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(a) The intent of the Legislature in enacting this section is to create the framework for establishing an educational delivery system to address findings that:
(1) The strength of the economy of the state of West Virginia is directly affected by the percentage of the available work force possessing college degrees and/or an advanced vocational-technical education from which an employer may draw;
(2) Real and perceived barriers within West Virginia and its systems of higher education, such as the cost of a college education, the availability of appropriate course work at locations and times convenient for students with families and/or jobs, and inadequate preparation for college-level work, have created road blocks for West Virginians in achieving their educational goals and, in turn, have limited the economic opportunities available to them and the state of West Virginia; and
(3) Because of the state's history of a low college-going rate and a low percentage of state residents who hold college degrees, meeting the current and future work force needs of West Virginia will require attention to the needs of working-age adults for upgrading their skills, continuing their educations, preparing for new careers and other lifelong learning pursuits, in addition to attending to the educational needs of traditional college age students.
(b) Such a delivery system should employ the best available technology and qualified instructors to provide courses of instruction to students at remote locations by means of electronic transmission and computer assisted instruction. The delivery system should make maximum use of the currently existing resources, facilities, equipment and personnel in the state's systems of public and higher education and other educational and administrative agencies and should be low-tuition, commuter-oriented, open door admissions, serving adults of all ages. The courses of instruction offered through such a system should be relevant to the needs of the target population as expressed in the major findings listed in subsection (a) of this section and should meet the several goals of helping students to prepare for college level work, to increase their likelihood of securing gainful employment given their other relevant life circumstances, to obtain higher education core curriculum course work that is universally accepted at all state institutions of higher education with the grade earned and to minimize the amount of additional course work they will be required to take at less convenient times and locations to achieve their educational goals. The delivery system should also include adequate student support services such as student advising, career counseling, library access and immediate interaction with peers and instructors.
(c) The secretary of education and the arts is responsible for establishing a three-year pilot program consisting of no more than eight sites within the state for the delivery of educational programs consistent with the goals established in this section. To assist in the development of this program, the secretary shall appoint an advisory committee comprised of persons from public education, higher education, the West Virginia distance learning coordinating council, the Legislature and the business community. In consultation with the advisory committee, the secretary shall contract with the appropriate governing board or other body to offer courses or programs of various levels and types to meet the objectives of this section. The contracts shall specify the pilot sites for offering the educational programs, the various technologies for program delivery, the types of courses to be offered, the course instructors and site coordinators and their training, the fees to be charged, the institutions in the state willing to enroll the student participants, the collection of tuition and fees, a method for accounting for the funds collected and expended and other issues relevant to program administration. There is hereby established in the state treasury a special revolving fund within the account of the secretary of education and the arts into which appropriations, course fees, charitablecontributions and other moneys received by the secretary for the purposes of the program shall be paid for expenditures in the operation of the pilot program. During each year of the pilot program, the secretary shall report to the governor and the Legislature on the progress of the program, whether it should be continued or discontinued, and, if continued, any recommended modifications in program scope and mission and any action which is necessary on behalf of the governor or the Legislature to improve the success of the program. At the end of the pilot program, the secretary shall make a final report to the governor and the Legislature as to whether the findings set forth in this section are being addressed through such an educational delivery system and shall recommend whether it should become permanent. If the secretary recommends that the delivery system should become permanent, the secretary shall also recommend specific structures for program support and administration, instructional development and objectives, technology, student support services and other relevant policy issues.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session | <urn:uuid:4ae51d61-ffa3-4f19-aad4-49ba1f874056> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=18B&art=1§ion=5A | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949525 | 929 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Four years after making history by becoming the first African-American president, Barack Obama will kick off his second term on Monday with a scaled-back inauguration that reflects the tempered expectations for his next four years in office.
Lingering high unemployment, bitter political battles and a divisive re-election campaign have tempered the mood of optimism and hope that infused Obama's 2009 inauguration after he was swept into office on a mantle of hope and change.
This time, Obama's inauguration will feature smaller crowds and fewer inaugural balls and parties to match the more subdued tenor of the times.
But Obama, seeking to build on momentum from his decisive re-election on Nov. 6, will lay out a vision for the next four years in his inauguration speech while trumpeting several notable first-term achievements, including a healthcare overhaul, ending the war in Iraq and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
"We have a chance to finish what we started. Our work begins today. Let's go," Obama said in a pre-inauguration message on Twitter.
A second inauguration marks the latest rite of political passage for Obama, the Hawaiian-born son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas. An electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic convention as a little-known Illinois state legislator lifted him to the national stage, putting him on a rapid trajectory to the U.S. Senate and a few years later the White House.
But battles are now looming over budgets, gun control and immigration, with Republicans ready to oppose him at almost every turn.
When Obama raises his right hand to be sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts outside the U.S. Capitol at 11:55 a.m. ET, it will be his second time taking the oath in 24 hours—but this time with tens of millions of people watching on television.
He had a private swearing-in on Sunday at the White House because of a constitutional requirement that the president be sworn in on Jan. 20. Rather than stage the full inauguration on a Sunday, the main public events were put off until Monday.
Obama and his family began the day worshipping at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House, an Inauguration Day tradition for U.S. presidents, before heading by motorcade to Capitol Hill.
He will take the oath again, in public, and then deliver his inaugural address from the Capitol's west front overlooking the National Mall, where a crowd of up to 700,000 was gathering to watch.
That is down significantly from the record 1.8 million people who jammed Washington in 2009 for Obama's first inauguration.
"We're a bit surprised by how few people are out here this morning. But that's fine—makes the crowds more manageable. The weather is delightful and we're happy to be here," said Kathy Reid, 61, from Waco, Texas.
As people streamed through the wintry cold to assemble on Capitol grounds, Washington was in security lockdown, with thousands of police and National Guard troops deployed, barricades up and Humvee military vehicles blocking major intersections.
Outside the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, an elaborate presidential viewing stand, encased in bullet-proof glass, awaited Obama and other VIPs to watch the inaugural parade.
Even though the atmosphere lacked the euphoria of Obama's first inauguration, many of his supporters celebrated through the night.
"Yes, I can sense the inauguration is not as big as last time, but there is nonetheless excitement," said Carrie` Solages, a New York state legislator, as she attended a pre-inaugural ball late on Sunday. "We are still here to be a part of history."
At the Hawaii State Society inaugural ball, dancers swung their hips to traditional songs, and some partygoers sported tuxedos with Hawaiian-print cummerbunds as they ate suckling pig.
Inaugural Address Is Centerpiece
The focal point of Monday's festivities will be Obama's inauguration address, which he will use to lay out in broad terms his goals for the next four years. But he will stay away from second-term policy specifics, saving that for his State of the Union speech to Congress on Feb. 12, aides said.
Obama arrives at his second inauguration on solid footing. He won an end-of-year fiscal battle against Republicans, whose poll numbers have continued to sag, and appears to have gotten them to back down, at least temporarily, from resisting an increase in the national debt ceiling.
But after a bitter election fight against Republican Mitt Romney, the daunting challenges facing Obama and his political battles with congressional Republicans have split public opinion about the prospects for the next four years.
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll last week found 43 percent of Americans were optimistic about the next four years and 35 percent pessimistic, with 22 percent having a mixed opinion.
Obama's main political opponent in Congress, Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, attended a White House coffee before the ceremony, and then returned to the Capitol for the inaugural speech and a post-event lunch with the president and lawmakers.
The inauguration ceremony will include music—singers James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson will perform patriotic songs and Beyonce will sing the national anthem—and also feature Vice President Joe Biden taking the oath of office again after doing so already on Sunday.
Obama and his wife, Michelle, will join Biden and his wife, Jill, at the capital luncheon before the two couples take part in the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.
Obama could get out of his limousine and walk part of the way to interact with the crowd, as have presidents in the last several inaugurals.
After watching the rest of the parade from a viewing stand in front of the White House, the Obamas will change and head to the two inaugural balls—an official ball and one for military personnel and their spouses.
That is a dramatic reduction in activities from 2009, when there were 10 official inaugural balls.
With the public ceremony falling on the national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Obama will be able to draw some historic parallels. While taking the oath, he will place his left hand on two Bibles - one once owned by Abraham Lincoln and the other by King.
Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn, Jeff Mason and Robert Rampton; Editing by Alistair Bell and Jackie Frank.
© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:cd8f2752-afb8-468b-9254-acff30e0509f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.charismanews.com/politics/35310-obama-looks-to-finish-what-we-started-as-second-term-begins | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961604 | 1,334 | 1.695313 | 2 |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Huntsville is among the most vulnerable parts of the country to looming federal budget cuts in military as well as non-military spending, according to a report released Monday by Wells Fargo Securities.
The report examines parts of the country that would feel the most pain from $85 billion in cuts that are set to automatically start taking effect March 1 without a bipartisan deal on sequestration. Actual cuts may be around 13 percent for defense and 9 percent for other programs because lawmakers delayed their impact, requiring savings over a shorter period of time.
"The District of Columbia along with its neighboring suburbs in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland are particularly vulnerable due to the multitude of defense agencies and contractors located in the region," said the report by Wells Fargo economists Mark Vitner and Michael Brownsaid.
Defense spending has been estimated to account for 9.8 percent of the combined D.C., Virginia and Maryland economies in 2010, the report noted.
The report also cited Huntsville, home to Redstone Arsenal, and St. Louis as areas vulnerable to defense cuts.
"Both have outsized exposure to the aerospace industry and will see growth slow if the military purchases fewer fighter jets, missiles and helicopters," the report said, noting that smaller towns that host large military bases are probably the most vulnerable.
Georgia, for example, is home to three areas like that, including Columbus, Warner Robins and Hinesville, according to the Wells Fargo report. As for larger metro areas, Navy towns like San Diego and Norfolk-Virginia Beach also could be affected. Hawaii, home to the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, also could see layoffs and reduced income growth, the report said.
"In addition, Alaska with its Air Force, Army and Naval operations would also be disproportionately impacted from defense cuts," the report said.
While nondefense cuts will be spread out more across the country, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia ranked at the top for states with a high level of exposure to nondefense spending reductions, which could affect areas ranging from biomedical research to homeland security.
"Cuts in nondefense outlays would likely trigger significant furloughs, layoffs at civilian contractors and generally less business for supporting services, including law firms, caterers, airlines and hotels," the report said.
The Wells Fargo report noted that while the impact of budget sequestration could be severe, there is some reason to believe that at least some of the cuts may be partially reversed in the months ahead.
"Regardless of the political outcome, we still expect some moderate impact on state economies from the pullback in government spending in the short term, as agencies hold off on major spending commitments and put hiring on hold," the report said.
In Maryland, the so-called budget sequester negotiations have added uncertainty to the state's own budget, which state officials say is otherwise in better shape than it has been for years since the recession. Gov. Martin O'Malley noted the uncertainty of the budget sequester when he unveiled his budget plan in January. O'Malley, a Democrat, increased the state's Rainy Day Fund from 5 percent to 6 percent of the state's $16 billion general fund. Altogether, the governor's budget proposal leaves the state with about $1.1 billion in reserves to help adjust to federal cuts.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|High School Sports||@DecaturPreps| | <urn:uuid:b91b3861-f0e2-4120-a3d6-94c60d6f1ea4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.decaturdaily.com/stories/Md-Va-among-most-vulnerable-to-budget-cuts,113675 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945044 | 718 | 1.742188 | 2 |
And when I had said this, Peter began to relate the whole matter to them in order, 797 and said, “When we had come to Aradus, 798 and I had ordered you to go on before us, the same day after you had gone, Clement was led in the course of conversation to tell me of his extraction and his family, and how he had been deprived of his parents, and had had twin brothers older than himself, and that, as his father told him, his mother once saw a vision, by which she was ordered to depart from the city of Rome with her twin sons, else she and they should suddenly perish. And when she had told his father the dream, he, loving his sons with tender affection, and afraid of any evil befalling them, put his wife and sons on board a ship with all necessaries, and sent them to Athens to be educated. Afterwards he sent once and again persons to inquire after them, but nowhere found even a trace of them. At last the father himself went on the search, and until now he is nowhere to be found. When Clement had given me this narrative, there came one to us, asking us to go to the neighbouring island of Aradus, to see vine-wood columns of wonderful size. I consented; and when we came to the place, all the rest went into the interior of the temple; but I—for what reason I know not—had no mind to go farther.
[This account is fuller than that in Homily XIII. 2.—R.]162:798
There is a confusion in the text between Aradus and Antaradus. [Aradus is the name of the Island, Antaradus that of the neighbouring city.—R.] | <urn:uuid:797cadfb-1e00-402a-8195-5e9bb9c4c648> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/008/0080393.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991881 | 363 | 1.921875 | 2 |
MechitaristArticle Free Pass
Mechitarist, also spelled Mekhitarist, member of the Congregation of Benedictine Armenian Antonine Monks, a Roman Catholic congregation of monks that is widely recognized for its contribution to the renaissance of Armenian philology, literature, and culture early in the 19th century and particularly for the publication of old Armenian Christian manuscripts.
The congregation, whose constitution is based on the Rule of St. Benedict, was founded in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1701 by the Armenian priest Mekhitar Petrosian of Sivas. Driven from Constantinople in 1703, the Mechitarists moved to Modon in Morea (1703–15) and finally settled in 1717 on the island of San Lazzaro, Venice, which was given to them by the Venetian state. This community, known as the Ordo Mechitaristarum Venetiarum, argued over a revised constitution set up by Abbot Stephen Melkonen, and in 1772 a group of dissidents left Venice for Trieste, establishing a separate branch (Ordo Mechitaristarum Vindobonensis) in Vienna (c. 1810).
The Armenian Academy at San Lazzaro, which was set up in Rome by the Venetian Mechitarists in the early 19th century, quickly became a centre of Armenian learning. The academy introduced the scientific and literary journal Pazmaveb in 1843, pioneered a dictionary of the Armenian language (1836), and continues to publish many classics and original works of scholarship in Armenian. The Venetian branch of the congregation maintains five religious houses, two colleges, and four schools, as well as the publishing house.
The Viennese Mechitarists are active missionaries. They worked among the Armenians under the Austro-Hungarian Empire and established parishes in Budapest, Cambridge (Mass.), and Los Angeles. Their motherhouse in Vienna incorporates a school, library, museum of ancient Armenian art, and a publishing house that issues Handés Amsorya (1887), a journal of Armenian philology. They also run colleges in Istanbul and Beirut.
What made you want to look up "Mechitarist"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:c2f7356b-70cb-4c97-82cb-338f1719756c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/371990/Mechitarist | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936813 | 458 | 2.296875 | 2 |
If there is just one thing I could tell women — and men — that would improve their fertility, it is this:
If you are overweight, lose weight, and your chances of successfully achieving a pregnancy will increase.
A study presented recently at the 19th European Congress on Obesity in Lyon, France, adds more data to a growing body of research on this topic. Researchers from the University of Sydney found that for women in fertility treatment, losing weight is one of the simplest ways to improve their chances of conception. They conducted a randomized controlled trial on overweight women (BMI greater than 30) seeking fertility treatment by assigning them to either a 12-week intervention program, which included a very low-calorie diet during the first six weeks, or recommendations for weight loss. The women were all ages 37 or younger. | <urn:uuid:c32b6174-515e-49a4-94e2-62fc0fb480c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infertilitydoc.net/blog/2012/05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970921 | 165 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Musea in Amsterdam
The place where the famous dairist Anne Frank hid in the second world war. Expierence a piece of the history of Amsterdam.
Vincent van Gogh, famous for his painting "sunflowers" or the famous story about cutting off his ear. Visit the museum to learn about his interesting life.
Experience the best of the 17th century in the Rijksmuseum.
For a good impression about the Netherlands in the second World War visit the Dutch Resistance Museum.
NEMO is the biggest Science Centre in the Netherlands. Expand your knowlegde in the lastest science and technology.
Visit the Jewish Historical Museum and learn about jewish history, culture and religion.
16th of July until the 12th of November - exhibition Black Box/Chambre Noire van William Kentridge
Photo: Liselore Kamping
Discover the dutch seas in the scheepvaart museum! Old ships and the history of the dutch sea.
Kerken in Amsterdam
The Old Curch is not only a beautiful monument and the oldest building in Amsterdam, but also a concert building and wedding location.
The westerchurch use to be used as a regilious church but now it is used a a multifunctional building. At the moment you are able to enjoy concerts. Visit the website for more information.
Concert gebouwen in Amsterdam
The Heineken Music Hall is the only location in the Netherlands that is designed for popmusic. The sound is amazing and you can dance the night away!
The Bimhuis is a concert building with about 300 concerts a year. From Dutch till international music, from jazz till improvisation. The Bimhouse has it all!
Andere Bezienswaardigheden in Amsterdam
Enjoy Amsterdam with a boatride through the canals.
The original Bols brewery since 1575. The most famous dutch liqour brand. Learn more about the dutch Bols liqour and try some.
Come and see your favorite artist or popstar in Madame Tussauds! | <urn:uuid:f51bc488-6214-4045-93a3-a9c6c2211f5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hotelrestaurantamsterdam.com/amsterdam/omgeving-amsterdam/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90489 | 439 | 1.953125 | 2 |
The Cold & Flu Time Herbal Tea Tradition
This comforting and delicious traditional Chinese herbal tea helps the body to naturally maintain balance, without the use of ephedra or ma huang. The herbs in this tea have a long history of traditional use to help support the healthy function of the respiratory system. Mulberry, fragrant angelica and perilla were used to help support healthy nasal and sinus function and healthy breathing. Lycium, mulberry and platycodon were used to help support healthy lung function. Honeysuckle, pueraria, siler and Chinese mint were used to help support throat health. Honeysuckle, dandelion, mahonia and licorice are considered cooling and were used to help promote normal detoxification. Ginger was used to help support healthy stomach and digestive system function. Astragalus was used to help maintain the healthy function of the immune system and to help promote healthy resistance.
Triple Leaf Tea's Ancient Chinese Medicinals
Traditional Chinese medicine began in approximately 2500 B.C. Recently, here in the West, people have discovered the value of this ancient system which focuses on aiding the body's own healing mechanisms through restoring harmony and balance. The Chinese system of herbology has been recorded in ancient texts which are studied and employed even today. This time tested knowledge has been passed on from generation to generation over the centuries
Triple Leaf Tea comes from such a tradition. It is made in the U.S.A. by a Chinese American family-owned business. The company owner can remember stories of his own grandfather selling herbs and teas in his village in China. Today, these traditional Chinese herbal formulas are available to you. We wish you harmony and balance !
Consult your health care professional if your symptoms of seasonal discomfort persist for more than a few days or are severe. | <urn:uuid:bf84a169-f8d8-466c-94de-350e9efbb603> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drsuggested.com/triple-leaf-tea-en/cold-flu-time-tea.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961207 | 376 | 2.546875 | 3 |
|Town of Whitby|
|— Town —|
|Motto: Durham's Business Centre|
|• Mayor||Pat Perkins|
|• Governing body||Whitby Town Council|
|• MP||Jim Flaherty (Whitby—Oshawa)|
|• MPP||Christine Elliott (Whitby—Oshawa)|
|• Land||146.53 km2 (56.58 sq mi)|
|Elevation||91 m (299 ft)|
|• Total||122,022 (Ranked 41st)|
|• Density||832.7/km2 (2,157/sq mi)|
|Time zone||Eastern (EST) (UTC−5)|
|• Summer (DST)||Eastern (EDT) (UTC−4)|
Whitby (2011 population 122,022) is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region. While the southern portion of Whitby is predominantly urban, and an economic hub, the northern part of the municipality is more rural and includes the communities of Ashburn, Brooklin, Myrtle and Myrtle Station.
Whitby Township (now the Town of Whitby) was named after the seaport town of Whitby, Yorkshire, England. In addition to Whitby, Yorkshire, the Town of Whitby is also officially twinned with Longueuil, Quebec and Feldkirch, Austria.
When the township was originally surveyed in 1792, the surveyor, from the northern part of England, named the townships east of Toronto after towns in northeastern England: York, Scarborough, Pickering, Whitby and Darlington. The original name of "Whitby" is Danish, dating from about 867 CE when the Danes invaded Britain. It is a contraction of "Whitteby," meaning "White Village." The allusion may be to the white lighthouse on the pier at Whitby, Yorkshire, and also at Whitby, Ontario.' Although settlement dates back to 1800, it was not until 1836 that a downtown business centre was established by Whitby's founder Peter Perry.
Whitby's chief asset was its fine natural harbour on Lake Ontario, from which grain from the farmland to the north was first shipped in 1833. In the 1840s a road was built from Whitby Harbour to Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay, to bring trade and settlement through the harbour to and from the rich hinterland to the north. The Town of Whitby was chosen as the seat of government for the newly formed County of Ontario in 1852, and incorporated in 1855. In the 1870s a railway, the "Port Whitby and Port Perry Railway", was constructed from Whitby harbour to Port Perry, and later extended to Lindsay as the "Whitby, Port Perry and Lindsay Railway."
Whitby is also the site of Trafalgar Castle School, a private girls' school founded in 1874. The building, constructed as an Elizabethan-style castle in 1859–62 as a private residence for the Sheriff of Ontario County, is a significant architectural landmark and Whitby's only provincial historic site marked with a plaque. The school celebrated its 125th anniversary in 1999.
During the Second World War, Whitby was the location of Camp X, a secret spy training facility established by Sir William Stephenson, the "Man Called Intrepid". Although the buildings have since been demolished, a monument was unveiled on the site of Camp X in 1984 by Ontario's Lieutenant Governor John Black Aird.
In 1968, the Town of Whitby and Township of Whitby amalgamated to form the current municipality. Municipal boundaries were not changed during the 1974 formation of Durham Region and remain to this day.
Today, Whitby is the seat of government in Durham Region. It is commonly considered part of the Greater Toronto Area, although statistically it belongs to the greater Oshawa Metropolitan Area. They are both in the eastern part of the Golden Horseshoe region.
|Visible minorities and Aboriginal population|
|Canada 2006 Census||Population||% of Total Population|
|Visible minority group
|Mixed visible minority||1,025||0.9|
|Other visible minority||800||0.7|
|Total visible minority population||18,730||17|
|Total Aboriginal population||1,175||1.1|
Like much of Durham Region, demographics in Whitby are characterized mainly by rapid population growth. The 2006 census population of the town is 111,184 inhabitants, compared with the 2001 Statistics Canada total of 87,413. This represents population growth of over 27.2% in five years. The number of inhabitants has more than doubled since 1986, when Whitby had a census population of 45,819 people. The median household income in 2005 for Whitby was $84,219, which is above the Ontario provincial average of $60,455.
According to the 2006 Census, approximately 17.0% of Whitby's population is classified as visible minority, with Black (6.1%), South Asian (3.3%) and Chinese (1.9%) populations forming the largest individual groups.
2011 Census data show that English is the mother tongue of 83.7% of the residents of Whitby, while native speakers of French make up 1.7% of the population. Of immigrant languages, only Italian is the mother tongue of more than 1% of the population (1.4%).
The Town government consists of a mayor and four councillors, each representing an individual ward. There are also three regional councillors elected at large. They sit on both the Town and Durham Region Councils, as does the mayor. The current mayor is Pat Perkins.
Emergency services
Whitby is policed by the Durham Regional Police. There is also a detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police located in Town, mainly to patrol area provincial highways. Whitby Fire & Emergency Services provides firefighting services from five fire stations and ambulance/emergency medical services are provided by Durham Region EMS.
Many residents commute to work in other Greater Toronto Area communities, and General Motors Canada in Oshawa is a major employer for all of Durham Region. Whitby is itself home to a steel mill operated by Gerdau Ameristeel, a retail support centre operated by Sobeys, and a major Liquor Control Board of Ontario warehouse. Other companies present in Whitby include pharmaceutical manufacturer Patheon, Johnson Controls, Lear Corporation, Automodular Assemblies, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, and several others.
Public education in Whitby is provided via the Durham District School Board, which also has its headquarters in Whitby. As of late 2012, there were twenty three elementary schools and four secondary schools: Anderson C.V.I., Donald A. Wilson S.S., Henry Street H.S. and Sinclair S.S.
The Durham Catholic District School Board oversees public Catholic education in Durham Region. There are eight Catholic elementary schools and two secondary schools; Father Leo J. Austin Catholic Secondary School and All Saints Catholic Secondary School. There is often a rivalry referred to between these schools, with students participating in a variety of activities to prove their worth.
As noted above, Whitby is home to Trafalgar Castle School, an independent school for women that offers grades 5 through 12 in a university preparatory programme. Built in 1859 by the flamboyant Sheriff of Ontario County, Nelson Gilbert "Iron" Reynolds, Trafalgar Castle remains a unique Canadian treasure. The school had opened its doors in 1874 and was called "Ontario Ladies' College" until the late 70s, after which it changed its name to "Trafalgar Castle".
There are also a number of Montessori schools offering programmes for early elementary grades.
Health care
Despite being among the 100 largest cities/towns in Canada, Whitby lacks a full-service hospital. The town was served by the Whitby General Hospital until 1998, when Durham hospitals were amalgamated by the Lakeridge Health Corporation, Under the amalgamated system, the hospital became Lakeridge Health Whitby and is a specialized health centre, with the closest full-service hospitals being Lakeridge Health Oshawa, Markham-Stouffville Hospital in Markham and the Rouge Valley Health System, Ajax and Pickering campus in Ajax.
Ontario Highway 401 runs through the south end of Whitby, with interchanges at Brock Street and Thickson Road. Proposed eastward extensions of Highway 407 will likely see that toll highway extended through Whitby to its planned terminus at the junction of Highways 35 and 115. The southern terminus of Highway 12 is also located in Whitby. It originally extended from Highway 401 northward as part of Brock Street, but this portion was downloaded to Durham Region in 1997. The southern terminus is now located just south of Brooklin at the location of a possible future interchange with Highway 407, should it be extended eastward. Finally, Highway 7 runs east-west between Brooklin and the City of Pickering. At Brooklin, the road changes to a north-south alignment and is multiplexed with Highway 12 to the northern boundary of the Town.
Four railways pass through Whitby. The Toronto-Montreal corridor main lines of the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway both pass east-west through the south end of Whitby. A second CP line running from Toronto to Havelock also passes through the northern part of Whitby. Via Rail trains travel through Whitby, but the nearest station is in Oshawa. Finally, GO Transit provides frequent service via its Lakeshore East line, which (in Whitby) runs parallel to the CN tracks. A GO Station is located in Town.
Local transit services are provided by the region-wide Durham Region Transit. Prior to the Regional service, the Town provided its own service. GO Transit buses also connect Whitby with Durham Region (including Port Perry and Beaverton to the north) and areas further afield.
Whitby Harbour, an important factor in the development of the Town, is now home to a 430-berth recreational marina.
Whitby is served by the Whitby This Week newspaper, part of the Metroland Media Group. Several other papers have been published in the town over the years, including the Whitby Free Press, which ran from 1971 to 1996. Other GTA media outlets also serve the area.
Whitby's most famous sporting team are the Whitby Dunlops, a celebrated ice hockey squad that captured the world championship in 1958 at Oslo, Norway. This team featured long-time president of the Boston Bruins, Harry Sinden and former mayor of Whitby, Bob Attersley. The Dunlops were revived in 2004 as part of the Eastern Ontario Senior Hockey League.
Lacrosse is also a prominent sport in Whitby. The Brooklin Redmen Senior A lacrosse club is one of the most successful in Canadian sporting history, while the Junior A Whitby Warriors have been awarded the Minto Cup four times since 1984.
Whitby is also home to the Iroquois Sports Complex, one of the largest minor sports centres in North America. The facility includes six icepads, a swimming pool named for local Olympian Anne Ottenbrite, six tennis courts, five ball diamonds, a skatepark, a soccer pitch, The Sports Garden Cafe restaurant and the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame. Whitby also developed the McKinney Sports complex which boasts three ice pads, two tennis courts and a skatepark, and Luther Vipond Arena in Brooklin, with one ice pad. These 3 sport complexes hold many sporting events.
For the 2008-2009 season the OPJHL has relocated a team to Whitby, to play out of the Iroquois Complex, known as the Fury.
Notable residents (past and present)
- A.J. Cook, actress known for her roles in Criminal Minds, The Virgin Suicides and Final Destination 2
- Sandy Cohen, former hockey player
- Neil Crone, Actor and writer for local newspaper, stars on kid's television show Really Me
- Kevin Duhaney, rapper and actor, well known for his role as Young Thurgood in Half Baked
- Dave Devall, weather reporter for CFTO-TV
- Jim Flaherty, member of the Canadian House of Commons and Minister of Finance
- Adam Foote, NHL player for Colorado Avalanche, Stanley Cup winner, Olympic Gold Medalist and former member of Team Canada
- Hamar Greenwood, Chief Secretary for Ireland 1920-1922
- Zack Greer Duke University, plays in the National Lacrosse League for the Edmonton Rush
- Hello Beautiful, band
- Kat Burns and Kyle Donnelly of Forest City Lovers, band
- k-os, Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer
- John LaFontaine, member of the Edmonton Rush of the NLL
- Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, bronze medalist in the hurdles at the 2008 Olympics
- Andrew Martin, Former WWE wrestler, best known by his ring name, Test.
- Leslie McFarlane, writer of the Hardy Boys novels.
- Lori Melien, Olympic Bronze Medalist swimmer
- Andrea Muizelaar, winner of Canada's Next Top Model
- James Neal, NHL hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins
- Joe Nieuwendyk, former NHL hockey player, Stanley Cup winner, Olympic Gold Medalist and former member of Team Canada, Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee (2011)
- Anne Ottenbrite, Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer
- Keith Primeau, former hockey player
- Wayne Primeau, hockey player for Toronto Maple Leafs
- Protest The Hero, progressive metal band
- Gavin Prout National Lacrosse League player with Colorado Mammoth (team captain)
- Paul Ranger, NHL player for Tampa Bay Lightning
- Liam Reddox, NHL player for Edmonton Oilers
- Gary Roberts, former NHL player
- O. J. Santiago, NFL football player
- J. Torres, award-winning comic book writer
- Sid Ryan, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour
- Kristina Vaculik, member of the London 2012 Canadian Olympic artistic gymnastics team, who helped Canada place fifth in the team finals.
- Chuck Coles, singer/songwriter for the Organ Thieves, southern and soul-influenced experimental hard rock band.
Sister cities
See also
- Camp X
- Whitby GO Station
- Whitby Public Library
- Cullen Gardens and Miniature Village
- Whitby Psychiatric Hospital
- , Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Census Subdivision
- , Aboriginal Peoples - Data table
- "Whitby, Ontario - Detailed City Profile". Statistics Canada 2006 Census. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- , Census Profile for Census Subdivision of Whitby (Town), Ontario
- Whitby Yacht Club
- Ed McPherson 'The Whitby Yacht Club: 25 years in the making' Whitby, Ont. : Whitby Yacht Club, c1992.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Whitby, Ontario|
- Town of Whitby
- Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
- Historic Images of Whitby at Whitby Public Library and Archives Digital Collection
- Downloadable 1:50 000 topographical map of Whitby (map 30M15), by the Ministry of Natural Resources | <urn:uuid:a80fc366-f81c-42d1-9d51-fd6468c8ae5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby,_Ontario | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935709 | 3,227 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Click to view original image source
Click to view original image source
How we think the fight will go
So. Hygelac’s kin, Beowulf of the Geats, with company
Of comrades battle-tested and loyal,
Trod fast beyond frozen fens and beaches
Southward from beyond the Northwall’s reach.
The wood it was quiet, the soldiers’ feet
Made soft noise in snowy trails overgrown;
Their bright mail shifting, the metallic creaks
Dull warning through the woodlands miles around.
Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, at the head of the band,
Rings of gold and great sword Hrunting in tow.
The watchmen were out, searching wood-beyond-wall,
Some companions feared taken by wildling, or worse.
Ghost, the dread wolf, was the first to alert, silently
Beckoned his master Jon Snow to the disturbance.
The young Lord Commander went ahead alone,
He came upon the strange thanes not far by.
Wild in dress and in look, but in bearing more
A real Lord seemed the leader. Men of great stature,
Well-fed and equipped, no false Rayder and cronies were these.
Lord Snow bade Ghost stand by with a hand,
Drew Longclaw and emerged from wood’s cover
To stand in the path of the great Geat King.
They spoke not a word, Commander nor Thane.
Steel does the speaking, north of the wall. Snow, black all over
Aside from his face, worn with weariness, pale with youth.
Snow’s Valyrian sword seemed to hum in cold-bitten air,
While Beowulf, no stranger to the wastes of north lands,
Unsheathed Hrunting with its own deadly tone.
Challenged by foe so young but so bold, sorrow crept
To the Geat King’s noble heart. The two shining blades
Met one to one, blows ringing sharp through frozen air.
The struggle, it is said, could be heard as far as the wall.
Strike after strike the young Watchman held,
But Beowulf—slayer of demons—prevailed. Longclaw
Was loosed from Snow’s hand by a blow from
Pommel to pommel the son of Ecgtheow bestowed.
Disarmed, young Lord Snow looked sidelong to the wood.
He’d not risk his Direwolf falling upon
Hrunting’s blade while he lived.
Making sign to his secret companion to Stay,
Snow looked to his opponent, now in amazement.
Beowulf, hero of Heorot, stood, blade laid aside.
He’d defeated Hell’s minion without weapons’ aid,
Let the boy come to him, arm against arm.
Warily Snow accepted the challenge, circling his foe.
The Geat held nearly still, watching and poised.
Twice the boy swung, once landed a blow, but
Beowulf’s arm had the strength of dozens. With sadness
He must end battle so soon, the hero moved swift
Threw Snow without pause, to the ground, to the rock
Where his skull found its foe. The Lord Commander
Made not a wince, no single cry of pain, just the crack
Of bone against stone and the slow seep of life’s blood
Onto the Snow.
Turning back to his men, face ruefully set, Beowulf
Felt no honor, no renown in this deed. A young warrior
Felled in a wood, hardly a tale for mead hall or minstrel.
Glancing the faces of his companions, at first
It seemed their horror mirrored his grief.
But ‘twas fear, not sorrow, that so moved the Geats.
Ghost, moved stealth, silent as ever, but lupine fury
Charged the very air. The thanes were barely able to move
As the beast charged their leader, eyes fiery death.
To arms they at last sprang as the wolf spilled the blood
Of the warrior none of Cain’s brood could conquer.
Bitten, not beaten, Beowulf emerged. The fray
Left him bloodied and wary the more.
Ghost, now sword-pierced, lay down by his master
And left the world silently as ever he lived.
The Geat leader surveyed the scene with dismay.
His men, he ordered two biers be built.
To return to Geatland was their primary aim,
But first, to do honor to worthy fallen foes.
Predicted Winner: Beowulf
NOTE: THIS MATCH ENDS ON THURSDAY, MARCH 17TH, 2011, AT 5 PM, ET
Beowulf is a character from one of the oldest fantasy stories in history; Jon Snow is a character from the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.
Beowulf image courtesy of Ubisoft. Jon Snow image courtesy of Michael Komarck.
Hope Ewing contributed to this Cage Match | <urn:uuid:5dbe47c7-01fa-427e-ba03-264a01b96524> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2011/03/cage-match-2011-beowulf-versus-jon-snow.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931397 | 1,097 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Please do this simple task for
Call your representative in Congress. Urge him or her to sign the
letter by Rep. Patrick Kennedy urging the release of West Papuan
political prisoners Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage.
For peacefully raising a flag, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage may spend
the next decade or more in prison in Indonesia unless we act today. On
December 1, 2004, some 200 people participated in a nonviolent ceremony
outside Abepura. The Morning Star flag, a traditional Papuan symbol, was
raised in commemoration of the 1962 declaration of Papuan independence.
Karma and Pakage were convicted in May 2005 for taking part in this
demonstration and were sentenced to 15 and 10 years in prison. Amnesty
International has adopted them as Prisoners of Conscience.
What YOU can do:
Call your Representative today. Urge her/him to sign on to the letter
being circulated by Representative Patrick Kennedy's
office demanding the release of political prisoners Filep Karma and
A copy of the Congressional letter to Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono is pasted below --
additional background follows.
When you call ask to speak to the foreign affairs legislative assistant.
The Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121 (ask for the office
of your Representative), or check
for contact information. To sign on to the letter the aide should
contact Daniel Murphy in Rep. Patrick Kennedy's office (5-4911).
Every call makes a difference.
Please keep us posted of the results of your calls by writing to email@example.com.
1. Karma and Pakage are prisoners of conscience and should be freed
immediately. They were convicted under unjust laws for peaceful
expression of their political views.
2. The government of Indonesia must demonstrate its commitment to
freedom of expression by releasing people convicted under these
3. The U.S. Congress needs to be a strong advocate for human rights
in Indonesia and elsewhere. Representative Kennedy's
letter is an opportunity for members to express their commitment to
freedom of expression as a fundamental value and human right that must
be defended everywhere!
You can e-mail your
representative directly through Amnesty International's website.
Letter to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Dr. H Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President of the Republic of Indonesia
We the undersigned members of the U.S. Congress respectfully call to
your attention the cases of Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage who, in May
2005, were convicted and sentenced for their involvement in the
legitimate and peaceful exercise of their freedom of expression in
Abepura, Papua on December 1, 2004. Amnesty International has declared
the two 'prisoners of conscience.' We also call your attention to reports by reputable sources that Mr.
Karma was beaten by the police following his arrest. There are also
reliable reports that police at the scene of the demonstration beat a
human rights defender who sought to photograph the violent police action
against peaceful demonstrators.
The unjust imprisonment of Mr. Karma and Mr. Pakage occurs in the
context of a crackdown on Papuan human rights defenders, which has
included general public threats by senior military officials and
intimidation directed at individuals by anonymous figures. This
campaign of threats and intimidation has targeted Papuans who met with
and gave testimony about human rights abuse to a senior UN human rights
representative when she visited Papua at your government's
invitation in June 2007.
We urge you to take action to ensure the immediate and unconditional
release of Mr. Karma and Mr. Pakage. Any security officials who
mistreated Mr. Karma or who may have employed inappropriate force
against peaceful demonstrators should be prosecuted. Such steps would
be an important indicator that Indonesia, as a member of the UN Human
Rights Council, takes its international obligations to fully respect
universally recognized human rights.
In accordance with all applicable rules and regulations, we thank you
for your attention to this matter.
Following the forced resignation of former Indonesian President Suharto
in 1998, over 230 political prisoners were released in a series of
presidential amnesties, and repressive legislation limiting freedom of
expression fell out of use for a brief period of time. Since early 2001,
however, such legislation has once again been used with increasing
frequency against government critics, including labor and political
activists, journalists, and activists in Aceh and West Papua. A number
of human rights organizations have also been charged with
what appears to be an attempt by the authorities to discredit them and
disrupt their legitimate work.
Amnesty International has documented more than 60 prisoners of
conscience sentenced to prison terms since 1998. Hundreds more political
prisoners have faced trial in the provinces of Aceh, Papua and Maluku,
and Amnesty International believes that many may have been convicted
solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of
In May of 2005 Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were convicted for taking
part in a peaceful demonstration commemorating the 1962 declaration of
Papuan independence. Karma and Pakage's
convictions came under Articles 154 and 155 of the Indonesian Criminal
code. These articles criminalized 'public
expression of feelings of hostility, hatred or contempt toward the
government' and prohibited
'the expression of such feelings or views through the public
media.' In July 2007, Indonesia's
Constitutional Court overturned these laws --
yet dozens of people remain in prison for exercising their fundamental
right to freedom of expression. Indeed, earlier this year, several
people convicted of waving pro-independence flags in front of the
President in Ambon in the Malukus in 2007 were convicted of treason and
sentenced up to life in prison.
According to Amnesty International and other reports, Indonesian police
who arrested Mr. Karma at the site of the demonstration subsequently
beat him en route to the police station. At least four people were
reportedly injured when police opened fire on the peaceful crowd. Police also reportedly beat a human rights monitor who attempted to
photograph the police attack on the crowd gathered for the flag raising
On May 16, the United Nations Committee Against Torture reported the
following regarding Indonesia: "The Committee
is deeply concerned about the numerous ongoing credible and consistent
allegations, corroborated by the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other
sources, concerning routine and widespread use of torture and
ill-treatment of suspects in police custody, especially to extract
confessions or information to be used in criminal proceedings." | <urn:uuid:10b27dd9-5c82-4077-87f3-b8e1779ccadd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://etan.org/action/action4/31alert.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929583 | 1,392 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Codex Alimentarius is Latin for "food code." Originating in 1962, it was formed by the United Nations to set global standards governing every aspect of food production, distribution and trade. However, it's starting to become an issue of some controversy. Supporters claim it is a benign and necessary set of guidelines that facilitate the goals of international trade. They say that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is facilitated via this international "food code," because it sets trustworthy standards insuring the quality of food products we import and export.
However, there is a growing body of critics who believe that the Codex Alimentarius is over-stepping its mandate, and it actually threatens to dramatically reduce our health freedoms. Critics also charge that we, health-conscious consumers, will lose our ability to purchase many of the organic foods, nutritional supplements and herbs we take for granted today. They warn that the 60% of the world's population that depend upon herbal medicines will not be able to afford the pharmaceutical drugs that will replace them. The new laws requiring genetically modified crops, pesticides, hormones and antibiotics in foods will be cost-prohibitive to people living in developing nations, and that billions of people may die as a result of these policies. They say that the new guidelines are being influenced by large food, chemical, agricultural, and pharmaceutical companies who will profit from the changes.
In the United Stated our healthcare rights and freedoms are currently protected by a Federal law enacted in 1994 called Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). DSHEA considers nutritional supplements and herbs to be foods and as such, there is no upper limit on dosages. This act protects our rights as consumers and guarantees the rights we currently have. As long as this Act remains in effect we probably don't have to worry much about regarding the restrictive nature of Codex Alimentarius.
What's the problem?
Critics of the current situation believe that there is a good chance that without consumer participation, the US Congress will adopt Codex Alimentarius for our import and export standards, and act to repeal or significantly weaken DSHEA. In fact there are several bills in Congress right now that attempt to weaken DSHEA. Why would they do this? Because the big winners are the large corporations that are able to meet the new standards and/or own patents protected and promoted by Codex Alimentarius. Critics say that these large companies are lobbying Congress for these changes, while assuring the public that nothing much is going to change and we shouldn't be alarmed.
The question is: Is this alarmist claim true? Some people do get worked up over nothing and there are charges of misinformation being made by both sides. Our assessment is that this situation is worth monitoring. It's certainly logical that if there were billions of dollars to be made by large corporations that they would have a vested position in the issue. Codex Alimentarius is published so we can see what it contains, and it's now being implemented in other countries so we can see what is changing there.
Who are you going to believe, me or your own two eyes?
Here are a few facts we received from Rima Laibow, MD:
- Codex Alimentarius requires that all meats, poultry, fish, fruit and vegetables must be irradiated by Dec. 31, 2009.
- Codex Alimentarius requires that all dairy cattle are to be given Monsanto bovine growth hormone by Dec. 31, 2009.
- Codex Alimentarius reclassifies vitamin and mineral supplements as toxins and dramatically limits their dosage and availability.
- Many nations have already harmonized their laws with Codex Alimentarius making it their de facto law. This has already been approved by the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and others.
- Codex Alimentarius allows significant trade sanctions to be levied against noncompliant nations.
- In 2005 there were five bills submitted to congress to weaken or eliminate DSHEA.
The teleseminar below is an interview with two highly qualified observers. They are well educated in the details of Codex Alimentarius, Western medicine, and the manipulation of public opinion. Check it out. Pass it along to your friends.
It was only through the awareness and actions of the American consumers that DSHEA was passed in 1994. We encourage you to read and listen to all you can about this topic and develop your own opinion. | <urn:uuid:8a61a900-3685-4d99-b219-ba44af3fe500> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.innovativehealing.com/specific-topics/codex-alimentarius | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960529 | 903 | 3.109375 | 3 |
The CCPA released today a study by Osgoode Hall tax professor Neil Brooks and York’s Thaddeus Hwong called The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of Taxation: A Comparison of High and Low-tax Countries. The study compares 50 indicators of social and economic performance. The full study is available here and a condensed summary follows:
Tax levels in Canada have always been substantially below those in most other industrialized countries, and they have been significantly reduced over the past few years, yet the crusade against them continues unabated. In 1998, all taxes collected in Canada amounted to 36.7% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Due in part to tax cuts, this percentage fell almost 3 percentage points to 33.5% by 2004.
Tax levels in the average industrialized country that belongs to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was over 2 percentage points higher than in Canada in 2004, 35.9% of GDP, and in the average European country it was almost 5 percentage points higher, 38.3% of GDP. Yet the federal government’s major priority, as reflected in its first budget tabled last spring, and in statements made following the tabling of its Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year 2005–06 this fall, in which the government committed a $13.2 billion surplus to debt reduction, is more tax cuts.
It is often difficult to know precisely what taxcutters hope to achieve through more tax cuts and what evidence they think supports their claims. Their contention that Canadians would be better off if taxes were reduced is usually asserted as an article of faith. However, one way of attempting to answer the question of whether the Canadian government should be cutting taxes even more is to look across countries and compare the social and economic outcomes in high-taxed countries with the social and economic outcomes in low- taxed countries. Is it really the case, as assumed by those who think taxes need to be further reduced in Canada, that the quality of life of the average citizen is higher in low-taxed countries than high-taxed countries?
That is the question we undertake to answer in this study. We compare high- and low-tax countries on a wide range of social and economic indicators. As representative of low-tax countries, we study all six Anglo-American countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. As representative of high-tax countries, we study the four Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.
If the story about taxes and the welfare state told by tax-cutters has any credibility, the results should be evident in comparisons between industrialized countries with low taxes and those with high taxes. Indeed, if the story is even remotely true, one would expect those countries with even marginally higher tax levels than Canada to be modern-day economic basket cases and to be no better off in terms of social outcomes or of the quality of the lives enjoyed by their citizens.
… Findings from this study show that high-tax countries have been more successful in achieving their social objectives than low-tax countries. Interestingly, they have done so with no economic penalty. On the majority of social measures we examine, high-tax countries rank significantly above low-tax countries. On a number of the economic indicators we examine, low-tax countries rank above high-tax countries, but the difference is almost never significant.
We examine 50 indicators that are commonly used to measure a country’s social progress. On over half of these indicators (29), the outcomes in high-tax Nordic countries are significantly better than those in low-tax Anglo-American countries, and on most of the remaining indicators (13), social outcomes are somewhat better in Nordic countries. In short:
• Nordic countries have significantly lower rates of poverty across almost all social groups;
• as an indicator of how well a country protects the vulnerable, the elderly have significantly higher pension income replacement rates in Nordic countries and the income received by those with disabilities relative to the population is much higher;
• income is distributed significantly more equally in Nordic countries;
• on every measure we examine there is significantly more gender equality in Nordic countries;
• Nordic workers have significantly more economic security;
• in terms of health outcomes, infant mortality rates are significantly lower and life expectancy is longer in Nordic countries;
• in terms of educational outcomes, a greater percentage of the population completed secondary school and university in Nordic countries and 15-year old students score higher on math tests;
• as a measure of personal physical security, homicide rates are lower in Nordic countries;
• as indicators of the degree of community and social solidarity in a country and general happiness and life satisfaction, there is significantly more trust among individuals and for public institutions in Nordic countries;
• there is significantly less drug use in Nordic countries; individuals have significantly more leisure time; individuals have more freedom, according to a widely referred to index of economic freedom; individuals report more life satisfaction; and they are more likely to discuss politics with friends;
• Nordic countries rank much higher on an index of environmental performance, and the Nordic countries give significantly more in foreign aid than Anglo-American countries.
Low-tax Anglo-American countries rank higher than Nordic countries on only seven out of the 50 social indicators. In each case, it is a trivial difference that could be easily due to chance: a slightly higher percentage of the 25–64 age group completed either college or university; 15-year-olds did slightly better on reading and science tests; a slightly greater percentage of people report a greater sense of freedom; there are on average a lower number of suicides; and a slightly greater percentage of individuals report they are very happy.
With respect to the pursuit of economic goals, the indicators we examine suggest hightax countries have achieved their social success with no economic penalty. Over the past 15 years, the low-taxed Anglo-American countries have experienced slightly greater economic growth than the high-taxed Nordic countries, but it would appear that the Nordic countries have positioned themselves for greater growth in the future. Of the 33 economic indicators examined, the Nordic countries lead on 19 indicators and the Anglo-American countries on 14.
The high-tax Nordic countries have:
• a marginally higher GDP per capita;
• a higher GDP per hour worked;
• significantly lower unit labour costs and significantly lower rates of inflation;
• higher budget and current account surpluses;
• a higher total labour participation rate, and a higher female labour participation rate;
• much higher rates of household saving and net national saving;
• a higher ranking on indexes measuring innovation;
• a higher percentage of GDP spent on research and development and a higher percentage of their workers working as research and development researchers;
• a higher level of network readiness;
• a higher percentage of broadband subscribers;
• a significantly higher ranking on their growth competitiveness by the World Economic Forum; and
• a higher ranking on Richard Florida’s global creativity index. Anglo-American countries have:
• a higher rate of growth in GDP per capita between 1990 and 2004;
• a higher rate of growth in GDP per hour worked from 1995 to 2004;
• a higher rate of growth in multi-factor productivity from 1995 to 2002;
• a lower national debt;
• a significantly higher growth in employment from 1992 to 2002 (this is the only measure on which Anglo-American countries exceed Nordic countries in a way that is statistically significant);
• a lower rate of general unemployment, a marginally lower rate of long-term unemployment, a marginally higher rate of male labour participation rates;
• a greater change in fixed capital formation; and
• greater inward foreign direct investment and inward foreign direct investment performance.
In making their case for lower taxes, taxcutters in Canada frequently point to the United States, which has one of the lowest tax levels of the industrialized countries in the world, and suggest that Canadian society should strive to become more like American society. So, in addition to comparing social and economic outcomes broadly between low- and high-tax countries, we highlight the social and economic outcomes in the United States and ask: should Canadians really want their country to become more like the United States? To provide some basis for comparison, we compare the outcomes in the United States with those of another country Canada might wish to emulate: Finland.
Our findings show Americans bear incredibly severe social costs for living in one of the lowesttaxed countries in the world. For a strikingly large number of social indicators, the United States ranks not only near the bottom of the 19 industrialized countries, but it ranks as the most dysfunctional country by a considerable margin:
• Poverty is widespread. A greater percentage of Americans, and in particular children and the elderly, live in poverty in the United States than in any other industrialized country in the world.
• The income of vulnerable citizens, such as the elderly and those with disabilities, is much lower compared to others in the United States than almost all other industrialized countries.
• Living conditions are shockingly unequal. By any measure, income is distributed more unequally in the United States than in every other industrialized country. In 2004, America’s richest 1% held more of the nation’s wealth than the bottom 90% (34.7% versus 29.9%).
• Ordinary workers in the United States have less economic security than workers in any other industrialized country (as shown by a comprehensive index of economic security developed by the International Labour Organization).
• As an indication of gender inequality, women in the United States still hold a relatively small percentage of positions in the professions, legislative bodies, and senior civil service. In contrast to the United States, Finland ranks near the top of the industrialized world on each of the following social indicators:
• The percentage of the population living below the poverty line is very low (for example, only 3.4% of children).
• The elderly and those with disabilities have incomes that are close to those of the rest of the population.
• Income is distributed relatively equally.
• Women hold about 50% of the positions in legislative bodies and senior civil service.
• Workers in Finland enjoy one of the highest levels of economic security among workers in the industrialized world.
It is well known that there are profound problems with the United States’ health and education system — where values such as selectivity, diversity, and choice predominate and a large percentage of the spending is done through the pri vate sector. The United States spends over twice as much of its GDP on health care than Finland (15% versus 7.4%), and yet U.S. health care outcomes remain far worse — indeed, worse than most other industrialized countries. For example, the percentage of children who die at birth in the United States is the highest among industrialized countries. Finns live longer than Americans, and the rate of infant mortality in Finland is less than one-half the American rate.
The United States spends a greater percentage of its GDP on education than Finland spends, yet the Finnish education system — which is a comprehensive public system based on equity and the professionalism and training of teachers — achieves much better outcomes. American 15-year-olds rank near the bottom of OECD countries when it comes to science and math skills. By contrast, Finnish 15-year-olds rank first in the world in science and math skills. American students also rank relatively low on reading skills, while the Finnish students come first in the world in this area as well.
This pattern, with the United States ranking about the lowest among industrialized countries and Finland near the top, is evident on most of the remaining social indicators we examine — relating to social goals such as personal security, community and social solidarity, self-realization, democratic rights, and environmental governance. We will not review them all here, except to note that, although Canada’s Conservatives appear ready to adopt aspects of the United States’ justice system, such as mandatory criminal sentencing, the United States is by a wide margin the most violent industrialized country in the world (measured by the murder rate). Americans themselves express the third lowest measure of confidence in their justice system, in a tie with Belgium. Italians and Australians have slightly less confidence in their justice systems.
This brief review of how well industrialized countries have achieved their social goals shows the United States ranks lower than most countries on a wide range of social indicators, suggesting that the form of social organization used to accommodate contemporary life in the United States has gone profoundly amiss. Some commentators dismiss the miserable social outcomes achieved by the American social contract by noting that it is nevertheless one of the wealthiest countries in the world. GDP per capita is higher in the United States than in most other industrialized countries. The results of this study, however, suggest a trade-off does not have to be made between material prosperity and social equity.
In addition, there are countless problems with using GDP per capita as a measure of economic well-being. It takes no account of how the wealth that is produced in a country is distributed. For example, even though the United States experienced strong economic growth in recent years, between 1998 and 2004 the income of the typical (median) American family fell by 3.8%. Moreover, per capita GDP is high in the United States primarily because Americans work many hours more than citizens of other countries. Low-income Americans often have to work at two or three jobs just to survive.
Recent economic growth in the United States has also come at high long-term economic costs. The federal government budget is on an unsustainable path: the U.S. has the largest deficit in relation to its GDP of any industrialized nation; its trade deficit is the largest in the world, a staggering $805 billion last year; and, the U.S. also has one of the lowest savings rates of the industrialized countries. Moreover, even with its wealth, flexible economy and low taxes, the United States is not the most competitive country in the world. From 2001 to 2005, in its comprehensive survey of world economies, the business- dominated private World Economic Forum has determined that the most competitive country in the world was Finland. In 2005–06, Finland was ranked as the second most competitive country after Switzerland. | <urn:uuid:93b58772-6108-42db-a745-08b1531c34bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2006/12/06/taxes-and-outcomesnordic-vs-anglo-american/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954506 | 2,915 | 2.40625 | 2 |
MAILED: Oct. 6, 1997|
EAU CLAIRE -- The Augmentative and Alternative Communication Clinic at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire got a new look for the 1997-98 academic year, said Thomas W. King, AAC Clinic supervisor.
The remodeling was a combined effort between the communication disorders and the special education programs, King said.
The AAC Clinic, which is part of the Center for Communication Disorders in the Human Sciences and Services building, has had two rooms to use in the past.
"It was physically too small of a space for our purposes," King said. "We need a larger space to work in, and these renovations will gave us that."
According to King, rooms 133, 135 and 136 had been faculty offices. The remodeling knocked out the wall between rooms 135 and 136, creating one clinic lab for patients. Room 133 is an observation area for family and clinic workers, with a one-way mirror in the wall between room 133 and the new lab. The lab also will include the clinic's speech-output computers and other equipment.
Besides giving the clinic more room, the remodeling also makes the labs more accessible to patients in wheelchairs. The door entering the lab was widened and the extra space in the lab makes it easier for a patient in a wheelchair to move around, King said.
"We are all very excited," King said. "It will not only benefit the clinic as far as physical space, but it will benefit the students and many of our patients as well."
Janice B. Wisner
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Updated: Oct. 6, 1997 | <urn:uuid:808831bd-cb09-477a-ab8e-8d198074cc6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uwec.edu/newsbureau/release/past/1997/97-10/106AACclinic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959869 | 341 | 1.921875 | 2 |
We Energies Continues To Warn Of Scammers
Customers get alert when paying their bill on the utility company's website.
We Energies continues to alert customers of a scam that promises to pay utility bills through federal stimulus money offered by the Obama administration.
The utility company has placed an alert on its Web site telling customers who pay their bill online of the threat.
The notice reads:
"Alert: A scam promising federal money to pay utility bills has been discovered. No such program exists, and payments made using bank routing numbers in the scam will be rejected. Please use your current banking information to make online payments."
We Energies' spokesperson Cathy Schulze said Tuesday the alert was placed on the site in response to a nationwide scam that arose a few weeks ago.
"Fortunately we did not see a huge impact here with our customers," she said. "It was very minimal, thankfully."
A couple of We Energies customers were approached by the scam artists, Schulze said.
Schulze advises customers to be skeptical of people that contact them with a phone call.
"If we do call people, we typically are not asking them for personal information," said Schulze, who added that if customers have questions about their service, billing assistance programs or their bill, they should call We Energies.
Residential customers can reach We Energies at (800) 242-9137. | <urn:uuid:2f6f4793-702c-4406-919a-89f070f2dec0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sussex.patch.com/articles/we-energies-continues-to-warn-of-scammers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966104 | 297 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Nov. 6, 2008 In France, drinking water is transported to the tap via an 850,000 km network of underground pipes: the condition of this network directly influences the quality of the water and the health of millions of consumers. Such a large network – accounting for more than 80% of the value of this national legacy, i.e., the installations of a service providing the population with drinking water – is of major importance to the public bodies managing this resource.
How should the frequency of equipment renewal be assessed and these works be prioritized while containing costs? To aid the managers of this network, Cemagref scientists in Bordeaux have developed software that can forecast the network’s aging, thus identifying the pipes that are at the highest risk.
With time, the hydraulic performance and the quality of the water transported by the pipes in place decrease and water losses and damage to the infrastructure increase. The latter phenomena, which can cause spectacular damage (floods, water cuts, disturbances in road traffic), are generally recorded by the agencies responsible for their maintenance within the local government bodies. Corrosion, an increase in water pressure in the network, destabilization of the underlying land by roadworks, the conditions at installation, and age can all cause damage. While the duration and lifespan of the pipes can be long: some, put in place more than 150 years ago, continue to function properly; certain sections, however, deteriorate more quickly and should be replaced earlier.
Modeling the risk of damage
To assist the managers of this network in evaluating how often various sections of the network need to be replaced, as well as in organizing and planning the works in sync with roadworks, for example, Cemagref’s Netwater team scientists are developing tools that can supervise network aging, from data collection to the decision to renew pipes. Software called Casses, on the market since October 2007, was developed after research lasting more than 10 years.
The approach chosen estimates, for a future period, the number of breakages that each section of piping will undergo. It is based on data available in the archives that describes the pipes, their environment, and the past history of damage. Initiated in 1994, this work was pursued within a CARE-W 1 European research program, from 1999 to 2002, during which comparison with field data made it possible to assess the relevance of this approach and refine it. Since then, the Casses software has been successfully applied in France and abroad, notably in the cities of Oslo and Las Vegas. Designed to adapt to the diversity of management practices, it has been shown to perform well in predicting the number of future breakages and in identifying the pipes that are at the greatest risk.
Evaluating the extent of damage
A second software program, baptized Criticité, also developed and marketed by Cemagref, was designed to quantify the distruptions in water distribution when a section is damaged. Distribution is not disrupted in the same proportions if the damage occurs at the end of the network that serves a few users or in a water main coming out of a reservoir. For a given event, the interaction between its probability, calculated by Casses, and its impact, provided by Criticité, provides information on the extent of the risk related to this event. Studies are ongoing so the users that are particularly deprived of water as well as those who have no water can be taken into account, as the current version of the software forecasts.
Mutualizing the data of small towns so that they can take advantage of statistical modeling: such is the objective of the SIROCO program. This software was developed by Cemagref and G2C Environnement R&D. Individually, these small towns do not have sufficient data for an optimal use of the Casses forecasting models. In addition to Casses and Criticité, SIROCO uses a geographical information system, the Cart@jour GIS to mutualize data. This is an integrated system that allows the user to prioritize the sections of the network that are candidates for renewal.
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:f71e490d-b56c-4128-92e0-637519d53d8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081106065552.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952236 | 861 | 2.796875 | 3 |
The recipe he's referring to is:
Traditional, American Style, Thin Crust Pizza
Flour(a strong bread type flour with 12 to 13% protein) 100.00%
Compressed Yeast: 1.50%
Olive Oil/Vegetable Oil: 3.00%
Water (70 to 75F) 55 to 58.00%
How to Prepare:
Standard Dough Making Procedure:Put water into the mixing bowl, add the salt and sugar, then add the flour and the yeast. Mix at low speed for about 2 minutes, then mix at medium speed until all of the flour has been picked up into the dough. Now add the oil and mix in for 2 minutes at low speed, then mix the dough at medium speed until it develops a smooth, satiny appearance (generally about 8 to 10 minutes using a planetary mixer). The dough temperature should be between 80 and 85F. Immediately divide the dough into desired weight pieces and round into balls. Wipe the dough balls with salad oil, and place into plastic dough boxes. Make sure that the dough balls are spaced about 2 inches apart. Cross stack the uncovered dough boxes in the cooler for 2 hours as this will allow the dough balls to cool down thoroughly, and uniformly. The dough boxes can then be nested, with the top box being covered. This will prevent excessive drying of the dough balls.The dough balls will be ready to use after about 12 hours of refrigeration. They can be used after up to 72 hours of refrigeration with good results. To use the dough balls, remove a quantity from the cooler and allow them to warm at room temperature for approximately 2-3 hours. The dough can then be shaped into skins, or shaped into pans for proofing. Unused dough can remain at room temperature (covered to prevent drying) for up to 6 hours after removal from the cooler.Note: If using ACTIVE DRY YEAST (ADY) only half the amo0unt as compressed yeast. Then suspend the ADY in a small quantity of warm water (105 – 110F) and allow it to stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Add this to the water in the mixing bowl, but do not add the salt and sugar to the water, instead, add the salt and sugar to the flour, then begin mixing as directed.If using INSTANT DRY YEAST (IDY) us only 1/3 the amount as compressed yeast. Add the IDY to the flour along with the salt and sugar, and begin mixing as directed. | <urn:uuid:635b6ca1-62b4-455b-8991-e84337981b26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=2019.msg20038 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922671 | 522 | 1.890625 | 2 |
CPS Merged Outgoing Rotation GroupsNBER extracts of the famous CPS Annual Earnings File (also known as the Merged Outgoing Rotation Groups) Extracts from the Current Population Surveys monthly cover 1979 through the most recently completed calendar year. Fifty or more variables each month are selected for continuity across years. See the FAQ for a list of variables. adddition notes, and errata. Documentation is available in Word and PDF format. and at /morg/docs There are 25,000 records or more per month. This subset includes all adult respondents in the outgoing rotation group each month.
Frequently Asked Questions:What is the CPS?
This is the monthly household survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to measure labor force participation and employment. 50-60,000 households per month are queried. Is this a panel survey?
Not really. Households are not followed if they move. But see the next question. What are the Outgoing Rotation Groups?
Every household that enters the CPS is interviewed each month for 4 months, then ignored for 8 months, then interviewed again for 4 more months. Usual weekly hours/earning questions are asked only at households in their 4th and 8th interview. These outgoing interviews are the only ones included in the extracts. New households enter each month, so one fourth the households are in an outgoing rotation each month. Is this the same as the March Annual Demographic Survey?
No, income and demographic questions asked in March are not available on the extracts. Weekly earnings are available, annual earnings are not. Basic demographic variables (age, sex, race, and marital status) are available, but not detailed information about children's ages (except 1984-1993) or annual income. What do the weights sum to?
The total of weights for all the persons in the sample sums to the total population 16 years of age or greater. But only one fourth of the sample is in an outgoing rotation group. So 12 months of data sums to three times the total population. Is software included on the extracts?
No. Can I use a spreadsheet?
No, the files are much too large for that. You will need some experience with a statistical package or database language to make use of this data. What format are the files?
We convert the original EBCDIC files to Stata binary save files for ease of use. The Stata files are compact and portable across operating systems and machine types. A year's data can be read off the disc in only a few seconds. If you prefer another statistical package, the program STAT/Transfer from Circle systems will convert Stata files into many popular PC formats. Can I get just the most recent year or years?
No. When you order the most recent year or years, you get the previous years FREE. What variables are included?
The following list is typical, there is some variation over the years:
Note: The variable "How many weeks a year do you get paid for?", is NOT on the extracts becuase it has considerably less utility than one might anticipate. The question is asked only of the 12% of earners who report their earnings as an annual amount. Almost 90% of these earners report working 52 weeks per year. | <urn:uuid:91919548-fbe2-44d6-9ac4-4f957006adf9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nber.org/data/morg.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9441 | 667 | 1.8125 | 2 |
In my previous post I suggested several variants of computer security translated by different laws. Now I’d like to get to ciphers…again viewed by law.
So, how does the law see encryption and decryption issues through glasses of security standard? First of all, it says there simply should be encryption/decryption tools available.
ENCRYTION AND DECRYPTION (A) – § 164.312(a)(2)(iv)
Where this implementation specification is a reasonable and appropriate safeguard for a covered entity, the covered entity must:
“Implement a mechanism to encrypt and decrypt electronic protected health information.”
Understood only qualified people can have access to inner sensitive data. However, again no specific hard- or software mentioned. Another critical component is auditing.
Audit Controls – Standard § 164.312(b)
This standard has no implementation specifications. It is important to point out that the Security Rule does not identify data that must be gathered by the audit controls or how often the audit reports should be reviewed. A covered entity must consider its risk analysis and organizational factors, such as current technical infrastructure, hardware and software security capabilities, to determine reasonable and appropriate audit controls for information systems…
Again and again, we read reasonable and appropriate security, encryption, audit…Each company decides for itself what is reasonable or not and having professional people responsible for IT security questions is a good idea. For an amateur, today’s world of emerging encryption opportunities can become a nightmare.
Computer security management is not only about introducing anti-viruses and password managers, it’s a multi-layer piece of cake and regular security audit is one of the top layers. You decide what means to use to safeguard privacy and data security, but you cannot omit security audit, and still it’s up to you to decide such things as audit frequency and means of audit. Kind of freedom of choice.
*Information Security Law: The Emerging Standard for Corporate Compliance by Thomas J. Smedinghoff. | <urn:uuid:659bc291-94af-452d-9dd0-dfed4bc2d23b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.crackpassword.com/2009/07/encryption-and-decryption-from-security-law-perspective-part-ii/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925055 | 419 | 2.5 | 2 |
Respect in the Workplace
Respect and how it is displayed can be highly individual and vary among cultures. One thing that is common for all of us, though, is the feeling that disrespect evokes. It feels rude, unjust, and hurtful. When we are disrespected, we feel unappreciated, undervalued, and threatened to some degree. When we fail to receive respect in our work lives, our jobs become unbearable and relationships deteriorate.
One interesting question is whether all persons are worthy of respect at some level. What about in your workplace? Are all of your colleagues worthy of your respect? When does one become unworthy of your respect?
Mike Henry at the Lead Change Group wrote an article about respect that caught myattention. Here is a snippet: “No one wants to have their respect demanded, manipulated, coerced or cajoled. Respect is a push, not a pull. There is always room for more respect to be given, but not taken. When I focus on myself, I won’t get any and I won’t give any. We all lose.”
A common dynamic with respect is that when we are disrespected, we tend to withdraw our respect immediately, often acting in a disrespectful manner right back. This creates conflict that stems from a cycle of disrespect.
You can’t demand respect from others. You can’t get more respect (relatively speaking) from a relationship by withdrawing the respect you give. The only part of the respect equation that you can change is how much respect you give to others. And with consistency, perhaps, over the long-term, you may be able to earn respect.
What are your thoughts on respect?
This post was originally published on the Intuit QuickBase Team Leadership Blog. | <urn:uuid:584c33c2-e240-4e6c-bdee-46c149a48ee5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://evarykr.com/2012/05/respect-in-the-workplace/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958203 | 371 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Coco's Story The house wasn’t abandoned, and her owner lived upstairs. Yet, Coco, a three-year-old retriever mix, languished for days in a dark basement closet
Confined to a filthy crate, she laid there starving, getting weaker by the day. When the Detroit Police, who were searching the house on an unrelated case, came upon her in December 2008, Coco could not even raise her head. They immediately contacted MHS for help.
MHS cruelty investigators persuaded Coco’s owner to surrender her, and they raced the emaciated dog to the MHS Detroit Center for Animal Care for treatment. She weighed just 27 pounds, half the weight of a healthy dog. Within 24 hours, Coco began to respond to medical attention, bending her limbs, raising her head and, eventually, standing up. Soon, Coco was taking a few steps and revealing her sweet personality.
She recovered in the home of an MHS foster volunteer and staff member, where she continued to show her loving, affectionate and gentle character. In February 2009, she attended an MHS adoption event, where she was adopted by Julie Moehlig of Clarkston.
Months after her tragic ordeal, Coco, who was re-named “Abby,” is currently training to be certified as a therapy dog. Coco has already visited assisted living residences and nursing homes, where she charmed residents with her sweet and loving personality.
Off duty, she also has a close affection for two stuffed bunnies - one of which was given to her following her rescue, and the other following her adoption.
“She keeps the two of them together and every morning when she gets up, and every time we come home, she goes into the living room just to make sure they are still there,” said Moehlig. “It's just so sweet. She doesn't play with them a whole lot but she just wants them near.”
Far from her years of neglect, Coco has finally found her forever home - as well as a way to help others who may be in need of love, laughter and companionship.
Help animals like Coco by making a donation today.
The Michigan Humane Society is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions to The Michigan Humane Society are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. MHS's tax identification number is 38-1358206. Somebody Here Needs You. | <urn:uuid:0b96e052-0c4c-45ad-b915-16512b60ea60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.michiganhumane.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=12605&news_iv_ctrl=1241 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980694 | 511 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Basketball fan dribbles 370 km for tsunami-hit kids
TOKYO—Moved by the plight of children in Japan's tsunami-hit north, one diehard sports fan did something a bit different to help—dribble a basketball 370 km (231 miles), through rain and snow, to bring sports back to damaged schools.
A long-time basketball fan, Hiroshi Moriaka set out from the heart of Tokyo in mid-January to raise enough money to buy 100 basketballs for children in the northern Tohoku region, a vast swathe of which was devastated by the March 11, 2011 disaster and the ensuing nuclear crisis.
"As can be expected, in parts of Tohoku it hasn't been possible for children to participate in sports clubs and activities," the 27-year-old Moriaka said.
"I hope that this project can help them to enjoy sports again."
Many schools were damaged or destroyed by the magnitude 9.0 quake and subsequent mammoth tsunami, while the gymnasiums of those that escaped unscathed were often used as shelters for people who had lost their homes, sometimes for months.
Wearing long tights and basketball shorts, a thick cap pulled down over his ears, Moriaka dribbled the basketball from hand to hand as he walked, dodging puddles and, in some places, weaving a narrow path along snow-lined sidewalks.
A veteran of several other long-distance dribbling treks in Japan, Moriaka was cheered on by a wide variety of spectators along the way, from children who posed with him for pictures to briefcase-carrying businessmen in suits.
"I just wanted to touch the basketball for myself," said one elderly shopkeeper in Fukushima, where thousands had to leave their homes after explosions and meltdowns at a nuclear plant.
After 11 days, Moriaka finally made it to his goal of Sendai, a city that in some areas suffered severe damage from the tsunami including a flooded airport.
Moriaka lost nearly six kilograms (13.2 pounds) and said that his solitude through much of the journey got a bit daunting at times, especially the hours on end of walking alone through the wintry countryside.
The charity with which he worked, "Kids Smile," aimed to make enough to buy 300 basketballs in total. Moriaka raised 92,000 yen ($1,200) on the road and had a corporate sponsor donate 125,000 yen, but he and organizers were still waiting to see how much he earned over the internet.
No matter what, Moriaka said, the quest was worth it.
"A lot of people were cheering me on, people I met on the road as well as people on the web. Because of that I thought 'I can't give up, I have to keep going.' All those peoples' encouragement were now part of this ball," he said.
"I knew I had to make sure this basketball made it to its goal." — Reuters | <urn:uuid:3a5b7348-1f27-4082-844a-2270fb948a8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/246734/sports/basketball/basketball-fan-dribbles-370-km-for-tsunami-hit-kids | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983709 | 611 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Published on July 31st, 2012 | by John I.0
The Importance and Benefits of Social NetworksIn the last ten years or so, social networks have changed the internet in more ways than one. Although they originally began as communication hubs, social network sites have evolved into something more, allowing millions of people from all over the world to interact meaningfully over the net. The social networks have had a tremendous influence over political discussion, public development, and of course , social interaction.
It was only a few years ago that people dismissed Facebook as nothing more but a trendy website for teenagers and kids. Today, it's estimated that Facebook has around 600 million active users all over the world. Moreover, other major social network sites, like LinkedIn and Twitter, have 100 million and 200 million users respectively. So based on number alone, it's quite obvious that social network sites are one of the major components of Web 2.0.
However, the value of social network extends beyond mere numbers. Here are several examples of how social network sites have changed human interaction.
Politics and Public Services
Politics and Public Services have always been sensitive to change, and their operational models have been significantly influenced by social networks. Facebook, for example, is extensively used to promote non-profit organizations, social projects and political parties. Twitter, on the other hand, has been used by politicians to reach out to their constituents.
It's also worth mentioning that thanks to social networks, people can now share their ideas, and voice their opinions more easily. So as far as most politicians are concerned, social network sites are seen as a means of creating a more personal bond with their voters.
Marketing has always been keen to catch up with the latest trends, so it's not surprising how different industries now use social network sites to promote their products and services. The value of social network in the field of marketing is that it allows for one-on-one interaction between producers and consumers. For many companies, what this basically means is better PR with their potential customers, and as we all know, PR is one of the best forms of marketing.
Thanks to social networks, it is now easier than ever to share news without involving traditional media organizations. In fact, many news websites will present their readers with articles that their FB friends recommend. This is because webzines and news organizations know that people are more likely to read news recommended by friends and family.
Most major companies’ organizations have their own Facebook and Twitter Account. In addition to helping them promote their products and services, it is also a good way to recruit new talent. LinkedIn, in particular, is one of the best tools for Human Resource specialists who are looking for fresh talent. So if you are looking for a new job, you may want to look for them on Facebook or LinkedIn.
The Future of Social Networks
Google, Microsoft and other Internet Giants all acknowledge the power of social networks in shaping people's lives. So it's no longer a question of how to implement the latest technology or software. What's important at this point is expanding the role of social networks, and to make them even more beneficial to their users.
Author Bio: This post is written by Mark Taylor. Mark is an Internet Marketing expert, he offers seo service and is a fan of free backlink checker tool. | <urn:uuid:f621abd0-3f0b-47fa-b619-4dbe703f41bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://simplelize.com/social/the-importance-and-benefits-of-social-networks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969834 | 679 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Facts and Events
||Judge Edmund Pendleton
||9 SEP 1721
||Caroline County, Virginia, USAMap: Latitude: 38.03347 Longitude: -77.3497 Birth of Edmund Pendleton Virginia USA
||20 JUN 1743
||to Sarah Pollard
||23 OCT 1803
||Richmond, Virginia, USAMap: Latitude: 37.55376 Longitude: -77.46026 Death of Edmund Pendleton Richmond Virginia USA
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
Edmund Pendleton (September 9, 1721 – October 23, 1803) was a Virginia politician, lawyer and judge, active in the American Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Virginia legislature before and during the War. Pendleton attended the First Continental Congress alongside George Washington and Patrick Henry as Virginia's delegates and he led the conventions wherein Virginia declared independence and adopted the U.S. Constitution. Unlike Henry, Pendleton was a moderate who initially hoped for reconciliation, rather than revolt. With Thomas Jefferson and George Wythe, he revised Virginia's law code after the break with Britain. He served as the first President of the Supreme Court of Virginia. On his death, Congress passed a memorial to "another star from the splendid constellation of virtue and talents which guided the people of the United States in their struggle for independence."
Pendleton County, West Virginia (formed 1788) and Pendleton County, Kentucky (formed 1798) were both named in Pendleton's honor.
Information on Edmund Pendleton
From Appleton's Encyclopedia of American Biography:
Edmund Pendleton, statesman, was born in Caroline county, Va. 9th Sept., 1721. His grandfather, Philip, descended from Pendleton, of Manchester, Lancaster county, England, came from Norwich, Eng., to this country in 1674. Edmund began his career in the Clerk's office of Caroline county. He was licensed to practice law in 1744; became County Justice in 1751, and the following year was elected to the House of Burgesses. In 1764 was one of the Committee to memorialize the King. During the session of 1766, he gave the opinion `that the stamp act was void, for want of Constitutional authority in Parliament to pass it,' and voted in the affirmative on the resolution that the `act did not bind the inhabitants of Virginia.' He was one of the Committee of correspondence in 1763; County Lieutenant of Caroline in 1774. A member of the colonial convention, of the latter year, that was consequent on the Boston Port Bill, and was chosen by that body to the first Continental Congress. Accordingly, in company with George Washington, Peyton Randolph, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Harrison, and Richard Henry Lee, he attended in Philadelphia in 1774. As President of Virginia Convention, he was at the head of the government of the Colony from 1775 until the creation of the Virginia constitution in 1776, and was appointed President of the Committee of Safety in that year. In May, 1776, he presided again over the convention, and drew up the celebrated resolutions, by which the delegates from Virginia were instructed to propose a declaration of independence in Congress, using the words that were afterwards incorporated almost verbatim with the Declaration. As the leader of the Cavalier or Planter class, he was the opponent of Patrick Henry, and as leader of the Committee of Public Safety, he was active in the control of the military and naval operations, and of the foreign correspondence of Virginia. On the organization of the State Government, he was chosen Speaker of the House, and appointed, with Chancellor George Wythe and Thomas Jefferson, to revise the Colonial laws. In 1777, he was crippled for life by a fall from his horse; but the same year he was re-elected Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and President of the Court of Chancery. In 1779, he became President of the Court of Appeals, holding the office until his death. He presided over the State Convention, which ratified the Constitution of the United States in 1788. His masterly advocacy of the document gained him the encomium from Jefferson that `taken all in all, he was the ablest man in debate that I ever met with.' He received very large grants of land from the State, and having no children, was ever generous to his nieces and nephews, whose descendants still hold his memory in tender veneration. He married twice--1st. Elizabeth Roy, 2nd. Sarah Pollard. He died in 1803. | <urn:uuid:3adf9c9a-ef2f-4c39-b3e7-edb240062ac2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Edmund_Pendleton_(7) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971841 | 944 | 2.6875 | 3 |
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Why I'm launching Brighton's Seagull Appreciation Society
It's official – we are a county of animal lovers. Dogs, cats, reptiles and pigs all have been rehomed thanks to The Argus Give a Pet a Home campaign.
Brighton and Hove has even been named the dog capital of the country.
So, why, oh why, is there still such hatred towards the most important animal in the city – the seagull.
Before you screw up the paper or chuck something at the computer screen in angst, let me explain.
Yes, seagulls are noisy, occasionally vicious and prone to steal your fish and chips while you walk down the Palace Pier .
They are also extremely predatorial and love tucking into a rubbish bag, timing their swoops ten minutes before the bin men arrive.
But, despite all of this, they are an essential part of Sussex society.
It’s what makes our county different, it’s part of what sets Brighton and Hove apart.
This is because the south coast attracts a better class of seagull. In many ways, they mirror humans.
I like to think that the seafront is prime seagull real estate – the place where the successful go to live and the young go to explore the world.
All those birds swooping down to steal a chip, well that’s just youthful bravado – like climbing trees or doing a wheelie on a bike.
As you move inland, then you start to come across those who are slightly older, looking for a bit more of a quiet life and starting to settle down.
I’m sure if you look closely, there is the seagull equivalent of the “yummy mummy” brigade out Hove way.
But despite their similarities, these fine birds are massively unappreciated.
We have all been guilty of throwing a few cusses at the direction of one as it lands on a freshly-cleaned car.
I will openly admit this does turn a bit more aggressive when a young mother bird is constantly squawking at 4.30am in the morning outside my bedroom window.
But this is all part of the attraction – seagulls are a thing to unite around, a topic of reliable conversation which you know everyone can get involved in.
Britain has the weather, Brighton and Hove has the seagull. It’s the animal we love to hate.
Every visitor complains about them, every resident has a story to tell about them.
They are an essential element of living in the city and without them, life would be a lot more quiet and boring. Plus a new nickname would have to be found for Brighton and Hove Albion.
So, from today I propose to start a Seagull Appreciation Society and champion the rights of our city’s favourite animal.
I do not expect a statue or an annual celebration, just a little bit of respect for the humble seagull.
Who is with me? I expect the majority of you are not. | <urn:uuid:ab688f3a-d9ec-4e54-ab10-3a267985bba4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9933628.Why_I_m_launching_Brighton_s_Seagull_Appreciation_Society/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94573 | 665 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Ring of the Fisherman
The Ring of the Fisherman, also known as the Piscatory Ring, Annulus Piscatoris (in Latin) and the Anello Piscatorio (in Italian), is an official part of the regalia worn by the Pope, who is head of the Catholic Church and successor of Saint Peter, who was a fisherman by trade. It used to feature a bas-relief of Peter fishing from a boat, a symbolism derived from the tradition that the apostles were "fishers of men" (Mark 1:17). The Fisherman's Ring is a signet used until 1842 to seal official documents signed by the Pope.
A letter written by Pope Clement IV to his nephew Pietro Grossi in 1265 includes the earliest known mention of the Ring of the Fisherman, which was used for sealing all the pope's private correspondence. Public documents, by contrast, were sealed by stamping a different papal seal onto lead which was attached to the document. Such documents were historically called papal bulls, named after the stamped bulla of lead.
Use of the Fisherman's Ring changed during the 15th century when it was used to seal official documents called papal briefs. That practice ended in 1842, when the wax with its guard of silk and the impression of the ring was replaced by a stamp which affixed the same device in red ink.
Through the centuries, the Fisherman's Ring came to be known via its feudal symbolism. Borrowing from the traditions developed by medieval monarchs, followers showed respect to the reigning Pope by kneeling at his feet and kissing the Fisherman's Ring.
Use practice
A new ring is cast for each Pope. Around the relief image is the reigning Pope's Latin name in raised lettering. During the ceremony of a Papal coronation or Papal inauguration, the Dean of the College of Cardinals slips the ring on the third finger of the new Pope's right hand. Upon a papal death, the ring used to be ceremonially destroyed using a papal silver hammer in the presence of other Cardinals by the Camerlengo. This used to be in order to prevent the sealing of backdated, forged documents during the interregnum, or sede vacante. Nowadays the obliteration of the signet is just a symbol of the end of rule of the pope, who used to wear that ring. This custom was also followed after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI by applying a deep cut on the signet.
Although Pope Benedict XVI wore his Fisherman's Ring daily, it is not the custom for popes to wear it at all. Generally, a new pope will either inherit the daily-wear ring of his predecessor or will choose a new daily-wear style. Pope John Paul I wore a wide gold band; in imitation of this, Pope John Paul II wore a wide gold crucifix in the form of a ring. Generally, popes of the past wore episcopal rings in keeping with the fashions of the time. Pope Pius XII, for example, often wore a heavily ornate ring set with a stone. Pope Pius IX most often wore a cameo of himself, made entirely of tiny diamonds, whilst Pope Pius X wore a simple, smaller stone-set ring.
- Dictionary : RING OF THE FISHERMAN - Catholic Culture
- Sammlung Philippi - The Piscatory Ring (Anulus piscatoris) of Pope Benedict XVI
- Brown, Stephen Rex (26). "Pope Benedict's signet ring will be destroyed using special silver papal hammer to ensure documents it was used to sign will not be forged". Retrieved 28 February 2013.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ring of the Fisherman|
- "The Ring of the Fisherman". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
- "Bulls and Briefs". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
- The Piscatory Ring (Anulus piscatoris) of Pope Benedict XVI. | <urn:uuid:a833e386-d349-4540-a40d-dde49af29d9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisherman's_Ring | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94298 | 838 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Easy to use Support all hard disk, floppy disk, flash memory, CD or DVD drive Fast clone...
Easy to use Support all hard disk, floppy disk, flash memory, CD or DVD drive Fast clone hard disk, partition of fixed disk or other devices Fast repair hard disk, floppy disk or other devices Fast backup and restore hard disk or other devices
We explain why you would want to use an external solid state drive as a storage option and explain how to use an external SSD. view it
The files from programs you install are placed contiguously, or in order, which is how you want them. We explain more on contiguity in this tutorial. view it
There are many benefits to installing a solid state drive into a notebook, which is why we'll show you how to upgrade to SSD in this episode. view it
Many thought that the you couldn't upgrade the Macbook Air's SSD hard drive. Well we found out that you can and show you how in this episode. view it
In this all-in-one episode, we include all the parts in our Solid State Drives series, including an explanation of SSD, how to upgrade your notebook, how to use external SSD, and how to upgrade your Macbook Air's SSD module. view it
Windows 7 Backup and Restore helps protect your data and makes it easy to do backups and restore from backups view it | <urn:uuid:7549e2ce-170e-4efd-8d94-f5b7be55da9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tucows.com/preview/509017/CloneDisk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924322 | 283 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Fall Issue, 2009
The Fall issue of the Journal of Genetic Genealogy (JoGG) has just been released. The largest issue in their five year history, packed with a lot of material of interest to Genetic Genealogists. With over 220 pages, you should find about 10 articles and three reports in this issue.
Among the items of interest include an announcement from Whit Athey that he will retire as editor, being replaced by Blaine Bettinger. Many of you should recognize Whit as the creator of the Haplotype Predictor utility. Whit mentions that he has observed genetic genealogists move from dependence upon the scientific community for information, to the use of DNA now being led by "amateurs."
One article is from Roberta Estes, regarding the use of DNA with Native American dispersal and the Lost Colony of Roanoke. "Where Have All the Indians Gone? Native American Eastern Seaboard Dispersal, Genealogy and DNA in Relation to Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony of Roanoke"
Another article is from Chris Pomery, "The Advantages of a Dual DNA/Documentary Approach to Reconstruct the Famiiy Trees of a Surname." Chris outlines a method for combining Y-DNA results with documentary evidence in order to reveal the origins of a surname.
There is also a "Special Section" here, regarding "Cluster Analysis and the TMRCA Problem." This includes about seven articles on:
An overview of the pitfalls and cutting edge views on topics related to calculating Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA). Whit looks at the use of mutation rates, transmissions, over-counting, rho, "genealogical structure factor," an "effective mutation rate" procedure, and more. Nice overview, if you want to take a deep dive into the following articles.
Y-STR Mountains in Haplospace, Part I: Methods by Peter Gwozdz
Y-STR Mountains in Haplospace, Part II: Application to Common Polish Clades by Peter Gwozdz
DNA Genealogy, Mutation Rates, and Some Historical Evidence Written in Y-Chromosome, Part I: Basic Principles and the Method by Anatole A. Klyosov
You will find the fall isuue of JoGG at: | <urn:uuid:da28f6b6-5a11-44a3-9efe-11f07fac4251> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hamcountry-blog.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910269 | 479 | 2 | 2 |
The IPCC has been troubled by a series of scandals in recent years, several of which center directly on its chairman — Rajendra Pachauri — who received (on behalf of the IPCC) the Nobel Prize with former Vice President Al Gore in 2007. In the aftermath of the “Climategate” revelations, which raised fundamental questions about the "scientific" character of the entire theory of manmade global warming, a series of less memorable, but still highly significant, scandals erupted under Pachauri’s leadership at the IPCC.
A debacle that was quickly named “Glaciergate” involved one of the more bizarre examples of the IPCC allegedly playing “fast and loose” with the facts. As reported for The New American in January 2010, “Glaciergate” involved claims in the supposedly-definitive scientific assessment of the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC regarding the Himalayan glaciers that were not substantiated by science. Pachauri ultimately had to concede that the claim the glaciers would simply melt away by 2035 was “a regrettable error” and that “the whole paragraph, I mean the entire section is wrong.”
Now a new book by Donna Laframboise — The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken for the World’s Top Climate Expert — offers a systematic survey of such “regrettable errors” that seem to be standard operating procedure at the IPCC. Among the more regrettable patterns of behavior at the IPCC uncovered by Laframboise is the use of graduate students to write climate reports. As Perry Chiaramonte noted in an article (“U.N. Hires Grad Students to Author Key Climate Report”) for FoxNews.com, Laframboise’s book “claims that its [IPCC’s] reports have often been written by graduate students with little or no experience in their field of study and whose efforts normally might be barely enough to satisfy grad school requirements. Grad students often co-author scientific papers to help with the laborious task of writing. Such papers are rarely the cornerstone for trillions of dollars worth of government climate funding, however — nor do they win Nobel Peace prizes.”
The weak or erroneous science afoot in the IPCC reports has been the subject of much scrutiny among critics of the UN’s involvement in the global-warming debate. Such "science" has been at the heart of plans to fundamentally restructure the entire global economy, and potentially transfer trillions of dollars in wealth from the First World to the Third World. In July of this year, an article for The New American highlighted the potential $76 trillion cost of the UN’s plan for “green technology”:
The UN is engaged in an effort to use the imagined environmental crisis as the justification for a program of sweeping economic redistribution that would shift trillions of dollars from the industrialized nations to the Third World. The UN is now demanding an “investment” of $1.9 trillion per year in “green technology” to meet the goals that the internationalists have set for the nations of the world.…
Now, the $45 trillion has grown to an even more incomprehensible $76 trillion (based on the proposed 40 years of spending $1.9 trillion per year). Calling such a reckless demand “outrageous” and “unsustainable” still falls short — what is demanded is nothing less than the conversion of much of what remains of the economies of the developed world into a means of funneling wealth to the World Bank, which will, ostensibly, redistribute those funds to the Third World.
Now, it would seem that the "science" supposedly supporting such an Earth-shattering inversion of the global economy is the product of graduate students whose academic credentials and practical experience are hardly substantial enough to justify the ends to which their writings would be employed by the United Nations. Chiaramonte highlights several of the “lead authors” for the IPCC who were “barely out of college when tapped to author the final word on the effects of climate change”:
One lead author of the 2001 edition was a trainee at the Munich Reinsurance Company in 2000 and lacked a master's degree while on the panel. He did not earn a Ph.D. until ten years later.
Another lead author in 1994 earned his master's only two years earlier and had his first academic paper published in 1995.
An Australian academic was an assistant author in 2001 and a lead author in 2007 — despite not earning her Ph.D. until 2009.
Dutch geography professor Richard Klein has been a lead author for six IPCC reports and in 1997 became a coordinating lead author. He was promoted to the panel’s most senior role while he was 28 years old — six years prior to completing his PhD.
Laframboise claims in the book that “neither [Klein's] youth nor his thin academic credentials prevented the IPCC from regarding him as one of the world’s top experts.”
In the funhouse mirror of the politics of global warming, scholarly critics of the theory (Henk Tennekes of the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute, for example) are pilloried, while grad students are the “world’s top experts.” Polls have demonstrated that much of the public has already lost all confidence in the theory of manmade climate change. As more details regarding both the "science" of climate change and the horrific human costs of the solutions for climate change that have been proposed by the United Nations, public faith in any advocate of the theory is likely to plummet. | <urn:uuid:2159d974-b10b-4d5b-b17c-87f83dd385b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/7003-grad-students-wrote-un-climate-studies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966994 | 1,171 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Facebook and Skype are reportedly once again discussing the possibility of integrating the VoIP service into the social network.
Emil Protalinski covers Facebook from all angles, closely watching it grow from its $50 billion valuation in 2010 to its internally stated goal of becoming the first trillion dollar company.
Emil is a freelance journalist writing for CNET and ZDNet. Over the years, he has covered the tech industry for multiple publications, including Ars Technica, Neowin, and TechSpot.
The popular Angry Birds game is coming to Facebook. It will leverage the social network's features and be much more "collaborative."
Three students in the seventh grade have found themselves either suspended or expelled after posting inappropriate comments about their teacher on Facebook.
John McCain is apparently a big fan of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, or at least he says that the Middle East adores him.
Have you lost your engagement ring? Turn to Facebook and get yourself a metal detector.
A new investment would suggest Facebook has jumped from a valuation of $50 billion two months ago to $65 billion today.
One of the four Facebook co-founders is reportedly interested in selling 10 million shares of the social network's stock.
The same scam that used Justin Biebier's celebrity status to spread on Facebook is also exploiting Miley Cyrus and Emma Watson.
Gh0stMarket was dubbed by the court as the "criminal equivalent of Facebook." Police estimate that the site cost credit card users as much as £16.2 million ($26.37 million).
A new study has found that visiting your own Facebook profile gives your self-esteem a boost. | <urn:uuid:48d39968-82b2-4ead-a937-fc35e84129f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/128/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952823 | 336 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Cata Cruz / Sara Weinstock
I've posted alphabet rings before but never in Sanskrit. Chile's Cata Cruz based these rings on the seven major chakras, which are wheel-like energy centres in the body, according to Hindu belief. The rings are embedded with gemstones in the colour associated with that particular chakra.
Even more jewellery: | <urn:uuid:afc4c5e6-63d1-426e-9cf3-a6c41bb3e789> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://glassfiction.blogspot.com/2011/03/cata-cruz-sara-weinstock.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920078 | 75 | 1.507813 | 2 |
An excerpt from www.HouseOfNames.com archives copyright © 2000 - 2013
Where did the English Elden family come from? What is the English Elden family crest and coat of arms? When did the Elden family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the Elden family history?
Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Elden has undergone many spelling variations, including Alden, Aldin, Aldwen, Aldyn, Aldwyn, Aldwen, Elden, Eldwyn, Eldwin, Eldin, Olden, Auden, Aldan and many more.
First found in Westmorland where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 11th century when Aldenus held estates in that county.They may have been of Cumbrian extraction.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Elden research. Another 347 words(25 lines of text) covering the years 1109, 1455, 1487, 1504, 1510, 1599, 1600, 1602, 1680, 1687, and 1858 are included under the topic Early Elden History in all our PDF Extended History products.
Another 64 words(5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Elden Notables in all our PDF Extended History products.
To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Elden were among those contributors:
Elden Settlers in the United States in the 19th Century
The Elden Family Crest was acquired from the Houseofnames.com archives. The Elden Family Crest was drawn according to heraldic standards based on published blazons. We generally include the oldest published family crest once associated with each surname.
This page was last modified on 15 February 2011 at 13:59.
houseofnames.com is an internet property owned by Swyrich Corporation. | <urn:uuid:c2311bb8-0457-487d-a233-b3c0a8bf0242> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.houseofnames.com/elden-family-crest?a=54323-224 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957611 | 551 | 2.828125 | 3 |
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October 12, 2012 8:46 pm
Like most of you I am late in planting next spring’s flowering bulbs. The big push into the ground will begin this weekend, a month later than the old books advised. My defence is that the seasons have changed since the first RHS dictionaries laid down their autumn lore. The truth is that I have been travelling and the intervening bits of September were too stormy for us to want to be burying daffodil bulbs while water streamed down our necks.
As a veteran of delay I can testify that it does not matter. It matters least of all for tulips, which can perfectly well wait until early November. When you look today at a sprouting crocus corm or a daffodil with new basal roots you may feel guilty that you have been holding their progress back. In fact they grow away perfectly well but flower a little later next spring ... This delay is a blessing in our new accelerated spring seasons so long as you are prepared for it. Established crocuses will be well into flower by the time this week’s newly planted ones start to show. In February I suffer a week of fear that my entire new intake has been eaten by a midwinter squirrel, but then it comes into full belated glory. Best of all, even if crocuses and daffodils are late-planted, they continue to appear year after year. They are particularly persistent if you sprinkle a dusting of plain bonemeal under each corm or bulb when you first plant it and then scatter another over their clumps just after they have flowered. This fertiliser does wonders for their sustained health, especially if they are competing with grass. It does nothing, of course, for nature’s great disappearing act, the fancy varieties of tulip. They fizzle out after one good year on almost every British soil.
Here are some of my hot tips among smaller outlying varieties. I have come to rely on blue-flowered forms of Iris reticulata to brighten up my later February. Unlike crocuses they are not devoured by squirrels and unlike tulips they are not decimated by badgers. In well-drained soil the excellent clear blue variety Harmony is my favourite and many of the corms will survive, with the fertiliser-treatment, for several years. The expert owner of the specialist Broadleigh Gardens nurseries, Lady Skelmersdale, told me at a recent autumn show that she had even found these irises to be better in slight shade. No doubt she is right in the balmy West Country conditions where she grows her stock, but last year, on dry Oxfordshire soil, the shade experiment was a flop.
I had excellent returns this June from a cheap variety of Allium, which would be worth trying by those of you with warm overseas gardens. The fashionable alliums are the ones with big globular heads of mauve-purple flowers that are reliable mainstays for designers of gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show. I do not like the colour and so I was delighted by simple Allium roseum, whose little flowers on foot-high stems vary from white to a pale pink with age. It is a good choice in hot gardens and I have found it long-lasting and entirely charming.
After 20 years of success under lime trees in Oxford, there is one stunning tulip that I feel secure in recommending for naturalising in grass. Little Tulipa praestans has persisted for years and looks sensational against the fresh green grass of spring and a surrounding sea of simple blue Anemone blanda. It is the six-inch-high tulip with the most intense clusters of scarlet flowers, aptly named Fusilier for the volley of bright colour that it sends off like a guardsman on parade. Regular dressing with bonemeal may have helped but I have kept clumps of this wonderful little tulip in lawn grass for many years, planting it in well-spaced little clumps to allow the scarlet to be set off by the surrounding green. A hundred bulbs go a long way if planted in this fashion.
City dwellers may be thinking this grandiose advice is all very well in the countryside but what use is it for the owner of a few pots, a front yard and a cats’ playground behind the house? The answer is that they have far more scope for bulbs than most of them realise. In deep pots, several varieties can be planted one above the other in layers. Start with the crocuses or irises on top, then put little March-flowering daffodils such as the wonderful Hawera underneath them and then, lower still, plant Angel tulips in shades of green and white if you are trendy or tulips like Couleur Cardinal and Seadov in good deep reds if you prefer impact. Underneath the tulips, a further layer of June-flowering tall alliums is also an option. Somehow the layers all reach to the light without unsettling the one above, on a principle which commuters on packed city Tube-trains will best understand. Obviously the upper layers should be deadheaded and trimmed when they are over. The result is that every single pot becomes a multi-storeyed apartment and the space for bulbs is four times bigger than you thought. This past year, I used the divine Crocus chrysanthus Blue Pearl as the top layer, out of reach of badgers’ paws, the lovely pale Narcissus WP Milner underneath it, then red-and-yellow bicoloured Tulip Gavota underneath and a final few bulbs of the tall Allium siculum with drooping flowers in early summer. My multi-storeyed planting looked pretty for nearly four months.
Recently I have been out of form with window boxes. Five years ago I got them right by mixing pale yellow and pale blue Universal pansies and interplanting them with a pale yellow and white narcissus whose name I have since lost. Even a visiting French scholar congratulated the result for its “touche feminine”. I have not changed sex since but I have not hit the same spot. I have chosen narcissi that are too small-flowered, the great mistake in window boxes that have to show up against fine masonry walls, and meanwhile the early spring seasons have played havoc with planned flowering times. This year it is back again to the Universal Pansy, one of the great additions to gardeners’ palettes in winter and spring. Select plants only of the colours you want and by limiting the range to the paler shades of pansy you will intensify the effect. These superb bedding plants will flower on and on into June and last even longer if you cut them back in early May and drench them then with strong liquid fertiliser. A spring-bedded garden without Universal pansies is missing the greatest recent trick.
Finally, a job I have already done but which most of you have forgotten. Give all your hellebores a good soaking with diluted Phostrogen or even Tomorite, aiming not at the leaves, which will soon die away, but at the centre of the root-clump. This dose has a brilliant effect on the volume of flowers on these wonderful plants next spring. It has transformed the show on my varieties of Helleborus orientalis in the past three years. Get out there and do it. I have not been wholly idle although most of the daffodils are still unplanted in their paper bags.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. You may share using our article tools.
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I Was a Neuroscience Guinea Pig: How Scientists Scrambled My Brain
SAN FRANCISCO -- I feel like the hoodlum Alex in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange: My head is held steady by a chin strap, while two technicians grease my scalp with conductive gel and slip on a cap bristling with electrodes.
I'm about to have my brain scrambled -- electrically -- in the name of medical science. Scientists are going to knock out regions of my brain while I perform a memory test.
"We're ready to do some zapping!" one of the technicians says excitedly.
I'm a guinea pig in a brain-scan experiment conceived by neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley, who is testing how memory changes with age. The "zapping" induces seizures in some subjects and cures depression in others. I don't know what it will do to me, but I'm about to find out.
Brain experiments are a dime a dozen these days. But Gazzaley's experiment is the first to combine three brain-scan technologies in one study: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which will knock out some of my memory circuits.
"Gazzaley's research is cutting edge," says Suzanne Corkin, an MIT neuroscientist. "Most cognitive neuroscience labs do not have the equipment and technical knowledge to apply all three methods."
Gazzaley directs the new imaging center here at the University of California, San Francisco's Mission Bay campus. He's testing a theory that we forget things with age because we remember too much. We can't find the important stuff among all the junk. He hopes to identify and isolate the precise neural networks that determine how we remember some things and ignore others.
The experiment could provide important insight into a wide range of age-related memory conditions, including attention deficit disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder and aging.
"We'll learn how the young brain works, how this changes through aging, and maybe guide new therapy programs to improve these abilities as they change with age," explains Gazzaley, a 38-year-old New York City native.
Gazzaley is studying the brains of 40 volunteers: 20 younger subjects who -- like me -- are between 18 and 35, and 20 older adults between 69 and 75.
The study is split into two phases: First, to locate the neural memory circuits, Gazzaley uses fMRI, a neuroimaging technology that detects blood flow. During a battery of memory tests, the technology indicates which parts of my brain are active while I try to remember and ignore certain information.
In phase two of the study, he applies EEG to record my brain's electrical activity, while simultaneously scrambling my memory circuits using TMS, which suppresses neuron activity with rapidly changing magnetic fields. If I do comparatively poorly on the test while one part of my brain is scrambled, it's likely those circuits contributed to memory function.
So, in phase one, I lie on a cold white plank inside a giant, donut-shaped Siemens Tesla fMRI scanner. The room is dark. Giant headphones, restraining foam pads and strict orders not to move have me quite literally in a bind. A mirror, situated at a slant directly above my head, reflects a flat screen showing a short film about pink flamingos. As the machine pulsates steadily, a woman's voice announces through the intercom: "We're starting."
A loud beeping noise like an emergency alarm pervades the room. The words "GET READY" appear in bright green letters across the screen. My anxiety is replaced with determination: I want to beat this brain game.
Black-and-white photographs of grim faces and nature scenes (many of which Gazzaley took himself) flash before me. I click the right button for photos I've seen before and the left button for the ones that I don't remember seeing. I'm instructed to either ignore faces or scenes. It seems simple, but it can be confusing.
An hour and 40 minutes later, I leave the scanner feeling cold and stiff. Its magnetic field -- 3,000 times stronger than the earth's -- made me drowsy. A research assistant shows me a picture of my brain ("It looks pretty normal"), and gives me $60 for participating in the trial.
Phase two: A week later, a man is measuring my head. Then he draws a pink dot on my forehead and brushes my hair. "I am abrading your scalp so we can get a better connection," he explains. He's referring to the 64-channel EEG cap that will record my brain's electrical activity.
On my right, a computer screen displays my brain from five different angles. Different areas of it are colored purple, yellow, green and red. Sensors near my eyes and ears are equipped with amplifiers that connect through fiber-optic wires to a digital box where analog brain signals are digitized using software called Analyzer (and some proprietary scripts).
I don plastic goggles (festooned with what appear to be small disco balls), which triangulate my exact position. Once I'm wired in, the technician takes a giant blue gadget that looks like the head of a vacuum cleaner -- the TMS -- and points it at my head.
Using a method called fMRI-guided stereotactic localization, Gazzaley's researchers scramble my prefrontal cortex to see how I do during a battery of memory tests without access to some of my neural networks.
Four hours later, I finally leave the nondescript UCSF office, this time feeling groggy and crampy. I don't know if it's from sitting in that uncomfortable contraption or from the brain scrambling.
Another week later, Gazzaley shows me a simple bar chart on his desktop.
"As you get older, you have a harder time ignoring information," he explains. "Your data shows that you're really good at ignoring and remembering."
Another chart mapping the performance of older people at memory tests shows they didn't do as well. "The old have a problem with this. They don't modulate as much ... they have a harder time ignoring information."
With the myriad of variables that can influence the results -- tiredness, machine noise, motivation, slippery fingers -- it's impossible to tell whether I truly have a better short-term memory than the next guinea pig my age.
But Gazzaley hopes that when he has enough data to publish, he'll be able to say something meaningful about memory. Corkin thinks he's on the right track -- and that we'll likely see more studies combining various brain-scan technologies.
"Multimodal experiments in humans will expand knowledge in all cognitive domains," she says. "These kinds of experiments are highly appealing to funding agencies and faculty search committees." | <urn:uuid:85b72678-2f6a-43ad-af68-4a7da4c612e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2007/11/neurosci_guinea_pig2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936842 | 1,416 | 1.96875 | 2 |
In a complaint filed in a federal court in Georgia on February 16, plaintiff W Rex Templeton Jr claims POM misled shoppers by claiming “special health benefits” about its products “where such products do not, in fact, contain said benefits”.
POM, which has also been targeted in similar class action suits in Florida, Kansas, Missouri and California, says it has spent millions on clinical research to back up the claims it makes about its juices and other products.
However, in the latest action*, brought on behalf of all Georgia consumers who purchased POM Wonderful pomegranate products from September 2006 to the present, the plaintiff accuses it of the “knowing and willful deception of Georgia consumers”.
He also alleges unjust enrichment, because POM benefitted financially from its alleged “misrepresentations and false statements”, adding: “It would be inequitable for Defendants to retain the monies received from Georgia consumers as a result of Defendants' unfair, deceptive, and misleading business practices.”
POM’s claims are deceptive and misleading
POM ads promoted the consumption of POM Wonderful pomegranate products as having “special health benefits, including but not limited to the prevention mitigation, and/or treatment of the following: atherosclerosis; blood flow/pressure; prostate cancer; erectile function; cardiovascular disease; reduce LDL cholesterol; and other age-related medical conditions”, said the complaint.
But it added: “Defendants’ disease prevention and mitigation claims at issue in the lawsuit case are deceptive, and misleading because they had no reasonable basis that substantiated these representation at the time the representations were made.”
FTC vs POM
POM, which said it couldn't comment on this case, has been accused of overstating the health benefits of its products on several occasions in recent years.
The first high-profile challenge came from the US National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD), which argued in 2005 and 2006 that POM could not substantiate its claims.
In 2009, UK ad watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) concluded that POM’s ‘Cheat Death’ ads were misleading .
In 2010, the US regulators stepped in, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sending POM a warning letter in February alleging that POM was making unauthorized disease claims.
POM: FTC case is completely unwarranted
Seven months later the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an administrative complaint accusing POM of making false and unsubstantiated advertising claims that its products could prevent or treat heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction.
POM immediately dismissed the case as “completely unwarranted” and accused the FTC of “wasting taxpayer resources to persecute the pomegranate”.
It added: “We believe the commission is acting beyond its jurisdiction, exceeding its authority, and creating a new regulatory scheme that attempts to treat our juice as a drug, which it is not.”
Lawyer: FTC richly deserves to lose
The verdict in the FTC’s case against POM Wonderful is expected next month and will be watched closely by food/supplements manufacturers and lawyers alike as it addresses broader questions over free speech and health claims.
An FTC spokeswoman told NutraIngredients-USA: “1pm on March 6, 2012, is now the date and time set for closing arguments.”
If administrative law judge Michael Chappell affirms the FTC’s complaint, a proposed order would require pre-approval from the FDA before POM is permitted to make future claims.
However, commenting on the case last year, food law attorney Jonathan Emord said that the FTC had overstepped the mark and “richly deserves to lose… If the FTC prevails, this case will establish a very speech restrictive precedent."
*The class action complaint was filed in the US District Court in the southern district of Georgia, Savannah Division, on Thursday, February 16 against Roll International Corporation and its subsidiary POM Wonderful. | <urn:uuid:ca48ddb9-9322-4bc1-9b7e-5bc634cef6f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/content/view/print/613821 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957517 | 860 | 1.625 | 2 |
by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths
Occasionally, and recently more than occasionally, chumrot (extra religious stringencies) and minchagim (religious communal customs) get out of hand.
Before World War II and further back, Jewish religious communities were relatively isolated. Oh there were the traveling merchants, and Torah students or scholars or maggadim, and charity collectors who all moved between communities across towns, cities and countries. But these were not large numbers and they didn’t affect different communities customs or Torah approach much. This is one of the reasons why the chassidic movement was so revolutionary and frightening at the time, it brought rather major changes directly into communities.
Post World War II the religious Jewish world was completely geographically restructured. The survivors and the unaffected ended up together in New York and Tel Aviv, later in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak. All the communities, yeshivot, chassidic groups were living side by side – a street away or a neighborhood away at most.
In the normal community situation before World War II, a community might add a series of appropriate restrictions for local conditions and a few extra stringencies also appropriate for elevating those seeking extra piety in the local community. Post World War II, those looking for ‘extra protection’ and/or ‘extra piety’ became able to shop across every community to always find extra’s to add.
In our time as many Jewish ultra-orthodox religious communities are struggling with the pace of change and impact of the outside world, grabbing for yet another ‘extra’ is seen as a possible way to find a counter-agent for the worldly impact. Unfortunately this results in some extremes that aren’t appropriate for the general religious public being perpetrated and pushed upon them.
One of these that annoys me is the chumra (extra stringency) of not publishing a woman’s picture in any publication of any sort at any time for any reason. This may have started as a response to inappropriate advertising making inroads with classy (not sexy) pictures in store windows and publications in religious neighborhoods. Somehow it turned into a blanket ban where even major news stories involving the female of the species must avoid showing them.
This past week a tzadekes left this world. Rebbitzen Kanviesky, wife of the litvish posek hador Rabbi Chaim Kanviesky of Bnei Brak left us. Mishpacha Magazine wrote an extensive article on her.
Bnei Brak is not a place I frequent, nor are the litvish poskim my gedolim. Regardless, the passing of a tzadik or tzadekes is a matter of note, and it has become a custom of our generation to display photos of the gedolim and tzadikim – so we should see the visage of those crowned with Torah and strive for a bit of that Torah merit ourselves.
Yet with the passing of this holy woman, I could find no image to have any idea who they were talking about. Someone described as the Bubbe of Klal Yisroel, who’s brachot came true, who was raised in the home of a gadol hador and married a gadol hador, this is an image which should be avoided because??? (Because of an extra stringency for a particular community that was worried about a particular problem which definitely would NOT apply to this special woman.)
I find this disturbing. I find it worrisome that I can find no holy role models to SHOW my daughters. I find problems being addressed with generalities that are hurting more than they are helping. I find every extra of every community being extended across all communities in a competition for ‘holiness’ that doesn’t work and isn’t appropriate (nor was ever intended to operate this way).
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Italy's elections could signal the end of the euro or they could mean nothing at all. It's impossible to know just yet. But one thing is certain, Italians have "had it up to here" with austerity. Nearly 60 percent of the electorate voted for candidates who oppose the policy and who want a change of direction. That's why Beppe Grillo's upstart Five Star Movement (M5S) did so well in the balloting, because they rejected Brussel's hairshirt diktats and called for a referendum on whether Italians want to ditch the euro or not.
The Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) nabbed a full 25 percent of the vote, paving the way for parliamentary gridlock that could make it impossible for the European Central Bank (ECB) to continue its support of the Italian bond market via its Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program. If Grillo's agents (Grillinis) are able to block Brussel's unpopular "reforms," then the yields on Italian debt will skyrocket opening a new chapter in the euro crisis. This is why global stock indicies plunged when the election results were announced earlier in the week. Investors are still on tenterhooks.
So far, Grillo has taken the high-ground and resisted the temptation to join "presumed" prime minister Pier Luigi Bersani's center-left alliance leaving open the possibility that Italy's next PM will have to form a coalition with Silvio Berlusconi. This is a winning strategy for Grillo. By assuming the role of opposition party, the Five Star Movement can expand its ranks (by lambasting the existing policy) while building support for its central demands, an end to austerity and a referendum on the euro. If Grillo plays his cards right, he could bring down the euro. But no one really knows if that's what he wants or not.
It could be that he's just along for the ride; just riding the crest of anti-government sentiment that's swept across the continent and lifted his party to power. The M5S was the main beneficiary of a massive protest vote deriving from the Italian electorates' disgust with the slate of corrupt and inept politicos on the ballot. That's hardly a ringing endorsement for the Grillinis, nor does it suggest that they are ready to govern. To govern, one needs ideas and a strategy for implementing those ideas. Grillo's team has neither. They are defined more in terms of the things they are against than things they are for. It's fine to want to "throw the bums out," but that won't put people back to work or boost growth or end the slump. Without a coherent plan to govern, M5S could end up in the political trash heap, along with their right-wing predecessors, the Tea Party.
There is room for optimism, slight though it may be. For one thing, we're encouraged by Grillo's attack on the euro in an interview with Bloomberg in 2012. He said, "The euro is a rope around our neck. It is being drawn tighter every day."
Amen, to that. It's worth noting that in the three years since the EZ "debt crisis" began, the troika (the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission and European Central Bank) has made countless decisions, all of which were tailored to meet the needs of bondholders, banks, corporations and establishment elites. To date, the troika has never implemented a policy that directly benefited the poor, the sick, the unemployed or Europe's shrinking middle class.
Aside from the glaring structural problems in the composition of the eurozone that make it functionally unworkable, this other issue -- the issue of shaping policy to boost the profits of powerful constituents -- is why a break-up of the 17-member union is necessary. It's not possible to change the way that the EZ is governed because the union was in fact created to establish the primacy of banks and corporations. In other words, the EZ is operating exactly as it was designed to operate, as a free trade zone, where the movement of capital is unimpeded and where the captains of industry and finance control all the levers of political power. That won't change, which is why working people should act in their own best interests and support politicians and popular movements that demand an end to the euro and a return to national sovereignty. The nightmare has gone on long enough.
Still, it's hard to say if Grillo's attack on the euro reflects his determination to leave the union or whether he's simply grandstanding to garner more support for his movement. If he is sincere, then he will instruct his followers in parliament to refuse to pay the interest payments on Italy's debt, a move that would force the ECB to cut off its emergency funding, thus, plunging Italy and the entire eurozone back into crisis. This would pave the way to a break up of the euro. According to the Guradian, Grillo is commited to this approach. Here's an excerpt from an article titled "Is Beppe Grillo the bogeyman a disaster waiting to happen, or can his activist army heal Italy?": "What has spooked the markets is his commitment to hold a referendum on leaving the euro and a temporary freeze on interest payments on government bonds, which could lead to default."
Is this Grillo's plan? An excerpt from Grillo's blog on defaulting suggests that it may be. Here's the clip:
"The Italian public debt is close to 2,000 billion. ... The public debt has not been growing in recent years because of too much expenditure. Just in 2011 alone, the State had a primary surplus of 16 billion, but the interest payments, amounting to 72 billion ... have caused a deficit of 62 billion. It's an infernal mechanism. Between 1980 and 2011, spending was lower than the tax revenue by 484 billion (thus we have been really virtuous) but the interest payments (on the debt of 2,141 billion), that we had to pay in that period, have made us poor. In the last 20 years, GDP has been growing slowly, while the debt has exploded.
"Who are the ones who own our debt? To whom are we paying the interest that is destroying the State's budget? Only 15% are families, 40% are foreigners (and of those more than half are in France and Germany), 19% are finance funds and insurance companies, 20% are Italian banks and 6% the Bank of Italy (*). The public debt is regularly transformed into something for market speculation. When States sell new bonds to replace those that are coming to maturity, markets experience speculators who are contributing to price falls so as to bring about higher interest rates. It's the usurer's technique. Thus the debt becomes an opportunity to maximise earnings in the market at the expense of the nation. As a consequence social inequality increases. 11% of Italian families are living in poverty and 7.6% are at risk (**), from 2008 to June 2012 Italian families have been subjected to a hole of 330 billion euro (***). If financial powerbrokers use speculation to increase their earnings and they force governments to pay the highest possible interest rates, the result is recession for the State that's in debt as well as their loss of sovereignty. ...
"The spiral of increasing debt and interest rates is making Italy disintegrate, together with other European States. There are alternatives. These are being put into effect by some countries in South America and by Iceland. The burden of the crisis has to be distributed across creditors (mostly banks and financial institutions) and citizens. There has to be a really fierce attack on speculation...We are running into a wall and they are telling us there's no alternative. The risk is that we are going to reach default in any case with the devaluation of the debt and the Nation impoverished and on its knees." (Beppe Grillo blog)
Grillo's understanding of Italy's debt woes is reason to be optimistic. First of all, he rejects the idea that the debt is the result of profligate spending ("we have been really virtuous"). Instead, he pins the blame on speculators who are presently extracting more rent from Italy's coffers than can be reasonably managed.
Second, the growing burden of the debt is increasing inequality, insecurity and poverty. as well as putting a damper on growth.
And, finally, he sees the only remedy to the ballooning $2 trillion debt as some form of default which transfers the bulk of the losses to the speculators who risked their money betting on Italian sovereign bonds. It is these "banks and financial institutions" that must take haircuts, so that Italy can reduce its debt-load without foisting more red ink on working people who -- to this point -- have shouldered 100% of the losses from the financial crisis.
While Grillo's grasp of Italy's dreary finances suggests that he may push for a radical restructuring of the economy, the opposite appears to be true. Grillo is not Leon Trotsy nor does he oppose the organizing of society around profitmaking. The Movimento 5 Stelle is not Occupy; it is not movement that explains our present situation in terms of class relations. (1% vs 99%) In fact, Grillo is a multi-millionaire who diverts attention from his personal fortune with all kinds of trendy gibberish about the Internet, women in politics and the divide between old and young. It's all a smokescreen designed to conceal the underlying reactionary philosophy that guides the movement. Take a look at this excerpt from an article at Uruknet:
"Over the past three years, while other countries around the Mediterranean and more generally in the west have seen movements that are fighting against austerity and neoliberalism gaining in strength and, in some cases, taking root, here in Italy this has not happened. There have been... No indignados in our country; no Occupy; no "springs" of any kind; no "Je lutte des classes" against reforms to the pension system. We have not had a Tahrir Square or a Syntagma Square; we have not had a Puerta del Sol. We did not rise up as others have done elsewhere and, in some cases, are still doing. Why not?
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"...Some researchers speculate that the reason Africans have lower IQ's is because "their bodies are focused on surviving"...Others pointed out that the ancient Persians, Greeks and Romans lived in hot climates and still boasted extraordinary civilisations..."
People in developing countries have lower IQs because their bodies divert energy from brainpower to fighting disease, researchers claimed today.
In hot nations blighted by deadly infections, the priority is survival and populations have evolved to develop stronger immune systems rather than intelligence, according to the controversial theory.
Some critics warned the study could become an excuse for racism if it was used to suggest that people in the Third World are not as intelligent as those in cooler, richer climes.
U.S. researchers claimed their work could explain why national IQ scores vary around the world and are lower in some warmer countries stricken by diseases such as malaria, tetanus and tuberculosis.
Infection could have as important an impact on intelligence as education, diet and wealth, said researcher Randy Thornhill and a team from the University of New Mexico.
Children under five use most of their energy for brain development and this can be restricted if the body has to fight disease, they wrote in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
They compared data from worldwide IQ studies with disease maps drawn up by the World Health Organisation and concluded that the higher the level of infectious disease in a country, the lower the average national IQ.
'The effect of infectious disease on IQ is bigger than any other single factor we looked at,' said Chris Eppig, lead author on the paper.
Disease is a major sap on the body's energy, and the brain takes a lot of energy to build. If you don't have enough, you can't do it properly.
'The consequence of this, if we're right, is that the IQ of a nation will be largely unaffected until you can lift the burden of disease.'
Critics of the study argued there are many different kinds of intelligence that Western academic-based IQ tests fail to measure.
Low IQ does not necessarily equate to stupidity or incompetence, they said. People in hot countries have the intellectual skills to survive in very difficult environments.
The research could be abused to rationalise racism, just as the Nazis perverted scientific study in the 1930s, some critics said.
Experts pointed out that children fighting debilitating disease are likely to miss a lot of school, which could be the real reason for a lower IQ score, not compromised brain development.
Professor Richard Lynn of Ulster University said the picture was complex, with low national IQs partly propagating the spread of infectious diseases.
HIV had a high infection rate in low-IQ nations, he said, because people did not understand how it was contracted and relied on baseless superstitions to avoid it.
Prof Thornhill’s work drew headlines ten years ago when his book A Natural History of Rape controversially argued sexual coercion emerged as an evolutionary adaptation.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1290920/People-developing-countries-lower-IQs-bodies-focused-surviving.html#ixzz0sgGMOhMI
Click to view image: '840011507843-1aaa.jpg'
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Manganese test mine begins in Emily, Minn.by Tom Robertson, Minnesota Public Radio
Emily, Minn. — Work began this week at a demonstration mining project in the town of Emily in central Minnesota.
A subsidiary of Crow Wing Power is conducting the 45-day test to see whether it's feasible to extract manganese ore through a single well using high-pressure water. Manganese is used for making steel and batteries.
Brad Moore, with Barr Engineering, a Minneapolis firm working on the project, said the experimental ore removal process has worked well so far.
"One measure of success is to see if that technique actually can remove the manganese ore in a manner that can be commercially viable," Moore said. "The second key test is to ensure that we do that in a manner that is not harmful to the environment. We did a lot of work to ensure the process would be safe."
The recovered ore is taken in trucks to a University of Minnesota facility in Coleraine for analysis.
Moore says the Emily site is nationally significant.
"In terms of a high grade manganese ore deposit, it's one of the highest in North America in terms of concentration," he said. "The other reason that's important is that we import all our manganese, and so we're trying a way to actually produce some of it here in the United States."
Moore says a commercial operation would be years away, but could potentially extract a billion pounds of manganese ore from the site. Profits would be shared with members of the Crow Wing Power electric cooperative. | <urn:uuid:b40ff475-67ed-4a6c-90c4-8e3d7605cc5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/11/17/mining-test?refid=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960671 | 328 | 2.640625 | 3 |
India and Pakistan are planning to resume bilateral cricket ties after a nearly five-year disruption of such relationships due to the deadly Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008, which were blamed on a Pakistani-based militant group.
Flckr/ Creative Commons
Sachin Tendulkar and India warpped up the series with a six-wicket win over Australia in the third Test in Mohali.
Pakistan cricketers are expected to tour through India in December and January, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and participate in three One-Day Internationals and two Twenty-20 matches.
The foreign secretaries of both South Asian giants encouraged the restoration of cricket ties earlier this year.
The One-Day Internationals will be held across India, in Chennai, Delhi and Calcutta, while the T20’s will occur in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
The Pakistan Cricket Board, or PCB, has praised India’s announcement.
"The decision is great, and we welcome it. It seems that millions of cricket fans have their wishes fulfilled," said PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf in Lahore, Pakistan.
"We are still waiting for a BCCI invitation for the series, but it seems it will surely be held later this year.”
Not everyone is happy with the Indian government’s decision to resume athletic competition with Pakistan -- indeed, legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, as well as right-wing nationalists, including the Hindu Shiv Sena militant organization, have expressed their fierce opposition to the plan.
However, what may be a more interesting subject lies with the fact that 65 years after independence from Great Britain, cricket (a foreign import and a remnant of colonialism) is more popular in India and Pakistan than ever. In both countries, top cricket stars command wild adulation, huge salaries and everlasting fame.
Cricket is also massively popular in the former British colonies of the Caribbean.
"In the ... former British colonies, by and large, cricket is a legacy of the British imperialism. It is at once a memento of and a tribute to the colonial rule," says Habibul Haque Khondker, a sociologist at the National University of Singapore, in an essay on cricket. "One might ask somewhat innocently: If cricket is a colonial imposition, why does it remain so popular when the nationalists in the post-colonial societies virulently criticize most other colonial legacies?”
To answer his rhetorical question, Khondker suggests that the popularity of a British sport in the “colonies” does not present a contradiction, but simply reflects the globalization of cultures that imperialism inadvertently wrought.
"[The popularity of cricket] shows that colonialism was more than a system of economic exploitation and political domination; it was also an occasion for opening a cultural and sometimes civilizational dialogue, which in turn paved the way for cosmopolitan possibilities," he wrote.
"Consciously or not, we have become part of a global culture. At one level, global culture reflects many of the contradictions and tensions, the fissures that characterize the world today, but it also signals the possibility of the development of a truly world-embracing cosmopolitan culture."
Khondker proposes that a young man from Kolkata will be "just as comfortable discussing cricket with his Australian or South African counterpart as he would be in discussing Tagore or Shamsur Rahman's poetry with a fellow Bengali from Bangladesh."
Mahatma Gandhi himself was reportedly fond of cricket, especially during his youth. In a newspaper article published in 1958 (10 years after Gandhi's death), a childhood friend of his, Ratilal Ghelabhai Mehta, remembered the future independence leader as "a dashing cricketer" who "evinced a keen interest in the game as a school student" and was also "good both at batting and bowling."
Thus, after more than two centuries of playing and following cricket, the game (despite its alien origins) has become a deeply ingrained part of Indian and Pakistani culture. Indeed, the game is so universally popular that its appeal crosses all racial groups, ethnicities, social classes, religions and caste.
Even Shiv Sena, which advocates for Indian nationalism and has agitated for the removal of what it calls "corrupt" Western influences such as Valentine's Day, is deeply involved in cricket. Indeed, Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Aditya, have recently purchased two Mumbai Cricket Association clubs -- Merry Cricketers and Young Friends Union Cricket Club.
But politics remains a decisive and corrosive influence in South Asian cricket; Shiv Sena has vowed to prevent Pakistani cricketers from touring India.
"So long as Pakistan does not change its attitude towards terrorism, there was no point in playing cricket with the neighboring country," said Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam.
Nonetheless, when the Pakistani clubs arrive in India, it is virtually guaranteed that cricket fans in India will follow every moment of every match, as they have for centuries.
To contact the editor, e-mail:
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[Enter DON ADRIANO DE ARMADO and MOTH]
- Moth. A great sign, sir, that he will look sad.
- Moth. No, no; O Lord, sir, no.
- Moth. By a familiar demonstration of the working, my tough senior.
- Moth. Why tender juvenal? why tender juvenal?
- Don Adriano de Armado. I spoke it, tender juvenal, as a congruent epitheton
appertaining to thy young days, which we may
- Moth. And I, tough senior, as an appertinent title to your
old time, which we may name tough.
- Moth. How mean you, sir? I pretty, and my saying apt? or
I apt, and my saying pretty?
- Moth. Little pretty, because little. Wherefore apt?
- Moth. Speak you this in my praise, master?
- Moth. I will praise an eel with the same praise.
- Moth. That an eel is quick.
- Moth. I am answered, sir.
- Moth. [Aside] He speaks the mere contrary; crosses love not him.
- Moth. You may do it in an hour, sir.
- Moth. How many is one thrice told?
- Moth. You are a gentleman and a gamester, sir.
- Moth. Then, I am sure, you know how much the gross sum of
deuce-ace amounts to.
- Moth. Which the base vulgar do call three.
- Moth. Why, sir, is this such a piece of study? Now here
is three studied, ere ye'll thrice wink: and how
easy it is to put 'years' to the word 'three,' and
study three years in two words, the dancing horse
will tell you.
- Moth. To prove you a cipher.
- Don Adriano de Armado. I will hereupon confess I am in love: and as it is
base for a soldier to love, so am I in love with a
base wench. If drawing my sword against the humour
of affection would deliver me from the reprobate
thought of it, I would take Desire prisoner, and
ransom him to any French courtier for a new-devised
courtesy. I think scorn to sigh: methinks I should
outswear Cupid. Comfort, me, boy: what great men
have been in love?
- Don Adriano de Armado. Most sweet Hercules! More authority, dear boy, name
more; and, sweet my child, let them be men of good
repute and carriage.
- Moth. Samson, master: he was a man of good carriage, great
carriage, for he carried the town-gates on his back
like a porter: and he was in love.
- Don Adriano de Armado. O well-knit Samson! strong-jointed Samson! I do
excel thee in my rapier as much as thou didst me in
carrying gates. I am in love too. Who was Samson's
love, my dear Moth?
- Moth. A woman, master.
- Moth. Of all the four, or the three, or the two, or one of the four.
- Moth. Of the sea-water green, sir.
- Moth. As I have read, sir; and the best of them too.
- Don Adriano de Armado. Green indeed is the colour of lovers; but to have a
love of that colour, methinks Samson had small reason
for it. He surely affected her for her wit.
- Moth. It was so, sir; for she had a green wit.
- Moth. Most maculate thoughts, master, are masked under
- Moth. My father's wit and my mother's tongue, assist me!
- Moth. If she be made of white and red,
Her faults will ne'er be known,
For blushing cheeks by faults are bred
And fears by pale white shown:
Then if she fear, or be to blame,
By this you shall not know,
For still her cheeks possess the same
Which native she doth owe.
A dangerous rhyme, master, against the reason of
white and red.
- Moth. The world was very guilty of such a ballad some
three ages since: but I think now 'tis not to be
found; or, if it were, it would neither serve for
the writing nor the tune.
- Don Adriano de Armado. I will have that subject newly writ o'er, that I may
example my digression by some mighty precedent.
Boy, I do love that country girl that I took in the
park with the rational hind Costard: she deserves well.
- Moth. [Aside] To be whipped; and yet a better love than
- Moth. And that's great marvel, loving a light wench.
- Moth. Forbear till this company be past.
[Enter DULL, COSTARD, and JAQUENETTA]
- Dull. Sir, the duke's pleasure is, that you keep Costard
safe: and you must suffer him to take no delight
nor no penance; but a' must fast three days a week.
For this damsel, I must keep her at the park: she
is allowed for the day-woman. Fare you well.
- Dull. Come, Jaquenetta, away!
[Exeunt DULL and JAQUENETTA]
- Costard. Well, sir, I hope, when I do it, I shall do it on a
- Costard. I am more bound to you than your fellows, for they
are but lightly rewarded.
- Moth. Come, you transgressing slave; away!
- Costard. Let me not be pent up, sir: I will fast, being loose.
- Moth. No, sir; that were fast and loose: thou shalt to prison.
- Costard. Well, if ever I do see the merry days of desolation
that I have seen, some shall see.
- Moth. What shall some see?
- Costard. Nay, nothing, Master Moth, but what they look upon.
It is not for prisoners to be too silent in their
words; and therefore I will say nothing: I thank
God I have as little patience as another man; and
therefore I can be quiet.
[Exeunt MOTH and COSTARD]
- Don Adriano de Armado. I do affect the very ground, which is base, where
her shoe, which is baser, guided by her foot, which
is basest, doth tread. I shall be forsworn, which
is a great argument of falsehood, if I love. And
how can that be true love which is falsely
attempted? Love is a familiar; Love is a devil:
there is no evil angel but Love. Yet was Samson so
tempted, and he had an excellent strength; yet was
Solomon so seduced, and he had a very good wit.
Cupid's butt-shaft is too hard for Hercules' club;
and therefore too much odds for a Spaniard's rapier.
The first and second cause will not serve my turn;
the passado he respects not, the duello he regards
not: his disgrace is to be called boy; but his
glory is to subdue men. Adieu, valour! rust rapier!
be still, drum! for your manager is in love; yea,
he loveth. Assist me, some extemporal god of rhyme,
for I am sure I shall turn sonnet. Devise, wit;
write, pen; for I am for whole volumes in folio. | <urn:uuid:676b64d7-9d76-46b9-af0e-0857f61abf1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=loveslabours&Act=1&Scene=2&Scope=scene&LineHighlight=391 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920874 | 1,725 | 1.992188 | 2 |
INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE EPIZOOTIC PATHOGENIC BACTERIA IN SWINE AND CATTLE
Location: Food and Feed Safety Research
Title: Gastrointestinal microbial ecology and the safety of our food supply as related to Salmonella
Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: September 1, 2007
Publication Date: November 15, 2007
Citation: Callaway, T.R., Edrington, T.S., Anderson, R.C., Byrd II, J.A., Nisbet, D.J. 2007. Gastrointestinal microbial ecology and the safety of our food supply as related to Salmonella. Journal of Animal Science. 86:163-172.
Interpretive Summary: Salmonella is a pathogen that can live within the gut of food animals without making them sick, and can be transmitted to humans through the food supply. It exists in the gut as a normal inhabitant, or as a transient visitor. Salmonella is very diverse, more than 2,500 serotypes are known to exist, and each varies in its pathogenicity to humans and the host environment that it prefers. Salmonella Enteritidis is a serotype that has spread widely through the national poultry flock in the past 50 years. One theory as to how Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) became widespread in the poultry environment is that eradication programs that eliminated Salmonella Gallinarum from commercial poultry flocks left an ecological niche that was filled by SE. We must be careful not to make a similar mistake by making changes in animal production that are not supported by science. Simply “cleaning up” the birds at laying and hatching may temporarily reduce the incidence of Salmonella, but levels will quickly rise again if no other strategies are synergistically integrated into the production scheme.
Salmonella causes an estimated 1.3 million human foodborne illnesses and more than 500 deaths each year in the U.S., representing an annual estimated cost to the economy of approximately $2.9 billion. Salmonella enterica is comprised of more than 2,500 serotypes. With this genetic and environmental diversity serotypes are adapted to live in a wide variety of hosts using non-pathogenic and pathogenic lifestyles depending on environmental conditions. Thus Salmonella presents a multi-faceted threat to food production and safety. Salmonella have been isolated from all food animals and can cause morbidity as well as mortality in swine, cattle, sheep and poultry. The link between human salmonellosis and host animals is most clear in poultry. During the early part of the 20th century a successful campaign was waged to eliminate fowl typhoid caused by Salmonella Gallinarum/Pullorum. Microbial ecology is much like macroecology; environmental niches are filled by adapted and specialized species. Elimination of S. Gallinarum cleared a niche in the on-farm and intestinal microbial ecology that was quickly exploited by Salmonella Enteriditis and other serotypes that live in other hosts, such as rodents. In the years since, human salmonellosis cases linked to poultry have increased to the point that uncooked chicken and eggs are regarded as toxic by the public. Salmonellosis caused by poultry products have increased significantly in the past 5 years, leading to an FSIS Salmonella Attack Plan that targets reducing the incidence of Salmonella in chickens below the current 19%. The prevalence of Salmonella in swine and cattle is lower, but still poses a threat to food safety and production efficiency. Thus approaches to reducing Salmonella in animals must bear in mind that the microbial ecology of the animal is a critical factor that must be accounted for when designing intervention strategies. Competitive exclusion, sodium chlorate, vaccination, bacteriophage are all strategies that can reduce Salmonella in the live animal, but it is vital to understand how they function so that we do not invoke the law of unintended consequences. | <urn:uuid:5f1b2934-cfb8-41da-817a-403ebe1bbaa9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=214501 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93575 | 836 | 3.0625 | 3 |
birmingham accommodation, bed breakfast accommodation midlands, uk holiday second city, nec visitor accommodation, holiday guest house, short breaks hotels, houses, lodgings, hotel
The City of Birmingham sits on a plateau about 200 feet above the surrounding countryside, and would probably have been passed by by early canals which were intent on linking the Rivers Trent and Mersey and Severn. Local merchants funded a meandering 10 mile canal to serve local coalfields but the rapidly developing Industrial Revolution led to over 180 miles of canals and 216 locks being built over the next 100 years and Birmingham became the heart of the narrow canal network.
Even the coming of the railways did not slow the growth of trade, over eight and a half million tons a year were being carried at the end of the nineteenth century and canals and railways worked together to supply the 'Black Country's' industry and population. There were over 40 basins where goods were trans-shipped. Canals serviced the canalside factories, railways carried raw materials in and products out to the the country and world. Commercial trade disappeared in the middle of the twentieth century and 54 miles of canals were closed, but the remaining network is still a uniquely interesting area to explore, overflowing with industrial heritage, tunnels, flyovers, factories and warehouses. The city of Birmingham is making maximum regeneration use of the space and life that canals can bring into the heart of urban areas and building some stunning waterside developments.. The Birmingham Canal Network can currently be accessed from five directions. From the north the link with the Staffs & Worcs Canal climbs the 21 Wolverhampton locks to join the 'new main line' built by Thomas Telford in the 1820's to straighten James Brindley's twisting contour route. He made use of deep cuttings and embankments and the wide canal had a towpath on either side.
From the south comes the Worcester & Birmingham, and from the south east the Grand Union Canal. The Birmingham & Fazeley Canal comes in from the east, forming a network through the centre of the city of Birmingham. The Dudley Tunnel, closed to powered craft, gave access from the west. Boats now use the wide Netherton Tunnel with towpaths either side and gas lighting built to overcome the bottleneck caused by the old narrow tunnel.
There were also links in the north east area to the Staffs & Worcs at Hatherton and to the Coventry Canal at Huddleston. The two large loops of canals in the North Eastern area served coalfields, especially those around Cannock which were the last to close in the 1960's. Subsidence has always been a major problem because of mining activities. Lappal Tunnel (11,385 yards) which gave a faster link to the Worcester & Birmingham was closed in 1917 due to subsidence, though even it now has a society planning to reopen it.
The Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal runs for just 25 miles from the Birmingham suburbs to the River Avon in Stratford on Avon. There are 54 locks. Although the canal is fairly short it goes through some enchanting countryside in the very Heart of England, cutting through the Forest of Arden with its ancient oaks, and falling gently across quiet rolling countryside and watermeadows to the Avon and Stratford. The area has numerous Shakespearean links. Although the canal initially prospered it suffered badly from railway competition. The lower section from Lapworth to Stratford became almost disused early in this century and was almost closed in the 1950's. However there was a campaign to restore it for pleasure boating and it was taken over in 1960 by the National Trust. It was reopened after restoration work, much of it by volunteer labour, in 1964.
This success gave impetus to many other restoration schemes and greatly increased interest in the use of canals for pleasure cruising.
Once it leaves the Birmingham suburbs the canal passes through nothing other than small villages until it reaches Stratford. The delightfully named neighbouring Warwickshire villages of Preston Baggot, Wootton Wawen and Wilmcote are all attractive with old houses, churches, inns and Halls or Manors. Lapworth is an interesting canal junction where a short spur connects to the Grand Union Canal which runs parallel close by. | <urn:uuid:1a841ddf-fe26-4c1e-9ad1-4b4930482747> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centralguesthouse.com/birmingham-accommodation.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963382 | 888 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Linton Falls, on the upper Wharfe near Grassington
Beckermonds, Langstrothdale Chase
River Ouse at Wharfe's Mouth, near Cawood
|Length||97km (60 mi)|
|Source elevation||310m (1020 ft)|
|Mouth elevation||4.9m (16 ft)|
The River Wharfe is a river in Yorkshire, England. For much of its length it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. The name Wharfe is Celtic and means "twisting, winding".
The valley of the River Wharfe is known as Wharfedale. The river source is at Beckermonds, Langstrothdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and flows through Kettlewell, Grassington, Bolton Abbey, Addingham, Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Otley, Wetherby and Tadcaster. It then flows into the River Ouse near Cawood. The section of the river from its source to around Addingham is known as Upper Wharfedale and has a very different character to the river downstream.
The river is approximately 97 km long before it joins the River Ouse. It is a public navigation from the weir at Tadcaster to its junction with the River Ouse near Cawood and tidal from Ulleskelf.
The river source is the confluence of Oughtershaw Beck and Green Field Beck in Langstrothdale near Beckermonds. It flows east and south east taking the flows from many small streams, whose sources are the shake holes from Yockenthwaite Moor on the north bank and Horse Head Moor on the south bank. After Hubberholme, the river flows south past Buckden and Starbotton and then south east past Kettlewell before flowing south again. Near Conistone are the gentle waterfalls of Scar Lash. Shortly before reaching Grassington, the river turns south east over Linton Falls. South of Appletreewick, the river flows south west for a short distance until it reaches Gill Beck and returns southward. To the north of Bolton Bridge, the river narrows and goes over waterfalls in an area known as The Strid. The river winds south and south east towards Ilkley where it heads east through Otley and Collingham. It briefly flows north to Wetherby before turning south and then south east past Ulleskelf to the confluence with the River Ouse.
Water levels
|Monitoring Station||Station Elevation||Low water level||High water level||Record high level|
|Kettlewell||212 m (696 ft)||0.17 m (0.56 ft)||2 m (6.6 ft)||2.54 m (8.3 ft)|
|Grassington||171 m (561 ft)||0 m (0 ft)||1.5 m (4.9 ft)||2.79 m (9.2 ft)|
|Ilkley||78 m (256 ft)||0.09 m (0.30 ft)||2.9 m (9.5 ft)||3.88 m (12.7 ft)|
|Otley||56 m (184 ft)||0.36 m (1.2 ft)||1.5 m (4.9 ft)||2.46 m (8.1 ft)|
|Pool Bridge||46 m (151 ft)||0.09 m (0.30 ft)||2.9 m (9.5 ft)||3.77 m (12.4 ft)|
|Arthington||46 m (151 ft)||0.32 m (1.0 ft)||3.3 m (11 ft)||4.14 m (13.6 ft)|
|Collingham||25 m (82 ft)||0.35 m (1.1 ft)||1.59 m (5.2 ft)||4.7 m (15 ft)|
|Wetherby||25 m (82 ft)||0.4 m (1.3 ft)||1.8 m (5.9 ft)||3.10 m (10.2 ft)|
|Tadcaster||11 m (36 ft)||0.18 m (0.59 ft)||2.9 m (9.5 ft)||3.79 m (12.4 ft)|
|Cock Beck Sluices||6 m (20 ft)||3.44 m (11.3 ft)||7.3 m (24 ft)||9.26 m (30.4 ft)|
|Fleet Pumping Station||6 m (20 ft)||2 m (6.6 ft)||6.5 m (21 ft)||7.35 m (24.1 ft)|
- Low and High Water Levels are an average figure.
Natural history
There are over 230 species of bird observed along the river valley including Eagle-Owl, Red Grouse, Stonechat, Whinchat, Golden Plover, Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Wood Warbler, Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, Dipper, Tawny Owl, Sparrowhawk, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and, in wetter places, Snipe and Woodcock, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, and Twite.
Ferns found here include Wall Rue, Maidenhair Spleenwort, Brittle Bladder-fern, Hart's-tongue and Hard Shield-fern. In Upper Wharfedale the scars and screes support a range of plants including the Alpine Cinquefoil and Hoary Whitlowgrass. Also to be found are Lesser Meadow-rue, Goldenrod, Scabious and Bloody Crane's-bill with, to a lesser extent, Mountain Melick, Limestone Fern, Wood Crane's-bill and Melancholy Thistle, Green Spleenwort, Wall Lettuce and Hairy Stonecrop.
Lower down the valley, species including Alpine Cinquefoil, Lily-of-the-valley, Mountain Melick and Herb Paris, blue sesleria, Common Valerian and Wild Angelica. The limestone outcrops have uncommon species including Rock Whitebeam and Solomon's Seal as well as Bird's-eye Primrose, Butterwort, Rockrose, Dropwort and Limestone Bedstraw.
The limestone pavements of the area are a habitat for several species usually confined to woodlands, such as Dog's Mercury, Wood Anemone and Ramsons. Rarer species to be found in the grikes include Baneberry and Downy Currant. Ferns in the moist grikes include Rigid Buckler-fern. Also to be found are Alternate-leaved Golden Saxifrage, Reed Canary-grass and Stone Bramble.
Some of the inaccessible cliffs are home to ledge dwelling flora including mosses and liverworts, such as Red Leskea, Sharp Rock-bristle and the very rare Zygodon gracilis. The ledges also support Woodrush, Polypody and Water Avens, Purple Saxifrage, Yellow Saxifrage, Hoary Whitlowgrass and Roseroot.
Blue Moor-grass can also be found, with Sheep's-fescue and herbs such as Thyme, Salad Burnet and Common Rock-rose. There is Wild Thyme, Common Milkwort, Fairy Flax, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Autumn Gentian, Harebell, Eyebright.
Upper Wharfedale is an area from the Lower Carboniferous era and lies north-west of Burnsall. Its main features are the Great Scar Limestone which forms a base to the overlying Yoredale Beds, a 300-metre deep strata of hard limestones, sandstones and shale. These have been slightly tilted, toward the east. To the south-east of the area are the Millstone Grit laid down in the Upper Carboniferous era, and is covered by heather moorland, hard crags and tors.
Weathering of the Yoredale Beds has produced a stepped profile to the valley sides, consisting of a shelf of limestone, sometimes grassy but often displaying such karst features as limestone pavement, gorges and sinkholes. During the last ice age, the local ice cap at the head of the Dales fed glaciers to produce the classic U-shaped profiles seen today.
Where the river valley changes course into Lower Wharfedale, the change of underlying rock can be seen in the darker stone in the field walls. The Millstone Grit outcrops at the Cow and Calf Rocks near Ilkley form a rolling dissected plateau. Due to the impermeable nature of the rock, blanket bogs and mires form, and drier areas have wet and dry heaths and acid grasslands.
Coarse sandstones in the area are known as Addingham Edge and Bramhope Grits. The Otley Shell Beds become exposed at Otley Chevin. At Great Dib Wood the Otley Shell Bed is sandwiched between two Namurian sandstones.
Linton Fall (Grid Reference: SE001633) are located just south of Grassington and can be accessed from the village down Sedber Lane. There is a footbridge straddling the falls for viewing.
The Strid (Grid Reference: SE064565) is a series of waterfalls and rapids associated with a deep underwater channel caused by the dramatic narrowing of the River Wharfe from approximately 30 ft (9 m) wide just to the north of the start of the Strid, to the width of a long stride less than 100 yd (91 m) later. It is especially dangerous as both banks are undercut, and it has been the scene of a number of fatalities including those of a honeymoon couple. The Strid walk is very popular and is accessed from the car park at Bolton Abbey.
Iron Age fields and hut circles can still be seen in outline on the hills above Grassington and Kettlewell. The Romans built a road through Wharfedale that went over Stake Moss into neighboring Wensleydale. The local tribe of Brigantes were subdued by the Romans in AD 74. The Romans mined lead in the hills on Greenhow Hill overlooking Appletreewick until AD 410. After AD 620 the Celtic settlers were joined by Angles and increased the amount of forest clearing to establish fields for crops and animals. These were overrun by Danes initially before they too settled to farming near Burnsall and Thorpe. Vikings then settled the area in the 10th century, lending their language to some of the names of hamlets and landscape features of Upper Wharfedale, especially near the head of the valley. During Anglo-Saxon times, large estates were established and the River Wharfe and its valley came under the protection of Earl Edwin of Bolton-in-Craven. After the Norman invasion, the lands were given to Robert Romilly.
In medieval times low intensity methods were used to produce both crops and livestock but the great monasteries of Fountains, Rievaulx and Bolton Priory had large sheep flocks and sold their wool on the European market. In 1155, Alice de Romilly donated land for the establishment of Bolton Priory and land at Kilnsey to Fountains Abbey. The monasteries helped develop vast sheep farms and the founding of drove roads, which can still be seen and walked today. The success of the monasteries was also responsible for the growth of the market towns of Grassington and Kettlewell.
When the monasteries were dissolved in 1539, and wool prices fell, many tenant farmers took to cattle and sheep rearing. However, at the end of the 17th century there was still small-scale arable production. By the early nineteenth century there was a demand for food from the growing industrial towns and farmers and many farms began to produce milk from the lower lands and use the higher fells for sheep.
The river has had appearances in films. In 1992, the town of Grassington was used as a filming location for Wuthering Heights. The 2003 film, Calendar Girls, was filmed at several locations in the river valley including Buckden, Burnsall, Kettlewell and Kilnsey.
A lack of investment in the Dales farms has led to problems related to more intensive farming methods. The loss of unproductive farms has led to land being merged with adjoining or nearby businesses, and an increase in second home ownership by people from outside the area. There are fewer people looking after the land with labour-intensive jobs such as sheepherding, rebuilding walls and barns, maintaining woodland no longer taking place. The increase in sheep-ranching has gone hand in hand with reduction in the number of cattle.
Lead mining was once the main industry in Wharfedale. From the seventeenth century to the late nineteenth it employed hundreds of men and boys, exploiting the veins in the limestone at Greenhow, Hebden, Grassington, Linton and Conistone, Appletreewick and elsewhere. The heaps of mining waste remain, contaminated with lead, and on which little will grow. The few plants that will are known as 'lead plants' such as spring sandwort and alpine penny-cress.
Tourism is big part of the rural economy in Wharfedale and there are many short, mid and long distance walks, with clear waymarkers. There are also other outdoor activities such as rock climbing, most notably at Kilnsey Crag, and canoeing. Other activities include cycling, mountain biking, horse riding and caving. The following Long Distance Walks pass near or over the river:
- Dales Way (follows the river valley from Beckermonds to Ilkley)
- Lady Anne's Way (enters the river valley near Hubberholme and leaves to the west of Bolton Abbey)
- Inn Way to the Yorkshire Dales (part of walk from Grassington to Buckden)
- The Way of the Roses (part of the cycle route from Appletreewick to Thorpe)
All lists are from the source of the river:-
|Along the River Wharfe|
- "River levels". Environment Agency. 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
- "Habitats". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Animals". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Animals". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Plants". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Langstrothdale Landscape Character Assessment". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Upper Wharfedale & Littondale Landscape Character Assessment". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Craven Fault". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Mid WharfedaleLandscape Character Assessment". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Geology". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Google Map". Google. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- Marsh, Terry (2005). The Dales Way: A Complete Guide to the Trail. Cicerone. p. 27. ISBN 1 85284 464 7.
- Tim Locke (editor) (2010). Slow North Yorkshire. Chalfont St. Peter: Bradt Travel Guides Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 978 1 84162 323 8.
- "Honeymooners' death a mystery". BBC News. 19 November 1998. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- "Waterfalls". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Origin of name". Retrieved 2010-12-23.
- "Name of river". Retrieved 2010-12-25.
- "Area history". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Filming Locations". Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- "Filming Locations". Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- "Area economy". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Culture and heritage". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Lead mining". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Mining". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Leisure activities". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- "Long Distance Walks". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- Ordnance Survey Open Viewer | <urn:uuid:9dc260eb-78a7-4000-a510-2feb17d19556> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Wharfe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910557 | 3,513 | 2.703125 | 3 |
This site began as
part of the work of the Markup Languages and Hypertext seminar at the
University of Washington, Fall, 1998. Its purpose is to provide more compelling reproductions of the paintings, though the viewer should bear in mind that many of these paintings are many times larger than any computer screen now available, and that scale contributes a great deal to impact. Judging by traffic, the site has met a real need, and I have updated it as numbers and resolution of images have increased. Some images use
and require a plugin for the browser.
Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" is available on line.
Daniel Chandler has a nice set of notes on
A special feature is Archduke Leopold William's Gallery: the painting by David Teniers the Younger (Ways, p. 85) is a 17th century catalog of the Archduke's collection; it looks like an array of thumbnail copies, and it is here made into an imagemap where many of the individual paintings link to full-screen reproductions. Teniers, I think, would have approved.
Several of Berger's points about the social function of Art in modern Britain are dilated upon and extended by Graham Harwood (of Mongrel) in his alternative website for the Tate Gallery. | <urn:uuid:1f13a346-2786-4a4e-aebe-18b7ffc9cfd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://courses.washington.edu/englhtml/engl569/berger/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943342 | 273 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The main objective of the Program in Economics and Education, with a specialization in Educational Policy is to equip educational professionals and policy-makers with the skills required for the effective design and implementation of educational policy. The program has a strong emphasis on the financial, managerial, and policy challenges facing educational institutions.
The Program is relatively brief and highly focused to accommodate the demands of promising professionals and policymakers. The course of study is designed to convey the lessons of educational research and practice as well as management science through the intensive study of actual educational policy successes and failures. The curriculum assumes that students possess some measure of intellectual maturity and exposure to the problems of educational policy making.
The Economics and Education program with a specialization in Educational Policy is a 32-credit program and it aims to:
- build students' technical competence in the basic tools of educational management and policy making
- provide the academic and professional environment for students to apply these skills
- educate students about the latest thinking on educational reform policies and the financing of education.
In order to achieve these goals, the program begins in September with an intensive two-semester session in which students are taught basic skills and design an individualized study program on the basis of their career plans and interests. This is followed by a summer session in which students will apply the knowledge acquired during the academic year in a master's project.
The program is skills-oriented and students will be asked to take courses in:
Economic Analysis and Research Skills. A course on microeconomic analysis and a second one on research design are required. On the basis of these courses, the student will design and write his or her own project (called integrative project), a requirement of the master's program.
Statistical Tools for Policymakers. One course will be required to develop skills in data analysis and measurement in education.
Management Skills for Educational Policy. A course will be required on the basic skills and tools used for the effective management of public and private-sector institutions and the efficient implementation of educational policy, including management information systems.
In addition to these four courses, students -in collaboration with their faculty advisor-- will design their own programs of study in five areas of concentration.
At the core of the program curriculum is a set of five concentrations. Students can choose one of these concentrations as their plan for study and research.
1. Economic and Financial Policy Analysis in Education
This concentration covers the fundamentals of economic and financial analysis in education. Relying heavily upon concrete examples and practices, it provides a comprehensive discussion of the basic economic theory as well as the practice of financial educational policy. Applications are based on both the experience of the United States and that of various countries in the world. The following topics are covered in this concentration:
- Alternative Approaches to Financing Education
- Cost-Benefit Analysis of Education Projects
- The Economics of Taxation and Public Finance in Education
- Fiscal Accountability in Educational Institutions
- Equity in the Financing of Schools and Higher Education
2. Human Capital and Labor Markets
The various impacts of human capital on labor market outcomes are studied in this concentration. Employment and income effects of education are discussed. Methods of estimating rates of return to education are examined, and differences in rates of return by educational level (elementary, secondary and higher education), area of study, gender, race and ethnicity, etc. are discussed. Case studies and the latest empirical research on the connections between technological changes and the demand for human capital are presented. The following topics are examined:
- The Economics of Human Capital Accumulation
- Estimating Rates of Return to Education
- The Teacher Labor Market and Compensation Analysis in Education
- On-the-Job Training and Workforce Development
- Technology, the New Knowledge Economy and Its Labor Market Impact
3. Education and Economic Development
This concentration focuses on current trends and challenges facing international educational development. It offers a cross-national, comparative analysis of educational finance policies in the world. Case studies and research from high-income as well as developing nations is used to specify the role of education in the process of economic growth and development. The following topics are examined:
- The Effects of Human Capital on the Economic Growth of Nations
- Education and its Impact on Income Inequality
- The Social and Private Returns to Education
- The Role of the World Bank and Multilateral Organizations
- Alternative Policies for Financing Education in Developing Countries
4. Privatization and the Governance of Educational Systems
Privatization and decentralization of school systems have been on the agenda of many school systems all over the world. This concentration provides a comprehensive discussion of alternative governance systems in education and their impact on student achievement and other educational outcomes. Using case studies of the United States and other countries, the following topics are emphasized:
Private versus Public Roles in Educational Policy Reforms
- Comparative Costs and Performance of Private versus Public Schools and Universities
- Alternative Management Systems and Their Effects
- School Choice, Vouchers and their Impact on Student Performance
- Decentralization and School Governance Policies
5. Economics and Finance of Higher Education
This concentration focuses on the analysis of higher education institutions and the financing of tertiary education. It offers a state-of-the-art coverage of trends and challenges in the economics and finance of higher education policy. The following topics are considered:
- Cost Analysis of Higher Education Institutions
- Community Colleges and Access to Higher Education
- Tuition, Fees and Cost Recovery in Colleges and Universities
- Financial Aid and Equity Issues
- Higher Education Policies and the Impact of Research and Development on Economic Growth | <urn:uuid:0c068ce9-d485-4a95-bfb2-f602baf1193c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tc.columbia.edu/academic/epsa/Economics/index.asp?Id=M.A.+Program&Info=M.A.+Program | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935298 | 1,144 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Jun 4, 2012, Vol. 17, No. 36 • By WILLIAM KRISTOL
Last week, Morning Joe’s eponymous host, Joe Scarborough, called the effort to recall Wisconsin governor Scott Walker “a political Pickett’s Charge” by the Democrats and the unions: “They ran up the hill when they didn’t have to.” If we were to extend the somewhat fanciful historical comparison, we could, I suppose, liken Walker’s supporters to the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment—part of the famed Iron Brigade—whose successful charge on July 1 near Chambersburg Pike contributed to the Union victory at Gettysburg. (Perhaps Walker, in order to inspire his supporters before the vote, could repeat the famous order of Lieutenant Colonel Rufus Dawes, delivered amidst battlefield confusion and carnage: “Forward! Forward! Charge! Align on the Colors! Align on the Colors!”)
Needless to say, comparing Pickett’s troops to today’s union organizers and left-wing activists is unjust to the memory of the Confederate soldiers, whose courage and resolve compelled admiration, if not awe, from observers both North and South. And Scott Walker would be the first to gainsay any comparison of his efforts to the bravery and fortitude of the Iron Brigade, whose 1,900 soldiers took more than 1,100 casualties that day.
The Wisconsin recall election isn’t a modern-day battle of Gettysburg. But let’s hope the comparison holds at least in this respect—that the recall effort, like Pickett’s Charge, fails, and that the just cause prevails. And then, in the event of a victory for Walker on June 5, the task of today’s Republicans will be similar to the challenge facing the Union forces after Gettysburg: to turn a defensive success—halting the South’s advance into Pennsylvania, preventing Scott Walker from being removed from office halfway through his term—into a strategic victory in the broader conflict.
This the North, much to President Lincoln’s chagrin, failed to do. On July 7, Lincoln commented, “If Gen. Meade can complete his work so gloriously prosecuted thus far, by the literal or substantial destruction of Lee’s army, the rebellion will be over.” But despite Lincoln’s entreaties, Meade allowed Lee’s army to retreat and then cross back over the Potomac to safety in the South. As Lincoln said, “Our army held the war in the hollow of their hand and they would not close it!”
Can the forces of political reform today do a better job of closing their victorious hand? Here is one simple thing the Romney campaign can do: Associate Mitt Romney with Governor Walker’s success—and the successes of other governors—in making the case for a national agenda of conservative reform of a bloated and bankrupt welfare state.
One problem for any challenger is to show that his untested policies will work when he’s in office. Another problem for a Republican running for president in 2012 is to unshackle himself from the perceived failures of the last Republican president. Both problems can be dealt with by having Romney become the tribune and representative of the successful Republican governors.
Campaigns tend to focus on making the case for their uniquely qualified candidate. But the case for Romney as president is immeasurably strengthened if it’s not just about Mitt Romney. His case is reinforced by the successes of governors like Mitch Daniels and Bobby Jindal and Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell and Scott Walker and Susana Martinez. These governors have had real successes dealing with the fiscal and financial challenges their states have faced. And this during the same period in which President Obama (and to some degree President Bush before him) failed to grapple with comparable problems at the national level—and at the same time that Democratic governors and legislators in states like Illinois and California have conspicuously failed.
If Team Romney can become Team Romney-Walker-Daniels-Christie-et al., Romney’s campaign will take on a sharper focus. His chances of prevailing this fall will increase. It’s true that he might win anyway in a long and difficult slog. But a Walker victory in Wisconsin on the first Tuesday in June could provide a defining moment for the Romney campaign—and for the forces of responsible Republican reform against reactionary Democratic opposition.
It’s up to the Romney campaign to seize that moment and spend the months after June 5 explaining that a Republican president is needed to complete at the national level the “work so gloriously prosecuted so far” by Republican governors. | <urn:uuid:2239f209-66fb-44ca-afd1-59902a276916> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://staging.weeklystandard.com/articles/after-wisconsin_645901.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952358 | 973 | 2.125 | 2 |
Black Hat hacker details lethal wireless attack on insulin pumps
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If you thought that unlocking cars via SMS was the definition of nefarious, think again: at the Black Hat security conference, security researcher Jerome Radcliffe has detailed how our use of SCADA insulin pumps, pacemakers, and implanted defibrillators could lead to untraceable, lethal attacks from half a mile away.
Radcliffe, who is a diabetic with a wireless, always-attached insulin pump, was slightly worried that someone might hack his pump, meddle with its settings, and kill him — and so, in true hacker fashion, he has spent the last two years trying to hack it himself. Unfortunately, he was very successful. He managed to intercept the wireless control signals, reverse them, inject some fake data, and then send it back to the pump. He could increase the amount of insulin injected by the pump, or reduce it. In both cases the pump showed no signs of being tampered with, and it did not generate a warning that he was probably about to die. “I can get full remote control,” Radcliffe said. “If I were an evil hacker, I could issue commands to give insulin, without anyone else’s authority. This is scary. And I can manipulate the data so it happens in a stealth way.”
The problem with these wireless devices is that, rather insanely, they are not designed with security in mind. As with early computer networks, no one believes that someone would even try to hack a wireless insulin pump or pacemaker, and so they are left relatively unsecured. Some SCADA systems do use encryption, like the wireless control systems used by government facilities, airports, and power plants, but encryption adds complexity, power usage, and cost. The manufacturer of Radcliffe’s insulin pump obviously had to decide between being cheap and quick to market, or secure. Needless to say, now that Radcliffe has shown that it’s rather easy to kill a user of this insulin pump, the manufacturer will now move rather quickly to secure it before it loses billions of dollars in a lawsuit.
Unfortunately the weakness of “non-vital” SCADA systems is endemic. Three years ago, a similar vulnerability [PDF] was found in wireless pacemakers — and according to Brad Smith, a security researcher and also a registered nurse, these same wireless control systems can be found in other medical devices, too. The only saving grace is that no hacker has yet gone public with the exact process required to hack a modern, actively-used medical device — and indeed, the process will vary from device to device — but it does make you feel a little queasy that someone could park up outside a hospital or care home and kill with wireless, untrackable impunity.
The only solution, as with wired and wireless computer networks, is to step up security. Proprietary hardware would be a good start, and encryption could also be used — but in the case of implanted devices that must go for months or years without a change of batteries, the increased power draw of complex circuitry is highly undesirable. Ultimately, these wireless control devices must simply be built with the assumption that hackers will eventually break in. In the case of the insulin pump, it should contain hardware-level sanity checking. It could contain a piece of read-only memory that contains the minimum and maximum amounts of insulin that should ever be injected into the patient. | <urn:uuid:45e516f7-f043-4a26-9955-2bea3d5c4d03> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/92054-black-hat-hacker-details-wireless-attack-on-insulin-pumps | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964912 | 710 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Only an alert and knowledgeable citizen can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals – so that security and liberty may prosper together.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower in his famous speech on the dangers of the Military-Industrial Complex
Good Op-Ed yesterday from the New York Times about how dangerous our cultural fascination with war and aggressive foreign policy is for the health of the nation – both economically and spiritually. That said, I do take one major exception with the author’s premise that we have moved beyond a time “when commercial interests influenced military action.” To think this takes a naivety of the highest order, and he clearly does not understand how the global financial system operates and what the petro-dollar is. Nonetheless, some very important points are made. From the NY Times:
In his farewell address, Eisenhower called for a better equilibrium between military and domestic affairs in our economy, politics and culture. He worried that the defense industry’s search for profits would warp foreign policy and, conversely, that too much state control of the private sector would cause economic stagnation. He warned that unending preparations for war were incongruous with the nation’s history. He cautioned that war and warmaking took up too large a proportion of national life, with grave ramifications for our spiritual health.
Like all institutions, the military works to enhance its public image, but this is just one element of militarization. Most of the political discourse on military matters comes from civilians, who are more vocal about “supporting our troops” than the troops themselves. It doesn’t help that there are fewer veterans in Congress today than at any previous point since World War II.
Eisenhower understood the trade-offs between guns and butter. “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed,” he warned in 1953, early in his presidency.
In this strange universe where those without military credentials can’t endorse defense cuts, it took a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Mike Mullen, to make the obvious point that the nation’s ballooning debt was the biggest threat to national security.
That which is left unexamined eventually becomes invisible, and as a result, few Americans today are giving sufficient consideration to the full range of violent activities the government undertakes in their names.
Watch a brief but powerful clip of Eisenhower’s famous speech below.
Read the entire NY Times Op-Ed here. | <urn:uuid:7049ef98-ed20-4425-bf29-27fc8e679262> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2012/11/05/the-permanent-militarization-of-america/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95977 | 551 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Do you see or feed cats in your neighborhood?
Cats with no particular home or owner?
These are San Francisco's Community Cats.
The easiest and most effective way to control the cat population is to spay and neuter, and monitor populations.
The population stabilizes; no more kittens.
The behaviors associated with mating, such and yowling and fighting, cease.
Community Cats are vaccinated before being returned to their outdoor homes.
The SF SPCA spays and neuters San Francisco's community cats for free. Whether you are an experienced advocate, or need assistance getting started, we can help. We offer advice and assistance in managing a community cat colony – just give us a call or email us.
Interested in volunteering with our program? Volunteer play many roles, from feeding colonies around the city, assisting in the office, training and educating the community on TNR, providing recovery assistance in their home, and so much more. To get involved, visit our Volunteer Services page or drop us an email. | <urn:uuid:9c8d1c28-e970-4b66-aa59-3a830900077c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfspca.org/programs-services/community-cats | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944499 | 211 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Protecting Mountain Biodiversity: activities and achievments of the Mountain Partnership members
Mountain Partnership Secretariat
Date and Time
18 October 2012 18:15 - 19:45
Several of the about 200 members of the Mountain Partnership (Governments, IGOs and NGOs) are involved in protecting mountain biodiversity. 10 years after the launch of this Alliance and the International Year of Mountains 2002, we need to take stock of the main achievements and identify the challenges ahead. The CBD programme of work on Mountain Biodiversity provides an institutional context to undertake this exercise. The Mountain Partnership is a platform for discussing about these issues and identifying common solutions and strategies. | <urn:uuid:e2e9eba1-1a58-45fb-9203-e8bef5393209> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbd.int/kb/record/sideEvent/2796?Event=COP-11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908271 | 134 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Kicking Pain PillsKicking Pain Pills at a Narconon Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center Surprises Some Addicts with its Relative Lack of Discomfort
Opiate addiction comes with its own special set of problems, one of the worst of which is an agonizing withdrawal. The development of a human withdrawal technique at Narconon drug recovery centers is good news for opiate addicts.
It's a class of drug that makes life livable for millions of people who would otherwise suffer debilitating pain, chronically or acutely. But it's also a class of drug so prone to abuse that millions more have misused it. This misuse has had a variety of effects. Some people just experienced the euphoria that commonly results from its abuse. Other people have become addicted. Some of those who became addicted made it into rehabs and some of them died.
The class, of course, is narcotic pain medications. The class starts at the less effective end with Demerol (meperidine HCl). At the other end of the scale of effectiveness is Dilaudid (hydromorphone).
A study at Harvard rated all the current prescription narcotics for their effectiveness as pain relievers, using a scale of 1 to 11. "One" was aspirin and Dilaudid was at "11".
In between, in ascending order of effectiveness on pain are:
- Combinations of hydrocodone plus acetaminophen (known to most people as Tylenol); brand names in this category include Vicodin, Lortab and Lorcet.
- Oxycodone combinations such as Percodan which also contains aspirin or Percocet that also contains acetaminophen. Oxycodone is best known by its brand name, OxyContin.
- Oxycodone HCl
- Fentanyl, an extremely powerful pain reliever that has been known to cause hallucinations. It is so prone to overdose that it is normally administered in a patch or a lollipop.
- Morphine sulfate, brand named MS Contin.
- Then Dilaudid, a derivative of morphine, tops the list.
Call and speak to one of our drug rehabilitation counselors if you need help with prescription drug addiction
These drugs follow in the footsteps of the earlier opiates used for pain relief:
Opium, morphine, codeine and heroin. Each of these drugs was developed and marketed for medical purposes. (The only exception is opium which dates back to ancient Egypt; it may well have followed the same pattern but that history has been lost.) After many people became addicted or died, each substance was either made illegal or subjected to severe legal and distribution controls.
Effects of Opiates, Good and Bad
Yes, opiates and the partially-synthetic opioids do relieve pain. But they come with unpleasant side effects. Researchers continue to try to find pain medications that avoid side effects such as: Nausea and vomiting; Drowsiness; Itching; Dry mouth; Slow or fast heartbeat; Respiratory depression which is often the cause of fatality in overdoses; Confusion, hallucinations, delirium.
Constipation is such a well known and widespread side effect of pain medication that some laxatives now promote their use for people taking pain pills.
Withdrawal from Pain Relievers Can be Agonizing
When a person becomes addicted, either through legitimate use or abuse, getting off the drug can be a miserable experience, enough to prevent addicts from seeking help. Withdrawal from many of the opiates and opioids includes severe and deep muscle and bone pain, abdominal cramps, chills and sweating and nausea.
Opiates Send More than 400,000 to Drug Treatment Each Year
The solution offered by many drug rehab centers is more drugs, either methadone or buprenorphine, both developed to prevent withdrawal symptoms in addicts kicking opiates. But both are themselves drugs of abuse.
So when someone came up with a more tolerable, drug-free way to kick opiates and opioids as a first step toward a new, drug-free life, this was excellent news for addicts.
At Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, those who come for opiate drug recovery find a withdrawal step that is tolerable and humane. It has been found that nutritional supplements such as B-vitamin combinations and calcium-magnesium help the body get through withdrawal with much less discomfort. "Assists," gentle physical and re-orienting exercises, help the recovering addict focus his or her attention in the present, safe environment and relax muscle spasms.
The Narconon Drug Recovery Program Offers Much More than just Withdrawal
There are detox programs that simply get a person off the drug that was addicting them. There are drug rehabs that run for 28 or 30 days, as long as many insurance plans will cover, and then whatever progress in developing a drug-free life the addict has made up to that point is all they are going to get. They are back on the street and on their own. But the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers located around the world offer a very different type of program.
In 150 centers on every continent, Narconon helps prevent drug addiction through a drug education curriculum that is entirely its own, and drug rehab programs that can offer a 70 percent success rate to graduates.
The unique Narconon system of recovery allows each addict to proceed at their own pace. So no longer is an addict forced to face life on their own before recovery is complete. Through the eight phases of the program offered in Narconon centers, those who were addicted learn how to build a new life to replace the one that was destroyed by drugs. It is very common for addicts to arrive at a Narconon facility with little or nothing left of that former life. Family may have given up on them, careers may have been trashed, homes, jobs and self-esteem may have long since been replaced by homelessness, despair and guilt.
Those in Recovery Have to Learn that Life Can be Faced Without Drugs
Before there were drugs and addiction, there may have been problems that could not be faced. Or perhaps it was just boredom or desire for something different and exciting. When drugs took over, self-confidence, trust, happiness and ability to achieve one's goals and many other qualities were lost. They can be regained at Narconon. It happens every day, around the world.
Those in recovery on the Narconon drug and alcohol drug rehabilitation program learn why they made their decisions to start using drugs. They learn techniques for shedding the guilt for terrible things done while they were high or trying to get drugs. They also learn a new, non-denominational common sense moral code that replaces the damaged viewpoint of an addict.
When all is said and done, a Narconon graduate has the tools to stay drug-free without crutches like methadone or buprenorphine. Without antidepressants. Without any medication at all.
Narconon graduates will tell you that is the very best way to live.
This is one out of many articles covering prescription drug addiction. Call if you know someone who may be addicted to prescription drugs or for more information. You could save their life.
Narconon Drug Information Department | <urn:uuid:cabc5ad7-4aa7-4a02-aeb7-394e949a097e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/kicking-pain-pills.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957668 | 1,496 | 2.078125 | 2 |
GovTrack’s Bill Summary
We don’t have a summary available yet.
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
We don’t have a summary available yet.
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/1/hr359.
The Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF) was created in 1971 by the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and first used to provide funds for presidential campaigns in 1976. According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC)—with the exception of then-candidate Barack Obama—every presidential campaign since 1976 has been financed in part with public taxpayer funds. Under current law, the PECF is financed by voluntary contributions from taxpayers who check a box on their tax returns to designate a portion of their tax dollars to the PECF. Today, the contribution levels are $3 for individual income tax filers and $6 for joint filers. The PECF provides funding to candidates in the primary and general elections through matching funds of up to $250 of any contribution from a taxpayer. Though taxpayers may contribute up to $2,000 to a candidate, only $250 of a contribution is ever matchable.
Candidates who accept public financing through the PECF must agree to limit their campaign spending to a specific amount. The FEC is responsible for administering the public financing program and determining which candidates are eligible and the amount to which they are entitled. In addition, the FEC audits all campaigns receiving public funds to verify that funds are used in accordance with the law. The Department of Treasury makes the payouts to the campaigns using funds from the PECF. According to CBO, the fund currently collects about $42 million annually, and its balance was $195 million at the end of 2010.
According to the FEC, participation in public financing by presidential candidates has declined rapidly in recent years. Prior to the 2004 presidential election total public funding payouts had increased every election cycle, from $72.7 million in 1976 to $239.5 million in 2000. Since 2000, however, participation by candidates has declined sharply and in 2008, total PECF payouts totaled $138.7 million. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), only eight candidates received matching funds during the primary and then-candidate Obama became “the first major-party nominee since the program's inception to completely decline public funds.” Despite the fact that then-candidate Obama eschewed using public financing, the White House has issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) which “strongly opposes” eliminating the PECF and saving taxpayers $617 million.
H.R. 359 would reduce direct spending by $617 million over ten years by eliminating the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF) and thus eliminating public financing of presidential campaigns. Specifically, the bill would: 1) terminate a taxpayer’s option to contribute a portion of their income tax return to the PECF; 2) transfer the entire current balance of the PECF to the general Treasury fund; and 3) terminate the authority to spend federal funds on presidential campaigns.
According to CBO, H.R. 359 would reduce direct spending by $447 million over the FY 2011 – FY 2016 period and by $617 million over ten years.
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile. | <urn:uuid:32865eb1-41fb-43f0-9a90-21eda32c965f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr359 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955356 | 838 | 2.390625 | 2 |
As you may know, the platypus and the echidna are kind of the oddballs in the mammal family. They are the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving live birth.
The platypus is also thought of by some as one of the strangest animals in the animal kingdom due its duck bill, beaver tail, otter feet, and capacity to inject venom into threatening animals.
The platypus genome is actually pretty fascinating. When platypus DNA was compared to the DNA of other mammals, it turns out certain genes were actually missing. These genes were for protein cutting enzymes called proteases, which are made only in the stomach.
Even more interesting was how these genes were actually present, but disabled by virus-like pieces of DNA. Several other stomach related genes are also missing from platypus DNA.
So what’s so strange about that? Just about every vertebrate has a stomach, but the platypus has actually lost its stomach over the years. The stomach for the platypus is a useless tube connecting the esophagus to the intestines. This means that over the years, the platypus has actually evolved out of its stomach. | <urn:uuid:dff0442f-9301-4f23-8bc5-782c32216da2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.omg-facts.com/Animals/Platypuses-Don-t-Have-Stomachs/51995?fromP | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975603 | 246 | 3.171875 | 3 |
There’s one thing growing faster than the population in Gilbert — the piles of bulk trash.
The mattresses, tree branches, broken toys, furniture and other bulk trash that Gilbert residents leave in their yards, sidewalks and streets has ballooned in the past five years, growing at an average rate per capita of 23 percent a year.
Some residents say the town’s convenient free monthly bulk-trash pickup service is abused by residents with big families who don’t want to pay for another standard black garbage can. Town spokesman Greg Svelund calls the service “a victim of its own success.”
“They are putting out all kinds of stuff that really is not bulk trash, that could go in their black can,” Gilbert resident Sylvia Lesan said. “People fill up their whole driveway with stuff. This is a throwaway society. We don’t save anything.”
Svelund said the town has been marketing the service through its free town paper mailed to homes, which could contribute to the increase. It’s not surprising that families with multiple children moving to town may have a lot of bulk trash they want to get rid of, he added.
But the town is encouraging residents to take advantage of free trade Web sites or to donate usable bulk to charities, instead of throwing it away in overwhelming volumes to fill up limited landfill space.
“Anything we can do to get people to put less out, whether it’s bulk trash or recycling, and try to consume less,” Svelund said. “Try to find new ways to use old products. If they could do whatever they can to not put it out in bulk waste, that would be great.”
A 26 percent increase in bulk trash just in the first six months of this year has caused the town to run on average two weeks or more behind on picking up the refuse. Hundreds of angry residents have called to complain. In some cases, residents say insects are infesting their homes, and residents who put their garbage out early are causing it to sit curbside as long as a month.
Town Councilman Don Skousen points to a long frost that killed a lot of trees and branches for triggering this year’s jump. But over the years, the town has experienced an increasing amount of bulk trash per capita, far exceeding the population growth. The volume has ballooned from 2,385 tons in 2000 to 11,778 tons in 2006. Taking population growth into account, the increases per year average 23 percent per capita since 2002.
East Valley municipalities that offer the free monthly service — such as Gilbert, Scottsdale and Tempe — collect a dramatically higher rate of bulk garbage at homes, compared to cities that require appointments or charge a fee for pickup.
Gilbert, which has about 192,000 residents, picked up as much as 1,712 tons per month in the last year, and saw a jump to 1,226 tons this May from 734 tons in May 2006.
Scottsdale, a city of 226,000, collected 1,001 to 1,850 tons of bulk trash each month from residential curbs during the last 11 months, as part of its monthly service.
But Chandler, a city of about 240,000 which offers only two free pickups a year, made 16,839 trips to collect bulk trash from homes in all of 2006 — far fewer than the 24,729 pickups in Gilbert in April and May alone. Chandler officials don’t track tonnage for individual pickups.
This month, the Chandler City Council voted to offer free pickup once every six weeks.
In Mesa, which has about 448,000 residents, homeowners are charged $19.99 for unlimited home bulk trash pickup. There were 1,190 tons of bulk collected in 2006, or 99 tons per month. So far this year, 452 tons have been collected in Mesa, compared with 6,162 tons collected in Gilbert through May.
For some Gilbert residents who pride themselves on living in a town that requires homeowner associations and has the highest per capita income in the East Valley, the trash is getting embarrassing.
And, it’s growing expensive, officials say. The cost for paying staff and operating the Gilbert’s bulk trash program is $1.7 million a year. The town is seeking emergency approval of contractors to help clean up the townwide mess at a cost of $125 per ton and no more than $300,000.
Gilbert resident Kathy Tittes said about 50 guests had to walk past an overflowing pile of garbage in her front yard for husband Allen Tittes’ recent birthday celebration.
“People did comment on, ‘what is all this trash in the street about?’” Kathy Tittes said.
And many residents say they often see “scavengers” digging through trash, looking for useful items left at the curb.
“I actually set stuff aside, and if I don’t want it, they can come and take it,” Gilbert resident Susan Ford said. In fact, she said her family grabbed an old washing machine someone had set on the side of the road, and use it to wash greasy rags her husband uses.
Her big concern is leaving bags of grass clippings in front of her home for nearly two weeks.
“It starts to rot,” she said. “We get scorpion-infested.” | <urn:uuid:1144106a-0712-45a5-8ca2-8a9ac23258fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eastvalleytribune.com/news/article_321759c5-a0c7-5b94-bd5c-e16a12060b36.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959339 | 1,141 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The Navy is investigating the deaths of two sailors during a diving operation at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the second deadly incident at a test pond there in the past month.
However, a representative for APG said the two incidents are not believed to be connected.
APG spokeswoman Kelly Luster said the sailors died during a routine dive training operation Tuesday at the Army base. The sailors were later identified as James Reyher, 28, of Caldwell, Ohio; and Ryan Harris, 23, of Gladstone, Mo.
The Navy said one of the men was declared dead at the scene, and the second died later at a medical facility.
The Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit that the men were a part of is based at Joint Expeditionary Base, Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach. The Navy said its Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group Two is conducting an investigation into the deaths.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our teammates," said Capt. John Coffey, the deputy commander of Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Group Two. "Petty Officer Harris and Petty Officer Reyher were exceptional sailors. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends and shipmates during this difficult time."
"Ryan and James epitomized the unsung hero persona of the Navy diver. We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve with them," said CDR Michael Runkle, Commanding Officer, MDSU-2. "We are all deeply saddened by their loss and are focusing on supporting their families during this time of need."
Late last month, an engineering technician died while performing maintenance at the same underwater test facility at the Army site. That man's death is still being investigated.
Luster said the pond is used for a variety of tests, including shock testing of boat hulls. | <urn:uuid:6bd4d157-4e7a-44b6-9758-96c6f69aa68b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/military/2-Navy-divers-die-at-Aberdeen-Proving-Ground-pond/-/15159352/19103250/-/14h3o3r/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984283 | 373 | 1.546875 | 2 |
By MORRIS WEST
Against all the evidence of history, we still cherish the illusion that the systems we create will support us indefinitely. We are shocked when they prove too fragile to bear the weight of our enterprises and our hopes.
We still believe that government is a form of magic which absolves the governed from personal responsibility and endows the governors with a kind of divinity. We elevate a strong man to rule us. We ignore that he is mortal and corruptible.
We elect assemblies to govern us, we are amazed that their members are as ignorant, as selfish, as mediocre as we are ourselves. We assent to laws whose texts we never read and groan under the inequities they generate.
We pay police and militia to protect us. We educate them in the techniques of surveillance, repression and psychological torture. Too late we understand how easily we may become their victims.
We devise elaborate systems of social service for the sick, the aged, the incompetent. Suddenly, we discover how many needy fall through the net and how little we are disposed to care.
We fabricate monetary policies to support our failing currencies. We are blind to the fact that money, divorced from fruitful services and tangible goods, is worthless paper, a mad mathematic in a banker's ledger.
We rape the resources of the earth in the name of industrial growth and economic progress. We do not see that the resources diminish while half the world still lives on the edge of famine.
We negotiate for peace and peddle the weapons of war. We are justified, we say, by the system of supply and demand and by the need to create employment. Reason goes out the window when we must keep men employed by killing other men.
The computer liberates us from the twin burdens of reason and accountability. It writes our biographies in arcane symbols. This record, to which we have no access, against which we have no legal recourse, determines our credit, our employment, our moral status. It may determine the day of Armageddon, against which none of us may appeal.
When all our other devisings fail, we seek refuge in this
religious system or that. We stay ourselves with ritual, authority, dogmatic definition, or we pay homage to the astrologer and the magus.
We dare not confront the simple fact of mortality or the vast mystery of cosmic continuity. We are afraid of the great unknowable whom we call God. So we make gods in our own image and wonder why they fail us so Quickly.
In the end, we fall sick of the palsy of despair. We are so small, our systems are so unstable, the world is so complex, that all effort seems futile. We scramble for the last fruits, to make a mad supper, before the ice-age engulfs us all.
Today, this mood of accidie, of disillusion and bleak indifference, afflicts us all in greater or less degree. It puts us all in jeopardy. It will betray us into tyranny or chaos.
An exaggeration? I do not think so. Indifference attracts the tyrant. Disillusion provokes disorder.
Our social systems cannot tolerate much more strain. One key union can ruin a country in a single cold winter. The oil sheiks made vassals of half the world overnight. There was and is public discussion of preemptive war by America. If there is a remedy for this catastrophic malaise, we must apply it quickly. I believe that the remedy is simple but painful.
Each one of us must assume a full personal responsibility in the conduct of society. None of us dare abrogate or delegate that responsibility to an anonymous collective "they".
We must create order in ourselves, in our own vicinity. We must not raise up tyrants to impose it for us. We must dispense justice out of ourselves — personal justice, social justice — before we demand justice from others. We must offer love first. even if the love returned to us is less than we expect. This is the true social contract, without which no other contract can stand.
We must hold ourselves responsible, personally responsible, for all that is done in our names by our elected representatives or the civil servants whom we pay with our taxes.
We must protest — personally protest — against bad legislation and unfaithful service. We must recognise that a sickness in the body politic is a sickness in our own bodies, and we, personally, .must co-operate in the cure.
If the rights of another are invaded, each of us must rise to resist the invasion. The larger the affair, the more complex the issue, the more important it is to hear the single human voice above the clamour of partisan debate.
Each of us has a right to propose his policies in the speaking-place, to assemble freely, to decide by majority. Each of us has a personal duty to protect the rights of the minority.
Each of us has an obligation of tolerance and compassion, because God wears a different face for every man, because all definitions are inadequate and to burn a man for a formula is a barbarity.
Each of us must respect the law. Each of us must fight to improve the law, knowing that it is always less than just, that it is as much a weapon as a shield, that its inequity can drive men to disorder and violence.
No codex is complete; no • legislation should be beyond challenge; no regulation should override the fundamental purpose — the dispensation of Justice in a community of free, self-regulating citizens.
It is not a system which will save us. It is we ourselves, one by one, one to one, each to all and all to each. | <urn:uuid:46188b3c-d63a-4a10-821f-7710ad8944c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/6th-december-1974/7/no-system-will-save-us-we-must-save-ourselves | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946913 | 1,173 | 1.851563 | 2 |
||This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (August 2011)|
|Toy Story character|
|First appearance||Toy Story (1995)|
|Created by||John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Joe Ranft|
|Voiced by||Tim Allen (films, Toy Story Toons, and commercials)
Pat Fraley (merchandise, Toy Story Treats, and attractions)
Patrick Warburton (TV series)
Stephen Stanton (video games and Mad)
Javier Fernandez-Peña (Spanish Buzz)
|Species||Spaceman action figure|
|Family||Woody, Jessie, Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Bo Peep, Wheezy Sarge and the Bucket O' Soldiers, Bullseye, Buttercup, Dolly, Trixie, Totoro, Mr. Pricklepants, Chuckles, the Peas-in-a-Pod and the Aliens|
Buzz Lightyear is a fictional character in the Toy Story franchise. Buzz is a space ranger hero according to the movies and action figure in the Toy Story series. Along with Woody, he is the co-leader of Andy's Room. He also appeared in the movie Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and the television series spin-off Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, as well as the two film sequels. His often repeated catchphrase is "To infinity ... and beyond!" Tim Allen voiced the character in the Toy Story film trilogy and the Buzz Lightyear movie, while Patrick Warburton provided Buzz's voice for the TV series, and Pat Fraley voiced him for the video games and the attractions in Disney Parks.
Concept and creation
Buzz Lightyear's name was inspired by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin; the second person to walk on the Moon. Aldrin acknowledged the tribute when he pulled a Buzz Lightyear doll out during a speech at NASA, to rapturous cheers; a clip of this can be found on the Toy Story 10th Anniversary DVD. Aldrin did not, however, receive any endorsement fees for the use of his first name.
Regarding the design of Lightyear, his creator, John Lasseter, is on record as saying he wanted to create an action figure in the line of G.I. Joe for Toy Story and decided upon a spaceman figure. He attributes his design to the influence of Apollo astronauts, in particular their clear helmets, skullcaps, communication devices and white suits
The purple and lime green color scheme were his wife's and his own favorite colours respectively. The wholesome good looks of television actor Ed Kemmer are also believed to be a prototype for Lightyear. Kemmer played Commander Buzz Corry in Space Patrol, one of the first science-fiction series on US TV.
||This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (August 2011)|
In Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear is first seen when given as a gift to Andy at his birthday party. Buzz is the most popular toy in the media at that time, and Andy's toys are quickly amazed at the impressive features that he has. He first believes that he is a space ranger, but after he sees a commercial in Sid's house about him, he realizes he's just a toy. However, Woody, the leader of Andy's toys, immediately grows jealous of the attention Buzz gets. The friction between the two is soon put aside when they save themselves and each other from a "toy murderer", Sid. In Toy Story 2, Buzz Lightyear appears as the main protagonist and must assume the leadership of the gang in order to rescue Woody, who was captured by a toy collector named Al. Things get complicated when a toy named Stinky Pete tries to force Woody to get shipped to Japan with him, a pull-string doll named Jessie, and her horse, Bullseye. Even worse, Buzz comes into cahoots with another Buzz Lightyear action figure, who is deluded like Buzz was in the first film, and is pursued by a deluded Emperor Zurg action figure. Buzz and the toys eventually rescue Woody, Jessie and Bullseye, who come to live in Andy's room with everyone. In Toy Story 3, Woody, Buzz, and the gang end up in a daycare center, where the leader of the toys is evil Lots-O-Huggin' Bear. Buzz is caught spying, and turned back to "demo mode". Therefore, he thinks he is a real space ranger again, and turns on his friends. Buzz turns back to his normal self, after he nearly gets crushed by a television set in a garbage truck. After facing many dangers, Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and the other toys are given by Andy to a little girl named Bonnie. The end credits show the toys embracing their new life with Bonnie.
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
In Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Buzz is a space ranger working for Star Command, protecting the universe from Evil Emperor Zurg. He works in a team alongside Mira Nova, a Tangean princess with phasing powers, Booster, a janitor from the planet Jo-Ad, and XR, a robot created by the Little Green Men (the aliens from the movies, LGM for short). This version of Buzz is completely different from the one in Toy Story, in looks and personality. Buzz also has had many love interests on the show. He once had a friend and partner named Warp Darkmatter, however, he later joined Zurg and became his No. 1 agent. Buzz also seems to never take off the purple headwear that he has with his Space Ranger uniform. To compare this animation and the Toy Story films, the button between the red and blue ones is green in the Toy Story films and yellow in this animation with the releasing of strings when pressed. Aside from his regular catch phrase, he has a habit of telling villains that "Evil never wins!" The show received mixed-positive reception.
In other media
Buzz has been mentioned twice in the sitcom Home Improvement, which starred Tim Allen. In the season 6 episode "I Was a Teenage Taylor", a small child comes trick or treating at the Taylor house dressed up as Buzz Lightyear. In the outtakes of the season 7 episode "Say Goodnight, Gracie", Tim Taylor (Tim Allen's character) is seen arguing with a Buzz Lightyear action figure.
His phrase, "To Infinty & Beyond!" was also used in the 2006 film The Shaggy Dog.
In Finding Nemo, a Buzz toy can be found in a toy box in the dentist's office.
Buzz is a space ranger from the Intergalactic Alliance and is stationed in the Gamma Quadrant of Sector 4. He is the captain of the Alliance's Team. Lightyear is known for his bravery and courage. Buzz believes that following rules is the way people should live their life. Though a great leader, at times he exhibits rather unemotional, erratic, and impulsive behaviour, a triumvirate of his biggest character flaws. Buzz is said to be Emperor Zurg's son (à la Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) as mentioned in Toy Story 2, but in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, this is revealed to be a taunt intended to catch Buzz off guard.[episode needed] Either way, this shows that Buzz does not know his father (although as mentioned in Toy Story 2, he was indeed killed, possibly by Zurg, as neither of these facts have been refuted). Buzz is trained in several forms of martial arts and is a highly skilled warrior in hand to hand combat. Being in peak physical condition, Buzz makes a perfect space ranger and is an example to many. Perhaps unexpectedly, Buzz Lightyear the space ranger toy enjoys his closest personal relationships with two cowboy dolls: his best friend in the trilogy is Sheriff Woody Pride, who along with Buzz is the main protagonist of the three films, and by the end of Toy Story 2, he has developed a crush on Jessie the Cowgirl, which is consummated with their romance in Toy Story 3.
Buzz wears a high-tech space suit, similar to those of modern-day astronauts though more streamlined and iconic. The suit chest features a control panel. On the left hand side of the suit, a large red button activates the suit's flight system. The buttons on the right of the suit have numerous functions such as contacting Star Command, shooting grappling hooks, and activating full throttle. On the toy Buzz of movies however, all they do is make Buzz say different catch phrases. Buzz's suit also protects against the vacuum and cold of space. It can also translate all he says into any language even an outer space dialect. A retractable helmet, when activated, covers Buzz's head and allows him to breathe in space or on planets lacking a sufficient supply of oxygen. The left arm of the suit has a panel that flips open to reveal a display that contains a mission log in the wrist area to record history and provide records. The right arm contains the weapon system which projects an unusually strong and powerful red-colored laser out of the small cannon on the back of the wrist. Buzz has a utility belt as an upgrade to suit. It has various things such as anti-gravity servos, magnets for climbing purposes, and a grappling hook.
Action figure
Toy figure, Buzz Lightyear, with packaging, licensed from the film Toy Story, plastic / cardboard, made for Thinkway Toys in China, 1995-1999. The Buzz Lightyear figure was manufactured by Thinkway Toys, New York between 1995-1999. An enhanced, newer model was released in 2009 to coincide with the Toy Story 3-D Double Feature. Originally, Tim Allen's voice was on the action figure. The newer models feature a voice actor who sounds similar to Allen.
The Toy Story Action Figure, Buzz Lightyear was subject to mass sales in the Christmas after the film's release, mainly in the United States and United Kingdom. Additional parts could be purchased, e.g. wings etc... It was the number 1 toy sold in the UK and has remained a sought-after collectible since. In 1995, Thinkway didn't think that Toy Story would be that popular hence didn't make enough dolls to meet demand, as referenced in Toy Story 2. When Toy Story 3 came out they made 2 more Buzz Lightyear action figures for the Toy Story Collection, one normal one and an extra one with the utility belt from Toy Story 2. Produced by Thinkway Toys also with the spaceship box from the movies.
In May 2008, NASA and Disney announced that an original Thinkway Toys' Buzz Lightyear action figure would fly aboard the space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124. The 12-inch toy was to remain on the International Space Station for six months, where it would take part in an experiment and appear in a video downlink from space. The flight was arranged as part of the Toys In Space program that began in 1985.
The mission launched with Buzz aboard the NASA space shuttle Discovery (STS-124) on May 31, 2008, to celebrate the opening of Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure Park theme parks, with the ultimate destination of the International Space Station (ISS). The action figure "ate" dinner with the 10 astronauts and cosmonauts and was seen peering out a window aboard the ISS. The action figure stayed aboard the space station for a period of six months as part of a NASA toys-in-space educational program.
In October 2009, Thinkway Toys released a replica Buzz Lightyear figure based on the figure in the Toy Story movies as part of their Toy Story Collection series of toys. This Buzz Lightyear was much more accurately detailed than the other Buzz Lightyear figures and it has features similar to the figure seen in the movie with similar pop-out wings complete with blinking lights at the wing tips, laser, wrist communicator and the figure has over 65 phrases with original voice. However, the figure lacks the karate chop action. The figure also comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and comes packaged in the spaceship packaging as seen in the movies.
In 2010, Lego created a Buzz Lightyear action figure. The Lego set is number 7592 and has 205 pieces. When the figure is completely built it has articulating head, arms, hands, torso, legs, feet, wings and visor.
Cultural impact
Buzz's classic line "To infinity... and beyond!" has seen usage not only on T-shirts, but among philosophers and mathematical theorists as well. Lucia Hall of The Humanist linked the film's plot to an interpretation of humanism. She compared the phrase to "All this and heaven, too!", indicating one who is happy with a life on Earth as well as having an afterlife. The 2008 quadruple platinum song Single Ladies by Beyoncé Knowles includes the lyric "...and delivers me to a destiny, to infinity and beyond," a reference which was pointed out by alt-country singer Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco during a 2010 solo performance in Chicago. Also in 2008, astronauts took an action figure of Buzz Lightyear into space on the Discovery Space Shuttle as part of an educational experience for students while stressing the catchphrase. The action figure was used for experiments in zero-g. Also in 2008, the phrase made international news when it was reported that a father and son had continually repeated the phrase to help them keep track of each other while treading water for 15 hours in the Atlantic Ocean.
See also
- "Toy Story 3 Featurette - Buzz Lightyear". Trailer Addict. June 18, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
- Solomon, Deborah; Oth, Christian (June 15, 2009 and June 21, 2009). "Questions for Buzz Aldrin: The Man on the Moon". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-24. Note: nytimes.com print-view software lists the article date as June 21, 2009; main article webpage shows June 15.
- Tyler, Josh (September 30, 2009). "Watch John Lasseter Explain The Origins of Buzz Lightyear". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
- [Disney's Buzz Lightyear and Wall-E explore space for NASA http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-062408a.html] June 24, 2008, collectspace.com
- Brian Pendreigh Ed Kemmer TV star and inspiration for the character of Buzz Lightyear Nov 19, 2004, The Herald Scotland
- Toy Story. Disney-Pixar. 1995.
- "Hero Complex". The Los Angeles Times. December 30, 2009.
- "Buzz Lightyear becomes real space ranger". collectSPACE. May 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- Dunn, Marcia (June 6, 2008). "Japan's space lab just got bigger". MSNBC.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- "The Return of Buzz Lightyear". NASA. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- "7592 Construct-a-Buzz". The LEGO Group. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
- "Empire Features". Empire. December 5, 2006. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
- "94. Buzz Lightyear". Retrieved December 4, 2010.
- Dusek, Val (2006). Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing. p. 59. ISBN 1-4051-1163-1.
- Hall, Lucia K.B. (March 1, 2000). "Toy Stories for Humanists?". The Humanist. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
- “” (March 13, 2010). "Jeff Tweedy - Single Ladies". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
- Pearlman, Robert Z. (May 29, 2008). "Buzz Lightyear Becomes Real Space Ranger". Space.com. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- "Buzz Lightyear got us through". Star Tribune. Associated Press. September 10, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2009.[dead link]
- "'Toy Story' Line Helped Father, Son Survive in Water for 15 Hours". Fox News. Associated Press. September 10, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
|Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Buzz Lightyear| | <urn:uuid:7c4ea1f6-dcec-4c9d-aa21-334a4abe194a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Lightyear | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944332 | 3,395 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Cycle-commuting the secret* to a happy life says New Economic Foundation report
Cycling to work makes you more content, but will policy-makers take note? *Well, one of them
Given the choice, would you rather be happy or wealthy? Well, if you're a cycle commuter, it seems, you've got a headstart to happines, because far from triggering heart attacks as erroneously reported by the Daily Mail last week, is one factor that has been shown to increase an individual’s overall sense of happiness according to the New Economics Foundation (NEF), a think-tank whose remit includes finding new ways to measure social and economic well-being
You might think the two go hand-in-hand but research clearly shows that in recent decades increased prosperity in the UK and US has not given rise to a corresponding increase in levels of happiness.
Researching what makes people happy is seen as important as it can help policy-makers to decide where to allocate resources in order to improve the overall sense of well-being within the population, reports the BBC's Mark Easton.
An NEF report entitled; Measuring our progress, The power of well-being, states: “A wealth of literature from researchers studying stress and related effects reveals ‘persistent and significant costs associated with a long commute through heavy traffic’.
“By contrast, studies comparing the experiences of commuting by bicycle and car report that cyclists find their mode of transport at least as flexible and convenient as those who use cars, with lower stress and greater feelings of freedom, relaxation and excitement.”
The report continues: “Merely presenting this evidence is unlikely to change car drivers’ current preferences. However, it may provide policy-makers with further confidence that, in taking steps to reduce personal car use, people will in time come to view the change as positive, when well-being benefits are experienced.”
Let’s hope those policy-makers do indeed take note of this kind of report which suggests that an increase in cycle commuting would be a relatively simple way to increase the overall sense of well-being of the UK population.
But perhaps it will take a Government that sees votes in cycling to fully commit to making the UK a safer, easier country in which to ride a bike, particularly as a commuter. | <urn:uuid:e9fe57f2-e320-4cbb-bbec-039ae06627ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://road.cc/content/news/31477-cycle-commuting-secret-happy-life-says-new-economic-foundation-report?quicktabs_4=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958521 | 483 | 1.882813 | 2 |
The Italian President Giorgio Napolitano acknowledges the National Italian American Foundation
For over thirty years the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) has played a crucial role in the preservation of the Italian culture and heritage in the United States. In underlying our values of devotion to work, solidarity, care and respect towards elderly people, ambition towards personal and social growth of our community, it is clear that the NIAF is a true ambassador of our culture.
NIAF’s work has been particularly successful in reaching the younger generation of Italian Americans, who through the study of Italian language and culture are motivated to maintain a strong connection not only with our traditions, but also with present day Italy.
The United States of America is an extraordinary blend of diverse cultures, and the desire of Italian Americans to identify with their Italian heritage is a testament to the strong relationship between the United States and Italy – an alliance that continues to gain momentum everyday.
It is through such commitments from the National Italian American Foundation and the Italian American community that these two nations continue to prosper in partnership in the search for answers to the challenges of the 21st century. | <urn:uuid:63e76cd0-2856-4926-8dc0-4816e649fc28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.niaf.org/events/president_napolitano.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95704 | 232 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Kid-friendly crazy-fun activities guaranteed to instill a lifelong love of exercise.
Now it's time to think about upping the amount of activity your family gets each day. Since when do tykes who are barely out of diapers (or perhaps still in them!) need to "work out"? "As soon as they can crawl!" says Avery Faigenbaum, Ed.D., a professor of health and exercise science who specializes in pediatrics at The College of New Jersey, in Ewing. But of course we aren't talking about the same sort of fitness routine you put yourself through (or think about, anyway). Exercise tot-style is really all about the physical play that young kids engage in pretty much whenever they have a chance. "Children this age are innately active," says Faigenbaum, "but in a very different way than adults are. You'll never see a child jog for thirty minutes without stopping. He'll run around for five or ten seconds, stop, then run again."
And that's just as it should be. The workout objectives of toddlers and preschoolers are different from the fitness goals of grown-ups; little kids don't need to get their heart rates into a certain range, for example. Sure, activity is important for building stamina, strengthening bones and muscles, and honing balance and coordination. But at this age, it's most vital for developing fundamental movement skills -- running, jumping, throwing, catching, kicking, climbing, and the like -- and establishing healthy habits. "Negative and positive behaviors are ingrained in early childhood," notes Faigenbaum. And that applies to exercise. Your kid is a natural fitness buff (does she ever really sit still?!). The trick is to keep her that way. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion," says personal trainer and Parenting Mom Squad member Larysa DiDio of Pleasantville, NY, the coauthor of Sneaky Fitness: Fun, Foolproof Ways to Slip Fitness Into Your Child's Everyday Life. On the following pages, you'll find a guide to the physical milestones the 5-and-under set should achieve, great toys that will help them do it, and a menu of activities to keep it all fun. The goal: to set your child up for the healthiest future possible. Let's get started! | <urn:uuid:47b00da7-32dd-4694-bab1-c384c054836f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cafemom.com/group/110860/forums/read/18063711/Ways_to_Get_Kids_Psyched_About_Fitness | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964134 | 476 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Orbital's OBV Rocket Successfully Launched for Missile Defense Interceptor System Test
- Companys Long-Range Silo-Launched Booster Completes 11th Consecutive Successful Flight for the Ground-Based Missile Defense System
Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced today that its Orbital Booster Vehicle (OBV), which is the booster rocket for the Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), was successfully launched as part of a test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program. Orbital provides the OBV as part of an industry team led by The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The OBV was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA on Saturday, January 26, 2013 as part of the test designated as CTV-01. Following its launch from a silo, the OBV flew downrange over the Pacific Ocean and successfully deployed an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV).
The test began at 2:00 p.m. (PST) when an OBV ground-based interceptor lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The GBI, which included a modified EKV, measured performance data of the EKV as it operated under conditions designed to stress its design. Data gathered from today’s test will be used to validate the modified EKV design.
Tactical Missiles Corporation JSC: Defense Company Profile & SWOT Report
Following a preliminary post-flight analysis of the data collected from the mission, MDA and the GMD team confirmed that all primary OBV objectives for CTV-01 were achieved. These included pre-launch built-in test functionality, silo launch and fly out of the OBV, accurate delivery of the EKV and acquisition of telemetry data for further characterization of the OBV’s flight characteristics. Orbital developed the OBV under a multi-year contract from Boeing that began in 2002. The OBV and the EKV make up the GBI, which is assembled by Boeing.
“The CTV-01 test marks the eleventh successful flight of our OBV booster, supporting MDA’s ongoing testing of the GMD system,” said Mr. Ron Grabe, Orbital’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Launch Systems Group. “Orbital is extremely proud to be a part of this program that provides the only defensive capability for our homeland against long-range missile attack, and we are particularly proud of the flight test successes achieved by the OBV.”
Orbital’s space launch vehicles, missile defense interceptors and related suborbital rockets are primarily produced at the company’s engineering and manufacturing facility in Chandler, AZ and its vehicle assembly and integration facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA and Huntsville, AL. The company’s launch vehicles are used by commercial and government customers to deliver satellites to low altitude orbits above the Earth and in missile defense systems, both as threat-simulating target vehicles and as interceptor boosters for U.S. national defense systems.
In addition to its launch vehicle systems, Orbital’s other primary products are satellites and related space systems, which are also used by commercial, civil government and military customers. These products include low-orbit, geostationary-orbit and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing, scientific and defense missions. Orbital also provides human-rated space systems for Earth-orbit, lunar and other missions, as well as satellite subsystems and space-related technical services to government agencies and laboratories.
Source : Orbital Sciences Corp.
Jul 15 - 17, 2013 - San Jose, United States | <urn:uuid:0810dce8-5ce1-4dd4-b8ec-e6f5ce51d155> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asdnews.com/news-47356/Orbital_s_OBV_Rocket_Successfully_Launched_for_Missile_Defense_Interceptor_System_Test.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939593 | 774 | 1.625 | 2 |
The Dow Jones industrial average in recent days has ended a surge that the markets hadn’t seen in 17 years.
For some, it was one more sign that the nation’s economy may be continuing to move along the road to recovery. Industry watchers said the Dow’s ascension, which started at close to 14,254 on March 5 and peaked at 14,514 on March 15, was fueled by several factors, including a spike in gas prices.
Investors may have either been spooked by the record rise or made some adjustments to their portfolio mix.
For credit union members, who tend to err on the side of conservative, the Dow’s increase might have aligned with their savings, which were up in January, according to CUNA Mutual Group’s March Credit Union Trends Report.
The timing of the Dow’s record movement coincides with the latest update from an initiative between CU Solutions Group and SaveUp. According to the Michigan Credit Union League & Affiliates, which owns CU Solutions Group, SaveUp is a free rewards program that encourages consumers to make positive changes to their financial behaviors.
More than 40 credit unions have signed on with SaveUp since the alliance launched six months ago.
Every time members contribute to their savings or retirement accounts, pay down their credit cards, mortgages or other loans or engage with SaveUp’s financial education content, they earn credits they can use to win prizes from sponsors such as Virgin America, Banana Republic and GameStop, as well as a $2 million jackpot, CUSG said.
For the $737 million Northeast Credit Union in Portsmouth, N.H., SaveUp has served several roles particularly with certain member niches and their spending and long-term planning goals, said Andrea Pruna, vice president of marketing at Northeast.
“SaveUp is a great innovative tool to engage with the Gen Y market, reward positive member behavior and help plan our marketing tactics using its incredibly useful data reports,” Pruna said.
Unlike their baby boomer counterparts, Gen X and Gen Y have a bit more time to plan for retirement. To target these younger members, SaveUp recently released its first U.S. Consumer Savings and Debt Report with its major findings focused on the financial habits of Gen X and Gen Y.
With Gen X, average mortgage debt was $181,706, which was 21% above the U.S. average. Average student loan debt and credit card debt were $44,270 and $8,801, respectively.
Gen Y had less debt averages, according to SaveUp. The average mortgage debt was more than $161,000, which was 7.5% above the U.S. average. Average student loan debt and credit card debt were $40,273 and $4,113, respectively.
“Our recent data report shows that young people are bearing a disproportionate share of the country’s non-asset debt, and if credit unions can engage younger Americans to offer them better terms, and longer term financial services, there is a real benefit to all sides,” said Priya Haji, CEO and co-founder of SaveUp.
Meanwhile, despite the Dow’s winning streak and more consumers paying down debt, retiring comfortably remains elusive for some.
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s Retirement Confidence Survey, released on March 19, the percentage of workers confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement is essentially unchanged from the record lows observed in 2011.
While more than half expressed some level of confidence, with 13% being very confident and 38% somewhat confident of being able to afford a comfortable retirement, 21% were not too confident, and 28% were not at all confident. The latter figure is the highest level of those not at all confident recorded during the 23 years of the survey, EBRI said.
One reason that retirement confidence has remained low despite a brightening economic outlook is that some workers may be waking up to just how much they may need to save, according to EBRI.
Asked how much they believe they will need to save to achieve a financially secure retirement, a striking number of workers cited large savings targets: 20% said they need to save between 20% to 29% of their income and 23% indicated they need to save 30% or more.
“Aggressive as those savings targets appear to be, they may not be based on a careful analysis of their individual circumstances,” said Jack VanDerhei, EBRI research director and co-author of the report. “Only 46% report they and/or their spouse have tried to calculate how much money they will need to have saved by the time they retire so that they can live comfortably in retirement.” | <urn:uuid:2cb429aa-7a36-4cdb-93a4-f87cdc3175fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cutimes.com/2013/03/22/stocks-hit-highs-while-uncertain-credit-union-memb?t=debit-atm-shared-branchingtlendingttechnology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977088 | 983 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Whose standard of care is bigger? It’s a draw. The HIV treatment guidelines put out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. branch of the International AIDS Society (IAS) are virtually identical: Both push a protease-based three-drug combo and advise that most HIVers with no symptoms delay therapy, particularly those who can’t adhere to pain-in-the-butt regimens. The major difference involves when to start treatment: HHS recommends it when one’s viral load exceeds 10,000 to 20,000 copies/mL or when one’s CD4 count is less than 500; the more-aggressive IAS says 5,000 to 10,000, regardless of CD4s. Why the difference? Check out the membership on the two panels: Although the usual AIDS suspects had a hand in drafting both guidelines, the IAS was a doctors-only affair, while the feds featured not only docs, researchers and industry reps but activists and PWAs, many of whom are skeptical of early intervention.
The difference may be so much hair-splitting. “The guidelines disagree in an area where nobody has the absolute answer, so it comes down to expert opinion,” said Project Inform’s Martin Delaney, an HHS panel member. He and others doubt the need for the redundancy and question the rules’ timeliness. “We don’t need two sets, and a lot of it is out of date,” he said. “They make a religious issue out of everyone having to be on two nucleosides and one protease, but now we’re looking at more powerful two-drug combos.” | <urn:uuid:362e9107-cf1e-4814-9a0f-693639ecc0b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.poz.com/articles/224_1557.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947322 | 363 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (June 26, 1911 in Port Arthur, Texas September 27, 1956) was an American athlete, who excelled in many sports. She achieved her greatest successes in golf and athletics. She was born Mildred Didriksen (her surname was later accidentally changed) in the oil town of Port Arthur, Texas, and acquired her nickname "Babe" (after Babe Ruth) after she hit five home runs in a single baseball game. Both of her parents were immigrants from Norway..
Search Quotations Book | <urn:uuid:6a6cf1e7-116b-445b-99cd-7627cdd81146> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://quotationsbook.com/quotes/author/7917/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990674 | 118 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Welcome to our lovely town of Essex, half way between New York and Boston, and a short commute to our capitol city of Hartford.
Our three villages were settled and built around the Falls River, which flows eastward from the hills of Ivoryton, through the plains of Centerbrook, along the rocky heights of Essex Village and into the unspoiled Connecticut River, a few short miles from Long Island Sound. Essex has beautiful landscapes, majestic trees and gardens, interesting architecture, from the factory homes of Ivoryton, with federals, Victorians, capes and historic churches, factories, and even a town hall built in 1892.
We look forward to celebrating our 150th anniversary, and today we keep alive an even earlier tradition of benevolence and welcome to our citizens and visitors as well. Our town has many cultural, historical and educational experiences and attractions to offer, from the Essex Steam Train to the Ivoryton Playhouse to the Connecticut River Museum, Connecticut Audubon Ecotravel, the Bushy Hill Nature Center, and the Sailing Masters of 1812, whose members are attired in the traditional garb of a Navy midshipman of the time period. Essex is also widely known for the multitude of parades here, from the Groundhog Day with Essex Ed, to even a "Loser's Day Parade" where we celebrate the 1814 raid by British marines who burned 29 ships in the harbor.
We are a vibrant and welcoming place to live, work and play, and we remain proud of our past as we live our positive vision of the future.
So, please explore, discover, and enjoy our exciting and enchanting way of life here in Essex, Connecticut. | <urn:uuid:731c75c8-4197-4042-a70a-35bc15e907a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sothebysrealty.com/vie/office/180-b-660-4000226/william-pitt-sotheby-s-international-realty/open-houses | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95268 | 348 | 1.5625 | 2 |
CHAPTER XVII. OUR COUNTRY IN 1789
THE STATES. - When Washington became President, the thirteen original states of the Union were in many respects very unlike the same states in our day. In some the executive was called president; in others governor. In some he had a veto; in others he had not. In some there was no senate. To be a voter in those days a man had to have an estate worth a certain sum of money, or a specified annual income, or own a certain number of acres.
Moreover, to be eligible as governor or a member of a state legislature a man had to own more property than was needed to qualify him to vote. In many states it was further required that officeholders should be Protestants, or at least Christians, or should believe in the existence of God.
The adoption of the Constitution made necessary certain acts of legislation by the states. They could issue no more bills of credit; provision therefore had to be made for the redemption of those outstanding. They could lay no duties on imports; such as had laid import duties had to repeal their laws and abolish their customhouses. All lighthouses, beacons, buoys, maintained by individual states were surrendered to the United States, and in other ways the states had to adjust themselves to the new government.
THE NATIONAL DEBT. - Each of the states was in debt for money and supplies used in the war; and over the whole country hung a great debt contracted by the old Congress. Part of this national debt was represented by bills of credit, loan-office certificates, lottery certificates, and many other sorts of promises to pay, which had become almost worthless. This was strictly true of the bills of credit or paper money issued in great quantities by the Continental Congress. Besides this domestic debt owed to the people at home, there was a foreign debt, for Congress had borrowed a little money from Spain and a great deal from France and Holland. On this debt interest was due, for Congress had not been able to pay even that.
THE MONEY OF THE COUNTRY. - The Continental bills having long ceased to circulate, the currency of the country consisted of paper money issued by individual states, and the gold, silver, and copper coins of foreign countries. These passed by such names as the Joe or Johannes, the doubloon, pistole, moidore, guinea, crown, dollar, shilling, sixpence, pistareen, penny. A common coin was the Spanish milled dollar, which passed at different ratings in different parts of the country. Congress in 1786 adopted the dollar as a unit, divided it into the half, quarter, dime, half dime, cent, and half cent, and ordered some coppers to be minted; but very few were made by the contractor.
POPULATION. - Just how many people dwelt in our country before 1790 can only be guessed at. In that year they were counted for the first time, and it was then ascertained that they numbered 3,929,000 (in the thirteen states) of whom 700,000 were slaves. All save about 200,000 dwelt along the seaboard, east of the mountains; and nearly half were between Chesapeake Bay and Florida.
The most populous state was Virginia; after her, next in order were Massachusetts (including Maine), Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and New York.
The most populous city was Philadelphia, after which came New York, Boston, Charleston, and Baltimore.
LIFE IN THE CITIES. - What passed for thriving cities in those days were collections of a thousand or two houses, very few of which made any pretension to architectural beauty, ranged along narrow streets, none of which were sewered, and few of which were paved or lighted even on nights when the moon did not shine. During daylight a few constables kept order. At night small parties of men called the night watch walked the streets. Each citizen was required to serve his turn on the watch or find a substitute or pay a fine. He had to be a fireman and keep in his house near the front door a certain number of leather fire buckets with which at the clanging of the courthouse or market bell he would run to the burning building and take his place in the line which passed the full buckets from the nearest pump to the engine, or in the line which passed the empty buckets from the engine back to the pump. Water for household use or for putting out fires came from private wells or from the town pumps. There were no city water works.
Lack of good and abundant water, lack of proper drainage, ignorance of the laws of health, filthy, unpaved streets, spread diseases of the worst sort. Smallpox was common. Yellow fever in the great cities was of almost annual occurrence, and often raged with the violence of a plague.
LACK OF CONVENIENCES. - Few appliances which increase comfort, or promote health, or save time or labor, were in use. Not even in the homes of the rich were there cook stoves or furnaces or open grates for burning anthracite coal, or a bath room, or a gas jet. Lamps and candles afforded light by night. The warming pan, the foot stove (p. 97), and the four- posted bedstead (p. 76), with curtains to be drawn when the nights were cold, were still essentials. The boy was fortunate who did not have to break the ice in his water pail morning after morning in winter. Clocks and watches were luxuries for the rich. The sundial was yet in use, and when the flight of time was to be noted in hours or parts, people resorted to the hour glass. Many a minister used one on Sundays to time his preaching by, and many a housewife to time her cooking. | <urn:uuid:d3afea18-8497-4016-990c-fe38bcf7b350> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://historion.net/brief-history-united-states/chapter-xvii-our-country-1789 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986296 | 1,205 | 3.59375 | 4 |
Supporting Haitian Artists
Supporting the Arts Supports Haitian Autonomy and the Economy
Sionfonds supports Haitian artisans. We help in manufacturing and selling beautiful handmade arts and crafts in order to promote education and employment opportunities which create self reliance and empowerment.
Our sewing school is partnering with Peacequilts to ¬†create sewing collectives ¬†that design and make out standing works of art that “can change a life ” as our field director Mirlene Desirale said when visited their collective outside of Port au Prince last ¬†November. Visit the sewing school page to learn more about this exciting new project.
Nishtone Degazon is our resident artist, we have many of his beautiful works of art for sale here.
Nisthone Degazon is an artist with social mission.  He grew up in Port-au-Prince with his mother, three brothers and three sisters. His father was a doctor in a small town far from Port-au-Prince and only came home once a month.  Two of Degazon’s older brothers were artists, and Degazon did not intend to follow in their footsteps.  But under their influence, he began to draw and found that he had both aptitude and a passion for the arts.  After completing a regular academic high school, he did a two year apprenticeship at a craft center.  Following that he completed a four-year degree at the National School of the Arts.
Degazon’s original specialty was banana leaf art in which dried leaves are meticulously cut out to form patterns and pictures. While he was also trained in wood work, he saw the damage deforestation was causing to the country.  Banana leaves, on the other hand, are a wasted byproduct of banana crops.  Using them in art creates a secondary product which enables families to earn more money.  In college, Degazon was introduced to painting.  He initially specialized in portraits but found that they were not commercially viable.  He now paints both the primitive style that characterizes much of Haitian painting and his favorite style, abstract.
Degazon’s second love is teaching.  With his studio in his home, Degazon found that some youth in the neighborhood took an interest in his art and wanted to learn themselves.  Prior to the earthquake he was training fifteen youth to make banana leaf art and simple leather bracelets.  He paid them a fair wage for their work.  Unfortunately his house was destroyed in the earthquake, and he had to move to a much smaller house where he now has only four young men working with him.  He says he would like to find some girls but has had a hard time as much Haitian art is dominated by men.
Degazon is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, is married and has an eleven year old son.  His goal is to set up a large studio and gallery where he can work and train young people in metal work, painting and other styles of Haitian art. | <urn:uuid:57d56d3b-fed7-4816-90ab-12fa7e4511a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sionfondsforhaiti.org/projects/supporting-haitian-arts-and-business/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98314 | 712 | 1.625 | 2 |
A woman in Hartford, Connecticut is about to get rich after finding a valuable WWII rifle, worth $30,000 (€23,000).
According to NECN
News, the station organized a buy-back program last week, and an Army officer's daughter turned in the gun.
The rifle, pictured above, is pretty much an antique. It was developed in 1944, and used during World War II. What is unbelievable is that it was a standard weapon issued to SS troops in Germany. Although it looks quite old, it can shoot 500 rounds per minute.
“You could kill a solider back then, and if the captain of your fighting unit signed off on it, you could send that gun home to your family or kid brother or cousin.
“Anything you wanted. Her father, who was a World War II army man, had brought this gun home from the European theater," Officer John Cavanna of the Hartford Police explains. | <urn:uuid:152b67a5-b62a-4ace-a9de-f093f3fc0ff6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.softpedia.com/news/Valuable-WWII-Rifle-Turned-in-at-Police-Station-s-Gun-Buy-Back-314096.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980664 | 195 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Scientists in Global Drifter Program deploy ceremonial 1,250th buoy
An ambitious idea spawned more than 20 years ago to develop a new way to watch the world change has come to fruition.
The Global Drifter Program (GDP), largely led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and Scripps Distinguished Professor Peter Niiler, will meet its lofty goal of blanketing the globe on Sept. 18 when the program's 1,250th instrument is dropped in the ocean off Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
GDP buoys, also called drifters, are designed to travel the oceans taking measurements of sea surface temperatures, ocean currents, air pressure and other parameters. By linking and disseminating the information relayed from each of these instruments in a global network, scientists and others have been able to produce new details about the world's ocean processes, key information for weather and climate forecasting and important calibrations of satellite readings.
"When the GDP drifter data is combined with satellite measurements we can now obtain a complete, accurate map of the sea surface temperature of the world twice per week," said Niiler, a scientist in the Physical Oceanography Research Division at Scripps. "These 'weather maps' of the ocean surface will tell us how Earth is warming up and where it is warming more than in other places. These combined data also give us an accurate picture of the changing currents and patterns of ocean circulation."
The GDP is a component of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Global Ocean Observing System and Global Climate Observing System.
According to Niiler, more than 250 research papers have been published with new findings derived through GDP circulation measurements. Many more have used its sea temperature measurements. Topics have ranged from El Niņos and La Niņas to global climate change.
Niiler believes the impact of GDP information will continue to grow because of the distinct characteristics displayed in current systems off coasts around the world. Analyzing the strongest north-south current system in the world, the Agulhas Current off the eastern coast of South Africa, tells a much different story than studying the California Current, the north-south circulation of the north Pacific Ocean that travels just off California's waters.
"The GDP observations are of great interest to people all over the world," said Niiler. "If you want to know what's happening in your backyard, or you want to know what's happening on a global basis, these data will assist you."
When Niiler called a meeting of scientists in Boulder, Colo., in 1982, surface temperature readings and circulation patterns were a mystery in large regions of the world, especially in the Southern Ocean.
"A large part of the world simply could not be sampled," said Niiler, "because most of the world's ships don't go there. We needed a new way."
Niiler and his colleagues resolved that such gaps could only be filled with a completely new system of observing the entire Earth's oceans. They also decided that this mission could only be accomplished with the development of new ocean instruments.
With long-term support from Scripps, Niiler and his colleagues began to work with engineers in designing and developing low-cost, rugged drifters that measure currents with high accuracy and relay their sensor information through existing satellite communications systems. Scripps and Niiler eventually led the design, manufacture, deployment and research analysis of the program. Yet Scripps scientists could not do it all alone, Niiler stresses, and national and international partners played a significant role in the program's development through organizations that include NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, various meteorological groups, oceanographers from 20 countries and nearly all United States government research funding agencies. In the future, NOAA will provide about 80 percent of the drifters to maintain the array.
Although the GDP has met its goal of populating the global ocean with 1,250 drifters, the array of instruments has become so valuable to science and other applications that the network will continue to grow. Challenges associated with drifter deployments in areas rarely visited by ships will be addressed by increasing future deployments by air. Drifters are now deployed by the United States Air Force's "Hurricane Hunter Squadron" in front of hurricanes to obtain data on hurricane strength and size.
New ways of using the drifters as platforms for environmental sensors also are being explored, including measurements for rain, biochemical concentrations and surface conductivity.
Source: Eurekalert & othersLast reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 21 Feb 2009
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
It is never too late to give up your prejudices.
-- Henry David Thoreau | <urn:uuid:e67c6856-910a-4229-9ece-24a55385f4e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychcentral.com/news/archives/2005-09/uoc--oip090905.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943896 | 978 | 3.125 | 3 |
WCC Associate Degree Nursing students utilize the state-of-the-art simulation lab to gain patient care experience to enhance traditional clinicals. Shown here is “Harvey,” the cardiopulmonary patient simulator, which can teach up to 48 students at a time via wireless stethoscopes.
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (AP) -- Lake Superior State University says it's received a $400,000 grant from the R.W. Considine Foundation to improve nursing education.
The school says the money will buy state-of-the-art, high-fidelity mannequins as part of a proposed new nursing simulation center in downtown Sault Ste. Marie.
The school says the nursing center is a project of the city, the university and War Memorial Hospital. It says the planned simulation center will let students and health care workers practice their skills on the equipment that responds kin the same way as human patients.
Nursing center details, video, photos: http://bit.ly/TVRXnW | <urn:uuid:d76a40d7-55c9-4287-8ae5-4e8409a43330> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Lake-Superior-State-Gets-Nursing-Education-Grant-185300192.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936485 | 219 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Wikimedia Conference Netherlands 2007 held on wikis and education
|This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.|
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Yesterday, a chilly Amsterdam hosted the Wikimedia Conference Netherlands 2007. Held at the Aristo centre in a suburb of the city and run by Wikimedia Netherlands, the conference was a short train ride from Amsterdam Centraal railway station. The topic, Wikis and Education (Wiki's en Educatie in Dutch). This was an opportunity for Wikimedians and people in education to come together and see how collaboration could help both.
Wikinews freelance reporter Brian McNeil caught a train from Brussels in Belgium and attended, making an impression on the Wikimedia Foundation chair, Florence Devouard, by spilling her coffee over the first two speakers approximately three minutes before they were supposed to officially open the conference.
Morning sessions
Kicking off at 10:00 a.m., the opening speaker was Elly Waterman, chair of Wikimedia Netherlands. The introduction was a mixture of Dutch and English, with Elly commenting on how Wikimedia, or more specifically Wikipedia, is gaining increasing coverage in mainstream press. Not all this coverage is positive, one anecdotal case was a town mayor being described as "boring" in the Dutch Wikipedia. Unfortunately, this made headline news in one of the country's papers.
Following Elly was the Wikimedia Foundation's chair, Florence Devouard. Her speech was on "The Wiki Potential for Education". One of her slides referred to "Living in exponential times", a sound bite that encapsulates the explosive growth of available information as well as the computing power to sift through and process it. This was a new presentation with a video used a number of times in the past, but as Florence admitted she deviates from the script and rewrites parts a day or two before giving her presentation. At an early stage in her presentation, she pulled up a photo from Wikimania 2007, highlighting a couple of people huddled over laptops and unwilling to leave the virtual world long enough to look into the camera. Following this those with laptops were requested to close them and stand up, the attendees then were told to introduce themselves to each other. Later on, a prolonged period speaking caused Florence's laptop to start up its screensaver, revealing the more human side with pictures of her children, and some of her favourites from Wikimedia Commons.
After a brief recess for coffee, and trips outside for those with a nicotine addiction, the conference split into a number of talks. Cormac Lawler, from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, introduced the Wikimedia Foundation's youngest project, Wikiversity. Cormac, who is writing his PhD thesis on Wikiversity discovered the Wikipedia project about three years ago and was fascinated. He described how Wikiversity was initially incubated within the Wikibooks project and properly launched in August 2006, like Wikinews there is scope for original research, but as was admitted this is not yet clearly defined. Lengthy discussion has taken place within the Wikiversity project, a distillation of that can be found here, in the Research guidelines. In delving further into how Wikiversity may end up working, Cormac highlighted one aspect of online resources which differs from hardcopy. An axiom of all projects is "wiki is not paper", so despite the "versity" suffix that most people will assume means tertiary level material, an online resource can cover everything - right down to how to paint your house.
In parallel with Cormac's talk, the first lightning ten minute talks session was given, speakers included Walter Vermeir who spoke on the topic of Wikimedia Stewards, and Harm Dillen who discussed the competition for MediaWiki, the software used for Wikipedia and its sister projects. Another room held Erwin Kroekenstoel's presentation about the Toolserver, a special server which is used to write software to automate wiki editing and analysis tasks. Erwin's session was shared with Bryan Tong Minh speaking about MediaWiki. An extended session kicked off in room D, a workshop on MediaWiki.
After another coffee break for all but those in the workshop, a set of Dutch-only presentations were given; Creative Commons while in school by Martijn Arnoldus and practical applications of a school wiki by Dries Declercq. Room B saw Inge Habex giving a presentation on Wikibooks, with Walter Vermeir giving a presentation entitled A Wikimedia Community? Conquering Babel, about the difficulties of communication between Wikimedia-communities. There have been some initiatives, like the Wikimedia Embassy and the Wikizine, the success of which, however, has been limited.
Lunch was followed by three sessions running in tandem. A shorter MediaWiki workshop was held again in room D, Merlijn van Deen spoke on pywikipediabot, and the main room held Eliane Metini's talk, "The Global educators' Open course". Eliane is the director of the International Education association, a Lebanese NGO. She is also chair of iEARN (International Education And Resource Network). She discussed at length the challenges of preparing both students and tomorrow's teachers for the 21st century. Bob Hoffman from the Netherlands also spoke briefly, one of Eliane's colleagues on the project. iEARN has been running for 20 years, and is active in 115 countries.
After the last keynote speech by Eliane, the three-track program continued with sessions going more into the education. Presentors from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Radboud University of Nijmegen explained how they used the Wiki in their education as a tool in room A, and in room B the focus was on how Kennisnet, a Dutch NGO focusing on internet in education, is using Wiki's in it's projects, why Kennisnet is so involved with Wiki's and the Wikimedia projects, and WikiKids, a Dutch website where kids write together on an encyclopedia for kids. At the same time, in room C the second session of the Lightning Talks started, including a presentation about Wikinews, Jurispedia, Wikipedia in study books and Wikimedia Commons.
One of the latest sessions was about using the wiki-module in Moodle, presented by Hans de Zwart. Moodle is an open source program to structure learning. It can also use wikis in such a way that students can work on reports or assignments on one or more wikis specially created during and for this course (even per student). OpenUniversity have adopted Moodle for their courses and will add a more suiting wiki (non MediaWiki) as of the 1.9 versions of Moodle. At the same time, in room B, Delphine Ménard was explaining the true meaning of 'free' and Cormac Lawler explained more thoroughly what Wikiversity actually is. In room C Finne Boonen and Kim Bruning explained more about the technical infrastructure behind Wikimedia, and Gerard Meijssen explained what Wikidata is all about in a more technical session.
Finally the conference was ended by a grand discussion, involving all attendees and led by former board member Oscar van Dillen. The discussion was a wrap-up of the whole conference, which was very well visited with roughly 110 visitors from the Wikimedia Communities, the Dutch educational sector and other interested people. This has been a major increase compared with the 2006 conference, which drew 45 attendees. An evaluation will follow soon.
- Wikimedia Conference Netherlands 2007 site (English)
- Wikimedia Conferentie Nederland 2007 site (Nederlands)
- Cormac Lawler's first presentation slides (Powerpoint format) or pdf (English) | <urn:uuid:e5b77442-ce6a-4ca2-90f7-e9f0f4b084e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_Netherlands_2007_held_on_wikis_and_education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941377 | 1,589 | 1.601563 | 2 |
This year Janeya will be going to the same school but there is a difference. The state just added Roberto Clemente Elementary to its list of "persistently dangerous" schools. The designation comes as a surprise to Taylor. "That's the first time I ever heard of it since she's been going there. None of the teachers or the principal said anything about it. So, actually it is giving me a kind of concern,” Taylor said.
Taylor's not the only one surprised. John Lee lives just across the street from the school. He says although the school may have had its share of problems he's believes most of the violence is coming from outside the school's walls. “I wouldn't say that its' directly related to the school but indirectly because you got so many kids coming back and forth, older kids come pick up younger kids and they're getting into fights with older kids and so it kind of labels the school when I think that's kind of unfair,” Lee said.
Rochester School officials say they plan to implement a series of measures to help reduce violent incidents at the school such as an Alternative to Suspension Program, establishing a Family and Student Support Center, and an on-site case manager from the Urban League. Even with all these measures Taylor says she'll continue to walk Janeya to and from school, list or no list. | <urn:uuid:97f08cee-a789-4f41-bc71-e70c72962edc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rochesterhomepage.net/fulltext/?nxd_id=12320 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982465 | 282 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Ernest Hendon, the last survivor of the notorious Tuskegee Experiment, died in Alabama last month at 96. His death should close a shameful chapter in American medicine. Tragically, however, the legacy of the experiment, in which hundreds of black men with syphilis were surreptitiously left untreated in order to study the progress of the disease, is still very much with us.
In the first place, the experiment has generated a lingering mythology. Perhaps the most harmful myth is that the subjects were actually given the disease. This is utterly false. But a recent survey conducted in Alabama and Connecticut by researchers from six major American universities revealed that 75 percent of African-American respondents had heard of the Tuskegee Study, and a full 60 percent of these believed that the men had been intentionally infected with syphilis. According to Dr. Stephen Thomas, Director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health, such beliefs are “still shaping the attitudes of African Americans towards the health care system and AIDS in particular,” including the conspiracy theory that AIDS is “a man-made weapon of racial warfare.” Thomas argues that these notions may in turn deter African Americans from getting necessary medical care.
It’s an especially poignant phenomenon since the experiment itself, seen in the context of its own time — the study lasted from 1932 through 1972 — doesn’t look quite as reprehensible as it usually appears to us. Clearly, the fact that all the test subjects were black men and none were informed of their condition points to an underlying racism. Yet, according to Dr. Richard Shweder, Professor of Human Development at the University of Chicago, there’s more to the story. He notes that syphilis attacks the body in stages, but after the initial stages, “the vast majority of people who have untreated syphilis either remain asymptomatic all of their lives or else spontaneously recover from the disease.” It was only men in the later non-contagious stages who were the intended subjects of the experiment. Indeed, of the 410 syphilitics in the original test population, 178 were provided with standard treatments and dismissed from the study.
Furthermore, Shweder points out, the treatments available in the 1930s were themselves hazardous — the most common being multiple doses of neoarsphenamine, an arsenic-based drug. The side effects included pain, convulsions, and even death, and the therapy entailed extended confinement in a hospital. Nor did such treatments work in a majority of cases. Penicillin, the first effective cure for syphilis, wasn’t purified and tested until the late 1940s. “Circa 1932,” Shweder concludes, “a reasonable, fully informed public health researcher who cared about the welfare of all human beings— black and white—might well have supported the Tuskegee syphilis study.”
Certainly, this does not exonerate the Tuskegee researchers. It remains true that, in a minority of instances, syphilis does indeed attack the heart and nervous system and can cause death. Thus, the fact that none of the subjects were provided penicillin even after it became widely available is damning. The $9 million settlement won by the Tuskegee victims and their families in a 1972 lawsuit seems rather paltry, and the public apology delivered by President Clinton in 1997 to the eight survivors, 25 years after the experiment came to light, seems too long in coming.
But it’s time to separate myth from reality in the matter of the Tuskegee Experiment. And, as we observe Black History Month, it’s time to acknowledge what is perhaps the most uncomfortable truth of all — which is how very eager we’ve become to imagine the very worst when it comes to America’s flawed racial past.
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy? | <urn:uuid:18e8b766-ebb7-4b9e-994e-44ba008dc053> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spectator.org/archives/2004/02/10/tuskegee-revisited | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960642 | 979 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Rome (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI presided over Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, delivering a homily that focused on the "essence" of the holiday rather than the "commercial celebration" it has become.
"Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God's humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity," the pope said after recalling the story of Christmas. "Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light."
The 84-year-old pope, presiding over his seventh mass as pontiff, also conjured up an image of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, explaining that visitors must bend down to enter its low opening, drawing a tie to what followers of Christ must do to find their faith.
"If we want to find the God who appeared as a child, then we must dismount from the high horse of our 'enlightened' reason," he said. "... In this spirit let us celebrate the liturgy of the holy night, let us strip away our fixation on what is material, on what can be measured and grasped."
The pope started off Saturday's celebrations by lighting a peace candle in the window of his study during the unveiling of a larger-than-life nativity scene in St. Peter's Square. The scene, at 23 feet high and 82 feet wide, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, according to the Vatican's news agency.
Thousands poured into the square and St. Peter's Basilica ahead of the Midnight Mass, which was actually held at 10 p.m. this year. Before his homily, the aging pontiff rode down St. Peter's long aisle on a wheeled platform, waving to worshipers.
Benedict will follow the Christmas Eve celebrations with his annual Christmas message "To the City and To the World" -- Urbi et Orbi in Latin -- on Sunday. | <urn:uuid:a633377b-4630-4680-a435-6bd27b6e3fee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/24/world/europe/vatican-pope-christmas/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960074 | 418 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Security Contractor Jobs
People will do anything for money. Even go to war. Mercenaries have been fighting in wars for all of recorded history. They do the military's dirty work and are paid a huge paycheck for doing it. Mercenaries do more than you think. Today they are called security contractors...
Security contractors, commonly called mercenaries, perform security, intelligence, and combat across the globe for money. They can be found in every military hot spot - Afganistan, Colombia, or Iraq.
Security contractors are more than just guns for hire. They are professional soldiers who fight for money, not for a nation or a cause. The majority of these mercenaries are experienced ex-military or ex-law enforcement professionals. The government and global corporations hire private military companies to come to war zones to help train troops, provide security, or perform special missions. Security contractors don't ask questions, they just perform their duty, and get paid.
The private military industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. In the military a grunt soldier makes about $20,000 per year. An experienced, capable security contractor is in a six figure employment category, pulling in $150,000 to $250,000 per year for a similar job. It's very dangerous, but for a career soldier, working for a private military company makes financial sense.
Private military companies don't hire just anyone. They only want the best of the best - Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, SWAT. This makes for an elite force of experienced civilians, who can roam the jungles of South East Asia, take fire on the rooftops of Baghdad, provide convoy protection in Saudi Arabia, hunt terrorists in the mountains of Afghanistan, or destroy drug labs in Colombia.
Security contractors have a controversial job. They don't necessarily answer to anyone. They perform their missions without justifications. They work hand in hand with the military and it makes it difficult to establish what can and cannot be done. Legally, security contractors cannot perform offensive maneuvers - that means they can only fire when fired upon.
If you want to become a mercenary, the first thing you need to do is get military or law enforcement work experience. Join the military and put in your time. Follow orders, get fit, learn languages, and gain experience. Try to join a special operations branch of the military to become specialized in a niche like explosives, security, weapons, intelligence, or jungle combat. Basically become a tough, professional fighting machine.
The next step is to apply to private military companies. The demand for mercenaries will depend on the world at the time. If they offer you a job, it will be contract based to complete a specific mission. Always remember what you are getting into. Your life is on the line. Is your life worth the reward of great paychecks? If so get ready to travel to the world's hot spots and assume the risks.
The pay for a security contractor is off the charts. Some mercenaries make $500 to $1,500 per day. Interrogators are rumored to make up to $14,000 per week. The salary ranges from $89,000 to $250,000 per year. Employer, experience, expertise, specialty, location, and danger potential ultimately determine the paycheck.
Being a security contractor is a heart racing, adrenaline pumping career. It's also very dangerous. If you have military experience and still enjoy taking sniper fire, removing landmines, training troops, or protecting politicians then put in your application to be a mercenary. The pay is outstanding.
Quick Facts About Security Contractor Work
Job Title: Private Military Contractors, Security Contractors, or Mercenary
Office: Military hot spots across the globe
Description: Perform security, intelligence, and combat for money
Certifications/Education: Military or law enforcement background
Necessary Skills: Specialized military skills, physically fit
Potential Employers: Private Military Companies or Military Service Providers
Pay: $500 to $1000 per day or over $100,000 per year | <urn:uuid:0590ad1a-9ad8-4562-be43-59680fb13b1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jobmonkey.com/uniquejobs/security-mercenary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943911 | 824 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The "War Games" page at 911myths.com states:
Many prominent 9/11 researchers claim that the US air defence system would have prevented the 9/11 attacks under normal circumstances, but were unable to do so because air traffic controllers, the FAA and NORAD were confused by "war games" that were running at the same time...However, this past Tuesday 911truth.org published a press release entitled, "Expert Panel Reports False Accounts of US Political and Military Leaders on 9/11," which notes that:
...There’s a distinct lack of evidence for any of these exercises adversely affecting the response to 9/11, or even to contradict the NORAD and 9/11 Commission view that they actually helped.
The 20-member 9/11 Consensus Panel analyzed evidence from press reports, FOIA requests, and archived 9/11 Commission file documents to produce eight new studies, released today.Going to the report itself, we learn that, "Although the 9/11 Commission mentioned only one military exercise – Vigilant Guardian – that was scheduled for 9/11, evidence shows that at least 12 exercises had been scheduled for that day."
The international Panel also discovered that four massive aerial practice exercises traditionally held in October were in full operation on 9/11. The largest, Global Guardian, held annually by NORAD and the US Strategic and Space Commands, had originally been scheduled for October 22-31 but was moved, along with Vigilant Guardian, to early September.
Although senior officials claimed no one could have predicted using hijacked planes as weapons, the military had been practicing similar exercises on 9/11 itself -- and for years before it.
The Panel, discovering widespread reports of confusion and delays in the defense response, looked into who was overseeing the air defenses after the second Tower was hit at 9:03 AM.
9/11 researcher Dr. Webster Tarpley puts the number of exercises taking place on 9/11 at 22.
(Note: I strongly disagree with many of Tarpley's conclusions about 9/11 and his unfounded allegations against several other 9/11 researchers.)
The first bio listed on the 9/11 Consensus Panel is that of "Dr. Robert Bowman, former head of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the US Air Force Institute of Technology, and the Director of Advanced Space Programs Development (“Star Wars”) under Presidents Ford and Carter."
The WhatReallyHappened.com page, "War Games: The Key to a 9/11 USAF Stand Down," notes that Dr. Bowman who is "so decorated with medals and honors they could fill a patriotic Christmas tree... has inside knowledge of military protocol, and has stated that it is apparent to him that the massive military exercises that took place on September 11, 2001 were intentionally staged to confuse civil defenses."
The panel, whose members also include a retired US Navy fighter pilot who subsequently spent 27 years as an airline pilot, as well as a U.S. Air Force pilot who served for 31 years, continues their report:
One would expect that having so many exercises would have caused some confusion, which might have slowed down the military response. Indeed, statements to this effect have been made:This study by 9/11 researcher "Shoestring" is the most important reference, it begins:
According to a summary of a 9/11 Commission interview with Canadian Lt. Gen. Rick Findley, who was at NORAD as the Battle Staff Director at Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC) on September 11,2001, there was, following the second attack on the Twin Towers, “confusion as to how many, and which aircraft, were hijacked. There was no situational awareness that was directly credible, and CMOC was relying on the communications over the phone lines with its operations sectors. Findley opined that AA 11 was reported still airborne and headed towards Washington, D.C. because of the added confusion of many hijack reports.” - Source
At Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, DC, FAA Air Traffic Controller James Ampey, stationed at Andrews Tower, reported in a 9/11 Commission interview that there were an unusually high number of aircraft taking-off and landing at Andrews that morning because previously scheduled military exercises were underway. The radar screens were showing “emergencies all over the place.” - Source
General Larry Arnold, commander of NORAD’s Continental U.S. Region, said: “By the end of the day, we had 21 aircraft identified as possible hijackings.” - Source
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke: “There were lots of false signals out there. There were false hijack squawks, and a great part of the challenge was sorting through what was a legitimate threat and what wasn’t.” - Source
FAA Deputy Administrator, Monte Belger, said: “Between 9:20-9:45 there were many confusing reports about various aircraft being unaccounted for.” - Source
An independent study in 2011 gave detailed accounts of nine falsely reported hijackings on 9/11, plus nine other reported aircraft emergencies.
Although it has been widely reported that four commercial aircraft were hijacked over the United States on September 11, 2001, what is less well known is that while the terrorist attacks were taking place and for many hours after, numerous additional aircraft gave indications that they had been hijacked or, for other reasons, were singled out as potential emergencies. More than 20 aircraft were identified as possible hijackings, according to some accounts, and other aircraft displayed signs of emergencies, such as losing radio communication with air traffic controllers or transmitting a distress signal.Read the entire report here:
Reports about these false alarms have revealed extraordinary circumstances around some of the incidents and bizarre explanations for how they arose. For example, it has been claimed that the pilots of one foreign aircraft approaching the U.S. set their plane's transponder to transmit a code signaling they had been hijacked simply to show authorities that they were aware of what had been taking place in America that morning. Another aircraft reported as transmitting a distress signal while approaching the U.S. was subsequently found to have been canceled, and still at the airport.
There may be innocent explanations for some of the less serious false alarms, such as those simply involving the temporary loss of radio communication with the plane, which is a common occurrence and happens on a daily basis. But, viewed in its entirety, the evidence appears highly suspicious and raises serious questions. Why, for example, were there so many false alarms on September 11? Why did so many of them involve false reports of hijackings or aircraft falsely signaling that they had been hijacked? The details of specific incidents that have been reported, which I describe below, show that these false alarms must have been something more than just the results of confusion caused by the terrorist attacks.
MILITARY EXERCISES INCLUDED SIMULATED HIJACKINGS
One possibility to consider is that some of the false alarms related to training exercises taking place on September 11. There is evidence supporting this contention.
So much for the contention at 911myths.com of there being "a distinct lack of evidence for any of these exercises adversely affecting the response to 9/11."
Similarly, Shoestring's article, "'Let's Get Rid of This Goddamn Sim': How NORAD Radar Screens Displayed False Tracks All Through the 9/11 Attacks," debunks the claim at the 911myths.com war games page that "there's no evidence at all that 'false blips' were in use on 9/11."
These blips were part of the war game exercise Vigilant Guardian. In a March 2012 article entitled, "'Real-World or Exercise': Did the U.S. Military Mistake the 9/11 Attacks for a Training Scenario?," Shoestring writes:
It has been claimed that Vigilant Guardian was terminated shortly after United Airlines Flight 175 became the second plane to crash into the World Trade Center, at 9:03 a.m. on September 11. However, evidence indicates it may have continued long after that time. It has also been claimed that the participation of military staffers in the exercise had little effect on their ability to protect America against the attacks, and that Vigilant Guardian may even have had beneficial effects. For example, in its final report, the 9/11 Commission claimed that the response to the attacks "was, if anything, expedited by the increased number of staff at the sectors and at NORAD because of the scheduled exercise." However, a significant amount of evidence casts doubt upon this claim.Again, "a significant amount of evidence" not a "a distinct lack of evidence."
Conclusion from the 9/11 Consensus Panel:
Because of the rescheduling of military exercises normally scheduled for different times, there were an extraordinary number of exercises underway the morning of September 11, 2001.But the Arabesque: 9/11 Truth blog perhaps put it best:
The Department of Defense and the 9/11 Commission failed to report all but one of the exercises that occurred that morning.
They also denied that such exercises slowed down military responses to the attacks.
Had the 9/11 Commission reported the full extent of the exceptional number of exercises it knew were operating that morning, the above-quoted statements by military officers such as Eberhart, Marr, and Myers – that the exercises did not, by causing confusion, slow down the military response – would have seemed implausible.
Any new investigation should probe the fact that, taken together, this evidence suggests that:
(1) the Pentagon, after creating conditions that confused the military response to the attacks, sought to cover up its creation of these conditions, and that
(2) the 9/11 Commission facilitated this cover-up by not making public the information held in its records cited above.
NORAD commander-in-Chief Ralph Eberhart was asked by the 9/11 Commission if these war games "helped" response to the 9/11 attacks and responded nonsensically, "sir, my belief is that it helped because of the manning, because of the focus, because the crews - they have to be airborne in 15 minutes and that morning, because of the exercise, they were airborne in six or eight minutes. And so I believe that focus helped." This was clearly a ridiculous statement; if the war games "helped" response to the attacks, why were none of the planes intercepted during the attacks; what "response" was there at all? In fact, there is very strong evidence that these drills hindered response since they moved air defenses away from New York and Washington, added "injects" to radar screens, and created general confusion.Related:
Pumpitout Radio: Foreknowledge and Lack of Air Defense
Lack of 9/11 Air Defence Explained? | <urn:uuid:63063385-40b3-4afd-82fe-74adc4f61f8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://911debunkers.blogspot.com/2012/06/debunking-911mythscom-war-games.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978962 | 2,246 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Explore KansasThe most marvelous part of a trip to Kansas is the variety you'll discover. This is a state known for frontier history, Wild West legends, and abundant hunting. You'll also see some of the nation's most diverse wildlife, nature trails, and geological finds; the richest store of aviation history, aircraft and artifacts; and the grandest agricultural sights in America.
An exciting website to visit when planning a trip to Kansas is explorekansas.org
View the 8 Wonders of Kansas in Art, Architecture, Commerce, Cuisine, Customs, Geography, History and People.
Listed below are several of these "treasures" you may find while staying at a Kansas Bed and Breakfast Association Member Inn:
Agri-Tourism: Land of PlentyExperience the unique charm in the rolling fields of open countryside recognized by the early settlers who found the dark fertile soil worth its weight in gold.
Aviation: Dreams of FlightKansas is the air capital of the world with aviation museums and events offering unforgettable sights as you explore the past, present, and future of aviation.
Cultural Arts: A Potpourri of Arts
Reflecting the boundless ethnic backgrounds in the styles of architecture, nationally recognized museums, galleries, music and theatre, and published literature of Kansans, today Kansas boasts a higher population of artists per capita than most states.
Hunting: A Sportsman's BonanzaThe most prolific quail and pheasant population anywhere, you also find wild turkey, deer, prairie chicken in abundance in the bountiful land of woodlands, free-flowing rivers, lakes, and grassy fields.
[photograph by Bob Gress]
Nature: Wild BeautyKansas's traditional terrain-prairie grasslands-are unrivaled anywhere else in the nation along with Cretaceous fossils and wetland areas.
You'll find prairies, lakes, rivers, and hills that hold wildlife, nature trails, and geological finds that are among the best in the world.
Western Frontier: The Heart of America's WestLegendary Kansas cow towns evolved with the huge cattle drives coming to meet the railroads in the late 1800’s, and today fascinating events, people and places bring the spirit of America's past to life for you.
Photograph by Jon Hardesty | <urn:uuid:c12e82c2-3241-4dfb-93fc-59d912f4cb47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kbba.com/exploringkansas.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908396 | 473 | 2.296875 | 2 |
I was on my way to Oxford and on the tube to Paddington. It was one of those wonderful days when seats were plenty. I was at Baker Street and a movement a little farther down the carriage caught my eye. It was a cooing pigeon, quite busy pecking away. Quite at home, quite free of guilt as it rode the tube without paying the proper fare.
At first I was worried it would be startled and fly up hurting himself on the windows. But he was calm. He didn’t pay attention to any of us until we stopped at Paddington and to my delight and worry, he walked along with us as the door opened. I feared he would be trampled on, or worse fall between the gap…but hopping down, my little grey travelling companion avoided the gap like a pro! I wanted to stay and watch where he was going, but sometimes you have to mind your own business and get on with things. My train to Oxford had no intentions of waiting for me whilst I watched a pigeon toddle about. I wish I had my camera ready, maybe next time.
I wondered if this fare-dodger was the one-off, but a quick google search found a few YouTube Videos, and a few other mentions of this feathered travelling habit including in 1995, a brief article querying if pigeons were using this mode of transportation to save on flight wing time to cover distances in London. I doubt that. People spill food on the tube and for a pigeon..well…that’s a little feast of sorts. No cats about, just human feet to avoid, and they are quite good at slipping around our feet without being trod on. So when they say pigeons are at home in London, no one is exaggerating, they know the best tube routes and apparently dodge fares without the slightest hint of guilt!
For more reading on this little fare-dodger–here’s an blog post from Letter From Britain on this interesting London Habit.
- The Pigeons Who Take The London Tube. (letterfrombritain.com) | <urn:uuid:9209bd53-629e-4ad9-9bc9-81926ebea409> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://susansheldonnolen.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/tales-from-the-city-dodging-the-tube-fare/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975153 | 434 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Pit bulls in space. Snakeheads, well, everywhere
It's been nine years since a recreational fisherman pulled a northern snakehead out of a scrummy pond in Crofton and federal and state experts told us it was an isolated problem.
I heard about it and wrote the first story. It was the last time I was alone, with CNN, NPR and tons of other media outlets camping out until the Department of Natural Resources poisioned the pond and ended the saga--temporarily.
Now, it's hard to think of a watering hole that might not harbor the toothy invasive fish from Asia. The snakehead is becoming one of those cyclical summer stories like pit bull and shark attacks--not at the same time. These stories fill the headlines and airwaves for a few weeks and then disappear just as suddenly.
Just this week, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center announced that biologists netted a 23-inch, egg-bearing female in the Rhode River, just south of Annapolis, while conducting their annual fish sampling.
Don Cosden, the assistant fisheries director for DNR, says he has other reports of snakehead sightings. And fishing guide Mike Starrett sent me a photo of his latest catch (17 pounds, 30-inches) taken Wednesday night in Mattawoman Creek--more on that in a moment.
In an email to me, Cosden said he had three reports--two confirmed and one from a very credible source--of snakeheads in the Nanticoke River.
"I had a report of an observation that sounded pretty credible at the head of South River. We think these are all natural range expansion of this critter," he wrote. "We had another caught in a pond in Montgomery County, which is in the Muddy Branch drainage, which is a tributary to the Potomac River above Great Falls. I believe this one must have been released by someone because of the difficulty of actually migrating into this impoundment."
Is someone spreading these suckers with an eye toward creating a new recreational opportunity (like Virginia's blue catfish) or is it an entrepreneur who sees snakeheads as a replacement in fish markets for declining species?
Beats me. Beats the folks with the science degrees.
Until someone gets to the bottom of this range expansion thing, perhaps we all ought to practice pitching plastic lures to grass beds, like chef Chad Wells of Baltimore's Alewife restaurant and Starrett.
Here's Starrett's Mattawoman story in his own words: "I saw the big fish slide into hole and turn facing out. I cast a black horny toad over the hole in the hydrilla and ran it slowly over top. Nuttin, not even a look-see. So I cast it again and this let it drop in the hole with a slight twitch, as the poor little frog left the hole the snakehead attacked it.
"Hookup was strong and I had a medium-heavy rod, with 40-pound braid to turn him from digging into the grass--I have lost so many by them weaving my line through the matted grass. Once I got him clear of the grass, my reel seat popped and I was able to retighten it quickly.
"I Boga gripped his lower jaw and then clipped his gills with a pair of kitchen shears. Later that evening the big snakehead came back to life and leaped out of the livewell and almost bit the young man (a client) on boat. It was kinda funny.
"I clipped his gills again. Later at the dock the snakehead leaped out of the livewell again and, man, that young man was shaken by that. We all laughed. It will stick in his memory forever."
Starrett said he gave the fish to his neighbor, who loves the taste of snakehead.
Can't wait to hear the next snakehead story...unless we've moved onto another species to get us through the summer. | <urn:uuid:b2aa6428-3845-4ee2-8b07-efccc69c199e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/blog/2011/07/pit_bulls_in_space_snakeheads.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975886 | 818 | 1.945313 | 2 |
For the first time in the Öresund region, a rich selection of Irving Penns photographs from some of his most famous serial photography are being presented. His innovative fashion features, portraits and still-lifes made Irving Penn one of the leading photographers of our time. Spanning more than 60 years, his career is characterised by a cool, minimalist approach to the medium. With a selection of nearly 90 works and samples from his assignments for numerous publications, the exhibition at Moderna Museet Malmö
covers a broad spectrum of Irving Penns oeuvre.
Irving Penn (1917-2009) is regarded as one of the leading photographers of our time. He was active in both the commercial and artistic fields. In 1985, he won the prestigious Hasselblad Award. In his terse serial works, Irving Penn developed a style that is distinguished by its sharpness, detail, meticulousness and minimalist imagery. The exhibition Diverse Worlds presents photographs from his most famous series and spans more than half a century. Most of these works were donated to Moderna Museet in 1995 by Penn himself, in memory of his wife, Swedish-born Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn.
Diverse Worlds is a broad resumé of Irving Penns oeuvre, revealing clearly the consistent style that is characteristic of his photographs. His output is typically imbued with an inquisitive eye and attention to detail, whatever the subject matter. A discussion of the commercial-artistic dichotomy seems rather pointless in the case of Irving Penn, who balanced constantly between the two, allowing one to benefit the other. His experience and background as a painter, for instance, came in handy when he was commissioned by established fashion houses to create their advertisements for publications such as Vogue a magazine Penn worked for throughout most of his career.
In post-war New York, many cultural celebrities visited Irving Penns studio. The turmoil that prevailed after the Second World War was illustrated by portraying these ostensibly immortal icons trapped in a narrow corner. Penn has also related how this corner was created in his studio to counteract his own feelings of inferiority in relation to the celebs he portrayed. The less famed were also captured by Irving Penns camera, including small tradesmen in London and Paris, and members of Hells Angels in San Francisco. Lifes transience is distinctly visualised in many of the still-lifes Penn made in his career often commissioned by fashion houses but also as part of his own projects.
Despite the variation in these pictorial series, Irving Penns oeuvre, and the presentation in Diverse Worlds, reveals a consistent curiosity and desire, and a wish to depict the divergent subjects in the same sensitive and detailed way. He achieved this by placing them all in the same setting. Different image worlds meet and are literally constructed in the same neutral space Irving Penns studio. | <urn:uuid:88897d94-cf86-497b-87e9-368481e3bb12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55885 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978424 | 589 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Date Established: 12th November 1987
Address: Levels 2 & 3, 16-22 Wentworth Ave Sydney NSW
Opening Hours: 10 am ~ 5 pm, Tuesday to Sunday (Closed on Mondays & Public Holidays)
Sydney Chinese Culture & Education Centre (SCCEC) is the Sydney service office of
the OCAC, the Republic of China. SCCEC provides the Chinese community in Australia a variety of services, ranging from the promotion of Chinese culture and education, the facilitation of Chinese cultural events and activities, liaison services for Australian Chinese societies, assistance to Australian Chinese businessmen, to very basic and essential community service. In SCCEC's two-story office is also a Chinese library open to the public.
With a collection of more than 25000 items of Chinese books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and VCDs, SCCEC library is a very popular place among the Chinese community in Sydney. Our library members can also watch Chinese Satellite TV and have free access to the internet. Friendly service and pleasant environment have made this library a home for the Chinese community and attracted members of all ages.
SCCEC has more than 200 traditional Chinese costumes available for lending. These costumes have been the favorites of various Chinese community schools and societies when they hold cultural events and activities.
One of SCCEC's goals is to help the Australian Chinese community flourish and to facilitate cooperation and interaction among Chinese societies. SCCEC has thus maintained a strong connection with all kinds of Chinese clubs and societies through meetings, events, and activities.
Culture & Eudcation
Education is the most fundamental part of our services. SCCEC's educational mission is to help Australian Chinese learn Chinese and to pass down Chinese culture to the next generation. SCCEC offers textbooks to more than 60 Chinese community schools in Australia, and coordinates Chinese teachers' training courses both in Australia and in Taiwan. To help the younger generations learn about Chinese culture, SCCEC offers opportunities of youth-oriented cultural activities for young people to learn Chinese and interact with Chinese and Taiwanese culture in Taiwan.
SCCEC seeks to establish partnerships with Chinese-businessmen in Australia, to foster mutual cooperation, and to link the welfare of individual Australian Chinese to that of Australia. We ultimately wish to promote the economic prosperity in Australia, and achieve mutually beneficial results for Australian Chinese themselves, Australia, and for the Republic of China. To this aim, SCCEC provides opportunities of a variety of management, finance, and trade seminars to keep Australian Chinese enterprises well informed of the latest business knowledge and strengthen their management skills. | <urn:uuid:c37644b6-4bfc-4b88-8836-073cad00b9d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocac.gov.tw/public/overseaEngpublic.asp?selno=3767&nodeno=3730&con=5&cou=207 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94262 | 529 | 1.625 | 2 |
By Kendall Martin
I expect courtesy from co-workers when working in a team environment. We each hold different positions in the hierarchy of the company, but I still expect that all team members receive the same amount of respect. Whether we’re working on a product launch, a revised marketing strategy or a streamlined approach to a project, every person is contributing to the greater goal.
Communicating with respect can be the difference between a successful team project and one that leaves people feeling defeated, underappreciated and resentful. Those morale-busting emotions are easily avoided if all team members pay attention to how they communicate up and down the ladder. Follow these tips and ensure that you make everyone on your team feel appreciated:
- Listen to team members. When in a position of power, many people unconsciously tune out the opinions or ideas of others. Always consider that other team members may have discovered alternate solutions that are worth discussing. If every team member feels their opinions are valued and there is an equal playing field, they are apt to work harder and smarter.
- Include all relevant team members in communication. If you are depending on email to work out project details or discuss ideas, be sure you are including all team members involved in the assignment. Never assume information will naturally be relayed to the appropriate party. Open communication can save a lot of time and prevent mistakes.
- Be polite. While each team member has tasks that are a direct function of their job, it never hurts to say “please” or “thank you.” Those words go a long way in establishing positive relationships among team members. Instead of saying, “Take care of this by Monday,” you can easily say, “Please take care of this by Monday,” and the entire tone changes.
What do you find most important when communicating on a team? | <urn:uuid:8f7a68ee-dce8-4537-8a42-9afe80b69aeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nitpickersnook.com/2012/04/11/be-a-team-player/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9573 | 380 | 2.125 | 2 |
Identification:Family: Syngnathidae (Seahorses, Pipefishes, and Leafy Seadragons)
Species: Hippocampus reidi
The Brazilian Seahorse has a range of color variations from black to yellow, orange and red.
This Seahorse occurs from as far north as the Carolinas, Bermuda and south to Brazil.
Characteristics and Compatibility:
This species is common in the aquarium trade. The Brazilian Seahorse will do well and reproduce regularly if it is offered a proper diet on a regular basis.
As with most Seahorses, the Brazilian Seahorse does best in a quiet tank with little competition for food. Less aggressive fish such as Mandarins make good tank mates.
Seahorses require stationary perches to wrap their prehensile tails around. Since Seahorses are not strong swimmers, they do best in a tank with a low water flow.
Diet and Feeding:
Seahorses should be fed live or (if they will take it) vitamin enriched frozen or freeze-dried mysid shrimp. Seahorses should be fed several times per day with food available for 20 to 30 minutes per feeding. Wild caught Seahorses may be slow to accept frozen or freeze-dried mysid shrimp as food to begin with and may have to be fed live foods until they are weaned onto prepared foods. Tank raised Seahorses are normally trained to accept frozen or freeze-dried mysid shrimp at an early age and will make the transition to your tank much more easily than wild caught. | <urn:uuid:e72d5e23-6ffd-4e24-9824-c7e9f2cb633c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/seahorserelatedpipefish/p/prbrazilianseahorse.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927145 | 320 | 2.828125 | 3 |
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama told lawmakers Thursday that he would push for a sweeping overhaul of the immigration system by early next year.
But as he hosted a group of House and Senate members at a White House meeting on the issue, a new political obstacle to a deal came into view: how to regulate the future influx of foreign workers.
The issue was raised by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a principal architect of past attempts to rewrite immigration laws. McCain challenged Obama and other Democrats to stand up to labor unions that are pushing a plan that business groups fear could be overly restrictive in admitting future immigrant workers.
"I would expect the president of the United States to put his influence on the unions in order to change their position," McCain said following the hour-long session that included Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, senior White House officials and about 30 lawmakers from both parties.
McCain's comments came even as the White House took pains to foster the impression that the senator would be a partner in striking a deal.
Obama sat directly beside McCain, his former campaign rival, during the meeting, and Obama praised the senator, saying McCain had "already paid a significant political cost for doing the right thing."
Still, Obama offered no commitments on how to handle future immigrant workers, and White House officials said the event was not meant to be a forum for policy details.
Obama did offer his firmest pledge yet as president to push aggressively for new legislation by the end of 2009 or early 2010, according to meeting participants. The president has been reluctant to offer a timeline. As his administration in recent weeks focused its attention on health care and energy, some Latino leaders and immigrant advocates cautioned that delay on immigration could anger Latino voters who turned out strongly for Obama last year.
Obama said his administration was "fully behind" an immigration overhaul, and that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano would spearhead the effort.
One major sticking point is whether the House would pass one of the key provisions demanded by advocates for immigrants -- a pathway to citizenship for the 12 million illegal immigrants now living in the country. About 40 House Democrats represent conservative swing districts where there is little support for the idea.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told reporters Thursday that "the votes aren't there" to pass a plan. | <urn:uuid:ac76ee82-345e-4f15-a358-bc933d63dce1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-06-26/news/0906250578_1_immigration-reform-obama-and-other-democrats-obama-last-year | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978841 | 469 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Why All Data is Small Data
Just as small data has always driven the profitability of disk drive manufacturers (capacity improvements have always resulted in increased sales), it will also drive the development of next-generation data management solutions.
Although everyone is talking about "Big Data" -- as though that term has any meaning beyond what a vendor says it means -- I submit that the real money in the storage business has always been and will always be made in and around an even more revolutionary concept: "small data."
This may sound counterintuitive, but hear me out.
In 2011, analysts were seeing external storage arrays worldwide reaching aggregate capacities of 21 exabytes. Back then, a leading industry watcher suggested an annual data growth rate of 30 percent that provided a graceful growth curve up to about 46 exabytes by 2014.
When you add to the mix the capacity requirements imposed by virtual server technology, the analyst growth charts curve along a much steeper incline -- with aggregate external disk capacity requirements growing to between 168 and 212 exabytes midway through the second decade of the New Millenium. The difference in the projections seems to be closely linked to which storage array vendor paid the analyst for the report.
I know what you're thinking. That's really big storage, so it must hold "Big Data," but that isn't really true. Actually, all of the data it holds is really quite small.
The fundamental unit of data is, of course, a bit. A bit represents a discreet binary state (1 or 0) which is communicated through the detection of the magnetic energy field manifested by a really small part of a disk platter -- a cell, if you will. Each bit or data cell is so small you need a sophisticated sensor, such as a GMR read/write head, plus lots of high-tech signal amplification and background noise filtering stuff, just to detect it.
You can buy a 3.5 inch SATA disk drive today that holds 3TB of data stored as 625 gigabits (or 625,000,000,000 bits) per square inch. Last month, Seagate got bragging rights for a process called Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) that, used in conjunction with platter media coated with material having very high magnetic coercivity properties, increases this density to a terabit (a trillion bits) per square inch, setting the stage for much higher capacity drives in the same physical platter size.
Combine this with technology spearheaded by Toshiba about two years ago, called bit-patterned media (BPM), in which bits are stored in mesas and valleys on the media surface, and you may well see drives with in excess of 40TB (Seagate says 60TB) within the next few years. That's a foundation for Big Storage to be sure, but fundamentally -- regardless of disk capacity, array capacity, or the capacity of all external arrays combined -- a bit is a bit. All data is small data.
When you move outside of the realm of magnetic media storage and into the realm of, say, DNA, bits get even smaller. A gram of DNA is said to contain about 108 terabytes of data. Counting just the diploid cells, excluding the microorganisms that share our body mass, and taking an average body weight that is considerably smaller than mine, the total storage capacity in cellular DNA across a human being is about 150 zettabytes, according to genetic scientists.
One more factoid regarding mass storage in DNA: each of us shares a paltry 750 megabytes of data in order to make a baby -- an activity in which slower IOPS are usually more appreciated than faster IOPS, by the way -- and yet an extraordinary amount of information is replicated by this process. That suggests that the size of the data cell -- whether big or small -- says little about the importance, criticality, value, or impact of the contents of the information it stores.
I don't make the comparison between electronic and biological storage to be humorous or obtuse. Some years back in this very column, I noted that there were efforts afoot to write binary data to animal DNA so that your family dog could become your household media center or portable iTunes repository. (In a rare bit of dark humor, I noted that the equivalent of a head crash might result if the family pet ran out into a busy street.) This time, I want to make a very specific point.
Recently, some vendors have deviated from the original narrative around "Big Data," which was first described (notably by IBM's Jeff Jonas) as an application -- a sort of "data-mining-on-steroids." Instead, they are using the term to describe, well, the amount of data itself -- the enormous and growing quantity of stored bits and the myriad problems that this big data burgeon is creating. "Big Data," said one CA Technologies spokesperson recently, "refers to the problem of dealing with such an enormous quantity of small files."
In that vein, a few vendors have started using Big Data as shorthand to refer to new generation of applications, many in the earliest stages of development at start-ups or smaller firms, that will be used to wrangle all of those stored bits into functional or operational units, so that they avail themselves of organized, policy-based actions (replication, migration, etc.) in response to specific inputs.
If I am reading my marketecture tea leaves properly, this new interpretation of Big Data will usher in new flood of biological metaphors for data management, likely based on underlying principles of "object storage."
Imagine a functional unit of bits that automatically "divides" itself (aka cellular division with data duplication) in order to deliver redundancy and protection against, you guessed it, "viruses" and other data threats.
What about an operational unit of data that reorganizes itself to adapt to changing network conditions or to adapt itself for use with a new or different file system? That would certainly help solve knotty problems such as server hypervisor chokepoints or the readability of data stored in a long-term archive.
What would be the value of a self-organizing unit of bits that could work seamlessly with other units of data created by different applications or having different formats? Realizing this capability would enable us to combine all sorts of data effortlessly to support searches or analytical efforts.
All of these ideas have their analogs in the biological world, of course -- in embryology, immunology, virology, etc. Developing them as viable computer technologies requires a focus, first, on the nature and organization of small data rather than on some grand idea of building some sort of Big Data Analytics killer app.
Bottom line: I would argue that, just as small data has always driven the profitability of disk drive manufacturers, given that capacity improvements have always been rewarded by increased sales, it will also drive the development of next generation data management solutions. Provided, of course, the marketecture isn't allowed to overwhelm architectural work that is already underway.
Your comments are welcome. firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:c2f287c1-3c45-4a1c-8f12-c65b4d1a7d61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://esj.com/articles/2012/05/21/why-all-data-is-small-data.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948947 | 1,451 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Intolerance breeds intolerance – no matter what religion or race you are
As globalisation has collided with the rise of fundamentalism in an uncertain world, people have become more intolerant
A nasty human trait, intolerance, especially when fundamentalism appears to be on the rise in response to the challenges of globalisation. But none of our societies can point the finger elsewhere without taking stock closer to home, can we?
I was reading Xan Rice's moving account of a Christian South Sudanese family's misfortunes at the hands of their North Sudanese and Muslim compatriots in Saturday's Guardian. At least it had a happy ending, a family reunited and a country-in-the-making poised to gain liberty from its historic oppressors via a peaceful referendum.
On Sunday I read Declan Walsh's even more disturbing Observer account of the death sentence hanging over Aasia Bibi, the Pakistani woman convicted on doubtful evidence of blasphemy, and the eagerness of some neighbours to see her die.
As the world now knows Salmaan Taseer, bold and brash governor of Punjab, went to visit Bibi in jail, condemned his country's blasphemy laws and was gunned down by his own bodyguard for doing so. Men threw admiring petals on the vehicle carrying his murderer to court. Ugly, ignorant stuff.
All this might provide a cue for tut-tutting the excesses of the more primitive strands of Islamic thought had it not been for what happened in between my reading of those two reports: the murder of six Americans in Arizona during a shooting spree which seriously wounded Gabrielle Giffords, a member of the US Congress.
We do not yet know for certain what motivated 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner to run amok in Tucson. But he seems to have the profile of a suicide bomber, nerdy, and ill-educated, a slightly weird kid with simmering resentments against society in general, all whipped up by angry websites and anti-government rhetoric.Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/politics/34084-intolerance-breeds-intolerance.html
One way or another all three cases seem to bear the familiar hallmark of self-absorbed, narcissistic fundamentalism, explicitly or implicitly religious because God is rarely far from guns in the American south and west – or from the utterances of US politicians who should know better and may not believe a word of it anyway. Yes, Sarah, I do mean you.
Let's throw in Harriet Sherwood's pre-Christmas/festive season report about the elderly Holocaust survivor being persecuted in Israel for renting rooms to Arab Israelis and we can share the nastiness around even between the three great monotheistic faiths: the People of the Book. The bulldozers are out in East Jerusalem again today.
I'm not suggesting here that the godless offer any better guarantees from intolerance, since communists, fascists and assorted nihilists have slaughtered on unprecedented and industrial scales in the 20th century. Professor Richard Dawkins may strike himself as the embodiment of calm rationality but he strikes me as an angry, secular fundamentalist – a familiar type in post-imperial Europe. Why, there are occasionally even scarily intolerant columns in the Guardian!
But Guardian writers are not armed to teeth and can't easily buy a Glock 19 semi-automatic and ammunition at Tesco in Islington. Nor do they have the law on their side when they accuse Tea Party types at the Telegraph of blasphemy in decrying the achievements of St Tony of Blair or the perfectability of the NHS.
I'm all in favour of the blame for the Tucson shooting being dumped at the doorstep of rightwing US shock jocks on radio, on the blow-dried airheads of Fox TV (the BBC's Mark Thompson must be losing it if he thinks we should import that style here), on motor-mouth politicians and – above all – on Sarah "reload and take aim" Palin with her rifle sights logo to mark opponents like Giffords.
The Tea Party may be the manipulated tool of rich men, playing on the feelings of the poor – much as in Pakistan. But Saturday's shooting makes even more certain my prediction that Palin is unelectable as president of the United States. In fact, if I were her I wouldn't run for dog-catcher in Alaska any time soon. Despite its deep problems, not least its inadequate (so far) response to the economic rise of China, the US has a lot of bounce in it.
The Tucson shootings won't act as a wake-up call on gun law, Americans sleep through regular wake-up calls on guns. But it may sober the language. On the radio today I heard a shock jock using weasel ("you can always change station") words to justify inflammatory language. It won't do: some people need protecting from such stuff.
All the same, the shocked reaction is why I'm more optimistic than Gary Younge, writing in today's paper: the US is resilient and it's not just the rightwing which is armed. In any case the liberal angst-fest over the Tucson shootings doesn't tell the whole story, does it?
Though much weaker in the US – where the Obamas are routinely called fascists, communists, socialists, Muslims, Kenyans etc etc – weaker even than in Europe – here the liberal left's language is sometimes uncompromising too.Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=34084
To listen to milk-and-water Nick Clegg on the Oldham byelection you'd think that the late Labour government was far more incompetent and dishonest than it was – or the coalition will prove to be. As Julian Glover says today, life is about compromises. Listen to the angry denunciations from some progressive quarters this weekend when Jack Straw suggested that some young men in the British Pakistani community treat white girls as easy meat, less valued than their own. Hardly surprising, it's another recurring human trait, isn't it? But Straw was promptly accused of saying what he hadn't said.
I'm sure we'll sort it out, Britain has pretty solid institutions and more confidence in the fairness of the police and justice system than we may tell the pollsters – though less than we once had, misplaced though it sometimes was in the Dixon of Dock Green era.
Inevitably more worrying must be what happens next in yet-to-be-born South Sudan or the battered state of Pakistan – "my beloved country, sodomised by religion" as I recall a writer once putting it.
If we want to be generous, and I think we do, we might conclude that in all these countries disadvantaged young men (women were also involved in the Bibi case) face uncertain futures. They see the wider, hooked-up world – visible on TV almost everywhere now – as threatening to their lives and values, misguided or not.
It's serious. Youth unemployment, bad enough here (19% among the under-25s), is 43% in Spain, driving the educated young to emigrate – even to Argentina. Young Loughner was also unemployed and probably scared. What happens to those left behind, those who can't move on?
It doesn't bear thinking about, but angry posting on the internet is not enough, even if it makes posters feel better. Intolerance breeds intolerance. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/b...e-giffords-usa | <urn:uuid:445a248e-6a0c-4be2-934d-ee4603ed495f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/140147-post1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956561 | 1,554 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Maxwell’s demon is an interesting thought experiment on the 2nd law of thermodynamics. I have thought about this experiment for some time, and I think I have found a rebuttal.
In simple terms, this thought experiment suggests a way (using a tiny trapdoor between the A side and the B side of a gas container) to separate hot and cold gases without doing any work. The idea is that Maxwell’s demon opens the trapdoor when a fast moving molecule from A side approaches the trapdoor, thus allowing it to “leak” to B’s side, and similarly allowing for slow moving molecules from B side to leak to A side. If this way was theoretically possible, then we would be able to create more order, thus, in principle violating 2nd law of thermodynamics. Various criticisms have been given in an attempt to uphold our believe that 2nd law of thermodynamics is true (so, it is in fact a law).
Firstly, I must say that I do not agree with the rebuttals by Szilard, Brillouin and Charles Bennett, because their criticism is mostly on the energy that would be required to measure the speed of molecules and to operate the trapdoor. However, this is an assumption, not a fact. This assumption can be considered a fact, if we do choose to believe in many existing laws of physics, of which, second law of thermodynamis is one. Thus, this entire logic is circular.
My logic is different, and does not depend upon the assumption that energy is required to measure the speed of molecules. We consider two cases.
Case I: Trapdoor has a certain mass. If the trapdoor has mass, then to open or close it, we must expend some energy. thus the entire setup is not isolated. In that case, second law of thermodynamics is not violated at all.
Case II: Trapdoor is massless. If the trapdoor is massless, then we are not spending any energy in opening or closing it. However, if it is massless, then when a fast moving molecule hits it from the B side, some energy must be expended to keep the trapdoor from opening to A side. So, in this case second law of TD is not violated.
So, in all cases, we can see that Maxwell’s demon can be theoretically refuted. | <urn:uuid:df6fadd2-0222-48f4-bb29-79e8b5f57d44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://standardwisdom.com/guydownthestreet/tag/physics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95419 | 489 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Put into operation in the fall of 2011, the Ambiorix is one-of-its kind cutter suction dredger vessel. Owned and operated by the Dutch conglomerate DEME – Dredging Environmental and Marine Engineering, the vessel’s operational singularity stems from its applicability in the hardest of sub-water dredging conditions.
In fact the vessel has been designed to be dredged in underwater areas that not only can be easily dredged, but even in those areas that contain the hardest of stones.
Christened after a Belgian war-hero of the Before Christian era, the Ambiorix was constructed at the Dutch IHC Merwede shipbuilding yard. In entirety, the vessel took about two years to get completed, starting with its commissioning in 2010.
Vessel Features and Specifications
- Ambiorix can penetrate to depths up to 35 metres underwater
- At its shallowest, the vessel offers dredging assistance at depths about six metres
- The vessel also offers lading facilities for barges docked near the vessel
- Manoeuvrable spudding system to monitor the dredging procedure and control it appropriately
- Continuous live feed of the dredging operations carried out, on account of transmission systems equipped in the vessel. This helps in the better skilful output of the entire operations
- Computer programmed controlling of the vessel negates the failure factor of the dredging activities
- Ambiorix measures almost 129 metres lengthwise, with a breadth of 25.2 metres and a depth of 8.2 metres
- The vessel provides housing feasibility for a crew of 43 people
- The maximum power generated is 25,000 kilowatts
- The vessel has three pumping equipments for the purposes of dredging
Ambiorix has revolutionised the domain of dredging vessels in operation today. As the chief dredging ship for its owner, it has helped DEME to reach heights in the international dredging arena, never seen before. | <urn:uuid:b9f96105-1b11-4145-9f8b-e93c5b9fdcc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marineinsight.com/marine/types-of-ships-marine/ambiorix-a-powerful-self-propelled-cutter-suction-dredger/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940001 | 403 | 2.140625 | 2 |
I wanted to make you mine.Continue Reading
A single important thing to recollect any time you are considering skin icon patterns will be that you need to certainly not find virtually any bands tattooed on your skin tone. You will find different ways you can proclaim ones appreciate for someone without putting their particular bands straight into one’s skin icon patterns. Rather than going with bands, think of stuffs that you love for your skin icon patterns. As soon as searching for one’s skin icon patterns, you’ve got a several choices.Continue Reading
This Haiku describes what some hand knitted rugs look like.Continue Reading
An imaginative account of my short life in the cyber world with a wrong ID.Continue Reading
Rectangle Haiku.Continue Reading
There is also an ornate, carved animals and abstract designs, and this requires serious research.Continue Reading
A chapter from a book being written by Rose Colton of IRealm… This book is posted with all permissions to allow it…Continue Reading
There are designs, pictures of landscapes or paintings that have a meaning. That is how you know your taste. In the case of textile design there is also texture.Continue Reading
For every step we plan there was a full stop called “Money” and “Manpower”.Continue Reading
A computer program is turned into a robot. What will this robots purpose be?Continue Reading
Welcome to Authspot, the spot for creative writing.
Read some stories and poems, and be sure to subscribe to our feed! | <urn:uuid:beab4ad4-3564-4a7a-8cb4-8504b98c843a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://authspot.com/tag/designs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932331 | 320 | 1.507813 | 2 |
I LOVE TRAVEL-THEMED presents. Opening a package containing the latest gadget, book, or gift certificate is always appreciated. As a wandering mama, receiving such a gift also makes me jump up and check the calendar to see when I might next be able to venture out into our big, wild world. It’s all about the journey. For kids, too.
My son, now seven and the perfect age to begin more adventurous wanderings with me, is also the perfect age to appreciate some of the goodies that send his mom into wowsville. Be they experiences or things, adding travel to a holiday gift-giving list is a winner, every time. Here are our top five recommendations for kid-themed travel superstars this year:
1. Alaska experiences: Lived in the state all your life but still haven’t gone dog mushing or flightseeing? If you’re willing to shell out $500 for a gaming system and all the accoutrements, then perhaps you could consider an experience the whole family will remember, forever. Try Salmon Berry Tours in Anchorage (they go to Fairbanks, too), or Temsco Helicopters in Juneau for family-friendly dog sledding tours. Temsco also does flightseeing throughout southeast Alaska. K2 Aviation out of Talkeetna does a spectacular job of nudging guests right up to Mt. McKinley’s flanks for an icy howdy-do.
2. Great gear: This year was momentous in a number of ways, but mostly our cheers came from the fact our son could now carry his own stuff on trips. For light hiking and carry-on purposes, we purchased an Osprey “Jet” pack that contours his slim frame, yet still has plenty of room for games, a stuffed animal, and a hat or two.
3. Reading roundups: Oh, do we ever love books around here! Now that our kiddo has reached first grade and has an appetite for reading everything from roadsigns to guidebooks, every trip must include at least one chapter book and one activity book. “The Everything Kids Travel Activity Book” by Erik and Jeanne Hansen is fun, self-contained, and full of reading, writing, and simple doodle space. We found it on Amazon.com for around $9.
4. Choose an adventure: I believe in affording kids their own opportunities to stretch comfort zones as they grow, and for us, this translates into some pretty exciting experiences without adults hovering all around. Ski lessons at Eaglecrest in Juneau, or Hilltop and Alyeska Resort, in Anchorage and Girdwood, respectively, offer a ton of options for youngsters of all abilities. Psst, parents, you too!
5. Lifelong learning: Remember summer camp, where kids immersed themselves in such things as crafts, hikes, and lots of hands-on outdoor experiences? Good news, kids can still do all that, and more, with programs like Alaska Geographic’s Family Field Seminars. Exploring the tundra, looking for animals, staying in tent cabins; ahh, yes, summer camp for the whole family in Denali National Park. An extremely popular way to explore the park, Family Field Seminars fill up fast, so early registration is a must. Childhood is short; get out and travel. Happy holidays.
For more tips and tricks to family-friendly travel in Alaska, visit AKontheGO.com. | <urn:uuid:2074ea50-e906-4c89-ba4b-e73cdbec4bbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kidsthesedays.org/content/ktdonthego-top-5-gift-ideas-traveling-kids | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935959 | 728 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Edward Ayers, National Professor
of the Year
Cited for his passion and commitment to
by Andrew Shurtleff
By Robert Brickhouse
Edward L. Ayers, dean of
the College and
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, has been admired for
his teaching, scholarship and public service for so long that
it should come as no surprise that he has been chosen as the 2003
national Professor of the Year at doctoral and research universities.
The annual award for dedication to undergraduate education was
given Nov. 13 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education
(CASE) in Washington.
One of the country’s foremost Southern history scholars,
Ayers has continued his teaching and advising of undergraduate
and graduate students and his outreach in history
education nationwide while serving as the top administrator of
U.Va.’s liberal arts core. He and honorees in three non-doctoral
college categories were selected from among 400 distinguished
professors nominated around the country.
“As an educator, mentor and advisor, Professor Ayers has
had a lasting impact on both the University of Virginia and on
his discipline,” said Vance T. Peterson, president of CASE.
seek him out for his wise counsel and guidance because of the
extraordinary commitment he brings to everything he does.”
In addition to being an exemplary teacher and award-winning author,
Ayers has been a national advocate for exploring the potential
of computer technology to enhance scholarship
and teaching. He previously received the Outstanding Faculty Award
from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and currently
serves as a presidential appointee to the National Council for
the Humanities and on the executive board of the National Council
for History Education.
“His infectious passion for learning invigorates every encounter
with students, whether in a class of 400, a seminar of 10, or
an individual conference,” said Vice President and Provost
Gene D. Block, who nominated Ayers for the award.
Among the first wave of scholars to tap the power of emerging
technologies for learning, Ayers created and directs an authoritative
Internet archive, “Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities
in the American Civil War,” that has won numerous major
awards for its contributions to education. It is used in classrooms
at all levels throughout the country and makes available thousands
of original sources for students and scholars to conduct their
own research and draw their own conclusions about history.
A finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award
for his 1992 book “The Promise of the New South,”
he has also recently published a groundbreaking new book about
the coming of the Civil War, “In the Presence of Mine Enemies.”
Block noted that Ayers’ passion for teaching carries beyond
his own work to close collaborations with his graduate students,
as they prepare for teaching careers, and to long involvement
with the University’s Center for the Liberal Arts in mentoring
K-12 classroom teachers around the state and country.
While teaching, serving as dean, writing books and fund raising
for educational projects, Ayers holds regular undergraduate office
hours each week and encourages his students to visit him. He requires
students at all levels to conduct their own original research
into what he has called “the messy complexity of the past”
in order to gain a deeper understanding.
“He regards classroom walls as the most arbitrary of boundaries
and never stops instructing or inspiring those around him,”
said Charles F. Irons, who received his B.A. and Ph.D. in history
at U.Va. and was one of several colleagues and former students
who sent the awards committee letters testifying to Ayers’
effects on their personal lives. “In every circumstance,
he spreads his boundless enthusiasm and helps his listeners to
imagine a better tomorrow.”
“He is so much a part of the University — and what
is right about it — that it is difficult to extricate him
from it,” wrote Lee J. Hark, a doctoral student in education.
“He occupies an almost mythic status in the minds of students.
I found the process of studying with him quite unsettling, which,
it seems, is exactly what he wants.”
Ayers confirms that notion. “Unless we come to terms with
the hardest parts of this nation’s history, we cannot see
it clearly,” he wrote in a statement about teaching. “And
unless we see our nation clearly, we cannot know how best to live
within it. Coming to terms with the past demands that students
confront its problems for themselves.”
Ayers received his doctorate in American Studies from Yale in
1980 and joined the U.Va. faculty that year. He has been dean
of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences since
The U.S. Professor of the Year awards, created in 1981, are the
only national honors for excellent undergraduate teaching and
The other national winners included Outstanding Master’s
University and College Professor Patty Hale, a professor of nursing
from Lynchburg College and an alumna of the U.Va School of Nursing.
The national winners and winners of state Professor of the Year
awards were honored at a luncheon at the National Press Club. | <urn:uuid:555ee3cf-a361-4516-85a0-bd3e2917f05f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2003/21/ayers_ed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963136 | 1,161 | 1.6875 | 2 |
One of Tsutsui’s best-known and most popular works in his native Japan, The Girl Who Leapt through Time
is the story of fifteen-year-old schoolgirl Kazuko, who accidentally discovers that she can leap back and forth in time. In her quest to uncover the identity of the mysterious figure that she believes to be responsible for her paranormal abilities, she’ll constantly have to push the boundaries of space and time, and challenge the notions of dream and reality.
After the success of Paprika, Hell, The Maid
and Salmonella Men on Planet Porno
, this is the fifth work by one of the greatest and most acclaimed living Japanese writers to be translated in English, displaying all the author’s dry humour and relish for the absurd.
'The nice thing about Tsutsui is that
history and modernity combine
effortlessly, as do drab reality and
fantasy.' Philip Hensher,
The Daily Telegraph
Now available as an e-book (ISBN 9781846881886) from Amazon
Read an excerpt from The Girl Who Leapt through Time
By the same author: | <urn:uuid:261dd852-e963-4b2f-af1f-bfcb7d9378d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.almabooks.com/the-girl-who-leapt-through-time-p-368-book.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918566 | 241 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The Challenge of Wealth
By Dr. Meir Tamari
The Patriarch Jacob gathers his 12 sons around him and gives them a blessing that is meant to describe their characters and their futures. In effect he was making an ethical will, something that later throughout Jewish history was done by ordinary people, by famous scholars, communal leaders, and by rabbis and judges. It is particularly enlightening, to see to what extent business behavior and economic activity feature in these historical ethical wills. Behind these wills lies the understanding that earning a livelihood is a major struggle both in economic terms but also morally and ethically. In the midrash Rabbi Yose bar Chalafta taught," Parnasah is more difficult than childbirth; Eve's punishment was to give birth in sorrow but regarding Adam it is written,' in sorrow will you eat all the days of your life' (Genesis, 3: 16-17). Rabbi Shmuel ben Nachman said,' Parnasah is greater [spiritually] than redemption. Regarding redemption Jacob said,' the angel who redeemed me (Genesis, 48:16) but regarding our livelihoods we read, (Psalms 145: 16) 'He [G-d] opens His Hand and satisfies all that lives'
Maimonidies [Rambam, 12th Century, Egypt.
"There is no better antidote to the weakness of the heart than the combination of truth and justice [faithfulness and trustworthiness in his language]. On the day when I shall bequeath to you the material heritage bestowed on me by the Creator, I shall transfer to you primarily the quality of trustworthiness by which I acquired these possessions. It was my faithfulness that brought me into places where my ancestors could never have brought me and bestowed upon me an inheritance greater than that of my parents. It invested me with authority over those greater and better than myself, and I prospered and became useful to myself and to others. Be therefore zealous for the welfare of others even beyond the letter of the law; keep your word and do not evade your public or private promises, made either verbally or in writing, either before witnesses or in private. Reject and avoid fraudulent, underhand and unhalakhic practices. Do not take anything, great or small that is not yours. Know that one who accustoms himself to dubious things will inevitably resort to willful activity, just as one who takes a small amount in the beginning or takes something secretly, will eventually take much and in public, until he becomes a liar, robber and embezzler. Be proud of your moral values and be content in your values of truth, for there is no greater nobility and no more glorious inheritance".
Rabbenu Asher [The Rosh, Spain, early 14th Century].
"Beware of oppressing other people, whether by money or by words; neither envy nor hate them. Do not rely upon the broken reed of human support and do not set up gold as your hope, for that is the beginning of idolatry. Rather, distribute your money according to G-d's will; He is able to cover your deficit. Let expenditure of your money be of less value to you that the utterances of your word. Do not set your eyes upon those who are richer than you but rather upon the one who is poorer. Rejoice in your lot whether it is large or small. Every month and every week set aside for charity whatever you can and on every day let there not be lacking a small charitable donation before prayer. When your income reaches a tithe-able amount, set aside the tithe. So you will have something at hand that you could give away either for the living or for the dead, whether to the poor or to the rich [gemach?]. Enjoy neither food nor drink without reciting a blessing before and after. Give praise to Your Creator for satisfying you."
Elazar of Mayence [Mainz, mid 14th century].
"These are the things which my sons and my daughters shall do at my request. They will be in the synagogue every day and there they will pay special regard to the Shemoneh Esrei and to the Shema. As soon as the services are over they shall occupy themselves a little with the Torah, the Psalms or with works of charity. Their business must be conducted honestly in the dealings both with Jew and Gentile. They shall give an exact tithe of all their possessions; they shall never turn away a poor man empty handed but must give him what they can, be it much or little. Should cause for dissension present itself be slow to accept the quarrel. Even if you suffer financial loss thereby forbear and forgive for G-d has many ways of feeding and sustaining His creatures. In trade be true; never grasping at that which belongs to another. For by avoiding these wrongs -scandal falsehood, money grubbing- Mankind will surely find tranquility and affection".
Amatus, The Physician, [Saloniki, mid 16th Century].
"I swear by the Eternal G-d and by His 10 most holy commandments, which were given on Mount Sinai through Moses as lawgiver after the people had been freed from Egypt, that I have never, at any time done anything in my treatments save what in faith was handed down to me; that I have never in these treatments falsified anything, added anything or changed anything for the sake of gain: that I have always sought after this one thing that benefit might spread forth to Mankind; that I have praised no one and censured no one merely to indulge in private passions, unless the zeal for truth demanded this.
Concerning the remuneration which is commonly given to physicians, I have not been anxious for this, but I have treated many, not only zealously but even without pay: and have unselfishly and unswervingly refused several awards offered by many people; and have sought that the sick might, by my care and diligence, recover their lost health, rather than that I might become richer. All men have been considered equal by me of whatever religion they were, whether Hebrews, Christians or Moslems.
I have never brought about sickness; in diagnosis I have always said what I thought to be true. I have never favored vendors of drugs, except perhaps those who I knew surpassed the others by reason of their skill. Nothing base has been committed by me in any house where I was practicing.
The many students, which I have had, I always considered as my sons and have taught them very frankly and have urged them to strive to conduct themselves like good men. I have published my books on medical matters with no design for profit, but I have had regard for only this one thing, namely, that I might in some measure provide for the health of mankind. Whether I have succeeded in this, I leave to the judgment of others."
Copyright © 2002 by Rabbi Meir Tamari and Project Genesis, Inc.
Dr. Tamari is a renowned economist, Jewish scholar, and founder of the Center For Business Ethics (www.besr.org) in Jerusalem. | <urn:uuid:44e4973f-8bb5-4726-b2b8-8bc04928a971> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://torah.org/learning/business-ethics/vayechi.html | 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 | 0.97061 | 1,466 | 2.75 | 3 |
Postedon Sep 02, 2010 at 08:30 am
Jonathan Merritt discusses shifts in the demographics of those for and against the freedom to marry: "If current trends among religious Americans and the younger generation continue, the current battle over Proposition 8 might just be the beginning of the end for the culture wars as we’ve known them."
Postedon Sep 01, 2010 at 03:00 pm
In the August 27, 2010 entry of his Journal in the "Chicago Sun-Times", film critic Roger Ebert makes a case for the freedom to marry by telling a personal story of his mother supporting a lesbian couple in their desire to get married back in the 1970s: "Public opinion is perceived to be shifting on the topic [marriage equality]. It seems odd to me that on this issue, Barack Obama is more conservative than Dick Cheney, George Bush and my mother."
Postedon Aug 20, 2010 at 12:00 pm
"Often courts will make decisions that are predictors of what public opinion is going to be a few years from now," says Brian Powell, an Indiana University sociology professor.
"Public attitudes don't change really quickly, but this [the freedom to marry] is one that's changing really, really quickly," Powell said.
Postedon Aug 16, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Christian Bentzen: "Conservatives have a somewhat questionable history with regard civil rights, a trend that has roots in the south and continued on with Barry Goldwater who infamously opposed the Civil Rights Act as unconstitutional. The consequence of their reaction to the recent [Prop 8] ruling is that conservatives may be planting the seeds of their own demise (as the polls have indicated) and find themselves on the wrong side of civil rights history."
Postedon Aug 16, 2010 at 07:30 am
Michael Klarman: Judicial opinions on cultural issues usually reflect settled shifts in public attitudes. What does this mean for the fate of the freedom to marry in the Supreme Court?
Postedon Jul 20, 2010 at 01:45 pm
Adam Liptak discusses the possible meaning and ramifications of a sentence added by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to a recent Supreme Court decision issued on the last day of the term.
Postedon Jul 19, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Argentina's first marriage under a law passed last week honoring the freedom to marry was set for August 13 between a 61-year-old man and his 60-year-old partner, officials said Friday. | <urn:uuid:82d4e594-7288-40f4-a67d-1342ad342b54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freedomtomarry.org/blog/c/senior-citizens/P40/www.thecontributor.com | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956969 | 510 | 1.625 | 2 |
Mastiha - Mastic
Mastiha - Mastic
Mastiha is a natural resin from the Southern part of the island of Chios in Greece. It has been harvested for centuries using the same technique: the Pistacia Lentiscus (schinos) trees are incised, the sap is "wept" out, and then the resin solidifies into "tear" shaped pieces after 15-20 days. It is then harvested and cleaned by the women of the 21 Mastiha villages (Mastihohoria). The cultivation of the resin is exclusive to the sourthern area of Chios due to its unique microclimate and the fact that the trees there have had centuries of cultivation and controlled propagation, making them highly productive in the best quality resin.
Mastiha has been used since ancient times for both its flavor as a spice, as well as for its therapeutic properties. It is an antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory, and has long been lauded for its beneficial use in skin care, oral hygiene, and for curing digestive disorders. To use as a spice, all you have to do is crush the tears using a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt (for savory) or sugar (for sweet). The tears will turn into a fine powder with a refreshingly alpine, and slightly camphoric aroma. Mastiha is often associated with ice creams and other sweetened milk preparations in the Middle East, but it can also flavor savory dishes with anything from cheese to meat to vegetables.
Ever since 1997, the European Union has protected the product under the Protected Designation of Origin. The Mastiha growers are also protected by the Greek government, and the resin and its products are all sold at a fair trade price in order to preserve this ancient tradition.
Mastiha was the first chewing gum. The raw resin is hard to the bite, but once you start chewing it softens into a long lasting gum that freshens the breath and aids digestion. | <urn:uuid:26169b1a-0a4c-4fe2-9fa9-51be4b05d7db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kitchencaravan.com/ingredient/mastiha-mastic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959219 | 419 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The London demonstration had been organized by the Trade Union Congress. Labour leader Ed Miliband spoke at the event, in front of a banner calling for jobs, growth, and justice. This is a senseless mixture of words. Governments can only create jobs by taxing others in the private sector. The more jobs a government creates, the fewer real jobs there are to tax. Decline, not growth, results. Justice -- that word habitually dragged into every Left-wing protest, but never explained – is a Shibboleth to radicals everywhere. Communists use it. So do Islamists. Even though it means something different to each, it is safe to say that it hints at the kind of radical change that most people would not like. “Justice” is simply more marketable than “Marxist economics”, or “sharia”, as the case may be.
For Miliband, the demonstration was an extension of nothing less than the Suffragettes, the American civil rights, and African anti-apartheid movements all rolled into one. The smashing up of shops by men in black conjures up rather more sinister episodes in history; though, as the economy falters, so the militant-Left is emboldened, and, once again, such scenes are played out. It is the most radical element that drives these anti-government protests, and they are no doubt delighted by the influx of their March Violets. It is the well-meaning, but politically ignorant, who dutifully protest to save public-sector jobs as the revolutionaries dream of seizing power. Or, who protest against “Israel: apartheid state” while Jews are assaulted on the edges of the march. Or, call to prevent the university tuition fee being raised as the socialist organizers call for “a wider revolt” and “a revolt against the whole capitalist system.”
Here is the tactic of the revolutionary-Left: exploit real concerns, foment dissent, stage demonstrations, call for mass protests, force workers to strike, and grind the nation down to the point where it lacks the will to resist the revolutionary violence that inevitably ensues. The revolutionaries – who barely disguise their aims – are unlikely to succeed, but they are almost guaranteed to provoke widespread unrest, and to damage both property and the economy.
On the 26th about 500 on the hard-Left broke away from the main demonstration, and -- as Miliband spoke -- attacked shops, banks, the police, and other targets. ITV reported that “Protesters from UK Uncut and the Socialist Workers Party occupied Fortum & Mason on Piccadilly, with scenes of chaos outside and displays of confectionary and cakes wrecked inside.” The SWP itself posted a photograph of the scene outside Fortnum & Mason, in which a SWP banner is prominently featured, and stated that “Posh food shop Fortnum and Mason has been occupied as was the Ritz Hotel earlier,” although it stopped short of claiming responsibility. UK Uncut did issue a press release, accusing the government of protecting wealthy tax dodgers, and claimed, “activists from UK Uncut turned banks and tax-dodging stores on Oxford Street into hospitals, libraries and homeless shelters.” Are we really supposed to believe that these Leftist hooligans brought along a library and medical equipment?
Since the outbreak of revolution in the Arab world, earlier in the year, the SWP has been enthusiastically debating whether something similar could happen in Britain. No doubt reflecting wider socialist opinion, Joesph Choonara in the Socialist Worker Online believes, “Revolution in Britain is not an immediate prospect. But the instability of capitalism means that one day London’s Trafalgar Square really will feel like Cairo’s Tahrir Square.” Nevertheless, he also observes, correctly, “Revolutionary outbreaks always begin with struggles to reform the system. In a crisis, the fight for reforms can take on a revolutionary dimension.” So perhaps revolution doesn’t seem so far away, after all.
The SWP itself has hosted several public meetings on “Arguments for Revolution,” linking the uprisings in the Middle East with the student protests in Britain. According to the SWP:
The resistance has to spread to involve workers and the unions as well as students.
The demonstration called by the TUC on Saturday 26th March is a crucial part of this. We need to put hundreds of thousands on the streets. The bigger it is the greater confidence it can give to workers and students to organise and fight the Tories. It can be a springboard for strikes, co-ordinated action and a general strike.
With a weak economy, and cuts in public spending, the revolutionary-Left is ready to receive its March violets, and to use them for their own ends,
The aim is not to represent the electorate, to address people’s grievances, or to defend minorities. It is simply to “transform society.”
Consider this: about a month ago, The Daily Mail claimed that “Left-wing protestors” had shouted anti-Semitic insults at the president of the student union, Aaron Porter. The reference to the Left was later removed. (Presumably the newspaper received complaints. The revolutionary-Left opposes fascism and anti-Semitism, correct?) A video later surfaced of a crowd carrying SWP flags and chanting: “Aaron Porter we know you, you’re a filthy Tory Jew.” | <urn:uuid:e22bbadd-22fe-4e66-9c2c-1dcec9441b34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westminsterjournal.com/en/business/item/37-march-violets-of-the-modern-british-left.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96021 | 1,134 | 1.875 | 2 |
METAL/NONMETAL MINE FATALITY - On January 11, 1996, a loader operator trainee with five months of mining experience was killed at a traprock quarry. The employee was riding on the side of a front-end loader. The loader bounced when it went over a rock causing the employee to fall off. He landed on the path of one of the loader's tires and was run over. He died from crushing injuries. This is the first fatality reported in calendar year 1996 in the metal and nonmetal mining industries. As of this date in 1995, there were two fatalities reported in these industries. This fatality is classified as powered haulage. There was also one powered haulage fatality during the same period in 1995.
For more information:
MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL96M01] | <urn:uuid:0c7b3d76-2421-4e8c-b955-8c8eede5e6bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.msha.gov/FATALS/1996/FAB96M01.HTM | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97818 | 175 | 2.1875 | 2 |
If you don't get caught up in the trap of what I call "boring common tubes" you might find some jewels that you can design around. Despite all the hoopla from those who wish to sell premium tubes and ascribe philosopher's stone like properties to them one has to realize that audio is just about the least taxing application for a tube and most TV tubes had to work with higher frequencies where tighter tolerances were a must. DC is the "lowest frequency" that tubes operated at with audio being the next lowest. So signal and power application tubes in the video, vertical, and horizontal circuits work well at audio frequencies the only problem being finding circuits designed around them is you don't do design work yourself. And if you don't it's a simple matter to substitute an "other than audio" tube for an audio one and then play with the components/parameters until you get something you like. Fer example the 6GK6 is identical to the 6BQ5/EL84 'cept the basing is different and the supressor grid isn't internally tied to the cathode. And there are scads of other tubes that are identical to audio ones but uncommon in audio. Get a copy of a later RCA Receiving Tube Manual and perhaps Sidley's "Tube Lore" for starters. After all some of the better known HiFi manufacturers such as MacIntosh used HO (horizontal output) tubes in some of there designs as they were cheaper and more rugged than audio designs. Yeah, more rugged as a TV duty is pretty much "continuous duty" while audio applications are a shorter duty cycle.
With all this said and one you'll probably not be able to use the innumerable damper and HV diodes you've gotten although they do make rugged single diode rectifiers nor will you be able to use the 6EK4 type high voltage regulator shunt triodes (although a few hearty souls have!) and there are a few other classes that aren't easy to adapt but the RCA manual will make these clear. But I've never found any of the output tubes - vert, vid, or horrible - to now work well for audio applications and there are probably some audio specific tubes such as 6AQ5s and such in most TV collections.
For the holiday season you can wire a bunch of damper diodes in series until you equal the line voltage for a low-light radiant heater. If you're careful with a propane torch you can heat them until the vacuum pulls the envelope around the elements and if you slowly cool them you can have a really funky tube heater/glow sculpture <grin>. Oh, while some really hate the idea I've had success using the series heater string designed tubes with the "odd" filament voltages in designs that used the heaters in series across the mains to heat them while using a separate B+ only power tranny to provide line isolation. AFter all this is the heater scheme that the tubes were designed for and they have really high heater/cathode breakdown voltages - this allows you to use odd trannies made for SS applications with voltage multipliers to provide B+. Also most less than common heater voltage tubes (6.3 & 12.6) can be used with a series resistor to drop the heater voltage while those higher can have voltage multipliers and/or odd SS trannies provide heater supply (I've got lots of 18-30 VAC SS trannies that power high heater voltage tubes well).
So your use of these valves is only limited by your imagination. | <urn:uuid:e1c458a1-5e8b-4c4b-bc7d-a3a929e2dee7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://music-electronics-forum.com/t13478/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962261 | 735 | 1.679688 | 2 |
New submitter sirlark writes "'Researchers at the University of Auckland tested an interactive 3D fantasy game called Sparx on a 94 youngsters diagnosed with depression whose average age was 15 and a half. Sparx invites a user to take on a series of seven challenges over four to seven weeks in which an avatar has to learn to deal with anger and hurt feelings and swap negative thoughts for helpful ones. Used for three months, Sparx was at least as effective as face-to-face conventional counselling, according to several depression rating scales. In addition, 44% of the Sparx group who carried out at least four of the seven challenges recovered completely. In the conventional treatment group, only 26% recovered fully.' One has to wonder if it's Sparx specifically — or gaming in general — that provides the most benefit, given that most of the symptoms of depression relate to a feeling of being unable to influence one's environment (powerlessness, helplessness, ennui, etc) and games are specifically designed to make one feel powerful but challenged (if they hit the sweet spot)." | <urn:uuid:7abca5ea-5921-46c2-b73d-c8618ef59081> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/04/21/0042200/computer-game-designed-to-treat-depression-as-effective-as-traditional-treatment?sdsrc=prev | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958921 | 223 | 2.140625 | 2 |