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The Most Dangerous Bubble of All
The word 'bubble' gets bandied about a lot.
Many people get hot under the collar arguing over whether something is in a bubble or not. But, just as in heated inflation-deflation debates, few take the trouble to agree on a definition first.
I've always rather liked my definition. 'A bubble is a bull market in which you don't have a position'. There's nothing so frustrating as seeing someone of undoubtedly inferior intelligence earn fortunes while you're sat on the sidelines. So you declare his market a bubble.
But I doubt my definition will ever make it into the conventional lexicon, so we'll have to agree on an alternative in today's Money Morning, as we consider whether the government bond market is in a bubble or not…
A Confession - I Hate Governments
Let me first declare a vested interest.
I hate governments. I loathe and despise them, all of them, even the good ones. I don't know if I'm a libertarian, an anarchist or just a plain old crank, but I trace the blame for so much ill in the world – from war to poverty to the destruction of the environment – all the way to governments.
So, let's just say, I'm a little bit biased.
The UK and US government bond markets are both, very much, 'bull markets in which I don't have a position'. (And I'm glad I don't. Those that know me well might well declare that I am a man of few principles, but I have enough to draw the line at lending a government money. Think what they might do with it.)
But are developed government bond markets in a bubble? Let's use King, Smith, Williams and Van Boening's 1993 definition: a bubble is "trade in high volumes at prices that are considerably at variance with intrinsic values".
At present the US government can borrow money over ten years and pay under 2% a year. Germany need only pay 1.8%. The UK can borrow at 2.3% – considerably lower than inflation, which sits between 4% and 5%, depending on what measure you use. (And bear in mind that real inflation as suffered by the man who wants to eat, drink, travel and keep warm is considerably higher.)
If somebody approached you and said: "Psst. Have I got an investment opportunity for you! Lend me money and I'll guarantee you'll lose 2% to 3%, year in, year out." Unless that somebody was extremely charming – or armed – it's unlikely you'd see this as an 'opportunity'.
And when you look at what governments actually fo with them money, so little of it will actually build future wealth. When I see some government spending, I often feel it would be more efficient to cut out the bond market middle man and send the money directly down the invention of the great Victorian plumber, Thomas Crapper.
Government Bond Markets are a Huge Bubble
Yet, as Allister Heath writes in The Spectator this week, "UK and American governments can be loaned money – and, in effect, be paid for the privilege. This is crazy. It shows that the bond markets are well and truly in major bubble territory, their valuations as absurd as the rocketing subprime properties of yore."
Our own Merryn Somerset Webb is fond of posting her long-term chart of UK interest rates (see below), declaring it: "The most important chart you will ever see." For all the charts I've posted over the years, I kind of agree with her. You can see just how absurdly low the bank rate is right now – indeed, it hasn't been lower in over 300 years.
Sure, these are short-term interest rates rather than long-term ones. But if you ever needed a single image that sums up just how distorted our financial system has become, this chart is it.
We know that both the US and the UK are broke. We know that they are systematically trying to devalue their currencies. We know that they have no hope of paying back their debt obligations. And we know that in an environment of higher rates they wouldn't even be able to service the interest on their debt. So why lend them money?
I don't know when this will unravel. But I know it will. This is an artificial situation and Mother Nature will not let it last.
Where Will Money Flee to When the Bond Bubble Pops?
So here are two things to think about. First, there's the speed at which it could unravel. In late 2009 ten-year Greek debt was at 4.5%. Now it's nearer 25%. 25% interest rates! Imagine that here.
Second, there's the sums involved. The easy money of the Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke era has been 'invested' in government bonds. Large portions of the titanic wealth that has built up in the Far East and in the resource-rich nations over the last ten years has made its way into the government bond market. The stock market tanks and more money flees to the comparative safety of the bond market. Where is all that money going to run to when the bond bubble pops? Something shiny and yellow maybe?
For now, bonds are finding a bid. I've called the top before back at the end of 2008 and been wrong. So I'm not saying it'll be over tomorrow or even next week. But I am saying it can't go on forever and it's reached the levels of silliness you find at the latter stages of a bull market.
Here we see a long-term chart of US government bonds. You can see the steady rise higher and higher.
We could be making a double top here and now. I don't know. But I shall be watching that lower, rising trend line. If that breaks, it's guns, cans and hills time.
As Heath writes: "If debt starts to be priced at normal rates, the adjustment will be agonising – not least for Osborne's government. How many Brits would be comfortable if their mortgage interest rates went back to 6%, which was normal, even cheap, for so much of our recent history? Or 10%? Trillions of pounds' worth of pension and insurance money is invested in bonds, so when they crash it will destroy wealth on a massive scale. Stock markets will fall, in some cases severely, while the great property boom will give way to a crash – as the cost of mortgages climbs permanently higher."
In short, if you thought 2008 was bad, if you think now is bad, just wait for this one to pop. It'll be monetary mayhem and you'll be mighty glad you've got your gold.
I should add, spiralling rates will eventually be bad news for gold. They did for it in 1980. It's part of my end game scenario. But in 1980 it took rates at over 15% to kill gold's bull market. We know the world can't even take rates at 6%. In the monetary mayhem that would ensue during the spiking rates of a collapsing bond market, that's when gold will go really ballistic. And it won't stop till they get the bond market back under control – and gold is legal tender once again.
My latest gold report is now available – as well as looking at ways to buy gold itself, I’ve also tipped some speculative mining stocks that I think are poised to do very well in the coming years, and provided some updates on my previous tips. Get your copy of my gold report here.
About Dominic Frisby
Dominic Frisby Archive
|10/11/2012||How to Save the World from Governments and Banks||story|
|03/20/2012||It All Boils Down to This||story|
|03/01/2012||The Bull Market In Stocks Looks Set to Continue for Now||story|
|02/23/2012||Catch the Market Rallies and Avoid the Busts with this Chart||story|
|02/15/2012||How Much Gold Does It Cost to Buy a Home In Britain?||story|
|02/10/2012||Why the World’s Biggest Property Bear May be Buying a House||story|
|01/24/2012||Should You Invest in Brazil?||story|
|12/08/2011||Why Haven’t Gold Stocks Gone Up with the Gold Price?||story|
|12/02/2011||A Great Way to Play Growing Demand for High-Tech Batteries||story|
|12/01/2011||Get Ready for Another Gold Buying Opportunity||story| | <urn:uuid:a4f92179-ea02-4279-b96b-2dd5033ef457> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/dominic-frisby/2011/09/21/the-most-dangerous-bubble-of-all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957583 | 1,799 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Posted 3 months ago
Lithograph of The ‘Goodwin Sands Floating Shipwreck Asylum’, England, 1829-1851
This lithograph is by Rear Admiral J. N. Tayler. It shows a proposal for a moored ship to save people from shipwrecks on the Goodwin Sands. This was a notoriously treacherous stretch of sea on the east coast of Kent. Shifting sands make building lighthouses impossible and the area was prone to shipwrecks. The word ‘asylum’ means a sanctuary and a shelter from danger or hardship. This possibly guided Rear Admiral Taylor when naming his design. However, he may also have been satirising the number of ‘mental asylums’ being built during this period. This lithograph comprises a vignette of the moored asylum in use, plus a diagram of the vessel with explanatory captions. It was published by Standidge and Company in London; Science Museum, London.
Posted on January 28th, 2013 | <urn:uuid:6395eb63-54ac-4739-a8f1-24175a69b931> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://adventures-of-the-blackgang.tumblr.com/post/41734459703/lithograph-of-the-goodwin-sands-floating | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964674 | 208 | 3.1875 | 3 |
After Hitler, Before Stalin
Catholics, Communists, and Democrats in Slovakia, 1945–1948
Publication Year: 2009
Published by: University of Pittsburgh Press
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This book is the result of an attempt to combine a number of my interests—Catholicism, Communism, East Central Europe, political parties, and the fateful times immediately after the Second World War. It is the most thorough study to date in the English language on Slovakia during the three crucial years from the end of the Second World War to the Communist takeover ...
1. Setting the Stage: From Liberation to the April Agreement
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The spring of 1945 brought significant changes to Slovakia. The Slovak Republic, the wartime regime that represented history’s first Slovak state ever, collapsed along with its patron and ally, Nazi Germany. The Soviet Red Army drove the German military out of Slovak territory and ultimately, with the help of American forces, out of the Czech lands as well, leaving Czechoslovakia ...
2. Bringing Home the Lion: The Democratic Party's Electoral Victory
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The April Agreement represented a watershed in postwar Slovak politics. It had profound implications for relations between Slovakia’s Catholics and the DS, between the KSS and the DS, between the KSS and the Catholic Church, and between the Czech lands and Slovakia. The agreement all but guaranteed a DS victory in the May 1946 elections, while at the same time exposing the party as never before to Communist attempts to have it labeled as ...
3. Dealing with the Past: The Trial of Jozef Tiso
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The trial, conviction, and execution of Jozef Tiso was a central event in postwar Slovakia, and one which had the effect of mobilizing and energizing forces across the Slovak political and social spectrum. The KSS had a strong interest in condemning Tiso, and with him the wartime regime, as a means of forcing the DS into a no-win situation. The Democrats could ...
4. Conspiracies: Plots against the State and the Democrats
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The period from Tiso’s execution through the autumn of 1947 saw the most aggressive and comprehensive assault on the DS and its leading Catholics to date. The Communists thwarted an attempt by the DS to remove Daxner from the court, thereby quashing a Democratic initiative aimed at restoring that party’s standing among Catholics in the wake of Tiso’s hanging. ...
5. Continuing Crisis: From the October Putsch to the February Coup
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Late autumn and winter 1947–48 were bookended by two attempted Communist coups—the first in Slovakia in late October, the second in Prague in late February. Between these two events, the DS experienced a decline of its authority in Slovakia, intensifying internal strife, and the abrogation of the April Agreement. It had to face Communist challenges on the ...
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Page Count: 280
Publication Year: 2009
Series Title: Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies
Series Editor Byline: Jonathan Harris, Series Editor | <urn:uuid:ee6813d1-2c9b-4963-9f1f-499bdc2420db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780822971221 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921444 | 703 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Bread that lasts for 60 days could cut food waste
An American company has developed a technique that it says can make bread stay mould-free for 60 days.
The bread is zapped in a sophisticated microwave array which kills the spores that cause the problem.
The company claims it could significantly reduce the amount of wasted bread - in the UK alone, almost a third of loaves purchased.
The technique can also be used with a wide range of foods including fresh turkey and many fruits and vegetables.World of waste
Food waste is a massive problem in most developed countries. In the US, figures released this year suggest that the average American family throws away 40% of the food they purchase - which adds up to $165bn (£102bn) annually.
Bread is a major culprit, with 32% of loaves purchased in the UK thrown out as waste when they could be eaten, according to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
One of the biggest threats to bread is mould. As loaves are usually wrapped in plastic, any water in the bread that evaporates from within is trapped and makes the surface moist. This provides excellent growing conditions for Rhizopus stolonifer, the fungus that leads to mould.
In normal conditions, bread will go mouldy in around 10 days.
But an American company called Microzap says it has developed a technique that will keep the bread mould free for two months.
At its laboratory on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, chief executive Don Stull showed off the long, metallic microwave device that resembles an industrial production line. Originally designed to kill bacteria such as MRSA and salmonella, the researchers discovered it could kill the mould spores in bread in around 10 seconds.
"We treated a slice of bread in the device, we then checked the mould that was in that bread over time against a control, " he explained.
"And at 60 days it had the same mould content as it had when it came out of the oven."Question of taste
The machine the team has built uses much the same technology as found in commercial microwaves - but with some important differences, according to Mr Stull.
"We introduce the microwave frequencies in different ways, through a slotted radiator. We get a basically homogeneous signal density in our chamber - in other words, we don't get the hot and cold spots you get in your home microwave."
20th-Century history of bread
- 1928: First bread slicing machine, invented by Otto Rohwedder, exhibited in US
- 1930: Large UK bakeries take commercial slicers and sliced bread first appears in shops
- 1933: About 80% of US bread is pre-sliced and wrapped, and the phrase "the best thing since sliced bread" is coined
- 1941: Calcium added to UK flour to prevent rickets
- 1942: The national loaf - much like today's brown loaf - introduced to combat shortage of white flour
- 1954: Conditions in bakeries regulated by the Night Baking Act
- 1956: National loaf abolished
- 1961: The Chorleywood Bread Process introduced
Source: The Federation of Bakers
The company's device has attracted plenty of interest from bread manufacturers - but it is worried that it could push up costs in an industry where margins are very tight.
And there is also a concern that consumers might not take to bread that lasts for so long. Mr Stull acknowledges it might be difficult to convince some people of the benefits.
"We'll have to get some consumer acceptance of that," he said. "Most people do it by feel and if you still have that quality feel they probably will accept it. "
Mr Stull believes that the technology could impact bread in other ways. He said that bread manufacturers added lots of preservatives to try and fight mould, but then must add extra chemicals to mask the taste of the preservatives. If bakers were able to use the microwave technology, they would be able to avoid these additives.
While a wholesale change in the bread industry might be difficult to achieve, there may be more potential with other foods, including ground turkey.
In 2011, food giant Cargill had to recall 16 million kg of the product after a salmonella outbreak. Mr Stull believes that using microwaves would be an effective way of treating this and several other products ranging from jalapenos to pet foods.
The only fruit that his device was unable to treat effectively were cantaloupes.
"We've used our tumbler machine to treat them, he says "but you can't tumble cantaloupes because they damage." | <urn:uuid:33f5838f-70b4-4d9f-985b-58e0821434cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20540758 | 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 | 0.969496 | 963 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Winter in Octaves
for piano solo
written for Dan Wolf's Winter Album
Choose a pitch.
This webpage will create a score which contains of numbers
displaying the octaves of the pitch played simultaneously.
Numbers from left to right define the octaves of the chord (lowest octave G-f sharp denoted as 1).
Numbers appearing more than once in a chord are
considered as having appeared once.
If a resulting chord is spread too far, leave out one octave to make the chord playable.
The chords should be played (very) slowly that the attention might be paid to movements in partials
created by beatings due to imperfections of the tuning and natural inharmonicities of the strings.
Chords might be repeated
to enhance attention. | <urn:uuid:41e64aeb-9c30-4d00-be45-cff56afc0953> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://home.snafu.de/djwolf/WINTER%20ALBUM/HarderWinter.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935701 | 164 | 3 | 3 |
Google Says Privacy Doesn't Exist, Get Used To Everyone Knowing Everything About You
Posted by Eric Zeman, Jul 31, 2008 09:28 AM
The headline practically says it all. Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is being sued by a Pittsburgh couple for posting images of its house on the Internet in Google's Street Views pages. Google responded, in court no less, that complete privacy simply doesn't exist in today's world and the couple should stop crying about it.
Google may be right, in theory. It said in papers filed with the court, "Today's satellite image technology means that even in today's desert, complete privacy does not exist." That's partially true. With satellites, cameras and other monitoring devices all being tied together by the Internet, it is becoming more and more difficult to completely isolate yourself from view.
But does that mean our privacy should be violated by large corporations looking to provide better mapping software? Shouldn't there be some boundaries that aren't trampled in the name of a better product? Google said in the court papers that that doesn't matter, and implied the idea of privacy is somewhat faulted.
The "Plaintiffs live in the 21st century United States, where every step upon private property is not deemed by law to be an actionable trespass. Unless there is a clear expression such as a gate, fence, or 'keep out' sign indicating that the public is not permitted to enter, anyone may approach a home by a walkway, driveway, or any other route commonly used by visitors, without liability for trespass." Google says the Pittsburgh couple in question had no such signs, and therefore should not have any expectation for privacy.
I can see Google's point here, but for Google to come out and say that privacy doesn't exist is not a great publicity move for the company. | <urn:uuid:98e1d858-96c8-4c8d-99fc-3545ab858bdb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blendzpolitik.blogspot.com/2008/08/according-to-google-your-right-to.html | 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 | 0.958755 | 378 | 1.640625 | 2 |
You and your students will never look at buildings the same way again!
Schoolyards to Skylines is a resource book of 47 lessons for teachers in Kindergarten - 8th grade. The 500-page book uses both famous and lesser-known buildings, sites, people, and events in Chicago as tools for teaching units in social sciences, science, mathematics, language arts, and fine/ visual arts. Each lesson strengthens the fundamental educational skills of students and is solidly based on state learning standards.
Whether you live and teach within the city of Chicago, in a nearby suburb, or elsewhere in the US, Schoolyards to Skylines will become an indispensable resource. Today, over 1700 copies of Schoolyards to Skylines are used by teachers, parents, and architects in 41 states and 16 foreign countries. | <urn:uuid:f6073ae7-2e90-4d57-bdeb-51f9ea04bcd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.architecture.org/schoolyards | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944472 | 168 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The teacher support section of “The Governor’s Letters” website features four detailed Curriculum Challenge lesson plans and a Teacher’s Guide that includes three critical reading strategies to support students from grades 5-12 in the investigation of key historical events and concepts, using the Colonial Despatches and other primary and secondary sources.
The four Curriculum Challenges address important topics in the history of British Columbia and Western Canada, the history of Colonial British North America, and Aboriginal history. Each raises an important question that requires students to investigate historical evidence before arriving at a reasoned conclusion:
In pursuing these challenges students address such curriculum topics as: European-Aboriginal relations, life in the colonies, the Fraser Canyon and Cariboo Gold Rush, the Douglas Treaties and Numbered Treaties, creation of the Colony of British Columbia, justice in Colonial British Columbia, the Fraser Canyon War, and Governor James Douglas the so-called Father of British Columbia.
In addition to enhancing students’ understanding of Canadian history, the Curriculum Challenges develop students’ ability to think historically, notably in the areas of interpreting primary and secondary sources (including visual sources), identifying continuity and change, and analyzing historical cause and consequence.
The Teachers’ Guide introduces three general strategies to help students learn to critically read primary and secondary documents: | <urn:uuid:35deac92-d0f8-429f-a58a-025d1a7f87d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web.uvic.ca/~hist66/BCCOR/en/tgIntro.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901586 | 272 | 3.84375 | 4 |
Paul's Final Trip to Jerusalem:
Despite opposition from the Jerusalem church Paul could not afford to alienate them. In what turned out to be his last trip to Jerusalem, Paul decided to make a final attempt at some reconciliation. We will analyze the primary documents to see if we can find out what exactly happened. This relates to the Paul's last visit to Jerusalem.
|1. Acts 21:1-9||Journey to Miletus from Caesarea|
|2. Acts 21:10-14||Agabus's Prophecy & Paul's Reaction|
|3. Acts 21:15-16||Journey to Jerusalem; Staying at Mnason's House|
|4. Acts 21:17-20a||Paul's Reception by the Brethren|
|5. Acts 21:21:20b-21||Christian Zealots and The Rumors About Paul|
|6. Acts 21:22-26||Advice Given to Paul|
|7. Acts 21:27-40||Uproar in Temple and Arrest of Paul|
These are all, very likely, traditional sources. Furthermore the whole account from Paul's travel to Miletus up to his arrest "proceed in a straight line with no internal tensions or gaps". This strongly suggests a continuous source.
That the traditional source used by Luke is also historically reliable is extremely likely. This is shown by (as we have seen above) the presence of elements which actually contradict what Luke tries very hard to portray in Acts:
Thus we can safely conclude that Luke used a continuous, traditional and historical source when he wrote Acts 21. We will have occasion below to pose a very important question about this.
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earlier that the so-called Jerusalem council was by no means a smooth affair. The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were probably skeptical about Paul from the beginning. It was probably Paul's generous gesture to initiate a collection from his Gentile congregations for the Jerusalem church that won them over (at least initially). Indeed as Rudolf Bultman commented "Therefore the most important resolution was the least apparent: the collection for the Jerusalem community; and Paul's further efforts for this collection were among the most important of his activity."
Galatians 2:9-10 |
[A]nd when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.
With this agreement Paul initiated a process of collection that was to last for the next five to six years until his final trip to Jerusalem. [b] We find references to this collection spread throughout his later epistles:
I Corinthians 16:1-4 |
Now concerning the contribution for the saints; as I have directed the Churches in Galatia, so you are also to do...And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
II Corinthians 8:1-4
II Corinthians 9:1-2
If we recap all that we have seen in the Pauline epistles we can conclude that Paul took the agreement at Jerusalem very seriously. He spent the next five to six years initiating and gathering the collection in the various churches he founded. Although he initially did not have firm plans to go to Jerusalem with the collection (I Corinthians 16:4), in the end he decided to go (Romans 15:27). We can conclude therefore that the collection was, for some reason, very important to Paul.
The next question is: why did Paul changed his mind from initially not accompanying the collection to finally deciding he had to go himself to Jerusalem with it? The verses immediately following Romans 15:27 give us a clue:
Romans 15:30-31 |
I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints..
From this section we have uncovered three major points about the collection:
In his narrative about what was Paul's last journey to Jerusalem we are simply told in Acts 19:21 that Paul "resolved in spirit" to go to Jerusalem. It gave no reason why Paul was going there in the first place. Yet in his speech to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts 20:22) he clearly outlined his concern about what awaits him in Jerusalem. Similarly the prophecy of Agabus (Acts 21:10-13) forewarns of dangers in Jerusalem. All the while Paul simply asserted his resolute desire to go there. This is all extremely strange. Amidst all the uncertainty of the dangers facing Paul, no reason is ever given in Acts as to why he felt so compelled to go to Jerusalem.
Similarly we find no mention of the collection of the account of Paul's arrival in Jerusalem and his meeting with the James and the brethren there (Acts 21:17-36).
Yet as we have seen above, we have every reason to believe that the traditional source used by Luke is continuous and historical. Thus it is extremely unlikely that there was no mention of the collection in that source.
That Luke knew about the collection we can be certain. Since he, finally, gave it as the reason for Paul's visit; but he place it in Acts 24:17 when Paul was being interrogated after his arrest. There Paul was made to say:
Acts 24:17 |
Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation...
This is an obvious reference to the collection for the poor in Jerusalem. Yet it was placed in a scene long after Paul's arrest when questions about what happened to the collection would not have arisen in the readers mind. Also by putting the reference here it made the collection seemed a lot less important that (as we have seen) it actually was.
Thus far we can conclude that Luke used a source that must have mentioned the collection and that he knew about the collection being Paul's reason for coming to Jerusalem.
So the obvious question is this: Why did Luke completely remove all references to the collection both as the reason for Paul coming to Jerusalem and what he did with it when he arrived there?
A step towards answering this is to remind ourselves about Luke's modus operandi. Note that in the accounts of the Jerusalem council and the Incident at Antioch Luke completely and consistently obliterated the most contentious issues: about Titus' being compelled to circumcise in the former and about Peter's argument with Paul in the latter. Luke tends to consistently omit issues which do not put the relationship of Paul and the Jerusalem Church in a good light and which could be somehow "swept under the rug".
These considerations lead us to right answer: Luke omitted all references to the collection prior to Paul's arrest because it was rejected by the Jerusalem Church. This is the only consistent explanation for Luke's silence. Had the collection been accepted by the James and his congregation, Luke would certainly have included the account since he was always anxious to portray the relationship of Paul and the Jerusalem apostles in a positive light. [d]
The rejection of the collection meant that after Antioch, the split between Paul on the one hand and James, Peter and the Jerusalem Church on the other, was permanent. Paul was never reconciled with the people who knew the earthly Jesus and who disagreed with the self-proclaimed "Apostle to the Gentiles" and rejected his interpretation of what Jesus actually taught.
Back to the top
Let us start at the end. Note that although Luke mentioned there were many thousands Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, none came to Paul's aid during the commotion at the temple which led to his arrest. Similarly no one from the Jerusalem church came to Paul's defense during his trial. This has been noticed by many scholars. Indeed the strange passivity of the whole Jerusalem Church is hard to explain. The only one who did anything to help Paul was his own nephew (Acts 23:16-22).
Furthermore, considering the fact that unfriendly rumors were circulating about Paul, having him go the temple to accompany four Nazirites would surely be tantamount to instigating a riot. Some scholars have suggested that James and his congregation actively plotted to have Paul arrested by this ploy. Since they knew that something like the commotion that Luke narrated would almost certainly had to take place. Others have suggested that the proposal by James in Acts 21:22-24 was meant to put Paul in his place. Since the suggestion for Paul to participate in such a vow would show the Gentiles, who accompanied Paul with the collection to Jerusalem, that despite his protestations, the Tarsiot was subordinate to the Jerusalem Church. Secondly having him participate in a Jewish religious ceremony would certainly discredit Paul's teaching about the abrogation of the Torah and the sufficiency of Christ. The arrest was merely a "bonus" for James and his men.
With the information available, all we can say with some probability is that, whether intentionally or otherwise, the Jerusalem Church "had a hand" in the arrest of Paul. By forcing Paul's hand to pay for the expenses of the four Nazirites, they either didn't care what would happen to him or perhaps may even had hoped that something untoward would happen. But clearly it was Paul's presence at the Temple in fulfillment of this request that led, almost certainly inevitably, to his arrest and final execution in Rome.
And surprisingly Luke only made one weak attempt at a positive spin, that the brethren "received him gladly" (Acts 21:17) upon his arrival in Jerusalem. We have seen that subsequent events show that this spin was the free composition of Luke with no historical basis.
Thus ends the story of Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, rejected by all the apostles who knew the earthly Jesus!
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|a.||Among other things, he called the law "so much dung" (Philippians 3:8), declared that "all who rely on the law are under a curse" (Galatians 3:10) and said that the Mosaic laws put "a veil over their eyes" (II Corinthians 3:14).|
|b.||It is impossible to identify this collection with Paul's so-called famine relief visit to Jerusalem, given in Acts 11:27-29. We have seen earlier that this trip as recorded in Acts contradicts Paul's own accounts. Furthermore, the famine relief collection before the council whereas the collection was agreed upon at and initiated after the Jerusalem council.|
|c.||From our previous analysis of the opposition to Paul by emissaries from Jerusalem we can understand why. Paul had already prevailed in the face-to-face confrontation with the Apostle before despite some initial problems. Doubtless he hoped that since he did not go "all out" in his attack on emissaries from Jerusalem, there is still a good possibility he could be reconciled to James and his congregation by the offering of the collection. According to SGF Brandon, the collection was Paul's desperate solution to save his mission to the Gentiles. |
|d.||The idea [and accompanying proof] that Paul's collection was rejected by the Jerusalem Church was first presented by Gerd Lüdemann, [then] Professor of New Testament in the University of Götingen, in his book Opposition to Paul in Jewish Christianity [p60-61]. [The original German edition was published in 1983] Since then his idea has been accepted by an increasing number of scholars. These scholars (and their works citing their agreement with the idea that Paul's collection was rejected by the Jerusalem church) include:|
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|1.||Lüdemann, Opposition to Paul in Jewish Christianity: p52|
|2.||Lüdemann, Early Christianity According to the Tradition in Acts: p230-235|
Lüdemann, Opposition : p52-57
|3.||Lüdemann, Opposition : p58|
|4.||quoted in Lüdemann, Heretics: p41|
|5.||Lüdemann, Paul: Studies in Chronology: p80-88|
|6.||Lüdemann, Opposition : p60|
|7.||Brandon, The Fall of Jerusalem and the Christian Church: p150|
|9.||Lüdemann, Opposition : p60-61|
|10.||Brandon, op. cit: p151|
Lüdemann, Opposition: p61
Painter, Just James: p57
|12.||Porter, Paul in Acts: p172-186|
|13.||Brandon, op. cit: p151|
Back to the top | <urn:uuid:cd51fb2a-5d3a-47e1-b79a-e792a09629fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://webspace.webring.com/people/ci/irishskeptic/pauljerufinal.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97477 | 2,729 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The Department of Education, in partnership with Fit for School and GesellschaftfürInternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, will hold the 11th National School Health and Nutrition Congress with the theme: “Bridging the gaps in health and education through an Integrated School Health and Nutrition Program”. The congress will be held at the Teacher’s Camp in Baguio City this December 6 to 8, 2011.
Organized by the Health and Nutrition Center (HNC) headed by Dr. Maria Corazon C. Dumlao, the Congress aims to provide a venue to discuss the current health and nutrition status of the school children in public elementary and secondary schools; identify and develop solutions to bridge the gaps between health and education; discuss the Strengthened Integrated School Health and Nutrition Program 2011-2016; and enhance the participants’ capacities on school health and nutrition promotion through interactive sessions and sharing of best practices.
The second day of the Congress will be devoted to showcasing the Essential Health Care Program, DepEd’s flagship school health program in public elementary schools. Representatives from the LGUs and DepEd will share their extensive knowledge and experiences regarding EHCP implementation and management. Break-outsessions also cover WASH in Schools and the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, among others.
DepEd Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC will grace the 3-day event and deliver the keynote address. Other notable speakers include Undersecretary for Programs and Projects Dr. Yolanda Quijano, Undersecretary for Regional Operations Rizalino River, Assistant Secretary Jesus Matero as well as HNC Officer-in-Charge, Dr. Dumlao.
Participants of the congress will include health, nutrition, medical, and education officials from all over the country.(PR) | <urn:uuid:34cdb49b-529f-4e2e-bbaa-286c84121a1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://specials.sunstar.com.ph/communitynews/2011/11/25/deped-to-hold-health-and-nutrition-congress/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920213 | 385 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Large for me, at least!
A writeup on the piece:
Near the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in a densely forested area, Singapore was founded in 1836 with the intention of becoming a port city on par with Chicago. As a lumber industry was birthed and developed over the next four decades, the destruction along the shores of Lake Michigan in October of 1871 became a turning point in the fate of Singapore.
For three days in early October of 1871, fire eradicated over three square miles of Chicago; the predominantly wooden architecture lending itself to the widespread damage. Less commonly known are the three other major fires occurring on the same days which destroyed large portions of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and both Manistee and Holland, Michigan. In total, thousands were killed, miles of city and thousands of miles of forests were leveled by the same fire that took Chicago.
Singapore and the natural resources harbored by their lumber industry were quick to act, assisting several different communities with materials for rebuilding. As an oversight of limitation, Singapore's supply was exhausted less than a few years later. With the key industry having run out of fuel, the town was almost completely abandoned. Because the forests around Singapore were cleared, winds from the lake began to push the sand dunes on the shores back into the town, covering it completely less than five years after the last person left. Nothing remains visible of the town today.Daniel Danger had wanted a piece for his collection ever since I did one for his Devil Town show out west. While this isn't a direct response to that work, it is under the same roof as anything in my Arbor series at my portfolio site. I heavily document pieces for a few reasons, so here's some behind-the-scenes on this particular work:
worked up surface, a lot of layers.
deep and meaningful shot (slow studio day)
"Color was added in blossoming formations on isolated portions of the panel, and then chained together by a sequence of color shifts that considered the underlying layers of grid and markmaking." | <urn:uuid:1297c002-37c5-4beb-a91a-54c2ca8f3f79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gigposters.com/forums/process/155843-singapore-michigan-large-scale-painting.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982632 | 423 | 1.640625 | 2 |
On December 16, the Third Sunday of Advent, the Church will celebrate what is traditionally called “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete, the opening word of the Introit (the antiphon of the Roman Gradual) for this day, comes from the Latin version of the second reading, Philippians 4:4: Gaudete in Domino semper: hernum dico gaudete (“Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!”). The Third Sunday of Advent sets a tone of rejoicing, of joyful expectation. In the gospel reading for this day the response of the people who heard John the Baptist preach is also a reminder of what can happen to us when we are genuinely open to the One who is to come: “Now the people were filled with expectation” (Lk 3:15). John’s disciples did not know the identity of this “One” but still rejoiced in their hope, openness, and expectation to that for which they know not what. Nor do we today know the guise under which we will encounter the “One.” But the Church—the other, this One—summons us, claims us, Gaudete!
A prayer by the great fourth century mystic and doctor of the Church, Augustine, has haunted me ever since I first read it. Buried in Chapter 5, Book 1, of his famed Confessions, this prayer is easily overlooked. We might be tempted to skim past these words, but we must not; we must stop; we must pray Augustine’s words and make them our own. They read, “Say it so that I can hear it. My heart is listening, Lord; open the ears of my heart and say to my soul, I am your salvation.” This prayer can guide us here and now, like the blind, and throughout our lives. The blind and indeterminate openness to what or who is to come obliterates any expectation of what or who is to come and thus creates a time that is imbued with messianic hope to welcome that which totally other, Gaudete!
This Advent I decided to try something new. I embraced Augustine’s prayer and made it my own. I am heeding the words of Saint Paul from the second reading that remind us to “have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make [our] requests known to God” (Phil 4:6). This Advent my request to God has been and continues to be for the grace that I may hear with the ears of my heart. Instead of writing academic articles or delivering speeches about Advent, this year I want Advent to read, interpret, and write me—indeed, to read and write us. I pray that Advent interpret us and our lives, and so write (incarnate) the events that constitute the One who is to come—our salvation. In so doing, we join the Baptist in preaching “good news to the people” (Lk 3:18) of the one who “is coming” (3:16); this is the one whose sandals we are not “worthy to loosen” and who will baptize us “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (3:16), Gaudete!
We can hardly help but read or hear many holy texts of Scripture during Advent. Will we allow these words to read, interpret, and write us? Will we allow these Advent words to create a space for the joyful expectation of the One who is to come? To create room for the One who is to come, we must take these ingenious words of Augustine not only as prophetic, but also as a challenge: we must listen with the ears of our hearts. The ears of our minds may hear with absolute clarity and certainty all the while the ears of our hearts remain hard, deaf, closed. What the ears of the heart hear creates a space (chōra) for the one who is coming—a manger for the coming Word to become flesh and dwell among us. This invitation to something new is a provocation to something otherwise and to participate in effecting its transformation (justice), now—today. This is why we can rejoice with Saint Paul that “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard [our] hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7), Gaudete!
During this most holy season, let us not only listen carefully and be present with the ears of our minds but even and perhaps more importantly with the ears of our hearts. This Advent let us prepare the way of the Lord by listening carefully to what is reading and writing us: this other who is to come. This is the new “day of the Lord” to which Zephaniah invites us in the first reading. The other is coming and indeed, is already “in your midst” as the One who is to come and for this we can “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” (Zep 3:14). Who is this other? Who is this other that beckons us? What is the claim this other has on us?
“Say it so that I can hear it. My heart is listening, Lord; open the ears of my heart and say to my soul, I am your salvation.”
This is my Advent prayer. I invite you to make it yours. Maranatha! | <urn:uuid:24c94cda-7d17-48ae-bbd7-ebe6281b14b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.archchicago.org/blog/print.aspx?postID=307 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958234 | 1,164 | 1.78125 | 2 |
March is Women’s History Month. What better way to kick it off than with first Lady, Michelle Obama. Michelle LaVaughn Obama is the first African-American first lady of the country, and a south-side Chicago native. Raised in a low-income neighborhood in a one-bedroom apartment with her parents and brother, Michelle and her brother Craig slept between a separated bed sheet in the living room as children. A gifted student, both kids were reading by the age of four.
Originally seen on http://blackamericaweb.com/ | <urn:uuid:263933a3-434f-4509-83da-1034508f7c63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kissdetroit.com/3408197/little-known-black-history-fact-michelle-obama/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972523 | 116 | 1.875 | 2 |
Monday, 23 April 2012
"A person's faith is central to how they conduct themselves in public and in private.
So to me, using my Catholic faith, we call it the social magisterium, which is how do you apply the doctrine of your teaching into your everyday life as a lay person?"
"To me, the principle of subsidiarity . . . meaning government closest to the people governs best . . . where we, through our civic organizations, through our churches, through our charities, through all of our different groups where we interact with people as a community, that's how we advance the common good.
By not having big government crowd out civic society, but by having enough space in our communities so that we can interact with each other, and take care of people who are down and out in our communities."
"Those principles are very, very important, and the preferential option for the poor, which is one of the primary tenants of Catholic social teaching, means don't keep people poor, don't make people dependent on government so that they stay stuck at their station in life. Help people get out of poverty out onto a life of independence."
That was House GOP budget chairman Paul Ryan on how Christian values are integrated into good government. LINK
Good government doesn't mean no government.
Good government happens when a self-ruling people come to understand the relationship between themselves and the different levels of government.
If our religious or moral values don't inform our political thought, what does?
Do you agree or disagree with Paul Ryan's statements? What place is there for religious and moral values in politics and political thought? | <urn:uuid:a2de720e-5b39-4744-b273-6dd10860db00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.revelife.com/761924994/paul-ryan-on-religious-values-and-government/?ref=xn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966396 | 336 | 1.867188 | 2 |
I was asked today if I was spending a lot of time on people's chests and just then realized how much more time- at least the intense, scary time with this new job is spent focusing on the place where the docs enter and exit the femoral artery.
No one has called it the "router rooter" treatment- but this is how it seems to me, sending a "snake" on up there for exploration and if required blockage removal.
Kind of, but not exactly, which is likely why no one else calls it that. There are tons of amazing things going on in medicine every day. There have been eons of clever, clever people researching and creating drugs and procedures so now people can do some way crazy amazing things.
For example: it used to be when a person came up from this heart catheterization thing pressure on this femoral artery was applied for hours (the person could not so much as lift their head for six hours.) I haven't seen the sand bags, but I've heard of them. I have seen the clamps they used to use to literally clamp people down to their beds.
Now with the invention of a tiny little patch full of a substance that chemically combines with a person's own blood to create a "plug" that doesn't obstruct the flow of blood inside the body, just to the outside, a person will stop bleeding within 30 minutes and can be allowed to sit up more or less within an hour- if everything works right, which doesn't always happen. Back to the plumbing analogy it seems not unlike attempting to work on a faucet when there's no way to turn off the water.
And here is where things get fairly interesting, for me at least- as clever and complex and so forth medicine is (the human body, too- no doubt), suddenly, out of no where, we're dealing with, duh . . . gravity! Or out of nowhere some of the same ideas used to get the last of the toothpaste out of the tube or make a soda explode when you open it or keep a sand castle just damp enough not to fall apart. It's a little startling the shifting back and forth from text book to playground physics.
Totally off the subject, I'm working in a teaching hospital and I can not believe how young these interns seem. They look like a bunch of third graders playing dress up in their doc outfits- and no disrespect or anything, but they say "cool!" and "Dude!" way too often.
Doogie Houser could be their grand daddy, I know how long ago that was- but I'm pretty sure, even with his squeaky voice cracking all over the place, he never said "awesome!"
I'm going to stop now- except one more thing. I'm not keeping up with news/politics now in the same demented, tortured way so I was just curious- how did that Israeli move out thing come about? Did something specific happen? Or no?
I remember the fall of the Berlin wall and the fall of the Soviet Union as well- way back before the internets, back when foreign countries seemed way too complicated to keep up with, which they still are, but I have no social life so it works out.
I remember those two things seemed to come out of no where. It was like . . . . "worry, angst, strife, fear, no hope, no hope, no hope" and then out of nowhere "ahhhh, well okay". | <urn:uuid:c5ea9ac9-f26d-470d-b92a-b65784f3b282> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.happyrobot.net/words/poop_beetle.asp?id=6643 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967156 | 724 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The Little Rock outlet of the minichain, which has locations in Memphis and Nashville, is so rooted in its clean, ...More Details >
Expert tips for surviving the end of the world, whether it be with a bang or a whimper.
We're all expecting the world to come to an end on Friday, thanks to the now-famous Mayan calendar which seems to end on Dec. 21 of this year. But as the end draws near, we can't help but wonder how we'll go — what did the Mayans know that we don't?
Is the earth expected to spontaneously combust, or what? We’ve compiled a series of potential scenarios, along with some advice from local experts, to help you plan for your survival, come what may this weekend.
ASTEROID CRASH AND AFTERMATH
Wouldn’t it be fitting for the end of life as we know it in central Arkansas to come about through crazy weather activity? I don’t think anyone would be surprised. Arkansas doesn’t exactly have a track record for predictable seasons.
Jeff Baskin, chief meteorologist for Fox 16 News, admits that something like an asteroid impact on the earth’s surface could definitely lead to the kind of weather patterns that would no doubt leave us facing the possibility of the end of the world.
“Let’s say the earth was hit by an asteroid on Dec. 21,” he said. “It wouldn’t even have to hit in Arkansas. Let’s say it hits in Canada somewhere. It’s going to send out a massive shock wave, and that’s going to heat up the air,” Baskin explained.
In a meteorologist’s terms, that shock wave is going to be like a huge warm front as it travels towards Arkansas — a front warm enough to heat up Arkansas’ temperature in the mid-forties to somewhere in the hundreds. “That warm front would take a matter of minutes to spread across the state.”
Along with the warm front would come high winds, probably at several hundred miles per hour. And not just winds, but strong eddies formed from the warm air of the shock wave confronting the cooler air surrounding it, creating circulations stronger than EF5 tornadoes. All of this would be enough to knock down buildings and cause widespread fires and flooding.
But it doesn’t end there. “Of course, [an asteroid impact] would also create earthquakes all across the earth. It’s hard to tell what magnitude, and whether we’d get the shock wave or earthquake first.” So whatever was still standing from the winds, fires and floods produced by the shock wave we could expect to be knocked down by earthquakes.
Is there anything we can do to prepare ourselves for disaster of this magnitude?
“There is one way to survive such an event,” Baskin said, “and that is to get underground. Very deep underground.” Several miles underground, in fact, and he recommends packing supplies — gallons of water, food, blankets and the like — “enough to last several years, possibly generations.”
The need to stay underground for so long and with a wealth of supplies stems from the aftermath of the asteroid’s impact with earth: the collision would launch tons of dust and debris into the sky, blocking out the sun’s warmth and light for weeks, maybe months, dropping temperatures and propelling us into a modern day ice age. “We believe this is what brought the demise of the dinosaurs,” Baskin said.
So in other words, if you do survive, what you’re looking at here is a Brendan Fraser-type underground existence from Blast from the Past. No, thank you.
THE POLICE PERSPECTIVE
The police will continue to serve and protect, said Chief Sam Williams of Maumelle. And residents can lend a helping hand.
“If you see Mayans selling calendars door to door, don’t buy one,” he said. For starters, he continued, the calendars themselves aren’t even accurate and likely spotty, ending in only a few days. Second, you can’t go selling stuff that way without a permit, so that sort of thing should always be reported.
In fact, just go on reporting any suspicious activity, the chief said: Mayans, aliens, zombies, robot uprisings. Call volume in the event of a large scale occurrence might impact response times, but the police take their job seriously, so they’ll get there eventually. Because, yes, they’ll be on duty and someone will be working dispatch at the station.
“They’re going to have to, because people are going to go there,” said Williams, this time in all seriousness. “Because when things turn upside down, the first place people turn to is the police station.”
Of course, the timing kind of stinks. With the circled date for the end of the world falling on a Friday — and headed into a holiday weekend to boot — the Mayans could have been more considerate.
“Earlier in the day would be better [for the apocalypse],” Williams said. “By late afternoon, well, everyone’s going to want to head home.”
It’s year-end, and the overtime budget is stretched, you know.
Practically speaking, Williams is always vocal about people leaving their keys in the car — with it running — to head into the store and coming back to find it (or something in it) missing. Locking those doors is always a better option, and that holds true in the event of an apocalypse as well, he said. Doubly so if you’re stepping out of your car to stare up at an alien mothership overhead. If that’s the case, officers will be en route to direct crowd control.
“Cops can’t help from being in charge,” Williams said. “They love structure. The love order. And yet they get into the least ordered environment there is.”
Williams points to the scene where police are running crowd control in Independence Day and a public address speaker is imploring folks not to discharge firearms at the space ship. That’s good advice, because doing so in city limits is against the law.
People tend to think that when things go pear-shaped the law doesn’t apply — like driving four wheelers on city streets when it snows, Williams said. But it does, even for things that “may not be in the policy manual.”
If there is an upside to a large-scale reduction in the human population, it is that traffic will flow a lot easier. At least, that’s part of the take of writer, director and apocalypse connoisseur Levi Agee, whose film Rapture Us, in production as a short with hopes to make it a feature, deals specifically with a massive disappearance.
See, certain religious teachings hold that the faithful will be removed from the earth before things get heavy. Agee said his film explores that idea in a different context.
“We have these apocalyptic myths and stuff to maybe internally justify the world resetting or the idea that we’re able to be wiped away. That’s probably our biggest fear, so we put lot of thought into the end of world, like the Mayans or if an asteroid hits us.
“I have a kind of a bizarre point of view of the apocalypse... and I’ve been trying to justify it from a secular point of view,” he said. “If this global event were to happen and people disappear or were missing, and I don’t know the cause for it, but if this happens, what will proceed?”
Well, one idea is that a world full of atheistic or agnostic people would, for practical purposes, redevelop things like churches into public spaces. Maybe recreation centers or health clubs.
Of course, there’s some unpleasantness at hand too, dead rising from the grave and whatnot. Agee said he’s fascinated by the idea of how someone might rationalize seeing something like that, something that should not be possible. Those up on disaster fiction or even religious doomsday literature might think they have a leg up and be prepared. But the more likely response is plain old terror.
“You’d probably crap your pants and go hide out in the wild,” Agee said.
And, hey, that’s an option. Because, well, what’s really on the table? But Agee said his vision is of a better humanity that doesn’t just give up.
“When you have nothing left to lose, when someone gives us a scenario in which there are no rules anymore, where you don’t have to go to work the next day, are we going to be animals or are we going to be leaders who try to figure out a new structure, a new civilization?”
For his part, Agee said he’d probably head to Six Flags and try to figure out whether he could put the roller coaster on automatic for a few hours. But then it’d be back to the business of starting anew.
“Part of me would want to go to TCBY and stick my head under the ice cream machine, but another part of me would want to go reclaim civilization. To each his own, I guess.” | <urn:uuid:cfee3a18-268a-4f2c-842f-b21cf66266c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syncweekly.com/news/2012/dec/18/stayin-alive/ | 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 | 0.953969 | 2,026 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The Education in Zion Blog
Some nights you just cannot wait to go to bed. What is better than waking up to a nice frozen floor, leaving the warmth of your covers, to get ready to walk out into the frozen tundra of Provo’s winter wonderland? I’m sure that we all could think of things that we would rather be doing, yet the weather has never discouraged the Saints, past or present, from achieving the goals that they have set for themselves.
What a privilege we have to be here at BYU where faith is at the core of higher education. What an honor it is to be able to go forth from this institution and serve others in whatever communities and municipalities that we will inhabit after graduation.
Yet, each and every morning we must make the decision to put on that extra sweater or jacket and careen up the hill upon which BYU is placed in the bitter Utah cold. It is imperative for us to deepen our understanding of personal sacrifice so we can look to the past and truly understand how weather has affected the Saints.
When Joseph Smith received the revelation to build the Kirtland temple, it was in the beginning of the winter in 1832. The Saints at the time had just arrived in Kirtland, and were too poor to even afford small luxuries and comforts. Yet, they were able to not only build their own houses, but the Lord’s as well.
It was in the bitter winter of January 1838 that the Saints were forced to leave behind the beautiful temple which they had sacrificed to make in order to flee to Far West, Missouri.
Then, during the winter the Saints were forced to leave Far West in response to the extermination order that had been issued. The winter of that exodus claimed the lives of many Latter-day Saints.
It was in the beginning of one of the worst winters in Nauvoo when the Saints were commanded to erect a temple to the Lord. This would not be the last time, however, that the Saints were to endure the cold as they were forced to leave Nauvoo and everything they had built in it. They were originally planning to leave in April of 1846, however because of continued persecution, they decided to leave early on February 4th, during the middle of the winter season. The trials that the Saints faced in the cold can be read in many of the Church’s publications, but the impact and inspiration that can be felt from those early Saints still stands today.
What, therefore, have we to complain of during our winter season? What burdens have we to bear other than our daily routines and homework schedules? I write this message not to condemn those who seek to complain of the cold, but to remind us all of the beauty in all of God’s creations. There is a time and a season for all things. What greater beauty can exist than to see the snow covered mountains that surround this university? What greater eloquence can be found in the sight of a fresh sheet of snow covering the ground as we find ourselves surrounded by purity? Let us all remember that although we face trials in our everyday lives, we must seek out the beauty and blessings that lie hidden, even under the snow, in all things.
- Ben Simmons, Psychology Major and Education in Zion Student Gallery Educator | <urn:uuid:4475eb96-b8ab-4947-83f4-646f9e096c04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://educationinzion.byu.edu/2011/01/24/weathering-through-school/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986476 | 678 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The therapy for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, uses a radioactive isotope to kill tumour cells in just half an hour while leaving the skin around it unharmed.
Although it has not yet been approved for use, a study of 1,000 patients in Rome found it completely removed tumours in 95 per cent of patients with just one treatment.
Larger trials have been set up in Germany with the intention of bringing the therapy to the market.
Basal cell carcinoma is caused by exposure to harmful UV rays from natural light or sunbeds and accounts for about 80 per cent of all skin cancer cases, or 90,000 cases a year in Britain.
It not normally metastatic, meaning it does not spread through the body or pose a threat to life, but the routine treatment is surgery which although effective can leave unsightly scars.
In some cases, for example where the tumour is on the face, there are alternative ointments and light-based therapies but most are only suitable for lumps which do not penetrate too deeply into the skin.
Now researchers say they have developed a new cream using rhenium-188, a radioactive isotope, which can kill even deep tumours without side-effects in the vast majority of cases.
A base layer applied directly onto the skin protects healthy cells from the radioactive element, which sits on top of the base where it can irradiate the skin below and shrink the tumour.
It could dramatically improve the quality of life of patients who could otherwise require skin grafts and face serious scarring as a result of surgery, researchers said.
Dr Ulli Köster, a researcher at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France, where the radioactive material is produced, said: "Typically this disease is treated by surgery, and since it doesn't metastase this is usually OK.
"But the problem is if the tumour is on the face, on the nose, ear or somewhere, it is strongly disfiguring – someone can have a big scar or lose half of his face.
"This is a localised radiation therapy which in more than 95 per cent of cases a single treatment is sufficient to make the cancer go away."
Dr Maria Gonzalez, a dermatologist based at Cardiff University, said: "It is very specific types of patients who would choose this treatment.
"It would be very useful to have as an alternative to surgery. Sometimes if the tumour is very large, especially on the face, or the patient is elderly then it is not a reasonable approach to excise it (cut it out)".
Martin Ledwick, of Cancer Research UK, added: "I would imagine we are not talking about a major breakthrough but another option. It is nice to have a menu of different options for people, particularly with things that can have a cosmetic impact." | <urn:uuid:5f50090c-440a-499f-a7b3-41e72e65afe2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8961988/Radioactive-cream-used-to-treat-skin-cancer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951412 | 599 | 3.09375 | 3 |
[This posting is in response to a tiny thread on the NGC4Lib mailing list about the decline of books. --ELM]
Yes, books are on the decline, but in order to keep this trend in perspective it is important to not confuse the medium with the message. The issue is not necessarily about books as much as it is about the stuff inside the books.
Books — codexes — are a particular type of technology. Print words and pictures on leaves of paper. Number the pages. Add an outline of the book’s contents — a table of contents. Make the book somewhat searchable by adding an index. Wrap the whole thing between a couple of boards. The result is a thing that is portable, durable, long- lasting, and relatively free-standing as well as independent of other technology. But all of this is really a transport medium, a container for the content.
Consider the content of books. Upon close examination it is a recorded manifestation of humanity. Books — just like the Web — are a reflection of humankind because just anything you can think of can be manifested in printed form. Birth. Growth. Love. Marriage. Aging. Death. Poetry. Prose. Mathematics. Astronomy. Business. Instructions. Facts. Directories. Gardening. Theses and dissertations. News. White papers. Plans. History. Descriptions. Dreams. Weather. Stock quotes. The price of gold. Things for sale. Stories both real and fictional. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Consider the length of time humankind has been recording things in written form. Maybe five thousand years. What were the mediums used? Stone and clay tablets? Papyrus scrolls. Vellum. Paper. To what extent did people bemoan the death of clay tablets? To what extent did they bemoan the movement from scrolls to codexes? Probably the cultures who valued verbal traditions as opposed to written traditions (think of the American Indians) had more to complain about than the migration from one written from to another. The medium is not as important as the message.
Different types of content lend themselves to different mediums. Music can be communicated via the written score, but music is really intended to be experienced through hearing. Sculpture is, by definition, a three-dimensional medium, yet we take photographs of it, a two-dimensional medium. The poetry and prose lend themselves very well to the written word, but they can be seen as forms of storytelling, and while there are many advantages to stories being written down, there are disadvantages as well. No sound effects. Where to put the emphasis on phrases? Hand gestures to communicate subtle distinctions are lost. It is for all of these reasons that libraries (and museums and archives) also collect the mediums that better represent this content. Paintings. Sound recordings. Artifacts. CDs and DVDs.
The containers of information will continue to change, but I assert that the content will not. The content will continue to be a reflection of humankind. It will represent all of the things that it means to be men, woman, and children. It will continue to be an exposition of our collective thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and experiences.
Libraries and other “cultural heritage institutions” do not have and never did have a monopoly on recorded content, but now, more than ever, and as we have moved away from an industrial-based economy to a more service-based economy whose communication channels are electronic and global, the delivery of recorded content, in whatever form, is more profitable. Consequently there is more competition. Libraries need to get a grip on what they are all about. If it is about the medium — books, CDs, articles — then the future is grim. If it is about content and making that content useful to their clientele, then the opportunities are wide open. Shifting a person’s focus from the how to the what is challenging. Looking at the forest from the trees is sometimes overwhelming. Anybody can get information these days. We are still drinking from the proverbial fire hose. The problem to be solved is less about discovery and more about use. It is about placing content in context. Providing a means to understanding it, manipulating it, and using it to solve the problems revolving around what it means to be human.
We are a set of educated people. If we put our collective minds to the problem, then I sincerely believe libraries can and will remain relevant. In fact, that is why I instituted this [the NGC4Lib] mailing list. | <urn:uuid:44a91ca8-bf08-4e72-85a6-27d8c5be43be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://infomotions.com/blog/2009/05/the-decline-of-books/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959197 | 936 | 2.375 | 2 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the school’s history?
The University of Houston Charter School (UHCS) is a public school sponsored by the university and chartered by the State Board of Education. Once the legislature approved the charter initiative to increase innovation in education, we were one of the first nineteen Texas charter schools. Our particular responsibility is to develop a school that uses constructivist teaching practices with a technological emphasis. Opening day for our first class was January 27, 1997. By 2000 we were six classes, kindergarten through grade 5.
What does the school offer?
At UHCS, each multi-aged class of twenty-two students has a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. Class projects build community and make school interesting. Our technology supports our constructivist math curriculum, our balanced literacy approach and our active science program. Before and after school programs and summer programs are available for a fee. Help is available in identifying and appropriately serving children with special needs.
When is the school open?
During the school year, mid-August—May, students meet 8:00 am to 3:45 pm Monday through Thursday and 8:00 am to 12:30 pm on Friday. Teachers are engaged in professional and curriculem development Friday .
What do parents provide?
UHCS parents are active partners who support their children and the school’s work. They provide transportation, field trip funds and healthy lunches and snacks. They participate in school events. They communicate.
Why is the school constructivist?
The founders proposed to charter a constructivist school because learning is more powerful when curriculum works with child development. Lessons at UHCS are planned to support children’s natural curiosity, activity, and desire to “figure things out.” Teachers tailor school experiences to the needs and interest of this year’s students. To the power of invented technology, from writing to computers, to help children become confident and competent problem-solvers.
What can families expect for their children?
Families can expect charter school students to choose reading and writing and math and technology not just because they can do it but because they want to do it. They can expect children to want to come to school. They can expect children to say, “Yes, the teacher likes me, and yes, I am a good student.” Families can expect that adults and children at school will treat each other with mutual respect. They can expect their children to still be active learners and good students when they are old enough for middle school.
What does UHCS expect of students?
We expect children to be curious, active and respectful of other people. We expect them to show steady growth in reading, writing, making, doing, and knowing about the world and how it works. By the end of fifth grade, we expect that students will be ready to take on middle school with confidence in their social, physical and intellectual activity.
What does UHCS expect of families?
UHCS families partner with faculty to model mutual respect and to help children develop fully. We expect families to encourage the student’s participation in field trips, projects and the university’s research to document how children grow and learn. We expect families to be interested in schoolwork: learning about constructivism, conferring with teachers, and coming to school to visit, learn and help.
How do I learn more?
To get more information, to schedule a visit, or to register for the spring lottery that selects new students, please call 713-743-9111. | <urn:uuid:fb178865-ecd0-4601-9789-0c890d0ec641> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uh.edu/charterschool/faq.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963987 | 737 | 2.03125 | 2 |
A new resource for the NCGenWeb project is an index of students from North Carolina colleges & universities. Yearbooks are wonderful sources for learning more about your ancestors and their activities during their college years.
The NC Yearbook Index is a searchable database of students (mostly graduating seniors) from schools across the state. The index currently includes more than 16,000 names and focuses largely on the yearbooks from 1930 and earlier. In each case, the yearbooks are available in their entirety online via the efforts of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center.
I’ve found relatives so far in the yearbooks, maybe you’ll find some too! To see the list of students explicitly identified as coming from Washington County, go here. Surnames include Ayers, Blount, Brinkley, Chesson, Latham, Norman, Spurill, Swain, Walker and more.
For example, here is the entry for Alice Walker Phelps, daughter of former Washington County sheriff John L. Phelps and granddaughter of Augustus Gambol Walker. She graduated from UNC-Greensboro in 1913 (then known as the North Carolina College for Women). She was a member of several organizations including the YWCA, Chorus, the Athletic Association, and was active in student government. Her description reads
Here is a normal girl who knows how to dress. And thereby hangs a tale: she has numerous suitors and is always generous with candy. A member in good standing of all clubs musical, for Alice sings as well as she plays. In addition she has charming manners, and quite a distinguished air. We predict for her a matrimonial career with a title attached.
What a great treasure for her current family & descendants to have! The NC Yearbook Index will grow over time. A link has been added to the Education page that will always reflect the most updated listings. | <urn:uuid:8b899eb2-deaa-40d2-a1f0-680aa7f93f20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncgenweb.us/washington/tag/latham | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971816 | 382 | 1.976563 | 2 |
‘Top-Down’ vs. ‘Bottom-Up’
Sunday, September 2, 2012
What does ‘top-down economics’ really mean?
“We can’t afford more top-down economics. What we need are policies that will grow and strengthen the middle class.” — Barack Obama
“Top-down economics” is a hijacked phrase. Objectively, it should be the label assigned to rule-of-czar capitalism steered by government officials. Instead, campaign rhetoric has been assigning it to rule-of-law capitalism driven by consumers and entrepreneurs—supposedly a system steered by the already-rich, in which money gradually trickles down to the middle class.
As vivid as that image may be, it is a false depiction of what really happens in a properly functioning private sector. But once the false image captures the attention of enough voters, it’s a simpler step for political entrepreneurs to sell themselves as the better alternative—simpler, that is, than having to compete against the way a vibrant private sector actually works.
Entrepreneurs cause money to gush outward, not to ‘trickle down’
There is little disagreement that today’s economy needs more private-sector jobs, and there should be little disagreement that private-sector entrepreneurs are more effective creators of new jobs than politicians are. But entrepreneurial success requires three ingredients: New ideas, sufficient drive, and adequate funding. With all three, entrepreneurs can develop new products and bring them to market, creating lasting new jobs when that process succeeds.
Unfortunately, it’s the rule rather than the exception that the typical entrepreneur lacks the third necessary ingredient: Adequate funding. He or she may possess the idea and the initiative, but the necessary funding must come from an outside source.
Should the government use higher taxation to forcibly extract additional money from the already-prosperous, then somehow allocate it back into the private sector as the bureaus and agencies see fit?
At the macro level, solving the problem of creating millions of new private-sector jobs requires matching thousands of potentially successful entrepreneurs with the funding they need. When this match is made, the typical entrepreneur—far from starting out rich and then deciding to let money “trickle down”— starts by deciding to take on a big risk, then obtains the funding, and then dishes out a gusher of other people’s money to new suppliers and new employees. If unsuccessful, the entrepreneur is the first one to go broke; if successful, he or she is the last one to benefit. In short, the money gushes outward long before success or failure for the risk-taker becomes evident, and therefore long before the entrepreneur can be judged “rich” or “poor.”
Two ways to source seed money for entrepreneurs
The primary sources of entrepreneurs’ startup funds are—unsurprisingly—family, friends, and the already-prosperous. If family and friends are not an option, a matchmaker is needed to connect the entrepreneur with someone else’s accumulated capital. So the key question is: Who should fill the role of matchmaker?
We have two choices: Either the government assumes the role of matchmaker, or the private sector does.
More specifically: Should the government use higher taxation to forcibly extract additional money from the already-prosperous, then somehow allocate it back into the private sector as the bureaus and agencies see fit? Or would it be more effective to trust private-sector intermediaries—such as private equity firms—to select which specific entrepreneurs should be matched up with capital that the already-prosperous voluntarily make available through those intermediaries? Those who prefer government-allocated funding (“stimulus”) for job creation prefer top-down economics. Conversely, those who prefer privately allocated funding prefer bottom-up economics.
Real top-down economics is the political equivalent of “intelligent design”: Trusting the superior abilities of government experts to ensure that the right things happen and the wrong things don’t. It requires faith that a president-appointed car czar can produce better results for auto-company bankruptcies than can a century of bankruptcy case law evolved from the bottom up. It requires faith that today’s government regulators can predict—accurately and without bias—which energy technologies and corporations deserve taxpayer subsidies and which competing technologies and corporations government should therefore discourage or demonize. It requires faith that macro decisions by a few thousand government appointees can allocate healthcare better than micro decisions by millions of sufficiently insured healthcare consumers. Top-down economics is government-knows-best economics.
Real bottom-up economics is a system that emphasizes trust in the private sector to evolve organically, independently, and in desirable directions, within a tested and evolving legal framework.
Real bottom-up economics is a system that emphasizes trust in the private sector to evolve organically, independently, and in desirable directions, within a tested and evolving legal framework. Bottom-up economics—a.k.a. “emergence” or “complexity economics”—cannot and does not dictate which technologies and firms will (or should) be the winners and losers; instead, it places heavy emphasis on trusting consumers and rule of law to sort them out—in the auto industry, for example. It trusts the private sector to evolve in the favorable direction of a higher aggregate standard of living, to allocate capital from those who have it to those who need it, to add new jobs that require new, higher-level skills, and to jettison or outsource obsolete jobs that require only yesterday’s lower-level skills. It trusts adequately funded entrepreneurs to continue surprising the world with innovations rivaling those of the past and present—such as the Internet search algorithms of Google, the horizontal drilling technologies of Big Oil, the instant-communication platform of Twitter, the slicker-than-cash payment system of Square, and the low-cost mega supply chain of Wal-Mart. It trusts consumers to sort out winners from losers in a trial-and-error process. Bottom-up economics is consumer-knows-best economics.
Which path to job creation and prosperity do we prefer: A continued emphasis on trusting government with top-down economics, or greater emphasis on trusting consumers and entrepreneurs with trial-and-error bottom-up economics?
Steve Conover retired recently from a 35-year career in corporate America. He has a BS in engineering, an MBA in finance, and a PhD in political economy. His website is www.optimist123.com.
FURTHER READING: Conover also writes “The New ‘Buffett Rule’ Everyone Is Ignoring,” “The Essential Lesson of the Auto Bailout,” and “Why Growth Is an Economic Grand Slam.” Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz discuss “Solving the Long-Term Jobs Problem.” Arthur Brooks debunks “Five Myths about Free Enterprise.” Michael Barone says “Obama Believes Success Is a Gift from Government.”
Image by Darren Wamboldt / Bergman Group | <urn:uuid:d995552e-5798-438d-b59e-3745461d541a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://american.com/archive/2012/august/top-down-vs-bottom-up | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919952 | 1,501 | 2.578125 | 3 |
The presidential reelection campaign for Obama broke new ground in 2012 by developing almost all of its software in-house. Previously, presidential campaigns had relied primarily on outside vendors for their software and operations. However, the president's team felt it needed to have faster access to the data it was generating and better control over how the campaign was run. It also wanted to write completely custom software for its volunteers in the field. So, about 18 months before the election, it started assembling a group of programmers to develop software for nearly every part of its operations: website, mailing list management, donations processing, canvassing, and field worker support. I recently had the opportunity to attend a panel of some of the campaign's lead developers and speak with them one on one.
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Campaigns are unusual efforts. A team comes together once every four years for a short, intensive effort that culminates in the period between the party convention and election day (the first Tuesday in November). Due to this intensely ad hoc orientation, there is no concept of long-term planning or writing code with the goal that it will need to be maintained for years to come. The principal criteria for code are that it works, it scales, and is secure. And most crucial of all, it needs to be working before election day. The inflexible deadline causes unusual distortions in the coding, delivery, and deployment of applications.
The campaign developers were allowed to choose whatever language and platform they felt met their needs and scaled well. Because all the campaign software was hosted on Amazon Web Services, the code also had to play nice in the cloud. (At the height of activity, the campaign was running 2,000 AWS instances, so scalability was a fundamental requirement.) The primary platforms were Python, PHP, and to a lesser extent, Java. Because money was invariably tight for anything but media buys, the campaign chose to rely primarily on open-source tools, with a few exceptions, such as NewRelic's app-monitoring software, which monitored the applications in the cloud.
As Ryan Kolak, who built much of the common infrastructure, discussed, software design works differently in a campaign. When you collect requirements, you find that not only do your contacts have clear ideas about what they want, everyone orders you to do it their way. To sort through the massed tangle of conflicting requirements and desiderata, the team did the Agile thing: It put Post-It notes on a wall and called back the users to identify features that fit these criteria. Did the feature contribute directly to getting the president reelected? And would it be needed in 12 weeks (the estimated time for delivery)? The team had one more level of triage that it performed internally: Could the feature be delivered before election day? Actually, the goal was to have everything done by early October so that testing and scalability verification could be performed. As Kolak stated, "Having an inviolable deadline provides a lot of clarity about what you can and cannot do. We were ruthless in cutting projects that could not be delivered in time."
Due to the time pressure, design decisions were generally made quickly by small teams and almost never revisited. Some of the panelists said that once coding had begun, there was very little desire to improve designs in ways that required rewriting existing code. It was faster to do what needed to be done and live with an inferior design if it got the working app out the door in time.
Chris Gansen, who designed a dashboard for managing the incoming data, said that perhaps the greatest effect of the deadline was on the coding process. All the apps were for short-term use and would be maintained by the teams that wrote them. Consequently, many of the investments developers normally make in code readability, documentation, and so on were given far less importance. Said Gansen, "We realized early on that we had to understand that 'good enough' was indeed good enough. Often, 90% of the way there was the same as 100% and we just didn't have the bandwidth to put a lot of time into the final 10% or polishing every last detail."
One area that the teams did put a lot of effort into was testing. As Scott VanDenPlas, who headed up DevOps on the team, explained: "The software had to work and had to scale. We didn't have a lot of time to go back and rewrite things that didn't work. So our team was chosen primarily on members' ability to deliver working code." And added Gansen: "We used TDD where we could and insisted that code be delivered with working tests. We didn't have a lot of inclination to spend time debugging."
The development rhythm was purely iterative with releases delivered every week. The biggest problem the team faced is that campaign staff was unused to iterative development. They had difficulty accepting partial functionality and took a while to come around to understanding that they were being shown early releases to get feedback. This aspect was somewhat more problematic when the team consulted users in the field for feedback, as senior campaign staff were more accustomed to dictating features to vendors, rather than collecting user feedback. The difference turned out to be crucial, as many features were changed in ways that became critical to their smooth operation on election day.
The campaign had one other constraint not normally faced by dev teams. Nick Leeper, who headed the donation project, explained that the regulatory environment for cash handling is completely unforgiving. "If you screw up, the errors are potentially felonies. So despite the need for speed, there were some design and implementation details that have to be done just so. We spent a lot of time consulting the regulatory folks."
Most development was frozen in early October. The team then went into testing mode. Testing had of two principal targets robustness and scalability. The need for assured scalability was imperative: VanDenPlas pointed out that the campaign had 25-million followers on Twitter, 35-million followers on Facebook. The email list had several million people. As a result, one email could generate activity that would spike from a few hundred people using an application to over half a million.
Testing for robustness included tests of running the donation Web app with the database disabled. (This test was valuable, as the team later had to switch databases while the production app was running. Because the test had shown them that they could do so without disruption, they were able to resolve a problem in real time.) One by one, they tested components under stress loads. The team also took down entire cloud zones to make sure that AWS's now well-known outages would not bring the apps to a halt. The testing was at times confounded by actual outages in AWS, which served as good test case, but threw off analysis of defects by creating unexpected results.
Due to the election day deadline, the team spent the rest of their time fixing problems revealed during the October testing. No new features were added, unless mandated by regulation or indispensable to the operation. And in some cases, when an app didn't work as hoped, team members reassessed its criticality and simply dumped the app if it was no longer truly essential.
Election day proceeded mostly as expected. Volunteers and workers in the field used software with location identification to report on voting trends, help voters get to the polls, and canvass voters to monitor how things were proceeding. Despite running at full scalability, the campaign was able to see in real time how things were unfolding, where help was needed, and to respond to problems in real time. This was a first for a presidential campaign. In previous campaigns, workers had to call in data or file text reports, which then had to be passed up the line to headquarters.
After the Election
Presidential elections happen only every four years a long time in technology. The team was unequivocal in its conviction that by 2016, all the code would have to be written from scratch again, due to change in technology and how people communicate. They saw no possibility of reusing their code. In fact, they felt that part of their opponents' software difficulty was tied to reworking code from 2008, rather than writing the apps from scratch. To facilitate the inevitable rewrite for the 2016 campaign, the team performed a lengthy post-mortem. According to Gansen, it spent a long time documenting what it had done, the key design decisions, what had worked, what had failed, and what it would have done differently.
In almost every aspect, the campaign had to embrace a disciplined approach of "quick and dirty." If things couldn't be done quickly, they generally weren't undertaken at all. Still, within the "just get it done" mentality, great care was applied to testing, security, and of course, regulatory compliance. The success of this approach might indeed be a useful model for commercial development and a valuable addition to our common notions of methodology. | <urn:uuid:96918cca-b866-45fe-82df-80d3db50fc0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drdobbs.com/jvm/heightmap-terrain-rendering/jvm/software-development-in-the-obama-campai/240146307 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984042 | 1,894 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Memorial Hospital has initiated measures designed to cope with changes in the medical field, including eliminating positions.
"We are notifying a group of employees that we're needing, for a variety of reasons related to downturns in volumes and changing dynamics in health care, that we're going to restructure some positions," the hospital's President and CEO Thomas Kleinhanzl said.
The hospital has set a goal to reduce expenses over time, Kleinhanzl said.
Hospitals nationwide are experiencing challenges due to lower reimbursement, a sluggish economy, and health care reform, Terry O'Malley, the hospital's human resources director, said in an email.
Frederick Memorial Hospital is not immune to these pressures, O'Malley said, and over recent months, FMH has experienced declining revenue and reduced admissions.
"While the hospital remains financially strong, it recently launched an effort to work with hospital leadership and staff to identify methods to reduce a targeted $6 million in operating expenses," O'Malley said.--
While the majority of these reductions have been accomplished through increased efficiency in non-labor areas such as supplies and contract services, O'Malley said it has been necessary to adjust labor expenses in line with decreased patient volume.
"Until recently the hospital has been able to reduce labor through reduction in hours worked, encouraging the use of paid time off, and not filling vacant positions," O'Malley said. "However, we recently announced that a number of individuals at the health system will have their regularly scheduled hours reduced and that some positions would be eliminated."
At this point, O'Malley said he could not say how many employees will be affected, or how many jobs will be lost. He said the hospital has provided the impacted employees 60 days of paid time to explore moving into other positions that are vacant within the system.--
"We believe the majority of individuals impacted will accept new positions within the health system," O'Malley said. "However, if at the end of the 60-day period individuals have been unable to find alternate positions the hospital will provide employees with outplacement assistance and severance payments.
"As the health care landscape continues to change, Frederick Memorial Hospital will have to remain flexible and innovative to continue to provide cost-effective, high quality health care services to our community."
The Galapagos Islands are now just a click away. (Photos)
Morgan Freeman can't stay awake during a TV interview. (Video)
She can sing, but can she act? Jewel takes on a famous role.
Clothes have a starring role at the Cannes Film Festival. (Photos) | <urn:uuid:d020a3da-99d3-4a28-bacf-47ee7b5d3fcd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wtop.com/70/3245424/Frederick-hospital-to-lay-off-employees | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968321 | 532 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Our design for the Concourse proposes a strategy that activates spatial relationships between the existing buildings, that hold the memory of the campus, the existing trees, that hold the memory of the territory, and the climate conditions.
The aim of the strategy is to connect the parts of the existing structure of the Campus and to integrate the old with the new. While the existing buildings possess a certain quality of architectural honesty, we feel that they do not define a space of urban quality and identity.
We believe that the identity of the Campus should be one of a layered structure between the future and the past. Our strategy works at two different scales: at a territorial scale, defining a connecting axis between College St and Pantawora St, and at an urban scale, creating various spatial configurations and degrees of enclosure within the Central Concourse.
The Territorial scale
Along the main axis, a grid of pathways generates a system of semi enclosed plazas, defined by the massing of the future buildings, providing a sense of structure while maintaining open outlooks and visual permeability. Tall light canopies mark the two main entrances of the Campus.
The Urban Scale
A light floating structure comprising canopies, glazed enclosures and elevated volumes creates a rich variety of spaces and light conditions, links buildings and extends permeability. This structure becomes more articulated towards the hub, which is retained but redesigned as a central void with a stronger connection with the concourse level. Four Elevated Volumes sit above the central hub with entries on the ground floor.
The Fringe Canopies run along the Eastern and Southern edges of the Concourse. These are “express ways” of pedestrian traffic connecting plaza, buildings and landscape. With most direct movement occurring beneath fringe canopies, pedestrian speed in the central plaza is reduced.
The Western Canopy projects from Buildings 8 and 5 extending into the heart of the concourse. Where it is intersected by Existing Trees a network of Skylights and openings pierce the roof allowing the trees to pass through. Solid and louvered Central Canopies are scattered across the open central court. Beneath the central canopies and elevated volumes, pedestrians can find paths of sheltered access across the concourse. They diversify the spatial qualities and proportions of the central plaza, and act as points of reference within the concourse. Meditative courtyard spaces are created amongst the undercover walkways offering a place for quite reflection.
Our design is also concerned with more phenomenological aspects such as tactility and sight, as characteristics of materials, colour and natural light determine the quality of the life in the campus. At night the new structures transform into glowing lanterns and become landmarks for orientation. Please refer to the panels for a more comprehensive description of our design.
Location: Canberra, Australia
Design Team: Emiliano Roia, Andrea Quagliola and Matteo Monteduro
Collaborators: Luke Ravi, Antony Plumb, Tor Dahl and Marco Tripodi | <urn:uuid:0b4adf9d-896c-4ba1-9179-036ff3aeaa45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.archdaily.com/77386/university-of-canberra-campus-morq/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902854 | 611 | 1.578125 | 2 |
announces low cost and free international calling to and from China. Starting Friday, December 21, residents of Shanghai can use their mobile phones to call any phone, anywhere in the world for just pennies per minute, and make free calls to friends, family, and work colleagues in 39 countries.
More than 18 million people live in Shanghai. And that doesn't include the city's 6 million migrant workers, making Shanghai one of the most populous cities in the world.
Rebtel's low-cost calls from Shanghai to the United States, for example, will cost just $0.018 per minute; $0.019 per minute from the U.S. to Shanghai. By comparison, AT&T charges $3.50 per minute to call a mobile phone in China from a mobile phone in the U.S.
Rebtel calls from Shanghai will cost $0.019 to U.K. landlines, and $0.18 to U.K. mobile phones. Using Rebtel to call Shanghai from London will be the same as from the U.S.: $0.019 per minute. In contrast, Vodafone charges $3.33 per minute to call Shanghai from the U.K.
Rebtel services can be used with any mobile phone without modification or software downloads. There is no charge to set up a Rebtel account. All new comers get a free 10 minute call to test the service. Thereafter, subscribers only pay for the minutes they use. Smart Calls between the 40 counties served by Rebtel are always free and only one of the two people on a call must be a Rebtel subscriber. | <urn:uuid:ec66675a-a106-4601-9525-683e1f9bb8e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voipmonitor.net/2007/12/20/Rebtel+Opens+Mobile+VoIP+Service+In+China.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911434 | 335 | 1.992188 | 2 |
3629 West Center Street,
6 people favorited this theater
Movie palaces were grandiose theaters usually designed to a theme decor and of two major types: the standard (or ‘hard-top’) which emulated traditional opera house construction, and the Atmospheric style, a novel approach that recalled stars and clouds in an outdoor setting in a less expensive form of construction.
The Venetian Theatre was of the latter type and the "Milwaukee Journal" of March 6, 1927 reproduced the rendering of the theater’s auditorium by Milwaukee architects Urban Peacock and Armin Frank showing a tree-lined parapet high above the seats where the blue plaster sky vault began to soar overhead. The cost exceeded one half million dollars according to an article in the "Exhibitor’s Herald" magazine of April 16, 1927 entitled: "Elaborate New Venetian Theatre, Wisconsin’s First Atmospheric Theatre Is Opened In Milwaukee."
Ironically, the Italian Renaissance theme decor was not quite as ‘Venetian’ as that created in 1911 in the Juneau Theatre on Mitchell Street, but with 1,430 seats, the Venetian Theatre was a lot larger.
The Gala Opening at 6:30pm on March 18, 1927 featured Laura LaPlante in "Butterflies in the Rain" accompanied by the 2-manual, 8-rank Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ (the theatre was soon thereafter wired for sound movies).
The Milwaukee Circuit of the Universal Theatres Chain opened this air-conditioned marvel with antiqued walls, gold, blue and wine velvet hangings, lush tapestries, and hand-blocked velvet stage curtains outlined in patterns of rhinestones.
It was also one of the few theatres to employ the "stadium style" of seating where one could go directly from the auditorium floor, up into the balcony without going into the lobby.
From the balcony the vista of a tree-lined row of building tops interspersed with statuary created a romantic view under the starry sky as projected clouds drifted by.
Like all theaters, the Venetian Theatre suffered with the coming of television and the consequent loss of its audience, and with the decay of the neighborhood, the theater closed permanently in 1954, even though it had a fully rigged stagehouse capable of putting on local talent shows or the like.
It subsequently became a furniture store, which put a suspended ceiling in the auditorium, and then the Venetian Sales Co. which used the auditorium for a warehouse and the once ornate lobby for a liquor store.
When these businesses moved out, it sat abandoned, the utilities disconnected, and awaited the city’s decision to spend the many thousands of dollars to demolish it.
At the least, one could still admire the architect’s classy facade design of brown tapestry brickwork framed by Italianate designs in glazed terra cotta ornament in buff, azure, and lemon yellow. The stepped and reticulate-patterned parapet with its elegant terra cotta urns endured for a while longer.
The Venetian Theatre was demolished in April 2007.
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater | <urn:uuid:2cee974b-a4f2-45b4-8e75-8e9cfebfd523> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2464/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954283 | 675 | 2.0625 | 2 |
(A young Tibetan monk walks around the courtyard at the Namo Monastery on the outskirts of Kangding in Sichuan province February 23, 2009/David Gray)
Security forces have detained about 300 Tibetan monks from a monastery in southwestern China for a month amid a crackdown sparked by a monk’s self-immolation, two exiled Tibetans and a prominent writer said, citing sources there. Tension in Aba prefecture, a heavily ethnic Tibetan part of Sichuan province, have risen to their highest levels since protests turned violent in March 2008, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, and were put down by police and paramilitary units.
The monks from Aba’s Kirti monastery, home to about 2,500 monks, were taken into custody on April 21 on military trucks, according to two exiled monks and a writer, who said their information was based on separate accounts from witnesses who live in Aba.
Kirti Rinpoche, the head of the Kirti monastery, told Reuters by telephone that it was the first time that Chinese security forces had seized such a large number of monks at a time, and that he had no information on their whereabouts.
“The situation is getting more and more repressive,” said Kirti Rinpoche, who is based in India’s Dharamsala, the seat of the exiled Tibetan government, and receives his information through a network of contacts inside Aba. “The restrictions imposed on the monastery and the monks are getting more intensified. It’s literally a suffocating situation where monks are not allowed to do anything at all.”
His account could not be independently verified as the government restricts visits by foreign reporters to restive Tibetan regions. Repeated calls to the Aba county government and public security bureau went unanswered. The Foreign Ministry said last month everything was “normal” at Kirti. | <urn:uuid:55c329e1-264f-4f34-affa-58b8e51e5036> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/tag/monastery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977645 | 392 | 1.859375 | 2 |
- How does this clip suggest women in Rwanda are breaking new ground?
- What adjectives would you use to characterize the tone of Christine's statement? Acquiescent, assertive, neutral, etc?
Ten years after the genocide, women worked to rebuild the war-torn country of Rwanda. Breaking new ground to unify the nation, women took the lead in government, business, and in promoting peace.
The history of Rwanda is a complex one, steeped in a legacy of shifting colonial powers and ethnic conflict. First colonized by Germany in the 1890s, Rwanda subsequently fell under Belgian rule in the aftermath of World War I. The European colonists helped to widen tribal resentments between two ethnic groups living in the area, the Hutus and Tutsis. In the early days of colonization, German and then Belgian authorities gave preferential privileges to Tutsis, who were in the minority in the population. But when Rwanda began to demand independence from Belgium in the late 1950s, the colonists shifted allegiance and backed the previously sublimated Hutus. Tutsi loyalists attempted to stop this shift by killing key Hutu leaders. The payback was swift and brutal, and the Hutus launched the first of several pogroms against Tutsi people. In the years that followed, waves of Tutsi refugees left the country. By 1990 there were approximately 600,000 Rwandans living in exile.
In April 1994, Rwanda's then-powerful Hutu carried out a systematic slaughter of the Tutsi people. The aim was to stop invading Rwandan Tutsi revolutionaries and to remove their local support by liquidating their power base. The Hutu-led Mouvement Révolutionnaire Nationale pour le Développement (MRND — National Revolutionary Movement for Development) and its military carried out an attempt at genocide. In response, Tutsi revolutionaries took control of the country in July, stemming the violence. But in terms of genocide, most observers would agree that the Hutus were frighteningly successful — killing more than 800,000 people in a short three-month period.
Ten years after this horrific atrocity, the country had much healing to do - but had also become a model of feminist opportunity. With so many male Rwandans killed off by the 1994 genocide, nearly seventy percent of the remaining population was female. Recent developments in the government and legislature to place women in positions of power upturned a long history of female disempowerment and have made Rwanda one of the most progressive nations in the world in terms of gender equity. Women now participate at every level of government and occupy almost half the seats in the national parliament.
Tonight on WIDE ANGLE -- women are rebuilding Rwanda. Ten years after the genocide, women are leading -- in government, in business, and in promoting peace.
Women have to be equal to men in the development of our country.
Women -- breaking new ground to unify the nation. Next on WIDE ANGLE. | <urn:uuid:f192181a-6964-446b-a27e-63d27c5f43e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/wideangle/videobank/ladies_breaking.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954704 | 615 | 3.875 | 4 |
As early as the late 1940s, a number of independent record labels recognized the potential mass appeal of rhythm and blues music, despite the fact that the mainstream industry still approached market development in ways that reflected the racial segregation of the period. For example, record companies like King in Cincinnati and Specialty in Los Angeles, contributed to the production and dissemination of rhythm and blues through their regional markets.
Atlantic Records was one of the first larger independents to focus on rhythm and blues. Co-founded in 1947 in New York City by Ahmet Ertegun, its early success was spurred by Ruth Brown’s “Tear Drops from My Eyes” followed by “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” performed by
Big Joe Turner. Atlantic’s other artists included LaVern Baker and Ray Charles. Chess Records in Chicago, founded in 1950, released an impressive catalogue of R&B and urban blues by artists such as Etta James, Gene Ammons, Jackie Brenston, and Muddy Waters. Both labels featured other artists, who like Joe Turner, would exert major influence on rock and roll.
There were also a number of early African American-owned independent record labels. Brothers Leon and Otis René established Exclusive, Excelsior, and, later, Class Records in Los Angeles. In Oakland, California, Bob Geddins established the Down Town and Veltone labels. In Houston, Texas, Don Robey with business partner Evelyn Johnson—one of the first female African American record executives—founded Peacock Records in 1949. Together, they produced such artists as Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Willie Mae “ Big Mama” Thornton.
The Rhythm and Blues program is produced in partnership with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
click to enlarge and view captions | <urn:uuid:996a9707-7e85-41b0-ab0c-554542ea355c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.festival.si.edu/2011/RhythmBlues/independents.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942107 | 378 | 2.703125 | 3 |
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson has arrived in Rwanda Friday, as a part of a three-nation African tour intended to promote U.S. foreign policy and economic development.
After laying a wreath on the grave of 250,000 victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, U.S. diplomat Johnnie Carson toured the memorial which explains the history of the massacre. About a million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in 100 days.
Despite opening his trip with a somber acknowledgment of the past, U.S. officials say his focus is to discuss security, economic development and regional integration with the governments of Rwanda, Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking to reporters outside the memorial, Carson also praised a series of recent African elections, saying the United States hopes this will become "the norm."
"People across this continent are yearning for democracy," he said. "We have seen a sweep of democracy over the last years. We have seen free and fair elections take place in countries as large as Nigeria and as small as Cape Verde. We have seen democracy and good elections in places like Zambia, in Niger, in Côte d'Ivoire."
Asked to comment about Thursday's death of Libya's former leader Moammar Gadhafi, Carson said it is "a new era of promise and change and democracy for the people of Libya." | <urn:uuid:b5115306-75d0-4d15-8e64-02c4ff18cbd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voanews.com/content/us-state-department-official-on-three-nation-african-tour-132310463/159044.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971099 | 293 | 1.664063 | 2 |
I have an Arduino Duemilanove with ladyada motorshield on.
It works fine to control a very small DC motor I got from a racetrack toy car.
I am now trying to control the DC motor from a printer (not stepper).
I don't have the specs from the motor, but if I give it 13V from a (12V
) power supply I built (instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-a-Bench-Top-Power-Supply/)it runs slowly but smoothly.
I now want to control it from my Arduino, so I connect the power supply to the EXT PWR block on the shield and set it at the same 13V.
I can then hear a buzz coming from the motor. The buzz follows the commands I setup in Arduino-0014, so I guess the power reaches the motor, so why isn't it moving? Since it does work directly from the power supply, why won't it from Arduino with the same voltage? | <urn:uuid:fe602248-7ed3-4b4a-b77a-48e2d2022fb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=12400.msg93846 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93425 | 213 | 2.3125 | 2 |
PLATTSBURGH — In a move aimed at saving money, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department may actually be adding bodies.
The Clinton County Legislature’s Finance Committee agreed this week to vote on hiring six new part-time deputies, specifically to cover mandated duty at Plattsburgh International Airport.
It would save money by utilizing the lower-paid part-timers instead of higher-paid full-time deputies on overtime, Sheriff David Favro told the Press-Republican.
“We won’t be paying the higher salary plus the full-time benefits, and we think this is a way to save money,” he said.
By federal law, the county is required to have a law-enforcement presence at the airport 30 minutes before any flight leaving, as passengers make their way through Transportation Safety Administration screenings.
It is also needed when flights arrive at the same time that others are preparing to board. This often happens late at night or early in the morning.
“With flights coming in and some leaving, there could 300 or 400 people there at one time, and then it becomes a matter of public safety, and we need a presence there,” Favro said.
‘LESS OVERTIME COST’
To fulfill the duties, regular full-time deputies are often asked to work overtime to cover the airport shifts, which can be anywhere from three to nine hours at a time.
The county spent about $85,000 in overtime at the airport last year, and Favro said he hopes to save between $20,000 and $25,000 by using part-time deputies.
He said he is looking to hire retired law-enforcement people to fill the slots.
“If you hire someone who has retired within two years, you don’t have to train them or certify them,” he said.
The part-timers would be paid $17 per hour with no benefits.
Full-time deputies can get as much as $36 per hour on overtime.
“This is one of the costs that is incurred as the airport grows,” Finance Committee Chairwoman Sara Rowden (D-Area 4, Town of Plattsburgh) said, “and this is one way of looking to save money.”
While the legislature unanimously agreed to move the item to a vote at next week’s regular meeting, one legislator did so reluctantly.
“At some point, this body has to take a look at stopping such growth of departments because the revenue is just not there,” Legislator Mark Dame (R-Area 8, City and Town of Plattsburgh) said.
The session takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Legislative Chambers on the second floor of the Clinton County Government Center, 137 Margaret St., Plattsburgh. It is open to the public.
Email Joe LoTemplio: firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:0dd13e50-e6f6-44ef-98cf-a7199857dd11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pressrepublican.com/0100_news/x2109938393/County-considers-hiring-part-time-sheriffs-deputies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957124 | 617 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Pixar’s 'Brave' Honors Steve Jobs
The animated feature’s closing credits refer to the studio’s late CEO as a mentor and a friend.
Months after his death, the studio Steve Jobs helped build will honor him with its next release.
Pixar Animation Studios' Brave tells the story of a young Scottish girl seeking to discover her own destiny, and features eerie characters called will-o’-the-wisps. During the end credits of an unfinished version of the film, those creatures appear onscreen around Jobs’ name, who is praised as a mentor and a friend, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Jobs, who died October 5, 2011 of pancreatic cancer, helped launch Pixar and served as its CEO. Brave is the first Pixar film to be released since his death, and is also the studio’s first to feature a female protagonist. The studio is owned by Disney, which is releasing the film.
The animated feature, which is set for a June 22 release, isn’t the only film to remember Jobs. Ashton Kutcher is attached to play him in the indie biopic Jobs, and Sony is also developing a film about the Apple co-founder, which is to be written by The Social Network scribe Aaron Sorkin and based upon Walter Isaacson’s best-selling biography.
The real Jobs can currently be seen in the limited release Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview, featuring a 1995 conversation with him.
- MOST SHARED
- MOST POPULAR | <urn:uuid:47af945e-74e6-48e1-a031-c9a82eeb2624> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pixar-brave-steve-jobs-tribute-329832 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967052 | 324 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Helping your business with the latest green innovation
news, environmental and sustainable technologies and design
, from solar
and car technology to wind power
and offshore turbines
Sportswear brand PUMA today launched its first range of products made using the 'closed loop’ system of production.
'Green’ rubbish bins that double as on-screen news services in the City of London have recycled over 100 tonnes of waste since launching a year ago.
Unilever has released a new aerosol deodorant that is half the size and cuts its carbon footprint by 25 per cent.
The first international network to work collaboratively on carbon capture and storage (CCS) was launched today.
Three green technology start-ups from the UK will take their businesses to India in February with Government support to explore trading opportunities in this fast-growing economy.
A gigantic steel bucket will be lowered upside-down through the deep, murky waters of the North Sea within the next few days, and, through a smart engineering trick, it will sink rapidly into the sandy sediment on the sea floor.
Scientists will attempt to replicate nature in a quest to produce clean, green energy.
The UK's fledgling wave and tidal power industries are to be boosted with a £20 million cash injection from the Crown Estate.
UK cleantech start-ups are being left high and dry, posing a serious risk to green innovation in the UK and the country’s ability to decarbonise, a new report warns.
The Green Deal and wider Government energy efficiency policy is set to create the right market conditions to attract major foreign investment to Britain’s shores and to enable the UK to become a leader in energy efficiency innovation, according to the Government.
A £2 million Government competition aimed at finding innovative designs to turn plants across the UK’s wetlands into green energy has awarded its first tranche of funding to seven projects.
The world's climate could be hijacked by a rogue country or wealthy individual firing small particles into the stratosphere, claims a warning that comes not from a new Hollywood movie trailer but a sober report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The development of carbon and capture and storage (CCS) in the UK has received a further blow following a delay to crucial European Commission (EC) funding.
The UK is to publish around 600 potential sites for storing carbon dioxide around its shores in the first online database of its kind in the world.
British scientists trying to beat ash dieback disease are seeking the "wisdom of the crowd" in order to analyse the genes of the fungus that causes it. | <urn:uuid:c365ae03-8ea6-4b1d-ad76-b7a8d1b485f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://greenwisebusiness.co.uk/innovation.aspx?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93953 | 535 | 1.710938 | 2 |
During the call
Word verification is needed to stop calls from computer ‘robots' making repeated spam on the NRS call page. These robots might be generating ‘calls' for prank or possibly fraudulent purposes. Thus the call page has a box where you need to enter six randomly generated letters that are shown in an image above the box.
If you have a visual impairment and cannot read the letters in the word verification image, you can click the orange refresh icon nearby to get a new set of letters. If this isn't any better, contact the Helpdesk and request a ‘special word'. This will simply be a unique group of six characters you can enter in the word verification box each time you make a call. The special word will be unique to the NRS internet relay user and can be used any number of times.
Word verification is not case sensitive. So it doesn't matter if you enter an upper case (capital) 'M' or a lower case 'm'. However the letters shown in the image are all lower case, so make sure you don't think that an 'l' (as in 'lion') is a large 'I' (as in 'Iron'). It will always be the former.
Just call the Helpdesk and we will give you another special word.
During the call
No, because there no fixed meanings for most emoticons, so relay officers will not always know how to relay them as voice.
You can use contractions in an internet relay call just as you would for a TTY.
Particularly it is a good idea to use:
Brackets for comments/questions to the relay officer
‘SKSK' (stop keying) when you are finishing
You can also use 'GA' (go ahead) when you have finished a section of the conversation. Although, unlike a TTY, you have a Send button that tells the relay officer you have finished your section of the conversation it is still helpful for the relay officer if you use ‘GA'.
3 I am used to using SMS. Do I use the same contractions when I use internet relay?
Please don't use SMS contractions. The role of the relay officer is to relay your call (by voice or TTY). The relay officer may not be able to voice your words if you use contractions that don't have a clear, unambiguous meaning.
You have 200 characters including, spaces, questions marks etc. If you type more than 200 characters, the extra will not be sent to the relay officer. The message screen has a counter that ‘counts down' the number of characters you have left as you type.
Yes. Click the ‘Change your display' button on the call page and you can easily change the font, font size and font colour for your part of the conversation, the text you are receiving or the system messages. You can make these changes at any time during the conversation and your changes will be saved for future calls. Note that the ‘Change your display’ button is not visible until you have actually started the call when there will be IVR (System), relay officer (Operator) and customer text to actually change.
You can always return to the default fonts and colours by clicking 'Reset'.
6 During a call, can I type a message, press ‘Send' and continue to type and Send (like in standard MSN)?
This would mean you are sending new conversation while the relay officer is reading out your previous sentences. It is not advisable to do this because, unlike a standard instant messaging conversation, with internet relay you have a third party, the relay officer, in the middle who will have trouble keeping track of overlapping conversation threads.
7 I am very slow at typing. Is it possible to store some key messages and instructions and insert them into an internet relay message?
Yes. Depending on your computer setup and skills, there are various things you can do. One of the simplest is to:
type a particular instruction or message into a WordPad or Word document before you start the internet relay call
copy the text
start the internet relay call
- paste the text into the message panel at the appropriate time. | <urn:uuid:e76dac78-230e-487a-85f3-9734de4d35f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://relayservice.gov.au/faqs/internet-relay-faqs/during-the-call-faqs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924283 | 870 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Host: Indre Viskontas
In developed countries at least, the status of women has improved considerably in the last century. But in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), they remain underrepresented in all but one field, according to a recent study conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
Often, femininity can seem incompatible with STEM and other male-dominated careers—but can young women today find an unlikely role model in Elizabeth Taylor, an actress dogged by the Catholic Church because of her sex appeal and promotion of secular ideas, including gay and lesbian rights?
Cultural critic and acclaimed author explores the contributions of Elizabeth Taylor to feminism—and her struggles against the Church—in her latest book, . | <urn:uuid:5adb17df-278e-43f3-950f-68fd92336137> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://castroller.com/Podcasts/PointOfInquiry/2862766 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946908 | 148 | 2.375 | 2 |
|Born||18 June 1579
Santo Aleixo, Kingdom of Portugal
|Died||21 June 1659 (aged 80)
Goa, Portuguese India
|Known for||Patriarch of Ethiopia|
Father Afonso Mendes (18 June 1579 – 21 June 1659), was a Jesuit theologian, and Patriarch of Ethiopia from 1622 to 1634. While E.A. Wallis Budge has expressed the commonly accepted opinion of this man, as being "rigid, uncompromising, narrow-minded, and intolerant.", there are some who disagree with it. The writings of Mendes include Expeditionis Aethiopicae, which describes the customs and conditions of Ethiopia.
Mendes was born in Santo Aleixo. He entered the Society of Jesus, where he was ordained priest, he received his doctorate in theology at the University of Coimbra, where he subsequently taught at the College of Arts. In response to the favor Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia showed towards Catholicism, Mendes was appointed Patriarch of Ethiopia by Pope Urban VIII, and left for Ethiopia in March 1623.
The journey to Ethiopia was long and difficult. Mendes' party reached Portuguese Mozambique that September, where they were delayed by winter weather, and only reached Goa 28 May 1624. After making further preparations in Goa, the Patriarch sailed for Beilul by way of Diu (where he was joined by Jerónimo Lobo), and arrived at Beilul 2 May 1625. This port on the Red Sea was controlled by the king of the Afars, who was a vassal to the Emperor of Ethiopia; the primary port of entrance to Ethiopia, Massawa, was at the time controlled by the Ottoman Empire, which was hostile to both Ethiopian and European interests. The party crossed the desert into the Ethiopian highlands, and reached Fremona, the base of Catholic missionary efforts, on 21 June 1625 over two years after Mendes had left Lisbon.
At a public ceremony on 11 February 1626, the Emperor Susenyos and Patriarch Mendes publicly acknowledged the primacy of the Roman See and made Catholicism the state religion. A number of local practices were condemned, which included Saturday Sabbath and frequent fasts. For a time, conversions were made, the monarch frequently resorting to compulsion. Richard Pankhurst reports 100,000 inhabitants of Dembiya and Wegera alone are said to have converted to Catholicism. However, strife and rebellions over the enforced changes began within days of the public ceremony, and at one point the Emperor's son, Fasilides, sided with the native church.
After many years of chronic civil war, on 14 June 1632 Emperor Susenyos issued a formal declaration that those who would follow the Catholic faith were allowed to do so, but no one would be forced to do so any further. Patriarch Mendes could only confirm that this was, indeed, the actual will of the Emperor, his protector. Upon succeeding his father, Fasilides first confined the Catholic hierarchy to Fremona, then in 1634 exiled the Patriarch and several of the foreign priests from Ethiopia, who were exposed to robbery, assaults and other indignities by the local population before reaching the Ottoman Naib at Massawa. The Naib sent them to his superior at Suakin, where the Pasha forced the party to pay a ransom before they could proceed to India. Despite settling for a ransom of 4300 patacas (which he borrowed from local Banyan merchants), at the last moment the Pasha insisted on keeping Patriarch Mendes, two priests, three cleric and two of his servants. Amongst those who departed Suakin 26 August was Jerónimo Lobo. These were kept prisoner until Mendes managed to raise 4000 pieces of eight as their ransom, and the Pasha put them on a ship bound for Diu 24 April 1635. They reached Diu a month later, and Mendes immediately continued on Goa, where he unsuccessfully sought military support for his restoration. He appears to have spent the rest of his life in Goa, where he wrote his book on Ethiopian history and geography and the Jesuit mission in Ethiopia, Expeditionis Aethiopicae. His letters and annual reports in Latin appear in other volumes of the series Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptores Occidentales.
- Wallis Budge, A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia, 1928 (Oosterhout: Anthropological Publications, 1970), p. 390
- Merid Wolde Aregay, "The Legacy of Jesuit Missionary Activities in Ethiopia," in The Missionary Factor in Ethiopia: Papers from a Symposium on the Impact of European Missions on Ethiopian Society, ed. Getatchew Haile, Samuel Rubenson, and Aasulv Lande (Frankfurt: Verlag, 1998); Hervé Pennec, Des Jésuites Au Royaume Du Prêtre Jean (Éthiopie): Stratégies, Rencontres Et Tentatives D'implantation 1495–1633 (Paris: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2003).
- Diccionário ou Noticia Histórica de todas as Cidades, Villas, Lugares (...). Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- Baltazar Téllez, The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia, 1710 (LaVergue: Kessinger, 2010), p. 224
- Téllez, Travels, p. 226
- Mendes' journey from Diu to Fremona is described in Jerónimo Lobo, The Itinerário of Jerónimo Lobo, translated by Donald M. Lockhart (London: Hakluyt Society, 1984), pp. 71–153
- Téllez, Travels, p. 233
- Pankhurst, The Ethiopians: A History (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), p. 107
- James Bruce, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (1805 edition), vol. 3 pp. 403ff
- An account of the exile and expulsion of Mendes and the other Jesuits can be found in Lobo, The Itinerário, pp. 251–285
- Téllez, Travels, p. 260
- Mendes, Alphonso. Expeditionis Aethiopicae. Edited by Camillo Beccari. 15 vols. Vol. 8 & 9, Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptores Occidentales Inediti a Saeculo Xvi Ad Xix. Rome: Printed for C. de Luigi, 1908.
- Beccari, Camillo, ed. Relationes Et Epistolae Variorum. 15 vols. Vol. 10-14, Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptores Occidentales Inediti a Saeculo Xvi Ad Xix. Rome: C. de Luigi, 1910. | <urn:uuid:a46f39e0-4eb4-429f-b8eb-bd8df1b7fd20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afonso_Mendes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932154 | 1,459 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Friday, May 24, 2013
Burn Ban In Effect
(WOLO) COLUMBIA,S.C., --
Saturday's windy weather created some challenges for fire fighters who worked over time putting out several brush fires throughout the area.
The National Weather Service says Saturday there were wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour, and low humidity created a perfect combination for brush and wildfires.
Forestry officials issued a burn ban asking people not to conduct any outdoor open burns for the fear the embers would blow out of control and cause fires. Officials say the best time for outdoor burns will be after we get some much needed rain in the area.
Wind: 8 MPH
Humidity: 71 % | <urn:uuid:33ccc4dd-8a2d-4e23-a4bf-0acbe6d3fe38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abccolumbia.com/news/local/orangeburg/Burn-Ban-In-Effect-198638851.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916763 | 147 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Illustration by Jiro Bevis
Spain’s Wilting Economy Still Held in Franco’s Grip
Spain’s economic woes are triggering renewed fears over a potential default in the euro area, and much of the blame belongs to labor laws that date back to the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. Unless the government succeeds in changing them, it’s hard to see the country returning to healthy growth even if it manages to stay solvent.
Spain is by now notorious for having the highest unemployment rate in the European Union, especially among the young -- every second Spaniard under the age of 25 is looking for a job. It would be simplistic, of course, to attribute Spain’s severe economic contraction and rampant unemployment to any one cause, but the labor market is a useful place to start. It has taken the financial crisis to force an ambitious attempt to address the problem.
Franco’s camp introduced the foundations of the existing labor laws in 1938, when the Spanish Civil War was still being fought. The new legislation was heavily influenced by Mussolini’s 1927 Carta del Lavoro, and was bolstered by additions in the 1940s and ’60s and, toward the end of Franco’s rule, in the ’70s. Remarkably, much of that legislation remains in effect today.
The International Monetary Fund has described Spain’s resulting labor market as ”dysfunctional.” The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Competitiveness Report ranks Spain’s labor market 134th out of 142 countries, pointing to labor-market rigidities and the gap between wage setting and productivity levels as an important cause of Spain’s slide down the overall index in recent years.
Franco’s labor laws offered workers rock-solid job security and strong collective-bargaining rights. These were critical elements of welfare systems that were adopted by fascist -- or national socialist -- regimes around Europe, as they sought to maintain social harmony in the absence of democracy. Changing them has been a critical test of maturity for Spanish democracy since its establishment in 1977, and successive administrations have failed. Contrary to what you might expect, it’s the political left that has been most opposed to changing laws that were adopted during Franco’s fascist dictatorship.
Maintaining the status quo was understandable and even laudable during Spain’s post-Franco transition, when the country -- still fearful of slipping back into the deep divisions of the civil war -- sought a consensus that would help to consolidate democracy while the economy was weak and jobs were scarce.
Attempts at reform were made, but most were minimalist and ad hoc, aimed at facilitating employment by indirect, partial and even surreptitious measures. The strategy, until the first conservative government under Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar came to power in 1996, was to create a parallel labor market, based on temporary contracts. These allowed employers to avoid the rigidity of indefinite contracts, making it easier and cheaper to fire employees by addressing issues such as termination costs, restrictions and procedural duration, among others. The result was a 73 percent increase in temporary contracts from 1985 to 1993, according to Spain’s Annual Statistics Review.
The Aznar administration made the first serious attempt to synthesize temporary and indefinite contracts, reducing the cost of dismissal and at the same time retaining stability of employment. But the reforms that Spain’s current conservative government has proposed are by far the most ambitious to date. They should bring Spain closer to Germany, and further from Greece.
The goal now is to create more flexibility in the labor market, enabling enterprises to hire and fire more easily and so better respond to the changes of the economic cycle. For the first time, the reforms also address collective-bargaining agreements that have caused the elimination of thousands of jobs. The proposed changes would substantially curb union bargaining power, giving priority to wage negotiation at the level of companies, rather than industries.
Two pockets of resistance, both cultural, can be easily identified. The first is public opinion, in whose perception formal guarantees still take priority over opportunities. The second is the political intransigence of the labor unions, as they fight against the decline in their prominence as indispensable interlocutors in the collective-bargaining process. Their refusal to come to terms with the dictates of 21st-century economic realities has long kept hostage the national debate over reform. But less than a fifth of Spanish employees are affiliated with the major unions, and many Spaniards question whether organized labor now represents the workforce or their interests.
At the end of March, the unions called a general strike and took to the streets to protest 27 billion euros ($35.5 billion) of spending cuts and tax increases in the government’s freshly unveiled 2012 budget, despite a reasonable economic consensus that such austerity is essential. The alternative risks a disorderly default and punitive interest rates that could trigger a downward economic spiral and force Spain to leave the euro.
Obviously, rigid labor laws are just one aspect of Spain’s story. Complacent credit ratings, easy credit and extravagance in the banking sector led to construction and property bubbles that since burst, damaging the country’s economic framework. In the absence of adjustment mechanisms to compensate for the lack of exchange-rate flexibility, the strength of the euro also hurt Spain’s competitiveness.
Spain’s recovery isn’t just about budget cuts and austerity -- it’s about competitiveness. That means improving flexibility and mobility in the economy, and coming to terms with the need to modernize Spain’s job market and welfare system. We Spaniards need to let go of our sense of entitlement to job security and welfare, if we are to succeed in reviving the economy and preserving the essence of our generous welfare system.
(Ana Palacio served as Spanish foreign minister in the conservative government of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. She is also a former senior vice president at the World Bank. The opinions expressed are her own.)
Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View.
Today’s highlights: the View editors on simplifying your taxes and Obama’s oil-speculation plan; Peter Orszag on saving money through health-care reform; Margaret Carlson on Ann Romney’s choices; Clive Crook on economic fairness; William Pesek on China’s power shift; Roger Lowenstein on dodging Dodd-Frank.
To read other op-ed articles in this series about Europe's social contract: Iain Begg on the Danish flexicurity model; Josef Joffe on how all of Europe should learn from Germany's reforms; Fredrik Erixon on the last days of Europe's welfare states.
To contact the writer of this article: Ana Palacio at email@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this article: Marc Champion at firstname.lastname@example.org
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions. | <urn:uuid:363ba705-3e4d-4895-8e87-534f965030b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-17/spain-s-wilting-economy-still-held-in-franco-s-grip.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950898 | 1,477 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Shell would have us believe that it's all very safe and there's nothing to worry about but here's our 10 reasons Arctic oil drilling is a really bad idea:
- It’s extremely dangerous. The Arctic environment is one of the harshest in the world, and everything you do there is more complicated than anywhere else.
- Our climate can’t afford it. As the impacts of climate change become more visible and the danger becomes greater, drilling for and burning more fossil fuels is pretty much the last thing we should be doing, especially in somewhere as fragile and untouched as the Arctic.
- Relief wells are harder to drill. In the case of a blowout – like happened with Deepwater Horizon - a relief well must be drilled, but the arrival of winter ice cuts the drilling season short. This means oil could be left gushing unstopped for up to two years.
- Oil recovery is near impossible in ice. Standard spill technology like booms become useless in thick ice. According to a senior official at a Canadian firm specializing in oil spill response, “there is really no solution or method today that we’re aware of that can actually recover [spilt] oil from the Arctic.”
- There isn’t nearly enough oil spill response capacity. The Arctic is remote — it has a small population, and few facilities available. About 6,000 ships were used to skim oil in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Cairn Energy had a mere 14 ships available in the Baffin Bay in Greenland; Shell has named only nine in their oil spill response plan for the Chukchi Sea.
- Nature is even less capable of absorbing oil there than in lower latitudes. Lack of sunlight in winter and cold weather means that oil will take more time to break down. Oil will stay locked under the sea ice. More than 20 years after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, oil can still be found in the environment of Prince William Sound.
- The local wildlife is very vulnerable to oil. Many bird species migrate to the Arctic in summer, as well as whales and seals. Polar bears and Arctic foxes, which rely heavily on marine and coastal resources to live, will be directly impacted by industrialization.
- It’s hugely expensive – because of the extreme nature of operating on the frontiers of the world’s last great wilderness, looking for Arctic oil is incredibly expensive. In the last two years Cairn Energy has spent over a billion dollars to drill a handful of wells – and still found no oil.
- A Three year fix – the US Geological Survey estimates the Arctic could hold up to 90 billion barrels of oil. This sounds a lot, but that would only satisfy three years of the world’s oil demand. These giant, rusting rigs with their inadequate oil spill response plans are risking the future of the Arctic for three years worth of oil. Surely it’s not worth taking such a risk?
- We don’t really need to. Carmakers are perfectly capable of making only fuel-efficient vehicles. If companies like Volkswagen stopped blocking key efficiency laws, fuel-efficient vehicles would become the norm. This way, we would reduce our need for oil, help the planet, and save consumers some gas money.
TAKE ACTION: Send a message to Shell and tell them to stay out of the Arctic here | <urn:uuid:98edbf8a-6106-4cce-98d6-b8e610a3308b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/news/blog/top-10-reasons-why-arctic-oil-drilling-is-a-r/blog/39288/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957691 | 694 | 2.875 | 3 |
Requiring law enforcement officers to get a warrant to use the location data created in the everyday operation of a cell tower would "cripple national security investigations before they reach their goal." That's the opinion that Jason Weinstein, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice, expressed to the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee last week. He also called cell tower data a "building block" of criminal investigations: where there's reasonable suspicion of guilt, agencies often rely on the data before turning to more intrusive methods such as GPS tracking once probable cause has been established.
The issue has come to light following the conclusion of US vs. Jones, which found that the use of a tracker on a suspect's car without a warrant violated his Fourth Amendment rights to privacy. However, US law also includes what's known as third party doctrine, where if you willingly supply information to a third party such as your bank or your cellphone provider, you lose your rights to privacy over it and the government can request it.
The subtlety between reasonable suspicion and probable cause is whether a warrant is required for the use of a given investigative technique. If an officer requires reasonable suspicion (or specific and articulate facts) to use or acquire data, no warrant is required. Under probable cause, they will need a warrant. It's down to courts (and ultimately congress) to distinguish the restrictions placed on law enforcement agencies on what they require to use each kind of data.
Weinstein's co-panellist Greg Nojeim, a Senior Counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology, was unconvinced by the argument. He said that the claims that requiring a warrant would cripple law enforcement were exactly the same ones made at the US vs. Jones case, and that "not one Justice accepted the Department of Justice's arguments." He added, "Probable cause is not a straitjacket. It can be applied in ways that can both facilitate law enforcement investigations and protect privacy. It's up to congress to really make that happen." | <urn:uuid:170d9675-4c13-456c-ba55-4f6a575acf49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/9/3009075/doj-cell-tower-location-warrant-congress | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964756 | 408 | 2.125 | 2 |
< Previous Page
» Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, is vice president of the Utah Jazz retail division. He sponsored HB300 to give out-of-state online retailers incentives to collect Utah sales tax (which could eliminate price advantages they have over in-state retailers). He is also a scoutmaster, and sponsored HB145, which would allow donations to the Boy Scouts by checking a box on tax returns.
» Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, is a former board member of the Utah Transit Authority and introduced bills that would give UTA buses the right of way when they try to merge into traffic after stopping, and a resolution calling for questions on safety around train crossings in driver license tests.
Utah Legislature and conflicts
The 104 members of the state Legislature are part-time state officials who make their primary living from other occupations and businesses. While legislators must file conflict-of-interest statements prior to the session, nothing requires conflicts to be declared during debate. Utah also has an odd rule that senators and representatives must vote on all bills on the floor, potential conflict or not.
» At least 25 bills affect the pay of lawmakers, their ethics rules or their campaigns. All, of course, were sponsored by legislators affected by them.
Disclosure » Current rules require legislators to file written forms at the beginning of every session listing what they see as potential conflicts of interest, including naming their employers, boards they serve on, property they own and their spouse’s employer.
If legislation arises that creates another conflict that a lawmaker either did not realize or forgot, rules require them to verbally disclose that before a vote.
Maryann Martindale, executive director of the progressive watchdog group Alliance for a Better Utah, says those rules may be inadequate.
"Nothing requires them after they file their written disclosure form to ever mention a conflict again. It’s largely forgotten about," she says."They should be mandated to mention conflicts verbally, because it could make a big difference in context during debate."
For example, Martindale praises Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, for saying during debate about moving the state prison and developing the land, that he owns land nearby, and Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, for mentioning she sits on boards of several nonprofit groups in debate on bills affecting nonprofit organizations.
"It’s important in debate to know about those kinds of things. But disclosing it verbally is not required, and too often what is on the written forms is not known or forgotten," she said.
Niederhauser, however, says he believes the current system is effective. "I am one of the cases in point," he says — noting he had listed his property near the prison on disclosure forms, and knew it could be an issue so he also mentioned it.
"I think it is very transparent what our conflicts are," he says. "So you can raise that in the press and … anyone in the political body can raise those questions and make sure there’s not any self-dealing going on."
Debate » In the past week, the issue arose again about whether lawmakers should be required to vote when they have conflicts of interest. Rep. Jim Nielson, R-Bountiful, pushed HR4 which was to have allowed abstentions in the House — but it stalled in the House Rules Committee and was referred for interim study later this year.
Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, says if the House were to enact such a rule, he also would push a similar change in the Senate — but notes he has failed in that attempt several times. "It bogged down in the past over language trying to define exactly what a conflict of interest is," Bramble says.
Nielson thought he could avoid that problem this year because HR4 would leave it up to members themselves to decide when a conflict was big enough for them to abstain. As he told the House Rules Committee, "This simply allows the lawmaker to use his or her conscience."
He also argued that 25 states mandate that their House members not vote when they have conflicts, and 23 others allow abstentions — so Utah mandating members to vote "is an unusual rule." He said the only way to avoid voting now is "to take a walk" to try to miss a vote, but a call of the House could compel the member to be found and cast the vote anyway.
Nielson added, "The current rule takes the issue of conflict of interest off the table when we vote. It means we as representatives do not have to consider when we vote whether we have a conflict of interest. We are required to vote and the media don’t ask questions."
Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, called Nielson’s proposed change "a live hand grenade," possibly bringing dire consequences if members fail to abstain and later are found to have a perceived conflict of interest.
"I think if you blow it, you’re going to get called in on the carpet and you may have hell to pay," Hutchings said. "Right now, if I’m not sure if I have a conflict or not. As long as I state it in writing, or as long as I stand up and state it, then I am covered."
Hutchings said HR4 could lead to many "people abstaining ‘just in case.’ And I think you’re going to have even fewer people voting … instead of a transparency effect."Next Page >
Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:0758dd65-2ee4-450d-ae1e-3c64a20d8cd8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/55953894-90/interest-conflict-conflicts-utah.html.csp?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976497 | 1,182 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Published August 18, 2012
| Fox News Latino
In Miami, a flurry of speculation was stirred recently when it was discovered Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate, voted at least three times against the US trade embargo with Cuba in 2001 and 2004. Standing as a committed free trader, Ryan is reported to have said: “If we’re going to have free trade with China, why not Cuba?”
Conservative spokesmen in Miami’s Cuban-American community were quick to point out that Ryan has since been “educated” to the real situation on the island, and that since 2007 he has voted against easing trade sanctions on Cuba.
The Embargo: pro and con.
Advocates of the embargo, which prohibits trade and normal diplomatic relations, have long argued (a) the embargo can be used to leverage changes in human rights, political and economic reforms from the regime, and (b) a stranglehold will bring the regime to its knees. After more than 50 years, such a strategy shows no evidence of success. It is at best an inconvenience for the regime in Havana and at worst, an excuse for the failures of the system. When the state can’t produce enough soap, blame it on the Yankee embargo.
In fact, this is exactly the position Paul Ryan explained in a 2002 interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The embargo doesn't work. It is a failed policy. It was probably justified when the Soviet Union existed and posed a threat through Cuba. I think it's become more of a crutch for Castro to use to repress his people. All the problems he has, he blames the American embargo."
Moreover, Cuba currently buys large quantities of medicines and agricultural products form the United States under a commercial loophole. Cuban-Americans are allowed family visits and journalists and researchers can be found in Havana restaurants sipping mojitos.
This begs the question, why continue to pursue a policy that has not met its objective?
On the other hand, those who favor normalization of relations with the island believe that through exposure to trade and tourism, Cubans will begin to see what they’re missing out on and demand changes from their government. They also argue trade and normal relations provide a better leverage point than non-engagement.
A position also taken by Ryan in 2002, arguing the "more we have a free exchange of people and ideas and customs, the more the people of Cuba will be exposed to the values of freedom and liberty."
The problem is that for over two decades, Cuba has had normal relations and conducted trade with the European Union, Japan, Canada and Latin America, welcoming investment, trade and tourism from all those countries and no significant changes have taken place. Cuba’s population, long exposed to the outside world through tourism and other contact, has not openly challenged its government to any degree this approach might suggest.
The Miami Factor.
The fear Ryan’s free trade position might cause a problem for the GOP is largely a factor of electoral politics in the state of Florida. Traditionally, Cuban-Americans in south Florida have voted largely Republican.
Times, however, have changed. While Dade County is heavily Cuban-American, it is no longer true that that community is as monolithic as it once was. Generational differences, changes in educational and socio-economic status, as well as a rush of new Cuban immigrants with living ties to the island have all conspired to change how Cuban Americans feel towards their homeland. US-born Cuban-Americans have distant memories of their parents’ home. The new immigrants, once they claim US residency, clamor back home with dollars and merchandise for relatives.
The anti-Castro Cold Warriors, like their counterparts in Havana, are now dying out and Cuban-Americans are dropping their hyphenated loyalties with each new generation. Despite the heated political debates, tens of thousands of Cuban-Americans travelling each year to visit relatives on chartered flights from Miami have already voted with their plane tickets on the issue of normalization.
Ryan’s true feelings concerning free trade with the communist island may well turn out to be a subject of scrutiny on Miami’s heavily politicized talk radio programs. Democrats, who have generally favored normalization, will exploit it to divide the Cuban Republican vote. Most importantly, the number of families who hated Castro enough to leave Cuba, but who ultimately favor normalization, may turn out to be a silent majority for Ryan. | <urn:uuid:c40946e5-d2ae-422e-bad1-37638aed38e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/08/18/fernando-menendez-paul-ryan-and-cuban-embargo/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960701 | 925 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Each spring kids look forward to the start of Little League, Pony and the all year long travel baseball each year and with that being said, we see an increase in elbow problems in young baseball players. A common elbow problem in these children is “Little League Elbow”.
Annually, an estimated 4.8 million children aged 5-14 years participate in baseball and softball. The incidence of overuse injuries in the 9-12 year old range for baseball is 20-40% and in the adolescent age group is 30-50%.
Injury usually occurs due to repetitive throwing and more importantly, the use of curve balls or other breaking ball pitches that causes excessive rotation of the shoulder, elbow and wrist. And with the child not being fully developed, could eventually lead to stress placed on the elbow by pulling excessively on the tendons and ligaments and possible growth plate injuries.
I have a several theories on why these injuries are happening at such a young age. The first being poor coaching, not of the game itself, rather the teaching of poor throwing mechanics. Secondly, teaching or letting the kids throw breaking balls at an early age. Thirdly, allowing the pitch count to get too high and finally, coaches either doesn’t know the possible effects or they have a “win at all cost” mindset and just don’t care by enabling the kids to throw junk balls.
To help cut down on injuries during the season, it is always a good idea to have a good off season strength and conditioning program to help prepare for an upcoming season. Proper exercise is a great benefit to young athletes and non-athletes as well; it helps prepare them with the knowledge exercise and good eating habits that will last a lifetime.
Ok, Now that I got all the cutesy crap out the way, lets talk some commonsense. Why, oh why with as long as some of these coaches been coaches would they let a kid, let’s say 10, 11, 12 or even early teens allow a kid who hasn’t even hit puberty yet, is no where near fully developed, to throw junk balls and run up a pitch count during a game (not to mention throwing during practice time)? Is it not knowing, is it being naïve, is it knowing and just don’t give a s**t and just win at all costs? In my opinion it’s all of it and about as close to child abuse as one can get in my opinion. Coaches, parents and players need to be educated on how something like this could not only affect their kid’s performance now, but in the future as well in almost all sports they might decide to play later.
Just over the last 5 years I have had to help rehab 4 kids ranging from 17-19 years old that have had Tommy John surgery. If you don’t know exactly what Tommy John surgery is, let me help you out. Tommy John surgery is a reconstruction of the UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament ) in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from another part of the body, usually the forearm, knee or hamstring. It’s a long painful rehab process that can sometimes last up to a year. If a coach or parent cares at all about the health of a player, the last thing that kid should be doing is throwing junk from a pitching mound or be put in a situation that causes overuse. | <urn:uuid:720a2e76-5224-4f33-832d-1ec26d1acc32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://strengthperformance.com/profiles/blogs/baseball-season-is-upon-us | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972185 | 713 | 2.015625 | 2 |
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4/23/2012Scientific Paper Demonstrates Faulty Stop Sign Ticket
Police observations can be incorrect when issuing a stop sign ticket.
Police may issue a ticket for rolling through a stop sign, even when a motorist has done nothing wrong, according to a paper by a research scientist at the University of California, San Diego. Dmitri Krioukov was found not guilty earlier this month by a Superior Court traffic commissioner based on the evidence provided in a detailed written analysis of the incident entitled "The Proof of Innocence."
"Police officer O made a mistake, confusing the real spacetime trajectory of car C which moved at approximately constant linear deceleration, came to a complete stop at the stop sign, and then started moving again with the same acceleration," Krioukov wrote in his paper. "As a result of this unfortunate coincidence, the [police officer's] perception of reality did not properly reflect reality."
The proof worked because three specific conditions were fulfilled in his case. The police officer was watching from a distance as a car decelerated. Something then temporarily blocked his view, then the observed car accelerated again. Krioukov argued that the observer did not perceive the car's actual speed, but rather its angular velocity. He compared it to a train moving at a constant speed that looks like it is traveling faster as it approaches nearer to the observer.
The relation of the actual linear speed to the observed angular velocity can be determined through geometry. Krioukov gave the example of an officer 33 feet from a stop sign observing his Toyota Yaris traveling at 22 MPH. The officer's view is temporarily obstructed by a Subaru Outback in the lane closer to the officer. Krioukov also said he had a bad cold that day and braked very hard at the sign. While the officer's view was obstructed, the officer would have interpolated what the unseen movement would have been. Thus, the officer concluded the Yaris would have been doing about 18 MPH in a straight line. This is not what happened, as the car's actual velocity at the moment was 0 MPH.
Krioukov admitted the officer's mistake was natural since he was using his vision to estimate speed, not a radar or laser gun.
"The paper was awarded a special prize of $400 that the author did not have to pay to the state of California," Krioukov wrote in the abstract for his paper.
A copy of the paper is available in a 430k PDF file at the source link below.
Source: The Proof of Innocence (Dmitri Krioukov, 4/1/2012)
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theNewspaper.com: A journal of the politics of driving | <urn:uuid:3e988e58-77f9-442b-86fb-21e7fab4194c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thenewspaper.com/news/37/3773.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961238 | 704 | 2.140625 | 2 |
VCF - Vaginal Contraceptive Film is a semi-transparent square of soluble film which incorporates a highly efficient and safe material that kills sperm on contact.
The semi-transparent film: The film is made of soluble material, a material that dissolves when it comes in contact with bodily fluids inside the vagina.
The spermicide: The spermicide is the active ingredient Nonoxynol-9, a widely used highly efficient spermicide that kills sperm on contact. It is a potent spermicidal agent that is used by millions of women and is recommended most by doctors around the world.
The Contraceptive Film is manually inserted high into the vagina and dissolves in the normal vaginal fluids. Once dissolved it creates a gel coating which contains a highly efficient spermicide that kills sperm on contact for up to 3 hours. VCF reaches it’s maximum protection after 15 minutes and stays active for up to 3 hours after insertion. Insertion is quite easy and can be accomplished by either the woman or her partner. Once dissolved it becomes unnoticeable by either partner and allows for the uninterrupted and natural way of lovemaking.
Because VCF becomes a gel it doesn’t become runny or messy. It won’t stain. Over time the dissolved gel gets washed away with the natural body fluids, there’s nothing to remove or dispose of.
Find out what other users have to say about VCF - Contraceptive Film, read their testimonials. | <urn:uuid:0e8d58b4-11de-4e7d-a926-fb0807c7635b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vcfcontraceptive.com/whatisvcf.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909683 | 307 | 1.570313 | 2 |
If you’re like most moms, it takes more than good intentions to stay committed a fitness routine. Don’t let that occasional cookie get you down. What’s really standing in your way is an overdose of something much more toxic: Mother Guilt.
Overcoming Mother Guilt–maybe just locking her in the closet for an hour at a time–is essential if you want to carve out time to get fit. First you need to free up a little mental space so you are strong enough to make the appropriate compromises.
Lose the Preconceptions and Misconceptions
Start by identifying your preconceptions of motherhood; you’ll probably realize what you thought were parenting no-no’s might actually have a place in your life. For example, maybe it’s not so bad to let your kids watch television if it means you can jump on the treadmill or tune into FitTV for an hour. Junk food might be okay if it gets your kids into the jogging stroller. Perhaps you can miss a soccer practice to go for a quick power walk or run. The point is to challenge what you’ve accepted as parenting truths and get realistic about what life is really like.
Take some time to write down what’s important to you, what values you want to impart on your children (hopefully health and fitness are near the top of the list). Then, take inventory of one or two typical days and see where you’re actually spending your time. Like it or not, top entries for your day translate into your top priorities. Work to make health and fitness an actual, not just perceived, priority. Then, remember who is watching because, like it or not, we lead by example.
Protect Your Priorities
Once you’ve established what your actual priorities are, it’s easier to fight to protect them. Allocating the right amount of time to each of your priorities leads to a certain type of contentment; the alternatives are resentment and (you guessed it) guilt. Saying “no” to something that isn’t a priority starts to feel good when you use the time freed to attend to something that is. You’ve likely fine-tuned your ability to say “no” walking the aisles of Target with your kids. It’s time to put those skills to good use and clear a little clutter from your life.
Remember it’s a Balancing Act
Learning to say “no” is important because sometimes we have to say it to something that is a priority–including fitness. When life throws you a curve ball, make a decision on how you will react. If fitness doesn’t fit in during a particularly hard week, let it go. In making that decision, you stay in control–there is no resentment, no anger, no feeling like the victim. Keep those priorities in check and realize it’s okay to experience temporary imbalances. Sooner or later, you’ll find equilibrium again and your fitness will return.
If you’ve had a hard time maintaining a regular fitness routine in the past, try focusing some attention on the mental components first. Physical fitness requires mental training; knock Mother Guilt out of the picture and the possibilities are endless.
Laurie Lethert Kocanda is an endurance athlete, mom and co-author of Hot (Sweaty) Mamas: Five Secrets to Life as a Fit Mom. | <urn:uuid:d6c0a19e-c927-4f99-beb3-70921671437d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://experiencelife.com/contributors-corner/tag/time/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933124 | 727 | 1.5 | 2 |
The word "leaflets" uses 8 letters: A E E F L L S T.
Direct anagrams of leaflets:
Adding one letter to leaflets does not form any other word in this word list.Words within leaflets not shown as it has more than seven letters.
All words formed from leaflets by changing one letter
Browse words starting with leaflets by next letter | <urn:uuid:9ad729df-9ba1-49e0-9403-a66fefb631a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.morewords.com/word/leaflets/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948396 | 77 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Personal financial capability education
The Citizens Advice Bureau in a North Wales local authority area recognised a need to establish a school-based money management project. Working closely with the PSE coordinator in a local high school and with Basic Skills Agency Cymru tutors, a series of four one hour personal finance education sessions were developed and delivered through the school’s PSE programme to all Year 10 pupils. The pilot project was well received by pupils and an independent evaluation reported positive findings.
Personal finance education, delivered by form tutors, is now embedded within the Key Stage 3 PSE programme. In Key Stage 4, a two hour money management programme is delivered by CAB staff through the school’s PSE programme to all Year 10 pupils. A similar programme is offered more widely to schools across the local authority area. The programme is also delivered successfully to groups of disengaged 14 to 16-year-olds who attend local FE Colleges.
Learners are helped to understand their role and responsibilities as consumers and to cultivate a personal financial capability which enables them to make effective decisions. Topics covered include:
- the consequences of money mismanagement
- debt; non-payment of bills
- feeling associated with debt
- living independently
- banking; choosing and managing accounts
- borrowing/lending money; APR and interest charges
- how to access financial advice and support.
Lessons are highly interactive. Each session is a mixture of presentation, verbal reasoning, and participant questions and suggestions, supported by information sheets. Learners work in groups and points are awarded to each ‘team’. Sometimes learners have to carry out a small research task, for example, asking at home about budgeting issues or payment methods, or watching credit card adverts on the television. Course materials, task and information sheets build into a learner portfolio.
Learners have also been involved in editing a bilingual young person’s handbook ’Drowning in a sea of debt’, a copy of which is given to each learner as a part of the course. The materials have also been adapted for use with post-16 learners. Currently Year 10 learners in two secondary schools are developing a bilingual DVD which will make money-related matters available to the wider community.
Links with the PSE framework
The activities help to develop basic practical skills needed for daily life specifically personal financial management skills. The use of relevant case studies encourages learners to work together and to develop a range of thinking skills.
This case study addresses the 'Preparing for lifelong learning' theme. Learners are given opportunities to understand:
- how to become competent at managing personal finances and recognise that saving provides financial independence
- their rights as consumers and their responsibilities in terms of managing a budget
- the importance of planning for their financial futures and how to access financial advice.
In an independent evaluation, 100 per cent of pupils said they found the personal finance education course useful and 90 per cent of learners said they believed that the course would help them stay out of debt.
There are also links with other curriculum subjects; for example Year 10 GCSE Drama and English pupils use drama performances and poetry to share key messages with younger pupils, e.g. the issues arising around family debt.
The Citizens Advice Bureau is:
- intending to offer financial capability training for PSE coordinators and teachers to support the delivery of personal finance education in the revised curriculum
- considering appropriate ways of recognising/accrediting the learning
- developing closer links with the local FE college through piloting personal finance education for learners on some vocational courses. | <urn:uuid:0014d27a-108d-4edd-9c38-af7b48ea0cbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wales.gov.uk/psesub/home/resources/casestudies/secondaryschoolcasestudies/personalfinancialcapabilityedu/?lang=en&ts=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947298 | 736 | 2.875 | 3 |
From Jupiter to Boca Raton and over to the Everglades, Palm Beach County is larger than Delaware.
The county’s geographic and ecological diversity is unique, going from white-sand beaches and coastal inlets to the famous swamps and marsh lands of the Everglades, with everything (excepting mountains) in between.
Multiply in a healthy population growth factor and the formula is ever-changing, keeping the county’s parks and recreation department on its proverbial toes. Keeping those toes free from the everyday missteps of the daily dance has been an ongoing goal over the years.
“There is a significant amount of publicly-owned land in the county, but in the past a lot of it has been locked up, and the same has been true with the schools,” explains Dennis Eshleman, the county’s director of parks and recreation.
“We’ve been breaking down those barriers, and getting actively involved in the design and development of these public lands. You have to get all the players together and coordinate that to the best of your ability. It’s a challenge to maintain those relationships and cooperative efforts. Oftentimes you’re not familiar with the other agency’s goals and objectives, but once you understand those you can find areas of common interest and effort.”
Eshleman sees an increased interest in a healthy balance between passive and active use areas that preserve and protect the county’s resources while maximizing the public’s enjoyment of those resources.
“I think there will be more emphasis on recreation using various types of environmental lands. We have some environmental sections within our parks department, but our Environmental Resources Management Department has purchased over 30,000 acres of environmental lands, and we work well together creating public uses on these lands from the standpoint of both eco-tourism and local use,” says Eshleman.
“We’re looking at building various types of trails, because we see an increased demand for this type of use. The key is to put together a number of partnerships using other agencies’ lands for various recreation purposes. It depends on the agencies, who’s in charge at each and where the interest lies. In the past, there have been concerns about liability, but we’ve been able to resolve those concerns in working with agencies who control these lands to develop specific use policies that really open up a good portion of their lands for public use.”
The department, for instance, has just completed the first phase of an island park development, a land owned by three different governmental agencies.
The 90-acre island, which now has campgrounds and picnicking, will also include basins with floating docks, a marina with slicks, fishing piers, observation towers, snorkeling basins, a shallow lagoon with white beaches and other beach and boating amenities. An interactive waterfall is being constructed that is envisioned as a place for patrons to play and rinse off at, as opposed to a typical beach shower.
A historical Coast Guard facility originally built in the 1920s is being restored, as well as an old bomb shelter that was built for John F. Kennedy when he was President. Add all this to white beaches and palm trees and you’re looking at a parks and recreation paradise.
With responsibility for 13 beach parks and five aquatic complexes, the parks and recreation department is especially diligent with its lifeguard training program.
This diligence was highlighted this past year when the department won the 2004 United States Lifesaving Association National Championship and placed first in the 2003 ClinCon International Championship, Basic Life Support Division.
The winning regimen includes daily training with an hour of training and preparation before the guards hit the stands, rigorous physical conditioning standards regardless of age or gender and very clear and specific standards.
Overall, the county’s parks and recreation department employs around 1,100, with about 350 contract employees and a network of more than 4,000 volunteers.
Inside the county itself are about 37 incorporated areas, representing about 50 percent of the county’s population. Part of the county parks and recreation department’s mission is to help develop parks in unincorporated pockets so that the areas become more attractive for eventual incorporation. Of course, the department’s primary mission is to provide quality regional facilities, parks and programs that serve the entire county.
There are about 80 parks in the county system, with a number of regional parks that are typically 250 acres or larger. The regional parks usually have 10-12 athletic fields at each, with gymnasiums, community centers, various court facilities, playgrounds, with some water parks, spraygrounds, skateparks and other unique facilities cropping up as demand requires. The department is also responsible for many specialty facilities, like museums, botanical gardens and nature centers.
Eshleman estimates the county has 130 or so athletic fields, with many more in the works.
“It won’t be long before we’re over 200 athletic fields. We’ve established good relationships with our school board that didn’t always exist, so we try to do cooperative planning where we locate parks and athletic fields adjacent to schools with mutual use agreements to ensure optimal utilization of one another’s facilities,” explains Eshleman.
“We think having maintenance in the same department is very important in order to make sure we’re meeting the same goals and objectives across our park system. We have so many fields that we’ve changed to one common turf, and we have separate crews that do nothing but rehabilitate fields. Due to the tremendous year-round demand for athletic fields we have to make sure that we schedule closely with the recreation staff so that each field has a certain down time every year, which can be very difficult in south Florida.”
Eshleman adds that major rehabilitation, repair work and training is centrally coordinated, but day-to-day maintenance is de-centralized through five districts within the county.
The county runs two golf courses, with two under construction and two leased to municipalities. The golf courses, along with museums and other like attractions, plus the waterparks, are dependent on revenue and must be self-sustaining.
“In many cases I find that collecting revenue can be cost-prohibitive. At our beach parks we provide parking for free, for that very reason, plus we feel there are certain things the public should not have to pay for, such as access to our natural resources,” says Eshleman.
“A lot of our products have been getting better, as we put money into them and as they mature. It’s really all about great customer service and making people glad they’re here. The managers train very heavily on customer service, and that’s the focus throughout the department. We believe the tremendous support our department receives from the community is directly related to the quality of parks and services we provide.
“For that reason, we are careful in the expenditure of funds that we don’t stretch the dollars so far that we cheapen the product and lose that support. The important thing is that you’re flexible and responsive to the demand when it comes.”
This flexibility has led to the development of many unique and diverse facilities, such as the aforementioned sprayparks, waterparks and skateparks, plus dog parks, a giant Boundless playground center, Japanese botanical gardens, a therapeutic recreation complex and an upcoming $10 million equestrian center.
Eshleman adds that this flexibility needs to be ongoing, using the model of amusement parks, who are always adding new rides and activities in their parks, while relatively little infrastructure change is required.
“For 30 years our population has been growing anywhere from 25,000 to 35,000 per year. That’s a large amount of people dropping into the county every year. It causes significant demand for additional parks and the change in demographics from a more senior population to families with kids has increased the overall demand for more active facilities,” says Eshleman.
“Everyone who lives down here is aware of how fast things are developed, and the need to secure future park properties while they are still available and to optimize the utilization of existing public lands.” | <urn:uuid:c2d7e9b4-010d-42a0-a817-835cc8c07e82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northstarpubs.com/articles/prb/sunny-side-up | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955701 | 1,744 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Sharp population declines in big cities across the map have Congressional Black Caucus members anxiously monitoring redistricting developments, fearful that numerous African-American House members could find their districts dramatically altered for 2012.
The problem is expected to be most acute in economically hard-hit Northern states including Michigan, Missouri and Ohio — all of which saw population declines in inner cities over the past decade. In those places, black lawmakers are confronting not only the prospect of reconfigured seats that increase their political vulnerability but also possible primary election scenarios facing other Democratic incumbents.
“Redistricting is always a pretty painful process. I think this year could be pretty significant for us,” said South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, a former majority whip and CBC chairman who is the highest-ranking African-American in the House.
“It will have an enormous impact,” he said, pointing to the population losses in several Rust Belt states. “We’re big boys and girls, and we understand how it happens. We’re going to be realistic about what it all means.”
In Ohio, which lost two seats in reapportionment, Rep. Marcia Fudge, a second-term CBC member, could find herself running in a primary against Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, whose Cleveland-area seat could be on the chopping block. In Missouri, which is losing one seat, Rep. Lacy Clay could see his St. Louis-based district merged with that of neighboring Democratic Rep. Russ Carnahan.
Michigan Reps. John Conyers, top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and a House member for more than four decades, and Hansen Clarke, a freshman, could see their Detroit-based seats expand into less hospitable suburbs. Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver is at risk of having his Kansas City-area district drawn into more conservative areas that currently border his seat.
Cleaver, the new CBC chairman, told POLITICO that he remains confident of his and Clay’s political prospects despite Missouri’s loss of a congressional seat.
“As long as there is no intent to place me in a district where people have an overwhelming history of performing Republican, I think I’m going to be OK,” said Cleaver, who noted that he was successful winning the support of white voters during his eight years as Kansas City mayor during the 1990s. “A cursory review of the 43 districts’ members indicates there are very few, if any of them, that will be redistricted in a way that they can’t win,” he said, before adding, “I may ask you to come talk to me in 45 days, and I may be singing a different song.”
Still, concern about redistricting has mobilized the top ranks of black congressional leaders. Cleaver made his first order of business upon taking the reins of the CBC this year the formation of a legal committee, to be headed by Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, that will oversee the nationwide remapping. At the crux of the committee’s responsibilities, said Cleaver, will be to make sure that African-American voters are not shifted so as to negatively affect black representation in the House. Fueling the CBC’s concern is the reality that Republican-controlled state legislatures are overseeing the redistricting process in states, including Michigan and Ohio, that are poised to lose seats in redistricting.
CBC members will also be relying on the Department of Justice, which will review some of the newly drawn maps to ensure they don’t illegally dilute African-American voting representation in protected districts. Under the Voting Rights Act, any district with a majority of minority voters is protected and cannot be eliminated or lose its majority-minority status.
“We will monitor all the redistricting to see if there will be a need for the CBC to organize and, in some cases, consider steps beyond just denouncing what is considered to be exclusive redistricting. We are going to look at all of these 43 seats to just make sure there is nothing done to require our intervention,” Cleaver told POLITICO. “There has to be concern when you look at what happened on Nov. 2, when many of the legislatures swung over. To suggest we’re not concerned would be foolish. But I think that what happened in Texas with Tom DeLay will probably cause people here to have second thoughts about trying to design these seats in a way that brings too much attention on them,” Cleaver said, referring to the former House Republican leader’s conviction on state money laundering charges.
In addition to the districts of Fudge and Clay, Cleaver pointed to Rep. Sanford Bishop’s southeastern Georgia seat as a potential concern. Republicans, who have full control over redistricting in the state, could stuff voters from more conservative surrounding areas into the district in which Bishop narrowly won reelection last fall.
Even as black leaders anxiously monitor states in which members might face political peril, they say they are also planning to push for new African-American-majority districts in states whose black population increased over the past decade — a task they acknowledge will be uphill.
In South Carolina, the prospects of creating a new African-American district appear to have dimmed. Clyburn, who occupies the sole black-majority district in South Carolina despite the state’s traditionally high African-American population, has spent the past two decades advocating for another majority-minority district. But he acknowledged that, as the state prepares to add another congressional district, it is unlikely to be a black-majority seat.
“Most of the states gaining seats tend to be the states with high African-American and Hispanic populations,” said Jaime Harrison, a former South Carolina Democratic Party political director who also served as Clyburn’s floor director. “The concern is what will the African-American population in the state look like, and will they be divided up? That’s the kind of question CBC members will have to deal with.” | <urn:uuid:0e926223-24cc-48dd-b1e5-8a3e16a153ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=BFB1CACC-FE83-5BB6-BAA56D0A3F87412D | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970629 | 1,245 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Although Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is a symbol for Dalits, it must be understood that the cartoon which led to the generation of the debate on NCERT textbooks symbolised him as an institution, not a community. The committee headed by Sukhadeo Thorat and people opposing the cartoon have failed to appreciate that an entity can symbolise more than one thing and that it is perception that matters (“Learning from a controversy,” Aug. 3). Thus Mr. Thorat’s argument, based primarily on the sensitivity issue of the deprived, is flawed. Rather than enlightening people at large, the committee chose to circumvent the problem by taking the easiest route out. He does not delve much into the other cartoons that the committee has suggested be removed from the textbooks on the ground of “political inappropriateness.” Let us not forget that the cartoons have been borrowed from newspapers which are anyway accessible to people.
I was extremely disturbed to find an academic of Mr. Thorat’s stature defending the controversial recommendations of the committee headed by him, by giving it a caste angle in the name of “sensitivities.” Even the much talked about cartoon of Ambedkar only portrayed how he and Nehru wanted to give the required momentum to the Constitution framing exercise which was progressing at snail’s pace.
I cannot but concur with Mr. Thorat’s view that the academia is not untouched by prejudices based on caste and community. As one who has pursued education for long in a leading university, I was disappointed to see the leverage some candidates get at crucial times — in the form of small manoeuvres. This is especially true at the time of induction in research courses. A Dalit scholar is pitted against heavy odds. Despite having the potential, he faces rejection. It is time to make education at all levels truly inclusive. | <urn:uuid:f9d69518-de3f-4684-b0a6-2d5965f1745b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/textbook-controversy/article3723883.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970194 | 388 | 2.484375 | 2 |
NEW YORK -- A new anti-smoking proposal would make New York the first city in the nation to keep tobacco products out of sight in retail stores.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the goal is to reduce the youth smoking rate.
The legislation would require stores to keep tobacco products in cabinets, drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in another concealed spot. They could only be visible when an adult is making a purchase or during restocking.
A second part of the bill contains policies to combat cigarette smuggling.
The bills will be introduced in City Council on Wednesday.
Bloomberg has backed a number of public health measures, including a crackdown on large sizes of sugary drinks and adding calorie counts to menus. The drinks ban has been blocked by a judge. | <urn:uuid:283077dc-dcf6-4aea-bfa9-7ecf3e8d5707> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wkyc.com/rss/article/290002/22/NYC-plan-would-keep-tobacco-products-out-of-sight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957438 | 155 | 1.890625 | 2 |
National Symphony Orchestra: Composer Portrait: Copland
This fascinating concert biography explores the music and life of Aaron Copland, one of the most popular American composers of all time.
- May 1 - 3, 2008
- Concert Hall
- Approx. 2 Hours
- $20.00 - $80.00
Please use the event calendar to search for current events.
In this thrilling concert retrospective of Copland's life and work, the NSO explores his many musical gifts and the lasting impact they've had on our national heritage. Conducted by NSO Music Director Leonard Slatkin--and with on-stage commentary by author Martin Goldsmith complemented with projected photos--the program moves from excerpts of some of Copland's most significant works to complete performances of two masterpieces: Music for a Great City is his soaring evocation of Manhattan from the classic 1961 film Something Wild--and his immensely popular Lincoln Portrait features Abraham Lincoln's own words, including extracts from the Gettysburg Address, as narrated by Corey Parker Robinson (HBO's The Wire).
An AfterWords post-concert discussion with the co-hosts follows each program, free with your concert ticket. | <urn:uuid:3ea08876-6f24-468e-b85c-685790ddae6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=NISFA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919659 | 244 | 1.78125 | 2 |
BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, refers to the trend in enterprise IT to rely on users to supply their own computing hardware in the form of smartphones, tablets, and, to a lesser extent, laptops. While there is an ostensible cost savings to be had in capital expenditure, and businesses can realize productivity in making it as convenient as possible for employees to always be connected, BYOD is mostly just a response to an external reality: as smartphones become more capable, consumers use them for almost all computing tasks side from “heavy” content creation (e.g. programming; video editing). Plus, while checking work email can be a primary task for a consumer smartphone, even on the weekend, the latest generation of users communicate via SMS, Facebook, and Twitter. All of those communication needs are met using public, free apps.
In that context, providing knowledge workers with a separate, corporate-managed, mobile computing device is moot. Nobody needs it.
But if you’re responsibilities include IT security management or compliance then you should already be squirming. There’s a balance to be struck, and it’s unlikely to be the same for any two businesses. On one hand, you have to support the latest communication, collaboration, and information exchange modalities if you want to attract and keep the best people and stay ahead of your competitors. On the other hand, there is a fiduciary obligation to deploy security control systems that, at minimum, help keep honest people honest when it comes to data storage and exchange.
Recent competition in the mobile sector has really paid off for consumers: the latest devices from Apple, Google, and Samsung are incredibly cutting-edge and yet incredibly usable. That impressive combination is in fact an inspiration for us security folks. One one hand, heterogeneity is hard for the IT security manager, since disparate mobile platforms expose different security controls. On the other hand, the raw power and extensibility present in these devices mean that the sky is the limit, both for the IT security manager in terms of developing and applying controls, as well as for the business manager in terms of dreaming up new scenarios for increasing business capability and velocity.
So how to secure all those mobile devices for corporate data access? Let’s use the Four Pillars of Endpoint Security model as a guide:
Endpoint Hardening – technologies such as platform attestation allow server-side resources to extract high-assurance security claims from mobile devices . This helps to keep sensitive data off of malware and rootkit infested devices and can also be used to enforce client attributes such as the use of hardware-based disk encryption. The latest generation of mobile devices supports a variety of high-integrity security features, including TPMs, SIMs, and other hardened cryptographic and data protection features.
Endpoint Reliability – the ability to make mobile devices self-healing is still a work in progress, but all of the major platforms have recognized the increased support cost, and negative user experience, that comes from supporting a wide-open application ecosystem in which discerning good software from bad is impossible for the layman. Curated app stores help endpoint reliability, although they don’t guarantee it. This is moving in the right direction, but enterprises with sophisticated security needs must still necessarily distinguish between managed (e.g. a AD domain-joined laptop) and unmanaged (typical smartphone) devices when it comes to granting information access. Enforcing patching and platform updates is key to maintaining endpoint reliability; technologies exist to do this across all platforms.
Network Prioritization – link encryption is a must-have. All web applications should enforce TLS; all clients support it. Don’t waste bandwidth on unencrypted or untrusted requests.
Network Reliability – many of the same proven security technologies and practices apply equally across traditional enterprise computing assets: routers, servers, laptops, and desktops. Don’t forget that (a) they need to be utilized and (b) they’re constantly increasing in sophistication. This applies whether the assets are mobile, private cloud, or public cloud.
In summary, BYOD security is a tenable problem. Contact JW Secure for a demonstration of our BYOD security solutions. | <urn:uuid:dedcb7ef-8af6-4ee6-9304-7d9142793631> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jwsecure.com/2013/02/24/solving-byod-security/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921232 | 870 | 2.015625 | 2 |
CASRIP Newsletter - Autumn 2007, Volume 14, Issue 4
Open Source Simple Public License (SimPL) Receives OSI Approval
The GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.0 is the most commonly used open source software license. Despite its popularity, GPL 2.0 is a very complex license which makes it hard for programmers to understand and use. As Linux creator Linus Torvalds has put it: “In many ways, my only gripe with the GPL has been how many words it seems to need to say something very simple.” The recent update to the GPL, GPL 3.0, has added additional complexity rather than simplicity. See Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, A First Look at General Public License 3.0, 24 COMPUTER & INTERNET. LAW. 15 (2007).
In 2005 Professor Robert W. Gomulkiewicz published a plain language implementation of GPL 2.0 which he called the Simple Public License (SimPL). Last spring, he and UW School of Law student Jim Sfekas submitted the SimPL to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) for its approval. OSI is one of the key players in the open source software community, so its imprimatur provides an important signal that a license truly meets the definition of licensing under open source terms and conditions. OSI approved the SimPL in early November 2007.
According to Russ Nelson, chair of OSI’s license approval committee: “After a lengthy consideration, the Simple Public License (SimPL) has been added to the list of approved licenses. The concern was that because the SimPL is a reciprocal license, it could create its own ghetto of code unusable by any other project. However, because it contains language that allows relicensing under the GPL v2.0 or v3.0, this will not happen. That should give developers the confidence to adopt the SimPL without fear of marginalization. Thanks to Robert W. Gomulkiewicz for writing it, and his student, Jim Sfekas, for submitting this license.” http://www.opensource.org/node/228.
You can find the SimPL on the OSI website at: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/simpl-2.0.html. | <urn:uuid:7ef5b168-0787-43f5-9e3d-2ab2801ef00a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.washington.edu/Casrip/Newsletter/default.aspx?year=2007&article=newsv14i4SimPL | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917473 | 482 | 2.21875 | 2 |
She also focuses entirely on racism aimed at Latinos and Blacks. She completely ignores racism toward whites and acts as though it does not happen. I can understand that racism toward colored peoples is more relevant, and I can understand the aim at correction, but if she is going to include lessons on sexism, ageism, and on any other difference, I really feel like it should have been mentioned. Racism is not something exclusive to white people, and acting as though they're never discriminated against is simply moronic.
Now that I've diffused pretty much all of your first paragraph by quoting myself (sorry I couldn't correct every mistake you made), allow me explain status quo. Status quo is a matter of perspective. I live in an area that is probably 80%+ Hispanic. Being a white male, I'm sometimes discriminated against. I am apart of the minority. You are telling me that, as a part of the minority, I am the status quo. AND BEFORE YOU GO TALKING ABOUT THE COUNTRY, LET ME RERERERERERECLARIFY SOMETHING.
Status quo is a matter of perspective.
Maybe if I type it bigger, people will get it. I don't care if someone out there does not agree with my definition, because at this point, everyone should know exactly what I mean. I'm not talking about the country as a whole. I'm not talking about the ghetto or some small town in Alabama. I'm talking about my specific situation. Yes, maybe the status quo is white male where you live, but it is not everywhere. Don't come here talking about one status quo, one based entirely off statistics diluted by opinions, and one on such a massive scale it is not only difficult to conceive, but barely relevant.
What she's saying is, racism in some shape or form is so imbedded into culture and society that people don't even realize it's there, an example being you.
I like how you're calling me ignorant, but you don't explain. How am I ignorant? I'm plainly aware racism exists. I'm sorry that I can't be omnipotent in the sense I know all things from all perspectives at one time, but neither can you, and I think I've done a pretty good job with the information I have.
And what is the deal with paragraphs 2 & 3? So everyone is racist and ignorant? What message are you telling me here? I'm sorry I'm too ignorant toward racism to understand. | <urn:uuid:57da4237-e22b-4937-b939-8fcfde283d21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/forum/topic/2575-angry-eyes/page__p__318925 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978048 | 512 | 1.703125 | 2 |
WebQuery helps you determine the schools a student is eligible to attend and the available bus stops. WebQuery also provides a helpful street map. Just enter the student's information and click "Go."
WebQuery helps you match your typed in address with an address in the database by allowing you to enter a partial street name. For example, you could enter "2555 lex" to match "2555 Lexington Ave N."
The bus stop information given in this web query does not guarantee a safe walk path to or from the bus stop. Parents are responsible to get their child to and from the bus safely. The bus stop is not an official assignment until a Transportation Coordinator has reviewed and assigned the bus stop, ensuring the stop meets all guidelines. If you have moved, please make sure you update your address with your school ASAP. | <urn:uuid:b598ca59-8454-413f-a7e9-26fd7da02daf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bus.rogers.k12.ar.us/edulog/webquery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94145 | 167 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Charities working on the ground in Japan desperately need your support.
Japan’s most powerful earthquake since records began hit the north-east coast this morning. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered a 10m tsunami to hit the northern port of Sendai and has swept across the Pacific Ocean, putting all countries surrounding the ocean under threat.
As the news reports have come in, we have watched on in horror at catastrophic scenes of buildings, cars and ships being swept away. The images and videos have left us speechless and thoughts are now turning to how we can help.
Disaster relief charities such as the Red Cross and Shelterbox have already responded.
The ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) immediately mobilised and the team headed to the affected region within hours of the disaster striking. By providing ShelterBoxes to survivors, they are able to equip the families who need it most with shelter and life-saving materials. If you would like to help them so that they can ensure that whenever disaster strikes, they are ready to help those most in need, you can make a donation to the charity at: http://www.justgiving.com/shelterbox-Japan
The Japanese Red Cross are currently working in the areas most affected and assessing the damage, whilst international partners such as the British Red Cross are closely monitoring the situation, and are ready to respond as and when they are needed. You can donate to the British Red Cross Disaster Fund here.
At this stage, it’s hard to know the scale of the disaster. It’s already estimated that over a 1,000 people have died and many more have been injured. Many have lost their homes and millions of people across Japan are completely without power. With it still so difficult to assess the long term impact of the disaster, our thoughts are now with those that have been affected.
If you would like to fundraise to aid the relief effort:
You can create a page for this project: http://www.justgiving.com/project/1787325 | <urn:uuid:47d9abba-995d-4b6a-b5fe-cd4d5c6c3269> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.justgiving.com/community/japan-earthquake-how-you-can-help/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960929 | 418 | 1.851563 | 2 |
In my opinion, to quote Stewart Brand at the first Hackers' Conference in 1984, "On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other."
What we are going to be seeing with EPUB as an open format, the Internet as a distribution method and iPads and other devices as consumption devices is a huge push toward the free side of the equation in the book industry. Making and distributing a book is going to be dirt cheap compared to traditional paper based publishing.
The question is establishing value. This is the challenge to journalists already, and will be to book publishers and librarians. In a sea of free information and the potential for that wave, that has already hit newspapers, to start washing over the book publishing industry the whole idea of monetization has to change. To make money you will have to be really, really useful. If you are not you will be routed around. You will have to find another monetization strategy, a way to embrace free. | <urn:uuid:0719cbce-2d8a-4ae0-8ef9-9186ceb602ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sloantech.blogspot.com/2010/10/thinking-about-future-of-publishing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960588 | 251 | 1.515625 | 2 |
With the assistance of The Nature Conservancy, SANDAG and the U.S. Department of the Interior have bought a 1,905-acre property in East San Diego County for open space preservation and the protection of endangered and threatened species, including the Quino checkerspot butterfly and California gnatcatcher.
The acquisition of the Hidden Valley site in Jamul was announced today at a community celebration onsite. Dignitaries at the event included: Jack Dale, SANDAG First Vice Chair and Santee Councilmember; Wendy Pulling, California Director of Conservation Programs for The Nature Conservancy; Rowan Gould, Deputy Director of Operations for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (which falls under the U.S. Department of the Interior); and Laurie Berman, Caltrans District 11 Director.
“The sheer size and strategic location of the Hidden Valley property makes it another crown jewel in our TransNet Environmental Mitigation Program,” Dale said. “Since starting the program in 2008, less than five years ago, SANDAG has preserved more than 3,300 acres of open space and valuable habitat in the San Diego region.”
The newly-acquired land is now part of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge, an 11,000-acre-plus block of habitat long recognized for its rich and unique biodiversity. The Hidden Valley site fills in the missing links between the National Wildlife Refuge managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve managed by the California Department of Fish and Game.
“Conserving lands like Hidden Valley not only provides the space that plants and animals need to thrive, but also guarantees citizens and the generations to follow that they will have these places to connect with nature and enjoy the benefits it provides,” Pulling said. “It’s truly an example of what private-public partnering can achieve together.”
Through the TransNet Environmental Mitigation Program (EMP), SANDAG contributed $10 million toward the $18 million purchase price for the property and covered the cost for 953 acres of the 1,905-acre site. The Department of the Interior, with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, paid the balance. The Nature Conservancy negotiated the reduced “bargain sale” purchase price, which was $2 million lower than the market value estimate of $20 million as determined in an appraisal obtained by the Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The seller, Hidden Valley Development, LLC, may claim a charitable gift for tax purposes as part of the transaction. Escrow for the sale closed at the end of June.
TransNet – a regional half-cent sales tax for transportation approved by taxpayers countywide – sets aside $850 million over a 40-year period to buy, conserve, and restore native habitat as offsets to disturbances caused by transportation projects. The EMP allows SANDAG to comprehensively satisfy mitigation requirements by buying land in advance of projects, in larger parcels, and at lower prices. By focusing on early, large-scale, and cost-effective investments in habitat conservation, the EMP has become a model for other agencies.
The Hidden Valley acquisition helps SANDAG and Caltrans meet environmental mitigation requirements for scores of regional transportation improvements planned countywide, including:
SR 54/SR 125 between I-5 and SR 94; SR 94/SR 125 between I-5 and I-8; I-5 between SR 905 and SR 54; I-8 between SR 125 and Los Coches Road; I-15 between SR 94 and SR 163; I-15/SR 94 HOV connectors; SR 52 between I-5 and I-805; SR 94 between Avocado Boulevard and Steele Canyon Road; SR 125 between SR 905 and San Miguel Road; as well as small regional projects and local roads and streets.
Had SANDAG purchased land piecemeal to meet the mitigation requirements for these projects, it would have cost an estimated $58 million. By teaming up with the Department of the Interior to jointly purchase the Hidden Valley property, SANDAG saved taxpayers an estimated $48 million.
Situated on the northeast flank of Mount San Miguel, the Hidden Valley property is at the heart of the Otay-Sweetwater Unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge, considered the largest block of intact habitat in coastal San Diego County. The newly-acquired land combines with thousands of acres of open space nearby to create continuous wildlife corridors critical to the survival of endangered and threatened species.
“Acquiring this land helps accomplish the goals of not only the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but also the goals of the suite of agencies and organizations working together under San Diego Multiple Species Conservation Program to preserve the exceptional biodiversity of San Diego,” Gould said.
According to The Nature Conservancy, federal, state, and local partners, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, County of San Diego, City of San Diego, SANDAG, and the Conservancy have to date collectively invested more than $150 million in and around the National Wildlife Refuge to help fulfill the vision laid out in the county’s Multiple Species Conservation Program.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org. | <urn:uuid:6979d0cf-c0e0-44d5-9328-b052c10c0f5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/pressreleases/nearly-2000-acres-of-valuable-habitat-acquired-and-preserved-acquisition-a-1.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930197 | 1,140 | 2.078125 | 2 |
We are having a really fascinating discussion at the LMCS Group about Intertextuality. Robert Hill is our fielded this time and he’s been doing a superb job. Actually, he’s going in a quite different direction of what I expected because instead of tackling the topic from a sort of Kristevian point of view he is actually approaching it from the practical classroom side of it.
I mean, we are not discussing intertextuality in the way texts talk about texts, but in the way texts can be connected with each other, both in written form and using other media. Rob’s opening example was Dr. Jeckill and Mr. Hide and the Incredible Hulk (!) Now people are coming up with all sorts of connections and this has been really really engaging!
Obviously I had to post on Maiden’s songs and all their rich lit background | <urn:uuid:506dc9b4-5553-4d10-891c-0598ed78747c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chrislima90.wordpress.com/tag/intertextuality/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973187 | 178 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Scientists from the National Institute of Standard and Technology have developed a new way to store hydrogen through the use of nanotechnology. Hydrogen storage has been an ongoing problem that has kept fuel cells from entering the commercial market en masse. Scientists and alternative energy advocates have been frustrated by the fact that a scant few flaws in fuel cells and hydrogen storage has stunted the adoption of the fuel and have been working at overcoming these issues in earnest. Scientists have new developed what they are calling “iron veins” that could be a final solution to the storage problem.
The so called veins are a series of permeating magnesium grains that are linked together to form a network that is very similar to capillaries found in the body. Coupling magnesium with iron creates a system that can quickly absorbed and redistribute hydrogen fuel, making it an ideal candidate as a fuel tank in hydrogen-powered vehicles. The system is lightweight as well, meaning that it can be used in commercial vehicles.
Nanotechnology is often considered a branch of science that will bear the solution to many of today’s problems. The technology has been advancing quickly and has begun living up to the expectations surrounding it. This new hydrogen storage system may help push commercial acceptance of hydrogen fuel, further solidifying the value of nanotechnology and research into how it can be used to solve problems with alternative energy systems. | <urn:uuid:9b7e004b-76db-4c20-9703-d6fe221420ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/new-nanotechnology-could-solve-the-hydrogen-storage-problem/851341/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969182 | 275 | 4 | 4 |
David Hyde sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Michael Moss to talk about the role that processed food companies play in obesity and the health of consumers and what they learned from tobacco companies.
Originally published on Thu March 14, 2013 10:30 am
Want to know where you can't buy fresh, healthful food? The USDA has the map for you.
The feds' new Food Access Research Atlas lets you find out just where it's difficult to buy broccoli or bananas in counties across the U.S. Forget walking to the store in St. Louis, Minn., where most people live more than a mile from a grocery store. Ditto for Hyde, N.C., and Pushmataha, Okla.
Later this year, Washington state voters may get the chance to weigh in on whether genetically modified foods should be labeled as such. Supporters of proposed Initiative 522 say consumers are owed the information about what's in their food. I-522's opponents say there are no known risks to GMOs, so why label them? We look at the science of genetically modified organisms and how I-522 would affect consumers with professor Toby Bradshaw of the University of Washington and Dr. Michael Hansen of Consumers Union. | <urn:uuid:6c7af6a7-7c19-47b7-a467-a56ac962dee6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kuow.org/term/food?page=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955707 | 248 | 2.171875 | 2 |
There's been a great deal of debate as of late regarding higher education in the fire service, its value and its impact both positive and negative.
A recent article decried the hiring of a chief officer who didn't have a "higher" education. I put the higher in quotes because I'm not always sure what the education is higher than.
My father and grandfather (and many cousins and uncles) were career firefighters and I was one of the first in my family to go to a four-year college for a Bachelor of Arts degree.
My father would often ask me (because he was paying a lot of money for me to go to school), "So, what are you going to do again with this degree?"
I had to constantly remind him that my degree was not a vocational degree, not a trade school, but that his money wasn't being wasted.
He will now tell you he was very glad I went to school as that's where I met my wife. But I can see how it is difficult to determine the value of something like a bachelor's degree.
In the end what I learned was how to learn. That is, I learned how to pick up a book on just about any subject, listen to some lectures and then do it.
That ability, the ability to learn, does have great value to me and my employers, both past and present, when I've used it.
It has been very helpful for me to pick up apparatus manuals and learn the inner workings to develop pump operations and aerial operations programs for my fire department.
But; at the same time, I doubt anyone in my fire department cares two hoots if I have a higher education degree.
At the same time there are many who place much too much emphasis on the diplomas of colleges and national, state or local classes without understanding their role in the education of a fire officer or firefighter.
Learning is almost always a worthwhile endeavor for the individual, but it doesn't mean that all learning brings value to the organization.
Too often, because members don't understand the mission or goals of their organization, they quickly embrace or dismiss higher education.
I was told once that running laps is a lazy coach's way of filling in practice time. In the same way, I think adoption of some classroom training is chosen by fire service administrators as an easy way out.
Instead of looking at the needs of your organization, you just require the following classes and move on.
Many would say that there's no need for higher education in our industry. That fire suppression is a trade, pure science and as such can be taught in trade schools and fire academies, or institutions of higher learning.
Others will claim that fire suppression is art, that cannot be taught in school but only on the "back step" or by the saltier senior members of the squad. I like to think it's a mixture of both.
I met a great group of training officers a few weeks ago. We discussed the mixture of art and science in the fire service.
And I mentioned that if you had the chance of having two different plumbers work on your house; one was very capable, had come out of a training academy and knew how to perform the steps necessary to perform the job, the other had the same training, but had received a degree in engineering, understood the chemical reactions in the work he did, understood both how the plumbing worked and why it worked; which would you want to work on your house?
All indicated they wanted the second.
I believe, at the end of the day, that that is the value of higher education for our industry. Learning the strategy, tactics and tasks cannot come solely from a book.
You have to jump in the seat (as we're not allowed on the back step any longer) and get your hands dirty. But having a degree allows you to learn even more, at a faster pace.
For some of us higher education and additional training allows you to get more out of the experience. Some of us simply had to learn how to learn. | <urn:uuid:0c45fa5c-291c-4ac4-8032-e8d3fa79d765> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.firerescue1.com/firefighter-safety/articles/1169465-firefighting-and-degrees-does-higher-education-matter/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986338 | 833 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Volunteers joined thousands of others across the nation in order to fulfill Housing and Urban Development's requirement to do a Point in Time homeless count to provide the government with a snapshot of the homeless population in every county on a single day.
Tehama County Continuum of Care volunteers worked in a joint effort with Tehama County Mental Health, Alternatives To Violence, Bethel Church, Mandolfo Catering, Feed the Hungry in Los Molinos, St. Andrew's Church in Corning, Migrant Ed, Department of Social Services, Choices for Change and TLC, Red Bluff Fire, Tehama County Library, Hands of Hope, Tehama County Drug and Alcohol and Child Protective Services, PATH, Pathways and the PATH Sale House.
HUD requires all counties to do a Point in Time count of homeless residents every two years at the end of January - ideally, on the same day to avoid duplications of the surveys.
Residents willing to answer a few basic questions, such as where they stayed the previous night, how long they have been homeless, factors that led to their situation and sources of income, were given a bag with water and snacks as a thank you for participating.
The initial survey results reveal that Tehama County has about 160 homeless residents
The primary cause or factor contributing to homelessness in the area is economic.
Recycling was one of the main sources of income reported on the survey. Panhandling is illegal and most of the local homeless said they don't panhandle.
Wayne Owensby spent his day walking up and down gullies, across fields and behind bushes looking for homeless people to survey.
"As a Christian, I feel a responsibility to help both those with means and without means who live in my community," Owensby said. "The results of this survey will help add to the funding we have available to help the less fortunate among us."
The majority of homeless were very forthcoming with answers.
Data gathered are provided to agencies competing for HUD funding.
One person said he was no longer homeless, but he wanted the volunteer to know that a year ago he was on the streets and Department of Social Services helped him and he was able to get a down payment on a mobile home.
Plans are already underway to make sure that next year's Point in Time count is even more successful in accurately capturing a picture of the homeless in the community.
It is a big project and more volunteers are always welcome and needed.
To learn more, call Owensby at 530-526-3082, or send an email to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Corrected by the DN | <urn:uuid:9f59869c-5378-474d-86ca-63b014a73664> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/ci_22472212/tehama-county-point-time-homeless-survey-everyone-counts?source=most_viewed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967466 | 546 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Investigators: Lauren Nicholas
Funding: Michigan Center on the Demography of Aging 2012-2013
In response to widespread geographic variation in the quality of hospital care provided to Medicare beneficiaries, payers and policymakers have attempted to move patients to higher quality hospitals through public reporting of quality measures. To date, there is little evidence that patients use currently available measures. This project proposes that information about patient functional status and pain after hospitalization, measures that universal, easy to understand, and relevant for all admissions types could improve hospital report cards. I will use Health and Retirement Study survey data linked to Medicare claims and measures of hospital quality to assess the relationship between currently reported measures and patient outcomes and to assess properties of patient self-report data for use as future quality measures.
Country of Focus: USA
Note: If you are reading this, it may be that you are using rather old web browsing software that does not support modern international Web technology standards. For a better experience of this site and the web in general, please upgrade your web browser software today:
Firefox; Opera; Safari. | <urn:uuid:07e2fc52-7d33-4a85-9883-c64bc452b5c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://micda.psc.isr.umich.edu/project/detail/35694 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921812 | 218 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Human attention rightly focuses on the decline of biodiversity on land, but this should not happen at the expense of the oceans—attention to marine biodiversity is also urgently needed if we want to maintain a stable relationship between humans and the sea. The oceans have no owner and no single nation or international organization is liable for their health. As a consequence, the seas are under increasing pressure. Humankind is destroying the coastline and its protection against flooding, polluting coastal waters and critically changing the oceanic food webs by overfishing of the top predators over large parts of the world. Marine Protected Areas and Nature Reserves are now being established rapidly but not in areas beyond national jurisdiction which remain vulnerable to uncontrolled exploitation. This includes most of the open ocean and deep-water habitats on Earth and so, in fact, most of the planet.
Marine Biodiversity Research
We know more about the Moon than about the oceans and more money is spent on space research than on exploration of the deep sea, the last unknown habitat on Earth and one where exciting discoveries can still be made. As an example, since 1980 two new animal phyla have been discovered that are endemic to the marine environment and a whole series of new habitats have been found and explored in the last ten years. Even more recently is the exploration of the vast genetic and microbial diversity. The need for extended exploration is exemplified by programs such as the Census of Marine Life, a worldwide effort to explore and understand the biodiversity of the oceans.
An important product of marine biodiversity research should be the necessary knowledge and tools for adequately managing and protecting marine biodiversity. This requires knowledge on genetic and ecological mechanisms that control biodiversity (gene flow, dispersal, adaptive value of genetic polymorphisms, determination of dispersal and recruitment, species interactions including invasions, sediment transport, natural and human-induced catastrophes, etc.). It also requires knowledge on the functional role of biodiversity: what is the variability in genes, species and communities that is required for ‘normal’ or desirable ecosystem functioning; and models on dispersal of genes and organisms, species interactions and food webs, the interaction between food webs and biogeochemical fluxes, and impact assessment of diffuse and point source pollution, coastal constructions, mass tourism and global climate change. | <urn:uuid:f8a5d497-8aa3-402f-b85c-2018e9872833> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biology-online.org/articles/marine_biodiversity/protection_marine_biodiversity.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930645 | 461 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Invited commentary by Dr. Sanjeev Sethi
The pathogenesis of minimal change disease has remained enigmatic until recently. With advances in the pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, it was a matter of time before studies would reveal the underlying mechanism of minimal change disease. Recent studies have shown that primary membranous nephropathy is due to antibodies to phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R antibodies), and primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis may be linked to development of high levels of serum soluble urokinase receptor (suPAR). In the current issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Chugh et al reviewed recent studies showing that minimal change disease may be related to overproduction of angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) by podocytes in mice. Chugh et al reviewed their work showing that overproduction of ANGPTL4 by podocytes results in binding of ANGPTL4 to the glomerular basement membrane with eventual clustering of ANGPTL4 in the sub-epithelial region of the glomerular basement membrane, resulting in podocyte foot process effacement and development of proteinuria. Furthermore, they show that it is the accumulation of a hyposialylated form of ANGPTL4 that results in loss of glomerular basement membrane charge, suggesting that a new form of therapy with sialylating agents maybe be beneficial in minimal change disease. We are living in exciting times with regards to nephrotic syndrome as we elucidate the mechanism of previously idiopathic diseases. It is now time to tailor specific treatment based on the underlying etiology of the nephrotic syndrome.
Sanjeev Sethi, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic
Please check out the first post on this AJKD article. | <urn:uuid:72f7c6a4-d75b-46b1-a263-43a41845053d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ajkdblog.org/2012/02/17/minimal-change-disease-a-second-perspective/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906434 | 397 | 1.960938 | 2 |
The Los Angeles-based Climate Action Reserve (CAR), an offset registry for the North American carbon market, has adopted a new standard that aims to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) from a significant methane source in the U.S. — food. The Organic Waste Composting (OWC) Project Protocol provides guidelines for developing carbon offset projects and generating offset credits, which can be traded in the carbon market, by diverting food waste from landfills to composting operations.
Local governments and other parties that initiate composting projects can use the OWC Project Protocol to register GHG reductions with CAR. The protocol provides eligibility rules, methods to calculate reductions, performance-monitoring instructions, and procedures for reporting project information. Additionally, all project reports receive annual, independent verification by ISO-accredited and CAR-approved verification bodies. The protocol is "designed to ensure the complete, consistent, transparent, accurate, and conservative quantification and verification of GHG emission reductions associated with organic waste composting projects," according to the protocol document.
The OWC Project Protocol creates a financial incentive to mitigate the amounts of methane emitted from food waste, and it provides "an affordable and realistic opportunity for people outside of the traditional carbon market to become involved," Linda Adams, chair of CAR's Board of Directors and secretary of the California, said in a statement. "It is surprising for many people when they discover the environmental damage that can be done by the food we throw away," Adams said.
Currently, an estimated 2.5 percent of food waste is composted, according to CAR. Food waste that is not composted typically gets deposited in a landfill where it rapidly decomposes under anaerobic conditions and creates significant amounts of methane, which is over 21 times more potent to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Food waste sources include municipalities, schools, grocery stores, restaurants, food wholesale distributors and public venues, all of which could participate in the OWC protocol by diverting waste from the landfill to a composting operation.
Download a copy of the OWC Project Protocol. | <urn:uuid:ce3b33eb-6edf-49ec-bfc2-bb9899cb4a6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americancityandcounty.com/pubwks/solid_waste/composting-greenhousegas-protocol-20100715?cid=GPjump | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930982 | 418 | 3 | 3 |
January 2011 issue:
Consulting-Specifying Engineer magazine recently sat down with OPUS Dean of Engineering Dr. Robert Bishop to discuss the current state of engineering education at Marquette University. Bishop discussed the importance of the new engineering facility and how it will be used, the definition of discovery learning and what skills engineers will need in the upcoming “Creative Age”. Click here for interview video and article.
Marquette’s engineering co-op program is alive and kicking. Record numbers of students are applying for Co-op and intern positions. They are truly energized about the opportunity to work as engineers while they complete their course work. Employer feedback from student interviews is overwhelmingly positive – they report that our students’ skill sets and interview preparation are solid.
More than 230 junior and senior students currently participate in the program. Sophomores are now beginning their job searches for co-op positions starting in summer or fall of 2011 and January, 2012 and intern positions for summer 2011 and/or part-time during the 2011-2012 academic year. AFG Group, Apple, Amcon Construction & Design, Cooper Industries, Gauthier Biomedical and Titan Spine are a few of the companies which recently have increased their number of co-op and intern positions.
The Engineering Co-op Program staff and Marquette Career Services are ready to assist with job postings and interview schedules. MU Career Manager is our on-line job posting system, where all Co-op and intern jobs are posted.
We truly appreciate the responses and leads we received from our call for job opportunities in the October issue of AHOYA. Please contact Sue Michaelson, assistant dean and director of the co-op program, or Laura Lindemann, assistant chair of biomedical engineering, with any job opportunities or leads you may have.
Webster’s dictionary defines capstone as “the high point, the crowning achievement”.
The Multidisciplinary Capstone Design course, traditionally called senior design, in the College of Engineering brings a small team of senior students, often from a variety of engineering disciplines, together to solve a real-world problem. Each team has a faculty and/or industry advisor and often an industry sponsor. Project ideas come from industry, faculty and students themselves – students in an engineering co-op or intern position may bring a problem and industry mentors back to the capstone design course. Teams tackle the problem in the same way that an engineering design team in industry works to solve a problem – analyze experiment, build, test and finally present a solution.
In the next several issues of AHOYA we’ll examine the capstone design experience in more detail and provide insight into individual projects and this “high point” experience of a Marquette engineering education. Below is the first in a series of articles about current/recent capstone design projects.
The capstone design team of Marceas Warren, Jeff Midday, Cheryl Perich and Pete Schutt was one of 41 teams represented at the International Capstone Design Fair (ICDF) in Seoul, Korea, last month. Learn about their “Iron Oxide Magnetic Filtration Mechanism” project
Marceas and Dr. Vik Cariapa, co-instructor of the multidisciplinary capstone design course and associate professor of mechanical engineering, presented a poster of their work and displayed a working model of their design to a panel of judges. Marceas and his teammates won a best participation prize for their project.
Marceas Warren and the prize winning project
The College of Engineering Alumni Association invites you to its annual Silent Auction and Basketball Game on Saturday, January 29, 2011 - Marquette Golden Eagles vs. Syracuse on National Marquette Day. Click here for detailed information and to make a reservation.
Celebrate National Marquette Day and help provide student scholarship aid for the College of Engineering. Over the years, this annual event has raised nearly $100,000 in scholarship support, helping young adults receive a transformational Marquette engineering education.
Meet College of Engineering OPUS Dean Robert Bishop as you enjoy a full brunch buffet, competitive bidding and camaraderie among engineering friends. Then head over to the Bradley Center to watch Marquette’s Golden Eagles take on a BIG EAST rival, the Syracuse Orange.
|Event presented by:|
COEAA gratefully acknowledges these additional auction sponsors:
|Boyle Fredrickson S.C.||Intren, Inc.||Kohler Company|
|STRATTECH SECURITY CORPORATION||Walbridge|
Have you recently earned a promotion, welcomed a baby or celebrated an anniversary? Share it with fellow alumni – and learn about the latest news in their lives too – with Class Notes on MU Connect. Learn more.
Warmest wishes for a new year filled with joy and peace to you and your family from all of us in the College of Engineering.
We realize that we are missing many e-mail addresses for alumni and friends who should receive this e-newsletter, so we're asking for your help. If you received this e-newsletter directly from Marquette, it means we already have your e-mail address on our mailing list. However, we would really appreciate it if you would forward this newsletter to your fellow alumni, friends and other friends of the College and tell them they can subscribe to the list to receive future editions of this e-newsletter.
To subscribe to this newsletter: Click this link; subscribe; provide your name and e-mail address; and submit your subscription. Be sure to visit the college website for complete information on your College.Unsubscribe from our newsletter | <urn:uuid:80f314d4-a7f7-477c-a70a-eaa090d4963e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marquette.edu/engineering/ahoya/january11/ahoya_01_11.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944973 | 1,171 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Rational Response Squad launches $25,000 attack on the Holy Spirit
"The Blasphemy Challenge" Rewards Participants For Demonstrating Non- Belief On YouTube
Los Angeles -- December 14, 2006. As part of its ongoing War on Christmas, the Rational Response Squad has launched a $25,000 campaign to entice young people to publicly renounce any belief in the sky God of Christianity.
Called "The Blasphemy Challenge," this campaign encourages participants to commit what Christian doctrine calls the only unforgivable sin -- blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. (The "Holy Spirit" is an invisible ghost who Christians believe dwells on Earth as God's representative.)
Participants who videotape their blasphemy and upload it to YouTube will receive a free DVD of the hit documentary THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE, which normally sells for $24.98. Beyond Belief Media, the distributor of THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE, has donated 1001 DVDs to the Rational Response Squad for The Blasphemy Challenge. The trailer video explaining the project can be viewed on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7QVbJnSPQE
More than 130 participants have already blasphemed the Holy Spirit and earned free DVDs during the pre-launch phase of the Blasphemy Challenge. Their videos can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7D6338FA4A19B4C3
While anyone can participate in The Blasphemy Challenge, the Rational Response Squad is focused on reaching a young demographic. To publicize The Blasphemy Challenge to young people, today the Rational Response Squad begins an online advertising campaign focused on 25 sites popular with teens such as Xanga, Friendster, Boy Scout Trail, Tiger Beat, Teen Magazine, YM, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen.
Find out more at: http://www.blasphemychallenge.com
To interview participants in The Blasphemy Challenge or request a review copy for the media of THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE, please contact Zoe Lee via email at . Christians can receive a free copy of the movie by following the brief rules listed here. Brian Sapient co-founder of the Rational Response Squad can be reached at
ABOUT THE RATIONAL RESPONSE SQUAD
The Rational Response Squad addresses irrational emergencies of all kinds, especially the ongoing emergency created by religious faith. What started in February 2006 as a popular internet radio show has since blossomed into an activist group with 21,000 members, seven regional chapters and a fast-growing youth division organized at www.FreeThinkingTeens.com. The Squad focuses on debunking false claims, publicizing the work of atheists and skeptics, and directly engaging the faithful with the goal of converting them to reason. The Squad's War on Christmas also includes initiatives to give free THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE DVDs to Christians who request them as well as covertly planting DVDs in Christian churches.
ABOUT "THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE"
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE did it to the gun culture. SUPER SIZE ME did it to fast food. THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE does it to religion. A #1 bestselling independent documentary at Amazon.com, THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE holds Christianity up to a bright spotlight and asks the questions few dare to ask. Starting off by exploring the case that Jesus never actually existed, the movie goes on to examine other aspects of the Christian religion through interviews with Richard Dawkins, author Sam Harris, historian Richard Carrier and many others. Los Angeles Times: "Provocative -- to put it mildly." See: http://www.thegodmovie.com
Atheist Books, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server. | <urn:uuid:fefc01ac-89f5-43c9-ad10-bb9dbb610560> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rationalresponders.com/rational_response_squad_launches_25_000_attack_on_the_holy_spirit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904474 | 793 | 1.5 | 2 |
The Silent Member
by C. J. Dennis (1876-1938)
He lived in Mundaloo, and Bill McClosky was his name,
But folks that knew him well had little knowledge of that same;
For he some'ow lost his surname, and he had so much to say –
He was called "The Silent Member" in a mild, sarcastic way.
He could talk on any subject – from the weather and the crops
To astronomy and Euclid, and he never minded stops;
And the lack of a companion didn't lay him on the shelf,
For he'd stand before a looking-glass and argue with himself.
He would talk for hours on literature, or calves, or art, or wheat;
There was not a bally subject you could say had got him beat;
And when strangers brought up topics that they reckoned he would baulk,
He'd remark, "I never heard of that." But all the same – he'd talk.
He'd talk at christ'nings by the yard; at weddings by the mile;
And he used to pride himself upon his choice of words and style.
In a funeral procession his remarks would never end
On the qualities and virtues of the dear departed friend.
We got quite used to hearing him, and no one seemed to care –
In fact, no happ'ning seemed complete unless his voice was there.
For close on thirty year he talked, and none could talk him down,
Until one day an agent for insurance struck the town.
Well, we knew The Silent Member, and we knew what he could do,
And it wasn't very long before we knew the agent, too,
As a crack long-distance talker that was pretty hard to catch;
So we called a hasty meeting and decided on a match.
Of course, we didn't tell them we were putting up the game;
But we fixed it up between us, and made bets upon the same.
We named a time-keep and a referee to see it through;
Then strolled around, just casual, and introduced the two.
The agent got first off the mark, while our man stood and grinned;
He talked for just one solid hour, then stopped to get his wind.
"Yes; but – " sez Bill; that's all he said; he couldn't say no more;
The agent got right in again, and fairly held the floor.
On policies, and bonuses, and premiums, and all that,
He talked and talked until we thought he had our man out flat.
"I think – " Bill got in edgeways, but that there insurance chap
Just filled himself with atmosphere, and took the second lap.
I saw our man was getting dazed, and sort of hypnotized,
And they oughter pulled the agent up right there, as I advised.
"See here – " Bill started, husky; but the agent came again,
And talked right on for four hours good - from six o'clock to ten.
Then Bill began to crumple up, and weaken at the knees,
When all at once he ups and shouts, "Here, give a bloke a breeze!
Just take a pull for half a tick and let me have the floor,
And I'll take out a policy." The agent said no more.
The Silent Member swallowed hard, then coughed and cleared his throat,
But not a single word would come – no; not a blessed note.
His face looked something dreadful – such a look of pained dismay;
Then he have us one pathetic glance, and turned, and walked away.
He's hardly spoken since that day – not more than "Yes" or "No".
We miss his voice a good bit, too; the town seems rather slow.
He was called "The Silent Member" just sarcastic, I'll allow;
But since that agent handled him it sort o' fits him now.
About the Author
See our page on C. J. Dennis. Includes a linked list of all his writing available on our website.
Back to Australian Writers | <urn:uuid:80ef4fdc-56a3-4573-8382-dbb614c92b33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alldownunder.com/australian-authors/cj-dennis/silent-member.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985042 | 877 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Q:Can you link to the source / study that states there are more RA-related deaths than there are Lupus-related?
Absolutely. This post from RA Warrior details the comparison, and these two sources from the Center for Disease Control are how the fact was derived. To sum it up for you from the ‘97 CDC mortality reports, RA accounted for 22% of all deaths due to arthritis and other rheumatic conditions, Lupus accounted for 14.5%. As of 2006, mortality rates for Lupus has decreased, so that’s always good news! Unfortunately as of 2007, the RA mortality gap was still widening, however there was a decrease in mortality rates among pediatric RA sufferers. | <urn:uuid:ebf99908-be3b-4dbe-9f91-c5e1d28d1e19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chroniccurve.tumblr.com/post/16264517108/can-you-link-to-the-source-study-that-states-there | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974725 | 145 | 2.125 | 2 |
The Record: It's a 'shore' thing
LT. GOV. Kim Guadagno wasn't carrying chocolates or flowers when she visited the Jersey Shore on Monday, but she was looking to spread a little love nonetheless.
Guadagno's larger message was an unwritten valentine, simply an awareness that the Shore is on the mend and beginning to recover from the physical and emotional battering it took at the hands of superstorm Sandy.
The Shore's recovery, of course, is critical to the state's economy and to state government's revenue projections. Travel and tourism in New Jersey is a $38 billion business, and if people don't return to the Shore, and return in good numbers this summer, the state's treasury will suffer a significant hit.
Guadagno was pushing the Shore as a destination spot well ahead of the traditional beach season. She visited Jenkinson's Aquarium to kick off the "Show Your Love for the Jersey Shore" campaign, one of a number of public and privately funded marketing campaigns to promote the region in the wake of devastation left by Sandy.
The lieutenant governor could not have chosen a better place to hype the region's resurgence. Jenkinson's Aquarium reopened Feb. 1, reported State House Bureau Writer Melissa Hayes, after sustaining extensive damage to its basement, which housed a veterinary room and quarantine tanks. The aquarium's upstairs, which houses penguins, fish tanks and classrooms, went largely unscathed.
Museum director Cindy Claus said that while there had been "a lot of destruction and a lot of sadness" brought on by the storm, many Shore businesses have reopened. She made the appeal to would-be visitors that "you need to come back, because that's the only way these businesses are going to survive."
Indeed, despite all the political drama on display in trying to get federal aid, along the Shore the heart and soul of the rebuilding effort originated in the pluck and determination of the people themselves, those who live, work and own businesses or properties there. Time and again they have shown resilience, boldly stepping forward and refusing to allow circumstance to dictate their futures.
All New Jersey residents can reward the home-grown initiative in Shore towns by paying them a visit and spending at those venues that are open. (Guadagno visited three chocolate shops in the area last week). Of course, it's not going to happen overnight. The losses inflicted were severe and long-lasting. Yet the Jersey Shore is as much a part of the state's identity as anything else. And right now it needs some love. | <urn:uuid:8679258e-d34b-445a-bad3-a1059deb9b31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/190974831_The_Record__It_s_a__shore__thing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96961 | 530 | 1.625 | 2 |
On March 13, 2013, after five rounds of voting, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was selected as pope, making him the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the first non-European pope in modern times, and the first from the Jesuit order. In this post, we round up a range of reactions to the selection of the new pope—both within the English-language press and across Latin America.
Cardinal Bergoglio is the first pope to have chosen the name of Francis. Many assume that this choice is in reference to St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order. At CNN, Holly Yan points out that “St. Francis of Assisi was born the son of a rich cloth merchant. But he lived in rags among beggars at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.” An article at La Vanguardia quotes Europa Press, stating that while it is possible Bergoglio meant to recall St. Francis of Assisi, it is also possible that he was choosing to remember St. Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Society of Jesus. Should this be the case, it would give a different connotation to his papacy, one of evangelization, rather than piety.
In particular, Pope Francis has been lauded for his humble behavior as a cardinal. At the Global Post’s Belief blog, Emily Judem writes that the new pope is an extremely humble man, eschewing showy garments, and taking public transportation to work. She quotes Charles Sennott, Global Post founder, as saying, “The thing to know about Cardinal Bergoglio is that he has often been regarded as the conscience of the church in terms of the costs of globalization on the world’s poor.” An article in the Economist claims that “this was a good moment for a rupture with the past, and in some respects the cardinals’ choice does represent a clean break.… Pope Francis is different enough, in style and origin, to be credible as a ‘new broom’ sweeping the Vatican stables clean.” However, Francis still supports the church’s very conservative views on gay marriage and abortion. La Nacion writes that Pope Francis is an avid opponent of both matrimonio igualitario—egalitarian (gay) marriage—and abortion. He has been quoted as saying, “No seamos ingenuos: no se trata de una simple lucha política; es la pretensión destructiva al plan de Dios” (Let’s not be naïve; it is not just a political struggle, but a claim to destroy God’s Plan).
There has also been controversy surrounding the new pope’s relationship with the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983. An article written by Horacio Verbitsky, author of El Silencio (The Silence), in which Bergoglio is implicated with the junta, provides five testimonials, which, according to Verbitsky, confirm Bergoglio’s role. Defenders of Francis have included Nobel Peace Prize winner Perez Esquivel, who has vouched for Francis’s actions during the dictatorship, stating that while some members of the church were active with the junta, Francis was not one of them. An article for the Guardian takes a more neutral stance, calling the evidence “sketchy” and “contested,” while also referencing an apology that the church made in 2000, regarding its failure to take a stand against the military regime.
For the first time in history, the Vatican did not only signal the election of a new pope via white smoke but also, simultaneously, tweeted “habemus papam.” Presidents across Latin America welcomed the first South American pope as their own. A compilation by Infobae includes the various tweets, as well as comments from regional leaders, including president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, who said that Hugo Chávez must have influenced the decision from Heaven.
At 75, Francis is the nintholdest pope ever elected, according to Nate Silver. Silver notes that while the cardinals may not have been thinking directly about the length of Pope Francis’ term, “if Francis serves for 5 to 10 years, a considerable number of the cardinals will have another opportunity to steer the course of the church by voting again on a pope, something that would have been much less likely had they selected a candidate in his 50s or 60s.”
For a larger discussion on the issues that Pope Francis faces in his new role, see this New York Times article by Rachel Donadio. | <urn:uuid:6ec5705e-1736-4321-9ad4-5cac1e552e24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2013/03/14/habemus-papam-pope-francis-roundup/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961805 | 968 | 2.4375 | 2 |
|Reviews for Dance of the Moth|
| David Lovato 6/14/06 . chapter 1
I love the imagery provided on this.I don't know if you'll like my interpretation on the meaning, but here goes:Obviously, moths are attracted to light. This poem makes me feel like the person telling it wants someone to see how they are or how they feel, but there is someone or something, this 'moth' preventing that from happening by being too attracted to the storyteller, like maybe a love interest keeps getting turned away because of someone who is very clingy.I'm probably wrong, though.
| MidnightStar005 2/28/06 . chapter 1 | <urn:uuid:563ae847-24d6-4dc9-aee0-1b9cc6118416> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fictionpress.com/r/2121909/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967585 | 145 | 1.515625 | 2 |
BUCKEYE FIREARMS: Stay up-to-date on gun laws, politics, and events. Plus get the Grassroots Action Guide FREE!
Exposed: Virginia Tech officials took care of themselves after ensuring the kids in their care could not
By Jim Irvine
New evidence about the 2007 Virginia Tech killings shed new light on the arrogance and hypritical stance of University leaders. The murder of 32 students was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history until the Ft. Hood massacre last month and remains the worst school shooting ever on U.S. soil.
Virginia Tech is no stranger to violence. They had two shootings in the 2006-2007 school year. A student worried about the possibility of another shooting asked school officials to reconsider their "no guns" policy. School officials not only rebuffed and mocked that request, they also cheered the defeat of a bill that would have allowed their students to defend their own lives with a gun on campus.
Soon after, in the middle of a killing spree, when their concern should have been focused 100% on the very students they rendered helpless, school officials focused on themselves and their families, waiting over an hour to share information with the students who would soon die.
From the Associated Press:
Some Virginia Tech officials warned their own families and the president's office was locked down well before a campus-wide alert was issued in the 2007 slayings of 32 people, according to a revised state report that details new fumbles in the response to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
One student survived several hours after being shot without anyone notifying her family until she had died, said the updated report, released Friday.
At least two officials with a crisis response team called their family members after the first shootings at a dorm and about 90 minutes before the all-campus alert was issued at 9:26 a.m.. The president's office was locked down at 8:52 a.m. and two academic buildings were also shut down before the general alert.
Not just any officials, but at least two that were part of the "crisis response team" called their family members but did nothing for those who were soon to be murder victims. The president's office was quickly locked down, but he didn't find time to even let his students know about the impending danger. He obviously cares a lot more about himself than his teachers or students.
It is widely accepted that nothing is more stressful than the loss of your child. Grieving parents now know that the officials whose job it is to protect those in their care, ignored logic, student requests, and a wealth of evidence in defending their victim disarmament policy. Now we know they didn't even take the time to notify those precious youth who they themselves rendered helpless, of a threat so great that officials secured themselves then called their own family. Nothing could be more disgusting
Virginian Governor Tim Kaine called the actions of school officials "inexcusable." "If university officials thought it was important enough to notify their own families, they should have let everyone know," he said.
To illustrate just how little they cared for the people in their care, consider Emily Hilscher, who was shot in the dorm lived for hours in a hospital. Officials never took time to notify her family of her condition until after she died. What would you give for five minutes with your daughter in that situation?
Again, from the story:
While new details were added and other portions were corrected or clarified, the original report's conclusions and recommendations weren't revised. The first document was critical of communications failures, privacy laws and other factors, and issued suggestions on improving campus emergency procedures and notification systems, mental health regulations, and gun purchase reporting requirements.
Unashamed, Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski is quoted as saying that "none of the new information merited changes to any of the recommendations in the original report."
Why would they change anything? No university leaders were killed. It is frustrating that the study seems more concerned with the rules that criminals are breaking instead of focusing on the rights of potential victims and how an active killer is stopped. Rather than focusing on "gun purchase reporting requirements" they should focus on single person response. The quicker a person (usually a civilian) responds with a firearms, the quicker the killing stops. Ron Borsch calls it the "clock of death." On average someone will die every 20 seconds until armed response stops the killer. If only a teacher or fellow student were permitted to be that person, many lives could have been saved.
Virginia Tech should allow students with concealed carry licenses to carry on university property. They might even offer classes on firearms, martial arts, or other methods of self-defense. They could be proactive and take steps to discourage killers from trying to commit crimes on their campus. Sadly university leaders continue on the same course that lead to 32 deaths – protect themselves, scoff at students, and make the killer's task as safe as possible.
In a university where the school president and crisis management team secure their own safety and make personal phone calls while a mass murders kills their students, are still employed two years later, it is pointless to think change will come voluntarily. The Virginia legislature should immediately pass legislation granting students with right to carry licenses the authority to carry their guns on campus. Every other state should follow suit. We don't know how to detect and stop this crime before it happens, but we do know how to stop the killing quickly. Banning guns is the problem, not the solution. Changes are needed now, or the blood of those lost will be in vain, and that would be a tragedy as great as the university leaders indifference.
Jim Irvine is the Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman. | <urn:uuid:48c6305c-a58b-40a5-a687-59e4d4f55982> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7014 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982354 | 1,171 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The majestic Zulu Kingdom is known for its proud history, dynamic cultures, breathtaking scenic beauty, sandy beaches and warm all-year-round climate. The Zulu Kingdom is divided into eight tourism sub-regions: the vibrant city of Durban, the seaside resorts of the North Coast, the Elephant Coast, which includes South Africa's first World Heritage Site, namely the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park and the oldest game reserve in Africa, Hluhluwe/Umfolozi, famous for saving the white rhino from extinction, the diversity of Zululand, the tranquil South Coast, the rolling hills of the Pietermaritzburg Midlands (PMB Midlands), the historic Battlefields and the Drakensberg region, incorporating the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, the second World Heritage Site in the Zulu Kingdom.
Durban is an economic hub built around the busiest port in Africa. It is the gateway to the natural wonders of KwaZulu-Natal. From here the scenic Pietermaritzburg Midlands, the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, a World Heritage Site, the game parks of Zululand and the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, another World Heritage Site, famous battlefields, and the golf-courses of the North and South Coasts are within easy driving distance. Durban is a unique cultural mix of the colonial European, Indian, and Zulu communities, and this is reflected in the architecture, fashions, sights and sounds of the city. Brighton Beach on the seaward side of the Bluff has a tidal pool. Addington, South and North beaches along the main beach-front all have life-saving facilities, changing-rooms and refreshment facilities. Country Club Beach near Water Wonderland has life-saving facilities. All have shark nets.
uShaka Marine World has been developed out of a vision to create a world-class entertainment and tourism destination for Durban. uShaka Marine World incorporates fresh and sea water, natural materials and the re-creation of a wreck of a 1940’s cargo ship, home to the fifth largest aquarium in the world by volume of water. This is coupled with indigenous African imagery, lush vegetation and maritime images of the Port of Durban. Treasure World comprises food and beverage outlets at a height of 10 metres above sea level, overlook much of the park and the Indian Ocean beyond. Sea World and Dolphin World comprise a salt-water aquarium with indoor and outdoor displays and exhibits and a 1200-seater dolphin stadium. Wet 'n Wild World is a fresh-water entertainment wonderland, featuring separate swimming-pools for kids and adults, relaxing river rides and high-speed chutes for the adrenaline junkies.
The Ricksha Stands are situated on Marine Parade. A ride in a ricksha, drawn by a brightly dressed and beaded Zulu, is a must for every visitor. Durban City Hall, Smith Street, was opened in 1910 and is a replica of the Belfast City Hall in Northern Ireland. The formal gardens link the City Hall and the Post Office, which was originally built as the City Hall. The third floor houses the Durban Art Gallery, which has displays of South African and overseas works of art. On the second floor is the Durban Museum, which has displays from the natural history of KwaZulu-Natal and exhibits of birds and mammals including the most complete skeleton known of the dodo, extinct since 1650. Victoria Street Market has a magnificent array of exotic oriental items for sale as well as spices, curry powders, sweetmeats and tropical fruit.
The Botanic Gardens, Sydenham Road, Berea, incorporates a lovely wooded garden with many varieties of trees from all over the world, including a magnificent Jade vine. The Orchid House has more than 3 000 plants, including blooms from many other countries. The Sugar Terminal in Maydon Road offers daily conducted tours for the public. Large groups by appointment. The Old House, 31 St. Andrews Street, also known as the Natal Settlers Museum, is a replica of the house built by John Goodricke on the same site in 1849, which was later enlarged. Open daily. Minitown, Snell Parade, features a display of well-known buildings scaled down to 1/24th of their size. Miniature ships, aeroplanes, trains, buses and cars moving around the town create a lively atmosphere.
Umgeni River Bird Park is situated in attractive natural surroundings, including a spectacular 20m high waterfall and lush vegetation, 1,5 km from the Umgeni River Mouth, and 6km from the city center. The park houses some of the world's rarest birds such as macaws, parrots, Giant Asian hornbills, toucans, cranes, pheasants, flamingos and other species including indigenous birds. The free-flight bird-show, highly educational and loads of fun, is unique in Africa and displays endangered species in free, unrestricted flight.
The Amphitheatre, Snell Parade, is a sunken garden filled with subtropical flowers, pools and fountains. The Japanese Gardens, Durban North, are open daily. The Natal Maritime Museum is located at the Small Craft Basin at the end of Aliwal Street. There are three multi-ton exhibits: the “Ulundi” steam tug (1927) and “J R More” (1966) and minesweeper SAS “Durban” (1957). These exhibits provide an interesting window on Africa's largest port. The Kwa Muhle Museum, 130 Ordinance Road, focuses on Durban's twentieth century history. The International Convention Centre has hosted major international conventions, such as the World Economic Forum, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the XIIIth World Aids Conference. | <urn:uuid:6d199ead-3005-44e8-b163-ed6f13971c22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.africanreservations.com/accommodation/south-africa/kwazulu-natal | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932468 | 1,218 | 1.898438 | 2 |
An HIV epidemic is ready to emerge in the Philippines
National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Journal of the International AIDS Society 2010, 13:16 doi:10.1186/1758-2652-13-16Published: 22 April 2010
The state of the HIV epidemic in the Philippines has been described as "low and slow", which is in stark contrast to many other countries in the region. A review of the conditions for HIV spread in the Philippines is necessary.
We evaluated the current epidemiology, trends in behaviour and public health response in the Philippines to identify factors that could account for the current HIV epidemic, as well as to review conditions that may be of concern for facilitating an emerging epidemic.
The past control of HIV in the Philippines cannot be attributed to any single factor, nor is it necessarily a result of the actions of the Filipino government or other stakeholders. Likely reasons for the epidemic's slow development include: the country's geography is complicated; injecting drug use is relatively uncommon; a culture of sexual conservatism exists; sex workers tend to have few clients; anal sex is relatively uncommon; and circumcision rates are relatively high.
In contrast, there are numerous factors suggesting that HIV is increasing and ready to emerge at high rates, including: the lowest documented rates of condom use in Asia; increasing casual sexual activity; returning overseas Filipino workers from high-prevalence settings; widespread misconceptions about HIV/AIDS; and high needle-sharing rates among injecting drug users.
There was a three-fold increase in the rate of HIV diagnoses in the Philippines between 2003 and 2008, and this has continued over the past year. HIV diagnoses rates have noticeably increased among men, particularly among bisexual and homosexual men (114% and 214% respective increases over 2003-2008). The average age of diagnosis has also significantly decreased, from approximately 36 to 29 years.
Young adults, men who have sex with men, commercial sex workers, injecting drug users, overseas Filipino workers, and the sexual partners of people in these groups are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. There is no guarantee that a large HIV epidemic will be avoided in the near future. Indeed, an expanding HIV epidemic is likely to be only a matter of time as the components for such an epidemic are already present in the Philippines. | <urn:uuid:69135780-f966-43a7-9c4d-b67aa16f9f84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1758-2652/13/16/abstract | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949995 | 471 | 2.3125 | 2 |
The Weekly Standard Online | 2.1.0.09
By Alan W. Dowd
His hagiographers will always think otherwise, but what President Barack Obama said about America’s relationship with the Islamic world during his interview with al Arabiya—namely, that “Americans are not your enemy”—only restated what American presidents have been saying in word and deed for almost 20 years now.
Obama’s immediate predecessor, George W. Bush, was often caricatured, especially in the Islamic world, as a crusading cowboy and enemy of Islam. Perception is important in this media-saturated age, to be sure, but facts are stubborn things.
It pays to recall that it was Bush who declared in 2003, “It is presumptuous and insulting to suggest that a whole region of the world—or the one-fifth of humanity that is Muslim—is somehow untouched by the most basic aspirations of life.”
Like his predecessor, Bush called for the creation of a Palestinian state. Bush even laid out a timeframe to achieve it, but the Hamas coup against the Palestinian Authority and resulting civil war in Gaza derailed those plans.
Moreover, it was during the controversial and consequential Bush years that the U.S. military liberated Afghanistan from the medieval Taliban and Iraq from Saddam Hussein’s torture chamber. America continues to stand with these troubled lands as they convalesce. As Fouad Ajami writes in his poignant history of the U.S. intervention in Iraq, The Foreigner’s Gift, “We know that the Iraqis did not walk alone” in their hobbled march from tyranny to freedom.
With the help of the U.S. armed forces, Iraq’s schools—in peacetime used as places of Baathist indoctrination, and in wartime used as anti-aircraft sites—are being rebuilt. All told, some 3,400 schools have been rehabilitated since 2003, and more than 55,000 teachers have been trained. U.S. forces are helping build 142 new primary healthcare centers, which will serve 6.5 million Iraqis. Add to this water treatment stations, power grids, roads and the government itself—all are being rebuilt with the help of American soldiers and Marines. And we must not forget that Iraq’s public infrastructure was wrecked beforeAmerica’s war of regime change. As Chris Hitchens has observed, Iraq was not just a failed state, but “a failed society.”
Backed by the muscle of the U.S. military, American relief agencies have built or renovated 640 health clinics, 600 schools and 4,000 miles of roads to connect the fragmented country of Afghanistan. Some five million Afghan children are now in school—and about 1.8 million of them are girls. All the while, America’s ambidextrous troops continue to fight those who would take Afghanistan backwards—to a time of public torture, fanaticism and terror.
On top of all their efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. troops were the first responders to recent disasters of biblical proportion in the Muslim world. For instance, after the 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Muslim Indonesia, the U.S. military deployed warships, helicopters, transport planes and almost 20,000 troops to lead the greatest humanitarian relief effort since the Berlin Airlift.
America’s record in the Islamic world was just as strong during the Clinton administration, which saw U.S. troops fight and die for Muslim Somalia, bleed with Muslims in Tanzania, defend Muslims in Bosnia, liberate Muslim Kosovo and protect Muslim Kuwait and Saudi Arabia—the very heart of Islam—from Saddam Hussein’s henchmen.
That brings us to the presidency of George H.W. Bush. After a U.S.-led coalition ejected Iraq’s army from Kuwait, U.S. troops rescued millions of Iraqi Kurds from starvation and brutalization at Saddam’s hands. U.S. forces then stayed in Saudi Arabia to protect the kingdom from Saddam’s vengeance.
Of course, even America’s helping hand was considered an affront. Osama bin Laden’s pre-9/11 fatwas against America condemned the “occupation of the land of the two Holy Places” and vowed a global guerilla war “to expel the occupying enemy.” One of the early fronts of bin Laden’s war was Mogadishu, where his men trained those who killed American personnel during the mercy mission in 1992-94.
It would be wrong to conclude that the only form of American engagement in the Islamic world is military might. Congress appropriated $857 million to help victims of the 2004 tsunami; the American people donated another $1.6 billion in private monies. Washington pours more than $16 billion in foreign-aid grants annually into Muslim nations (out of some $31.7 billion in 2007). U.S. total trade with Indonesia accounts for more than $18 billion, with Iraq more than $12 billion, with Turkey more than $11 billion, with Egypt more than $7.6 billion, with Pakistan $5.5 billion, and the list goes on and on.
To be sure, America’s intervention in the Islamic world is imperfect and sometimes shaped by self-interest, but it usually is enlightened self-interest and it often is unselfish: Which American interests were served by sending 30,000 troops halfway around the world to feed Mogadishu, or by waging a 78-day war for tiny Kosovo, or by dispatching a naval armada to Sumatra?
If the record of the past 18 years—in Saudi Arabia and Somalia, Kuwait and Kosovo and Kurdistan, Iraq and Indonesia—hasn’t convinced moderate Muslims that the U.S. is on their side, it seems unlikely that Barack Obama’s words will do any better. | <urn:uuid:b0f3d0f1-2085-430e-bb4c-60dd5870e871> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alanwdowd.com/Articles.aspx?ArticleId=437 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955409 | 1,222 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Edward G. Budd
Edward Gowen Budd (1870–1946) was an American inventor and businessman. He worked with the Pennsylvania Railroad, building the first all-steel car. He founded the Budd Company in 1912, which initially specialized in the manufacture of pressed-steel frames for automobiles. His company soon was supplying an all-steel sedan body to auto manufacturers such as General Motors, Studebaker, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler Corporation. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Budd pioneered the fabrication of stainless steel, and helped create the Pioneer Zephyr, a streamlined train of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. During World War II, Budd was also the original maker of the Bazooka projectile and the rifle grenade.
Budd's Pioneer Zephyr was the first of many streamlined passenger trains. The original trainset is on permanent display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. In 1985, 40 years after his death, Edward G. Budd, the "father of the stainless-steel streamliner", was inducted into Dearborn, Michigan's Automotive Hall of Fame.
- PBS Online / WGBH (2000) Edward G. Budd.
- President and Fellows of Harvard College (2004), 20th Century Great American Business Leaders: Edward G. Budd.
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:8843607e-a537-4c4f-aaee-ead7170c4537> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Edward_G._Budd | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926264 | 302 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Globe-trotting admirers of Charles Dickens can celebrate this year’s bicentennial of his birth by brushing shoulders with chimney sweeps at a Dickens World theme park in England, taking in lectures and amateur theatricals at a scholarly “Dickens camp” in California, or attending any of the festivities being held from Bologna, Italy, to Colorado Springs.
But those stuck at home with gout or other quasi-Victorian ailments are not entirely out of luck. They can now enjoy unlimited virtual access to Dr. De Jongh’s Light Brown Cod Liver Oil, Kaye Wordsell’s Vegetal Tablets and other medicinal concoctions available in Dickens’s day, thanks to a new Web site introduced on Thursday by the Dickens Project, a research consortium based at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The products are all featured in a gallery of advertisements from the 20 monthly installments of “Our Mutual Friend,” the last novel Dickens finished in his lifetime and the focus of the Web site, titled Our Mutual Friend: The Scholarly Pages. The advertising sections — a full 320 pages in all over the course of the whole serial, which began in 1864 — also sold jewelry, insect powder, umbrellas, croquet sets, telescopic field glasses and billiard tables, not to mention portrait medals of Shakespeare and editions of Dickens’s earlier books.
Jon Michael Varese, the director of digital initiatives at the Dickens Project, said in an interview that the ads reflect the rising consumerism of Victorian England as vividly as anything in the novel itself. “More and more stuff was being made, and Dickens, four years after ‘Great Expectations,’ was the most famous man in England, if not the world,” he said. “Where better to advertise your goods?”
Our Mutual Friend: The Scholarly Pages is a revamped version of a site first presented in 1998, when the technology of the Web verged on Victorian by current standards. In addition to the advertisements, the site includes links to maps, letters, reviews, illustrations and biographical material, with essays on subjects like Victorian sanitation, education policy, poorhouses and wooden legs. (There’s at least one in almost every Dickens novel, the scholar Adrienne E. Gavin notes.)
“In ‘Our Mutual Friend,’ Dickens pulls in everything he’s ever worked on, from class warfare to problems in education to physical malady and death to the unhappiness of the wealthy,” Mr. Varese said. “All these things continue to resonate for contemporary audiences.”
That contemporary appeal also pulls some 300 lay readers and scholars each summer to Dickens Universe, the annual Dickens Project “camp” featuring lectures, plays and plenty of “post-prandial libations.”
This year’s session, organized around “Bleak House,” is sold out for the first time in the event’s history, Mr. Varese said. But there’s still room at “Dickens! Author and Authorship in 2012,” an academic conference held just before the camp featuring talks by leading scholars and discussions of recent critical studies, including “Queer Dickens: Erotics, Families, Masculinities” and “Charles Dickens’s Networks: Public Transportation and the Novel.” | <urn:uuid:08419eaa-0af9-43b9-9814-be273a453b13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/and-now-a-word-from-charles-dickenss-sponsor/?ref=todayspaper | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933202 | 717 | 1.875 | 2 |
Five Insights From Faith Leaders on ‘Evil’ & ‘Free Will’ in Light of the Newtown Shooting Massacre
In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, there are still many questions being asked among startled and grieving Americans. One of the most pertinent, of course, surrounds evil and the reasons a loving God would allow such a horrific massacre to take place — especially one that took the lives of so many innocent children.
Today, we’re looking at some of the insights that faith leaders have had about the very real presence of evil in our world. The difficult subject is frequently tackled by preachers, rabbis and other religious leaders, but questions tend to intensify following tragedy. So, we’ve assembled five of the most interesting recent responses and commentaries. Here they are:
Pastor Rick Warren: “Free Will Is a Blessing & Curse”
First, there’s Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest, Calif. In his view, evil is sometimes the unfortunate result of free will — the ability that God has given human beings to make decisions for themselves. In freedom, Warren argues, pain and poor decision-making may arise, thus leading to occasional evil that can be inflicted upon others.
In speaking on-air with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto last week, he said:
“Our greatest blessing is our greatest curse. God could have made us puppets, where none of us did anything wrong, we prayed all of the time, we always did what’s right. But God wanted us to choose to love Him, and in giving us this choice, I often make bad choices, and so do other people, in fact everyone does – the Bible calls it sin. Because of that, the world is broken.”
As for mourning and grieving in the wake of tragedy, “The Purpose-Driven Life” author also had some other important insights:
“The deeper the grief, the fewer words are needed. A lot of folks are looking for wisdom, or the right word, and are asking ‘what do you say?’ – but there is nothing to say. You just need to be there. You need to show up. And when people are grieving, they don’t need a lecture, and they don’t need an explanation. Explanations don’t comfort us.”
“What comforts us is the presence of others, the presence of God, and the first thing we have to do is we have to learn how to release our grief and we need to do that right now.”
Pastor Doug Posey: “The Slaughter of Innocence”
Pastor Doug Posey of Living Oaks Community Church in Newbury Park, Calif., reflected upon the tragedy, like Warren, by discussing free will and its prime role in yielding good and evil.
“That’s the big question…Where was God in all of this?” Posey said, according to the Ventura County Star. “God has given us free will, and when there is free will there has to be a choice between good and evil…One day he will do away with all evil, but until he does, evil will happen.”
The preacher also mentioned a Bible story that is capturing quite a bit of attention following the Sandy Hook shooting — King Herod and his “slaughter of innocence.”
“When the wise men came looking for Jesus, they wound up going to Bethlehem. When Herod found out, he had all the boys killed who were 2 years old and under,” he said. “There is and always will be loss associated with Christmastime. Herod was an evil guy, and he had free will, just like this shooter.”
Rabbi Aryeh Spero: ‘God Mostly Does Not Interfere’
Rabbi Aryeh Spero, president of Caucus For America and the author of “Push Back: Reclaiming the American Judeo-Christian Spirit”, also contends that God affords human beings free will and the power for personal decision-making.
“So as to allow us continued free will and, more or less, control our own destiny, God mostly does not interfere,” he recently told TheBlaze. “We learn lessons and grow, as individuals and as a society, by living with the results of what we do and don’t do.”
And unfortunately, these “results” and negative choices can be monumentally damaging. Notice, though, that the rabbi said that God “mostly” leaves free will to its own devices. Spero also noted, though, that at times God does intervene but that the reasons for this protection are a “mystery.”
“Occasionally God spares us from impending doom, and sometimes He even performs the extraordinary in our behalf,” he added. Moses wanted to know precisely this: What is God’s yardstick? But it is not mathematics; and man, not being God, does not know all the whys and whats of God.”
Spero believes that pain is a part of life and the human condition and that, regardless of how hard we seek out an answer, obtaining a complete one will never be possible. Some people are certainly uncomfortable with this notion — not knowing why an all-loving God would permit such intense horror.
Pastor Miles McPherson: “Pray Against Evil”
In a reflective article published in the North County Times, Pastor Miles McPherson of the Rock Church in San Diego, Calif., addressed Sandy Hook, by presenting a dialogue he imagines having with God. Here’s a portion of that discussion:
Whenever tragedies like this happen, everyone wants to know, “Where was God when all of this took place? If God is so loving and good, how could He have allowed something like this to happen?”
I have a suggestion: Why don’t you ask God?
He might answer:
“I’m so happy you have looked to me in prayer expecting comfort, wisdom and protection. But what I want to know is, why did you wait until after the tragedy to pray to me? If I am the first person you pray to when tragedy strikes, why are there so many controls exerted by your culture to prevent my little ones from learning about me?
“If you truly believe prayer can bring hope, why don’t you focus on teaching my little ones to pray against evil in advance of tragedy?
The piece goes on to show God lamenting that both he and guns have been banned from schools, while also providing what McPherson assumes the Lord would say to those questioning why he didn’t step in to prevent the attack:
“My heart breaks for these little ones and their families more than you can imagine, and in the end, justice will be served. That’s why it is especially offensive to me that some of you would go so far as to blame me for not stopping this evil act. I did not create you as robots, but have given all of you the same freedom to choose to obey me or not. Murderers obviously choose not to obey me, but what about you? The freedom you are exercising to blame me for these killings is the same freedom people abuse when they commit a crime.”
Pastor Joel Osteen: “God Is Good & God Is for Us”
Another familiar face in the American evangelical scene is Joel Osteen. The preacher, like Warren, appeared in media following the tragic shooting, speaking out about the need to comfort those in need, while also addressing the presence of evil.
“God gave us all our own free will. He gives us freedom of choice, He didn’t make us his robots,” Osteen recently told “Today’s” Matt Lauer. ”Unfortunately, some people choose to do evil, and we don’t always understand it, but I still believe that God is good and God is for us, but He doesn’t make us do what’s right.”
Osteen reiterated the importance of faith in the face of evil and tragedy: Watch his comments, below.
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- Richard Carrion declares IOC presidential bid | <urn:uuid:1ed98463-4151-42ee-9323-09ee5e9f8cd9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/12/25/5-insights-from-faith-leaders-on-evil-free-will-in-light-of-the-newtown-shooting-massacre/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931751 | 2,402 | 1.734375 | 2 |
March 23rd, 2006
Sometimes you do things for so long that you forget you do them at all…
This week, I was reminded of a practice we conduct at the conclusion of a usability test. After the participant(s) have finished with their tasks and filled out whatever paperwork we give them to subjectively rate the design, our test facilitator will ask two questions:
- What are two things about the design that you really liked?
- What are two things about the design that you didn’t like?
The first question helps turn the session into a positive. This is really important, especially if things didn’t quite go as smoothly as everyone would like. The participant, along with the team, needs to focus on the positive for a few moments.
The second question helps prioritize. There may have been lots of issues, but what really jumps out? It’s possible these will be the last two problems the participant encountered, but, in my experience, more often then not, they are two issues that really stand out in the participant’s mind. (We often let the participant “tour” the design while attempting to answer these questions, to refresh their memory of what they just experienced.)
In addition to listening to the words they use, we also pay attention to the speed of their answer. If they produce an answer quickly, that tells us one thing. If it takes them a long time to think of a complaint (or a compliment), we give it less weight — it could be they were just fulfilling our request to name two things.
That doesn’t mean, if they take long to arrive at an answer, we disqualify it outright. Often, we’ll just make a note of it and see if it shows up as an issue with anyone else. If we don’t hear it anywhere else, then it probably goes to the bottom of our “issues list” for the design.
We started doing this technique years ago and it’s just become ingrained in our practice. It actually comes from an conflict resolution technique called Stop, Start, Continue. When dealing with individuals who are in constant conflict (such as dysfunctional work relationships), the mediator asks each person to list 2 things they want the other person to stop doing, 2 things they’d like them to start doing, and 2 things to continue doing. In the conflict case, you end on the positive note (continuing good behaviors). When we adapted it to testing, we inverted the polarity so the positive was at the beginning.
This simple technique of asking two questions often provides us some nice insights into where the participant’s mind is at and the lasting impressions they had from the test experience.Tweet | <urn:uuid:f123d7bc-0281-4240-bc4d-80a8e19125c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/03/23/two-simple-post-test-questions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968007 | 568 | 1.617188 | 2 |
From Spencer T. Kittelson on 28 Jul 1998
They're out there but not all there.
We have some old code that runs on terminals that we would like to drive with a Java based server. We are looking for the reverse equivalent of a terminal emulator, i.e. a Java toolkit that multiplexes serial/network character streams and provides support for character based devices. In particular we are looking for the Java equiv. of the C curses library.
Any ideas if and where such a thing exists?
The canonical resource for finding Java applets and applications on the web is at "developer.com" (formerly known as Gamelan).
Here's URL that will provide you with a list of some telnet and terminal emulators writting in Java
(Be sure to cut and paste that without the linebreak, and the extraneous backslash that I use to indicate the line continuation).
There are a number of these listed there and I haven't tried any of them (well, I tried WebTerm awhile back and I did look at the online demo of JXterm, and Crosstie).
I've played with SCO's Tarantella --- which seems to be more of an X Windows in a Java frame --- and also provides support to access NT desktops through a Java frame. Alas, that seems to be a proprietary technology and it seems to require a SCO OpenServer to host part of it. (I suspect that means that it doesn't qualify as a "Pure Java" solution -- though the client side of it might be "pure Java").
WebTerm seems to be available for non-commercial use --- but doesn't define the term (do they mean you can't use it in your business environment or just that you can't sell copies of it). JXTerm and Crosstie seem to be commercial products.
One limitation of most of the Java implementations in existing web browsers is that the Java applets can normally only open connections to the same address from which they were fetched. This means that your host would have to run a web server with some HTML pages that contained the required applet markup. You could also distribute these to your systems along with an installation of the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) and a copy of 'appletviewer' --- that would allow you to run these without the common browser restrictions.
Another problem with these is that they are not trivial to install and run via the 'appletviewer' WebTerm 2.0 gave me grief about "missing resources" while the same copy of appletviewer was perfectly content to run the various other demos that I had laying around. I'm sure that it's some fussing with the CLASSPATH variable or some other thing that I don't have configured to it's liking. Frankly I haven't worried about it much.
I presume that your clients are PC's or NC's rather than Linux boxes. Otherwise I presume you'd just configure your browswers with 'telnet' configured as a helper app and just embed URL's of the form:
<a href="telnet://appserver.mydomain.org"> Telnet to our Application Server</a>
... and be done with it.
Naturally you can do that on your Windows boxes as well --- just install some sort of telnet utility and configure the browsers to use it. I personally like C-Kermit for telnet -- so you might consider using K'95 (the Win32 Kermit from Columbia University).
That would give you a consistent scripting, telnet and file transfer environment across your systems.
That approach (using helper apps) is likely to be much faster, more robust and probably and cheaper than trying to do this with Java applets. The usual telnet utilities have had years to mature and are written to the clients native API's --- so there's no fussing about that. | <urn:uuid:5dd133ee-7a77-48fa-b613-1f8837311a7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LG/issue32/tag_javaterm.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948672 | 805 | 1.820313 | 2 |
14 February 2013
Colour plan view of Tinto Vallis
High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) nadir and colour channel data acquired during orbit 11,497 on 13 January 2013 by ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft has been combined to form a natural-colour view of the Tinto Vallis region. The region imaged, which lies southwest of Amenthes Rupes and Palos Crater, is centred at around three degrees south and 109 degrees east, and has a ground resolution of about 22 metres per pixel. The mouth of Tinto Vallis, seen clearly in the lower centre of this image, is believed to have formed 3.7 billion years ago after volcanic activity warmed and melted subsurface ice, which then escaped to the surface to form 'sapping valleys'.
ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).
Perspective view of Tinto Vallis
This computer-generated perspective view of Tinto Vallis was created using data acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. Acquired during orbit 11,497 and centred at around three degrees south and 109 degrees north, the image has a ground resolution of about 22 metres per pixel. This perspective view shows the mouth of Tinto Vallis, with its U-shaped cross section, indicative of sapping. The top left of the image is the periphery of a 100-kilometre-wide crater, the floor of which is littered with mesas and buttes.
This computer-generated perspective view of part of the Tinto Vallis region was created using data acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. Imaged during orbit 11,497 on 13 January 2013 and centred at around three degree south and 109 degrees east, the image has a ground resolution of about 22 metres per pixel. A 35-kilometre-wide steep sided crater dominates the image, with evidence of two large landslides on its northeastern and northwestern sides. These landslides may have been induced by small direct impactors or simply be due to gravitational force acting on unstable slopes. Shaking caused by earthquakes or distant impacts may also have been sufficient to cause slope collapse.
Anaglyph image of Tinto Vallis
Tinto Vallis imaged on 13 January 2013 during orbit 11,497 of ESA's Mars Express spacecraft using the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). Data from HRSC's nadir channel and one stereo channel have been combined to produce this anaglyph image, which can be viewed using stereoscopic glasses with red–green or red–blue filters to give a three-dimensional impression of the landscape. Centred at around three degrees south and 109 degrees east, the image has a ground resolution of about 22 metres per pixel.
Tinto Vallis in context
Tinto Vallis seen in a broader context. The smaller rectangle shows the region covered by this Mars Express image release. The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft imaged the Tinto Vallis region during orbit 11,497 on 13 January 2013.
NASA/JPL (MOLA); FU Berlin.
Topographical image map of Tinto Vallis
Using the HRSC stereo camera, digital terrain models can be derived that illustrate the topography of the region using false colours. The altitude can be read from the colour scale at lower right. This colour-coded view is based on a Mars Express HRSC digital terrain model of the Tinto Vallis region. Centred at around three degrees south and 109 degrees east, the image has a ground resolution of about 22 metres per pixel. The image data was acquired during orbit 11,497 on 13 January 2013. The colour coding emphasises the superimposed craters on to the large 100-kilometre-wide crater to the left (south) of the image. Also more clearly seen are the various mesas and buttes within the 100-kilometre crater. At the bottom of the image, just to the right of the mouth of Tinto Vallis, the edge of Palos Crater can be seen. Palos Crater was at one stage considered as a possible landing site for the NASA Mars Exploration Rovers.
On 13 January 2013 the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), operated by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, imaged the mouth of the Tinto Vallis region of Mars, southwest of Palos Crater.
Tinto Vallis, named after the famous river located in the Andalucía region of Spain, is 190 kilometres long and believed to have formed around 3.7 billion years ago, during Mars' early history.
Volcanic activity melted subsurface ice
Its formation is thought to be the result of volcanic activity, which melted subsurface ice. As a consequence, groundwater was liberated to the surface of Mars and what are known as 'sapping valleys' formed. Groundwater sapping is believed to be responsible for the erosion seen in many of the valley networks on the red planet and is the process whereby water comes out of the ground laterally as seeps and springs. This results in slopes being undermined, undergoing mass wasting, forming steep 'U' shaped valley structures. Sapping valleys developed all over this region due to soil erosion, with a clear example being the mouth of Tinto Vallis, seen in the lower centre of the two-dimensional colour, topographic and anaglyph images.
Formations like those in arid regions on Earth
Also of note in the aforementioned two-dimensional images and the striking second perspective image (3/6), is a 100-kilometre-wide crater that dominates the southern (left) half of the two-dimensional images. A smaller 35-kilometre-wide crater is superimposed onto it. The floor of the 100-kilometre crater is chaotic, littered with mesas and their smaller siblings, buttes. These are probably the result of the removal of subsurface water ice, which lead to the collapse of the surrounding surface, leaving these high-sided features behind. Buttes and mesas owe their sheer sides to thicker layers of more resistant rock within them. On Earth, we can find many examples of these types of formations in the desert regions of Utah. Within the 35-kilometre crater, and most notably seen in the second perspective image, are spectacular landslides towards the northwestern and northeastern sides.
Toward the north (right) side of the two-dimensional images, several smaller craters display very smooth and flat floors, which are due to infilling by sediments. The darker regions to the far north and south are low-lying areas, covered in wind-transported basaltic sands.
With these recent images, Mars Express continues to show the similarities between regions on Earth and those on Mars, and how the two worlds' early geological history is subtly intertwined.
Image processing and the HRSC experiment on Mars Express
The colour plan view (1/6) was acquired using the nadir channel, which is directed vertically down onto the surface of Mars, and the colour channels of the HRSC; the perspective oblique views (2/6 and 3/6) were computed from data acquired by the HRSC stereo channels. The anaglyph image (4/6), which creates a three-dimensional impression of the landscape when viewed with red/blue or red/green glasses, was derived from the nadir channel and one stereo channel. The colour-coded view (6/6) is based on a digital terrain model of the region, from which the topography of the landscape can be derived.
The HRSC camera experiment on board the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission is headed by Principal Investigator (PI) Professor Gerhard Neukum (Freie Universität Berlin), who was also responsible for the technical design of the camera. The science team consists of 45 co-investigators from 32 institutions in 10 nations. The camera was developed at DLR under the leadership of the PI and it was built in cooperation with industrial partners EADS Astrium, Lewicki Microelectronic GmbH and Jena-Optronik GmbH. The instrument is operated by the DLR Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin-Adlershof. The systematic processing of the HRSC image data is carried out at DLR. The images shown here were created by the Institute of Geological Sciences at Freie Universität Berlin in cooperation with the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin.
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Ed Shaffer asked a simple question in the comment string of the article titled “Does your Dealer block Social Media:”
[Why haven't we addressed] The bandwidth drain that YouTube and Fb would have on our already thinly stretched pipe…
This question got me thinking about where the perspectives of IT administrators come from. As a customer of the IT department, who happens to be interested in history, I want to start to answer that question with:
The Evolution of the Dealership IT Department
It all began with the DMS. The original DMS systems were based on tapes, but that’s not the important part. The important part is that there was really only one user of the original DMS: the accounting department. In the case of my dealership, that was our CFO. Back then she had to be the person who maintained and managed the DMS system. Her responsibilities revolved around not only keeping the dealership financially sound, but also in safeguarding the data in our early DMS system.
In time, our DMS company added more functionality for other parts of the dealership and the CFO no longer could handle all the maintenance and needs this brought. This signified the birth of the IT department at my dealership.
On the sales, service, parts, rental, and bodyshop side there really wasn’t much need to do a ton in the DMS at first. We were still handwriting RO’s, deals, parts orders, and even had a fantastic microfiche system that was actually really good (I kind of miss it). So, IT was tasked with one big priority: safeguarding the data.
Over the last 15 years things like dealership websites have developed, online inventory display, CRM’s, ILM’s, inventory management, etc etc etc. As a lot of things moved to the web, the IT department did all they could to continue striving toward their number one priority: safeguarding the data. So they built elaborate security systems, they built monitoring systems, and they even gave us email! But these things came at an expense on the user: things got slow.
The slowness stemmed from these elaborate and secure networks.
A trade-off for good security is reduced speed.
What’s the problem today?
Today our IT departments still have to safeguard the data. But they also have to balance all the demands all these different technological tools create. When was the last time you looked at how many systems a sales manager is working in at one time? How do you speed things up? Is it getting a sales manager a faster computer? Is it buying more bandwidth from your ISP? If it were only that simple…
The fact is it isn’t simple. The fact is that we have an evolved need that has changed from our original needs. We have so many more users today, and only so much money to spend that doesn’t directly turn into profit.
I am a customer of IT
As a customer I believe it is time to redefine what is important. I think it may be time to figure out what our true needs are today. I think it is time to figure out whether security is the most important thing our IT departments can be providing. Because security is slow and technology is a hog.
If, at a really high-level, we can define two IT priorities: Security and Usability, can we figure out which one is most needed? If usability becomes the priority, then is our IT department capable of making that transition? Can they give us a fast network that meets our needs and still provide an adequate level of data security?
A frustrated customer
P.S. I’m not really a frustrated IT customer anymore because I now live in a world where usability is the first priority of an IT department. Usability first, patch the holes that need patching second. It is my newfound experience that has made me understand why many of my past vendors (from my dealership days) didn’t appreciate the IT dilemma that plagues many dealerships. | <urn:uuid:bb3092e9-38b6-4822-bf9f-7d1942b8787f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dealerrefresh.com/it-oh-how-i-love-thee/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968123 | 839 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The day my first novel was sold into the American market, my agent called to prod me about the delivery date for the next one in my South African crime series. "Your family must be proud," she said. My parents and my long-gone ancestors had worked hard and sacrificed a lot to make it possible for me to jump from weeding cornfields to writing a novel. Of course they were proud.
I hung up the phone and sat in the sun on the back steps of my house to enjoy a moment of satisfaction. Years earlier, it was from this spot overlooking a small orange tree, that I had re-imagined the insular mixed-race community that I'd grown up in and re-mapped the dusty rural towns of my childhood to build a fictional world with its own secrets. Then, the radio playing in the kitchen announced that Lucky Dube, a much-loved South African reggae singer, had been shot dead during a robbery in Johannesburg. His teenaged son and daughter were in the car at the time. Carjacking is common in Johannesburg, the vehicular equivalent of purse snatching. That it should happen so arbitrarily to a man whose life's work was to share music, shocked me to tears.
Instead of a warm glow at finally becoming a published novelist, I felt an overwhelming sense of shame. I had taken the very real suffering of my family and of my birthplace and used it as fodder for an "African Noir" detective story. With the benefit of my expensive education I had written neither a literary novel detailing the political struggle against white minority rule, nor a memoir exposing the wounds of growing up mixed race in a culture obsessed with skin color. I had chosen instead to write a crime novel: a piece of entertainment that might one day get adapted for a crime-time slot on television.
How shallow my motives had been: to use the bedrock of real family experiences under the implacable apartheid regime to excite rather than enlighten the reader. Worse still, I'd written what I hoped was a page-turner. Like a lazy, drug-addled teenager I had taken my family history and pawned it for something cheap. The ancestors would not be pleased.
I waited nervously for my parent's reviews. My mother, a former English teacher, was thrilled to have an author daughter. Books had transported her from a mud-brick shack in Swaziland to Mark Twain's Mississippi River and Emily Bronte's Yorkshire Moors. In her mind, I had joined the ranks of those magnificent individuals who built time travel machines for poor people. My father liked the story but pointed out a major factual error in my novel and then told me not to worry: most people who'd lived through the 1950s (the decade in which my novels are set) were either too old to remember the facts clearly or were dead.
My parents did not believe I'd despoiled the family name by writing about sex, murder and lies in a small border town. Why then, should the ancestors take offense? The soldiers, traders and native women in my family tree lived though wars, droughts and floods. They tilled fields and camped under canvas in all weather. No book, literary or otherwise, can alleviate their pains or extend their joys. Their story is already written while I am still living and writing my own.
My third novel, "Blessed Are The Dead" [Atria, $14.00], was published unburdened by the feeling that both my stories and I are unworthy of their subject matter. The idea that I somehow failed my family and an entire continent by writing detective stories seems grandiose in hindsight but it was real nonetheless.
A locust plague in Mali, a firebombed church in Kenya, another warlord hiding in the hills with a cache of AK47's and machetes; Africa is still a mess. No matter how many books I write about her, I will never have the power to fix her. I'm not immune to the human misery unfolding in Libya or Somalia or, most especially, Swaziland, my spiritual home, the country with the highest AIDS infection rate on Earth. I can no longer judge my own writing in terms of its ability to save Africa. Instead, I can invite readers into an exquisite, wild part of the world where exciting things happen. I can tell stories where despite the obstacles, people fight for each and for justice. Now, when I stand on a craggy mountainside high above a river in Swaziland (whether I'm really there or just in my imagination) I feel no shame, just the deepest kind of love. | <urn:uuid:37574ddd-43a9-4275-9a52-a58b493388d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/malla-nunn/writing-africa_b_1628637.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9785 | 956 | 1.515625 | 2 |
In an excellent new First Things article, Robert George writes:
In the early 1970s, Lutheran pastor Richard John Neuhaus was poised to become the nation’s next great liberal public intellectual—the Reinhold Niebuhr of his generation. He had going for him everything he needed to be not merely accepted but lionized by the liberal establishment. First, of course, there were his natural gifts as a thinker, writer, and speaker.
Then there was a set of left-liberal credentials that were second to none. He had been an outspoken and prominent civil rights campaigner, indeed, someone who had marched literally arm-in-arm with his friend Martin Luther King. He had founded one of the most visible anti-Vietnam war organizations. He moved easily in elite circles and was regarded by everyone as a “right-thinking” (i.e., left-thinking) intellectual-activist operating within the world of mainline Protestant religion.
Then something happened: Abortion. It became something it had never been before, namely, a contentious issue in American culture and politics. Neuhaus opposed abortion for the same reasons he had fought for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. At the root of his thinking was the conviction that human beings, as creatures fashioned in the image and likeness of God, possess a profound, inherent, and equal dignity.
This dignity must be respected by all and protected by law. That, so far as Neuhaus was concerned, was not only a Biblical mandate but also the bedrock principle of the American constitutional order. Respect for the dignity of human beings meant, among other things, not subjecting them to a system of racial oppression; not wasting their lives in futile wars; not slaughtering them in the womb. . . . (read more) | <urn:uuid:efec10e7-95c9-4503-acee-fb51ac321a33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://patrickmadrid.blogspot.com/2009_03_20_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984652 | 368 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Fri November 9, 2012
Sky-High Vegetables: Vertical Farming Sprouts In Singapore
Originally published on Fri November 9, 2012 2:44 pm
Singapore is taking local farming to the next level, literally, with the opening of its first commercial vertical farm.
Entrepreneur Jack Ng says he can produce five times as many vegetables as regular farming looking up instead of out. Half a ton of his Sky Greens bok choy and Chinese cabbages, grown inside 120 slender 30-foot towers, are already finding their way into Singapore's grocery stores.
The idea behind vertical farming is simple: Think of skyscrapers with vegetables climbing along the windows. Or a library-sized greenhouse with racks of cascading vegetables instead of books.
Ng's technology is called "A-Go-Gro," and it looks a lot like a 30-foot tall Ferris wheel for plants. Trays of Chinese vegetables are stacked inside an aluminum A-frame, and a belt rotates them so that the plants receive equal light, good air flow and irrigation. The whole system has a footprint of only about 60 square feet, or the size of an average bathroom.
Advocates, whose ranks are growing in cities from New York City to Sweden, say vertical farming has a handful of advantages over other forms of urban horticulture. More plants can squeeze into tight city spaces, and fresh produce can grow right next to grocery stores, potentially reducing transportation costs, carbon dioxide emissions and risk of spoilage. Plus, most vertical farms are indoors, so plants are sheltered from shifting weather and damaging pests.
But is vertical farming just a design fad, or could it be the next frontier of urban agriculture? That depends on your angle — and location.
Implementing these "farmscrapers" on a commercial scale has been challenging, and making them economical has been almost impossible.
It's still up for debate whether vertical farms are more efficient at producing food than traditional greenhouses, says Gene Giacomelli, a plant scientist at the University of Arizona, who directs their the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center.
The limiting factor is light. The total food produced depends on the amount of light reaching plants. Although vertical farms can hold more plants, they still receive just about the same quantity of sunlight as horizontal greenhouses.
"The plants have to share the existing light, and they just grow more slowly." Giacomelli tells The Salt. "You can't amplify the sun."
For American cities, like New York and Chicago, Giacomelli thinks putting plain-old greenhouses on rooftops could be just as efficient as vertical farms – and a lot easier to implement.
In fact, two companies are already working on that approach. Gotham Greens is producing pesticide-free lettuce and basil for restaurants and retailers from rooftop greenhouses in Brooklyn, while Lufa Farms grows 23 veggie varieties in a 31,000 foot greenhouse atop a Montreal office building.
But for the island of Singapore, where real estate is a premium, vertical farming might be the most viable option. "Singapore could be a special case, where land value is so exceptional high, that you have no choice but to go vertically," Giacomelli says.
The Sky Greens vegetables are "flying off the shelves," reports Channel NewsAsia — perhaps because the vertical veggies are fresher than most available in Singapore, which imports most of its produce from China, Malaysia and the U.S. They do, however, cost about 5 to 10 percent more than regular greens.
"The prices are still reasonable and the vegetables are very fresh and very crispy," Rolasind Tan, a consumer, told Channel NewsAsia. "Sometimes, with imported food, you don't know what happens at farms there." | <urn:uuid:5cb260ff-a458-4306-ad7d-523827bf83ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wwno.org/post/sky-high-vegetables-vertical-farming-sprouts-singapore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948791 | 779 | 2.9375 | 3 |
by Greg Spearritt
I recently heard a talk on ‘spiritual healing’. I assumed that ‘healing’ meant completely relieving a person of their ailment, so that someone with tennis elbow who is healed would no longer either have the condition or experience pain from it. On that basis I was very sceptical.
After a while, however, I came to see that the speaker was referring to ‘spiritual’ as against ‘physical’ healing. The physical ailment may or may not be healed in this process, but the subject is healed spiritually.
Spirituality is one of my pet hate words (as I’ve posted previously), but I could see some sense in this. Your local GP has a bare 10 minutes to deal with someone’s problem, and I believe it to be well-documented that spending time with people, listening and sympathising can have a powerful effect on well-being. Throw in the placebo effect that inevitably arises when someone who self-describes as a ‘healer’ is focussing on you and why would you not feel much better after a session, even if your tennis elbow pain is still there?
Provided this is not being done for the personal (monetary) gain of the healer, it seems to me pretty much a good thing. Particularly when, as with the person I heard, advice is given that any serious ailment should be taken to a doctor. | <urn:uuid:1872948f-e44d-4328-bb14-7251c2974151> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sof-in-australia.org/blog.php?blog_id=978 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984836 | 304 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Until 48 hours ago, 120 people had died on our roads this year. This time last year, 160 people had perished.
The road toll so far this year is at a 31-year low. It is a monumental improvement. Why?
Is the price of fuel keeping people off the roads? That might have something to do it - police report fewer crashes in general compared with recent years.
The last time the road toll stood at 120 victims in five months was in 2008, from June through November. The cost of a litre of unleaded was upwards of $2 then, too. It's a flimsy link plucked from government statistics. Statisticians, however, might draw a more analytical bead.
But the correlation falls flat in the Waikato, where road deaths so far this year have gone against the national slide. The toll is double that of other areas.
Why? There's no clear answer. Police say the Waikato is a network of busy State Highways linking Hamilton, Auckland, Rotorua, Tauranga and Taupo. But its roads are rated no worse than others in the land.
Police and traffic safety bodies urge caution and safer driving. Police say that drivers on restricted licences are over-represented in crash statistics.
They also say that older drivers are causing more accidents.
There could be a link between the Waikato toll and its largely rural roading network. It's a landscape of farmland, trees, hedges. The colour of some cars can disappear against the backdrop, especially at dusk.
That's one reason why passenger cars and small vans in Europe have to carry daylight running lights. The European Commission introduced the law in February. Trucks and buses will have to comply from next year.
The lights automatically switch on when the engine is started. The EC says the lights substantially raise the visibility of motor vehicles for other road users. The lights also have a low energy consumption rate compared with existing "dipped-beam" headlights. A study in Canada claims DRLs cut daytime collisions by 11 per cent.
The EC vice-president of industry, Antonio Tajani, said: "Daytime running lights will make an important contribution to our goal of reducing casualties on European roads."
On one day in Auckland this week, more than 100 cars on a road between Newmarket and Mission Bay were driving without lights. It was after 5pm and getting dark.By Alastair Sloane Email Alastair | <urn:uuid:5688d468-0044-46e5-b3ea-49cf15dd5abf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzherald.co.nz/motoring/news/article.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=10729924 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964716 | 507 | 2.359375 | 2 |
If you are browsing for a bit of water related humor, turn to the Reuters news on Turkey. This month, Istanbul, a cultural capital of Turkey, was part- host of the Fifth World Water Forum which connects experts from over 150 countries around the world to address impending global water crises.
According to UN reports, almost half the world will be affected by water shortage by the year 2030. In an ideal world, the hosting of such a forum would help to counteract our growing water problems. However, this year, as protesters gathered outside the forum, Turkish police decided that the best and cheapest method to disperse the crowd was to fire water cannons.
While the nation–and, in fact, the better part of the Mediterranean region–is suffering one of its worst droughts in decades, and many areas are struggling to find enough water to drink and irrigate their fields, water is ironically the one commodity the nation turns to to control crowds.
According to Police officials, 13-14 tons of water costs $235 while 500 teargas bombs (which would be able to control an equivalent amount of people) costs $7,350. Ironic no? | <urn:uuid:42c3a441-8328-4d38-a93d-713d6b51e4a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2009/03/25/the-ironical-uses-of-water-in-turkey/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962097 | 234 | 1.945313 | 2 |
On the north side of London Wall at No. 118, at the south-east corner of Finshury Pavement, facing old Moorgate. Erected for offices and chambers, 1879 (P.O. Directory). In Coleman Street Ward.
Former name: "Tower Buildings," Collingridge, 1908.
The site was formerly occupied, first by Old Bethlehem Hospital, removed 1814, and afterwards by Albion Chapel, Moorfields (q.v.).
Made by the Bishop of Ely while King Richard was in Palestine (Strype, ed. 1720, I. ii. 9).
Land purchased temp. Ed. I. to enlarge the Tower ditch, vacant 1386 (Cal. L. Bk. H. p.283).
Houses and gardens on "le Tourdich," 1329 (Ct. H.W. I. 348, and S. 131). Drained, now dry.
On Tower Hill, south from No.50 Great Tower Street to 46 Lower Thames Street (P.O. Directory).
Earliest mention: 1680 (Ct. H.W. II. 776).
North and west of the Tower, west from the Minories and south to Tower Bridge (P.O. Directory). In Portsoken Ward in its original extent (S. 125), now in the Tower Liberties.
Earliest mention : " Tourhulle," 16 Ed. III. (Anc. Deeds, B. 2322).
Called "Great Tower Hill " from Trinity Square south to Thames Street (Lockie, 1810-1912).
The Abbey of St. Mary Graces was on Tower Hill and the Abbot was called sometimes the "Abbot of Tourhill"(Arnold's Chr.).
Encroached on in Stow's time by garden plots and houses (S. 131).
Separated from the jurisdiction of the City by Letters Patent, Jas. II. (Britton and Brayley, p.196).
Place of execution. Scaffold removed about the middle of the 18th century.
Widened and extended under Met. Streets Improvement Act, 1883, completed 1887.
George Street absorbed into it Dec., 1911.
See Little Tower Hill and Tower Liberty.
Remains of the old Roman Wall have been discovered here to the north of the Tower 110 ft. long and 25 ft. in height from the old surface level.
Tower Hill Passage
On Little Tower Hill (Dodsley, 1761).
Not named in the maps.
Tower and fortifications with Tower Hill of the ancient demesne of the Crown with jurisdiction and privileges distinct from and independent of the City.
Boundaries presented by a Leet Jury 1525 and again as surveyed by Haiward and Gascoyne, 1597, extended from the Water-gate next the Ram's Head in Petty Wales, north to the end of Tower Street and thence to the mud wall called Pike's Garden near the Crutched Fryers (by Muscovy Ct.), east to the Wall with 9 gardens above the Postern and the Broken Tower to the middle of Hog Lane (Royal Mint Street), and south to the stone corner and the Thames (Britton and Brayley's Tower of London, p.193-4). Letters Patent Jas. II. definitely separated the Liberty from the jurisdiction of the City, including within it Little Minories, Old Artillery Ground, and Well Close (Britton and Brayley, p.196, and Bayley II. cxviii.).
Tower of London
Situated at the eastern extremity of the City of London on the north bank of the Thames on Tower Hill (S. 45, and Bayley, ed. 1821, I. p. 1), on the-confines of Middlesex and Essex, 1315 (Cal. P.R. 1313-17, p.314).
The most celebrated fortress in Great Britain, not included within the City boundary.~ Oldest portion is the White Tower, built by William I. in 1078, Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, being the architect.
It was repaired by William Rufus and Henry I., and restored by Sir C. Wren (S. 45).
In 1190 the wall of the City from the postern to the Thames was broken down to enlarge the Tower and to make a ditch round it (ib.).
Fortified 1239 (S.47).
Wall and dyke erected round the Tower by Edward I., land being acquired by him for the purpose in East Smithfield from the Hospital of St. Katherine by the Tower (Cal. P.R. Ed. III. 1343-5, p.84).
Repaired 1532 (S. 49, and Bayley I. 117).
There were two chapels in the Tower, " St. John's Chapel" and " St. Peter ad vincula" (q.v.).
The records of the kingdom were kept in the White Tower until recent times.
Fortifications consisted of the Inner Ward or ballium, and the Outer Ward, together with the wide ditch, or moat, now dry. The Inner Ward was defended by 13 strong Towers, partly square, partly circular, strong and thick, while the Ballium wall was 40 ft. high.
The Towers were named: Bell, Beauchamp or Cobham, Devereux, Flint, Bowyer's, Brick, Jewel, Constable, Broad Arrow, Salt, Lanthorn, Record or Artillery and Bloody Towers (ib. 315).
The defences of the Outer Ward were: Bulwark Gate, Lion Tower, Martin Tower, Byward Tower, St. Thomas' Tower, Cradle Tower, Well Tower, Iron Gate Tower (Britton and Brayley, p.348).
The Tower is governed by a Constable and was in old days maintained by rents and profits received from tenements within the Tower precincts, tolls from boats and ships, and on fish caught in the Thames (ib. 197-8; and See L. and P. Ed. VI., etc., Vol. I. 1, p. 692).
One half of the Tower, the ditch on the west side and bulwarks, formed part of Tower Ward before the Tower was built (S. 131). The remainder of the precincts were in Portsoken Ward.
The Tower was said to be within the liberty and precinct of the liberty of the City (Cal. L. Bk. I. p.3, 1399-1400), and at an Inquest in 1321 the second gate of the Tower west is described as in the parish of All Hallows Barking in Tower Ward (ib. note). But it was and always remained outside and independent of the jurisdiction of the City.
Boundaries of the franchise set out in temp. Rich. II. (Lansdowne MS. 155, p. 54).
In later times this question whether the Tower and its precincts formed an independent Liberty was the cause of frequent disputes between the citizens of London, the King and the Officers of the Tower. The decision went against the City in 1555, and again in 1613 and 1679, when the Liberties were defined by Orders in Council. James II. confirmed these privileges by Charter, and again defined the boundaries (Bayley, II, 670-1, and App. cxviii.).
The Liberties set out in these patents included the Little Minories, the Old Artillery Ground, and Well Close (Bayley, II. cxviii.).
The circumference of the Tower is set out in this Patent, and some of the bounds indicated can be identified on the older maps.
See Tower Liberty.
Tradition says that there was a tower on this site in Roman times, and in 1772-7, when excavations were being made, the ruins of an old wall were found to the south-east of the White Tower, forming a portion of the old City Wall, and also some Roman coins. A portion of the wall of the Roman city was also found built into the Wardrobe Tower, the plinth of the existing wall being above the present level of the ground. The discovery of portions of the wall in this neighbourhood furnish evidence of the determination of William I. to erect his fortress within the City boundary as a sign and symbol of his authority
Roman remains have also been found near Cold Harbour Tower.
North of the Tower, by George Yard, between that yard and the Tower Ditch, at the southern termination of London Wall (O. and M. 1677).
Originally built of Kent and Caen stone, perhaps at the time the City wall was broken down for the erection of the Tower.
Called "le Posteryn," 34 Hen. VI. (Cal. P.R. H. VI. 1452-61, p.280).
Subsequently undermined and partly broken down 1190 for the enlargement of the Tower.
Fell down 1440 and not properly rebuilt (S. 28).
Remains still standing 1691 (De Laune, p.11).
Taken down by 1720 (Strype, ed. 1720, I. i. 14).
Name derived from position near the Tower.
There seems to have been a spring by the Postern Gate, near Tower Ditch covered over with a pump in it in 1801 (Gent. Mag. Lib. XVI. 275).
North out of Cannon Street, at No.75, to Budge Row (P.O. Directory). In Cordwainer Ward.
It formerly comprised the whole of College Hill, then called " La Reole " (q.v.), and in Strype's maps 1720 and 1755, as well as in Horwood, 1799, and the O.S. 1848-51, it extended from Cloak Lane north to Budge Row.
"Royall Streete " (Stow, 245-6). " Tower Royal Street " (Strype, ed. 1720, I. iii. 25). Tower Royal" (Rocque, 1746).
Named after the large messuage or tenement called " La Reole" and afterwards "Tower Royal." said by Stow to have been so called as pertaining to the Kings of England. But Stow is under a misapprehension as to this, for the name "Royall," which he uses, is a corruption of the original form of the word which was "Reole," "Ryole," or " la Reole," from the town of " La Reole " in Gascony.
In the earliest mention of it in 1276 it is described as a tenement in London, called "La Ryole," in the possession of Thomas Bat (Cal. Charter Rolls, II. p.202).
In 1331 certain houses in "la Reol" belonging to the King were granted to Queen Phillippa for life for her wardrobe (Cal. P.R. Ed. III. 1330-4, p.37).
In 43 Ed. III. the King gave it to his newly founded College of St. Stephen, Westminster (Tanner).
Prior to 1483 it was for a time in possession of Henry, duke of Somerset, called "la Toure" in parish of St. Thomas the Apostle (Cal. P.R. 1476-85, p. 411).
Strype says that Richard III. gave it to the Duke of Norfolk (ed. 1720, I. iii. p.6).
In 1529 the Tower or great messuage called "la Riall" alias " le toure in le Rioll in parish of St. Thomas the Apostle in the street called "le Riall "in the Ward of Cordyway Strete, was granted to R. Raddyff (L. and P. H. VIII. Vol. IV. Pt. 3, p.2348)
It seems to have occupied the northern end of "La Reole" and perhaps extended from Cloak Lane nearly to Budge Row.
Stow says that in his time it was divided into tenements and let to various people (S. 245-6).
Tower Royal Court
East out of Tower Royal, in Cordwainer Ward (O. and M. 1677-Boyle, 1799).
The site is now occupied by the western extension of Cannon Street.
Tower Royal Lane
In Budge Row (Strype, ed. 1755-Boyle, 1799).
Not named in the maps.
West from Tower Hill to Eastcheap and St. Margaret Pattens Church (S. 132).
First mention : " La Tourstrate," Is Ed. I. (Anc. Deeds, A. 1708).
Name derived from the Tower. Now called Great Tower Street (q.v.), and See Little Tower Street and Gally Row.
A mortarium found here near Allhallows Barking Church, at a depth of 10 ft. (Arch XII. 413).
A circular iron tube under the Thames extending from Great Tower Hill on the north bank to Pickle Herring Stairs on the south bank
Opened 1870. Constructed, P Barlow.
One of the twety-sex wards of the City (O.S. ).
With Aldgate Ward the most eastern within the walls.
Earliest mention: "Ward of Tower," 1283 (Cal L Bk A p 209).
Former names: "Ward of Wm. de Hadestoke," 1275-6 (R. Mem. p.5). "Ward of St. Dunstan," 15 Ed. II. (Cal. L. Bk. E. p.143). "Ward of John de Canterbury," 1291-2 (Cal. L. Bk. C. p.12).
Called "Thames Ward" 7 Rich. II. (Anc. Deeds, A. 1779).
Bounds set out (Strype, ed. 1720, I. ii. 37).
Derivation of name: So called from its contiguity to the Tower of London.
Contains three parish churches: All Hallows Barking; St. Olave Hart Street; St. Dunstan in the East.
Also famous buildings: Custom House; Clothworkers' Hall; Bakers' Hall.
Larger in extent in old days, when it included one-half of the Tower, the ditch on the west side, and bulwarks (S. 131).
South out of and fronting the Tower, from Tower Stairs west to Tower Bridge east. Entrance on the southern side of Tower Hill (O.S.).
First mention: "Towre Wharf," 19 H. VI. 1441 (Cal. P.R. H. VI. 1436-41, p.546).
Shown to the north of Christ's Hospital (O. and M. 1677-Strype, 1755). The Ditch was actually covered over in 1552, after the erection of Christ's Hospital, as it was found detrimental to the health of the children (L. and M. Arch. Soc. Lecture, 3.3.13).
South out of Thames Street to the Thames (Lond. Guide, 1758). In Queenhithe Ward.
First mention: "Townesende lane," 4 Eliz. (Cal. L. and M. Ft. of Fines, II. 118).
Richard Townsende owned a messuage and wharf in the parish of St. Michael at Queenhithe, 36 H. VIII. (L. and P. H. VIII. XIX. (2), 176). Now called Bull Wharf Lane (q.v.).
It is so universal a practice in the present day for all classes of trades to be carried on in the same street, that one is apt to forget that in early days it was the custom for men of a particular trade to congregate together and to have their special locality, street, or quarter in a town, as in the East at the present time, with the result that in course of time the street or quarter came to be designated by the name of the particular trade exercised there. These trade designations survive in London in Ironmonger Row, Wood Street, Milk Street, Poultry, etc. Trades in those days were in some ways more jealously regulated and guarded than they are now, and it was not possible for a man to engage in, a trade unless he had been carefully trained for it and was duly qualified to practise it. There was no place for bad or inefficient workmen, who would bring discredit on the trade. Hence the tendency for men of a particular trade to congregate together for strength and security.
The nature of a trade may have also sometimes made it desirable that it should be carried on in some particular locality, and certain methods practised in common. Thus we find in London the Goldsmithery, where the Goldsmiths practised; the Ironmongery, the quarter inhabited by the Ironmongers, now Ironmonger Row; the Poultry for the poulterers; the" bocherie "for the butchers at Eastcheap and at Newgate; the Ropary, and so on. It is possible that if the subject could be followed up more closely, the early records of the City would yield further interesting information and would show more clearly what were the localities occupied by the various traders at different dates.
South out of Paul's Alley, in Cripplegate Ward Without (O.S, 1875-0).
Removed for the formation of Australian Avenue (q.v.).
At the Tower of London (Strype, ed. 1755~B0yle, 1799).
Not named in the maps. | <urn:uuid:d74ba431-5699-4ba1-8f79-65787712472e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63345 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941767 | 3,750 | 2.484375 | 2 |
A 05:11 97-10-15 -0700, Harald T. Alvestrand a écrit :
>The only reason I can see for the Euro symbol being used at all
>is codepoint envy towards the dollar sign.
>Monetary symbols are a dumb idea; people who want to use them should
>pay the cost and use ISO 10646 in full.
>What's the 3-letter monetary code for the Euro?
> Harald T. Alvestrand
> monetary unit Kr (NOK)
[Alain LaBonté] :
I've signaled to Mr. Benitez that there was already a proposal under ballot
for a new part of 8859 (part 15) adding the euro symbol and correcting
French and Finnish repertoires (part 1 is supposed to cover these languages
but it does not do it fully for reasons of historical mistakes done in ISO
TC97/SC2 [currently ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2] in 1987 - this ought to be corrected
for information interchage purposes between EBCDIC, ISO-8-bit and ISO-UCS
That said, I agree with Harald that changing 7-bit-ASCII should not be
done, only for pragmatic and realistic reasons.
Finally it is true that in an ideal world we should avoid for banking
operations to use anything but 3-letter codes for currency identification
(I do not count, though, the number of Europeans that invent new 3-letter
symbols everyday without taking any look on international standards, like
GBP instead of UKP, SFR instead of CHF, and so on -- that has to be said
too -- it makes believe that these are the true banking codes, while it has
nothing to do with them!)
However many application systems (without mentioning the end-user and
commercial non-banking practices) are nowadays limited in Europe to
1-character position for presenting their current national currency.
Changing this to 3-letter codes would only amplify the technical challenge
which is already big in that applications will have to show two prices in
Europe for a while, mandated by law (maybe by doubling lines on reports -
changing formats would be extremely more expensive).
An there are of course political issues. The EURO SIGN is, imho, there to
stay, realistically too.
This change to a common European currency is of course going to cost a lot
of money, perhaps more than adapting applications to the year 2000 issue.
But this will also create jobs for a decade or maintain them (; ... and
pave the way to, who knows, a global currency! We'll know how to do it!
This avant-gardist experience is bold, but it is a well-meant political
will by a body representing hundreds of millions people and we should
applaude to the idea. If this can be done, what can't be done for peace?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jul 10 2001 - 17:20:37 EDT | <urn:uuid:be233194-404c-4112-9185-b39098aa9c3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/Archives-Old/UML010/0169.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916174 | 651 | 1.726563 | 2 |
What We Do
About the Clean Rivers Project
Past Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Controls
CSO controls have been implemented in the past. Prior to DC Water's creation in 1996, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Utility Administration (WASUA) was responsible for the water and sewer system. In the 1950's, 60's and 70's, portions of the combined sewer system were separated to reduce CSO's. In the 1980s and early 1990s, WASUA constructed new facilities to control combined sewer overflows. Examples of such facilities include the Northeast Boundary Swirl Facility, which is a treatment facility located near RFK stadium. The facility can treat up to 400 million gallons per day of CSO from the Northeast Boundary drainage area. Another example is the inflatable dams, which are balloon-like devices installed in existing sewers. The dams are inflated to store combined sewer overflow in existing sewers to prevent overflows. There are 12 dams at 8 locations in the system. Other examples of prior CSO control activities include improvements to the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant, separation of portions of the combined sewer system, and construction of a monitoring and control system for key components of the system. DC Water continues to operate these and other CSO control components of the combined sewer system.
What is the Clean Rivers Project?
The District's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires the preparation of a Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP). The LTCP is a plan with a schedule to control CSO discharges to the area waterways. The LTCP planning effort began in 1998 and a draft of the LTCP was made available to the public and submitted to EPA and the District Department of Health in June 2001.
DC Water obtained public comments on the Draft LTCP in the summer and autumn of 2001 via public meetings, neighborhood meetings, a public hearing and by mail, fax and e-mail. Many comments were received. In August 2002, DC Water submitted a Final LTCP to EPA and the District Department of Health for approval. In response to public comments, the Final LTCP proposed significant reductions in CSO compared to the draft plan and was approved in December 2004.
In 2010, DC Water named the LTCP the Clean Rivers Project. | <urn:uuid:9dbbb1e5-fd53-4b78-818f-59bc8cf616a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dcwater.com/workzones/projects/longtermcontrolplan.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957708 | 492 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Jon Huntsman writing an article about why conservatives should embrace gay embrace at the American Conservative, a magazine co-founded by Pat Buchanan, is already a strange marriage.
Huntsman is pushing the thoroughly unoriginal and discredited idea that the Republican Party has to stay competitive by becoming socially liberal and fiscally free market. That was the Romney campaign in a nutshell and it was not terribly appealing. The last election should have been a reminder that a socially liberal country of broken families is not going to vote for small government or the free market. Not when it depends on government aid.
But here Huntsman is trying to sell gay marriage or “marriage equality” as a conservative value. Even Justin Raimondo, Buchanan’s gay anti-war partner disavowed gay marriage. But Huntsman powers on.
The Huntsman solution is hard to tell apart from the Obama solution. He wants a new breed of Republicans like him who will be socially liberal and depicts that social liberalism as a conservative value using vague slogans about “Our Communities”. Specifically Huntsman insists that Republicans should embrace gay marriage. Why?
Like every liberal Republican, Jon Huntsman wraps his agenda in electability, but really is the Republican Party badly in need of the gay marriage vote? Can it even get it?
Huntsman says that every marriage should be treated equally under the law. Which it is. Gay marriage innovates a new entity using a name that does not apply to it. It’s the usual leftist tactic of broadening a definition until it no longer means anything. But if Huntsman really means that every marriage should be treated equally, why not recognize polygamy? There is no answer, because there is no logical argument. And 10 years from now, he will be arguing that to win Muslim votes, the Republican Party should recognize Polygamy.
“This does not mean that any religious group would be forced by the state to recognize relationships that run counter to their conscience,” Huntsman says, but that’s a lie and he knows it.
If all forms and concepts of marriage are treated equally by the law, then states will begin investigating and penalizing businesses that fail to accommodate it. That is already the case in much of the country. Even if religious organizations are exempt, as with the ObamaCare abortion mandate, religious people won’t be.
Everyone is already free to marry anyone or anything they like in the religion or non-religion of their choice. What Huntsman is really talking about is government recognition of one form of alternative marriage and not others. That is both contradictory and hypocritical. And it penalizes the values and economic interests of a majority of Americans.
There’s nothing free market about a government mandate for gay marriage.
From a practical standpoint, the Republican Party will not win by retreating on every social issue and then prattling on about the free market. The free market matters most to people who believe in individual liberty, not in the power of the government to enforce its values on others. And that is what gay marriage supporters are really after. | <urn:uuid:9ba2a9b9-5b65-4749-a64a-8e97a408534f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/is-it-time-for-the-gop-to-embrace-gay-marriage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959902 | 635 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Happy Nowruz 89 To All Iranian People.
Nowruz meaning 'New Day' is the traditional Iranian new year holiday celebrated by Iranian people and initiated in Ancient Iran. Apart from Iran, the celebration has spread in many other parts of the world including parts of West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Caucasus, between kurdish population of Turkey, the Crimea, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia.
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian year. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (the start of spring in the northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranian, it is also a holy day for Alawites,Alevis, Nizari Ismaili Muslims and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith. | <urn:uuid:4df1b1d0-3bf3-42bc-a5b3-f7d6dc425df4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dl4all.com/site-news/page,1,3,186119-happy-nowruz-89-to-all-iranian-people.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936205 | 207 | 2.828125 | 3 |