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Posted by: Robert Davis
Application Portfolio Management, Infrastructure Portfolio Management, IT Portfolio Management, IT Project Governance, Project Portfolio Management
Tactically, a project is a structured set of activities concerned with delivering a defined capability (that is necessary, but not sufficient, to achieve a required business outcome) to the entity; based on an agreed-upon schedule and budget. Additionally, a project is a temporary endeavor — having a defined beginning and end — undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives; usually to bring about beneficial change or added value.
The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to on-going operations — which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work to produce products or services. Consequently, in practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate administration.
“View Part I of the Governance and Managing IT Projects series here“ | <urn:uuid:01959638-cc42-448c-a491-fd0d826cec7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/it-governance/governance-and-managing-it-projects-part-iii/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925903 | 199 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Free, fair and open trade is essential to fostering a thriving global economy. In the past, when economic conditions have deteriorated, we’ve seen governments in developed and emerging economies alike engage in protectionist policies. With growth in many countries slowing this year (tied in part to the crisis in the Eurozone), I’m concerned that protectionism could be on rise. In the end, I believe these policies don’t really protect anyone.
One of the biggest challenges many markets face right now is insufficient growth. In addition to their own domestic challenges, many countries are scrambling to avoid getting pulled in by the Eurozone crisis. Given that the Eurozone is an important trading partner for many emerging economies, there is concern that emerging countries are particularly vulnerable to an increase in protectionist policies. However, the good news is that the percentage of exports from emerging economies in general to Europe has been declining, so the impact would likely not be as great as it would have been a few years ago.
World trade has slowed this year in tandem with a global economic slowdown. According to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) April report, trade expanded 5% in 2011, less than the 13.8% in 2010. The WTO projected a further slowdown in to 3.7% in 2012. The WTO attributed this possible slowdown to loss of global economic momentum from a variety of shocks, including the European debt crisis.
So far, I haven’t seen a substantial economic impact from the European debt crisis in the emerging markets. I believe emerging market growth, while slowing, has potential over the long term despite the problems in Europe and in the U.S., and in my view, could well outpace those economies. Following Templeton’s usual bottom-up investment research process, we’ve found that the impact of the crisis needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis. Some companies are more dependent on their local economies and others are more dependent on outside market influences. In some cases, demand from emerging markets has actually aided Eurozone exports.
As global investors, we pay close attention to potential or active protectionist acts and look very carefully at anything involving nationalization or foreign currency controls. We strive to keep abreast of these developments because our goal is that our investments in these counties are not going to be expropriated, and that we can get our money out, if necessary.
An Eye on Argentina
Recently, there has been concern about suspected increases in protectionist policies in Argentina, including import limits, limits on foreign land ownership and nationalization of key resources, particularly in the energy sector. We are closely monitoring this situation, but still see opportunity in a few companies in Argentina that have global operations, and where we see good value potential. Even if these companies’ operations did become nationalized, our research leads us to believe they would not necessarily be negatively affected due to their relatively lower dependence on Argentina versus other regional or global markets. The companies that we typically focus on there, while headquartered in Argentina, are global players with a leadership position in their respective markets. Moreover, because investor fear surrounding these concerns has at times contributed to a drop in share prices, we have in the past been able to pick up what we considered to be bargains. That’s not to say that we aren’t cautious about investing in Argentina right now—we are— but we have to look at the total picture and the nuances that come from analyzing different companies in different ways, distinct from what might be occurring in the broader economy.
Right now we don’t envision Argentina going through a massive nationalization program, but the government is going after some very specific companies, particularly in the oil and gas sector. Natural resources, particularly those that are in high demand and/or are scarce, are often a target of protectionism around the world. Bolivia has been nationalizing parts of its energy sector, and China has been limiting exports of rare earth elements, which are essential to operate many of our favorite high-tech gadgets, cars and other essentials of modern living. Indonesia plans to introduce taxes on the export of more than 60 different forms of minerals, adding to a list of 14 metal ores which were subject to new taxes in May. In addition, Indonesian officials announced plans to cap foreign investments in the banking and mining sectors. I’ve been encouraged by Indonesia’s past efforts to foster foreign investment and its prospects for economic growth, but in my view, policies such as these are a step in the wrong direction.
Taking a long-term view, however, we believe that strong economic growth, growing consumer demand and government expenditure on infrastructure development could continue to support the domestic economy. Indonesia has been a thriving economy where private consumption has accounted for more than 50% of GDP.1 Hence, we feel the Indonesian economy is relatively more immune to external shocks than some of its counterparts.
Because natural resources are particularly vulnerable, no matter where we invest we tend to focus on companies in this sector that are diversified, with global operations. On occasion we’ve found government takeovers of private companies can actually have a silver lining for investors. A government-controlled enterprise may be no worse than a privately-owned company under the thumb of one dominant individual, such as a family member. And, ironically, sometimes when a government takes control of natural resource production and then proves incapable of operating it efficiently, natural resource prices can move higher, and in some cases, the government will reverse course and wind up leaving private enterprise alone.
You might think the moderation in growth and concern about protectionism has heightened political risk in emerging markets in general. That’s not necessarily true, in my opinion. Many policymakers are engaging in measures to help keep growth from stalling. And, there are many other countries moving in exactly the opposite direction of nationalization. Colombia is a shining example of a case in which a government is moving toward private sector involvement, not away from it. There’s a friendlier attitude toward foreign investors in Colombia, too. I’m also encouraged by the potential opening of new markets throughout the world where public pressure had led to political change. (See my recent post on Myanmar)
One last word on the subject: while I’m strongly in favor of privatization and against protectionism in general, certain limited policies can be reasonable if they allow domestic industry to thrive without harming global trade or investment. In some cases these policies can serve positive ends; for example, when used to limit environmental damage from over-production of scarce resources.
I am watching for harmful protectionist policies closely, but I believe governments engaging in them will recognize these policies are counter-productive, and that they scare investors away. I believe policies promoting innovation, efficiency, and fair and free trade are a far better path to growth.
Read more posts on Investment Adventures in Emerging Markets » | <urn:uuid:cfcef0f2-bb78-473d-b010-b14a537b8074> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/the-pitfalls-of-protectionism-2012-6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955845 | 1,414 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Jon Sack, Ph.D.
Electrical signaling in living cells controls a wide variety of arguably important physiological processes such as feeling, thinking, and heartbeat. Electrophysiological signals are created by proteins known as ion channels, and modulating the behavior of ion channels will alter the processes they control. The goal of my research program is to develop modulators selective for ion channel subtypes, to more precisely alter electrophysiological signals and identify channel subunits that generate native currents. Establishing the molecular identity of voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels has been a particularly challenging problem: mammalian channels arise from a family of more than 40 genes, and pore-forming subunits can assemble as heterotetramers. Despite substantial and enduring efforts, few modulators of Kv channel activity have been discovered that are highly selective between channel subtypes. This is perhaps due to a high degree of sequence conservation between subfamily members in functionally important transmembrane segments. Our research efforts seek to enhance the selectivity of channel modulators by covalent attachment to benign, yet well-targeted, biologics.
- Ph.D., Stanford University, Department of Biological Sciences
- B.A., Reed College, Biochemistry
Department of Physiology & Membrane Biology
School of Medicine
University of California
4126 Tupper Hall
One Shields Avenue
Davis, California 95616
530.752.4131 tel 530.752.5314 lab tel 530.752.5423 fax
x2 + y2 = z2 | <urn:uuid:655c15a2-8c93-40bd-b45e-90bab7a791d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://openwetware.org/index.php?title=Sandbox&oldid=530012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916548 | 322 | 1.742188 | 2 |
In my perception of reality, what is true is that there are only two “types” of truth: subjective and absolute. Objective truth is built upon commonly perceived subjective truths, which are formalized through agreed upon methods backed by agreed upon value-based normative claims. The scientific method is the conduit of this effort of formalization. I’d like to talk about the relationship between subjective truth and absolute truth as I see it in relation to the God question.
Consider the physical world. The universe as we know it may actually consist of 11 dimensions, or perhaps there is a similar theory of gravity to that of general relativity that is compliant with quantum theory in the near field limit, or perhaps its something that we—as a people (via the scientific method)—haven’t become aware of. Who knows? Yet, though we don’t know exactly how the universe works, it must absolutely have qualities that are unique. In other words, the absolute truth about the nature of the universe dictates that one, a combination, or none of our theories are correct.
Now consider the nature of our minds. Using the arguments of Sam Harris on the subject of the non-existence of free will, we can liken our sentient experience to being in “thought space” with a flashlight. The flashlight represents the fact that our awareness is finite. It is impossible to be aware of all possible thoughts at once, since our thoughts are scientifically agreed to have origin in our brains, and our brains are physically finite. The fact that our awareness is finite dictates that we don’t know what we will uncover next as new thoughts are illuminated, and hence we have no free will over what we can think next. In the context of this analogy, subjective truth is that of which we are aware (inside the flashlight), and absolute truth is all of thought space. Are there thoughts which we aren’t aware? Absolutely. Are there thoughts that no one has ever or will ever think? Absolutely, since humanity will only exist for a finite time and within a finite portion of space.
Our subjective perceptions of reality are true to us. If I feel hungry, I can’t deny the truth of it, and if I feel the pull of gravity I can’t deny that either, for they are both part of reality as I perceive it. Everyone has a unique subjective perception of reality, and share some common truths with other people. The truths that everyone observes with great agreement have been formalized and termed objective truths. The use of objective truth via the scientific method has demonstrated its practicality to humankind, and therefore nearly everyone chooses to agree with it.
With the epistemological framework I’ve presented, I can say the following. Suppose a group of people find themselves in a room with no windows or doors, and are told to come upon an agreement as to whether or not it is sunny outside. Subjectively, some people may feel one way or another, and have varying strength in their convictions, for their feelings are true to them. If the group were fully honest and scientific, they corporately would have to come upon the objective agreement that it’s a coin flip (since there will be disagreement), but the absolute truth of the situation is that it is either sunny outside or it is not.
Now consider all of reality, and I think you get the idea. Can Science test for the existence of something beyond our reality? As far as we know, no. Could God exist? yes. Does God either exist or not exist? Absolutely. Objectively, it’s a coin flip. Subjectively, people could experience him. Absolutely, we can’t objectively know if they truly are or aren’t subjectively experiencing God. | <urn:uuid:f3b74ed8-a493-4a19-bb7a-d5adfc43444f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.samharris.org/forum/viewthread8646/viewthread/16743/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964852 | 771 | 2.3125 | 2 |
In February 1955, the Los Angeles
Police Department, through the pages of the internally produced BEAT magazine, conducted a contest for a motto for the police
academy. The conditions of the contest stated that: “The motto should be one that in a few words would express some
or all the ideals to which the Los Angeles police service is dedicated. It is possible that the winning motto might someday
be adopted as the official motto of the Department.” The winning entry was the motto, “To Protect and to Serve”
submitted by Officer Joseph S. Dorobek.
“To Protect and to Serve”
became the official motto of the Police Academy, and it was kept constantly before the officers in training as the aim and
purpose of their profession. With the passing of time, the motto received wider exposure and acceptance throughout the department.
On November 4, 1963, the Los Angeles City Council passed the necessary ordinance and the credo has now been placed alongside
the City Seal on the Departments patrol cars. | <urn:uuid:11ea226a-0856-492f-a436-df30e94a0551> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.police-writers.com/los_angeles_police_department.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975076 | 218 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Crafts in the Classroom
Everyday at Craftsy, we have a wonderful opportunity to be around the crafting community and experience all the creativity, fun, and fulfillment that it has to offer. In September, we put together a program to encourage 10,000 people who had never taken a Craftsy class to try one for free. Upon reaching our goal, the plan was to donate $2500 to help fund crafting programs at schools where these activities might otherwise not be possible. We were aiming high, and had 6000 new students enrolled in a Craftsy class by the end of just one day! In the spirit of spreading the joy of crafting, we donated $2000 through DonorsChoose.com to help jumpstart crafting programs at schools throughout the U.S. We sincerely thank everyone who signed up for their first Craftsy class while helping make these classroom projects possible!
Below are notes from the teachers whose classrooms these donations impacted, with links to specific projects:
Dear The Craftsy.com Team:
I can’t fully express my joy, excitement, and thanks for your donation to my project. It is great to see that you share my vision for reaching children. In reading, we so often use abstract explanations to explain abstract things. The tools that you have funded will enable students to create and tell a story about the Underground Railroad through quilts. I hope to share with my colleagues a new technique in learning. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to introduce these tools to the children.
Thank you so very much for your generous donation to fund the “Cooking Supplies for the Special Education Classroom”. The special needs students enjoy our weekly cooking activities and now all of the cooking activities will be more life skill focused with the purchase of the Cuisinart CTO-390PC – electric oven. In addition to learning valuable life cooking skills, the students are applying math lessons. Thanks again for your donation and support to these wonderful students.
Thank you so much for your generous donation! I have been struggling, trying to figure out a way to provide enough yarn to the students in my club for them to actually complete projects (scarves, hats, etc.) that they can knit and then keep or give away. I can now provide my students with the resources they need. I will meet with my Fiber Arts girls this Friday, and I can’t wait to tell them about your wonderful gift to us! You have saved us hours and hours of fundraising “along with the bureaucratic red tape that selling merchandise to raise money entails. I wish you all the best. Thanks again.
Thank you all for your VERY generous donations. The children at our school are about to learn a craft that can open various doors. With your help,we are going to create a club that will promote socialization, giving to others and teach them a craft that can become a hobby for them. Teaching a child something like knitting can show them that there are creative things to do with your time that don’t cost a great deal of money and you get an end product that is something you need or can give to others. I hope to have a very productive year. Thanks again.
I can’t fully express my joy, excitement, and thanks for your donation to my project. It is great to see that you share my vision for continuing the Arts with students. The tools you have funded will provide an avenue of creativity in quilt making as well as a means for students to provide to those less fortunate in their own community. In addition, I will be able to demonstrate new sewing/quilting techniques that will encourage imagination, critical thinking and endless possibilities for students as they develop their own quilt designs and build them for others. I plan to share with my colleagues about this Artistic & fun venue of Quilt making so they can see this amazing & unique way students grow and develop. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to introduce these tools to my students.
Thank you so much for supporting our kids and for funding our project. It is so amazing and inspiring that there are wonderful people out there who still see the value in making art! This contribution makes a big difference in the lives of our students and it is greatly appreciated! The students are so excited and we cannot wait to show you what we can create! The kids are already talking and planning ideas for this project. We are so grateful! | <urn:uuid:3c318d6c-ac6e-4818-a0e9-a41ff2406772> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2012/10/crafts-in-the-classroom/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960016 | 907 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Toxicity of ...
|Title||Toxicity of 2,2',4,4',5,5'-Hexachlorobiphenyl in the Rat-Liver - an Electron-Microscope Study|
|Author(s)||K. Maclellan, A. Singh, I. Chu, D. Villeneuve|
|Journal||Histology and histopathology|
|Abstract||Morphological effects on the liver of Sprague-Dawley rats administered orally 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB), congener #153, were analyzed. Treatment diets were prepared by dissolving the congener in 4% corn oil. Ten animals of either sex in each group were placed on the respective diets that contained 50, 500, 5,000, or 50,000 ppb congener. Ten animals of each sex served as the control that had only the oil added to the diets. Thirteen weeks after the onset of dosing, the animals were euthanized and liver samples were obtained from the animals and prepared for electron microscopy. Animals exposed to the congener showed (in a dose-related manner) a marked increase in smooth endoplasmic reticulum profiles, and in the number of lipid droplets in many parenchymal cells. Mitochondrial abnormalities such as dumbbell shapes, and in others, the cristae that were oriented parallel to the long axis of the organelle were present. The magnitude of morphologic alterations did not reveal gender differences. The results indicate mild hepatotoxicity of the congener in the rat.|
Using APA 6th Edition citation style.
Times viewed: 56 | <urn:uuid:7e29aabc-7ac9-4485-b0ea-88b86ae973f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.islandscholar.ca/fedora/repository/ir%3Air-batch6-4807 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902636 | 357 | 1.671875 | 2 |
There isn’t a doubt that a tyre blowout ranks the highest on any highway driver’s list of fears. With good reason too, as a tyre burst could lead to a complete loss of car control. With SUVs & MUVs, there is the possibility of a flip-over too. A blowout is dangerous no matter how good a driver you are or how safe your car is.
The good news is, with tyre technology continually improving, blowouts are becoming an infrequent occurrence. Still, they do happen and it's best that you know what to do if you suffer one.
How to handle a Tyre Burst:
- Start with maintaining a safe driving speed; there are just no two sides to this. The lower your speed, the higher your chance of survival. A blowout at 80 - 90 kph will be far less dramatic than one at 140 - 150 kph. Indeed, if you survive a tyre burst at 150 kph, consider it a gift of God.
- Do NOT slam on the brake pedal. Of course, this is easier said than done, as our brains are hardwired to instinctively jam the brake pedal in an emergency. Hard braking is actually the worst thing you can do as it will further imbalance the vehicle and throw it out of control.Â
- Don’t abruptly take your foot off the accelerator. Do it slowly & gradually. In fact, Michelin recommends that you maintain accelerator input momentarily, before releasing it slowly. The deceleration force from a blown tyre is so strong that your car will anyway slow down rapidly. If you have engaged cruise control, be sure to disengage it immediately.Â
- Try your best to keep the vehicle pointed straight. Cornering or turning with a blown tyre will greatly upset the car’s composure. If your car is pulling to one side, you might need to pull the steering in the opposite direction to keep it going straight. This is critical, else you risk drifting into the road divider or worse still, the opposite lane.
- Do NOT attempt to over-correct. The key is to maintain the vehicle’s stability. A sharp yank of the steering wheel can result in a rollover. Even when you have gained control and are slowly moving to a safe parking spot, do so with the mildest steering inputs possible.
- Allow the vehicle to gradually coast to a stop. Use engine braking if necessary. Lightly engage the brakes only when your car has decelerated to a slow speed. Use the turn indicators and pull over safely off the road. Drive on the bare metal wheel if you have to, but do NOT stop in the middle of the road as you run the risk of getting rear-ended by a speeding car. Remember to activate your hazard lights when stopped.
Next Page > | <urn:uuid:25c9ddc2-8937-4b23-9f65-649bf454b228> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.team-bhp.com/safety/tyre-bursts-blowouts-how-handle-and-prevent-them | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935946 | 585 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Print version ISSN 0100-8358
CANOSSA, R.S. et al. Effect of temperature and light on joyweed (Alternanthera tenella) seed germination. Planta daninha [online]. 2008, vol.26, n.4, pp. 745-750. ISSN 0100-8358. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-83582008000400005.
Biology of tropical weeds is still mostly unknown, especially in relation to facts that could be used as cultural tools for weed management. The present work was aimed at evaluating the infuence of temperature and light on germination of Alternanthera tenella seeds. Treatments consisted of four constant temperature regimes (20, 25, 30 and 35 ºC) in absence of light, and constant temperature of 25 ºC in the presence and absence of light. The germination test was conducted with four replicates of 100 seeds per treatment, placed in plastic boxes (gerbox) and kept in BOD Germinator. Germination evaluations were performed at the same time daily, by counting normal seedlings, with visible roots and cotyledons. Total germination and speed of germination velocity index (GVI) were calculated after 34 days and the experiment was run twice. Total germination and germination velocity increased as temperature increased up to 28.2 ºC, decreasing from this temperature on. At 25 ºC, germination and GVI of joyweed seeds increased when the seeds were kept under light.
Keywords : calico plant; seedbank; germination test. | <urn:uuid:71b43583-742a-443b-85fa-763f482dd5d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0100-83582008000400005&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936968 | 344 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Ever since the Library of Congress ruled in favor of jailbreaking although it may void your warranty and now there is a browser-based jailbreak, I've started to pay attention to jailbreaking, at least a little.
My friend Jeff Barszcz posted some of his reasons, and I found some of them really compelling.
The last time I really paid attention was before Apple opened the App Store, and I'm guessing a lot has changed since then.
Here is what I know about jailbreaking: 1) there's a program that lets you run any program in the background, 2) there's an app to turn your iPhone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, 3) there's a program that gives you quick access to turn things like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Data on and off quickly, as well as adjust settings, 4) there's an app that lets you access your iOS device via SSH and you ought to change the default passwords if you turn on SSH.
Let me be clear: I'm asking for specific examples of applications and uses that people find with jailbreaking which aren't available otherwise. I'm less interested in philosophical reasons involving the words such as "freedom" and "open" although I understand those are compelling reasons for some people.
So, dear readers, tell me: what jailbreak apps you think are "must haves" that might convince someone to become a jailbreaker?
Image via FHKE on Flickr.
Deals of the Daymore deals
Software Updatesmore updates
- Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 available, bringing new characters, physics and more
- Agile Partners releases Lick of the Day 2.0
- Google announces new Hangout app to hit iOS today
- Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Update 14.3.4
- Pixelmator 2.2 available with over 100 new features and improvements
- DabKick for iPhone lets you share photos, watch videos and now listen to music in real-time | <urn:uuid:fc1f65b0-c587-44c4-9ca5-8c1849e9bb78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tuaw.com/2010/08/03/why-jailbreak/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952597 | 407 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Greece says former Yugoslav's state name – the same as a Greek province – is not acceptable.
Skopje, Macedonia; and Pristina, Kosovo
The former Yugoslav state is expecting an invitation to join NATO at a summit in April, and Macedonian officials say the country needs membership in the security organization, and later the European Union, to maintain stability. But Greece has threatened to scupper Macedonia's membership bid if it does not change its name, which Greece says implies a territorial claim to the northern Greek province of Macedonia.
Macedonia has largely been calm since a 2001 uprising by its large Albanian community against state security forces. After several months of fighting, a fragile peace was brokered. But the delicate security situation could deteriorate, experts in Skopje have warned, if Greece vetos the former Yugoslav state's bid to join international organizations.
Greece has insisted that Macedonia is properly known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in such organizations. But more than two-thirds of UN member states, including the United States, have recognized Macedonia under its constitutional name – the Republic of Macedonia.
"Any state that applies for membership is given the criteria and should not be given additional criteria by any other country," says Emil Kirjas, Macedonia's former foreign minister. "Greece is acting illegally to put this extra condition on Macedonia to join NATO or the EU." | <urn:uuid:de5c86dc-1f50-4c34-95d9-d68665604307> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2008/0221/p06s01-woeu.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967262 | 289 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Priscilla Presley will christen the paddle-wheeler American Queen in… (Great American Steamboat…)
Godmothers matter, especially when it comes to the maritime tradition of women christening cruise ships, just as if they were children.
And these days, no choice is too outrageous. Tinker Bell provided the animated honors for Disney Wonder in 1999, and a holographic form of Fiona from "Shrek" did likewise for Allure of the Seas in 2010.
Now comes Priscilla Presley, who will be godmother to the steamboat American Queen when it's christened April 27 at its home port of Memphis, Tenn. The American Queen, the largest paddle-wheel steamboat ever built, will head up the Mississippi River on its inaugural voyage to Cincinnati, according to an announcement by the Great American Steamboat Co.
And TV Iron Chef and restaurateur Cat Cora will preside over Oceania Cruises' newest ship, Riviera, in Barcelona on May 11. She is tasked with somehow wielding a super-sized Nebuchadnezzar of Champagne custom-made by Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin and smashing it against the ship's hull, an Oceania Cruises statement says.
All this comes on the heels of the Disney Fantasy hoopla in New York City last week when Mariah Carey (yes, she sang the song "Fantasy") presided as godmother over a glitzy Disney bash in New York City that featured Jerry Seinfeld, Neil Patrick Harris and others on stage. The Fantasy makes its first cruise, which is sold out, to the Eastern Caribbean on March 31 from its home port of Cape Canaveral, Fla.
The hands-down most godmotherly of them all has to be Queen Elizabeth, who has personally christened four Cunard ships: the newest and her namesake, the Queen Elizabeth, in 2010; the Queen Mary 2 in 2004; the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1967; and the Caronia in 1947 (she was Princess Elizabeth then).
And she was present at the christening of the original Queen Elizabeth in 1938 when she was 12 years old. Wow, that's a lot of ship shout-outs in her lifetime. | <urn:uuid:2c6cc18b-4547-4d73-980d-061f575d8215> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/07/news/la-trb-ship-godmothers-20120307 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938455 | 455 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Bring the Kids Home
Bring the Kids Home is a partnership between the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, the Department of Health and Social Services, the State planning boards, Families, Youth, Providers, Tribes, and other Stakeholders.
Three primary goals guide the initiative:
- Significantly reduce the numbers of children and youth in out-of-state care and ensure that the future use of out-of-state facilities is kept to a minimum.
- Build the capacity within Alaska to serve children with all intensities of need.
- Develop an integrated, seamless system that will serve children in the most culturally competent, least restrictive setting, and as close to home as possible.
- Kids belong in their homes (least restrictive, most appropriate setting, community based).
- Strengthen families first (strength based, preventative)
- Families and youth are equal partners (family driven, youth driven).
- Respect individual, family and community values (culturally competent, individualized care, community-specific solutions).
- Normalize the situation (meet the child where they are, respect normal life cycles, promote normal and healthy development).
- Help is accessible (coordinated and collaborative).
- Consumers are satisfied and collaborative meaningful outcomes are achieved (emphasis on research, evidence, quality improvement, accountability).
From 1998 to 2004, Alaska’s behavioral health system became increasingly reliant on Residential Psychiatric Treatment Centers (RPTC) for treatment of severely emotionally disturbed youth. Out-of-state placements grew by nearly 800 percent. Alaska Native children were over-represented: 49 percent of children in state custody and 22 percent of non-custody children in out-of-state placements were Alaska Native.
Children were placed outside of Alaska for long periods — even years — for treatment. Families making these hard choices often found that out-of-state placement created unanticipated problems. It was difficult for families to participate in their child’s treatment, transitions back to home were challenging, and Alaska Native children sometimes experienced a cultural loss because their experiences diverged widely from those of their families.
These issues drove the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (The Trust) to establish and jointly chair the Bring the Kids Home Focus Group to address the reliance on out-of-state services. Cross-system collaboration became a key BTKH strategy. Family and youth advocates, tribes, schools, providers and community stakeholders participate in the BTKH Focus Group. The Alaska Planning Boards (Alaska Mental Health Trust Board, the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education, The Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and the Traumatic Brain Injury Board) are key Focus Group members, bringing statewide stakeholder feedback. Tribal health organizations, the Denali Commission, the Department of Education, the University of Alaska and school districts all partner with DHSS and the Trust on BTKH. Most of those involved in the BTKH Focus Group also participate in project-specific work groups. The Trust, DHSS, the Alaska Legislature and the Governor have allocated the essential resources required to address these problems.
As a result of BTKH planning, capacity development, management and policy shifts, and the investment of new resources, BTKH has been extremely successful at reforming Alaska’s behavioral health system of care for children and adolescents. Many fewer children are now receiving Medicaid funded out-of-state mental health treatment, there has been a significant decrease in recidivism to RPTC (within one year), and new supports are available to support children and their families in the community.
Medicaid Expenditures Data from DHSS BH: Policy & Planning
BTKH Initiative: Indicators for SFY 2011
For updated information on BTKH progress, projects, meetings and other information, see the “BTKH SharePoint Site” at the link on the right, above. | <urn:uuid:b5420127-bca5-4645-9a17-8fd99fc8b083> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dhss.alaska.gov/Commissioner/Pages/btkh/default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939691 | 811 | 2.25 | 2 |
In a split vote last night, the School Board of our venerable neighbor to the south decided not to include text in the district's non-discrimination policy that would have added "sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression" to the list of characteristics that cannot be used to deny students access to educational activities. Why? The 4 members that voted against changing the policy said they didn't believe it would address the underlying problem: a hostile environment at Saline High School and bullying of students perceived as lesbian, gay, and bi. This brave decision to stay firmly in the past allows employees of Saline Public Schools to deny access to educational activities to students based on sexual orientation. Wouldn't it be funny if they kicked all the straight kids out of theater? Maybe when people talk about Saline's "small town charm" it's really a code for "antiquated institutionalized bigotry."
More here and here. | <urn:uuid:22d6d7c2-81da-47f1-8eeb-a4be86521091> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.damnarbor.com/2010/10/saline-school-board-decides-its-still.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974324 | 184 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Discover the artist within you and welcome autumn at this popular annual event at Woodlands Nature Station! Nature Arts Day is an excellent way to learn about the natural world.
There will be something for the entire family including activities for children to help them learn about nature through arts and crafts. Bring the family and visit with local artists and craftspeople as they display, demonstrate, and discuss their work. Learn a new art skill from guest nature artists or try making your own nature crafts.
Arts include basket making, boat building, making your own clay pot, found and repurposed bugs, painted rocks, and much more. Sit back and listen to Native American stories or join in during the Critter Sing-along. Arts and crafts will be available for purchase.
“Autumn is such a beautiful time. There is so much going on in LBL--elk bugling, leaves changing colors, fruits ripening, songbirds and monarch butterflies flying south for winter,” said Cindy Earls, Special Events Coordinator at LBL.
For the rest of this story, see this week's issue of The Cadiz Record or subscribe to our e-Edition by calling 270-522-6605. | <urn:uuid:a7ad1df9-8dd3-4fa3-a66f-094b30c77df2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cadizrecord.com/view/full_story/20267324/article-LBL-holds-Nature-Arts-Day?instance=home_features | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952961 | 248 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
KRWG.ORG-The Region's Home Page
Carlos Correa Reports
Fri May 4, 2012
College Students Creating Their Own Jobs
05.07.12 (LAS CRUCES) -- Future business leaders are making a plan, which they hope will take them from the college campus and into the workforce. Students hope their efforts will someday improve the economy.
During these tough economic times, college students at New Mexico State University are finding ways to secure their future.
"I think every big business was a small business at some point and its important for people to have the courage to try and start a business and the chance of failure is high but the rewards for success are even higher," said Brittain Catron.
The College Entrepreneurs Organization or C.E.O. is a group with more than 240 chapters worldwide. It gives students the skills to create job opportunities.
"We're all part of Arrowhead Center and it helps a lot here because we find out you know, where to go to do your research, what's the standard business plan, how can you get funding," said Catron.
Since many students are finding it difficult to look for jobs in their respected field, leaders with the group say C.E.O. opens the door to other opportunities in which they can still use their skills.
"When you're not finding a good number of jobs, like everybody is thinking on the lines of setting up their own business and give employment opportunity so its definitely kicking up and there's a many incentives available from the government so they can take, they can use those incentives," said NMSU student Shanta Thoutan.
The group is working to create a network with local and regional business owners. Members work on business ideas and team up to improve their business plans.
"They can learn about, if they have good plans, business plans, whether it's a bad idea, good idea, they could turn that idea, good business and if they have interest in entrepreneurship, they help them in getting them to that point," she said. | <urn:uuid:e5bb79f7-25fc-4036-8219-9f0d0231bb10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krwg.org/post/college-students-creating-their-own-jobs?nopop=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968792 | 431 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Rowan County Schools Mission Statement
Nestled in the mountains at the edge of eastern Kentucky, Rowan County Schools have been serving the people of Rowan County since 1901. The Rowan County School System is made up of six schools--four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school, all of which are fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Each school is unique not only due to its excellent faculty and staff, but also due to the wonderful students and their families which make up an integral part of each school.
Rowan County was formed in 1856 as Kentucky's 104th county from parts of Morgan County and Fleming County. It was named for John Rowan, a Kentucky member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. www.moreheadrowan.org
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 286 square miles (741 km2), of which 281 square miles (728 km2) is land and 5 square miles (13 km2) is water. Its highest Point is "Limestone Knob" at about 1,409 feet (429 m) above mean sea level. | <urn:uuid:eb78302c-fd98-4765-a0b7-83713581603e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rowan.k12.ky.us/content_page.aspx?schoolid=0&cid=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977244 | 241 | 2.453125 | 2 |
Sustained winds over a three-day period and flooding for several days in some localized areas caused substantial damage to landscape plants.
Primarily, newly planted trees or those planted in the past 2-3 years, flowers, bedding plants, foundation shrubs and lawns were exposed to conditions that resulted in limb breakage, plants being partially uprooted, water-saturated root zones and more, Owings said.
Shade and flowering trees that have only been in the ground for a couple years received wind damage. In some cases, these trees may have been partially or “all the way” blown over.
“These can probably be salvaged, depending on how much damage was done to the canopy and the species of the tree,” Owings said. Do not be concerned if the trees were stripped of foliage – it will regrow.
Evaluating more-mature standing trees to determine if they need to be removed or can be saved is often best done by a knowledgeable individual. If you have difficulty determining which standing trees can be salvaged, contact a local licensed arborist to look over the trees and help you decide, said LSU AgCenter horticulturalist Dan Gill.
“There is no hurry to make these decisions,” Gill said. “It is often advisable to wait until the next spring and summer to see how the tree grows out and recovers before making a final judgment.”
Remove any debris that may be covering the shrubs, such as tree branches and debris from buildings, as soon as possible.
Taller shrubs and plants like Knock Out roses may be partially blown over by high winds. If the roots were not exposed for long periods and the shrubs still look reasonably good, straighten them, cover their roots and stake them to hold them upright, Owings said.
“Leave the stakes in place for six to nine months,” Owings said. “Trim any broken branches, but otherwise avoid extensive pruning of living branches.”
The foliage of thin-leaved species may look burned. High winds blowing against the foliage can cause this type of damage. It is generally superficial.
Extremely high winds can actually strip the foliage from shrubs. “They are still alive and will usually recover should this happen,” Gill said. “Wait until the following spring to determine if they will survive.”
Branches that do not leaf out with the rest of the shrub are dead and should be pruned off. Shrubs that do not produce any new growth by the following spring should be removed.
Herbaceous, or non-woody, plants can be divided into two broad categories – annuals and perennials.
“Annuals are generally not worth salvaging if they received a lot of damage,” Gill said. “Pull them up and compost them.”
Plants like caladiums and daylilies made it through the storm fine, but butterfly bushes, some lantanas, perennial salvia and more upright growing annuals and perennials were probably partially blown over or have broken canopy, Owings said.
“Apply several inches of mulch to the areas where annuals were growing to prevent weed growth until you’re ready to replant,” Gill said. “On plants with minimal damage, prune off bad looking growth and give them time. They will usually produce new growth shortly.”
For flooded lawns, as soon as possible remove heavy debris and silt that may have been deposited by flood waters, said LSU AgCenter turfgrass specialist Ron Strahan.
“Use a rake to remove most of the larger material, and then use a hose with a nozzle attached to wash off the remaining mud,” Strahan said.
The surge of salt water brought inland by a hurricane can cause a lot of damage to turfgrasses in lawns, golf courses, parks and playgrounds.
Thoroughly watering the grass as soon as possible with clean, fresh water is probably the most important thing to do. This will help rinse salts from turf leaf surfaces and leach salts, which can damage roots, from the grass root zone.
“Raise the mower’s cutting height a notch to help the turf regenerate a stronger root system,” Strahan said.
Bermuda, zoysia, and St. Augustine grasses have good salinity tolerance. Centipede grass has less salt tolerance than other lawn grasses, while carpetgrass and bermudagrass have good flooding tolerance, Strahan said.
“Flooding may increase the incidence of brown patch disease with lawns,” Strahan said. “Consider using a recommended fungicide as a preventative measure.”
If a lawn survives, do not fertilize now. Wait until next spring to fertilize.
For additional information about landscape care after a hurricane, visit the LSU AgCenter website at www.LSUAgCenter.com. | <urn:uuid:3d9219f2-813e-40ac-9f5b-ebeb03feae67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://zacharytoday.com/bookmark/20054381 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960274 | 1,051 | 2.84375 | 3 |
An Introduction to Eaton
Eaton is a diversified power management company providing energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. The company is a global technology leader in electrical products, systems and services for power quality, distribution and control, power transmission, lighting and wiring products; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for performance, fuel economy and safety.
Once known as a vehicle components supplier, Eaton has diversified to include a broader industrial and commercial focus. Today, Eaton's businesses comprise five distinct segments: Electrical, Hydraulics, Aerospace, Truck and Automotive.
The Eaton Business System
What makes Eaton distinct is our power management focus, our values-based culture and our philosophy to run the enterprise as an integrated operating company. The Eaton Business System (EBS) is the embodiment of our integrated operating company philosophy--it is how we work at Eaton and how we run our company in a common way. | <urn:uuid:a9b10a57-cbdd-4cc1-81c5-8eb4b2683f3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web.eaton.com/Eaton/OurCompany/AboutUs/CorporateInformation/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922634 | 226 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Department of English
English Studies is a rapidly changing discipline that embraces a number of related fields, from British, U.S. and post-colonial literatures, to literary theory, cultural studies, cinema, electronic texts/media, creative writing and rhetoric. While its focus is increasingly interdisciplinary, English Studies takes as its principal pursuits textual analysis and production. Scholars of English Studies pay precise and sustained attention to language, literature, and culture in their historical, as well as theoretical, contexts; in their aesthetic, as well as practical, dimensions; and in their social, as well as political, significances.
News & Announcements | <urn:uuid:5e846502-3b85-46e3-b86f-a981caefa45d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.albany.edu/english/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96046 | 128 | 1.523438 | 2 |
1. A catadioptric telescope is a hybrid of both reflector and refractor telescopes. The name is derived from its components; lenses on refractor telescopes are diotropics, curved mirrors are known as catoptrics.
2. The catadioptric design is advantageous because it offers greater error correction and a wider field of view. Because both lenses and mirrors are employed, the high manufacturing costs of grinding lenses can be mitigated.
3. Just like in reflecting telescopes, mirrors in catadioptric designs can correct spherical and chromatic aberrations created by lenses. Coma, another aberration that is typically a problem with reflecting telescopes, can be corrected with a good catadioptric design.
4. Of all the designs of catadioptric telescopes, the most popular are the Schmidt-Cassegrain and Maksutov-Cassegrain models. Each of these are popular for their comparative ease of use and mobility. Catadioptric telescopes allow all their optical components to be present in a single tube, creating a much more compact and portable telescope.
5. As mentioned, most catadioptric telescopes are of the Schmidt-Cassegrain or Maksutov-Cassegrain variety. Other variations include the Maksutov-Newtonian and Schmidt-Newtonian. The variations all have to do with the thickness of the corrector plate and the angle of reflection.
6. Because they are so popular with amateur astronomers and newcomers, all major optics firms produce a good selection of catadioptric telescopes. You'll find great offerings from Celestron, Bushnell, Galileo, Zhumell, and Meade, among others. | <urn:uuid:4acf5b4a-2e74-421b-989b-688c14737775> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/catadioptric-telescopes/8197+8198+8206.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913669 | 348 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Very serious issues
Thank you again for your participation, I understand very well that you all have a life of your own to live outside from this site. I really appreciate your time and effort to give me feedback. I was so happy to notice that we in Finland are such a happy nation, thank you Hyoahil. Adriana I am aware of your county being one of the major economic powers of the future. We here in Europe talk about so called BRIC-countries (Brasil, Russia, India and China) being the major economic powers of the future.
About the links I add, I have tried to have some new links all the time, please tell me, if you want me to keep them longer for you to view. Ramin you made my day, I feel like a sweetheart. About the wild berries; it is a big business here in Finland. If I have time I will tell you more about the subject before the end of the month. Marianna I am sorry to hear you are a bit downhearted, it will pass I know for sure.
Ana Paula; the interview with the Press went fine, you may remember that I have worked in the field of communication, but of course when it is you that is being interviewed it is always different. I talked about my marvelous opportunity to learn English with BBC and how my global family was helping me every day. I tell you that about 200 000 readers had a possibility to view the story.
My title today is a serious one and you will see soon why, as I will talk about the history.
Finland has common history with Sweden; the trade with Vikings was lively during 800 – 1050 AD around the coastal areas. The first missionaries arrived in Finland from Sweden, and Finland became part of the Swedish realm in 1155. Sweden later (1809) surrendered Finland to Russia and the Russian Czar Alexander I declared Finland an autonomous Grand Duchy and himself as a constitutional monarch.
In the year of 1917 Finland declared independence from the Soviet Union. The new state was first recognized by the Soviet Union, France, Germany and Sweden. Our independence day is celebrated in the 6. of December.
In 1918, Finland experienced a brief but bitter Civil War that influenced our domestic politics for many years, and it is fair to say that it also has left wounds in people´s hearts. The Civil War was fought between "the Whites", who gained support from Imperial Germany, and "the Reds", which were supported by Bolshevist Russia.
Later on Finns have had tragic wars with Soviet Union (1939 – 1940) and 1941 – 1944. Since those times Finland and Soviet Union have shown great desire to live in peace; Soviet Union - nowadays Russia - and Finland have had very close trade relations and co-operation for many, many decades and good relations continue.
Our neighbor on the other side of Finland, Sweden, is a country that Finns recognize as a modern and tolerant society. I think we have love and hate relationship with Swedes. It is most tragic when Swedish Ice Hokey team wins the Finnish team, but what a joy if we beat the Swedes! And if Swedes and Russians are playing, you guessed; it is better if Russia wins. As you can read between the lines, Sweden is Finland´s best neighbor; they are our most beloved opponents in every way.
My father fought in the war. He is 83 and he lives on his own. My mother died seven years ago, as you may remember me tellling you earlier.
My last thought tonight before I go to bed is how wonderful it is to talk to you guys and share our thoughts and good wishes.
Yours sincerely Leila
Thanks for all your contributions. This blog has now closed and can no longer accept new comments. | <urn:uuid:d8271250-aa4d-4951-b55c-5afedddc0f53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/communicate/blog/student/0000011125.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978473 | 784 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Pearl Harbor Misses Led to U.S. Victory: Lewis Lapham
More than 3,500 were killed or injured. Eight battleships, three light cruisers, three destroyers and four auxiliary craft were sunk or heavily damaged. The Navy lost 92 planes, while the Army saw 77 destroyed and 128 damaged.
(To listen to the podcast, click here.)
When Chester W. Nimitz flew into Pearl Harbor on Christmas Day 1941 to take control of the Pacific fleet, he saw that the attack could have been much worse.
Aircraft carriers and submarines, which would dominate in the coming Pacific battles, were left intact.
The dry docks and maintenance facilities were pretty much unscathed. Most important, the surviving oil tanks held 4.5 million barrels of fuel, which meant that the fleet need not head back to the West Coast.
These strategic blunders cost Japan victory in the Pacific.
I spoke with Walter Borneman, author of “The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy and King -- The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea,” on the following topics:
2. Subs and Carriers
3. Pearl Harbor
5. U.S. Industrial Might
To buy this book in North America, click here.
(Lewis Lapham is the founder of Lapham’s Quarterly and the former editor of Harper’s magazine. He hosts “The World in Time” interview series for Bloomberg News.)
Muse highlights include movie and theater reviews.
To contact the writer on the story: Lewis Lapham in New York at firstname.lastname@example.org.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:5f240af1-d6ae-4e15-a3ed-5b16de70ec64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-15/pearl-harbor-misses-led-to-u-s-victory-lewis-lapham?category=%2Fmuse%2F | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937288 | 375 | 2.515625 | 3 |
LAS VEGAS -- The smartphone is evolving from a communications and computing device to a command center and control panel for a wide range of other devices.
At the Consumer Electronics Show here, various manufacturers demonstrated smartphones that allow users to control ovens, washing machines and other appliances. They also can drive remote-controlled toy helicopters and cars, monitor security cameras, lock doors, play videos on televisions and collect photos wirelessly from digital cameras to share online.
Some of these functions aren't new to smartphones, but taken together they illustrate the device's growing capabilities. They also indicate the degree to which smartphones and tablets are pushing aside
Among the developments here at CES:
In some cases, these new roles come at the expense of PCs. Until now, for example, uploading pictures from your camera has typically meant plugging it or its memory card into your computer.
In other cases, smartphones and tablets are taking the place of dedicated controllers. Having a remote-controlled toy car that didn't include a remote control would have been unthinkable not too long ago.
In some cases, smartphones and tablets are muscling out other nascent "smart" devices. If you can control your oven with your tablet or can get Pandora onto your car stereo via your smartphone, you may not need a touch screen,
But smartphones and tablets are also taking on control tasks that couldn't be done before -- or at least not easily. Geofencing -- the ability to trigger actions based on a person's location -- is something that's generally not practical with PCs.
The post-PC devices are assuming these new roles because of their growing popularity and the growing number of radios and sensors that allow them to collect a wide range of data and communicate with and transmit data to numerous other devices.
To be sure, you may not want to ditch your TV remote or your PC just yet. As capable as smartphones and tablets are becoming, they do have their limitations. They tend to burn through batteries faster than the typical "dumb" remote. And their limited storage and computing power tend to make them less useful than a PC for long-term storage or manipulation of data.
But it's a good bet you'll be using a smartphone or tablet to control other devices in your life in the near future -- if you aren't already. In the post-PC era, smartphones and tablets are quickly assuming control. | <urn:uuid:d3b391be-96ed-4023-9409-2472f72e542f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_22328610/wolverton-ces-smartphones-wrest-control-from-pcs-other-gadgets | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949037 | 483 | 2.34375 | 2 |
The European Commission (EC) has asked Google to outline remedies capable of addressing antitrust concerns,in order to settle an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive behavior.
In November 2010, the EC launched an antitrust investigation into allegations that Google had abused a dominant market position. Google's rivals, including Microsoft, accused the company of manipulating search results and promoting its own advertising services while demoting their rivals'.
EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that if remedies were offered by Google within the coming weeks, the antitrust investigation could be brought to a close.
Almunia's statement comes after Google's willingness to discuss any concerns that the EC might have without having to engage in adversarial proceedings.
The EC's concerns are related to the fact that Google displays links to its own vertical search services in its general search results on the web. Vertical search services are specialised search engines which focus on specific topics, such as for example restaurants, news or products. EC says that Google displays links to its own vertical search services differently than it does for links to competitors and this may result in preferential treatment compared to those of competing services, which may be hurt as a consequence.
EC also says that Google copies content from competing vertical search services and uses it in its own offerings. Google may be copying original material from the websites of its competitors such as user reviews and using that material on its own sites without their prior authorisation. EC is worried that this could reduce competitors' incentives to invest in the creation of original content for the benefit of internet users.
EC's third concern relates to agreements between Google and partners on the websites of which Google delivers search advertisements. The agreements result in de facto exclusivity requiring them to obtain all or most of their requirements of search advertisements from Google, thus shutting out competing providers of search advertising intermediation services.
EC is also concerned about the restrictions that Google puts to the portability of online search advertising campaigns from its platform AdWords to the platforms of competitors. AdWords is Google's auction-based advertising platform on which advertisers can bid for the placement of search ads on search result pages provided by Google. EC says that Google imposes contractual restrictions on software developers which prevent them from offering tools that allow the seamless transfer of search advertising campaigns across AdWords and other platforms for search advertising.
Joaquin Almunia has sent a letter to Eric Schmidt setting out these four points. "In this letter, I offer Google the possibility to come up in a matter of weeks with first proposals of remedies to address each of these points," Almunia said.
"If Google comes up with an outline of remedies which are capable of addressing our concerns, I will instruct my staff to initiate the discussions in order to finalise a remedies package, "he added. "This would allow to solve our concerns by means of a commitment decision - pursuant to Article 9 of the EU Antitrust Regulation - instead of having to pursue formal proceedings with a Statement of objections and to adopt a decision imposing fines and remedies." | <urn:uuid:2bfa38d7-9c04-4b5b-ba1a-55a0760fee44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=33293 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952832 | 609 | 1.726563 | 2 |
One of the longest lasting of the teen idols of the early Sixties, Bobby
Vee got his lucky break when he and and his band the Shadows filled in for the late Buddy
Holly at a 1959 Mason City, Iowa, concert days after Holly was killed in a plane crash.
Robert Thomas Velline was born in Fargo, North Dakota on April 30,1943. The Veelines had always been musical. His father Sidney, who was a professional chef, played fiddle and piano. His uncle played piano and both brothers, Bill and Sid, Jr. played guitar and were members of a local band. Vee first played saxophone, which he studied in junior high school. Eventually, Bill taught Bobby a few chords on the guitar. From paper route earnings Bobby bought a guitar. When twenty year old Billy joined with to other nineteen year olds, Dick Dunkirk and Bob Korum to form a combo, Bobby was left out. After much persistence, Bobby was allowed to join as the lead vocalist as he was the only one that knew the words to all the songs. On February 3rd, they had been practicing regularly for two weeks.
In February, 1959 Buddy Holly was on a bus tour through the Upper Midwest, performing at shows with Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, Dion, and others. Tired of the bus tour and wishing to get to the next stop in order to do some laundry, Holly chartered a light plane to fly him to the tour's next stop in Moorhead, Minnesota, which is just across the state line from Fargo. Shortly after takeoff near Clear Lake, Iowa in the early morning hours, the plane developed instrumentation problems and crashed, killing Holly and the three others who were aboard the plane. The bus rolled out with the remaining members of the tour, who were unaware of the fate of Holly's plane until they arrived at their destination and saw the news on television. A decision was made to continue the tour, but the organizers scrambled to find a local act who could fill in on short notice.
It was Jim Stillman that called the Armory and asked if they could open the show. Asked if they had experience, without hesitation Sillman replied yes and got the job.
The boys had three hours to come up with an act. They knew six songs maybe. After he quick rehearsal, on the way to the armory, they stopped at J.C. Penney's and bought black peg pants with tight cuffs and sleeveless sweaters accented with angora ties. They didn't even have a name, but when asked said they were the Shadows.
Contrary to popular belief the Shadows did not open the show, and their act that night wasn't a tribute to Buddy Holly. They came on after two or three other acts and played a few instrumentals and vocals. When the evening ended, the band wasn't even paid. The next day the tour moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota with Jimmy Clanton and Frankie Avalon as fill ins. The Shadows were left in Fargo.
In the audience that night was Bing Bingtssen, who owned Fargo's drive-in. He also booked bands at high schools and offered the boys a Valentine Day's job.
On the Valentine's Day date the band had to make the forty-five mile drive in a 51 Oldsmobile to Breckenridge, Minnesota. The dance was held in the school's gymnasium that had no stage. Improvising they pushed several benches together. At one point in the performance, the benches parted with amplifiers crashing to the floor. They were paid $60.
In the next few months they decided to hire a pianist Bill knew from the local record store. The pianist said his name was Elston Gunnn, but his real name was Bobby Zimmerman, and he had recently toured with Conway Twitty. However there were two problems. Zimmerman could only play in one key and he didn't have his own piano. After a few dates, he and the band parted. Zimmerman enrolled at the University of Minnesota. Soon he fell under the spell of folk music, picked up guitar, moved to New York and changed his professional name to Bob Dylan.
Four months and two dozen shows later, n June 1, 1959, with $500 they had earned, the Shadows went to Minneapolis for their first recording session. The deal was with Soma Records to record at Kaybank Studios from nine in the morning to twelve noon. They cut four instrumentals and added Bobby's vocals to two of them before the money/time ran out. The records were credited to Bobby Vee and the Shadows. The A-side of the single was "Suzie Baby," which was a direct descendant of Holly's "Peggy Sue." Loma had local ties with the local record distributor and the record quickly began receiving air play in the upper Midwest becoming a best selling single in the area. Joe Sadd Liberty's regional promotion man heard the band while "Suzie Baby" was number one in Minneapolis. Doing his job, Sadd sent a copy to Hollywood.
Liberty offered to release the single nationally on its own label with an option for a second single. The understanding was if the records were successful there would be a long term contract. Liberty released "Suzie Baby" in the first week of August, 1959. It quickly moved into the lower part of the Pop charts by the end of the month. Vee was offered a one year contract with Liberty and as were the Shadows. Then, nothing happened. With "Susie Baby" fading from memory, Vee was rushed to Los Angeles to record under the direct supervision of Liberty's staff. Supervising Vee was Producer Thomas "Snuff" Garrett. Garret was a 19 year old hip producer from Lubbock, Texas, by way of Dallas. Garrett had moved to Los Angeles and Liberty Records in 1958. A singer named Adam Faith had come up with an imitation of Holly's style and had recorded What Do You Want? in the UK. Bobby Vee was given the assignment of covering the song to sell in the US market, but his recording did not meet with success.
Garrett's formula was to pick up songs from the prolific songwriters in New York City's Brill Building, and to make certain that the words to the songs were sung in such a way that they could be heard clearly and understood. The breakthrough song for Bobby Vee was Devil Or Angel, one that made it to the top ten late in 1960, when Vee was only seventeen. He followed it a short time later with another top ten tune Rubber Ball, which had been co-written by Gene Pitney. Rubber Ball also served to introduce Bobby Vee to rock-and-roll fans in the UK, where it reached number four.
Recording for Liberty in the early 60's, Bobby Vee became one of rock-and-roll's biggest stars on both sides of the Atlantic. His innocent style and supply of Brill Building compositions were enormously popular. In 1961 he recorded a Carole King composition and came up with his only number one song, Take Good Care Of My Baby. His next hit Run To Him went to number two.
In January 1961, Vee and Liberty renewed their contract with a five year deal. The Shadows weren't asked to stay. The same month "Stayin' In," was released. While it had the trademarks of previous gold records, it ran afoul of conservatives because it was about a fight over a girl. It only sold 500,000 copies because of sporadic boycotts. In mid-April, Vee began a three week tour of Australia and New Zealand. While gone "How Many Tears" was released with "Baby Face" as the B-side. Within weeks, "How Many Tears" was re-released with "Bashful Bob" as the B-side. This split the sales of the single and it spent a short month on the pop charts.
"Take Good Care of My Baby' was released in July and became Vee's third million seller. "Run To Him" in November also went gold. At this time Vee became spokesman for Toter record cases, becoming one of the first rock and rollers to do endorsements.
In 1962 Bobby Vee had other hits such as "Please Don't Ask About Barbara" and "Sharing You." He recorded an album that once again linked him with Buddy Holly [whom he never met], Bobby Vee Meets The Crickets. The album was well received by critics. He had another huge hit with "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" and some other top forty songs. He also appeared in movies: Swingin' Along, It's Trad, Dad, and C'mon Let's Live A Little, among others.
On December 28, 1963, Vee married Karen Bergan, age twenty at Holy Rosary Church in Detroit Lakes, Michigan.
The Beatles burst on the pop music scene in 1964 and altered the history of rock-and-roll permanently. Suddenly the innocent songs and the wholesome image of Bobby Vee were no longer in vogue, and even criticized in some circles. He fell off the charts completely for a few years.
In 1967, he came back in a big way. "Come Back When You Grow Up," by Bobby Vee and the Strangers, soared to number three and re-established Bobby Vee in the minds of rock music fans. He had some other minor hits before leaving the charts for good in 1968. In 1972 an album that he recorded under his own name, Nothin' Like A Sunny Day, went nowhere.
His career slowed again in 1968 and his final single for Liberty "Sweet Sweetheart" was his last to make the charts.
In 1970 Liberty was bought by United Artists and Vee had two Columbia releases that went nowhere. Vee soon left the company. In 1975-1976 Shady Brook Records released three singles in two years with the same results.
In the 80s with his records no longer selling, Vee made his living touring overseas. As Americans turn a deaf ear, Vee packed the houses in Britain, Europe and the Far East.
In 1988, he toured America with the reformed Crickets. He was asked to return to Clear Lake, Iowa to participate in the Buddy Holly Memorial Concert on February 3, 1989. The audiences reaction has caused him to be invited back every year.
In early 1992, he produced a mail order only cassette, Last of the Great Rhythm Guitars.
Bobby Vee was a polite, clean-cut singer in an era that rewarded someone with a repertoire such as his. Through all the highs and lows, Vee maintained a rock solid hold on reality. In the midst of all his success, he continued to be a full time corresponding student at North Dakota Agricultural College in Fargo. He is still married to Karen and they have three sons and a daughter. He lived in Bel Air, California, but since 1981 has resided in St. Cloud Minnesota. He can often be found at Sauk Lake Rockhouse studios working on various projects. In 1999, he was given the Rough Rider Award, the highest award by the State given to a native son. Bobby still makes a hundred or more personal appearances with the Vees, a band that features his sons: Robby (Guitar), Tommy (bass) and Jeff (drums). He has always been well liked by people in the music business, and continues to perform on oldies tours before appreciative audiences.
Friends of Bobby Vee
PO Box 443 Girard, Ohio
e-mail us at: firstname.lastname@example.org
The Bobby Vee Connection
St. Ives, Eden Road
TD3 6JT Scotland
e-mail us at: VEECON@aol.com | <urn:uuid:2ad7ef8d-cf1e-45a7-8288-e1fba1d74162> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.history-of-rock.com/bobby_vee.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986848 | 2,437 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The world is hungry for people filled with life because they see a reflection of eternity in everything.
The death of Christ does not turn away the wrath of God from all people. In order to benefit from the work that God has done outside of us, we must now experience the work that he does within us by the Holy Spirit. What is this work and how is it related to the gift of justification?
You may have never heard of Nazareth, and this young girl may be poor and obscure, but don't judge by merely human outward appearances. Her son is going to be great.
Both thieves wanted to be saved from death. But O how differently they sought their salvation.
When Jesus commits his mother to John's care, he is showing us how our needs will be met when we leave everything to follow him.
Since we sin against God every day, we should be broken; and, since the throne of God is a throne of grace, we should be bold.
Learn from David what to do in a brokenhearted, terrifying moment: Worship.
Truth aims at love; love aims at truth. Love shapes how to speak the truth; truth shapes how to show love.
If God works to bring about obedience in our heart, then sin will not be lord over us, God will.
Use the Bible to know yourself and confirm your own spiritual life.
How and why to teach kids the complex and essential doctrines of the Bible.
September 11, 2001 has served to prove at least these ten truths about the sovereign love of God.
It is okay to question God if you do it humbly and teachably.
The desire to be rich is suicidal. Endorsing it by encouraging gambling is cruel.
How do we express a passion for the supremacy of God in a pluralistic world? | <urn:uuid:db7257a9-9300-47ef-a3f1-f1fcfcd85a99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/recently-added.html?page=42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950615 | 373 | 1.984375 | 2 |
1) THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 2) THE KILLING.
“THE ASPHALT JUNGLE became the model for a number of films of this genre,” wrote John Huston, modestly enough. As well as inspiring probably 60% of Jean-Pierre Melville’s films, the movie served as a source of inspiration for Stanley Kubrick’s first really good picture, so it seems worthwhile to look at the two together, to see what aspects of Kubrick come from Huston and where he breaks out on his own. Film Club meets the Fever Dream Double Feature.
Calhern and Lawrence.
“Crime is a left-handed form of human endeavour,” opines the paymaster of Huston’s gang, Ambassador Trentino of Sylvania (Louis Calhern), and Huston says this line encapsulates “the tone of the film.” Not it’s message, you understand. Huston, who arguably didn’t believe in very many things, doesn’t tend to have messages in his movies, he merely adopts different tones. He’s sincere in his belief that these tones are honest representations of the way the world feels to some of his characters. He doesn’t necessarily give them credit himself. When he was preparing to work on the script of SERGEANT YORK, co-writer Howard Koch reminded him that their previous collaboration, a stage play entitled In Time to Come, was about peace through collective security, and that this, by contrast, was a pro-war picture. “Well, we’re in a war,” said Huston, sketching away unperturbed.
Huston disdains to preach at us, which makes him seem quite modern in some respects — THE ASPHALT JUNGLE picks up on those aspects of ’30s Warner gangster movies which made it past the censor without neat morals branded on their hides, and looks forward to the movies of Scorsese. It coolly portrays a certain lifestyle with the eye of an anthropologist, not an apologist. Huston has some sympathy for his characters, especially the most hopeless. His later masterpiece FAT CITY would likewise find most compassion for those most without a chance. It’s odd that Huston, who some people found cruel and sadistic, should show these traces of tenderness in a tough movie. And it’s odd that MGM made this one — I guess somebody was dazzled by the “Crime Does Not Pay” conclusion. But it’s really “Crime Often Does Not Pay — Sadly.”
Whitmore and Hayden.
The biggest loser in this bunch is the hooligan, Johnny Guitar/Jack D Ripper (Sterling Hayden), a failed farmer, gambler and strong-arm man. His backstory (“that black colt”) gives him a poetic sadness, which in Hayden’s gristly hands becomes a kind of monomania. It’s also noteworthy that his self-pity prevents him from feeling anything for his sometime girlfriend, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), a rather pitiable creature and possibly the model for all the women in Kubrick’s more misanthropic THE KILLING.
Huston’s adaptation of W.R. Burnett’s novel, co-scripted with Ben Maddow (INTRUDER IN THE DUST, which I hope to see soon) reputedly sticks close to the book and only made adjustments for the sake of the censor, working around their strictures with care and guile. When the Production Code enforcers stipulated that Louis Calhern couldn’t kill himself if he was in his right mind, Huston had him tear up his suicide note before blowing his brains out. The fact that this professional lawyer can’t finish a simple note proves that his mind is in total disarray, argued Huston. They bought it.
The other main sop to the censor was the police commissioner’s speech near the end, designed to excuse the presence of a corrupt cop in the story. This is very nicely written but rather drags the film down in its last third, and in plot verisimilitude terms the cop shouldn’t really have been caught at all.
Albert Band, later a producer of drive-in trash and straight-to-video nonsense, was Huston’s production assistant, according to Lawrence Grobel’s excellent book The Hustons. Huston announced that he was going to cast unknowns, and started with Marc Lawrence as Cobby, the bookie who finally puts up the money for the heist when Calhern can’t. “Marc was probably the most famous criminal face in the movies at that time,” laughed Band. Huston had already used him in KEY LARGO. (And THIS is why I’m referring to the actors by character names from other films.) Huston also screen-tested writer and artist Ludwig Bemelmans for the part of the gang’s mastermind, but when producer Arthur Hornblower showed him a reel of Sam Jaffe, Huston happily cast his actor friend. “The film was very well cast,” is just about the only thing Huston says about it in his autobio.
Only Huston wanted to cast Monroe. “Look at the ass on that little girl,” he mused.
With the High Llama’s plan, the job goes ahead, amid extreme chiaroscuro lighting effects, beautiful unfamiliar cityscapes (especially scene 1), and an atmosphere of foreboding, since Ambassador Trentino plans to sell them all out, ditch his invalid wife and run off with Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe), his mind-bogglingly luscious girlfriend. Joining the gang are Anthony Caruso (whose honest wife is the only woman with any backbone in the film) and hunchbacked James Whitmore. The scheme itself seems surprisingly simple, at least since we’ve become accustomed to the Rube Goldberg-meets-Machiavelli scheming of THE KILLING, RIFIFI, et al. There are two reasons it goes wrong (discounting the requirements of the censor)…
The first is luck, or fate, and it’s explicitly pointed out by Jaffe. A prowl car responding to another crime unexpectedly shows up. A gun goes off by itself. The kind of things you can’t plan for, or if you did, you wouldn’t risk doing anything.
But Jaffe himself comes to realize there’s a second reason. The plan fails because of who the people are. Calhern is untrustworthy. Lawrence is weak. Jaffe himself is undone by his fondness for pretty girls. So Jaffe and Whitmore are caught (Whitmore will still be serving his sentence in 1994, as the Birdman of Shawshank). Caruso and Hayden are killed, Hayden’s death a strange variant on that of the donkey protag in AU HASARD, BALTASAR.
It’s a stunning film, and I’v very glad I watched it again. I’ve been working my way through the lesser-known Huston films in recent years, which are often far better than their reputations suggest, so it was interesting to come back to one of the celebrated films and find it holds up. The cast are extremely good — I especially like the weaklings, when they break down (I empathise so readily with a good sniveling weakling): Lawrence and Calhern. The burst of violence when Hayden erases Calhern’s private eye sidekick is sensational in its staging, anticipating the startling abruption of THE KILLING’s massacre. Harold Rosson lights the seedy locations with harsh yet moody effects, and Miklos Rosza not only contributes a marvelously doom-laden score, he does something he rarely ever did: stays out of the way for most of the film. I love Rosza, but he has a tendency to overdo things. Not here.
Gerald Fried’s music for THE KILLING, a bunch of snare-drum and aggro, is a lot less pleasing to the ear. I wonder if Kubrick didn’t switch to largely sourced music because so many of the composers he worked with weren’t very interesting? But he always had a weakness for this kind of martial theme, just as he frequently turned to war as a subject or metaphor in his work.
And, ugh! that voice-over. I guess they needed something to make sense of the timeline, especially for audiences at the time, but it does make me wince a little, especially compared to the beautiful VO in BARRY LYNDON. Although I guess it wouldn’t have made sense for them to hire Sir Michael Hordern to narrate this one. Might make an amusing mash-up though. The KILLING guy, Art Gilmore, sounds kind of dumb. The writing is part of it: since this is a spoken element of the film, it should really have been scripted by Jim Thompson, but I fear it wasn’t.
A little bird tells me there’s actually a mistake in the film’s complicated timeline, but doesn’t tell me where. Seems too dull to go looking for it, even though I’ve long championed the notion of Kubrick not as a perfectionist machine-mind, but as a kind of shambling, dopey muddler — but I’ll reward anybody who locates it for me. But I *did* notice that one of the horses in the first race we overhear appears to be called Stanley K. The first example of SK’s in-jokey side (given free rein in EYES WIDE SHUT)?
Sterling Hayden is back, as a very different kind of character, less sympathetic but the perfect man to mouth Jim Thompson’s hard-boiled, hard-assed dialogue. Boiled-ass? Having a half-decent budget for the first time, Kubrick is able to build upon his experience from his first two cheapies and make a far more tight, visually logical film, and he’s able to fill the frame with great character players. Jay C. Flippen is robbed of all his usual aw-shucks mannerisms and plays it hard but human. Elisha Cook Jnr. is maybe the first guy to go Over The Top And Beyond Infinity in a Kubrick film. And Marie Windsor, as his scheming wife, now strikes me as the heart and soul of the film. “You’ve got a great big dollar sign where most women have a heart,” as Hayden tells her.
A handsome couple.
Kubrick, like his hoods, was always on the lookout for the main chance, picking his next film with care to raise his profile, consolidate the critical respect he had so far, and move higher up. In 1956 his chief task was to get a really good B-movie under his belt, something that would qualify him for A-picture jobs. PATHS OF GLORY (one of my very favourites) was the A-picture, where according to Kirk Douglas (whom I don’t exactly trust) Kubes’ greatest concern was to have a commercial hit, to which end he attempted to add a happy ending. Never quite been able to bring myself to believe that, wholly. SPARTACUS was the epic, but without any artistic control, Kubrick was unhappy and shrank down for LOLITA, using the book’s reputation (as masterpiece; as scandalous and unfilmable) to garner a rep for iconoclasm. And so on. The difficulty in choosing a project increased as SK’s acclaim increased, and the more things he was celebrated for, the fewer things were left for him to try…
So one of the terrific and liberating things about THE KILLING is that it’s made at a time when Kubes has everything to prove, and he goes all out to do so, but on a small scale. The artistic ambition of the film itself is modest, Stan’s ambitions in general are vast. Borrowing Huston’s set-up, leading man and lighting style, he grafts on Ophuls’ unchained camera, gliding through walls like an Overlook Hotel spectre, shamelessly foregrounding the cheap sets and cheaper dialogue, making one of the first art-house noirs (maybe DETOUR is the first?) if we can allow such a thing. That non-linear timeline — who else was doing that in ’56?
Against the obvious strengths, weaknesses are pretty insignificant. Hayden’s plan is over-elaborate (the great Timothy Carey’s role is redundant and if he got caught and told who hired him, the gig would be up) and could easily miscarry in a thousand ways. As in THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, Hayden has apparently the ability to knock out a healthy cop with a single punch. I never quite believe this in movies. I’m not sure about the biology of it, but if Mike Tyson takes several blows to fell an opponent, I don’t get how a man like Hayden can do it in one. OK, he’s not wearing gloves, but that’s surely more likely to result in busted teeth/nose/jaw/knuckles, and doesn’t increase the chances of unconsciousness greatly. It’s the back of the head you have to hit to bring on that kind of brain damage (Joe Turkel’s injury in PATHS OF GLORY is much more convincing, horribly so: and spot Joe at 4.57 into this one), preferably with a blackjack. Sorry, I didn’t intend this as a how-to guide, I’m just saying movies win extra points from me if they avoid implausible cliches.
The photography by Lucien Ballard (Mr. Merle Oberon) does a superb job synthesizing the stark, source-lit noir aesthetic with the fluid camera style, even if Stanley K. had to threaten to fire the guy on day one (a case of establishing the juvenile auteur’s authority over the pushy veteran cameraman: Kubrick was just 28). The Elisha Cook massacre, perhaps inspired by THE ASPHALT JUNGLE’s shockingly sudden whip-pan shooting, is jolting and quite credible, even if the aftermath is hard to make sense of. By reducing the action to a couple of quick shots, Kubes gives us the impression that we’ve seen a coherent exercise in gunplay, even if we haven’t.
The movie’s influence is all over Tarantino’s work, from the questions-first, answers-later structure of RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION to the way the guy comes out of the kitchen shooting in the latter film (although the outcome there is different: it’s kind of a joke about THE KILLING’s total slaughter that the guy blasting away at Travolta and Jackson misses every shot). More than spaghetti westerns and kung-fu flicks, THE KILLING is the film that’s necessary to QT’s existence. But personally I think Kubrick’s morally blank, cool stare is more compelling and meaningful than QT’s hip, flip referencing.
A teenage audience member in Belfast once asked me about this scene. I was amazed: “You’re a teenager in Belfast and you don’t know what a cavity search is?”
I’ll own up to the latter myself though: in my film CRY FOR BOBO I shamelessly swiped Kubrick’s faulty suitcase for my own CRY FOR BOBO (non-UK residents, see HERE), along with the strip-search from CLOCKWORK ORANGE, also drawing on Kubrick’s symmetrical, wide-angle lensed compositional style. It’s the post-modern age, I’m afraid.
The burst suitcase is another instance of the Fickle Finger (or poodle) of Fate meddling in human affairs, as in THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, but it can also be argued that Hayden’s impatience is to blame. If only he’d bought a couple of smaller, better cases! It’s been argued that Kubrick’s films are all about what HAL 9000 would call human error, the inherent faultiness of human nature leading to complex systems collapsing in disarray. That certainly holds good for DR STRANGELOVE, and can be read into 2001… is the system in question in EYES WIDE SHUT the institution of marriage? Is THE SHINING really just about how not to look after a hotel? A sort of gothic Fawlty Towers? But it’s fair to say SK’s work is united by a somewhat skeptical view of humanity’s virtues, with the Spielberg footnote A.I. looking forward to a day when we will all be replaced by more efficient, humane machinery, lording it over an ice-palace New York. So there’s that to look forward to.
Love the vacant taxi which blatantly drives right past Hayden and his girlfriend without slowing. “I don’t stop for losers!”
Photoshopping Hayden doesn’t seem to make that much difference.
“What’s the difference?” mumbles Hayden at THE KILLING’s end, a more than usually pointed and depressing summation of the noir ethos. | <urn:uuid:62e9cba3-ca70-4b30-bbcf-e20be64da51d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dcairns.wordpress.com/tag/quentin-tarantino/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959735 | 3,758 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Oman joins WTO in October
Oman will become a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in October, an Omani official said Wednesday. Trade Minister Makboul Sultan said, during a meeting of the organization in Geneva, that Oman would join the WTO on October 10.
Oman has completed all the requirements and we are waiting for the official announcement of Oman’s membership,” Sultan was quoted in Omani newspapers. Sultan called on small companies and family-owned business to merge to be able to meet the challenges and competition posed by large business groups and companies.
He said Oman should focus on establishing big companies instead of several small companies. There are only 140 public trading companies in Oman, Sultan said. And there are more than 100,000 small companies and family-run businesses.
The Gulf state has launched several reforms in its pursuit of the WTO membership. Oman has taken steps
to reduce restrictions on foreign investment and has stepped up its crackdown on copyright piracy.
Sultan said the ministry has confiscated more than 50,000 counterfeit computer programs and has shut down a large number of businesses that were in violate of intellectual property rights. – (Albawaba-MEBG) | <urn:uuid:4dc2c0bd-3de2-4890-9a72-0faeb3cb4b94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.albawaba.com/business/oman-joins-wto-october-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984036 | 248 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Book Description: Chocolate or vanilla? Creamy peanut butter or crunchy? Cats or dogs? On some matters in life, every kid must take a stance. Ever since the first youngster in history had a pet, cats vs. dogs has been a hotly debated issue at recesses and lunch tables worldwide. Which one's better? Smarter? This reader presents the facts in fun and informative fashion. Kids will love the stimulating Level 3 text as they decide the answer to this question for themselves. | <urn:uuid:c93213b1-1abb-45b1-93e8-2856a4723960> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.campusbooks.com/books/childrens-books/series/intermediate-readers/9781426307553_Elizabeth-Elizabeth-Carney-Carney_National-Geographic-Readers-C.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942572 | 99 | 1.578125 | 2 |
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) - An annual list of top 10 beaches released Friday includes two in Florida, with the list's creator saying he's not worried about pollution from the oil spill.
Dr. Stephen Leatherman, director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research, who is also known by the friendly nickname Dr. Beach, included Siesta Beach in Sarasota and Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, on his list of best beaches.
He said Cape Florida, on the southeast coast, "doesn't get the wave activity" that can lead to tar balls washing up. As for Siesta Beach, he said he had looked at currents and believes "there's very low probability the oil will get to southwest Florida."
The No. 1 beach on this year's list is Coopers Beach in Southampton, N.Y., on the east end of Long Island. It offers pristine white sand gently sloping toward a shoreline of lapping waves, convenient parking and amenities and nary a gum wrapper in sight.
"New York has world-class beaches, but I don't think a lot of people in the United States know about them," said Leatherman.
This is Leatherman's 20th year of compiling a list of the country's top 10.
Leatherman's list also features another New York beach, Main Beach in East Hampton, Long Island, not far from Southampton. Main Beach takes the No. 5 spot on this year's survey.
"When most people think of a beach vacation destination, they go south," Leatherman said. "I kind of think the east end of Long Island is a well-kept secret for most Americans."
Rounding out the top 10 are Coronado Beach, Calif. (3), Cape Hatteras, N.C. (4), Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, Honolulu (No. 6), Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod, Mass. (7), Beachwalker Park in Kiawah Island, S.C. (8), and Hamoa Beach in Maui, Hawaii (9).
Coopers Beach has been a contender for the top spot in recent years, but this is the first time a New York beach has made it to No. 1, Leatherman said. He considers factors like water quality and temperature, cleanliness, weather, sand, safety and facilities in making his list.
Once a beach makes it to the top spot, it is retired from consideration in future years, he said. Leatherman added that designation as the country's No. 1 beach usually brings as much as a 20 percent bump in tourism.
"Both Main and Coopers beaches have been recognized in the past as being among the top 10 beaches in the country - and to now hold the top spot is especially significant when you consider the quality of the company we're in," Moke McGowan, president of the Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a statement.
Main Beach was in the headlines in April after a 13-ton baby whale washed ashore and had to be euthanized; thousands of onlookers visited the ailing mammal on the seashore while it struggled for life over several days.
Several miles away on Coopers Beach, the Hamptons' hometown crowd spoke about the cleanliness of the beach and described it as a welcoming, family-oriented playground.
"It's wide, the sand is like baby powder," said Carol Gerbereux, a visitor for at least 40 years. "It's just a beautiful location; it has wonderful facilities and it's just a pleasure to come here."
Joseph Graygor, another longtime devotee, said litter is a no-no. "It's a very, very clean beach," he said. "There's no garbage on it." He also said a concession stand, showers, and other amenities are key assets at Coopers. "The parking area is very, very close to the beach. There are some beaches where you have to park a long ways away and walk a long way."
Village residents get access via a beach parking permit; those without permits face a $250 fine. But non-residents can also visit for a daily fee of $40 - it is the Hamptons, after all. Alcohol is banned, along with tents, bonfires and overnight camping.
Laura Masterson, a lifelong Southampton resident, noted that people thousands of miles away from Coopers Beach can visit via webcam. "It's a gorgeous place to be," she said as she settled into a beach chair. "We were just in Florida. We've been to Puerto Rico and Bermuda and you can't find beaches as beautiful as this."
On the Net:
Dr. Beach: www.DrBeach.org
Hamptons Webcam: www.hamptons.com
Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau: www.discoverlongisland.com | <urn:uuid:18ae55e1-539c-49b1-87cf-50404a2d0658> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/may/28/dr-beach-nys-southampton-beach-tops-list/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967025 | 1,019 | 1.625 | 2 |
August 5, 1943
Peter Maynard 1986
Walt Brenner 1989
Rich Taylor 1997
Walt Deas 2001
|Pilot Captain Robert L. Herry, O-421090 (POW, executed August 31, 1943) TX
Pilot Major Williston M. Cox, O-426370 (POW, survived) TN
Co-Pilot 2nd Lt Robert J. Koscelnak, O-732556 (POW, executed August 31, 1943) Orange, CA
Navigator 1st Lt Louis J. Rittaco, O-660907 (POW, executed August 31, 1943) NJ
Engineer S/Sgt Raymond J. Zimmerman, 39304264 (MIA / KIA) OR
Radio T/Sgt Hugh W. Anderson, 38069521 (POW, executed August 31, 1943) Aspermont TX
Ditched August 5, 1943
Built by North American as a model D-5. Ferried from the United States arriving at 14 Mile Drome (Schwimmer) near Port Moresby. Assigned to the 5th Air Force, 38th Bombardment Group. Nicknamed "Elusive Lizzie". Later, it was renamed "Miss America". Both names were then completely covered by the "Green Dragon" insignia of the 38th Bombardment Group.
Took off from 17-Mile (Durand) near Port Moresby on a barge sweep and strike against Madang
Airfield. Damaged by anti-aircraft fire, it ditched between Wongat Island and the coast of New Guinea. Zimmerman drowned
Fates of the Crew
The rest of the crew
Island where they were captured by the Japanese and transported to Kempei Tai Headquarters at Amron and interrogated.
seporated and flown to Rabaul, and then
transported aboard ship to Japan. He survived the war at the Omori POW Camp in Tokyo.
On August 31, 1943, the other four crew members: Koscelnak, Louis. Ritacco and Hugh Anderson, were blindfolded and escorted down from Amron to an execution ground. They were bayoneted then beheaded. Afterwards, Owen Salvage, the sole survivor of B-25D 41-30221 was also executed. Lastly, Robert Herry was tied between two posts and bayoneted to death.
Post war affidavit L/Cpl Yasukuni Tani. (clerk, Kempei Tai Amron) states:
“The actual execution was to be three prisoners by Kempei Tai and two by headquarters Sentry Guard Unit. However, 1st Lt. Matsumoto’s Kempei Tai members said, “We will execute the three prisoners for the revenge of the death of our comrade, Cpl Nakano. This Matsumoto’s Unit had a conflict several weeks ago at Kesa village, which is located at the head of the Ramu River. The three prisoners were blindfolded and escorted down the mountain to the execution ground by the Kempei Tai members and Sgt Major Kawawa, Cpl Ishikawa and S.Pvt Ozawa. After about 20 minutes had elapsed, Matsumoto’s Kempei Tai group came back and said, “The execution is over now, we will proceed back immediately” and walked towards Kempei Tai Headquarters."
Recovery of Remains
Postwar, New Guinea natives assisted US Army AGRS to locate and recover the remains of at least two members of the crew from the graves where they were buried at Amron. These remains were buried at Finschhafen Cemetery as unknowns.
On March 15, 1948, that dental charts for unknowns X-17 and X-14 compared favorably with those of Herry and Koscelneck, but awaited further medical evidence before making an identification. Later, these remains were positively identified.
Pennefather discovered the plane on September
"I was a keen diver and lived in
Madang at that time. I was snorkeling off Wongat looking
for a reported sunken aircraft said to have crashed there.
After hours in the water, I dived down for the last time
and there on the seabed lay the B-25. I returned to Madang
grabbed some scuba gear and with another diver headed back
to explore and photograph the aircraft. Within a few days
of the discovery, vandals removed the side guns and other artifacts."
Since then, this wreck has become a popular dive site. It is fully
intact except for the port engine which is missing (torn off during the ditching). The port wing tip is at
and the starboard
wing is at 25 meters. The main body of the plane is at about
18 meters depth. The four machine guns
are visible through the damaged nose section
and ammunition hoppers visible. There is still a considerable number
of 50 caliber rounds inside but they are cemented
into place by sealife. Both cockpit hatches are
open. Large sponges
and fans cover the wreck.
Zimmerman was officially delcared dead the day of the mission. He is memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery.
Koscelnak is buried at Manila American Cemetery at plot C row 16 grave 59.
Anderson was buried in 1950 at Aspermont Cemetery in Aspermont, TX at block N.
The Bomber Reef a DVD by Walt Deas tells the complete history of this aircraft and its wartime mission, and explores the wreck underwater.
Death At Amron by Walt Deas
National Geographic April 1988 page 436
FindAGrave - Hugh Anderson (grave photo and news articles)
Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned?
Do you have photos or additional information to add?
March 5, 2013
Death at Amron
The Bomber Reef | <urn:uuid:4f964c3e-8c6f-410b-84e0-ab3ebae5867d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/41-30118.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950608 | 1,237 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Earthquake threatens Chinese agriculture
- May 19, 2008
- Daniel Palmer
The destructive earthquake, which hit the south of China last week, could have repercussions worldwide in terms of food production. For now, though, prices and supplies are unlikely to be effected.
The earthquake has destroyed over 75,000 acres of farmland in the Sichuan province, an important growing area in China for rice, wheat and corn, with 12.5 million livestock and poultry dead.
Wei Chao’an, China’s vice minister for agriculture, told a news conference that the earthquake would, however, have “limited effect” on food production. “This quake may affect agriculture in the earthquake zone but it will not have any fundamental impact on the overall supply situation in China,” Wei said. “Prices for agricultural goods, generally speaking, will remain stable. We have full confidence in this.”
Top economist at the ministry, Zhang Yuxiang, said prices of pork and vegetables were now falling and echoed Wei’s beliefs that supply would be able to be made up in other regions of the country. “Overall agricultural production is in good shape across China,” she said. “In the coming months we will step up efforts so that production of all the major agricultural produce makes up for losses in the earthquake zone.”
Inflation has been rising at a great rate in China and last month’s figures indicated a rate of 11 per cent, with much of the rise due to the 22.1 per cent food inflation figure.
The devastating quake, which has sadly been responsible for almost 50,000 deaths so far, comes amid fears of a global food shortage and escalating food commodity prices. | <urn:uuid:153798e8-04aa-4cdc-89e9-5cf92b25235d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2008/05/19/earthquake-threatens-chinese-agriculture.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955423 | 360 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Oregon Court of Appeals Reports - REAM v. KEEN, 112 Or. App. 197 (1992)
Plaintiffs brought this action for damages that allegedly resulted from the drift of smoke to their residential property from field burning operations that defendant conducted on his adjacent property in 1987 and 1988. The damages allegedly consisted of $950 for soot removal from buildings on plaintiffs' property and $20,000 general damages for physical and emotional distress and interference with the use and enjoyment of the property. Plaintiffs stated alternative claims for intentional trespass and for "strict liability." The latter claim was based on the theory that field burning is an abnormally dangerous activity. The trial court allowed defendant's motion to strike that claim. It denied plaintiffs' motion for a directed verdict as to liability on the trespass claim and submitted that claim to the jury, which returned a general verdict for defendant. Plaintiffs appeal, and we reverse.
The Ream v. Keen case is precedent setting and is now being used in many cases involving "property" being transmitted by air over another person's property. For example, it was cited in a recent "biotech pollution" case involving drift of genetic materials: http://www.worc.org/foodfight/liability-IDlawjournal.html Another case in which Ream v. Keen was cited involved smoke from agricultural field burning in Idaho: http://www.hbsslaw.com/files/courtdoc-grass51037237100841.pdf
From a Burning Issues member: "I think that most attorneys don't know about Ream v. Keen and don't advise their clients to use a trespass claim in legal fights over woodsmoke. I really think that Ream v. Keen is a precedent-setting case that can be used by individuals having to sue their neighbor's over woodsmoke trespass. And the more examples of this case being used as precedent, the easier it will be for people to use the trespass claim in getting a quicker legal solution to their woodsmoke problems. Nuisance cases take a very, very long time and are very, very expensive. One photo of smoke on your property from a neighbor's source is all you need to prove trespass." | <urn:uuid:9c025835-1a35-4b5f-a459-97c28b1be4b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.burningissues.org/car-www/legal/Oregon.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95643 | 452 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Protected Areas – a natural solution to climate change crisis
Protected areas offer a cost effective solution to the impacts of climate change, according to a report just released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In the Pacific, a number of Pacific Island countries have taken a lead role in protecting their marine resources. This work is spearheaded by the international environment conservation group, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).
In 2006, Palau, through the Micronesia Challenge made a commitment to effectively conserve 30 percent of its near-shore marine and 20 percent of its terrestrial resources by the year 2020. Kiribati followed with its commitment in the same year to declare the Phoenix Islands as a protected area, creating the world’s third largest Marine Protected Area (MPA).
Fiji, on the other hand, in 2005, committed to establish a network of marine protected areas in 30 percent of waters to secure national livelihoods and incomes.
Speaking to the Pacific Communications Team here in Copenhagen, Trevor Sandwith of Nature Conservancy said, IUCN and Nature Conservancy are working with local communities in a number of islands in Micronesia and Solomon Islands to conserve their resources through protected areas.
“In these islands, dependency on marine resources is great. People depend on the coastal ecosystem for their livelihoods, in some cases, 100 percent of their protein comes from those resources.
“If we can imagine that coral reefs will be degraded by warming water or ocean acidification, we can see millions of livelihoods of people put at risk.
Mr Sandwith said people need to modify their consumption of their resources in order to maximise productivity for the future.
This will need a partnership between the scientific community, the government and local communities.
“Local knowledge and stewardship combined with scientific knowledge is important in protecting resources.
“We are working with some governments in the Pacific to try and bring this knowledge into national adaptation plans.
“It’s very good to see national governments bringing indigenous people and local community leaders to be part of their delegation, acknowledging the importance of local knowledge, Mr Sandwith said.
Protected areas play a major role in reducing climate change carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. 15 percent of the world’s terrestrial carbon stock is stored in the protected areas around the globe.
In Canada, over 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide is sequestered in 39 national parks, estimated to be worth $39 - $87 billion in carbon credits.
Papua New Guinea, in the Pacific has been vigorously pursuing a proposed new mechanism within a new climate change deal to Reduce Carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). This new imitative calls for preservation of forests to be sold as carbon credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions of developed nations.
Written by Makereta Komai, Pacific Communications Team in Copenhagen | <urn:uuid:51dbd407-4921-4de0-a2ba-d6b3351513e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iucn.org/news_homepage/all_news_by_theme/protected_areas_news/?4367/Protected-Areas--a-natural-solution-to-climate-change-crisis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925863 | 594 | 3.4375 | 3 |
German and Germanic Studies for undergraduates
German and the other Germanic languages, and the nations that speak them, are centred in the very heart of Europe. The ideas and cultures that originate there are some of the most influential on Earth.
Study with us and you'll become a fluent speaker of German and, if you wish, other Germanic tongues, too. But Germanic Studies at Sheffield isn't just a language factory. It's about grasping this core of thought and history that informs Germanic identities. It's about understanding the societies and living the cultures of 100 million European people. It's about enriching your vision of the world.
What we do is all about you
Sheffield's not a university where the top academics never get their hands dirty. You'll be taught by the best – so you'll become the best. And we're a department where staff and students work closely together, as members of the same team.
Our students are at the centre of everything we do. Join us and you won't just be a number on an exam paper. You won't be an anonymous customer or a box to be ticked. You'll be someone we value and know by name. You'll get close support from your personal tutor and belong to a community that learns together (and enjoys a sparkling social life together afterwards). You'll be right at the heart of our project, contributing to our research and the daily life of the department.
And here's the proof...
In 2011 the National Student Survey asked final-year students about their experience of university. A stunning 94 per cent of our students said they were satisfied with the quality of their course - while 97% said the staff of the Department taught well and made the subject interesting.
Your career: reaching the top
It's a difficult time to be building a career – but a degree from us will give you an excellent start. And we've got the figures to prove it again.
The 2011 National Student Survey looked into what students do after their degrees. It found that 90 per cent of our recent graduates were either working or continuing their studies. Of these, 70 per cent were working in graduate-level jobs.
This makes Germanic Studies graduates from Sheffield among the most employable in the country.
Dutch really helps
Many natives of the Netherlands speak English – but native English speakers who are fluent in Dutch are highly sought after by employers. Studying with us, and taking up the rare opportunity to learn Dutch, is another way our graduates get a head start in their careers.
What kind of jobs?
Many of our graduates go on to use their languages and cultural insights in teaching, translating and interpreting, both in the UK and Europe.
But many work in other professions, where they may not be speaking other languages but are using their excellent all-round communication skills and powerful analytical thinking.
These careers include law, journalism, broadcasting, accountancy, national government and business.
Your course: flexible and unique
What else is special about Germanic Studies at Sheffield? As a department we're small enough to be personal, but big enough to be versatile. So we can offer you a choice of three languages, and the scope to choose from a wide range of other subjects.
As well as German, we're one of very few British universities offering a degree in Dutch. And we're the only university in the world offering undergraduate degrees in Luxembourg Studies as well as modules in Luxembourgish language and culture.
You can mix and match modules about language, culture, literature, politics, history, philosophy and film to design your own degree. You can add languages taught by other departments, such as Czech or Portuguese. Or you can study German alongside another non-language subject, from archaeology to mechanical engineering.
Because you choose what to concentrate on, it'll be a degree that suits your own interests perfectly. It'll complement your strengths and it'll be completely unique. And it's another thing to help you stand out in the jobs market.
Beyond the seminar
Join us and you'll have the chance to take part in a whole range of inspiring activities away from your regular learning.
You could act in or help to produce a play with the:Acts, our departmental culture/theatre group. You could play in the Sauerkraut Cup – a football tournament contested annually by Germanic students from across the UK.
Or you could contribute to Citybooks, an amazing 'alternative travel guide' to Europe, compiled and published online by authors and photographers all over the EU.
Your year abroad: the chance of a lifetime
If you study with us you'll spend your third year living and learning in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium and/or the Netherlands. You'll be using and developing your language skills every day. So you'll make huge strides forward in your understanding. And you'll come back full of confidence, just in time for the start of your final year.
But it's far more than that. You'll get a real grasp of the culture you're studying. You'll build life skills and independence. You'll make friends and see incredible sights. You'll come back with a rucksack stuffed with a thousand stories. You'll have experiences that'll stay with you forever. | <urn:uuid:bfacd570-c746-415c-88ac-9e062939f630> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://somlal-enquiries@sheffield.ac.uk/german/undergraduates | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963445 | 1,079 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Re: molecular and radioactivity
Although I don't use radioactivity often, there are still a few
procedures where I do or would choose to use it.
For blotting/hybridization procedures, I would still choose
radioactivity, hands down. As far as I know, most non-radioactive
detection procedures require an immunoblot-like detection step. In my
opinion, this just adds one more additional set of steps that needs
to be optimized and opportunity for noise or background to be
introduced inot the experiment. When might one want to do some type
of hybridization experiment? A conventional library screen (I've done
one of these in the last 2 years), outhern bolt to determination of
the number of loci for a transgenic event, or looking at whether
there are multiple classes of transcripts corresponding to a given
gene. For the latter, if one wants quantitative data, radioactivity
is linear over several orders of magnitude while most non-radioactive
detection systems have a far more limited linear range.
Of course there are many biochemistry experiments that are most
easily done with radioactivity, but this will be largely dependent on
exactly what you are working on. I may be facing doing kinetics on a
methyl transferase soon. From my perusal of the literature, this
looks like it will be much simpler to do with radioactivity than by
any other approach.
On Dec 10, 2009, at 5:43 PM, Hachey, John wrote:
> If you were to start up a molecular biology lab today, would you | <urn:uuid:917b162d-6141-4c08-ae09-90fcb8c5240f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.science.biology.methods-reagents/month=20091201 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916345 | 342 | 1.804688 | 2 |
|Matthew Lyon (1749–1822)|
Member of Congress and defendant in sedition trial
One of the earliest prosecutions under the Sedition Act centered on an Irish-born member of Congress who had come to represent much of what Federalists feared about the potential excesses of popular government. In the early stages of party conflict, the Republican Matthew Lyon established a newspaper devoted exclusively to his political writings. As a new member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Lyon in 1797 immediately challenged the customary procession by which House members paid their respects to the President. In one of the era’s most notorious episodes of partisan rancor, an exchange of insults between Lyon and Connecticut Representative Roger Griswold led to Lyon spitting in his colleague’s face. When Federalists failed to win the vote to expel Lyon from the House, Griswold attacked Lyon with a cane in the House chamber. Lyon defended himself with a pair of fireplace tongs in a struggle that was soon satirized in a print distributed throughout the nation. By the time he began campaigning for reelection, Lyon was known to Federalists as the “Beast of Vermont.”
Lyon had emigrated to Connecticut as an indentured servant at age fifteen. Within a few years he moved to the region that would become Vermont and joined the militia group known as the Green Mountain Boys. He participated in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and served in the Continental Army, although he was discharged from the service because of a mutiny of troops under his command. After the Revolution Lyon established several successful manufacturing enterprises, and by the 1790s he was actively involved in Vermont politics. After three attempts, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the term beginning in March 1797.
During debates on the Sedition Act, Lyon predicted he would be among its first targets. He was indicted for writing and publishing a letter allegedly defaming the President and for publishing and publicly reading from a letter written by a prominent Republican who was critical of the administration’s policy toward France. Lyon pleaded not guilty and submitted a second plea stating that the Sedition Act was unconstitutional. When his lawyers failed to arrive in time for the trial, Lyon defended himself in his own provocative style and called as his only witness the presiding justice, William Paterson. Paterson guardedly agreed to comment on President Adams’ style of entertaining but then rebuffed Lyon’s obviously facetious line of questioning. Lyon was convicted and sentenced by Paterson to four months’ imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. While in jail he wrote letters seeking support for his reelection to Congress and published an account of the trial.
After Lyon won reelection from jail, Federalists tried and failed to expel him from the House of Representatives. Meanwhile the federal district attorney in Vermont sought to arrest him on new charges of seditious libel. At the end of his congressional term in 1801, Lyon moved to Kentucky where he was twice elected to the House of Representatives. He later moved to the Arkansas territory and ran for election as a delegate to Congress. In 1840, Congress granted Lyon’s heirs reimbursement for his fine, with interest.
The Sedition Act Trials — Historical Background and Documents | <urn:uuid:8fe12b60-ae9a-46c7-9db7-18e3ddc1ff94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/tu_sedbio_lyon.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984949 | 659 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Chanhassen is a city in Carver and Hennepin counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 20,321 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 estimated population of 23,520. The origin of the name comes from the Dakota word chanhasen meaning "sugar-maple tree" (chan, tree; haza, a tree with sap). The northern metro area Hassan Township carries the latter syllable of the word to avoid confusion. Chanhassen was ranked as the #2 best place to live in America in 2009 by Money Magazine. | <urn:uuid:8237adb2-e219-4ba1-968e-3b407af4f41a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://openjurist.org/law/medical-malpractice-law/minnesota/chanhassen | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927267 | 123 | 1.515625 | 2 |
rather than take a moment to go ‘woe is me, art is hard’
instead I’d just like to remind everyone who follows me because my art inspires them or impresses them or, on occasion, makes them feel less than by comparison
that those feelings are healthy in their own way and we need them to improve.
And that right now, I’m going through a headspace that almost every artist out there occupies once in a while, where I’m not happy with what I’m producing and have artistic goals I’d like to meet, but aren’t sure how to.
And that it doesn’t matter how good you get, you’ll always feel like this sometimes.
And that’s good.
That means you’ll keep improving. ‘Stay hungry’ as they say.
It could help you to remember that one shouldn’t strive for completeness because it’s not obtainable, and that the greats we admire are never, and have never been complete. That in exchange for wanting more, we are given the energy to grow, and that without it, we stagnate and inspire no-one.
And that you, as an artist, as someone who shares on this site, are inspiring someone. You are likely inspiring MANY someones, and they are very happy to see what you produce, regardless of how you feel about it personally.
And being dissatisfied with your art and being an inspiration are not mutually exclusive.
Continue to explore ways to improve, keep trying new things, and keep producing work that makes others smile and think and inspire them to work on themselves. Honestly, that really goes without saying because you will make yourself do this without anyone telling you to. That’s the great thing about that horrible incompleteness we experience. Instead, what I should ask you, is to remember that it’s a good thing. It’s a pain we need. And that you’re not alone, many understand, and many want to help you continue on your journey as an artist
“Tired of hiding your problem skin?” says the Garnier advert, as it shows three or four teens with flawless skin attempting to hide behind their hands. | <urn:uuid:6148b09b-b089-4b55-acab-4345a84f1f93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mashyhead.tumblr.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965492 | 479 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Psychologists receive Presidential Early Career Awards
Presented annually since 1996, the Presidential Early Career Awards for Science and Engineering (PECASE) recognize and support outstanding scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership in scientific research at early stages of their careers. The White House makes the awards (which include up to five years of research funding) following recommendations from ten federal science agencies.
In November, 2010, President Obama honored the latest group of PECASE winners at a White House reception. The 85 winners included six psychologists.
Among the 20 awardees nominated by the National Institutes of Health were two psychologists: Mauricio Delgado, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University, and Ana P. Martinez-Donate, Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Delgado investigates the interaction of emotion and cognition in the human brain during learning and decision-making. His award recognized his research on the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques to better understand reinforcement mechanisms and avoidance responses associated with drug addiction.
With degrees in health psychology and epidemiology, Dr. Martinez-Donate focuses on HIV prevention and tobacco control, with an emphasis on Latino populations and health disparities. Her research on the use of innovative cross-sectional probability surveys and sampling designs to elucidate social, cultural, and policy factors that influence HIV prevalence at the Mexico-US border is supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Two of the 19 winners nominated by the National Science Foundation conduct research in psychology: David M. Amodio, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University, and Laura E. Schulz, Professor of Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Amodio was nominated for his research on the cognitive and neural mechanisms of implicit racial bias, as well as for educating the public on how prejudice operates in society and for engaging members of underrepresented groups in basic science and discovery. His research approach is interdisciplinary, integrating theory and methodology from social psychology, cognitive/affective neuroscience, and psychophysiology.
Dr. Schulz was recognized for her research on children's exploratory play and scientific reasoning and for her work with science museums on improving exhibit design. Her research involves on-site laboratories at the Boston Children’s Museum and the Discovery Center at the Museum of Science, Boston, where a variety of approaches is utilized, including infant-looking time methods and free-play paradigms.
Both of the awardees nominated by the Department of Education are psychologists: Catherine Bradshaw, Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Jennifer Cromley, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology in Temple University’s College of Education.
Dr. Bradshaw is a developmental psychologist and youth violence prevention researcher. Her primary research interests focus on the development of aggressive behavior and school-based prevention. She collaborates on research projects examining bullying and school climate; the development of aggressive and problem behaviors; effects of exposure to violence, peer victimization, and environmental stress on children; and the design, evaluation, and implementation of evidence-based prevention programs in schools.
Dr. Cromley, whose work is supported by the National Science Foundation as well as the Department of Education, is currently involved in three large research projects that involve middle school, high school, and undergraduate college students. The projects are measuring the impact of modifications to middle school science curricula, developing workbook-and-discussion-based teaching methods to assist high school students better understand biology, and assessing why undergraduate students stay in or opt out of biology and chemistry majors.
The full list of winners can be found in the White House press release. | <urn:uuid:6e9889c9-5dad-4bb8-83ce-ecd5c1614a5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2011/01/early-career-awards.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941927 | 765 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Anyone with access to a good health food store knows it’s not difficult to find vegan baked goods. From brownies to cheesecakes, cupcakes to Twinkies (yes, it’s true), it seems as though the movement to produce vegan baked goods has taken on a life of its own… Of course, these items can be expensive and, in some areas, difficult to find. For some, it’s preferable to satisfy one’s sweet tooth with a treat made from more wholesome ingredients (such as organic oils, whole-grain flour and unrefined sweetener). As an added bonus, home-made vegan baked goods allow you to enjoy a healthy sweet treat, while not being concerned about the ecological implications of pre-packaged ‘convenience’ foods.
July 6, 2010
Veganizing Your Favorite Baked Goods
Leave a Comment »
No comments yet. | <urn:uuid:bbf874ed-4073-45ab-a367-4fa7653726b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vegansolution.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/veganizing-your-favorite-baked-goods/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940793 | 191 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Lilac Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus) is a full sun tree that gets covered with long blooms in mid-summer- attracting butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.
This tree loves hot afternoon sun and is extremely drought tolerant. I bought one last year and it has thrived in a location that gets 10-12 hours of full sun, most of it afternoon sun.
It needs well-drained soil and some watering after initial planting to help it get established during the first season.
Here is a picture of this tree in my yard:
Once this tree matures, it has enough shade underneath to plant some ground covers and perennials underneath- prune to shape after bloom period has expired.
Please share any questions/experience you have had with this tree. | <urn:uuid:058abef6-1f74-4459-8e0e-d37b9b78a945> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myheartsmission.com/2012/05/31/lilac-chaste-tree/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956815 | 169 | 1.742188 | 2 |
|Office of Community
Oriented Policing Services
U.S. Department of Justice
July 11, 2003
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) today released a technical assistance publication containing a series of case studies on organizational change in law enforcement agencies. Community Policing In Action: A Practitioner's Eye View of Organizational Change examines the experiences of nine local law enforcement agencies that pursued aggressive internal organizational changes to ensure the successful implementation of crime-reducing community policing initiatives.
The publication features programs implemented by the Boston (MA), Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC), Longmont (CO), Portland (OR), Rock Hill (SC), San Jose (CA), Savannah (GA), and Windsor (CT) Police Departments, and the Los Angeles County (CA) Sheriff's Office. The organizational changes undertaken by these agencies were supported by COPS grants to advance community policing.
"Through COPS 'Advancing Community Policing' grants, these nine agencies were able to restructure processes based on community policing principles," said COPS Director Carl R. Peed. The lessons learned by these agencies in the process of undergoing self-imposed change can provide insight to all law enforcement agencies."
Community Policing in Action: A Practitioner's Eye View of Organizational Change can be downloaded from COPS Online at http://www.cops.usdoj.gov, or hard copies can be requested from the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770.
The publication is one of the many training and technical assistance resources COPS provides to state and local law enforcement agencies. Since 1995, COPS has awarded more than 30,000 grants, totaling more than $6.8 billion, to over 12,900 police and sheriffs departments, and helped to hire more than 117,000 local law enforcement officers. | <urn:uuid:126f3df0-1af4-4633-bff7-7f5415b7c199> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/print.asp?Item=911 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927786 | 393 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Focus on paraquat in Mexico
Mexico plays a pivotal role in global food security despite most Mexican farmers being smallholders. Not only is agriculture an important sector in the country’s economy, but also Mexico is home to CIMMYT, one of the world’s leading agricultural research centers and the place where the crop production ‘Green Revolution’ of the 1960s and 1970’s began. Paraquat is a valuable tool for Mexican farmers, enabling reduced tillage systems and inter-row weed control, especially in corn, the most widely grown crop.
This article looks at how paraquat fits into cropping systems in Mexico and the contribution that Mexico has made, and continues to make, to feeding the world.
Mexican agriculture and paraquat
Around half of Mexico’s farmers cultivate five hectares or less, with over 60% growing corn and dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) of various types1. The number of Mexican farmers is steadily decreasing as many seek better paid jobs in the cities. Therefore, labor-saving farming practices and technologies are important to maintaining food production.
A diverse range of crops is grown including those also found elsewhere in both temperate and tropical climates. By far the largest area is cropped with corn (Figure 1). Markets for corn in Mexico comprise yellow corn for livestock feed and industrial uses, eg for the production of high-fructose corn syrup; and white corn for making flour, eg for tortillas. Most corn grown in Mexico is white corn, with yellow corn being imported from the US2. Mexico has not allowed the commercialization of GM corn to date.
Grown on a far smaller area, but slightly more valuable than corn is sugarcane. Sugar is Mexico’s largest agricultural industry. However, like corn, the small size of farms limits the efficiency of the industry. Especially valuable per hectare are tomatoes, chilli peppers, bananas, avocados and guava.
Paraquat is used to control weeds growing in a wide variety of crops in Mexico:
Paraquat cannot penetrate bark, so can be confidently sprayed around trees to control weeds in plantations and orchards. It is important to prevent weeds from competing with the trees for water and nutrients, to remove pest refuges and to allow easy access for harvesting.
- Agricultural row cropsDescription Annual crops traditionally grown in wide rows such as corn, soybeans and cotton. Authoritative On-line References and Resources The US national associations for those involved in the production of, and trade in, corn, soybeans and cotton: http://www.ncga.com http://www.soygrowers.com http://www.cotton.org : corn, soybeans, sunflower, safflower, sugarcane, potatoes, pineapple
- Horticultural row crops: cucumber, lettuce, melon, cabbage, watermelon, tomato, peas, onions, asparagus, beans, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, zucchini
Paraquat can be used to control weeds growing in between the rows of the above crops, using a shield around the spray nozzle if necessary. However, paraquat is a contact herbicide and spray droplets landing on crop leaves cause only minimal local damage because there is no translocation to growing points.
- Forage: alfalfa
Paraquat can be used to control weeds in this perennial crop after harvest when the crop is dormant.
As a broad-spectrum, non-selectiveDescription A chemical product used for eliminating all types of weeds (annual and perennial grasses and broadleaved weeds). Authoritative On-line References and Resources http://www.weeds.iastate.edu/ An invaluable source of contemporary information about herbicides and weeds from Iowa State University. herbicide, deactivated immediately on soil contact, paraquat can be used to burndown weeds before planting any crop (see below).
Products that include both paraquat and diuron are also sold. Diuron is a photosynthesis inhibitor that enhances the activity of paraquat on some tough weeds.
Mexico’s role in global food security: CIMMYT
Mexico is home to CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo)4, where the ‘Green Revolution’ of the 1960s and 1970s began. The mission of the research and training center is to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems to ensure global food security and reduce poverty.
The most famous scientist to work at CIMMYT was Dr Norman Borlaug who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work on increasing the yield of wheat.
The citation for the Nobel Prize was that by his work he saved the lives of one thousand million people. Borlaug identified genes for disease resistance and shorter stems and incorporated these into wheat varieties to be grown initially in Mexico, followed by India and Pakistan, in particular.
Besides being resistant to the devastating stem rust disease (Puccinia graminis), the ‘semi-dwarf’ varieties were able to remain standing when receiving higher rates of nitrogen fertilizer.
CIMMYT together with other partners in CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), the global consortium that brings together agricultural research organisations and funders of their work), also has a worldwide program on conservation agriculture. This involves developing agronomic practices to reduce tillage, retain adequate coverage of soil with vegetation and harvest waste, and to introduce diversified crop rotations to prevent erosion and improve soil quality.
Non-selective herbicides like paraquat are important tools for farmers practising conservation agriculture because weeds need to be controlled without the use of the plow. Where glyphosate is used for weed control, it is important to use paraquat as an alternative in integrated weed managementDescription A decision support system for crop protection which focuses on long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems with minimum impact on human health, the environment, and non-target organisms. IPM takes into consideration all available pest control techniques and tactics (cultural, mechanical, biological, chemical). IPM emphasizes the growth of healthy crops for better productivity with the least possible disruption to agroecosystems. Authoritative On-line References and Resources http://www.ipmcenters.org "The USDA's National Site for the Regional IPM Centers' Information System provides information about US commodities, pests and pest management practices, people and issues." (IWM) systems that will reduce the likelihood of weeds becoming resistant to glyphosate. Reduced tillage systems, such as no-till, lead to benefits including reduced water use, lower energy inputs and emissions, and lower labor requirements and costs.
Some examples of how farmers in Mexico are benefiting from conservation agriculture can be found on the CIMMYT website. Read more here
Brand names of the leading paraquat products in Mexico are Gramoxone and Gramocil (paraquat + diuron). | <urn:uuid:bd343527-fe9e-4875-87f3-8e42306a73d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://paraquat.com/news-and-features/archives/focus-on-paraquat-in-mexico | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906617 | 1,454 | 3.21875 | 3 |
By Sarah Morison, cross-posted at On The Issues Magazine
In August 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unprecedented visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC) to meet with victims of war rape. She pledged $17 million in aid, reflecting a new level of U.S. commitment and concern for girls and women targeted by the enemy for sexual assaults.
Yet, despite being a longtime proponent of access to safe abortion, she did not disclose a dirty little secret – that USAID policy, which falls under her jurisdiction, prohibits all nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governments and humanitarian aid providers from receiving U.S. funds if they provide abortion counseling or services. The restrictions, placed in all foreign assistance contracts, contain no exceptions for rape or to save the life of a woman. This is due to USAID’s unnecessarily broad and rigid application of the “Helms Amendment” to the Foreign Assistance Act, which, since 1973, has prohibited the use of U.S. funds for the performance of abortion “as a method of family planning” or to “motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions.”
War rape — typically gang rape — has been employed in the Congo, Rwanda, Colombia, Sri Lanka, the former Yugoslavia, Burma, the Sudan, Sierra Leone and elsewhere as a highly effective military strategy to destroy the families, communities and culture of the enemy without bullets. It has been classified by international courts as a war crime, an act of genocide, a crime against humanity and a form of torture. The U.S. itself acknowledges it as torture and administers aid to victims both from USAID’s Victims of Torture Fund, as well as contributing to a similar UN fund. Forcing a girl or women to continue a resulting pregnancy has also been recognized as torture.
The impact of lack of access to safe abortion for such victims is particularly severe. Faced with the horrifying prospect of giving birth to a child of one of their rapists, they frequently choose between suicide or a clandestine, often deadly, abortion in a non-medical environment. Ironically, USAID does spend money on more costly services, such as: emergency care following unsafe abortions; psychological, prenatal and obstetrical services to the impregnated survivor; and attempts to convince families and communities not to shun such women and their babies, a persistent problem. These services avoid the real issue — that women often desperately want and need the option of abortion to get beyond the rapes. Providing safe abortion in these circumstances is clearly not “a method of family planning” and willing doctors are only “motivated” by compassion for the victims.
Last summer the Global Justice Center initiated the “August 12th Campaign” around this issue. The Global Justice Center’s principal and unique legal argument was that denying abortion counseling or services to women and girls raped in conflict was a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Under the Conventions, civilian girls and women wounded in armed conflict are entitled to non-discriminatory and comprehensive medical care, which should include the option of abortion for victims of war rape. Although the actual parties to an armed conflict have the primary obligation to ensure medical care in compliance with the Conventions, all countries that are providing humanitarian medical services must also comply.
The August 12th Campaign, launched on the 62nd anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, brought together an international coalition of eminent organizations and individuals that urged President Obama to take steps to end USAID obstruction of abortion counseling and services to victims of war rape. As one organization poignantly stated, “This needless restriction endangers the lives of rape victims, exacerbates their suffering, and inevitably imposes the legacy of war upon their families, communities, and entire nations for generations to come.”
Last month, more letters were sent, including one signed by many UK parliamentarians. Foreign governments and organizations that do support safe abortion are particularly concerned about U.S. restrictions affecting their own donated funds when they are commingled by large humanitarian organizations such the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN agencies overseeing humanitarian aid.
There have been recent encouraging signs that the Global Justice Center campaign has had an impact. On December 19, 2011, President Obama issued an Executive Order, “Instituting a National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security,” in which the problem of sexual violence against women during conflict was highlighted. It stated that the U.S., in developing its plan, “will respond to the distinct needs of women and children in conflict affected disasters and crises, including by providing safe, equitable access to humanitarian assistance.”
On March 1, 2012 USAID announced that it was launching a new policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment. With regard to “conflict-affected environments,” the new policy includes a commitment to “prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence; and ensure that relief and recovery efforts address the different needs and priorities of women and men.”
Although the specifics are lacking at this point, such language offers hope that future U.S. policy will alleviate, rather than contribute to, the suffering of victims of war rape. | <urn:uuid:3e6bb933-ecd9-43cb-8ea2-c75598dd336d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://community.feministing.com/2012/03/14/help-global-victims-of-war-rape-end-anti-abortion-restrictions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957009 | 1,076 | 2.453125 | 2 |
Offshoring and its close cousin outsourcing are loaded topics in most workplaces and especially in IT departments. We were one of the first business units to experience outsourcing and offshoring on a massive scale, and many in IT still smart from the wounds (real and perceived) inflicted by these controversial siblings. Perhaps most painful is that many of the technologists most acutely affected by outsourcing are specialists in the very technologies that made offshoring possible: high-speed, long-haul networks, and cheap, ubiquitous collaboration tools.
The feelings of most IT employees I’ve worked with around these topics range from begrudging acceptance, to thinly veiled (or outright) xenophobia, but I believe outsourcing and offshoring have made the IT profession stronger and more competitive. Here’s why:
A global playing field is inevitable
If you want breathless praise from globalization, take a gander through Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat. I’m a bit less sanguine in my views than Friedman, but along with cheap connectivity and an increasingly universal technical “vocabulary” based on common standards and development tools, IT simply arrived en masse on the global stage before many other business functions. While it’s easy to lament the negatives of this global playing field, mainly that an organization can now draw on a global pool of smart and/or cheap people, I believe this competition makes IT as a profession better.
You can agree or disagree with this assessment, but this global playing field works in both directions. IT is one of the least location-sensitive professions, allowing workers to telecommute and market their skills worldwide. The rapid adoption of offshoring has made companies far more willing to hire outside expertise, and a tiny company like mine can now do business with Fortune 500 monoliths with neither party finding anything unusual in the arrangement.
While high-volume, low-quality manufacturing has largely left the United States, an opportunity has arisen for high-quality, localized, or specialized manufacturing. Similarly in the United States the days where you could make a comfortable living working in a desktop support call center are probably over, but more challenging (and presumably rewarding) opportunities have arisen in their place.
In an interesting role reversal, many formerly low-cost outsourcing centers have now been so flooded with demand and money that they have become yet another high-cost technology hub, and many CIOs are chasing “the next India” since that country is no longer as cost-competitive as it once was. Highly cost-sensitive skills are almost always headed for commoditization, so if your area of expertise begins to be outsourced it might be time to bone up your skill set.
Salary and skills are rapidly rationalizing
Like any new technology or business practice, offshoring in particular was subject to an initial hype cycle that has since rationalized. I remember sitting in a meeting with the CEO of a large company as he extolled the benefits of offshoring, mentioning that one could hire a PhD in computer science in another country for pennies that was “even better” than a local resource. While this may have been true for a brief period in the 1990s, the mythical “5 times smarter at 1/100th the cost” person no longer exists. Companies have largely figured out that you get what you pay for, just as highly skilled people in low-income countries realize that they can charge similar rates to local resources.
Educational credentials are also rationalizing, and firms are realizing that a high-level degree doesn’t always mean high-level skills. At the end of the day, many companies are realizing that a slew of letters after one’s name doesn’t guarantee talent, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, or business expertise.
Outsource and offshore yourself
Big companies aren’t the only beneficiary of outsourcing and offshoring, and arguably the technologies that make these practices possible can be deployed even more effectively by small organizations or individuals. I’ve tapped the global talent pool for everything from high-end legal expertise in contract law, to rudimentary administrative work. The two O’s have made many IT shops more sensitive to what you accomplish than how many hours you sit in a cube, and with your own outsourced “staff” helping you with everything from booking doctor’s appointments to assisting you directly in your business (where possible, legal, and allowed by your employer), we can garner many of the benefits of these practices ourselves.
While it’s tempting to lament the way things used to be, or at the extreme attempt to legislate away the global playing field, it’s clearly the new normal and I’d rather exploit the opportunities that it presents than be washed away in a tide of nostalgia.
Patrick Gray is the founder and president of Prevoyance Group and author of Breakthrough IT: Supercharging Organizational Value through Technology as well as the companion e-book The Breakthrough CIO’s Companion. Prevoyance Group provides strategy consulting services to Fortune 500 and 1000 companies. Patrick can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org, and you can follow his blog at www.itbswatch.com. | <urn:uuid:bbfb7891-ed7c-4f2e-bc09-974b1fd3b4b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-manager/why-i-love-offshoring-and-outsourcing/6468 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960986 | 1,088 | 1.789063 | 2 |
If you believe you have been victimized, immediately report the incident by calling the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Hotline:Toll-free
- TDD 202-326-2502
- Online at www.consumer.ftc.gov/
Keep your holidays happy and safe by protecting yourself from scams that can occur at any time of year, but are more common during the holiday season. Follow the link to learn more about these scams and how to protect yourself.
Never give out your personal bank account information or any other secure information to someone who calls you over the phone. Follow the link to learn more about ways to protect yourself against fraud.
Every call you get from someone you do not know could be fraud. Follow a few guidelines and avoid being a victim.
Deter. Defend. Detect. Avoid ID Theft. One-stop resource from the FTC on Identity Theft and how to stop it from hurting you.
Find tips and other useful information that will help you keep your identity, information and money secure. | <urn:uuid:a1a79c27-c286-4ba7-8967-dd5719071f14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.capfed.com/content/site/en/home/yourgoals/protect.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911709 | 213 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Looking for Zoo docents
Interested in wildlife and want to share what you know? The St. Louis Zoo is looking for volunteer educators to be a part of its docent program.
As proxies for the Zoo, docents help children and other zoo visitors better understand and appreciate wildlife, ecosystems, and conservation. By leading classes at the Zoo and in the community, conducting Zoo tours, and teaching about animals, they help foster the next generation of nature-lovers.
Training for the program begins in January and runs one day a week for 13 weeks. Volunteers will learn the ins and outs of the Zoo as well as some basic education techniques from experienced docents and Zoo educators.
Prospective volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and able to commit go at least 62 hours of docent work a year. Interviewscan be scheduled August through October to begin training in January.
For more information about the Zoo's docent program, visit its website. To schedule an interview appointment, call Kim Schaefer at 314-646-4723 or Hannah Petri at 314-646-4548. | <urn:uuid:92e1887b-cb83-4dba-92ba-9d10b6ed5a98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stlbeacon.org/?_escaped_fragment_=/content/26221/zoo_looking_for_volunteers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946495 | 224 | 1.882813 | 2 |
is a simulation game where you are the pilot of space shuttle Discovery. Your goal is to launch the Discovery, establish an orbit around the Earth, open the cargo bay doors and recover a satellite to perform repairs, and finally land the Discovery successfully, all while using as little fuel as possible. Each time the complete mission is accomplished, it will then repeat at a higher difficulty level (in the higher difficulty levels the satellite has a more erratic flight path). The game is played from a first person perspective in the space shuttle cockpit where you can control everything from the shuttles engines to cargo bay doors. When the game is over you will be given a ranking which is based on the number of successful dockings and the amount of fuel that was used. In addition to the full flight mode, two easier game variations (autosimulator and simulator mode) are included. The autosimulator mode is the easiest; the computer will control the flight (you can take over at any point you wish) and the controls are simplified. The simulation mode is closer to the full game, however you have an unlimited amount of fuel so there is no time pressure, and the computer will help compensate for inaccurate maneuvering.
- "Space Shuttle" -- Spanish Title
Part of the Following Group
There are no reviews for this game.
The Press Says
There are currently no topics for this game.
There is no trivia on file for this game. | <urn:uuid:8c8d95a6-8b2f-4b47-bfff-d0bf427cca52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/space-shuttle-a-journey-into-space | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942797 | 291 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Non Collision Incidents
What is this survey about?
Most cyclists have come into an ‘unplanned contact’ with the ground at some point.
Perhaps something goes wrong like slipping, part of the bike not working, losing balance or getting distracted. Normally, these incidents are just minor inconveniences – unpleasant but not serious. But there are a lot of them, and non-collision injuries result in many hospital admissions each year.
We need to find out how they happen.
What we'd like you to do
- Fill in one form for each non-collision incident you can tell us about
- Record only non-collision incidents. We are NOT interested if you got hit by something or someone
- BMXers, stunt riders and mountain bikers: We want to know about those tricks gone wrong! (But not crashing into trees and lampposts thanks - they are 'collisions'.)
- Please fill in your contact details incase we need to know more about your incident.
What we already know
The police record many details about collisions involving cyclists. The STATS 19 database is often reviewed to learn how collision injuries might be avoided. But quite often, no-one else is around when non-collision incidents happen and the police are very rarely involved, so we don’t know much about them.
This is the first serious attempt to gather information about non-collision cycling incidents and injuries in the UK that have not been captured by STATS19.
Why we need your help
You are really important. Your experience is vital in helping make cycling a pleasant and safe experience.
Whether it was just a minor, inconsequential tumble or a serious non-collision incident, we want to know so we can build up a better picture.
If you know someone else who has had a non-collision incident, please send them details of this page. The more responses we get, the more useful our data will be.
What we know so far
Findings from the first batch of results have recently been announced. Find out more details at | <urn:uuid:487f34b1-1858-4d2e-9078-4b8a1a1b9054> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.betterbybike.info/non-collision-incidents | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945605 | 433 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Gen Xers grew up in a world that fed them evidence of a growing equality and a preponderance of black leaders and stars they embraced. Michael Jackson became the world’s biggest recording artist. Eddie Murphy became the biggest star in Hollywood. Bill Cosby had the best-rated show on television. Michael Jordan became the biggest star in the sports world. Reverend Jesse Jackson ran for president twice. Oprah began constructing a TV empire. Spike Lee became a major Hollywood filmmaker. And Prince became a megastar.
Hanging over all this was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose shadow loomed over the 1980s as the ultimate example of a black American who whites and blacks both could and should idolize (as opposed to Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and Minister Louis Farrakhan, who were idolized by many blacks and had no crossover appeal). In 1986, as Gen X was growing up, the King holiday was first observed. A few years later, Nelson Mandela was released from prison after twenty-seven years to reveal himself as yet another a towering global symbol of what can be achieved by a man who refuses to let racism turn him angry and bitter.
Gen X responded to these shifts with a new cultural biraciality: White kids became knowledgeable about black culture and black kids grew more knowledgeable about and open to white culture. In 1989, author Trey Ellis published a now legendary essay called “The New Black Aesthetic,” which talked about blacks who had a multicultural fluency powering their work. “A cultural mulatto,” Ellis wrote, “educated by a multi-racial mix of cultures, can also navigate easily in the white world. And it is by and large this rapidly growing group of cultural mulattoes that fuels the New Black Aesthetic. We no longer need to deny or suppress any part of our complicated and sometimes contradictory cultural baggage to please whites or blacks.” Within this movement Ellis identifies “the initial shock troops,” that is, the culture creators who are leading this charge. He names Eddie Murphy, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and, of course, Prince. In a recent interview Ellis said, “Before, there would be a stigma for black artists taking from white culture because [blacks] have such a sense of cultural supremacy so we’d think why are we gonna borrow from some inferior culture? But Prince says I’m gonna take from everybody and he was kind of, like, talking white through his guitar.”
In this crossover-friendly era, when lots of black artists were making work meant for the mainstream without risking their cred, Prince was pushing that envelope by emerging from the funk and soul of the albums Controversy and 1999 into the sound of Purple Rain, which was rock, pop, funk, and soul all wrapped up in a much more mainstream-accessible sound than he’d ever made.
Alan Leeds told me some people’s response to Prince’s sound was confusion. “My generation [the boomers] said, who does he think he is? Tryin’ to be white? But the younger age group … they didn’t see it that way at all. They grew up looking at the music differently than previous generations because the walls were down and they embraced the music purely on quality as opposed to any kind of categorization. So, it was an evolutionary time and not just in the music — the music was reflecting the evolution of the culture at large.”
Few songs express the idea that Prince’s identity is multifaceted, that he consists of multiple selves at once, as “Controversy.” In many ways, it’s about myth building. Prince is saying the world is asking about me, and he’s feigning a lack of understanding as to why people are so interested in the nooks and crannies of his life. But “Controversy” was written before Prince was a superstar, so he’s not truly responding to the question of “Who are you?” as much as activating a sense of mystery and intrigue about him. It’s a classic marketing technique: He’s making you wonder about him by telling you many others are wondering about him. Is he black or white? Is he straight or gay? Does he believe in God or does he believe in himself? These are the key schisms of his art if not of his life — his race, his sexuality, and his egotism versus his humbling relationship to a higher power. These are issues he’ll hash out in his music throughout his career.
This is an important song in the strategic effort to build Prince as a person who audiences should be thinking about as more than just a music maker, but as a personal liberator. Someone who rejects labels, thus giving you the freedom to live beyond them, too. He says, “I wish there were no black or white, I wish there were no rules.” And “Life is just a game, we’re all just the same.” This is the ethos of multiculturalism and utopianism set to music. Prince sits at the edges of race, gender, and sexuality and rejects all borders, saying what does it matter what my demographics are? He was crossing over in all sorts of ways, but really he wanted to avoid categorization altogether and be a genre unto himself sonically and interpersonally.
So, just as he’s demonstrated a rare fluidity to slide between rock, soul, pop, and funk, Prince has also used his fluency in a plethora of identity idioms to break free of the conventions and strictures of black male identity. And he presents this message at the moment in history when many people most need to hear it. In Prince: The Making of a Pop Music Phenomenon, Stan Hawkins and Sarah Niblock write, “During the neo-conservative Reagan era, monogamy and gender fixity and adherence to religious doctrines and being defined by ethnicity were being promoted heavily and he said that all had to be broken for the sake of inner integrity. Prince was telling us that we are all the originators of our own destinies as long as we access our inner essence. In a society that was marked by high unemployment and the very real prospect of nuclear war, Prince was offering a safe space for his fans to explore the meanings of their own identities and their place within a confusing socio-cultural context.”
Prince embodies Gen X multiculturalism not only by sonically and thematically but also by making his bands black and white, male and female. “There were some folks that we auditioned that didn’t get the nod because they didn’t fit the branding template that he had in mind: multiracial, male and female,” says former band member Dez Dickerson. Another band member Eric Leeds says, “There were women in the band who were lesbians. There were whites and blacks in the band and several of us who were Jewish in the band. There was this image he was trying to present to the world that it’s not about the differences in us so let’s celebrate the diversity.” Being onstage with a diverse group of people would also protect Prince from music business segregation.
His desire to be marketed and promoted by the pop music staff and not the black music department challenged the music business status quo. But Prince had more tricks up his sleeve than an integrated band: Prince lied to early interviewers about being biracial. In 1981, he told Nelson George, then a reporter for Record World, that his mother was white, and told Bill Adler, who was writing about him for Rolling Stone, that he was the “son of a half-black father and an Italian mother.” Prince pushed this further along by casting a white woman to play his mother in Purple Rain. (Despite lingering rumors, Prince is not mixed: Both of his parents were black.)
He said he was biracial because he knew that being perceived as mixed would open his possibilities and keep him from being forced into the Black music box. Was this a sort of passing? Perhaps. Prince was passing as biracial for the same reason some blacks have, throughout history, passed for white: to attempt to sidestep racism and access the benefits of white-skin privilege or at least to acquire more freedom and power over his destiny that often springs from white-skin privilege. But it was passing as mixed, and in doing so, Prince worked within the new multicultural openness of the age, and thrived. | <urn:uuid:b0ad8ca9-4bd3-4acb-8c2e-d96e5153e45d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/22/why-prince-triumphed-with-gen-x/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985199 | 1,781 | 2.234375 | 2 |
FRANKFURT — As European officials struggle to find a solution to the sovereign debt crisis, two of the region’s largest financial firms continue to deal with the fallout from the market turmoil.
On Tuesday, Deutsche Bank exceeded quarterly profit expectations, but Germany’s largest lender warned of jobs cuts in the investment bank, following a drop in trading revenue stemming from the market mess. Under similar pressure, the Swiss bank UBS, which also was hurt by a trading scandal that cost it $2.3 billion, reported that earnings fell 39 percent in the third quarter, from a year earlier.
Profits at banks around the world have plunged, particularly in investment banking. Fearing that another financial crisis is brewing, regulators and shareholders are pushing financial firms to temper risk — all of which is weighing on operations.
Deutsche Bank reported profit of 777 million euros, or $1.1 billion, in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of 1.2 billion euros a year earlier. But pretax profit in the corporate banking and securities division, which includes the investment bank, plunged to 70 million euros in the quarter from 1.1 billion euros a year earlier. Owing to the poor performance, Stefan Krause, the bank’s chief financial officer, said further job cuts were possible, on top of the 10 percent reduction already under way.
Josef Ackermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank, said the climate for banking was “more difficult than at any time since the end of 2008” because of a deteriorating economy and financial market turbulence. “Our performance was, inevitably, impacted by this environment,” Mr. Ackermann said in a statement.
At UBS, profit fell to 1.02 billion Swiss francs, or $1.15 billion, in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 1.66 billion francs in the period a year earlier. The pretax loss at the investment banking unit widened to 650 million francs from 406 million francs because of the trading loss, while earnings at the wealth management unit rose.
Sergio P. Ermotti — the interim chief executive who took over after the resignation of Oswald J. Grübel in the wake of trading scandal — is now scaling back the struggling investment banking operation, to free up capital to invest in wealth management. UBS is expected to present its new strategy for the unit to investors in New York on Nov. 17.
“Current market conditions and trading activity are unlikely to improve materially, potentially creating headwinds for growth in revenues and net new money,” UBS wrote in a letter to shareholders. But it added that a plan to reduce costs and scale back its investment banking operation meant “we have every reason to remain confident about our future.”
The sovereign crisis may have additional short-term implications for Deutsche Bank. Political leaders are pushing banks under their purview to increase their reserves so they can withstand a default by Greece on its government bonds, a possibility that seems increasingly likely.
Deutsche Bank, which reported a loss of 185 million euros related to holdings of Greek bonds in the quarter, is among institutions that may need to raise more capital.
European regulators are expected to push banks to raise their Tier 1 equity ratio, a measure of reserves on hand, to 9 percent by June at the latest. While Deutsche Bank exceeds that standard now, regulators will probably impose tougher criteria that take into account possible damage caused by the sovereign debt crisis or a slumping economy. In that case, Deutsche Bank’s reserves might sink below the minimum.
Mr. Krause said the bank would be able to increase its capital without resorting to government aid, by retaining future profits rather than paying them out to shareholders, for example.
Julia Werdigier reported from London.
Why do communities fail to secure the buildings that house their children against momentous hazards?
There are affordable ways to live more safely in tornado zones. | <urn:uuid:ac8dd4aa-02f5-45c4-ba94-eb67f4f05232> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/2-european-banks-post-mixed-results/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951462 | 821 | 1.5 | 2 |
PSC recognizes that the history of planning in the U.S. and abroad highlights the need for reflection and innovation in terms of how planning practice engages with the least represented and most marginalized communities, which have historically tended to be racial and religious minorities, immigrants from the global South, and indigenous peoples.
PSC thus welcomes ALL students (not just students of color) in the spirit of fostering more dialogue, skills-building, problem-solving, and reflection. Between the classroom and the workplace, a space like PSC aims to be a resource for all students to explore and confront issues that are central to the field of planning and public policy.
PSC and Preservation Studies Student Organization Present "Perspectives on Gentrification: White Flight Meets Bobos in Paradise" (November 8)
This student forum gave us all an opportunity to continue our debate on gentrification, thanks to presentations and questions posed by our fellow students who have work and research experience on this topic:
Faculty Dinner and Dialogue (November 30)
Dinner and dialogue with CRP faculty member Clement Lai, jointly appointed with Asian-American Studies, and Professor Barry Maxwell, Comparative Literature and American Studies. Among a thousand other topics, we talked about the commodification and suburbanization of cities and public spaces, 9th Ward Greyhound bus tours, policing and incarceration, enclosures and criminalization, and...where poetry comes in. When are we suspicious of urban "regeneration" programs and when are we ourselves regenerated?
The "My Neighborhood" Marathon
A low-tech sharing session on the neighborhoods we grew up in - what we remember, what has changed for residents, how these places have shaped us, and whether gentrification or other forms of planning-related structural interventions are happening there.
Lance Freeman, Professor of Urban Planning at Columbia, discussed "There Goes the 'Hood: Views of Gentrification from the Ground Up".
Spring Workshop 2007
The second annual department-wide workshop to discuss class, race, gender, ethnicity, and citizenship status within the department. Staff, faculty, and students, both grads and undergrads, were in attendance.
PSC was awarded the Hatfield Grant on Business Ethics, which funded a study trip to Rochester, NY to explore real estate development ethics. | <urn:uuid:62589e24-75ba-4b59-9dac-0cab10d05320> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aap.cornell.edu/crp/people/psc.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938423 | 471 | 1.742188 | 2 |
THE new coffee shop which a couple have opened in their antiques and crafts centre in Northumberland is paying tribute to a celebrated resident of the nearby castle.
Keith and Lynn Allan opened the cafe in their centre in the former dairy opposite Ford Castle last year and have launched a range of jam, jellies and marmalades in honour of Lady Waterford, who lived in the castle from 1859-91.
Lady Waterford entertained a wide range of friends at the castle, including the Queen of the Netherlands, William Gladstone and Sir Edwin Landseer, who painted her portrait.
The Victorian fashion for afternoon tea was a popular occasion for her guests to enjoy and the castle kitchens will have produced their own preserves using a wide range of fruit from the walled garden.
Lynn Allan’s new range of preserves will feature suitably historic recipes including marmalades with a dash of rum or with Seville oranges, ginger black treacle and scented geranium.
“The Old Dairy sits directly opposite the castle so we thought it was fitting to name our jams after this remarkable woman,” said Lynne Allan who runs Restoration coffee shop.
“Lady Waterford did so much for the village of Ford and the locals who lived here that we thought it would be rather fitting to name the jams after her.”
“Throughout the season, local strawberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, plums, damsons, quince, wild blackberries, rowan and crab apples will be picked to extend the range of preserves. We even know of an old mulberry bush that produces the most wonderful fruit for jelly.”
Keith and Lynn Allan moved their architectural antiques business from Scremerston near Berwick to the former dairy opposite Ford Castle around 18 months ago.
Since then they have attracted small crafts businesses to work in units in the old stables including a vintage jewellery and clothing shop, a maritime antiques dealer and an interior textiles store run by Ingrid Wagner whose other outlet is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The couple, who have been selling antiques for 17 years, say their venture is helping to bring more tourists to the village. | <urn:uuid:b51b6a88-4ced-46a1-b41c-ab88095d7c7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.journallive.co.uk/northumberland-sites/wooler-northumberland/wooler-news/2011/06/18/jams-are-inspired-by-ford-castle-resident-61634-28908113/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958321 | 456 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The students will explore the costs and the benefits of going to college. They participate in a three-part game designed to help them understand the decisions associated with attending college and the benefits available to college graduates.
- Identify the costs and benefits associated with college financing.
- Determine the approximate costs for a year at college.
As students start to think about what they will do after high school graduation, they begin to think about college. Do they plan to go to college? If so, what school do they want to attend? Concerns about money will influence their thinking as they answer these questions. This lesson is designed to help students understand the costs of attending college. Most importantly, it introduces options for covering these costs. By preparing early, students will find that they have many choices for continuing their education after high school graduation.
Brain Track: A website that provides a comprehensive directory of United States colleges and universities.
- You're Going to College! Interactive Activity: This interactive lesson provides information about college costs, how to cover those costs, and potential lifetime earnings for college graduates.
Peterson's College Planner: A comprehensive resource for prospective college students.
Go College: Go College is dedicated to furthering educational opportunities for the youth of America.
Assessment Activity: You're Going To College
You're Going To College
Extension Activity: You're Going To College Drag and Drop
You're Going To College
Have the students pick their dream colleges, as if there were no restrictions (if the students find it difficult to identify a range of options, suggest a small school in your region, a large school in your region, a small, exclusive school, and a large school in another area of the country). If students are unsure of their dream college they can visit Brain Track , a comprehensive directory of United States colleges and universities. When the students have picked their dream colleges, have them go to www.petersons.com/ and type the name of the respective schools in the “Quick College Search” box toward the top of the page. Make sure that they find out what it would cost to attend their their dream colleges. As a class, discuss the students' initial reactions to the information about cost. Were they surprised, or was the amount close to what they expected? Do they think college will be worth it? That is will the cost of attending college be outweighed by the benefits they will receive after they complete their college degrees?
Then have the students visit www.gocollege.com/financial-aid/ to find more information about scholarships, loans, and grants. The information on this site will help the students complete the You're Going to College! interactive activity included in this lesson and the quiz found in the assessment. The three-part activity provides comprehensive information about college costs; it also introduces ways of paying for those costs. The first part is a concentration game; the students must match cards that provide information about the costs and benefits of alternative sources of funding. The second part is Cha-Chingo. It poses a series of questions about college costs. The answers are based on published rates. For every correct answer the student is provided with a chip. Once all the questions have been answered, the chips are dropped in a cha-chingo style game in which the players earn points. When all the chips have been dropped, the players will have gained a hypothetical income which they will use to complete the third part of the activity. In the third part, the students calculate the difference between the projected costs and their hypothetical income.
Now that the students have a better idea about the costs associated with college, they can start thinking more about how those costs might affect them personally. They have acquired some basic ideas and tools they can use in thinking about how they might handle these costs. The sooner students start to think about their college options, the more prepared they will be when the first tuition bill arrives.
Help the students think back to the first activity and have them put the costs of college in order, using the drag and drop activity.
“This lesson is wonderful and so practical. Many students give up the college dream because they believe the costs are too much. This lesson allows students the opportunity to understand the many options available to make their college dreams possible.” | <urn:uuid:5a3eb785-d560-40d6-b9ff-4381b2071ce8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lid=789&type=educator | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960925 | 878 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Group Organised Rides
- A Guide by the Institute of Advanced Motorists
When motorcyclists meet they often choose to ride together as a group. Riding with a group of bikes can be great fun, but riding safely with others requires a degree of discipline - and sometimes restraint, too - if everyone is going to enjoy the experience. This guide describes a standard series of techniques that will assist groups of riders to enjoy their riding together in such a way that their own safety and the safety of others is maximised.
Note that some elements of this guide set out IAM Policy. Failure to comply with these sections may put a member's continued membership of the IAM in jeopardy. These paragraphs are highlighted, like this one.
A Standard Approach
The advantage of using a standard approach to riding in a group is that every person (Associate, Member or Observer) will have an understanding of what other riders in the group are likely to do, and what is expected of them while they are riding. It follows that this improves the chances of all members of the riding group reaching the required destination without getting lost and in the safest way possible. It also means that, should a rider take a wrong turn for example, they and the rest of the group have a method of locating each other again.
The primary consideration at all times when riding in a group is safety, and at no time may the safety of riders, or any third party be compromised for any reason. While the system explained in this guide should result in the elimination of undue risk for most circumstances, it always remains the personal responsibility of all riders within the group to exercise their own judgement about each and every course of action that they take. Each rider is responsible for their own safety, their own actions and any consequences that those actions may have.
Traffic laws must be obeyed at all times when riding on the Public Highway. At no time when participating in a Group Organised Ride will any person riding in the group be expected or required to act illegally. If there is a conflict between this Guide and the Law, the latter must take precedence.
Please Note: Any breach of the RTA or any other regulation legally enforced may result in the group insurance being negated.
The following may take part in a Group organised ride.
- Senior Observer, Observer & Trainee Observer (who must be fully paid-up IAM and Group members)
- Member (fully paid-up members of both the IAM and Group)
- Associate (enrolled through A Skill for Life) who must be under observation at ALL times.
- Prospective Associate (who must be under observation at ALL times and must have been given an individual assessment before being invited to take part in a Group, organised ride.) A prospective Associate will only be allowed to attend one Group organised ride before enrolling with the Group through A Skill for Life.
- Members/Observers from other groups (Run organisers will check the members' status with those other groups if the riders are not personally known)
Group organised rides may be restricted to particular categories of participant to achieve specific training objectives (e.g. runs for Associates and Observers only; for Full members (including Observers) only; or for Observers only).
The Group committee have the power to exclude specific members from participating in Group organised rides where, in their reasonable judgement, this decision is in the interests of other members, the Group, or the IAM.
The ratio of Associates to Observer/Senior Observer on a Group Organised run should not exceed 3:1, and ideally should be no more than 2:1 . Groupings may be arranged directly between the Associates and Observers OR the Group could arrange a set venue/start point where Associates are allocated to Observers.
The shaded section above is intended to apply ONLY when the Associates are receiving a guidance ride where the Observer will be giving a full briefing/debriefing (it is not intended to apply to all rides).
It is recommended that Associates do not carry pillion passengers on Group organised rides.
Each and every rider must ride within their own capabilities and must exercise their own judgement when determining the safety of their actions. If at any time a rider feels that they are not capable of continuing as the ride exceeds their own personal skill level then they should inform the leader or tail rider, who will consider appropriate options to take, which may include:
- Organising 1:1 guidance for the rider separately from the group ride.
- Adjusting the pace of the ride.
- Agreeing that the rider should ride completely separate from the Group.
Planning the Ride
The organiser should first decide upon the purpose of the ride, and the capabilities of the members who will participate. If either of these factors subsequently changes, the organiser should re-plan the event accordingly.
The ride plan should take into account the distance to be covered, types of roads, fuel range of machines, breaks etc. No on-road section between breaks/debriefs should exceed 90 minutes.
The organiser should ensure that a suitable run leader and tail rider will be present. Where Associates participate, the tail rider must be an experienced Group Observer (Senior if possible). In order to be covered by the Group's Public Liability Insurance, the Leader must be a qualified Observer (including Seniors) or a committee member.
Run Leaders can be appointed by the Group Committee and these persons should report direct to a nominated committee member
Group organised rides should be advertised within the Group's usual communications channels (e.g. newsletter, email list, website). These channels should include a reminder that participants in Group organised rides are responsible for their own safety and compliance with the law, and should at all times ride within their own capabilities.
Size of Group
It is important to take into account the right of other road users to use the roads without unnecessary hindrance. Be aware that large groups of bikes riding together can disrupt the flow of traffic and should be avoided.
Where the number of participants is large, or riders are of mixed ability, and the route complexity or required skill level justifies it, consideration should be given to splitting the run into smaller groups, each with their own Observers.
Lead & Tail rider basic principles
Riding in convoy and stopping on the road to allow riders to regroup are two practices that should be avoided when riding in a group and a well established method exists that makes both unnecessary. This is the Leader and Tail rider system.
The basis of the system is that the Leader (usually the ride organiser) stays at the front of the group and the Tail Rider at the rear as the names suggest.
Whenever there is a deviation from the obvious straight ahead route, the rider travelling behind the leader pulls over in a visible and safe position to point all bikes in the correct direction. This bike is called the marker, and when the Tail Rider comes along the marker rejoins the route in front of the Tail Rider. As the journey continues each rider will in turn become the rider behind the leader, and therefore become a marker prior to rejoining in front of the Tail rider.
By following this basic system each and every rider regardless of ability within the group may ride their own ride, without the risk of getting lost. There is never a need to ride in convoy with all bikes in sight of each other. However, each rider should ensure that the following rider is still visible. This means that there is no need to stop to allow riders to regroup or for anyone in the group to "play catch up" with the bike in front.
Putting it all into Practice
The Briefing Prior to setting off
- Remind all riders that they are responsible for maintaining safety and complying with the law at all times.
- Make sure that everyone is familiar with the Lead & Tail system. If the group is large consider riding in two or more separate groups (subject to Observers available).
- All riders should be made aware who the Lead and Tail riders are and how they can be identified on the road.
- Ensure every rider knows how to recognise the Leader's signal to stop and act as a marker.
- Ensure that every rider is aware of the place/location of rest stops.
- It is not necessary for every rider to have full route details, but it may be beneficial that all observers are aware of the rest stops and final destination.
- Ensure that everyone is aware of the number of bikes within the group and who are riding together.
- Remind participants that if any rider is planning to leave the group other than at a pre arranged stop, they should inform the Lead or Tail rider of their intentions.
- Although no rider is expected to become separated from the group, it may be advisable to have a plan. Suggestions:
- Agree a rendezvous point and time.
- Exchange mobile phone numbers.
On the Road
- Remember: Safety first!
- At all times, each and every rider is responsible for their own safety, their own actions and any consequences that those actions may have.
- The leader is responsible for navigation only, and every rider must use their own judgement about each and every course of action that they personally take.
- Always obey traffic laws.
- Ride at a pace that is legal and at no time ride faster than you consider safe for the conditions, always ride smoothly and predictably, try to avoid harsh acceleration or sudden braking or changes in direction.
- At junctions take the obvious straight ahead route unless a marker bike indicates otherwise.
- At roundabouts the marker will be on the exit route, if you cannot see the marker on the approach be prepared to completely circle the roundabout to confirm the correct exit (mainly large roundabouts)
- Don't overtake others in the group unless they request you to do so. The Tail rider will NOT pass. However if you are uncomfortable with the pace of the ride, slow down and let all other riders pass and then continue at a pace you are comfortable with in front of the Tail rider.
- If you intend to leave the group, let all riders pass you and indicate to the Tail rider your intentions.
- When on the open road, ride in staggered formation when in close proximity to other group riders.
- Allow other road users to overtake the group if they wish. Make space for them to do so if necessary and if it is safe to do so.
The Leader's role
- Plan a route that will be achievable for the abilities of the expected riders, with suitable refreshment stops and refuelling.
- Brief all riders before the off (see above for what this should cover)
- Ride smoothly and at a steady pace.
- If you do not have a bike behind you to act as marker for a change in direction, stop in a safe place and wait until one arrives.
- Unless there is a deviation from the obvious straight ahead route, you do not need to mark the junction except at roundabouts when the exit should always be marked.
- Always leave a marker at a change in direction even if you think all the group are in sight of each other.
- The ultimate responsibility for the safety of markers is their own, but you can help them mark the route effectively and safely by giving them plenty of warning that you require them to stop.
- If it becomes apparent that the Group has come to a halt because a rider has had problems, retrace the route until you discover the cause of the hold-up and take appropriate action. Ensure that those who have stopped beyond the hold-up are kept informed of the situation.
When behind the Leader
Be prepared to stop and act as the marker when indicated to do so by the Leader, however if you are the second bike behind the leader and you realise that the bike in front has not marked a change in direction when indicated to do so by the leader, then mark it yourself.
Each rider should ensure that the following rider is visible at all times. If not he/she should stop somewhere safe. In this way, the group will soon be brought to a halt in the case of a problem. The lead rider will, if necessary retrace the route to investigate the cause of the hold-up/delay and take appropriate remedial action.
When you are the Marker
Never compromise your personal safety or the safety of others by stopping in a dangerous location. No one in the group wants to get lost, but that is preferable to putting yourself at risk.
- When the Leader signals for you to stop, do so only where you are safe and visible to the following riders.
- It is your decision where to stop, but remember that to be an effective marker you need to be visible to the following bikes and point out the direction to follow.
- Do not move until the Tail Rider appears. If the Tail rider fails to appear, still do not move. If something has gone wrong, someone will return for you. REMEMBER. You are all that's going to help the following bikes find the correct route.
- If you see other riders from the group take the wrong direction do not attempt to chase after them. Wait until they and/or the Leader returns to the junction you are marking.
- Make sure that what appears to be the last bike is really the Tail Rider; who will slow down as he/she approaches to enable you to pull out safely in front.
- As you approach the marker bike slow down to enable the rider to pull out. Do not pass them as this is how they will know you are the Tail Rider.
- Watch for any rider who feels that the pace is too quick and is signalling for other bikes to overtake, allowing them to stay at the rear of the group in front of you. Observe them and under no circumstances encourage them to ride faster.
- Keep an eye out for riders in front of you that are clearly riding inappropriately, or who may be "out of their depth". In conjunction with the Leader, identify appropriate actions to address the situation.
- Watch for any bikes that have pulled over for any reason and stop to find out what the problem is.
If you get lost
The most common causes of getting lost are failure to see a marker or someone leaving the group while on the road and the bike behind follows. Both causes are avoidable if everyone follows this guide. If you do get lost and after 10 minutes no one has found you, proceed to the destination point or contact the Leader.
If in the opinion of the most senior person present, a full member, through his/her attitude or actions, endangers others within the group ride or members of the public or whose riding would bring the IAM into disrepute he/she should be advised by that senior member to rectify said actions immediately or be excluded from continuing within the group ride. The member should be advised that at the conclusion of the ride a report will be submitted to the committee, regarding the incident.
Any rider who is identified as having problems maintaining their place in the Group organised ride will be separated from the group at the first opportunity. The rider may be given 1:1 guidance/advice by an Observer at the rear of the group and behind the tail end rider (i.e. no longer within the Group ride). If following advice, an acceptable level of improvement is seen, they should be allowed to rejoin the Group ride.
© Institute of Advanced Motorists Ltd April 2005 | <urn:uuid:2cb86e74-082a-4125-bebd-ede631479c04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bwam.org.uk/articles/group_organised_rides.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947964 | 3,187 | 1.695313 | 2 |
This is on NOAA's/National Climatic Data Center website, and I thought I would share. Where do you end up in this?
What Are the Chances You Will Have a White Christmas?
NCDC can help answer that age-old question. This year the Center updated a map that shows the climatological probabilities of a white Christmas across the Nation. The Probability of a White Christmas map, now based on the most recent 1981–2010 Climate Normals, shows the climatological probability (in percent) that a snow depth of at least 1 inch will be observed on December 25. The highest probabilities are in northern and mountainous areas of the country.
The actual conditions this year may vary widely from these probabilities because the weather patterns present will determine the snow on the ground or snowfall on Christmas day. These probabilities are useful as a guide only to show where snow on the ground is more likely.
If you would like to keep track of the snowfall across North America on a daily basis, see the NOAA Operational Daily Snow Analysis Charts.
by jbyrd898December 12, 2012 at 9:23 PM
We are below the 10 percent mark in Asheville NC
by CometGirlDecember 12, 2012 at 10:52 PM
We've got about a 25% chance of snow--but it isn't going to happen this year.
by sheena696December 12, 2012 at 11:16 PM
Right at where they need to be... less that 10%
by TwinsFanMamaDecember 13, 2012 at 3:40 AM>90% lol but I'm gonna go with a full 100% as we just got 5 inches last weekend and have had below zero temps all week. This snow is here to stay! :) I'm in northern MN.
by Ginnygurl97December 13, 2012 at 3:45 AMNone here. I'm in Florida :-( but where I grew up in the mountains in north central Pennsylvania, it was pretty much 100% guarantee. God I miss it!!!
by lenoxclanDecember 13, 2012 at 7:57 AM
10%, I am in Texas
Although we did get a bit of snow(light dusting)on Monday......I HATE snow.
by Babybear89December 13, 2012 at 9:33 AMBetween ten and forty percent
by momtotwo08December 13, 2012 at 11:47 AMVery slim. We didn't get a drop last year but had 7 in yr before. I'm in sc but would LOVE to have a white Christmas.
December 13, 2012 at 11:48 AM
we already have about 5 inches so as long as it doesn't melt we will have a white Christmas.
by hcdeubof3December 13, 2012 at 3:39 PM
25-40....doubt it. I bet it will just be a dusting and look like frost on the ground vs anything decent. I'm greatful and bummed all at the same time. | <urn:uuid:a6d5165c-d191-4c6a-8577-9b5101bc890b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mobile.cafemom.com/group/99197/forums/read/17746070/What_are_your_chances_of_a_White_Christmas?use_mobile=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949109 | 618 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Above: Promotional graphic for Alchemy of the Hearth: "Explore the magic of cooking - hands on classes for adults, teens and children" 760-233-2433.
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Date: Mondays beginning December 3rd- December 17th from 10:00 - 2:00 | <urn:uuid:b9700c87-cf49-4b74-b016-0db17dcffaa3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kpbs.org/events/ongoing/16987/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915407 | 255 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Controversial Execution of Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti
After 85 years, historians and legal scholars still disagree about the trial, conviction, and execution of Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. The men died in the electric chair of the state prison in Charlestown, Ma., on Aug. 23, 1927, charged with the murder of two men during an armed robbery in Braintree, Ma., on April 15, 1920. Sacco, Vanzetti and their lawyers fought a protracted, tangled legal battle for seven years trying to clear their names, but lost in the end.
To this day, some people are convinced the two men—most especially Sacco—were guilty. Others insist they were innocent, killed not for committing a crime but simply because of prejudice and strong fear of Italian anarchists, who had been conducting a bombing campaign in the U.S. in the 1920s. Along with questions about their guilt or innocence, another controversy centers on whether the judge gave them a fair trial.
Some things are crystal clear about this case. One, both men were Italians, having immigrated to America in 1908. Two, they were both anarchists, followers of the controversial Italian anarchist Luigi Galleani—who had been deported from the U.S. along with eight of his followers on June 24, 1919, for advocating bombings and assassinations. Third, neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had a criminal record. Fourth, there was never a shred of physical evidence linking Vanzetti to the crime scene.
Everything else about the case is murky, beginning with how fairly Judge Webster Thayer conducted the trial—an assignment he had specifically requested. He had given speeches warning that anarchism was a great threat to America. Four years after the trial, in 1924, he referred to Sacco and Vanzetti as “those anarchistic bastards”—even though the appeal process was ongoing, and Thayer remained involved in the case. The ballistics evidence tying Sacco’s gun to the murders was suspect, his pistol was tampered with, many witnesses for both the prosecution and defense provided confusing and contradictory accounts, and there were allegations of coerced testimony. Nonetheless, the jury pronounced the two men guilty after deliberating only three hours.
Judge Thayer twice denied the defense’s motion for a new trial, in 1924 and again in 1926—the second denial coming even though another man, Celestino Madeiros, confessed in November 1925 that he was the Braintree murderer, not Sacco or Vanzetti. Both of Thayer’s denials were appealed to Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court, and upheld. Appeals to Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller failed to save the men. With the appeals process exhausted, Thayer heard final statements from Sacco and Vanzetti on April 9, 1927, then sentenced them to die in the electric chair.
The prosecution of Sacco and Vanzetti provoked international indignation and condemnation. There were protests in many cities, and American embassies were besieged with angry letters. Nobel laureate Anatole France wrote an impassioned letter to the American people saying the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti would “cover you with shame.” The two condemned Italian anarchists became a cause for many intellectuals. John Dos Passos, Dorothy Parker and Edna St. Vincent Millay were all arrested during protest demonstrations. Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells wrote protest letters to Governor Fuller. Upton Sinclair’s novel Boston, based on the Sacco and Vanzetti case, came out one year after their execution.
On Aug. 21, 1927, 20,000 protesters demonstrated on Boston Common, but to no avail. Sacco and Vanzetti—along with Celestino Madeiros—were executed shortly after midnight, early in the morning of Aug. 23, 1927. Madeiros stayed silent during his execution. Sacco shouted “Long live anarchy!” His last words were: “farewell, mother.” Vanzetti’s calm, final words were: “I wish to forgive some people for what they are now doing to me.”
The following copyrighted articles were all published by the Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas) on Aug. 23, 1927, the day Sacco and Vanzetti were executed. The lead story appeared on the front page. Appended to it were several related stories, written the day before, describing the final appeals made on their behalf, the last visit from loved ones, and the condemned men’s final meal.
Sacco and Vanzetti Electrocuted after Seven-Year Battle
Final Appeals Fail, Radicals Suffer Death
Men Who Caused World-Wide Trouble Die for Double-Murder
Fight to Last Ditch
Third Man, Who Tried to Clear Them, Also Is Executed
Charlestown, Mass., State Prison, Aug. 23 (Tuesday) (AP).—Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti shortly after midnight Tuesday morning paid the penalty of death exacted by the State for murder.
Celestino Madeiros preceded them to the electric chair by a few minutes, the world-known radicals following as rapidly as the execution routine would permit.
Madeiros died at 12:09 a.m. for the murder of a Wrentham bank cashier. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed for the murder of a paymaster and his guard at Brainbridge [correction: Braintree—ed.] more than seven years ago. Sacco was dead at 12:19 and Vanzetti at 12:26.
Inside and outside the high prison wall stood a small army of armed guards. Waiting also were the press wires to inform the world that the long fight to save the men was at an end. The fight in behalf of the men continued until the last minute.
Both Sacco and Vanzetti made brief speeches in the death chamber before they took their seats in the chair, Vanzetti protesting his innocence to the last.
Vanzetti Calmest of All
Sacco, pale but steady, shouted in Italian, as he sat in the chair: “Long live anarchy!”
Then in broken English he went on: “Farewell, my wife and child and all my friends.”
The straps were being adjusted as he said his last words: “Good evening, gentlemen; farewell, mother.”
Vanzetti entered the death chamber the calmest of all the three men. Shaking hands with two of the guards as he came through the door of the execution chamber, he walked unassisted to the chair and seated himself.
As the guards began the hasty adjustment of straps to his head and body he began a speech.
“Innocent!” He Declares
In the broken English that characterized his dramatic plea for “justice” when sentence was passed on him in Dedham April 9, he declared:
“I wish to tell you I am innocent and never connected with any crime, but sometime some sin. I thank you for everything you have done for me. I am innocent of all crime, not only of this one, but all. I am an innocent man.”
Just as the guards slipped the straps and headcap in place, cutting off further speech, he shouted:
“I wish to forgive some people for what they are now doing to me.”
A moment after the official witnesses entered the death chamber, Madeiros was led in between two guards. The youth, who had won five respites because of his confession that a gang with which he was connected committed the South Braintree murders, was stolid and expressionless. His eyes wandered about the little group of witnesses as he was strapped to the chair, but he said nothing.
Madeiros came in at 12:02:47. At 12:03:37 the shock was applied. He was pronounced dead at 12:09:35.
Relatives to Claim Bodies
The left leg of the trousers of each man had been slit up to the knee to permit the application of the electrodes to the flesh.
In each case examination was made by Dr. George Burgess Magrath, medical examiner for Suffolk County; Surgeon Gen. F. P. Williams; Dr. Joseph I. McLaughlin, prison physician; and two physicians who were present as guests of the warden. These were Drs. Howard A. Lothrop of Boston and William Otis Faxon, Dedham jail physician. The other official witnesses were Warden William Hendry; Deputy Warden James Hogsett; Sheriff Samuel Capen of Norfolk County; and W. E. Playfair of the Associated Press.
The bodies were removed from the death chamber shortly after the execution and taken to the North Grove Street Mortuary, where an autopsy was to be performed by Dr. Magrath. Arrangement were made Monday night by Gardner Jackson, representing the Sacco-Vanzetti defense committee, to claim the bodies later on behalf of the relatives.
Governor Denies Plea
Boston, Mass., Aug. 22 (AP).—A final appeal to Governor Fuller to grant “any form of clemency” to Sacco and Vanzetti rather than allow the two men to be executed was made Monday night by Michael A. Musmanno of defense counsel. It was denied.
While a habeas corpus petition was being argued before Judge Lowell in United States District Court, Musmanno arrived at the State house shortly after 6 o’clock and was immediately admitted to the Governor’s office.
The attorney, before entering, said that Arthur D. Hill of defense counsel had been detained in Maine and could not return to Boston before Tuesday.
Battle until Last
Boston, Mass., Aug. 22 (AP).—The seven years’ fight for Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti drew near its end Monday night, with only a few hours’ lease of life facing the two men; their attorneys told the Associated Press that their fight would continue “up to the last minute.”
The plea of four New York attorneys, representing defense counsel, for a stay of execution was denied here early Monday night by Federal District Judge James A. Lowell. The attorneys asked the stay on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which Sacco and Vanzetti had refused to sign.
Earlier in the day Justice Stone of the United States Supreme Court had refused, at his summer home at Isle au Haut, Maine, to grant a stay of execution. Similarly, Judge Fisk of the Massachusetts Superior Court had declined to intervene. Governor Fuller, who had before him a petition for another respite, spent the day at the State house, receiving several delegations and individuals who pleaded for clemency for the two men.
Taft Refuses to Intervene
Chief Justice Taft telegraphed from his summer home in Canada his refusal to intervene because the matter was out of his jurisdiction.
Justice Holmes of the United States Supreme Court also refused to interfere.
In the death house at the State penitentiary, Sacco and Vanzetti and Celestino Madeiros, condemned to die at the same time for another murder, spent the day reading, eating the prison fare and receiving visits from counsel and relatives. After one of his visits, Attorney Michael A. Musmanno said Sacco and Vanzetti both seemed depressed, but Sacco still was interested in the legal moves being made for the two.
During the day there were several attempts at picketing in front of the State house. As fast as a picket line developed the police broke it up. More than a hundred persons were arrested.
Sympathetic Strike Fails
The response to a call sent out by the Sacco-Vanzetti defense committee for a sympathetic strike Monday was small in Boston, where labor union officials had refused to sanction it. Only a few hundred workers left their benches. In Montpelier and Barre, Vt., granite manufacturing centers, a large number of workers left the granite sheds and paraded.
Many echoes of the situation came from outside New England. A State trooper was killed after dispersal of a Sacco-Vanzetti demonstration in Springdale, Pa. Expressions of sympathy with the two men came from many points abroad.
At Washington, the defense petition seeking to have the United States Supreme Court review the record of the case was docketed for the October term. It required the approval of some Justice of that court, however, before it could actually come before the court.
Judge Holds Open Court
Holding court open for an hour after regular closing time to give the attorneys a chance to reach the Federal Court, Judge Lowell held an open hearing in one of the press galleries, listened to an hour and a half argument for the petition and then declined to act on the ground that the matter was outside his jurisdiction.
The petition for writ and stay was based on affidavits charging conspiracy between District Attorney Katzmann of Norfolk County, who prosecuted Sacco and Vanzetti, and United States Department of Justice officials. Judge Lowell declined to examine the affidavits, after declaring that the matter was one entirely for consideration of the State courts.
The Judge several times interrupted the arguments to stress his point that the entire matter was outside his jurisdiction and in conclusion stated briefly:
“I am of the opinion that this is not a question for this court, and I therefore deny your petition.”
Wife and Sister Calm
Boston, Mass., Aug. 22 (AP).—Mrs. Sacco and Miss Vanzetti left the prison when the noon meal was served. The two women then showed no signs of breaking down. They were met by Dr. Edith Jackson of New Haven, in whose automobile they left the place. Three hours later they returned for the final visit. They remained with the two men for an hour and a half. When they left both women showed the effects of the farewell. Mrs. Sacco was crying and Miss Vanzetti was supporting her, the latter with a handkerchief to her face.
Shortly after the women left the men were given their supper, the last meal they expected. It consisted of soup, beef, toast and tea. Both men, as well as Madeiros, ate the food.
During the afternoon they were visited also by Attorney Musmanno with a habeas corpus petition which he asked them to sign. Vanzetti signed, but Sacco refused, as he refused when a similar petition was presented previous to the respite granted twelve days ago.
No Preparations to Make
The condemned men faced nothing in the way of preparation for execution. The clothing which they had worn regularly was to be unchanged, differing only in the fact that the trouser legs had been slit to receive the electrodes through which the death current is sent. Their heads were unshaven, although one electric contact is made at the top of the head by means of a dampened sponge in the leather mask placed over the face and head.
Within the death chamber all preparations had been completed. The chair was made ready several weeks ago for the execution that was then deferred. The executioner, Robert Elliott, whose arrival was secret, was said to have tested out the apparatus.
Short Time for Execution
The execution itself was expected to consume less than a half hour for the three men, Madeiros, Sacco and Vanzetti, who were to die in that order. At midnight the first was due to start the short walk from his cell across the corridor and through the death chamber to the chair. Approximately seven minutes is the usual time required for an execution and the second was to follow the first without delay and the third immediately after the second.
Only official witnesses, accredited newspaper men and those with special authority from the warden were allowed within the prison. Several scores of newspaper writers, including many from other cities assigned to report the execution, were inside the walls. A dozen wires were set up to carry the story sent out by the representatives of newspapers and press associations. | <urn:uuid:abcaafba-87c6-4ae8-b6f8-04b53cb14973> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsinhistory.com/blog/controversial-execution-anarchists-sacco-and-vanzetti | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97896 | 3,361 | 2.203125 | 2 |
The Kettlebell Guide aims to introduce people to a centuries old way of keeping fit, toning the body and having fun while exercising. Through step-by-step text, photographs and imbedded video we take you through kettlebells moves to get the body you crave. Starting with the foundation kettlebells exercises in Volume 1, you'll gradually progress to more intense exercises with the addition of new volumes each month. As well as exercise instruction, The Kettlebell Guide has complementary features from the sport's experts, interviews with the big names who train and compete with kettlebells, features on nutrition, plus reviews of books and extra equipment to help your training regime. The Kettlebell Guide is initially going to be a 6-part series. Although you can purchase and download individual issues, we recommend that you opt to subscribe in order to view previous issues as well.
health & fitness, sport, women's interest
features / burn fat / fitness / interviews / keep fit / kettlebell exercises / reviews / strength / calorie burn / workout programmes / kettlebell drills / diet tips / advanced kettlebells / steve cotter / rob beauchamp / jamie lloyd / develop your lats
Public (what does this mean?) | <urn:uuid:7578482c-a488-4575-ab27-ce80497839ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://free.yudu.com/item/details/118794/The-Kettlebell-Guide-Magazine-Subscription | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90852 | 256 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The route to Stratford was one of the original three arms of the Dockland Light Railway, utilising former and current railway alignments for its full length. The route takes trains from the docklands through predominantly residential areas to Stratford, which is being extensively redeveloped to host the 2012 games and has already become a major regional transport hub. The route has seen some changes since opening, with two new stations and a major reconstruction of the terminus at Stratford.
From North Quay Junction, trains run east to Poplar station. This was rebuit to four-platform layout for the Beckton extension, and lies next to Poplar depot (Operations and Maintenance Centre—OMC). The line swings away north, parting company with the Beckton extension, and there is a connection with the depot tracks just before All Saints station. From here the line uses the alignment of the former North London Railway (opened in 1866) through stations at Langdon Park, Devons Road and Bow Church. Just north of Bow Church the line becomes single track, and climbs steeply with a sharp right-hand bend to join the alignment of the Fenchurch Street–Bow–Stratford railway line, which runs alongside the DLR to the junction with the Great Eastern line out of Liverpool Street.
The single DLR track runs alongside multiple National Rail tracks, with a passing loop at Pudding Mill Lane station, to reach a new island platform at Stratford. This station, already served by main line railway services and London Underground's Central Line, increased siginficantly in importance in 1999 when the Jubilee Line Extension to Central London via North Greenwich and Canary Wharf opened. The station will grow further in importance as a transport interchange when Stratford International station on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link opens—this will be served by an extension to the DLR currently under construction.
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- About UHD
- Distance Education
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- Student Life
Jon M. Aoki, Assistant Professor
College of Sciences & Technology
I am a fourth generation American and a first generation student . My ancestors arrived from Japan and went to Hawaii, Washington, and California. They were farmers by trade, although a few worked on the famous transcontinental railroad.
Central California in general, and the San Joaquin Valley in particular, are often called the Breadbasket of the world . The valley itself is not aesthetically beautiful, but its produce is exported across the nation and around the world . If you have never performed manual labor, or at least been on a farm, let me assure you it is a difficult way to make a living. I vividly recall digging trenches and constructing trellises, among other mundane tasks. As a kid (age 10 or so), I think the best “job” at home was probably driving a tractor.
Life can be full of hardships and everyone takes a different road on their trek through life. During WWII my parents, then youngsters, were relocated to internment camps in Jerome and Rohwer, Arkansas. They told me how the government said they could take anything that could be carried. Everything else had to be sold or entrusted to a friend. Imagine that. It was a “fire sale,” and if you gave your personal belongings or property to a “friend,” there was no guarantee you would get it back. Adding insult to the injury, my parent’s first night away from home was spent in the horse stables at a fairground. Upon arrival at the internment camp, they were greeted with armed guards whose guns were pointed toward the camp . Three years of their lives were spent in these camps, yet somehow my parents overcame this bleak beginning, as well as other obstacles, and ultimately reached middle class status.
Life wasn’t easy for my parents. Neither one had an opportunity to attend a university. Instead, my father was given the onus of taking care of the Aoki family farm, which eventually gave way to a “mom and pop” store in an agricultural landscape. Farming and owning a business requires working dawn-to-dusk, seven days a week. I can’t explain why, but I don’t recall my parents ever explicitly stating the importance of an education to my siblings or me, but we knew we were expected to do well in school and then go to college. I know that Mom and Dad wanted a better life for their children and that education was the ticket to that life. Thus, my early childhood was shaped by farming and working in a store, which developed character and motivated me to further my education to distance myself from this type of work.
The mom and pop store and our house burned down when a neighbor across the street decided to check the gas line with a match. The resulting explosion and fire destroyed all of my parent’s belongings . Can you envision having five children and losing everything? No house, no store, no keepsakes. In addition, my parents did not have insurance, so they had to rebuild their life from scratch. The rebuilding required non-stop work for over 20 years . Through it all, my parents were able to improve their lives and more importantly the lives of their children. The Japanese have a couple of words for overcoming challenges – gaman and ganbatte – which mean tenacity or perseverance. The hard work and sacrifice of parents were the epitomy of tenacity and perseverance, which enabled my siblings and I to go above and beyond what my parents accomplished. My parents and grandparents were blue collar workers, and now my four siblings and I have used education to have white collar status professions – medicine and higher education.
Life is More about the Journey and Less about the Destination
I worked to put myself through higher college. My childhood experiences on the farm, coupled with working at service-related jobs like grocery stores and a sporting goods store, were enough to convince me that education was the best way to improve my life. Working for $3.25/hr with 5 to 25 cent raises were strong incentives to do well in school. While working, I earned both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in biology, as well as a teaching certificate. Along the way, I married and I am very grateful to have a spouse who is supportive of what I do. We moved to Texas when my son was 3 weeks old so I could work on my doctorate in biology. Within a year of arriving in Texas, my dissertation chair took another position at an out-of-state university, which happened as my wife was laid off from work. I, too, would be without income because my research assistant position would be dissolved when my chair left. Do I uproot the family and follow my chair to another state after moving half way across the country? Here I am with a year old baby, a house, and no income. I thought about my parent’s dilemmas and tried to not only relate their experience to my situation, but also to draw inspiration from their predicaments. What to do? Gaman, ganbatte. Stay focused, persevere, and believe. We decided to stay in Houston and work on improving our situation. Months went by, but our situation improved. Jobs materialized, the house was kept, and, in time, we were blessed with a second baby . In addition, I was able to complete my doctorate in science education and then found myself at UHD. What a journey. Life is full of ups and downs, but you have to be unrelenting to reach your goals. How you respond to adversity goes a long way in determining what you become. The journey through life is unpredictable, but you can increase your chance of success by persevering through the hardships.
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Last updated or reviewed on 9/13/10 | <urn:uuid:ef041ef2-e8a8-4ebb-944d-891f2d0593fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uhd.edu/academic/colleges/university/cr/stor_aoki.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981428 | 1,229 | 1.804688 | 2 |
California Institute of the Arts was established in 1961 with the merger of Chouinard Art Institute (founded 1921) and the
Los Angeles Conservatory of Music (founded 1883). This merger became the nucleus of Walt Disney’s dream of a community of
the arts, the only professional training ground in the United States for all the visual and performing arts. The collection
covers the years 1925 to 1988, with the bulk of the material ranging from 1960 to 1972.
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly known as Cal Arts, was born in 1961 as Walt Disney’s dream of an ideal environment
for artists of different media. Cal Arts is located in Valencia, California, and grants degrees in visual and performing
arts. Incorporated on September 1, 1961, it was the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States
created specifically for students of both the visual and the performing arts. It was the dream and vision of Walt Disney
to create such an institute, who provided funding for it in his will. Initially formed through the merger of the Chouinard
Art Institute (founded 1921) and the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music (founded 1883), it opened at its present campus in
Valencia, California, in November 1971.
Property rights reside with California Instittue of the Arts. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records
and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact California Institute of the Arts Archive staff.
This collection is open for research with permission from California Institute of the Arts Archive staff. | <urn:uuid:9a872793-f05a-478e-9440-560055984f9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt558027j7/ | 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 | 0.95011 | 325 | 2.296875 | 2 |
- Better Roads - http://www.betterroads.com -
Study: Women better drivers than men
Posted By Tina Grady Barbaccia On November 8, 2012 @ 11:47 am In eRoadPro Newsletter,The Roadologist,Uncategorized | No Comments
Oh, I can’t wait to show this to my husband and male friends and colleagues. (It’s a given. I have to have a little fun with this study once I saw it. Family, friends and colleagues who have driven with me will be chuckling right now.)
A new survey reveals that women are better drivers (at least in the U.K., but I’ll take it!) in terms of knowledge of the highway-code, number of penalty points and speed awareness
The survey from the car hire comparison site, Carrentals UK, found that women drivers perform better on the roads compared to men, highlighted by the fact they have been in fewer accidents and carry less penalty points on their driver’s license, according to the survey results.
The study involved more than 700 people over the age of 18 across the U.K. and asked respondents to identify common road signs and answer questions about their driving experience and ability. Results showed that men typically have more points on their license, have been caught speeding more often and have been involved in more accidents across all age groups, according to the survey results.
Also according to the findings, 57 percent of male drivers questioned had had one or more accidents compared to 44 percent of female drivers. Moreover, nearly double the number of men had both points on their driver’s license and had been caught speeding compared to the number of women.
“While men would like to believe they are better than women behind the steering wheel, it is clear to see that male drivers performed worse in terms of speeding fines and penalty points,” Gareth Robinson, managing director of Carrentals.co.uk, said in a written statement announcing the survey results. “Despite this, men consistently rated their driving skills higher than women when asked. It seems that, while men performed poorly on the questionnaire and typically had a worse track record on the roads, they believed that they were good drivers.”
While women came out on top in terms of number of points and speeding, according to the survey, results revealed that both men and women performed poorly when identifying a number of common road signs. According to the findings, the “No Stopping” sign was the most incorrectly identified sign on the survey, with nearly one in three people answering incorrectly. A significant amount of participants who got the road signs wrong actually cited activities that are consistently illegal on the roads such as no racing, no undertaking, no speeding, no braking and end of speed limit.
The survey also showed that driving ability does not necessarily improve with age. According to the findings, over a third of those over the age of 66 had points on their license, with 30 percent unable to identify the national speed limit sign despite everyone in this age group holding a license for 20 years or more.
Added Robinson: “It has become too easy to blame the younger generation of drivers for the rise in car-related costs, when it is clear that they are not alone when it comes to driving irresponsibly on the roads. It would seem that older drivers are just as likely to be caught speeding or be involved in an accident.”
Women also appeared to be the better drivers in the over 66 years of age category, with just 30 percent having been involved in an accident compared to 60 percent of men the same age, according to the survey results. Men in this age group also scored significantly lower on the correct road signs and almost half had been caught speeding compared to just 15 percent of women. Despite this, none of the participants in this category rated their driving as poor, according to the survey results.
Article printed from Better Roads: http://www.betterroads.com
URL to article: http://www.betterroads.com/study-women-better-drivers-than-men/
Copyright © 2009 Better Roads. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:f740468f-bd81-4b8c-9d03-1e0adc21442c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.betterroads.com/study-women-better-drivers-than-men/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974166 | 854 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Do you know all about orgasms? Take the quiz!
No matter how many you've experienced, you still probably have some questions about them. Take a few minutes to test your knowledge about the scientific facts and the social mores of the orgasm.start quiz
Question 2 of 21
In the early part of the 20th century, an idea was floated that the contractions a woman experiences during orgasm served to pull sperm towards her eggs. What was the name of this medical theory?
... It was known as the "upsuck theory," though the name seems more appropriate for a vacuum cleaner than a scientific hypothesis.
Question 3 of 21
In the later part of the 19th century, for what "disease" did doctors use vibrators to treat women?
... Many doctors used vibrators as part of the treatment for "hysteria." In England, some of these early vibrators were attached to the ceiling of the examination room.
Question 4 of 21
What is released in the blood stream during an orgasm?
... When a person has an orgasm, his or her body releases endorphins. Interestingly enough, endorphins are also released when spicy food is consumed.
Question 5 of 21
In most cases, what does it take for a woman to reach orgasm?
... Studies have shown that the majority of women need clitoral stimulation to reach climax.
Question 6 of 21
Approximately how many seconds does the average male's orgasm last?
... A man's orgasm usually lasts about 6 seconds. Short but sweet.
Question 7 of 21
On average, how many orgasmic contractions do women experience?
... Most women experience six to 10 contractions. Males average four to six contractions.
Question 8 of 21
When masturbating, do women take longer to reach climax than men do?
... It does take women longer to orgasm. Studies have reported different figures for the lengths of time needed -- one common claim is that it can take a woman about four times as long as it takes a man.
Question 9 of 21
What slogan, published on a leaflet and distributed to schoolchildren by the British National Health Service, caused controversy in 2009?
... The NHS leaflet advised students that regular sexual activity would help improve cardiovascular health.
Question 10 of 21
Some women report producing fluid ejaculations during an orgasm. Where do scientists believe this fluid comes from?
... The Skene's glands, located in the walls of the urethra, are believed to sometimes release a fluid in repsonse to certain stimulation.
Question 11 of 21
Some women can experience orgasms while doing everyday activities like running on the treadmill, riding a bike or, oddly, when brushing their teeth. What causes this?
... Doctors believe increased blood flow to genitals and stimulation of the clitoris can induce some women to orgasm when not specifically aiming to do so.
Question 12 of 21
What is the medical term for not being able to reach orgasm after sexual stimulation?
... Anorgasmia is the disorder of not being able to achieve orgasm after sexual stimulation.
Question 13 of 21
What was the name of the first vibrator sold in England?
... Needless to say, the steam-powered Manipulator rocked the world of many when it became available for sale in 1870.
Question 14 of 21
By what body system are orgasms controlled?
... The sympathetic nervous system, which is part of the autonomic nervous system, controls orgasms.
Question 15 of 21
What is the name of the condition in males where they aren't producing enough testosterone to achieve orgasm?
... Hypogonadism is a medical condition that can, among other effects, significantly impair a man's ability to reach orgasm.
Question 16 of 21
What was the title of best-selling author Mary Roach's book about sex, orgasms and coupling?
... "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex" hit the stands in March of 2008.
Question 17 of 21
These exercises strengthen the pelvic muscles and are believed to help women who are having difficulty achieving orgasm.
... Kegel exercises are suggested as a preventative measure for a variety of issues. They may also help women who are having difficulty achieving orgasms.
Question 18 of 21
Who is more likely to have an orgasm during sex, women in the 18- to 24-year-old range, or women in their 40s and 50s?
... According to research conducted by Indiana University, women between the ages of 18 and 24 achieved orgasm 61 percent of the time, while 70 percent of women in their 40s and 50s did.
Question 19 of 21
How long does it take for most women to achieve an orgasm during sex?
... Statistically, it takes women an average of 20 minutes to climax.
Question 20 of 21
In Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, what is the name of the adult movies that allow people to physically experience what they see on the screen, including touch, smell and arousal?
... In Brave New World, adults go to "feelies" as one way to experience sexual stimulation.
Question 21 of 21
According to the Kama Sutra, how many positions are there for lovemaking?
... According to the Kama Sutra, there are 64 "acts" to help you achieve sexual nirvana.
When you're surrounded by cubicles and concrete, it's easy to forget that we live on a planet packed full of breathtaking natural beauty, so take a trip with us as we explore 10 of the very best the Earth has to offer.
From The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show to the latest breaking news, TV makes more memories than there are viewers. Here are 10 of the most talked-about broadcasts in television history. | <urn:uuid:009131f4-f9d5-4e35-a551-560480b02825> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/orgasms-quiz.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959459 | 1,200 | 2.140625 | 2 |
What is SASS?
A SASS is a designated Scenic Area of Statewide Significance. These coastal locations possess unique, highly scenic landscapes that are accessible to the public and recognized for their scenic quality. Six scenic areas of statewide significance covering more than 50 percent of its shoreline have been designated along the Hudson River.
Historic and Scenic Resources Policies: Statewide Scenic Resources
policy 24, prevent impairment of scenic resources of statewide significance, explanation of policy | <urn:uuid:18a35f1e-b883-4039-a72a-0cb5a1f83db7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nysegov.com/citGuide.cfm?ques_id=1063&superCat=396&cat=406&content=relatedfaqs | 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 | 0.926996 | 97 | 2.296875 | 2 |
The latest news from academia, regulators
research labs and other things of interest
Posted: October 26, 2009
Battling cancer with engineering: NCI funds new $13 million cancer research center led by Cornell
(Nanowerk News) Adding potent research firepower and fresh physical perspectives to combat cancer, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has funded the new Center on the Microenvironment and Metastasis, which will be headquartered at Cornell University. It is one of 12 new research centers across the nation being announced today (Oct. 26, 2009) by the NCI. This grant is for $13 million over 5 years.
Cornell will serve as the lead institution in a partnership with the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and the University at Buffalo. The center will focus on using nanobiotechnology and other related physical science approaches to advance the research on cancer.
Harold Craighead, Cornell professor of engineering and the director of Cornell's Nanobiotechnology Center, will serve as the principal investigator and director of the new center. Barbara Hempstead, professor of medicine and co-chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College, will serve as the senior co-investigator.
"Our center will be organized to unravel cancer's complexity – using methods derived from the physical sciences and engineering – to further understand how cancer travels through the human body," says Craighead. "The research may help identify new drug possibilities to inhibit metastasis and tumor growth."
Nationally, the 12 new centers will bring a new cadre of theoretical physicists, mathematicians, chemists and engineers to the study of cancer. During the initiative, the Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers will take new, non-traditional approaches to cancer research by studying the physical laws and principles of cancer; evolution and evolutionary theory of cancer; information coding, decoding, transfer, and translation in cancer; and ways to de-convolute cancer's complexity.
"By bringing a fresh set of eyes to the study of cancer, these new centers have great potential to advance, and sometimes challenge, accepted theories about cancer and its supportive microenvironment," said John E. Niederhuber, M.D., the director of the NCI. "Physical scientists think in terms of time, space, pressure, heat and evolution in ways that we hope will lead to new understandings of the multitude of forces that govern cancer – and with that understanding, we hope to develop new and innovative methods of arresting tumor growth and metastasis."
Cornell's center will focus on three key projects:
Examining physiochemical transducers and their role in tumor angiogenesis, led by Claudia Fischbach-Teschl, Cornell assistant professor of biomedical engineering and Vivek Mittal, associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Weill-Cornell;
Physical and chemical cues in tumor cell migration, led by Cynthia Reinhart-King, Cornell assistant professor of biomedical engineering and Paraskevi Giannakakou, associate professor of pharmacology in Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill-Cornell; and
Adhesion of tumor cells in the vascular microenvironment, led by Michael King, Cornell associate professor of biomedical engineering and David Nanus, professor of medicine and urology, Co-Chief, Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill-Cornell.
Gail M. Seigel, Ph.D., assistant professor at University at Buffalo's Center for Hearing and Deafness, also serves on the team.
Each of the 12 awarded Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers has convened groups of experts that individually and collectively will support and nurture a trans-disciplinary environment and promote research that originates and tests novel, non-traditional, physical-sciences-based approaches to understand and control cancer; generates independent sets of physical measurements and integrates them with existing knowledge of cancer; and develops and evaluates approaches from the physical sciences to provide a comprehensive and dynamic picture of cancer.
Ultimately, through coordinated development and testing of novel approaches to studying cancer processes, the network of centers is expected to generate new bodies of knowledge, in order to identify and define critical aspects of physics, chemistry and engineering that operate at all levels in cancer processes. | <urn:uuid:cb346d2d-64e9-4543-9519-3163ed6ef8f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=13215.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932596 | 881 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The local library is his haunt of choice in the small New Hampshire town Ken Burns calls home.
So when this renowned filmmaker -- known for his historical documentaries -- was asked by the New Milford Public Library staff to speak in this town, he happily said yes.
"I live in a small town and my children and I use the library there," Mr. Burns said. "These smalltown libraries are the DNA of our civilization."
Mr. Burns has been making films for more than 30 years. His May 17 talk in New Milford, "Sharing The American Experience," will draw on three of his epic documentaries -- "The Civil War," "Baseball" and "Jazz."
Those epic documentaries first ran as respective series on Public Broadcasting Service in 1990, 1994 and 2001.
"When people look at these three, they often see three utterly disconnected subjects," Mr. Burns said. "But I see an interweaving that makes for a more organic understanding of history.
"Quite often when history is taught, it's presented as a series of American presidents' administrations punctuated by wars.
"But through an interweaving we learn what the American experience is all about -- immigration, race, labor and more," he opined.
Tickets will go on sale March 11 for "Sharing The American Experience" for New Milford residents only.
Beginning March 18, ticket sales will open to the general public. A total of 650 tickets are available through New Milford Public Library at $10 per person, with a limit of four tickets per family.
For tickets, call 860-355-1191 ext. 203.
Mr. Burns' talk will be part of a three-week celebration of history with a variety of library-sponsored programs.
"We wanted to get someone for this project who would make a major impact," said Carl DeMilia, director of New Milford Public Library.
"It took four months of working with Mr. Burns' people to get him here," Mr. DeMilia said. "I know he's happy to do this. This is a real coup. We're really excited."
Born in 1953 Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Burns studied film making at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., graduating in 1975. He has since received more than 25 honorary degrees.
Mr. Burns said learning what the American experience is all about has been a goal as long as he can remember.
"If I live for 1,000 years, I'll never run out of questions to ask," he remarked.
Mr. Burns' documentaries have garnered Emmys, CINE Gold Eagle awards, Clarion awards and Television Critics awards, among others.
He directs, produces, co-writes and serves as chief cinematographer on his films.
Mr. Burns' most recent film, "The Central Park Five," is slated for broadcast in April on PBS.
It is a two-hour film about the teenagers wrongly convicted of the Central Park jogger rape. | <urn:uuid:bc67d126-2212-4f62-ba25-07569e3326ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Library-to-host-talk-by-filmmaker-Ken-Burns-4335838.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979743 | 623 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Professor of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle
Expertise & Civic Involvements
Pettit conducts research on the effects of incarceration on inequality. Her most recent research investigates how excluding inmates from household-based surveys biases estimates of black progress.
SSN Key Findings, October 2012
Co-Authored with Bruce Western, SSN Key Findings, March 2012
Invisible Men: Mass Incarceration and the Myth of Black Progress (Russell Sage Foundation, 2012). Observes that our national data systems are based on assumptions which systematically exclude inmates and itinerant former inmates. Because inmates differ in systematic ways from individuals living in households, data gathered through household-based surveys offer a biased glimpse of the economic, political, demographic, and health experiences of the American population and the factors thought to produce them.
"Incarceration and Social Inequality" (with ). Daedalus 139, no. 3 (2010): 8-19. Argues that unions helped institutionalize norms of equity and reduced inequality of wages in both union and nonunion wages. Finds that the decline in private sector union membership from 1973 to 2007 explains a fifth to a third of the growth in wage inequality over that period.
Gendered Tradeoffs: Family, Social Policy, and Economic Inequality in 21 Countries (with ) (Russell Sage Foundation, 2009). Argues that there are tradeoffs between different aspects of gender inequality in the economy. Through the analysis of empirical data, we endeavor to explain how those tradeoffs are shaped by individuals, markets, and states. We show the contours of inequality across and within countries are shaped by individual characteristics and specific aspects of social policy that either relieve or concentrate the demands of caregiving within households – usually in the hands of women – and at the same time shape workplace expectations.
"Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in U.S. Incarceration" (with ). American Sociological Review 69, no. 2 (2004): 151-169. Shows how the increase in imprisonment rates in the United States has been heavily concentrated among African Americans without college education; prison time has become commonplace among young black men who have dropped out of school.
- Becky Pettit's research on prison as a means of keeping families in poverty (with Bruce Western) discussed in , "Prison and the Poverty Trap," New York Times, February 18, 2013.
- "The Plight of Young, Black Men is Worse than You Think," Interview with Peter Coy, Businessweek, September 28, 2012.
- Becky Pettit's research on how the mass incarceration of black men has skewed demographic study findings (as reported in her new book, "Invisible Men") cited in "Why Surveys Should Pay Attention to Prisoners," The Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2012.
Guest to discuss Mass Incarceration on Podcast: AAAS Science Update with Bob Hirschon, March 20, 2012. Effectively, many of the most disadvantaged members of the American population are missing. Our estimates of the black high school drop-out rate are 40% lower than they would be if we included inmates who are disproportionately male, black and low skill.
Guest to discuss race and incarceration on The Conversation with Ross Reynolds, KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio, January 17, 2011. African–Americans are seven times more likely to be in prison or jail than whites, and one in eight African–American men who drop out of high school end up in prison or jail. Why? We'll talk to the author of a new study that looks at incarceration rates and their link to social inequality, and hear from Washington state's corrections secretary, Eldon Vail.
- Interview on financial status of formerly incarcerated individuals, National Public Radio, October 18, 2010.
- Becky Pettit's research on her book, Gendered Tradeoffs discussed in , "Laws Fail to Remedy Workplace Inequality among Women," Washington Post, April 26, 2010.
Talks and Briefings
- "Unemployed Nation," Public Hearings on the Unemployed Nation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, March 30, 2012.
- "Invisible Men: Mass Incarceration and the Myth of Black Progress," Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, January 18, 2012. | <urn:uuid:017dcb23-57ce-447f-99f3-93546751785a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/scholar-profile/159 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940431 | 895 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Special to The Voice-Tribune
To many, one of the great pleasures of homeownership is the chance to express yourself through the plants you choose to plant in your own garden. But to those who grew up in a brown-thumb home, the prospect of picking plants for your new home’s landscape can be about as daunting as doing your own neurosurgery.
Fortunately, at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, we’re here to help. Whether you are a bona-fide garden geek or a member of the brown-thumb hall of fame, Yew Dell’s annual Plant Sale and Garden Market (April 28 and 29; www.yewdellgardens.org) offers hundreds of plant choices, all staff-tested and recommended for local gardens.
Here’s a few…
Most folks know the pink/white ones, locally known as tulip magnolias. Well there are glorious yellows out there as well. Growing to 30 to 45 feet tall, these delightful trees offer bright summer shade, adaptability to a wide range of soils and light up the spring garden with their fragrant lemon-yellow blooms.
New Dogwoods: Like dogwoods? How about Venus, a new hybrid with white blooms that can reach 7 inch in diameter! And if something more extravagant is your style, how about ‘Celestial Shadow’s new variegated form – each leaf a mixture of green and yellow – a color show that lasts all summer! Both selections like rich, moist soil and full sun or partial shade.
The list of new selections has exploded in recent years. The new lineup includes yellow-leafed forms, burgundy-leafed selections, weepers, dwarfs, variegated leaves and even some with bright fuchsia flowers. Give any of the redbuds full sun, well-drained soil and a bit of water through the dry months and you’ll soon have all the garden clubs clamoring for your membership!
What’s a barrenwart and why would I want one in my garden? Known botanically as Epimediums, the list includes scores of species and varieties and we’ve never found a dud in the group! Mostly herbaceous groundcovers for the shade garden, Epimediums spread slowly, most topping out at 6 18 inches tall with delicate spring leaves and airy flowers from white to yellow, orange, red and lavender. Once established, they can handle a fairly dry spot but always do a bit better with some kind irrigation through the driest part of the year.
Many home gardeners know the frustration of the never-blooming hydrangea, but there is a long list of beautiful and reliable garden selections. Start out with ‘Little Honey’ the dwarf, yellow-leafed oakleaf hydrangea that glows in the garden all summer long. Invincibelle Spirit, a pink-flowered selection of a Kentucky native, is a reliably-blooming pink selection new to the market. For a fun garden flourish, try ‘Ryan Gainey’ a 3 to 4 feet mounted plant with ruffled double white flowers – a great selection for the evening garden. And to top it off, why not try ‘Miranda’ a gold-edge-leafed climbing hydrangea that loves to ramble over rock walls and climb fences and garages. Give all these hydrangeas a little afternoon shade, a touch of compost mixed into the planting hole and even moisture through the summer and they’ll make your brown thumb sprout green!
Category: Home of the Week | <urn:uuid:91276b22-87f2-47ee-87a5-8d520c6ba44d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voice-tribune.com/life-style-2/home-of-the-week/express-yourself-at-yew-dell-botanical-gardens/?ajaxCalendar=1&mo=3&yr=2013 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920659 | 764 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have long been an advocate of closer cooperation between NATO and the European Union and so I am very pleased that today’s conference brings us together to develop practical solutions to one of the key security issues of our time.
The ongoing victimisation of women in conflict situations and the marginalisation of women in matters of peace-building have a profound impact on global security. Women and girls suffer disproportionately from conflicts and the lawlessness of post-conflict environments.
At the same time, women are far too often excluded from playing a role in maintaining, restoring, and defending stability. The results can be seen in rising threats to regional stability, growing violence, and prolonged conflict. I am convinced that we need to confront these issues forcefully and – to the extent possible – jointly, if are to deal successfully with the security challenges of the 21st century.
As we do so, we can build on a solid foundation. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 is a powerful appeal to protect those who are most vulnerable in conflicts and their aftermath, and to enhance the participation of women in building peace and security.
NATO has heard this call. Our military authorities have developed guidelines for the integration of gender issues into all NATO planning and operations. Based on Resolution 1325, we have agreed and we follow a strict Code of Behavior for all NATO military personnel; we have increased significantly the proportion of women in NATO’s political staff; and we have studied carefully the significance of gender issues to the success of our operation in Afghanistan.
These are significant achievements, but our common goal must be to close that gap - and to close it swiftly. And so today, from the perspective of NATO, I would like to suggest three areas for action:
First, we need to make greater use of the potential that women offer to our operations. Over the last few years, NATO forces in Afghanistan have significantly sharpened their focus to gender issues.
High-level gender advisors serve in our Headquarters in Kabul; many Provincial Reconstruction Teams now employ gender experts; and the United States Marine Corps has begun fielding all-women military units in some of the most troubled provinces of Afghanistan– all of this with highly positive results: It has allowed us to improve our mission effectiveness; our protection of the civilian population; and the protection of our own forces. And it has allowed us to reach out more effectively to the entire Afghan population.
But we still lack trained gender specialists, female interpreters, and enough women soldiers.
This brings me to my second point: We need to not only integrate gender issues into our planning and our operations, but we must work proactively to develop our capabilities in this field. Today, the number of women employed in NATO countries’ armed forces varies greatly.
In some NATO forces, the percentage of women is as high as 18 per cent. In others, it is as low as 3 per cent. And we do not have enough trained gender specialists –male or female - to fulfill all current and potential requirements.
I know that some of these shortfalls are rooted in member countries’ military traditions. And I am well aware that they can only be overcome gradually. But they do need to be consciously tackled.
Military forces provide only part of the answer to today’s security challenges and simply adding more female soldiers will not be enough. In Afghanistanand in other parts of the world, peace-building is as much about civilian aid, economic development, and development of good governance, as it is about hard security. And the great majority of those who will work on the civilian aspect of peace-building will not be fielded by NATO, but by other actors.
This leads me to my final point: we need greater cooperation and coordination among international institutions on issues concerning women, peace, and security. Our conference here today is an important first step. More practical steps should follow. In the area of training, in particular, I see huge potential synergies. Governmental and non-governmental institutions - have much to benefit from cross-training and education. After all, for training and in operations in the field, we will likely be drawing on the same pool of resources.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Greater empowerment and more effective protection of women against the specific dangers they face in armed conflicts is of benefit not only to women, but to all of us. It is, to my mind, a crucial component of a comprehensive approach to the security challenges of the 21st century. One decade on from the Security Council’s groundbreaking Resolution 1325, I am hopeful and confident that we can take the next steps.
And I am very encouraged that we here today begin this important anniversary year with a common platform and – hopefully - some common proposals for action.
Thank you very much. | <urn:uuid:1ba6d7f7-f635-4d49-9a8d-bbb7c15d8cdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-765819A7-9BFDDE6E/natolive/opinions_61040.htm?selectedLocale=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954114 | 984 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Last Saturday, the Boston Globe editorial page criticized Jimmy Carter for refusing to debate Alan Dershowitz at Brandeis University over Carter’s new book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” The editorial said in part:
Some of the fury Carter has provoked is so overwrought that it appears to confirm his own overstated contention that any criticism of Israel is treated like heresy by the mainstream media. But it is precisely because of the hyperbole of his critics, and the seriousness of the issues he wants to raise, that Carter should agree to debate that inveterate defender of Israel, Alan Dershowitz.
I agree. So I was a little surprised today when the Globe ran an op-ed by Carter in which he both flogs his book and whines about the way he’s been treated. Carter writes:
[T]here has been a pattern of ad hominem statements, alleging that I am a liar, plagiarist, anti-Semite, racist, bigot, ignorant, etc. There are frequent denunciations of fabricated “straw man” accusations: that I have claimed that apartheid exists within Israel; that the system of apartheid in Palestine is based on racism; and that Jews control and manipulate the news media of America.
Actually, the Carter op-ed isn’t a surprise. It’s the lack of a counterbalance from Dershowitz or anyone else — not necessary under normal circumstances, but necessary because the Globe just got finished applauding Brandeis for insisting on a debate rather than a monologue. | <urn:uuid:76170292-c905-4b28-926f-454878f8942d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dankennedy.net/2006/12/20/wheres-alan-dershowitz/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948983 | 330 | 1.5 | 2 |
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Title 48 - Environmental Protection and Conservation
THE SOUTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY UNIT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Creation of State Geological Survey Unit; appointment of State Geologist; qualifications.
The South Carolina Geological Survey Unit is established under the Department of Natural Resources. The State Geologist must be appointed by the Director of the Department of Natural Resources. He must have graduated from an accredited college or university with a full curriculum in geology and had at least five years of practical work experience, academic, governmental, or industrial, in geology.
Powers, duties, property, devolved upon Department of Natural Resources.
The powers and duties provided for the South Carolina Geological Survey of the Division of Research and Statistical Services of the Budget and Control Board are devolved upon the Department of Natural Resources. All equipment and personal services monies, including all employee contributions and other fringe benefits used by the Geological Survey within the Division of Research and Statistical Services of the Budget and Control Board before this section takes effect are transferred to the Department of Natural Resources. The South Carolina Geodetic Survey must remain with the Division of Research and Statistical Services as the South Carolina Geodetic Survey. All property, equipment, and personal services monies, including all employee contributions and other fringe benefits used by the Geodetic Survey, must remain with the Division of Research and Statistical Services.
Powers and duties of State Geologist.
(A) The State Geologist shall:
(1) travel throughout the State so as to make himself familiar with the geology and mineral resources of each section;
(2) undertake field and laboratory work his time permits;
(3) perform other duties that properly pertain to his office.
(B) The department may employ geologists, technicians, and other personnel necessary to conduct the objectives of the unit.
Duties of unit.
In addition to other duties assigned to it, the unit:
(1) shall conduct field and laboratory studies in geologic reconnaissance, mapping, prospecting for mineral resources, and related gathering of surface and subsurface data. Investigative areas include offshore and onshore lands in this State;
(2) shall provide geologic advice and assistance to other state and local governmental agencies engaged in environmental protection or in industrial or economic development projects. In addition, the unit must be involved actively in geologic aspects of regional planning and effective land use in the State;
(3) shall encourage economic development in the State by disseminating published geologic information as bulletins, maps, economic reports, and related series and open-file reports to appropriate governmental agencies and private industry. The unit is encouraged further to initiate and maintain appropriate industrial contacts to promote the extraction and conservation of South Carolina's earth raw materials and their manufacture to the economic improvement of the State;
(4) shall provide unsolicited advice, when appropriate, to the Mining Council and its associated state regulatory agency, on geologic and related mining matters in keeping with the intent of the South Carolina Mining Act;
(5) shall operate and maintain a central, statewide repository for rock cores, well cuttings and related subsurface samples, and all associated supplemental data. Private firms and public agencies are encouraged to notify the unit before exploratory or developmental drilling and coring;
(6) must be the state's official cooperator on topographic mapping. The federal expenditure for this purpose at least must equal that of the State. The unit may conduct cooperative work with appropriate agencies of the United States Government in its geologic activities and investigations;
(7) shall provide a minerals research laboratory related to the identification, extraction, and processing of industrial minerals and minerals of economic potential wherever found throughout the onshore and offshore areas of the State. The minerals research laboratory is encouraged to accept mineral research projects from South Carolina businesses or citizens on a per cost, per unit basis and to encourage expended use of the raw materials of the State. The minerals research laboratory may accept public and private gifts or funds and may enter into cooperative agreements for the purpose of applied research in the metallic and nonmetallic minerals of this State.
Maintenance of files by unit; confidentiality of certain information.
The unit shall maintain all unpublished information in its files which must be open to the public, except in cases where the investigator still has work in progress on a project leading to a publication or where an industrial firm, interested in possibly locating in the State, asks temporary confidential status for oral and written geologic related information supplied by them or obtained on their properties. In the latter instance the information may be held in confidence by the unit for not more than one year from the date the information was obtained.
Impartiality of unit.
The unit shall work impartially for the benefit of the public, and no person, firm, or governmental agency may call upon or require the State Geologist or unit staff to enter upon a special survey for his or their special benefit. | <urn:uuid:cc2c3a7e-8bd5-444e-a5be-4b4a45f9af35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scstatehouse.gov/archives/CodeofLaws2010/t48c022.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914421 | 1,347 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Clean Seas seeks partner to survive
Clean Seas Tuna has warned it will have to write down the value of its southern bluefin tuna. Photo: Richard Herman
CLEAN Seas Tuna is fighting for survival after failing to find a desperately needed partner for its troubled yellowtail kingfish business.
It also warned it would have to write down the value of its southern bluefin tuna as it would be suspending its tuna propagation program, which would have a $30 million negative impact on its first-half results.
The company's shares were punished, losing 1.4¢, or 40 per cent, to 2.1¢, having traded as high as $2 in March 2008.
But Clean Seas says it has tackled the issues that were worrying investors: including the health problems of 2012 that caused high numbers of fish deaths and a dramatic reduction in stocks.
The South Australian aquaculture company said on Friday it had either to continue with a stripped-down kingfish business or to find a joint-venture partner.
It would speak to a shortlist of potential partners early in the new year.
The illnesses that caused many kingfish to die or not grow to full size this year were disastrous for the company, leading to a $30.75 million full-year loss and job losses and cost cutting.
The improvement of feed - including an essential amino acid - had reduced mortality rates and improved health to achieve higher prices of $12.50 a kilogram, the company said.
It is seeking compensation from its Australian feed suppliers.
The company blamed the present investment climate and the heavy funding requirements and losses associated with the fish health problems and its breeding program for scaring investors away.
''Given the company's limited financial resources and need to preserve liquidity, the company anticipates suspending its tuna propagation program for at least the 2013-14 summer, and to direct its limited financial resources to its yellowtail kingfish operations,'' Clean Seas said.
It said it was largely debt free, with a cash balance of $3.93 million, up from $3.64 million at the end of September.
Capital-raising options were being considered, including rights issues and debt raising. | <urn:uuid:0325be9f-4038-42d5-a244-6c57db0a4c66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessday.com.au/business/clean-seas-seeks-partner-to-survive-20121221-2brlt.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97799 | 446 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Francis Greenwood Peabody concluded his principal essay about the Social Museum by affirming his conviction that a sense of higher “social obligation” would bring about the “readjustment of industry either by legislation or by voluntary coöperation, the shorter working day, the protection of women and children, and the recognition of the employed as partners of the employers” . The Social Museum reflects Peabody’s pointed focus on labor practices, representing under the “Industrial” subject heading a wide range of workers’ cooperative societies, employees’ and employers’ associations, and employment bureaus as well as material related to the prevention of industrial accidents and examples of welfare work. Defined as the voluntary effort of the employer to improve the living and working conditions of the employee, welfare work plans were first implemented to address the century’s newly formed labor force of working women, seen as more in need of protections and amenities. Presenting a striking contrast to the conditions in the stogie industry’s factories and sweatshops, Pittsburgh’s H.J. Heinz Company was among the employers of the day lionized for its sympathetic work environment. By introducing a host of welfare benefit plans—from subsidized housing and health care to sports teams and social clubs—employers sought to stabilize their workforce, increase productivity, circumvent efforts toward enforced benefits for workers by lawmakers and union representatives, and gain good publicity. Although in favor of attempts to improve working conditions, “labor,” a contemporary sociologist noted, “hates paternalism and fears that welfare schemes tend to the emasculation or embittering of labor” by “turning philanthropy into advertising” .
1. Francis G. Peabody, The Social Museum as an Instrument of University Teaching. Publications of the Department of Social Ethics in Harvard University, no. 4 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1911), 12.
2. Arthur J. Todd, “The Organization and Promotion of Industrial Welfare through Voluntary Efforts,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 105, Public Welfare in the United States (January 1923): 79. | <urn:uuid:d62aae4b-522b-47f5-b39f-ae88fab6348f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/study-research/research-tools/social-museum-collection/subjects/worker-welfare | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949312 | 487 | 2.984375 | 3 |
S.23 - Patent Reform Act of 2011
A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to provide for patent reform. view all titles (6)
All Bill Titles
- Official: A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to provide for patent reform. as introduced.
- Short: Patent Reform Act of 2011 as introduced.
- Short: Intellectual Property Jurisdiction Clarification Act of 2011 as reported to senate.
- Short: Patent Reform Act of 2011 as reported to senate.
- Short: America Invents Act as passed senate.
- Short: Intellectual Property Jurisdiction Clarification Act of 2011 as passed senate.
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Official Summary3/8/2011--Passed Senate amended. America Invents Act - (Sec. 2) Amends federal patent law to define the "effective filing date" of a claimed invention as the actual filing date of the patent or the application for patent containing a claim to the invention (thus replacing the cur
Official Summary3/8/2011--Passed Senate amended. America Invents Act -
(Sec. 2)Amends federal patent law to define the "effective filing date" of a claimed invention as the actual filing date of the patent or the application for patent containing a claim to the invention (thus replacing the current first-to-invent system), except as specified. Requires the effective filing date for a claimed invention in an application for reissue or reissued patent to be determined by deeming the claim to the invention to have been contained in the patent for which reissue was sought. Establishes a one-year grace period (a prior art exception) for inventors to file an application after certain disclosures of the claimed invention by the inventor or another who obtained the subject matter from the inventor. Revises provisions concerning novelty and nonobvious subject matter (commonly referred to as conditions for patentability). Repeals provisions relating to inventions made abroad and statutory invention registration. Permits a civil action by a patent owner against another patent owner claiming to have the same invention and who has an earlier effective filing date if the invention claimed by the earlier patent owner was derived from the inventor claimed in the patent owned by the person seeking relief. Requires such an action to be filed within a specified one-year period. Replaces:
(1) interference proceedings with derivation proceedings, and
(2) the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the Board). Requires reports from:
(1) the Small Business Administration (SBA) on the effects of eliminating the use of dates of invention in the patent application process, particularly on small businesses; and
(2) the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on the operation of prior user rights in selected countries in the industrialized world.
(Sec. 3)Modifies requirements regarding the oath or declaration required of an inventor. Allows a person to whom an inventor has assigned (or is under an obligation to assign) an invention to make an application for patent.
(Sec. 4)Allows virtual markings (markings that direct the public to a freely-accessible Internet address where a patented article is associated with its patent number) to provide public notice that an article is patented. Revises specified defenses and evidentiary requirements, including a bar on using an accused infringer's failure to obtain the advice of counsel to prove that any infringement was willful or induced.
(Sec. 5)Allows a person who is not the patent owner to request to cancel as unpatentable one or more claims of patent by filing a petition with the USPTO to institute:
(1) post-grant review on any ground that could be raised under specified provisions relating to invalidity of the patent or any claim, and
(2) inter partes review (replaces inter partes reexamination procedures) on specified novelty and nonobvious subject matter grounds based on prior art consisting of patents and printed publications. Limits the filing of petitions for post-grant review to the nine-month period beginning after the grant of patent or issuance of a reissue patent. Requires any petition for inter partes review to be filed after the later of:
(1) nine months after the grant or reissue, or
(2) the date of termination of a post-grant review. Directs the USPTO to make public data available on the length of time between the commencement and conclusion of each post-grant and inter partes review.Disallows:
(1) post-grant review and inter partes review if the petitioner (or real party in interest) has filed a related civil action, and
(2) inter partes review if the petition is filed more than six months after the petitioner (real party in interest, or privy) is served with a complaint alleging infringement. Prohibits the petitioner from asserting claims in certain proceedings before the USPTO and International Trade Commission (ITC) and in specified civil actions if such claims were raised or reasonably could have been raised in the respective reviews (in the case of post-grant review, prohibits only raised claims from ITC proceedings and civil actions) that resulted in a final Board decision. Prohibits the USPTO Director (Director) from authorizing:
(1) inter partes review unless information in the petition and any response shows a reasonable likelihood that the petitioner would prevail on at least one of the challenged claims; or
(2) post-grant review unless information in the petition, if not rebutted, would demonstrate that it is more likely than not that at least one of the challenged claims is unpatentable, or unless such petition raises a novel or unsettled legal question important to other patents or applications. Sets forth a deadline for the Director to make such determinations, which are deemed final and nonappealable. Requires the Director to prescribe related regulations. Authorizes the Director to determine whether a substantial new question of patentability is raised by patents and publications discovered by the Director or cited under provisions related to the citation of prior art or reexamination requests. Allows any person, at any time, to cite to the USPTO:
(1) prior art bearing on the patentability of a claim, and
(2) statements of the patent owner filed in a proceeding before a federal court or the USPTO in which the patent owner took a position on the scope of any claim of a particular patent. Requires, on written request of the person citing prior art or written statements, that that person's identity be kept confidential.
(Sec. 6)Sets forth the Board's required composition and duties. Allows appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) from specified Board decisions, including examinations, reexaminations, post-grant and inter partes reviews, and derivation proceedings.
(Sec. 7)Allows any third party to submit any publication of potential relevance to a patent application.
(Sec. 8)Amends a variety of patent provisions plus the Act commonly known as the Trademark Act of 1946 or the Lanham Act to substitute references to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for the current references to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
(Sec. 9)Authorizes the Director to set or adjust by rule any fee established, authorized, or charged by the USPTO under specified code provisions. Establishes a $400 fee for original patent applications filed non-electronically. Reduces certain fees to qualified small entities (including fees for prioritized examination of utility and plant applications) and any micro entity.
(Sec. 10)Establishes supplemental examinations to consider, reconsider, and correct information. Requires the Director to order reexamination if a substantial new question of patentability is raised by at least one item of information in the request.
(Sec. 11)Eliminates the requirement that certain CAFC judges must reside within 50 miles of the District of Columbia.
(Sec. 12)Defines the term "micro entity" as a certifying applicant who:
(1) qualifies as a small entity as defined in regulations issued by the Director,
(2) has not been named on five or more previously filed patent applications, as specified; and
(3) has gross income below a designated level without having transferred ownership interest in the application to an entity (other than a higher education entity) with gross income exceeding such limit. Authorizes the Director to impose income, annual filing, and other micro entity qualification limits under provisions related to state public institutions of higher education.
(Sec. 13)Decreases the percentage of certain invention-related royalties and income that must be paid to the federal government and correspondingly increases the percentage that must be given to small business firms when a nonprofit organization has a funding agreement with the government for the operation of a government owned, contractor operated facility. (An existing provision defines the term "funding agreement" as a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement entered into between a federal agency and any contractor for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research work funded in whole or in part by the federal government.)
(Sec. 14)Deems any strategy for reducing, avoiding, or deferring tax liability insufficient to differentiate a claimed invention from the prior art when evaluating specified conditions of patentability.
(Sec. 15)Prohibits using a failure to disclose the best mode as a basis on which any claim of a patent may be canceled or held invalid or otherwise unenforceable.
(Sec. 17)Intellectual Property Jurisdiction Clarification Act of 2011 - Amends the federal judicial code to deny to state courts jurisdiction over legal actions relating to patents, plant variety protection, or copyrights. Grants the CAFC exclusive jurisdiction of appeals relating to patents or plant variety protection. Provides for the removal to a U.S. district court of legal actions involving patents, plant variety protection, or copyrights, and for the remand of unrelated matters. Requires the CAFC to transfer any appeal dealing with designs and unfair competition to the court of appeals for the regional circuit embracing the district from which the appeal has been taken.
(Sec. 18)Requires the Director to establish, with specified standards and procedures, a four-year transitional post-grant review proceeding for reviewing the validity of covered business-method patents (claiming a method or corresponding apparatus for performing data processing operations utilized in the practice, administration, or management of a financial product or service, except technological inventions).
(Sec. 19)Permits the USPTO to pay subsistence and travel-related expenses of non-federal employees attending certain USPTO-conducted intellectual property programs. Authorizes the Director to fix a basic pay rate below a certain level for administrative patent and trademark judges appointed under specified provisions.
(Sec. 20)Establishes the USPTO Public Enterprise Fund (replaces the Appropriation Account) as a revolving fund available to the Director without fiscal year limitation. Requires all fees paid to the Director and all appropriations for defraying the costs of USPTO activities to be credited to the Fund. Requires fees charged or established by the Director to be collected by the Director and available to carry out USPTO activities until expended. Directs fees from specified sources to be deposited in the Fund to cover appropriate expenses. Requires the Director to submit an annual report to Congress including:
(1) the USPTO's operating plan, expenses, and staff levels;
(2) long term modernization plans and related progress updates; and
(3) the results of an annual independent audit of the USPTO's financial statements required by this section. Requires the Director to annually notify Congress of its spending plan. Directs the Fund to submit to the President a business-type budget as presribed by regulation for the budget program.
(Sec. 21)Provides, within a three-year period, for the establishment of at least three U.S. satellite offices for the USPTO using specified criteria. Requires the Director to submit an annual related report to Congress.
(Sec. 22)Allows the Director, subject to available resources, to establish a Patent Ombudsman Program.
(Sec. 23)Authorizes the USPTO to establish regulations providing, at the request of the applicant, prioritized examination of applications for products, processes, or technologies important to the national economy or competitiveness without recovering the aggregate extra cost of providing such prioritization.
(Sec. 24)Designates the satellite office to be located in Detroit, Michigan, as the "Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office."
...Read the Rest
Organizations Supporting S.23
- Texas Instruments
- The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
- Air Liquide
- ...and 49 more. See all.
Organizations Opposing S.23
- Adobe Systems Incorporated
- Christian Coalition
- Computer & Communications Industry Association
- Financial Services Roundtable
- Generic Pharmaceutical Association
- Gun Owners of America
- ...and 16 more. See all.
Latest Letters to Congress
S.23 Patent Reform Act of 2011
April 18, 2012
I am writing as your constituent in the 2nd Congressional district of Pennsylvania. I oppose S.23 - Patent Reform Act of 2011, and am tracking it using OpenCongress.org. This act will disadvantage small businesses in favor of large corporations. This will reduce American innovation and negatively impact the economy. Please vote to revoke this bill. Thank you. | <urn:uuid:3a7c3553-f014-407c-8f1a-89bec1985314> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s23/show | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919087 | 2,857 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Maputo — The chairperson of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, Veronica Macamo, on Thursday swore into office the nine members of the Central Public Ethics Commission, which will oversee implementation of the Law on Public Probity, which came into effect in mid-November.
The Commission is formed by three members appointed by the government, three elected by the Assembly, and three chosen by judicial bodies (the Higher Councils of the Judicial Magistracy, of the Administrative Magistracy and of the Public Prosecutor’s Office).
The three government appointees are Adriano Senvano, the deputy national director of geology, Elsa Alfaia, a university lecturer and a jurist working at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare, and Salomao Mario, who is a judge.
For the Assembly of the Republic, the majority Frelimo Party appointed Jamisse Taimo, a Methodist pastor and former chairperson of the National Elections Commission (CNE), and Carlos Machili, former Vice-Chancellor of the Pedagogic University, and Chairperson of the National Atomic Energy Institute. The main opposition party, Renamo, appointed Joaquim Magibire, a teacher of mathematics and physics.
The three appointees from the legal bodies are a former attorney-general, Sinai Nhatitima, a former head of the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC), Rafael Sebastiao, and David Sibambo, a judge on the Administrative Tribunal. With the Commission members sworn in, the basic conditions now exist to implement the Law on Public Probity, which is intended to avoid conflicts of interests in the public administration, and to ensure impartiality, morality and transparency in the management of state property.
Speaking at the ceremony, Macamo declared that that creation of the Central Public Ethics Commission marks an effort by the Mozambican state to make the public administration more credible, by establishing mechanisms that can prevent and solve conflicts of interest.
She added that the professional experience, and the spirit of commitment and responsibility of the commission members allows a sense of optimism about the implementation of the new law, She said the members of the Ethics Commission had already shown that they were persons of moral integrity, committed to the public cause
“There are great expectations as to the performance of this commission”, Macamo said. “We are not going to ask you to produce a magic formula, but to use your knowledge and experience for the continued ethical improvement of our social contract with the people, making it ever more effective, and thus contributing to good governance and to the consolidation of our democratic rule of law”. Asked by reporters what their next step would be some commission members said that their first action would be to study the law deeply so that it could be applied properly. For Jamisse Taimo, it was first necessary to study the law together so that it was understood by the entire commission. “We must understand very well what the law says, and arm the commission so that it can exercise its duties in the best possible way for the good of the country”, he declared.
Sinai Nhatitima said that the Commission members will study the law in detail, so as to understand the existing problems and then begin to work. He said that, as the Commission becomes aware of conflicts of interest, it will analyse them and act in accordance with the law. But Assistant Attorney-General Taibo Mocobora told AIM that the Commission should advance immediately with implementation of the law, dealing with existing, well-known cases of conflicts of interest. He added that the Commission should not “waste time” explaining to people what the law says, since the law has already been publicized (including by the Attorney-General’s Office) and that process will continue.
The Commission’s most important duties, he said, “are to assess and monitor situations which involve conflicts of interest so that it can take appropriate measures to prevent and eliminate those conflicts”. | <urn:uuid:ce52e0ef-d46c-4135-9837-77e8c19f846a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allafrica.com/stories/201301251522.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963172 | 833 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Rapid Accumulation and Concentration (RAC) Technology - In other words, pulling millions of algae particles out of the water; AlgaeVenture was imagining a mobile boat system that would deliver a concentrated algae solution to a Bio Refinery...
Bio Refinery - Just like it sounds, this refinery would sit near Grand Lake St. Mary's in Ohio as RAC boats harvest algae. This refinery would house AlgaeVentures SLS Technology...
Solid-Liquid Separations (SLS) Technology - With algae, as is the case in many other industrial applications, taking the water out of a solution to get at its contents is energy intensive and expensive. AlgaeVenture's lab sized model works great.
AlgaeVenture Systems, a bio-tech startup based in Marysville, Ohio, approached Cobego Design for help visualizing its technologies for investors. I led a 3-man team in developing this imagery, meeting frequently with AlgaeVenture's business and engineering teams to ensure our visualizations and their visions aligned.
A combination of Solidworks 3D modeling, Keyshot rendering, Photoshop manipulation and Illustrator graphical elements created the final 3 images. AlgaeVenture took the imagery to the 2011 World Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
AlgaeVenture's business team knew what it's investors wanted to see - flashy, imaginative images of futuristic technology. AlgaeVenture's engineering team knew key constrains and limitations their new technology would have to follow. It was my job to make sure these somewhat conflicting interests were upheld during the development of the concept imagery.
For more information on AlgaeVenture and their technologies, visit the website at algaevs.com | <urn:uuid:d7241d98-d6f5-48b5-8a8d-1415d088d973> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.behance.net/gallery/AlgaeVenture-Concepts/3171654 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94785 | 351 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Motor Vehicle Warranty Fee ("Lemon Law Fee")
Motor vehicle dealers and other persons in the business of selling or leasing motor vehicles must collect a $2.00 motor vehicle warranty fee, also called the ‘lemon law’ fee, from the buyer or lessee. This fee helps pay for arbitration on behalf of the buyer against the manufacturer when a vehicle is deemed a "lemon."
The fee must be collected at the time of sale or lease of:
- A new motor vehicle (including recreational vehicles and demonstrator vehicles) for which a manufacturers warranty is issued.
- At the time of sale of a new motor vehicle for which, as a condition of the sale, the dealer is not authorized to issue a manufacturer's warranty.
- At the time of lease of a new motor vehicle if the lessee is responsible for making repairs to the vehicle.
Vehicles that are not subject to the fee are:
- Motorcycles and mopeds.
- Off-road vehicles.
- Trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.
- Sales or leases to city, county, or state agencies.
Payment of the fee depends on where the vehicle will be registered and titled.
- If the vehicle will be registered and titled in Florida, the selling dealer must pay the fee to the county tax collector or private tag agency when the dealer applies for title.
- If the vehicle will be removed from Florida and will not be titled or registered in Florida, the dealer must send the fee directly to the Department of Revenue with a Motor Vehicle Warranty Fee Remittance Report (Form DR-35).
The fees and returns are due when monthly sales and use tax returns are due. Returns and payments are due on the 1st and late after the 20th day of the month following the collection period. | <urn:uuid:1efbf8a8-429c-4d82-9a07-ce80e215824f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/taxes/lemonlaw.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929361 | 374 | 1.789063 | 2 |
|The Message (MSG)
||New International Version (NIV)
1 This is the family tree of the human race: When God created the human race, he made it godlike, with a nature akin to God.
1 This is the written account of Adam's line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
|Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved. (The Message Bible Online)
||Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) | <urn:uuid:fbe06e84-d557-427d-828e-7645ac1bae5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biblestudytools.com/parallel-bible/passage.aspx?q=Genesis+5:1&t=msg&t2=niv | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923469 | 175 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Translated by Greg Johnson
Current events sometimes offer striking examples of the unforeseen. Last spring, we were all shocked by images of one of the great and powerful looking despondent, his wrists shackled, having suddenly fallen from his perch of impunity. By means of the media, spectators felt that they were following much more than a single news event. In a second, one of the princes of our age, by the unforeseen revelation of a sordid escapade, was brought down to earth, and with him the hopes of an arrogant coterie.
We could conclude from this that the unexpected is king, not only in petty politics, but also in history. Suddenly, human weakness triumphed over power. But on other occasions, the acting power can find instruments to bring down an obstacle condensed in a person, as the colored revolutions of our time show. We know that history is the realm of the unexpected.
War offers brutal demonstrations. It is surprising enough that in Europe a serious reflection on the subject had to wait until shortly after the Napoleonic adventure. Then Clausewitz reported that Europe had failed to ponder war. Paradoxically, he said, Europe failed insofar as she always wanted to predict and model war. She wanted to understand it in reference to a “model” that one never encounters in reality. The distinctive mark of war, he says, it is that its reality never coincides with the “model.” This is often said of the French Army, but it also goes for the others. In 1914, France prepared for the war of 1870, and in 1940, for that of 1914. . . . The Americans have not done differently. In Iraq and in Afghanistan, they wished to avoid the errors of Vietnam, but things turned out differently.
Ultimately, one awaits a great political or military strategist, if not a “stroke of genius” which consists in leaving aside all models, to seize the “decisive factors” in flight, to trust his sense of smell and his perspicacity, which the Ancients called metis, of which Ulysses, in the Odyssey is the very incarnation.
Unlike Europeans, the ancient Chinese had developed a true understanding of war at the time of the Warring States in the 5th and 4th centuries before our era. China was then divided into rival principalities that made continual war in order to restore, to their advantage, the unity of the Empire. At this point in time, the treatises of Sun Tzu and various others were written, of which one finds no equivalent in Europe, aside from the patience and wiles of Ulysses revealed in the Odyssey.
Ulysses did not model in advance a plan of survival or victory. But, with an innate talent, he observed situations, saw how they evolved and could be turned to his profit, then reacted like lightning (to blind the Cyclops Polyphemus or to neutralize the sorceress Circe), but sometimes also arming himself with patience (“patience, my heart”), during his long captivity with Calypso or in preparing his revenge after his return to Ithaca.
To detect the “decisive” factors means being able to await the occasion, the turn of “fortune.” As in bridge or poker, there are times when it is necessary to “pass” for lack of “play.” In the Odyssey, this strategic concept is constantly present. Ulysses is unfailingly patient in awaiting the favorable moment. Then, he strikes like lightning (the liquidation of the “suitors”).
But the very notion of metis (cunning, wile) disappeared from Greek thought and even from the language in the classical era with the rise of philosophical reasoning (Plato). The notion of the Platonic essences, by disqualifying the empirical method in favor of abstract construction, founded an enduring era of modeling. This became the strength but also the weakness of Europe.
What to do when “fortune” is concealed, when the “decisive” factor is absent? One can, of course, in a very European way, hurl oneself into futile but heroic action. Indeed, there are moments when one must know when to withdraw oneself and wait for the situation to change. And it always changes. It was, for example, a political strategy used by De Gaulle. During his “crossing of the desert,” for lack of “play” in the Chinese sense of the word, he wrote his War Memoirs. It was a way of waiting and preparing for the future. | <urn:uuid:0c483cba-d530-4171-af8a-8b74f29704d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.counter-currents.com/2011/11/the-unforeseen-the-chinese-and-the-favorable-moment/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975346 | 959 | 2.234375 | 2 |
An anonymous reader sends this excerpt from IEEE Spectrum's Nanoclast blog: "One of the fundamental problems with fuel cells has been the cost of producing hydrogen. While hydrogen is, of course, the most abundant element, it attaches itself to other elements like nitrogen or fluorine, and perhaps most ubiquitously to oxygen to create the water molecule. ... Now researchers at University of California, San Diego have developed a quite different approach to mimicking photosynthesis for splitting water molecules by using a 3D branched nanowire array that looks like a forest of trees. ... The nanowire forest [uses] the process of photoelectrochemical water-splitting to produce hydrogen gas. The method used by the researchers, which was published in the journal Nanoscale (abstract), found that the forest structure of the nanowires, which has a massive amount of surface area, not only captured more light than flat planar designs, but also produced more hydrogen gas." | <urn:uuid:3ce2b8d5-0a3c-4e34-9d90-7b41151493bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/03/09/2219207/nanowire-forests-use-sunlight-to-split-water | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933173 | 198 | 3.328125 | 3 |
First off, I don't like getting involved in political tittle tattle which is why I've waited a full week to post this response. But after deliberation and a bit of peer-reviewing, it's now become clear that the response needs to be made and for questions to be asked.
Last week, Malcolm Turnbull released a statement in which he pointed out that the Coalition's NBN plan was cheaper and easier to deploy than Labor's NBN and that Stephen Conroy agreed. Initially I was all set to agree too. I was simply going to analyse whether cheap equated to value. However, more digging is suggesting that there's nothing cheap about the Coalition's plans. In fact they could well be monstrously more expensive.
Uses of the NBN
It's an oft-mentioned fallacy that the NBN is all about providing fast internet access to people. That's almost the least important part. Amongst other things, it will form a major backbone of the health service, revolutionizing healthcare for all Australians - especially the elderly and those in rural areas - while at the same time saving the $100bn annual health budget so much money that these benefits alone will pay for the entire rollout. (Edit: more here)
The NBN will also provide Australia with a "smart grid" which allows for wildly superior and more-efficient energy distribution around the country. The NBN's ability to micromanage energy distribution (by pinpointing more-precisely where and when energy is required) has saved so much money in areas where similar deployments have occurred that it too should pay for the entire rollout on its own. In a world of dramatically-rising power bills the NBN promises major cost savings - if it can't actively reduce the bills it will certainly stop them rising as much. (Edit: more here)
The NBN will also revolutionise education - especially for those in rural areas - with kids being able to access the best lessons in the world and interact with teachers who could be thousands of kilometres away. It will also act as a platform for Australian businesses, small or large, to innovate and reach a much-wider customer base. (Edit: more here)
Turnbull's cheaper suggestion does away with virtually all of that. In pecuniary terms alone, the massive, annual multibillion dollar cost savings to health and power won't be there.
Then there's the existing copper network. Much of it is old and rotting. The oldest parts may date back to World War II, and if you're in a suburb that was first developed in the 1960s, the chances are that the copper is the same age. It costs Telstra over one billion dollars every year just to maintain it and that cost is going up.
Therefore, one of the prime requirements of the NBN is to simply replace the copper with fibre. Fibre costs less than 10 per cent of copper to maintain and operate, offers future-proof signal transmission and is much more robust. It has maxed out accelerated aging tests and should work optimally into the next century. It can also carry a signal hundreds of kilometres as opposed to copper which can carry a broadband signal barely five kilometres from an exchange, and that's with the aid of turrets which also require an enormous amount of (expensive) electricity to boost their signal (which fibre doesn't need). Even if we ignore all of the service and innovation benefits of the NBN, then its arguable that fibre-replacing-old-copper is the only justification that's needed to build it.
This begs the following questions: does the Coalition want to buy the copper network back from Telstra or use taxpayer money to keep the copper network alive even longer? Also, does the Coalition believe that the copper doesn't need replacing at some point in the future or has it left out the figures for doing so? It's either one or the other.
Selling the NBN
15 years after the NBN is completed it will be sold. This fact is often overlooked when accusations of a government monopoly are being made. Subsequently, the $27bn taxpayer investment will likely come back to the taxpayer with a profit. As a result, it has a net cost of zero or less to the tax payer if you look at the big picture. As a value proposition it's similar to Sydney's Harbour Bridge - expensive at first but it has easily paid for itself in related benefits to North Shore business centres (not to mention toll fees).
Turnbull's vision is far less certain. Sure it will be cheaper in the first place and it will get more people up and running who don't have any broadband internet access. But the business model seems to fundamentally rely upon obtaining revenue from customers signing up for basic broadband internet access. The Coalition itself has spent the last few years (rightly) questioning the demand for that.
Furthermore, the expense to the tax payer might be less in the very short term, but it's not much of a stretch to see potentially huge costs overall. The Coalition's NBN would likely cost well over $10bn (probably much more) assuming that, if elected, it adjusted Labor's vision rather than scrapped it. But what would the return be? A few new internet signups can't hope to make that money back anytime soon. What's the attraction for businesses to buy into it? How does it not become the monopoly that the Coalition has been complaining about all along?
The techie term for what the Coalition is pushing is Fibre To The Node rather than Fibre To The Premises. The upshot here is that the Coalition does not connect every house (or business) to the NBN unless that house wants to pay for it. As such the business opportunities, infrastructure revolution, social benefits are unlikely to develop because only a fraction of the population would pay to connect if given the opportunity.
Industry Analyst, Paul Budde, sums up the situation thus, "to save costs the Coalition favours an FTTN solution, which eventually would also need to be upgraded to FTTH but which would be cheaper as an interim solution."
Yes the Coalition's plans are cheaper and faster to implement but that's an over simplification. The alternative will still cost well over $10bn, but the main beneficiaries will be limited to those currently without broadband and geeks who want faster internet access. It would likely generate minimal additional revenue and there's little obvious attraction for investors to buy into it should the government sell it off down the line. Virtually all of the medical, power distribution, innovation and social benefits would be done away with and this would deny the Australian economy countless billions of dollars - probably more considering that the Harbour Bridge alone has generated many trillions in dollars through its opening up of Sydney's North Shore.
Where's the value in the Coalition's proposals? What's the business case behind a policy which appears to focus on providing mediocre broadband to people who don't already have it? Is it enough to justify spending billions of tax payer's dollars on? Why would private companies buy into it and stop it becoming a monopoly? Labor's plan's (irrespective of whether it can deliver on them) revolve around tax payer's money being used as an investment. To what degree is that true of the Coalition's "cheaper" alternative: how does the money return to the public purse?
Then there's the business of replacing the copper at some point in the future. Is offsetting the massive cost, so that it's some future government's problem, a fair method of balancing a budget and criticizing a government? When does the Coalition think it should be replaced?
Labor's abject failure to promote its NBN policy through actually informing the public about the health, power, education, business opportunities and other benefits - the things that represent the overwhelming value of the build - is now being rivalled by the Coalition's failure to acknowledge those benefits even exist. The information black hole, from all sides, is staggering and puts the entire revolutionary infrastructure at risk from ignorance and politics.
The information gaps need to be filled, as has previously been described here. But ultimately, cheap shouldn't be confused with value, otherwise you're left with false economy. | <urn:uuid:f820db46-a85b-46de-aca6-a77b1f429f79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2012/04/27/3490479.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970202 | 1,667 | 1.609375 | 2 |
- Tea Pouches
- Loose Tea
- Iced Tea
- Why Mighty Leaf?
Salam Teapot by Guy Degrenne
The Salam Teapot by french silversmith Guy Degrenne is an elegant art deco designed porcelain and stainless steel teapot first produced in France in 1953. With a glazed white teapot, a removable infuser basket and a felt-lined padded 18/10 stainless steel cozy that keeps tea hot, the Salam blends the best of form and function.• Designed by famed silversmith Guy Degrenne in 1953 • Glazed french porcelain teapot with loose tea infuser • 18/10 stainless steel cozy • Made in France • Recommend washing by hand • 12 oz. capacity
1. Do not use teapot on the stove.
2. Using a tea kettle, heat the water for tea. Pre-heat the teapot by filling it with hot water and then drain.
3. Place loose tea into the removable infuser. The leaves will have ample space to unfurl freely.
4. Fill with hot water fired to the temperature and steeping time as required by the particular tea type.
5. Savor the whole leaf tea by pouring it into a teacup.
Stoneware and ceramic teapots are ideal teapots for everyday use. For example, enjoy your morning cup of tea with whole loose leaf prepared in a teapot using a removable stainless steel infuser or, if no infusion basket is included, a T-Sac paper filter bag.
Stoneware and ceramic teapots come in a variety of colors and designs and appeal to many tea drinkers. They can be used to prepare any style of tea including black, oolong, green, white or herbal infusions.
After thousands of years, the traditional teapot still brews up the perfect cup. Here are some secrets for preparing the highest quality tea using a teapot.
Teapots for tea types
We recommend that you dedicate one teapot for only one type of tea: one for black, green and herbals. Pots can become seasoned by black teas and if you prepare other styles of tea, like green, in the same pot, it may affect the flavor.
Teapot serving size
Other factors to consider when thinking about tea preparation is how many cups you will be serving. It is best to have both a small and large teapot - a small one for single cup and a larger one for multiple cup servings.
The Mighty Leaf Tea Pouch
Mighty Leaf Tea Pouches are designed to accommodate 12 ounces of water or a small teapot that usually matches the same quantity.
Teapots are made out of a variety of materials including cast-iron, clay, glass, porcelain, silver and earthenware. Whether it is tea culture in China, Japan or other countries, each respective tradition involves preparing and drinking tea in distinctive way, including the kind of teapot used. | <urn:uuid:a339523f-c0a0-4948-a473-d252c5dd4a17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mightyleaf.com/teaware_teapot/guy-degrenne-teapot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903242 | 634 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Do you often ask the question “How do you make your child do what you want?" Are you a parent who is concerned about your child/children and want to find new ways to manage their behaviour? If your child regularly displays extremely disruptive behaviour you will undoubtedly feel exhausted, defeated and hopeless.
Understanding your child and building a better relationship with them can often help with their disruptive behaviour. Here at The Hampton Trust we work with parents like you,whose children are exhibiting challenging behaviour, to build positive relationships, increase your confidence as a parent and help you to boost your childs self confidence. We also have programmes available to help and support your child throughout this difficult time.
Incredible Years Parenting Programme
This parenting programme focuses on helping you to build positive and close relationships with your child who is aged between 2-12 years old through constructive play times, giving effective praise and rewards, and reducing criticism and unnecessary commands.
If you are a parent of a teenager aged 13-19 then SPOT is the programme designed to help you build confidence, develop parenting skills, understanding the teenager, dealing with conflict and managing change.
If your child is aged 8-12 then Turnaround is a programme designed to help your child. Turnaround aims to provide a supportive safe environment for your child to come and share their experiences with others and to build new friendships and confidence.
Based on the Isle of Wight our ECO Therapy Centre is designed to help your child aged 12-19 learn about eco for life skills. Your child will be encouraged to take part in 12 specially designed workshops to help them learn about what natural resources are available on the island with a view to support local community projects across the Isle of Wight at the end of the project.
This specially designed programme for 12-19 year olds will help develop your child’s skills in socializing, health and fitness, environmental awareness and natural resources, one to one mentoring and training such as anger management or safe working practices. | <urn:uuid:a5ba4420-2fbd-4789-9a8f-059a3985270b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hamptontrust.org.uk/our-programmes/parenting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956968 | 403 | 2.328125 | 2 |
By Mark Roosevelt, President
I enjoy certain books and creative nonfiction that are part memoir, part social commentary, that I call a “look back.” They are not chronological accounts of a full life but consist instead of a more poetic compellation of regrets, nostalgia, and reflections on the passing of time. Written late in life, they have a bittersweet feel and are full of thoughts that only come together when the author has had ample time to reflect. They exist in a very different universe from bestsellers such as A Million Little Pieces and the many other sensationalist, ballistic memoirs that are an unhappy and untrustworthy cross between fact and fiction.
If there is one abiding emotion or thought associated with this “look back” it is regret. As the poet Hayden Carruth wrote, “Regret, acknowledged or not, is the inevitable and in some sense necessary context—the bedrock—of all human thought and activity. Intellectually speaking, it is the ground we stand on.”
Of course there are many different forms of regret, and not all of them are negative, even though all have to do with a form of sadness. Perhaps the most common form of regret as we age is that time is running out, which implies, rather happily, that you would rather it did not. And of course coming to terms with death and its proximity is often a large part of the enterprise. Note here Julian Barnes compelling memoir, Nothing to Be Frightened Of, which contains a beautiful line, which summarizes my own spiritual state—“I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.”
Most authors writing in this vein have gotten to the point where what there is seems inferior to what there was, to what has passed. Also essential to the success of such books is that the author is to a considerable degree past affectation and pretense. There can be no “puffing up” of the self—it is too late for that, and besides it doesn’t really matter, does it?
My favorite writer in this realm is Doris Grumbach. Her work is difficult to classify. She has written seven novels and six memoirs that are in this amorphous area of diary, commonplace book, cultural criticism and spiritual exploration. Her own long life is complex. Born in 1918, she married Leonard Grumbach in 1941. They raised four daughters before their divorce in 1971. The rest of her years have been spent with her “life partner,” Sybil Pike. Grumbach has taught literature at American University, written columns for The New York Times Book Review and The New Republic, run two used bookstores, and has been a commentator for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Now 93, she resides in Sargentville, Maine, an area of five square miles with a year-round population of about 75.
Most critics do not know what to make of her. Her books are not large sellers and are not widely reviewed, yet she must have a devoted following, as most are still in print. In bookstores you can find her books in fiction, religion, memoir, or in another amorphous “category”—gay and lesbian writers.
Whatever category she belongs in, she is good company. And her work, fiction and nonfiction, takes a close look at the particulars of individual lives, usually from the perspective of “looking back.” In the main, she allows her readers to draw the larger conclusions.
Her novels are mostly re-imaginings of the lives of real people—Sylvia Plath (The Magician’s Girl, 1987), Marilyn Monroe (The Missing Person, 1981) and Edward and Marian MacDowell (Chamber Music, 1979). In Chamber Music, Caroline Maclaren “looks back” from 90 at a life spent in a conventional, loveless marriage. The critic John Leonard wrote of the novel that “it is as if Willa Cather decided to tell the whole truth.” In depicting the costs of such arrangements, Grumbach is never strident, although some of the revelations of her characters’ pasts are gruesome. Lives spent in the wrong pairing are usually painful, and Caroline is allowed only a brief glimmer of what life could have been. She shares love with her husband’s caregiver, Anna, but it is only a brief respite. She has been a nearly life-long prisoner in a cage made by other hands. As one reviewer has observed, Grumbach may not be a political novelist, but her stories bring to life why politics matters.
It is her memoirs that appeal most to me: Coming into the End Zone (1991), Extra Innings (1993), Fifty Days of Solitude (1994), Life in a Day (1996), The Presence of Absence: On Prayers and Epiphany (1998), and The Pleasure of Their Company (2001). A recent essay, “The View from 90,” published in the Spring 2011 edition of The American Scholar, is reported to be part of a larger memoir to be titled Downhill Almost All the Way.
If you are interested in Grumbach’s writing, I suggest starting with Fifty Days of Solitude; it is a short book and contains all the hallmarks of Grumbach’s nonfiction. But you could also start with “The View from 90,” which you can download.
In “The View from 90,” she provides wonderful, telling anecdotes to illustrate her points, as well as her usual handful of magnificent quotations. She must keep great notes from her reading as her writing is full of spot-on quotes that always cause me to reach for pen and paper.
Here, a decade after her last memoir, she is even more eager to repudiate the sentimental view of aging characterized by that misleading expression “the golden years.” She notes how her youthful writings are sprinkled with exclamation points and that with age that form of punctuation went out, as did the fervor. “The old are pessimists,” she states, “because they cannot conjure up the energy for optimism.” She tells the story of Somerset Maugham, who, when asked to lecture on the virtues of being old, rose “to the podium, stared at the audience for a few seconds, said ‘I cannot think of one,’ and left the platform.”
She does not sentimentalize the past either, referring to her childhood as having been lived in “those wretched years” between the two world wars. But she misses a great deal that is no more and provides many examples to do with writing—fountain pens, airmail paper, lined pads, and manual typewriters. She bemoans the fact that “the lovely Blackwing 602 soft-lead pencil with a removable and reversible eraser is nowhere to be found.” (I remember that pencil well, as it was my mother’s favorite.)
She notes her disdain for malls and her fond memories of butcher shops, dry goods stores, greengrocers, and hatters. She expresses her affection for Brownie cameras and that she prefers black and white photographs to colored ones, which “have a kind of violence, an excess, what I see as overemphasis.” She notes that “Goethe called color ‘the suffering of light.’ ” Lovely, that sentiment and quotation.
She wants to face things—squarely, no delusions. Solitude, “frequent journeys into her interior self,” the time to think deeply about the important questions, these are her primary tools. About friendships, she quotes Proust saying they are “a lie that seeks to make us believe that we are not irredeemably alone.” In her interior quest she is not looking for the easy out, believing, for example, that faith in a life after death is “a sloppy consolation.”
So once you reject such sloppy consolations, what is left?
Grumbach finds solace in ruins. “Why is this so? Ruins are not in themselves always beautiful. But like us they are the remains of what was once a more perfect whole. They have withstood the destructive forces of time. There is certain rightness, an inevitability, about their decline. They are my fellow structures, my companions over time.”
And there is much to be said for just keeping on, knowing what is asked of us. At the end of The Presence of Absence, she quotes these words from the Talmud:
You are not expected to complete the task
Neither are you permitted to lay it down.”
If you are not looking for more than is on offer, more than can satisfy an honest, probing mind, then there is also great solace in Andre Comte-Sponville’s quotation from The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality: “We are already in the kingdom. Eternity is now.” | <urn:uuid:c44385ed-0ab9-4e5e-b2fd-3b12f289acf3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enews.antiochcollege.org/news/independent/2012/october/roosevelts-reads.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968247 | 1,899 | 1.710938 | 2 |
M, R(on the application of) v The Parole Board and another EWHC 1360 (Admin) - read judgment
Reporting restrictions on proceedings concerning a life prisoner should be discharged since the public interest in allowing media organisations to publish reports outweighed the prisoner’s human rights.
The claimant had been convicted of the brutal murder of three infant children in 1973. Subsequent to his incarceration in open prison, his movements had come to the attention of the press. Inmates made threats and the claimant was moved to secure conditions. When he sought judicial review of a decision by the parole board in 2011 (declining his return to open conditions), the judge granted an order restricting reporting of the claimant’s identity, the details of his offences and his current location. In this hearing, various media organisations intervened to request the discharge this order. Continue reading
Mousa & Ors, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Defence EWHC 1412 (Admin) (24 May 2013) – Read judgment
Remember the Iraq War? Following the 2003 invasion Britain remained in control of Basra, a city in South Eastern Iraq, until withdrawal over six years later on 30 April 2009. 179 British troops died during that period. But despite there over four years having passed since withdrawal, the fallout from the war and occupation is still being resolved by the UK Government and courts.
Thousands of Iraqis died in the hostilities or were detained by the British. Thanks to two decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in July 2011 (Al-Skeini and Al-Jedda – our coverage here), the state’s duty under the Human Rights Act to investigate deaths and extreme mistreatment applied in Iraq at that time. It is fascinating to see how the UK authorities have been unravelling the extent of that duty. The Baha Mousa Public Inquiry has reported and the Al-Sweady Public Inquiry is ongoing (I acted in the former and still do in the latter). In this major judgment, which may yet be appealed, the High Court has ruled the manner in which the UK Government is investigating deaths and perhaps mistreatment is insufficient to satisfy its investigative duty.
Much of the House of Lords debate surrounding yesterday’s Second Reading of the Care and Support Bill focused on seeking solutions to complex issues around the future provision of care. Additionally, as several peers flagged, the Bill also provides a timely opportunity to clarify which bodies have legal obligations to uphold protections under the Human Rights Act. Baroness Campbell noted “those who receive their care not from a public authority but from a private body lack the full protection of the Human Rights Act…[This] is a loophole that must be closed.”
Section 6 of the Human Rights Act essentially creates a legal duty to respect, protect and fulfil certain human rights (drawn from the European Convention on Human Rights). This duty is placed on public authorities and those performing “public functions”. The second type of body – those performing public functions – has proved somewhat awkward in practice, particularly in relation to those who receive care services.
A quick post to draw your attention to the British Institute of Human Rights’ excellent new publication, Mental Health Advocacy and Human Rights: Your Guide (PDF).
The Guide is aimed at non-lawyers, is attractively presented and looks very useful indeed. From the BIHR launch site:
This Mental Health Awareness week, BIHR is pleased to launch Mental Health Advocacy and Human Rights: Your Guide, our latest practical resource to help respect and protect the human rights of people with mental health problems. This guide has been produced with Mind Brighton and Hove, Wish and NSUN, three of the partner organisations involved in our Human Rights in Healthcare project.
Aimed at both advocates and people who use services, this handy guide explains how the Human Rights Act can be used in mental health settings to secure better treatment and care for people. It draws on real life stories of how laws and legal cases can be used in everyday advocacy practice, providing helpful flow-charts, worked through examples and top tips.
Sign up to free human rights updates by email, Facebook, Twitter or RSS
A & S v. Lancashire County Council EWHC 851 (Fam) read judgment
This was a costs application arising from an extremely important decision by Peter Jackson J in June 2012 (see Alasdair Henderson’s post here and read judgment)
In that original judgment, Lancashire County Council were found to be in breach of Articles 8 (private life), 6 (fair trial) and Article 3 (inhuman treatment) of ECHR. Two brothers had come into local authority care as infants and were freed for adoption.
Korobov and others v. Estonia, 28 March 2013, ECtHR read judgment
At one level, this is a story of Estonian police over-reaction to major disturbances on the streets of Tallinn, which will be found reproduced in various incidents throughout ECHR countries at various times of civil strife. But a good deal of history and politics lies behind it, and Russia’s intervention in Strasbourg, in support of the applicants’ claims under Article 3 (excessive force) and 5(1) (unlawful detention) against Estonia is of some interest.
The Bronze Soldier, originally named “Monument to the Liberators of Tallinn” was unveiled there on 22 September 1947, on the third anniversary of that “liberation” in 1944. Not all – including ethnic Estonians – saw it as a liberation. The Germans had retreated before the Red Army arrived, and on 18 September 1944 the Provisional Estonian government had declared independence – short-lived as Estonia was rapidly incorporated into the Eastern bloc courtesy of the Red Army. So “takeover” might be a term closer to Estonians’ hearts.
Abdi v United Kingdom (application no. 27770/08) 9 April 2013 - read judgment
The Strasbourg Court has ruled that a Somali national’s detention pending deportation was not lawful under domestic law.
The following summary is based on the Court’s press release:
The applicant, Mustafa Abdi, is a Somali national who is currently detained in HMP Brixton. Mr Abdi arrived in the United Kingdom on 7 May 1995 and, although refused asylum, was granted exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom until February 2000. On 23 July 1998 he was convicted of a number of offences, including rape, and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. On 20 May 2002 the Secretary of State for the Home Department ordered Mr Abdi’s deportation and on 27 May 2002 he issued an authority for detention until the making of a deportation order. On 3 September 2003 Mr Abdi’s release became automatic; however he remained in detention on the basis of the authority issued on 27 May 2002. On 5 April 2004 the Secretary of State for the Home Department authorised Mr Abdi’s detention until his deportation. Continue reading
Dominic Raab MP has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill which if passed would stop foreign criminals from using Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right respect for private and family life) to prevent their deportation. The amendment has significant support.
As regular readers of this blog will know, the deportation of foreign criminals has become something of an obsession for opponents of the Human Rights Act, most notably the Home Secretary Theresa May who has attempted, thus far unsuccessfully, to downgrade the effect of Article 8 through the Immigration Rules. The campaign to prevent foreign criminals avoiding deportation has had strong support from the right-wing press, particularly the Daily Mail as well as the Telegraph.
R (on the application of A) v the Chief Constable of Kent Constabulary EWHC 424 (Admin) – read judgment
This was an application for judicial review, and a claim under the Human Rights Act 1998, in respect of the defendant’s decision to disclose allegations of neglect and ill-treatment of care home residents in an Enhanced Criminal Records Certificate dated 12th October 2012.
In August 2012, the defendant received a request from the Criminal Records Bureau for an enhanced check to be made in respect of the Claimant concerning her proposed employment by Nightingales 24 7 as a registered nurse. The information related to the alleged mistreatment of several elderly and vulnerable adults resident in the care home in which [A] worked as a Registered General Nurse. The allegations were made by the residents and the health care workers in the charge of A, a registered nurse who qualified in Nigeria. She claimed that these allegations had been made maliciously because the health care assistants resented the way in which she managed them. She also claimed that some of the allegations were motivated by racism. Continue reading
Ali Hussein v Secretary of State for Defence EWHC 95 (Admin) – read judgment
Collins J has dismissed a claim that the MOD’s policy of allowing interrogators to shout at a captured person in order to obtain information is unlawfully oppressive. Not only did the complaint fail but it was denounced as “misconceived” and one which should never have been pursued.
British armed services have two policies for questioning captured persons (CPERS) who are believed to possess valuable information which may protect the lives of other members of the forces or civilians, for example the location of roadside bombs. Continue reading
The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) v Secretary of State for Justice, G4S and Serco plc, 6 February 2013 - read judgment
The Court of Appeal dismissed this claim by a children’s NGO for an order that the Secretary of State provide information to certain children to the effect that the SoS and his contractors had unlawfully used bodily restraint upon them whilst they were “trainees” in Secure Training Centres. The facts and Foskett J’s judgment under appeal was fully analysed by Rosalind English in her post, so I shall concentrate on the two points of wider interest:
1. is there a duty on the state to tell someone of their legal rights against the state?
2. should domestic human rights case law ever go wider than its Strasbourg equivalent?
Sandiford, R(on the application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs 168 (Admin) – read judgment
In this highly publicised case, the Administrative Court has come up with some firm criteria for the scope of the Convention’s protective reach for UK citizens abroad. The judgment is also something of a body blow for those who are looking to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms for a wider human rights umbrella.
Lindsay Sandiford, the 56 year old claimant, was arrested for drug smuggling in Indonesia and sentenced to death. She issued judicial review proceedings seeking an order requiring the FCO to provide and fund an “adequate lawyer” on the basis that she had not had proper representation in Indonesia. The broad basis of this claim was that the UK government should back up its opposition to the death penalty by putting its money where its mouth is. Continue reading
This guest post is by Sanchita Hosali, Deputy Director at the British Institute of Human Rights. A number of 1 Crown Office Row barristers represented parties to the Inquiry, none of whom has contributed to this post.
Hundreds of people have died; others have been starved, dehydrated and left in appalling conditions of indignity, witnessed by their loved ones. Surely this is what Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary, had in mind when he recently cautioned to need to “concentrate on real human rights”?
Yet the rights, legal accountability, and practical benefits of the Human Rights Act are rarely mentioned in discussions about the shocking failures of care such as those featured in today’s Public Inquiry Report in events at Staffordshire Hospital between 2005-2008.
As Mr Francis makes clear, what happened at Staffordshire Hospital was a breach of basic rights to dignity and respect, and what is needed now are stronger lines of accountability and culture change which places patients at the heart of healthcare. Human rights speak to the fundamental standards that the Report says are needed to achieve this transformation in care.
The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry report has been published. Robert Francis QC was tasked to investigate the role of the commissioning, supervisory and regulatory bodies in the monitoring of Mid Staffordshire Foundation NHS Trust.
Read the report:
The report built on the work of Francis’s earlier independent inquiry into the care provided the hospital between January 2005 and March 2009. A number of 1 Crown Office Row barristers, including me, represented various participants at the Inquiry. They were:
- Sally Smith QC and Christopher Mellor for the Strategic Health Authority;
- David Hart QC for the CQC
- Owain Thomas for the NHSLA;
- Jeremy Hyam and Kate Beattie for a number of the families;
- Shaheen Rahman and Peter Skelton for AVMA and the Patients Association;
- Adam Wagner for the Department of Health.
R (Khan) v Secretary Of State For Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs EWHC 3728 (Admin) (21 December 2012) – Read judgment
In this unsuccessful application for permission to apply for judicial review, the Claimant sought to challenge the Defendant’s reported policy of permitting GCHQ employees to pass intelligence to the US for the purposes of drone strikes in Pakistan. The Claimant’s father was killed during such an attack in March 2011.
The Claimant alleged that by assisting US agents with drone strikes, GCHQ employees were at risk of becoming secondary parties to murder under the criminal law of England and Wales and of conduct ancillary to war crimes or crimes against humanity contrary to international law. The Claimant sought declaratory relief to that effect and also sought a declaration that the Defendant should publish a policy addressing the circumstances in which such intelligence could be lawfully disseminated. [paragraph 6] | <urn:uuid:2e3de174-9fd9-4389-9d94-98a43cd2f7dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/category/convention-rights/art-3-torture-inhumane-treatment/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96443 | 2,892 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Alumni honored by induction into ALAF
Five alumni from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law were inducted Friday (April 17) into the School's Academy of Law Alumni Fellows. Two other alumni were awarded President's Medals from the IU Foundation. Induction into the ALAF is the highest honor the Law School bestows upon its graduates, in recognition of personal achievements and dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession.
The 2009 ALAF inductees are Samuel S. Dargan, Francina A. Dlouhy, Robert A. Long, Arthur M. Lotz, Lloyd H. Milliken Jr., and Milton R. Stewart.
"Virtually everything I am, and virtually everything I've achieved, I owe to this university and to the three years I spent at this college of law," said Stewart. "I am eternally grateful for what you've given me."
Dlouhy said she was honored to be chosen for induction into the ALAF. "I'm grateful for the recognition. This induction is very meaningful to me, because there is not a day that goes by where I don't use something I learned at this law school."
For Long, the recognition was the culmination of service to both Indiana Law and the clients he represented over the course of a successful career.
"My experience at the Law School transformed my life in terms of what I've been able to achieve professionally and who I am today," Long said. "I've been blessed for the opportunity to have attended IU and its Law School."
The 2009 ALAF inductees achieved numerous distinctions, both personally and professionally:
- Samuel S. Dargan, 1909 (posthumously). Dargan was the first African-American graduate of the Law School, and began working for the Law Library after earning his LLB. He became curator of the library in 1924, a position he held he retired in 1948. Known as the "father" of the Law School, Dargan would regularly dispense both advice and his own money for students in need. He died in 1954 and was inducted into the Monroe County Hall of Fame in 1988.
- Francina A. Dlouhy, JD'77. Dlouhy, a partner at Baker & Daniels, is considered one of the leading tax lawyers in America. She has represented clients around the country and throughout Indiana in tax planning and litigation. Dlouhy has used her knowledge of tax and economic incentives to promote job creation and capital expansion throughout the state. She has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for more than 20 years, named an Indiana Super Lawyer, and received Indiana's highest civilian honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash.
- Robert A. Long, JD'71. Long spent his entire career with Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, where he served as managing partner from 1992 to 1997 and held a variety of management roles prior to that time. As a business litigator and trial lawyer, Long represented many of the country's leading aerospace and computer companies. He was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1999. His pro bono work for Mario Rocha, a 16-year-old convicted of murder, led to an overturned conviction in 2008. The eight-year fight to secure Rocha's freedom was the subject of a documentary film, Mario's Story.
- Arthur M. Lotz, JD'65. Lotz graduated from Indiana Law in 1965 after serving for 10 years in the U.S. Air Force. After working in the IU Treasurer's office and for the IU Alumni Association, Lotz joined the Law School as its assistant dean for placement and bar relations in 1978. He became the assistant dean for budget administration, bar relations, and development in 1980, the position he held until he retired in 1996. Under Lotz's direction, the School's annual fund rose from less than $50,000 per year to more than $800,000 per year in 1996. He was instrumental in securing support and funding for major renovations to the Law School during the 1980's. The School's Office of Alumni and Development is named in his honor.
- Lloyd H. Milliken Jr., JD'60. Milliken has spent his entire career with Locke Reynolds, which recently merged with Frost Brown Todd, and has achieved national recognition for his work as a trial lawyer and leader of the defense bar. His practice has focused primarily on representing defendants in product liability cases. Milliken gained national recognition for his service as Indiana counsel as for General Motors in the litigation against NBC arising out of the Dateline program that misrepresented the effect of high-speed crashes involving GM trucks. He has been inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers and was named the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana's Defense Lawyer of the Year in 1993. In 2007, Milliken was elected the inaugural president of the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence and received the Defense Research Institute's Louis B. Potter Lifetime Professional Services award.
- Milton R. Stewart, JD'71. Stewart settled at the firm of Davis Wright Tremaine in Portland, Ore., after serving in the U.S. Army. He served for 13 years on the Firm Management (Executive) Committee and currently serves as its Client Relations Partner. Stewart's practice has focused on structuring merger and acquisition transactions, reorganizations, and management buyouts. He is the author of International Joint Ventures: A Practicum for the Journal of the Association of Corporate Counsel, and co-authored Mergers & Acquisition Law 2007 and Winning Legal Strategies for Mergers & Acquisitions. His peers named him a "Super Lawyer" in 2006, and he is the recipient of the Rella Lossy Award from the Legal Marketing Association, Bay Area Chapter. In 2007, Stewart spent a year in New York City serving as special counsel to AIG Corporation.
IU Foundation President and CEO Gene Tempel also awarded President's Medals to V. William Hunt, JD'69, and Robert Kassing, JD'64, to recognize their deep commitment to fundraising efforts on behalf of the university and the Law School.
"We have a better university and a better Law School because of Bill Hunt and Bob Kassing," Tempel said. "The [School] will be forever different because of their work." | <urn:uuid:e807be17-1424-43fa-acb0-97e3f2d87324> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://info.law.indiana.edu/news/page/normal/10662.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978789 | 1,297 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A new study has suggested that when it comes to being sexually unfaithful while being away from home, women tend to rack up more lovers than men.
The UK Adultery Survey 2012 found that once women decide to play away, they are far more likely to play the field in search of love.
Research into the behaviour of 4,000 people suggested that women are more promiscuous, having an average of 2.3 secret lovers compared to a mere 1.8 for men, the Daily Mail reported.
While explaining their reasons to cheat, the men say the pursuit of sexual excitement, boredom with their marriages and the need of an ego boost are the main causes. Women say their reasons could be anything from looking for emotional fulfillment, an improvement to their self esteem to romance.
Women adulterers are also far more prone to falling in love with their illicit lovers than their male equivalents.
According to Emily Pope of Undercover Lovers, a dating site for married people seeking affairs with some 600,000 members, the survey's results challenged the general assumption that men are more adulterous than women.
"Once they have made the huge decision to have an affair, women have far more opportunity to actually find someone to cheat with and are generally in control of deciding if and when to consummate the relationship once they do," she said.
The survey also found that women are likely to be the first to get itchy feet in a marriage. | <urn:uuid:12f8ecdf-daf8-46ec-9a8f-a7282e7c9a05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indiatimes.com/relationships/women-can-be-more-promiscuous-than-men-24425.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972761 | 296 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Multi-family dwelling fire safety
The following information is to give you an awareness of fire safety in your home. This information will help you prevent fires and give guidance on what to do in the event of an actual fire.
Keep in mind that you are not the only person living in the building. Other residents are counting on you to be safety-conscious and prevent fires from ever starting. One small fire can rapidly increase in size and intensity and displace the residents of one unit or the entire building. Poor judgment on your part will affect the lives of many other people. Remember, safety is no accident.
Follow these steps if the fire alarm sounds in your apartment building and remain calm, you are in a fire-resistive building.
If your main door is hot to the touch:
- Feel the door and doorknob with the back of your hand. Unlock the door but do not open it.
- Call 911 to report what unit number you are in.
- Go to the farthest window and open it. Wave a sheet or towel to attract attention and wait for fire department instructions.
- Your home will provide a safe refuge if the hallway door remains tightly closed to prevent smoke from entering.
If your main door is cool to the touch:
- Place your foot against the bottom of the door and open carefully.
- If the hallway is clear, evacuate. It may not appear that you are in immediate danger but you don’t know the circumstances of the situation.
- Call 911 and report the alarm.
- If there is smoke in the corridor, follow the same procedure as if the door were hot.
If there is a fire in your unit, follow these steps:
- Escape if you can do so.
- Close the door behind you and pull the manual fire alarm near the stairway door.
- Leave the building using the stairway. Do not use the elevators.
- Make sure 911 has been called.
- Go to the front entry and wait for the fire department’s arrival.
- If your primary exit is blocked by smoke or fire, use your second exit. Wave a sheet or towel to attract attention and wait for fire department instructions.
- For small fires, fire extinguishers are provided in the corridors.
It is important that 911 be called when an alarm sounds. The fire alarm system might not automatically notify the Minnetonka dispatch center.
When you evacuate the building, do so by the stairway. These enclosures are fire resistive and will provide a place of refuge. Once again, do not use the elevators. If you need assistance evacuating the building consider asking your neighbor. If you are unable to evacuate stay in your apartment and call 911. Give the dispatcher your unit number and the fire department will assist you.
Unless you are 100% sure you can extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher, do not even attempt to. The main objective is life safety. The fire department does not want people who are not trained in firefighting trying to extinguish fires. If you choose to fight the fire, know your escape route. Don’t let fire get between you and your exit.
Be careful if using candles. Never leave a lit candle unattended and always use a noncombustible candle holder. Use good judgment and maintain a safe clearance between the candle and combustible materials including but not limited to paper, curtains, lamp shades, bedding and furniture.
Careless smoking is one of the leading causes of residential fires. Use a noncombustible ash tray and be sure you have completely extinguished smoking material before discarding. Don’t smoke if you are tired or intoxicated, you might fall asleep.
Electricity can also start fires. The use of multi-plug adapters with no over-current protection is discouraged. Instead use a power strip with over-current protection. Do not overload extension cords either. Overloaded cords will heat up do to electrical resistance and may start a fire. Check cords for damaged or frayed wiring and do not run them underneath carpet or rugs. Over time friction can cause the insulation to degrade, exposing the bare wires.
Cooking fires do happen. Keep an eye on what you’re cooking. Make sure you set a timer to alert you that food is done. Don’t cook if you are tired or intoxicated: you might fall asleep. If a grease fire starts on the stove, stay calm. The fire is contained within the pan. Always keep the appropriate sized lid near the stove if not in use. The easiest way to extinguish a grease fire is to put a lid on it. By doing so, the fire will use up the remaining oxygen in the pan and extinguish itself. Slide the lid over the pan, turn the burner off, and remove from hot burner but be careful not to spill the hot grease. Never use water because the grease floats. If there is a fire in a microwave or oven keep the door closed. The fire will stay contained until the fire department arrives.
If you like to grill, the following rules must be followed. The Minnesota State Fire Code and the Minnetonka Fire Prevention Code prohibit the use and storage of charcoal and charcoal barbecue grills on apartment and condominium balconies and within 15 feet of any ground floor unit. Listed propane or electric grills can be used on balconies but they must be permanently mounted with an 18 inch clearance on all sides. Keep in mind that building owners or management may be more restrictive and not allow grilling of any type. Do not grill inside your home.
Smoke detectors save lives! Keep your smoke detector in working order. Make sure you test them monthly and replace the batteries every six months.
For more information visit other pages in the fire prevention section or call the Minnetonka Fire Prevention Bureau at 952.939.8339. | <urn:uuid:bdb9f47c-4904-498b-b5ef-beff2faf0bce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eminnetonka.com/fire/fire_prevention/multi_family_dwellings.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905856 | 1,215 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Cloud Computing Basics
One of the hottest trends in small business and enterprise-sized IT is cloud computing. Cloud computing represents a major shift in the way companies view their technology infrastructure. This type of approach to IT relies on the Internet, and usually involves provisioned, scalable, dynamic and virtual solutions. Cloud computing pulls the details of IT infrastructure management away from the business and puts it squarely in the hands of true experts.
The Internet is at the core of the concept of cloud computing, and it is the Internet that the term “cloud” refers to. This type of solution gives business application service online via a web browser or, in some cases, a client application. The software and data are stored on servers not on site, but out on the Internet.
There are three general categories of services offered in cloud computing, and they have to do with the type of solution provide. They are Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). While SaaS is by far the most common type of cloud computing implementation today, other types are rapidly gaining popularity as companies see the cost and expertise advantages of each.
It’s important to distinguish cloud computing from several similar models that are often confused for cloud computing. Grid computing, for example, uses a virtual super computer composed of networked, connected computers that act in concert to perform significantly large tasks. Utility computing is a model where computer resources are packaged and provided as a metered service, in the same way that traditional public utilities are packaged and provided. Finally, autonomic computing is often confused with cloud computing. This is a system of computing where the systems are capable of managing themselves.
Cloud computing models may have similarities to these models, and many cloud implementations use grids and have similar characteristics to utility or autonomic computing. Others, like Skype or BitTorrent, have no centralized infrastructure whatsoever.
With a cloud computing model, the company doesn’t own the physical infrastructure. This helps to avoid capital expenditures, and the infrastructure is essentially rented from a third party. The company uses resources and pays for only the specific resources they use. This can improve utilization rates, because servers aren’t typically left idle.
The rise in large bandwidth possibilities for companies is responsible, in part, for the rise in cloud computing. It’s reasonable, in many applications, to get the same response times from remote servers as it is from local infrastructure.
One of the primary benefits of cloud computing is that it can reduce both capital expenditures on infrastructure, as well as operational expenditures on infrastructure maintenance and engineering. In this way, companies pay only for what they use, or they subscribe to a service over time. Cloud computing has a relatively low barrier to entry, a low management overhead, and rapid access to a wide range of application types. Cloud computing providers generally offer service level agreements (SLAs) to insure that the company is able to access the systems they need and that uptime will be similar, or even higher, than locally-based solutions.
Introduction to Cloud Computing
In our complimentary guide, "Cloud Computing Infrastructure and
Architecture," you'll learn how cloud computing transforms the way we
design, build, and deliver applications. Covered in this guide are:
1. Cloud computing infrastructure models and benefits
2. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) architectural approaches
3. Sun's technologies that support cloud computing Click here to download the free guide | <urn:uuid:5e2c8f72-5c81-476b-b843-4ec817f1ca40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unitiv.com/it-solutions-blog/bid/30950/Cloud-Computing-Basics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934259 | 725 | 3.015625 | 3 |
More in Outdoors
Use spray paint to sketch out the shape of the new beds on each side of the walkway. The half-circle beds in this project line up so that their outline, seen from above, forms a letter "S." Cultivate the soil inside the outlines and work in soil amendments as needed.
Wear safety glasses and ear protection when working with a power tiller. Remember, these powerful tools can be difficult to control; get assistance as needed.
Remove the bottom from two plastic pots (Image 1). One easy way to do this is to use a keyhole saw to cut out the bottoms, slipping the saw in through a drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. Dig two shallow holes, each half as deep as the pots (Image 2). Place the pots in the holes so that they are half-buried. Fill the pots with half amended dirt and half potting soil.
Center a dwarf shrub of your choice in the pot and surround it with colorful annuals. Decorative grasses make a good choice for the areas around the pots. This mix of plants, and the half-sunken planters, gives lots of visual variety to the beds.
Low-voltage lighting comes in easy-to-assemble kits. A mix of walkway lights and uplights creates a safe path at night and illuminates the new plantings.
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It's free and easy. | <urn:uuid:c0261606-d172-4b33-a50a-1d3f34519f2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-create-sunken-walkway-planters/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92289 | 360 | 2.4375 | 2 |
North America has been fortunate to host a few "French" orchestras: those in Montréal, Detroit, and Boston come immediately to mind. As we near the end of the millennium, orchestral sound has become more homogenous, and even the Montréal Symphony Orchestra has lost some of its individuality. However, recordings remind us that all orchestras did not always sound alike.
They also remind us about conductors who were active in modern times and yet represented links with musical history. Charles Munch was born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1891, and his long career brought him in contact with composers, performers, and other conductors of earlier generations. His conducting of the French and German repertoires showed particular insight. Aided and abetted by the clear sonorities of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he suffused the music of Berlioz, Saint-Saëns, and others with a gentle light. This light revealed the music's shapes without exaggeration, and its colors without distortion. In Munch's hands, the Symphonie fantastique becomes intoxicating, yet remains sane. His rational approach makes the grotesqueries of the fourth and fifth movements even more horrifying. For many years, this recording, made in 1954, was the only one that I would accept, and it still retains a preferred place in my pantheon of great recordings. Especially in this new Living Stereo remastering, it is easy to hear the great refinement with which Munch balances chords and blends orchestral colors; the sound is like dry champagne of the highest quality. The precision of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's playing achieves excitement without vulgarity, and weight without ponderousness or pomposity. The only shortcoming, and it is minor, is the lack of a repeat in "March to the Scaffold." The Love Scene from Roméo et Juliette has similar virtues, and it is all the more moving for not being torn to passionate shreds. By the way, the cover art, not credited on this release, is by an artist named Richard Powers, who has been one of the most prolific science fiction artists for several decades.
The original French Touch was recorded in 1957-58; the Franck, which has been added for this release, was recorded a few years later as a filler for the Chausson Symphony (another brilliant Munch/Boston Symphony Orchestra recording awaiting a Living Stereo reissue). This French Touch is a veritable French kiss of delight. It is beyond me why Saint-Saëns's drag portrait of Hercules, feminized at the spinning wheel, is so infrequently played; it is a fool-proof model of mocking wit and bewitching orchestral shadings. The same can be said of The Sorcerer's Apprentice. From conductor to conductor, I am never sure whether to be threatened or amused by Dukas's story of convenient indoor plumbing run amok. At any rate, it's one of those rare works that deserves the epithet "perfect," and although I like it performed with a little more tight-lipped menace (as in recordings by Cantelli and Mitropoulos), there's no denying the corresponding perfection of Munch's genial interpretation. He resists the temptation to sentimentalize the fairy tales of Ma mère l'Oye, and he even finds a smile for the faded melodrama of Franck's Chasseur maudit, the terrifying story of what happens to hunters who disobey the Blue Laws.
On both discs, the quality of the stereo imaging is superior, and even vinyl lovers will be impressed with the warmth of the remastering, which is unlike RCA Victor's previous efforts with this material. Highly recommended!
Copyright © 1999, Raymond Tuttle | <urn:uuid:043776c8-6062-4982-ad6b-afb8105e5785> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/r/rca68979b.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959854 | 779 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Kawasaki, Japan/Stuttgart, Germany - Commercial vehicle manufacturer Fuso, a member of the Daimler group, has introduced a heavy-duty hybrid truck in Japan. The new vehicle concept will have its show premiere at the Tokyo Motor Show from 30 November to 11 December 2012. First tests of the Super Great HEV have demonstrated significant fuel efficiency improvements over conventional diesel-only vehicles.
The hybrid heavy-duty truck development is a further milestone in the development efforts of the Global Hybrid Center (GHC) located in Kawasaki. The development centre synchronises and controls Daimler Trucks' global hybrid activities.
"We want to be leaders in green technologies," said Dr. Albert Kirchmann, Fuso President and CEO, on the occasion of the product presentation. "Our development of a long-haul hybrid truck represents a significant expansion of our hybrid activities and shows our focus on bringing cost-effective, low-emission commercial vehicles for a wide spectrum of applications. We will continue to promote advanced technologies to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency."
Andreas Renschler, member of the Daimler Board of Management responsible for Commercial Vehicles, adds: "Fuso's activities in the area of alternative drive systems are an important component of our global commitment to environment-conscious, sustainable transport solutions. Daimler Trucks is very well prepared for future requirements with its current green product portfolio."
Heavy-duty hybrid setup
The newly developed hybrid heavy-duty truck is based on the technology of the Canter Eco Hybrid, around 1200 units of which have been sold since it was introduced in 2006 and which has proved itself in numerous applications worldwide. The Fuso Super Great HEV now being presented features a conventional diesel engine; electric motor/generator; lithium(Li)-ion battery; and related control software. It utilises a parallel hybrid system. That means power to drive the vehicle comes from the vehicle's electric motor, the diesel engine or both. Fuel efficiency and emissions reduction are achieved by using them singly or in combination with each other according to driving conditions. When slowing down or braking, the electric motor functions as a generator to brake the vehicle. The generator converts brake energy into electric energy and returns it to the lithium-ion battery.
First test results very encouraging
The first tests performed under real-life conditions show an impressive increase in fuel efficiency by as much as ten percent versus conventional diesel-only powered vehicles. Testing was conducted on motorways in Japan, in representative conditions.
"Evaluation so far shows that hybridisation can indeed benefit heavy-duty trucks in typical long-haul operations," explained Mr. Gustav Tuschen, Fuso's Vice President of Product Engineering. "The conventional thinking is that hybrids best fit trucks like the Canter Eco Hybrid involved in short-radius distribution operations, since such operations involve many stop-and-go situations. Braking energy can be continuously recaptured this way. But heavy-duty highway trucks in long-haul operation clearly benefit as well."
Long-haul trucks recover and store energy as they move up and down hills. In addition, they tend to run much longer distances than light commercials; therefore, the benefits of hybrids accumulate. The hybrid system of the Fuso Super Great is optimised so it can capture energy even when the truck is going down very slight grades. The parallel hybrid system ensures that energy loss is minimised.
Based on the positive test results, Fuso is now moving ahead with development of heavy-duty hybrid trucks. The key challenge now is to ensure significant overall lifecycle cost benefits for the Super Great HEV. For trucks are capital goods and will prevail in the market especially when their purchase pays off for entrepreneurs.
One focus of work is to minimise the weight of the hybrid system so the customer has the highest possible payload at his disposal. | <urn:uuid:2c647228-17d9-41f1-b63c-459e2ae24156> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921-854990-1-1435470-1-0-0-0-0-0-11701-614240-0-1-0-0-0-0-0.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945597 | 790 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Madisonville Community College maintains three campuses and several auxilliary locations to serve our community.
The North Campus is MCC's primary campus location. It consists of five buildings - the John H. Gray building, the Joe C. Davis Science and Technology Building, the Learning Resource Center, the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, and the Brown Badgett, Sr. Energy and Advanced Technology Building. The following is a breakdown of what is housed in each building. View a map of the North Campus
The Health Sciences Campus' location next to Madisonville's Trover Clinic and Regional Medical Center makes it an ideal home for MCC's Nursing and Allied Health Programs. The Health Sciences Campus is composed of two buildings: the Hatley Building and the Allied Health Building.
The Allied Health Building houses...
View a map of the Health Sciences Campus
Approximately one quarter of the students who enroll at Madisonville Community College come from Muhlenberg County. The Muhlenberg Campus provides a convenient way for these students to complete their general education core. Once students have completed the general education core, they may transition into one of many academic programs. Courses are convenient for students with day, evening, and on-line offerings.
The Muhlenberg Campus consists of a single building, the P.A. and Pauline Shaver Educational Center. The Shaver Building contains a computer lab that is available to students, and representatives from Disability Services, Financial Aid, and the Learning Center provide services to the campus.
Currently, plans are under way to construct a second building on the Muhlenberg Campus, consistent with the campus development plan.
Learn more about the Muhlenberg Campus
The ACE2 and Assessment Center Location is the primary location of the Adult Centers for Educational Excellence (ACE2) program. ACE2 is the adult education program of Madisonville Community College and is administered through the Office of Community and Economic Development.
The ACE2 Building houses...
Madisonville Community College offers a limited schedule of credit and non-credit classes in Crittenden County at the Crittenden County Ed Tech Center. The center is operated by the Crittenden County Economic Development Corporation located at 200 Industrial Drive in Marion. The telephone number at the Ed Tech Center is (270) 965-9294 or toll free at (877) 965-9244.
College credit courses include general education courses in English, math, and history. In addition, the college offers the skilled nurse assistant course that leads to a certificate and prepares students for the state certified nurse assistant test. The course is also required for other nursing credentials. The college also offers basic mining courses to prepare students for employment in the coal mines or for the mining program at MCC. For a list of courses in Crittenden County, students can consult the college’s on-line schedule and use the location filter to list only classes offered in Crittenden County.
MCC’s Workforce Solutions also cooperates with the Crittenden County Ed Tech Center to schedule non-credit continuing education opportunities throughout the year on a variety of topics.
The Adult Centers for Educational Excellence (ACE2) program maintains a location in Madisonville's Parkway Plaza Mall. This location provides a convenient and non-intimidating location for adult learners to begin their higher education experience.
The Adult Centers for Educational Excellence (ACE2) program provides services to the citizens of Muhlenberg County through the Muhlenberg County Career Advancement Center. | <urn:uuid:4236013b-3a03-4374-acb1-7a1f91de7d75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://madisonville.kctcs.edu/en/About/Our_Campuses.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928434 | 728 | 1.523438 | 2 |
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 86-119
Preventing Grain Auger Electrocutions
WARNING! Moving grain augers in their elevated position may result in electrocution if they contact overhead power lines while being moved. Farm owners and managers should ensure that augers are in the lowered position prior to moving them.
This Alert requests the assistance of farm owners/managers, farm/agricultural workers, and farm equipment manufacturers in the prevention of electrocutions which may occur while moving metal grain augers. The grain auger is an essential piece of farm equipment which is used to move grain from one location to another. However, every year accidents occur when this piece of equipment is improperly moved in the elevated position and it comes into contact with high voltage power lines. This has resulted in one or more fatalities per incident. This Alert describes two separate incidents that resulted in five fatalities, and occurred within the same week (150 miles apart). Neither of the incidents fell under OSHA jurisdiction because both farms were family operations employing fewer than 10 workers.
The grain auger is a portable piece of farm equipment, 50 to 60 feet long, and weighing several hundred pounds. It is used to move grain from one location to another (e.g., unloading grain from a truck or trailer and loading it into a dryer or storage bin). It is moved to a desirable location on inflatable-type car tires and then raised into position by means of a hand crank attached to a steel pulley system; the discharge end is elevated to the top of a dryer or bin, and the opposite end is lowered in order to pick up the grain to be moved. The auger is usually powered by connecting a universal joint to the power takeoff on a tractor or other piece of farm equipment. After transferring the grain, the auger should be lowered to a horizontal position for safe transportation to another location. However, the auger is not always lowered before being moved, and this unsafe practice could pose a life-threatening hazard if the auger comes into contact with overhead electrical lines or if it were to tip over during transport.
Case Reports of Two Fatal Incidents
These case reports resulted from NIOSH investigations of the circumstances that led to the five fatalities described below. The investigations were conducted as part of the NIOSH Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology Program.
Case #1--Two Electrocuted, Three Injured
During mid-morning on October 14, 1985, five farm workers were in the process of moving a portable grain auger. To move the auger from a 30-foot tall grain drying bin to another location, it was raised to approximately 35 feet (an angle of about 45 degrees) so that the top could clear the bin. The workers then pulled the grain auger machine back approximately 15 feet from the grain bin, rotating the rear of the auger about 90 degrees, and began pushing the auger to the new location. As the workers pushed the auger forward, approximately 90 feet, it contacted an electrical line which was about 25 feet above the ground. Two of the workmen were electrocuted and three others were injured.
Case #2--Three Electrocuted
During the early morning of October 18, 1985, two farm workers and the farm owner were moving a portable grain auger from a grain bin, approximately 30 feet high, to another location. The auger was first raised 35 feet to clear the top of the grain bin and then pulled back approximately 15 feet. The workers swiveled the auger 90 degrees to allow a straight path to the truck, approximately 40 yards away, that was to be loaded with grain. As the workers pushed the auger forward, it contacted a 7200 volt electrical line which was 25 feet above the ground. The two workers and the farm owner were electrocuted.
OSHA estimates that over 90% of all farms in the United States are not covered by OSHA regulations. OSHA regulations are not applicable to most farms because they employ fewer than 10 employees. However, for farms employing 11 or more workers (family members do not count in this number), OSHA jurisdiction does apply and mandatory compliance is required to 29 CFR 1928.57, Guarding of Farm Field Equipment, Farm Machinery & Farmstead, Sub Part D.
Based on the information collected on the two cases cited, it can be concluded that the five fatalities occurred as a result of the following:
1. The lack of hazard recognition.
2. The failure to lower the grain augers to the horizontal position before moving them to other locations.
NIOSH recommends that all farm owners/managers, farm/agricultural workers, and farm equipment manufacturers be made familiar with, and reinforce the following steps:
1. Hazard Awareness
A survey of the farm should be conducted to identify hazards posed by the locations of overhead electrical lines. When all such hazards are identified and documented for future reference, workers should be informed of their location and instructed in the steps necessary to safely move grain augers.
2. Safe Movement of Grain Augers and Other Equipment
Grain augers pose a life threatening hazard when moved in an elevated position if they contact overhead electrical lines or if they tip over. Therefore, it is essential that grain augers be lowered to a horizontal position before being moved from one location to another. In addition, all other equipment to be moved should be evaluated in order to determine the most appropriate method that will ensure worker safety during its transport. Manufacturers of grain augers are urged to consider design modifications that will prevent grain augers from being moved while in an elevated position.
3. Safety Signs
It is recommended that users and manufacturers of grain augers affix safety signs onto the equipment that warn the user of the potential hazards of moving the auger in its upright position. A safety sign to draw attention to avoiding electrical hazards when moving grain augers is provided with this Alert. This sign should be placed on the grain auger in a conspicuous location so that it will alert workers of life-threatening hazards.
We are requesting editors of appropriate trade and farm journals, members of farm extension associations, and those responsible for safety and health (e.g. inspectors, managers, and agricultural extension specialists) to bring these recommendations to the attention of farm workers, managers, and owners.
Requests for additional information or questions related to this announcement should be directed to Mr. John Moran, Director, Division of Safety Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 944 Chestnut Ridge Road, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505, Telephone (304) 291-4595.
We greatly appreciate your assistance.
J. Donald Millar, M.D., D.T.P.H. (Lond.)
Assistant Surgeon General
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Centers for Disease Control
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
TTY: (888) 232-6348
- New Hours of Operation
- Contact CDC-INFO | <urn:uuid:b535f3e3-3cde-4831-93d5-f436002ce46f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/86-119/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947587 | 1,455 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Girl Scouts of Connecticut Host Successful Anti-Bullying Conference
September 24, 2012
Approximately 44 girls and 26 adults attended Girl Scouts of Connecticut’s anti-bullying conference, held at Shelton Intermediate School on Saturday, September 22.
The conference, for girls in grades 6-12 and adults, featured a variety of workshops and activities ranging from bullying prevention strategies, building positive self-esteem, and learning about social media and empowerment. The conference’s keynote speaker was Alison Hill, Founder and Managing Partner of Critical Issues for Girls, former manager of GSUSA P.A.V.E. the Way (Project Anti-Violence Education), and co-author of GSUSA’s aMAZE Journey guide.
Hill said the conference and ongoing programs like Girlz R.U.L.E.® are important in shaping girls’ attitudes, not just locally, but globally as well.
“Changing the way we act towards each other is a step on the path to changing the way society treats women and girls,” she said.
Girlz R.U.L.E.® is a program that focuses on four key words: Respect, understand, lead, and empower. Through a series of challenge initiatives, girls learn the positive and negative impact of their words and how to build healthy relationships with one another through a six to eight week series. | <urn:uuid:fca69f55-b322-49b4-a438-305c49877b9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gsofct.org/news/news-item.php?id=189 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938466 | 287 | 2.328125 | 2 |
|Your overall rating on Yiddishisms = |
|Your best rally score on Yiddishisms = 0 facts|
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Considered a compliment in the pre-feminist era
The expression means don't worry so much about a problem, whatever it is - you've still got your health
Can refer to the ugliness of objects or people
As in an acute disturbance
Oy Gevalt is often used as expression meaning "oh how terrible."
Often said in parting but can be spoken with irony to mean go do your own thing
Thinks better of themself then they really are
As in You could use that like a "loch in kop"
Refers to a more chronic disturbance
Usually an extended family
Also means a clever lad or rascal
Usually refers to an older woman
Facts contributed by: | <urn:uuid:f0cc36ba-8191-4b49-8676-d8193ae5e9aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factacular.com/subjects/Yiddishisms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94179 | 187 | 2.28125 | 2 |
As some of you will be aware, I write opinion pieces for The Church Times from time to time. I'm conscious that because a) its internet version is subscription only and b) there may be some of you (hehe) who don't regularly pick up a print copy, you may not have seen my scribblings. To kick things off, here's the one on Metal that got a few folk frothing last year. As you'll see it's much more academic/measured than some people have suggested. Enjoy!
As darkness falls we wait like supplicants expecting the manifestation of a god. Ripples of applause break out, yet how can sixty thousand people be so quiet? And then it begins – a single note rising through the still summer air. A note followed by a roar – the roar of sixty thousand throats full of joy and delight.
This is no religious ceremony, at least not in the conventional sense. This is Sonisphere, a major festival of one of Britain’s most ridiculed and despised popular music tribes: the Metal fan. And instead of a god we wait for those kings of the Metal stratosphere: Iron Maiden.
Of the major music genres, Heavy Metal is perhaps the most maligned. Since Black Sabbath effectively created it in 1969 by using the dissonant sound of the medieval ‘Devil's Chord’, Heavy Metal has been cast as dumb, crass and, on occasions, satanic; music hardly fit for intelligent debate, let alone theological reflection. And yet, as both priest and metal musician and fan, it strikes me that the church, at this agonized time, has a serious gospel lesson to learn from this darkest and heaviest music.
Sonisphere brings together sixty thousand fans for a weekend of rocking to the kind of guitar riffs that turn your insides to pâté. It features everything you might expect from Metal and more. For the uninformed here’s a quick sketch: Musically, although it has many variations, Metal is characterized by a distorted, heavy guitar sound, with intense beats and muscular vocals. Songs cover any theme, but are unafraid to deal with death, violence and destruction, often in the first person. Lyrics like Metallica’s ‘Our brains are on fire with the feeling to kill/ And it won't go away/'til our dreams are fulfilled’ are not untypical. Metal fans are predominantly male and white and, as Sonisphere demonstrates, generally like tattoos, piercings and sport t-shirts supporting bands like Lamb of God and Apocalyptica. In addition, many bands have an anti-Christian stance. Slayer’s ‘I laugh at the abortion known as Christianity/I've seen the ways of God/I'll take the devil any day/Hail Satan’ is typical. This is not promising material for a lesson in the gospel.
And yet, Metal culture demonstrates the liberative power of human honesty. As a Metal fan for twenty five years, I’ve found ‘Metal-heads’ graceful, welcoming and gentle. The music’s willingness to deal with nihilistic and, on occasion, nasty subjects, seems to offer its fans a space to be warm and accepting in a way which shames many Christians. Metal’s refusal to repress the bleak and violent truths of human nature liberates its fans to be more relaxed and fun people. Sadly, by contrast, some readings of Christian faith, with an overemphasis on personal holiness, so easily crumble into stifling niceness and smiling humourlessness. It is such Christianity that the likes of Slayer are repelled by. Metal has no fear of human ‘darkness’. It invites the church to discover a liberative theology of darkness: darkness not understood as negative and bad, but as a place of reality and possibility. The poet Henry Vaughan famously suggests that in God there is ‘a deep but dazzling darkness’. Clearly there are some Christians who are ‘unafraid of the dark’, but many are yet to discover its potential as a place of integration and wholeness. Metal has long understood that without the Dark we can never truly be whole.
Many Christians will be concerned about the ‘Satanic’ dimension of Metal. Clearly, as a priest I do not think that Christianity is ‘an abortion’ even if I am severely critical of it. Distinctions need to be drawn. Much of Metal’s fascination with Satan/Evil is play-acting, driven by a desire to shock; some of it is simply story-telling, vocalizing Evil in the way Milton did in Paradise Lost (though without his genius). And some of the recent so-called ‘Black Metal’ bands have consciously cultivated satanic images. But these ultra-heavy, growling bands do not especially trouble me. Their avowed views are simply this generation’s attempt to go to the most shocking place possible.
Metal invites Christianity to be less afraid of wildness, parody and the ridiculous. It is clear to me that, subconsciously, festivals like Sonisphere demonstrate a healthy understanding of the medieval concept of the Fools’ Feast. The Fools’ Feast temporarily allowed the world and its comfortable values to be disrupted and inverted through excess and licensed anarchy. Young people typically took the central roles and would choose their own mock bishop or lord to act as Lord of Misrule. Such wildness and parody never sat comfortably with Church power and was ultimately crushed. And yet festivals like Sonisphere recover the spirit of the Fools’ Feast – for the human spirit will always need to rebel against ordinariness. Thus, license to dress and behave ridiculously, over-indulge, and ridicule sacred cows. Metal fans, like most people, generally lead rather ordinary lives and in an ever more regulated culture, a Fools’ Feast is essential to human flourishing.
I worry that as we Anglicans live out our Christian sincerity we have an insufficient comprehension of the significance of the Fools’ Feast. We have perhaps too much of what Nietzsche called ‘Apollonian’ religion rather than ‘Dionysian’. That is, we can make our faith too reasonable, ordered, and controlled, rather than allowing it to flow with passion, foolishness and absurdity. I am not suggesting that as Christians we have all had a humour bypass, but we are inclined to take ourselves too seriously, even when we’re having fun. Now one might respond that, unlike Metal-heads, this is because Christians are involved in a genuinely serious activity. But if that is the case, surely that is only more reason to rediscover the liberating and disturbing quality of foolishness in our gospel living. For the fullness of human living surely demands it. | <urn:uuid:252e0bfc-4e92-4033-93b5-cbc3bf5827d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.therachelmannblogspot.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953376 | 1,409 | 1.601563 | 2 |