rather than wrapped around spirally as in FIG. 1. The hollow tubing 34 is arranged in a snake-like fashion, longitudinally along the outside of the graft 32, and is connected to the drug source 6 at one end. The longitudinally arranged strips of hollow tubing 34 loop back at the ends of the graft so that a single continuous piece of hollow tubing is employed. In a second alternate embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, hollow tubing 44 is arranged longitudinally along a graft 42 in a slightly different configuration to make up a drug delivery graft 40. In this embodiment, the longitudinally arranged hollow tubing 44 is connected to manifolds 46 and 48 at each end. The manifold 46, located at a proximal end of the graft 42, is circumferentially arranged around the graft 42 and is also connected to the drug source 6. The manifold 48, located at a distal end of the graft 42 is circumferentially arranged around the graft 42 in a closed loop. The drug provided from the drug source 6 flows into the manifold 46 where it is distributed to the longitudinally placed hollow tubing 44, flowing through the hollow tubing 44 and along the manifold 48, being distributed to the graft 42 in one of the above-mentioned methods shown in FIGS. 2-4. It should be appreciated that in both embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the hollow tubing can be spaced equidistant or varied depending on the required application.
The spiraled or longitudinally-placed hollow tubing is sintered to the graft to adhere the hollow tubing to the graft in the same manner as existing standard grafts, adhering the cut (C-shaped) portion 12 and uncut hollow tubing portion 16 as shown in FIG. 3, or the porous hollow tubing 24 as shown in FIG. 4, along the length of the graft 2. Alternatively, any of a number of known adhesive agents can be used to attach the hollow tubing. Further, the hollow tubing may be produced from a plastic material such as polypropylene, which can be adhered to the graft through a partial melting process. Thus, the design may use the existing low profile hollow tubing on existing grafts, for example IMPRAFlex® grafts, manufactured by IMPRA (Tempe, Ariz.), a Division of C. R. Bard, Inc., and can be implanted in the same fashion as regularly used existing vascular grafts.
The devices of the present invention can function as improved vascular grafts such that the agent or drug to be delivered prevents or treats complications associated with conventional vascular graft placement, including but not limited to platelet deposition, coagulation, thrombosis, neointimal hyperplasia and fibrosis. One particularly attractive use of the drug delivery graft would be to dispense drugs or any other agent to limit the stenosis that frequently occurs at the site of anastimosis of an ePTFE graft to a blood vessel. Examples of agents that prevent restenosis of a blood vessel include, but are not limited to, a growth factor, a growth factor inhibitor, growth factor receptor antagonist, transcriptional repressor, translational repressor, antisense DNA, antisense RNA, replication inhibitor, anti-microtubule agents, inhibitory antibodies, antibodies directed against growth factors or their receptors, bifunctional molecules comprising a growth factor and a cytotoxin, and bifunctional molecules comprising an antibody and a cytotoxin.
The present invention has been described above in terms of a presently preferred embodiment so that an understanding of the present invention can be conveyed. However, there are many alternative arrangements for an expanded PTFE drug delivery graft not specifically described herein but with which the present invention is applicable. The scope of the present invention should therefore not be limited by the embodiments illustrated, but rather it should be understood that the present invention has wide applicability with respect to drug delivery grafts generally. All modifications, variations, or equivalent elements and implementations that are within the scope of the appended claims should therefore be considered within the scope of the invention. | <urn:uuid:59e0a8a5-313c-48a2-a36c-0c2da042e38c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.google.de/patents/US20020091440 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920866 | 3,981 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Here, Paul Zahl takes a look at an undervalued film by Jacques Demy, and finds much value in it, indeed:
HIS ODD BEAUTY
people seem able to say no to Jacques Demy's vision of life as reflected
in wonderful movies such asThe Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and Lola (1960). A phrase that seems to cover his vision is “optimistic romanticism”. Those are two good words for it.
made several more films, however, and three of them,A Slightly
Pregnant Man (1973), Lady Oscar (1979), and Parking (1985) are
considered bombs. I've seen them all recently, though only segments of Parking, and can well understand their bad reputations.
But I disagree about Lady Oscar!
Lady Oscar is a beautiful movie, an opulent, visionary movie, about a
cross-dressing aristocratic heroine, played by Catriona MacColl, in the
Court of Marie Antoinette, who sees and hears the great events of the 1780s in her role of Captain of the Guards, while all the while loving the faithful, kind, courageous stable boy 'André Grandier', played by Barry Stokes.
The movie was directed and also partly written by Jacques Demy; and its lush, sentimental musical score is by Michel Legrand. Most of the actors were English but the film was filmed in France,
much of it at Versailles. An alternate title for the movie was The
Rose of Versailles.
The big stunner, when you
sit down and watch Lady Oscar, is the opening credit revealing that it
was Toho Studios of Japan that produced the film. At first glance, because of that familiar logo, you expect Mothra to come flying into the film. But
no, or rather, “Non!”: it's the fashionable, swirling, and almost
feminine style of the man who directed Catherine Deneuve, Françoise
Dorléac, Anouk Aimée, and later, Dominique Sanda.
In other words, this is a mélange, an improbable
mix of commercial and historical elements, which, taken together,
produced an odd movie — at least, if you stop to consider the
ingredients. Turns out Demy was not getting much work at the time; that the
Japanese had a popular commercial property on their hands, which was a
comic book entitled The Rose of Versailles; and that Lady
Oscar was made entirely and by design for domestic consumption in
Japan, even though it was filmed in France, with English actors, English
dialogue, and a French crew. Lady Oscar's being owned by Toho of
Japan is the main reason it hasn't been seen very often in Europe and
America — until now, that is, with the release in 2008 of a “Jacques
Demy Integrale” boxed set in France.
Long story, isn't it? Has all the makings of a colossal flop, right? Too many cooks spoil the broth, “n'est-ce pas”? You might think so. And many do. But I think Lady Oscar is a touching, lovely, sexy, beautiful movie.
Click here to continue reading and find out why: | <urn:uuid:a4e97a39-1533-4e65-8e3b-1cdbbdb2935a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mardecortesbaja.com/2012/1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967275 | 701 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Treasure Island (1883)/Chapter 1
THE OLD BUCCANEER.
THE OLD SEA DOG AT THE "ADMIRAL BENBOW."
Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17—, and go back to the time when my father kept the "Admiral Benbow" inn, and the brown old seaman, with the sabre cut, first took up his lodging under our roof.
I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow; a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man; his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulders of his soiled blue coat; his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails; and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cove and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards:—
"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—
in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste, and still looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard.
"This is a handy cove," says he, at length; "and a pleasant sittyated grog-shop. Much company, mate?"
My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity.
"Well, then," said he, "this is the berth for me. Here you, matey," he cried to the man who trundled the barrow; "bring up alongside and help up my chest. I'll stay here a bit," he continued. "I'm a plain man; rum and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there for to watch ships off. What you mought call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you're at—there;" and he threw down three or four gold pieces on the threshold. "You can tell me when I've worked through that," says he, looking as fierce as a commander.
And, indeed, bad as his clothes were, and coarsely as he spoke, he had none of the appearance of a man who sailed before the mast; but seemed like a mate or skipper, accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the morning before at the "Royal George;" that he had inquired what inns there were along the coast, and hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of residence. And that was all we could learn of our guest.
He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung round the cove, or upon the cliffs, with a brass telescope; all evening he sat in a corner of the parlour next the fire, and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly he would not speak when spoken to; only look up sudden and fierce, and blow through his nose like a fog-horn; and we and the people who came about our house soon learned to let him be. Every day, when he came back from his stroll, he would ask if any seafaring men had gone by along the road? At first we thought it was the want of company of his own kind that made him ask this question; but at last we began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did put up at the "Admiral Benbow" (as now and then some did, making by the coast road for Bristol), he would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such was present. For me, at least, there was no secret about the matter; for I was, in a way, a sharer in his alarms. He had taken me aside one day, and promised me a silver fourpenny on the first of every month if I would only keep my "weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg," and let him know the moment he appeared. Often enough, when the first of the month came round, and I applied to him for my wage, he would only blow through his nose at me, and stare me down; but before the week was out he was sure to think better of it, bring me my fourpenny piece, and repeat his orders to look out for "the seafaring man with one leg."
How that personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On stormy nights, when the wind shook the four corners of the house, and the surf roared along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions. Now the leg would be cut off at the knee, now at the hip; now he was a monstrous kind of a creature who had never had but the one leg, and that in the middle of his body. To see him leap and run and pursue me over hedge and ditch was the worst of nightmares. And altogether I paid pretty dear for my monthly fourpenny piece, in the shape of these abominable fancies.
But though I was so terrified by the idea of the seafaring man with one leg, I was far less afraid of the captain himself than anybody else who knew him. There were nights when he took a deal more rum and water than his head would carry; and then he would sometimes sit and sing his wicked, old, wild sea-songs, minding nobody; but sometimes he would call for glasses round, and force all the trembling company to listen to his stories or bear a chorus to his singing. Often I have heard the house shaking with "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum;" all the neighbours joining in for dear life, with the fear of death upon them, and each singing louder than the other, to avoid remark. For in these fits he was the most over-riding companion ever known; he would slap his hand on the table for silence all round; he would fly up in a passion of anger at a question, or sometimes because none was put, and so he judged the company was not following his story. Nor would he allow any one to leave the inn till he had drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed.
His stories were what frightened people worst of all. Dreadful stories they were; about hanging, and walking the plank, and storms at sea, and the Dry Tortugas, and wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his own account he must have lived his life among some of the wickedest men that God ever allowed upon the sea; and the language in which he told these stories shocked our plain country people almost as much as the crimes that he described. My father was always saying the inn would be ruined, for people would soon cease coming there to be tyrannised over and put down, and sent shivering to their beds; but I really believe his presence did us good. People were frightened at the time, but on looking back they rather liked it; it was a fine excitement in a quiet country life; and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to admire him, calling him a "true sea-dog," and a "real old salt," and such like names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England terrible at sea.
In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us; for he kept on staying week after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had been long exhausted, and still my father never plucked up the heart to insist on having more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain blew through his nose so loudly, that you might say he roared, and stared my poor father out of the room. I have seen him wringing his hands after such a rebuff, and I am sure the annoyance and the terror he lived in must have greatly hastened his early and unhappy death.
All the time he lived with us the captain made no change whatever in his dress but to buy some stockings from a hawker. One of the cocks of his hat having fallen down, he let it hang from that day forth, though it was a great annoyance when it blew. I remember the appearance of his coat, which he patched himself up-stairs in his room, and which, before the end, was nothing but patches. He never wrote or received a letter, and he never spoke with any but the neighbours, and with these, for the most part, only when drunk on rum. The great sea-chest none of us had ever seen open.
He was only once crossed, and that was towards the end, when my poor father was far gone in a decline that took him off. Dr. Livesey came late one afternoon to see the patient, took a bit of dinner from my mother, and went into the parlour to smoke a pipe until his horse should come down from the hamlet, for we had no stabling at the old "Benbow." I followed him in, and I remember observing the contrast the neat, bright doctor, with his powder as white as snow, and his bright, black eyes and pleasant manners, made with the coltish country folk, and above all, with that filthy, heavy, bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, sitting far gone in rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he—the captain, that is—began to pipe up his eternal song:—
"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—
At first I had supposed "the dead man's chest" to be that identical big box of his up-stairs in the front room, and the thought had been mingled in my nightmares with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this time we had all long ceased to pay any particular notice to the song; it was new, that night, to nobody but Dr. Livesey, and on him I observed it did not produce an agreeable effect, for he looked up for a moment quite angrily before he went on with his talk to old Taylor, the gardener, on a new cure for the rheumatics. In the meantime, the captain gradually brightened up at his own music, and at last flapped his hand upon the table before him in a way we all knew to mean—silence. The voices stopped at once, all but Dr. Livesey's; he went on as before, speaking clear and kind, and drawing briskly at his pipe between every word or two. The captain glared at him for a while, flapped his hand again, glared still harder, and at last broke out with a villainous, low oath, "Silence, there, between decks!"
"Were you addressing me, sir?" says the doctor; and when the ruffian had told him, with another oath, that this was so, "I have only one thing to say to you, sir," replies the doctor, "that if you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!"
The old fellow's fury was awful. He sprang to his feet, drew and opened a sailor's clasp-knife, and balancing it open on the palm of his hand, threatened to pin the doctor to the wall.
The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to him, as before, over his shoulder, and in the same tone of voice; rather high, so that all the room might hear, but perfectly calm and steady:—
"If you do not put that knife this instant in your pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall hang at the next assizes."
Then followed a battle of looks between them; but the captain soon knuckled under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like a beaten dog.
"And now, sir," continued the doctor, "since I now know there's such a fellow in my district, you may count I'll have an eye upon you day and night. I'm not a doctor only; I'm a magistrate; and if I catch a breath of complaint against you, if it's only for a piece of incivility like to-night's, I'll take effectual means to have you hunted down and routed out of this. Let that suffice."
Soon after Dr. Livesey's horse came to the door, and he rode away; but the captain held his peace that evening, and for many evenings to come. | <urn:uuid:6d740118-414d-4c6b-aeec-327fb5569a91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treasure_Island/Chapter_1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991209 | 2,770 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Book Description: During the first decades of America's existence as a nation, private citizens, voluntary associations, and government officials encouraged the smuggling of European inventions and artisans to the New World. At the same time, the young republic was developing policies that set new standards for protecting industrial innovations. This book traces the evolution of America's contradictory approach to intellectual property rights from the colonial period to the age of Jackson. During the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries Britain shared technological innovations selectively with its American colonies. It became less willing to do so once America's fledgling industries grew more competitive. After the Revolution, the leaders of the republic supported the piracy of European technology in order to promote the economic strength and political independence of the new nation. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the United States became a leader among industrializing nations and a major exporter of technology. It erased from national memory its years of piracy and became the world's foremost advocate of international laws regulating intellectual property. | <urn:uuid:96027234-f898-4e74-81b2-48fc2f634adf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.campusbooks.com/books/business-investing/economics/economic-history/9780300100068_Professor-Doron-S-BenAtar-BenAtar-Doron-S_Trade-Secrets.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926431 | 195 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Glenn Beck spent a portion of his show on February 9, 2010 discussing President Coolidge and the Roaring Twenties. I analyzed his claims about Coolidge in an earlier blog post, and have returned to fact check his points on the Roaring Twenties.
He begins by calling the Roaring Twenties “arguably the most prosperous 8 years this country has ever seen,” credits Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon’s tax cuts, and cites innovation as evidence of this prosperity.
In 1920, there were only 5,800 people who had ever flown on an airplane. By 1930, it was seventy times that amount. RCA changed the world with the radio. Along with the radio came another invention or another idea: advertising. Now you could hear Babe Ruth hitting home runs anywhere in the country while someone was telling you about a product. Thomas Edison brought us movies in 1880s. You know when they really started to take off? In the 20s the true modern era motion picture arrived.
And so on. But were the Roaring Twenties really all Beck makes them out to be?
First, let’s deal with length. Beck notes that the economic expansion of the 1920s lasted 8 years — how does that compare with other U.S. expansionary periods? Of course, this depends on who you ask. For instance, the Post World War II economy could last from 1945 to 1960 or until the early 1970s. The Reagan boom beginning in 1982 could last until 1990, or it could have been part of a much broader boom that included the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton economies, ending in 2001. James Pethokoukis, writing in the U.S. News and World Report, even goes so far as to proclaim that this expansion lasted from 1982 to 2007 — that’s 25 years!
Of course, these booms were not uninterrupted. There were recessions in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, and again in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. Perhaps the 1920s were the United States’ longest uninterrupted boom? Not quite — there were recessions during the Roaring Twenties as well.
A peek at the National Bureau of Economic Research’s website, which has an excellent list of the U.S. economy’s expansions and contractions, shows that the U.S.’s longest uninterrupted expansion occurred from March 1991 to March 2001, from the end of the first Bush Administration through the Clinton years and into the beginning of the second Bush Administration. The second longest uninterrupted expansion occurred from February 1961 to December 1969 (the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon years), the third from November 1982 to July 1990 (the Reagan and Bush years), and so on. The longest uninterrupted expansion during the Roaring Twenties period lasted from July 1924 to October 1926 — not even in the top 10 for length of uninterrupted booms.
Clearly, the Roaring Twenties were not the longest boom in American history, but (as with all aspects of life) quantity and quality do not always correspond. So how about a comparison of content?
Let’s compare some indicators with similar ones from the three longest booms in American history (1991-2001, 1961-1969, and 1982-1990). First, we’ll look at the obvious — Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (the country’s economic output).
And the unemployment rates…
Thus, GDP growth was better in the three booms we’ve been examining than in the Roaring Twenties, while unemployment seems to have been lower in the Roaring Twenties. Ironically, the minimum wage may be to blame for at least part of the higher unemployment rates of the later three booms. The minimum wage was first established as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. It was then re-established in 1938.
One of the economic consequences of the minimum wage is to increase unemployment. Think of it this way: a business owner has a certain amount of money available to spend on employees. If the amount he must pay his employees rises, but the amount of money he has available to pay them does not, he must fire someone. This force was absent in the 1920s, perhaps partially accounting for the lower unemployment rate.
Another aspect of the booms is income inequality. One of the ways this is measured is known as the GINI Index. The Gini Coefficient measures income inequality on a scale of 0 to 1, with 0 being absolute equality and 1 being absolute inequality. The following graph displays Gini estimates for the 1920s to the 1990s.
Unfortunately, the late 1990s and 2000s are not included in this graph, but the data shows that the GINI Index for families continued to rise, and even reached its highest reported point yet in 2006 at 0.444. As the graph shows, GINI estimates for the 1920s start somewhere around 0.425 and then quickly rise throughout the decade, peaking at around 0.5 before relaxing to 0.45 and then rising again to about 0.475 to finish.
This high level of inequality stands in stark contrast to the much lower levels enjoyed during the 1961-1969 boom, where the GINI Coefficient began at 0.374 and finished at 0.349. Indeed, the lowest reported level of income inequality ever occurred in 1968, at 0.348.
The 1982-1990 boom featured greater inequality than the 60s, but still lower than either the 20s. The GINI Coefficient began at 0.380 in 1982 and stayed in the high 0.3s for the duration. It peaked at 0.401 in 1989 and finished at 0.396 in 1990.
Family income inequality increased yet again during the 1991-2001 expansion, starting at 0.397 and climbing to 0.435 at the end, its highest year. This 2001 level is higher than estimates from the beginning of the 20s, but lower than most other years of the Roaring Twenties.
Emmanuel Saez examined the share of total income of top decile (that is, the top 10th) and also the top 0.01% of earners in his paper, “Striking It Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States.” As the graphs show below, he found that the top 10% of earners held almost 50% of total income in the United States by the end of the Roaring Twenties. This is almost matched by the high level of income held by the top 10% at the end of the 1991-2001 boom (and exceeded in 2007, as an aside). The 1960s boom seems to be the most equitable, followed by the 1982-1990 boom, which saw increasing inequality, but not at the levels of either the Roaring Twenties or the 1991-2001 boom. Examinations of the share of the top 0.01% yield similar conclusions.
One of the points Beck makes when discussing the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties is the innovation associated with the period. He appears to describe innovation in terms of something once great, now long lost. Yet innovation remains a strong part of our capitalist system. Beck awes his audience by telling them about the great leaps in technology that were made in the 1920s, and how the long-lost capitalism of Coolidge and Mellon made expensive technologies affordable.
But aren’t these processes still occurring today? Consider, for a moment, computers. In 1984, 8.2 percent of U.S. households had a computer. By 2000, 51 percent of households had computers. That’s an increase of a whopping 522 percent! This is how capitalism works — competition drives down prices. The Roaring Twenties do not hold a monopoly on innovation and advancements in technology.
Of course, other than simply listing the accomplishments of these various years (which are many) and the price drops as technology advances, how does one measure innovation? I’ve sorted through copyright registration and population figures to derive some glimpse at innovation in these various booms. The following graph lists the number of copyright registrations in the beginning and ending years of each boom, the populations of those years, and then the registration figures divided by the population (revealing how many copyrights were registered per person in the United States for those years).
Not only do the number of copyright registrations rise with each successive boom, but they also rise per person — a real increase. This is with the notable exception of the 1991-2001 boom, in which copyright registration figures actually decrease in per person terms, though they remain above figures for the Roaring Twenties and the 1961-1969 boom.
Productivity gains, too, may be some indicator of innovation, as new technologies make manufacturing more efficient.
These estimates show productivity gains in each of the four booms, with the average yearly percentage change in productivity in the Roaring Twenties and the 1990s booms being almost a full percentage point higher than those of the 60s and 80s booms.
Perhaps we can see, through these somewhat rudimentary lenses, the steady progression of innovation.
As far as comparing booms goes, a paper by economist Robert J. Gordon notes the similarities of the 1990s and 1920s booms:
Growth in real GDP, real GDP per capita, employment, and productivity were almost identical, the conventionally measured unemployment rate was identical in 1928 and 1999, inflation was negligible (1920s) or low (1990s), and the late-1920s stock market boom is the only such episode in the century that comes close to the stock market’s ebullience in the late 1990s. Like the 1990s, the 1920s witnessed prosperity, a productivity revival, low unemployment, and low inflation. Both decades featured an explosion of applications of a fundamental “General Purpose Technology,” electricity and the internal combustion engine in the 1920s and computer hardware, software, and networking communications technology in the 1990s. Both decades appear to mock the existence of a Phillips-curve tradeoff between inflation and unemployment.
Of course, these figures are limited in that they are solely economic indicators. Bobby Kennedy noted the inadequacy of such measurements in 1968:
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.
To provide a broader picture of the four booms, I’ve examined three other indicators — life expectancy gains, 5 to 7 year old enrollment (in school) as a percentage of the 5 to 7 year old population, and high school graduation rates and gains.
As would be expected, steady gains were made over time in life expectancy. However, averages of yearly percentage change show that the greatest gains were made during the 1991-2001 boom (0.22%), and the worst gains were made during the 1961-1969 boom (0.05%). The averages show a decrease actually occurred during the Roaring Twenties (-0.52).
As seen from the graph, the lower levels of enrollment in the Roaring Twenties (about ten percentage points below the 1980s/1990s levels of enrollment) also provided greater room for improvement, and, indeed, the Roaring Twenties saw greater gains in 5 to 7 year old enrollment as a percentage of that population (1.27%, on average). The 1960s boom also saw a high level of improvement, on average, as did the 1980s (the data for the 1980s also shows the movements of the baby boom generation out of secondary school and into college). Finally, the 1991-2001 boom, although maintaining a high level of enrollment in the 97%-98% range, saw a decrease in the yearly percent change of enrollment, on average (-0.08%).
(Quick note — the rounding to one decimal place should account for the oddity that occurs in 1967-1968, when the percentage change is -0.05 while the graduates as a percentage of the 17 year old population appears to stay the same).
Again, the low levels of the Roaring Twenties (about 50 percentage points below 60s levels) provided a greater room for improvement (6.55% yearly percentage increase on average) — and it took advantage of that room, increasing the percentage of the 17 year old population that graduated from high school every year of the boom! Although the other booms saw higher levels of graduation, none of them can boast continuous improvement (the 1960s boom saw great gains, as well, but also some declines). In fact, the 1991-2001 boom saw a steady decline, before leveling out just below its beginning 1991 level.
So the picture, on a whole, is mixed. Perhaps the comparison itself is fundamentally flawed because of vast differences of the times. The Roaring Twenties were not the longest boom in American history, nor were they greatest, in terms of GDP and output. They saw the highest levels of income inequality out of the four booms we’ve examined (though the 1991-2001 boom comes close) but also a lower level of unemployment. The life expectancy retreated a bit, on average, though schooling enrollment and graduation made real gains. Productivity in the manufacturing sector, also, was high, though lower than the 1991-2001 boom, and copyright registrations were lower per person than in the three other booms.
The true picture is complicated, and for Beck to frame the Roaring Twenties as the high water mark of United States economic history (“arguably the most prosperous 8 years this country has ever seen”) is simplistic and dishonest. Nevertheless, the Roaring Twenties were a prosperous period in United States history that, according to the data examined, saw numerous gains in various aspects of life. | <urn:uuid:b5076ba8-90f5-466d-826d-5af2bdeeaaf1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mikegaudini.com/diniverse/?m=201007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966092 | 2,928 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Tampa, Florida - With posters that had messages like "Got Consent?" a petition, and a microphone, members of the Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society of SDS rallied at USF on Thursday. SDS and other groups are trying to raise awareness about the prevalence or rape on campus and the causes behind the attacks.
"If we're going to end rape, we have to notice how it is happening," USF victim's advocate Nanci Newton told the couple dozen students stopping to listen.
The rally comes on the heels of two unrelated rapes inside campus dorms. In September, a woman was raped by a stranger and in October, the attacker was a male acquaintance.
No arrests have been made in either case, but USF police say both investigations are still active. "These are in the forefront; we continue to analyze anything that comes in," says Lt. Chris Daniel.
In the days after the rapes, there was a lot of talk about security issues, but today speakers urged USF to address the reasons why men feel violence is somehow Okay.
Women's & Gender Studies Professor Ednie Garrison told listeners that one expert describes the problem this way, "Rape Culture is regarding violence as sexy and sexuality as violent."
While the recent dorm rapes hit close to home for many students, for Danielle Leppo, who helped organize the event, the issue is deeply personal. "At the age of 12 I was molested by my stepfather. It took me ten years to even admit this," she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
And Leppo and others believe change can happen, even if it starts with a poster. | <urn:uuid:1e2284dd-983c-474b-967b-3c9fab83a8c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtsp.com/news/national/article/284648/79/USF-students-urge-more-rape-education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976443 | 337 | 1.515625 | 2 |
North Glengarry is a mainly rural area that is located northwest of Ottawa. The town of North Glengarry is surrounded by farming communities, and was originally founded as a railway connection in order to transport produce into Montréal and Ottawa. Public transit into Ottawa has yet to be established, and the main modes of transportation are by car or train. Macksville, an area in North Glengarry, hosts the world-famous Glengarry Highland Games, a Scottish festival occurring the first weekend of August each year. The Alexandra Glens, a well-known Junior B hockey team, also make their home in North Glengarry.
Benefits of North Glengarry Living
The strong farming presence in the community means there is never a shortage of fresh produce and, as with most rural communities, there is high air and water quality. Lots are large and very well priced, meaning that your money will go much further in North Glengarry then in communities closer to the city. The community is extremely tight-knit; it’s a place where everyone seems to know each other. Nature lovers will appreciate the forested areas of Glengarry, which exist in abundance. Located at the approximate mid-point between Ottawa and Montréal, it is equally convenient to go downtown in either city.
Drawbacks of North Glengarry Living
North Glengarry’s rural location puts you close to nature, but there is a slower rate of return on real estate investment, fewer schools and public facilities to choose from, and limited shopping options. There is a long commute to Ottawa, and having a vehicle is a necessity because of the distance and lack of public transportation. | <urn:uuid:b274e945-024f-41ff-af91-17f589cfbbf4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realestateottawa.org/information/ottawa-districts/east/north-glengarry-north-ottawa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969747 | 343 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Can glasses worsen nearsightedness and Myopia?
There's a growing idea that Myopia, or nearsightedness, might not be solely heridatory or inherited. Some are saying that by wearing glasses or other corrections, one can worsen the eyes, leading to a constant increase of prescriptions over and over again.
The concept goes that your eyes become nearsighted in order to "relax" from seeing things too close up. Your eyes are strained when focusing on close objects, whereas seeing far relieves them. In other words, your vision becomes blurred because the eyes grow tired and want to avoid focusing for a while.
By wearing glasses, you are basically ruining the point, making everything close up and sharp again. Then your eyes get even worse in order to pursue a state of relaxation. People then think they need a new pair of glasses, which again ruins the point and repeats the cycle.
An important point to realize is that you can make your eyes better. Much of the nearsightedness or myopia may just be temporary strain and can be reversed by simply allowing your eyes rest, focusing on distant objects. However, if you do not allow this temporary myopia to clear up before straining your eyes further, it possibly will be permanent and irreversable, which is what many people end up doing.
Here are some further readings if you want to learn more:
Myopia Explosion - Simple series of FAQs with direct answers as to whether glasses help or go against your vision.
Myopia Prevention Home Page - This is based on a personal account of the site owner's experience. Very detailed and pretty indepth on how the he or she reduced myopia by about 2.00-3.00 degrees.
The Myopia Myth: How to Prevent Nearsightedness - A more biased view of the issue. The site owner is author of the book The Myopia Myth and provides great detail on the problem. He's also invented the Myopter, which combats several of the causes. Some say he's just trying to sell, but the item does work so...
Added on Jul 16, 2007 | Last Updated Jul 29, 2012 | <urn:uuid:97bb209d-ae05-4af3-a906-45bc94a1d030> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pftq.com/pq/42/myopia.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950482 | 442 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Conservation groups tackle restoration project
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 7:33 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 7:33 a.m.
A coalition of conservation organizations has helped to restore hundreds of acres across the Grandfather Ranger District by treating invasive plants and performing other work over the past six months.
Partners conducted the work as part of the Grandfather Restoration Project, a 10-year project designed to restore 40,000 acres of the Grandfather Ranger District, Pisgah National Forest.
The announcement was made Wednesday by Forest Supervisor of the U.S. Forest Service National Forests in North Carolina Kristin Bail.
The project is restoring fire-adapted forests by enhancing conditions for a variety of native plants and wildlife, controlling non-native species and protecting hemlocks against hemlock woolly adelgids.
Partners completed the following tasks in the first six months of the Grandfather Restoration Project:
uHazardous fuels were reduced on close to 4,600 acres of the Grandfather Ranger District through prescribed burning.
u About 2,600 hemlock trees (spread across 130 acres) were saved from hemlock woolly adelgids.
u 750 acres were treated to remove invasive land and water species.
u About 200 acres of forests were thinned or received other forest management treatments to promote the growth of native tree species such as yellow pine, white oak, red oak, hickory, black oak and chestnut oak that are often out-competed by species such as yellow poplar.
u Two miles of hiking trails were maintained.
Grandfather Restoration Project partners include Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, N.C. Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, Wild South, the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, Trout Unlimited, The Southern Forest Network, Land-of-Sky Regional Council, Western North Carolina Alliance, National Wild Turkey Federation, The Wilderness Society, Appalachian Design, Friends of Wilson Creek, and The Foothills Conservancy.
"One of the unique aspects of this project is the large number of partners who are involved," said Bail. "I am grateful for the support our collaborators have provided as part of this important initiative."
The project was one of 10 announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in February under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program.
The secretary announced an initial funding of $605,000 for the first year of the project.
Restoring fire to the parts of the Grandfather Ranger District is a primary goal of the project. Prescribed burns are being considered for the Linville Gorge and Wilson Creek Wild and Scenic River areas.
By implementing prescribed fires, the Forest Service and partners will promote the growth of native, fire-adapted and fire-dependent plants, including threatened and endangered species.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged. | <urn:uuid:de6ad855-2f9f-4dd8-84fb-fa40bfc29ad8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20121115/NEWS/121119885/section/tickets | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945602 | 632 | 2.359375 | 2 |
A number of Christians have written books to combat the recent books of militant New Atheism authors such as Richard Dawkins. For example, there were a number of Christian books published in response to Dawkins' book The God Delusion.
Atheism is a religion. And atheists, time and time again, take away the religious liberty of Christians in order to promote their false religion. Evolution is the air supply of atheism. Directly confronting atheism can be useful. But, the best way for Christianity to prevail against secularism is through preventative medicine. Reaching young people with the gospel and discipling them is a first step. Yet to truly prevail against atheism, cutting off the air supply of atheism is crucial.
The grassroots Question evolution! campaign can reach countless young people before evolutionists indoctrinate them in high school and college. The widespread teaching of evolution is having grave consequences on Christianity and young people are leaving churches in large numbers. In Europe, secularism is rampant.
The direct approach of confronting atheism is important, but the indirect approach of preventing atheism through the cutting off of its air supply is also far more efficient. If Christendom is going to conquer secularism, it makes perfect sense to do so in the quickest and most efficient manner possible. Let's cut atheism off at the knees and vigorously spread the Question evolution! campaign on the internet and in our local communities.
Want to spread the campaign on the internet? We encourage you to read our post Powerful tools to spread and multiply the Question evolution! campaign. | <urn:uuid:2c2de03d-eccb-458f-9a8a-e0370ce58f45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shockawenow.blogspot.com/2011/10/cutting-off-air-supply-of-atheism_573.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936881 | 308 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Oxfam India launches response to the worst floods in Assam in ten years
NEW DELHI, JULY 10. Following a rapid assessment in some of the flood affected villages in Morigaon, Sonitpur and Nowgaon districts of Assam, Oxfam India has decided to respond with water, sanitation and public health and emergency food security and shelter support. The unprecedented early flood this year has affected 2.4 million people an displaced half a million in the State so far.
''The need for immediate humanitarian assistance is crucial and must be undertaken at a greater speed and scale. The situation in camps and villages continues to be grim. Hopefully, the funds of Rs. 500 crore ($10 billion) that the Prime Minister announced on his recent visit to Assam will also soon start flowing providing relief to the worst affected districts,'' says Nisha Agrawal, Chief Executive Officer, Oxfam India.
The Oxfam India assessment team visited flood affected areas from July 3 to July 6, 2012 in Morigaon and Sonitpur district in Assam. The team also met key state and district level officials and district level co ordination meeting of non-government organizations (NGOs) was organized to gain an understanding on their response plan.
"Oxfam India's response would involve a mix of provision of clean drinking water, temporary sanitation facilities, and distribution of hygiene kits, public health promotion, emergency shelter and construction of toilets,'' says Moutushi Sengupta, Director Programs and Advocacy, Oxfam India.
The 2012 floods in June this year because of heavy rains and breaches in embankments of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries have caused colossal loss of life and property across the state.
However, there are some districts that have been worst hit namely Morigaon, Sonitpur and Nowgaon affecting more than 13,19,260 people. According to the reports 588 villages are severely affected by the floods. The total number of people displaced from the State were 4,84,555 (government numbers/cumulative figure). Nearly 1,56,681 displaced persons continue to live in relief camps till today.
The flood affected areas in Assam are poverty pockets and are most vulnerable to disaster risks. Though Morigaon district is annually affected due to floods, the recent floods are reported to be the worst in the last 10 years. Moreover, the floods have affected districts where preparedness and coping mechanism is low such as Sonitpur district. The impact of the floods in Sonitpur district has also been very severe.
There are some villages which are damaged to such an extent that it is not possible for people to go back to. Inhabitants from these villages continue to reside in the government supported Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Currently the number of displaced across the three districts is 156,551 persons. As on 6th of July reporting the number of IDP camps is 175 across the 3 districts. Their sizes can vary.
With this being just the beginning of the monsoons in Assam, the flood-affected population face major challenges. While rains have stopped for the time being, further rains could pose a major threat of not only the returnees but also people still living in emergency shelters or on raised river/road embankments, railway line.
"The possibility of contamination of hand pumps, the main drinking water source has increased risk of water-borne diseases. Diarrhea cases are being reported from some IDP camps. Other ailments like fever, and skin diseases are few-and-far in between so far, the situation needs to be monitored when the receding floodwaters drain out leaving behind pools of stagnant water in low-lying resident areas,'' says Zubin Zaman, Humanitarian Response Manager, Oxfam India.
The Oxfam India assessment team has recommended that Oxfam respond to the flood crisis with humanitarian assistance in the key areas of ensuring safe drinking water, sanitation, disease control and hygeine promotion, emergency food security and livelihood and shelter keeping the gender focus in mind.
Notes to Editors
About Oxfam India
Oxfam is marking its 61st year in India this year (2102). In 1951, Oxfam Great Britain came to India during the Bihar famine to launch its first full scale humanitarian response in a developing country. Over the past 61 years, Oxfam has supported the growth of many civil society organizations across the length and breadth of the country.
In 2008, all Oxfams came together to form Oxfam India. Oxfam India, a fully independent Indian organization (with Indian staff and an Indian Board) is a member of a global
confederation of 17 Oxfams. Oxfam India is now registered as a Company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (bearing corporate identity number U74999DL2004NPL131340).
The Oxfams are rights-based organizations that fight poverty and injustice by linking grassroots programming (through partner NGOs) to local, national and global advocacy and policy-making. All of Oxfam’s work is framed by our commitment to five broad rights-based aims: the right to a sustainable livelihood, the right to basic social services, the right to life and security, the right to be heard and the right to equality: gender and diversity.
Oxfam India's vision is to create a more equal, just, and sustainable world. The overarching vision of Oxfam India is "right to life with dignity for all." Oxfam India will fulfil its vision by empowering the poor and marginalized to demand their rights, engaging the non poor to become active and supportive citizens, advocating for an effective and accountable state and making markets work for poor and marginalized people.
Oxfam India works in partnership with over 180 grassroots NGOs to address root causes of poverty and injustice in the four areas of 1) Economic Justice, 2) Essential Services, 3) Gender Justice and 4), Humanitarian Response and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Oxfam India’s program is focused on seven States – Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand – and four social groups – Dalits, tribals, Muslims, and women.
For more details, contact
Media and Communications Co-Ordinator
Mobile : 9310044402 | <urn:uuid:d596edcb-80e4-412f-82f4-e9108e416610> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oxfam.org/fr/grow/node/26677 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943484 | 1,300 | 1.96875 | 2 |
In this still life, objects have been reduced to their basic outlines. The frying pan is seen from above and the round bottomed bowls are seen from the side. The painting is from a period when Scott had begun to reintroduce figurative references into his paintings after a period of painting abstracts. However the objects are reduced to flat shapes without a physical presence, almost hovering above the picture plane. The painting is also an exploration of colour and tone. Scott described it as a `work of twentieth-century tonalist painting.? | <urn:uuid:fdf99c8b-6a1f-42c7-9610-75aa63a29c1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/S/5030/artist_name/William%20Scott/record_id/3268 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982337 | 106 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Economist Paul Krugman: we know how to fix the economy
St. Paul, Minn. — Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California this week about his new book, "End This Depression Now."
Krugman noted that four million Americans have been out of work for more than a year, which hasn't happened since the Great Depression.
He blames indequate stimulus, and says austerity was the problem -- not the solution-- to our current economic problems. Krugman told the audience the solutions are easy to do economically, but hard to do politically.
- Paul Krugman: New York Times columnist. Professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University. Author of "End This Depression Now" and "The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008." Winner of the Nobel Prize for economics in 2008.
More from MPR
- Rep. Paul Ryan on national stage at Reagan Library
May 23, 2012
- Paul-backed Senate candidate: 'I'm a Kurt Bills Republican'
May 21, 2012 | <urn:uuid:e1e477e2-06b6-4fee-b337-b2898ddb284a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/05/24/mpr_news_presents | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931288 | 215 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Laskar Jihad, or Holy War Warriors, was formed in 2000 in Ambon, Moluccan Islands, Indonesia, by Jafar Umar Thalib, who studied in Pakistan and fought with the mujahidin in Afghanistan in the late 1980s. Jafar admits to having met Osama bin Laden there but dismisses him saying the al Qaeda chief "knew nothing about true religion". Jafar claims to have rejected al Qaeda funding in 2001.
Laskar Jihad members adhere to the Wahhabi creed of Islam espoused by bin Laden; television is banned in Laskar camps and women wear burqa; but Jafar determined that al Qaeda's ideology is not in line with true Islam.
The group disbanded itself in October 2002.
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:a2ab533f-03d5-4b67-a574-72c86992acbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Laskar_Jihad | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929334 | 193 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Since medical schools do not require any specific major, pre-med students may choose any course of study they desire. Most students prepare for medical schools by majoring in biological sciences or chemistry, but medical schools look for a well-rounded background in humanities, social sciences and service. EIU students should list pre-medicine as a "second major" used to track student interest in the career.
All students interested in a career in medicine should consult the chair of the Medical Professions Committee for information regarding admission requirements for specific medical schools. Due to the intense competition for admission, students will need to complete a baccalaureate degree before entrance. | <urn:uuid:23608ba4-aa35-460b-bc1f-5e224d1c0062> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eiu.edu/~admissns/moreinfo.php?id=166 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935461 | 133 | 1.945313 | 2 |
The new, powerful INFER command in version 8, and its Search Back corollary, have remained rather a mystery to many Accordance users. No longer! Dr. J's latest podcast explains step by step what INFER does and how to use it. Now you can take any passage or set of verses in any text, and find any similar phrases in another text or passage.
For example, find phrases in Isaiah that are similar to those in the Qumran scrolls, or in the Apostolic Fathers that are similar to Enoch. The possibilities are endless. And for the ordinary user, compare the poetry in Isaiah with the Psalms, or take a chapter and find any similar passages throughout the text.
INFER and Search Back: the why and the how to
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Swedish Telecom Authority Doubts DAB
In connection to the recent Swedish government consultation regarding public service, the telecom authority Post-och telestyrelsen (PTS) is raising its eyebrows at any extra public funding for the implementation of DAB.
According to a document presented by PTS to the Ministry of Culture, it isn’t possible to make a decision about the future of DAB in Sweden until there is enough proof of consumer demand for the technology. The organization also points to the costliness of transitioning from an FM to a digital network. Instead, it says that there has been an enormous breakthrough in IP-based technology, which includes moving images and sound, and regards Web-based digital radio as an important complement to FM radio.
There are many benefits to FM broadcasting, according to the PTS, including the fact that it can be broadcast over large coverage areas, particularly useful during emergencies or catastrophic situations, and that the FM band uses the same spectrum worldwide — 87.5 to 108 MHz.
The telecom authority believes that a digital multiplex system would be detrimental to small operators and may be an impediment for widening the program spectrum. It also says that it plans to support the development of analog broadcasting on the FM band by continuing to modify the planning parameters to allow for more space for radio broadcasters on this band.
Furthermore, explains the PTS, it is possible to supplement FM radio with Web radio. And, it adds, if the 700 MHz band is used for mobile phones in Sweden (like in the U.K), it will be mandatory to find other bands for digital terrestrial television. One alternative, says PTS, would be band III (174 to 240 MHz), which is today used for DAB.
The government has yet to decide on the national spectrum policy for Sweden. Finland has already reserved Band III for television instead of audio broadcasting.
— Christer Hederström | <urn:uuid:0b7cad0e-298d-4e73-b99b-8245bed9b554> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rwonline.com/TabId/64/Default.aspx?ArticleId=217569 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935318 | 389 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Published in Cardiovascular Device Liability Week, January 2nd, 2005
According to the report from the United States, "Since Mg2+-ATP is the controlling factor for the rate-limiting enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthesis sequence that is targeted by the statin pharmaceutical drugs, comparison of the effects of Mg2+ on lipoproteins with those of the statin drugs is warranted.
A. Rosanoff and M.S. Seelig of the, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center explained, "Formation of cholesterol in blood, as well as of cholesterol required in hormone synthesis, and membrane...
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NewsRx also is available at LexisNexis, Gale, ProQuest, Factiva, Dialog, Thomson Reuters, NewsEdge, and Dow Jones. | <urn:uuid:89752b78-bf16-47a0-91e4-29d42a690e51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsrx.com/newsletters/Cardiovascular-Device-Liability-Week/2005-01-02/122720043331448CDL.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920617 | 205 | 1.625 | 2 |
A warrant allowing police to search a house does not give them the authority to detain someone who is away from home at the time the search is being conducted, the U.S Supreme Court said on Tuesday.
Police investigating a drug case got a search warrant for an apartment on Long Island, New York, in 2005, after an informant claimed to have seen guns when he went there to buy drugs from a man known as "Polo." While detectives watched the apartment, waiting for the time of the search, they saw a man matching Polo's description drive away.
They followed the car for almost a mile, then pulled it over. In the man's pocket, they found a set of keys. They drove him back to the apartment, where officers found a gun and drugs in plain view. It was later discovered that one of the keys opened the door of the apartment.
In a 6-3 ruling, the court on Tuesday said that the general power police have to detain someone at home during a search doesn't apply beyond the immediate area. Police can, the court has ruled, detain someone at the place being searched for the sake of officer safety and to prevent a person from interfering with the effectiveness of the search.
But, said Justice Anthony Kennedy for the court, "Once an occupant is beyond the immediate vicinity of the premises to be searched, the search-related law enforcement interests are diminished."
Justice Stephen Breyer dissented, joined by Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Detaining "Polo" away from the apartment, he wrote, was justified "in light of the risks of flight, of evidence destruction, and of human injury present in this and similar cases." | <urn:uuid:4bf48ea6-c255-4569-8564-bd24a394eee3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/19/17017875-supreme-court-search-warrants-dont-give-police-the-power-to-detain-someone-away-from-home?lite | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974902 | 340 | 1.835938 | 2 |
My attention this week was partially taken up with the news that the Boeing Corporation had completed tests on a core component of its newest design, the 787 Dreamliner, below.
The Dreamliner is Boeing’s answer to rival Airbus’ giant A380, which recently commenced service from Melbourne to Los Angeles with QANTAS. Smaller, and with a longer range, Boeing believes it is a better match for what the flying public desires than the Airbus competitor.
Built of new lightweight but very strong materials, some of the parts being assembled here in Melbourne, the Dreamliner is undergoing many tests before taking its first ever flight. This week on its website Boeing showed video of a very important test outcome: the destruction of the wing box, the central part of the aircraft to which the wings will be joined as well as the fuselage. It needs to be able to withstand huge forces and strain. You can see the test here.
In my work with fearful patients, especially those who believe severe turbulence will rip the wings from the aircraft, I show a similar test performed by Boeing more than ten years ago when its 777 was being tested before entering service. In this case, Boeing built a plane just for the purpose of destroying it, to see what forces the wings could withstand before breaking. To do this very strong steel cables were attached to each wing tip and pulled up in increments, with the hope the plane’s wings could withstand 150% of the worst the weather and a pilot’s poor handling could throw at it, as well as test it in advance of heavier versions being built.
In regular flight, wing tips can flex above or below the centre line by six foot. In the test, the wings bent twenty four feet from the horizontal before an explosive compression took place. You can see the video I show below:
It’s a pretty impressive video, and can start the cognitive shift fearful flyers need in the quest to feel safe on board commercial aircraft. (Touch of irony: The guy in the frame above holding his neck is former Boeing Commercial VP Allan Mullaly who was initially in charge of the 777 program. Later, he was cherry-picked to become Ford’s CEO and it was he and the other Detroit CEOs who copped huge ridicule when each flew in their company’s corporate jets to Washington DC seeking automotive bail-outs this week.)
I first saw this video, narrated by actor Peter Coyote, after a visit to the Boeing plant in Everett, Seatte, WA, and purchased the five-VHS tape series, made by PBS.
The design and manufacture of the 777 set new principles of collaboration for Boeing, between various departments as well as launch customer, United Airlines. (In the wing destruction video, above, the guy who puts the binoculars to his eyes, at 1’27″, is United’s liaison staff member.)
But the design of the airliner was also a first for Boeing in that it used computer workstations to perform many of the designs previously performed by hand on paper. Different departments designed various systems, such as air-conditioning, hydraulics, moving control surfaces, interior design, etc. At various times in the past, full-sized aircraft mockups were designed, often out of wood or clay (much like cars are designed) to see how the various systems “came together”.
Every so often, a hydraulic element would “interfere” with the positioning of say an air conditioning duct. Then it was back to the drawing board for each department to eliminate this “interference”. Call it stamping out the bugs, to use a coder’s lingo.
What they had to do was design “affordances”, room for piping and other elements like wiring to co-exist in the same space. The advent of large and powerful computers and CAD/CAM software allowed engineers to make redesigns easily achieved while calling up other departments’ system designs to make sure of their shared affordances. (If you go back to the Boeing website and look at the middle video describing the undercarriage, you’ll see how many systems are involved and the close tolerances needed to allow the gear to move into position.)
It is here that I learnt of this concept of affordance, and I now apply it in my presentation magic training.
If you got to Wikipedia, here, you will see a variety of definitions of affordance, some of which contradict each other.
But if you’re reading this while toying with your iPod, then you’re likely to experience the kind of affordance I have in mind for my presentations. It’s an aspect of industrial design that leads the eye and hand to act in a certain way. The iPod’s scroll wheel and menu system were designed such that no manual was needed to operate the device, and learn its nuances.
Indeed, just this week, I was showing a colleague an iPod for his first time. He wanted to borrow it to record some lectures, and I was happy to lend it to him together with attachable iTalk recorder hardware. Within a few minutes, with me guiding him with words, and he using his fingers and thumb, he caught the essentials and reproduced them on his own without my advice.
This is affordance at work, and it has perhaps reached a near-zenith with the iPhone where again one needs very little instruction as to its use, and the design implicitly guides you into action. Contrast that with how Steve Jobs described its so-called “smart phone” competitors at the iPhone’s release almost two years ago, and you will also understand the concept of “interference”, where the menu system seems to be conspiring to make your use of the competing phone difficult and thus stressful.
Users, and audiences for that matter, give up if the task they are being asked to perform is too stressful or interfering with how they usually do things. Sometimes they know what they should do, and other times they don’t understand how things operate but that doesn’t matter as long as they get the main message. This is how magic becomes entertaining, when we know we are being fooled, but don’t know how the trick is done.
In presentations, I use my knowledge of neuroscience, and the social psychology of persuasion, to create affordances leading the audience where I want them to go. This is why the use of colour, pleasing animations, movies, sounds, text which matches voice, and other affordances make for engaging and memorable presentations.
It’s why I choose to use Keynote rather than other software because it better matches my desire to create affordances, not just for the audience but for slide design, while say, Powerpoint seems more intent to my taste on creating interferences.
This is why I so often describe Keynote as eliciting creativity because it seems to reduce the likelihood of interferences, even though at times I wonder what the programmers were thinking about. For instance, in Keynote 4, the addition of Instant Alpha has changed the way I work with Keynote. Look at the video below to see what I’m talking about.
Using Art Text’s wonderful icons, I wanted to use a paper clip to create a special effect, which most in an audience wouldn’t notice (but a Keynote user would).
Here’s what it looks like when I try to place the paper clip onto the picture in a way that emulates the real thing:
All that happens is that the picture covers up the clip. Of course, if you send the Clip forward of the picture, you will simply see the clip sitting on top of the picture, not doing its job of being a paper clip.
But with some use of a new affordance introduced in Keynote 4, Instant Alpha, a photo retouching device previously only available in third party software such as Photoshop, and somes screen shot magic, I can fool the eye into believing the photo is being placed between the loops of the clip – a 3D illusion in 2D, seen below.
It’s a very simple illusion which many wouldn’t bother to notice because it’s something they do most days (using paperclips) and is hardly outstanding. But those who create presentations will momentarily wonder how I did it, knowing it’s doable, but which “magic” was elicited to do so.
If you got a hold of the original Keynote file I created, you could “reverse engineer” my actions by looking within Keynote’s Inspector at the actions I created and seeing each step. In my Powertools session at Macworld 2009, I’ll be creating features like this, some more complex, and showing how to use Keynote’s abilities to elicit illusory acts which take quite some time to plan and execute in the design phase, and which may only last a few seconds in the audience’s attention span. So be it.
The whole idea about knowing the secret of affordances is that you are abandoning the cognitive style of Powerpoint (which is about making life easy for the presenter with bullet points, copy and paste text, and chintzy clip art providing a dumbed down message), by making your slides tell a story to make life for the audience easy, allowing your central message to penetrate and stick.
You see, if your presentation contains interferences – jarring transitions, pixelated images, written text competing with what your saying, and smartass animations for the sake of it – your messages are compromised and won’t stick. What will stick is an idea that will spontaneously form within about three minutes (the length of a speaker’s “honeymoon” period after commencing their presentation) which is that the audience will first check their watches, then their iPhones or Blackberries, and then how covertly they can leave the auditorium.
Affordances, if you know how to create those that sync. with how the brain works, will engage your audience. The best affordances involve the audience. Some presenters choose to do this, depending on their personal style, by asking questions directly of the audience, or having them chat to the person next to them, or have them close their eyes and imagine a scene, or break people up into small groups and have them do tasks. All well and good, and I’ve used each of them and more in workshops.
But I take particular pride in involving audiences without their knowing I’m doing it by my cognitive style, supported by what I can do with my voice, my body, and my slides.
In my Powertools workshop, we’ll look at all these factors and how to (hopefully) seamlessly integrate them while always keeping a focus on the central story. Indeed, telling stories is a major affordance by my definition, tapping into the human hard-wiring for story telling.
While it’s great to become extremely competent with your presentation software, knowing its in’s and out’s and becoming technically proficient, the danger is that this same competency can become an interference if all you do with it is to show off your prowess and thus lose your message in the process.
I’ve seen this happen when some have seen my presentations, taken some of the effects and devices, and applied it without suffcient thought to why I did what I did. What’s left is a pastiche of clever animations, funny cartoons, and an audience that leaves amused but not persuaded.
And a presenter who thinks they’ve abandoned their old traditional means of presenting in exchange for something for the 21st Century, but they’re only part of the way there. As are we all! | <urn:uuid:a4f390db-50b9-49ae-a508-6b628e97f287> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://presentationmagic.com/2008/11/22/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963242 | 2,466 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Network security, accuracy and reliability, and first-time connectivity have emerged as energy utility executives' key concerns for the proposed £10bn national smart meter project.
A survey of 36 senior energy executives in the UK found them unsure of which network technology to use for a successful smart meter project, according to smart grid communications specialist Sensus.
Two-thirds of interviewees said security of the network was key to the project's success. This included the protection of customer data and the control of access to critical systems. These could be problematic if they were not "baked into" the network from scratch, they felt.
Connectivity was also a key concern, with 58% identifying high first-time connection rates as a key success factor.
This could be a stumbling block to network effectiveness, Sensus said. It quoted estimates from cellular provider Vodafone that only 70% of UK homes had cellular coverage to their meter cupboard. This could leave around nine million homes unconnected, it said.
Poor connection rates of meters would increase customer complaints and undermine customer confidence, it said. It would also require more engineering visits, raising the cost of the roll-out, and potentially reduce key benefits of the smart meter project, such as helping the environment (66%) and decreasing call centre volumes (58%).
Sensus director Andy Slater also raised the issue of roll-out targets, which are so far undefined. "Targets for connecting the majority of meters have not been proposed and are not really being debated at this time," he said. "This is concerning given that the roll out involves potentially 27 million UK homes and 48 million meters at a cost estimated at around £9bn."
Slater supplies smart meter projects with technology based on long-range radio transmissions. His firm claims a 40% share of the 15-20 million smart meters installed in North America. He urged the UK government not to dismiss long-range radio in favour of cellular radio.
Sensus is working with Arqiva, BT and energy providers including npower on a pilot project in Reading. | <urn:uuid:c11eeefc-7d92-47a6-8376-842a6f17fc4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.computerweekly.com/news/1280093706/Security-and-connectivity-main-worries-over-smart-meter-project | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970291 | 423 | 1.90625 | 2 |
The cornea is the curved, transparent, protective layer covering the front of the eye. In conjunction with the lens, the cornea helps the eye to focus by refracting light. Injuries, infection, and diseases that affect the cornea can cause irreversible damage. Some people may complain of discomfort associated with the swelling or thinning of their cornea, cloudiness, reduced vision, or even blindness.
These conditions can be treated through a corneal transplant surgery. Approximately 40,000 corneal transplant surgeries are performed in the United States each year and the procedure has one of the highest success rates of all tissue and organ transplant surgeries currently performed. At Empire Eye and Laser Center, we will walk you through each step of the procedure so you are fully aware of what to expect before, during, and after a corneal transplant.
If you are interested in any of our services, call us at 661-325-3937 to schedule an appointment. | <urn:uuid:86462e05-291c-4f19-9932-e68beaa45320> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.empireeyeandlaser.com/cornea.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939111 | 198 | 2.046875 | 2 |
SOC: Sanqay National Park (Ecuador)
VII.16 Sanqay National Park (Ecuador)
At its nineteenth session, the World Heritage Committee called for an Environmental Impact Assessment of road construction activities in the Park and requested information from INEFAN, the National Park administration, on road modifications, a land tenure study and steps for an updated management plan. INEFAN informed the Centre that with respect to the road construction a meeting had been organized with the concerned political authorities and local communities. It was also noted that the road was declared of military interest. The Centre received a copy of the land tenure study which was concluded in March 1996 and the terms of reference for the elaboration of a new management plan were prepared during a workshop in December 1995.
Furthermore, the Secretariat informed the Committee that a report from INEFAN (Instituto Ecuadoriano Forestal y de Areas Naturales y Vida Silvestre) was received on 15 November 1996 on the situation in the Park, which indicated problems with the construction of the Guamote Macas Road, although an agreement was made with the construction firm. An update of the Management Plan is under preparation. The report concluded that the impacts of the road construction should be limited and that a monitoring mission by INEFAN, NGOs and UNESCO may be needed.
IUCN recalled the serious problems of the site, which led to its inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger, including road construction, poaching and colonization.
The Committee commended INEFAN on its actions and its report but at the same time reiterated the Committee's serious concerns about the road construction activities and its request for an Environmental Impact Assessment. The Committee requested the State Party to provide a report by 15 April 1997 for consideration by the Bureau at its twenty-first session. | <urn:uuid:577a1931-55d1-428a-8d93-c0bf52dd7d11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whc.unesco.org/pg_friendly_print.cfm?id_decision=2538&cid=305 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966599 | 368 | 2.359375 | 2 |
- SPECIAL REPORTS
- THE MAGAZINE
When Trent Keenan, PLS, WRS, CFedS, president of Diamondback Land Surveying based in Las Vegas, first heard about the project to survey Utah’s Sevier Lake bed for a potential mineral lease, he was excited. In fact, he was so excited that he couldn’t help calling the client, Rick Dye of Salt Lake City-based Emerald Peak Minerals LLC (EPM), more than a few times to convey his enthusiasm. “The project area covered 290 miles and required setting 467 monuments in seven townships,” Keenan says. “It was the largest project our firm had encountered, but it was in a flat, dry lake bed, so I figured the survey would be quick and easy. I told Rick it was about the best project any surveyor would want.”
Keenan’s persistence and passion helped win his firm the job. Little did he know how rapidly the site conditions would change.
Located in a broad valley 10 to 15 miles wide, the playa has been shown to contain potassium-bearing saline brines, making the site a viable location from which to produce potassium and associated minerals collectively known as potash. From the 1970s through the early 1990s, these potash resources were explored and developed by Crystal Peak Minerals Corp. before the company’s lease expired. Other firms expressed an interest in leasing the playa for mineral development, but the BLM Utah State Office in Salt Lake City, which is charged with receiving and processing mineral leasing applications, had to complete an official survey before any new leases could be offered.
EPM, one of the primary firms interested in obtaining a mineral development lease in the Sevier Lake playa, didn’t want to wait. The company made a proposal: In an effort to expedite the surveys and leases, could EPM pay for and undertake completion of the unfinished monumentation work under the authority and direction of the BLM? The BLM agreed, and EPM issued a request for proposals.
Keenan heard about the project through Monsen Engineering, a Trimble dealer headquartered in Salt Lake City. After submitting his proposal, Keenan drove to Sevier Lake in late December 2009 and explored the project site along the outer edges. He thought he saw a few mirages in the distance, but that wasn’t surprising. After all, this was the desert.
The objective was to stake out 467 corners from coordinates provided by BLM Cadastral and take a GPS observation on every monument set in the ground. The surveyors were also required to take a picture of every aluminum cap to document the correct markings and fill out a corner monumentation worksheet for each corner.
A quarter mile in, the ATVs got stuck. The group left the ATVs in the mud and trudged on foot to the first monument, which was about a mile and a half from shore. The mud was knee deep in some places and thigh deep in others. By the time the surveyors had finished setting the first monument and following all of the required documentation procedures, it was already 10 a.m. “That was a frustrating moment,” Carrington admits. “Heads were hanging low, and we were all wondering what the alternatives were to setting the monuments so BLM could lease the land.”
Fortunately, EPM’s Rick Dye was a step ahead of them. A Salt Lake City native, Dye knew that conditions on the lake were highly variable, and he already had a backup plan in place. By 9:15 Monday morning, while the surveyors were struggling to get their first point in the ground, Dye was on the phone with Bruce Cummings, chief pilot for SkyPark Helicopters, who agreed to fly out the next day. Dye also notified Troy Thompson of Utah Airboat that his services might be needed.
By the time the Diamondback crew returned to the site on Tuesday, they knew a helicopter was on its way. Still, this information did little to raise their spirits. “We went out early Tuesday morning while it was still cold to get the quads out of the mud, but by 9 a.m., the lake bed was all mush again,” Keenan says. “It took us all day just to pull the quads out. Everyone was pretty discouraged.”
The helicopter arrived Tuesday evening, and the crew agreed to fly out on Wednesday to evaluate the site by air. The flight confirmed that more than half the lake bed held some sort of water. Dye called in two airboats and learned that the earliest they could be there was on Friday evening. The surveyors decided to do as much as they could without the boats.
With the assistance of the helicopter, the crew was able to set 14 points later that afternoon. But it was still slow going. “We’d guide the helicopter to the points, which might be four or five miles from the edges, and we would step out of the helicopter and sink all the way down to our rear ends in mud,” Carrington says. “We still had to walk another 40 or 50 feet from the helicopter and try to survey, and then try to put a point in the ground, and then try to shoot the point again. And all we could see for miles around was water and mud. It was easy to start thinking, ‘I just want to get out of here.’”
On Thursday, the surveyors set 60 monuments. On Friday, they set 90. By Saturday, with two crews in the helicopter and a third crew in an airboat, the surveyors were able to set more than 100 points per day. A second airboat was used by the BLM for quality control/quality assurance checks.
In February 2011, after completing a comprehensive land use plan and addressing environmental concerns, the BLM approved a plan to allow leases for potash mining from the Sevier Lake bed. EPM was the successful bidder for a majority of the mineral leases. The mine is expected to contribute to local, regional and state economies by adding income and jobs and will also supplement the global supply of potash.
For Diamondback Land Surveying, the project was a memorable experience. “Sure, I’d survey a dry lake bed again,” Keenan says. He pauses, then grins. “I’d just make sure to bring waders next time.” | <urn:uuid:f2e22a9c-d9ea-4574-9983-0488dd7f9343> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pobonline.com/articles/95613-mission-impossible | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97881 | 1,350 | 1.773438 | 2 |
David Edelman, co-founder and president of DiabetesDaily.com – an online community for people with diabetes – receives queries daily from people with diabetes and their family members searching for the best resources to help them make decisions.
“We get this same short, frustrated email nearly every day: I was just diagnosed with diabetes. What should I do?” said Edelman. “Every time we respond, we think to ourselves this question is so big it deserves a better answer.”
In honor of American Diabetes Month, Edelman has identified the top seven most useful resources to arm people with diabetes – and those who support them – with the knowledge they need.
1. Personal Support Network: It is critical to build a strong network of family, friends, and other people living with diabetes. Diabetes is an emotional marathon and the support and understanding from those that care help you move forward with your head up. Whether you communicate through email or meet in person, stay connected with your network, share your struggles and triumphs.
Know someone with diabetes? Be an essential support tool for him or her.
2. The Diabetes Online Community: People with diabetes have built an international support network through blogs, online support communities like DiabetesDaily.com, diabetes social networking sites like TuDiabetes, and through traditional social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. These online resources offer the chance to connect emotionally and seek advice and information from others living with diabetes- from the newly diagnosed to those who have been managing the disease for decades.
There are multiple ways to connect, from skimming message boards to leaving comments for or emailing bloggers to joining a community. You can even starting your own blog. Whether you or someone you love has diabetes, these online tools grant instant access to thousands of lifetimes worth of wisdom.
3. Formal Diabetes Education: A diabetes educator can help you understand why blood sugars change and what you can do to manage those changes. Patients with Medicare can access 10 free hours of diabetes educations per year (the average patients uses less than three). Most private plans cover education as well. Your doctor or local diabetes association can help connect you with a good educator. However, the unfortunate reality is there is just one diabetes educator for every 2,630 people with diabetes. To maintain and enhance education between visits with your educator, consider attending local support groups or workshops (often hosted by hospitals or health networks).
For diabetes patients and family and friends trying to better understand its impact, books can help you better understand diabetes, like “50 Diabetes Myths That Can Ruin Your Life and the 50 Diabetes Truths That Can Save It” by Riva Greenberg. Or consider an online education course like “Workshop for Better Blood Sugars” from Diabetes Daily University (http://university.diabetesdaily.com), which allows you to learn at your own pace and connect with others in a virtual classroom. Make sure that educational courses are taught by a credentialed and nationally recognized physician or educator.
4. Meal Planning Tools: Want the “Approved Foods List” for people with diabetes? You are out of luck: it does not exist! People with diabetes must watch how many total carbohydrates they eat, not ban specific foods. Even high carb items can be enjoyed in smaller quantities.
But to get the maximum health and enjoyment out of your diet, it helps to discover new lower carbohydrate meals or variations on your favorites. DiabetesDaily.com has an entire section of original recipes from co-founder, CEO, type-1, and foodie, Elizabeth Zabell Edelman and The American Diabetes Association has excellent recipes on its website as well.
You can track the carbohydrates in your food using tools like CalorieKing, which provides software with a detailed food database as well as the popular Calorie Fat & Carbohydrate Counter book to accurately track carbs and calories.
5. The Meter: Blood glucose meters are the key to discovering how to live a healthy life with diabetes. Want to know if your breakfast is okay to eat? Check your blood sugars, eat breakfast, and check it again two hours later. If you are back about where you started, then this meal works for you. If not, then consult with your doctor or educator about adjusting medication or the content of that meal. Most people find that little tweaks have a big impact on their health and how they feel. Having a better understanding of how certain foods or activities impact your blood sugar makes it simpler to adjust when you choose to vary your routine. And this is all information you can get right from your meter.
For friends and family members, learn how to interpret blood sugar readings and the impact certain foods have on your friend or family member so you can better support individual choices – like having ice cream for dessert. Often, concern can come across as judgment when well-wishers are uninformed.
6. Exercise Specialists/Instructors: A good fitness instructor can provide information and exercises not only to help control weight, but also that specifically benefits diabetes management. For example, Diabetes Daily co-founder and certified yoga teacher Elizabeth Zabell Edelman recommends certain yoga poses to stimulate the pancreas, liver and kidneys. Try taking a class or enlisting a buddy for group support.
7. Yourself: Edelman believes the key to successful diabetes management is taking ownership of diabetes. You spend less that 1 percent of your year at the doctor’s office. The rest of the time you are on your own. So take the time to examine choices, actions and emotions objectively, without assigning guilt or blame. Understand what is working for you and what is not. And if you do not understand something, do not leave your doctor’s office until you do. It is your life, and it is worth fighting for.
About Diabetes Daily
Founded by Elizabeth Zabell Edelman and David Edelman, Diabetes Daily is a leading online support network that helps people affected by diabetes live a better life. The online support network features one of the largest diabetes forums, as well as original recipes, meal plans, cookbooks, blogs, educational resources, online blood glucose tracking, health challenges and diabetes related news. Diabetes Daily’s mission is to connect people with diabetes, facilitate education and promote advocacy. Since its inception in 2005, the support network has grown to include 60,000 members and 3 million annual visitors. In 2011, the network launched Diabetes Daily University (DDU) to provide tools, information, courses and personal coaching from global leaders in diabetes education. Consumers can join the network by visiting www.DiabetesDaily.com or register for Diabetes Daily University at http://university.diabetesdaily.com. | <urn:uuid:696a8123-6f89-42f6-9377-8c9c2536b99e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.diabetesdaily.com/media/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937174 | 1,370 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen celebrates a touchdown against the Washington Redskins in their NFC Wild Card NFL playoff football game in Seattle, Washington in this January 5, 2008 file photo. Allen, the lesser known co-founder of Microsoft Corp, has struggled for decades to make his mark as a business mogul beyond the software company he started with Bill Gates. But in recent years, Allen's ventures in decidedly low-tech sectors - sports teams, commercial real estate and energy pipelines - have come to look prescient. Picture taken January 5, 2008. REUTERS/Robert Sorbo/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL BUSINESS)
Content engaging our readers now, with additional prominence accorded if the story is rapidly gaining attention. Our WSJ algorithm comprises 30% page views, 20% Facebook, 20% Twitter, 20% email shares and 10% comments. | <urn:uuid:e55d84c3-7e70-4f65-92b7-c8873d6a6324> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://topics.wsj.com/person/a/paul-g-allen/470/photos/02a4774985a74b4883ff43bd8300a9af | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943356 | 176 | 1.554688 | 2 |
In any moment, you can always ask
yourself, What is in the highest good?
or What would be most loving and
empowering? Despite your wounds and habits, you know what kindness is.
Holding a door for someone whose hands are full, picking up a pen that someone
drops, or being forgiving with a customer-service attendant when addressing a
failed product that they personally didn’t design–these are all easy examples
of the way most people know to be “nice.” When you feel love, you act out of compassion with respect, gratitude,
accountability, and kindness. When you commit a loving act, you are in your
This energy and mind-set will always move
you into your center and reconnect you with your essence. Things that create a
loving feeling do the same, which is why daily gratitude exercises,
volunteering, and falling in love are all experiences that somehow make the
world feel like a better place. It isn’t because of what other people are
doing; it’s because of the feeling of
love inside you. Being in nature, with a friend, or with a pet are simple ways
to create a loving feeling. All these things move us into our essence.
Don’t be trapped by thinking that you have
to make people happy in order to express kindness. Love is not conditional.
Love and compassion are expressions of your essence, and they draw their energy
naturally from your Original Source. True love is never depleted; it’s a
willing choice. Notice whenever you feel it and what creates a loving feeling
Excerpt from Inspiration Deficit Disorder | <urn:uuid:ccab578f-4046-43a0-935d-9db9c0f1881f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.beliefnet.com/practicalspirituality/2010/06/love-how-essence-speaks-to-your-heart.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926227 | 352 | 2.328125 | 2 |
In 2019, humans have genetically engineered Replicants, which are essentially humans who are designed for labor and entertainment purposes. They are illegal on earth, and if they make it to our planet they are to be hunted down and killed.
Rick Deckard is a blade runner, or a hunter of replicants. A group of replicants make it to Los Angeles to seek out a way to extend their life span. Replicants have a built in 4 year life span, and this group is at the end. Although he hunts them to the end, the replicants end up teaching the detached Deckard what it really means to be human.
A crawl after the opening credits of the film informs the audience that, in the near future, technology that has created synthetic humans has entered a new phase: replicants, sophisticated androids that are virtually identical to humans, are now equal in strength and emotion to their creators. Replicants are designed and built by the Tyrell Corporation, a giant multi-conglomerate headquartered in two pyramid-like towers. The latest version of replicant technology is the Nexus 6 model. Replicants are mostly used as manual laborers in the “off world” colonies out in space. Because of their advanced nature and tendency towards violence, replicants have been outlawed on Earth. Specialized police units, “blade runners” are charged with the difficult task of detecting replicants who come to Earth. If found, replicants are executed or “retired.” An opening title tells us that the setting for the story is Los Angeles, and the date is November, 2019. Los Angeles and the surrounding area have become heavily industrialized, crowded with people and rain falls constantly.
At the Tyrell Corporation, a blade runner, Holden (Morgan Paull) is interviewing a new employee using a special device called a Voight-Kampff (VK) analyzer. The machine is designed to detect any physical changes in the test subject in response to questions that are deliberately meant to affect the subject emotionally. After a few questions, the man being tested, Leon, becomes obviously agitated and eventually hostile, shooting Holden, who ends up in a hospital in critical condition.
Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner, is eating at a Japanese noodle bar when another man, Gaff (Edward James Olmos), tells him he’s under arrest. Deckard tries to ignore the man but eventually agrees to go with him. Gaff flies Deckard to police headquarters and delivers him to his old boss, Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh). Bryant tells Deckard that a small group of Nexus-6 replicants have come to Earth illegally. Two of them were killed trying to scale a high-voltage security fence outside the Tyrell Corporation. Four have survived; Bryant shows Deckard their files. The leader is Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), the most advanced of the group. The others are Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), Pris (Darryl Hannah) and Leon (Brion James), the replicant who’d shot Holden. Deckard is charged with tracking them down. Bryant also tells Deckard that the Nexus-6s are believed to be advanced enough that they may have developed emotions, that might make them harder to detect via VK testing. Subsequently, the scientists designed the Nexus-6s to have only a four year lifespan. Bryant sends Deckard to Tyrell Corp’s headquarters to test the VK machine on a Nexus-6.
Deckard and Gaff fly to Tyrell headquarters. While Deckard awaits Tyrell, he meets Rachel, a beautiful woman who welcomes him and who acts as Tyrell’s personal assistant. Tyrell appears and questions Deckard about the Voight-Kampff test, doubting its processes in detecting replicants among humans. Tyrell offers Rachel as a test subject, saying he wants to see a negative test result on a human before providing a replicant. Deckard asks Rachel over 100 test questions until the VK machine finally alerts Deckard that Rachel is actually a replicant. Rachel leaves and Tyrell explains that Rachel is a Nexus-6 and one of the most advanced replicants ever designed. She has been designed to possess memories, however, the memories given Rachel have been culled from Tyrell’s nieces or other family members.
Deckard’s first lead takes him to Leon’s apartment. Deckard finds a stack of photographs there, as well as an animal scale. Not far away, Roy Batty is waiting on the street for Leon to return from his apartment. Leon appears and tells Roy that there were policemen there and he was unable to retrieve his photographs. Roy is perturbed but takes Leon with him to a shop called Eye World, owned by a Chinese man named Chew, who engineers eyes for replicants for Tyrell. He is confronted in his subzero lab by Roy and Leon, the latter of whom rips open Chew’s thermal coat to make it easier for Roy to interrogate him. Roy asks Chew about “inception dates”, the date marking a replicant’s first activation and beginning of their four year lifespan. Chew, quickly freezing to death, desperately tells them that they need to talk to Tyrell about increasing their lifespans. Roy suggests that meeting with Tyrell will be difficult, however, Chew tells him that a Tyrell employee, JF Sebastian, may be able to gain Roy access.
Deckard takes Leon’s stack of photos home with him. He is surprised by Rachel in the elevator. Deckard, seemingly feeling betrayed, is quite rude to Rachel, who was unable to talk to Tyrell himself after she found out she is a replicant. Though Rachel shows Deckard a picture of herself with her mother, Deckard insensitively quashes Rachel’s insistence that she has memories. Rachel leaves, extremely hurt. Later, while drinking, Deckard examines old photographs on his piano and dreams of a white unicorn. When he awakes, he examines one of Leon’s photos and finds that Zhora was in a back room. Deckard notes that she has a prominent tattoo on her neck of a looped serpent.
In another part of Los Angeles, a woman walks into an alley and covers herself with waste paper to keep warm. She dozes for a bit until a man approaches her and startles her awake. She runs away, breaking the window of his van, but the man kindly returns one of her bags and she becomes friendly. The woman is revealed to be Pris, one of the Nexus-6s Deckard is pursuing. The man is JF Sebastian, a genetic designer for the Tyrell Corporation & the person Chew told Roy to find. Pris agrees to stay at Sebastian’s place where he designs toys and dolls.
Deckard visits the crowded streets near Chinatown and has a old Asian woman examine the animal scale. Deckard believes it to be from a fish but it’s from a snake, and, like most animals of the time period, is artificial. The maker’s serial number is also visible, a man named Abdul Ben Hassan, whose shop is right up the street. Deckard confronts Hassan who tells him he’d made a snake for a dancer working at a club owned by Taffy Lewis. Deckard goes to the club and places a quick call to Rachel, apologizing for his insensitivity and asking her if she’d like to join him at the club. Rachel refuses.
Deckard finds that Zhora is an exotic dancer at the club who uses artificial snakes in her performances. Deckard poses as an irritating private eye investigating abuses by club owners who may spy on female performers. Zhora sees through Deckard’s ruse and beats him violently and dashes from the club into the streets. Deckard quickly catches up and chases her until he’s able to shoot her. Zhora crashes through several plate glass windows and falls to the street, dead.
Bryant arrives on the scene and talks to Deckard, congratulating him for finding and retiring Zhora. He tells Deckard that there are four more replicants to retire; Deckard insists that there are only three left. However, Rachel has disappeared and Deckard now has to find her. Deckard spots her a few moments later across the street. As he follows her, he’s suddenly grabbed by Leon, who beats him severely. As Leon appears poised to kill Deckard by stabbing his fingers through Deckard’s eyes, his forehead explodes; he has been shot by Rachel using Deckard’s pistol, which Leon had batted from Deckard’s hand a few moments before. Deckard returns to his apartment and Rachel joins him. Deckard appears to be much more sympathetic toward Rachel since she saved him from Leon. When she asks him if he’d hunt & retire her, he tells her no. He gives her a drink and the two play together on Deckard’s piano. Deckard becomes more amorous and Rachel rejects his advances. Deckard prevents her from leaving his apartment and the two have sex.
Pris wakes up in Sebastian’s apartment. She talks to him about his strange skin condition, “Methuselah Syndrome” which makes him age quickly, even though is only 25. Suddenly, Roy appears (likely summoned there by Pris). He shares the news that Zhora and Leon are both retired. Roy and Pris both reveal to Sebastian that they are Nexus-6s and they need to get “help” for Pris or she’ll die. Pris proves to Sebastian that she’s artificial by grabbing an egg from boiling water and tossing it to Sebastian, who finds it too hot to handle. Roy notices that Sebastian plays chess and asks him about his opponent, who is Tyrell himself. Roy convinces Sebastian to use his connection to Tyrell to arrange a personal meeting. Sebastian reluctantly agrees.
Roy and Sebastian go to Tyrell’s pyramidal home and take an elevator to his penthouse. They are stopped as a security measure but are allowed to proceed when Sebastian voices two moves to Tyrell himself that win the chess match they’d been playing; the move is given to him by Roy. In Tyrell’s bedchamber, Roy confronts his master, saying specifically he wants an extension of his short lifespan and calls Tyrell “father”. (In the 1982 Theatrical and 1992 Director’s editions, Roy says “fucker” in place of father.) Tyrell explains that artificial beings like Roy have been permanently designed not to live longer than their lifespan and that no known biological process has yet been able to change that. Roy becomes more despondent, telling Tyrell he’s done “questionable things”. Tyrell patronizes him, saying he’s also accomplished great things. Roy, still despondent, first kisses Tyrell, then begins to crush his skull, poking his thumbs through his master’s eyes. Tyrell falls dead and a horrified Sebastian, unable to escape, is killed by Roy.
Deckard is seen in his car in the sector where JF Sebastian lives. He receives a report from Bryant who tells him that Tyrell is dead and Sebastian has also been found dead at the same scene. Deckard places a call to Sebastian’s apartment claiming to be a friend. Pris answers the call but hangs up. Deckard enters Sebastian’s apartment and searches for evidence or leads. While doing so, he is surprised by a disguised Pris, who assaults him using acrobatics. As she performs a series of back flips to finish Deckard off, he shoots her through the abdomen. She twitches violently for a few moments before Deckard shoots her twice more and finally kills her.
Deckard is next surprised by Roy, who moves too fast for Deckard to shoot. Roy stalks Deckard after discovering that Pris is dead, seizing Deckard’s hand through a wall and deliberately dislocating and breaking two of his fingers. Deckard escapes to an upper floor in the building but is easily found by Roy, who is already showing signs of his own impending death – he stabs himself through the hand with a large nail to temporarily stabilize his condition. Deckard seizes an opportunity to beat Roy with a large pipe but cannot incapacitate Roy, who’s superhuman strength is too much for Deckard. Deckard eventually escapes to the roof and tries to jump to another roof across the street. He nearly plummets, hanging on by one hand. Roy makes the jump quite easily and peers over the ledge at Deckard, asking him “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.” Deckard slips and Roy catches him, dragging him to safety. Roy sits down near him, holding a dove he’d found on the other roof and tells Deckard that he’s seen more in his short life than most humans would see in a full lifetime. Roy is saddened by the idea that all the memories he’s acquired will lost “like tears in rain.” As he finally dies, the dove in his hand flies off. In the original theatrical version (1982) the rain has stopped and the dove flies toward a sunny sky. In the Final Cut (2007) the rain continues and the dove flies toward an overcast sky.
Gaff meets Deckard on the roof and throws his pistol back to him. He congratulates Deckard on completing his investigation; Deckard tells him he’s officially finished with hunting replicants. As Gaff walks away, he yells back “It’s too bad she won’t live, but then again who does?”, referring to Rachel.
Deckard returns to his apartment and finds Rachel, not knowing immediately if she’s alive or dead. Much to his relief, she wakes up. A few minutes later, she is dressed and Deckard, after checking the lobby outside his apartment, motions for her to join him in the elevator. On the floor of the lobby is a small origami unicorn, left there by Gaff. Deckard studies it for a moment, then crushes it in his hand. In the Final Cut and Director’s (1992) editions, the film ends when the elevator doors close. In the Theatrical edition, Deckard and Rachel are shown driving into a mountainous area and Deckard explains in voiceover that Rachel may have a longer lifespan than any other Nexus-6.
Filed Under: Movie Reviews | <urn:uuid:a8ee1ecf-50fa-4182-8dd6-a01f89facf24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://finemoviesonline.net/mag/blade-runner | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970852 | 3,094 | 1.710938 | 2 |
What is TMS Therapy
TMS NeuroHealth Centers, uses FDA-cleared NeuroStar TMS Therapy® to treat patients suffering from depression. TMS stands for “Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation“, and is a non-invasive, non-drug treatment for depression.
While treatment varies by individual, the typical course of treatment consists of:
- An average of 20-30 total treatments
- Conducted over a 4-6 week period
- 5 treatments per week
- Each treatment session lasting approximately 30-40 minutes
** we are happy to work with you, to accommodate your scheduling needs
TMS therapy uses highly focused magnetic pulses to stimulate the areas of the brain known to control mood. This specific area of the brain has been identified as underactive in people who suffer from depression. TMS Therapy causes neurons to become active and stimulate or “kick start” the brains activity.
Each treatment involves the gentle placement of a small magnetic arm against the patient’s head. The treatment is completely non-invasive; patients remain awake and alert throughout the entire treatment. Patients are able to drive themselves to work or home immediately following the treatment session. | <urn:uuid:dcda9f84-b928-42e0-a97a-87658c9dd0a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tmsneuro.com/about-tms-therapy.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941062 | 245 | 2.125 | 2 |
How to help: Volunteer information for Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup
BP's Deepwater Horizon Response Joint Information Center has offered the following numbers for residents who want to help combat the effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill:
To report oiled wildlife, call 866.557.1401.
To report oiled shoreline or request volunteer information, call 800.440.0858.
The Louisiana Bucket Brigade has created an "Oil Spill Crisis Map" that will allow Gulf Coast residents to report fishers out of work, endangered wildlife, oil on shore, oil sheens and other effects of the oil spill.
Eyewitness reports for the map require a description, and location information such as an address or GPS coordinates.
The Greater New Orleans Foundation has opened the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund, which will benefit communities most affected by the oil spill in Plaquemines, St. Bernard and lower Jefferson parishes. Donations can be made online at www.gnof.org.
The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans is working with Matter of Trust, an environmental nonprofit group, to collect donations of nylons, hair and fur, which can be used in making booms for containing oil. Drop off donations at the Ritz-Carlton, 921 Canal St. Call 504.670.2817 for more information.
West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero is hosting a food drive for fishers affected by the oil spill and their family members. Bins for food donations will be located in the hospital's atrium, the Fitness Center, Café Jefferson and the Physician's Center through May 31.
St. Bernard Parish, with support from BP, has established an Oil Spill Call Center to answer questions from St. Bernard residents affected by the oil spill. The center will be staffed Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. It will be staffed from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturdays. St. Bernard Parish residents must call the local number, which is 504.277.4911. A toll-free number for those who may be out of town is 877.902.4912 | <urn:uuid:b6076f92-17f0-474f-a415-4b86bbc1b0f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/how_to_help_volunteers_needed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93616 | 448 | 1.875 | 2 |
Can a robot be called as Living thing?
View Single Post
Feb24-11, 04:07 PM
I may misunderstand your request to "prove an artificial construct for humans to demarcate something that only matters to us"
In truth I had to look Demarcate up.
if to make a construct set the boundaries we wish, that matter to us. its called programing.
I'm not trying to be a jerk. but i did not want to let a lack of response mean i was mistaken.
What I meant by the "what if" is that we are looking to define what is "alive" and not what if we use bioengineering to blah blah blah. it was opening a road to a different destination.
Ahhhh... you mean what do we treat as life, vs. what we treat as a "creation" of ours and a tool? | <urn:uuid:182b3675-7be9-4d81-a410-dbbe87b130d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3156083&postcount=107 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966708 | 184 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Material that bonds together with other particles by means of a binder such as bitumen, cement or resin. Bitumen macadam and asphalt are bitumen bound materials. A material that bonds together and sets hard is more difficult to loosen, break up and remove.
Was this information helpful? Click here to let us know | <urn:uuid:e5a41afe-2059-47e9-8a62-5268f6d5d17e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pathsforall.org.uk/pfa/glossary-of-path-construction-terminology/bound-material.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915619 | 66 | 2 | 2 |
LEVI, ABRAHAM (1822–1902). Abraham Levi, merchant and banker, son of Getchell and Rachel Levi, was born in Hatte, Alsace, France, on June 24, 1822. Getchell Levi died when Abraham was eight, and at thirteen the boy roamed the countryside peddling ribbons and baubles. After his mother died he remained in France to resolve family debts and then, in 1846, boarded a ship for New Orleans. He arrived in America at age twenty-four and worked as a laborer as he moved up the Mississippi to Natchez. There he worked as a butcher and then as a peddler until he took a job with A. Schwartz, a merchant in Liberty, Mississippi. In 1848 Schwartz's brother-in-law, Jacob Halfin, lent his younger brother, Henry, $3,000 to enable Henry and Levi to open a business in Texas. Levi reached Victoria with his goods in 1849 and opened a store in the Globe House, a hotel. The same year he married Halfin's sister Mina. The union produced seven children. The business expanded rapidly and in 1861 became the largest dry-goods establishment in Southwest Texas. When a fire burned the building, Levi dissolved his partnership with Halfin, who lost the rest of the business during the Civil War.
In 1864 Levi went to France. He returned in 1865 to America and set up a business in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. In 1866 he moved back to Victoria and opened a wholesale grocery store. With his cousin Henry Levy he formed a partnership, A. Levi and Company. He began to sell banknotes and formalized his banking business under the name A. Levi and Company, Bankers, which became in 1875 the largest state-chartered bank in Texas; its name was changed to Victoria Bank and Trust Company in March 1923. The Levi company also owned 25,000 acres of land in six Texas counties and had extensive cattle interests.
Levi served as president of the Victoria Jewish congregation for a quarter of a century. He also financed the area's first electrical generator and ice plants. He was elected an alderman in 1857 for a year and served again from 1867 until June 1869. He died on November 30, 1902, and was buried in the B'nai B'rith Israel Cemetery at Victoria. In 1908 the family sold the wholesale grocery concern, and in 1910 they relinquished control of the bank by incorporating it under the name Levi Bank and Trust Company. Levi's son-in-law, Jules K. Hexter, who had married Levi's daughter Melanie, stayed in Victoria for a year to teach the new owners how to manage the bank, then moved to Dallas.
Memorial and Genealogical Record of Southwest Texas (Chicago: Goodspeed, 1894; rpt., Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1978). Natalie Ornish, Pioneer Jewish Texans (Dallas: Heritage, 1989). Victor Marion Rose, History of Victoria (Laredo, 1883; rpt.,Victoria, Texas: Book Mart, 1961). Robert W. Shook, "Abraham Levi, Father of Victoria Jewry," Western States Jewish Historical Quarterly 9 (January 1977).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Natalie Ornish, "LEVI, ABRAHAM," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fle74), accessed June 16, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:ee6b5420-91d7-4d93-8175-285a062f0596> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fle74 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968281 | 750 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Logo types are
broken down by text-based or image base logos.
An example of a
text base would be the Fedex logo.
would be an example of an image base logo.
is a vector base program.
Lecture Slides are screen-captured images of important points in the lecture. Students can download and print out these lecture slide images to do practice problems as well as take notes while watching the lecture. | <urn:uuid:d8248083-0c98-4aad-89f0-e06b0bd134f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.educator.com/computer-science/web-design/echavarria/logo-types.php?ss=288 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91412 | 92 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Trapper Osborne Russell spent the Christmas of 1840 on the Weber River with people of French, Nez Perce, Shoshone, Cree, and Flathead descent. For Christmas dinner the group sat around the fire in the center of the teepee “with their legs crossed in true Turkish style” and ate stewed elk, boiled deer, and boiled flour pudding. For plates they used large pieces of bark. After dinner they smoked pipes and practiced target shooting.
On Christmas Day 1848, two teams of Mormon pioneers began a contest to see who could kill the most predators. The losing team would treat the winners to a dinner.
Solomon Carvalho, photographer for one of John C. Fremont’s expeditions to the West, suffered through bitter cold and deep snows in crossing the Rocky Mountains. But he carefully saved and carried preserved eggs, sugar and arrowroot. “Nobody knew I had them,” he wrote. “These three comestibles, boiled in six gallons of water, made as fine a blanc mange as was ever manged on Mont Blanc.” He served it “to the satisfaction and astonishment of the whole party” on January 1, 1854.
Charles Bailey described a holiday dance where he made the music by whistling. “In those days I could make as good music as a flute or a pickalo,” he said.
Frederick Dellenbaugh, of the 1871 Powell expedition, attended a Christmas celebration in Kanab: “the room was about fifteen by thirty feet and was lighted by three candles, a kerosene lamp and a blazing fire of pitch-pine. Two violins were in lively operation…and there was a refreshing air of gaiety about the whole assembly…. None of our party joined as we were such strangers but we were made welcome in every respect.”
William Avery held a Christmas dance at his newly built log cabin on Huntington Creek. Forty-two men and seven women attended.
During an diphtheria epidemic, 13 Huntington residents died during the last week of the year.
Robert Brewster Stanton was an engineer who in 1889 and 1890 conducted a exploring survey down the Colorado River and Grand Canyon to find a railroad route through the river canyons (!) No, they didn't find one. But they got to celebrate Christmas at Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River. | <urn:uuid:3dafc880-3c5b-4264-8944-468376495157> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.history.utah.gov/experience_history/glimpses/christmas1800s.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977636 | 500 | 2.78125 | 3 |
PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Scientists and environmentalists worry that 3,500 miles of Gulf of Mexico coastline from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to Cape Sable in Florida's Everglades National Park, ringed with rich, diverse habitats where many imperiled birds and animals breed and feed, would be at risk if the oil spill reaches them.
"It has the potential of being a disaster ecologically," said John Bente, the lead biologist for 13 coastal state parks in Florida. "It's just frightening."
In his office at St. Andrews Bay State Park in western Florida's Panhandle on Wednesday, Bente studied a map and wondered if the looming slick would make its way into a fragile estuary that supports some 3,600 species, from endangered beach mice to redfish.
Linked to the Gulf of Mexico by two passes around Shell Island, St. Andrews Bay opens just inland from the hilly dunes and sugar soft sand of the coast. Fed by creeks and bayous, the bay boasts the lushest seagrass beds in the Florida Panhandle, as well as salt marshes, tidal flats and oyster mounds.
Elsewhere, the fear is the same. Kemp's Ridley sea turtles lay eggs on the beaches of Texas and Mexico. Least terns nest on the beaches around Biloxi, Miss., and snowy plovers along Panama City Beach. Manatees munch seagrass from Florida Bay to Tampa Bay.
"All of these coastal areas, the salt marshes and the sea grass beds and the oyster bars, all support what we call foundation species," said Felicia Coleman, the director of Florida State University's Coastal and Marine Lab in Tallahassee, Fla. "It's the glue that keeps the coastal environment chugging along."
The open gulf also teams with life. Five species of rare sea turtles swim its vast waters, which also teems with whales, dolphin, shark and an array of species that wind up on hooks or in nets, from red snapper to bluefin tuna to pink shrimp.
More important, it's a vital seasonal spawning area for those same species, along with grouper, lobster, blue crabs and others. They move to the deep Gulf to set their tiny offspring adrift in the swirling currents that help restock coral reefs, bays and marshes from the Yucatan to the Florida Keys.
For now, with the Coast Guard and British Petroleum struggling to cap an undersea well gushing an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil daily, it's difficult to predict how widespread the damage to the Gulf might be.
James Fourqurean, a marine biologist at Florida International University in Miami, views the oil slick like a hurricane with a cone of danger covering the entire Gulf. For now, no one can predict where it will go, and not everyplace will be hit.
So far, the visible victims have been limited — blackened salt marshes on the Louisiana Delta and one oil-slimed Northern gannet, a seabird found in the slick. Some three-dozen dead turtles also have been found along Gulf beaches in recent weeks, but oil hasn't showed up in necropsies, and federal fisheries managers are investigating whether shrimpers are to blame.
However, Audubon reported Wednesday that oil had begun hitting the Chandeleur Islands, south of Gulfport, Miss., which are a breeding spot for sandwich and royal terns and the brown pelican.
"This is another sad milestone in a disaster unfolding in slow motion," said Audubon President Frank Gill in a press release. "This massive oil slick is churning around in the Gulf and emulsifying into a thick, deadly 'mousse' that will extinguish life and destroy habitats."
Biologists suspect that there already may be massive but unseen impacts that could have broad ripple effects. Slicks of oil are lethal to most of those drifting eggs and fish larvae, said Tamara Frank, an associate research professor at a Florida Atlantic University branch campus in Fort Pierce, Fla.
"That is going to be the problem," she said.
Plankton aren't strong enough to swim away, and if the tiny creatures aren't instantly poisoned, they'll soon suffocate, she said. "Anything that uses gills, like crustaceans and fish, is going to have problems. They way gills work, they have a lot of surface area. They're really frilly, and the oil is going to clump and stick on them."
Even before the massive spill, pollution and other environmental problems have plagued the Gulf of Mexico.
Pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals pouring out of the Mississippi River have created a massive, oxygen-poor undersea "dead zone'' every year that, so far at least, dwarfs the spill.
Fish-killing algae red tides periodically hit the Gulf Coast, particularly around Southwest
Florida. Commercial and sports fishing have hammered some species so hard — notably popular fare such as red snapper and grouper — that federal fisheries managers have issued a series of escalating restrictions.
Even a Gulf in decline has managed to remain vibrant, particularly in sections, however, at east for now.
Morgan and Goodman report for The Miami Herald. Donna Melton of the Biloxi Sun Herald contributed to this report.
ON THE WEB
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY | <urn:uuid:6e21648f-1bd6-4a95-88c2-0c88ffdceb46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/05/93613/biologists-fear-that-spill-could.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950629 | 1,117 | 3.03125 | 3 |
The topic is “Soap Films and Time Machines” as the Mathematics and Computer Science Speakers Series presents Professor Ken Brakke Oct. 23 at 4 p.m. in Musser auditorium in Pfahler Hall.
Dr. Brakke’s research revolves around his Surface Evolver software, which is a program that models soap films and other liquid surfaces subject to various energies and constraints. He uses his Evolver for consulting work on subjects ranging from satellite fuel tanks in weightlessness to liquid solder shapes to high-altitude balloons. Dr. Brakke holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University and is currently Professor and Degenstein Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science at Susquehanna University.
Soap films are physically double layers of soap molecules with liquid between, which try to minimize their area. They can join three at a time along “triple lines,” and this makes them difficult to model mathematically. Dr. Brakke will present his own mathematical model of soap films, which turns out to have much in common with wormholes, stargates, and time machines. He will include live soap films, and computer demonstrations of how stargates and time machines really work. | <urn:uuid:fec54082-96d5-4c9f-bc2b-847cd5d75f4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.ursinus.edu/2012/academics/soap-films-and-time-machines-subject-of-upcoming-talk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96408 | 255 | 2.375 | 2 |
Varying degrees of flooding occurred along the Missouri River in early June 2011. On June 7, the Advanced Hydrological Prediction Service (AHPS) of the U.S. National Weather Service reported minor flooding near Omaha, and moderate flooding at Plattsmouth, Brownville, and Rulo.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured these images on June 6, 2011 (top), and June 16, 2010 (bottom). Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to increase contrast between water and land. Water ranges from electric blue to navy. Land varies in color from brown to green, depending on vegetation. Clouds vary from off-white to blue-green.
Compared to the previous year, the Missouri River is clearly swollen in 2011, from north of Omaha to south of Rulo. Despite higher water levels, the surrounding land appears less green than in 2010. The area may have received less precipitation in 2011, or spring blooming may not have occurred yet.
On June 7, 2011, the AHPS reported that the Missouri River near Omaha reached 30.06 feet (9.16 meters) at 7:45 a.m. local time, just nudging the river into flood stage. The river reached 31.04 feet (9.46 meters) at 7:00 a.m. in Plattsmouth, 39.34 feet (11.99 meters) at 7:45 a.m. in Brownville, and 23.14 feet (7.05 meters) at 7:30 a.m. in Rulo. The AHPS projected that water levels would rise at all four locations over the next few days.
- National Weather Service. Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. Accessed June 7, 2011.
NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
- Terra - MODIS | <urn:uuid:6a79f0d3-6372-4eb3-8509-d9da7b6cfa85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=50888 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930644 | 395 | 3.203125 | 3 |
If you have periodontal (gum) disease, tissue and root therapy is needed to help improve the health of your teeth and gums. Bacteria are the cause of gum disease. That’s why the doctors and hygienists may recommend ARESTIN®. It is an antibiotic that helps kill the bacteria at the root of the problem.
Getting treatment is painless
Your dental professional will place these microspheres into infected areas after completing your SRP. Getting ARESTIN® is painless. ARESTIN® will dissolve on its own, so no removal is required.
ARESTIN® is different from antibiotic pills
ARESTIN® is different from an antibiotic you take as a pill, because it’s placed right where you need it. A pill can’t give you the level of antibiotic concentration in your gums that ARESTIN® can.
- Easily placed inside infected periodontal pockets just after completion of tissue and root therapy (scaling and root planing procedure).
- Contains “Microspheres”-tiny, bead-like particles that are smaller than grains of sand and are not visible to the eye.
- The Microspheres are filled with the antibiotic minocycline, and they release the drug over time into the infected periodontal pocket, killing bacteria that live there for up to twenty- one days.
- The good news: many insurance plans are now providing some benefit for this procedure.
ARESTIN® Microspheres continue to fight the infection for up to 21 days after scaling and root planing. | <urn:uuid:90ec4d28-fd44-4e8d-88e2-6d3ade5ba0e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.longislandperio.com/arestin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930316 | 333 | 2.265625 | 2 |
What travel guide books say about the US JUN 07 2012
Max Fisher has a piece at The Atlantic about what travel guidebooks tell foreign visitors to the US.
Politics get heavy treatment in the books, as do the subtleties of discussing them, maybe more so than in any other guidebook I've read (what can I say, it's an addiction). Lonely Planet urges caution when discussing immigration. "This is the issue that makes Americans edgy, especially when it gets politicized," they write, subtly suggesting that some Americans might approach the issue differently than others. "Age has a lot to do with Americans' multicultural tolerance."
Rough Guide doesn't shy away from the fact that many non-Americans are less-than-crazy about U.S. politics and foreign policy, and encouragingly notes that many Americans are just as "infuriated" about it as visitors might be. Still, it warns that the political culture saturates everything, and that "The combination of shoot-from-the-hip mentality with laissez-faire capitalism and religious fervor can make the U.S. maddening at times, even to its own residents." | <urn:uuid:1210f7ea-759e-47cb-a73a-0978abce5354> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kottke.org/12/06/what-travel-guide-books-say-about-the-us | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960576 | 241 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Austria officially “Republic of Austria”, is a country in Central Europe. Around Austria there are Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Currently, the chancellor is Werner Faymann. Austria has been a member-state of the EU since 1995.The people in Austria speak German, a few also Hungarian, Slovenian and Croatian. The capital of Austria is Vienna (Wien).Austria is more than a thousand years old. Its history can be followed to the ninth century. At that time the first people moved to the land now known as Austria. The name “Ostarrichi” is first written in an official document from 996. Since then this word has developed into the Modern German word Österreich.
Vienna State Opera House
The Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera (Wiener Hofoper); in 1920, it was renamed the Vienna State Opera. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra.
St. Stephan’s Cathedral
Archduke Charles of Austria Equestrian Statue at Heldenplatz
The National Council is composed of 183 members elected through proportional representation in a general election. This happens every five years, or earlier if the National Council prematurely moves for its own dissolution. The National Council is the dominant (albeit ‘lower’) house in the Austrian Parliament, and consequently the terms Parliament and National Council are commonly used synonymously.
Vienna Hofburg Palace St. Michael’s Wing | <urn:uuid:85b5c2a3-08f2-439e-bfdb-ae4478c1c60e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zacktravel.com/tag/austria/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953913 | 363 | 2.859375 | 3 |
How These 50-Year-Old Retailers Dominate the Youngsters: Great D
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Fifty years ago, the U.S. was introduced to what would soon become icons of the retail sector: Target(TGT) , Wal-Mart(WMT) and ailing Kmart -- owned by also struggling Sears(SHLD) all established their first stores in 1962. They represent 50 years of ups, downs and sideways struggles and triumphs. Of course they all pale in age to JCPenney(JCP) , which turns 110 this year and is re-inventing itself.
There are commonalities for today's 50-year-olds, let alone 110-year-wannabes. Here are the Four Ds of Retail:
|JCPenney, which turns 110 this year, is re-inventing itself and stands as a model for other retailers and entrepreneurs.|
Dreams: Despite the growing angst against "greedy" titans of industry, every entrepreneurial venture in America starts with one man and one dream and one big gamble against the odds. Risking the comfort of being on a payroll, these men risk making a payroll for others. These businessmen tried to make a living by delivering something of value to the public.
Determination: There used to be an old adage that once a start-up hit seven years, it was established and through the worst. This was of course the result of so many failures within the first few years of operations. As a business owner and an adviser to many business sectors, I say, "Every year is a struggle and with no guarantees for surviving into the next."
Distinction: While retail is retail is retail, each brand tries to establish itself as different from the others. Either by products, service, style, feel, guarantees, location or other traits, all entrepreneurs must define themselves and their firms with a special something that creates enough distinct value to garner investment and yield profits.
Direction: The ups and downs of economic swings, political change, consumer tastes, competition and the other "usual suspects" of business challenge demands re-thinking, re-affirming and re-adjusting as situations change. Strategic planning, risk and leadership responsibilities remain critical to grow and sustain a company through its lifecycle. | <urn:uuid:061a983b-a24c-4de6-9cc7-ab69fd59a17a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://business-news.thestreet.com/current-argus/story/how-these-50-year-old-retailers-dominate-the-youngsters-great-d/11517159 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957544 | 479 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Albert Collins: Ice Pickin' (Sonet)
Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, March 1979
IN THE game of guitar-hero one-upmanship during the blues boom days of the mid-late Sixties, Albert Collins' was the name to zap 'em with. Through Green, Clapton and the rest, everybody knew the Kings – B. B., Albert, and Freddie – Buddy Guy and Elmore James; but who was this Great Unknown, this Texan with a Telecaster that stung like a tarantula, this shadowy figure with a nifty line in dry humour and a thing about refrigeration?
Total word count of piece: 486 | <urn:uuid:08689560-21b7-442c-8db6-bb399f9183cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/albert-collins-ice-pickin-sonet | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906159 | 140 | 1.554688 | 2 |
[stop] [reverse direction]
is perhaps the most striking assembly of marine
fish becomes viewable only upon descending below
the surface of the water, dropping down along
the face of a steep reef drop off. Thickets
of Acropora may inhibit a clear view
of the reef structure, but generally, this is
not what grasps the diver's attention. Hundreds,
if not thousands, of brightly colored fishes
splashed with a vibrant collage of orange, yellow,
red, and purple garner an observer's immediate
and complete attention. Hovering and feeding
high above the reef structure, these vast schools
of feeding machines are attention grabbers,
to say the least. And boy, can they feed! They
are, after all, family members with groupers.
Aquarium hobbyists can only hope to piece together
a crude mimic of this awe-inspiring scene. Just
the same, though, it's a scene that remains
breathtaking even in a home aquarium. Without
failure, a small shoal of Anthias species will
become the focal point of the fish selection.
Anthias are not, however, for every aquarium
or aquarist. They require a bit more
attention to detail than do many other aquarium
fish. Prerequisites to success with these fish
include: copious amounts of both prepared and
naturally available food, pristine water quality,
a vast amount of swimming room, and a higher
than average water flow.
Each species is slightly different in regards
to its preferred captive conditions as well.
While some may prefer to associate with eight
or more individuals of the same species, other
species of Anthias which will not thrive unless
kept as solitary members of the family. A few
minutes of background research will undoubtedly
go a long way toward success with whatever species
Finally, do not be willing to settle for just
any old Anthias. After a few minutes of research,
you will quickly realize that color choices
are various and plentiful. Not all species are
regularly available (or available at all,
for that matter), but just the same, search
for those eclectic members of the genus. Once
you have obtained that long sought-after species
after some diligent searching and planning,
the wait surely will have been worth it. Come
to think of it
a long search period might
be helpful (and necessary). After all, the price
of a 10-member shoal of Anthias will likely
rival that of the next semester of classes at
your local community college.
Text by Henry
C. Schultz III.
Photos by Reef Central members.
Reefkeeping Magazine Reef Central, LLC-Copyright © 2008 | <urn:uuid:5a60ee14-4a43-4d3f-9929-1a07dc278689> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/reefslides/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904343 | 576 | 2.765625 | 3 |
By Pham Nghiem Xuan Bac & Luu Tien Ngoc
Malaysia announced in December 2010 that it intends to build two nuclear power plants by 2022 and Indonesia has also indicated its intention to explore nuclear energy as a means of addressing its energy shortfall. However, it is Vietnam which, in a number of ways, is leading the pack in the South East Asia region in its drive to develop nuclear power plants.
The Vietnamese government has been working for a number of years now towards achieving its stated desire to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes based on modern, verified technology. The race to generate nuclear energy is driven largely by the country's growing energy demand which, according to government projections, is expected to increase by 16 per cent per year until 2015.
One of the key challenges which Vietnam faces is that currently at least a third of its energy is generated by hydropower plants but there are two key issues which threaten the viability of hydropower as a long term solution to Vietnam's energy needs.
Firstly, hydropower projects depend on favourable weather conditions and in recent periods of drought, the existing hydropower projects have struggled to generate sufficient output to meet peak demand and this situation will only worsen as the demand increases. Secondly, other than the major new plant at Son La, very few sites have been identified as being suitable for additional large scale hydropower projects.
Therefore, Vietnam has had to look to an alternative renewable source to meet its growing demand. Vietnam has announced its intention to construct at least 13 nuclear power turbine units in Vietnam in the next 20 years with the aim that, by 2030 these nuclear power units will provide 15,000-16,000MW of power representing 10 per cent of the total installed capacity in Vietnam.
Creating a legal and regulatory framework
Vietnam has been developing its policy on nuclear power generation for many years, demonstrated by the establishment of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission (now the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute) in 1976 and more recently, the issuance by the Prime Minister in January 2006 of the Strategy for Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy up to 2020 and the corresponding Master Plan issued in 2007.
However, only in the last couple of years has the government started to build a legislative framework for the implementation of nuclear power projects from design to decommissioning and fuel supply to storage and ultimately, the safe disposal of nuclear waste.
However, given the rigorous nature of international regulation and the policy considerations surrounding the implementation of nuclear power projects, it has yet to be seen whether the existing and currently anticipated legislation will go far enough in order to enable Vietnam to fulfil its nuclear vision on schedule.
The main piece of legislation which underpins Vietnam's framework of atomic energy regulation is the Law on Atomic Energy which was promulgated on 3 June 2008 and came into effect on 1 January 2009. This law sets out comprehensive high level principles which govern Vietnam's pursuit of nuclear power and the focus is, unsurprisingly, on ensuring safety of persons and the environment and the need to utilize modern proven technology, together with emphasizing non-proliferation.
The Law on Atomic Energy has since been followed by three Decrees and a number of Decisions of the Prime Minister which start to elaborate on some of the detail as to how Vietnam intends to address the various complex issues which surround the implementation of its atomic energy strategy.
Ambitious timetable for implementation
The roadmap for the future development of nuclear energy in Vietnam over the next twenty years is set out in the Prime Minister's Decision 906 dated 17 June 2010. According to Decision 906, the first nuclear plant, Ninh Thuan 1, with a capacity of approximately 2000MW, is scheduled to commence construction in 2015 subject to the requisite regulatory consents and frameworks being in place and necessary feasibility studies having been carried out. It is anticipated that commercial operation will commence in 2020 with further capacity scheduled to come on line in 2021.
The project is to be located in the Phuoc Dinh commune, Thuan Nam district of the Ninh Thuan province.
A second nuclear power plant (Ninh Thuan 2) comprising a further 2 x 1,000 MW turbines is then also slated for development in Ninh Thuan province but in the Vinh Hai commune, Ninh Hai district with construction due to commence by 2020.
EVN, the state electricity utility in Vietnam, will invest in and ultimately be the operator of the initial two projects. Subsequently, it is envisaged that domestic economic joint ventures may be allowed to develop the remaining nuclear power plants provided they have the requisite capabilities, skill and experience to be awarded a nuclear operating licence.
It is not clear from Decision 906 whether there will be opportunities for foreign investors to be involved in these future plants in joint venture with a local partner but the Decision does not preclude the possibility. Therefore, Vietnam has elucidated an ambitious plan to develop nuclear power over the couple of decades but there are a number of factors which may yet hinder Vietnam's progress in achieving its stated goals.
Potential challenges which face the development of nuclear power in Vietnam
- Lack of a centralised Nuclear Energy Programme
The Government of Vietnam opted not to form a separate Nuclear Energy Programme Implementation Organisation (NEPIO) and empower the NEPIO to formulate all the required strategic and regulatory requirements to progress implementation of its nuclear power programme. Instead, each relevant government ministry, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Science and Technology, remains responsible for duties assigned to it under the Law on Atomic Energy.
In addition, there are a number of different agencies and taskforces charged by the ministries to prepare plans and strategies in connection with the promulgation of nuclear power such as the Vietnam Atomic Energy Agency (formed by the Ministry of Science and Technology through its regulation dated 31 August 2010), the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute and the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety & Control (established by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2004).
IAEA recommends that a NEPIO which reports directly to government oversees the implementation of a national nuclear programme for a variety of reasons. The disadvantage of splitting the function across a number of ministries and agencies is that there may be a lack of coordination between each of the various agencies and ministries and insufficient knowledge at all levels of each ministry or agency regarding the international norms and political and socio-economic issues that surround the development of nuclear policy to enable a cohesive and consistent approach.
- Liability for Nuclear Damage
Vietnam has not signed the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage 1963 (the Vienna Convention). The Vienna Convention channels liability for third party personal injury and death and third party property damage caused by a nuclear incident to the operator of a nuclear facility. The operator is obliged to maintain insurance or some other financial security to meet this liability. The importance of these channelling provisions should not be underestimated in terms of the ability of the party to the Vienna Convention to access the nuclear insurance market.
As an alternative, some countries such as the United-States have in place domestic legislation which channels liability in the same way, such as the United-States' Price Anderson Act (Atomic Energy Act 1954) which also enables access to the insurance market.
The Vienna Convention sets a minimum level of limit of liability on the operator in respect of nuclear damage - under the original convention the limit cannot be less than US$ 5 million but in 1997, an amending protocol to Vienna Convention extended liability of the operator to matters such as environmental damage and increased the minimum limit of liability of the operator to 300 million SDR (roughly equivalent to US$ 400 million).
However, the actual limit of liability is set by the domestic legislation which implements the convention. The limit on liability of 150 million SDR under the Law on Atomic Energy (Article 88) falls short of the Vienna Convention. Vietnam may gain more acceptance of its nuclear ambitions in the international market if it increases these limits to comply with the Vienna Convention.
- Prohibitive cost and limited financing
On a short term view, one of the major disadvantages of atomic energy is the huge upfront investment required to put in place the necessary regulatory framework and build the necessary resources and knowledge pool to sustain a nuclear power industry.
In addition, the lengthy construction period associated with a nuclear power plant and need to import sophisticated modern nuclear technology is prohibitively expensive compared with the cost of procuring a traditional coal fired plant, even though the costs of operating a nuclear plant are low, by comparison with other technologies. The cost of developing the first nuclear power plant in Vietnam is considered to be at least US$ 10 billion - significantly more than the cost of developing a coal fired plant.
As a result, Vietnam will almost certainly be heavily reliant on export credit agencies and commercial debt to provide financial support to its early nuclear projects. As yet, no nuclear project has secured financing in the international commercial debt market on a project finance basis. Vietnam's ultimate goal is to foster the expertise and experience to potentially develop its own technology and build its nuclear operating and fuel processing capability within Vietnam to reduce cost in the long term but this will take a number of years to achieve.
- Security of Fuel Supply
Vietnam will need to import uranium to process into fuel assemblies for use in its nuclear power plants. However, this leaves Vietnam somewhat at the mercy of the uranium import price which can be unpredictable. It is thought that Vietnam may have its own reserves of uranium ore but there is a question mark as to whether the quality of its reserves are sufficient for the purpose of nuclear fuel. Vietnam has reportedly signed an agreement with a Canadian mining company to carry out an assessment of Vietnam's potential for mining uranium ore, including the economic and technical feasibility of any reserves found.
It remains to be seen whether Vietnam can defray the cost of operating its nuclear power plants by utilizing its own uranium reserves or whether it will continue to need to rely on importing uranium from other countries at potentially considerable cost.
- Developing manpower and technology
The Government of Vietnam is acutely aware of the need to promote training of qualified persons to operate the plants and ultimately to take over the design, manufacture and construction of these plants instead of using foreign labour and equipment to drive down cost and boost the Vietnamese economy.
Decree 07 dated 25 January 2010 contains a number of measures to attract people to work in the nuclear sector in Vietnam by offering preferential working conditions and an allowance of up to 70% of the rank or grade salaries. The Decree also targets the future workforce in Vietnam by offering scholarships and tuition paid for those studying atomic energy with additional incentives and possible support or overseas study.
More recently, the Prime Minister has also underlined the importance of training and resourcing in preparation for operation and maintenance of the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant through Decision 1558 which was issued on 18 August 2010 and the allocation of a budget of around US$ 154 million between now and 2020 for this purpose. The Decision again focuses on offering tertiary education on nuclear sciences at the major universities and training qualified persons overseas to ensure the requisite levels of expertise and experience.
Even with these measures in place, Vietnam is, to an extent, playing catch up with those countries with an established track record in nuclear power generation. The relevant authorities in Vietnam, including EVN as the proposed operator of the first two projects, will need to ramp up its efforts to be in a position to resource its nuclear activities on such a large scale in the next twenty years and in order to satisfy international requirements regarding operators of nuclear facilities to ensure safety and security.
- International Co-operation and
In the face of such challenges, however, Vietnam is not without support in seeking to further its nuclear power capability. Japan, the United-States, Russia and China, in particular, are all vying to export their technology and credentials to help Vietnam pursue its nuclear plants.
Vietnam is reported to have signed a formal accord with Russia for the development of the first nuclear power plant, Ninh Thuan 1, using 1200 MWe VVER pressurized water reactors and will supply nuclear fuel for the plant and then remove used fuel for reprocessing. Separately, the Vietnamese Prime Minister has been quoted as saying that Vietnam will partner with Japan to build a second nuclear plant and conduct rare-earth investigation, exploration and processing in Vietnam. China, meanwhile, has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission for cooperation in the nuclear power sector.
In addition, the French Development Agency has pledged to support Vietnam's nuclear endeavours and Vietnam has met with senior representatives of AREVA to discuss its experiences in building and operating nuclear power plants and AREVA's capability in providing fuel rods, converting and enriching uranium and reprocessing and handling nuclear waste. Vietnam is also reported to have entered into nuclear cooperation agreements with India, South Korea, Canada and Argentina.
Vietnam also signed a memorandum of understanding with the US government back in 2001 but talks have been accelerated in recent months possibly as a result of the advanced nature of discussions between Vietnam and Russia and China, resulting in a new memorandum of understanding between the US and Vietnam in March 2010.
This latest memorandum of understanding provides for broad co-operation between the countries on nuclear power including access to nuclear fuel with the ultimate aim of signing a Section 123 agreement to enable US entities like Westinghouse to export their technology.
However, the latest round of talks between the US and Vietnam have been surrounded in controversy on the basis that the deal struck between the countries allows Vietnam to produce its own nuclear fuel whereas recently in similar agreements with other nations, the US has insisted on including non-proliferation provisions restricting the right for that country to independently enrich uranium.
Given the finite nature of traditional energy sources such as coal and gas and the concerns regarding the viability of large scale hydropower projects to continue to meet Vietnam's ever-increasing demand for power, Vietnam may have little other option than to heavily invest now in a nuclear programme.
However, to implement a successful nuclear power industry in Vietnam going forward, the Vietnamese government will need to ensure that there is a sufficiently detailed and rigorous regulatory regime in place to provide adequate safeguards against the potentially devastating consequences of improper handling of nuclear materials or a nuclear incident which could jeopardize the future of nuclear power as an alternative energy source in Vietnam but also further afield.
This process is already under way with the recent Decrees and Decisions emanating from the National Assembly and the Prime Minister as well as the various ministries and agencies, but there is still more to do if Vietnam is to meet its challenging timetable of having a nuclear power plant operational by 2020.
Despite the challenges, there is little doubt that, where some of its rivals in the region are still grappling with the socio-economic, political and regulatory framework issues that surround the implementation of nuclear power as a viable alternative to traditional energy, Vietnam has embraced nuclear energy as an answer to its growing energy demands and is moving closer to realizing its nuclear ambitions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. | <urn:uuid:b2c4f942-9554-4444-8a9e-c708802adce7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mondaq.in/x/166774/Energy+Law/Leading+the+Nuclear+Charge+Vietnams+Quest+to+Develop+Nuclear+Power | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949613 | 3,093 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Global Citizenship Program
Living and working in the 21st century demands more complex skills and abilities than during previous eras. Expert thinking, complex communications skills, problem solving, and working with diverse teams are more important than ever.
Practically speaking, the Global Citizenship Program is a set of undergraduate degree requirements and a general education program developed by Webster University faculty to help prepare students to confront global problems and 21st century challenges. Holistically, it is the blueprint to ensure Webster University graduates skilled women and men, prepared to take responsibility and apply what they know in any situation anywhere.
Today's college students are likely to have more than a dozen jobs by the time they turn 40. Every year, more than 30 million Americans work in jobs that did not exist three months previously. [Bureau of Labor Statistics] That pattern holds throughout the developed world.
Webster University is preparing students from more than 100 nations, at campuses on three continents, to meet the demands of this interconnected and global century. Our graduates will confront unanticipated challenges, doing jobs that don't yet exist, as they contribute to solving local, regional, and global problems.
By helping them develop knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, intellectual and practical skills, understanding of personal and global responsibility, and the abilities to integrate and apply what is learned, the Global Citizenship Program is designed to help Webster students excel in this new world. | <urn:uuid:02b900b1-46f7-401f-8693-76033137b456> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mailto:wup@webster.edu/global-citizenship/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951566 | 284 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 23.djvu/236
By GORDON A. STEWART.
THE worst of our social evils, personal wrongs, and political sins arise from the ununiform operation of our marriage and divorce laws. The loose manner in which a contract of marriage may he entered into and the reckless facility with which a marriage contract may be dissolved are a disgrace to our high civilization and professed Christianity. However learned commentators and jurists may differ as to the correct definition of marriage, it is not only a partially executed agreement to marry, but is a contract continuous in its obligations governing the status of the parties, until it is dissolved by the death of one of the parties, or by one of them obtaining a divorce for some wrongful or invalidating act committed by the other.
In nearly all of the States marriage is recognized as a civil contract only, and has no ecclesiastical obligation so far as society and the State are concerned. The contracting parties are subjects of the law. The person performing the ceremony by which the contract is publicly acknowledged by the parties, whether he be magistrate, parson, or layman, becomes a civil officer by authority of the law for that occasion. Generally, however, the marriage contract is solemnized by a clergyman, agreeably to the rules and regulations of the religious denomination to which he belongs, and for which one or the other of the parties has a religious attachment or preference; or, because a religious solemnization in church gives a better opportunity to gratify the desire for social rivalry and display. But perhaps most persons, especially when young and looking forward to a long future of connubial happiness, consider the act of marriage more as a religious rite than a civil contract, and hence the forms and ceremonies of the Church accord more agreeably with the sentiment of love and affection than the business-like and informal words of the magistrate, who, in response to their acknowledgment of intention to marry, simply pronounces them man and wife. This sentiment, no doubt, is largely the result of a lingering belief in marriage as a divine institution and a sacrament of the Church, as taught when the ecclesiastical court had exclusive jurisdiction of marriage and divorce. It is perhaps not until later, not until they have become dissatisfied with the conditions of the solemn obligation they had agreed to faithfully perform through life, that they discover it is simply a civil contract that binds them, and from which the law has generously provided unlimited means of escape.
Lawful marriage is the basis of the family relation, and the family relation is the fundamental principle of association upon which the superstructure of society and the State is built. And yet there is no | <urn:uuid:7f05771a-7832-4bfc-8be0-f0bdaf489782> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Popular_Science_Monthly_Volume_23.djvu/236 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97599 | 544 | 2.515625 | 3 |
After epic clashes with Frank Erwin, the powerful chairman of the Board of Regents, Silber was famously fired from his position as dean of UT’s then-College of Arts and Sciences.
He went on to become president of Boston University, ruling the private Massachusetts school with fierce control and the ability to withstand tough media coverage and controversy for the next quarter-century. UT president Bill Powers called him an “enormously influential figure in American higher education.”
Remembering his approach, the New York Times described Silber as a “philosopher by training but a fighter by instinct,” an administrator displaying a “tigerish ferocity.”
Many said that fighting instinct was developed on the playground. Silber was born with his right arm ending in a stump below the elbow.
“I wasn’t really a hothead,” he told The Alcalde long after, “but if anybody thinks you’re going to have a peaceful life with one arm when you go to elementary school, they just don’t understand the situation. You’re teased, and you take the teasing or do something to stop it. I did my best to stop it.”
After his childhood in San Antonio, Silber earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University. He later attended a semester of law school at UT but left to pursue a PhD in philosophy at Yale University instead.
Recruited to teach back at UT by Harry Ransom, he returned to the Forty Acres as an assistant philosophy professor in 1957, working his way to department chairman by 1962 and dean by 1967.
He proved a combative college leader, replacing up to 22 of 28 department heads within three years and rarely, if ever, backing down from conflicts with Erwin, the president of the University, or anyone else.
One stand he took was against the removal of black female singer Barbara Smith Conrad from the lead of UT’s 1957 opera production of Dido and Aeneas, in which she was cast opposite a white male lead. (Silber held a mixed bag of views over the years, opposing segregation and capital punishment but railing against communism, political correctness, and promiscuity.)
Silber’s final stand at Texas was against the regents’ plan to split the massive College of Arts and Sciences, which educated 60 percent of UT students, into two. The chairman summarily fired him in 1971, and the college was indeed split.
Decades after leaving UT, Silber remained a lightning rod. In 2007, an Alcalde cover story on the man who had left UT 36 years before generated one of the biggest responses in the magazine’s history.
Erwin had passed away in 1980, so Silber got the last word on their battle, and he took it in dramatic fashion. “I want the people of Texas to know,” he said, “that I never would have left Texas if Frank Erwin hadn’t fired me.”
Photo by Avrel Seale
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well, we kill fire ants so often that they are weker now so the "crazy ants" can...
Regarding that new logo: I live in the Washington, DC area, and I wonder how man... | <urn:uuid:446ac178-f8a0-4a40-ad8a-96483b5caa06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2012/09/hard-charging-former-arts-and-sciences-dean-john-silber-dies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969363 | 733 | 1.875 | 2 |
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Session 20 - HAD II - New Telescopes and New Tools.
Division, Oral session, Monday, June 08
In 1901, W. W. Campbell, the new director of Lick Observatory, planned to build a "big" (0.9-m) new reflecting telescope, to be erected in the Southern Hemisphere. His aim was complete sky coverage for statistical studies of stellar radial velocities. Campbell designed it as a reflector rather than a refractor to save money; when completed it would be the largest professional-quality silver-on-glass reflector in the world. It would be more effective in collecting light, especially photographic light, than any of the big refractors of that era.
The 37-inch primary mirror, when delivered on Mount Hamilton, proved to be afflicted with severe spherical aberration. Like the HST nine decades later, it was not usable. How this happened will be described.
Unlike the HST, this "Mills reflector" was still on the ground in America. The optics were returned to the maker, John A. Brashear, in Allegheny, Pa., and were refigured there. To save time, the final testing and touch-ups of the figure, in January 1903, were moved to San Diego, the clearest accessible site in the United States. The dome, mounting, and other equipment were waiting in a warehouse near the pier in San Francisco, boxed for shipment to Chile. Campbell was badly injured during the testing process, but his assistant, William H. Wright, completed it. James McDowell of the Brashear firm did the final figuring at San Diego, and in February 1903, Wright and Harold K. Palmer (who passed his final Ph.D. oral exam the afternoon before their ship sailed) took the telescope to Santiago and put it into operation there. It proved higly successful for a quarter of a century, in obtaining the observational data for which it was designed.
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No White Males Need Apply
Filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court is, of course, among the most consequential of presidential acts—not quite so grave, perhaps, as taking the nation into war, but in the long run probably of more lasting effect. Indeed, the Court has itself become something of a theater of war, one in which the terms that the victors succeed in imposing upon the vanquished can shape the life of the country for generations. Thus every resignation from that body nowadays sets off an immediate and lively round of national debate. In addition to the inevitable gossip about whose name is most likely to be on the famous “short list,” there is much proffering of advice to the President about where his duty now lies.
The resignation of Justice Harry Blackmun, announced on April 5, was certainly no exception—despite the fact that since the Justice and the President stood pretty much on the same side of the political street, there was general agreement that whoever was appointed would in all likelihood not make much difference to the ideological balance of the Court. Still, for at least some of the President’s would-be advisers, there were other kinds of balance to worry about. As early as April 7 the New York Times editorialists, for instance, already found themselves quite concerned about certain rumors that were coming out of Washington, and they hastened to share their concerns with Clinton in an editorial entitled “How to Fill a Justice’s Shoes.”
About the Author | <urn:uuid:f399164a-3358-44fb-93a6-ea3285bd6ba4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/no-white-males-need-apply/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975563 | 305 | 2.046875 | 2 |